This study was first taught on January 13, 2019

Topic: The Assessment of the Churches (6): The Church of Smyrna (Of Which Assembly Are You?)

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Background
In our last meeting on the assessment of the church in Ephesus, we noted that the Lord’s instruction to the Christians there, to repent of their lacklustre love, held two promises: the first, which was immediate and would manifest on the earth, was that their lampstand, the acknowledgment by heaven of its existence, would remain in its place among the churches; and the second, which was to occur in future in eternity, would manifest in heaven, where they would partake of the tree of life, which eluded man since the Fall of Adam and Eve. Through genuine repentance, therefore, believers can overcome what overcame others before them, and thus, enable them to partake of the Lord’s promises—both temporal and eternal!

We explained that the problem the church in Ephesus encountered was that it did not remain attached to the Lord, which is the basis for the constant flow of God’s love and life (which is the light of men that shines in darkness, and thus, pushing it back). Repentance, therefore, does not end with just repudiating what led us to our inability to receive God’s love and life, but it involves our determination to remain constantly in His love and thus, partake of His life. This means that evil is kept from overrunning the place, community, or locality where we work and worship God. Indeed, if the church is ever overcome by evil, the whole locality is overcome and will be overrun by evil; thus, making the lampstand—a symbol of the presence of the Lord in its assembly and by extension, its locality—meaningless, and thus only fit to be removed (Matthew 5:13)! This, therefore, is the Lord’s main point to the churches—“Keep evil at bay by being a light to the locality where you are. Remain in Me and in My love, and you would partake of the tree of life in eternity.”

Basically, the Lord is saying that, we, today’s church, should not be overcome by the lacklustre love that overcame Ephesus—they were doing the right things, but not with a right heart, and thus engaging in rituals, rather than in a vital ongoing relationship with the Lord, and therefore, became candidates for the removal of their lampstand, except they repent!

Scripture Text(s)
Revelation 2:8-11
In His letter to the church in Smyrna, we do not hear any complaint against this church from the Lord’s assessment. It goes without saying therefore, that the church in Smyrna was approved by the Lord, or at the very least, had its approval contingent on how they handled their present and upcoming predicament. A closer look at the church in Smyrna, reveals that it was a suffering, poor, afflicted, and persecuted church; indeed, a church that would not have met with any approval by many Christians today! Interestingly, there was an assembly of ‘worshippers of God’ ostensibly, in Smyrna, and it was, in fact, their opinion or assessment, that the church in Smyrna did not make the mark—a claim the Lord refuted outrightly! As we look, in depth, at the Lord’s assessment of the church in Smyrna, it is our prayer that any false criteria that we have for assessing churches will be removed from our lexicon for churches, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
The visible condition of the church in Smyrna made it a ridicule, not just among the people of the world, but particularly, among another group of people who claimed to be Jews (worshippers of God). In this first installment of our study on the assessment of the church in Smyrna, we shall be looking at the two assemblies that were in the city, with a view to distinguishing between the assembly of God, and the assembly that the Lord called “a synagogue of Satan”! The real question, at the end of the day is, “Are you of the church of God or of a synagogue of Satan?”
Job 1:6; Revelation 2:13; 2 Corinthians 11:12-15; 2 Timothy 3:1-8; Romans 2:25-29; 8:1, 5-8; 2 Timothy 2:19; Exodus 32:1-29; 2 Kings 18:4; Joshua 24:13-24; Psalm 115:5-8; Acts 7:39-50; Revelation 21:3; John 14:21-23; Luke 16:19-25.

Conclusion
Christianity today has taken on a form that is essentially exterior/outwardly, superficial, and even artificial. For this reason, the understanding of many who throng into church meetings is that “If it is good, it is God, and if it is not good, it is not God!”; but nothing can be further from the truth! The two assemblies in Smyrna reveal that the church of God is not necessarily one that has an outward appearance of godliness, neither is it one that has the trappings of worldly success, nor is it one that makes the claim of itself as being an assembly of God—“the Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”!

Indeed, in many assemblies that have an outward appearance of godliness without being able to actually live godly, we find that inwardly, they are the abode of iniquity, wickedness, and evil, and thus, deserving of the appellation, ‘a synagogue of Satan’, because, in essence, Satan is who they are serving; he is who they are worshipping; indeed, he is their god! A synagogue of Satan focuses on how much of this world they possess; it focuses on living in competition with the world; it is heavy on church rituals and programs, but extremely low on God’s word (living it out daily and submitting to it) and are incapable of manifesting the nature or character of God. In a synagogue of Satan, sin thrives (because it is always covered), and iniquity abounds (because they lack the love of God). Borrowing from the story of the Fig Tree cursed by the Lord, those who are of a synagogue of Satan, have lots of ‘leaves’ (activities and rituals without a vital ongoing relationship with God—dead works!) and no fruit whatsoever (no manifestation of the fruit of the Holy Spirit—everything is by human effort and/or demonic manipulation and power; the works of the flesh!). They are carnally minded, and have the appearance of godliness, but cannot live godly because godliness is a trait that comes from living in Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit!

The assembly of God on the other hand, is essentially known for her purity, humility, charity, and capacity to weather adversity well—traits that are developed inwardly, and that mature as a result of walking devotedly with God over the years! Brethren, we need to examine ourselves to be sure that we are not of those who are classified as being of ‘a synagogue of Satan’! (2 Corinthians 13:5)

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