BYM ONLINE DESK Blessing Feb 2020 English E-magazine | Page 10

The Suffering Church
Dr. Richard Mayhue
Suffering has marked the church since its
beginning. Those who initially followed Jesus
rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for
his name (Acts 5:41). Of the original Apostles, all
but one died a martyr's death. Even John, who died
of natural causes, suffered for Christ's sake on the
isle of Patmos (Rev 1:9).
These kinds of suffering by Christians still
continue. As the current suffering church is found
in places like the Soviet Union, China, Ethiopia,
Uganda, Zimbabwe and Albania, so Smyrna was
the first century “suffering church”(Rev 2:8-11).
Commission (2:8)
Christ addresses His thoughts to the “angel”
or “messenger” of Smyrna, which represents the
leadership of the church. The uniqueness of this
church is a credit to courageous leaders and a
compliment to a flock that willingly walked in the
way of its elders (Heb 13:17).
Known today as Izmir, Smyrna is the only city
of the seven in Revelation that is still important. On
February 2020 | www.bymonline.org | Page 10