Yes, when it comes to our bodies we will do just about anything to improve it or at the least to maintain it and hardly a whimper passes our lips. Yet, we are a triune being - spirit, soul, and body. It is ironic that we care more about the perishable part of our being than the imperishable parts - our spirit and soul. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus sought to direct our thoughts to what was of true worth. “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, {as to} what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; NOR FOR YOUR BODY, {as to} what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25) That is not to say that we should simply disregard the needs of the body. We need clothing and the proper foods in order to provide for our bodies, and to intentionally do anything to negligently harm the body is looked upon by God very seriously. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Of course we are to take care of our bodies, but since that is true, how much more should we care for our soul and spirit  and be willing to endure hardship for their sake? “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of LITTLE PROFIT, but godliness is profitable FOR ALL THINGS, since it holds promise for the present life AND {ALSO} for the {life} to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7-8) This fleshly, physical body and everything pertaining to it will one day be no more while our soul and spirit are eternal. So why do we groan and complain about trials and tribulations that come our way when we have been told by the Lord that such circumstances will not only be a part of our life, but a NECESSARY part of it. “BEFORE I WAS AFFLICTED I went astray, but now I keep Thy word.” (Psalms 119:67) “IT IS GOOD FOR ME that I was afflicted, that I may learn Thy statutes.” (Psalms 119:71) “I know, O Lord, that THY JUDGMENTS ARE RIGHTEOUS, and that IN FAITHFULNESS THOU HAST AFFLICTED ME.” (Psalms 119:75) “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. BUT LET THE PROCESS GO ON until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character, men of integrity WITH NO WEAK SPOTS.” (James 1:2-4 Phillips) With a promise like that can we face all that life brings our way, no matter how hard it is on the body, and say, “No pain, no gain”? It is possible IF we realize that EVERYTHING that happens to us comes from the hand of our loving, heavenly Father.

            The Lord controls the interplay of good and evil in life’s circumstances to first bring us to Himself, then to mold and shape us into the image of His Son. How we hate this. Instead of submitting ourselves to God’s working in our life, instead of LETTING THE PROCESS GO ON, we pray to escape the pressures that weight us down, and if that does not work, we call everyone we know and have them pray for us to escape. How much better it is to pray that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes and ears to what the Father is trying to teach us.

            God does not waste anything. The pain, the trials, the tribulations that we suffer, regardless of their apparent fleshly source, are being used by the Lord for OUR GOOD. All of creation suffers because of the Fall of  man, but even this the Lord uses for wise ends. “For the creation was subjected to futility, NOT OF ITS OWN WILL, but because of Him who subjected it, IN HOPE that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that THE WHOLE CREATION GROANS AND SUFFERS the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, EVEN WE OURSELVES GROAN WITHIN OURSELVES, waiting eagerly for {our} adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:20-23) It was the will of the Father to subject His creation to futility (Greek - mataiotes - what is devoid of truth and appropriateness, perverseness, depravity, frailty, lack of vigor). Only through this pain are we able to learn what the Father needs to teach us. We do not curse gravity when we overcome it by lifting weights in order to strengthen and tone our bodies; indeed, without gravity we could not live. So why do we curse sin and darkness instead of overcoming them by the Blood of the Lamb? No one that I know of ever became a Christian because life was good, and no one remains focused upon what is of eternal worth through the good times. It is the consciousness of  sin and evil that brings us to our knees before the Father crying out, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” (Luke 18:13)

            Of the seven Churches mentioned in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, only two receive no criticism - Smyrna and Philadelphia. While Philadelphia speaks of love (philo in Greek means love) Smyrna speaks of pressure and tribulation because Smyrna comes from the word “myrrh”  which means “bitterness” and carries with it the thought of suffering, grief, hardship, deprivation, loss. Thus, Smyrna is known as “The Suffering Church”. Nevertheless, suffering and persecution do not destroy the Church (or Christian), rather it REVEALS ITS CHARACTER. 

            Myrrh was a substance used as an antiseptic and for embalming; thus, the use of it at Jesus’ burial. “And Nicodemus came also, who had first come to Him by night; bringing a mixture of MYRRH and aloes, about a hundred pounds {weight}” (John 19:39). However, it was also used in perfume. It was an ingredient in the holy Anointing Oil used by the Israelites to consecrate the Tabernacle, the utensils, and Aaron with his sons, to the Lord. It should be noted in passing that of the three gifts given to the Child Jesus by the Wise Men, only myrrh is mentioned again, and that as shown above, was at His death. It signifies that sufferings and tribulations are lifelong companions. Yet they serve God’s purposes at all times, just as they did in the life of Jesus. “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8)

             Jesus tells those of Smyrna that he knows about their tribulation and their POVERTY. Yet, He tells them they are rich. That is, they are spiritually rich. Though they may lack material things, He has bestowed upon them the true riches; riches which can not be taken away. Again, the lack of things can be a blessing rather than a curse. The disciples had to learn this. When Jesus told the rich young man to sell all his possessions and give them to the poor he refused to do it. When he left, Jesus said, “‘For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ And they who heard it said, ‘THEN WHO CAN BE SAVED?’” (Luke 18:25-26) It astonished the disciples that if a rich man, one whom they thought had been favored of God, would have such a difficult time being saved, then what chance did they have? They had to learn that the true blessings from the Father come from Heaven, not earth. Material things very often cause us great harm. “Beware lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; LEST, WHEN YOU HAVE EATEN AND ARE SATISFIED, and have built good houses and lived {in them and when your herds and your flocks multiply, AND YOUR SILVER AND GOLD MULTIPLY, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart becomes proud, and you FORGET THE LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 8:11-14) Rather than striving to be rich we should pray, “Keep deception and lies far from me, GIVE ME NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES; feed me with the food that is my portion, LEST I BE FULL AND DENY {THEE} and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or lest I be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:8-9) The true Christian life is one of balance, not extremes.

            The Christians in Smyrna also faced the blasphemy of “those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” (Revelation 2:9) Blasphemy is a very strong word. It is slanderous speech, vicious libel, with the intent to destroy one’s good name. It is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit that Jesus said was unforgivable. (Matthew 12:31) It is speech that the speaker knows is false, but chooses to say anyway in order to invalidate the truth. It is done so that that which is false may be believed as truth. In our society today true Christians are facing an increasing barrage of blasphemy by those who claim to be Christians. Just as those at Smyrna were blasphemed by those who claimed to be Jews (God’s chosen people), but were in reality under the influence of Satan, so the true Christian is being labeled as intolerant and homophobic. There are now groups who call themselves Christian but are not, and “They profess to know God, but by {their} deeds they deny {Him}  being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed.” (Titus 1:16) People who support abortion, homosexuality, promiscuity, radical feminism,  people whose consciences find nothing wrong with “R” and “X” rated movies, books, and magazines, people who have sold their birthright of holiness for the corruption of sinful flesh, are on the front lines denouncing those who weep over the moral depravity that surrounds them. Writing to the Philippians Paul said, “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, {that they are} enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is {their} appetite, and {whose} glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:18-19) Just as the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other religious leaders of Jesus day were responsible for His crucifixion, it is the false Christians today who will be the most successful at tearing down the foundations of truth. The world flocks to the false Christians because their teachings bring not conviction of sin, but acceptance of sin. The idol “Tolerance” is being worshipped in our day as never before.

            Nevertheless, though darkness seems to be crowding in around us with no visible means of overcoming it, Jesus never fails. Jesus assured us with these words: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.” (John 16:33) Again, trials and tribulations are for our GOOD. They are not meant to destroy, but make us stronger. The Lord is not going to allow us to remain spiritual babes, unable to withstand the onslaught of evil. He is bringing us to perfection so that in the ages to come, whenever we are faced with the most vile Satanic forces, victory is ours. “Just as it is written, ‘For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things WE OVERWHELMINGLY CONQUER THROUGH HIM who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:36-39) We become spiritual giants only when the Lord brings us up against that which only He can overcome. If we, in our sinful, fallen, flesh can overcome an obstacle, we have no need of the Lord; and our human pride will keep us from calling upon Him. ONLY when the Lord is GRACIOUS enough to have us confront the impossible will we gain spiritual strength. As John the Baptist said, “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30)

            We need not fear that our pain and suffering will go on endlessly. “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, THAT YOU MAY BE TESTED, and you will have tribulation TEN days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10) Please note that the prison spoken of here is not necessarily a jail with bars. It could be a physical handicap, an addiction, poverty, a rebellious child, a hurtful marriage, etc. It speaks of any situation or circumstance that you are powerless to change. We are not tested so God can see how we will react, He knows; rather, it is for US to see how we will react. “TEST YOURSELVES {to see} if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5) We may truly believe that we would never deny Jesus, just like Peter assured Him he would not when He was about to be betrayed. Jesus did not argue with Peter. Instead, Peter saw for himself the truth of Jesus’ words. The Lord arranged the circumstances to reveal Peter to himself as Jesus was being tried by the Sanhedrin. So it is with us. Do we believe the spirit is more important than the body? Then why do we weep about a physical ailment or handicap when our spirit is starving to death because we neglect to read the Bible or pray? Do we believe wisdom and knowledge are more important than material possessions? Then why do we continually weary ourselves with hardly a thought about the time or pain it takes to gain material things and spend so little time searching for the Lord? Do we believe that the marriage of a man and woman is a sacred union created by God? Then why do we find divorce so common among those who call themselves Christian?

            As radical as it may sound, the Lord is not as interested in WHAT you believe as WHY you believe it. The foundations of our beliefs are the target of the tribulation that comes to us,  for “if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalms 11:3) Our beliefs must be centered upon Jesus Christ and the Bible; not popular opinion or current social acceptance. Wrong is ALWAYS wrong and right is ALWAYS right.

Fortunately our testing is only for TEN days. I do not think that is a literal span of time. Life itself contradicts that. Some trials last for a lifetime. So what does it mean? Ten is the number of Divine perfection and speaks of completeness of order. There were Ten Plagues against Egypt, the Ten Commandments, the tithe is a 10^th, etc. Speaking to the Philippians Paul said, “{For I am} confident of this very thing, that HE WHO BEGAN A GOOD WORK IN YOU WILL PERFECT IT until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6) Ten days simply means there is a definite beginning and a definite END to the suffering we must endure to reach perfection.

            And what is the end result of our tribulation? After we have overcome all that is sent our way we will receive the crown of life. This is not a literal crown. How can life (Greek: zoe - Divine life) be worn on the head as a crown? I believe it refers to that state of being we will have achieved upon perfection. It is the Lord’s life made one with our soul and spirit so that everything I think, say, or do is a reflection of Him. Though we could not see it, Jesus wore this crown while upon the earth. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless {it is} something He sees the Father doing; for whatever {the Father} does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19) It  is interesting that while the heavenly Father crowned Jesus with Life, the world crowned Him with thorns. Thorns were the result of the curse God placed upon the earth because Adam sinned. (Genesis 3:18) Jesus bore not only our sins upon the Cross, but the curse brought about by the Fall of Man.

            The promise to this Church is wonderful. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the SECOND DEATH.” (Revelation 2:11) Hell is not the second death, it is the Lake of Fire. There is a difference. The Bible does not say we will not be exposed to the Lake of Fire, only that we will not be hurt by it. Why? Because we will already have been purified and made holy by God, “for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:29)         

            Though we do not now always know how God is using the fiery trials and tribulations for our good, we will one day be able to say with Job, “But He knows the way I take; {when} HE HAS TRIED ME, I SHALL COME FORTH AS GOLD.” (Job 23:10)

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