My dear readers,

Jesus – The First and The Last

Churches today are lauded by the world when they are big and rich like the world. Many of the mega churches of the Charismatic movement (but there is none larger than the Roman Catholic Church with more than 1 billion members and wealth untold) have changed the face of Christianity. In the first century, a church was measured entirely by the people who joined the church. There were no church buildings like today’s mega churches, for they met only in homes or the great outdoors like the three thousand who met outside the Temple on the Temple mount.

Acts 2:46-47: “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” [Emphasis added] Of course it does not mean that building the physical church buildings is wrong. However, it is wrong to focus on them and to decorate them ostentatiously like the cathedrals of Europe. A church building for a gathering inside a building is necessary for worship because of inclement weather. The building simply provides God’s people with a safe and comfortable environment for worship, fellowship and the study of God’s Word. It must not be the focus such that without the building we cannot worship at all.

We must not allow the standards of the world to measure whether a church is pleasing or displeasing to God. Small churches with few people are frowned upon. They are seen as failures because of their small size and poor giving. The church in Smyrna was poor. It came under persecution. It needed encouragement from the Head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Few would like to join such a church for fear of being persecuted. They might lose properties, businesses, loved ones, their freedom and even their lives if they were to join the church in Smyrna. To be identified with a persecuted church was suicidal. Thus, the church needed encouragement from the Head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord introduced Himself to His disciples as “the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.” Revelation 2:8: “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.”

“The first and the last” was first mentioned in Revelation 1:11: “Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” Then it is repeated in Revelation 1:17-18: “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

The context of Revelation 2:8 is to encourage John who was fearful before God. It is reverential fear and not the cringing fear of one caught red-handed committing a sin. The object of Christ being the first and the last was deliberately omitted. If Christ had said that He is the first and the last in protecting His church, then He would limit it to the protection of the church. The scope or parameters of Christ being “the first and the last” was deliberately omitted so that we would know that in whatever adversities we might encounter in life witnessing for Christ, He is in absolute control.

Christ is the first and the last in our suffering. He is the first and the last in our salvation. He is the first and the last in our service. He is the first and the last in everything that we do and whatever happens in our lives. There is no beginning that Christ is not in control of and aware of. This means that if we have to endure poverty and persecution for Christ’s sake, like what the church in Smyrna faced, then Christ the Head of the church allows it to happen to HIS church. He is the last in that He controls when and how it will end. If He wants His disciple to suffer and die for Him, then it is Christ who will take him home to glory. If He wants another disciple to suffer and remain on earth to serve further, then His disciple must see His hand in his life and suffering and keep on serving faithfully.

Not only does it mean that Christ absolutely controls the first and the last, it also means He is in control of everything else that happens in between. The people who betray and the fellow believers who encourage are all permitted by Christ. The authorities that threaten and the authorities that deliver are not from man but from Christ. Thus, the Lord assured them in verse 9: “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” The Lord Jesus Christ knew how they endured patiently the suffering because of their faithful witness. Yet He did not stop the persecutors and the persecution. He is the first and the last in their suffering for Christ.

The phrase “which was dead, and is alive” emphasizes Christ’s life, death and resurrection. Christ has conquered death on their behalf. They did not need to fear death at all. Death is the thin veil that separates the victorious heavenly saints from the courageous saints on earth who must continue to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints. The saints in the church in Smyrna must persevere unto death. This is the definition of victory for every believer. The Lord concludes by encouraging them in verses 10 and 11: “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

The Christians in the church in Smyrna were poor in substance and few in numbers but very rich in faith and eternal truths. Their obedience to the Lord resulted in only commendation and encouragement from the Lord.