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petuates the artificial denominational walls which act to further divide the body of Christ.  As we have observed, we are called to follow the Lord -- Jesus declared "Follow me!" He never said follow Peter, James or John; The church as Christ sees it can only be divided by geographical boundaries, and He only recognizes one church per city -- thus seven churches in seven cities.

          In addition, He commends their "works", "labour", "patience", and "spiritual discernment." Christ chastens them for having left their "first love" -which is Christ Himself -- After having begun with such zeal and dedication, time sometimes, slowly deadens what was a vibrant and all consuming love. The mundane and dreary repetitiveness of life often breeds a familiarity which can, (if not checked) turn glowing relationships into boring humdrum. Such is the case with our faith; for we too can let our love for the Lord wane, even when we are engaged in working for Him. But service without love (as Paul described in 1 Cor. 13) is a fruitless, wasted effort, devoid of purpose and reward. In God's eyes, service for Him must always take second Place, behind our love and relationship to Him. If we pursue this as our priority we will surely remain on track. Promise to overcomers - "to eat of the tree of life in paradise."

          a spice which must be crushed in order for its perfume to be released. Used in ancient times for burial anointing. Representing church history during the Roman persecutions. Commendation -- praised for their "poverty", "works" and "tribulation" and for enduring the blasphemy of false brethren.

          Evangelicals today should take note of the fact that Christ finds no fault with this extremely poor, persecuted church. Wealth has never been an indicator of God's favor; in fact, just the contrary may often be true. Satan, in Luke (4 v. 6) is seen trying to tempt the Lord with riches and power. Boastingly he declares; "All this power will I give thee and the glory of them: For that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give it" This flies directly in the face of the countless televangelists and prosperity preachers who propagate the "name it and claim it" theology,: and proves what a pathetic distortion of true biblical teaching their message really is. We must never lose sight of the fact that Satan can and will open doors (even for believers) that at first appear blessed, prosperous and innocent, but in the end, may lead us slowly outside of God's perfect will into a vacuum of spiritual disaster. Far too many Christians chart a course for their lives in career, marriage, education, etc. only to find themselves years down the line, shipwrecked -- pondering where and when their lives went so wrong; somehow they digressed from God's plans simply by neglecting to seek, wait and hear from Him concerning His choices. By blindly following their own counsel, too many reap the folly of personal tragedy. Let us prayerfully, solemnly, soberly weigh all the important decisions in our lives, asking for God's wisdom and discernment -- for He alone knows the future and will surely help us find our way, thereby saving ourselves much undue  heartache. Christ's promise to the church of Smyrna is that He will allow Satan to test some of them even unto death. But, if they remain faithful, they will receive the crown of