This is Christ’s message to the Church in Smyrna.  They are a church under great persecution.  It was a port city between Ephesus and Pergamum, however, in this church the persecution of Christians was intense.   Philadelphia and Smyrna are the only two churches that really get off without a rebuke.   They both were under heavy persecution.  Often churches under persecution have intense worship and often for many hours.  They have to memorize Scripture because it is often contraband in many non-Christian countries.  I know some pastors with missionary friends in China who told me of this man who was arrested and when he was returned, there was a woman crying and the missionary asked why and she said because she was not found worthy to suffer for Christ because she had not been arrested.  In the west, we have all this freedom and we are afraid to share the gospel.  We often find ourselves lukewarm like the church in Laodicea.