Cross Examined 3 | Tribulation Saints

We're continuing our series here at Cross Connection called "Cross-Examine: Jesus Examines His Church." We are looking at the seven letters to the churches of Revelation and what God wants to speak to us through this passage. Today, we are focusing on the Church of Smyrna in Revelation chapter 2, a church that was experiencing great tribulation and hard times. Jesus speaks encouraging and comforting words to them about eternity.

So, open your Bible to Revelation chapter 2 and follow along with us. If you don't have a Bible, raise your hand, and one of the ushers will bring you one. Our son right now would be saying "cha-cha-cha" or something like that at the end of it. Revelation 2, verse 8, is where we're going to pick up our study together today.

In Revelation 2:8, Jesus is speaking. He is writing these letters to seven churches through the Apostle John. We read in verse 8, "And to the angel of the church at Smyrna write, 'These things says the First and the Last, the One who was dead and came to life: I know your works, your tribulation, your poverty, but you are rich. I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. Do not fear those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 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.'"

Father, we thank You for Your Word. Your Word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. God, it is useful for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that we who are Your people would be ready for the good things that You prepared for us before the foundation of the world.

As we rightly divide Your Word today, as we consider this church in the city of Smyrna and the word that You spoke to them, which is a word that You speak to us, we pray, God, that You would open our ears that we would hear, open our eyes that we would see, and open our hearts that we would receive what it is that You want to teach us today. We ask this in Jesus' name.

God's people agreed and said, "Amen, amen." You can be seated.

In times of great suffering, whether our own suffering or the suffering that we witness in others, we often find ourselves asking a question. This is a very big question, a very hard question, one that many people have wrestled with, thought about, written about, and talked about: Why do bad things happen to good people?

I know there are some of you who instantly think, "Well, the Bible says that no one is good, no, not one." That's fine; let's just remove that. Why do bad things happen? This is one of those questions that people wrestle with. Sure, some of you, when you hear that question, instantly go to the next logical thing: "Well, we live in a fallen world." That's the Christian way of saying we live in a broken world. We know that to be the case. It doesn't take much to see that when you look around, we live in a broken world.

For some, that answer is sufficient. But still, even for those who know that we live in a broken world, we still find ourselves asking the question: Why do bad things happen? It's a hurdle that has kept many people from putting their faith in God. They ask that question: If God is good, and especially if He is loving, then why is there evil? Why is there suffering in the world?

This is such a big discussion, especially for Christians, because we believe in an all-powerful and all-loving God that is revealed in the Scriptures. Because we believe in that, this is the question that we find ourselves confronted with on a number of occasions, whether people are going through trying circumstances or when we just look at what is happening in the world. Why do bad things happen? If God is good, if God is loving, why is there evil? Why is there suffering?

This has actually led to an entire discipline of theology called theodicy. No, not the Odyssey, not that book written by Homer. In fact, Homer was born and raised in the city of Smyrna in the 8th century BC, which is the city that we're going to be looking at. But not the Odyssey—rather, theodicy.

Theodicy seeks to tackle the difficult issue of vindicating divine goodness and divine providence in light of the evil and suffering present in the world. Some of you, before you put your faith in God, wrestled with this question. Even today, you may find yourself grappling with it: why do bad things happen? There are people who are hindered from putting their faith in God and trusting in His existence because of this very question.

Now, Jesus is not going to answer that question for us here in this text, but He is going to prophetically and powerfully speak to a church—a group of people who were experiencing extreme difficulty and terrible things in their lives. This teaches us a very important point, which is point number one on your sermon guide, if you have it handy: Jesus comforts sufferers.

There are some teachers in our day, and this is something that can be seen throughout church history, who teach that if you are a follower of Jesus, you will not suffer. The Bible does not teach that, and Jesus does not teach that. In fact, Jesus teaches quite the opposite. He taught His followers that they would potentially be hated for following Him, that they would suffer persecution for His namesake, and that they would endure extreme tribulation.

The Bible calls those who teach that coming to Jesus means a life free from suffering false prophets. It refers to them as diviners, dreamers, and soothsayers—those who come in with vain words to try to soothe someone going through a difficult time. In fact, during the 5th and 6th centuries BC, the nation of Judah faced great destruction from the armies of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. As they were on the move, there were many prophets.

In the nation of Judah at that time, there were voices saying, "No, no, don't worry. You'll be okay. Everything's going to be okay." Jeremiah, however, was the lone voice of the day, proclaiming that this was not how it was really going to be. God spoke through Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 27, verse 9, saying to the people of Judah, "Therefore, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon.'"

There was a group of people insisting that everything would be fine, but God was not saying that. They were going to face great difficulty. I realize that this is not something we typically want to hear when we go to church. We usually attend to be encouraged and strengthened in joy and faith. I believe that the text we are going to look at does lead us in that direction, but it is true to say that in this world, we will experience hardship. We will go through tribulation. It is not something we can gloss over and dismiss by saying, "Oh no, that will never happen."

In fact, C.S. Lewis once wrote, "If you look for truth, you may find comfort. If you look only for comfort, you'll not get either truth or comfort. You'll only find soft soap and wishful thinking that end in despair." You see, if you seek for truth and are an honest seeker, then you will find Jesus. Where you find Jesus, you will find comfort because, as we see in this passage, Jesus comforts those who suffer.

How do we know that Jesus comforts those who suffer? Well, the night that Jesus was about to face suffering that we can't even fully comprehend, He was with His disciples. The Gospel of John records this for us; it is called the Upper Room Discourse because He was there with His disciples in an upper room, talking to them. In that passage, He was preparing them for His departure, which would mean their suffering was going to increase. They didn't like that. Nobody likes the idea of increased suffering, and so their hearts were heavy.

He said to them, "Listen, don't be troubled. I will not leave you." This is in John 14, verse 18: "I will not leave you comfortless." The Greek word is "orphanos." He continued, "I will not leave you as orphans. I will send you another Comforter." He went on to talk about the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who would come and bring comfort.

And so Jesus says to His people, His church, "I will not leave you comfortless. I'm not going to leave you as orphans. I will give you another Comforter."

The Apostle Paul, in his second letter to the church at Corinth, which happens to be the book in the New Testament that uses the word "tribulation" more than any other, speaks about his own enduring of tribulation. In Second Corinthians chapter one, as he opens this letter, he says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort." God in heaven is the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. Paul goes on to say that He comforts us in every tribulation. We are comforted by God in every tribulation that we go through.

Paul also writes in Second Corinthians chapter one, verse five, "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us." Now, I don't know about you, but that's not one of those things you go, "Yes! The sufferings of Christ abounding in us! That's what we want!" But that's what he says. As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. The comfort of our Lord abounds in us. Our comfort abounds in whatever trial, tribulation, or trouble we go through. Through Christ, His comforts abound in us.

Well, how does that happen? We come back to our text here in Revelation chapter two. Look at verse eight: "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write." First, we have to stop there and just remember, as we looked at last week, that the angel of the church is not entirely clear. There are two common theories on what the angel of the church is. Some people believe that it is an actual angelic being—an angel that oversees, protects, and records what is happening in that church and relates that back to God about what is going on there in Smyrna. That's one common theory that commentators have on this passage. Another theory is that the angel of the church is actually the overseeing pastor or leader of the church.

Elder, the earthly pastor, is receiving this message and delivering it to his church. Whatever theory you hold really doesn't matter because it doesn't change much of what's going on here in the text. He says to the angel of the church in Smyrna, "Write."

Last week, we saw the letter being written to the church at Ephesus, which was a great and key city in Asia Minor. Now, he addresses the church of Smyrna, located about 35 miles to the north of Ephesus. All of these letters follow a circular route that we believe was kind of a postal route of the day.

Smyrna was one of the oldest cities in Asia Minor. By this time in history, it was a prosperous and peaceful city. It experienced great prosperity and was known for its beauty, being one of the most beautiful cities in the region at that time. One of the only problems the city faced was that when the early architects were designing it, they encountered issues with civil engineering. As a result, when it rained, sewage would come up onto the streets and flow through them. That was the only negative downside to Smyrna, but other than that, it was beautiful—so beautiful that they called it the "Pride of Asia."

It is similar to how Escondido is referred to as the "Pride of California." Additionally, they sometimes referred to Smyrna as the "Crown of Asia." People knew that when you mentioned the "Crown of Asia," you were talking about Smyrna.

The name Smyrna is believed to be connected to or mean the word "myrrh." If you know anything about the Bible, you remember that some men brought gifts to Jesus from the East when he was born, and one of those gifts was myrrh. Myrrh was made from the resin of a tree that grew in this region of Asia Minor. As it hardened, they would crush it, releasing a beautiful smell and great aroma. This substance was used as a perfume, but it also had the interesting use of embalming dead bodies.

Several commentators look at the idea of myrrh being crushed to release this fragrant aroma, suggesting that it brings sweetness to death. They connect this to what was happening in the church in Smyrna, which may be a good way to apply some of these concepts, but it doesn't necessarily have to mean that.

But there, in this crown of Asia, even that idea of the crown will become important as to what Jesus says to the church that is there in Smyrna later on as we go through this passage in Revelation chapter 2. This church, as we're going to see, was experiencing and would experience a great crushing, and they would even experience death through that crushing—death as martyrs. So, maybe that connection of myrrh bringing sweetness to death is something that connects with what's going on here in this passage.

You remember from our time together last week that as we went through these letters, they each follow a similar outline, which I'm calling the "rap sheet." I put it at the top of your sermon guide. Notice the rap sheet includes the revelation, the commendation, the indictment, the summons, and the promise.

The very first thing that we see here in this passage is the revelation. In Revelation chapter 2, verse 8, it says, "Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna." Then it continues, "These things says the First and the Last, who was dead and came to life."

As we saw again last week, these revelations that begin each of these letters point back to the initial revelation of Jesus given in chapter one. So, flip one page back over to the left and look at Revelation chapter 1, verse 8. Jesus reveals Himself here in Revelation 1:8, saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, Almighty."

When Jesus says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega," He is saying, "I am the A to the Z and everything in between. I am He who is, who was, and who is to come. I am right now, and I was back then."

Then, I will be in the future. That's what He says. He declares, "I am the Almighty." In verse 17 and 18 of Revelation chapter 1, we see this powerful revelation. Remember, John heard this great booming voice behind him, and as he turned around, he saw the Lord. This is what he saw in Revelation 1:17: "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet dead." But He laid His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am He who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death."

When we see the revelation of Jesus here in Revelation 2:8, it points us back to that truth. Interestingly, this is exactly the way that God the Father reveals Himself through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 41, 43, 44, and 48. In each of those sections of Scripture, God the Father says, "I am the first and the last." Here, Jesus is declaring, "I am the first and the last. I am He who is and was and shall be. I am the Almighty." This points to Jesus being the Son of God; He has the nature of God. He is God, and here He reveals Himself as God to the church at Smyrna.

Essentially, what Jesus says can be boiled down to this: "I am the eternal one." That is what He says. "I am the eternal one, and I, the eternal one, died, but I came back to life." Now, how is it possible that the eternal one could die and come back to life? If you study the New Testament, you know that God became a man. Jesus came to the earth, died on a cross, but death did not hold Him. Three days later, He rose from the dead. So, "I am the eternal one, and I died, but I came back to life because death could not hold me."

As we go through this letter to the church at Smyrna, we see the things they were going through. This concept of God being the eternal one, Jesus being the eternal one who knows what is going on in their church, who died and shall rise, will be a great encouragement for them as they face very difficult challenges. In this passage, we have, number one, the revelation, and number two, the commendation. After Jesus reveals a little bit about who He is to each of these churches, we see the next steps unfold.

Revelations that He gives are specific to each church and the challenges they are facing. As we saw last week, He said to the church at Ephesus, "I am He who holds the seven stars in My right hand and walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands," which represent the church. Because He is in the midst of the church, He says, "I know what's going on there." He acknowledges their strengths but also points out their issues, stating that they have left their first love. He warns them that He will remove their lampstand if they do not repent. This message was appropriate for them.

The idea of Jesus being the eternal one who died and rose from the dead becomes important and specific for the church at Smyrna. He commends them, saying, "I know your works." This is the same affirmation He gives to the church at Ephesus, and it is also what He will say to the churches at Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Jesus knows what is happening in each of these churches because, as we saw last week, He is intimately involved with them.

He continues, "I know your tribulation and your poverty." Jesus takes care to look into what is happening in His church—not just the building, which He could care less about, but the lives of the people who follow and believe in Him. He knows what is happening in our lives, and He says to the church this morning, "I know your tribulation and your poverty."

He sees their tribulation and the trouble they are going through. He recognizes the poverty they are experiencing. Although the city of Smyrna was generally peaceful and prosperous, the church that existed there was facing quite the opposite. They were situated right next to great wealth, yet they were experiencing tremendous poverty—something we cannot fully comprehend. There is a significant disconnect between what was happening in their city and what they were experiencing.

What an encouragement it is to know that Jesus knows what is going on in the lives of those living in Smyrna. He takes care to look into this, and He knows what they are facing. He knows what you are facing today, and He speaks directly to it, which I believe is what He does here.

There are times when we face difficulty, and we are tempted to ask the question, "God, do You even know? Do You even care?" This passage says yes, yes, He does. He knows and cares about what we are going through. The people who existed in that city, followers of Jesus, a small gathering of Christians, a church in Smyrna, were quite literally tribulation saints.

I know for some of you, this may seem confusing or disconnected from something you have heard or thought before, but these individuals were indeed tribulation saints; they were experiencing tribulation. This is important for us to recognize because God's people, if you are a Christian today, that includes you. God's people have never been promised a tribulation-free existence.

Now, I know there are some people whose eschatology conflicts with that understanding. They have a hard time grasping it, but we must recognize that we have never been promised a life without tribulation. In fact, Jesus said in John 16:33, "In the world, you will have tribulation." If you look at the word "will" in the original language, it is in the future active indicative tense. You may not care or know what that means, but it signifies that in the future, you are actively going to experience tribulation. You will; it's a certainty.

In that same verse, Jesus also says, "These things I have spoken to you, that you may have peace." The phrase "may have peace" is in what's called the subjunctive mood; it's a maybe, a might. How many of you would prefer if He had swapped that around? "In Me, you will have peace; you might have tribulation." I would certainly like that, as it aligns more with my comfort level. But He didn't say that. Instead, He said, "In Me, you might experience peace; it's available to you, but in the world, you will have tribulation."

You know what this tells us? Jesus is willing to speak hard truths to us. He doesn't gloss over things. He offers us the possibility of peace, but He also warns us that in the world, we will have tribulation. He encourages us, saying, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." This is ultimately what we will see unfold here in this passage.

In Revelation 2:9, when He says, "I know your tribulation," it is the very same sentiment.

The Greek word used by Jesus in John 16:33 is "thlipsis." In the world, you will have tribulation. This word means pressure, pressing, burden, and straits, as in dire straits, tribulation, and hardship. How many of you are like, "Yeah, I like thlipsis"? There's a hipster tattoo right there: thlipsis in the Greek. You don't see people sporting that one too much. Why? Because people don't like thlipsis. We don't want that; that's not what we're looking forward to. Thlipsis doesn't sound good, but it's certain: you will have tribulation.

Not only is it certain, but the Apostle Paul, writing to a church that was facing thlipsis and going through difficult things, and about to experience more difficult things, writes something very interesting about this concept of tribulation to the Thessalonians. You can turn in your Bibles if you'd like to First Thessalonians. It's to the left of your Bible from Revelation, right after the book of Colossians: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First Thessalonians, chapter 3.

Now, some of you know, if you've studied the Bible for a while and looked into future things, eschatology, that the book of First Thessalonians has some things we believe speak to future events, hardship, and difficulty in the future, and then the Lord removing His church from that. So, there are some interesting things in First Thessalonians.

Look at First Thessalonians, chapter 3, verse 3. Paul speaks of Timothy, who is a fellow laborer in the Gospel of Christ, to establish and encourage you concerning your faith. Why? So that no one should be shaken by these afflictions, thlipsis. I want you to grow up and become mature Christians. Why? So that you're not shaken by tribulation. For you yourselves know that we were appointed to this. In the world, you will have tribulation. Why? Because I appointed you to it. What are you talking about, Jesus? You've appointed us to this? Yes.

Now, this is very interesting because two chapters later in the same book, First Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul says there that the church has not been appointed to wrath. There is a clear separation in this book between wrath and tribulation. You can be certain that you will never be under the wrath of God if you're a Christian today. This is only for the Christian. Why? Because Jesus bore the wrath of God in Himself upon the cross, and we are sheltered in Him from the wrath of God because we're clothed in His righteousness.

If you're not a Christian today, that is not for you. The wrath of God, as Romans chapter 2 says, is being stored up for the day of wrath for you if you're not a Christian. So, I would say repent and become a Christian right now. You don't want that. If you want to know more about the wrath of God, just read the rest of the book of Revelation.

Tribulation and wrath are not the same thing, and Christians have never been promised a tribulation-free existence. Never! Jesus said you will experience it because I've appointed you to it. Why would He appoint us to it? So that He can shine through us in His glory. We will experience this; Christians will have tribulation. We're appointed to it, but we should not be shaken by it.

We need to grow in our faith so that we are not shaken or devastated by it. How is that possible? Well, we need to remember that tribulation is temporary. If you're in First Thessalonians, turn back a few books to the left to Second Corinthians. Again, I mentioned earlier that Second Corinthians is the book of the Bible in the New Testament where this word "thlipsis" (tribulation) is used more than any other word.

In Second Corinthians chapter 4, Paul is talking about the difficulty, the tribulation that he endured. He and his co-laborers were hard-pressed on every side; they were burdened, troubled, and going through very severe hard times. Then he says this in Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 16: "Therefore we do not lose heart."

We don't lose heart, and this is exactly what he's saying to the Thessalonians: don't be shaken, don't lose heart. Jesus said the same thing in John 14: "Let not your heart be troubled." Even though you're going to have tribulation, don't be troubled. Therefore, we do not lose heart, even though the outward man is perishing. Yes, we all know that is true. Amen. Even though this body is going through...

Difficulty in this world often comes from experiences that cause us to perish. Yet, the inward man is being renewed day by day. As we go through tribulation, God is doing a work of purification and renewal. Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us. It is doing something in us, producing a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Jesus speaks to a church in Smyrna that is facing tribulation, saying, "Listen, I am the eternal one you serve, follow, and trust in." He reminds them to focus on the eternal, the one who died and rose again. We must get our eyes off that which is seen, for it is temporary, while that which is unseen is eternal. All of this is leading us in a certain direction of faith.

The tribulation and suffering we face are momentary and light. This means they do not have the final word. Jesus is eternal; He endured suffering, tribulation, and difficulty, yet He still lives. He understands our tribulation and our poverty. There are two different words in the Greek language that are translated as poverty. One refers to subjective or relative poverty, while the other denotes abject poverty, total poverty. The word used here refers to complete and total abject poverty. They are destitute; they have nothing.

In America, we have a concept called the poverty line, which many people in the rest of the world wish they could attain. We must recognize that some individuals in our nation experience what is called relative poverty. Sometimes, people think they are experiencing poverty because they only have a 46-inch LCD TV, while someone else has a 70-inch LCD TV. We need to reckon with the fact that we probably do not fully understand or comprehend what is meant by abject and total poverty, nor can we grasp the full meaning of suffering and tribulation.

For the name of Jesus, it is very highly unlikely that any of us have, or will ever, in this nation at this time, suffer tribulation for the name of Jesus. This is not to say that it will never happen, but it hasn't. We have gone through difficult things, the same sort of difficult things that people, both non-Christians and Christians alike, experience. However, we have probably not suffered tribulation for the name of Jesus or abject poverty.

Let me illustrate this idea of poverty in this way: If you have had more than one meal in the last 24 hours, if you own two or more sets of clothing in addition to what you are currently wearing, and if you came to this place in a vehicle that you lease or own—even if you live in that vehicle today—you are richer than 85 percent of the rest of the world. You are in the top 15 percent.

If last year your earnings totaled $25,000, even though you are essentially at the poverty level in our nation, you are richer than 90 percent of the rest of the world. You are in the top 10 percent. If you earn just the average income for Escondido, which happens to be $50,000 a year, you are in the top 1 percent. This brings a totally different view to the Occupy Wall Street movement. When you see a whole bunch of hipster kids with their smartphones videoing themselves and posting on YouTube because they are protesting against the 1 percent, it doesn't quite compute.

The church in Smyrna lived among wealth but experienced absolute and extreme poverty. In contrast, the church at Ephesus looked really good as a church on the outside, but Jesus says, "I know your works, your tribulation, your poverty, but you are rich." In the eyes of the world, they had nothing, but in the eyes of God, they were rich. God sees differently.

The church at Ephesus appeared to be thriving, but Jesus pointed out that they were not very Christ-like. In contrast, we will later see the Laodiceans, who claimed, "We are rich; we are in need of nothing." Jesus actually responded, "You are miserable, wretched, poor, blind, and naked."

Jesus sees differently than we do. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying here: in this passage, poverty does not make you spiritual any more than having a Bible makes you a Christian. That's right; being poor does not make you spiritual. However, for this church in Smyrna, they happened to be poverty-stricken and going through tribulation, which had refined them to be as pure gold before God.

This brings us to point number two on our outline: we should seek to be rich toward God. I know your tribulation; I know your poverty, but you are rich. We should endeavor to be rich toward God, and that is harder for those who live with all that we have in our nation. Jesus spoke to this in the Gospels when He said it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Most of us would say, "Well, I'm not rich," but the reality is that when you look at the scheme of things in the world, yes, we are.

Jesus exhorts those who are rich, saying to store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not come in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So, be rich toward God. In His commendation of the church, Jesus says, "I know your works, I know your tribulation, I know your poverty, but you are rich."

Note this in verse 9: "I know the blasphemy, the evil speaking, the gossip of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but in reality are of the synagogue of Satan."

Point number three on your outline: just as we saw that poverty doesn't make you spiritual, being religious does not make you righteous. Jesus says to the church at Smyrna, "I know the abuse that you, the Christians in Smyrna, have endured from religious people." In this case, it was a group of Jewish people who were part of a synagogue in that area.

Interestingly, the band U2, how many of you know the band U2? They just came out with a new album about two weeks ago, and on that album, there is a new song called "Raised by Wolves." I was listening to this song last week; I like U2, and there is a line...

It says the worst things in the world are justified by belief. The worst things in the world are justified by belief. The nature of the song, what it was written about, was a terrorist attack that happened in Dublin, Ireland, back in the 1980s. The members of the band knew some people who died in this attack. The song reflects the idea that the worst things in the world are justified by belief, and sometimes that sadly is true.

We all know, if you've been paying attention to the news, that just two days ago there was a woman in Oklahoma who was beheaded by a Muslim man, a former co-worker. He killed her and tried to kill someone else in the name of Allah. Sometimes, people justify wicked things by their faith, by what they believe. It is not just Muslims, of course. In the area of the church at Smyrna, there was a group of Jews who were justifying the things they were doing by their faith, by their God.

This is the same thing that the Apostle Paul did when he was Saul of Tarsus. He justified very wicked things in the name of God. Just so we don't write ourselves off on this, if you read Christian history, you know that the church has been guilty of that many times throughout its history, justifying things in the name of Christ. We have to be very careful. Some people are wicked no matter who their father is. Even though the people of the synagogue in Smyrna had Abraham as their father and were ethnically Jewish, just like the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 9:6, not all descendants of Abraham are Israel.

It's a play on words; the word "Israel" means "governed by God." Not all descendants of Abraham are actually governed by God. They were ethnically Jewish, but they were not in any way governed by God. This is not a statement against Jews, nor is it a statement against Muslims, any more than saying that Christians have done terrible things in the name of Jesus is a statement against Christians. In each classification, they give the rest of us a bad name.

Historically, Bible teachers believe that there was a large, hostile community of Jews in Smyrna who were hostile to Christians. Their hostility was revealed towards Christians by slandering them or informing against them.

This was causing persecution. The church has always experienced persecution in some way, shape, or form, but at certain times in history, it has experienced what can only be classified as state-sponsored or state-run persecution. In this case, that's exactly what's happening.

The Roman Empire, from about the year 64 A.D. until 311 A.D., systematically persecuted Christians for almost 250 years. One of the ways they did this was through the idea of Roman Empire worship, which escalated from the first, second, and third centuries. There was a kind of empire cult, and one of the things that a Roman citizen had to do to declare their citizenship every year was to go to one of the temples dedicated to the Caesars. There, they would find the bust of Caesar, and they would burn incense before it while proclaiming the words, "Caesar is Lord."

Do you think some Christians might have an issue with that? Yes, they certainly did, and they could not comply. The Jewish people had been exempted by two different emperors during the first century; they were viewed as having an ancient religion, and so they were allowed to coexist. They were about the only group that was tolerated.

In their early history, Christians were classified as a Jewish sect, so they had the same protection and could get by. However, what was happening in Smyrna was that there was a group of Jews informing against them, claiming that the Christians were not part of their community. As a result, the focus of Rome shifted to the Christians, and they began to be persecuted.

Jesus said that they claimed to be Jews, but they were not; they were of the synagogue of Satan. They looked more like their father, the devil, than like Abraham, their father. This is exactly what Jesus said to a group of Jewish men in John 8:44 when they wanted to kill him. He told them, "You have nothing connected to your father Abraham." They insisted that Abraham was their father, but Jesus responded, "You don't know who your dad is." No one really knew who Jesus's father was, as He was God in heaven. Jesus declared, "You are of your father the devil."

These were fighting words. The Jews looked more like the devil than like Abraham, and that's precisely what Jesus is saying in this passage. They were informing against and slandering the Christians, who were an easy target.

They were kind of a strange minority, and there were a lot of interesting things going around about Christians, especially in the second half of the first century and into the second century. We know this because one Roman ruler by the name of Pliny the Younger wrote about Christians back to the emperor, as they were being persecuted. He had investigated them, and these were the charges being made against the Christians: they were called atheists because they did not believe in or worship the Roman gods. They were labeled as cannibals because they eat the body and blood of their Lord. They were also considered incestuous because Christians commonly referred to one another as brother and sister, even spouses. Thus, they were accused of incest. Additionally, they were seen as hedonists, guilty of hedonism, because they gathered together in secret meetings called love feasts. They were an easy target.

As a result of these accusations, there was all kinds of opposition against them, and the Jews from the synagogue spoke out against them, which led to their persecution. We have the revelation of the one who was dead but is alive, the eternal one. The commendation states, "I know your works, your tribulation, your poverty. I know the blasphemy, the evil speaking spoken against you by those who say they are Jews and are not."

The third point in our outline, the indictment, is interesting because there is no indictment spoken against Smyrna. There are two churches among the seven that do not have an indictment: Smyrna and Philadelphia. This does not mean that Smyrna was a perfect church, as we know there is no perfect church. However, what we see in this is the grace of Jesus. They were going through extreme poverty, and we see that He is gracious. This reminds us of point number four: be gracious to those who suffer.

Unfortunately, that is not always how we treat those who are suffering. Sometimes, we have a tendency to kick those who are down. If you want to see more about that, just read the Book of Job. The blessing is for both those who are gracious to sufferers and those who are on the receiving end of that grace. It is clear that there is grace for the person who is suffering, but there is also a blessing for the one who shows grace.

Extends grace to the sufferer, and I think it's beautifully illustrated in the picture of Jesus on the cross. Beside Jesus, on either side, were two criminals. We believe them to be thieves who were crucified next to Him. One of them is mocking Jesus, while the other essentially stands up for Him and recognizes who He is, showing grace to Jesus. Then Jesus says to him, "Today you'll be with me in paradise."

We should be gracious to those who suffer; we're all just a bunch of criminals. May it be that we are gracious criminals.

Now, the revelation, the commendation, and there's no indictment for the summons. Look at verse 10 of Revelation 2: "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful unto death."

Do not fear the things that you are about to suffer. The devil is going to throw some of you into prison; you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful unto death.

There are all kinds of studies, books, and discussions that have been done and written on this verse, trying to decipher the inner workings and speculation about what this means. Who is the devil in this passage? Is the ten days a literal ten days, or is it speaking about a short duration of time? Maybe the ten days means ten years, or perhaps it refers to the ten different emperors who persecuted the church over those 250 years.

Listen, my philosophy on passages like this is simple: when the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense. I'm perfectly fine saying it was just ten days. At the end of the day, all these things are mere speculation. Jesus is saying you're going through tribulation; it's going to get worse. That's essentially what He's saying. It's going to get really bad, and some of you are going to die because of this persecution.

One of the key leaders who would have been part of the church in Smyrna at this time was a man by the name of Polycarp. I know that name is going to come around sometime; you might be naming grandkids and kids after Polycarp. He was a disciple of the Apostle John, the one who is writing the Revelation, and he was the pastor, the overseeing bishop of the church of Smyrna. Many years later, he was actually put to death.

For his faith in Jesus, when he was 86 years old, they brought him before the Roman proconsul, the leader of that area. They wanted to give him an opportunity to recant. When the Roman soldiers came to his house to take him away, he was eating dinner. A young girl was tortured to inform against him. The Roman soldiers came, and he said to them, "Come in, come in. Let's give you a meal." So, he had dinner with the men who were there to take him away to kill him.

Then he asked, "Would you mind if I go and pray?" They said okay, and for an hour, he prayed in the corner. They heard this so much that the Roman soldiers repented of what they were about to do. They took him away and brought him before the Roman proconsul. The entire way, the commanding Roman soldier pleaded with him, "Please just recant. We don't want to kill you."

When they brought him before the proconsul, the council said to him, "Listen, if you will proclaim that Caesar is Lord and recant this nonsense of Jesus, then you don't have to die today." He replied, "For 86 years, the Lord has been good to me. Why would I turn against Him now?" The proconsul responded, "Well then, fine. You will burn at the fire." He said, "It's a temporary fire that I'm going to burn in, but the one prepared for you is eternal." Polycarp was a remarkable man; he was awesome. I'm sure that name will come back.

Amen. But what does this passage show us? As we boil this down, when the main plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense. What's the main point here? Point number five on your outline: death is not the end. Death is not the end, and Polycarp knew that, as did those who were there in the city of Smyrna. Remember, it is the eternal One, the One who was dead but is alive, who is writing these things to the church at Smyrna. He says, "Death is not the end. Don't suffer. Don't fear death."

I think the Apostle Paul may have said it best when he wrote in Philippians 1:21, "To live is Christ, to die is gain." He was in a place of uncertainty, facing death. Death is not the end; therefore, even if we suffer or are wrongfully persecuted, we experience tribulation. Be faithful, even if it's faithful unto death. Finally, the promise at the end of verse 10 through verse 11 is to be faithful.

Unto death, and I will give you a crown of life. The crown of life consists of two words for "crown" in Greek: one is "diadem," and the other is "stefanos." The diadem is the crown worn by royalty, while stefanos is the crown won by a competitor. This is the word "stefanos." Be faithful, endure, overcome, and you will have the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Here’s the final promise: he who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. You will get the crown of life, and you will not be hurt by the second death. What is the second death? Well, turn to the back of the book. Remember from math class, the answers are always in the back of the book. Revelation chapter 20, verse 6 states, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

So, blessed is the one who partakes in the first resurrection because they will not experience the second death. Now, skip on down to verse 14. Revelation 20, verse 14 provides more information: "Then death and hell were cast into the lake of fire." There is a future event where Jesus, who has the keys to death and hell, will cast death and hell into the lake of fire. This is the second death. The lake of fire doesn't sound good to me; the second death is bad, while the first resurrection is good.

In chapter 21, verse 8, Revelation 21, verse 8 states, "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." However, the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.

So, the second death is bad, and the first resurrection is good. What is all this? It can be easily summed up like this: Jesus, in John chapter 3, had a very religious man come to Him by the name of Nicodemus. He said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again." This guy didn't understand; it didn't compute. "Must I enter in a second time into my mother's womb and be born?" No, no, no.

This is spiritual birth; you must be born again. Here it is summed up like this: he who is born twice dies once, while he who is born once dies twice and experiences the second death. You don't want that; you want to be born again.

Finally, he who overcomes is highlighted in the last verses, verses 4 and 5 of First John 5. First John 5:4 states, "For whatever is born of God overcomes." Whoever is born again overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world. How are we born of God? Our faith, putting our trust and confidence in Him. Who is he who overcomes the world? But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. That is how we overcome.

Jesus says to the church at Smyrna in Revelation chapter 2, verses 8 through 11, "I know the tribulation that you're going through. I know your poverty. I know the evil speaking against you. I know the informants and what they're doing. But be faithful; continue to trust, because you will overcome. You will have the crown of life, and you will not taste of the second death." I think this definitely has application for us. Amen.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father God, thank You for Your Word, which is living and powerful. We pray, God, that You would use it in each of our lives today to draw us closer to You. If there are some standing here in this place today who are going through a trial or a severe difficulty right now, Lord, we pray for Your grace to be upon them. We pray, God, that You would stir their hearts to overcome whatever temporary challenges we face in this life.

It may be that standing here in this place, there is an individual, or perhaps some, who would say, "I am not born again, and I am worried about the second death." God is very faithful and clear in His Word that if you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. If that's you today, you can simply, where you're at, confess your sins to the Lord through prayer. Believe that Jesus died on the cross for you, taking the wrath of God upon Himself. Accept His payment for your sins there on the cross and turn to Him, willing to obey Him. Lord Jesus, draw by Your Spirit any who...

Are you willing to come? Let's worship the Lord with one last song.