Smyrna: Faithful In Suffering Series

If you could live anywhere you wanted, where would you live? Some of you would want to go where there is a beach. Others would go to the mountains. According to U.S. News and World Report they rank for 2020 the #1 best place to live in the U.S. is Austin, Texas! That’s hard to accept for an OU Sooner. Austin is named the Live Music Capital of the World. You may have watched performances at Austin City Limits. With a metro population of two million, it is one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country. Though it’s housing costs are $70,000 above the national average, they are below the costs of similar sized metro areas.

The temperature can be scorching in the summer but mild most of the year. The city boasts of 250 parks and trails for biking, hiking, jogging, and canoeing. It attracts several high-tech businesses, retirees, and professions in the upper range of income.

If they had taken a survey of the best places to live at the end of the first century, Smyrna would have made the list. This port city is surrounded by a beautiful landscape of mountains that give the appearance of a crown. Smyrna was economically prosperous, the center of Emperor worship, and had a large Jewish population. However, it would not have made the list of best places to live for a Christian. The church in Smyrna was marked by suffering. Smyrna serves as an example that one of the marks of the true church is suffering. Jesus calls the church to trust Christ.

We’re looking at the seven churches of Revelation. They were real churches just like Northeast. They existed at the end of the first century in what is today the nation of Turkey. They help us understand what it means to be the church. The first letter to Ephesus taught us that the church is to love God and its fellow members. A church may have many admirable qualities, but if it lacks love for God and believers it is in danger of God removing His hand of blessing. To be the church it must love.

Smyrna has a different message. The church will suffer for Christ. There is no criticism of this church. Of the seven churches, only two escape any criticism: Smyrna and Philadelphia. At sometime in your Christian journey you will be tempted to lose heart and quit. Christ encourages us to trust Him. Johns writes:

(8) “Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: Thus says the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life: (9) I know your affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. (10) Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

(11) “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.

The church is encouraged to trust Christ in suffering by the titles of Christ.

I. THE TITLES OF CHRIST (REV. 2:8-9)

A. The Eternal God.

Each letter begins with a description of Jesus that comes from Revelation one. The description of Jesus is specifically tailored for each church. John writes in v. 8:

“Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: Thus says the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life”

John addresses the church in Smyrna not of Smyrna. Amid the paganism and godlessness of Smyrna the church was a single beam of light in the darkness. In our community it may seem as if we have a chandelier of lights preaching and teaching the gospel of Christ, but God has one people giving this community of darkness the truth of life.

Smyrna was a city of 250,000. It was filled with places of worship, education, commerce, and great sports entertainment. It sounds like Norman. However, there was only one people who could show the city the way of salvation found in Jesus Christ. How were they received? The Christians were ridiculed, rejected, and resented for their efforts.

To this group of harassed and intimidated believers, Jesus Christ addresses Himself as the “First and the Last.” When the Bible speaks in opposites, First and Last, A to Z, it means for us to understand it includes everything in between. A beautiful example of this is David’s psalm 139. David says if he goes to heaven, there he finds God. If he goes to the grave, again he finds God. David doesn’t mean God is in those two locations. He means God is everywhere. The two opposites include all of life.