Mail Call: Smyrna Series

Mail Call: Smyrna

Revelation 2:8-12

February 26, 2023

Have you ever felt life just isn’t fair? Now, I’m not talking about what we deem unjust or unfair and undeserved illnesses and sudden deaths. That’s an entirely different discussion and sermon.

I’m talking about a time when you stood up for what was right; and you became the victim. Maybe you proclaimed the message of Christ, and you lost your family and friends. That partially happened to me. That was the risk for saying YES to Jesus. Telling my parents was one of the most fear-filled moments of my life.

What if after becoming a Christ follower, your employer said, if you want to keep your job, you can’t talk about Jesus at all, or you’re fired. What if the government sent people to see who came to church on Sunday mornings and watched online, and your taxes went up because you attend worship.

What if the government gave you a token, which meant you were in good standing with them, and you could keep your store open, you could buy, sell and trade with others. But, without the token, your store would close and you couldn’t shop in the market. What if because of your faith, others were telling malicious lies about you?

What if you were considering becoming a Christian and you saw this happening to friends? As a Christian, if you saw this happening in the church, what would you think about God? Would you keep the faith? Would you run from God? Would you compromise your faith to survive?

Those are pretty heavy and dark questions. Maybe we think there are far fetched. And I’m not talking politics, but if you look at other countries, they’re already there.

Last week we began talking about mail which was delivered to 7 churches in Revelation 2-3. Letters sent from John, dictated to him by Jesus. Last week we looked at Ephesus.

If you travel about 40 miles north of Ephesus, you come to the city of Smyrna. Today Smyrna is called Izmir, a leading city in Turkey. Because of its beauty, Smyrna was known as the “Ornament of Asia.” In 26 AD, a competition was held to determine which city would win the right to build a temple for Caesar-worship. Smyrna won that contest and took great pride in its loyalty to Rome. There were also temples to various pagan gods. And over time a number of Jews migrated to Smyrna and became an important part of the business scene.

Because of the prevailing paganism and the worship of the emperor, Christians in Smyrna found themselves under unrelenting pressure. The people of Smyrna were extremely loyal, and would publicly declare, “Caesar is Lord.” Christians wouldn’t do this, so the early believers found themselves in a difficult situation.

My friends, welcome to the church in Smyrna. This church was experiencing a great deal of suffering. Are you ready to join?

One last note before we jump in, Smyrna was one of only two churches in Revelation 2-3 in which Jesus didn’t have a criticism. Their suffering made them strong. It had stripped them of everything - - - except Jesus.

In Revelation 2:8, Jesus said - - -

8 To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of Him who is the first and the last, who died and came back to life.

Firstly, the Jewish Christians would’ve clearly understood this because of what Isaiah 44:6 wrote about God. Listen to these words - - -

6 This is what the LORD says — Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no God.

That’s pretty clear, God is the beginning and the end. He bookends all of life. Jesus was also telling His followers He’s been there, He’s gone through the fires of life. He’s suffered and He knows what that’s like and He’s experienced death. But the good news is the fact that death couldn’t contain Him. He defeated death.

It’s similar to what the writer of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 4:14-16 - - -

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

The writer wants whoever is questioning, whoever is suffering to know and believe and to trust that according to the Jewish worship system, Jesus is the great high priest. There is nobody above Him. And because of this, hold fast to your beliefs in who He is.