The Pain Won’t Last Forever
Sermon 2 in the Series “You’ve Got Mail”
Chuck Sligh
July 31, 2022
For the PowerPoint for the sermon, write me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.
TEXT: Revelation 2:8-11 – “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. 10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”
INTRODUCTION
* What would you do if when you became a Christian, people started persecuting you, you lost your job, you lost all of your possessions, and supposed friends slandered you?
* What would you do if you were thrown into prison?
* What would you do if the government came into our church this morning and said you had to bow down and burn incense and say, “The United Nations is lord”?
* If you did this, you’d receive a certificate from the government allowing you to operate your business or trade. If you didn’t: no certificate!—And without the certificate, no work!
* What would you do if other religious groups here in town were working for the government as spies to tell on you if you weren’t complying?
* And what if the spies were telling lies about you to defame you and imply you were seditious and a threat to the government?
The message we’re going to look at today is the one to the church at Smyrna. Smyrna was a beautiful city, famous for its wide paved streets that ran from one end of the city to the other. It had a famous stadium, an impressive library and laid claim to the largest public theater in all of Asia Minor.
Smyrna was also fiercely loyal to the Roman Government and there was a large Jewish population that was not very loving to the Christians. Despite these splendors, Smyrna was a cauldron of suffering for believers for the reasons I mentioned above. In the midst of this suffering, I wonder if you would be tempted to ask, “Where is God?”
Unlike of the messages to most of the other churches in Revelation 2-3, Christ has no criticism for the church of Smyrna. I suppose this is what you would expect. If you’re giving it your best in the face of adversity, you don’t need a kick in the tail. This is a letter designed to encourage the church at Smyrna.
Let’s look at it and see what Jesus has for us in His message to the church of Smyrna:
I. NOTICE FIRST OF ALL THE PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH.
Simply put, Smyrna was not a friendly place to be a Christian. So Jesus assures them that He’s aware of their situation.
In verse 9 He says, “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but ye are rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not but are the synagogue of Satan.”
Jesus first recognizes their works. Even while undergoing intense persecution, they were still faithful to do good works for the Lord and others. That ought to be convicting to many of us who live in the safety and comfort of the free world, yet have few works to show for our walk with the Lord.
Then in verse 8 Jesus comforts the Smyrna believers, saying He knows of their trials and their poverty and the betrayal of those who should be their natural allies. Their suffering and poverty were linked. Like I said, Smyrna was not a friendly place to be a Christian. In fact, in all of Asia Minor, Smyrna was probably THE worst place for Christians to live. Cicero called Smyrna one of (Rome’s) most faithful and … ancient allies and Smyrna proved its loyalty to Rome by erecting several temples in honor of Roman gods.
There was even an altar honoring Caesar where once a year, every citizen was expected to burn incense and declare, “Caesar is Lord.” After the incense was burnt, the offerer was issued a certificate. Anyone refusing to acknowledge Caesar as lord was excluded from the guilds and denied a certificate, which meant unemployment and poverty. But to declare Caesar as lord was heresy for Christians, so they refused to do it and were persecuted and left without means of supporting themselves except for manual labor of the meanest sort.
Initially the church was exempted from this requirement. One author I read said this:
Normally, the Roman empire required all of the subjugated peoples within the empire to venerate the Roman gods, including to offer sacrifice to the image of the Emperor. Each conquered people group would be allowed to continue the worship of their traditional deities, as long as they also paid homage to the gods of Rome, thus demonstrating their loyalty as good citizens who sought the political well-being of the empire. But for the monotheistic Jews, Rome made an exception. As long as they prayed for Caesar, they would not have to violate the first commandment by committing idolatry.
In the early years, when Christianity was viewed as simply another sect of Judaism, Christians were also given this exception. But as time progressed and the Jews became more intent on persecuting Christians, the Jews began to argue that Christians were not really Jews at all. In fact, they accused Christians of being seditious. For these Christians believed that Jesus, not Caesar, was Lord (Acts 17:7). They were a dangerous element in society that needed to be eliminated for the good of the empire.”
Eventually the church lost its exemption and believers suffered financially. So at the end of verse 9, Jesus says that though these Jewish persecutors claimed to be Jews, they were actually in the “synagogue of Satan.”
In verse 10, Jesus tells them that this persecution was only the beginning: “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
So the church at Smyrna was a struggling congregation. If you’d been a Christian there, you’d have faced constant insults and mistreatment. You would’ve struggled to make a living and few would be willing to hire you. Your children would be targets for bullies. You would have lived in danger of losing what little possessions you had. AND you would have faced the prospect of imprisonment and death.
II. NOTICE SECOND WITH ME THE PROMISES TO THE FAITHFUL.
In those circumstances, you might be tempted to ask some serious questions, like…:
Where is God? Why am suffering like this? What am I doing wrong? (PAUSE…)
Now, let’s be clear on one thing: The Bible tells us WE WILL suffer as believers. Peter wrote the Christians of his day in 1 Peter 4:12: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” Jesus said in John 15:20: “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”
Christians will suffer in this world if we serve Christ faithfully. Maybe not all of us, all the time, in the same measure of intensity; but it will happen. Christians will be persecuted and ostracized and mocked. Christians will face hardship and loss. Christians will die. We WILL suffer in this world!
But WHY do we suffer?—Because we live in a world tainted by sin—a world so often filled with hate and selfishness that it’s hard to even fathom. And there’s a special hatred for Christ and His church and His people that you can only describe as satanic.
Don’t think persecution is something in the long-forgotten past! It’s with us even now in the world and may come to you and me someday. In fact, did you know that there have been more Christian martyrs in recent years than there were during the time of the Caesars? Christianity Today quoted a Gordon-Cornwell study that estimated there is an average of 171,000 Christians worldwide martyred for their faith per year. Think of it—171,000 martyrs in this supposedly enlightened age! Don’t think persecution won’t come here some day too! There are people in our country who hate Christ and Christianity and what it stands for and though they may not be able to martyr us in this free land, they would gladly silence us, marginalize us and try to diminish our influence at every turn.
So don’t be surprised if you suffer for your faith in some form or the other. Don’t be shocked if you’re ostracized and left out. Don’t be amazed if you’re denied promotion or you’re accused of not being a “team player” because you refuse to do the pub-crawl. Don’t be stunned if your loved ones or friends criticize you or call you a fanatic. Don’t be astonished if your unsaved spouse abandons you. Paul said, “Yea, and all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:2).
So what message does Jesus have for this suffering group of believers?
1. First of all, He promises that their pain won’t last forever.
He says, “…ye shall have tribulation ten days.” There are various interpretations for what this means, but the most natural one to me is that Jesus is saying that there is a time limit on their suffering. Their pain wouldn’t last forever—and they needed to hear that! ¿We can handle almost anything when we know there’s light at the end of the tunnel, can’t we? So Jesus was warning them that more would come, but to take heart—there was light at the end of the tunnel.
2. Second, He promised that if they would be faithful, God would reward them in the life to come. He goes on to say, “be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”This is a promise of joint-rulership in the new heaven and the new earth that will take the place of our current cosmic system.
It may come as a surprise to you to learn that the Bible teaches that those who were not faithful to Christ on this earth will indeed enter the kingdom of God; but will be denied many kingdom privileges and authority. Only the faithful will rule with Christ in the Eternal Order. That’s what Jesus is saying: He’s saying if you’ll be faithful when facing persecution—even to death—you’ll reign with Him in the Eternal Order.
Smyrna is one of only two of the seven churches that did not receive some kind of reproof from Jesus in Revelation 2-3. That’s because Jesus knew exactly what they needed. They needed to hear words of comfort and encouragement from Him.
So Jesus is saying, “I haven’t left you…I know what you’re enduring…I know of your afflictions and your poverty. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not…I haven’t forsaken you. I haven’t left you. I’m there to carrying you through your time of suffering and trial.”
POEM: I love the poem by Mary Stevenson titled, Footprints in the Sand:
Last night I had a dream. I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonged to me, the other to the Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it. “Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You’d walk with me all the way. But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”
The Lord replied, “My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of suffering, when you could see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”
It was that knowledge that allowed the Christians at Smyrna to remain faithful in a very difficult situation.
Illus. – Smyrna’s most famous preacher, Polycarp, was a close friend and disciple of the apostle John, the author of Revelation. At age 86 he was arrested and the Proconsul asked him to recant his faith. The Proconsul told Polycarp, “I have respect for your age. Simply say ‘Away with the Atheists’ (meaning the Christians) and be set free.” Polycarp pointed toward the pagan crowd and said, “Away with the atheists.” When asked why he was so obstinate in the face of potential death, Polycarp replied: “Eighty-six years I have served God, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” Polycarp was led to away and burned to death for his faith. Polycarp knew that in all his trials, Jesus had never left him or forsaken him… and because of that he was able to stand in the face of torture and death. He knew that Jesus’ promise in verse 11 would be true: “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” He was willing to face physical death because he was certain of an eternal life.
CONCLUSION
Let me close this sermon by bringing Jesus’s message to Smyrna down to where you and I live.
1. Let me first of all ask you if you have given your life to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Jesus’s love is so great, His forgiveness is so full, and His gifts are so abundant, that He’s actually worthy of living for and being persecuted for and even for DYING for. He loved you so much that He died as the substitute for your sins and rose from the dead to save you from God’s wrath against your sin and to give you eternal life and to allow you to have a personal relationship with the living God.
I invite you to turn to Him and trust Him to cleanse you of all sin and make Him one of His children. In John 11:25-27, Jesus was comforting a woman named Martha whose brother Lazarus had died with these words: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Martha responded in faith, saying, “Yes, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” With that simple statement of faith in Christ, Martha was saved. It was as simple as that. Jesus made a promise that if you’ll place your trust in Him—the Son of God who died and rose from the dead you will have eternal life. I invite you to trust His promise to save you today. You can do it by just simply praying in few moments and confessing your faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for you.
2. To you who have already trusted in Jesus to save you, let me close with a few words to you. Believer, take a bold stand for Jesus Christ! Don’t back down; don’t be ashamed of Him; witness for Him. Don’t give in to peer pressure and do things that represent Him poorly.
If you’ll stand for Jesus, I promise, you will face some kind of opposition or ridicule. And when you do, don’t be discouraged.
In fact, you should REJOICE! In His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you [i.e., “defame you”], and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven…” (Matthew 5:10-12) Peter said, “But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
So let me go back and ask you something: Are you ashamed of Christ? Are you fearful of peer pressure so that you compromise your principles? Are you so much like the world around you that nobody would really suspect you were a Christian? If they did an investigation to discover if you were a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
If that is where you are in your walk with Christ, my challenge to you today is to surrender TOTALLY to the rulership of Jesus Christ in your life and become a true disciple who is totally submitted to His will. Believers, let’s “man up” and stand for Jesus! You soldiers—Get in the battle; don’t quit; and stay faithful.
