The Church at Smyrna. Rev 2:8-11
Last Sunday we looked at the first of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse (also known as the Seven Churches of the Book of Revelation) - the Church of Ephesus.
Let me just recap for those of you who weren’t with us last week
The book of Revelation was written by the apostle John whilst he was banished to the island of Patmos in traditionally around AD 95 and 96.
The seven churches of Revelation are
1.) Ephesus Rev 2:1-7
2.) Smyrna Rev. 2:8-11
3.) Pergamum Rev. 2:12-17
4.) Thyatira (pronounced Thy'at'ira) Rev. 2:18-29
5.) Sardis Rev. 3:1-6
6.) Philadelphia Rev.3:7-13
7.) Laodicea Rev. 3:14-22
All the churches are in about a 100-mile radius of each other.
They weren’t the only churches in the area but as William Barclay posits
“these churches might be regarded as centres of seven postal districts being all on a kind of ring road which circled the interior of the Province” of Asia (William Barclay The Daily Study Bible Revised Edition Vol 1 page 28)
There were clearly more churches in the area at the time.
From the New Testament itself we know of one in Colossae to which Paul addressed the letter to the Colossians.
And the church in Hierapolis is mentioned in the same letter (Col. 4:13)
And last week we discussed what the Angel of each of these Churches might mean and I am of the persuasion
that it refers to the Bishops of each church
Why the number seven? The number seven was considered by the people of the time to be the perfect number.
John uses it 54 times in the Book of Revelation.
(William Barclay The Daily Study Bible Revised Edition Vol 1 page 28)
1. The Church of Ephesus
Last week we looked at the first of the churches 0f the Apocalypse - the Church of Ephesus
It was a church that on the surface seemed to have everything going for it
It threw out false teachers and false teaching but it had one hit against it
But the Church had badly lost its way
In its striving for pure orthodoxy somewhere it had lost its first love of Christ.
And today – there is no Church in Ephesus – in fact there is no Ephesus anymore except for some ruins.
So from the letter to the Church at Ephesus, let us learn that we need to keep our first love for Christ
2. The Church of Smyrna
In contrast today we are going to have a look at the second Church of the Apocalypse - the Church in Smyrna.
It is one of the two Churches that Christ has nothing to hold against them.
But to understand more fully what Christ is saying to the Church we need to look at the background to the city of Smyrna.
2.1 Background
Smyrna is about 50 miles north of Ephesus
William Barclay tells us that “Of all the cities of Asia Symrna was the loveliest”
It was known as the “Crown of Asia".
(ibid p.73)
Please hold that thought because I want to come back to it
Aristides spoke of the city as “the grace which extends over every part like a rainbow, the brightness which pervades every part and reaches up to the heavens, like the glitter of bronze in the armour in Homer”
Aristides goes on to say “The wind blows through every part of the city and makes it as fresh as a grove of trees.” (ibid p. 73)
However Barclay ironically adds “The constant west wind had only one disadvantage. The sewage of the city drained into the gulf on which the city stood and the west wind tended to blow it back upon the city rather than out to sea.” (ibid p. 73).
Like many of the cities of Asia, Smyrna was very religious and temples to Greek and Roman gods abounded.
Perhaps one might think, as a Christian, of these temples to false gods as the sewage that defiled the city
Like Ephesus Smyrna was a Roman free city.
Smyrna had the great distinction of being loyal to Rome even when Rome was not in the ascendency.
Loyalty was a trait of the city.
The Church despite its persecution had been loyal to Christ
What is interesting is that Smyrna had been founded as a Greek Colony about 1000 BC only to be destroyed by the Lydians in around 600 BC and then by the Persians around 545 BC
And for 400 years there was no city of Smyrna.
But around 334 BC Alexander the Great resurrected the city, as legend has it as a result of a dream moving Smyrna 3 miles to the south to the top of Mt Pagus.
And it was Alexander’s RESURRECTED city of Smyrna that John would have known
Now it is interesting to note how John describes Jesus here in the letter to the angel of the Church at Smyrna with these words
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. (Rev 2:8)
Was this an echo of what had actually happened to Smyrna itself
Smyrna the city that had died and came back to life again by the time John wrote to them.
Perhaps it was a City of Resurrection
Smyrna was unusual in that - as it had to be rebuilt in one sitting - it had been rebuilt as a planned city.
The roads were great, straight and broad and fitted beautifully with the magnificently landscape on which it was built.
Smyrna stood at the end of the road that crossed Lydia and Phrygia and out to the far east.
Like Ephesus it was a great trading city and there was
great rivalry between them. (Ibid p.74)
This morning I would like to focus on the loyalty of the Smyrnean Church to Jesus and the Crown the church in Smyrna chose.
Was the Church going to choose “The Crown of Asia” the name associated with the city - with all that entailed.
Or would the Church choose “The Crown of Thorns” which results in persecution for Christ’s sake
Only one of these Crowns leads to “The Crown of Life” that Jesus offers.
Or as Jesus put it in Rev 2:10
"I will give you life as your victor’s crown."
Let us look at these two crowns in more detail
2.2. What would it mean to the church to be associated with “The Crown of Asia”?
Remember the letter was written during the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Domitian.
For the Church to be associated with the “Crown of Asia” - this would mean that the Church would have to - somehow - accommodate worshipping the Emperor as a God as well as the other Greco-Roman religions.
It is interesting that the only religious group exempted from Emperor worship was the Jews.
And yet they became the main instigators of the persecution of Christians in Smyrna
Look what Christ says:
9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Rev 2:9-10)
The Church was not financially well off.
Those who were well off before conversion would have lost it all on becoming Christians.
The Jews would have made sure of that because, as Jesus said, their father was not Abraham but Satan.
For Jesus himself called them the Synagogue of Satan
They may have racially been descended from King David but spiritually they had rejected the God if King David by rejecting the Messiah.
St Paul put the matter like this in Romans when he wrote this:
…. a person is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is of the heart” (Rom 2:29)
William Barclay sets out the major slanders that were brought against Christians:
1. Christians were cannibals because they ate the body or Christ and drank his blood.
2. The Christians called their common meal together an Agape meal and so it was said that their gatherings were orgies of lust
3. Because Christianity split families when some in the family became Christians and the rest didn’t – they were held to be tampering with family relationships
4. The followers of pagan religions would call Christians atheists because they could not understand the worship of a God without an idol and
5. Most dangerously the Christians were held to be politically disloyal because they would not say “Caesar is Lord”
6. Christians were accused of being incendiaries because they foretold of the end of the world in flames
(ibid p80-81)
The most dangerous of these accusations was that Christians were disloyal to the Roman State and with that often came the death sentence
Yet Loyalty was one of the major traits of the Church of Smyrna – Loyalty to their Lord Jesus Christ.
And it cost many their lives
Let me end by recounting the story of the martyrdom of one of the early Bishops of Smyrna, Bishop Polycarp on 23rd February 155 AD
William Barclay records the martyrdom with these words:
It was the time of the public games; the city was crowded; and the crowds were excited. Suddenly the shout went up;” Away with the atheists; let Polycarp be searched for”
No doubt Polycarp could have escaped but already he had had a dream in which he saw the pillow under his head burning with fire and he had awakened to tell his disciples” I must be burnt alive”
His whereabouts was betrayed by a slave who collapsed under torture. They came to arrest Polycarp. He ordered that they should be given a meal and provided with all they wished while he asked for himself the privilege of one last hour in prayer.
Not even the police captain wished to see Polycarp die. Onn the brief journey to the city, he pled with then old man: “What harm is it to say “Caesar is Lord” and offer sacrifice and be saved.
But Polycarp was adamant for him only Jesus Christ was Lord.
When he entered the arena there came a voice from heaven saying: “Be strong, Polycarp and play the man”
The Proconsul gave him the choice of cursing the Name of Christ and making a sacrifice to Caesar or death.
“Eighty and six years have I served him”. Polycarp replied “and He has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me”?
The Proconsul threatened him with burning and Polycarp replied: “You threaten me with fire that burns for a time, and is quickly quenched, for you do not know the fire which awaits the wicked in the judgement to come and in everlasting punishment.
Why are you waiting? Come and do what you will.”
So the crowds came flocking with faggots from the workshops and from the baths and the Jews, even though they were breaking the Sabbath Law by carrying such burdens were foremost in bringing wood for the fire.
They were going to bind Polycarp to the stake when he said: “Leave me as I am- for He who gives me power to endure the flames will grant me to remain in the flames without the security you will give by the nails.”
So they left him loosely bound in the flames and Polycarp prayed his great prayer:
“O Lord God Almighty, Father of Thy beloved and blessed Child Jesus Christ, through whom we have received full knowledge of thee. God of Angels and powers, and all of creation and of the whole family of the righteous, who live before you, I bless Thee that thou hast granted me this day and hour that I may share , among the number of martyrs in the cup of Thy Christ, for the resurrection to eternal life, both of soul and body in the immortality of the Holy Spirit.
And may I today be received among them before thee, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as Thou the God without falsehood and of truth, hast prepare beforehand and shown forth and fulfilled.
For this reason, I praise Thee for all things.
I bless Thee, I glorify Thee through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, thy beloved Child, through whom be glory to Thee with Him and the Holy Spirit, both now and for the ages to come Amen
And Polycarp died a martyr to the faith
(ibid p.76-78)
Perhaps it is symbolic that the name Smyrna means Myrrh in Greek, the main ingredient in embalming dead bodies and symbolic of death.
And you may recall that it was one of the three gifts given by the Wise Men to Jesus at his Birth.
It cost dearly to be a Christian in Smyrna and the other six cities of the Apocalypse.
In conclusion may I leave you with the following conclusions from the first two churches of the Apocalypse - conclusions which are still important for us as Christians today:
1. The Church of Ephesus died because – despite striving for orthodoxy - the Church lost its first love of Christ.
2. In contrast the Church of Smyrna gained the Crown of Life by remaining loyal to Christ - although it cost them a Crown of Thorns in terms of persecution
And of the seven Churches of the Apocalypse, the towns of only two still stand – and Smyrna is one of them – known as Izmir in Turkey today
And there is still a Christian presence in Izmir.
One of the ICS Partner Churches is St John’s Anglican Church in Izmir. ICS stands for Inter Continental Church Society (of which I am at the time of writing a Committee member)
And the Roman Catholics also have a church there
I believe that these churches are only there because of the choices the church of Smyrna made in the first century AD.
The Church of Smyrna was commended for its loyalty to Christ even though it cost many their lives. Would we be willing to give up our lives if Christ called us to do so - to be loyal to him
To sum up so far in our study to the Seven Churches of Revelation - or the Apocalypse
1. The Message from the first Church of the Apocalypse, Ephesus - is that we need to nurture our love for Jesus, to return to our first love
2. The Message from the second Church of the Apocalypse, Smyrna is that we are to remain utterly loyal to Christ in all our doings even if it costs us what is most dear to us.
And even today it costs many of our brothers and sisters dearly to name the name of Jesus – especially in Muslim countries. Let us stand firm with them this morning in prayer
Let us remember our brothers and sisters in prayer:
Heavenly Father, we remember those who even today speak your name in the face of religious persecution in many countries of the world.
May we stand with them in prayer as they bear witness to you especially in Muslim countries
We ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
