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.
To this small, powerless church that was being persecuted by the powerful government of Rome and opposed by a large, influential Jewish population, Jesus said He existed before creation and He will exist after creation has disappeared. He is in control and moving events along to accomplish His purpose.
In Isaiah 41 the prophet is prophesying an event to occur almost 150 years in the future. The Babylonians will defeat Judah and take the people captive. They are going to doubt if God is still in control. Don’t let the pain and struggle of those hard days weaken your trust in God. God will use this to conform His people to His purposes. God is in control. Isaiah says He is the First and Last. John applies this title to Jesus. He is God.
We don’t know if our suffering will turn out for better or worse. Some are recovering from the Covidvirus, others have side effects, and some have died. It didn’t turn out well for the church in Smyrna. For one thing, persecution impoverished them. But God has a wider perspective on our life and what He is doing in our life and through our life. They could never in their wildest imaginations have known their life would impact persecuted believers and pampered believers in the 21st century. We need this to pierce through our narrow view of life.
I don’t know how but God is going to use this pandemic to do His work in your life, my life, our church and the Church in America. May it be so.
If we can trust Him with our eternal destiny, we can trust Him with concerns of our brief history. When we struggle to live in peace, we are not living in truth. Rehearse your Bible history. He was before Abraham and after Abraham and He sustained Abraham in his brief sojourn on this earth. He never abandoned Abraham but rescued and protected and sustained. He will do the same for us.
We can trust our suffering to the eternal God. We can trust our suffering to the victorious God.
B. The victorious God.
The second title of Jesus is, “the one who was dead and came to life.” Literally it says, “He became dead and sprang to life.” The commentators say the emphasis is upon a completed act in the past. It points back to Christ’s resurrection.
The city of Smyrna was destroyed in 600 B.C. by the king of Lydia, but Alexander the Great wanted it rebuilt and it was in 290 B.C. In one sense it died and came to life. Smyrna can take away one’s present life, Jesus guarantees one’s future life. The suffering believers of Smyrna were assured that their ultimate future was already secure, even though their present lives were in distress.
Isn’t it odd that people are frightened over the wrong death? Everybody is scared of dying. I admit it is a bit scary when you think of a day coming when you will no longer exist in this life. You’ve gone to an unknown reality. However, for those who are believers, death is the open door to the best life yet. What people should be scared about is the second death. The Bible uses this metaphor to describe being separated from God for eternity in hell. Now that’s scary, and there is no remedy to this separation if you die the first death separated from God. But Jesus’ victory over the first death ensures those who repent of sin and trust Him as God will never experience the second death.
Every person who has refused to receive Jesus as Savior and God knows he is going to lose the fight with death. History proves it and science proves it. One scientist said the most we could ever hope to live would be 600 years. Things like accidents would end our life. But every believer knows he is going to win over death. Because Christ is our victorious God, we are victorious over our greatest enemy, death.
There’s one more thing stated about Christ. It’s not given a title but it essential to comforting the believers in their suffering. He says twice in v. 9, “I know.”
C. The personal God.
He told the Ephesians that He walked among the seven golden lampstands. He is the all-knowing God. One of the greatest sources of comfort is to know you are not alone in your suffering. Someone else shares it with you. You can unburden yourself to one who understands. Just being able to do this brings its own sense of peace and relief.
John Feinberg is a biblical scholar. He has done much study and writing on suffering. His interest came from his childhood and marriage. He wrote his Master of Divinity thesis on Job. His mother went from one physical pain to another. This sparked his interest at an early age with the problem of pain and suffering.
If there was anyone prepared to face affliction it was John. His mind was filled with the theoretical truths and responses to why people suffer and how they should respond. But he found them of no help for the pain he was to experience with his wife.
On November 4, 1987, everything changed for him and his family when his wife was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease. Huntington’s disease is a genetically transmitted disease involving the premature deterioration of the brain. The symptoms of Huntington’s disease are both physical and psychological. Physically, it means the gradual loss of control of all voluntary bodily movement; psychologically, it means memory loss and depression, and, as it progresses, the possibility of hallucinations and paranoid schizophrenia. A slowly developing disease, the symptoms do not become evident until about the age of thirty, and over the next ten to twenty years it is fatal. Worse for John and his wife, Pat, only one parent needs to carry the gene for Huntington’s disease to be passed on to their child. They have three children, each born with a 50 percent chance of eventually receiving the same diagnosis as their mother.
It is painful to read his agony for his wife and fear for his children. His emotions swing from one extreme to the other. What Dr. Feinberg eventually concludes, as important and needed are the intellectual answers, what he had to have to make it through the minefields of despair was the personal care of Jesus and his followers.
Jesus not only discloses the truth of who He is, but He also gives Himself to them. Jesus knows. Jesus cares. He so often wraps Himself up in the skin of another believer who knows and cares. Don’t discount your phone call or card or personal visit. You may be Jesus personally showing up to someone in their suffering and pain. So just show up. Just be there. This does more than any platitudes you may speak.
The church is marked by suffering and trusting the Lord Jesus. You play an important role in the church at these times.
The church is encouraged to trust Christ in suffering by the titles of Christ. … through the troubles of the Christians.
II. THE TROUBLES OF THE CHRISTIANS (REVELATION 2:9-10)
What form did their troubles take? How did the Christians in Smyrna suffer? Four trials are mentioned.
(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.
A. Affliction (9a).
The word “affliction” is a serious word. In ancient literature it referred to something that crushes. For example, it was used of a man being tortured to death by being crushed by a great boulder slowly being laid upon him. Many people live under pressure. Work, family, worry cause many to collapse under the burden of troubles.
Guidestone administers the health and medical benefits for Southern Baptist ministers. Every year at the Southern Baptist Convention held in June they do health checkups. They report that 70% of the people who come to the Wellness Booth are at moderate to high risk for heart disease. The number one and the number two prescriptions are for stress-related illness. For over thirty years they have paid more for stress-related illnesses than for new babies.
Are you under pressure?
B. Poverty (9a).
Have you noticed how often one problem seems to bring on other problems? Health issues lead to financial issues which lead to relational issues. Part of their affliction was financial. There are two Greek words for poverty. One describes the man who has to work hard for his living. He has nothing extra left over. He makes just enough to keep body and soul alive. This is not that word. The one John uses describes the person who has nothing at all. They were destitute. A part of the homeless population in Smyrna were Christians.
Smyrna was one of the wealthiest cities in Asia Minor, but the Christians were among its most impoverished people. We know from Christian history that when a person became a Christian it often led to poverty. He lost his job or people stopped trading with him because he wouldn’t offer sacrifices to the patron god of the vocation. We know from Hebrews 10 that some Christians had their goods plundered. Maybe they quit sinful jobs.
An evangelist friend use to supplement his income by selling maps to the public schools. He lost a contract with one of our larger school systems because he wouldn’t slam down a few rounds with a few of the committee members at a bar. I could give many stories I know of Christians who suffered financially because they refused to compromise their faith.
Christ’s opinion of these people is they are rich. The word “rich” is our word plutocrat. Plutocrats are a class of ruling wealthy people. It’s amazing. Jesus says the truly rich in Smyrna are the destitute, vagrant Christians.
If we were to fill this room with people from parts of India, Africa, or Asia, anyone of us would be richer than all of them combined. We’re rich in this world’s goods but it soon will pass from our hands. How rich are you in those things that will last for eternity?
C. Slandered (9).
To slander someone is to destroy a person’s reputation. Jews poisoned the minds of the government officials toward Christians. Accusing them of being traitors of Rome and disloyal because they would not pronounce Caesar is Lord. They were accused of being cannibals because they talked about eating flesh and drinking blood. The Christian’s love feast, think potluck supper, was said to be an orgy of sexual perversion. And since they didn’t recognize any Roman gods, they were accused of actually being atheists!
There’s no anti-Semitism in this remark. A Jew wrote it. It’s sin that’s being reported. The Jews were influential and used their power to create havoc for Christians.
Have you ever been slandered? I have. You grieve because you can never recover the reputation you have made sacrifices to build. It’s a pain that stays with you. At some point you have to trust Christ with other’s opinion of you.
D. Prison (10)
The Romans didn’t use prison to punish or reform prisoners. They used them to hold prisoners until their day in court or until their execution. This would be a severe test. It would be of limited duration. This is the meaning of ten days.
The devil is behind this evil, but He is not in control. He is not more powerful than Christ. In 2 Corinthians 12:7 Paul speaks of Satan giving him a thorn in the flesh. But it was only possible because God allowed it to keep Paul humble and dependent on the Lord Jesus. God used Satan’s evil for Paul’s good.
How are Christians to respond to times of suffering and hardship? Without fear and faithfulness.
Those words are incredible to me: Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The Lord Jesus admits the reality facing this church is suffering. It’s like the surgeon telling the patient to not fear the unavoidable pain of surgery or the counselor telling the counselee they must face the destructive beliefs or behaviors which are harming their life. The power of fear is diminished when we realize this is a fallen world and bad things happen.
It is living in a dream world to think we will not have some rain fall in every life. When we forget that we live in a world of darkness and Satan it distorts our reality and makes the surrounding evil terrifying. Even if we could even out the social and economic ills of society, we’d still have a police force and locks on our door. Christians are saddened by the state of society but not shocked.
I think this is what Scott Peck meant in his famous statement:
Life is difficult…. Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.
What scares us is not being in control. The enemies and Satan control the lives of Christians in Smyrna. But what Jesus has taught the church is ultimately, He is in control. Yes, you can be hurt by others, but God alone holds authority over your ultimate well-being. In Matthew 10:28 Jesus says not to fear those who can kill your body but to fear Him who can destroy your soul and body in hell. If people don’t hold ultimate authority over your life, it doesn’t make sense to give them this kind of power over you. Jesus calls them to put fear in its proper place.
There’s a lot of fear today—medical fear, economic fear, fear of government overreach. Is it a sign of the end times or is it a sign of a coming revival? There’s a lot to create fear.
In 155 A.D. persecution broke out against the church in Smyrna again. The mob wanted to cut off the church by getting rid of their leader, the now aged Polycarp. The believers hid Polycarp in a farmhouse. (The leaders there taught that one should not seek out martyrdom, but neither should it be avoided if there was no choice and it meant denying Christ). The authorities found the farm house and came to arrest the old man. He welcomed his captors as if they were old friends and gave them food and drink. He asked for an hour to pray before being taken to the arena. They relented. The hour stretched into two hours. The officers, overhearing his prayers began to wonder what they were doing arresting an old man like this.
Polycarp was brought into the arena. Instead of Polycarp begging for his life we find the proconsul pleading with this aged bishop to just curse Christ so he would be released. Polycarp's reply was loud and clear: Eighty and six years have I served Him, and he never did me any injury; how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior. He was burned alive. Believers were allowed to bury his remains on February 22. Churches near and far from Smyrna observed this date in years to come and drew strength from the testimony of this old man who would not deny Christ, no matter what it cost him.
The church is encouraged to trust the sovereignty of Christ in suffering by the titles of Christ…. through the troubles of the Christians….because of the triumph of Christ.
III. THE TRIUMPH OF CHRIST (REVELATION 2:11)
John writes in v. 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 first phrase means what has been said corporately is to be applied individually. This is not just a message for us, it is a message for you. The call to hear or listen is the Bible’s way of calling us to obey. To the Jewish mindset to hear God speak to you but to fail to obey was impossible. You must not have heard. How could a tiny creature tell the sovereign Creator no? Victory is reserved for the obedient.
John pictures life as a race and waiting at the end of the grueling race is the Lord Jesus ready to reward you with abundant life and eternal security. Smyrna was known for its athletic contests so the Christians will not have difficulty understanding this life requires discipline and diligence. Sometimes the pace is exhausting. But Jesus gives as a gift eternal life to those whose life has demonstrated their faith is genuine. The race may even claim our life but we will escape hell and receive eternal life forever in heaven.
CONCLUSION
Dr. Paul Brand visited a leper colony in India. At that time no one wanted to minister to lepers, so they were isolated in seclusion in a large colony. Dr. Brand, a godly surgeon, went to work among them for a brief period.
When he arrived, the directors of the colony sat him down on a small mat in the middle of a circle. They gathered the patients to greet him, and then they all began to sing. Dr. Brand noticed that most them were hiding their hands. Many had claw-like hands which are typical of advanced leprosy. Some had stubs because they lost fingers. Some sat on their hands or hid them behind their backs. Following the music, Dr. Brand was introduced as a famous Christian surgeon.
As Dr. Brand stood, translators prepared to deliver his remarks in two different dialects. Suddenly everything inside him went dry. He said, “I didn’t have a message. I didn’t know what to say to these forgotten, suffering nobodies.” He prayed, “Lord, help me to say something which will bless them.”
He began, “I am a hand surgeon. When I go into a group, the first thing I notice are the hands of people. I have spent my life studying the hand. I can look at your hands and tell what your vocation is by observing the location of calluses on your hands, the condition of your fingernails, and the softness or the toughness of your hands.”
Dr. Brand continued, “Oh, how I would love to have seen the hands of Jesus Christ!” He talked about Jesus’ hands as a baby, soft and helpless. Then he talked about the hands of Jesus as He was a boy going to school in the synagogue. He described how Jesus would pick up the stylus and write the alphabet. He said, “I would like to have seen Jesus’ hands when, as a carpenter, His fingernails were probably split and dirty, and there were scars from cuts and bruises He had gotten while working so hard during those years.”
He told of the Master’s hands when He was the Great Physician who healed the sick. His carpenter’s hands must have grown softer every day as he shared His healing touch with people who needed Him. What hands He must have had when he rode into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday guiding an unbroken donkey colt!
“Then, from my experience as a hand surgeon, I thought of the same hands with spikes driven into them. As a doctor, I know what happens when a spike is driven into a hand: It punctures tendons and muscles and blood vessels. You cannot drive a spike through a hand without deforming it. The hand would become claw-like. Jesus’ hands were crippled and nailed to that cross as He identified with your suffering!”
As he looked at the hands of those lepers, he continued, “I would love to have seen His resurrected hands. Do you remember how He appeared in the upper room, clothed in His resurrected body? Do you think of a body with no flaws? Not so! One flaw remained. He said to Thomas, ‘Put your fingers here; see My hands.’ Evidently Jesus kept those scars so that in our suffering we will always know that Jesus identifies with us.”
When Dr. Brand finished, he sat down on his little mat. Those who had been hiding their hands folded them in the Indian custom denoting applause. They honored Dr. Brand and they honored the Lord Jesus Christ as they said, “Thank you, Jesus, the Great Physician.”
What can we say to someone in need, someone suffering, someone dying, someone confused? What can we say to those we love in their moment of crisis? We can say to them in love:
What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
In fact, that’s your assignment this week church. Look up the words to the hymn What a Friend we have in Jesus. Sing it each day and throughout the day. I think the Christians at Smyrna would have approved.
What Jesus said to the church at Smyrna doesn’t make sense if there is not another life after this life. Are you ready for that life? You can be and know for sure you are ready. The Bible says these things were written so that you can know you have eternal life. You can’t earn forgiveness and be reconciled to God by good works. You must have someone do for you what you can’t do for yourself, live a perfectly obedient life to God. Only Jesus qualifies. On the cross He substituted Himself for your deserved punishment which was death. Three days later He rose from the grave proving He is the Son of God, Savior of the world. To receive forgiveness and the gift of eternal life you must decisively turn away from a life of rebellion and yield your life to Jesus as your God. Jesus promises that everyone who does this will be saved.
Pray this prayer….Lord Jesus, I am a sinner and I want to be saved....
PRAYER
Our Father in heaven, thank you for loving us when we didn’t love you. Thank you for remaining on the cross to save us from our sin by trusting the Father and remaining faithful. Our view is so narrow. You see the whole sweep of our life and how it fits in with your plan. When we don’t understand, help us to trust. Holy Spirit give us a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Amen.
1. https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/polycarp-quote-11629600.html
2. The Purpose of Suffering, p. 54-57.
