A. Revelation 1:8 (READ)
1. If you were about to be KILLED for your FAITH in Jesus, wouldn’t it be HEARTENING to know that
the One you would DIE for had DIED for you and is ALIVE again?
a. Getting a letter of encouragement from Jesus, the CRUCIFIED and RESURRECTED Christ, meant
a great deal to the Church of Smyrna.
COMMENT:
This church was undergoing severe SUFFERING for their FAITH. Many would be put to DEATH. Yet, the words from the One who SUFFERED and DIED and ROSE AGAIN, knew exactly
what they were going through.
b. Christ words had another MEANING for the church of Smyrna.
COMMENT:
The city of Smyrna was engrossed in IDOLATRY. Among one of the many gods worshipped by the PAGANS who lived there was DIONYSUS, the god of WINE and FESTIVITY whom the people believed had DIED and ROSE again. Each year the DEATH, BURIAL and RESURRECTION of DIONYSUS were acted out by the PUBLIC.
2. The GLORIFIED Christ who was the “first and the last” wanted to ensure His FOLLOWERS that only
He was the One who DIED and ROSE AGAIN.
COMMENT:
The Christians of Smyrna knew the difference between MYTH and TRUTH. DIONYSUS and his DEATH and RESURRECTION was sheer FANTASY. The DEATH and RESURRECTION of Jesus was HISTORICAL FACT.
B. BACKGROUND OF THE CITY: Smyrna was LOCATED about 40 miles north of Ephesus, and it, too, was an influential COASTAL CITY known for its SCIENCE, MEDICINE, FINE WINE (lot of vineyards),
beautiful ARCHITECTURE, and expensive FRAGRANCES (city was named after the Myrrh trees
scattered throughout the landscape).
1. Today the modern city of Izmir, Turkey is located where Smyrna used to be, but you are still able to VISIT some of the RUINS of Smyrna located right in the middle of Izmir (PHOTO: Ancient agora— a MARKET PLACE and PUBLIC SQUARE).
2. The city of Smyrna was also known as “THE CROWN CITY”.
a. Behind the city was a HILL called “Mount Pagos”.
COMMENT:
Although it is covered with RESIDENTIAL HOUSING today, in the first century it was covered with TEMPLES that housed their various GODS and GODDESSES. The EDIFICES were reported to
have ENCIRCLED the mountain, GLITTERING like a CROWN.
b. On top of Mount Pagos was a huge STADIUM that was originally built for OLYMPIC games, but
in the first and second centuries it became a place where Christians were tortured and put to death.
COMMENT:
On this HILL in 156 AD, approximately 75-years after John penned the book of Revelation, an ELDER of the church of Smyrna named Polycarp was asked to call Caesar “Lord” and sacrifice to him, but to do so would denounce Jesus as the One and Only Lord. Before being BURNED at the stake, Polycarp said, “Eighty-six-years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong.”
C. BACKGROUND OF THE CHURCH: Compared to the church of Ephesus, Smyrna was a much smaller
CHURCH and a POOR church.
1. The SUFFERING they were enduring came from both the JEWS and the GREEKS.
a. There was a large POPULATION of JEWS who lived in this city who were very much against
Christianity, and, therefore against the CHURCH of Smyrna.
b. Now, the GREEKS didn’t mind if these Christians worshipped another GOD named Jesus (to them, he was ONE of many gods), but they also demanded EMPEROR WORSHIP—the WORSHIP of
Caesar (that Polycarp refused to do).
COMMENT:
The city of Smyrna had a fierce ALLEGIANCE to Rome. When a Roman Emperor died, he was WORSHIPPED as a GOD. Smyrna was the first city in Asia to build a TEMPLE to the Roman
Emperors and erected IDOLS to each Caesar who had DIED—from Julius Caesar to Nero.
Each year when the PREFECT of Rome came, every citizen of Smyrna was to go to the Temple
and drop a pinch of INCENSE into the FIRE at the altar of CAESAR and say “Caesar is Lord”.
Rome didn’t feel this was an UNREASONABLE request! All that Christians had to do is say, “Caesar is Lord” only once a year and continue WORSHIPPING Christ without any MOLESTATION from Rome. But even as Polycarp, Christians knew to call Caesar “LORD” even ONCE, was to DENY Jesus Christ as Lord. They REFUSED!!!
2. Now Smyrna, along with Philadelphia, are the only CHURCHES of the SEVEN that Christ does not
have a REBUKE.
a. Christ tells the other churches, “I have this against you”, but He doesn’t mention anything He has
against these two churches.
b. It doesn’t mean they were PERFECT, but their MEMBERS sincerely endeavored, by the GRACE of God, to LOVE and SERVE the Lord with FERVOR and ZEAL letting their LAMPSTANDS
shine BRIGHTLY around them.
MESSAGE:
I. HELPLESS, BUT NOT HOPELESS- Revelation 2:8-10a (READ)
A. Christ wants this church to REALIZE that He KNOWS what they are going through.
ILLUSTRATION:
Homer, author of Iliad and The Odyssey, was also from Smyrna. In his writings he
described the Greek gods as DESPISING humans and looking down on them with CONTEMPT.
Unlike the gods worshipped by the PAGANS, Christ is NOT some distant DIVINE BEING
who sits on His lofty THRONE showing no LOVE or CONCERN for His FOLLOWERS.
Everything that Christ says that He KNOWS about what the Christians at Smyrna were going through, He had personally EXPERIENCED when He caringly WALKED among the people MINISTERING to their NEEDS.
B. What does Christ KNOW about this church?
1. “I know your afflictions.”
a. Greek word for “affliction” means “PRESSURE” or “SQUEEZED”.
COMMENT:
It’s like GRINDING wheat in the MILL or CRUSHING grapes in a VAT. They were under severe PRESSURE being SQUEEZED between both the JEWS and the GREEKS.
b. Yet, despite the AFFLICTIONS these Christians were having to ENDURE for the sake of Christ,
their FAITH remained STRONG.
COMMENT:
Often, we allow the slightest PRESSURE to weaken our FAITH. Some even questions God’s
LOVE and thinks He has FORSAKEN them when they EXPERIENCE hardship of any kind.
“I got a flat tire while driving to work today. Where’s God when you need Him?”
c. This church was undergoing constant PRESSURE simply because they were followers of Christ.
2. “I know your poverty.”
a. Not just POOR . . . ROCK BOTTOM POOR.
(1). There are two Greek words for “POVERTY”:
-Penia- “not wealthy; describes a man who must work for a living and barely gets by.” (That describes most Americans.)
-Ptocheia- “utter destitution; describes a man who works night and day and still has to beg for his food.” (It’s the word that Jesus uses here.)
(2). Their POVERTY was most likely due to two reasons:
-Belonged to a lower class of society. (Many of us can empathize with that.)
-Not only were they heavily TAXED by the Roman Government, many Christians had their property CONFISCATED because of their refusal to worship Caesar. They had nothing.
b. Yet, despite their POVERTY, Jesus said, “You are RICH.”
COMMENT:
Our BANK ACCOUNTS may not show it, but WE ARE RICH!
Now, I know the world SNICKERS with AMUSEMENT when they hear this kind of TALK!
They look at us and say, “Really? You’re rich? Can you GIVE me some MONEY?”
What these Christians at Smyrna KNOW and what you and I KNOW is that WE ARE RICH IN CHRIST—you can’t get any RICHER than that. Our TREASURE is not laid up in a BANK somewhere on this EARTH, but in HEAVEN.
Although the church of Smyrna was IMPOVERISHED—having NOTHING—they would not COMPROMISE their RELATIONSHIP with Jesus for ALL the GOLD and SILVER in Rome.
3. “I know your slander”
a. Christ- “I know how the Jews have been slandering you”- v. 9b.
COMMENT:
These Christians were so HATED for their FAITH and ALLEGIANCE to Jesus as the
Christ—the Messiah
Jesus told His apostles just before His crucifixion, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first”- John 15:18. Jesus was also SLANDERED by the JEWS, so He KNOWS what
they’re going through.
The Jews would SLANDER the Church of Smyrna with malicious lies and gossip and innuendo to cause them as much TROUBLE and HARDSHIP as they possibly could. They did not want them to be LIKED, so they were DETERMINED to destroy their REPUTATION.
ILLUSTRATION:
I have seen on Facebook how some have tried to DESTROY the REPUTATION of this church with their LIES and SLANDER. They get UPSET with the LEADERS or some of the MEMBERS of this church for one reason or another, but instead of coming to TALK about it and PRAY about it as Jesus said, they use Facebook as a means to HURT and DEFAME this church.
b. Now, Jesus POINTED out that these Jews may think they are from God and doing His bidding,
but Satan is pulling the STRINGS.
COMMENT:
In fact, He calls them “a synagogue of Satan” (and will do so again in His message to the church of Philadelphia). Nothing could be WORSE. The Synagogue was a consecrated place for PRAYER and the READING of God’s Word, but Jesus points out that “Satan has taken it over.”
c. Notice that Jesus also pointed out that those who DO NOT ACCEPT Him as the Messiah, are
not true JEWS.
COMMENT:
A true Jew is not one who is born a HEBREW, but one who is BORN AGAIN in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:29- “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed [offspring], and heirs [children of God] according to the promise.” We are the TRUE JEW!!
4. “I know your suffering”
a. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer”- v. 10a.
ILLUSTRATION:
“Woe, Lord! Did I hear you right? Didn’t you mean to say, ‘Don’t be afraid, because you WON’T have to suffer’? I think you misspoke.”
COMMENT:
No, Christ is telling them that whatever “AFFLICTION or PRESSURE” they are going through right now, IT IS going to get WORSE. Jesus has never let people believe that once they GIVE their LIVES to Him, everything is going to be PROBLEM FREE from now on.
No, just the opposite. He has made it very CLEAR that being His DISCIPLE is going to
come with HEARTACHE and SUFFERING and possible DEATH.
b. Jesus explains further, “I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.”
COMMENT:
Although their SUFFERING will come at the HANDS of the ROMANS and the JEWS, it’s the DEVIL who is leading the CHARGE. Some (not all) will be put in PRISON and PERSECUTED for “TEN DAYS”—a week-and-a-half.
I have not found any CONSENSUS from the scholars that I’ve read as to the meaning of “ten days”, other than the majority don’t believe it is a LITERAL ten days. I tend to believe that the number simply means that suffering is not PERMANENT—there’s a BEGINNING and an END. All suffering is TEMPORARY compared to ETERNITY and LIFE EVERLASTING.
Romans 8:18- “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Whatever SUFFERING we have to go through for our FAITH is WORTH IT to receive ETERNAL LIFE. Including DEATH.
II. HOPE REALIZED- Revelation 2:10b-11 (READ)
A. “The FAITHFUL will be given THE CROWN OF LIFE.”
1. Jesus is saying, “Be FAITHFUL even if it LEADS to your DEATH.” AND IT DID.
COMMENT:
During the height of EMPEROR WORSHIP that worsened under the Emperor Domitian who reigned from 81-96AD (known as the “reign of terror”), thousands of Christians were executed because they refused to WORSHIP Domitian who called himself “God and Lord”.
2. However, in facing DEATH for the sake of Christ, the SAINTS of Smyrna were actually facing
LIFE: ETERNAL LIFE.
a. The Greek word for CROWN is not the more common word DIADEM that we see Satan—the
Great Dragon wearing in Rev. 12:3. This word is STEPHANOS: “the VICTORY CROWN”.
COMMENT:
It was the CROWN given to the VICTORS of the Olympic Games that was so prominent in Smyrna in the STADIUM built on top of Mount Pagos where many Christians were EXECUTED.
The PAGAN TEMPLES that encircled Mount Pagos may have looked like a GLITTERING CROWN from a distance, but the Christians who SUFFERED and DIED for their FAITH on that very HILL were the ones CROWNED VICTORIOUS!
b. Jesus is saying, “Many of you are going to SUFFER and DIE because of your FAITH, but stay FAITHFUL to the END and you will be VICTORIOUS.”
3. There is nothing greater than spending ETERNITY with God.
a. And that same PROMISE is for you and Me.
b. James 1:12- “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has withstood
the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised those who love Him.”
COMMENT:
In America with our RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS in place, our TRIALS will most likely not be DEATH for our FAITH in Christ. But whatever those TRIALS are—hatred, ridicule, gossip, life’s problems and struggles—if we do not allow them to weaken or destroy our FAITH, we, too, will receive the VICTORY CROWN.
B. “The OVERCOMER will not be hurt by THE SECOND DEATH.”
1. John tells us what the “second death” is in Revelation 20:14-15 (READ and COMMENT)
a. The “SECOND DEATH” is just the OPPOSITE of ETERNAL LIFE.
COMMENT:
ETERNAL LIFE that is promised to the OVERCOMER, whose name is found in the “book
of life”, is a HEAVENLY HOME with God for all ETERNITY.
The SECOND DEATH is being cast into HELL—“the lake of fire”—along with Satan and
his demonic forces for all ETERNITY.
b. Do I have to ASK where you want to spend ETERNITY?
2. Those who overcome EVIL, overcome TEMPTATION, overcome the LAUGHS, the TAUNTS, the RIDICULE from Satan’s BUNCH, will not DIE the “SECOND DEATH” but will be CROWNED VICTORIOUS by Jesus Himself.
