Intro: The Persecuted Church
· A prominent national leader in the unregistered Protestant house church movement in China was executed Oct. 14, 1999 by firing squad.
· Chechen militants kidnapped a young Baptist deacon and are demanding that his church sell its building and use the money to pay the ransom. The deacons’ predecessors were kidnapped and beheaded.
· In India, a 26-year-old Catholic nun was raped and mocked for her faith.
· The Myanmar military government attacked 22 villages of a tribe who are mostly Christians. Witnesses said the military beat and stabbed to death many people.
· A Coptic Orthodox priest in Egypt was shot. A Coptic bishop faces from eight years in prison to the death penalty on charges resulting from his reporting that 1,200 members of his diocese had been tortured in August and September.
· In Vietnam, Sept. 17, 1999 security police raided a house church, arresting and interrogating an evangelist and two others.
· In a largely Christian province of Sudan, 700 people die from starvation each day. 50,000 mostly Christian kids, have been sold into slavery for “the going rate” of $50.
Cuba - Only ninety miles off the Florida Straits lies an island that stands as one of the last champions of communism. In 1959, Fidel Castro came to power threatening Cubans with socialism or death. In the mid ‘60s, Castro labeled Catholics and Protestants “social scum” and forced both laypeople and clergy into labor camps under inhumane conditions. Cuba’s constitution was amended in 1992 to guarantee freedom of religion. But today, despite the government’s claims of religious freedom, Christians are imprisoned and churches are destroyed. In 1996, the Ministry of Justice ordered the closure of all house churches, estimated to number between 3,000 and 10,000. Thankfully, most churches did not comply and continue to influence Cuba for Christ.
Pakistan – Many Pakistani Christians have been falsely accused of breaking Law 295c (blaspheming Mohammed)—a crime punishable by death. Some have even been killed by mobs after being acquitted of such charges. In 1998 a proposal was made to officially adopt Muslim Sharia law as the law of the land, which would bring about even more persecution. Despite hardships, Christians continue in love and perseverance, boldly sharing Christ.
China - China’s “strike-hard” policy, presented as a crackdown on criminals, is hardest on Christians, putting more believers in prison or under detention than in any other country. The confiscation of church property and Bibles continues—even Bibles officially printed by the government. Yet the Church grows: an estimated 3,000 Chinese come to Christ each day. China’s house church movement, which comprises approximately 90 percent of China’s Christians, endures unimaginable persecution, yet stands on its commitment to preach the gospel no matter the cost.
Transition: Much of what makes this sermon difficult to preach is that we as American Christians know so little of what it means to suffer for our faith. We just cannot relate to it. We have it so good here… It may not always be that way, but right now, we have much religious freedom that much of the world does not enjoy.
The faithful Christians at the ancient city of Smyrna knew persecution well…
Smyrna lay just 35 miles north of Ephesus on the west coast of Asia on the Aegean Sea. It was the loveliest of all the cities and was sometimes called “the Ornament of Asia,” “the Crown of Asia,” or sometimes “the Flower of Asia.”
The word “Smyrna” itself means “myrrh,” a sweet perfume used in embalming dead bodies, and included in the holy anointing oil used in the Tabernacle worship in the OT (Ex 30:23).
Smyrna is the only place to receive a letter where there is a city today. Ancient Smyrna is modern Izmir, Turkey’s second largest port after Istanbul and third largest city with over one and a half million inhabitants.
Smyrna had been a Greek colony as far back as 1000 B.C. Around 600 B.C. it was invaded and destroyed by the Lydeans and for 400 years there was no city there at all. Then around 200 B.C. Alexander the Great had it rebuilt and repopulated. It was built with streets that were broad, straight, sweeping, and beautifully paved. The city had experienced death and had literally been brought back to life.
Smyrna was also considered a free city, one that knew the meaning of loyalty and fidelity to Rome unlike most cities. Cicero called it, “one of our most faithful and our most ancient allies.” It was the first city in the world to erect a temple to the goddess Roma and to the spirit of Rome. Her fidelity to Rome was famous in the ancient world. It was also a center of the imperial cult of Rome and emperor worship. It was a city given over to idolatry, and devoted to the glory of the Roman empire.
Smyrna is mentioned only here in Scripture, but from other literature it is evident that this city was noted for its wickedness and opposition to the Christian gospel in the first century.
There is no reference to this city in the travels recorded in the book of Acts. No special epistle was addressed to it, as there was to Ephesus. Yet, Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, takes special note of it. The eye of the Lord is ever upon the righteous!
As we turn now to Rev. 2:8-11, you will notice that the outlines to these letters to the seven churches are very similar to one another, so we must pay close attention to the details. They are important…
1. Christ’s Characterization (v. 8)
a. Jesus is Almighty – “I am the first and the last”
Remember, Jesus had described Himself this way to John in Rev 1:17-18
This was a claim that only Almighty God could claim, as He did in the book of Isaiah:
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ’I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. (Isa 44:6)
He is the eternal, Almighty God who has always existed in the past and who will always exist in the future. He is the beginning of all things, and the ending of all things. Everything is under His control. He reigns supreme.
b. Jesus is Alive – “who was dead, and has come to life”
Do you remember those words of the angels at Jesus’ empty tomb?
"Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.” (Luke 24:5-6)
The city of Smyrna had essentially died and was reborn under a visionary leader like Alexander the Great, but now someone greater even than Alexander was at hand, the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ. He could identify with Smyrna’s own history.
2. Christ’s Comfort (v. 9-10)
It is noteworthy that the word of Christ to the church of Smyrna contains no word of rebuke. The only other church that enjoys this is the church at Philadelphia. We will see that the trials that faced the Smyrna church kept them from impurity or compromise with evil.
· Let’s take a look at the persecutions that the people in the church of Smyrna were facing, or about to face. Notice what Jesus says about each of their hardships:
a. I know about the Pressure (v. 9a)
The Greek term translated tribulation is “thlipsis,” which means "pressure" in the literal sense. It is used, for example, of a man who was tortured to death by being slowly crushed by a great boulder, or of juice being pressed out of grapes.
This wasn’t about minor set-backs and irritations. This was crushing pressures put on the Christians, that we are so unfamiliar with.
Jesus could say, “I know about your pressure” because He had personally experienced the worst of all pressures. His blood was pressed out of Him while He hung on a Roman cross. He bore the weight of the world’s sin upon His shoulders while He gruesomely died in the extreme pain of crucifixion.
"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matt 5:10-12)
· Jesus: “Suffering Smyrna – blessed are you for walking in my footsteps”
b. I know about the Poverty (v. 9b)
The Greek word (ptocheian) is the word for abject poverty. They were not just poor (penia). The people of this church had apparently been robbed of their material possessions in the process of their persecution.
The remarkable statement here is that Jesus says that though they were poor, they were actually rich!
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Cor 8:9)
· They were rich positionally in Christ (Eph. 1:3), which of course, was by grace.
· They were also rich in that God had counted them worthy to suffer for Him (1 Pet. 3:14-17; 1:6; 4:13-14).
· They were rich in their spiritual lives because they were living close to God by faith.
Jesus could say, “I know about your poverty,” because He had experienced the greatest of poverties. He left the splendor of heaven to come to earth as a common baby. He grew up as one of us, without any of the benefits of glory to aid Him.
· Jesus: “Suffering Smyrna – blessed are you for walking in my footsteps”
c. I know about the Profanity (v. 9c)
These were the religious Jews who claimed to be the seed of Abraham. They were, but only physically. Spiritually they were of Satan and under his power and control (John 8:33-34).
They are the same, in Paul’s time and afterwards, were the most active enemies of the Christians. Thus it has always been in the church; false religion has been most zealous in opposing that which is true.
· William Barclay lists 6 points where early Christians were slandered:
1. The Lord’s Supper with its language about the body and blood of the Lord was twisted into slanderous charges of cannibalism.
2. The great emphasis on love was turned into the slander that the Christians were given over to lust and immorality.
3. When a person became a Christian and had to make hard choices about existing family relationships where paganism held sway, Christians were vulnerable to the slanderous accusation that they were breaking up homes.
4. With the emphasis on one God in a polytheistic culture, Christians were liable to the slanderous distortion that they were atheists. (The Romans didn’t care if Christians believed that Jesus was God. They had many “gods.” What galled them was that Christians believed in only one God.)
5. Since Jesus was Lord, Christians could not call Caesar lord, a position subjecting them to the slanderous allegation of political disloyalty.
6. Nero slandered the Xns w/the charge of rioting to cover his burning of Rome.
Profaning the name of Jesus Christ and the Christian cause still continues incessantly. We can see it today all over the world. I shared several examples at the beginning of this message.
Illustration: March for Jesus
To come closer to home, listen to this example. A week before a recent March for Jesus event in Minneapolis, leaflets were being given out at the nearby university. They read:
“Say ‘No’ to bigotry and hatred. Defend reproductive freedom and queer rights. A group of so-called religious right wing bigots are marching in a ‘March for Jesus,’ on Loring Park in Minneapolis on June 12th . . . to advance their anti-queer, anti-woman political agenda.”
The opponents of Christianity are going to oppose us not by saying that we are wrong, but by saying that we are evil and dangerous...
...anti-semitic,anti-choice, anti-woman, anti-gay,anti-intellectual,anti-tolerance,anti-diversity, etc.
And they will do this in direct proportion to how public we are about the claims of Christianity.
This is what was happening is Smyrna 1900 years ago and it is still happening. When Christianity goes really public in a pagan world (instead of remaining in our safe, isolated, comfortable sanctuaries) the opposition labels us not as mistaken, but as evil and dangerous. It’s profanity!
Jesus could say, “I know about their profanity,” because He experienced the blasphemy of men – and still does. People across this globe continue to make light of Jesus or openly ridicule Him.
· He was blasphemed as having worked miracles in the name of Satan.
· He experienced the twisted crown of thorns pushed onto His head.
· He was slapped, spit on, and beaten.
· He was ridiculed as though He were a clown by forcing Him to wear a purple robe.
· He was goaded by Roman soldiers to prophesy who struck Him while blindfolded.
· He was mocked by chief priests to get off the cross if He were the Son of God.
· He was even insulted by the criminals condemned to die with Him.
· People still treat Jesus this way!…
· Jesus: “Suffering Smyrna – blessed are you for walking in my footsteps”
d. I know about the Prison (v. 10a)
The passage says that the church at Smyrna would have tribulation ten days.
· Some see this as referring to ten periods of severe persecution against the church between the Roman emperors Nero and Domitian.
· Many scholars believe that it merely symbolizes a relatively short time.
Whatever the case may be, it is short in comparison with the eternal blessings, which would be theirs when their days of trial were over.
Jesus could say, “I know about imprisonment,” because He was arrested by 600 Roman guards in the middle of the night on the false accusation of insurrection, being betrayed by one of His own followers. Six phony “trials” through the night vainly attempted to make charges stick –Pilate saw to it that it did, setting Barabbas free instead of Jesus.
· Jesus: “Suffering Smyrna – blessed are you for walking in my footsteps”
e. I know about your being Put to death (v. 10b)
Christians were being put to death because they refused to burn incense to Caesar and say, “Caesar is Lord.” They would not bend the knee to Caesar.
Illustration: Polycarp
About 50-60 years after this letter was penned, some of the Jews on a festival day cried out to seize the Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna. He was to be given the choice: worship Caesar by calling him Lord or die. They cried out, "This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, the destroyer of the gods, who teaches many neither to offer sacrifice nor to worship." Polycarp then gave his famous response:
Eighty and six years have I served Christ, and He has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?… I fear not the fire that burns for a season. Come, do your will. [as they began burning him at the stake, he prayed…] I thank You, O God, that You have graciously thought me worthy of this day and of this hour, that I may receive a portion in the number of the martrys, in the cup of Your Christ.
We are unfamiliar with this type of persecution in the American church today. But in many areas of the world, throughout all of church history, there have been those countless number of Christians who were put to death because of their unswerving faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus could say, “I know about your being put to death,” because He was put to death unjustly Himself. He endured the pain Himself. But He overcame it!
· Jesus: “Suffering Smyrna – blessed are you for walking in my footsteps”
· Why do the godly suffer?
The answer is largely bound up in the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. The will of God, however, is holy, just, and good.
1. It may be disciplinary (I Cor 11:30-32; Heb 12:3-13) – church at Corinth, taking the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. Hebrews teaches that the Lord disciplines His own children.
2. It may be preventative (II Cor 12:7) – Paul’s thorn in the flesh to keep him humble.
3. It may be testimonial (Acts 9:16) – that we may bear a powerful testimony to others how we prevail under suffering.
4. It may be educational (Heb 5:8; Rom 5:3-5) – Christ learned obedience through suffering. So too, Christians learn to praise God through difficult times.
When Christians go through difficult times, it is as if Jesus is says:
· If you never felt pain, then how would you know that I’m a Healer?
· If you never went thru difficulties, how would you know that I’m a Deliverer?
· If you never had a trial, how could you call yourself an overcomer?
· If you never felt sadness, how would you know that I’m a Comforter?
· If you never made a mistake, how would you know that I’m forgiving?
· If you knew all, how would you know that I will answer your questions?
· If you never had troubles, how would you know that I will come to your rescue?
· If you never were broken, then how would know that I can make you whole?
· If you never had a problem, how would you know that I can solve them?
· If you never had any suffering, then how would you know what I went through?
· If you never went through the fire, then how would you become pure?
· If I gave you all things, how would you appreciate them?
· If I never corrected you, how would you know that I love you?
· If you had all power, then how would you learn to depend on me?
· If your life was perfect, then what would you need Me for?
The Bible doesn’t promise that we will have an easy road in this world as a Christian. Instead, it’s quite the opposite!
“… I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. "Remember the word that I said to you, "A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you… (Jn 15:19-20)
3. Christ’s Counsel (v. 10)
a. Be Fearless! (v. 10a)
Don’t be afraid of any of these things! (literally – “Stop being afraid!”)
They had nothing really to fear in this persecution because it could not rob them of their priceless eternal blessings in Christ.
The Romans could rob the Christians of everything material – their homes, money, jobs, clothes, even life. But they could never touch their souls, which are in the hands of God!
"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt 10:28)
No matter what happens in this temporary life on earth. It is the things of eternity that really matter. Do not fear…
b. Be Faithful! (v. 10b)
(NIV is more accurately translated, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life)
The crown of life is eternal life itself, not an additional crown in addition to eternal life.
Other places in Scripture remind us of the crowns of glory we will receive when we cross that finish line.
· Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12)
· Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (1 Cor 9:25)
· For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (II Tim 4:6-8)
Jesus wanted to counsel the Smyrna Christians, and us too, to be fearless and faithful, because in the end, WE WIN – THEY LOSE!
4. Christ’s Covenant (v. 11)
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. (Rev 20:14)
The promise to the overcomer is that he shall not be hurt by the second death. The second death is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:1, 14). Believers may face physical death, but because they have had a second birth (John 3:3-7), no believer will ever face the second death (Eph. 2:1, 5; John 5:24; 11:25).
Those who ruthlessly try to put Christians to death, will themselves experience death – not once, but twice! (Except for the saving grace of God).
AGAIN, IN THE END, WE WIN – THEY LOSE!
5. Conclusion
Jesus never mentions how the church at Smyrna could get out from under the heavy weight of persecution. All He said was in effect: “I know…I’ve been there myself. Blessed are you in following my footsteps. You too shall be exalted!”
Illustration: Jonathan Edwards
The great revivalist, Jonathan Edwards, came to a point of decision in his Massachusetts church. It had traditionally welcomed anyone and everyone to become members of the church, and also to partake of communion. This began to greatly trouble Edwards, who’s conviction it was that the church should only accept as members those who are truly born again. Furthermore, he believed that the Lord’s Supper should only be given to Christians. (NOTE: These two convictions are hallmarks to the history and present-day positions of the Free Church.)
Edwards own cousin began a divisive campaign within the church to smear the pastor’s concerns and win support for overthrowing him. When the vote was taken, 230 people voted to fire Edwards. Only 30 voted to keep him.
Years later, Edward’s cousin begged him for forgiveness, realizing that he was doing the devil’s work by dividing the church with misleading lies. Of course he forgave him, but the damage had been done.
One of Edward’s biographers noted what serenity Edwards was able to have in the midst of all the turmoil and his firing as pastor. How could he have this peace? His biographer wrote, “His happiness in God was beyond the reach of his enemies.”
That’s Grace Under Fire! And that is what we all need.
We can thank God that we do not face the terrible persecution that many of our brothers and sisters are facing around this world. Heaven knows if that kind of pain will ever befall us. But whether our suffering should be anything from marginalization in the media, or out-and-out slaughter for the cause of Christ, He will give us the Grace we need to endure Under the Fires of Persecution.
The Lord Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (I Pet 4:14)
We shouldn’t pray for persecution. We don’t need to! It’s a promise for all who wish to live godly lives. Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Tim 3:12). What we need to strive for is godliness, and the persecution will come one way or another.
I want to hear from Jesus, “Blessed are you for following in my footsteps…”
· Thanks for our religious freedom, but that we might not be comfortable with it.
· For purity – even if that means persecution.
· For the grace our brothers and sisters in the world need to withstand the fires of persecution.
· For the grace we need to stand strong in the fires of persecution, when God allows it.
