Are You Facing Persecution in Your Life? Part 16

Back to our second part studying the seven churches of Revelation and we are deep into Revelation 2:8-11 discussing the church of Smyrna. We already learned from our study yesterday about the historical aspect of the city of Smyrna and what it was like living there during the time when the city was very prosperous. We learned that the church of Smyrna was a persecuted church and that anyone who professed to be a Christian was undergoing the very threat of death in the least and torture, inprisonment and more were normal activities from those who hated them once they were discovered.

Today we learn more about how to deal with things if we, as believers in Jesus Christ, find ourselves enduring persecution just like the church of Smyrna, and know just what advice Jesus gives to those who are through the letter in the church to Smyrna.

Revelation 2:8-11 ~ "Revelation 2:8-11 ~ "To the angel of the church of Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who are say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of that you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you ill suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has a ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death." (NIV). "

It's always in that moment of difficulty that what you claim to believe becomes reality. Nothing that the world offers is a comfort. When someone is faced with a life changing threat or illness in their life, they aren't crying out for more money, a better position in life, their favorite celebrity to stop by, someone to buy them what they have always wanted. When someone is hurting, they are crying out for peace. We can stand in their presence and simply open the Bible and begin reading it and something happens that transcends the spiritual world to the very physical world and it provides that person with comfort, they could be dying of cancer and racked with pain, and their pain comes down even though it spikes on all the tools the hospital is using.

Whenever we are facing a hostile environment we can be encouraged. (verse 8). "These things says; who was dead." 

This verse is important to you if you find your life about to be threatened. The church of Smyrna lived with the constant threat of being attacked or persecuted for following Jesus Christ. Yet we know that when death comes, it is not the end. Jesus Christ is the Resurrection. You might wonder how will that comfort you, because it's past tense. He has already been through it and has prevailed. He is God! He is alive forever more. If we believe in Jesus, this life isn't the end. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

John 11:25-26 ~ "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? "
John 6:40 ~ "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Matthew 28:20b ~ "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

This applies to the Christian only! God is with us everywhere!

The Lord, Himself, has promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us. Acts 14:21-22 ~ "They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said."

If we are living in a hostile environment, we can be a confident Christian/church. Verse 8 ~ "These things says;...he who "came to life."

He is Jesus. We too will live again. This is important to you if you are facing death. But what about the death of a family member or a friend?

John 6:51 ~ "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world."

Confidence in the face of peril!

2 Corinthians 5:7-8 ~ "We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord."

John 14:1-2 ~ "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you."

If He went through all that work, He is coming back for us as promised.

So what kind of church are you, when times of difficulty surround you? (Verse 9).

Revelation 2:9 ~ "I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who are say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." 

We don't have to wait for something to happen to us, there is a spiritual battle we face every day. Isn't it nice that when we lay our head down at night, God watches over us. So when times of difficulty come and surround you, you will be able to endure.  (Verse 9).

Revelation 2:9 ~ " I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich! I know the slander"

Those of you that are Christians, when we go through difficulty we have our Lord to call out to. We will endure, we will make it! There are three things the church of Smyrna had to endure.

1. "I know your works while in tribulation.." the word tribulation or afflictions as some of your Bibles translate it, means a crushing pressure, a heavy anguish, a sorrowful trouble.  Jesus knows that they are enduring this crushing persecution. The word  is used to describe a man who is being crushed to death by a rockslide or someone who is pinned in a mudslide and the mud is rising. Tribulation = suffering.

Philippians 3:10 ~ "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,"

How many of you would sign up for that? No one would sign up for that. In life's sufferings that we go through, God is not afraid to have us suffer, because He is in control and He is watching over us. God uses difficulty, even Satan, in His infinite wisdom and tailor makes a trial to come about my life, so that whatever I am studying in the Bible, it can now embed itself in my heart and dwell there. It becomes real. God does stuff like that in our lives. Go through it with Jesus Christ and not alone. If God engineers it, then we know with absolute certainty we will get through it. It's father-filtered. Next time you endure some trial in your life, remember those words, "Father-filtered." Nothing happens without God being aware of it. Flat tire? Sickness? No money? All "Father-Filtered!" God's not wringing His hands in heaven. The difficulty that surrounds you and I, we will endure it, because victory is built into it. We need to start looking at difficulty differently. Sometimes churches need to realize that too, that when church members are going through difficulties, it tests their ability to cae for you, to be there for you, to help you when they can. The church in Smyrna was under pressure to worship Caesar, to be pagan, to be like the rest of the world. I can't help but think of our young people those in junior high and high school that have to endure the pressure of drugs, and sex to blend in. Right now each of us is being a sacrifice for something.

Romans 12:1-2 ~ "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's wil is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

When times of difficulty come, you will be able to prosper. (verse 10). "I know your works....while in poverty(but you are rich)."

When you hear the word "prosper" you automatically think of money, but if I were sick, you'd think the word means health. People don't care about money when they are sick, do you? You just want to feel better. What does prosper mean to you? Fill in the blank! Money? Peace? Family? Health? Do you know what happens then, we forget God in the process. The word here to describe poverty is ptocheia which means to become destitute, to no longer have what is needed, to have one's material wealth, either lost, stolen or handed over. If I were to tell you that Jesus is talking about a man who lives from hand to mouth, from paycheck to paycheck, one who can barely make ends meet, this would not be the man.You will be able to prosper.

Jesus is telling us about a man who has nothing any longer, because of his godly lifestyle and his devotion to Christ - a Christian. Good people, smart people, usable people. Because they named Jesus as Lord, they are now a poverty stricken people. But we will look more about that tomorrow. Don't forget that when we get too comfortable, too prosperous or think they have all they need, they tend to forget God in the process.

The History of the Church of Smyrna - Part 15

For those of you that have been following this study into the Book of Revelation, we are beginning the study into the Seven Letters to the Churches and what we have discovered is not only were these personal letters from Jesus to the heads or pastors of each of these real churches in Asia Minor, but they also address our own spiritual natures as believers and in the churches today. If you look at each of these letters, they address a spiritual state in which we all fall into. The study has been into which of these churches are you most like. In the last three studies, we addressed the church of Ephesus and today, we begin our study into the church of Smyrna, the second church mentioned in Revelation. The point you should be considering as you enter each of these sessions is how is your spiritual life in comparison to these churches mentioned in Revelation. Which one in 100% honesty can you relate to in your spiritual walk as a believer in Jesus? The results might just be eye opening.

Revelation 2:8-11 ~ "To the angel of the church of Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who are say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you eill suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has a ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death." (NIV). 

Notice that this is the shortest of the seven messages that Jesus gave to these churches. It is also interesting to note that He offered no criticism to them as well. He simply encouraged and commended them in this letter. We already know that the church of Smyrna was an actual church in Asia Minor which today is in Izmir in modern day Turkey and boasts a population of 300,000. At this time Smyrna, along with the church of Ephesus was a center of paganism and false worship. It was a city that had been leveled by wars but was rebuilt by one of the generals Lycemicus, who had served Alexander the Great. He restored it so much that the citizens there proclaimed that it had died but has come to life again. It was considered one of the most beautiful cities in all of Asia Minor. It was built along the Mediterranean Sea and as you continued into the city, it was elevated as it progressed inland and upward almost like a crown of sorts to Mount Pagus. On top of this mountaintop, there were various painted white structures dedicated to their pagan gods. They called it the "crown of life." They believed there wasn't a god that you couldn't find life in. It was also the birthplace of Homer. 

In fact, Smyrna was known for their loyalty to Rome and was known as well for their worship of Caesar. It was almost like a competition in the occupied cities to see who would have the right to build a special temple to Caesar and in this case, Smyrna won! They were known for the worship of the emperor and for declaring that "Caesar is Lord." There were streets lined with golden temples to the gods of Sibyl, the gods Apollo and Zeus.

Yet not all the citizens worshiped Caesar and the believers in Smyrna refused to acknowledge that "Caesar is LORD." and would not say it as well. Instead they said, "Jesus is Lord." This caused a division in that city with its countercultural messages that offended each group. It was definitely a tough place to be if you were a Christian, for if you took a stand for Christ, there was a price to be paid.

When Jesus said in verse 9, "I know your afflictions and your poverty, yet you are rich!" Why were they experiencing poverty in such a prosperous place? It was because of their willingness to stand for Jesus. If you were a Christian business owner and they found out that you were worshiping Jesus instead of Caesar, they would take their business some place else. It was not unlike what happened to the Jews during the rise of Hitler in Germany. It began when people refused to do business with Jewish-owned businesses. Then when the Gestapo came in and wrote Jew on the windows of the business in an effort to keep people away from doing business with them, it further ostracized the Jewish people. They were forced to wear yellow armbands, identifying them as enemies of the state. Before long, however, the business were vandalized and burned down, and then the Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

This was exactly what the atmosphere was like in Smyrna. If people discovered you were a believer, they would say, "We don't want to do business with you and we are reporting you to the authorities." As a result, in the Christian communities, poverty descended in the middle of the cities population.

The believers in the city were also slandered. Jesus reminds us that in verse 9, "I know the slander of those who are say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." The church was not only under the persecution of the Romans who wanted them to worship Caesar, but they were also being harassed by the Jews who were not fellow shipping with God. Jesus called them a "synagogue of Satan."

Lies were being spread about believers. The blasphemy that Jesus spoke about wasn't as much about God as it was about God's people. It may be a small comfort in the heat of the moment, but when someone is forced to make up lies about you because they can't find any inconsistencies in your life, rejoice and realize that is a wonderful thing. In this passage, Jesus commends the church who is being lied about, to "be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." ~ Revelation 2:10.

Jesus wasn't giving them happy news about their future on earth. He wasn't telling them to stay positive, He told them to stay faithful. Why? Because He knew that despite what they were going through it was going to get worse, much much worse. And it did. The believers of Smyrna, as well as many Christian throughout Rome suffered greatly for their faith. Thousands upon thousands of men, women and children were put to death simply because they would not say, "Caesar is Lord." Roman historian Tacitus wrote about what happened to some of them.

"Besides being put to death they were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were covered with wild beast skins and torn to death by dogs. Some were crucified, others set on fire to illuminate the night when daylight failed...Or tied to stakes in Nero's garden while he drove around in his chariot...gloating over the dying agony of his victims." They were taken to the Colosseum and put on display for entertainment with lions and other animals. Often they were 'quartered' which means their hands and feet were tied to horses and they were pulled apart. 

Imagine how horrible it was to watch this. The emperor Nero began to tyrannize the church of Jesus Christ, but the persecution actually intensified under Diocletian. We know it didn't work out well for Rome either. The citizens of Rome were extremely loyal and patriotic, and if you didn't worship Caesar as Lord, you were considered a traitor, crazy, an outcast, insane or a freak.

Sound familiar in today's world? How do we comfort someone? Some people avoid them, they shut down, go into denial because they don't know what to say or do. Realize this, that if you are a Christian, you will face suffering in your life, at your job, in your family and in your home. Not a hangnail mind you or your computer crashing, it's when a situation occurs and you cry out to God, "God, Why Me?" Suffering is not based on a lack of faith. God does a work in our life, that forever changes us, but God also promises us that He'll never leave us or forsake us.

God engineers those difficulties in our life - our suffering is not what is important to God however, it is what we get out of it that matters to God.

We are like ostriches, saying it's not going to happen to me! When it's scared, it plunges its head into the sand. People often live their lives in fear of what may come. They feel if they live on the defensive, they will be prepared when it does happen. We can be so caught up in the potential fear of what may happen, that they panic, they worry and in a sense, have stuck their head in the sand, and hope it doesn't happen. Does this ever work?

In 2002, an estimated 361,000 Christians have died by persecutors, 81% by Muslim extremists, simply for their faith in Jesus Christ and it is only increasing. You can find these statistics found on Voice of the Martyrs or Open Doors Ministries.  Most of them are being killed and martyred are in the African countries or the Deep South Pacific islands.  30,000 people died under the hands of Joseph Stalin. Some were Jews and most of them were Christians. The church is under a great suffering like never before. Did you notice the the word Smyrna is a derivative of the word myrrh an embalming oil, medicine or perfume which means crushing, or suffering, because you have to crush it to release the oil and thus made it costly and desirable. It played a part in Jesus' life. The wise men brought Him myrrh, when they went to see him in Bethlehem. It is interesting to note that they offered him gold, frankincense and myrrh, speaking to His deity, his suffering and the fact that He would die. In Isaiah 60:6 however, speaking of Jesus' millennial reign, they bring gold and incense but no myrrh, because He will never die again.

So Smyrna is the church of Suffering.  Suffering is a mysterious thing to endure. Suffering does have to take a physical toil on us, it can simply be the fear of what might happen, that keeps from moving forward. They are tormented by the fear of suffering.

What is even worse is that there are so called ministries, that pronounce a curse on anyone going through a difficult time financially or perhaps someone is sick or being ill-treated. That somehow God has abandoned those who are going through a period of suffering. Yet we know that the opposite is true based on the promises found in the Bible, that Jesus NEVER leaves us or forsakes us in the midst of our sufferings. It is at that point when you feel crushed that Jesus promises, My grace is sufficient for you, My strength in you will now be made complete. It is in the life of those suffering, that Jesus presents Himself in very tender ways, to comfort us and to bring us hope and assurance.

What we are going to see in this letter to the church of Smyrna is how Jesus ministers to those in trouble. This is His own personal approach to comforting those who are in trouble and are suffering. These are 4 very powerful verses packed with a message to comfort the persecuted church, and until you are facing that type of trouble, you will never know the true power of His words. Remember one thing, when you live in a hostile environment, you can still be a peaceful Christian or Christian church. Everything Jesus says here applies to a church that is suffering.

Revelation 2:8 ~ "These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again."

1. I am the First and the Last. Why is that important? Because those in the Roman Empire in Symrna believed this, it was the slogan of the Roman Empire. They were the first and the last. It would be all over billboards in the city of Smyrna, they believed they were the final word in the empire. It begins here with Caesar worship and it will end here with Caesar worship. We will last forever. If you worship in Smyrna, you will have eternal life. We are the ones! If you worship in Smyrna, you will never die.

Jesus is saying, "I'll tell you what, they are NOT the first and the last. I AM the First and the Last. He tells it to a church that is suffering and under pressure. What if our local governments were to say, "No more church, no more meetings," and then persecution would come against us. What would you do? You would be comforted by the words of God. You might have church on Sunday mornings, but you will still have church in your home on Sunday mornings right? You would gather together as a family with the Bible and be comforted by the Words you find in the Bible. We've all had to experience this during our 2020 pandemic when going to church was not possible. Most of us, simply streamed our services live from the internet, but what about those who didn't have access to the internet. We, sometimes, fail to see that not everyone has the simple things we take for granted everyday. I am convinced, they still picked up the Bible and continued to study the Word of God, no matter what was going on in the world. It's where we get our sense of strength.

Jesus is saying to a persecuted church, "I am the First and the Last. I am the peace you are looking for. Cities may come and go, but I will never go."

Did you realize that America is on the threshold of disappearing. You know that most nations only last around 200 years and we could be gone any day now.

John 14:27 ~ "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

John 16:33 ~ "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Any church that understands that Jesus is in charge, will be a church at peace. He is on the throne and He is our provider. He is eternal! He is the only one who is eternal!