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uh... and church number two uh... the church of smyrna uh... going through the seven churches of asia and so last week we looked at the church of ephesus and this week will be looking at the church of smyrna some years ago when japan was taking over korea uh... there was bitter persecute uh... persecution against leading christians uh... the japanese as they came in would find out of different Christian leaders and they would carry off those leaders to the Japanese jails. the believers who were not arrested felt that by this very fact that they were some that they were overlooked that somehow they were lacking in their Christianity. There was a Methodist pastor, he went to a missionary with a complaint and he said, sir, there must be something wrong in our Methodist churches. I fear we are lacking in faith. There are 37 Presbyterians in jail and only one Methodist. I fear the Lord does not count us worthy to suffer persecution. We come to Church of Smyrna, and that is in verse 8 of chapter 2, and it says, unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write, these things sayeth the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. I know thy works. and tribulation, and poverty. But notice, but thou art rich, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. So here we have a letter written to the church of Smyrna. These are, I believe, these are literal churches that were in existence. So you have seven literal churches that were in that time period. There are some that believe that these seven churches represent seven periods of church history after. I don't adhere to that. There are some well-known places of education even that hold to that. I think that one of the problems with that is that you kind of ignore some of the purposes of these letters. there's one commentator that looks at the seven and he says the reason because there was there was more churches that were inexistent than the seven churches that are written here so why was it seven and one commentator says what's an idea of completion and so even for the church today here is a complete I guess recipe or not. Maybe it's not a recipe, but it's complete information for us to consider as church today. Alright, are you practicing at the Church of Ephesus? Are you practicing at the Church of Smyrna? Are you practicing at the Church of Pergamos or Thyatira or Laodicea? And so, we today need to look at ourselves as we consider each of these churches. Last week we looked at the Church of Ephesus and it can be, and you saw some really good commendations. Remember that they were very strong. They hated sin. They hated apostasy. It seems to indicate that they were serving the Lord faithfully. They were a diligent church. They were patient. And yet, doing all of that, they forgot something. They forgot that it was about Christ. And I think as, even as a church, I think of this with us as we're going through this stage in our church, and you'd say, well, what's going on with our church? Well, this is what I can tell you. A church is not built on a man. It's built on Christ. And so as long as a church remembers their first love, and that is Christ, it's gonna be in a good place. And here we come to the Church of Smyrna. The church of Smyrna, the word Smyrna is the same word as myrrh. Okay, so, and most of us might think of that myrrh in the New Testament. There's a couple of times that it is used. The word myrrh means suffering. The wise men, when they came to present gifts to Jesus, brought gold, frankincense, and what else? Myrrh. Then Jesus was offered wine and myrrh in Mark chapter 15, and I'll just read it. Mark chapter 15 and verse 23, this is Christ on the cross, and they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh. Then we also see that Nicodemus in John 19 and verse 39, after Jesus had died and they were taking him to the tomb, It says, and there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight. So he brought a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes of which to place on the body of Jesus. And so myrrh represents suffering. So the church of Smyrna, the church of myrrh is a church of suffering. It's persecution. That's what it represents. Myrrh was a very rare and expensive plant. It was named this, myrrh, because in order for it to release its fragrance, myrrh had to be crushed. And so whenever you see at the beginning when the wise men bring gold, frankincense, and myrrh, one of the things that they may not have understood, but they were prophetically looking ahead and saying, here this baby was going to suffer. Myrrh. He was going to suffer. This baby would grow up and he would die and he would suffer. They didn't know that he would suffer, he would die for the sins of the whole world. But that's what Jesus Christ did. And here in this passage, we see that it's the angel of the Church of Smyrna. Now the chronology, or kind of the background of the Church of Smyrna, Smyrna was a seaport city, about 35 miles north of Ephesus. Some say that the city of Smyrna, the nickname came during the time that this was written, that it was known as the beautiful city. They say maybe even it was in competition with the city of Ephesus. It was very growing. It had a lot of manufacturing and commercialism. Also, it was a hub for religious. In fact, they say that the city of Smyrna was very strong in Roman emperor worship. And so nobody else could be worshipped except the Roman emperor But there was an exception and you see it mentioned here It says the synagogue of Satan normally when you think of the word synagogue It automatically takes you to the Jewish society and it was said in history That the Jews had the the strict Jews had an exemption and they were allowed to do their own thing The rigid, the Orthodox Jews were allowed to worship separately as long as they practiced just Judaism, but Christianity was not allowed. So that's why you have the reference to the synagogue of Satan. And looking at it, it was a Roman city. It had idol worship, pagan temples, a temple to Roman emperors. Only emperor worship was allowed. Judaism was exempted. There was an active Jewish population who were hostile to the church. The largely Gentile church was considered a threat to the Jews. So Smyrna, remember there's seven letters. Okay, so Smyrna is the smallest of the letters written. But then also something unique about Smyrna, there is no There is no, basically, fault pointed out to the church of Smyrna, which is kind of interesting. So let's look at the commendations we're going to look at. Verse 9, I know thy works and tribulation and poverty. So what is their commendation? I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." So what is one of the commendations? Number one, they were true to Christ. They were true to Christ. They held fast during tribulation. We'll talk about that in our challenge in just a moment. But they held fast, and this is very instructive to you and I. When there is persecution that is against you, and trust me, in your life, if you hold fast to the Word of God and you are lifting up Christ, whether it's at work, whether it's in family situations, in some situation, you're going to be accosted for the cause of Christ. And so what are you supposed to do? Stay true to Christ. We have looked through the years at different things. We've looked at trouble. We've looked at trials that come into your life. And there's an idea that's out there, hey, you know what? If they're attacking me, it doesn't matter. I can do something mean back. I can say this back. And the Bible does not give you a pass to disregard Christ's teachings. It doesn't give you a pass. You be true to Christ. That's what the Church of Smyrna teaches us. Be true to Him. Honor Christ in your life. That's what He desires. Be true to Christ. But then, secondly, they were rich in Christ. Notice what it says in the text. I know thy works in tribulation and poverty. So I believe that that's talking about physical riches here. Why? Because it says, but thou art rich. So what is it in contrast to? Another church. Look at the last church in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 17. That's the church of Laodicea. Notice the church of Laodicea, what do we know about them? What's one word that describes the church of Laodicea? Come on now. Yes. Well done. All right. Not. OK. So it's Sunday morning. I know this is normally the time that you get your early afternoon before afternoon nap. All right. But wake yourself up. So the church will only have to see a one word describes it, lukewarm. And that means they're neither hot nor cold. And so what does Christ say? You know what? I just want to spew you out of my mouth. Just so you know, that is not a term of endearment, all right? That's not something that we should look to. So here in this passage, this is this church, but look at verse 17. Because thou sayest, what does the church of Laodicea say they are? I am rich, and increased with goods, have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and what? poor. This is, again, instructive to us. What's the commendations? True to Christ, rich in Christ. Now, what does that mean? Remember, who is walking in the midst? Christ is. And here in this, every one of the churches, he says this, I know thy works. I know thy works. You may think you're rich in Christ, but Christ knows your works. He knows it. Here, the church of Laodicea says, hey, thou sayest, I am rich. Be careful. Be careful of your own thoughts about yourself and your spirituality. The Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. I was talking with a young man in the last month or so, and the young man was indicating to me as he sat with somebody, he sat with somebody and they said, do you know how strong I am? And they were saying that spiritually. And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa. This is what I can tell you as I've gotten away with the Lord. I don't think I'm anything. And when you start saying, I am strong and I am rich, watch out, because Christ who walks in the midst, He knows us. He knows what we are. And you can say you're rich, but Christ has the ultimate judgment. And to the church of Laodicea, He says, you say you are, but you're poor. But the church of Smyrna, who didn't have much. And man, they were under attack. And they were being persecuted. And it seems like every time they got up, they were being knocked down. Christ walking in the midst said, I know you're poverty, but thou art rich. Wow, is that a commendation? Being rich in Christ. But then, The third commendation is that I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. They were persecuted for Christ. I know the blasphemy of them. They were maligned and blasphemed. They had turned the synagogue into a place to learn of hatred for others. I call this, there's been men in Christianity, some in the last decade or two, I call it the gospel of hate. And they turn their pulpit into a means of blasphemy and maligning everybody else to lift themselves up. Instead of the pulpit, if you read in 1st Corinthians and 2nd Corinthians, the pulpit is not a place to lift a man up, it is a place to point people to Christ. You glory in the cross, you point people to the cross. Remember, Paul said this. He said that I preach, what, myself? I preach Christ and Him crucified. That's who we lift up. That's who we honor. But there are some, and this was the synagogue of Satan, here were these Jewish people, and they exalted this Hebrew race, not the God of the Hebrews. They had a distorted view. They discarded all other men and women, revering to them as uncircumcised dogs and infidels without hope. when they themselves were heathen, and they were uncircumcised in their hearts. These pious Jews gave the Christians in Smyrna grief. They were vehemently against Christianity because of the claims that Jesus of Nazareth was the long-awaited Messiah, and so they persecuted them. And so, that's accommodation. So what are the cautions to the Church of Smyrna? There are none. None at all. There's only one other church, and that's the Church of Philadelphia, that has no cautions. Now, is it saying that your Church of Smyrna was perfect? No, because the Church of Smyrna was made up of people. And so there is no perfect church, but it is interesting that there's no cautions here to this church. So what's the challenge? I find three challenges in this text. First of all, in verse 8, and unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write, and notice you'd say, well, where's the challenge in this verse? These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. First of all, what's the challenge? Look up. Look up. You say, well, where is that found? Who's the first and the last? If you read Revelation chapter 1, you'll find out it's talking about Christ. He's the first. He's the last. He was dead and is now alive. That is talking about Christ our Savior. When you're going through persecution, when you're going through trials, you know what you're going to do? The devil's going to get you looking, I guess, horizontally. He's going to get you looking at your circumstances. But Christ says, hey, I'm the first. I'm the last. I was dead, but I'm alive. Consider me. Look up. And when you do that, and you turn your eyes off of this world and you turn it on Christ, everything else will become what? Strangely dim. In the light of His glory and grace. I can't promise you a life filled with ease. And in fact, if we look at the Bible and study it, you should be probably wondering about your life if you don't have some problems once in a while. The Bible says, don't be shocked if the world hates you. Christ also, marvel not, he said in 1 John chapter 3, marvel not, brethren, if the world hate you. There's gonna be some times of trials and tribulation Struggles, but what should we do look up turn to Christ? at those times Don't don't do less time in the book Yeah, don't do less time in the book maybe that's the time to ramp it up a little more Whatever it is, maybe hit a pause button and say you know what I just need Christ. He is comfort. He is the balm of Gilead. That's what Christ can do, so look up. Christ, with Christ and in Christ, is a phrase of great comfort. But then notice, it says in verse 9, I know thy works in tribulation and poverty, and I know the blasphemy of them, but look at verse 10, fear none of those things. The second challenge, the first one, is found in verse 8, so that's look up. The second one is found in verse 10, and I say this, cast out. And what are we supposed to cast out? Fear. Do you see what it says? Fear none of those things. You know what the devil is the author of? Fear. How do I know that? Well, God says he has not given us the spirit of fear. but of love and power and a sound mind. And I believe all three of those can be tied scripturally to some attribute, some, I call it a prescription, to get rid of fear. And so, the Bible tells us that perfect love, and where does perfect love come from? Abiding in Christ! And perfect love casts out fear. So this is what I can tell you, when fear overwhelms you, it's devilish. It's not something of God. So we then need to understand when fear takes over us, and I'm not saying that when you're going to take something on, it could be physically that you're a little nervous, you know, you're coming up for the first time to give a testimony or you're... Gonna sing a solo I can tell you this you wouldn't want to hear me sing a solo Because I'd be in fear and trembling so much that it wouldn't just be vibrato. It would be at another level of vibrato You wouldn't be able to hear anything All right. I'm not talking about some of that type of fear, but you know when God lays something on your heart then all of a sudden it's like something chokes you and That's devilish. And you've got to go to God. You've got to pray. You need Christ's power through that. Claim the blood of Christ. At all costs, claim the blood of Christ. Why? Because that fear, fear none of those things. Why? What's a help as far as casting out this fear? Notice the phrase. It says it twice. Okay? Notice in verse 9, I know thy works. Notice secondly in verse 9, a little later, I know the blasphemy. I know your tribulation. What can help me? The statement, I know. It's meant to be an encouragement to us. It was meant to be an encouragement to the people at Smyrna. They were facing persecution. And all believers will face persecution. When a believer faces losing a job, or imprisonment, or torture, or death, and I'm not thinking that some of you are going to be facing imprisonment, maybe not torture, but in America it's different. There's a well-known man that 50, 60 years ago, maybe 70 years ago, he was tortured actually for Christ. He endured unbelievable torture. And then, over the course of a number of years, God miraculously allowed him to be released from that. And then he came to America and he wanted to stir people up for the cause of Christ. And listen to what this man says. He said that the torture he faced over in Europe was nothing compared to the torture and persecution that he faced here in America with lies and gossip. They said there were people circulating things telling him that he never even did it. He never endured. It was made up. There are all kinds of different types of persecution and torture. And here's a man that physically endured. I can't even describe to you some of the things he endured, but he came to America excited about the cause of Christ. And because of the intense lies and duplicity that was out there, he was like, forget this, this is the cause of Christ? But you know what? Cast out fear. That's what we gotta do. Cast out fear. No matter what we face, we can take comfort in the fact that God is watching. Romans 8.35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sorn? Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. 1 John chapter 3, it says, do not be surprised or marvel not, brothers, if the world hates you. We must not think, it's not fair. God's not watching. Why is he allowing this? Go to the church of Smyrna, read that verse, and when God says, when Christ says, I know, take comfort. Take comfort in that God knows what you're going through. Take comfort in that. Here is the Church of Smyrna. Remember, obviously, that's in verse 8. The Church of Smyrna, as I didn't mention a lot, the Church of Smyrna we cannot find in scriptural records. It's not found even in the Book of Acts. Many believe that possibly, in one of Paul's missionary journeys, that the Church of Smyrna must have been started. Maybe there was somebody from Ephesus, but they're not sure. The Church of Smyrna is not mentioned in Scripture. But it is believed that one of the first martyrs recorded after the time of Christ, I mean, there was a couple others, but one of the earliest martyrs in church history after the time of Christ was the pastor of the Church of Smyrna. It is believed it was probably about 160 to 170 AD. They believed that the pastor of the Church of Smyrna probably knew the Apostle John personally. And the Apostle John, then, in writing to the Church of Smyrna, was encouraging this pastor to stay at it, stay faithful, don't give up, cast out fear. Because that church was facing unbelievable torture and persecution. The church of Smyrna was pastored by a man named Polycarp. Polycarp was, as I mentioned, the pastor of this church. And there's debate on whether he is 86 years old or if he was older. But I'm just going to take it for sake of reference to finish this. At 86 years of age, He was dragged from his home. It's interesting looking at the life of Polycarp. They say that Polycarp came from a very wealthy, wealthy family. Was trained very well. But then, they believe through the preaching of John, that he became saved. And then over time he became so strong in the word of God that they appointed him to be pastor in the church of Smyrna. And so now, he's been pastoring for a long time, he's 86 years of age. The pro-council drags him from his house, and they try to force him to deny Christ. This is, as far as historical record, and it's pretty valid, this historical record, this is what they say. The pro-council came to Polycarp and they said, swear, reproach Christ, and I will set you free. Very famous phrase that you may have heard from Polycarp is his reply. He said, 80 and six years have I served my Savior and He has done me no wrong. How can I then blaspheme my King and my Savior? The pro-council didn't like that answer and they didn't give up. The proconsul looked at Polycarp and said, I have wild animals here. I will throw you to them if you do not repent. Polycarp looked and said, call them. It is unthinkable for me to repent from what is good to turn to what is evil. I will be glad, though, to be changed from evil to righteousness. Then the proconsul says, well, if you despise the animals, I'll have you burned. And this is his answer, you threaten me with fire which burns for an hour and then it's extinguished. But you know nothing of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly. Why are you waiting? Bring on whatever you want. They grabbed polycarp and they gathered wood for the fire. The soldiers grabbed nails to then hold him in place there for the fire that he was going to stand upon. And listen to what Polycarp says. He said no to the nails. He said, I don't need nailed. He said, he who grants me to endure the fire will enable me also to remain on the fire unmoved without the security you desire from nails. And without nails, He stood there and was burned for Christ. And this is what some of us say, well, wait a minute. Why didn't God swoop down and rescue? That's not always the solution. I think sometimes in our mind, we think, well, hey, look it, they're being persecuted and then they died. I guess God wasn't with them. Yes, he was. You don't know that. You have to look down through history then, and you have to malign all kinds of Christians and pastors and those that stood for the cause of Christ. I guess all those that were burned at the stake, oh, I guess God didn't really care for them. Yes, He did. Maybe He cared for them so much that He ushered them into glory and said, come, come have eternal rest. See, cast out fear. Before the fire was started, Polycarp prayed this, I bless you for considering me worthy of this day and hour, of sharing with the martyrs in the cup of your Christ, so as to share in your resurrection to everlasting life of soul and body in the Holy Spirit. May I be received among them into your presence today as a rich and acceptable sacrifice. For this and for everything, I praise and glorify you through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Child. Through Him and with Him, may you be glorified with the Holy Spirit both now and forever. Amen. And then he was ushered into the kingdom of God. It says in this passage to not only look up, but to cast out. And there's a couple of references to help us. I know. I know the tribulation. Then also it says, I know the blasphemy. God knows these things. But then, notice thirdly, It says in verse 10, So, the third challenge to me is hang on. There's a reference here And I don't have time to get into it because of time this morning, but there's a reference notice and it says that you shall have tribulation ten days Some and studying that look at the book of Daniel in fact this morning I was reading in Job and Job references the idea of ten and ten many times in the Bible represents a temporary time and Some in history look at this because there was ten very wicked years of persecution under an emperor called Diocletian. And so they say that it could possibly be a reference to that, that those ten years, it's temporary. But that's one of the things that God is telling us as far as us in tribulation. He's saying, hang on, why? Suffering is temporary. If you're going through trials, I really recommend reading 1 Peter. 1 Peter is written to the Jews scattered abroad who were suffering persecution. And you know what he tells them over and over? It's temporary. It's just a short time. You say, I'm telling you, man, this seems eternal. It's been 20 years! But what is that in comparison to eternity? It's hard for us. I know we all live in a temporal world. So we don't really think in eternal waiting matters We don't think in that eternal time span, but God does and he's saying hey, it's just 20 years It could be seven years, but it's just seven years In fact, it could be said that you and I after we find Christ are living under tribulation Until we get to heaven why because being here on this earth More and more as I live here on this earth. I'm like even so come quickly Lord Jesus I just want to be in heaven! Oh, won't that be glory for me! We all can sing. But guess what? Right here on this earth, suffering is temporary. It's not eternal. It's not forever. So understand that. It's a brief period. We don't wholly know how long trial will last, but the assurance is that it's not going to be forever. This is what I can tell you. Hell is forever. And because I trusted in Christ, I don't get that. I'll be in heaven eternally. That's why suffering is temporary. Notice the second thing in verse 10. I will give thee a crown of life. They say it in the city of Smyrna, at the end of every year, there was a temple to one of the great gods, Dionysus. All right, so Dionysus, all right, I'm never gonna get it right. All right, I got it out once, okay. So there was priests, and at the end of every year, they would present that priest with a crown. So some say it might be a reference that John probably knew about it, and it's a reference there, because they would visibly understand that there's a crown, but it's not just a temporary thing. Notice what it says, it's a crown of life. So hang on, why? Because God rewards faithfulness. That's what He rewards. So stay the course. Stay faithful to Christ. Stay at the work God has called you to do. Don't give up. Don't get underneath that dark cloud. Instead, turn to Christ and say, Christ, I need you. And as Polycarp found that strength, when the fires were being presented, when he was threatened by wild animals, when he was threatened by all those things, he found comfort in who? In himself? No, I can tell you this. When you're facing tribulation, when you're facing suffering, when you're facing tough times, yourself is not the person to rely upon. Because what you'll find is all kinds of doubts. and misgivings, and you'll find that you're weak, and you'll find that sometimes you don't have strength to keep going. But in Christ, in Christ, He that was dead and is alive. Oh, now I have some strength. Why? Because in Christ, I have resurrection power. It's not in me. It's not in me. that I find the strength. Maybe Christ wants us to remember that being crucified with Christ, what does it say? Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And so then you start understanding that in Christ, there's strength. In Christ, there's an ability to withstand. So here in our challenge this morning, have you experienced, maybe in your life, temptation or the temptation to discount God's working in your life because things are not going like you think they should? Like, you know what? This is not what I signed up for. Yeah, been there. But the church of Smyrna, This letter is written for you and I to help us to say, guess what? Look up. Cast out fear. Hang on. Why? Because we serve a risen Savior. That's who we serve. We serve Christ. I don't serve a man. I don't serve some religious thoughts and philosophy. I serve Christ. And because of that, because I serve Christ, then I can go to Him and He knows my works. He can judge them. And I can lay those works out and I say, all right, now be ready, because God can judge them. Say, God, judge me. And you know what you'll find? God is a righteous judge, but He's full of mercy. His mercies fail not. That's why, remember in Lamentations, that's why we can say His mercies fail not. Great is thy faithfulness. Maybe this morning you're under the gun. You're like, you know what? What's been going on? I don't know if God knows. No, no, no, no, no. I know they works. I know him. God knows. And maybe you've been discounting and saying, you know, I'm just cashing it in. And you're wanting to get into the flesh? You're wanting to not follow scriptural principles? My challenge to you is, no! The church of Smyrna has written to you, and take a clue from a pastor from a long time ago, almost 2,000 years ago. Take a clue from him. Take a challenge from him. Here is Polycarp, and his words ring out. Eighty and six years have I served my Christ, and he has done me no wrong. This is what I can tell you. In your service to Christ, you will never come up empty. Ever. You always, you always, always will have just reward in serving Christ.
The Church of Smyrna
Series The Seven Churches of Asia
Sermon ID | 725211545495101 |
Duration | 43:04 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday - AM |
Language | English |
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