Jesus’ Message to a Suffering Church
Revelation 2:8-11
June 5, 2016
As you are well aware, we live in a society that has fallen in love with what is called “The Prosperity Gospel”.
(If you aren’t familiar with it, it is that line of thinking that says that
It is God’s will for you to be happy, healthy, and wealthy.)
And I don’t suppose it should surprise us that our world loves it:
2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,”
2 Timothy 3:1-2 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,”
1 Timothy 6:3-5 “If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”
Paul was adamant that these types of preachers were on the way.
• Paul knew there would be people who loved money
• Paul knew there would be preachers who loved money
And so it only stood to reason that it wouldn’t take long
For those people to hire those preachers.
It has become the perfect storm,
An exact fulfillment of Paul’s prophetic warning.
And today this prosperity gospel is everywhere.
People who seem to view God as some sort of a genie in a bottle,
Whose #1 job seems to be nothing short of making sure that
Those who follow Him want for nothing and never lack comfort.
ADDING TO THE PROBLEM has been the POOR COUNTER ATTACK to this gospel waged by those who do see through it.
The proper defense against the prosperity gospel
Is a true understanding of the sovereignty of God.
But many evangelicals have resisted that truth as well.
So instead they have developed this sort of hybrid theology that says
• God would never allow or do those bad things in your life.
• After all, God loves you and it’s never His will to do those bad things.
• That’s all the devil’s fault.
• The devil does that, blame the devil, give the devil the credit.
• God loves you, and He never wants those types of tragedies to occur.
• Just know that when those tragedies do occur that God will be with you every step of the way.”
It sounds like the perfect answer.
We blame the devil everything negative in our life
And assure people that God never intended it,
And even promise them that God will fix it all quickly.
THE FALLOUT?
We are a society that is getting absolutely blindsided by suffering.
We are continually promised that
• God doesn’t want us to suffer
• And that God can fix suffering
• And that God’s plans for us only include blessing and prosperity and health
and healing…
And then life throws us a curve ball and it totally catches us off guard.
• “WHY?” is the common question.
• “How could you?”
• “Why have You not fixed this?”
In short, the spreading of the prosperity gospel
Has produced a generation of people that neither understands
The purpose of suffering or God’s will for them in the middle of it.
Only a people who are confused and angry when they suffer.
BUT HERE IS THE TRUTH.
God is not trying to make your life super comfortable all the time.
That is clearly portrayed in this passage this morning, is it not?
How else could Jesus look at a church who is suffering,
Tell them that He knows they are about to suffer even more,
And then ask them to be faithful even if it kills them?
How could He ask that unless suffering is part of the plan?
• Maybe we just haven’t wanted to see it.
• Maybe we’ve all had itching ears to a degree where those false preachers sounded pretty good.
But when you read the Bible…
Jesus never said anything about putting an end to suffering in this life.
In fact Jesus promised suffering.
Matthew 10:21-25 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!”
John 15:18-21 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but 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; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. “But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.”
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
What else could we have thought Jesus meant by a statement like that?
• The cross was the form of capital punishment.
• The cross was cleverly devised to torture and kill.
There is no way to look at a statement
Where Jesus requires us to take up the cross
And expect that suffering isn’t part of the deal.
Beyond those obvious promises of persecution.
We are also familiar with passages
• Like the one we recently studied in Hebrews 12 where we learn that God uses “discipline” in the form of suffering to produce righteousness in us.
SUFFERING IS PART OF THIS THING.
Jesus continually spoke on it.
Never do we find from Jesus this notion
That it is God’s job or even God’s desire
To rescue us from every form of discomfort or difficulty.
The truth is that many times God is using those things for our good.
AND TODAY we learn His counsel to a church in the midst of this suffering that was promised.
I know what those prosperity preachers tell you when you’re suffering.
But aren’t you the least bit curious about what Jesus would tell you in the middle of your suffering?
Welcome then to Jesus’ message to the church at Smyrna.
Of the 7 Smyrna was “The Persecuted Church”
Let’s look at it together.
5 things
#1 THE CHURCH
Revelation 2:8a, 9
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:”
As you’ll see with all these churches, it is important to understand a little about the city and area where these churches existed.
You are already familiar about the setting of the day regarding Rome and emperor worship.
• Domitian had caused the increase of church persecution because of his demand that the emperor should be worshipped. (a thing the church obviously could not participate in)
But even with a command like that,
There would still be places where resistance to that command
Would be a bigger thing than others.
(there would have been regions where it wasn’t so dangerous to refuse)
Smyrna would have been
One of the worst possible places to refuse such a thing.
Located 35 miles north of Ephesus, Smyrna is a city that still exists.
It is modern day Izmir, Turkey.
Smyrna was a city that absolutely loved Rome,
Roman citizenship, and Roman leaders.
John MacArthur records one incident in Smyrna revealing this reality:
“Smyrna was a long a staunch ally of Rome. In fact, its citizens were so infatuated with Rome that in 195 B.C. they built a temple in which Rome was worshiped. A century later the Roman general Sulla’s ill-clad army faced bitter winter weather. When the Roman soldiers’ plight was announced in a general assembly of Smyrna’s citizens, they reportedly took off their own clothes to send to them.” (MacArthur, John: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary; Revelation 1-11, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1991; pg. 70)
Smyrna loved Rome and the emperor.
John Walvoord writes:
“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.” (Walvoord, John F. [“The Revelation of Jesus Christ” Moody Press, Chicago, Ill, 1966] pg. 59)
If you’ve ever read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, you may be familiar with the early church father known as Polycarp.
He was an infamous martyr of the early church.
Polycarp was a church leader in Smyrna.
Foxe writes:
“After a respite, the Christians again came under persecution this time from Marcus Aurelius, in A.D. 161. One of those who suffered this time was Polycarp, the venerable bishop of Smyrna. Hearing his captors had arrived one evening. Polycarp left his bed and welcomed them, and then asked for an hour alone to pray. As soon as he had finished his prayers, they put him on [a donkey] and brought him to the city… Brought before the tribunal and the crowd, Polycarp refused to deny Christ, although the proconsul begged him: “Consider yourself and have pity on your great age. Reproach Christ and I will release you.” Polycarp replied, “Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He never once wronged me. How can I blaspheme my King, who saved me?”
(Foxe, John; Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Barbour Publishing, Urichsville, Ohio, 2001, pg.18)
Polycarp was both burned at the stake and stabbed.
I think you get the idea of what type of city we are talking about
When we talk about Smyrna.
In short, if you are looking for a city where your resistance to emperor worships will be accepted, Smyrna is not that city.
This church was in a very difficult position.
Therefore it’s no wonder the reality we read about in verse 9
“I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”
That statement from Jesus fits precisely
Into what we would expect from a city such as Smyrna.
This was “The Persecuted Church”
And Jesus is writing to them.
The Church
#2 THEIR LORD
Revelation 2:8b
“The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:”
Jesus addresses each of these 7 churches a little differently.
For each church a different attribute from that initial revelation is emphasized.
You will remember that to Ephesus He revealed Himself as “the One who holds the seven stars and walks among the seven golden lampstands.”
In short, Jesus revealed Himself to Ephesus as
“He who is with you to guide you”
That proved to be fitting since Ephesus had in fact left Him.
To the church at Smyrna Jesus emphasizes a different reality.
“The first and the last” is of course a reference to His eternal nature.
• He is eternal.
• He was in the beginning with God, and He will always be.
“who was dead, and has come to life” is certainly reminiscent of His victory.
• Jesus didn’t enter this world and remain immune from suffering.
• Jesus embraced suffering.
Hebrews 2:14 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,”
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 5:7-8 “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”
Jesus reminds the church at Smyrna
That He was no stranger to hardship and suffering.
Images flood to our mind about Jesus praying in the garden, “Let this cup pass from Me, yet not as I will, but as You will.”
• We picture the grief and the sorrow He bore.
• We see Him standing falsely accused before Pilate.
• We see Him under the weight of His cross and then crucified upon it.
• We can hear the jabs and remarks of the religious leaders standing around.
Jesus understood pain
Jesus understood suffering
Jesus understood death
He reminds the church at Smyrna that He gets it.
But He also reminds them that He knows the secret to overcoming it.
He is the One “who has come to life.”
Revelation 1:18 “…I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Jesus is the victor.
Obviously this is the perfect way to reveal Himself
To a church that was facing persecution and death.
They did not have a savior who couldn’t identify
And they didn’t have a savior who couldn’t deliver.
Jesus knew death and He knew how to conquer it.
HE IS WHO THE PEOPLE OF SMYRNA NEEDED TO HEAR FROM
The Church, Their Lord
#3 THEIR ENCOURAGMENT
Revelation 2:9
“I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”
Two words listed here are the ultimate form of encouragement.
“I know”
• The church at Smyrna faced “tribulation”
• The church at Smyrna faced “poverty”
• The church at Smyrna faced frustration in the form of fake Jews who pretended to be real, but where actually blasphemers.
And Jesus knew of all of those things all too well.
He knew what “tribulation” was like.
• Do we remember His home town trying to throw Him off a cliff?
• Do we remember the temple priests seeking to arrest Him?
• Do we remember the constant debates with the religious elite, or all the false accusations against Him?
• Do we remember the garden?
• Do we remember the trial?
• Do we remember the cross?
Trust me you can’t endure a single ounce of “tribulation”
That Jesus can’t identify with. He gets it.
This is of course the very thing
That makes Him a sympathetic high priest on our behalf.
Hebrews 2:17-18 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
That is precisely what He is doing here.
He is coming to the aid of those in Smyrna.
He knows their “poverty”
The reality here is most likely that the church at Smyrna
Wasn’t just made up of poor people, but rather that these people had lost their possessions due to their faith in Christ.
• It could have been that like the early church they used up all their resources to care for one another.
• It could have been that like the Hebrews their property was seized by non-believers.
Either way, they were earthly poor.
They didn’t have the comforts of this world.
They didn’t have the excesses of this world.
BUT JESUS UNDERSTOOD THAT
• Jesus was so poor He reminded His would be followers that “the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
• Jesus was so poor He borrowed 5 loaves and 2 fish from a boy that He might feed a multitude.
• Jesus was so poor He had to get money from the mouth of a fish to pay the tax in His own temple.
He understood “poverty”
But He also understood the difference
Between earthly treasure and heavenly treasure.
Do you notice that parenthetical statement Jesus threw in there for the church at Smyrna?
“(but you are rich)”
And we say, “You mean that they were rich in other things like love and joy and peace, etc.”
No, Jesus means they are in fact filthy rich.
How?
Matthew 5:10-12 “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.”
The church at Smyrna was poor on this earth,
But they couldn’t see their “off-shore” account.
Jesus could see their heavenly bank account
And He assured them that money was no problem for them.
He was looking at their spiritual bank statement
And assured them that they were “rich”
And that’s pretty encouraging too.
Another that comes to mind was the apostle Paul,
• Who according to 2 Corinthians 12, was allowed to see his reward in heaven, but because of it he was given a thorn in the flesh to keep from getting conceited.
But such revelations did allow Paul to say:
Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
Or
2 Corinthians 4:17 “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,”
Paul had the privilege of seeing both affliction and eternal riches,
And though he couldn’t speak in detail about it,
He could remind us that there is no comparison!
That is what Jesus told the church at Smyrna here.
You may be poor in this world (a poverty I understand) but I’m here in heaven, and let me tell you, “you are rich”
Jesus also understood “the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are note, but are a synagogue of Satan.”
This is a frustration I’m sure many of you have felt in your life.
These were a group of Jews who went to synagogue and claimed to be God’s people, and claimed to love God, but in reality were nothing but blasphemers of God.
What do you mean?
Romans 2:17-24 “But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written.”
Paul would go on to say:
Romans 2:28-29 “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”
Even from every book in the Old Testament,
There has always been this distinction.
• We see outward Jews, and inward Jews.
• We see outward believes, and inward believers.
• We see those who outwardly love Jesus, and those who inwardly love Jesus.
• We see those whose religion is for show, and we see those whose religion is born out of a genuine love for God.
And that in itself is frustrating enough.
But to make matters worse,
When those who are outward persecute those who are real,
It really becomes frustrating.
And this was the frustration Jesus felt every day of His life!
• Read Matthew 23 and listen to Him literally bewail the Pharisees as “hypocrites!” over and over again.
Listen to statements like:
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
He understood the frustrations
Of dwelling in the midst of those who were fake.
IN SHORT, Jesus could look into the situation at Smyrna
And He knew exactly what was going on.
• He knew who was real and who was false.
• He knew who was rich and who was poor.
• He knew who deserved reward, and who deserved punishment.
And this is a great form of encouragement!
Jesus knows what is going on.
How great that in the midst of our trouble
We know that our great high priest is sympathetic to our situation.
The Church, Their Lord, Their Encouragement
#4 THEIR RESPONSIBILITY
Revelation 2:10
And this is where (in light of the prosperity gospel)
You might be a little surprised.
The prosperity folks would look at the situation and say:
• Well, you’re suffering when you don’t deserve it.
• Jesus sees and knows all about it.
“You can expect a breakthrough any minute!” “Jesus will soon step in a deliver you from the attacks and accusations!” “We declare it finished”
You’ve heard all the banter…
But that is NOT what Jesus says.
The first thing Jesus says is that they haven’t even seen the worst of it.
Did you catch those words “about to suffer”?
What, you mean it’s not over?
“Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days.”
Jesus even says, “Be faithful unto death;”
You are suffering, but more is on the way.
Prison and even possible death.
It was certainly death for Polycarp.
Now some say, “See, but that wasn’t Jesus, that was the devil who did that.”
Friend, open your eyes.
Either Jesus allowed the devil to do it,
Or the devil just beat Jesus, now which do you think it was?
Did we not read Job and see Satan ask God permission to torment Job? (Permission which God granted)
Or remember this passage:
Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
So Jesus knows that more is on the way.
Jesus may have even given permission for it to happen.
WHY?
6 words tell the whole story.
“so that you will be tested”
• We know that there are real believers in Smyrna.
• We also know that there are false believers in Smyrna (aka “synagogue of Satan”)
How do you tell which is which?
You test them.
1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”
1 Peter 4:12 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;”
James 1:12 “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.”
You get the idea?
Trials serve all sorts of purposes.
• They can purify us
• They can be used to build compassion in us
• Here we see that they can be used to prove us.
1 Corinthians 11:19 “For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.”
How else are you going to tell the difference
Between the wheat and the tares?
Jesus isn’t seeking to be cruel, He is exposing what must be exposed.
Can I tell you that trials have the same effect in our own lives?
• Trials may reveal to you that your faith wasn’t real, in which case
having been exposed, it’s time to run to Jesus.
• Trials may reveal to you that your faith was real, in which case you
receive much hope, peace, and security of mind.
But the testing is necessary.
Jesus knew they were suffering, but He was using it.
NOW, NOTICE HIS MESSAGE TO THEM. There are 2.
• “Do not fear what you are about to suffer”
• “Be faithful until death”
“Do not fear” and “Be faithful”
That is way different from the message we hear from the prosperity people.
Jesus wasn’t going to take this trial from them.
He required them to be faithful and unafraid in the middle of it.
YOU NEED TO KNOW that:
Jesus knows what is going on and He can handle it.
After all, He is Him “who was dead, and has come to life”
BUT YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW that:
Jesus knows what He is doing so you must be faithful regardless of what you face…even death.
That is the message to Smyrna.
I know what you are facing.
I am asking you to face it with courage and endurance.
How you handle it will most certainly reveal what you are.
And notice, there was no rebuke for this church.
He didn’t tell them a single thing they were doing wrong.
In short this wasn’t because He was angry at them.
This trial was NOT punishment.
It was a necessary test for their benefit.
Their responsibility was to embrace the suffering and pass the test.
The Church, Their Lord, Their Encouragement, Their Responsibility.
#5 THEIR EXAMPLE
Revelation 2:11
There it is again.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
This is for you and me.
“He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.”
What is the second death?
Revelation 20:14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”
90% of what we do today is to try and avoid the first death.
Seatbelts, medical exams, safety precautions, etc.
Jesus said, it’s the second death that you should be worried about.
Matthew 10:28 “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.”
And the entire objective of suffering
Is to help you discern whether you are on the path that will escape that second death.
And then to help you escape it through purifying you.
Genuine faith equals escape from the second death.
Hypocritical faith equals punishment in the second death.
Suffering is the way we find out which we have.
That is why Jesus is not in such a hurry to just remove it.
The purpose of this suffering is too important.
His command is for you and me to “overcome”
“Overcome” what?
• FEAR
• FRUSTRATION
• FATIGUE
• Anything that would cause us to turn away from Christ.
That temptation is real, especially in the midst of hardship.
That is when you must exercise faith and continue on.
Go by what you know, not what you feel.
Trust Jesus and endure, even if it ends in death.
This will prove that your faith is genuine,
And that the second death is no concern of yours.
To the church at Ephesus: OVERCOME COMPLACENCY,
And remember that nothing matters more than loving Jesus.
To the church at Smyrna: OVERCOME FEAR,
And stick with Jesus no matter the cost that your faith may be proved genuine and your soul saved from hell.
