“The church who faithfully suffered.”
Revelation 2:8-11

Intro:
Today’s sermon is about the second church mentioned in Revelation 2: 8-11. The sermon on the church in Ephesus was a bit hard listening. I don’t think today’s will be so hard. Before I start though I want to tell you of a story I heard about a ship in trouble that was sinking in the middle of a storm, and the captain called out to the crew and said, ‘Does anyone here know how to pray?’ One man stepped forward and said, ‘Yes sir, I know how to pray.’ The captain said, ‘Wonderful, you pray while the rest of us put on life jackets, we’re one short.’ I guess the point of the story is, if you choose to be a Christian you can be sure that others will make you pay for that decision.

I. The church we are going to look at this morning is in the city of Smyrna. John begins in Revelation 2:8- “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write.” Now we all know what the church in Ephesus was like and how it started. But concerning the church in Smyrna we know absolutely nothing about its beginnings.

a. Some believe the church in Smyrna was established around 55-56 A.D. after or during Paul’s third missionary journey. It was possible that Paul established this church. Others think that it was more likely to have been established by some of his students from the school mentioned in Acts 19:8-10. Because we don’t know anything about its beginnings, we need to take our lessons from its present state.
b. What we are going to see today is that this city which was famous for its loyalty and faithfulness, became the host of a church commended by the Lord for that same faithfulness. We find people with convictions in Smyrna even before they became Christians.
i. Let me say a few words about the city of Smyrna. It was a proud city, a deeply religious, and a heathen city. Smyrna was the centre of Caesar worship and the leading city of empire worship for many years. One of its most endearing qualities to the authorities was its outstanding loyalty and devotion to the Roman Empire. The Emperor could trust Smyrna even though a distance of some 900 miles lay between them.
ii. The city of Smyrna lay thirty-five miles almost due north of Ephesus on a bay off the Aegean Sea. It had golden shores, and inland it was encircled by the dark green of the cypress-clad hills. It was known as “The Lovely, - The Crown of Ionia, The Ornament of Asia”. Smyrna was a city of about 100,000 people in John’s day. It possessed a safe harbor where ships from all over the world came to buy and sell goods.
iii. Several things made this a special city in its day, for example the production of myrrh. The substance is the aromatic resin of a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus Commiphora. The resin is collected by wounding the tree which then produces the resin. Myrrh was used as a both a fragrance and for medicinal purposes by the living, and an embalming agent for the dead. Myrrh is mentioned in association with the life and ministry of the Lord. Let me give you some examples. In Matthew 2:11- it is one of the gifts brought at Jesus birth; “they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
iv. In Mark 15:23- “And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.” And in John 19:39 “And there came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.”
v. The word ‘myrrh’ means bitter and it came to be associated with suffering and death. It is still used in modern times as an antiseptic in mouthwashes, gargles, and toothpastes and for prevention and treatment of gum disease. It has been shown to lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol in humans.
c. Smyrna was a leader in the idea of empire / emperor worship. Smyrna built a shrine to ‘Roma’ as early as 195 B.C. and as the Republic spread, the worship of Rome became more widespread. According to the historian, Balsdon, in July 44, 4 months after the assassination of Julius Caesar, ‘an unexpected comet appeared in the sky. It was considered a sign, accepted by the people as evidence that Julius Caesar was now in heaven, a god, Divus Julius’.
i. People began to believe the supreme leaders were the embodiment of the spirit of the empire. The emperors began to be viewed with awe and one Roman writer tells us, ‘from the time of Augustus a new form of Roman cult makes its appearance, the worship of the emperor.’ They went from worship of Rome and a state to worshiping the emperors. He goes on to say that in the east, ‘the line drawn between God and man was not too distinctly drawn’.
ii. In Rome itself it was not this way. When Augustus accepted the name, there immediately sprang up a cult around him. Herod the Great, built a temple and shrine to himself, but not to an emperor. No emperor, was consecrated to godhood until after his death.
iii. As time went by, a priesthood was formed to serve in the emperor worship and it became necessary that the citizens or subjects showed their loyalty to the state by the worship of the emperor. Smyrna won a contest, a contest to see who would erect a shrine to the deified Tiberius.
d. The Christians lived in a heathen town which embodied not only the eastern gods but the gods of Rome. The Roman gods were of the more dangerous kind, their servants could bring down punishment upon the heads of the Christians for not submitting to those gods. Smyrna also has Jews, lots of them, hostile and vocal Jews, Jews of the sort who would take the lead in the execution of Polycarp on the Sabath. Not faithful Jews but the sort who lived in the days of Antiochus and the Maccabean revolt, the kind that didn’t worship God, but worshipped survival.
e. So we can see that Smyrna was a planned city, a free city and a beautiful, wealthy… pagan city.
II. John writes in Revelation 2:8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things saith the first and the last, who was dead, and lived again:” The leading god of Smyrna was ‘Dionysus,’ who was the god of the grape harvest and wine. Smyrna was famous for its vines, and each year the death and resurrection of ‘Dionysus’ was acted out in public plays.
a. The Christians knew the difference between myth and solid, indisputable historical fact. Jesus identifies Himself as ‘the first and the last’ and we should be familiar with that title because it’s a name which was applied to God in the Old Testament.
b. Isaiah 44:6- “Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.” Straight away John reminds these Christians and says, ‘come what will, Christ is with us.’ Smyrna, who claimed to be the first in the world, John assures the saints, that Christ is first and last, and there is no competition, and hence no room for human pride.
c. Now those words ”who was dead, and lived again” in verse 8. What is John talking about? Straightforward isn’t it? He’s taking about the resurrection of Jesus.
i. He saying, the risen Christ is He who experienced death, and who passed into death, through death and out of death, and who came to life again in the triumphant event of the resurrection overcoming death, and who is alive forever more.
ii. As Christians we all experience the best that life has to offer but we also experience the worst of which life has to offer. Folks, Jesus experienced the very worst life had to offer but the good news is; He has conquered the worst that life can do to us. Death. He conquered that. He experienced death so that we don’t need to be afraid of it anymore. In 1 Corinthians 15:55- Paul asks: “O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” Because of this that only Jesus can demand such loyalty from His followers, and be able to reward those who are loyal to Him.
III. Have you ever had times in your Christian life when you just feel crushed? We as a whole do not experience that much but the winds are changing. That was the situation of the church in Smyrna, it was a crushed congregation. Revelation 2:9-10- “I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they art not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to 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 the crown of life.”
a. Folks, it does not always pay in this life to be a Christian, but it certainly will pay to be a Christian when you get to the next. What Jesus is telling us here is that when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hold on. When times are hard and you become poor, be faithful. Why? Look at James 2:5- “Listen, my beloved brethren; did not God choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to them that love him?” James says that God has a currency which is eternal riches, and so be faithful when poverty strikes.
b. In 2 Timothy 2:19-21 we find these thoughts; “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from the latter, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master's use, prepared unto every good work.”
i. Paul says to take comfort when times get hard for the Lord knows who are His. The Lord knows each and every one of us intimately… and He knows everything He needs to know about the church in Smyrna. He knows they are facing persecution, He knows they are facing poverty.
ii. This was no ‘prosperity gospel’. … I’ll give to God so that He gives back to me. They certainly didn’t become Christian to improve their bank balance. Thinking about this in worldly terms… as Christians they were denied jobs because of their relationship with Jesus Christ. They were shunned, denied membership in guilds, Jesus knows this and He knows that they faced the prospect of being sent to prison.
c. If all that wasn’t trouble enough he tells them in verse 10 that was even more trouble ahead. But despite all the tribulation, thanks be to God, Smyrna was a consistent, faithful, church. Revelation 2:9 “I know thy tribulation, and thy poverty (but thou art rich), and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they art not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”
d. Now please don’t underestimate that word “tribulation” (some translations say ‘afflictions’) here. He’s not saying that being a Christian in Smyrna was a headache, He’s not saying it’s an inconvenience. He’s saying because you’re Christians, you’re under all sorts of pressure, grinding, crushing pressure. Pressure like we have not or maybe will never experience today.
i. The Roman Emperor Domitian was ruling at this time, so they were experiencing the crushing load of the Roman forces trying to destroy Christianity. And please don’t underestimate that word ‘poverty’ either, this is not just being poor, it means destitution.
ii. They were poor and unable to help themselves. They were poor perhaps, because they were from a poorer class to begin with, but most likely because of robbery, job rejection, and business boycott as forms of persecution. But despite the already existing pressure from the Roman worship, the slander of the Jews, and their extreme poverty, these lovely people… were… faithful.
iii. It is difficult for us today to comprehend. We might talk about being poor because we haven’t got enough money to pay for our mobile phone bill. Today we see some of the people who are on benefits and are pleading poverty. There are some who truly have nothing but they are so far removed from us that we, as a rule, don’t understand the experience.
iv. Jesus says to these faithful Christians in Smyrna, you guys aren’t poor, you are all ‘rich’ In other words, what these Christians lacked in the world, God would make up for them in heaven.
e. Yes, we know that the world smiles at us when we talk about heavenly treasures. Have you ever talked to someone who is not a Christian about the rewards we will get when we get to heaven? They smile at you. What does a world which rejects the loveliest man who ever lived know? So let me ask you, as Christians should we be intimidated by others who make fun of us because we say we’re rich? Should we be intimidated by others when they, as my British friends say, “have a go” at us for being Christians?
IV. Jesus says, ‘I know about the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and they art not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Now notice that word ‘say’. ‘They ‘say’, they are Jews’. These guys wouldn’t have recognized Abraham if he had appeared wearing a name badge.
a. This very same Jesus had spoken to an audience of Jews in John 8 if you remember and He recognized their racial status but denied their relationship with Abraham. John 8:39-47- “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”
b. You see the Lord doesn’t only know you and me intimately, he also knows everyone else intimately too. My point is that these people were proud to be Jews, they were proud of their synagogues and all the while Jesus says that they were a synagogue of the Devil and the Devil dwelt in them.
c. Now folks what about us? There are far too many people in the world today who say they are Christians but their lives don’t reflect what they claim. Don’t say you’re a Christian if you curse and swear like the rest of the world. Don’t say you’re a Christian but seldom attend worship services. Don’t say you’re a Christian if you’ve never been immersed into Christ in the first place.
V. Notice that the church in Smyrna had a positive testimony; the Lord didn’t have a rebuke for this church like He did with many of the others. Not only did they have a positive testimony they also had a very powerful testimony. How do we know that? Simply because in spite of all the wickedness which was going on around them, and in spite of all the affliction that they were put through, they remained faithful.
a. Because of this they received comfort from Jesus Himself. Jesus comes to them as ‘The first and the Last, He that was dead and is alive.” He is reminding them ‘He knows’ what they are facing because He has faced tribulation and suffering as well.
b. I want to say a few words about that word, ‘blasphemy’ which is used. The word ‘blasphemy’ is the Greek word which means, reviling, but here it is used not primarily to direct blasphemy against God, but reviling against believers.
i. In other words, Satan is tempting the saints to blaspheme in the name of Christ. Now although there is no rebuke for this church, there certainly are a few words of caution… Revelation 2:10- ”Fear not the things which thou art about to suffer: behold, the devil is about to 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 the crown of life.”
ii. You see Satan was doing the tempting, but God at the same time is proving, testing and trying them. Why is God doing that? James 1:2-4- “Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations; Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.”
iii. Jesus doesn’t want us to lack anything; we must accept that difficulties come for a reason. They come to help us grow and become mature as Christians. Many people today are under the impression when you become a Christian that is all there is to it, your life will become a bed of roses and free from any hardships.
c. But what does Jesus say here? He says that God will let His people suffer. What? You’re telling me that life is hard enough but if I become a Christian, my life will get even tougher? We read in; 2 Timothy 3:12- “Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” That is a promise right there. Now it’s not all doom and gloom because Jesus reminds us in John 16:33- “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
i. Archaeologists digging in the remains of a school for imperial pages in Rome found graffiti carved in the plaster dating from somewhere from the late first to the third century. It shows a person standing, his hand raised, worshiping a figure on a cross, a figure that looks like a man with the head of a donkey. Scrawled in the writing are the words, ‘Alexamenos worships his God.’ Nearby in a second inscription it reads, ‘Alexamenos is faithful.’ Apparently, a young man who was a Christian was being mocked by his schoolmates for his faithful witness. But he was not ashamed, he was faithful.
ii. We will possibly never have to face what these Christians were facing. They were about to feel the pressure increasing, they were about to join the long list, the long, glorious list of those who were imprisoned for righteousness sake.
d. They were about to be tested for ‘ten days’, and we have to ask what that means since we know it is not literal. This is the Hebrew way of saying for a short time. Daniel, for example, asked to be given vegetables instead of the king’s meat, for how long? 10 days according to Daniel 1:12-16. Jacob was tested by Laban how many times in Genesis 31:7? 10 times. Job, the persecuted, was tested by his accusers how many times? 10 times. Job 19:3 By the time we get to the New Testament it had become the expression for a period of trial by hardship.
e. Jesus knows His people and those who are not His and this would include the devil himself. He tells them that, ‘the devil will put some of you in prison.’ He tells them that not too long from now some of them, not all of them but some of them will be put in prison. If that isn’t frightening enough, under Domitian if you were being put in prison that likely meant that you were going to be put to death.
f. Jesus cautions them and says don’t be afraid, but be faithful, even to the point of death. In other words, don’t worry if they kill you, because you will be at home. That’s why Mike read Romans 8:33-39 in our Scripture reading, to remind us that when times are really tough, nothing can separate us from the love of God, persecution can not and death can not.
VI. Folks, Jesus is looking for total, lifelong commitment to Him in faith and with such faithfulness secures the ‘crown of life.’ James 1:12- “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
a. As far as the Sadducees, Epicureans, as well as others are concerned, death introduces us into nothingness, it was the end, but for the faithful, it is just the beginning. The crown was among the Romans and the Greeks a symbol of victory and reward.
b. The crown or wreath worn by the victors in the Olympic Games was made of leaves of the wild olive, in the Pythian Games, the crown was made of laurel. In the Nemean Games, it was made of parsley and in the Isthmian Games, it was made of pine. The Romans bestowed the ‘civic crown’ on anyone who saved the life of a citizen and it was made of the leaves of the oak. But these crowns wither and die because they are made of leaves.
c. This crown, the crown which Jesus gives lasts, why? Because it is made of life. 1 Peter 5:4- “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”
VII. Remember as we said with the first letter that despite the fact that the letter in Revelation was written to a specific church, it applies equally to the other churches and in fact to all the churches. As we go through these letters we may have moments where we think He can’t be speaking about us here. But He is and what is said is still applicable today. Revelation 2:11 “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death”.
a. Are we listening? So what is the second death? Let’s have a look. The expression ‘second death’ is found three other times in the book of Revelation.
i. Revelation 20:6- “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:14- “And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.”
ii. Revelation 21:8- “But for the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death.”
b. J.H. Thayer defined the ‘second death’ as ‘the miserable state of the wicked dead in hell’. This condition is characterized as the second death because it follows physical death. It is designated as death… because it is the terminal separation from the Lord. Matthew 25:41- “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels:” 2 Thessalonians 1:9- “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”
VIII. And let’s ask again, what is the second death? The second death is the ultimate and eternal separation from God. In other words, Jesus is saying to these faithful Christians in Smyrna and to us today that it’s much better to die the first death in faithfulness to Christ than to die that second death.
a. Think about it, Jesus says because He is alive after death, so it will be with the Christian. We can escape hell if we remain faithful. Jesus says, I know about all the affiliations and poverty that Christians experience, which are only temporary, He says, nothing will separate us from Him. In fact Jesus says the faithful lose nothing but gain everything worth gaining, and that is Jesus Himself.
b. Paul says in Philippians 1:21- “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” We should pray that we learn the value of suffering and poverty folks. And may we never lose faith in God should they come upon us.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. Romans 10:17 tells us to hear the word; Mark 16:16 teaches us that we must believe in Jesus; Acts 2:38 instructs us to repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God as we find in Matthew 10:32. Peter tells us we are to be baptized for the remission of our sins in Acts 2:38… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.
Perhaps you are in the assembly today and your need is to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing. #198 – There’s Power in the Blood.