Trinity Baptist Church

The Right Kind of Church

Smyrna: A Faithful Church

Revelation 2:8-11

 

We're talking about what marks the right kind of church.  There are some things, biblically speaking, that distinguish the right kind of church from the wrong kind of church.  And the seven letters written to the seven church of Asia Minor are providing our texts for this series.

 

With each church we are given a primary characteristic of that church that helps us know what our church should be like.  So far, we’ve listened as the Lord spoke to the church at Ephesus.  And while there were a lot of good things going on there, they are reprimanded for leaving their first love.

 

One of the characteristics of the right kind of church is that above everything else, it loves the Lord.  That is the beginning place.  No matter what else we uncover regarding the church, we must never leave our first love.  It is that original, emotional love for Christ that motivates everything else we do.

 

Today we turn our attention to the church at Smyrna.   The Lord’s letter to this church is found at Revelation 2:8-11 and there we see the right kind of church is a faithful church."

 

Listen to what the Lord says:  Revelation 2:8-11

 

We have no other information about the church than what we read here.  There is no mention of it in any other part of the New Testament.

 

It is not recorded in any of the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul.  We know nothing about when it was begun or by whom.  The only thing we know about the church at Smyrna is its physical location.  .

 

It was located north of Ephesus on the Aegean Sea in modern-day Turkey.  It was a very beautiful city.  In fact, some refer to it as the "Flower of Asia."  We do not know the population of the city, but we do know that the modern city of Smyrna is known as Izmir and that it has a growing population exceeding now two million people.

 

As you moved about through that city you would see beauty and splendor everywhere.  For instance, on the street that went from the Temple of Zeus to the Temple of Cybele you walked on streets inlaid with gold.

 

The city was located on the slope of Mount Pagos.  On top of Mount Pagos there were a number of beautiful temples to pagan gods.  There were flowers there and all kinds of garden beds and all kinds of beautiful things.  So much so that when you approached the city of Smyrna, it seemed to be a crown.

 

Sometimes it was referred to as "the crown city."  There is a reference to that, most likely in verse 10 where we are told the Lord will give them a crown of life.  So in this crown city there is a church that is like a crown.  A church where the Lord says I will give you a crown of life.

 

The city of Smyrna was known for a number of things.  One of the things was its commitment to its treaties with other governments.

If you entered into a treaty with the city of Smyrna, they would keep their part of the treaty.  They were very faithful to all of their allies.  If Smyrna was an ally of yours, you could depend on them in times of need.

 

The main product that was produced in Smyrna and sold there was a product known as myrrh.   The city itself is named after myrrh.  If you take the "s" off of Smyrna and look at what you have left, you'll get the picture.  It is a name that is related to myrrh.

 

Myrrh was a substance which, when it was crushed, yielded a beautiful fragrance.  When you put it under pressure and when it was crushed, it gave forth a beautiful aroma.  For that reason it was very important in many perfumes.  It was used as an embalming substance as well.

 

You may recall that in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, myrrh played a part.  When Jesus was born the Wise Men brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  On the cross when our Lord was dying for our sins, the Bible says that they offered Him a drink of wine mingled with myrrh, which He refused.  When the Lord Jesus was buried, Nicodemus came and he brought spices and myrrh and aloes.  It was a substance when you put it under pressure, when you crushed it, it brought forth a very pleasant fragrance.

 

It seems apparent that the church in Smyrna was going through a hard time.  This church knew what it was to be under pressure.  It knew what it was to be crushed.  It was a struggling church, a church going through many difficulties.

 

That happens with churches sometimes.  There are churches in our land going through hard times.  In many declining neighborhoods, churches are struggling.  In many rural areas where people are moving away to the city, there are churches that are struggling.  We must always keep in mind that some of God's people are ministering and serving in difficult places.

 

The same thing is true about individual Christians as well.  There are individual Christians who are struggling and they're having a hard time.  And that sometimes help you decide if you’re at the right kind of church because some churches don’t want to mess with people who have problems.   

 

If you've got problems, you can come to our church.  We welcome you.  If you're going through a divorce or having financial difficulties, if you're having some hard times with inner turmoil in your life, we welcome you here.  We believe that here you can find people who are sympathetic.  Here you can find help for your circumstances and for your condition.

 

Here is a church going through a hard time and the Lord uses the message to the church of Smyrna to give a word of encouragement to those of you who struggling today.

 

Now if you were here and paying attention last week, you may remember we used a three-word outline.  The Lord gave the church at Ephesus a positive word, then a negative word and finally a redemptive word.  If I were using the same outline this week, and I’m not, I could drop an entire point from the outline because with Smyrna, he has nothing negative to say.

To this church, he offers no criticism or correction.  All you will find is praise and encouragement.

 

That is a reminder that there are times when we need rebuke.  There are times when we need that negative word and to be challenged.  There are some times when we need to be encouraged too. And before this service is over I'm praying that many of you will walk out these doors and you will be encouraged in your heart by the message to a church that was under pressure.

 

Today we are reminded, through the message to the church of Smyrna, that God loves you, God is interested in you, God is working with you, and God will help you through the difficulties you are going through right now. The Lord begins with

 

 

He begins with a very soothing message for their hearts.

 

verse 8

 

Now keep in mind, this is Jesus talking.  The ultimate solace for a church and for our individual lives is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  Jesus said, "I want you to know that I am the first and the last."  What Jesus is saying is that whatever you're going through I'm at the beginning of it and when it's all over I want you to know I'll be at the end of it as well.

 

 

 

 

On ancient maps sometimes when they came to uncharted waters and they didn't know what was there on those ancient maps they would put "Here be dragons."

 

 Take the map of your life and whatever the uncharted waters may be through which you are going, whatever may be the uncertainties of your map of life today, in those uncertain places you can write, "Here be Jesus."  Whatever you're going through Jesus is right there.  He'll be with you when the trouble starts, and He'll be with you when the trouble is over.

 

Obviously I don’t know the individual details of every person’s life in this auditorium today, but I can say with absolute certainty that every one of us find ourselves in one of three conditions.

 

You're either coming out of a storm, you're in a storm, or you're heading into a storm.  But I also know that no matter where you are in relation to the storm, if you are a child of God, Jesus is right there with you at every turn.  He is the first; He’s at the beginning of it.  He will be with you through it and He will still be with you at the end of it.  What a solace to know we have Jesus who's with us through all the storms.

 

Jesus said something else that is quite an encouragement.  He not only said, "I'm the first and the last," but He also said, "I was dead, and I'm alive."

 

Don’t rush by that too quickly.  I’m afraid that sometimes we’ve become way too familiar with the fundamentals of Christianity.

We so calmly and without emotion speak and sing of the resurrection.  In fact, some of you are so familiar with it, it doesn’t even more you anymore.  You don’t even have to sing about it.  It is so commonplace, it has become mundane.  Ho hum, Christ raised from the dead.  Big deal.  When are we getting out of church?  Won’t the preacher ever shut up?  

 

But I want you to dwell on the fact that He was dead and He is alive.  Jesus died on that old cross, suffering for the sins of the whole world.  He was buried, but we know that three days later He came out of that tomb and He is alive forevermore.  That is something that is unique in the world of religion.

 

Of all of the other religions of the world and of all of the other religion's leaders of the world, here's what you have to conclude:  "He was alive and he is dead."

 

You can say of Buddha, "He was alive and he is dead."  You can say of Mohammad, "He was alive and he is dead."  You can say of Hare Krishna, “He was alive and he is dead.”

 

But of our Savior and Lord, you can say, "He was dead and He is alive!  And not only is He alive, He is alive forevermore."  We have a living Savior.  Isn't that marvelous to know?!  Does that not comfort and quiet your troubled heart?  Does that not speak peace when you are disturbed?  Because I have a living Savior I can come know that He understands and that He cares for me!

 

Then He acknowledges

 

 

 

verse 9

 

In other words Jesus knows all about it.  Isn't that good to know today?  He knows everything about everything that’s going on.

 

He knows the good things like their works.  He knows the bad things like their tribulations.  The word tribulation is a word that means a pressing together.  For instance, it was used sometimes of the pressure of stones grinding the flour.  Sometimes it was used of the press crushing the grapes so the juice might flow.  Sometimes it was used of a crushing weight that was put upon someone.

 

Jesus said, "I know your tribulation.  I know the pressure.  I know you're going through the mill."  This church was.  It was going through the mill as we will see in just a moment.

 

There are churches today going through the mill.  There are churches under tremendous pressure.  There are Christians who are going through pressure in their life.  You may be having pressure on the job and it's weighing down on you.  There may be the pressures of family problems and those problems seem to nearly crush you.  There may be inner pressures and turmoil that you are struggling with in your own life.  Jesus says, "I want you to know that I know the pressure you're under."

 

This is a pressure-filled day.  I think people are working harder and are going through more pressures on the job than I've ever seen before.

 

The culture is bringing more pressure on the people of God today than I have ever witnessed in all my ministry.  In many places little children are forbidden from saying prayers or giving their friends gifts that might be perceived as Christian.

 

In the workplace, there is pressure to be silent regarding our faith.  For years, we’ve been told to keep our religion in the church and now they want control over what is preached in the pulpit as well.

 

Jesus talks to them and says, "I know your tribulation."  He also says their poverty.

 

There were two words in the Greek language for poverty.  There was one word that meant not to have all of the necessities you need.  But it is the second word that is used here which means absolute, utter destitution.  Not only to lack the necessities but to be totally destitute.

 

Jesus is saying to these believers in Smyrna that I know the utter destitution you're going through in your ministry in Smyrna.  It must have been a small, struggling group of believers there.  As they looked around at the city they was all of those magnificent temples where pagan gods were worshipped, all of the religions of those days with all of their finery, in all of their luxury, and there on the side somewhere was the little congregation of Christians.

 

Smyrna.  They didn't have anything.  They didn't have a building.  They didn't have an organ or choir.  They didn't have any programs or much of anything.  They were an utterly destitute, poor, congregation.

 

 

I have a feeling that the prosperity gospel probably wouldn't have been real popular there.  I have a feeling you couldn't have preached much prosperity to that crowd and got much of a hearing.  The prosperity gospel won't work in multiple places around the world.

 

Obviously we like it here in America.  Just tell people if you live for Jesus, He can make you a financial success.  Just live for the Lord and you'll get rich.  That sounds good to people ears.  They want to hear that if you'll just become a Christian and be a Christian that you will succeed and you'll be prosperous in life.

 

I think it is because a lot of people have misunderstood what Christianity is all about.  Some just go to church because of what it can do for them.  Go to church.   It will be good for business.  Go to church.  It’ll increase your reputation in the community.   

 

A lot of people go to church simply for what they are going to get out of a church.  It is not what you get out of a church that matters.  It's what you give in a church.  Somebody says, "What's the church going to do for me?"  It's not so much what the church does for you but what you can do for Jesus through your church. 

 

Don't expect necessarily that you're going to get prosperous when you pick the right church.  In fact, it's been my observation in the years of my ministry that sometimes prosperity is not a blessing to some people.  I have seen people that God has begun to bless them and prosper them financially, and it's not good for them.

I've seen some members who were serving the Lord and living for Jesus and had a group of Christian friends and then they began to prosper, and all of a sudden they get themselves a new set of friends.  All of a sudden they're too busy with the country club memberships and all of that to serve the Lord in their church.  They don't have time for Jesus anymore.

 

They’re sure not going to give any money to the Lord or His church.  They can live in a beautiful home, drive the newest of cars, have the latest toys and gadgets.  But if their giving record were made public, they would be ashamed of how small it is.  They are what the book of Malachi describes as thieves because the rob God Himself of tithes and offerings.

 

Listen:  there is more to church than just what you get out of it.  You are here to serve the Lord Jesus Christ through obedience to His Word.

 

On the other hand there are those who give so faithfully even though they have very little or nothing.  We’ve got little widows that faithfully mail their checks to the church month by month.  They are no longer able to come themselves but they want to make sure their tithe continues to be used in service to the Lord.  Jesus says, "I know your poverty."

 

Then He mentions their persecution.

 

verse 9

 

Did you know the Bible teaches the devil has his churches as well?  He said they are the synagogue of Satan.

There evidently was a group of people there who were claiming to be true followers of Jehovah God, but they were religious phonies.  They are making fun of these believers in Smyrna.  They are making fun of these humble, simple Christians who are faithfully living the Christian life.

 

So it is today.  Did you know where most Bible believing, soul winning churches get criticism from? Normally, it's not from the world.  It's from the religious crowd.  Normally it's those churches that don't have any convictions about the Bible.  It's those churches that aren't interested in winning people to the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

God's people are experiencing persecution in these days.  I get a weekly report made available by the American Family Association that documents the most recent instances of persecution in America.  Every week there are example out of the schools, city governments and courts of instances where Christianity is attacked.

 

And I’m not optimistic about it getting better.  In fact, I believe very strongly that it will get worse.    Listen to what we are told in

 

1 Peter 4:12-16

 

Go ahead and let ‘em make fun of you on the job because you're a Christian, don't be ashamed.  Keep standing for Jesus. I promise you’ll have the last laugh.

 

 If they jump on you at school because you're living for Christ, don't be ashamed.  Be faithful for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus says, "I know the pressure you're under.  I know the poverty you're experiencing.  I know the persecution you're going through."

 

Notice that little set of parenthesis in the middle of verse 9.

 

He says, "I know your works.  I know your tribulation.  I know you're poverty.  But I also know something else!  You are rich!"

 

Isn't that interesting?  He has just said that you are poor.  You're in poverty.  Now he turns around and says, "You are rich."  He's talking about the paradox between having very little things of the things of the world financially or materially, but being rich in spiritual things.

 

The Christian life is filled with such paradoxes.

 

In 2 Corinthians 6, verse 10, it says, "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”  That’s a paradox."

 

"As poor yet making many rich.  That’s a paradox."

 

"As having nothing yet possessing all things."

 

There are riches that go beyond the material and the physical.  There are riches which are in the realm of the spiritual.  The Bible talks about being rich toward God.  The Bible talks about being rich in faith, being rich in good works.  How rich are you really?  You are only as rich as you are in spiritual things.

 

 

 

 

That’s the prayer John prayed for Gaius in the little book of 3 John.

 

3 John 1-2

 

Question:  How well off, physically and financially, would you be if God let your bank account and health match your spiritual well-being?

 

That’s what Johnis asking for his friend.  He’s asking God to let his health and finances be as prosperous as is his spiritual health.  If God were to answer that prayer in our lives, most of us would need a bankruptcy lawyer and life support before we left the church building today!

 

How prosperous is your soul?  How prosperous are you in the things of the spirit, in the things of the Lord?  We have wonderful Christians around here, some who have a lot materially, some who don't.  But whether they have a lot materially or not there are many wonderful believers in this fellowship who are rich in the things of the Lord.  They are rich in the things of the Spirit.  All that really matters is how rich you are toward God.

 

I heard about a man who had given large sums of money to his church, and then the depression came and he lost everything he had.  A friend said to him, "I guess you regret now giving all that money to your church."  The man said, "Oh, no.  I don't regret it at all.  That's really all I've got left."

 

You can lay up treasure in heaven.  You can be rich toward God.  Here was this struggling church, and yet they were rich in the things of the Spirit.

 

And I want to tell you the right kind of church is the one where you God's people are rich in the things of God, or rich in faith, or rich in love.

 

He talks about their suffering and notice what he says in verse 10

 

Notice He talks about what they are about to suffer.  He's saying to them that there's more to come.  Listen:  it just may get worse before it gets better, and the truth is it may not get better. But Jesus says, “Don’t worry about what you’re going to suffer.”

 

We never know what we’re facing.  God doesn't always give us explanations of what's going on either.  When you're going through it, God doesn't always explain it.  God's people don't live by explanations, we live by promises.  We have the promises of God and the explanations will come later.

 

That’s what we’re learning on Sunday evenings from the book of Habakkuk.  He couldn’t figure out why God was doing what He was doing.  It made no sense.  It didn’t fit his image of God.  It was theologically all messed up.  But we find in him a commitment to trust God no matter what.

 

Jesus says, “Don’t worry about what’s about to happen.” He's saying, “Be fearless.”

 

I haven't counted them myself, but someone has calculated that there are 365 times in the Bible where it says, "Fear not."   That’s one for every day of the yea!

 

Whatever you're going through, whatever you may suffer, God says that you don't have to be afraid.  "Fear none of those things."

 

Some of you, He says, are going to be tried for ten days.  When you look at these letters to the churches from a historical point of view this was a period of time of great persecution of the church.

 

Many of you have probably read “Foxes Book of Martyrs".  It is a documentation of periods of history where the church has undergone great persecutions.

 

The Smyrna period of the church was a period of great, great persecutions.  In fact, they say there were ten distinct times of persecution during that period of church history.  To read it is unbelievable what those believers went through in those years.

 

During that time, Christians were crucified.  Sometimes they were thrown to wild dogs.  On other occasions their fingernails were pulled out.  They were placed naked in pots of boiling oil.  Sometimes they were sewn up in leather skins with poisonous snakes.  The suffering that they endured was unimaginable, unbelievable.

 

But God says, "I want you to know that you'll be tried ten days."  What that means is a limited period of time.  God puts a limit on it.

 

Whatever you're going through God has put a limit on it.  When you have been tested and God has allowed you to go through the fire and you have stayed true to the Lord Jesus Christ, God says, "That's the end of it.  No more."  He'll take you out of it.

And that’s

 

 

verse 10b

 

That's God's message to Christians who are going through hard times.  That's God's message to Christians who struggle.  The word "unto" means even unto the point of.  Up to and all the way to death.  Many of these people did die for their faith in the Lord.

 

You may not be called upon to die for your faith in the Lord but then again, you may be.  You may be called upon to go through hard times for the Lord but regardless, be faithful.

 

Faithfulness.  Look for a church where there is faithfulness.  I think about you faithful people here.  I think about you dependable people here.  You can be counted on.

 

Faithfulness is not a glamorous characteristic.  You're not ever going to get your name in a religious periodical by being faithful.  You're never going to be interviewed on a religious T.V. talk show by being faithful. It is rather ordinary and mundane and yet the Bible says in I Corinthians 4, verse 2, "Moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."

 

In Matthew 25, verse 21, Jesus says, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant."  Jesus is saying, "You be faithful.  Stick in there.  Be trustworthy.  Be dependable."  That's what God needs in His churches today.  He needs God's people who are faithful.

He gives a word to the overcomers.  I always like these.  "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."  In other words, in those days when a king came to visit Smyrna, they would give him a crown.  One of these days Jesus is going to come and instead of Him receiving a crown He's going to give us a crown for being faithful.  Don't you want the crown of faithfulness?

 

Then is says in verse 11, "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."

 

One of the pastors of the church at Smyrna was an old man named Polycarp.  He served there about 60 years after they received this letter.

 

During his tenure, persecution against the Christians broke out there and believers were being fed to the wild beasts in the arena. The crowd began to call for the Christians' leader Polycarp. Church leaders convinced him he was worth more alive than dead and hid him away.

 

Those looking for him tortured two slave boys to reveal where Polycarp was being hidden.  It was a Friday afternoon. Polycarp was resting upstairs in a country home. They came in like a posse, fully armed as if they were arresting a dangerous criminal.  Polycarp's friends wanted to sneak him out, but he refused, saying, "God's will be done."

 

In one of the most touching instances of Christian grace imaginable, Polycarp welcomed his captors as if they were friends, talked with them and ordered that food and drink be served to them.

Then Polycarp made one request: one hour to pray before they took him away. He actually wound up praying for two hours.

 

Eventually he was taken before the Roman authorities.  They said, "Renounce Christ and we will release you."  Polycarp said, "Eighty and six years I have served Him. He had never done me any wrong. How then could I blaspheme my King who has saved me?"

 

The proconsul searched for an acceptable way out: "Then do this, old man. Just swear by the genius of the emperor and that will be sufficient." Polycarp replied, "If you imagine for a moment that I would do that, then I think you pretend that you don't know who I am. Hear it plainly. I am a Christian."

 

The proconsul threatened him with the wild beasts.

Polycarp said, "Bring them forth. I would change my mind if it meant going from the worse to the better, but not to change from the right to the wrong."

 

With patience gone, the authorities threatened to burn him at the stake.  He said, "You threaten fire that burns for an hour and is over. But the judgment on the ungodly is forever."

 

The fire was prepared. When they tired to tie him to the stake, Polycarp asked to remain free and willingly stepped into the fire.  There he lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed: "Father, I bless you that you have deemed me worthy of this day and hour, that I might take a portion of the martyrs in the cup of Christ. . . Among these may I today be welcome before thy face as a rich and acceptable sacrifice."

 

As the fire engulfed him, the believers noted that it smelled not so much like flesh burning as a loaf baking. Finally, as he stood there praying, they ran him through with a dagger.  His followers gathered his remains and buried them.

 

What did Jesus say?  He who overcomes will not be hurt of the second death.  Did you notice that?  Look in verse 11 the last part, "Shall not be hurt of the second death." In Revelation 20 we find the meaning of the second death according to scripture.  In verse 14 it says, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death."  The lake of fire, hell.  "Fire and brimstone," chapter 21, verse 8, says.   This is the second death.

 

In chapter 20, verse 6, it says, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power."  Do you know what that's saying?  That's saying if you are born again, if you're saved, the second death has no power over you.

 

Let me leave you with some simple mathematics.  The Bible says if you're born only once, you'll die twice.  That means L + D = D. If you are born only once, if all you have is a physical birth, and you are never born again, if you are born only once you'll die physically and spiritually, the second death.

 

On the other hand, if you're born twice, you'll die only once.  That means L + D = L.  If you are born twice, if you're born physically and born again, you'll die only once.  You may die physically, but praise God you'll not be touch by the second death.  One of these days the resurrection is going to come and you're not going down, you're going up!

Then think about this:  L + L +L = L.  If you are born physically and then born again spiritually and one day you’re still alive when Jesus returns, you’ll never die but be changed in a moment to a glorified, spiritual life.

 

Listen the only way to have a “D” at the end of the equation is to only have one “L” in the equation.  Any time there is a spiritual “L” inserted, there will never be a second death awaiting.

 

Today, if you are a child of God, the invitational call is to be faithful.  And if you are lost, make certain there is a second life, God’s gift of eternal life, inserted in your formula.

 

 

Let's pray.