Sermon Notes

January 21, 2024

The Paradox of the Persecuted Church in Smyrna

Revelation 2:8-11

The second church that Jesus addresses in His letters to the seven churches is addressed to the church in Smyrna. The church in Smyrna is a very unique church among the churches Jesus writes to. It’s one of only two churches that Jesus didn’t reprimand for lacking in some way. It's the only church of the seven that still exists today, and it’s the one church that seems to be racked with paradoxes when it comes to Jesus’ message to them. When we read scripture we come upon paradox after paradox, the last being first and the first being last (Matthew 20:16), to gain your life you must first lose it (Matthew 16:25). The list goes on and on, but when we find a paradox in scripture we need to realize that we are being shown what is expected from those who are part of God’s Kingdom. It's a call to be different from the world. This morning I want to take a look at the three paradoxes that are found in this letter to the church in Smyrna. What it is calling the church to look at in their own lives, and how we can be as faithful as the church in Smyrna.

The Paradox of Riches - Revelation 2:8-9a

Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive: I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich!

This letter starts out addressed to the Pastor of the church just as the other, but then Jesus addresses Himself in a different way than He does in the previous letter to Ephesus. He no longer refers to Himself as the one who holds the stars and walks among the lampstands, rather as the first and the last, the one who was dead and is now alive. Why would Jesus change the way He refers to Himself? It is because Jesus reveals Himself to us in different ways depending on our needs. When we wander, He is the Good Shepherd, when chaos seems to reign in our lives He is the Prince of Peace, when we are lonely He is Immanuel God with Us. When the church at Ephesus was lacking in love, He revealed Himself in a way that reminded them He knows and has the power and authority to remove them if necessary. Why did He reveal Himself to the church in Smyrna in the way He did? There is a wonderful beauty in this answer, we’re going to visit here in just a bit.

After His introduction we quickly arrive at the body of the letter and we see Jesus make a value statement that is our first paradox. It almost seems like an oxymoron and hard to understand, but when we see their situation from His perspective we see why Jesus said they were rich. The church in Smyrna was located a handful of miles north of the city of Ephesus. It was a city that had a large Jewish population on top of a large Roman presence. There was no doubt the Christians in Smyrna had worldly poverty and it seems that their poverty was due to the fact that they would not concede their faith to the government who had built a temple in their town to Tiberius Caesar. They would not declare, “Caesar is Lord”. There were financial consequences because of their refusal to do so. Jesus said despite their suffering and their worldly poverty they were indeed rich when it comes to the reality of the eternal Kingdom of God. It should come as no surprise that the world's view of what brings value versus God's are always polar opposites. Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday and the focus of this Sunday is a great reminder of this fact. The world sees that a fetus is more of an issue of convenience to a mother whereas Jesus sees it as a living being from the moment of conception who was created in His image and He loves so much that He came and died for them. The world sees differently abled people as burdens on society whereas Jesus sees them with worth far beyond anything the world can comprehend. What makes these people rich where it counts in Jesus’ Kingdom? The answer is it’s the grace that we have access to through Jesus that brings us the riches that matter. We see all throughout scripture that grace is always equated with riches. Romans 2:4 tells us that we experienced these riches when we experienced the kindness and patience of God before we turned from our sin. Ephesians 1:7 tells that these riches of grace are given to us through salvation and Ephesians 2:7 shows us that we will be examples of these riches to future generations when He does things through His blood bought church. The riches that really matter in this life come from God alone through His grace to save us from our sin. This will be clear when we get to eternity. This world is foolishly fixated with the time we have here on earth when compared to eternity, especially in what constitutes riches. However, scripture says our time on this earth is like vapors in the wind. They won’t last long and when compared to an eternity with Christ it is clear who is rich. It is those who have experienced the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ by those who have made Him Lord of their lives. There is another Scripture about the riches of grace and that is found in 2 Corinthians 6:10 when Paul says, “we are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others”. This is where we find the next paradox — it’s when we share this amazing grace with a lost and dying world that brings us into the paradox of suffering.

The Paradox of Suffering - Revelation 2:9-10

I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. If you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

Because of their riches of grace and their faithfulness to share that grace, the Church was under severe persecution, but noticed that their suffering was not alluded to as a bad thing. As a matter of fact, we see all throughout the New Testament that instead, it’s considered a blessing. 1 Peter 3:14 says we are blessed when we suffer for doing what is right and 2 Corinthians 4:17 says that these sufferings are nothing when compared to eternity. Philippians 3:10 talks of our participation in Jesus’ suffering. Remember this suffering did not come from poor decisions, rather faithfulness to their mission.The greatest gift a church can receive is true persecution because it’s in that suffering that the Church flourishes. I want to look at how the obedience of the Church brought about suffering and what we can expect and prepare for through our obedience to God as His Church as well.

Satan comes against us when we are obedient.

Satan is mentioned twice in these two verses. The first is in context to the Jews who were there. Their synagogue was referred to as belonging to Satan. Why? Well, to the best of our understanding these Jews were the ones that were putting pressure on the Christians by adopting the creed, “Caesar is Lord”, while the Christians refused to have any other Lord except Jesus. True Jews wouldn’t have done so either, so that’s why Jesus said they weren’t real Jews. This is a reminder of when Jesus was being called the King of the Jews, but the Jews were trying to manipulate the rulers by declaring, “We have no king but Caesar”. The Jews were slowly making concessions that caused them to not see Jesus as their Messiah, but for the Christians, Jesus says that Satan will throw them into prison for a time and it might even lead to their death. Why in the world would Satan be so concerned with this small church when there was a much larger church just a few miles down the road? It’s because the church was obedient. You see Satan will do anything to keep you from experiencing salvation, but once he loses that battle he will do anything to keep you from being the light God wants you to be. When we are disobedient to His Word, we aren’t growing, and when we aren’t growing we aren’t sharing, and if we aren’t sharing then no one else is coming to Salvation. That’s exactly what Satan wants. Satan is content with you doing exactly what you are doing right now as long as you aren’t sharing the Gospel with the lost. Would you think that Satan is concerned with you?

Suffering comes when we are obedient.

Satan never brings with him anything that is good, so suffering WILL come when we are obedient. Jesus promised this himself in John 16:33, so we can know for sure when we are obedient we will suffer for Him. That's great because persecution drives the Church. There was a saying that was popularized in the 50’s and turned into a hit song in the 80’s that says, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. This might have well been written to the Church, because when the Church is obedient to God’s call upon all of their lives, then the suffering comes, and what Satan meant for harm, Jesus uses for great good and He is glorified for it all. The church in Smyrna was ready to suffer for Jesus. The question is — are you prepared to suffer true persecution for Him? Jesus never promised that suffering and persecution would cease on this side of eternity. It’s a reality that the redeemed must live and serve with.

Reward comes when we are obedient.

It’s at the end of verse 10 that we see why Jesus revealed Himself in the way that He did in His intro. It’s because the persecution that was coming would land some in prison and some others wouldn’t survive it. In John 14:19, Jesus promises that because He lives those who are born again will also live. This intro was a reminder to those who would die for their faith and those who would be witness to it, to not be disheartened, but rather understand because Jesus lives, we will live with Him eternally. What does this death mean? Nothing. It will actually bring us closer to Jesus, so death is not something to be feared. Then He says that those who remain faithful even under the threat of death will receive a crown, the Crown of Life. This is the same crown mentioned in James 1:12 and is one of five crowns mentioned in all of scripture that a believer can earn and then use to lay down at the feet of Jesus. It only happens when you are faithful through trials no matter the outcome. This suffering and faithfulness is only found in the lives of Christians who are willing to leave the safety of the immaturity of being a new believer and walk as those who are mature in the faith ready to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ at any cost and instruct others to do the same. Church, this is a call to maturity, a call to total obedience in your lives. Jesus said those who decide to take that step of maturity are blessed and theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:10).

The 1-2:2-1 Paradox - Revelation 2:11

Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.

Again Jesus ends with a call for the Church to understand and follow through in obedience: He talks about the second death and that is our final paradox, it’s what I like to call the 1-2:2-1 Paradox. It goes like this… If you are only born once, you will die twice, but if you are born twice you will only die once. So it’s 1 birth 2 deaths : 2 births 1 death. This is what Jesus spoke of when a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Him at night and Jesus told Him no one can see the Kingdom of God unless He is born again. Jesus goes on to explain that you are born again through the Spirit, and just like 2 Corinthians 5:17 says if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation. You don’t want to experience the second death. You must be born again. How are you born again? You are born again by being made new in Christ and how does that happen? Romans 10:9-10, “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved”. It’s the victory that only comes through Jesus that we can not be harmed by the second death.

The church in Smyrna is an example for all Christians, to understand that our riches come from Jesus alone and through His grace. It’s riches we can’t keep all for ourselves and must share, just like Jesus commanded. When we do, we need to know we will come under attack from our enemy and with him he brings persecution and suffering. It might lead to prison or even to death, but when we follow through in our obedience we will be awarded the crown of life. We overcome all of this through the blood of Jesus. Sure, the first death will come, but it doesn’t separate us from God. It brings us into His presence for all eternity. We are tough when it comes to protecting our families and when it comes to defending our country, but will we do the same when it comes to sharing Jesus and suffering the consequences for proclaiming our faith?

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Sermon Notes

The Paradox of the Persecuted Church in Smyrna

Revelation 2:8-11

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