Letter 2

Welcome

If you recall last week we started our series of the 7 letters to the 7 churches

Last we say how the church at Ephesus had good doctrine

They believed the right stuff and did not allow the false prophets to come in and entice them to believe others

But

But they left their first love

They allowed their relationship with Jesus to grow cold

Revelation 2:4 NASB95

4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Remember you can have good doctrine and have no action

Last week it was a call to put action back to our faith in Jesus

This morning we move to our 2nd letter

The letter to Smyrna

So Smyrna is is a coastal city

From what I could find it was located 40 miles north of Ephesus and is located in present day Izmir which is in Turkey

The city is known for the city’s beauty, wealth and fine wines

They had or maybe they still do have some beautiful buildings

It is also believed that Paul or one of his traveling associates may have introduced the city to Christ

What we do know is that there is a church there

God finds it important to send them a letter through John

Remember as we look through and unpack the letter to this particular church we can also see a bit of us within the letter

Revelation 2:8–11 NASB95

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this: 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. 10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. 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. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’

If you will remember the structure of the letters this one seems to be missing some things they need to work on

This is a church who is on fire but is facing persecution

There is encouragement in this letter

So let us dive in to this letter to Smyrna this morning

Revelation 2:8 NASB95

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:

Remember it is to Smyrna

Smyrna was a Roman City that actually was praised for its faithfulness to the Roman Empire and it was given the right to build temples

We know that the Roman’s did not like the Jews very much

Within the city it also had a large population of Jewish people

You can start to see how this would not have been such an accepting place for a church that taught Christ and not The Law

It wouldn’t have been accepting because it taught that Jesus was the only God and the only one to be worshipped and not the Roman Emperors that had temples built to them

From my study I found that Smyrna meant Myrrh which is the perfume used to care for the dead body

It is the same perfume that was gifted to baby Jesus which foretold the type of suffering and death that Jesus would have to endure

Which is what this church had to endure

It not a coincident that this church was named after a perfume meant for a dead body

its not coincident that this city was named after a perfume that foretold the suffering of Christ

This church was in a city and they understood what it meant to suffer

This church suffered for their relationship with Christ

Then John immediately goes into a description of Jesus

The First and last

Jesus was here before there was a here and he will be here after it has gone away

Remember that Jesus was with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit when they were talking to create everything

Jesus was dead and then came back to life

Remember Jesus was dead for 3 days in the grave and then the grave door was opened

Not so Jesus could get out, He had no problem going through closed doors

The grave was opened so we could look in and see that Jesus was not in there

Then we get to see that Jesus was going around and eating with His friends

ghosts and spirits don’t eat

Jesus did died on the cross, but

But then He got up and walked out the grave

John is encouraging the church that the one who holds the keys to life and death is going to speak to them

What power there is in Jesus

Revelation 2:9 NASB95

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.

Just like in the previous letter

Jesus knows their deed, He knows what the church at Smyrna is going through

He knows they have been through some difficult persecution

He knows what others have said about them and that it is wrong

Jesus knows what is going on and understands where the church is

Here is the jump this morning

For you who are a believer this morning

Jesus knows what you are going though

You are not alone

Church have you even been persecuted, ever struggled in life because you were on fire for Jesus

Notice it is not hey have you ever struggled because some of our struggles are self induced right

But this church was running after Jesus they had passion and excitement for Jesus and for sharing Jesus with a lost world

And because of that they were being persecuted by the city and others within the city

In the midst of their persecution and tribulation the words of Jesus

“I know your tribulation and your poverty”

Chuck Swindoll says this

“Imagine yourself sitting among the gathering of God’s people in Smyrna on a cold morning before sunrise. A small, lamp-lit room houses the remnant of beaten and beleaguered church members. The once-lively crowd of Christians now displays obvious gaps where men and women once sat. Some have fallen away under the persecution. Others are simply gone—arrested, exiled, or executed. Some of you risked your lives just to meet this morning to pray, to sing hymns to God, and to read from Holy Scripture. All of you are outcasts, desperate for a word of encouragement from the messenger sitting in your midst. In the dim light the pastor unrolls a scroll and begins to read with a calm, quiet confidence. Whispering and shuffling in the room ceases when you hear from whom the message comes—the risen Lord Himself. The entire group seems to hold its breath when Christ begins His commendation: “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)”

Talk about peace and joy in the midst of tribulation is knowing and understanding that Jesus knows what you are going through

This is a well done church and what an encouragement it is to the believer who is being persecuted for their faith

This church has the right doctrine and has action to that doctrine

This church is being persecuted because they are on fire for Jesus and in the midst of that Jesus is telling them I know what you are going through

This is during the time period of 100-314 AD when more that 5 million Christians died for their faith in Jesus

So believer this morning

To the church this morning that is being persecuted because they are on fire for Jesus

To the believer here this morning who is on fire for Jesus and is being persecuted for their faith in Jesus

Hear this this morning

Jesus knows where you are and what you are going through

What peace and comfort that brings

And Jesus continues

Revelation 2:10 NASB95

10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. 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. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

This part of the letter is most defiantly encouraging at the end

If we remain faithful we are given the crown of life

Let me clear this is not you can loose your salvation verse

This is a you will be rewarded for your faithfulness

But their very beginning

This is a church who has been beaten and is being persecuted for their faith in Jesus and here Jesus says there is more coming

sort of takes the wind out just a bit but this is a strong and healthy church

So church we shouldn’t be surprised when we are facing persecution because of our faith in Jesus

We shouldn’t be surprised when one day the church in America faces persecution

Maranatha we shouldn’t be surprised when we face persecution someday because we are a faithful strong church

To the believer this morning

do not fear what you are about to suffer because you are walking with Jesus

Those last words be faithful until death

Remain focused on Jesus and live for Jesus

Our reward is not on this earth

Our reward is not money or fame or status

our reward is in heaven

Our reward is when Jesus will someday say well done good and faithful servant

Our reward church is those jewels in our crown in heaven that we will lay down at the feet of Jesus because He is JESUS

Revelation 2:11 NASB95

11 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’

I feel like this should be at the end of almost every sermon

Do you hear me

If you are hearing this then church put it to action

This morning it is a call to be encouraged

It is a called to continue with what you are doing

To the church who remains faithful

To the believer who remains faithful

He will not be hurt by the 2nd death

Yes the persecution may hurt the body

Yes the persecution may kill the body but

Because of Christ the death of our physical body only means Heaven and Jesus

The 2nd death is the eternal death

The spiritual death

The eternal separation from Christ

born once die twice

born only once in your life, then you are certain to die a physical death and a spiritual death

born twice die once

born twice, both physical and spiritual then you will only die once the physical death

And the 2nd death will not hurt you

CLOSING

This morning as we move to our time of invitation

I would invite you to do business with Jesus this morning

To think about born once die twice or born twice die once

It is a real thing

If you are here this morning and you have not been born again I would invite you to speak with someone about how you can be born again this morning

Or maybe you are here this morning and because of your faith in Jesus you are being persecuted

you need to hear this message of encouragement from Christ this morning

He knows what you are going through

Or maybe you just need to spend sometime in prayer

The altar is open