Jesus Speaks to His Church

Do Not Be Afraid!

Revelation 2:8–11 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.”

“Fear is a natural and biological condition that we all experience. It’s important that we experience fear because it keeps us safe.”(Dr Zachary Sikora: Northwestern Medicine. Oct 2020. 5 Things You Never Knew About Fear).

However, fear is a complex human emotion that can be positive and healthy, but it can also have negative consequences.

Actions motivated by fear fall into four types—freeze, fight, flight, or fright.  Being continuously in the fright mode can lead to hopelessness and depression.

If a fear or phobia affects your life in negative way, especially if it is anticipatory fear of what might be coming your way, well that can be crippling and we often need help in managing it because a life disturbed every day by anxieties either conditional fear because of current and real events or anticipatory fear, is nether healthy or sustainable.

To such a person in such circumstances, Jesus says, “Do not be afraid”!

The goal is not to get rid of fear, nor even to resist fear but to trust in Jesus and not your fears. - Psalm 56:3-4: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”

A QUICK RECAP - By way of reminder:

THE LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES are written to real churches in real cities.

Each church is different - yet the message to each a message to all (Rev 2:7 etc.) - they need to be listening to “what the Spirit says to the Church” - An important lesson for us!

Each message follows a similar 3-fold pattern Christ speaking, a Message delivered and a Promise made. More specifically these are many similarities in tone and content:

i. A greeting (Rev 2:1) -“ to the church at .

ii. A self-description of the Risen Christ (Rev 2:1) "the words of Him who..

iii. A commendation(Rev 2:2) - “I know..."; tho' Sardis(Rev 3:1) and Laodicea(Rev 3:15) none

iv. A condemnation(Rev 2:4) "yet I have..."; tho' none for Smyrna and Philadelphia (being persecuted)

v. A challenge: 'repent'(Rev 2:5) and/or 'hold on'(Rev 3:11;Rev 2:22)

vi. A promise to those who overcome(Rev 2:7) - A promise of Christ Himself, the life that is in Him.

vii. An exhortation (Rev 2:7) "he who...."

The letter to the 'Church in Smyrna' is the shortest of the seven, but of the seven it 'receives..the warmest praise' (Wilson).

And this letter to SMYRNA -  Σμύρνα, - is a message of HOPE in the midst of TEARS and TROUBLES!

Smyrna got its name from a perfume - MYRRH - which was created by the crushing of a small thorn bush - a good metaphor from a church which grew beautiful through crushing persecution as it gives of the fragrance of faithfulness to Christ.

The church is known for two things - Persecution and Poverty!

They are facing, “afflictions and…poverty…and slander” and it is about to get worse - “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.”

Historically speaking, Smyrna suffered destruction on one occasion.

The city's history can be traced back to the 10th century BC when it was founded by Aeolian(people of the west and north-western region of Asia-Minor) Greeks, later taken over by Ionian Greeks in Western Asia-Minor, and becoming a key settlement in western Asia-Minor/Anatolia. 

Re-founded by Alexander the Great, it grew to become a major Roman city and a major commercial centre, vying with Ephesus and Pergamum for the title "First City of Asia". It was also famed for its athletic games and it was a cultic centre for the worship of Cybele, the mother of the gods, and of Dionysius or Bacchus. It later became one of the first city's to adopt Emperor worship!

Smyrna was considered the probable birthplace of the epic poet Homer(8th-9th Century BC) and a shrine to him was erected in the Roman period. 

Note the words in the text - These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again - Smyrna had once been destroyed in 580BC and was eventually rebuilt into a principal city again in 290BC.

It was dead and lived again, just like Jesus who is 'alive for ever and ever'(Rev 1:18).

And this played out again in 1922 when it was destroyed in a devastating fire which killed tens of thousands of its Greek (Christian) inhabitants and led to the evacuation of between 150,000-200,000 but was rebuilt and is now known as 'Izmir' in Turkey, Turkey’s third biggest city of over 3 million inhabitants.

In 2020, the city was damaged by the Aegean Sea earthquake and tsunami, which was the deadliest seismic event of that year with 117 people dying and 1,034 more injured and all but one of whom were from the city of Izmir

The Church in Smyrna, is renowned for its suffering and faithfulness under persecution.

Christians in Smyrna faced persecution, including opposition to emperor worship, as the city was a centre of Roman worship. It is as a result best known is known for a very famous Bishop named, Polycarp.

We have an eye-witness account of his martyrdom in AD160 by which time he was an old man, at least 86, and probably the last surviving person to have known an apostle, having been a disciple of John and thus he was greatly revered as a teacher and church leader.

Three days before he was arrested, while he was praying, he had a vision of the pillow under his head in flames. He said prophetically to those who were with him, “I will be burnt alive.”

He was betrayed and arrested. He could have escaped but he refused saying, “God’s will be done.”

When he heard that they had come, he went down and spoke with them. They were amazed at his age and steadfastness, and some of them said. “Why did we go to so much trouble to capture a man like this?”

Immediately he called for food and drink for them, and asked for an hour to pray uninterrupted. They agreed, and he stood and prayed, so full of the grace of God, that he could not stop for two hours. The men were astounded and many of them regretted coming to arrest such a godly and venerable an old man.

As Polycarp was being taken into the arena, a voice came to him from heaven: “Be strong, Polycarp and play the man!” No one saw who had spoken, but our brothers who were there heard the voice.

When the crowd heard that Polycarp had been captured, there was an uproar. The Proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp. On hearing that he was, he tried to persuade him to give up on his faith in Jesus, saying, “Have respect for your old age, swear by the fortune of Caesar. Repent, and say, ‘Down with the Atheists!’” “Swear,” urged the Proconsul, “reproach Christ, and I will set you free.”

Polycarp’s reply is legendary: “86 years have I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?”

“I have wild animals here,” the Proconsul said. “I will throw you to them if you do not repent.”

“Call them,” Polycarp replied. “It is unthinkable for me to repent from what is good to turn to what is evil. I will be glad though to be changed from evil to righteousness.”

“If you despise the animals, I will have you burned.” said the Proconsul.

“You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and is then extinguished, but you know nothing of the fire of the coming judgement and eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. Why are you waiting? Bring on whatever you want.”

As they prepared him for the stake, they went to fix him with nails, he said, “Leave me as I am, for he that gives me strength to endure the fire, will enable me not to struggle, without the help of your nails.”

And so Polycarp died along with 12 of Smyrna’s christian church who were martyred at this time!

This was a tough time for the Church and they definitely did need the message of Jesus “DO NOT BE AFRAID” and Polycarp modelled what this looks like under extreme pressure!

What can we learn from the Church of Smyrna?

1..DO NOT BE AFRAID because Jesus is with you! - “These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.”

Jesus is introduced as the One "who died and came to life again" (v8b) which brings with it the assurance that, if they die(Rev 2:10) they will receive the crown which consists of life.

There is a promise that "the second death"(Rev 2:11) - the final judgement in the Lake of Fire - Rev 20:14; Rev 21:8 will not impact on them. Thus for them judgement is past(John 5:24).

The work He began, He will complete, for He is "the first and the last" (Rev 2:8).

2. DO NOT BE AFRAID because Jesus knows what you are going through! - “I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

This letter presents an interesting contrast with the Laodicean Church. Smyrnan Christians were generally speaking extremely poor materially but spiritually rich whereas Laodicean Christians were materially rich yet spiritually poor(c/f Rev 3:17).

The reason they were poor is because of their faith they would lose business and public influence and even property and eventually their freedom and their lives because of their faithfulness to Jesus and this could come from the Romans and the religious and Pagan idolaters but equally it principally came from religious Jews who represented a large community of Jews who may well have, through political and social pressures, had contributed to the poverty of the unprotected Christian community(c/f Heb 10:34).

These Jews prided themselves on their ethnic origins and boasted of their covenantal primacy but in fact they were deceiving themselves(c/f Rom 2:25,28,29;Gal 6:18 ) for Christ condemns their gatherings as the meeting place of Satanists - “Synagogue of Satan”! Not because they worshipped Satan or had strange and sinister practices but because they were doing the work of Satan in scheming with the secular authorities to eradicate the work of God in Smyrna.

This his evil compact is demonstrated in their slander and persecution of Christians(Rev 12:10), which they justified on religious grounds, as a 'blasphemy' against God! (see on Rev 2:13,24).

The Smyrnan Christians were 'rich' in the grace of God (c/f Jas 2:5; 1Pet 1:4;Eph 1:3).

They know poverty, but He sees riches. True riches which this seeming poverty concealed, “the real poverty which behind the show of riches; for there are both poor rich men and rich-poor men in His sight (Trench).

3. DO NOT BE AFRAID because Jesus knows your future! - “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Christ warns the Church that worse things are to follow in the future, intensifying their affliction and poverty for a short time ('ten days' c/f esp Dan 1:12-15 ). "10 days" may be long time to suffer, but it is limited, and will end. So, don't be fearful, be faithful!

The reason this is going to get worse is probably down to the fact that the Roman authorities would become increasingly aware that these Christians were not contributing to Emperor worship and were in fact denying Rome, needed monies from taxes that came as a result of buying animals to sacrifice in the temples dedicated to Emperor Tiberius who was worshipped as a “son of the gods.”

Rome did not mind whom you worshipped as long as you acknowledged Caesar as Lord of all and this Christians could not do! They could not buy in to this idea that all religions lead to God and all roads to eternal life and they suffered for it! They were referred to as anarchists and atheists as is evident from the example I gave you from Polycarp’s murder.

Some will go to a prison cell, some even to death, but whatever is to happen they are to be prepared to pay the ultimate price of faithfulness to Christ.

Being faithful 'until the point of death' not up to the time of death! It is an intensive, not an extensive (Vincent). It speaks of an attitude of mind, the believer being prepared to die for Christ!

They are to be prepared for this remembering all the while to keep their eye upon 'the crown of life' (The victor's wreath bestowed upon the triumphant athlete c/f Jas 1:2-3; 2 Tim 4:7-8;1 Pet 5:4). which awaits the 'one overcoming'.

The prime-mover of this affliction is the 'Devil'(c/f Job 1:14;Jn 13:2) whatever the human agency!

However the Devil's power is limited and God sets the boundaries within which he must work(c/f Job 1:12-14; Job 2:1ff) so that in the end His will may be done and 'all things work together for good' (Rom 8:28) even if that includes 'famine.,nakedness..peril or sword' (Rom 8v35). c/f Acts 4v27-28.

But they need to be reassured that in the end they are going to win!

Jesus is the first and the last who was dead and is alive again! They might die but Jesus holds the keys of death and has power over it!

What we need to understand is that God has a purpose even in the difficult things. The Devil may have a role in my suffering but Jesus will ensure that all will be well with my soul!

It was the crushing of this Church in Smyrna that brought out the perfume of Myrrh that ensured the fragrance of Christ was spread around to the salvation of many!

Nate Saint, a pilot, was one of the five missionaries who died along with Jim Elliot (the other 3 were Ed McCully; Peter Flemming and Roger Youderian) seeking to reach the Aucas (Naked Savages) of Ecuador, who speared their bodies and cast them in to the in the Curaray River.

These Aucas, whose own name for themselves was the Waodani (True People) were so fierce that they had a 60% homicide rate in the tribe and were therefore regarded as one of the most savage tribes on planet earth. They had not had, at that time, a single positive contact with people from the outside world and when those missionaries sought to evangelise them for Christ in 1956, they were being incredibly brave and at the same time, incredibly visionary and yet, with the death of these missionaries all look lost BUT GOD! -

Nate’s sister Rachel and Elisabeth Elliott, Jim’s wife went back to be missionaries among the Waodani in 1958, Elisabeth for two years until 1960 and Rachel for the rest of her life.

Nate’s son, Steve (born 1951), visited his Aunt Rachel as a 10 year old and in June 1965, “Babae", as he was called by the tribe, was baptised, along with his sister Kathy in the Curaray River - the same river into which his father’s dead body was cast, by Kimo the first Waodani who decided to “walk this trail” of following Jesus and Dyuwi, who became his tribal grandmother! The two who baptised him were two of his father's killers! Kimo spoke to the Creator. “Seasons and seasons ago, we came here to do a bad thing that made Your heart cry. But now look! We have come back to this same sand place to make Your heart happy.” 

Steve later moved back to the US but when his aunt Rachel died in 1994 after 36 years of ministering to the Waodani he returned for her funeral and was invited by them to move his family down to live with them. He moved to the jungle in 1995 and worked to improve their living conditions, seeking to help them gain autonomy and independence and to help them share the gospel with the others through an organisation and education centre he set up called ITEC - Indigenous Peoples Technology and Education Centre.

Even more amazing! In total, 25% of the Waodani became Christians including Mincaye another who had murdered his father and had been converted under the ministry of Rachel Saint. Mincaye also baptised Steve’s children and later Steve “adopted” him as his children’s grandfather to replace the grandfather he had murdered. “Mincaye is the man who killed my father,” said Steve Saint, in a visit they both paid to Saddleback church in Florida in 2006, “but he isn’t really that man,” because he has become a “coming-after one,” meaning “he has found God’s trail and he follows it.”

Suffering paved the way to glory in the Ecuadorian jungle! What man meant for harm, God meant for good for the salvation of many!

Steve shared in a film presentation I watched, “God doesn’t write His whole story in one chapter…There are some chapters in the book that can be very, very painful… Why is it that we insist that every chapter has to be good when God promises only in that last chapter that he will make all the other chapters make sense…If my dad and Roger, Pete and Ed and Jim hadn’t died then the Waodani would not have become my family and they wouldn't be walking God’s trail to.. And now as Gikita the man who led the raid and first speared my dad, said “Now I’m an old man, Bahbe, being an old man I’m going to die and go to Oneri and your father and I, the one whom I speared, we’re going to live happily together, but you stay here and you teach the young people so that they will want to live well. And then one day they will also come to Oneri and we will all live happily together for ever and ever and ever… …”(Steve Saint: The Jungle Missionary).

Now wonderfully three generations of Nate Smith’s family, his children; his grandchildren and his great grandchildren still fellowship with the Waodani Christians.

It may never make sense in the present but its going to in the end because the First and the Last is still standing in the final chapter of history!

“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

4. DO NOT BE AFRAID, instead listen with attentive and determined faith to “what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.”

As we close, just Imagine reading this letter and living in Smyrna at the time - it would be very possible to say thank you very much for the warning Jesus, I’m out!

I’m not going through this, I’ve got too much to lose! I’m afraid, I’ve never been strong I will never survive persecution! It’s possible to take that way but it would not eb teh way Jesus would want you to go!

Paul says, “we must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of Heaven”(Acts 14:22).

In another place he talks about his determination to “know Christ and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death and so somehow to attain the the resurrection of the death”(Phil 3:10).

Jesus says, don’t run away from your suffering; the hardships and the persecution - embrace it. Overcome it!

It might not seem worth it but it will, for “He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose!”(Jim Elliot).

Jesus says the same - The 'overcomer' shall certainly not "be hurt by the second death" - a synonym in Revelation for 'eternal punishment' connected with torment in the ‘lake of fire' (c/f Rev 20:6,14,Rev 21:8).

The OVERCOMER hears and follows the way of Jesus - “whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever loses His life for my sake and the gospel will save it!”(Luke 9:24).

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” - It may not feel like it but its true

So be faithful because if you are faithful, God will give you the crown of life!