A Suffering Church

Lead Vocalist (Kelly)

Welcome & Announcements (Bubba)

Good morning family!

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Announcements:

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Now please take a moment of silence to prepare your heart for worship.

Call to Worship (Psalm 46:1-3)

Prayer of Praise (Trish Figgers)

Christ Our Hope in Life and Death

How Vast the Love

Prayer of Confession (Ronnie Evans), Complaining

Assurance of Pardon (Isaiah 43:2-3a)

Sovereign Over Us

Lord from Sorrows Deep I Call

Scripture Reading (Revelation 2:8-11)—page 1219 in the black Bibles

Pastoral Prayer (Bubba)

Prayer for PBC—Help us to be faithful even when we suffer

Prayer for kingdom partner—Montgomery, Mike & Linda (Cru)

Prayer for US—For the U.S. Senate

Prayer for the world—Comoros

Pray for the sermon

SERMON

Far too often when we read our Bibles we think as if it’s referring to another world.

But this is our world. This is real history that happened to real people living in real places.

Take for example the city of Smyrna.

SHOW SMYRNA IMAGE

Today the city is called Izmir, Turkey. But this is a real place you can visit today.

When the book of Revelation was written, the city of Smyrna claimed to be the “First city in Asia in beauty and size.” [1]

Over 200,000 souls called Smyrna home, and for good reason. [2]

It claimed to be the birthplace of the Greek poet Homer. It had the largest theater in Asia. It’s architecture was magnificent. It’s culture was refined. And it was fabulously wealthy. [3]

We also know from history that Smyrna was home to a man named Polycarp.

SHOW POLYCARP IMAGE

He would’ve been about 27 years old when Revelation was written.

Polycarp was mentored by the Apostle John himself, probably before John’s exile on Patmos.

Polycarp eventually became the pastor in Smyrna, and was quite possibly the man who first read our text today to the church in Smyrna.

But Polycarp is most remembered for his suffering.

On February 22, 156 AD, the 86-year-old Polycarp was captured by government officials that wanted to kill him.

He didn’t try to run away, but offered his captors food and drink.

When they asked him if he had any special requests before he died, he simply asked for two hours alone to pray.

They granted his request, then tied him up and brought him into the city for trial.

When the time came for Polycarp’s execution, the governor of the city said, “Polycarp, you’re an old man. You don’t need to die like this. Just say, ‘Caesar is Lord’ and I’ll let you go.”

Polycarp famously responded, “Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” [4]

The story of Polycarp is an incredible example of the truth that A faithful church trusts Jesus in the midst of suffering.

That’s the Big idea I hope to communicate from our passage today in Revelation 2:8-11.

This is the second of seven messages that Jesus sent to the seven churches in Asia Minor.

SHOW 7 CHURCHES MAP

From Jesus’ words to the suffering church in Smyrna, we see four reasons why we can and should trust Jesus in the midst of suffering:

In verse 8 we learn that Jesus is Sovereign over Suffering.

In verse 9 we see how Jesus Sympathizes with our Suffering.

In verse 10 we’ll listen as Jesus Speaks into our Suffering.

Then in verse 11 we'll remember that Jesus Saves from Eternal Suffering.

I remember as a kid hearing my pastors say that all of us are either currently suffering, just came out of a season of suffering, or about to go into a season of suffering. If that’s true, this passage is incredibly relevant to each of us if we’re going to suffer well.

If we’re going to be faithful in the midst of suffering, we need to believe that...

1) Jesus is SOVEREIGN over Suffering

As He does in each of the seven messages to the seven churches, Jesus begins by telling the church something about Himself.

And what’s fascinating is how Jesus’ introduction is perfectly matched to what’s going on in each of these churches.

Look at…

Revelation 2:8a—“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The words of the first and the last,...”

That phrase “the first and the last” is another way of saying that Jesus is eternal.

When all you can see around you is an ocean of suffering, isn’t in incredibly comforting to know that there is One who sees the big picture? There is One who knows what your suffering is for.

Christian, that’s our Jesus. You can trust Him when you suffer because He is eternal and unchangeable.

It’s easy to believe that when life is going well, but when life hurts will you trust Him?

Tim Keller used to say, “God will either give us what we ask or give us what we would have asked if we knew everything He knows.” [5]

We don’t know everything God knows. But we can trust that He is sovereign over our suffering because He is eternal.

Perhaps you’re not impressed. God seems too distant, too detached, too unlike me to actually trust. How can He possibly know what I’m going through? Because He too has suffered.

Look at...

Revelation 2:8b—“… The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.”

Here is the main reason we can have confidence that Jesus is sovereign over suffering: Jesus Himself endured suffering.

He was tempted in all ways as we are, yet without sin. He endured all the range of normal human suffering that all of us experience. And then, He endured more.

What’s the worst thing that can happen to anyone? Something worse, even than death? It’s to have the white-hot wrath of a holy God poured out on you.

Jesus has already experienced that.

He lived a sinless life and yet died a sinner’s death on the cross. And He died that death as our substitute. He was bearing the wrath of God that we deserve in our place.

Jesus endured unimaginable suffering on the cross, and yet, Jesus lives!

For those of you who are not followers of Jesus, we invite you turn from your sins and trust in Jesus today. Believe that He really lived a sinless life, really died a sinner’s death in your place on the cross, and really came back to life on the third day. Would you put your faith in this Jesus today? Would you give Him your life today? If you do that, or would like to talk to someone a little more about what that means, I’d love to talk with you after the service.

If you are a Christian, Jesus’ death and resurrection are more than truths you must believe to become a Christian.

It’s not like a kindergartner learning phonics. This isn’t something you learn and then move on to bigger and better things.

The gospel is the truth that enables you to trust God in every hard moment in your life. You can endure suffering because you know Jesus knows what suffering feels like. Because you know Jesus suffered in your place. Because you know Jesus defeated suffering when He rose from the dead. Because you know Jesus is coming back to put suffering to death forever!

A faithful church trusts Jesus in the midst of suffering because Jesus is sovereign over suffering.

But also because…

2) Jesus SYMPATHIZES with our Suffering

Before I show you how Jesus sympathizes with the suffering saints at Smyrna, let me just say a few words about sympathy, and its chief counterfeit in our world today.

The word sympathy is a biblical word, even though it only appears two times in the New Testament.

The most well-known occurence of this word is in..

Hebrews 4:15—For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

The word sympathy—and it’s Latin equivalent “compassion”— literally means to “suffer with.” [6]

But sympathy and compassion have been largely replaced in our world today with another virtue that we call empathy, which literally means “to suffer in.” [7]

If you’re struggling to grasp the difference between empathy and sympathy, that’s okay. Like any good counterfeit, empathy looks a lot like the original. But the difference is massive.

Alastair Roberts says, Empathy is often fundamentally or primarily oriented to the feelings of sufferers; compassion (or sympathy) is fundamentally or primarily oriented to their good. [8]

Empathy affirms the feelings of the sufferer. But sympathy feels for the sufferer while also trying to help them.

Consider this analogy: Imagine you fall into a pit. An empathetic helper will jump into the pit to suffer alongside you. To sit with you in your suffering. But a sympathetic helper will drop a ladder into the pit to try to help you out. [9]

Now if you’re honest, there’s a part of you that prefers empathy. When you’re down in a pit you just want to wallow for a little bit. You don’t want anyone to give you a ladder to help you out. You want people to be sad alongside you and agree that there’s no way out of the pit and you’re staying there forever. But what you want in that moment is not what you need.

Jesus looks at His suffering people and He isn’t apathetic—he’s not unfeeling. But He’s not empathetic either. He doesn’t wallow with us. He is sympathetic. He feels with us and for us, but He doesn’t let go of His anchor to the shore.

Look at...

Revelation 2:9—“I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

Remember, John is writing during the reign of Emperor Domitian. Believers are facing intense persecution because of their faith.

In Smyrna, believers were losing their jobs for refusing to say “Caesar is Lord.” That’s why Jesus mentions their poverty.

These believers were financially destitute because they refused to worship the emperor.

The Jewish people were initially given an exemption to Caesar’s requirements.

They were granted special permission to pray for the emperor rather than call him Lord.

But they didn’t want to share that status with believers in Jesus, so they began to slander Christians in Smyrna and elsewhere.

Some said Christians ate human flesh. Others accused them of drowning people. Others accused them of incest. [10]

But why does Jesus say these people “say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

These are people who are ethnically Jewish, but have rejected Jesus so they’re really in league with Satan.

Here’s a key theological concept you need to understand if you’re going to rightly understand the book of Revelation: There’s a difference between being ethnically Jewish and being spiritually Jewish.

This idea is mentioned repeatedly in the New Testament...

Romans 2:28–29—For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.…

Romans 9:6—“… not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel”

John 8:39, 44—… Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did . . . . You are of your father the devil… "

The true Israel, the true Jew is the person who has repented of their sins and trusted in Jesus! Obviously this includes many ethnically Jewish people. But if you’re a follower of Jesus, you are spiritually Jewish even if you are ethnically a Gentile.

That’s why Paul says in…

Galatians 3:7—“… it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.”

Alright let’s get back to the sympathy of Jesus.

Just imagine how painful it would’ve been to endure the suffering in Smyrna. They were physically persecuted. They were financially destitute. And on top of that, they were being slandered by their friends and neighbors. It would’ve felt like nobody believed them, nobody knew the truth! But Jesus says, “I see. I know.”

Christian, what a glorious comfort it is to know that Jesus sees and affirms our suffering! Whether your suffering is physical, financial, relational, or something else, Jesus sees it. He knows! He sympathizes with us in our weakness! He feels with us. He has compassion on us.

A faithful church trusts Jesus in the midst of suffering because Jesus sympathizes with our suffering.

But He doesn’t wallow with us. He doesn’t dive headfirst into the pit. He doesn’t merely sit with us in our suffering. Jesus doesn’t merely validate our despair — He lovingly refuses to leave us there.

We can trust Jesus in the midst of suffering because...

3) Jesus SPEAKS into our Suffering

Now you may not have noticed this, but Jesus already spoke powerful truth to the Smyrnaean believers in...

Revelation 2:9a—“I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)…”

Notice what Jesus is saying: “I know you’ve lost your jobs because you refused to deny me. I know you’re hungry and you’re struggling to feed your kids. I know you might foreclose on your home. I know you can’t pay for those medical bills. But listen to me: you are actually rich!”

And why are they rich? Because they have a treasure greater than everything money can buy.

This is the treasure Jesus talked about in...

Matthew 6:19–20—“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Christian, all the stuff that you can buy with money will eventually be taken away from you! But if you have Christ you have what can never be taken away from you!

Now if all you want is for someone to wallow with you in your suffering, if all you want is for someone to affirm and validate your feelings, how are you feeling about Jesus right now? This would be frustrating, right? That’s why we need sympathy and not any of its counterfeits!

But Jesus isn’t done speaking into our suffering...

Revelation 2:10—“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Remember, Jesus’ goal isn’t merely to sit with us in our suffering, although He does that. His goal is to help us persevere.

So notice three truths Jesus says to the suffering Christian...

First, Christians shouldn’t fear suffering.

You probably aren’t facing prison. But maybe you’re facing a deadly diagnosis.

You aren’t being slandered by Jews in Smyrna. But you are being misunderstood in your own home.

Christian, Jesus says you don’t need to be afraid. Why not? Because the worst our suffering can do is usher us into the presence of Jesus!

Second, their is purpose in a Christian’s suffering.

At least some of the Christians in Smyrna are going to be thrown into prison.

That seems so foreign to us in America today, but going to prison for the sake of Jesus has been a fairly normal experience for many of our brothers and sisters around the world and throughout church history.

In his book The Insanity of God, Nik Ripken tells about a seasoned pastor in China’s underground church who was skeptical towards a younger, opinionated pastor in the country. When asked why, he replied, “He’s going to be someone God can use in a powerful way someday. But you cannot trust what he says now; he hasn’t been to prison yet.” [11]

But notice what Jesus says about this imprisonment: it has a purpose. God is going to use it to test these believers.

Why testing?

James 1:2–4—Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

God uses tests like this to make us look more like Jesus! So when you suffer, don’t complain. Ask God to help you remember that He has a purpose in this.

Third, the Christian’s suffering is temporary.

Jesus says the believers in Smyrna are going to suffer for ten days.

Jesus may or may not talking about a literal ten days.

Either way, the suffering in Smyrna is going to be short-lived.

But the fact that he tells them to “be faithful unto death” implies that the suffering in Smyrna didn’t end with their being released from prison. It ended with their deaths.

Christian, the same is true for you. I don’t know what some of you are suffering right now. I wish I could tell you that it would all be over soon, but I can’t. But I can promise you this: if your faith is in Jesus your suffering will be over eventually. Even if it never ends until you breathe your final breath, it will end.

A faithful church trusts Jesus in the midst of suffering because Jesus speaks into our suffering.

Finally, we can trust Jesus in the midst of suffering because...

4) Jesus SAVES from Eternal Suffering

Revelation 2:11—“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”

What is this second death Jesus is talking about?

The “first death” is the death that all of us will face eventually. Unless we’re alive when Christ returns, all of us will die.

But there is a second death that doesn’t affect those who persevere until the end.

This is an eternal death. It’s a place of eternal torment called hell.

If you’re not a Christian, none of the three truths we just learned about suffering are true for you.

You should be afraid of any and all suffering.

Why? Because every ounce of suffering is another opportunity to lose everything! And the more you have, the more you have to lose!

And if you haven’t been forgiven by Jesus, there is no ultimate purpose in your suffering.

Apart from Christ, suffering cannot ultimately redeem you. It cannot remove guilt. It cannot secure eternal life. It cannot rescue you from the second death.

Unless you turn to Jesus, you will waste every tear, every pain, every heartache!

And if you aren’t following Jesus, there will be no end to your suffering!

The torments of hell will continue for all eternity!

Dear friend, would you please trust in Jesus before it’s too late!

To the followers of Jesus: you have been rescued from eternal suffering! On the cross Jesus has already suffered the hell that you deserve in your place! So you can persevere in your suffering now because you know it has an expiration date!

A faithful church trusts Jesus in the midst of suffering because Jesus saves us from eternal suffering.

After Polycarp refused to worship Caesar, the governor of Smyrna warned him again: [12]

“The wild beasts are ready. If you refuse to swear by Caesar, you will be thrown to them.”

Polycarp answered, “Bid them be brought.”

That’s like a second century version of: “Bring it on!”

Infuriated, the proconsul responded: “Alright, if you’re not worried about the beasts, I’ll give you one more chance. Worship Caesar or I’ll have you burned in the fire.”

To which Polycarp responded, “You threaten me with a fire that burns for a season, and after a little while is quenched; but you are ignorant of the fire of everlasting punishment that is prepared for the wicked.” [13]

So Polycarp was brought to the stake to be burned. But before he was tied up, he said, “I have one request; leave me unfastened, for I will die voluntarily for my Master’s sake.”

So they started the fire without tying Polycarp down. And, true to his word, Polycarp remained on the pyre. But as the flames began to burn, Polycarp cried out, “O Lord, Almighty God, the Father of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, . . . thank You for counting me worthy this day, this hour to share this cup of suffering with Christ.”

Polycarp could drink the cup of suffering because he had already drank from another cup.

The Lord’s Supper is not a sentimental ritual. It is training for suffering.

In just a moment we’re going to take the same meal that certainly gave strength to Polycarp and the other suffering saints in Smyrna.

Parents, please pick up your kids from childcare after I pray so we can all celebrate together.

But before we do, let’s remember that when we come to this table, we are not coming as people who will never suffer.

We are coming as people whose suffering has an expiration date.

We are coming to remember a Savior who entered the fire first.

We are coming to receive strength for faithfulness.

We are coming to the table poor—with nothing in our hands to bring. But we will leave rich, having feasted on the very presence of Jesus.

And we are coming to proclaim that the second death has no claim on us.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Afflicted Saint to Christ Draw Near

Communion

Doxology

Benediction (2 Thess. 2:16-17)