The Church in Smyrna

Mission And Vision

Dear Church

We are continuing our Sermon series on the 7 messages to the churches in

Before we dive into this… Come to Bible study… It is worth your time to get to know the word of God and ask the tough questions and fellowship with your brother’s and sisters

Last week we talked about loosing the first love and how the letter to the church in Ephesus applies to us today in Plainville KS

Today we are going to be diving into the Church in Smyrna

Context about Smyrna

Port City just north of Ephesus

Big on worshipping the state of rome

Had temple to Romulus, Had temple to Homer (who wrote the odyssey and the Iliad), Had worship to the Ceasar

Pretty wealthy city and important for the region

The bishop of the church in Smyrna… maybe at this time maybe not is Polycarp (Say polycarp)

Who church history says was the disciple of John the apostle. Which is pretty cool if I do say so

One cool thing about this message to the church in Smyrna is that it’s one of 2 messages in this section that has no rebuke

Jesus only commends them and then rebukes the Synnagogue of Satan that is persecuting them, but actually doesn’t have anything negative that they need to work on only encouragement

Let’s dive into the text

Jesus again starts off the message by letting the people know who he is

In these letters Jesus helps us to align our image of who he is. This helps us to understand what he is about to say even better

It’s like if some random person see’s you limping and tells you how to fix it you probably wouldn’t pay him any mind, but the second you find out that person is a physical therapist… you start to take what they say a little more seriously

Or like watching undercover boss… No one cares what the person’s opinions are until they find out that it’s the owner

Jesus is telling the Church to hear what he’s about to say in light of who he is

I am the first and the last

He is saying that He is God, He is primary, He is all encompassing, The buck stops here,. Top Dog, No one greater, No one above him and no one outside his reach

Who died and came to life

Not only am I the ultimate authority and the all encomapssing one.. but I am also the only one who died and came to life

He says… Listen to what I am saying… I have been there. I have experience with every thing you are faceing and anything that will come your way.

I’ve been there done that got the t-shirt

If you have missed our Bible study on Wed nights you are missing some really good conversation. One of the things that the professor says on the video which I completely have found to be true

He says that one of the reason’s people go astray or live in rebellion is because they forget either who they are or who God is

Now i want to add to that a bit

Not only does having a proper understanding of who God is get us back on track when we have fallen, but it also has the amazing abilitiy to bolster us up as we are about to face challenges

When you see a challenge in front of you but you know how great the God is inside of you… it gives you the courage to march boldly into that challange

What Jesus says next helps us to understand why he gave them that intro of who he was

He says I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)…

Let’s pause there for a second.

Jesus is saying listen I know the stuff that you are going through for my name sake. The tribulation and the poverty

Remember that Smyrna was a wealthy city and a political hub

Yet the people of the Way, that is the Christians, were being persecuted and their ability to earn income was hindered

Could have been from the world or from the jews who were also persecuting them, but either way they couldn’t make money and were in extreme poverty

Some scholars believe that because Smyrna was a political hub the fact that Christians pledged allegience to Jesus first kept them from being able to operate in the market place freely

Either way Jesus tells them But you are rich

Jesus is commenting on the richness of their faith and the depth of their riches in Him

He is saying that just because they are suffering from lack or want doesn’t mean that they are destitute. They have Christ and his promises to them

He Goes on to say that he knows of the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan

he says look I see that there are those out there bent on your destruction yet they are doing it according to what they call religion

It is believed that the synagogue in Smyrna had joined together with the government to persecute Christians

That there were those who were in religious power who either because they wanted the safety of Rome or because they hated their loss of power to the Christians… or both… that they joined up to capture and persecute Christians

There are the religious who, for whatever selfish reasons, seek to align themselves with the world and badmouth and even persecute the church

Jesus is telling Smyrna… I see you and I see them.

I get it. I understand what sorts of persecution you are dealing with and the tribulations that you are facing

He then tells them something that everychristian loves to hear

Do not fear what you are about to suffer

We are going to sit here for a second

The doctrine of suffering is something that we don’t like to hear about as Christians…yet if you are to read your scripture its not something that we can avoid

There is a reason that the health and wealth Gospel draws people in… its losely based on the truth. God does have good for you and he does want good things to happen in your life that will draw you closer to him and make you into the image of Christ

But what we skip out on is the other stuff

We overlook that says we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him”

2 TImothy says if we endure with him we will reign with him

Phiippinas says that we should not only believe in Christ but suffer for his sake

And then What Jesus tells us in all the gospels… pick up your cross, to save your life you must loose it,

The doctrine of suffering is not hidden in scripture yet when we experience it we act as though something must be off in the matrix

It is promised to us that we will deal with hardships, persecution, we will be turned over and beaten, some will be killed for the sake of Christ

This doesn’t sound like the easy Gospel that has been peddled on tv and in self help books does it

Jesus talking to the church in Smyrna

You are about to go to prison, you will be tested, you will have tribulation… be faithful unto death

Some of you are going to die

But be faithful

We’ve been sold a bill of goods in todays churches

We’ve been told by the wealthy faith healers that no one should ever suffer. That everyone will always be healed if they have faith, that only those people over there suffer persecution

When in reality we aren’t promised an easy life, we’re not promised a life of comfort… we’re not even promised a long life

What we are promised is that Christ will be with us. And when we endure we will receive the crown of life

I’m not sure what you’re going through today

But I know that dealing with heartache, persecution, sickness, pain, and suffering … doesn’t mean that you are failing. Your situation is not an indicator of God’s favor

I’ll say that again… your situation is not a direct indicator of God’s favor in your life

Your standing with Christ. Your eternal hope found in Him and not in this world, your hope that surpassess the grave and even death… that’s waht dictates your favor

God’s eternal love that is holding on to you is what dictates your blessedness

God’s promises for you in his word are what tell you How he loves you when nothing around you feels like love

We live by promise not by circumstance

We are those who do not shrink back but press on to eternal life

The promise that Jesus gives the church is that the one who overcomes or who conquers will not be hurt by the second death

Our promise is in living forever in Christ.

Time to respond