The suffering Church

Introduction

How are Christians to deal with suffering for Christ? How can they be encouraged and strenghtended when facing extreme persecution?

This question is answered for us in the letter to the church at Smyrna.

This is the second letter that the Lord Jesus sent to the churches in Asia. He sent seven altogether, five of them contain strong rebukes for the churches. Two of them contain no rebuke but only encouragement. This letter to the church at Smyrna is one of the encouraging letters.

In this letter the Lord addresses a chruch that is suffering intense persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ.

His purpose is clear. He wants to encourage them to be faithful and to persevere in the faith.

The Lord Jesus encourages this response from them by firstly reminding them of who he is and then showing what this means for them.

THe Lord reminds them of certain truths about himself and then shows them how this affects their current situation.

This letter although written almost 2000 years ago serves for us today as an example of how the church is to be strengthened in the midst of persecution.

Across our world there are many believers who are facing intense persecution for their faith. One example is India, Christians are killed, attacked and very little seems to be done by the authorities to stop this.

What must the church in India do in order to find strength? From this letter we see the answer is to remember who Christ is and understand the implications of this for them.

In our nation at present we aren’t facing that kind of intense persecution. Some people face mild persecution at work or among their family, but what should the church do if intense persecution does come?

From this letter we see the answer is to recognise who Christ is and live our lives in accordance with these truths.

This is the principle that we find in this letter sent by the Lord Jesus himself to the church at Smyrna. Let us look at this letter together and see exactly what the Lord said to this church that was suffering.

I. Opening statement v.8

The letter begins just like the others with an opening statement. In this statement we learn who the church is and we learn about who the Lord Jesus is.

a) the Church

The letter begins in v.8 in this way “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write,”

The angel of the church is referring to the leader of the church, the pastor/overseer. The letter is adressed to him, but it is to be read to the entire church.

We learn that this letter was to the church in Smyrna. Smyrna is today called Izmir and is found in mordern day Turkey.

At the time of writing it was a city in the roman empire that was well known for its allegience to Rome. It had a temple that was dedicated to the worship of Rome. It became a stronghold for caesar worship and this explains the fierce persecution. THe citizens of this city had to confess that Caesar is Lord but the Christians said no, Jesus is Lord.

There was also a large Jewish population in the city of Smyrna whom we know from this letter were hostile to Christians.

The church at Smyrna was situated in a very hostile environment, this is the chruch the Lord is writing to. So we learn who the recipients of the letter are. Next we see who the author is.

b) The Lord

V.8 continues “‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:”

In this statement the Lord Jesus introduces himself and we learn two significant ruths about who he is. The two truths will play an important role in how this suffering church is to respond to persecution.

i) The first and the last

First Jesus refers to himself as the First and the Last. What did he mean by this. We need to note two things.

Firstly this title applied to Jesus shows us that Jesus is God. This title is used in the OT by the LORD and the fact that Jesus uses this title of himself shows us that he is God, he is the second person of the Trinity. God manifest in the flesh.

Second we learn that he is not only God but he is sovereign. He is in control, he knows the end from the beginning. He knows all things because he has ordained whatever comes to pass. He governs history.

Isa 44:6-7 help us to see the full meaning of this title. “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. 7 And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them.”

The first and the last means the only God and the one who controls history, who ordains the end from the beginning.

This is who Jesus is, he is the first and the last. We shall see in a moment what this means for the church in Smryna.

ii) Who was dead and is alive

The second title the Lord gives himself is “Who was dead, and came to life:”

Here the Lord Jesus is referring to his resurection from the dead. Yes he died for our sins on the cross, but then he also rose again the third day.

One of the outcomes of the resurrection was that Jesus defeated death, the grave has lost its power, death has lost its sting. Now believers have a steadfast hope of the resurrection because the Lord Jesus himself rose again from the dead. As a result of the resurrection the Lord Jesus controls who receives eternal life and who will go to hell.

This is what we see in Rev 1:18 “ I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”

The Lord Jesus was dead and is alive for evermroe and he has the keys of hades and of death.

That means that he has control over hades and death, he governs who receives eternal life, and who will go to hell, he has the keys he contorls entry.

We will see the what this means for the church in Smyrna shortly. How are they to respond to intense persecution in light of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So these are the titles that the Lord Jesus refers to himself with. He does so for the specific purpose of encouraging the church of Smyrna in their current situation. So how do theese truths about Jesus affect the situation of the Christians in Smyrna?

II. He is the first and the last v.9-10

First we will look at the implications of Jesus being the first and the Last and then we will look at the implications of him being the one who was dead and came back to life.

a) He knows their suffering

So Jesus is the First and the Last. He is God, and he is sovereign over history.

The outcome of this is that he knows all that his church is experiencing.

i) Present

He knows their present sufferings.

Look with me at v.9 “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

The Lord Jesus has ordained all that comes to pass, he is the First and the Last and as a result he knows their works. He knows all that they are doing to serve him and be faithful to him in their hostile environment.

He knows their tribulation. He knows about their intense suffering, he knows that the are experiencing very difficult circumstances, he has overlooked their suffering. He knows, he cares.

He also knows their poverty. He knows the fact that they have next to nothing. The reason was probably due to the fact that they were Christians and therefore they refused to take part in so much of public life because of how much of it was tied to paganism. They were probably refused work because of their faith in Christ.

The Lord knows their poverty, he also knows the reality that although they are physically poor, they are spiritually rich, yes they were poor on earth, but they were rich in heaven. Although they could not see this they could take his word for it because he is the First and the last.

The Lord also knows who it is that is causing most of their persection. It was coming from those who claimed to be Jews but had rejected the Messiah and so were really serving the devil and not God.

How did this persecution from the Jews show itself? Most likely the Jewish community would have played a major role in encouraging the Roman authorities and pagan civilians to persecute the Christians. One way they would have done this would have been by informing the Roman authorities that Christianity was not a sect of Judaism.

Judaism was the only tolerated religion in the empire that was not the official religion. Christianity was allowed to exist legally for a time because Rome viewed it as another sect of Judaism and therefore it was tolerated. However, the Jews would stir up persecution against the church by saying that Christianity was not a sect of Judaism but a new religion.

The result would be that the Christians would be made to confess Casar as Lord. The Jews were exempt from this but now that the Christians were being seen as new religion they were forced to do so.

Of coure the Christians refused and said Caesar is not Lord but Jesus is Lord and therefore they would sufer immensly.

An example of the Jewish community in Smyrna stiring up persecution against the Christians is seen clearly by the martyrdom of Polycarp who was the Bishop of Smyrna in the second century.

Polycarp was sentence to be burned, much to the delight of the Jewish citizens who even helped to gather the wood together even though it was a sabbath.

The fact is that the Lord knew all about this situation.

He is the First and the Last, he is in control, these things are not happening because the Lord Jesus is impotent and helpless. No he is the Soverign Lord of all creation.

Therefore the Christians although suffering should be encouraged by the fact that the Lord Jesus is in control and has a purpose in it all.

ii) Future

Not only did the Lord know their present suffering. He also knew their future. He knew what they were about to suffer as well.

v.10 says “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days.”

Here in v.10 we see four outcomes of the fact the Jesus is the first and the last.

Firstly, we see that as he is the First and the Last, he is God who is sovereign over all things. Therefore the church at Smyrna must not fear. They must not be afraid. They dont have to be afraid because their Lord and Saviour is the First and the Last.

Secondly, we see that the Lord knows what is about to happen and who is about to do it. the devil will throw some of them in prison.

Thirdly, as Jesus is the First and the Last he works all things together for good. Yes the devil is going to throw some in prison because he hates the church, yet the Lord has a good purpose in this, that their faith may be tested. The reason being so that their faith may be strengthened to the praise and honour of God.

Fourthly, as Jesus is the First and the Last he controls when this suffering will end. He says this will not go on forever, but you shall have tribulation ten days.

Yes the church is suffering and yes the church will suffer. But the Lord Jesus encourages them, he is the First and the Last, he knows, he is in control, he has a good purpose in all of it and it will not go on forver, he will bring it to an end. Therefore they must not fear anything that they may face.

What happens when the church grasps the truth that Jesus is the first and the last? They do not fear persecution.

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What does this mean for us? It means that whatever we are facing or whatever we will face in this nation.

We know that the Lord Jesus is in control. He knows all we experience, he has a good purpose in all of it, he will bring it to an end. Therefore we as the church do not need to be afraid. We do not need to fear persecution.

So we have seen the implications of Jesus being the First and the Last. Next we see the implications of him being the one who was dead and came to life. Of course there is some overlap.

III. He was dead and is alive v.10c-11

The Lord Jesus is the one who was dead and came to life. He rose again from the dead, he defeated death, he has the keys of death and hell. He gives eternal life to whom he wills. How should the church in Smyrna respond then to their current persection and their future persection?

a)They must be faithful unto death

We have already seen that they do not need to fear, but now the Lord goes further and says this at the end of v.10 “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

In the mist of persecution they were to remain faithful, even until death.

When they were told to confess Caesar is Lord or be thrown to the lions they were to say, Jesus is Lord not Caesar.

They were to face death head on. THe reason they should do this was that their Lord and Saviour was the one who faced death in our place on the cross to pay the penaly of our sins and rose again the third day thereby defeating death. Death has lost its sting for the Christian, the Bible says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord which is far better.

We have an account of the Bishop of Smyrna doing just this in the second century. This is what took place shorlty beofre he was burned to death for being a Christian.

“As the Proconsul urged him and said: ‘Take the oath and I release you; revile Christ,’ Polycarp said: ‘Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who has saved me?’...

“The Proconsul said: ‘I have wild animals; to them will I throw you, unless you change your mind.’ But he said: ‘Call them, for change of mind from better to worse is a change not allowed us; but it is good to change from wickedness to justice.’ 2 Again he said to him: ‘If you scorn the wild beasts, I will have you burned by fire, unless you repent.’ But Polycarp said: ‘You threaten the fire that burns for an hour and in a little while is quenched; for you do not know the fire of the future judgment and of eternal punishment, the fire reserved for the wicked. But why do you delay? Come, do as you wish.”

How could Polycarp be so bold? Because His King that saved him was the one who was dead and came to life.

What was the outcome of such faithfulness?

i) They will receive the crown of life

The Lord continues and says "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

The Lord Jesus paid for sin on the cross and rose again the third day. Therefore he bestows eternal life on whomever he chooses. For this reason the church at Smyrna could be faithful until death knowing they would receive eternal life because the one who has power to give it promised it to them.

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What does this mean for us? Well at the present time we do not face death for being Christians, and we thank God for it. Yet some people still face serious consequences for being faithful to Jesus in their daily lives. We can think of people in the civil service who have lost their careers because they were faithful to Jesus and refused to go against their conscience.

The encouragment of Jesus here to every believer is to be faithful to him regardless of the consequences, even if it means dying for your faith.

The reason we must be faithful is because he is the one who gives eternal life and he has promised it to those who are faithful.

After adresing the church and their particular needs, he then turns his attention to every person who will hear this read.

b) All must hear

In .v11 he says “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”

This statement shows the importance of what the Lord Jesus has just said. Here the Lord Jesus call all who hear to take heed. to pay close attention to what has been said and live accordingly.

ii) The overcomer will escape hell

Why must those who hear take heed?

Again because Jesus is the one who was dead and came to life.He says at the end of verse 11 “He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”

The Lord has the keys of hell and death. therefore he sets the terms for those who will be saved from hell. He says the one who overcomes will by no menas be hurt by the second death.

The second death is a reference to hell. the Lord Jesus says that the one who overcomes by faith, will be saved.

How do we know this is true? We knoe because of who it is who is saying it. He is the first and thew last, the one who was dead and came to life.

FOr this reason the churh at Smyrna were called to overcome, to persevere to the end, to be faithful until death and to fear nothing that they may face.

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For this reason we too the church in our day must do the same. We must overcome by faith, persevere to the end. We mustbe fatihul until death and not be afraid of any consequence we may face for following Jesus.

Whether is means losing friends, losing career oppurtunities, losing our livlihoods or even our lives. We must be faithfu to the one who is the First and the Last and was dead and is alive again.

Conclusion

How is the church to face persecution? How can the church be encouraged and strengthened in the midst of intense suffering?

The answer is by remembering who Jesus CHrist is, what he has done and living in light of these truths.

To believe all that the bible teaches about the Lord Jesus Christ and then to say to live is Christ and to die is gain.

In this letter this is what the Lord Jesus does. He reminds the church at Smyrna that he is the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life.

How should they respond to their suffering in light of these turhts?

They were to fear nothing, they were to be faithful until death and they were to overcome by faith.

Is intense suffering for Christ coming to this nation? I don’t know. But whatever the future holds for the church in Britain the encouragment is the same. Jesus is the First and the Last, the one who was dead and is alive, therefore let us fear nothing, be faithful until death and overcome by faith.