Faithful unto death

Revelation 2:8-11

Introduction

When I was in Israel... I just had to start that way. When I was in Israel, I had to train for this triathlon thing we did this week, on Sunday. The Denver Triathlon, no big deal.

Since you asked, let me tell you about this triathlon. 1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run. For some reason along the way, I felt like I wanted to stop. Weird, right?

Here's a tip, since all of you are planning on competing in next year's triathlon. Right before the race, don't eat a giant breakfast, wait a bit, eat a giant energy bar, than hop in the water. Believe it or not, no matter what you hear, that is not a good idea.

So I am swimming, and I feel like puking, which would be disgusting anywhere but really gross in the water you are swimming in. I swim out and around and okay, swallow a bit of lake water, add that to the mix. Run out of the water, hop on the bike and start pedaling.

Now, let me say, that this whole thing is Jono's idea. Let's do a triathlon, Dusty, it'll be fun. That's what I'm thinking now as I am biking. Stupid Jono. I'm going to puke on Jono. Then he passes me on the bike and says "I'll set the pace for awhile." So for pretty much the rest of the race, I am just pedaling on and on, trying to keep up with Jono and not to puke.

But there is one thing I cannot do, no matter how tempting. I can't stop. If you stop, you're just going to keep stopping and it will take all day if you finish at all. I have to keep biking, I have to keep running, I just have to keep going. If I was going to stop, I might as well not have showed up at all. If I was going to stop, I might have saved all the months of training I did leading up to that day. Months back Jono said, "let's do a triathlon" and I said "awesome, let's do it." Commitment made. Challenge accepted!

In the midst of the actual trial, the actual test, there is only one thing to do. It doesn't matter that I am tired, that I feel sick, that my shoulder hurts or my foot hurts... I am going to finish. Faithful to the finish.

And you will never guess how that applies to today's Scripture...

Scripture - Revelation 2:8-11

Quick Review

We are in the book of Revelation, which despite its reputation for mystic symbolism, bizarre images and, of course, the end of the world, the book of Revelation is written as an encouraging word to people who are facing tribulation, will continue to face tribulation, and will face more tribulation in the future. In particular, we are hearing Jesus' words of redeeming judgment to the churches.

Last time (that would a couple months ago) we heard Jesus' words to the church at Ephesus: they had truth, and they loved truth, but they had forgotten love. A church that has forgotten to love is a church that has ceased to be a church. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Do we have our ears on? Ready to hear what Jesus has to say to the church in Smyrna?

Revelation 2:8-11

8 “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. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 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 life as your victor’s crown.

11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

Explanation

Oh, man, this is good stuff. The church in Smyrna. Smyrna is still around today, in modern Turkey, it is now the second largest city in Turkey. It is now called Izmir, and actually my brother spent several months there with YWAM. Beautiful city, even now, he says it reminds him of San Diego. Beautiful coastal city, famous for spectacular buildings, one of the very few temples to Emperor Tiberius there. Actually, it became the center of the imperial cult, or worship of the Emperor, and that plays a big part here. Beautiful wealthy city with a large Jewish population.

The situation in Smyrna

A large Jewish population that was incredibly antagonistic to the growing Christian movement there.

I know your "afflictions" in Smyrna, Jesus says. Many translations have "I know your tribulations" and this is tribulation with a small 't'. I know what is going down in Smyrna and I know it isn't good. It is "the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not..." This would be the large and influential Jews in Smyrna who rejected the good news of the Messiah. The early Christians, remember, were Jews and Gentiles together and saw themselves in continuity, in continuation with the Jews as the people of God. Gentiles are those grafted into the vine, but they are all true children of Abraham.

The Jews who rejected the gospel... well they did not agree. Heretics and blasphemers, these new Christians. A dangerous cult. And they were all the more against it because these Christians were trying to pass themselves off as Jews! There was religious competition here...

But that's not all. It gets political. Remember how I said Smyrna was the center of the imperial cult? Well the Jewish people had a special dispensation or special permission that they could practice their religion and not be required to include emperor worship. Christianity was then a double threat, both religious and they did not want this precious privilege threatened by the Christian "heretics".

So the church at Smyrna is already undergoing affliction. They are being persecuted. And that persecution is likely economic as well. "I know your afflictions and... your poverty." You have a powerful and influential faction of the city that hates you, is actively persecuting you. Now the "Jewish exemption" no longer applies, so the pagan Romans start putting on the pressure... this is not a good environment for the entrepreneur. The church at Smyrna is dirt poor, and Jesus says....

and it is about to get worse

You are being persecuted, you are suffering... and it's about to get worse.

10 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.

How pastoral is that? Come on, Jesus! How about a little good news? Put yourselves in Smyrna for a moment. You get this letter. Hey, I know things are bad there in Smyrna. You are being persecuted. Guess what? It is about to get worse.

Let's read some tone into this text. He says this "Just, um... be faithful until death..." Essentially he says "suck it up and stick it out!" Coming from an outsider, someone not in the midst of their struggles, that's pretty offensive! Who are you?

Who is speaking?

But who is speaking here?

"Be faithful unto death..." Jesus says. But Jesus has some incredible credentials. Who is he as he speaks to the church in Smyrna?

8b These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.

See, he is not an outsider. Jesus says, Do I know what you are going through? Yeah, in fact I am the Lord of History. I am the only one who really gets it. Do I know what it's like to be where you are? Let's adjust the tone a bit when we read this:

Believe me... I know your affliction and your poverty... How do I know? I know because I bore those wounds, I carried that weight, I experienced that pain first hand for you and all humanity... and I carried it all the way to death. Be faithful unto death, Jesus says, I am he who was faithful unto death, under the weight of all the sin and suffering you will ever know.

Died and came to life... faithful unto death. Jesus has the right to call Smyrna to faithfulness, he earned that right.

In tribulation now and later, be faithful unto death

What was the issue?

Be faithful, be faithful, how do I be faithful? How were they faithful in Smyrna?

What ultimately was the issue in Smyrna? I think it boiled down to this: who was going to be worshipped? Would it be Jesus, or would they cave to Jewish pressure and renounce the name of Jesus. Would it be Jesus, or would they cave to Roman pressure, renounce Jesus and worship the emperor?

Be faithful to worship God and God alone. Be faithful to claim and cling to the name and person of Jesus. All of this pressure, the testing, the trial, the passage uses this "devil" talk like crazy. We talked about this last week, the crazy idea that there are spiritual beings, led by Satan, the adversary, who's goal in life is to cause human beings to abandon or compromise the worship and pursuit of God and the things of God.

That was the issue. Could Satan get the church at Smyrna to abandon or compromise the worship and pursuit of Jesus. Could he get them to be unfaithful.

The good news: you can't lose this one

But Jesus says:

"Be faithful unto death... and I will give you the crown of life. 11, The one who overcomes will never be hurt by the second death. "

How did Paul put it? To die is Christ, to live is gain. Be faithful unto death... and death itself will be defeated. Has been defeated. Who is talking again? The one who was faithful unto death, who died and came to life again. This is the one who went before, coaching us through it, "be faithful... trust me... I got this... the death thing is handled."

In tribulation now and later, be faithful unto death

In fact, even now, in the midst of your tribulation, Jesus says "I know your afflictions... your poverty, but you are RICH." Blessed are the poor... I heard that somewhere. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This contrast shows up again and again in Scripture: the beauty of suffering, the joy of suffering...

I don't think we have any idea what riches are earned when we are faithful in tribulation. What wealth is there. What beauty is created. The Bible uses images: treasures in heaven, crowns of life.

Illustration - faithfulness in marriage

Maybe we get a glimpse of it.

This language of faithfulness unto death is one we come across every day. You may not here it when I say "he or she was faithful," but what do you think of when I say "he was unfaithful?" or "she was unfaithful?" Marriage. We all know what it means for me to be faithful to Anna. It means I am committed to love and honor her, emotionally and physically, to the exclusion of others until death do us part. I made that commitment almost 12 years ago, and absolutely every day, in small and large ways, I remain faithful to that unto death. I stay faithful to her.

And we all know the devastation unfaithfulness causes in the marriage context. You have seen it in your own lives, or your friends' lives, or your parents' lives. Marriage is the language God uses for his people. We are his beloved bride, and he is 100% faithful. Satan's only hope at power, at petty victory, is to separate us and God. To divorce us. To tempt or trick us into being unfaithful and abandoning God at the shame or pain of it.

But, oh, what a beautiful thing it is when marriage works. When marriage is faithful, not just physically, but in every aspect of life. What beauty, you are RICH... if only you could see.

Application

But marriage is hard. Life is hard. Life is complicated, full of trials and tribulations as well as blessings and beauty. Life isn't just hard in the "whining" sense, but in the deep painful sense. Some are trying to finish that triathlon with a broken foot, blinded, bleeding.

Whatever tribulation you are in the midst of... Jesus knows. He knows your tribulation first hand. Maybe he knows your poverty too: poverty of money, poverty of courage, poverty of options, poverty of faith.

Whatever tribulation is coming, and tribulation and affliction are always coming in this life, Jesus knows about it. Just when things are finally looking up at work, the family starts to fall apart. Or maybe work or lack of work is your tribulation.

Wherever we are at, we talked about this last week, we have an adversary, Satan, who is desperate to divorce us from God. He will enlist the Synagogue of Satan next door, whatever means of persecution or distraction he can manage.

What do we do? We Stand. We put on the full armor of God, we stand and, after we have done everything, we stand.

Be faithful unto death.

Stay faithful. Worship and follow God alone until death. Right through death...

What kind of death? Actual death, for sure. Be faithful unto death, but be faithful through every little death along the way too. The people in Smyrna, it seems, had already faced a kind of economic death on account of their faithfulness. Chances are, you aren't living in fear of dying for refusing to renounce the name of Christ, but there are all sorts of little deaths we fear. Death of reputation, death of job, death of a dream, death of a relationship...

Just like in a marriage, you are to be faithful in the small stuff as well as the big stuff. In fact, being faithful in the small stuff is what prepares you to be faithful in the big stuff.

You might be finding everything in the world conspiring to keep you from your God time.

Be faithful unto death. Every night, every morning, be faithful.

In prayer: be faithful. In church: be faithful. Wherever the question comes down to worshipping God or something, anything else: Be faithful.

You might just be smack in the middle of where God wants you to be, doing just what God wants you to do. That is where Anna and I are right now, in family and ministry.

You know what we are expecting? Tribulation, testing and trial. Satan doesn't want us smack in the middle of where God wants us to be. He doesn't want oneWay youth to go well. He doesn't want summer camps to go well. He doesn't want our family to do well. He doesn't want our marriage to go stronger and closer. You know what we are going to do?

Be faithful unto death

Satan doesn't want Next Step Christian Church to do well. This is a church full of faithful people, serving and following after God. You are guys are being faithful... He doesn't want any of you to grow in love with God and each other. He doesn't want us to grow the kingdom of God or fill those seats. You know what we are going to do?

Be faithful unto death

Here is the truth about the death we fear: both the little deaths along the way and the actual death death. Here is the truth: BEATEN. DEFEATED. OVERCOME. IT IS FINISHED. Because we are faithful to the one who died and rose again, to the first and last, to the Lord of history and resurrection.

Be faithful unto... ? death. Death? Bah to death. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

I have more good news. You don't have to be faithful alone. I remember this vividly, running in the Denver triathlon, I remember it like it was 6 days ago. Running along, exhausted, feeling like puking, 100 feet in front of me I see Jono running along. I am not doing this alone. My brother is running too. Others have gone before me. Others are going alongside me. In this triathlon, there were tons of para-athletes. People with missing arm, with no legs, over 60 blind athletes swimming and biking and running right alongside us. The blind guys literally linked arms with guides, running along together. You don't have to be faithful alone!

Whatever your tribulation, Jesus has paved the way. Whatever your affliction, we are here with you. That is what it means to have fellowship together, it means we share the good and the bad.

Next Step church, let us be faithful together unto death

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Polycarp - Bishop of Smyrna

This is amazing. This time, we know for certain that the church at Smyrna had their ears on. They heard what Jesus spoke through John to them. John had appointed a man named Polycarp to be the bishop of the church in Smyrna. In A.D. 155, in the years after Revelation would have been written, we have eyewitness accounts of the scene.

Polycarp was arrested on the charge of being a Christian -- a member of a politically dangerous cult whose rapid growth needed to be stopped. Amidst an angry mob, the Roman proconsul took pity on such a gentle old man and urged Polycarp to proclaim, "Caesar is Lord". If only Polycarp would make this declaration and offer a small pinch of incense to Caesar's statue he would escape torture and death.

Such a small thing... just a little compromise.

To this Polycarp responded, "Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?" Steadfast in his stand for Christ, Polycarp refused to compromise his beliefs, and thus, was burned alive at the stake.

Faithful unto death... and Jesus places that crown of life on his head.

Oh, but you are rich. If only we could see what beauty we create when we are faithful to our forever faithful God.