Revelation 2:8-11

Ah, good. Thank you. I will, uh, is the volume okay for you? Good, good. Appreciate everybody

showing up on a pretty hot night, but I trust it was a worthwhile time as we worship the Lord and

as we go into his word together. Our passage tonight is Revelation 2, verses 8 through 11,

Revelation 2:8–11

nestled in between the passages that were read earlier this evening, page 1029 in your few Bibles.

I'd encourage you to look at it and keep it open before you. We'll be referring to the text back and

forth, and I think it'll be helpful to keep your focus on the scriptures there. This is the second

of the letters of the Apostle John to the churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

Verse 8, and to the angel of the church in Smyrna write the words of the first and the last who died

and came to life. 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. 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. 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. Hope. I think this passage is about hope. One of my father's

friends used to say, you can live for 40 days without food, four days without water, four

minutes without oxygen, and four seconds without hope. Well, I'm not sure that's true, but it does make

a good way to start the sermon. But we all need hope. Tonight, I want to explore with you seven reasons

which I find in this passage which give us solid foundation to have a hope, especially if we're

facing difficult times. Let's just pray, shall we? Fathers, we're here tonight. Our minds have been

busy with many things. Our bodies are kind of hot and somewhat uncomfortable. But Father, I pray that

you would clear our minds, cool our bodies, and allow us to hear your voice this evening. Father,

I pray that it not be my voice that we hear, but the word of the Spirit, taking your word and applying it to

our individual lives. So be our teacher this evening, we pray. In our Lord Jesus' name, amen.

Now, this brief letter is addressed to the church in Smyrna. Well, first we need to ask, what do we know about

that city? Well, we know it was 35 miles north of Ephesus in Turkey, and it was right on the Aegean

coast. It was the main seat of emperor worship for that whole area. And on the coast is a coastal city,

and a large city. It was probably about 200,000 population. It was a beautiful place.

And there was a lot of anti-Christian movement there in Smyrna. But we really don't know much

else about the city. What do we know about the church that this letter addresses? Well, here again,

we don't know very much. It's not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. So all that we know is really

what we pick up in the context of the letter that we've read. We can observe that of the seven churches

addressed in these letters, Smyrna and Philadelphia were the only two that weren't criticized.

They were apparently doing things well.

Well, the church, it seems, is in some way in conflict with those who identified themselves

with the Jewish community. And there was a lot of bitter strife going on between those who were Jews

in the synagogue and the Christians. The Jews apparently were slandering the Christians, presumably,

to get them in trouble with the Roman authorities. And in light of that, the church was entering a time

of suffering. For some, it would mean imprisonment. And for some, it would mean death. So even though

the church seemed to be doing well in many ways, it was facing a time of great suffering. And they needed

encouragement. And that is what I believe John is giving to them in this letter. So we want to look at seven

different reasons, I find, to be encouraged and have hope, even in the face of oncoming suffering.

Reason one, did you notice, who is this letter addressed to? It's interesting, isn't it?

To the angel of the church of Smyrna. Now, angel means messenger or sent one. Now, we really don't know

whether this meant human leadership or whether it meant supernatural powers that were over the church,

in other words, angels. We do know that they were in God's hand. And if you'll recall what we read

in Revelation chapter 1, where Jesus is standing amidst the lampstands, which are symbols of his

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

churches, he's holding seven stars in his hands. And it says, those are the angels of the seven churches.

So we do know that whether the leadership spoken here is human or supernatural, they were being held

in God's hands. And you know, that's a great reason to be encouraged, isn't it? To realize that God,

the Lord Jesus, is holding the leadership of his church in his hands.

Second reason for hope that I find here, you'll notice the letter contains the words of he

who is the first and the last. You may notice as we go through these letters each week,

that each of the seven letters singles out one of the characteristics of Jesus as he's presented to

us in chapter 1. So here he is spoken of as the first and the last who died and is alive forevermore.

Obviously, the apostle John felt that these particular characteristics of Jesus were very relevant to

the church in Smyrna. So we need to explore why. What does it mean that he's the first and the last?

Elsewhere in the book of Revelation, we read that he is the alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet,

and the omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet. He goes from the beginning to the end.

Now, it's hard for our human minds to grasp, but God does not move through time the way we do.

For me, this moment is now, and now it's now. And what I said five seconds ago will never be repeated.

I am moving down a timeline, and I am stuck in time. God, however, is not moving through time the way we do.

Now, let's think of that in a few other passages. Remember in the book of Exodus, where God appeared to Moses

in a burning bush? Moses said, well, who do I tell people you are? And God says, I am who I am.

Present tense. I am the one who exists simply because I exist, and I exist in the present tense.

Or one of my favorite psalms is Psalm 90. And Psalm 90, the second verse, says,

from everlasting to everlasting, from time eternally past to time eternally future,

you are, present tense, God.

Isaiah says it in such a wonderful way. If you look at the King James Version,

he speaks of the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity. Most of us have no trouble thinking of God

present geographically in all places at one time. But God inhabits eternity. If we think of the timeline

that we are moving through from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You are the first,

you are the last, you are the alpha, you are the omega. And Jesus captured it so clearly

where he says, before Abraham was, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. So Jesus is the first and the last.

Now, I've thought about this for years. My little brain still doesn't grasp it all.

But I think it's true. And the implication of this is that even while I am stuck in time,

even while I am moving from moment to moment, God sees the end result.

The one who inhabits eternity looks at the end process. Now, I find that great reason for hope,

because God knows the end.

Our third reason for hope is that he is the one who died and was raised again from the dead.

All of the difficulties we go through in life, I think, when we stop and think about it,

are really trumped by the fact that Jesus died and rose again. It makes our problems seem pretty

insignificant and gives us great reason for hope. Now, over the years, it's been my job

to deliver a lot of bad news to patients. I'm a physician who practices geriatrics. And end-of-life

care is kind of where I spend my time. And people tend to come to the end of life, at the end of life.

And we geriatricians sign a lot of death certificates and see a lot of people die.

And many times we have to tell them their life's coming to an end, that they're soon going to die.

And I have had the privilege over many years of taking care of a lot of people of deep faith.

In my particular practice, probably 70% of my patients were believers.

And honestly, it made such a difference in almost every case when you told someone who was a believer

who believed that Jesus died and rose again, that they were going to die,

and someone who did not have that foundation for hope.

So there is hope in knowing that Jesus died and rose again.

Recall what Paul says in Romans 8,

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all,

how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

If our hope is that Jesus died and rose again,

we can have confidence that God will continue to pour his goodness into our lives.

And in that, we have hope.

The fourth reason I think we have hope is, recall, you'll see in our passage,

he knows our tribulation.

Jesus knows what we are facing at this moment.

Now, it's hardly a big tribulation, but it's hot in here.

Jesus knows it's hot in here.

He feels with us.

And he knows whatever our tribulations are.

He is not an uncaring, distant God.

He knows that even while we may have many spiritual blessings,

John said, and yet you are rich,

some of us really live in poverty.

And Jesus knows that.

Our poverty does not escape him.

He also knows the other struggles that we face in this world

where we face much opposition.

So we've had four reasons for hope,

which are grounded in this letter.

First, God sent one to lead the church,

who he holds in his right hand.

He is the first and the last.

He's the beginning and the end.

He's the one who died and is alive again.

And he is well aware of what's going on in our lives.

Solid reasons for hope.

Now, we have to ask,

is that hope enough when we're facing really tough times,

when we know that suffering, imprisonment, and death may be coming?

And that's where John moves in the next section of this letter.

I think we will see that even though suffering will come,

God is in control and has placed a limit on it.

When we see difficulties coming,

and the people in the Church of Smyrna saw difficulties coming,

one question we have to ask is,

who is responsible for the suffering that's coming?

A legitimate question.

Before we get into that answer, though,

I would like to observe that first,

who is not responsible?

There's no hint in this letter at all

that the Church of Smyrna had done anything

to merit their suffering.

The suffering we're talking about in this passage

is not a punishment for their sin.

They are not responsible.

So who is?

Well, I'd like to show you

that there are three different responsible parties

to their suffering.

And this is true, I think,

in many cases of suffering today.

On one level,

it would come because of the slander

brought against the Christians,

presumably to the Roman authorities,

by, as it said,

certain Jews who are not Jews.

Now, what does that mean?

I'm not sure that's totally clear.

But I tend to agree with the Apostle Paul

where in Romans 9,

he talks about a true Jewish person

is a child of Abraham by faith,

not by genetics.

There were evidently people

in the synagogue at Smyrna

who were working against the Christians

who were Jewish by physical descent,

but they were not children of Abraham by faith.

Therefore, John says,

they're not really true Jews.

These were the ones who you could say,

yeah, those guys,

they're responsible for the suffering that's to come.

But I think there's another level here

which the passage makes very clear,

and that is,

they were motivated and driven by Satan himself.

The suffering that was coming

was an act of Satan to do that.

Now, we know that Satan is active and powerful.

We read in 1 Peter 5,

be sober-minded, be watchful.

Your adversary, the devil,

prowls around like a roaring lion,

seeking someone to devour.

Satan is powerful.

He's clever.

He has great ability to destroy Christians.

But the second thing we need to keep in mind

is Satan has been defeated.

In his death,

Jesus assured that Satan would never succeed.

He was doomed.

So in Hebrews 2, we read

that through death,

he might destroy the one who has the power of death,

that is, the devil.

Now, am I talking out of both sides of my mouth here?

Well, maybe I am.

But I think there's good reason for it.

How can we say that Satan is defeated

and yet at the same time

talk about him having so much power?

A little hard to explain.

But over the years,

I've come to realize

that the best analogy I can come up with

is back in World War II.

I think every historian of World War II,

would say that Hitler was defeated and doomed

as soon as the Allies landed at Normandy at D-Day.

The end of the story was told.

But it took another whole year

of hard fighting,

marching through the fields of the lowlands,

through France and into Germany,

before Hitler would finally surrender.

He was doomed at D-Day.

He was finally defeated a year later.

And perhaps that's a little bit of analogy

of how Satan is today.

He was doomed at the cross,

but his final defeat is yet to come.

And in the meantime,

we are still waging that war.

So there's two levels of responsibility.

One, the Jews who were slandering the Christians.

Two, Satan who was working through them.

But there's a third level here

that I think we have to realize.

And that is,

who controls Satan?

And I would propose that we see in this text

that it is God that controls Satan.

And God is ultimately in control.

But why do I say that?

First, note how it talks of

this suffering is a test.

Tests come from God.

God wants to test his people,

not to make us fail,

but primarily to show us

that by his grace we will succeed.

First Peter 4 says,

Beloved, do not be surprised

at the fiery trial

when it comes upon you

to test you

as though something strange

were happening to you.

But rejoice insofar

as you share Christ's suffering

that you may also rejoice

and be glad

when his glory is revealed.

The second reason I see

Satan is controlled by God

is where it says

that the suffering

will be strictly limited

to ten days.

Satan does not have

unlimited authority.

Now we see that oftentimes

through scripture.

Remember the book of Job.

God allowed Satan to test Job

but put very strict restrictions

on how much he could do.

Last winter you were studying

through the book of Samuel

in the service.

Do you remember how

it spoke of Saul

being afflicted

by an unholy spirit

sent by the Lord?

Very interesting.

How many of you can think of

any time

when Jesus was on earth

and was commanding

demonic presence

to exercising

a demonic presence

from someone

from someone who's possessed

by a demon?

Do you ever remember

the demon saying,

no sir,

I don't think I will leave now sir,

thank you.

I think I'll just stay here.

No.

Jesus had full control

over those demonic presences.

In the book of 1 Corinthians,

Paul tells them

to deal with a man

who's been living in sin

and says,

deliver this man

over to Satan

for the destruction

of the flesh

so that his spirit

may be saved.

He's giving Satan

the job

to eventually end up

in this man's salvation.

Or Paul spoke

of his thorn in the flesh

as a quote,

messenger of Satan.

And what was the result

of that messenger

of Satan?

that he would

grow in his own

dependence on God,

recognize his weakness,

and that his strength

was actually in his weakness.

So in all of these examples,

I think we see

God using Satan

to accomplish

his ultimate purpose.

So we have great courage

from 1 John

when it says,

he who is in you

is greater

than he

who is in the world.

And God

equips his people

with the ability

to counter

the efforts

of Satan.

So our fifth reason

for hope

is God

is ultimately

in control.

Satan

does not

have absolute sway.

Now we move

outside of this passage

into its larger context

for our next two reasons

for hope.

But I had them read,

Kelly,

read Revelation 1

to remember

that beautiful picture

of Jesus

standing among

his church,

the lampstands,

holding the angel

of the church,

the stars in his hand,

and this beautiful,

powerful,

loving Savior

is where the church

begins.

Great reason

for hope.

And where is the church

going?

Revelation 4,

Revelation 5,

where the believers

from all the ages

are gathered around

the throne

worshipping

God

and the Lord Jesus.

That's where we're going.

Now,

it's fascinating

that between

where we start

and where we end

are these seven churches

not always presenting

a very encouraging picture.

Some of them

beset by Satan,

some of them

suffering,

some of them

losing their first love,

some of them

growing cold.

Not a real

nice picture.

But when you see

where it comes from,

where you see

where the church

is going,

there's great reason

for hope.

So,

I think we have

seven reasons

in this passage

for hope,

even as we face

the difficulties

in life.

God specifically

sends his leaders

to be over his church.

Jesus is the first

and the last.

He sees the end result.

Jesus died

and rose again.

Jesus knows

our struggles

in life.

Satan,

though our enemy,

is limited

and controlled

by God.

Jesus,

in all his glory,

stands among

his churches

and the destiny

of the church

will be fulfilled

as we stand

around his throne

in glory.

So,

in light of these

seven reasons

for hope,

how should we respond?

John gives us

two ways.

First,

be faithful,

press on

to the end.

be faithful

unto death.

And second,

he who has an ear,

let him hear.

We are to listen

to what the Spirit

of God says.

We are to be

in the Scriptures.

We are to be

in the public

preaching of the Word.

We are to be

enmeshed

in the Word of God,

listening to it

and obeying it.

That is our response

to hope.

How does God respond?

Well,

we are given

two ways.

First,

he gives

the crown of life

to those

who persevere.

And second,

he protects us

from the second death,

which is

eternal separation

from God,

his love

and goodness.

Remind us

that there are

two options,

eternal life

in God's presence

or eternal death

of separation

from him.

Fifteen hundred

years earlier,

Moses wrote,

I call heaven

and earth

to witness

against you today

that I have

set before you

life and death,

blessing and curse.

Therefore,

choose life.

Jesus,

the one who stands

among his churches,

the one who died

and rose again,

the one who is

in control

of all things

of this life,

even the really

difficult things,

offers eternal life.

If we reject

his offer,

the default

will be

the second death.

It's a choice

we all must make.

And when we have

choose life,

we have every reason

for hope.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Father,

as we look

at our lives,

we struggle

at times.

Father,

Satan is active

in our lives.

The difficulties

of this world

can be overwhelming

at times.

But Lord,

we are grateful

that you give us

great reason

for hope.

Father,

I pray

that we would

each be encouraged.

For those of us

who have chosen

life,

listen to your word

and obey it.

Father,

we have the hope

of eternal future.

Father,

for those who have

never really

come to that point

and have never

really chosen

to follow you,

they have the hope

that we share

if they would only

make that choice.

So we thank you

for the hope

that we have

and pray that

we would be

faithful to it.

We pray this

for our own good

and for your glory.

Amen.

the three months ago now.