Is Christ worth it

Good morning everyone. Please turn with me to Revelation chapter 2.

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

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 10 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.

Well, good morning everyone.

In my first semester at uni, while trying to find my place in a new city,

I moved from Tamworth to Newcastle trying to make new friends.

I was studying PE teaching, and I had to give a lesson in front of my peers on sexual health.

Now, I can't really remember what I said, but I remember in the feedback time afterward,

the lecturer challenged me in front of everyone.

Are you a Christian?

Where in the Bible does it say you shouldn't have sex before marriage?

I was stunned into silence.

There was a strong feeling in that moment.

It was more than embarrassment.

The lecturer had the authority in that situation,

and everyone in the room understood the subtext going on.

He wasn't just claiming I was factually incorrect.

He was saying something deeper than that.

He was saying I was a fool for my view on sex before marriage,

and I was wrong to even mention it to other people.

In that moment, I felt shame.

I don't fully belong.

For me, the first and second year of university,

I wrestled trying to decide, is Christianity worth it?

Then after uni, after not getting a PE job straight away,

my first job was as a high school SRE or scripture teacher.

Now, the school tried to give SRE a proper classroom

and a proper place in the timetable,

but there seemed to be a common understanding among the students

that SRE just wasn't a real subject.

Normal classroom rules can be pushed to the limit.

The amount of times I ask myself, is this worth it?

I lost count by the last bell on Monday, usually.

A little side plug here, SRE is excellent.

I highly recommend it if you have the opportunity.

Talk to me any time.

But they're just two examples for me, for my story so far.

It would be fascinating to hear how each one of us have been forced

to ask yourself the question, is Christianity worth it?

Is it worth the loss and the cost?

What have you had to give up or lose simply because you're a Christian?

It could be money, it could be time.

What relationships have been strained, not by your arrogance,

but because you've decided to side with Christ?

What hardship could you have easily avoided?

All you had to do was go with the flow of what everyone else did.

We're all faced with this question, is it worth it?

As we come to the letter to Smyrna, which is about severe persecution,

we shouldn't think this doesn't apply to us here in Australia today

for at least two reasons.

Firstly, there is no guarantee that we will continue to be safe

in Australia going forward.

And secondly, the cost you and I are faced with every day at school,

at uni, with colleagues, with our sporting teams and friends and family.

We can be tempted to distance ourselves from Christ bit by bit by bit.

So what's going to motivate us to stand with Christ and walk into trouble

and not away from it?

We've got to hear what Christ has to say to Smyrna.

So Smyrna competed with Ephesus for the title of the greatest city of Asia.

It too was a centre for trade and wealth.

It too was full of worship to the gods.

The Roman gods.

The most defining feature of Smyrna was that it had been totally destroyed

about 600 years before Christ.

And it laid in ruins for 300 years before it was raised again.

And unlike most cities, it was carefully designed.

And so it had this order and beauty to it.

And today it still stands.

It's Isma, the second largest city in Turkey.

To live in Smyrna was to belong to the glorious resurrected city

that boasted of its allegiance to the emperor.

And there in the midst of this little, of this city is this little local church,

a lampstand.

This lampstand, it's a picture of every Christian being a priest.

You might be familiar with the phrase, the priesthood of all believers.

To be priest is to be totally dedicated to the service of Christ.

Your allegiance is totally to him.

And your role is to represent him to the rest of the world.

What will it mean to be Christ's lampstand in Smyrna?

The words of the first and the last who died and came to life.

Into this resurrected city speaks one who also died and came to life.

These words echo the description of the Lord in chapter 1,

as do all the introductions to the seven letters.

He is the first and the last, the alpha and the omega,

and everything in between.

He is the eternal one who chose to die for his church

and who came back to life and now holds the keys of death and hell.

Church in Smyrna, Christians today, to which will you belong?

The life and glory of the city you live in?

Or the life and glory of the risen Lord Jesus?

This letter is the briefest letter.

And because it's brief, it gives a solemn air to it.

And when you compare this letter to the Ephesians,

something appears to be missing.

The Ephesians are praised for their hard work,

their concern for truth, their endurance.

But to those in Smyrna, he says,

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.

Outwardly, all this church has going for it is pain and loss.

Is their suffering a divine punishment for their lack of devotion to Christ?

Doesn't that thought cross your mind when hard times hit you?

But that doesn't fit here.

There's no explicit indictment from Christ.

No hint of needing to repent.

And no warning if they don't change.

Instead, Christ says, you are rich.

Materially suffering loss, but spiritually rich.

In chapter 1, verse 9, John introduces his letter to all Christians saying,

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom

and the patient endurance that are in Jesus.

Tribulation means great trouble or suffering,

and it is the new normal for every Christian.

Aligning yourself to Christ when the world wants to live without Christ

is going to mean trouble.

Tribulation isn't a mark of God's punishment.

It's the mark of faithfulness.

It's not the experience of some Christians.

It is par for the course.

It's the new normal.

We don't experience it in equal measure, of course.

For those in Smyrna,

the source of their trouble is the slanderous accusations of the Jews

who claim to worship God

and claim that the Christians are evil.

All the while, these Jews reject Christ.

Lying and murdering like Satan.

Christianity had no legal standing,

and so it made it easy for Jews and others to take advantage of them.

The Roman Empire was very tolerant of all religions,

but it was dangerous to believe that only one God exists and rules over all.

And when the Roman Emperor himself started to be worshipped as a god,

to not worship him was seen as treason.

By following Christ,

they no longer belonged to their community.

Legally, they had no grounds for rights or freedoms.

And perhaps even their own family members,

their Jewish family members,

would drag them into court,

publicly slandering them to the loss of their property

or their reputation,

even their life.

This is heavy stuff, isn't it?

Was it worth it?

Do you feel the pressure,

the threat to be tolerant of all opinions

and all people's choices?

Perhaps we feel it most

with those closest to us,

the relationships we hold dear,

the respect we crave.

Into this pressure,

Christ says,

I know your pain.

More than just acknowledging it,

our Lord is speaking as having gone ahead of us,

slandered as evil

only because he was faithful to his father.

He perfectly reflected his father's character.

And it resulted in death.

Christ says,

I know your pain.

And at this point,

I want Christ to say,

don't worry,

your trouble will be over tomorrow.

But instead of taking the trouble away,

he gives us strength to move into the pain

by giving us a bigger perspective

to what's actually going on

behind what the eye can see.

Look at verse 10.

Do not fear what you're about to suffer.

Behold,

the devil is about to throw some of you into prison

that you may be tested.

And for 10 days,

you will have tribulation.

Be faithful unto death

and I will give you the crown of life.

Behind the slander of people

is the devil himself,

whose name means slanderer or accuser.

He is the one

who will bring such allegations

and injustice and loss.

Some of you will go into prison.

Some of you will even be killed.

Christ doesn't offer them a comfortable life.

Whoever wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted.

And this isn't for a short time.

10 days,

10 represents an extended period

of time.

What will empower them

to move into the trouble?

Not in a cavalier bring on the pain way,

but remaining steadfast.

They're told,

we're told there's a purpose to it all.

The devil will do this to test you.

The implication here

is that you will pass the test.

This sounds a lot like the story of Job.

Job is praised as faithful

by the Lord himself.

And Satan wants to test his faith,

accusing Job

that he only serves the Lord

because of all the earthly comfort

that God provides him.

Take it away

and Job will curse you to your face.

All his children killed,

financially ruined and covered in sores from head to foot.

No guarantee of a better day tomorrow.

And the story ends with Job

counting the Lord as worth it,

as all he needs.

Times of testing

shows that for God's sake alone,

not the extra stuff he gives,

for his sake alone,

it is worth worshipping him.

And beyond Satan,

there is the eternal judge

and life giver.

Trouble is certain,

but just as certain is

it's limited.

There will be

an eleventh day,

so to speak.

Most importantly,

remember who's speaking.

The one who died himself

and who came alive.

He holds the keys of death and hell

and he guarantees

resurrection for those who belong to him.

Be faithful unto death

and I will give you the crown

of life.

He has the authority

to give life.

After the cross

comes the crown.

People in this world

chase after the glory

of a crown

like in the Olympic Games

of the Roman Empire,

a wreath of flowers,

a garland around the head,

the praise of the world

and wealth,

but it doesn't last.

Christ offers

an enduring crown,

eternal life

in his kingdom.

This is not

a special reward

on top of your salvation.

This promise

is for every person

who counts Christ

as worthy

to endure trouble for,

which is every

genuine Christian.

To conquer

is John's way

of talking about faith.

When a person

is tempted

to end the pain

of being a Christian

by going with the flow

of the world,

what does that person

need to do

to stick with Christ?

We need to listen

to Christ's words

and believe him

more than the world.

Trust

that the eternal

judgment of the Lord

is the only judgment

that ultimately matters.

It is judgment

that is true.

Trust

that true

life and glory

is only

found

in the resurrected

Christ,

not in the world.

How we conquer

is to use

our ears

to listen

and believe

and respond

to what Christ

says to us.

and Christ

has an amazing

promise

for us.

The one

who conquers

will not

be hurt

by the second

death.

The second

death

is a picture

in Revelation 20

for the judgment

of God,

the lake

of fire

where Satan

and everyone

else who

oppose Christ

will be thrown.

Eternal

loss

of the life

giving presence

of God,

hell.

Brothers

and sisters,

in times

of trial,

we need

to look

beyond the

loss

and pain.

When you

stand before

the Lord

at judgment,

which each

of us has

to,

you will

have zero

reason

to be

afraid.

You can

lift your

head

assured

that you

have

entrusted

your

life

to the

resurrected

one,

the judge

of all

the earth.

You

already

know

the real

judge's

judgment

of you.

The wording

here is

certainly

not.

You

will

certainly

not

be hurt

by the

eternal

judgment.

You

will have

the crown

of life.

Do you

hear the

assurance?

As

Marty told

the story

in his

intro,

sitting in

the congregation

at Smyrna,

where Revelation

was first read,

could have sat

this young

man,

Polycarp.

he became

bishop,

and in

his old

age,

arrested,

taken to

the public

arena,

and he

was ordered

to offer

incense to

Caesar as

Lord.

Before being

burnt,

he said

those words,

let me repeat

them,

eighty and

six years

have I

served

Christ,

and he

has done

me no

wrong.

How then

can I

blaspheme

my king

who saved

me?

He was

looking

beyond

that

moment.

He knew

the crown

of life

that was

his by

grace

through

the blood

of Christ.

He was

more scared,

he was

more assured

that the

judgment

of Christ

is what

counts,

not what

the public

thinks,

not even

the pain.

This

perspective

turns loss

and pain

and slander

of other

people

upside

down.

Or more

accurately,

it turns

it the

right way

up.

Look at

what's

going on.

Whatever

loss you

face,

while

remaining

devoted

to the

Lord,

you are

declaring

to people

around you

and to

the

spiritual

realities,

Christ

is worth

it.

Christ

is my

life.

Not the

things he

gives me,

not the

things you

can offer

me,

Christ

himself

is my

life.

The

church in

Ephesus

had all

the external

marks of

a healthy

church,

but in

their heart

they'd lost

their passionate

devotion to

the Lord

who died

for them.

And here's

Smyrna,

looking ahead,

and all

they see

is loss

and pain,

and all

they get

for it

is Christ.

And they

decide

worth it.

Is there

a greater

expression of

devotion than

that?

Is there

a brighter

light and

witness to

the truth

than

faithfulness

in the face

of suffering

and loss?

is there

a greater

word of

praise

Christ

could

give

them

than

on the

last

day

at

judgment?

Well

done,

good and

faithful

servant.

Having

lost

everything

else,

but being

close to

the Lord,

they are

rich.

Charles

Spurgeon

said it

better than

I can,

for the

Christian,

losses

enrich him,

sickness

is his

medicine,

reproach

is his

honour,

death

is his

gain.

This can

only be

true of

you if

you believe

in your

heart,

Christ

is worth

it.

friends,

as we

look ahead

to our

immediate

future,

as a

church

family

and as

individuals,

trouble

and loss

and not

belonging in

this world

is before

us.

But we

need to

look beyond

and see

him who

has gone

ahead of

us,

who has

died in

our place

and has

come to

life.

Don't be

afraid.

Be faithful

unto death

and I

will give

you the

crown of

life.

What a

light for

Christ in

this dark

world we

will be if

when trouble

comes we

can say

Christ is

worth it.

Will you

pray with me

to finish?

Let's pray.

Father, you

know our

hearts and

how we

struggle to

believe that

what this

world offers

us isn't

better than

what you

offer us.

Forgive us

Lord for

this.

Thank you

that it's

by your

blood alone

that we

stand

secure

knowing that

judgment has

already passed

on Christ

and that

by grace

alone we

get to

share in

the crown

of life.

Lord, I

pray for us

as a church

that we

wouldn't just

go with the

flow of

this world

that you

would help

us to

see Christ

in all his

truth and

beauty and

count having

him as

worth it.

Lord, give

us ears to

hear you.

Make us

rich.

In Jesus'

name.

Amen.