Revelation 2:8-11 - The Church at Smyrna

I ask you to turn, please, in your Bibles to chapter 2 of the

Book of Revelation. And today we are going to start

with verse 8. We're going to talk about the

church at Smyrna. It's a lot of information to

give about Smyrna. It's a lot of history to give

about Smyrna. So we're going to go ahead and

just pray and we're going to get into the Word.

OK, Father, we do thank you for once again you give us this

opportunity, Lord, to come and gather together as a one

assembly in you. Father, we thank you that your

promise to us is that you will be with us, Lord, where two or

three are gathered together in your midst.

You promise that you will be with us, Father, and we believe

that. We know that you're here with

us. We just ask that there be a

manifestation of your spirit today, Father, not just your

presence, Lord, but that you would be manifested today.

We pray that you would have the that you would get the glory for

everything that is done and said today in this place.

I pray for your wisdom. I pray for your knowledge.

I pray, Father, for your anointing.

Lord, I cannot do this without you.

I need you to teach this lesson today, Lord.

So I pray that you would open your mouth and speak in Jesus

name. We pray, Amen.

So we're at the persecuted church here.

I'm going to just I'm going to read this because it's really

like only four verses, but this is probably four of the most

important and most significant verses that I have ever read in

the word of God. It's so, so impactful when we

dig into this. So let's read it and then we'll

go back and we'll make our comments.

It says into the church, to the Angel of the church in Smyrna.

Write these things, says the 1st and the last who was dead and

came to life. 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. Do not fear any of those things

which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil was about to

throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you

will have tribulation 10 days. 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.

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.

Amen. So as we go back, we look at

this history and we and we see that this is a suffering church.

Now Smyrna today is a current day Izmir, which is over in

Turkey. But just to give you a little

background about Smyrna, the name Smyrna actually means myrrh

and it's main and myrrh is actually its main commodity.

Myrrh is an herb that has a bitter taste if you were to bite

into it, but it, it, it diffuses a, a, a sweet smelling aroma.

The city of Smyrna was located 35 miles north of Ephesus.

So as John was sick, excuse me, sitting in the congregation of

Ephesus and he reads his letter when he walks out of there, he

walks 35 miles north and he goes into Smyrna.

Now it's, it's one of the large, it is the largest city in Asia

Minor, major seaport and commercial center, just like

Ephesus was. It's a, it's a very strong

political center of the region. Smyrna has been invaded like

several times, it's been destroyed.

But later it was restored and brought back to life by

Alexander the Great and it became a major metropolis,

metropolis coming, you know, coming under the rule of the

Roman government. It was made of free city.

Now it was made of free city because it was loyal to the

Roman government or to the Roman Empire, and it was.

And it wasn't a political threat because they were so loyal and

there was a lot of advantages for them to come under the Roman

rule. One of the things is that with

their trade and commerce, if they did anything over the seas,

there was a time when the seas were very dangerous and trying

to ship things by sea, there would be a lot of piracy and

things of that nature. But once they came under the

Roman rule, they didn't have to worry about that.

Rome cleaned up those those seas and they get rid of the piracy

and made them safer. And the same thing with inland

travel. If they were traveling on the

inland, a lot of times people would be robbed and it wasn't

safe to travel. But after Rome became a ruler of

Smyrna, those roads became a lot more safe because of the Roman

rule that they that they had. People did not want to cross

Rome. They were, Rome was coming into

its strength as a as a nation, as an empire, and they were and

they were mighty and no one really wanted to cross them.

So Smyrna thought it was a good idea for them to connect with

Rome. So coming under that, that

umbrella, like I said, they became a free city.

And that free city basically means that they were, they had a

lot of autonomy there in Smyrna. They were able to kind of govern

themselves. They didn't have a Garrison that

was constantly patrolling the streets and watching and seeing

what they were doing. They, they kind of took care of

their own business. They made a lot of their own

laws there in Smyrna because they had that kind of autonomy.

It was also Smyrna was also a legal asylum city.

It, it was offering protection for runaway slaves and people

who were debtors and running away from, from their

responsibilities and criminals could come to the region of

Smyrna and they would be protected.

And the reason why Smyrna did this is because they wanted to

build up their population so they could have people come

there and they would build up their population.

They'd become even a larger cities.

Smyrna was a very wealthy city, but it was also a very Pagan

city, Very Pagan. And we're about to find out just

why it is that it was such a, a, a, a city that persecuted the

Jew, the, the Christian so much. And it's because of the fact

that it is a Pagan city and it was a major Center for Pagan

worship and emperor and imperial cults, which is basically an

emperor worship. So they wanted to, whatever

emperor was in was in place. They wanted the city, they

wanted the people to worship them.

That was their God. Smyrna had many gods, it had

many temples, and it had temples to all of these gods, like, and

then just to name a few, you know, Sabelli, Zeus, Athena,

Apollo, but also Aphroditus. And there was a number of

others, you know, that's just some of the gods that they

worship and some of the temples, it was lined with temples.

So Smyrna was one of the a polytheistic city, but the

people willingly, even though they weren't all, you know,

worshipping the same gods, but they all willingly participated

in the mandatory Roman emperor worship as well.

So you can go and worship any God that you say that you want

to believe in, but it was mandated that you would come and

worship the Roman emperor. Now the people Smyrna was free

to go to any those those gods. But there was one day out of the

year where every citizen in Rome had to come to the temple of

Caesar, and they had to burn a pinch of incense.

And while they burn that pinch of incense, they had to say

Caesar is Lord. And in order for them to be

justified that they did it, they actually received a certificate

before leaving certifying that they did that.

They indeed did do so. But now, now we see what the

problem is with the Christians, because there's no Christian

that's going to say Caesar is Lord.

So here comes the opposition. And because the Christians would

not agree to say that Caesar is Lord, they started to, they

started to experience a lot of opposition.

They started to experience a lot of resistance.

And eventually that went into being full out persecution,

torture, everything to try to get them to come in line because

they could not allow themselves, they, they, Rome would not allow

them to not worship Caesar. So because Smyrna was such a

prominent Sinner for these things, the people who would

acknowledge themselves as being Christians, they knew it was

becoming more and more dangerous to worship Christ there in

Smyrna. But remember Jesus who walks in

the midst of the churches and sees what the churches were

going through at this time. He sent a letter to Smyrna

because he wanted to remind them that he is the eternal God and

that He is with them. And he wanted to encourage them

to continue to be steadfast in their faith even in the midst of

all the persecution, in the midst of all of the trials that

they're going through. And they were going through very

heavy trial. What a comfort it is, What a

comfort it is to know that our Lord and Savior is always in the

midst of us and sees and knows what we're going through.

What a comfort that is. It's awesome to be able to know

that we serve a God who knows everything about everything.

And not only does He see it, but He gets in that struggle with

us. I'm reminded of the three Hebrew

boys back in Daniel. They were going through heavy

persecution. They were going through heavy

threats and eventually, because they refused to worship

Nebuchadnezzar, they were thrown in the fiery furnace.

But like I said, Jesus is he. He's a God that not only sees

what we go through, but he gets in the struggle with us.

Because when they threw the three Hebrews boys in the the

fiery furnace for not worshiping Nebuchadnezzar, the Bible says

that Nebuchadnezzar looked in the furnace and he saw not just

the three images that he put in. He said, yeah, there's Shadrach,

there's Meshach, and there's Abednego.

But wait a minute, who was this fourth image that I see in the

fire and he acknowledged that it had the form as of the son of

God. So we go to verse 8 verse 8 now

so that we go to get into this we see that there's this is what

a struggle has come in Rome wanted is one of the the

Christians to worship Caesar. The church is saying they will

not call anybody Lord except Jesus Christ and I pray that we

as the church would have that same mindset that we don't

worship anybody except Jesus Christ, Amen.

We don't call anybody Lord except Jesus Christ.

So in verse 8, he says into the Angel to the Church of Smyrna

write these things, says the first, the last, and he who was

dead and who came to life. So Jesus once again identifies

himself using a description mentioned in chapter 1.

Actually, you can. It's over in chat.

In verse 8 of chapter 1, he says he identified himself as being

the 1st and the last. That means that he's letting us

know that he is eternal. He's letting the children that

the people of Smyrna know that he is eternal.

He's the eternal God. You know, I can't wrap my mind.

I was telling Ted this morning as we were praying every now and

then when I when I tried to think about the fact that Jesus

is eternal and that he is infinite and that I am finite,

it's so hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that in his

existence there was no beginning.

He is the beginning and in his in this world, there is no end.

He is the end and He controls everything in between.

And it's so hard for me to wrap my mind around because we are

always looking at how things start and how things end.

When someone invites you to something, the first thing he

says, what time does it start? When does it start?

What time is it over? Because in our infinite minds

that's how we process things. But He's the 1st and He's the

last. There's nothing before him,

there's no existence, there's no power, there's nothing before

him and definitely nothing greater than him.

And he is the last. So he's letting them know that

this God that you're that you're sacrificing yourself for this

God that you, that you love so much that you're willing to

endure this persecution, this tribulation, know that he is

God. He is God and he's able to do

exceeding abundantly and with all that we may ask or think.

And he also says that he is he who was dead.

So this is this is Jesus now saying that I have power not

only over death, but also over my over resurrection.

I have power over death and resurrection.

So I have, you don't have to worry about death because I have

already defeated death. Martha and Mary.

He had to tell them, he said, listen, I am the resurrection

and the life. If you believe in me, though you

were dead, yet you will live. And if you live and believe in

me, you shall never die. He is the resurrection and the

life. And it was important for them to

know that because of the things that they're about to embark

upon, the things that they're about to experience.

So he says here in verse 9, he says, I know your works, I know

your works. He said, I know your works, your

tribulation and your poverty, but you were rich.

And and I just want to talk about these two things because

it's really important, tribulation and poverty.

Now, first of all, the tribulation that you know, that

we usually talk about in, in the context of the way that we

experience tribulation. I mean it, it, it deals with

hardships and distresses, persecutions even deals with

some affliction. And of course the persecution is

that we deal with that we call tribulation.

It, it's usually something that probably makes us more, makes it

more inconvenient for us or, or or or deals with us in a way

where we may have to be diseased more than anything else.

But that's not the persecution they were dealing with.

That's not the, the, the, the, the tribulation they were

dealing with. They were dealing with the

context of the Greek word philipsis, philipsis, and what

this ellipsis was. It was a persecution or a

tribulation, meaning crush or to press or pressure.

It's it's like, it's like the crushing or the pressing of

grapes to get the juice to bust forward.

So these people in their life was being pressed and crushed

every day under the weight of persecution.

And actually in those in that time, the Roman government would

use Philipsis or use this literal crushing or this

pressing was used when they had a criminal and they were trying

to get a confession out of that criminal or they were trying to

punish the criminal. They would use this crushing.

They would lay him down on his back and they would put a large

rock or stone on his chest. And, and, and the, and the more

he would try to breathe, inhale and exhale, the more difficult

it got. The he would just be pressed

under the weight of this rock and eventually he would die of

suffocation. It was a slow death.

It was an agonizing death. It was a painful death.

And this is was the, the, the experience that these, that

these Christians had. It was a it was a crushing, they

were being crushed by this persecution.

But even Jesus himself understands the, the weight

you're being crushed under the weight of, of, of, of, of, of

sin and, and to be crushed under the weight of persecution for he

was persecuted. You know, Jesus was, you know, a

man of many sorrows and he was acquainted with grief.

So he understood this, this whole thing of, of, of being

pressed and pressured. But when he was in the Garden of

Gethsemane, which was actually means pressing or oil press,

when he was there, the Bible says that he was being, he felt

such a weight of the pressing of the things that he knew he had

to go through. If you can imagine that the

things that he knew he was about to experience this, this, this

crushing that he was going to have to be dealing with of going

to the cross. Bible says that he actually

sweated and his sweat was, it was like the drops of blood to

the ground. It's the kind of pressure that

he was dealing with. What also finds out when we

talked about, we talked about Smyrna being meaning myrrh.

Myrrh has to be crushed in order to defuse the sweet smelling

scent. It had to be crushed.

So like Jesus, the life of these Christians were being crushed

under the weight of persecution and was diffusing a sweet

smelling aroma of the gospel of the true life.

If you imagine Jesus when he was being crushed, we could you know

he diffused the aroma of love, of humility.

He diffused the aroma of the gospel.

But then us when we are being crushed, now we too we diffuse a

sweet smelling aroma which lets people know and brings glory to

God our lives when we. Stand under the pressure of

persecution or any kind of trials.

It's a sweet smelling aroma to those people who are watching

what we go through. Our steadfast obedient life is a

sweet smelling fragrance and it brings glory to God, Paul said

in 2nd Corinthians 214 and 15. Paul says now thanks be to God

who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and though and and

through US diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in

every place. For we are to God the fragrance

of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who

are perishing. So we're not just talking about

pressure of losing jobs or being shunned by family or friends or

even being arrested for our faith, but we're talking about

this, this, this crushing, this heavy persecution happening to

Christians. And it's actually happening to

Christians even now in other in other places.

I was reading something recently and I wanted to share it with

you. This is according to Open Doors

of 2026. So it's a recent world watch

list. And it said that over 388

million Christians face high levels of persecution and

discrimination, with roughly 4849 killed annually.

The most dangerous countries include North Korea, Somalia,

Yemen, Sudan and Eritrea, which is in West East Africa, I

believe continent off of East Africa, Syria, Nigeria.

And these are all places where Christians face extreme

violence. That's not an exhausted list,

but it's a face where they it's a place where they, they, they

experience this extreme violence, imprisonment, forced

displacement. They experienced this

particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

So the Church of Samaran was facing these this heavy

persecution and yet Jesus himself was with them and they

were doing it for their faith in Jesus Christ.

Now we look at poverty, they use the way he said use the word

poverty, said you also going through poverty, but you were

rich. Now this isn't the poverty that

we know here in this country where you just don't have enough

resources. You know, you have money, you

have things, but you may not just have enough resources.

We have people in our country that are considered not

unemployed, but underemployed. So it's not that they're not

making anything or don't have anything, but it might just be

insufficient for what it is that they may want to do or even what

it is that they may need to do. But this isn't the kind of

poverty that we were talking about with the Christians and

Smyrna and Smyrna. They were dealing with what is

called object, abject poverty, abject poverty.

And what that simply means is that they have nothing, nothing

at all. Not just not sufficient means or

resources, they have nothing at all, nothing at all.

Because of the persecution that they were dealing with.

If they had employment, they were let go from their jobs.

If they were identified as being a Christian, if they were

self-employed, they were boycotted and no one would buy

from them. Their property was confiscated,

robbed and vandalized. If they had money on their own,

it wouldn't matter because they couldn't go and buy anything

because nobody would do business with them.

They were being crushed. The pressure was coming in from

every different way. So they were not only going

through tribulation, but they were dealing with this abject

poverty. Today there is persecution in

the in the job force. We know that we have people that

I'm sure is in the job force that was dealing with some

persecution because you won't use pronouns or because you

won't participate. And if you're working in the

medical field because you won't participate in an abortion or or

or or something of that manner or give or give some distribute

some drugs for abortion where any of those kind of things

because it goes against your belief.

You know Baker's we we heard about the Baker that's over in

Oregon. I believe it was that would not

bake a cake for an LBGTQ. It's L GB TQI get those.

I'm sorry, I get those letters mixed up wedding.

They would not bake a cake for the wedding.

So they ended a lot of heavy fines and actually almost run

them out of business. And a lot of those kind of

things are happening. I mean, you know, what about if

if people get to the point where pastors have to perform these

ceremonies or they go to jail, it might get to that point at

some point. But that's not what we're

talking about here. We're talking about people who

are destitute. These, these, these are people

who have lost everything because they follow Jesus Christ.

They follow Jesus Christ. But we also have to remember

that Jesus puts a different definition on the word rich and

poor because by the world standard they were poor, even

destitute. But Jesus said they were rich.

Jesus said they were rich. And in Revelations interest,

because in Revelations 317, I'm going to go there.

That's the that's the layer of the Church of Laodicea.

Look at what he says in verse 17.

He says, because you say I am rich, have become wealthy and

have need of nothing and do not know that you are wretched,

miserable, poor, blind and naked.

They don't know that they're poor.

They think that they have everything because of the

possessions that they have. They think they have everything

because of the money that they may have.

But Jesus says you're poor. You're poor because you don't

have the spiritual riches. You don't have the riches that

really, really matter. You see, a man's life does not

consist of the things he possess.

The the true riches are the riches that we have in glory.

We have riches in faith, we have riches in in favor with God.

We have riches in his grace. We have riches.

We have an inheritance that's waiting for us that's undefiled

and that's incorruptible. All of their riches in this

world is corruptible. It will fade, it will corrupt.

It can even be stolen or taken, but our riches cannot be stolen

nor taken. We have it that aren't rich.

They are forever. It's everlasting.

And we have it now. We have it now.

I remember a couple weeks ago, so I was working through this, I

was thinking about the songs that our praise and worship team

was singing. And a couple weeks ago they,

they, they sang the song. Give thanks with a grateful

heart. Give thanks to the Holy One

because he has given Jesus Christ his Son.

And now let the weak say I am strong, and let the poor say I

am rich. Not because of what we have, not

because of what we've done, but because of what the Lord has

done for us. Amen.

So we are rich and this is what Jesus was saying to this church.

Naturally and through the natural resources or through the

worldly eyes, you may be poor, but you are rich.

Then he goes on and he says, and I know the blasphemy of those

who say that they are Jews and are not, but our, our, our

synagogue of Satan. Wow, a synagogue of Satan, you

know, as I was thinking about that rich thing as we move into

talking about the, the, the Jews, but this thinking about

the whole thing about rich, you know, that we, we have this

prosperity gospel that is still running rampant even here today,

prosperity gospel. And, and, and when you hear

somebody say that if you're, if you have enough faith, then you

will have health and you will have wealth and you will have

Wellness if you have enough faith.

And if you don't have those things, it's because you don't

have enough faith. But yet Jesus said they are

rich. He never once said, you know,

he, he, he didn't, he didn't rebuke them because they didn't

have wealth. He didn't rebuke them because

they didn't have wealth and say you are are you don't have

enough faith. He didn't do that.

But that's what the prosperity preachers would say that he

would do because they say that you have to have riches in order

to to have faith. But no, he said you are rich.

You are rich. You're rich because you're rich

because you have the riches of glory.

So it flies in the face of that. But when you think about the

missionaries that we have that are living in remote places and

the only thing they have or the that they can depend on are the

donations that people send them. That's all they can can live on.

Or the people that they minister to who have even less than that.

But yet these people are rich in faith.

Even though they don't have a lot of things, they still rich

in faith. They have such a love for Jesus

Christ and they look forward to his return because they know

that everything that they have comes from him.

Every, every need that is met is met by him.

It's an indictment to even have a a message that talks about

someone not having faith because they don't have the money when

there's so many times when Jesus, even Jesus himself was

poor, He didn't even have a place to lay his head, but he

has riches and glory. He made himself, he came and

made himself poor that we would be rich and have the gospel to

look forward to. So he says here, he says that

the Jews, he said that they are, you know, I know the blasphemy

of those who say they are Jews and are not but a synagogue of

Satan. They say they're Jews, but

they're not. Now this is not a statement that

they're saying that all Jews are wrong or all synagogues are a

synagogue of Satan. This is not what this is saying.

This is, this is saying that, you know, these particular Jews

here in Smyrna, he was saying that they were calling

themselves Jews. And those Jews really, when you

say you're a Jew, that means that you're of the people of

God. You're calling yourself a,

you're calling yourself a, a, a, a, a child of God being a Jew,

but yet you hate Jesus, you hate his church.

So you're not really a Jew. And Jesus is saying that, you

know, we were over in Romans, Paul said that you're not Jew.

Those who are call themselves Jews outwardly.

It's a circumcision of the heart that makes 1A Jew a true Jew.

And then what Jesus is saying here is that if, listen, if you

are hating Christians, you're persecuting the Christians, then

you're calling yourself a Jew and you really are not but a

synagogue of Satan. Why?

Because if you're destroying the church, then you're doing the

work of Satan. That's why he calls them a

synagogue of Satan. It's, it's, it's, it's a, it's

amazing when you, you think about how these Jews were

treating the Christians, because now they were exempt, I should

say this, they were exempt from having to do the, the worship of

Caesar. They were exempt from that

because they they have, they're loyal, they're loyal to the

Roman government and they have this agreement that what what

they would do instead of worshipping Caesar because they

are a monotheistic religion. If they're worshipping Caesar,

but instead of worshipping Caesar, they get to just maybe

light a incense on Caesar's behalf or pray for Caesar and

they were fine with that. But the Christians were not

accepted at all by the Roman government.

And because they weren't accepted by the Roman government

because the Jews hated them. So not only were the Christians

being persecuted by the Roman government, but they're also

being persecuted by the the Jews.

And Jesus said, look, I understand, I know what you're

going through. I know that you're dealing with

these Jews who and the persecution and the blasphemy of

the persecution of these Jews who say that they're Jewish and

they're not but a synagogue of Satan.

They're doing the work of Satan, doing the work of Satan.

And then we also go over here now to the verse 10.

It says do not fear any of those things which are about what you

are about to suffer. Don't fear any of these things

that you are about to suffer. Wouldn't it be nice if at that

point that Jesus was said, don't fear any of these things because

I'm about to deliver you from that and you won't have to go

through any of that. I'm sure that's what they would

have wanted to hear. You know, don't fear these

things. You don't have to worry about it

because I'm coming and, and I'm going to take care of it all.

So don't worry about it. But that's not what he said.

Look at what he says next. He says indeed, the devil was

about to throw some of you into prison.

He went on to talk about what is actually going to happen.

He's prophesying the future. He said this is what's going to

happen in the future. The devil was going to throw

some of you into prison that you may be tested and you will have

tribulation 10 days, 10 days, but be faithful unto death.

So he goes on and he prophesized about what's coming.

He doesn't say that you're not going to have to go through

that. It would be wonderful if they

didn't have to go through it, but they will.

And Jesus is saying, because you're going to be tested,

you're going to be tested. A faith that's not tested, can

it truly be called a true faith? And, and, and, and, and, and the

hotter we are in the furnace, the furnace of life, the hotter

we are. And our and our, our faith is

being tested. That's what proves who we are.

That's what really proves where we are with our faith.

And in this country, we've been very fortunate to not have to go

through the kind of trial and tribulation and the testing that

this particular church has had to go through.

But there are still things in our life that will really test

our faith that we may have to deal with on a regular basis.

There's things that test our faith.

We, we, we can still find ourselves in the furnace of life

hardships, whether it's financial, whether it's family,

whether it's employment wise. We can find ourselves in a

furnace in a place where it's real hot and our faith is truly

being tested. Get a diagnosis, look at my bank

statement and there's some money that I thought was there and

it's not. There's some things that can put

us in the furnace. But he's saying in this be

faithful unto death. Let's talk about this ten days

because he he mentions this 10 days.

Now some people think that this 10 days is the actual 10 days.

Some people think that this 10 days was a a symbolic of the

fact that there are there were there were 10 emperors who

really delved out like really harsh punishment or persecution

over a period of the years 606364AD pretty much through one

O 5 AAD and and and you know, there was 10 emperors and it

starts with Nero and it ends with the akletion.

But now when we talk about that now that's not necessarily

etched in stone. I mean, because there's nowhere

really in the word of God that really says that this is what he

means by the 10 days. But what we can say, what the

point of this is, is that he's saying that there is a period, a

definite period where there will be heavy persecution.

There will be. And they experienced this.

They experienced it. So he says, be faithful unto

death. How do we respond in this

persecution? How do we, how do we behave

ourselves in this persecution? I think about Job when he was

going through his suffering, the Bible constantly said, but even

though he was going through these things, he behaved himself

wisely. He never cursed God.

He never gave up on God, questioned God, but never cursed

him, never gave up on him. God is not, you know, in the 1st

chapter we saw that he was looking, I'm starting the

earlier chapter early in the part of chapter 2 when he was

dealing with the, the Church of Ephesus, he wanted that church

to return to their first love. He wanted them to return to the

first love. But in this section he's saying

he's looking for them to be faithful in the midst of all the

persecution. Be faithful, understand that

it's, it's going to happen, but be faithful and be faithful unto

death. And I will give you the crown of

life. And that is the reward of those

who endure. The crown of life is the reward

for those who endure. Who go through tribute, who go

through temptations or who go through tribulations, but they

endure to the end. They remain faithful.

They don't turn back, do not as those who turn back to

perdition, but who believe into the saving of the soul.

And that's who. And that's what he is saying

here. Be faithful, Remain faithful.

Yes, you're going to have it and it's going to be tough, but I

want you to be faithful, remain faithful as you go through this.

You know, one of the things that we have to understand is that

there is going to be a time when being a Christian will cost you

something. It will cost you something.

That's why Jesus said count the cost.

You know, could you imagine being a Christian?

You can't. You can't be a wimp Christian

and living in Smyrna. You can't be a weak Christian

and live in Smyrna. But one thing that the Word of

God tells us is that at the time when we need it the most, God

will give us the strength that we need to endure.

At the time that we need it the most, the power of Christ will

rest upon us at the time that we need it to most now.

Now one of the people who were going through this persecution,

heavy persecution, and was actually martyred was Polycarp,

who was the actually the Bishop of of the Church of Smyrna at

one point. He was an older man, Polycarp

was in his 90s. He was actually a mentee of the

Apostle John. So he actually knew the Apostle

John and he had gone through heavy persecution until

eventually they decided they were just going to execute him

because he would not renounce Jesus.

So the saying goes, The saying goes that he continued to

denounce. So they had set a time when they

were going to execute him and they gave him another

opportunity to renounce Jesus. And Polycarp said he said I have

served. I've served them for 86 years

and he's never wronged me. How can I blasphemy my king who

saved me? And as they continue to threaten

him with the threat of burning them to the stake, he says,

you're coming to me and threatening me with fire that's

going to only last for about an hour.

But you're forgetting. You're forgetting the fire that

will last for eternity in hell. What a perspective.

This is going to last for a while.

Yeah, I might. I might feel a pinch.

OK, maybe a little bit more in the pinch, but after a while,

this is going to be over. I'll have eternity with my Lord.

But you on the other hand, you're going to be an eternity

in hell. You're going to feel this fire

forever and ever and ever and ever and ever, which also gives

us an opportunity for them to have an opportunity to repent.

Polycarp, what a perspective. So then in verse 11 here about

to come in here for clothes, he says he who has an ear, let him

hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death, shall

not be hurt by the second death. He says he who has an ear, he

who has that spiritual understanding, who actually has

a heart to receive what it is that the Spirit is saying to

you, you have an ear to hear it. And that's opposed to those who

don't want to hear what the word of God says, what the word of

God is sharing. You ever think about how

difficult, how, how crazy it is. And sometimes you can sit in a,

a church session and one person can be sitting right next to

somebody else in the one is hearing everything and it's

touching their hearts and they're responding to it

spiritually. But the other person just

doesn't receive it at all, doesn't hear it at all.

Their hearts are just closed to what it is that the Spirit is

trying to say. But he says here, him who has an

ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

He who overcomes, listen to this last section here.

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death, shall

not be hurt by the second death. You know, for me, this makes me

ponder about what Jesus is really saying.

That's really important. Unless Jesus raptures us before

we die, we're all going to experience death.

The first death. We're going to experience

physical death unless he, unless the church, unless he comes back

and raptures us, we're going to experience that.

But that's all we'll experience because for those of us who were

believers, for those of us who have not rejected Jesus Christ

but received him as Lord and Savior, we will not be hurt by

the second death, by the second death.

That's the judgment that will send those who have rejected

Jesus Christ and have not received him.

That's the judgment that will send them to the lake of fire.

Let's look at a couple verses that tell you that this is about

judgment in the lake of fire. Go to Revelations chapter 20 and

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

we about to come in for a close here.

Revelations chapter 20, verse 6. He says blessed and holy is He

Revelation 20:6

who has part in the first resurrection over such the

second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and

of Christ, and shall reign with him. 1000 years.

Those of us who are living when Christ comes back, we will be

raptured to go back with Him. But those of us who have died in

Christ before he comes back, we will be resurrected in that

first resurrection to go to be with them.

And the Bible says we'll all be with him in the air.

We'll all be with him in the air, but we will not have to

deal with the second death drop down in that same chapter to

verse 14. Actually verse 12 it says and I

and I saw the dead small and grave standing before God and

books were open and another book was opened, which is the book of

life and the dead were judged according to their works.

But the things which which were written in the books by the

things that are written in the books, the sea gave up the dead

who were in it and the and death in Hades delivered up the dead

who were in them and they were judged each one according to his

works. Then death in Hades were cast

into the lake of fire. This is the second death and

just one more. We're going to go over to

chapter 21 and I'll start right there, verse 7.

He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his

God, and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving,

abominable murderers, sexually immoral sorcerers, idolaters and

all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with

fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

So we as believers, we are those who have overcome.

The Bible says that in first John.

Bible says over in first John chapter 5, four and five that

1 John 5 · chapter mention

whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is

the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.

Who is he who overcomes the world?

But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

The churches in Smyrna was willing to give their very lives

for the truth. He who overcomes will not be

hurt by the second death. So Jesus is saying to us, yes,

you're going to go through some tribulations while you're here.

You say everyone who live holy will suffer persecution.

If you desire to live holy and with through many tribulations,

we're going to enter into the the Kingdom of God.

But be faithful until the end. Hold on.

Don't turn back to perdition. Don't think that what you're

leaving is better than what's ahead of you.

Hold on to what he's saying because He is the life, He is

the resurrection, and He is the life.

There is no life apart from Him. And we have eternal life in

Christ Jesus. We have it.

So yes, the second death will not, will not hurt those of us

who have overcome. So I pray today that whoever is

listening, that something resonated.

If you're someone who have not received Jesus Christ, I pray

that you will today give your heart to him, give your life to

him. Allow him to come in and help

you to live the Christian life. He's already washed you of your

sins. He's already washed.

He's already done the work. All we had to do is receive it,

accept what He has done, and we can go from the the Kingdom of

darkness to the Kingdom of light.

I pray that someone would do that today.

Praise and worship team, you can come forth.

So it was Jesus who sacrificed it all that we would have this

eternal life. He gave up his natural, his life

and humanity that we would have spiritual life.

I heard someone say not too long ago that when Jesus died on the

cross, his, his divinity, the divine Jesus did not die.

It was the human Jesus that died on that cross.

It was, it was, it was, it was, it was his humanity.

But the fact of the matter is, is that Jesus died on that cross

and it was Jesus in all fullness, in all fullness who

came out of the grave. It was Jesus.

It wasn't just like it was just some spirit that died.

It wasn't that. It wasn't just like it was just

some, some, some. He separated from earth and all

that. No, that's not what happened.

Jesus died on the cross, and because of his resurrection

power, he got up out of the grave in three days because he's

God. But he came that we might have

life and that we would have it more abundantly.

So we thank him today. Lord, I thank you for the life

that you have given us. I thank You that we will not be

touched. Those of us who believe and

trust in You, we will not be touched by the second death.

We will not be hurt by the second death.

I thank You, Father, that You give us hope and that we can

believe and that we can be faithful to You even unto death.

Death is not the worst thing to happen.

The worst thing that happens, Lord, is that we die without

Your salvation. The worst thing that happens,

that we die without being an overcomer, that's the worst

thing that can happen because we'd have to deal with the

physical and the spiritual death, the judgement of death,

that that that puts us into the lake of fire that burns forever

and ever. So I pray, Father, I pray that

someone would hear this today and that they will receive you

as Lord and Savior, trust in you for their salvation.

Believe on you, Lord, that we will count up the costs and all

those things that we lose, all the things, Lord, that we find

to be so precious in this world, that we will come to see that it

means nothing in comparison to what we have in heaven.

So on a night in which Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread.

And when he gave thanks, he after he gave thanks, he broke

in and said, this is my body which is broken for you.

Eat this in remembrance of me. In the same way He also took the

cup, and he said, This cup is a new covenant in my blood, and it

was shed for the sins of many, shed for the sins of many.

Drink this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me.

As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, we do show

the Lord's death till we come. Amen, anyone?