A Troubled Church Need Not Fear Suffering (Revelation 2:8-11)

Hi, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning into Newsong Churches Podcast.

We're a biblically faithful, gospel-centered Anglican church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors.

You can learn more about us at Newsongportperry.ca.

May God bless you today through his life-giving word.

Reading from Revelation chapter 2, verses 8 to 11.

Revelation 2:8–11

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.

The word of the Lord.

Dear friends, be faithful unto death, and the Lord Jesus promises, I will give you the crown of life.

Let's pray.

That you desire to make yourself known to us, and you have seen fit to address these letters to your church.

And so we pray by your Holy Spirit our hearts and our minds would be open and receptive to what it is you have to say to us.

That it would be for us your true and life-giving word and well up within us into a spring of eternal life.

This we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Well, if we've ever wondered what Jesus has to say to his church, I think a very fine way of answering that question is found in the early chapters of Revelation.

And that's what we've been studying the last number of weeks together.

We've been studying both John's vision, this heavenly vision, a vision that confirms for us Jesus' victory over sin and death, that the outcome of history will be to God's glory.

And we also see letters that Jesus addresses to seven churches in particular throughout this Roman province of Asia.

These seven churches we discussed stand in for the church everywhere and for all time.

Jesus wants it to be known that he knows his church, that he knows the afflictions that face his church, and he wants to call his church to faithful perseverance.

Friends, Jesus knows our church.

He knows Nusong.

He is present among us, just like he stands, as it were, amongst these seven golden lampstands.

Jesus stands in our midst where two or three are gathered.

And he has a word for us here at Nusong.

We want to hear him speak to us even as we read this letter that's addressed to a church in Smyrna.

Smyrna is a troubled church.

It's facing a lot and it feels overwhelmed and inadequate to the task ahead of it.

Here's what Jesus has to say to a troubled church like Smyrna.

A troubled church need not fear suffering.

A troubled church need not fear suffering because it has a resurrection hope.

That's what it means to be a gospel church, isn't it?

That our heart beats with the hope of the resurrection.

No matter how overwhelming our troubles may seem, if we have this resurrection hope, there is nothing we need to fear, no matter how troubled we may be.

A troubled church need not fear suffering, it has a resurrection hope.

So here's what I'd like us to do this morning as we read through, as we study this letter addressed to the church in Smyrna.

I'd like us to ask three questions to interrogate this main idea.

And the questions are this number one, what trouble can the church expect?

Number two, what's a troubled church to do?

And number three, what keeps a troubled church going?

At the heart of this letter, this very short letter, is our security as Christians.

Where we go to feel secure, where we go to find assurance.

One commentator puts it this way: Jesus is telling his disciples in Smyrna, and you and me, that our lives are boundried not by the decisions and actions of Caesar, not by the rise and fall of Rome.

Our lives are boundried by him, the first and the last.

I hope this morning, friends, as we study this letter, we see Jesus who is exalted and glorified, who all of history anticipates and is headed towards, and we find good reason to not fear suffering, even in troubled times.

So open up the scriptures, if you will, open up your order of service to Revelation chapter 2, or open up the Bibles in front of you to page 965.

Revelation 2 · chapter mention

Let's understand what it means that a troubled church need not fear suffering.

First question: What can a troubled church expect?

Verse 9, Jesus says this I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich.

And the slander, you might say the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Okay, so in this one verse, Jesus lists three troubles that he knows the Smyrnan Christians are facing.

Trouble number one, tribulation.

Other translations, if you have another translation open in front of you, might say affliction or suffering.

One commentator notes that this word's essential meaning is crushing pressure.

Darrell Johnson writes, it would evoke, this word would evoke in the minds of first-century people the picture of a person tortured to death by being slowly crushed by a great boulder laid upon him.

So vivid Jesus knows the trouble of his church.

So the Smyrnan Christians know what it's like to live their faith under pressure.

Pressure to capitulate and acknowledge Caesar as the supreme Lord and not Jesus.

Pressure to conform to society's expectations of them.

Pressure to keep the gospel to themselves.

This word tribulation keeps coming up throughout the book of Revelation, which should suggest to us that the church of every age, including our own, shouldn't be surprised when we experience crushing pressure.

In fact, I wonder if we should be surprised if we don't experience pressure.

Trouble number one, tribulation.

Trouble number two, poverty.

Smyrna itself was an extremely wealthy city.

A favorite slogan was inscribed on the city's coins: the first city of Asia in size and beauty.

Smyrna was humble like that, you know.

Its streets were paved, its temples were kept in good shape, Smyrna had a booming economy and lots of opportunity.

So why then were the Christians so poor?

It's because the Smyrna Christians kept the faith under pressure.

They refused to cave in to the social or political pressure to capitulate and conform.

So Christian business owners suffered boycotts and they lost their income.

Christians were denied employment, shops were confiscated, homes were ransacked.

Smyrnan Christians knew the cost of discipleship in real dollars, but they were willing to pay it because they knew following Jesus was worth it.

Trouble number three, slander.

The ESV footnote suggests the word blasphemy as a substitute for slander, which might raise this question: was it the Smyrna Christians themselves who are being badmouthed by their neighbors, or was it Christ who they were worshipping who was being badmouthed?

And the answer is probably yes, since there's plenty of slander to go around.

The slanderers were certain members of Smyrna's Jewish community, not the whole Jewish community, mind you, but these members of this community believed that their covenant status before God rested chiefly on their descent from Abraham.

By contrast, the early Christians, many of whom were themselves Jewish, believed God's covenant promises had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

And so membership amongst God's people was no longer determined by genealogy, but by faith.

Faith in Christ.

And that's why Paul can write in Romans chapter 2: no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, but a Jew is one inwardly by the Spirit.

Against that backdrop, Jesus says these opponents are not truly living as God's covenant people.

By rejecting Israel's Messiah and by persecuting his church, they have demonstrated their true spiritual allegiance.

So Smyrnan Christians knew what it was like to be rejected and misrepresented by hostile members of their wider community.

Jesus knows his church's trouble.

But here's the thing worth noting: the trouble that the church faces does not necessarily indicate failure or unfaithfulness.

Here's what's really interesting about the letter to the Smyrnans.

There's two letters of seven letters in Revelation where Jesus does not give a single criticism of the church.

He's got nothing but affirmation to say to his church.

Last week, when we looked at the letter to Ephesus, Jesus says, I have this for you, but I have this against you that you've lost your first love.

Jesus has no such thing to say to Smyrna.

If there was an issue Jesus had with this congregation, he would make it known.

But no, this is a church that is faithful in what it's doing, but nevertheless experiencing suffering.

I think as Christians, this should suggest to us that not all suffering is a result of unfaithfulness or failure.

There is a sort of suffering that results from faithfulness.

We've been studying Athanasius's On the Incarnation on Wednesday nights, and one of the interesting facts about his life that keeps coming up is how this bishop of forty-some years spent 17 years of his episcopacy in exile.

Not because he was being unfaithful to the gospel, but because he was being faithful to it.

There is a sort of suffering that results from being a faithful Christian and being opposed by those who reject the gospel.

So even in the midst of suffering, even acknowledging that Jesus knows the church's trouble, and this trouble might not necessarily be a result of unfaithfulness, we, church, are challenged to check our mindset.

Challenged to check our framework.

How is it that we experience or make sense of this sort of suffering?

Did you notice Jesus' interesting off-handed, almost like an off-handed comment?

I know your poverty, Jesus says, parentheses, but you are rich.

Well, which is it, Jesus?

Are we poor or are we rich?

And the answer is yes.

You're rich in the way that matters.

You're rich in the gospel.

See, apart from Christ, the church may suffer despair of its lack.

When we look at the church and its meager resources, when we despair of what we don't have, we are looking at our situation apart from Christ.

But when we look through the lens of the gospel, when we look through the lens of Christ, we recognize that we are truly rich indeed.

You know, just this morning, Cy and I were putting out the uh sign, uh, the welcome sign out near the street corner, and as we're putting it out, there was a fellow coming up the bicycle path, and he, you know, I didn't quite hear his question, but it was something like, if I came to church, how long would it take for God to make me rich?

Something like that.

Which is a fair question, sort of.

This was the verse that came to my mind.

There is rich, and then there's rich.

We want to be the latter, don't we?

We want to be rich in Christ.

James chapter 2, has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom?

James 2 · chapter mention

So, church, before we are tempted to despair of all the things we lack, let's remember our great gain, and that is Christ.

We lack nothing if we are with him.

And Christian, that is true for you as well.

Jesus knows the trouble of his church.

He knows the tribulation and the poverty and the slander that they face.

Here's where I'd love the letter to say.

Here's what I'd love for it to say next.

I know all of this, and don't worry, I'm gonna change that for you.

I'm gonna correct that immediately.

That's not what Jesus says, is it?

Jesus has something far more precious, far more valuable for us Christians, than that.

So Jesus knows the trouble that the church faces.

What's a troubled church to do?

Verse 10.

Do not fear what you are about to suffer.

Don't be afraid.

Don't fear suffering.

So notice Jesus doesn't say if you suffer, as though it's a theoretical possibility.

Jesus is preparing his church to face impending suffering head on.

And to do so with courage and resilience and trust.

Again, it's worth noting that the church's suffering does not necessarily suggest that the church has somehow failed its calling.

It's true that we as Christians or as a church can lapse into disobedience and sin.

No church, no Christian, is immune from that.

And when that happens, suffering follows as a natural spiritual consequence, since sin means that we've turned away from God, who is the source of our life and blessing.

But that doesn't mean that all suffering is a result of disobedience and sin.

There is a kind of suffering that only a faithful church can know.

The suffering of discipleship, of following Jesus, of staying faithful under pressure.

Don't be afraid to suffer, Jesus says to his church.

So what might this troubled church suffer?

Well, Jesus wants to make it known: 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.

So at least two sorts of suffering that we can identify here, right?

Two sorts of suffering that Jesus doesn't want his church to be afraid of.

Suffering number one, don't fear socio-political pressure.

There was a well-known saying in Smyrna that went like this: Rome first in all things.

It was clear where this city's political and social allegiance lay.

For the Christian, however, neither Rome nor Caesar can truly be first in all things, because Christ, not Caesar, reigns on the true throne.

So while their religious opponents celebrate from the sidelines, some of the Smyrnan Christians are about to be thrown into prison by the Roman authorities as criminals, guilty of sedition or treason, or whatever slanderous charge is leveled against them.

But even while these Christians face Rome's socio-political pressure to conform, Jesus wants them to be mindful of what's really powering this imperial machine.

Number two, don't fear spiritual warfare.

Christians will be jailed and persecuted, but notice who Jesus says is the ultimate culprit.

The devil is about to throw you into prison.

So that's not to say that Rome or its forces doesn't bear some kind of responsibility, right?

Rome doesn't get to go, well, the devil made me do it.

But this does recognize that beneath the forces and movements of history, there is a cosmic battle taking place between the kingdom of heaven and all who are loyal to its king and the rebellious creatures who oppose it.

And remember, revelation is all about uncovering, unveiling what's really going on in history.

So underneath all this political persecution, there is a real spiritual battle taking place.

Paul expresses it like this in Ephesians 6 Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

So, whether it's sociopolitical or spiritual, a troubled church, Jesus wants to say, need not fear suffering.

Why?

Because that sounds like something to fear, right?

Well, as we progress through Revelation, if we were to get to Revelation 12 and 14, we would see this cosmic battle portrayed as a battle between a great dragon and the lamb who sits on the throne.

And friends, it is no secret who comes out the victor of this great struggle for all of history.

The Lamb conquers, not the dragon.

And so, following the Lamb who is Christ, we will be more than conquerors in him.

We need not fear suffering, because Christ has won.

And if that's true, if Christ has secured the victory, even when we suffer the skirmishes of the devil as the battle line retreats, we must bear a few things in mind.

Jesus wants to remind us of them.

When we suffer, we Christians, we the church, must bear in mind that our suffering has a purpose.

Did you notice that key word tested?

So that you may be tested?

That's a purpose statement.

What's the point of the suffering that the Smyrnan Christians are about to face?

It's to be tested.

Now, this word could mean prove, as in tested on a pass-fail kind of basis.

But this word can also mean to improve, as though tested by fire, right?

Refined, made more glorious, resplendent.

See, Jesus is saying that even though the devil may throw its absolute worst at the church, God can turn his absolute worst into his own absolute best.

He can shine more glorious in us and through us, even as suffering improves, strengthens, edifies, equips our faith.

Another commentator writes, the evil one has a purpose, but so does Jesus.

He allows the pressure to come to test us.

Jesus' enemy was doing his best to tempt his disciples to lose their faith, but Jesus takes that temptation and uses it to prove and improve their faith.

Suffering has a purpose.

It tests us, it can strengthen us as we cling to Jesus who strengthens us.

But suffering also has uh, there's a second thing we ought to bear in mind as we suffer, and that's this.

Suffering is finite.

It does not last forever.

Not for the Christian.

For ten days, Jesus says, you'll face this sort of suffering.

Ten days is a limited time when you think about it.

I mean, it feels like a lot.

When you are in the heat of suffering, this feels like it will last forever, doesn't it?

Doesn't matter what the suffering is.

For ten days you will suffer this sort of persecution.

Now, I don't know if that's meant to be taken as a literal ten days Smyrnan Christians will face this sort of persecution.

I think when we encounter numbers in the book of Revelation, generally there's a symbolic value to it as well.

And we see the number ten repeated a number of times.

We see it in a beast with ten horns communicating it's a very powerful beast.

This will be a very powerful, even overpowering kind of suffering that you will face.

But notice you'll face it for ten days.

Not ten weeks, not ten months, not ten years.

Certainly not a multiple of ten, which is one thousand years.

But one thousand years is used to symbolically express the length of Christ's reign from heaven.

So think of ten days of suffering compared to the 1,000-year reign of Christ.

What is our suffering but utterly finite?

It is here today and gone tomorrow, and it will one day give way to a greater glory which will last.

Smyrn and Christians can agree with Paul, who writes that this light, temporary nature of our suffering is producing for us an everlasting weight of glory far beyond any comparison.

Our suffering has a purpose and it is finite.

We therefore need not fear it.

Jesus knows the trouble his churches face.

He knows the suffering that we face and tells us we need not fear it.

But in the midst of our suffering, friends, we can lose heart, can't we?

We can despair.

We can feel hopeless.

So then the third question becomes this what keeps a troubled church going?

We want to be faithful.

We want not to fear suffering, but what keeps us going?

Jesus gives us some important promises here.

Verse, half of uh second half of verse 10 into verse 11.

Jesus says, 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.

So Jesus gives this church two promises.

Did you catch them?

They're really like two sides of one promise, aren't they?

They speak directly into the present trouble that this church is facing and call them to keep going.

Promise number one is this the crown of life.

The crown of life.

Lately it seems like everywhere I go, including McDonald's this morning, I see the same image.

You've probably seen it too.

A gleaming gold globe lifted high above the heads of two triumphant figures.

Everywhere I go and everywhere you go, we're reminded the FIFA World Cup is on.

And that trophy represents the highest glory an athlete or a nation can attain, at least in this competition.

Smyrna also hosted prestigious athletic games.

Victors in the foot race, which was kind of the big event, didn't receive a trophy, but they received a Stefanos, a laurel wreath symbolizing victory and the vitality and glory, divine glory, of the victor.

But here's what both of these prizes have in common: their glory fades.

A laurel wreath withers within days, sure, but a World Cup champion is eventually replaced.

Earthly glory never lasts.

I was reminded recently of a great quote of Jim Carrey.

Jim Carrey, who's reflecting on the absolute height pinnacle of his success, a movie star who's achieved just about everything actors could want to achieve.

He's reflecting on this and he says this.

I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so that they can see that it's not the answer.

We should pray for him on his journey.

See, Paul makes this point to the Corinthians.

Runners compete to receive a perishable wreath, but we Christians, an imperishable.

That imperishable wreath is the crown of life that Jesus promises, which to us is eternal life and glory that we share with our Savior.

It is the inheritance that Peter describes as imperishable, undefiled, unfading, and kept in heaven for you.

For you that is waiting, waiting to be placed on your head.

So Jesus tells his suffering church, whatever you lose in this life, even your life itself, you will receive a far greater and everlasting crown.

Which brings us to the second side of this promise.

The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

So as we saw in the previous letter to Ephesus, conquering is not a worldly success or triumph, but a faithful perseverance in a world which is often hostile to the gospel of Jesus.

But what is this second death?

Well, towards the end of this letter, in Revelation chapter 20, John answers this question.

Revelation 20 · chapter mention

At the end of history, Christ defeats Satan.

The lamb conquers the dragon, along with evil and death itself.

And so John sees this in a vision.

Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.

This, he says, is the second death.

So what's the second death?

It's eternal separation from God under his righteous judgment.

It's been said that those who are born once die twice, and those who are born twice die once.

Through baptism and in faith, with pardon me, through baptism and faith in Christ, we are born again.

Our names are written in the book of life, and Jesus' promise becomes ours, yours, and mine.

Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

See if you are a Christian today, there will likely come a day where your heart stops beating.

But physical death is only a lesser death.

The greater death, separation from the God of life, has lost its power over you.

Those who belong to Christ will be raised as he was, to an everlasting life in an uncorruptible body just like his.

This is our resurrection hope.

And it keeps us going through even the most difficult suffering, doesn't it?

So here is Jesus' promise to his troubled church.

You conquer not by avoiding suffering, but by holding fast to me.

Hold fast to me, and the second death will never touch you.

See, when all else fails, God's resurrection hope keeps a troubled church going, doesn't it?

The science fiction author, Isaac Asimov, has a great quote that I love.

He says, in life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.

How much more so for the Christian who knows that death is not the end, but it has been conquered by our living and reigning Savior.

So, friends, what can we do but stay faithful to Jesus no matter what?

He has conquered death.

He has conquered the greatest enemy, the greatest threat, the greatest suffering we could ever face, and he has triumphed.

He is asking us to face nothing that he himself has not faced for us.

Suffering and cross.

And his resurrection becomes the guarantee of our own.

Jesus alone has conquered death.

And in him the greatest threat is no threat at all.

I think that's why Jesus introduces himself as the first and the last who died and came to life.

Because, friends, we need our hope up front, don't we?

We need always to bear in mind that Jesus is the living Lord and He is the guarantee of our eternal life.

So, Nu Song, do we feel troubled?

We can, can't we?

I mean, maybe we look at the Smyrnens and we feel a little humbled to think that we are troubled, but we face pressures of our own.

We face afflictions.

We are sometimes plagued by a sense of lack.

We are sometimes overwhelmed, and we wonder, do we have what it takes?

Jesus would say to us, and he would say to you today, a troubled church need not fear suffering, because you, church, have a resurrection hope.

Where is our security found?

Only in the one who died and rose again.

Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Amen.

We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today.

If you live in the area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m.

If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you.

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Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.