The First and the Last- Revelation 2:8-11

Morning, you might have been here today on the

promise of us having church outside, and this

is not outside, but that's okay. Unfortunately,

the weather did not cooperate with us, but welcome

to Cornerstone Outside, inside the building.

So we are still going to have a great time. We're

still going to be doing the exact same thing.

So if you look in your bulletin, you will find

the passage for today is Revelation 2, 8 through

11. You'll find the text there. You'll also find

the sermon outline there so you can follow along.

And we are glad you're here. If this is your

first time with us or your first time for a while,

we would love to give you a gift that we have

in the lobby. So see myself or someone with the

green lanyard after church and we will get you

that gift. For everyone in the church, just...

really two quick announcements. First, the t

-shirts are free, so make sure to get a Cornerstone

t -shirt. Don't hold back. Get as many t -shirts

as you would like. Second thing, if you signed

up to bring a snack for VBS, please have those

snack items here by next Sunday. And by next

Sunday, I mean bring them next Sunday morning.

That's going to be the best option. So please

bring them next Sunday. Another word, just to

give you some heads up, we will be up at camp

this week. And by we, I mean our entire staff

team will be at camp this week. So a couple things

with that. First, if you have a need, please

contact Mike or Dennis. There's a little bit

of self -service up at Streeter, but not enough

to reliably be able to get a hold of me. Second,

please be praying for camp. There's well over

60 kids signed up, kids who are hungry for the

gospel. If you were here a few weeks ago and

Michael Aubrey was here doing his training on

youth and child evangelism, we heard some really

stunning statistics. There's something like 75

to 80 percent of Gen Z is hungry to know more

about God. So we got a ton of kids up there who

want to know more about God. Kids who want to

come to know Jesus. So be praying for that. Be

praying that they'd have open ears. Be praying

for safety for everyone out there, that no one

would have any serious injuries or any minor

injuries. Be praying for me as I'm speaking up

there that God would give me the right words

to say. And also just for stamina. And just be

praying that God would move in those kids' lives.

So with that this morning, we're going to be

in Revelation 2, 8 through 11. So let me invite

you to stand with me as we read this letter from

Jesus to the church in Smyrna. So stand with

me if you're able as we read this together. It

says, write to the angel of the church in Smyrna.

Thus says the first and the last, the one who

is dead and came to life. I know your affliction

and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander

of those who say they are Jews and are not, but

are a synagogue of Satan. Don't be afraid of

what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil

is about to throw some of you into prison to

test you, and you will experience affliction

for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death,

and I will give you the crown of life. Let anyone

who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to

the churches. The one who conquers will never

be harmed by the second death. God, thank you

for this word. God, thank you for this letter

to the church in Smyrna that also applies to

us, Father. God, would you encourage us today,

God? Would you challenge us with your word this

morning? God, give me your words and nothing

else to speak this morning, God. Give our hearts

quiet and peace to hear what you have for us.

In your name we pray. Amen. You may be seated.

If you were with us last week, you know that

we started a new series looking at the book of

Revelation, going through the seven churches

of Revelation as we finish up this summer. And

we saw last week the first letter, the letter

to the church in Ephesus. The letter to the church

in Ephesus is built really around this central

theme. It's a church that on the outside looks

so good. They look perfect. Their programming

looks great. Everything about it looks incredible.

But when you go a little bit deeper, when you

peel back the surface, what Jesus tells them

is really stunning. He says this, I have this

against you. You've abandoned the love that you

had at first. Simply put, the church in Ephesus

had lost sight of the most important thing, their

first love, their love for Jesus, their love

for salvation, their love for the fact that they

have been saved. They've lost their love for

the gospel. And friends, we saw last week and

we were challenged last week to never lose that

love of the gospel. Because the gospel is everything

to us. The gospel does not just offer salvation,

but does offer salvation. The gospel, simply

put, changed our lives forever. And so we love

the gospel. And here at Cornerstone, we love

the gospel. We take the gospel seriously. That's

why our mission is to connect people with Jesus.

We want people to come to know the saving power

that is in Jesus. We want to see people's lives

transformed by the power of the gospel. And so

we saw this challenge to the church in Ephesus.

This challenge to wake up, to repent of their

lost love for Jesus, and then to renew their

walk with God. Wake up. And now this week we're

going to be looking at Revelation 2, 8 through

11. So last week we saw this encouragement to

make sure we don't lose our first love. The encouragement

this week is a little bit different. You can

find it in your bulletin. The encouragement is

this, that the gospel gives us hope in the hardest

times. See, whereas the church in Ephesus has

everything going for it, they've got the huge

budget, they've got the lineage of all the apostles

who work there and who serve there and who preach

there, but yet on the inside they're empty. The

church in Smyrna, in some ways, is the exact

opposite of that. It's the church that looks

like it has absolutely nothing going for it.

But yet, throughout this letter, Jesus gives

encouragement. Encouragement to this church,

because the gospel, the truth of knowing Jesus

gives us hope. It's not just a temporary fleeting

hope. It's not just hope that maybe this year

the Lions will finally win the Super Bowl for

me. It's not just hope that this year the Illini

will make the college football playoff. It's

a true, lasting hope. A hope that will never

be shaken no matter what we face. And that's

our main point for this morning, is that the

gospel gives us hope in the hardest times. So

let's look at this passage verse by verse together.

Look at verse 8 with me. It says this, Write

to the angel of the church in Smyrna, thus says

the first and the last, the one who is dead and

came to life. So let's establish a few things

here. So first, who is speaking and who is the

audience of the letter? And let's get that out

of order. Let's start with the audience. This

letter is addressed to the church in Smyrna.

Smyrna was a very wealthy city located on the

edge of Turkey. It was famous for its coins,

actually, which sounds like a very unique thing

to be famous for. But its coins had a different

inscription than most other Roman cities. See,

its coins were all inscribed like this. First

of Asia in beauty and size. What a tourism slogan,

right? first in Asia in beauty and size. Where

should you go on your next trip? The place that's

first in Asia in beauty and size. And Smyrna

viewed itself as that. It was a very proud city.

And it's proud in part because of what it was

maybe known best for, which was its worship of

the Roman emperor. They were deeply aligned with

the Roman government. They were known for their

fanatical persecution of the early church. Because

to them, their god was whoever was on the throne

in the city of Rome. Their god was politics.

Their God wasn't a God who could actually save

them. Their God was simply a ruler sitting on

a throne for a period of time. And because the

early church did not agree with that, they were

frequently killed in Smyrna, but they also were

faced with economic hardship, fines being thrown

in jail for false reasons requiring bail money

and other sorts of payments. And that is the

church that Jesus writes to. It is a church that

is suffering and hurting. Whereas the church

in Ephesus has faced persecution, has endured

it, and is on the other side of it, but has found

themselves emptied out and hollow. This church,

this is a church that is actively suffering and

hurting. And friends, we may not face persecution

to the point of death here in America. We may

not face taxes simply for being Christians. But

we do go through hard times. We do go through

times where it is easy for us to say, God, where

are you right now? Where it's easy for us to

get caught up in something and wonder if God

is still with us or if God really cares about

what's going on. And friends, if that is you

this morning, this letter is for you. Friends,

if you will ever go through a hard time, which

is everyone in this room today, then this letter,

this letter to the church in Smyrna, is a letter

for you. And the speaker of this letter... The

speaker identifies himself in the second half

of this verse. The speaker is the first and the

last, the one who is dead and the one who came

to life. To simplify this, the speaker, the author

of this letter, is Jesus. He talks about himself

in two different ways here. So first he says

he's the first and the last. It's kind of similar

to Colossians 1, 16 through 17, which says this.

For everything was created by him, being Jesus

in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

All things have been created through him and

for him. And it says this. He is before all things.

He is the first of all things. and by him all

things hold together mean that he will also be

the last because everything is held together

by Jesus. But this is not the only time that

Jesus says something like this. In fact, it's

not the only time in the book of Revelation that

Jesus addresses being the first and the last.

Revelation 22, 13 says this, I am the alpha and

the omega, the first and the last, the beginning

and the end. That is the Jesus that we serve.

Jesus who is before all things, Jesus who is

today, and Jesus who always will be preeminent

or ruling over all things. Jesus is reminding

the church in Smyrna that no matter what they

face, that Jesus is the ruler of all things.

Jesus is reminding these Christians that the

city of Smyrna might worship the Roman emperor,

but that there was a beginning and an end to

the Roman emperor's life and reign. There's a

beginning and an end even to the power of the

Roman Empire. There's a beginning and an end

to Smyrna being the first and largest city, the

most beautiful city in all of Asia. But Jesus,

Jesus is the first and the last. As Colossians

1 tells us, Jesus himself created the Roman Emperor

that the city of Smyrna worshipped. You could

say it like this, the people of Smyrna worshipped

the creation rather than the creator. They worship

the creation of our almighty God rather than

the God himself who made all things. And here's

why Jesus starts this letter this way. Jesus

is encouraging the church in Smyrna about who

he is. And secondly, that following him is worth

it no matter what they go through. Following

him is worth it. Now look at the second phrase

that Jesus says about himself in verse 8. Jesus

says that he is the one who was dead and came

to life. This is a direct reference to Jesus'

death and resurrection. And I love how 1 Corinthians

15 explains this. It says this, For I passed

on to you as most important what I also received,

that Christ died for our sins according to the

scriptures. That he was buried and that he was

raised on the third day according to the scriptures.

That's what Jesus is referencing. His death on

the cross that we see in the scriptures and also

his resurrection. That Jesus died and rose again.

That he was truly killed. That he was crucified.

And yet he still rose from the dead. Josephus

is a really famous Roman historian. And he tells

the story in his writings of finding out that

three of his good friends were being crucified.

He finds out just as, basically as soon as they're

put up on the cross. And so he goes to the Roman

emperor and gets them taken down within minutes

of this whole thing starting. And in just that

short window of time, two of the three men sustained

such significant injuries that they die within

about a day. And the third one had significant

health issues and was partially crippled for

the remainder of his life. Understand this. Crucifixion

did kill Jesus. Jesus did die. But Jesus did

not remain dead. Jesus was dead, and now Jesus

came to life. He is the first and the last, the

beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega,

the one who is dead and the one who is now alive,

and that is who is writing to the church in Smyrna.

The Savior of the world who gave his life for

us on the cross, the Savior of the world who

saved the people of Smyrna, that is who is sending

them this letter, this encouragement. And so

let me encourage us to look now at Revelation

2, 9 through 10, and see what it is that Jesus

encourages them with. He says this, I know your

affliction and poverty, but you are rich. Let

me just stop us there. By a show of hands, how

many of you, when you hear, I know you're impoverished,

I know you're poor, immediately think rich? If

you think, when you hear poverty, if you think

you're rich then, raise your hand. Okay, perfect.

We can all pass Econ 101. There's a paradox going

on here in this verse. I know your affliction

and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander

of those who say they are Jews, those who say

they follow God, but they are not. Instead, they

are a synagogue or a place of worship of Satan.

Don't be afraid of what you're about to suffer.

Look, the devil is about to throw some of you

into prison to test you, and you'll experience

affliction for 10 days. Be faithful to the point

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

Throughout that couple verses, there's a couple

different paradoxes that seem to come up. But

let's do this. Let's look at the first two words

again. Jesus starts off and says this, I know.

Church in Smyrna, I know. I know what you're

going through. And friends, this morning I want

you to hear that too, because that's not just

for the church in Smyrna, that's for you also.

Jesus knows. Jesus sees. And why does Jesus know?

Why does Jesus see their struggles? Because Jesus

is with them, just as Jesus is with us today.

Whether we were outside or inside, Jesus is with

us. And what does Jesus see here? He sees their

affliction and their poverty. And in the midst

of their physical struggles, Jesus says that

they are rich. So how can they be rich but also

afflicted? How can they be rich and promise the

crown of life but still be suffering? Well, they're

rich because they have something far more important

than physical wealth and comfort. See, to understand

what he's referencing, we do have to look down

at verse 10 and skip ahead a little bit. They

are rich despite their affliction and poverty

because of the promise made at the end of verse

10. Be faithful to the point of death and I will

give you the crown of life. They are rich because

they have eternal life. They are rich because

of the crown of life in verse 10. They are rich

because they follow Jesus. They are rich because

they have a personal relationship with the God

of the universe, with their personal creator.

Please hear me on this this morning. Earthly

wealth fades away. I don't know about you. I

don't know the last time someone told me they

were super excited for their honeymoon to Smyrna.

Smyrna lost its prominence. It's no longer the

most beautiful city in Turkey. I have some friends

who serve the Lord over there, and I've never

heard them talk about how, geez, they just cannot

wait for their nice, rustic retreat to Smyrna.

It loses its prominence. Their wealth fades away,

and friends, our own wealth fades away. When

we become so fixated on making sure that we are

the wealthiest or that we have the most, then

we'll always find somebody who has a little more

than we do, someone that's a little better at

that skill than we are, someone who's just that

little bit cooler, that little bit more popular.

And friends, we can think about it like this.

If you put all of your hope in the stock market,

then one bad investment or one stock market crash

like 2008, and you lose all of your wealth. You

lose everything you put your treasure in. But

the wealth that Jesus talks about, the wealth

that knowing Jesus brings, it never goes away.

It never fades. It is completely unchanging.

It is a steady rock. There will never be a short

in that market. That market stays the same day

after day after day. Because if you place your

faith in Jesus, then you are saved and nothing

can ever separate you from God. Hear these words

from Romans chapter 8. For I am persuaded that

Romans 8 · chapter mention

neither death nor life nor angels, nor rulers,

nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

nor height, nor depth, nor any other created

thing will be able to separate us from the love

of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing

can separate you from the love of God. For the

believers in Smyrna, no matter their wealth or

their poverty, their peaceful living or their

affliction, nothing can separate them from the

love of God. Where do they find that love of

God? In Christ Jesus, our Lord. Remember that

today. Friends, if we put all of our treasure

in the right place, then it will never be taken

away from us. When we were coming back from our

vacation to Colorado, I was understandably bored

on one of our couple flights, and I ended up

watching The Big Short, which is a pretty funny

movie about the 2008 stock market crisis, and

having lived through it, it wasn't quite as funny

going. through it. I remember all the stress

and my parents not enjoying that time a whole

lot. But friends, no matter what happens in the

stock market, no matter what happens in the housing

market, no matter what happens in Washington,

D .C., ever understand this, nothing can ever

separate you from the love of God that we find

in Christ. And in that we are always rich. And

that we are the richest of all people. And that

we can take all the wealth of the world and it

doesn't begin to hold a candle to what we have

in Christ Jesus our Lord. But that's not all

that Jesus addresses. We next see that Jesus

addresses that the believers in Smyrna are being

slandered. People are lying about them. That's

hard. It's not fun to be lied about. It's not

fun to be talked poorly about when it's not earned.

The believers are suffering financially, physically,

emotionally they're hurting. And that's hard.

That's really, really hard. Any one of those

things is a lot to go through. And they're going

through all of it at the same time. But once

again, Jesus gives them comfort. And where do

we find that comfort at? Once again, we find

that down there in verse 10. Be faithful to the

point of death. And what? And I will give you

the crown of life. Again, Jesus gives them comfort

by reminding them of what their hope is in, that

their hope is not in being the most popular person,

that their hope is not in having the most influence

in the world, or of everyone thinking that they're

perfect, but rather that their hope is in Jesus.

But before we actually get to verse 10, you're

going to see there's one more phrase in verse

9, one more warning that Jesus gives. Jesus says

that some of these believers will be thrown into

prison. They will suffer persecution. And it's

in reference to the persecution that the church

in Smyrna faces underneath the emperor Diocletian.

But notice something. Jesus doesn't just say,

listen, you're going to face suffering, you're

going to face persecution. Some of you are going

to be thrown in jail, tortured to the point of

death. That's going to be hard. Jesus gives them

that climactic statement in verse 10. Be faithful

to the point of what? The point of death. Be

faithful to give up anything and everything.

Give your entire life to the Lord. And what?

And I will give you the crown of life. Friends,

the point of this letter is not to emphasize

the pain and the suffering that these believers

will face. It's a real part of this letter, but

that's not the purpose. Instead, it is to remind

the church in Smyrna, this small, suffering,

impoverished church, that something better is

waiting for them, that they can cling to the

promise of the crown of life. The crown of eternal

life. The single most important thing they could

ever have. And they can cling to that. They can

cling to the importance of that. They can cling

to the promise of eternity spent in heaven with

their creator, with their maker, the God that

they worship. The God that we are here worshiping

today. Because understand this, the crown of

life is the most important thing. And Jesus calls

on them saying, be faithful. Stand strong. Stay

grounded in your faith. Don't abandon it. Instead,

he's saying in the middle of this really hard

time, he's never denying this. He's never saying,

well, actually church in Smyrna, it's not that

bad. No, he's not doing that. He says, what first?

I know. I know your affliction and poverty. I

know the slander you face. I know that some of

you are about to be persecuted and thrown in

jail. But in the middle of that, he gives them

a solution. He gives them something to do, something

that they can control. He challenges them to

fix their eyes on Jesus and on the hope that

Jesus gives. That is the central idea of the

letter to the church in Smyrna. This letter is

written to direct us to the hope that we see

in verse 10. And verse 11 even shows us that

also. Verse 11 says this. Let anyone who has

ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to

the churches. The one who conquers will never

be harmed by the second death. Jesus gives an

instruction. Let anyone who has ears to hear

listen to what the Spirit, that is the Holy Spirit,

says to the churches. Anyone who has ears should

hear this. And this is both. metaphorical. If

you have ears to hear from God, this is also

physical. If you physically have ears, then hear

the word of the Lord. Hear what Jesus says in

this passage. Hear the emphasis of good news,

of true hope, of the message of salvation. Hear

the truth in this passage that can change your

life forever. Hear the truth that you can have

a personal relationship with your Savior. Hear

the truth that your Savior has promised you the

crown of life. But that's not all. Jesus gives

us one more encouragement to us as we hear this

letter. So we hear this last encouragement. The

one who conquers will never be harmed by the

second death. Listen, there is a reason that

Jesus uses the word conquer or nika here. That

Jesus uses the word win here. There's two reasons

actually. So you can read this as a double promise

here. First, it is a statement of fact that Jesus

has conquered, that Jesus already has conquered

death, that Jesus will never experience second

death like he did the first time, that Jesus

was dead in the tomb, but like we read in verse

8, that Jesus rose again, that he came back to

life. And so first we read this, that Jesus conquered,

and that Jesus will never be harmed by the second

death. But at the same time, there's also a promise

for us. It's a reminder of this crown of life.

It's a reminder of this gift of eternal life.

Those who persevere, those who endure being another

translation of the word Nika there, those who

follow Jesus in the midst of all of this persecution,

of all of the things that the world will throw

at us, those who persevere and endure through

it, that they will never be harmed by the second

death, or in other words, they will grasp that

crown, that crown of life, and they will live

with their Savior for eternity. And friends,

that brings us straight to our first point of

application. The gospel gives us the crown of

life. The world we live in is a broken and fallen

place. There's pain in the world. I'm not going

to make us do it, but if I was to ask everyone

to share something they've gone through in life

that is painful, I know we would not have a shortage

of things that we could share. Whether it's loss

of a loved one, Whether it's just pain in a relationship

with a loved one. Maybe it's family turmoil and

challenge. Maybe it's that you lost your job

that you love that you've worked so hard to get.

We have all experienced brokenness in some way,

shape, or form. And there's a reason that brokenness

exists. See, all the way back in the very beginning

of the Bible in Genesis, the very first book,

we see sin enter the world. See, Adam and Eve

decided they know better than God. And so they

go ahead and they choose to disobey God willingly

and also, let's be clear, in full knowledge of

what they're doing. I think we skip that part

sometimes with Adam and Eve. God has told them

not to do this and they say, we're going to do

it anyway. Our plan is better. And in that moment,

sin enters into the world. And with sin comes

a world of brokenness, a world of pain, a world

where things don't go perfectly in the way that

we want them to go. And we need something to

save us from sin. We need something to fix this

brokenness. And here's where the best news of

all comes in. Because God doesn't just leave

us stuck in brokenness and stuck in pain. Instead,

just like we've just been reading in Revelation

Revelation 2:8–11

chapter 2, verses 8 through 11, Jesus sends the

first and the last, the one who is dead and came

to life. And Jesus came to earth and he lived

a perfect life, a life completely without sin.

And he died on the cross to pay the price for

us. And notice that word, he died. He perished.

He paid the price to redeem us from sin. But

he did not stay dead. He rose to life. And so,

friends, it is with that great message that we

have an opportunity to respond to the gospel.

We have a great chance to find the gift that

the gospel gives us, the crown of life that the

gospel promises us, by doing two really simple

things. By going to God and repenting of our

sin. repenting of our wrongdoing, of all of the

wrong we've done, and by believing, by placing

our faith completely in Jesus. And it's in that

that we are saved. And then there's something

that comes after that, and that's our next point

of application, that the gospel gives us true

hope. Because salvation is not just a one -time

get -out -of -jail -free card when we get to

heaven and when we die. Salvation changes the

way that we live on a daily basis. Because no

matter what we face on a daily basis, whether

it's hardship in our own lives or if we're in

a situation like the church in Smyrna, where

we are afflicted and impoverished and being slandered,

salvation, the gospel, the truth of knowing Jesus

gives us hope because we know that something

far greater is promised. So if you have placed

your faith in Jesus before, then you have this

great hope. I want to give you three ways this

morning that this hope shapes our lives. First,

the hope of the gospel gives us courage to face

the hardest times. Hear that. God gives you courage

to face the hardest times. There's a reason that

Jesus sends this letter to the church in Smyrna.

Jesus sends it to give them hope, to give them

courage to face what they're about to face. Sometimes

life is really, really hard. Sometimes life is

not going the way that we want it to. But consider

what Jesus reminded the church in Smyrna of.

They weren't called to focus on their current

issues. They were challenged to focus on Jesus.

They were challenged to focus on their walk with

God. Here's the second thing we get. The hope

of the gospel gives us comfort in the hardest

times. The hope of the gospel gives us comfort

in the hardest times. When you are hurting the

most like the church in Smyrna is, Jesus is right

there with you. Please hear that. Please hear

that. In a day and an age where anxiety, depression,

suicidal ideation are all -time highs, in a day

and an age where hopelessness is off the charts,

please hear this. The hope of the gospel or knowing

Jesus gives us comfort in the hardest times because

we know that Jesus is with us. So that obstacle

that feels impossible, Jesus is with you in that.

That is not a prosperity gospel point. That is

a biblical gospel point. That Jesus is with you

always. That's a Romans 8 point. That's not some

name it, claim it fantasy. That's the truth of

Jesus, that he is with you always, no matter

what it is that you face. We just have to lean

into him. And here's the third thing the gospel

gives us. The hope of the gospel gives us direction

in the hardest times. The hope of the gospel

or knowing Jesus gives us direction in hard,

hardest times. What do I mean by that? The gospel

tells us what to do. The gospel tells us where

to go in the face of these hard times. I think

each of these is summarized really well in Matthew

6, 33. Something that Jesus taught us to do.

You can think of it in some ways as a parallel

to this passage in Revelation 2. Something I

hope came to the mind of the believers in Smyrna.

Jesus says this to a crowd as he's preaching

the Sermon on the Mount. He says this, but seek

first the kingdom of God and his righteousness

and all these things will be provided for you.

So after we come to know Jesus, after our faith

is in Jesus, what should we do? We should seek

first the kingdom of God. We should seek the

courage that the gospel gives us. We should seek

the comfort that the gospel gives us. We should

seek the direction that the gospel gives us.

Because the first thing that we are called to

seek at all times as believers is the kingdom

of God. That no matter what situation we face,

no matter what situation we are in, we seek first

the kingdom of God. And so let me give us three

things that we can do as we wrap up today. If

you want to seek God, if you want to seek the

kingdom of God, here are three ways that you

can do that. First, know Jesus. Hear the gospel

that we just shared, the good news that we just

shared, that Jesus came to earth to save you

and put your faith in Jesus today. Secondly,

walk with God. Our priorities, our actions, our

daily lives should reflect our relationship with

God. And here's a great way to do that. Prayer

is a great way to do that because prayer is literally

talking to God. And I love that. I love how simple

that is. We can overcomplicate prayer and turn

to all sorts of other things. Prayer is talking

to God. So let me encourage you. Walk with God

and talk with God. Hope and I love going out

on walks in the evening. It's super fun. I love

it. I look forward to it. I'm not going to lie.

And one of my favorite parts about it is talking

with my wife. Imagine, though, if we just stopped

talking for a week, how weird that would be.

It's not much of a relationship, but yet we do

the same thing with God where we say, well, I

went to church and I tried really hard to obey

God and I tried to do this really well. I guess

I never really did talk with God. Let me challenge

you. Seek the kingdom of God by walking with

God and do that by talking to God. And thirdly,

here's our final point today. Seek the kingdom

of God by growing in your walk with God. by being

in good fellowship, by being in the Word of God

like we've been this morning, by being in the

Word of God throughout the week, and by going.

By going and taking this message to your friends,

to your family members, to your co -workers,

to the people around you. Take this message of

hope to anybody and to everybody that you meet.

So let me challenge you today. This letter to

the church in Smyrna should encourage you to

do something really simple. Seek first the kingdom.

of god today let's seek the kingdom of god together

let me pray for us father god thank you so much

for who you are god and thank you so much for

this letter to the church in smyrna god i just

am blown away genuinely blown away god by just

how amazing you are god and jesus i'm just humbled

thinking about how you saw this church this church

that to us probably would have been so insignificant,

but that you saw this church and that you knew

what was going on because you loved this church.

And God, I thank you for the fact that you see

us and that you know us. Lord, I just ask that

this morning that you would stir up in our hearts

the hope that we should have because of the truth

of what it means to be saved by you. God, I just

ask that this morning you would stir up in our

hearts A burning desire to seek first your...