“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 Seven Churches – Victory In the Face of Suffering

Last week, as we continued on in looking at the book of Revelation, we studied the church at Ephesus – a church that had quite a lot going for them in that they were withstanding false teaching to great success. However, despite being delivered from this stumbling block that we see cause so many believers to falter, had abandoned its first love and was at risk of losing its status as a church altogether. Now, as we transition to the second of the seven churches, we look upon a group of people who are persevering in the face of brutal persecution, yet remain faithful. Of the seven, only Smyrna who we see today, and Philadelphia who we’ll come to later receive no condemnation, only praise and encouragement from Jesus. As we now delve into the Savior’s words to this financially poor and savagely persecuted church, we gain a deeper understanding of Christian suffering, and the hope and endurance we know in Christ.

1. Seen in Suffering

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.”

Jesus begins His address to each church by referencing back to either a feature listed about Him by John, or by Himself in chapter one. In speaking to Smyrna, we see this, “the first and the last, who died and came to life.” What this paints a picture of is Jesus in His divine completion, as Father and Son, fully God and fully Man. Genesis 1:1 begins all of Scripture stating,

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

In Isaiah 44:6 we see,

“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”

At the beginning of John’s gospel in John 1:1, John identifies Jesus, the Son, the Word who is God in a like manner to Genesis saying,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

This all shows us God as the One, singular, never ending Master of creation and of existence itself, and tying back into Jesus’ words to Smyrna, it serves to remind them of the power and gravity of the One who is speaking. All four gospel accounts record the total bodily death by crucifixion of the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and all four attest to His resurrection. In addressing Himself this way, Jesus is directly combating the heresies that John fought, especially in the letter of 1 John. Jesus is both the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit – He is physical, and spiritual, and eternal. There is no separation between these points, but complete unity. This should serve as a comfort to those suffering in Smyrna (and to us all), and be a direct consolation for the persecution they face at the hands of the Jews.

““I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)”
This models the same perspective given in James 2:5, which says,

“Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?”

“and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

I’ve heard some make reference to a large pagan temple in Smyrna as being the referenced “synagogue of Satan,” and while pagan culture and religious practice was heavily active in the society where the early church took root, I don’t think this quite fits. For one, we see that those who belong to this synagogue call themselves Jews, and it doesn’t make sense for someone actively referring to themselves as Jewish to be worshiping at a pagan temple. We also see this exact same wording in Revelation 3:9, when Jesus speaks to the church at Philadelphia saying,

“Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.”

The idea that one group of self-professing Jews is worshiping at a pagan temple for some reason is illogical enough, but the notion that there are two, in two separate cities, both somehow tied to a pagan “synagogue of Satan,” truly makes no sense. Rather, the simplest explanation is that these are the same brand of religious Jews who sought to see Jesus crucified, who beat the Apostles, who stoned Stephen, and who hated the church with sincere, wicked malice. These are those to whom John the Baptist spoke in Matthew 3:7–10,

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father,” for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’”

Who Jesus chastised in their discourse in John 8:39–44,

“They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.’ They said to him, ‘We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

These are those who claim to be Jews, to serve the Living God, yet serve the dark will of their flesh. To them, Jesus, the Son of God is despised, and His church is hated with all the ferocity with which the darkness hates the Light. These are those of whom Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:21–25, saying,

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

These are those who delight in the suffering of the righteous, but their works are not unseen by God. We are seen in our suffering, just as those of the church at Smyrna were seen when they were persecuted by those who, by their claimed beliefs, should have been their greatest allies in accepting and spreading the gospel. God is not blind or deaf to the needs of His children, and our suffering is not unknown to Him.

2. Fearless in Suffering

“Do not fear what you are about to suffer.”

We as Christians, we who are in many ways estranged from our flesh, who have been made new in Christ do not have the same relationship with suffering as those who have not been born again. Suffering is not exactly pleasant – Jesus Himself did not delight at the prospect of His crucifixion, yet He did delight at the fulfilment of the will of the Father. He says in John 12:24–28, shortly after the entering Jerusalem for the week of the final Passover,

“‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’”

And in Matthew 26:39, just before His arrest and crucifixion, we see Jesus fall on His face and pray,

“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

In our flesh, pain, suffering, and the prospect of impending death are all mind numbingly terrifying – however from a spiritual perspective we have a higher aim, higher concerns, and a higher calling.

“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.”

To be redeemed is to face temptation from our limited, corrupt flesh. Often we think of temptation as the things that entice us – sex, and greed, and gluttony. But we have to realize that we are tempted by anything that encourages us to reject God and His perfect will. People lose someone they love, they receive a terminal diagnosis, they lose a job, and whatever it is sends their world into a spiral. Things fall apart at the seams, and for some people, they end up shaking their fist at the heavens. They demand answers for a perceived injustice, they question God’s righteousness for the pain they’ve endured, or they lose faith that He exists at all in the face of the trial at hand. Paul writes in Romans 5:1–5,

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

In 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 12:1-10, Paul goes on a tangent, listing the different sufferings he’s been subjected to – the beatings and lashings, the stoning and the shipwrecks, the threat of constant danger and the thorn that was given him in his flesh. He ends all of this, not complaining, but boldly declaring,

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

James 1:2–4 tells us,

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

I do not counsel you as a Christian to delight in suffering the way a masochist would, however I do seek to encourage and embolden you, as Christ emboldened those in Smyrna, do not be afraid. Do not despair in the pit of your suffering, do not lose faith, and do not think yourself forgotten. Paul writes in Philippians 4:12–13,

“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

From the highest public station, to the bottom of the gutter, the children of God are not forsaken, our suffering is not in vain, and we are never given over to fear, for our hope is eternal.

3. Freed from Suffering

“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.”

Jesus teaches in Matthew 10:26–33, saying,

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

In knowing that we are seen, and that have no need for fear, we have to acknowledge that in the midst of our suffering, the worst the world can do to us is kill us, and as God has freed us from sin, He has freed us from the sting of death. This is why Paul can write in Romans 8:36–39,

“As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The world threatens us with temporary suffering, but the freedom we are offered is eternal. The idea of the crown of life seems relatively straight forward, however there are other passages that give this greater understanding and significance. Ephesians 6:13–18 tells us,

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

In my mind, this was an image of dressing ourselves in the armor that God has given us – but it’s more than that. Isaiah 59:15–17 says,

“… The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.”

The breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation – God doesn’t just give us armor, He gives us His armor. This calls back to 1 Samuel 17:38–40,

“Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, ‘I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.’ So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.”

Saul, the first king of Israel clothes David with his own armor – but the fit is poor. Saul was by no means a good king. He was rash and impulsive, and by far worst of all, he was disobedient before God. God is our eternal King, our perfect King. He is the First and the Last, and His own helmet of salvation, this crown of life that He places on our heads is eternal and perfect just as He is. Trials will come, but they will pass. 1 Peter 1:22–25 tells us,

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”

We are equipped for battle by the Living God, we are delivered to victory by His hand, and as we look at the words of Jesus to the second of the seven churches, we may take heart and know that in Him we are more than conquerors, in Him we are delivered from the second death, from eternal separation, and the pain of the outer darkness. Rather we know eternal peace in the perfect presence of our Lord and Father, the One who died and came to life, and has risen us to new life in Him.

Pastor Chris’ sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp8-ica9Oek