Revelation 2:8-11

Subject: Trial/Perseverance
Scripture: Revelation 2:8-11
Sermon: “Persevering unto Death”

Introduction:
A.  The more the church is persecuted, the greater has been its purity and strength – USSR and Eastern Europe; Muslim countries – many imprisoned and some martyred – books and Bibles scarce but the churches prospered = lifting of the Iron Curtain revealed a powerful, pure church characterized by genuine faith, deep spirituality, humility, zeal, love of the truth, and single-minded devotion to the Lord

B.  James links persecution and spiritual strength in Jas 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. – 1 Pet 5:10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. – “The purest Christian graces are those forged in the furnace of adversity.” – Smyrna displayed the power and purity that comes from successfully enduring persecution – hypocrites do not stay to face persecution because false believers do not want to endure pain – trials and persecution strengthen and refine genuine saving faith, but uncover and destroy false faith

Bible Background:
A.  The Letters to the seven churches
1.  Seven letters appealing for vigor and vigilance – he will neither spare nor despair of the churches
2.  Teaching about practice precedes doctrine here unlike most epistles where doctrine precedes practice
3.  Linguistic procedure: a Greeting, a title of Christ, a section headed “I know” usually introducing praise, a criticism of the church (except Smyrna and Philadelphia), a warning, an exhortation, a promise
4.  Linguistic pattern: Churches 1 and 7 are in grave danger; 2 and 6 are in excellent shape; and 3-5 are in the middle, neither good nor bad
ILL Weirsbe:
(a)  Ephesus was the careless church
(b)  Smyrna was the crowned church
(c)  Pergamum was the compromising church
(d)  Thyatira was the corrupted church
(e)  Sardis was the feeble church
(f)  Philadelphia was the faithful church
(g)  Laodicea was the foolish church

B.  The Letter to Smyrna
1.  Smyrna means bitter – used to translate myrrh in OT LXX used for embalming – appropriate for those suffering here
2.  Smyrna was a large port city 40 miles north of Ephesus on the gulf of the Hermus river – population 100,000 – founded by an Amazon and named after her (Strabo) in 3000 BC and by the Greeks in 1000 BC
(a)  Destroyed by Lydians in 600 BC and lay in ruins for 300 years until Refounded by Alexander the Great but more likely by Antigonus and Lysimachus (290 BC) on the slopes of Mt. Pagus – known for great literary figures, Homer, Pausanias and Quintus Smyrnaeus
(b)  Staunch supporter of Rome and was the first city in Asia Minor to erect a temple to Rome – in 26 AD Tiberius chose Smyrna to be a newkoro" = temple warden for the Tiberius cult – under Rome became a center for science and medicine and renown for fine wine, beautiful buildings and wealth – had a number of temples esp. temple of Asclepius
(c)  Suffered a devastating earthquake in 177-78 and again in 180 AD but was rebuilt under emperor Marcus Aurelius
3.  Church (2:8a): planted by Paul or converts during Paul’s Ephesian ministry (Acts 19:10) – hotbed of emperor worship and Domitian made it a capital offense to refuse to offer the yearly sacrifice to the emperor; so many Christians faced execution – Polycarp was most famous – Smyrna used in LXX to translate myrrh, a substance of the living and the dead – its association with death perfectly pictures the suffering church at Smyrna – like myrrh, produced by crushing a fragrant plant, the church was crushed by persecution but gave off a faithful aroma of faithfulness to God – no waning of love as at Ephesus – modern Izmir in Turkey still has a Christian church today
4.  Shortest of the seven messages = main emphasis: persecution and trials are an inevitable part of the Christian life (Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, ”Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.; 2 Tim 3:12 And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.)

Transitional Sentence:  God wants the believer to persevere

I.  The Correspondent  Revelation 2:8b

A.  Eternally Living One: “First and the Last”
1.  “First and Last” occurs 3 times in Rev (1:17; 2:8; 22:13), always of Jesus and an allusion to the divine title in Isa 41:4; 44:6; 48:12
2.  Applied to Jesus here and in Rev 22:13 = deity = transcends time – eternal God became man, died and was resurrected – 1 Pet 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit
3.  This designation of Christ was to comfort the church in Smyrna for many of them would die – Heb 2:14 Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. – John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

B.  Essentially Living One: “Dead but Lives”
1.  Usual verbs for the resurrection of Christ (egeirein, anisthmi) never occur in Revelation but here zaw is used and is only used here and in 1:18 but also in Mark 16:11; Luke 24:5, 23; Acts 1:3; Rom 14:9a; 2 Cor 13:4a
2.  They were encouraged that Christ Himself shared the martyr’s death but was revived again
3.  The one who died and came to life again can offer the crown of life to other executed prisoners and protect them from the second death

II.  The Communication  Revelation 2:9-10

A.  Faithfulness in Past Suffering  Rev 2:9
1.  Enduring Tribulation
(a)  qlipsi" = singular = real trouble, the burden that crushes
ILL ILL Kiddle: “From this letter we can gain some idea of the unbounded fortitude of these early Christians. John assumes that the people of Smyrna (as typical of faithful Christians everywhere) share his own attitude to physical suffering: he speaks lightly of it, as one speaks of familiar things. Words so brief, spoken to men who might at any time go to their death, have in them a heroism which even now has power to stir the blood.”
(b)  The Roman Emperor Domitian made everyone offer sacrifices to the Roman emperor worship and you when you did this (once a year) you received a certificate – to be without a certificate was to risk the death penalty – Polycarp was burned alive at 86 as the 12th martyr in Smyrna – most dangerous place for a Christian because Rome equated emperor worship with political loyalty - all a citizen had to do was burn a pinch of incense and say, “Caesar is Lord” but most Christians refused to do this
ILL When the Japanese occupied Korea in 1937-40 they ordered Christians to worship at their Shinto shrines – Many Christians refused and were imprisoned and tortured – Jewish community worked with Rome to persecute the Christians
(c)  Reasons for the tribulation lead to the next two problems:
2.  Enduring Extreme Poverty
(a)  Cult emperor worship – Christians submitted to civil authority (Rom 13:1) they refused to offer sacrifices to Domitian and worship him – branded rebels and faced the wrath of the Roman government
(b)  They became illegal rebels and were not allowed to be involved in the commerce of the country – their refusal to compromise with the pagan world made it difficult to make a living – Christianity wasn’t legally recognized, so it made it easy for Jews and others to pillage the Christians of their possessions
(c)  ptwceia = extreme poverty – means they had nothing like the Macedonian Christians in 2 Cor 8:2 who gave from their extreme poverty – no mention of the poverty of other six churches making this unusual
(d)  But since they had remained faithful, Jesus told them that they were rich! – no paradox, because they had it all in Christ!
3.  Enduring Slander
(a)  Blasphemy is frequently used in Rev of reviling or speaking irreverently of God (13:6; 16:9, 11, 21 but is used here as slander (Mark 15:29; Rom 3:8; 1 Cor 10:30; 1 Pet 4:4) – could have been verbal slander (Acts 13:45; 18:6) and poisoned the minds (Acts 14:2) or denunciation before Roman authorities (Acts 18:12-17) – blasphemy indicates the slander’s wickedness, intensity and severity – Christians accused of cannibalism (Lord’s supper) immorality (perversion of the holy kiss) breaking up homes (when one spouse became a Christian) atheism and political disloyalty and rebellion (refused to offer sacrifices to Roman emperor)
(b)  Not live up to being Jews = circumcised in heart (Rom 2:28-31)
(c)  Synagogue of Satan = Hebrew while devil = Greek and bother mean adversary – synagogue of Satan here and 3:9 only other place in NT – John 8:44 those who reject Jesus are just as much Satan’s followers as pagan idol worshippers –assembled to plan their attack of the church thus doing Satan’s work (Acts 2:13; 4:2-3, 18; 5:17-18, 28, 40; 6:9f; 7:54-60; 8:1f; 9:20-23; 12:1-3; 13:6, 45; 14:2, 19; 17:5f, 13; 18:6, 12-13; 19:9; 20:3; 21:27f; 23:12f) – allied with pagans to stamp out Christianity

B.  Fearless Faithfulness in Future Suffering  Rev 2:10a
1.  God was going to permit prison as a test = prove the reality and steadfastness of their faith (2 Cor 12:9-10) which Satan cannot destroy – John 10:28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
ILL When my son, Rusty, was five, he wanted a ball glove. So I took him, and we went to three or four stores to get a glove to fit a tiny hand. No store had such a glove. Rusty was getting impatient. We walked into a drug store and saw one mangy-looking glove on the shelf for $4.95.
   Rusty said, "There's one, Dad. Get that one."
   I said, "No, Russ, I want to get one that will last."
   He said, "No, we've looked, and we can't find one. Get that one."
   He started to cry, not a temper tantrum, but one of those pitiful weeps that little kids get. People were coming by, and I know they were wondering what kind of a father would refuse his kid a glove. He was in tears as I dragged him out of the store. We found a sporting goods store with a ball glove for about $10.95. He was elated, and the glove lasted for several years.
   Sometimes God lets us go through some hurting experiences in life because he has something better in mind for us.
2.  Knowledge of his doom doesn’t deter Satan – Job 1:22; 2:10 – Luke 22:31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”; 2 Cor 12:9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
3.  10 literal days here like Dan 1 – devil will put them in jail but God works out His purposes even through the devil and evil men – purpose is to test you, and God will see them through the test
4.  Suffering precedes glorification – remain faithful and you will get the crown of life
(a)  Wreath is a metaphor for a posthumous reward – expresses the agon motif as in Heb 2:9 – crown in 1 Cor 9:25; 2 Tim 4:8; 1 Pet 5:4; Rev 3:11 = metaphor for future reward of the righteous – derived from athletic language (2 Tim 2:5) and war language
(b)  Lit. “The life” = eternal life – Jas 1:12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. – crown in OT (Ps 8:5; 103:4; Job 31:36; Prov 5:16) and NT (1 Cor 9:25; 2 Tim 4:8; Jas 1:12)
ILL Westminster Confession of Faith: “they, whom God has accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.”

III.  The Culmination  Revelation 2:11

A.  Warning  Rev 2:11a
1.  This occurs at the end of each letter to each church – Must heed the message of the Spirit = Christ – must trust and obey
2.  If not, the lampstand will be removed and the local church will no longer exist

B.  Promise  Rev 2:11b
1.  lit. “The one who is overcoming” = way that we live demonstrates that we are overcoming!
2.  Promise
(a)  Not ever = double negative = strongest negative in the Greek language
(b)  Be hurt by the second death – first death = natural death, but second death is eternal death and suffering in the lake of fire (20:6, 14; 21:8)

Conclusion:
A.  We are called to persevere
1.  Luke 8:15 “And the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
2.  Matt 10:32  “Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 “But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

B.  Joel Gregory, "What Is Success?," Preaching Today, Tape No. 120
You've probably seen that stress test called the Holmes Social Readjustment Rating Scale, printed in popular magazines. It gives you a stress score to events that happen to you in any one year. If you lose a spouse, it's scored as 100; divorce is 73; separation is 65. This week I gave the stress test to Moses. On that scale, he had enough stress to have blown the top right off of his head. But at 120 years of age, he was there, like a rock, leading.

C.  Perseverance is the key to Heb 11 and how they got there! It is a crucial key to living the Christian life!