The Seven Lost Churches of Revelation


10/17/2004 - Facing Your Fears



He grew up in a good Bible teaching church, a church where early on he learned the truth about Jesus, who he is, and what he did, and what it takes to have a dynamic, life giving relationship with him. He fell in love with the Lord and as a teenager committed his life to him.  He wanted to serve Jesus wherever he wanted him to go and do whatever he wanted him to do.

And God led him to become a pastor.  So he did.  And under his strong, but gentle leadership the church grew and thrived and over time his ministry broadened to impact other churches as well. Frequently he traveled from city to city, encouraging believers to be strong in their faith and addressing such hot topics as materialism and financial dishonesty, which was creeping into the church. He wrote books addressing a wide variety of heresies that were threatening the Christian faith.

But the city in which he lived wasn't friendly to Christ followers. In fact, they hated them.  And one day a bloody persecution broke out and Christians were arrested for their faith.  And when the authorities began to search for the pastor, his friends urged him to leave the city and hide in a farmhouse out in the country where he spent time in prayer.  As his pursuers went looking for him from house to house, they found two boys whom they tortured until one of them revealed the location of the pastor.

It was a Friday evening and the pastor was resting upstairs when the police surrounded the house like a posse, fully armed as if they were about to arrest a dangerous killer.  The pastor's friends wanted to sneak him out someway, but he said, "No. Let God's will be done."

So instead of running out the back door he opened the front door and welcomed his attackers as if they were friends, talked with them, and put a meal in front of each one of them.  His only request was that they give him one hour to pray before they took him away, which they granted. But when they heard him start praying for them they had second thoughts about arresting the pastor.

Yet they did arrest him and brought him to the authorities who asked him to renounce Christ or die.  "Curse Christ and I will release you," said one official. To which the pastor answered, "Eighty-six years I have served Christ and he has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me? You threaten me with fire that burns for an hour and then is gone. But you don't know the fire of judgment that is to come and that fire burns forever.  Bring on what you will."

With that the fire was light and the pastor tied to a stake. And as the flames embraced his body he lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Father, I bless you that you have deemed me worthy of this day and hour, that I might take a portion of the martyrs in the cup of Christ. Welcome me today before thy face as a rich and acceptable sacrifice."

Eyewitnesses later reported that as the fire engulfed the pastor it smelled not so much like burning flesh, but more like a baking loaf of bread. He was finished off with the stab of a dagger. And when it was all over his followers gathered his ashes like precious jewels and buried them.

The date was February 23, 155 A.D.  The pastor's name was Polycarp, a direct disciple of the apostle John, the last person alive to be personally taught by an apostle. And the church he pastored is the church at Smyrna, the church we're going to look at today.

If you have a Bible turn with me to Revelation 2:8-11. This morning we continue our fall series called The Seven Lost Churches of Revelation with a teaching I've called "Facing Your Fears."  It's a series that takes us into the last book of the Bible and reveals lessons that we can learn from each one of the seven Asian churches addressed in this book.

Last week we visited the church at Ephesus, a church that lost its first love and we learned how to keep our love alive for the Lord. And this week we move up the coast about 35 miles to look at the church at Smyrna, a church going through a savage time of persecution, poverty, and ridicule.

Follow along as I read Revelation 2:8-11, "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Those who overcome will not be hurt at all by the second death."

The letter to the church at Smyrna is the shortest of the seven letters, only four verses, but jam packed with lessons for us today.  It's one of only two churches that Jesus has nothing against.  No need to repent in Smyrna.

In the first century, Smyrna was a major seaport in Asia Minor and still is today.  Unlike Ephesus, which is now in ruins, Smyrna, called Izmir today, has a population of over 2.3 million people making it the third largest city in Turkey behind Istanbul and the capital city of Ankara.

In John's day, Smyrna had a population of about 200,000 people and was already a rich and influential Roman city known for its outstanding Greek architecture, world famous library, and numerous temples.

At one point the citizens of Smyrna petitioned Rome for permission to build a new temple to honor and worship the Roman Emperor. Eleven cities applied for the privilege and Smyrna was chosen out of all of them.  And so the city became the site of one of the most magnificent temples ever built for emperor worship.

The people of Smyrna were thrilled with the status and the wealth that their city received for being a key center for religious allegiance to Rome. And to show their gratitude Smyrna's leaders instigated a widespread, sinister plan to persecute anybody who refused to worship Caesar as Lord.  And that persecution was about to heat up when this letter was written.

So in it Jesus says, "I know your affliction. I know what's going on.  I know you're being forced to go to the temple, take a pinch of incense, and say, 'Caesar is Lord.'  But you won't do it, because you know that Jesus is Lord, not Caesar. I am the First and the Last, the only one worthy of worship.  And you're paying a price for that.  I know your affliction."

"I know your poverty.  I know that because you've identified yourselves with me you're losing opportunities for education and for career advancement. You're being discriminated against and marginalized and denied employment because it's just too risky to hire a Christ follower. You're losing your jobs and your source of income because of me. Your faith is taking a bite out of your wallet. I know your poverty."

"I know your ridicule.  I know the slander out there.  I know that you're being called cannibals because I said to eat my flesh and drink my blood.  I know you're being called sex maniacs because when you talk about love people think you're talking about sex and your love feasts are thought to be orgies. I know you're being called home wreckers because I told you that your love for me has to exceed your love for family. I know you're being called atheists because you refuse to worship Caesar and the pantheon of other gods. I know you're being called rebel insurgents because you won't say, 'Caesar is Lord.'  And what makes it worse is that this slander is not only coming from Romans, but from Jews who claim to know God, but they really don't. I know your ridicule."

"And I wish I could tell you that it's going to get better. I wish I could tell you that it's going to stop. But it's not.  It's only going to get worse.  I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days."

A time of real trouble was about to come to Smyrna Community Church. Dark clouds were rolling in to form the perfect storm that would last for quite a while.  Most scholars believe that the reference to ten days is symbolic for a season of testing.  Satan is about to launch a major offensive on this church unlike anything they'd ever seen before.  God's still in control, but Satan is going to have his way for a while.

And when I read that this week I thought, "What do I know about testing? What do I know about suffering for Christ? I've never lost a job or taken a beating or spent a night in jail or shed one drop of blood for Jesus sake? He hasn't cost me a thing."

Yet for many Christians around the world this letter couldn't be more relevant.  In a few weeks we're going to be observing the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.  And every year we're reminded that more people were tortured for their faith in the 20th century than in all the previous 19 centuries combined. A 100 million people were killed for just being Christians in the 20thcentury.  That's more than all those who died in every single war put together in that same century.

Experts estimate that today, right now, 200 million Christians face some kind of persecution, either physical abuse, family separation, incarceration or martyrdom.  Nearly 400 million more face discrimination and restrictions of some kind just because they're believers in Jesus.  The numbers are staggering!

The truth in this letter is relevant for hundreds of millions of believers facing some form of persecution around the world right now. It hasn't stopped.  But what about me?  What about you?  Can we identify with any of this?  I think we can.

I can remember times in my life when I've felt rejected or left out because of my faith in Christ.  I can remember times in my life when I took some teasing because I was "religious" and wouldn't do some of the things my friends were doing.  I can remember times when I felt misunderstood for my faith.

Shortly after we moved into our neighborhood, when our church was just beginning, we heard that some of our neighbors thought we were part of a cult. At the time we were home schooling our daughter and so people didn't see us at the bus stop sending our child to school. I was working out of our home, long before we had an office, and so people didn't see me drive off to work everyday. Some had heard that we started something that met under an oak tree, that's weird, and then in a barn on Saturday nights. We didn't have the word "church" in our name at that point and called ourselves the Philadelphia Seeker Project , which some thought was the Philadelphia Secret Project.   So for a while the word on the street was, "Stay away from those weird people. I don't know what they're into, but it sounds dangerous!"

And I can remember feeling hurt when I heard those things. I felt misunderstood and it bothered me. I felt like the evil one was throwing up a roadblock to keep people away.

Does the evil one still test us today?  Absolutely. He tests us individually and he tests churches too. We may not be forced to worship the emperor or afraid of losing our jobs or being dragged off to prison, but don't be fooled. Satan loves to attack churches. He loves to put lights out.

He's tried to dim Valley View's light many times over the past eleven years. Early on he tried to dry up our resources to the point where we couldn't afford to rent a building to meet in or at one point even to pay ourselves.  He's tried to discourage us.  For the first few years Valley View didn't grow much at all.  And it seemed like the people who were draw to the church and fired up about the mission often moved out of the area to follow a career or get more education. He's tried to divide our leadership team, sidetrack us from our mission, sabotage relationships, cause conflict and hurt.  He hates the work of God and will do anything he can to neutralize it.  He's always planning strategies and thinking of creative ways to attack God's people.

There's a lot I don't know about testing, but there are three things I do know. And that is that we're always either in the midst of a time of testing, coming out of a time of testing, or getting ready to enter a time of testing.  Testing never ends. And that thought can frighten us. It can make us wonder what lies around the bend. It can cause us to live in fear wondering what's going to happen to us?  When is the other shoe going to drop?

And to that Jesus says in verse 10, Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer.  Notice he doesn't say, "Don't be afraid, you're not going to suffer."  Or "Don't be afraid, everything will be alright." No he says, " Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer.  The suffering is going to come and it's going to hurt, but you don't need to be afraid of it.  I will be with you."

The most repeated command in the entire Bible is the command, "Do not be afraid."  Why is that? Because God knows how prone we are to give in to our fears and stop trusting him.  "Do not be afraid" does not mean, "do not feel fear." There's a big difference between feeling fear and being afraid. There's nothing wrong with feeling fear. Feeling fear is a natural, God given emotion. God created us to feel fear as a way of warning us of danger.

"Do not be afraid" means choosing to believe that no matter what happens in life, God is going to be with us, God is going to take care of us, God is going to walk with us through it.  Faith is not the decision to deny our fear.  Instead, faith is the decision to move ahead in spite of our fear. That's what "do not be afraid" means.

Sometimes we can get ourselves all worked up worrying about losing our health or losing our jobs or losing our spouses or having something happen to our kids.  Those are all fears we can have.  But God doesn't promise to give us strength to face problems that might happen. Instead, he promises to give us strength to face problems when they happen.  Do not be afraid.

Standing firm during times of testing is tough duty. And Jesus knows that.  So to help us through he gives us three things. First, Jesus gives us his example. Look at how he identifies himself in verse 8, These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.

"I died, " Jesus says, "I know what severe testing is all about. I know what persecution is all about. I know what poverty is all about. I know what ridicule is all about. I've been there.  I've experienced all of it, first hand, full force. You're not going through anything I haven't already been through. Let my example inspire you and fire you up!"

Jesus was no stranger to the most vicious attacks of the evil one. And he's not asking any of us to go through anything that he wasn't willing to endure.  And when I think about what Jesus endured to accomplish his mission I think, "Why should I expect to pay less of a price than Jesus paid?" He set the pace.  He gave us his example.

Second, Jesus gives us his understanding.  In verse 9 he says, I know your afflictions.

"I understand what your feeling.  I understand rejection, desertion, betrayal, ridicule, abandonment, loneliness, loss, grief, pain, suffering, poverty, emotional exhaustion, sorrow, death.  You name it. I understand it.  There's not a feeling you have that I haven't felt."

Understanding is a powerful thing.  This week I read a story about a 15 year-old boy named Doug who was told that he had leukemia.  After undergoing a week of treatments he sank into a deep depression.  One of his aunts ordered flowers to cheer him up and when she did she asked the florist to make the arrangement extra special telling the clerk that the flowers were for her teenage nephew who had leukemia.

When the flowers arrived in Doug's hospital room he found a handwritten note tucked in the basket that said, "Doug, I took your order. I work at the florist shop.  I had leukemia when I was seven years old. I'm twenty-two now.  Good luck.  My heart goes out to you. Sincerely, Laura."

Writing about this incident, columnist Bob Greene said, "Young Doug was in a hospital filled with millions of dollars of the most sophisticated medical equipment.  He was being treated by expert doctors and nurses with medical training totaling in the hundreds of years.  But it was a salesclerk in a flower shop, making $170 a week who, by taking the time to care, gave Doug the hope and the will to carry on."  Why?  Because she had faced the same situation that he was facing and had overcome. She understood.  Jesus understands.  He's been there and he's overcome and calls us to overcome as well.

"I died.  I know." And finally in verse 10, I will give you the crown of life.

Third, Jesus gives us his rewards.  There are rewards promised to those who endure any kind of abuse in the name of Jesus.  Here he calls it the crown of life.   Which reminded me of his words in Matthew 5:11-12, Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.

History tells us that Polycarp was martyred on February 23, 155 A.D. And the reason we know that date is because for centuries, long before Christians celebrated Christmas as the birth of Christ, they celebrated the dates that famous martyrs died. They called them "birthdays," because they were the days when these men and women were born into the presence of God. And they were times of great celebration and inspiration as believers drew strength from their courage.

This week I wondered what would happen to Valley View if we entered into a season of intense testing? What would happen if God said that we would be subjected to persecution and poverty and ridicule?  How many of us would be faithful, even to death, like Polycarp the great pastor of the church at Smyrna?

Satan has the power to rock our world with testing and adversity. He can rock our church too.  Will we be faithful when he does?  We can be if we keep our eyes on Jesus.  Follow his example.  Realize he understands.  And look forward to his rewards.