SMYRNA: THE PERFUME CHURCH Revelation 2:8-11 Revelation Reloaded #4 R6-1610

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1 SMYRNA: THE PERFUME CHURCH Revelation 2:8-11 Revelation Reloaded #4 R Nobody likes a bully. You never forget an encounter with a bully. Reminds me of the advice Malcomb gave to little brother: VIDEO: Malcomb in the Middle Bullies operate by intimidation, making you feel small. They coerce you and take away your freewill. They are physically and verbally abusive. They are destructive. They lie and manipulate. Ok Let s play Bible bullies: Who am I? I was just three years old when my father died. I didn t miss him much since he was a killer, bully, and a cheat. My mother took over the family trade and continued my brother s and my education. After mom murdered my stepfather with a dish of poisoned mushrooms we were reared in squalor. I committed my first murder during my teenage years by killing a friend who stood in my way; and I watched him die with calloused indifference. I first married at age 15 but soon I had my wife killed. I married again and slew my second wife, too. In order to marry a third time I had to murder the husband of the woman I wanted. My mother annoyed me so I arranged for her murder first by guile, which failed, and then without pretense. Brutally, she was murdered. I guess you could say that I was an ugly man with a bull neck, beetle brows, a flat nose and a tough mouth. In my later years i had a potbelly, spindly legs, bad skin, and an offensive odor. At the young age of 31 I was sentenced to death by flogging; but I escaped to a dingy basement and in the house of a slave I cut my own throat but I bungled the job and survived. Who am I? Hint: He gave the infant church its first taste of persecution. SLIDE #1: I am Caesar Nero. He was the first of the persecuting Caesars, but not the last. SLIDE #2: Let the record show that he slaughtered Christians by the 1000s/ SLIDE #3: Far worse than Nero was who followed several years later one named Domitian. 1

2 SLIDE #4: Domitian was a suspicious and blasphemous tyrant. He loved to torture Christians. He exiled John the Apostle to the labor camps on the island of Patmos. On Patmos, God led John to wrote to a suffering church under intense persecution from Roman bullies we call that book Revelation. SLIDE #5: Glenn and I in sermon series on the Book of Revelation. If you are new to the Bible then you might want to know that Revelation is an unusual book. It is the historical record of how to live in a world that is going sour and, it is the unveiling of the events which will occur at the end of time on earth. We saw Jesus letter to the church in Ephesus (lost first love). Now see the one to Smyrna. SLIDE #6: Jesus uses the same pattern in all seven letters: 1. He shares a Characteristic of the Christ (Read Revelation 2:8) 2. He Commends them for strengths (Read Revelation 2:9) 3. He Criticizes their weaknesses (not here) 4. He offers Correction for their problems (not here) 5. He Counsels consequences for the disobedient (not here) and rewards for the obedient (Read Revelation 2:10-11) No criticism; no complaint; no need for correction. Why? Because persecution stamps out hypocrites. Purifies the church. Group of believers behind Iron Curtain. Two Russian soldiers move in with machine guns. Five minutes for all who will renounce Christ to leave all the rest will be shot. Each searched heart and considered death. Some left. Soldiers locked the door. Brothers and sisters, we re believers, too. Didn t want to worship with folks who weren t totally committed to Christ. May we join your fellowship? Persecution purifies the church. SLIDE #7: Persecution is still rampant today. Pray for the persecuted church. Since 1900, more Christians have been martyred than in all previous centuries combined. Let s open our eyes: There are governments all over the world that are married to a particular religion and Christians are dying by the thousands every month: Sudan (over two million Xns killed in the last 7 years; Indonesia, China, Nepal. Under the Taliban Xns were wiped out of Afghanistan. SLIDE #8: Gary and Dwight in India: Gary sick, preaching with fever. Ice to cool him down. Finished services and warned that militant Muslims were coming to kill them. Ran; got to car, 20 minutes ahead. Story is like a Indiana Jones adventure for Christ. 2

3 SLIDE #9: Revelation 2:8: "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. SLIDE #10: If you travel to western Turkey you can t find Smyrna. You can t stay there overnight. But you can find Ismir which is the name that this ancient city bears. Great city, 200K, largest public theater in the ancient world, great library. It was the birthplace of the great epic poet, Homer. Smyrna world-famous for exporting myrrh (gold, frankincense and myrrh; burial spices). Smyrna is a fitting name for a suffering church from myrrh perfume crushed and becomes fragrant spice used to embalm the dead. In 23 BC, Smyrna was given permission over 25 other cities to build an enormous temple in honor of Tiberius. Place where incense was offered in the worship of the Emperor. The city was dedicated to the imperial cult. Christians would not sprinkle incense on the fire that burned in the Emperor s honor. Christians would never call Caesar Lord, only Jesus is Lord. They died accordingly. SLIDE #11: Revelation 2:8: "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. Who is the angel? Polycarp. John wrote in A.D. Polycarp died in 153 at age 86. Pastored there for 60 years. That means Polycarp began his pastorate in Smyrna in 93 A.D. you don t know Polycarp. You will when we finish. First and Last reference to eternality. (High priests robe 12 stones first and last stones.) Who died and came back to life. Must have been a great comfort to all who were facing death themselves. SLIDE #12: Revelation 2:9: 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. Three things Jesus knew about. SLIDE #13: 1. I know your afflictions < thilipsis > - crushed or pressure More crushed, more beautiful the fragrance. Like girls and roses. Believers under persecution get beautiful. Run to Jesus. Crushed church is fragrant church. Myrrh being crushed. SLIDE #14: 2. Poverty 3

4 2 Greek Words Ptocheia π Penia π absolute poverty used here no luxuries enough to get by on. Why were they poor? Severely persecuted and blacklisted for their faith. Guild system center of Caesar is Lord! Wouldn t take mark and sell out to the world. Now you can RELATE this to revelation 13 mark of beast and SLIDE #15: Caesar Nero = The Antichrist =666 SLIDE #16: John writes about another Beast, the whore: we are talking about Domitian. Double fulfillment principle and Write about things to come. Yet Rich SLIDE #17: 2 Corinthians 6:10: poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. SLIDE #18: 3. I know the Slanders SLIDE #19: Because they said at communion This is my body, and this is my blood the story went about that the Christians were cannibals Because the Christians called their common meal the agape, the Love Feast, it was said that their gatherings were orgies of lust and immorality. Because they had no images or idols of their gods they were accused of being atheists Because they refused to say, Caesar is Lord, the Christians were accused of being politically disloyal citizens and potential revolutionaries. Because they refused to indulge in the sin and immorality of society they were seen as people who judged and condemned everyone else. Where did the persecution come from? SLIDE #20: Revelation 2:9: 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. What a strange statement. Say they are Jews and are not a synagogue of Satan. What a statement. How can John say such a thing? They may be misguided no, John is simply following the words of his own teacher Jesus Himself. SLIDE #21: John 8 dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees. Jesus faces them with His own heritage and says, I am of my Father, God. They say, We are of other father, Abraham. Jesus questioned that. 4

5 Then they with folded arms say, We know who our father is. The insinuation was, You re illegitimate. You can t even name your father. Who knows who impregnated Mary? Jesus finally lays it on the line and says, You are of your father, the devil. Jesus won no friends at that moment. In fact, He spurred on their plans to kill Him. There s something you just don t want to do in front of proud people and that is to call a spade a spade unless, of course, you re willing to pay the price. Their synagogue meetings are motivated by Satan, planning to bring harm and hardship and slander and hatred against Christians. Their gatherings are hate-filled gatherings. Not every Jewish synagogue is a hate-filled gathering. This is about Smyrna and the firstcentury synagogue at Smyrna. What happens when the bully threatens you? What s your normal response? Fear. You begin to withdraw. You no longer have folks over for dinner, you no longer take walks, you close your door and buy another lock and you draw your drapes and you stay out of the flow of life. It all comes from fear. Homeland security Don t stop living. Live your life. Keep on going. Most of you know I own a bullet proof vest. Never imagined in the ministry that I would need one. Life has been threatened on three separate occasions. Thank God for swat team and officers who watch over us all the time. Woman abused, husband hated Church. Beat her and she ran. Called me. He s threatened you. Whatever precautions you take, take them. I was afraid. Met him once at a pageant, didn t really know what he looked like. Briefed by swat team on what to do. Saw him. Dressed in black, chain from his belt, going around corner into church. Came and sat several rows behind me. Body guard left and went to investigate. Don t leave me. KFLT disc jockey. What are they saying? Same as verse 10. Do not fear. Most frequently stated commanding the Bible. Fear not appears more than any other command. SLIDE #22: Revelation 2:10: 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. We always fear the worst. So he writes out of compassion. Don t fear. Then he tells them what they are about to suffer. Prison going to jail. Tribulation for ten days. 10 in Revelation is frequently used in Revelation to describe the completeness of something. Perhaps it means to the full extent of suffering. 5

6 Maybe it was exactly for ten days. It will be intense but it won t last long. Like we d say, For a week or so. Yet it may be exactly 10. Look at His words of encouragement: Be faithful even unto death and I will give you the crown of life. It s his way of saying, Finish strong. Stay at it to the very end, painful though it may be. SLIDE #23: Revelation 2:11: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. He who overcomes won t be hurt by the second death. Final, lake of fire death. SLIDE #24: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO ME? SLIDE #25: 1. JESUS CHRIST INTIMATELY KNOWS OUR PRESSURES, NEEDS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS SO WALK THROUGH THE FIRES BESIDE HIM. I know what you re going through. I know <oida> - word of personal experience sympathetic high priest Hebrews 4:15 Nobody knows like Jesus. He has experienced all three things that the Smyrna Xns faced. At Stephen s martyrdom, Jesus stood up and looked over the edges of Heaven. Something about going through depths gives you understanding Illustration of Tom Ulrich ministering to fire loss victims at El conquistador). How? Prayer, Meditation, Journeling SLIDE #26: 2. EVERY CHRIST FOLLOWER WILL EXPERIENCE SOME PERSECUTION SO, DON T CAVE IN; HANDLE IT LIKE JESUS. SLIDE #27: 2 Timothy 3:12: Everyone who lives a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. If you live the kind of life God intends for you to live you will by the very nature of that life butt heads with the world. SLIDE #28: Mel Gibson s new movie on the crucifixion, Passion, clearly presents the last 12 hours of the life of Christ. In an effort to be totally accurate, Gibson is putting all dialogue in Aramaic and Latin. No distraction from American mistranslation. Hollywood is not jumping up and down with excitement. Criticism is beginning. 6

7 People trying to bring up dirt on me and my family. When you take up a subject like (Jesus Christ) it does bring out a lot of enemies. The true story of Jesus Christ does bring up that type of reaction. It is acceptable in Hollywood to portray Jesus as some kind of wimp or loser or as having an alternative lifestyle. The Last Temptation my Martin Scorsese which portrays Jesus as self-doubting, fallible and fallen became the toast of Hollywood. Terrance McNally s Corpus Christi which portrays the gay Jesus was praised by its critics. But, present the real Jesus as the one of love and forgiveness who died for the sins, and suffered for all of us, and get back to the basic message, and the persecuting Critics are out in force. Hollywood is already crucificing him and his idea. They loved the movie about the gay Jesus, and the Last Temptation of Christ. When Christ is accurately presented, people either fall in love with Him or hate Him. This is part of being a Christian. Persecution is not a foreign element to the Christian life. This is the natural response to the Christian who really lives his Christianity in this world (John 15:18-20; 16:2; Romans 8:17; Philippians 1:29; 1 Peter 4:12-16). SLIDE #29: 1. We are to rejoice because of our reward in Heaven (Matthew 5:10-12); Read Matthew 5: Rejoice = in Greek to jump up and down. Just leap up and down with joy when your Christianity is going to cost you something. The time our Christianity costs us something is one of those times when we re most like Jesus Christ. SLIDE #30: 2. We are to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). My pastor friend, hurt last year by a number of people in his congregation. Told a newspaper reporter about a stand he took on a theological issue they did not like. Called him names and they printed it in the paper. I picked up the paper but did not read it until Julie and I reached our hotel in Virginia for a marriage conference. Poor Joe, he has got to be hurting. Called and we talked. That is sad when people start calling names immature, also designed to hurt and categorize. How do you handle this? I pray for my enemies it removes the bitterness from my heart. Agape praying and heaping coals of fire. SLIDE #31: I began with a true story about Nero. I close with a true story about Polycarp. 7

8 Polycarp was the pastor of the church in Smyrna. Godly man, beloved pastor of this church. He was martyred in 155 AD. The city was crowded during the public games; and the crowds were excited. Suddenly the shout went up: Away with the atheists; let Polycarp be searched for. His whereabouts were betrayed to the persecutors by a slave who collapsed under torture. He offered his captors food and drink. They allowed him an hour in prayer. None wished to see Polycarp die. The police captain said, What harm can it do to say Caesar is Lord? Polycarp was adamant. Only Jesus Christ is Lord. When he entered the arena he was pushed roughly before the proconsul who gave him the choice of making sacrifice to Caesar, or death. Polycarp replied with words that have lived on. For eighty and six years I have served Him and He has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who has saved me? Proconsul insisted: I have wild beasts. If you do not change your mind I will throw you to them. Calmly Polycarp said, Call them. Call them. Angrily the official shouted, Since you make light of the beasts, I will destroy you by fire. Polycarp said, You threaten me with fire that burns for a time and is quickly quenched. But you do not know the fire that awaits the wicked in the judgment to come and is everlasting punishment. Why are you waiting? Come, do what you will. By now the people were gathering wood in their arms and stacking it at the stake. They were going to bind him to the stake. Leave me as I am, he said, for He who gives me the power to endure the fire, will grant me to remain in the flames unmoved. So they left him loosely bound, and as the flames began, Polycarp prayed his great prayer: Oh Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved Son Jesus Christ, though whom we have come to know you. I thank you for counting me worthy today to allow me to share the cup of suffering among your martyrs, both now and for the ages to come. Amen. As the flames swept the wind blew them away and seared him but did not consume him. Since he continued to live, a soldier put an end to his misery with his saber. The old man slipped from time to eternity standing and finally slumping into the fire. Pray. 86 years that kind of faith is not grown hurriedly or spasmodically. It is the deliberate giving of oneself over to Jesus Christ day after day, month after month, year after year. We have no way of knowing our future. Time for beginning of a whole new way of life for you beginning today. 8