Today, we come to the letter from Jesus, to the church at Smyrna. Smyrna was about 35 miles north of Ephesus, on the shore of the Agean Sea. It was a city of great wealth and impressive architecture. But the Christians there were in poverty, and about to be imprisoned, or put to death. 

We also live in a place of great wealth and beauty with impressive homes and buildings. But we could be persecuted into poverty and imprisonment just like the church at Smyrna.  

One of the things this letter should accomplish is to shock us out of playing at discipleship, and to realize the intense demands of being a follower of Jesus, and the level of suffering a follower of Jesus must be prepared to endure. 

Jesus dictates this letter with a “two-age view” of the world. We can’t really understand Jesus message to the churches without seeing that!  Human history is divided into two ages. There is this age and the age to come. Jesus said whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come. He also said, anyone who leaves home or mother or father for my sake will receive a hundred times back in this age and in the age to come eternal life! That’s the way He viewed life!  

There’s this present world, and the world that is to come. And His message to us is that the next world is what matters most.  This life is short, temporary, the life to come is permanent and eternal.

The earthshaking event that will bring this age to a close, and will usher in the age to come, is the appearing of Jesus. He’s coming again to judge the world and to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Jesus said,“Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. John 5:27-29

What people have lived for in this world will matter in the world to come! That’s why Jesus said, “Many who are first  now will be last, and many who are last now, will be first.  That’s why He said, “The meek will inherit the earth”. He’s talking about the world to come, the age to come. Paul said, “If we endure suffering with Jesus now, we will reign with Him later.” 

Jesus’ message to the church at Smyrna is based on the supreme importance of the age to come. Three ways we see this. First: Jesus calls them rich even though they are extremely poor. (There is an ordinary Greek word for poverty penia, meaning poor, but the word used here means destitute, or having nothing at all.)  They’ve been persecuted into extreme poverty.  

They probably didn’t have enough to eat all the time. Many likely lost their homes.  But Jesus calls them rich, because they are living in a way that will lead to remarkable blessing and abundance in the age to come. To Jesus, your status in the age to come is the status that matters.  That’s WHY they could be experiencing an extreme level of poverty but Jesus identifies them as rich. 

Second: Jesus said faithfulness to Him is worth it, because  the prize for being faithful is so great in the age to come. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” If our hope in Jesus is ONLY for benefits we get in this life, then faithfulness in poverty and persecution really doesn’t make any sense. The reason it makes sense, is because when Jesus appears he will give the crown of life.  

Third: Jesus said, “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” IE the one who conquers in this present age will not endure the terrible punishment of the wicked in the age to come.  John said, “The second death is the lake of fire. (20:14) 21:8 It’s a lake which burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” 

Jesus views escaping the second death, in the age to come, as the motive for overcoming our trials, in this present age.  I think it’s really important to see that and to think clearly about that, because instead of Jesus’ two-age version of life, we tend to see life in terms of the American dream. Which is, that we have the opportunity, right here and right now to achieve success, wealth, and happiness IF we work hard and pursue that dream. I wish that for all of you. But, without realizing it, we can buy into the idea that what we have now, what we get to do now, is the most important thing to us and about us.

And we can easily begin to see heaven just as kind of a soft landing after we get through the most important part of life. We can see heaven like frosting on the cake... but the cake is this life. IE This age is the big deal. And that sort of thinking can creep into our mindset and become a part of how we live. That’s NOT how Jesus sees things at all! He sees that there is this present age, and there is the age to come. And what really matters is the age to come, by far!

Okay let’s go through this verse by verse.  8“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:” These letters are public letters, the believers can read them for themselves, yet Jesus addresses this “to the angel of this church in Smyrna”. So what is the effect of Jesus saying “to the angel”?  My take is that this communicates powerfully, that the churches are NOT merely human gatherings. The church is heavenly, spiritual. 

There are angels all around, angels protecting, serving us, watching over us.  Hebrews 12:22,23 “You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels, To the joyful assembly, and the church of the firstborn whose names are enrolled in heaven.” If we believe that, it doesn’t sound to far-fetched that this is addressed to the angel of the church.     

But most important, the message to the church is from Jesus Himself!  He identifies Himself as “the first and the last”. He was already here at the beginning of the age and he’ll be here at the end. And all people will give and account of their lives to Him at the end of history.  He’ll be there! He’ll always be there and He always was there. 

Then He identifies Himself as the One “who died and came to life”. He experienced death, yet he rose in triumph over it. And all who believe in Him will also come to life. Even if you are martyred, you will come to life and reign with Him.  

Verse 9“‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich).  Jesus knew exactly what everyone IN that church was experiencing in every area of life.  He knew they were suffering. He knew the hardships they were enduring because of their poverty. If they had a hard time getting enough food for a meal, Jesus knew that.  BUT Jesus reminds them, “you are rich”. They have treasures stored up in heaven, through their faithfulness to Jesus in suffering and poverty. 

This is the opposite of the church at Laodicea. Jesus said to them, “You say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, and poor...” This points out, in a powerful way, that we or anybody who is financially comfortable, can easily get their hope fixed on this life and it’s harder to get them to live for the day we give an account to Jesus.  We see that in these two churches.

It’s not the church that is experiencing poverty and persecution that is in danger. It’s the church that thinks they are rich, that is in danger.  It’s the same today. It’s not the house churches in China, or the underground churches in Iran that are in danger, it’s the churches in the USA that are in danger. Our safety and comfort our wealth entices us to spiritual laziness and indifference and lukewarmness. 

So Jesus severely warns the church that is rich, or claims they are rich. But He comforts and encourages this poor and persecuted church and tells them they are the ones who are really rich!  They are rich with reward in the age to come.  

Verse 9 goes on “and (I know) the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. The tactic the Jews used to persecute believers was to slander them to the Roman authorities, to accuse them of rebellion, atheism, insurrection, and lots of other lies.  Then the secular government would step in and persecute the church based on this slander. In that way believers became outcasts of society, living in extreme poverty, and eventually thrown in prison.  

We see this in Acts 17 Some of the Jews were jealous, so they dragged some of the believers out of their homes and took them before the city council. And said, “They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”

Jesus said, “These accusations come from those “who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan”. These were Jews by birth and race but were not true Jews from the heart. There wasn’t an official synagogue of Satan. But these Jews probably gathered at the local synagogue and planned their attack on the believers.  So they used God’s synagogue for Satan’s purposes. The had enemies, they had people who wanted to do them real harm, people who wanted to drive them into poverty, people who wanted them in prison, people who wanted to put them to death.

Verse 10 Jesus said, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer.”  These believers had already suffered a lot, and they sensed that more was coming. Their natural response would be fear and trepidation. But Jesus’ answer to their fear was NOT, “Nothing’s going to happen to you.” His answer was, “Do not fear, even though something IS going to happen! MORE suffering IS coming.” He prepared them to suffer and to not be shaken by suffering, but to be steadfast to the end. 

Jesus goes on, “Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison.” You should expect that some of you will be seized by the government and locked up. Up to this point these believers had experienced persecution, poverty, and loss of possessions, but NOW in addition to all that, they are going to be put in prison.  What would we do if Jesus sent us a letter and said some of you are going to be put in prison??

Then Jesus adds, “and for ten days you will have tribulation.” I take it that some additional, intense affliction would come upon them for 10 days.  Jesus was letting them know things will get worse. But also that there will be a time limit to it. And sometimes that’s a good thing to know when we’re going through suffering.  

He said, “Behold, (pay attention!) the devil is about to do this!”  God rules over all that happens, BUT in this present age, it can also be true that Satan is the real author of something that happens to us.  In this case, Satan was working through some Jews and Romans, to throw some of these believers in prison. 

Jesus said, “The devil will put some of you in prison, to test you.” Satan will try to entice you to fall away, by bringing suffering upon your and your family. 

Why would Jesus let them know “the devil will put you in prison”? Many times when things come against us, we tend to think God may be judging me, or I am reaping something from my past, or I or didn’t have enough faith. But Jesus wanted them to know their imprisonment was caused by the devil, NOT because God was against them, or that God had forsaken them.

There’s another lesson for us here. We can’t say, “I am just going to cancel the devil’s plans for my life, and he can’t do anything to me.” We can resist the devil and he will flee. He cannot destroy our soul. He cannot make us sin.  He cannot make us fear. He cannot take our joy from us.  He cannot stop all things working for our good. But he can test us, or afflict us, or put us in prison, if the Lord permits.  

So, how are we to prepare for those days of intense persecution from the devil? Jesus tell them, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” The answer is to prepare to be faithful no matter what you suffer! Whether that’s grief, or disappointment, or loss of job, or prison or even death. Faithfulness unto death, is the kind of faithfulness Jesus commands and demands. Be faithful unto death. That’s the level of faithfulness we are talking about.

It’s a sober truth but everybody has to come to grips with it.  To what level of faithfulness am I willing to go? Am I going to walk away when I lose this or that? Am I going to walk away when things get hard to this degree?  No! We are always called to faithfulness even to the point of death.

Here’s what was likely going on in Smyrna: The emperor Domitian (from 81-96AD) made emperor worship compulsory for every Roman Citizen.  The punishment for disobedience to this command was death. Robert Thomas: “Every year, every citizen had to burn incense on Caesar’s alter, after which he was issued a certificate. To be without a certificate, as must have been the case for Christians obedient to Christ, was to risk discovery and the death penalty.” And we do know that about 50 years after this letter, Polycarp was burned alive at the age of 86 as the “12th martyr in Smyrna”. 

So what would enable you or anyone to be faithful unto death? We all have our troubles. But to be put to death, that’s a pretty severe trial!  So what would enable us to be faithful even up to that point?  The answer is the crown of life. The crown of life is a crown of praise, glory and honor that Jesus gives to those who are faithful to Him through trial and testing.  James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial. When he has passed the test, he will receive the crown of life.” This reward from Jesus is so valuable that it strengthens us to suffer or die for Him.   

Verse 11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  The Spirit is speaking to us and the Spirit is saying. “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”  The Holy Spirit is saying to you and me, “Conquer, overcome, be victorious.  Be an overcomer!

Jesus makes it pretty clear what conquering means. “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.” To conquer means to endure, to be faithful to the end, under every trial, under everything that you don’t like, under every kind of suffering, even to the point of death.  And here He gives us our second motive for doing that!  The first motive is the Crown of Life. This second motive is “You won’t be hurt by the second death!” These are pretty big motives!  John explains what that the second death is the lake of fire. 

Rev. 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. 20:14 “The second death is the lake of fire. 21:8But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” 

So what was Jesus saying?  Overcome, be a conqueror, be victorious, and you will not be hurt by the second death! “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection!”  Instead of the lake of fire, our destiny is to be raised with Christ and reign with Him.

The ONLY incentive for faithfulness, given to these believers at Smyrna is resurrection, the crown of life, and to escape from the lake of fire.  It is not that everything is going to turn out wonderful in this life. Or even that you will be safe for all of this life. Your true safety, is eternal safety. Nothing can hurt you in the age to come, by the lake of fire, by the second death.  Even if you die in faithful service to Jesus that’s not the end. You will come back to life, to reign with Jesus, to share his throne.  

That’s why the emphasis on “your best life now” is so foreign to the message of scripture, and the apostles, and Jesus.  I do think the best life now is to obey and follow God. The path of the righteous grows brighter and brighter. But it is so clear that the final answer, the ultimate answers to pain and death and evil for us, are found for us in the age to come.  Paul said, God saved us so that IN THE AGES TO COME he might show us the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

***So what effect should Jesus’ two-age view of life have upon us now? 

*First: We are okay with being afflicted, poor, persecuted, slandered or even put in prison now, because our life in the age to come is perfect joy, abundance, glory and honor!  It makes us see our present problems as small in comparison with the glory that is coming. That doesn’t mean we seek out suffering or poverty in some kind of perverse way. But we ARE content with it. Because we anticipate the eternal weight of glory we will soon have.  

The effect of believing this in our heart gives us this deep, quiet contentment with whatever happen in the present life. Because we are not living for this age but for the age to come. 

*Second: Understanding Jesus’ two-age view of life inspires extreme obedience and faithfulness to Jesus, even unto death.   Before he was hung by the Nazis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “This is the end, but for me it’s the beginning of life.” He clearly understood the two-age view of life. By placing the emphasis on the life to come, we are strengthened to obedience, whatever the cost. The problems and frustrations of this life don’t stop our obedience!  For the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross! That is how we are to handle life too!

*Understanding Jesus’ two-age view of life, makes you fearless for what people can do to you. I watched The Robe with John and Lonna a couple of weeks ago. In the movie the Roman tribune who converts to Christ, said to his fiance, “Diana, I see that you are afraid. The people I was with in Cana were not afraid.” The Christians were not afraid! That ought to be our testimony!  If people come into RLC and go somewhere people are afraid, they should be able to say, “The people I was with at RLC were not afraid!” That ought to be what is said about us! People can only do so much. Your life and your eternity are safely in God’s hands.  Do not fear even those who can kill the body Jesus said.  They can’t touch your soul or take your reward. They can’t take away your resurrection. They can’t take away the crown of life. So don’t fear anybody but God.

If we really understand the two-age view of life it removes a lot of our fears, the fear of losing things, the fear of losing people or possessions.  It changes everything. It really makes you strong. It give you great power in facing your life. 

*Understanding Jesus’ two age view of life motivates you to conquer. We conquer, we push through our hard things, because those who are victorious here, Jesus said, will escape the lake of fire and receive the crown of life. Do you believe this?  Is this enough motive for you to be an overcomer?  I think it is.  Let these words of Jesus sink deeply into you heart this morning.

Let's pray. Father, Graciously open our ears to hear what you are saying to the churches. I pray that we would be a church that is prepared to pay any price, to endure any suffering or loss, a church that is prepared to be faithful unto death.  I pray that You would graciously plant that willingness, that determination deep within our soul. Amen