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The Church in Smyrna – Eternal Life is the Prize

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Revelation 2:8–11

What are we, 10 days from Christmas Eve? As Justus said, I’m one of the deacons here at Liberty. If you are a guest with us today, normally Pastor Mike would be up here, but Pastor Mike has been healing up from shoulder surgery, so please remember or continue to remember him in your prayers. But it’s a pleasure to be here this morning, this Lord’s Day with you. What a pleasure to lift our voices in praise and our worship to our Lord. So I’m very thankful. And we also bask in the wonder of Christian fellowship, don’t we? So that’s awesome as well. I do not have a Christmas message. I had actually started—it’s been a while now. I preached on the first church in Revelation chapter 2, the church in Ephesus, and I was going to continue with the church in Smyrna, and I struggled. I struggled because I’m like, well, maybe I should skip Smyrna. Maybe I should. That’s the persecuted church. Are we really this persecuted? And as I read through, and I studied, I’m like, no, this really has a message for us. So I’m happy today that the Lord has put it upon my heart to preach on the church in Smyrna. So if you would, would you turn to Revelation 2? And I’ll be starting from verse 8. And then we’ll ask the Spirit of God to come and talk to us today. Revelation 2, starting in verse 8:

And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, “These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until 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. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”

(Revelation 2:8–11)

Opening Prayer

Let’s pray. Lord, we now draw our attention to your Word. Lord, to what it tells us, and most importantly, what it tells us about your Son, Jesus Christ. And as we come, O God, to this particular passage, we know that Jesus himself is addressing the churches. Which means he’s addressing us also. He is the Lord of the lampstands. So often, our discussions have to do with our own individual lives. But so much of the Scriptures are written to the people of God as a people, the body of Christ, as a congregation, and we ask, O Lord and God, that you would come this morning and talk to us. We know that there will be direct words. You speak to us as individuals. Your word is always so relevant and always direct. But also, we’re asking this morning, how is it that you’re speaking to Liberty Church as your church? So Father, we pray that you would guide us, that you would grant to us the gift of your Holy Spirit. We are in absolute dependence upon him and the authority of the truth that he has revealed. We have no doubt that despite all our weaknesses and failings, that we will hear from you this morning. Yes, these things in your Son’s name, Jesus. Amen.

The Martyrdom of Polycarp

Through some underground means, a congregation receives word that a warrant has been issued for the arrest of their elderly pastor. It’s nothing unusual for them. They have become well acquainted with what such a confrontation would mean. There would be an arrest followed by a trial in which the prisoner under the threat of death would be required to renounce Jesus Christ. Were he to refuse, his execution in the public square would follow almost immediately. These Christians have watched this drama play itself out more times than they care to remember. So they plead with their pastor. Leave the city straight away. But he refuses. They appeal to him again. And he finally agrees. One of his household servants, however, under torture, eventually divulges the location of the pastor’s escape. It’s an upper room of a farmhouse just outside the city. When the armed police arrive, the pastor makes no attempt to flee, but instead offers to feed them. And then says with a peaceful confidence, the will of God be done. Permission to retire for prayer, and when granted he does so for two hours. On the way back to the city, the officer in charge, sympathetic to the prisoner’s great age, urges him to recant. What harm can it do to say Caesar is Lord? To offer him a pinch of incense upon the altar and thus spare yourself. The pastor refuses. Upon arrival, he is dragged to the amphitheater and placed before the proconsul who issues the demand. Respect your years. Change your mind. Swear by the fortune of Caesar and I will release you. Curse Christ. His reply is resolute. For 86 years, I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme the King who has saved me? The proconsul threatens further. I have wild beasts. If you will not change your mind, I will throw you to them. Call them, the pastor replies, for repentance from the better to the worse has not been permitted us, but it is noble to change what is evil to what is righteous. Since you make light of the beasts, the proconsul continues, I will have you destroyed by fire unless you change your mind. The old man replies, [audio unclear] and [audio unclear] proclaims to the largely Jewish mob, he has confessed himself to be a Christian. They cry back in uncontrollable rage, this one is the father of the Christians, the destroyer of our gods who teaches many neither to offer sacrifice nor to worship. Burn him alive! Once the sentence has been pronounced, the Jews in the crowd, they gather wood for the pyre, even though it was a Sabbath day. The pastor in turn asked not to be fastened to the stake because as he says, he who grants me to endure the fire will enable me also to remain on the pyre unmoved. And then looking up to heaven, he prays, “O Lord Almighty, Almighty God, the Father of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, through whom we have come to know you, I thank you for counting me worthy this day and hour of sharing the cup of Christ among the number of your martyrs.” Then the fire is lit. But the wind begins to blow and diminish the intensity of the flames so that his suffering is prolonged. When it finally becomes obvious that the fire will not kill him, an executioner is commanded to run him through with a spear. And there he dies, having bled to death. The Christians in turn asked for permission to take away the body of their pastor that it might have a proper burial. But at the insistence of the Jewish crowd, the request is denied. Rather, his body is removed from the smoldering pile, thrown to the ground, and once again set on fire until all that remains is his charred bones. It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon on February 22, 156. The man’s name? Polycarp. His preparation for gospel ministry? He had been a disciple of the apostle John. The place of his martyrdom, a city about 40 miles up the road from Ephesus called Smyrna. He was the pastor of the church in that city. A man whose martyrdom is a fulfillment of the very words that we read from Jesus Christ to this congregation.

The Paradoxes of the Letter

It is now the briefest of all these seven letters. And conspicuous by its absence, Jesus Christ, the Lord of the lampstands, has not a single word of criticism or correction. Rather, in this, the briefest of all his letters, it is the burden of Jesus Christ to address the painful and costly sufferings that they’re enduring on his behalf. How does he go about doing that? Well, how might we expect it to take form, being the evangelical church here in America? Maybe it would sound something like this. You Smyrnaeans, not like those cold and indifferent, apathetic, complacent Ephesians, and you know you’re not like those compromisers in Pergamum and that no-substance bunch over in Sardis. No. Your love is white hot. And how do I know that? Because it’s for me. And a person only suffers for what he really loves. You’ve proven your loyalty. You’ve earned happy times. And so very soon, just over the horizon, are days of change. Days that I’ve marked out for you. Days of great church growth. Days of freedom from pressure. And days of economic prosperity. But here’s the strange thing. While Jesus does promise deliverance from tribulation, it seems almost contradictory, almost oxymoronic, paradoxical. In fact, did you notice when I was reading, the apparent paradoxes that characterize this letter. Notice, on one hand, these Christians are impoverished. On another hand, they are extraordinarily rich. Yet on one hand, their persecutors claim to be Jews, children of Abraham. And yet on the other hand, they are referred to by Jesus as the synagogue of Satan. On one hand, Jesus marks himself out as the eternal refuge of Israel. I am the first and the last. On the other hand, he claims that he has died. Moreover, that he now lives. At first blush, do these things sound contradictory? And here’s the most pronounced paradox of all. The ultimate paradox. It weaves its way through the fabric of this whole entire apocalypse. On one hand, these Christians will suffer persecution to the point of death. And yet, on the other hand, it is that very death that will be the means of their ultimate victory and eternal life. To say it a bit differently. Victory in life will come to these Christians not by way of deliverance out of tribulation, but by way of endurance through it, even unto death. And death in imitation of the pathway, the victory that was walked by Jesus Christ himself. Polycarp, the pastor of the church in Smyrna, was an example of this very thing. And now the aim of Jesus is to address the suffering that they’re enduring because of their resolute faithfulness to him.

Eternal Life Is the Prize

Now, church, as I explained to you last time when I preached on the first seven verses in chapter 2 of Revelation written to the church of Ephesus, remember they had a loveless orthodoxy. A standardized template shapes all of these letters. It shapes the composition of each of these seven letters. There is a relevant introduction. There is a penetrating evaluation. There is a corresponding exhortation. And then a motivating benediction. And we will step through these again this morning. But at the very heart of what Jesus wants to say to this church, and to all churches with an ear to hear, and even to us, Liberty Church this morning—all churches—eternal life is the prize. Eternal life is the prize for ultimate fidelity. Even fidelity unto death. Which is just as true for you and me this morning as it was for these Christians then. Eternal life is the prize for ultimate fidelity. So let’s watch this unfold, shall we?

A Relevant Introduction

Looking firstly at the relevant introduction. To whom is this letter addressed? “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write,” verse 8. And as I explained, as I was going through the first seven verses in this chapter, last time I preached the message to the church in Ephesus, the angel of the church is the human messenger of the church itself, messengers in a sense that they are to give God’s Word to these congregations. I have come to understand them as the pastors or the elders of these churches. This is a letter to the church in Smyrna. And who is addressing this congregation? Continuing in verse 8: “These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life.” It’s a feature of the portrait of Jesus Christ that was witnessed in the prior vision. Where? Chapter 1. If you look at chapter 1, if you’ve got a second, you can turn there. Chapter 1, verse 11. Jesus saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” Now, in our text here today, drawn upon as a means of identification because of its unique relevance to this congregation at Smyrna. Again, you can see it in a prior chapter. If you look at verse 17, for instance, it says, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am he who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.’” Amen? So, why then does Jesus employ this image here again now in chapter 2 to this church in Smyrna? It’s a question we have to answer. But in part, it’s because of Smyrna’s uniqueness. It was arguably the most sophisticated city in all of Asia Minor. It was well known as a center for arts and literature. In fact, it was the birthplace of the Greek poet Homer who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. It was known well over the world for its science and medicine. In fact, it may have had its name derived from one of the most famous exports that it had, myrrh. You can almost hear it if you say the name slowly. Smyrna, myrrh. You can almost hear it. Myrrh is a fragrant tree resin used in perfumes, cosmetics, and medicinally. It was used as an antiseptic and an anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant, probably before they knew what antioxidants were, because it has those properties and it really has a bitter taste. Really bitter. One thing it was really known for in the ancient culture was its resin. The resin was used in embalming of the dead and anointing of the dead. Many theologians have speculated that the gift of myrrh to Jesus by the wise men, the Magi—so I’ll attach it a bit to Christmas—was prophetic in that its bitter taste symbolized the bitterness and suffering and affliction that our Savior would endure. And with myrrh’s qualities of purification was highlighting our Savior’s divine purpose to die for our salvation. It was myrrh mixed with wine, as Mark records, to create gall, as it’s called in Matthew’s Gospel.

There was a state-of-the-art gymnasium, a theater that could seat about 20,000, and a huge outdoor stadium used for these famous games. It was a coastal city known for its great wealth and beauty. Winding its way through the city of Smyrna was a famous thoroughfare called the street of gold. At one end was a temple dedicated to the goddess Cybele. At the other end, a temple dedicated to the god Zeus. At its midpoint, however, the street of gold encircled a mountain rising 500 feet above the city. From a distance, it was designed to look like a necklace on a statue of a goddess. And on top of the mountain were beautifully designed buildings, symmetrically to resemble a crown on the head of a goddess. It was called the crown of Smyrna. Don’t forget, I will come back to it. Smyrna had first existed as a city about a thousand years earlier, but after about 300 years it was destroyed. It laid desolate for nearly four centuries more. But it was eventually rebuilt, and it proved to be a city of stunning beauty. What had vanished into nothing had been raised to life. Consequently, people in the ancient world also identified Smyrna with the phoenix, the mythical symbol of resurrection. In fact, Smyrna was given the title Prōtē tēs Asias, which meant the first of Asia. A title given to it by Rome for its beauty and allegiance to Rome. It competed for that title with cities such as Ephesus and Pergamum. So why does Jesus refer to himself like this? Verse 8: “These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life.” Well, to make clear to this congregation that he is greater than Smyrna. That he is the first and the last one. He is the Lord of everything, including Smyrna. [audio unclear] horrifying sufferings that are being endured by the church in Smyrna there.

A Penetrating Evaluation

You say, what sufferings are these? Well, let’s move now from the relevant introduction to the penetrating evaluation. Verse 9: “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not.” Have you ever found yourself to be the target of humiliation or even hostility for the sake of the gospel? Maybe snubbed by a colleague? Criticized by a relative? A classmate maybe mocking you? How are you inclined to feel most often? Do you remember Job? Where is God in all of this? I’ve stood for him. I’ve spoken for him. And now I feel alienated, cut off, distanced, and abandoned. How many of us have heard—maybe it was your own story—but have heard story after story of God saving someone. And now as he has them bear witness in this world to his saving power, colleagues, friends, relatives, people that they love, proceed to ridicule, humiliate, alienate, and just because, really because they became a Christian. It’s a terrible feeling, isn’t it? That’s exactly how these Smyrnaeans were feeling, right? Like us. It’s what the Smyrnaeans were experiencing on a daily basis. The fact of the matter, quite contrary to how they are feeling emotionally, the very opposite was in fact the case. And how much must it have comforted them? How much has it comforted them to hear Jesus simply say, I know. I know. I know at your places of employment. I know at the shops where you transact business. I know at family gatherings. I know. Can you imagine what comfort it must have brought to them to hear Jesus say, I know? It’s a spiritual, sung by plantation slaves: “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen. Nobody knows but Jesus.” It’s exactly what Jesus is claiming here. I know. I see. I walk among the lampstands. Remember that I’m well aware of what you’re enduring. Verse 9: “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not.” In fact, you’ll notice here. Jesus defines their suffering in three terms. Tribulation, poverty, and blasphemy. Some of your versions might say slander. Now, it’s possible, friends, that Jesus is referring to three distinct expressions of that suffering. But maybe, just maybe, a better way of understanding this is to recognize the first term as the general statement and the second and third as subsequent explanations. John often uses Greek grammar in this book this way. So, I know your tribulation. That right there, it speaks of a burden that is crushing. But what tribulation does Jesus have in view here? He goes on to define this tribulation as your poverty. It’s not that the Smyrnaean Christians have been forced to cancel their cable service or their fiber internet. No. The word here means to have absolutely nothing at all. Nothing. It speaks of an abject poverty. A complete destitution. You say, well, why are these Christians so destitute in a city so affluent? Good question, right? Because of the slander. The blasphemy of those who say they are Jews. These Christians were reduced to the status of destitution because of the slander against them on the part of ethnic Jews. This is the crushing tribulation under which they’re living. You say, but David, many of these Christians were probably Jews themselves. Yeah, exactly. And Jews were specially outraged at Jewish converts to Christianity. These Christian Jews who had come to realize that Jesus Christ was the climax to which everything in Judaism was pointing. For another thing, it was highly offensive to ethnic Jews that the one being heralded as the Messiah had been nailed to a tree, a cross, that symbol of God’s curse. If you read the book of Acts, church, you will discover once again that nearly all the persecution endured by the early church was [audio unclear]. It was the largest concentration of Jewish people in Asia Minor. And their relationship with Rome was always at best tenuous. So to remain in Rome’s good graces, they would often serve as informants against the Christians. For example, once a year, every Roman citizen was required to burn incense as an expression of worship to the godhood of Caesar, after which he would be issued then a certificate of verification. It wasn’t so much an act of worship as it was an expression of political loyalty. And because at the end of the day, the Romans didn’t really care who you worship, only insofar as once a year you burned a pinch of incense on the altar in the city temple and said Caesar is Kyrios. Caesar is Lord. Most Jewish people in Smyrna, [audio unclear] to us? Such a thing could mean the seizure of property, the termination of employment, being barred from buying and selling, kicked out of trade guilds. It would mean inevitably death itself. So when it became advantageous to curry favor with Roman authorities, the Jewish people outed their Christian neighbors. The Smyrnaean Christians have endured all of it. And it has left them crushed under the weight of economic destitution. Who is the source of this tribulation? The Romans. If you said that, you’d be right. But of course, fomenting the Roman persecution is the inciting slander of ethnic Israelites, of whom the Lord of the church here says they are not worthy of that honorable and ancient name. “Those who say they are Jews and are not.” It reminds me, church, of what John the Baptist says to the religious leaders of Israel. In Matthew 3, he says, “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.” Now, there’s nothing antisemitic about this. Jesus himself, I would remind you, bore an ethnic Jewish ethnicity. Rather, you need to realize that when God’s great salvation plan moves from the epoch of promise to the epoch of fulfillment, God’s people are no longer defined ethnically or genealogically. They are defined Christocentrically. They are defined in relationship to Jesus Christ himself. In other words, true Jews are those who follow Jesus as their Messiah. They are no longer distinguished by anything outwardly, but only inwardly. Romans 2. We are not of means, not of natural means, but by the Spirit. Identified by a circumcision, not of the flesh but of the heart. And frankly, this is part of what I [audio unclear] so unsettling, and especially now, politicians who like to refer to the Judeo-Christian God. My dear friends, to reject Jesus Christ is to reject the full and final revelation of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So you say, so you believe that the church replaces Israel. Hear [audio unclear] of true Judaism. Therefore, the church is Israel fulfilled. Paul says in Galatians 3:29, if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring. It is what he means at the end of Galatians in chapter 6 when he refers to the Israel of God. You say, well, who are these guys then? These people who claim to be Jews by the virtue of their bloodline, and yet they persecute the Christians. Jesus says at the end of verse 9, but are a synagogue of Satan. They are a synagogue of Satan. It is the very same thing that Jesus says to the Pharisees, by the way, who while attempting to kill him, claim Abraham to be their father. What does Jesus say? “You are of your father the devil.” What does Jesus observe when he carefully considers this church in Smyrna? A congregation being crushed under the weight of suffering that has come in the form of great physical deprivation. And yet, bless them, they are enduring. They are maintaining their fidelity to Jesus Christ. A fidelity, if you think about it, that has required them to imitate Jesus himself. Who, though rich with the treasures of eternity, voluntarily embraced self-impoverishment, taking the form of a bondservant. And not only imitating Jesus, you understand, but in embracing his teaching that a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions, but of being rich toward God. Jesus said despite your circumstances, your tribulation, your poverty, you are rich. The very opposite, by the way, of what he says to Laodicea. They’re the rich church that is poor. The church in Smyrna, the poor church that is rich. What would the Lord of the church—this is a question for us—what would the Lord of the church, friends, now ascribe to us, Liberty Church? Economically rich, spiritually poor? Spiritually rich, economically poor? I understand, of course, that these two qualities are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but in most cases, listen, what proves to be a preoccupation with one undermines the pursuit of the other. Smyrna is rich in grace. Rich in the currency of heaven. Rich in a spiritual economy. Would this be Christ’s assessment of Liberty Church? It’s a question for us, right? What is obvious to the people when they visit us here on Sunday? It’s hard for us, right? It’s hard for us to be completely objective on these matters, to get a look at ourselves from the outside. What are people hearing in our singing? What are people hearing in our preaching? What are people hearing in our praying? In our conversations with one another? Is it an image we attempt to project? An affluence maybe that we convey? A preoccupation with maybe our own financial portfolios? Don’t misunderstand me. It’s not inherently evil to find yourself economically comfortable. The issue to be reckoned with is this: to whom or what do you obviously display ultimate fidelity? In his penetrating evaluation of Liberty Church, isn’t this what we want Jesus Christ to say? Well, the roof leaks. The building, it sometimes looks like it’s in a state of construction mode. The media and sound system, eh, a bit iffy, but those who run it are magnificent. But it’s a bit iffy. Not too many, you know, high-priced Beamers or anything in the parking lot. No cutting-edge technology, thanks be to God. No business plan. We do have a budget. We just did that. There’s certainly nothing attractive about your leaders, including your deacons. But you are rich in spirit. You are rich in the gospel. You are rich in grace. You are rich in faith. You are rich in everything that really matters. This is what we always must pursue. Right? And as we do, we will always meet with the approval of the Lord of the church.

A Corresponding Exhortation

This is Jesus’ penetrating evaluation. And now, the corresponding exhortation. And it may not be exactly what you thought it was going to be. I mean, given the kind of Christianity that many promote today, especially in America, Jesus, we would assume, would be very quick to guarantee immediate relief from this crushing tribulation, right? That’s what we hear promoted. After all, Jesus lives to meet your needs, doesn’t he? He lives to deliver you from every possible pain and suffering and difficulty that you face, right? No. He does nothing of the kind here. In fact, to be most accurate, he doesn’t even promise them more of the same. He says that, and he says [audio unclear] found too terribly bad. Well, that’s because you may not understand what prison actually meant to them in the ancient world. Prison was not a place for extended punishment. It was not a place for long-term custody. It was short-term. It was a detention center short-term. Designed to hold those awaiting one of two outcomes, or in this case here, execution. It’s what Jesus goes on to say towards the end of verse 10: “Be faithful until death.” That is, up to and including death. My friends, do you hear what the Lord of the church is promising the people of this congregation? Your martyrdom is impending. Not a favored verse, admittedly, on the part of health-and-wealth people, is it? But notice, that while Rome is the immediate source of the persecution against these Christians, incited by the slander of ethnic Israelites, standing behind both of them is a far more sadistic and evil force. The ultimate enemy of the people of God, the one, church, who really, truly hates us, the slanderer par excellence, because that’s exactly what his name is. If you read the Greek, diabolos, the slanderer, it means devil. His ambition is to drive you away from Jesus Christ. How? In whatever way possible. Here, in this case, at this church, by placing you under such a crushing pressure that you eventually renounce your allegiance to him. It’s what this testing is all about. So Jesus issues two commands. One in the negative and one in the positive. But they both get at the very same idea. The negative command, verse 10: “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.” Do not fear. But fearlessness, remember this, fearlessness is not the absence of dread. It doesn’t imply that your knees should stop knocking together. It means that you must not allow the threat of harm to turn you away from Jesus Christ. Notice what he says. Same thing more positively. The middle of verse 10: “Be faithful until death.” Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Be faithful. Okay. But how are we to do this? I mean, how does anyone do this? And you say, truth be told, I’m not sure I could do this. Yes, you could. And by the grace of God, you would. You say, but how? I’m going to tell you. First, remember the limitations of the enemy. Remember the limitations of the enemy. Satan is not divine. Satan is a creature, which means far more like you than he is like God. These are not competing powers, my friends. Remember the limitations set on the enemy by the sovereign authority and purpose of God. Here, tribulation will last how long? How long is it going to last? Ten days, right? That says ten days. Are these literal ten days? I don’t think so. In Revelation, ten in its multiples are used to refer to the completeness of some period of suffering. It suggests nothing about how short or how long the time will be, only that it will be full or complete. And that it’s defined by specific limits. In other words, there will be an eleventh day. Why? Because though the Jews incite the Romans and the devil incites them both, it is the Lord of the church who will harness them all. Have you read the book of Job lately? The enemy can hurt Job only insofar as God determines. Maybe that’s the reason that that book’s in your Bible. To indicate to you that God is in sovereign control of the one who is the enemy of your soul. This is something I want to be super clear about. Your spiritual survival depends on your recognition of God’s absolute and meticulous sovereignty. And never ever will this prove truer for you than during times of suffering. It is easier to live with an absolutely sovereign God that you cannot always understand than to live with a God you can fully explain but does not control all things. I might add, it’s not only easier, but more to the point, it’s the truth. People who attempt to undercut this are not adequately outfitting you for seasons of hostile tribulation. How do you remain fearless? How do you remain faithful even unto death? Again, you remember the limitations of your enemy. Now, second, rivet your affections on the prize. Rivet your affections on the prize. End of verse 10: “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Oh, there is something infinitely more glorious than the crown of Smyrna. Remember the crown of Smyrna? There’s something more infinitely glorious. And that is the crown of life. I’m reminded of that scene, that early scene in Pilgrim’s Progress. When, after being urged by Evangelist to walk the narrow road to the celestial city, Christian goes home to invite his family to take up the same pursuit with him. You guys remember? And he’s not there for long until his family comes to think or realize that he’s insane. They think he’s gone off the rails. His wife and his children, they plead with him. Rather than walk with him the path of the gospel, they say, don’t do this, don’t do this! And then he finally realizes, Christian, that he had to leave them [audio unclear] Life. Life. [audio unclear] right? [audio unclear] is the prize for ultimate fidelity. And I would remind you again that what Jesus says to them, he says to us. Don’t forget this.

A Motivating Benediction

Finally, the motivating benediction. You’re all probably like, finally, he’s there. Verse 11. I heard the laughs out there. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” The second death, what in the world is the second death? Well, there are two deaths that people can face. Physical death and eternal death. To experience the first death, in fidelity to Jesus Christ, is to escape the second death. You say, so what is the second death? Not the absence of life. Not the poofing out of existence. The second death is conscious, eternal existence in the lake of fire. Everlasting life in hateful fellowship with the devil and his demons and every human being who willfully chooses anything other than Jesus Christ as the object to whom he displays his ultimate fidelity. A place where all of these will have the unmitigated wrath of God poured upon them for all of eternity. But this is not the ultimate destiny for those of you who display fidelity to Jesus Christ up to and including martyrdom if necessary. The one who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death. You say, the one who overcomes what? The temptation to escape suffering by renouncing your faithfulness to Jesus. You say, this is all so silly though, isn’t it? I mean, it’s so irrelevant. It may have been pertinent for these Christians living in Smyrna then, but we are here in O’Fallon, Missouri, good old USA, where things are altogether different. This has really no application for us. And I thought that for a moment when I was making the decision, should I just go to Pergamum instead of Smyrna? And respectfully, I now cannot disagree more now. I fear, dear friends, that maybe we’ve lost sight of the fact that every follower of Jesus Christ is a martyr in principle. Whether yours is a literal one or a figurative one, the call to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is still, “Deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow me.” Being a Christian, not deciding to be a Christian, but being a Christian is the very act of embracing the spirit of martyrdom in daily doses of self-denying obedience. Will your fidelity to Jesus Christ be put to the ultimate test of having to choose death for Jesus rather than renouncing your allegiance to him? Probably not. So is it possible to ever know really if your fidelity extends this far? Yes. Yes it is. Because this is what it means to die for Jesus Christ: to live every moment for him. That’s what it means to die for Jesus Christ. To live every moment for him over and against anything or anyone else, including yourself. It means placing your hands over your ears as it were. Running to him and crying, Life. Life. “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Eternal life is the prize for ultimate fidelity. It’s more obvious than you know. It’s this simple. Listen. This simple. Now, if you don’t live for Jesus Christ, you will never die for him. Because that’s what dying for him is. Living every moment for him. It’s the glorious paradox. Victory via death. When will we learn that the Bible teaches a theology of weakness, not a theology of our success. And the model is Jesus himself. Life. Life. Eternal life is the prize. Eternal life is the prize for ultimate fidelity.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray. O our Father, we thank you for the privilege of drawing near to you this morning, of opening your Word and seeing, and seeing and seeking to understand what it means and how it applies to us here. Our Father, we have such strange views of Christianity that are so distanced from the plain meaning of your Word. We pray, O Lord, that you would correct us. If you were correcting, you would comfort. We pray, O Lord, that we would recognize this life, the Christian life, as a life of martyrdom, maybe one final moment of execution, but day by day, moment by moment. We might always and in every way say yes to you. Help us, dear God, to not be afraid of what that might mean. Not in the sense that we disengage our brains and our emotions and somehow no longer feel anxiety, but rather that the anxiety would not paralyze us from being faithful to you. And Father, I pray that we would be motivated by the great and glorious prize, which is life itself. Help us to follow the pathway walked by your Son, our Lord Jesus. Always remember that the way to victory in life is in self-denying death. Father, please I pray, create that very disposition in Liberty Church. May we now properly respond to your Word in obedience as we carry out our mission to this world. As we carry out our love to you and thankfulness, and we do love you. In your Son Jesus’ matchless name I pray, amen.