Good morning everyone. Please turn with me to Revelation chapter 2.
And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write,
the words of the first and the last who died and came to life.
I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich.
And the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested.
And for 10 days you will have tribulation.
Be faithful unto 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.
The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.
Well, good morning everyone.
In my first semester at uni, while trying to find my place in a new city,
I moved from Tamworth to Newcastle trying to make new friends.
I was studying PE teaching, and I had to give a lesson in front of my peers on sexual health.
Now, I can't really remember what I said, but I remember in the feedback time afterward,
the lecturer challenged me in front of everyone.
Are you a Christian?
Where in the Bible does it say you shouldn't have sex before marriage?
I was stunned into silence.
There was a strong feeling in that moment.
It was more than embarrassment.
The lecturer had the authority in that situation,
and everyone in the room understood the subtext going on.
He wasn't just claiming I was factually incorrect.
He was saying something deeper than that.
He was saying I was a fool for my view on sex before marriage,
and I was wrong to even mention it to other people.
In that moment, I felt shame.
I don't fully belong.
For me, the first and second year of university,
I wrestled trying to decide, is Christianity worth it?
Then after uni, after not getting a PE job straight away,
my first job was as a high school SRE or scripture teacher.
Now, the school tried to give SRE a proper classroom
and a proper place in the timetable,
but there seemed to be a common understanding among the students
that SRE just wasn't a real subject.
Normal classroom rules can be pushed to the limit.
The amount of times I ask myself, is this worth it?
I lost count by the last bell on Monday, usually.
A little side plug here, SRE is excellent.
I highly recommend it if you have the opportunity.
Talk to me any time.
But they're just two examples for me, for my story so far.
It would be fascinating to hear how each one of us have been forced
to ask yourself the question, is Christianity worth it?
Is it worth the loss and the cost?
What have you had to give up or lose simply because you're a Christian?
It could be money, it could be time.
What relationships have been strained, not by your arrogance,
but because you've decided to side with Christ?
What hardship could you have easily avoided?
All you had to do was go with the flow of what everyone else did.
We're all faced with this question, is it worth it?
As we come to the letter to Smyrna, which is about severe persecution,
we shouldn't think this doesn't apply to us here in Australia today
for at least two reasons.
Firstly, there is no guarantee that we will continue to be safe
in Australia going forward.
And secondly, the cost you and I are faced with every day at school,
at uni, with colleagues, with our sporting teams and friends and family.
We can be tempted to distance ourselves from Christ bit by bit by bit.
So what's going to motivate us to stand with Christ and walk into trouble
and not away from it?
We've got to hear what Christ has to say to Smyrna.
So Smyrna competed with Ephesus for the title of the greatest city of Asia.
It too was a centre for trade and wealth.
It too was full of worship to the gods.
The Roman gods.
The most defining feature of Smyrna was that it had been totally destroyed
about 600 years before Christ.
And it laid in ruins for 300 years before it was raised again.
And unlike most cities, it was carefully designed.
And so it had this order and beauty to it.
And today it still stands.
It's Isma, the second largest city in Turkey.
To live in Smyrna was to belong to the glorious resurrected city
that boasted of its allegiance to the emperor.
And there in the midst of this little, of this city is this little local church,
a lampstand.
This lampstand, it's a picture of every Christian being a priest.
You might be familiar with the phrase, the priesthood of all believers.
To be priest is to be totally dedicated to the service of Christ.
Your allegiance is totally to him.
And your role is to represent him to the rest of the world.
What will it mean to be Christ's lampstand in Smyrna?
The words of the first and the last who died and came to life.
Into this resurrected city speaks one who also died and came to life.
These words echo the description of the Lord in chapter 1,
as do all the introductions to the seven letters.
He is the first and the last, the alpha and the omega,
and everything in between.
He is the eternal one who chose to die for his church
and who came back to life and now holds the keys of death and hell.
Church in Smyrna, Christians today, to which will you belong?
The life and glory of the city you live in?
Or the life and glory of the risen Lord Jesus?
This letter is the briefest letter.
And because it's brief, it gives a solemn air to it.
And when you compare this letter to the Ephesians,
something appears to be missing.
The Ephesians are praised for their hard work,
their concern for truth, their endurance.
But to those in Smyrna, he says,
I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich.
And the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not,
but are a synagogue of Satan.
Outwardly, all this church has going for it is pain and loss.
Is their suffering a divine punishment for their lack of devotion to Christ?
Doesn't that thought cross your mind when hard times hit you?
But that doesn't fit here.
There's no explicit indictment from Christ.
No hint of needing to repent.
And no warning if they don't change.
Instead, Christ says, you are rich.
Materially suffering loss, but spiritually rich.
In chapter 1, verse 9, John introduces his letter to all Christians saying,
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom
and the patient endurance that are in Jesus.
Tribulation means great trouble or suffering,
and it is the new normal for every Christian.
Aligning yourself to Christ when the world wants to live without Christ
is going to mean trouble.
Tribulation isn't a mark of God's punishment.
It's the mark of faithfulness.
It's not the experience of some Christians.
It is par for the course.
It's the new normal.
We don't experience it in equal measure, of course.
For those in Smyrna,
the source of their trouble is the slanderous accusations of the Jews
who claim to worship God
and claim that the Christians are evil.
All the while, these Jews reject Christ.
Lying and murdering like Satan.
Christianity had no legal standing,
and so it made it easy for Jews and others to take advantage of them.
The Roman Empire was very tolerant of all religions,
but it was dangerous to believe that only one God exists and rules over all.
And when the Roman Emperor himself started to be worshipped as a god,
to not worship him was seen as treason.
By following Christ,
they no longer belonged to their community.
Legally, they had no grounds for rights or freedoms.
And perhaps even their own family members,
their Jewish family members,
would drag them into court,
publicly slandering them to the loss of their property
or their reputation,
even their life.
This is heavy stuff, isn't it?
Was it worth it?
Do you feel the pressure,
the threat to be tolerant of all opinions
and all people's choices?
Perhaps we feel it most
with those closest to us,
the relationships we hold dear,
the respect we crave.
Into this pressure,
Christ says,
I know your pain.
More than just acknowledging it,
our Lord is speaking as having gone ahead of us,
slandered as evil
only because he was faithful to his father.
He perfectly reflected his father's character.
And it resulted in death.
Christ says,
I know your pain.
And at this point,
I want Christ to say,
don't worry,
your trouble will be over tomorrow.
But instead of taking the trouble away,
he gives us strength to move into the pain
by giving us a bigger perspective
to what's actually going on
behind what the eye can see.
Look at verse 10.
Do not fear what you're about to suffer.
Behold,
the devil is about to throw some of you into prison
that you may be tested.
And for 10 days,
you will have tribulation.
Be faithful unto death
and I will give you the crown of life.
Behind the slander of people
is the devil himself,
whose name means slanderer or accuser.
He is the one
who will bring such allegations
and injustice and loss.
Some of you will go into prison.
Some of you will even be killed.
Christ doesn't offer them a comfortable life.
Whoever wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted.
And this isn't for a short time.
10 days,
10 represents an extended period
of time.
What will empower them
to move into the trouble?
Not in a cavalier bring on the pain way,
but remaining steadfast.
They're told,
we're told there's a purpose to it all.
The devil will do this to test you.
The implication here
is that you will pass the test.
This sounds a lot like the story of Job.
Job is praised as faithful
by the Lord himself.
And Satan wants to test his faith,
accusing Job
that he only serves the Lord
because of all the earthly comfort
that God provides him.
Take it away
and Job will curse you to your face.
All his children killed,
financially ruined and covered in sores from head to foot.
No guarantee of a better day tomorrow.
And the story ends with Job
counting the Lord as worth it,
as all he needs.
Times of testing
shows that for God's sake alone,
not the extra stuff he gives,
for his sake alone,
it is worth worshipping him.
And beyond Satan,
there is the eternal judge
and life giver.
Trouble is certain,
but just as certain is
it's limited.
There will be
an eleventh day,
so to speak.
Most importantly,
remember who's speaking.
The one who died himself
and who came alive.
He holds the keys of death and hell
and he guarantees
resurrection for those who belong to him.
Be faithful unto death
and I will give you the crown
of life.
He has the authority
to give life.
After the cross
comes the crown.
People in this world
chase after the glory
of a crown
like in the Olympic Games
of the Roman Empire,
a wreath of flowers,
a garland around the head,
the praise of the world
and wealth,
but it doesn't last.
Christ offers
an enduring crown,
eternal life
in his kingdom.
This is not
a special reward
on top of your salvation.
This promise
is for every person
who counts Christ
as worthy
to endure trouble for,
which is every
genuine Christian.
To conquer
is John's way
of talking about faith.
When a person
is tempted
to end the pain
of being a Christian
by going with the flow
of the world,
what does that person
need to do
to stick with Christ?
We need to listen
to Christ's words
and believe him
more than the world.
Trust
that the eternal
judgment of the Lord
is the only judgment
that ultimately matters.
It is judgment
that is true.
Trust
that true
life and glory
is only
found
in the resurrected
Christ,
not in the world.
How we conquer
is to use
our ears
to listen
and believe
and respond
to what Christ
says to us.
and Christ
has an amazing
promise
for us.
The one
who conquers
will not
be hurt
by the second
death.
The second
death
is a picture
in Revelation 20
for the judgment
of God,
the lake
of fire
where Satan
and everyone
else who
oppose Christ
will be thrown.
Eternal
loss
of the life
giving presence
of God,
hell.
Brothers
and sisters,
in times
of trial,
we need
to look
beyond the
loss
and pain.
When you
stand before
the Lord
at judgment,
which each
of us has
to,
you will
have zero
reason
to be
afraid.
You can
lift your
head
assured
that you
have
entrusted
your
life
to the
resurrected
one,
the judge
of all
the earth.
You
already
know
the real
judge's
judgment
of you.
The wording
here is
certainly
not.
You
will
certainly
not
be hurt
by the
eternal
judgment.
You
will have
the crown
of life.
Do you
hear the
assurance?
As
Marty told
the story
in his
intro,
sitting in
the congregation
at Smyrna,
where Revelation
was first read,
could have sat
this young
man,
Polycarp.
he became
bishop,
and in
his old
age,
arrested,
taken to
the public
arena,
and he
was ordered
to offer
incense to
Caesar as
Lord.
Before being
burnt,
he said
those words,
let me repeat
them,
eighty and
six years
have I
served
Christ,
and he
has done
me no
wrong.
How then
can I
blaspheme
my king
who saved
me?
He was
looking
beyond
that
moment.
He knew
the crown
of life
that was
his by
grace
through
the blood
of Christ.
He was
more scared,
he was
more assured
that the
judgment
of Christ
is what
counts,
not what
the public
thinks,
not even
the pain.
This
perspective
turns loss
and pain
and slander
of other
people
upside
down.
Or more
accurately,
it turns
it the
right way
up.
Look at
what's
going on.
Whatever
loss you
face,
while
remaining
devoted
to the
Lord,
you are
declaring
to people
around you
and to
the
spiritual
realities,
Christ
is worth
it.
Christ
is my
life.
Not the
things he
gives me,
not the
things you
can offer
me,
Christ
himself
is my
life.
The
church in
Ephesus
had all
the external
marks of
a healthy
church,
but in
their heart
they'd lost
their passionate
devotion to
the Lord
who died
for them.
And here's
Smyrna,
looking ahead,
and all
they see
is loss
and pain,
and all
they get
for it
is Christ.
And they
decide
worth it.
Is there
a greater
expression of
devotion than
that?
Is there
a brighter
light and
witness to
the truth
than
faithfulness
in the face
of suffering
and loss?
is there
a greater
word of
praise
Christ
could
give
them
than
on the
last
day
at
judgment?
Well
done,
good and
faithful
servant.
Having
lost
everything
else,
but being
close to
the Lord,
they are
rich.
Charles
Spurgeon
said it
better than
I can,
for the
Christian,
losses
enrich him,
sickness
is his
medicine,
reproach
is his
honour,
death
is his
gain.
This can
only be
true of
you if
you believe
in your
heart,
Christ
is worth
it.
friends,
as we
look ahead
to our
immediate
future,
as a
church
family
and as
individuals,
trouble
and loss
and not
belonging in
this world
is before
us.
But we
need to
look beyond
and see
him who
has gone
ahead of
us,
who has
died in
our place
and has
come to
life.
Don't be
afraid.
Be faithful
unto death
and I
will give
you the
crown of
life.
What a
light for
Christ in
this dark
world we
will be if
when trouble
comes we
can say
Christ is
worth it.
Will you
pray with me
to finish?
Let's pray.
Father, you
know our
hearts and
how we
struggle to
believe that
what this
world offers
us isn't
better than
what you
offer us.
Forgive us
Lord for
this.
Thank you
that it's
by your
blood alone
that we
stand
secure
knowing that
judgment has
already passed
on Christ
and that
by grace
alone we
get to
share in
the crown
of life.
Lord, I
pray for us
as a church
that we
wouldn't just
go with the
flow of
this world
that you
would help
us to
see Christ
in all his
truth and
beauty and
count having
him as
worth it.
Lord, give
us ears to
hear you.
Make us
rich.
In Jesus'
name.
Amen.