{"id":18956,"date":"2018-07-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-22T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-008-reward-through-suffering\/"},"modified":"2018-07-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-07-22T05:00:00","slug":"revelation-008-reward-through-suffering","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-008-reward-through-suffering\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 008 – Reward Through Suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18956","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 008 - Reward Through Suffering","sermon_date":"20180722","sermon_month":"7","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5927,"sermon_slides":5926,"sermon_mp3":5929,"sermon_id":"7221811544210","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"2:8-11","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nReward Through Suffering\u00a0\u00a0 7-22-18\n\nRevelation 2:8-11\n\nLesson 8\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 If we could take our Bibles and open them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 2; as God allows it trying to cover verses 8-11 today.\u00a0 The title of our message is Reward Through Suffering.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve been tracking with us through the Book of Revelation we\u2019ve covered some introductory issues to the book.\u00a0 We finished the prologue to the book and from there we moved on into the first major section of the book where John is told in a vision to write down the things that he has seen.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where he gives us a tremendous picture of the glorified Christ in chapter 1.\u00a0 But then John is told to write down the things that are. The things that are is the second major section, chapters 2 and 3, the seven letters to the seven churches that are going to be addressed in this section.\u00a0 And each letter to each church follows this pattern, and I\u2019ll be making a reference to this pattern, there\u2019s about eight parts to it, as we progress from church to church in these various letters.\n\nWe saw last week, at least we finished last week the church at Ephesus, a church that really had a great history, a great origin, a great founding, a lot of wonderful things were happening in that church but over time this is a church that allowed activity for Christ to somehow replace intimacy with Christ.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve seen the very severe exhortation that Jesus gave to that church, including the removal of that church\u2019s lampstand, which we know historically happened.\n\nSo we move away from Ephesus to the next of the seven churches, church number 2 in our list of seven.\u00a0 This is the church at Smyrna, the suffering church.\u00a0 The church at Smyrna that probable we here in the United States are less likely to identify with because as we\u2019ll be explaining this church was undergoing great duress, great persecution from the outside.\n\nHere is our outline for those three verses, looking at the eight characteristics of these letters.\u00a0 Notice if\u00a0 you will first of all the destination.\u00a0 Take a look at Revelation 2, notice if you will verse 8.\u00a0 It says, \u201cAnd to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: \u2018The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:\u2019\u201d\u00a0 The angel over the church at Smyrna, as we\u2019ve tried to articulate in prior sermons, is the angel over all of these churches, which would be the angelos<\/em> or the messenger, or the preacher, or the pastor to each church, the pastor being sort of the gateway, if you will, into the life of a local congregation.\u00a0 This is one of the reasons why pastors are\u00a0 under attack today.\u00a0 As your Bible says, \u201cStrike the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered.\u201d\n\n[Zechariah 13:7b, \u201c\"Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.\u201d\u00a0 Mark 24:7, \u201cAnd Jesus said to them, \"You will all fall away, because it is written, \u2018I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 26:31, \u201cThen Jesus said to them, \"You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, 'I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.\u2019\u201d]\n\nThat\u2019s why the moment you put yourself in the position, or follow God\u2019s calling as a pastor come the onslaught of attacks from the evil one because the pastor is the gateway to the congregation.\u00a0 Satan will understand that if a pastor can kind of go off the rails it can damage an entire flock.\u00a0 This is why you need to pray for your pastor and not just for me but really pastors around the country, pastors around the world for that matter.\n\nSo the letter goes, first of all to the angelos<\/em>, messenger, or the pastor of this church.\u00a0 The church was located in Smyrna.\u00a0 Smyrna would be about 35 miles north of Ephesus.\u00a0 It today exists, the area of Smyrna, as Izmir, in what is called modern day Turkey.\u00a0 And we really don\u2019t read a lot about Smyrna in the Bible, the church that is.\u00a0 In fact, to my knowledge this is the only place in the Bible that the church at Smyrna is even mentioned. \u00a0But what a mention it is and the information we\u2019re given is just stunning, about this particular church.\u00a0 How did this church start?\u00a0\u00a0 Well, it started with the ministry of the Apostle Paul on the third missionary journey where, according to Acts 19:10 all through Paul\u2019s ministry there in Ephesus, located nearby, \u201call in Asia heard the Word of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 And this is likely how all of these churches in that particular part of the world started back in the first century.\u00a0 [Acts 19:10, \u201cThis took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.\u201d]\n\nThe word \u201cSmyrna\u201d comes from the word myrrh; myrrh was what this city was known for.\u00a0 It was something that was created for the purpose of embalming the dead; that\u2019s what myrrh is.\u00a0 And what a tremendous description of what was happening in this city, in this area, because as we\u2019re going to see here Christians were called upon by Christ to be faithful unto death; the name Smyrna actually having its roots in the whole concept of death.\n\nYou might remember what the wise men from Babylon brought to the Lord, the infant Christ child.\u00a0 According to Matthew 2:11\u201d they presented to Him gifts of \u00a0gold, frankincense, and myrrh.\u201d\u00a0 This is what was being manufactured in this part of the world.\u00a0 [Matthew 2:11, \u201cAfter coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.\u201d]\u00a0 Some have seen in myrrh there a type, if you will, of the death that Messiah would die, a well-known ingredient used to embalm the dead.\u00a0 So that\u2019s a little bit of background, if you will, on the church at Smyrna.\n\nSomething else to understand about Smyrna is Smyrna was one of those places which we would call the center of Caesar worship.\u00a0 You see, the Roman governors, the Roman emperors were sort of deified, if you will, in that particular culture.\u00a0 And people were constantly called upon to swear allegiance to Caesar because Caesar was looked at not just as a political ruler but he was looked at as a deity.\n\nAnd the Christian church could have gotten along very well with that crowd if they had just shifted a word or two around in their theology.\u00a0 Jesus says in John 14:6, \u201cI am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me.\u201d\u00a0 If they had just switched the definite article from \u201cMe\u201d to \u201ca\u201d making Jesus say I am a<\/u> way, a<\/u> truth, they could have merged on into Roman polytheism and probably gotten along very well with the Roman system.\u00a0 But you see, the early church wouldn\u2019t do that; they were what you would call fundamentalists.\u00a0 They were literalists, they didn\u2019t see themselves in a position to change anything that Jesus Christ Himself said and they kept insisting that He is THE way, and consequently they would not, many of them, swear allegiance to the Roman Caesar polytheistic system.\u00a0 And Smyrna was a place where people had to make a decision.\u00a0 You\u2019re either going to follow Christ or you\u2019re going to follow man.\u00a0 And this decision was so severe that many of them had to\u00a0 pay with their own lives.\u00a0 This is the church that Jesus is addressing here at the end of the first century.\n\nIn fact, there was a man that was the pastor of this particular church; his name was Polycarp.\u00a0 Polycarp pastored the church at Smyrna; Polycarp was a direct disciple of John, the apostle himself, the man who had this revelation and recorded it.\u00a0 I found some information this week on Polycarp and how he died.\u00a0 The aged pastor of Smyrna, Polycarp, a convert and a pupil of John was burned at the stake in A.D. 168, which would be a few decades into the second century after this letter was written.\u00a0 He was burned at the stake in that city because he would not renounce his faith in Christ.\n\nThe Roman proconsul counseled him or promised him swear by Caesar and I will release thee; revile Christ.\u00a0 As recounted in the oldest written account of a Christian martyrdom outside of the New Testament itself, entitled (and you can find this online) The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp<\/em>.\u00a0 The serene Polycarp replied, as he was being led away to the stake to be burned, quote: \u201cEighty-six years I have served Him\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201cand He never did me any wrong.\u00a0 How can I blaspheme my King who saved me.\u00a0 I am a Christian.\u201d\u00a0 Those, of course, were the final words of Polycarp before the flames engulfed his body.\n\nThis is the type of situation, this is the type of scenario that Jesus Christ is addressing through John at the end of the first century in Smyrna.\u00a0 Notice how Jesus describes Himself there in verse 8.\u00a0 He describes Himself two ways, \u201cI am the first and the last, I was dead and have come back to life.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ll recall that in this section of each letter Jesus goes back into information about Himself as revealed in Revelation 1 in the vision that He gave to John concerning Himself.\u00a0 And Jesus will surface information from that initial vision and He will surface things about Himself, not just to give them random information but things about Himself that pertain to their own circumstances and what they\u2019re going through.\n\nJesus says two things about Himself.\u00a0 Number one, \u201cI am the first,\u201d the protos<\/em>, \u201cand the last.\u201d\u00a0 What Jesus said about Himself back in chapter 1, verse 17.\u00a0 [Revelation 1:17, \u201cWhen I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, \u2018Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 It reminds me of what Christ said of Himself back in chapter 1, verse 8, \u201cI am the Alpha and the Omega,\u201d Alpha being the first letter in the Greek alphabet, Omega being the last letter in the Greek alphabet.\u00a0 I am the beginning and the end.\u00a0\u00a0 [Revelation 1:8, \u201cI am the Alpha and the Omega,\" says the Lord God, \"who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Revelation 12:6, \u201cThen He said to me, \"It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 22:13, \u201cI am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.\u201d]\n\nI am history\u2019s creator, redeemer, sustainer and coming ruler.\u00a0 And what a thing to understand, that Jesus is the point of history.\u00a0 Jesus is what it\u2019s all about; history, as we have said, is His story.\u00a0 Life is about Christ. If you go through your life without Christ you miss the point of being alive, since He is the point of history.\u00a0 What a thing to have in your mind as you\u2019re facing death for Christ, seeing it as not something in vain because Jesus, of course, is the point of history itself.\n\nHe also describes Himself, chapter 2 and verse 8, as one who was dead and has come back to life, obviously referring to the resurrection, information that Jesus disclosed about Himself back in chapter 2 and verse 18.\u00a0 [Revelation 1:18, \u201cand the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 2:8, \u201cAnd to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life.\u201d]\n\nThe resurrection of Jesus is Christ\u2019s victory over the grave.\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 Many people will sort of argue that the point of it is to prove Jesus is God and that of course is true.\u00a0 The empty tomb is one of the great evidences that Christianity is correct.\u00a0 All of the other graves of all of the other religious leaders of the world are occupied.\u00a0 Christ\u2019s tomb is empty, praise the Lord for that!\u00a0 But there\u2019s a lot more to it than simply proving that Jesus Christ is God; there\u2019s a lot more to it than simply using this as a key piece of evidence to support the truth of Christianity.\n\nThe truth of the matter is you, I, we, are united to Him by way of faith.\u00a0 If He will conquer the grave then who else will conquer the grave.\u00a0 So will we.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we\u2019re called in these letters over\u00adcomers.\u00a0 And one of the great purposes for Jesus Christ coming to the earth, Hebrews 2:15 is to remove the fear of death.\u00a0 Hebrews 2:15 says, \u201cand He might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.\u201d\u00a0 One of the things that you run into in pastoral ministry is people that are looking at death right in the eye, either because of medical circumstances, health circumstances, doctor\u2019s reports.\u00a0 In fact, all of us, the last time I checked the mortality rate is still 100%.\u00a0 If we\u2019re not the rapture generation, which I hope we are, I can\u2019t promise that, then every single person within the sound of my voice will die because of original sin.\u00a0 \u201cThe wages of sin is death.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Romans 6:23, \u201cFor the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d]\n\nYou see, death for the Christian is not just martyrdom happening in other parts of the world; it relates to what people in this flock right now are facing.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re not immediately facing death no doubt you know someone in your family tree, your family line, your circle of friends, that is dealing with this prospect.\u00a0 And when you look death right in the eye, how important it is to remember that you are connected to the one who conquered the grave.\u00a0 If He conquered the grave you, by way of faith in Him will conquer the grave as well.\n\nThis is why Paul says, \u201cFor I am convinced\u201d talking about all of the things that cannot separate\u00a0 us from the love of God, \u201cFor I am convinced\u201d and what\u2019s the very first thing he mentions, \u201cthat neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, not things to come,\u201d you know the rest of these verses.\u00a0 Death itself cannot separate us from the love of God.\u00a0 I mean, no wonder Polycarp could look death right in the eye and with the opportunity to renounce Christ did not renounce Christ but was loyal to Christ until the end.\u00a0 What a word of comfort this would be to a flock of people facing death because of the reality of Caesar worship and having to make a stand for Christ that could be quite costly.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice that He goes on in verse 9 and commends this church.\u00a0 Look at what he says there in Revelation 2:9, \u201c'I know\u201d Jesus says, \u201cyour tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting that Jesus starts off this letter by rehearsing what He said to the church at Ephesus back in chapter 2, verse 2.\u00a0 He said, \u201cI know.\u201d\u00a0 He says, I know everything that\u2019s happening in Ephesus, similarly I know everything that\u2019s happening in Smyrna.\u00a0 I know your ups, I know your downs.\u00a0 I know your precautions, I know your insecurities, I know your moments of joy, I know your moments of weakness.\u00a0 I know it all because you are My body and I am the head.\n\nHe acknowledges here three things that are happening in Smyrna, which He looks at, I think, as favorably.\u00a0 Number one, he acknowledges their tribulation.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see it there in verse 9.\u00a0 [Revelation 2:9, \u201c'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.\u201d\u00a0 The Greek word there is thilipsis<\/em>, translated tribulation, and many people have the mistaken belief that because we teach that the church will escape THE tribulation (which it will, I\u2019ll be explaining that as we continue on in this series) that somehow the Christian is immune from tribulations, lower case t.\u00a0 And that simply is not true.\n\nThe Christian is a candidate for trials, John 16:33.\u00a0 [John 16:33, \u201cThese things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.\u201d]\n\nMan\u2019s wrath, 2 Timothy 3:12, [2 Timothy 3:12, \u201cThese things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.\u201d ]\n\nSatan\u2019s wrath, Ephesians 6:11-12, [Eph. 6:11-12, \u201c11\u00a0Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the\u00a0schemes of the devil.\u00a012\u00a0For our\u00a0struggle is not against\u00a0flesh and blood, but\u00a0against the rulers, against the powers, against the\u00a0world forces of this\u00a0darkness, against the\u00a0spiritual\u00a0forces\u00a0of wickedness in\u00a0the heavenly\u00a0places.\u201d]\n\nThe world\u2019s wrath, John 15:18-19.\u00a0 They are, and will, escape THE tribulation God\u2019s wrath.\u201d\n\nThey are and will escape THE tribulation, God\u2019s wrath.\u00a0 Praise the Lord for that.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 But until that time comes the wear and tear of life is experiencing wrath from all of these different forms as part and parcel of the Christian life.\u00a0 Jesus sees this little church going through these things and he acknowledges that, I\u2019m aware, I know of your tribulation.\u00a0 He also says I know of your poverty.\u00a0 The Greek word for poverty here is {?}, which basically is in reference to the lowest level of poverty a human being can descend to.\u00a0 It\u2019s used to my knowledge only two other times in the Greek New Testament; it\u2019s used to describe the deep poverty that the Macedonians were experiencing, 2 Corinthians 8:2.\n\nIt\u2019s actually used,\u00a0 interestingly enough, of Christ\u2019s own poverty.\u00a0 Christ was rich but he became poor for us, did He not, and He lived with human limitations.\u00a0 And when that word is used in 2 Corinthians 8:9 to describe Christ\u2019s humiliation that\u2019s the same word that\u2019s being used here and applied to the church at Smyrna.\u00a0 [2 Corinthians 8:9, \u201c\n\nAnd yet what are we told today in so-called Christian television?\u00a0 That if you\u2019re a child of God God wants you to be wealthy, God wants you to be rich. Praise the Lord when God does make people wealthy and rich, but how in the world have we ever gotten into our minds this idea that there\u2019s some sort of guarantee from God.\u00a0 How would you explain Smyrna?\u00a0 How would you explain the Macedonians?\n\nAnd so these people had descended to a level of poverty that most of us in the west, most of us in North America will probably never ever see.\u00a0 And yet this was what was normative, this is what was normal in Smyrna.\u00a0 But did you catch the parenthetical comment there? \u00a0\u00a0(9) \u201cI know your tribulation and I know your poverty,\u201d and here comes the parenthetical remark, \u201cbut you are rich.\u201d\u00a0 What a contradiction that is.\u00a0 I mean, how could these people be poor and\u00a0 yet at the same time be rich?\u00a0 Well, obviously what Christ is speaking of here is their spiritual riches in Christ Jesus.\n\nPaul, the apostle, in the Book of Ephesians, chapter 1 and verse 3 says, \u201cBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with\u201d how many blessings, \u201cevery,\u201d not some, \u201cevery spiritual blessing\u201d where, in my bank account, not necessarily, \u201cin heavenly places.\u201d\u00a0 In other words you go to the Lord and you say Lord, I want to be blessed.\u00a0 And the Lord says well what else can I do, I mean, look at your spiritual ledger, look at your spiritual bank account.\u00a0 You\u2019re maxed out!\u00a0 And the problem is earthly wealth has a tendency to blind us to our true spiritual riches in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 The church at Smyrna had no problem seeing it for what it was because they didn\u2019t have any earthly riches.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that when you don\u2019t have any earthly riches you have a tendency to appreciate the spiritual riches that are yours in Christ Jesus, which can never be taken.\u00a0 You can be rich financially one day and poor the next.\u00a0 Not so with your spiritual riches.\u00a0 Yes, you\u2019re poor in man\u2019s eyes but you\u2019re rich in the eyes of God.\n\nNow eventually we\u2019ll get to the church at Laodicea, the last church that Jesus addresses, where the opposite is the problem; these people have the buildings, they have the bank accounts, they had\u2026 you name it.\u00a0 And what does Jesus say about them?\u00a0 Revelation 3:17, \u201c'Because you say, \u2018I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,\u2019\u201d he\u2019s being sarcastic with them,\u00a0 you don\u2019t need anything, \u201cand you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s a church that had the financial prosperity and yet they were blind to what true wealth is about, their riches in Christ Jesus.\n\nAnd here\u2019s a church, Smyrna, that\u2019s very, very poor that had their eyes wide open to their spiritual riches in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 You see, there\u2019s a curse of prosperity.\u00a0 Everybody thinks prosperity is some sort of blessing.\u00a0 I\u2019m not against prosperity per se but let me tell you something\u2014earthly prosperity has a way of just getting our eyes off true wealth, wealth that counts.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t Jesus talk about that?\u00a0 He talked about that over and over again.\u00a0 The rich, He said, just have a hard time with the gospel.\u00a0 [Matthew 19:23-24]\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cTruly I say to you, it\u2019s hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.\u201d\u00a0 [24] Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.\u2019\u201d The wealthy are at a disadvantage in terms of spiritual wealth.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because they\u2019re not used to depending upon God.\u00a0 They\u2019re used to buying their way out of their problems.\u00a0 The times I have grown the most as a Christian is where God has stripped me of those things, where I have no one to trust in but God.\u00a0 That was Smyrna.\u00a0 And in fact, it\u2019s your impoverished condition that\u2019s made you aware of your lucrative position in Christ Jesus.\n\nWe\u2019re very confused today about this issue of wealth.\u00a0 Randy Alcorn, in his very good book that I\u2019ll recommend to you, called Money, Possessions and Eternity<\/em>, writes these words.\u00a0 \u201cIn California a sharp looking business man, stands up at a luncheon to give his testimony.\u00a0 He says, \u2018Before I knew Christ I had nothing, my business was in bankruptcy, my health was ruined, I lost the respect of my community, and I almost lost my family.\u00a0 Then I accepted Christ as my Savior and Lord; He took me out of bankruptcy and now my business has tripled in profits in the last three years.\u00a0 My blood pressure has dropped to normal, I feel better than I have felt in years and best of all my wife and children have come back to me; we are a family again.\u00a0 God is good, praise the Lord!\u201d\u00a0 American Testimony.\n\nIn China an old and disheveled university professor gives his testimony.\u00a0 \u201cBefore I met Christ I had everything.\u00a0 I made a large salary, I lived in a nice house, enjoyed good health, I was highly respected for my credentials and profession.\u00a0 I had a good marriage, I had beautiful children.\u00a0 Then I accepted Christ as my Savior and Lord.\u00a0 As a result, I lost my post at the university, lost my beautiful house and car, spent five years in prison.\u00a0 Now I work for a subsistent wage at a factory.\u00a0 I live in pain from my neck that was broken in prison.\u00a0 My wife rejected me because of my conversion.\u00a0 She took my children away.\u00a0\u00a0 I have not seen her or them in ten years.\u00a0 But God is good!\u00a0 I praise Him for His faithfulness.\u201d\n\nThat folks is the difference between America and the rest of the world.\u00a0 That is the distinction between Laodicea and Smyrna.\u00a0 This is why Jesus says to them, \u201cI know your tribulations, I know your poverty, but you are rich.\u201d He goes on and He says, \u201cI know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but a synagogue of Satan.\u201d\u00a0 The third thing he commends them for, in addition to their tribulation and poverty is their persecution.\u00a0 They\u2019re being persecuted by a group of people that say one thing but are actually the devil\u2019s workshop, blasphemy, blasphemers, a group called the Synagogue of Satan.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to run into that crowd again in Revelation 3:9 as Jesus will deal with the church at Philadelphia.\u00a0 [Revelation 3:9, \u201cBehold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie-- I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.\u201d]\n\nI mean, who are these people \u201cwho say they are Jews but are not\u201d?\u00a0 I would put it this way: they are unbelieving Hebrews, unbelieving physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\u00a0 And such people think that somehow, because of their Jewish heritage alone they\u2019re made right with God.\u00a0 That principle contradicts what Abraham said, the very first Hebrew.\u00a0 \u201cAbraham,\u201d Genesis 15:6 \u201cbelieved God and it was credited to him unto righteousness.\u201d\n\nGod is not interested in relationships with people on the basis of whatever nationality it may be.\u00a0 Even the chosen race, even the Hebrew race, it\u2019s not Jews and Hebrews that please God any more than it\u2019s Americans that please God. It\u2019s believing Hebrews, believing Jews, believing Americans, believing Baptists, believing Presbyterians, believing Bible church people.\n\nYou say well, pastor, don\u2019t you teach this doctrine here called premillennialism, that God is going to fulfill His end time program through the nation of Israel, God has regathered the nation of Israel for the purpose of working in fulfillment of His prophetic Word.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it true through Israel, that the kingdom is going to come to the earth?\u00a0 And you bet your bottom dollar I teach that.\u00a0 But here\u2019s something to understand.\u00a0 When God fulfills His covenants with the nation of Israel (and He will) it\u2019s not going to be through Hebrews, it\u2019s going to be through believing Hebrews.\u00a0 See the difference?\n\nJohn the Baptist, in Matthew 3:9 says, \u201cand do not suppose that you can say to yourselves,\u201d speaking to unbelieving Jews in the first century, \u201c\u2018We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.\u201d\u00a0 God is not impressed with someone because of their Hebrew status.\n\nPaul would write Romans 2:28-29, \u201cFor he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. [29] But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.\u201d\u00a0 Physical circumcision, how much does that impress God in comparison to a circumcised heart?\n\nThis is why Paul in Romans 9:6 says, \u201cBut it is<\/em> not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended<\/em> from Israel.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you who God has His eye on is not Israel but the Israel of God, that smaller group within the lineage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\u00a0 Believers, in the Lord, and through that smaller group, not the large group, God will fulfill every single promise He has ever made to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\u00a0 In fact, if I\u2019m reading my Bible correctly the point of the tribulation period is to break off that crowd of unbelievers.\n\nZechariah 13:8-9 says, \u201c\u201cIt will come about in all the land,\u201d Declares the LORD, \u201cThat two parts in it will be cut off and<\/em> perish; But the third will be left in it. [9] \u201cAnd I will bring the third part through the fire,\u00a0 I will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested.\u00a0 They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, \u2018They are My people,\u2019 And they will say, \u2018The LORD is my God.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 What\u2019s the whole point of the end times?\u00a0 It\u2019s to bring that remnant to faith through which God will fulfill His covenantal obligations.\n\nWell what about the rest?\u00a0 Paul tells us in Romans 11:28 that they are enemies of the church and enemies of God, \u201cbeloved for the sake of the fathers.\u201d\u00a0 [Romans 11:28, \u201cFrom the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers;\u201d]\u00a0 But for the time being they have become your enemies.\n\nGo through the Book of Acts; study the life and the birth and the growth and the development of the early church as it moved out of Jerusalem into Asia Minor, Galatia, ultimately Europe, ultimately to Rome.\u00a0 Look at who the problem people are, always, coming against the church, with very few exceptions.\u00a0 Almost every town it\u2019s the unbelieving Christ-rejecting Jews.\u00a0 That\u2019s the synagogue of Satan!\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying at all that God has severed His covenant with Israel; He has not and cannot and will not. What I\u2019m saying is until there\u2019s a regenerated heart such a person is not on God\u2019s side, such a person is not on God\u2019s team.\n\nHow tragic it is for people, particularly here in Texas, cultural Christians, to somehow think that they\u2019re right with God because of church attendance or because of denominational affiliation or some kind of Sunday School certificate or their baptism, not that any of those things in and of themselves are wrong, but how foolish it is to think that that in itself gives someone standing before God.\u00a0 God gives such a person no standing.\u00a0 The circumcision of the flesh profits nothing, but it\u2019s the circumcision of the heart that matters to God.\u00a0 I used to think in my naivety that there were Baptist Christians and Presbyterian Christians and Methodist Christians and Roman Catholic Christians, and go through all of the denominations and then oh yeah, there\u2019s the born again Christians too, as if being a born again Christian is some kind of segment within denominational Christendom.\n\nThe reality of the situation is there\u2019s one type of Christian, the born again Christian!\u00a0 I don\u2019t know where you go to church, that\u2019s never been the fundamental issue with God.\u00a0 You could be a Metho-Catha-Bapterion or a Bapticostal fundamatic, or whatever you want to be but have you experienced the new birth in Christ.\u00a0 THAT is the issue!\u00a0 Has God dealt with your heart in such a way that you\u2019ve seen your need to trust Christ, you\u2019ve trusted Him for salvation and the Holy Spirit has taken residence in you?\u00a0 That\u2019s the issue.\u00a0 These Jews, obviously that had not happened to them and so they\u2019re following the marching orders of Satan himself, and Romans itself.\n\nMay God help us to understand the way He thinks and not the way the religious world thinks.\u00a0 That\u2019s who this synagogue of Satan is.\u00a0 Do you know that Satan is very religious.\u00a0 I mean, people would say to me, oh, Andy, you\u2019re religious.\u00a0 I\u2019m not religious at all, the fact of the matter is I believe I\u2019m probably one of the least religious people on planet earth.\u00a0 What has religion ever accomplished for anybody?\u00a0 What is religion?\u00a0 It\u2019s man trying to climb up to God.\u00a0 That\u2019s where most of the world is today, they think they can do X, Y and Z to earn their way into the presence of God.\u00a0 That\u2019s called works righteousness.\u00a0 It\u2019s what Adam and Eve were doing as early as Genesis 3:7 where they took the leaves and they clothed themselves thinking that they could erase their mistake through something that they had produced.\u00a0 [Genesis 3:7, \u201cThen the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.\u201d]\n\nAnd God is very clear at the end of that chapter, when HE CLOTHED them, with animal skin. Well, where did those animal skins come from?\u00a0 Obviously God killed an innocent animal right then and there.\u00a0 You say well what did the animal do wrong?\u00a0 Nothing, that\u2019s the point!\u00a0\u00a0 God will fix sin problem through the blood of an innocent sacrifice; you will not clothe yourself, I will clothe you.\u00a0 It\u2019s the difference between religion and transferred righteousness.\n\nBut of the former I\u2019ll tell you something, Satan will serve that up, he\u2019s serving that up everywhere you look.\u00a0 The world today is very religious; it\u2019s been that way since the beginning.\u00a0 This is the work of the devil.\u00a0 This is why they\u2019re called a \u201csynagogue\u201d a religious term, where Hebrews met, \u201ca synagogue of Satan.\u201d\n\n[Revelation 2:9, \u201c'I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 3:9, \u201cBehold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie-- I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.\u201d]\n\nIn fact, you go through the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and who does Jesus have constant problems with?\u00a0 The widows and the orphans?\u00a0 The prostitutes?\u00a0 Never any issue with them as they reached out for His grace.\u00a0 His point of contention was always with the religious crowd, organized religiosity, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, etc. etc. etc.\u00a0 A synagogue of Satan!\n\nAnd why is religion so appealing to people?\u00a0 Why can\u2019t they just receive and accept the grace of God?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s an appeal to pride; as long as I\u2019m a religious person I can say look at what I <\/strong>have done.\u00a0 Look at what I<\/strong> have achieved.\u00a0 Look at what I<\/strong> have accomplished.\u00a0 What does the prophet Isaiah 64:6 say, \u201cyour works of righteous,\u201d not your unrighteousness, \u201cyour works of righteous are as\u201d what? \u201cfilthy rags.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 64:6, \u201cFor all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.\u201d\u00a0 NASB]\n\nThat\u2019s a blow to the pride of man, isn\u2019t it, because that means I can\u2019t strut off into heaven as proud as a peacock having somehow accomplished my own salvation.\u00a0 I have to rest and trust in the grace or unmerited favor of God or I\u2019m not going.\u00a0 And you say well, I don\u2019t like that, I\u2019m mad about that. Well, fine, take it up with God, I don\u2019t make the rules.\u00a0 You can go sit in the corner if you want with Cain, who had a temper tantrum because he came by way of religion, his brother came the way God had ordained, faith, and Cain didn\u2019t like it.\u00a0 And\u00a0 you know how that ended up.\u00a0 In fact, the religious crowd has always persecuted the righteous crowd, ALWAYS, throughout history.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s happening here as this synagogue of Satan has turned its heat up against this little tiny flock in Smyrna that was trusting in the grace of God.\n\nAnd then what typically happens in a letter like this is a rebuke; the five of the seven churches is a word of correction.\u00a0\u00a0 You see what verse I have up there for rebuke?\u00a0 There is no verse.\u00a0 Why is that? Because Jesus never rebukes this crowd.\u00a0 When we study the church at Philadelphia we\u2019re going to see the same thing, no word of rebuke.\u00a0 Plenty for Ephesus, plenty for Laodicea, and everybody else, but not Smyrna and not Philadelphia.\u00a0 I mean, why would Jesus skip this step that He consistently applies elsewhere? The answer is very simple, a persecuted church is a pure church.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that we have a tendency to cling to the Lord tightly during times of adversity in compared to times of prosperity.\n\nIn fact, I would say this, in your life there\u2019s two tests.\u00a0 The first test is can you walk with God in a valley?\u00a0 The second test is can you walk with God in on the mountaintop.\u00a0 I think the second test is much harder to pass than the first test.\u00a0 You look at some of the greats at the end of their lives; look at a guy named Solomon who brought incredible prosperity to the United Kingdom.\u00a0 In fact, the borders of the Solomonic empire grew to a level that the nation of Israel had never seen before and never have seen since.\u00a0 I mean, not\u00a0 until the millennial kingdom itself will those borders be expanded the way they were expanded under Solomon.\n\nYou look at the money that Solomon brought in, the construction of the temple.\u00a0 All of the resources are mentioned right there, very clearly in your Bible.\u00a0 And look at what he achieved, look at his success, and look at how his life deteriorated in the final third or so of his life.\u00a0 Solomon may have passed test one but he sure didn\u2019t pass test number two.\n\nHow are you doing, by the way, in those two tests?\u00a0\u00a0 Those are your two great ones.\u00a0 May God help us understand that the trials that come into our life, not to make us bitter but to makes us better.\u00a0 But then God may put you up on the mountain top, remove you from some of the limitations that you have made known that you have experienced earlier in your life, financially, health wise, power, whatever.\u00a0 How are\u00a0 you walking with God now?\u00a0 It\u2019s a little harder, isn\u2019t it?\n\nThe church at Laodicea was flunking test two.\u00a0 This is why Jesus will say to the church at Laodicea, not Smyrna, Laodicea, saying to them, \u201cBecause you say, \u2018I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 Oh really?\u00a0 \u201c\u2026you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 3:17]\n\nYou think you\u2019re rich but you\u2019re poor.\u00a0 Smyrna thinks they\u2019re poor but they\u2019re rich.\u00a0 So what do you do with a wealthy church like that?\u00a0 Revelation 3:18 tells you, Jesus said, \u201cI advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, [and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.\u201d]\u00a0 Now, do a word study on that phrase, \u201cgold refined by fire.\u201d\u00a0 What\u00a0 you\u2019ll discover is that is an expression used for trials.\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ll see it there in 1 Peter 1:6-7, it mentions their various trials and analogizes trials to gold which is perishable though tested by fire.\u00a0 [1 Peter 1:6-7, \u201cIn this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials\u00a0 [7] so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;\u201d]\n\nWhat is Jesus saying to Laodicea?\u00a0\u00a0 You need a problem.\u00a0 You need a trial.\u00a0 You need adversity.\u00a0 You need a setback.\u00a0 You need something in your life not to work out because if I just let you go the way you\u2019re going you\u2019re going to end up like Solomon.\u00a0 So what you need is a problem.\n\nWe look at the problems that we are in today as a church, as a nation, even as individuals. We see those as unwanted intruders.\u00a0 In fact, that trial could be your very best friend.\u00a0 Have you ever thought about that?\u00a0 What does Paul say?\u00a0 \u201c\u2026there was given to me,\u201d given to me as a gift, right?\u00a0 \u201cthere was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan,\u201d isn\u2019t it interesting how Paul saw his thorn in the flesh, whatever it was, as a gift from God.\u00a0 Smyrna, you have a gift from God, you\u2019re going through suffering but it\u2019s a gift because you\u2019re clinging so tightly to Me\u00a0\u00a0 and consequently you\u2019re rich.\n\nHe moves on in verse 10 and he gives them a word of exhortation.\u00a0 Now to the other churches he says \u201crepent\u201d.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t say that to this church but he does exhort them, and that exhortation is found in verse 10.\u00a0 Look at what he says.\u00a0 \u201cDo not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you in prison, so that\u00a0 you will be tested, and\u00a0 you will have tribulation for ten days.\u00a0 Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.\u201d\u00a0 What does he say there in the middle?\u00a0 Here comes the problem, \u201cthe devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you will be tested and\u00a0 you will have tribulation for ten days.\u201d\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting that he doesn\u2019t say Rome is your enemy.\u00a0 He says the devil is your enemy. Oh, he\u2019s using Rome, just like he\u2019s using this synagogue of Satan, but they\u2019re not the ultimate problem, the problem is Satan himself.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting how fast we look at people as the enemy.\u00a0 Someone causes us a problem and we blame that person but the reality is your Bible says Satan is the enemy.\u00a0 What did Jesus say to Peter?\u00a0 \u201cGet behind me\u201d what? \u201cSatan.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s Satan that\u2019s causing the problem, not individual human beings.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting how God is going to use Satan for God\u2019s purposes.\u00a0 Did you notice that?\u00a0 He\u2019s using Satan to test them as a vehicle through which they\u2019re going to be rewarded.\n\nI think a lot of us have a very high view of Satan\u2026 in fact, too high!\u00a0 God keeps Satan around long enough to fulfill God\u2019s purposes; once that is over he\u2019ll be thrown into the lake of fire.\u00a0 In fact, in this study, in the Book of Revelation, we\u2019re going to learn that the antichrist and the false prophet are the first inhabitants into the lake of fire.\u00a0 The devil is not even thrown into the lake of fire, he\u2019s bound in a place called the abyss for a thousand years, but he doesn\u2019t join his buddies in the lake of fire until a thousand years later.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because God has a final purpose for Satan, to stimulate a rebellion to reveal what is happening in the hearts of the mortals in the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great lesson and God says I\u2019m going to keep you around long enough to fulfill My purpose for you.\u00a0 God uses Satan for pedagogical purposes.\n\nDon\u2019t get this idea that everything is out of control and somehow Satan has the upper hand.\u00a0 Nothing could be further from the truth.\u00a0 And in fact, when you test this little church, you can\u00a0 do it for ten days, not eleven days, not nine days, not fifteen days but ten days.\u00a0 And you say well Pastor, what does ten days mean.\u00a0 It means ten days!\u00a0 Robert Thomas in his outstanding commentary on the Book of Revelation, says: \u201cno number in Revelation is verifiably a symbolic number.\u201d<\/em> [Robert Thomas, Revelation 8 to 22: An Exegetical Commentary, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992), 408.<\/em>]\n\nEvery number you see you can just take it for what it says\u2026 literal!\u00a0 I read quite a few commentaries getting ready for this sermon and was entertained, really, by most of them because they gave these long explanations about what ten days are.\u00a0 Well, ten days are ten epics or ten eras and on and on it goes.\u00a0 Well, the Bible says \u201cten days.\u201d\u00a0 Satan is going to throw some of you into prison for ten days, kind of like how God dealt with Satan concerning Job.\u00a0 Remember that?\u00a0 Job 1, Job 2, do whatever you want to Job but\u00a0 you can\u2019t what?\u00a0 You can\u2019t take his life.\n\nSo even when God uses Satan for God\u2019s purpose there\u2019s a leash put on Satan.\u00a0 We do not teach here dualism.\u00a0 Remember the Rocky movies?\u00a0 This I think is Rocky 2, then there was a Rocky 3, now they\u2019ve got like Rocky 15 or 18 where their grandkids are duking it out.\u00a0 But you remember the Rocky movies, I remember my dad took me to Rocky 1 and you\u2019re kind of sitting on the edge of your seat all the way through the movie because you really don\u2019t know who\u2019s going to win.\u00a0 And then everybody starts chanting Rocky.\u00a0 I mean, is Apollo going to win?\u00a0 He\u2019s the heavy weight champ, he\u2019s favored.\u00a0 But what about this guy, this Italian from the inner city?\u00a0 And you really don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen, do you?\u00a0 That\u2019s not the Bible.\n\nFolks, this is not even a contest between God and Satan.\u00a0 This is no contest.\u00a0 The moment God said of Satan in Ezekiel 28:13 and verse 15 \u201cfrom the day you were created is the moment you know that there is no contest here whatsoever.\n\n[Ezekiel 28:13, \u201cYou were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [15] \u201cYou were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you.\u201d]\n\nWe are dealing with an all-powerful God who has allowed Satan to come into existence as a created being.\u00a0 There is no contest at all between the creature and the Creator.\u00a0 It\u2019s a done deal.\u00a0 And what a foolish thing it is for people to buy into the program of Satan against God.\u00a0 And how dumb is that, where you go down into the same defeat that he is going down into and God the whole time says you should have known better, he\u2019s a creation, you should have bought in with Me, I\u2019m the Creator.\n\nSo you\u2019re going into this test for ten days and in the midst of this test God tells little Smyrna I want you to do two things, two commands here in the Greek.\u00a0 Number 1, do not fear what you\u2019re to suffer.\u00a0 When suffering comes into your life it\u2019s so easy to be afraid of that instrument rather than God Himself isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 A boss at work is mistreating you, threatening to lay you off, we\u2019re more afraid of the boss than we are God who made the boss.\u00a0 In fact, that boss wouldn\u2019t even have the next breath in his body if God hadn\u2019t allowed it.\n\nIt reminds me of the Book of Job.\u00a0 Remember the leviathan in the Book of Job?\u00a0 What does God say to Job?\u00a0 \u201cDoes Job fear the leviathan?\u00a0 Who made the leviathan?\u00a0 In other words, you ought to be afraid of God.\u00a0 What can man do?\u00a0 Didn\u2019t Jesus talk about this?\u00a0 \u201cDo not fear those who can kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 10:28]\n\nWhat are people?\u00a0 What are fallen human beings compared to God.\u00a0 \u201cDo not fear what you are about to suffer\u201d and He tells them something else, verse 10, \u201cBe faithful unto death.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 2:10, \u201c'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.\u201d]\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting how much the Bible\u00a0 focuses on faithfulness.\u00a0 \u201cWell done thy good and\u201d what? \u201cfaithful servant.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 25:23]\u00a0 I can\u2019t find a verse that says well done thy good and successful servant.\u00a0 Can\u00a0 you find that verse?\u00a0 I can\u2019t find it.\u00a0 We\u2019re so focused on success and God is focused on faithfulness.\u00a0 What a difference that is.\n\n1 Corinthians 4:2 says, \u201cIn this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what God wants out of you; that\u2019s what He wants out of me.\u00a0 The results, the fruit, He\u2019ll take care of that.\u00a0 And then he tells them don\u2019t just be faithful in this ten day trial but be faithful unto death itself.\u00a0 Now the myrrh\u00a0 Smyrna and Polycarp and that background that I tried to explain starts to make a lot more sense, doesn\u2019t it.\n\nAnd then comes the consequence.\u00a0 Now this is not a negative consequence like the other churches, I\u2019ll remove your lampstand.\u00a0 This is a positive consequence.\u00a0 \u201cBe faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.\u201d\u00a0 Oh my, how we need teaching on this today, because there are people out there running around saying if you don\u2019t stand up for Jesus you\u2019re not a Christian.\u00a0 They call the ABC method of salvation, you A<\/u>dmit you\u2019re a sinner, you B<\/u>elieve in Christ and you C<\/u>onfess Christ, and if you won\u2019t confess Christ and if you won\u2019t walk the aisle you\u2019re not saved.\u00a0 How\u2019s that doing for the underground church in Iran?\u00a0 How much confession are they doing?\u00a0 In America we can come up with these slogans but what do you do with the underground church where if someone says one peep about their newfound faith in Christ their whole family could be decapitated or tortured.\n\nWhat gets a person saved.\u00a0 It\u2019s very simple; it\u2019s faith!\u00a0 \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you,\u201d Jesus says, \u201che who hears My Word, and believes in Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life.\u201d\u00a0 [John 5:24]\u00a0 Is that complicated to understand?\u00a0 To me that\u2019s very simple.\u00a0 In fact, the great Lewis Sperry Chafer says the Bible condition is justification on faith alone 150 times???\u00a0 I mean, this is so plain this shouldn\u2019t even be debatable, should it.\n\nAnd you say well, pastor, if salvation is that easy and if once always saved then why would you ever stand up for Christ publicly?\u00a0 I\u2019m glad you asked.\u00a0 The issue here is a reward.\u00a0 All Christians will be in heaven but not all Christians are equally rewarded in heaven.\u00a0 In fact, there\u2019s five crowns, given or not given.\u00a0 One of those is the crown of life, right there in the middle, Revelation 2:10, it\u2019s also mentioned in James 1:12 for the believer that endures trials.\u00a0 .\n\n[Revelation 2:10, \u201c'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.\u201d\u00a0 James 1:12, \u201cBlessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.\u201d]\n\nThat\u2019s why you stand up for Christ.\u00a0 You don\u2019t do it as some kind of work by which you think you can be saved.\u00a0 You do it because the Lord told us to do it and some do and some don\u2019t; some are obedient, some are disobedient but there\u2019s a reward in it for the faithful Christian.\u00a0 See?\u00a0 You say I don\u2019t care about rewards.\u00a0 Wait till we get to chapter 4, I hope we\u2019ll start caring because what do we do with those rewards?\u00a0 It\u2019s a form of worship, we cast them at the feet of Christ.\u00a0 The stephanos crown, the crown of life for the believer that is faithful to God even in the midst of death itself.\u00a0 Not a ticket to heaven, but a ticket, if you will, for a reward once in heaven.\n\nAnd then you have verse 11, an exhortation to listen, \u201cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cchurches.\u201d\u00a0 In fact, I just googled this week \u201clisten.\u201d\u00a0 How many times does the Bible say \u201clisten\u201d?\u00a0 The number I got was 550 times.\u00a0 Apparently God wants us to listen, \u00a0to take in His truth.\n\nThe last part of the letter is the promise to the overcomers, verse 11, \u201cHe who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.\u201d\u00a0 Who are the overcomers?\u00a0 Let the Bible interpret itself.\u00a0 John wrote another book, didn\u2019t he?\u00a0 1 John 5:4 and 5, he tells you exactly who the overcomers are.\u00a0 [1 John 5:4, \u201cFor whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith.\u00a0 [5] Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?\u201d]\n\nOvercomers are those who have trusted in Christ.\u00a0 If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you don\u2019t have to work towards being an overcomer,\u00a0 you already are an overcomer, because absent from the body is to be what?\u00a0 Present with the Lord.\u00a0 And resident within you is every single resource that could possibly be given to allow you to walk through life, this life, in a godly way.\u00a0 You are automatically an overcomer.\n\nAnd it\u2019s so interesting how He comforts these churches with visions, if you will, of their future, all taken from Revelation 21 and 22.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because if you\u2019re thinking about your future in God your problems in this life don\u2019t seem that bad, do they?\u00a0 This is why 1 Peter 1:6 says, \u201cIn this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.\u201d\u00a0 What are the trials of this life?\u00a0 They\u2019re just but for an instant.\u00a0 Paul would write in 2 Corinthians 4:17, \u201cFor momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 8:18 says, \u201cFor I consider that the suffering of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.\u201d\u00a0 Maybe this week instead of focusing on your circumstances, as difficult as they are, maybe you should focus on Revelation 21 and 22.\u00a0 And see if that doesn\u2019t give you more of an impetus and a better perspective this week as you go through life\u2019s trials.\n\nWhat does He promise these overcomers?\u00a0 That they\u2019re not going to be hurt by the second death.\u00a0 Well what does that mean, \u201csecond death\u201d?\u00a0 \u201cThe wages of sin is\u201d what? \u201cdeath,\u201d Romans 6:23.\u00a0 There are three forms of death: spiritual, by the way, death means separation from God.\u00a0 Phase one of death we\u2019re spiritually separated from God.\u00a0 Phase two of death, physical death, \u201cfrom dust you are to dust you shall return.\u201d\u00a0 Phase three of death is the eternal death or the second death and if we allow the Bible to interpret itself you\u2019ll see exactly what the second death is, no guess work is needed.\u00a0 Jot down Revelation 20:6, 14, and chapter 21, verse 8 and you\u2019ll see very clearly that the second death is the lake of fire.\n\n[Revelation 20:6, \u201cBlessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 20:14, \u201cThen death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 21:8, \u201cBut for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.\u201d]\n\nWhat is Jesus promising the struggling church?\u00a0 Yeah, man can take your life but\u00a0 you\u2019re going to have no part of the second death, the lake of fire; eternal retribution is not part of your future in Christ.\u00a0 And you say well, how are you going to Segway into the gospel with this one.\u00a0 It\u2019s about the easiest job assignment I\u2019ve ever had here, and here\u2019s how it works.\u00a0 If you\u2019re born once you\u2019ll die twice; if you\u2019re born twice you\u2019ll die once.\u00a0 What in the world does that mean? If you\u2019re born once, physically born, never spiritually born, never have trusted Christ, here\u2019s your future\u2014physical death and the lake of fire which is the second death.\n\nConversely, if you\u2019re born twice the worst thing that can happen is you\u2019ll die once.\u00a0 If you\u2019re born physically into this world, born spiritually again through trusting in Christ, and your body is now the residence of the Holy Spirit, the worst possible thing that can happen to you is physical death but you have no place, no part whatsoever in the lake of fire.\u00a0 In fact, in Greek here, I wish I had time to go into this, it\u2019s a double negation, absolutely 100% no way you\u2019re going into the lake of fire.\u00a0 If I was writing a Spanish version I would say \u201cno way Hosea\u201d are you going into the fire.\n\nAnd so the question that we have as we conclude is are you in the category of being born twice; has that happened to you, whereby you\u2019ll die once at worst?\u00a0 Or are\u00a0 you in the category of only being born once which means you\u2019ll die twice.\u00a0 And you can become born twice, born a second time, this time not physically, this time spiritually; this time not earthly, but this time heavenly, from above as a person trusts in Christ and Christ alone for salvation.\u00a0 And the moment they place that faith in Christ is the moment, one of the greatest miracles that can ever happen to a person takes place, they become what the theologians call regenerated.\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 Impartation of divine life.\n\nSee, flesh cannot produce that.\u00a0 It\u2019s a miracle of God.\u00a0 And it\u2019s a miracle of God conditioned on the surrender of the will to the provision of Christ.\u00a0 God is not going to barrel down and force you into this.\u00a0 If you want to go ahead and die into the second death and\u00a0 you\u2019re just determined to do that then you just go right ahead.\u00a0 But God loves\u00a0 you enough, not only to pay the price so that wouldn\u2019t happen, but to send the Spirit of God, through conviction, where He sits there and bothers you about this over and over and over again and we say I wish God would just leave me alone.\u00a0 That\u2019s the worst thing He can do!\u00a0 The words thing He can ever do is leave you alone.\u00a0 That\u2019s Romans 1 where He gave them over, that\u2019s frightening.\n\nBut if the Spirit of God is convicting\u00a0 you then that\u2019s good news, that\u2019s evidence He doesn\u2019t want to leave you alone and He loves\u00a0 you too much to leave you alone and so He offers you salvation and you respond by way of faith, by trusting in Christ and impartation happens; you\u2019re born twice and therefore you\u2019ll only die once.\u00a0 Not twice, the very worst.\u00a0 May God help people to receive this gift which you can do right now as I\u2019m talking, as the Spirit places you under conviction.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to walk an aisle, you don\u2019t have to join a church, you don\u2019t have to fill out a card, you don\u2019t have to do three cartwheels.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to go out and tell people you\u2019re a Christian.\u00a0 Now if you want a crown you\u2019d better go out and tell people but to get to heaven\u00a0 you don\u2019t need to tell anybody anything because it\u2019s a work of grace, unmerited favor which we would invite you to do now even as I\u2019m speaking, in the quietness of\u00a0 your own mind and heart as the Holy Spirit places you under conviction.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for these words to this struggling church at Smyrna, the suffering they went through and the exhortation to them.\u00a0 Help us to grow in these things as we walk these things out this week.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen!","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t