A PERSECUTED CHURCH – THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA

Penge Baptist Church

3rd November 2013

Revelation 2:8-11

• To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.

Where was Smyrna?

• Edge of Asia Minor (now Turkey)

• Rich trading port

• Loyal to emperor

• Large Jewish community

• Destroyed and rebuilt

Comforting words of Christ

• These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:8-9)

The trial ahead

• Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

• There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

The promise of eternity

• He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. (Revelation 2:11)

Children suffer persecution too• When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in

a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod…..When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”tthew 2:13-16)_

• A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then “ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Luke 23:27-31)

Mariam Ashraf Messeiha (8) was shot dead in a church attack in Egypt

These five siblings lost their parents in a church bombing in Pakistan

Key points

• Only church not to be criticised

• Poverty unlike others

• Actual persecution highlighted – from outside (other religions)

• Role of Satan

• Huge inspiration to the persecuted church of today

Texts to reflect upon

• “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26-27)

• When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (Revelation 6:9-11)

• Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple;and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;he will lead them to springs of living water.And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:13-17)

And us?

• We are called to be inspired by the persecuted church

• We must support the persecuted church

• We must be ready to emulate the persecuted church