Before we turn to our text, which is found in Revelation chapter 2, let's turn to James 1. James 1 as we read together the first 18 verses. First chapter of James, beginning at verse 1, as we give our attention to the reading of the Word of God. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations. Greetings. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position, but the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wildflower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant. Its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when by his own evil desire he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created. Then we turn over to Revelation chapter 2. Revelation 2, considering the second church in our Lord's state of the church address. Beginning at verse 8, the verses 8 through 11 serve as our text this morning. 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. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, what is the life of a Christian to be like? What do you expect the life, the Christian life, to be like? When God promises blessing for faithfulness, do you expect a life of health? A life of happiness? Maybe a life of financial security? Or what about a life with no troubles? You see, so many who claim to turn to Jesus Christ expect these sorts of things, but it isn't long before they're very disappointed. In His address to the church in Smyrna, our Lord doesn't preach a health and wealth gospel, at least not according to the standards of this world. But instead, He preaches about the cost of faithfulness in this life. Now, Christ identifies Himself as the first and the last who died and came to life again. In other words, Jesus identifies Himself to this church as both God and Savior. When He says, I am the first and the last, He is saying that He is the ever-living One. He was there at the beginning of time. He will be there at the end of time. In fact, He controls all time. In Isaiah 44, verse 6, we see that the first and last is, in essence, a name for God. It says, this is what the Lord says, Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty, I am the first and I am the last. Apart from me, there is no God. He identifies himself as God. But then when he says that he is the one who died and came to life again, he is saying that he is the Savior. This church in Smyrna knows that He is speaking about no one other than the same Jesus who was crucified, died, was buried, rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven. The very same One who conquered death. These words especially that Jesus uses to identify Himself, the One who died and came back to life, are significant because death to life is the theme that runs throughout this letter to this particular church. And death to life was a part of the history of the very city of Smyrna. This church in Smyrna was suffering persecution and affliction even to the point of being put to death for her faith in Christ. She was in need of encouragement, which is what the Lord gives her. We consider this Word of God together this morning. Jesus Christ summons the persecuted church to keep the faith that leads to life. First of all, acknowledging the church's current trials. Secondly, announcing more trials to come. And in the third place, giving assurance of life in the midst of death. Again, Christ's introduction of Himself, that He is both God and Savior, must be comforting to this church as He then goes on to acknowledge the church's current trials. Again, verse 9, 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. Now he speaks of her affliction and her poverty. What's he talking about? Well, we need to once again consider the city of Smyrna itself. I mentioned Smyrna's history a moment ago. This city, in a sense, was dead and came back to life. That's the only thing that she has in common with our Lord's introduction of Himself, the city that is. Around 600 B.C., Smyrna was destroyed. And for 300 years, it remained basically lifeless, basically nothing, no importance, really of no value. And after those 300 years, the city was rebuilt once again. She was brought back to life and she became a rich and a prosperous city. And just like Ephesus, which we considered last week, Smyrna was a city of wealth and of commercial greatness, and Smyrna was also a beautiful city. And because of these different attributes, Smyrna attracted a lot of different heathen worship, and therefore she was also the home of many different temples to the different Greek gods, and these temples also added to her beauty. But one of the most popular forms of heathen worship was Caesar worship. Now, boys and girls, the emperor, or we could call him the ruler or the king of Rome, added the name Caesar to his name. The name Caesar was attached. You may remember when our Lord Jesus Christ was born, we read about Caesar Augustus. But Caesar worship was exactly what it sounds like. The worship of Caesar, the emperor. which included that once a year, at least, the people would have to burn a pinch of incense on the altar to Caesar, offer a sacrifice to Caesar, and in addition, verbally say, Caesar is Lord, to acknowledge Him as a god. Now, back in A.D. 23, it was decided to build a temple to Tiberius Caesar in one of the Asian cities. And in AD 26, Smyrna was one of a number of cities who tried to be the one to build that temple. But back in that year, Smyrna won the bid to be the home of that temple. Kind of like a major U.S. city trying to attract a professional sports team or a world city bidding to host the Olympic Games or even a town, especially back in northwest Iowa where I'm from, if there's an opportunity to get a big business in there to help the economy of the town, You do everything you can to win the bid to have that business come to your town. They won the bid to be the home of that temple. Smyrna had always been a faithful ally of Rome, both politically and militarily, and the city had devoted her allegiance to Rome. And again, that was a major key in her winning that bid to become the home of that temple and the home of Caesar worship. But the Christians in the Smyrna Christian Church would not offer that sacrifice on Caesar's altar. And they would not say, they would not make that statement, Caesar is Lord. And therefore, these Christians were seen as politically disloyal and accused of not being patriotic, which led to severe persecution and affliction. And Jesus makes it clear in this text that there was another group of people in Smyrna who made it their business to see to it that the Christians suffered. These were the Jews. There was a large number of Jews, apparently, in Smyrna who most likely came to this city because of the business opportunities that were there and a chance to make a good living. But these Jews were completely opposed to Christ and Christianity. In fact, they spoke out against the church to the Roman officials. As we look back at verse 9, our Lord says, I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Now, the Jews we know had always been considered to be God's covenant people. But as Scripture clearly teaches us, God established a new covenant with His elect people through the blood of Jesus Christ. And a true spiritual Jew was not one who was necessarily born into a Jewish family. But a true spiritual Jew was one who, as John 3, verse 5 says, was born of water and the Spirit. And Paul says in Romans 2, verses 28 and 29, A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly. And circumcision is circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, not by the written code. Jesus says that these were not Jews. They most likely were by birth and probably by Jewish religious affiliation, but they were not true spiritual Jews because they did not have true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. No doubt they considered themselves to be the true congregation of God, but again, Jesus says, no, they're not. They are a congregation of Satan. As He says in another place, Whoever is not for me is against me. Those who are not for Christ are with Satan. And these Jews were a willing tool in Satan's hand to persecute this church. They slandered the church. They made sure that if the believers in the church did not offer that sacrifice to Caesar, that the Roman officials knew about it. They made it clear to Rome that these Christians were not in any way, shape, or form associated with them. that these Christians were not a Jewish sect. And they made it their business to make sure that those who professed Jesus as Lord instead of Caesar as Lord suffered many trials. In congregation, this suffering was brutal and it was often gruesome. If you refused to confess Caesar as Lord, you ran the risk of being torn up by wild beasts or burned at the stake. And boys and girls, we have an example of this persecution with a man named Polycarp. Now, Polycarp was a bishop, was the bishop of Smyrna some years after this revelation to John. But he was a devoted Christian. And he was a disciple, or he was a student of the Apostle John. And he was an example of the suffering that Jesus, here in this text, says would continue. The officials wanted Polycarp to recant or take back his confession of Christ as Lord. To say that he didn't believe in Him. That He was not Lord. They threatened to burn Him at the stake. And listen to what Polycarp said. Listen closely. He said, Eighty and six years have I served Christ. And He has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me? Even in the midst of this suffering, he said that his Lord has never done him wrong. And it is reported that when they kept on threatening him, he said, Why are you waiting? Come and do your will. The Christians in the Smyrna church suffered persecution for their faith, but they also suffered poverty. We might call it a forced poverty. Now the Greek word used for poverty in this text doesn't simply mean that these believers were poor. that they had to eat rice and beans instead of steak and potatoes, or they had to drive a 78 Chevy instead of a 98 Chevy. No, the word used here means that they were poverty stricken in the sense that they had absolutely nothing. They had a hard time coming by the bare necessities of life. They had no employment because if you were a Christian, no one would hire you. Or if you were a Christian with your own business, no one would do business with you. Food was short. Earthly goods whatsoever were scarce. In a sense, they had been reduced to beggars. They suffered persecution and they suffered poverty. And what does the one who died and came back to life again say about the church's struggles? He says, I know. I know. Think about that for just a moment. I know. It was five years ago this month that I was diagnosed with cancer. And shortly after I was diagnosed, I've been receiving a number of cards and letters and I received a card with these words in it. I do not remember if they were the words that were printed on the card or the words that someone wrote in the card, but these words, God is not unaware of what you are going through. God is not unaware. in those times when we are tempted to cry out, Oh God, where are You? Have You forgotten Me? You don't know what's going on. Yet, the truth is, God is not unaware. And what comfort that was for my wife and for me. And beloved, we must always keep in mind that our Lord suffered as we do, and He was tempted in every way as we are, and He overcame. Which means by the grace of God, we too will overcome. And in a sense, He says to this church, I know that as far as the world is concerned, you are poor. You have nothing. Yet, you are rich. Now, how can this be? Boys and girls, we know that when one is rich, that one has a lot of money and a lot of things. But when one is poor, that one doesn't have a lot of money and doesn't have very many things. But here, our Lord says to this church, He says they're poor. They're suffering poverty. But then he says, you are rich. His message was this. You may be poor and in poverty when it comes to the standards of this world, but when it comes to heaven's standards, you believe in Me. You are Mine. I redeemed you with My own blood. I bought you. You belong to Me. Therefore, you are very, very rich. You are rich in spiritual riches and in grace and in the glorious fruits of righteousness. You have stored up treasures in heaven and not on earth. You possess incorruptible riches. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6 that when it comes to earthly things, he has nothing, but he possesses everything in Christ. And James 2, verse 5 says, Listen, my dear brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith? And to inherit the kingdom, He promised those who love Him. And beloved, that inheritance is out of this world. It includes, as the Bible says, gates of pearl, streets of gold, the sea of crystal. In other words, the glorious presence of our God. Beloved, what a comfort it must be to be hated by Satan. and also then to be watched over by Christ. But let that be a comfort to you to be hated by Satan. What a confirmation that one is fighting the good fight of faith and the strength of the Lord. As Christ's eyes are on His church, He knows what's going on. And again, while that need must be comforting to us that Christ knows what's going on, then we must also examine ourselves to see if indeed we want Him to see what He sees. He sees everything. Do you want Him to see in your life the things that He sees? If not, then you better change some things. But this church in Smyrna, they could have quietly made that sacrifice to Caesar and they could have said that Caesar is Lord under their breath with their fingers crossed, so to speak. They could have faked it. The rest of the year, it could have been Christian business as usual. They could have compromised and played it safe. And the world would have never known one little thing. But Jesus says, I know. I know. In how many ways, beloved, do we compromise our faith, even in the tiniest little ways when we think, oh, it doesn't make any difference. Either by participating in the things that we have no business participating in, Or by our silence, for example, when God's name is taken in vain. But don't forget, Jesus says, I know. And in the second place, and maybe a bit surprising, Jesus announces more trials to come. Now we might expect that since Jesus says He knows all about their suffering and that He says they are rich in Him and that they have remained faithful, that therefore He would then relieve them by taking away this suffering and this poverty. But he doesn't. Instead, he says that it's going to get worse. Notice verse 10. 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. Now, of the seven churches in his State of the Church address, Jesus says he has something against five of them. Smyrna is one of the two that he doesn't condemn for anything. So then what's going on? Why do they have to suffer more? And what's probably even worse, Jesus tells them exactly what the suffering is going to be. The devil, through his instruments, the Jews, is going to throw some of these believers in prison, most likely for standing firm on their Christian faith as opposed to the Caesar cult. And you see, a prison sentence was basically a death sentence. So Jesus is telling this church that some of them are going to suffer all the way to death. Yes, this persecution is going to be for a short time. Ten days means it's not going to last forever. Exactly what it means, I don't know. But it's not an indefinite amount of time. It will come to an end. But notice, He prefaces His announcement by saying, Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Don't be afraid. now if someone tells you that you're about to deal with this terrible thing in your life but says don't worry about it you'd laugh at them and say that's easy for you to say but our Lord says don't be afraid which we understand a little bit later but Satan's actions are for the purpose of testing their faith and we know from Scripture that from Satan's point of view he tempts Christians with the goal of their fall from grace. But Satan's temptation is God's test for believers. God tests His believers in this way to test our faith and commitment to Christ as our Savior and our Lord. And God's purpose is to draw His people closer to Himself, to strengthen our testimony for Christ and to increase our faith. And so often, one's testimony is so much more glorious in the midst of persecution and suffering. I mentioned last week in one of the services that I had the privilege to go with our young people to the homeless shelter about a week and a half ago, which was an excellent experience for me. But as the young people provided a meal and some other things for those who were gathered there. And I talked to a couple of men in particular, and it really struck me. There were these men that were sitting on the floor with this plate of food that had to be prepared for them and given to them. They could not come upon it by themselves. Sleeping on a hard floor, a concrete floor, with just a half an inch of foam, a foam mat, and if they had a blanket, maybe a blanket as well. And these men proceeded to talk to me and tell me about the grace of God in their life. They proceeded to tell me, who does not lack anything, Of how rich, in a sense, that they are because of God's grace. The Smyrna Christians had endured persecution at the cost of their earthly goods, but were they willing to endure persecution all the way to death for the sake of Jesus? Would they be willing to give their lives for Christ? What about you? What about us as a church? How far are we willing to go for the sake of Christ? You see, it's easy to sit here this morning and say, sure, no problem. I'm willing to give my life for Jesus Christ like Peter did, like he said. But are we really willing to do that? If prison and even death, death by execution, were staring you in the face because you claimed Jesus as Lord and you were not willing to compromise, Would you be willing to go the distance for Christ Jesus? Well, have we ever really suffered affliction and persecution for Christ? Oh, I know that some here have more than others in different ways. But think about it. We live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Physically speaking, we drive nice cars. We live in comfortable houses. We have good jobs. We have plenty of food. We worship as we please. And really, we are not discriminated against as Christians, at least not in the way the Christians in Smyrna were. Have we really suffered for the sake of Jesus? We know that it's true that in some ways we do suffer because of our faith. Maybe our employer expects us to be more committed to the company than to our families. Maybe you are pressured to work on Sunday, the Lord's Day, when you want to be in church and you know you ought to be in church. Maybe you are as far as you can go, climbing up the corporate ladder because you are not willing to compromise your faith in your family in order to climb higher. We constantly have pornography and abortion and homosexuality shoved in our face as if to say, ha, look, see, you can't stop it. We struggle in this country with a government that at least up until this point continues to make laws that are completely unbiblical. They violate Scripture. And as human beings, we struggle with prolonged sickness and we must endure the loss due to physical death. Beloved, if you are pressured to compromise your faith in any way, remember what Jesus said. He said, I know. And He calls His people to seek first the kingdom of God. God may choose not to take away the suffering and persecution, but He will give His grace to endure it as He promised Paul. You know that throughout the history of sinful mankind, some have always held to the superstition, if I may call it that, but the superstition that good people in general don't suffer. And we sometimes struggle with that. Why do Christians have to suffer? And the idea is that if they do suffer, it's because they have committed a terrible sin. The disciples asked Jesus if the certain man was born blind because of his own sin or because of his parents' sin. And you remember Paul when he was shipwrecked on the island of Malta. He was gathering sticks to put on the fire and a poisonous viper, a snake, came out of the sticks, bit him, even hung on his hand, a clear indication that he had been bit by a poisonous snake. And the island natives first of all thought that the gods were out to get him. They were out to destroy him because surely he had done something terrible. But when he didn't die, then they changed their mind. They thought that He Himself must be some kind of a God. Christians do suffer for the faith even to the point of death. But God's grace is with them even as Jesus promises the Smyrna church that in death they would have life. He gives them assurance of life in the midst of death. Notice the last part of verse 10. Be faithful even to the point of death and I will give you the crown of life. Beloved, Jesus is commanding this church to exercise true faith in Him, not simply until they die, but to stay faithful even though it costs them their lives. There's a big difference. There's a big difference between staying faithful until this life is over, until it's run its course, until we die. Or being faithful even though we are put to death for that faith. Again, as a city, Smyrna was faithful to Rome. Rome was the be-all and the end-all. But Christ, who says He is the first and the last, who says that He died and came back to life, who conquered death, Christ calls believers to be faithful to Him. With a faith that is uncompromising even to the point of death. And what an awesome promise Christ gives to those who endure by God's grace. He says, I will give you the crown of life. That's eternal life. That's salvation full and free. James 1 verse 12 says, Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. The crown was a symbol of victory. At the Greek games of those days, the victor would receive a wreath of leaves to wear on his head. A crown of victory. And it is reported that some of the beautiful buildings of Smyrna were built on a hill and the arrangement gave the appearance of a crown. A victorious city, if you will. The people knew all about a crown, but an earthly crown means nothing. Only the heavenly crown, which is eternal life, is to be desired. Beloved, the enemy might take away the believer's physical life, but in Christ, the victory belongs to the believer. as in death He receives the crown of life. Jesus closes His address to this church with verse 11, 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. What is the second death? Revelation 21 verse 8 says, The fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. And that second death will only be experienced by those who die to this life in unbelief. That second death is hell. That second death lasts forever. That second death is reserved for all who reject the Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation. All who reject the authority of God Most High. If there are any here this morning who have not yet confessed their sins, repented and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are being called to repent and believe. Because today is the day of salvation. And for you there will then be the glorious riches of heaven. But for those who do not repent, this is what is reserved for them. The second death. You see, God's people, beloved, God's people die once. To this life. But they live twice. They live to this life and live forever. But those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ live once to this life. And they die twice. They die to this life and they die the second death. But God's people have no reason to fear. Do not be afraid. There's His life instead of death. Now, we don't know what God may allow us to suffer in this life. It could be a variety of things. But we do know that living for Jesus, as the boys, the cadets sang last week, living for Jesus invites persecution. 2 Timothy 3.12 says, Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And James 1.2 says, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. We know that in Isaiah 43, our God says, when you go through the waters and when you go through the fire, not if, but when. Yet God calls His people to endure to the end and He will give us the strength to do that. And one day we will be able to confidently say with Paul, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day and not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing. You know, beloved, it's hard to suffer when you don't know the outcome, isn't it? When you don't know how long the sickness will last, when you don't know if you'll get better, when you don't know if this hard time in your life will ever pass, it's hard to suffer when you don't know the outcome, whether it be sickness, persecution, or other difficulties. But God's people know the outcome. And we know it perfectly by the grace of God. Whatever may happen in this life, those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb are guaranteed the inheritance of eternal life. And therefore, we can count it all joy because as Romans 8.18 says, the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is truly a health and wealth Gospel with riches that will never end. Beloved, what are your riches? Are you rich in the grace of God? Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we pray that not one of us here who confesses the name of Jesus Christ would ever complain that we are poor, that we are lacking, that we are in need. May we never complain that we have to go through difficult times and put up with certain things. because we are so rich, so very, very rich in the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray, Father, that You would give to each one of us the strength to travel this life, to endure whatever may come our way. For we know that Jesus is with us, that You never leave us or forsake us, that You are the one who upholds Your people and preserves us until the very end. We thank You for this peace. We thank You for this assurance. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.