1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:04,560 I ask you to turn, please, in your Bibles to chapter 2 of the 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:11,480 Book of Revelation. And today we are going to start 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,200 with verse 8. We're going to talk about the 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:19,200 church at Smyrna. It's a lot of information to 5 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:23,560 give about Smyrna. It's a lot of history to give 6 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:26,120 about Smyrna. So we're going to go ahead and 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:27,840 just pray and we're going to get into the Word. 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,960 OK, Father, we do thank you for once again you give us this 9 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:36,520 opportunity, Lord, to come and gather together as a one 10 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,840 assembly in you. Father, we thank you that your 11 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,880 promise to us is that you will be with us, Lord, where two or 12 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,440 three are gathered together in your midst. 13 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,800 You promise that you will be with us, Father, and we believe 14 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:52,560 that. We know that you're here with 15 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,320 us. We just ask that there be a 16 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,800 manifestation of your spirit today, Father, not just your 17 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,040 presence, Lord, but that you would be manifested today. 18 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,000 We pray that you would have the that you would get the glory for 19 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,160 everything that is done and said today in this place. 20 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:15,600 I pray for your wisdom. I pray for your knowledge. 21 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:18,280 I pray, Father, for your anointing. 22 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,200 Lord, I cannot do this without you. 23 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:23,920 I need you to teach this lesson today, Lord. 24 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:30,120 So I pray that you would open your mouth and speak in Jesus 25 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,600 name. We pray, Amen. 26 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:36,240 So we're at the persecuted church here. 27 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,600 I'm going to just I'm going to read this because it's really 28 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:45,800 like only four verses, but this is probably four of the most 29 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,600 important and most significant verses that I have ever read in 30 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:54,640 the word of God. It's so, so impactful when we 31 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,080 dig into this. So let's read it and then we'll 32 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,320 go back and we'll make our comments. 33 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,120 It says into the church, to the Angel of the church in Smyrna. 34 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:12,960 Write these things, says the 1st and the last who was dead and 35 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:19,360 came to life. I know your works, tribulation 36 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:26,200 and poverty, but you are rich, and I know the blasphemy of 37 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:31,600 those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of 38 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,320 Satan. Do not fear any of those things 39 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:40,000 which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil was about to 40 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:45,280 throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you 41 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:52,160 will have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful unto death and I 42 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:57,960 will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear 43 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:00,400 what the Spirit says to the churches. 44 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:09,120 He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. 45 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,360 Amen. So as we go back, we look at 46 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:21,480 this history and we and we see that this is a suffering church. 47 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:26,360 Now Smyrna today is a current day Izmir, which is over in 48 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,480 Turkey. But just to give you a little 49 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:33,440 background about Smyrna, the name Smyrna actually means myrrh 50 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,480 and it's main and myrrh is actually its main commodity. 51 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,200 Myrrh is an herb that has a bitter taste if you were to bite 52 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:47,040 into it, but it, it, it diffuses a, a, a sweet smelling aroma. 53 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,840 The city of Smyrna was located 35 miles north of Ephesus. 54 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:58,160 So as John was sick, excuse me, sitting in the congregation of 55 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,040 Ephesus and he reads his letter when he walks out of there, he 56 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,400 walks 35 miles north and he goes into Smyrna. 57 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,280 Now it's, it's one of the large, it is the largest city in Asia 58 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,720 Minor, major seaport and commercial center, just like 59 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:17,959 Ephesus was. It's a, it's a very strong 60 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:22,800 political center of the region. Smyrna has been invaded like 61 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:24,720 several times, it's been destroyed. 62 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,440 But later it was restored and brought back to life by 63 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:33,440 Alexander the Great and it became a major metropolis, 64 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:39,360 metropolis coming, you know, coming under the rule of the 65 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,720 Roman government. It was made of free city. 66 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,480 Now it was made of free city because it was loyal to the 67 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,160 Roman government or to the Roman Empire, and it was. 68 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,520 And it wasn't a political threat because they were so loyal and 69 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:57,600 there was a lot of advantages for them to come under the Roman 70 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,560 rule. One of the things is that with 71 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,600 their trade and commerce, if they did anything over the seas, 72 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:07,320 there was a time when the seas were very dangerous and trying 73 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,200 to ship things by sea, there would be a lot of piracy and 74 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,040 things of that nature. But once they came under the 75 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,120 Roman rule, they didn't have to worry about that. 76 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,320 Rome cleaned up those those seas and they get rid of the piracy 77 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,160 and made them safer. And the same thing with inland 78 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,600 travel. If they were traveling on the 79 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,560 inland, a lot of times people would be robbed and it wasn't 80 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,720 safe to travel. But after Rome became a ruler of 81 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:36,080 Smyrna, those roads became a lot more safe because of the Roman 82 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,800 rule that they that they had. People did not want to cross 83 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:42,200 Rome. They were, Rome was coming into 84 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:47,040 its strength as a as a nation, as an empire, and they were and 85 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,920 they were mighty and no one really wanted to cross them. 86 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,400 So Smyrna thought it was a good idea for them to connect with 87 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,720 Rome. So coming under that, that 88 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,360 umbrella, like I said, they became a free city. 89 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,160 And that free city basically means that they were, they had a 90 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:09,680 lot of autonomy there in Smyrna. They were able to kind of govern 91 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,360 themselves. They didn't have a Garrison that 92 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,960 was constantly patrolling the streets and watching and seeing 93 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,160 what they were doing. They, they kind of took care of 94 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:19,680 their own business. They made a lot of their own 95 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:24,200 laws there in Smyrna because they had that kind of autonomy. 96 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,120 It was also Smyrna was also a legal asylum city. 97 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:33,160 It, it was offering protection for runaway slaves and people 98 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,920 who were debtors and running away from, from their 99 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:40,240 responsibilities and criminals could come to the region of 100 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,320 Smyrna and they would be protected. 101 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,360 And the reason why Smyrna did this is because they wanted to 102 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,320 build up their population so they could have people come 103 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,160 there and they would build up their population. 104 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,360 They'd become even a larger cities. 105 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:58,520 Smyrna was a very wealthy city, but it was also a very Pagan 106 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:03,360 city, Very Pagan. And we're about to find out just 107 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:08,200 why it is that it was such a, a, a, a city that persecuted the 108 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,080 Jew, the, the Christian so much. And it's because of the fact 109 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:17,000 that it is a Pagan city and it was a major Center for Pagan 110 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:22,720 worship and emperor and imperial cults, which is basically an 111 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,560 emperor worship. So they wanted to, whatever 112 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,600 emperor was in was in place. They wanted the city, they 113 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:31,320 wanted the people to worship them. 114 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,800 That was their God. Smyrna had many gods, it had 115 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:41,040 many temples, and it had temples to all of these gods, like, and 116 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:45,840 then just to name a few, you know, Sabelli, Zeus, Athena, 117 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,840 Apollo, but also Aphroditus. And there was a number of 118 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,840 others, you know, that's just some of the gods that they 119 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,080 worship and some of the temples, it was lined with temples. 120 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,040 So Smyrna was one of the a polytheistic city, but the 121 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:06,160 people willingly, even though they weren't all, you know, 122 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:11,160 worshipping the same gods, but they all willingly participated 123 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:15,160 in the mandatory Roman emperor worship as well. 124 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,280 So you can go and worship any God that you say that you want 125 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,920 to believe in, but it was mandated that you would come and 126 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:27,560 worship the Roman emperor. Now the people Smyrna was free 127 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:33,000 to go to any those those gods. But there was one day out of the 128 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:38,520 year where every citizen in Rome had to come to the temple of 129 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:43,600 Caesar, and they had to burn a pinch of incense. 130 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:47,480 And while they burn that pinch of incense, they had to say 131 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:57,040 Caesar is Lord. And in order for them to be 132 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,360 justified that they did it, they actually received a certificate 133 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,560 before leaving certifying that they did that. 134 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:08,560 They indeed did do so. But now, now we see what the 135 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:12,600 problem is with the Christians, because there's no Christian 136 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,120 that's going to say Caesar is Lord. 137 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:21,440 So here comes the opposition. And because the Christians would 138 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:28,040 not agree to say that Caesar is Lord, they started to, they 139 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,400 started to experience a lot of opposition. 140 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,400 They started to experience a lot of resistance. 141 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,920 And eventually that went into being full out persecution, 142 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:45,320 torture, everything to try to get them to come in line because 143 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,680 they could not allow themselves, they, they, Rome would not allow 144 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:54,840 them to not worship Caesar. So because Smyrna was such a 145 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:59,920 prominent Sinner for these things, the people who would 146 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,520 acknowledge themselves as being Christians, they knew it was 147 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:08,120 becoming more and more dangerous to worship Christ there in 148 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:13,080 Smyrna. But remember Jesus who walks in 149 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,440 the midst of the churches and sees what the churches were 150 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,560 going through at this time. He sent a letter to Smyrna 151 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:27,040 because he wanted to remind them that he is the eternal God and 152 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:30,640 that He is with them. And he wanted to encourage them 153 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:37,040 to continue to be steadfast in their faith even in the midst of 154 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:41,440 all the persecution, in the midst of all of the trials that 155 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:43,440 they're going through. And they were going through very 156 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:48,800 heavy trial. What a comfort it is, What a 157 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:51,880 comfort it is to know that our Lord and Savior is always in the 158 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,280 midst of us and sees and knows what we're going through. 159 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,960 What a comfort that is. It's awesome to be able to know 160 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,800 that we serve a God who knows everything about everything. 161 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,280 And not only does He see it, but He gets in that struggle with 162 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:09,440 us. I'm reminded of the three Hebrew 163 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:12,520 boys back in Daniel. They were going through heavy 164 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:14,400 persecution. They were going through heavy 165 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:19,960 threats and eventually, because they refused to worship 166 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:23,600 Nebuchadnezzar, they were thrown in the fiery furnace. 167 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:28,040 But like I said, Jesus is he. He's a God that not only sees 168 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,320 what we go through, but he gets in the struggle with us. 169 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,080 Because when they threw the three Hebrews boys in the the 170 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:38,360 fiery furnace for not worshiping Nebuchadnezzar, the Bible says 171 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:42,320 that Nebuchadnezzar looked in the furnace and he saw not just 172 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,520 the three images that he put in. He said, yeah, there's Shadrach, 173 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:47,080 there's Meshach, and there's Abednego. 174 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:51,320 But wait a minute, who was this fourth image that I see in the 175 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:56,960 fire and he acknowledged that it had the form as of the son of 176 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,440 God. So we go to verse 8 verse 8 now 177 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,800 so that we go to get into this we see that there's this is what 178 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:10,240 a struggle has come in Rome wanted is one of the the 179 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:16,400 Christians to worship Caesar. The church is saying they will 180 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:21,760 not call anybody Lord except Jesus Christ and I pray that we 181 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:26,280 as the church would have that same mindset that we don't 182 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,240 worship anybody except Jesus Christ, Amen. 183 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:34,240 We don't call anybody Lord except Jesus Christ. 184 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:41,000 So in verse 8, he says into the Angel to the Church of Smyrna 185 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:46,560 write these things, says the first, the last, and he who was 186 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:50,360 dead and who came to life. So Jesus once again identifies 187 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:54,240 himself using a description mentioned in chapter 1. 188 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:56,800 Actually, you can. It's over in chat. 189 00:12:56,800 --> 00:13:02,040 In verse 8 of chapter 1, he says he identified himself as being 190 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:06,160 the 1st and the last. That means that he's letting us 191 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:08,960 know that he is eternal. He's letting the children that 192 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,400 the people of Smyrna know that he is eternal. 193 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,480 He's the eternal God. You know, I can't wrap my mind. 194 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,560 I was telling Ted this morning as we were praying every now and 195 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:21,960 then when I when I tried to think about the fact that Jesus 196 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:27,400 is eternal and that he is infinite and that I am finite, 197 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:34,360 it's so hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that in his 198 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:37,840 existence there was no beginning. 199 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:43,840 He is the beginning and in his in this world, there is no end. 200 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:48,240 He is the end and He controls everything in between. 201 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,800 And it's so hard for me to wrap my mind around because we are 202 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,640 always looking at how things start and how things end. 203 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,040 When someone invites you to something, the first thing he 204 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:00,280 says, what time does it start? When does it start? 205 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:04,640 What time is it over? Because in our infinite minds 206 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:09,800 that's how we process things. But He's the 1st and He's the 207 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:11,680 last. There's nothing before him, 208 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:15,400 there's no existence, there's no power, there's nothing before 209 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:19,240 him and definitely nothing greater than him. 210 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:23,240 And he is the last. So he's letting them know that 211 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:27,360 this God that you're that you're sacrificing yourself for this 212 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:31,520 God that you, that you love so much that you're willing to 213 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:35,400 endure this persecution, this tribulation, know that he is 214 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:41,360 God. He is God and he's able to do 215 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:46,080 exceeding abundantly and with all that we may ask or think. 216 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:50,280 And he also says that he is he who was dead. 217 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:54,880 So this is this is Jesus now saying that I have power not 218 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,600 only over death, but also over my over resurrection. 219 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,360 I have power over death and resurrection. 220 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:08,000 So I have, you don't have to worry about death because I have 221 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:12,800 already defeated death. Martha and Mary. 222 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,720 He had to tell them, he said, listen, I am the resurrection 223 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:20,920 and the life. If you believe in me, though you 224 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:26,600 were dead, yet you will live. And if you live and believe in 225 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:30,680 me, you shall never die. He is the resurrection and the 226 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,360 life. And it was important for them to 227 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,720 know that because of the things that they're about to embark 228 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:38,680 upon, the things that they're about to experience. 229 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:43,080 So he says here in verse 9, he says, I know your works, I know 230 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:47,200 your works. He said, I know your works, your 231 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:51,000 tribulation and your poverty, but you were rich. 232 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,040 And and I just want to talk about these two things because 233 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:58,320 it's really important, tribulation and poverty. 234 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,280 Now, first of all, the tribulation that you know, that 235 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:05,160 we usually talk about in, in the context of the way that we 236 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,960 experience tribulation. I mean it, it, it deals with 237 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,840 hardships and distresses, persecutions even deals with 238 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,760 some affliction. And of course the persecution is 239 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,480 that we deal with that we call tribulation. 240 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:22,320 It, it's usually something that probably makes us more, makes it 241 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:26,040 more inconvenient for us or, or or or deals with us in a way 242 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:32,720 where we may have to be diseased more than anything else. 243 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:35,720 But that's not the persecution they were dealing with. 244 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:39,080 That's not the, the, the, the, the tribulation they were 245 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,280 dealing with. They were dealing with the 246 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:45,920 context of the Greek word philipsis, philipsis, and what 247 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,560 this ellipsis was. It was a persecution or a 248 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:55,440 tribulation, meaning crush or to press or pressure. 249 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,040 It's it's like, it's like the crushing or the pressing of 250 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:01,960 grapes to get the juice to bust forward. 251 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,079 So these people in their life was being pressed and crushed 252 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,760 every day under the weight of persecution. 253 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,960 And actually in those in that time, the Roman government would 254 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:19,520 use Philipsis or use this literal crushing or this 255 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,720 pressing was used when they had a criminal and they were trying 256 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:26,119 to get a confession out of that criminal or they were trying to 257 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:28,960 punish the criminal. They would use this crushing. 258 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,480 They would lay him down on his back and they would put a large 259 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:37,440 rock or stone on his chest. And, and, and the, and the more 260 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:41,040 he would try to breathe, inhale and exhale, the more difficult 261 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:42,880 it got. The he would just be pressed 262 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:47,320 under the weight of this rock and eventually he would die of 263 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:51,520 suffocation. It was a slow death. 264 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:56,040 It was an agonizing death. It was a painful death. 265 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,880 And this is was the, the, the experience that these, that 266 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,800 these Christians had. It was a it was a crushing, they 267 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,000 were being crushed by this persecution. 268 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,720 But even Jesus himself understands the, the weight 269 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:14,560 you're being crushed under the weight of, of, of, of, of, of 270 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,120 sin and, and to be crushed under the weight of persecution for he 271 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:21,160 was persecuted. You know, Jesus was, you know, a 272 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,040 man of many sorrows and he was acquainted with grief. 273 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,720 So he understood this, this whole thing of, of, of being 274 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:34,080 pressed and pressured. But when he was in the Garden of 275 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:39,120 Gethsemane, which was actually means pressing or oil press, 276 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,840 when he was there, the Bible says that he was being, he felt 277 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:47,640 such a weight of the pressing of the things that he knew he had 278 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,880 to go through. If you can imagine that the 279 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:55,200 things that he knew he was about to experience this, this, this 280 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,040 crushing that he was going to have to be dealing with of going 281 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:02,760 to the cross. Bible says that he actually 282 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:10,320 sweated and his sweat was, it was like the drops of blood to 283 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:13,880 the ground. It's the kind of pressure that 284 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:17,360 he was dealing with. What also finds out when we 285 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:22,960 talked about, we talked about Smyrna being meaning myrrh. 286 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:28,760 Myrrh has to be crushed in order to defuse the sweet smelling 287 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:31,800 scent. It had to be crushed. 288 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:35,560 So like Jesus, the life of these Christians were being crushed 289 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:39,440 under the weight of persecution and was diffusing a sweet 290 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:43,840 smelling aroma of the gospel of the true life. 291 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,160 If you imagine Jesus when he was being crushed, we could you know 292 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:51,200 he diffused the aroma of love, of humility. 293 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:55,520 He diffused the aroma of the gospel. 294 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:02,000 But then us when we are being crushed, now we too we diffuse a 295 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:07,920 sweet smelling aroma which lets people know and brings glory to 296 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:13,720 God our lives when we. Stand under the pressure of 297 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,480 persecution or any kind of trials. 298 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:20,520 It's a sweet smelling aroma to those people who are watching 299 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:25,080 what we go through. Our steadfast obedient life is a 300 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:30,240 sweet smelling fragrance and it brings glory to God, Paul said 301 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:35,080 in 2nd Corinthians 214 and 15. Paul says now thanks be to God 302 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:41,280 who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and though and and 303 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:45,080 through US diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in 304 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,640 every place. For we are to God the fragrance 305 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:53,600 of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who 306 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,560 are perishing. So we're not just talking about 307 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,600 pressure of losing jobs or being shunned by family or friends or 308 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,520 even being arrested for our faith, but we're talking about 309 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:08,040 this, this, this crushing, this heavy persecution happening to 310 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:09,960 Christians. And it's actually happening to 311 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,520 Christians even now in other in other places. 312 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,120 I was reading something recently and I wanted to share it with 313 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:19,760 you. This is according to Open Doors 314 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,440 of 2026. So it's a recent world watch 315 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:27,000 list. And it said that over 388 316 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:31,760 million Christians face high levels of persecution and 317 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:40,760 discrimination, with roughly 4849 killed annually. 318 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:46,360 The most dangerous countries include North Korea, Somalia, 319 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:55,240 Yemen, Sudan and Eritrea, which is in West East Africa, I 320 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:59,480 believe continent off of East Africa, Syria, Nigeria. 321 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,280 And these are all places where Christians face extreme 322 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,200 violence. That's not an exhausted list, 323 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:08,200 but it's a face where they it's a place where they, they, they 324 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:13,440 experience this extreme violence, imprisonment, forced 325 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,840 displacement. They experienced this 326 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,880 particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. 327 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,320 So the Church of Samaran was facing these this heavy 328 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:28,440 persecution and yet Jesus himself was with them and they 329 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,880 were doing it for their faith in Jesus Christ. 330 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:35,320 Now we look at poverty, they use the way he said use the word 331 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:37,880 poverty, said you also going through poverty, but you were 332 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,200 rich. Now this isn't the poverty that 333 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:43,000 we know here in this country where you just don't have enough 334 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,880 resources. You know, you have money, you 335 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,840 have things, but you may not just have enough resources. 336 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,280 We have people in our country that are considered not 337 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:56,480 unemployed, but underemployed. So it's not that they're not 338 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:00,480 making anything or don't have anything, but it might just be 339 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:05,720 insufficient for what it is that they may want to do or even what 340 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,200 it is that they may need to do. But this isn't the kind of 341 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,920 poverty that we were talking about with the Christians and 342 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:16,440 Smyrna and Smyrna. They were dealing with what is 343 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:21,520 called object, abject poverty, abject poverty. 344 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:27,480 And what that simply means is that they have nothing, nothing 345 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:31,720 at all. Not just not sufficient means or 346 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:38,240 resources, they have nothing at all, nothing at all. 347 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,440 Because of the persecution that they were dealing with. 348 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:47,360 If they had employment, they were let go from their jobs. 349 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,320 If they were identified as being a Christian, if they were 350 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:54,600 self-employed, they were boycotted and no one would buy 351 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:58,160 from them. Their property was confiscated, 352 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,760 robbed and vandalized. If they had money on their own, 353 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,120 it wouldn't matter because they couldn't go and buy anything 354 00:24:06,120 --> 00:24:08,200 because nobody would do business with them. 355 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:14,280 They were being crushed. The pressure was coming in from 356 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:16,920 every different way. So they were not only going 357 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,040 through tribulation, but they were dealing with this abject 358 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,200 poverty. Today there is persecution in 359 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:26,800 the in the job force. We know that we have people that 360 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:28,960 I'm sure is in the job force that was dealing with some 361 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:33,440 persecution because you won't use pronouns or because you 362 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,000 won't participate. And if you're working in the 363 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:40,080 medical field because you won't participate in an abortion or or 364 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:43,440 or or something of that manner or give or give some distribute 365 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,120 some drugs for abortion where any of those kind of things 366 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:48,840 because it goes against your belief. 367 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,200 You know Baker's we we heard about the Baker that's over in 368 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:54,800 Oregon. I believe it was that would not 369 00:24:54,800 --> 00:25:00,680 bake a cake for an LBGTQ. It's L GB TQI get those. 370 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,400 I'm sorry, I get those letters mixed up wedding. 371 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,120 They would not bake a cake for the wedding. 372 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:14,000 So they ended a lot of heavy fines and actually almost run 373 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,840 them out of business. And a lot of those kind of 374 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,720 things are happening. I mean, you know, what about if 375 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:24,440 if people get to the point where pastors have to perform these 376 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:28,440 ceremonies or they go to jail, it might get to that point at 377 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,880 some point. But that's not what we're 378 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,560 talking about here. We're talking about people who 379 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,960 are destitute. These, these, these are people 380 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:42,160 who have lost everything because they follow Jesus Christ. 381 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:48,600 They follow Jesus Christ. But we also have to remember 382 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:53,240 that Jesus puts a different definition on the word rich and 383 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:57,360 poor because by the world standard they were poor, even 384 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:00,120 destitute. But Jesus said they were rich. 385 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:07,120 Jesus said they were rich. And in Revelations interest, 386 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:09,880 because in Revelations 317, I'm going to go there. 387 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:15,720 That's the that's the layer of the Church of Laodicea. 388 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:17,920 Look at what he says in verse 17. 389 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:26,160 He says, because you say I am rich, have become wealthy and 390 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:32,320 have need of nothing and do not know that you are wretched, 391 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:36,880 miserable, poor, blind and naked. 392 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,280 They don't know that they're poor. 393 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,640 They think that they have everything because of the 394 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:46,520 possessions that they have. They think they have everything 395 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,560 because of the money that they may have. 396 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:53,400 But Jesus says you're poor. You're poor because you don't 397 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:59,040 have the spiritual riches. You don't have the riches that 398 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:03,120 really, really matter. You see, a man's life does not 399 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:06,040 consist of the things he possess. 400 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:11,640 The the true riches are the riches that we have in glory. 401 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,600 We have riches in faith, we have riches in in favor with God. 402 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,040 We have riches in his grace. We have riches. 403 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,720 We have an inheritance that's waiting for us that's undefiled 404 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,000 and that's incorruptible. All of their riches in this 405 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,440 world is corruptible. It will fade, it will corrupt. 406 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:40,040 It can even be stolen or taken, but our riches cannot be stolen 407 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,440 nor taken. We have it that aren't rich. 408 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,360 They are forever. It's everlasting. 409 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:50,480 And we have it now. We have it now. 410 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:55,720 I remember a couple weeks ago, so I was working through this, I 411 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,200 was thinking about the songs that our praise and worship team 412 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,440 was singing. And a couple weeks ago they, 413 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:04,920 they, they sang the song. Give thanks with a grateful 414 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,840 heart. Give thanks to the Holy One 415 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,560 because he has given Jesus Christ his Son. 416 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:21,840 And now let the weak say I am strong, and let the poor say I 417 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:28,080 am rich. Not because of what we have, not 418 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:32,240 because of what we've done, but because of what the Lord has 419 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:36,320 done for us. Amen. 420 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:40,320 So we are rich and this is what Jesus was saying to this church. 421 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:46,040 Naturally and through the natural resources or through the 422 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:52,160 worldly eyes, you may be poor, but you are rich. 423 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,520 Then he goes on and he says, and I know the blasphemy of those 424 00:28:56,520 --> 00:29:02,440 who say that they are Jews and are not, but our, our, our 425 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:08,160 synagogue of Satan. Wow, a synagogue of Satan, you 426 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:12,000 know, as I was thinking about that rich thing as we move into 427 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,440 talking about the, the, the Jews, but this thinking about 428 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,280 the whole thing about rich, you know, that we, we have this 429 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:23,480 prosperity gospel that is still running rampant even here today, 430 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,480 prosperity gospel. And, and, and when you hear 431 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:31,520 somebody say that if you're, if you have enough faith, then you 432 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,600 will have health and you will have wealth and you will have 433 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:37,720 Wellness if you have enough faith. 434 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:40,640 And if you don't have those things, it's because you don't 435 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:47,400 have enough faith. But yet Jesus said they are 436 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,920 rich. He never once said, you know, 437 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:53,680 he, he, he didn't, he didn't rebuke them because they didn't 438 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:56,800 have wealth. He didn't rebuke them because 439 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,080 they didn't have wealth and say you are are you don't have 440 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,720 enough faith. He didn't do that. 441 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:04,880 But that's what the prosperity preachers would say that he 442 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:08,600 would do because they say that you have to have riches in order 443 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:13,240 to to have faith. But no, he said you are rich. 444 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,480 You are rich. You're rich because you're rich 445 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:20,960 because you have the riches of glory. 446 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:25,240 So it flies in the face of that. But when you think about the 447 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:30,360 missionaries that we have that are living in remote places and 448 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:33,440 the only thing they have or the that they can depend on are the 449 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,000 donations that people send them. That's all they can can live on. 450 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:41,600 Or the people that they minister to who have even less than that. 451 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:44,640 But yet these people are rich in faith. 452 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:50,440 Even though they don't have a lot of things, they still rich 453 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:54,000 in faith. They have such a love for Jesus 454 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,720 Christ and they look forward to his return because they know 455 00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:01,400 that everything that they have comes from him. 456 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:07,880 Every, every need that is met is met by him. 457 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:17,600 It's an indictment to even have a a message that talks about 458 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:23,280 someone not having faith because they don't have the money when 459 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,480 there's so many times when Jesus, even Jesus himself was 460 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:30,920 poor, He didn't even have a place to lay his head, but he 461 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:34,160 has riches and glory. He made himself, he came and 462 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:39,320 made himself poor that we would be rich and have the gospel to 463 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:43,200 look forward to. So he says here, he says that 464 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:50,040 the Jews, he said that they are, you know, I know the blasphemy 465 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:54,520 of those who say they are Jews and are not but a synagogue of 466 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,280 Satan. They say they're Jews, but 467 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:00,960 they're not. Now this is not a statement that 468 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:05,360 they're saying that all Jews are wrong or all synagogues are a 469 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:08,200 synagogue of Satan. This is not what this is saying. 470 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:13,600 This is, this is saying that, you know, these particular Jews 471 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:18,680 here in Smyrna, he was saying that they were calling 472 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:20,760 themselves Jews. And those Jews really, when you 473 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:23,080 say you're a Jew, that means that you're of the people of 474 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,880 God. You're calling yourself a, 475 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:31,080 you're calling yourself a, a, a, a, a child of God being a Jew, 476 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:36,320 but yet you hate Jesus, you hate his church. 477 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:42,200 So you're not really a Jew. And Jesus is saying that, you 478 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:46,360 know, we were over in Romans, Paul said that you're not Jew. 479 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:50,560 Those who are call themselves Jews outwardly. 480 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:56,880 It's a circumcision of the heart that makes 1A Jew a true Jew. 481 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:00,840 And then what Jesus is saying here is that if, listen, if you 482 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,480 are hating Christians, you're persecuting the Christians, then 483 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:09,080 you're calling yourself a Jew and you really are not but a 484 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:10,680 synagogue of Satan. Why? 485 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:14,000 Because if you're destroying the church, then you're doing the 486 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:19,080 work of Satan. That's why he calls them a 487 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:25,920 synagogue of Satan. It's, it's, it's, it's a, it's 488 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:30,240 amazing when you, you think about how these Jews were 489 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:34,840 treating the Christians, because now they were exempt, I should 490 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:41,440 say this, they were exempt from having to do the, the worship of 491 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:43,080 Caesar. They were exempt from that 492 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,800 because they they have, they're loyal, they're loyal to the 493 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:50,520 Roman government and they have this agreement that what what 494 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,320 they would do instead of worshipping Caesar because they 495 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:58,680 are a monotheistic religion. If they're worshipping Caesar, 496 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:01,560 but instead of worshipping Caesar, they get to just maybe 497 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:10,520 light a incense on Caesar's behalf or pray for Caesar and 498 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:14,440 they were fine with that. But the Christians were not 499 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:17,120 accepted at all by the Roman government. 500 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:19,480 And because they weren't accepted by the Roman government 501 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:22,159 because the Jews hated them. So not only were the Christians 502 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:26,719 being persecuted by the Roman government, but they're also 503 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:28,920 being persecuted by the the Jews. 504 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:33,840 And Jesus said, look, I understand, I know what you're 505 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:35,719 going through. I know that you're dealing with 506 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,280 these Jews who and the persecution and the blasphemy of 507 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,400 the persecution of these Jews who say that they're Jewish and 508 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:44,560 they're not but a synagogue of Satan. 509 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:49,600 They're doing the work of Satan, doing the work of Satan. 510 00:34:52,159 --> 00:34:56,320 And then we also go over here now to the verse 10. 511 00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:02,040 It says do not fear any of those things which are about what you 512 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:07,720 are about to suffer. Don't fear any of these things 513 00:35:07,720 --> 00:35:11,520 that you are about to suffer. Wouldn't it be nice if at that 514 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:15,520 point that Jesus was said, don't fear any of these things because 515 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:17,920 I'm about to deliver you from that and you won't have to go 516 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,800 through any of that. I'm sure that's what they would 517 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,880 have wanted to hear. You know, don't fear these 518 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:25,200 things. You don't have to worry about it 519 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:28,720 because I'm coming and, and I'm going to take care of it all. 520 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,840 So don't worry about it. But that's not what he said. 521 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:37,080 Look at what he says next. He says indeed, the devil was 522 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:39,280 about to throw some of you into prison. 523 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:43,120 He went on to talk about what is actually going to happen. 524 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:45,720 He's prophesying the future. He said this is what's going to 525 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,960 happen in the future. The devil was going to throw 526 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:53,320 some of you into prison that you may be tested and you will have 527 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:58,880 tribulation 10 days, 10 days, but be faithful unto death. 528 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:03,800 So he goes on and he prophesized about what's coming. 529 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:06,040 He doesn't say that you're not going to have to go through 530 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,080 that. It would be wonderful if they 531 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,440 didn't have to go through it, but they will. 532 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:13,160 And Jesus is saying, because you're going to be tested, 533 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:16,320 you're going to be tested. A faith that's not tested, can 534 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,680 it truly be called a true faith? And, and, and, and, and, and the 535 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:25,640 hotter we are in the furnace, the furnace of life, the hotter 536 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:27,600 we are. And our and our, our faith is 537 00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:30,400 being tested. That's what proves who we are. 538 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,640 That's what really proves where we are with our faith. 539 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:38,880 And in this country, we've been very fortunate to not have to go 540 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:44,920 through the kind of trial and tribulation and the testing that 541 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,680 this particular church has had to go through. 542 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,160 But there are still things in our life that will really test 543 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:55,200 our faith that we may have to deal with on a regular basis. 544 00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:56,960 There's things that test our faith. 545 00:36:56,960 --> 00:37:00,720 We, we, we can still find ourselves in the furnace of life 546 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:06,680 hardships, whether it's financial, whether it's family, 547 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:12,080 whether it's employment wise. We can find ourselves in a 548 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:18,240 furnace in a place where it's real hot and our faith is truly 549 00:37:18,240 --> 00:37:24,160 being tested. Get a diagnosis, look at my bank 550 00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:26,920 statement and there's some money that I thought was there and 551 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:31,960 it's not. There's some things that can put 552 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:36,280 us in the furnace. But he's saying in this be 553 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:40,160 faithful unto death. Let's talk about this ten days 554 00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,040 because he he mentions this 10 days. 555 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,080 Now some people think that this 10 days is the actual 10 days. 556 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:50,680 Some people think that this 10 days was a a symbolic of the 557 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:54,960 fact that there are there were there were 10 emperors who 558 00:37:54,960 --> 00:38:04,160 really delved out like really harsh punishment or persecution 559 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:11,360 over a period of the years 606364AD pretty much through one 560 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:16,360 O 5 AAD and and and you know, there was 10 emperors and it 561 00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,760 starts with Nero and it ends with the akletion. 562 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:24,560 But now when we talk about that now that's not necessarily 563 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:27,240 etched in stone. I mean, because there's nowhere 564 00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:29,880 really in the word of God that really says that this is what he 565 00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:33,400 means by the 10 days. But what we can say, what the 566 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:37,840 point of this is, is that he's saying that there is a period, a 567 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:42,520 definite period where there will be heavy persecution. 568 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,760 There will be. And they experienced this. 569 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:53,760 They experienced it. So he says, be faithful unto 570 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:58,280 death. How do we respond in this 571 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:02,800 persecution? How do we, how do we behave 572 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:07,960 ourselves in this persecution? I think about Job when he was 573 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:13,160 going through his suffering, the Bible constantly said, but even 574 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:15,000 though he was going through these things, he behaved himself 575 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:18,960 wisely. He never cursed God. 576 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:25,480 He never gave up on God, questioned God, but never cursed 577 00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:31,560 him, never gave up on him. God is not, you know, in the 1st 578 00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,320 chapter we saw that he was looking, I'm starting the 579 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,280 earlier chapter early in the part of chapter 2 when he was 580 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:41,000 dealing with the, the Church of Ephesus, he wanted that church 581 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:45,720 to return to their first love. He wanted them to return to the 582 00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:47,720 first love. But in this section he's saying 583 00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:52,000 he's looking for them to be faithful in the midst of all the 584 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:55,920 persecution. Be faithful, understand that 585 00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,440 it's, it's going to happen, but be faithful and be faithful unto 586 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:02,520 death. And I will give you the crown of 587 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:04,800 life. And that is the reward of those 588 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,840 who endure. The crown of life is the reward 589 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:11,760 for those who endure. Who go through tribute, who go 590 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:16,400 through temptations or who go through tribulations, but they 591 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:20,520 endure to the end. They remain faithful. 592 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:24,320 They don't turn back, do not as those who turn back to 593 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:27,640 perdition, but who believe into the saving of the soul. 594 00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:30,840 And that's who. And that's what he is saying 595 00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:33,600 here. Be faithful, Remain faithful. 596 00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:36,240 Yes, you're going to have it and it's going to be tough, but I 597 00:40:36,240 --> 00:40:40,520 want you to be faithful, remain faithful as you go through this. 598 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:46,560 You know, one of the things that we have to understand is that 599 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:53,200 there is going to be a time when being a Christian will cost you 600 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:57,600 something. It will cost you something. 601 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:00,080 That's why Jesus said count the cost. 602 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:03,400 You know, could you imagine being a Christian? 603 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:05,840 You can't. You can't be a wimp Christian 604 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:10,200 and living in Smyrna. You can't be a weak Christian 605 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:15,920 and live in Smyrna. But one thing that the Word of 606 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:22,720 God tells us is that at the time when we need it the most, God 607 00:41:22,720 --> 00:41:25,440 will give us the strength that we need to endure. 608 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:32,520 At the time that we need it the most, the power of Christ will 609 00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:36,360 rest upon us at the time that we need it to most now. 610 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:39,840 Now one of the people who were going through this persecution, 611 00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:44,320 heavy persecution, and was actually martyred was Polycarp, 612 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:49,640 who was the actually the Bishop of of the Church of Smyrna at 613 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:52,920 one point. He was an older man, Polycarp 614 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:58,240 was in his 90s. He was actually a mentee of the 615 00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:00,720 Apostle John. So he actually knew the Apostle 616 00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:05,520 John and he had gone through heavy persecution until 617 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:08,760 eventually they decided they were just going to execute him 618 00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:12,480 because he would not renounce Jesus. 619 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:20,920 So the saying goes, The saying goes that he continued to 620 00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:23,480 denounce. So they had set a time when they 621 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:28,400 were going to execute him and they gave him another 622 00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:34,360 opportunity to renounce Jesus. And Polycarp said he said I have 623 00:42:34,360 --> 00:42:39,640 served. I've served them for 86 years 624 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:49,160 and he's never wronged me. How can I blasphemy my king who 625 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:53,760 saved me? And as they continue to threaten 626 00:42:53,760 --> 00:42:56,800 him with the threat of burning them to the stake, he says, 627 00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:01,200 you're coming to me and threatening me with fire that's 628 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:03,000 going to only last for about an hour. 629 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:08,440 But you're forgetting. You're forgetting the fire that 630 00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:18,200 will last for eternity in hell. What a perspective. 631 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:21,560 This is going to last for a while. 632 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:23,360 Yeah, I might. I might feel a pinch. 633 00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:28,840 OK, maybe a little bit more in the pinch, but after a while, 634 00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:31,960 this is going to be over. I'll have eternity with my Lord. 635 00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:36,720 But you on the other hand, you're going to be an eternity 636 00:43:36,760 --> 00:43:38,640 in hell. You're going to feel this fire 637 00:43:38,640 --> 00:43:43,920 forever and ever and ever and ever and ever, which also gives 638 00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:48,240 us an opportunity for them to have an opportunity to repent. 639 00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:55,960 Polycarp, what a perspective. So then in verse 11 here about 640 00:43:55,960 --> 00:44:01,880 to come in here for clothes, he says he who has an ear, let him 641 00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:04,880 hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 642 00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:11,720 He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death, shall 643 00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:16,960 not be hurt by the second death. He says he who has an ear, he 644 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:21,920 who has that spiritual understanding, who actually has 645 00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:25,720 a heart to receive what it is that the Spirit is saying to 646 00:44:25,720 --> 00:44:31,040 you, you have an ear to hear it. And that's opposed to those who 647 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:34,920 don't want to hear what the word of God says, what the word of 648 00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:40,320 God is sharing. You ever think about how 649 00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:43,560 difficult, how, how crazy it is. And sometimes you can sit in a, 650 00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:46,920 a church session and one person can be sitting right next to 651 00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:50,640 somebody else in the one is hearing everything and it's 652 00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:54,560 touching their hearts and they're responding to it 653 00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:57,880 spiritually. But the other person just 654 00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:00,320 doesn't receive it at all, doesn't hear it at all. 655 00:45:00,720 --> 00:45:03,680 Their hearts are just closed to what it is that the Spirit is 656 00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:08,360 trying to say. But he says here, him who has an 657 00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:11,120 ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 658 00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:14,880 He who overcomes, listen to this last section here. 659 00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:22,680 He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death, shall 660 00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:32,720 not be hurt by the second death. You know, for me, this makes me 661 00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:37,000 ponder about what Jesus is really saying. 662 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:43,640 That's really important. Unless Jesus raptures us before 663 00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:45,800 we die, we're all going to experience death. 664 00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:47,920 The first death. We're going to experience 665 00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:51,640 physical death unless he, unless the church, unless he comes back 666 00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:55,880 and raptures us, we're going to experience that. 667 00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:02,120 But that's all we'll experience because for those of us who were 668 00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:06,240 believers, for those of us who have not rejected Jesus Christ 669 00:46:06,240 --> 00:46:13,520 but received him as Lord and Savior, we will not be hurt by 670 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:19,280 the second death, by the second death. 671 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:24,480 That's the judgment that will send those who have rejected 672 00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:27,360 Jesus Christ and have not received him. 673 00:46:27,560 --> 00:46:31,960 That's the judgment that will send them to the lake of fire. 674 00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:36,480 Let's look at a couple verses that tell you that this is about 675 00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:41,240 judgment in the lake of fire. Go to Revelations chapter 20 and 676 00:46:41,240 --> 00:46:42,760 we about to come in for a close here. 677 00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:51,240 Revelations chapter 20, verse 6. He says blessed and holy is He 678 00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:56,080 who has part in the first resurrection over such the 679 00:46:56,080 --> 00:47:02,480 second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and 680 00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:07,480 of Christ, and shall reign with him. 1000 years. 681 00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:12,880 Those of us who are living when Christ comes back, we will be 682 00:47:12,880 --> 00:47:16,720 raptured to go back with Him. But those of us who have died in 683 00:47:16,720 --> 00:47:21,120 Christ before he comes back, we will be resurrected in that 684 00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:23,000 first resurrection to go to be with them. 685 00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:25,320 And the Bible says we'll all be with him in the air. 686 00:47:26,400 --> 00:47:29,880 We'll all be with him in the air, but we will not have to 687 00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:35,440 deal with the second death drop down in that same chapter to 688 00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:40,920 verse 14. Actually verse 12 it says and I 689 00:47:41,040 --> 00:47:45,520 and I saw the dead small and grave standing before God and 690 00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:49,120 books were open and another book was opened, which is the book of 691 00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:52,960 life and the dead were judged according to their works. 692 00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:56,880 But the things which which were written in the books by the 693 00:47:56,880 --> 00:48:00,560 things that are written in the books, the sea gave up the dead 694 00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:06,280 who were in it and the and death in Hades delivered up the dead 695 00:48:06,280 --> 00:48:10,880 who were in them and they were judged each one according to his 696 00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:14,200 works. Then death in Hades were cast 697 00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:19,960 into the lake of fire. This is the second death and 698 00:48:19,960 --> 00:48:21,960 just one more. We're going to go over to 699 00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:27,680 chapter 21 and I'll start right there, verse 7. 700 00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:34,800 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his 701 00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:39,240 God, and he shall be my son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, 702 00:48:39,240 --> 00:48:44,840 abominable murderers, sexually immoral sorcerers, idolaters and 703 00:48:44,840 --> 00:48:49,200 all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with 704 00:48:49,200 --> 00:48:54,120 fire and brimstone, which is the second death. 705 00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:59,560 So we as believers, we are those who have overcome. 706 00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:03,800 The Bible says that in first John. 707 00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:11,840 Bible says over in first John chapter 5, four and five that 708 00:49:11,840 --> 00:49:15,440 whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is 709 00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:18,400 the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. 710 00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:21,240 Who is he who overcomes the world? 711 00:49:21,840 --> 00:49:25,880 But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 712 00:49:26,720 --> 00:49:31,480 The churches in Smyrna was willing to give their very lives 713 00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:35,360 for the truth. He who overcomes will not be 714 00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:41,920 hurt by the second death. So Jesus is saying to us, yes, 715 00:49:41,920 --> 00:49:44,920 you're going to go through some tribulations while you're here. 716 00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:48,120 You say everyone who live holy will suffer persecution. 717 00:49:48,480 --> 00:49:52,600 If you desire to live holy and with through many tribulations, 718 00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:55,880 we're going to enter into the the Kingdom of God. 719 00:49:56,720 --> 00:50:00,240 But be faithful until the end. Hold on. 720 00:50:01,080 --> 00:50:04,840 Don't turn back to perdition. Don't think that what you're 721 00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:07,680 leaving is better than what's ahead of you. 722 00:50:09,200 --> 00:50:12,520 Hold on to what he's saying because He is the life, He is 723 00:50:12,520 --> 00:50:15,240 the resurrection, and He is the life. 724 00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:22,520 There is no life apart from Him. And we have eternal life in 725 00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:25,720 Christ Jesus. We have it. 726 00:50:26,760 --> 00:50:34,640 So yes, the second death will not, will not hurt those of us 727 00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:39,480 who have overcome. So I pray today that whoever is 728 00:50:39,480 --> 00:50:43,160 listening, that something resonated. 729 00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:48,680 If you're someone who have not received Jesus Christ, I pray 730 00:50:48,680 --> 00:50:55,760 that you will today give your heart to him, give your life to 731 00:50:55,760 --> 00:51:00,960 him. Allow him to come in and help 732 00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:05,720 you to live the Christian life. He's already washed you of your 733 00:51:05,720 --> 00:51:08,000 sins. He's already washed. 734 00:51:08,200 --> 00:51:11,880 He's already done the work. All we had to do is receive it, 735 00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:19,480 accept what He has done, and we can go from the the Kingdom of 736 00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:23,280 darkness to the Kingdom of light. 737 00:51:24,640 --> 00:51:26,520 I pray that someone would do that today. 738 00:51:26,760 --> 00:51:28,400 Praise and worship team, you can come forth. 739 00:51:34,930 --> 00:51:39,530 So it was Jesus who sacrificed it all that we would have this 740 00:51:39,530 --> 00:51:43,280 eternal life. He gave up his natural, his life 741 00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:49,480 and humanity that we would have spiritual life. 742 00:51:50,920 --> 00:51:54,920 I heard someone say not too long ago that when Jesus died on the 743 00:51:54,920 --> 00:52:00,720 cross, his, his divinity, the divine Jesus did not die. 744 00:52:01,600 --> 00:52:05,400 It was the human Jesus that died on that cross. 745 00:52:05,400 --> 00:52:09,400 It was, it was, it was, it was, it was his humanity. 746 00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:16,240 But the fact of the matter is, is that Jesus died on that cross 747 00:52:17,040 --> 00:52:22,320 and it was Jesus in all fullness, in all fullness who 748 00:52:22,320 --> 00:52:25,160 came out of the grave. It was Jesus. 749 00:52:27,840 --> 00:52:30,880 It wasn't just like it was just some spirit that died. 750 00:52:30,880 --> 00:52:33,000 It wasn't that. It wasn't just like it was just 751 00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:36,960 some, some, some. He separated from earth and all 752 00:52:36,960 --> 00:52:38,280 that. No, that's not what happened. 753 00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:43,240 Jesus died on the cross, and because of his resurrection 754 00:52:43,240 --> 00:52:48,120 power, he got up out of the grave in three days because he's 755 00:52:48,120 --> 00:52:53,160 God. But he came that we might have 756 00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:56,320 life and that we would have it more abundantly. 757 00:52:58,200 --> 00:53:02,240 So we thank him today. Lord, I thank you for the life 758 00:53:02,240 --> 00:53:04,840 that you have given us. I thank You that we will not be 759 00:53:04,840 --> 00:53:07,880 touched. Those of us who believe and 760 00:53:07,880 --> 00:53:10,520 trust in You, we will not be touched by the second death. 761 00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:14,000 We will not be hurt by the second death. 762 00:53:15,520 --> 00:53:19,560 I thank You, Father, that You give us hope and that we can 763 00:53:19,560 --> 00:53:24,800 believe and that we can be faithful to You even unto death. 764 00:53:24,800 --> 00:53:27,000 Death is not the worst thing to happen. 765 00:53:28,440 --> 00:53:32,520 The worst thing that happens, Lord, is that we die without 766 00:53:33,480 --> 00:53:36,640 Your salvation. The worst thing that happens, 767 00:53:36,640 --> 00:53:41,480 that we die without being an overcomer, that's the worst 768 00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:44,920 thing that can happen because we'd have to deal with the 769 00:53:44,920 --> 00:53:50,720 physical and the spiritual death, the judgement of death, 770 00:53:51,800 --> 00:53:55,880 that that that puts us into the lake of fire that burns forever 771 00:53:56,000 --> 00:54:01,880 and ever. So I pray, Father, I pray that 772 00:54:01,880 --> 00:54:05,320 someone would hear this today and that they will receive you 773 00:54:05,320 --> 00:54:09,120 as Lord and Savior, trust in you for their salvation. 774 00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:17,880 Believe on you, Lord, that we will count up the costs and all 775 00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:23,960 those things that we lose, all the things, Lord, that we find 776 00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:30,360 to be so precious in this world, that we will come to see that it 777 00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:34,320 means nothing in comparison to what we have in heaven. 778 00:54:37,360 --> 00:54:40,760 So on a night in which Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread. 779 00:54:42,080 --> 00:54:45,720 And when he gave thanks, he after he gave thanks, he broke 780 00:54:45,720 --> 00:54:48,840 in and said, this is my body which is broken for you. 781 00:54:50,200 --> 00:54:58,200 Eat this in remembrance of me. In the same way He also took the 782 00:54:58,200 --> 00:55:04,760 cup, and he said, This cup is a new covenant in my blood, and it 783 00:55:04,760 --> 00:55:11,760 was shed for the sins of many, shed for the sins of many. 784 00:55:15,360 --> 00:55:18,960 Drink this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me. 785 00:55:22,880 --> 00:55:26,280 As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, we do show 786 00:55:26,280 --> 00:55:32,920 the Lord's death till we come. Amen, anyone?