The Crowned Church

John writes Revelation from the island of Patmos, just off the coast of Asia Minor, then it would have been delivered first to Ephesus, and from there it would be passed on to Smyrna, the next city in the postal route.

Smyrna was just north of Ephesus, and also on the coast.

It still exists today in Turkey, and goes by the name Izmir.

Smyrna was a beautiful city.

It was an ancient city, but was destroyed in 600bc.

A couple hundred years later, Alexander the Great had it rebuilt.

When it was rebuilt the city shined.

It had amazing architecture.

The streets were wide.

Ironically, the name Smyrna, means myrrh.

Myrrh was a fragrance that smelled good.

You probably remember it being one of the gifts that the magi brought to Jesus as a toddler.

Unfortunately, when Smyrna was rebuilt they gave it wide beautiful roads, but forgot to put in any kind of plumbing or drainage.

So those wide roads filled up with sewage.

And the town that was named after a sweet fragrance, didn’t live up to it’s name.

The city is on a harbor, it actually has two harbors.

All of that sewage would flow down into the harbor.

And when the winds would blow, that sweet smell of raw sewage would be blown back into the town.

Aside from the smell, Smyrna was a beautiful city.

It was nicknamed:

The Ornament.

The Flower of Asia.

And, most notable, the Crown.

Crowns were important in Smyrna.

There were olympic games in Smyrna.

Thousands of people would watch these events.

They would cheer and applaud the winners as a crown was placed on the winners head.

It wasn’t a crown like a kings crown.

It was a twiggy, leafy crown.

Awarded to the winner.

The city was nicknamed the Crown, because at the top of the town, it’s crown, was a road, and the road was called the Street of Gold.

It was called the Crown, because at the top of the town, it’s crown, was a road, and the road was called the Street of Gold.

This Street of Gold was the prize of Smyrna.

It had temples dedicated to various Greek Gods.

At one end of the road was a temple to Cybele, known as the mother of the gods, and at the other end was a temple to Zeus, perhaps the most famous of the Greek gods.

In between those temples on the same street were temples dedicated to Apollo, Aphrodite, and Askelpios.

Smyrna itself loved the Romans.

They absolutely loved the Romans.

They had a temple to the city of Rome herself.

There was a temple to the Goddess Roma.

And in 26ad, a temple was built for Emperor Tiberias.

Meaning they worshiped Caesar.

They loved Rome so much, they worshipped the city and the Emperor.

Within the temples for these gods were statues of the gods.

Each statue had a crown.

A crown of leaves and twigs, would lightly sit on the head of the god.

Another reason why crowns were important in Smyrna were because of the Olympic Games.

The city was host to these games.

Thousands of people would watch these events.

And the winners of these events, would receive a crown.

It wasn’t a crown like a king’s crown.

It was a crown like the crown that the gods wore in their temples.

The Christians in Smyrna were nothing like the beautiful city around them.

Awarded to the winner.

They were poor.

They were slaves.

Yet Jesus writes to them.

The idea of a Christian in Smyrna wearing a crown, was the last thing on their mind.

Think of the fairy tale, Cinderella.

Poor Cinderella, the adopted daughter, the servant girl, should never be able to show her face at the Prince’s ball.

And the Christians of Smyrna should never be able to wear a crown.

Christ’s letter to the Christian’s in Smyrna, gives them hope of a crown.

Let’s read Jesus’ letter to them, and learn of the Crown awaiting the faithful Christians.

Open your Bibles to .

Not to correct them.

Not to rebuke them.

But to give them hope.

He gives them 4 reasons to have hope through the trials of life.

Read .

And though Smyrna was a beautiful city, it was no match to Jesus Christ.

That brings us to our text, .

And it’s here where the true King, the true Crown speaks.

Let’s read this now.

The first reason for hope is Jesus is Speaks.

This is Jesus speaking.

Verse 8 says that He is speaking to the angel of the church in Smyrna.

The angel of Smyrna, is most likely the Elder or pastor of that church.

I think that the elder that this is being written to is a man named Polycarp.

Polycarp is a famous church father.

Polycarp was a student of the disciple John, the same one who wrote the Gospel and Revelation.

Polycarp was ordained by John in Smyrna.

And later on was killed in Smyrna.

It is Jesus who is writing to him.

Who is Jesus?

Smyrna was a town that was dead and then rebuilt.

And who is writing here?

Jesus.

Jesus the Christ.

The first and the last.

The one who died and came to life.

Smyrna was proud of their past, of the Romans, and of their temples.

And yet, Christ is so much better.

The Christians in Smyrna didn’t have it easy.

Jesus doesn’t write to them to rebuke them or condemn them.

Instead He writes to encourage them.

He writes to encourage them to persevere the trials they are going through and what they are about to go through.

And the only way they can make it is if they understand who Jesus is.

Who is Jesus?

The first and the last.

In the first chapter He says He is the Alpha and the Omega.

Look back at .

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

When the first day started at creation.

When God said, “Let there be light ...”

Jesus was already there, He was in the beginning.

And when everything comes to an end.

It won’t end because Jesus because Jesus has somehow lost control.

It ends because He says it’s the end.

Picture all of history on a single bookshelf.

Events of the ancient world are on that shelf.

Events of the ancient history are on that shelf.

The dark ages are on that shelf.

The medieval ages are on that shelf.

The modern age is on that shelf.

The near and distant future is on that shelf.

This bookshelf contains everything that has happened and will happen.

And the bookends of history are Jesus Christ.

The Alpha and the Omega.

The beginning and the end.

Nothing happens outside of His control.

He holds it together.

He died and He came to life.

Smyrna thinks they know what it means to be resurrected.

Once they were destroyed.

Then Alexander the Great had them rebuilt

But Christ is even better.

It took a command of Alexander the Great to begin the restoration process in Smyrna.

But Jesus needed no command.

Somehow on that first Easter morning, that heart pumped, and He was resurrected.

He became the firstborn from the dead.

He became the King, the Crown, of a people that He would call His own.

And He will bring them into a better kingdom.

He will bring them into the City of God.

And together, they will reign with Him forever.

The Christians in Smyrna didn’t have it easy.

Jesus doesn’t write to them to rebuke them or condemn them.

Instead He writes to encourage them.

He writes to encourage them to persevere in the trials they are going through and the ones they are about to go through.

And the only way they can make it is if they understand who Jesus is.

And the same for us, the only way we can make it through trials is if we know who Jesus is.

Life can be hard.

Things happen that we cannot control.

Sicknesses come.

There is heartache.

There is suffering.

And how are you to respond to these things?

Smyrna was a beautiful city.

Named for myrrh.

Smelled like feces.

The architecture, the temples, and the wide streets couldn’t eliminate their stench.

They tried to hide their natural problems with a beautiful exterior.

Many people address their problems the way Smyrna did.

They face relationship problems.

They face sin problems.

They are suffering the consequences of sin.

And they try to mask the problem with something they can control.

Maybe that’s you.

You spend money cause it makes you feel better.

You drink, or take some kind of narcotic to mask your feelings and remove a sense of responsibility.

And yet the stink remains.

You can’t get rid of the smell of sin.

As much as you try to distract yourself, you find none of that gets rid of the troubles.

Jesus is writing to a people to endure some hard times.

The only way you can make it is if you first know the King.

So learn about the greatness of Christ.

The alpha and the omega.

The beginning and the end.

The first and the last.

Jesus Christ.

He begins this letter to a suffering church by introducing Himself.

The direct application is that if you enter hard times, direct your attention to Christ, in all His glory.

The second reason for hope is that Jesus Knows.

The church in Smyrna has gone through hard times, and they are about to go through even worse times.

When bad things happen how do people respond?

Sometimes a person’s first response is to question God.

God where were you?

Where were you when my mom died?

Where were you when I lost my house?

Where were you when my baby was miscarried?

Where were you when I didn’t get that job?

Where were you when I got sick?

We say, “God where were you?” as if God was unaware.

Verse 9, “I know your tribulation and your poverty”

He’s not unaware.

He knows it.

He knows what they are going through.

And He didn’t have to read about it in the morning paper or watch it on the news.

I know where my car is, because I experienced parking it outside.

He didn’t have to learn about their suffering.

He knew it.

I am learning Greek.

And it’s hard.

He knows it.

In verse 9 there are 2 things that He knows about you.

I’ve got words to memorize.

I have to learn verbs.

He knows what you are experiencing, and He knows what you are.

I’m trying to spend more time reading Greek.

First, let’s talk about what you are experiencing.

I sit down to read it, and I’m good for about 5 verses, then my brain shuts down.

He says, “I know your tribulation and your poverty ...”

He also says that He knows the “slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

I know Greek because I’m working really hard at it.

I know my wife’s voice.

I’ve never sat down with a bunch of recordings of different women’s voices and tried to figure out which was hers.

We’ve talked about the idolatry that was in Smyrna.

Some of this idolatry was not optional.

If you lived in Smyrna, you had to worship the gods in Smyrna.

There was mandatory emperor worship.

People were required to give offerings to the Emperor in it’s cultic worship.

There was no freedom of religion.

There was also a very large Jewish population.

I know my wife.

You might think that this raised a problem and made them vulnerable to the mandate to worship the Emperor.

But the Jews in Smyrna were very rich.

They actually helped pay for much of the architecture and the rebuilding of the city.

This meant that the Jews were not penalized for not sacrificing to the emperor or the gods in the town.

They were given a pass.

The Jews in Smyrna experienced religious freedom; they were an exception to the rule.

The Jews experienced religious freedom within Smyrna.

And I don’t have to think about that at all.

When the Holy Spirit first entered into the church, the disciples were Jewish.

And they would often enter into synagogues and preach Christ to the Jews.

Romans says, “The the Jew first, then the Gentile.”

If you’ve ever read through Acts, you find that the main opponents to the church were Jews.

They called the Christians drunk at Pentocost.

Ordered the apostles arrested, and beaten.

They stirred up false witnesses in courts.

They authorized Saul, to go house to house attacking the church.

They approved of Stephen’s death and later James death.

There were times Paul was plotted against, and mobs were formed.

They didn’t like the Christians.

Eventually, the Christians were expelled from the synagogues.

They no longer fell under the freedom given to the Jews.

They were excommunicated from that community.

Now we have a problem in Smyrna.

I can hear it in a crowd.

The Christians no longer fell under the freedom given to the Jews.

Christians were actually called atheists.

They were atheists, because they didn’t worship the approved Greek Gods, or Caesar, and they were no longer under the umbrella protection of the Jews.

So fierce persecutions developed.

Tribulation is immense pressue.

The Disciples were Jewish.

They would evangelize to other Jews.

I know her.

Eventually, by about 150ad, the elder in Smyrna, Polycarp, was accused of blasphemy because he didn’t worship the Roman gods.

Many of the Christians in Smyrna were slaves.

Paul would frequently enter into synagogues and talk about Jesus, explaining that He was the Messiah.

THis

He was tied to a stake and burned to death.

They didn’t have anything of their own.

Jesus has some strong words for these Jews in Smyrna.

These words are not grounds to be anti-Semitic.

They claim to be Jews, but they are not.

They have rejected Christ.

says, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”

These words that Jesus are not grounds to be anti-Semitic.

Jesus is making a comparison here.

The true Jew is the one who has been converted, has had a circumcised heart, which happens by the Holy Spirit, and who knows Christ as Lord.

We are reminded, that anyone without Christ is no different from the pagan.

The Jews in Smyrna, were no different from those who went to the Street of Gold on the crown of Smyrna to worship Zeus, Aphrodite, or any of the other false gods in the town.

There is salvation in no other name, except for Jesus Christ.

Jesus knew of the suffering of the Christians in Smyrna.

He knew that in a short while, Polycarp would be killed.

He knew that they would face oppression.

Why is this important and how does it relate to our hope?

Because it is good to know that you will never go outside of God’s eternal plan.

There will never come a day when your events will catch God by surprise.

Go through the Bible.

He knows it all.

What’s are the biggest bad things to happen?

I’d say having man, who was created in the image of God, originally sinless and undefiled, when man sinned, I’d say that was pretty bad.

And yet, before the foundation of the world, the plan was for Jesus to die for sins.

Man’s sin … part of God’s plan, didn’t catch Him by surprise.

The innocent death of Jesus … part of God’s plan, didn’t catch Him by surprise.

The worst things to ever happen came through the will of God.

Now we apply this to our troubles, and you should be comforted, you are not a forgotten child of God.

Whatever you are going through, Jesus knows about it, and somehow He’s even planned it for His glory.

Not only does God know what you are experiencing, but He knows what you are.

The Smyrnan Christians were poor and experiencing tribulation, suffering.

But look at that little parenthetical statement in the middle of verse 9.

“I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) ...

What were they?

Rich.

When you go through hard times, how do you respond to it?

Sometimes we simply ignore the pain.

We pretend it’s not there.

Sometimes we try to distract ourselves from the pain.

Maybe you get lost in a movie.

Play video games.

Go shopping.

Read a book.

Sleep.

Some try to think positively.

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

Look at the glass as half full.

I love how Jesus deals with it, you are rich.

Sometimes Christians are accused of being illogical when it comes to suffering.

Sometimes we might even sound uncaring when speaking to someone going through a hard time.

Think about the great verses in the Bible that describe suffering.

Think of the verses that we quote.

They all have this blunt, in your face optimism behind them.

Have you ever noticed that?

, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

We try to tell them to ourselves, hoping that we will feel better.

They all assume something about you.

They can only encourage you if you remember this one thing.

You know what this one thing is?

You are rich.

This obviously isn’t financial wealth.

Smyrna is a poor church, made up of slaves.

They have nothing.

Jesus says they are in poverty.

But they are rich.

What is it that they have?

Riches in Christ Jesus already.

says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,”

It’s as if we already have them.

They are ours now.

You’re not there, but they are yours.

In , Jesus is spending his final night, final hours with His disciples, and He’s explaining to them that He’s about to leave.

He’s explaining His coming death.

In less than 12 hours He will be on a Cross and dying.

In He says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”

He explains there is a mansion in heaven, this mansion has many many rooms.

And one of those rooms is yours.

Have you ever listed your assets, all the things that you own.

House.

Car.

Jewelry.

An old heirloom.

Room in God’s Mansion.

It’s yours.

You are rich.

And it’s eternal.

The Christians in Smyrna are poor, persecuted, and even the air stinks, but they are rich because Christ has something promised for them.

We say, “Don’t worry about it, God’s in control.”

And when you forget this, you lose all hope.

The Smyrnan church doesn’t have controversy.

Jesus isn’t rebuking them.

He isn’t correcting them.

There is no sin that He is addressing.

What does a church that is suffering need?

They need a reminder.

You are rich.

And when you are going through trials, what is it you need to be reminded of?

That you are rich.

Rich in Christ.

Maybe we turn to life’s cliches.

He died.

He secured you.

And there is a real eternity ahead of you.

, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Jesus knows what you are going through.

Jesus knows what you have, because what you have is why He died.

The third reason for hope is found in Jesus’ Commands.

You see these in verse 10, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

First, He says, “Do not fear ...”

Things are bad.

They are about to get worse.

There is going to come a time of 10 days of extreme suffering.

It’s Revelation, everyone likes to get super symbolic when they read the book..

I don’t think that this is a mystical 10 days.

I think that Smyrna is really going to suffer.

There was going to be 10 days of intense persecution.

People would be imprisoned.

At the age of 86 years old, Polycarp would be tied to a stake and burnt.

What does Jesus say? - Do not fear.

Do not fear man.

The Jews in Smyrna would make accusations.

They would use their influence to pressure persecution upon the church.

But do not fear.

Why? Because you are rich.

says, “… in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

If you are in Christ, you are secured.

And no person can take that from you.

As Polycarp was tied to the stake, the leader of the town came to him and threatened execution.

I would say when you are tied to a stake, threats are a little late in the game.

Polycarp was pressured to deny the Lord, and he said, “How can I blaspheme my King who saved me? You threaten me with the fire that burns for a time, and is quickly quenched, for you do not know the fire which awaits the wicked in the judgment to come and in everlasting punishment. Why are you waiting? Come, do what you will.”

Oh that’s a good line - “Why are you waiting? Come, do what you will”

If he were Doc Holliday in Tombstone, he’d have said, “I’ll be your Huckleberry.”

If he were Clint Eastwood he would have said, “Go ahead, make my day.”

“Why are you waiting? Come, do what you will”

The wood was torched.

There was a man who did not fear, because he knew that he was rich.

We are not facing persecution like Smyrna, therefore there is even less to be afraid of.

But we still need this truth.

And don’t fear Satan.

He says that the devil will throw some of them into prison.

That might sound scary, Satan’s going to throw Christians into prison, but remember this, Satan, is God’s Satan.

Satan isn’t eternal.

He’s not the opposite to God.

He is not the Yin to Jesus’ Yang.

He’s created.

And He can do nothing without permission from God.

The beginning of Job:

Satan couldn’t touch Job’s possessions or family, without permission from first from God.

Satan couldn’t harm Job, without permission from God first.

Fast forward to , Jesus tells Simon Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Satan wanted Peter.

But Jesus said no.

Don’t fear Satan.

This doesn’t mean you become a demon hunter, or start some new exorcism ministry.

We still flee youthful lusts.

But you can resist devil.

And you can sleep at night, knowing that Christ is sovereign.

In fact the day is coming, it’s at the end of Revelation, when Satan, will be bound, tied up, thrown into an abyss for 1,000 years.

Don’t fear Satan.

He might attack.

He might cause bad things to happen.

He might bring persecution.

But God is still in control, even of those awful times.

The first command is do not fear.

The second command is, “Be faithful unto death ...”

Don’t let whatever is happening affect your submission to God.

When we encounter hard times, we say, “God is in control.”

We comfort ourselves with His sovereignty.

He has a purpose for it.

And His purpose for these hard times is that you would become Christlike.

Do you ever think about that?

God is using these hard times as a tool to shape you.

says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

This is God’s way of shaping you.

Be faithful through suffering, because God is allowing it to happen to you so that you would be perfect and complete.

You ever think about that? You have a flaw, and trials expose them.

Often times they reveal anger, they reveal selfishness, maybe they reveal resentment or unforgiveness.

Be thankful that the Lord reveals these things to you.

John MacArthur once said, “The purest Christian graces are those forged in the furnace of adversity.”

So like the sword that has been tempered in fire and beaten on the blacksmith’s anvil, the Lord uses suffering to make you stronger, and more Christlike.

This doesn’t mean you run looking for suffering, but when you encounter it, you can know that God is using it for your benefit.

Then trust that

The other reason to be faithful in suffering is that it tests you.

Consider difficult times a test.

In August, I started going back to school.

I’m going to seminary and getting my MDiv.

It’s lots of work.

And I have lots of tests.

I enjoy the work.

And I enjoy the tests.

I like the tests, because they confirm that I know something.

Your faithfulness through your tests confirms something.

It confirms that you are in Christ.

If you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit.

He strengthens you for these times.

As you encounter hard times, your faithfulness through them should cause you to praise God.

He’s really changed you, because the old you wouldn’t have made it.

And

Trust that whatever is happening to you, is happening according to the plan of God.

So do not fear, and be faithful.

You ever wonder how we are supposed to rejoice in suffering?

And the fourth reason for hope is that Jesus Gives a Crown.

Crowns were important within Smyrna.

It was nicknamed the Crown.

It boasted a hill, a crown with temples to gods.

But within these temples were statues of their gods.

Each statue had a crown.

A crown of leaves and twigs, would lightly sit on the head of the god.

Another reason why crowns were important in Smyrna were because of the Olympic Games.

The city was host to these games.

Thousands of people would watch these events.

And the winners of these events, would receive a crown.

It wasn’t a crown like a king’s crown.

It was a crown like the crown that the gods wore in their temples.

The Christians in Smyrna were nothing like the beautiful city around them.

They were poor.

They were slaves.

They would never experience the beauty of the town.

Think of the fairy tale, Cinderella.

Poor Cinderella, the adopted daughter, the servant girl, in her sad state she could never leave the house.

She would never be able to show her face at the Prince’s ball.

And the Christians of Smyrna would never be able to wear a crown.

They are out of place, just like Cinderella.

But do you see the promise that Christ gives to those who listen, who do not fear, and who are faithful?

Let’s read Jesus’ letter to them, and learn of the Crown awaiting the faithful Christians.

They will receive a crown.

This isn’t a king’s crown.

This isn’t a diadem.

It’s a prize, its an award, it goes to the victor of the games.

The one who finishes the marathon.

The one who wins the wrestling match.

He receives the crown of life.

The end of verse 11 says that those who conquer will not be hurt by the second death.

The second death is Hell.

First death is the body dying.

That is something we all will experience, unless Christ takes us to Himself first.

Second death is eternal suffering.

describes it as a place where there is torment and suffering, day and night.

The person there is in fire and smoke goes up, but the fire never consumes him, he’s never fully burnt up.

I like campfires in my backyard.

They only last as long as there is wood.

But once the wood is burnt up, the fire goes out.

There’s never a shortage of wood in this second death.

Those who experience the second death receive a body built for eternity, and it will burn for all eternity.

We don’t wish this death upon anyone.

Christ died so that so that we would not go there.

But for those who endure to the end, it’s eternal life.

That is the goal.

Our goal is the crown, life with Christ.

And this you only get at the end.

Remember what you are running for, the crown.

Sometimes people forget about the finish line and they forget about the crown, eternal life.

Christ is promising the church in Smyrna trouble.

Persecution.

Death.

He doesn’t promise to remove those troubles, but He promises a crown for those who endure those troubles.

Don’t forget that.

He hasn’t promise to remove your troubles.

But He has promised you a crown if you endure your troubles to the end.

Life has troubles, Christ comforts the suffering church.

How does He comfort us?

By speaking.

Read His Word.

By knowing.

He knows what you are experiencing.

He knows that you are rich.

He comforts us by commanding us.

To be faithful and to not fear.

He comforts us with a crown.

These aren’t 4 solutions to sufferings.

They only make sense if you are in Christ.

If you have been born again.

If Christ is your Lord.

If you surrender to Him.

Pray

Thank you for your word.

Thank you for knowing us.

Thank you for your promises.

Thank you for the call to be faithful and giving us reasons to not be fearful.

Thank you for eternal life.

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