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Sunday 8/09/26
Title: Be Faithful and do not Fear
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Be Faithful and do not Fear
Well we finished up last week with the church of Ephesus as our first example of how to live out our lives From Faith to Faith.
The call of God to His people is to live dedicated lives of devotion and passion, which REQUIRES that we grow in our intimate knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and look to Him in trust to complete His work in us, of conforming us into His image.
The Ephesian church took us on quite a journey because they had fallen away, BY CHOICE, from the devotion to Christ as first priority and the object of their agape love.
So we went back to look at the early church and what they did instinctively by the inward leading of the Holy Spirit which made them the type of people they were. Which was a model for how the church SHOULD be for all ages to come.
What we discovered was 4 things:
- Devotion to the sound doctrine of the apostles
- Devotion to THE Fellowship
- Devotion to the communal meals and love feasts
- Devotion to the prayers which included the Lord’s prayer.
All of these are relational at heart -even their commitment to sound doctrine, was at heart, a learning of the person of Christ, more than mere facts about Him.
So Jesus’ instruction to Ephesus was three things;
- Remember
- Repent
- Return to the first works of love
Finally we bore down last week on the fact that not just ONCE, but TWO TIMES, Jesus refers to their agape love as a work, which is to say a fruit of their union with and trust in Jesus.
It is the 1st and primary fruit of that union and is the first of all the works God prepared ahead of time, for His people to walk in – according to the letter Paul wrote TO these Ephesians 40 years prior in chapter 2 verse 10.
I want to read this again as we move on to the next church in this series of letters from Jesus to the 7 churches of Asia.
Turn to Ephesians 1:22-2:22 and reflect on all we have covered up until now which is clearly addressed in this early letter to Ephesus. Also, make mental notes of the topics and tone of the letter so that as we turn back to Revelation 2, to read Jesus’ confrontation of the other churches you will be able to see the consistency of His words and priorities for the church.
Ephesians 1:22-23,
“(22) And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, (23) which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
Ephesians 2:1-22,
“(1) And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (2) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— (3) among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (4) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, (5) even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— (6) and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (7) so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (9) not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (11) Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— (12) remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (13) But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (14) For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (15) by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, (16) and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (17) And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. (18) For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. (19) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, (20) built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, (21) in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. (22) In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
So let’s turn now back to Revelation 2:8 where Jesus addresses the church of Smyrna.
Revelation 2:8-11,
“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write the following:“This is the solemn pronouncement of the One Who is the first and the last, the One Who was dead, but came to life:”
We noticed in the words of Jesus to the Ephesian church that He was deliberate and intentional regarding His personal references because they had everything to do with His words to them. That alone is a lesson which points to the relational nature of our life in Christ! The answers are not in learning more ABOUT Christ and standing up for His cause. It is found in intimate union with Christ – with His person as He reveals Himself to us, step-by-step on our journey to His image.
Notice, what He is wanting to see in them He states as existing in His person. So what is the lesson in this? That we must look not just to His written word, but to God directly in prayer and trust.
Jesus identifies Himself here as the One Who died, but who also came back to life. In other words, He is the One over Whom death holds no power! He conquered sin and death and holds the keys of death and the realm of the dead – as He said in His introduction to this book in Revelation 1:18.
So whatever Jesus is about to encourage and instruct the saints of Smyrna regarding, you can bet that coming to intimately know and trust in Christ as the Lord and conqueror over death will be integral!
(9) “‘I know the distress you are suffering and your poverty (but you are rich). I also know the slander against you by those who call themselves Jews and really are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”
“I know” – while I’d love to tell you this word means intimacy, it actually is the Greek word eídō and in the context of this passage as well as throughout these church letters it refers to the absolute knowledge of God the Father or the Lord Jesus Christ Nothing is hidden from their sight or understanding.
There is nothing you could tell Me… no detail so small. no fact so seemingly insignificant, that I am not completely and entirely aware of it.
Of particular note was their opposition, poverty and subjection to the slander of the Jews.
Distress, suffering and opposition
Suffering is an unpopular part of the Christian life and one that many go to great lengths to avoid or even attempt to explain out of scripture – but it is there. Powerfully, unapologetically there.
The word means Tribulation.
The writer of Hebrews, tells us that following the conversion of those Jews to whom the letter was written, they had,
“endured a great conflict of sufferings; partly, being made a gazing stock, both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, becoming partakers with them that were so used” (Hebrews 10:33; 11:37).
Yet, suffering, persecution and tribulation is literally set forth as the source of one of our chief joys in Christ since it is in suffering that we often experience some of the most intimate times of fellowship we ever have with Jesus in this life.
In Acts 5 we are told that the apostles were arrested, subjected to an inquiry, then beaten and released only because they didn’t have a charge that would stick and this is how the apostles responded.
“(41) Then they left the presence of the council, REJOICING that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. (42) And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.” – Acts 5:41-42
1 Peter 4:13 encourages believers to rejoice as they participate in the sufferings of Christ.
In the face of much affliction the churches of Macedonia had an abundance of joy, Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 8:2.
The Thessalonians received the word with much tribulation, and with the joy of the Holy Ghost (1 Thessalonians 1:6).
Far from something we should seek to avoid, the New Testament tells us that we are literally appointed to suffering which Paul reminded the Thessalonian believers of in his first letter to them.
1 Thessalonians 3:1-5,
“(1) So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens alone. (2) We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen you and encourage you about your faith, (3) so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions.
For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.
(4) For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know.
(5) So when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.”
John in writing this very letter of Revelation also said that he was a “partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus“ – Revelation 1:9.
And now, Jesus through John is telling the church of Smyrna that even though they are currently experiencing persecution, they WILL in fact suffer more over the course of the next 10 years (which is what is meant by days).
Something modern 1st world, Christians (which I sarcastically refer to as “Christianity lite”), seems to have forgotten is that Acts 14:22 tells us that,
“We must through many tribulations, enter into the kingdom of God” Which is to say that the door we must all walk through daily for Jesus to rule unchallenged in our lives is one of persecution and dying to our flesh.”
Now literally NONE of that was something we used to agree with back in our Word of Faith days, but there it is as plain as day! We would have been yelling at the devil, and yelling in tongues and binding every type of demon we could think of since we were children of the King and should never be treated as anything less.
Oh God help us!
No, no, no… a thousand times no. We embrace suffering as the privilege of bearing Jesus’ name before the world without shame.
The next thing Jesus mentioned was POVERTY.
Notice Jesus does not tell them that if they will just sow enough seed and believe God, they’d find poverty had no power to touch them. No, He doesn’t suggest a way out of poverty or say anything about it other than He knows they endure it and are faithful to Him in the middle of it.
Remember the Hebrews quote earlier. Those believers had taken with JOY the plundering of their goods!
Finally Jesus addressed the slander of those who claimed to be true Jews but were not, but rather were worshipers of satan himself. These were true Jews according to the flesh, but were not true children of Abraham by faith.
From these they suffered slander which in their day was about to become an executable offense and I will explain in a few moments.
So what are Jesus‘ instructions regarding this? Jesus is about to tell them they are going to suffer more and their response needs to be freedom from fear and faithfulness to Him even unto death.
Let’s read it –
(10)“Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer.”
Notice faith to avoid the suffering is not even offered here. It is not mentioned as an option whatsoever. The suffering is coming. The expression of your faith is NOT found in power to avoid suffering, but in the power to not succumb to fear in the middle of it!
And lest you think this is a case in isolation, which is not common and is not what is expected of all who are in Christ, consider the words of Paul to the Philippians believers.
Philippians 1:27-30,
“(27) Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, (28) and not frightened in anything by your opponents.
This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.
(29) For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake, (30) engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”
Then Jesus goes one additional step as tells them their tribulation is in the hand of the enemy who is the one oppressing them.
“The devil is about to have some of you thrown into prison so you may be tested, and you will experience suffering for ten days.”
Who’s going to do what? The devil?! He has no authority over me!
Even those words reveal a deep form of infantile misunderstanding regarding the scriptures. Not that the words themselves are wrong – if you are in Christ the devil truly does NOT have any authority over you, but he does have authority to tempt you towards unfaithfulness. In some cases, even to the point of natural, physical death.
This is why Jesus does not tell these believers, “Now I’m telling you this ahead of time so that you can build up your faith and bind the devil and keep him from doing this to you.” No, He tells them this because it is the sort of thing that could rock the foundations of ones faith and Jesus was here to strengthen their faith.
If you remember, John was in prison about to be beheaded for his message of Repentance which did not spare the king and he sent his disciples to ask Jesus “are we on the winning team?” Are you really the Messiah or should we look for someone else?
Jesus’ reply was the works which accompanied His ministry which fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah in Isaiah 61 – the lame walk, the blind see, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them, and then Jesus said,
“Blessed is the one who is not able to be made to stumble in offense at Me.”
Jesus was honoring His promise to tell them “things to come” (John 16:13).
You see the Christians in Smyrna were in a pagan environment which was close to that of Ephesus, which was only about 25 miles away. Only the opposition faced by the Christians in Smyrna was worse in that it was an epicenter of pagan worship. People came from all over the ancient world to worship a mixture of traditional Greek and Roman gods, local Anatolian deities, and the Roman emperor himself. If one did not confess the lordship of Caesar, they were ostracized from the trade guilds which impacted their businesses and employment. Citizens of Smyrna could have non-compliers property confiscated – so deep poverty was a real threat for any Christian in this city.
A famous thoroughfare known as the “Golden Street” famously connected the major temples of Zeus and Cybele. In addition to these two, Apollo, Aphrodite, Athena and Asklepios were worshiped. Additionally there were shrines to Dionysus, Hermes, Hestia, Eros, and Hercules. So there was no shortage of pagan gods, so the God of the Christians stood out like a sore thumb, and since emperor worship also prevailed in this city, and the Smyrna Christians would not bow down, they became targets.
In addition to pagan gentile oppression these believers also faced slander from Jews in the city and contingent on what they claimed you did or didn’t do, slander could get one imprisoned or killed!
Because Antipas was martyred in nearby Pergamum around AD 92 under Emperor Domitian, his execution marked the peak of an imperial crackdown. This crackdown heavily impacted the neighboring church of Smyrna for roughly five to ten years leading up to the end of the first century and beyond. Domitian died in 98AD and was replaced by Marcus Nerva who only reigned for 15 months followed by Trajan who ruled from 98AD to 117AD – a 10 year span of time.
Nerva had sought to undo much of the oppression caused by Domitian but since his reign was so short, much remained to be done. While Nerva offered a period of peace and safety, Christianity remained an unauthorized sect without formal legal recognition. As a result, localized discrimination still occurred occasionally.
Trajan did not target Christians but his policies did not protect them either. When a neighboring governor by the name of Pliny the younger, wrote to Trajan he said,
“I have never been present at an examination of Christians. Consequently, I do not know the nature or the extent of the punishments usually meted out to them.”
This proves that while trials were happening in Rome or other provinces during his lifetime, they were sporadic, localized, and not bound by a standardized imperial law not to target Christians. Nevertheless, Trajan replied with a simple and pragmatic rescripting of Roman policy towards Christians which would be in force for the following century.
His directive focused on maintaining public order while avoiding unnecessary state-sponsored witch hunts. Trajan’s core instructions were to not seek out Christians. They were only to be prosecuted IF they were accused of wrongdoing. Trajan’s policy was evidently not to blame, in that he strictly forbade Pliny (and others) from acting on anonymous tips or lists, calling them “a dangerous precedent” and “unworthy of our age”.
Trajan’s reply created a bizarre legal paradox: Christianity was technically illegal, but the Roman state would not actively look for you. Persecution remained highly localized, occurring only when pagan neighbors or local enemies chose to file formal charges in court. Ergo, Smyrna Christians were about to be slandered by the Jewish community – partly out of malice and partly to take the focus off of themselves!
Additionally, hostility from local non-Christian groups stirred up public suspicion and official complaints against the church which led to trials which often ended in imprisonment or execution.
Believers in Smyrna suffered severe economic hardship and localized imprisonment and even execution for refusing to recant their faith.
We do not know for certain how long this continued in Smyrna. It may have been 10 intense days which were worse by far than all other time periods. It may have been 10 years or 10 may have been due to what 10 seems to often represent in scripture.
In Jewish tradition, the number 10 represents totality, divine order and a gathered community. It signifies a whole entity formed by individual parts, acting as a foundational building block for creation and holiness.
But these are mere guesses. That Smyrna did encounter increased hostilities is certain!
So Jesus says to these believers in Smyrna,
“Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself.
The reward is intimacy with God forever!
(11) “The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will in no way be harmed by the second death.’”
This brings us full circle back to Jesus’ introductory statement,
“This is the solemn pronouncement of the One Who is the first and the last, the One Who was dead, but came to life: .”
Last week we closed with the three steps of obedience Jesus gave to the Ephesian church. This week as we wrap up this Ephesian letter, we are going to bear down on the fact that Jesus referred to loving Him with all their heart, as a WORK.
