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Revelation 2:8-11 the church of smyrna the martyred church · The TakeAway

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, and welcome to the Takeaway, where we teach through the Bible, chapter by chapter and verse by verse, to help you understand God's Word so that you can have a more intimate relationship with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, welcome again to the takeaway.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Pastor Harry Barrens, and on today's episode, we will be looking at Revelation chapter 2, verses 8 through 11.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: The Church of Smyrna, the Martyr Church.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get started, I want to remind you that we need to understand that there is a pattern that repeats in the letters to the seven churches.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: We need to see to understand what we should take away from these chapters.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: So to each church, Jesus identifies himself with the characteristic of himself that best fits their current situation, to remind us that he meets all believers where they are, regardless of their situation.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Second, he encourages them in their good works.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Third, he points out their bad works and calls them to turn back or repent of them, that is, if they have any bad works.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, he tells them what their judgment will be if they don't repent, again, if they have bad works.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: And fifth, he tells them what the reward will be if they endure till the end.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is God's promise to us.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: To each church, he identifies himself and has promise.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: The three in the middle, the good works, the bad works, and judgment, is all dependent on them.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: But the first and the last are dependent on Jesus.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: To every single church and believer, Jesus meets us where we are and offers promise to us if we endure.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: However, as we will see, not every church is doing something bad, not every church is doing something good, and some are doing both good and bad.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal is to learn from these churches so that we can stay on the straight narrow path, so that we can enter into the promises that God has for us and the reward that he has for us.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: So as we get started with the church of Smyrna in verse eight, to the angel of the church of Smyrna, right, the words of the first and the last who died and came to life.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now notice Jesus meets this church where they are.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: He was reminding them that death is not the end of them, but that they too will come to life just as he did.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Remember this, Jesus will always meet you where you are in life and whatever you are facing.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is something he does with all seven churches, and it's something he does for us today.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: There is no situation where you will ever find yourself in that Jesus can't meet you.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Just as he is identifying with the Church of Smyrna, he also identifies with you, no matter what it is you're going through.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Verses nine through eleven.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I know your tribute tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich, and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: You as an ear, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: So he says right here, I know your tribulation and your poverty.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: He knows very well what they're going through.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: But he reminds them of something.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: He says, You are rich.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you remember in the Gospels, Jesus says, Don't store up for yourself treasures here on earth, but treasures in heaven, where rust and moth do not destroy.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: The church of Smyrna was doing that well.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: They were focused on the good works, they weren't denying the name of the Lord, and they were storing up for themselves treasures in heaven.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus was reminding them that they are rich, so that when they die and enter into paradise and they enter into heaven with Jesus, that their riches, their rewards would be given to them.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now the synagogue of Satan, right?
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously during this time, there were Jews in all these different cities, and there were synagogues, and they were persecuting.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: If you remember Paul the Apostle, that was one of the things that he was doing, right?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: He was persecuting the early church, and he was killing them, he was throwing them in prison, he was ripping them out of their houses, he was separating families and all these things.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And essentially, this is it wasn't just him.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: This was going on on a on a broad scale.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: He was just, you know, uh, he was really big into doing that.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: He was the top dog, I guess you could say, and he was really zealous to go around and persecute the church.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but this was happening all over.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is the first of only two churches that Jesus doesn't judge or tell to repent from something.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: They are faithful unto death and never deny his name.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: First and foremost, that's what they were known for.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and because probably the persecution that they were under, they they probably didn't even have much of an opportunity to do bad works.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: They were probably just busy defending their faith and holding on to the name of Jesus.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, in the situation that they were in, it probably just um created this particular environment uh where they had to stand their ground, they had to focus on just being there.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Where a lot of the other churches that had bad works, you could see their environment or their culture enticed them or tempted them, and they got caught up in other things.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: But when persecution comes, you see, we have to stand our ground, and there's just no room.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: You have to pick one side or the other, and there's no middle ground.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, their promise is the crown of life.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is not just a promise for them, but for all who stay faithful and never deny the Lord Jesus, regardless of the outcome.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is easier said than done.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Many of us have in one way or another denied Jesus, maybe not with words, but in our actions.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever stayed silent when maybe you should have spoken up?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have never helped someone when the opportunity arose for you and you just walked away.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we are all guilty in one way or another of denying Jesus at some point, just like Peter when he denied that he knew the Lord three times, um, and then the rooster crow, right?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that he he came back to it and it and he broke down and wept.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: But God gives us grace and opportunity to repent and return to him and sometimes even correct our situations.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: The beautiful thing about martyrs is that their death is the proof that they didn't deny Jesus because it was the very reason they were killed.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: As we live, we will stumble.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: However, if or when we are ever confronted with having to give up our lives for holding on to Jesus, what will you do?
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: That will be an eternal defying moment for you that you will not have the chance to do over.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Take the time to think about this and ask yourself, what would you do?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't think you would have the courage to stand for Jesus, maybe you need to press into your relationship with him more now while you still can.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can build your confidence by working on your relationship with Jesus.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew 1625, for whoever would save his life, uh I'm sorry, uh 1625, for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: The Church of Smyrna understood this.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: There's some good news if you don't think you're at this place yet, and that is that we have the Holy Spirit within us to strengthen us when we are weak.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: If you press into your relationship with Jesus, you could be assured that when persecution comes, he will bring the increase or whatever it is you are lacking in that day.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing I want to cover here is the ten days.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: So this comes up.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, some theologians have tried to cover this the ten days you will have tribulation.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the question is is this an actual ten days or a period of time?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and again, if you know me and my teachings, I try to um stick with what the scriptures say, and I don't try to read into it or reinterpret it.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we can't always know, right?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: So there are some who believe that this represents 10 different periods of time or church of church persecution.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Could be, but I think you have to read into it and you have to start to take your own ideas and start to apply them to scripture, and I think that's a very dangerous thing to do.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, others believe it was an actual ten days of tribulation.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: However, there is no record of any such thing ever happening.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: So we have two options here to read the text and make it mean something other than what it says, or believe it for what it says.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: This just might be one of these things we let be for now until the Holy Spirit reveals it to us.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: In either case, it doesn't impact the context.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I always said this there's things in scripture we can know, there's things that we can't know, and there's things that we kind of know.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm kind of leaning this is towards the kind of to can't know area.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but again, it doesn't really distort the text, it doesn't take away.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't have to read into this, um, and we don't have to know the actual detail.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe something did happen that's just not in historical records that we aren't aware of.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but again, we know this church had tribulation, and really that's all that matters.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway is um our relationship with Jesus and what would we do if we were faced in this situation.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's pretty much it with the Church of Smyrna.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh next week, we're going to be looking at the Church of Pergamum, living in the midst of sinful culture.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's gonna be a fun one.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: So let me pray for us as we wrap this up for today.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you so much for your word and for your revelation and for the truth that you have given us.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to grow in our relationship with you, Jesus.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to understand your word.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: I pray that you would reveal to us and give us revelation of the truth of your word so that we can receive the promise that is in your word and that we can live according to you and glorify you in all that we do and all that we say, Jesus.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: We pray this in your precious name.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining me today.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed today's episode.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: And again, I encourage you to take the time to really think about the questions that were asked today.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Evaluate your relationship with Jesus, evaluate where you are and seriously contemplate what it is that you are doing or not doing to help or to hurt your relationship with Jesus.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: I encourage you to press into Him.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's what this show is all about.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: The show is not about making you a theologian and a theological scholar, uh a student, uh, you know, a deep student of the word.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's really to help you develop your relationship with Jesus.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's my ultimate goal.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: I say it all the time, is that I care deeply about the truth of God's word, the accuracy of God's word.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: I do want to teach that.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want us to know it.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but most people have a hard time remembering what it is they were taught, whatever, but there's a consistent thing throughout all of Scripture, and it's our relationship with God.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And and how much of that do you have?
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's that's what we need to focus on.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: So please take that away if if nothing else, take that away from these teachings.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I pray that they help you and encourage you in your walk with Him.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, again, thank you for joining me today, and I'll see you again next week.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: God bless you.