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The Suffering Church under Attack · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Thank you, Father, for roots that grow deep in the
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  Speaker 1: things of God. Thank you for moms and dads who
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  Speaker 1: loved us and believed in us and poured their lives
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  Speaker 1: into us and taught us the hymns and helped us
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  Speaker 1: figure out what it was all about. Thank you for
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  Speaker 1: good men like Buddy and Dave, their willingness to travel
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  Speaker 1: and And remind us of the roots that give us
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  Speaker 1: stability and strength in a world that's lost its way.
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  Speaker 1: And thank you, Father, for grace. For the wings that
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  Speaker 1: grace provides and helps us fly and soar and discover
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  Speaker 1: fresh and new things that that give life such joy
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  Speaker 1: and free us from the bondage of lists and demands
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  Speaker 1: and expectations and man-made nonsense that's somehow supposed to make
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  Speaker 1: us spiritual and it only makes us sad, takes away
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  Speaker 1: our life. Thank you for grace that supplies what we
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  Speaker 1: need even when we don't realize we need it. For
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  Speaker 1: these young men and women who are away from their
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  Speaker 1: roots and don't hear much about the grace, who are
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  Speaker 1: fighting for our survival as a country, we pray today.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for each one, for their mom and dad
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  Speaker 1: who care about them, for their brothers and sisters, their grandparents,
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  Speaker 1: for their kids who miss them and want them back.
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  Speaker 1: Pray you'd bring them back safely and whole and victorious.
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  Speaker 1: Keep us focused, Lord, these days when it's easy to
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  Speaker 1: get it all scrambled. Remind us again and again and
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  Speaker 1: again that you're in the middle of it, that your
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  Speaker 1: plan is unfolding, that it all is a surprise to us,
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  Speaker 1: but none of it catches you off guard. And you're
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  Speaker 1: there And though invisible, you're engaged. And we rest in that,
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  Speaker 1: our shield and our defender.
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  Speaker 2: We love you, Lord.
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  Speaker 1: And today as we deepen our roots, may we also
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  Speaker 1: strengthen our wings of grace as we grow with you
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  Speaker 1: and learn from you. In Jesus' name. And all his
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  Speaker 1: people said.
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  Speaker 2: There are three universal languages.
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  Speaker 1: No matter where you may live, no matter what culture
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  Speaker 1: you may be familiar with, these three languages are understood
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  Speaker 1: clearly by all around you. First is the language of laughter.
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  Speaker 1: It sounds the same no matter where you may be.
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  Speaker 1: Second would be the Sounds of music. You don't know
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  Speaker 1: when you hear a great orchestra if you're hearing an
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  Speaker 1: orchestra that's playing in Paris or for that matter Berlin
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  Speaker 1: or London or Philadelphia or Los Angeles. The language of
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  Speaker 1: music is understood by all regardless of the current language
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  Speaker 1: spoken by most of the people in that area. And
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  Speaker 1: then there is the language of suffering. The anguishing cries
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  Speaker 1: that fall from the lips and tumble out of the
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  Speaker 1: throat of those who are hurting and heartbroken. Especially those
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  Speaker 1: going through times of.
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  Speaker 2: Persecution.
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  Speaker 1: There's a language that anyone in any place can understand.
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  Speaker 1: There's a lot to be learned in times of suffering,
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  Speaker 1: and during the time we're going through the pain, it's
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  Speaker 1: easy to forget those things that can be learned. There
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  Speaker 1: are benefits that come only as a result of suffering,
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  Speaker 1: and those benefits are easily overlooked when the pain grows
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  Speaker 1: and doesn't lessen. This is especially true if the one
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  Speaker 1: bringing the persecution is evil.
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  Speaker 2: Evil and wicked. Like this man.
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  Speaker 1: Here a brief but true biography. He was just three
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  Speaker 1: years old when his father died. It was little loss
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  Speaker 1: to the boy for his father had been a killer,
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  Speaker 1: a bully and a cheat. His mother took over the
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  Speaker 1: family trade and continued the boy's education.
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  Speaker 2: She murdered his stepfather. He was reared in squalor.
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  Speaker 1: While still young, he committed his first murder, killing a
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  Speaker 1: teenage boy who stood in his way and watching him
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  Speaker 1: die with calloused indifference. He was married first at the
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  Speaker 1: age of 15, but.
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  Speaker 2: Soon had his wife killed.
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  Speaker 1: He murdered his second wife before murdering the man that
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  Speaker 1: she was married to he married a third time and
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  Speaker 1: committed the same acts his mother annoyed him so he
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  Speaker 1: arranged for her murder first by guile but when that
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  Speaker 1: was unsuccessful he murdered her without pretense he was an
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  Speaker 1: ugly man with a bull neck beetle brows a flat
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  Speaker 1: nose and a tough mouth He had a pot belly,
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  Speaker 1: spindly legs, bad skin, and carried with him through life
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  Speaker 1: an offensive odor. At the young age of 31, he
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  Speaker 1: was sentenced to death by flogging. He fled to a
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  Speaker 1: dingy basement and in the house of a slave cut
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  Speaker 1: his own throat. He gave the infant church its first
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  Speaker 1: taste of things to come. His name was Nero. He
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  Speaker 1: was the first of the persecuting Caesars of Rome. But
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  Speaker 1: not the last. Far worse than Nero was one who
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  Speaker 1: came in years that followed named Domitian. Domitian was a
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  Speaker 1: suspicious and blasphemous tyrant. He loved to torture Christians and
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  Speaker 1: on top of that If he couldn't get rid of them,
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  Speaker 1: he would finally exile them to some distant place to
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  Speaker 1: silence them, which is exactly what he did to the
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  Speaker 1: one whose name was John the Apostle. Just put John
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  Speaker 1: on an island and remove him from the circulation of life,
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  Speaker 1: and you will get rid of John's effectiveness. Of course,
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  Speaker 1: all that John did on Patmos was write the Gospel
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  Speaker 1: of John, three letters of John, and the book of Revelation.
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  Speaker 1: Other than that, he didn't have much of a ministry.
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  Speaker 1: But an interesting thing happened as the Lord led John
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  Speaker 1: on Patmos to.
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  Speaker 2: Write the book of Revelation.
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  Speaker 1: He had him write a church that was suffering, a
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  Speaker 1: church at Smyrna, which became the cameo of the church
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  Speaker 1: under attack. going through the fire of persecution thanks to
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  Speaker 1: the evil directions of a wicked emperor. But before we
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  Speaker 1: get to that letter, which is the shortest of the seven,
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  Speaker 1: I want to look first at a small section of
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  Speaker 1: the letter of James. Sometime before you find Revelation in
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  Speaker 1: your Bible, you will get to James. Just five brief chapters,
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  Speaker 1: little over 100 verses. James writes to people who are
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  Speaker 1: scattered because of persecution. He refers to them as being
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  Speaker 1: dispersed abroad as he concludes his first verse. And right
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  Speaker 1: out of the chute, James addresses the subject of suffering.
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  Speaker 2: As he writes, consider it all joy.
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  Speaker 1: My brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the
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  Speaker 1: testing of your faith produces.
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  Speaker 2: Endurance.
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  Speaker 1: And let endurance have its perfect result so that you
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  Speaker 1: may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Look at that.
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  Speaker 1: He talks to them about their attitude toward trials, count
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  Speaker 1: it all joy, consider it all joy, He refers to
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  Speaker 1: the length of their trials as he refers twice to
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  Speaker 1: the word endurance. The testing of your faith produces endurance.
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  Speaker 1: Let endurance have its full and perfect result so that
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  Speaker 1: you may be mature and grown up and Lacking nothing.
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  Speaker 1: Eugene Peterson paraphrases those words. Consider it a sheer gift, friends,
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  Speaker 1: when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.
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  Speaker 1: You know that under pressure your faith life is forced
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  Speaker 1: into the open and shows its true colors. So don't
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  Speaker 1: try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do
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  Speaker 1: its work. So you become mature and well-developed, not deficient
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  Speaker 1: in any way. Those are some of the benefits of
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  Speaker 1: suffering that we forget about when all kinds of trials
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  Speaker 1: crowd into our lives. But when you get to verse 12,
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  Speaker 1: James fingers a couple of special benefits. One happens in
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  Speaker 1: this life and one will occur in the life to come.
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  Speaker 1: Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial. Same Greek
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  Speaker 1: word as endures, earlier in verses 3 and 4. Blessed
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  Speaker 1: is the one who endures. Doesn't look for a place
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  Speaker 1: to escape. Doesn't run. Doesn't stop it. Blessed is the
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  Speaker 1: one who endures under trial.
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  Speaker 2: Now note the benefits.
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  Speaker 1: In this life, once he has been approved....
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  Speaker 2: Once he has been approved.
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  Speaker 1: In this life, a person who suffers and endures it
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  Speaker 1: well becomes a person of sterling character. There's something about
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  Speaker 1: pain that removes a lot of life's impurities from us.
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  Speaker 1: Working in a machine shop for four and a half
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  Speaker 1: years out of high school, I learned in the heat
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  Speaker 1: treat department when you put a bar of steel in
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  Speaker 1: a hot furnace and you leave it there long enough,
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  Speaker 1: not only does it become the color of the furnace,
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  Speaker 1: it also bleeds.
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  Speaker 2: It's slag.
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  Speaker 1: The word here, dokimos, rendered approved, is the word for that.
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  Speaker 2: Sort of thing.
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  Speaker 1: It's used for metal cleansed of alloy. the slag and
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  Speaker 1: the iron comes out of the pores, if you will,
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  Speaker 1: of that bar of steel. And it can be flaked off.
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  Speaker 1: It can be shoved off, pushed off. And you have
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  Speaker 1: a better.
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  Speaker 2: Piece of steel as a result.
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  Speaker 1: Especially if you dip it in, while hot, in a
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  Speaker 1: bath of either oil or salt. And it screams like
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  Speaker 1: a leopard caught in a trap. You'd put this bar of,
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  Speaker 1: hot steel, and it lets out a scream heard all
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  Speaker 1: over the shop. And the slag will bubble up to
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  Speaker 1: the top, going through the fiery trials of life. Our
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  Speaker 1: lives shed the slag, the alloy, so that if enough
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  Speaker 1: trial is endured, you become an awfully pure vessel. And
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  Speaker 1: then what happens in the afterlife is you will receive
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  Speaker 1: the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to
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  Speaker 1: those who love him. Isn't that a great promise? Did
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  Speaker 1: you know that in the New Testament, five crowns are promised, believers?
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  Speaker 1: Five possible crowns can be won, if you will, earned
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  Speaker 1: in life, which will be granted at the time of
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  Speaker 1: the judgment seat of Christ. This is one of them.
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  Speaker 1: There's an old There's an old gospel song. Will there
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  Speaker 1: be any stars, any stars in my crown when at
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  Speaker 1: evening the sun goes down? I remember singing that as
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  Speaker 1: a kid. I remember that.
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  Speaker 2: None of you were that old to remember that, but
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  Speaker 2: I remember that.
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  Speaker 1: And I used to think, well, there must be great
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  Speaker 1: stars in the crown. I've never found in the Bible
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  Speaker 1: stars in the crowns, but I have found crowns. And
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  Speaker 1: the crown of life is promised not only to those
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  Speaker 1: who endure, but note, quote, note, carefully, those who love
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  Speaker 1: him while enduring. There is one kind of endurance that
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  Speaker 1: you do with a clenched fist and your teeth are
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  Speaker 1: gritted and you say, if it's the last thing I do,
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  Speaker 1: they won't break me through this. That's one kind of endurance.
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  Speaker 1: There's not a lot of love in that kind of endurance.
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  Speaker 1: But when you endure patiently and with your eyes on
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  Speaker 1: the prize and And fixed on the ultimate goal of
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  Speaker 1: standing before your Lord. Purified by the trial. Loving him
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  Speaker 1: all the way through it. There's a crown awaiting you.
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  Speaker 1: And the book that we're studying, the book of Revelation,
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  Speaker 1: reveals that in that great day, having been given the crowns,
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  Speaker 1: we will cast them at his feet. And all the
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  Speaker 1: glory and praise will go to the one who gave
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  Speaker 1: us the crown.
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  Speaker 2: Wonderful thought.
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  Speaker 1: All of this is wonderful preparation for the letter that
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  Speaker 1: John wrote under God's direction to the church at Smyrna. Smyrna.
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  Speaker 1: Revelation 2, beginning at verse 8. And to the angel
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  Speaker 1: of the church in Smyrna write, the first and the
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  Speaker 1: last who was dead and has come to life says this,
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  Speaker 1: I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich.
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  Speaker 1: And the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews
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  Speaker 1: and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
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  Speaker 2: Do not fear what you are.
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  Speaker 1: About to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast
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  Speaker 1: some of you into prison so that you will be
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  Speaker 1: tested and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be
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  Speaker 1: faithful until death and I will give you the crown
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  Speaker 1: of life. He who has an ear, let him hear
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  Speaker 1: what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes
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  Speaker 1: will not be hurt by the second death. Wonderful letter.
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  Speaker 1: Wonderful city. If you travel to western Turkey today, you'll
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  Speaker 1: not find Smyrna. You can't stay there overnight, but you
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  Speaker 1: can stay in Izmir, which is now the name that
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  Speaker 1: this ancient city bears. proud and beautiful city back in
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  Speaker 1: its early, early centuries, boasted of a famous stadium and
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  Speaker 1: library and the largest public theater in ancient Asia, was
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  Speaker 1: the birthplace of the great epic poet Homer. Mount Pagas
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  Speaker 1: rises 500 feet at the base of the harbor and
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  Speaker 1: around it was a great highway that as one man wrote,
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  Speaker 1: looked like the necklace on the statue of a goddess.
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  Speaker 1: It was called the Street of Gold. On that highway
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  Speaker 1: were places of business and wealthy establishments that glittered at
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  Speaker 1: night as the lamps flickered across the harbor. In New
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  Speaker 1: Testament times, Smyrna or Izmir was about 200,000 in population.
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  Speaker 1: Coins from the city were stamped in with the name
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  Speaker 1: of the city followed by First of Asia in beauty
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  Speaker 1: and size. A city dedicated, however, to the imperial cult.
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  Speaker 1: It was here that the worship of the emperor was established.
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  Speaker 1: And it was here the first city in the ancient
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  Speaker 1: world to build a temple in honor of Dea Roma,
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  Speaker 1: the goddess of Rome. 195 BC. Later, in 23 BC,
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  Speaker 1: Smyrna won permission over 25 other cities to build a
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  Speaker 1: temple in honor of Tiberius. Not only was it enormous,
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  Speaker 1: a statue of Tiberius, but there was a place where
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  Speaker 1: incense would be burned in the worship of this emperor.
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  Speaker 1: The strong allegiance to Rome, plus a large... A body
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  Speaker 1: of Jewish population who were anti-Christian, actively hostile toward those
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  Speaker 1: who were followers of the way, made it exceptionally difficult
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  Speaker 1: for Christians to survive.
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  Speaker 2: Hence, the church under attack.
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  Speaker 1: Christians, of course, would not sprinkle incense on the fire
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  Speaker 1: which burned in the emperor's honor. Christians would never call
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  Speaker 1: Caesar Kurios, Lord. That was reserved for only one. That
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  Speaker 1: would be the risen Jesus Christ, whom the majority of
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  Speaker 1: the people in Smyrna denied or either simply knew nothing of.
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  Speaker 1: Christians were unwilling to conform to these and other pressures.
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  Speaker 1: And as a result, as you can imagine, they were
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  Speaker 1: seen as disgraceful citizens who laughed patriotism and cultivated a.
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  Speaker 2: Spirit of treachery.
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  Speaker 1: They were hated. So the risen Christ comes to this
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  Speaker 1: hurting church and sends a message to the messenger called
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  Speaker 1: here the Angelos The angel of the church in Smyrna,
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  Speaker 1: John is told, write this. And as is true in
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  Speaker 1: all seven letters, the writer, or that is the one
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  Speaker 1: dictating the letter, introduces himself at the beginning as the
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  Speaker 1: first and the last. It's a reference to his eternality.
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  Speaker 1: He was there before there ever was a Smyrna. He
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  Speaker 1: was there before there ever was an Asia. He was
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  Speaker 1: there before there ever was an earth or matter. or light,
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  Speaker 1: or darkness, or water, or air. And the last, he
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  Speaker 1: will be there when all of that that we call
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  Speaker 1: familiar on this earth has passed. He is the eternal
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  Speaker 1: transcending one whose plan and work reach to those extremes
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  Speaker 1: of eternity past and eternity future. However, he isn't simply transcendent.
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  Speaker 1: He is one who understands what they're going through. As
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  Speaker 1: he continues, I am the one who was dead and
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  Speaker 1: has come back, has come to life. This is a
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  Speaker 1: reference clearly to Christ. He is the one who was crucified.
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  Speaker 1: He died in his incarnate humanity as the perfect sacrifice
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  Speaker 1: for sin, and he was raised to live forever in
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  Speaker 1: the power of his indestructible life. To give life to
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  Speaker 1: all who would believe in him. His death and resurrection.
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  Speaker 1: Must have brought comfort to people who sat and listened
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  Speaker 1: as you're listening to me today. Who knows how small
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  Speaker 1: or maybe how large their group was. Who knows if
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  Speaker 1: by now they may have been meeting and hiding. In
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  Speaker 1: secret places because of the persecution.
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  Speaker 2: But it must have given them hope.
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  Speaker 1: A sense of relief to know that the one who
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  Speaker 1: writes is not simply transcendent at a distance, but is
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  Speaker 1: one who has tasted death for every man. And one
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  Speaker 1: who has thankfully come back to life. No one could
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  Speaker 1: be more understanding or comforting of a church going through suffering.
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  Speaker 1: There's something about having gone through the depths that gives
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  Speaker 1: you an understanding of someone else when they go through it.
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  Speaker 1: Cynthia and I were away at this conference with the
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  Speaker 1: flag officers and people from the Hill. As I mentioned
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  Speaker 1: earlier to some of you, we were with a POW
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  Speaker 1: and talking with him and hearing about how he survived
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  Speaker 1: in this dark and dingy place for these seven-plus years.
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  Speaker 1: A man standing in the distance, I noticed, was nodding
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  Speaker 1: his head, didn't say a word.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't know him.
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  Speaker 1: Had never met him before, though I knew the man
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  Speaker 1: we were talking to. And following our brief conversation as
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  Speaker 1: we just simply stood in silence and listened, my esteem.
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  Speaker 2: For such people is off the chart.
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  Speaker 1: I turned and walked over to meet this man and
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  Speaker 1: found out he too had been a POW. And he
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  Speaker 1: said everything he says is true. He says we weren't
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  Speaker 1: in the same place, but we went through the same thing.
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  Speaker 1: There was an understanding in his heart that nobody else
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  Speaker 1: in the group had.
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  Speaker 2: That man had been there. He had known what it was.
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  Speaker 1: He happened to have been left in water eight days
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  Speaker 1: in a bamboo cage in a river, eating whatever he
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  Speaker 1: could that crawled through the river. Learned to sleep by
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  Speaker 1: wrapping his arms up in the top of the bamboo
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  Speaker 1: so he could hang for a few minutes and get
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  Speaker 1: a little sleep in those torturous years of imprisonment. He
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  Speaker 1: understood what it meant to get the fingers broken and
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  Speaker 1: to be struck and left with scars for the rest
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  Speaker 1: of your life. And our Savior was dead and has
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  Speaker 1: come back to life.
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  Speaker 2: So when he says, verse 9, I know, he knows.
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  Speaker 1: He knows. This isn't a theoretical knowledge that you and
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  Speaker 1: I have as we try to imagine life lived in
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  Speaker 1: ancient Smyrna. His is an understanding that predates their suffering.
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  Speaker 1: The one who writes.
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  Speaker 2: Them bears scars in his hands and side and feet.
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  Speaker 1: He knows that. Get your pen and mark three words. Tribulation, poverty, blasphemy.
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  Speaker 1: All in verse 9. These describe what the Christians were
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  Speaker 1: enduring at the time.
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  Speaker 2: I know, says Jesus, I know your tribulation. As all
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  Speaker 2: of you know by now, I'm a word vulture.
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  Speaker 1: And I come to words like tribulation and I find
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: philipsis in the Greek. And I do a study on
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: it and discover that it's not only pressure, it's crushing pressure.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: Used often by Christians. The action described in a.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Large boulder that rolls over or drops onto something. Sometime
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: used in torture and sometime used in ancient industry for
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: the purpose of crushing whatever is beneath the boulder. This
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: is a crushing pressure. A crushing pressure. What would be
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: the crushing pressure? What would be their tribulation? Well, stop
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: and think. Social pressure. They were ostracized because they were
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: people of the cross. They were assaulted. They were hated.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: Their businesses were boycotted and perhaps their children were mistreated.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever gone through anything like that.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: I've had very little of that.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Very little. So I have to imagine what such a
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: thing would be like. People who lived in the 30s
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: in Berlin and had shops and were Jewish would have
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: no trouble understanding crushing pressure. Their places were also boycotted
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: and looted and ugly swastikas took the place of their
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: signs and ultimately the glass was broken on their windows
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: and the shops were empty as they were hauled off
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: to death camps. They would understand better than we. He says,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: I know your poverty. This is a word that refers
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: to the most destitute of economic circumstances. I know that
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: some of you are now without a job. The poverty
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: must have come slowly and maybe as a result of
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: mob violence or corruption. ugly signs that appeared in front
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: of their places of residence and left them economically at
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: the bottom. He cannot help but add without waiting till later,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: but you are rich. Isn't it great how that's inserted?
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: There were no parentheses in the original text of Scripture,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: but here in our language they've been added by our
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: editors and we're grateful. It gives you an idea of
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: the flow of the verse. I know you're tribulation, crushing pressure.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: I know the destitute condition in which you live in
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: the economy of your times, but you are rich. This,
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: of course, is what the Christian lives on. This is
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: the kind of unseen food that gives us nourishment and
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: energy to go on. We may not be rich in
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: the world's estimation, but deep down inside, there is an
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: enriching life that accompanies the walk with Christ. There are
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: rewards no one can understand who's outside the family. And
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: then there are the blasphemies. The word means railing here.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: Slander.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: The Lord specifies the source of persecution. We'll get to
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: that in a moment. But think for a moment of
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: having someone yell obscenities or snide, ugly, insulting remarks in
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: your direction. Ever had that happen? I hadn't either all
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: the way through seminary and fresh out of school. I
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: was involved in a campus ministry at another campus. I'll
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: not name the campus because some of you were students
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: there at the time. And so I'll just tell you,
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: I stood on a free speech platform and I was
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: preaching Christ for everything I was worth, which wasn't a
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: whole lot because I suddenly felt something hit me and
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: it was a tomato. And I thought maybe someone meant
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: to be throwing it at this other person over here
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: who was preaching his message of communism, and he was
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: yelling on one side, and I was on another side
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: on this campus before long, and something else hit me,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: and the guy next to me says, stay at it.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: That's part of it. So, man, it's like saying, like
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: saying sick him to a bulldog. So, I just got
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: louder and stayed at it, and before long, there was
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: all kind of things being shouted and screamed at. There's
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: something sort of invigorating about that. I love Churchill's words,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: nothing is more exciting in life than being shot at
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: without result.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: And I.
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: Think when things like this occur, you move to another dimension.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: I was by no means anywhere near a martyr, but
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: it was the first time I ever experienced being yelled at.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: It wasn't the last, but it was the first time
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: I experienced it from a crowd. It's a new feeling.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: I've never known it as a father or as a husband. Well,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: there are times, but that's another kind of sharing that
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: I won't go into. This is a terrible moment For
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: these believers. They had believed in the Savior with all
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: their hearts. They had trusted him. And wanted to rear
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: their family to do the same. And now this was
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: the thanks they get. And where did it come from?
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: Look closely.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: The source.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: By those who say they are Jews. And are not.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: What a strange statement. They say they are Jews. But
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: they are not.
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: Hold here and go back to Romans chapter 2, verse 28.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: I think it's very helpful in interpreting passages like this
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: to check other scriptures.
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: Last two verses of Romans 2.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: But Paul writes, he is a Jew who is one inwardly.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: And circumcision is that which is of the heart by
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: the spirit, not by the letter. And his praise is
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: not from men, but from God. There are similar statements
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: made in Galatians. We'll not look, but as you read
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: that people who say they are Jews but are not,
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: that's what John has in mind. These are people who
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: may be Jews by birth, but not by second birth.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: These are people who knew of the prophet Jesus, but
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: did not receive him, would not even consider him a prophet.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: But had he returned at that day, they would have
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: crucified him again. As would many of us Gentiles had
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: we lived then, not knowing Christ, not believing in him.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: So they are Jews, at least Jews in flesh, but
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: not true Jews in the sense of completed Jews, converted Jews.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: Who had come to know the Messiah. And therefore their
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: meetings are not synagogues of worship. But John puts it
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: on the line in Revelation 2.9. They are a synagogue
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: of Satan. What a statement. John. How can you say
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: such a thing? I mean they may be misguided or misled. No, no, wait.
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: John is simply following the. Words of his own teacher,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: Jesus himself. Remember in John 8 where there's that great
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees. And Jesus faces them
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: with his own heritage. And he says that he is
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: of his father God. And they say, we are of
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: our father Abraham. And Jesus addresses that and questions that.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: And then they with folded arms frown and say, we
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: know who our father is. The insinuation is you could
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: not even name your father. It's as if he is
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: an illegitimate. Who knows who impregnated Mary, your mother? For
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: they had no belief in anything near the virgin birth
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: that to them was laughable.
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: And then Jesus finally lays it on the line and says.
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: You are of your father, the devil.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: At that moment, he did not win any friends.
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: He, as a matter of fact, spurred on their plans
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: to kill him. And there's something you just don't want
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: to do in front of proud people, and that's call
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: a spade a spade, unless, of course, you're.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: Willing to pay the price.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: John, of course, is in exile on Patmos because he's
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: paying a price, so he has no reason to mince words.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: Their synagogue meetings are synagogues that are motivated by Satan.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: planning to bring hardship and slander and hatred against Christians,
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: and their gatherings are hate-filled gatherings. I'm not saying every
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: Jewish synagogue is a hate-filled gathering. This is about Smyrna
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: and the first century synagogue at Smyrna.
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: That's the subject at hand.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: I think it's interesting when you study the lives of
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: great men and women, how they handle.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: persecution.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: Came across interesting story, true story on one occasion when
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: John Wesley was dealing with a stubborn and cynical skeptic
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: who was making Wesley's life miserable as the man perverted
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: the whole idea of Christianity based on the Bible. Wesley
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: did his best to argue with him and to convince
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: him and the man would not be convinced and Before
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: long there were insults and then in.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: A moment of sheer exasperation.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: And by the way, I love it when I'm reading
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: and I'm going to read about a great and godly
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: man who loses it.
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: I think this is some of the most interesting reading.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: And exasperated and losing all patience as it wore completely thin,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: he said.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: To him, your God is my devil.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: It's that same idea. It's the same idea here. John says,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: call it what it is. The persecution comes from the
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: father of persecution. The lies comes from the father of lies.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: The source of this slander comes from the slanderer, the adversary. Now,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: you quickly have to change in your mind the perception
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: you have of the devil. All of us grew up
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: with a little imp that was set on a shoulder
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: and was red and red. whispered little ugly things in
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: your ear and little turned up nose and pitchfork and
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: it's the most ridiculous caricature I could imagine to have
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: for Satan. My sister years ago gave me a little
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: wooden character. Has little spindly legs and has a big
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: body and.
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: Has a little face and he's red and has a
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: It has a pitchfork.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: Well, the grandkids broke the pitchfork off, but that had
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: a pitchfork. And it used to be when she got it,
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: you pushed the little thing down.
• 36:57
  Speaker 2: It said, go to hell. Little thing right at the top.
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: Push it down.
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: A little sign would come up, you know, like that.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: And I told you my sister gave it to me.
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: Well, anyway, she.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: Was diplomatic enough to paint that out in white, and
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: she just put welcome.
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: She painted a little welcome sign.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: And I have that little thing in my library, and
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: every day I look at that little thing. The only
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: thing true about that little thing is the welcome. It
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: isn't a little character. It isn't a pitchfork. It isn't red.
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: It isn't ugly. Satan is the most attractive and winsome
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: and alluring and appealing of all the creations. Along with that,
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: he is brilliant. And he is invisible. And he motivates
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: in ways that people who are being motivated by him
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: have no idea they're motivated by him. And he has
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: a script that folks follow who don't realize they're following
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: his script. Very few in this world are Satan worshipers.
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: There are some.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: And it's obvious where they're from. But these, like this group,
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: there's no sign in their synagogue that says we worship Satan.
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: It's not like that. They were carrying out the works.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: Blinded spiritually, they were carrying out works that they felt
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: were appropriate for the moment to deal with these followers
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: of the way who won't worship our Caesar or won't
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: be a part of our community, won't get in line.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: And he calls it what it is. Now, what happens
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: when you're treated like that? Just for a moment, try
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: to imagine. You're in a community that treats you like
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: that because you're a follower of Jesus.
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: What's your normal response?
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: Well, it's the same response as when a terrorist act occurs.
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: Fear.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: Fear. And if you're not careful, before long, you no
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: longer have a group over to enjoy an evening together.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: You no longer entertain. You no longer take walks. You
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: close your door and you buy another lock. and you
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: draw your drapes, and you stay out of the flow
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: of life. Who wants this kind of treatment? That all
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: comes from fear. Remember our president's words and others who
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: lead Homeland Security? don't stop living as you have been living.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: Live your life. What are they saying? They're saying the
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: same thing as begins in verse 10.
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: Do not fear. It's the most frequently stated command in
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: the Bible. Did you know that? Fear not.
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: It appears more than any other command. And here Jesus
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: says it. Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: You see, the scary thing about all of this is
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: when something happens that you fear worst is going to happen.
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: Your child goes through this and you fear tomorrow he
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: will go through something worse than he went through yesterday
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: or today. And so his hope is that they will read.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: Jesus writes these people out of compassion and and he says,
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: do not fear what you're about to suffer. And then
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: he tells them what they're about to suffer. Behold, the
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: devil is about to cast some of you into prison
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: so that you will be tested. Pause there. When I
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: first read that a couple of three weeks ago, preparing
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: a lot of these thoughts, I thought, hmm, I'm so
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: glad God is not still writing his word. I'm so
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: glad he's not telling me what's going to happen next
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: Thursday or the following week. Here he chooses to do this,
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: but he prepares them for it.
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: First, don't fear. I know the plan. I'm with you
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: through all of it.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: He says the same one who motivates those who have
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: brought blasphemy against you. Or railing against you. This one
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: is about to cast some of you into prison. Some
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: commentators tell us that it's not literally a prison. But
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: it may be a prison like existence. It says prison.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: So why it's a prison like existence. It looks to
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: me like jail. So that you will be tested. And
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: he says you will have tribulation for ten days. Now
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: ten is a. A number frequently used in Revelation for
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: the completion of something. Perhaps it means to the full
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: extent of suffering. The ten days may have reference to
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: a short period of time. Maybe both. It will be intense,
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: but it won't last long. Almost like we'd say a
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: week or so. And yet it may be exactly ten
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: of special days of persecution. A brief period of time
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: that will be extremely difficult. But now look at his
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: words of encouragement. He says, be faithful unto death, and
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: I will give you the crown of life. Remember that
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: we read something about that in James 1, verse 12.
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: You'll receive the crown of life.
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: These are people who were promised that if they're faithful
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: to the end, loving the Lord Jesus, not recanting, not
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: pulling back, not holding back, that God will give them,
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus will give them the crown of life.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: And what an encouragement. It's his way of saying, finish strong.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: Stay at it to the very end, painful though it
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: may be. Tertullian was a church father who lived some
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: days after this. His official name was Quintus Septimus Florence Tertullianus. Tertullian,
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: that's a good way to refer to him. He was
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: the one who, in the midst of great persecution, said
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: By the way, do you know that the persecution of
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: the 20th century was greater than the sum of persecution
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: from the 1st through the 19th? This is not something ancient.
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: This is something modern. Let me say it again. The
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: persecution of centuries 1 through 19 were not as great
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: as the persecution the church endured, God's people endured in
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: the 20th. The world is not getting better and better.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: We're not moving toward a glamorous ending where it will
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: all be angel food cake and relaxed times in the
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: backyard where we can enjoy freedoms. It's getting harder and Harder, worse,
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: and worse. The blood of the martyrs still seeds the church.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: Who knows if you and I will live a full life?
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: Who knows what could happen in our own land? I
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: have to tell you before we get to the end
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: of Revelation, I don't find much reference to America in
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: this book. I mean, we live as though we have forever.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: This is like a wake-up call. He offers promises to
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: the reader. He says, be faithful to death, I'll give
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: you the crown of life. He who has an ear,
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: And look at this one, he who overcomes death. Stays true,
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: stands tall, finishes strong, will not be hurt by the
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: second death. That's the final death. That's the lake of
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: fire death. It won't touch you. You're secure. You're saved
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: from that. You afraid?
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: You going to bed afraid?
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: I understand.
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: I got 10 grandchildren.
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: School for them is harder for them than it was
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: for me or for Cynthia or for our kids, their parents.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: I sometimes get a little afraid about that. Earl Palmer
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: writes in his book on Revelation, this letter is a
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: strong rebuke to the cultisms of fear that have thrived
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: in unusual numbers in this century. The major temptation of
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: the cultisms of fear is their claim that because of
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: the immensity of the dangers of this age, demonic and otherwise,
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: the gospel of Jesus Christ of itself is no match
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: for such dangers. The letter to the church at Smyrna
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: is an antidote to the church at Smyrna. It's an
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: antidote to such cultism. The resources we have in Jesus
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: Christ are fully adequate. They are the only resources we need.
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: Isn't that a great line? There are all kinds of fears.
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: Time doesn't allow me to list most of them. You
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: may have a fear of close places. I was on
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: a plane with a person not long ago who has
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: a fear of flying and just was flashing through his beads.
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, he just... And really, I mean, like breaking
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: out in a sweat. One lady asked me to hold
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: her hand, and I held her hand as if that
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: was going to help, you know. We're both going down toots.
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: If this thing goes down, I mean, what does it mean?
• 47:10
  Speaker 2: My mother had a fear of heights. I remember we went.
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: To the state capital in Austin, and if you've ever
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: been there, they've got these floors that all open up,
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: and you look out into the, you see the big
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: lone star at the bottom. And we went up about the,
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: I was a teenager back then when we first went there,
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: and we got up about the eighth floor, and she
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: looked over, she said, oh, it makes me want to jump.
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: And I go.
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: Probably wanted to jump because she had me as a child.
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: There are fears of heights. But there are few fears
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  Speaker 1: that paralyze us like a fear of pain or a
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: fear of encroachment into our space or someone breaking in.
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  Speaker 1: And the invasive fears that come along with terrorism and persecution.
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  Speaker 1: And our Lord says to us here, stop it. Stop that.
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: Your trust in me will hold you firm when you
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: come to such a time. Not if, but when. Let
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  Speaker 1: me apply all of this in the first person. May
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  Speaker 1: I do that? Three thoughts come to mind. First, my
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  Speaker 1: Lord knows every detail of my circumstances. Put it down
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: just like that. My Lord knows every detail of my circumstances.
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: He says, I know about the pressures that are crushing.
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  Speaker 1: I know about the destitution that has come as a result.
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: I know about the slander that is being said against you.
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  Speaker 1: I hear it all. I see it all.
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: I feel it all.
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  Speaker 1: He is not a Lord who cannot be touched with
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: the feelings of our weaknesses. Hebrews chapter 4 concludes, verse
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: 14 and 15. He's touched over this.
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  Speaker 2: He knows all about our circumstances.
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  Speaker 1: Second, If my situation remains the same, I have no
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  Speaker 1: reason to fear or to run. If it isn't relieved
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: and my situation remains the same, I have no reason
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  Speaker 1: to fear or to run.
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: He will be with me he will not leave me
• 49:24
  Speaker 2: Remember what you sang?
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: all sufficient shall be thy supply. The flame will not
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  Speaker 1: hurt you, I only design your dross, that's the slag,
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: your dross to consume, your gold to refine. As the
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: dross leaves, the gold is inserted. No reason to fear
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: or to run. Finally, if things get worse for me,
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: he will see me through regardless. If things get worse
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: for me, he will see me through regardless. I began
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: with a story about Nero. I close with a true
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: story about Polycarp. Polycarp was a bishop in Smyrna, lived
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: from about 70 to about AD 155. Polycarp, godly man,
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  Speaker 1: beloved pastor or bishop of this church, The mob crowd
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  Speaker 1: grew and finally they were screaming, away with the atheists,
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: let Polycarp be searched for. He's by now in a
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  Speaker 1: hidden place and they find him and he remains in prayer.
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: He offers them food and drink when they arrive, his.
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: Captors, and they take those things and allow him another
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: hour or so in prayer. And one of the men
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: say to him on the carriage as they're on their
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  Speaker 1: way back, What harm can it do to sacrifice to
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: the emperor? What harm in saying Caesar is Lord? Polycarp
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: remained adamant, only Jesus is Lord. Upon arrival, the old
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: bishop was shoved out of the carriage and pushed roughly
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: before the proconsul who said to him, Respect your years.
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  Speaker 1: Swear by the genius of Caesar. The old man stood silent.
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: Swear and I will release you. Revile Christ. To which
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: Polycarp replied with words that have lived on. For eighty
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: and six years I have served him and he has
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: king who has saved me? The proconsul persisted. Swear.
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: Swear.
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: By the genius of Caesar, I have wild beasts. If
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: you will not change your mind, I will throw you
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: to them. He calmly said, Call them. Call them. Angrily,
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: the official shouted, Since you make light of the beasts,
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: I will have you destroyed by fire unless you change.
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  Speaker 1: By now, the people are gathering their wood in their
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: arms and stacking it at the stake. Polycarp responds, you
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: threaten me with fire that burns for a time and
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: is quickly quenched, for you do not know the fire
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: which awaits the wicked in the judgment to come and
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: in everlasting punishment. Why are you waiting? Come, do what
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: you will. Angry Jews and Gentiles alike gathered the wood,
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: pushed Polycarp upon it, began to tie him to the stake,
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: and he made the request that they not tie him.
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: Let me stand loose on the wood. As the flames
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: were lit, he began to pray, O Lord God, Almighty
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: Father of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, through whom we
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: have come to know you, I thank you for counting
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: me worthy this day and hour of sharing the cup
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: of Christ among the number of your martyrs. I bless you.
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: I glorify you both now and for the ages to come. Amen.
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: As the flames swept, the wind blew them away and
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: seared him but did not consume him. And since he
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: continued to live, a soldier put an end to his
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: misery with his saber. The old man slipped from time
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: to eternity, standing and finally slumping on the fire. I'd
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: like you to bow your heads and close your eyes.
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: You and I have no way of knowing our future.
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: We have no way of predicting. Surely Polycarp knew nothing
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: of this in 80 or 90 or 100 AD 110
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: or 120 86 years. And they burn him at the stake.
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: That kind of faith is not grown. Hurriedly. Or spasmodically.
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: Or indifferently. It is a deliberate giving over of one's life.
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: To the Lord Jesus Christ. Day after day. Month after month.
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: Year after year. While it doesn't build us into passive
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: men and women, it stabilizes us, guards us from fear,
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: protects us from worry. If you haven't such a faith
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: in the Lord Jesus, what in the world are you
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: waiting for? No need to put it off. This could
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: be the beginning of a whole new way of life
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: for you. As you turn your life over to Christ.
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: Beginning today. Our soul care ministry is here for the
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: sake of those of you who desire to come to
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: terms with this invitation. You'll see them standing about our
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: worship center. You can meet them as you go into
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: the prayer room to your right. I invite you to
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: come today. Come to Christ now. Lord, it's almost impossible
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: in a safe place and a quiet place and a
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: comfortable place even to imagine some of these scenes. Nevertheless,
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: you have left them for us. And in our mind's eye,
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: we can at least picture what it must be like
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: and even what it may be like. Pray that you
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: will drive home parts of these things we have heard
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: and learned today. Give us a deeper love for Christ.
• 56:37
  Speaker 1: A willingness to stand regardless and to be who we
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: are before those who know little of the Savior, perhaps nothing.
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: Help us as we work this out in our work
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: and in our social gatherings, in our neighborhoods, at our
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: kids' schools, in gatherings where your name isn't mentioned and known.
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: May we know how to do that with boldness, out
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: of respect for you. Thank you for the memories of
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: people like this bishop who to the end was faithful,
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: surely the recipient of the crown of life. Now to
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: him who is able to guard us from stumbling and
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: present us faultless, faultless before the presence of his glory
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, our Savior,
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: be glory and majesty, dominion and power, now and forever.
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: and ever. And all God's people said, Amen. All rights
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: is strictly prohibited.