October 6, 2024

Revelation 2:8-11

Well, good morning Saylorville! If you brought a copy of Scripture with you this morning, you can find the last book in your Bible, the book of Revelation, the second chapter, as we continue in this series within the series on the seven churches, that the book of Revelation was written to, these seven churches, seven real churches, living in real time at the time. And we said a week ago, they depict churches in every era. And today we’re looking at the suffering church, with a sermon we’re titling For Those Who Hurt.

And we know that some of you are hurting here today. We know that I can’t see your hearts. I don’t know what’s happening in your lives. Some of you are just hanging on by a thread. And some of you are just sort of annoyed by this or that. In one way, shape or form, you’re suffering. And that’s a relative term, isn’t it? We can suffer greatly. We can suffer not so greatly, but we all suffer, and we’re called to that. And I’m going to even make a suggestion. It’s a gift from God. We don’t often look at it that way. But we’re looking at a church that genuinely suffered through persecution today.

But we also… we can’t preach a message like this without thinking about those who are sufferings, especially those closest to us in the southeast as a result of that hurricane. They have another one that’s bearing down on them even as we speak. Sort of unprecedented and also mindful of our redemption drawing nye. Right? I mean, there’s something’s happening. But let’s be praying for those so many have been so devastated by this. Let’s start with a word of prayer.

Our Father in Heaven, thank You so much that we can open up Your word where we find hope, where we find truth, where we find Jesus. And we find forgiveness and answers to all of the quandaries, so many of them at least, in life. And we find You and we know that we’re called to trust You even in the darkest of our times. And there are people here in this room, some watching on line that are suffering in some way. Some are being persecuted. This video goes out, this medium goes out to the world, and we know that there are thousands and thousands and thousands of followers of Your Son who are suffering right now. We ask You to bless them, protect them, use them, glorify Yourself through them. And we pray for these victims of this horrendous hurricane here, sometime back here, that still just devastated these number of states, and give them hope, those of you that those that follow You, Lord, and those who don’t. Make those who do follow you reach out in ways unprecedented and certainly helpful to them. So now, Lord, as we look into Your word, give us hope. Give us Jesus. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Revelation chapter two. All right? So, you know, someone has said, ‘If you’re going to evaluate a church (there’re seven of them here) what’s the best way to evaluate a church? Some would say you evaluate a church on the three B’s. Have you ever heard of the three B’s? Yeah, they are building, budget, and bodies. Seems kind of shallow, doesn’t it? The churches in Revelation 2 and 3, they didn’t have a building, they probably didn’t have a budget, and they had very few bodies. And yet they were blessed! And Jesus told us in the Beatitudes, He sort of closes up those original Beatitudes and says,

‘Blessed are you when you are persecuted, when you are insulted, when people speak all manner of things against you falsely…’ thus, by the way, expanding our definition of what it means to be persecuted. But they were Blessed.

[Matthew 5:11-12), “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.“]

And speaking of blessed, I asked last week, how many of you are second or third generation Christians and a number of you raised your hands. And I told you then, you are blessed. And you are blessed. But something I’ve noticed and… I’m a first generation believer. Something I have noticed over the several decades that I’ve been a Christian now is that the second generation is usually not nearly as fervent as the first.

Now that wasn’t true with Polycarp. That’s a name not familiar to many of you, but this is him pictured…  I think he got that picture for picture. That’s a great picture of him, isn’t it? I mean, it must’ve appeared in the directory in the first century or something. But he was a disciple of John, the author of Revelation, the one who was given these words through Jesus. John discipled Polycarp. He’s one of the very first followers of Jesus that was martyred for his faith. He was a second generation follower of Christ, and there was no slack in him. In 55 AD… Oh, by the way, he was the pastor of Smyrna. That’s where we’re at in Revelation two versus eight through 11.

Now he wasn’t… we don’t think he was the pastor at this time. We’re not told that. He would have been about 20 to 25 years old when this letter was given. So he may have been ascending at least if he wasn’t the pastor, and was very familiar with this, because again he was discipled by John. And so as fervent as he was bringing the Gospel, he was persecuted. They went to his house. He literally prayed over his captors. They brought him in and he was tried. He had one individual, Marcion a heretic, asked him, “Do you remember me?” He says, “Yes, I remember you, you son of the devil.” I mean, he knows what’s gonna happen, but he’s very, very bold to them. And in fact, they said they were threatening him with beast, they were threatening him with fire, and to the fire he said,

“You threaten the fire that burns only for an hour and is quenched, but you do not know the fire that is to come of eternal judgment reserved for the ungodly.” Polycarp

So much for a wimpy second generation followers! Amen? With that in mind, Revelation chapter two and verse eight.

Revelation 2:8-11

8 “And to the angel (or the messenger) of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words (I want you to, what I want you to do every time we read these letters, pay very, very special attention by the way in which Jesus describes Himself because it has a direct correlation to what they’re dealing with, all right? That said…) the words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. (Did you know one of those exists?)

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

11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches…” (Now notice this is a letter to Smyrna, but it goes to all the churches and to us.) “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”

When I became a Christian, I came under relative persecution, not like these individuals were dealing with at all. But I was being pushed against, I was being insulted, I was being lied about, and it was disheartening! It was pressure upon me, and I was very attuned to scripture like Acts 14 where Paul says that we, “through much tribulation, must enter into the kingdom of God.”

[Acts 14:22, “…strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.“]

Have you ever read that? And the one that really spoke to me was in Philippians, toward the end of the first chapter, where Paul says,

Philippians 1:29, “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…“

Have you ever read that? So it’s as if it’s a gift, that we’ve been gifted to suffer, so to speak. And I memorized that very early on realizing that with my aggressiveness with the Gospel, I was probably going to have it coming to me. Someone has said that

“The church today desperately needs a theology of suffering.” Unknown

And and I would agree. And Jesus, in essence, gives us one here. Now admittedly, suffering and persecution, and they’re different and they’re both relative. Right? You know, persecution can be really terrible or it can be light or somewhere in between. Suffering, physical, mental, relational, whatever it is is also very relative. But as I mentioned earlier, when Jesus gave the Beatitudes, He broadened out (and this is helpful to me and should be encouraging to you) He broadened out the meaning of persecution when he said, ‘Blessed are you when you are persecuted, when they speak evil against you, when they insult you, et cetera, for My sake.’ So He broadens the definition of suffering for us. And really, it sort of informs us when Paul says to Timothy, in his last will and testament, he said, ‘All who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.’

2 Timothy 3:12, [“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…”]

But make no mistake, this church, the church of Smyrna was dealing with more than just being lied about. They were dealing with more than just being insulted. And so to Smyrna we go.

Smyrna was a city then and now. It actually is still a city. It’s still on the Aegean Sea. It’s a large, large city, unlike Ephesus, which doesn’t exist except for the archaeology of it. There is archaeology within Izmir, that’s the name of the city today, with a couple hundred thousand people, very comparable actually to Ephesus, which is only about 35, 40 miles to the south, with one big difference. They were being persecuted in Smyrna, unlike Ephesus. And I love the way Jesus relates Himself to them! — just like He relates Himself to you and me. Remember when Paul was coming after the Christians and Jesus appeared to him and knocked him down and said,

Acts 9:4b, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?“

You’re not just persecuting. You’re persecuting ME! He’s probably thinking, ‘What, what?’ — because as Paul or Saul persecuted the church, he persecuted Jesus. Jesus identifies with you and me. Did you know that? And He’s doing so here. Smyrna. That is a word… we get the word “myrrh”… in fact it is the Greek word “myrrh.” Remember when the the wise men show up they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. Remember that? Myrrh was a product of this area around Smyrna and probably Egypt which was constantly embalming people was exporting it from Smyrna. That “myrrh” that those wise men brought to Jesus probably came from Smyrna. (That’s worthless information, but just the same.) At any rate, it literally was a sweet smelling gum-like resin. And here’s what’s interesting! Myrrh was used for both perfume and embalming. Wow! It really was! You don’t want a dead body stinking. Right? It was used for perfume for you women and for embalming. How does Jesus describe Himself? ‘I’m the one who lived, I’m the one who died.’ And He says in verse nine, look at verse, by the way, there’s one more thing I should tell you about Myrrh. It does not let off its fragrance unless it’s crushed! It has to be crushed to let off its fragrance, its sweet smelling fragrance. And so Jesus says in verse nine,

Revelation 2:9, “I know your tribulation…” (Well guess what tribulation means? It means to be crushed! He’s saying ‘I know you’re being crushed right now. I was too, but I’m alive!’ You see the hope He’s given to them? Verses nine and 10, I know “your poverty…” (That’s a really strong word for it. The word literally means abject or absolute poverty. This was not a white collar church. No money in the bank, just treasure in heaven. And he says,) ( but you are rich)”

This had to be somewhat counterintuitive, but He says the opposite to the worldly church in chapter three and verse 17 if you skip down there. He says to the church of Laodicea, He says,

Revelation 3:17, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

And by the way, that tells you a lot about Jesus. Doesn’t it? His perspective on every single one of these seven churches is so, in some cases, even like this one, radically different than they have of themselves! By the way, this is only one of two churches that Jesus does NOT confront. He does NOT condemn. There’s nothing about them, unlike Ephesus and most of the others, He doesn’t have anything condemning to say to them! To the other one, the church of Philadelphia when we get to it, the reason why he doesn’t say, he doesn’t condemn them either is because they’re the evangelistic church! They’re reaching people for Jesus. This, on the other hand, is the suffering church, and there’s no condemnation of them either. But Jesus gets it, and He gets us! He has a perspective on all of these churches, which is both encouraging and haunting! So He says to one church,

Revelation 3:1, “…You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.”

That’s haunting to me, and should be to you. He says to the church I alluded to earlier, ‘You’re all, you say you’re rich and you are so poor.’ But to this church, He flips it and says, ‘You think you’re poor. You are so rich!’ It’s a beautiful thing! Isn’t it? And by the way, He relates because it was 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 9 says,

2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”

And even in that same epistle in the sixth chapter the 10th verse,

2 Corinthians 6:10, “…as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.”

Paul is going through a litany of stuff he’s been through and all the persecutions he’s been through, and in the middle of it he says, ‘being poor, we’re making other people rich.’

Have you ever read that? And here Jesus says something that had to be incredibly insulting to those who would have got word, who were Jews! He says, look what he says in chapter 2 … in the middle of verse 9. He says,

Revelation 2:9, ““‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.“

I mean, imagine being a Jew, not a Christian, but a Jew and hearing this, how insulting would this be? But you’ve got to understand what was going on here in Smyrna. And all of these cities, most all of them were free cities. Rome did rule with an iron fist, but they didn’t rule individually in towns with an iron fist. In fact, if they could get order, they would go away. They didn’t rule heavy handed. And like Ephesus, Smyrna was a free city. And because of that, if they could just mind their p’s and q’s, as they say, they would have no pressure from Rome. So Rome… what they did annually was you had to offer incense. You had to say “Caesar is kurios.” That’s all you had to do. Kurios is the Greek word for “lord,” “boss,” “sovereign one.” “Caesar is kurios!” That’s all you had to do. But if you’re a good Jew, you don’t have to be a Christian, but if you’re a good Jew, you are not gonna say that! Right? You could not say “Caesar is Lord.” So the Jews just continued to nip at the Romans and the Romans capitulated, and they said, ‘Okay, as long as you say we honor Caesar, we won’t put any pressure on you.’ So that’s what the Jews did. They would say ‘We honor Caesar.’ No problem there. Just don’t have to call ’em “lord.” And everything was escaped.

The Christians come in and they start coming to Christ, and they have one declaration. Jesus is Kurios! Right? Jesus is LORD! And that threatened to bring the Romans in! The Jews could not have that! The best way to keep the Romans out was to keep the Christians’ mouths shut. And so they entered into the persecution of the Christians! And this is why Jesus says, ‘You’re in a satanic temple! That’s not a synagogue!’ These so-called worshipers of Jehovah were killing the true children of God, so that’s why Jesus says, ‘this is a satanic temple.’

Now at the beginning of verse 10, I want you to note that Jesus prepares them for future persecution. Look at it again,

Revelation 2:10, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, ‘Start praying that the devil will not be nipping at your heels.’ He doesn’t say that! He says ‘you’re about to suffer.’ He’s preparing them for the inevitable! He says, ‘You’re gonna be thrown into prison for 10 days,’ which is a metaphor for a short period of time. But please notice, He doesn’t say, ‘Just hang in there. When you’re out of prison… just be faithful, and when you’re out of prison, everything will go well.’ No! Look what He says in verse 10.

Revelation 2:10, “Be faithful unto (what? unto) death.”

So He’s not pulling any punches here of what is going on. And please notice that Satan in one form or another is mentioned twice. He’s called “Satan,” and he’s called “the devil,” “the adversary.” I want you to get a grip on this. He’s your enemy! Your enemy… He is your real enemy! Your real enemy is not Iran. It’s not radical Islam. It’s not Vladimir Putin. It’s not those who hate your faith. It’s certainly not your political opponents who don’t agree with your politics. They’re not your enemy!

[1 Peter 5:8b] “Your [adversary] enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

He’s your enemy… and don’t forget that! We get so sidetracked making people our enemy! You don’t wanna do that. It’s… the one who’s influencing them that is your enemy.

And “be faithful until death” he says, because your enemy is gonna put you in prison! Your enemy is gonna have you killed! Being delivered from eternal wrath doesn’t guarantee you’re gonna be delivered from temporal wrath.

And I realize, here we are in the United States of America. Nobody’s holding a gun to your head. Persecution… Christianity is most people’s “whipping boy” for sure, but we’re not being hauled into prison for our faith. In fact, whenever something happens when a Christian is persecuted in the United States, we take note of that. That which is absolutely normal in most every other place in the world! But even if you’re going through some form of suffering, and some of you are, some of you you’re just hanging on by a thread right now. Your marriage is coming apart at the seams. Your child is off the chain. Your relationship with your friend is not going… Well, I don’t know what it is! Maybe … you’re struggling with your health. You need to know there’s One who does know.

And by the way, speaking of persecution like they’re having, since the time of Christ, it’s been estimated that 70 million followers of Jesus have been martyred for their faith. 70 million have died for their faith in Jesus. I said since the time of Christ. Guess how many of those 70 million just in the last century? 55 million! Do not think that the persecution that we read about in the Bible, that was like an island. There’s been more persecuted Christians over the last 100 plus years than ever in the history of Christianity! And they are dying by the millions in places like China and Indonesia, North Korea. These radical states that Islam is over… and in South America! It’s been… estimated… this has been pretty consistent. Since the time of Christ… .8% of followers of Jesus have died for their faith. That’s less than 1% and what that really amounts to is about one out of every 120 true followers of Jesus in this world dies for their faith. And that would be like 12 people at Saylorville Church.

So whether your life is threatened or you’re just struggling in some way, some of you are newer Christians who are getting pressure from those who are not Christians. There is a phrase here that I love more than any other phrase throughout … and He says it to every one of the seven churches. Jesus says it to every one of them! He says this. And here it is. “I know…”

[Ephesus – Revelation 2:2; Smyrna – Revelation 2:9; Pergamum – Revelation 2:13; Thyatira – Revelation 2:19; Sardis – Revelation 3:1;

Philadelphia – Revelation 3:8; Laodicea – Revelation 3:15]

“I know.…” I love that! — In every situation Jesus comes to us and He tells us, ‘I get you. I know.’

Just the other day, I was sitting with a couple who’s… they have a teenage child. They love the Lord. They’ve raised their kids for God. They have a teenage child that’s rebelling, and they got with me and we sat down and we talked and they were just weeping! And the first words… I’m studying this… the first words out of my mouth to them was, “I know.” “I know what you’re struggling with right now.” “I know.” Not exactly. but I know somebody who does know exactly. but I know. That’s a comforting phrase! Isn’t it? And Jesus says that over and over and over again.

What else does Jesus know about you? Well, he knows your heart. Right? Jeremiah 17,

Jeremiah 17:9-10,

9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately (sick) wicked; who can know (understand) it?” That’s a rhetorical question, by the way. “Who can know it?” (And then he answers it in Jeremiah 17:10)

10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins…” (says the Lord)

He knows your heart. He knows everything about you, and I mean everything!

(Psalm 139) ‘Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down, my rising up, you know where I’m going. There’s not a word in my mouth that you don’t know before I say it. Such knowledge is too amazing to me. It’s high. I can’t attain unto it.’

Why? Because God knows everything about you… everything about you!

And Jesus knows if you’re really trusting Him. That’s why the prophet, Nahum, says,

Nahum 1:7, “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who trust in Him (take refuge in Him.“)

I was in the hospital with a couple… their baby was born. He wasn’t breathing for 10 solid minutes. It looked like he was gone. I took the father aside, he was completely distraught! I didn’t want to preach to him. All I could think of was that verse. I looked him in the eye and said, “The Lord is good. He is a stronghold in your day of trouble. And He knows who trust in Him.” That baby survived! The very next week that man came up to me and looked me right in the eye, and said, “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who trust in Him!”

And He does know whether you’re trusting Him right now, in whatever you’re going through. He knows.

And He knows the way you’re going even when you don’t! Remember when Job says, ‘I looked over here. I can’t see God. I looked over here, I can’t see God. I’m over here when He’s working. I can’t see Him.’

[Job 23:8-10

8 Behold, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive Him;

9 on the left hand when He is working, I do not behold Him; He turns to the right hand, but I do not see Him.]

Remember that? And then he says,

10 But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, (when he has tested me) I shall come out as gold.”]

— Because He knows the way you’re going, even when you don’t.

And He knows you in your weakness. Some of you are very weak. You feel like you’re just hanging on by a threat, as I said. But He knows you in your weakness. Psalm 103 verse 14 says,

Psalm 103:14, “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.“

And when you look at someone and you say they claim to be a Christian but there’s nothing about them that says they’re a Christian. Anybody know somebody like that? Don’t point any fingers! I’m always wondering about someone. Are you really a Christian? There are some of you! I wonder…  Are you really a Christian? — Because I’m certain a number of you are not. But I don’t know. You know what I take solace in? Second Timothy 2 says,

2 Timothy 2:19, “But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

He knows! And so this is all about Jesus and His knowledge.

And some of you are hurting right now. He knows that! He knows that you’re opposed. He knows you’ve been falsely accused. He knows you’ve been insulted. He knows if you’ve been threatened. Jesus knows! You could say “Amen” to that! — Because we don’t worship Jesus as if He were here. We worship Him because He’s here. And because He’s here, He knows.

In Philippians chapter… and what I’m about to share with you is not complete. I’m not gonna give you every reason why you struggle, why you’re persecuted, why you suffer. The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians while he was in jail, and he recognized that his incarceration was advancing the Gospel amongst the Roman crack elite soldiers. Remember that? He also said that his incarceration was emboldening the saints. And I mean, how many of us who have seen a fellow follower of Jesus suffer physically, emotionally, in some way, greatly, and you watch how they walk with God during that whole thing, and it inspires you! Doesn’t it? It emboldened you! Paul said that in Philippians 1. —And he said that… his personal suffering increased his expectation that Christ was gonna come back for his life. Those are good things last I checked. Right? And as long as Romans 8:28 is in the Bible,

Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

… — then we know that there is no trial ever! — without purpose in a follower of Christ’s life.

So with that, and for the balance of our time, four reasons we will suffer. Here’s the first one. Jesus wants to release His grace on your life. And many of you know the passage.              [2 Corinthians 12:8-10] ‘Oh Lord, take away this thorn that I have in my flesh…’  Jesus says, ‘My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in your weakness so glory in your weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon you.’ When God gives grace, He gives power to do what you would not be able to do otherwise to endure what you would not be able to endure otherwise.

I can remember like it was yesterday, driving down the highway with a friend of mine. We were saved at almost the exact same time. His marriage was… completely in shreds… I personally didn’t know if it was gonna hang on. And so I was listening to him bear his burden about his wife and how difficult it was just to get along and how hard it was. And I mean, “You gotta help me, Pat!” I’m trying to explain, second Corinthians, chapter 12 to him, and about what God’s grace and His grace is power. I kid you not! We looked out the window in this truck drove by! [A picture is shown of a semi truck with the name “Grace Transport Inc.” driving by] I said, “That’s it, dude! God will just back up and dump a whole truck load of grace on you when you need it!” And one of the reasons why we suffer… by the way, that guy’s marriage is golden today! God has done a work of grace in his life. And one of the reasons that we suffer is because God, Jesus, wants to release his grace in our lives.

Secondly, He wants to confirm the faith that we proclaim. Again, notice, He says, “Be faithful unto death.” [Revelation 2:10b] You see that there in the middle verse 10. So that was Polycarp. When he was hauled in, he said, ‘You think the fire you put on me is some way “of the fire you’re looking at!’ And they did burn him at the stake, but they said, “Curse Christ and we won’t do it!” And here’s what he said,

“86 years I’ve served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my king and my Savior?”  Polycarp

… — And with that he died, faithful until death!

By the way, this is what Jesus said. When you would come into His presence, what we wanna hear is, ‘Well done, good, and charismatic servant.’ ‘Well done, good and prosperous servant.’ ‘Well done, those of you who handled your finances really well.’ ‘Well done for using your giftedness.’ All that’s probably a… but he’s gonna say “Well done good and (what?) faithful servant.”

Thirdly, we suffer because Jesus longs to reward you with a crown for your victory. Look at the very end of this. He says, at the very end of verse 11;

[Revelation 2:11, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”]

…the one who conquers. That’s the Greek word “naiki.” We get our English word Nike. Where Nike brand comes from means “to be a conqueror,” means “to be a victor.” That’s the word, comes from this word. “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” Now this is really intriguing, the second death, ’cause we’re gonna come across this expression three more times at the end of Revelation. But the first time it’s right here. Why would he put that in there? Because these people were dying for their faith in Jesus! And so He eludes to the second death. Some of you have a fear of death. You should not fear death. You should fear the second death, because if you experience that, you die forever in hell! I think it was D.L. Moody who said,

“If you’re born once, you’ll die twice, but if you’re born twice, you’ll die only once.” D.L. Moody

[John 3:3] You must be born again! And if you have never been born again, and placed your faith in the living God through His Son, Jesus, who died and rose again for you and become more than a conqueror through Him who loved you, you’re still stuck and looking at a second death. But if you’re a sufferer, your king of kings looks forward to placing an eternal wreath on your faithful head someday. How beautiful is that?

Lastly, we suffer because Jesus wants to uncap his fragrance in this world. Remember what we said about Myrrh? — sweet smelling thing, but it doesn’t come out unless it’s crushed. And Paul said to the Corinthians, we are to God, the fragrance of Christ… crushed… through suffering, through persecution, through pressure.

[2 Corinthians 2:15] ‘We are to God the fragrance of Christ unto those who are being saved and unto those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of life, leading to life to the other, the aroma of death, leading to death.’

Some of you are listening to this sermon right now and you’re saying ‘Yes! Yes! Thank you so much! Suffering is a gift! Thank you for reminding of this! Thank you for reminding me that Jesus knows! I love this! — And some of you are thinking, ‘Shut this thing down!’ (congregation laughs) Same sermon… different results. And Jesus, for those of you who love Him, wants to uncap His fragrance in this world for His glory and His Gospel. And when you’re crushed, that is, when the fragrance of Christ comes out.

Let’s pray. Father, as we prepare for the Lord’s table here, help us remember that You, through your Son, your Son, that is, was crushed for us. He understood these Smyrnan Christians, and so He told them as much because He knows. And He knows what we’re going through. He knows, dear friend, you listening, those watching online. He knows everything! Nothing is hidden from His sight. And He loves you so much He wants to relate to you, and He wants to remind you through this Lord’s table that He lived a perfect life and suffered in that perfect life, and then died a sacrificial death… died so that you might live by believing in Him. If you’ve not done so, do so right now. Repent of your sin. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. And if you’re a follower of Jesus, can you just say in your heart, ‘Lord, I don’t feel like saying this, but thank you for my suffering. Thank you for the persecution. Thank you for the pressure, and thank you for reminding me today that You know. And we pray all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.