On 26th July, a Roman Catholic priest named Jacques Hamel was murdered inside his church by violent Muslims. His funeral was attended by thousands. Since then, the British security services have issued fresh advice to English churches on counter-terrorism security.
From time to time in Britain, people who are preaching on the streets of Britain spend the night in police cells. What they were doing was perfectly legal, and they are eventually released without charge. But someone goaded them to say something that could be construed as hateful, and then the police are called.
In Sudan, three men are currently standing trial for serious national security crimes. Reverends Hassan and Kuwa are senior leaders in the Sudan Church of Christ. Their only crime was raising funds to help of someone who suffered burns during a 2013 demonstration. If convicted, they will face the death penalty.
Today’s reading from Revelation concerned some Christians who were materially poor because they were Christians. They’d had property confiscated. Or they’d been looted. Or their uncompromising stance kept them out of certain trade guilds. But things were about to get a lot worse. Some of them would end up in prison. Some of them may even face martyrdom.
It’s tempting to read that and think it’s not relevant for us. Nobody here is about to be thrown into prison or killed for their Christian faith. Maybe. But maybe not. These problems are not as far away as they used to be.
If you were here two weeks ago, you’ll remember that the book of Revelation is a letter written to 7 churches in what is now Turkey. At the start of that letter there is a personal message from Jesus to each one of those churches. Two weeks ago, we looked at the message to Ephesus, and today we’re looking at the message to Smyrna.
Each church was meant to read the message addressed to each of the other churches. Not just their own. Jesus wants every church to think through and to be prepared. If we were called upon to be locked up for Christ. If following Jesus cost me my life. How would we react? We need to be ready.
So let’s be ready. Jesus has three things to say to his church that will anchor us, and will help us if it becomes our turn to suffer for being a follower of his. Three things – past, present and future.
Jesus died, but now lives
The past first: Jesus died, but now lives. Jesus died, but now lives.
Each of these seven messages begins with a reference back to the vision in chapter 1. There, John saw the risen Jesus, in all his splendour.
The church in Smyrna needs to know this bit of that vision. Verse 8: “These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.” “… who died and came to life again.”
This is the Jesus who addresses them. He died. And now he lives.
We had a wedding here on Monday. The preacher was a pastor at the groom’s home church. He began his sermon by apologising that he was speaking on marriage. As an unmarried man, what would he know? Fortunately, all was well. He didn’t share his own wisdom. He opened up the first two chapters of the Bible, and shared God’s wisdom with us. God, the architect and designer of marriage.
But you don’t want someone with no experience to give you advice.
I’m useless at DIY. So I don’t join DIY Disasters Anonymous, and talk with others who are equally useless. I talk to Trevor, whose house is full of projects that are still standing. If he tells me how to go about something, I know it’s solid instruction that I can trust.
These Christians are about to be asked to suffer for their faith. Some of them may die. They don’t have someone with no experience to instruct them. They don’t have someone with no qualifications in this subject. They have Jesus, who died, but now lives.
That’s the past.
Jesus permits the hard times
In the present, Jesus permits the hard times. Jesus permits the hard times.
Verse 10: “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.”
Ten days may be a symbolic number, rather than meaning exactly 9 sleeps. But either way, it’s a finite and a definite time. Jesus knows in advance that this is about to happen, and when it will end.
When there are violent attacks in Europe – on a city, on a church – the attackers don’t ask permission. They don’t check the date is OK. That’s why the security services work so hard to gather intelligence to try and foil these attacks.
When the church in Smyrna is to be attacked, the risen Jesus knows exactly when it will happen, and for how long. They may not ask his permission, and their atrocious acts are down to them and them alone. But without Jesus’ allowing them to do this, it would not happen.
I wonder if you’ve read the book of Job in the Old Testament. It tells of a righteous man. The Devil dished out the most extreme suffering on him. All to try and prove that Job only worshipped God because he knew which side his bread was buttered. In each new stage of the Devil’s assault, he had to ask God for permission first.
The church in Smyrna is about to suffer awful violence. It comes from the hands of those who ethnically were Jews. Verse 9: “They say they are Jews.” They claim to be part of God’s people. In persecuting the Christian church, they prove are no such thing. They are in fact doing Satan’s work. Verse 9: They “are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” But nothing they do happens outside of Jesus’ control. Even when wicked people do wicked things, they do so with Jesus’ permission.
Jesus permits the hard times. He’s not lost control. He’s the First and the Last, after all – the one in complete control. Which is the second vital perspective that the church in Smyrna will need, which we need.
There are two deaths and another life
Jesus died, but now lives. That’s the past. In the present, Jesus permits the hard times. And then the future: There are two deaths and another life. There are two deaths and another life.
If you think this life is all that there is, then there is no fate worse than death.
Some people might die trying to hold on to some precious possession. Some people might die trying to stand up for some crucial principle. If this life is all there is, then that is a complete waste. Because the moment you die, you lose those things anyway.
So as Jesus gives this church a future perspective, it’s to show them that this life is not all there is. There are two deaths, not one, and there’s another life.
Again, as in the messages to all 7 churches, Jesus invites each and every Christian to take his message on board. Verse 11: “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.”
There are two deaths. One day, we’ll all die. (Unless we’re still alive when Jesus comes back). Is that the end? No. The Bible teaches that after death comes judgement. And if our lives do not match up to God’s standard, there is a second death. Revelation chapter 20, verse 14, identifies that second death as the lake of fire, which stands for everlasting torment.
The trouble is, none of us match up to God’s standard. Our only hope is if God forgives us. That’s why Jesus came into the world. To die and come to life again, so that we can be forgiven. So that we can face the first death, certain that Jesus has already rescued them from the second death.
These Christians were under pressure to turn their backs on Jesus. But that would be a big mistake. Jesus tells this church: There’s a second death, too. And the one who takes on board what he says here won’t be touched by that.
Not only is there a second death, but there’s also another life. Picture the Christian, brutally put to death in the arena, executed for sport. The lowest of the low. The same arena that held the games the week before. Where the best of the best received the gold medal, or in those days the crown, the wreath, the badge of the winner.
End of verse 10, Jesus says to the church: “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” Do you believe it, they get their gold medal after all. They’re the winners. The victors. The best of the best. Jesus hands out the trophies. And the trophy he gives is life itself – a place with him in paradise, a future with no tears – just eternal joy.
There are two deaths, and another life. That’s the future perspective they need, the future perspective we need.
The church in Smyrna was to have a bishop, not long after this. A man named Polycarp. Polycarp was martyred for his faith. The account of his martyrdom was carefully researched and recorded by the eyewitnesses. A few months ago, I quoted from that account, and I make no apology for doing so again today. Polycarp was a bishop in this same town of Smyrna, and he was absolutely clear on this future perspective: two deaths, and another life.
Let’s pick the account up where Polycarp was called upon to worship Caesar as a God, and to renounce his fellow Christians. He refused.
‘But the proconsul said: "I have wild beasts. I shall throw you to them, if you do not change your mind." But he said: "Call them. For repentance from the better to the worse is not permitted us; but it is noble to change from what is evil to what is righteous." And again [he said] to him, "I shall have you consumed with fire, if you despise the wild beasts, unless you change your mind." But Polycarp said: "The fire you threaten burns but an hour and is quenched after a little; for you do not know the fire of the coming judgment and everlasting punishment that is laid up for the impious. But why do you delay? Come, do what you will."’
Polycarp knew that the worst they could do was kill him. But there is a second death which he feared far more. He didn’t mind how he died his first death. He wasn’t going to turn his back on the Jesus who had rescued him from the second death.
When the trials come, whether you die in the here and now is neither here nor there. One day you’ll die, and the future that lies beyond is what really matters. Which will it be? The second death or the crown of life?
Two deaths, and another life.
Conclusion
That’s the perspective Jesus wants the church in Smyrna to have. That’s the perspective Jesus wants all seven churches to have, whether they’re about to face intense persecution or not. That’s the perspective that Jesus wants every church to have, in every age. Jesus died, but now lives. Jesus permits the hard times. There are two deaths, and another life.
With that perspective in mind, Jesus makes two appeals to these Christians, and it’s what he calls us to as well. No matter what hardships we may face in the future. No matter what being a Christian might cost us. They’re both in verse 10.
First, do not fear. Do not be afraid. We have no need to be. We’re in the hands of the one who’s been through death, who is in full control, who will hand out the prizes on the last day. Do not fear.
And, second, be faithful. “Be faithful, even to the point of death ,and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.”