Rome was afraid. The emperor says everybody's got to worship God. We all have to call on our gods if we're going to defeat the foes, and we're in this perilous times. This is an emergency. And the Christians said, Well, no, we don't believe in those gods.
They're fake. There's nothing there. And the people and the government together then rose up against the Christians. and began to persecute them. And many Christians Capitulated.
They caved in. You're listening to Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Revelation. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching.
But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Revelation, chapter 2, as he begins a brand new study called Smyrna: Love Tested. Revelation chapter 2. Smyrna. Love tested. We'll take verses 9 and 10.
Beginning in verse 9. I know your works. tribulation and poverty But you are rich. And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not but are of the synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.
Indeed. The devil is about to throw some of you into prison. that you may be tested and you will have tribulation ten days, Be faithful until death. And I will give you the crown of life. It's not this bookie book.
Yeah. Yeah. May we never miss how relevant all of Scripture is to us. And if you're not seeing it, it's you not seeing it. It's not that it's Missing.
This church Made this statement just by being who she was and how the Lord treated them. This is my Lord, and he is worth Living for This is my faith, and it is worth dying for. And this is my church, and it is worth going to. And that's what one of the things that's just baked into The Lord's review. an analysis Of this church in the city of Smyrna.
Verse 8. And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write these things says he says, pardon me, says the first and last who was dead and came to life.
Now we've covered this introduction. The angel, the word translated angel, is really messenger. And in the Old Testament God sent His message To his prophets to give to the people.
Sometimes he sent an angel. Once he sent a donkey, And that's what That's remarkable. But God chose shepherds to first announce the arrival of Jesus Christ. The shepherds were out in the field. And the angels appeared to them.
And the angels went to verify what the shepherds went to verify what the angels said. And then the angel the shepherds took that story and began to spread it, began to tell it. And so his message to the church is still primarily Through shepherds. Metaphor for pastors, the Latin word. with shepherds is pa as pastor.
Jeremiah 3.15, And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Well, we want the knowledge of God, that's Bible study, but we want to understand what we're learning, and that's the message, that's the preaching part. Anybody can study something. What are you going to do with it? That's what matters. Smyrner is the only city of the seven churches that still exists as a city.
The other ones have cities built or villages, cities and villages built around them. But now called Izmer, it continues. I don't know if there's a any spiritual application to that there might be The corresponding age, because as we mentioned, each church You can find something that corresponds with a point in history of the church. As Ephesus was that Era of the church, right as the apostles were dying.
Well, this church corresponds to the age of persecution. That came in the second. And third century, even a little bit into the fourth.
So after the apostles died, persecution intensified. under the Caesars, the emperors of Rome. It had, as a matter of fact, A great influence there in Smyrna. On emperor worship. They were big on worshiping the Caesars in Rome.
advantage Satan. disadvantage the church. looking at it naturally. Each citizen was obligated to annually burn incense. to the Caesars.
to show their deference and obeisance to him This of course would cause a lot of trouble for the Christians. In fact, they issued certificates of compliance. To those at one point in their history who did put a pinch of incense on the altar. To him.
Now, I should point out, they were not asking Christians to renounce Christianity, they were just asking them to boast on Caesar. as being Equal with God as being a God. And of course, the Christians who refuse to do this. To say that Caesar was Lord. they would suffer persecution and sometimes intensely.
155 years after the coming of Christ, Polycarp. Was the bishop? the lead pastor, the leading pastor. Uh in the city of Smyrna. And he was a disciple of John the Apostle, who gave us this book of Revelation.
Well, they burned him at the stake. And uh he was in his eighties. And he went out like a hero. He was burned alive for refusing to call Caesar Lord. That was the crime against him.
Now there was a large Jewish population. Uh there. in Smyrna that was hostile to the Christians. And You know, when a pastor puts these things together, hopefully. None of it is filler content.
All of it has something to do with the message. And the fact that there were many Jews in Smyrna hostile to Christians has something to do with the persecution that came. Uh against the Christians.
So it's not like, oh, that's just an interesting point.
Well, it would have more than an interesting point if you were attending this church in those days when you were being persecuted. They were ripe for persecution because not only the Gentiles ganged up on them, but so did the Jews. The very ones who shared the same Old Testament, they shared the same Old Testament one with, the ones who should have known better. because they had been a victim of pogroms in the past. The name Smyrna means myrrh.
That's a resin. comes from a tree and when it's crushed or when it's burned It gives off its aroma, its fragrance. Uses a perfume and oil has got several different uses. Usages, but the main one for us is its use as incense. And the city was renowned for it, well so much so they named the city after the myrrh.
The suffering church of the seven that we have in Revelation. was in the city, Associated by name with the perfume, again, that gave off its fragrance through crushings. Through being pressed And Believers In this church, they would rather be crushed, they would rather die. than show any honour whatsoever to the fake gods.
Now, it's a long history of the church before it gets to the age where Rome declares peace with the church there in the fourth century. But until that time, it was pretty rough going. And even late into the persecution era, Even some in Smyrna turned on the Lord. And I'll get to a detailed reading of that. Uh coming up.
Soon.
Well Back to this myrrh. And its significance. with Christ. While Jesus received Myr at his first coming. We read that in Matthew chapter two.
And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother. And fell down and worshipped him.
Now the Jehovah's Witnesses don't like that one.
So they have taken it upon themselves to exchange the word worship with obeisance or respect. But they can't get away from the Greek. The Greek is clear, it is worship, and it is only used for Christ in the New Testament. Anyway, they fell down and they worshipped him, and when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
So they're at the birth of Christ, his first coming, the incarnation. Murray. Then at his cross, we pick that up in Mark 15. Then they gave him wine mingled with myrrh to drink. But he did not take it.
And then at his entombment, John 19, Nicodemus Who was Who at first came to Jesus by night also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes. about a hundred pounds. Both Myrrh and frankincense are usually Together? But not not there with his death. with his incarnation, yes.
But there's no myrrh mentioned in the gifts in the Millennial Kingdom. When he becomes king. of all the earth. He's king already, but when he assumes the throne here on earth, Isaiah 60. The multitude of camels shall cover your land, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephra.
also those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and incense And they shall proclaim the praises of Yahweh. No mention of myrrh then. Because there will be no more crushing. No more.
Suffering for the Christ, which the Merse speaks of, and it is Not out of place. When we're talking about a church that's being persecuted in a city named. Smyrna. Myr. It says he's the first and the last.
Now Jesus is speaking.
Now it's interesting because in the Greek will we about how our New Testament was originally Written in the Greek. The word for first and last is not as it was in chapter one. Alpha and omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, which metaphorically meant the one that's first and last, that's eternal. In case anyone rejected The application. That he is the eternal God from eternity past and to eternity future.
Well, then it's put here in plain speak Greek. It's not metaphorical. The words are whole. He is the first, and he is the last.
So you have this double witness in two different ways: metaphorically from the alphabet of the Greek, and then explicitly stated. Uh This metaphor For the first and last. was exclusively applied to Yahweh in the Old Testament. When Isaiah the prophet was speaking about Yahweh or Jehovah. In Isaiah 41, 4, 44, 6, and 48, 12.
the first and the last. That's God Almighty.
Well, it's applied to Jesus Christ in Revelation four times. Meaning he's equal with God. God doesn't have to come out and say, you know, Christ, He's my Son, and He's God Almighty. He does say it. in a bunch of different ways.
Words don't always have to be said. the facts can speak for themselves. and they so do with Christ. Anyway. This, you know, the idols, they will come and go, but Christ remains.
He says, who is dead and has. come to life. Who was dead and came to life?
Well, he rules over death, and Smyrna is about to face. Physical death. And he is coming to them and assuring them: I've been there, I know about this, I know where you're going.
Now D Decius was an emperor that would come along about a hundred fifty years later. He would bring the first organized persecution of the Christians. For Rome. It was pretty intense. And Will Durant was a historian, and you can still find his works.
They probably used. Oh, I slips me the name of his works. I'm not going to try to retrieve it. But in his section, Christ and Caesar, that alone is. Very insightful for us Christians to know what was happening with the early Christians when they first.
physical persecution.
So it's a little lengthy, and I may provide some commentary as I go through it. Lengthly, some 360 words, but they're worth reading. And so Will Durant, who was, for all we know, secular, there's nothing about him that we know was a born-again Christian, as we would say. But he was a very good historian. And he says to understand The persecution under Decius We must imagine a nation in full excitement of war, frightened.
By serious defeats, or actually various defeats. And expecting a hostile invasion.
So we pause there. And what Durant is saying is: in the days that the Christians were in. That ancient world of Rome. Rome was starting to lose wars and the people were very afraid. And this is going to chase those people into their temples.
And because the Christians won't go with him, that's going to cause a problem.
So, this is where he's going with it. He says, he writes here, and 249 AD, a wave of religious emotion swept the empire. Men and women flocked, To the temples and besiege the gods with prayers. Amid this, Ferva of patriotism and fear the Christians stood apart. still resenting and discouraging military service, scorning the gods.
and interpreting the collapse of the empire as the prophesied prelude to the destruction of in quotations, Babylon's metaphor for Rome. and the return of Christ, Using the mood of the people as an opportunity to strengthen. National enthusiasm and unity Decius, he's the emperor, issued an edict requiring every inhabitant of the realm to offer a propitiatory act. of homage to the gods of Rome. Apparently Christians were not asked to Adjure to leave their own faith, but were commanded to join.
in the universal supplication to the deities, the populace believed in. And had so often saved imperiled Rome.
Okay, so what he's saying is what was happening then? Rome was afraid. The emperor says everybody's got to worship God. We all have to call on our gods if we're going to defeat the foes. And we're in perilous times, there's an emergency.
And the Christians said, Well, no, we don't believe in those gods. They're fake. There's nothing there. And the people and the government together then rose up against the Christians. and began to persecute them.
And many Christians Capitulated. They caved in. Durant continues. Most Christians complied. In Alexandria, that's in Egypt.
According to its bishop, Dionysius The apostasy was universal. It means a lot of Christians were putting pinches of altar, incense, on the altar to Caesar. He continues, it was likewise in Carthage, Carthage, and Smyrna. No, not Smyrna. Not the church that for At least 150 years had held, well, at least for 100 years, had held strong, possibly longer.
He continues, probably these Christians considered The supplication A patriotic formality. In other words, the Christians, just put it on the altar, doesn't really matter. I still believe in Christ. And that's what the historian is documenting for us from the bishop that was in. Egypt Dionysius.
He continues, but the bishops of Jerusalem and Antioch died in jail. And the bishops of Rome. and Toulouse, that's in France, modern France, were put to death. Hundreds of Roman Christians were crowded into dungeons.
Some were beheaded.
Some were burned at the stake. A few were given. to the Beast in Holiday Festival. After a year, the persecution abated. And by Easter of 21 of twenty 51 AD it was practically at an end.
And so Going back to this period of time when Rome put this pressure on the church. You had a lot of Christians capitulating. But you had those in Jerusalem and in Antioch. Uh i in Rome. And France Staying strong.
You see, this church in Smyrna that we're looking at, as with all the other seven, typify. Churches throughout history. There's always going to be an assembly calling itself a church that behaves like the Laodicean church. or one that behaves like the the Philadelphian church. There's always persecution on Christians somewhere in the world.
There's still a smirner somewhere. And so, what was happening to the Christians in Jerusalem, and Antioch, and Rome, and Toulouse. This was the persecution that Christ was also Oh that. included them in this address. And we'll come back to Will Durant.
There is he sums up his chapter on Christ and Caesar with this: There is no greater drama in human record than the sight of a few Christians scorned or oppressed. By a secession, of emperors. bearing all trials, with a fierce tenacity, Multiplying quietly. building order while their enemies generated chaos. Fighting the sword with the word.
Brutality with hope. and at last defeating the strongest state that history has known. Caesar and Christ had met in the arena and Christ had one. That's the conclusion that the historian came to looking at the records.
Now, when you do a study on church history, oh, it's an abyss. There's no bottom to it. There's so much information about what Christians went through. The Apostolic Fathers is a collection of writings of those second-century Christians, some of them who were disciples of the apostles. And it's not scripture, but it's scriptural.
And there's a lot of good meat in those if you're looking for extra reading. And so these things that we're reading about. In Smyrna are relevant to us today as Christians. We could face physical persecution at any time.
Well, coming back to Revelation 2, now verse 9. With that history of, well, what happened with Christians in persecution after such a letter was published and circulated?
Well, I just. spent over almost 400 words telling.
So I know your works, tribulation and poverty, but you are rich. I and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not. But are a synagogue of Satan.
So I mentioned earlier that The Jewish population there is very relevant to the story, especially if you were living there at this time. I know your works. Christ misses nothing, he sees it all. And he singles out the faithful. that would go through persecution.
And the ones that would as the the Bishop said, Even in Smyrna there were many. that were capitulating. Christ marginalizes that. He'll deal with that. That's between he and them.
But it's the faithful he singles out and In these early days, when the letter to these churches was published. And again, if you were living In that ancient world, and you were in the church at Antioch, and you got hold of the revelation of John when it was published, you likely would say, we are like the church in Philadelphia. And if you were maybe in another church, in another place, oh man, we do have that doctrine of Balaam. We've got to clean it up. And that is still to this day.
You know, you can judge a church by its. Back table? By the publications they circulate, you go into the chapel store, it's not so much what's in the chapel store, it's who's not in there. That makes a big difference.
Well, you want to keep the Balaams and Jezebels out. and there's no end to them. You can almost hear them knocking on the doors trying to get in. Coming back to verse 9, tribulation and poverty.
Well, cities in those days, as today, with large concentrations of artisans and craftsmen, they formed trade guilds, unions. and trade unions, I should say. And those unions often required that the participants participate in pagan activities to some degree. Today, well, it may show up in the office. Like I remember working in an office, it was mandated that you show up for the Christmas party.
You had to be, they were fierce about this. For a bunch of Unbelievers is quite I wasn't perplexed. I don't know what it was. It's like, is this a Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits? What's going on here?
Anyway, uh we see this happening today.
Now, I'm not going to read from 1 Thessalonians 3, but 1 Thessalonians 3 and 4. Paul he addresses these things. This has been Cross-Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston. This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand.
Just visit us online at crossreferenceradio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings. While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube. There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
Well, we hope you'll join us next time here on Cross Reference Radio. Yeah.
