Will you take your Bibles if you have one and turn with me to the book of Revelation 2. Revelation 2. We're going to focus in on verses 8-11. So just 4 verses. And 4 verses that comprise the second and shortest of the 7 letters to the churches that if you're familiar with this portion of Revelation, you know, Jesus himself dictated to the Apostle John. So just a little bit of context here. Back in chapter 1, remember, John had a vision. Remember that, that vision? Vision of overwhelming glory where he saw Jesus and, and fire was coming out of his eyes and a sword coming out of his mouth. And there's this picture that if you painted it or drew it would look kind of silly because it's not meant to be painted. It's word pictures. It's not what Jesus looks like. It's a description of who Jesus is and who he is in all his glory, who he is in the glory of his holiness and the glory of his sovereignty and the glory of his power and the glory of his wisdom and the glory of his authority. And then that glorious Christ tells John to write. And He dictates these letters. That's what these 7 letters are, the words of our glorious Christ to His church. They're a record of Jesus' words to 7 specific churches in 7 specific cities at a specific time in history. But these letters are also to his entire church. And I mean all churches in all places at all times. Now, how do I know that? Well, it's the fact that there's 7 of them. It's the first in a series of 7s in the book of Revelation. There were more churches than just 7 in that area of what was then Asia, now modern-day Turkey at the time, but there's 7 churches Because 7 in apocalyptic literature represents completeness or totality. So these 7 churches are meant to represent all churches. So these are Christ's words to all churches in all places and all times. So it's His word to us. This is Jesus telling us what He wants His churches to be like. And we need to hear because Jesus intends for His church to shine like a beacon in the dark world. Remember back in chapter 1, the church is referred to as a lamp and a star. Lamps shine, stars shine. So we need to hear in order to shine the way Jesus intends for us to shine.
So let's hear Jesus speak to us now as He dictates this letter to the church at Smyrna. Revelation 2:8-11, "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write," The words of the First and the Last, who died and came to life: 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. 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 10 days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 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."
Let's pray. Well, Father, first of all, I just want to give you all glory and thank you for your work in this church. You have poured out grace, and it is apparent that your Spirit is working in and through the people of Providence Community Church. And so for that, we thank you. We rejoice together this morning that we worship a living Savior. Jesus died and came to life, and that's remarkable. So we know you're here, and we're confident that you're here to, to care for us. You're here to comfort us. You're here to minister to us this morning. And so you do that. Will you bless your word now to your church? We cling to the promise that your word will not return empty. It, it will accomplish all that you ordained for it to accomplish. So open our minds and our hearts to your Bible now, and open your Bible to our minds and our hearts. And let this preaching moment be a means of grace to further shape this church into the church you desire for it to be, because we want to shine. We want to shine with your glory in this dark world. So do it, we pray, in Christ's name. Amen.
Well, I don't tend to tell a lot of stories in my sermons, um, but I'm going to this morning because there are some stories worth telling. And the ones worth telling during a sermon are, of course, the ones relevant to the topic at hand. So, uh, I'm going to tell you this story and trust by the end that you'll understand the relevance of this particular story, and it's a true story. It's a true story about a pastor and his church. And this pastor was beloved by his congregation. He was in the twilight of life. He's writing the closing chapter of his ministry, still serving the church that he loved at age 86. So retirement apparently was not a word in his vocabulary. It came to the attention of the members in his church that the pastor was being sought out by the authorities for breaking the law of the land and by pledging allegiance and by encouraging his church to pledge allegiance to Christ alone. And the church knew what that meant. If arrested, this faithful follower of Jesus would be forced to pledge allegiance to the state or die. That was it, just those choices. So the church begged their pastor to flee the city. You've done enough, you're 86, go into hiding, spend the remainder of your days living in obscurity, safe from all harm. And it took him some convincing to get him to go, but eventually his people prevailed and he agreed to leave the congregation that was so near and dear to his heart, and he ended up hiding out in a farmhouse just outside the city where he spent his days praying not only for his own church but for the churches throughout the world. But the authorities meant business. They were relentless. They weren't content that the old man had fled town. In fact, they took two young men from his own household and tortured them mercilessly until one of them finally broke and gave away the pastor's whereabouts. And when he was warned that they were coming for him, he refused to run again, and he simply said, "God's will be done." And so he was arrested, but not before he did something remarkable. He didn't resist arrest. Instead, he welcomed his captors in, welcomed them into the house with a meal. He fed them. And after they ate, he asked for permission to pray. And the men sent to apprehend him were so blown away by this man's kindness that they let him pray. And pray he did. For 2 hours he prayed out loud. And what they heard come from the lips of this man moved them to the point that when they finally did bring him back to the city to stand trial, they did so reluctantly. And that old pastor was commanded by the city authorities, as expected, to renounce his allegiance to Christ and pledge his allegiance to the state. Just say it, just say the words and we'll let you go. But in that moment, the pastor heard a voice say to him, be strong, play the man. And so here's what he said, "86 years I've been his servant, and he has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my king and my Savior?" Outraged, the authorities threatened to execute him by unleashing the wild animals, to which the pastor simply replied, "Call for them." So at this point, the accusers were incensed and they said, "If you despise the wild beast, we will cause you to be consumed." by fire. And here's what this servant of Christ said to that threat: "You threaten me with the fire which burns for an hour and then is extinguished, but you know nothing of the fire of coming judgment and eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly. Do what you will." Now at this point, the crowd became frenzied. They demanded his execution. In fact, they went out themselves and gathered the wood for the fire. And so this pastor was found guilty of treason, and he was immediately tied to a stake. And as the fire was lit, he prayed. And this is what he said: I give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, that you have counted me worthy of this day and this hour, that I should have a part in the number of your martyrs, sharing in the cup of Christ to the resurrection of eternal life. Through the immortality of the Holy Spirit. And that fire, eyewitnesses said, did not immediately consume the pastor. Instead, the winds blew, kind of like they're blowing today, and it was described as if the flames formed an arch around him so that his body actually glowed. And witnesses told not of the stench you would expect of burning flesh, but instead of a sweet aroma. And when the executioner saw that the fire wasn't killing the pastor, he took a spear and thrust it through him, and he died. And some who were there said that the flames were quenched by his blood. Here's the connection to our text this morning. The year was 155 AD, so 60 years after the writing of the book of Revelation. That pastor's name was Polycarp, and his martyrdom is one of the best documented events of early church history. Everything I told you was from a letter sent by his church to other surrounding churches after his execution and is the earliest chronicle of martyrdom that we have outside the New Testament. And Polycarp was discipled by the Apostle John. In fact, he was installed by John as the pastor of the church in the city of— you probably guessed it— Smyrna, the church in the city to which our letter this morning is written. And Polycarp became known as the 12th martyr of Smyrna, which means that the prophecy given here in our text that things were going to get worse for this church and that exhortation to be faithful unto death, That all came true. Polycarp stood steadfast against the threat of unspeakable oppression and suffering and death, and he remained faithful to Christ through it all.
And that makes me want to ask, how? I mean, how do you get to be like that? I don't pray for long life, but if the Lord should grant it, I want to be that kind of old man. In fact, I want to be that kind of man at age 50. I want to be that faithful to Christ in suffering. I want to be that faithful to Christ when it comes time to die. Don't you? So how can we be a church full of faithful sufferers? Faithful unto death. Well, we have our answer in this letter. A letter— think about it. I'm sure Polycarp was aware of this. He was 26 when it was written, maybe there in Smyrna when Revelation was first delivered and read out loud to the congregation. And now, 6 decades later, he was still deriving strength from it. And now, 1,900 years later, we can derive strength from it. The questions this letter answers— the question it answers is this: how can the church, this church, Providence Community Church, be faithful in the face of suffering and death?
What does it mean to be faithful? What does it look like to be faithful to Christ in the midst of suffering? Now, clearly the main suffering that came to the church in Smyrna was in the form of persecution because of their exclusive allegiance to Jesus as Lord. I mean, these letters— we're, we're in the midst of a sermon series on the book of Revelation, and we're in chapters 2 and 3 now looking at these letters. And, and I told my church 2-3 weeks ago now that these letters are remarkably contemporary. Now, the martyrdom of Polycarp might not seem contemporary to us today in America, but it is for many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. I mean, you're talking about a trip. Serve Voice of the Martyrs. Open Doors, a sister ministry to Voice of the Martyrs that brings awareness to the plight of the persecuted church around the world, recently published their 2017 World Watch List that actually scores nations on their persecution of Christians. Severe persecution of Christians has increased globally every year for the past 3 years, with 2016, so last year, being the worst year in the 25-year history of the list. 215 million Christians in the world today experience high, very high, or extreme persecution. That's 11% of all people who claim to be Christian. It is very dangerous to be a Christian in places like— these are the top 5 worst, they scored the highest: North Korea, number 1 for several years in a row; Somalia; Afghanistan; Here's number 4. Can you guess it? Pakistan. I think the work going on in Dubai this week is significant. And then rounding out the top 5 is Sudan.
6 · Applies the text to the American cultural moment, identifying the slander Christians face when they proclaim biblical truth and warning against the temptation to withdraw rather than shine, thus making the Smyrna letter directly relevant to the congregation's contemporary context
Now that's contemporary, but not here, right? But there's a word for us today as the church in our culture. I mean, it is increasingly common in our culture for Christians who believe the Bible to be not merely told we're wrong— that's what it used to be, that's not right, that's not true— but now we're labeled as evil and so dangerous. To proclaim the truths of this word that we love, that we cherish in our culture today will bring charges. Slanderous charges. Anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-woman, anti-intellectual, anti-diversity, intolerant, arrogant. The more we hold fast to this word and the more we proclaim the gospel of Christ, the more opposition will come. I mean, nothing provokes the world's opposition more than the gospel. I mean, think about it. It's a message of sin and guilt. God's wrath and judgment, our inability to save ourselves, the necessity of a cross, the free gift of eternal life, I mean, that does a number on human pride and self-sufficiency. But our temptation as the church can be to pull back, lay low, keep quiet, disappear into the Christian ghetto. But it's clear, if you've read the book of Revelation, it's clear in the entire New Testament that the church is called to shine in the dark world and draw people to the light of God's truth. So this word is for us.
7 · Exegetes the word 'tribulation' to broaden the text's application beyond persecution to all forms of suffering, establishing textual warrant for applying the letter to the full range of afflictions believers face
And there's the fact that we can broaden the meaning of the word suffering and still do justice to this text. That word that gets translated tribulation in verse 9 is a general word for affliction of all kinds. The church in Smyrna did not only suffer persecution from hostile forces. In addition to that, they suffered in all the ways that we suffer as we walk the path of obedience with and for Christ.
8 · Translates the text's concern with suffering into a series of concrete, contemporary scenarios the congregation faces, making the letter's relevance immediate and personal through specific hypothetical situations
And so the questions this letter answers for us are questions like this: How do we remain faithful when that coworker or that fellow student mocks our faith and cuts us off? And how do we remain faithful to Jesus when the doctor says it's cancer? How do we remain faithful when I might not have a job next week because I can't as a Christian do what my boss is asking me to do and he gave me the weekend to think about it. And how do we remain faithful when the headache never goes away? How do we remain faithful when it would be so much easier in this situation to just compromise my convictions? And how do we remain faithful when that relationship seems beyond repair? How do we remain faithful when it comes time to die.
9 · Establishes the necessity of preparing for suffering and death by grounding it in both the Bible's pervasive teaching on the subject and the unavoidable reality of human experience, defending the sermon's focus on suffering as biblically warranted rather than morbid
We have to prepare for suffering, all kinds of suffering and death. We need to know how to do both well. Live long enough and both come knocking. We can't live with our heads in the sand like our culture does, pretending like suffering and death doesn't exist. The Bible promises us Suffering and death. I feel like I preach on the topic of suffering a lot, because I do. But it's not because it's my favorite topic to preach on. It's because I preach mainly through books of the Bible, verse by verse, and you cannot read the Bible for very long until you bump into the topic of suffering, because You can't live very long until you bump into suffering, and the Bible is a realistic book. And how we suffer and how we die is of great concern to Christ, and so it must be of great concern to us.
10 · Establishes the theological purpose behind Christ's concern with suffering: the church shines with Christ's glory when it remains faithful in affliction, demonstrating that Christ is better than anything we might desire or dread
And when we ask, "Well, why is this so important to Christ? Why is the topic of suffering all over the Bible?" Well, the answer is what we said just a moment ago. Christ's desire is that His church would shine with His glory. That's why He told John to write these letters. And a church shines brightly when in the midst of suffering, whether conflict or cancer, whether persecution or pain, whether the fall of a pastor, it stays faithful to Christ. I mean, Polycarp shined as the pastor of his church, didn't he? He literally shined. And we shine with the glory of Christ when in the midst of our suffering, when facing death, we say, I will be faithful to Christ because Christ is better than anything in this world that I might desire and do not have. And He is better and He's able to sustain me when I find myself in life with what I did not desire to have. To live is Christ and to die is gain because to die is to gain more of Christ. To live Christ, to die Christ, that shines. The church of Smyrna shined. That's why, I wonder if you noticed, if you read this portion of Scripture, you know that churches get rebuked. Don't they? This church gets no rebuke from Jesus. The previous letter, the Ephesian church, they were rebuked. Remember, they lost the first love. In the next letter, Pergamum, they're going to be rebuked. They're not a very discerning church. 5 of the 7 churches are rebuked. The 2 suffering churches, this one in Philadelphia, are not rebuked. This suffering church that did not get rebuked because it suffered well and so shined with the glory of Christ.
11 · States the sermon's controlling thesis: faithfulness in suffering and death comes from seeing things as they truly are, and we see ultimate reality by looking to Jesus, who puts everything in proper perspective
And Christ commands us to— this word is for us— be faithful unto death. And so we must ask, how? Now, here's the answer our text gives to that question: how we will remain faithful in suffering and in death when we see things as they truly are. That's important. Don't miss that. We will remain faithful in suffering and in death when we see things like they really are. We must not depend on our own limited perspective in the midst of suffering and when facing death. We must see ultimate reality. We have to lift up the surface of what we see with our physical eyes and see things as they truly are with our spiritual eyes. And when we ask, well, how do we do that? The answer our text gives us is this. This shouldn't surprise you. Look to Jesus. Jesus is our ultimate reality. Jesus puts everything in its proper perspective. When we rivet our gaze on Jesus, we find that things are not what they appear to be when we're looking everywhere else. Jesus puts all of life and death into proper perspective, so we must see Him, and that's what this text helps us do.
12 · Announces the sermon's two-part structure (suffering and death) and explains the rhetorical strategy: each section will examine a paradox that resolves when we see ultimate reality in Christ
So here's how we're going to proceed. This is the outline of the sermon. We're over halfway through, so I'm just giving you the outline now, but we are over halfway through. We're just going to divide the rest of the sermon into two headings, and it's the two hot topics that this text deals with: suffering and death. And for each of these topics, Jesus gives us a paradox. You remember what a paradox is? A paradox is a statement that seems on the surface self-contradictory or absurd, but in reality expresses a truth. That's paradox. So we're going to examine the paradox, the paradox of suffering and the paradox of death. And in the process, we're going to see how things really are. In other words, we're going to get to the ultimate reality that actually takes the absurdity out of the paradox and reveals the truth.
13 · Rereads verses 8-10 and isolates the paradox of suffering: 'in your poverty, you are rich,' marking the beginning of the sermon's first major section
So first, suffering. Let's read verses 8 through 10 again. And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write the words of the First and the Last, who died and came to life. I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich. And the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 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 10 days you will have tribulation. So let's ask, what's the paradox? See it there? It's in verse 9. Here it is: in your poverty, church, you are rich. And that sounds like a paradox, doesn't it? In your poverty, you're rich. That's absurd.
14 · Provides historical and cultural context for the church at Smyrna, explaining the sources of their poverty and suffering: economic exclusion for refusing to worship the emperor, slander from the Jewish population, and the general hostility of a pluralistic pagan city toward exclusive Christian claims
When Jesus says to this little suffering church in Smyrna, In your poverty, you're rich. Smyrna was an important city, just a little smaller than, than Ephesus, another town that letters are written to. In fact, they were rival cities just separated by 35 miles. But what Smyrna had going for it that Ephesus didn't was its loyalty to the Roman Empire, even winning the honor in 23 AD of building a temple to the Emperor Tiberius, who was the emperor when Jesus was on earth, where the emperor was to be worshiped as a god. They beat out 11 other cities for that honor. It was a pluralistic society, much like our own. They would not have been offended by the phrase "Jesus is Lord" as long as you were also willing to say "the emperor is lord." What offended these people, this city, was the claim that Jesus is the way and the life and the truth, and that no one comes to God except through Him, John 14:6. Jesus alone is Lord. That still offends. And that's the phrase that got this church in all kinds of trouble and made life very, very difficult. It was dangerous to be a faithful Christian in the city of Smyrna. By refusing to acknowledge the emperor as Lord, Christians were prevented from conducting normal business. There was actually paperwork that was issued if you burned your incense to the emperor. They didn't do that. They didn't get their paperwork that allowed them to trade. There was a lot of pagan activity, idolatry, and sexual immorality involved in feasts with the trading guilds. And if you weren't part of those trade guilds, well, then you were poor. On top of that, there was a large Jewish population in the city, and Judaism was a legal religion at this point in the Roman Empire, they were allowed in Smyrna to burn their incense to the emperor as ruler and not as lord. But Christians weren't given that same free pass. By this point in time, the Romans no longer viewed Christianity as a Jewish sect. That came to an end under Emperor Nero. They saw it— Christianity, ironically— as a form of atheism. Because of the refusal to acknowledge the Roman gods and the divinity of the emperor. And the Jews apparently sought to make the lives of the Christians there miserable by slandering them, turning them in to authorities. They faced prison. Then add to that just the trials and the tribulation of everyday life, and this was a suffering church, poor by anyone's estimation.
15 · States the resolution of the paradox in compressed form: despite their poverty, Jesus declares them gloriously wealthy, and their faithfulness in suffering demonstrates they believed it
And yet Jesus says to them, "You are rich." Gloriously and unimaginably wealthy. And they apparently knew it because they were a local church that remained faithful to Christ in the midst of poverty and affliction like we probably will never know. This church shined.
16 · The pastor steps out of the expositional flow to address the congregation directly about their typical responses to suffering, naming the emotional and spiritual disorientation that affliction produces and the questions it raises about God's knowledge and care
Now I got to this point in my sermon prep and I had to ask myself some questions. I'm just gonna ask them out loud because I think you should ask yourself the questions too. How do I respond when difficulty comes? When I'm mocked or excluded because of my allegiance to Christ? How do I respond when I don't get what I want or get what I don't want? How often do we give in to bitterness because things haven't gone our way? Or how often do we give in to doubt because we can't figure out God's ways? How often do we give in to fear because we don't know what tomorrow will bring? Or how often do we give in to anger because we feel abandoned, ripped off? I mean, suffering comes in whatever form it comes in, it just has a way of knocking us off balance, doesn't it? We get disoriented, we lose our perspective, all we see is the problem and the havoc it's wreaking. We can find ourselves disillusioned with God. God asking, doesn't He know? Doesn't He care? Why doesn't He do something?
17 · Expounds the first reason the church is rich in poverty: Jesus knows their suffering because he himself suffered faithfully unto death
If that's you this morning, Jesus wants you to shine. And He wants to give you the grace to shine for Him. And so He says to you, suffering saint, you are rich. I mean, do you feel poor this morning? You look at your life and you just, you're just aware of what you don't have. Or maybe you feel poorly. Are you in pain? Physical pain? Emotional pain? If that's you this morning, just knocked off kilter by suffering, Jesus wants to help you get your balance. He wants to help you get beyond the surface of how things appear to be and show you how things really are. And so he says to us this morning, verse 9, I know your tribulation. I know. Those are two precious words when they come from the mouth of Jesus. I know, he says. It may seem like I've abandoned you, It may seem like I don't care. It may seem like I'm doing nothing, but I know. I know what you're going through. I'm the one who suffered faithfully unto death. I was poor and had nowhere to lay my head. I was opposed. I was slandered. I was abandoned by my friends. I was in pain. There is nothing that you go through, church, that I cannot sympathize with, Jesus says. I know your trials, I know your poverty, I know the slander, I know the oppression. We are rich because we have a Savior who knows. We are rich because we have a sympathetic High Priest who is able to relate to us and minister to us in all our weakness. In fact, he became a man, our God, and entered into our weakness and our suffering. He knows. That's not all Jesus tells us. In verse 8, there's a description of Jesus. Every letter in chapters 2 and 3 begin with the description of Jesus that's taken from that remarkable portrait of Jesus in all his glory that I referred to from John 1. Here's how Jesus is described. This is how He describes Himself in chapter 1, verses 17 and 18. He says, "Fear not." He says this to John. "I am the first and the last and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys to death and Hades." So Jesus says, "Get your eyes on Me, church. Look to Me. If you want to be faithful in your suffering, faithful unto death, death, look to me, look to me and you will see things as they really are. You are rich, Christ says, back to chapter 2, verse 8, because I am the first and the last. I'm the one who died and came to life.
18 · Expounds the second reason the church is rich in poverty: Jesus is the sovereign First and the Last who has absolute control over all circumstances, including their suffering
We are rich because Jesus died and came to life. Do you believe that? We are rich because Jesus died and came to life that we might be forgiven of our sins. We are rich because Jesus died and came to life that we might be adopted into God's family and made the heirs of all things. We are rich because Jesus died and came to life that we might experience every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, every one of them. We are rich because Jesus died and came to life. And verse 8, He's the first and the last. We are rich because He is the first and the last. Now what that means, and apparently we need to be reminded of it over and over and over again because the Bible teaches it to us over and over and over again, here it is: our God has absolute control over all things, including every circumstance of our life. Every event that happens happens by the ordination of the one who is the source of all things. Nothing happens to us outside of his sovereign jurisdiction because there is no outside his sovereign jurisdiction. And apart from his sovereign permission, nothing happens. He's the first. He's the one who decreed all things. And he's the last. He's the one toward whom all things are moving. He's the goal. He's the final explanation.
19 · Applies Christ's sovereignty to the specifics of Smyrna's suffering, demonstrating that even Satan's schemes operate within Christ-imposed boundaries
And as the Sovereign One, the First and the Last, all our suffering is subject to His divinely imposed limits. In His sovereignty, He can tell the church in Smyrna, Suffering's coming, it's coming, it's going to get worse for you, but it will last for 10 days. Verse 10, not a literal 10 days, another symbolic number in Revelation. It's here to highlight that Christ sets the boundary of our suffering. 10 days and no more. The 11th day is coming. And our suffering, it may come directly from the hands of men like it did for the church in Smyrna in verse 9. It may come by the schemes of the devil stirring up evil men like verse 10, "The devil is about to throw some of you in prison." But even so, no creature of God operates outside of His control. Satan may play a hand in our suffering, but he can only act within the parameters that Christ sets. He may at times be given a long leash, but he's still on God's leash. Now that may not be how it appears, but that's how it is. And we are a rich people to have such a sovereign as our Savior. I mean, Satan, he may take away all our material goods, he may take away our health, But in Jesus, we have all the riches of heaven. Satan may turn men against us, he may turn the government against us, but Jesus is the King of Kings, and one day all nations will bow to him. Satan may stir up men to slander us, but we belong to Christ who removed our filthy rags and dresses us in his own righteous robes and calls us brother and sister. We are rich.
20 · Surfaces the objection that a sovereign God could stop suffering but doesn't, then introduces the key phrase 'that you may be tested' as the answer, setting up the theological explanation of suffering's divine purpose
And yet still we may wonder, well, if He's sovereign like you say He is, then He could stop my suffering. He could hold back the opposition. This didn't have to happen in the first place. He could have stopped it. He could bring all the hostility to an end. He could end my pain. He could restore the relationship. He could provide the job. He could blow this dark cloud of away, He could jerk back Satan's chain, but He doesn't. Why? Well, the answer is there toward the end of verse 10. It's that phrase, "That you may be tested." Tested? What does that mean? Is this some sort of game? Not at all. Not at all.
21 · Cross-references 1 Peter 1:6-7 to explain the divine purpose behind testing: God designs suffering to refine faith by burning away all confidence in anything other than himself, making believers shine like gold and reflect his image
To see what's behind that phrase, let's look at a similar passage. It's the Apostle Peter, 1 Peter 1:6-7. He says this: In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That is the praise and glory and honor of the sufferer. Trials are grievous, Peter says. It hurts sometimes. It's hard. But what both John and Peter tell us is that we must look beyond the suffering to Jesus and get our perspective and see things as they really are and realize that in all our suffering, there is a divine design. There is divine purpose. There is always a "so that" in our suffering. Suffering, which when we get that can actually make us rejoice in the midst of suffering. I say Apostle Peter, this isn't some crazy guy, sadistic person who wrote this. This is Peter. So we can rejoice in the midst of suffering when we get the truth. God in His sovereignty designs our troubles in order to burn away all that does not belong in a child of God. He burns away all our hope and confidence in that which is not God and leaves us shining like gold, like a lamp, like a star. Think about it. He puts us through the fire. It has its sanctifying purposes. He burns off the dross. He takes us and He He wipes that dross off so that we're shiny, and He looks in, and what's reflected back? His own face, because we become more like Him. Our trials are not intended by God to damage or destroy our faith. They are designed to increase and intensify our faith in Him. They make us desperate for Him, and so we go to Him, the only one who can truly satisfy Suffering is intended by God to pull us away from all our broken cisterns that can hold no water and instead drink deeply at the fountain of life, which is Jesus Christ, and be satisfied. And when we do that, even in the midst of suffering, whether it's hostility or hurts, we will be a people who shine with the glory of God. We are rich to have a sovereign Savior Who designs our circumstances for our good and His glory.
22 · The pastor interrupts the exposition to press the congregation with direct questions about whether they truly measure wealth by Christ, testing whether the theological claims land as lived conviction
Now again, I write a paragraph like that and I gotta step back and ask myself some questions, and I'm gonna ask them out loud again. How do I measure real wealth? Is Jesus enough? If I lost everything else in this world but still had Jesus, the First and the Last, who died and came to life, would I still say I am rich? Can I say in my poverty, I am rich?
23 · Reduces all the preceding questions to a single test: do we believe the gospel?
What all those questions come down to is this: Do I believe the Gospel?
24 · Quotes 2 Corinthians 8:9 to crystallize the gospel as the resolution of the paradox: Christ became poor so that we might become rich, making poverty-into-riches the very structure of the gospel itself
Here's the Gospel. 2 Corinthians 8:9, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for you for your sake he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich. The gospel makes us rich. That's paradox number 1 as it relates to suffering. In our poverty, we are rich in Christ.
25 · Pivots to the second major section by rereading verses 10-11 and isolating the second paradox: dying is not death
Now quickly, much more briefly, what about death? Well, let's read again beginning at the end of verse 10 through verse 11. 'Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 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.' So let's ask, what's the paradox in these verses? Here it is: dying is not death. That's how Jesus comforts this church, this faithful church. He tells them it's going to get worse. You're about to suffer even more. You may be even called to suffer unto death, but take heart, church, dying is not death. Now that's good news to us as well, since everyone in this room is facing death. No exceptions. But how can we believe something that sounds so absurd? Dying is not death. Answer again by looking to Jesus.
26 · Resolves the second paradox by pointing to Christ's victory over death in his resurrection
Again, the description of Him in verse 8: He's the one who died and came to life. He's the one who triumphed over the enemy called death. And by his death and resurrection, death is defeated for everyone who places their faith in Jesus Christ. For the one who trusts Jesus, the Savior who defeated death, our own dying is now entry into life. Jesus says, "Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life." Jesus promises the reward of eternal life to those who die well. And to die well means you die trusting Him. He will give us eternal life, life that's infinitely better than any life this world has to offer. It's the life that we get a glimpse of at the end of the book of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22. It's a life lived in the presence of God where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. It's a life with no tears, no sadness, no crying, no pain. All the former sinful corrupted things will pass away, all things made new. It's a life of quenching our thirst in the satisfying springs of the water of life. It's a life that shines with the radiance of God's glory, no need for a sun or a moon. Nothing unclean will ever enter in, the Lord will be our light and we will reign with Him forever. That's the crown of life. And that's why the Apostle Paul called the suffering of this life light, momentary affliction in 2 Corinthians 4:17, compared to that eternal weight of glory awaiting us when we receive the crown of life. Dying is not death for those who trust in Jesus. Jesus passed through the territory of death before us, and he took away its terrors for all believers, so that the only thing that awaits us on the other side is the beauty of resurrection joy. Dying is not death. Things are not what they seem.
27 · Explains what 'not hurt by the second death' means by cross-referencing Revelation 20 on the lake of fire, then contrasts what believers deserve (hell) with what they receive (the crown of life), grounding the exchange in Christ's substitutionary atonement
And what Christ tells this church in closing is precious beyond words. To the one who conquers— conquers fear and doubt and anxiety and bitterness and anger it's a fight, isn't it? It's a battle every day against those things. Those who conquer those things with faith in the face of suffering and death, we will not be hurt by the second death. Now, what does that mean? Well, if we peek ahead to Revelation chapter 20, we see that the second death is eternal punishment in the lake of fire. It's hell. It's the place of eternal torment for those who scorn God's great glory by rebelling against Him. It's the place of punishment that every single one of us deserves because we are all rebels who sin and so scorn a glory so great that only eternal punishment is enough to pay the penalty. It's the punishment of a just and holy God who cannot even tolerate to look on evil and who promised to punish sin forever. And here's some more ultimate reality: no matter how bad things get here, even if we suffer unto death, those who trust in Jesus will never experience the hell we deserve. That puts our suffering and death in proper perspective, doesn't it? We are always, every moment of every day, being treated by God better than we deserve. There is nothing we deserve more than the second death. There is no more fitting end for a sinner like me than the lake of fire. But we get the crown of life that we don't deserve. Instead of the lake of fire that we do deserve because of the one who died and came to life. Jesus suffered our hell in our place as he hung on the cross, paying the price for our sins. He died that we might live. He rose and defeated death so that our dying would not be death.
28 · Closes the sermon by issuing the final charge: if the congregation wants to suffer and die well and shine with Christ's glory, they must rivet their gaze on Jesus
So do you want to suffer and die well so that this church just shines with the glory of Christ, then rivet your gaze on the First and the Last, the One who died and came to life.
29 · The closing prayer asks God to save the unconverted, drive home the two paradoxes (poverty is riches, dying is not death) for believers, and grant the church whatever is needed to shine with Christ's glory and draw the lost to the light
Let's pray. Well, Father, if there are any in this room who have not yet escaped the second death by trusting in the One who died and came to life. Will you give them a way of escape? You are that way of escape. So would you work the miracle and overcome resistance and take Satan's blinders off their eyes? And will you bring them, call them to life right now, and then grant them saving faith? And repentance. Pray no one would leave here not trusting fully in Christ. And Lord, for the rest of us, will you just drive these truths home? Drive it home. In our poverty, we are rich. Drive it home. Dying for us is not death because of Jesus. So let the truth have its effect. Change us, encourage us, strengthen us, grant us courage, give us whatever we need so that this church shines and draw people who right now are living in darkness, draw them to the light of the glory of Christ that shines from this church. Do it, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.