Revelation chapter 2, at verse
8 down through verse 11 of Revelation 2, we have the Lord's letter
to this church at Smyrna unto the angel, which is the messenger
or the pastor of the church. Remember it said of those messengers,
that the Lord holdeth the stars in his right hand. He has his
minister in his hand, a hand of authority, a hand of all power. Unto the church of Smyrna write
these things, write these things, saith the first And the last,
which was dead and alive. Now it's interesting, on every
one of these seven letters, the Lord introduces Himself as the
Almighty, Almighty God who does all things. Notice verse 12,
to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, these things
saith He which hath a sharp sword, which hath a sharp sword with
two edges, There again, he describes himself, look at verse 18, when
he writes to the church of Thyatira, these things sayeth the Son of
God. We studied in Revelation chapter
1 that He's called the Son of Man, and here He's called the
Son of God. He's both, the Son of Man and
God the Son. hath his eyes like unto a flame
of fire, and his feet in fine, fine brass." So this is the one
who is the Almighty God, who is the first, the last, which
was dead and is alive. Now, the title of this message
is Christ's Letter to the Church at Smyrna. But as I said earlier
in a message, this is the Lord's letter right to you, to your
heart, right now. Blessed is he that would hear
and read and know the words of what He says when He reveals
Himself unto us in this Word. Write these things. Now out of
the seven letters, out of those letters written to the seven
churches, This letter to the church of Smyrna and the letter
to the church in Philadelphia are the only ones that contain
no fatherly rebuke, no stern rebuke, and no exhortation and
a call to repentance. All the other five churches you
can read, every one of them and those other five, he says, I've
got a problem with you. You ought to repent. But here
in the church of Smyrna, he found nothing to rebuke them for. They
were faithful, obedient believers. Smyrna, we know, if you look
at the map, and I love looking at maps. I'm a map fanatic. When I'm traveling, I look at
a map. I'm always looking at a map. And I love my Google Map. I can pull up Google Map, and
man, I can right there and there and there and there. It's just
so convenient, and I just love maps. And I looked up this city
called Smyrna. Smyrna and Ephesus were in what
we call modern-day Turkey. Modern-day Turkey. That's where
these churches were located. And here's a sad thought about
that. Those churches, these seven churches that were actually congregations
there in that part of the earth, those churches no longer exist. They're gone. If you would look
at that country today, what is the prominent, dominant religion
in that country? Muslim. Islam. That's all it
is. There's no gospel ministry there
that ought to teach us something. What a privilege we have to have
the gospel right here. right now. Smyrna was a neighboring
city to Ephesus. It was about 35 to 40 miles north
on the Aegean Sea. It was a city like Ephesus that
was taken up with widespread idolatry. They practiced and
worshipped the empires of Rome as lord. who made themselves
out to be God. Remember when Paul went to Ephesus,
as we studied in Acts chapter 19, and he preached the gospel
of the true and living God, and those idol makers got upset because
they made little trinkets and idols to the goddess Diana, and
they were about to be put out of business, and they caused
a great uproar, and for two hours they yelled out in the street,
Great is the goddess of Diana! Ephesus and Smyrna were taken
up with idolatry and emperor worship, and God sent them the
gospel. God sent them the gospel through
the apostle Paul. Now, one of the early pastors
of that church, we have secular history that tells us, and it
gives us the name of one of those early preachers in that church
there, in Smyrna. You can look it up. His name
was Polycarp. Polycarp. Who was burned to the
stake in 155 AD. And you can Google that. Go to
Wikipedia and you can find it. You know why they burned him
to the stake? He would not say that Caesar is Lord. He would
not bow to idolatry of a man, worshiping a man. Isn't that
exactly what the Jews did when Pilate brought the Lord Jesus
Christ forth and said, behold, your king? Remember what those
Jews said? We have no king. We have no God
but Caesar. Polycarp refused to bow and call
Caesar God. Well, they tied up the old man.
The governor said, we're going to send the lions on you, and
the lions are going to eat you up. He said, send them. And he
said, we're going to tie you up, and we're going to stack
wood around you. We're going to burn you to the
stake. He said, light the fire. All you're going to do is take
me to the presence of God. That's boldness, isn't it? Remember
what he says over here, verse 10. Fear none of those things
which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast
some of you into prison that you may be tried. You shall have
tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death.
That was Polycarp. Faithful unto death. And he wasn't
the only one. You can find a book called Fox's
Book of Martyrs. thousands of examples like Polycarp,
who died believing the gospel, who would not deny the Lord Jesus
Christ. Although this city As Smyrna
was taken up with idolatry, God had an elect that must be called
out with the gospel. It is thought by some that while
Paul spent those three years in Ephesus, that he traveled
north to Smyrna, and there the Lord called out a people out
of heathen bondage, darkness, He preached the gospel, and God
sent the gospel light. God quickened them, raised them
up, and caused them to worship a true living God. What a miracle!
What a miracle! What a miracle! And then we see,
a hundred years later, after Paul preached there, that Polycarp
is still preaching the gospel when he dies in 155 AD. God is still sending ministers
today in various little places here and there, and He still
uses the same method and same means and that same message to
call out His people out of darkness into His marvelous light. As
we read in Colossians chapter 1, who called you and translated
you out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear
Son. Now who did that? God. That's
God who does these things. It's God who does these things.
Now, in these four verses, we see four vital lessons. And the first one is this, He
would have us to know that He is God Almighty, that the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, is the Son of God, that He is
the first, In the beginning, He created all things by the
word of His power. In the beginning, God. He is
the first. He said, I am God. Beside me,
there is no other. I am the first. He would have
us to know that He is the first, that He is the last, that He
is the beginning, that He is the end. Now, we've seen this
before, have we not? During Revelation chapter 1,
back one page, verse 8, He said, I am Alpha. And Omega, the beginning,
the ending, sayeth the Lord, which is, which was, and is to
come. I love that word. What's that
next word? Capital A-L-M-I-G-H-T-Y. Almighty. Almighty. Almighty. Again, he says in verse 11, saying,
I'm Alpha, Omega, the first and the last, what thou seest, write
it in a book, and send it to the seven churches. Again, he
says down in verse 17 and 18, And when I saw him, Revelation
chapter 1 verse 17, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid
his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, Why not? Fear not, John. I'm the first. I'm the last. He keeps repeating
it over and over. Oh, in case you haven't heard,
I'm the beginning. I'm the end. I'm He that liveth
and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore,
and I have the keys of hell and death. So He would have us to
know His glorious person. He is the first. He is the first,
the Lord Jesus Christ as God Almighty, has all preeminence
in creation, providence, and in salvation. Because He is our
great God and Savior, we see all things are in His hand. All things are in His hand. I'm
the first! Beside me there is no other.
I am God. Beside me there is no other.
Therefore, he said, look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends
of the earth. There is no other Savior but
the Lord Jesus Christ. He must have the preeminence
in all things. He is the beginning of all things.
He is the end of all things. He is the first cause of all
things and the last end of all things. He is the author and
finisher of our faith. It starts with Him, and one day
faith will end in sight. When we see Him as it says here
in the Revelation, we'll see Him face to face. Face to face. He works all things in whom we
have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things at the counsel of
His own will. Does that include all things? He says in Romans 11 verse 36,
For of him, and through him, and to him are all things. Now it covers all the bases.
Of him, through him, and to him are all things. And then it says,
To him be the glory, both now and forever. And then it says,
the next word says what? Amen. Amen. So be it. So be it. Amen. So He would have us know His
person, I'm the first and the last, and this gives us comfort.
He's called the God of all grace, the God of all comfort, the Father
of mercies. Where would you have any hope?
In yourself? In your works? I have hope in
Him. He's the first. He's the last.
He's Alpha. He's Omega. He says, I'm everything
in salvation because, look at this, He would have us not only
know who He is, His person, salvation in a person, but He would have
us know what He did for us. Look what it says there, which
was dead. And He didn't stay that way,
He's alive. The Lord Jesus Christ actually
Really, really, actually, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the fullness
of time, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the
law. He is the son of man. God was
manifest in the flesh, but he never stopped being God. When he was manifested in the
flesh, he never stopped being God. He said, when you've seen
me, you've seen the Father. I and my Father are one. But
the Lord Jesus Christ really died for our sins. He suffered once for our sins,
just for the unjust that He might bring us unto God. What caused
His death? God made Him to be sin for us. Do you know what sin brings forth?
Death. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
was guilty of our sin, being laid on Him, being imputed to
Him by God Almighty's decree, and because He bare our sin in
His own body on the tree, that sin brought death. The wages of sin is death. That's what we deserve. That's
what we've earned. But the gift of God is eternal
life. Now he died for our sin according
to Scripture. Our Lord said, no man takes my
life from me. You remember John chapter 10?
The good shepherd does what? He laid down his life for the
sheep. Pilate said, don't you know I have power over you to
crucify you or to let you go? And the Lord said, you don't
have any power over me except that which my Father gives you.
And then he said, no man takes my life from me. I have power
to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. So he is the first
cause of our salvation. He's the last end of our salvation
because he died for our sin according to the scriptures. His death
wasn't an accident. We hear religious people say,
well, if I'd been there, I'd have stopped them. You would
not. You're a liar. You've been right
with them. Give us Barabbas away with him.
Crucify him. We have no king but Caesar. That's
us. That's our humanity full of sin. His death was real. His death
was actual. His death was because of our
sin laid upon him. And because he put our sin away,
How important is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because
He fully put our sin away, how do we know that He made full
atonement for our sin? He was delivered from our offenses
and raised again because He justified us. Because He put away our sin,
when they put Him in the tomb, His body saw no corruption because
He put away our sin. And on the third day He came
forth. I came forth. You remember back over here,
he said, I'm he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore. I have the keys of hell and death. They're in his hands. So, believer,
resting in the Lord Jesus Christ, know that He is the sovereign
Lord of all things. He's the first. He's the last. He's the one who died to put
away our sin. He once suffered for our sin
to just for the unjust that He might bring us unto God. I'm alive forevermore. You remember
Mary and Martha had a brother named Lazarus. You remember he
died. And they were heartbroken. And the Lord said, he'll rise
again in the last day. And Martha said, well, I know
that. But the Lord said, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. As whosoever believeth in me
shall never die in the Lord Jesus Christ. When our body Goes back
to the dust. That's not us. I live in this
body. But I'm not this body. To live
is Christ, to die is gain. To be absent from this body is
to be present with the Lord. Yes, we're going to lay this
body in the ground. And one day He's going to raise
up this dust. Because He lives. He said we'll
live because He lives. Now, He says in verse 9, here's
the second thing. He says, I know. I know your
works." Now he says this seven times to every one of these churches.
I know. The Lord knows. The Lord, he
said, I know your works. I know the tribulation. I know
your trouble. He said, I know your poverty.
But think about this, he said, but you're rich. How can you
be in poverty and be rich? It seems like a conundrum, doesn't
it? We are poverty stricken, full of sin, poor in spirit. But in Christ, we're rich. We're
rich. You remember 2 Corinthians 8-9. He said, For you know the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your
sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might be
made rich. You're looking at a man right
here who's an heir of God. and in joint heir with the Lord
Jesus Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ, I have
all the richness of salvation, all the richness of redemption
in Him. Salvation. Heir, being made the
heir of God and in joint heir with the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Lord says, I know. I know. He says, I know your
works. The Lord knows our labors for
the cause of God and His truth. We know that the Scriptures teach
we're not saved by works. The Lord doesn't say here, well,
I know that you're saved by your works. He doesn't say that, does
He? He's saying, I know your works,
I know your obedience to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord knows our labors for
the cause of God and truth. We know that we're not saved
or justified by works, not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. We are
His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good work. It's God
who worketh in you both to will and do of His good pleasure,
His good purpose. But rather, he's talking about
work to faith and labors of love are the evidence and the fruit
of our salvation in Christ alone. Faith that saves is not alone.
Martin Luther said, faith that saves, we're saved by faith alone,
but faith that, we're saved by faith alone, But saving faith
is not alone. Did you get that? James said,
faith without works is dead. So, it's the fruit of God in
us. These works of faith and labors
of love. Faith alone saves, but faith
that saves is not alone. Not alone. He says, I know your
works. Then he says, I know your tribulation.
I know your trouble. I know your trouble. You remember
in Hebrews chapter 4 where it talks about our great high priest,
saying we have a great high priest that ascended to the heavens?
And then it says, our Lord says there, He said, I was tempted
and tested in all points like as you are, yet without sin. The Lord knows what it is to
be tried and tested and tempted. He spent 40 days in the wilderness
being hounded and beaten by Satan. He knows our heartache. He knows
our frame. He knows that we're but dust.
The Lord knows our tribulation, our trouble. The Lord knows these
trials because the Lord sends these trials our way. In Acts 14, Paul says, we through
much tribulation must enter into the kingdom of God. You remember
from our Bible study in 1 Thessalonians 3.3, Paul said, don't be upset
by these heartaches and these trials that I endure. No man
should be moved by these afflictions. For yourself know that we are
appointed unto the Lord knows. Our trouble, our heartache. You
know how He knows them? He sends them our way. And they're
for our good. Man that's born, a woman that's
a few days and full of trouble. Full of trouble. I was reading the story of Job. And every time there's a great
hurricane, I always go back to Job chapter 1. when Job's ten
children were meeting in the house of one of those siblings. And the Lord sent a great wind
and killed all ten of his children. Job fell down and worshipped
God. And he said, the Lord gave. The Lord had taken away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. The Lord knows our heartache.
He knows our trouble. He's experienced these things.
God had one Son without sin, none without sorrow. He's called
the Man of Sorrow, acquainted with grief. The Lord knows. Believers are not exempt from
trial and heartache and trouble. Our Lord said to those apostles
shortly before He went to the cross, He said, these words have
I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In this
world you shall have tribulation. Ah, but be of good cheer, I've
overcome. I've overcome. I've overcome. And then He says, I know your
poverty. I know your poverty. But I know your rich. The Lord
knows His true people as well. He knows their obedience to the
gospel. He knows their trials. He knows
their poverty. He knows the riches of His grace
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord also says, I know
this, I know those Jews who say they're God's people, but they're
not. but are the synagogue or the
assembly of Satan. Satan. I know your poverty. The Lord knows those people that
are His. But the Lord also knows those
people who say they are God's people and are not. I want you
to hold your place there in Revelation 2. I want you to turn to John
chapter 8. John chapter 8. Our Lord said in verse 38, I
speak that which I've seen with my father, and you do that which
you've seen with your father. They answered and said unto him,
Abraham is our father. And the Lord said, if you were
Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. John
8, 39. You got it? You would do the works of Abraham.
Abraham believed God, remember? Counted him for righteousness.
But now you seek to kill me, a man that told you the truth.
which I have heard of God, this did not, Abraham, you do the
deeds of your father." They said unto him, verse 41, we be not
fornicators, fornication, born of fornication, we have one father,
even God. God is our father. Really. Remember, the Lord knows those
are His. And the Lord said, verse 42,
If God were your Father, you would love Me. For I proceed
forth and came from God, neither came I Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My
speech, even because you cannot hear My words? Verse 44, Underscore
this, you are of your father the devil, and the lust of your
father will you do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in Him. When
He speaks a lie, He speaks of His own, for He is a liar and
a father of it. Because I tell you the truth,
you believe Me not. Which of you can mention Me of
sin? If I say unto you the truth,
why don't you believe Me? He that is of God heareth God's
Word, you therefore hear them not, because you are not of God."
Now look at the next verse, verse 48. What are they going to say?
They said, then the Jews answered unto him, say we not well that
thou art a Samaritan? You're the one, the devil, you're
the devil. Who's right? Oh, the Lord said,
you are of your father, the devil, and the works of your father
will you do. Our Lord said to the apostle,
Paul, if any man love not this gospel and preach not this gospel,
let him be damned. That's what he says. You're the
Senate hog of Satan. Many today deny the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ, deny the true grace of God, promote instead
the free will of man, instead of the free grace of God. They promote man's righteousness
instead of Christ's righteousness. They promote universal salvation,
universal love, universal redemption. They're nothing but anti-Christ
and assemblies of Satan. Preach her that hard. That's
what he says. Those who preach not the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul said, let them be damned. Now,
I won't say that in love. Because I know it's only His
grace that's made us differ. But nonetheless, it's still so,
isn't it? It's still true. Now look at verse 10. He said, don't fear those people.
Fear none of those things which you shall suffer. Verse 10, Revelation
2. Behold the devil. He's called
the accuser of the brethren. The devil shall cast some of
you into prison, being inspired by Satan. and cast some of you
into prison, that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation.
But it's just ten days. Be thou faithful unto death,
and I'll give thee the crown of life." We're to fear none
of those things. You know why? You remember back
over here in Revelation 1 verse 17, When I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead, And He laid His right hand upon me, saying,
Fear not, I am the first and the last." Fear none of those
things. Fear none of those things. I read this to you recently,
Isaiah 41, Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed,
I am thy God, I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee,
I will hold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. No
matter how Satan may rage against us, he cannot devour us. The devil is under God's absolute
dominion and sovereign control. Read Job chapter 1, the devil
could not touch Job without God's permission. The devil is God's devil, under
God's absolute control. The devil is mighty, but he's
not almighty. He is the accuser of the brethren,
and we do overcome Him through the blood of the Lamb. Our suffering
and tribulation in this life are only temporary, just ten
days. Ten days. That's five, that's
five, that's ten days. What's he saying there? It's
just a little while. Our light afflictions, you remember
2 Corinthians 4 verse 18, our light afflictions which are but
for a moment worketh for us a far more and exceeding and eternal
weight of glory. You may be tried and you may
be tested, but saving faith will endure. It will endure. It will endure. James said, blessed
is the man that endureth temptation when he's tried, He shall receive
the crown of life. That's what it says there in
verse... It's the last part of verse 10. Be thou faithful unto
death, and I'll give thee... You didn't
earn this. I'll give thee the crown of life.
What is that salvation in Christ? In closing, verse 11, He that
hath an ear, go and let him hear. Would you hear what God would
say? Would you pay attention to what God would say? Let us
be swift to hear and slow to speak. Boy, let's clean out our
ears. Let's be ready to listen to what
God has to say. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto believers. He that overcometh
shall not be hurt of the second death. You know what the second
death is? Eternal condemnation. He that
overcome. How do we overcome? We read it
last week. We overcome through the blood
of the Lamb. We overcome through God-given faith. Let's read this. Turn to Revelation 20. Revelation
20, I believe it is. Revelation 20, verse 6. He talks
about that second death. And the second death is eternal
condemnation. Revelation 20, look at verse
6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. What is that? That's regeneration.
That's being raised from the dead. On such as second death
hath no power, but they shall be preached of God and of Christ,
and they shall reign with him a thousand years. Then look across
the page, verse 11, Revelation 20. And I saw a great white throne. This is the final and last judgment.
And him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away, and there was no place found for them. And
I saw, verse 12, the dead, small and great, stand before God.
And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which
is the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which are written in the books according to their
works. He's talking about unbelievers here. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it, and the grave delivered up the dead which
were in them, and they were judged every man according to his works.
They came up short. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire, which is the second death. Whosoever
was not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire. The second death. I don't want
any part of that. How do we overcome? Only by His
grace. He that believeth on the Son
hath eternal life. On the second death, he that
overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. No condemnation
to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ.