If there was a crime worthy of death, what would it be? . Amen. You, too, can read that. WebFAITHFUL EVEN UNTO DEATH II Kings 2:1-12 For the child of God, heaven is our ultimate destination. WebSermon Series: RevelationSermon Title: The Church of Smyrna: Be Faithful Unto DeathScripture Text: Revelation 2:8-11Speaker: Rev. Roman subjects were required to offer sacrifice to Caesar as a god. Sometimes people do. May angels attend you in the way as you come. Could I take time to turn aside? . It would take maybe a half hour to read. 18:6). In fact, as I said last week, the two most struggling churches, the ones facing the greatest weaknesses, at least in an earthly sense, Philadelphia and Smyrna, are the ones about whom Jesus has nothing but good to say: I know your tribulation and your poverty. 5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions. Matthew 10:38: He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. And Matthew 16:24: If any one will come after Me, let him . When we suffer, were tempted to doubt Gods goodness, to question His sovereignty, to find Him less glorious, to wonder if Hes left us or forsaken us. They worship every now and then but not with any kind of regularity. Certainly Christians in many places are relatively free from that threat, but at all times there will be part of the Church that will be called upon to make the good confession in the midst of danger, hostility, and death. It is one of the marks and the characteristics of a good disciple of Jesus; our love for one another. And Jesus will reign now and into eternity. Certain things I try to pray for each day, certain things I try to pray for on a day of the week, and persecuted church is one of those. The same thing is true of those in Hebrews 11. WebSermons by Bible: Sermons by Category: Sermons by Topic: Sermons by Speaker: Sermons by Language: Sermons by Date: Staff Picks: Comments, ALL -1 sec: Top Sermons: Online Bible: Hymnal: Daily Reading: Our It is on the Aegean Sea; it is in Turkey on the western shore of Asia Minor. Remember Jesus says those who utter all kinds of false things about you, who slander you, that, too, is a kind of persecution and we ought to pray that we will not grow spiritually flabby as a church should we be called upon to face persecution. We Christians must be faithful. But in this context, in Smyrna, apparently, it was some of the Jews, whether because they felt like the Christians had sold them out or because they were worshiping another god, or they claimed to have had the Messiah, they would sometimes rat them out and be the informers that would then bring upon the Romans to these Christians in Smyrna. Be faithful unto death. In Matthew 16:3 Jesus uses it describing the face of a sky before a violent storm. Would You hold fast Your Church around the world, facing so much more in opposition than we face, and when we are called upon to face whatever trials and difficulties, whether suffering at the hands of others or suffering from natural disasters and infirmity and the age of life, may we be faithful even unto death. WebBe thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. He knew they would be tested severely. And our Lord may the flow of our lives be in praise, and in adoration, and worship, and in love for Thee, O blessed God, that as grace and mercy reached down even to me. Isaiah 38:1-8, James 1:2-4, 1 John 5:14-15, 1 Peter 3:12, Denomination: We always face death as Christians remembering that our God has promised us a resurrection. It is used twice in the Bible. Now you have it translated here, And he was sad at that saying [Mark 10:22]. Paul takes a look around as he gives his last testimony. He lived, he died, he's alive. I have never heard an exception to this in my life, and it is always false, it is always untrue. If they were faithful to the end, surely we can be as well. Holiness. And unbelief will ask, How can such a thing be? He went away grieved, for he had great possessions: loving the wrong world [Mark 10:22]. There are some men who are incorrect, who use that verse to say like this: Be faithful to your deathbed, and if you are, you will be saved. There is no thoughtthere is not an approach of a thought like that. and the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Fathers which sent Me. Any true disciple of our Lord has a deep, haunting, never-sated thirst for the word of God. All seven of the churches of Asia have some castigation from our Lord except this church. That was Smyrna in 155 or 156 A.D. They could offer sacrifices in honor of the emperors, not as gods but as rulers. Heres part of the story, the martyrdom of Polycarp. Our The text is taken out of our Lords message to the church in Smyrna [Revelation 2:8-11]. Jesus knows. Lets pray. Inspirational devotions delivered right to your email inbox. The things of this world prevent people from being faithful. 4:10). Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (September 25, 2015) This letter reported this man was certainly one of the elect. The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways (Prov. In a different context, James says, Elijah was a man with a nature like ours (Js. When our Lord was on the way to Jerusalem to die, in Perea on the other side of Jordan, He was met, accosted in a town over there by a rich young ruler [Mark 10:17-22]. There are many benefits to remaining faithful. Three points of application. [My Glorious Victor, Prince Divine, Handley C.G. But I do not have a child and I am old and my wife is old. That is the mark of a disciple of Christ. And this allowed the Jews and the Romans to coexist. Come. Revelation 2:8-11, Denomination: 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4 It was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David (1 Ki. Committed to a belief in another world(Colossians 3:2, 1 Corinthians 15:19), A. Clarence The author of Hebrews had just finished writing about great men and women of faith-He wrote about how they obeyed God out of their faith. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. Our Lord is saying, you be faithful and true even if it costs your life, and I will give you a crown [Revelation 2:10], stephanos, crown; the word Stephen, and you read about him and his martyrdom just now [Acts 7:54-60]. God(John 8:31-32, 14:23-24), A. 15, 16), VI. Some believe godly living, great faith and positive thinking will exempt them from trials. The fourth characteristic, the fourth mark of a true disciple of our Lordone who continues unswervingly in the Word of God. If they refuse to swear by Caesar, if they refuse to worship our gods, then we must punish them., Polycarp replied, For 86 years I have been His servant and He has done me no wrong. read more, Scripture: This was the problem with the Ephesian church-I have this against you, that you have left your first love (Rev. Give it up and come, take up the cross, and follow me. Church Of God, Joshua 2:1-15 THE GREAT ESCAPE Intro: Ill. Hes already won. 2 Kings 2:1-12. That grace, should that come, and for most of us, maybe all of us, it wont come like that, but when the opposition comes, when the moment comes at your workplace, youre going to go along with this program or who knows what happens to your job. Jesus does not offer a rebuke to Smyrna. He knows the fear that you have. Hebrews says since the children have flesh and blood, He, too, shared likewise in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy the one who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and set free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.. IF we are in CHRIST. Gave his life to be a Baptist preacher, VII. And that leads me to the exact title of the sermon today, the seven characteristics of a disciple of our Lord, the seven marks of a true Christian. read more, Scripture: They were most affluent and well-to-do. Amen.. And of those 8 billion Christians in the 2000 years since Christ, even nominally Christian, about 70 million have been martyred by one definition or another, a little less than 1%. read more, Scripture: It is in riches. but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. When a man loves the world and the things that are in the world, the day finally comes when he finds his hands empty and his heart broken. He was soon to dieto be rejected [Mark 10:32-34]. 31:23). This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at the Alum Creek church of Christ in Alum Creek, West Virginia. Instead, He told them to be faithful unto death. Its a letter from Jesus, who is the Jewish Messiah. That is an extreme and harsh word taken in itself. Almost half of those were murdered, starved, died in prison camps in the Soviet Union. [Matthew 27:57]. Lets get a sense of that words meaning in Scripture is a powerful force in our efforts to remain faithful-You must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them (2 Tim. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it. Genesis 49 11:4). Listening to a man expound the unsearchable riches of the Word of God. The Word of God tells us to have compassion for our brothers and sisters who are facing difficulty and prison and opposition, and some will even pay the ultimate price of martyrdom. Remember? Elishas dedication to Elijah might In order to adequately embrace the Gospel, we must understand the Gospel. He gained the information, but on his way back to report to General Washington he was recognized and seized and hanged in what is today New York City, on Market Street and East Broadway. It was a great city in the day of the flesh of our Lord. We dont want to exaggerate it, we dont want to claim that were facing what other people are facing. He stayed there in that tiny church over fifty years; their pastor over fifty years. Centuries earlier, during the period when Rome was struggling with Carthage for supremacy, Smyrna sided with the Romans. It may be in your classroom, when they think that all your beliefs make you a bigot. Your browser does not support the audio tag. You cannot help but admire this young man. 5-12-03 Just to give you some numbers from the time of Jesus to the year 2000, so just say about 2000 years, there were roughly 36 billion people on the planet. FAITHFUL EVEN UNTO DEATH II Kings 2:1-12 For the child of God, heaven is our ultimate destination. We come to see that the thing of value is not speed but endurance. WebSermons by Bible: Sermons by Category: Sermons by Topic: Sermons by Speaker: Sermons by Language: Sermons by Date: Staff Picks: Comments, ALL -1 sec: Top Sermons: Online Bible: Hymnal: Daily Reading: Our When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, To Smyrna, the challenge is one of keep on keeping on or continue to do what you are already doing. That is the child of God. Not some physical anguish or personal disappointment, 2. Most of us fear death, but as a Christian were called to hope. Theres no point in being fearful now. WebKing James Version 10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten Youre faithful. And that beautiful, symbolic portrayal in the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy is symbolic of all of us. Some of you will be thrown into prison for a time. Especially and particularly is that true with our young people. The church in Smyrna was a church of paradoxes. John 1:10-11: Jesus was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. They are all doing it. It may mean that you are faithful in the midst of opposition, when your own children make different choices, sad choices, sinful choices, and say that you dont love them and youre not loving if you wont affirm what theyre doing. read more, Scripture: We dare not just go through the motions without loving God with all our heart. A read more, Scripture: The second death is. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. The Basis of the Gospel Any Amazon link on this site is an ad. We all love to be accepted. 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, 3 And said, How faithful are you this morning? A long time ago, in the 1700s in a little town in Yorkshire, a county in northern England, there was a very, very poor family. When the spies arrived in Jericho, they entered into what everyone thought was a harlot's house. Can you imagine after forty years the people here by the thousands listening to me lecture on mathematics or science or literature or the humanities? What was important to them in the beginning was no longer important. The master of the house was to take an awl, a punch, and pierce the ear of the slave and drive it against the wall, against the door of the house; a sign and a symbol that this slave was driven to the loving service of his master forever [Deuteronomy 15:16-17]. I recognize the first born of Satan. So he didnt mess around. We can remember the love that God has for us. Why didnt the Lord say that to Joseph of Arimathea, who is described in the Bible as a rich man? A We live, we die, we live again. We are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul (Heb. And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. And anchoring every one of these commands, I said this to the leadership training on Friday night, theres a reason that chapters 4 and 5 come after chapter 2 and 3, because it is the vision of the One who sits on the throne that is the antidote for everything that challenges the churches in chapters 2 through 3. But what our Lord refers to is, compared to our love for Himour supreme devotion to Himall other love for wife, child, home, brother, sisters, all other love, compared to our love for Christ is as hate; our supreme love for Christ. That is our faith. After several months of study we have come to the concluding passage of 1st John. It was a way for Rome to save, kind of save face and yet not have to go through this extermination of all the Jews, so well let them get by on a technicality. Our reward is not here, it is there [Matthew 5:12]. [The Pearly White City, Arthur F. Ingler]. We allow ourselves to be involved in so many activities that we no longer have the time to devote to Bible study and prayer. Listen to the words of our Lord in Luke 6:26: Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! We are not in this world to be acclaimed, we are to be true to our Lord, no matter what repudiation or scoffing or scorning. You could not help but love him. A. Its the basic foundation of the Christian faith it is fundamental Continuing with our series through the seven letters to the seven churches, this morning to the church in Smyrna. And God said, Abraham, come here. Often looking with no purpose. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Or the story of Polycarp. We will suffer. Suffering. There was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in me sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up (1 Ki. It had a fierce loyalty to the Caesar, to the Emperor. Evil influences prevent people from being faithful. Notice the Lord Jesus says in verse 9, I know your tribulation and your poverty. This was a church that had more pain than they had money. There is one surviving document we know that came from Polycarp. For the child of God, heaven is our ultimate destination. While we stand and while we pray. Where, O death, is your victory? This is the pastor bringing the message entitled Faithful Unto Death. Most people dont consider that they will die. He literally opens up his heart and lets us look inside. The first one is this: and I take these out of the Bible, out of the New Testament. And He uses the word stugnaz, translated lowering, the sky is stugnaz, it is lowering. sanctified, hallowed, blessed, II. He told the disciples do not worry about what you will say in that day. Preacher, just stand up there and tell us what God says. And Nathan Hale volunteered as a spy to bring back the needed information. He knew they would experience difficult times in their lives. Thats the cry in each one of these churches. 6:9). Call to worship: But the Jews had been given a special exemption. We dont want to make the mistake of saying that just because one worships three times a week every week he is faithful. Our home is not here, it is there [John 14:1-3; Reveltion 21:1-5]. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Our Lord, before it comes to pass, we praise Thy wonderful, keeping, saving, endearing name for all You have done for us; died to save us [1 Corinthians 15:3], poured out Thy blood to wash us clean and white [Revelation 1:5, 5:9], that we might stand in the presence of God forgiven [Jude 1:24]. Death to sin through Christ 1: 5). repudiation of the world, a. Jesus They think theres a way to avoid death and they dont have to think because everyone just goes to heaven and consequently most people spend more time trying to avoid death than they do spending time preparing and making sure theyre on the path to heaven. I love that. Foursquare. Baptist. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight. Text: Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mothers sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. read more, Scripture: That sadly has happened. Suppose I were to stand in this pulpit and speak and discuss English literature three times once a week? That is to say, even in Charlotte, North Carolina should you be a true, passionate, on fire, biblical Christian, absolutely in love with Jesus, no matter what it counts, at some point you will face opposition. But, if in a household there was a slave, and when time came, when that seventh year came and the slave was freeif he so loved his master or she so loved her mistress, that he did not want to leave, then they went through this kind of a simple ritual. read more. Instead of worshipping as they should, they play golf on Sunday mornings or they go the race track or they go fishing. We all know the occasions where suffering brings out the absolute best in people, and weve seen it in our own church. Would it be murder, rape, spouse abuse, adultery, theft, gambling, or perhaps lying? Remembering the things of God will help us overcome temptation. It had been for a long time. Smyrna was a very pro-Rome city. So we dont have to long for it and want it. 16:3), B. We dont have a weak God. heroes of the faith(Hebrews 11:9-10, 16), 1. love for Him so great, any other in comparison is as hate, B. 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