Smyrna: The Afflicted Church
June 25, 2023Smyrna: The Afflicted Church
Revelation 2.8-11 CSB
6.25.2023
Outline
“The very thing that made me who I am today was the very thing that destroyed him.”- Arnold Schwarzenegger
Smyrna – in Asia Minor
- Known for beauty
- Known for loyalty to Rome
The Church in Smyrna
- Afflicted
- Persecuted
- Impoverished
v.8
- First and the Last
- The one who was dead and came to life
v.9a
- Affliction = to press or squash
- Poverty = destitute
- James 2.5
v.9b
Tension between ethnic Jews and Jewish Christians
- Romans 2.29
- About loyalty to Christ versus loyalty to Caesar
v.10a
- Don’t be afraid: Matthew 10.28
v.10b
- Reality of spiritual battle
- Ephesians 6.11-12
vv.10c-11
- Death / life
- Without the cross, there is no crown.
In this life it may be that the Christian’s loyalty will bring him the crown of thorns, but in the life to come it will surely bring him the crown of glory. – William Barclay
Romans 8:35-39
- God’s promise of perspective