The Second Mark of Christ’s Church
Now we study the Book of Revelation
to listen to what the Spirit says to our church today. In particular, from last
week we explore Christ’s pastoral letters to the seven churches. In each of the
letters Jesus, the chief Pastor of the church, evaluates the spiritual health
of each church and puts an emphasis on one particular aspect of an ideal
church. From the church of Ephesus last week, we learned that the first mark of
a true and living church is “love.” The second is “suffering.” We will learn
why suffering is the second mark of Christ’s church from the church of Smyrna.
Why Suffering?
As we hear news reports about
natural disasters, or as we see our dear family and friends suffer, we ask the
following question: “Why do bad things
happen to good people?” Have you asked this question? I do. And I don’t
have an answer to that. What I know is that suffering is real and evil is real,
but much more importantly, what I also know is that God is real, and God is in control. Probably you remember the
story of Joseph. After Jacob, Joseph’s father, had passed away, Joseph’s
brothers were afraid that Joseph might pay them back. But Joseph said to them, “You
meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gn 50:20). We don’t fully
understand why suffering happens, but what we know is somehow God allows suffering to purify us, refine us, help us to fully
rely on Him. In Ps 119:71 David says, “My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your
decrees (NLT). Billy Graham rightly points out, “Suffering has a
mysterious, unknown component. All I know from the short letters in Revelation is
this: Christ commands us to ‘Overcome!’ in the strength He alone can supply….”[1]
So today we will learn how we can overcome our suffering from today’s passage, the
letter to Smyrna.
Suffering Within and Without
At that time, the church of Smyrna was
hard pressed within and without. First of all, Christians in Smyrna were
persecuted from the Roman Empire. They were forced to participate into the cult
of Rome. And of course, they refused. The Roman authorities interpreted this as
a disgraceful lack of patriotism and even as treachery. As a result, some of
the Smyrna Christians were put into prison, some were exiled, and some were
executed.
Though persecution from the Roman
Empire was bad, suffering from within, that is Jewish opposition, was even worse and more bitter. First of all, Smyrna Christians had to suffer economic
hardship. Both Jews and pagans in Smyrna were not willing to trade with
professing Christians. They also didn’t give Christians employment. Instead,
they bullied Christians, plundered their homes, and even burned their houses. Second,
along with poverty, Smyrna Christians had
to suffer from slander. Jewish people were spreading false rumors,
half-truths, and gossip about the Christians. So Smyrna Christians were
misrepresented, misunderstood and caricatured. The minds of many people were being
poisoned. Smyrna Christians were hated and considered as the scum of the earth.
Poverty and slander were two major
afflictions. But there was more and worse to come. Jesus said to them, “Do not
be afraid of what you are about to suffer” (10). Church history tells us that more
Christians were imprisoned and died a martyr since then. Polycarp, bishop of
Smyrna, was one of them. On February 2, 156 AD, the bishop Polycarp was tracked
down to his hiding place, but he made no attempt to flee. Instead he offered
food and drink to his captors and asked permission to retire for prayer. Then
he prayed for two hours under their surveillance. As soon as he arrived in the
city, he was brought before proconsul who said, “Swear, and I will release you;
revile Christ!” Polycarp answered, “For 86 years I have served him, and he has
done me no wrong; how then can I blaspheme my king who saved me?” Angry Jews
and Gentiles then gathered wood for the pile. The fire was lit, but the wind
drove the flames away from him, so he had to suffer for a long time. Finally,
one of the soldiers put an end to his misery with a sword.[2]
Faith Is the Victory
Suffering
is the hallmark of the genuine church. In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul says, “Indeed,
all who desire to live a godly life
in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Jesus suffered. So if we want to be his
follower, we Christians should be called upon to suffer. Smyrna was a suffering
church because it was an uncompromising church. Smyrna Christians were willing
to suffer for Christ and with Christ rather than compromise.
But here is a practical question
for us: What should we do when suffering
comes? How can we overcome it? We can find the answer from Jesus’ own words.
In verse 10 Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid…
be faithful” (10). In Greek faith and faithfulness are the same word. When
we have faith in Christ, we become faithful, even to the point of death. Faith
and faithfulness always go together. But faith and fear are opposites. They
cannot co-exist. Faith drives out fear. So to
have faith in Christ is the key to overcome our suffering.
Then, what does it mean to have
faith in Christ? When I asked this question to myself, the story of Rees
Howells came to my mind. I love this story. Rees Howells was born in
October 10, 1879. He was affected by the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival. He and his
wife later became missionaries in Africa. In the meantime there were many
trials of faith and deliverances. The following story is one of them. The time came
for Rees and Elizabeth to go to London for their missionary training. But the
thing is that they didn’t have not enough train money to London! Now the time
for the train had come. At that time Rees was with a quite a few Christian friends
who wanted to see him off at the station. The Spirit then spoke to him and
said, “If you had money, what would you do?’ Rees answered, “Take my place in
the queue at the booking office” The Spirit said, “Then, you had better take
your place in the queue.” So he did. There were about a dozen people before
him. There they were passing by the booking office one by one. The devil kept
telling him, “Aha, look at you! You have preached much about Moses with the Red
Sea in front and the Egyptians behind, but now you are the one who is shut in!”
Rees answered, “Yes, shut in, but like
Moses, I’ll be gloriously led out!” When there were only two before him, all
of sudden one of his friends stepped out of the crowd and said, “I’m sorry I
can’t wait any longer, but I must open my shop.” Then he put 30 shillings in
Rees’ hand. After he had the tickets, the people who came with him began to
give their gifts all together.[3]
What a glorious reward for those who trust in God!
People say, “To see is to believe.”
But for Christians, “To believe is to see.”
St. Augustine right said, “Faith is to believe what you do
not see; the reward of this faith is to see what
you believe.” Nowadays as I was praying for our church, God gave me this
song, “Faith Is the Victory.” So I sing day and night:
“Faith
is the victory! Faith is the victory!
O, glorious victory, that overcomes the
world!”
We, as Christ’s church, are
called to suffer, not to compromise. We are called to have faith in Christ, not
to have fear.
Jesus Knows
The other day I climbed Mt
Katahdin for the first time. I was able to make it, not because I was in a good
shape, but because I was accompanied by the
experienced hikers. One of them even has climbed Mt Katahdin more than 20
times. They know all different trails – how easy or difficult each trail is, and
how long it may take. I just followed them. Every time I wanted to stop and
quit, they kept checking on me and encouraged me. So I could make it to the
top.
In the same way, as Smyrna
Christians were suffering from poverty and slander because of their faith in
Christ, Jesus said to them, “I know your
suffering and your poverty, but you are rich! I know the slander of those opposing you. They say they are Jews,
but they are not. They are the synagogue of Satan” (9). Jesus knows. He is
all-knowing. He is watching over us. Not only does he know, but also Jesus is
able to help us because he has been there! In the beginning of this letter
Jesus starts a letter in this way: “This is the message from the one who is the
First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive” (8). Jesus himself was
despised and rejected. He was a man of sorrow, and very familiar with suffering
(Isa 53:3). Jesus tasted suffering, and he was faithful and obedient to the
point of death. He both began and finished the race we’re in. Because Jesus himself
has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us! (Heb 2:18)
I don’t know about you, but for
me, when I pray for our church, I often feel like I stand before the Red Sea. But
here is good news: Jesus is not asking us to cross the Red Sea or to fight with
the Egyptian army with our own strength and wisdom. All he commands us to do is
this: “Don’t be afraid and be faithful to
the end.” So let us trust in Christ. Let us have faith in Christ. Let us
fix our eyes on Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Then we will be
gloriously led out and finish our race with the victor’s crown of life!
[1] Craig S. Keener, Revelation (The NIV Application
Commentary Book 20), 120
[2] John
Stott, What Christ Thinks of the Church
(Harold Shaw Publishers, 1990), 32-33.
[3] Norman
Grubb, Rees Howells, Intercessor (Lutterworth Press, 1952),
Kindle location 2308-2331 of 4143.
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