The Suffering Church

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The Suffering Church

Revelation 2:8-11

January 12, 2025 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Revelation 2:8–11

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Introduction:

There is BLESSING in suffering.

But the only way to BELIEVE that — sincerely believe that — is to have saving faith and as a result to believe the Bible.

Suffering doesn’t LOOK LIKE BLESSING. In fact, it can be exceedingly ugly.

Suffering doesn’t FEEL LIKE BLESSING. It can challenge us in a way that threatens to shake us.

But our God has made clear in His word that His people are blessed when we suffer in the way of righteousness.

We are blessed when we suffer with Christ.

We are blessed when we suffer for the truth.

We are blessed when we suffer in faith.

WHEN WE KNOW THIS, AND BELIEVE THIS, THEN SUFFERING IS SOMETHING WE CAN REJOICE IN.

ESV Matthew 5:10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

ESV 1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

We see an example of this in our Lord’s message to the church at Smyrna.

It is no accident that the only two churches that receive nothing but commendation from Christ would be churches experiencing heavy suffering.

God uses suffering to purify His church.

God allows suffering to prove us, to purge from us that which is not pleasing in His sight and to establish in us what is real and lasting.

Here we meet with a church that pleased Jesus.

What does the Lord see in this church and what does He say to this church?

I want us to see that He ENCOURAGES this church, and He does so in FOUR WAYS.

1. Encouraged by the Lord’s person (vs.8)

2. Encouraged by the Lord’s perfect knowledge (vs.9)

3. Encouraged by the Lord’s preparation (vs.10)

4. Encouraged by the Lord’s promise (vs.11)

I. ENCOURAGED BY THE LORD’S PERSON (v.8)

Jesus encourages His church by the knowledge of Himself.

There is comfort in His self-description.

A. THE FIRST AND THE LAST

This is a clear claim of deity.

ESV Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

ESV Isaiah 48:12 "Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last.

And Christ will say this again in the book of Revelation.

ESV Revelation 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

To worship Jesus is to worship the true and living God.

To stand against idolatry, to reject any and every other so-called god, is to be faithful to Jesus.

This church existed in a city in which this was especially challenging.

The city of Smyrna, just like Ephesus, was a place FULL of idolatry.

Much of the suffering of the Christians in Smyrna would have been directly from their rejection of that city’s idolatry.

Alan F. Johnson — “Smyrna was also a center of emperor worship, having won the privilege (over eleven other cities) from the Roman Senate in AD 23 of building the first temple in honor of Tiberius. Under Domitian (AD 81–96) emperor worship became compulsory for every Roman citizen on threat of death. Once each year a citizen had to burn incense on the altar to the godhead of Caesar, after which he was issued a certificate. Barclay (Seven Churches, 29] quotes a request for such a certificate, and the certificate itself:

To those who have been appointed to preside over the sacrifices, from Inares Akeus, from the village of Theoxenis, together with his children Aias and Hera, who reside in the village of Theadelphia, we have always sacrificed to the gods, and now, in your presence, according to the regulations, we have sacrificed and offered libations, and tasted the sacred things, and we ask you to give us a certification that we have done so. May you fare well.

The Sin of Toleration

January 19, 2025 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Revelation 2:18–29

Introduction: The church faces trouble wherever it exists. The city of Thyatira was not a leading city. It was not politically influential in the way Ephesus or Pergamum was. It was not a city with a great reputation for religious influence either in the way that these other cities were. Its influence would have been found in its trade guilds, and its natural resources that allowed it to be profitable even if not highly influential. One of the people evangelized by Paul who came from Thyatira was Lydia (Acts 16:14). ESV Acts 16:14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. The purple dye that she sold would have represented one of the industries and one of the trade guilds belonging to the city. But even in this city not known for its political or religious influence, about 40 miles to the east of Pergamum, the church was facing powerful cultural challenges. And once again, despite the good things that our Lord commends them for, there is something intolerable that has invaded the church. OUR LORD WILL NOT TOLERATE SOMETHING THEY ARE TOLERATING. This is a great test for the church of our time as well. Will we tolerate what the Lord of the church finds intolerable? Will we distance ourselves from what our Lord would have us confront? Will we ignore what He refuses to ignore? And do we recognize what is at stake in the matter of sinful toleration? NOTE: There is a difference between gracious love, humble patience, and sinful toleration. Even as our Lord confronts the sins existing in His churches, we are witnessing graciousness and patience. NOTE: If what you call holiness doesn’t embody that same graciousness and patience, we know with absolute certainty that it is not because your holiness has exceeded the holiness of the Lord of the church. On the other hand, if what we call graciousness and patience doesn’t embody that same jealousy for the holiness of God and for the spiritual health of God’s people, we know with absolute certainty it isn’t because your love exceeds the Lord’s love. This church was TOLERATING something intolerable, and Jesus confronts their sinful refusal to confront it. I. THE HOLINESS OF OUR GREAT SHEPHERD (vs.18) We talked about how the comfort of the church is our Savior. It is Christ Himself who is our confidence and our courage for the trials the church faces. When comforting His church, Christ begins with our knowledge of Him. But the same is true for the safety of the church. The greatest force for the holiness of the church is the knowledge of Christ Himself. His self-description demonstrates that. A. THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST One of the ways that you know you are not seeing Christ clearly is when you feel confident to do questionable things. ESV Romans 14:23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. What does that mean? It means if you can go forward in matters that you are not certain represent faithfulness to God, you are sinning. Your flippancy, your unholy boldness, represents a very inaccurate view of the authority and holiness of God. Illustration: If you were working for someone that had the authority to fire you, and if you knew that their standards were VERY high, and you had a choice of doing something that they might find unacceptable, would you just go do it? Only if you don’t care about that job. Well, if you care about pleasing Christ, you care about carefulness. And you don’t just care about it for yourself. You care about it for others, which is precisely why love doesn’t trample on the consciences of others. The point that our Lord begins with is that the very one speaking to them is THE SON OF GOD. What he says is ACCURATE. What he says is AUTHORITATIVE. It must be heard. It must be heeded. It must be cared about.

Pergamum - Compromise Confronted

January 19, 2025 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Revelation 2:8–11

Introduction: Our Savior is holy, loving, and kind. Those attributes don’t always seem to go together in our minds. But they are perfectly harmonized in the nature and character of God, and therefore, perfectly harmonized in the ways that He sovereignly and wisely deals with each of His churches. We see this when He addresses the church at Pergamum. He confronted what He hates. His holiness on display in what He refused to tolerate. He praised them for what was good, making clear that His correction was not emanating from an enemy, from the Lord who loves them. His kindness was on display in that He was patient with them — He addressed them carefully, precisely, and with room for repentance. This was a church that was faithful in many ways — faithful in some striking ways. This was a church serving the Lord in an exceedingly difficult place in the world — facing exceedingly difficult circumstances. And yet, this was a church that could not continue in its current course. Suffering doesn’t excuse sin. Weariness on one front of our lives doesn’t excuse disobedience on another front of our lives. Jesus comes to them to WARN them, and the motive for the warning is RESCUE. Our Savior has always and will always deal with His people this way. His holiness will not tolerate in our lives what He hates. His love will confront what is out of order in our lives and correct it with His Word. He does this, however, in ways that manifest His kindness, that take note of our smallness — often bringing His correction with great gentleness and presenting us with the opportunity to repent and to correct what is out of order. I. CHRIST DEALS WITH HIS CHURCH TRUTHFULLY (vs.12) Christ selects a description of Himself that emphasizes the judging power of His Words. The Word of God is a dividing power. It divides what is true from what is false. It divides what is real from what pretends. It brings salvation to those who believe it and respond in faith to it, but it also brings judgment upon all who reject it. TO MEET WITH THE WORDS OF CHRIST IS TO MEET WITH THE JUDGMENT OF YOUR CONDITION. His Words leave us with no room for the claim of false assessment. This image of a sword coming from the mouth of Christ is an emblem of judgment later in the book. ESV Revelation 19:15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ESV Revelation 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. II. CHRIST DEALS WITH HIS CHURCH KINDLY (vs.13) He doesn’t begin with what was wrong. He begins with a compassionate BUT ACCURATE assessment of what was right. A. HE KNOWS THE CHALLENGE OF THEIR CITY This is something that should greatly encourage us. Our Lord is mindful of our smallness. The difficulty of our circumstances. The challenge of the particular age that we live in, or the particular city that we live in, is not just dismissed. OUR LORD DEALS WITH THESE REALITIES AS REALITIES. Pergamum was a great city in the 1st century world of Asia. John Walvoord — “Like Ephesus and Smyrna it was a wealthy city, but it was wicked. People in its pagan cults worshiped Athena, Asclepius, Dionysus, and Zeus. Pergamum was famous for its university with a library of about 200,000 volumes, and for manufacturing parchment resulting in a paper called πέργαμενα. The atmosphere of this city was adverse to any effective Christian life and testimony.”#_ftn1 Satan’s throne indicates a city that is a stronghold for Satan. This church lives in a very difficult place and strives to serve in a very difficult time. #_ftnref1John F. Walvoord, Revelation (https://accordance.bible/link/read/bk_commentary#31335; ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck; Accordance electronic ed. 2 vols.; Wheaton: Victor Books, 1983), 2:935-936.

Losing Our Way At The Point of Love

January 5, 2025 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Revelation 2:1–7

Introduction: We have in the letters to the seven churches a unique look at our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We see Him as the exalted Lord of the church, walking in the midst of His churches and examining them. He speaks with authority as He tells them what He sees that is commendable. He speaks with authority as He tells them what He sees that is unacceptable. Through it all we are reminded what the Lord loves and hates in His churches. The church is not ours to do with whatever we wish. The church belongs to God, is purchased with the blood of Christ, is built on Him as the chief cornerstone, and exists by the power of the Holy Spirit. The only thing acceptable in the life of the church and of eternal value is that which He approves of. If we are pleased but the Lord is not pleased, we have failed. If the world is displeased by us but the Lord is pleased, we have succeeded. And what is true of the churches, examined as congregations, has individual application. What we are as churches, we are one soul at a time. And the first church the Lord examines is a church that challenges all of us at the heart level. It was a church, that from all we see commended in them, would have been a church that we would have gladly recommended. A church that represented much of what we desire OUR church to be. And yet, we will see they had gone astray, and they were in a very dangerous condition. *There are three things we will see together as we examine this letter. 1. The Lord's Commendation 2. The Lord's Correction 3. Final Conclusions 1. THE LORD'S COMMENDATION OF THIS CHURCH (vs.1-3, 6) Before we look at what the Lord specifically commends in this church, there are a couple of things we need to know about this congregation. A. THIS WAS A WELL TAUGHT CHURCH We can see this even in the things that the Lord commends them for here. The discernment that was evident in this church, the labor, the endurance, was due to the kind of instruction that they had received. Just from the biblical record we see they had personally benefited from some very gifted preachers and teachers. Paul spent considerable time in Ephesus, three years (Acts 20:31). Aquila and Priscilla remained in Ephesus after Paul’s initial ministry (Acts 18) Apollos was in Ephesus when Aquila and Priscilla made their contribution to his life and ministry, so that the Ephesians benefited from the ministry of Apollos. Timothy pastored in Ephesus, in fact, that is where he was when 1 Timothy was written. Church history also testifies that the apostle John had pastored there for years prior to his arrest and banishment to Patmos. Irenaeus — “Then, again, the Church in Ephesus, founded by Paul, and having John remaining among them permanently until the times of Trajan, is a true witness of the tradition of the apostles.”#_ftn1 This was a church that had been given a great heritage in the form of instructors. B. THIS WAS AN INFLUENTIAL CHURCH By the time that this letter arrived at Ephesus there had been around a 40-year history with this church. It was in one of the most influential cities in the world. This church, no doubt, had a reputation for the very things that the Lord Jesus is about to recognize. Acts 19:8 And after he entered athe synagogue, he continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them babout the kingdom of God. 9 But when asome were becoming hardened and were not believing, speaking evil of bthe Way before the multitude, he left them and took away cthe disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 This took place for atwo years, so that all who lived in 1bAsia heard cthe word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. #_ftnref1Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, eds. The Apostolic Fathers With Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. vol. I of https://accordance.bible/link/read/cf-an#5693. Accordance electronic ed. (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1885), paragraph 5693.