Revelation 2:8-11
Smyrna: The Suffering Church
1. Jesus is the one who has suffered and conquered first v. 8
2. Jesus knows his church’s suffering and it’s source v. 9
A. He knows, he is not unaware
B. He judges the persecutors
C. He encourages the faint (I know your tribulation and poverty, but you are rich)
3. Suffering awaits the church on mission v. 10
A. Suffering is not meaningless but an imitation of Jesus that produces eternal rewards v. 8
1. 2 Timothy 1:8; 2:3; 4:5
2. Romans 5:3
3. 2 Thessalonians 1:5
4. 1 Peter 2:19
5. 1 Peter 5:9
6. 2 Corinthians 4:7-18
B. Suffering may be brief or it may be protracted v. 10
C. Suffering for doing good can come from the hand of the evil one but not free from the mediated grace of God who is good v. 10b
1. Job 1:20-22 & 2:10
D. Suffering can be in many forms v. 10b
1. Sickness
2. Persecution
3. Difficult situations as a leader
4. Interpersonal conflict
5. Natural results of the fall (watching sick friends and family die)
6. Marginalization
7. Mischaracterization
4. The faithful in suffering receive the awesome reward of life v. 10c, 11b
The crown is the reward for one competing in the games. The crown displayed the fact that the person wearing it won. In this case the crown, showing victory, is life.
A. Life as knowing God (John 17:3)
B. Life as living and not experiencing the second death (Revelation 20)
C. Those who turn back get eternal sentencing to the second death, the lake of fire, hell
1. Jesus’s description of this place as “Gehenna”
5. Make sure you have believed the Gospel
Theology in the Dirt 