Faithful To The End

Take your Bibles this morning, and let's turn to Revelation chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2, we'll be reading verses 8 through 11, God's message to the church in Smyrna. And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write the words of the first and the last who died and came to life. I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich. And the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. 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. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. the one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

Lord God, now we pray that you would help us, Father, not just to hear, but to incorporate what the Lord Jesus says to us into our lives. Help us not to be satisfied with just more knowledge. Help us, Father, only to be satisfied when our lives begin to line up with the word of God. we thank you for the gospel of the grace of the Lord Jesus the gospel that pronounces forgiveness for all our sins the gospel then that energizes us to live for our Lord would you please use that very power today to motivate us, to help us to remain faithful to our King until the end We pray this in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Polycarp was the Bishop of Smyrna who died in A.D. 155, about 60 years after this book was written. The story of his martyrdom is one of the earliest pieces of church history that we have, and I want you to listen carefully to how Polycarp ended his life. Polycarp was led before the procouncil who urged him swear by the genius of Caesar repent say away with the atheists now the Christians at this time were known as atheists They were called atheists because they didn believe in the Roman gods And so he says to him say away with your Christian brothers Swear and I will release you.

Curse the Christ. Polycarp replied, 86 years I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my king who saved me? then the procouncil said I have wild beasts if you do not repent I will throw you to them but he said send for them for repentance from better to worse is not a change permitted to us but to change from cruelty to righteousness is a noble thing then the procouncil said again if you despise the wild beasts I will consume you by fire if you do not repent Polycarp answered you threaten the fire that burns for an hour and in a little while is quenched for you do not know the fire of the judgment to come and the fire of the eternal punishment reserved for the ungodly.

But why do you delay? Bring what you will. As he spoke these words and many more, he was filled with courage and joy and his countenance was full of grace so that not only did it not fall in dismay at what was being said to him, but on the contrary, the procouncil was astonished and sent his herald to proclaim three times in the midst of the stadium.

Polycarp confesses himself to be a Christian. When this was proclaimed by the herald, the whole multitude of Gentiles and Jews who dwelt in Smyrna cried out with ungovernable rage and in a loud voice, this is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, the destroyer of our gods who teaches many not to sacrifice or worship. Then they decided to shout with one accord that he should be burned alive.

Now things happened with such speed and less time than it takes to tell, for the mob immediately brought together timber and faggots from the workshops and baths, the Jews giving themselves zealously to the work as they were like to do. They were about to nail him to the stake when he said, Let me be as I am. He that granted me to endure the fire will grant me also to remain at the pyre unmoved without being secured with nails.

So at length the lawless ones, seeing that his body could not be consumed by the fire, ordered an executioner to approach him and drive in a dagger And when he had done this there came out an abundance of blood so that it quenched the fire And all the multitude faithful to the end It is said that Polycarp remained faithful because he had read the book of Revelation and no doubt had read this message that had been addressed to the very church of which he was the bishop, the church in Smyrna. In this message, the second of seven, Jesus, the Lord of the congregation, addresses a suffering congregation. Now, you will find no words of rebuke in this message to Smyrna.

And you may say to yourself, yes, Lord, if only LaRue Baptist Church would have such a reputation. I don't believe we're to the point where Jesus won't reproach us for some things. Nevertheless, having said that, I think there is much for us to learn from this message to Smyrna. Because even if our church has not reached the point that the church in Smyrna has, we are still told in verse 11, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

And so it is meant for us. And so we need to think and consider what this message to Smyrna is all about for us. Smyrna is a congregation under pressure, a suffering congregation headed for more and deeper tribulation. What would Jesus want us to do in light of Smyrna's situation? And here's what Christ says to us today. No matter what you experience, no matter how wide, how high, and how deep is your suffering, remain faithful to me to the end.

That is the message of this message to Smyrna. Remain faithful to me to the end. That means that if you face death, Jesus wants you to remain faithful to the end. That means that if you face persecution and ridicule, Jesus wants you to remain faithful to the end. That means that if someone is going to cut off your friendship, because of Christ, Jesus wants you to remain faithful to the end.

That means that if someone is going to look at you cross because of Christ Jesus wants you to remain faithful to the end The point is really quite simple What is it Jesus wants you to remain faithful to the end That is the message that he has for us today. So let's look at it. How will you, sitting here today, remain faithful to Jesus until the end? Well, here's the first.

You will remain faithful to the end if you see the Lord of the congregation. You will remain faithful to the end if you see Jesus. What do we see about Jesus here in verse 8? And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write the words of the first and the last who died and came to life. Now you remember that Jesus reveals a particular attribute of his as the powerful son of man. in order to help each congregation.

You recall that in chapter 1, that John brings forward this vision of Daniel from Daniel chapter 7 of this powerful end-time figure known as the Son of Man, the one who has given by God all authority and power for the last days. And we've seen from this book that Jesus fulfills that vision of Daniel. Jesus is that powerful son of man predicted centuries before by that prophet Daniel.

And we have seen as well that for each congregation, he takes a particular attribute that we read about in chapter 1, and he says, this is me. And so a church that is suffering, here's what he says. Look at me, I'm the first and the last who was dead and came to life. So you have to see Jesus as the first and the last. In your suffering, see Jesus as the first and the last.

Now, suppose I walk into Honda this week, and you're having a problem on the line, and I'm taking a tour, and I'm walking through, and the line is shut down, and no one knows what's going on, and I step out of my line, the tour line, and I say, here's your problem. Here's what you need to do. And everyone's going to look at me and say, who are you? Have you ever worked on a line producing cars?

No. Then you got no credibility here. Keep your mouth shut. Right? You got no credibility. I wouldn't.

I wouldn't have any credibility there. Well, Jesus has all kinds of credibility when he addresses this suffering congregation. He is the first and the last. Now remember where this title comes from. It comes from the book of Isaiah. This is a terrific, a tremendous thing that we need to see.

Jesus is taking upon himself the titles that are reserved for God alone. Turn back to Isaiah 44. Isaiah 44. In Isaiah chapter 44, we read this beginning in verse 6. Thus says the Lord. Okay, you see the Lord there, all capital letters.

If you've been here long enough, you know what that means. That means that is God's personal name. That is the personal covenant name of God in the Old Testament, Jehovah. So let's read it that way. Thus says Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts. I am the first and I am the last.

Besides me there is no God. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to happen and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid.

Have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? There is no rock. I know not any. Here is God saying he's the first and the last.

And as the first and the last, sovereign over all of history, he is the rock, he is the refuge. Turn over to chapter 48. Chapter 48. Let's look at verse 12. Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel whom I called. I am he.

I am the first, and I am the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens. When I call to them, they stand forth together. Assemble all of you and listen. Who among them has declared these things? Jehovah loves him.

He shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. I even I have spoken and called him I have brought him and he will prosper in his way Draw near to me hear this from the beginning I have not spoken in secret from the time it came to be I have been there, and now the Lord God has sent me and his Spirit. Again, he talks about the fact that he is the first and the last, the sovereign over all.

What's the point? Jesus is the eternal God, sovereign over all events of history. He is the eternal refuge in times of trouble. That is what we need to hear in our suffering. Jesus is the eternal God, and He is our refuge in times of trouble. As the eternal God, Jesus is sovereign over all the ups and downs of history, including your suffering.

Because of that, He is your refuge. You trust Him. He is your rock. He goes on, you must see Jesus as the one who died and came to life. His resurrection proves that he is this eternal God, that he is this eternal refuge. Jesus is able to control even the historical forces of death.

Now, I don't know, I love to read history, and you know that. But I love to read history because it's interesting to see how the little details have changed the course of whole nations. And whenever you read history, there's always the what-if factor. The what-if. What if the South had won? What if Hitler had won World War II?

What if? You can play that with history, all right? Because when you're in the middle of everything, you don't know what's going to happen, right? We don't know what's going to happen. But you know what? There's one constant in all of history.

There is one thing that's constant that never changes. There is no what-if in all of history. You know what it is? Everybody dies. That's the historical force that you can always predict. If Hitler had won the war, he was going to die eventually, right?

Napoleon, dead. Right? Even the historical forces of death, Jesus has control over. His eternity, his claim to be the first and the last, is demonstrated by his resurrection. Do you want to remain faithful to the end? Then you have to see Jesus.

Now this is key You must see Jesus Fix your eyes on him He is the first and the last He is the eternal God, our refuge in time of trouble. And you can take refuge in him because he has even conquered death. If you want to remain faithful to the end, look to Jesus. now he also says this you will remain faithful to the end if you understand suffering if you understand suffering now the Smyrna congregation was suffering when this was written you recall that Caesar demanded that all of his subjects in the entire empire were to officially go to a temple dedicated to Caesar and there everyone was required to say these words, Caesar is Lord, and to burn some incense.

And in doing that, in acknowledging him as a god, they would receive a certificate. And that certificate, they could keep saying that they had been loyal to the emperor and had declared him Lord. And you remember that the Christians refused to say Caesar is Lord. They refused to say it, put their pinch of incense in the fire, and they refused to get those certificates.

And because they wouldn't say those three words, they died. Because they asserted, as Polycarp did, Caesar is not Lord. I'm not going to swear by his name, because Jesus alone is Lord. Now, here's an interesting thing to remember, and this is key for understanding part of this passage. The Jews in the empire were granted an exemption to that. Did you know that?

The Jews did not have to say Caesar is Lord. The imperial authorities, for some reason, said, well, you know, the Jews have always been known as a monotheistic people. We're never going to get them to say it. So they were granted an exemption. They did not have to say that. Now, if you understand and you read the book of Acts carefully, you will also notice that the early Christians were considered a sect of Judaism.

For many many years remember it wasn until nearly two decades later in the city of Antioch that believers were first called Christians Until that time, they were known as the Way. And the Way was considered a part of Judaism. So the Christians had this umbrella of protection from this exemption that the Jews had. But then the Jews, because of their hatred for Jesus and his followers, turned on them.

To use contemporary terms, ratted them out. All right? They ratted them out. So they were more than willing to make the Romans aware that the Christians were not a part of Judaism. And so they would denounce Christians to the Roman authorities. These people are not a part of our religion, so they don't have the exemption.

Make them declare Caesar as Lord. Isn't that interesting? The very people that God had called to make his name known among the nations now betray their calling by saying, make those people say Caesar is Lord. That's how much they hated him. And they would say this, besides that, they're upsetting the peace of the empire. They are upsetting the peace of the empire by their refusal to declare Jesus as Lord and by their adamant stubbornness to say that Caesar is Lord and their adamant stubbornness and resistance in their claim that Jesus is Lord.

The same accusation was leveled against Jesus. Do you remember? In the book of Acts, it's recorded that when they were before Pilate, they said, this man claims to be the Christ, a king. He is an enemy of Caesar, you see. So they would say that. That accusation was leveled against the Apostle Paul as well.

So they said, go ahead, ask them. They will not acknowledge the lordship of Caesar. Now please note, in verse 9, the slander of the Jews had caused great economic hardship on these people. The accusation of the Jews has caused them to be people who are impoverished, who are in poverty. The city of Smyrna from early days had given itself to Caesar worship.

Much quicker than most other cities. Caesar worship was not a big deal until after Jesus. A hundred years before Jesus was even born, Smyrna had given itself over to Caesar. or worship. It was devoted to this kind of religious patriotism. Well, what does that mean? Well, can you imagine if you're living in a city in which that is a major big deal, how far do you think you're going to get economically?

Where that is part of, that religious patriotism is part of your very, the very fabric of your culture. So in order to experience any kind of prosperity, you have to go along. You have to go along. You had to participate in the worship of Caesar. Consequently, because the Jews turned on them, the Christians in Smyrna got no jobs. They couldn't get work.

Not only that, but they probably were expelled from the trade guilds. You know the trade guilds? You couldn't do this particular trade unless you were part of the guild, so they were expelled. All right? They were pariahs in that society. That's why they were poor.

I can relate to this in this way. In Azerbaijan, the Christians are the poor people because in a Muslim country, they won't give them jobs. If you're identified as a Christian, you don't get jobs. They know what this is about. They know what it means to lose money. They know what it means not to have a job.

That's why we would start out with some of these young people and the next year come back and they couldn't be in class. Why? Because they've gotten a job. You don't throw those things away there. So because of this slander they were poor. Now here's the question for us.

What's the nature of suffering for our congregation? Well we don't have much. We don't suffer like that. We suffer at the most social pressure. And folks, that's tough enough for us right now. How many of us give in to social pressure?

Overseas, one of my teaching partners besides Dave, Dave's the leader, teaching partner was, all right, I'm just going to tell you his name. Get the laughter out of your system right now because you're going to hear about Buffington Powers tonight, okay? Buff is his name, all right? Buff, get it out. Okay, every time I mention his name back home, everybody laughs.

I wish Buff was here, but. Buff one time had a funeral of a guy a young man he was in his early 20s who had committed suicide in Milwaukee He was a rather prosperous successful banker And he had his funeral. For some reason, he had this guy's funeral. Buff didn't know it at the time, but there were tons of CEOs in that service. and of course he went after the toughest issue because he figured everyone's going to be asking this issue.

How can God allow this? Either God is all powerful and not loving or he's loving and he's not powerful and he tackled that in this funeral. And the thing that he said that stuck in my mind was this, there's always a social pressure to compromise the gospel. There's always social pressure to compromise the gospel. There's going to be a price to pay. There's a price to pay for you to remain faithful to the gospel.

It may mean you lose some business. It may mean you lose some friends. I don't know what your particular pressure is. I know one time I preached a funeral in this town, and I was a pariah for a few years here. I'll never forget that. There's always the pressure to compromise.

And Jesus says, you remain faithful to the end. And whatever form the suffering takes, Jesus says, Remain faithful. But notice what else he says. There is nothing to fear. Verse 10, do not fear. Do not fear.

Whatever the suffering is, do not fear. He tells them, and here's the thing, he tells this suffering congregation, it's going to get worse. Do not fear. But by the way, let me tell you, verse 10, it's going to get worse. Some of you, he says to them, in this congregation, will experience not only loss of income, you're going to experience loss of freedom.

Imprisonment is on the horizon. And some of you, implied, are going to experience the loss of life. Some of you are going to die. But do not fear. What? Do not fear.

You just tell us. You come to us, Jesus, and you say, I see your suffering. By the way, you're going to go to prison. Oh yeah, and some of you are going to die Do not fear How would you respond to that Yeah the social pressure is bad right now The next time you preach to him, you're going to die. But don't be afraid. How can he say that?

Here's why. You remain faithful and you won't be fearful if you understand that your suffering happens under the sympathetic eye of Jesus. What does he say? Verse 9. I know. He knows you.

He knows your situation. He knows that you are dust. He knows how much he can. He knows how much he should send your way by way of hardship. Many, many years ago when I was a young pastor, I'd only been a pastor maybe two years, I was at a pastor's meeting. and there was an old pastor who was speaking to us. I don't remember the man's name.

I remember he was a very old man, and this was 20 years ago, over 20 years ago now, so my guess is he's dead because he was already in his 80s. And I remember him saying this. He was relating to us the story of his daughter who had lost a child. And I'll never forget what he said. He said this. as a father shows compassion to his children so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him for he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust as he quoted Psalm 103 to his daughter and then he said to her remember this God will not load these dusty frames with more than they can handle he knows that we are made of dust he's a father who knows your makeup this is jesus he knows us he knows our frame he knows the exact amount of grace we need for the hardship and he knows how much hardship to send your way remember he's walking among the lamb stands of his churches.

And with this understanding, we can remain faithful to the end. Not only that, you'll remain faithful if you understand that this suffering even unto death is a test Isn that what he says Do not fear what you are about to suffer 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. Be faithful unto death, and I'll give you the crown of life.

This suffering, even unto death, is a test. Now remember, Jesus is sovereign. And even the devil in his rebellion and in his hatred of God's people only fulfills Jesus' sovereign plan for us. You know what Martin Luther, that great reformer, once said? Always remember this, that the devil is God's devil. The devil can't do anything that God won't allow.

The devil's efforts to destroy us, in the end, prove to be God's method of testing us. The devil wants to destroy us. and God says, no, in your attempt to destroy my people, it's going to be a test for them. Now some of you remember the test you took in school. Some of you are in school. You remember what that's all about. For some of you, a test was the end of the world.

You studied until you were dizzy. You were tortured with anxiety. You had sleepless nights as you anticipated the test. and guess what? You're alive and sitting here right now. The test did not kill you. I remember in one of my history classes in college, it was Reformation history.

Our professor would give us a list of 10 to 12 questions in which we could look up all the answers, and he says, I'm going to choose two of those. Well, you know, after a while, if you had the professor long enough, you start playing this game. Okay, I'm not going to study that one. because he's not going to ask that one. And that one, no way he's going to ask us that one.

I had a friend of mine named David. We're sitting in there. There's like, I think, 10 of us in this class. We're sitting around the table waiting for the test. The professor hands out the test. And I remember Dave going like this.

He looked down at the question and just went. And he was on the verge of weeping, because he had played that game. and lost. And it was like the end of the world for him because history was his name. You know what? He is alive today and ministering in a church. You know how it is with tests, right?

We think it's the end of the world. It's not, and that's exactly how God wants us to see it. You say, wait a minute, even when the devil is going to try to destroy us and kill us, it's only a test? That's right. That's right. This is not destruction.

It is a test. You will remain faithful to the end if you remember that. Besides, our sovereign says that the test will not last forever. Do you notice he says you're only going to suffer 10 days? What is that all about? What is that all about?

Well, here's what it's about. In the early days of Christianity, and for the Jews as well, they looked to Daniel and his three friends as the model of how to stand persecution when someone was trying to force you to worship another god. And so that was the model. It was part of their fabric of their faith. They looked to Daniel. Now, we read from Daniel chapter 1, Daniel and his friends' first test.

And I don't know if you noticed, but what was mentioned three times in that passage? It was mentioned three times. If you look back at it, you will see ten days mentioned three times. All right? This is an allusion to that. Just like Daniel and his friends had a test for ten days, your test will be ten days.

Ten not literal days, but symbolic of the fact that this is not going to go on forever. This is a short time. And God will control it. So the ten days is symbolic of a definite but short period of testing that results in God's glory. is proclaimed. Isn't that what happened to Daniel? You will not fear but remain faithful if you see suffering as a test that results in the proclamation of the glory of God.

Listen, do you think you'll be ready to face a test if you understand this? There's something bigger than whether I live or die. There's something much greater than me. What is it? The glory of God. If I die and people end up praising God because of my death You think that help you What do you think mate got polycarp through it Do what you will God's going to be glorified.

And what happened? Remember at the end of that narrative what happened? And the multitude marveled at the difference between the unbelievers and the believers. You remain faithful to the end if you understand that suffering can lead to something infinitely better than life itself. What is it? What does the text tell us?

It leads to the crown of life. It leads to eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth. You will remain faithful to the end if you see suffering as a test that results in personal victory and personal reward. There is something infinitely better than life. It is eternal life. some of you he says may not make it out of that prison you may not make it out but you will have the crown of life thirdly you'll remain faithful to the end if you put on the weapons of conquest arm yourself with ear with an ear that hears isn't that what he says he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Listen to what the Spirit says. Take note of it. Now listen, some of you today are probably just sitting there saying, okay, this is a nice development of the passage. I can see that. Nice work. But you're not seeing it as Jesus is telling you today what you must have if you're going to remain faithful to the end.

You don't know what trials come in your way. Pay attention. Pay attention. Don't treat this as nice Sunday sermon. Listen! Remember!

Take note. When I'm in situations where I'm teaching, alright, when I'm teaching and I see people taking notes, now not here, I'm not saying that you have to take notes in a sermon. I'm talking about a different venue altogether. Where I'm teaching and people are going to have to take a test, I notice the students who take notes and those who just kind of sit there.

I can tell you right now who's going to do better in the test. I can tell you right now. I remember when I used to teach out in Montana at the Bible Institute I could tell right away that student that one and that one are going to do well on the test Those three right there they just not interested Arm yourself with ear and ear that hears. Listen carefully to what Jesus says to you today.

Put on the vision of Jesus, the Savior. Put on that vision. If you're going to have weapons of conquest, see Jesus. And then put on the weapon of faith in the promise that Jesus makes. You will not be hurt by the second death. There's something infinitely worse than physical death.

You know what it is? The second death. And when we get to the end of this book, the second death will be identified as this lake of fire that is eternal. Remain faithful to the end, he says, and you will not be hurt by the second death. And then, lastly, you will remain faithful to the end if you get God's perspective. You remain faithful to the end if you get God's perspective.

Remember that this book, we talked about this earlier now, remember that this book gives you reality as God sees it. It gives you the heavenly perspective, the reality behind the appearance. Alright? Now this is what the entire book is intended to do. The entire book is intended to give you reality, not what we see, but what is really true. And there are four of those in this passage here.

What is God's perspective? Here's the first one. what looks like poverty is really wealth. Do you not see that? I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich. To everyone around them, even to themselves, this congregation looks like it has nothing. No material wealth, no good paying jobs, just trying to scrape by.

And you look at that and you think the reality is those people are poor. No! that not the reality that just the appearance from God perspective this congregation is really wealthy In the face of suffering they demonstrated that they possessed incredible spiritual riches They were laying up for themselves treasures in heaven. You can't see those, but they're rich.

They possess great spiritual riches already. As I meditated on this passage, I'm saying, what kind of riches would a suffering congregation have that they possess now? And I started thinking about my Azeri brothers and sisters and the stories I heard from my Romanian friends. And they had things like this. In the face of suffering, they know joy. They know joy.

They're not like we are in America. How's it going? All right, I'm serving God. He's sovereign, you know, but he hasn't given me a job yet. These people know joy in the midst of poverty. They know joy when they don't have money.

They probably knew the riches of fellowship. They had lives that were so intertwined that as you read these descriptions in the Scriptures, for example, of how people are in prison, they would go because they loved them and cared for them and they wouldn't feed them. I know that goes on in Azerbaijan. I don't know if you know that. If you get thrown in prison, the state's not going to feed you.

Unless you have somebody bringing food to you, you're going to starve to death. That's a fact. That's the way it was back then. That's the way it is now. But they knew that fellowship. They knew people loved them.

They knew people cared for them. They no doubt tasted what love for one another was really all about. They had the riches above all of possessing God. They knew God. J.I. Packer in his book Knowing God tells the story of a friend of his who had worked for a PhD.

That's really hard work. And when you get near the end of earning that degree, you write a thesis. And you have to go before an examining committee. And you have to present your thesis. And you have to defend it. And he tells the story of his friend who had worked for years on his PhD.

And he stood before his examining committee. And these guys were not believers in the gospel. And this man would not compromise the gospel. And so they, no PhD for you. After all those years of work, you don't get the degree. And Packer tells about how he was walking with this man and how he was commiserating with him.

And his friend turned to him and said, you don't have to feel sorry for me. You know what? They don't know God. I do. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Is God enough? Is God enough for you? They knew God. Here's another reality beyond the appearance. What looks like the people of God are really the instruments of Satan.

What looks like the people of God are really the instruments of Satan. These Jews believed they were the people of God. They believed they were doing God's work. Yet from God's perspective, what does he say? You're really a synagogue of Satan. What is Satan?

Satan is the accuser of the brethren. And these people were accusing the brethren. They were a synagogue of Satan. Always remember, please understand this, that God's people are determined not genealogically, but Christocentrically. Folks, we need to dispel from our thinking that because you're a Jew, you're God's people. that is not true. The people living in Israel today are not God's people unless they have repented of their wickedness and put their faith in Jesus Christ.

Then they are God's people. Only those who have trusted in Christ are God's people. Jesus goes so far as to call them a synagogue of Satan. That's pretty strong language. But what does that have to do with us? simply this. Do you ever look around and you see what the world would call the church today?

And have you heard these church people saying things like this? You people, pointing at us, you people have distorted the gospel of Jesus because you call divorce sin and you call adultery sin and you call homosexuality sin You distorted the gospel of Jesus Sometimes that's hard to take when it's coming from the church. Who is the church? Who is the church?

You know what? There's many. Listen, folks, there are many. you go out there, you'll see many churches out there that are not churches because they do not believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus. They're right when we call those things sin. They're wrong in the fact that they forget that we also say, and we want to invite you to be reconciled to God and find joy in Jesus.

Thirdly, what looks like defeat is really victory. What looks like defeat is really victory. You're dying. What do you receive? A crown. Your defeat and death by the authority of the Roman crown means victory of life and a rich inheritance.

You overcome the enemy by dying at his hands. Now this is important to see. This is very important to see for us because this is what's going to carry us through the rest of this book. You overcome your enemy by dying at his hands. now how can you say that because that's exactly what happened to Jesus right Jesus said I see Satan falling down from heaven and what follows Jesus dies how is that possible Jesus defeated Satan by dying that's exactly what happened to Jesus he gained the victory over Satan and his opponents by his death.

Lastly, your triumph has been secured by one who appears to have been defeated. Your triumph has been secured by one who appears to be defeated, to have been defeated. Jesus is the first and the last, the sovereign eternal refuge. Now think about that. The one who claims to be your refuge appeared to die as a victim unprotected and vulnerable to the forces arrayed against him Is that not true There is a real There is this famous piece of graffiti from ancient Rome.

Okay? I wish I could find it and put it up here, but I couldn't get it up here, and I couldn't find it, but I remember this. I've seen it in several church history books. It's some graffiti that was written in Rome, and it shows someone with the head of a donkey on a cross. Okay? The head of a donkey on a person who's nailed to a cross and scrawled beneath it says, this is justice's, a guy by the name of Justice, this is justice's God.

Right? Now think about that. When you're nailed to a cross, you're the worst criminal there is. and someone was making fun of this Christian because his God had been nailed to a cross. How stupid. How absolutely, who could worship that? You see, that's the point.

The one who claims to be your refuge looks like a victim. But what is he? by His death. He's the victor. See, God's perspective is much different than the appearance. We think this is the reality when God says, no, that's not the reality. This is what's true.

And if we're going to stay faithful to Jesus, we have to be able to look beyond appearances. We are not the losers. We're the victors. Jesus is not the victim. The victor. And that's the way it is.

So you remain faithful to the end. If instead of seeing what appears to be real, you get God's perspective. So friends, listen to me. When things, and I don't know what's going to happen in this country, I have no idea. I hope we don't suffer persecution. I'm not one of those who says, oh I hope we suffer persecution so we really get strong I think I a wimp I don want that to happen Say Lord let get strong other ways But if God in his sovereign purposes decides to bring persecution on this people, on this congregation, we need to know these things.

We need to know these things. I have no doubt in my mind that all of you here who have embraced Jesus by death want to remain faithful to the end. But faithful to the end will not just happen. You remain faithful as you see Jesus, as you see him for who he really is, the first and the last, who was dead and raised to life. If you understand the nature of suffering, if you arm yourself with the weapons that conquer, and if you see everything from God's perspective, then you'll remain faithful to the end.

If you do that if you do that then you like Polycarp will be able to say bring on then what you will. I will not blaspheme the king who saved me. Father right now this may all seem academic to us. And yet, you've revealed it to us for the purposes that we would remain faithful to you. Father, work that faithfulness in us as we seek to do these things. Lord God, even though we don't suffer like many others in this world, we have our own forms of persecution. would you cause us to seek faithfulness to Jesus even in the midst of the suffering that is ours.

And Father, should you in your sovereign purposes, should you bring us into greater suffering, we pray that we remember what you've told us here in this text. Help us, we pray, for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you.