{SEVEN CHURCHES} #3

 {SEVEN LETTERS}  

The Attractiveness of Suffering_ 

Revelation 2:8-11 

 
In the year AD 177 persecution broke out against the Christians living in what is today the French city of Lyon. Christianity had raised the suspicions and hatred of the Roman bureaucrats who governed the city. The vicious persecution that raged, touched Christians at every level of society. After the persecution subsided, church father Irenaeus, arranged for a letter to be written to Christians in other parts of the Roman Empire describing the faithfulness of the martyrs... 

We can’t even begin to put into words, much less describe in detail, the magnitude of the persecution here: how the pagans raged so terribly against the saints, and how the blessed martyrs endured so patiently... To begin with, they nobly endured all the abuse the whole mob collectively piled on: screaming at them, punching them, dragging them through the streets, plundering their homes, stoning them, locking them up, and everything else a savage horde loves to inflict on a despised enemy. 

 
[Group discussion starter] Have you heard stories, through the media, in recent times about Christians being persecuted and even killed for their faith? 
What did you do about it? Try to find out more? Pray for them? Nothing? 

 

The church at Smyrna was under persecution for their faith. As Jesus speaks to them men and women, he reminds them that he is greater than any suffering – greater even than death... 
 

 
[Read Revelation 2:8-11] 
 

 

In verse 8, what are the descriptions Jesus gives himself, and why would these be an encouragement to a suffering church? 

 

What does Jesus know about the Christians in Smyrna? 

 

Do you find it comforting or disturbing to realise that Jesus knows about you and the circumstances of your life so completely? 
Explain. 

Even though the church in Smyrna was marked by poverty, Jesus declares them to be rich (verse 9). How would you explain that apparent contradiction? 
 

 

How do you measure your own economic and financial standing? 

 

The Jewish people were exempt from offering worship to the Roman emperor and, as long as Christians were under the Jewish umbrella, they were also exempt.  
Now, however, some of the Jews were denouncing Christians to the Roman authorities, which resulted in the persecution of Christians. Those who work against Jesus are working in harmony with Jesus’ enemy, Satan, even if they don’t directly realise it.  
Why does Jesus say that the Jews who slander Christians “say they are Jews and are not” (verse 9)? 

 

 

In verse 10, who does Jesus identify as the true enemy in persecution, and how does God use that suffering in a believer’s life? 

 

How does it benefit the Christians to say, “You will suffer persecution for ten days”? 

 

Jesus then adds a startling command: “Be faithful, even to the point of death.” 
Why does Jesus alone have the authority to give that command to his followers? 

 

 

What does Jesus promise to those who are faithful until death? 

 

Is that reward worth death to you? 
Why or why not?