By Editor Bob Terry
It cost a lot to be Christian in Smyrna (the modern-day city of Izmir, Turkey). Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, was burned alive because of his faith in the Lord. When urged to deny Jesus and live, the revered leader said, “Eighty and six years have I served Him and He has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”
When the soldiers came to bind him to the stake on which he would die, Polycarp protested, assuring them that he would not run away but would gladly die a martyr’s death. His hands were instead bound behind his back and as the flames blazed around him Feb. 23 in A.D. 155, Polycarp sang praises to God.
Earlier Ignatius, the bishop of Antioch (the capital of ancient Syria that is now a city in Turkey), passed through Smyrna on his way to be fed to the wild beasts in Rome’s Forum. He and Polycarp, both disciples of the apostle John, spent time together encouraging each other.
Ignatius had stood before the Roman Emperor Trajan and boldly declared, “For there is but one God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that are in them and that one Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.”
For his insolence, Trajan sentenced him “to be devoured by the beasts (of Rome), for the gratification of the people.” When the sentence was announced, Ignatius cried out, “I thank you, O Lord, that You have vouchsafed to honor me with a perfect love towards You and has made me to be bound with iron chains, like Your Apostle Paul.”
Before either man died, Jesus warned the church at Smyrna through the “beloved disciple,” the apostle John, about what was ahead. Unlike all the other letters to the churches recorded in the Book of Revelation, there was no indictment of Smyrna. Instead Jesus went directly to the church’s circumstances.
Jesus said, “I know your afflictions” (Rev. 2:9). He confirmed that members of the church were about to suffer and be put in prison and that some would die (v. 10). Yet the Lord never said He would lighten their load.
Instead He urged faithfulness, even unto death.
The church had already experienced confiscation of property. Domitian, during his 15 years as emperor, had commanded that every citizen burn incense to the emperor and declare “Caesar is Lord” under penalty of death.
But instead of killing all who refused, he confiscated the property of some. The writer of Hebrews referenced this in Hebrews 10:34.
By worldly standards, the Christians in Smyrna lived in poverty, which Jesus acknowledged (Rev. 2:9) while assuring them they were rich. As Romans 5:3–4 teaches “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Add slander by the community to afflictions and poverty, and the conditions of the Christians at Smyrna were miserable indeed. Yet Jesus told the church it could endure. The term “ten days” (Rev. 2:10) is a Semitic saying meaning “a short time,” even if the amount of time is not defined.
Some would die, Jesus said, but all who were faithful, even unto death, would receive the crown of life.
Fast-forward to today. Look at the number of Baptist church members who seldom, if ever, join together for worship and praise. Look at the nearly 25 percent of church members who attend once or twice a month. What do you think might happen to them if they lived in Smyrna? What might Jesus say to them? Would their eternal reward be a crown of life?
Look at Baptist Christians caught up in a church disagreement, perhaps a church split. The experience has been difficult and disillusioning. Some have acted in ways not becoming of a Christian. In the wake of the disagreement, there is hurt. Some have been the target of gossip and the victims of slander.
Oftentimes such experiences lead Christians to find another fellowship of believers among whom they can worship God and grow in His grace. Too often, Christians who walk the journey of a ruptured fellowship simply withdraw. They drop out of church entirely, and the disciplines of the Christian life fade from their practice. What if these Christians lived in Smyrna with its afflictions and persecution, with its poverty and want, with its slander and ill will? Would withdrawing from the church in the face of disagreement reflect faithfulness, even unto death?
Look at those Baptists who are regular in attendance but marginal in commitment to the cause of Christ. What would it be like if these lived in Smyrna?
None of us can know what we would do if we lived in the place of afflictions that could result in death. Yet many Christians today live in such places. Communist governments still try to stamp out the good news of Jesus Christ. Radical Muslims and Hindus, among others, still regularly persecute — even kill — believers. Misguided secularism slanders those who practice a Christian worldview.
For Christians living under these circumstances, the story of the church in Smyrna is not just a history lesson. It is a day-to-day reality.
The Bible teaches the doctrine of once saved, always saved, and the kind of salvation envisioned in the Bible is the kind of salvation that perseveres to the end, the kind of salvation evidenced in Smyrna, where the Christians were faithful, even unto death.
Even though most of us do not live in a place like Smyrna, that is still the kind of salvation Jesus expects us to evidence every day and in every situation.
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