Over the past year we have watched as details have trickled out concerning the apparent reality the IRS targeted conservative political groups, likely having a significant impact on the 2012 presidential election. Two years’ worth of Lois Lerner’s emails mysteriously vanished – the two critical years in fact that are at the heart of the scandal. Related to this political targeting was the intentional auditing of many Christianorganizations such as Samaritans Purse, The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association andFocus on the Family. Increasingly Christians are experiencing various forms of persecution right here in this nation which was founded upon a strong belief in God and Christian ideals of morality. However, to date, Christians in America are experiencing nothing when compared to what is going on around the globe.
In recent days we have learned of terrible atrocities taking place in Iraq as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) forces have Christians retreated into the mountains in order to escape those who seek to take their lives. Indescribable pictures of horror posted on the internet of the martyrdom of some of these believers can only be understood in Satanic terms. The U.S. government has delivered emergency food and water to these refugees, clinging to and prayerful for their very lives.
According to a study by Regent University, nearly 164,000 Christians worldwide were martyred for their faith in 1999. In 2000, that number had risen to nearly 165,000. With each passing year, the number of Christians who face death for their belief increases worldwide. In America, we have largely been sheltered from the atrocities taking place in much of the world, particularly in Islamic countries. It has been estimated that since A.D. 70, over 70 million Christians have been put to death for refusing to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ.
In Revelation 2, Jesus addressed the church at Smyrna, which came to be referred to as the “persecuted” church. His words were primarily words of comfort to this distraught congregation. He assures these believers that He knows what they are going through, while at the same time encourages them to keep it all in perspective. He reminds them of their need to view what they are going through in the broader picture of the reality that all suffering is only temporary and that He has already overcome this world and the worst that Satan-emboldened mankind can inflict.
Their “tribulation” (pressure) was real and very difficult, but it was only, in essence, for a moment. In Acts 14:22 we read “We must through many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God.” In John 16:33 Jesus comforts by telling his listeners “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
The pagans, along with unbelieving Jews, were making things miserable for the church at Smyrna. Jesus even refers to their ungodly collaborative efforts in 2:9 as “a synagogue of Satan.” The accusations hurled against the church were distortions of truth designed to pervert reality. Believers were accused of cannibalism based on a misguided understanding of the Christian celebration of the Lord’s Supper; sexual immorality based on failure to properly understand the “holy kiss” believers greeted one another with upon meeting; breaking up homes since there was often turmoil in households when one spouse became a Christian and the other did not;political disloyalty as Christians would not offer the required sacrifices to the emperor; and even atheism as believers worshiped a God others did not understand or could not see and refused to worship the much more well-known pantheon of deities. With hopes of ultimately destroying Christianity completely, some of Smyrna’s wealthy influential Jews reported these blasphemous false allegations to the Romans. Public opinion was poisoned against Christians.
Persecution reached its peak around 50 or 60 years after Jesus addressed the church at Smyrna in Revelation 2 when the church’s pastor, Polycarp was burned at the stake after refusing to renounce his faith in Christ; instead boldly reaffirming his Christian commitment.
Jesus Christ offers hope to the Smyrna church by reminding them that death is a doorway that all will go through, but also that avoiding the “second death” is something one must strive for at all costs. Through the doorway leading to this second death is unspeakable misery, pain, and torment for all of eternity. For believers there is the promise of a “rich” inheritance. He reminded his followers in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
The perspective of all believers must be the perspective advocated by the Lord. Even in the darkest and most difficult hours of life, God is still alive and in control. We should not waste time fearing earthly persecution from the IRS, the state, or any of the other fiery darts of the evil one; not even earthly death itself. But we are to make sure to avoid the sobering reality of the “second death.” God loved the local church at Smyrna and he loves His church today. We can be encouraged that if we place our faith and trust in Him, we need not fear anything that comes our way!
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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