The church in the ancient city of Smyrna was a church that experienced very, very intense persecution from two groups, one from a group called the Judaizers, which were Jews that were hostile to this new sect called Christians, but then also from the Roman Empire.

One of the most well-known stories of early Christian martyrdom was the pastor, a man named Polycarp. It's one of my favorite stories.

Polycarp was a bold, courageous senior saint that was personally

disciples by the Apostle John and left as a pastor of the church here in Smyrna.

The emperor Marcus Aurelius threatened Polycarp at the point of death to confess that, quote,

Caesar was Lord, but Polycarp being a man who had walked faithfully with his God for many decades,

refused and gave up his life. His final words are recorded as he burned to death at the stake,

confessing that Jesus was Lord. 80 and six years I have served my Lord Jesus and he has done me no wrong yet.

How then could I blaspheme my king and my Savior?

This was a church that looked poor in the eyes of the world, but in the eyes of Jesus Christ,

he said they were rich and wealthy because of their firm foundation of faith in the Lord Jesus himself.

So interestingly, on paper, this would look like a church you wouldn't want to be part of.

But this is the only church in the book of Revelation that Jesus does not say a single negative word to.

He simply cheers them on in their firm, bold faith,

urging them to stand firm in their faith even unto the point of death.

Hey, welcome everybody. Glad you're here. Welcome to Laypoint. Welcome to those of you to join us online all over campuses as well. Hey, we're going to be in Revelation chapter two today. So if you've got a Bible, you want to turn to that. This is the last book of the Bible. Or you've got an app that you use. Or we're going to put it on the screens as well. We can all kind of track along together. My name is Bro, by the way, and I get to be a part of the teaching team here.

It's one of the great privileges of my life. And I love all kinds of music. The presets in my

truck are worship music, smooth jazz, classic rock, Motown R&B, I got blues, I got New Country,

I got 90s country, I got Bluegrass, I got the crooner station,

I got old school hip hop rap.

They say that music is the universal language.

That's what they say.

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