Revelation chapter 2 verses 8 through 11 and to the angel of the church in Smyrna right these things says the first and the last who was dead and came to life I know your works tribulation and poverty but you are rich I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer indeed the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and that you will have tribulation ten days be faithful until death now we'll give you the crown of life he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches he who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death so we're looking at the letters from Jesus that are found in the book of Revelation chapters 2 and 3 we've already looked at Jesus's first letter a letter that was written to the church in Ephesus and as we saw this was a church that was busy it was known for many good things the Ephesians worked tirelessly they endured pressure they lived with purity they tested teachers and did not become weary doing all of this we saw in verse 4 of chapter 2 that in spite of all these good things Jesus said he had something against them he told them that they had left their first love in other words their love for Jesus had grown into indifference the fire of their first love it slowly started to go out the warmth of their love gave place to traditionalism and traditionalism gave place to orthodoxy and Paul had issued them a warning when he met with the elders well in my leaders Paul had told them that they were going to endure challenges they needed to remain alert I had mentioned this to you before but in Acts chapter 20 verse 28 the Apostle Paul had said guard yourself and God's people feed and tend to God shepherd God's flock his church purchased with his own blood over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders so Jesus had warned them he told them to once again do the first works and the first works are the works that once flowed from their deep love for him Jesus's remedy was found in three words and I mentioned those words to you last time remember repent return so the primary and personal message was not heeded by the church this resulted in the fulfillment of the prophetic because Ephesus the church no longer exists Jesus made it clear if you don't repent I will remove your lamp stand and he said if they didn't repent the church of Ephesus would no longer exist this didn't mean that people lost their salvation but that the church would forfeit its place of being a light and a witness but they didn't repent and the lamp stand was removed from its place one of the commentators I use as I study as a man by the name of Charles Feinberg and Charles Feinberg said Ephesus is a city now wrapped in the mantle of Islam the light of the church has indeed been moved Ephesus tried to make her paradise here on earth and in doing so allowed her love to grow cold you can go to the ruins of Ephesus and that's all you find now is the ruins of Ephesus because the Lord removed the church well today we're gonna look at the second letter we're gonna be looking at a letter to Smyrna so in my introduction I mentioned that each letter has three practical applications you have what is called the primary it has a direct bearing on the churches that are being represented it has the personal each church had people needing to hear what the spirit had to say and you have the prophetic the prophetic would speak of seven stages of the life of the church from Pentecost to the rapture and I also mentioned that Jesus began these letters by first addressing the pastor or the angel of the church Jesus intended to communicate in other words communicate a message to the church and he did it through a letter to the church delivered to them by the pastor what would happen is this a letter would arrive to the church location it would be brought to the pastor and the pastor would read the letter to the church and that's what he did he he sent a letter and the pastor is to deliver that what he did then he continues to do today his message is revealed to his messengers and to the churches his will is revealed through his word as it is accurately taught and that person is empowered by the Holy Spirit you see as a pastor I've been given a charge of proclaiming the truth of God and I'm commanded to carefully present the whole counsel of God and that's because God's word is able to instruct us and to build us up in the Lord Jesus Christ and when Jesus and his word are neglected in the church loves fire begins to go out and that's what happened in the early church that's what happened in Ephesus the prophetic message was not only to the existing church at Ephesus so it was a prophetic warning to the church throughout its history and the warning was don't forget why you were established you were established to bring glory to God and if you drift away from this your lampstand will be removed and that's what took place in Ephesus and it's a warning to us now we look at Smyrna the church of Smyrna the word Smyrna can be translated bitter Smyrna is modern ismer in Turkey it was a prosperous seaport it had a population of around 200,000 it was located just north about 40 miles of the city of Ephesus history doesn't record when the church was planted something that Paul planted the church on his third missionary journey but one thing is certain it was a church under incredible persecution now Jesus had made it clear that the church is to be persecuted and John 15 verse 20 is to remember the word that I said to you the servant is not greater than his Lord if they have persecuted me they will also persecute you so Smyrna received its name from the Hebrew root word that means bitter myrrh is a gummy resin taken from a shrubby tree and myrrh had a bitter taste myrrh was a commercial product of Smyrna which gave the city its name myrrh is used in making perfume it's used to anoint oil for anointing oil for the priests and as well as well as being used for embalming and one of the things interesting about this product myrrh is it needs to be crushed in order to be produced and used for the for anointing and myrrh is exactly what happened to Jesus Christ he was crushed in order that he might as perfume cause a fragrance to come throughout the world Isaiah 53 5 says he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the word bruised in Hebrew means to be crushed the chastisement for our peace was upon him by his stripes we are healed Jesus was crushed is what he's saying and that'll happen also to Smyrna persecution is inevitable persecution is to be expected Paul made it clear that this would happen in the lives of believers in Jesus Christ in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 12 he said yes and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution and Smyrna was receiving this promise from the Lord Smyrna represents the second era of church history from 160 to 312 AD from the emperor Nero to the emperor Diocletian Smyrna was in existence when the church was persecuted by pagan Rome so it represents the suffering church the primary and personal message is occurring persecution is rampant Roman imperial law against Christianity well that was carefully enforced in Smyrna and because of this persecution was severe and was centered in Smyrna the prophetic message informed them that the persecution would continue over time and because the church was persecuted Jesus's self identification is more understandable notice how he began in verse 8 these things says the first and the last who was dead and came to life as mentioned each letter begins with an application of the description of Jesus found in chapter 1 here Jesus identifies as the first and the last who was dead and came to life this letter identifies Jesus as the eternal one he is the eternal God you see John had in his gospel declared this before and John 1 verse 1 he said in the beginning was a word the word was with God and the word was God and John 1 14 he said the word was made flesh dwelt amongst us we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth so Jesus is identified as the first and the last and notice in verse 8 he was dead who was dead he's the one who died he's the one who suffered on the cross so Jesus begins by reminding them that he was persecuted and killed he went through suffering he went through death he understands them he identifies with them Isaiah 53 7 says concerning Messiah he was oppressed and afflicted yet he didn't open his mouth he was led like a lamb to the slaughter as a sheep before a shearers assailant so he did not open his mouth Jesus himself had gone through suffering he died he was rejected completely John told us in John 1 10 and 11 although the world was made through him the world didn't recognize him when he came even in his own land and among his own people he was not accepted in John 15 24 25 Jesus said if I had not done among them the works which no one else did they would have no sin but now they have seen and also hated both me and my father but this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law they hated me without a cause so Jesus Christ suffered and he's pointing that out as he's speaking to the suffering church he says he was dead and he came to life so yes I suffered but I have ultimate victory over death in the grave because Jesus destroyed death and Jesus destroyed his power in 1st Corinthians 15 verse 5 oh death where's your sting oh Hades where is your victory in 2nd Corinthians 13 4 he was crucified through weakness yet he lives by the power of God and that's something we ought to know as a church today don't you think we're alive in Jesus Christ and that's what he's giving us he's giving us hope there's so many people who are afraid right now we have been I believe programmed into fear programmed and it isn't recent it isn't just with the COVID-19 this has been going on for years there's been various things we've been told we're going to die because of dive because of SARS die because of this die because of that we've been told that and people are in fear it's one thing that the church should not be but that's what the church is the church is afraid in many ways but the Bible says oh death where is your sting oh Hades where is your victory we have victory in Jesus Christ and when we go through tough times you know we go through tough times we don't stay there because the Lord Jesus Christ will deliver us one way or another we need to know we're going to triumph and Psalm 60 verse 12 with God we will gain the victory he will trample down our enemies in 1st Corinthians 614 God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power and so we have that trust in the Lord we need to understand that today you see the Roman persecution of the church lasted two centuries in this age the church was crushed and yet yielded a sweet fragrance to God now to the Ephesians Jesus had a word of rebuke they had left their first love but to this church he has no word of rebuke they're under tribulation for their faith in him Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only two churches that received no rebuke from Jesus Christ their trials or persecutions had purified their faith they've remained faithful false believers are not willing to endure affliction and their lack of faith is revealed by that so in the face of affliction trials and persecution the church is remaining strong notice in verse 9 how he says I know your works tribulation and poverty and yet you are rich there were suffering terribly they were experiencing terrible poverty the word poverty means just that it speaks total poverty there may have been economic sanctions that had been opposed upon them by the Roman government they also may very well have been robbed of all their goods while they were undergoing persecution in Hebrews chapter 10 verses 32 through 35 the writer says remember those earlier days after you had received the light when you stood your ground in a new in a great contest in the face of suffering sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution at other times you said side-by-side with those who were so treated you sympathize with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions so do not throw away your confidence it will be richly rewarded so to the suffering church the word comes out hold fast to the end you see sometimes hardship hits those who are pursuing the Lord with the greatest commitment when they're hurt they begin to wonder where God is and why is this happening well in spite of the opposition and persecution they remained faithful to God persecution did not quiet their service to him in 1st Thessalonians 1 4 through 7 Paul said we know brothers love by God that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction you know how we lived among you for your sake you became imitators of us and of the Lord in spite of severe suffering you welcome the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit and so you became a model to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia they had gone through a lot of trouble and yet they remain firm well that's what's taking place in Smyrna notice verse 9 Jesus speaks of their works their tribulation their economic poverty though you're impoverished you're rich for your faith has been purified and your love for Jesus has grown stronger it's like what it says in James 2 verse 5 listen my dear brothers has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him so Jesus says in spite of your financial poverty you're rich your life is based on something deep or something of more value something that is permanent you know we it's not that it's wrong for us to to desire to have something that's nice for a man perhaps a car you know for your home perhaps a nice pool whatever they haven't I there's there's nothing wrong in those things I you know when our church first began and I was a younger man coming out of the hippie background anytime I said things like that I had to be careful to qualify that because people thought why you hippies were all the same you don't you didn't like material things and and all that was part of the hippie philosophy but that's not what I'm talking about now I'm not a hippie I haven't been a hippie for 50 years what I'm talking about is when you have your treasures and you lay them up on earth and some people unfortunately do that the goal in this life is the attention of men the glory from men or material things and that's not the Christian thing it's not that we can't have a nice vehicle I hope you do have one it's not that you can't have a nice home live I hope you do have one a great job may God bless you with that none of that is is what I'm talking about when I'm and I'm talking about what Jesus is speaking about is the fact that they had lost everything except their faith they held fast to him no matter what they didn't expect their heaven here on earth they weren't like the Ephesians church you thought that earth was to be their paradise because they had something that was laid up for them and they knew that you see in Ephesians 1 7 and 8 it says in him in Jesus we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding and Ephesians 1 18 Paul went on to say I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints you see you've laid up treasures in heaven and then Jesus had said in Matthew 6 19 through 21 do not store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy where thieves break in and steal store up yourself treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also you see the promise and the hope of heaven gave them strength in Colossians 3 verse 1 if then you were raised with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God and so he's encouraging them because they have helped fast and they've gone through much but the remaining faithful to him notice how he says in verse 9 I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews but are not they're really a synagogue of Satan when he says blasphemy he's speaking of certain Jews not all who were using malicious slander to incite persecution no less than 23 instances of opposing Jesus are found in the book of Acts Jewish resistance to the Christian faith is found throughout that book from the beginning of the church to the closing chapter for example Acts chapter 2 verse 13 reveals the mocking of believers that's when Pentecost had happened and the people were mocking him from the beginning all these people are drunk is what they were saying in Acts chapter 4 verses 2 and 3 those verses reveal priests temple officials and and the Sadducees were upset at the preaching of the resurrection and Acts chapter 4 verse 18 and well that portion records how Peter and John were commanded to stop preaching and Acts chapter 5 verses 17 and 18 the high priests and Sadducees put them in prison for ministry and you can go through 23 different instances where that took place these are the things that continue to this day these are the things that the church is continuing to be mocked for to this day they say to us don't be preaching that you shouldn't be preaching at all close all of your churches you know you're allowed to riot and protest you're allowed to get a tattoo and get drunk at a bar but you're not allowed to worship Jesus Christ and that's why we say no you know we're gonna we're gonna preach the gospel we're gonna live for Jesus Christ and we're gonna live for him openly that's why we do this opposition isn't new you see Jewish opposition to the gospel was very strong Paul himself before he was converted was breathing out threatening against the believers and he persecuted them severely when speaking of his former life in his testimony Paul made it clear that that he hated Christians he was speaking to a king by the name of a grippa it's in Acts 26 9 through 11 and he said to him indeed I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth this I also did in Jerusalem and and many of the saints I shut up in prison having received authority from the chief priests and when they were put to death I cast my vote against them and I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme and being exceedingly enraged against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities persecution it began in the early church it began with the mocking and went on to the physical it went on to imprisonment and went on to martyrdom and that kind of resistance and that kind of persecution became common again in 1st Thessalonians 2 verses 14 through 16 Paul said it like this he said for you brothers became imitators of God's churches in Judea which are in Christ Jesus you suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out they displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved in this way they always heap up their sins to the limit the wrath of God has come upon them at last now in Smyrna some influential Jews were poisoning the people against Christians now Christians were already dealing with various accusations remember with me the Romans considered believers disloyal because they would not acknowledge Caesar as Lord Christians would not burn incense before his image they would not say Caesar is Lord and because Christians been at night they also were accused of plotting to overthrow the government not only that but Christians were considered atheists because they rejected Rome's many gods Christians were falsely accused of cannibalism because they had communion incest because brothers married Christian sisters disruption of business for interfering with the sales of idols anti-family because of their loyalty to Jesus they were accused of causing natural disasters because they would not worship the Roman gods so when bad things happen Christians were blamed and because they did not attend festivals and pagan events they were self-righteous and anti-social so some influential Jews living in Smyrna rejected Jesus and began to attack his followers Jesus called them the synagogue of Satan because they were opposing God by attacking the church they were doing Satan's will notice in verse 9 Jesus says that they say they're Jews he said but they are not they were racially Jewish being physical descendants of Abraham but Jesus says they're not truly Jews they may be physical descendants but they're not spiritual descendants and that's because they don't have faith in Jesus Christ in Romans chapter 2 verses 28 29 it says he's not a Jew who is one outwardly nor a circumcision that which is outward in the flesh he's a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that which is of the heart by the spirit not by the letter and his praise is not from men but from God they may have racially been Jewish but spiritually they were pagans and though they had been enduring persecution Jesus prepares them for more to come look at verse 10 do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer indeed the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and you will have tribulation 10 days be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested you're gonna reveal the reality of your faith to the suffering that you're about to endure and you will endure this attack in 1st Peter 1 6 and 7 Peter said in this you greatly rejoice so now for a little while if need be you've been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ you are going to have your faith test tested but in Christ you will be victorious in Psalm 66 verses 10 through 12 you oh God have tested us you have refined us as silver is refined you brought us into the net you laid affliction on our backs you have caused men to ride over our heads we went through fire and through water but you brought us out to rich fulfillment you know when you get saved you begin to think that every day is gonna be a great day don't you I mean when I first got saved I thought oh boy this is great the weight of my sin has been rolled off of my shoulder I can now walk with some joy and we say pep in your step you know I can I have energy and new vitality and new sense of purpose you know and I thought it was great we were in the midst of what was called a revival we're in the midst of a Jesus movement and and people were beginning to say well those hippies in all of that that young there's there's hope for the young people and all and all of that that didn't last the whole time though that was at the beginning and eventually you begin to see opposition it and then ultimately you get the angry people and and you begin to endure some things that really test your faith and you begin to go through temptations that that really put you to the test and you you begin to have people reject you and people say things about you and before you know it you you can begin to wonder is this is it true is this all real how come these things are going on and yet we forget because we haven't yet learned these things how that God uses affliction to try us to test us to refine us and to build us up how that he teaches us what love is because we say we want to love and and and we say we love everybody and and all of that and then but we really don't know what that means and then one day we realize that we don't love everybody especially if we're married and then what happens is you ask the Lord to to train you in these things Lord what are you teaching me through these things you know at one time I seem to be popular one time people liked me at one time they'd ask me out at lunch or sit down and have eat a meal with them or whatever and Lord these things aren't happening anymore how come my family has turned against me how come how come my brother and my sister don't seem to to want to have anything to do with it what is wrong with me and you can go through these things and these are minor things these are minor things Jesus and Matthew 711 spoke about about about the persecution and only said that people were going to revile you people were going to persecute you and people were going to say all manner of things falsely against you for his sake three various ways that persecution was going to be experienced by us they were they were going to revile you they'd speak to you face to face and they'd say something to you they say I don't like you what happened to you you changed what happened to you they'll say it to your face then sometimes persecution which takes physical form sometimes people might actually physically attack you and then or they may say all manner of evil against you behind your back they say it falsely for his sake these are three basic things that do happen and Jesus said it in Matthew 711 this is going to take place and you begin to experience those things and you begin to wonder why is this going on and the Lord says because I'm refining your faith I'm giving you opportunity to walk away I'm giving opportunity to make a decision whether or not you really follow me because a person who doesn't know the Lord is going to be one of these people who who are doing fine until opposition comes like Jesus said in Matthew 13 concerning the so we're in the seed and when opposition comes because of Jesus and his word then people fall away and it just reveals that they didn't have a genuine faith in him everybody's faith is tested all of you every believer in this room you know this I'm not telling you something you don't know all of us are tested every one of us go through struggles it may be your mom it may be your dad it may be your grandmother it may be your brother a sister it may be a co-worker or a neighbor it may be somebody that you encounter at the store there was a time guys when in the Jesus movement and all and I know that's a long time ago but in the Jesus movement and all that you actually were almost quote unquote almost proud to be identified with Christ people would look at you and they'd wonder and they'd want to talk to you it was very rich time of harvesting people's souls for Jesus Christ but those days are pretty much gone and now when you openly say I believe in righteousness when you openly say things that that the world doesn't agree with you find yourself on on the short end of an argument and you say no that really doesn't happen then you must not have a job you must not be working you must not have neighbors or friends or your family you must not you must live by yourself because indeed that does happen go on the job site tomorrow and talk about what people today are calling conservative things it's not conservative it's biblical it's spiritual we're talking about spiritual things tell somebody that you believe that a man should marry a woman and see what happens tell somebody tomorrow you know what I don't believe that there is 187 or whatever genders there's a male and female god do that and see what happens see what happens no it is so subtle today that many of us have become silent many of us don't want to start an argument because we're not supposed to argue right well the world continues to push its agenda on the church and the church remains silent and yet Jesus didn't tell me to be silent he said I'm supposed to speak up and if you don't speak up who's going to you remember when Isaiah when when the Lord said who will go for us remember Isaiah when Isaiah said uh send him Lord no he said here am I Lord send me use me you know you don't have to be Billy Graham to be effective you just need to be open and love Jesus to be effective don't be afraid of their faces God told Jeremiah don't be afraid of the opposition be wise and don't go out and pick fights but be willing to stand up for righteousness but when you do I promise you you will pay the price and if you haven't yet you will open your mouth you'll pay a price that's just the way it is that's just the way it is no Jesus well enough to speak for him no his word well enough to quote it no him and walk in his power because in these last days the church is being silent but it's time for the church to open its mouth there have been too many people in the closet we have to and again I'm not saying that we need to go out and start fights and be pugnacious what I'm saying is just be willing to speak even when you feel that the person so opposing and so intellectual and so eloquent and all that you're going to look stupid you know I'll be honest with you um God says open your mouth and I will fill it and and and I believe that he does if you fill yourself with his word out of the abundance of your heart the mouth will speak and when you begin to speak yeah Jesus said give no thought concerning the things that you're going to say because he said at that moment the Lord it'll be the spirit of my father who speaks through you there are times in the Holy Spirit will work through you and you'll be sharing and it's just a moment it's a nugget of truth and you walk away saying that was God God did that and you give him all the glory because you simply trusted him and open your mouth on his behalf yes we're going to suffer persecution yes we're going to go through things yes we are right now there's no doubt about that the church is going under tremendous pressure right now and the Lord is speaking that first he's saying that to the church of that day but prophetically it speaks to us he says in verse 10 you will have tribulation 10 days now the devil initiated persecution in other words it endures for some time but it is limited some commentators take the 10 days literally and say that this church actually endured 10 straight days actual days they say that the attack was intense but it was brief but others think that this speaks of the 10 Roman persecutions that were enacted by 10 Roman emperors you had the persecution enacted under Nero in 54 AD a persecution under demission in 81 Trajan in 98 Antoninus in 117 Severus in 193 Maximum in 235 Desius in 249 Valerian in 254 Aurelian in 270 and Diocletian and from 284 to 312 10 official Roman persecutions it's estimated that from AD 64 to AD 3 312 6 million Christians were persecuted to the death Christianity today I was looking at this just this week Christianity today estimates that there have been over 70 million martyrs since the time of Jesus Christ in 2017 Gordon Cornwell Theological Seminary said that over 900,000 were martyred over the last 10 years over 90,000 died for their faith in 2016 at a rate of one Christian per six minutes under Roman rule Christians were expected to burn a pinch of incense to Caesar this was to show their loyalty to the government but believers refused to do so even though it was only a pinch part of the problem was that as they burned the incense they would have to call the emperor the emperor Dominus which means lord if you refuse to repeat the pledge and burn the incense you were both an enemy of the state and a hater of the gods and you were put to death so one thing we need to remember Rome was not atheistic Rome was religious Rome recognized a great diversity of faiths the reason Christianity was persecuted is because Christians would not recognize other faiths but instead insisted there was one true faith and the reason for Rome's persecution of the church was that Christians proclaimed that Christ was an authority that was higher than that of Rome and its emperor and Rome would not tolerate it and Rome still doesn't by the way polycarp the the bishop of Smyrna was a pupil of the apostle John and he died a martyr's death we were at Smyrna I might have mentioned this to you I don't know if I have we were at Smyrna and they have a small chapel in this place in Izmir Turkey Smyrna the original buildings and all that were dedicated to Christ have long been destroyed but there was a building there a chapel that sat maybe a hundred no more than 150 people and they had a platform and some steps that you could take two or three steps to get to the platform and then around the the platform were steps and I was there with several friends with pastor Chuck and my pastor Chuck Smith and um Raul Reese and I Raul and I were sitting next to each other on the steps over here I can tell you we're on Chuck's left side just sitting there and I was watching my pastor Chuck as he was teaching in a chapel in Smyrna teaching this particular portion of scripture and afterwards Raul and I were talking this is about 30 years ago we're talking and both of us had tears in our eyes as you said does that not remind you of what it was like when we were young believers and pastor Chuck would teach and we would sit because there were so many young people we couldn't even get into the church we had to find places to sit there were so many people and so we sat on the steps and Raul must have done that in the past I had seen that done I always got there on time to get a chair and we started to tear up talking about that watching pastor Chuck and as Chuck taught this passage and he spoke about polycarp polycarp was the bishop of Smyrna he was a pupil as I mentioned of the apostle John but polycarp died a martyr's death in Smyrna it's recorded when ordered to recant his faith he said I have served the Lord for 86 years he has never wronged me how then can I blaspheme my king and savior for refusing to honor Caesar and burn incense to him he was tortured and his body was burned many years ago I had the opportunity to go to India I've gone to India twice I've ministered in India on two different occasions I've spent a month in India I don't talk about that a lot it's been a long time but I was there in India and while I was in India doing ministry and one of the church's churches that were at there was they had a time set in in the church services for testimonies and I'll never forget how people would come out of the the congregation and stand up behind a microphone and and would speak and this one woman in particular I'll always remember because her her face was bruised she had a black eye and face was very bruised as she gave testimony hell she just this week she said was sharing with her husband about Jesus and he beat her up and they actually have testimony not for I was once lost and now I'm found they have testimony time for what happened to you this week as a Christian and person after person after person in the small church got up speaking about how they were beaten or how rocks were thrown at them or the violence that had been perpetrated against them one after another after another and you talked to Christians and they say I I've had some real persecution really what happened yeah I went to get my nails done and they didn't come out the right color my car wouldn't start you know and I'm on man's Satan's after me and that's really true though you know that and I do that sometimes we minimize what real persecution is or a real difficulty is we we it's so small to an American these people have it as part of their their weekly services so your turn come up what happened to you this week this woman's my husband beat me up there she is with her mouth swollen her face bruised for telling him about Jesus Christ I met a my I met a guy in in India I had him at the church many years ago now his name was Moses Paulus and Moses came and spoke to the church and he was sharing some things with us and then later I asked how's he doing and Moses had been invited he was an evangelist he'd been invited there in India to go and speak in a particular village their village is everywhere and he was invited to go to a particular village and as he went to the village he and his son he had a young son at that time it was actually a trap they had invited him so they could kill him and so he went to the village this is a true story I'm not making this up for effect I'm just speaking about persecution and it does happen and he came to the village and they took these rods and they beat him and they beat his son so severely that he he was hospitalized but what happened is they tied him to a tree in the center of town tied him in his son took these rods and beat them and sent for the skinner the skinner is just that they take a sharp knife and they peel your skin off of you and let you die a slow and agonizing death there are actually people who do that and they sent for this guy they called the skinner but they couldn't find him so instead of having them skinned alive they beat them severely to the point of hospitalization and told them don't you ever come back to this village again and they take into the hospital and took them weeks for him to finally heal up and when Moses was healed well enough to move he went back to the village to bring the gospel to them because he had he knew that God had called him to preach the gospel there so he went back all of this is a true story when they walked in he walked in and his son the villagers came running to him now what would you think if people were running out here we go again they came running to him but this time they had a different tone in their voice we have been waiting for you we have been waiting for you is what they told them because the tree that they had tied him to was the oldest tree in the village it was where they did their pagan sacrifices and offerings and after he had been beaten tied to that tree the tree had died and the villagers said we have angered this man's god we need to find out how to take his anger off of us and they were waiting until Moses came back and when Moses came back he said this is how and preached the gospel to this village with all of them turning to faith in Jesus Christ because God has a way of using these things now I if I were Moses I'd say well you know send somebody else Lord my son's younger than me he survived too no these things happened man I was in China in Beijing we smuggled Bibles in that's the story in and of itself we brought in suitcases of Bibles because we Americans have so many Bibles we we have one in one room and another in that room China they don't have any Bibles and they have an official religion there but they don't recognize evangelical churches in the way that America does and so they have the state church and so they don't have Bibles they'll have a church of several hundred and don't they'll have one Bible and what they'll do in these places is they will actually take books of the Bible and they slice them out of the church and they distribute the 66 books to members of the church and the pastor will contact that person and say I'm teaching out of this passage this week and they will bring the Bible that they have so the pastor has the word of God then they take it and smuggle it back that's what takes place in this wonderful place called China it was taking place there when we smuggled Bibles and we have people saying where you smuggling Bibles in because they don't have the word of God they need the word of God and we brought it in and as we brought it into Beijing and we deliver the Bibles I'll never forget the people who are picking up the suitcases that had the Bibles in them and I won't go into any more detail than that and then what happened is they're crying there were people standing there looking at the suitcases weeping why because we had brought the word of God to them and it left an impulse imprint on my heart that I've never forgotten them and they walked away crying putting their Bibles so they could distribute these Bibles to people who didn't have the word of God and I had an appointment set up with a man who had been imprisoned for many years I can give his name now it was a code name they called him Panda and I went to a particular park in Beijing at about nine or ten at night with one of the guys they brought me there we sat in the dark of a park in Beijing in a park and just sat on a park bench next to this man I just sat next to him and he had his interpreter the guy who was with us and he began to tell me his story as I'm just sitting there in the dark in Beijing and he begins to say that he was a preacher of the gospel he had seven children obviously it was illegal to have as many kids as he did but he did and he said I was imprisoned for preaching the gospel he said and he spent over 20 plus years in prison for being a preacher of the gospel he says every one of my children that I that I had a chance to influence are all followers of Christ today but the youngest child he said never had my influence in his life and he's never followed Jesus and he told me his story what was his crime being a preacher of the gospel when you think that the persecution of the church only happened during Rome days it's happening now there are thousands are dying and I do believe this though it's a mild form at this moment the United States is unleashing the spirit of the evil one is unleashing a persecution because some of us are intimidated to speak the truth because of the backlash that happens you know what I'm saying is true you know what I'm saying is true well I would say something but I don't like them getting mad at me guess what Jesus said they're going to revile you he said they will speak behind your back he said they will physically attack you do we think we're the one church in history the one era that will be exempt from this no it's just that we have become complacent here in the united states so used to having the freedom of speech that we think it's a man given right no it's a god given right and we speak because god gives us the right to speak we need to understand that we need to understand that and that's what took place then and Jesus is speaking in a prophetic sense it's going to happen now you see faithfulness is rewarded he said by a crown of life why because glory outlasts the pain it's one of the crowns that is possible to be awarded to believers there are different crowns mentioned in scripture the crown of righteousness for living a godly life the crown of glory for being a faithful shepherd the crown of gold which is the evidence of redemption the crown of rejoicing and the incorruptible crown for self-control and the race of life and this is the crown of life rewarded to believers because the glory outlasts the pain and you receive this crown Jesus is saying because that is a result of genuine faith in me do not fear any of these things which are you're about to suffer indeed the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and you will have tribulation 10 days be faithful until death i will give you the crown of life he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches he who overcome shall not be hurt by the second death you have eternal life because of Jesus Christ remain strong remain open remain faithful do not be afraid and one of these days you'll look into the face of Jesus and he'll say to you well done my good my faithful servant and i'm telling you that's all that matters when you hear those words keep that in mind today guys keep that in mind well done my good my faithful servant i want to hear those words and i think so do you don't you to hear the words of christ my good my faithful servant and that's what god has called us to don't be afraid


A memorable experience for the little ones, as the sub-region stop swimmers made a splash at the Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre in St Lucia for the 30th OECS swimming championship held on the weekend. The event has not only made the competitive watermark but has also made a significant contribution to the island's hospitality sector. Well, this is a great example of sports tourism. There's 400 persons in St Lucia, swimmers and family and relatives, so it means that the rental companies for vehicles are smiling right now, it means the hotels, these individuals are smiling. As a matter of fact, in my conversation with the president of the St Lucia Aquatic Federation, Eddie Hazel, a few nights ago, they were scrambling to find additional Airbnbs for persons who are in St Lucia for the swimming event and so the benefits are there. With limited air transport within the sub-region, ELIF and accommodation for teams posed a serious challenge for the St Lucia Aquatics Federation. As a major post-COVID event, the swimming championships not only generated high interest but would inevitably come at a cost. In our discussions with the Ministry of Tourism, St Lucia Tourist Board and all the stakeholders, they are now requesting from us a two-year application to send to them if we have to host any games. Now we're still in the forefront of hosting Carifter, but now we have to make the application to all the hotels, all the guest houses, all the Airbnbs, two years in advance to actually book rooms because it was a real eye-opener and it was a real challenge for us to do so. The atmosphere at the event, though competitive, proved exciting and fun for parents, coaches and kids who were not camera shy as they danced to music and cheered the teams. I believe swimming, they have a culture of parental involvement and I really want that emulated in other sports and so you would see a bumper crowd at the Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre featuring parents and family relatives of the swimmers and the support Team Antigua and Barbuda eventually emerged as winners of the 30th OECS Swimming Championships and are set to host the event next year in the Twin Island Nation. Marvin St. Louis reporting from the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports.