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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000668S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B668 - Smyrna: The Faithful Church 00:20 Dr. Byrd: We want to get in the word of God now. 00:23 I want to invite you to take your bibles, take your bibles with me 00:26 and turn to Revelation chapter 2 verse number 8. 00:31 Revelation chapter 2, verse number 8 00:35 Revelation 2:8, if you would Revelation 2:8, 00:43 the word of God says in Revelation 2:8: 00:46 "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; 00:50 These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 01:02 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich) 01:10 and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, 01:13 and are not but are the synagogue of Satan. 01:18 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: 01:21 behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; 01:25 and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, 01:30 and I will give thee crown of Life. He that hath an ear, 01:41 let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; 01:45 He that overcometh shall not be hurt by the second death." 01:57 Let's pray. God bless us now as we preach your word. 02:01 Lord, we feel like going on, and so we go on and preach your word today. 02:06 Preach to your people, speak to your people; may the anointing flow, full and free. 02:12 Forgive me of my sins. Hide me behind the cross. 02:14 And Lord, as I say every Sabbath at the appeal, Lord, move in a mighty way. 02:19 In Jesus name, we pray, begging for forgiveness of sin. Amen. And amen. 02:25 We now come to the second of the seven churches, the Book of Revelation. 02:31 We come to church Smyrna. Now for the sake of review after Jesus death, 02:40 Rome and the surrounding territories became increasingly hostile towards 02:45 Jesus followers and because of this hostility, 02:49 every disciple after Jesus death except John was martyred for his faith. 02:56 Now, although John wasn't killed, the Bible, 02:59 lets us know that he was exiled to a tiny rocky island called Patmos. 03:06 "Excile" was a horrible sentence, second only to the death penalty. 03:13 So John wasn't killed but he was supposed to die by himself on Patmos. 03:21 But it was during his exile to Patmos that the Lord spoke to the apostle John 03:27 in vision, and John received the most detailed vision of things to come in the 03:33 future than any of the other apostles. 03:37 It was on Patmos in John's exile that the Lord revealed future events 03:45 and gave John seven messages to seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatria, 03:58 Sardis Philadelphia, and Laodicea 04:05 because these seven churches were located along a circular trade route in Asia Minor, 04:12 which by the way is modern day Turkey. 04:16 The gospel message was given to these seven churches in these seven cities 04:22 with the goal that if the message were given to these seven cities then the gospel 04:27 message would be spread everywhere else. 04:31 Now the first of these churches, the first of the seven was Ephesus. 04:37 Remember, Ephesus was what we call the working church. 04:41 The people in Ephesus were hard-working people who worked and labored 04:44 and endured for the Lord, but they had lost their first love. 04:49 They were hard workers, but the work they did was no longer motivated 04:54 by love for one another. And so the message from Jesus to the Ephesus Church was, 05:00 the truth and love must go hand in hand. In other words, you can't labor without love. 05:07 So Jesus says, "Look, I don't care how hard you work. 05:11 Works without love is a problem." So Jesus said, "Yes, work for him. Yes, labor for him. 05:18 Yes, endure for him, but don't forget why you do what you do. 05:23 You do it because of love." 05:27 Then we come to verses 8-11. And now we come to the second church, Smyrna. 05:35 Now notice that with each church Jesus addresses or greets each church individually, 05:43 which suggest then that the letter from Christ to the seven churches is specific to 05:49 each church. Each church has specific needs, each church has strengths, 05:55 each church has weaknesses, but notice in Christ letter to the church at Smyrna. 06:01 He mentions no weaknesses. In fact, He doesn't rebuke them at all 06:07 but rather instead when you read these four verses verses 8, 9, 10, and 11, 06:13 Christ only commends and encourages Smyrna. 06:17 Smyrna was home to a large Jewish community that was hostile to Christians, 06:23 and slanderous accusations by Jews against Christians led to Christian persecution 06:28 by Roman authorities. But although Smyrna was a persecuted church, 06:34 Smyrna was also a faithful church. 06:38 The church at Smyrna refused to worship pagan gods or the Roman emperors. 06:44 They were faithful to the one and only true God but as a result of their faithfulness, 06:50 they experience pressure, poverty and persecution. 06:54 In His message to Smyrna; Jesus by contrast seeks to encourage them. 07:02 He juxtaposes the first and the last suggesting that the first will become last 07:10 and the last will become first. 07:13 Put more plainly what He is trying to say is those that are faced with material poverty 07:18 are actually spiritually rich. He didn't says that that which was dead will 07:24 become alive, meaning that one day those persecuted will, like Jesus, 07:29 one day find life in death, which means that when you die in Jesus the next voice you 07:37 hear, the next voice in that great getting up morning will be the voice of Jesus 07:43 and you will live eternally with Jesus. Hallelujah somebody. 07:48 But then in verse 9, Jesus does something special. He speaks in the first person. 07:56 He doesn't speak in the second person and say "you". 07:59 He doesn't speak in the third person and say "He." 08:03 But Jesus speaks in the first person and He says, 08:07 "I signifying that he is intimately and personally concerned about Smyrna." 08:14 He says, "I know your works not somebody else, but I know your works. 08:21 I'm not talking about what somebody else told me. I know your works. 08:26 I'm not talking about what he said and she said but I know your works. 08:31 I know your tribulation. I know your poverty. 08:34 I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and they are not 08:39 but they are synagogues of Satan. I know your works. I didn't read it in the news. 08:41 Now remember Satan by definition means accuser or adversary. 08:48 So then the Jewish churches became the synagogue's of the accuser. 08:54 But remember, healing comes out of brokenness. 08:59 And when you read the Book of Acts carefully, 09:01 you would discover that many of the troubles of the early church grew out of slanderous 09:07 accusations hurled at them by the Jews, 09:10 and the more the Jews oppressed them the more the church grew. 09:17 Y'all don't hear what I'm saying. That shouldn't be a surprise to us 09:20 because back in the day, back in Egypt when the children of Israel was being oppressed 09:26 by mean old Pharaoh, beaten by Pharaoh, oppressed by Pharaoh, persecuted by Pharaoh, 09:31 the more they grew the more Pharaoh try to subtract them the more they multiplied. 09:38 The more he tried to destroy them the more babies they had and the larger they became, 09:43 which is a reminder that sometimes your challenge is not sent to defeat you 09:48 but it sent to increase you. I wish I had a witness in this place. 09:52 Now, although the Jews were persecuting the Smyrna Church, 09:56 Smyrna had not yet felt the full impact of persecution, 10:02 because they knew they would suffer in the future the Church of Smyrna was afraid. 10:08 So Jesus tells them in verse 10; "The devil will throw some of you in prison. 10:14 The devil will do all that he can to discourage some of you 10:17 and make you lose your faith. You will be tried. You will be arrested. 10:24 You will experience hardship but remain faithful unto death." 10:31 Here, Jesus is warning Smyrna that although they may suffer, 10:37 He said, "I will be with you." And because He is Lord over all of life's circumstances, 10:43 they had nothing to fear. Jesus is saying to them, 10:47 "You may be persecuted for My name's sake, but be faithful unto the end." 10:53 And I just believe that this warning, this admonition, 10:58 this council from Jesus is not just for the Smyrna Church, but it's also for us today. 11:05 In fact, I think this letter was written for the purpose of preparing us for what's 11:09 coming in this world. 11:11 Because if we think we're being persecuted now for being a Christian, 11:15 if we think we're being talked about now for being a Christian, 11:19 if we think we're being mocked now for being a Christian, 11:22 if we think we're being made fun of now because we are Christian, 11:26 we haven't seen a thing yet. 11:29 Jesus says, "Don't be afraid that you're going to have to suffer. 11:35 You'll suffer a while, you'll bleed a while 11:40 but the length of the tribulation won't be long. 11:43 In fact, it will be short compared to the promise of eternal life. 11:49 Just know that I've got your back. 11:53 That no weapon formed against you it's going to prosper." 11:57 That if God be for us, who can be against us? That God is our refuge and strength. 12:05 A very present help in time of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear. 12:10 We though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of 12:14 the sea, therefore though, the waters thereof war and be troubled. 12:18 Though the mountains shake with the swelling there up, there is a river. 12:21 The streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, 12:25 the holy place of the tabernacles of the most high. And God is in the midst of her. 12:31 God is in the midst of her, I said she shall not be moved. 12:35 God will help her and that right early, the heathen rage, the kingdoms were moved. 12:40 He uttered his voice, the Earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. 12:45 The god of Jacob is our refuge. Hallelujah somebody. 12:49 All things work together for good to them that love the Lord and are the called 12:53 according to his purpose. 12:55 Let me tell you something in the name of Jesus. 12:57 If Satan was smart, if Satan were wise, he would leave me alone. 13:02 If Satan was smart, he would leave you alone. 13:06 Why? Because I'm a child of God and when I say me, I'm not just talking about me, 13:11 but I'm also talking about you, 13:13 because I understand we share the same positions as sons and daughters of God, 13:17 because we are children Hallelujah of the most high God 13:21 and there's nothing more dangerous in life that's a mess with somebody's child. 13:27 You want to get somebody mad? Mess with their child. You want to get me mad? 13:33 Mess with one of my children. It will bring out the hood in you. 13:37 It will take you to another level. When somebody starts messing with your child, 13:42 it starts bring it out things in you that normally would not operate in your life. 13:47 Go back with me to Egypt, and when we read an Exodus how God began to fight Pharaoh, 13:52 you must remember that the battle was God's battle and not the Israelite's battle. 13:58 The battle ensued because God had gotten tired of Pharaoh, attacking his children 14:04 oppressing them, persecuting them and making it more difficult for them to do what they 14:09 had to do every day. 14:11 Pharaoh is coming up with another way to make the lives of God's 14:15 children more unbearable. 14:18 It became so difficult that the children of Israel began to cry out to the Lord, 14:21 and they begin to cry and say, 14:23 "Lord, deliver us from this oppressive mean persecuting force that's 14:28 coming against everything we have to do." 14:31 I wonder are there any folks who are watching right now who have cried out to the Lord 14:35 and said, "Lord, deliver me from the mess that I'm going through right now." 14:39 because if we're real today, every now and then, 14:44 you have to go to God and you got to cry out to the Lord. 14:47 I don't know if you know what I'm talking about, 14:49 but every now and then I've got to go and I've got to cry out to the Lord, 14:53 and I have to say, "God, life is getting on my nerves. Troubles are pressing me down. 14:59 Enemies are coming from everywhere. 15:01 And if I don't get some help right about now, I'm not going to make it." 15:05 It was when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord that God told Moses, 15:10 "Moses, I've heard the cry of my children. 15:14 Go down there to mean ol pharaoh and tell him let my people go. 15:20 You can do whatever you want with your people, but I need you to let my people go. 15:25 Because if you keep messing with my people, I'm gonna deal with you." 15:31 Do you have a witness in his place? 15:33 In the name of Jesus, I came to let somebody know that you are a child of God 15:37 and you don't have to fight by yourself God fights for you. 15:42 If I hold my peace and let the Lord fight my battles, victory shall be mine. 15:48 You see, we always see God as this kind peaceful compassionate God who sits on 15:55 His throne with all this passivity and docility. 15:58 But let me remind you that while that is true, it is also true that your God and my God, 16:06 he's a God of war. Israel said he was awesome in battle. 16:11 Who is the king of glory, the Lord strong and mighty, who is the King of glory, 16:17 the Lord Mighty in battle when God fought. 16:22 I said when God fought, he swallowed up nations in the earth by his right hand. 16:28 When God fought, lion's mouthes were shuts. 16:32 When God fought, Red Sea's became dry highways. 16:38 When God fought, donkeys begin to talk. When God fought, the sun stood still when. 16:45 God fought. God says, "Pharaoh, stop messing with my children. 16:52 I'm going to fight you." 16:54 He told, "Moses going down to mean ol' pharaoh and tell him he's about to get in a fight 16:58 with me now. He's been jumping on my kids, 17:01 but now he's going to have to fight thy daddy right now." 17:04 And there's a major difference between fighting a child and fighting their parents. 17:08 Do I have a witness in his place? 17:09 There's a major difference between fighting the Hebrew slave 17:13 and fighting the King of kings and the Lord of lords and if he's got any sense, 17:17 he better let my children go. And the amazing thing. Oh, I wish I had time. 17:23 Let me preach it like I feel it. 17:24 The amazing thing about God is that when God gets ready to fight, 17:28 He will use things that you never thought about. 17:32 Who would have ever thought of releasing boils against your enemies? 17:37 May be tanks and bombs, but boils? 17:41 Only God could clap his hands and cause boils to break out on the backs of his enemies. 17:47 When God got upset, God walked out of the ponds of Egypt and spoke to the frogs 17:54 and said, "Hop on over into Egypt. 17:57 I'm going to release Weaponry that they've never seen before." 18:01 God looks at some flies and call for the flies to descend upon Egypt, 18:08 when God gets ready to fight, 18:10 "God, will use stuff that you never thought of to give you the victory," 18:15 but God says just continue to be faithful. 18:19 He says, "Be faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life." 18:24 Faithful! 18:26 I'm almost done. Smyrna was faithful. God made a promise to them. 18:31 He will reward them for their faithfulness. 18:33 The Bible says, he said he would give them a crown of life. 18:36 They may have to face persecution. They may have to go through tribulation. 18:41 They may get arrested, they may even die. 18:44 But God hallelujah promised them a crown of life. 18:47 And God is going to do the same for us. You need to know the time of trouble is coming, 18:53 persecution is coming, oppression is coming, arrests are coming, 18:58 but if we're faithful, God is going to give us a reward in the struggle against Satan 19:04 and this reward won't be temporary but this reward is going to be permanent. 19:09 Late in the midnight hour, God's gonna turn that thing around. 19:13 It's going to work in your favor. Romans. 8:18 says, 19:17 the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that 19:20 they shall be revealed in us. So Jesus refers to the faithful as overcomers. 19:29 That's us, that's you, that's me overcomers. 19:32 He says in verse 11; "He that overcometh shall not be hurt in the second death." 19:40 Second death? What is Jesus talking about? 19:44 Now, remember there are going to be two deaths and two resurrections. 19:50 The first death will be the death of the wicked at Jesus second coming. 19:55 According to verse Thessalonians, 4:16 and 17; "At Jesus second coming, 20:01 the dead in Christ, the overcomers shall rise first." That's the first resurrection. 20:09 Revelation 20:6 says, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection 20:17 on such the second death hath no power at the second coming of Jesus." 20:24 The righteous dead, the overcomers rise first. 20:28 The righteous living, the other group of overcomers will be caught up to meet the Lord 20:33 in the air. The wicked living will die at the brightness of His coming. 20:38 The wicked dead who are already dead will remain dead. 20:42 The righteous will live and reign with Christ for 1,000 years. 20:46 The wicked will be dead here on planet Earth. Satan will not be able to tempt anybody. 20:53 Satan will not be able to resurrect anybody 20:56 because Satan does not have resurrection power. 20:58 But at the end of the 1000 Years, God's going to resurrect the wicked. 21:04 This is the second Resurrection. 21:06 Satan will deceive them into thinking that they can overtake Jesus, 21:10 that he resurrected them, that they can overcome Jesus and the righteous, 21:15 the New Jerusalem, with Jesus and the righteous, 21:19 will descend out of Heaven to this earth. 21:21 Satan and the wicked will surround the New Jerusalem as it descends, 21:26 but God will did rain down fire. He will destroy Satan and the wicked sin, 21:32 and Satan will be destroyed forever. That's the second death. 21:37 But hold up. Wait a minute. Let's go back. Why does God resurrect a wicked? 21:42 Why does God raise the dead for them only be dead again? 21:46 They were dead in the first step, why must there be a second death? 21:49 Well, when God resurrects the wicked, this is the only time at the end of the thousand 21:54 years where everyone who's ever been alive. We will all be alive at the same time. 21:59 Why must we all be alive at the same time? Why must Carlton Byrd be alive? 22:04 Why must Hitler be alive? Why must Donald Trump be alive? 22:07 Why must Barack Obama be alive? Why must Alexander The Great be alive? 22:11 We must all be alive, because the prophecy must come to pass, 22:14 that one day every knee shall bow. Every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 22:21 Hallelujah. 22:24 But Smyrna Church, but commandment-keeping church, but followers of Christ., 22:32 he that overcometh shall not be hurt in the second death. 22:37 Jesus is going to give us a crown of life. Death may come but it won't last forever. 22:49 Oppression may come but it won't last forever. Persecution may come 22:57 but it won't last forever. We may be attacked down here 23:02 but God has something better for us up there. Eyes have not seen. Neither ears heard. 23:10 Neither has it entered into the hearts of man. 23:12 The things that God has prepared for them that love him and God tells us what the 23:18 overcomers will experience. In Revelation chapter 21, John says, 23:23 "And I saw a new heaven and I saw a new Earth; for the first heaven and the first earth 23:29 were passed away, and there was no more sea." and I John saw the holy city. 23:35 New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. 23:37 As prepared as a bride adorned for her husband 23:40 and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there should be no more death, 23:44 no more crying, no more dying, no more high blood pressure, no more strokes, 23:49 no more cancer, no more arthritis, no more coronavirus, no more house note, 23:54 no more car note, no more tuition, the former things are passed away. 24:01 All things shall become new. 24:02 Let me tell you something, I'm here by myself but I feel the Holy Ghost in this place. 24:10 So the devil better back up right now. Cancer better back up right now. 24:17 High blood pressure, you better back up right now. Arthritis back up right now. 24:24 Leukemia back up right now. Sickle cell back up right now. 24:30 Bankruptcy back up right now. Unemployment back up right now. 24:35 Fear back up right now. Discouragement backup right now. 24:40 I feel the presence of the Lord in this place. Who Wants to Be an overcomer today? 24:47 Who wants a crown of life? Who wants to hear, well done thou good and faithful servant? 24:53 Because thou has been faithful over a few things. 24:56 I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. 25:00 Hallelujah. 25:01 [Congregant: Amen] 25:02 Dr. Byrd: Christ returnith. Hallelujah. Amen. Hallelujah Christ returnith. 25:11 Revive us again. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 25:27 "Pastor, why are you doing all this recording and trying to make church all nice? 25:30 We're in a pandemic. It doesn't make a difference." 25:32 No, because I'm going to be found faithful. 25:38 "In times like these why do you still return tithe and offering?" 25:42 Because I'm going to be found faithful. 25:47 "Why are you preaching as if it is your last sermon?" 25:52 Because I'm going to be found faithful. God rewards faithfulness. 26:01 The church at Smyrna was a faithful church. 26:07 And so they were able to face the future knowing that God had their back. 26:14 God is calling us to be faithful. 26:16 And he said. "When you're faithful you will be an overcomer. 26:20 You will endure persecution. You will endure arrests 26:24 You will endure oppression." He says, "But you will be an overcomer 26:28 because I've got you're back." 26:32 I don't know what you're going through today but I feel like a going on. 26:42 We get on that sea of glass, when we study war no more, when there's no more death 26:49 and dying sickness and pain no more coronavirus. 26:53 We'll be able to say heaven was cheap enough. 26:58 I'm going to look into the eyes of my Jesus and I just want to hear him say, 27:06 "Well done." Because you've been faithful, well done. 27:15 The lesson for the church at Smyrna is a lesson for all of us. 27:22 Be thou faithful unto death. And when I get to heaven I'll just be able to say, 27:32 "I'm saved." Today that you would be saved. Today, do you want to be an overcomer? 27:36 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 27:40 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 27:45 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 27:47 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:53 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 27:59 [END] 28:05 GONE BOOK PROMO 28:06 Dr. Byrd: Pain, loss, trama, 28:15 in life we experience these things. 28:18 My wife and I have a story, 28:21 we have a testimony of how we lost 28:26 our first born daughter in a horrific car accident. 28:32 We have this new sharing book, its en-titled “Gone.” 28:38 And, in it I want to share with you 28:41 how God has helped me, 28:44 how God has helped my wife, how God has helped us, 28:48 as we had to endure the fact that our first born daughter is gone. 28:56 www.breathoflife.tv |
Revised 2020-05-26