The Revelation 2:10-11 | Episode #1016

September 1, 2025

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

The Revelation 2:10-11

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

If you would like to revisit today’s Bible study, please visit our website at https://hopealive.buzzsprout.com/ to download the transcript. 

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope Applying God's word to your daily life.

Hi, this is Chad Harrison and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and have been serving as a pastor for 25 years.

I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life.

I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open up his word to you and allow you to see him and to know him and to know his will, that you might glorify him and that you might walk in faith and power each and every day,

especially today in Jesus name.

He says, do not be afraid.

Don't be afraid when you're going to suffer these things. He says, indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested and you have tribulation tendency.

Preacher, I thought God was in charge. He is,

but some of us are going to glorify him through tribulation. In fact, most of us are going to glorify him through some tribulation. Yeah, I mean, I don't know about you, but I've been so through some tribulation now.

I ain't been in jail like that. I ain't been alliance den. I hadn't, I hadn't been thrown in the fiery furnace,

but, you know, I've been through some stuff.

He says, you gonna, you're gonna go through it. And by the way, one of the best books in the Bible, the oldest written book in the Bible is Job, and that's all about Satan asking God to prove something.

And what was he proving?

That a man would trust God even if he didn't have anything.

And that's what the Church of Smyrna is doing.

He's telling them, I'm proven to the devil and everybody else. This new covenant we have is just as good as the old one. In fact, it's more powerful because I'm not just going to do it through one man.

I'm going to do it through a whole people.

He said, the devil's going to throw you into prison that you may be tested and you will be in tribulation 10 days. And that really means 10 time periods. And some people have gone through and really gone through and said, okay, can we name those things?

And they filled them out. And I'm not going to take you through those dates and all that, but you could look it up. There's, there's, there's some. I think there's some validity to some of that work that they've done.

You know, there were some. There were really 10 intense times of tribulation or. Or. Or the church being persecuted in the end of the first. Really going into the second and third century.

Okay.

He says, be faithful unto death,

and I'll give you the crown of life.

He says, be faithful unto death, and I'll give you the crown of life.

I do want you to know there's five crowns mentioned in the Bible. John know that,

huh?

You need to hear that.

You. Me give them to you. Here they are.

There's a crown of rejoicing. It's in 1st Thessalonians 2:19.

There's a crown of life, which is mentioned here. And in James 1:12.

There's a crown for enduring temptation.

And it's in the Bible, but I can't. I don't have it written down.

There's crown of righteousness. I'll get that crown for you. Crown of righteousness. 2nd Timothy 4:8.

And there is the crown of loving his coming,

meaning desiring him, his coming glory. And that's in first Peter 54.

And then there's the crown incorruptible. I guess I just didn't have it written right. But the crown incorruptible found in First Corinthians 1:25.

And you go, I don't know what you're talking about, Pastor. Well,

when we go to worship, we get to do the same things we do here. Y' all know that, right?

Get to use our gifts. We get to sing. We get to hear.

We. Well, we get to be in the presence of the.

Of the One who is the light of God, Jesus.

And we get to bring him our treasure.

Well, there's crowns that go along with living certain way.

And you get to cast your crowns before him. And then when you get back to your. Your mansion, they'll be in your closet for the next day's worship. Okay? You get to bring them again.

It's going to be fun.

Ain't going to be boring. Okay. Going to be some good stuff. Tina leads worship. Really good. But I'm going to tell you, it's going to be. It's going to be happening then.

Okay? You're gonna be hopping. I mean, really, some good stuff.

All right. He says he was an ear. Let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Now notice he didn't give them anything negative, did he?

He didn't tell them, you got this to fix. What he tell them to do.

Hold on.

Right? That's what he said.

And, you know, a lot of times when we deal with believers who are. Who are struggling with something, you want to tell them, you know, what you can do to fix this or get this right.

Sometimes,

every once in a while,

they ain't got enough strength to do anything. Okay? All you got to do is tell them, hold on,

okay?

Just hold on.

Wait.

God's coming.

And that's what he told the Church of Smyrna. He said,

I know what you're dealing with.

You're going to go through 10 days of tribulation. He says, hold on. He who is in here. Let him hear what the Spirit says.

Churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.

What he's saying is, you're going to die,

and they're going to be martyrs for Christ.

Okay? We're going to deal with that because one of his. One of his. One of the aspects of who he is in the book of the Revelation, as the go.

Well, well, is he's the kinsman redeemer, and he's the avenger of blood.

And what is he avenging? Well, he's avenging the blood of the saints. And this church had a lot of saints.

But, but, but, but, but, but we've had 20 centuries,

actually.

Yeah, 20 centuries. 20 full centuries of the church.

Can anybody tell me which century had the most martyrs?

The 20th century.

The 20th. This one is only 24 years in the last century, had the most martyrs. There's far more Christians killed for their faith in the last century than any century before.

And if you add them all up, probably more killed for their faith in the last century than almost all of them together.

So we're very comfortable here in,

in Dadeville, Alabama. But there are a lot of people dying for Jesus all over the world,

being beaten for Jesus and the whole nine yards.

And so you need to know that.

And his answer to them was to hold on.

And even if you give your life,

you ain't going to be touched by second death. I've got that handle.

I'm life,

I'm light, and I'm hope,

and I got two of them done in one night.

Did you hear that? Did you say that next week we're going for three?

Okay,

well, not next week. Next week is vbs. But next we're going to do three. And then the last week we'll do the last two,

and then we'll be moving on into the book of the Revelation. How's that sound to y'? All.

As you go? Today I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.