289: Smyrna: Faithful Under Fire — The Church with No Rebuke
What does it mean to be faithful when persecution and poverty close in? In this episode, Rohan Bell and Jeannie Schwartz unpack Jesus’ letter to the church at Smyrna (Revelation 2:8–11), the only church without a rebuke. They explore Smyrna’s history, its meaning (“myrrh”), and the encouragement to persevere even to death with the promise of the crown of life.
👀 What you’ll discover in this episode...
✅ Why Smyrna was unique among the seven churches 📖
✅ The meaning of “myrrh” and its links to suffering, anointing, and burial 🌿
✅ How Jewish and Roman pressures created poverty and persecution ⚔️
✅ Why Jesus told them not to fear even though suffering would increase 💧
✅ What “refined by fire” means for the church then and now 🔥
✅ How the faith of Smyrna challenges today’s church to hold firm 🙌
⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Setting the scene: Smyrna, suffering, and the only church without rebuke
02:18 – Ten days of testing: links to Daniel and symbolic meaning
03:00 – Smyrna and “myrrh”: suffering, fragrance, and burial connections
05:33 – Poverty, persecution, and life under Rome and Judaism
08:42 – Encouragement to endure: hope beyond suffering
10:44 – God using trials to refine his people
12:34 – Joseph, persecution, and God’s redemptive purposes
13:56 – Smyrna’s witness: faith under pressure that changed Rome
15:40 – Perseverance, modern persecution, and what it means today
17:14 – Peter’s denial, restoration, and the call to stay faithful
🙋♂️ Reflection and Application
If your faith cost you everything, would you still hold on? Smyrna’s example reminds us that true faith doesn’t shrink back in hardship. What steps can you take now to deepen your conviction so that, like Smyrna, you remain faithful under fire?
💬 Share your thoughts below or in the comments — we’d love to hear from you!
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