Title: Viewing Our Suffering Through the Lens of Eternity (3)
Series: Seven Churches of Revelation
Author: Tim Melton
Text: Revelation 2:8-11
Imagine that you went to the movie theater, bought the tickets, got some popcorn, finally found your seat and settled in for a couple of hours of entertainment with the family. About that time the movie starts and you begin to realize that the picture is very blurry. Something is not right. You paid a lot of money for this movie and the quality is horrible. You sit there for a moment, waiting for the others in the theater to begin to raise their voice in protest, but you hear nothing. No complaint. Everyone else is just sitting there seeming to enjoy themselves. You begin to look around and it is about then that you see that everyone else, except for your family happen to be wearing the same style of glasses. What a coincidence. . . only then do you realize that you bought tickets for a 3D movie and you didn't get the glasses.
A similar idea can be true for us as we continue in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is calling us to look at life through a different, clearer lens, an eternal lens. It is calling all believers to fix their eyes on heaven and not on this world. It is written from the perspective of Jesus who has known the suffering of earth and now reigns in the reality of heaven. Hardships will come but they do not compare to the eternal glory that awaits us.
Before we consider Christ's words to the church in Smyrna in Revelation 2:8-11, let us understand the historical context and the life which the Christians in Smyrna were facing.
Smyrna was a large port city on the western coast of Asia Minor. An arm of the Aegean Sea reached in and ended at a small, land-locked harbor that was in the center of the city. It was so beautiful that it was called the "crown of Asia Minor." It had a beautiful harbor, foothills that led up to a large hill that stood behind the city. It was there where all ...
Series: Seven Churches of Revelation
Author: Tim Melton
Text: Revelation 2:8-11
Imagine that you went to the movie theater, bought the tickets, got some popcorn, finally found your seat and settled in for a couple of hours of entertainment with the family. About that time the movie starts and you begin to realize that the picture is very blurry. Something is not right. You paid a lot of money for this movie and the quality is horrible. You sit there for a moment, waiting for the others in the theater to begin to raise their voice in protest, but you hear nothing. No complaint. Everyone else is just sitting there seeming to enjoy themselves. You begin to look around and it is about then that you see that everyone else, except for your family happen to be wearing the same style of glasses. What a coincidence. . . only then do you realize that you bought tickets for a 3D movie and you didn't get the glasses.
A similar idea can be true for us as we continue in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is calling us to look at life through a different, clearer lens, an eternal lens. It is calling all believers to fix their eyes on heaven and not on this world. It is written from the perspective of Jesus who has known the suffering of earth and now reigns in the reality of heaven. Hardships will come but they do not compare to the eternal glory that awaits us.
Before we consider Christ's words to the church in Smyrna in Revelation 2:8-11, let us understand the historical context and the life which the Christians in Smyrna were facing.
Smyrna was a large port city on the western coast of Asia Minor. An arm of the Aegean Sea reached in and ended at a small, land-locked harbor that was in the center of the city. It was so beautiful that it was called the "crown of Asia Minor." It had a beautiful harbor, foothills that led up to a large hill that stood behind the city. It was there where all ...
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