Revelation 3

SMYRNA—the persecuted church.

Revelation 2:8

1.    Faithfulness in suffering.

a.    Revelation 2:9

b.    What looks like loss on earth can actually be riches in heaven.

c.     Don't measure God's blessing by the absence of difficulty.

2.    Faithfulness under pressure.

a.    Revelation 2:10 

b.    The question isn't, “Will following Christ ever cost me?” but “Will I remain faithful when it does?”

3.    Faithfulness to the end.

a.    Revelation 2:10b …Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

b.    Smyrna's reward was the crown of life.

c.     Smyrna teaches us that faithfulness is not measured by how easy the journey is, but by whether we finish the journey.

d.    Revelation 2:11 "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."'

PERGAMOS—The compromising church.

Revelation 2:12

1.    Stand faithfully in a Godless culture.

a.    Revelation 2:13

b.    Isaiah 14:12-13 

c.     God hasn't called the church to escape the culture but to win the culture with the Gospel.

2.    Don’t compromise God’s truth.

a.    Revelation 2:14, 15

b.    A pattern of compromise can become a practice of compromise.

3.    Repent and return to Biblical Truth.

a.    Revelation 2:16

b.    Grace doesn't give us permission to compromise holiness.

c.     Your REAL belief is what will determine your behavior.

d.    Revelation 2:17 

e.    The white stone then speaks of our FREEDOM and our citizenship of heaven.