Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the New American Standard Bible (nasb), The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.lockman.org). Verses marked niv are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (niv ) Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Verses marked msg are taken from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Verses marked wms are taken from the Williams New Testament in the Language of the People. Copyright 1995, Charlotte Williams Sprawls. All rights reserved. Verses marked tlb are taken from The Living Bible. Copyright 1971, used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, all rights reserved. Verses marked amp are taken from The Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.lockman.org) Verses marked nlt are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189 USA. All rights reserved. Verses marked gnb are taken from The Bible In Today s English Version published by American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976. All rights reserved. Verses marked cev are taken from the Contemporary English Version published by American Bible Society 1995. All rights reserved. Verses marked ncv are taken from the New Century Version. Copyright 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Verises marked phillips are taken from The Phillips Translation by J.B. Phillips 1959, 1960 printed in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Ltd., Reading for the publishers Geoffrey Bles Ltd. Verses marked nkjv are taken from The New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Verses marked kjv are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Quiet Time Ministries has made every effort to trace the ownership of all poems and quotes. In the event of a question arising from the use of a poem or quote, we regret any error made and will be pleased to make the necessary correction in future editions of this book. Cover by Quiet Time Ministries. Cover photo by Comstock A Heart To See Forever Embrace the Promise of the Eternal Perspective Copyright 2003 by Catherine Martin Published by Quiet Time Ministries Palm Desert, California 92255 www.quiettime.org ISBN-13: 978-0-9766886-4-8 Second Edition published by Quiet Time Ministries 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / LSI / 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
J Contents j Foreword by Dr. Tim LaHaye... 11 Introduction... 13 Introduction Week Viewer Guide... 19 week 1: The Promise of Eternity 2 Corinthians 4:18 Day 1: Where Do You Look?... 23 Day 2: Where Do You Live?... 27 Day 3: Where Are You?... 35 Day 4: Where is Your Hope?... 41 Day 5: Where is Your God?... 47 Days 6 and 7: Devotional Reading by William Newell... 53 Week One Viewer Guide... 55 week 2: The Person of Eternity Revelation 1 Day 1: He is the Son of Man Believe... 59 Day 2: He is the Lamb of God Surrender... 67 Day 3: He is the Shepherd Rest... 71 Day 4: He is Faithful and True Trust... 75 Day 5: He is the Bright Morning Star Rejoice... 81 Days 6 and 7: Devotional Reading by H.S. Vigeveno... 85 Week Two Viewer Guide... 87 week 3: The Message of Eternity Revelation 2-3 Day 1: He Speaks... 91 Day 2: He Knows... 97 Day 3: He Encourages... 101 Day 4: He Warns... 105
Day 5: He Rewards... 109 Days 6 and 7: Devotional Reading by Charles Haddon Spurgeon... 115 Week Three Viewer Guide... 117 week 4: The Challenge of Eternity Revelation 2-3 Day 1: Will You Love Him First?... 121 Day 2: Will You Be Faithful?... 127 Day 3: Will You Wake Up?... 131 Day 4: Will You Hold Fast?... 137 Day 5: Will You Open the Door?... 143 Days 6 and 7: Devotional Reading W. Graham Scroggie... 147 Week Four Viewer Guide... 149 week 5: The Reign and Rule of Eternity Revelation 4-5 Day 1: A Door Open to Heaven... 153 Day 2: God is on the Throne... 159 Day 3: God is Holy... 163 Day 4: God Has a Plan... 169 Day 5: God Hears Your Prayer... 173 Days 6 and 7: Devotional Reading by G.R. Beasley-Murray... 179 Week Five Viewer Guide... 181 week 6: The Battle for Eternity Revelation 6-12 Day 1: The Lord Will Fulfill His Word... 185 Day 2: The Lord Will Rescue His Bride... 191 Day 3: The Lord Will Have His Day... 197 Day 4: The Lord Will Offer One Last Chance... 201 Day 5: The Lord Will Win... 207 Days 6 and 7: Devotional Reading by Dr. Tim LaHaye... 211 Week Six Viewer Guide... 213
week 7: The Prelude to Eternity Revelation 13-18 Day 1: When Opposition Seems to Prevail... 217 Day 2: When God Gives You a Glimpse... 223 Day 3: When Judgment is Certain... 229 Day 4: When God s Vengeance is Carried Out... 233 Day 5: When the World s Evil is Uncovered... 239 Days 6 and 7: Devotional Reading by Reverend Thomas Brooks... 243 Week Seven Viewer Guide... 245 week 8: The Hope of Eternity Revelation 19-20 Day 1: Get Ready for the Heavenly Hallelujahs... 251 Day 2: Get Ready for Your Wedding... 255 Day 3: Get Ready for His Visible Return... 261 Day 4: Get Ready for the Final Victory... 267 Day 5: Get Ready for Forever... 271 Days 6 and 7: Devotional Reading by Merrill C. Tenney... 279 Week Eight Viewer Guide... 281 week 9: The Place of Eternity Revelation 21-22 Day 1: You Will Enjoy a New Place... 285 Day 2: You Will Enjoy a New Relationship... 291 Day 3: You Will Enjoy a New Experience... 297 Day 4: You Will Enjoy a New Responsibility... 303 Day 5: You Will Enjoy Forever Soon... 307 Days 6 and 7: Devotional Reading by Mrs. Charles Cowman... 315 Week Nine Viewer Guide... 317 appendix Leader s Guide and Discussion Questions... 323 Books on Revelation... 345
Seven Churches of Revelation Map... 346 My Contract with the Lord... 347 The Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation 2-3 Chart... 349 Notes.................................................... 351 Acknowledgments... 357 Journal and Prayer Pages... 359 10
J Week One the promise of eternity 2 Corinthians 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 21
J Day 1 j Where do you look? While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen 2 Corinthians 4:18 Prepare Your Heart Imagine that four people are looking at a building. After some time they are each asked to describe the building. Strangely enough, their descriptions are all different even though they have been looking at the same building. The explanation for their different views lies in the fact that each of them is looking at a different side of the building. What they see is based on where they are standing. As you embark on these quiet times on the eternal perspective in the book of Revelation, it is most important to begin thinking about where you stand in life. What you see will depend on where you stand. If you stand in your feelings and your circumstances, then you will see temporal things, and often what you see can result in despair, worry, and hopelessness. If you stand in the promises found in God s Word, then you will see what is eternal and true, and it will result in joy, endurance, and hope. Where do you stand? As a preparation of heart, read Psalm 121. Think about the words of the psalmist and write your insights about where he is standing and what he sees. Begin by writing a prayer to the Lord, expressing all that is on your heart. Read and Study God s Word 1. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to a church that was having difficulty with obedience to the Lord. It was an immature church that needed to grow up and mature in the Lord. One of the most important truths that he wanted this church to know was the eternal perspective. Read 2 Corinthians 4:18. What do you learn about the seen and the unseen in this verse? 23
J Week One j 2. Read 2 Corinthians 4:8-17. Write out everything that Paul talks about that is temporal (the seen) and write out everything Paul says that is eternal (the unseen). Be sure to personalize your observations in this passage of Scripture i.e. I am afflicted in every way, I am not crushed. The Temporal The Eternal 3. Understanding the eternal perspective is important at the outset of your study in Revelation. In Revelation 1:1 you discover that the Revelation of Jesus Christ was given to show Jesus bondservants the things which must soon take place. You are going to be given the opportunity to see as you have never seen before in your study of Revelation. What you look at is so very important in your ability to embrace the promise of the eternal perspective. Look at the following verses and record everything you learn about spiritual vision and eyesight: Psalm 26:3 Psalm 101:3 Psalm 123:1-2 1 Corinthians 13:12 24
J The Promise of Eternity j Hebrews 12:2 Optional Verses: Psalm 25:15, Psalm 121:1, Isaiah 42:18-23, Matthew 6:22-24, Mark 8:16-21, Ephesians 1:18-21 4. What is your most significant insight from your time in God s Word today? Adore God in Prayer Draw near to the Lord now thinking about all He has shown you in His Word. Take some time to ask Him to give you a heart to see forever. Pray the words of Psalm 119:18 niv: Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. Yield Yourself to God Think about these words from Hannah Whitall Smith in The Christian s Secret Of A Happy Life: Things look very different according to the standpoint from which we view them. The caterpillar, as it creeps along the ground, must have a widely different view of the world around it from that which the same caterpillar will have when its wings are developed, and it soars in the air above the very places where once it crawled. And similarly the soul must necessarily see things in a very different aspect from the soul that has mounted up with wings. The mountain top may blaze with sunshine when all the valley below is shrouded in fogs, and the bird whose wings can carry him high enough may mount at will out of the gloom below into the joy of the sunlight above. I was at one time spending a winter in London, and during three long months we did not once see any genuine sunshine because of the dense clouds of smoke that hung over the city like a pall. But many a time I saw that above the smoke the sun was shining, and once or twice through a rift I had a glimpse of a bird, with 25
J Week One j sunshine on its wings, sailing above the fog in the clear blue of the sunlit sky. Not all the brushes in London can sweep away the fog; but could we only mount high enough we should reach a region above it all. And this is what the soul on wings does. It overcomes the world through faith. To overcome means to come over, not to be crushed under; and the soul on wings flies over the world and the things of it. These lose their power to hold or bind the spirit that can come over them on the wings of Surrender and Trust. That spirit is made in very truth more than conqueror Things look differently to us according to our point of view. Trials assume a very different aspect when looked down upon from above than when viewed from their own level. What seems like an impassable wall on its own level becomes an insignificant line to the eyes that see it from the top of a mountain; and the snares and sorrows that assume such immense proportion while we look at them on the earthly plane become insignificant little motes in the sunshine when the soul has mounted on wings to the heavenly places above them Our souls were made to live in this upper atmosphere, and we stifle and choke on any lower level. Our eyes were made to look off from these heavenly heights, and our vision is distorted by any lower gazing 1 In John Piper s book The Hidden Smile Of God he shares John Bunyan s experience of spending twelve years in the Bedford Jail where he wrote the classic Pilgrim s Progress. He then says this about John Bunyan: Death to the world was the costly corollary of life to God. The visible world died to Bunyan. He lived on God that is invisible. Increasingly this was Bunyan s passion from the time of his conversion as a young married man to the day of his death when he was sixty years old. 2 Enjoy His Presence Think about John Bunyan s secret to living in a jail for twelve years: he lived on God that is invisible. Have you learned to live on God that is invisible? Close your time by writing a prayer in your journal in the back of this book expressing all that is on your heart. Rest in His Love I lift my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy (Psalm 123:1-2 niv). 26
Viewer Guide J week one j The Eternal Perspective You have just completed the first week of study in A Heart To See Forever. Today we are going to share together the truths about the eternal perspective. Understanding the eternal perspective is lifechanging and a secret to walking victoriously in the storms of life. So grab your Bible and let s get into the Word of God. while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). Two Views Of Life View View The eternal perspective is the ability to see all of life (past, present, future) from God s point of view and have what you see affect how you live in the present. Clues To The Eternal Perspective 1. Type of. 55
J Week One j 2. The nature of the of the seven churches of western Asia Minor. 3. The. How to have the eternal perspective: 1. Acknowledge what is. This is the in the eternal perspective. 2. Discover the regarding your situation. This is the of the eternal perspective. 3. Respond according to the. This is the of the eternal perspective. 4. Acknowledge that you are. This is the of the eternal perspective. The Character and Challenge of the Eternal Perspective: J Video messages are available on DVDs or as Downloadable M4V Video. Audio messages are available on Audio CDs or as Downloadable MP3 Audio. Visit the Quiet Time Ministries Online Store at www.quiettime.org. 56