Just turn together in the Word
of God to Revelations chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. And I looked, and lo, a lamb
stood on the mount Sinai, and with him an hundred, forty, and
four thousand. having his father's name written
in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven
as the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder.
And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. And
they sung, as it were, a new song before the throne, and before
the four beasts, and the elders, and no man could learn that song
but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed
from the earth. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which
follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, These were redeemed
from among men, being the first fruits unto God and the Lamb. And in their mouth was found
no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth.
and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people, saying
with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him, for the hour
of his judgment is come, and worship him that made heaven
and earth and the sea and the foundations of waters and the
fountains of waters. And there followed another angel
saying, Babylon is fallen, the great city, because she made
all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice,
if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his
mark on his forehead or in his hand, The same shall drink of
the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture
into the cup of his indignation. And he shall be tormented with
fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment
ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor
night. who worship the beast and his
image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is
the patience of the saints. Here are they that kept the commandments
of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.
And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one
sat like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown,
and in his hand a sharp sickle. and another angel came out of
the temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the
cloud thrust in thy sickle and reap for the time has come for
thee to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe and he that
sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth and the earth
was reaped And another angel came out of the temple which
is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel
came out from the altar which had power over fire and cried
with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle saying, thrust
in thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the
earth for her grapes are fully ripe. and the angel thrust in
his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth
and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the
winepress was trodden without the city and blood came out of
the winepress even to the horse's bridle by the space of a thousand
and six hundred furlongs. May the Lord add his blessing
to the reading of the Word of God. May he help us to consider
this evening a verse 13. And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, write, Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord from henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest
from their labours, and their works do follow them. I know
that the book of Revelation is a very controversial book. There are many different opinions
as to how it should be interpreted and looked at. We know specifically
it is regarding the revelation that was given to John on the
Isle of Patmos concerning the last days. And those last days
are from the Lord Jesus Christ up till the coming of the Lord
Jesus. And do you see in the chapter
we have read together there are some things which are difficult
to interpret and to understand. And it's not my position this evening
to look at all of those different things but I want to look at
just verse 13. Having spent some time with Marian
today And over the months we had the incident with Joshua
Jemson and death is very real and very searching when it comes
into our pathways. And it's meant to be. It's meant
to have an effect upon us. It's meant to challenge us and
to bring our minds to the fact that our lives here are limited,
that we are but a vapour, that we're not going to continue forever
and all the things that we hold dear will one day pass away. And so it's a very encouraging
text that the Lord puts right in the middle of a very challenging
subject. There is going to be that time
when he is going to gather his people to himself. There is going
to be that time when he will come and he will reap. and he
will gather his people but also he will reap the wicked to eternal
judgment. And it's like the angel specifically,
the spirit specifically drops this little token of the Lord's
favour to John and to his people so that they might be encouraged
in the midst of great turmoil and great anxiety at the end
of time. and as they read about things
which are to take place that he drops in this diamond in the
distress to encourage them and not to worry. He tells them,
I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, write. And so it's like
he stops the vision and he tells him, pause for a little while
and write something that is very important that the saints need
to know. The saints need to be very, very
clear that they are not to be worried when all these things
take place round about them, that they are to to be fixed
and to be steadfastly focused upon all that the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for them. And he writes something which
is very unusual which goes completely against our natural understanding
of death. Death is something that is feared
and shoved to the back of our minds and tried to be forgotten
about and yet the Spirit tells John Wright Blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord. And so it says it's a blessed
thing for those to die that are in the Lord. We know that death
itself is as a result of sin. There was no death when Adam
and Eve were walking this earth, when they acted in obedience
to God, but death came because of their rebellion against him,
their sin. And if we want to know really
the seriousness of sin and how seriously God takes sin, we have
to look at that account there. One sin plunged an innumerable
amount of people into rebellion against God and God's whole creation
because of one sin has been tarnished by that judgment which was brought
upon the world, that curse which was brought on this world because
of Adam and Eve's sin. And so if you want to see the
seriousness of sin that there's just one sin and the effect and
the consequences of it. We have to go all the way back
there to the beginning when Adam and Eve rebelled against God
and how God cursed the man and the woman and the world. when
you sin and you rebel against me you will die and that is an
ongoing consequence. We see it even today that death
is all round about us and so death is there because of sin
because we are sinners in the sight of our holy God and as
we looked at recently there is that second death in which God
will cast those unrepentant sinners into judgment for all eternity. And so it's not a natural thing
for us to want to die. is why we put it to the back
of our minds. We don't like to talk about it.
We don't like to think about it. When we are faced with it,
it is always somebody else that is going to die and never us.
We always believe that our life is going to be extended and extended
and extended. And it's something that we don't
want to talk about. And so it's not a natural thing
for somebody to want to die. And if somebody does want to
die, we find it quite strange. We think that they're suicidal,
that they're not in their right minds, they want to escape the
problems of this world and so we look at them and find them
unusual because naturally we want to live, we want to be alive. And it's not natural either for
us to want our loved ones to die. We may want our enemies
to die, but to have our loved ones who are unwell, naturally
we want them to continue on as long as possible. We want to
stay with them. And so it's not natural to think
of death as a blessing, but as an enemy. as an obstacle that
we don't want to overcome. We find it fearful, treading
into the unknown, going to face God. Normally blessings are associated
with good things. If we say someone's blessed,
they've been blessed with good health or they've been blessed
with a nice house or a good job or children or a holiday and so we associate
blessings with those types of things. He's blessed, he's got
a good brain on him and people say I'm blessed, I've had a good
day, we've been blessed under the ministry. We don't associate
blessings with death or bad things that happen. In our minds blessings
are always something that we have received from somebody else. We've been blessed, we've been
encouraged, we've been almost like we've gone up the ladder
a little bit. And Jesus tells us about some
blessings in Matthew chapter 5 in his Beatitudes. there he uses again things that
we wouldn't count as blessings. Blessings are they that mourn
for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye where men shall
revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against
you falsely. For my name's sake rejoice and
be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for
so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. And so
Jesus takes up a similar thing using something which we may
deem as negative and calling it a blessing because of the
response in which it receives. Blessed are they which mourn.
Why? Because they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek because
they will inherit the earth. Blessed are the merciful because
they will obtain mercy. And so it's what they will receive
from God. Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. And so it's not everybody who
is blessed when they are dead. It's not everybody. There's a
condition attached to it. As Jesus puts in his Beatitudes,
there are conditions attached to those who are blessed. And
so there is a condition attached to the blessedness of death. It is those who die in the Lord. That's what makes the difference.
Someone who dies and they are not in the Lord, then that's a disaster. It is
not a blessing. People may say that they have
escaped their sufferings here below. Their life was so miserable. They had such hardship. And so
it's a good thing that they died. But if they have died outside
of Christ, it is no blessing at all. They go from suffering
and sadness to eternal suffering and sadness. This is one thing
that I found extremely difficult in Kenya. Meeting people who
on their deathbed, knowing that they've had lives of hardship
and suffering and difficulty, laying there unwell in a boiling
hot mud hut with flies all around them. And they reject the gospel. And they go from suffering to
even worse suffering. And it just even, it made it
even more difficult to comprehend. But that's the reality of it. There's a condition to this blessing
and it's those who die in the Lord. Death by nature is an enemy
to us but it's only in Christ, only in the Lord, in Christ Jesus
that death can be made a blessing. In 1 Corinthians Chapter 15, verse 50, it tells
us there about the sting that is death. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does
corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed in a moment,
in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trump
shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we
shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
that saying which is written, death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, Where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which has
given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that
your labour is not in vain in the Lord. O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, but because of Christ that sting
has been removed. There is no condemnation to those
that are in Christ Jesus. We were in Kenya again. I used
to use the example of a scorpion. Scorpions you know have a long
tail with a sting on them. And if they hit you, if they
sting you, your hand or whatever will hurt for 24 hours, throbbing. But the children would play with
these scorpions because they would remove the tail. They would
pull off the sting and then you would find them playing with
these creatures. And the only reason they could
play with it was because they'd removed the sting from it. And
the only reason we can call death a blessed thing which died in
the Lord is that the sting has been removed. That sin has been
dealt with in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are in Christ
Jesus. As Christ lived upon this earth,
he bore a people for himself. He was carrying a people written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. And he lived for them. He died
on the cross for them. Their sin was dealt with by the
Father as he poured out his wrath upon his son. And as Christ rose
again. And they are in him. They are
counted as in him and those who are in Christ Jesus do not need
to fear death. Although the thought of it may
bring fear but the true fear has been removed because sin
has been removed. And death is the last step of
following Christ to be with him. It's passing through a door,
an unknown door, to be with the Lord Jesus Christ forever and
ever. And so this blessed promise or
theological statement is, blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord. For from henceforth, yea, saith
the Spirit, they may rest from their labours. as the Lord Jesus
Christ ascended up into heaven after he had died. He was laid
in the grave, rose again the third day and then ascended up
into heaven. He rests from his earthly labours. He continues
on his labours as a great high priest but the dead in Christ
will also rest from their labours. The toil and sorrow of this world,
the battle with the older nature and sin, the doubts and fears
which we experience as we walk on this earth, following Christ,
the unknown pathway, walking by faith, will all be gone. We will see him as he is and
those labours and that work which he commissions us to do will
be completed on the day of our death. Think of John the Baptist,
the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ. When his work was done,
he was beheaded and taken to glory and he rests from his labours. Notice the difference between
those who die in the Lord and those who fall under the wrath
of Almighty God. It says in verse 10, The same
shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured
out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. Remember
what Jesus said, if the be winning, let this cup pass from me. And
as Christ drank up that wrath of God for the sins of his people,
here he is speaking of the wrath of God poured out upon those
who reject his sacrifice as the cup of his indignation. He shall
be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels
and the presence of the Lamb. And listen, and the smoke of
their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest,
day nor night, who worship the beast and his image and whosoever
receives the mark of his name, there is no rest. So you see
the contrast, the wicked go to eternal torment where they have
no rest day or night but the righteous, those who are in Christ
Jesus, they are at rest from their labours and their works
do follow them. In Corinthians again, Corinthians chapter 3 It tells us there about the day of judgment, when every man's
work will be tried with fire, will be put to the test. First
of all, he speaks of the false teachers. And in verse 13, it
says, every man's work shall be made manifest or every man's
work shall be revealed. For the day shall declare it,
because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try
every man's work, what sort it is. If any man's work abide,
which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. And
if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he
himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. We know that no person will ever
enter into heaven by works. It says their works will follow
them, will not carry our works to heaven. Our works will not
go before us to heaven, but they will follow after us. We know
that as we live here below, our lives are lights shining in a
dark place. And we know that the testimony
of the just is blessed. And to those who are Christ's,
they have been given a work to do while they are here below.
They are to perform good works as a consequence of the Holy
Spirit indwelling in them. Christ has appointed us as believers
to good works. And when we die, our works, they
will continue on. Sometimes seed planted in the
ground takes many years to germinate. sometimes prayers that have been
prayed for loved ones, we may never see the answers to those
prayers but they follow on behind afterwards. And it says here
that also on the day of judgment our works which we have done
in the name of Christ will be passed through the fire. There
are some things which will be burned up Some things which we
had done, which we thought had been for the Lord, they will
be burned up and forgotten about forever. But some things will
be brought through the fire. They will be perfected through
the fire as gold and silver is perfected in the fire and it
says that every man shall receive his reward and no one really
knows what rewards there are in heaven and what degrees is
being spoken about but there is promise, there is that crown
which is given to each believer and there are those especially
who are nearer the throne which are said to be like the martyrs
which have laid down their life for Christ, the ultimate act
of sacrificial following of the Lord Jesus Christ, they may receive
a greater reward. He says, Blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their
labours and their works do follow them. As we see people lying
on their deathbed it's very easy to think that
they are in a worse condition than you and I. But really they're
not. Their condition may be obvious.
It may be obvious that their body is deteriorating Ultimately
all of us are in that same frail condition. It is said that four
minutes without breathing our minds are affected with, begin
to die and permanent damage can be done. Four minutes without
breathing. Seven minutes most people would be dead. So every
moment of every day, you and I are just seven minutes away
from eternity. When we see people laying there,
don't think that you have a better chance than they do, you're stronger
than they are. No. We live by the grace of God. Our life hangs by the grace of
God. God has the key to our life. And he says, today, today, if
you hear his voice, harden not your heart. He warns us that
our lives are vapors passing away very quickly, hastening
on to an eternity. And the eternity is what is the
important thing. And what a blessing it is then
to know Christ and to be in Christ you may be able to face death
and call it just a transition from time to eternity from faith
to sight and to be able to say blessed are the dead which die
in the lord from henceforth yea saith the spirit that they may
rest from their labors and their works do follow them they rest
Those who have died in Christ, they rest waiting for that reconciliation
of body and soul to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to wait
for the new heaven and the new earth. But those who are outside
of Christ, death is no blessed thing. It is a fearful thing
from suffering to eternal suffering. to a place of no rest, day or
night, under the eternal wrath of Almighty God. May the Spirit
apply these truths to our souls to wake us up and to give us
a true sense of the frailty of our lives. Don't look at these
old people and think they haven't got long. What about us? Seven
minutes there is between us and death. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen.