Good morning. It is a sad morning,
but nevertheless a good morning. And I can see from the tears
on your cheeks that the memory of the righteous is
blessed. I've been asked by the church
I pastor in Great Falls to extend their regards to you. They remember
Joe preaching to them a couple of years ago, both in a worship
service of the church and also in the rescue mission downtown. His memory to them is blessed. And I am blessed to be here on
this occasion. It's a bittersweet moment. But I do pray the Lord might
be pleased to meet with us this day. I invite your attention to the
Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last book in the Holy Scriptures. The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
chapter 14. My text is found in verse number
13. My text reads, then I heard a
voice from heaven saying to me, right, blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit. that they
may rest from their labors and their works follow them. My message is titled, Dead but
Blessed. It's a rather contradictory thought,
some may say, dead but blessed. That's what the text says. Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Let me speak about
one of them for just a moment. My first recollection of Joe
Terrell goes back to the year 1984, 40 years ago exactly this
year. He at that time was pastoring
a church in Owensboro, Kentucky. I had just finished five years,
the first five years of my ministry in the West Indies and was visiting
in the U.S. And Joe asked me to preach to
the church there in Owensboro. As I recall, first time I ever
met him. We were all young back then,
40 years ago. Joe and Bonnie had but the one
child, Ben, a wee lad at the time. But thus began my knowledge
of Joe Terrell. And every moment we ever had
together since that time was blessed. We were separated by years and
miles. Rarely did we get to see each
other. But every time I was with him
was a blessed time. I never had a moment with him
that was not blessed. I was blessed by his preaching.
He was an extraordinary preacher. I was blessed by his preaching,
blessed by the hymns he wrote. We sang one a moment ago. One
of his hymns is in the bulletin of the church I pastor in Great
Falls this morning. A hymn he wrote, Is It Nothing
to You, All You Who Passed By. He was an exceptional writer,
able to explain doctrines so easily, so readily. And if you have not recently
read his article on tears, do not despise tears. Find it before
the day is over and read it again. That article is also in the bulletin
of the church I pastor in Great Falls this morning. He was a blessing to all, not
just to me. especially was he a blessing
to you, and you know more about what kind of a blessing he was
than I would know. He was here with you for, lo,
those many years. He was a blessing to his beloved
Bonnie, a blessing to his children, his
grandchildren. He was a man who lived above
reproach, and was a blessing to all who knew him. Now, he will no longer be a blessing
like he was in the past. He will never again stand behind
this pulpit and declare the gospel and expound the scriptures the
way that he did before. He will never write another hymn He'll never write another article. But he who was a blessing is
now blessed. Beyond compare, infinitely, eternally
blessed. How do we know? The text says
so. Blessed are they who die in the
Lord from now on. Well, There's death in this text. Blessed are the dead. You cannot
have the blessing that is here mentioned apart from dying, and
you must die to receive it. Death, what is death? I can give
you seven things regarding death. It is the consequence of sin.
The soul who sins shall die. The wages of sin is death. Therefore,
we all must reap those wages. It is the separation of our soul
from our body when the spirit returns to God who gave it and
the body returns to the dust whence it came. It is the common
end of all mortals. You're not going to escape it,
neither will I. We're going to follow Joe. It is the terminator of our earthly
existence. Never again will there be our
existence on earth after death. It is the enemy that conquers
all and is conquered by none. You cannot beat it. You're going
to succumb to it. It is the separator of friends
and loved ones. It is the thing most dreaded
by most people. Death usually comes in one of
three ways. A tragic event, a debilitating
disease, or a painful infirmity. We may call it natural causes,
but nevertheless, there's usually pain with it, and sorrow with
it, and oftentimes tragedy. Now as you can see from the above,
there is nothing pleasant and sweet about death. Everything
about death is bitter. However, you cannot die apart
from this truth, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord
from now on. That is a glorious beatitude. What does that word blessed mean?
It means happy. Happy are they who die in the
Lord and from now on. I want us to look this morning
at four aspects of this truth. Let us consider the recipients
of this blessedness. Second, the commencement of this
blessedness. Third, the description of their
blessedness. And fourth, the confirmation
of their blessedness. Who are the recipients? They
are the dead who die in the Lord. Now they are in the Lord in many
ways. We're going to look at a few
of them. They die in their faith in the Lord. They are in that
faith which is in Christ Jesus. What is it to have faith in Jesus
Christ? It means that you have absolutely
none in yourself. It means that every hope that
you have of salvation and of any benefit from God is found
in Jesus Christ. We exercise that faith when the
Lord saves us. We live through that faith upon
this earth. And none but they who die in
that faith, forsaking everything that they are and trusting only
in Jesus Christ, they're blessed. They died in the faith of their
Lord. They died in the love of the
Lord. They obeyed that exhortation
to keep yourself in the love of God. There's something you
have to do regarding this. Keep yourself in the love of
God. God will keep on loving you,
but you've got to keep on loving him. Keep yourself in the love
of God. They die in the righteousness
of the Lord. They are in Christ Jesus who
became for us righteousness from God. The express wording of scripture,
in Christ Jesus who is to us righteousness from God. They
confess, surely in Jehovah I have righteousness. Isaiah 45 verse
24, he's our only righteousness. They confess that he is Jehovah,
our righteousness. And they confessed that I have
no righteousness except Christ. Now if you die in that kind of
righteousness, you're blessed. You will be blessed. They die
in the holiness of the Lord. They die separated from the world
and sin and consecrated unto God. That's what holiness is.
It is a separation and a consecration and a dedication. None but they
who are devoted to Jesus Christ and forsake sin and follow him
can die and be blessed in the Lord. They die in the service
to the Lord. Jesus said, anyone who puts his
hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for my kingdom. Now
we're not very familiar with that kind of a plow nowadays. In Jesus' day, they all understood,
and you probably would too, you're farming folks. But you know good
and well that when you're going to plow that furrow, you start
at one end of the field and you have an object at the other end
of the field, a stake or a tree or whatever is there before you.
and you have put that plow in a straight line toward the object
at the end of the field. As long as you keep your plow
in that straight line toward the object at the end of the
field, you're doing okay. Just don't look back to see how
well you've done, because when you do, Your plow has changed
directions. And Jesus says, if you do it,
you're not fit for my kingdom. Once you put your hand to the
Christian plow in faith in Jesus Christ, never look back to the
world, never do it. They die in their service to
the Lord. They die in their communion with
the Lord. Seeking those things which are
above, where Jesus is at the right hand of God. We begin our
Christian life in communion with Christ. We awaken every morning,
I hope we do, in communion with Christ. We end our day in communion
with Christ. And if you do, one day you'll
be blessed in Christ. They die in their obedience to
the Lord. Listen to what he says. Be faithful
until death and I will give you the crown of life. There is no
place for a quitter in God's kingdom. And I think that all
of you will agree with me. And you knew Joe better than
I do. Here is a man who once he started out, never looked
back. Here is a man who was faithful. to the very end? Trusted in Jesus
Christ to the very end? Well, of such a man as that,
you will read the scripture say, blessed are they who die in the
Lord. Now, second point, when does
it commence? From now on. From now on. From the moment of death. Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord from the very moment of their
death. It was just said a moment ago
that Joe is now without sin. What a blessed thought is that.
From now on, no more sin. No more unholiness. No more sinful
nature. No more of this. From the moment
of death, there is nothing but bliss. and blessedness and happiness. The description of their blessing,
this is the third point. Well, huh, it is not here given. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord from now on. Well, what is this blessing? In the first verse of Revelation
chapter 14, You will find Jesus Christ being described as standing
with the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. 144,000, now
that is a symbolical number and you can arrive at it. by taking the figurative numbers
of three, the number of God, and four, the number of the earth,
multiply them, get 12, a number of completion, multiply it by
12 again, and 1,000, that represents the reign of Christ in this revelation
of Jesus Christ. The 144,000 would be comprised
of every believer on this earth in every age, both Old and New
Testaments. The 144,000, now if you'll go
to the seventh chapter of the revelation of Jesus Christ, you'll
find them described as a multitude that no man could number. And there we find that they are
pictured as victorious, white robes, palm branches of victory
in their hands, And then we find that their blessings are described.
I want you to consider the blessings of those who die in the Lord
from Revelation chapter 7. First of all, they are before
the throne of God. They are before the throne of
God. They no longer need an intercessor. That is sweet. In heaven, no
longer do we need an intercessor. We're right there before God's
throne. We are in communion with Him.
He speaks with us and we speak with Him. Second, they serve God day and
night in His temple. Every day is, as it were, the
Lord's day. And every moment is, as it were,
a worship service. And their hymns are forever sung. And their praises are ever given.
And I would say to you that if you find a worship service on
this earth to be boring, then you do not want to go to heaven
because that's what we're going to be doing the whole time we're
there. Singing praise, a new song to the land. worshiping
Him, rejoicing in Christ. Do you not enjoy it for an hour
or so every Lord's Day? Well, every day in glory is a
Lord's Day, and everything we do is in service to Him. They
serve God day and night in His temple. Third, we read that He
who sits on the throne will dwell among them. God will dwell among
us. He will be with us as He was
with Adam and Eve in their unfallen state in the Garden of Eden when
He would come down and walk with them in the cool of the day.
God's going to be with us. We're going to live with Him.
Not only live in His house, we're going to live in His presence.
Fourth, they shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. Think
about it, folks. No grocery stores in heaven.
No place to buy food because you do not need it. No place
to buy water because you do not need it. They neither hunger
nor thirst anymore. Fifth, the sun shall not strike
them nor any heat. No more persecution from the
world. No more fiery darts fired from
Satan. No longer having to wear the
Christian armor. No longer having to fight the
good fight. It's over, it's over. In heaven,
no persecution. Sixth, The Lamb who is in the
midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living
fountains of waters. The Lamb who is in the midst
of the throne. When John describes the scene
in heaven, he describes a throne. It's God's throne. He describes the 24 elders on
thrones encircling the throne of God in glory. And on the day of the ascension
of Jesus Christ, he describes Christ coming into heaven in
all his glory. And he describes the father saying
to the son, come, sit on my right hand. Jesus Christ is there in
heaven on God's throne. The Lamb who is in the midst
of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains
of waters. God's Lamb, Jesus Christ. I'm not really sure what heaven's
going to be like. I've never been there. There
are some descriptions of it given. But even with these descriptions,
we must make conjectures, I reckon, concerning what it's going to
be like. But I want you to notice this. The Lamb who is in the
midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living
fountains of waters. Now, if I understand something
of what is here said, it is as though Jesus comes down and says,
Joe, come, let's go for a walk. I need to show you something.
Okay. And off the lamb takes the inhabitants
of heaven. Look, thousands of waters. I'm
going to give you a guided tour. Thousands of living waters. There's
the tree of life. There's the Golden Street. Notice,
the Lamb will lead them. He who leads us in this present
life will continue leading us in heaven's glory, but he'll
be leading us in a different place, leading us in a different
manner. He here leads us in paths of
righteousness because there are other kinds of paths. In heaven,
he leads us to fountains of living waters, fountains of living waters. Jesus will lead his flock in
heaven just like he leads them on earth, except that there'll be no need
for the rod and the staff to comfort us. There'll be no more
valley, the shadow of death, in which our enemies are lurking.
He leads us in a way that shows the happiness and the bliss of
heaven's glory forever. Number seven, God will wipe all
tears from their eyes. God will wipe all tears from
their eyes. I suppose most of us will die
with tears in our eyes. I do not doubt that Joe died with tears in his eyes. He died with tears in his eyes
and fell asleep. on earth with tears in his eyes,
awoke in heaven with tears in his eyes, and God says, Joe,
Joe, Joe, we cannot have that here. Tears will blur your vision,
and God himself shall wipe the tears. Have you thought about
that? God does not send an angel over
to wipe the tears. No, no, no. God himself will
wipe the tears. Now what do tears do? They blur
our vision. You cannot see well when your
eye is filled with tears. When God wipes the tears from
your eyes, when you awaken in glory, What's the first thing
you're going to see? Him who wipes the tears from
your eyes. It's the first thing you'll see.
He wipes the tears from your eyes. Your vision now is no longer
blurred. You can see clearly. Lord, is
that you? Yes, Lord, that is you. I'll never weep again. I will never weep again. How
blessed is that? No more weeping in heaven. No
more debilitation. No more sickness. No more sorrow. No more pain. Nothing that causes
a tear would be found in that place Once God has wiped the
tears from your eyes when you reach heaven's glory, it is joy
and rejoicing, thenceforth forever, eternally. God himself will wipe
our tears from our eyes. How blessed is that? God himself
will wipe the tears from our eyes. Well, That is something
of what it is to be blessed in heaven's glory. Imagine it, well,
it's beyond our imagination. Whatever you have imagined heaven
to be, and I'm speaking to children of God and not to those who look
for some kind of carnal pleasure in that place, but We who have some expectation
of what it's going to be like to be in the presence of Jesus
Christ forevermore, never knowing sin again, never knowing any unholiness
again. I cannot fathom it on this earth,
but in heaven, that's the way it is. Whatever you can imagine
heaven to be like, Now will pale in comparison to what it is in
reality when you awaken there. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord from now on without pause, without ceasing. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord from now on. Well, let's look at something
else, the fourth point, the last point of my message, the confirmation
of their blessedness. It's confirmed here in our text
back in Revelation chapter 14, verse 13. Yes, says the Spirit. The voice from heaven says, blessed
are they who die in the Lord from now on. And the Holy Spirit
says, amen. Yes. And two things are said of them. First, they rest from their labors.
They rest from their labors. Now you can believe what this
Holy Spirit says because He is the Spirit of truth. And whatever
He says is the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. It is possible for someone to
tell you the truth without telling you the whole truth, because
it just means he did not tell you a lie. What he said was true,
but he didn't say it all. This is not true of the Holy
Spirit. He is the spirit of truth in which there is no lie, and
he completely tells the truth, the whole truth, nothing but
the truth. And here he has said, they rest
from their labors. They rest from their labors.
What is this rest? God created the heavens and the
earth in six days and then we read on the seventh day he rested.
Why did he rest? Well, it was not because he was
tired, he was not. He is not. The omnipotent was
not tired and he was not exhausted. He rested in complacency in the
enjoyment of his creation. He rested in the fact that it's
good. Look, it's good. God created the heavens and the
earth and he never had to reboot, start all over, fix mistakes. It was all perfect. Our rest
in heaven is going to be somewhat of a rest of perfection. It will be a perfect rest. They
rest from their labors. Their labors are completely over.
There's never a work day in heaven. It is rest, sweet rest, enjoyable
rest, eternal rest, forever rest. Second, their works follow them. Now that's an interesting expression. They will do no works in heaven,
but the works they did on earth do follow them." Now I want you
to notice that word follow. The text does not say that their
works precede them as though God should know from the works
he had done what kind of a mansion he deserves. There are some folks
who believe that. It's not true, of course, but,
you know, you're going to get a mansion in glory or you're
going to get a crown in glory compared to the works you did
on earth. Your works are going to go before
you in heaven. Make sure that your mansion is
just suited for you and your crown is big enough. No, no,
no. The text does not say their works
precede them as though to help to prepare a place for them,
nor does it say that their works accompany them to heaven. It
is not as though some would say we reach the pearly gate. Yes, who are you? I've come to
enter heaven. Show me your credentials. Here
are my works. Here are my works. Look at this.
I did this, did that, and did the other. No, the text does
not say their works accompany them to heaven. It says their
works follow them to heaven. Follow them to heaven. What does that mean? It means that God is not unjust
to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown
toward His name, Hebrews 6, verse 10. God does not forget what
His children have done here on this earth, and they are amply rewarded for
what they do. And what is their reward? Is
it because of their own merit? No. No. Their works follow them. What is this reward? It's of
grace. What is this reward? It's Christ. It's Christ. The only reward
we look for in heaven is Christ himself. a crown of life and
he is the life. We have peace in heaven and he
is the peace. And our works follow us to heaven's
glory, not to prove that we're worthy, but only to show that
God is not forgetful. God is not forgetful. God does
not forget what we have done. on this earth in the name of
his son. God is mindful of all those things
and he's not so unjust as to forget. It is blessed to die
in the Lord. However, I must not close this message. without speaking of those who
die outside the Lord. I hope there is none here today. I hope there is none here today
that is outside of Christ. Because I must be honest and
say to you that you will not be blessed when you die. The blessedness that comes in
death is only for those who die in the Lord, who have put their
faith and hope and trust in Him, their service in Him, made Him
the object and the goal of all that they do. There is a place that is prepared
for those who die outside the Lord, and it is not a place of
blessing. It is a place of curse. The scripture says, Jesus himself
said, they go to hell into the fire that never shall be quenched
where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.
Oh, the torment never stops. The worm never dies. What is
this worm that never dies? It is the worm of your conscience
if you die outside of Christ. It will gnaw on you for all the
rest of eternity if you die outside the Lord. I pray there is none
here today that will die outside the Lord and to know the misery
with never a blessing again. And I would hope that before
you walk out those doors at the end of this worship service today,
you would ascertain that you're in the Lord, you're in Christ,
through faith in him, trusting in him. And I would assure you,
from God's word, that if you are in Christ, when you die,
regardless of the way in which you die, regardless of the place
in which you die, regardless of the hour in which you die,
it matters not. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord from now on. If you have never trusted Christ, do so now. Do so now. And then it will be said of you,
blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Oh God, our Father, we thank you that the memory of the righteous is
blessed. We thank you for those who have
been a blessing to us in this life. We pray now that they would be blessed with you
for all eternity. We pray that you'd be mindful
of our sorrowful hearts. We pray that you will comfort
those who mourn. We pray that your blessings be
upon Joe's beloved Barney, and the
children, and the grandchildren, and this church here. And we
pray that we, like Joe, may know the blessedness and the bliss
of being blessed upon dying in Christ. To your glory in Jesus'
name, we pray. Amen.