Fully Blessed The Beatitudes Of Revelation (Part 2 – The Blessings)

I. Introduction A. Sing: #392 – Count Your Blessings. I cannot describe how helpful this song has been in my life. It leaps to my mind when my heart needs redirection. I’ve found that counting your blessings in Christ is one of the most exciting and faithful building exercise you can do, and we need to do it regularly. When circumstances seem too big to handle, or life hasn’t turned out the way you thought it would, it is easy to become discouraged, even hopeless. But, when you sit down and begin to list all the blessings you have in Christ you find you have every reason in the world to rejoice and have hope. 1. There is one word in Johnson Oatman’s first verse that captures my attention. He writes, When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. It will “surprise” you what the Lord hath done! Sadly, I think he’s right! We often think so little about our blessings in Christ that when we do take a few moments to think about them it is surprising to us. Yet the blessings of God should be so familiar to us that come quickly to our minds and flow easily off our lips. They should be the fuel that animates our daily joy and faithfulness. 2. Today I want us to put a few more items on our list of blessings. The list could be endless because Paul wrote, “[God] has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). Ezekiel wrote of how God will send “showers of blessings” upon His people (Ezek. 34:6). Solomon wrote of how “blessings are upon the head of the righteous” (Prov. 10:6). So, with all the blessings of heaven coming down like a rain on our heads, we ought to feel rather blessed! B. To help us identify these blessings we will look at the final book in the Bible, the book of Revelation. It is significant that the book of Revelation contains seven different blessings upon the faithful believer. 1. Fully Blessed. In a book where numbers say so much, the fact that there are seven blessings pronounced on believers says that God’s people are fully blessed! The number seven in Revelation means “full or complete.” So, God’s people are completely blessed. It’s not that we have Christ as an insurance policy to cover the gaps in life when pleasures, people and possessions fail to deliver. No! The point is, if you have Christ you have ALL you need in life to be completely, totally blessed! 2. Blessed Always. The message is even more powerful when you consider the people to whom Revelation was written were going through severe persecution. Yet, they are promised, “Even when life deals its worst blow, you can be completely blessed in Christ.” 3. This morning we looked at the kind of people who are blessed by God. Tonight we will consider how they are blessed. This morning we looked at “The Blessed” tonight we consider “The Blessings.” C. Let’s begin by asking, “Why John recorded these seven blessings and sprinkle them throughout his letter?” His readers were being crushed by life. It looked like the church would be wiped out of existence. What good would these “Blessing Statements” do for them? Two things. 1. Counting Your Blessings Gives You Certainty In Your Future. First, counting your blessings gives you certainty in your future. The blessings of God are not limited by circumstance. Fully Blessed (Beatitudes In Revelation) 1 Tim Jennings They are rooted in the past, effective in the present, and reach out to the future. They remind us that when things are difficult it will not end up that way! The blessings we will study will talk about how we “will rest,” “will reign,” and we “will enter the city of God.” Counting your blessings remind the Christian that their best days are yet to come. 2. Counting Your Blessings Gives You Courage In Your Faith. As a result, counting your blessings strengthens your faith. It gives you courage to keep faithful to God. When we consider our blessings in Christ we know why we are serving Him daily, why we don’t buy into the lies of the world, why we fight against sin and selfishness—our blessings are too good to miss out on! a. When someone grows weak in their walk with Christ we are tempted to throw a bunch of commands at them, and that may help if they respect the authority of Christ. However, if they are discouraged it may be more effective to list the blessings of Christ to them and say, “Those are too good to miss, aren’t they?” b. The blessings of God give courage to our faith. 3. Now then, let’s look into these “Seven Statements of Blessing” in Revelation and discover the blessings God has in store for the faithful.

II. The Blessings A. We Will Rest From Our Labors (Rev. 14:13). The first blessing promised is rest from our labors. Does that sound good to anyone? Rest! Just imagine how wonderful this sounded to the early believers who were under pressure, physically, emotionally, spiritually, to give up their faith. They wonder if the pressures will ever stop, and then John says, “I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘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” (Revelation 14:13). 1. Blessed Are The Dead. This blessing begins in a rather jarring way, “Blessed are the dead.” This is not a morbid longing for death as some relief from the problems of life (Job 3:1-ff). This is a recognition that some in the churches were already killed for their faith, and many others would soon follow (Rev. 2:10,13). Yet, the church was not to see death as the worst thing that could happen. 2. Who Die In The Lord. Because, and here is the key phrase, those “who die in the Lord” will be greatly blessing. Now, not all who die find death to be a reason to rejoice, but when you are in Jesus you do. Why? The answer is suggested in that little phrase, “from now on.” What happened in the first century that made death a blessing? Jesus happened! He conquered death and removed the curse of sin. Which lead Paul to boldly say, ““Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 15:54-57) In another place he would write to grieving Christians who were coping with the death of their loved ones. “I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” (1 Thess. 4:13-14)

Fully Blessed (Beatitudes In Revelation) 2 Tim Jennings There you find that all important phrase again, “in Jesus.” For those in Christ the curse of sin and death is conquered by Jesus, and only a blessing remains. Before we get to what that blessing is, just think of what a joy it is to know that death leads to blessing for those in Christ! All of us will face death. It is a certainty we cannot ignore, yet only those in Jesus will find it to be a blessing. How wonderful! How joyous! 3. Rest From Their Labor. Especially when you consider we will “rest from [our] labors,” the blessing says. a. Rest From The Penalty Of Sin. It is interesting that when Jesus came preaching He promised rest to His followers. He said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:28-29) Jesus came to deal with the unbearable weight of sin in our lives and provide “rest for our souls.” He gives us grace that is always greater than our sin, so that now there is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). That is the sweet rest we have in Christ now—rest from the penalty of sin. b. Rest From the Presence Of Sin. But the blessed rest John records goes beyond that to— rest from the presence of sin. John is writing to Christians going through trials, facing temptation, encountering Satan and suffering at every corner. The promise here is of rest from the constant labor of living in a fallen world. Now that is truly a blessed rest! To have rest from the penalty of sin is a joy. To have rest from the daily, pressing, painful presence of sin that will be joy beyond measure. John wrote of heaven, “Nothing impure will ever enter it…but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:27). (See Hebrews 4:1-ff). 4. Works Follow Them. For those who die in the Lord their works are done, but they are not forgotten! The blessing goes on, “they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them” (Rev. 14:13). a. (Optional) Now, their works do not precede them, as though they needed their works to get into heaven. Instead, their works follow them like the long train of a bridal gown. All the works that God had done through them, all the fruit the Spirit bore in them, all the good that Jesus worked as fruitful branches joined to Him, follow them in all their shining glory. b. God will not forget the faithful works we do for Him (1 Cor. 15:58; Matt. 10:42; Heb. 6:10). All else will be forgotten, except that done for the Lord! Those who die in the Lord are blessed because they take with them all the good they have done in service to the Lord. It will follow them like the long train of a bridal gown. 5. Doesn’t that encourage you to be bolder, more productive, and more faithful in your service to the Lord? …Knowing that you will rest from the very presence of sin and suffering, and that all you do for the Lord will be eternally remembered. What a blessing! What a joyful expectation! B. We Will Be Delivered From The Second Death (Rev. 20:6). Add to that the blessing recorded in Revelation 20:6, that once we have entered this rest it will not be marred by death ever again. John writes, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power.” All people die once (Heb. 9:27), but those who die in Christ don’t experience the second death. 1. Condition In Hell. This second death is separation from God for eternity. It is described further in Revelation 20:14 in a symbolic, but awful picture of being “a lake of fire” (Rev.

Fully Blessed (Beatitudes In Revelation) 3 Tim Jennings 20:14). Elsewhere it is called a place of “outer darkness,” and place of weeping, remorse, and pain (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). Words like fire are used to describe this “second death” because words can’t really capture what it means to be separated from all that is good for eternity. Here on earth we are still the recipients of God’s daily mercies (Matt. 5:45), but the second death removes us eternally from God’s goodness—every beautiful sight, every comforting drink, touch, smell—gone! In Christ “the second death has no power.” What a blessing! 2. Company In Hell. But what’s even worse than the condition of the second death is its company. We are told that the “devil is cast into the lack of fire,” not to rule it, but to be overcome by it (Rev. 20:10). Any condition that is considered hell to the devil, must be terrible indeed! Later John says, “cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). By the wonderful grace of God will be spared that company, and we will stand with the “saved of all the nations” eternally in the presence of the undiluted glory, grace, and love of God (Rev. 21:24). None will be spared of death in this world, but those in Christ will be spared from the second death—that is a wonderful blessing. C. We Will Be Present At The Wedding Supper (Rev. 19:9). As you continue to count your blessings remember that you will be present at the wedding supper of the Lamb. That is the promise in Revelation 19:9, “Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God” (Rev. 19:9, NIV). 1. Respond To The Invitation. First, notice those who are blessed to attend this wedding feast are there because they responded to an invitation. That invitation is the gospel. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” The gospel invites us to have a relationship with God through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote, “[God] called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14). When we respond to the gospel by faithful obedience we are invited to be joined with Christ and made His heirs. So that today we can be children of God, we can pray to God, we hear the words of God, and we can do the works of God. We have fellowship with Jesus. 2. An Invitation To Joy. Yet, one day this relationship will deeper and more joyful. This is the picture John gives us here. We will be at the wedding supper of the Lamb. Wedding feasts are a time of joyful celebration over a union between two people. The amazing thing here is the wedding feast is for the Lamb and us! We are not only the guest, we are the bride. Revelation 21 pictures the saved as “a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2,9; See Eph. 5:32). 3. What awaits us is a joyful, deeper, fellowship with our Savior and Lord, Jesus—the Father and the Spirit. There is not an invitation on earth that could compare to that! No Super Bowl tickets, no invitation to the White House, no red carpet at the Oscars could begin to compare with being invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb. And no person can compare to seeing Him, and knowing Him throughout eternity. D. We Will Be Priests Of God (Rev. 20:6). Are you making your list? We will rest from our labors, be delivered from the second death, and be welcomed to the wedding supper of the Lamb, then what we’ll do next is found in Revelation 20:6. John writes, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ” (Rev. 20:6). We have the blessing of being priests of God.

Fully Blessed (Beatitudes In Revelation) 4 Tim Jennings 1. Old Testament Priest. Of course this idea of priests is rooted in the Old Testament covenant. There the priesthood was only for a certain people who were set apart and purified for the purpose of serving the Lord. 2. New Testament Priest. In the new covenant, every believer is called a priest of God. The apostle Peter did not conceive a special class of believers called priest, but rather taught that we are all priest of God. In 1 Peter 2 he says that all those who have purified their souls by obeying the truth and been born again by the word of God “are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ,” that we “are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:5,9). Today every believer is a priest to God. And with this position comes many blessings. 3. We Can Serve The Lord. We can offer our lives as a “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable act of worship” (Rom 12:2). We have the privilege of serving the purposes of our King. There is not a better job on this planet than to be priest of God. 4. We Can Speak To The Lord. And being priest allows us access to speak to our God. As Paul wrote, “Through Christ we have access by one spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18). We can approach God at any time in prayer, and because of the blood of Christ, we can come boldly before His throne of grace (Heb. 4:15-16). We can pray for our families, this church, our world, the sick, and have access because we are priest of God. 5. Now, those are the blessings we now have as priests of God, but John says, “It’s only going to get better in heaven!” The service we offer will be purer and more powerful. The access we have to His listening ear will be even more intimate. 6. Take the most joyful service you’ve ever offered to God, and the most passionate prayer you’ve prayed to him—multiply it by 1000 and you’ll begin to understand the blessing of being a priest of God in eternity. E. We Will Reign With Christ (Rev. 20:6). The blessing continues in Revelation 20:6 to include something else. It says, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:6). Because we are in Christ we are considered priest and kings! 1. A Special Position. There is never a reason to have an inferiority complex. There is no reason to ever feel meaningless or worthless. The blood of Jesus has made us something special. Revelation 1:5-6 says, “[Jesus] loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father” (Rev. 1:5-6; also 5:10). To the extent that the blood of Jesus washes away our sins, and the help of Jesus helps us overcome our sins and trials, we reign with Christ here and now! We are kings with Christ. 2. A Certain Victory. But this Beatitude also says in heaven we will once and for all reign with Christ over those things that destroyed our mind, soul and body. We will be victorious. It is not a victory we have achieved, but one that Christ has achieved for us and shared with us. a. His victory over sin, He shares with us. His victory over death, He shares with us. And in Revelation, specifically, it is His victory over Satan and the tribulations of life that He shares with us. b. And in heaven, this victory is not short lived or temporary awaiting another battle. No! This is a victory that lasts. We “shall reign with Him a thousand years” (20:6). That is a symbolic way of saying, “Always!”

Fully Blessed (Beatitudes In Revelation) 5 Tim Jennings 3. An Inspiring Promise. In light of the certainty of our victory, Jesus calls us to overcome the sins and the trials that stand in our way today. To the church of Laodicea He promised: “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Rev. 3:21) Jesus already reigns over sin and death, and He wants to share His victory with us. So He says to us, “overcome!” Don’t miss reigning with Christ. Can you imagine that we will reign with Christ for all eternity? We are not small or insignificant. We reign with Him who conquered ever sin, and endured every trial, and overcame! In Him we will too! E. We Will Have Access To The Tree Of Life (Rev. 22:14). Then we come to the seventh blessing in Revelation. Are you feeling blessed yet? Wait tell you read Revelation 22:14, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14). Those of us who are clean through the blood of Christ have the right to the tree of life. 1. The Lost Tree. The power of this picture takes us back to the opening pages of Genesis. The tree of life was in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had free access to it, and eating it gave them eternal life. But, when they sinned, the tree of life was taken away so they would not eat of it and live in their sinful condition forever. What a blessing that it was removed! With the tree of life gone, living immortally in sin was made impossible (Gen. 2:9; 3:22). 2. The Savior’s Tree. We must now find our eternal life in a different tree—the one on which Jesus died (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Gal. 3:13; 1 Pet. 2:24). Jesus’ death and resurrection opened up the way to the “tree of life” again; which is not a literal tree, but a figurative way of saying, “Fullness of life,” or “eternal life.” Now, because our sins are forgiven in Jesus, we can have eternal life to the fullness (Rev. 22:2). We will not be subject to death or decay again —what a blessing! F. We Will Enter The City (Rev. 22:14). Are you counting your blessings? We will have rest, escape the second death, attend the wedding supper of the Lamb as the bride, and we will then serve God as priests, and reign with Christ as kings, and live eternally to the fullest. Fully blessed doesn’t begin to describe it! And then, as if we are not overwhelmed with the blessings of God yet, Revelation 22:14 goes on to say, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14). John just painted the most beautiful word picture of heaven you can imagine in the last chapter and a half, and now he says, “You will go there!” He says, “You remember those gates of the heavenly city that are guarded by the angels so that nothing impure will ever enter—those angels will part ways so you may go through the gates into the city (Rev. 21:12,27)! 1. A Place of Fellowship. A city, of course, is a place of community, of fellowship with others. a. John says, “The saved of all the nations will be there” (Rev. 21:24). Some of my most joyful moments in life have been shared with believers with whom I share the most important things in life. I can’t imagine what it will be like to be in perfect fellowship with all the believers of the ages who love the Lord like I do! b. Most of all, the heavenly city is a place of fellowship with God. John writes in Revelation 21:2, “ I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” (Rev. 21:2-3)

Fully Blessed (Beatitudes In Revelation) 6 Tim Jennings I remember when I first moved to Plano, I would drive visitors over to West Plano, and say, “Now, Troy Aikman lives right over there.” And they would say, “Wow.” That’s nothing! In heaven we will have a room in the very house of God (John 14:1-4)! 2. A Place of Safety. The city that John describes is a place of safety from that that harms. Johns goes on to describe what he sees in this city saying, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21:4) There will be no more sin, death or decay that has caused so much trouble for us on this world. We will know a place of safety and community like we’ve never known before. a. Our communities are not safe. They are filled with diseases, pain, suffering, and death. [(Leave Out) Even this week, a man walked into a schoolhouse in Newtown Connecticut and killed 20 children and 7 adults.] Every city there has ever been has gone the way of Babel, the source of all that harms the world. b. Yet, the heavenly city will be a place of unparalleled beauty and safety. John closed his description of the cities with these words. “There shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” (Rev. 22:3-5)

III. Conclusion A. Dearly loved, we are fully blessed! God is not limited to our circumstances or this world. These blessings remind us that our best days are yet to come. So, have courage to live for God each day. Don’t buy into the lies of the world, and fight against sin and selfishness, because our blessings are too good to miss out on! B. I read about a faithful Christian who was well advanced in years. A friend of his asked him one morning, “How are you doing today?” The aged believer replied, “I’m burdened this morning!” His friend through it might be his painful back, or his difficulty breathing. Yet, as he looked at his aged friend he saw him only smiling. So he asked, “What is your burden?” The seasoned believer said, “Oh, I am burdened all right, but it is a wonderful burden—it is an overabundance of blessings for which I cannot find enough time or words to express my gratitude!” When he saw the look of confusion on his friend’s face, the mature saint said with a smile. I’m referring to Psalm 68:19, which fully describes my condition. It says, “Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits.” C. When we count our blessings we discover that for every worldly burden we bear our Lord has given us a load of blessings to keep us going.

Fully Blessed (Beatitudes In Revelation) 7 Tim Jennings