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We turn in your Bibles to the
book of Revelation, chapter 1. Revelation, chapter 1. For those who were at the Wednesday
night Bible study two Wednesdays ago, this will be a bit of a
review as we look at the Beatitudes in the book of Revelation. There are seven Beatitudes. That statement, that word means
or it refers to happiness or bliss. We have seen the Beatitudes
in Matthew's Gospel, Matthew chapter five. Blessed is the
poor in spirit. We read Psalm one tonight. Blessed
is the man. The scripture is full of this
pronouncement of blessing, of happiness, of bliss upon the
people of God. And in the book of Revelation,
we find seven Beatitudes. So I thought tonight we would
just take a look at those for our encouragement. and for our
edification. I do want to read chapter 1 in
its entirety just to set us in this context. Revelation 1, beginning
in verse 1. The revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly
take place. And he sent and signified it
by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word
of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that
he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those
who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are
written in it, for the time is near. John, to the seven churches
which are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and
who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are
before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,
the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings
of the earth. to Him who loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests
to His God and Father. To Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with
clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.
And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even
so, amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is and who was
and who is to come, the Almighty. I, John, both your brother and
companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus
Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word
of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the
spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice
as of a trumpet I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and
the last. And what you see, write in a
book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, to
Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia,
and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice
that spoke with me. And having turned, I saw seven
golden lampstands. And in the midst of the seven
lampstands, one light the Son of Man. clothed with a garment
down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow,
and his eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine
brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice is the sound of
many waters. He had in his right hand seven
stars. Out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword, and his countenance was like the sun shining in its
strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But
he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last.
I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore.
Amen. And I have the keys of Hades
and of death. Write the things which you have
seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take
place after this. The mystery Of the seven stars,
which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands,
the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the
seven lampstands, which you saw are the seven churches. Amen.
Well, let us pray. Father, thank you for this wonderful
and magnificent description of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We thank
you for the glorified Lord. We thank you for his comforting
touch upon John, the apostle. We thank you for his presence
in the midst of the lampstands that in the new covenant, Christ
is found in the midst of his people gathered together to worship
on the Lord's day. We ask that you would just encourage
us now that you would edify us, that you would strengthen us
and cause us to reflect upon the many blessings that you have
given to us, your people. We pray for those who do not
know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We pray that by the power
of your Holy Spirit, you would convict them of sin, show them
that Christ alone saves, and do a great work tonight, we pray. We ask in Jesus' holy name. Amen. Well, as I said, there are seven
of these Beatitudes. throughout the pages of the book
of Revelation. So we'll just take up all seven
this evening. We'll just do a brief study of
each of the several here. And again, I hope it is an encouragement
for you. The first, of course, is found
in the reading that we just did in verse three. The first beatitude
is blessed are those who read and hear. Blessed are those who
read and hear. It's very important that we understand
the nature and the purpose of the book of Revelation. The book
of Revelation, its purpose is to reveal to us the Lord Jesus
Christ. Very often, people do not read
this book. Very often, people treat it as
if it's scary, as if it's terrifying, as if it's gloomy and doomy.
But we find in the very first verse that it is the revelation
of Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants things which
must shortly take place. He alludes, or he tells, or he
identifies the fact that there are going to be symbols used
within the book itself. It says, and he sent and signified
it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the
word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ. to all things
that he saw. So the book of Revelation is
about revealing. It is about manifestation. It
is about demonstrating to us something about the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is referred to about 26 times
in this book as the Lamb of God. The throne of God is mentioned
about 39 times in this book. So far from avoiding it, Far
from not reading it, far from treating it as if it's something
only for a chosen few in Christ's Church, John goes on to pronounce
this beatitude upon those who hear and those who heed the things
which are written in this particular book. It is a blessing. It is a good thing. It is marvelous. It is good for the soul to listen
to the reading of the book of Revelation to give ear to it. This is precisely what he says
in verse three. Blessed is he who reads and those
who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are
written in it for the time is near. Now, obviously, we can
extend that. Yes, it is a blessing to read,
a blessing to hear, a blessing to keep the book of Revelation.
But we can make that extension as well with reference to the
entirety of God's word. The people of God are the people
of a book. The people of God are those committed
to the truth of Holy Scripture. We must be students of God's
Word. We must listen to God's Word.
We must read it for ourselves. We must avail ourselves of faithful
preaching, sound exposition. We must get into the Scriptures. There is no excuse for biblical
illiteracy in a generation like ours. There is no excuse when
we all have Bibles. I mean, if we were all sharing
one particular page of the book of Leviticus and we were ignorant
concerning many things of the Bible and systematic theology,
it would be forgivable. But I suspect that each and every
one of us owns at least one Bible. We probably have a collection
of Bibles in our homes, Bibles that oftentimes never get used. Bibles that oftentimes gather
dust, or Bibles that oftentimes get reflected on very little.
John says just the opposite. Blessed, happy, fortunate, blissful,
good is you if you read these things, if you hear these things,
if you keep these things. The blessed man of Psalm 1 is
blessed not only for what he avoids, godlessness, unrighteousness,
unholiness, but he's blessed for what he engages in. But his
delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law he does
what? He meditates day and night. It is his constant recourse.
It is his constant foundation. It is his ground. It is that
which makes him happy. It is that which sustains him.
He consistently goes to the scripture, and then the psalmist is described
as the man that is planted firmly, that yields its fruit, that it
sees it, that whatever he does, he prospers in. Not in some health,
wealth, and prosperity sort of a mindset. But faithfully plotting
on with reference to God's holy commands, with reference to God's
holy word, he is a blessed man. He is a happy man. He is a blissful
man. This man also agrees again, not
that Jesus needs us to agree, but Jesus said that man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God. I know. Most of us, anyway, if
we are denied a meal, our stomachs start to grumble, we start to
get grouchy, we start to get irritable, we start to get upset. Well, are we like that when we're
away from the Scripture? Is it our sustenance? Is it something
that we sink our teeth into? Is it something that we delight
in? Can it be said of us? Blessed
is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy
and keep those things which are written in it. So, generally
speaking, the entirety of Scripture. But this beatitude is specifically
connected, as I said, to a book that many avoid, that many don't
read. that many only search to have
their curiosities about the Antichrist satisfied. People search the
book of Revelation to find the number of the beast. People search
the book of Revelation to find out what's going to happen in
the end. John says, don't come to the book of Revelation seeking
to satisfy your eschatological curiosities. John says, come
to the book of Revelation and feast. Come to the book of Revelation
and read it and hear it and keep those things which are written
in the words of this prophecy. So, the first beatitude in the
book of Revelation is blessed are those who read and hear. The second is in Revelation 14. You may turn there. Revelation
chapter 14. Blessed are those who die in
the Lord. Happy is he who dies in the Lord. Before we can approach Revelation
14, we should make a comment or two about Revelation 13. In
Revelation 13, there is a beast that arises from the sea, and
then there is a beast that arises or comes from the land. We've
got these two formidable beasts. We have these two beastly representatives
that are seeking to wage war against the people of God. When
everything looks like it's chaotic, when everything looks like turmoil,
the scene shifts as it so often does in the book of Revelation.
Remember in chapters 2 and 3, those letters to the seven churches
in Asia Minor. There will be tribulation. There
will be trial. There will be difficulty. There
will be testing. There will be issues. In this
world, you will have tribulation. And then the scene shifts from
chapter 3 to chapters 4 and 5, where we get a view of the throne
room of God. God is not shaken. God is not
cast off his throne. God is steady. God is righteous. God is rock solid. And that's
what John wants to continually communicate. And he does that
here in Revelation 13 and 14. The beast has his followers to
be sure. But the scene shifts to Revelation
14 one and we read, Then I looked and behold a lamb standing on
Mount Zion. and with him 144,000 having his
father's name written on their foreheads. Do you see the beast
from the sea and the beast from the land cannot stop the lamb
with his fair army. They cannot stop the relentlessness
of Jesus Christ in blessing and in doing good to his people.
The lamb with his fair army. It then goes on to describe some
of the characteristics of the followers of the Lamb. And then
it announces this, the third angel, notice in 14.9. Then the
third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone
worships the beast in his image and receives his mark on his
forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine
of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into
the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire
and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the Lamb. What a terrifying statement.
What a horrific statement if you are outside of Jesus Christ
tonight. You are an unbeliever if you
have rejected the call of God and the gospel of free and sovereign
grace. If you have rebelled against
him, you're insubordinate, you have heard pleadings for your
soul, you've heard a faithful mother, a faithful father, hopefully
a faithful preacher calling you to believe on the gospel. This
is your lot. This is your future. Unrepentant
sinners end up like this. Followers of the beast, those
who have his mark, not a physical mark, but rather they are identified
as in union with the wicked one. This is what is in store for
unrepentant, unbelieving sinners. And I hope that it shocks you.
I hope that it brings fear upon you. We read in Proverbs 14,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of life. There are times when
the fear of God hopefully impresses us to flee to Christ for that
blessed refuge that he alone affords. Look at what he says. It says, if anyone worships,
back in verse 9, the beast in his image and receives his mark
on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of
the wine of the wrath of God. Remember Jesus in the Garden
of Gethsemane? You remember that? Father, if it is possible, let
this cup pass from me. And then he says, Nevertheless,
Father, not my will, but thine, be done. What was the cup that
he was drinking? It's the very wrath and fury
of God. He was going to empty it on behalf
of his people. He was going to pour it out.
He was going to pour it down his throat. You search this theme
out, the cup of God's wrath. You see it in the Psalter. You
see it in the prophets. You see where God is going to
pour out the cup of his wrath upon Babylon and the prophet
Jeremiah. Well, Jesus did this for his
people. Jesus paid it all. Jesus drank
the cup of God's wrath to the uttermost, the completeness,
the dregs of it. He swallowed it up at the cross
on behalf of his people. This is why we call sinners to
believe the gospel, to believe on him, and you will have forgiveness.
you will receive the righteousness. If you reject him, if you despise
him, if you continue to rebel against him, then you will drink
the cup of God's wrath. He himself shall also drink of
the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength
into the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire
and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the
presence of the lamb. I know it's popular to deny everlasting
punishment. I know it's popular to deny conscious
torment in the lake of fire. I know it's popular and that
books are published every several years or so that deny the existence
of hell. We asked the Apostle John, what
do sinners get who reject Jesus Christ? This is his description. And notice in verse 11, And the
smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever. And they have
no rest day or night who worship the beast in his image and whoever
receives the mark of his name. You say, how is this a beatitude?
The beatitude follows, there's a contrast. What's the mark of
the wicked? There's no rest. No rest. The Bible holds out to God's
people is rest. Wasn't this typified in Canaan?
They could not enter into rest because of unbelief. Isn't this
what the New Testament is pressing upon us over and over again?
That when we get to heaven it's rest? Not just relaxing, not
just laying on the couch rest, but rest in the presence of God
most high. Notice verse 12. Here is the
patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments
of God and the faith of Jesus. 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. There
is a definitive contrast set up. The followers of the beast
suffer torment. There is no rest for the wicked.
There is no rest throughout eternity. The followers of the Lamb, however,
those who, by God's grace, have believed the gospel, those who,
by God's grace, persevere to the very end, those who, by God's
grace, are summarized here in verse 12 as those who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, get this beatitude,
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." Do you ever think about that rest?
We talked about this two Wednesday nights ago. It sort of wakes
us. If we continue on in the book
of Revelation, we find this place is the place where God will wipe
away every tear from their eyes. There'll be no more sorrow. There'll
be no more pain. Revelation 7 speaks of no more hunger, no more thirst,
a passage North Americans probably can't identify with too well. When you live right down the
street from Superstore, Price Mart, or Costco, not a lot of
days where there's hunger, right? But our dear brethren in the
third world understand that passage, and they probably long for it,
probably rejoice in the fact that there is coming a day when
God Most High will bring them into His presence where they
will rest forever, where there will be no more hunger, where
there will be no more thirst, where there will be no more sorrow.
The Bible sets forth before us an eternal rest in Jesus Christ. Remember, in Acts 7, Stephen
is violently murdered. They stone him to death. And
then it says that he went to sleep in Jesus. He went to sleep
in Jesus. It's a beautiful word, as Bruce
says, for such a violent death, for such a brutal and a gruesome
death, he went to sleep, he fell asleep in Jesus. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4, the believers there are wondering about the dead
in Christ, their dead beloved brethren, or their brethren that
are now departed. Paul says, don't worry about
that. Don't worry about that. They're going to meet the Lord.
They're going to be with the Lord. They're going to be in
his presence forever and ever. And then notice as well, yes,
says the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their
works follow them. I don't think these 144,000,
which I believe are representative of the people of God. I think
it's a literal 144,000 and not 144,001 or 143,999. I think it's
representative specifically of believing Jews. Notice, they rest from their labors. I don't
think all these 144,000 were missionaries or pastors. the full-time Christian workers,
most of them were regular, normal, everyday men and women. Regular, normal, everyday men
and women are still going to hear from Jesus, enter into your
rest. Well done, good and faithful
servant. You see, the Bible doesn't say
as long as you're doing Christian service or Christian labor, you're
going to be blessed immensely. If you're a secular worker, if
you're a farmer, you're a driver, you're a doctor, you're a lawyer,
you know, you'll still make it, but you're not going to get any
commendation from the Lord. That's not biblical. I love when
Paul discusses the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15, after highlighting
the reality of it, he makes this final appeal to the people of
God. Verse 58, Therefore, my beloved brethren, not my beloved
pastor friends, not my beloved missionary friends, not my beloved
Christian radio announcer, but my beloved brethren, The people
of God, whatever their walk in life, as long as what they're
doing is lawful and they're doing it under the glory of God, it
is blessed in His sight. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. You
rear children under Jesus Christ, that is labor in the Lord. You
carry out your task faithfully before God most high, not rendering
eye service, but working as under the Lord. God sees it and God
blesses. There's a beatitude pronounced
here. There is a blessing pronounced on those who die in the Lord. A third beatitude, or the third,
is in chapter 16, verse 15. Chapter 16, verse 15, the pouring
out of the sixth bowl, beginning in verse 12. If you have questions
about this particular one, you can talk to Pastor Porter afterwards.
We're just going to focus on the particular beatitude, not
all the issues going on in this section. Then the sixth angel,
I'm just kidding. If you want to talk to me, you
can too. Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great
river Euphrates and its water was dried up so that the way
of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three
unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon.
out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false
prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs which
go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather
them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold,
I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and
keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. and they gathered them together
to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon. Notice that a beatitude
or a blessing is pronounced on those who watch, those who are
on guard, those who are careful, those who are diligent, those
who are vigilant. Don't we find this repeated in
the epistles? Don't we find this in the gospel
accounts? Watch and pray. The Christian
life isn't one of cruise control. The Christian life isn't just
push the button and then sit back or settle back on your knees
and just sort of, you know, kind of glide on in. No, you need
to be watchful. You need to be prayerful. You
need to be vigilant. Peter says it this way in 1 Peter
chapter 5. Be on your guard. Be sober. Be alert. Why? Because your adversary, the devil,
roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. You
need to watch. You need to be careful. Self-discipline,
self-control. We saw that in the Proverbs.
Proverbs chapter 14. Solomon enjoins that upon his
people all the time. We need to govern ourselves. We need to watch. We need to
pray. We need to be sober minded. And
with reference to the garments, let me just read this, because
I believe that what is in view ultimately is the destruction
of the temple. And one particular commentator
says to explain this reference to the garments, he says, there
was an officer on duty at the temple whose business it was
to walk around and see that those who were on watch kept awake.
If he found them asleep, he beat them. Do you employers treat your employees
that way? I hope not. You find your employee
asleep, you beat them. Learning through pain, right? This is reality. You watch that
temple complex. If he found them asleep, he beat
them. If he found them a second time,
he burnt their clothes. This is the only explanation
of this passage. It means now is the time for
those who are guarding the temple to keep away. The whole symbolism
of the sixth bowl, therefore, of which this is a part, has
to do with an attack on the temple. Our purpose is, let's just see,
he pronounces this blessing upon those who watch, those who are
careful. Those who engage in self-discipline,
those who are alert. It was said of the sons of Issachar
that they knew the signs of the times. They were alert. They
understood. They were able to interpret things
around them properly, taking the scripture and looking at
those things. That is what ought to identify the people of God. Fourth beatitude is in chapter
19. Fourth beatitude, chapter 19. Pick up reading in verse six,
and I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude as
the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thundering,
saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. What a
great statement. The Lord God omnipotent reigns. Does that make you happy? Is
everybody with me tonight? Grab the inside of your thigh
and give it a good squeeze and wake up, because that's a great
statement. The Lord God omnipotent all power
in heaven and on earth. Every ounce of sovereignty is
in our God, if we can speak of it that way. This is what makes
heaven rejoice. Actually, this is one of the
things that makes heaven rejoice. What happens in the first few
verses in chapter 19? They rejoice over the judgment
of the great harlot. They rejoice over the execution
of God's righteousness and justice and judgment. They rejoice in
the execution of justice. Here they rejoice in the reality
that the Lord God omnipotent reigns. How does an Arminian
or a Pelagian read this verse and enter in? How does a denier
of the comprehensive and universal sovereignty of God reckon with
Revelation 19, 6? Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent
reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His
wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to
be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen
is the righteousness of the saints. Then he said to me, write, Blessed
are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Blessed are those who are called
to the marriage supper. This highlights one of the central
focuses of the book of Revelation, the consummation of God's covenantal
blessing, wherein we are his people and he is our God. That is a blessing. That is an encouragement. The participants with the great
harlot have been judged, according to 19.2. Their smoke rises up
forever, according to 19.3. But the followers of the Lamb,
the called of God, are invited to sit and participate in the
marriage supper of the Lamb of God. Notice they are called. They didn't put themselves there. They didn't elect themselves.
They didn't exercise their free will. They were called. This
speaks of the effectual calling of God Most High. We see in the
book of Romans, Paul says, For whom he foreknew these, he predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son. Those whom he predestined,
he called effectually by the power of his Holy Spirit through
his Word. Those whom he called, he justified.
Those whom he justifies, he glorifies. You see what we're entitled to
in terms of our blessing with Christ. We get to participate
in this wonderful marriage supper of the lamb. We are joint heirs
with him. We will be glorified and live
forever with Christ Jesus the Lord. Blessed are those who are
called to the marriage supper of the lamb. Fifth one found
in Revelation 20. Blessed are those who partake
in the first resurrection. Revelation 20, verse 4, I saw
thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to
them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for
their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not
worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark
on their foreheads or on their hands, and they lived and reigned
with Christ for a thousand years. but the rest of the dead did
not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is
the first resurrection. 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." We don't have time to develop
what John is speaking about specifically here, but suffice it to say this.
Those who participate in the first resurrection do not suffer
the second death. That means those who are regenerate,
those who are born again, those who have been affectionately
called by God, those who believe the gospel by God's grace, they
have participated in the first resurrection. He raised us up
and made us to sit together with Christ in the heavenly places. He made us alive. It is by virtue
of our regeneration, by virtue of our salvation, by virtue of
having been born again by the power of God Most High, we are
recipients of this first resurrection and therefore the second death
has no title over us. First death does. If I put a
38 to my head and pulled the trigger, I would suffer the first
death. That's a pretty graphic image.
I realize that. How about if I walk out into
the street and get hit by a truck? Then it's not my fault. Then
it would really call into question whether I understood the first
resurrection or not. So I walk out into the street,
I get mowed down by a big truck. If I'm a participant in the first
resurrection, if I am a regenerate believer in Jesus Christ, that
first death definitely has place over me. Not the second death,
not the lake of fire, not where the beast and the false prophet
go, not where the devil ultimately is cast. I don't have a part
in the lake of fire because Jesus has saved me, because regeneration
is a reality, because I have been born again by the power
and the grace and the will of God most high. This is what John
is saying. Blessed are those who have been
born again. Blessed are those who have been
saved. Blessed are those who know something
of the new birth. Blessed are those who have been
called out of darkness into marvelous light. They are blessed. They
are holy. They are not hurt by the second
death. They are priests, and they reign with Christ himself. That's what the fifth beatitude
states. Sixth, 22-7. Sixth, 22-7. It's
similar in nature to 22-14. Look at 22, 7, 1st. Behold, I
am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words
of the prophecy of this book. Continuity and unity. Blessed
is the one who reads, the one who hears, the one who keeps.
Revelation 1, 3. We get to the end of the book.
Again, it's asserted that Christ is coming quickly. This beatitude
is pronounced once more. Blessed is he who keeps the word
of the prophecy of this book. Again, not because you sought
this out to find out who the beast was, not because you searched
the pages of the book of Revelation simply to find out about Antichrist
or about 666. You didn't just come to it to
satisfy your intellectual curiosity, but you've come to the book as
marching orders. You've looked at those characteristics
of the followers of the Lamb in Revelation 14. And by God's
grace, you will endeavor to be blameless. You will endeavor
to speak the truth. You will endeavor to follow the
Lamb wherever He goes. You will endeavor to maintain
chastity. You will endeavor to be faithful.
Chastity in terms of our spiritual commitment to the Lord God. That's
who is blessed. And then seventh, 2214. 22, 14, blessed are those who do his
commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life. Blessed statement here, if we
compare it with 20. John says, those who have a part
in the first resurrection, the second death has no right over
them, has no power over them, has no authority over them. Well,
here John says, we have authority to the tree of life. What happened
in the garden? Adam sinned, didn't he? Adam
forfeited his right to the tree of life. God set the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil before him. He said, don't eat
from this tree. Adam ate from the tree, didn't
he? Adam took and he ate. So then
God puts an angel to guard the tree of life. He drives the man
out of the garden. God puts him in the garden. God
drives him from the garden. Genesis 315, God promises to
send a deliverer, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem
those under the law. Jesus comes, the second Adam.
Jesus comes, the last Adam. Jesus always obeys the Father.
Jesus never sins. Jesus never rebels. Jesus never
rejects. Jesus ultimately dies and rises
again for the sins of his people. By virtue of our union with Jesus,
we now have a right to the tree of life. Paradise lost, Genesis
1-3. Paradise restored, Revelation
22. You see the movement in Scripture. There's a unity. There's a continuity. There is flow. There is progress.
There is something happening on a grand scale. God is saving
His people from their sins. And in Revelation 20-14, the
Beatitude is pronounced upon those who do His commandments
that they may have the right to the tree of life. and may
enter through the gates into the city, where they will dwell
forever and ever and ever in Emmanuel's land, where they will
enjoy that eternal rest, where they will have the marriage supper
of the Lamb, and they will always be in his presence." That's where
we're heading. We need to be happy. If we're
so blessed, we should act like it from time to time. I know
some of us get grumpy, and I know there's melancholy, and I know
there's depression, and I know there's seasons. I know there's
Psalm 42 and 43 experiences. Oh, my soul, why art thou downcast? I understand that. Notice I'm
not here saying everybody needs to put on smiles and be happy,
happy, happy. Peppy, peppy, peppy. There's seasons in the Christian
life where we're downcast. What's the answer in the Psalms?
Hope in God. Look to God. I suggest hope in
the price of the book of Revelation. Read this book. Enjoy these attitudes. Realize it's not a book about
gloom and doom and computer chips and numbers and Things that are
out to just scare you and terrify you. It is the revelation of
Jesus Christ. It is the manifestation of the
Lamb of God who sits upon the throne. It is the manifestation
of the one who, by his death and life and resurrection, gives
us a right to take from the tree of life, to confirm us in that
state for all eternity. Praise God for the Lord Jesus. Well, let us pray. Father, thank
You for Your Word. Thank You for these blessings,
these beatitudes. Thank You that they're not only
confined to the book of Revelation, but we see them throughout Holy
Scripture. Grant us grace, God, to be encouraged
in our Christian life, to reflect upon these things that You have
for us. We ask now that You would go
with us into this week. We ask that You would watch over
us and protect us. We ask, God in heaven, that You
would give us the grace and the Spirit so that we may walk in
holiness, that we may seek by your grace and for your glory
to do your will. And we ask in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
