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.
Introduction: Seven Beatitudes
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.
First Beatitude: Read and Hear
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.
Second Beatitude: Die in the Lord
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.
The Wrath Contrast
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.
Rest for the Followers of the Lamb
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.
Third Beatitude: Watch and Keep
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: Called to the Marriage Supper
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.
Effectual Calling and the Marriage Supper
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 Beatitude: The First Resurrection
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.
The Second Death Has No Power
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 Beatitude: Keep the Prophecy
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.
Seventh Beatitude: Right to the Tree of Life
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?
Paradise Lost and Paradise Restored
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."
Application: Be Encouraged by These Beatitudes
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.
Closing Prayer
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.