The Beatitudes of Revelation

Transcription

1 The Beatitudes of Revelation I. Introduction: The Beatitudes of Jesus. a. Matthew 5: Many good lessons have been done on these beatitudes. 2. These beatitudes show us that we need to be humble, meek, merciful, and pure. And that we need to hunger and thirst for what is right. 3. Definition of the word blessed. Simply means happy. 4. So Jesus is telling us who is happy. 5. And He tells us that the ones that have these characteristics 6. will be happy because they will be rewarded. b. The other Beatitudes. 1. Not as familiar. 2. They are found in the book of Revelation. 3. There are seven of them, and I would like to discuss them and glean some meaning from them as well. 4. These beatitudes tells us how to be happy. II. Beatitude #1- Revelation 1:3. a. 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." 1. This verse sets up the rest of the book. 2. You had better listen. 3. But not only listen, you must keep what s written. b. Three commands in order to be blessed. 1. Read. 1 Timothy 4:13, Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. The means by which you access knowledge. 2. Hear. Romans 10:17, So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Allowing the knowledge to sink into your heart. 3. Keep. James 1:22, But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. The end result of applied knowledge.

2 c. Happy are those who do the will of God. III. Beatitude #2- Revelation 14:13. a. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them." 1. This places a great deal of importance in dying in the Lord. 2. If you die in the Lord, you will be blessed; you will have rest from your labors. b. What does it mean to be "in the Lord" or "of the Lord?" 1. Jesus explains it in John 15: Being in the Lord would simply mean abiding in the teachings of the Lord and having a close relationship with the Lord. 3. Dying in the Lord brings rest. We will have rest for our souls if we die in the Lord. Matthew 11:28, Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. c. Notice one more phrase. 1. their works follow them. 2. When you die, your works aren t forgotten. They still have value. 3. The idea is that a person s works is at least part of what causes you to be in the Lord. d. Happy are those who die in the Lord. IV. Beatitude #3- Revelation 16:15. a. "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." 1. Stresses the need to always be ready. 2. Luke 12:39-40, But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 3. The idea here is to be ready so that we won't be shamed when he comes. So that Jesus won't catch us doing something so that shame will be upon us. John talks about the same thing in 1 John 2:28. a. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

3 b. Two components. 1. Watch. Be ready. Don t be caught off-guard. 2. Keep. Not good enough just to know when the thief is coming. You must have done something to prepare. Same with a Christian. c. Happy is the Man who is constantly ready. V. Beatitude #4- Revelation 19:9. a. "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb." 1. Marriage analogy. Jesus is the groom. The church is the bride. 2. If we are called, we are happy. b. Never forget the joy we should feel to be a Christian. 1. We sometimes get down on ourselves. Perhaps we feel restricted. Perhaps we get tired of being different. Feel overwhelmed at all that we are supposed to do. We get discouraged by others. 2. There are a lot of things that can cause us sorrow. 3. But we need to focus on the positives. God reminds us here of the joy of being a Christian. We can be married to Christ. The Son of God. Can you believe it? Me, married to God. c. Don t forget also that we need to be careful not to miss this call to the marriage supper of the Lamb. 1. Remember the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Mt The ones who were not careful and watchful were left out when the bridegroom came. 3. Matthew 25:13, Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. d. Happy is he who is a Christian. VI. Beatitude #5- Revelation 20:6.

4 a. "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." 1. If you have a first resurrection, then the second death can t affect you. 2. Here s what I believe is meant by this verse: First death= death to sin. First resurrection= raised to walk in newness of life. Second death= final destruction and punishment. Second resurrection= resurrection to live with God forever. 3. These words have been attributed to Martin Luther. "Born once, die twice; born twice, die once." And they are true. b. The second death must be avoided. 1. Revelation 21:8, But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. 2. The second death can be avoided by being born again. 3. John 3:3, Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. c. Happy is the man who s been born again. VII. Beatitude #6- Revelation 22:7. a. "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." 1. Again, keeping the words of God is stressed. 2. A repetition of the first beattitude. b. This time, a sense of urgency is connected with these people keeping the words of this book. 1. We need to have a sense of urgency when it comes to doing the commands of God. 2. We show God the same thing. Do we show God that we place a sense of urgency upon fulfilling His commandments? c. The time to act is now. i. Romans 13:11, And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ii. The time to serve God is now.

5 iii. As Ananias said to Saul of Tarsus, And now why are you waiting? Acts 22:16 d. Happy is the man who keeps God s commands with urgency. VIII. Beatitude #7- Revelation 22:14. a. "Blessed are 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." 1. Direct correlation. A. Between keeping the commandments of God and being able to enter the gates of Heaven. 2. So, do you want to go to heaven or not? A. If you do, then you must do God s commands. b. Beautiful description of the city of God. 1. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Vs The construction of its wall was of jasper; and city was pure gold, like clear glass. Vs The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. Vs The twelve gates were twelve pearls; each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. Vs. 21 IX. Conclusion: Summary of the Beatitudes. a. The Beatitudes of Jesus in Matthew Give us a picture of the kind of people we should be and the kind of people that will be blessed by God. 2. Describes how to have true happiness. b. These Beatitudes do exactly the same things. 1. What kind of people we should be. 2. What kind of people will be blessed by God. 3. And how to have true happiness. c. So, how can we be happy? 1. Read God s words and keep them. 2. Die in the Lord. 3. Watch and be ready. 4. Be a part of the bride of Christ. 5. Be born again. 6. Act with a sense of urgency.

6 7. Do God s commands. d. Two main points of emphasis. 1. Doing God s will. 2. Focus on the future. 3. These same points that applied to 1 st century Christians still apply today.