WHEN DEATH IS A BLESSING

Rev. 14:13 ... And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’ "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them." 

      When we hear the word "beatitudes" used in a Biblical context, we at once think of Mat. 5:3-12, where Jesus opened the Sermon on the Mount with a series of statements to which this term has been applied. But few are aware that in the Book of Revelation there is a series of seven beatitudes also spoken by our Lord. They are as worthy of our attention as the more famous ones in Matthew 5. The first is in 1:3. The second is the chosen text above. The others are found in 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7 and 22:14.

      A beatitude is the pronouncement of a blessing by God upon someone or upon a group of people. God blesses someone when He bestows a favor upon him. Our text proclaims the blessing of God upon "the dead who die in the Lord." The substance of the blessing is that, -1- they may "rest from their labors," and -2- the Divine recognition of "their deeds" which "follow with them." We are hereby assured that there is a great advantage to dying "in the Lord." 

      That each of us shall eventually die is indeed a fact! God has decreed that "for men it is appointed to die once," (Heb. 9:27). Our common experience in life proves this beyond doubt. We are forced to watch helplessly as those whom we love surrender their lives unto death. There is in my library a book  entitled Death as a Fact of Life. How true this title is! Just try taking out a life insurance policy at age seventy or eighty, and you will be informed in no uncertain terms that insuring your life is a bad risk for an insurance company. They will probably offer you a policy, but the cost is exorbitant. Cemeteries are a  common feature of the landscape; we are never far from one of them. And it seems the space in them for burials is gradually running out.

      People fear death and try to dismiss it from their thinking as long as possible. But the frequent passing of those about us forces the unwelcome issue into our thinking. And here is where Christianity offers one of its greatest consolations. Jesus came to this world of death and dying and confronted death as our common enemy. The writer of the Hebrew letter states that "we do see Him (Jesus) who was made for a little while lower than the angels ... because of the suffering of death (was) crowned with glory and honor ... by the grace of God (that) He might taste death for everyone," (2:9). In His conflict with death, Jesus won the victory! Death overcame Him for three days, but when He came forth from the grave He triumphed over death. For the first time death was unable to hold its victim in the grave permanently. When a person submits his life to Jesus and lives out his days in His service, he will be granted to share in his Lord's victory. Paul declares with exultation, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," (I Cor. 15:55-58).

      When a Christian dies, he does not pass out of the benevolent grasp of his Savior's hand. We are assured that, "If we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's," (Rom. 14:8). Even in death we enjoy the watchful care and keeping of our Savior who gives us rest from our earthly labors in His service. Then, at the time chosen by God the Father, Jesus shall call forth from their graves all who have died in the Lord to meet Him "in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord," (I Ths. 4:17). This beatitude is reserved, however, only for those who live and die in the Lord. Nothing but Christianity can offer this promise with its most welcomed hope and consolation.

      Dear reader, are you living in the Lord with a firm grasp upon this precious promise?

TWO MAJOR ENEMIES OF CHRISTIANITY

Rev. 13:10 ... "If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints."

      The early Christians faced dangers and challenges that to us today are incomprehensible and almost incredible. Often they were dragged from their homes and thrown into prison. Even worse, they were sometimes killed in ways that were grotesque and fiendish. A person truly had to "sit down first and count the cost" when he considered becoming a Christian in that age. And he also had to resolve to look upon himself as being only a "stranger and exile on the earth," (Heb. 11:13). Since there was the great possibility he would be brutalized and his life cut short, he had to look for his relief and reward beyond this earth -- in heaven.

      But our Lord does not will that His disciples on earth should never enjoy rest and the fruits of life while they walk in the narrow road of righteousness. He takes careful note of those who persecute and oppress His people, and in a time of His own choice He executes vengeance upon them, thus bringing relief to His disciples. The select verse above calls our attention to this very action of Christ. Those who have led Christians into captivity shall themselves be led into captivity, and those who have killed Christians shall themselves be killed. Christians who suffer persecution can put their faith in this pro-mise and endure their present hardships with patience in the confidence that Jesus will eventually bring relief to them.

      Revelation 13 introduces two of the major enemies of Christianity. They are presented in symbolic form so that it requires a great deal of investigation and comparison of Scriptures to interpret them and defend the conclusions. There is, of course, not space in this brief article to do that. The first enemy is symbolized as a beast that arises from the sea. It wears crowns that boast of victories and inscriptions that blaspheme God. The world looks upon it with great wonder, submits to its power, and even offers it worship. But behind this great sea beast we can see Satan, who gives the beast its power, who promotes its position in the world, and who induces the world to worship it. This beast especially devotes its attention to blaspheming God and waging war against the church. It is the view of this writer that the sea beast is a symbol of earthly nations which surrender to Satan's influence. During the first few cen-turies of the church's existence this beast was without doubt the Roman Empire.

      The second enemy presented is symbolized as a beast that comes up from the earth. It "perforns great signs" and even miracles, and infuses life into an image of the sea beast whose worship it pro-motes among men. Indeed, its primary goal seems to be to promote the status and power of that sea beast, elevating it to the level of God and forcing men to worship it. This writer considers the land beast to be a symbol of anti-Christian religion. During the period of the early church it was the great system of idolatry that promoted Roman power and enforced the worship of Caesar.

      To Christians there might have seemed no chance ever to have peace or even survive as long as the powers of the sea beast (anti-Christian government) and the land beast (anti-Christian religion) were focused upon them. But the text above is a short note of encouragement to Christians never to lose courage or cease to be steadfast in active faith, since their Lord will in time destroy these awful powers. And indeed, we later read of these two beasts being "thrown alive into the lake of' fire which burns with brimstone," (Rev. 19:20). One of the primary objectives of the Book of Revelation is to encourage Christians to withstand at whatever cost all the manifestations of evil power, since in the end our King will conclusively overthrow them and give the ultimate victory to those who have been loyal to Him. 

THE FALL OF SATAN

Rev. 12:10-11 ... "I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.' And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death."

      Satan is the ancient enemy of God. It is thought by some he was originally an archangel in heaven. But for some reason he was not content there and rebelled against God. The reason for his disaffection may be suggested in I Tim. 3:6, "Lest he (an elder) become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil." Being filled with pride, Satan contested the supremacy and sovereignty of God in heaven, and thus rebelled. It appears that he drew a number of angels into his allegiance when he dared defy God, for the Scriptures speak of "fallen angels," (II Pet. 2:4; Jde. 6). In Rev. 12:7-9 it reads, "And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war .... And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." Satan's rebellion against God failed totally. He and all his allies were entirely routed by God's angelic army and expelled from heaven never to return.

      Satan is the archenemy of Christ. Revelation 12 describes the birth of Christ on earth from the spiri-tual viewpoint. In a vision John saw a glorious woman in heaven about to give birth to a child. But "another sign appeared in heaven ... a great red dragon ... and the dragon stood before the woman ... so that when she gave birth he might devour her child, (vs. 3-4). This may refer to the attempt of Herod to murder Jesus when he had all the male infants of Bethlehem killed. While on earth Jesus knew that Satan was never far away, ready to exploit any weakness or mistake to overthrow Him and ruin His great mission. When Jesus was crucified, it seemed as though Satan had triumphed. Actually, he had managed only to bruise the heel of the "seed of the woman," (Gen. 3:15). Satan's victory was snatched away when Jesus was resurrected from the grave and taken up into heaven to God, (Rev. 12:5). His victory over death was also a victory over Satan.

      Satan is the avowed enemy of the church. The glorious woman of Revelation 12 is not Mary, but rather a symbol of the church. When Jesus ascended to heaven, Satan directed his attack against Christ's church. The dragon "persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child ... And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood ... So the dragon was enraged with the woman," (Rev. 12:13f). But God took special action to preserve His church. "But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished ... from the presence of the serpent ... But the earth helped the woman, and .... opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth," (vs. 14,16). Although the church has been oppressed for nearly two millennia, it still exists and flourishes in the world.

      Satan is the resolute enemy of Christians. Seeing that he could not destroy the church as a body, he turned upon its individual parts, Christians. Verse 17 reports that "the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, (Christians).” But the devil cannot defeat Christians who do not want to submit to his wicked dominion, for God has given us two very powerful weapons which Satan cannot withstand: "And they (Christians) overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony," (v.11). With the blood of Jesus that washes away sin, and with the sword of the Spirit of God's word, every Christian can personally defeat Satan and remain in allegiance to God who saves. 

FROM DEFEAT TO VICTORY

Rev. 11:18 ... "And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

      The Bible features two categories of people as God views man. First, there are "the nations." They are characterized as being angry and destroying the earth. From the context of this chapter specifically, and the entire book of Revelation generally, "the nations" represent the masses of people who will not submit to God, who reject His appeals to them to repent, and oppose His kingdom in the world. Their anger mentioned here is anger directed against God, His word, and His kingdom. Their act of destroy-ing the earth involves their warfare against God and His people. This anger is evident throughout the New Testament, as the Jews persecuted Jesus and His apostles, and as the gentiles later took up and continued this persecution. Secular history from the close of the apostolic age to the present abundantly records the hostility of the world toward the church and the Lord it represents.

      The second category of people is represented in the phrases, "Your bond-servants the prophets, the saints," and finally "those who fear Your name." This means the people who tune their hearts to God, listen to His word, gladly obey it in faith, and live out the rest of their lives in the fear (reverence) of God. These are Christians, who are variously referred to as the children of God and members of His family, citizens of His eternal kingdom, and members of His church. This chapter sketches in brief out-line what the rest of Revelation treats in far more detail, the warfare between God and those who rebel against Him. Without attempting to interpret it in detail, (which is impossible within the limited scope of this short article), we may observe the general course of this struggle. Verses 1-7a present the period when the Lord's church is active and victorious in the world. It successfully fulfills its mission of testi-fying to God before men and drawing all who will believe and obey into the Holy Kingdom. But the time God allots to the ministry of the church is limited (v.7a), and the tables begin to turn. The forces of evil rise up against the church and seem to annihilate it from the earth. While it lies in apparent global death, the host of rebellious mankind even "celebrate and ... send gifts one to another" to revel in their victory. Verses 7b-10 describe the reign of evil on earth as the church lies dormant and apparently dead.

      Then comes the third phase, (v.11), when God breathes life back into His church, and it rebounds into vigorous life, striking fear into the heart of its foe. But very shortly the church is commanded to 'Come up here," and it ascends into heaven in a cloud while the wicked left behind on earth stare up in wonder after it. At this point we find the setting of the chosen text above. God deals with the two cate-gories of people mentioned in the first paragraph. He bestows the gift of eternal life on those who have served Him, sanctified themselves by His word, and feared His name. But He destroys those who have lived in rebellion against Him and devoted their lives to persecuting His people.

      Dear reader, we can rest assured that the picture drawn in this chapter is true and shall come to pass at the appointed time without fail. It is now within our ability to choose in which category of people we shall be, whether among the rebellious who resist God, or among the obedient who respect His will. This chapter seeks to persuade us to make the right choice so that God's wrath will not dominate our eternity, but rather that His supernal blessings will rest upon us. As Jesus so often said, "If any man has an ear, let him hear," (Rev. 13:9).

EATING THE LITTLE BOOK

Rev. 10:9-10 ... "So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, 'Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.' I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter."

      We must remember that John received the material in the book of Revelation in a series of visions. Notice here in 10:1 that the chapter begins, "(And) I saw." Then we must recognize that things can happen in visions that would not be likely to happen in our normal physical world. Chapter 10 is relat-ing a vision that John saw, and in this vision something occurred that would be highly extraordinary in common experience. There descended from heaven a "strong angel" clothed in a cloud, crowned with a rainbow, radiant as the sun, and his feet (and legs) like pillars of fire. In his hand was a little book open. This book appears to signify God's word, the Bible, for as soon as John had "eaten" it. he was comman-ded to "prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings," (v.11).

      In the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 Jesus said that "the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away," (vs. 20-21). The idea presented here by Jesus and by John's experi-ence in the vision in "eating" the "little book" are essentially the same. John's initial experience with this book was the sweet taste of honey, whereas the hearer described by Jesus first experienced joy. The after effects for John was a bitter stomach, and for the hearer in Jesus' parable it was being "offended" when tribulation and persecution followed his acceptance of the word.

      The message of the Bible is indeed beautiful and most appealing. The reader can lose himself in its glorious presentation, and the teacher can become enthralled in explaining its wonderful meaning and applications. The pleasantness of God's word is often emphasized and sometimes again even compared to honey. For example, "How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psa. 119:103). But there is a lot more to using the Bible than the joy of reading and teaching it. One must also let it transform his life from being a servant of sin to being a servant of righteousness. And when one uses the Bible to produce this change, he incurs the enmity and opposition of the community of sinners from which he has been separated. Jesus forewarns those who will submit to Him as their Lord and accept His doctrine as their rule of life: "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me

before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world ... (therefore) the world hates you. ... If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you," (Jno. 15:18-20).

      Those who are attracted to the Bible by the beauty and wonderful hope of its message, and who experience profound joy as they receive it, must realize that it will eventually bring upon them hostility from the world which is in rebellion against God. God's word is a light from heaven that shines into the world, but "everyone who does evil hates the Light" because it exposes the evil in their way of life, (Jno. 3:19-20). Persecution and tribulation will cause bitterness in the life of the person who holds on to his faith in the Bible and defends his loyalty to it. But he must never forsake it to remove the bitterness! If he endures unto the end, the Lord will reward him abundantly in the next life, where His word is unopposed because the devil and all his advocates have been eternally banished into hell.