Endure for the Rest of the Blessings

Transcript

GR 2036
03/25/2018
Endure for the Rest of the Blessings
Revelation 14:12-13
Gil Rugh

We're going to the book of Revelation in your Bibles and the 14th chapter. We are about in the middle of the book, moving along, chapter 14 stands as a package because after talking about some of the terrible things that are going to take place on this earth, particularly in the 3½ years that will end with the return of Christ to the earth, those 3½ years are going to be times of terrible suffering. Anyone who becomes a believer during that period of time is going to suffer greatly for his faith. There will be many martyrs. The church will have been removed, as you are aware, at the beginning of that 7-year period, but then we move into a time of great suffering and turmoil.

The world is moving ultimately to globalism. I saw in the paper this morning, I just saw the headline of a concern about the global trade organization, concerned about some of the decisions that are being made in these days. By the time we get to the last 3½ years before Christ returns to earth, we will have a global ruler, we will have a global religion, we really will have a one-world empire with all that that involves. We saw that particularly in chapter 13, but chapter 14 then takes a break and carries us to the end when Christ returns. How will things all end? It is an encouragement and a reminder to God's people, even though it is going to seem in those days that the devil is winning, Christians are losing. They are being defeated, they are being destroyed, they are being killed, the world is enveloped in a false worship system. You will not be able to buy or sell if you do not openly identify yourself as a worshiper of the Antichrist. Terrible times.

So chapter 14 is a little bit of a preview of the end, events that will not take place until Revelation 17-22. It is an encouragement. We've seen Christ standing, ready to establish His kingdom in the opening verses of chapter 14, we've seen the Gospel being preached throughout the world in Revelation 14:6-7. Then a reminder that this world system will be destroyed in verse 8, and then the picture of the awfulness of hell, where people will spend eternity who have not believed in Christ. And during that seven years have joined in worship of the Antichrist. Verse 11 said the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, they have no rest day and night.

But there is an encouragement for those who are believers, and he is particularly addressing who will become believers during that seven-year period, and those who will be experiencing the wrath of the devil and the Antichrist for their faith in Christ during those last 3½ years. He wants to encourage them to persevere.

What happens, and all of us as believers experience the concern, we struggle with the idea, why do the wicked seem often to do so well and we are not doing so well. If I were going to set up the system, and I say this with reverence, but I would plan that everybody who placed their faith in Christ was cleansed of their sin and brought into a relationship with God, their life would dramatically change for the better. They would not any longer have to deal with any sicknesses or illnesses or diseases. They would just begin to do well materially, they would seem to prosper in so many ways. And life would be good and they could say, that's because God is my Father and He takes care of me, He provides for me, He protects me. What a testimony that would be to the world.

But God chooses to do things His way, not my way, in that sense, because often it seems like the wicked do well and believers are the ones struggling. It will certainly be true during those 3½ years. You will not be able to buy or sell, you won't be able to get food, you won't be able to live out openly unless you have identified yourself as a worshiper of the Antichrist. People will be dying terrible deaths, being put to death because if you won't worship the Antichrist you must die. Why does it go that way?

We experience that today. I sometimes look at some very wealthy people who are even older than I am and they seem to be doing well, they seem to have their minds, they still think clearly, they seem to be comfortable in life and enjoying themselves. Why, Lord, do you let them live so long? Why do they seem to do well? Why can they just go on and believers who love you are getting diseases and dying at younger ages and struggling financially. It can be discouraging.

I remember a dear saint that I was visiting, going through trials and suffering and progressively losing his mind. He said, does the Lord still love me? I said of course we know He loves you. But you go through this, you wonder. Why is this me? Lord, do you love me? Do you care? You know how much pain I am going through, you know how it hurts me to see my loved ones suffering like they are suffering. Do you know, Lord, how difficult this is? Do you really care?

I want you to come back to Psalm 73, a familiar psalm, but just to see that this issue is not new. And it is one that God's people have had to deal with throughout history. And the writer of this psalm, a man named Asaph, said the same thing. He started out the psalm by saying, Psalm 73:1, “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” He started out, there is no question, and he is a Jew and God is dealing with Israel in those days. God is good to Israel, like we would sometimes say, I know God is good and what He does is best. But then we usually follow that with I don't know why He is doing this. And that's where Asaph is. “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me my feet came close to stumbling, my steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant and I saw the prosperity of the wicked. There are no pains in their death, their body is fat.” They are looking healthy, they have plenty, they are living the good life. “They are not,” verse 5, “in trouble as other men, they are not plagued like mankind.” They are proud, they are arrogant, they are just self-sufficient, self-confident and people that the world looks up to, wants to hear from.

What about the believer? It doesn't get better. Come down to verse 12, “Behold these are the wicked and always at ease, they have increased in wealth.” And now what about me? “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, washed my hands in innocence. I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning.” Seems every day is difficult for me. I have tried to be a godly person, I have tried to honor the Lord, I have tried to be pleasing to Him. Today is no better than yesterday. I am stricken all day long, every morning it seems like it is something else pressing in on me, weighing down on me. He says I realize it would have been a mistake to teach my kids that kind of thinking.

Look at verse 16, “When I pondered to understand this, it was troublesome in my sight.” “Until I came into the sanctuary of God, then I perceived their end.” I went into the presence of God, God manifested His presence in Israel in the sanctuary, the temple. I went in and focused my attention on God, who He is, what He has said, what He has promised, what He will do. “Then I perceived their end.” You know what happens when we get discouraged, when we get down, when it seems that everything is against us and the unbeliever does well and we do poorly. I get my eyes off God and His Word and what He says. Now I am looking at the world and I am comparing myself with the world and I forget we are to be looking at the end. We need to remind ourselves, keep our eyes on what God has promised. When I came before God and saw Him as He is and His holiness and righteousness and what He said would be the end of those who do not know Him.

“Surely you set them in slippery places, you cast them to destruction, they are destroyed in a moment. They are utterly swept away by terrors, like a dream when one awakes, O Lord when aroused, you will despise their form. When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within,” this really had gotten to him and we aren't always as honest as Asaph is. We are frustrated with God. We border on, at times perhaps, even feeling some anger toward Him, that You are not doing what You should do for me. You are not caring for me like you said. Do You really love me? And Asaph says my heart was embittered, I was pierced within. “Then I was senseless and ignorant, I was like a beast before you.” Peter in his second letter says the unbelievers are like unreasoning animals, they know nothing about God. Understand the unbeliever really knows nothing, truly, about God. Everything, even that is revealed of God in creation, is distorted by his sinful perception. He says I am no better than an animal.

So here he is, one who knows God, but when he took his eyes off God and onto the world, then his understanding of God and His working was no better than his dog. “Nevertheless,” now he gets things back as a result of going into the presence of God, back to what happened, “I am continually with you.” That assurance of God for His people has held, the promises continue. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” I am continually with you. What does that mean? “You have taken hold of my right hand,” picture like you see of a young child walking along with his hand in his father's right hand. You have taken hold of my right hand, you haven't left me. You are leading me. “You will guide me.” I'm not just abandoned and things aren't just caving in on me. The God who is holding my right hand is guiding me. “And afterwards You will receive me to glory.” That's what it means for God to be continually with me. He holds my right hand, He guides me, and ultimately He will bring me to glory. That puts everything into perspective, whatever is going on in my life, whatever is happening to me, around me, it's all right. It's like that child and his father's right hand, he doesn't have to be worried. I wonder what's going on . . . It's okay, it's all under control. We'll just walk through this together, you will guide me. But where are we going? I'm bringing you to glory.

“Whom have I in heaven but you, and besides you I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail.” Now things are in perspective. Like Paul says, my outer man, this physical body may be decaying, it may be dying, but my inner man is getting stronger. “My flesh and my heart may fail, my God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish, You destroy those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of Your works.” I want to tell what God is like, how I go through this.

We do that because, come back to Revelation 14. In Revelation 14 Jesus Christ, giving this message to His churches, telling them about the future and basically He is telling them about what Asaph experienced, not referencing that, but you note that after talking about hell he says, “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, so they may rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow with them.” Put things in perspective, this is what gives you endurance. And so that is what he is saying here. “Here is the perseverance of the saints.” What enables us to keep going? It will be true especially, obviously, in the context in which he is talking, where people are being martyred for their faith during that period of time before Christ comes. But the promises of God for His people are true in every age, that holds true as Asaph could write a thousand years before Christ. He takes hold of me, He is continually with me. Well, didn't Jesus promise, I will never leave you nor forsake you? That's God's promise to His people, it holds good in all times and all places.

So remember, here is what happens to the wicked. Now remember Asaph had to go back into the presence of God, get his attention focused on God. Then I was reminded, things seem to go well for those who have rejected God, but their future couldn't be any bleaker. Things may seem troublesome for me and hard for me now, but my future couldn't be any brighter. So you have the contrast here, going back and forth. You had the eternal Gospel preached, then you had the promise of the destruction of this world system and the destiny if you are a part of this world system, an eternal hell. But remember these ends because I am with you and remembering the end gives you perseverance. So while some of these are dying horrible, painful deaths, remember those who are persecuting you, those who seem to be having a good life, they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. They have no rest.

So the contrast. “Here is the perseverance of the saints.” The saints are holy ones. We have a distorted doctrine that permeates, that certain people get made saints. And then you can pray to them. You might as well pray to the light pole. You don't make a saint, you don't decide and then some supposed exceptional spirit leader has decided they can be approved as a saint. Do you know who the saints are? Here we are. They are the holy ones. Paul writes to the saints in the church at Corinth, to the saints at this church. The saints are those who have been cleansed by God through faith in Christ. Now the word means to be set apart. They have been set apart by God for Himself, and as such they are holy before the Lord. So every person who has placed his faith in Christ is a saint.

These are the believers. Here is the perseverance of the saints, those who have placed their faith in the God who is the Savior and His provision for them. Perseverance, my margin has another alternative, steadfastness. It is sometimes translated patience, but patience isn't the best translation, because patience has a passive connotation to it. It is just something you are putting up with. Can't do anything about it, so I guess I have to live with it. A resignation. This word endurance is a compound word, it means to live under something, but it has the idea of persistence, of continuing on. One commentator on the Greek word said, it is not the patience which can sit down and bow its head and let things descend upon it and passively endure until the storm is passed. It's the spirit which can bear things, not simply with resignation, but with blazing hope. There is something driving us forward, giving us the courage and the stamina and the desire to keep on. There is pressure. By its very nature, it's a compound word, the word means to be under something and to live. You are living under pressure. You don't need endurance if everything is going fine. You are cruising, it is easy. It's when the pressure is on, the suffering is there, the difficulties, the trials press in. They need endurance to keep on going, keep going forward, keep going. That's the idea of the word here.

And we are reminded that this is part of God's plan and part of what enables us to endure when suffering comes. Things are not out of control. When people are dying as martyrs, that doesn't mean God has sort of lost track of them or that He is not able to rescue them. He has brought them into this for His purpose. You as a believer never go into a trial that God hasn't planned to use in your life. That's true for each of us.

So here is the “perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Christ.” Saints are those who persevere, who endure. That means they keep the commandments of God and they keep their faith in Jesus. That is, they continue to be what God intends them to be, to do what God wants them to do. That's like, now I can't serve the Lord, if this hadn't come into my life I would be a testimony for the Lord. He brings trial into our lives so we can be greater used of Him. Remember what God told Paul? Paul, three times, he “asked the Lord to please remove the trial that plagued him.” He doesn't tell us what it is, I think it is purposely not told so we can have some connection with it. Do you know what God told him? I won't remove the trial, but “My grace is sufficient for you for My power is perfected in weakness.” Paul says, that's a whole different perspective. I want God's power to work in my life in the greatest possible way, so bring on the weaknesses. So if your power is more manifest in my life when I am weak, then I am well-pleased with weakness. It's a reminder that God is in control. Remember He is continually with us.

So the saints, they keep the commandments. Doesn't matter what happens—persecution, suffering, disease, disappointments. It is true for all of us. For these, they will be facing the actual giving of their lives to horrible deaths. But the principle established here is true for God's people. That's why we looked at Asaph, a thousand years before Christ, it's the same there—I have to keep my attention on God, my focus on Him. Everything is under control, He is with me, He has me by the right hand, He is guiding me. I sometimes look, why some precious believers have had rather short lives. I say, “Lord, they had such an impact for you. Seems some of the wicked live long lives, in some of your choice servants, their lives are cut short. Lord, it doesn't make sense. Why?” I don't have to know, I just know He is doing the best thing, He is guiding, directing.

Here is the “perseverance of the saints,” keep your eyes . . . Not that the wicked are winning, not the righteous are losing. But God is at work. We keep the commandments of God. That's an evidence you love God. This is not how you become a saint, this is talking about the perseverance of those who are saints. They have already experienced God's salvation and been set apart by God for Himself. It's why He doesn't leave them, He is continually with them. They desire to keep His word. Remember that is a characteristic of a believer. Jesus said, “if you love Me, you will keep My commandments. Those who don't keep My commandments don't love Me.”

These are good to use when you share. People say, I want to talk about the love of God, and even in these days, about Christ and His love. That's fine. Do you understand what it means to love God? It means you begin by obeying Him. What is God telling you to do? Place your faith in His Son, who came to this earth to die for you. Trust Him alone as your Savior, Let go of everything else, take hold of God through faith in Christ. Then now live your life in obedience to Him. He makes you new, you live for Him, you obey His commandments. You keep your faith in Christ. Trials are God's plan, that's what they are saying. Keep persevering here, saints, keep obeying God's Word, keep trusting Christ.

A couple of passages, come back to Romans 5. Romans 4 ended by that conclusion of “Christ was delivered over because of our transgression, was raised because of our justification.” So those who believe in Him are credited with righteousness from God. Romans 5 opens up, verse 1, “Therefore having been justified,” declared righteous, “by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.” We now live our lives within the realm of God's grace, which includes all of His provision for us as His children. “We exult in hope of the glory of God.” You see now our attention is drawn from this world, the things of this life, to what God has promised, the hope we have that He has promised to us—glory in His presence. “Not only this,” not only do we exult, have our joy and rejoicing in the hope of glory, “but we also exult in our tribulations,” our sufferings, our difficulties, our trials because we are those now who stand in God's grace. So we understand it is His grace at work in our lives in every situation. So we can exult in tribulations, whatever kind they may be. Not because we like pain but because we know God is working. What is He doing? “We exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about,” and there is our word, “perseverance.”

Sometimes, when you are raising your kids, they have to go through difficulties and trials. And you raise hothouse kids, they grow up to be hothouse adults. What a mess. Tribulation brings about perseverance. If you never get any pressure, how do you learn to live under pressure? And “perseverance brings about proven character,” tested character, maturity now. And then that sharpens our hope. So you see “we rejoice and exult in the hope of the glory of God” at the end of verse 2. In the process of strengthening that hope and bringing us more into conformity to living with that focus is tribulation, nothing brings things more sharply into focus than trial.

When a particular difficulty comes into your life, no matter what is going on, now all of a sudden I'm not worried about the vacation, I'm not worried about how much money I have in retirement, I'm not concerned about . . . I'm focused, “oh Lord, only you can see us through this; oh Lord, only you can provide the grace we need.” And it is strengthening us, it helps sharpen our focus again, because as things go easy and smooth, we just sometimes lose focus and we can become like Asaph in Psalm 73. Pretty soon we are distracted and then our thinking gets confused. We can exult in tribulation because that is not ruining my life, that is developing my life. Because the tribulation develops perseverance and perseverance, continuing to walk with God, to obey Him, to trust Him develops my strength spiritually Then I have a greater focus on what God has promised and the things of this world are less of an influence.

A number of other passages I would encourage you to pursue in Romans, but come over to Hebrews 10. He talks about the danger for believers, often when we are new Christians. At that time when the Gospel becomes clear, by God's grace, and you place your faith in Christ, you are ready to do whatever. Doesn't matter what anybody thinks. Sometimes that new believer, we'll say, “whoa,” we need to slow him down a little bit. Maybe they need to speed us old-timers up a little bit. The Hebrew believers, these Jewish Christians were going through difficult times. He reminded them, Christ is the only hope, He's the only Savior. If you turn away from Christ, all that awaits you is eternal hell. Verse 27, the result of not trusting Christ is experiencing the fires of hell. That's the choice. Same thing we have in Revelation 14.

Then down in verse 32 he encourages them, in contrast to that “remember the former days when after being enlightened,” when the light of the Gospel shone into your lives, “you,” there is our word, “endured.” They had that endurance at the beginning, whatever it cost, I'm in it. “A great conflict of sufferings,” and all kinds. You were made public spectacle through reproaches, tribulations; you joined in with Christians who were suffering; they seized your property and you said, fine, I will give up everything for the Lord. You knew, the end of verse 34, “you have a better possession and a lasting one.” There was that sharpness of focus. What had happened? Verse 35, “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence which has great reward.” Living like that, all out for the Lord, has great reward. Don't throw it away. “You have need of endurance.” It is nice to have had it but you must still have it. God doesn't want me to be less all out, committed to Him; less totally focused on Him and what He has promised, whatever it cost in my life here than He did when I was first saved. He doesn't expect, well, they will cool down, that passion, they'll learn to balance their lives a little more. We are called to have unbalanced lives, take up our cross and follow Christ. That is not a balanced life. Don't count your life as important, be ready to give it. That's what he is talking about here.

And there is a warning. He is coming and those who endure will receive what He has promised. “But my righteous one shall live by faith.” Remember we read that in Revelation 14? They keep the commandments of the Lord and their faith in Christ. “My righteous one shall live by faith.” You entered into life by faith, you continue now to live by faith. “If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.” Those are the only two choices. You place your faith in Christ, and if it is a saving faith you stay on with Him. If you profess to trust Christ but under the pressure you decide it is not worth it and you turn back, that just indicates you never had genuine faith.

I've shared with you, when we were in China many years ago, a pastor under pressure was arrested. And they take everything including his kids because his wife would be going to prison also. Under pressure they brought a document, “you sign it that everything you taught and preached was a lie and we'll let you go home. Under the pressure he signed it, went home. Got home and said I can't do it, I can't live like this. Went back, I would have gone into hiding and hoped for the best, he went back and told them, “that was a lie when I signed that. I can't live like that.” So he went to prison for 25 years.

Not that believers can't stumble, as we saw Asaph stumbling. We see here these Hebrew Christians getting weary, thinking I don't think I can do this again. What strengthens us? We are going toward the end. This isn't the end. For the unbeliever, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die. If you are not going to trust Christ, you might as well pack everything in today because this is the best it will ever be, because your future couldn't be any worse. All you have before you is an eternal hell. But for us as believers, like Paul said, don't think that the sufferings of this present life are worthy to be compared with the glory that has been revealed to us. And what is going on, another passage in Corinthians he writes, “Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being made new day by day.” That's the growing. That's why Jesus said, “don't fear those who kill the body but can't kill the soul; fear him who after he has killed the body is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.” So we keep on.

Over in Hebrews 12, Jesus Christ is the example, we keep on, the opening verses of chapter 12. Verse 3, “Consider Him,” Christ, “who has endured such hostility by sinners against Him so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” One thing believers have to be reminded of, having been in the ministry for a long time, sometimes we get weary, sometimes we wear down. I have had people actually say, one not too long ago, I'm just tired of the struggles. I'm weary of the conflict. Well, welcome to the club, but we can't quit. Doesn't mean we like difficulty, we like trial. Consider Christ so you won't grow weary and lose heart. And he tells them, verse 4, “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. And you have forgotten,” you forgot the Word of God. We don't have time to go to Romans 15 where we are told it's through the encouragement and perseverance of the Scriptures that we keep going. And it is God who gives us encouragement and perseverance. We go to His Word and you have forgotten. Then he quotes from Proverbs, God disciplines His children, His hand is in this even when it is sinful men doing it. His hand is in it when it seems like it is caused by this or that. For me as God's child He is continually with me. He never lets go of my hand and says, you are on your own. And part of it is a disciplining process. There is nobody here who has suffered the ultimate in following Christ. That is what he is telling these Hebrews. Verse 4, “You have not yet resisted to the shedding of blood.”

I don't know what you have been through, but you are here, you are breathing, you haven't given your life. That's what Christ did, He went to the cross. That's the example, follow Him. So telling these Hebrew Christians, and they have suffered a lot, they have been persecuted, they have been in prison, they have had their homes taken. But you are still living, you haven't given your life. When God is ready for you to give the ultimate sacrifice, then you'll say I followed Christ to the very end. But the end isn't until the end, and then that's not the end. The end is the beginning for us as believers.

Come back to Revelation 14, look at verse 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.’” A word of encouragement from God. So you see in this context where we talked about people going to hell, verses 10-11, we're reminded for those who are faithful, who persevere, they are blessed. It will have special significance to those in those last 3½ years who, many of them will have to give their lives. But they are reminded, it is worth it! They may burn you at the stake, they make you die a horrible painful death, they can make you suffer. But don't fear those who kill the body but can't harm the soul. Keep your fear on the God who can cast body and soul into hell, That promises you as His child and as His child you will endure eternal peace and blessing.

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” Blessed, they have happiness, they have true joy and peace. They may not have had it in this life, but they have it for eternity. “That they may rest from their labors.” You note the contrast. Look at verse 11 for the unbeliever, “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night.” That's for those who don't trust Christ. Then you look in verse 13, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on so that they may rest.” This life may have been anything but restful for you as a believer. Take heart, your rest is future. You may not have had the peaceful retirement that the world looks forward to, but you have an eternity of retirement, not of doing nothing, but only doing that which brings great joy and peace and satisfaction.

“That they may rest from their labors.” The word labors here is a word that refers to work to the point of weariness. Whatever you are going through, for the believer brings an end to their labors. Doesn't bring an end to activity, it brings an end to labor, the toil. It just wears me out. Now that is over, “the troubles of this life will be soon o'er,” we sing about, “when we see Jesus.” So whatever it is, it is temporary that we go through here.

“And their deeds follow with them,” their deeds, their works, what they do. A reminder, there is reward for faithfulness. We are going into the presence of God. Do you think Paul bemoans the fact he didn't get to retire on the Mediterranean, but he had to die as a martyr? Do you think Peter felt that way when they crucified him upside down? I was hoping my wife and I would get to retire and have the last 15-20 years of our lives down on the Mediterranean, basking in the sun, enjoying peace. Do you know what happens? The world pulls our attention down, turns it over, then we begin to try to adjust our lives to fit what the world thinks is important. And we want to minimize the cost of following Christ, and we are afraid to be identified with Him and we begin to envy what the world offers. That's why he is going to come back and end this chapter by talking about the destruction of this world system. The world has nothing that is permanent and enduring, we have everything that matters. So there is reward for our labors.

One passage and then we will summarize. 1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not vain in the Lord.” That faithfulness to Him which may make life much more difficult isn't worthless because those deeds, that faithfulness in serving the Lord follows you after death because there is reward. You don't earn salvation, but by God's grace there are rewards for those who are faithful in the salvation God provides.

I want to share with you the summary of these two verses. and I made them so they all start with saints because these things are true only of saints, the holy ones, those God has set apart for Himself. Do you see how special that is? Like Asaph could say, that God is continually with me.

The first, saints persevere because of the reality of hell. That's a reminder. There is an awful, terrible hell for those who do not trust Christ. And those who do trust Christ live for Him, I have no choice. My life is not my own, I have been bought with a price, I must glorify God in this body. Saints persevere because of the reality of hell. That's why he said that we were to pay attention. This is the perseverance of the saints, he just told them about hell. What are the choices? Would you rather live a good life now, in the world's view of good, and go to an eternal hell? Saints persevere because of the reality of hell.

Saints live in obedience to God's Word. We had that in the second statement in Revelation 14:12, “they keep the commandments of God.” That's part of perseverance. I live my life to honor Him because my life is His life. “The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God.”

And so the third point, saints live with their faith in Christ. I live by faith in the Son of God. Saints live with their faith in Christ. That's ongoing, these things are all inseparably, intimately connected.

Saints are blessed in death. Doesn't mean I am anxious to die, doesn't mean I look forward to the process of dying, doesn't mean I like to think there may be pain in dying. Do you know what he says? “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” from now on. He is dealing particularly from now on to those there at that period of time leading to the return of Christ. But it is true for us. What does it mean? “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” Paul said the reality of that makes me realize I'd rather die and be with the Lord, that is very much better, 2 Corinthians 5. But if the Lord has work for me to do, then I stay here to do His will. So saints are blessed in death.

And what happens at death for a believer? Saints enter into rest from their labor through death. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” from now on. The Spirit says this, you have that for re-emphasis. Yes, says the Spirit. That's only the second time in the book of Revelation, this is the first of two times in the book of Revelation, where the Spirit is said to speak. Important. “Yes, says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labors.” Too bad, they died. Wouldn't it have been great if they could have lived longer, seen their kids, their grandkids, their great-grandkids? Wouldn't it have been great if they could have enjoyed their retirement together? Wouldn't it have been great . . .? Anybody ever think, isn't great that they could go to heaven? Isn't it great they could be elevated to the presence of the Lord and the fullness of His glory and all that He has promised to those who love Him? I think that is great, I think that is blessed. That doesn't mean we don't miss loved ones, it doesn't mean we don't grieve. “We don't grieve as those who have no hope,” but as a believer I am looking forward to seeing loved ones again. They just got there ahead of me. I guess it is taking longer for the Lord to get me matured and ready. But His grace is at work. Saints enter into rest through death.

And don't forget #6, saints will be rewarded for their works after death. We have looked at that at other times. Their deeds follow with them. So they may go to a horrible death, a painful death, those who will be martyred. Keep in mind, that faithfulness to Christ. Well, someone else got to die in his sleep at an old age, that was better. Do you know what is better for me? What Christ has for me, what a God who loves me has for me, with a God who is guiding you, taking you by your right hand. He is continuing with you, he is leading you and will ultimately bring you to glory. I don't know what is best for me, I'd rather die, humanly speaking, I'm getting old, just some night I will say, good night, Marilyn. In the morning, Gil, Gil, Gil. I'm up here, I'll be waiting. What a better way to go. I don't want to get cancer, I don't want to have a stroke, I don't want to suffer. Lord, I'm a coward, just take me in my sleep. Whatever He does is best, right?

So if we keep our lives like that, you've trusted the Lord. If you haven't trusted the Lord, you are on your way to hell. And if you continue to say no to Him, all I can say is enjoy the time you have because this is the best it will ever be. But for those of us who have trusted Christ, narrow my focus, Lord, and that's what trials do. They pull you in, they focus me. What really matters? Eternity, what God has promised. Whatever He has for me now, I want to be as faithful to Him as I can in whatever He chooses to bring into my life so that when He takes Me, perhaps in death of one kind or another, my labors will be over, I enter into the rest and I am accounted as one who has been found faithful. That's what matters, that's how we as believers live.

Let's pray together. Thanks You, Lord, for Your grace, thank You for Your salvation. How wondrous it is that we, hell-bound sinners, deserving of Your wrath, should have a Savior provided who took our place, paid our penalty so that You would offer to us forgiveness, cleansing, the privilege of becoming Your child, of living in fellowship with You throughout this life and throughout eternity. Having You watch over us, care for us, provide for us and know in every trial, in every difficulty, in any pain, in any suffering You are with us, You are caring for us, You are guiding us and ultimately You will bring us into the glory of Your presence. We give You praise in Christ's name, amen.