The Beatitudes of Revelation by John

The Beatitudes of Revelation
Rv. 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7,14.

1. Most people are familiar with the beatitudes in Matthew 5, but not many people are aware of the Beatitudes in Revelation.
2. Mt. Has 9 and Rv has 7. (Read Text)
3. Many people think Rv is a negative book.
(1) It's hard to understand because we haven't been prepared for the code in which it is written.
(2) Because it is hard to understand, most people don't expect to find anything simple and positive in it.
4. There are both strong negatives and strong positives in Rv, and you will notice some of these are implied in the Beatitudes themselves.

I. The First Beatitude is General in Nature 1:3.

1. Blessing is promised because time is rapidly running out.
(1) Saying that is enough to make some people shake their heads and say, Time hasn't run out yet!
(2) But time was running out for those people who were alive then, and it is for us now.
a. They were being persecuted to death!
b. None of them expected to live 2000 years!
(3) Listen! Time is running out for you now!
2. Blessing comes as a result of our activity.
(1) We are to read Rv for sure, and I think that includes the whole Bible.
(2) We are to hear it read, too.
(3) And we are to follow its directions.
3. Copies of Rv were not as easily accessible as now.
(1) It meant "read aloud" and hear it as it is read in church.
(2) Of course, it meant you'd be blessed if you read it privately, too. The sixth beatitude in 22:7 repeats the last part of this first one.
(3) I believe it was a closing reminder.
4. We'll be blessed if we pay attention to, and do, all this Book tells us to do.

II. The second is a Blessing for Martyrs. 14:13.

1. The word "martyr" is the same word translated witness. (Our use refers to a witness who died for Jesus, and that comes from the Scripture.)
2. So many witnesses died because of their profession of faith, dying for your belief came to be called martyrdom.
3. At any rate, it is spelled out here, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!"
(1) Some try to fix this as a special place in history, and it may be possible, but…
(2) Rv 6:9 tells about all the souls under the altar who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they maintained.
(3) I believe this refers to all who die for Jesus.
a. We are not to seek to die for Him.
b. But when it comes, we are not to flinch from it either.

4. I think the "from now on" tells us persecutions will continue! And the rest of the NT agrees with that.

III. The Third warns us Jesus Will Come again as unexpectedly as a Thief. 16:15.

1. Lk 12:39,40 says if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would not have let him break in.
2. Jesus is going to come just as unexpectedly.
(1) We need to be living watchful lives.
(2) The second part adds to the thought for our clear understanding. "Those who stay awake and keep their garments? Means two things.
a. We are to be in communication with the Lord!
b. And we are to keep ourselves pure!
3. Shame is possible, I believe, for those who are Christians but don't pray confessing their sins and who don't keep their lives clean!

IV. The Fourth and Fifth Beatitudes talk about Salvation. 19:9; 20:6.

1. Do you remember the parable about the big dinner in Lk 14:16-24?
(1) The Lord invited all he wanted to attend the dinner, but they refused to come. V 24 tells how he refused them. Not one would taste of his supper!
(2) The Lord then invited others sending out his servants until his house was filled!!!
2. There's going to be a great festival, the marriage supper of the Lamb, and the Church is the bride! I want to be in that wedding, don't you?
3. You'll surely be already blessed if you are there!
(1) The fifth beatitude involves the same thing.
(2) The first resurrection. All in the first
resurrection are saved eternally!
(3) Rv 20:11 involves those caught in the second death! Oh yes! I called this the second resurrection, but it is not a second resurrection! It's a second death!
4. Jn 5:24 promises those in Jesus never come into condemnation. That means they will never die twice! They may not even die once! Even though it is appointed to men!

V. The Last Beatitude is about Salvation in Preparation for Heaven. Rv 22:7,14

1. When we wash our robes of unrighteousness in
the blood of the Lamb, they become robes of righteousness!
2. We then are given the right to the tree of life, and we may enter by the gates into the city! It seems to me, Jesus is giving us a reminder that Adam and Eve were thrown out of Eden, and God placed the cherubim with flaming swords at the gate to protect the tree of life from sinful human beings! Jesus, in this last chapter says, we now can return to the Eden of God! Mankind in Jesus is at last completely redeemed!

Conclusion:

1. Victory belongs to all who trust Jesus!
2. Rv promises us seven great blessings from the bountiful hand of God, and remember, "seven" refers to completeness.
3. The message is: God gives us every blessing we need and more!
4. There is still time! But remember, Rv 1:3, 16:15, and 22:7 all warn that Jesus is coming soon (unexpectedly), and no one without Him now, will expect Him when He comes!
5. You have now to get ready, or you may miss being on His welcoming committee!
6. Are You ready?

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ECC 1/21/2006