Sermon Tone Analysis

The first blessing or beatitude is obedience.

Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand”

This revelation blesses the person who reads, hears, and obeys the message.

In the early church there were, of course, no printing presses to run off copy after copy of John’s letter.

There was only the original copy written by him and perhaps a few other copies that had been copied by hand to be passed among the people.

Therefore, the reading spoken of in this verse refers to the letter being read before the whole church or before special groups within the church.

But note a critical point: reading is not enough.

Believers must … • read • hear the words of this prophecy • keep those things which are written in it.

It is never enough to just read and hear the Word of God.

We must always do what God says, keep His commandments.

This is especially true when it comes to Revelation.

Why?

Note the last statement made in verse 3: because “the time is at hand.”

The events are near, very near.

Jesus Christ is returning to earth very soon.

The events of the end time are about to happen.

They are at hand, right over the horizon.

Therefore, we must read, hear, and heed the things written in Revelation.

We must be looking and preparing for the coming of Christ and for the events that point toward the end of the world.

The believer who does what Revelation says shall be blessed ever so richly by God.

The second blessing or beatitude of eternal life.

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them”

Everyone of us will die.

The day is coming when we will no longer exist here on earth.

We will be gone forever.

Believers know this: this is the very reason they are willing to separate themselves from the world and to live for Christ.

It is the reason they are willing to give all they are and have to Christ and His mission.

It is the reason believers do not live in sin, but struggle and fight to conquer the sins and temptations of this life.

This is the reason they refuse to deny Christ;

the reason they suffer the persecutions of this world, the ridicule, abuse, mockery, strange looks, sneers, isolation, cursing, and sometimes imprisonment and death.

Believers know they have a date with death just as all other persons do.

Therefore, they give their lives to Jesus Christ.

Why?

Because Jesus Christ is the Savior and Lord of the world.

Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone has died for our sins, and He alone can free us from sin.

He alone can free us from sin and make us acceptable to God.

Jesus Christ alone can give us the right to live forever.

Therefore, believers commit their lives to follow Christ.

Consequently, they have the most glorious hope; God gives them the greatest promise imaginable.

God declares that they shall live forever.

This is the fifth great assurance: the dead shall be at rest and be rewarded by the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Their identity: the dead who are in the Lord, believers who have passed away (v.13).

2. Their reward (v.13). 1 (14:13) Death—In Christ—Heaven—Eternal Life: there are the dead who die in the Lord.

What does it mean to die in the Lord?

It means that a person lived in the Lord when he was on earth.

It means that when he was living, he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and followed after the Lord with all his heart and life.

Therefore when he faced death, he was in the Lord: he died being in the Lord.

Note this: when a person truly believes in Christ,

God places and positions him in Christ, in all that Christ is.

Christ lived and died and arose, so to be in Christ means that a person lives, dies, and arises in Christ.

The person who believes in Jesus Christ is identified with Christ:

that is, he is counted and considered to be “in Christ,” reckoned and credited as being “in Christ.”

Spelled out in a little more detail, when a person believes in Christ, God places and positions the believer “in” Christ.

The believer’s faith actually causes God to identify the believer with Christ, to count the believer …

there are the rewards of those who die in the Lord.

Two great rewards are mentioned.

There is the reward of rest from earthly labor.

But note what the word “rest” (anapaesontai) means.

It means to be refreshed, revitalized, restirred, recharged, and rejuvenated.

It means to be free of all temptations and trials, to be comforted and relaxed while being refreshed and recharged.

When we get to heaven, we will be free from all the temptations and trials and labors of this earth.

We will also be perfected in body, free from ever getting tired, from aching muscles and headaches and heavy eyes; free from ever becoming exhausted and weary again.

We will be perfected: we will live in a perfect society of godliness and righteousness forever and ever.

In that glorious day we will rest from all our labors and struggles in this corruptible world.

The third blessing or beatitude of watchfulness and purity; of watching for the Lord’s return and living a pure life.

Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief.

Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame”

There is the day of Armageddon.

The day when all this will happen is called by Scripture “the great day of God, the Almighty.”

This is the day the armies of the world will be destroyed, all the ungodly and evil of this world.

It is the day when Jesus Christ will return to rule and reign over the earth.

When all the armies are gathered together for battle then Jesus Christ will consummate this age of grace.

Time and history as we know it will be no more.

Godliness and righteousness will be brought to earth by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

There is the great warning of Christ to the people of the earth: watch and be prepared.

Only those who have kept themselves unspotted from the worldliness of this earth and from following the antichrist will escape the terrible judgment coming.

A person must be clothed in the white garment of the Lord’s righteousness.

The person must trust and diligently seek the righteousness of Jesus Christ or else he will be found naked and stripped of the white garment of the Lord’s righteousness.

Note: Jesus Christ says He is returning to earth as a thief, totally unexpected.

Just when He is coming back for the believers of the tribulation period is not known—not by anyone.

Therefore, all must watch and be prepared.

6.

The place of the great battle is called Armageddon or the great valley of Megiddo in Palestine.

(See outline and notes—Re.

19:17–21 for more discussion.

The fourth blessing or beatitude is being called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.

And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

The Wedding Supper will be a blessed and glorious event, the most glorious event ever held in history.

Note two things.

1.

The Wedding Supper will be the most blessed celebration in all of history.

The idea is greatly blessed.

The supper will be a blessed event for one reason:

All of the heavenly host will be there, all believers and all angelic beings, and both God and Christ.

It will be a blessed event, a glorious and spectacular celebration, because everyone is there—

All believers are gathered together in the great banquet hall of God—

All are gathered together for the very first time in history.

The Wedding Supper will be blessed because it is for the purpose of worshipping God and Him alone.

This is clearly illustrated for us by what happened to John.

Remember: John was still a man, not a redeemed man.

The Lord was giving him a vision of the end time and its events.