Title: Humble Heavenly Star
Revelation (62) A humble heavenly star (Revelation 14:13)
<Blessed are those who die in the Lord>
“Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on.” The text of the text reminds us of the blessings of living in the Lord. The most hated, dreadful and frightening thing for people is death. A son of a certain family ran away from home, crying and screaming. Seeing this, a woman who had lost her son in a car accident said it would be nice to have a son to run away from. Even today, tens of thousands of people a year suffer the pain of losing children due to various diseases, accidents, and accidents. Considering that fact, there should be a lot of gratitude for not having such a thing happen.
Sometimes when we pray for a loved one, this kind of prayer comes up. "God! No matter how difficult it may be, let me not have the ordeal of death!” If you don't die, you have another chance, at least on this land. The most unhappy people in this world are those who have neither chance nor wait, and death takes away all the opportunities and waiting on this earth. In that sense, death is terrifying. But the text says that it is blessed to die in the Lord.
After the heavenly voice saying that those who die in the Lord are blessed, you will hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. “Yes, they will rest from their toil.” Seeing the saints dead makes me feel at ease. It is sad that the rest of us will not be able to see each other again on this earth, but how happy would we be to have entered a life of eternal rest for the dead? Knowing the meaning of the blessings of dying in the Lord like this does not give us peace even in the face of death.
The strongest person in the world is the person who realizes the hidden meaning and blessing of death and sings of peace with the confession, “If I die, I will die!” Esther, ready to say, “If I die, I will die!” goes to the king, exposes Haman's evil plans and saves her people. Faith grows through the confession and determination of self-renunciation. Once you give up your self, a new world with a higher level opens up. Realizing that the crisis of death is an opportunity for heaven, and enjoying great freedom and great peace is the true life of a saint.
< Humble Heavenly Star >
Another reason that dying in the Lord is a blessing is that the reward of heaven is prepared according to your works. Although works have nothing to do with salvation or not, they have a very deep connection with heavenly rewards. In addition to the blessing of salvation, there are other bonus blessings for those who are saved. That blessing is theologically called reward judgment, or action judgment, or higher judgment. A wise life is living today while looking at the reward and judgment.
In particular, if you dedicate yourself to saving souls, God will give you the greatest reward. In the second half of Daniel 12:3 there are these words. “He who has turned many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.” The best heavenly star is the one who saved many people. Worldly stars are more likely to become 'self-fallen stars', but heavenly stars will shine in their glory forever. Saints should become humble heavenly stars, churches should become humble heavenly stars training centers, and leaders should become humble heavenly stars makers.
Rodin's <The Thinker> is subtitled 'In front of the gates of hell'. It is as if the evangelist is deeply concerned to prevent many souls from going to hell. That concern should be the most important concern of the saints. Evangelism should be the lifelong task of believers. Evangelism must be done even if you cannot do it, even if you don't want to, and you have to do it even if you don't have any gifts. Evangelism is more precious than any other work on this earth, and especially in the end times, it is the work that we must exert the most effort.