Title [Rev 14:1-20] Blessed Saints
It's harvest time. If you go to a rural area, the farmers are busy with the harvesting of autumn. What is clear is that the wheat is gathered and put into barns, and the chaff is gathered and burned. The harvest scene appears in verse 14 and below in the main text. When you harvest with a sickle, you see that the ripe grain is harvested and the chaff is not. This scene is also described as God's righteous judgment. In any case, may we all know that the spiritual harvest is imminent and prepare thoroughly.
1. The blessings enjoyed by the saved saints
Verse 13 says, “Blessed are those who die in the Lord after the end of the money.” So said the Holy Spirit, they will rest from their toilet, for their works will follow them. It means that true rest is given to them. The happiness of the saints is true rest. It means that you will find rest in heaven, your eternal resting place. All the people in the world work hard, but among them, the saints work even harder. Serving the Lord, preaching the gospel, serving our neighbors with love, and fighting the spiritual warfare against sin and Satan are really difficult tasks to handle. But after all this toilet, he said he would rest. That rest is not a rest to sit still, but something the members of the heavenly family enjoy together. It is a rest where the Lamb Jesus is present and the 144,000 saved saints sing a new song in front of the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders while listening to the harp. Soon there was a pleasant feast. All the saints who have been saved enjoy true rest while rejoicing in this way, so it can be said that they are truly blessed saints.
2. The life of the saved saints on earth
The life of the saints until they were saved and participated in eternal rest was not an easy one. Let's take a look at a few of them in the text.
① I kept the fidelity of my faith. “These men are not defiled with women, they are chaste” (4). He also said, “Here is the patience of the saints, who keep the commands of God and the faith in Jesus” (12). Keeping the fidelity of faith is not an easy task. Paul was also moved by this incident and confessed at the end of his life. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). This is a confession that shows how difficult it is to keep the fidelity of faith. The main purpose of the devil's temptations and attacks on us is to take our faith away. We must keep faith, the only means of salvation, to the end. In addition, we must never compromise or pervert.
② I obeyed and followed Jesus. It is said, “He follows the Lamb wherever he leads it” (4). The most important thing in the life of faith is obedience. The key to obedience is to follow as you lead. Abraham became the father of faith because he obeyed God's word. Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going.” This is faith and it is a blessing. As we have been obedient and followed, let us continue to be saints who obey and follow the Lord's guidance through His Word.
③It belonged to God and the Lamb. “The firstfruits, being redeemed from among men, belong to God and the Lamb” (4). We need to have a clear affiliation. In the past, we belonged to man, that is, to the world, but we must not forget that after being redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus and becoming a new man, we belong to the Lamb and to God. In Ephesians 2:19 Paul said, “Therefore, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” With this sense of belonging, we must become saints who live in harmony with the world.
④ He lived a life of truth and blemish. “There was no lie in their mouth, they were without blemish,” he said. Christians must not lie. Liars cannot go to heaven. Revelation 21:27 says, “Nothing unclean or detestable or lying shall enter it, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 22:15 also says, “Dogs, sorcerers, and fornicators. The field, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and invents lies will be outside the city.” Let us be thankful for the fact that we have already been saved and live in hope of eternal rest in heaven. Let's keep the fidelity of our faith until the end, obey the Word, clarify our affiliation, and become God's people who live truthfully and without blemish.