The First Blessing In Revelation Series

The Power of Speaking God’s Word

Seven Blessings in Revelation

CCCAG 6-2-24

Scripture: Revelation 1:3

Introduction- how this series came to be-

During my daily devotions, I came to the book of Revelation, and in my new study bible the commentary notes pointed out that there are 7 blessings, or Beatitudes found within Revelation.

If you were here a few years ago, you would remember that we went through the well-known beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, where Jesus gives 8 beautiful attitudes a Christian should show the world.

In fact, if you read those 8 blessings in Matthew, you will see the path to salvation in those. For many, these have been the standard for living as a Christian since Jesus ascended to heaven.

But now, things are starting to change. While the original beatitudes are a mirror we can hold up to see if we can see Jesus’ reflection in ourselves, God has set these 7 blessings in Revelation specifically for you and I as we start to enter the end times.

As I studied these, I found that they are our survival guide for what is coming, and they give us our marching orders for this time in history, and how to overcome even if it gets really bad.

Also, these can inform people that did not make the rapture- they can use these to succeed and overcome during the worst time this earth will ever experience.

Over the next several weeks, we will look at these 7 principles.

To put these in a little context-

The book of Revelation was recorded by the Apostle John. John is the last living Apostle appointed by Jesus HIMself on this earth.

The evil Roman Emperor Domitian (doe-mission) was a Christian killer, and he caught John in Ephesus to kill him.

They tried to poison him, but John didn’t even get ill.

The Emperor then had him thrown in boiling oil in the town square as a warning to the other Christians.

The oil didn’t harm John at all, and he preached from the pot and people started getting saved, so they yanked him out of the pot of oil, put him on a boat, and dumped him on a deserted island called Patmos about 30 miles off the coast of modern day Turkey.

There, all alone on this island, Jesus Himself comes to John and reveals HIMSELF in HIS exalted state.

That is why the book of Revelation is called that- it’s the revealing of Jesus Christ as LORD, GOD, and KING over the end times.

Jesus assigns an angel is to explain to John what is to come.

In essence, the prophecy part of Revelation is part two of Matthew 24 where the disciples asked Jesus “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answered the question in general terms, focusing on world events, but here in Revelation, Jesus pulls back the curtain on the spiritual realm for all of us to see.

There, we see the 7 blessings of the End Times. There is a list of them on the back of your bulletins that we will cover in the coming weeks.

The first one is in Revelation 1:3:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near.

Prayer

Maybe it’s my teacher/pastor side coming out, but I find it interesting that the first blessing we see in Revelation is speaking about preaching the Word of God.

What is shows us is that the events in Revelation are the culmination of a spiritual fight that started thousands of year ago.

This entire reality that we are living in and having to experience each day is full of sin, suffering, disease, war, famine, lies and death. It all started because Adam and Eve didn’t believe God’s spoken word to them.

Now in the end, that is exactly the blessing God gives HIS people- to have the privilege to proclaim HIS word to a planet spinning out of control as people continue the slide into sin, and we see the consequences every day in our world.

That’s why I believe that this first blessing was placed where it was- the foundation of who we are to be in these end times, as well as a short mission set for us to follow.

Revelation 1:3 offers a threefold blessing: one for reading, one for hearing, and one for keeping the words of the prophecy. Let's break down each component and see how it applies to us today.

I. The Blessing of Reading Aloud