Blessed and Holy
7 Blessings of Revelation Series
CCCAG 7-7-24
Scripture- Rev 20:4-6
Last Sunday Tammie and I took a long drive into the backroads of the county, and we were talking about the riots that happened in Kenosha, and how a lot of the buildings downtown were damaged or burned down.
All of this over a false narrative that the police shot an unarmed man as he was getting into his car. The cell phone video of that event made it onto the internet, however it did not show the knife in his hand when the police opened fire. Some left wing organizations saw the video, weaponized the lie to cause people from all over the country to descend on Kenosha to lead riots and cause millions in property damage.
All of this over a perceived sense of injustice.
There is a something inside of each one of us that wants things to be fair for everyone. We want evil to be punished, and the wrongdoer see consequences for their actions. We all have that sense of wanting justice even from a young age.
Today are talking about the 5th of 7 blessings that we see in the Book of Revelations.
In a moment, when we read these verses, we will see the final end of the antiChrist, and false prophet, and see that justice will be done to satan as he is bound for 1000 years.
Divine justice will be done. In that, we will have a certain satisfaction.
There is a word in German that would describe how many may feel when we read this section of scripture. It’s known as schaldenfraud (shall den freud a) and it means to take pleasure from someone else’s misfortune.
Normally, I would not say this is a very Christian thought to have.
However, at this time, we will all be smiling a little as we watch satan be bound and cast into prison for a millenia, and the antichrist and false prophet cast into the lake of fire.
Justice will be served.
Before we read the scripture, let me give you a quick idea of where we are at in the prophetic timeline-
Armageddon has just happened, and the armies of the antichrist have been slaughtered by Jesus HIMself. The one sided battle is so horrific- about 100 million killed. The bible says the blood will be as high as a horses bridle, which is about 5 feet high.
Jesus has returned and brought justice to the earth.
After it happens often in the book of Revelations, the scene switches again from earth to heaven, and we read this-
Rev 20:4-6 Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (5) The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
Main verse-(6) Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death (or resurrection) has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Prayer
A few things I want to point out in these verses. In order to understand them properly we have a few things we need to remember-
Again referring to the prophetic timeline- This is taking place between the Great Tribulation and the Millennial reign of Christ on earth. There is a small window of transition that happens before the The Millennial reign starts, kind of like how there was a brief period between Jesus’ accession and the Holy Spirit falling in Acts 2.
Everything is going to change. Life on earth is not going to be life like we know it right now. It’s not a better version of how we are living right now.
We will not be pledging allegiance to our nations flag. There is now one government with one ruler.
During this time- if there is anything left of North America after the judgments, we will no longer be living in a constitutional representative republic- which is how our founding fathers established America, not a democracy like the talking heads and politicians keep saying.
During the millennial reign, everyone on earth will have to get used to a new form of government- a monarchy in which Jesus is king. Period
Jesus establishes his throne in Jerusalem, and is ruling in person from there. He will bring healing to the planet, and every nation/state/city/people group on earth will answer to HIM personally.
Additionally, in these verses, this event called the first resurrection is different than how we think of resurrection in that it is limited to tribulation saints who died either because of God’s judgments on the earth or through martyrdom.
These are not the Christians prior to the tribulation- we are already in heaven either through death or the rapture.
At this point, we have been to the judgment seat of Christ. We have received our eternal reward, and then attended the marriage supper of the lamb. We are now in our positions of ruling with Christ.
You might be wondering- what would we be ruling?
Let’s use our imaginations for a moment.
I’m not sure how that looks, or where we will be ruling and reigning.
The bible really doesn’t give us details about how or where we will be reigning and ruling
An interesting fact I came up across preparing for this message- science estimates there are two trillion galaxies in the known universe.
Last time I spoke, we established there have been about 45-50 billion people born on the earth. Even if there are 25 billion people in heaven (which is a really high number), that would give each and every person in heaven 80 galaxies to be in charge of.
Let that blow your mind for a minute.
Our God, is an awesome God!
So all of that was preamble, let’s look at the scripture.
Let’s look a little closer at this blessing.
I. Blessed and Holy Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection!
This blessing is unique in that it has a second blessing attached to it, and this is the word holy.
Not only are these tribulation saints experiencing the joy of the LORD in being blessed, but they are also called holy. It’s a very unique description to give any human being, particularly one who has lived through hell on earth, and come out the other side with that kind of designation.
IN bible terms, holy means to be perfect, without flaw, and morally sound. It’s the attribute most used in the bible to describe God HIMSELF.
In Isaiah 6 we get a glimpse into the throne room of heaven where we see Cheribum and Serphim circle the throne crying out “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty (Kaddosh, Kaddosh, Kaddosh YAHWEH EL SHADDAI)
It’s not because they are programmed to do so, it’s because every time they circle the throne, they see a new side of the awesome Holiness of God and cry out HOLY again.
In the Hebrew language, when you want to make a strong point you don’t use strong adjectives or superlatives- you simply repeat the attribute.
In this case, God’s holiness is so perfect, so awesome, and so incredible, that these majestic creatures can’t help but cry out for all eternity how great this one attribute of God is to them.
This is the attribute that is being now given to the tribulation saints. It is not a perfect holiness that compares to God, but a recognition that they are happy because the vast majority if not all of them gave their lives for their faith- proving their faith it in the most powerful way a human can show.
This last week we celebrated America’s Independence Day.
Some interesting facts about this day that most people don’t know.
The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men.
Of those 56 men, 5 were captured by the British, tortured and then killed.
12 lost their homes as the British burned and destroyed everything they owned.
9 more died in the war for independence.
That means that 26 of those 56 men suffered immensely or died to give us the country we are living in today.
The world is better because of the price they paid. Many of them paid for our freedom with their very lives.
Just like those founding fathers, these tribulation saints believed in something so strong, that they gave their lives because they would not recant their faith upon pain of death.
As Revelation 12:11 says
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
And because of that, the bible calls them blessed, and holy.
The last time I spoke, I described what the bride would go through to make herself beautiful to her husband before the marriage feast. All of that preparation, some of it painful, to make herself as pleasing to her husband as possible.
The persecution these saints face made them beautiful to Jesus.
There is a verse in 2 Cor 4 that summarizes their lives and mindsets-
2 Cor 4:16-18 (Living Bible Translation)
16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our inner strength in the Lord is growing every day. 17 These troubles and sufferings of ours are, after all, quite small and won't last very long. Yet this short time of distress will result in God's richest blessing upon us forever and ever! 18 So we do not look at what we can see right now, the troubles all around us, but we look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. The troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.
May this be our mindset as we continue to live for Jesus no matter what this world throws at us.
The second thing I wanted to point out about this scripture this morning is-
II. First Resurrection
I mentioned a few moments ago, the people shown as being resurrected are only those who died in and for Christ during the tribulation.
This gets a little confusing to some so let me explain.
Roughly 7 years before the events we are reading about this morning, the bible describes another event that will take place called the Rapture-
1Th 4:15-17 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. (16) For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
So around 7 years before this event, we and those who lived for Jesus and have died believing in Jesus will be taken into heaven.
This is where it gets a little confusing for some when it says that the dead in Christ will rise first. Aren’t our loved ones already in heaven?
Yes they are. The bible teaches us to be absent from the body is to be present with the LORD. (2 Cor 5:8)
This is a point we always hear about in church, and then quickly forget and it’s the reason we struggle so much.
God created us as spiritual beings and gave us bodies to inhabit so that we can interact with the physical world he created. I teach this over and over again, so I won’t spend too much time here, but it’s important to keep that in mind when we read and interpret the bible.
Our loved ones that died in Christ are alive in their spirit form in heaven. Most theologians who believe in the rapture believe that upon Christ calling the church home, those who have died in Christ received their resurrected bodies at that point.
After all, they have a wedding feast to attend, and from a practical perspective you need a body to consume food so…it makes sense.
However, these tribulation saints, they will be also be given these resurrected bodies at the point of this first resurrection. However, they get a special status for the millennium, to be priests and rulers with Christ on this earth.
That is what the first resurrection is about.
Now, to completely understand this scripture, and why they are focused so much on the first resurrection, we need to talk about the second resurrection, or as the bible says, the second death.
The second resurrection has a second title- The White Throne judgment.
III. The second resurrection (quietly)
Rev 20:11-15 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. (12) I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. (13) Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works. (14) Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. (15) And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
There is a lot to unpack, and this could be its own sermon or even a series of sermons, but we will go over it quickly.
First thing we see- the one who is on the throne that terrifies all creation.
It’s Jesus.
For you and I, that may not sound right. He is a lamb and loving shepherd of the sheep, why would anyone be afraid of HIM?
Because these people standing before him are unrepentant sinners. They refused to kneel before Jesus as LORD in their lives, now in death they face HIM as their judge.
Jesus said in John 5:22 that all judgment has been given to HIM and now they stand before Jesus in all of HIS glory
That glory and holiness exposes their darkness, and there is no grace left because they refused to believe.
The bible says earth and heaven flees, giving these people nowhere to hide from the judgment to come.
This verse in the bible is about to become very real to these people-
Heb 10:26-27
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
There is no grace to be found here.
Another thing we see here are books that will be opened.
What are these books?
I believe the first book will be the bible- our standard of faith and conduct.
The second book- the book of remembrance that lists everything ever done by every person who has lived.
The Third book is the book of life that contains all of the names of those who have accepted and followed after Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior.
What these people have done will be compared to the standard of faith and conduct, and every person there will fail that test because unlike believers, Jesus’ blood has not washed away the record of their sin.
The book of life will be consulted, and their names will not be written there.
The bible is very clear about what happens next- the lake of fire.
It doesn’t give me any pleasure to think about this. In fact, writing this section of the message brough tears to my eyes as there have been people I have known and cared for that according to their own words and lifestyles will be at this judgment.
It’s not going to be a party with the other sinners like so many have said, it’s going to be eternal torment.
Scriptures like this one have helped me learn the importance of counting the cost of every thought and every action I take in this life.
It has helped me to remember to be wise in these last days, making the most of every opportunity to show and tell people about Jesus so that they can also escape this fate.
Because then we can be blessed, and Holy just as the tribulation saint will be.
Prayer
