We're turning our Bibles, please, to Revelation chapter 14, Revelation chapter 14, and a portion of Scripture which I trust will lead us to think about a great truth that will be on our hearts this day. We've been thinking about the lives which have been laid down in wars and conflicts since the Great First World War, and we'll get to the application in a short while, but I want us to think about the glorious dead for our message today in the house of God. Reverend McRae was here a couple of weeks ago. He made mention of this in his sermon. I'm not here to replicate Mr. McRae's message. He was spanning many areas in a great theme regarding eternity. But I want to hone in upon one verse of scripture which he passed in mentioning, and that's Revelation 14, verse 13. Let me read from verse 6. We'll pray afterwards. Revelation 14, verse 6. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come, and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, the great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast in his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, say of the Spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. We'll finish there at verse 13. Let's all pray. Our Father, we ask now for help from heaven. Lord, I need help as I stand here. I feel my need acutely. I pray for the infilling of the Spirit. Physical strength I ask Lord for power to bring a word to thy dear people I'm thankful for the people of God and for those even unsaved who assemble into the house of God this day And Lord I pray that will open up their hearts afresh and that we would be one people in the house of God that we will commune together as we must and as we should Be very much essential in our midst and speak to us throughout this day. We ask in the Savior's name Amen. As we know up and down our land and our United Kingdom, you'll find in small villages and hamlets right through to big towns and cities, various war memorials or some will refer to them as cenotaphs here and there. And they mark the solemn occasion with great dignity and respect. Here in our own town of Newton Arts in Court Square, we have our own memorial. I was doing a little bit of reading during the week upon this particular thing. I was sharing a few things with our brother Stephen there. I think most of us are aware that at the very first this memorial which marks through its various steps our glorious dead and so forth. It was first a plywood cenotaph that was erected by members of the British Legion in Conway Square in 1925 before the more permanent one was erected in Court Square in 1934. But as I was reading upon this, I came across a very interesting photo, an old photo in black and white, and it was from 1924. I asked Stephen, not if he remembered it, but if he came across this, which he indicated he hadn't, I was interested to discover. And it's quite a striking photo if you've seen it for yourself and you can find it quite easily on the records online. And it's a picture of ex-soldiers of Newton Arts all seated and standing around what they have built themselves and called a snow memorial. It was assumed, and this is worded very carefully in the article, it was assumed this was an attempt to embarrass the council into constructing a long-promised war memorial. This was 1924, it still took another 10 years for the more permanent one to be erected in Court Square. It was nine feet high, so obviously they anticipated me coming on some occasion into the town. And on top of this great pedestal of a snow memorial, obelisk in some respects, there was a snow soldier. And you'll see on the photo that this snow soldier has a makeshift gun in his arms and there is a tin hat upon its head and etched upon the snow, imagine by their finger or by their stick. And you're dealing with men who really just a number of six years have just come to a close of that First World War. They have written the words, less we forget, less we forget. It must have caused a stir at the time. If you read on in the article, I can't recite it word for word, but it goes on to describe how the police had to move men on who were causing a bit of blockade in other streets to individuals coming to see this. They came from Greenwell and from the villa, so a bit of a reputation in those parts, it must seem. But it's a very solemn and a very poignant picture in many respects, and iconic in many ways. We all know that in many respects the most iconic vision that we have at this time of year is the cenotaph itself in Whitehall, London. Cenotaph, as I'm sure we're aware, and if we don't, especially for the boys and the girls, the word cenotaph, it just simply means empty tomb. It's a Greek phrase, it's a Greek word. And the reason why the cenotaph is called what it is, is because most of the dead during wartime were buried close to where they fell. And so when it comes to establishing and comes to building memorials in towns and cities and villages, well, they can't bring the physical dead to where they are, so what they have is an empty memorial. They have an empty tomb. And the cenotaph symbolises their absence and it becomes a focal point and rightly so for all mourning and national grief and thanksgiving. On the cenotaph in London, as with many, even in the one that we have here in Newtonards, it will write those words very simply, the glorious dead. The glorious dead. And I believe that's the most fitting and a very precise way in which we can describe and summarize the words of our text in Revelation 14 and verse 13. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, sayeth the Spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them. And I want us to think in closing about the glorious dead, the children of God who die in Christ, and they die in the Lord. What are we to learn from this portion of Scripture? First of all, let's remember that the glorious death, or this glorious death, is confirmed itself by the Word of God. That's fundamental to understand. You see, what do we do as individuals? We take two words and we find that these are words which are very difficult to bring together and harmonise. How can you take the concept of death and the concept of something which is glorious and bring the things together and ever imagine that glorious and death could ever find union together? Well, we know in respect to the fallen comrades and the many lives which were offered during the wars that there is a certain honour in which is being respected and attributed. We're not talking about the actual act of war itself and the death and the misery and the bloodshed and all the things which bring pain and suffering and grief, but we refer to the defence of freedoms and the defence of our liberties. And these are the things that we treasure and we say, well, their memory is most blessed in that respect because here are deaths which are glorious for the defence of freedom for which they stood. And that's what we recognise and that's what we remember. We're not trying to say every war is just and every conflict is right. There are many wars and conflicts which are not just. We know that in the world in which we live, but when a man or even a woman would lay down his life for freedoms which are good and true and noble, their death becomes a glorious death in that respect. I want to make that very clear. But when it comes to the Christian, the child of God, it's a far more significant and higher level that we're dealing with here. We're dealing with a death of the saints of God in which they've died, have gone to be with Christ. Their death is in Christ. And as we shall see, for that reason, it's glorious. And we've developed this as much as we possibly can. After all, when we read John's vision here, and the many things which he heard, the many things which he saw, he was told, wasn't he, to write these things down. The angel comes and says, John, write them. And so this glorious death is recorded by the word of God. It's a welcome word. Why is it a welcome word? Well if you just glance over the passage and putting aside our differences on how we interpret certain things in the book of Revelation, it's clear to see that in the forefront of John's vision and in the message which the angel has given is a glimpse of the hardness of the day and the reproach of the day. The background to the passages, one which we see as being anti-Christian, we see as being ungodly. We have men and individuals who, knowing the judgment of God, continue in their sin. And it reminds us that when this sinful world abandons the Word of God, it will always turn its attention to persecute the Christian in one respect or another. And that's the glimpse of what we have in Revelation chapter 14. and we'll deal with it more in just a short while, but let's remind ourselves of this, that church history is littered and filled with accounts and occasions of men and women and martyrs who have lived under evil regimes, who have had to lay down their lives for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Christians in all ages, even in our own age today, have known what it is to take a stand for the cause of the gospel and sometimes even seal it with their lives. And that's the view that we have in Revelation 14. We have the picture of imprisonment and torture and those beaten and those wandering and dying, people whose death at times was of a most agonising nature. You move into verse 12 and here John gets this vision and he says, here's the patience of the saints. What does that mean, the patience of the saints? What's it referring to? We'll look at that in a short while. But it's important that we understand what is being set before us here. It's a need they have. Their patience is this. The patient continuance and going on as a people who are set apart by the Lord. That's key. Sometimes we look at the phrase, the patience of the saints, and we put a meaning to it that we think about in everyday life. You know, well I'm patient if I'm waiting for something after a long time. That's not really the sense of what is being described here. That the patience of the saints is a going on with God, a continuance with God, in a world which is increasingly hostile and to be patient as those who are set apart by God himself. That's the people who are in view. Those that may even have to seal their lives with their blood. And John is given this glorious reality, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. And it was a welcome word for them, wasn't it? A dying people who receive this word of consolation. How happy it is for those who die in Christ and even die for these reasons. But I have to make it very clear that while that's maybe the primary application of what the passage is, in verse 13, that it's also important, it's the same principle that applies for every one of us who are the children of God. And for that reason, it's a welcome word for us, isn't it? It's true for all of us as saints, we find immeasurable comfort knowing this. It's a word that is written for our consolation. It's a word that is recorded and set down. It's also a preserved word. You notice in verse 13 that John is told to write, and then if you look through verse 13, it's almost as if there's a pause, just for a little while, a short while, and we have this emphasis, or even a re-emphasis, which is given, In case we miss it, in case it passes us by, in case we're not paying attention to what God is saying here, so there could be no mistake. And I believe, child of God, that we must appreciate the kindness and the goodness of God, that God has written these things down for us. He says, write these things, don't let them be lost. And then the Spirit Himself, who is the divine author of the Word, He then seals it with His emphasis, Yea, sayeth the Spirit. There's no doubting this truth. And there's to be no compromise of this truth. And there's to be no forgetting of this truth. It may well be that some of us even here in the house of God this day, we're anticipating our own deaths. It's been maybe the last week which has sobered our minds and our hearts and our thoughts once again, where loved ones have gone into eternity. It might be just the memory of others who have gone on before us in years which have gone by, but we all begin to feel it that little bit more, don't we? And we're sobered by it. We know our end is coming. We know that appointment soon is going to be made and kept and we're going to be rendered unto it. And isn't it wonderful that in the midst of this great portion of Holy Scripture that the Lord says, write this so that the saints of God can know it. It's a blessed thing to die in Christ. And we'll develop more of that as we go through our message. But what I want you to see here is that a word which is recorded and a word which is preserved is a word for you, child of God, that you're to hold on to. And you're to hold on to with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. And when the Lord says that it's a blessed thing, you've got to take on board exactly what that means. it's the plurality, it's many happinesses. And what it means is this, is that the condition of the soul at the moment of death is taken from the body and is a condition into which we enter where it's a multitude of happinesses. That's our glory. We enter into a state of blessedness. No wonder he could pause for this time and say, right, because we have a tendency to forget. and to lose sight of it with all of the pressing aspects of life that we face. But this glorious death is not only written by the Word of God and confirmed by the Word of God, but this glorious death is confined to those who are united in Jesus Christ. What is the most important part of the verse? Here's a question for you, just to wake us up a little bit and get us thinking here. What's the most important part of that verse? You say, well, can anyone tell? Can we know? Well, I'm gonna suggest this to you and indicate this. I believe the most significant part of this verse is the phrase, in the Lord. That's the key, that's the part we need to really sort of sink our teeth into as we come to the word of God. Now, I may have said this before, so forgive my repetition. You'll get used to it again as the years roll by. But I believe that one of the most significant truths that we can glean comfort from as Christians is the union that we have in Jesus Christ. At the same time, as I was saying about the Trinity earlier on in the Bible class, union to Christ is one of the most neglected teachings. Here's the test. When did you as a child of God, if you're saved, last think about The fact, the Bible says, if you're saved, you're united to Jesus Christ. When's that last come across your mind? When's the last sit down, open your Bibles and say, Lord, teach me what it means. I'm united to Jesus Christ. Union to Christ. What does it mean? Well, remember, it's a truth which is spelled out time and time again. Paul, of all the apostles and New Testament writers, emphasises what it is. How many times does he say, in Christ? Accepted in the beloved, accepted in the Lord. Our struggle is that we find it hard to grasp the concept of what that actually means. Isn't that right? Is that the hard thing that we face? Well, there are many examples. Think of the example of marriage. When a man and a woman come together in matrimony, in marriage, what we find is a union. They still remain, they're individual people, but the two become one. And there's union here. And it's union in the eyes of God, and it's union that's not to be separated. It's union of God. And that's a picture of the more significant truth, that when you become a child of God, if you are saved, and if you're not saved, I want this to be the very thing that you get hold of in the house of God, that Christianity is when God joins you to Jesus Christ forever. Forever. A spiritual, invisible, but significant union. An Old Testament picture would be Noah's ark. There's many of them. And you think again of Noah going into the ark with his family. It's only in the ark safety is found. It's only in the ark preservation is found. It's only inside you can be sure. And is that not a tremendous illustration of union to Jesus Christ? It's only in Him we'll have safety. That's what it means. And while before we're saved we might not quite understand all of that, after we're saved what I want to tell you is you've got to get it. Because there's a wealth of riches in that great truth. It was the Apostle Paul who emphasised this in Philippians 3, 9 because he spoke about being found in Christ and he says, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Jesus Christ. And it's only in him, those that die in him, that can every sin of them. Blessed are those. Blessed are the dead which die in him. Now, let's develop this a little bit more before we come to our last point. The reason why verse 13 is so strange to many people is because there is much about death that troubles mankind. Isn't that right? Death is a troubling thing. What is death? It's cold, clinical in a sense. It's undeniably certain. It's referred to as an enemy, an enemy in a Bible. It's a reproach. It's a wrench. And there's not one person that looks for death because they want death, for that sense. The very commandment that goes out from God that requires us that we should not kill, thou shalt not kill, as we know it, contains a broader application that we do all that we can to promote and preserve life itself. And so to say, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord is not to encourage men and women to sort of pursue death with some bizarre zeal. That's not what we're saying. But what I'm trying to make it very clear is that what you have in verse 13 is the Christian's watchword. It's our mantra. It's our flag that we wave among the many things that we can say regarding our Christianity. This is me, I will die in Christ. and I will die ready and I'll die saved. And what is being said is of utmost importance because if you look at the opposite of that, then it shows us the great need to be found in Christ. What is it Jesus says in John 8 in verse 21 to 24? He says, Now think about this, just as we move on to our last point. Very important to keep this in our minds. All people, whether Christians or unbelievers will die in a world that is still sinning. Okay? They will die in a world which is still sinning. The Christian doesn't arrive a place in their last week if they're given a conscious awareness of the last week where they've now stopped sinning and they're ready for heaven. No, no, that doesn't happen. It's the afterwards where we're perfected. And so when it speaks about dying in Christ and dying in our sin, it is the two separate occasions here. What is it to die in sin? What is that? It's to die under the condemnation of your sins without the pardon and the peace and the forgiveness of God. When you die in your sin, God is saying that you are dying without ever being pardoned. without ever being justified. And to die in sin is to die without Christ. And likewise to die in Christ is to die therefore clothed. And it's to die justified and it's to die ready. And that's what constitutes your blessedness. Do you see it? That's what we get hold of this day. Dying ready. And I want you to see this and to get a hold of it. We'll move on here, we'll come to my last thought. Much more that could be said but I'm just mindful of our time here. This glorious death is then crowned with a glorious rest. It's the cross before the crown, isn't it Christian? And it's Christ before the cross before the crown. But where does it lead? Rest. It leads into everlasting rest. Verse 13 is quite wonderful in that manner, that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them. I've mentioned already that in view specifically of the saints of God who have lived and died under fiery reproach and persecutions and all that we can see in these portions of Revelation. And so they enter into glory into their blessed rest. But like Stephen in Acts chapter 7 when he died calling upon the Lord and he enters into his rest despite the time being most hard for him. John is shown here in this vision that they have rested from their labours as saints on earth and have now entered the glory of Emmanuel's land. But here's the key thing, what labours? What labours? What are we dealing with here? Are we dealing with our nine to five job? Are we dealing with maybe just being a parent or being a family member or responsibilities that we have to a community around? What is this rest? What is this labour? What does it all mean? That's what you've got to think about in these closing moments. Well, first of all, it's a glorious rest. There's a glorious rest. Christians enter into it. Now, let's get the illustration in our mind. All of us, all of us, more so as we get older, we get tired. And when you're tired, maybe you think, I'm tired now hearing this sermon, looking forward to a little nap later on after my food. But we get tired and we look forward to rest, don't we? Get to rest your weary feet, you get to lie down, rest your back, you get to rest your eyes, you get to rest your brain. We know what it is to enjoy the benefit of just 40 weeks of sleep and a bit of recovery time. And that's just a small fraction of trying to understand exactly what is being described here in Revelation chapter 14. Now I can't speak for every believer that's ever lived, but what I will say by way of majority is that death follows either sickness or old age. I know there'll be the accidents, I know there'll be the young lives which are taken, but you know what I mean by this. Generally speaking, death follows sickness or old age. It comes not simply after the general struggles of a life, but here is the point, it comes particularly with the Christian in view, with the battles that we have had with sin, with our great needs, and with the world all around us, and even the infernal foe in Satan himself. And that's why the word labor is so important, because behind the meaning of the word is the idea of grief, and the idea of toils, and the idea of efforts. And don't get me wrong, I don't want to portray the Christian life in some sort of damp, squid manner. To be saved is most wonderful, isn't it? We have those high points in our Christian life. We have times of fellowship where we've come to house God, I hope you have, where you've been so blessed in your soul. You've had times of nearness to God. You've had times of Christian fellowship that you still fondly remember. hymns that we've sung, psalms that we've sung, sermons that we've heard, souls which have been saved, missionary endeavours we've heard of or experienced ourself, people that we can witness to. Many things we can look back over our life and say, what a glorious thing it is to be a child of God. We can spend time thinking about just simply what it means to be a Christian and be thrilled in our hearts. But with all that said, we also know that we're tired and we get tired. And we find it hard. And we know that we have that cross to bear. And that's the indication of labours. Toil in this world. Our own personal sins, our backslidings, our prayerlessness, the discouragements of others. It's not the fact that you come to the house of God every single week striding with a skip and a join in your step. You know what I mean? You come at times heavy laden. with the labours that accompany the burden that is there by bearing the cross of our Lord Jesus. But you know, the Lord, in his word, he gives you little hints and glimpses of a welcome rest for every child of God. And it's right there at the very beginning. You know, when Adam sinned, he entered into immediate toil. But you know, Adam was also labouring before he sinned. So it wasn't the labour of the ground that was the problem, it was now the condition in which he laboured. And as the Bible begins to unfold itself, we see these little promises there. God sets apart the seventh day, rest from all your labours. Joshua leads the people into the promised land. Solomon oversees a kingdom that knows cessation from bloodshed. Hebrews 4 exhorts believers to enter into their day of rest. In other words, the Lord knows that you need to be encouraged by this promise of rest from the toils. of sin and suffering and strife. And that's what the Lord wants you to understand, Christian. And when you understand that there's a blessedness in the death of the saints, because we rest from those labours, then I say to you, it gives you that strength to endure them. And to go again. You need to go again, don't you? Something's cast you down, it's made you a bit discouraged this week, you maybe want to throw in the towel or something along those lines. No, no, we go again because we're to labour into that wonderful rest. I remember hearing a number of years ago Dr. Kearns preaching on this, I think it was back in London there, and he made a point that heaven, and I loved it when he said this, it was a wonderful thing to hear, he says, heaven, heaven is not a state of idleness. So, and he goes on to develop that, but I obviously can't preach an Athagones sermon, and he knows that full well. But he's making the point that when we think of entering into the rest, which is heaven, it's not idleness. Sometimes that's what we think of, don't we? We think of, what am I going to do? What am I going to do for all eternity? Twiddle my fingers? Not sure? No. No, the whole point is this, we're entering into a condition where we can worship and we can go before God with praise without any hindrance, without any setback, without any sin, without any restriction. Perfect praise for all eternity. That's the rest we enter into. Labour points to sorrow and lament and tears. Rest points to joy and gladness and the worship of God. It's a glorious rest that meets with a glorious reward. Verse 13, and their works do follow them. And I'll be very brief here. What do you read in your Bibles? Read this. Their works do follow them. The works of the saints of God do not go before them. They do not go before them. What goes before us into heaven? Christ, our forerunner. Or who goes before us? What act of righteousness, what work of merit goes before me into heaven? It's nothing I have done with these sinful hands. But it's all that Christ has done. He goes before me. He makes the way. He opens up heaven for you. His works, not ours. Please, Almighty God, And so our works don't go before us, our works don't go beside us as comforts or aids. No, that's the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God itself. They can only follow, but they must follow. They must follow. Because the works and the fruit of the genuine child of God demonstrate the reality of Christ in you. We've had to say farewell to Dr. Woods this week. If there was ever a verse that was true of any man, well, here you've got a verse. His works followed him. And how many of the saints of God, that can be said of as well. And it's not me, my duty here to labor to bring a sense of guilt to any conscience here. That's not my duty as a preacher. So it's not for me to identify what your fruits and labors have to be. But we know it's varied. souls we can reach with the gospel, loved ones we can witness to, times we give to prayer, our own growth as Christians and our own spiritual fruit. I mean it's just a broad spectrum. But works must follow. Demonstrations that we are in Christ. We have a Lord and our Saviour and they follow us. And here John gets this great vision and this great sight. And he says, ah, in the midst of suffering and death and chaos and ruin, the Christian stands aloft as the glorious death. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may enter into the rest, or rest in the labors, and their works do follow them. It begs the question whether you die in Christ or outside of Christ. How do you get in Christ? How do you get into him? How did Noah get into the ark? He went in. He was called in and he went in. Ah, here is Christ, the ark of salvation. Go into him by faith and be found in him. And then die in him and live by him. May God bless his precious word to our hearts. Amen.