A Word of Consolation for Mourners

Points from a funeral sermon:

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Introduction.

Ecclesiastes 5:15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

Revelation 14:13 and Ecclesiastes 5:15 stand in sharp contrast. Ecclesiastes 5:15 speaks to those who die in their natural state. Revelation 14:13 speaks to those who die in the Lord.

Blessed: divinely favored; enjoying happiness, pleasure, and contentment; particularly, enjoying the bliss of heaven.

Death is a curse of sin (Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:56) that has been turned into a blessing by the death of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:54).

The truth is sure.

It is stated by “a voice from heaven.” 

It is ratified or confirmed by the “Yea” of the Spirit.

The blessing is for those who “die in the Lord.”

This applies not to all the dead, but only to those who die in the Lord. There is no blessing in death to those who are outside the arms of the Lord. Those die without God and without hope.

A physical or first death, but not the second death. See Revelation 20:14.

The blessing is “rest.”

Those who die in the Lord rest from their labours. Matthew Henry writes, “They rest from all sin, temptation, sorrow, and persecution; for there the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest.”

The works of those who die in the Lord do follow them. 1 Corinthians 15:58 “…your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” Works do not make their way in to heaven, but they follow them on to heaven. Joseph Benson writes, “their works do not go before, to procure for them admittance into the mansions of joy and glory, but they follow or attend them when admitted.”

This is marked contrast to those tormented in fire and brimstone, “they have no rest day nor night.”

Conclusion.

These truths are founded in “the everlasting gospel” (Rev. 14:6), how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.