Revelation 14:13 (NKJV)

13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’”“Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

Dying In The LordRevelation 14:13

Dying In The Lord

•Death isn’t something that we enjoy talking about

•However, we realize that unless the Lord returns first, it is a reality for each of us (Heb. 9:27)

• The fact is that one way or another, this life will end for all of us

Dying In The Lord

• There are things in life that we have no control over, and this is one of them

• There are also things in life that we can control

•We cannot control death, but we do have power in life

Dying In The Lord

• The power we have is how we choose to live our lives

• “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes…that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” (Rev. 14:13)

• There can be a blessing in death

Dying In The Lord

• This verse speaks to the idea of being a faithful Christian until the day we leave this life

• That’s not an easy task, but it certainly can be done

•Here is what we need to live a faithful life…

Dying In The Lord

•1. Desire

• Becoming a child of God is a voluntary act

•We all choose who we will follow in this life (Josh. 24:15; Jn. 6:67)

• That said, no one will follow God and be faithful without having a desire to do so

Dying In The Lord

•1. Desire

• Paul said that desire and willingness were necessary to do good (II Cor. 8:11-12)

• “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus…” (II Tim. 3:12)

•We must desire to put God’s kingdom first (Matt. 6:33)

Dying In The Lord

•1. Desire

• “My soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You” (Ps. 63:1)

• “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You” (Ps. 73:25)

• Do you “hunger and thirst for righteousness”? (Matt. 5:6)

Dying In The Lord

•1. Desire

•We can live a certain way for a short time without desire

• If we are to die in the Lord, then we will need desire to get us through this journey

• Desire alone, however, will not do it…

Dying In The Lord

•2. Patience/Perseverance

• Often when there is a reward involved, the reward is somewhat instant

• At most, we might have to wait 6-8 weeks for it

• However, we must first live out our lives for God before we receive our reward (Heb. 11:24-26)

Dying In The Lord

•2. Patience/Perseverance

• That requires patience on our part

• That’s why they say that “patience is a virtue”

• Peter said it was needed to make our call and election sure (II Pet. 1:6-11)

• Our faith is tested to produce patience(Js. 1:3)

Dying In The Lord

•2. Patience/Perseverance

• “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:11-12)

•We must stay the course!

Dying In The Lord

•3. Resilience

• Resilience is the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched

• It’s having the ability to bounce back

•We need to be like the Weeble Wobbles

Dying In The Lord

•3. Resilience

•When you get knocked down in life, do you get back up or do you stay down?

• I John 1 teaches us that God will forgive our mistakes (v. 9)

• Plenty of men and women have been resilient

Dying In The Lord

•3. Resilience

• Romans 3:23 teaches us that we all fall down from time to time

• Peter had to be resilient following his denial of Christ (Lk. 22:54-62)

• Paul needed resiliency after persecuting Christians (I Tim. 1:15)

Dying In The Lord

•3. Resilience

• Paul characterized his life as a struggle between right and wrong (Rom. 7:13-25)

• Our life will most likely be the same struggle

• Resiliency says that although we may lose a battle, it doesn’t mean we must lose the war