Count Your Blessings - Revelation 14:13

"Blessed indeed, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" Did you know the book of Revelation has its own set of Beatitudes that prounouce blessings on certain people similar to the ones in Matthew 5 from the Sermon on the Mount? However, in Revelation these seven pronouncements of blessing are stated in several places throughout the book:

1. Blessed is the one who reads aloud, hears, and keeps the words of this prophecy (1:3). The message of the book of Revelation and its related blessings are received by reading it or hearing it read, but only if it is accompanied by obeying as well.
2. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord (14:13). The saints who heed God's call to endurance and keep His commandments and their faith in Jesus are blessed at death with rest from their labors.
3. Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on (16:15). Christ's return will be like a thief who comes at an unexpected time. Therefore, Christ's followers must remain vigilant and faithful until He returns lest they be caught off-guard and compromised.
4. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb (19:9). These blessed ones are believers who belong to the bride of Christ, the Church, who have been called through the gospel of grace. The marriage supper of the Lamb refers to the predictions in Isaiah and Matthew of a great messianic banquet at the end of time.
5. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection (20:6). When the wicked are returned to bodily existence and condemned for evil deeds, they will be cast eternally into the lake of fire. Those who maintain their testimony of Jesus and resis Satan during the time of great tribulation are resurrected to eternal life with God.
6. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book (22:7). The one who heeds, follows, and obeys the message of the book of Revelation has entered into blessedness--the blessed way of life.
7. Blessed are those who wash their robes (22:14). These blessed ones have been are cleansed from sin and have their conscience cleared by the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. They have turned their backs on sin and walk in God's righteousness and so have access to the tree of life within God's city.