The Dead which Die in the Lord

Such Ones are Greatly to be Envied!

 

The Dead which Die in the Lord

By Dean E. Boelt

 

“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 labors; and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14:13).

 

Death is a subject that many people avoid talking or thinking about. For such ones there is fear and apprehension associated with death. The best approach to this subject, however, is to think of it and to properly prepare for it. The Scripture speaks clearly on this matter from different perspectives: for example, how that with death is directly associated the matter of accountability. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). While, in men’s thinking, death is often connected with irresponsibility and recklessness, yet in the Scriptures, death is consistently associated with men giving a strict account to God (cf. Acts 10:42; II Tim. 4:1; Rev. 11:18).

 

From another perspective the Spirit also gives assurance that those who die in the Lord are, in fact, blessed (i.e., to be envied above all others, fortunate, happy). Jesus said to the church at Smyrna: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death” (v. 11). We would have you then ponder the following vital considerations regarding death, as it pertains to those in Christ Jesus.

 

The Matter of Being Dead with Christ. Let us consider the matter of being dead with Christ. The Scriptures are very clear about this; if we die with Christ (cf. Rom. 6:8; Col. 2:20; II Tim. 2:11), having obeyed the gospel, we will not be hurt by the second death. Notice how secure the saints of God (the ones who had died with Christ) are represented to be (cf. Rev 14:6-12). “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God” (Rev. 14:12). Death has no dominion over Christ in that He died unto sin once (cf. Rom. 6:9). And if we are in Him, being crucified with Him (cf. Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20), death shall have no dominion over us. We shall no longer live in bondage to the fear of death.

 

Paul said, “death is ours.” “For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (I Cor.3:21-22).

 

When the gospel is preached and received into the hearts of men, and where men are obedient to the call and the commandments of God, continuing strong in the faith, they will possess the necessary patience to endure the trials and vexations of this life.  “The trying of your faith worketh patience,” James declared (Jas. 1:3). Those living by faith in the Son of God have full assurance regarding the outcome of the present conflict. Rom 8:28-39 is speaking of those who are patient in tribulation. Such ones are secure in Christ. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom. 8:35).

 

The answer is “nothing,” if we keep the commandments of God and faith in Jesus Christ (cf. Rev. 12:17; 14:12). These that are spoken of as being obedient and who keep the faith are “the elect of God” (Col. 3:12). They were foreknown of God (cf. Rom. 8:29-30) because God is all-knowing, with nothing at all being hid from Him that is is either past, present, or future. By the exercise of their will, which God gave them, being energized by the Holy Spirit from God and the Word of God, they overcame.

 

The Voice from Heaven. “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth (that is, from this time on): Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14:13).

 

The Holy Spirit is quick and ready to offer assurance to those in the battle. A great blessing is spoken of here for those in the fight of faith, in that the Spirit adds this word of comfort and assurance “that they may rest from their labors.” With the wicked this is not so. They shall have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name (Rev. 14:11). And “the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it can not rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isa. 57:20-21). And who can forget this word of Job, speaking of the future abode of the righteous: “There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest” (Job 3:17).

 

On the Anticipation of Death. The last enemy, death, has lost its sting! Death is swallowed up in victory O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? (I Cor. 15:54-55). Those secure in Christ need not fear the second death. For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He (that is, Christ) also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage (Heb. 2:14-15). Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once; but in that He liveth He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:9-11).

 

Those who reason like men of the the world would reason that death is a terrible thing; there is great fear in death. Death is anticipated with gloom and doom. From their perspective, death is final. There is no optimism in growing old and facing the finality of death.  The very consideration of Scripture speaking of death as a blessing is foreign to their thoughts. But for those who are dead with Christ, the future is bright and it is faced with great anticipation and optimism. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Ps. 116:15).

 

“Know ye not that so many of as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4). As God reckons things, when we come into Christ, and are baptized into Him, we are dead and buried. We must reckon as God reckons! “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin: but the spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:10). “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20, NASB).

 

“Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?” (Col. 2:20-22).

 

Three-fold Involvement of Being Dead with Christ. If we are dead what are we dead too? We are dead to the law (Rom. 7:1-4). Also Paul writes in Galatians: “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God” (Gal.2: 19).  We are dead unto sin, as previously mentioned. “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:11). Men are either dead in sin or dead unto sin. As Paul declared, “even when we were dead in sins,” God “quickened us together with Christ” (Eph. 2:5).

 

We are dead to the world. “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6: 14). “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3: 2-3).

 

Our primary text, (Revelation 14: 13), also is applicable to those living in the flesh, who are dead with Christ; they do rest now from their labor. No spiritual blessing can be possessed except we are united together with Christ in His death. We must die with Him in order to live with Him. The resurrected Lord does not minister spiritual benefits to dead sinners. Our text states that the dead rests from their labors, and that is also true as we are dead with Christ.

 

We cease from our own meritorious works as a means of acceptance by God. “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His” (Heb. 4: 10).  “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (v. 9). The only rest we have now is rest from meritorious works. The life we live now by faith involves rigorous work that requires total commitment, focus, single-mindedness (cf. Jas. 4:8) and a single eye (cf. Mt. 6:22). Paul said: “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God” (Gal. 2: 20), and that requires alertness and diligence. “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us: If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself” (II Tim. 2:11-12; cf. Phil.3: 7-11). In another place he said: “I die daily” (I Cor 15:31). And again, “always bearing about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh” (II Cor. 4: 10-11).