Our Glorified Dead

“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.”—Revelation 14:13

The day after our father’s death last May, we five children, who had come from different parts of the country, were sitting together and talking through our tears of his last days, and recalling the virtues of his noble life, when a messenger boy entered the room and handed me a telegram. I opened it and read aloud as follows: “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.” The telegram was sent by The Moody Church, and turned our tears of grief into tears of joy. I said to myself, I hope I may be able some time to comfort the hearts of the dear people who sent that telegram as they have comforted ours, and this sermon is one attempt to fulfill that vow.

The Dead Happy

The teaching we find on the surface of the text is that the dead are happy. “Happy” is a better translation than “blessed.” “Happy are the dead who die in the Lord.” They have been happy in life, and they continue to be happy in death. While others stand around their bedside with breaking hearts, they are filled with joy. They experience a sunrise at midnight. With many discords about them, their hearts are making music.

The text informs us that this joy is not evanescent, like the glow of the evening twilight. “Happy are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth.” There is no break in the happiness. It continues “from henceforth.” The glory beyond is simply a projection of the grace and glory here. This clearly proves two things:

The Soul Does Not Sleep

1. The soul does not sleep in the grave with the decaying body. It cannot be said of an unconscious soul that it is happy. The best that could be said would be that it is not miserable. But positive happiness can go only with consciousness. Jesus said to the converted malefactor, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Paradise is a Persian word for garden, and the garden, you know, is the choice cultivated spot on the farm. The paradise into which our glorified friends have gone is God’s garden spot in all His universe.

Paul said, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” At death, the spirit leaves the body and goes to be with Christ. Paul said again, “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Sleeping in the grave would be no gain, but loss. But Paul makes it perfectly plain in another Scripture when he says, “To depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” Death is a sleep for the body, but an awakening for the soul into a better and larger sphere than it has here.

No Purgatory

2. It is evident again that the soul at death does not enter purgatory. This would be a break in happiness, indeed a beginning of misery. And the text teaches that happiness continues right through death into the “henceforth.” We have no hard words for our Roman Catholic friends who are in bondage to penance and purgatory. They suffer enough. But I wish they might be convinced that salvation through Jesus Christ is complete and covers both time and eternity. While I was in Baltimore, prayer was offered in the Cathedral and other churches for the repose of the soul of Pope Gregory the Great, one of the best and greatest popes that ever lived. I said in a sermon that all good Catholics expect to go to purgatory, and at the close of the service a Catholic gentleman, who was present, informed me that I was mistaken. “All good Catholics,” he said, “do not expect to go to purgatory, but, so far as they know, they may go. No one knows whether he will go to purgatory or not. And lest friends should be in purgatory, it is well to contribute money to pray for them, so that, if they are there, they may be delivered.” The money, of course, will do good whether they are in purgatory or not, and the prayers for them will do no harm. But this does not help the case very much. It leaves every one in doubt as to whether the dying Christian enters purgatory or paradise. And if so great and good a man as Pope Gregory is not known to be out of purgatory, who can expect to escape? The Christian, however, may have the blessed hope of going through death into joy everlasting. There is no purgatory to be feared, and no penance to be suffered after we have accepted salvation by grace through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rest With Work

The happiness of our glorified dead is defined as rest with work. “They shall rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.” Or as the new version translates, “Follow with them.” One translation means that the works will come after them and the other that the works go with them. Both are true. Heaven is to be a place of continual activity. “They serve day and night in His temple.” The word “rest” here carries with it the suggestion of service. It really means to “rest up” as one would rest up under a burden. It is the same word we find in the precious text, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heaven laden, and I will give you rest.” I will not take away the burden, nor even lighten it, but I will give you rest under the burden by the infusion of such abundant life and strength that the burden will no longer oppress. Indeed, I will bear the burden with you and share with you this fellowship of service. “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Rest comes with the taking of additional burdens. The yoke of responsibility and service helps to rest us. So in heaven, there will be the burden of responsibility and duty, which will ever prompt to loving service. And under this yoke, happiness will be supreme. It means work without weariness; activity without toil; service without the sense of failure.

Receptions In Heaven

While the glorified saints thus serve the Lord, they will be enjoying the results of their life work upon Earth; “Their works do follow after them.” What a reception the apostle Paul has been holding in heaven ever since he went there! How many thousands, even millions, of souls have come up to tell him that they were saved through his preaching and writing! What a reception Martin Luther, John Wesley, Charles G. Finney, Charles H. Spurgeon, and D.L. Moody have been having in heaven, and it will continue till the end of time. There are little foretastes of it even upon Earth. I preached on Sunday morning last summer in Los Angeles, while I was under the care of a physician and so weak in body that I could hardly stand in the pulpit. As I moved out with the crowd, hurrying to my hotel, I met a lady who told me that years ago, I had led her to Christ. Her radiant face and happy words made me forget that I had ever been sick. They refreshed me in body as well as in soul. While I was sitting in a ministers’ meeting some time ago, a pastor from Cincinnati rose and, pointing in my direction, he said, “When I was a small boy living in the country, I went with my mother to the country church and heard that man preach the Gospel. While he was preaching, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour.” I could not remember the sermon or the occasion, but my heart was filled inexpressibly full of joy. The happiness which comes from service in soul-winning is the purest outside of heaven, and will continue in heaven after we have gone within the gates.