Blessedness or Condemnation?

Breaking the Code
Blessedness or Condemnation?

I. Introduction

A. I believe the most amazing 5 minutes you and I will ever experience will be the first 5 minutes after we .

1. Those 5 minutes will indicate an eternity of either indescribable or unspeakable .

II. The State of Blessedness

A. Revelation 14:13 (NLT) And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!”

1. “Blessed” means “fortunate, happy, lucky”—because now they’re really !

B. Revelation 14:1-3 (NLT) ¹Then I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. ²And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of mighty ocean waves or the rolling of loud thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together. ³This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. No one could learn this song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

1. The “mark of the beast” has to do with to Jesus!

2. Exodus 13:9a (NLT) This annual festival will be a visible sign to you, like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead.

3. The sign on their forehead refers to their thoughts and attitudes. The sign on their hand refers to their activities—the work of their hands.

4. That which lies behind your forehead—your thoughts and your attitudes—will perfectly reflect the of the Father and the Son when you’re in that “blessed” state.

C. Revelation 14:2 (NLT) And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of mighty ocean waves or the rolling of loud thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together.

1. You’re not going to be able to God’s voice!

D. Revelation 14:3 (NLT) This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. No one could learn this song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

1. The idea is that the “blessed” have experienced God so that they must respond.

E. Revelation 14:4a (NLT) They have kept themselves as pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes.

F. Revelation 14:8 (NLT) Then another angel followed him through the sky, shouting, “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen—because she made all the nations of the world drink the wine of her passionate immorality.”

1. Babylon is a symbol for —and ultimately a symbol for those powers opposed to God.

III. The State of Condemnation

A. Revelation 14:9-10 (NLT) ⁹Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand ¹⁰must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb.”

1. God’s anger is never out of .

2. The Bible says God get angry.

B. Revelation 14:11 (NLT) ^“The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.”

1. The image of this phrase is an image of the complete of community.

2. To reject is to reject everything that makes community possible.

3. When we get older, becomes a wonderful thing!

C. Matthew 11:28 (NAS) “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

1. is God’s desire for the human race!

D. Revelation 14:6-7 (NLT) ⁶And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. ⁷“Fear God,” he shouted. “Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water.”

E. II Peter 3:9 (NAS) The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

1. There is only one way to get into hell. You have to go all the way around the .

IV. Conclusion