And I heard a voice from heaven
Like that which was heard at Christ's baptism and
transfiguration, certifying the truth of what follows, so that
that may be depended upon as an undoubted verity: saying
unto me, write;
which is a further confirmation of the following sayings being
true and faithful; see ( Revelation
1:9 ) ( 19:9 ) (
21:5 ) blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth;
merely to die is not an happiness, for death is common to all,
good and bad; it is a disunion of soul and body, and cannot be in
itself desirable; it is the fruit of sin, and has something in it
awful and terrible; and though it is the privilege of believers,
as its sting is removed by Christ, yet not as simply and
absolutely considered; but to die in the Lord is a blessedness:
some render the words, "which die for the Lord"; so the Arabic
version, "which die for the faith of the Lord"; and the Ethiopic
version, "which die for God"; and so restrain them to the martyrs
of Jesus: to suffer death for the sake of Christ and his Gospel
is a gift and an honour, and what glorifies Christ; and there is
a glory consequent upon it, which such shall enjoy; but then in
the spiritual reign of Christ, to which this passage refers, and
after the destruction of antichrist, there will be no more
suffering for Christ, no more martyrdoms; wherefore this cannot
be the sense of the words: nor do they mean dying in the lively
exercise of faith and hope in the Lord; for though it is a
happiness so to die, both to persons themselves, and to their
friends and relations, yet these are not the only persons that
are blessed; there are some who all their lifetime are subject to
bondage, and go off in the dark, and yet are happy; but to die in
the Lord is to die interested in him, in union to him; which
union is not dissolved by death, and which preserves from all
condemnation, at death or at judgment, and secures the soul's
immediate entrance into happiness, and the resurrection of the
body at the last day, and therefore such must be blessed: the
phrase, "from henceforth", is differently placed; the Ethiopic
version connects it with the word "write", rendering it, "write
now"; and the Vulgate Latin version reads it with the next
clause, "hereafter, yea, saith the Spirit"; and so the Latin
interpreter of the Syriac version, though that itself seems
rather to place it as ours does, and which is most correct; and
is to be understood not of the time of John's writing,
thenceforward to the resurrection; for those that died before his
time were as happy as those who died after; nor of the time of
death, though it is a truth, that from the time of the saints'
death, and from the very moment of their separation, they are
blessed, and are in a state of happiness until the resurrection;
but of that period of time which the declarations made by the
three preceding angels refer to, from thenceforward, and after
the destruction of antichrist, and during the spiritual reign of
Christ: and the sense is, that happy will those persons be that
die in Christ within that time, and before the Laodicean church
state takes place; when coldness, lukewarmness, and carnal
security will seize upon men, and Christ will come upon them at
an unawares; and those sharp and severe times will commence,
signified by the harvest and vintage of the earth in the
following verses, and which seem to be no other than the end of
the world, and the destruction of it; wherefore happy will they
be that are going to heaven before that time comes; see (
Ecclesiastes 4:1
Ecclesiastes 4:2 ) (
Isaiah 57:1
Isaiah 57:2 )
yea, saith the Spirit;
the third witness in heaven, who sets his seal to the truth of
what the voice declares, and shows wherein this blessedness will
consist: that they may rest from their labours;
both of body and soul; from all toil of body, and laborious work,
from all diseases and distempers of body, and all outward sorrows
and calamities men labour under, and are fatigued with in this
life; and from all inward troubles, from a body of sin, from the
temptations of Satan, and from all doubts and fears, from their
present warfare state, and all conflicts with their spiritual
enemies: and their works do follow them;
they do not go before them, to prepare heaven and happiness for
them; nor do they take them along with them, and use them as
pleas for their admission into the heavenly glory; but they will
follow them, and will be found to praise, and honour, and glory,
and will be taken notice of by Christ, and graciously rewarded by
him, at his appearing and kingdom. This is directly opposite to
the notions of the Jews, who say, that when a man departs this
life, his works "go before him", and say unto him, thou hast done
so and so, in such a place, and on such a day F23; and
that whoever does a good work in this world, it shall "go before
him" in the world to come F24; and so they F25
represent good works as saying to a man when he is about to die,
``go in peace; before thou gettest thither, (Ktwa Mymydqm wna) , we will go before thee, as it is said, ( Isaiah 48:8 ) "thy righteousness shall go before thee".''Sometimes they say F26, they go along with him at the time of a man's departure: neither gold, nor silver, nor precious stones and pearls accompany him, but the law and good works, as it is said, ( Proverbs 6:22 ) "when thou goest it shall lead thee"