Revelation 14:13
“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.”

There are many believers who have gone to Heaven that we still talk about their works. The reason we still talk about them is because their works do follow them. There are believers from the Scriptures whose works follow them to this day; believers who we preach and teach about what the LORD did in their lives. There are believers in our lifetime who have gone to Heaven that we still use them as examples in our lives, sermons and lessons whose works follow them after they are gone. These people are blessed after death.

We often ask people who we are trying to lead to Christ that if they died today, do they know for sure if they are going to Heaven. However, I would like to change that question and ask you; if you died today, what works would follow you? My friend, at the end of life, it will not be how many homes you purchased, what kind of car you drove, what places you went and vacationed at, what places you traveled, how many sermons you preached, or how many people knew you that matters. What will matter when you die is if there are any works that will follow you to Heaven. If your works are going to follow you to Heaven, there are a few things you must do to make this happen.

First, you must “die in the Lord.” In other words, serve the LORD until you die. Many people have served the LORD for many years but stopped serving the LORD for several reasons at the end of their life. If you want to be blessed after death, you must determine not to let anything stop you from serving the LORD until you die. Don’t let age stop you from serving the LORD. In the church that I pastor, there are many older saints who in their seventies and eighties are still going soul winning. No, they can’t serve the LORD with the same energy they did when they were young, but they are serving the LORD with the energy and strength that they have. Your desire should be to continue serving the LORD until the day you die.

Furthermore, you must not let sin stop you from serving the LORD unto you die. Many people have served the LORD for many years, and then they fell into sin and never recovered from sin. Don’t let sin rob you of the blessing of serving the LORD until the day you die. If you have sinned, don’t lay in the mire of your sin, but get up and make the end of your life a life of works that serve the LORD until you die. Sin may have stopped you for a short time, but it doesn’t have to handicap you from serving the LORD until you die.

Second, you must labor if you are going to be blessed after death. Labor is hard work, and nobody ever did anything great for the LORD who didn’t sacrifice and work hard. Those whose works follow them are those who wore out their bodies serving the LORD until they died. You will never be blessed after death by serving the LORD in the land of ease. Hard work and labor in the LORD’s work is the only thing that makes you blessed after death.

Third, you must have works that can follow you to be blessed after death. The only works that will follow you are the works you do for Christ. You can invest your labors this world, or you can invest your labors in works of eternity, but only the works of eternity will follow you after death.

Author: Allen Domelle