Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

                                                  
Heaven is a place of incredible and indescribable beauty. John sees a pure river of water of life (v.1). Our Lord told a Samaritan woman: “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). Christ is the fountain of eternal life.

John also sees the tree of life (v.2). Many have wondered what happened to the tree of life after Adam and Eve were chased out of the Garden of Eden and was it destroyed by the great flood. Well, the tree of life is in the Paradise of God. Who can partake of the fruit to the tree of life? The obedient children of God! This is the seventh and last beatitude of the book: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life” (v.14). In Genesis, we see Paradise Lost. In Revelations, we see Paradise Restored.

Blessed are they that do his commandments – Many read the beatitude as “Blessed are they that hear his commandments.” God wants hearers who are doers and not just hearers. Our Lord tells a parable of two builders (Matthew 7:24-27). He says the wise builder is one who “heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them.” He says the foolish builder is one who “heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not.” The difference between these two builders is in this three letter word “not”.  The seventh beatitude is to the doers of the word and not hearers only.

James says: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). To believe is to act on what we hear. James gives us an analogy of a person looking in a mirror (James 1:23, 24). What James is saying is that so often we do not see that a message from the Word of God is speaking to us. Instead, we look at someone else and say the message is for him. We see the imperfections in others but how easily we forget the imperfections we see in ourselves. Hence, we do not apply the message to our lives. We hear and do not.

Christ says: “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13:23). A faithful Christian is fruitful in the Lord’s kingdom.

We show our love and faith in God by doing His commandments: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Christ says in another place: “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

God has no pleasure in hearers only. Doing the commandments is important and required of us. If we are blessed if we read the prophecies of the book of Revelation (1:3), we are doubly blessed if we DO His commandments. The Parable of the Talents is calling on us to work (Matthew 25:14-30). The Parable of the Vineyard calls us to work in the vineyard of the Lord (Matthew 20:1-16).

It is a sad state of any church when the workers are few. Christ wants us to pray this prayer: “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38). But why stop at just praying? We can pray all the prayers we can for workers but not lift a finger ourselves to the work. Should God be pleased with our prayers?

BW Johnson commented: “When we pray the Lord for anything we must work to fulfil our own prayers. If we pray for labourers, we must be willing to become labourers ourselves, or to send and sustain other labourers” (People’s New Testament, e-sword). Brethren, only those who DO the commandments are blessed and have right to the tree of life. Are you a doer?