The Word of the Lord from Revelation 7: \u201cWho are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?\u201d This is the Word of the Lord.<\/p>\n
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Dear Friends in Christ:<\/p>\n
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Who are these? We have the description throughout our text, and it\u2019s all good. <\/p>\n
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They make up a great multitude that no one can number. They are from all nations\u2014the same words that Jesus used when He said to His disciples, \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit\u201d (Matthew 28:19); and indeed, they are from all tribes and peoples and languages, because the Lord declared that His Word would go forth to all the world. <\/p>\n
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It\u2019s not a small number. It\u2019s a great multitude. The Church always seems to look like the scattered few near extinction in this world, but God will have His people\u2014too numerous to count! <\/p>\n
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They are standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They are clothed with white robes, and they are holding palm branches in their hands. Waving palm branches only pops up twice in Scripture: Palm Sunday and here, in Revelation 7. On Palm Sunday, the people waved palm branches as Jesus entered Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey. They were shouting, \u201cHosanna\u201d\u2014\u201csave us now!\u201d, and \u201cBlessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.\u201d Jesus was riding into Jerusalem with purpose, to save. In a few short days, He would be raised up on a cross for His throne as He died for the sins of the world. But now, while the palm branches are the same, everything is different\u2014it\u2019s all fulfilled. Instead of the cross, there\u2019s a real throne. Instead of the Savior preparing to sacrifice, He is now present as the resurrected Lamb who had been slain. Rather than throwing down their garments in service to Him, they are wearing white robes that He has given to them. And instead of crying out, \u201cSave us now!,\u201d they declare that He has: \u201cSalvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!\u201d It\u2019s done. The cross is over. The victory is the Lord\u2019s.<\/p>\n
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Who are these? They\u2019re in pretty special company: they\u2019re standing with angels around the throne. The elders are there, too\u2014the twenty-four elders, perhaps the twelve apostles and the twelve patriarchs, who have thrones and crowns of their own. So are the four living creatures. This rather elite choir continues the song that you heard last week in Revelation 5: \u201cAmen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.\u201d All of this belongs to Him. Amen. Let it be so. <\/p>\n
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Who are these? One of the elders asks John, \u201cWho are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?\u201d When John punts, the elder explains, \u201cThese are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence.\u201d <\/p>\n
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So, they\u2019ve come out of the great tribulation. Some will tell you that this refers to a special seven-year time period just before the end of the world, but that\u2019s some fanciful interpretation. There\u2019s no denying that things will be worse before the end: the way that Revelation describes it, there will be a huge church that claims to be Christian but has actually denied the Gospel, as well as a world that\u2019s pretty well completely rejected Christ, and neither will favor those who hold fast to the Gospel very much at all. Kind of like today. Or not. However, a more sound interpretation of \u201cgreat tribulation\u201d is simply this: life in this world is always a time of great tribulation for the people of God, ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin. The multitude in heaven is a gathering of those who are no longer on earth but stand before the throne of God in heaven.<\/p>\n
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And why are they there? Because they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. I made a big mistake last week. I wore a white shirt to my dermatology appointment. And, of course, they found a couple of spots that had to be excised for a biopsy. One spot was on my arm and after they removed the sample they put a large bandage on. And guess what, the bleeding soaked through the bandage onto my white shirt. Big mistake! I got a good scolding from Nancy for that. Blood and white robes don\u2019t normally go together\u2014in fact, bloodstains are often the worst to remove. <\/p>\n
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In this case, though, the Blood of the Lamb has removed every stain and spot of sin from the robes of this crowd\u2014not just from one or two, but from the entire multitude. They are holy and clean before God, their robes white, because Christ has shed His blood for every last one of their sins. <\/p>\n
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Where are they? They are \u201cbefore the throne of God,\u201d but the throne is not empty. They are in the presence of God, with \u201cHe who sits on the throne\u201d and \u201cwho will shelter them with His presence.\u201d The word for \u201cshelter\u201d there is an important one: it\u2019s also the word for tent or tabernacle. Back in the Old Testament, the tabernacle was God\u2019s temple in the wilderness as the people of Israel journeyed to the Promised Land. God dwelt with His people in the Holy of Holies, the inner room of the tent. He concealed Himself there because they couldn\u2019t see His glory and live: stained and unholy with sin, they couldn\u2019t be that close to Him\u2014He had to hide for their good. Now, in Revelation 7, He shelters them with His presence. In other words, they\u2019re inside the tent, inside the Most Holy Place, with Him. That\u2019s what heaven is\u2014life in the glorious presence of God forever. They can be in His presence because the Lamb has made them clean with His own blood, because He became flesh and tented among them in order to save them from sin. <\/p>\n
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They are in the presence of God because they\u2019re holy, and only holy things can be in the presence of God. That explains what\u2019s not in the vision: hunger, thirst, scorching heat, sadness. Our text concludes, \u201cThey shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.\u201d <\/p>\n
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So, who are these? Who makes up this great multitude from all nations, gathered around God\u2019s throne with the elders and the living creatures? Who has the honor of being that close in white robes, waving palm branches and singing praises to the Lamb? Who are these, delivered from the great tribulation, never to suffer sin, pain or affliction again? <\/p>\n
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Who are these? Along with the rest of God\u2019s people, they are you. <\/p>\n
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You are among those whom God has gathered in from all nations. You are cleansed with the blood of Christ, and you wear the white robe of His righteousness, because all who are baptized into Christ have put on Christ. What you see in the text is your future. This is not a possibility or one of several endings: this is what Christ has redeemed you for.
\nChrist has redeemed you for eternal life in the presence of God. That sounds a bit abstract but consider it this way: it\u2019s like life in the Garden of Eden before the fall into sin. There, man could stand in God\u2019s presence, and God came to walk with man. There, because there was no sin, there were no wages of sin\u2014no hunger, no thirst, no pain, no tears. Sin brought all of this as part of its curse. Christ came and defeated sin, suffering the hunger, the thirst, the pain, the tears and all of God\u2019s judgment for sin. In doing so, He reversed the curse. Because He has won salvation for you, your sins are forgiven. Heaven is yours\u2026and heaven means being in the presence of God, the Giver of all good things, for eternity. That is how God designed things to be in the first place.<\/p>\n
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In contrast, hell would be where God is not\u2014or at least where God is not present with grace and mercy. For those who want nothing to do with God, they receive what they want\u2014though they will find an existence completely without God to be a terrible thing indeed. If God provides food, health, protection, order and deliverance out of His grace and mercy, will these things be found if God is not present with His grace and mercy? No. <\/p>\n
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But hell is not for you. You\u2019ve been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. Your future\u2014your eternity\u2014is life in His presence, with every good thing. That is what God offers to all people through His Son Jesus Christ, so that all who believe in Him might be saved from hell and delivered to heaven. <\/p>\n
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For now, you\u2019re neither in heaven or hell. You\u2019re in this world, sort of in between. There\u2019s a bit of hell here, because you still witness the wages of sin with the sickness, the troubles, the anxiety and everything else that contributes to great tribulation. But this world is not hell, because God is still present in this world. You see, there\u2019s a bit of heaven here, too, for precisely that reason: God is present with you, as near as His means of grace. He\u2019s clothed you in that white robe of righteousness in your baptism, He keeps speaking you clean with His absolution, and He gives you a foretaste of the feast to come in His Supper. But this world is not heaven, either: God is present, but God must still conceal Himself in words and water, bread and wine. He must do so because sinners can\u2019t abide His glorious presence and live. So, for now, you\u2019re between heaven and hell, enduring in a world that features both hellish tribulation and heavenly grace. <\/p>\n
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The point of Revelation 7 is to remind you of your future. This world is not the end or your final destination. Your place in that multitude around God\u2019s throne is already secure because the Lamb has already shed His blood for you and forgiven you for all of your sins. Like an heir of a fortune in the car on the way to the reading of the will, it\u2019s only a matter of when, not if; the inheritance is yours. You just don\u2019t see it yet.<\/p>\n
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The only thing that would keep the heir from the inheritance would be if he jumped out of the car and ran away. That\u2019s the only ploy the devil has left for you\u2014to get you to run away from God\u2019s gifts of forgiveness and heaven, and to choose sin\u2014and eventually hell\u2014instead. He\u2019ll try to make sin look attractive; he\u2019ll try to make death look attractive. His most recent ploy is the MAID option that is being pushed in Canadian society. MAID is an acronym for Medical Assistance in Dying. But notice how clever the devil is. A maid is someone who assists you \u2013 to help you with your difficult chores. So, the thinking goes, Medical Assistance in Dying is your maid to help you through this difficult time. But this really is suicide and totally contrary to God\u2019s gift of life.<\/p>\n
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And while we\u2019re at it, I would like to say something about cremation too. Cremation as a religious practice began around 3000 years before Christ in the far East by Hindu and Buddhists. It was based on their belief that a person\u2019s soul was held captive in one\u2019s body, kind of like a bird in a cage. After death, burning the body was the way to release the imprisoned soul so it could fly free from its cage to unite with other souls in Nirvana. The body wasn\u2019t important, in fact, it was a hindrance and should be quickly disposed of, like a piece of trash. <\/p>\n
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Hebrew and Christian thought was completely contrary to this teaching. God created the physical world, including our bodies. Jesus healed bodies. He even resurrected a few. When Christians died their bodies were carefully washed, anointed with spices, and placed reverently into a grave. Thus, they were \u201cplanted\u201d (like a seed) to await the great and glorious day of resurrection and reunion with the soul in Paradise. God loves both body and soul. Please keep this in mind when thinking about your own funeral.<\/p>\n
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But your sinful flesh will want to cooperate and choose the sin over grace and the Promised Land. Satan will try to make you doubt God\u2019s presence and believe you\u2019re God-forsaken and already in hell. But even though we may feel like hell, we cannot have a true idea of what hell is really like. Revelation 7 is written to Christians who are being ground into a fine powder by suffering, by trial, by tribulation. Compared to you and your strength and abilities, the tribulation you face is great indeed.<\/p>\n
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But Christ is greater, and here\u2019s the proof: all of the tribulation you face is a result of sin and designed to lead you to death. But Christ has already conquered death. He\u2019s emerged from the tomb, never to die again; and if He\u2019s conquered the greater enemy\u2014death itself, He is certainly greater than the tribulation that afflicts you. <\/p>\n
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So once again, by the grace of God, hold fast in Him. This time of tribulation will cease, because it is already defeated. Everything that has power to separate you from God has been gutted at the cross. Eternal life in His glorious presence is already yours, where there will be no hunger, thirst, scorching heat or any other suffering anymore. Those things can\u2019t be there, because they are the result of sin. You will be there, because Christ has taken away your sins. For His sake, God will wipe away every tear from your eyes.<\/p>\n
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One of my favorite hymns verses is from the hymn, The Church\u2019s One Foundation: <\/p>\n
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\u201cThough with a scornful wonder, men see her sore oppressed; By schism rent asunder, by heresy distressed;
\nYet saints their watch are keeping: their cry goes up, \u201cHow long?\u201d; And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song. <\/p>\n
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Those saints who cry \u201cHow long?\u201d are in heaven, their souls under the altar in Revelation, chapter 6. But that is your prayer, too, and certainly a good one. We pray that the Lord would come quickly and deliver us from tribulation. But however long the Lord tarries in His wisdom and mercy, you have the vision of Revelation 7. You know the end of the story. Eternal life\u2014delivered from every sin and every consequence of sin\u2014is yours, because you are forgiven for all of your sins. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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