All
Saints’ Day Celebration at Epiphany on
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who
was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5
and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead,
and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Amen.
Revelation 7:1-3,9-17 After this I saw four angels standing at the four
corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any
wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I
saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He
called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm
the land and the sea: 3 "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees
until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." … 9
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could
count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne
and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm
branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." 11
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the
four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and
worshiped God, 12 saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and
thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"
13 Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes-- who are they,
and where did they come from?" 14 I answered, "Sir, you know." And he
said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15
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 spread his tent over them. 16
Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not
beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center
of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living
water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
1. Who we are – Saints
washed in the Lamb’s blood
2. Whose we are –
Saints belonging to the Lamb
3. Where we are going –
Saints standing before the Lamb’s throne
There was an absent-minded professor who
became so absorbed in his work that he forgot the simplest details. One morning
his wife said, “Now Henry, remember, we are moving today. Here, I”m putting this
note in your pocket. Don’t forget!”
The day passed by and the man came home to his house. He entered the front door,
and found the place empty. Distraught, he walked out to the curb and sat down. A
young boy walked up to him, and he asked, “Little boy, do you know the people
who used to live here?” The boy replied, “Sure, Dad. Mom told me you’d forget.”
How often do we become so absorbed in the things
of this world, like the foolish virgins in the Gospel lesson, that we forget who
we are and whose we are and where we are going?
1. Who we
are – Saints washed in the Lamb’s blood
Remember who we are – saints washed in the Lamb’s
blood. John received a vision of heaven: a great multitude that no one could
count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne
and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm
branches in their hands. This multitude includes all whom God elected to
salvation: the believers of the Old Testament, the Christians of the New
Testament, and the elect who are still alive on earth when the last trumpet call
was sounded. Those standing before the throne are the Lamb’s saints.
As saints we are a new creation, holy, chosen
people, children, heirs – any way you put it, the Christian is a free citizen in
God’s kingdom, with full rights, not under condemnation, not under sin.
The elder in this vision of heaven asks John
about these saints, “These in white robes – who are they, and where did they
come from.” The elder asked a teaching question. He knew the answer. Now he
wanted John to know. The elder then explained, “these are the ones who have
‘washed their robes.’” That's a good thing. The robes needed it.
Why did their robes need to be washed? Think of
it this way. If you’ve ever lived on a farm or even visited one, you know that
there are many ways to get dirty on a farm. If you clean out the horse pen or
the stalls where the steers are, you’ll get dirty. And the aroma you now have
will draw flies, not members of the opposite sex. If you work on the tractor,
you will get grimy and oily. No matter what, you’re not fit to sit on the good
furniture in the living room until you’ve washed up and changed clothes.
There are also many ways to get dirty with sin in
this world. If you get angry with your wife, that’s a blotch of sin. If you get
so exasperated with your children that you wish you never had any, that’s
another smudge of sin. If you’re constantly worried about rising prices,
shrinking budgets and slowing economy, then there’s one more stain. On top of
all this, we come into the world slimy and smelly with the sin inherited from
sinful parents. No wonder the prophet Isaiah observed, “All of us have become
like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.”
(Isaiah 64:6) With souls contaminated with the sewage of sin, not a one of us
could ever enter the pristine mansions of God’s perfect heaven.
Until we were washed! But what do you use to wash
away sin? An industrial strength cleaner? Dawn dishwashing liquid? Bleach? None
of these. John was told that the white-robed multitude had “washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” This must be some very unusual
blood, because we don’t wash our clothes in blood. Yet, as our Father planned
it, blood is the only way to make our souls clean, to make us pure and holy. Not
just any blood will work, though – only the blood of the Lamb.
Many people don't want to believe this. They
don’t want to believe that there’s only one way to get to heaven and that way is
through Jesus Christ. The religious fad of today is to say, “Believe whatever
you want. Follow any faith you prefer, or none at all. Be a good person, and God
will let you into heaven anyway.” Where do people come up with such notions?
Maybe it’s because we live in
When John sees all these people streaming into
heaven, it’s not as if he’s watching a silent movie. There is surround-sound!
The saints are shouting: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb.” The glorified saints are giving complete credit to God for
their salvation. Here is a verse that slams the door on any notion that there
are many ways into heaven. No, God alone owns the patent. He alone has the
formula. There is only one cleansing agent for sin. That is the blood of the
Lamb, the blood that Jesus poured out for us on His cross! All other substitutes
are rejected when examined by the Almighty under the microscope of His
perfection.
You won’t get into heaven unless you are wearing,
by faith, the perfect white robe that Jesus placed on you at your baptism or
your conversion. In these End Times that we are living in, when life can seem so
depressing and difficult, remember who we are.
2. Whose we are – Saints belonging to the Lamb
If we take a look at ourselves in the mirror of
God’s perfect standards, the thought of standing before the throne of God on
Judgment Day isn’t all that pleasant. It is actually terrifying. God is holy;
we’re not. By the sin we are born with, by the wrong we do, and by the right we
don’t do, we deserve the worst. Our worries, our doubts, our greed, envy and
anger have separated us from God’s love. By all rights we have earned hell.
Thankfully, God is as merciful and forgiving as
He is holy and just. He loaded onto His Son all our wrongs and transferred to us
Jesus’ perfection. Jesus was the Lamb of God who made the perfect sacrifice to
pay for our sins. Because of the Lamb, we won’t get what we deserved; we will
get what He earned. Jesus bought us back through His sacrificial death. He paid
the price on the cross. We are bought and paid for. We belong to the Lamb now.
We are His redeemed saints.
The letter of Revelation was written to give
comfort the Christians of John’s time. Life for them was hard, full of
tribulation. Being an illegal religion in the
Trouble is one of the main ingredients in the
daily mix of life. Earth is and will remain a place that is quite different from
our heavenly home above. Earth is a place of tears; tears of fear like those
shed by the screaming child lost in the mall crying for mommy; tears of pain
like those shed by someone who knows the excruciating pain of a herniated disk
or other chronic back pain; tears of depression shed by those who feel a
helpless, hopeless hole deep down in their heart. And we Christians shed many a
tear at the sad state of our world, as we shake our heads in disbelief and
wonder, “How long, O Lord, will you allow it to stand?” No wonder Paul and
Barnabas confessed: “We must to through many hardships to enter the
Doesn’t it cheer us to hear that the tears of
this world will be history one day! The Apostle John reports to us that he saw a
steady stream of Christians “coming out of tribulation.” This is an ongoing
action. Believers from every age will escape the greed, pain and evil around
them and head down the path to victory! We too will escape and be with the
white-robed multitude in heaven. We will join our Christian loved ones, the ones
we miss so dearly!
In these End Times, remember who you are – saints
belonging to the Lamb. He has bought and paid for you with His precious blood.
3. Where
we are going – Saints standing before the Lamb’s throne
Betty was an elderly bed-ridden saint of God.
Despite her health condition, Betty was always cheerful. She had a Christian
friend, Margaret, who came to visit her often. Margaret had another friend,
Joan, who was very wealthy, but always looked at the dark side of things and was
constantly depressing, even though she professed to be a Christian. Margaret
thought it would do Joan some good to visit with Betty, so she took her to her
home.
Betty lived in the garret of her old home, five
stories up. When they arrived at the house, Joan drew up her dress and said,
“How dark and filthy it is!” “Its better higher up,” replied Margaret. They got
to the next floor, and it wasn’t any better, so Joan complained again, but
Margaret replied, “Its better higher up.” At the third floor, it seemed worse
and Joan kept complaining, but her friend kept saying, Its better higher up.” At
last they got to the fifth floor and went into the room where Betty now lived.
There was a nice carpet on the floor, and flowering plants in the window, and
little birds were singing. There they found this bed-ridden saint – one of those
saints whom God is polishing for His own temple – just beaming with joy. Grumpy
Joan said to her, “It must be very hard for you to just lie here.” Betty smiled
and said, “Its better higher up.”
John writes: “They are before the throne
of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne
will spread his tent over them.” The saints are joyful because they are in the
Lord’s presence, before His throne of glory. There they spend their days and
nights serving God. Those who imagine heaven as a boring place with nothing to
do but play harps are wrong. Believers will find fulfilling service day and
night. “Spreading his tent over them” evokes the imagery of the Old Testament
tabernacle in the desert. Believers will dwell in safety and security under
God’s cover and protection.
There is freedom for God’s people from
the effects of sin. “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.” All the evils of this
world brought on by sin will be gone. Hunger, thirst, discomfort and pain will
forever be a thing of the past. The saints will be in
“For the Lamb at the center of the
throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Everything that caused God’s
saints to weep during the great tribulation – persecution and death, famine, war
and pestilence – will forever be a thing of the past. That’s God's own promise!
You can count on it for eternity!
In these last days, while we are still
in times of tribulation, when our thoughts are occupied with many other earthly
matters, when we are surrounded by death, distress and depression, remember who
you are, whose you are, and where you are going. You are God’s precious saints.
Amen.