REVELATION 7:9-17
A GLIMPSE OF
GLORY SUSTAINS US IN THE STRIFE.
In
the name + of Jesus.
Whenever I prepare for a family vacation,
I usually do quite a bit of homework.
The internet has made it especially helpful to know how to plan a trip—where
to go, what to expect when we get there, and what different places will look like. I find it strange that some places prohibit photographs. In some cases, I suppose photos would ruin
the surprise that awaits. But photos do
not ruin it for me. They whet my
appetite and get me more interested in seeing those places.
If getting a preview of a scenic location
gets you interested in going there, then give your attention to St. John’s
Revelation. St. John was given a glimpse
of the glories of heaven. This glimpse
encourages us to remain faithful to our Lord in the midst of any hardships we must
endure here. All the things we long for
and pray for are in the heavenly kingdom.
We get to see that all the saints who have been laid to rest are
enjoying this peace. And God’s saints who
remain on earth are reminded of the glories that are to come.
St. John saw a great crowd “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Revelation
7:9). The
elder who was John’s guide through Revelation identified them. “These are the ones coming out of the
great tribulation” (Revelation 7:14).
St. John knew all about the great tribulation. The Roman world did not look favorably on
Christianity. People were forced to endure
various levels of persecution. To this
point, all the apostles except John had been killed for the faith. John himself had been banished to the island
of Patmos, a prison colony in the Aegean Sea.
But while he was there, the Lord comforted John by giving him a glimpse
of the glory to come. This would sustain
him in the strife.
We know all
about the tribulations of this world. Many
tribulations are common to all mankind.
We know sickness, injury, disease, and disorders. We turn on the TV to witness strife, terrorism,
and warfare. People with disagreements can
no longer be civil with each other.
Those who hold different political views are now branded as evil. Particular to the Church is that those who
confess Jesus Christ and stand firm on what God declares to be good or evil
face persecution. Sometimes it is limited
to mockery and insults; other times it is intensified to bloodshed—similar to
the violence that St. John knew.
But such is life
in the Church Militant. The world has accomplices
to impose its definitions of reality and morality upon us. Hollywood, political action committees, and
social media persistently push all kinds of ungodly ideas. To dissent is to invite scorn, perhaps even
punishment. Jesus warned us that such
animosity is to be expected. Not
enjoyed, but expected. He told his
apostles, and in extension to the Church, “If the world hates you, know that
it has hated me before it hated you. If
you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but I chose you out
of the world, therefore the world hates you.
…I have said all these things to keep you from falling away” (John
15:18,19; 6:1). The hatred of God,
his word, and his people is increasing. If
you have been spared such bitterness, praise God. If you don’t think such hatred is real, ask to
look at the dozens of obscene and vile responses to our Facebook ad for tonight’s
seminar on anxiety. Do not be surprised
if the strife becomes more intense. And
do not lose heart. The Lord does not
abandon his Church in the strife. He
knows what this world is like; for he suffered in it, too. But he has given us a glimpse of the glory to
come to sustain us in the strife.
St. John wrote, “Behold, a
great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all
tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the
Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands”
(Revelation 7:9). The palm branches
are waved in victory by those who have been brought out of the Church Militant and
into the Church Triumphant. They rejoice
before the Lord, forever free from strife and stress, injury and insults, temptations,
frustrations, and persecutions. The Lord
has given them peace from every enemy and rest on every side.
But what
qualifies them to stand in God’s presence?
Psalm 24 has us ponder: “Who shall
ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure
heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not
swear deceitfully.” (Psalm 24:3-4). Of
course, none of us can boast such purity.
And, in fact, none of the saints John saw in heaven could boast of any
purity of their own. The elder who
served as John’s tour guide said so.
John asked, “‘Who are
these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?’ …And (the elder) said to me, ‘These are the
ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’” (Revelation
7:13-14). So, while the saints in
heaven are dressed in white robes, which is purity, their robes were not inherently
white. They had to be washed.
“They have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). The Lamb,
of course, is Jesus. He is “the Lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus has come to remove from us every stain
of sin and in us every smudge of filth on us.
As a Lamb, Jesus was presented for sacrifice. All our guilt was transferred to him, and
Jesus died the cursed death of the guilty.
He poured out his blood to atone for our sins, but his blood was
innocent. Jesus endured an innocent
death on behalf of the guilty. And now
that pure, innocent, holy blood has cleansed you. How?
St. John was told, “They have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). What other way are we washed except in holy
baptism? This is how the blood of Jesus
was applied to us. Jesus has given us
robes of righteousness, the very righteousness and purity we need to be able to
stand in God’s holy place. Therefore, we
know that the glimpse of glory John got to see is for us. And this glimpse of glory sustains us in the strife.
Now, there are many who have gone before
us who bask in this glory, and who live in greater light than we. They have stood in the fight against the sinful
longings of their own flesh, against worldly scorn and pressure, and against
the deceptions and seductions of the devil.
Many were belittled for the faith.
Some shed their blood rather than deny their Lord. But they are all in glory, dressed in white
robes, waving palm branches. They dwell with
Jesus who has overcome all our enemies.
We have this glimpse of glory to sustain us in the strife.
St. John also recorded the relief and the
rest that awaits us all, as long as we stand firm in Jesus Christ. “They 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 away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17). The Lord Jesus will reverse every curse that fell
upon mankind when sin was ushered into the world by Adam. Among the curses that fell upon mankind, the
Lord told Adam, “Cursed is the ground because
of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and
thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the
field. By the sweat of your face you
shall eat bread…” (Genesis 3:17-19). But in the glory to come, we shall be free
from the toil and frustrations of this sinful world. Everything will be restored to perfection—free
from hunger and thirst, free from scorching heat and anguish, and, of course,
free from death and mourning and crying and pain. Instead, we will be sheltered by the Lord. We will be delivered from every evil. Every enemy will have been reduced to ashes. This glimpse of the glory sustains us in the
strife.
For all of the glory, the peace,
and the joy that will be in our heavenly home, the greatest blessing will be
this: we will be with Jesus. Everything in
John’s vision centered on Jesus. All the
saints and angels surrounded the throne where the Lamb sat. All the host of heaven fell before Jesus and joyfully
honored him for his saving work. Regarding
all the saints, “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” (Revelation 7:15). All the saints
rejoice to be with Jesus because of all that Jesus has done to secure our place
with him. He loved us enough to plunge
himself into death and hell so that he could destroy them for us. He loves us enough to prepare a place for us
in the mansions of Paradise. So, he will
come back to raise us up from the dead and bring us to live with him there. We get to be with Jesus and to share in his
glory. The glimpse of that glory sustains
us in the strife.
Since we long to be with Jesus in glory,
we are eager to be with Jesus while we are in the strife. That is why we come to church. We long to be with Jesus. We gather together in God’s house to hear his
word. Here, Jesus encourages us to be
faithful to his word. He strengthens us so
that we stand firm in our confession, to remain committed to good works, and even
to pray for our enemies. We long to be with
Jesus because there is no other source of forgiveness. No one else delivers a peace that cannot be
broken by strife, war, or death. No one
else can guarantee a resurrection to life everlasting or a glory that will
never fade.
Listen, I tell you a mystery. St. John saw the saints triumphant dressed in
robes of righteousness. But do you
realize that you are already dressed in garments of salvation? The Lord sees you as his saints already! It does not look like it yet to us or to anyone
else. But Jesus assures you that you are,
indeed, the children of God. Right now,
we live by faith. We take Jesus at his
word. Then we will live by sight—dressed
in white robes, waving palm branches, and seeing our Lord face to face.
Therefore, we already join with the angels
and archangels and all the saints in heaven, proclaiming, “Salvation belongs
to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10)! Salvation belongs to Jesus, and it has pleased
him to deliver it to us. Let us endure
the strife in the Church Militant, as we keep our focus on the glories of the
Church Triumphant.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
