Text: Rev.7:9-17
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he 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.
[As I sang with the congregation the opening hymn For All the Saints and the Sermon hymn We Praise You and Acknowledge you, O God the Holy Spirit made it clear to me that I needed to preach a different sermon than what I had prepared. Those places are bracketed off. It was the first time that I felt compelled to go off in this way and it was a blessing and well received. Thank you Lord!]
[Reflections on All saints Day]
9 After this I looked, and 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, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
What a picture the book of Revelation gives us!
This heavenly picture has some wonderful and awesome truths depicted as well. There is an uncountable multitude – more than you can even imagine. This multitude is made up of people like you and me … real flesh and blood people. And they come from every nation and tribe – people from around the world – dressed not in the rags of their own unrighteousness but covered in white robes, the robes of Christ’s righteousness … and carrying palm branches!
Wow! It sounds like Heaven is a very tangible place too. Because to speak of palm branches … we might reasonably assume palm trees, but the image that also comes to my mind is the glorious ride of Christ into Jerusalem and the waving of palm branches by the people:
9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt 21:9)
Their cries of welcome led up to the cries of “Crucify Him” and the cross of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice and now these cries of death are completed in the heavenly cries of glory in the gathering of the multitude before the throne of grace who have been brought to faith in this same Jesus Christ, crying:
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
What had been anticipated before the cross is now fulfilled. What had been a triumphal entry for Jesus is now a triumphal fulfillment for you and me though the cross of Christ and though you - of many faces are many - you have been adopted into God’s family and are now His child, a child of His own choosing because:
Dear Saints … the Kingdom is yours!
Ill.
A story is told of a couple had adopted a baby boy after trying to have a baby for five years. To their surprise, a short time after the adoption, the mother discovered she was pregnant, and she later gave birth to a boy. One day when the two boys were eight and nine years old, a neighbor came to visit. Observing the children at play, the neighbor asked, "Which boy is yours?" "Both of them," the mother replied. The neighbor persisted. "But I mean, which one is the adopted one?" The mother replied, "I’ve forgotten."
Randy Aly
That is the good news for you too. God knows you are His child. To see you is to see Christ. Unfortunately, we all fall short as his children.
[Additional thought of God’s Saints here at Peace now and in years past reflecting of visits with past members, hospital calls and those who have departed and recent visits with past members and the loss of a charter member.]
Dear Saints … the Kingdom is yours!
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he 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.
Being brought to faith in Baptism makes you part of this great number from every nation and from all tribes and peoples and languages. And that was the good news for those early believers too. They knew that this Jesus who had died on the cross was the same one taken up to heaven was the same Jesus who said:
[Additional thoughts]
Behold, you are part of that great multitude that no one could number! (Rev. 7:9)
Dear Saints … the Kingdom is yours!
May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you now and forever.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Randy Aly
That is the good news for you too. God knows you are His child. To see you is to see Christ. Unfortunately, we all fall short as his children.
[Additional thought of God’s Saints here at Peace now and in years past reflecting of visits with past members, hospital calls and those who have departed and recent visits with past members and the loss of a charter member.]
Dear Saints … the Kingdom is yours!
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he 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.
Being brought to faith in Baptism makes you part of this great number from every nation and from all tribes and peoples and languages. And that was the good news for those early believers too. They knew that this Jesus who had died on the cross was the same one taken up to heaven was the same Jesus who said:
[Additional thoughts]
Behold, you are part of that great multitude that no one could number! (Rev. 7:9)
Dear Saints … the Kingdom is yours!
May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be and abide with you now and forever.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
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