[Machine transcription]
In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Dear Saints, Happy All Saints Day to you. It’s on this day that we remember especially all those who have died in the Lord’s name, who have gone before us to the heavenly throne room, and who are rejoicing now in the presence of God. Although, we know that to be a saint means simply to be a holy one and to be holy by the Lord’s mercy. Not by our own works or by our own doing or by our own efforts, but by the forgiveness of sins. In other words, to be a saint is to be baptized. To be a saint is to belong to Jesus. To be a saint is to be adopted into His family, and so we rejoice that we in fact are the Lord’s saints, the Lord’s holy ones, the ones washed and purified and given all that we need for this life and for the life to come.
But as we think about the blessed dead, those who have departed this life in the faith, I don’t think that there’s a more beautiful picture, a more clear picture of how it is with them right now than the lesson that we had from Revelation chapter 7. It’s a beautiful, glorious image, and it ends with a strange, somewhat of a contradiction. It says in verse 17, “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.”
Now we want to say, “Jesus, you have to make up your mind. You have to be either the Lamb or the Shepherd.” And Jesus says, “No, no, I will be both. I will be both the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. I will be the atoning sacrifice who will bear in myself and on my own body all your sins, all your iniquities, all your breaking of God’s law, everything that you’ve done wrong, and all the wrath that you deserve. I, says Jesus, will carry that for you all the way to the cross where I will shed my blood as the cost, as the price for your redemption, to purchase you as my own special people.
I will be God’s Lamb who carries away your sin. I will be God’s Lamb who dies to win the atonement that you cannot achieve on your own. I will be the Lamb of God sacrificed, and I will be the Good Shepherd who leaves the 99 to go and look for the lost and, when he finds it, picks it up on his shoulders and carries it home rejoicing.
I will be the Good Shepherd who makes you lie down in green pastures and leads you beside the still waters. I will be the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, to rescue and deliver them, who knows them and who calls them, who calls you by name. The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd.
Now the central, I mean that’s glorious enough, but the central glory and comfort of this particular vision of the saints that have gone to the throne of the Lamb has to do with these white robes. Behold, a great multitude that no one could number from every tribe, 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, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.”
The question is, who are these? In fact, it’s kind of a funny little exchange that happens because one of the elders that is there before the throne turns to John as he has this vision and he says, “Who are all these people dressed in white robes with their palm branches? Who are they?” And John says, “This is your vision given to me, you know. Who are these clothed in white robes? Where have they come from?” And 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.”
Now first, it’s amazing to consider that. Let me just maybe pause to recognize that the Lord knows that your life is trouble. He calls it here the Great Tribulation. Our lives in this world, the Great Tribulation, sure enough. But there’s relief and redemption and rescue from this Great Tribulation. There is heaven and the resurrection of the body waiting for us, and we will reach that place with washed robes.
It’s the curious and central image here. It says they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Now we know, we all know, that blood is a terrible stain. At least, I was told this all throughout my childhood because I was constantly getting, you know, my scabbed-up knees and elbows were breaking out and getting blood on all my pants, and my mom would be upset. “How am I going to get this blood out of the pants? Blood stains!” But not this blood. This blood washes. This blood cleanses. This blood of the Lamb purifies.
So think of it this way. Imagine that you were issued at your birth a robe, a white robe. You had to wear it every day. And every time you sinned, it would get that robe dirty. Every unclean thought would add a stain to the robe. Every thoughtless, unkind word would add a little tear or a little scuff. Every breaking of God’s law would be a mark or a tear on this white robe.
Now, just imagine if you had that record of your wrongs, that record of your sin, carried around with you all the time. I mean, by the time we get to the end, that robe is simply tatters. It’s filthy. It’s threads that stink, and we’re clothed in this to go and stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now that is a frightful picture, but on the way, on the way to that throne, there is a huge vat filled with blood, a fountain. And that robe of yours goes and is dipped into the fountain. And as you pull it out, it comes out perfectly clean, brilliantly white. Not a spot, or a tear, or a mark, or a wrinkle; it is pure, it’s radiant, it glows with the brilliance of the righteousness of Christ.
That is the power of the blood of Jesus. It washes us. It purifies us. It takes away our sin. Now, it does this not from some sort of chemical reaction, but because of the work that Jesus did on the cross. He was dying because of our sins and dying for our sins. He was paying the price as he suffered the wrath of God in our place, so that through his death, through his suffering, and through his blood, we might have the forgiveness that God wants us to have.
So we have this confidence. Dear Saints, we have this utter confidence and this peace that all of our sins have been drowned in the sea of the blood of Jesus. All of our iniquities have been taken away. Everything that you’ve done wrong, everything that the devil wants to constantly be bringing back to you to accuse you, to trouble your conscience, all of it has been taken care of by Jesus, and you are clothed in this perfect righteousness of Christ our Lord.
This description is of you. You are the ones who will come out of the great tribulation. You are the ones who will wash your robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. You are the ones who will dwell before the throne of God in righteousness and in peace forever.
So God be praised for the blood of Jesus, for the suffering of Jesus, for the death of Jesus, for the work of Jesus to win our salvation and to deliver it to us, making us His saints. Amen.
And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
