A, Post-Pentecost 23 All Saints - Revelation 7:9-17 "The Eternal Goodness of Giving God His Glory"
This side of death, it’s hard to imagine what heaven is like. We are beings in time, and being in time, we use it to focus on ourselves. But as we go through these days as God’s people, the Holy Spirit works within to move the focus from ourselves to God. But because we are human in our being, our desire to focus on ourselves never quite disappears regardless of how self-giving we might become.
John is taken from himself and given a revelation of
heaven, recorded in the book of Revelation at the end of God’s Word. He is given a look at the last things of
human existence when Christ the King returns to fully reveal the resurrection
of His saints, and to finally remove our self-centredness forever.
Notice in our reading today that John is asked by one of
the elders, “Who are those clothed in white robes?” Why is he asked the question? He cannot answer it! He does not have the
eternal knowledge to know! So John
replies and says, “Sir, you know!”
We do not know heaven! John is given insight into a privileged
place before his death that is hidden from the sight of humanity. John does not know. These strange events need to be made known by
God, and they give us a glimpse of what heaven is. What is hidden from our eyes is only revealed
and given by God and His Word.
John answers the elder rightly. Imagine if, in his self-centredness, he
answered the elder, “Well, I reckon that these in white robes are those who
have found their way to God!” But
no! John does not know and doesn’t
guess. The revelation of God was not
about what he thought or reckoned; it was given to him. Heaven is a place of
giving, and John is given God’s revelation of heaven, and in the revelation,
those in white robes are giving glory to God, having been given the blood of
the Lamb.
Because we are humans, we primarily concern ourselves with
getting as we live in these times before eternal life is realised. And there comes a time in our lives when we
realise that we can never get enough to satisfy our human desires. In fact, all our getting hopefully drains our
desire to get. As we grow in the Lord,
God allows us to tire of getting goods.
We learn that our goods are not good enough for eternity, because
acquiring these goods wearies us and kills us.
When John received God’s revelation of the everlasting
hidden things, John presents himself as the faithful witness or seer. John saw and reported what God allowed him to
see and hear. He tells us, “I, John, your brother and partner in
the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus,
was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony
of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud
voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the
seven churches…” (Revelation 1:9–11a ESV)
This book is the book of Revelation, and all that he sees
and reports comes from when he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. He was imprisoned in a place because of God’s
Word, yet paradoxically, God allowed him to see the eternal expanse of heaven
unhidden.
In this part of the revelation, John saw the saints dressed
in white robes bearing palm branches, branches from trees of life, date palms
that give life at oases in the Middle Eastern desert. These are the same branches with which people
welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
He sees Jesus Christ in all His resurrection glory, “the faithful witness, the firstborn of
the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” (Revelation 1:5 ESV) But he sees not just Him, but also the whole
throng of heaven with Him, worshipping Him eternally and arriving with Him, led
by Him, into the eternal realm of the heavenly Jerusalem!
John sees the blessed, the saints of God, with Jesus who
gives blessing, “…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 ESV)
Just as John could not answer who those were wearing the
white robes, having made them white in the blood of Jesus, we have a hard time
comprehending giving glory to God forever.
We think, “That’s a mighty long time,” and wonder how this eternal
giving won’t get the better of us! Such
is the struggle we have comprehending the eternal glory of God and His
kingdom. This is why John could not
answer the elder and why we struggle with the reality of “forever.” As beings in time, pondering “forever” just
makes us even more tired than we already are.
Yet as our getting wearies us and our tribulations drain us
of life unto death, you and I yearn for rest, a sabbath from works that make us
weary and break our bodies back down into the dust from which we were
created.
It might be easy for us to wallow in this reality, and many
do! But the blessing of our being broken
and the breaking down of our bodies is that the Holy Spirit seeks to turn us
from the death within to life from without.
This is what Jesus was doing when He sat down to teach the
Beatitudes. Our poverty, mourning,
humility, hunger, mercy, purity, peace-making, persecution, and reception of
tribulation are not there for us to justify our wallowing and woes to get
pity! Rather, these occur to lead us out
of ourselves and to hope for rescue and rest in God, into a holy environment of
giving – giving glory to God, having been given eternal life.
As beings in time, we struggle to understand eternity. Like John, who needed the elder to tell him
what he had witnessed, we need God’s Word to see what it means to be with Him
eternally. Every human being will
continue to be. It’s just a matter of faith with whom that reality will
continue: with God or without Him, glorifying Him in His eternal protection,
or, without Him, eternally getting grief from never getting the good we want,
eternally dying without God’s protective glory.
On the seventh day, God rested. Jesus, too, rested in the
tomb on the seventh day—the Sabbath. But on the eighth day, He rose to reign and
rest in eternal glory. Those whom we love have washed their robes in the blood
of Jesus. May we, too, let the Holy Spirit bring us through tribulation into
the rest of the resurrection, with Jesus Christ and the whole company of
heaven. Having laid down our deeds in death, may we rest with them in the
living waters of eternal life, with our Lamb and Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ,
our Lamb and Shepherd, thank You for the life You give through Your blood. When
our getting leaves us weary, turn us towards Your mercy. Holy Spirit, sustain
us through tribulation and teach us to receive God’s gifts with faith and thanksgiving.
Bring us into resurrection rest with the whole company of heaven, where we may
give You glory forever. Amen.
Sermon
Summary
Through John’s
vision in Revelation, the sermon invites you to look beyond your limited
understanding of heaven and trust what God reveals in His Word. John does not
guess who the white-robed multitude are; he receives the answer. Likewise,
eternal life is not something we acquire by finding our own way to God. It is
His gift through the blood of the Lamb.
The sermon
contrasts our restless desire to get more with heaven’s life of giving glory to
God. Our possessions cannot satisfy us or secure eternity. Amid weariness and
tribulation, the Holy Spirit turns our attention away from ourselves and
towards God’s rescue and rest. The sermon connects the Beatitudes with this
movement towards dependence on Him.
The conclusion
brings together God’s rest on the seventh day, Jesus’ Sabbath rest in the tomb,
and His resurrection on the eighth day. Our hope is to be brought through
tribulation into resurrection rest with Jesus Christ and the whole company of
heaven, sharing eternal life with our Lamb and Shepherd.
Reflection
We often approach
life by asking, “What can I get?” This sermon invites a different question:
“What has God already given me?” The white robes point us away from our
achievements and towards the Lamb. Giving glory to God begins with receiving
His mercy, rather than trying to make ourselves worthy of it.
Our weariness can
expose the limits of self-reliance. Yet we need not pretend that suffering is
easy or hide our mourning. In our weakness, we can ask the Holy Spirit to turn
us towards the life and hope God gives. The promise of resurrection rest invites
us to trust our Lamb and Shepherd when we cannot see the way ahead.
As we remember
those we love who rest in Christ, the sermon draws our attention to the whole
company of heaven. Its final hope is not endless striving, but life with Jesus:
receiving His gifts and giving Him glory.
- Where am I seeking lasting satisfaction from things that cannot give eternal life?
- What changes when I see giving glory to God as a response to His gifts rather than another demand?
- What weariness or grief can I bring to Jesus, trusting Him as my Lamb and Shepherd?
- How might the hope of resurrection rest shape the way I live today?
