Glory! Glory!

Bible passage: Revn 7:9-17

Come to the end of our series the message of salvation.

Why we need to be saved Gen 2:15-3:6                    
We can’t save ourselves Isaiah 59:1-21
Out of Egypt (deliverance)      Exodus 15:1-21
Paid in Full (redemption)       Ruth 4:1-22
God be merciful (atonement)     Luke 18:9-14                    
Together again (reconciliation)         2 Cor  5:14-6:2
God’s adopted children          2 Sam 9:1-13, Eph 1:3-8
God’s new people                Acts 2

Final part – the final glorification of those who are saved.

Earnest Christian was on a train – wanted to witness to his faith. Sitting next to him was an older man – he didn’t know but this man was an eminent Christian writer and theologian. Young man said; “excuse me, but are you saved?” Older man didn’t really want to be disturbed but he turned and replied: “Do you mean was I saved, am I being saved or will I be saved?” which pretty much ended the discussion.

Salvation has a past, a present and a future. When we first responded to Christ’s call we were saved: our names were written in the Book of Life. But in another sense were are continually being saved: working out our salvation as Paul puts it – learning to follow him more closely. And in a third sense we will one day be saved – final salvation when Jesus calls all who believe to be with him for ever.

Today we end our series with the future dimension to salvation - the glorification of the church.

John’s vision of heaven opens the future up to us. Words can never contain the whole truth and we don’t know quite how literally to take these scenes, but this was the view of heaven that God gave John so that we could read it and learn from it.

Here he is invited into a scene where there is an enormous crowd gathered from the four corners of the earth – all dressed in white waving palm branches and praising God.

Someone says to John, “Who are these people?” and John says “I don’t know”.

Like Lloyd Grossman in Through the Keyhole: let’s examine the evidence:

1. Vast numbers of people – more than could be counted. Always wonder how they work out how many people there are a crowd. Golden Jubilee – people came to the Mall in London to see the parade and the Queen – police said there were 1 million people there. How do they know – bit convenient exactly one million – 950,000?  In this case John says it was “a great multitude that no one could count”.

2. “from every nation, tribe, people and language” Couldn’t define people by where they came from – from everywhere.

3. clue in what they were doing: Praising God.

Lloyd Grossman would say the evidence is clear – this is the church – God’s new people, glorified.

The people John saw were Christians – the salvation people, people saved by Jesus. Verse 10: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

We are these people if we receive the message of salvation. John saw you and me – everyone who is united in Jesus: Gentiles and Jews; Europeans, Africans, Asians, Americans, people from each and every country and each and every people group in the world – all who have believed in Jesus.

In v.14 John’s questioner gives him the answer to his own question:
“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.”

Takes some unpacking:
Firstly the Lamb is Jesus – already been described as a lamb in Rev 5. The blood of the lamb is the blood of Jesus given at Calvary when he was crucified. Blood of redemption, the blood of reconciliation that brought us back to God.

Wearing white – symbol of purity in nearly every culture on earth – they are pure because their robes have been washed in the blood of the lamb – picture language for the way the death of Jesus makes us clean.

Grew up on hymns like “are you washed in the blood of the lamb?” which I found quite gruesome as a child, and one that said “there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from the saviour’s veins” – which sounded even worse.

Doesn’t have to be as gory as all that: in the Jewish culture blood was life, so being washed in the blood simply mans that Jesus in dying gave us his life.

The other thing to notice here is that these people, the church saved and glorified have not been saved from suffering but have entered into glory through suffering: “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation”.

Some people believe that before Jesus returns there will be a time of persecution of the church that they call the Great Tribulation – and during that time I will be even harder to remain faithful to Jesus. Some good evidence in the Bible for that – but I don’t think that’s what this verse refers to – because these are all Christians, not just those who have lived at a particular time.

All of us – everyone who has ever tries to live for Jesus has found it difficult at times. Pattern of salvation is that God saves us and then we go through suffering into his glory. ! Peter 1:6 says, “we suffer grief in all kinds of trials”.

Some suffer much more than others. Many have died for their faith – in the 20th century there were more Christians martyred for their faith than in all the previous 19 centuries added together. In Britain today some people still find it very difficult to live for Jesus – teenagers in secondary school have it very hard, an those whose families oppose their faith. Some of us know hardly any opposition to our faith and for that we can be grateful.

The way of salvation is from suffering into glory.  Roms 8:18 says, “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

The mention of suffering here is to emphasise the glory of the church that is to come.

End the series with this promise – one day those who know God’s salvation will be glorified – we have a glorious future. One day everyone who is united to Jesus will be as glorious as him. We will be raised with a glorious new body. All of us – body and spirit will be conformed to the image of the risen Lord Jesus.

This glory will be revealed when Jesus comes again as it says in Hebrews 9 “to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him”. All who trust in Jesus are destined for this glory.

One of the best parts of it will be meeting Jesus. We are told then we will see him face to face. A few people in Liverpool this week will meet the Queen face to face, but one day everyone who knows his salvation will meet King Jesus face to face.

We will take our place in heaven where we will know the best things in this life for ever without sin and we will glorify God in all we do.

The promises of the joys of heaven are meant for those who know earth’s sorrows.

End with v.16 and 17:
“Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the centre 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.”