All Saints Day

November 5, 2023

Revelation 7:9-17

The Time In Between—

A Time to Focus on Future Glory!

9After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

11All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

13Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “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. 15Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will spread his tent over them.
16‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them,’
nor any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb at the center 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.’” (NIV1984)

Dear fellow Saints of God,

I miss them. I miss seeing their face. I miss hearing their voice. I miss eating with them. I miss working with them. I miss laughing with them. I miss crying with them. I miss sitting in a boat with them. I miss sitting around a bonfire with them. I miss sharing old memories with them. I miss making new memories with them. I miss hugging them. I miss shaking their hand. I miss sharing ideas with them. I miss arguing with them. I miss worshiping with them. I miss communing with them. I just plain miss them.

How many names and how many faces just went through your mind? Whether it is a parent or a child, whether it is a spouse or a sibling, whether it is a relative or a friend, whether it is a neighbor or a co-worker we all have someone whom we miss. How do we deal with the fact that they are no longer here? Or go put it more bluntly, how do we live with the fact that they have died?

That is the dilemma that we are going to discuss this morning as we celebrate All Saints Day. As we continue our sermon series The Time In Between let’s see how our Savior encourages us to remember that the time in between the death of our loved ones and our own death is: A Time to Focus on Future Glory!

The book of Revelation is a powerful dissertation on two passages of Scripture. The first passage is Acts 14:32 where God the Holy Spirit has His servant Paul say to us, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” We are part of what is called the Church Militant. As disciples of Jesus living in a sin-filled world we are engaged in a spiritual battle for our soul. Every single day the devil, the sinful world in which we live, and our own sinful nature are attacking us with temptations and questions and doubts— all with the goal of driving us and/or luring us away from the cross (Pointing to the cross), away from our dear Lord and Savior.

The second passage that we always need to keep in mind when we are studying the book of Revelation is Matthew 16:18 where Jesus Himself guarantees to us that not even the gates of hell itself will be able to overcome His Church, the Church that is built on the rock-solid truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This is a reference to the Church Triumphant, the Church that is described so beautifully for us here in our text for today.

All Saints Day gives us an opportunity to rejoice in the Church Triumphant. All Saints Day gives us an opportunity to rejoice in what our loved ones— the people that we miss so very much!— are now enjoying in heaven above. And what are they enjoying? Let’s look at three blessings that the Holy Spirit highlights here in Revelation chapter seven.

The first blessing is found in the opening verse of our text. John writes, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.”

Whenever you are missing someone you love take a moment to focus on where they are now! By the grace of God alone they have joined the “great multitude that no one can count”! By the grace of God they are standing “before the throne” of God— the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth! By the grace of God they are standing “in front of the Lamb”— the Lamb who took away all of their sins by sacrificing Himself on the altar of the cross! By the grace of God they are dressed in that beautiful white robe of perfect righteousness that Jesus secured for them on the cross, the beautiful white robe of perfect righteousness that God the Holy Spirit gave to them when they were baptized in the Name of the Triune God! And note what they are holding in their hand. By the grace of God they are holding a palm branch— the symbol of victory and a sign of royalty! What a wonderful blessing they have received from the God who loves them even more than we do!

The second blessing that our loved ones are enjoying in heaven is found in verses ten to twelve where the Holy Spirit has John reveal to us, “And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’ All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: ‘Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!’”

A number of years ago one of the students in my confirmation class asked me, “What will we do in heaven?” I told them that we will worship and praise our God for ever and ever. They responded, “Do you mean that it will be like being in church— forever?” I laughed and said, “No, it will be infinitely better!”

For all of eternity the saints in heaven will be proclaiming God’s praise. But instead of picturing heaven as a church service that never comes to an end, think of heaven as a victory celebration that never comes to an end. Think of the last time your all-time favorite team won the Super Bowl or March Madness. Imagine that your high school team finally won the State Championship. After such a glorious victory you had a celebration. Everyone was happy. You go through the highlights of the game. You congratulate both the players and the coaches. It is a wonderful celebration!

Heaven is the final ultimate celebration of victory. And unlike any other celebration we have experienced, this celebration does not and cannot get old. Why? Because it is not a victory celebration for just a season— it is a victory celebration that lasts for all of eternity! Instead of congratulating the players and the coaches, all the congratulations— all the glory!— goes to God! That’s why the saints in heaven proclaim, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Just as we know that because of our sins we do not deserve to be forgiven, just as we know that we are saved purely by grace through faith in what Jesus has done for us (Pointing to the cross), our loved ones in heaven are even more aware of the fact that they do not deserve to be living in the very presence of the Triune God Himself. They know that they do not deserve to be enjoying the glory and the perfection, the joy and the happiness that they have now been given. So, no, my friends. Praising God for all of eternity for all the things He has done for us and for all the things that He has freely given to us will definitely not be boring!

That blessing is made even more glorious when we stop to remember that our loved ones in heaven are surrounded by millions upon millions of holy angels who are also worshiping God by saying, “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” Have you ever heard a huge choir and orchestra perform the Hallelujah Chorus? I don’t know about you, but by the time they get to that final “Hallelujah” I have tears of joy in my eyes! Now imagine millions upon millions of holy angels singing praises to the God of our salvation! That’s what our loved ones in heaven, that’s what the saints who are in the Church Triumphant are experiencing and enjoying each and every day!

The third blessing I want to highlight is found in the closing portion of our text. Look at verses thirteen to seventeen. John writes, “Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes— who are they, and where did they come from?’ I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said, ‘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. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. 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 center 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.’”

I want to skip over verses thirteen and fourteen— for now. We’ll come back to them later. Look at verses fifteen to seventeen. God the Holy Spirit had the apostle John record these words so that you and I could know what our loved ones who died believing and trusting in Jesus as their Savior are enjoying right now in heaven above. Right now all the saints— “from every nation, tribe, people and language”— are enjoying a purpose that is infinitely greater and infinitely grander than any purpose they had here on this earth. They have the joy of standing “before the throne of God and serving him day and night in his temple.” As they are serving God in perfect bliss they are also enjoying the perfect safety and the perfect security and the perfect protection that is now theirs as they live in His “tent.”

Let that sink in, my friends. Our loved ones who died trusting in Jesus as their Savior, the saints who have been transferred from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant, no longer have to fear any of the enemies who attacked them over and over again while they were here on this earth. The “roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8) cannot even get close to them. The temptations of the sin-filled world in which they once lived— no longer exist. Even their own sinful nature has been removed and relegated to the trash bin of the world that is ”passing away” ( See 1 John 2:15-17) and destined to be destroyed by fire. (See 2 Peer 2:10)

In addition to all of this, our loved ones who died trusting in Jesus as their Savior, the saints who have been transferred from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant have been released from all the negative effects of sin: “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them nor any scorching heat.”

How is this possible? What did they do to deserve such unimaginable blessings! Nothing! All of these blessings are free gifts from the “Lamb”— the “Lamb” who came into this world to save them from their sins (Pointing to the cross), the “Lamb” who physically rose from the dead on Easter Sunday as the Victor over sin, death and the devil, the “Lamb” who rightfully sits on His throne in the Kingdom of heaven, the “Lamb” who “leads them to springs of living water…and wipes away every tear from their eyes.”

When we stop to contemplate all of the blessings that our loved ones who died trusting in Jesus as their Savior are enjoying right now, when we stop to envision the glory and the joy, the happiness and the perfection that they inherited the instant they were transferred from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant— we realize that even though we miss them, we would not want them to leave behind everything they are now enjoying to come back to this dying and decaying world with all of its pains and all of its sorrows and all of its tribulations.

So how do we deal with the pain and the loss, the loneliness and the emptiness we feel? We stay focused— focused on our future glory! That bring us back to verses thirteen and fourteen where John writes, “Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes— who are they, and where did they come from?’ I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said, ‘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.’” A more accurate translation of “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation” is “These are they who are coming out of the great tribulation.”

Contrary to what many people want to believe the Bible does not teach or even allow the false hope that there is going to be a “rapture.” There is not going to be a time when God will suddenly take all of His children out of this world and leave behind all the unbelievers. Every single day God in His grace and in His mercy takes some of His children out of the “tribulations” of this world and welcomes them into the glory and perfection of His heavenly Home. God already knows when and where and how He will take you and me out of the Church Militant and transfer us into the Church Triumphant. On that day and in that moment we will join that “great multitude that no one could count.” On that day and in that moment we will receive all of the blessings that our loved ones are already enjoying. That is the future glory we are waiting for. That is the future glory that our God has promised to us. That is the future glory that enables us to get through the pain and the loss, the loneliness and the emptiness that we feel now.

It’s very easy for us to think of the names and picture the faces of all the people who prompt us to say, “I miss them.” Praise God that the separation that death brings into our lives is only temporary. Praise God that through faith in what Jesus has done for us we have the confidence of knowing that one day we will join all the saints in heaven and bring our thanks and our praise to our God— for all of eternity! Stay focused on your future glory!

To God be the glory!

Amen