Sermon for 110324
Text: Revelation 7:2-17
Theme: A future that is bright and glorious!
In the Name of the Father…Amen.
The first reading serves as our sermon text for this morning.
Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God the heavenly Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.Memory verse!Revelation 7:12 (NASB95)
12 saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:LSB 907:1-2 God Himself Is PresentGod Himself is present: Let us now adore Him And with awe appear before Him. God is in His temple; All within keep silence; Humbly kneel in deepest rev’rence. He alone On His throne Is our God and Savior; Praise His name forever!
God Himself is present: Hear the harps resounding; See the hosts the throne surrounding. “Holy, holy, holy!” Hear the hymn ascending, Songs of saints and angels blending. Bow Your ear To us here: Hear, O Christ, the praises That Your Church now raises.
IntroductionThe Rev. Dr. Charles Gieschen, the current academic dean, professor, and my academic advisor while at the Fort Wayne seminary, relates a story concerning his childhood.
He states:
“During my childhood, my father was the pastor of a Lutheran congregation with a large old red brick church founded many decades before we arrived there. I distinctly remember not only the church building but also the large church cemetery, which flanked the left side of the sanctuary and wrapped around the back behind where the chancel stood. At an anniversary service of that congregation, my father, I remember, reminded the members sitting in the pews that their congregation was actually much larger than the people who were in church. The members immediately nodded, most of them thinking that he was referring to those inactive members.
He then said something rather startling: If we wanted to make room for the rest of the members, we would need to knock out the side and back walls of the old brick church. He went on to explain that even though the bodies of many members were resting in the ground to the side and behind the sanctuary, these fellow saints were alive with Christ and were a vital part of the church. He reminded us that our focus is to be on continuing to baptize into Christ, continuing to teach, and continuing to commune, so that Christians are born and nurtured in the faith until they join the saints after death.
He reminded us that the true size of that congregation would only be seen on the Last Day, when Christ will raise in glory all the bodies from that cemetery and take the faithful members still living at his return to experience restored creation with the entire church of all ages for eternity”, exactly what verse 9 of our sermon text for this morning declares:
Revelation 7:9 (NASB95)After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
That, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, is the future to which all of us can look with eagerness.
The future, Your Future Is Bright and Glorious!
I. We presently face struggles as the church on earth.Revelation 7:9 (NASB95)After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
This part of the vision recorded by John in the book of Revelation helps us to see that the life of a Lutheran Christian congregation is not just about living Sunday to Sunday or year to year or decade to decade or even a hundred years together. This vision helps us to see the goal of every Christian, every congregation, and the church militant across the earth: to be part of this great multitude for eternity that no one can number from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before God’s throne, standing before Christ, the Lamb slain for our sin, clothed in resurrected glory for eternity.
Why are congregations established? Why such an emphasis on seeking to be faithful in reaching out to the lost in our community year after year? Why are pastors called to a church? Why are sanctuaries built? Why teach Sunday School?Why give offerings to the Church sacrificially each week?Why do we continue planning for the future in the place? The answer?So that we and many others from this congregation, this community, this generation of sinners may be part of this great multitude before the throne of the Lamb!
Why did God first give this vision to John to share with the seven churches and many others in future generations?Because he knew that the faithful saints of these congregations had struggles in the past, they were going through struggles in the present, and they would encounter more in the future. Sin was very much alive and well in these pagan cities of ancient Rome. In the seven letters that Jesus dictates in Revelation 2–3, we hear of: false apostles, false teaching, sexual immortality, the Jezebel-like priestess, spiritual lukewarmness, and much more.
This sounds a lot like the world today, doesn’t it!? Many in the church are so confused on: what marriage is, how one’s gender should be expressed, and who created this world in the first place. As we heard in the Beatitudes of our Gospel, Jesus promised His faithful church it would face challenges: Matthew 5:11–12 (NASB95)11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
God gave this vision of the future, of the Church Triumphant after the day of resurrection, to encourage us about what our individual future is and what our future is as a congregation.This is your future: risen, living, worshiping, and singing for all eternity:
Revelation 7:10–12 (NASB95)10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation 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.”
Knowing this is our future encourages us to be faithful and active witnesses in the present.II. Christ’s blood that was shed in the past is the sole reason for our future glory.What is the only reason given for these saints being in heaven? Perhaps they are there because of: the great lives they lived, the fact they were members of the Church Militant for so long,the number of boards on which they served, all the money they gave in their offeringsor the church council meetings that they attended? No, there is only one reason given for their status:Revelation 7:14 (NASB95)I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Your future as a congregation, your future as the church militant on earth, and your future as the Church Triumphant in heaven is all based upon the blood of the Lamb, Jesus the Christ, that was shed on Calvary’s cross to atone for your sin, my sin, for all sin! As John the Baptist proclaimed when he saw Jesus: John 1:29 (NASB95)The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!You are saints, holy ones, now and forever only through the holy blood of Jesus.
This vision in Revelation 7 is dripping with irony. The last thing you want on a white robe would be blood; it stains permanently. But the blood that Jesus shed cleanses permanently, because it is a payment in full for sin. It is a blood that continues to cleanse you from sin today as you hear of it here and as you drink it at this altar. As the hymn to the Lamb in Revelation 5 states: Revelation 5:9 (NASB95)9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
III. Our future will be lived in a restored creation in resurrected glory.This vision is one of the most extensive descriptions in the Scriptures of what we as the Church will do after Christ’s return into eternity. Listen to your future as Christians, as a congregation, once again: Revelation 7:15–17 (NASB95)15 “For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16 “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
None of our years on earth have been without:tears of pain and struggle; there will be more tears in the years you have left in your earthly journey;of that you can be sure.
You have shed some tears, no doubt, in saying a temporary goodbye to some of the saints of your extended family and church family who are now with the Lord. But nothing ever has, nor nothing ever will, separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. He refreshes us daily for our work in the world and our service to Him in His Church.
But one day sin will be no more:no more hunger and thirst and struggle.
Our baptismal garments will be exchanged for the permanent robe of resurrected glory, and God will wipe every tear of pain and suffering from our eyes.
The Proper Preface for Holy Communion on All Saints’ Day declares that peace and comfort found in our sermon text for this morning:It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God. In the communion of all Your saints gathered into the one body of Your Son, You have surrounded us with so great a cloud of witnesses that we, encouraged by their faith and strengthened by their fellowship, may run with perseverance the race that is set before us and, together with them, receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying:ConclusionWhat then does Revelation 7 do for you?It helps you to see your ultimate and certain future as forgiven saints through the blood of Christ: God himself with be with you, and He will wipe every tear from your eyes. Death will be no more, neither shall there be any mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymoreand you will see His face! That is your bright and glorious future as saints through the blood of Jesus. Amen.Let us pray:Fount of ev’ry blessing, Purify my spirit, Trusting only in Your merit. Like the holy angels, Worshiping before You, May I ceaselessly adore You. Let Your will Ever still Rule Your Church terrestrial As the hosts celestial.Text: Public domain
2 Corinthians 13:14 (NASB95) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly. All of us are waiting and none of us will be disappointed.
The Lord continue to bless us, shine His face on us, be gracious to us, that He lift His countenance upon us, and give us His peace.
In the Name of the Father…Amen.