Revelation of the Church Triumphant

Revelation 7:9-14

Revelation 7:9-17

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost + Amen.

Last week we heard about Jesus’ appearing to his disciples on the shore of the sea of Tiberias. It was his third appearance to them within the 40 days between his resurrection and his ascension to the right hand of the Father. We heard that our Lord stood upon the shore and called to them, and yet they did not immediately recognize him until his almighty Word filled their nets with fish, turning their futile labor in darkness into an abundant catch in the light of day. They did not immediately recognize him for he in a way had changed. The body standing before them, beckoning them from the shore was the same body which had walked with them on the hills of Galilee, the same body which had eaten with tax collectors and sinners, the same body which had healed the blind and fed the 5,000, the same one which had suffered Pilates scourge, and a Roman cross, which had died and was buried. Yet it had descended into hell and had been raised on the third day, it had conquered death, and now it has been glorified. And he is the first fruits of the dead, the man of heaven in whose image we will be raised. In his resurrected body we see the telos, the end, the perfection, and destiny of our own bodies. Destined to die and be buried, and yet to rise again with an abundance of life. This is why the Church rightly calls the cemetery, God’s garden. The seeds have been plated and bumper crop is guaranteed by our heavenly Father.

Last week’s Gospel, gave us a picture of our future hope of resurrection in Christ. Today’s Epistle lesson from the book of Revelation, also comes to us from John and reveals to us what we sometimes call the intermediate state. It shows us the state of the saints who have already fallen asleep in Christ, whose bodies wait safely in the grave for the resurrection to come. It shows us the paradise of the soul awaiting the resurrection.

By the time that John receives his revelation of the Lord Christ, recorded for us in the book of Revelation, the Apostle has suffered for his witness to the Gospel, yet he stands as the last remaining Apostle. According to Church tradition, he finds himself exiled to the small Greek Island of Patmos on account of God's word on the personal orders of the emperor Domitian. In the midst of his suffering, John continues to testify to the other island inhabitants about Jesus, the faithful witness of the Father’s love who was martyred for the sins of the whole world. John like the other apostles would not be silent, no man, Emperor or not would make John hold his peace about the one who had brought peace between God and man. Even after 50 years his encounter with the risen Christ drove him to confess the risen Lord’s victory over death. And even there on Patmos, in exile, the Holy Spirit worked through the Apostle’s words and gathered the people on the island into the Lord’s church.

Every other Apostle has been martyred, the first being John's own brother James executed by Herod in 44AD; but the rest would follow. Peter was crucified just as Jesus had prophesied on the shores of the sea of Tiberias, Paul who was the late comer to the apostolic band was beheaded in the same year as Peter, Thomas who had doubted was run through with a spear. They and all the apostles, besides John, spilled their own blood as a witness to the one whose blood spilt redeemed the world. I'm sure theses testimonies of his beloved friends were never far from John’s mind.

John records that on the Lord's Day, that is Sunday, he receives an apocalypse of Jesus Christ. That is he receives a vision. When we hear the word “apocalypse” we immediately think the end of the world but in the Greek it simply means a revelation. It is a curtain being pulled back to reveal the full reality hidden from our limited perception. And that is what John sees, he sees the communion of Saints who are in Christ, with whom we are joined in the Holy Communion. In the middle of their divine service, as the Saints of Patmos are gathered together, the curtain is ripped from before John's eyes and “behold, [he sees] a great multitude that no one could number, 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.” (v9) He sees the Church triumphant no longer separated by distance, divided by language, or distressed by heresy. He sees the saints gathered in festal worship, before God and before the Lamb. These glorious saints from every nation, tribe, and people are united in praise and worship yet still individuals with recognizable diversity. In death, when the Law of God finally kills the sinful nature once and for all, we are not absorbed into the divinity as the Hindus or many orthodox Jews believe. Our individuality does not melt away as we dissolved into the one. No, we remain ourselves. Distinct and unique creations of God, yet we are more fully ourselves, perfectly ourselves in communion with our creator, redeemer and sanctifier and with one another. Before the throne of God the saints stand together in true unity and true diversity in a way that cannot be glimpsed on earth except in Christ's Church.

John sees and hears the great throng “crying out with a loud voice” and they aren't just shouting but their voices are raised in hymnody, singing, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (v10) They glorify God and the Lamb who are alone responsible for salvation. There is no greater worship than this, to turn to God as the giver of every good gift. As the giver of our bodies, as the giver of our souls, as the one who gives himself for us so that we may have eternal life.

And the saints do not sing alone but they are gathered with all the company of heaven; “All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders [ … ] and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, 'Amen!'” (v11) That is, Truly, truly it is so, salvation belongs to the Lord “Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (v 12) For God’s glory is manifested in his salvation of sinners, his wisdom revealed in the foolishness of the cross, his honor and power and might revealed in his victory over death.

Then the angel asks John, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” (v 13) Who are these sinless and righteous ones, who are clothed in the Lamb’s righteousness. The Apostle answers “Sir, you know.” (v 14a) I do not get the sense that John doesn't know who these are but that he is merely overwhelmed by joyous disbelief. It is that feeling you get when you see something and know it to be true but can hardly believe it because it is so good, so sweet a sight. Perhaps you have glimpsed that joy in your life. I’ve glimpsed it, when I saw my beloved wife walking down the aisle and when I witnessed the birth of my sweet Annaliese and darling Katerina. “Who are these, clothed in white robes?” I imagine John tearing up, “It's Peter, It's Paul, it’s Thomas. And there, there is my brother James.” Not dead but alive, not sinners as I knew them but perfectly righteous.

The angel answers his own question, “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.” (v 14b) Salvation belongs to the Lamb and these are his saints washed clean by his precious blood. The Lamb is the great martyr who bears witness to the “kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God.” (1 Jn 3:1) Some have been called to bear witness to Christ with their blood, like the Apostles were. These we rightly call martyrs and hold up as examples of faith, but martyr simply means witness. All Christians who are faithful until death bear witness to Christ. Across the road, we have a garden of martyrs, whose testimony is engraved in stone so that we may always remember their faithfulness and God’s faithfulness to them.

These are the martyrs who have gone through the great tribulation. These are those who have suffered under sin, death, and the devil. These are the Christians who have been washed in the blood of the lamb, who have been baptized and clothed with Christ's righteousness, those who have gone before us in faith.

These are the ones who have died to the world but they are alive. Our Lord Christ says, “I am the resurrection and the life […] he who believes in me shall never die.” (Jn 10:25-26) Those who have gone before us are asleep in their body awaiting the resurrection, but even now they are standing before the throne singing “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (v 10) The Lord promises “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. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in themidst of 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” (Rev 7:15-17).

This Lord's Day, and every Lord’s day, especially when we celebrate the Holy Communion it is my prayer that the veil is ripped from your eyes and that you see by faith John’s vision of the saints gathered with the angles, and archangels and all the company of heaven around the throne. Have you ever wondered why we gather around the Altar in a half circle? It is because all the company of heaven, [Peter, Paul, Thomas, James, John, Walter, Marlin, Gretchen, Mary, Lola, and Kevin], are standing with us, robed in white cleansed by the blood of the lamb. When the bread and wine, now become body and blood are held aloft and the words proclaimed “the peace of the Lord be with you always,” we share in John’s vision. We behold the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world enthroned on the altar, enthroned on the mercy seat. With angels and archangels and all the company of heaven we laud and magnify the holy name of God, evermore praising him and saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy…Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.”

No saint ever dies! As the Apostle Paul says, when a Christian leaves this world they go to be with Christ which is far better. Every time we partake of the Holy Eucharist, we commune with Christ and we commune with all the saints who are with him. The King of heaven and earth enters into our midst in his crucified and risen body to rule over us in grace. Thus we sing like the people did when Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and like the saints sing to the lamb in heaven “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” And thus it is that our Lord bids us to do it often. The desire of our hearts should be for his body and his cleansing blood, to see him high and lifted up, enthroned here at Zion upon the altar, to be in communion with him and with the saints on the Lord’s Day. As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. You in expectant waiting for the resurrection proclaim with the saints in heaven “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (v10).

And this is not enough for our loving God, he redeems us both soul and body. As we heard last week, the Apostle John says, “we are God’s children now [...] we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” (1Jn 3:2) On the Last day your body and all the saints too will be raised up and glorified. Now we see Christ in faith, then we will see Christ face to face, we will see him with our own to eyes. Now take your bulletin inserts and look to verse 12, and join the angels in acclamation “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”