Sermon on Revelation 7:9-17 April 28, 2002 - Keith Joyce

The book of Revelation draws our minds and hearts to the glory of God. Not everything, to put it mildly, is easy to understand. Yet, wonderfully, it raises our sights and stirs our imaginations beyond the things of this world. Today, this passage, is no exception.

In these few verses of chapter seven, in the midst of things that we won't fully grasp, there is much to challenge us and encourage us.

So let's take a straightforward look at this passage and glean a principle or two that can speak to us.

In verse 9 we read of "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and the Lamb".

Have you ever imagined who would be in heaven? There can be a temptation to think that people will be more or else like us. But here we see people from every group of human beings in the world. Naturally this includes people from places that we have never seen. People will look quite different from us. It will be wonderful because of the huge, incredible variety, with all the differences that God created.

Of course, the Church today is marked by that variety. This is also quite true of our worldwide Anglican communion. Do you realise that there are more Anglicans whose first language is not English than those whose mother tongue is English? I gather that there are more Anglicans who speak Swahili than those who speak English. We are no longer simply an "English" church!

So if heaven is going to be filled with such an incredible variety, what does that mean for us now? Are we not aiming for heaven? Do we not pray "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?" Is the church not meant to be a small outpost of heaven, a small, imperfect demonstration of the realities of heaven? But I don't mean in an escapist kind of way, nor in trying to become a religious ghetto unto itself.

We can be "so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good". On the other hand, we can also be so un-heavenly minded that our outlook on life is totally dominated by the cares and limitations of this world. We become locked into the smallness of this world, and we do not look into the larger picture of the full work of God.

If heaven accepts people of all kinds, from every ethnic background, from every country, do we not have the responsibility, even the calling, to have attitudes that put into practice the warm acceptance of every Christian, and of every human being, regardless of where they come from, or what the colour of their skin is, or what language they speak, or what part of the country they come from, or what neighbourhood they live in, or what likes or dislikes they have?

That's not always easy. Some of our cultural and ethnic prejudices run deep into our minds, or are strongly rooted in our past family and social attitudes. These prejudices can exist within us without us realising that they are there. This aspect of the passage challenges us to see God at work. If He is going to have all these people together in heaven, should we not deal with whatever prejudices we have now so that the Holy Spirit can work the will of heaven into our lives here on earth? And won't that help make the power of the gospel real and attractive to those outside the Church?

The Lord loves and accepts all the saints. His saints are all those who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ regardless of where on this planet they come from. And they will spend all of eternity together! That includes you and me, and those we have negative feelings towards.

Reality is that some saints, yes, even saints, are harder to live with than others. And that will always be the case, this side of heaven. As you know, the Bible has a certain amount to say about how we are to handle that. In a way, our short time on earth is a practice run for heaven, and not just a matter of waiting for the goodies at the end of the few decades we spend on earth.

But looking at the passage a bit further, what engages the attention of all these saints? What are they united in doing? What do we see in verses 10 to 12?

Is it not worship? Is it not the praising of our great God and declaring the truth about His character and what He has done for His people?

First we see that "salvation belongs to our God...and to the Lamb". This matter of being saved is not of our doing, or of our making, no matter how hard we try. It is not a product of our faith, or even of our accepting what God has done in Jesus Christ. It is something that belongs to Him and which He gives to those who turn to Him in faith. Yes, faith is needed to enjoy God's salvation but, in itself, it does not do the work of salvation. That is fully and only from God Himself, through Jesus Christ, the Lamb who is our shepherd, and who died and rose again for our salvation.

No wonder, then, that the whole multitude lifts up its voice in saying, actually in singing, "Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever!"

With great humility, for "they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God", and seemingly with delight and joy, they worshipped God with the praise of their singing. It drew them into one, unified body of worshippers because they were drawn to worship the one true God.

So why is it so different amongst Christians on earth? Why do we have so many different denominations in the Church today? Why do we have "worship controversies", and B.A.S./BCP battles, and other differences in the area of worship? It's a good question, given what this passage shows us of heaven and how the saints are behaving there. Perhaps this is putting it too simply, but we just like different things, different ways of expressing our worship of God. And that's not necessarily wrong or bad.

You see, I'm the most fortunate person in the congregation! Why? because I get to go, almost every Sunday, to all four if not even five services where I can enjoy a broad range of expressions of worship! But the lesson to learn in this passage is that we must see that the unity we are to know in worship, and our acceptance of one another as saints, is found in the character and work of God.

It is God whom we are to worship. It is His salvation that we are to accept and enjoy. We are not to worship our preferred stye of worshipping, nor are we to elevate, as better than another's, how we recognise and enjoy the Lord's salvation in our lives. We are not to judge who is and who is not a saint because it is God who makes human beings saints. The emphasis is on God as central and all-important.

Finally, we are told why this massive throng is worshipping God. They "have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb". They are before the throne without fear or trembling and are fully accepted by the great majesty of God. Furthermore, they will be sheltered by Him, always to be fully safe under His protection. While we are to know God's care for us in the midst of an imperfect and unfair world, and He is with us and will never forsake us, our hope also lies in the anticipation of heaven and what it promises.

No matter how hard it gets here, there will be a much better existence to look forward to. This is not an excuse to avoid the real and serious needs of those who suffer in this world. Nor is it meant to be a truth to be used in a patronising way as an easily-stated platitude for those in difficulty.

We, as part of the great throng of the saints of God, are both to be concerned for the human needs of other saints, and to have the hope of heaven before us in order to know that this world does not have the last say.

The last say is in this passage, in verses 16 and 17:

"They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;

for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to the springs of the water of life,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

With this picture before us, let us, as part of the great collection of saints who have gone before us and who are with us now, concentrate on the Lord God almighty as the only true object of our worship. May we be really thankful for the gift of His salvation which is full of His healing, of His mercy and of His grace for it is by this that He alone has made us the saints we are. So to Him, and to the Lamb, be "blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might! ... forever and ever! Amen!"