A GLIMPSE AT A GLORIOUS CROWD!
Revelation 7:9-12
Have you ever been in a large crowd, I mean, a really large crowd?
Although I have been in some pretty big crowds, when I think about the giant crowd
mentioned here in Revelation 7, I simply cannot fathom it! I can’t imagine seeing a crowd that is
so large that it cannot be numbered.
I was visiting the website for the Guiness World Book of Records, and out of curiosity, I
thought I would look up some records for large crowds. I discovered that
1. The largest crowd to be “slimed” was 731. Yes, on March 12, 1999 in Birmingham, England,
840 litres of slime was poured upon 731 people in a fundraiser for Comic Relief.
2. The largest crowd to gather for the purpose of blowing bubbles, met in Upton Park, London
England, in May of 1999; 23,680 people assembled there in order to blow bubbles
simultaneously. (The British do like to gather for the strangest purposes!)
3. The largest crowd for a regular season football game is 102,368, for the Los Angeles Rams
against the San Francisco 49ers, at the Los Angeles Coliseum, California, USA, on November
10, 1957.
4. The largest number of visitors to a single department store in one day (and it’s not
WALMART!!) is an estimated 1.07 million who shopped at the Nextage Shanghai, in Shanghai,
China on December 20, 1995.
5. The greatest number of live spectators for any sporting event is 10,000,000 over a
three-week period at the annual Tour de France cycling race..
All over the world, people gather in large crowds for many purposes, but as exciting as some of
those gatherings might be, they all pale in comparison to the innumberable crowd of Rev. 7.
I want you to try to envision this giant crowd of people in Heaven. Take a moment to try to
imagine such a sight. People from every walk of life, every culture, every nationality -- so many
people that they cannot be numbered. And then, notice the angels who join in on the praise and
worship of Jesus Christ! WOW! Can you imagine what it would be like to be in the midst of
that glorious worship service?
But as we envision this fantastic heavenly host of angels and men giving praise to God, it
ought to cause us to think. This Heavenly vision should cause us to think about the great scope
of the Great Commission. Let’s notice 4 things as we consider a glimpse of this glorious crowd:
I A GREAT MULTITUDE
A John says of this crowd, that it was so large that “no one could number it.”
1. All John saw was a crowd, so large that it was impossible to count!
2. There were obviously a lot more than the 144,000 (since he knew their number)
B But here’s the exciting part! Notice who made up this crowd.
1. It is a crowd made up of all nations. “Ethnos” = ethnic groups.
2. It is a crowd made up of all tribes. The word “tribes” = “offspring, generations of
people.” To me that suggests large families of people.
3. It is a crowd made up of all “peoples”. Peoples = “laion” (leity) = “all populations”
4. It is a crowd made up of all “tongues” or “languages”
C So who makes up this great and glorious heavenly crowd?
1. All ethnic groups and their offspring.
2. All peoples of every language.
3. In other words, from every background and breed, every country,culture, and clan,
from every district and dialect, from every region, race, and rank, from every lineage,
locale and language, GET THE POINT? Every group will be represented.
D I am blessed to live in an area of great cultural diversity. In our small congregation, we
now have 17 nations represented: Canada, U.S.A., Mexico, England, Scotland, Germany,
Czech. Republic, Poland, China, Japan, Philippines, Jamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana,
Trinidad and Nigeria. (Every populated continent now, except Australia!)
1. When I look out on Sunday Morning, I see a lot of different shades and colours and
hear a lot of different accents.
2. But that is just a SMALL sampling of what it will be like in HEAVEN!!
II A GREAT CELEBRATION
A John describes this crowd as wearing white robes.
1. The word for “robes” is “stolas”, which were “long robes, fancy robes for leisure”
White is symbolic of purity or righteousness.
2. They are also waving palm branches, another symbol of celebration.
B Can you imagine how exciting such a celebration would be? I mean, get this picture ...
1. Here they are WAVING palm branches, and “crying out with a loud voice.”
2. WHAT? No Baptists in the group?
3. Folks, we need to learn to worship, because we’re going to be doing it for a long time!
C These people are celebrating, even though they came out of the Great Tribulation.
1. There is a lesson here for all of us.
2. Regardless of what life dumps on us here on earth, when we get to Heaven, we’ll be
laughing! Try to remember that!
III A GREAT MESSAGE
A Listen to what this crowd cries out: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the
throne and to the Lamb!”
B In a nutshell, these folks are still marvelling about the great message of salvation
through Jesus Christ!
C Folks, the message of the gospel is the greatest message of all times. And this great
message is being proclaimed around the world! What exciting times we live in!
1. The Bible has been translated into more than 3,850 languages
2. Estimates are that more than 85,000 people are trusting in Jesus Christ every day!
3. I.e. Albania used to brag that it was a nation that was 100% atheist. It’s Palace of
Congresses was a virtual shrine to Communistic Atheism. But in 1992, Campus
Crusade for Christ was given permission to show the Jesus Film. Over 2,000 people
attended, INCLUDING TOP GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. From that crowd, 700
people personally invited Jesus Christ into their hearts!
What once was a temple of communism is now being used as a temple of the Holy
God,” exclaimed the head of the government-controlled Albanian film industry.
D It ought to be our desire to share this great message with everyone!
IV A GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
A The Bible makes it absolutely clear that the message of Christ, the GOSPEL is to be
proclaimed to everyone. Listen to what Jesus said.
1. Matthew 24:14 -- “oikoumenee” = “inhabited area, population”
2. Matthew 28:19 -- “ethnee” = “ethnic group, race”
3. Mark 16:15 -- “cosmos” = “world order, social group”
4. Acts 1:8 -- “ges” = “physical earth, all geographic areas on this physical planet.”
B If we are to see the reality of John’s vision, we need to likewise see the responsibility.
If to be a Christian is worthwhile, then the most ordinary interest in those with whom
we come in contact would prompt us to speak to them of Christ.
If the New Testament be true—and we know that it is—who has given us the right to
place the responsibility for soul-winning on other shoulders than our own?
If they who reject Christ are in danger, is it not strange that we, who are so
sympathetic when the difficulties are physical or temporal, should apparently be so
devoid of interest as to allow our friends and neighbors and kindred to come into our
lives and pass out again without a word of invitation to accept Christ, to say nothing of
sounding a note of warning because of their peril?
If today is the day of salvation, if tomorrow may never come and if life is equally
uncertain, how can we eat, drink and be merry when those who live with us, work with
us, walk with us and love us are unprepared for eternity because they are unprepared
for time?
If Jesus called his disciples to be fishers of men, who gave us the right to be
satisfied with making fishing tackle or pointing the way to the fishing banks instead
of going ourselves to cast out the net until it be filled?
If Jesus himself went seeking the lost, if Paul the Apostle was in agony
because his kinsmen, according to the flesh, knew not Christ, why should we not
consider it worthwhile to go out after the lost until they are found?
If I am to stand at the judgment seat of Christ to render an account for
the deeds done in the Body, what shall I say to him if my children are missing, if my
friends are not saved or if my employer or employee should miss the way because I
have been faithless?
If I wish to be approved at the last, then let me remember that no intellectual
superiority, no eloquence in preaching, no absorption in business, no shrinking
temperament or no spirit of timidity can take the place of or be an excuse for my
not making an honest, sincere, prayerful effort to win others to Christ.
--By J. Wilbur Chapman
CONCLUSION:
When I read about this heavenly crowd in Revelation 7, I cannot but ask, “What can I do?”
When I get to heaven, among all the multitudes, I would like to see some familiar faces, those
that I had the priviledge of leading to the Lord, wouldn’t you?
SONG: THANK YOU
