SALVATION COMES FROM THE LAMB
REVELATION 7:9—17 MAY 11, 2003
REVELATION 7:9-17
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.
16Never 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."
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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
Today you and I stand alongside John and look right into the throne room of God once again. We have listened to our text and we have seen the angels and heard them proclaiming, ‘Praise and glory and honor and strength and might and wisdom be to the Lamb who is at the center of the throne!’ All of this worship belongs to the Lamb, because salvation comes from the Lamb of God. In the middle of our text, John writes those words, ‘Salvation belongs to God.’ It’s not that it is His, but it belongs to Him because it is ours as a free gift from God Himself. John realized that as he looked and saw all the praise that the Lamb of God deserved. He was reminded what Paul wrote to Timothy. "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time"(1 TIMOTHY 2:5,6). You and I once again, have this testimony given in its proper time. Remember John was an exile on the island of Patmos because of his faith. Once again he was given the testimony of the Lamb of God in its proper time. Just like the early church when the Savior was born, and then crucified and then this too, the testimony given at its proper time. Today we look at what that means for us with the theme
SALVATION COMES FROM THE LAMB
I. Divine forgiveness
II. Heavenly blessings
I. Divine forgiveness
We look once again at the crowd that is gathered around. We find there are many. 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. Last week we heard how John saw the four living creatures, how he saw the elders and how he saw the angels. We picture his description with the throne in the center and the ever-increasing circle of those praising God. Now he says all the saints are there from all directions on the earth—from every tribe and nation and language. Again, that circle that is worshipping the Lamb is getting ever larger. No man can count them—almost beyond imagination. John describes them for us. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. White robes—the sign of purity, a sign of (as we are going to see) Christ’s righteousness. The palm branches were a sign of victory and royalty.
As they were standing around, they weren’t just idly talking or gossiping or chatting about the weather. Instead, we’re told, 10And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." They were there, not because of what they had done but because of what the Lamb of God had done. He had provided salvation for them. He had provided for them robes that covered up their sinfulness. They stood before the Lamb of God along with the living creatures and the angels and the elders covered up with the robe of Christ’s righteousness.
During their earthly life they had received God’s divine forgiveness. John describes that in the form of a discussion he has: 13Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?" Not that the elder did not know. 14I answered, "Sir, you know." And he (the elder) 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. John states that they have come through the great tribulation.
If you read different books and listen closely, you may have heard of that word ‘tribulation’. Some have said there are going to be seven years of tribulation before the Lord returns. There are others who have said there’s going to be seven years of tribulation after the Lord returns. There are some who have said when the Lord returns there is going to be seven years of tribulation in the midst of all of that. The Lord tells us that there is tribulation. There is no number seven here or in any part of scripture connected with any hardship or tribulation mentioned at all. Whenever you read something about seven years of tribulation, it simply is not scriptural. It is just not found in the Bible at all. What does the Lord mean by tribulation? He means troubles and hardship. What we do not want to miss is the point that the elder makes. He says these people who are standing here in the white robes are standing here because their robes have been made white through the blood of Christ. It is sad that some have gotten so side-tracked with the tribulation and what they call ‘the rapture’ (which again, is not found in scripture) that they almost lose the focus and, sometimes, they even do lose the focus--that the blood of the Lamb purifies us from all sin.
You and I do not deserve to wear white robes. You and I do not deserve to stand before the throne of God, yet the Lord promises each and every one of us by faith, by the grace of God, we WILL stand there, not because of what we have done but because of what Christ has done. The white robes symbolize this action of God’s divine gift of forgiveness. Those saints stood there, not with their own purity, but with robes that were given to them cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. "’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ’Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool’"(ISAIAH 1:18). That comparison from the Old Testament carries all the way through to John’s comparison in the New Testament…sinners such as you and I have been purified by God’s divine forgiveness.
So then we face life, boldly and confidently, realizing there are hardships in this world. There are troubles and tribulations that each one of us must face. The fact is, in the early church, the disciples were thrown into prison because they preached the gospel. We find here that John is on Patmos because of persecution of the church under the rule of Domitian, the emperor, one of the worst times for the church. Yet, what did the early apostles say? After they were released, they came out and said, "Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ’We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’ they said"(ACTS 14:22). That is the tribulation the Lord talks about. He says these saints have come through the tribulation. In the original it says they are coming through the tribulation. When a believer leaves this world, he has left behind him tribulation. He has left behind him hardship. He comes to stand before God because of God’s divine forgiveness.
When you and I look at our lives and the effects of sin, we see the effects of sin are devastating. No one on this earth can ever escape them. Even though people might try to deny sin and might try to cover up some sins and hide them or explain them away, sin is still sin. Sin infects us all by virtue of being born into this world of sinful parents. Just as we cannot escape death, it is because we do not escape sin. Ezekiel, the prophet, writes, "For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son--both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die"(EZEKIEL 18:4). Just as no one has escaped death, so no one escapes sin. You and I are thankful because by God’s divine forgiveness our sins are forgiven. The blackness of our heart is covered up with the blood of Jesus Christ so that we, like the saints who are standing before the throne of God, will one day also stand there with robes of righteousness.
For salvation comes from the Lamb…the Lamb who is our shepherd, who provides us with divine forgiveness and in the future will provide us with
II. Heavenly blessings
As you look at Revelation and you see the visions of John, sometimes they are almost beyond human comprehension. Yet, we find that they are quite similar in many different points. Time and again we find the same people gathered there, the angels, the saints—and they’re doing the same thing. They sing out, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’ He goes on, 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. What a life they have—to worship God!
They 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!" They say this ‘Amen’ to remind themselves that all these things belong to God and it is most absolutely the truth! (As Lutherans learn in their catechism—this is most certainly true.) John lists seven things that belong to God. Seven is the number of perfection if we want to consider that. All those things that Jesus gave up while He lived on earth belong to Him once again. He sits on the throne of God as the Lamb of God.
John then describes for us some of the blessings of heaven. 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. He describes the angels as being there day and night. The saints, in their white robes are there day and night—worshipping day and night. What a life that is: with nothing to worry about, nothing to fear, nothing to do except praise God. They don’t get tired so they can do it day and night forever and ever. He says the Lamb of God who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. On this side of heaven, you and I cannot understand the blessedness of heaven. We only get a very little glimpse of it and a small understanding of it.
John goes on. 16Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat…And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Not to be hungry, not to be thirsty in our day and age that doesn’t happen too often. In the time of Jesus and during the Old Testament time, most of the living in the life of the believers was spent providing food for their families. They labored under the scorching heat. They went to get water whether it was hot or cold out, whether dry or raining.
He says, ‘Never again!’ because the Lamb was at the center of the throne. 17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. Now John makes this connection—that this Lamb is not just the Lamb of God but He’s also the Good Shepherd. We read that in our gospel lesson from John (10:11-18)—the Good Shepherd.
John talks of the springs of living water. There are lots of references to water and its importance in the Old Testament. We had one of them today in Psalm 23. We sang that Psalm. Again, there is the connection that He leads them beside quiet waters—the Good Shepherd bringing them to the water of life. You may remember John writing in his gospel about the woman of Samaria who came and sat at the well with Jesus. He talked to her about the water of life. Interesting is the fact that in the New Testament it is here in Revelation and in the gospel of John (the only places in the New Testament) that living water like this is talked about…both written by John. At the end of the conversation that Jesus has with the woman of Samaria, He says, "But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"(JOHN 4:14). That is part of heaven’s blessings that you and I have already. You and I know as a certainty and a fact of our Christian faith that heaven is our home. We are confident that no matter what happens in this life, that no matter how much or how little we might have to suffer or how much or how little tribulation we go through, that God has blessed us with an eternal inheritance. We don’t have to wait until we’re there to enjoy the blessedness of heaven.
This blessedness of heaven is meant for you and I, for believers (as John described it—from every nation). If we would look at the beginning of chapter seven, it talks about the twelve thousand from the different tribes. But it does not mention all of the twelve tribes. Still some believe salvation is meant only for the Jews of the twelve tribes. So they conclude, ‘Well, there’s one-hundred forty-four thousand that are going to be saved and they are going to be Jews and that’s it.’ Or…they are going to be some other religion. Again one explanation for the numbers thing is twelve times twelve—a number of completion—and ten cubed is a number of perfection, so we have one hundred forty-four thousand. John declares the saints are innumerable! They are from every nation and tribe. It is true-you and I are not Jews by birth. Does that mean that you and I do not have salvation? Certainly not! You and I are Jews by faith. We are the children, the sons and daughters of Abraham. The Lord tells us that. The Lord reminds us that we are saved by God’s grace, not by birth.
In LUKE 2:30-32 we are told, "For my eyes have seen your salvation, (the Song of Simeon) which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” God saves people from all tribes and nations. That is the blessedness of heaven. The blessedness of heaven in this brief description we have today reminds us that it’s hard to describe. One easy way to describe it is to say it is exactly not like what earth is like. It’s almost the exact opposite of what you and I are used to experiencing while living here on earth. It says no more thirst, nor hunger, no more pain or suffering, no more tears or sorrow. That brings us great joy to know that there is heaven—a far greater place to look forward to than anything we have on earth.
We agree with Moses when he writes in EXODUS 15:2, "The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” We realize that sometimes we put our trust and confidence in the wrong things. Then the Lord brings us back. Then we say, ‘The Lord is my song and my strength; he is my salvation.’
John, in his visions as he looked into heaven, was encouraged and strengthened that he was not alone. That is what is meant for us as believers today. You and I are never ever alone. The Lord is our salvation. Our salvation comes from the Lamb of God who is our Good Shepherd. Our salvation He provides for us day after day, year after year of our earthly lives by giving us His divine forgiveness even though we don’t deserve it and we cannot earn it. With that divine forgiveness, He covers up the blackness of our sin with His robe of righteousness so that eventually, each and every one of us will enjoy in person the blessedness of heaven. Now that is a reason for living!
Peter writes in his letter (this is another good letter to read) to believers, written during a time of great persecution for the church, written full of encouragement for the believers—reminding them that no matter what they face, and no matter that they lost their property (which they did) or whether they were kicked out of their homes (which they were) they still had God’s salvation. He encourages them as he encourages us when he writes, "You are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls"(1 PETER 1:8b, 9)
John reminds us today, on this Good Shepherd Sunday, that our eternal salvation comes from the Lamb of God who, in reality is our Good Shepherd, because He provides us day in and day out with His divine forgiveness and eventually, eternally, He provides us with the visible blessedness of heaven. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
