Revelation 7:9-17 (All Saints Day)
St. John, Galveston 11/1/26
Rev. Alan Taylor


    The Scripture reading for this morning’s message is Revelation 7, which was read a few moments ago. I’d like to emphasize though one part of the reading.  

    “One of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “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. Therefore 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 the midst of the 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.”

    Grace and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

    The present passage excepted, there is no question that the Book of Revelation is often difficult for us to understand, what with it’s graphic details and seemingly mysterious images that are found throughout. I maintain though that our difficulty in understanding Revelation is that we often fail to see the forrest, because we get lost in the trees. In other words, there is big picture to the Book of Revelation that we may fail to see because we have such an interest in understanding the graphic details and the mysterious images.    

    In understanding Revelation, it’s also important to note that the Book is not a chronological account of the end times, as though the account begins in chapter 1 and ends in chapter 22. Rather, it is a record of a vision, given to the Apostle John, that reveals something critically important regarding Jesus and His Church. What the visions given to John reveals is really quite simple, “God wins!!” From the creation of the world, to our redemption and salvation in Christ Jesus, “God wins.” Or, to put it another way, “the Church wins.”

    That is often difficult for us to see, because, as John’s vision in Revelation 7 reveals, the Church militant, that’s the Church here and now,  comes out of the great tribulation, which is to say, our lives from our renewal in the Holy Spirit, to the day we depart to be with the Lord, are tumultuous and often difficult. We are soldiers on the battlefield of faith and unbelief, of good and evil, of light and darkness. Therefore, we put on the whole armor of God, that we might “stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

    Through it all, it is rather amazing that the Church perseveres, and that she carries the light of God’s grace and forgiveness into this dark and loveless world. Herman Sasse was a highly regarded German Lutheran theologian of the 20th century. He wrote a two volume set of books about the Pastoral ministry called “The Lonely Way.” In one of the volumes he reflected on the mystery of the existence of the Church, what with all of the trials and temptations she has faced through the centuries.

    “The existence of the church is the most profound riddle of history (he     
    said). No one can explain it. No one can say how the church finally \    
    continues to exist. Statesmen have been convinced that the protection 
    of the state is what finally makes the existence of the church possible. 
    But the church first experienced its great flowering in the centuries in 
    which it was not even acknowledged (by the state). And the great 
    canon law of the first centuries, on which entire churches still depend 
    today, came to exist in a church which, as far as public law was 
    concerned, did not even exist. To this day how the church outlived the 
    demise of the ancient world is an inexplicable mystery.”

    Of course, Sasse spoke of the existence of the Church from a human perspective. The mystery of the Church, of course, is resolved in Christ. Whether it was those who lived in the 1st century, who faced intense persecution for their faith, or those of us living now, the important thing for us to know is that  God wins!! As Jesus promised, “In this world you will have tribulation, but take courage, for I have overcome the world.” And so, whether we are yet part of the Church Militant, or have been ushered in to the glory of the Church Triumphant, we are One in Christ. Indeed, “Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are One in Thee, for all are Thine.”

    In Revelation 7, “John is looking at the whole people of God entering and becoming the Church Triumphant. The crowd that John sees represents the whole church as if it had already come out of this turbulent world, as if it were already complete, as it will be at the resurrection on the Last Day.” These, he says, “have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.” As counterintuitive as it may seem, the blood of Christ makes pure, it washes and cleanses, it takes away the stain of sin and of death.

    Thus, in John’s vision, the saints are clothed in white robes, depicting the holiness and purity of God. Once again, the Church bears the image of the divine. Therefore, “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 the midst of the 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.”

    The beauty of All Saints Day is that we envision and reflect on the Church’s final victory in Christ. What was broken, corrupted and defiled in this world, is restored, never to know sin and death again. Frankly, this renewal of all things in Christ is what lies behind St. Paul’s words in I Corinthians 15, where he says, “If, in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men the most to pitied.”  

    “Our robes, washed in the blood of the Lamb,” we will, indeed, “come out of the great tribulation.” You see, from Revelation 1 to Revelation 22, the message is the same, “God wins”, “the Church wins,” for the Church’s victory is in standing before the Lamb who sits on His throne, and knowing Him fully as He is. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” As I’ve said many times before, heaven isn’t so much a place as it is a person.


“Apostles, martyrs, prophets, there
Around my Savior stand;
And soon my friends in Christ below
Will join the glorious band.”    

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +