ALL SAINTS’ DAY (OBSERVED)
The Church Triumphant
Revelation 7:13-14
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Grace, Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear people of God, there is tension between God’s ultimate promise in Christ and the struggles and suffering we face in this present life.
We are pulled between the realities of this life and of the life of the world to come.
Pulling in one direction, is the reality of our lives in this broken world. While we do experience blessings, yet life in this world includes, and is often dominated by suffering of some kind.
And then, pulling in the other direction is the promise of God. The promise that reminds us that there is the hope of joy and peace, which we may taste here in this life…but which we will not fully experience until we are in the presence of God and the Lamb, before His throne.
And on All Saints Day, we remember those who have died in faith and are now there in the presence of Christ. They labored, they suffered, and through it all, they confessed that Jesus is Lord. They were stretched in the tension between this life and the life that is to come; but now they are at rest. They have run their race and finished their course. And today they are with our Lord, resting and waiting with joy for the resurrection of their bodies on the Last Day.
This truth, confessed by the Scripture, gives great hope to us who suffer in this life. Because beyond this valley of death’s dark shadow, there is life, and peace forever. And likewise this truth, which we confess, gives peace to all who have lost moms or dads, wives or husbands, brothers or sisters, sons or daughters. Because all those who have died in this one true faith in Christ Jesus, are now truly at rest in the loving arms of God, their Savior.
And there are so many I could name and so many you can name: our dear Christian friends and family, who have died in the faith.
But they died in the faith! They died trusting in Christ and His promise to them. And so they have most certainly joined the great multitude of saints who are before the throne of God and of the Lamb in heaven.
This is what John describes in his vision from Revelation chapter 7.
He writes,
I looked, and behold, 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, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:9-10 ESV)
Before the throne of God there is a joyful celebration. There is shouting and praise. There is a the multitude of people from every nation, tribe, people and language.
And among them is my grandmother and grandfather. And my uncle, and my brother-in-law. And my father, and countless other friends and family who have died in the faith.
And among those standing before the throne of God are also your dear family and friends who have died confessing this one true faith. They are there, celebrating and worshipping Christ our Lord, who has brought them from death to life, from hell to heaven through His work of love and sacrifice on the cross.
The vision of God’s people gathered before the throne is triumphant and joyful. But If we look carefully at these verses see that this promise, this hope of God’s people, this joy and triumph — is held in tension with the suffering we face in this life.
Look again at Revelation 7, verses 13 and 14
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. (Rev. 7:13-14 ESV)
The elder asks, Who are these people, dressed in white? When John pleads ignorance, he explains: These people who are celebrating, who are engaged in this joyful worship in heaven…are the ones have come out of the great tribulation.
In other words, they are people like you and me, who have experienced the great suffering of life in this broken world.
But, they died in faith. Though they suffered, yet still they believed in Christ. And, there was and is purpose in their suffering.
A missionary who some of you might have heard of, Elisabeth Elliot — and if you know her story, you know that she suffered greatly as a missionary…She puts it this way…Suffering is not for Nothing.
And this is most certainly true.
Christ’s suffering was not for nothing…His sacrifice and suffering gained our salvation.
And your suffering also is not for nothing. God has a purpose in your suffering. He uses suffering to form you, to teach you, to grow you in faith. And in suffering you experience a fellowship with Christ who also suffered for us. And from out of your faithful suffering, there also arises a great witness to Christ, and His love for the world.
Peter writes about this ,saying:
Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:13 ESV)
Rejoice as you share in Christ’s suffering and as you look forward to the glory that is to come. Rejoice and bear witness to Christ, your Lord and Savior!
It is no wonder, then, that the word martyr, which we think of as a word describing one who has died for their faith…it’s no wonder that that word means “to bear witness.” To tell others about Christ. Because out of the great suffering of the early martyrs arose a testimony…they bore witness even through their suffering, to Christ, who suffered for them. And often times they died for that testimony.
This is important because it’s contrary to what so many false teachers promise: that if you only believe enough…then you will be blessed with riches. If you only pray hard enough in faith, then you will be free from illness.
No. In the Christian faith, we do not pretend to escape suffering. In fact, we know that we will suffer because this world is broken under the curse of sin. Yet in midst of this suffering, the tension pulling in the other direction is the promise of God in Christ. The promise that beyond this suffering there is hope, there is peace, there is joy, forever.
This is what Paul writes in Romans chapter 8, where he says,
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18 ESV)
Paul declares in faith and hope, that although his suffering, and your suffering and mine, are indeed great. Yet the future we are destined for is far greater in it’s glory and joy.
And why is that so? Because the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, has come into this world. He has taken on its suffering and by the shedding of His blood, He has opened the way to everlasting life for you and for me and for all those who believe. You see, it is the blood of the Lamb that purifies you and prepares you for the last day….for the day when you will join that multitude of saints who stand before God. And it is that same body and blood of Christ, given and shed for you, that enables you to suffer with patient hope in this broken world.
And so, as the people of God, we set our eyes on Jesus. We keep looking to His suffering for us on the cross. And we gather together in His presence to receive His gifts. And in this way we are enabled to run the race set before us. To endure all that this life throws at us. And to do so with patient hope.
And today we embrace that hope, taking hold of it. For as we gather here as God’s people, we actually experience heavenly peace and joy. The Hope of God’s Kingdom is actually here, now. It comes as you hear the Word of Christ forgiving your sins. It comes as you receive Christ’s Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Heavenly peace and joy comes to you, as you recognize this great truth: that just as all those who have died in Christ are now part of that great multitude of saints…so also are we.
We too are standing before our King. As we sang in the hymn of the Day:
Oh blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee for all are thine.
As we gather here, in the house of God, we commune with Him and with one another. And we confess that all God’s people, living and dead, share in this fellowship. Having heard the bells toll for our dead, we also believe confess that they are gathered with us.
This is the communion of the saints, this is the foretaste of the feast to come. This fellowship of God’s people, which transcends time and space, so that as we gather here at the Lord’s Table we recognize that the dead in Christ are also gathered with us. They are at his table too.
For we all belong to our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has died for our sins and risen again for our salvation. And this day we joyfully receive and celebrate the blessings of His Kingdom which is for all the saints, now and forevermore. Amen.
Now the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding guard your heart and your mind until the Day of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.