See Yourself Among the Heavenly Saints!

4th Sunday of Easter, 4/17/16
Revelation 7:9-17


See Yourself Among the Heavenly Saints!
I. Praising the Lamb for your salvation
II. Celebrating the Shepherd’s victory


“I can’t see myself doing that!”

That’s a common reaction when situations are presented to us that don’t seem agreeable to us or seem to be beyond our comfort zone or ability. For instance, I can’t see myself performing ballet and you probably can’t either. For one thing, I certainly don’t have the ability, and for another, I’d look ridiculous in a ballet leotard. That’s would be something you never hope to see.

But seriously, there are things we’d like to see happen to us, but they seem to be out of the realm of possibility. Does anyone here today see themselves at the helm of a Fortune 500 company in the next 5 years? Does anyone here this morning see themselves discovering a cure for cancer before 2020? How many of you can see yourself running a marathon this summer?

How about seeing yourself in heaven? Maybe that makes you a little uncomfortable because that means you’ve died. You’ve left your loved ones behind. Or maybe you haven’t reached the prime of your life yet and you have all sorts of things to look forward to and experience in life yet. OK. Fair enough. But for some of us the day of our deaths is closer than the day of our births. Perhaps much closer. But no matter how near or far, wouldn’t you like to see what heaven will be for you? Wouldn’t you like the assurance that you’ll be there one day?

St. John had the unique opportunity to do just that in a vision of heaven which the Lord caused him to see. John sees you and every other Christian in heaven and that means you have the opportunity to see yourself there as well. This morning your Good Shepherd, Jesus, encourages you to take a look and see yourself among the heavenly saints. Let’s spend a few minutes doing just that.

Part I.

Life can be so difficult and harsh, so painful and fatiguing, that we develop a coping mechanism that latches onto something joyful and pleasant in our future. In fact, we can even find ourselves getting excited about it. It might be an event such as a wedding. Or perhaps it’s a vacation. Maybe it’s a business venture that you see slowly developing and are excited to see it come to fruition. Or it might be something as simple as planting seeds or small plants into the ground at this time of year and envisioning what it will look like in mid-summer. Things like these bring excitement to your life.

But they all pale in comparison to the excitement John saw in this vision. Listen again to his description. “After 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. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’ All 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, saying: ‘Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!’”

John saw saints (that’s you) and angels standing in the presence of Jesus, the Lamb. But you and the rest of the saints weren’t just standing there. Did you catch some of the details? How about what you were wearing? John saw you dressed in a white robe. Do you look good in white? Even if you don’t think so now, you will in heaven. In fact, it will be the most beautiful garment you’ve ever worn. That robe is the garment of Christ’s righteousness or holiness. God demands holiness to enter heaven. By faith in Jesus, that’s what you’ll be wearing—the holiness of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

And you’ve got something in your hand. It’s a palm branch, just like the ones the people were waving when Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. That’s appropriate, because palm branches signify the joy of victory. Palm branches were the ancient equivalent of modern championship T-shirts and ball caps which the victors display immediately after defeating their opponent. Heaven is an eternal victory celebration in which you’re not just a joyful fan, but a joyful competitor. But in this competition, the victory has been won for you by Christ.

That victory excitement is contagious. The host of angels—in anther verse of his Revelation John states there were 10,000 x 10,000—joins you in praising Jesus. Can you imagine hearing angelic voices? And not just a few but a countless number of them? I’m sure it will be the most beautiful and exhilarating thing you’ve ever heard.

But you’re not simply excited that you’re in the bliss of heaven. John sees you excited about one more thing. John and you see saints who are coming out of the great tribulation. Our translation is a little misleading. The Greek text indicates that these saints leave behind their tribulations on earth and enter the bliss of heaven one after another. Each one of them is another reason to continue praising the Lamb because here’s another soul that has passed from the valley of the shadow of death into life everlasting.

See yourself among the heavenly saints, praising the Lamb for salvation.

When a team of people accomplishes something great, they congratulate and praise each other for a job well done. They accomplished what they set out to do.

Your rescue from that great tribulation is not a solo effort on your part nor a team effort in which you participated. It’s the work of the Lamb of God. In his vision John uses that name for our Good Shepherd so that we recall what made this eternal bliss not just a possibility but a heavenly reality for you and me. It took the most precious substance of all—the holy blood of Jesus. He loves you that much that he was willing to spill his blood for you so that you could enjoy eternal bliss with him. So now, as you stagger from one tribulation to another in this life, you have something literally out of this world to look forward to. You will join the saints and angels in praising the Lamb. When this life becomes a walk through the valley of the shadow of death, see yourself among the heavenly saints!

Part II.

One of the enjoyable events that we reserve for the days of warm weather which is almost here is a family reunion. These are the people that you love and care about. Perhaps it’s been a year or more since you last saw them. You have news to share with each other. You’re amazed at how much the young children have grown. There are good things to eat and drink. It’s just a pleasurable experience to be with these family members.

Our God intended every one of our days on earth to be a perfect family reunion. In fact, he intended to attend each day, to be with us and live with us. But sin ruined all that. It separated us from God and one another. It brought doubts and worries into our lives. It even caused us to fear our Creator, the holy God.

That’s tragic enough, but sin also brought suffering into our lives, suffering of epic proportions. Illness, disease, pain, violence, oppression, injustice, hatred, discord, envy—all these are the result of sin—the sinful condition of our world and our own sins as well.

But our Savior-God, our God Shepherd, has the solution. John saw and heard that solution. “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 spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For 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.” There’s an interesting phrase in those words. The saints spoke about God spreading his tent over his people. They were using language reminiscent of the Old Testament tabernacle, that movable tent-like structure that Israel used for worship before the Temple was built. In that tabernacle, between the wings of the cherubim on top of the Ark of the Covenant was God’s special presence on earth. That presence of God with his people was a foretaste of his abiding and everlasting presence with us in heaven.

That heavenly bliss in the presence of God means the absolute absence of anything that makes our current world a valley of sorrows and death. No more hunger, thirst, or pain from natural causes. No more tears. Just joy. Endless joy. All will finally be well with us.

Lastly, John borrows language from Psalm 23 to assure us that our Good Shepherd will lead us to springs of living water where the water of eternal life will overflow our cups. Death—our final enemy—will be defeated. We’ll celebrate eternal life with all the saints.

See yourself among the heavenly saints celebrating the Shepherd’s victory.

John originally wrote these words to Christians whose lives were full of trouble and sorrow, and much of those came upon them because of their Christian faith. He wanted them to continue the fight and hold firmly to Jesus by faith in him. He shared with them the eternal victory celebration that awaited them.

One of our modern hymns about eternal life states that the fight is fierce and the warfare is long. That’s a fitting description of our lives. In fact, we wonder at times how much more we can take. And then we begin to doubt God’s love for us.

Don’t lose sight of John’s vision. He sees you with Jesus in heaven. The Lamb of God, who sacrificed himself for your sins, is also your Good Shepherd, who rose again so that he could lead you to eternal life with him. See yourself there with him among the heavenly saints. There’s no better place to be. Amen.