Let's open our Bibles back to
Revelation chapter 7. And first, I know we had a lot
of reading tonight. And I'm not going to go through
all of those passages. But I think those passages are
needed to be read so that we can enter in to the judgment
of our God in light of that great day when the saints shall stand
before him in praise. And let me give you an introduction
to this message. I have often read this Revelation
chapter 7 verses 9 down through 13, 14, with great excitement
in my heart. And this past week, Wednesday
night, when Gabe was talking about the imminent death of our
dear sister, and he would say, any minute now, we knew that
it was coming. We knew that death for our dear
sister was imminent. And since that time, I've looked
at this passage. And these things that we read
in this passage are imminent. The judgment that we read about
in Revelation chapter six, when God shall pour his wrath upon
this word is imminent. It can happen anytime. Any minute,
our Lord can return and call all his people from the grave
and gather all his sheep from the four corners of the world,
and it's over. And God's wrath will then fall
upon the ungodly. Oh, what a terrible time that
will be. But as I read this passage, first,
again, let's look at our setting. Chapter six, verse 17, the great
day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? Oh,
if we were to stop right there, and we thought of his holiness
and his righteousness, and we said, who shall be able to stand? We would say no one. The believer
who has seen God in his holiness through his law, his righteousness,
he says, holy, holy, holy, no man can stand. But look at chapter
7 verse 1, and after these things, and then again, chapter 7 verse
9, after this, I beheld and lo, a great multitude, who no man
could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues, stood before the throne. Did we just not read in chapter
six, who can stand? But here we read, here stands
a multitude that no man can number. They stand. They stand before
a holy God. They stand before He who is righteous
and who hath just come in great judgment and has devoured the
wicked. Yet these, they stand. And not only do they stand before
the throne and before the lamb, but they stand clothed with white
robes. They are perfect. When our Lord Jesus Christ died
on the cross, he said, it is finished. And this multitude
that has no number became perfect. And not only are they clothed
in the perfect righteousness of our Lord, but look, and they
have palms in their hands. There's peace with God. They are arrayed in white. They are arrayed in the righteousness
of our God, and they have peace with God. Now, let's continue
reading, beginning in verse 10. I'm sorry, let's again read verse
9. And after this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no
man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues
stood before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes
and palms in their hands. and cried with a loud voice saying,
salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the
lamb. And all the angels stood around
about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts and
fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God saying,
amen, blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and
honor, and power, and might be unto our God forever and ever,
and amen. And verse 13, and one of the
elders answered, saying unto me, unto John, who are these
who are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? Notice
our two questions. Who are these that are arrayed
in white robes? Who are these that are arrayed
in righteousness? Who stand before God perfect? Who are faultless before our
Lord? And the other question is, where
did they come from? How did they get here? Where
did they come from? And let's look at the reply.
And he said unto me, these are they which came out of great
tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in
the blood of the lamb. And this is our text tonight. And this is what I would speak
from tonight. These are they, a great multitude,
a number that cannot be numbered, that came through great tribulation,
not some of them, not a part of them, but all of them. They came through great tribulation. These are they which came through
great trial. They came through great suffering
and great pain. They came through great stress
and problems and hardships, every single one of them. And if I
was the title of this message tonight, I guess it would be
the perseverance of the saints. Every one of these, every one
of God's children, every one of his elect, every one of his
chosen, Every single one of them in this life are appointed to
tribulation. Let's look at John chapter 16
briefly. Now these are the words of our
Lord to his disciples. John chapter 16 verse 33. These things have I spoken unto
you that you might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. Be of good cheer, you're gonna
have trials. You're gonna have trouble. You're
gonna be under great duress and great stress, but be of good
cheer. I have overcome the world, and
you, whom the Father has given to me, you will persevere. You will, in that great day,
when you stand before my throne, you shall be arrayed in white. You shall be one of that number. Again, and I will read this,
Acts 14, 22. We must, through much tribulation,
enter into the kingdom of God. We must, through great suffering
and great pain and great sorrow. Now, if you will, turn over to
Psalm 73 with me. What is this tribulation? Do
we not know that this week Our dear sister, Mary Bell, she died. Is that not great suffering?
Is that not great sorrow? It is, but does not the world
also suffer such things? Do they not go through such same
sufferings? And I will say this, that the
issues of life to a believer are greater than that to the
unbeliever. There is a knowledge of God's
righteousness that a believer has that is much greater than
the unbeliever. You see, many of the unbelievers
would simply think that they're dying and they're going to meet
God and he's going to take their good and he's going to take their
bad and he's going to balance things and if the good outweighs
the bad, then he'll accept them and they'll die with a good conscience. And then there are many who will
die having looked at their religious experience. They will look at
their time of decision. They'll look at the time that
they prayed the sinner's prayer, that they were baptized, that
they'd done many of these things, and continuously in this life,
when they question their salvation, they go back to that experience,
they get their satisfaction, and then they go on, and then
they die, and then they meet God. But for the believer, He is ever
saying, Christ alone. And his fingers are so sticky
that he will so often grab on to any work that comes by. Wanting
something in our nature is to grab on, but our minds say, give
me Christ, give me Christ, Christ alone. So the issues I believe
for the believer, the issues of life, the issues of death,
are greater for the believer than they are for this world.
Now what are these tribulations? And I believe that David here,
Psalm 73, speaks of these so well. Beginning in verse one, Psalm 73, fairly I have cleaned
my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence. For all the
day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning.
If I say I will speak thus, behold, But as for me, my feet were almost
gone, and my steps had well not slipped. For I was wicked, I
was envious of the unbeliever, for when I saw the prosperity
of the wicked. For there is no pains, there's
no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They
are not in trouble as other men, they don't experience the trouble
that I have. They don't experience the trials
and pains that I have. Do their loved ones die? They
do. But do they experience the pains that I experienced? They
do not. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they
plagued like other men. And what these things teach us
or show us Is that not our own experience in this world, how
oftentimes our own heart plagues us? This week, Hannah was sick. You know, for the world, it's
an issue simply of that of a medical issue. But for the believer,
it's an issue of God's purpose and grace. Certainly, we go to
the doctor. Certainly, we seek medical help. But there's something much, much
deeper. It's God's purpose. What is God's purpose in this?
What is, why am I thus? And then, let's look at Psalm
16 and 17. 76, I'm sorry. First chapter, let
me get a drink. Stat 73. Verse 16 and 17. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me. When he looked at all of the
prosperity of the wicked, And when he's seen all of the pains
of his own heart and the suffering of himself and the lack of suffering
of the wicked, he said, when I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me. Then he said, until I went into
the sanctuary of the Lord and I understood their end. I went
into the sanctuary of the Lord And I've seen Revelation chapter
6. I've seen God's wrath being poured out on them. And I've
seen their end and what their end would be. Verse 22, so foolish
was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee.
Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou art holding me
by thy right hand. Thou art continually with me. I will persevere. I will persevere. And then secondly, not only do
we have tribulation in this world, but we also have tribulation
in ourself. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
25. Let us read verse 21 through
verse 24. And Isaac entreated the Lord
for his wife because she was barren. And the Lord was entreated
of him. And Rebekah, his wife, conceived. And the child struggled to gather
within her. And she said, if it be so, why
am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. And the Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb,
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels,
and the one shall be stronger than the other people, and the
elder shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered
were fulfilled, behold, there were twins within her womb. And
what is it that she went to the Lord and said? Why am I thus? There was a great struggle in
herself. Why am I thus? Is that not our own experience
of faith in this life? How often do we look inside ourselves
and we say, why am I thus? Is it not because that there
are two men that live in us? There is a new and there is an
old. And this old man is vile and
wretched and wicked. But that new man in our hearts,
it cries after goodness and after righteousness. And we say, why
am I thus? How many times do we seek to
do well and we seek to do good and we do evil? Why am I thus? Is this not a tribulation that
has been appointed to all of his sheep? This tribulation of
this battle, of this trial in our hearts and ourselves is given
to God's sheep. And every single one of them,
one day, is going to lay down that old man in the ground. And
that new man will stand before God in righteousness and give
praise for his salvation. Now, if you will, Turn with me
to Malachi chapter 3. I love this passage of scripture. I want to read this one verse
and then I'm going to read it again. Last book of the Old Testament. Last page before we get to the
New Testament. And I want you to hear how precious
this is. Then they that feared the Lord,
verse 16, Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. And the Lord hearkened and heard
it. And a book of remembrance was
written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought
upon his name. They that feared the Lord spake
often one to another. What did they speak of? Did they
not speak one to another of their tribulation? Did they not speak
of their sorrows and their grief? They spoke of their need of righteousness.
They spoke of Christ. Tonight, Gabe's praying, Lord,
meet with us. Oh, don't let us take this for
granted. This morning out there on the porch, I was talking to
another believer. Oh, this is about Christ. We're
so thankful for this building, but it's not about the building.
Wednesday night, we sit back there and these men, we speak
one to another about Christ. And you ladies, do you not speak
one to another of Christ? Is that not our issue? And do
we not speak one to another of our sorrows and of our trials
and of our tribulations? When we speak, and I mean this
right now, when we do that, and we do that, we speak one to another
about our Lord Jesus Christ. We speak one to another of our
need of righteousness. We speak one to another of our
lack of righteousness. See what happens. They that feared
the Lord spake often to one another. And the Lord hearkened and heard
it. And a book of remembrance was
written before him that feared the Lord and that thought upon
his name. And here's what he says. And
they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts. In that day, what
day is he referring to? Isn't that day we just read?
In that day when I make up my jewels and I will spare them
as a man spared his own son that serveth him, then shall you return
and discern between the righteous and the wicked and between them
that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Have we not
just read there of that very passage here in Romans where
we started? And let's turn back. Revelation chapter 7. Let's again
read beginning at verse 13. And one of the elders who answered
saying unto me, Who are these which are arrayed in white robes?
And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out
of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they
before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his
temple. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more. Do
we not often say one to another, oh Lord, I wish you'd give us
a good service. Boy, I need to hear something. Why do we say
such things? Because we hunger. They shall
hunger no more. Neither shall thirst any more. Neither shall the sun light upon
them, nor any heat. for the lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them into
living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all the tears
from their eyes. Amen.