Back in Revelation chapter 7,
three things I'd like for us to consider. First, verse 9,
we have the multitude described. Verse 13, you have a question
put forth to John concerning this multitude that he saw. And
then in verse 14, you have the answer to the question that was
asked of John. First of all, in verse 9, we
read, and after this, I beheld and lo, a great multitude. The multitude before John's wondering
eyes are a display, are an evidence of the sure triumph of Christ. I can never read this passage,
and by the way, this is one of my favorite portions of God's
Word. But I never read of this multitude
described in verse 9 without thinking of what Isaiah prophesied
concerning the work of Christ. He said, he shall see of the
veil of his soul the fruit, the outcome of his work, and he shall
be satisfied. And here they are. Here's what
he sees. A multitude that none could number. This is proof again. As the prophet
Isaiah again declared, he shall not fail. Speaking of Christ,
speaking of in Isaiah's time, the Redeemer that was to come.
Here in John, or rather by John's vision in Revelation, we're looking
at the Redeemer who has come, the fruit of his work. And Isaiah
said, he shall not fail. And here's the proof of it. He
did not fail on it. He did not fail. He could not
fail. And we have this before us as
an evidence. This multitude, great multitude,
that no man can number. It's a picture of the Lamb's
victory. It's not their victory. It's
the Lamb's victory. It's His work. It's His battle. And He won it. Turn, if you will,
in the same book, Revelation of chapter 17. And this is what
we're told concerning the victory of the Lamb, verse 14 of chapter
17. These shall make war with the
Lamb without going back to see who they were. It really doesn't
matter. The result will always be the
same, whoever they may be. These shall make war with the
Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them. They won't prevail. The Lamb shall overcome them,
for He is Lord of lords and King of kings. And they that are with
Him, they that are the benefactors of His victory, they that are
with Him are called and chosen and faithful. And these multitude
that we see in Revelation 7, they're not there before the
throne of God based upon any merit of their own. any dessert
of their own, but they're again there because of Him, because
of His merit. He brought them there. Father,
I want them where I'm at. And therefore, we see them before
the throne of God and of the Lamb. Again, in Revelation chapter
19, you have a description of this in verses 7 and 8 of Revelation
chapter 19. Why are they there? We'll consider
that question in just a moment. But in verse 7 of chapter 19,
let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him. For the marriage
of the lamb is come, and his wife had made herself ready.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of
the saints." Verse 13 of Revelation 7, the elder asked John the question,
who are these, John? Indeed, who are these? Who could they be? Who could
they be standing before the throne of God and of the Lamb? They must indeed be some great
ones. They must be the great ones of
the earth. Oh, not so. You know well, not
so. God has chosen the foolish things
that confound those that are wise. Look in chapter 6. It's
not the kings. It's not the great men. or the
mighty men. Oh, no. No, they do the very
opposite. When they're about to be in the
presence of God and of the Lamb, they don't rejoice. They don't
worship. They cry, hide us. We don't want
this because they don't have a mediator. Hmm, horrible thought,
but true. In verse 15 of Revelation 6,
and the kings of the earth, and the great man and the rich man. and the chief captains, and the
mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves
in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to
the mountains and the rocks, fall on us, and hide us from
the face of him that setteth on the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath
is come. It's arrived. It's not a fable. It wasn't a fairy tale. It has
come. And who shall be able to stand,
they ask? Who shall be able to stand before
the presence of the Lamb? Oh, that's a strange expression,
isn't it? The wrath of the Lamb? The wrath
of the Lamb? Do you ever hear that mentioned
among modern Christianity as it's called? The wrath of the
lamb? We're told God loves everybody. Why the wrath of the lamb? And
the lamb died for everybody. Why would they be fearful of
him? Why is there such thing as the wrath of the lamb? But
if he died for everybody, then of what value is his blood? Peter called it precious blood.
He called it blood that redeemed us, the precious blood of Christ. But if it was shed for people
that go to hell, it's not precious. It's no value whatsoever. No,
the fact is he died for his own. He shed his blood for his own,
and therefore are they before the throne of God. Otherwise,
what good is it? Hmm? People hear this that don't
know any better and they say, oh, that's terrible. That's terrible. Why would you believe and preach
that Christ did not die for everybody? That he didn't shed his blood
for everybody? Because we want to honor God. We want to tell the truth. And
the truth is, that gives no hope to anyone. Oh, but to hear tale
of a sacrifice accepted, a sacrifice that got the job done, a successful
redeemer, that gives sinners, like this sinner standing right
here before you now, that gives me hope before a holy God. That's the only hope I have.
And that's the only hope. This multitude that John witnessed,
standing before the throne of God and of the Lamb, that's the
only hope they had. We're jumping ahead of ourselves,
but in answer to the question, John, who are they? Where did
they come from? Why are they here? They washed
their robes white in the blood of the Lamb is the only answer
and is the only reason. Just down the road from the house,
If I remember correctly, out in front of that big church near
the highway, what's it called, Valley View Church, they have
a sign that says, this blood's for you. This blood's for you. I couldn't help but wonder when
I drove by, I wonder what effect that has on anybody. This blood's
for you? You mean it was as much for Judas
as it was for Peter? So what then, Lester? So what? Where's the preciousness of that?
Where's the value of that? Where's the merit of that? If
he shed his blood for people who end up in hell, of what use
is it? What good did it do? Oh, but
thank God, that's not so. Christ will not prove to be a
failure. His death was not a fruitless
death. His grace is not useless, and
neither is His precious blood. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. All sin, Louie. Thank God it
bettered. If it didn't, no man will be
saved, but thank God it did. It was effectual. And so is His
grace. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15,
I am what I am. by the grace of God. I'm not
what I used to be. I'm not that blasphemer. I'm
not that deceived Pharisee. I'm not that Christ rejecter. I'm not that anymore. I am what
I am by the grace of God. His grace has made a change in
me. It was effectual. And Paul said
exactly that. And his grace which was given
unto me was not in vain. It wasn't useless. It accomplished
its purpose. And so did his death upon the
cross. Writing to the church at Philippi,
Paul told them this good news. And it's true of all God's people. Take this promise to heart, believer. It's for you too. He that's begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. This is what we read of. In Revelation
7, this is a picture of the sure triumph of the crucified one. Again, the question, who are
these? Who are these? A multitude that
no man could number, in verse 7. Four things, four ways in
which they're described or we're told about them. They stood before
the throne. They stood before the throne
of God and of the land. Chapter 6, we read it just a
moment ago. They cried, hide us from the
face of him that sets upon the throne. But here's this multitude. They stand before the throne.
They stand in the very presence of God. And they usher no such
prayer. They make no such cry. They don't
say hide us. It's their delight to be before
the throne of God. They find delight being in the
presence of God. They stand there unafraid. undisturbed,
the very opposite of those in chapter 6. It's their eternal,
I like that, their eternal everlasting joy to be in the presence of
God and of the Lamb. and of the Lamb. Oh yes, you
see, unlike those in Revelation 6, this multitude stand before
God and the Lamb because the Lamb is their mediator. They
have a mediator between man and God and that's the man Christ
Jesus. As he said to his disciples,
no man comes to the Father except by a man. No man can be reconciled
to God except by me. No man can come to God except
he come by me. I'm the way and I'm the truth
and I'm the light. Therefore are they before the
throne of God. They come there through and because
of and on the merits and the worth of the Lamb of God. That's
why they're there. and they delight to have it so. They realize now literally the
truth of that hymn, near, so very near to God. Oh yes, in
the person of His dear Son, as near as He. But this is a picture
of being in the literal presence of our Redeemer. Being with Him. With Him. With Him. Oh, what will that be? And then
notice a second thing they have in common. Not only do they share
the same position before the throne of God and of the Lamb,
but they're all dressed the same. Their clothes were told in white
robes. Not only in the same place, but
in the same dress. No degrees of reward. at teaching so popular, so widespread,
so embraced, it's really not humorous. But I declare, when
I hear that, hear someone that believes that, that declares
that, I think, degrees of reward. Here's a sinner redeemed by the
blood of Christ, a sinner called by God's grace, a sinner kept,
Preserved, a sinner brought to glory, thoroughly washed, without
spot or blemish or any such thing, likened to the Son of God, made
likened to Him who was flesh of their flesh and bone of their
bones. My soul, what more could they
want? What more reward could there
be than that? Oh no, that's smacks of man's
pride. That's smacks of works and self-righteousness. Oh no, those before the throne,
there's no degrees. They're all dressed exactly the
same. They're dressed in the perfect. The perfect. Who says so? Who says it's perfect? God says
it's perfect. God won't accept anything less
than perfect. Dressed in the perfect, absolute
righteousness of the Son of God Himself. God made Him to be sin
for us, Paul said. And He did, did He not? But that's
only half the verse. That we might be made the very
righteousness of God in Him. He who knew no sin was made sin
with this certain fruit, that we be made the righteousness
of God in him." And here they are, dressed in the perfect righteousness,
the robe of the Son of God himself, found in him. Paul said at one
time, at one time, I spent my life weaving my own robe of righteousness
before the Holy God. I thought it would be enough.
I thought it would be sufficient. I labored. There was a lot of
work and effort and sweat. Man-made went into the making
of that robe. I was a Pharisee of Pharisees,
holding the tradition of the fathers, blameless. Oh, but that which I counted
to be so precious to me, once I saw it in the light of God's
absolute righteousness, His absolute holiness, I saw it for what it
really was. It was worthless. It was done. And by His grace, I cast it aside. What do you trust now, Paul?
If you cast that all aside, what do you have now? What will recommend
you to God now? How can you expect to be accepted
before that God now? He's still holy. He still demands
perfection. What's your hope now, Paul? And
he says, on Christ the solid rock I stand. I'm robed in the
righteousness of Jesus Christ. I'm found in Oh, bound in the
righteousness of Christ. And notice this third thing.
Not only do they share the same position before the throne, dress
the same in the perfect righteousness of Christ, but they all have
palms in their hands, we read in verse 7, or a palm branch,
a token, a symbol of victory. The battle's over. The victory
is won. Mr. Gill, in his commentary,
said that palm tree is such that the more weight is placed upon
it, the straighter it grows. The captain, the captain of our
salvation, steers the vessel of grace. We don't have our hand
upon the wheel. Oh no, it's steered by the captain
of our salvation. And the captain of our salvation,
the scriptures declare, he has his way in the whirlwind and
in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. So when the captain says, let
us pass over into the other side, I expect that we shall, by his
grace, pass over unto the other side. We have the evidence of
it? The picture of it here in Revelation
chapter 7. Whatever my lot thou hast taught
me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. Look at verse 10. And this multitude
before the throne, with the palm branch, robed in white robes,
sing the same song. They cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God, it's from Him, it's of Him, which
setteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. They give all the glory
to Him from whom they received all the grace. There's not a
note Thank God. There's not a note praising anything
about man's merit, man's worth, man's will. No, no, no. All of this song is composed
of is the grace of God in Christ the Lamb. They all sing to His
glory, His worth, and His merit. They see now as they never saw
before, and they cry, He's worthy. He's precious. He's glorious. There's not one worm there bragging
on another worm, as Brother Henry Mahan said. One sinner bragging
on another. Henry said it's like one worm
bragging on another worm. Brother Lloyd told me this afternoon
that Lonnie asked him how he was feeling and Brother Lloyd
told me, he responded, I'm just a worm on steroids. I can't hardly get that picture
out of my head. A worm on steroids. That's his
medication. But still, but still a worm. Oh, and there's no bragging on
such inglorious. Oh no, they give all the glory
to Him. Again, verse 13, the question,
John, who are these? Who are they? I mean, what a
marvel! What a sight! What a miracle! What a demonstration of God's
sufficient, mighty, ruling, reigning grace in the person of His Son. John, who are these people? Where did they come from? Can
you imagine one of them answering, why are you here? Well, because
they made a decision for Jesus. That produced this, or they were
baptized. They were taken to the fount
as a child and sprinkled. Now they belong to God. That
accomplished this? Oh, no. No, no, no. Remember,
this is a display, an evidence of the crucified Christ, the
triumph, the travail of His soul. And we learn that Christ will
have a glorious crown on Him. Oh yes, this multitude are the
many jewels of redeemed sinners that make up the crown that sets
only upon one head, and that is Christ. Upon His head alone,
we're told, were many crowns. Oh, with this in mind, with this
picture in our mind's eye. Recall again the words from Isaiah
53. He shall see it to reveal up
his soul. By my knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear. He shall bear them
successfully like the scapegoat completely away. He'll take away
the sins of all of his people affectionately forever, never
to be found again. Hallelujah, what a Savior. He said, I came down from heaven.
People say, what was the purpose of the Son of Man? What did He
attempt to do? He didn't attempt to do anything.
No, He does it. And He says it very plainly,
as plainly as words could express it in John 6. I came down from
heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the will of Him that sent me. Of all which He
had given me, I should lose nothing. I should lose none, but raise
them up at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me. that of all which he hath given me, I should lose
none. All that the Father giveth me,
he said, shall come to me. They'll come to me. They will
hear the voice of the Great Shepherd, and they won't resist. Oh, no,
no. I'll break down their will to
resist, and they'll come to me when they hear my voice. They're
going to respond. I'll give them a new heart. They'll
respond to the call of my mighty grace and they'll follow me.
They'll prove that they've heard my voice calling because they'll
turn and they'll follow me. And they'll follow me in life.
and they'll follow me through death, and they'll follow me
to the very throne of God Almighty. Wherever the lamb is, that's
where all the sheep are gonna be. Yes, they'll follow me. This picture of the multitude
before the throne proves what we read this morning or referred
to. He is able to save to the uttermost
all, all, that come unto God by him, even this multitude that
none can number. And now verse 14, the elder answers
the question that he put forth to John. Who are these arrayed
in white robes, and whence came they? Where did they come from? These are they which came out
of great tribulation. In the world, our Lord told his
disciples, he shall have tribulation, persecutions from without, trials
from within. The true Christian life is a
warfare. The path to the throne requires
stepping on the thorn. The way to the crown is by the
cross. We must taste the gall before
the glory, and this is the way God leads all His redeemed, but
He leads them by His grace. This is a testimony to the power
of His grace. What a battle! What a warfare! But as I've said before, look,
all those enlisted under the banner of Christ, none have perished. Bless her, that's amazing. Considering
what we are by nature, the battle must be his. The victory must
be his. Satan is vanquished. All Christ's
enemies are destroyed. Sin is subdued, as we read of
in Micah chapter 7. Who is it God, the prophet said,
likened to our God, that pardoneth iniquity, He shall subdue our
sins. Oh, now that's salvation, Louie. That's salvation. Not a bigger
reward or mansion or degree of whatever. Oh no, my sins are
subdued. My sins are gone. Mr. Spurgeon made this statement. He said when we're in glory,
the blood of Jesus Christ will have so effectually removed all
of our sins that it shall be seen that we have not ultimately
suffered any loss or any damage through having sin. Now that's a pretty big statement.
That's a pretty big statement. He said it will be proven and
it will be seen that we have not suffered any damage or loss
through having sin. Mr. Spurgeon, where did you come
up with that? From the Word of God. He's exactly
right. This is what Jude said, to him
who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless. Me? He's going to present me
faultless? Oh, the work must be by grace. It must be His work because that's
more than I could ever do, present you faultless before the throne
of His glory. Look in chapter 14 of Revelation. Again, a description, a picture
of this multitude in Revelation verse 5. Chapter 14 verse 5. It says concerning the redeemed,
and in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without
fault before the throne of God. They are without fault before
the throne of God. My soul, what grace. What matchless grace is that,
that can produce such an outcome. Some through the waters and some
through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the
blood. And look what the blood accomplishes. Look at verses 16 and 17 back
in Revelation chapter 7. We're told, They shall hunger
no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on
them, nor any heat. Why? Because of the Lamb. Everything's because of the Lamb.
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed
them. Feed them. Oh, with grace and
glory shall feed them and shall lead them. Lead them unto living
fountains of waters. And God God shall. Whatever follows that word will
be accomplished because it's God doing it. God shall. And listen to what it says God
shall do. He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Whatever
makes you weep now, child of God, He's gonna wipe it away. He'll wipe away the cause. No
sin. No heartache, no bitterness. God wipes away all tears from
their eyes. Glorious, glorious redeemer.
What a wonder. A multitude of redeemed sinners.
I think I see Moses there. Elijah there. They appeared with
our Lord when he was on earth on the Mount of Transfiguration.
They are there. David, the sweet psalmist, is
there. James is there. John is there. Peter's there. Our Lord said,
you can't follow me now, Peter, but you'll follow me afterwards.
Paul is there. Paul said, for me to live is
Christ and to die is gain. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. And I hope I'm sincere and honest
in what I'm about to say. The greatest wonder to me is
not all those that I mentioned being there, but the greatest
wonder of all, when I see that great multitude that no man can
number. And I see the greatest sinner
I've ever been acquainted with there, a rebel, a stout-hearted
rebel, by the name of Larry Kreis, who said, I will not come. I
will not battle. You will not rule over me. And King Jesus said, oh yes I
will. He wouldn't leave me alone. I'm
so thankful that he would not leave me alone. He brought me
to himself. And there's that sinner, standing
with the rest, right before the throne of the Lamb. clothed just
like they are in the righteousness of Christ, waving the palm leaf
of victory just in the midst of the rest, and crying with
a loud voice, oh, I feel like I should sing louder than anybody.
Worthy is the Lamb. Salvation to our God which sat
us upon the throne and unto the Lamb. forever, forever. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention.