Revelation 7:9-17 Two Questions about All Saints - November 6, 2022

In the words of the Nicene Creed we confessed that “we believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church.” There is only one Christian church. This is true in two senses. First, in the sense that despite the fact that Satan has sown countless doctrinal and, as a result, denominational divisions in Christ’s Church, in the eyes of God, there remains only one Church: that is, the Church consists of all who believe in Jesus as their Savior – regardless of their denominational label. There is also only one Church in the sense that all believers of all time – past, present and future – belong to one Church – although it consists of two distinct divisions: the Church militant – those still living, struggling, and suffering in this fallen world; and, the Church triumphant – those whom the Lord has rescued from this fallen world and now live in God’s presence in the glory of heaven. Revelation 7 speaks of both, but today we focus on the latter, the Church triumphant, and the two questions our text raises about them.

The first is: where are they now? When you lose someone you love, don’t you ask yourself that question? Where is the person you loved and laughed and lived with for so many years? If you were forced to answer that question right now, what would you say? You’ve heard the world’s sentimental (and mystical) answer, right? They’re not six feet under; they’re not in heaven; they’re in your heart. Whether it’s a Disney movie or a television drama – or even an interview with someone who’s mourning the loss of a loved one – they all seem to be convinced that when people die, they don’t go away; they go in here (your heart).

You can understand why that belief would be attractive, can’t you? No ugly grave; no pressure to consider that this person you loved, who was formed from dust, is now returning to dust because they had earned the wages of sin – which is death (Genesis 3:19; Romans 6:23). No, none of that ugly stuff, just the pleasant memories you hold in your heart. People hold to that belief because it seems comforting. It excuses you from having to explain to your children the harsh realities of death; of heaven and hell. It’s a way of avoiding the nasty little fact that death has created a permanent loss; that as long as you live, you will never see, speak to, or hug that person again. But is it really comforting to believe that your loved ones are only living on in your heart and memory? Certainly we can remember notable events and quotes from their lives, we can dust off the photo albums – and today, we can even watch little clips of their lives recorded on our smart phones. But is that eternal life? If it is, then our great, great grandparents are eternally lost – because who remembers them now? Many who have lost loved ones are incredibly troubled when they find that they can’t remember the sound of their loved one’s voice anymore. Is that loved one lost when you can’t remember their voice or the photo album burned up in a fire or Google didn’t actually save that one precious video? Is there any comfort in believing that our loved ones only live on in our hearts?

Where are they now? Outright unbelief – as articulated today by the theory of evolution – has an answer, too. They’re just buried six feet deep or, as is more and more common today, contained in an urn. Either a furnace has burned them to dust or they are well on their way to dust. They will never be seen, heard, or touched again. Unbelief says that we are nothing but a random blend of chemicals and minerals. There is no mind – just a collection of brain cells. There is no heart that loves – only hormones that make you feel a certain way. There is no eternal soul – only a physical body that ceases to be once its organs shut down. Again, is there any comfort to be found there? In thinking that the people you truly did love were really only dust in the wind (and so are you!) and this brief moment of life we experience together is all we get? I don’t think so. But that’s not even the most important question. The most important question is: is it true?

Well, let’s go to the source of truth: God’s Word? Now, our knee-jerk reaction might be to say, “Well, whatever the unbelievers believe, we believe the opposite.” That is, unbelief points at the grave or the urn, and says, “There and there alone is your loved one. Buried six feet under or burned up by fire.” And we’re tempted to say the opposite: “That’s not them anymore.” But it is. That’s why the patriarchs in the OT purchased caves in which to bury their loved ones (Genesis 23:12-20). That’s why the Church has always carefully cared for the bodies of the dead. That’s why many Christian churches have their own cemeteries. That’s why we spend a small fortune on funerals and headstones. They serve as tangible confessions of our faith that this isn’t the end of the body that rests there; that they are only sleeping, awaiting God’s final creative – or maybe better, recreative – act: the bodily resurrection of the dead.

Those lifeless remains are your loved one. Their DNA says so. More importantly, God’s Word says so. Job testified that even after my skin has been destroyed, nevertheless, in my own flesh I will see God. I myself will see him. My own eyes will see him, and not as a stranger (Job 19:26-27). Jesus proved it by physically raising the dead during his ministry (Luke 7:11-17; 8:49-56; John 11:1-44) and again on the day of his death; when the moment he gave up his spirit…tombs were opened, and many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised to life (Matthew 27:50, 52). You didn’t just love a soul – you loved a body. And so did God. That’s why he didn’t just send his Son into the world to redeem souls but bodies; that’s why Jesus lived, suffered, died and rose with a physical body. God created us with bodies and souls, and the fact that he promises to raise our ashes to life means that our loved ones are there in the grave or urn we laid them in.

But the Bible says more than that. It says that our loved ones who died in faith are also in heaven. Again, that’s not my opinion; that’s God’s Word. Just as Jesus told the thief on the cross today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43), so the countless multitude stands around God’s throne in paradise. As the Jews were pelting the life out of Stephen’s body with stones, he cried out Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! (Acts 7:59). That’s where your loved one who died in the faith is right now: with Jesus. Just as you stand before Jesus here in the church militant singing his praise, so Revelation shows our loved ones standing before the throne of God, singing: salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb.

But there is a difference. They have escaped the great tribulation called life on this earth; you haven’t. You get hungry; they don’t. You get thirsty; they don’t. The sun beats down on you – that is, many things make life on this earth hard for you as a result of sin’s curse (Genesis 3); there’s no hardship in heaven. You cry; they don’t. God doesn’t just wipe away the tears from their cheeks – as we do; he wipes the tears from their eyes – meaning, he takes away any reason they could have for tears. Isn’t the Bible’s answer in Revelation to the question “where are they now” infinitely better than the baseless, mystic sentimentality of the world or the cold and comfortless answer of unbelief?

But that brings us to the second question: “how did they get there?” – and, relatedly, “how do I get there?” Once again, the world and unbelief have their answers. The world says that the dead live on in your hearts. How do they get there? By doing memorable things. By writing novels and starring in movies; by scoring touchdowns and pitching perfect games; by sacrificing for others and donating hospital wings. The reality is that our children will never really know or care about Bart Starr or Rollie Fingers; they will probably never read Mark Twain or watch Gone with the Wind; and, honestly, who even notices the names on the plaques that cover the walls of the hospital you’re walking into? If such famous and impactful people can be so easily forgotten or ignored, what hope do you or I have to live on eternally in the memories of other people by virtue of our words and actions?

Unbelief claims that the dead are gone. That once the chemicals and minerals which evolution arranged that enabled you to think, move and talk stopped sparking and moving, that’s it. Here’s the thing: do you know anyone who actually believes that? The idea of an afterlife has appeared in every civilization that has ever existed. That’s not a coincidence, Solomon says that [God] has put eternity in [every human heart] (Ecclesiastes 3:11). And most believe that there is a good afterlife and a bad one. And what gets you into the good one? Good works. Effort. Blood, sweat and tears. Good people and those who die a hero’s death go to a good afterlife. It’s in songs and books and movies. You hear it at funerals: “They worked hard, were a good mom or dad or brother or sister, they loved to help others – and, so, now they’re in a better place.”

Is that what you want people to say at your funeral? I don’t. Because if the requirement for getting into heaven depends on me being a good person, a loving husband, a caring father, a faithful pastor – then I’m toast – and so are all of my, and your, loved ones who have died. If you doubt this, just compare the names listed in Hebrews 11 – the so-called Hall of Fame of Faith – to their OT biographical accounts. They were far from “saints” during their lives on earth; they were liars and deceivers, murderers and prostitutes. If getting into heaven depends on good works, pure thoughts and loving words – where does that leave your grandparents and parents? Where does that leave you and me? On the outside looking in. It leaves you looking at the headstone and remembering the time grandma let a naughty word slip and thinking that maybe she didn’t have what it takes to get into heaven.

Thank God for Revelation 7. What does it say? Does it say: “These are the ones who have made their dirty robes white by the good works they did on earth?” Does it say: “These are the ones who earned a place there by their unshakable faith, bold confession and tireless efforts in God’s kingdom on earth?” Does it even say: “These are the ones who confessed their faith to the point of death so that their blood made their robes white?” No, it says they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

That the saints in heaven did good works on earth is undeniable. But their good works didn’t get them into heaven. No one, not any of your loved ones or any of mine; not even any of the famous saints like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Peter or Paul had possessed the righteousness needed to stand in God’s presence on their own. So how did they get into heaven? The same way your Christian loved ones did and the same way you will. Through the blood of the Lamb; through the blood Jesus shed for your sins on the cross; through the blood he poured out which covers your sinful life. It’s the blood of Jesus that washes away any and every sinful stain on your robe. Even if someone you know who died in the faith hurt you in a way you struggle to forgive and forget – Jesus can and Jesus did. Even if you hurt a loved one and never had the chance to repent and receive their forgiveness – Jesus can and Jesus did. No sin can stick to a robe that has been washed white through faith in the blood of the Lamb – and that’s the only reason that that great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, could be standing in front of the throne and of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches in their hands – including your loved ones and mine. If you want to see them again, then know this: the blood of the Lamb is the key. This is the blood he puts in the water of baptism for sinners; the blood he uses to wipe your slate clean in the words of Absolution; the blood he gives in Holy Communion to sinners to drink – for forgiveness and, therefore, eternal life and salvation.

On All Saints’ Day, Revelation 7 answers the two big questions we have regarding those who have died in the faith: where are they now and how did they get there? Right now their bodies are resting in the ground awaiting resurrection and the souls are singing God’s praises in heaven – and they got there by his good works and the blood he shed which was offered to them and received by them in baptism, absolution and communion. And, as a bonus, now you know how you can join them there. Amen.