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May 2, 2004
4th Sunday Easter
John 10:22-30
Pastor Ben Berger

Stand before the Throne of God

Why do you want to go to heaven? I'm assuming you all want to go to heaven, but why? Is it because that's what you're supposed to want or because that's what your parents taught you to want? Is it because you think that's the best place to be or because you're afraid of the worst place to be? Today through John's revelation God will give us a glimpse into heaven and hopefully a good reason for wanting to go there. The next question is - how do you plan to get there? God's word will also tell us how to get to heaven. As we study his word the Holy Spirit will show us how we will have the opportunity to Stand before the throne of God 1) to receive God's blessings and 2) to bless God.

Let's begin by painting the picture of John's revelation. In verse nine John wrote, "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." Remember that this is a revelation. The picture is not meant to show us what heaven will LOOK like, but to help us understand what heaven will BE like. Now use your imagination to see what John saw. At the center is a throne, perhaps elevated above all else. God the Father sits on the throne; he is the final authority. At the right hand of the throne is the Lamb, Jesus Christ. This is the Lamb who sacrificed himself and gave his blood to pay for the sins of the world. God and the Lamb are in the center.

Many others surround the throne. Four living creatures form the first circle around the throne. One looks like a lion, one like an ox, one like an eagle and one like a man; they each have six wings and eyes all over. Around the four living creatures are twenty-four elders. They are seated on smaller thrones, dressed in white with crowns of gold on their heads. Around the elders stand thousands of thousands of angels. Finally, there are those dressed in white robes. What a sight! The light and the sounds and the jewels only add more.

One of the elders helped John understand what he was observing. He asked two key questions in verse thirteen. First, "these in white robes - who are they?" Second, "Where did they come from?" John did not offer any answers, but simply waited for the elder to explain. He began by answering the second question. Where did these white robes come from?

"These are they who have come out of the great tribulation," (14). What do you think is the great tribulation? Isn't it life in this world? Don't we want to go to heaven to get out of this world? to escape the problems of this world? Our world and our lives are full of sin; sin brings tribulation. Think about the consequences of sin in our world. Famines, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars. Broken homes, broken relationships, broken lives. Financial debts, financial woes, financial worries. False teachers, false churches and persecution of the true church. Who here hasn't experienced some or all of these consequences of sin in our lives? This world is the great tribulation because of sin.

The worst part is that sin also invades us personally. Not only do we have to deal with the consequences of sin all around us, we also have to deal with the sin inside of us. When we each personally look at God's law, we see our sin. We know that we have despised God's word; we know that we have harbored hateful thoughts toward others. We know that we have lusted after the opposite sex and desire what belonged to someone else. We know that we have sinned and the guilt is eating away at us. Guilt usually hits of one of two ways. Some of us try to hide our guilt with pride; we continually boast about ourselves and our accomplishments to avoid all thought of our failures. The rest of us despair and allow the guilt to make us think we are unloved and unlovable. No wonder we want to go to heaven. Heaven is the NO place - no sin, no problems, no worries, no tribulation. Those who stand around the throne in white robes have come out of the great tribulation. How? Who are they? Who are these white robes?

The elder explained at the end of verse fourteen, "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." The white robes did not always look like that. They used to look like we do. They were covered in the filth of their own sin. Guilt and shame covered their bodies. Even their "good deeds" were as filthy as dirty rags. But, they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

The Lamb, our Good Shepherd, saw our sin and did something about it. He knew that no one could ever stand before the throne of God covered in sin. He knew that no one had the ability to wash away his own sin. The Lamb had the only solvent that would wash away sin, the blood of a perfect sacrifice. The Lamb had lived a life without sin; his wool was still perfectly white and would make a perfectly clean robe. So, the Lamb offered his blood on the cross. The blood of the Lamb washed away the sins of the world. And to all who believed he offered his perfect robe of righteousness. Jesus Christ is that Lamb at the center of the throne on the right hand of God.

Those standing around the throne and the Lamb in white robes are all who believed in the Lamb. They recognized their sin, felt sorry for their sin and repented of their sin. They turned away from their sin and looked to the Lamb for mercy. They believed that his blood paid for their sins; they asked to wear his perfect robe. They wanted to stand before the throne of God because they realized how much God loved them - so much that he would give his own life to be with them. We, and all who confess Jesus as Savior, are those wearing the white robes. You're looking at a picture of yourself. The Lamb died for you; his blood covers your sins. He wants you to be with him standing before the throne of God to receive blessings from God.

Even though God has already blessed us with his son, he reserves many more blessings for us in heaven. God blesses us even more through the Lamb, who now becomes our Good Shepherd. First, our Good Shepherd will live with us. He will "spread his tent" over us. He will protect us. We will not have to fight off temptations from Satan, the world or our own sinful flesh. We will not have to deal with any of the tribulation of this world. We will not have to feel the guilt of sin. He will also provide for us. Never again will we hunger or thirst. Never again will the sun beat upon us. We will not have to struggle to survive, to work for food or to strain to pay the bills. The Lamb, our loving shepherd, will lead us to springs of living water. We will have all we need. And God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. These are the blessings awaiting us in heaven; they are why we want to go to heaven. We want to stand before the throne of God and in front of the Lamb who saved us from our sins and offers us every blessing.

This revelation of John not only pictures what God has done for us, but also how we will respond. Let's refresh the picture. God the Father is sitting at the center on his throne; the Lamb is also in the center at the right hand of God. Then there are circles around the throne of the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, thousands of angels and then us, the white robes. What are we and all believers doing?

We are holding palm branches and crying out, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb," (10). We are worshipping God; we are blessing him. When we finally get to heaven we will offer thanks to God and the Lamb for all the blessings he has given us. We will acknowledge that salvation comes only from our God.

Did you catch that? "Salvation belongs to our God," and only to our God and the Lamb. There is only one name among men by which we must be saved, Jesus Christ. This is the same Jesus that Paul confessed in our reading from Acts. It is the same Jesus that was crucified, died and was buried. It is the same Jesus that God raised from the dead. This same Jesus, the Lamb of God, is the only one who could offer salvation. Only his blood covers our sins; only his perfect life gives us a white robe of righteousness. Therefore, we offer praise only to God and to the Lamb.

The angels agree with a loud AMEN! They also bless God with us. They fall on their faces and proclaim, "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!" (12). The angels offer the highest of all praise to God. Everything belongs to him. The angels rejoice over every sinner that repents and in faith puts on the white robe. They offer their love and thanks to God for the salvation he gives through the Lamb.

Because we have seen how the Lamb offered himself for us, we too want to worship God and the Lamb. We want to go to heaven to stand before the throne of God to offer our praise. That's why God made us; that's why God saved us. We also want to thank Jesus for giving his life for us. I'm sure there will be other things to do in heaven than worship, but I'm also sure that all of it will give glory to God.

We don't need to wait to get to heaven to worship and give glory to God and the Lamb. Already the Lamb forgives our sins and covers us with his white robe. Already God lives among us in Word and Sacrament. Already he protects us, provides for us and shepherds us, leading us to green pastures and springs of living waters. Already we can offer our praise with the angels and all who have gone before us. Already we stand before the throne of God to receive his blessings and to bless him.