J.C. RYLE
"These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:14-17)
This is a very glorious account, and yet we need not wonder, for it was a vision of heavenly things. You may call it a short glimpse within the veil which separated this world from the world to come. We read in the verses before our text, that the apostle John saw in the spirit a great multitude which no man could number, clothed with white robes, and bearing palms in their hands, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. And not knowing himself who or what these might be, he received information from one of the elders (or chief angels), and was told in the words you have heard, that these were the blessed company of all faithful people, the redeemed out of every nation and kindred and tongue, the true children of God, the heirs of everlasting salvation.
I propose this morning to consider fully the account which this elder gave. I counsel you, beloved, to search and see what you know of it in your own selves. The day shall come when the sun shall become black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon shall become as blood, and the stars of heaven shall fall unto the earth, and those who are strangers to the character described in our text shall find it had been better for them if they had never been born. Blessed are those who are not ashamed to confess that they seek a more abiding city than this world, even a heavenly one, and count all things loss if they can only win Christ and be found in Him.
Now there are three points to be examined in our text. I. First, where did these saints come from, whom John saw. II. Second, how they had been able to reach the place where he saw them.
III. Third and last, what was their reward.
I. First, then, we learn that God's saints have come out of great tribulation. That is, they have come out of a world full of sin and danger, a world in which they have so much to encounter which is hurtful to their souls that you may truly call it a place of great tribulation. How strange that seems! This earth so fair and lovely as it appears, so full of everything to make life enjoyable; this earth on which millions set all their affections and have not a thought beyond it—is a wilderness beset with trials and difficulties to every true believer. Write this down on the tablet of your memory, that if you make up your mind to follow Christ and have your soul saved, you will sooner or later have to go through great tribulation.
Brethren, why are these things so? Because the WORLD you live in is a fallen world, the devil is the prince of it, and by far the greater part of the men and women in it have shut their eyes and given themselves up to his service. Once become a follower of Christ, you will see iniquity abounding on every side, you will see your blessed Savior's laws trampled under foot, you will find the immense majority of those around you to be spiritually dark, sleeping and dead—some altogether thoughtless, some resting on a form of godliness without the power; and if you love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, to see your Redeemer thus despised, will make the world a place of tribulation.
But this is not all. The earthly-minded, the thoughtless, will never let you hold on your way in peace. Oh no! you are condemning their practices and fashions, you are a witness against their deadness and neglect of true religion; and so if you set your face towards Zion they will try to turn you back. Perhaps it will be laughter, perhaps it will be hard words. One day they will accuse you of pride, another of self-conceit; sometimes they will annoy you with arguments, sometimes they will avoid your company—but, one way or another, you will soon discover that the worldly-minded will never let you go quietly to heaven. You cannot please them. You may exercise yourself like Paul to have a conscience void of offence towards all men; it matters not, you cannot serve the Lord and Mammon, and if you walk with God, you will find your way is spoken against by nearly all.
And then there is your own HEART—deceitful, treacherous, and cold—the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit warring with the flesh; your readiness to make excuses, your deadness in the use of means, your wandering thought in prayer, your lack of faith in in times of sorrow, your presumptuous self-confidence in time of joy. O Christian, you have an enemy within which needs your constant watchfulness; you have a fountain of trials in your own bosom; you will have daily occasion to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts.
And add to this those CARES which you have in common with all children of Adam—sickness, disease and pain, the loss of property, the unkindness of friends, the daily toil for a livelihood, the fear of poverty, the many nameless causes of anxiety which every week almost brings round—and say whether it be not true that all God's people come out of great tribulation. They must deny themselves, they must take up the cross, they must reckon on many a trial, if they would enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mark well, beloved, this truth—the path to glory has been always filled with thorns; it is the experience of all those holy men who have left us an example that we should walk in their steps: Abraham, and Jacob, and Moses, and David, and Job, and Daniel, there was not one of them who was not perfected through sufferings.
We are all too much disposed to think a time may come when we shall have a season of repose and not be harassed with these vexations and disappointments. Almost everyone supposes he is tried more than his neighbors—but let us not be deceived—this earth is not our rest; it is a place for working, not for sleeping. Here is the reason that so many run well for a time, and seem to have the love of Christ in their hearts, and yet, when persecution or affliction arises for the word's sake, they fall away. They had not counted the cost; they had reckoned on the reward without the labor; they had forgotten this most important point in the character of God's saints, "they are men who have come out of great tribulation."
This seems a hard saying—but I would have you know these heavy trials are laid on us for the most wise and merciful purposes. We live in such a fair and pleasant world, we are so surrounded with so much that is smiling and mirthful, that if we were not often obliged to taste of sickness and trial or disappointments, we would forget our heavenly home, and pitch our tents in this Sodom. This is why God's people pass through great tribulations. This is why they are often called upon to suffer the sting of affliction and anxiety—or weep over the grave of those whom they have loved as their own soul. It is their Father's hand which chastens them! It is thus He weans their affections from things below—and fixes them on Himself! It is thus He trains them for eternity, and cuts the threads one by one which bind their wavering hearts to earth.
No doubt such chastening is grievous for the time—but still it brings many a hidden grace to light, and cuts down many a secret seed of evil. We shall see those who have suffered most shining among the brightest stars in the assembly of heaven. The purest gold is that which has been longest in the refiner's furnace. The brightest diamond is often that which has required the most grinding and polishing. "For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory!"
The saints are men who have come out of great tribulation, they are never left to perish in it; the last night of weeping will soon be spent, the last wave of trouble will have rolled over us, and then we shall have a peace which passes all understanding; we shall be at home forever with the Lord. I repeat, this seems at first sight a hard saying; and yet it is a true one. Count up the enemies which encompass the children of God—the world with its unkindnesses or its snares and seductions; the flesh with its unceasing backwardness and indifference to the Lord's service; thedevil with his arts and devices—and see whether you could give a more correct picture of the saints' experience than may be found in the words, "these are those who came out of great tribulation." An unconverted man may not understand this, and a thoughtless man may not consider it; they neither know nor care about this spiritual conflict; it is foolishness to them—but those who are born again, and have learned the value of their own souls, can set to their seals that it is all true.
II. The second question rising out of the text is this: "How did these shining ones reach that blessed place where John saw them?" Think not it was their own righteousness which brought salvation, and their own strength which upheld them. The cross will surely lead to the crown—but the cross will never deserve it; not all the tears which they have shed, not all the patience they have shown in tribulation, could ever avail to make atonement for transgression—or wash away one single sin. What says the apostle? "They have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!" They have not been ashamed to acknowledge their iniquities, and they have laid them all before the Lord Jesus Christ, and for His cross and sufferings, and for His righteousness' sake, they have sought a free forgiveness, and they have found it. Lay this to heart, all you who are wise in your own eyes and holy in your own sight. No doubt there were prophets and righteous men of old, men who had wrought miracles and given their bodies to be burned, men who had been valiant for the truth even unto death, in that great multitude which John beheld—but none came boasting of his own attainments and clothed in his own apparel—they were all washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb!
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