Revelation 7:13-14 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and from where came they?… I. THE TEMPLE HERE SPOKEN OF. It is a heavenly temple; a holy place, standing not on this perishable world, but on the everlasting hills of heaven. All other temples have been erected by man, but this temple has been built by Jehovah Himself, to be the eternal dwelling place of His Church, and the seat of His own glorious throne. The most glowing descriptions that language can convey, and the most exalted conceptions to which our imaginations can reach, fall infinitely short of that dazzling splendour which fills the courts of the living God. The world which we inhabit, though defiled by sin and under the curse of God, has yet so much beauty and magnificence in it, that we are often delighted and astonished as we contemplate its scenes. What, then, must be the glory of that world which has never felt the polluting touch of sin, which was prepared before the foundations of the earth were laid? Happy are they who dwell in such a templet Blessed is the man who is but a doorkeeper in such a house! II. THE HAPPY BEINGS WHO ARE THE WORSHIPPERS IN THIS SPLENDID TEMPLE. 1. The former condition of these worshippers. (1) It was an earthly condition. They were not, like the angels, always in this house. They were natives of an apostate world. (2) Their condition, too, was a sinful one. There is not one among them who was not a transgressor while on earth, and who has not to this very hour a remembrance of his guilt. (3) They were also in an afflicted condition. Many of them came here out of a state of peculiar distress and suffering. 2. Their present condition. (1) It is a state of peace, a state of freedom from pain and sorrow. The billows of adversity which once filled them with fear still swell and rage, but they are all raging far beneath them, and can never again toss them with their waves. (2) It is also a state of purity. "They have washed their robes," etc. They were indeed continually contracting fresh defilement as long as they remained on earth, and were constrained to wash again and again in the same fountain that cleansed them at first; but if this fountain had left the unpardoned guilt of only one sin upon their souls, that one sin would have disqualified them for the pure services of the habitation of God, and have barred for ever its sacred doors against them. This free and full pardon of sin is not, however, the only blessing which the heavenly worshippers have obtained through the blood of the Lamb. The same fountain that freed them from the guilt of sin, washed away sin itself, and freed them from its power. Not that they were at once brought into this state of perfect purity. Years passed away before some of them were completely sanctified, and made meet to minister among the saints in light; and they were all harassed to their dying hour, in a greater or less degree, with the struggling corruptions of their evil hearts. But sin could not follow them beyond the grave. (3) The state of these worshippers in the temple of God is one of triumph. They have "palms in their hands." 3. The greatness of their number. Satan does not number among his subjects all the inhabitants of our globe. The Redeemer has a people on the earth. Who can tell how many an humble Christian has been travelling to the land of rest, while almost all around him, and even the honoured instrument that first turned his soul to God, have been ignorant of his faith?Lesson: 1. The gospel of Christ does not promise to its followers any exemption from the calamities of life. 2. How great is the contrast between the present and the future condition of the followers of Jesus! 3. A loud call to self-examination. (C. Bradley, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? |
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