A PERSEVERING HOPE

October 29, 2014

A PERSEVERING HOPE

Revelation 7:9–17

Whitney Warren

Central Truth

There is coming a day when all who have been redeemed through Christ's blood shed on the cross will worship Him, fully forgiven, and completely satisfied in Him.

"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
(Revelation 7:16-17)

A Great Multitude from Every Nation

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
    the sun shall not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

I just told you in the bio that I love Colorado summers, which is true. But ya'll need to know there is one Colorado outdoor activity that is less appealing to me, and that is hiking. My family goes every summer, and hiking is one thing that I have a love/hate relationship with. Hiking is hard! I find myself staring at the ground instead of the scenery around me and constantly asking how much longer until we can take a break. I quickly grow hungry, thirsty, and tired. Such a wimp, I know. But I go on these hikes because I want to make it to the summit, because someone told me that the hard journey would be worth it in the end.

In Revelation 7, John is witnessing an incredible scene! People from every tribe, nation, and language are standing before Jesus Christ, worshiping Him. There are many things in Revelation that are hard for us to make sense of, and we see in verses 13-14 that John is curious, too. The elder answers that these people are ones who have "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (verse 14).

There is coming a day when all people who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ will come before His throne in praise. We will no longer grow hungry, physically or spiritually, and we will never thirst again. This passage tells us that when our journey of life on this earth is over, Jesus will guide us to springs of water that give us life, and God will wipe away all our tears. All the trials, struggles, and pains of life will no longer exist!

Revelation allows us to catch a glimpse of our future. It is one of God's ways of telling us, "Keep hiking! The end is worth it." So if the end is indeed worth it, we should live in such a way that is persevering and purposeful. We can keep pressing on through our own tribulations, knowing what the end holds for us.

1. What trials are you facing today for which you need a new perspective? How does this passage offer encouragement to you in your present situation?

2. Describe a time you needed to persevere spiritually. Did you persevere well, or do you remember complaining and struggling?

3. What does it mean to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb? Explain what you believe it to mean for you personally.

4. Persevering is sometimes hard to do. What is one step you can take today to be eternally minded?