Grace peace and mercy from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

It's commonly accepted that the Book of Revelation is the retelling of world history seven times between each retelling there is an interlude. Our reading for today is the second part of the interlude between the sixth and seventh accounts.

The imagery of this interlude tells us of the people so numerous they are simply innumerable. This is a human view of the church at rest, the church in heaven. These people have palm fronds, not swords. They have no worry or problem. They do not hunger or thirst, God takes perfect care of them and has wiped away every tear. They are now part of that great heavenly multitude who sings in praise of the Father and the Son on the throne, in the presence and power of the Spirit.

Of special importance is the angel telling John who the great multitude are, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes in the blood of the lamb." You may have already made the connection to the parable of the wedding feast where the guests are given white robes for the feast. The multitudes are wearing the wedding garments given by the bridegroom through His death and resurrection. They have come out of the great tribulation of this life where they wept many tears and endured hardships of every kind. This is the very existence we see all around us and know has existed since the fall.

The multitude comes from every time and place. In this later time which John sees, they are at perfect peace and rest. For a persecuted people this one vision simply says that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This persecution will end and you will enjoy perfect rest. Regardless of the part we play in this world a perfect peace is available and waiting for each of us in Christ Jesus. He offers that peace in this life and the next.

For the Christian of every time and place, it says that those who have died, whose bodies we have laid to rest in the grave are not lost, nor forgotten by God. He wipes away their tears and they are precious to him, they have joined those heavenly ranks of angels and archangels and all the company of heaven in the ever growing singing.

We too are numbered with the Saints, the great multitude, John saw in his vision. We are not seen by God in the same way we see ourselves or by others. God has a much different perspective. He doesn't see us as the gossip, or the person that lashes out in anger, or abuser, or the thief, or the murderer, or any number of other sinful things we can be or do. Jesus has washed us clean of those sins and handed us the white robes of the feast. Without Jesus as mediator we could never approach the throne as the multitude does in the vision.

We have ample reasons to be discouraged by what we see going on around us. Christianity in North America seems to be on the ropes, following a dismal European path of irrelevance and empty buildings. Christian martyrs in other parts of the world are imprisoned, tortured and killed in the name of Jesus. However God does not count success the same way we do. A business person who goes looking for that one lost sheep and leaves the 99 behind doesn't make sense to this world but all the heavens rejoice when that one is found. God has knit us into a mighty host of Christians, a body which stretches around the world and across two millennia of history, and even beyond to the heroes of the Old Testament.

Take courage that the God who turned Saul to Paul still works in this world.

Think about the transformation of Paul. Jesus transformed Saul the angry persecutor of the Way to the articulate preacher to the Gentiles, Paul.

We don't know much about Paul in his earlier days except that he was a Pharisee trained in Jerusalem. His trade was a tent maker and his parents were roman citizens which in turn made him a roman citizen by birth.

We do know that God transformed him into a man with exemplary characteristics. Paul demonstrated perseverance, humility, plain spoken preaching, wisdom, and unwavering faithfulness to Jesus Christ. Paul became the humble preacher that would be acceptable to the people he was sent to witness to. He was wise to inform people so they could make good decisions on the matter of Jesus the Messiah on their own. He shared the facts with others rather than emotional attacks. We find that Paul's words were very powerful. People that received the gospel were greatly encouraged while those that rejected the gospel found his words as a testimony against them. Most important of all he preached on absolute things, faith and repentance, the keys to salvation.

Just like Jesus whom Paul made every effort to emulate the receivers of the gospel hear the words of the good shepherd. They know his voice and follow Him. Sheep do recognize the voice of the shepherd as he guides them to and from the pasture. In fact sheep are comforted by the voice of their shepherd. That is the comforting message of Jesus, John's vision in Revelation and Paul's words in the New Testament.

Not only can we take comfort from the words of our shepherd we can take comfort that at the appropriate times we will be given the words of testimony. The Holy Spirit is with us to provide the words we need to testify to the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Whenever we worship the Lord or approach the table for communion we are connected with Jesus, the heavenly host and all of the saints of every time and place. We are no longer an army of one, but part of the mighty host arrayed for a battle whose outcome is already known. Take heart we have the victory!

In the name of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.