The Lutheran Hour
-
"The Great Multitude"
- Download MP3 Reflections
-
Text:
-
Hollywood is making more money than ever these days with movies that take viewers to an unknown fictional world. From Star Trek to Avatar, over 30 billion dollars per year are spent today by viewers at the box office. The movie 2012: The End of Times shows a catastrophic end of times scenario. What is in these movies that attract so many viewers all over the world?
Let me invite you, today, to face and see a fantastic world moment, not in a movie, not in a theatre, but described and shown in the Bible. It is one of the most incredible moments foreseen by the apostle John on the island of Patmos, and given to us as a glimpse of the real end of times. It is not my intention to scare you, as the movies do. All I want is to show and to invite you to be part of that great moment.
Revelation, the last book in the Bible, is shown as the prophetic book of the New Testament.It is viewed sometimes as a difficult book to understand because of its symbolic language, its visions and rich imagery which challenge our minds and imagination. So let’s see what John saw and described in Revelation, chapter 7. He writes:
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, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
It’s a vision of the countless people, from around the world, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God…and to the Lamb,” meaning Jesus Christ.
There will be a moment in my life and in your life when we will be called before the Creator. The cemeteries here and all over the world are the most unquestionable proof and evidence of the truth that the “wages of sin is death.” The sad reality is that in spite of all the signs and consequences of sin in people’s lives and in the world, there is an effort to deny the existence of sin and human sinful nature.
The political correctness of our times forbids any reference to sin, Satan, death, hell, and eternal condemnation. In the meantime, the destructive signs of sin are visible and clearly exposed in our world. Look to what’s going on around you: with all the benefits of the latest technologies, life is becoming not easier but more difficult, not safer but more dangerous, more unhealthy than healthy. There is more sadness than happiness in peoples’ lives!
Look what’s going on in the world: wars, revolutions, corrupted governments, hatreds, violence, hunger, homelessness, and so on. The reality of sin and death is the same all over the world. The Mayan prophecy in the movie 2012: The End of Times points to a chaos and a terrible end of times scenario. From that perspective, facing the future, the reality of death and the end of times seems very scary.
But there is another perspective for you in the face of death and the end times. The time of facing your Creator may come at any moment in your life, and definitely it will come sooner or later. The same Scripture verse of Romans (6:23) that says: “For the wages of sin is death…” also says, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And it goes on saying that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 9:13)
God, the Creator of this world and of humankind, “so loved the world, that he gave his Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) This, which is the best known Bible verse, shows God’s love and his wish to give eternal life to all those who believe. At the same time it makes clear that those who do not believe in Jesus Christ as their savior will ultimately perish.
We at the Lutheran Hour Ministries are people of God, with a message of hope: the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed weekly over thirteen-hundred radio stations in the U.S., Canada, and over thirty countries through our international ministry centers around the world. Our main purpose has been, through the past 80 years, to share God’s grace and love in different cultures and languages, so that the vision of that great multitude described in the book of Revelation can be turned into reality for many throughout the world.
I recently visited our Lutheran Hour Ministry center in Santiago, Cuba’s second largest city, where there is a wonderful mission work being done carried out by our dedicated local staff. In spite of the lack of resources and great hardship, I saw a vibrant church worshiping God in their own language, with their own Cuban rhythm and songs, proclaiming that salvation belongs to our God, and freely sharing the Good News of the Gospel. I remember Ñeña, a Cuban teenage girl, full of energy and happiness, leading a group of young girls and boys, riding through the city on four church-owned bikes, sharing the message of Christ, inviting people to come and join the people of God, the church.
Guided by our mission of “Bringing Christ to the Nations and the Nations to the Church,” our ministry centers in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America are committed to proclaiming the Gospel and engaging people with a message of faith and hope. These people, from all over the world, by believing in Jesus Christ as their Savior, are being made by the Holy Spirit part of the great multitude of followers of Christ.
These are part of the ones that John refers to in Revelation as standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”… 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 (Jesus Christ).
They are there not because of their nationality, or their political ideology, or their professional qualifications and resumes, or their social and economic status. They stand before the throne of Christ covered in white robes – clean and pure – covering their sinful, dirty human nature. Their robes were made white by the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sin of the world. This is why the multitudes standing before the throne is crying with a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb Jesus Christ!”
It’s a multitude of people with palm branches in their hands, which was a symbol and sign of victory used by the Greeks for their Olympic winners. Palm branches are still handed to medal winners of today’s Olympic Games. The difference between the Olympic winners and the ones standing in the multitude before God is that the latter are not winners by their own efforts and merits, but by the merits of Christ, who gave His life on the cross so that those with the branch palms in their hands can claim victory over sin and death.
God wants to make you a new person. The Apostle Paul so writes to the Corinthians: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself…” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18) Being in Christ means to be part of that multitude right now, at this very moment, not in the future. It means to live a life focused on eternity, not only on material possessions that will not follow us beyond the tomb.
Salvation belongs to God. It’s a gift of His mercy and love. It’s not imposed;it’s given freely and therefore can be rejected. If you are not yet a member of God’s people through Jesus Christ, God wants you to be among that great multitude too. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you live, how dirty your clothes are. God wants to clothe you with his mercy, forgiveness, and his love through Jesus Christ.
Lutheran writer Herman Gockel tells a story about a painter, in the 16th Century, who was looking for a model. He wanted to describe the worst of humanity on using a human’s face. One evening, sitting in a tavern, there comes in a dirty, unshaven, stinking, miserable looking man. Exactly the model he was looking for so long time.
The painter jumped from his seat, approached the man, offered him some money and invited him to come to his atelier next day to serve as his model. That strange, miserable looking man accepted the painter’s offer. Next morning, the painter was waiting anxiously for his model. What a surprise, when a showered, shaved, and well-dressed man entered his atelier. “Oh no!” shouted the painter, completely disappointed: “I wanted you exactly as I saw and met you at the tavern yesterday.”
God wants you as you are. He doesn’t want you as the best dressed and qualified person you think you are. God wants you exactly as you are, with your sinful nature and the nasty consequences it has in your life. He wants to clothe you with His gracious mercy, forgiveness, and love through Jesus Christ. He wants you to be in the midst of that multitude, with Him in eternity, where you shall hunger no more, thirst no more; where the sun shall not strike you, nor any scorching heat. For Jesus will be your Shepherd, and He will guide you to springs of living water, and God will wipe away all tears from your eyes.
The vision described by the apostle Paul is not comparable with the fiction movies and their special effects created by Hollywood for entertaining and profit. It’s a vision of God’s love and mercy in Jesus Christ. It’s a vision of comfort and hope.
From the Scripture we know that, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” (2 Corinthians 2:9)
If you are part of that multitude described in Revelation, we invite you to join us and support the mission of proclaiming the Gospel throughout the world. Or if you want to know more about the blessing of being part of that great multitude, call us at The Lutheran Hour.
We want you to be part of that great multitude. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers)
April 25, 2010
Topic: Jesus’ Descent Into HellAnnouncer: And we’re back with Pastor Ken Klaus, responding to questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer. And today our question deals with some of the events of Holy Week.
Klaus: Very good.
Announcer: Specifically, the question has to do with Jesus’ descent into hell. Our listener writes, “In the Apostles’ Creed, it states, ‘(Jesus) suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead.’ The question is why did Jesus descend into hell and when did this all take place? I’ve heard all kinds of explanations, but I’d like to hear what you have to say.”
Klaus: That’s very kind. They’re really showing a great deal of trust in us, and we’re honored by that. The only Scripture passage which directly deals with Jesus’ descent into hell is 1 Peter 3: 18-20. If you don’t mind, I’d like to read just a part of that passage.
Announcer: And should we be listening for anything in particular?
Klaus: Yeah. I’d like you to listen to the chronology.
Announcer: The order of things?
Klaus: The order of things.1t says, “For Jesus also suffered once for sins, the righteous. for the unrighteous, that.he.mightbring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but• made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison … ” Did you get the order? What happened first?
Announcer: Well, first, perfectly righteous Jesus suffers on behalf of imperfect,
unrighteous humankind. And He was put to death so that we could be saved.Klaus: Good. Now that is step #1. What’s the next step?
Announcer: Then it says Jesus was made alive in the spirit.
Klaus: Exactly. Jesus is alive… already risen when He goes to hell.
Announcer: I think that detail is often overlooked.
Klaus: Yeah. It makes a big difference in how we understand the whole thing. Jesus did
not descend into hell in order to be further punished or beat up by the devil … and as long as we’re mentioning wrong views … Jesus’ descent into hell is separate from His time on the cross … and His time in the grave. Jesus’ descent into hell is not part of what we call His state of humiliation, where He didn’t use all His divine powers … Jesus descends into hell as our Conqueror, our Victor, our living Lord. He is there to remove any doubt that He has won the battle for the souls of humankind.Announcer: Very good. Now, could you also address one other point?
Klaus: I can try.
Announcer: Some have suggested that Jesus descended into hell in order to give the
lost souls there one more chance to be saved.Klaus: Yeah, I’ve heard that, too. It’s wrong, but I’ve heard it.
Announcer: And could you tell us why it’s wrong?
Klaus: Absolutely. It’s wrong because the Bible is clear … you live, you die, you’re judged,
that’s it.Announcer: No second go around?
Klaus: No second chance-not at that point. We live, we die, we’re judged–that is a
doctrine supported again and again and again throughout the Bible. It is not as though this were an isolated passage like that in 1 Peter which never comes up anywhere else.Announcer: OK. So, we live, and through faith in Jesus as our Savior …
Klaus: … we are forgiven. When we die…
Announcer: When we die, we go to heaven. So the time of grace is now, while we can still hear God’s Word and be drawn to Christ.
Klaus: Yeah. That’s what the Bible teaches, and nowhere does it say lost souls who
have rejected Jesus during their lifetime get a second chance later on.Announcer: And our listener wants to know, when did all this take place? When did Jesus descend into hell?
Klaus: If he is looking for an exact hour, that’s something that I really can’t give him.
Announcer: No, I think it’s more in the line of that chronology you spoke of. You said it wasn’t the same day Jesus was crucified. And, by the way, how do you know that? Klaus: Well, Jesus said to the thief on the cross that the man would be with Him in that
day in paradise. So that’s where Jesus was. Although we should also mention that Jesus is no longer limited to time and space, as we are. He can be everywhere at all times.Announcer: OK. And the descent into hell? Klaus: All I can do is give you my best guess on something like that. I believe it was on the third day … when Jesus became alive again … before He appeared to Mary, or the ladies or the disciples or really anybody else … he paid a visit to hell. In victory, He went and removed any doubt from, all the spirits down there, that He was alive. ___..__. __ • __ _
Announcer: Thank you Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selection for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Behold a Host Arrayed in White” arranged by Henry Gerike. Used by permission. “Agnus Dei” setting by Paul D. Weber. (© 2001 Paul D. Weber)
“A Multitude Comes from the East and the West” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009
Concordia Publishing House)“The King of Love My Shepherd Is” arr. Dan Forrest, Jr. & Jess Langston Turner. From Light of My Soul by the Wind Symphony of Concordia University-Chicago (© 2007 Concordia University-Chicago)