Transcription downloaded from https://legacy.freechurch.org/sermons/3977/on-the-glory-road-morning/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Revelation chapter 7 and you will find it in verse 13.

[0:12] And one of the elders answered saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes and where did they come from?

[0:24] And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

[0:43] And in particular, verse 13, What are these that are arrayed in white robes and where?

[0:54] Did they come from? Now this week, I had the privilege, the sad privilege, of going to a funeral.

[1:12] Of going to a funeral of a very ordinary man of God. And on my way to the funeral, way in the north, about 200 miles from here, as I was travelling up, certain things began to turn in my mind.

[1:37] As I thought of the funeral, as I thought of the man who had just died. And I wondered to myself, What would people say of me or of you, if next week, either I had to attend your funeral, or you had to attend mine?

[2:12] Well, the answer to the question we will look at this morning. Our text in Revelations brings us into God's future.

[2:29] And in the description of the people of God, there was this question. Who are they? And where did they come from?

[2:42] The Apostle John had been taken into the tomorrow of God. And as he looked, he saw a multitude of people, a number that no man could number.

[2:59] And he saw them dressed in white robes. And one of the elders said to him, Do you know who they are? Do you know where they came from?

[3:10] And then he tells them, And it's that I want to base our message on this morning.

[3:22] Do you know who they are? Do you know where they came from? And I thought, Well, I'm going to the funeral of one of them.

[3:34] And so what I want to do, and I don't know if I can finish it in the morning, if not, I'll go on to the evening. I want to look at four things that we will find in the Word of God about those robed in white.

[3:52] The first thing I want you to notice before we look at these four is that they're living. They're not dead. Hallelujah. They're not dead. They're living.

[4:04] They're living in God's tomorrow just as they lived in God's today. Only there's been a transformation.

[4:15] But let me say, my friend, they're living. Their bodies and their souls have been reunited.

[4:26] And God has added an eternal element to the body and the soul that I know nothing about.

[4:37] I only know they're more alive there than ever they were here. And the message is, do you see them? where did they come from?

[4:50] They've come a long way. Where did they come from? And so I'm left with four thoughts that I find in the Word of God that I'm going to share with you this morning.

[5:06] And share with you, perhaps, in relation to this one person whose funeral I went to and whose life I'm going to look at.

[5:18] First of all, in our reading in 1 Corinthians 6, you will find the pedigree of those in white.

[5:32] And it's not the kind of pedigree that you or I would be proud to admit. In fact, there may be some here and you wouldn't like to admit to it at all, to any of it.

[5:46] Can I suggest to you that the pedigree which I will read in a moment is not a very nice pedigree.

[5:57] We all would like to think that we've got a nice pedigree, that we've got a pedigree that we could be proud of. I went to somebody not 24 hours ago and the death of somebody else and he never spoke of his relative's faith.

[6:25] He said, do you know what she produced? He said to me, she produced four sons, three graduates and a ship's captain. didn't she do well? And the mother did well because she was a saint of God.

[6:41] But that wasn't her pedigree in the sight of God. The pedigree is written in chapter 6 reading at verse 9.

[6:55] Don't you know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Don't be deceived.

[7:07] Don't be misled. Not everybody is going into the kingdom of God. Not everyone will be among those robed and white. Let's read it then. neither fornicators nor idolaters nor effeminate that's homosexuals nor abusers of themselves of mankind nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God.

[7:43] Look at the next line. and such were some of you. Now this is the pedigree of this good man whose funeral I went to.

[8:02] And I would say from knowing him at least 80% of what I read there he confessed to and I knew he was guilty of.

[8:15] And in fact there are certain things maybe even worse that are not written there that this man was once partaker of.

[8:29] That was his pedigree. Such were some of you. Ah my friends I'm glad that his pedigree is stated here.

[8:42] But it's stated in the past tense not in the present. Yes many of the people of God are fornicators so fornicators can have hope if they're forgiven.

[8:58] Many of the people of God are idolaters. They idolize their homes. They idolize their family. They idolize their sport. They idolize their work. They idolize themselves.

[9:09] They're idolaters. Where they get in the world and how high they get matters to them. And there's a bit of idolatry there. And some of them are idolaters.

[9:22] Some of them are those who dress up as women. Feminine. Men. Women who dress up as men. They're among them.

[9:34] Some abuse themselves with mankind in the filth of the present day. Some of them are greedy. They want to have. They never enjoy other people having but they want to have themselves.

[9:48] They want to have the best husband, the best home, the best car, the best wife. Oh, they want everything of the best but it's always for themselves, not for others. Yes, they're down here.

[9:59] And some of them are drinkers. They revile the things of God. They can laugh at the dirty joke and the joke against God. Their minds are not Godward.

[10:11] They're down here. They will not inherit the kingdom of God. In that condition, if they die in it, they will not inherit the kingdom of God.

[10:26] They may go to church, they may read their Bible, you may say your prayers, but you will not go into the kingdom of God. unless something happens. Now that's what the word of God says.

[10:38] And when the elder looks down and goes robed in white, a number that no man can number, heaven is going to be very, very richly populated, my friend. You look back and he says, who are they and where did they come from?

[10:54] Well, this is their pedigree. And I would suggest to you four things about their pedigree. first of all, there's nothing to be proud in it.

[11:06] Nothing in it to be proud of. Nothing in it to be proud of. Two, there's nothing in it to trust in. Three, there's nothing in the pedigree to bring help before you die.

[11:24] And four, there's nothing in it to help you to die content. Because those in that condition will not enter the kingdom of God.

[11:38] And yet it says, such were some of you. Now you see three things in that word also, such were some of you. First of all, there's a divine accusation.

[11:52] That's what you wear. That's you, written with the finger of God, described by the Holy Ghost. A divine accusation to a sure description.

[12:10] Minute. That's God describing you and me. And third, in this passage, there's a solemn warning. You and I will not inherit the kingdom of God.

[12:23] There's no way that we will go into God's tomorrow to that situation. Oh, we will be in God's tomorrow all right. Jesus said, don't be afraid of him who's able to destroy the body, but you rather be afraid of him who's able to destroy both the soul and the body in hell.

[12:41] There's another side of God's tomorrow, but we're dealing with this side this morning. And the solemn warning is that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.

[12:52] Nobody. But as I read this pedigree, and such wear some of you, there's that word wear in it.

[13:04] When I look back at the man who died, I can put on his coffin. Ah, my friend Gordon, that's what you wear. It's in the past tense.

[13:17] And then what you read in this verse also, and such wear some of you, that you are. Ah, there was a change took place, you see.

[13:29] That's what they were. See what they became. And as I looked back into the years of this particular ordinary man's experience, I could see what that man became.

[13:47] And the Bible here says that you are something. and so I move from the pedigree that condemns to the piety that witnesses.

[14:05] But you are, the apostle says here, you are what? You are washed. You are sanctified. You are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.

[14:20] I want to look now at this person's piety. Can I just be personal for a moment and I'll go back thirteen years to the very minute and to the very hour.

[14:36] I'll take you into an old cafe in the village of Brora. Not a very clean place, place.

[14:48] There is an ordinary cafe. Sitting at the table was this man. He had a dirty old shirt on. It was half past three in the afternoon.

[15:03] He had just left the public house, having been in from eleven till three, no doubt. good. And he was waiting until five o'clock, until he could go in again.

[15:15] And he was having a cup of coffee in the two hours in between, or a cup of tea, probably all he ate that day.

[15:27] Well, that was his pedigree all right. It was vicious. And into the cafe came a boy, a Jew.

[15:38] His name was Ricky. He works for the society among the Jews that we support now, actually. He's now in Israel.

[15:50] And he came into that cafe, and he saw this man sprawled over the table. And he sat down beside him, and he said, hello, friend.

[16:06] And Gordon said, hello. And he started to talk with him. And after he talked for a while, he said to him, we've got a house down here that the mission team are staying in.

[16:23] Will you come down with us and have a meal? I don't know whether anyone ever asked this man for a meal. It's doubtful.

[16:38] He looked at him and he said, all right, he says, I'll come down. And they went to the door of the cafe. Now this man, as I say, reeking of drink, dirty old shirt, went to the door of the cafe.

[16:53] And it started to pour rain. The Jewish boy had a jacket and a coat on. So when they came out to the door, he took off his coat and he put it over near Gordon.

[17:13] And he walked him down to the house to get a meal wearing his own coat. But something happened at the moment that he put the coat over him.

[17:27] Gordon had never been in church. He was 38 and he was a child. old. But the last time he was in church, as a boy, there was an old lay preacher called Hugh McCritchie.

[17:43] And Hugh McCritchie had preached in the wee village in the place called the doll. That was probably 28 years before.

[18:00] And as he was going out the door of that cafe, thundering into his mind, he said, came the verse of scripture that Hugh McCritchie preached on 28 years before.

[18:15] And do you know what it was? It was multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. And Gordon said he hardly heard a word that the boy said to him on his way down to the house.

[18:30] For this voice that was coming back was the old scripture that probably we thought was of no avail. Multitudes, multitudes of the valley of decision.

[18:43] They talked to him all evening. And at 11 o'clock one of the boys came up to the manse and said to me, you know, old Gordon, I didn't know this was going on, old Gordon's converted.

[18:58] He said, what? He's converted. Oh, I had to put on a nice face. I said, oh, that's lovely, I'm very pleased.

[19:10] But you know I didn't believe it. I didn't believe it because I knew what he was. Probably in some ways, outwardly, in things that he did, the most wicked man I've ever seen.

[19:27] Now he's converted. And I can remember him in the village. He was laughed at, he was mocked, he was the scum of the village, in many people's eyes.

[19:44] Well, I said to the boys, I'm pleased. They said, he's away home now. So I said, we'll wait and see with all the worldly wisdom that I possessed.

[19:56] lo and behold, Sabbath morning I went to church. Who was there in the second front seat but my friend Gordon.

[20:07] I don't know where he got the new suit from. It was probably a funeral suit and a tie and a white shirt and his two children whom he never cared for in the sense that they never prevented him being what he was, sitting beside him in church looking at face radiant.

[20:30] He was an ordinary man and it took a long time for the village to believe that he was changed. But for thirteen years he testified to that village and I was told when I was up that everybody in the village used to take advantage of him.

[20:59] If there was a garden to be dug we'll get Gordon. If there's a chimney to be swept we'll get Gordon. If there's grass to be cut with a scythe we'll get Gordon.

[21:11] and now he's gone. His pedigree he often testified to in the mission hall and sometimes when he was giving that testimony my hair would stand an end with the things that he honestly admitted.

[21:35] That was his pedigree until the day that that text came into his mind multitudes in the valley of decision and his piety had begun.

[21:48] Such were some of you. At conversion we read in the chapter in John that I looked at.

[21:59] Listen till I read it to you. In John Beloved now are we the sons of God.

[22:12] That evening Gordon became a son of God. Like many others of those that are robed in white he became a son of God.

[22:24] What happened to him? What was his piety rooted in? And what was it productive of?

[22:36] Well it was productive for thirteen years. But that night although he wouldn't have known I'm sure nobody else might know the day that they come to Christ what happened.

[22:48] Three things happened to Gordon and three things happened to every sinner who becomes a child of God. No the pedigree it's taken care of you see.

[23:04] When Jesus went to the cross there was a lot of pedigrees read out by God. A lot. And to every pedigree of those who would trust in him Jesus said I'll take the punishment and the pedigree can be torn up.

[23:27] three things happens when a person becomes a son of God through faith in Jesus. First of all the person we read is washed.

[23:43] Now it says here are you washed? What does that mean? It means just simply this that in a second he was as pure as an angel.

[24:00] I love that my friends. Only God can do that. One minute dear garden was the drunk of the village filthy with his pedigree staining him.

[24:14] In the next minute he was as pure as an angel. He was washed by the spirit of God.

[24:25] Washed of everything that was in his pedigree. Now my friends when you come to Jesus Christ as a sinner and you ask him to be your savior I don't know how he does it.

[24:37] It's by the spirit of God you read in the verse. I don't know but I know it. God says it happens. One minute he the village drank laughed at mocked.

[24:50] The next minute in God's sight he's as pure as an angel. That's what forgiveness is. That's what glorious forgiveness is.

[25:03] He was washed. Two it says you are sanctified. That's a big word. What does it mean? Well in the Hebrew concept it means that you're set apart.

[25:19] And when a man is set apart in the scriptures two things happen to him. Do you know what the two things are? First of all of course he's washed.

[25:31] The past was blotted out. And then he's sanctified, he's set apart, and he's set apart with two new things in his makeup. Two glorious things.

[25:43] First of all the moment that he's washed, God imparts to that person a new dimension. The Bible calls it life.

[25:57] New life, a new heart, a new disposition, a new dimension, so that within this old body of ours there is implanted new spiritual life.

[26:10] I don't know how it happens. That's the first thing that's implanted when a man is set apart. And the second thing is an even greater miracle. the second implantation or incoming is that the spirit of the living God who does all these things enters in forever.

[26:29] So that when a man is sanctified he's given the spirit of new life which is his own. and in in order to help that new life grow and develop the spirit of God comes into him.

[26:41] You're sanctified. There's of course the village drunk. The world they're seeing him in the cafe sprawled out.

[26:52] They're seeing him going out into the rain with old Ricky's coat over his shoulders staggering his way down to the house. But in that house what they never saw in that village that night.

[27:03] was this that he was being washed by God and he was being sanctified. He was being given a new nature. And the third thing you read of here is that we're told he was justified.

[27:20] Can I read it to you? And such were some of you but you are washed but you are sanctified but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.

[27:33] Now my friends what does justification mean? It means he was legally pardoned by God. The past was blotted out.

[27:47] You see it was washed and when we come to the book of Revelation you remember we'll see it in a moment the man the elder says to John who are they and where did they come from?

[28:00] And John says you know and then the answer is yes they are they that come through great tribulation listen and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb they were washed in the blood of the cross the blood that the lamb shed on the cross the innocent blood that was to wash away the sin of the guilty my friends if you want to be forgiven you've got to look at the cross and you've got to look at the blood that Jesus shed and you've got to find out that the only way that your pedigree can be washed is by the blood that he shed on the cross Gordon saw it that night yes he came through a lot of tribulation in the village oh he was keen so keen that we didn't know how to hold them back but you know there wasn't a lamppost in the village hardly certain parts near his house that he didn't hang a text up on that's true in his window in the house oh he had a lot to learn

[29:16] I'm sure but I remember going in and they painted his fireplace and you know how the old folks that would have home sweet home some of the old village folks Gordon had God his love written in gold over his fireplace oh they laughed at him now in the village not because he was drunk because he was saved they laughed at him but you know many of those who laughed at him I saw them at the village and some of those who had no grace and no thought one man came up to me and his wife he said why would God take away a good man like that when there so many others needed to be taken away I said maybe God took him away in order that you could get saved or something like that not sure what the exact words I said your need is greater than his I forget he was washed he was sanctified he was legally forgiven listen to what the apostle says in the epistle my friends the time is almost gone and

[30:26] I'm only halfway through so we'll leave the rest until the evening if any man be in Christ he is a new creature that's his pedigree then that's his piety there's two other things that I'm going to look at but we'll leave that until the evening what about you there's a verse in the scripture that says the righteous are taken and no man lay that no heart because there is no value in some people's eyes because the God they love is of no value what value is Jesus to you this morning come on you've come to church young folks boys and girls do you love Jesus do you really love him are you trusting him oh you know about him when I told this story to the children you know you knew that man could tight rope across and you knew that he could go across and the hell with a barrow but would you go into the barrow can and will will will trust

[31:38] Jesus like that as your savior this morning it's the only way your pedigree will be wiped doubt. It's the only way your piety will begin. And the unrighteous will never enter the kingdom of God. I said at the beginning, what will they say if you of Yudai? Well, they may say if some of you, you know, she went to Knox Church regularly for 20 years, 30 years. My friend, they're in hell this morning who went to Knox for 30 years. Some might say, well, she was a kindly person, or he was a kindly person. Well, that may be so, and many of you are kindly. But you see, your pedigree must be dealt with before you die. And the word of God says that we are wicked, we are rebellious, we are sinful, we forsake God.

[32:50] The unrighteous will not enter the kingdom of God. There was a lad in one church, I was reading about him not so long ago, and he came from a very good family. I'm not sure if it was his father, a minister or not, or an elder, but he came from a good background. And he would always come to church, you know. And one of the friends said, is it not time that you were getting converted, changed?

[33:23] And you know, he always was a wee bit responsive to the church. And he always went occasionally anyway. And this is the sentence he used, I remember it because it struck me. He says, Ah, Jimmy, I'll fly with the devil for a few months yet. I'll fly with the devil for a few months yet.

[33:49] But in a fortnight's time, he was in an accident and he died. He flew with the devil just a few hours too long. And there's people in this church who have been flying with the devil, not intending to roost with him. Just fly with him for a while. Not intending to be lost, no, no.

[34:12] Hoping one day to make it, but flying a wee bit longer. Fly no more, my friend. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.

[34:23] Who are they? Where did they come from? Says the elder in God's tomorrow. And the answer was, they are they that came out of great tribulation, who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.

[34:46] Two things. They had a need at one time in their lives. And they went to the right person.

[34:59] To the blood of the lamb. Their need was for cleansing. And they went to the only person who could cleanse them. Have you? Are you going to go this morning?

[35:10] If you do, the Bible says you will be cleansed, washed. You will be sanctified.

[35:21] You will be justified. How? By the spirit of Jesus. I don't know how it happens. But I know that it does. I know that it does. Are you going to ask him this morning to be your savior?

[35:35] Or are you going to reject him again? If you want to ask him to save you, I can't make you. I'm not going to try.

[35:52] But in a moment of prayer, you'll have quiet prayer first. If you want to ask God to be your savior, ask Jesus to wipe out your pedigree, make you his child. He'll do it.

[36:06] Shall we pray? O Lord, thou art the hearer and the answer of prayer.

[36:29] Well knowest when we pray in earnest. And we ask thee now that for those who have prayed to thee to be forgiven, to have their pedigree wiped out, those who have come to Jesus and ask them to be their savior, that you will give such a consciousness of your salvation and inner peace.

[37:07] And for those who constantly reject to God, please bear upon them the solemnity of their rejection.

[37:22]  For Christ's sake. Amen.