Have You Noticed The Robes?

whiterobesIn the book of Revelation, the apostle John is given the thrill of a lifetime — the opportunity to see into heaven itself.  In Revelation 7:9, he sees, “a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”  The scene is fascinating.  It’s not just one thing catches your attention.  Everything does.  The throne.  The Lamb.  The size of the numberless multitude with palm branches.  And every one of them is clothed in a white robe.

But how could so many human souls have robes that are white when our own righteousness is like “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6)?  John is told how.  All of these people who are gathered around the throne of God in glistening white garments “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14).

Two things about the robes must not escape our notice:  First, the people in heaven had washed their robes.  Did you get that?  They had washed their own robes.  Nobody did it for them.  They had taken action.  Second, the robes had been made white in the blood of the Lamb.  There would have been no opportunity for anyone to wash their robes had the Lamb not provided His cleansing blood!  We have access by faith into grace.  God provides the blood through His grace (Ephesians 1:7).  We apply it to our souls in faithful obedience to the gospel.  “You have purified your souls in obeying the truth…” (1 Peter 1:22).

I long to stand before the throne of God adorned in a robe clean and white.  Don’t you?   The Lamb of God has provided the cleansing agent so that we might wash our robes!

So, with your mind’s eye, take a look again at what John saw.  Notice the robes!  All of the robes of all of the redeemed before God’s throne are white robes.  None are spotted.  None are stained.  Wouldn’t a dirty, stained or soiled robe be out of place in such a scene?  Wash your robe!  No matter how filthy and grimy it has become, no matter how long the stains have set in, not matter how you’ve failed in your efforts to conceal those embarrassing black blotches, no matter what a wretched sinner you have been, be assured of this one thing:

There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.

 – Steve Klein

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Jesus’ Blood: A Special “Wite Out”

Quite often I come across Christians who wonder how they could ever be fit for heaven.  They wonder, “If heaven is a perfect place and I am imperfect, how could I ever be allowed there?”

wite-outJesus’ blood provides the way for us to be blameless, perfect and suited for heaven.  It has been compared to liquid paper (“Wite Out”) used by secretaries, especially in the days of typewriters.  The boss hires a secretary and expects her to turn out excellent work.  But he knows that even while she strives for excellence, she will occasionally make a mistake.  So, he provides “Wite Out” to her.  The “Wite Out” is not provided to encourage mistakes but rather to cover them.  One day she is typing and she notices that she has made a mistake.  Immediately, she reaches for the “Wite Out,” blots out her mistake and then retypes.  What is presented to the boss at the last?  A perfect paper.  It’s not perfect because she has been perfect but because she made use of the “Wite Out” and then retyped to get it right.

Likewise, you and I can be presented holy and blameless before Jesus on the judgment day.  Each day, with the help of God, we strive to be like Jesus in every way.  When we sin and fail to be like Him, we reach for His blood through prayer and ask God to blot out our mistakes.  The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).  Once He has blotted out our sins, we then continue to be about the business of striving to be like Jesus—retyping, if you will.

The blood of Jesus, our special “Wite Out” keeps us perfect before God.  It’s our progress in becoming more and more like Jesus that God wants to see.  And when we have given our all to be like Jesus, God will cap it off at the last by making us just like Him—perfect and suited for heaven (1 John 3:2-3)

 “Though your sins are like scarlet, 

they shall be as white as snow” 

(Isaiah 1:18).

                                                                                                    - Jeff May

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