Behold the salvation, trustworthy and true.

 

Sermon for All Saints’, November 2, 2025

Grace to you and peace from Him who is, who was, and who is coming.  Amen.

Revelation 21:1-6  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.  And the sea no longer existed.  ²And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  ³And from the throne I heard a loud voice that said, “Look!  God’s dwelling is with people.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.  God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.  ⁴He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.”  ⁵The one who was seated on the throne said to me, “Look, I am making everything new!”  He also said, “Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  ⁶And he said to me: “It is done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  To anyone who is thirsty, I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.” (EHV)

Behold the salvation, trustworthy and true.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            St. John is given a vision of the time immediately following the Day when Christ returns to judge the world.  The apostles, Peter, Paul, and John all describe the end of the world as the end of every part of this observable creation.  Nothing of this world, whether here on earth or in the skies above, will remain in its present state, but it will be consumed by fire or go away in some other form of destruction as the LORD sees fit, to be replaced with a new creation restored to perfect holiness. 

John sees what will remain, the Holy Christian Church, that assembly of believers in the Savior of every time and age, from Adam and Eve until the very moment of Jesus coming back on the clouds of the sky with all His angel host to judge all things, the dead and the living.  For many people, that moment of Jesus’ return in judgment will be a terrifying experience, as the prophet forewarned, “They will say to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’ and to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’” (Hosea 10:8)  Those who have not been claimed for Christ Jesus by faith will at that time be condemned to eternal torment.  However, this message is for tho se in whom the Holy Spirit has worked repentance and faith, who have believed in Jesus as their Savior, who have been washed clean of all sin and walked with Him by faith.

This morning, we celebrate All Saint’s Day, a day in which we remember the faithful children of God who have been called out of this world, their souls to dwell with God above as their bodies rest in the earth until that moment Jesus returns in glory.  Yet, All Saints is also a day to remember what Jesus has done for all of us who remain in this world of trouble and pain, that through faith in Jesus we are made saints.  Through the vision given to John, Jesus is reminding us to Behold the salvation, trustworthy and true.

The Lord of all comfort and grace pictures for John and all believers what Jesus has done for us.  John reports, “I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”  It can be hard for us still dwelling in this world of suffering and shame to see ourselves as we will be.  Here, sin and temptation are daily struggles.  Here, the curse of sin is all too real in our everyday lives.  Here, we see loved ones dealing with illness and hardships.  Here, we are forced by death to bid farewell to those we love. 

Sometimes, this agony of departure is slow, difficult, and long.  Other times, death comes suddenly without warning.  It can happen either way to old or young alike, and it is tempting to question why God allows this to be so.  John doesn’t answer that question.  Neither does Jesus.  Rather, our Lord Jesus invites and encourages us to see what He has in store for those who trust in Him, who trust in His life of holy obedience lived for us and the forgiveness won because of His suffering and death in our place. 

The Bible often describes the Christian Church as the Bride of Christ.  We are His beloved.  We are the assembly of souls He sacrificed Himself to save.  We are, through faith and the power of the Holy Spirit, counted as saints and adorned in the perfect righteousness and holiness of God’s Son.  It is through Jesus covering us that the Father in heaven sees us as the perfect choice to dwell with God forever.

Dear friends, those believers who are honest with themselves, see the faults and the impurity that should keep us from a relationship with God.  Most likely, everyone here has something hidden inside that they wouldn’t want anyone else to know.  Maybe it is lust for someone who isn’t your spouse.  Perhaps it is desire for some material good that you haven’t been able to own.  Maybe it is some shortcoming in yourself that you really wish you could change.  Maybe it’s the guilt of some other secret sin.

On the other hand, when we examine ourselves honestly, we can often see how we misjudge others and hold our own worth as greater to the Lord than some other sinner.  Yet, Jesus died for the sins of the world.  Jesus didn’t pick and choose who would be worth Him giving His life to save.  Instead, God’s Son, out of perfect love for His Father and the world, offered Himself as the sacrificial Lamb whose blood covers all sin, who carried all guilt to the cross so that no one else would ever have to bear the shame that could never be redeemed.

When Jesus was born of Mary, God’s Son tented or was dwelling among the people of earth.  Yet, at that time, He set aside His divine glory so that people only saw Jesus as a human, first as a child then as a Man.  John reports a change in the second coming of Christ: “And from the throne I heard a loud voice that said, ‘Look!  God’s dwelling is with people.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people.  God himself will be with them, and he will be their God.’”  Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He promised His people, “Surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)  Jesus most certainly has been with us throughout all our lives here on earth, but we don’t see Him as He is.  However, from Judgment Day onward, we will see God in all His glory, and we will be with Him in peace, joy, and harmony.  Our voices will rise in praise and thanksgiving with joy and confidence eternally. 

From that moment on and forever, sin will never again trouble us.  Death will bring no fear, because death will be ended in that moment.  The Lord promises that “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.”  Every part of our present world is corrupted by the curse of sin.  Satan’s legions are continually looking for ways to tempt and mislead us.  The devil and his allies seek always to destroy Jesus’ people.  We see the work of the wicked one in the tragic news of persecution of believers around the world.  We see it in the lies and distortions so common among various people, and in the multitude of crimes committed against women and children, the murders and all other assaults that happen seemingly more and more every day. 

The Holy Spirit warned through Paul’s second letter to Timothy, “In the last days there will be terrible times.” (2 Timothy 3:1)  Paul lists a long line of ways that people will reject God and hurt themselves and others.  We should not be so foolish as to imagine these things won’t touch us.  Yet, by the power of the Holy Spirit in Word and Sacrament, Jesus preserves us from the eternal condemnation such wickedness deserves.  By God’s grace, He chose us to believe in Jesus.  By God’s grace and the sacrifice of His Son, God cleansed us of sin and dressed us in righteousness to dwell with Him in peace forever. 

To remain in this troubled world forever would be an awful torture.  Therefore, John tells us, “The one who was seated on the throne said to me, ‘Look, I am making everything new!’  He also said, ‘Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.’”

Because God loves His chosen people, He uses His Word to give us faith in Jesus which eventually takes us out of this world of trouble and pain.  Through Isaiah, God has declared, “The righteous one perishes, but no one takes it to heart.  Men of mercy are being taken away, but no one understands that the righteous one is being spared from evil.  He will enter into peace.  They will rest on their beds.  He is walking in his uprightness.” (Isaiah 57:1-2)  At those times when we weep and mourn the loss of a loved one, we are comforted by God’s promise that this physical death isn’t the end, for the life to come is truly life that never ends, and it is life without trouble or pain, sin or guilt, without loneliness or sorrow of any kind.

Today, in this so-called modern world, far too many people have returned to the paganism of imagining either that the God of the Bible doesn’t exist or that He doesn’t do anything to save His people.  Jesus reminds us here that every word God has caused to be written down to bring the message of Christ to sinners is true, and it is one hundred percent capable of changing a defiant sinner into a believing Child of God.  The Holy Spirit works through the means of God’s Gospel message about Christ Jesus living and dying to save souls suffering under the curse of sin.  Just as God spoke in the beginning and this world came into existence, so when His Gospel is proclaimed in the world, faith is given, sins are washed away, and new life is granted to those who believe.  Therefore, we say again, Behold the salvation, trustworthy and true.

This section of text ends with what amounts to an oath, an unbreakable promise from our Savior that nothing in all creation can change what He does for us.  The Lord declared, “It is done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  To anyone who is thirsty, I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.”  The second person of the Triune God was there in the creation of the world.  He was there in giving the promise of a Savior to Abraham.  He was there in the Child of Mary dwelling in human flesh to achieve our redemption.  Furthermore, Jesus remains at His Father’s side in heaven, while also walking with us through His Word, until that day when He returns in all His glory with His whole angelic host to judge the wicked and bring home into His eternal mansions all the saints He has saved through faith.  Forever after, those who thirst for the goodness of God’s mercy will never be left dry.  In the new heaven and new earth, God will be dwelling with us in harmony and peace.  This is His promise, unbreakable and sure.  Behold the salvation, trustworthy and true.  Amen.

The one who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints.  Amen.