WASHED ROBES
[p. 325] WASHED ROBES
Acts 15:14; Revelation 7:4; Revelation 7:9-17
These scriptures speak for themselves, and they speak plainly, particularly in regard to what I have in mind, that the gospel is a call, not only that God should have men’s ears, but that they, as hearing His call, should move. The gospel proposal is not to set men, women and children up in relation to their former circumstances. The call is that you might move out of these circumstances in your heart and mind and your outlook; for any truth He intends not only to relieve us, but to set us up in circumstances in which He Himself is pre-eminent.
The gospel has been reduced in quality and in object, whereas the Lord would retain it as He presented it; and among other things He intended it to be a call out of whatever men may be found in. The call is out of; for instance, James says, “Simon has related how God first visited to take out ... a people for his name”, Acts 15:14. Much was before this remarkable assembly at Jerusalem; it was called on account of certain evil teaching having been introduced among the gentile converts by certain men who went down from Jerusalem to Antioch. It was a very important occasion, the only occasion in fact of its kind ever owned by God. It was what is popularly called a church council; there have been many since — history records them — but in no case has there been any indication that any of them was authorised of God, this being the only one that bears the stamp of divine approval. It was the first and the last, a council called to decide on matters of doctrine, and a decision was reached that was satisfactory and effective. No other decision has ever been reached in a church council that has either been satisfactory [p. 326] or effective spiritually. This council was; and in proceeding, James stands up and addresses it, elaborating and enlarging on what Peter had said, and among these things was this remarkable statement — that God had visited the nations to call out of them a people for His name.
You can see how very different this is from what has now come about among the nations. What has come about is that nations have been christianised, not converted. I can scarcely use the word ‘christianised’ for anything genuine. What has happened is not genuine. Nations to the extent of 500,000,000 of inhabitants have been christianised. One of the largest of them has recently withdrawn, at least officially — that is Russia — from christendom, showing that it was whitewash, and so it is with all the nations. They have been christianised, but they have continued on as they were before, with very little difference in conduct or in outlook; there is no thought whatever of a people taken out of them. But that is the divine thought; what James had in mind, and Peter too. When Peter was sent for to come to Caesarea by Cornelius as under divine direction, he went; first he hesitated, but God prepared him so that he went, as I might say, with spiritual alacrity, and he had a remarkable reception, and preached a remarkable sermon, but he did not finish it. God was listening to that sermon perhaps as to no other — it was the message that was calculated to appeal to the gentiles, and the appeal was effective; so effective that God gave the Holy Spirit to the audience, no confession being called for. If I were to speak to some young people here after this preaching, I would talk about confession; I would urge upon anyone exercised about his soul to believe in his heart that God raised Christ for our justification, and to confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus, for confession is necessary; but Peter’s address was so [p. 327] received — whether Peter saw it himself or not — God saw it, as it is in every case, and so gave those who heard the Holy Spirit. If it were a question of any of you who has not confessed Christ merely going to heaven, merely being the companion of Jesus in paradise, there would be no need of confession. Faith in Him is sufficient, belief in the heart in Christ risen brings righteousness; you are accounted righteous on that principle, and qualified to be with Christ. Of course, one should confess, but the point is that belief in the heart in Christ risen constitutes one righteous.
These listeners, Cornelius and his company, to the apostle Peter’s address, made no confession as far as the record goes, until they got the Spirit. That is to say, God dealt with them according to what was in their hearts, and why not? God knows the heart as well as the mouth; His eye penetrates the heart as He hears the articulations of the mouth; and He deals with a person according to that, and so these listeners to the address of Peter received the Spirit as they sat there and listened. It was while Peter was preaching they got the Spirit. They were all those that God had in His mind, a people called out. Not that Cornelius was asked to give up his office as a Roman soldier, not that the pious soldier mentioned was asked to resign his place in the Roman army — they were secured for God; having in their hearts believed the testimony, they were secured in that sense for God as they were. They might retain their offices, they may continue in their vocations, but their outlook was changed, their hearts were given to Christ, God has secured them through the gospel. They belonged to the called-out ones, and as having the Spirit they were included in the assembly. Indeed, the word ‘assembly’ implies that it is composed of called-out ones. If there is anyone interested in what I am saying, it is a call for you. You may [p. 328] continue in your vocation and be more righteous than ever you have been; your heart is changed, your outlook is changed, you are bought with a price, you belong to God, you are taken out from the nation, from the city and the association in which you have been; and that was what Peter had intimated in the council, and what James confirmed, that the gospel is a call, and a call to those who hear to move out.
Persons known as Freemasons listen to the gospel, or Foresters, or those of other unhallowed associations, and the idea is that if God’s voice is heard in their souls they are to move, they are not to stay in these associations. God is not saying that He will not bless you if you stay there, although He is conveying to you that if you remain there you are not where salvation is; you may get light there, forgiveness there, but you are not getting on, nor will you ever become of any value in the assembly or in the testimony. He has called you out, “a people for his name”. He says, I am going to relieve you of every conscience trouble, every heart trouble that you have got — the Lord would undertake for you that way — but He says, I want you. God wants you, and has visited the nations to take out of them a people for His name. Think of the grace of God coming Himself to the many countries of the world for this purpose! It is urgent with Him, it is necessary to Him, and hence the gospel call. As I said before, the word ‘assembly’ (’church’ in the Authorised Version) implies a people called out, a coming-away from the associations in which you have been. God wants you, and He is urging that He should have you now; for a great purpose eternally — but immediately — for His name.
Well, I illustrate all this from these verses in Revelation. I have read them because of this identical expression, “out of”. First of all, in verse 4, John says, “I heard the number of the sealed ... 144,000”.
[p. 329] Now you may say, that is not a great number; nor is it, but the chapter does give a great number, indeed, it speaks in such a way as to satisfy every one who has any idea of numbers. What the number is that God will have is such as to exceed the mind to compass — the number of the redeemed; so that this 144,000 is not a great number in that sense, but it is a very great number morally, it is the number that God wishes. You may enquire, Is it a question with Him how many? It is a great question with Him, and it is a solemn thing for you if you are not included in His number. The idea of number is a very important matter with Him. How could He make a universe except on the principle of measure? He is “the God of measure”, 2 Corinthians 10:13 and so all must be measured on that principle with Him, even to a hairbreadth; there must be no discrepancy or loose ends in God’s measures or weights, and so here He has 144,000. This is, I might say, an arbitrary number. No intelligent christian would assume that this is the actual number of those who will be saved out of the tribes of Israel; it is a symbolical number, a number that conveys the idea of manipulation, that is, it is usable, a number that can be easily divided and sub-divided, so that God can carry out His thoughts. In this sense divisibility implies that love exists in the persons numbered — that they are entirely at God’s disposal. Thus 144,000 is God’s number, and it is taken out of the tribes of Israel, 12,000 out of each tribe — taken out of.
We must not assume that all Israel, in the sense of each person, shall be saved. The nation, as such, shall be saved indeed; it is specifically stated that all Israel in this sense shall be saved. The Jews are going back to Palestine today in considerable numbers, but yet they are going back in unbelief, but no one would say that all these are going to be saved. They are going back to the open field, as it were, not [p. 330] within the limits of the city of refuge, see Numbers 35:9 - 28. I am not saying that the movement is not answering to the divine mind, but prophecy says they will go back in unbelief. There will be a terrible tribulation, as the Lord Himself announced (Matthew 24), but some will be saved and that is what this passage means. God will have His Israel, He will have His number. And in regard to those redeemed generally, on the principle of sovereign selection, God is going to have His number, and this is a very solemn fact for anyone who is not yet saved — whether you may be omitted, or whether you may find place in that number. You might say — Well, if it is in the counsels of God I have got to have a place, why should I be anxious? I cannot tell you that, nor can anybody but God Himself inform you as to this. It is for you to be sure that you are one of that number. The gospel is for you tonight, and your responsibility is to accept it. As you do, you prove that you are of the elect. The gospel is that the elect may “obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus”, 2 Timothy 2:10. That is one side of the position; the other is that God “will have all men to be saved”, 1 Timothy 2:4. Thus the gospel is preached to all, and if you refuse it you are refusing the salvation that God offers you.
And so I come down to verse 9 of our chapter. It says no one can number this vast multitude. God alone knows. And it does not say that they are sealed, so many out of each country; they come out of every country, and kindred, this vast multitude, and there is not a word of any sovereign selection. In the early part of the chapter we have selection, but the latter part gives you human responsibility. This is seen in what these people do; they “have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (verse 14). They did that; it was as they believed the gospel. They are not spoken of as concerned as to whether they were among the [p. 331] elect; they knew they had filthy garments, as it is said in the Old Testament, “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” Isaiah 64:6; they came to that knowledge and they availed themselves of what was available — the blood of Christ; that is the wonderful provision. The blood of Christ is still available. Christendom will be left in the darkness of unbelief, and God will send a delusion, indeed it has begun now, and it is, therefore, an exercise for everyone to face — have you washed your robes in the blood of Jesus? You see, this great multitude did it. The elder does not say they were evangelised, he does not say they were sealed sovereignly, he says they washed their robes; they availed themselves of the blood of the Lamb, and washed their robes in it. That is the position here tonight; God presents the blood of Christ for you, and if your robes are not washed white, you should do it tonight through faith in His blood. This is what you see in this vast number of people. John says “after these things I saw, and lo, a great crowd, which no one could number, out of every nation and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches in their hands”. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That is what they did. There is not a word here in this respect as to what God did. The earlier part of the chapter is what God did. The servants of God are sealed with the seal of the living God, but there is not a hint of that here, it is a question of what they did, and that is the example for every sinner here. Hence the question — What are you going to do with the provision that the gospel proposes for your soul? The number of those who washed their robes is immense; the elder says no man could number them. God knows — infinitely so. He is the author of mathematics, and here is a number that no ordinary mathematician can figure.
[p. 332] But how glorious is this immense number of people! One by one, they all have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. I am not saying there must not have been preaching. I am not saying there was not teaching or evangelists; no, I know there must have been a work of God. I am speaking of this number, one by one, washing their robes in that blood of Jesus: why not you, here tonight, if you have not done so? Just do what they did, they washed their robes and made them white, they did it well. One loves to think of the thoroughness of what you get in Scripture; here they made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
And then they stand before God — and I say more: they did not stay where they were when the light reached them; they are “out of”. You see, it is out of nations and tribes and peoples and tongues. Every one of these has come out of his nation, his tribe and his kindred, and they are all together, and they are before the throne of the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands; they are before God.
Now that confirms what I said at the beginning; it is a question of moving out, and you are now before the throne. The throne is a great idea in this book; it is a question of God taking up the administration of the world and these people are all standing there before it: as if to say, “we are for the throne, we are not now advocating the rights of our respective nations, we are thinking of God, we are thinking of His throne, we are thinking of the Lamb”. That is the position, that is exactly what most of us here tonight have before us. We are before God as having come out. This immense number of people are occupied with God as the passage goes on to say, “they cry with a loud voice saying, Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb”. How befitting! How victorious! They have palms in [p. 333] their hands, a symbol of victory. They are saying, “Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne ...” they are meaning that God should be victorious in His great conflict against evil, and that is what every true christian is saying now, everyone who is in the fellowship of God’s Son. And then an the angels come into this — I want the young people to see the magnitude of what I am presenting — it says, “all the angels”. Who can count them? No one. We read of myriads, the Lord will come presently with the holy myriads. We read of “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” Revelation 5:11. “And all the angels stood around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures, and fell before the throne upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and strength, to our God, to the ages of ages”, Revelation 7:11,12. Let us take this into our minds, dear brethren, at this meeting here tonight: where souls come into blessing — as accepting the provision that God has made, the cleansing virtue of the blood of Christ — the angels come into it, they celebrate with us, they think such results of the death of Christ very wonderful. They celebrated as the foundation of the earth was laid, but this is greater. You get more of the angels in this book than in any other, they are so sympathetic with God in what He is doing, and as to ourselves “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:14. Every one of us here as a christian is an heir to salvation, and these angels are attendant upon us. That is the position, and it is very wonderful; it should appeal to every young person here who has not washed his robes in the blood of Jesus — do it now! “Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved”. Acts 16:31.
Answering John as to this white-robed multitude the elder says, “These are they who come out of the great tribulation”. Some of you may be holding back because you are afraid of what will happen to you at the office, workshop, or school; I know of young people who held back till they left high school and college, and there may be some who have this in mind here tonight, but you are missing it; tribulation goes with faith in Christ, it is one of the workers that God provides for the believer — “tribulation works endurance”, Romans 5:3 and you need it. The apostle Paul says to a remarkable set of young christians, “through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God”, Acts 14:22 and the elder says these people have come out of great tribulation. A believer is at school and the other students may deride and sneer at you; heaven is looking on to see how you stand it. I know well enough how keen the suffering is, and so in the office and in other places, but heaven is watching you — are you going to bear it victoriously? Can you stand a sneer? If a christian does, he is stronger after it than before. Going through such exercises makes you stronger than you were before. You are qualifying as a “good soldier of Jesus Christ”. 2 Timothy 2:3. These things are allowed by God, but they are limited. The Lord says to Smyrna, “ye shall have tribulation ten days”. Revelation 2:10. Not eleven — they will come to an end.
Then you get most cheering things said about these washed ones. How honoured and privileged they are! “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sits upon the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. They shall not hunger any more, neither shall they thirst any more, nor shall the sun at all fall on them, nor any burning heat; because the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them, and shall lead them to fountains of waters of life, and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes”. Are these not wonderful things divinely permitted to [p. 335] be proposed to believers? — they are. God is appealing to some here as to what He has got for you, and He presents to you this vast throng out of all nations seen as appropriating what He provides and sharing together all these blessings — why not you? Even if they are outwardly very few — why not you? Peter who would make much of a “few” (1 Peter 3), would, as it were, magnify the value of a few when they are in the right against the multitude, as at the Deluge. There were but a few saved then, but how privileged!
That is all I had to present, and I ask the Lord to bless it.