Scripture reading: Revelation 7:9-17.

Sermon text: 1 John 3:1-3.

November 1 marks All Saints Day, the day the Church remembers all those who have left this life in faith in Jesus Christ. On this day, we appropriately remember those in our congregation who have sacrificed in their lives to carry on the work on our church. These believers faithfully taught the true doctrines and lived godly lives to leave us a godly heritage.

No congregation exists in a historical vacuum. Your congregation today stands on the achievements of Christians dating back to the first generation of believers. In the Revelation passage today, St. John tells us that those first generation believers now join believers from every generation in praising God for their salvation and for His work in history. As we remember these believers, we should consider the ways God used them in His plan and seek to imitate them in faithfulness and courage.

Sermon

In his first letter included in the New Testament, St. John wrote to believers throughout Asia Minor. These Christians already had experienced persecution, and many of them probably knew of Christian martyrs firsthand. While we remember that Nero’s persecution in the A.D. 60’s claimed the lives of St.’s Peter and Paul, many others in the Church had also died for the faith during Nero’s madness.

Even worse for the early Church, heresies had already crept into the congregations. St. John had to address an early heresy in this letter. Many false teachers had begun teaching the false doctrine of Docetism, which stated that a “spirit” Jesus only “seemed” human while on earth. While Docetism posed a problem for the churches St. John served, it certainly wasn’t the only false teaching making the rounds. Between heresy and persecution, it seemed the Church faced insurmountable odds in its early years.

Facing heresy and persecution gave St. John no anxiety about the Church’s survival. He had known Jesus personally; he joined Jesus as one of the first disciples. St. John had heard the teachings and seen the miracles. St. John had exulted in the triumphal entry, only to feel the agony of the judgment and crucifixion of his Lord. However, he had also seen the empty tomb, met the risen Jesus, and seen Him ascend into heaven.

Furthermore, St. John had experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. St. John knew that the Church served Almighty God Himself. St John knew that God would safeguard His people on earth and use the Church in a glorious plan to redeem creation. In short, nothing could stop the Church while God continued to use her to bring fallen humanity back into relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Therefore, St. John could write in his letter about believers receiving forgiveness for sins, through our Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ (chapter 2). St. John could encourage believers to live righteous lives before the world, knowing firsthand of the power that would help them to live as God commanded.

In the sermon text, St. John reminds us of how all this applies to us.

First, St. John reminds us why God does anything for us all. Christians throughout the centuries have marveled at the fact that God loves us. St. John would write in this letter, “We love because he first loved us” (4:19). God loves humanity, flaws and all.

This love sent Jesus to the earth for us. St. John wrote in his Gospel, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We should never forget that Jesus died for us even though we didn’t deserve it. St. Paul told the Romans, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

What does this love compel God to do? “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.” God refers to us as His children. Remember that St. John could write this letter using concepts and examples from St. Paul’s letters to Christians throughout the Empire. St. Paul had already written in letters to the Roman, Ephesian, and Galatian churches regarding God’s “adoption” of us into His family. Christians in the first century understood St. Paul’s imagery. In Roman law, a child adopted into the family received all the privileges and benefits of the natural born children. When God calls us His “children,” He gives us all the privileges that come with that honor.

Because God considers us His children, He gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us in life. He gives us the Holy Spirit to direct us so we can live godly lives that bring honor to His name. We must never forget that living as God’s children will bring privilege, but it also brings immense responsibility.

We must also constantly remember that the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives will separate us from the world. “The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” The world cannot understand because they have never known Jesus; they have never recognized Him as Lord. Our confession of Jesus as Lord led to our adoption into the family of God. Those who refuse to confess Jesus as Lord remain outside the family. Every family has its secrets and inside stories, and those outside the family cannot understand those secrets and stories.

The world of first-century Judea could not understand Jesus’ insistence on living by faith instead of by ritual. The world cannot understand how the Church can stand consistently on Scripture regardless of the shifts of society and economics. The world cannot understand why we insist on living according to God’s commandments when society tries to change the values of morality. The world will understand only by entering the family of faith.

Some people will wonder why we say we belong in the family when it seems we suffer more than those in the world. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, St. John said, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared.” We’ve all read stories about princes who live in exile, awaiting their return to their rightful status and the privileges it will bring. We’re studying David’s life in Sunday School right now; after Samuel anointed him the rightful king of Israel, David lived over a decade or more running from Saul, staying in caves and living under the protection of the Philistines, Israel’s mortal enemies.

Yes, things look bad right now for us. Christians still suffer poverty, as do people in the world. Christians suffer disease, as do people in the world. Christians still face civic responsibilities, as do people in the world. Christians still die, as does everyone in the world! “But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” The present troubles should not bother believers as they do the world, because we understand our birthright. St. Paul had written to the Roman churches, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). St. John says to us that when Jesus returns to earth, “ we shall be like him:” immortal, with a glorified body that will never again know suffering, aging, or death. Both St. Paul and St. John remind us that the suffering of this time will fade into oblivion in the face of the glory we will experience at Jesus’ return, when “we shall see him as he is.” We shall see Jesus as Lord and receive our rightful privileges as God’s children.

Knowing our identity leads us to live as God desires so we can please our Father. Since we know what we will receive at Jesus’ coming, we have the hope, the certainty, that Jesus will restore us to our place in the universe. “Everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” If we know that God desires us to live pure lives, the hope of the eternal life to come drives us to purify ourselves for His glory. The world should see us living pure lives far more than it hears us proclaiming purity as our standard. We have the Holy Spirit to help us live pure lives; we must live pure lives as God, our Father, wishes for us to live.

How this apply to us today? Specifically, how does this apply to us on All Saints Day?

First, we should take comfort that others have lived wisely and righteously before God and given us examples to follow. For centuries, people have realized God’s love for them in Jesus’ atoning death and victorious resurrection; this realization drove them to confess Him as Lord of their lives, believing in His resurrection. In response to their confession and belief, God adopted them into the family of faith; sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in their hearts to guide them; and brought them into the Church for love, support, and joy as they celebrated their common salvation.

Second, we must do more than take comfort in the examples of the saints who precede us. We must join them in their examples of purity and faithfulness. The world today desperately needs to see examples of godly living, far more than they need to hear about them. The world needs to see us living as if we truly belong to the family of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.

Lastly, we must remember our responsibility to those who have preceded us. We bear a responsibility to pass their faith onto the next generations. We must pass more than mere ritual; we must pass a living faith onto those who will succeed us. As you’ve heard me quote before, “Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living; Tradition is the living faith of the dead.” We worship here today, at New Hope Baptist Church in Romulus, Alabama, because believers since 1839 have worked tirelessly to transmit their faith to the new generations. We cannot fail their legacy.

Today, we’ll close the service with one of the great hymns of All Saints Day, “For All the Saints.” This hymn was written by William Walsham How, the Anglican Bishop of Wakefield in the nineteenth century. As we sing this hymn, let us give thanks to Almighty God for our salvation and for that innumerable company who already worship in His presence, before His throne in an eternal city. May God grant us the perseverance to live now that, in times to come, we shall stand in their mighty company unashamed of our service to Our Lord.