To large to count

Revelation 7:9

We moved from Odem a very small town about thirty miles outside of Corpus Christi and when I use the word town, that is using the word town, very loosely, we did have a Post Office, a mercantile, feed store, bank, churches and a lumber company, and we moved from all of that to Houston, Texas.  In Odem there was no east or west, no north or south, you were either in Odem or going out of Odem, it was that small.  So we show up in a city of millions, and to a small town boy it was just huge, the scope of the city was frightening.  We found a house, the nicest one we had lived in, and we joined a church with two times more members than the town of Odem, now that was a little intimidating.  But inside of that church was an adult class and that class was almost bigger than the church we attended in Sinton, a larger town down the road from Odem. 

The couple that taught the class, are now our dearest friends, John Davis and his wife Brenda, and they made what was so intimidating in size feel just right, and in that very large class were couples from across the spectrum of social and economic sector, all studied the Scripture together.  Coming from a small town we were somewhat selective of who came to our house, even from the little farm community of Sinton, Texas, but not John and Brenda, they would invite that large group to their home in town or the one at the lake, and everyone who came into that class or home was special to them.  How does this story tie into Revelation chapter seven?  That class was open to any and all who would come, and once you were a member of the class, you enjoyed the fellowship of John and Brenda; you also were invited into their home.

That is what God has done in a much larger scope, by receiving the free gift of Jesus Christ, you and I have entered into a relationship with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit of God, we can have fellowship, and He has promised to come back for each one of us for the party in His house that will have no end.  Revelation 7:9; “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 

As we read on, this multitude that no one can number is just a small number of who is going to be in heaven, the ones in white robes are the Christians, who were killed in the great tribulation that is yet to come, and they were from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages.  I know this may come as a shock to some of my readers, who believe that only their church has the truth, and that if your not part of their group you do not have truth, those folks are in for a big surprise.  It is not determined by membership but by relationship, the invitation is from God to whosoever will come.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice