White Robes

TEXT: "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Rev. 7:14.

THE terms employed in the text are white robes, washed their robes, great tribulation, and the Lamb. These form natural divisions of the subject.

1. The white robes. The character of the truly righteous, both in the life that now is, and in that which is to come, is illustrated by white robes and garments of purity. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness." Isa. 61:10. The true Witness, Jesus Christ, counsels his people, to buy of him "white raiment," that they may be clothed, and that the shame of their nakedness do not appear. Rev. 3:18. And the great multitude which no man could number "of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes." Rev. 7:9. In the passage from the prophet Isaiah, we have the phrase, "robe of righteousness," and in Rev. 19:8, the inspired definition of the figure is given. "The fine linen is the righteousness of saints."

Warp, woof, and weft, are words applicable to a piece of cloth. The threads running lengthwise are the woof, those running crosswise are the warp, and the woven piece of cloth is the weft. Webster and Lev. 13:48, 49. From cloth are made garments, whether they be called robes, or by any other name. Robes, apparel, garments, and fine linen, are terms used in the Scriptures to represent character. The two men in white apparel who appeared on the mount of ascension, Acts 1:10, were two sinless angels. The pure and white linen of the seven angels of Rev. 15:6, represents their holy character. And the same is illustrated by the long white garment of the youthful figure at the resurrection of Christ.

The clean white robe represents purity of character. This lost in Adam, is found in Christ. The Captain of our salvation met and overcame Satan in the wilderness of temptation in our behalf. He wrought out a righteous character for all who will believe in him and overcome in his name. Here comes the work and the battle. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Rev. 3:21. And here comes in the running of the race, the enduring hardness as good soldiers, the fighting of the good fight of faith, and the laying hold on eternal life.

The heavenly white linen is composed, first, of the righteous character wrought out by the Son of God through suffering in our behalf, as the warp; and, second, righteous works of those who take hold of the righteousness of Christ by faith, as the woof, or the filling. The warp is laid in perfection by our triumphant Head, who endured a fast of forty days, and overcame Satan on our account. He stood firm just where Adam fell. He perfected a character which Adam failed to maintain. Here is the warp of the heavenly garment, waiting for the Christian, to weave in the woof of an obedient, godly life of faith. The righteous character manifested in Jesus Christ may be ours, if in obedience and faith we take hold of it. In this way, the righteousness of Jesus Christ may be imputed to us. Mark well the conditions of reigning with Christ: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne." This is the weaving time. Fill up your life with cheerful works of obedience and love. Do all in faith. Keep out of the heavenly fabric everything like "shoddy," and weave earnestly the weft with pure material.

2. They washed their robes. Here is a beautiful figure of that righteousness that will clothe the redeemed. "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Rev. 7:14. "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." Rev. 1:5. The sinner washes, and Christ washes. Or, Christ provides the fountain in which the sinner washes by faith in the cleansing blood of the Redeemer. By his acts of obedience he shows his faith in the blood of Christ, and thus his faith is made perfect, and he exchanges his sins for an indwelling Saviour.

"There is a fountain filled with blood,

Drawn from Immanuel's veins,

And sinners plunge beneath that flood

And lose their guilty stains.

"E'er since by faith I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds did give,

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall be while I live.

"Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood

Shall never lose its power,

Till all the ransomed church of God

Be saved, to sin no more."

The robes of the righteous are not washed by the angels and sent down to the saints all glistening in the whiteness of Heaven's purity. No, the washing is done by probationers in this world. Washing is not only work, but hard work. The redeemed had washed. They had washed their robes of character. And they had done this by faith in the blood of the Lamb. Or, to return to the figure of weaving, faith in the all-cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb is the spring that sends the old-fashioned gospel shuttle, bearing the woof of good works, across the holy threads of the heavenly warp.

Some men talk of the imputed righteousness of Christ and the utter worthlessness of all we can do, in a manner to give the idea that we may as well sit down and wait for the Lord to send a spotless robe down from Heaven to cover all our imperfections, unworthiness, and sins. One of this class, in making a dry speech in opposition to the doctrine we had presented that men would be judged and rewarded according to their works, said that Paul declared that all our righteousness is but filthy rags. We informed the people that Paul had said no such thing; and that the expression occurred but once in all the Bible, where the prophet contrasts apostates in Israel with those that work righteousness.

"Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways. Behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned; in those is continuance, and we shall be saved. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Isa. 64:5, 6. The application of these fearful words of the prophet of God to the obedient, trusting followers of Christ, is but little short of an insult to our divine Lord and his dear people.

This class seem willing to rest down upon a faith that is "dead as a door nail," and do nothing for God or for humanity. They live for self all the days of their lives, expecting a spotless robe in some way to come down from Heaven, warp, woof, and all, to cover their sins so that they can stand the test of the last Judgment. On the other hand, there are those who think this robe can be gotten up in this world, quite independent of the Saviour of sinners. These are as wide of the truth as the others. If men could gain eternal life by good works alone, Christ need not have died for our sins. But it is said of the redeemed, that they had washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. The blessings of salvation and eternal redemption are promised to those who have an active faith, which is the main-spring of good works.

Paul recommends an active faith that works by love. Gal. 5:6. Another apostle inquires, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?" James 2:14. He answers, "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." Verses 15-18.

The principles of a living, working faith were implanted in the minds and hearts of the victorious worthies of past ages, sketches of whose history Paul gives in his epistle to the Hebrews. They worked by faith. "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he as righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being dead yet speaketh." Heb. 11:4.

"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." Verse 7.

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place, which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." Verse 8.

"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Verses 24-26. And by faith others "quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." Verse 34.

Faith and works are inseparable. A man is justified by faith when he is justified by works. The apostle speaks of the works and faith of the father of the faithful in these words: "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." James 2:21-24, 26.

The good works of the Christian are the measure of his faith. The white-robed multitude were all workers. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Good works are exalted in the Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testament fully equal to good faith. The promises to Israel on conditions of obedience are rich in blessings.

"If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee." Ex. 15:26.

"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day; and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God." Deut. 11:26-28.

"If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them, then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit." Lev. 26:3, 4.

"Unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy; for thou renderest to every man according to his work." Ps. 62:12.

"If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?" Prov. 24:12.

"I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." Jer. 17:10.

"The Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, great in counsel, and mighty in work; for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men, to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." Jer. 32:18, 19.

"Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil." Isa. 56:2.

"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. 58:13, 14.

"Wash you, make you clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Isa. 1:16-18.

"The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them." Ps. 103:17, 18.

"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8.

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Mal. 3:10.

The promises to the obedient in the New Testament are quite as full as those of the Old. Christ identifies himself with his suffering people, whom he calls brethren. Acts of mercy and of love done to the least of his brethren are done to him. Christ our King will say,

"Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me." Matt. 25:34-36. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." Matt. 16:27.

"Who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them by who patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life." Rom. 2:6, 7.

"He that planteth and he that watereth are one. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." 1 Cor. 3:8.

"Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him; for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. 5:9, 10.

"And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Gal. 6:9, 10.

"Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." Eph. 6:8.

"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." 1 Pet. 1:22.

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ." Col. 3:23, 24.

"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Rev. 20:12.

"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:12-14.

3. The great tribulation. The white-robed ones embrace the saved during the entire period of human probation, reaching across the dispensations. The redeemed from the Patriarchal, Jewish and Christian ages all come out of great tribulation. The transgression and fall plunged the representatives of the race in ruin, and made their posterity the lawful prey of Satan. And from the very commencement of the controversy between Christ and his angels and Satan and his angels to the end of probation, the struggle on the part of those who escape the pollutions of this world and rise to a life of obedience, justification, and eternal life, is a fearful one.

Abel, the first martyr, fell by the murderous hand of Cain, because his works were righteous, and his brother's evil. With these first sons of Adam the great controversy commenced, and the conflict between good and evil, led on by Christ and Satan, has continued all along the ages down to our day.

God said to Noah, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." Gen. 7:1. As a preacher of righteousness he condemned the ungodly of his time.

It is said of just Lot, that his righteous soul was vexed from day to day with the filthy conversation of the wicked. 2 Pet. 2:7, 8. Satan has ever held the masses under his destructive power, while those left to Jesus Christ have been few. As in the days of Noah, so in Lot's time, those who feared God were very few. Abraham pleads for doomed Sodom in these pathetic words:

"Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake." Gen. 18:24-32. But for want of ten righteous men in Sodom, it was destroyed by the fire of the Almighty, after righteous Lot made his escape.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt in tabernacles, pilgrims and strangers in a strange country, in faith of an eternal inheritance. Abraham looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. No man has been as severely tried and tempted as was Abraham in reference to his son. Paul speaks of the faithful patriarchs in these words: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Heb. 11:13.

The life of Moses was one of sacrifice, care, and sorrow. Paul says: "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Heb. 11:24-26.

The apostle continues his brief sketch of the tribulations of the ancient worthies: "And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy; they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Verses 36-40.

There were but few righteous men from Adam to Moses, and the numbers of the just in the Jewish age, compared with the mulitudes of the unjust, were very small. These bent their lonely footsteps in the path of self-denials, sacrifices, trials, tears, and tribulations, up to life.

When one asked Jesus, "Are there few that be saved?" he answered, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." Luke 13:23, 24. Again he says: "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt. 7:13, 14. Our Lord stated a great fact in these passages, which existed when spoken, ever had existed, and which would exist until the close of probation. The way to destruction is broad, and many popular seekers crowd their way in it down to death. The way to life is narrow, and the few earnest strivers press their way up to life in it, glorying in tribulation, rejoicing in hope of standing with the white-robed ones on the plains of eternal redemption.

These good words that follow from the sweet singer of Israel, also have a general application in all the ages of human probation, and are to the point. "The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh, unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked; and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants; and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate." Ps. 34:17-22.

The Lord appeals to his people, through the prophet, in these precious words, "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another." Isa. 48:9-11.

The Redeemer of the world in his ministry and mission here to save lost men, drank the cup of suffering to the very dregs. He appeals to his disciples to strengthen their souls in tribulation, in these forcible words: "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me." John 15:18-21.

Paul gives his experience, in harmony with that of his Master as follows: "Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; and labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you." 1 Cor. 4:11-14. The apostle declares that it is through much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of God. Acts 14:22. And in his address to his son in the gospel he speaks of his persecutions and afflictions at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, out of which the Lord delivered him, and adds: "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Tim. 3:12.