Sermon: All Saints Day (First Reading)
The Feast of All Saints
3 November AD 2013
Title: Salvation Belongs to Our God (MP3 Audio)
Summary: Our God owns our salvation — and this is a good thing, indeed. He is in control of it; He offers it freely. He cannot lose it; He will not misapply it. We do not deserve it; we cannot earn it. We have it by grace; we keep it through faith.
Because salvation belongs to our God, we belong to Him as well. He claims us in Baptism and sustains us through Word and Sacrament. Jesus claimed our sins as His own so that we might claim His holiness as ours. The Lamb who was slain is our Good Shepherd, leading us through this life into everlasting life in the Resurrection.
Text: Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples 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!”
And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:(2-8) 9-17
Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Salvation Belongs to Our God, preached to the saints at Trinity Lutheran Church, Norborne, Missouri.
NB: For some reason, a few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio if Windows Media is their default MP3 player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.
Other Readings: Psalm 149; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12
Illustration Credit: Art of the Church Year by Ed Riojas available through Higher Things Store.
Tags: All Saints Day | Feast of All Saints | Christology | Jesus | Jesus Christ | Christ | Father | God | Lamb | Shepherd | salvation | possession | heaven | possession | new heavens | new earth | Law | Law and Gospel | Gospel | 3 November 2013 | November 3, 2013 | Lutheranism | Lutheran | Church | Christian | Christianity | Revelation 7 | lectionary | sermon | preaching | text | theme | Salvation Belongs to Our God | audio | mp3 | Pastor Snyder | Pastor Walter Snyder | Walter Snyder | Ask the Pastor | Happenings
3 November AD 2013
Title: Salvation Belongs to Our God (MP3 Audio)
Summary: Our God owns our salvation — and this is a good thing, indeed. He is in control of it; He offers it freely. He cannot lose it; He will not misapply it. We do not deserve it; we cannot earn it. We have it by grace; we keep it through faith.Because salvation belongs to our God, we belong to Him as well. He claims us in Baptism and sustains us through Word and Sacrament. Jesus claimed our sins as His own so that we might claim His holiness as ours. The Lamb who was slain is our Good Shepherd, leading us through this life into everlasting life in the Resurrection.
Text: Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples 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!”And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:(2-8) 9-17
Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Audio: Click to hear the MP3 of Salvation Belongs to Our God, preached to the saints at Trinity Lutheran Church, Norborne, Missouri.
NB: For some reason, a few people have had problems trying to play the inline audio if Windows Media is their default MP3 player. If this occurs, you can either change to QuickTime or another default browser player, copy and paste the link directly into a selected player, or download it to your computer, where it seems to work regardless of which player. Several folks have suggested VLC Player from VideoLAN.
Other Readings: Psalm 149; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12
Illustration Credit: Art of the Church Year by Ed Riojas available through Higher Things Store.
Tags: All Saints Day | Feast of All Saints | Christology | Jesus | Jesus Christ | Christ | Father | God | Lamb | Shepherd | salvation | possession | heaven | possession | new heavens | new earth | Law | Law and Gospel | Gospel | 3 November 2013 | November 3, 2013 | Lutheranism | Lutheran | Church | Christian | Christianity | Revelation 7 | lectionary | sermon | preaching | text | theme | Salvation Belongs to Our God | audio | mp3 | Pastor Snyder | Pastor Walter Snyder | Walter Snyder | Ask the Pastor | Happenings
posted by Xrysostom | 10:00
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