"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!'" (Rev. 7:9-10)
"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.'" (Rev. 7:13-14)
Weddings are often a time of reuniting with family and friends separated by distance and the busyness of life. At the Marriage Supper of the Lamb we will not only be enjoying the experience with our Savior-Groom, we will be enjoying the company of a great multitude of saints. And among those saints there will be those whose who have been, and yet will be, martyred for their faith. These are becoming dear friends of mine and I would like to introduce some of them to you so that when you meet them at the celebration you will have the same kind of love and respect for them as Christ does.
Hugh McKail was a Scottish Covenanter preacher during the mid-1600s. This was a time when the government wanted control over the church. The Covenanters resisted. "In November 1666 McKail was captured and tortured for information, which apparently he withheld despite a metal wedge being hammered into his leg, shattering the bone."
"A month later, on December 18, he was tried with other prisoners and sentenced to be hanged. During the next four days he prepared for death, composing an eloquent gallows farewell and asking his father, who was with him for a last dinner on the night before the hanging, 'I desire it of you, as the best and last service you can do me, to go to your chamber and pray earnestly to the Lord to be with me on that scaffold; for how to carry there is my care, even that I may be strengthened to endure to the end.' Then he asked his father to leave him, or else he would stir emotions that would deflect his purpose the next day."
At the gallows, McKail spoke at some length, begging the audience to listen to his "few words," as his years on earth were few as well. At the end of his testimony and admonition to courage he said:
And now I leave off to speak any more to creatures, and turn my speech to thee, O Lord! And now I begin my intercourse with God, which shall never be broken off. Farewell father and mother, friends and relations; farewell the world and all delights; farewell meat and drink; farewell sun, moon, and stars. Welcome God and Father; welcome sweet Lord Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant; welcome blessed Spirit of grace, and God of all consolation; welcome glory; welcome eternal life; welcome death.
"Then Hugh climbed the ladder to the waiting rope and prayed for some time before the executioner released him to gravity and heaven."
Dear sisters, would you please read that testimony again, especially his prayer? And in the days ahead as I introduce to you (maybe for the first time) some other brothers and sisters of ours who knew well that "dying is gain," I ask you to carefully consider their testimonies and give praise to God for such men and women as these. And give thanks to God for the gift that they are to us, because in a very real sense it is because of their undying love for Christ we have life in Christ that is rich with blessings. And may we all pray to the same Savior for a life that is so in love with Christ, dying for Him will be an easy choice. More tomorrow.
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