We see there two distinct things, and you need to have these very, very clear. We are saved not by our own works; we are saved by solely the work of Jesus Christ, by faith alone in His work. All of our standing before God rests totally on His work, and our believing that when He died on the cross for our sins, it is enough. It's a complete work, a finished work, that enables all our sins to be forgiven and us to have a standing with God. By faith, we have that standing. We have access by faith, wherein we stand - it tells us in the Book of Ephesians. We understand, then, that we have a standing with God, by faith in His work. As a result of His work, now we give evidence, that we're in that right standing; by loving Him, by serving Him, and by letting Him express His life through us; and then He investigates, and checks, the quality of those works we do, and the motivation of them, to see if they qualify for reward. So remember then, bottom line: our salvation depends on faith in His work - a free gift; but our eternal rewards depend on our works - how we live life as a steward, an acknowledgement, a recompense by God, who is a rewarder.
Who gets the white garments then? Who receives the white garments? Ultimately, all of us will have a resurrection body; but when the Bible is talking about white garments, it describes it this way…
Number 1: ‘overcomers’ receive white garments - those who overcome. An overcomer is awarded white garments - as a prize, or an honour, for overcoming in life. The implication is: if you don't ‘overcome’ in life, or ‘defeat it’ in life, then you won't qualify for that ‘white garment’ that's being referred to.
Revelations 3:4-5 – “You have a few names, even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments. I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before the angels.”
Notice the first thing there: he who overcomes will be clothed in white garments. What are you currently facing? What issue do you face, that you need to overcome? God knows every one of us - He knows the details of our life, what we do, our position in life, where we are, what we face - and most of the challenges we face are never seen by anyone but God. The giants we face, mostly, are internal ones. Sometimes they're external; but primarily, it's the struggle to overcome being intimated, or set back, by life. Number 1 then: overcomers - those who overcome and prevail, receive white garments.
Number 2: the bride, the lamb's wife, receives white linen garments.
Revelations 19:8 – “To her it was granted she be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen are the righteous acts of the saints.”
It tells us the bride of Christ made herself ready. Now there's many Christians who are not making themselves ‘ready’ in any kind of way. A lot of Christians are not actually engaged in serving the Lord in any kind of significant way; but it tells us here that the lamb's wife, those who God selects, from among all those who are saved into intimacy with Him… it says very clearly, that they have made themselves ‘ready’. That means, they took on the responsibility of building a deep, intimate life with Jesus; and of allowing the life of Jesus to transform their heart and their motives - and because of that, they made themselves ready. The overflow of that relationship expressed itself in works of service to the Lord. We see this in many different ways in the Bible.
The third area, people who are clothed in white linen, that the Bible tells us about, they are people ‘from every tribe and every nation’.
Revelations 7:9 – “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, people and tongues, standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed with white robes and palm branches in their hands”.
So, we understand that there are two resurrections. The ‘first resurrection’ (and therefore must be a second resurrection); in the first resurrection, we're taught that it's a resurrection of reward - and you'll see this as we go through today's study re-emphasised again. I'll try to keep re-emphasising it, because it's such an important teaching.
What are the white garments? Firstly, the white garments represent Eternal Rewards. The white garments are supernatural clothing, that acknowledge the quality of our love and service for the Lord while we're on earth - and it makes sense. God is a just God, who will not only show mercy to people, and be patient with people, and provide grace in the midst of failures… also He is a Just God. There are two aspects of it: His justice means He will acknowledge what we've done, and the life we've lived, and respond accordingly. We saw in Revelations 3:4 for example – “you have a few names, even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments; they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.”