When I can read my title clear

From Tears to Triumph Through Christ

Primary Texts: Romans 8:14–39; Revelation 21:1–5

Introduction

Isaac Watts wrote:

When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies,
I'll bid farewell to every fear,
And wipe my weeping eyes.

This hymn has comforted Christians for more than three centuries. Yet many sing it without asking what it really means.

What does it mean to "read my title clear"?

It means having a settled confidence that, through Jesus Christ, I belong to God and that heaven is my inheritance. It is not confidence in my own goodness, church attendance, prayers, or religious activities. It is confidence in the finished work of Christ.

The hymn raises a question that every one of us must answer:

Can I truly say that Christ is mine and I am His?

Many people have money but no peace.

Many have good jobs but live with constant anxiety.

Many smile in public but cry in private.

Many appear successful while carrying burdens no one else knows.

Some are worried about their children.

Some are praying for healing.

Some are carrying financial burdens.

Some are mourning someone they loved.

Some have served God faithfully, yet their prayers seem unanswered.

Others secretly wonder whether God has forgotten them.

If we are honest, everyone sitting in church has tears that nobody else sees.

Some tears never leave the eyes.

Some hide in the heart.

Yet the gospel does not begin by pretending our tears are imaginary. The gospel begins by acknowledging them and then pointing us to Christ.

That is exactly what this hymn does.

It does not ignore suffering.

It points suffering toward hope.

1. Our Tears Are Real Because We Live in a Fallen World

The Bible never pretends Christians do not cry.

• We cry because of sin.
• We cry because of sickness.
• We cry because of disappointment.
• We cry because of broken relationships.
• We cry because people die.
• We cry because we ourselves become weak.
• Sometimes we even cry because we have disappointed God again.

The Bible is full of tears.

• David cried.
• Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet.
• Paul wrote with tears.
• Mary wept.
• Even our Lord Jesus Christ stood before Lazarus' tomb and wept.

If Jesus could weep, then tears are not signs of weak faith.

They are signs that we live in a broken world.

Illustration

Imagine walking into a hospital.

One room contains a child fighting cancer.

Another holds a father recovering from surgery.

A young mother is praying for her newborn.

An elderly woman has no visitors.

Down another corridor, a doctor has just informed a family that there is nothing more medically possible.

Different rooms.

Different stories.

Different tears.

But every room reminds us of the same truth:

This world is not the way God originally created it to be.

Sin entered the world, and with sin came suffering, disease, pain, and death.

Every cemetery silently preaches the consequences of sin.

Every hospital reminds us that creation is groaning.

Personal Application

Perhaps your tears are not visible.

Maybe you smile every Sabbath.

You greet everyone warmly.

You sing loudly.

But when you return home, your pillow knows your secret tears.

You have asked,

"Lord, how much longer?"

You wonder why others seem to move forward while your prayers remain unanswered.

God is not unaware of those tears.

Psalms 56 says that God keeps His people's tears.

Not one has escaped His notice.

Notice something beautiful.

Isaac Watts does not deny that believers cry.

He simply says tears are not the final chapter.

2. Christ Gives Assurance That Changes How We Face Our Tears

Notice carefully what the hymn says.

It does not say,

"When all my problems disappear."

It says,

"When I can read my title clear."

The change is not first in circumstances.

The change is in certainty.

The storms may continue.

The diagnosis may remain.

The financial pressure may not disappear overnight.

But something inside the believer changes.

He knows where he belongs.

He knows whose he is.

Romans 8 tells us that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

And if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

That changes everything.

Suppose you are travelling through a difficult country.

The roads are rough.

The weather is terrible.

You are exhausted.

But someone tells you,

"At the end of this journey, your family is waiting. Your home is ready. Everything has been prepared for you."

The road has not changed.

The destination changes how you travel the road.

That is what assurance does.

It does not remove every storm.

It gives confidence in the middle of the storm.

Illustration

Imagine two passengers on the same airplane.

Suddenly turbulence begins.

One passenger is terrified.

He believes the plane may never arrive.

Another passenger is calm.

Why?

Not because the turbulence is smaller.

Not because he enjoys shaking.

He simply trusts the pilot.

The circumstances are identical.

Their confidence is different.

The Christian's confidence is infinitely greater.

Our confidence is not in ourselves.

It is not in positive thinking.

It is not in our emotions.

It is in Jesus Christ.

He died.

He rose again.

He reigns.

He intercedes for us.

Nothing can separate us from His love.

Another Illustration

Think of a child walking through a crowded market.

The child hears loud noises.

People push past.

Everything seems frightening.

Yet the child never panics.

Why?

Because his father is holding his hand.

The child does not know every direction.

He does not understand every danger.

But he knows the hand holding him.

The believer's assurance is not that he holds Christ tightly.

It is that Christ holds him securely.

Jesus said that no one can snatch His sheep from His hand.

That is why Isaac Watts says he can bid farewell to fear.

Not because he has become strong.

But because Christ is strong.

Application

Many believers spend their lives looking at themselves.

Am I good enough?
Have I prayed enough?
Have I failed too many times?

Those questions will never produce peace.

The gospel invites us to stop staring at ourselves and begin looking at Christ.

Assurance grows when we behold Christ.

The more clearly we see His cross...

His resurrection...

His righteousness...

His promises...

the more clearly we can "read our title."

Our confidence rests entirely on Him.

That is why the gospel is such good news.

Christ has already accomplished what we never could.

He finished the work.

Our hope rests in Him alone.

3. God Comforts His People Even Now

When we read Revelation 21:4, we often think only about heaven:

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes."

That promise certainly reaches its fullest fulfillment in the new heaven and the new earth, where there will never again be death, mourning, crying, or pain.

But does that mean God does nothing about our tears until then?

Not at all.

Throughout Scripture, we meet a God who draws near to His people in their affliction.

David declared:

"The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

Paul described Him as:

"The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort."

Jesus promised:

"I will not leave you as orphans."

God often wipes away tears before He removes the reason for them.

He may not immediately change our circumstances, but He changes us in the midst of them.

He gives strength to continue.

He gives peace that surpasses understanding.

He reminds us that we are never walking alone.

Illustration

Think of a little girl learning to ride a bicycle.

She falls and scrapes her knee.

Immediately she begins to cry.

Her father cannot pretend that the wound does not exist.

He does not say, "Stop crying. Nothing happened."

Instead, he kneels beside her.

He lifts her up.

He wipes away her tears.

He cleans the wound.

He comforts her.

If she is too weak to continue, he carries her home.

The scrape is still there.

The pain has not disappeared.

But everything feels different because her father is with her.

Many times this is exactly how God deals with His children.

Sometimes He removes the trial.

Sometimes He allows it to remain.

But He never abandons those who belong to Him.

His presence becomes our strength.

Another Illustration

Have you ever noticed that two people can experience almost the same tragedy, yet respond completely differently?

Two families lose their jobs.

Two mothers bury their husbands.

Two young people receive the same medical diagnosis.

One becomes bitter.

The other becomes more compassionate.

One turns away from God.

The other clings to Christ more tightly than ever before.

What made the difference?

It was not the suffering.

It was the presence of Christ.

The Christian is never promised a life without suffering.

The Christian is promised a Savior who never leaves.

That is why Paul and Silas could sing in prison.

The prison doors were still locked.

The chains were still on their hands.

Their backs still bore the marks of beating.

Yet Christ was with them.

Sometimes the greatest miracle is not that God changes our circumstances.

The greatest miracle is that He changes us while our circumstances remain the same.

Application

Perhaps today you are asking:

"Lord, why haven't You answered my prayer?"

Maybe you have prayed for years.

You have fasted.

You have trusted.

You have waited.

Still the answer has not come.

Remember this:

God's silence is not His absence.

A teacher is often silent during an examination.

The silence does not mean the teacher has abandoned the students.

Likewise, our heavenly Father may seem silent for a season, but He has never stopped working.

The Shepherd sometimes leads His sheep through dark valleys, but He never leaves them alone there.

You may not understand His ways today.

But one day you will discover that every step was guided by nail-pierced hands.

4. The Complete Wiping Away of Tears Is Still to Come

As wonderful as God's comfort is today, it is only a foretaste of something far greater.

The greatest comfort is still ahead.

The Apostle John saw a glorious vision.

He saw a new heaven and a new earth.

He saw the Holy City.

Then he heard a loud voice from the throne saying:

"Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man."

Then comes one of the sweetest promises in all of Scripture.

God Himself will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Notice carefully.

Not an angel.

Not a pastor.

Not a parent.

Not a friend.

God Himself.

Every tear.

Every sorrow.

Every disappointment.

Every regret.

Every heartbreak.

Every grief.

Death itself will die.

Hospitals will no longer be needed.

Funeral homes will close forever.

No more cancer.

No more wheelchairs.

No more depression.

No more broken marriages.

No more goodbyes.

No more cemeteries.

No more fear.

No more tears.

Everything that sin introduced into this world will finally be removed forever through Jesus Christ.

Illustration

Imagine a little girl waiting for her father to return from a very long journey.

Every day she asks her mother, "When will Daddy come home?"

She counts the days.

She waits at the window.

Then one afternoon she hears a familiar voice.

She runs as fast as she can.

She throws herself into her father's arms.

Months of waiting disappear in one joyful embrace.

Now imagine something infinitely greater.

One day every believer will see Jesus Christ face to face.

The One who died for us.

The One who bore our sins.

The One who interceded for us.

The One who never stopped loving us.

Faith will become sight.

Hope will become reality.

We will finally be home.

That is why Isaac Watts could write:

May I but safely reach my home,
My God, my Heaven, my All.

Conclusion

Notice carefully what this hymn never says.

It never says Christians never cry.

It never promises an easy life.

It never teaches that faith removes every earthly problem.

Instead, it points us to Someone greater than our circumstances.

It points us to Jesus Christ.

Only Christ can forgive sins.

Only Christ can reconcile us to God.

Only Christ can give true assurance.

Only Christ can sustain us through suffering.

Only Christ can guarantee our eternal inheritance.

Only Christ can bring us safely home.

The greatest question is not:

"Have you cried?"

Everyone has.

The greater question is:

Can you read your title clear?

Do you know Christ?

Have you trusted Him?

Are you resting completely in His finished work?

If your confidence rests in your own goodness, your title is uncertain.

If your confidence rests in Christ alone, your title is secure because He purchased it with His own blood on the cross.

One day every believer will sing this hymn with perfect understanding.

Not by faith.

Not by hope.

But by sight.

Until then, we continue walking by faith.

We still have tears.

We still face trials.

We still ask difficult questions.

But we also have an empty tomb.

We have a risen Savior.

We have an unfailing High Priest.

We have an eternal inheritance.

And we have the promise that the same Lord who wept at the tomb of Lazarus will one day wipe away every tear from our eyes forever.

So when fear comes, look to Christ.

When tears fall, look to Christ.

When the future seems uncertain, look to Christ.

When death approaches, look to Christ.

For the One who began a good work in His people will surely bring it to completion.

On that glorious day, faith will become sight, hope will become everlasting joy, and every promise of God in Christ Jesus will be fulfilled.

Amen.