When We Personally See HIm

Audience of One series:

When We Personally See Him

Job 19:25-27; I John 3:1-3

Introduction: When this series began, the purpose of the messages was to challenge us to live not for what everyone else says, but for the Audience of One. God’s praise and glory is the most important person in the life of the believer. In a world that is filled with social media and high-pressure political ideas, it is difficult to live for the Audience of One. Though we may not receive an applause from Him here, we do find one instance where God stood for one who lived for the audience of One. Tonight as we close out this series, I trust God will encourage you with this thought of personally seeing Him.

Stephen who was one of the original seven deacons in the early church and when his audience got angry and stoned him, Jesus stood to welcome Him into heaven

“But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55–56)

That day, our Lord Jesus Christ sitting on the right hand of God noticed what was going on below and greeted Stephen into heaven. He is watching as He reigns, He is watching as He intercedes, He is watching when we suffer. He is watching when we laugh, and when we cry.

He is coming one day “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” (Revelation 1:7)

There are three ways we will see Him personally.

I. We shall see Him as He is

A. We shall see Him as the Lamb of God Rev. 1:7

1. The mission of Christ was fulfilled in that He died on the cross for us.

2. In His coming, the Jews will see Him whom they crucified but He is risen.

“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, The spirit of grace and of supplications: And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, And shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

3. The Lamb is mentioned 30 times in the book of Revelation which points to His work on Calvary

“Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Revelation 5:12–13)

4. One time a lady told me, all you preachers ever preach on is salvation and the gospel. That is by means true, but her that was her viewpoint. All I could say, if that bores you, then heaven will be boring because Lamb is the message of heaven.

B. We shall see Him as holy I John 3:2-3

1. Jesus is the exalted perfect King.

2. Isaiah saw Him on His throne as the king where they say unto Him holy, holy, holy.

3. He is holy and without any blemish-He is so holy, we cannot look into His face and live on this side of heaven.

C. We shall see Him as Redeemer Job 19:25

1. Something added to the Lamb is that Jesus is the Redeemer which means, He purchased our sinful souls out of slavery by His blood.

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” (1 Peter 1:18–19)

Blind songwriter Fanny Crosby wrote: Face to face with Christ my Savior, Face to face—what will it be, when with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me? Face to Face I shall behold Him, Far beyond the starry sky; Face to face in all His glory, I shall see Him by and by.

When my lifework is ended and I cross swelling tide, when the bright and glorious morning I shall see; I know my Redeemer when I reach the other side, and His smile will be the first to welcome me. I shall know Him, I shall know Him, and redeemed by His side I shall stand; I shall know Him, I shall know Him, by the print of the nails in His hand.

II. We shall see us as we are

A. Sinners saved by grace Job 19:26

1. As Job considered one day He will see God, he recognizes he is a sinner

2. We are made of clay but God in His grace provides a message of hope and deliverance through His grace

“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” (Romans 3:24)

3. Isaiah when He saw the Lord high and lifted up

“Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lordof hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:5–8)

B. Daily servant to Jesus I Cor. 3:13

1. At the judgment seat of Christ, there will be a reward not for salvation but for what we did for Christ.

2. Service to Him will be judged based on our motive and our faithfulness to Him.

3. Absence of reward will be evident because we lived selfishly, carelessly, and desiring the praise and approval of people rather than the Audience of One.

4. Loss of reward comes when we have not chosen to live for the audience of One.

III. We shall see what we will become

A. Given a heavenly body

1. When we see Him, we shall be like Him I John 3:2-3

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2–3)

2. We will be given a heavenly body

“Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” (Philippians 3:21)

B. Given an eternal home

1. This eternal home comes from eternal life given to us by Jesus Christ.

2. This heavenly home is filled with blessings

C. Given absence of tears Rev. 21:3-4

1. God will take away all our sorrows, our pain, our suffering, and our heartaches.

2. The fact the tears are gone tells us heaven is a wonderful place of peace and contentment.

Conclusion: What a blessing it will be to kneel in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we live for the audience of One, we will be blessed both now and in eternity.