To Be with Jesus - WS

Introduction

In Ft. Worth Texas, some time ago, a beautiful little golden-haired girl of 5 or six was playing in the street, when she was hit by an automobile and killed. Her mother was a dear Christian woman, but never had been well since the child had been born. The father, a fine, handsome man, had never given his heart to the blessed Savior, so did not have the trust that his little wife had. Finally the hour came when they had to say goodbye to their darling and lay her to rest. The father came to the side of the casket, with the minister and relatives gathered around. He just stood there and sobbed as only a strong man can. He put his hand on the little forehead and entwined his fingers in those golden curls. Then, while great, shaking sobs tore his breast and the sweat poured from his brow, he said, “Goodbye, little tot forever!” He turned and walked away. Then the little mother came. She was not well and strong like the father, but she came and stood there alone by the casket in the midst of her great sorrow. The father just couldn’t stay any longer. She put her hand in her child’s curls and patted the little head while she said: “Mamma’s so glad you were with us for a few short years. Mamma’ so glad you were here for a little while. Goodbye, darling; goodbye! Mamma will see you again, beyond the sunset and the night.”

The pain of separation is palpable in this story. Death is the painful result of our separation from God. It is a wonder that we don’t mourn our separation from God in the same manner as we mourn the loss of loved ones in this life. But the good news is one day we will once again be reconciled to God. We will see His face! No longer will there be a separation between us and Him!

Body

Seeing His Face!

Revelation 22:4 – “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

the promise of seeing God’s face reflects the undoing of the fall’s consequence of banishment of humans from God’s presence (Gen. 3:23).

Verse 3 – “There shall be no more curse.”

The removing of the curse makes possible the dissolution of all the distance between us and the throne of God. So the removal of the curse is directly related to the promise of seeing God’s face (22:4) and reflects the successful undoing of the consequences of a human rebellion in the Garden of Eden.

This scene of immediate and unrestricted access to God’s throne is in contrast to the limited approach to God in the throne-room vision of chapters. 4–5 in which His face cannot be seen by humanity and even the heavenly beings form inner circles (the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders).

The explanation for the contrast lies in the issue of presence and absence of sin in the universe. However, in the final throne scene of Revelation the sin is past and God meets unrestrictedly with the human family at the throne.

Fulfillment of prayer of Jesus

John 17:24 – “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”

Prayed this prayer before He went to Gethsemane, before Pilate’s hall, just before He faced the angry mob, before He went willingly to Calvary to give His life for you and me.

Be with me. That is, in heaven. Jesus prays for the culmination of the plan of redemption in the glorification of the church of God at the time of the second coming of Christ.

The human family has long been in a foreign land (Heb. 11:13, 14), away from the Father’s house (Rev. 14:2, 3).

The whole creation groaneth and travaileth … waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of” the body (Rom. 8:22, 23). The redemption comes when the Lord descends from heaven at the end of the age and gathers His children from the four corners of the earth (Matt. 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:16). At that time the faithful go to “ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17).

1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 – “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

What a promise. Not only will Jesus return but from that point on we will be with Him forever!

Paul wrote faithfully about the hope of a Christian to be with Christ one day because it was a hope that he cherished deep down in his own heart.

He had been a failure; he could look back on his life and see nothing good.

The only longing and desire he now had – the only purpose in life - was to be with Jesus the One who had saved his life. To be with Jesus here so that one day he could be with Jesus there.

Paul found nothing that touched the chords of his heart in this world. Only desire was to be with Jesus.

For the arrival of this glad moment of reunion Jesus prayed.

For the speedy fulfillment of the promise every Christian should pray

Rev. 22:20 - “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

In this petition Jesus expresses his heart longing (thelō, “I want”). That longing is for the disciples, those whom the Father gave him, to witness firsthand the ultimate reality of who Jesus is. To do that, the disciples would also have to reach their ultimate destiny of being where Jesus would be and now is since the resurrection.

So you see the importance of being with Jesus here!

That destiny, which is described as the Father’s house, is the destiny Jesus is said to be preparing for his followers.

Listen to these words of comfort and hope!

The Father’s House

John 14:1-3 – “Let not your hearts be troubled. (Why?) Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

The only way to have untroubled hearts in a troubled world is to have faith in God. If we have faith we will believe and be comforted with the words that follow . . .

Christ’s great desire was and is for His people to be with Him

“He did not count heaven a place to be desired while we were lost, and he left the heavenly courts to suffer a life of shame, reproach, insult, and mockery.”[1]

Before we ever thought about being with Jesus in glory He decided long ago to be with us here in this world. In fact, His desire has always been to be with us . . .

Garden of Eden

Exodus 25:8 – “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.”

He would also be with them in the pillar of fire by day and the pillar of cloud by night.

He would come as Michael the Archangel in the times of Daniel

He would come as the babe wrapped in swaddling clothing who would one day suffer and die for the sins of every human being.

And even when He went back to heaven He would send the Comforter to be not just “with us” but in us.

And if that weren’t enough He has promised to come again and deliver us for eternity into the presence of God, and we shall see Him face to face!

We will return back to the condition that we should have always been in, and to the place where we should never have left!

The Coming and Resurrection

Jesus promises that the Son of man will come and one day “all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and those who have done good things will go out to a resurrection of life” (5:28–29). It is at this time He will “send his angels and will gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky” (Mk 13:27; also Mt 24:31).

It is at this time that Paul says, “so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

As we approach the Holy City the words spoken so long ago by Christ will be fulfilled: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” - Matthew 25:34

Now the prayer of Jesus that we “be with Him where He is” (John 17:24) is finally realized.

There we will be presented “Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” (Jude 24). It is at this time we will “See His face”.

Imagine what it will be like to worship before the throne for the first time with all the Redeemed – Sea of Glass . . . Revelation 15:2-4

it is mixed with fire. The sea of glass is reflecting the colorful display of God’s glory expressed with lightning and the “seven torches of fire” burning before the throne (Rev. 4:5). This new detail is intended to heighten the dazzling splendor of the scene in the heavenly throne room.[2]

Zephaniah 3:17

God will rejoice over us with singing. The expressions of God’s heart to us through song. It will bring sweet tears to our eyes and move us in the depths of our hearts. There will be no barriers between us and God any longer.

Story of young man and woman who fell in love. Broken relationship, but a longing to be together in heaven as children of God. To see each other face to face without sin and the separation that it causes. To be with Jesus . . . The relationship couldn’t be restored in this old, broken world. The young man wrote a final, heart wrenching letter to a love gone by the wayside. “Forgive me for pressing into your life once again. I had my reasons for continuing the dialogue, but your boundaries are clear. Thank you for being honest and thank you for keeping me in your prayers and in your heart. My heart echoes the same sentiments of prayer and hope. I will look forward to meeting again one day soon . . . "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." - Revelation 21:1-4\

Finally, after all of what we have had to endure here, we will be with God and Jesus.

God Himself shall wipe away the tears as a loving Father.

Isaiah 33:24 – Pain cannot exist in eternity

Pain and suffering of those who have been abused.

Billy Culp and his pain and suffering.

Pain of those who all their life have been lonely and hurting

Acute pain of broken marriages. Lost loved ones. Broken hearts

Pain of seeing children having their lives destroyed by sin.

Then I think of Jesus, and how all pain, sorrows and tears will be wiped away because of His love for us.

The All-Consuming Focus of our Affections in Eternity

One thing will forever consume our attention: The love of Christ for us . . .

One thing will always remain from that broken world – the beautiful reminders of what Jesus has done for us –the scars in his hands and feet.

I remember being in prison and reading the story of how Adam will be with Jesus once again . . .

Adam had been formed by those precious hands that were pierced for his sin – the breath that had been given up that day on Calvary was breathed from Him who breathed into Adam his first breath of life.

The same one that had formed him from the dust of the earth and gave him life for the very first time will once again call him from the dust of the earth to eternal life once again, this time forever to be with him.

Jesus risked everything – even His own eternal existence to be with us. Is it too much tonight to give Him your life? What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain? If the Lord were to come this evening where would you be?

Bible says the world is not worthy of you. Why? Because you have decided to be with Jesus where He is. So why let it rule your life any longer. Give Jesus your broken and empty relationships; give Him your vices; give Him your broken dreams; give Him your heart.

I cannot wait to be with Jesus. I want to fall at His feet and thank Him for every lonely moment He was there for me. I want to thank Him for every ounce of strength He gave me when I felt I could not go on with life. I want to thank Him for seeing me through the painful heartbreaking moments that sin has caused in my life. I want to tell Him myself that I am not worthy of His great, undying love for me. I am not worthy of eternity. I want to express my heart to Him and say, “I don’t understand nor can I comprehend how you could have done what you did.” I have longings in my heart that I do not know how to express to God.

In order to be with Jesus forever we must be with Him here.

John 12:26 - “If anyone would serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be.”

Where is He? He is in the marketplace, in the office, in the grocery store, in your home; just as He ministered to the needs of all while He was here He still does the same today.

And He has appointed us to continue to preach, and teach, and heal, and lead.

Mark 3:14-15 – “And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.”

Being with Jesus here is the greatest desire for anyone who has a conversion experience.

Mark 5:18 – “As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.”

Conclusion

There are two classes of people in this world. Those who believe and those who don’t. Which one are you? The one who believes has hope that one day, beyond sin, beyond suffering, beyond death and the grave they will be reconciled to God, and He will right every wrong and heal every brokenness. The other only has hope in this present world, and as we can see today, without Christ we will be like Father of that little girl, full of despair because we have no hope beyond the here and now.

I want to encourage you today to determine to be with God and Jesus here in this life so that you can spend eternity with Him in the next. You may have encountered terrible setbacks and disappointments in this life but in the next God promises to comfort us; to wipe away every tear; to remove every fear; to heal our brokenness and to fulfill the desires of our heart. There is no disappointment with God. And if we could only see the outcome of all of our experiences here we wouldn’t change a thing as we traverse this life. So hang on, be strong and of good courage, and look forward to the day, as that mother did long ago, when we will once again be with Jesus, and this time it will be forever.

[1] Ellen Gould White, The Signs of the Times, n.d., 1316.

[2] Ranko Stefanovic, Revelation of Jesus Christ: Commentary on the Book of Revelation, Second Edition. (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2009), 485.