Turn with me back to Psalm 17. After the service Sunday night,
I was talking to a brother in the foyer and he quoted Psalm
17 verse 15 to me. And it stuck with me and we're
going to look at it tonight. In studying for this, I ran across
something that I want to pass along to you. It was so good. It was so, so good. I've been enjoying it for three
days now. But I hope you enjoyed it as
much as I did. It's just been a blessing to my heart. Let's
read verse 15, and then we're going to read the verses leading
up to verse 15. As for me, I will behold thy
face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. I will behold thy face in righteousness. I'll behold thy face in righteousness. Who is he talking to? He's talking
to the Lord Jesus Christ. I will behold thy face in righteousness. Just think about that. I will
behold thy face. I was thinking about how much
I enjoy seeing your faces. You come in the door, and there's
the one I love, and I really enjoy it. Just wait till you
behold his face. Wait till you look at his features. I'll behold thy face. You think,
how long do you think it'll take for you to come to yourself from
just staring at his face? I'll behold thy face in righteousness. We pray to our heavenly father,
but the father has only one express image. And that is the image
of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the fullness of the Godhead
is in his body. There is one God, three persons,
but one God. He said, if you have seen me,
you've seen the father. Turn with me over to Hebrews
chapter one. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 it
says, God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in
time past unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last
days spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed heir of
all things by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high, the express image of his person, the one who by himself
purged our sins. That very one is the express
image of God. Look with me now at Colossians
chapter one. Colossians 1, this is speaking
of Christ, verse 14, it says, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of
the invisible God. He is the image. Christ is the
image. of the invisible God. Paul told
the Corinthians, if we are going to see the glory of God, we are
going to see it in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
where we're going to see it. He is the express image of the
invisible God. Now let's see if the Lord will
let us get ahold of this. Sunday morning, we said when
the Lord allows His people to get a hold of something, to really
enter into the glory and the goodness of something, His people
say, that's hard to understand. Well, this is one of those things.
But let's see if just for one brief minute here, the Lord will
let us get a hold of this. Turn with me over to 1 Corinthians
15. First Corinthians 15 verse 49,
it says, as we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now that's amazing. That's amazing. We're of the
earth, earthy. Christ is of heaven, heavenly. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, we are going to bear the image of the heavenly. Because Christ, the heavenly,
bore the image of the earthy. Because He made Himself to bear
the image of the earthy. We, the earthy, are going to
bear the image of the heavenly. Now that's what David is pondering
in Psalm 17. Everything that he has to say
in this chapter is him pondering this just like we're pondering
it right now. So go with me back over there to Psalm 17. Verse
15 says, As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness." When I awake with thy likeness, he said, that's
when I'm finally going to be satisfied. Now, leading up to
that verse, David is crying out to God over the pain and the
heartbreak that a life full of sin has brought him. And it does
bring that, doesn't it? It does bring that. So much pain,
so much heartbreak, so much sin. In verse one, David cried, hear
the right. Hear the right, that means justice. Hear justice. He said, hear my absolute sincere
cry to you for justice, in justice. Hear it in the just one himself. Hear it in Christ. Hear me for
Christ's sake. That's what he's crying out.
Hear me for Christ's sake. He said, hear the right, O Lord. Attend unto my cry. Give ear
unto my prayer that goeth not out of unfeigned lips. Hear me
for Christ's sake. Verse two, he said, let my sentence
come forth from thy presence. Let thine eyes behold the things
that are equal. Hear me in justice and let that justice come directly
from you. Let my sentence come forth from
thy presence. You try me as you see fit. Isn't that what David said in
Psalm 51? Turn over there to Psalm 51. Psalm 51 verse 3, David said,
I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in
thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth
in the inward parts and in the hidden part, thou shalt make
me to know wisdom. He said, purge me with hyssop
and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow. What he's saying is, Lord, would
you look on me and would you judge me in your covenant? The covenant of your blood, would
you purge me and wash me and judge me in that? Judge me in
the blood of Christ. Look on Christ in my place and
look on me in His place. Would you do that? Back over
in Psalm 17, verse 3 says, Thou hast proved
mine heart. Thou hast visited me in the night. Thou hast tried me and shalt
find nothing. I am purposed that my mouth shall
not transgress." He said, I was purposed to this. This glorious redemption that
you've secured for me, I was purposed to this. You proved
me. You tried me. You purged me. in right, in the right one, in
the just one. You found me to be innocent because
you made me to be innocent. He said it went all the way into
my heart. You created a clean heart here. You put a right spirit
in me. The Lord asked Peter. He said,
Peter, do you love me? What a question. And what answer? Peter said, Lord, you know all
things. You know that I love you. You're
the one who put that love there. You've created a new creation
in me. Verse four, he said, concerning
the works of men, by the word of thy lips, I have kept me from
the paths of the destroyer. The works of men, the paths of
the destroyer, that's the adversary. He said, it's only because of
the word of thy lips. It's only because you commanded
it that I've been kept from both of them. Verse five, he said,
hold up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not. Is it possible for a believer,
a true believer in and on the Lord Jesus Christ, a child of
God, is it possible for a child of God to slip? Not only is it possible for him
to slip, it's possible for him to fall into this sin that we
keep dragging around with us. We slip and we fall into our
foolishness and our ignorance and our terrible decisions and
our terrible judgment and everything that's wrong about us. But this
is the promise of God to His people. If you turn with me over
to Psalm 37. He said in Psalm 37 verse 23, The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he
shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with
his hand. I have been young and now am
old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed
begging bread. He is ever merciful and lendeth,
and his seed is blessed." David said, I see that. You've given
me eyes to see that. He said in verse 24, though he
fall, meaning he's going to. He's going to. There has not
been one believing child of God that has not slipped and fallen
into his own sin. Not one. That's what sinners
do. But the Lord said, this is my promise to you. You may slip
and you may fall, but you will not be cast down. I will uphold
you by the right hand of my righteousness. So back in Psalm 17, verse 6, David said, I have called upon
thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God. Incline thine ear unto
me and hear my speech. Show thy marvelous lovingkindness,
O thou that savest. By thy right hand, them which
put their trust in thee from those that rise up against thee,
keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. Hear me, save me, keep me, hide
me. That's what David's saying. That's
my plea, that's my cry because of who you are, because of what
you've done. because you've enabled me to
cry, you've given me life and you've allowed me to cry. He
said, show that marvelous loving kindness to me. Would you hear
me? Would you save me? Would you keep me? Is that not
our cry to him? Would you hear me? Would you
save me? Would you keep me? Verse eight,
keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. from the wicked that oppress
me, from my deadly enemies who compass me about. They are enclosed
in their own fat. With their mouth they speak proudly. They have now compassed us in
our steps. They have set their eyes bowing
down to the earth. Like as a lion that is greedy
of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places,
arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down. Deliver my soul
from the wicked, which is thy sword, from men which are thy
hand, O Lord, from men of the world, which have their portion
in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure.
They are full of children and leave the rest of their substance
to their babes. What he's saying is deliver me
from this world. Deliver me from everything in
this world. Everything here is an enemy of
my soul. Everything here is an enemy of
my soul. My hope is in you. There's nothing
here for me. There's nothing here. That's
what he's saying. He said, these men of the world, they have their
portion in this life, but not me. You are my portion. You are my life. Everything that
they have is here. And he said, they're going to
leave it all right here. Their God is their belly. But he said,
not me. Verse 15, he said, as for me, I will behold thy face
in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. He said, that's my desire, that's
what I want. I want to behold your face in righteousness. I want to behold the glory of
God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your face. And David
said, because of your word and because of the faith you've given
me, I know that I will. I know that I will behold your
face in righteousness. You will be in your righteousness. I will be in your righteousness.
When that glorious meeting takes place, the moment that happens,
it will happen in absolute perfection. Everything about it will be absolute
perfection. It will all be in righteousness. And David said at that moment,
I'll be satisfied. Now, a man made this comment
on being satisfied in that moment. And I just, this is just so good
to me. I want to just tell it to you
like he told it. He said, there are four things
in me that will be satisfied in that moment when I see him
face to face. Four things in me, he said, that
I know will be satisfied. Number one, he said, my imagination
will be satisfied. He said, I've tried to imagine
what heaven will be like. I've tried and I've tried to
imagine what is heaven going to be like? He said, I've tried to imagine
that very moment. what that will be like. I've
envisioned that moment. And I have too, and you have
too. We're doing it right now. He said, I've tried to imagine
what eternity, eternity Everything here, everything that we know
here is so hindered by time. It's just so under the bondage
of time. He said eternity, eternal life. I've tried to imagine what that
will be like. He said, I've tried to imagine
God's throne. We all have. We can't wait to
see His throne. I can't wait to see Him ascend
His throne, sit in His throne. And you know it's going to be
glorious. It's a throne where all His people can gather around
Him and come to Him that they may find help and mercy in time
of need. Can you imagine the throne of
God? He said, I love that. He said,
I've tried to imagine His throne. He said, I've tried to imagine
what it'll be like to have a new body. He said, I've tried to imagine
what it's going to be like to actually see all the friends
and all the loved ones that I'm looking so forward to seeing
again. He said, I've tried to imagine
what it's going to be like to sit and listen to the Lord. We try to imagine all of these
things, but this is what we know. Our imagination is not doing
it justice. It's just not doing it justice.
We try to imagine it, but we know that we can't. We do, we
imagine it, but we know that we can't. But this man said,
here's what I do know. He said, I know that the moment
I see him, all of my imagination will be satisfied. It'll all
be satisfied. Number two, he said, my intellect
will be satisfied. He said, I try to study the word. I do, I read it. I try to know
it. But he said, everything that
I know about it, is only in part. He said, I preach in part. I
see so dimly. The things that I see, I see
them so dimly. But He said, in that moment,
I am going to know as I have been known. In that moment. He said, in that moment, I'm
going to know God as God knows me. Think about that. How does
He know me? What does He know about me? He
said in that moment, I'm going to know God. This is a union. He said that they may be one
in us even as we are one. I'm going to know God as God
knows me. Is that not I'm going to know everything
there is to know, everything that needs to be known. Christ
will reveal it to us. And he said, in that moment,
I know my intellect is going to be satisfied. Everything I
long to know is going to be satisfied. Number three, he said, my understanding
will be satisfied. He said, I constantly find myself
looking at God's providence, looking at all the things that
happen in life. There's always something happening
in life. Something happening right now. He said, I constantly find myself
looking at God's providence and asking, why? Why? Knowing that God's in control
of every bit of it. He said, I look at all the trials,
I look at all the disappointments, I look at all the failures. He
said, I don't understand why so many of these things need
to happen. I don't understand why so many, just one, right
after the other, I don't understand why so many of these things need
to happen. He said, I know that it's all
according to God's will, And he said, I know that it's all
according to God's purpose. I know that it is according to
God's purpose. But he said, the moment I see
him, I'm going to understand that purpose. I know that it
is all according to his purpose, but the moment I see him, I'm
going to understand the purpose. He said, I'm going to understand
his will in it. I'm going to understand what
God was doing. In that moment, I will understand
what God was doing." And he said, I'll thank Him for it. All of
it, I'll thank Him for it. He said, my understanding will
be satisfied. And then the last thing he mentioned
was, he said, my desire will be satisfied. He said, what's
my desire? I want to be just like Christ.
I want to be just like Christ. I want to be holy. I want to
be pure. I want to be spotless, like Christ
is. We are those things in Him. But
in that moment, we will be those things with
Him. He said, I want to be filled
with God's Spirit like Christ is. Whatever He is, that's what
I want to be. And he said, the moment that
I see Him, I know my desire is going to be satisfied. Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we
should be called the sons of God. Beloved, 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. Verse 15, David said, as for
me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. And we will be too. All right,
let's all stand together.