The apostle says here in verse
1, he says, Behold. Why does he want us to behold?
When that word behold, that means look, think, consider. Why does he want us to consider?
Why does he want us to look at? The manner of love the Father
has bestowed upon us. That's what he wants us to look
upon. The manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us.
God commended his love toward us and while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. How can we see, how can we consider
what manner of love has been bestowed upon us? Well, he said,
this is the way that we know and we can see and understand
it to some degree. That we should be called the
sons of God. That's how we know the matter
of love, that we should be called the sons of God. Who calls us
sons of God? God does. He said, the spirit
of his Son endure our hearts, whereby we cry out of the Father.
God said, I'll be your father and you'll be my sons. I'll be
your God and you'll be my children. He calls us sons of God. Christ
calls us sons of God. Christ is not ashamed to call
us brethren. He calls us sons of God. The
Holy Spirit calls us sons of God. The Holy Spirit lets us
know. The Spirit himself bears witness
that we are what? The children of God. We're sons
by election. God chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world and He did it in love. Having predestinated
us. We're sons of God by gift. All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Our Lord Jesus when
He prayed said, Father they were thine and you gave them to me. And we're sons of God by purchase. Our Lord Jesus Christ bought
us with His own precious blood, redeemed with the precious blood
of Christ. Sons of God by power, in the
day of His power, He made us women. We were born, not by the
will of man, not by the will of the flesh, not by the blood,
but by the power of God, born of God. And then we were sons
of God by birth. We've been begotten again unto
a lively, lively hope. The gospel created in us new
creatures. He was born sons of God by birth,
being born again, not by corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the
word of God. Then we are sons of God by calling. God called us, called us to himself. Called everybody he ever saved,
he called them. Everybody in the scriptures,
he called them. Went unto a mountain and called
unto him whom he would. And then we're sons of God by
adoption. We have a legal inheritance,
a legal right to everything that the Son of God has, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Then look what else it says about
it. That we should be called the
sons of God, therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew
him not. Why doesn't the world know us?
Because it didn't know him. You see, the thing about our
Lord Jesus Christ, when you looked at him, he didn't look any different
than anybody else did. Only people that saw him were
those that revealed himself to him. He didn't look any different
than anybody else. His glory, his deity was veiled
in flesh. That's why men couldn't believe
on him. When they looked at him, he was
God. But you couldn't see that he was God because he was veiled
in the flesh, his flesh. Humanity veiled his deity. And the things that set Him apart
from the world sets us apart from the world. And it's the
thing that separates us from the world right now. Our Lord
Jesus Christ had riches that the world couldn't see. Had riches
that the world couldn't see. Everything in heaven and earth
belonged unto Him. He's there of all things. The
riches of glory, the riches of grace, everything, all riches
dwelt in Him. He had the riches that the world
couldn't see, we got the riches that the world can't see. And
when we go out in the world, the world can't look at us and
say, well I know he's a Christian, I know he's a Christian, I know
he's a Christian. Now you can go out in the world
and say, I know he's Amish, or he's Mennonite, or they're holiness. You can go out in the world and
you can spot people by the way they dress. Because they want
to be peculiar in that way. But if you go to eat this afternoon,
if you don't let somebody know you're a believer, you're going
to be just like everybody else in that restaurant. But still
yet, you have the riches of Christ in you. You have the Spirit of
God in you. People can't see that. They don't
know that. They didn't see it in Christ, and they surely won't
see it in us. And he had power that the world couldn't deserve.
He had all power in heaven and earth better than any of us.
We have power that the world can't receive. We have faith. We have righteousness. We have
the Spirit of God in us. And that's a power the world
didn't deserve. And he had a relationship with
the Father that the world didn't see and the world did not understand.
That's why they asked him, says, show us the Father and it will
satisfy us. He said, I've been such a long time with you and
you've not seen me. And we have a relationship with
the Father that the world cannot see and the world does not know.
So they didn't know Him and they don't know us. And just because
we tell them they are, that doesn't mean that they're going to believe.
But look what He says in verse 2 now. Beloved now are we the sons of
God. You see how it says, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. We're not on probation. We're
not on probation. God doesn't save us to see how
long we'll be faithful, how obedient we'll be. And if we go out, you
know, when they hire somebody, most places you have a 90-day
probation period. And if you work good, you show
up on time, and you do what you're supposed to do, they'll hire
you full-time. Well, we're not on probation. God didn't put
us on probation and then going to make us sons of God when we
pass our 90 days. And we're not on trial. God's
not put us on trial as sons of God. He didn't say, I'll try
and see how they're going to do and how they'll deal with
their troubles and how they'll deal with their trials and how they'll
deal with the Word and how they'll deal with the Scriptures and
how they'll deal with their husbands and wives. He doesn't put us
on trial. And He doesn't say now we'll be sons if we act like
we're sons. you only be sons if you act like
a son no no he says behold now right
now are we the sons of God look what John said over here in first
John in verse 17 of chapter 4 you see this is our standing we're
the sons of God right now regardless of our state our state fluctuates
oh our state Changes, oh my, just like this and that. But
our standing never changes. There is no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus. Every day you live as a child
of God, as a son of God, there is no condemnation in Christ
Jesus. Never has been, never will be.
And now we're the sons of God. We're not gonna be, we are right
now. And that's what John said, look what he said here in verse
17. Herein is our love made perfect, strong, mature, that we may have
boldness in the day of judgment. Well, what is that? We may have
this perfect love and have boldness. Look what he says, because as
he is, ever how Christ is right now,
so are we. right now in this world whatever
Christ is right now that's what we are right now in this world so whatever you understand about
Christ that you understand that about yourself and oh look what
he goes on to say here in verse 2 he said and beloved now we
the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be oh
my it doesn't appear what we should be it doesn't appear to
the world what we should be it doesn't even appear to our fallen
nature what we should be but look what else he says but we
know that but we know that when he shall appear when he shall appear we should
be like him As He is, we are right now. But
when He appears, whatever He's like, that's what we're going
to be. We're going to be changed just like Him. We should be like
Him. And that's what I want to talk about today. Today is when
He shall appear. He shall appear. Now I want you
to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 9. Keep 1 John there for a minute.
Look in Hebrews chapter 9 with me just a minute. When he shall appear, and doeth
not appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall
appear, we don't know, you know our fallen nature can't grasp
it, but we do know this, this is what we know without a shadow
of a doubt, that when he shall appear, we shall appear with
him, be just like him. Look what it said here now, it's
three appearings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look in verse 26. For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
insects. He appeared, and all when He
appeared, that first time He appeared for this reason, to
put away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Now look down in
verse 24. He has appeared and He does right
now appear. For Christ has not entered into
the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself. Now listen to this. Now, to appear
in the presence of God, for who? the sons of God for us right
now he appears in the presence of God look down verse 28 so Christ once was also offered
to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him What
does John say? When he shall appear. Them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without seeing
unto salvation. Now he shall appear. John said
he shall appear. And when he appears this next
time, he'll appear without seeing. The first time He appeared without
sin. He had no sin of His own. And
He became sin for us to put our sin away. But when it says He'll
appear the second time without sin unto them that look for Him,
that means, beloved, He's not going to come the next time as
a sacrifice for sin, as a substitute for sin, as an offering for sin. He's going to appear the next
time to do what? to come get me and you to come
take us home to be with himself and I tell you what it says over
here it says we shall see him look what it now back over in
our text look what it says that when he shall appear we
shall be like him for we shall see him as he is now that means
what we shall see him as he is what shall we see about him well
when he appears we shall see him in his human nature We'll
see him in his human nature. You know, there's a man in glory.
The Lord Jesus Christ is a man. There's one man, meaning between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And we see him in his human nature. And when we look at him, we'll
see the evidence in his body of having put sin away. You know,
they saw him, John saw him as a lamb as it had been slain.
He saw the prince in his nail, in his hands, he saw the ribbon
in his side, in his feet. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when we
see Him, we'll see the evidence in His body, in His human nature,
of Him having bore our sins in His own body on that tree. We'll
see Him in His human nature, we'll see Him and the results
of Him humiliating Himself and going to the cross for us. We'll
see Him beloved there with every evidence of our sins being put
away. And I bless His holy name. Thank
God that He assumed human nature. Thank God that He assumed flesh.
Thank God that He done that. And God prepared Him a body for
one reason, to bear our sins away there in His own body on
that tree. That's why there's no condemnation
of them that are in Christ. And God said that He can't even
remember our sins. You know why? He can't remember
something that don't exist. And look what else it says. When
we see Him, He shall appear not only in His human nature, but
He shall appear in glory. He shall appear in glory. You
know, our Lord always had glory. He said, Father, glorify Thou
me with the glory. which I had with you before the
world was." Our Lord always had glory. And when He was on the
Mount of Transfiguration, that was just a short space of time. Then He let three disciples see
His unveiled glory. Saw Him like the brightness of
the sun. Saw Him glistening white. And
that's what we'll also see in His glory. And I tell you in
the glory as the conqueror of sin, the glory as the one who
defeated everything that was against us. The psalmist says,
lift up your gates, O ye everlasting doors, and the King of true glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord. Mighty in battle. The Lord of
hosts who defeated, that's who's going to come up. That's who
we're going to see. We're going to see Him in His
glory. Look over with me in 2 Thessalonians just a minute. I want you to
see this. You're talking about glory. Our
Lord Jesus Christ told all those Pharisees and them as they were
judging Him and ridiculing Him. He told them, He says, the Son
of Man will appear in glory. You'll appear in glory. Look
what He said here in 2 Thessalonians 1. In verse 7. And to you who are troubled,
if you are troubled, just rest with us. Rest. Rest from your troubles. When
the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty
angels, now listen to this, in flaming fire taking vengeance
on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, now listen to this, from the
glory Just the glory of His power is going to make everybody else
just flee. Just flee. Look down in chapter
2 and verse 7 and 8, just a minute. Oh listen, He'll appear in the
glory of His Father. Look what He said in verse 7.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, and only who now
let it, and that word let it means hindered. until he be taken out of the
way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with his mouth, and listen to this, with the brightness
of his glory he'll destroy. Now that's how bright and glorious
he's going to be. That just the brightness of his
glory, the only people that will be able to look on it and enjoy
it, and not be destroyed by it, is us. It will destroy everybody else.
It will destroy everybody else. And then not only will He appear
in glory, but He will appear in power. Our Lord Jesus Christ
was crucified in weakness. But now, now He has all authority. And everybody will see His authority.
Everybody will see His might. When our Lord Jesus Christ comes,
He'll come in power. He said He'll come in power and
glory. And when He comes, His power
will subdue every enemy and put them at His feet. He must reign.
Till the last enemy is destroyed, even death will be put at His
feet. And He'll deliver this world
and everything in it unto His Father and manifest all of His... He'll take everything and put
it at His Father's feet and say, this is the trophy of my power. This world, all my enemies, they're
my footstool. Everybody else is already bound
to Him. You see, I'll subdue everything
by the glory of His power. And I tell you, He'll subdue
all things unto Himself because He's got the power to do that.
O Pilate says you know I've got power to crucify you and I've
got power to let you go. You know what our Savior said
to him? You have no power. He said you have no power unless
my Father gives you power. Old Simon Peter told him he says
Lord I'll go with you, I'll suffer with you. I'll go to jail with
you, I'll suffer with you, I'll even go to death with you. Now
Lord Jesus said no you won't. No, you won't. You ain't even
got power to stand with yourself, much less stand against the power
of the devil. And the only reason you're going to stand, Simon
Peter, is because I prayed for you. That's the only reason you're
going to stand at all. That's the only reason you're
not going to fall away at all. That's the only reason the devil's not
going to take you and take you to hell with him, is because
I prayed for you. And I died for you. And oh beloved,
He proves to the world that they have no power. Everybody talks
about their power. I've got the power of this and
I've got the power of that. The president talks about the
power of the pen. And the press talks about the
power of the press. People talk about they've got
the power of the Holy Ghost to heal people. I tell you what,
our Lord Jesus Christ, when He comes, He'll prove to this world
that they have absolutely no power whatsoever. All the kings
have sat on their throne. And made men crawl up before
Him. And made men bow before Him.
And exercised their power capriciously. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He
comes, He'll make them people understand, you've got no power. You have no power. And any power
you had that you abused it, my Father gave it to you. And though
you abused it, you're going to suffer for it. I'll tell you
why. And when He appears, everybody's gonna see that He's got all power. And let me tell you something.
And I love this. He's got power over every soul
in this building right this morning. He can save a man, and He's the
only one who can. Nobody else can save a soul.
Nobody else can save a person. But the Lord Jesus Christ, And
He only saves people that He will. And He can just as easily
say, I will, that I'll leave you in your sin. He can just
as easily say, I'll leave you to yourself. And He has the power
to walk right by you and leave you sitting in your sin. Leave
you sitting there without God, without Christ and without hope
in this world. And if you're saved, you're going
to be saved by His power. And if you're going to be lost,
it'll be by the same will and same power. Now what are you
going to do? I tell you what I believe. If
there's one person that could save me, one person that could
save me, that's why we go to doctors. That's why we take all
this awful medicine that hurts and affects our bodies. It's
because we want to be saved. We want to live as long as we
can. And we want our loved ones to live as long as they can.
And if you'll do that, trying to prolong, what about salvation
and eternal salvation and eternal life? If I knew somebody had the power
to cure us of all our ills and give us another five years, take
that to heart beat. But we don't. So listen, who can save us? The Lord Jesus Christ can save
us for all eternity. He's got the power and He's the
only one that has that power. That's why we have no options. We have no options. Us of our
believers, we have no options. We can't do nothing but trust
Christ. We can't do nothing but bow to Christ. We can't do nothing
but sit at His feet. We can't do nothing but bow to
His will. We can't do anything and what
else can we do? That's a wonderful place to be. What a wonderful place to be,
to bow to Christ. And to know that everything in
your life and everything in your future and everything in your
past and everything in your present has all been taken care of by
an omnipotent, all-wise, omniscient God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Anybody that can calm a storm
can save my soul. Anybody that can change his countenance
from being a man to shining like the sun, can save me from my
sin. Anybody that can tell his children,
be in good cheer, I tell you what, he can calm my soul. And
that's what I'm telling you. You're going to find out one
of these days, you've got all the power. And let me tell you something
else he's going to appear as. When we see Him, He appears as
our Savior. You know what? I heard Omar say
one time, that's when we'll be plumb safe. Look in Titus. Titus is right
before the book of Hebrews. Then we'll be plumb safe. Oh
my. Plumb safe. Titus chapter 2,
verse 13. Oh my, He appeared as our Savior
to put away our sins. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save us from our sins. And when our Lord Jesus
shall appear, when He shall appear, whether He comes for us individually
or whether He comes for us all at one time, then, then, We receive
the end of our faith. The end of our faith, the goal
of our faith is our salvation. The end of our faith is when
we get to the end of it and we don't need it anymore. That's when you be plumb saved. Look what he said here in Titus
2.13. Oh, looking for that blessed hope. And watch it now, and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm looking for Him. And when
He shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory.
That's what Paul told the Colossians. When we see Him, we'll see Him
as our Savior. as our Redeemer, I see Him as
my Savior now, but oh, when we see Him, oh, when you close your
eyes, what the old hymn writers say, when my eyelids close in
death, when I rise to worlds unknown, faultless to stand before
Thy throne. Rock of ages, cleft for me, Oh
my, that's why it's always, always in the morning. Always in the
morning. And then look what else it's
going to do. I need to back over in our text for a minute. Oh,
he shall appear and we shall see him as he is. We'll see him
as a sacrifice without sin. Won't do that no more. See Him
in His glory, see Him in His power, see Him as our Savior.
And then He's going to conform us fully to His image. We shall
be just like Him. Ain't that what it says? For
we shall be, shall appear for we shall be. What does it say?
Like Him. For we shall see Him as He is.
Be like Him. What's he like? You know, whatever he was like
when he had left the earth and didn't know how to interpret
all these disciples, whatever he was like when he left this
earth and when he comes back, that's what we're going to be
like. Oh, look with me, you keep this now, look with me in 1 Corinthians
15. Oh, Bruce had that conversation
with his body the other day. Oh, that's absolutely wonderful.
And I tell you what, to promise this to God, Mary quoted this
on the way to service this morning, she said, if it were not true,
I would have told you. So everything our Lord tells
us is true. It's true. We know that the Son
of God has come and given us an understanding that we may
know Him that is true. And that we are in Him that is
true, even Jesus Christ the true God. Huh? True, true, true, true. And look
what He said here in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 47. Oh, when He appears we shall
be just like Him. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 47. The first man is of the earth,
earthy. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. And as is the earthy, such are
they also that are earthy. Oh my, them that are of Adam
are of Adam, and look what he says, and also as the heavenly,
such are they also that are heavenly. We've been made like Christ and
been saved by the grace of Christ. So we're bearing the image of
the heavenly right now. And as we have borne the image
of the earthly, listen to it, we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither corruption
in corruption. So I tell you what, we're going
to see him as he is and be just like him. We ain't going to go
there in this body. Not going to go there in this
body. Look what he says down in verse 53. For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and
this mortal shall have put on immortality, Then shall be brought
to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up. Who swallowed
it up? Christ tasted it and swallowed
it up. Ain't that what he says? When
he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as
he is. Are we going to have a body like
His? Are we going to have a soul like His? Without sin? Are we
going to be holy and perfect? Having knowledge that we never
had before? We will be free from temptation
and conflict and suffering and tears. We will know nothing of
this world ever again when He appears. And the world then will
know He is the Son of God when He shall appear. they'll know
that we're the sons of God because we're going to appear with Him
when He appears in His glory and you know what Job said? Job
said, I know in the latter days that my Redeemer shall stand
upon the earth whom I shall see for myself and not another And
that's what we see, we'll see for ourselves. Ourselves we'll see. Ourselves
we'll see. John saw Him, and fell at His feet, worshipped
Him. Isaiah saw Him, and it's Him we want to see.
Our Lord prayed, John 17, 24, He says, Father, closing out
His high priestly prayer, He said, Father, I will, that they
whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may
behold My glory. and then look what it says back
over here in our text for we shall be like him for we shall
see him as he is as he is God and the only God we'll see when
we get into eternity is the Lord Jesus Christ we'll see him as
a lamb had been slain we'll see him as our all in all and our
faith will cease to be and now we'll have nothing but sight
The veil will be taken away, no more seeing through a glass
darken. And who sees him? Only the sons of God. The sons
of God, they are the ones who see. Are you a son of God? Have you seen him by faith? Have
you received him? And then look what it says down
here in verse 3. Have you seen him? Do you see
him now? Are you a son of God? Does the
Spirit bear witness with you that you're a child of God, a
son of God? And I tell you who sees Him,
only sons of God see Him. And look what He said, and this
is our hope. He said, and every man that hath this hope in him. You see how He says that? Every
man that hath this hope in him. Oh my! Paul said, you know, Christ
who is our hope. And hope is a confident expectation. We hope confidently to expect
Him to be like Him. Expecting to be with Him. Expecting
for His appearing. And look what it says, it's a
personal hope. It says, every man, every man that has this
hope. I can't have a hope for you and
you can't have a hope for me. This hope is a personal, it's
every man's hope. Every man that has this hope.
Do you have this hope? Every man that has this hope. It's a personal thing. It don't
say everybody that's in the church, it doesn't say everybody that
It doesn't say everybody that makes a profession. It doesn't say everybody that
carries a Bible. It doesn't say everybody that cries about the
cross and preaches the cross. It doesn't say that. As He that hath this hope in
Him, they are the sons of God. And I tell you, do you have this
hope in Him? Is your hope only in Him? Oh, it's a personal hope. And
look what else it says. It says it's a pure faith. And
this man has this hope in him, purifies himself even as he is
pure. What does it mean to have a purifying
hope? Does that mean we quit sinning? Does that mean that
we start living good? Oh, you don't live lives as sinless
and live perfect lives and live so dedicated and devoted that
that makes us pure? No! that purifies himself even as
he is pure. What made our Lord Jesus Christ
pure? First of all, He was sinless,
but He was pure in His heart, He was pure in His motives, He
was pure in His mind, He was pure in His love, He was pure
in the love that He bore for others, and that's what He's
talking about. Let us purify ourselves from
self-love, Love of self, oh pure God purifies
from love of self, purifies from pride, purifies from covetousness,
purifies from vainglory. You know what vainglory is? To
glory in anything besides Christ. Purify himself from hope of salvation
in any other way or by anyone else other than the Lord Jesus
Christ Now I want to be purified that
way Purified from any hope of salvation by anyone or anybody
or anything else other than the Lord Jesus Christ Huh? And I want to enjoy God's temporal
blessings and I know you do. But I don't want to enjoy them
at the expense of my relationship with Christ. Do you? I enjoy God's temporal blessings. But not at the expense of my
relationship with Him. Do you? That's why He says, purify
yourself. Purify yourself. purifies self from our faults. And when He says, as He is pure,
when it comes right down to it, you say, Lord, not my will, but
Thine be done. That's pure, ain't it? Not my will. My will is one thing. Your will is another. My will
goes this way, your will goes that way. Your will takes us
through the garden of Gethsemane. I won't go through the garden
of Eden. Your will takes us through the furnace. I want to go up
there and sit down on that cool mountainside by that street.
Your will takes us through a fiery trial. Oh Lord, I want to go
sit down. and had a big old tall glass
of iced tea I don't want to go through no fire your will takes us by way of
a cross where blood was shed and death was accomplished and
sin was there and a bloody cross and that's why he says Lord if
it be possible reach out and take this cup away from me but
nevertheless Not my will, but Thine be done. And shall I not
drink it? Shall I not drink it? He that
has this hope. Wouldn't you love to be pure
from a love of self? Wouldn't you love to be pure
from pride? Wouldn't you love for pride to
just be calm? Would you love to have the mind of Christ that
he humbled himself? And that's what he talked about
being pure. He's not talking about us going out here and living
such a way. Folks said, boy, I've never seen
anybody live more holy than that person does. Because the world
didn't even see Christ. They didn't see the holiness
in Christ. They didn't see the perfection that's in Christ.
They didn't see the sinlessness in Christ. Old Scott Richardson
said one time, people say all the time, let them see Jesus
in you. They didn't even see Jesus in Jesus. But I'll tell you one thing they
could see about us. They could see that they were kind and patient
and loving and generous and not full of self and not bragging
about things. Not covetous. They see those
things about us. They see us patiently bearing
the will of God. They see us believe in God in
the midst of everything that says it's impossible to believe
Him through that. But oh, it's not impossible. No, no. You know why? Because
our Lord said it was. All things are possible to him
that believes. Are you a son of God? When He
appears, will you see Him as He is, and will you be like Him? Our blessed, blessed Savior,
oh, thank You for allowing us this time this morning. Lord, Your Word is so precious
to my soul, so precious to the saint's soul, I know. Bless it
to our hearts, bless it to our understandings. And Lord Jesus, we just patiently
wait for you. We know you'll come. And we'll
just wait patiently until you come. We know you'll come. And we look for you. We look
for the day that we'll see you as you are. and be just like
Him. Amen. Amen. Turn your eyes upon
Jesus Look full in His wonderful face And the things of earth
will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.