See Jesus As He Is

[00:00:00] Please be seated. [00:00:07] In the name of Jesus. Amen. [00:00:14] In the epistle reading this morning, John writes of the great love that the Father has given to us. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, unless you think that we aren't. He says, and so we are. [00:00:37] That's what we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. [00:00:43] Beloved, we are God's children now. [00:00:46] And what we will be has not yet appeared. [00:00:49] But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. [00:00:58] And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. [00:01:05] I want to start by focusing on this line. But we know that when Jesus appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. [00:01:21] That's the goal that we're heading toward, to see Jesus as he is, to recognize Him. [00:01:34] Many have gone before us, many in this past year, who we're going to remember. [00:01:39] Some just recently, Bill Heldt, just this last Friday went before him. He's one of those coming out of the great tribulation who has washed his robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [00:01:54] And he will see Jesus as he is. [00:02:00] He'll recognize him. [00:02:04] Now, that's spoken from a heavenly perspective. [00:02:09] John on the island of Patmos, replacement, receiving the revelation and seeing from the heaven side of things, the saints coming out of the great tribulation and into eternity, having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [00:02:26] We see things from this side of things still. So you see Jesus crucified and bloody, suffering and weak on a cross. [00:02:41] But from that heavenly side, you see Jesus as he is sitting on the throne, the Lamb of God risen from the dead, having cleansed those who put their trust in him, those who put their hope in him, and are thus purified as Jesus is pure. The goal is that we would see Jesus as he is, not as he appears weak, but as he is strong, not as he appears the lowest of the low, there on the cross, being spit upon and made fun of, falsely accused, right? But to see him glorified, and with the proper honor and exultation, we will see him as he is. [00:03:41] Now, to make this practical for a moment, in a moment where I'm afraid or where things are closing in on me, right? [00:03:51] Whether it's a moment of the doldrums of life and feeling like there must be greener grass on the other side, or whether it's that circumstances have piled up against me and it seems like I'm going to lose. [00:04:11] Do I look to Jesus, the King of all, sitting on the throne, all powerful. [00:04:18] And for me we could all ask ourselves the same. Do we see Jesus as he is? [00:04:27] Or do we not trust his power to save? [00:04:32] Do we look somewhere else for relief, for escape, for comfort, for a fortress? [00:04:41] That's the temptation. [00:04:43] So then back there in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve. Eve is looking for good things in a certain context, wisdom, things that are good for her. And she looks elsewhere. She doesn't see God for who he is, Her Creator, her Father, the giver of all good things. [00:05:05] Every good and perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or change. [00:05:14] She lost sight of that. And we do too. In our day to day lives. [00:05:18] We don't see Jesus for who he is. Our friend, our Savior, come down from heaven for us and for our salvation, willingly suffered for us. See how great the Father's love for us that we should be called children of God because of Jesus. [00:05:42] And so we are those who have gone before us. That cloud of witnesses that surrounds us, who kept the faith, who ran the race, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of their faith. [00:06:00] They now see Jesus for who he is. [00:06:05] But that's because they've come out of the great tribulation. [00:06:09] But they were in the great tribulation with you and me. [00:06:14] They too struggled to see Jesus for who he was, to look to him and not any other thing. That was the shape of the race that they ran. [00:06:26] The struggle to keep their eyes on Jesus in the midst of distractions and fears, things that would pull their attention off of Jesus the Savior. [00:06:40] But they won. [00:06:42] Thanks be to God. So let's talk about how they ran the race in Jesus Christ, how Jesus sustained them through the great tribulation. Because that's where we're at. This is the struggle that we endure now. And we look forward to that time when all the tears are wiped away and when we're pure as he is pure. [00:07:02] We look forward to the time when it's no longer the Great Tribulation, when our robes are, well, completely white. [00:07:16] Our robes are white. They've been washed in the blood of the Lamb. We've been united to Jesus Christ in his death and in his resurrection. Washed in his blood and forgiven. [00:07:28] But then comes the struggle. [00:07:30] Then comes the struggle. And sin remains. [00:07:36] The struggle remains and we fall. [00:07:40] We sin and look away from Christ. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. The truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We need daily cleansing. Our robes have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. [00:08:01] But sin remains. [00:08:03] Temptation distracts, pulls us away from Christ. And so every day is a day to repent, to repent of our turning away and to look again to Jesus Christ. [00:08:19] The Beatitudes that Jesus gives us today, they are the pattern of the work that God is doing in us through his word, the work that God is doing in his saints, to give them faith as the author and perfecter of our faith. To give them faith and to bring it to completion, to put into our hearts the paths to Zion. [00:08:52] Like we said a few minutes ago, blessed is he in whose heart are the paths to Zion. [00:09:02] He puts us on the path and sustains us. And the Beatitudes are a kind of roadmap for that path. This is what God is working in you through faith in Jesus. [00:09:18] Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and taught them, like Jesus Christ, who has come to us in our humble estate, who has come to us in our lowliness, caught up with sin and distracted from our God and Creator, Jesus Christ has come down from heaven for us and for our salvation. [00:09:49] And here, in the midst of the great tribulation, like what's the one thing we want from Jesus Christ? [00:09:56] Open your mouth and teach us right, like, speak your heavenly words to us and shape our hearts according to your will. [00:10:07] Help us to see you for who you are. In the time of temptation or trouble, Help us to call on you. Open your mouth and teach us. And he does graciously here, and he says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [00:10:29] Well, look at the saints coming out of the great tribulation in heaven. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and God has given them all the blessings, all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. [00:10:42] Paul says in Ephesians, theirs is the kingdom of heaven, whose blessed are the poor in spirit, like in the moment of trouble. [00:10:58] Am I relying on my own wisdom? Do I think that I have the spiritual power or wherewithal? [00:11:07] Do I think something else does from which I can receive the strength to go on? [00:11:15] Jesus tells us, blessed are the poor in spirit, those who don't think they have, but are ready to receive. [00:11:26] Blessed are those who repeat John's words and say, if we say we have no sin. We deceive ourselves and come to God looking for mercy. [00:11:42] Lord have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. [00:11:46] Lord have mercy upon us. And then we sing the Gloria, putting God at the top. [00:11:53] Glory to God in the highest right and give us peace on earth. [00:12:02] Blessed are the poor who come to God empty handed, ready to receive from him all that he has to give. [00:12:10] There's no other way. [00:12:12] There's no other way to receive the heavenly gifts that God gives, that he loves to give through Jesus Christ. [00:12:21] You know, right before John says, see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. [00:12:29] He says that those who practice righteousness. He says, it's clear that those who practice righteousness have been born of God because righteousness comes from God and nowhere else. [00:12:46] And if we've been born of God through baptism, by faith in Jesus Christ, if we've been born of God, then we're babies. [00:12:56] We're babies to grow up in Jesus Christ, being conformed to him, to grow up as imitators of God, becoming like our Heavenly Father. See, that's what children do. They become like their parents. [00:13:13] Except in our sort of revolutionary culture where you strike out and become something different, right? But really what children are, are imitators of their parents, for better or worse. But here it's for better. [00:13:26] God, our Heavenly Father, sharing with us the divine nature. We become partakers of the divine nature. Peter says in Second Peter one, I think so. [00:13:43] Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [00:13:48] Do you want the kingdom of heaven? [00:13:50] Do you want to be lifted up out of our. [00:13:55] Out of our sin and blindness and wretchedness, out of the struggle, out of the great tribulation, to be clean and free in Jesus, to see him as he is, to see everything else as it is in Him. [00:14:12] By God's grace, we want that. [00:14:15] By God's grace we recognize our wretchedness and our poverty and are ready to receive. [00:14:23] And that's the beginning of all the rest of them. [00:14:27] If we don't think that we are poor and need to receive everything from God, then how can we be meek, slow to anger, slow to rash action? [00:14:48] It's humility that says, I'm not going to react really fast. I'm going to wait a moment. This would help me so much in so many situations if I could just slow down and not react in anger. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. [00:15:06] Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be Satisfied. [00:15:13] Only a baby born of God hungers for what God has to give that spiritual milk which is Jesus Christ come to us for our salvation. If we don't consider ourselves poor, if we consider ourselves already to have what we need, then we're not going to hunger and thirst for righteousness which comes only from God our Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ. [00:15:43] Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. [00:15:50] Only those who are poor in spirit, who recognize their great need, will view everyone else in the same way. [00:16:03] Jesus Christ is our life. [00:16:06] He is everything. We receive everything through faith in him and have nothing of ourselves. You know, by grace you have been saved through faith. [00:16:16] This not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. [00:16:25] And with that kind of realistic view of ourselves, like, well, none of this is from me. [00:16:31] Nothing that I have that's good is from me. All of it is a gift coming down from God, from above. [00:16:41] Then when somebody does something to us, or when we see sin in somebody else, how could we stand above them and mete out vengeance or whatever? Blessed are the merciful in Jesus, receiving his grace and mercy. We become merciful toward those around us as we look to him, as we remember our own poverty and come to God looking to be filled with every heavenly gift. [00:17:20] Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God well. This is what John is saying in his letter that we've already mentioned. We don't know what we're becoming as Christ conforms us to himself. [00:17:35] But we know that we're going to be like him because we'll see him as he is. The church fathers like to think of this like water that's rough and think of our hearts as turbulent like this. [00:17:53] But then like when the water smooths right, when the storm in our own hearts is calmed by Jesus Christ and things are brought into order, then the image of God becomes clear, just like water reflects the heavens by God's grace. Now this, you know, I feel the turbulence. [00:18:15] But I see in Bill Helt and in Carol Hoover and in my grandfather and in St. Paul and all the saints who have gone before us. [00:18:30] I see heaven reflected by God's grace. [00:18:34] Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. [00:18:39] Blessed are those who are persecuted. [00:18:42] Well, blessed are the peacemakers first, for they shall be called sons of God. [00:18:49] I know peacemakers in this congregation, those who participate in Jesus own work because they know they're poor and they've received mercy from Jesus Christ. And looking to Jesus, they become agents of his peace. Bringing the peace that surpasses all understanding to relationships here within our congregation. [00:19:15] Jesus, by his grace, lifting us up out of division and darkness and confusion and anger and hate and grudges and whatever else, lifting us up, uniting us to Himself, washing it away with his forgiveness and uniting us to Himself in His mission of bringing peace. [00:19:39] This is a constant struggle. This is the pattern of the struggle in the great Tribulation. [00:19:45] This is the pattern of the work that God is doing in you and me as we look to Jesus in faith and come to him having nothing and ready to receive everything. [00:19:56] Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And I'll just combine it with, blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. [00:20:22] Being conformed to Jesus Christ and washed in his blood doesn't look glorious or like a life without suffering. [00:20:34] It looks like a life of suffering. You see it in the apostles being persecuted for righteousness sake. [00:20:42] What's happening is that. [00:20:45] I mean, this is the work that God is doing in us, the pattern of the work that God is doing in us. And through persecution and suffering, God strengthens us. [00:20:56] He purifies us of things that would distract us from him by, well, through suffering, drives us away from those things that might otherwise distract us. [00:21:14] Martin Luther at the end of his life, after writing a ton, I don't know, people try and estimate how many pages he wrote in his lifetime. You know, 100,000 he wrote all his life. And on his deathbed, he found a scrap of paper, and it was found with his body. After he died, he scribbled on a scrap of paper, we are beggars. [00:21:46] Blessed are the poor in spirit. [00:21:51] Everything that God worked in Martin luther and in St. Paul and in Moses and in Bill and Carol and my grandpa and those who have gone before us in faith, everything was a gift from God, worked in the poor in spirit that God had humbled with His Word and made ready to receive from Him. [00:22:22] May God guard us from those things that would make us unreceptive to His Word. Guard us from those things that would close our hearts to his love and mercy and to those around us. [00:22:40] May he guard us from those things that would cause others to stumble into sin. May he make us humble recipients of his love and mercy. May he unite us to Jesus Christ through faith. Unite us to him in his humility, becoming a servant, taking the form of a servant, and becoming obedient to death. [00:23:10] Lord, help us to sacrifice ourselves, to make ourselves living sacrifices pleasing and acceptable to you. [00:23:22] Make us merciful as we recognize our own poverty. [00:23:27] Help us to see the people around us like you see them and have had mercy on them and loved us even while we were still sinners, enemies of you. [00:23:38] Make us peacemakers, make us zealous for peace and for the melting away of divisions. [00:23:51] Unite us together as Jesus body. [00:23:56] Unite us together in Jesus and bring us along on your mission, and bring us at last out of the great tribulation with white robes, having been washed in Jesus own blood and suffering and humility, and glorify us by your grace, our hope that's beyond hope in Jesus Christ, in his name. Amen.