Small kindnesses, taken as a while, go a long way in making the world a better place.”
–John Deacon (The Provider 3)
“I tell you all that you will see Heaven wide open and God’s angels ascending and descending around the Son of Man!”
–John 1:51 (Phillips)
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“God blesses those people whose hearts are pure. They will see him!” –Matthew 5:8 (CEV)
I used the CEV because I like the emphatic end, “they WILL see Him!” (caps mine) Notice the exclamation point. That is the great blessing of God, we will see Him face-to-face. It is not hope, or just an act of faith but a surety! Now we see God with the eyes of faith and look forward to that day in glory. John Stott writes, “Only the utterly sincere can bear the dazzling vision in whose light the darkness of deceit must vanish and by whose fire all shams are burned up.” Imagine seeing that burning fire, the light of His face. To see Him we must have pure hearts that means we must surrender our lives, that includes will, mind, and emotions to the sanctifying process of the Holy Spirit. The process is not immediate, and yet it is. We have spiritual discernment, therefore, we must use it. We must be in the Word so that we can obtain clear views of the Divine character. Paul tells us, “Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV)
I often used the illustration to students that if they wanted to see the devil look in the mirror. But in spiritual reality, we should look in the mirror and see a reflection of Christ. Our focus should be on Him, we should strive to be like Him, therefore, when people see us they should see Jesus. So then, when we look in the mirror we should see Jesus. Oh, it for sure will be dim, but it should be there. We should see hope, we should carry a smile on our countenance, we should see the faith that one day, we will see Him, we shall be like Him–now we are in the process. Focus! That is important, stay focused on Jesus. Arthur Pink writes, “Where the eye is single the whole body is full of light.” Know this also, being a child of God you carry the “spiritual genetics”, therefore as we look like our earthly biological parents we should now look like our heavenly spiritual Father.
Love the Lord with all our hearts, mind, soul, and body. That means the whole of us! God’s mind should become our mind. God’s will should be our will. We then should react in response to that, rejoicing, always rejoicing. Thomas Watson declares, “The pure heart is God’s paradise where He delights to walk.” A sort of spiritual Eden but more so because the Holy Spirit is with us, guiding us, showing us the proper way to travel. One day the curse will be removed; one day we will serve Him in honesty and purity. And as John tells us, “They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.” (Revelation 22:4, NKJV)
One day my friend. One day, not too far away, whether by rapture or by death we shall see Him. And take confidence in the words that John wrote, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3, NKJV) Friends, do not run from the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, for He is helping each of us purify ourselves so that one day we will be able to stand before Him.
Oh, let the words of this little verse run through your soul. William Barclay puts all the thoughts together when he says, “O the bliss of the man whose motives are absolutely pure, for that man will some day be able to see God!”