Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 3401
“Yet a little while, and the world will see Me no more; but you will see Me. Because I live, you shall live also.” John 14:19.
THIS was and is the mark of the true Believer—that he sees Jesus. When Jesus was here among men, the world saw Him in a certain sense, but yet in truth it did not see Him at all. The world’s eyes saw the outside of Christ—the flesh of the Man, Christ, but the true Christ the ungodly eyes could not discern. They could not perceive those wonderful attributes of Character, those delightful graces and charms which made up the true spiritual Christ. They saw but the husk, and not the kernel. They saw the quartz of the golden nugget, but not the pure gold which that quartz contained. They saw but the external Man—the real, spiritual Christ they could not see. But unto as many as God had chosen, Christ manifested Himself as He did not unto the world! There were some to whom He said, “The world sees Me not, but you see Me.” Some there were whose eyes were anointed with the heavenly salve, so that they saw in “the Man, Christ Jesus,” the God, the glorious Savior, the King-of-kings, The Wonderful, The Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace!
The blind world said of Him that He was a root out of a dry ground. And when they saw Him there was no beauty in Him that they should desire Him. He was despised and rejected of men. But God’s elect were men who saw Him as God over all, blessed forever, descending to tabernacle among men and to take upon Himself man’s imperfect nature, so that He might redeem him from all iniquity and save him.
Now, to this hour, this is the mark of the true Christian. This is to be of the elect! This is the very badge and symbol of the faithful—they see Jesus. They look beyond the clouds. Other men see the cloud and the darkness and they know not what it is. But these men with more than eagle eyes, pierce through the clouds of mere sensual impressions and see the Glory that was always His, even the Glory of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of Grace and truth. Beloved, have you ever seen Jesus with the eyes of faith? Have you ever perceived the glory of His Person and the beauty of His Character? Have you so perceived Jesus as to trust in Him? Have you been so enamored of Him as to have yielded yourselves to be His servants forever? Do you take up His Cross? Do you avow yourselves to be His followers, come what may? If so, then you are saved! But if you see not Christ with your spirit, neither do you know Him, nor shall you enjoy a portion with Him.
Blessed be God, there is this to be said—that he who has once seen Christ, shall always see Him! The eyes may sometimes gather dimness, but the Light of God shall yet return. Where Christ has opened blind eyes, blindness comes not back again! He takes the cataract totally away. He does not give a transient gleam of spiritual sight and then permit the soul to go back into the darkness of its grave—the sight which He gives is the sight of things eternal—a sight which shall strengthen and grow until at the last, when death shall take away every barrier which parts us from the unseen world. We shall know even as we are known and see even as we are seen! To see Jesus is Heaven begun! And Heaven consummated is but to see Jesus no longer through a glass darkly, but face to face—still it is to see Jesus, to behold the King in His beauty! This, I say, is the sum and substance of life eternal—and it is true life here below.
And now our Lord, speaking to those who had seen Him, truly seen Him and in spiritual recognition, talks to them concerning life. Sometimes it is ours to speak to you of death, not necessarily with gloom, for it is illuminated with rays of heavenly light to the Christian, but here and now we desire to speak of life, the best and most divine life! We will forget the raven with its dusky wings and see only the tender, gentle dove, bearing for each one of us the olive branch of peace and victory.
We shall speak of life—life of the highest possible degree—not the life which gladdens our eyes in the sunlight when we behold the flowers of the field opening their cups. This is vegetable life. Nor the life of the young lambs as they frisk and caper and dance for very gladness in the spring sunbeams. This is but animal life. Nor even the life that enables men to think and speak upon common themes of interest and perform the ordinary duties of their different callings—this is but mental and social life. We reach to something still higher—spirituallife—life in Christ Jesus! A life twice-created, a life which is grafted and is an advance upon the first life which we have when we are born—far surpassing the life of the flesh because that shall, by-and-by, expire—this is a life which springs from incorruptible seed and which lives forever!
The text, in talking to us about life, gives us, first, the assurance that Jesus lives. It then promises us that Hispeople shall live. And it clearly states that there is a link of connection between the two things—that because Jesus lives—His people shall live also First, then—