James 1:17+18 Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures. 
	We are currently in the midst of our Biblical discussion of heaven, using Dr. Donnelly’s messages concerning heaven as our framework. Last week, we began to consider the fact that the Lamb is Heaven’s lamp. We saw that it is Christ, and Christ Alone, Who brings us to heaven. He has redeemed us unto God through His death and resurrection. He also equips us to live in heaven through His holiness in our lives. He teaches us, through His Word and the Holy Spirit, how to live in His holiness. It is not a holiness of our own, but His holiness in which we are clothed and protected. The final aspect of His bringing us to heaven, as we considered, is His present ministry of intercession and working on our behalf. We could not endure nor persevere in this life apart from Him. He is our strength, our encouragement, our fortitude, our help, and our source of life on this earth. Apart from Him we can do nothing. John 15:5, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. We ended with the statement that we cannot even consider heaven apart from Jesus Christ. 
	Thus we continue this morning with the truth that Christ is central to heaven because it is in heaven that Christ will be clearly seen. As we read in Eph. 5:30, we are members of Christ’s body. We are joined to Him in an inseparable and intimate manner which cannot be broken. It is as we consider this truth as the reality of our lives that we learn to live lives that are pleasing unto Him. One of the reasons that we struggle so severely on this earth is the fact that we cannot see Him in the clarity of His person in our lives. We allow ourselves to be distracted since we do not have the visual image of Him before us on a regular basis. 
Let us be very clear on the fact that this is not a defect in the plan and purpose of God. It is the prescribed manner in which we are strengthened in our faith and in our belief and in our utter reliance on Christ to become our everything. This is the manner in which He is joined livingly into our hearts and minds. Heb 11:1, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Our relationship with Christ grows increasingly stronger and surer as our faith in Him is exercised and developed by the Holy Spirit. As the Apostle Peter encourages us in 1 Peter 1:6-9, In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. 
The Lord, Himself, encourages us in John 20:29. As He was talking to Thomas, Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed." So on this earth, we do not yet see Jesus, but we do trust Him and we can know Him in a most living and vibrant and vital relationship of love and trust and friendship. There are those times when it seems that we almost see Him. It can be extreme times, such as during trials and hardships and crises, when we call out to Him and He comes very close to us in answer to our prayers and supplications. We sense His presence and His comfort and His peace and we relish the intimacy of His direct touch upon our lives and hearts and minds. Then there are those times of worship and praise when we lose ourselves in Him, in His Glory, in His Majesty, in His Honor, in His Grace, and in His Mercy. We can get so close, yet we still feel the filter of this life that clouds our vision so frequently. As the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Cor 13:12, For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known. Now we see dimly, but in heaven, we will see Him in all the clarity of His gloriousness. 
	We have the faith of Job at work in us, as we will see Him as Job proclaimed in Chapter 19, verses 25-27. And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes shall see and not another… It will be the fulfillment of    
Isa 33:17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty… As we are assured by the Apostle John in 1 John 3:2, Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. It is in heaven that we will gaze upon Him and see Him clearly in all His beauty and righteousness and glory and strength for the very first time. These eyes will clearly behold what our hearts learn to see on a daily basis in the faith that He works into our lives. 
	Consider what it will mean to see Jesus in all His glory. The Apostle John, the apostle who was beloved by Jesus, the Apostle who rested his head in the bosom of the Lord on this earth was so overwhelmed by the majesty and the glory of seeing Jesus in Heaven that he writes the following in Rev 1:17+18, And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 
	This will be the fulfillment of Christ’s High Priestly prayer as recorded in John, Chapter 17, verse 24, "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world. Christ desires for us to see Him in all His glory. 
Quote, So here it is almost as if the Lord Jesus is saying, ‘Father there is so much of me that my disciples have never seen. I long for them to see me at my best. I want to show them who I really am. I want you to show them all my glory.’ End quote. We see the heart of Jesus, desiring to share the fullness of Himself with those whom He loves. It is the case with all close loved ones. Our joy finds completion in the sharing together in all of the accomplishments that are undertaken. We will find complete joy as we bear witness to the life and the glory of Christ. As our choruses of love and adoration for our Jesus Christ fill heaven, the Father will be glorified in the accomplished work of His Only Begotten Son. 
	As well, when we see Jesus, we will be overwhelmed. There will stir in us those refrains of love and adoration as recorded throughout the scriptures. Our hearts will fill with worship and adoration and adulation in the person Whom our eyes behold in all His glory. We will see Jesus as our Beloved in the Song of Solomon 2:14, "O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret place of the steep pathway, Let me see your form, Let me hear your voice; For your voice is sweet, And your form is lovely." And Song of Solomon 5:10-16, will be our song of love and praise. "My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, Outstanding among ten thousand. "His head is like gold, pure gold; His locks are like clusters of dates, And black as a raven. "His eyes are like doves, Beside streams of water, Bathed in milk, And reposed in their setting. "His cheeks are like a bed of balsam, Banks of sweet-scented herbs; His lips are lilies, Dripping with liquid myrrh. "His hands are rods of gold Set with beryl; His abdomen is carved ivory Inlaid with sapphires. "His legs are pillars of alabaster Set on pedestals of pure gold; His appearance is like Lebanon, Choice as the cedars. "His mouth is full of sweetness. And he is wholly desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem." 
	We will join with the chorus of the Pslamist in Ps 45:2-4, declaring of Christ, Thou art fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Thy lips; Therefore God has blessed Thee forever. Gird Thy sword on Thy thigh, O Mighty One, In Thy splendor and Thy majesty! And in Thy majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; Let Thy right hand teach Thee awesome things. 
We will lend our voices and hearts to the refrain that is recorded by the Apostle John, in Rev 5:11-14. And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshiped. 
	Heaven is the place where we will see Jesus face to face. It will be in His face, that all glory will be revealed to us and into us. We will behold Him and will find our rejoicing and our joy forevermore fulfilled. The thoughts of this earth will evaporate as we behold Him Who died for us. 
Quote, John Bunyan’s Mr. Standfast, just before he dies, rejoices that, ‘I am going now to see that Head that was crowned with thorns and that face that was spat upon for me. I have formerly lived by hearsay and faith, but now I go where I shall live by sight and shall be with Him in Whose company I delight myself.’ In a famous illustration, Samuel Rutherford compares our experience in heaven with a bride’s delight on her wedding day. What is it that thrills her most of all? Her dress? The flowers? The guests? None of these. ‘The bride taketh not, by a thousand degrees, so much delight in her wedding garment as she doth in her bridegroom; so we, in the life to come…shall not be so much affected with the glory that goeth about us, as with the bridegroom’s joyful face and presence.’ This is why the Bible, when it tells us about heaven, tells us about Christ. He is our heart’s desire. It is He Whom we long to see there. End quote. 
When we get to heaven, He will be the focus of our attention and our thoughts and awareness. It will be an eternally glorified relationship in the revealed splendor of the Lamb. Rev 21:22-22:5 And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever. Amen.
Again, as Brother James so fully explains, Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures. Amen.

This morning’s benediction reading is Ps 99:1-5 The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake! The Lord is great in Zion, And He is exalted above all the peoples. Let them praise Thy great and awesome name; Holy is He. And the strength of the King loves justice; Thou hast established equity; Thou hast executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, And worship at His footstool; Holy is He. Amen.