Being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing. Many have accepted God’s grace who have never seen Jesus. Always distinguish between seeing Jesus and seeing what he has done for you. If you see only what Jesus has done for you, you do not have a big enough God; you’ve confused him with your personal experience.
Once you have seen Jesus, you are never the same again. You remain unshaken though experiences come and go, your gaze fixed on “him who is invisible.” Moses “left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).
We cannot dictate when we see Jesus; he comes in his own time. He may be at work in our lives, helping us, long before he actually appears. In John 9, Jesus heals a man who has been blind since birth, but the man does not know who Jesus is. Only later does Jesus appear to the man, revealing his true identity. “Then the man said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him” (John 9:38).
When Jesus appears, he appears to each of us individually. No one can see Jesus through another’s eyes; he must appear to your friend as well as to you. A severance takes place when one person and not the other has seen Jesus. If you’ve seen Jesus, you will be eager to tell others about it. But remember that you can’t bring anyone else into fellowship with God; God must do it. “These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe” (Mark 16:13). Keep telling, even if they do not believe.
Oh could I tell ye surely would believe it!
Oh could I only say what I have seen!
How should I tell or how can ye receive it, How, till He bringeth you where I have been?
—Frederic W. H. Myers
