Have You a Desire to Be Like Jesus? — Roy Daniel

I'm going to read a verse this morning. We haven't got much time, so I have to keep it to 30 minutes, which is very hard for a preacher from South Africa. We're going to read 1 John 3 verse 2. If we could open up our Bibles to 1 John 3 verse 2.

I've got it written down here, the verses. 1 John 3 verse 2. I'm going to read it to you. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when He shall appear, that's Jesus, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Prayer for Transformation Into Christlikeness

It's one of the most precious verses in the entire Bible. If it doesn't make you excited, then I don't know what will make you excited if you're a Christian and you love God. Let us go over to prayer.

Father, I'd just like, in simplicity, to come to You. We've prayed for this meeting. Again, I just trust Thee and ask Thee that You would work in our midst and speak to our hearts, Lord. Not that we will just feel blessed, but that we will be blessed and that we will be changed.

In Jesus Christ's name, my dear Lord and Savior, I ask this. Thank You that You answer prayer. You've shown it many, many times, how You change lives. Amen. I'd like to read it again. 1 John 3, verse 2.

Suffering Compared With Future Glory

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when He shall appear, that's Jesus Christ, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Now, yesterday when I was speaking to the men, I mentioned, I think it was the voice of, sorry, Prophets Book of Martyrs or something, talked about how this one man was spit-fried.

They took a pole and they put it through his body while he was still alive. And they hung him, his body on a fire, and they started to turn him around slowly. And there's so many cases, even today, millions of people have been killed in the last hundred years, martyred, hurt, tortured.

I mean, in Sudan, they have supersonic, the government sends supersonic jets and they bomb churches. People lose their legs. And if you think of this, and it's not something light, even though we hear about it a lot, it's something that's terrifyingly horrible, then this verse, which I also mentioned yesterday, becomes so precious.

Romans 8, verse 18. For I reckon, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed, which shall be revealed in us. You know what's amazing about that verse?

God, who inspired the Bible and inspired this verse, knew that there were going to be people who would be spit-fried, who would have poles put through their bodies, tortured through the ages, got through extreme, agonizing pain for the name of Jesus Christ.

And yet He allowed to be in the Bible this verse, that the sufferings of this present time are incomparable to the glory which shall be revealed in us. You see, when we die, or when Jesus Christ comes and we see Him face to face, that moment we shall be like, not like an angel, not like something that's pure and wonderful like a diamond, we shall be like Jesus.

That to me is incomparable. It wasn't in the Bible, I wouldn't believe it. I sometimes sit looking at that verse, I remember when I was at Bible college, and I just couldn't believe this verse, we are going to be like Him.

That's glory, incomparable compared to the sufferings of this time. But you know what's very sad when I look around at Christians? Without judging, as I go around the world in different places, I don't see Christians with a deep desire for that day.

And the way I know that is because if you look at their life now, they don't seem to have a wonderful desire right now to be like Jesus. They seem to be entangled with the things of this world. You know my dad, when I was a little boy, I wasn't saved, but my dad sang in the 1980's a song, and it's a hymn, I have one deep supreme desire that I may be like Jesus.

I don't remember him singing it, but I found a tape, an old tape, and I put it in a tape recorder, I found it in some little hall, and I heard my dad singing and I started to cry. And he sang from his heart these words as a young man, I have one deep supreme desire that I might be like Jesus.

The Desire to Be Like Jesus

To this I fervently aspire, that I might... Let me ask you a question, is this your life? That I might be like Jesus? I want my heart, His throne to be, so that a watching world may see His likeness shining forth in me, I want to be like Jesus.

He spent His life in doing good, I want to be like Jesus. In lowly paths of service trod, I want to be like Jesus. He sympathized with hearts distressed, He spoke the words that cheered and blessed, He welcomed sinners to His breast, I want to be like Jesus.

A holy, harmless life He led, I want to be like Jesus. The Father's will, His drink and bread, I want to be like Jesus. And when at last He comes to die, forgive them Father, hear them cry,. For those who taunt and crucify, I want to be like Jesus.

O perfect life of Christ my Lord, I want to be like Jesus. My recompense and my reward, that I might be like Jesus. His Spirit all my life control, my deepest prayer and my greatest goal, that I might be like Jesus.

Is that your life? Is that your greatest desire? You know, a few weeks back I was looking into... And all of you know the life of Franny Crosby probably, and you've read the book and the books about her life.

Fanny Crosby and Longing to See Christ

And I love singing the hymns of Franny Crosby, because they've got so much depth. And a few weeks back I was again looking up something about her life, and I don't remember reading it before, you probably all know, but I remember reading there and seeing that when she was six years old, obviously we know that she was blind, she became blind.

It was a mistake that some doctor or something did. And her parents taught her not to be bitter, and she wasn't bitter. And she met with Jesus at some stage, and she was on fire for God. She loved God as a blind person, and she wrote many, many hymns.

Some of the greatest hymns of the faith were written by that blind lady. And one day a person came to her, and that person said to her, you know, God has given you so many gifts, I wish God had given you that you might see.

And you know what she answered basically, forgive it as my own words, but I cried. I cried for literally I don't know how many minutes, I just sobbed like a little baby. When I read this, she said immediately, if I had one desire, one thing I could ask of God, it would be this, that I would have been born blind.

And then she said, because if I was born blind, then I would know the very first face, that ever I would see would be the face of Jesus. And I cried and cried, because I thought to myself, do I have that love, do I have that desire, that nothing in life is more important than the day that I will be like Jesus, and the desire to be like Jesus and to meet with Jesus.

Heavenly Treasure and Christian Pilgrimage

Not even the desire to see is more than my desire, my love for my King. And I don't see that in Christians' lives, in general. Matthew 6, verse 20, verse 31, it says, But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And most Christians don't look like they're laying up treasure in heaven. They're laying up treasure on earth. They're not pilgrims. That verse in Hebrews 11, 13, 14 says, We are strangers and pilgrims on earth, for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

It's obvious that they're not laying up treasures on earth. They declare plainly it. They say it and they live it, that they're waiting for that country where their King is. That's what they're living for.

They're not living for the things of earth. They're living for the day when they see Jesus. They're living to be with Him one day in that country up there. And that country without Jesus is not worth much.

The reason they're living for that country is Jesus. I'd like to ask a few questions. Are you a stranger? Are you a stranger to this world? Are you a stranger to the music of this world? You've heard Brother Tim talk.

I agree with that totally. We have a Satanist who got saved at one of our conventions. A high-level Satanist came and told us afterwards, after being saved, we use music, like the music he talked about, to break down the young people so that their moral resistance will be crumbled.

That's what one of the head Satanists in South Africa said. I agree with everything he said. Are you a stranger to the music of this world? Don't ask Christ's words with it. Are you a stranger to the sin of this world?

Are you a stranger to its ways? This world. You go to conservative churches. The children are rebelling against their parents. That's what I see. They smile. If you want to see children at church and see them at home, it's two different things.

Smiling, talking about Jesus. Hope. Wow, wow, wow to their parents. Are you a stranger to the ways of this world or is it crept into your heart? Are you a pilgrim? Are you living for the day? Will you be where your treasure is?

Jesus Christ. Most men are laying up treasures on earth, as I said. They're not strangers. They're not pilgrims. And thirdly, they're not soldiers. 2 Timothy 2 verse 4 says, No man that woreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life.

You're not laying up treasures. If you're a warrior for God, you're not laying up treasures on earth. You're not entangling yourself with the things of life. That he may please him, Jesus, who has chosen him to be a soldier.

Spiritual Warfare and Undivided Commitment

You know, when I was younger, I was very naughty. I got lots of spankings. My mother loved me for some reason. And I remember at my granny's house, me and my brother and my cousins, we got permission from my granny to, in her two large trees, to make tree houses.

And we spent hours and hours making these tree houses. I don't think, the one thing we didn't get permission for, though, was to take her entire crop that she was going to send to market and put into baskets to throw each other with.

And I remember taking this thing, and it was wonderful. They banned us from doing it later, obviously, when they found out. But as little children, we took these things, and after building these huge tree houses, I made wonderful tree houses.

I made a tree house with a fireplace, and I used to stack sausages up in the tree, and the tree house almost burned down. But these particular tree houses that we built, we used to take these avocados, heavy avocados, and we used to throw each other.

It was wonderful. We weren't non-resistant. We threw them, and threw them, and threw them, and threw them. And it was so wonderful until suddenly one of us got hit. Ow! Why did he put me in a war? You know, that was terrifying.

It wasn't me. You know that's how many Christians are? They talk so big about fighting in a war, but when it comes to the hard work, when it comes to something going wrong, then they become like Siti Satsang, a stockless soldier.

It looks wonderful, but when the sun comes out, it melts. You know, I want to see this in Christians' lives. Revelation 12 verse 11, They loved not their lives unto the death. I know a girl, she had diseases that ate up her body as a young child.

I remember her body was just literally like this. She used to walk like this. And her Bible was falling to pieces. She read it for hours and hours. She loved Jesus. She wrote as a little 11-year-old.

The doctor said she wouldn't live to 16 years old or whatever. But she said, she wrote, she so wanted to go to our Bible college that she already filled in her forms and sent it off as a 11-year-old.

Please let me come. When our missionaries came to that town, she used to go behind them and go from door to door of houses in that town, slowly walking, knocking on the doors, and handing out pamphlets and talking to people, asking them to come to the meetings.

She had such a desire. And I like to ask the question, why is she a soldier and people with nice legs, strong bodies, are not? What excuse do you have? Are you getting entangled in the things of this earth?

Giving What You Can for God

I know two people at a church, and this is a typical American conservative church. The people don't generally take part in the world, they don't go deep into sin, except some of them, one or two little rebels in the church, it's sad.

But most of them are very nice, they're kind people, they sing in church, they come to the prayer meeting. But there was one or two that had something different about them. You could see that their treasures weren't on earth.

They were on fire. I'm not saying that you have to have this personality where you jump up and down and speak to souls all the time. They used their time for God. Went out, went to souls all the time, took their spare money as young teenagers to organize meetings, to do things.

And without being a Pharisee and judging other people, it was so sad to them that the other people didn't have this fire. Even though they talked about Jesus all the time and testified all the time, they didn't seem to have any fire.

And then one day, the brother of this person listened to a CD. And as he listened to this CD, this message, he suddenly realized, I'm laying a prison on earth. He's actually a wonderful giver, he's a lovely person, but there's something missing.

And as he realized that he wasn't truly a pilgrim, wasn't truly a soldier, then he decided to give up the things that were his treasures. And he became on fire. And he started using what he could of his money to get computers and to make CDs and to go, just try, try, try.

He couldn't do much. He wasn't a great preacher. He couldn't speak great. But he did what he could. And that's what I want to see in Christians. People doing what they can. Like that girl. You might say, what can I do?

Well, what can that girl do? She did what she could. John 6, verse 9. We read in John 6 about the feeding, I think of the 5 ,000 or so. And you have these men and they don't know what to do. And they say, I don't know what we can do.

We can't do anything in my own words. We can't feed all these multitude. There's nothing much we can do. And a little kid comes and shames them. He has my two fish and loaves of bread. Two breads. I heard a song once that made me cry.

I've got the words wrong. I tried to remember it last night. But it says, take these few fish and loaves of bread. It's all that I can do. Most of all, Lord, take my life and make me a miracle too. This world's so full of hungry men.

I've little left to give. Could it be I might feed a few by the simple life I live? God doesn't expect you to be a great preacher or an amazing person. There's this huge organization that wins the world.

But God does expect you to give every single last bit of yourself. And if not, if that's not your life, if you're not living for, if you're entangling yourself with the things of this world, then do you love God?

Proverbs 31 and the Worth of Faithful Womanhood

You know, girls often have a problem. When they get married, they feel very inferior because they're not doing much. I'd like to mention something like that. Just encourage the girls. I'm not a very good encourager to girls.

I don't think. But the world lies to girls. The world lies to girls and says that to be something special, you have to be pretty, you have to succeed, you have to be a business woman. I spoke to a whole lot of girls once in between the boys and this group of young people.

And I said, one day you better wash your husband's dishes. No, we're not going to wash our husband's dishes. The world's lying to them. That's honestly what they said who went to public school and said they were Christians.

If I read the Bible, I see in Proverbs 31, I read of a housewife, humble, faithful, hardworking. And I read what God says of that lady, that she's worth more than rubies. That's what the Bible, not me, the Bible says.

And when I read the Bible and I read that, then I think, the world has lied to girls. In God's sight, you're worth more than rubies. And you read in that same chapter, a man shall stand in the gate. A man shall stand in the gate.

I'd like to encourage the young woman today. Give your husband one day the right to stand in the gate. By reverencing him. You don't have to be an Amy Carmichael to do that, to be great in God's eyes.

If you're there for your husband, humble, simple reverend, then you give him the right to stand in the gate. To be a leader, to be a warrior. I've seen great men. I'll take on the men, because many men are not great to their wives, but I've seen great men who long to lay up treasures in heaven, but their wives want to lay up treasures on earth.

And I've seen them, and they're wonderful wives, but there's something missing. If you, as a wife, and I'm not going to preach a marriage because I'm not married yet, but if you as a wife, give your husband the right to lay up treasures on earth, you become a treasure, according to Proverbs 31.

You become worth more than rubies. Don't listen to the lies of this world that says you have to be something special. You are special, if you reverence and be there and love your husband and the hard work at home.

Readiness for Christ's Return

God's eyes you worth more than rubies. But now the last thing, we're getting near to the time. Everybody can see it. We're getting near to the time when Jesus Christ is coming, when we shall see Him, and we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

And in one way we should fear. In one way we should fear. Because 1 Peter says what manner of holiness we should live basically because Jesus Christ is coming. We should be living as a shining light. We should fear that we're not ready to meet with God, in that sense.

But in another sense, we shouldn't fear. We shouldn't fear if we are right with God, number one. But number two, like the people of this world fear. We read that the people's hearts fail them for fear of the things that will come on the earth.

In other words, people out there are fearing because they see things coming on this earth that's going to cause great destruction and hurt upon people. And if you fear those things, then the Bible says you're disobeying God.

Luke 21 verse 28 says, When these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. You should not be fearing these things. You should be getting excited when these things come about because you know if you're right with God and your treasure is on the earth and your treasure is in heaven, you know that very soon these things that make other people scared are a sign that very soon we're going to be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Isn't that exciting? I'm not a Pentecostal, but hallelujah. I mean, to be like Jesus forever. But why aren't we living it down here? Why aren't we seeking that down here? Why isn't that our greatest desire down here?

The Lamb as the Believer's Eternal Treasure

A final thought. When Jesus comes, what are we going to be speaking about? I was just thinking this last night when I was writing down the sermon. What are we going to be talking about? You know, I think one of the queens of England actually got saved by Deal Moody, according to history.

I don't know, but it seems like, as we read, it attests to me that she was saved. Imagine she's sitting up there and she says, I was the queen of England. Really? That's nice. Who cares? I had five businesses and a mansion.

I owned McDonald's. If you, I don't think that person's saved, but anyway, fast food. Really? There's nothing special. You see, the treasures on this earth will not be remembered. They're not treasures.

They're only treasures for this short time, for eternity. It's Jesus. When I read Revelation, I say, Revelation, I see that it's so obvious. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. It's about Jesus.

And I'd like to ask you a question. If you lay in a prison on earth, if you're entangled with this earth, I don't care if you sing in church, but if there's not something in you that drives you, I'm not talking about a feeling, but there's something in you that you want to be like Jesus and you seek to be like Jesus and you're entangled with things like this and you're trying to do something for God that you can't do much.

You're giving your fish and your loaves of bread. What you can, you're giving. You're trying. Then perhaps you've never said, worthy is the Lamb to take up the throne of my heart. Perhaps that's never happened in your life.

Worthy is the Lamb to take up the throne of my heart. According to the time, I've got five minutes. I wonder if you, how many of you got this hymnal? Just put your hands up. Have we got it this morning?

Okay. Only Jeff. Jeff, do you know the song Saved by Grace? Someday the silver cord will break. Could you come forward? I didn't ask you before. Could you please, because my voice is terrifying. I want to be used in this area, but I'm sure you could be used better.

And could you sing this to them? If it's possible. Because you know my granny, she lives this. And she had, I think, a stroke yesterday or the day before. And she's just going down and down and down and down.

She's going to die soon, but she loves Jesus. When she almost died a few years back, as she was lying there almost dying, she was just saying, Doctor, are you saved? Doctor, are you saved? Doctor, are you saved?

When I asked her, when she couldn't walk for months, can I pray for you for something? Can I get people to pray for you for something? She didn't mention her legs. All she said was, pray that souls might be saved.

And one of her favorite, if not her favorite song, was this. By Fanny Crosby. Someday the silver cord will break, and I know more, as now I shall sing, but all the joy when I shall wake within the palace of the king, and I shall see him face to face, and tell the story saved by grace.

Here. And after this, how could you pray? Do you know that song? Mostly. You can sing it. I hope so. I'd love to sing along with you, Doctor. You're welcome to sing along if you'd like to. I'd really appreciate that if you know the song.

Thank you for that great privilege that is coming, that one day when we see you, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And Father, I'd like for every single, for me, Lord, that this little time that's left before you come, this little time that's left, that you'll grant us the grace to realize that treasures on earth are nothing, and that there's a treasure in heaven that's worth everything, that we should love not our lives unto death, and spend ourselves and be spent for Jesus.

And I ask this, Lord, that you'll somehow, that it won't just be a blessing, this message, but that it'll take hold of some young people's hearts, and older people's hearts, and even if they're old, Lord, like that person whose body was falling apart, that girl, that you would grant them the grace to see that you are what they have, and that they will come and give it, and just look to thee to be a blessing to others, and to be an influence in this world for Jesus, and a warrior for Christ with what they've got.

And I ask this in Jesus Christ's name, my dear Lord and Savior. Amen.