If you have a copy of God's word, could you turn to the fourth gospel, the gospel according to John, John's gospel chapter 12. John chapter 12, we want to begin reading at verse 12 of the chapter. So John 12 and the verse number 12, please, and let's hear the word of God. On the next day, much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm leaves and went forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass at the road, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, thy king cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. These things understood not his disciples at the first. But when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, that they had done these things unto him. The people, therefore, that was with him, when he called Lazarus out of his grave and raised him from the dead, Bear record, for this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after him. And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast. The same came therefore to Philip, which was of the Seder of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this hour, or this cause, came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore that stood by and heard it said, that it thundered, and others said, and angels speak to him. Jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And if I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw men on to me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. And the people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever, and how sayest thou the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is a light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things speak Jesus. and departed and did hide himself from them. Amen. Let's pray. Father, again in heaven, we pray before Thee, desiring, Lord, that Thou would speak to every heart, from youngest to oldest. We thank Thee for the intergenerational nature and makeup of this congregation. Children, young people, adults, seniors, all gathered in to hear the word. Lord, now as we come to the central act of public worship, the preaching of the Word, we pray for the help and the enabling and the anointing of God the Holy Spirit. Come, Lord, and fill this preacher. May none be seen but Christ alone. We offer prayer in and through the Savior's precious name. Amen. The true story is told of an Orthodox minister after preaching one Sabbath day, found a slip of paper inside his Bible. That slip of paper had been placed there by some members of his congregation, on which there were written these words, Sir, we would see Jesus. The minister felt convicted by the note, but he wasn't offended. He came instead to examine himself. He set about humbly and sincerely examining himself along with his preaching ministry. The result of that self-examination was that he had made sad discovery that his people, his congregation, were justified in making such a request. the minister took to rectifying that glaring omission of preaching Christ in his sermons. And from that day onwards, he made the Son of God the sum and substance of his preaching. Within a short period of time, that same minister found another note placed there inside his Bible with these words written thereon. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. The initial request by members of the congregation to see Christ had been granted, the result being that the hearts of God's people were gladdened by a sight of the Savior through the pulpit of that faithful minister. As I thought about that illustration, I came to think about the passage of Scripture from which the words of that initial request were made to that minister. For those words, sir, we would see Jesus come directly from the passage of scripture that we read a few moments ago in John chapter 12 and the verse 21. For there we read, then came, the same came therefore to Philip which was off the seat of Galilee and desired him saying, sir, we would see Jesus. as a follow on from last Lord's Day's message. A message that focused on the need to recover a Christ-centeredness in preaching. My mind was taken to this chapter in John's Gospel, and to this encounter of certain Greeks with the Son of God. The words of these Greek seekers to Philip, I believe, should form a prayer of every true Christian, every time they come to read, every time they come to hear the Word of God preached. we would see Jesus. I want us to look at this passage of God's word. I want us to look at the request that was made by these Gentiles as we prepare the ground for a series of messages that will focus our attention on the names and on the titles of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so my message title is very simple. Sir, we would see Jesus. I want you to notice with me in the first place the people who made such a request, the people that made this request. Those who originally made this request to Philip are termed here in the verse 20 as being Greeks. Now many Bible commentators believe that these individuals were proselytes to the Jewish religion. These people had moved from their heathenism and they had now come to embrace Judaism as their religion and thus they were known as proselytes. These individuals had been nurtured in a system of idolatry within their homeland. These men yet had come to receive sufficient light to embrace Judaism. Now however, They have heard of another religion that is gaining traction among the Jews. They're hearing of another teacher, not Moses, but Jesus of Nazareth, whose teaching was creating quite a stir in Israel. They heard that Jesus was filling the city of Jerusalem and the nation with his doctrine and confirming his doctrine or his teaching by miracles and signs and mighty works. They were told how Jesus of Nazareth taught as one who had authority and not as the scribes. They heard about how he was opening the ears of the deaf and how he was giving vision to the sightless eyeball of the blind. They had heard in how Christ by a single word had caused a paralytic man to be raised from the bed of sickness, how the dumb tongue that could not speak now touched by the Son of God was now pouring forth the sweetest of praises that diseases which had long existed and had baffled all human doctors and physicians were healed at a single command and that even the dead were being raised from beds and from graves so that they would live again. On hearing those wonderful works, these great proselytes, they make the journey from Greece to Jerusalem to do certain things. Firstly, to celebrate the feast of Passover. We read that at the end of verse 20, that they came up to worship at the feast, speaking of the feast of Passover. Secondly, they had come to verify the truthfulness of the accounts that they had heard in their nation concerning the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And thirdly, they came in the hope And in the expectation that they would see the Son of God, and then hope to converse with the person who was doing such works in Israel at this particular time. And so having located the Son of God, they approach one of his disciples, a man called Philip, and they present to Philip their request. Sir, we would see Jesus. I want you to notice that these individuals, they were Gentiles. That simply means they were non-Jews. Now Jesus Christ was born a Jew. Born as a Jew, he had come on to his own, his own people, the Jewish people. John tells us of this in John chapter 1. He came on to his own, and yet his own received him not. You see, for the vast majority of the Jews, they wanted nothing to do with Jesus of Nazareth. In actual fact, in the previous chapter, we find that the chief priests and the scribes, in the verse 57, they request and they give a commandment that if any man knew where Jesus were, He should show it that they might take him. In other words, that they might arrest him and put him into prison and eventually put him to death. And thus the vast majority of the Jews, they wanted nothing to do with Jesus of Nazareth. And yet now we find non-Jews seeking after the Savior. I believe what we have here is a prelude of what is about to happen in the purposes of God. You see, as the Jews rejected the Messiah, the door would now then open to Gentiles, non-Jewish people, in order that God's global plan of salvation, a plan that would embrace both Jew and Gentile, would be accomplished, as God always intended for it to be accomplished. Never think that the rejection of the Messiah by the Jews, the rejection of Jesus Christ by the Jews, caught God off guard. Rather, God had purposed this to take place in order that the door would be opened on to the Gentiles. Because whenever God spoke to Abraham, the father of the faithful and the father of the Jewish nation, he would say to Abraham that in his seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. And he was speaking of Christ when he spoke about Abram's seed. Christ was born of the seed or was one of Abram's seed. and thus the nations of the earth would be blessed through the preaching of the gospel. You see, this universal reach of the gospel is confirmed on many occasions. It will be confirmed even when Christ comes to be crucified. We think about that detail that many miss when they read of the Savior's crucifixion. Luke informs us in his gospel, Luke 23 verse 38, and a superscription also was written over him, speaking of Christ, in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew, this is the King of the Jews. Now notice that what this superscription, his accusation was written over his head, in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. These were the learned languages of the day. Greek, Latin, which was with regard to Rome, and also then Hebrew with regard to the Jews. Matthew Henry, he says, it was written in these three languages that it might be known and read of all men, but God designed by it to signify that the gospel of Christ should be preached to all nations beginning at Jerusalem and to be read in all languages. And therefore, this coming of the Greeks to Jesus Christ in John chapter 12, I believe is the first fruits of this broadening out of the gospel's reach. How glad we are that the gospel reaches not only to the Jew, but also to the non-Jew, to us Gentiles. I wonder, has the gospel reached you? Have you come to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is declared in his precious word? Now, while this request was made initially by Greeks, I came to ask myself the question, who today makes such a request? Who today makes such a request? Sir, we would see Jesus. Could I suggest to you in the first instance that every seeking sinner makes this request. Every seeking sinner makes this request. Having been given a true sight of their sin, having been brought by the Spirit of God to understand that they can do nothing about their sin, the sinner, convicted now about their sin, is brought by the Spirit of God to make this request, I would see Jesus. They're not a bit interested in seeing a preacher, or a pastor, or a curate, or a bishop, or a priest, or a pope, or a moderator, know the sinner, understanding their true nature now before God, and understanding that they can do nothing about their sin, they make this request, sir, we would see Jesus. You see, the need of the soul can only be met by the lover of the soul. The need of the human soul can only ever be met by the lover of the soul. And so the sinner, they come to seek after the Lord Jesus Christ. Octavius Winslow, he put it like this, awakened to a conviction of its ruined, self-destroyed and lost condition. The desire and yearnings of the heart go forth after one object, Jesus. the Savior and friend of poor sinners. And maybe that's where you are today. Maybe you're an unconverted person. Maybe you're an unregenerate individual. You're a sinner, one who has transgressed God's law, defied His holy commandments, who's never come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and never known the radical change within the soul, and you've been brought to the position that you want to see Christ, that you want to see the Savior. You see, the sinner would see Jesus Christ as their Savior. When they come to see the Savior for who He is, they come to see Him as their Savior, as the one who came to save His people from their sin. Not only that, but they'll come to see Him as their sin bearer. As the Lamb of God who came into the world in order that He might bear away the sins of all who will trust in Him. And so they come to see Him as Savior. They come to see Him as their sin bearer. They come to see Him as their substitute. As the one who in their room and in their stead suffered and bled and died for their sins and rose again from the dead. And they come to see Him as the settler of their sin debt. as the one who discharged all of the sinner's great debt to God's law and to divine justice, as the one who made peace with God on behalf of the sinner, as the one who is able to cleanse the sinner from their sin in his own blood, as the one who can clothe the sinner in his righteousness and thus bring that sinner into a state of salvation, peace, and hope. Is this your desire today? You've come to God's house. a sinner. God has been working in your life and dealing with you in the gospel, and you're saying, Sir, I would see Jesus. Well, then, sinner, see Him as the Savior, the only Savior of sinners. Neither is there salvation in any other For there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. See him as your sin bearer, the one who bore away your sins when he died upon the tree. See him as your substitute. There he is, judged on your behalf, taking your sins to himself and bearing those sins and satisfying divine justice. See him as the one who settled the sin debt by his death upon the tree. Or look away to him by faith? heed the counsel given by God to you there in Isaiah 45 verse 22 look on to me he says look on to me and be saved all the ends of the earth for i am god and there is none else i say sinner look away from all christians that you know look away from all ministers and pastors and priests and bishops that you know look away from them all and look to christ sir we would see jesus christ that's what you need jesus christ See him as your only hope of heaven, see him as the only savior of sinners, see him as the only way to God, for he said, I am the way, the truth, and life. No man cometh on to the Father but by me, only by him. See him in such a light today. And so every seeking sinner, every genuine, penitent, repentant sinner, they say these words, sir, maybe not verbally, But by their actions, sir, I would see Jesus, this one of whom you speak of, this one who has changed the life of those within my family, my friends, my work colleagues, I would see this Christ. This is the Christ that I need. Oh, see Him in today. See Him in all of His beauty, and in all of His power, and in all of His glory, and in all of His majesty. See Him, look away to Him. May it be a look of faith today. In thinking about those who make such a request, can I say in the second instance, every genuine saint makes this request. Because having seen the Lord in salvation, the Christian desires to see more and more and more of Him. It's as if that one glance is not enough. I don't know if you remember the first time you set your eyes upon your husband or wife, or your boyfriend or girlfriend, and you looked at them, and you had to take another look, and then another look, and you've looked at them ever since, and you've looked at them when they've got older, and you still admire them, and you still like them, because as you look at them, you fall in love with them more and more. And so it is with the child of God. They want to see more of him. One glance is not enough. You see, the heart has been captivated by Christ, and now they long to see more and more of Christ. Christ, once seen by faith, becomes an object of an ever-increasing and growing desire to see more and more of Him. You see, the believing soul is never satisfied with the sight that they had of Jesus Christ last week. It's not enough. They want to see more of Him this week. And then the following, they want to see more of him. You see, the genuine Christian desires in some measure to contemplate his person, to admire his beauty, to behold his glory, to consider his works. They want to see it more and more. And this is one of the ways in which you can decipher whether or not you have been truly converted, whether or not you truly know the Lord, Is it your desire to see more of Christ? Is it the thing that thrills you the most, a fresh glimpse of your Savior? Let me quote again Winslow, he said, there does not exist a stronger evidence of our union with Christ and of our interest in His salvation than this one ardent desire of the soul after Him. Our views and thoughts and aspirations concerning Jesus consist the true test of the spiritual state of our souls. I wonder, did you come to God's house today with a desire to see the Lord Jesus Christ? Or are you here just to keep your parents happy? To keep your friend happy? Or did you come to God's house with a desire to see Him today? Did you leave the house of God with this desire burning in your soul? Sir, we would see Jesus. Is that what you prayed? As you came down the road, as you came up the road to the house of God, is that what you prayed today, child of God? I hope I see more of Christ. I hope I do. Did you enter God's house with these thoughts in your minds more about Jesus? Would I know? more of his grace to others show, more of his saving fullness see, more of his love who died for me, more about Jesus let me learn, more of his holy will discern, spirit of God my teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me, more about Jesus and his word, holding communion with my Lord, hearing his voice in every line, making each faithful, saying mine. You see the longing and the desire of every genuine Christian is to see more and more of Christ. They can't get enough of Him. They just can't get enough of Him. They want to know more about Him. They want to see more about Him in His Word. Let me ask you, child of God, let me ask you, let me ask every individual here, can you get enough of Christ? You know, some of you reach your limit of Christ by one o'clock. the Lord's day. You reach your limit of Christ. I got enough of Christ, of the Savior, such is your state that you never come to hear about Him in the gospel. Now, that's concerning. There's something wrong there. There's a spiritual problem with a person who gets their fill of Christ after only an hour's preaching on the Lord's day. There's something desperately wrong if you get your fill of Christ by one o'clock on the Lord's day. Let me be forthright, as forthright as I can be. The evidence of the reality of your conversion is seen in your longings after Christ. and your deepening desire to know more and more of Christ. If there is no desire there, if you have absolutely no desire to know more of Jesus Christ, if you have no longing to see more of Jesus Christ, then there needs to be a questioning whether or not you really know Him. Now this is serious. I don't want you to miss it. If there is no desire in your heart to see more of Christ, to come to know Him better, then you need to get before God today and inquire of Him whether or not you're in the faith. The conduct of some in this assembly indicates to me that there are those who would need to do that today. we would see Jesus. It is the breathing, it is the longing, it is the desire of every true Christian to see more of Him. And if a sermon, a sermon where Christ is central does not thrill your heart and does not cause your soul to be gladdened, then you need to ask, do I really know Him? Do I really know him? Let's move on to second point. As we consider this most fitting request that was made by these Greeks, I want you to think about the motivation behind this request. What motivated these Greek men to make such a request? Could I suggest two reasons? Number one, all other objects of inquiry had failed to satisfy all other objects of inquiry had failed to satisfy them. And thus they come to this point, sir, having looked into everything else, sir, we would see Jesus." Now, these men were Greeks. It's important to note that at this time of human history, Greece was the center of philosophy. You think of all the philosophers, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, all of these great men of philosophy. And great inquiry was made with regard to their teaching. They were healed as, I suppose, the superstars or the celebrities of the day. These great minds that tried to make sense of the world by using human logic. Not only that, but Greece was also a hotspot where trade was done. It really was the bridge between Asia and then into Europe. It was the meeting place. We would say it was the melting pot of culture. So here's a land of great culture, a land, I'm sure, of great cuisine. This was also a land of the arts. Sports played a tremendous role in the society of Greek culture at this time. Remember the Grecian games, the ancient Olympic games? They had already taken place. at this particular time, and so you've got philosophy, and you've got trade, and you've got the culture, and you've got arts, and you've got cuisine, and you've got sport, and these men had all inquired into it, and it had brought them no satisfaction. And so they make their way to see Christ. Not only that, but the trappings of Judaism, one of the world's religions, did not seem to fill the longing of the soul either. John 20 tells us that they traveled to Jerusalem to worship at the feast, but that worship did not satisfy, it did not answer the longings of their soul, the outward trappings and the outward rituals of religion will always fail to bring peace to the soul. And therefore, as a result of their disappointment in all that the world had to offer and all that religion had to offer, these men came to Philip with this request, Sir, we would see Jesus. Because everything else has not satisfied the longing of my soul. Now maybe that's you today. Maybe you've tried all that the world has to offer, the arts and the sciences and the humanities. Maybe you've tried the pleasures and the sinful pursuits of this world, and you've even tried religion. You're an individual who ascribes to a certain creed or to a certain religion, and you've been a faithful adherent and a follower of that. But the simple matter is that none but Christ can satisfy. All other avenues of investigation and inquiry will bring you to a dead end. It is Christ alone who satisfies and it appears that these men having pursued all that they had pursued in life as Greeks had come to that settled conclusion. I trust that you have come to that settled conclusion, sinner. Before you leave this world and go out into God's eternity, you need to come to the subtle conclusion that all that's in this world will not satisfy the longings of my soul. And so all other objects of inquiry had failed to satisfy. Secondly, what motivated these men was that they were convinced that Jesus Christ was the one that they needed to see. The high priests and the scribes and the Pharisees and the elders of Israel Well, they were unable to meet the need of these men. Not even an encounter with the Savior's closest friends, His disciples, was satisfactory to these Greeks. They did not come and say, Sir, we would see Peter. Sir, we would see Thomas. No, they made a very definite request, Sir, we would see Jesus, for they were convinced that it was Jesus Christ they needed to see. Such a sight. have undoubtedly been soul-elevating. Such a sight would have been heart-stirring. Such a sight of Christ would have been mind-enthralling. Such a sight of Christ would have been life-inspiring. What more blessed sight can you get than this? God manifest in the flesh. Unsaved one, are you convinced that Christ is the one that you need to see today? Then look away from everyone else and fix your eye on him and let that sight melt your heart and draw you savorily to him. Believer, are you convinced in that soul of yours that it's Christ you need to see? Are you convinced that if your soul is to be blessed today, then you must see Christ? That if your heart is to be encouraged today, then you must see Christ? That if your mind is to be strengthened today, then you must see Christ? If your hunger and your thirst, your spiritual hunger and thirst is dissatisfied, then today you must see Christ? Well, if you are, then look away to Him. Feast your eyes on Him. Let Him fill your vision. the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. And as we look to him and as we see him, we are transformed into his likeness. 2 Corinthians 3, 18, But we all, with an open face, beholding, as in a glass, a myrrh, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. To see Him will be soul and life transforming. You will be made like Him as you see Him. and surely our conformity to Jesus Christ should motivate every Christian to make the request, sir, we would see Jesus, because in seeing Him, I'll be made like Him. Ought to see Him. Let me close with a few thoughts on the response given to such a request. There are some who would suggest that the Lord Jesus Christ never responded to the request of the Greeks. However, I believe that And what the Savior came to say in the subsequent verses of the chapter was an unveiling to these men of who He really was. And so they did come to see the Savior. Sir, we would see Jesus. And how do they see Him? They see Him physically with the eye, but that's not what they're asking. They see Him with the eye. But they're not wanting to see him physically. They're wanting to see him in another way. They're wanting to see him spiritually. And where are they going to see him? They're going to see him in the word. Because the Savior starts then to speak. It's as if he's saying, okay, you want to see me? I'm going to now show you, I'm going to now unveil myself, I'm going to reveal myself onto you under three quick simple thoughts. Notice with me in the verses that follow the request, we come to see Jesus glorified. Verse 23, And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. The hour was fast approaching when the Lord Jesus Christ was going to be glorified in his death, his resurrection, His ascension, His coronation, and His exaltation. See me. You want to see me? See me then in my state of exaltation. See me as I am glorified, was the response to the Savior's request. And this is how we are to see Jesus Christ today. We're not to see Him on a cross. He's not on a cross. He's not in a tomb. But he's on the throne. He's ascended on high. He's the exalted, glorified. He is the one who has been coronated. He is the king that's been set on God's holy hill. He's been exalted to the right hand of God. See him, child of God. Sir, we would see Jesus, then see him in his glorified state. See him ruling and reigning on the throne. and in the affairs of man. Jesus glorified, Jesus crucified. John 12 verse 24, Verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. It's a bit of a riddle. But really, the Savior is really speaking of himself. He is the corn of wheat that fell into the ground. He is the one who died upon the cross of Calvary, and yet through his death, he has brought forth much fruit. And Christ goes on to speak in the chapter of his death in more specific terms, when in verse number 32, he speaks about being lifted up from the earth. And then verse 33 tells us, signifying what death he should die. if you want to see me see me crucified see me crucified beloved to see jesus christ we need to as we need to see him we cannot miss the cross and these words bring us to the accursed tree you see to see jesus christ all right you cannot bypass the tree Whenever we see him, we see him there securing eternal redemption for us. We come to see him in all of his beauty, despite the blood and the gore and the agony of death, by crucifixion. And so Christ consents to the Greek's request, and he directs them to view him as he accomplishes the great work of salvation, the great work of redemption. See me? You want to see me? See me in my death. See me dying for your sins. See me paying the debt of sin. See me making atonement for sin. See me securing eternal redemption for all who will believe in me. See me dying in victory, having disarmed and defeated sin and Satan and hell. See me crucified. And so The Savior responds to the request, see me glorified, see me crucified, see me verified. Verified as the Son of God, Jesus Christ addresses God the Father in verse 28 with this request, Father, glorify thy name, to which the Father responds, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. This is the third. audible divine testimony to Jesus Christ's status as the Son of God. His baptism, the Mount of Transfiguration, and now this is the third time when a voice from heaven declares or verifies that He is the Son of God. See me as the Son of God. That's who I am. The Father declares it so. He says, I have both glorified the name of Christ and I will glorify it again. Have you seen Christ in that way? He's more than a teacher. He's more than a miracle worker. He's more than a moral example. He is the Son of God. See him. How few there are who seek to see Jesus Christ. Thousands in Jerusalem were present for the Feast of Passover, but only a handful of men came to make the request, sir, we would see Jesus. Many missed him, but not these men. Let me ask you, are you among the few who desires to see Christ? I hope you are. I remind everyone in this house today that there is coming a day when every eye shall see him. every eye will see him revelation 1 verse 17 or verse 7 tells us that every eye shall see him sinner your eyes will see him you'll see him coming in clouds of glory as your soul is summoned to stand before him at the judgment seat you'll see him then Oh, that you would see him now as your Savior before you behold him as your judge. Because if you see him on that day as the avenging judge, then you will call on the rocks and the mountains to fall on you and to hide your eyes from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. Your eyes will see him. Whether or not you want to see him on earth, your eyes are going to see him. And believer, your eyes are going to see him. How glorious, how ravishing, how transporting that sight will be to see Him, to see Him as He is. And then for all of eternity we'll feast our eyes upon the King in all of His beauty. Our sight of Him now is veiled, but the veil will be lifted and we will behold Him as He now is. Oh, then that we would see Him. May God answer this request. Sir, we would see Jesus. And in answer to that request, that he would be pleased to open our eyes to see more and more of Christ, for such a sight will comfort our hearts, will strengthen our faith, and will revive the church to see more of him in the songs we sing, to see more of him in the scriptures we read, to see more of him in the sermons we hear preached. I trust that this will be our heart's desire. Sir, Reverend Sturt, we would see Jesus. That's who we want to see. and in seeing Him that our hearts are now comforted and strengthened, our faith and our hearts are revived. I trust that that will be the fruit of our studies as we come to see more and more of Jesus Christ as He is revealed to us in His Word. May God be pleased to bless His Word to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Our Father in heaven, we take the request of these Greeks now to the throne of heavenly grace. We would say that we would see Jesus. We know that every believer knows that nothing in this world ever, ever comes to replace or be a substitute for such a sight, to see our Savior, not with the physical eye, but with the eye of faith, to see Him in the Word, to see Him in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, to see Him there, pictured, portrayed in His dying love for us, to see Him among the saints as we become more and more the image bearers of Jesus Christ, to see Him Lord, in prayer, to see more of him. O Lord, let that be my desire, the longing of my soul. And for those, Lord, who profess to know thee, and there is no longing, no longing to know more of Christ, no longing to see more of him. May today they be honest before thee, and may they confess that there's something radically wrong with what they profess. Lord, we pray that, therefore, thou will draw the sinner back to the Savior, give them a sight of Christ glorified, of Christ crucified, of Christ verified. And, Lord, even, O God, those who know they not, may they fall in love with the Savior, having been given a sight of Him even today. We offer now our prayers in and through our Savior's glorious and precious name. Amen and amen. May the Lord bless you on your journey home.