Mark's Gospel, chapter 10. Mark's Gospel, chapter 10. We'll read from the verse number 35. Mark's Gospel, chapter number 10, and the verse number 35. Let's hear the word of God. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come on to him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, grant unto us that we may set one on thy right hand and the other on thy left hand in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, ye know not what ye ask. Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? Can ye be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, we can. And Jesus said unto them, ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink off, and with the baptism that I am baptized, with all shall ye be baptized. But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to him and saith unto them, ye know not that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you, but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister, and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered on to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom. Amen. Amen. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, we are before now thy word. Lord, waken us, we pray. May we be alert to hear what God would have to say. Speak into our souls. Lord, instruct us in the things of God. And grant, Lord, now the help of thee and filling of thy spirit, that I may have exercise the task and the journey and the calling to which thou hast called us to as the minister of this congregation. I offer prayer through the Savior's precious name. Amen. While the title Son of God appears some 48 times in the scriptures, another title attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ appears some 87 times. The title is only superseded in frequency by two other titles that are attributed to the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Those two titles are the titles Christ and Lord. The title to which I am referring to appears in the 45th verse of Mark's Gospel chapter 10, and it is the title, The Son of Man. Let's read the verse. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Some of the most familiar declarations uttered by the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry contain this very title. For example, we read there in Matthew 24, verse 44, the Savior's words where He said, Are you ready for His coming? Are you ready for His appearing? Are you reconciled to God? Are you in union with Christ? Are you a Christian? Have you been born again? Have you been converted? Be ye also ready, he said, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Think of the words there in Luke chapter 19 in the verse 10. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. And whenever Jesus Christ spoke to Nicodemus, He said in John 3 verse 14, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. This title, Son of Man, is the fevered self-designation of Jesus Christ in the Gospel. What does that mean? That simply means that this is the title that Jesus Christ uses about himself more than any other title that we find in Holy Scripture that is related to the second person of the Holy Trinity. It occurs some 32 times in Matthew's Gospel. It appears some 15 times in Mark's Gospel. 26 times in Luke's gospel, and 11 times in John's gospel. Outside of the gospels, the title, the Son of Man, occurs only three other times. First, in the book of Acts, when Stephen preaches speaks before the Jewish Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 7 and the verse 56 and twice in the book of the Revelation. In Revelation chapter 1 verse 13 and Revelation chapter 14 and the verse number 14. Whenever you come to look at this title, the Son of Man, you come to see that the title was almost used exclusively by the Lord Jesus Christ. On 50 separate occasions, Jesus Christ will use this title, the Son of Man. None of his disciples would use that title until he died, until he was buried, and until he rose again and ascended back to heaven. And then it was only two men who would use those very words, the Son of Man, Stephen, and the Apostle John. One preacher from the past, he said this, if he had chosen He might always have spoken of himself as the Son of God, the everlasting Father, the wonderful Counselor, the Prince of Peace. He has a thousand gorgeous titles, resplendent as the throne of heaven, but he cares not to use them to express his humility. He calls not himself the Son of God, but he speaks of himself as the Son of Man who came down from heaven. And so today we want to consider then this title, The Son of Man, as we consider and continue in our series on the names and the titles of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? Who is this one that I have come to stake my whole eternity upon? Well, that's really what we're attempting to answer in these series of messages today. One of the ways that we can come to a more fuller, a more richer, a more biblical understanding of who Jesus Christ is, is by the names and the titles that are ascribed to Him. Because every name and every title of Jesus Christ in Scripture has a significance. Each one of them reveals to us something about who God is and what God and what He has done for us. Now last week we considered the title, Son of God. We learned from that title the very simple and yet the very profound truth that Jesus Christ is God. He is God manifest in flesh. He is the one in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily. He is God, fully God, truly God. He's truly God. He is the Son of God. So what truth then do we come to learn when we think about this title, the Son of Man? Well, this title, the Son of Man, I'm sure what you come automatically think in your mind, this title brings us to consider the humanity of Jesus Christ. The condescension of Jesus Christ. He who is God now becomes man in the miracle and in the great mystery of the incarnation. Here we come in this title to behold the man. As Pilate would say, behold the man. We now come to behold him in this title. But we remember that he is no ordinary man, but rather he is God-man. And so we must learn this lesson, child of God. The Son of God cannot be divorced from this title, the Son of Man. He is both God and man. The larger catechism reminds us of that. Let me read to you what it says concerning the mediator of the covenant of grace. The only mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, who? being the eternal Son of God of one substance and equal with the Father, in the fullness of time became man. And so was and continues to be God and man in two entire distinct natures in one person forever. He is God-man. When the Savior addressed the people in John's gospel, if you want to turn to John chapter five, when the Savior spoke to the crowds and the people in John chapter five, a people who, by the way, were incensed that he had made himself equal with God, the Lord Jesus Christ comes to call himself both the Son, the Son of God, and the Son of Man in almost the same breath. Let's read from the verse number 25, and you can pick out, even you boys and girls, you can pick out those titles, the Son of God, the Son, and the Son of Man. So we're reading John chapter 5 and the verse 25. There it says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, So hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man." The Son, the Son of God, the Son of Man, it's all referring to the same person. It is one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so many, when they come to this title, the Son of Man, They automatically think, well, the title, the Son of God, that points me to his divinity or his deity. And this title, the Son of Man, it points me to his humanity. And I suppose we can look at it in that way. You might be asking yourself, well, what has that got to do with me? What relevance has this got to do with me? Can I remind you that Jesus Christ calls himself the Son of Man? in order to express His oneness and His sympathy with us as human beings. In this way, He reminds us that He is the one that we can approach to without fear as a man. As a man, we may take to Him all of our griefs and all of our troubles, for He knows them by His own personal experience. In fact, He suffered as the Son of Man. And therefore, He is able to rescue us, and He is able to comfort us, and He is able to sympathize with us, and He's able to empathize with us in our time of need, in our times of sorrows and trials and difficulties. He is the Son of Man. But having said all that, why the title the Son of Man does point us to the humanity and to the humility of Christ, that is not the complete story behind the title. In fact, it's not the primary teaching of the title. And so we must be proper in our thinking Many would suggest, yes, the Son of God, that's His deity, the Son of Man, that points me to His humanity, and that's simply it all done and dusted, and we really don't need to think any more about this title, the Son of Man. But we need to remember that every word in Scripture is divinely inspired. Every word in Scripture is important. It has come to us from the mouth of God. And that being the case, you need to remember as you read through the New Testament and through the Scriptures, you need to notice that the definite article is placed before the name Son of Man. The Son of Man. Now that's very important. He is not a Son of Man. No, He's the Son of Mary. We read of that in scripture. He's the son of David, he's the son of Abraham, but he's not a son of man. We know by his unique incarnation that Mary, the Holy Ghost came upon Mary and in her womb was conceived the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And thus he is not deemed as a son of man, but he is termed as the, the son of man. He is the Son of Man. In other words, He is the well-known man, or He is the familiar Son of Man. Now, whenever you read the Old Testament Scriptures, you'll find this title, Son of Man, some 108 different times. You'll find it most repeated in the prophecy of Ezekiel. It is Ezekiel who is often called Son of Man, Son of Man, Son of Man, often referred to as Son of Man. In actual fact, you'll find it 93 times. So 93 of the times where we read Son of Man in the Old Testament Scriptures, you'll read it in the book of Ezekiel. But did you know that you'll only ever find this title, the Son of Man, once in all the Old Testament Scriptures? And I refer to the fact that the word son has the capital letter S. Now we sang about the Son of Man in our opening psalm. That's why we sang the psalm. That's why we sang it. Because it applies to what we're thinking about today. It prepares our hearts. And so we sang about the Son of Man in Psalm 80, the Son of Man. But in the Psalms you'll read there, in Psalm 80, you'll read that that the Son of Man, S is not in the capital letter. There's only one time where you find this son of man with the letter S in its capital form. We need to turn there because this is who Jesus Christ is speaking about. Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7. Now Daniel is given a vision and a dream in his bed and he comes to write down these dreams and these visions. And he comes to write about the Son of Man. Notice with me the verse number 13 and 14. Daniel 7 and the verse 13 and 14. This is the only time if you do a case-sensitive search in any of your electronic devices with regard to the Son of Man, case-sensitive, this is the only time you'll find it as it is appears in the New Testament and the Old Testament. And this is where you find it, verse 13. in the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man. came with clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom and all people and nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. These words. to appoint us to the Messiah. This is messianic in its tenor. This is speaking about the anointed one, the chosen one of God, the one who would come into this world and the one as a reward of his sufferings would be given a dominion and glory and a kingdom and all people and all nations and languages that they would come and serve him and his dominion would be an everlasting dominion. Now this coming, what's it referring to? This coming is not referring to the Son of God, the Son of Man coming to earth. It's not referring to the coming from heaven to earth, but rather this coming is a coming from earth to heaven. Notice that he comes with clouds of heaven And He comes to the Ancient of Days. He's coming to the Ancient of Days. He's not coming from the Ancient of Days, but rather He's coming to the Ancient of Days. John Calvin explained that it is better concerning, with regard to this prophecy, it is better understood as a prophecy of Christ's ascension to the right hand of God after His resurrection. Here he comes as the all-conquering one. Here he comes now to receive the reward of his sufferings and his death upon the cross of Calvary. Here he comes forth as the victor, and he's coming towards the Ancient of Days, and as a result of that, they brought him near before him. We can see, as it were, the angels in the tree, and as it were, Christ ascending on high. And as a result, there is given unto him dominion and glory and a kingdom and a people. And therefore, whenever Jesus Christ speaks of himself as the Son of Man, in his mind is Daniel 7, the Messiah. And thus, when he uses these words, the Son of Man, he's saying, I am the Messiah. I am the chosen one of God. I am the one that the Father has sent and commissioned. I am the Christ. And this is why when he would repeat this term, the Son of Man, the Son of Man, the Son of Man, this is why the Jews became egotistic. I can't even get it out of my mouth. They became antagonistic, there it is, against the Son of God, against the Son of Man. He's not claiming to be simply a man. He's claiming to be the God-man, the Christ, the anointed one of God, the Messiah. This is who I am, the Son of Man, the Messiah is come to seek and to see that which is lost. That's what he's saying. And so we find Jesus Christ here, As the son of man is the one who is going to the throne of God in triumph, and how does he go to the throne in triumph? He goes via the cross of shame. He who was and is God becomes man, and he makes his way back to the throne of God, but he goes via the cross of shame and of suffering, and so whenever The Lord Jesus Christ refers to himself as the Son of Man. He's doing much more than drawing attention to the fact as to the nature, as his nature as a man. Yes, he is a man, perfect man, sinless man. He is the God-man, but he is also identifying himself as the all-powerful Son of Man, as he is described in Daniel 7. the one who has now been exalted to the right hand of the Ancient of Days, the one in whom there is all authority, in whom there is a kingdom that is never ended, He is the Messiah, the Chosen One of God. And so remember that the next time you read that statement, the Son of Man, it is referring to the fact that He is the Messiah. He is the Son of Man of Daniel chapter 7. But having established that truth, I want you now with me to consider some New Testament references that really then now mention the Son of Man and see what we can learn from them. In order to do that, I want to divide the Savior's life into three periods. The period in which he ministered publicly, the period in which he comes to suffer on the cross of Calvary, and the period that spans between his ascension and his return to earth again. So I want you to consider with me just some references, just some of them, with regard to the Son of Man ministering here on earth. Now the arena in which the Savior ministered is obviously that I'm focusing on in this point is that on earth, we're speaking about the Savior as he ministered among men. And as he engaged in that earthly ministry, he repeatedly self-identifies himself as the Son of Man. Matthew chapter 8 is our first reference. Matthew chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8 in the verse 20. The Lord Jesus Christ is responding to a scribe who has just informed him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And the Savior, he responds in Matthew 8 verse 20 with these words. In the Savior's words, we come to consider the condescension of the Christ, the Messiah. We come to view how low and how far down he descended when he came into this world. Such was the degree to which the Eternal Son stooped in order to redeem us from our sin that he had nowhere to place his head. Mark, his condescension, the Messiah, has nowhere to place his head. A little boy one day was reading to his mother in the New Testament. When he came to those words, the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. A little boy, just five, six years of age, his eyes filled with tears, and he just started to sob almost uncontrollably. His mother, asked him what the matter was, and for some time, because of his grief and because of his tears, he couldn't answer, but he eventually, he started to compose himself, and the little boy turned around to his mother, and he said these words. Now remember, he's only five or six. And he said these words, I'm sure, Mom, if I had have been there, I would have given him my pillow. I would have given him my pillow. Even the most basics of human comforts, the comforts of life, was not afforded to the Son of Man. He hadn't even a bed. He hadn't a pillow upon which he could place his precious head. Though he was rich, yet for our sakes, the Messiah, the Son of Man, became poor. And we complain that we don't have this and we don't have that in our lives. Oh, that God would forgive us of that. Too many cry poverty. Too many cry poverty in our society. And yet they know nothing about it. When Christ, the Messiah, came to minister on this earth, he was subject to the most extreme poverty, and yet he still willingly came. The Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. And then we think about those words that the Savior spoke to Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19, another reference where we have the Savior ministering on earth, and we read in Luke chapter 19 in the verse Number 10, the words, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. And really these words, they come to summarize the mission of the Messiah, the Christ of God. Why does He come into this world? Why does He suffer? Why does He endure all the miseries of life in this earth? Why does He come to do it? He comes on this mission to seek and to save you. to save you who are lost, lost to God, lost to righteousness, lost to the gospel, the Messiah, the anointed of God, the Christ of God. He comes into the world in order to save the souls of men and women, to seek them out because they'll not seek after Him. But he seeks them out as the Messiah. He stoops to seek out the rebel. He stoops to seek out the harlot, and the prostitute, and the drunkard, and the one who's engaged in unrighteousness, and the moralist, and the church goer, and the self-righteous. He comes, the Son of Man, the Messiah, comes to seek and to see that which is lost. The salvation of his people. is what brought him from glory down to this world. You know, Alexander the Great went forth to conquer the world. Caesar went forth to subdue his enemies. Plato and Socrates went forth in search of knowledge. Columbus went forth to discover the new world. Stanley went forth to explore Africa. But the Son of Man, he went forth to seek and to see of that which is lost. One preacher put it like this, warriors have gone forth to write armies, and their march has been tracked with blood, misery, and death. Travelers have gone forth to explore distant regions, to see the wonders of nature and view, the monuments of art. Plantarists have gone forth on errands of mercy, but our blessed Savior went forth from heaven. and came into the world to submit to shame, to endure scourgings and to suffer death for a race of guilty men that he might be able to save them from their lost condition. My question to you this afternoon is, has he sought you out? Has he saved your soul? Have you come to find, and I now give you another quote, It contains this title, the Son of Man. Have you come to find, as we find it in Mark 2 verse 10, that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. You see, you need to understand that only God can forgive sins. And so whenever he's using this title, the Son of Man, has power, authority to forgive sins, he is declaring that the Messiah, the Christ, The Son of God has the power, the authority to forgive sins. Now let me ask you, have your sins been forgiven? You see, the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. That's where you need your sins to be forgiven, on earth. Your sins cannot be forgiven in the world that is to come. Your sins cannot be cleansed, pardoned, in purgatory, for there's no such place. Neither can they be purged in hell. But on earth, your sins need to be forgiven. Have your sins been pardoned? Have your sins been forgiven? I say without that occurring, you will be damned. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 12. Just one other reference. We're in the period of the Savior's earthly ministry. I do not have time. And I don't have them here in my notes anyway, so I'm being honest with you, but I don't have time to look at all of the Savior's references to the Son of Man. But here's another one, Matthew chapter 12 and the verse 8. Matthew's gospel chapter 12 and the verse number 8, and we read, therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. He's been questioned, the Savior, he's been asked. Now the Pharisees, what is permissible on the Sabbath day? What are we allowed to do on the Sabbath day? And the Savior, he comes to remind them that he, and not them, he and not them was Lord of the Sabbath day. He says, for the Son of Man is Lord even. The Sabbath day, the Savior was reminding his detractors that as the Son of Man, He had the right to direct the manner of the Sabbath's observance. And by making that claim, he was informing them that the Son of Man was God, because it was God who instituted the Sabbath day prior to the fall. And so as the Son of Man, as God, I am Lord of the Sabbath. And I have the right and I have the authority to say what occurs on my day. Since Christ is Lord of the Sabbath, It is then only proper that on that day, and all work of it should be dedicated to him and to him alone. We are not lords of the Sabbath. He is Lord of the Sabbath. J.C. Ryle, a century and a half ago, he said this, it is only a few steps down from no Sabbath to no God. And we're in that society. In other words, our use of the Lord's Day is an index to our spiritual health. Let me ask you, is your Lord's Day taken up with worship? Deeds of necessity and mercy and rest? Or is it caught up with something else? He's the Lord of the Sabbath. The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. You know, maybe you find the Lord's Day boring. Going to church, refraining from secular work, not able to turn on the television, not able to browse the internet. And you say, preacher, boring. Boring. Let me give you the key to enjoying the Lord's Day. Here's the key. To enjoy the Lord's Day, enjoy the Lord of the Lord's Day. Assemble in God's house all the family, all the family in God's house on the Lord's day, because He's the Lord of the day, not you, not I, not this church, not this denomination. He is the Lord of the Sabbath, because He is the Son of Man, the Son of Man. But let's think quickly about the Savior's sufferings. Now, whenever the Savior came to speak about his death by those who were not his followers, non-Christians, he spoke about it in a veiled way. For example, in Matthew 12, in the verse 40, you're maybe still there, Matthew 12, verse 40, It was quite elliptical, that kind of Veiled, it was veiled what the Savior was saying. And I'm sure the scribes and the Pharisees who were present on that occasion, I'm sure they scratched their heads and wondered, well, what's he really talking about? Who is this Son of Man? First of all, because they denied he was the Messiah. And what does this mean about Jonah being in the belly? So will the Son of Man also be in the heart of the earth? What is that all about? And so the Savior, he spoke about it in a veiled way. And maybe that's what happens whenever the preacher preaches. It's all veiled. You don't understand it. You don't get it. The reason is because you're not possessed with a new nature. The carnal man receiveth not the things of God. You need to be born again. You need to be a child of God, given a new heart, a new nature, a new mind, a new understanding, your mind illuminated. And then as you read the scriptures, you'll come to see, how did I not see that? Whenever I read the scriptures as an unconverted person, the reason is your eyes are blinded and you need the veil to be lifted. But whenever Jesus Christ came to speak to his own, his own disciples, he was very clear as to the various stages that he as the Son of Man would pass through as he approached the climatic end of his sufferings of at the cross of Calvary, he would speak about his betrayal, he would speak about his judgment, his sentencing, his crucifixion and his resurrection and he would always refer to them in light of him being the son of man, the son of man. I'll bring you to one verse that really Thankfully brings all of these parts together, all of these different stages of the Savior's suffering. Mark chapter 10, Mark's gospel chapter 10. I don't have too much further to go in the message. So Mark chapter 10, and we're reading the verses 33 and 34. They're going up to Jerusalem. He takes the 12 with him and he starts to tell him the things that should happen to him. Verse 33, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man shall be delivered onto the chief priests and to the scribes. There's his betrayal. And they shall condemn him to death. That's his sentencing. And shall deliver him to the Gentiles, and they shall mock him, and they shall scourge him, and they shall spit on him. That's his judgment. And they shall kill him. That's his crucifixion. And the third day he shall rise again. That's his resurrection. And it's all in light of the fact that it's all going to happen to who? The Son of Man. It always causes me to marvel that though He knew all that would befall Him, yet He willingly endured to suffer for us to secure eternal redemption for His people. The Son of Man. It's the Son of Man who's going to do all this. It needs to be the Son of Man. Not a man, but this Son of Man, the Messiah. He must be cut off. We read that in Daniel, not for his own sins, and we find a hymn in our hymn book that really sums this up. One of Wesley's hymns, "'Tis finished, the Messiah dies." Cut off for sins but not his own. Accomplished is the sacrifice. The great redeeming work is done. Tis finished. All the debt is paid. Justice divine is satisfied. The grand and full atonement made. Christ, for a guilty world, hath died. The Messiah cut off. Sinner, the son of man does not seek your pity. As you view him in his sufferings, he seeks your repentance. And child of God, the Son of Man, he seeks not our sympathy, but he seeks our obedience. I close with a quick number of references directing you to the Son of Man reigning and returning and recompensing The Savior's sufferings, though infinitely great, were short-lived. Rising again from the dead, the Son of Man ascended to the throne of God, and there he sat down at the right hand of God. We know that to be the case because this is where Stephen sees him when he comes to face the martyr's death. The stones rain down on that godly young man. There in Acts 7 and the verse 56, he looks into heaven and he says, behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. That's where the Son of Man is today. He's at the right hand of God. And this same Son of Man, who presently occupies a place at the right hand of God, a place of power, a place of authority, will return to this world in clouds and with great glory. Mark 13 in the verse 26, where we read these words, and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and Glory, this Son of Man is coming again. And what's He going to do? He's going to set up His throne of judgment in which He will judge the nations and reward every man, every woman according to their deeds. That scene of final judgment is given there in Matthew 25. Let me read the verses 31 to 33. When the Son of Man shall come in His glory. And all the holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divided the sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on the right hand and the goats he'll set on the left. The Son of Man will do this. Now, on that day, In which group will you be found? Will you be gathered as one of Christ's sheep? Or will you be discarded as one of the goats? Are you following the shepherd? Does the shepherd know you? And do you know the shepherd's voice? Are you known of the shepherd? Oh, that today you would be brought into the fold in the family of God. And when the Son of Man returns, the question is asked, will he find faith on this earth? When the Son of Man comes, child of God, what will he find you doing? Will he find you working? Will he find me working? Will He find us witnessing? Will He find us worshiping? Will He find us watching? Will He find us waiting? Or will He find you, an unsafe person, in your sin? The Son of Man is coming in glory. How will you meet Him? Redeemed by blood. Reconciled to God through the death of Christ, or will you be one who has rejected him and his salvation? I trust for the sake of your never-dying soul, that's the former, I trust you'll meet him redeemed and reconciled to God. Oh, the God in grace today, we draw you to the Son of Man, who is able, willing, ready to save those who are lost in their sin. For the Son of Man has come today into this service by His Spirit. He's come today to seek and to save you who are lost. Come to the Son of Man, He who lived for you, He who died for you, He who rose again, and He who will come again to bring His people to Himself. Gather us all safely home. Come to the Son of Man today. Come to Christ. May God continue to instruct us as who this Jesus Christ is and who this one I have come to place my whole confidence for eternity upon. Today we have seen that he is the Son of Man. He is the Messiah. Let's bow our heads in prayer together. If you're not a Christian, maybe God has been dealing with your heart, and it would concern you that Christ will come again and you're not ready, could I encourage you to seek counsel? Seek the Lord if you need help. I am here as God's servant to try and help you in this matter. I'll speak with you in confidence. May God, by his mercy, bring you to the Christ of God. May you be numbered among those that we read about, that were out of all people and nations and languages. May you be numbered among them even this very day. Loving Father, we come to thee. We thank thee for the Son of Man. Rejoice in his great purpose for which he came. The son of man, as we read initially in our opening verse of scripture, he came not to be ministered onto, but to minister. The son of man, he came to give his life a ransom for many. Oh Lord, we pray that today there will be one who will find redemption through the blood. Their sins pardoned and cleansed. And men and women, boys and girls, young people, reconciled to God. Thank God the Messiah is coming again. And we pray, Lord, that each will heal him as their Lord, as their Savior, and as their King on that grand day. And so part us now in the favor and the fear of God. May the blessing of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit be with us all until we gather again in this house this evening as the word of God is preached. May we be faithful even as we serve Christ in this way,