Now let us come to think for a little in the third place of seeing Christ in a gospel sense. As we mentioned earlier, these Greeks were not the first to present this plea, “Sir, we would see Jesus”. They were not the first to have Jesus in the doctrines of the gospel presented to them, as Jesus presented Himself to the Greeks in the doctrines that He declared when Philip and Andrew had made known the Greeks’ request to Him. You see how He did that in verse 32, “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me”. Their request was, “we would see Jesus”. Now here is Jesus, and He lifts up Himself in His own declaration of the truth. There He was revealing the gospel. There He was revealing the will of God for their salvation. They came with this request, they came with this burning desire, “Sir, we would see Jesus”. Now the Saviour meets them with this: “Here I am in all My glory. Here I am as the alone Saviour of the lost. I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me — Jews and Greeks. They shall come from the North and from the South, from the East and from the West, and they shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. I will draw them all. I will draw them from the dawn of history, and I will draw them from the last times. I will draw them all. They shall all be drawn to Me, and they shall all gather at my feet. I if I be lifted up will draw all men unto Me.” “This he said, signifying what death he should die.” That is, sinners from every age, sinners from every nation, sinners of every tongue, sinners of every colour, they would be gathered together. And this is their meeting-place — the death of Christ. This is where they will meet one another. This is where they will come to know one another. Sinners in the Saviour’s day had fellowship with Abraham. What was it that Abraham’s salvation hung on? This was it, as the Saviour put it, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”. John 8 v.56. That is it from which Abraham’s salvation issued. It was on that that his salvation hung. What was the glory of Abraham? Was it that he was a Jew, that he was the founder of a nation? No! But the Saviour represents it for us here. This was the glory of Abraham, this was his salvation, this was his joy, that he saw Christ’s day afar off. And there were those in Christ’s day who had fellowship with Abraham. And there are those today who have fellowship with him. What was it that saved the soul of David? Was it not just Christ? Was it not Him to whom David’s heart went out, say when he was writing Psalm 89: “In vision to thy Holy One Thou said’st, I help upon a strong one laid. Out of the folk I rais’d a chosen one”? That’s Christ, and David’s heart was wed to Christ in that truth that he got from the Holy Spirit. Abraham’s heart fastened on Christ. David’s heart fastened on Christ. Now, the eyes of the New Testament Church were focused on Christ too. If you are of Christ’s mystical body yourself, your eye is fastened on Him. Your eye is focused on Him. Your whole heart is hanging on Him. That is where David came to. That is where Abraham came to. Your heart is looking out to Christ in His sufferings and death. Your heart is united to Christ in His death, and Christ is drawing your heart to Him in His death. There, on the ground where Christ’s blood was shed, you are united to Abraham, you are united to David. The whole Old Testament Church, rank upon rank, are gathered together on the same spot. They are gathered together around Christ’s death. This was just that on which the salvation of the church hung — that they would see Jesus. That was it that saved Abraham’s soul, that was it that saved David’s soul, — that they saw Jesus. Apart from that, there was no salvation for them.
We may also say that this is that which issued in the rejection and the eternal death of sinners – that they did not see Jesus in the way that Abraham and David saw Him. We have an example of this in the context, in the case of the Pharisees. They were surrounding Christ. Time and again they had gathered around Him, to try Him with their questions, to seek to ensnare Him in His talk. Time and again they were congregated around this figure in the synagogue, or in the Temple – Jesus of Nazareth. They were gathered around Him, but you see they come before us in the scripture as a group of blind men. They are gathered around in a certain order, and there is One Who is, in a sense, the centre of attention. But all these men who are looking at Him are all blind – they cannot see Him. There is a veil over their eyes. You say to them, “Can you see His glory?” No! They cannot see His glory. “Do you not see that He is the Messiah?” No! They did not see that He was the Messiah. Say when He was in the synagogue in Nazareth, where He was brought up, there they were all just carried along in a fury, and there was no desire in their hearts but to cast Him down from the cliff on which their city was built. Didn’t they see that they were touching the Christ of God? Didn’t they see that the One Who was in their midst was the Lord Jesus, the Messiah Who was promised? No! They could not see Him. They were blind, and their blindness as to the glory and the divinity, and the Messiaship of Christ issued in their being lost. You might ask, regarding these Pharisees, “Is it because they don’t know the Law that they’ll be lost?” (Christ said that they would be cast down to Hell.) Why? – What is it on which this tremendous transaction is turning, that God is to reject them eternally? This is it. They are not giving Christ the glory. They are not seeing that He is the Messiah. They are not seeing that He is the Christ of God. It was not because they did not know the Law. It was not because they didn’t fast, not because they didn’t give alms, not because they were failing to present themselves at street corners in Jerusalem, to make long prayers. All that was there; it was all in order. It was all gone through as their daily routine. It was just the dominating feature of their lives, that they regulated their lives according to the tenets of the Law. But here is the tremendous issue. Here is the all-important issue. They did not see Jesus, and therefore they were lost souls.
We can take as a contrast to these Pharisees the Philippian jailor to whom Paul preached the gospel at midnight. You ask him, does he know the Law? You ask him, does he know about the Day of Atonement? You ask him, does he know about Moses? NO! He doesn’t know about these things. But if that man dies today, he’s in glory. And why is that man going to be with Christ in glory? And why is that man in the kingdom of grace when the Pharisees are outside? This is why – because that man’s soul sees Jesus. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”, Paul said. Now the man believed, and he saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and his salvation turned on that.
We can speak about the Pharisees, and we can speak about the Philippian jailor, but it must always come to this, that we must speak about ourselves.
The salvation of Abraham, of David, of the Philippian jailor, it was sure, it was certain, because they saw Jesus. And the damnation of the Pharisees, it was certain because they did not see Jesus, and they never saw Him; they rejected Him. Now it comes to this with your own heart, between you and Christ. Are you seeing Jesus, or are you not seeing Him? Can you say with the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews, “We see not yet all things put under Him, but we see Jesus, made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man”? Can you follow the Apostle there? Can you follow in the footsteps of the flock there? Does that find an echo in your own heart — “We see Jesus”? — “Yes, I can see Him. I can see His glory. I can see Him, that He’s made a little lower than the angels. I can see that He gave Himself to that, that He would humble Himself. I can see it, that He humbled Himself in walking on this earth. I can see it, say as I see Him coming out of Jerusalem, bearing His Cross. What a sight that is of Christ humbling Himself, made a little lower than the angels!” And you can say, “I can see it also in His being laid in the tomb, in Joseph’s tomb. I can see that He was made a little lower than the angels, but in all that, and at every turn in the road, I can see this too — He is crowned with glory and honour. Although His glory is veiled, when He is laid in a manger in Bethlehem, although His glory is veiled so that the wise men can gather around Him, and present to Him gifts — gold, frankincense and myrrh — although His glory is veiled there, still I can see that He is glorious. He is crowned with glory and honour.” You can say, “I do not wonder at the angels bursting out in praise of Him. I do not wonder at the Father commanding His hosts of angels to congregate over that spot in Bethlehem. I do not wonder that the Father has this in His heart, that He will say to the angels, ‘Go to Bethlehem, and let all the angels of God worship Him. Do not let anyone be missing. Let them all be there — angels and arch-angels. Let them all join in this, that they will proclaim the glory of Jesus, over Whose head they are met’.” “Glory to God”, the angels said, “Glory to God in the highest. Here is His Son. He is made a little lower than ourselves, but He is crowned with glory and with honour.” And this was the purpose of His coming, this was the mission on which He was set, that he should taste death. Oh! how glorious Christ is, when He is presented to us like that, that this was His purpose in coming into the world, in being laid in a manger, and that this was before Him that day, that He would taste death. We often wonder, when there is a little child presented to us, what is before that child. We wonder what experiences that child will meet with. We wonder what scenes that child will witness. But here, in this child that is laid in a manger, we have it from the word of God that this is what He was set for, this is what He was put aside for, this is what was put out for Him, that He would taste death. What is He doing, coming into this world? We might ask with all reverence; what is the Lord doing, that He is sending Christ, the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the express image of His Person, into the world? Well, we can say, this is what He is doing; He will cause Christ to taste death. Is He not crowned with glory and honour — do you not see Him crowned with glory and honour yourself — as One Who came into this world to taste death? Our salvation is just hanging on this issue. Our salvation, or our damnation, is turning on this issue, just this issue of whether or not we see Jesus — whether we join with the Philippian jailor, or whether we join with the Pharisees: whether we join with the church, or whether we join with the world: whether or not we join with the apostle and say, “We see Jesus, made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honour, that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man”. Now your salvation, or your damnation, is turning here. We do not need to wait for the judgment to be set, and the books to be opened, to know on what issue our salvation or our damnation will turn. We know it here. This is how things will go between yourself and the Judge of the quick and the dead. It will turn on this issue, whether you see Jesus, or whether you do not see Him. Well, this is the great desire of the minister of the gospel, and this is the great desire of him who is to be set over you as your pastor, that you would come to follow in the footsteps of Paul, that you would come to echo the sentiments of the church in every age: “We see Jesus”; that you would come to the church here, and under the preaching of the gospel that these words would be spirit and life to you: “I see Jesus for myself — yes, I see His glory”, and that you would go away from the church with this in your heart, and precious to you, powerful to you: “I see Jesus for myself. And I see this too, that my eternal salvation is resting here, that I saw Jesus, that I saw Him there. I saw Him for myself.”
Well you are invited this night to look to Christ, and to be saved. The Lord Jesus is here in His word, and here in His Spirit (as really here through His word and Spirit as He was in the midst of these Pharisees in Jerusalem). Jesus was there, as it were, ready to hand and available to meet the request of the Greeks. So, if you have come here this night with this desire, “Sir, we would see Jesus”, He is here. He Himself is here in His glory. He is here in His power, He is here by His word. He is here by His Spirit. He is here, Who appeared to Abraham of old. He is here, Who was precious to the heart of David. He is here, Who was the means of the salvation of the Philippian jailor. He is here Himself, the same one. He has not changed: He is the same yesterday, today, and for ever. He is the same as the day when He was laid as a babe in the manger, the same as the day when He walked out of Jerusalem with His cross, the same as the day when He poured out his soul unto death. He is here. You do not need to go from this building to look for Him. You do not need to move a step to seek Him. He is not far from any of you. His word is near you; it is in your mouth, and in your heart — the word of faith which we preach. If your desire is, “Sir, we would see Jesus”, Jesus is here. And He is saying to you, “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else”‘. (Isaiah 45 v.22) He is saying that to yourself He is speaking it to your own heart. He is saying it to little children, He is saying it to us all, whatever our circumstances, whatever our backgrounds, whatever our needs. We are all one in this, that Jesus is speaking to the heart of each one here, and He is saying to your own heart, Look unto me, and you will be saved — “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else”.
Let us now come to apply briefly what we have here to ourselves, in our circumstances this night. And let us say this first of all:
Perhaps some of you who have called a pastor feel that you would not have compared yourselves to the Greeks. You would not in all honesty have compared yourself to an enquirer. You feel that you do not need to seek, you do not need to enquire. You feel you do not need to touch a man on the shoulder and say to him, “Can you say anything to me that might lead me to Christ”. You cannot honestly say that there is a gnawing yearning, a longing in your heart to find Christ. You would not have put yourself with these Greeks. You would have put yourself on the other side of the fence. You would have put yourself, in honesty, just with the Pharisees, who were quite pleased with themselves. And you must in all honesty admit before God that you are quite pleased with how things are going with yourself. You are not an enquirer. You are not one with anxiety in your heart. You are not one who is kept from sleep with this longing in his heart — “I would see Jesus. I would desire to get what Abraham and Isaac and Jacob got. I would desire to get what Jacob got the night he lay down to sleep, and he dreamed, and behold, stretching out before his wondering eyes — a ladder. It was set up on earth, but it was reaching to Heaven, and God Himself was on the top of the ladder, and angels were ascending and descending on the ladder.” You must say, “That does not move me. That doesn’t touch my heart. I am not moved with a desire to have what Jacob got that night, when he saw Heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man”. Well, you must examine yourself in the light of the Scripture here. You must come to a mature conclusion about whether or not you are professing to seek Christ, in calling a pastor to be over you. You may in honesty have to say that you do not feel a need of a Saviour, that you do not feel a gnawing want in your life. But you have called a pastor to be over you. And must you not admit, in the light of this text itself, that you were in fact professing to be seeking Christ when you called a pastor to you. It wasn’t just a formality. Christ’s ministers are precious. Christ poured out His soul unto death for His ministers. Christ poured out His soul unto death that He might have gifts, even for the rebellious, and that He might give Paul even to the rebellious Athenians, that He might give Paul even to the rebellious Corinthians, and the Thessalonians. He poured out His soul unto death that He might give these gifts even to the rebellious. He poured out His soul unto death, that He might give the gift of a pastor to you. And are Christ’s ministers not then precious, when Christ put that price on their heads, that He would pour out His soul unto death for them? Some could feel that they could do without Paul, but Christ could not, speaking in that way, do without him. Christ must have him, for His heart is set upon him, and He will pay a price for him. He will pay the price of His death. Here is a good Shepherd, and He values His sheep, and so He will pay a price for it. He will pay out His own death for it. And Christ has under-shepherds. Christ is Himself the Great Shepherd (He is the Chief Shepherd as Peter says), but He has under-shepherds, and Christ prizes His under-shepherds. He prizes them because He uses them to gather in His sheep, to make up the numbers of His flock, His own flock, on whom His heart is set. Now perhaps you haven’t thought of these things. Perhaps you wouldn’t have looked on yourself in that light, as seeking something priceless, when you called a pastor. But that is the Scripture, is it not? This is the truth from the word of God, that you are really professing to seek someone who is very precious to Christ. And in calling him, you have really professed to be seeking Christ yourselves. This was your profession, “Sir, we would see Jesus. We would desire to see Him in the preaching of the gospel. We would desire Christ to be extolled, and to be very high. We would desire you to put before us Jesus Christ, evidently set forth, crucified among us. That’s what we desire.” That is your profession. If you feel that that’s too much, then you must seek that you will get repentance for that. You must seek that the Lord Himself will change your heart. If you must draw back from being represented in the aspect of seeking Christ, then you must seek repentance. What a terrible thing, for a sinner to draw back from seeking Christ! What a terrible thing for a sinner to shrink from being represented as one who is seeking the only Saviour of the lost! You must confess it now, then, before the Lord: “Lord, I am ignorant. Lord, I do not know Thy truth. Lord, I do not know the preciousness of Christ, but grant, Lord, that Thou wouldst bless Thy truth to my own heart, that I myself might see Jesus.”
But if we have some understanding of what is involved in a pastor being set over a congregation, if we have some understanding of what is involved in a man setting forth Christ, in a man determining this in his heart before God, that he should know nothing, among his people, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified, if we grasp in some little measure the tremendous nature of the issues involved this night, then we must pray to the Lord. We must lift up our hearts with our hands to God in Heaven, that He Himself, Who sent the Saviour into the world, would come among us this night, and that Christ Himself, Who purchased preachers of the gospel by His own blood, would be present here in the preaching of the gospel. We must believe that He will be here. His word will be here, and His Spirit will be here, and we must therefore believe that the Lord Himself will be present. We must believe that His word, which is sent here from Heaven, will not return unto Him void, but will accomplish that which He pleases, and will prosper in the thing whereto the Lord sent it. We must believe that the Lord will bless His word. We must believe that the Lord will own His word. People will gather here, and a sermon will be preached, and the benediction pronounced, and the people will go out on the door. They will come back, and another preaching of the gospel will take place, and another benediction, and they will go home again. Now, how easy it is for us to be taken up with the details of these things, and to forget that time is passing, and that eternity is rolling on, and we are ourselves being borne along to eternity, and that the time will come when all these things will be brought to remembrance, when the Lord Himself “requireth that which is past”. The Lord’s word will stand. The Lord’s word preached from this pulpit will stand. The Lord’s word, preached from Sabbath to Sabbath and week-day to week-day will not return to Him void. And sinners will know in the Great Day (our own eyes shall see it, and we shall have to witness it) that His truth will not return to Him void, and that He will vindicate His own claims that He will stand by His own word.
Well we know then, that He will be here Himself, whoever else will be here, or whoever else will not be here. Where two or three are gathered together in His Name, the great Head of the Church will be. And the Father and the Spirit will be here. God Himself will be here, whoever else will not be. And we must pray, seeing the Lord Himself will be here, that He will bless His word. We must pray with all our hearts. We must pray with our whole desire that the Lord would so bless His word that sinners here would come to see the Lord Jesus Christ. They may have to say of tonight that they do not see Him. But now let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in Heaven, praying that the day will dawn when they will not have to say that they do not see Him, that the day will dawn when they will go from the preaching of the gospel here and say, “I saw Him. I saw Him for myself. I saw Him as the disciples saw Him. It was as real to me as when the disciples saw Him, the night after the morning when He rose from the grave.” We read in the scriptures, “Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord”. Well, let us lift up our whole hearts with our hands to God in Heaven this night, that the Lord will so bless the ministry to commence here that the disciples here will be able to rejoice that they saw the Lord, and that the Lord will so bless His word that many will be brought into the fold. The Lord said, “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. Them also must I bring, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd”. Well, our prayer now is that the Lord would so bless His word here that sinners would see Jesus, and that they would here His voice. Then the ministry here would come to this successful conclusion that the simple ministry of Philip and Andrew came to, when these Greeks came with this desire, “Sir, we would see Jesus”. Jesus was there, and Jesus revealed Himself to them. If the Lord will be here, in His gracious presence, (and it ought to be our prayer that He will be) then the Lord will bless His word, and sinners will be as really brought to Christ as these Greeks themselves were.