Sir, We Wish to See Jesus — Noel Gibbard

Coming down to us, that means thank you very much for the invitation to the English conference. But as Havel has reminded us, we are here as one in the Lord Jesus Christ and together we seek his face.

The Greeks Who Desired to See Jesus

And I think it's appropriate that we turn tonight in this first meeting to John chapter 12, John chapter 12, and speaking especially of verse 21, I'll read verses 20 and 21. And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the sea.

The same came therefore to Philip, which was of the sider of Galilee, and desired him saying, Sir, we would see Jesus, Sir, we would see Jesus. Now as we read through this chapter, we see that others were at least interested in the Lord Jesus Christ.

They wanted to see him, in some sense they wanted to follow him. For example, in the same chapter, in verse 9 we read,. Most people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.

They knew that the Lord Jesus Christ had raised Lazarus from the dead. They wanted to see Jesus, but they also wanted to see Lazarus. Now perhaps, it's possible to interpret it in a different way, I know, but perhaps this was a matter of curiosity.

They were interested in Lazarus as the one who had come back from the dead. They were interested in the unusual, in the spectacular. And John tells us that they wanted to see Jesus, but Lazarus also. And it is possible that some have come perhaps even to this conference looking for the unusual, looking for the spectacular, looking for Lazarus, if you like.

Now it's possible, as I suggested, to interpret that in a good way, but it's also possible to interpret it in perhaps what you could say, a bad way. To have that desire to be moved, and to be moved emotionally only, to be moved on a superstitious level, and then we will have some kind of experience, and then after going from here, we lose it, and then we'll go somewhere else to find another experience, and then we'll lose it again.

Of course we want to be moved emotionally. Of course, I'm sure, we are wanting that. Indeed, it is our desire to be moved to the very depth of our being. I'm only suggesting that it's possible to be influenced only in an emotional way.

Preconceived Ideas About Christ

Then again, later on in the same chapter, verses 12 and 13, we read on the next day, following on from what we've read, 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 trees and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Now surely they are more than interested in the Lord Jesus Christ. It appears to us that they believe him. It appears to us that they are following him. They are ready even to crown him as king. And yes, we know as we read from the context there, we know that they had misread the scriptures.

They had misread the Old Testament. They had misrepresented and misinterpreted the scriptures of God. They did believe in a king, but not the king that was prophesied in the Old Testament. They had their own idea concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.

They had their own concept of what it was to believe in him, and to acknowledge him, and to crown him as king. They had prejudged the Lord Jesus Christ. They had their own ideas. They had their own preconceived ideas of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it is possible that some have come to the conference with preconceived ideas, not only concerning the gospel itself, but possibly concerning the speaker. Possibly you've already decided that some of them are too hyper and others are too low.

Some of you have already decided that some of them are not charismatic enough and others aren't too charismatic. You've already decided what you want. You've already decided what you want to hear from this particular pulpit.

You have a preconceived idea of what this conference should be. Do you notice here that the Lord Jesus Christ rebukes them, and in a sense rebukes them without saying anything at all, as he did with the first group of people.

More than just two examples. Then we say, and there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the people. Certain Greeks, those who are interested in the Jewish faith, God-fearers, those who are allowed to come to the outer core but were not allowed to enter into the inner core.

Now they come. They, certain Greeks, not the people who asked to see Lazarus, not the people who prepared the way for the Lord Jesus Christ to go to Jerusalem, but certain Greeks, these people come, and it is they who asked, sir, we would see Jesus.

We, whatever they say, this is our desire. This is our prayer. We are seeking. We want to know him. That is what they are saying, sir, we desire to see. Now it would be quite easy for them to see Jesus, not only from a distance, but it would be quite possible for them to draw near to the Lord Jesus Christ and have a good look at him.

And yet they ask, we desire to see Jesus. We want to meet with him. We want to talk with him. We want to share with him. We want him to teach us. We want to sit at his feet. We want to see. And we want to see Jesus person.

And yet, although he is a human person, we have some idea that he is more than that. We want to know. We want to be sure. We want to see Jesus. And then the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't answer them. Sir, we would like, we would see Jesus.

Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. And again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, we are not quite sure who he is referring to. Then Philip and Andrew, obviously, possibly the Greeks as well, and others who are listening.

But he doesn't answer the question directly. Sir, we would see Jesus. Jesus answered them, saying, the hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. It's not an answer to the question. And yet it is an answer to the question.

This is characteristic of the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? We won't turn to the examples now, but you remember chapter 3. And the question that Nicodemus asked him, Jesus Christ doesn't answer him. We come on to chapter 4.

And the question that the woman at the well asked him, he doesn't answer her. And yet he does. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't always answer our questions. That is, as we ask them. But he always meets with our needs.

And this is what he is doing here. And he's telling these people, you've asked to see me. Well, says the Lord Jesus Christ, let me tell you how it is possible for you to see me. What does it mean to see me?

Well, says the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ himself saying, this is the way. If you want to see me, then this is the way for you to see me. He doesn't answer, but then suggests the answer in the verses that follow, especially from, say, verse 23 forward, verse 24, verse 25, 26.

Seeing Christ Through His Glory and the Cross

He suggests an answer there. And at the same time, establishes a general principle before going on then to apply it to himself in a particular way. He goes on from verse 27 to say what this means to him.

This is what it means to me, to make it possible for you to see me and to see my glory and to see the glory of the Father. This is what it will mean to me, he says, from verse 27 on to verse 30. Then from verse 31 to verse 33, he elaborates on that particular point.

And he pinpoints his death and what he will accomplish in and through his death. 31, 32 and 33. And then with 34 to 36, there is a further word of application. There was application even at the beginning, but then he comes back to it and he applies the word at the end there.

There is a word of exhortation to acknowledge the light, to walk in the light while it is light. And then there is a warning, a warning for them to realize what it means to refuse the light and to walk in darkness.

What then does it mean to see Jesus? Well, the law of Jesus Christ himself tells us that to see Jesus is to see him in his glory. But what does it mean to see Jesus in his glory? Is to see Jesus on the cross.

This is something which we find in John. Now, there are other uses of the term, of the word glory. He refers to glory, for example, in terms of a miracle. The turning of the water into wine. And he manifested for his glory in terms of power, manifestation of power.

And of course, there are references, John 17, for example, there are references to the glory of heaven. To be the presence of God, that's glory. But here, and in other parts of John, he tells us that we must see the glory of God in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And this is what he tells us here. Well, what does that mean? Can we just suggest a few things tonight? And first of all, we say this, that we see the glory of the cross as we look at this passage in its immediate context and the more general context of the gospel.

The Cross as Judgment on Satan and the World

We see the glory of the cross as Satan is cast out. That we see the glory of the cross as Satan is cast out. Verse 31, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

There is a prince that is this world in enmity, in rebellion against God. That's the domain, the dominion. But there is the prince, the ruler, and he is Satan. He is the devil. And there is a world of enmity against God, ruled and governed and controlled by this personal being, superhuman, Satan, devil himself.

And now says this verse to us and the following verses, now is the judgment of this world. And now shall the prince of this world be cast out. This is the judgment. And the judgment was the death of Christ on the cross.

As Christ died on the cross, as he was crucified, there was a judgment. As he was crucified, there was a casting out. There was a judgment. The world is judged. The world is judged in Christ's death. It is a judgment in this sense.

It's a judgment in terms of good and evil. Jesus Christ is the personification of good. Satan is the personification of evil. And here the son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, cast out the evil one. There is the judgment of good on evil.

There is a judgment of justice on injustice. There is a judgment of righteousness on unrighteousness. That is, there is a judgment in the sense that he makes the distinction. He distinguishes clearly, finally, in absolute terms, between what is right and what is wrong.

And as Christ died upon the cross, then the evil one was cast out. He is judged. The other world here, as it were, meets this world. Heaven meets earth. God meets Satan. There is the meeting of contraries.

And it is here that we see the condemnation. He passes judgment on what is happening in the world. He passes judgment on the evil one. What does the world desire? What has the world done for us? Well, we could express it in so many different ways.

The world wants. The world desires. The world has its lust. The world wants life, freedom, liberty, to live its life in its own way, according to its lust. And here we look to the cross. We look to this one.

And then we look to the cross. And what we will see on the cross? We see one was come to die for others. One was come to die in order to give life to others. This is not characteristic of the world. It's uncharacteristic of the world.

But this is the characteristic, the characteristic of God doing, of God coming and giving his son to die upon the cross. What do we see in this world? What is characteristic of this world? Well, we think of this world in terms of power, and authority, and strength, in the physical sense, in the mental sense, in so many different ways.

It is power, and authority, and provision. And here the almighty God, the eternal God, who has no beginning and no end, he comes into this world. He comes into the world of God. And how does he come? As a little baby, born in Bethlehem, helpless, conceived in Mary's womb, sucking her breast, depending on the family, depending on his friends, the helpless ones, coming into Bethlehem.

And as the baby comes into this world, Bethlehem, lasting after authority and power, is God. He passes judgment on it. What do we see in this world? Well, we see not only power in the general sense, but we see so very often the expression of military power and military might.

The great powers of this world, they are the powers that we must take note of. They are the important influences in this world. We must think of power in terms of military power. We must think of it in terms of peace, and harmony, and so on.

When the eternal God comes into this world, he comes to hang upon a cross, and to be laid to a tree, and to hang helpless, as if he could do nothing at all. And in his helplessness, he passes judgment upon this world.

Sin Exposed by the Sinless Savior

This world lives in sin. Not only does this world live in sin, not only does it live in sin, it always wants to hide its sin. Sin is committed, as Scripture reminds us so often, in the dark, during the night, in darkness.

The world wants to hide everything. What happened on the cross? Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God, revealed to him what sin is, what an expulsion. We have been reminded in recent days, haven't we, of what has been happening in Northern Ireland, and we are told by so many of the papers, the expulsion of the century, and we read about this super graph.

Now whatever we think of it, we are not going to discuss that, but here is his next pause in such a way. But think of the eternal God coming, and the only thing he did was to appear upon this earth, and the moment he stepped onto this earth, this world was condemned.

Because we see in him what it is to be sinless, and it is in the sinless son, in the sinless person of the Savior, that we really see what is the nature of sin, is to be different from him, and if we are in any way different, then we are condemned by his sinless blood, the death, border of the century, in the son of God, his person, his death, is a condemnation of this world.

Now the word ill in here, is the word that we could say crisis, that is the word for judgment. Now we know what a crisis is, we know what it is in the medical realm, when a person is ill, the doctor will tell you, well perhaps tomorrow the crisis will come, the crisis will come tomorrow, the crisis perhaps will come the day after, that is the turning point will come, that is at that moment it will be life or death, that will be, that moment will be the turning point, and as we look to Calvary, and as we look at the law of Jesus Christ, at that moment when he died, it was the turning point, as far as Satan was concerned, as far as this world was concerned, at that moment it meant death, it meant captivity for Satan, it meant freedom and conquest for the Saviour, it was the turning point.

Now from the standpoint of this world, there was uncertainty, and there is always an uncertainty in crisis, it is part of the crisis, there was uncertainty as far as this world was concerned, but no uncertainty as far as God was concerned, he knew what the outcome was, he had ordained it from the very beginning, he as father knew it, he as son knew it, they had agreed to it, even in the councils of eternity, and when the law of Jesus Christ therefore came into this world, and as he died upon the cross, he knew that this was the turning point as far as Satan was concerned, and therefore Satan is cast out, some would say cast down, because he is no longer on the throne, he is cast down, indeed others would suggest he was thrown out, but he was, what of Satan before Calvary?

Satan’s Defeat and the Sovereignty of God

Well before Calvary, Satan had been cast out of heaven, but after being cast out of heaven, he really believed that he was the prince of this world, not in a limited sense, as we see it in the scriptures, but in a general sense of this world, and he believed, now of course we know that he was an inserter, it wasn't his mind, he was ruling as an inserter, and that was true of him from the moment he fell until Calvary, but until then he really believed that he could rule and govern this world, when Christ died he was cast out, he has no claim to the throne, he can never sit on that throne, not even as an inserter, in the same way that it is impossible for Satan to go back to heaven to rule, it's impossible for him to go back to the throne of this world in space and time to rule, because he has been conquered, he has been changed, and will be changed from that conquest even to his second coming, and I won't elaborate on that particular question, but he will be changed because Christ is the victim of that, now is the prince of this world, cast out, now he spends that moment that Christ died upon the cross, he is cast down from the, because he is the deceiver, he is crowned up, we are greatly concerned, aren't we, with the future of our world, not only the future of the present generation, but literally the future of the whole universe, and people are asking is it possible for us, for one person usually referred to as a fool, to press the switch of the world, and that will be the end of the world, now we don't know whether God will act directly or indirectly, to bring about the end of the world, the suggestion at least in scripture is that he will act directly, but even if he acted indirectly by second coming, then the end will be no accident, it will be according to his plans, it will be according to what he has proposed, how can we be so sure, the prince of this world has been cast out, he hasn't got the right to bring about the end of the world, if he does so in any way, it will be by God's permission, because he has set his own plan to sit forever on the throne, the Lord Jesus Christ is sealed to be on the throne after Calvary, he was on the throne prior to Calvary, of course he was, but now he is sealed to be, and that's what it is, to see the glory of the cross, to see the glory in the happiness of the evil one, and then we could say, we see the glory of the cross in the lifting up of Jesus, verse 23, and Jesus answered them saying, the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified, and then verse 32, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me, now will the son of man be glorified, I, if I be lifted up, and the glorifying, the glorification, the lifting up, they both refer to the cross, and there is the glory of the father, and the glory of the son, in the lifting up of the Lord Jesus Christ, why the lifting up, well I suppose there are a number of reasons, I can only suggest a little, first of all I think it is the lifting up, it is the lifting up, because the death of the Lord Jesus Christ had to be a spectacle, because it had to be accomplished in the face, in the presence of all peasants, this was not done in a corner, but for all to see, and to look at, and to realize what was happening, it had to be a spectacle, and what a terrible spectacle, the death of the cross was, what a terrible spectacle was it, even, even in the physical sense, as we look to the Saviour, and what do we see, as we look at that person hanging upon the cross, what do we see, we see the crown of thorns, we see the pierced side, we see the parched tongue, we see the broken heart, what a spectacle, we see one suffering, we see one dying in shame, he has no form or comeliness, no beauty that we should desire him, despised, rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, despised as he, esteemed him, not, not worth looking at, as he suffered upon the cross, and yet in that spectacle there was a lifting up, and I, if I will be exalted from the earth, the lifting up was the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is the very act of dying, the very act of hanging upon the cross, of course it does point to the resurrection, and the ascension, and the glorification, and the coming again of the Son of God, but here John pinpoints the cross, this was the way in which God exalted His Son, by giving Him to die on the cross, and if I be lifted up, if I will be exalted, then here will the glory of the Father be revealed, this hour, this hour, when He died, God's time, this hour, and yet the Lord Jesus Christ then says, this is the hour, but then He says, save me from this hour, Father, save me from this hour, now He says, is my soul troubled, the soul of the Lord Jesus Christ troubled, as He looks to the cross, is He a weakling, is He afraid to die, is it too much to say, that He did know fear, as a human being, and as a true, and as a perfect human being, yet that He knew fear as He faced the cross, He was never unwilling to die, never unwilling, that does not mean that He experienced fear, in the physical sense, in the spiritual sense, it's not surprising surely, because He was the Son of God as well, and as Son of God, He knew what it meant, He knew what was involved in going to the cross, and as He looked to the cross, He thought, God, save me from this hour, that is, not of necessity that He wants to avoid it, but that God will be with Him, save me, be with me, I know how terrible it is going to be, why was it terrible, the Son addresses God as His Father, Father, Father, He says a number of times in this passage, and as He goes to the cross, the Son knows that He has to meet the Father in a new way, He hasn't met the Father in this way before, He used to be in the bosom of the Father, enjoying perfect bliss, but now He's going to the cross, and He's going to meet His Father, and He's going to know the judgment, and the condemnation, and the wrath of the Father upon sin, because He's taking our sin upon Him, and He's terrified, save me, but He's never unwilling, that for this cause came I into this hour, He was at the same time delighting in doing the Father's will, it's one of the great wonders of the passage, that we see here the Son of God going in obedience to the will of the Father, He says, this is true, I know what will happen, it is terrifying, it is terrible, but for this cause came I into this hour, it is my need to do the will of my Father, and to accomplish the work He has given to me, I do it willingly, readily, I obey You even to death, the death of a cross, and as He did so, Father glorify Thy name, what obedience, in His obedience He had an eye to the Father's glory, and He says, Father glorify Thy name, and at that moment when the Son cried, Father glorify Thy name, then came there a voice from heaven, I have both glorified and will glorify again, that is, says the Father, my name, my very character, will be relieved on the cross, the character of God will be relieved, no money wasted, on the cross, it is here that we see His love, it is here that we see His mercy, it is here that we see His love, it is here that we see His judgment, all the characteristics of His being are renewed as Christ died upon the cross, I will glorify my name in Your death, and the moment the Son said glorify, I will glorify, because this was God's and this was the Son's obedience, and the Son tells this in our nature, He tells this in our nature, now is the Son of Man glorified, and I, Jesus, and I, the Son of Man, if I will be lifted up, I will draw all men, now of course, we are clear aren't we on this, this phrase, this term in scripture, generally speaking it's wrong to draw a clear-cut distinction between Son of God and Son of Man, and say Son of God stands for His deity, and Son of Man stands for His humanity, we can't be as clear-cut as that, we can't be, for example, as you think of the Son of Man in Daniel, although the humanity is even suggested there, but the main emphasis is on the supernatural being connected with the clouds of heaven, the Son of Man in power and dominion, but occasionally, and I think this is true of this passage, the phrase Son of Man does concentrate on the weakness and on the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and here John tells us that the Son of Man is lifted up, that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did what He did in our nature, the nature He took unto Himself, a nature He took unto Himself in order to live in this world, and in order to die upon the cross, and therefore when He was lifted up, then human nature was lifted up with Him, and exalted and glorified in the person of the Son of God Himself, and we see the glory of God in a human form as Christ dies upon the cross, the glory of the cross in the lifting up of the Son of Man, and then I think we can suggest one other point, I think, and it is this I think, we see the glory of the cross, not only the casting out of Satan, not only the lifting up of Jesus, but also in the drawing of sinners, in the drawing of sinners, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me, and you notice how he emphasises it, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me, the drawing power of Christ, the drawing power of the crucified Saviour, the same power, the same drawing power as is mentioned, you remember, for example, that is the only chapter, for example in John chapter 6 verse 44, no man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, that is the only way to God, it is withdrawn by God himself, it is withdrawn by the Saviour himself, there is no other way, and we are again told the same gospel, John chapter 3 verses 14 to 16, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, for God so loved the world, in the same way when he lifted up his son, even as Moses lifted up the serpent, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, if you look by faith in an acknowledgement of your sin, and look to the Saviour, he will draw you with the power of his love and of his mercy, in that he died upon the cross, we meet with God here, we meet with him here, and as we meet with him we can know and experience the transforming power of his love, in, first of all as we suggested, in bringing sin to God, in that act, in that experience of bringing man as a sinner into a new relationship with God himself, it is the drawing power of God we can accomplish it, it must be so, it can't be otherwise, do you remember what the hymn writer says, let us use the use of his words to illustrate the point, do you remember his confession, as he moves from verse to verse, and here he comes and he says, well I'm a Christian, I haven't always been a Christian, but he says this is what happened to me, and then he explains it, Lord he says, I was blind, and if a person is blind, he needs his sight, and he cannot restore it himself, I was blind, I could not see, in thy mad vision, any grace, is that true this evening, can you think, can you read of the Lord Jesus Christ, can you look to Calvary, can you see who the one is who died there, and then say, well what does it mean, does it mean of you to ask yourself, does it mean, well am I blind, it could be so, and if it is so, then God alone can perform the miracle, I was blind, but now, I was blind, but now the beauty of thy face, in radiant vision, dawned on me, what has happened, the Father has drawn me, he has come to God through the sight, I was deaf, I could not hear the thrilling music of thy voice, but now I hear, I hear thee and rejoice, and all thy uttered words are dear, I was dumb, but now I can speak, I was dead, but now, since thou hast quickened me, I rise from sins, dark sepulcher, Lord thou hast made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the dead to live, and lo I break the chains of my captivity, it must be God's work, and his alone, as we look to the cross, and know his grace and his mercy, in the Lord Jesus Christ and then lastly, not only we see the glory of the cross in the drawing of sinners, in the sense of bringing sinners to God, that is the first step but also, in enabling those sinners to live a Christ like life, to enable those sinners brought to God to live a Christ like life that is that life, where the ruling, where the governing principle is, that you have to die in order to live, that's why he drew out as it were the general principle at the beginning, the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified, and we have concentrated on his death, as we should but then you remember, verily, verily I say unto you, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, that is, by itself but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit, and we see it working, in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ now of course there is the atoning factor of our death that is concerned, but the same principle is there and when we are brought to him, then we are brought to such a life, we are brought to a life where we must die in order to live where that corn of wheat, as we are told there, must fall into the ground and die, if it does not, then it abides alone, by itself, but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit it is in this way that we live as Christians in this world, if we have been brought to God, drawn by him, then we are drawn and brought to this kind of life what we find in the world, the world wants to find its own soul, as it were, is unwilling to die, and therefore will die, the Christian will die, and therefore he will live.

What does it matter if we gain the whole world, and lose our own soul, if we lose the world, we will gain our own souls it is, as one commentator puts it, it is multiplication by death, that is the principle of the Christian life, multiplication by death we must die, you have the seed, whatever seed you have, you can place that seed in the palm of your hand, and you come back the following day, and the seed will be there the same seed, and only that seed, you come back again, and again, and again, and again, and you will still find that seed, just that one seed there, by itself if you take that same seed, and plant it in the ground, and then come back in a short while, not only will you see the seed, you will see the seed well, if you dig deep enough, you know the seed is there, you will see the stem, you will see the wheat, you will see the flower, you will see the tree, or whatever it is there because the seed has been planted, it will bring forth, that is the only way to live the Christian life the Lord Jesus Christ tells us, if you are ready, and willing, to suffer with me, it will rain with you, you can't rain with me, if you won't suffer with me it is impossible, because if you are not willing to suffer, you are holding the seed, in the palm of your hand you haven't planted it, this is the only way, if we are to rain, then we have to suffer with the Lord Jesus Christ what is true of the individual Christian, is true also collectively, of the church, of the company of believers the church revealed, makes known, the very life of Christ, in this world, the life which is ready to die, in order to live that life in the church, where we must overcome pride, where we must esteem others, better than ourselves where we die, that is die to self, to live for others, and for Christ, there was a little church, only about 20 members and one of the leaders of that little group, really believed that he had been called to work in another country, and in a sense that is a problem, naturally so, to the small group only about 20 members, and here is one of them, the leader really, being called to another country and some would react and say, well it can't be right, surely God has placed him here he is leading us, he is teaching us, therefore it can't be right, we must keep him, we must keep him to ourselves, but this person was convinced that he should go, and after discussing and praying with the others, they eventually agreed, and he went, and the moment he went, the little group was blessed, and after he went, in a very short time really, he, this one person, was the means of starting a number of new causes in that other country, because he and the others had been willing to die, in order to live, that is the way of God, then perhaps, we could give another kind of example perhaps, there are parents who have children, and one of them is called to work in a distant place and perhaps it would mean that the person, the son or the daughter, would have to go and stay there for a very very long time without seeing his parents, some parents can be very difficult they are not willing to leave their children to go, as if they possess them, I know that we can understand that to some extent, but yet, tribe, whatever it is, has to die, that son, that daughter has to go and the moment there is death, there will be life, because it's the ruling, controlling principle of the Christian life, as we see it in the Lord Jesus Christ I trust that our prayer this week, and that our desire this week, as we gather together Jew and Gentile, English and Welsh, that we are gathered together to seek God and His glory and His glory in His Son, and in His crucified Son, and our Savior, that we are gathered together to rejoice in His victory, the victory in death, that we are gathered together to survey together again the Prince of Glory, and that we are gathered together because we feel that God is drawing us possibly some are here who are not believers, surely it's no accident that you have come to this particular conference, it could be that God is drawing you to Himself through Christ if we are His, then we have come to die in order to live, the prayer of our heart is Sir, we would see Jesus, Amen.