Let us turn to God's Word in
Hebrews, the portion that we read. We read these first two
chapters of the epistle, and I want now to draw your attention
in particular to words that we find in chapter 2 at verse 9. Hebrews 2, 9. But we see Jesus, who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, proud
with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste
death for every man. Considering then this particular
sentence, but really centering your The
tension in particular upon the opening four words, but we see
Jesus, but we see Jesus. And the theme then that I want
to try to address is that of a sight of Christ, a sight of
the Lord Jesus Christ. On the Thursday, last Thursday
evening we considered something of the voice of Christ those
words that we have there in Revelation chapter 1 at the end of verse
10 and then the end of verse 15 remember what we're told in
that 10th verse how John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day
and he heard a voice behind him And he turned to see that voice
that spake to him, and he sees seven golden candlesticks. The seven candlesticks, we're
told, are the seven churches of Asia Minor. And in the midst
of the candlesticks, there was one like unto the Son of Man. The Son of God also, that is
the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees Christ, the man, in his
glorified state. And we thought about that voice,
the voice of the Lord Jesus that I said speaks to us throughout
the Scriptures. Be it the Old Testament, Christ
is the voice of all prophecy. Be it the New Testament, it is
the voice of Christ. And what is the consequence with
those who hear that voice? Well, it's the same as John's
experience. John hears the voice. The purpose of the voice is that
he should see Christ. He turns, he sees the churches,
as it were, represented by the seven golden candlesticks, but
he sees Christ. Here is the glory of the church. It is Christ in the midst of
his people. And I trust as we come together
in this familiar fashion again, Lord's Day by Lord's Day, service
by service, this is our desire that we might have fresh glimpses
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We might be blessed with that
sight. Oh, it is a sight of faith. We
no longer see the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. That was
the privilege of His immediate disciples and those apostles
that He called to be with Him. But Christ now has accomplished
His work. Christ has risen and Christ has
ascended, entered into heaven. But He has given His promise,
where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am
I in the midst of them. He is to be seen and he is to
be seen by the eye of faith. And isn't really this the great
message of the Gospel? What does Paul say to the Corinthians
with regards to his ministry? I determine not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. There we have
the sum and substance of the Gospel, Jesus Christ. that is
the person of the Lord Jesus and Him crucified. That is the
work. That is the work that He came
to do. He was to be obedient and obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. And Paul's determined that that
is the message that he will be ever and always seeking to proclaim. And so, as we think of the sight
of Christ, I divide the subject into two very simple headings. First of all, to say something,
again, concerning the person of Christ. And then, secondly,
to say something with regards to the work of Christ. The sights of Christ. Now, as I say, our text is found here
in in verse 9, and in particular the opening words. Look at the
context. What is the Apostle doing here?
Well, he is referring us back to the Old Testament, he's quoting
from the from the book of Psalms, from Psalm 8, that very Psalm
that we were just singing in the mythical version. Verse 6,
one in a certain place testified saying, what is man? that thou
art mindful of him, or the Son of Man, that thou visitest him.
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest
him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works
of thy hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection
under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection
under him, he left nothing that he had not put under him. But
now we see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus. What is the site of this Jesus
who evidently is being spoken of by the Psalmist? Well, this
Jesus is Christ. And this Christ is the Son of
God. We didn't just read chapter 2,
I quite deliberately also read the opening chapter because that
chapter contains remarkable statements concerning Christ as the Son
of God. We read there in verse 4 of chapter
1, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which
of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a
father, and he shall be to me a son. He quotes again there from the
Old Testament. He quotes words from 2 Samuel
7 and verse 14. And that familiar word from the
psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. What is that day? That day that
God the Father is speaking of? Well, that is clearly God's day.
That is the day of eternity. That is a perpetual day. This
day in eternity, from eternity. He is clearly that One who is
the eternal Son of God. And so, He is to be worshipped. as the eternal Son of God. He continues in verse 6 of that
first chapter again, when He bringeth the first begotten into
the world, He saith, and let all the angels of God worship
Him. He is the first begotten, the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, and
when He is made manifest in the world, in the fullness of the
time God sends forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, when He is manifested in the world, what does God say?
That all the angels of God worship Him, and so it came to pass.
What did the shepherds abiding in their fields there at Bethlehem
behold? A multitude of the heavenly hosts,
praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, on earth
peace, goodwill toward men." Well this one then, of whom Paul
is speaking in our text, we see Jesus. This Jesus is that one
who was born at Bethlehem, that one whom the angels worshipped,
that one who was the eternal Son of God. Christ is the Son
of God. the Eternal Son, the Only Begotten,
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, in the language
of the ancient creed. But He is also the Son of Man. He is Christ the Son of Man. But what is the question that
we have here? What is Man? that thou art mindful
of him or the son of man that thou visitest him these are the
questions that are being put by the Apostle as he is quoting
there from the words of Psalm 8 who is this man? well this man
is the Lord Jesus Christ the first man is of the earth, earthly
The second man is the Lord from heaven, says the Apostle. The
first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam is made a
quickening spirit. As we said many a time, in God's
sight there are but two men. There's the first Adam, there's
the last Adam. There's the first man, there's
the second man. The great thing is, tonight, which of those two
men are we found in? By nature, we're all in the first
Adam. Oh, but what a blessing, when by the grace of God, through
faith, we're found in that other man, found even in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Pontius Pilate says there in
the Gospel, behold the man. or do we desire to behold Him?
Do we want that sight, a sight of the man Christ Jesus? Thou
madest Him, it says, a little lower than the angels. Lower than the angels. Verily
He took not on Him the nature of angels, it says in verse 16,
that He took on Him the seed of Abraham. He took on him the
seed of Abraham. He identifies with a certain
man called Abraham and his seed. And so for as much as the children
were partakers of flesh and blood, He likewise, we're told, took
part of the same. He's made a little lower than
the angels. Those glorious heavenly beings
is lower than them. And what do we read in verse
9? A little lower than the angels
for the suffering of death. Or as the margin says, a little
lower than the angels by the suffering of death. Angels know
nothing of a physical dying. They are not physical beings,
they are spiritual beings. Oh yes, there are angels that
fell. Satan and a host of demons. But
the Lord Jesus Christ didn't become an angel. A little lower
than the angels, and we see it so evidently by the sufferings
of death, He died. He was a real man, Jesus of Nazareth. He was never anything less than
the Son of God. But He is the man that is being
spoken of. What is man that thou art mindful
of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him? He is the
son of God, he is the son of man, and he is also this, he
is the Christ of God. And as the Christ he is that
one who is God-man. There is a union. There is a
union. This is the great mystery, is
it not? The mystery of the incarnation. God was manifest in the flesh,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man.
These are scriptures that we we're familiar with there in
Philippians 2 verses 6 and 7 or 1 Timothy 3 16 Christ is that
one then who is God's man, one person One person, and yet, in
that one person, those two quite separate and distinct natures. No mixing and mingling of the
natures. He is divine. He is a true deity, and yet, he
is also human, and this is a real humanity. Not a mixing, distinct. It is a mystery. We can try to
declare it, we can't explain it. It's not dissimilar really
to that great mystery of the doctrine of God, the doctrine
of the Trinity, because God is one, and the one God is three
persons, not three gods, three persons in one Godhead. And when
we come to consider this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, he is
God, he has the very nature of God, and yet he is man, he has
the true nature of a man and yet he is one Christ. Oh, what
a mystery it is. When we think of Christ in his
office now as that one that is promised throughout the Old Testament,
the Messiah. And what is it? Well, he is God's
servant. He is God's servant. Isaiah 42.1 we know it so well,
Behold my servant, God says, my servant whom I uphold, mine
elect, in whom my soul delighteth. Isaiah speaks much of God's servants
and we see him there as the suffering servant of God. In that remarkable
53rd chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah, he is God's servant. and he's aware of that as he
comes into the world as he is manifest in the fullness of the
time even as a young child that occasion when his parents go
up to Jerusalem with him for the feast and they seem to lose
him and they begin their return journey and they suddenly become
aware that he's not in the company, and they go back and they find
him there with the doctors. And what does he say to his parents,
Luke 2, 49? Wish ye not that I must be about
my father's business. He has no human father. Oh yes,
to every appearance he is Joseph's son, but Joseph is not his real
father. He is the seed of the woman.
his father is in heaven, which he not, he says to his parents
that I must be about my father's business and then later I came
down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him
that sent me and to finish his work there was a work that the
father had given him and he'd given him that work to accomplish
in terms of the eternal covenant of grace My meat is to do the
will of Him that sent me, He says. My meat, my necessary food,
that that sustains me. It's doing the will of the God
who has sent me. He comes to serve. He tells the
disciples He is amongst them to serve, to serve all the will
of His Father, and serving the will of His Father, how well
He serves men. Because He comes also to be the
Savior. or we read of God sending his
own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he's in the
likeness of sinful flesh he comes just just where his people are we read of Ezekiel in his ministry
to those who are taken into exile those in captivity in Babylon
Ezekiel 3.15, I sat where they sat. Says the prophet, I sat
where they sat. Doesn't the Lord Jesus come and
sit where his people sit? He identifies with them. In all things it beholds him
to be made like unto his brethren. that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people." Oh, this is the Savior. This is the great work that He
has come to accomplish and so He is in the likeness of sinful
flesh there is nothing of sin in his flesh. Because what was
conceived in the womb of the Virgin was that holy thing. That
human nature, that human body, that human soul, it was holy
without any taint of Adam's sin, Adam's original sin. He has been
conceived by the Holy Ghost, he's not been born by natural
generation like everyone else who has ever been born into this
world was born by natural generation. Though this one His work, his
birth was a remarkable miracle. A virgin is with child. And by the Holy Ghost you see
he is preserved free from all sin. And then in his life he
is holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners. and
higher than the heavens, there's nothing of sin in him. The devil
comes to tempt him, but Christ can say, the prince of this world
cometh and have nothing in him. Oh, he's sorely tempted. Tempted
in all points like as we are, yes, without sin. Oh, this is, this is the man
then that is being spoken of. that we should desire to have
a sight of, this One who is God-man, the Servant of God, the Saviour
of sinners. And look at what we read here
in verse 6, and the question that is put, what is man? Now as I have said, that's The
quotation, that and the following verses, it's all a quotation
from the 8th Psalm. And the word that we have back
in Psalm 8, verse 4, for man, the Hebrew word for man that
is used there by the psalmist, is derived from a verb that literally
means to be weak. That word that's rendered man
as the basic idea of weakness. It reminds us of our own weakness,
the weakness of humankind. How did God form man's body? Well, he formed man out of the
dust of the earth. He's formed in the very dust
of the earth, he breathes into his nostrils and breathes of
life, he becomes a living soul. But how frail a creature is man. and that's what the Lord Jesus
has identified with why doesn't Paul tell us 2nd Corinthians
13.4 he was crucified through weakness he was crucified through
weakness all those sinless you see he knows all our our sinless
human frailties they were his those frailties are you and I
feel that are not sinful the Lord knew them the reality of
his human nature. It's a blessed truth to contemplate.
Or we rightly make much of the fact that he is God, he is the
God of salvation. The one who wrought
a great salvation for us. But how did he do that? He did
it by becoming a real man. made in the likeness of sinful
flesh and for sin. And He identifies with sinners,
He receives sinners, He eateth with sinners. And all when we
consider how readily, how willingly He has undertaken and accomplished
this great work. How determined, how determined. Verse 16, Verily He took not
on Him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. And there the verb that we have,
he took, used twice, he took not on him
the nature of angels, he took on him the seed of Abraham. And this particular verb has
the idea of vehemence and violence. taking hold of a thing. And so
you will see, maybe in your margin in the Bible there, certainly
here in this pulpit Bible it says Greek, taketh not hold of
angels, but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold. It's an alternative
reading. Of the seed of Abraham he takes
hold, he takes hold of his people. There's a determination he will
accomplish that work. He will embrace them as it were,
in his arms. That's what he has done in the
Eternal Covenant. He is so determined to save them.
Determined to save. He watched all my path when Satan's
blind slave I sported with death. All what determination is in
the Lord Jesus Christ that he will accomplish all the Father's
will and that He will go that way of the cross and by means
of that death upon the cross He will pay the great ransom
price that the Holy Lord of God demands. He will redeem His people
and secure their eternal salvation. Well, that really brings us to
the work of Christ. So, turning from His person. Think of His person, He is the
Son of God He's the son of man. He's the God-man. Two natures. One divine, one human, two natures,
one person. One person. That person is the
Christ of God. who comes as God's servant, who
comes to save sinners, and He is determined and He accomplishes
their salvation. Well, let us turn secondly to
the work, the work of Christ. Coming to our text, but we see
Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death, crowned with glory and honor that He by the grace
of God should taste death for every man. We read then here
of Christ as one who comes to die. We read of the suffering
of death. And we read of how by the grace
of God he tasted death. He died a real death. But let us think of the extent
of His obedience here, how extensive His obedience is to all the will
of the Father. He comes to do the Father's will,
He does the Father's will by living a life of holiness, by
living a righteous life, a life of perfect obedience to every
commandment in the Lord of Gods. As I've said, He is holy, undefiled. He is the righteous
one. He honours the Lord, he magnifies
the Lord. He doesn't commit one sin, he
doesn't think any sinful thoughts. What a man is this? The only
man who has lived fully a holy righteous life yes the first
man the first woman they were without sin when they came from
the hand of their creator they were pristine as they came forth
but how quickly Adam and Eve sinned but this man never sinned
throughout all his life he wrought such a righteousness but how
far does his obedience extend Well, it extends even to dying.
He became obedient unto death, it says. Even the death of the
cross. And what was the death of the
cross? That was the accursed death. Cursed is everyone that
hangeth on a tree, says the Lord. And that's the death that he
died. The death of a common criminal. And as a criminal it was necessary
that he should endure a trial, a mockery of trial, doubtless
it was. But nonetheless what he suffers is judicial. And it was a real death when
he comes to the cross. Remember what he says there,
in all the agonies of his soul, Father into thy hand I commend
my spirit. And he gives up the ghost. Oh, it's real, his death. No
man takes his life, that's true. He has the authority to lay that
life down. He has the authority to take
that life again. He dies, but it's real. There
is a separation there between his body and his soul, and that
is death. That is death. When a person
dies, we have their mortal remains. But now the spirit's gone. The
soul is gone. And the Lord Jesus knew that
separation of body and soul. Father into thy hands I commend
my spirit. And he bowed his head and he
gave up the ghost. It was corporeal death, real
death. And yet that death was something
else. It was equivalent really to an
eternal death. It was equivalent to an eternal
death. Why? because he is suffering now at the hands of God. He cries
out, does he not? My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? He is suffering hell in his soul. He is suffering a separation
from his Father, which seems to me to be utterly impossible.
He could never be sure that God is One. and God is undivisible
and God is indivisible and how can there be a separation when
the three are one and the one are three and yet through it
is he cries His death, it's a real dying, but there's also that
other element to it. He is suffering now as the great
substitute. He is bearing in His own blessed
person all that sin that the Father has laid upon Him in order
that His people might be saved. And so what does Christ do in
His work? He accomplishes salvation. He accomplishes salvation. that
he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man, it
says. He tastes death for every man. And yet, we need to mark this
very carefully, this is not universal redemption. I know it says he
tastes death for every man, but let us ask the question, who
is every man that he's being spoken of in this verse? The
verse of our text. Well, we see it if we read on
and take account of the context. Verse 10, For it became Him,
for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing
many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings. So here every man is equivalent
to many sons. And then we read on, verse 11,
For by thee that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are
all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. So every man now is not only
identified with many sons but also every man that's sanctified,
those whom he calls brethren. Now the sanctified are those
who have been set apart. A division has been made. There
are those who are set apart, sanctified, and he calls them
his brethren. Read on, verse 12. I will declare
thy name unto my brethren, again, and then in the midst of the
church I will sing praise unto thee. So, these who back in verse
9 are spoken of as every man, now it's the church. It's the
church, read on, verse 13, and again, I will put my trust in
Him, and again, behold, I and the children which God hath given
me. Why, every man now is the children which God gave to him. Oh friends, how important it
is when we come to the Word of God that we don't just take a
verse or a statement in a text, tear it out and twist it around
and make it say what we want it to say. We've got to be true
to the Word of God and take account of the context and it is so evident
here. It is so evident that Christ
accomplished salvation for a particular people. He might say every man,
but let us not forget the Jewish context there in the Old Testament. There was that great division,
Jew and Gentile. God says to Israel, you only
have I known of all the families of the earth. This is an epistle
being written to Hebrew believers and the Apostle has got to show
them that there is a vastness now to the grace of God in the
Gospel that Every man in a sense is included because the salvation
is for sinners of the Gentiles as well as sinners in Israel. And these who the Lord has come
to save, they are all of them the seed of Abraham. Verse 16, He took not on Him
the nature of angel, He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Who
are Abraham's seed? Well, We know that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the true seed, the principal seed of Abraham, Galatians
3.16, "...he saith not unto seeds as of many, but as of one unto
thy seed which is Christ." Thy seed which is Christ. Christ
is the seed. But all those that the Father
gave to Christ in the eternal covenant, they're one with Christ,
and they also are the seed of Abraham. And we can go right
back, right back to the book of Genesis and what God himself
says to his servant Abraham, he's the father of all them that
believe Abraham, the father of all believers. And this is what
God says in that great 22nd chapter of Genesis, where we see Abraham's
faith. God's testing his faith and he's
willing now to offer his son, his only son Isaac. He doesn't offer Isaac. God makes
provision as a ram caught in the thicket by its horns which
is to be sacrificed. He receives Isaac as it were
back from the dead. You know the chapter, it's full
of Christ. Wonderful chapter that says so much about the Lord Jesus in type. And then the angel calls unto
Abram out of heaven and says, By myself have I sworn, saith
the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing that dost not
withhold thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will
bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of the heaven, And as the sand which is upon the seashore,
and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because
thou hast obeyed my voice." It is Christ who is that true seed. But there's also a multiplying
of the seed. All those who are in Christ All Christ has accomplished salvation
for an innumerable company of people. The whole company of
the election of Christ. This is the work. All this is
the great work that Christ has done. Salvation is accomplished. There is nothing that we have
to do. No work to perform in order to be saved. That is the
freeness of the grace of God that we see here in the Gospel. Because Christ has accomplished
salvation, so Christ also sees to it that that salvation will
be applied. There's also the application
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, let us go
back to our text. It says, "...for the suffering
of death He's crowned with glory and honor. He's crowned with glory and honor. Again, concerning that man in
verse 7. Thou crownest him with glory
and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands.
Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he
put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that he had not
put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under
him." But we see Jesus. It's interesting,
isn't it? Remember, in the original there's
no verses and chapters that we're so familiar with, they're very
useful. But there's not that division that we're familiar
with. And so we take account of the flow of the language.
It says at the end of verse 8, but now we see not yet all things
put onto him. And I like the remark that Dr. Gill makes on this verse, or
this statement, he says, Though not seen, it does not follow
that it is not. Though not seen, it does not
follow that it is not. We see not all things put under
him, but that doesn't mean that all things are not put under
him. He goes on, But we see Jesus. But we see Jesus. We have to see Jesus by the eye
of faith. When we look by our natural eye,
when we see the world as it is, lying in wickedness, how can
we say all things are put under his feet? We have to look at
things with the eye of faith. It's looking unto Jesus, the
author, the finisher of our faith. That's the one we have to look
to. Oh, remember what the Lord Himself
says in John 16, where He's speaking of the coming of the Holy Ghost
and the ministry that the Holy Spirit is going to exercise.
He says, it is expedient for you that I go away. If I go not
away, the Holy Spirit will not come. If I go away, I will send
Him unto you. And He speaks about the Father
will send the Spirit in His name. What is this day in which we're
living? This is the day of grace. Christ's kingdom is a spiritual
kingdom. We can only see and understand
any of these things by faith, by the eye of faith. Physically
we see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus. We see Jesus. And who is this
Jesus? Why is that one who came, who
lived, who died, who rose again, who is ascended on high? And
what does the Psalmist say? Thou hast ascended on high, thou
hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for men,
yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell among
them. And those words of the Psalm are taken up by Paul, Ephesians
2.8, they belong to Christ. He is the one ascended on high. He is the one who has led captivity,
captivated, vanquished sin and Satan, death and the grave. He
has done all of that. He has received gifts for men.
What sort of men? Rebellious men, sinful men. All of the seed of Abraham. He
takes us all, it says in the margin, doesn't he? And how does
he take all? It's the present tense, you see.
It's something he is doing in the present. He is taking hold
of the seed of Abraham. He has ever always taken hold
of his people. How did he deliver them out of
the bondage that was Egypt? Well, we're told. We're told here in chapter 8
and verse 9. I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
land of Egypt. That's how God took them out.
Took their hand, took hold of them and brought them out of
Egypt. All the work of God. And how was it? It was a strong
hand. Or it was a stretched out arm.
Again, look at the language of Scripture. What does it say in
the 136th Psalm? Psalm 136. Verse 11. And brought out Israel from among
them for His mercy endureth forever. with a strong hand and with a
stretched out arm for His mercy endureth forever. To Him which
divided the Red Sea into parts for His mercy endureth forever
and made Israel to pass through the midst of it for His mercy
endureth forever. But overthrew Pharaoh and his
host in the Red Sea for His mercy endureth forever. To Him which
led His people through the wilderness for His mercy endureth forever.
He takes His people. He takes them by the hand. He
leads them. He guides them. He directs them. And it is still
the same. How does the Lord save a sinner?
How did the Lord save such a sinner as the man initially referred
to as Saul the Pharisee? That man who becomes an apostle.
The apostle Paul. Well, he tells us, I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. In other words, the Lord laid
hold upon him. That's how Paul was saved. The
Lord laid hold upon him and saved him. That's how we apply salvation. It's the efficacious grace of
God that is so necessary. The sinner is dead in trespasses
and sins. What can the sinner do? Salvation
is of the Lord, not only in the accomplishment of it, but also
in the application of it. And, you know, the people of
Christ are just like Himself. Abraham's true seed. They are
just like Christ. Of the seed of Abraham, He takes
hold. He takes hold of them, what do
they do? They take hold of Him. They're just like Him, you see.
They take hold of Him, we're not passive. When it comes to
salvation, we're not passive. Don't think that for a moment.
Yes, we wait upon the Lord, but waiting upon the Lord is not
something passive. Oh, what exercise of soul! What
yearnings, what longings! What groanings, what cries, what
seekings! Those who are the children of Jacob, they know
something of Jacob's experience. Jacob there at Penea, where the
angel comes and wrestles with him. And what does Jacob say?
I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Oh, that's faith. Do we have that faith? I will
not let thee go. Except thou, bless me, the kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Oh, friends, is that how we approach
this blessed man, the Lord Jesus Christ? Paul says, I follow after
if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. I'm apprehended of Christ, what
do I do? I follow after. I lay hold of Him. This is the
one that we're to look to then. Or this is the one that we should
desire to have such a sight of, that we're moved. We're looking
on to Jesus, the author, the finisher. of our faith, this
is the one we want to seek, nor if we do but get one sight of
him one sight of him will we not want then to lay hold of
him take him home to our very hearts and embrace him as all
our salvation and all our desire oh God grant that we might have
that sight of faith that blessed sight of this Lovely man, but
we see Jesus. May the Lord bless his word to
us. Amen.