Well, I do thank you very warmly for your welcome and it is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon and a privilege for me to be amongst you. The Brethren are very kind in their welcome and I was telling them before the beginning of the meeting this afternoon that I am not the first of my tribe to have come amongst the Saxons. There was a man called Asser, a few years ago now, who came to be Bishop of Sherborne and to be an advisor to King Alfred the Great. And I don't claim to be able to advise anybody. I need advice myself very much. But I am happy to be here amongst the Saxons in Wessex this afternoon. and seek to preach God's word to you. And we rely entirely on him and upon his help this afternoon. And we turn for our text to the 12th chapter of John. Our brother for reading this and for bringing us to the throne of grace reading this chapter to us Chapter 12 of the gospel as John has recorded it in verse 21 the same Greeks that is The same came, therefore, to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. We shall be referring also to verses 22 and 23. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Now, you know very well that the watchword of the Trinitarian Bible Society is the Word of God among all nations. And it's a very noble aim, is it not? But we must have biblical warrant for every aim, of course. And we know this, that in heaven at the last, the redeemed will be out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. And so the nations need to hear of the wonderful works of God through every man in his own tongue. And therefore it is our desire, and a good and proper desire, it is to provide good, faithful, reliable translations of the scriptures in as many languages as the Lord helps us so to do. And the auxiliaries, as you well know, the work of the auxiliary is to support the society and to support all the society does. Translation and distribution of the scriptures and the distribution locally, of course, will be of special interest to local auxiliaries. And I believe that it is a tremendous incentive for us to continue in the work to know that there will be those who are brought to desire and to seek the Lord and to find him too as treasure in the field of Scripture. In other words, the work that we're involved in is not going to be in vain. There are too many shalls in connection with it for it ever to be in vain. God's shalls and God's wills. Who can thwart them? We love them, don't we? And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing, it shall flee away. But it is a wonder, it is a miracle, nothing short of a miracle of grace that any seeker and that any desire the Lord. You see, we're full of desires by nature, aren't we? Some natural desires and thou satisfies the desire of every living thing. Natural desires, they are there, aren't they? For life, for its continuance, for its maintenance. But of course, sadly, there are those evil desires as well, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the mind, as the apostle puts it. And they shame us, these corrupt desires, their unholy desires, their disqualifying desires, but not one single solitary real desire for the Lord Jesus Christ left to ourselves. left to our fallen selves. He has no form nor comeliness. There is no beauty that we should desire him. Do you know, speaking for myself, I think that that has been my worst crime ever. Not to see any beauty, not to see any comeliness in the Lord Jesus that I should desire him. And so there is none that seeketh after God. And yet we do find in scripture the psalmist saying, one thing have I desired of the Lord and that will I seek after. Here is a desiring and a seeking soul that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Or you'll find for those who say the desire of our soul is to thy name and to the remembrance of thee. And there will be those who hunger, and there will be those who thirst after righteousness. Well friends, if this is so, if this is to be found, then it must be of the Lord, it must be spirit indicted, this hungering and thirsting, and it must be a living soul that does so. The corpse, the dead person, doesn't hunger and doesn't thirst. How can the dead do so? Friends, let me encourage you. If you are found this afternoon with even the faintest desire for the Lord Jesus Christ, even the most faltering seeking of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the Lord you know. It is His work. It's His doing. and it is marvelous in our eyes and it's all of sovereign grace. And so I wish to bring before us this example of seeking and desiring these Greeks and trust that we may seek and desire along with them this afternoon as the Lord favors us and what we covered for ourselves. seeking, desiring hearts. We covet for many others who will, we trust, get the scriptures into their hands and will turn over the pages and will be intent on finding the treasure in the field of scripture. The first thing then is that this seeking and desiring is anticipated, anticipated in the Old Testament scriptures. And I find that these prophecies that I'm going to seek to bring before you now, they can be, as the Lord blesses them to us, they can be so rousing. And we need to be roused, don't we? They can be so animating for us and will animate us in the work, in the work of GBS. and in the work of preaching. The root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people, I think I'm using the naval pronunciation there, literally it's ensign but I think in naval circles it would be ensign. It's a flag, it's a banner. And to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. So the Lord Jesus Christ is seen here as a banner, an uplifted banner. And just as troops rally to the flag, so the people of God from amongst the Gentiles will rally to the Lord Jesus Christ. in allegiance to him and they will be brought to fight the good fight of faith and to die for him if needs be and gain the martyr's crown. And this is what happened surely on the day of Pentecost, wasn't it? That Peter hoisted up the ensign and 3,000 enlisted And that's what happened to us too, wasn't it? When the gospel was preached to us. And as many of us as are true Christians here this afternoon have been enlisted. And still where there is ensign hoisting, where the Lord Jesus Christ is held forth in the gospel and in gospel preaching, it's there you'll want to be, isn't it? So that you see the ensign. and that you express allegiance again to the ends and we seek to be good soldiers then of the Lord Jesus Christ knowing that soon we're going to be out of gunshot and the end of our warfare is in sight and our rest, the rest of the troops shall be glorious. And then there's this promise to the Old Testament Church, fear not, For I am with thee, I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back, bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. Well, we see people literally coming from all directions to the Lord Jesus Christ in the days of his flesh. Those wise men, they came from a particular direction. They came from the east. These Greeks from Syrophoenicia probably would have come from the north. And metaphorically, we come from different directions, too. Some of us are blown by the biting north wind of conviction, aren't we? And some of us are carried along on the balmy breezes of divine love from the south wind, the south wind. But we come from different directions. But we all converge upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Unto him shall the gathering of the people be. That's a wonderful prophecy, too, isn't it? In the last almost chapter, last but one of Genesis, Jacob is speaking to Judah and speaks of Shiloh coming. Shiloh means the sent one. the prosperous one, the peaceable one, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Wonderful picture, isn't it, of people coming and converging upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what's happened today, isn't it? And we must never forget, friends, in our gatherings, where two or three are gathered, that he condescends to be in the midst, and he's here with us this afternoon. Blessed Lord Jesus. And then there's that wonderful prophecy of Haggai that the desire of all the nations should come. Remember that Haggai predicted the shaking of the nations. And that happened literally, of course, before the first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the agency of the Roman military power. The nations were shaken, no doubt. The nations will be shaken again before the second advent. But he did come, the desire of all the nations, and he's still proving himself to be that, isn't he, in the world today. A reference has been made by David Broome to the meeting in Cardiff and I was privileged to be there where our brother Pastor Pouyan was preaching and it thrilled me, it moved me to see the dear Iranians coming, many of them having come through difficult circumstances to this country. and to see them coming to the front to God's word. My great desire was that they were coming to the Lord as well, of course, or that they would come to the Lord. But how moving that was. And he is the desire of some amongst the Iranian nation. the Persian people. When you think of it, it's wonderful, isn't it? All the turmoil in Iran at this present time, and we believe that the Lord is doing a work here, proving himself to be the desire of men, men. And it will be so. It must be so that some are going to desire and are going to seek the Savior, that the scripture might be fulfilled, that the Lord Jesus Christ himself might see of the travail of his soul, that the elect might be gathered in, that there will be a bride for the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be. Oh, there will. Let's look more closely than at these now, these Greeks we've thought of seeking, anticipated, and promised, predicted, prophesied. But now we're going to hear them asking, seeking and asking. And they speak to Philip. He has a Greek name. So they sought him out. to ask him first of all they desired him is what we have here in the word and that verb apparently is translated in other places besought and on another occasion it's translated prayed but this was what they said asked sir we would see Jesus now in marked contrast. They said that in marked contrast to the interest that others had in this chapter. It wasn't the Lord Jesus Christ, you see, and it may help us in our seeking to mark the contrast. Verse 9 here, for example, we find people who had a great interest in Lazarus. He was a sensation after all, wasn't he? One who'd been dead, but now he was out and about and amongst people and walking and eating with the family. And such a sensation would be interesting to say the least, would it not? But you see, it is a testament to the overwhelming attractiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ that these Greeks didn't seem remotely interested in Lazarus at all. not interested in Lazarus the sensation. Just as Peter and John could have been, might have been very taken with two men that had come back from the glory to the Mount of Transfiguration. What a, what a phenomenon that was. They saw no man, save Jesus only. Then the Pharisees. their absorbing interest was the crowds. The Lord had a following. The world has gone after him, they said. They noticed that. They noticed the crowds. And this is something that does interest us, friends. We can't seem to get away from it, really. Numbers. How many did you get out to the meeting? Regular question, isn't it? Such and such a cause. Are they increasing over there? Are they decreasing? Numbers, small numbers, large numbers. Numbers seem to absorb us. But these Greeks, they couldn't care less if all the world went after him or if no one went after him because they knew what they wanted. Sir, we would see Jesus. Literal word order is, we desire Jesus to see. It seems to echo the psalmist, doesn't it? One thing. One thing have I desired of the Lord. Now, are we there? You and I. Well, the Lord give us that. that simplicity, that single-mindedness, that undivided desire of the heart. What a Lord's Day morning desire that would be, wouldn't it? Sir, you get into your car on a Lord's Day morning with that in your mind, that in your heart, and your pastor knows that. What a spur, what an incentive that would be for your preacher try to bring forth the Lord Jesus Christ on the Lord's Day morning. I had a lady when I was the pastor of a church, and she knew that I was preparing on the Lord's Day afternoon, and she would pick up the phone, she didn't want to disturb, very, very brief message, pastor, I'm hungry, and she'd put the phone down. And I knew what she was hungry for, It wasn't precepts and admonitions and warnings and principles and promises, although they're all there in scripture and they're all valuable and precious as part of God's word, but it was hunger for Him. What a prayer when we open our Bibles in the morning, we would say Jesus. What a prayer in the evil day. What a prayer for everything. So we would see Jesus, just a glimpse of him, perhaps, through the lattice, maybe, lattice of the ordinances, in a hymn, in the reading, in conversation. So we would see Jesus. But we must consider why they asked this. And I think it's very important, this part. These Greeks, they were proselytes. You see, Gentiles who had adopted the religion of the Jews. And so Judaism was a borrowed religion to them. Now, that's never satisfactory, is it? They were in Jerusalem for the Passover, which commemorated the deliverance of the Jews out of Egypt, but what lot or part did they have in that? What had happened to the Jews those many years ago? And the Passover itself in the previous chapter, chapter 11 of John's gospel, is described as the Jews' Passover now, suggesting that by now it had degenerated into their feast and their tradition and their custom rather than being that feast that the Lord himself had instituted those many years ago. And in any case, the true Passover lamb was with them, amongst them. So it had been formality. It had been mechanical ritual, unsatisfying to them, dishonoring to the Lord as well. And so I suggest to you that they wanted something better. They wanted something real. They wanted something personal. They wanted something that would satisfy their souls. Now, friends, perhaps I don't need to say this to you. Perhaps you feel it. Perhaps you know it. But formality is our great enemy. Formality. And how easily it can creep in, can it not? And you know what it is. It's our lips saying one thing. outward appearance and our hearts being far from him. You see, we're all chapel people here, aren't we? And I think sometimes we could do it in our sleep, couldn't we? We're so used to it. Well, the Lord deliver us. The Lord deliver us from formality and bring us into this now. We would see Jesus. And that's heart religion, isn't it? It's born out of a sense of of deep need within, we would see Jesus. I think we can very easily see what the Greeks wanted, although I'm not suggesting that they were present when Mary anointed the Lord Jesus Christ at the beginning of the chapter here. Now, that was real. That wasn't empty ritual, was it? And as far as I can see, that was pure adoration. But that's rare amongst us, isn't it? In our own experience, that extravagant worship of the Lord, that unimpeded expression of love to the Lord Jesus Christ, which will be just a little reflection anyway of his great, great extravagant love to us. But on that occasion, the house is filled with the odor of the ointment. And those are feasting days. Those are high days for us, if the Lord should grant them. Well, now we must come to the answer that the Lord gave these Greeks. We've thought of seeking anticipated in the Old Testament scriptures, predicted and prophesied there, and we've thought of the seeking and asking. Now we think of the answer that the Lord Jesus Christ gave. Now I expect you've noticed before now that the Lord didn't give the Greeks a direct and an immediate interview. They wanted to see him. They desired to see him. But Philip relays the request to Andrew. And then both of them, both disciples, go on behalf of the petitioners to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the answer he gives is this. The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. And it's clear that he's referring to his crucifixion and death. which is imminent, but friends, surely there is an unparalleled paradox here, isn't there? Crucifixion, the horror of horrors, brutality, shame, disgrace, criminality, contemptuous in the eyes of the Romans because no Roman citizen would ever have been crucified. and terrifying to the Jews because of the anathema of God, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. The Jews wouldn't have been able to look. And then death, wages of sin, the ignominious result of the fall, judgment. And yet our Lord refers to it as the hour of his glory. Seems to me that what the Lord was saying, the answer he gave Philip and Andrew for the Greeks was this. It seems to me that he's saying this. Just wait a little while and the Greeks will see me at my best. The hour of my glory. But it behoves us to ask then reverently, what glory is that? And may we see it? May I see it? With the eye of faith, the Lord Jesus Christ crucified and glorious. Well, if we were granted a view of him crucified and glorious, we would see him in his office as mediator. Because he refers to this in verse 32 here, And I, if I be lifted up, and that was no accident, you know, that he was actually lifted up, that he died in that particular way, suspended between heaven above and earth below, between the holy God above and us filthy sinners here on earth. And so there you have portrayed his office as mediator. He's the ladder. He is the days man. He's that one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, and he's perfectly fitted and suited to this office, is he not? Because he's man to suffer and bleed and die and to represent us sinners. He has to be, has to be a man. But he's also God Almighty to give power and efficacy. to all that he did, to all that he suffered. And so here he is. There's nothing accidental, I say, in the fact that he was lifted up. Nothing accidental in the fact that he bowed his head. His head didn't slump, you know. Do you know this, friends, the Lord Jesus was in every moment of what happened there to him on Calvary. Neither were the outstretched arms an accident either. There is so much significance in all these things but here he is then in the glory of his office as mediator. But we must have a mediator, don't you know that? Don't you feel that friends that you are so undone that without a mediator one to represent you to Almighty God and one to be the channel of blessing from God to you that you would be undone. Hopeless and helpless without the Lord Jesus Christ and you become aware then that natural religion will never do for you. That's what does for many people. They think so anyway, don't they? That they can easily deal with a holy God. The holiness of God is no problem at all to them. And if they so choose, at any time, they can march in on him and demand this and demand that. And have a relationship, if they so choose, with him without a mediator. Friends, I hope you've been disabused of that. Oh, but isn't it glorious to think that the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled that office as mediator. Many, many other offices as he hung there between heaven and earth as well. The Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. Many others. But think of the office as mediator for a moment. What did he do as mediator? Well, he brought the whole church to God. That's what he did. He didn't begin a work, you know, and then leave the rest to us. He didn't die there and in his office as mediator give us a head start. No, it wasn't that, was it? He actually brought the whole church, the sheep of God, were all brought to God. by the Lord Jesus Christ. Only he could do it. And the result is going to be that we shall be faultless presented before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, holy, unblameable, unreprovable. That's the work of our savior as mediator. And then is the glory of his work. Well, I've already hinted. But he says here, doesn't he, concerning his work, that there would be much fruit, much fruit, that it would be completely and utterly successful, in other words. We have a prosperous Christ, friends. We must ever remember that. And what did he achieve? Well, in so many directions, God would, church would, Principality would. Think of what he did. God would. We must start there always, mustn't we? Let me give you a little hint concerning this great, great matter of propitiation. That word that one scholar, so-called, didn't like when the New English Bible came out. I remember the great fuss that was made when the New English Bible came out. People thought, you know, that people would become Christians in droves. But propitiation wasn't liked. And it was translated out. But it's the most glorious thing, friends. Let me give you a little picture of it. You remember how beset with worry Jacob was at the prospect of meeting Esau after many, many years. But when he did meet him, he said this to Esau, I have seen thy face as though I had seen the face of God. And I was pleased with me. Surprised, shocked, Jacob at Esau's being well disposed towards him seemingly. probably smiling at him. That was the very last thing that he'd expected. And he saw a smiling face reminding Jacob of the face of God. Had he seen that? Well, he had. He'd seen the Lord Jesus Christ in theophany. standing at the top of the ladder. In Genesis chapter 28, you've got a triple revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ there. He's the ladder, the mediator. But there he is in Theophany as well, you see, standing above the ladder and there is a behold, something to see, one to see there. And so Jacob looked and at the top of the ladder, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ. And as he saw his brother smiling at him, it reminded him of what he'd seen at Bethlehem. God in Christ smiling. True to sweet, solemn pleasure. God to be in Christ the Lord. Here he smiled. miles forever, may my soul his name recall. A work Godward, a successful work Godward, a work Churchward. And I've already hinted at this, but let me speak to you very briefly. I'm coming towards the end now. Let me speak to you about the results of the work of Calvary And again we have these pictures in scripture which are a help to us, I hope. Those boys coming from the fiery furnace with not the smell of burning on them. Completely miraculous, wasn't it? Naaman's flesh after eventually submitting to being dipped in Jordan and he comes up And this leprous man, his flesh is not the flesh of a 50-year-old man or however old he was, a 60-year-old man, but as the flesh of a little child. Miraculous outcome. That was, as well, just as Israel going through Jordan dry-shot and coming out without the hint of dampness even on the other side. Now friends, they are just little hints, aren't they, of the miraculous redemption brought for us by our blessed Saviour. It is salvation to the uttermost, to the uttermost victory, to the uttermost blessing, to the uttermost privilege, to the uttermost fellowship. They shall see His face. That's the end of the journey for you. if you are the Lords. Well, time would fail me to speak of his work principality, but our wonderful hymn writer in Wales has put it like this, William Williams. And I do so love to sing this. Death of death and hell's destruction. The Lord Jesus, that is. land me safe on Canaan's side. Songs of praises I will never give to thee." That's what he's done, rose Satan's head, spoiled the principalities and powers. And then there's the glory of his attraction as well. and he speaks of drawing, and I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me. Of course, there is no trouble in this word, all is there. It's not all men absolutely, it cannot be, but it's all men distributively. Gentiles as well as Jews, Greeks, you see, as well as Jews. All manner of men. men of different languages, men of different tongues, all manner of men, but whosoever they are, they will need to be drawn. And if we have by grace been wrought upon, we'll know full well ourselves, won't we, how necessary the drawing of The Lord Jesus Christ is. Why is that, someone might say. Why must we, why do we need absolutely to be drawn? Well, the flesh is a dead weight. And no good thing dwelleth in the flesh, but sin does dwell in this flesh. And it's a millstone that would drag me down into hell apart from the grace of God. The word draws me as well. that piece of ground which I bought, that yoke of oxen which need to be proved, the wife and the responsibilities that go with married life, and so forth, they can draw me away from the gospel feast, you see. And then there's the devil, of course, as well, and he would draw me, which one of the ministers, was it Warburton, who spoke of being devil-dragged, and people didn't like it, did they? That's the truth of the matter. Do you remember what the devil said through Peter? Concerning the cross, be it far from thee. And that's what he would say to us concerning the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, too. Be it far from thee. Go in the other direction. So we must be drawn. And the wonderful thing is, you see, we have not only the drawing of the Lord Jesus, but we have the promise of the drawing of the Father as well, don't we? And the spirit is going to be involved in this. And a threefold cord cannot be broken. And so the drawing is irresistible. And it's the draw of love. I drew them with the cords of a man, with the bands of love. With loving kindness have I drawn thee. And what happens is, friends, is that we are drawn up into that fountain, open for sin, and uncleanness. There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away, drawn into that, drawn into the fountain, open for sin and uncleanness. Love opened it. Love does the washing. It's a loving washing. and to Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. And if you are a drawn sinner this afternoon, you will be attracted. You'll want to be clean. You'll want to be right. And you'll be attracted, ever attracted into this fountain. And then grace will draw you as well. We do believe not only as one of the five points so-called in irresistible grace, but from our own experience, we've known it to be so. And we're so glad of it, aren't we, that grace is irresistible and that we are drawn up into the work, into the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, all that he accomplished there for his own, perfecting forever them that are sanctified, we overcome by the blood of the Lamb. We're justified, ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, all these things achieved by the Lord, and we're drawn up into them, bound up into them, and we're drawn by mercy. I often think you know how Proud we are by nature, and proud people don't want mercy, do they? Proud? Yes, we are. Intellectual me doesn't like to be called a hopeless, helpless, miserable, pitiful sinner. That's what I am. And then to such, mercy is attractive. binding up of our sin wounds, the balm of love and blood, the best robe covering us, the time of love, and he spread his skirt over you. That's what Ruth wanted, wasn't it? Remember, she applied to Boaz. It was a proposal of marriage, really, wasn't it? And Boaz obliged. The glorious thing is, friends, concerning this garment, there's enough stretch in it, isn't there? Grace stretches even to me. It's justification from all things, you see. If we're speaking of this garment as the robe of righteousness and the garment of salvation. And we feel that we must be covered. I heard just last evening of a young woman in her, I think, late 30s, maybe early 40s, married to a man who had professed faith years ago but no longer professes faith. It seems that the lady has a short time to live. But isn't it so solemn when you hear of no interest at all in the things of God and eternity looming? And don't you say to yourself, I must have a covering? How can I, whose native sphere is dark, whose mind is dim, before the ineffable appear, and on my naked spirit bear the uncreated being? I must be covered. And the Lord does that in mercy to us, doesn't he? Bring forth the best robe. Well, the answer our Lord gave to the Greeks. The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. If they desire to see him, let them look at him crucified. Let them look at him glorified on the cross. to see him at his best, and surely they did. Because such seeking as theirs, I'm glad to tell you, is never in vain. Those who seek will find. May the Lord favour us there, and many more across the globe, with this desire for the Lord Jesus. seeking of him and finding him. To them that seek thee thou art good, to them that find thee all in all. One last example of this, and I'm not suggesting that this particular man was seeking. Now this is sovereign grace for you if you like. I read it in a book by John Kennedy, Days of the Fathers in Russia. It's remained with me over the years. an old man in his hundredth year, Old Colin of the Peats, they called him. And he'd remained for those hundred years as dark as an earthworm, we're told, without a thought about his soul. No one took care for his safety. His mind, never vigorous, was then in the weakness of a second childhood. And if there was one on earth that seemed quite beyond the reach of grace, It was old Colin of the Peats. After one Sabbath, when he was observed to have a wakeful, earnest expression, he came to his minister. We're longing for this, aren't we, dear brethren in the ministry? This is what Colin said to his minister. I saw a most beautiful one last Sabbath. Where did you see him? In the sermon. What was his appearance, Colin? Oh, he was fairer than the sons of men. I can't tell you what he was like, for he was altogether lovely. What effect had the sight on your heart, Colin? Oh, he quite took my heart from me. May it be so for us. Amen.