Jesus had recently made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and was now teaching in the temple, and in the gospel of John 12:20-22 it reads as follows, “And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: (Passover) the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.”

Cindy and I were taking our morning walk a few days ago and in our conversation she told me something about the time when she lived in Yuma, Arizona some 30 plus years ago. She said, right on the pulpit for everyone who stood in the sacred desk there was a little plaque with the words, “Sir, we would see Jesus” just as a reminder to the speaker that he or she had the responsibility to make Jesus the focus of their remarks, and I think that’s an excellent idea, don’t you? Isn’t that the main reason for having a church service? Isn’t it the responsibility of every speaker to do everything they can to uplift Jesus as “the way the truth and the life,” and to let people know that “there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved”? “Sir, we would see Jesus”, and I hope that’s why you’re listening today and that I will bring Him to view during a time when “Many (we are told) will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan.” You can read that in Special Testimonies to Ministers and Workers, Number 11, page 8. I’m really sorry to have to read this to you, but just as Jesus spoke some pretty hard words to professed seventh-day Sabbath keepers 2000 years ago, so He speaks to the church today. The quote goes on to say, “If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much.” Then she applies the same words to today’s church that Christ spoke to the Jewish church just before their probation closed as God’s chosen people, and mind you, she wrote this in 1898, and the condition of things today have certainly not improved. “’If thou hadst known,’ said Christ, ‘even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.’” May God help His faithful ministers, which are few, and wherever they might be, to rightly divide the word of truth as we approach the final scenes of this earth’s history and the people be warned before their probation closes.

Jesus had been victorious in every confrontation with the priests and Pharisees, but it was evident at this point that they were never going to  receive Him as the Messiah. The final separation had come as He overlooked Jerusalem and uttered the words in Matthew 23:37, 38, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” What sad words. These I’m sure were some of the hardest words Jesus ever had to utter, don’t you think? For over a thousand years He tried His best to lead Israel up the straight and narrow path so they could be citizens of His eternal kingdom and that they might reflect His character and be a light to the Gentiles, but alas, they not only rejected Him but were responsible for putting Him to death. Probation for the nation had closed and Jesus wept because of it. Hopefully He won’t have to weep over any of us and we have to hear those fateful words, “I never knew you, depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” How sad that would be.

Just prior to the day that Jesus wept over Jerusalem, I believe just the day before, when Jesus drove out the money changers from the temple He said, “My house shall be called an house of prayer,” but now He calls it “Your house,” because God’s presence was no longer there; probation had closed for the Jewish nation that very day as God’s chosen people and no one at that point knew it; however, individual Jews could still accept Him as their Saviour, and some of them did after His crucifixion and resurrection, but God was done with the Jewish church as His peculiar people. And that should be a warning to us, because we’re told in Testimonies for the Church, volume 8, page 67 that “Jerusalem is a representation of what the church will be if it refuses to walk in the light that God has given.”

Human probation for everyone living on this planet will close someday soon, and when it does, no one will know when it happens, because that day will come how? “as a thief in the night.” That’s why we’re warned to watch and be ready, because when human probation closes, everyone living will be unconscious that the final, irrevocable decision has been pronounced in the sanctuary above.

Speaking of this time, Revelation 22:11 says, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” When these words are pronounced in the sanctuary above, everyone will be sealed for eternity in whatever choices they’ve made for or against the truth. And so, how important is it that we cooperate with the Lord now in developing a righteous character that He can take to heaven? because there will be no second probation. Man-kind had a first probation in the Garden of Eden, and because of the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross we’re having the second one now. So we need to do what we can now to make our calling and election sure.

Just a few more days and Jesus would reach the consummation of His work. The great event which concerned the whole world, was about to take place, and when Christ heard the eager request, “Sir, we would see Jesus,” He responded by saying, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.” In the request of these Greek Gentiles, Jesus saw the results of what His sacrifice would accomplish. It was like a down payment until the full price was paid, and that was getting very close to being accomplished with His death upon the cross.

These Greek believers came from the West to find the Saviour at the close of His life as the wise men had come from the East at the beginning. At the time of Christ’s birth the Jewish people were so engrossed with their own ambitious plans that they had no clue that the Messiah was about to be born into the world, and just as it was non-Jews from a heathen land that came to the manger with their gifts to worship the Saviour, so these Greeks, representing all the heathen nations of the world, came to see Jesus, and the intention was that everyone living would be drawn to the Saviour just as these Greeks were.

God’s professed people then and His professed people today have not done the job that the Lord gave them to do, and how do we know that? We’re still here. We’re told we should have been in the kingdom ere this, but we’re still here, and that is proof positive that the church of today has not done their job. And so God will use whoever He can to proclaim a last day message to wake people up. That’s what the 11^th hour workers coming in to help finish the work is all about. This response of Jesus to the Greeks was predicted in Matthew 8:11 where it says many shall “come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven,” and it will be because those who originally were given a work to do were passed by and the work given to others who were willing to follow divine instructions.

Let me read it to you from Youth’s instructor, February 13, 1902, “At the eleventh hour the Lord will call into His service many faithful workers. Self-sacrificing men and women will step into the places made vacant by apostasy and death. To young men and young women, as well as to those who are older, God will give power from above. With converted minds, converted hands, converted feet, and converted tongues, their lips touched with a living coal from the divine altar, they will go forth into the Master’s service, moving steadily onward and upward, carrying the work forward to completion.”

These Greeks had heard about Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and the report had been circulated that He had driven the priests and rulers from the temple, that He was draining the swamp as it were, and they also heard the mistaken idea that He was to take possession of David’s throne, and reign as king of Israel, and they wanted to know the truth about His mission. “We would see Jesus,” they said, and their desire was granted, of course.

When Philip and Andrew brought the request to Jesus, He was in that part of the temple where only Jews were allowed, so He went out to the Greeks in the outer court and had a personal interview with them there.   The hour of Christ’s glorification had come. He was standing in the shadow of the cross, and when the Greeks said, “Sir, we would see Jesus,” it confirmed to Him that the sacrifice He was about to make would bring many people, from all over the world, to a knowledge of the truth and to salvation, and no doubt it helped Him to endure what He was about to experience. Same with the thief on the cross. He was an encouragement to Jesus when He needed it most, and especially when His own professed people had nothing but ridicule and hatred for Him, and we shouldn’t be blind to the fact that history is being repeated today as the three angels’ messages are being neglected when we’ve been told that we should allow nothing else to absorb our attention.

Jesus knew that these Greeks would soon see Him in a position that they couldn’t even imagine. They would see Him placed beside Barabbas, a robber and a murderer who would be chosen to be released rather than their newly found Saviour. They would hear the people, the priests and the rulers, inspired by demons, making a choice that would seal their doom, and to Pilate’s question, “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?” they would hear the answer, “Let Him be crucified.” Along with the twelve disciples their faith would be shaken to its core, but they would afterward realize the significance of the words of John the Baptist who said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

By making an atonement for the sins of mankind, Christ knew that His kingdom would extend throughout the world, and in these Greek Gentiles He saw the pledge of a great harvest when the partition wall between Jew and Gentile would be broken down, and all nations, tongues, and peoples should hear the message of salvation. All of this was expressed and anticipated in the words of Jesus when He said, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.” The gathering in of the Gentiles was to follow His death upon the cross, because only by His death could the world be saved. Like a grain of wheat, Jesus must be cast into the ground and die and be buried out of sight, but He was to live again, praise the Lord!

In fact, Jesus illustrated what was going to happen to Him by the things of nature, that the disciples, and we ourselves, might understand that the result of His mission was to be reached by His death. Remember what He said in John 12:24? He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” And so, just as the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies and springs up, so the death and resurrection of Christ would result in fruit for the kingdom of God.

Farmers see this illustration played out every year by preserving a supply of grain. By seemingly throwing away the choicest grain they actually are able to perpetuate their crop the following year. And the farmer doesn’t plant the worst of the grain, but the best, because he wants the fruit to resemble the best. For a little while the seed has to be hidden under the soil, but in a few days the blade appears, then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear. But this can’t take place unless the grain is buried out of sight, hidden, and to all appearance, lost. And so, Jesus, who is the best, had to die and be buried that the fruit He would produce after He was raised up might be of the same kind, or be of the best character, and this is a good illustration of what we can become by being born again after the image of Him who died for us, and thus the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary bears fruit unto eternal life, and that eternal life starts here and now the moment we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

Now let’s carry this illustration just a little further. The grain of wheat that’s not buried in the soil and does not die will never produce fruit, will it? I remember reading a story years ago about an archeologist who found a mummy with a seed clutched in his hand, and when the seed was carefully removed and planted in the soil and watered, it actually sprouted. Even though it was thousands of years old, it sprouted, but had it never been buried in the soil, it would have never produced fruit. I read the same type of thing happening when an 800-year-old clay pot full of squash seeds was found in a Native American archeological dig somewhere in the mid-west, and when planted, the squash grew and produced fruit.

So why am I telling you this? Friends, Jesus could have saved Himself from death, but had He done this, we would have no hope. Only by yielding up His life could He impart life. Only by falling into the ground to die could He become the seed of a great harvest out of every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.  And you know, this same truth applied to us as well, because we must die to self in order to live. Jesus said, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

If as Christians we would bear fruit to the glory of God, self-love and self-interest must perish, because the law of self-sacrifice is the law of self-preservation. As the farmer preserves his grain by casting it away, so the life that will be preserved is the life that is given in service to God. Only those who for Christ’s sake sacrifice their life in this world will keep it unto life eternal. Because if our lives are spent on self, it’s like a grain of wheat that’s eaten, or kept dry in the palm of a mummy’s hand. It will never grow, and it will never multiply by bearing fruit, which in turn would produce even more fruit after its kind. If it never dies there will never be an increase. If we gather all we can for self, and live and think and plan for self, we will just forever pass away. And so, the law of self-serving is the law of self-destruction.

Turn with me please to John 12:26. Jesus said, “If any man serve me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.” If we take up our cross and follow Jesus, we will be sharers with Him in His glory, it’s just that simple! If we become workers together with Christ, the Father will honor us as He honors His Son, and what more could we want? It’s hard to comprehend, isn’t it? Certainly we’re not worthy or deserving of inheriting all that belongs to Jesus, but that’s the offer that’s given to everyone who is willing to give up on self and live for God. Pretty good exchange if you ask me.

The message of the Greeks, foreshadowing as it did the gathering in of the Gentiles, must have brought to the mind of Jesus His entire mission, don’t you think? From the time when in heaven the plan was laid for our redemption to His death that was now so near at hand, this request of the Greeks foreshadowed it all.

However, even though this was good news and an encouragement to Jesus, a mysterious cloud was enshrouding Him, and its gloom must have been felt by those near Him, because notice the next verse in John 12:27. Jesus said, “Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour?” Father, if there’s any other way, save Me from this hour. In anticipation of what was soon to come, Christ was already drinking the cup of bitterness, and His humanity shrank from the hour of feeling abandoned, even by God. Jesus was human friends! Yes, He was God, but He was also human, and He shrank from public exposure, from being treated as the worst of criminals, and from a shameful and dishonored death. He knew that the conflict with the powers of darkness was about to reach a climax, and even though He had no sin whatsoever, He had a sense of the awful burden of human transgression and of the Father’s wrath toward the sinner, and because of it His spirit fainted within Him. The pallor of death was on His face and He had done nothing to deserve it. And so, He was troubled.

But, then came divine submission to His Father’s will in the next verse when He said, “For this cause came I unto this hour,” now dear “Father, glorify thy name.” Have you ever had a similar experience? We may not want to do a certain thing that the Holy Spirit has brought to our mind and we may become troubled and maybe even scared, but once you come to God with a submissive spirit and tell Him that you will do what He wants no matter what, and mean it, when you have that kind of submission you will be given a peace that passes all understanding, and then whatever you’ve been asked to do, you can know that it will glorify God and everything will be alright.

So why did Jesus have to go through all this suffering and anguish and finally death? Because only through His suffering and death could Satan’s kingdom be overthrown. Only in this way could man be redeemed, and God be glorified at the same time. This was the only way for salvation to come to fallen human beings, and He did it voluntarily. Nobody had to twist His arm. Because He loved us He did it, even though He couldn’t see through the portals of the tomb, we’re told. In fact, let’s read that in The Desire of Ages, page 753. “Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father’s acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God.”

By the way, that’s why Jesus died so quickly when the two thieves lingered on and had to have their legs broken so they could die before the Sabbath hours began. I find it interesting that the religious leaders were so concerned about the outward observance of the Sabbath and so little concerned about killing an innocent man, don’t you? It just goes to show you that we can look like good Christians on the outside and be totally destitute of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus didn’t have to have His legs broken because He died of a broken heart! He suffered the agonies of the second death from which there will be no resurrection, and yet He did come forth from the grave glorified, but He wasn’t sure at the time that He would, and He did it because He loved you and He loved me. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Jesus consented to suffer as the Sin Bearer, and in John 12: 29-33 He was given a little encouragement when He said, “Father, glorify thy name.” And what happened next? “Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, an angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.”

Christ’s whole life, from His birth to the time when these words were spoken, had glorified God; and in the coming trial of His crucifixion He would indeed glorify His Father’s name yet once more.

As we read a moment ago, the Bible says, “The people, therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, an angel spake to Him.” But those Greeks that were among those that stood by got it. They comprehended its meaning, because they were given spiritual discernment. They were open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and to them Jesus was revealed as the Saviour while the others were definitely amazed, but they received no benefit.

Just this morning I was reading something in the book Last Day Events about a time when, once again, God’s voice will be heard and understood by the righteous, but it will sound like thunder to the sinful multitude. This is speaking of the time when human probation will have closed, but notice what it says:

Last Day Events, pages 272, 273, “Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus’ coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake.” The day is not far distant friends, when the voice of God will be heard once again, and I hope and pray that those words will be understood by each one of us if we are alive when that day comes.

The voice of God had been heard at the baptism of Jesus at the beginning of His public ministry, and again at His transfiguration on the mount, and now at the close of His ministry it was heard for the third time. “This voice came not because of Me,” said Jesus, “but for your sakes.” It was the crowning evidence of His Messiahship, the signal from the Father that Jesus had spoken the truth, and was the Son of God just as He said; the long looked for Messiah. “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Me.”

Jesus was letting everyone know here that this was the crisis for the world. Jesus was saying, “If I become the atoning sacrifice for the sins of men, the whole world will be lighted up with this truth and Satan’s hold upon the souls of men will be broken, the image of God will be restored in humanity, and everyone who believes in Me will finally inherit their heavenly home.” All of this is the result of Christ’s death.

But the work of our redemption is not all that was accomplished by the cross, because the love of God was also manifested to the whole universe. “The prince of this world is cast out” He said. The accusations that Satan brought against God are refuted. The reproach that he has cast upon heaven is forever removed, and angels as well as men would be drawn to Him. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth,” He said, “will draw all unto Me.” And the all here included the entire universe.

When Jesus spoke these words there were lots of people around Him, and in John 12:34 someone said, “We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest Thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? (they understood that meant crucified) who is this Son of man?”

You see, the Jews understood that Christ, or the Messiah, lives forever, but what they didn’t understand, and what they still don’t understand even to this day, is that the Christ would also have to suffer. Isaiah 53 is a perfect example of this. This shows the danger of picking and choosing what one thinks is important or inspired and what isn’t when it crosses their preconceived ideas. Because the Jews misinterpreted the Scriptures they perpetrated the worst crime in the history of mankind by crucifying the Saviour, and we are in danger of crucifying Him afresh and putting Him to open shame if we don’t rightly divide the word of truth.

Now listen to Jesus’ response in verse 35, 36, “Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.”

And it’s obvious they didn’t understand His words this time either, because Verse 37 says, “But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him.” Numerous signs had been given for 3½ years, but they had closed their eyes and hardened their hearts. Even though the Father Himself had spoken, they still refused to believe. However, not all was lost, because verse 42 says, “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.”

Oh friends, we’ve got to get out of the mind-set that we are afraid to obey the truth for fear of being put out of the synagogue. Our salvation is not secure because we are church members down here. We need to be more concerned that our names are written up there! Amen?

Do you know who the Pharisees were? They were exclusively religious people; they were separatists. In other words, they were very religious, and because they were very religious they thought they were better than everyone else, and because of that, ”you better listen to me because I know best.” Isn’t that the attitude of many religious leaders today? “I’ve been set apart to the work of the ministry, and I’ve gone to school to learn how to be a religious leader, and I know better than you do about what the teachings of the church are, and I know the Bible better than you do, and I know Greek and Hebrew, and I know what you should and shouldn’t do, and who you should and shouldn’t listen to,” and, and, and. And people are intimidated into bowing down to their assumed authority rather than going directly to God and to His word as their final authority.

There are many, many church members today who know the truth, and they don’t like what they see going on in the church, but because they are afraid of being put out of the synagogue, they cave to the church leaders because they think their salvation is somehow connected to their membership, but nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, if you know that error is being taught or that open sin is going unrebuked in the church you belong to, then God holds you just as responsible as those who are committing those sins and teaching those errors, did you know that? Many people don’t understand this, but it’s very clear in inspiration, and if this is true in your case, you better read Volume 3 of the Testimonies, page 269 and Signs of the Times, April 21, 1881 paragraphs 23, 24 as soon as you have opportunity and follow the counsel there before one more day goes by. Let me repeat those references again, because your soul’s salvation depends on it. Testimonies for the Church, Volume 3, page 269 and Signs of the Times, April 21, 1881 paragraphs 23, 24. Please, you need to read this for yourself and let it sink in to your brain and then act upon it, and that’s all I’m going to say at this point.

Let me read just two short quotes as we wrap this up. Review and Herald February 10, 1891, “We are not saved as a sect; no denominational name has any virtue to bring us into favor with God. We are saved individually as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Desire of Ages, page 458, “Many are deceived today in the same way as were the Jews. Religious teachers read the Bible in the light of their own understanding and traditions; and the people do not search the Scriptures for themselves, and judge for themselves as to what is truth; but they yield up their judgment, and commit their souls to their leaders.”

“Sir, we would see Jesus.” Did Jesus have some very hard and pointed things to say to the people of His day? Yes He did! And through the Spirit of Prophecy He has some very hard and pointed things to say to us today as well. Jesus was meek and lowly and the pure embodiment of Love and Righteousness, it’s true, but if you would see Jesus today, you must see Him as He is. He is both Saviour and Judge and He will not tolerate error and sin in the church by sweeping it under the rug or ignoring it, and He will not overlook your connection to an apostate church just because you think that connection doesn’t matter. It does matter, and if you sit in the pew Sabbath after Sabbath knowing that things are not right and you sit in silence because you’re afraid to speak out for fear of the consequences of standing in bold defense of the truth, then you will be held accountable. That’s the plain unvarnished truth that’s not acceptable to the majority today, but it’s still the truth. I don’t enjoy saying these things, but the pointed testimony must live in the church or the curse of God will rest upon it, we are told.

Sister White, writing to a brother G in Testimonies for the Church, volume 1, page 321, says the following. “Those who have been thrust out to bear a plain, pointed testimony, in the fear of God to reprove wrong, to labor with all their energies to build up God’s people, and to establish them upon important points of present truth, have too often received censure instead of sympathy and help, while those who, . . . have taken a noncommittal position, are thought to be devoted, and to have a mild spirit. God does not thus regard them. The forerunner of Christ’s first advent was a very plain-spoken man. He rebuked sin, and called things by their right names. He laid the ax at the root of the tree. . . . . In this fearful time, just before Christ is to come the second time, God’s faithful preachers will have to bear a still more pointed testimony than was borne by John the Baptist. A responsible, important work is before them; and those who speak smooth things, God will not acknowledge as His shepherds. A fearful woe is upon them.” I don’t want that fearful woe to be pronounced against me, do you?

So dear friends, the next time you hear a message similar to that born by John the Baptist, don’t be so quick to reject it or think the one delivering that message is way too harsh and critical. Even when the message is hard and pointed, we need to see Jesus in it if He’s truly there and we need to check it out. Hopefully the one preaching that message will utter his scathing rebukes with tears in his voice like Jesus did, but nevertheless we need to listen and evaluate it in the light of God’s word. Because remember, the message John bore was a message from Jesus, was it not?

We shouldn’t judge whether or not a message is from God simply because it gives us a warm fuzzy feeling, because the Jews didn’t get that kind of a feeling when Jesus spoke to them, did they? Jesus drove out the money changers from the temple, didn’t He? He said woe unto you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, and He called the religious leaders of His day serpents and a generation of vipers. It was Jesus who was the God of the Old Testaments and the One who destroyed the earth by a flood 4000 years ago and He will cleanse it by fire very soon.

And so again, if we would see Jesus we must understand that He was sometimes very pointed in His denunciations of those who deserved it and very accepting of those who truly wanted to know and believe the truth, but He did it all with the best interest of the individuals involved. Some people need the shock treatment and some need to be carefully nurtured, but Jesus is interested in the salvation of all and He will determine what is necessary to reach each one, and it will probably come through some human instrument that is controlled by the Holy Spirit.

I’ll close with this last quote from The Great Controversy, page 588, “The Bible is interpreted in a manner that is pleasing to the unrenewed heart, while its solemn and vital truths are made of no effect. Love is dwelt upon as the chief attribute of God, but it is degraded to a weak sentimentalism, making little distinction between good and evil. God’s justice, His denunciations of sin, the requirements of His holy law, are all kept out of sight.” And I might add, the devil would have it so. That’s the way it is for the most part today and it’s just as wrong to portray God that way as it is to preach nothing but damnation and hell fire for those who reject the free gift of salvation. There must be a balance of God’s love, mercy, and justice if we would see Jesus in His true character, and I hope this messenger boy has brought Him to view in the correct light this morning.

Sermon in pdf  Sir, We Would See Jesus