[0:00] Welcome to our services today.
[0:19] And we seek that God's blessing would rest upon our meditation upon his word.
[0:31] Let us commence our worship by joining together in prayer. Eternal and ever blessed Lord.
[0:42] Lord, thou art the one who is glorious in holiness, who is fearful in praises, who does wonders.
[0:55] And we give thanks unto thee at this hour, O Lord, for the wonders that thou does in the hearts and in the life of sinners such as we are.
[1:09] We give thee thanks, O Lord, for the transforming power of thy grace through thy spirit in the lives of sinners.
[1:24] Oh, we pray, O Lord, that today we would humble ourselves and that we would take that place before thee in humility of mind, of heart and of spirit.
[1:37] Enabling us to cry out, who is like unto thee, O God. We give thanks unto thee, O Lord, that thou hast enabled us to come together in this manner, this time, to worship thee and to acknowledge thee as our God.
[2:02] We know, O Lord, that thou hast enabled us to come together in this manner. We know, O Lord, that thou art the one who is sovereign. We acknowledge, O Lord, that thou art the one who sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
[2:18] Thou art the high and lofty one. Thou art the one that inhabiteth eternity. Thou art the one that inhabiteth eternity.
[2:55] Thou art pourquoi your Ne righteous salad. Thou art oomon. Thou art the one that inhabiteth need a Lord, we know that thy covenant commitment to thy people is sure, that thou art the one who is faithful to all that thou hast promised. And so we pray this day, O Lord, that that would grant to us that peace within ourselves. We give thanks unto thee, O Lord, that thou art the hearer of prayer, and that thou art the answerer of prayer. O we pray that we would indeed look unto him this day, the one who is the author and the finisher of our faith, that the words of the psalmist would be true in our experience. They looked unto him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed.
[4:18] This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all troubles. O may we look to the one who was wounded for our transgression, who was bruised for our iniquities, that our chastisement was placed upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. We pray, O Lord, that thy countenance would be upon us this day as we come together in this manner to worship thee. We ask, O Lord, that thou would grant to us our wisdom and guidance. We ask, O Lord, that thou would take care of those who put themselves in risk of infection in order to maintain lifeline services to others, our care workers, our key workers. We ask, O Lord, that thou would protect our community, that thou would protect our island, that thou would protect those who are most vulnerable at this time.
[5:34] We ask, O Lord, that thou would be with those who are in hospital, that thine healing hand would be upon them. We ask, O Lord, that thou would bless those who have been affected with the virus, that they would be near to thee, and that thou would be near to them, that thou would bring healing to them as it is in accordance with thine own sovereign will.
[6:01] We ask, O Lord, that thou would bless our people, bless thine own covenant people, bless their witness, we pray thee, in their homes and in our communities.
[6:17] Oh, may they be as lights that would shine in the midst of the darkness of this world. We ask, O Lord, for forgiveness for our sins, not only of commission, but our sins of omission.
[6:34] We ask, O Lord, that the blood of thy Son would cover our sins. We give thee thanks for that gracious provision that thou hast made for sinners in thy Son, and for the efficacy of the shedding of his blood to his finished work, which is able to wash away our sins, which is able to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, which is able to reconcile us to our God.
[7:04] We pray, O Lord, that thou would bless each one of us in our own congregation, and those outside our own congregation who have joined with us in our worship at this time, that thou would bless them in their own circumstances and situations, and all their loved ones, wherever they may be.
[7:24] Thou knowest, O Lord. And we pray that thou would have pity upon those who are indifferent and careless. O Lord, may the times in which we live speak to them in a powerful way, in which they would be brought to consider their own relationship with God.
[7:47] Remember us as a nation, O Lord. O, we pray that we would take that place that would honour thee, that we would humble ourselves, that we would come in repentance, that we would come to confess in the words of the man of old, who said, Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.
[8:12] O, have pity upon us, O Lord, and wrath, remember mercy. Remember our young people and our children. Remember, we pray thee, those who are lonely this night.
[8:26] Remember those who are grieving and mourning over the passing of love. Remember us, O Lord, as nations. O, thou art speaking to us.
[8:37] And may we listen. And may we, O Lord, bring forth that attitude that ought to be ours when thou art speaking to us.
[8:49] An attitude of repentance. An attitude of bowing down before thee and acknowledging thou art God. We ask, O Lord, that thou would continue with us.
[9:02] Bless thy word to us and forgive us for all our sins. In Jesus' name. Amen. We shall now read the word of God as we find it in the New Testament in the Gospel according to John and chapter 19.
[9:18] And we'll read verse 1 to 22 of that chapter. Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers planted a crown of thorns and put it on his head and they put on him a purple robe and said, Hail, King of the Jews!
[9:36] And they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
[9:47] Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man. When the chief priest therefore and officer saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him!
[10:01] Crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
[10:17] When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the judgment hall and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
[10:30] Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.
[10:46] Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth Pilate saw to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend.
[11:00] Whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the payment, but in the Hebrew Gabbatha.
[11:15] And it was the preparation of the Passover and about the sixth hour, and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your king. But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him.
[11:29] Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, We have no king, but Caesar. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified.
[11:41] And they took Jesus and led him away. And he, bearing his cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him and two other with him on either side, one, and Jesus in the midst.
[11:58] And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. This title then read, Many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city.
[12:12] And it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. Then said the chief priest of the Jews to Pilate, Write not the king of the Jews, but that he said, I am king of the Jews.
[12:24] Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written. May the Lord bless that portion of his word to us. Let us turn again now to verse 5.
[12:42] Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man.
[12:54] Let us set our thoughts this day upon these words, seeking the Lord's blessing. We might think that a spotless person like Jesus would be well received by those to whom he came.
[13:11] At the beginning of this gospel, however, John wants us to expect the opposite. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
[13:21] As chapter 8 of John's gospel ends, Pilate has examined Jesus, considering the charges brought against him by the Jewish leaders, and has acquitted him of all guilt.
[13:38] However, instead of releasing Jesus, Pilate turned to address the large crowd that had gathered outside his official residence. He reminded them, but ye have a custom that I should release unto you one at the Passover.
[13:54] Will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? According to the Gospel of Mark, Pilate named Jesus King of the Jews, for he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.
[14:08] Pilate wanted to avoid deciding over Jesus, and yet he was seeking some way to release his prisoner. Therefore, he puts the matter into the hands of the people.
[14:21] He assumed that the crowd would call to have Jesus released. Pilate must have been surprised to hear them crying out instead, Not this man, but Barabbas.
[14:34] So Pilate came up with another scheme to try and win the crowd's agreement to release Jesus. We are told, then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him.
[14:47] Now, the Roman practice of scourging or flocking was a horrific form of physical punishment. Scourging involved a whip with leather straps on which bone fragments and pieces of metal were attached.
[15:03] smashed. There were three types of flocking practiced by the Romans. The lightest form was just a mild beating which was intended as a severe warning to petty criminals.
[15:16] Then there was a more moderate form which was more brutal than the first and which was far more serious criminals. but the third form was the most brutal of all and often resulted in death.
[15:34] This form was of scourging often ripped the skin and the pieces of bone and metal would dig into the skin tissues of the back exposing arteries and bones.
[15:46] At this stage it is likely that Pilate inflicted Jesus with the lightest form but Jesus was later scourged with the most fear form which explains why Jesus was too weak to carry the cross.
[16:04] The person that was scourged would be bound to a puller so that the back was bent and the skin was more tense so that at the first blow blood was drawn that would last for about 10 to 15 minutes and it would end with streams of blood.
[16:25] And so it's fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah regarding the servant of Jehovah. I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.
[16:38] I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Or as we find in Psalm 129 they made longer furrows upon my back.
[16:51] added to his scourging was the insult of the Roman soldiers who was assigned to flock Jesus for we are told that the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on his head and that they put on him a purple robe and said hail king of the Jews and they smoked him with their hands.
[17:13] Many commentators suggest that the crown was made of branches from the date palm since they contained sharp spikes as long as a foot. Then they pressed this crown of twisted branches on his head that in itself would draw blood and that would cause Jesus excruciating pain and to the smockery the soldiers added a purple robe or a cape to show contempt for the idea that Jesus might be a king.
[17:44] According to Mark they began to salute him hail king of the Jews and they smote him on the head with a reed that had spit upon him and bowed their knees worshipped him.
[17:59] When the soldiers had completed their mockery Pilate brought Jesus out again to be seen by the crowd. Behold he said I bring him forth to you that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
[18:12] Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and Pilate saith unto him Behold the man. In the Bible there are many exhortations given to us to behold this man.
[18:29] We have one from God who says Behold my servant whom I appalled mine elect and whom my soul delighteth I have put my spirit upon him he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
[18:43] In the New Testament we have one exhortation given to us to behold this man by a preacher called John the Baptist. Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.
[18:59] There are four beholds in this 19th chapter of John and each one is worthy of study. In verse 14 we have Pilate saying to the Jews behold your king.
[19:12] In verse 26 we have Jesus saying to Mary his mother woman behold thy son. And in the self saying we have him saying to Peter putting his mother into his care behold thy mother.
[19:30] However it is to the first one in this chapter that we should like to say a little today. Behold the man. Behold the man.
[19:44] Pilate said more here than he realised himself when he called the crowd to behold Jesus as the man. Why call him the man?
[19:57] Well we find the apostle Paul in writing to the church at Corinth that he makes the contrast between Adam and Christ saying the first man is of the earth earthy.
[20:13] The second man is the Lord from heaven. Who is this man that Pilate invites us to behold?
[20:25] He is the Lord from heaven. John at the beginning of the gospel reminds us that this man we are to behold is the son of God.
[20:38] The Bible declares to us that he is God manifest in the flesh. The whole of the Bible and gospel preaching centres around this man.
[20:50] The whole of God's redemptive plan centres around this man. And as we preach the gospel we also cry out behold the man.
[21:05] And why is it so important to behold this man? Well we may give many reasons. Paul writes and he says for there is one God and one mediated between God and men the man Christ Jesus.
[21:24] He is the mediator between God and man. And I ask you have you got a mediator between yourself and God?
[21:42] Well that is our great need to have a mediator between ourselves and God. for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
[21:59] It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of God without a mediator. That is one of the descriptions that we can give to hell that it is a place where there are people without a mediator.
[22:18] and we are to receive this mediator in this world. We are to be brought into this particular and unique relationship with the Son of God who becomes our mediator between God and man.
[22:43] Behold the man. Now Jesus had a true human body and a true human soul. He had flesh like me and you.
[22:55] He had eyes and ears and nose and mouth and hands and feet and all the internal organs exactly like me and you.
[23:08] When people looked upon him they saw a man. If you met him in the streets of Capernaum or Jerusalem or Bethany if you met him on the shores of the Sea of Galilee you could pass him and not give a second look for he looked like any ordinary man.
[23:27] He was an ordinary man. He was an ordinary man but not an ordinary person for he is God manifest in the flesh.
[23:40] his conception in the womb of his mother Mary and his birth into this world was not the beginning of his existence. John says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
[23:57] The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without whom was not anything made that was made. And then he says and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
[24:11] A divine person the son of God an ordinary man the son of Mary. In theological terms he was the God man.
[24:25] God and man perfectly united. Two distinct natures in one person. Luke tells us that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
[24:44] This man was not only an ordinary man but he lived like a man and spoke like a man and he grew from a baby to an infant to adolescent and to a young man.
[24:57] He knew what it was to be subject to his mother and Joseph. He knew what it was to be tired and hungry and thirsty. He felt human emotions and human experience.
[25:09] He knew suffering and agony in all its dimensions and magnitudes whether physical, emotional, mentally and spiritually. He knew what it was to suffer and he knew tears.
[25:23] He knew weeping. He formed friendships. He prayed to God God. He leaned on the promises of God.
[25:36] He was a man of faith. He was dependent on God. He was an obedient man who magnified the law of God. I delight to do thy will O my God.
[25:47] Yea thy law is within my heart. He was in all points tempted like us. He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
[25:58] But unlike us he was without sin. Behold the man like us except he is sinless.
[26:14] this man is the Lord from heaven. He is the last Adam. The first Adam was sinless and for him it was a time of bliss of harmony a time of delight and happiness.
[26:31] It was paradise. but in this man we have the last Adam who was sinless but for him it was suffering pain and death.
[26:47] Why the contrast? This man the last Adam was a man that was sent on a mission. When his conception was announced the message to Joseph was and she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.
[27:13] An ordinary man yet the son of God the God man and he's on a mission. And this man was conscious that he was on a mission and made it known at 12 years of age when they saw him at the feast in Jerusalem he told Mary and Joseph wist ye not that I must be about my father's business because this man is the suffering servant of Jehovah.
[27:47] He was a promised man. When Adam sinned and before he was sent out of the garden of Eden to face the consequences of his sin he was given a promise regarding the seed of the woman who would come and bruise the serpent's head he was given the promise of a redeemer behold the man he is the fulfillment of that first promise and of all the promises of the old testament such as was given to Moses and David to Moses God promised to David God promised a coming king he shall build a house for my name and
[28:54] I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever behold the man this man is God's appointed prophet and is God's appointed king according to promise the writer to the Hebrews tells us God who had sundry times and in diverse manner speak in time past and to the fathers by the prophets have in these last days spoken unto us by his son whom he hath appointed heir of all things this man is a final prophet who has spoken to sinful man part of the irony of the situation we are studying is that the man they mocked as king is really the king he is the king promised to David a thousand years before he is the king of old testament anticipation remember the men who came from the east they inquired where is he that is born king of the jews behold the man he is the promised prophet and he is the promised king this man is a key to all the testament prophecies as we often speak of the whole message of the bible as a redemptive message we read in isaiah 7 therefore the lord himself shall give you a sign behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name
[30:43] Emmanuel the meaning of that word Emmanuel is God with us in isaiah 9 we read for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counsellor the mighty God the everlasting father the prince of peace behold the man Zechariah was told by God take silver and gold and make crowns and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Jehoshadak the high priest and speak unto him saying thus speak the Lord of us saying behold the man whose name is the branch and he shall grow up out of his place and he shall build the temple of the Lord even he shall build the temple of the
[31:44] Lord and he shall bear the glory and shall sit and roll upon his throne and he shall be a priest upon his throne and the council of peace was symbolic of another yet to come behold the man this man is a substance of all the sacrifices of the Old Testament from the first sacrifice presented to God in the garden of Eden to the last sacrifice all the sacrificial ritual of the Old Testament foreshadowed the one sacrifice once of this man Jesus Christ so this man is the fulfillment of the promises he is the key to the prophecies he is the substance of all that was foreshadowed in the sacrificial rituals of the Old Testament he is prophet he is priest he is king he is the mediator for there is one
[32:52] God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus this man is a representative man as Paul tells the church at Rome he says for us by one man's disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous or as the hymn writer writes in my place condemned he stood in my place he represented me behold the man as my representative he is the man of sorrows again the hymn writer says man of sorrows what a name for the son of God who came ruined sinners to reclaim behold the man but think for a moment of this man's condescension it is written regarding this man being in the form of
[34:00] God though 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 men and been found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient into death even the death of the cross you see the paradox should not escape us behold the man he was sinless he was the son of God but here he is made my substitute he is my scapegoat he is going to die for my sin he is going to be reckoned as sin for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him as a representative man of his people he becomes entangled in the guilt of his people he justifies
[35:15] God and treating him as sin deserves as he takes upon himself the guilt of his people the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all behold the man the crown of thorns reminds us of the curse and the creation for the sin of Adam curse it is the ground for thy sake thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee the crown of thorns assemble of the curse and this man bore our curse Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law be made a curse for us behold the man in mockery the soldiers added the purple robe but this man not only was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities but he bore the shame and reproach that our sins deserved
[36:31] J.C. Ryle he observes that Jesus was clothed with a robe of shame and contempt that we might be clothed with a spotless garment of righteousness and stand in white robes before the throne of God behold the man but let us go forward a few hours behold this man on the cross of Golgotha this man was crucified he died and he was buried and on the third day he rose again Peter preaching to the people proclaimed he have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain whom God hath raised up having loosened the pains of death because it was not possible that he should behold enough it behold the man behold the man who gave himself to death this man died he was buried and on the third day he rose again and this man ascended to the right hand of
[37:53] God the father in heaven he took the disciples out as far as Bethany and we are told that he was lifted up his hands was over them blessing them and while he blessed them he was parted from them and carried up into heaven and this man ascended into heaven and he sat down at the right hand of the father having completed the work that was given him to do having completed the mission of redemption for his people having shed his blood having received what the sins of his people deserved he sat down at the right hand of the father and this man is going to return for the disciples were told that while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparel which also said ye men of
[39:08] Galilee why stand ye gazing up into heaven this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven the writer to the Hebrew says so Christ was once suffered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin into salvation behold the man this man is going to shepherd his people throughout eternity for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them into living fountains of waters this man that was born as a babe that grew up that went to the cross that died was buried and rose again and ascended to the right hand of the father where he sat down having completed the work of salvation for sinners like me and you he is coming back he's coming back to receive his people and he's going to shepherd them throughout all eternity behold the man but the bible tells me something else which is very important for me and you the bible tells me that this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them you will recall that the pharisees and the scribes found fought with jesus when publicans and sinners came near to hear him speak and as he received them and as he ate with them the pharisees and the scribes murmured saying this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them hallelujah praise the lord that is the great message of the gospel that is the great message that the lord wants us to proclaim that this man jesus christ this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them and this shows us the willingness of god to save sinners for god so loved the world that he gave us only be god and son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life the whosoever includes you my friend all the willingness of god to save sinners it's always a matter of the world isn't it the unwillingness to receive jesus christ as saviour is on your part and not on the part of this man jesus christ he is willing to receive you only if you would come to him there was a day that this man jesus looked upon jerusalem who was going to reject him and crucify him and with tears
[43:08] he cried out how often i would but you would not how often jesus would receive and accept you but you would not here we see pilot inadvertently pilot here is giving us an invitation to look at this man because he had never encountered anyone like this before and yet pilot was unwilling to receive him he was unwilling to believe on him he was unwilling that jesus would receive him but if we come to him we have a promise that he will in no wise cast us out he delights to receive sinners this man is god's gracious provision for sinners like me and you
[44:09] Paul could write and say to young Timothy this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief this man Jesus Christ is willing to receive the chief of sinners whatever sin is in your life now or whatever sin that there was in your life in the past this man is willing to receive sinners because he can save to the uttermost he can save to the gutter most he can save the one who is in the gutter he can save the one who is a beggar as well as the one who is on the throne he can take you from the downhill and set you up as a prince in his kingdom this man receiveth sinners there is a sense in which we continually come to him and he continually receives us but not only does he receive sinners but we read this about him that he eateth with them he eateth with them this man
[45:44] Jesus Christ wants to have a relationship with you he wants to have an intimate relationship with you this man not only receiveth sinners but he eateth with them this man is most accessible this man is most approachable you come to him as you are he receiveth sinners and eateth with them behold the man he is at the father's right hand but he is no less a man he is no less approachable he is no less sympathetic than he was because he is the same today yesterday and forever he is the one who still cries out come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and
[46:48] I will give you rest behold the man for there is salvation in no other neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name unto heaven given among men whereby we must be saved behold the man make sure for the sake of your eternal destiny that you enter into a relationship with this man Jesus Christ that you enter into a relationship of faith a relationship of trust a relationship of commitment make sure that you enter into his salvation for there is salvation in no other behold the man some looked on him with amazement
[47:50] Pilate had never encountered a man like this some looked on him out of curiosity some looked upon him with hatred crucify him crucify him but there were some who looked upon him with commitment and love there were those who said of this man to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life behold the man man I exhort you tonight to behold this man to look to this man because it is in him alone that there is salvation commit yourself to this man follow this man trust this man because in him there is salvation have a relationship of faith with this man for without this man we have no mediator we have no one to stand between
[49:18] God and ourselves and dear friend our greatest need is to have a mediator between ourselves and God God is holy we are sinners God is of purer eye than to behold iniquity he cannot look upon sin without punishing sin behold the man who took that punishment upon himself to save sinners like me and you he became our representative man he became our substitute he became our mediator the Lord Jesus Christ oh Pilate gave a most amazing invitation for us he was a heathen governor and yet out of his lips came the most amazing words he didn't himself understand them but there were words of amazing grace from the lips of a heathen man behold behold the man behold the man and may you behold him and may you come to know him and may you put your amen to these words this man receiveth sinners and eat with them may the
[51:00] Lord bless our thoughts upon his word let us pray eternal and ever blessed Lord we give thanks unto thee tonight for the gospel for the gospel that proclaims salvation for sinners such as we are we come before thee oh Lord tonight and we give thee thanks for the provision that thou hast made for us in thy beloved son Jesus Christ and we pray oh Lord and come and pray that we would know that gracious invitation that thou hast given to us to behold him to behold him who receiveth sinners and who brings them into fellowship with himself who brings us into that intimate fellowship that we can say my
[52:09] God and my Lord my Saviour the one in whom I trust the one whom I follow the one to whom I look with anticipation that the day shall dawn in my experience when I will behold his face when I shall be made like unto him oh Lord may each and every one of us have that living hope through Jesus Christ tonight a hope that is extended to us in the gospel may we take hold of that hope by faith and make it ours oh may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all Amen Amen