Let's open our Bibles to John
Chapter 1. I'm anxious to know what the
greater things are. Nathanael was promised by God,
the Son, the Prophet of God makes this extraordinary prophecy,
doesn't he? shall see heaven open and the
angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. The Lord Jesus
Christ calls his people in particular and individual and very personal
ways, don't they, and Nathanael's call is in many ways typical
of the Lord's call of people and in some other remarkable
ways is unique. And so it is with all of us.
Verse 47, he's called an Israelite indeed because he's declared
so by God. God actually names his people
and declares what they are. He creates a reality by his word. He says there's no guile in him.
It's a remarkable statement, isn't it? But Philip, Nathanael
is one, has heard a report He's one who hears that report,
and this Philip has described the Messiah as written in the
Scriptures, the prophets. And he's one, Nathaniel is one,
who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, despite his concerns, despite
his reservations, as it were, he comes, he comes, and he comes
and he sees. He's one, in verse 48, upon whom
the Lord's eyes have never left. Isn't it remarkable to think
that God has his eye upon you? In every tiny little episode
of your life, from the moment of your conception, his eye was
upon us. In all of the vagaries of our
lives, he was always there. He's always there. He's one who privately and personally
seeks the Lord and is seen with those omniscient eyes of God. The fig trees were famous in
Israel as being places of prayer, places where you went quietly
and privately to talk to God about the things of God. Now,
in this day of Nathanael's day, of course, there was much stirring
in Israel. John the Baptist was famous,
and all Judea went out to see him. And maybe Nathanael was
baptized by John the Baptist, as were those others who heard
John's report and followed the Lord Jesus. But the whole story
of the Messiah coming, the whole story of God now Speaking to
men after 400 years of darkness and silence was a remarkable
event, and for anyone who had any religious notions whatsoever,
they were there. The Pharisees were drawn from
Jerusalem to see him, so no doubt Nathaniel and others were drawn
from not so far away. Obviously, we have a veil cast
over Nathaniel's dealings with the Lord. But no doubt there was something
remarkable and significant at that time in Nathaniel's life. Because when the Lord says, He
says in verse 48, And I love Nathaniel's response. And when
people meet with the Lord Jesus Christ
in his saving love. To them, they have completely
transformed views of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they have views
which a true Israelite will always have of God. You see, in verse
45, the Lord Jesus is the son of Joseph, and Nathanael now
says he's the son of God. He's Jesus of Nazareth, and can
anything good come out of Nazareth? Now he's the king of Israel.
He's rabbi, he is master. Come and see. See, faith is what
we say, isn't it? It's our declaration of who the
Lord Jesus Christ is. But in these verses that I want
us to spend a little time looking at this morning in chapter verses
50 and 51, Nathanael now sees and receives these remarkable
promises from God, the prophet who speaks. He says, because I said unto thee, I saw
thee under the fig tree, believers thou, thou shalt see greater
things than these. So we are left in no doubt about
what the greater things are. Hereafter you shall see heaven
open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of
Man. And I want us to be reminded again and again that this is
a journey to a wedding. Nathaniel is being taken to a
wedding. So Nathaniel's journey is a journey
to faith, a journey to the very presence of God. And this is
the first time in this gospel account Obviously there were
miraculous and mighty things that John the Baptist saw and
heard. There's no evidence that many other people saw them. It
may have just been for John privately. But in this particular instance
here, in the Lord's dealing with Nathaniel, it's the first time
that the Lord Jesus Christ declares himself to be God. He declares
his omniscience. I saw it. I saw into your heart
and say you're an Israelite with no God. And he just declares
his omnipresence. It's the first time that the
Lord actually declares. He's declaring himself. We can never have too high a
view of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we can never have too low
a view of man. But here, before Nathaniel, he declares, he's
only omniscient one. I know all things because I make
all things happen, and I'm omnipresent. I am here, and I'm directing
all of these things. greater things you're going to
see. I've declared that I'm omniscient. I've declared that I'm omnipresent
and you're going to see greater things than that, Nathaniel.
Nathaniel is going to, like so many others, see remarkable miracles
the very next day. He's going to see the Lord Jesus
Christ turn water into wine. He will see the Lord Jesus Christ
perform the most remarkable miracles. feeding 5,000, raising the dead,
healing the lepers, healing people when he's not even present, just
with the word of his power, raising Lazarus from the dead. Remarkable,
but greater things. See, miracles have never, ever
caused belief. Countless multitudes saw the
miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ. And people who are chasing after
miracles and chasing after signs and wonders are bound to be deceived. See, the greatest display, the
greater things that the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about
is the greatest display of the glory of God in all its radiance
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what all the
scriptures were talking about, is what that ladder the Jacob's of this world back
to heaven, but he can't take the Jacob's of this world back
to heaven until he's completely purified them and cleansed them
all of sin. And he must be both the just one, the just God and
the justifier of all those who believe in him. What funny notions
we have of greatness. We've just come to the end of
the Olympic Games and we talk about great people, don't we?
Great things. But our God's estimation of things
and what is good and what is great and what is glorious is
so very, very different from ours. We think the greatest man
is the one that sits on top of a pile, whether it's a religious
pile or whatever else it is, don't we? The Lord says, if any
man desire to be first, the same shall be the last of all and
the servant of all. Greatness in the church is in
service. Whatever what is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination to God, the greatest treasure, we
think. And all man does, to some extent,
in our flesh, we all think that we're going to have treasures
here and we want to secure our future here, isn't it? And how
few treasure their eternal souls. How few treasure the truth. The law says buy the truth and
sell it not. But these days where lies and
lies abound, people are so swimming in lies that they have no notion
of what is truth and sadly in the hearts of many people, especially
the religious people, no great desire to go after it. Nathaniel
heard a report and he went and he came and he saw You see, the
Lord's work of grace in the lives of his people causes them to
be active, to search out the truth. They want to know, I want
to know what's true. I want to know who God is, and
I want to know how he saves sinners, and I want to know what his truth
is from his word. And I've often told you that
one of the things that the Lord did in sending me to India was
to cause me to have night after sleepless night there, fearing. The curse of those people who
lead the little ones astray when I was in charge of sometimes
hundreds of little ones in teaching them the scriptures. And I used
to plead with God. Treasure, what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul? How precious is the truth of
God! What an extraordinary thing for God to reveal himself to
the likes of us in the glory of his You go to the religious world
and you think that the one thing that they would have clarity
about is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet they want
to, in the higher schools of this world and throughout the
Bible, they want to say it's a nuanced thing. There's a nuanced
activity. Nuance means to cloud. I'd like
the clouds to be away from it. I'd like it to be shining as
clear as I possibly can. I want to know what the truth
of God is about that extraordinary event when the Lord Jesus Christ
bore the infinite wrath of a holy and just and righteous God. say to every one of his children
because of the work of the cross, there is an Israelite indeed
in whom there is no guile, because all of the deceit and all of
the corruption that I earned by my fall in Adam and my activities
in this world are taken away because they're all laid on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and they're not there anymore. They're gone. I want to know about that. I
want to know whether that's what God says, and he does, over and
over and over again. See, what can you give in exchange
for your soul? And what's the greatest blessing? What's the greatest blessing
in this world? This is eternal life, says the Lord Jesus Christ
as he prayed at the end of his earthly ministry. This is eternal
life that you know the Father and you know Jesus Christ who
he has sent. You know him. Greater things,
Nathaniel, you'll see in this next three years, Nathaniel,
you'll see the most remarkable things that any human being has
ever seen on this earth. But the greatest thing, the greatest
thing you will ever see, is going to be that you will see God in
all of his character. And Nathaniel, you're going to
see a remarkable thing, because you'll actually see yourself.
At the beginning of your walk with me, I'm going to declare
you as a man who has no guile. At the end of my earthly ministry,
you'll join those other 11 apostles and say, I'm going to die with
you. I'll be there with you. I'll
be there with you. And Nathaniel, in that dark night,
came to realise what he was and how much he needed to save her
in ways that he probably never ever realised before as he ran
and hid and locked the doors behind him and left the Lord
Jesus Christ to himself and to his captors. Greater things when God reveals
himself. To see who God is. To see the
very heart of God. to be taken from having notions
of who God is to actually really knowing him. The Jews had the
most remarkable notions of God, and a bunch of it was true. You'd
go to the scriptures with Camellial and Nicodemus and all of these
others, and you'd be astounded at their knowledge of the sovereignty
of God and the holiness of God, and you'd be astounded at their
knowledge of God's activity standing there before them being
declared as who he was. They didn't have a clue who he
was. So they weren't atheists and they weren't agnostics, those
people. So there is, a great treasure is knowing God and seeing
God and knowing him and being in relationship with him. Knowing
that you're saved, knowing that you're secure, hearing the Lord
say to you, there is now no condemnation, to know that salvation is not
what we feel about ourselves but what we say about the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is a world of difference
between knowing about God and knowing God personally. Jacob
knew much about God. No doubt he thought that Abraham
and Isaac had taught him well and he'd seen and heard so much
about those extraordinary promises. But he had two meetings with
the Lord Jesus Christ no knowledge of beforehand. You'll get to see, Nathaniel,
what holiness is like. What true holiness looks like. A true, one true holy man who
walked on this earth, you'll get to walk alongside him and
you'll see what holiness really is. You'll see what faithfulness
really looks like. You'll see what obedience to
the very laws of God in every tiny jot and tittle looks like. You'll see the great thing of
seeing what perfect obedience and perfect love to God looks
like, Nathaniel. And you'll see what perfect love
to human beings looks like, You're impressed, Nathaniel.
You're impressed with my omniscience and you're impressed with my
omnipresence. But the greater things are going
to be revealed to you, Nathaniel. I want to see the greater things.
I want to see how this holy God will forgive sin. I want to see how the just and
holy God can justify the ungodly. I want to see the great thing
of Him fulfilling every single picture and type of the Old Testament,
such that when the Lord Jesus' life was finished, every single
prophecy and every single promise and every single picture was
fulfilled, and they're all yay and amen in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you don't have to look anywhere else or any further, you just
look to Him. Nathaniel. What a great thing to have him
as our mediator. What a great thing to have him
as that ladder that reaches down to us and takes us back to heaven.
That ladder on which the angels of God, those ministering spirits,
bring the blessings of God and take them back. He is the great
ladder. Job asked that great question,
how can a man be just with God? How can I be righteous before
a holy God? How can me, but sin, and is sinning
right now, be one who God declares is to have no God and to have
no sin before him." Nathaniel, you're going to see
these things, and they're much greater than displays of omniscience
and omnipresence. You're going to see, Nathaniel,
what the angels and talking and eating with you
in the very presence of the people who put the Lord Jesus Christ
to death. You'll see all of that. You'll
see these greater things. You will see, Nathaniel, you will see the greatest act
of evil that has ever been perpetrated. And you will see, Nathaniel,
that you have a path in it. And you will see, Nathaniel,
The most extraordinary thing is that out of the darkest evil
and the darkest time that this world has ever had, that darkness
that covered the whole earth, that darkness which was the darkness
of God that can be felt, that darkness in which that extraordinary
transaction between God the Father and God the Son was being transacted
on Calvary's tree, You will see how God can make
that the greatest thing, the greatest display of the character
and the glory and the faithfulness of God that this world has ever
seen. You'll see it, Nathaniel. You
won't be there physically, but you'll see it through the eyes
of faith. You'll see how God can take a
sinner and make him to be conformed to the image of his dear son. You'll see these things. These
are the great things, aren't they? One of the greatest things
that are happening in this world today. The greatest thing that's
happening in this world today is the Lord Jesus Christ coming
and revealing himself to a sinner and showing that sinner how he
saved them. When I went to India, I knew
very little, but one thing I did know from my studies of the scripture,
I said, if the Lord takes me to India and the result of us
being in India is that one of his children is saved, then that
saved child of his is of more value and significance than this
whole visible universe. That's how God sees it, isn't
it? Isn't that the case? than all of this visible universe. How God, what great things it
is. Isn't salvation a great salvation? It's a great salvation because
we're great sinners. And we're great sinners who have
to meet a great and glorious God. You're gonna see these things,
Nathaniel. You'll see greater things than
omniscience and omnipresent. You'll see God take a soul of
Tarsus of the church. You'll see him
take your brothers and sisters and put them to death and go
away from their murder and proclaim the praises of God and think
that he's doing God's work. And you'll see God take one of
those men like that, a sword of Tarsus, and you'll see him
made willing in You'll have that one who is your greatest enemy
turned into your dearest friend in the Lord. You'll see great
things. You're going to see him make
his people willing in the day of his power. You'll see Nathaniel and soul of Tarsus prepared to
lose absolutely everything in this world, including your life,
and consider it an honor to be so loved of God that he has caused
you and brought you to suffer for the sake of his name. You'll
see great things, Nathaniel. You'll see those angels. You'll
see what Jacob saw. You'll see those covenant promises
of the God revealing himself to his people. You'll see that
brought down from heaven and you'll see it taken back up to
heaven. You'll see the Lord Jesus Christ ascending. You'll hear
those angels. You'll be there when those angels
come at the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ and say, what
are you looking here for? What are you looking for? He's
coming back again. And when he ascended on high
in Nathanael, he took you with him. He took every single one
of his own with him. You lift up the praises over
the gates. The Lord of hosts is coming in.
He's not just a Lord on his own, he's the Lord of hosts. Whatever
he does, he does as an us. Whatever he does, he does in
covenant union with his people. You'll come, Nathaniel, as a
result of all this, and you'll build a church. You'll build
a church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
And it'll be weak and fragile and insignificant in this world
and be the most secure and stable thing in all of this world. You'll
see, you'll see the promises that I've prayed night before you Nathaniel's,
you'll see them fulfilled in the most remarkable way. Greater
things. What greater things will we see?
You'll see union. You'll see his union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. You'll see God's servants, God's
children, taken up into heaven by the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You'll see, Nathaniel, your life
hidden with Christ in God. And you'll see God working all
things together for your good. You will have that great question
answered, Nathaniel, isn't it? How can God bless a Jacob who
is so wicked and deceitful? You will see that God brings
all the Jesus and he'll bring to us,
not because of our behaviour, not because of our obedience,
he'll do it all and he does it all for Christ's sake. You'll see the greater things.
May the Lord give us hearts that come and see like Nathanael and
stir us would once again cause us to
look beyond the circumstances and the events of this world
and take us once again, Heavenly Father, into your courts, the
courts of heaven, where we might see the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, taking that scroll and unrolling that book of that
eternal covenant and find ourselves even if other rejoicing in the
fact that you have come and revealed yourself to us that we might
say you are the King of Israel. You are my Saviour, you are my
God and remarkably you are my friend and you are my husband
and you are my surety before. great and holy God. We do pray
Heavenly Father that you might in mercy come to us again and
again and reveal yourself through your word that we might know
you who is true and find ourselves delighted in the greater things
of who the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified are. We pray
your blessing upon us and your people wherever they meet Heavenly
Father and bless those that couldn't be with us today gracious to
them. We pray these things in the name
of your dear son and for his glory, our Father. Amen.