I was particularly struck by
that last verse of the metrical psalm that we sung, I am poor
and needy, yet the Lord of me a care doth take. Thou art my
saviour and my help, my God, no tarrying make. It brought
me to think of Nathaniel, who we started I'm thinking about
this morning. This morning we were in the first
chapter of John's Gospel looking at the context of this passage
from verse 43 to the end of the chapter which deals with the
Lord Jesus Christ dealing with Nathanael. And Nathanael was
one of those who no doubt, and we'll come to see his experience
as we go through this passage of scripture that there was no
doubt that he could say thou art my saviour and my help, my
God, no tarrying make you see he was a man who had been caught
out obviously from the way the Lord Jesus Christ that was speaking
of him had been called by God's grace somewhat earlier in life. You see, this man was a man whom
the Lord Jesus describes as being an Israelite indeed in whom there
is no guile. If you would turn with me then
to the first chapter of John's Gospel and to verse 47, where
we read, Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him,
Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. The Lord Jesus Christ recognized
this man as one who was one of his people, one who had been
called by his grace, and one who knew God as his savior. for indeed before the Lord Jesus
Christ came, there were those who were saved by the grace of
God, saved by faith, saved in the Abrahamic covenants, those
who had been brought to faith in God before the Lord Jesus
was incarnate. We are brought to faith by looking
back to Calvary, but the Old Testament saints they were brought
to faith by looking at the types and the shadows those that spoke
prophetically of the coming of the Lord Jesus and the work of
the Lord Jesus this morning we were looking then at the context
of this passage we looked at the Lord Jesus Christ coming
to this world we looked at his being the creator of this world
in the opening verses and we went on to consider something
of the eternal sonship of the Lord Jesus just in passing But
John the Baptist said, This is he of whom I said, After me cometh
a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me. There was never a time when the
Lord Jesus Christ did not exist. and was the second person of
the Holy Trinity and continues to be so. He is part of the Godhead. He is the eternal Son of God
and anyone that denigrates the Lord Jesus from that position
is skating on very thin ice. They are going to be let down
because they do not hold to a complete saviour for the Lord Jesus Christ
must be the eternal God he must be the eternal son and he must
be the eternal saviour because of his position in the Godhead
without the lord jesus christ being these things we have no
savior we have a candidate is impossible for the law for the
lord jesus christ to be the savior of sinners unless he were uh... the uh... uh... the uh... the
uh... eternal son of god that is not
him in gatsby's uh... by john newton i think it's uh... ten ten forty nine uh... what
do you think christ is the test to know it's not easy it must
be eleven forty nine what think you of Christ is the test to
try both your state and your scheme you can't be right in
the rest until you think rightly of him as Jesus appears in your
view as he is beloved or not so God is disposed to you and
mercy or wrath is your lot. And then he goes on in the last
verse to say, if I sought of Jesus I think, though still my
best thoughts are but poor, I say he's my meat and my drink, my
life and my strength and my store, my shepherd, my husband, my friend,
my saviour from sin and from thrall, my hope from beginning
to end, my portion, my God and my all. Is that our position? Is that our experience? That
we can say of the Lord Jesus that he is my portion, my Lord
and my all. So we considered a little bit
of the eternal sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ. we looked
at the bringing of Simon to the Lord Jesus and what the Lord
Jesus said to Simon Peter, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah thou
shall be called Cephas or Cephas and we noted that the Lord Jesus
Christ was calling Simon a stone and we looked at Matthew 16 where The Lord Jesus says, Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. And the church
is built not upon Peter, as the Church of Rome states. The Church
of Rome says that he is the founder of the church. We say different. We say that the Lord Jesus Christ
is the head of the church. The church is built upon the
apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself is the chief
cornerstone. We noted the original Greek in
which the gospel records are written. that there is a difference
between the word Petra and the word Petros, that Peter is Petros
and Christ is Petra, the rock. We just sung that metrical psalm,
that we were in the pit of sin and that we were brought out
of the pit of sin. and our feet have been placed
upon a rock, and that rock is the Lord Jesus Christ. Built
upon the foundation, as I quoted just a few moments ago, of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. This is the stone which the builders
rejected, but he's made the head of the corner, built upon Christ. When a Roman Catholic tells you
that the church is built upon Peter, what kind of foundation
is it? Look at Peter. He betrayed the
Lord Jesus. He was impetuous. There was no
infallibility about him. There was no perfection in Peter. He was a man of like passions,
just like you and I, prone to wander, prone to wander into
sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ being
the eternal son of God, the second person of the Trinity he is without
sin, holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners we
didn't notice this morning the part from verse 19 when the Pharisees,
the priests and the Levites asked who John was, and he said that
he was not the Messiah, he was not the Christ, he was not the
Anointed One, he said he was not Elias come again, a reference
to Malachi chapter 3 and verse 1, and he was not that prophet,
a reference to Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 15, in which Moses
said that the Lord God would raise up a prophet like unto
me. Now that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He went on to say that he is
the voice crying in the wilderness, a reference to Isaiah chapter
40 and verse 3. So we go on this evening to look
at this account of the bringing of Nathaniel by Philip. to the
Lord Jesus Christ. I mentioned this morning how
that Nathaniel was very skeptical. Can there any good thing come
out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come unseen. So we have Philip bringing Nathaniel
to the Lord Jesus Christ, and as the Lord Jesus Christ sees
Nathanael being brought, he says concerning Nathanael, here is
a man, behold, look at him and note him, note what kind of person
he is, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile. what a mercy that that is the
blessing and the position of every child of God is he is an
Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile and I'd like just
to spend a few moments looking at that phrase an Israelite indeed
in whom there is no guile and if you turn with me back to Genesis
chapter 32 you'll see the origin of the name of Israel. Jacob wrestled with this man. Jacob was left alone, we read
from verse 24, and there wrestled a man with him until the break
of day. when he saw that he prevailed not against him he touched the
hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint
as he wrestled with him and then he goes on to say the man with
whom, and I believe that this was the pre-incarnate second
person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ with whom Jacob
wrestled and he would not let him go, Jacob would not let him
go And so he gave him that blessing. Thy name shall be called no more
Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God and
with men, and hast prevailed. And the picture is here that
Jacob has wrestled with the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, the Theophany,
as the theologians call it, the Lord Jesus. and he has wrestled
with him and he has prevailed and he has changed but what has
he changed from? well he has changed from Jacob
and if we look back at the life of Jacob and if we look back
at those things that went on in his life we find that Jacob
was a deceiver that Jacob was a liar that Jacob was a cheat
that he deceived his brother out of his rightful inheritance
and he got the blessing that Jacob was loved. Oh, Jacob was
loved in eternity past. Jeremiah says, Yea, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. And elsewhere it says, Jacob
I loved, and Esau have I hated. Now, there was nothing in Jacob
that was lovable. He was a deceiver. He was a crooked
man. He was a person that could not
be trusted to do anything. But here he was loved. the Lord
loved him. Why should he love Jacob? Well,
because God loves whom he will. He sets his love upon whom he
will set his love. In Deuteronomy we see how that
the Lord has set his love upon upon individuals. Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verses
6 through to 8 tells us why the Lord loved his people. Thou art
a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that
are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love
upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than
any people, for you were the fewest of all people, but because
the Lord loved you. Oh, what a mercy it is when the
Lord sets his love upon individual sinners, and the Lord set his
love upon Jacob. Jacob have I loved, thee so have
I hated. that the purpose of election
might stand says the Apostle Paul and he was changed that
night but what a mercy it is that when we are brought to faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ the old nature is passed away And
Jacob died, as it were, on that occasion. He was changed into
a new creature. He was changed into this person
called Israel. No longer was he Jacob, but he
was Israel. And the reason is given, for
as a prince hast thou power with God, with
men, and hast prevailed. He was one who had prevailed
with God, He had wrestled and he had prevailed with God and
he became Israel. And the Lord Jesus looks upon
Nathanael and he says, here is an Israelite, one who has been
changed, no longer is he a son of Jacob, no longer is he one
who was possessed of a fallen nature. but now he has been changed
and those who are brought by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ
those who are brought by the work of the spirits to the Lord
Jesus Christ they are changed they prevail with God and he
answers their prayer we'll come on in just a few moments to look
at prayer and he is justified for the Lord
Jesus says concerning Nathaniel in whom is no guile There's no
corruption there. Oh, he still has a fallen nature.
We all have a fallen nature. We still have a fallen nature.
We will always have a fallen nature. and we're like the Apostle
Paul and we can cry out the good that I would I do not and the
evil that I would not that I do but within our hearts there is
that new nature there is that new life which is perfect that
spiritual life is perfect and there is that constant battle
going on in our hearts what will you see in the Shulamites? the
question is asked. I see, as it were, a company
of two armies, and there is that constant warfare in the life
of the Christian. There is that constant battle,
that constant battling against sin, and sometimes sin gets the
upper hand. Do you not know that in your
own experience? You feel so wretched, you feel
so much your wretchedness and your sinfulness. but then there
are other times when you feel the presence of the Lord Jesus
you feel the cleansing of the blood of Christ and you walk
in newness of life before God and the Lord Jesus Christ so
this is how the Lord Jesus recognizes Nathaniel and it's interesting
to note that the name Nathaniel means a gift of God that life
that he had was a gift of God. The eternal life that you and
I possess, if so be that we've been born of God's Spirit, if
so be that we've been called by God's grace, is a precious
gift. It is the gift of God. Indeed,
Paul tells us that we're saved by grace, not of works, lest
any man should boast, and that it is the gift of God. Faith
is a precious grace where it is bestowed. It boasts of a celestial
birth and is the gift of God. It is the gift of God and so
in this This passage, when Nathaniel is brought to the Lord Jesus
Christ, we see certain things. First of all, in verse 48, we
see a secret place where the Lord Jesus says, before that
Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw
thee. Then there is a sovereign person,
in verse 49, Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou
art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. And then there is, in verse 50,
a significant proclamation by the Lord Jesus Christ, because
I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest
thou? thou shalt see greater things than these a significant
proclamation thou shalt see greater things than these and then there
is a sure promise in verse 51 verily verily I say unto you
hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son of Man we've referred already to
that passage in Jacob's life as he was changed from Jacob
to Israel his name was changed and his nature was changed and
there is that allusion to Genesis 28 where where Jacob is sleeping and he
sees that ladder stretched up to heaven and the angels ascending
and descending upon him and the Lord Jesus saying you'll see
heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man. This evening we will just have
a little time to consider the first aspect in verse 48, a secret
place. Nathanael saith unto him, Whence
knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the
fig tree, I saw thee. Well, what then is the significance
of the fig tree? My daughter has a fig vine at
the top of her garden and it stretches out over the whole
back wall of her garden and the leaves are big, it stands out
from the wall, the branches come out and they cover the whole
of the wall. the fig tree was very prolific
in Israel in days gone by it would almost grow like the bramble
grows in our own country very wide and very prolifically but
it's much bigger than the bramble the leaves are much bigger and
when it's growing quickly and over a vast area it grows out
from walls and it leaves a hollow place behind the leaves and there
is a place there if you go behind the leaves you can't be seen
by people passing by it is a secret place, it is a place to which
Nathanael would go and where Nathanael would spend time in
prayer and meditation. That's why Nathanael was able
to answer the Lord Jesus with that statement, Rabbi thou art
the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. See, no one knew
of that place. Nathanael would have been a true
Israelite a spiritual man would have gone behind the leaves of
the fig tree where no one could see him and there he would pour
out his soul unto God well there is that place where he would
go for prayer remember how the psalmist speaks in Psalm 90 about
the Psalm 91 about the secret place. He that dwelleth in the
secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. The secret place, the secret
place of prayer. Well, the Lord Jesus taught much
about prayer. Scripture teaches much about
prayer. The Apostle Paul says that we
are to pray without ceasing. And here, in this sixth chapter
of Matthew's Gospel that we read together, we have some of what
the Lord Jesus Christ spoke and taught about prayer. He first of all speaks in this
chapter about personal religion, about being right with God, that
we're not to be like the hypocrites, that we're not to do things for
a show, we're not to do things for an exhibition, but our dealings
with God in our personal life have to be personal and private. When we give our arms, when we
do charitable work, says the Lord Jesus, we are to do them
with no exhibition and not to let people know what we are doing
we are not to make a great exhibition of them therefore when thou doest
thine arms do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and in the streets and here the Lord Jesus
Christ is referring to the act of giving in the temple the Jews
would go into the temple and they would throw the money into
the treasury and the treasury was shaped and formatted in the
form of a great big horn like a trumpet and the coin would
rattle down the horn and fall into the treasury making great
noise The Lord Jesus spoke, remember, of the widow's might. Well, the
hypocrites, says the Lord Jesus, they make a great sound, they
let everyone know that they're giving. But the widow, she just
went up quietly to the treasurer and slid in her little coin so
that it made no noise whatsoever. well says the Lord Jesus, verily
I say unto you, they have their reward do not make an exhibition
of yourself and then as the Lord Jesus is speaking about casting
he says don't make an exhibition of yourself don't mark your faces
with the ashes don't put on a glum look but indeed anoint your face anoint thine head and wash thy
face and don't let other people know that you're fasting but
your father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly then
from verse 5 through to verse 15 the Lord Jesus deals with
the subject of prayer and again he deals with the subject of
prayer in the 18th chapter of Luke's gospel but in this passage
first of all in verse 5 he speaks about the child of God's separation
in prayer that he is to be separate from the world. He's not to conduct
himself and act like the hypocrites. Oh, the hypocrites! And the Lord
Jesus told the occasion of these two men that went into the temple
to pray. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a Republican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, and the Lord Jesus describes
what this man did. He went into the court of the
Gentiles, the outer court of the Gentiles, right there in
the centre, the busy court where everyone was allowed to go, where
the people would be taking shortcuts through the temple to get from
one side of Jerusalem to the other. where the people would
be buying their sacrifices where they would be changing the money
from the money changers into the temple money and there, right
in the middle of all this rush and bustle this Pharisee stands
there in his Pharisaic robes and he would have stretched his
hands out to heaven and he says, God, I thank thee I am not like
other men and the Lord Jesus says, and thus he prayed with
himself thus he prayed with himself But the publican, he went into
the temple and right at the back of the temple, under the covered
areas where the Pharisees and the Rabbis would sit and teach
in their schools this man wouldn't even lift his eyes up to heaven
but he bowed his head and he smoked his breast and he said
God be merciful to me a sinner the one thus prayed by himself
but the other went down to his house justified And that's the
way, says the Lord Jesus, we are to pray. When thou prayest,
thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and in the corners of the street that they
may be seen of men. Don't let men see what you're
doing. Pray. in a separated manner in a separate
way and so he goes on to speak about secrecy in prayer but when
thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou shut thy door pray
to thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly not to let anyone know in our
private devotions what we're doing we pray to our heavenly
father what a mercy it is if we are given a spirit of prayer
what a mercy it is if the Lord pours out upon us a spirit of
grace and of supplication for the Lord indeed indicts our prayers
he it is who causes us to pray he it is who stirs our hearts
to pray and that prayer should be in secret so that others do
not know and the Lord which seeth in secret shall be shall reward
thee openly and then there is to be succinctness in prayer
but when you pray use not vain repetitions as the heathen do
for they think that they shall be heard for they are much speaking
or the Church of Rome the poor adherents of the Church of Rome
they have their rosary and with every bead they say they have
the same prayer repeating and repeating just like the heathen
do with their prayer wheels and other forms of prayer you see
the Buddhist monk with a few sticks of incense in their hands
and they are waving it and chanting using vain our repetitions. The
true prayer is the pouring out of the heart unto God. and pouring
out those real desires. I've referred to the publican
that's recorded in Luke chapter 18. He cries out, God be merciful
to me, a sinner. You see, prayer is the sign of
spiritual life. Prayer is the sign of spiritual
life. Remember in Acts 9 how the Lord
Jesus appeared to the Apostle Paul. and he was taken into Damascus
and there he was three days without sight and neither did he eat
nor drink and Ananias was spoken to by the Lord in a vision he
says arise and go to enter the street which is called Straight
and inquire in the house of Judas for one soul of Tarsus for behold
he prayeth for behold he prayeth a real prayer is a sign of spiritual
life It's a sign of the new birth. It's a sign of a call of grace. And although Ananias remonstrated,
I have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done
to thy saints in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, says the Lord,
go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me. Behold, he prayeth. Have we been brought to prayer?
The Children's Hymn says, I often say my prayers, but do I really
pray? We must examine ourselves, we must ask ourselves in our
hearts, are we really praying? And for the Lord to indict our
prayers to be succinct in prayer. And then the blessing or the
secret of prayer. Be ye not therefore like unto
them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before
ye ask him, the Lord knows. The Lord knows all about us.
He knows what things we need. What a mercy it is to be able
to come before a Heavenly Father who knows what we need. And He
knows what is best for His children. He knows everything about them
and He will answer our prayers in accordance with His will.
And He will indeed grant that we might indeed walk in His ways. Well, there is that secret place
that's recorded for us in the 91st Psalm. He that dwelleth
in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, he is
my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust. Surely
he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from
the noise and pestilence. The secret place is a plate of
shade. he is my refuge, he is my fortress,
in him will I trust, it is a place of shade, in Israel it was a
place of sun, a place where the sun beats down upon the land
or we live in a time, and in our experience as Christian believers,
in our profession of faith, we feel the fires of temptation,
we feel the heat of temptation, we feel the heat of trial. Peter
writes in his first epistle to those who are undergoing trials
and tribulation. He speaks about the trial of
faith and the temptations through which you will pass. Likewise,
Paul writes to Timothy and he speaks about ye and all who will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution and are we
not seeing these things in this country of ours as secularism
gains more and more of a foothold when the Christian basis of our
nation is being swept away as in no other time before well
we are facing trials we are facing temptations and we face the greatest
trial of self that pride of self that tries to raise itself up
and exalt itself well there is that shadow of a rock in a weary
land, the shade from the heat. The Sami speaks about the sparrow
and the birds that fly, finding a rest in the folds of the tabernacle
in the desert. What a mercy it is that in our
trials and tribulations, and the Lord said in Zephaniah, I
will leave in the midst of you poor and afflicted people. Well,
in our afflictions, what a mercy it is to find that shade, that
rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, rest in the Lord, and wait
patiently for him to rest in him. Says the Lord Jesus, come
unto me all ye that are weary. and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest." And then says the psalmist, he is my refuge
and my fortress. That's the place of safety. There
is that place of safety in the secret place, in the Lord Jesus
Christ. if you've ever been to York they're
just outside the main railway station in the square where the
museums of Yorkshire life are housed in the centre of that
big square there is a mound and on top of that mound there is
a building called Clifford's Tower it was there as a place
of defence when the Vikings were marauding in Yorkshire in the
early Middle Ages the people of York would rush into that
tower they would rush up the mound and into that tower and
the door would be safely barred and the soldiers on the ramparts
would use their bows and arrows to attack the Vikings that were
marauding A place of safety. Well, the name of the Lord is
a strong high tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. And when we're tempted, when
we're tried, we have a place of safety. And when the wrath
of God is poured out upon a sinful world, we have that place of
safety. What a mercy it is that we have
the Lord Jesus Christ Rock of ages, writes top lady, cleft
for me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood
from thy wounded riven side which flowed be of sin, the double
cure, cleanse me from its guilt and power. My refuge and my fortress,
when we weary in the work. when we're weary in the way not
weary of the work, not weary of the way but weary in the way
then the child of God flies to the Lord Jesus Christ and there
he finds rest and then it is a place of liberty and freedom
surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler
and from the noisome pestilence the child of God is liberty Paul
writes to the Galatians Galatians chapter 5 and verse 1 stand fast
therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage oh there are many
many who would seek to bring the child of God into bondage. Satan goes about as a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. We become in bondage to our sinfulness. We come into bondage with ourselves
and our waywardness. There are many who would bring
us into bondage with the law. They would say that we have to
keep the law. The law is our way of becoming
holy. No it isn't. Christ is our holiness. But there are many who would
bring us into bondage. Now says the Apostle Paul, stand
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free. Why?
Why should we stand fast in that liberty? Because whom the Son
sets free shall be free indeed. Free from the curse of the law,
free from our waywardness, free from the penalties of our sinfulness
because Christ has taken the penalty of our sinfulness upon
himself and he delivers his people surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence
he shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings
shalt thou trust what a mercy it is to be able to trust to
be brought to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ like the chicks
that in danger run to the mother hen and the mother hen spreads
her wings and the chicks hide under those wings. They're safe. No less the child of God is safe
hiding in the Lord Jesus Christ. The hymn writer puts it like
this. Hiding in thee, hiding in thee, thou blessed rock of
ages, I'm hiding in thee he shall cover thee with his feathers
and under his wings shalt thou trust what a blessed place that
is a place of safety a place of rest a place of comfort well
says the Lord Jesus before that Philip called thee when thou
was under the fig tree I saw thee I saw thee in the secret
place what a mercy if we're brought to that place where the Lord
Jesus Christ sees and knows us in our place, in our secret place,
trusting in him and trusting in the work of atonement that
he has accomplished. Well, we don't have time to consider
the other aspects of this verse, maybe next Lord's Day morning
we'll be able to continue upon this passage, but the Lord add
his blessing to these few thoughts for his name's sake. Amen.