Yeah. Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 745. The tune is Anticipation
704. When Jesus would his grace proclaim,
he calls the simple blind and lame to come and be his guest. Such simple folk the world despise,
yet simple folk have sharpest eyes and learn to walk the best. He goes the sea, pouring the
rain to come and be His guest. But in the storm, the world is thine, yet simple
love of childless heart hath brought you, O Christ. I hear the mount of creation's
high, of creation's high, of creation's high, and I Holy Christ, the living Way,
Enlightened in the world ordained, Which Thou hast brought on earth. Behold, ye heaven-born of Eden,
? The young is born ? ? Of the
faith of the Lord ? ? Who made the light of years ? ? Yes, that
is true ? He is my roof, my every cloud,
and for my foe all days. O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave The stone of earth, the joy of
being, Thy fatherless love reigns. To thee it belongs, The poor little child rising
up gently, and up, and up. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Gospel according to John, chapter 1. John's Gospel, chapter 1. We
will commence our reading at verse 29. The next day John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After
me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before
me. And I knew him not, but that
he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing
with water. And John bare record, saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him. And I knew him not, but he that
sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same
is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear
record that this is the Son of God. Again the next day, after
John stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he
walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples
heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and
saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, which
is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and
see. They came, and saw where he dwelt,
and abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth But
one of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother
Simon, and set unto him we have found the Messiah, which is being
interpreted the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus.
And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son
of Jonah thou shalt be called Cephas which is by interpretation
a stone. The day following Jesus would
go forth into Galilee and findeth Peter and saith unto him follow
me findeth Philip and saith unto him follow me. Now Philip was
a Bethsaida the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael,
and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael saith unto him,
Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith
unto him, come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to
him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom
is no guile. And 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. And Nathanael answered and said
unto him, Rabbi, that thou art the Son of God, thou art the
King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree,
believest thou? thou shalt see greater things
than these. And he said unto him, verily,
verily, I say unto you hereafter, you shall see heaven open and
the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. May the Lord bless that portion
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
we bow before thy great majesty. We desire to worship thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. For through
him we have access by one spirit unto the Father. We pray that
we may find that access tonight, that we may be given believing
views of the glory of his person, of the fullness of his grace,
of the wonder of his redeeming love. O Lord, we can say with
the dear songst of all that my soul followeth hard after thee,
O God. Gracious God, we do pray that
we may be enabled to embrace thee in the arms of living faith. We pray that there may be those
among us here tonight that have come like that dear woman that
we read of in the Gospels, if I might but touch the hem of
his garment. And we think of that one that
has spent all that she had on physicians, and she was now penniless. that she came to Jesus. She came
in faith, in humble hope. We pray that we may come in like
manner, in humble hope. We come as poor sinners, poor
ruined sinners, poor wretched sinners. We prove and realise
the truth of thy word. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately And Lord, we sometimes feel that
desperate wickedness in our hearts, in our natures. Deliver us from
temptation. Deliver us from the power and
the dominion of sin. O gracious God, go before us
in each untrodden step. May we be kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last
day. Oh, keep us close to Thee, Lord Jesus. Keep us in communion
with Thee. In Thy presence, I am happy.
In Thy presence, I'm secure. In Thy presence, I can easily
all things endure. We pray that we may be given
that grace. For it is through much tribulation
that you shall enter the kingdom. Oh, we do pray that this evening,
as we gather round the word, but a little company, that the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that wonderful grace of which
he is full, may dwell in our hearts, may reach into our souls. We may know thy divine favour
and blessing, and that the love of God the Father, oh, to know
that divine love of our Heavenly Father, to know and feel the
truth of what we read, for the Father himself loveth you. And
we think of those blessed words, for God has sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father, holy, divine Spirit
of truth, we pray for thy heavenly power, for thy divine unction,
to be known and felt and realized, experienced in our hearts tonight. And we read in the Word, and
He led them forth by the right way. And we also read that as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. May we have that evidence that we are indeed the sons and
daughters of the Lord God Almighty. Lord, we pray that Thou wouldst
graciously Remember those that are not able to gather with us. We think of our dear deacon and
his wife, laid aside, and dear Ina also, in her great age. And we pray that thou wouldst
be Jehovah Rophi. I am the Lord that healeth thee.
Oh, we do pray then for thy healing mercy, for thy support in grace,
for thy love and grace. mercy to be shed abroad in their
hearts, that they may be able to say feelingly, it is good
for me that I've been afflicted. Lord, we pray that we may, each
one of us know what it is to feel thy presence and thy blessing
and thy favour. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wilt bless each one of our brethren and sisters in
church fellowship, and pray that our hearts may be knit together
in love, and that we pray also, Lord, that thou wouldst graciously
enable us to bear one another's burdens, thereby fulfilling the
law of Christ, to love each other, to serve each other. Help us
to do that which is right in thy sight. and that willingness
to walk in the way that thou hast ordained for us. Thou hast
said in thy word, thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. We pray that we may see a day
of power. And that we pray also, most gracious
Lord, that thou would graciously bless and undertake for parents,
give them wisdom and grace to do that which is right in thy
sight. and in the spirit of love, to
bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
graciously hear prayer for the little ones and the children.
Have mercy upon them. Put thy holy fear in their hearts,
in their young and their tender years. We do humbly beseech of
thee And when they come into the sanctuary, give them ears
to hear, eyes to see, hearts to receive thy word. This Lord
is thy sovereign and thy divine work to do. We pray that thou
would bless the dear young friends on the threshold of life's journey.
We pray that thou would go before them and that graciously bring them each
to living faith in Jesus Christ, that they may become followers
of thee and of those who through faith and patience inherit the
promises, that there may be a seed that shall be raised up to call
thee the Redeemer blessed. Remember them in all the paths
of providence, whether it's in their education or employment,
May they see thy goodness pass before them in the way. We pray
for them regarding a partner in life's journey. We have some
wonderful examples in thy word of how thou didst bring together
thine ancient people. Thou didst bring Rebecca unto
Isaac, and thou didst bring Ruth unto Boaz, and thou art the same
God. help them to wait upon them,
and to walk in the fear of the Lord. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou, in thy precious mercy, would bless each and every
one in the midst of the journey of life, have mercy upon them, graciously lead, guide, and direct
them Lord, thou knowest the needs of each one, the concerns of
each one, the burdens of each one, the exercises of their hearts. We pray also for those that have
wandered from the sanctuary, from the ways of truth and righteousness,
with no desire to meet with thy people. Lord, cause them to be
in want, cause them to return, we do humbly beseech of thee,
remember them for good. We do pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou in thy precious mercy would remember all in the evening
time of life's journey and prepare us for that great change which
must come to each one of us. We do humbly beseech thee. We
look back, O Lord, over this past year of time and what great
changes we have seen. Remember those in the path of
bereavement and grant thy comfort and thy consolation. We do humbly
beseech thee. We think of those who've gathered
round the open grave even today and that we pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst comfort every grieving and sorrowing
heart And may it be a message to each one of us, we too must
die. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would remember all thy laboring servants as they
labor in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion. Set them free,
set them at liberty. Grant them, and thus saith the
Lord, grant them the divine and fresh anointing of the Spirit,
the opening of the word, things new and old to be brought forth. Lord, hear us, we pray, the incender
day of real prosperity, signs following the preaching of the
word. And, O Lord God, we pray that thou, the great Lord of
the harvest, would send true labourers into the harvest and
build the walls of Jerusalem. Turn us again, O God of hosts,
cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Let thy hand
be upon the man of thy right hand, the son of man, whom thou
madest strong for thyself. O Lord, we do thank thee for
the opportunity of meeting together around the world. May it be a
privilege that we highly prize and use. We do thank thee for
every mercy of thy kind providence, our house of prayer, the supply
of all our many returning needs, Gracious God, we have much to
be thankful for. We thank Thee above all for these
sacred and profound glories of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal
Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. May we indeed
tonight behold His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. We thank Thee that
in Him the holy law has been fulfilled and honoured and magnified. We thank thee that he has made
a new and living way into the holy place. He suffered and bled
and died for our sins, and rose again for our justification,
and is now bodily ascended into heaven and sitteth at thy right
hand. We do thank thee, most gracious
Lord, that we have a great high priest, Jesus, the Son of God. Come and touch one's lips with
the live coal from off the heavenly altar. Come and breathe thy word
into our hearts. We ask with the forgiveness of
all sin, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 247. The tune is Belgrave, 100. O
Lord, I would delight in thee, and on thy care depend, to thee
in every trouble flee, my best, my only friend. Hymn 247. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? ? Whose broad stripes and bright
stars ? ? Through the perilous fight ? ? And crown thy good ? ? With brotherhood
from sea to sea ? ? And crown thy good ? ? The Lord made me a man ? ? He
brought me out of sin and death ? O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last
gleaming? ? The people of the land of the rich
and the poor. ? Greatly, Feeling to need the
Lord's gracious help, I would direct your attention to the
first chapter of the gospel according to John and read verse 47 for
our text. John's gospel, chapter one, verse
47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to
him. and saith of him, Behold, an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Precious truth that we have couched
in this text. Firstly, I would like to just
look at Jesus who he is, what he has done. In this chapter, because of the
length of it, I only read the latter part of it, but there
is a wonderful witness by John the Baptist of who Christ is,
and by the Apostle John in the beginning of the chapter speaks
so beautifully of the glorious person of the Son of God that
was made flesh. But if we just look at John's
testimony, verse 32, and the following two verses, and John
bear record saying, I saw the Spirit, that is the glorious
divine person of the Holy Ghost, descending from heaven like a
dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not, but he that
sent me to baptise with water, the same said unto me, upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth
with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bear record, that
this is the Son of God. the glorious person of the Son
of God that is manifest in the flesh. In the previous verses,
probably a text in verse 14, I probably quote it almost more
than any other word. And the word, that means the
Son of God, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Full of grace and truth. And
you know, friends, he's still full of grace and truth. This
Christ, his power, his love, his grace never diminishes, in
spite of all the demands upon it from his people, in every
nation, kindred, tongue, and tribe, and people, He knows all
their pathway, all their trials, all their troubles, all their
perplexities, and His grace is there to supply their needs.
He knows everything. He sees everything. And indeed,
in this portion that we have here, it's very clear that the
Lord Jesus knows everything. And he said, when they was under
the fig tree, I saw they. That speaks of his omniscience,
omniscience, all knowledge, universal and complete knowledge. That's
what omniscience means. And that is seen in what he says
here to Nathaniel. Now, I love those first five
verses of John's gospel. It so beautifully speaks. of
the person, of the Son of God. And in such sacred and blessed
language, in the beginning was the Word. It's the same here
as it is in the commencement of Holy Scripture. And it says, in the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning means
before it, for time ever began but and it means the same here
in the beginning was the world as it says in proverb chapter
eight i was set up from everlasting it's christ that is speaking
there i was set up from everlasting in the epistle to the colossians
he's called the beginning christ is called the beginning and if we look closely at these
beautiful words in the beginning was the word and the word was
with God and the word was God that speaks of Christ's eternity
co-equal and co-eternal with the father and with the spirit
he was with God and the word was God that's the divinity of
Christ the same was in the beginning with God Christ in that beautiful prayer
in John 17 he speaks of that the glory that I had with thee
before the world began the same was in the beginning
with God now it speaks of him here the same as it does in Colossians
1 all things were made by him and without him was not anything
made that was made Christ the creator of all things that this
this glorious trinity of persons father son and holy ghost attributed
under each one of them is the work of creation that these three
are co-equal and co-eternal they are one these three are one The
Father created the world, the Son created the world, the Holy
Ghost created the world. The Holy Ghost moved upon the
face of the waters and brought order out of chaos by his divine
power. And you know, friends, you and
I need that same divine power of the Holy Ghost in our hearts
to bring us to A knowledge of ourselves and to bring us to
a knowledge of Jesus Christ, to convict and convince us of
our sin. And then to testify of Christ
the Lamb and lead us unto Jesus. Christ himself said of the Holy
Ghost, he will testify of me. He will take of the things of
Jesus and reveal them unto you. Isn't that what we need the divine
spirit to do for us? That enlightening power. of that
glorious divine person. You know the Father, the Son
and the Holy Ghost are omnipotent, omnipotent, complete and universal
power, infinite in their very being. And that same power that was
put forth in creation needs to be put forth in a sinner's heart
before they can believe before they can lay hold before you
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sins that's
what needs to happen you were dead the dead know not anything
they can't do anything for themselves either and it's only as the divine
spirit enters the heart quickens the soul makes us living. He's the living spirit of the
living God. In the eighth chapter of the
Romans, we have that beautiful expression, the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus. Spirit is written with a capital
S. Why? Because it's the divine person
of the Holy Ghost. He leads us, poor sinner, unto
Christ for life. It's like Bunyan's pilgrim. He
put his fingers in his ears and he ran. from the city of destruction. Life, life, everlasting life,
that's what he needed. That's what happens with the
divine work of the Spirit of God in the heart. Let us just
continue here though. In verse four, in him was life,
that's in Christ, and the life was the light. men notice the
change in metaphors light and darkness life they're all in Christ in
him was life and the life was the light of men in John chapter
8 we read I am the light of the world I am the light of the world
that's Christ that is speaking We read again in Corinthians,
God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined
into our hearts with the light of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. In the closing chapter of the
Old Testament, we read this, unto you that fear my name shall
the son of righteousness arise. That's S-U-N, Son of Righteousness. He's likened to the sun, the
light. In the book of the Revelation,
there's a revelation of Christ there and he stands in the sun
and you could still see him though the brightness of the sun was
there, he was brighter than the sun. What a light that penetrates
the darkness of our hearts. when the Spirit of God quickens
the soul. That Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus, in Him was life. Again, in the third chapter of
John here, we read, he that hath the Son, S-O-N, he that hath
the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. These things are vital, fundamental
truths of our most holy faith, and the light shineth in darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. You see, it then goes
on immediately to speak of John the Baptist. There was a man
sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness
to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might
believe, he, that is John the Baptist, was not that light,
but was sent to bear witness of that light, that was the true
light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And this glorious King of Kings
and Lord of Lords, he was in the world, and the world was
made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, as the
Jews, and his own received him. Then we have these beautiful
sacred words, but as many as received him. You might say,
what is it to receive Christ? It's to believe. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. And then it tells us why they
became believers, which were born. It takes us to those lovely
words of Christ, speaking to Nicodemus in John chapter three.
You must be born again. Except a man be born of water
and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Which were born, not of blood,
That's not by natural generation, nor of the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man, but of God. Oh, my beloved friends,
do you and I have spiritual life? Have we been born again? Has
our soul been quickened? Or that the Lord would truly
answer these questions. May you be enabled to answer
these questions. Now let us then look more closely
here at the Nathaniel. We read here in the verse 43,
the day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee and findeth
Philip and saith unto him, follow me. follow me. And now Philip was of Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael and
saith unto him, we have found him of whom Moses in the law
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Now Nathanael was obviously used
to study in scripture. And Nathaniel said unto him,
can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith
unto him, come and see. Come and see. You know, friends, we should ask, you know, we should
always be ready to give a reason of the hope that is within us
to anybody that's very clear scriptural doctrine we should
always be ready to give a reason of the hope that is within us and that we should never be ashamed
of inviting someone to come to chapel to come under the ministry
of the word that is the principal means of the conversion of the
lord's people it's the ministry of the word It's not the only
means, but it's the principal means that the Lord uses to gather
sinners unto Christ. Hence the apostle, he lays great
emphasis, doesn't he? We preach Christ crucified. You know, friends, the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness. But unto them that believe, them
that are called, It's the power of God. It's the wisdom of God.
It's the grace of God. That cross of Christ, that glorious
sacrifice of Calvary, that's what the Son of God came to do. He says, didn't he, to this end
was I born when he was about to suffer, bleed and die on the
cross of Calvary to go into the judgment hall. To this end was
I born. For this cause came I into the
world. What end? To offer a perfect,
holy, spotless sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. To this end
was I born. To suffer, bleed and die for
my people. To put away their sin. His name
shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their
sins. That is what Jesus came to do. He came to offer that holy, pure
and spotless sacrifice. As the Apostle says in the Hebrews,
for by one offering he hath perfected forever all them that are sanctified. What does it mean, them that
are sanctified? Them that are chosen by the Father
and given to the Son in that glorious eternal covenant, ordered
in all things and sure. That's who he suffered and bled
and died for, to redeem them from their sins, from the power
of sin, from the dominion of sin. That's what the gospel does. It saves with an everlasting
salvation. And it's all centered in the
glorious person of Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
son, cleanses us from all sin. You know, friends, all the dignity,
all the power, all the worth of that holy sacrifice of Calvary
lies here. He is the Son of God. It's of
infinite worth. It's of infinite merit to redeem
and to deliver his people from their sins. Look unto me, all
ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God and there
is none else. This is where salvation is, this
is where redemption is. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him, endured the cross, despising the shame thereof, and is now
set down at the right hand of the majesty on high. This glorious redeemer, this
almighty saviour, he speaks One word or two words to Philip and
he follows him. We have also the account of Matthew,
Matthew Levi that is, that's the author of the gospel according
to Matthew. His name was Matthew Levi. Sitting
at the receipt of custom, the gatherer of taxes, renowned to
be fraudulent, and take far more than was necessary. He was a
very rich man. Jesus said, follow me. And he followed him. And he left everything and followed
him. He said to these poor fishermen of Galilee, follow
me. And they followed him. It was
this, realization of the account here of the calling of these
fishermen, simple fishermen, country people, not sophisticated,
but they were called, they were chosen, therefore they were called. Christ was to redeem them and
deliver them from all their sin and Satan's power. And Jesus would go forth into
Galilee and find him, Philip, and set unto him, follow me. Follow me. You see, each one
of these, they went somewhere else and they spoke to somebody
else. It's our example in Holy Scripture. May the Lord give us a burden
for souls. that we may have been able to
speak to somebody else of the wonderful salvation that there
is in Jesus Christ, of the wonderful glory that there is in Jesus
Christ, of that complete redemption and salvation that there is in
Jesus Christ, who himself said, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Now, Philip findeth Nathanael,
and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Now Nathanael was very sceptical, and Nathanael said unto him,
Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith
unto him, come and see, come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to
him, and saith of him, behold an Israelite indeed, in whom
is no guile. And we notice Nathanael's response,
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. Nathanael answered and
said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the
King of Israel. This was his deliverance and
this is his faith, his belief. In a moment Just those few words. You see, where the word of a
king is, there is power. And this is King Jesus. He speaks
with power. And Nathanael believes. The wonderful
power of the words of Christ. The wonderful power of the gospel
of Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation
unto all them that believe. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree,
believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things
than these. You see, this man had been prepared. I love what is said here. And
it is said by the Almighty Son of God, Behold, An Israelite
indeed, in whom is no guile. An Israelite indeed, in whom
is no guile. This man, Nathaniel, had been
prepared by the Spirit of God. You know, you and I, every one
of Adam's race, is born in sin and shaped in iniquity. We're
unclean and unrighteous altogether. The testimony of God's word is,
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. We believe solemnly
in the total depravity of man and his utterly lost condition. But of this man, there's a difference. You might say, what was the difference?
he'd been called by divine grace he'd been called by divine grace
that's what it was like simeon he was waiting for the consolation
of israel he was and the lord had prepared him for this time behold an israelite indeed chosen
of god You know, we read in the Holy Scriptures that not all
Israel is of Israel. It's a solemn thought, isn't
it? Not all Israel is of Israel. The true Israelite, what Christ
speaks of here, an Israelite indeed, is one that is quickened
by the Spirit and has the fear of God in their heart. The hymn writer says, and what
a question it is, and may you be enabled to answer it before
the Lord. Am I quickened by His Spirit?
Live a life of faith and prayer, trusting wholly to His merit,
casting on Him all my care. Am I quickened by His Spirit? You know, friends, vital questions
these are. Are you an Israelite indeed?
You might say, but I'm not a Jew, I'm not an Israelite. No, but
the Christian believer is made very clear in the epistles, the
Christian believer is of the spiritual seed of Abraham. The spiritual seed of Abraham.
Are you? Am I of the spiritual seed of
Abraham. Are you, am I, quickened by the
Spirit, brought to saving faith in Jesus Christ? And this was
the point where Nathaniel was actually brought there. The actual
point of his coming there. We don't know how long he'd been
seeking, but there's no doubt he was, because he was an Israelite
indeed. In whom is no guile? You know,
friends, how do we answer this when we know that we're all sinful,
wicked, corrupt by nature? One hymn writer says, doesn't
he, and it's very true, my heart by nature is a stone. An unconcerned
can look upon eternal misery. How true that is. It's a very
solemn thought, isn't it? But if our heart, if our soul
has been quickened, if we've been born again, if we've been
made aware of our lost condition, our sinfulness, our wretchedness,
and there's no doubt that Nathanael was, but it says in whom is no
guile. Why? Because he was brought to
faith in Jesus Christ. You were brought to believe.
Same as many of those Old Testament saints were. They were brought
to believe. David says, I believe, therefore
have I spoken. I believe, therefore have I spoken.
Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile, washed in
the blood of Christ, filled with the Spirit of Christ, in whom
is no guile, because he'd been washed, sanctified,
cleansed. He was an Israelite indeed. Are
you an Israelite indeed? Am I an Israelite indeed? Quickened,
sanctified by the Spirit, brought to see and to know and to feel. If ever my poor soul be saved,
his Christ must be the way. It's a wonderful thing. You know, friends, when by the
divine spirit we are brought to know ourselves, to know our
lost condition, don't run away with the idea that this is only
at the beginning of a spiritual experience. It's something that
carries on right until we reach the grave. We shall always have
the old man of sin, which is corrupt. It'll always be there. But as it's made clear in the
word of God, that the new man sinneth not. And this is what
Christ is referring to in Nathanael, the new man of grace. It was
there. Behold an Israelite indeed, in
whom is no guile. When we're brought to see how
wretched we are, How sinful we are. And you know, friends, this
is something that goes on and on and on, right through the
believer's life, and it seems that your heart, I have to speak
here for myself, it seems as though you get worse and worse.
More sin, more evil, more unrighteousness. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love. How true that is, isn't it? There's
a proneness for us to wander. But you know, when that spirit
of faith is in exercise in the heart, it sanctifies, it purifies
the soul. When the fear of the Lord is
in exercise, one hymn writer says, concerning the fear of
the Lord, it's an unctuous light to all that's right. and a bar
to all that's wrong, or an unctuous light to all that's right. And you know, friends, it's a
great mercy if we are indeed an Israelite indeed. You know,
it was Jabez, wasn't it, in the fourth chapter of the first book
of Chronicles, when he says, I owe that thou wast blessed
me indeed. He wanted an indeed blessing.
He wanted a covenant blessing. He wanted a blessing that brought
salvation into his heart. He wanted a blessing that led
him to eternal life. He wanted a blessing directly
from God. He wanted the spirit of faith.
Oh, that thou would bless me indeed and enlarge my curse,
and enlarge my curse, that desire. The exhortation, you think of
it in the Word of God, but grow in grace. And in the knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, but grow in grace. Oh,
that the Lord will enable us truly to grow in grace and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. You want
to know more of Him. It's been with me much of late,
the preciousness of faith, But you know, the Lord leads his
children on, especially in our early days, we concentrate very
much, our faith, in what Christ has done, in what Christ has
fulfilled. But as the Lord deepens that
work of grace in the heart, and through the various experiences
that you come into, you come to a place where you want to
worship the person, and the person of the Father,
and the person of the Holy Ghost. They're made very precious to
you for what they are, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the eternal
Lord Jehovah. I love the way the Apostle puts
it in the second chapter of the Corinthians in verse 18, for
through him, that's our Lord Jesus Christ, for through him,
we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. It's a very precious thing. When
the person of Christ is made exceedingly precious to our souls,
what does the hymn writer say? I could from all things parted
be, but never, never Lord from thee. Oh, my beloved friends,
is that the longing, the yearning, the desire of your heart? to
know him. That was the longing and desire
of Paul's heart. He'd been in the way many years
when he wrote it. It just shows us that, as he
says in Corinthians, we have this treasure in earthen vessels
that the excellency of the power might be of God and not of us. What does he mean in earthen
vessels? Leaky vessels. And this treasure of grace is
in a leaky vessel. And we need constantly replenishing
because it leaks out. We need fresh supplies continually,
but every member, he is full of grace and truth. And those
supplies coming from his glorious person, that we may worship the
person of our Lord Jesus Christ. When he, like the spouse expresses
it, when she speaks in the fifth chapter of Solomon's psalm, he
is altogether lovely. Who? The person of Christ. the
person of Christ. This is my beloved, this is my
friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. Behold, an Israelite indeed,
in whom is no guile. What a wonderful thing, to be
made free from sin. You and I, this side of the grave,
will never be completely free from sin. But by faith in Jesus
Christ, we receive a deliverance from sin and from its As far
as the East is from the West, so far have I removed thy sins
from thee, O Israel. It's a very precious thing, you
know, friends, when we have those sweet experiences, when we look
for our sins and our sins cannot be found. Why? Swallowed up in
the everlasting love of God in Jesus Christ. You know, just uniting together
that these divine persons, none come except the Father draw. That divine act of the Father
in drawing a poor sinner unto Christ. He draws them unto Christ. They see a loveliness in Christ.
They see a beauty in Christ. They long to lay hold of it. What a precious time this was
then for Nathanael. Behold, an Israelite indeed,
in whom is no guile. 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. He sees you now. He sees all
his Nathaniel answered and said unto him, Rabbi, we know what
that is as previously in this chapter, which being interpreted
is master, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God. This is the testimony
of his faith. Thou art the Son of God. Thou
art the King of Israel. He saw the beauty and the loveliness
When the Ethiopian eunuch desired to be baptized, Philip saith
unto him, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And what was his confession?
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Rabbi, thou art the Son of God. Thou art the King of Israel. Thine eyes shall see the King
in his beauty, and behold the land that is a ferry far off.
Oh, that we each may be so enraptured with such a view by faith of
the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ, a view by faith
of his holy life, His fulfilling of the law on our behalf. A view
by faith of that glorious everlasting robe of His righteousness, Jehovah
Sidkenia. A view by faith of Gethsemane,
where the sin of the church was laid upon Him, and He took our
sins and He nailed them to His cross. A view by faith of Calvary,
where the Lamb was slain, where sin was put away, where divine
justice was satisfied, where God and sinners are truly redeemed
and reconciled together, it's only in that glorious sacrifice
of Calvary. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Rabbi, thou art the Son of God,
thou art the King of Israel, the testimony of the Roman centurion
at the cross, When our Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice, he said,
truly, this was the Son of God. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to
him, and saith of him, behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom
is no guile. May the Lord add his blessings. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1052. The tune is Benediction 779. Redeemer, whither should I flee,
or how escape the wrath to come? The weary sinner flies to Thee,
for shelter from impending doom. Smile on me, gracious Lord, and
show thyself the friend of sinners now. Hymn 1052. So long, my love, my love, my
love, my love, my love, my love, my love, my love, my love, my
love. Eternal Shadow of Thy Cross,
The Heav'n-laden Star of Thy Presence, My word has stayed in the world
but draws, So I might be my prize possessed. I seek my every joy in Thee.
Be Thou my light and my to me. to the ignorant ministry. Jesus, my humble, solid clay,
In spice and music like a thyme, With airy, softer breath than
air, This prayer and this ambition
mine, Living and dying to be thine. by holy love's praise his church
was made. and I derive it from thy blood. Ne'er, ne'er to wander far again. There may Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and forevermore. Amen.