I can remember one time looking
at a painting, and maybe some of you have seen it before. It
was a painting of the Greek philosopher Diogenes. And he was out at night
looking in homes, and he had a lamp in his hand. And the painting
is entitled, Looking for an Honest Man. That was his goal to find
an honest man. Is there such a creature? Well, I know we have one in our
text. Our Lord testifies concerning
this man, Nathaniel. His name means the gift of God. And I certainly know that anybody
who is honest, that's the gift of God. Christ said concerning
this man, behold, an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile, in
whom is no deceit. Here we have an honest man. Now, let's look at verse 43 of
John, chapter one. The day following, Jesus would
go forth into Galilee and findeth Philip. And saith unto him, follow
me. Now, here we see our Lord in
action. Remember, he said concerning
himself, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which
was lost. And here he comes and finds Philip.
And you know, if you're somebody who could be described as saved,
saved by the Lord, you're somebody the Lord came and found. He came
after you and found you. Aren't you thankful for that?
You know it's the truth, don't you? He came and found you. Well,
he comes and finds Philip and says to him, follow me. That's
what he says to all those who he finds. Follow me. Now, Philip was of Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter. And Philip findeth Nathanael.
And saith unto him, We found him. Now, it says the Lord found
him, but he says, we found him. And you know, when you find the
Lord, you do find him. It's because he found you, but
you find him, don't you? And what a discovery he is. We
have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets
did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. When the Lord
found Philip, Philip wanted somebody else to find the Lord. So he
goes and tells Nathaniel of him. And Nathanael gives his answer,
and this is an answer that perhaps you or I would have given. And
Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out
of Nazareth? Now, come on. Come on. Nazareth, that redneck
town, can anything good come out of Nazareth? I mean, I just
I just have a hard time believing that. Nathanael spoke what was
really in his mind, didn't he? You know, I like people like
that. Sometimes I'm ready to not say anything, you know, but
But I do like people who you don't have to wonder where they're
coming from. He spoke what was in his mind. Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth? He demonstrated prejudice. Verse
46. Philip saith unto him, the last
part of verse 46, come and see. I love Philip the way he did
this. Come and see. Find out for yourself. You know, I am so sure Listen
to this. I am so sure that the gospel
I preach is the gospel of God that I'm willing to preach it
and just leave you alone. I'm not going to try to manipulate
you. I'm not going to try to talk you into anything. Come
and see for yourself. You see, the truth works itself. It doesn't need my help. I'm
willing to just proclaim the truth and leave it alone. Leave
you alone with the Lord. Come and see. Come and see for
yourself. Verse 47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to
Him. The Lord knew this is one of
My people. This is somebody I am coming
to die for and to save. He saw Him coming to Him. And
look at this testimony He gives concerning this man Nathanael.
And Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold..."
Now here is something worthy of our careful attention. It's
something we need to stop and look at. Behold. Now when the
Lord says, Behold, don't you reckon you ought to behold and
look real carefully at what He says. Behold, He says, an Israelite
indeed. The real thing. The real deal. A true Israelite. in whom is
no guile, no deceit, no fraud. This is an honest man. And that's what I've entitled
this message, An Honest Man. Ralph Barnard, a preacher that
died in 1969, you've probably heard me quote him before, made
this statement on numerous occasions. Honest people don't go to hell. Honest people do not go to hell. A truer statement has never been
made. And hopefully by the end of this message, we'll understand
that statement. Honest people do not go to hell. Now our Lord looks at this man
by the name of Nathanael and He says, Behold, an Israelite
indeed. Here's the real thing. Now what
is an Israelite? What is the significance of this
thing of being an Israelite? Is it simply someone who was
born within the geographical borders of Israel? What is the
significance of an Israelite indeed? Well, what is an Israelite?
Would you turn with me to Genesis chapter 32? Genesis 32, beginning in verse
24, this is where Israel first comes into being in the scripture.
Genesis chapter 32, beginning in verse 24, and Jacob. Was left alone. Jacob. Was a deceitful man. Now you can't read his history
and not see that. Do you remember how he deceived
his father? He came trying to appear to be Esau. He came with
Esau's clothing, trying to smell like Esau. He won the blessing
by deceit. Do you remember how he deceived
Laban and got all of Laban's wealth? Jacob was a deceitful
man. As a matter of fact, his name
means supplanter. He was a deceitful man. And you
know, when people are deceitful, it's all going to come crashing
down on a minute. You can't live a life like that without it all
coming crashing down. And it was coming crashing down
on Jacob at this time. Esau was after him. Everything
that he had schemed for seemed to be ruined. And he was left
alone. Oh, how by himself he was at
this time. Jacob was left alone. And there
wrestled a man with him. into the breaking of the day.
Now, we know who that man was. Look down in verse 30. And Jacob
called the name of that place Peniel, for he said, I have seen
God face to face. This was the Lord Jesus Christ
wrestling with this man. And it wasn't Jacob that initiated
this wrestling match. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
that initiated this wrestling match. And He's going to pin
him down. He's going to put him down. That's what He needed.
And He's going to put him down. So Jacob was left alone, and
there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Verse 25, And when he saw that he prevailed not against him,
the Lord Jesus saw that Jacob was holding on. He touched the
hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out
of joint as he wrestled with him. He put him down. I mean,
he dislocated his hip. Now can you imagine how painful
that must have been? He put him down. But even so,
his hip is put out of joint, verse 26, and he said, this is
the Lord Jesus speaking to Jacob, let me go for the daybreak. Now, what I see here is that
Jacob was not going to let him go. I mean, he was defeated,
he was in the ground, his hip was out of joint, yet he was
holding on. He knew, I don't have anything else. Go on reading,
verse 26. The day breaketh and he said,
I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. You ever done
that? You're going to have to send
me to hell. I'm not going to let you go except you bless me.
I'm going to hold on. Now, I see desperation there. He didn't have anywhere else
to turn. He was alone at this time. Everything that he'd schemed
for had come falling in. He was alone and he knew the
only hope that he had was if this one would bless him. He
didn't have anywhere else to go. He didn't have any other
hopes. I won't let you go. Except You bless me. I pray that
God will give us this morning this determination. Lord, I'm
not going to let go except You bless me. Sink or swim, I go
to Him. Verse 27, And He said unto him,
What's your name? He knew what his name was. He
wasn't asking this for information. He was asking him this for confession.
What's your name? Who are you? What are you made
of? And you know how he answered? Jacob. Jacob is my name. Deceiver. Liar. Supplanter. Jacob is my name. This was his
confession. This is what I am. This is who
I am. Jacob. Verse 28, And he, the Lord Jesus
Christ, said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob. But Israel, for as a prince hast thou power
with God and with men, and you've prevailed." Who is Israel? He's somebody that God has changed
their name. He's given them a new name. This
is salvation. And he says, as a prince, you
have power with God. You have the very ear of God. When you speak, God listens.
Now, that is true of every believer. Do you know that? Because of
Christ. That's true of every believer.
Every believer is the true Israel of God. A prince with God that
has favor with God, that has power with God. Now, our Lord
looks at this man, Nathanael, and we see he was a sarcastic
man. Could anything good come out of Nazareth? But he looks
at this man and he says, behold, an Israelite indeed. He is the
real deal. He is a true Israelite. Now, what does he mean a true
Israelite? Turn to Romans nine and I'll
show you. Romans nine. Beginning in verse six. It's not as though the word of
God had taken effect. But they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel. Everybody that's born in the
nation of Israel, this is not what makes them a true Israelite.
Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all
children. Remember, Abraham had Isaac and Ishmael. And you know,
Ishmael is never acknowledged as a child. You remember when
God said, take now your son, your only son, Isaac. Ishmael
is never acknowledged by God as a child. Just because you're
born as the seed of Abraham, a physical descendant of Abraham,
that doesn't make you a true Israelite. In Isaac, should I
see be called, verse 8, that is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word
of promise. At this time will I come, God
says, and Sarah shall have a son. Not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, for the
children, The twins that Rebecca had, being not yet born, neither
having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand. Not of works, but of him that
calleth it was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger,
as it's written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. When our
Lord looked at Nathanael coming to him and he said, behold, an
Israelite indeed. He's saying this is one of my
elect. This is a true Israelite. one of the elect of God, one
of the chosen of God. Behold, he says, a true Israel,
a prince with God, one of God's chosen. And what is the evidence
he gives that this man is a true Israelite? In our text, in John
1, behold, an Israelite indeed in
whom is no guile. No deceit, no fraud. Now, this word guile is where
we get the word bait from. When you're fishing, you put
bait on a hook to fool the fish, don't you? You want it to appear
to be. what it's not in reality. It's
where we get the word decoy from. What's a decoy? Well, when you
decoy, you sound it out that makes it sound like the animal
you're hunting for. I mean, it sounds like the real thing. It
is deceit. It is delusion. Now, our Lord
says regarding this man, Nathaniel, he's not filled with guile. He's
not filled with deceit. He is honest. He's the real deal. He's an honest man. He means
what he says and he says what he means. He is honest. That is who this man is. Now,
this is the evidence of being a true Israelite. You have no
guile. You are an honest individual. Everybody that God saves, He
makes them honest. people. And no man by nature is an honest
man. What I'm talking about, none
of us by nature fit this description. No man. As a matter of fact,
Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse nine, says the heart. Is desperately
wicked. And deceitful. Above all things. Who can know it? Now that's God's
description of my heart and your heart. Desperately wicked and
deceitful. Deceitful. A liar. That's God's
testimony. And let God be true and every
man a liar. That's God's testimony of me.
That's God's testimony of you. Deceitful. That is why the natural man is
unable to receive the gospel. He's too deceitful. He has lied
to himself and made himself out to be something that he's really
not. Therefore, he is unable to receive the truth. His perception
is skewed by the lies he's told himself. And this, you know,
when I'm talking about this, I know it's true concerning me.
I have actually lied to myself and made myself believe it was
the truth. And you've done the same thing. Every one of us has. The natural man is a liar. He's a deceptive man. But when
God saves somebody, you know what he does? He makes them honest. Now, let
me show you what I mean by that, would you turn with me to Psalm
32. Psalm 32. Verse one. And I have no doubt that this
is what our Lord is referring to when he makes this statement
regarding Nathaniel. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is
no guile, no deceit, no fraud, no bait is the real thing. Now, in this passage of Scripture,
we read of three things. We read of transgression, we
read of iniquity, and we read of sin. Those are the three words
the Bible uses to describe man's nature. Transgression, iniquity,
and sin. Now, there's significance to
this. Transgression is the bad things we do. It's the breaking
of God's law. When you tell a lie, you're transgressing. When you covet, you're transgressing.
When you have a lustful thought, you're transgressing. It's the
breaking of God's law. Iniquity is the good things that
we do. We read of the iniquity of the
holy things of the children of Israel. Our righteousness, as
the scripture says, are as filthy rags. That's the good things
that we do. I never will forget one time
I was reading a message by Charles Spurgeon, and this meant so much
to me. He said, when I examine my good works and my bad works,
I find that I can't tell the difference between the two. And
I find that I need to throw them all overboard, and the only way
I'm going to get into heaven is on the plank of free grace.
Isn't that so? Iniquity and transgression. Sin is my nature. Sin is not
so much what I do. The iniquities and the transgressions
come out of the sinful nature. Sin, listen to me, please understand
this, sin is not what you do, it's what you are. It's a nature. Now, David speaks of these three
horrible evils, iniquity, transgression and sin. But he says, blessed
is he, how blessed by God that one is whose transgression is
forgiven, whose iniquity is covered. God doesn't impute his sin to
him. What a blessed state that is. Now, I can't read that passage
of Scripture without it becoming very intensely personal for me,
because I never will forget. You'll forgive me that many of
you have already heard this before, but I'll never forget. When I
was 1988, October of 1988, I was in the hospital, thought I was
going to die, thought I was going to die that night. And. I started asking, I really believe
this was my last night here on Earth and I was going to stand
and meet God in judgment. And I started looking within
my heart. To try to find some assurance that I would be in
heaven. I started looking within my heart to find some assurance
that I would be saved. And I truly a saved individual.
And I started looking within. And when I looked in my heart,
I'm telling you the truth. I'm being honest with you right
now. I couldn't find one thing in my heart that made me think
I even knew the Lord. All I saw was sin. That's it. And I can remember
Being in that hospital room at that time, and I remember started
crying. I thought, I'm going to hell this very night. I'm
going to be separated from God. And the Lord, in his mercy, brought
this scripture to my mind. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven. Blessed is he whose Iniquity
or sin is covered, covered in the blood of the Lamb. Blessed
is he to whom the Lord will not impute sin. And I was made to
see at that time so clearly that everything I thought about myself
was true. But here's my hope. God didn't charge me with my
sin. That's my hope. He didn't charge
it to me. Everything I thought about myself
was true, but He charged it to His Son. His Son was made sin. My sin became His. And you know,
that's not something you can just up and, I'm going to put
my sin on Christ. You can't do it. Only God can do it. And God
took my sin and put it on Christ. And He took Christ's perfect
obedience and put it on me. That's my hope. That's my hope. But do you know that you can't
understand this unless you have some honesty? You have to be
honest about yourself. You're going to have to be honest
about your sin. You're going to have to be honest about your
iniquity. You're going to have to be honest about your transgression
or this will be meaningless to you. The only way that you can
understand the gospel, the only way you can hear the gospel is
as you hear as a sinner. That's the only way it will mean
anything to you. If you don't hear as a sinner, you're not
hearing at all. The reason somebody can't hear
the gospel is they're not hearing as a sinner. Now, if you have
iniquity and transgression and sin. You can hear the gospel. Turn with me to First John, chapter
one. While you're turning there, I
want to remind you of the good ground here. You remember the
parable of the sower. The sower went out and sowed
and the seed was spread all over the place. Some fell on the path
and the birds came and picked it up. It was gone. Some fell
on stony ground and it It came up quick and endured for a while,
but as soon as the sun came out, it didn't have any root because
it was on stones and it died. And the other fell among thorns
and the thorns grew up and choked the word. And then some fell
on good ground. You know how the Lord described
the good ground? Does anybody remember? In Luke's account,
he says the good ground here, the seed fell on an honest and
good heart. Honest. Honest. Now look here in 1 John chapter
1, verse 5. This then is the message which
we've heard of him and declaring to you that God is light and
in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, we're being deceptive. We lie. And we're not doing the truth.
Now, most people, when they look at that passage of Scripture,
that means, well, if you profess to be a Christian, but you're living
in sin in the dark and nobody knows what you're doing, then
you're just lying and not doing the truth. That's bad, but is
that what he's talking about? Well, let's let's go on reading.
That's really not what he's talking about. I'm not suggesting it's
OK to sin in the darkness, but that's not what he's talking
about. He's talking about. If we say we have fellowship
and walk in darkness as to how God saves sinners and how sins
are forgiven, we lie and do not look in verse seven, but if we
walk in the light. As he is in the light. We have
fellowship one with another in the blood of Jesus Christ. God's
Son cleanses us from all sin. He doesn't deny the reality of
sin, but he says if we walk in the light, the light of the gospel
of how God puts away sin, of how God saves sinners, we do
have fellowship with one another, don't we? Don't you have fellowship?
Don't you have true communion with somebody who really believes
that the blood of Christ is everything in their salvation? I mean, there's
something about that your heart goes out to that person, doesn't
it? You truly have fellowship with that person. Verse 8, if
we say we have no sin, and here the word sin is a noun. John
says this all the time. If we say, if we say we have
no sin and there's a noun, it's a sinful nature. What do we do?
We deceive ourselves. And the truth is not even in
us. Now, he's talking about honesty now, isn't he? If I say, well,
I don't have a sinful nature. You know, at all times, David
said, my sin is ever before me. And if I deny that, what am I
doing? I'm being a liar. That's what
he says. I'm being a liar. The truth is not even in me.
I've lost all credibility. Verse 9, if we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. If we confess
them, if we if we agree with what God says about us, and that's
that's what it is to confess your sins, is to take sides with
God against yourself. Have you ever done that? Have
I ever done that? We agree with God. We confess
our sins. But he says he is faithful and
just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, verse 10, if we say we've
not sinned and here the word is a verb. It's a verb. In verse 8, it was a noun talking
about a sinful nature. Here it's talking about an action.
If we say we've not sinned, if I say, well, I didn't sin there.
You know what I'm doing? I'm lying. And I'm calling God
a liar. That's what he says. If we say
we've not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in
us. Now, who is the honest man? Who
is the man in whose spirit there is no guile? He's not seeking
to deceive. He's not pretending. He's honest
before God about himself. Now, this is the honest man.
He takes his place before God as a sinner. Now, I'm looking
for an honest man right now. I'm looking for a real bona fide
sinner. Do I got any of those here this
morning? Do I? Now that is the honest man. The
man who takes his place before God as a sinner. He doesn't try
to pretend to be what he's not. He's not trying to deceive God.
He's not trying to trick God. He comes before God and stands
guilty. Guilty as charged. No excuses. No extenuating circumstances. Guilty. Now that's the man who's
honest. He stands before God as guilty. Beloved, you can only hear the gospel
when you stand before God as guilty. It is impossible to hear
until you're right here. And anything other than this
is a lie. It's deception. It's not being
honest with God. Now, the reason some of us do
not really hear is because we're dishonest before God. If you don't hear the gospel,
if you don't believe, I can tell you what the problem is right
now, it's because you're a liar. You're lying before God and you're not
being honest before God. You're not taking your place
as a guilty sinner, so you're unable to hear. But when you're
honest, you want to know the truth, don't you? When you're
honest, Lord, give me the truth. Tell me the truth about myself.
Tell me the truth about how you say. Tell me the truth. And that's
what an honest person wants to know. An honest person wants
to know the truth. So this honest man is a man who's
honest before God concerning what he is. And he is honest
with the word of God. Somebody that's honest about
themselves will be honest with the word of God. They don't try
to. Use it. to force it into their
system. They bow to what it says. They don't use it to find out
texts and pull them out of context to prove what they believe. They're
honest with the word of God, they bow to what God says, they
don't try to make it say what it doesn't say. Turn with me
to 2 Corinthians chapter 2 for a moment. 2 Corinthians 2. Verse 17. Paul says, For we are not as
many. And notice that word many. For
we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God, but as a sincerity,
but as of God in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. We don't corrupt the Word of
God. Look in chapter 4. Verse one, therefore, seeing we have
this ministry as we've received mercy, we think not, but we have
renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness
or deceit, nor handling the word of God deceitfully. But by manifestation of the truth,
We commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight
of God. We don't use the Word of God to promote what we're
trying to promote. No, we declare God's Word, we
bow before what God says. Now, an honest person is honest
with the Word of God. Now, the Bible, this book, really
does declare that God is God. absolutely sovereign in control
of all things, and the only thing that will keep someone from seeing
that is dishonesty. It's not being honest with the
Word of God. The Bible really does declare
that men are dead in sins. Ephesians 2-1, and you have be
quickened, who are dead in trespasses and sins. And you know the only
thing that will keep somebody from seeing that is what? Dishonesty. That's the only thing
that prevents you from seeing the truth. That's the only thing
that would prevent me from seeing the truth. Dishonesty. The Bible declares
that salvation is of the Lord. It's all of grace. It's what
He does. Salvation is not what you do for God. It's what He
does for you, and you're totally dependent upon Him. The Bible
declares this over and throughout the Scriptures. For instance,
You won't be saved unless God chooses you and saves you. He's got to choose you before
the foundation of the world. That's election. Bible teaches that.
And the only thing that would keep somebody from seeing it
is dishonesty. That's it. You're not being honest
with the scripture. Have you ever dealt with that? Christ Jesus is everything in
salvation. By that, I mean, when he said it is finished, the salvation
of his people was accomplished. He's everything in salvation,
and the only thing that will keep somebody from seeing that
is dishonesty. If you're honest with the Word
of God, you'll see this. You see, the Scripture is not up
for my interpretation or your interpretation. The Scripture
says it's not of any private interpretation. If you're honest
with what the Word of God says, you'll see what it says. And
the only thing that prevents us from seeing is dishonesty. The honest man has faced the
truth about himself, but he's also heard the glorious truth
of the gospel. I turn with me to First Timothy
chapter one for just a moment. My soul, I'm sitting here trying
to talk about being honest. About being a sinner. And what is so frustrating? is I can never be sincere enough.
I can never be honest enough. I can never tell the truth enough.
Even when I'm talking about this, some say, do you really believe
this? You're telling these people this. Do you really believe this?
Is this what's in your heart? Well, I sure hope so. I sure
hope so, because if it's not, I'm in trouble. Look here in 1 Timothy 1. Verse
15. This is a faithful saying. This is absolutely trustworthy. You can lean the weight of your
soul on this saying. And it's worthy of all acceptation. This saying is worthy of you
receiving this as the best news you've ever heard in your life. And here it is. That Christ Jesus. Came into the world. To save
sinners. Of whom I am the chief. Now, the honest man before God. Is completely relying on this
statement. If you're honest about your sin.
And you're honest with who Christ came to save. It says he came
to save sinners and beloved. That's exactly what he did when
he came. He saved sinners, a salvation. He saved him. He said when he
said it is finished, everybody he died for was saved. Do you
believe that? Now, I'm putting all my eggs
in that basket. I really am. The Lord knows what
I'm telling the truth. I'm putting all my eggs in that. The only
hope I have is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
If that's not true, I'm doomed. I don't have any hope. All my
hope, and I'm being as honest as I know how to be, all my hope
is right here. When He bowed His mighty head
and said, It is finished. My salvation was accomplished.
All my sins were paid for. He paid for them with His precious
blood. His perfect obedience is charged to me by one offering
He perfected forever, them that are sanctified. All my eggs are
in that basket. My only hope is that He died
for sinners. And this is the only thing I
can claim to myself as being a sinner. That's it. This is
the highest place I can get to. Now, here's my hope. I hope I'm saying
this as an honest man. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. The honest man truly relies on
this. Honest people don't go to hell. You find me an honest man and
I'll show you a believer. And all liars go to hell. Every single one of them. And
every honest man, you find me an honest man and I'll find you
somebody God has saved. Do you know the most blessed
state? The most blessed state that you
can be in is to be a sinner. It seems almost too good to be
true, doesn't it? But that's the truth. Honest people don't
go to hell. He looked at Nathaniel. And he
said, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no God. You find me
a Nathanael, I'll show you a believer. Now, let's go back to our text
and read these last few verses. I'm going to show you something
about Nathanael. Verse 47, Jesus saw Nathanael
coming to him and saith of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed,
in whom is no guile, no deceit. And let me say this
before I go on. Do you know the only thing that
would prevent you from believing what I'm saying is dishonesty? That sounds like a harsh statement,
but it's the truth. The only thing that keeps a man from receiving
the truth is dishonesty. Are you saying that if I don't
believe what you're saying, I'm dishonest? Yes. Yes, that's exactly
what I'm saying. Now, that's the truth. That's
the truth of the matter. So let's go on reading. Nathanael
said 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. Honest people believe the truth,
don't they? They believe the truth concerning who He is. Let's pray together.