[0:00] confidence is, it's incredible. And as we live our lives, we're in this come and see series. You have those nice tracks out there and the nice shirts and all these great things like that. I took one of those little red tracks and I was so excited. There's a friend, Grace and I have, and I was so, I was pumped about him. Like, yeah, new material, new teaching, grab my done book.
[0:17] And you know, my sharing the gospel with ease. I was so excited. And I found a friend of mine and sat down with him and I put it in his hand and said, man, I want to have a conversation with you about Jesus. And this changed my life and so on and so forth. I was so excited about it.
[0:29] And he looked at me and he goes, Greg, that's cool. He's like, but where's the proof? And he's like, I just like, you're a nice man. And you're, you know, friends and all this stuff. He's like, but there's no evidence for this, right? There's no empirical evidence. He's like, how can you make these claims and say that that say that they're true? And, uh, incredibly, this was a couple of weeks ago, right before I got this privilege to study for this. And I cannot wait to go back and find him and to go through this with him because the message we have is confidence. It's, uh, it's trustworthy. We can trust it. Let me tell you a story during the battle of Balaklava in 1854. This is from a book called history's biggest military blunders.
[1:04] Uh, the British and French forces were engaged in a conflict against the Russian empire. You know, that's what you did back then in Europe. You just fought everybody. And in this battle, a crucial defensive line was established at the narrow Inkerman Ridge. British soldiers held a key position known as a Sandberg battery where they had cannons and new rifles set up to repel the advancing Russian troops. Check this out. These cannons are brand new. They had something, a technology called rifling. That's a great thing, but they, you know, it was untested, untried to know about it. However, due to various communication failures and misunderstandings, a portion of the British artillery was left without proper orders. And as the enemy advanced, check this out, they began to doubt the effectiveness, effectiveness of their newly issued cannons against a seemingly overwhelming enemy numbers. They feared that their cannons were insufficient and wouldn't be able to halt the Russian advance, not knowing they had the newest and the greatest weapons. Their lack of trust in their own weapons and equipment led to hesitancy to engage enemy effectively. Some soldiers hesitated to fire their cannons while others fired preemptively or inaccurately. The confusion and lack coordination resulted in the British forces not being able to fully utilize the potential firepower that they had. They could have won the battle because they didn't trust the weapons. They lost it. The Battle of Balaclava serves as a historical example of how doubt and a lack of trust in one's weapons and equipment can have tangible consequences on the battlefield.
[2:18] Military history emphasizes the importance of confidence, coordination, and trust in one's tools at hands for effective combat. It is a reminder that the soldiers' faith in their weapons is crucial not only for their own morale, but also for the success in military endeavors.
[2:32] Let me tell you, if we don't trust what we have, we can't use it effectively. They lost the battle because they didn't trust the tools at their disposal. In church, children of God, those looking, we have truth right here, God's eternal word. It's perfect. It's good. It really works.
[2:44] It's a message that is foolproof. It is solid. But sometimes we don't use it to its full fruition because sometimes we don't have confidence in it, right? Or sometimes it can be a little hard to answer. Or sometimes we know we're going to share the gospel with people, but when they ask the first question, we get a little scared, right? Or there's a little bit of doubt or hesitancy.
[3:00] As a soldier of the cross, may I remind you that the weapon we carry and the message we proclaim, they're trustworthy and they're effective against the enemy. It really works. It really moves. I believe we can be prone to not using what God has given us because some, it's not because it's bad, but sometimes we can doubt the effectiveness of it or the ability to stand for itself.
[3:17] Today, I pray we can leave knowing that Jesus and his message are the real deal. I pray we can leave knowing that they can stand up to questions and doubts. They can really work in the hearts of people who hear it. Adrian Rogers has a quote, that which cannot be tested, cannot be trusted. And in our passage today, we're going to see Jesus and his message, one, be used, two, and we're going to see them respond to the questions of a man.
[3:36] And we've already read our passage. We're going to jump right in here. Look at, look at a verse number 40, 44. The first man we're introduced to is Philip, Philip from the city, same city of Andrew and Peter. And Philip finds Jesus. Look at what he said, what Philip says to his friend Nathanael in 45. Philip finds Nathanael and says on him, we have found him whom Moses and the law and the prophets did write Jesus Nazareth, the son of Joseph. He comes up to Nathanael. He was like, Nathanael, we found the guy. Notice that he's pretty confident that he says we have found him.
[4:02] No doubt, no hesitation says we got him. Nathanael, we found him. Comes up Nathanael, he says we found him. Before we're able to see Nathanael's question, we must first realize what spurred him to curiosity. And his curiosity was spurred by Philip's confidence in Jesus.
[4:14] Philip had encountered Jesus and his teaching, and he believed Jesus to be trustworthy. May I tell you that the Jesus we believe in, the gospel we preach, the message we proclaim, they're not fairy tales, they're not made up. Jesus really is legitimate. Notice that he says, we have found him. Who is this? Who is this him? Or who is this he referring to?
[4:29] What's so important about Jesus being this certain person? Notice that we're going to notice that Jesus has passed the litmus test. Philip asserts this about Jesus. We have found him. This him is in reference to somebody very important. I'm sure many of you know it today, but it'd be the Messiah.
[4:43] This person is so important that not just Moses talked about it, but the prophets did, the law did, David and the psalmist talked about and prophesied and spoke of and wrote about Jesus, this Messiah, this person who was coming. And when Jesus shows up, Philip is able to go to Nathanael confidently and say, Nathanael, that's him. That's the Messiah. That's the Lord. That's the King. That's when we follow.
[5:02] We can have the same confidence in it. It's important enough. He was important enough for Moses to write about. This Messiah simply means anointed one in Greek. You'd say the Christ. And in the Bible, the Messiah is the anointed King through whom God established his rule over the world. The King to set this wicked and evil world straight. The one who's going to come down, he's going to rule and reign perfectly. That's the Messiah. The Old Testament's full of this promise of an ideal King from David's line, who would be, who feel hope that God would send a King.
[5:27] He'd establish Israel. He'd reign with justice and mercy. He would destroy the enemies of Israel. All these great Bible promises hinged on this Messiah figure. And when Jesus shows up, Philip is able to say with confidence, Jesus is that Messiah. We may be here today and we may say, well, we're 21st century Americans. What does a Jewish Messiah have to do with us? Everything.
[5:46] The fact that Jesus is the Messiah ought to give us confidence in who he is. Let's look what the Bible says. Philip knew it with confidence. Philip knew that the Messiah was coming and Jesus fit that description perfectly. He says in verse, chapter one, verse 46, let's look at what Moses has to say.
[6:02] Moses had an anticipation and the knowledge of the Messiah. If we go back all the way to Genesis chapter three, verse number 15, we can already start seeing hints and glimpses at the Messiah and who he's going to be. Genesis 3, 15, Moses understood that the Messiah was central to redemption.
[6:15] He understood that the Messiah will be born of a woman. This is what God says to Eve right after mankind's fall. And I'll put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed, and it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. See, Moses understood that the Messiah was going to be essential to redemption. He'd be born of a woman. Look at what else the Bible says about it. Moses specifically in Genesis 22, 18, Moses understood that the Messiah would bless all nations. He understood that he'd be a descendant of Abraham as well. Genesis 22, 17 reads that in blessing, I will bless thee and in multiplying, I'll multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as a sand upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. Genesis 49, 10, he understood that the Messiah would rule and be a descendant of Judah. More specifically, the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a log of it from between his feet until Shiloh come and he shall and unto him shall be the gathering of his people. He understands, see, as we focus in on Jesus, you can almost see like a telescope coming into focus. The picture gets smaller and smaller and focusing upon Jesus. Moses says this in Deuteronomy 18, 15, he understood that the Messiah would bring God's word. 18, 15, he says this, the Lord will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like unto me, and unto him shall you hearken. So over and over and over again, as we read the first five books of the Bible, specifically what Moses wrote, you see that he's painting a picture of the Messiah, somebody coming, somebody's going to be great. But notice what the prophets say about the Messiah as well. The prophets also had anticipation of this Messiah. Jeremiah 23, 5 reads this, he'd be a righteous ruler from David, the Lord thy God raised up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, a prophet from the midst of thee, and behold, the day shall come with, saith the Lord, that I will raise up in David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and justice in the earth. He'd be a righteous ruler. Isaiah 7, 14 tells us he'll be virgin, born and divine. Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name
[7:57] Emmanuel. Over and over and over and over again, Jesus checks off each of these check marks for being the Messiah, the anointed king, the one who's going to rule and reign. He fits these prophecies perfectly. Micah 5, 2, but Bethlehem and Bethlehem, though that be little among the house, the thousands of Judah, yet out of these shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel. You see, he'll be born in Bethlehem, and each time Jesus is to fulfill these prophecies. What's really neat is Daniel chapter 9 actually tells us the very moment in history he'd come into the world. Jesus fits all of these prophecies about the Messiah wonderfully. That'll give us confidence as well, because he's not a fraud. He didn't make these up. He didn't do these by coincidence. He fulfilled each of the prophecies that God had put in the Old Testament, letting us know that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, Messiah, the ruler, the anointed king of Israel, and that ought to give us confidence in who he is.
[8:45] All of the as it was said statements or as it is written statements of Jesus, he fulfilled them. You guys ever read Matthew and you see all the as it was written or as it was said or as it was said or that it might be fulfilled. That's just giving us more confidence that Jesus is the Messiah, the king that God had prophesied about. Jesus is the Messiah, and I challenge you to search the scriptures looking for the Messiah, and the confidence you gain in Jesus Christ will be incredible.
[9:06] In Lee Strobel's book, A Case for Christ, he makes this statement about a Dr. Peter Greenspan, who was a doctor who practices in the Kansas City area and a clinical assistant professor at the University of Missouri, Kansas to the School of Medicine. He was a Jewish man. He had been challenged to look for Jesus in Judaism. As he read the Old Testament and studied the scriptures and searched, what he found troubled him, so he went to the Torah and the Talmud seeking to discredit Jesus' messianic credentials. Instead, as he read the Old Testament, he instead concluded that Jesus miraculously fulfilled each of the prophecies. Can I tell you that if you read the Old Testament, Jesus fits all of the check boxes for who the Messiah is. The fact that Jesus is the Messiah makes him worth following. It lets us know that he's not going to lose. It lets us know that he wins.
[9:46] Let's know that he's a king. He's righteous. He's good. He's of God. All the words that he says are inspired. It makes Jesus worth following the fact that he's the Messiah. Philip knew this. The apostle knew this, and Nathaniel was about to know this. And can I tell you, friends, we're invited to know the same thing as well. It may seem small, but not significant to us at all, but Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed king, the real ruler, the one who's going to come back and set things straight, rule the reign for a thousand years. That is Jesus. He is real. He is legitimate. Jesus' words in the gospel have, in the gospel of Luke have proved true. He says this in Luke 24, 44. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms. It was fulfilled, and only in Jesus, the sole individual of history who has matched a prophetic fingerprint of God's anointed one is Jesus Christ. He is who God says he is. He is who the Old Testament says he is, and Jesus has fit each of these wonderfully. And the fact that Jesus fits these, this fingerprint per se, ought to give us confidence. It can transform our life. Do you know what the early church taught and preached? I think it's incredible. The ones who died for their faith, the ones who helped reach the world, the ones who turned the city upside down with their doctrine, you know what they believed? They preached a message that was quite literally
[10:52] Jesus being the Messiah. Notice what the Bible says in Acts 13, 33, as they're preaching here. This is what he says. We declare you glad tidings. We declare you good news. The promise was made unto the Father. So we're referencing the Old Testament. This is good news. God has fulfilled the same unto us as children that he raised up Jesus again, as is written in the second Psalm, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Their message was largely and part a whole lot of Old Testament saying that Jesus is who the Old Testament says he is, and because of that, he is worth following. He is worth repenting and coming after. He is worth being your Lord and Savior. Their message was large and part in the Old Testament. Christians, can I tell you, if you're looking for more confidence who Jesus is, go to the Old Testament, search the scripture, and he's going to fit the image of the Messiah perfectly. He is somebody we can have confidence in. If I can give you one more prophecy about the Messiah, it's a wonderful one. Look at what the Bible says in Isaiah 53. This is incredible. Isaiah 53, this is the prophecy about the Messiah as well.
[11:44] He is despised and rejected to men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and we hid as if we hid it, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not.
[11:54] Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with the stripes we were healed, and we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone his own way. The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there any deceit in his mouth. Friends, can I tell you that's a prophecy about Jesus?
[12:36] The Lord, the Messiah, the King of Kings, Jesus Christ came down to this earth, lived a life that was perfect, lived a life we could not live so we could have righteousness that was not ours and died on a cross for us in our place. He who knew no sin became sin, and that may be made the righteousness of God in him, and the Messiah did that for us. And Jesus is that Messiah, and if he's that Messiah, that makes him worth following. The Messiah was not only wonderful and powerful, but he's also merciful. He condescended himself to this planet, died as a transgressor for both you and I, your friends, your family, your neighbor. And guys, that's the Jesus we get to follow. That's the Lord we say we want to follow. That's the one we're coming and looking at. That's the Jesus we get to follow and come behind. That's the Jesus that invites you and I and our friends in the world to follow him. That is a merciful Jesus. He is a king.
[13:19] He is a Lord. He is a ruler. And yet he condescended himself to this dust ball of a planet looking for sinners to follow him. What an incredible Lord. That's the Jesus we follow. And when Philip found that Jesus, when he searched the scriptures and he found that Jesus was that Messiah, he couldn't help but follow him. Philip left his day job, left his city, and he'd end up following Jesus and eventually dying for the faith that he preached because Jesus was this Messiah. And what's going to transform our lives as we go into school and college and work or whatever? We know that we bring a message from the Messiah. It's confident and inspiring. We can know that it's legitimate. It is true. It is not a house of glass. Jesus is who the Bible says it is, says he is. Look at what, it's what Agent Rogers says about it. Can't you see that God is, can't you see as God's getting the great prophetic telescope into focus, can't you see all of the, that it, all of it beams and centers upon Jesus as, Jesus as upon the Lord Jesus Christ. I tell you this, it's fantastic how the Bible just takes all these scriptures and closes in on every side. And finally, when he comes, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the son of God, it's amazing and fantastic. This is the one way that Philip knew that Jesus was a fulfillment of prophecy. And this was the good news that he ran to tell Nathaniel, guys, we've got the right Messiah. We've got Jesus. He is the Lord. We can have confidence in it. And this confidence ought to change our life. It ought to invite, make us want to go tell our friends. It makes him worth following. It makes his words worth believing. Jesus is the son of God. And Philip then communicates this bombshell of truth, Nathaniel. Nathaniel's response seems odd, but I think it's far more common than we think. Maybe we've shared the good news of Jesus with someone and we've received the same response. It's quite possible that some of us in the room are wrestling with these questions too, right? You come to church, you read the Bible and Jesus makes some, some not outlandish claims, but if you didn't know the scriptures, they'd seem a little outlandish. I am life. I'm coming, they may have life. You got to follow me, all these things like that. But Jesus fits all these perfectly. And what's incredible is the Bible is able to deal wonderfully with questions. Look at what the
[15:07] Bible says about Nathaniel's confusion. John 1 46, Nathaniel said unto him, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, come and see. What a good answer. So Philip presents this bombshell of a truth to Nathaniel. I could imagine it like they sit under a tree, you know, they're at a coffee shop. That's where I'd probably do it at a cafe, drinking lattes, whatever. But Philip begins to talk to him and he says, Nathaniel, if you look right here and you look right here and you look right here and check this and this and this, Jesus will be born here and he'll do this and he'll say this. And he, he just shows Nathaniel and he, you know, finally turns the Bible and says, Nathaniel, what do you think? Nathaniel stops and says, well, can any good thing come out of, come out of Nazareth? Probably not the response Philip was looking for, but notice that Philip then, instead of getting argumentative or defensive or ghosting Nathaniel or whatever, all he says is come and see. Nathaniel, you are free to investigate this for yourself. Guys, can I tell you the gospel is able to stand up for itself? All we do is present it. All we do is share it. All we do is teach it.
[15:55] We may elaborate on it, but if we present the gospel to somebody, the gospel is good enough and powerful enough and great enough to stand on its own for itself. And it really will work. On December 17th, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first flight of an airplane at Kidiak, North Carolina.
[16:10] On their fifth attempt, the plane under the control of Orville embarked on flight for 12 seconds. It was awesome. Wilbur rushed to the local telegraph office and sent the following message to his sister, we have flown for 12 seconds, we'll be home for Christmas. Upon receiving the telegram, their sister Catherine went to the newspaper office and told the editor of her brother's new flying machine and informed him that they would be home for Christmas. And if he'd like to, they can set up an interview.
[16:32] He told her that that was nice. And he says, I'll be sure to put something about them in the paper. On December 19th, the local paper places the following headline on the sixth page, the Wright brothers will be home for Christmas. The guy missed the point. They just submitted the airplane. And he says, they're going to be home for Christmas. He missed the point because he didn't understand or believe the significance of the news he just heard. I think a lot of times he shared the gospel with people where we present truth to people. And Nathaniel, he kind of missed the point.
[16:56] Nathaniel was from Cana, which was not too far from Nazareth. And upon hearing this wonderful news about the Messiah and redemption and the culmination of history and the king and the prophet and the ruler and the judge, he missed the point. He says, can any good thing come from Nazareth? Can I tell you that Nathaniel had questions? And let's look at how Jesus answered and handled those questions. Maybe you have questions. Maybe you have somebody who's dealing with questions. How do we better go about answering these questions and finding the truth for them? Let's examine Nathaniel's question. There's so much we can learn from this man's inquiry. We can better learn how to address and deal with people's doubts as we go through this. Notice his question originated in a lack of Bible knowledge and maybe a little bit of cultural bias. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? This makes sense when we, if we look back at it, but we got to remember, notice Mr. Matthew in Matthew 2.23 says this.
[17:41] He, the fact he's from Nazareth was accorded by the prophets. It tells us that pretty clearly. Jesus being from Nazareth was written in the Old Testament. So Nathaniel says, can any good thing come from Nazareth? Philip, really all he had to do was say, yeah, man, it says it right here. He just pointed to it, pointed it out to him in his Bible. Nathaniel didn't know what he didn't know. Friends, can I tell you something? If people ask us questions about the scriptures, we can show them from the Bible and answer their questions as well. But then he also says, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? That was a common thought back in the day, a common trope. Notice what John says about it in John 21.2. When they came out, they said, can any good thing come from Galilee?
[18:13] No prophet rise out of Galilee. There was a big deal that Jesus was where he was from. And there was a cultural bias towards the area of Nazareth and that area of Galilee. You can almost think of it as, if you said something good came out of, I don't know, Gulfport, Mississippi, I'd have a hard time believing it. Well, they had the same kind of thought. It was quite common in the day. We're unable to control somebody's response to the truth, but the gospel is powerful enough where we can deal with those doubts anyway. The gospel is the means of salvation that God has given to us, but intrinsically buried within God's grace and the gift of salvation. There's also the choice to reject it. And Nathaniel was able to bring us questions. And our job is not to do the convincing or the believing on the behalf of others. We're just to lovingly present the truth. And that's all Philip did. And as Nathaniel had questions, what did Philip do? Philip just responded to them, pointed them to the scriptures and brought them to Jesus. And our response to the question is, notice what Philip does here. He extends a purposeful invitation to Nathaniel. Chapter one, verse 46, he looks at Nathaniel and says, Hey man, come and see, come and check this out. An invitation to investigate and bring questions. You know what's amazing? This invitation is the same invitation that Jesus had extended.
[19:16] We find that in John one 39, where he says to his disciples, come and see Philip didn't argue. He didn't debate. He didn't fight. He didn't go, you know, Facebook ran about him or whatever. He just offered a look into the same grace that he had received. Friends, can I tell you, that's going to be the greatest tool we can use in evangelism. When somebody has a question, we can just point them patiently and lovingly to the scriptures and the scriptures can stand for themselves. Philip does not attempt to convince him by argumentation. He knows that once Nathaniel meets Jesus, any doubts will be dispelled. The reply is very simple. Come and see. And that's the same thing we say.
[19:46] We get a lot of, especially as time progresses, there's a lot of questions that I just didn't think I'd hear, especially working with high schoolers, you know, Adam's belly button or dinosaurs or whatever that might be. But every now and then you get some serious questions and I don't know how to help you. I don't know how to answer this question, but let me tell you, let's go through the scriptures together. And I promise you that Jesus can answer your questions.
[20:03] And that is the confidence that Philip had when he talked to Nathaniel. Jesus is able to answer questions. This invitation was based on the trustworthiness of who Jesus is. As it was, there's a quote that says, only a fool will trust the bridge that won't be tested.
[20:17] Our message is not a house of glass. You know, it's really neat. When Paul writes in first Corinthians chapter two, he comes to me, he says, I could have used big words. I could use, I could use philosophy. If I could even say the word, I could use the best education, the best of this, the best of this. I'm Paul. I'm a smart guy. But you notice what Paul says when he brought the gospel to the Corinthians. He says, I came to you not with excellency of speech or wisdom, but I declared unto you the testimony of God for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Here's a real Bible principle there. The gospel is good enough.
[20:47] Yes, God uses us to share the gospel. Yes, God uses us to present the gospel, but the truth of God's message can stand on its own. It is powerful. It works. It is divine. God is working with his message and our confidence is based. When it's centered upon Jesus, it has a firm foundation to stand upon. We can trust it. We can take this check to the bank.
[21:05] But not only was Philip's invitation purposeful, it was also personal. Notice that he says, come and see. You know, you could almost read that as, hey man, come alongside me, come with me. An invitation into his life is they seek the truth. You could read, come and see, but he said, come and see, not go and tell. Come along and I'll go with you. And what's really neat is, you know, the same invitation is the invitation we can extend to our friends and the world and our families.
[21:28] We can search the scriptures for ourselves if you have questions. We can extend the invitation to those we meet. But also, look at what God says in Isaiah chapter 2 verse 3. And many people shall go and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his path.
[21:42] Right as I am, shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord shall, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. There's a principle there. When you go to look at God, you go to examine the scripture, you just come and see God will work and he'll show himself mighty and powerful and he's going to do something.
[21:55] We can trust it. See, Nathaniel was able to find Jesus, but it would not have happened had Philip not patiently got into that point. May I encourage you that those we meet and those of us who are trying to reach and those of us who are trying to help, let's keep it personal. Let's be patient.
[22:09] Walk people through the scriptures. Walk them through the truth. Be there to answer questions. Be there to love on them and show them the truth. But also walk with them to the truth. How many people do we know who are looking for truth and have questions and just need somebody to go alongside them and tell them the answers?
[22:22] God allows us to be that in the world. Come and see an invitation to investigate for yourself. I tell you, anybody in this building who wants to know the truth about God can know it. Anybody in this building wants to know the truth about Jesus Christ can know it. And God's invitation has always been come and see.
[22:34] He says in Psalm 38, 34, 8, Oh, taste and see this and see that the Lord is good. Jesus says in John chapter 22, come and dine over and over and over and over again. God is extending the invitation to come and see.
[22:45] Maybe some of us in here have questions or doubts. Bring them to Jesus. Go and see. Go and look. Investigate the scriptures and they will stand for themselves. Let me tell you that God is not hiding and the greatest answer for somebody's questions can be found in searching the scriptures for Jesus.
[22:58] They can be found squarely in Jesus Christ. Now let's look at Nathanael's interaction with Jesus. The first thing is Nathanael left with some clarity. Let me tell you, Nathanael's interaction with Jesus and the response it creates is an amazing one.
[23:10] John 1, 47 and 48, Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him and said of him, Behold, an Israelite in whom is no guy. O Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
[23:25] Jesus addressed him right where he was at. Jesus came to him and as he was looking to have his questions answered, Jesus came and met him where he was. Friends, can I tell you that anybody searching for truth, Jesus can do the same exact thing.
[23:35] He's not hiding himself. He's not hidden. He's not revealing himself. Jesus has revealed himself for us and we can share that good news with those we meet. 1 Timothy 2, 3 says this, For it is good and accepting the sight of God our Savior, who have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
[23:50] That's the Bible principle. God wants everybody to come to the knowledge of the truth. He's not hiding himself. He's not disappeared. We have God's truth right here. We can invite people to search the scriptures. He's not hiding from questions, scrutiny, or skepticism.
[24:02] Are you looking for truth and answers? Let me tell you. It's found squarely in the Bible. It's here and it's not hiding. It is wonderful how the difficulties melt away when the troubled one gets face to face with the Son of God. The misty clouds of doubt cannot stand when he appears for his words or soul healing and enlightening beams.
[24:18] It is truly heavenly logic to meet the hows of an inquirer after Christ comes with the comes of the gospel. How can a man know that Christ is able and willing to save him?
[24:29] Come and see. Investigate. Look for yourself. Search the scriptures. Look to the truth. The Bible works. Jesus came to this earth as a physical embodiment of truth. John 14, 16 reads this.
[24:40] Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. John 1, 14 says the word was made flesh. Jesus is truth itself. And truth transforms. Philip brought Nathaniel to the truth.
[24:52] And Nathaniel's questions of what he was wrestling with was met by the truth. And it worked. But also notice that Jesus also addressed the heart of Nathaniel as well. John 1, 47 reads this. And when Jesus saw Nathaniel coming unto him, he said, and behold, an Israelite in whom is no guile.
[25:05] Jesus seeing Nathaniel walk up. It's kind of weird. You're going to introduce two friends. And Jesus from like across the parking lot says, oh, look, a guy in whom there's no guile. He like addresses about Nathaniel before he addresses to him. And Jesus sees Nathaniel coming.
[25:16] And notice that Jesus first addresses the heart of this man. Can I tell you that's what truth does? Truth works in the heart of people. Nathaniel then says, how do you know me? And Jesus knew Nathaniel was sincere in his question.
[25:28] He says there was no guile. Friends, can I tell you this? We honestly seek and honestly search and honestly look. Or we help those who are honestly seeking and searching. The gospel will work. The gospel will move. The gospel will address them where they're at.
[25:38] And Jesus addressed the honest seeker. That's how God can say in Jeremiah 29, 13. Seek me and you shall find me. When ye search for me with all your heart. We can come to Jesus honestly.
[25:49] We can come to him with an open mind. We can come to him with our questions. We can come to him with the doubts we have. And look what the Bible says he'll do in 1 Thessalonians 2, 1. For this cause you also thank God without ceasing how you receive the word of God which you heard of us.
[26:01] You received it not as the word of men but as it is in truth, the word of God which effectually works in you. You come to Jesus honestly with a question. You come to the scriptures honestly looking for something. The Bible teaches that we believe the scriptures.
[26:11] It will work and it will move. A man one time, so as the story goes on, he was attacked by two muggers in the park. As they wrestled him and beat him trying to rob him, they almost killed the man. Finally they got their hands into his pockets and all they got out was one dime.
[26:25] That's all he had. One of them said, man, we almost killed you. Why would you put up such a fight over a dime? And the man said, well, to tell you the truth, I didn't want my financial condition to be exposed. Rather than trying to find the truth and discover principles, sometimes we can find ourselves defending a principle or something we've already read in the scriptures or prejudice, something we already know.
[26:44] Sometimes people come to the scriptures not wanting the condition of their hearts exposed. And that's what we fight. We really don't want to know the truth. Folks, let me tell you, if we come to the Bible, let us come honestly. Let us come with the scriptures ready to convince us.
[26:56] Let us come with an open heart. As the Bible would say, let us come with meekness, ready to submit to it, ready to have our questions answered. But also Jesus showed his power in Nathanael. John 1, 48 even reads this. Nathanael said unto him, whence knowest thou me?
[27:08] Jesus answered and said unto him, before Philip called thee, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Jesus showed his power in this life. And friends, as we search for the truth and as we dive into the scriptures, as we present this truth to people, God's powerful enough to work in their lives independently of us, without us, without us helping.
[27:24] Jesus revealed himself in Nathanael's life is true. And the power of his word to work in Nathanael's life is still going on. Look what the scriptures reads in Hebrews 4, 12. For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharp than the two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
[27:42] God's word is powerful enough to work independent of us. It's powerful enough to work in us. It's powerful enough to work despite us. And it's powerful enough to really move and operate and to do things in this world. Maybe there's some people we know who are hurt real bad or have questions or doubts.
[27:56] What's going to be the remedy for that? We can present God's word to them and let that be in God's word can really work. Maybe some of us in here are going through our own trials and storms. What's going to help us? God's word. Maybe some of us in here are also wrestling with our own questions.
[28:07] What are we going to find answer? God's word is powerful enough to work. The power of this word worked in Nathanael's life and it could work in yours too. The great part about it is we don't have to prop up Jesus, right? We don't have to come up with some complex defense of who Jesus is because Jesus can defend himself.
[28:22] The Bible is good enough to stand for itself. Notice that Philip didn't have to defend Jesus. He just brought Nathanael right to Jesus. Romans 117 is going to read this. Therein is a righteous God real from faith to faith as is written.
[28:33] The just will live by faith. Verse number 16 is going to tell us that the gospel is the power of God and salvation. As we bring the gospel to people, we don't have to prop it up. We don't have to hold it up. It will work and it will work independently of us because that's just what God's word does.
[28:46] As he says, it doesn't return void. It always has an effect and it really does move and operate. And here are the three truths that Nathanael learned from his interaction and having his questions answered by Jesus.
[28:57] Notice what the Bible says in John 149. Nathanael answered and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the son of God, thou art the king of Israel. Jesus is the master, Jesus is the son of God, and Jesus is the Messiah.
[29:09] Jesus ended up being better than Philip had originally told him. He said, hey, Nathanael, I found the Messiah. Cool. Nathanael, he's like, no, no, no. I found my master. I found the king of Israel. I found the son of God. Nathanael has his mind blown by the depth of the truth of God's word.
[29:22] And that's sort of what the Bible does too. We can try to present the truth to somebody, but when they receive the truth, they get into God's word and they really believe and it starts working their life and heart. It's better than we had originally given it to him as.
[29:33] It's incredible. He had an experience with the truth. He left knowing Jesus was who he said he was. Jesus was better than Philip had told him. Once Nathanael got to experience Jesus, Jesus passed his expectations.
[29:44] And friends, as we go out into the world and our workplace or school, wherever God leads us throughout the week, let me tell you, we've got a message that is confident, that we can be confident. We've got a message we can trust. We've got a Jesus who is not a fraud or is not a sham or was not made up.
[29:56] We've got a Jesus who checks every box of prophecy. We've got a message that can send up to questions and scrutiny or people wanting to look at it because God's word is powerful. Jesus is awesome. And friends, we get the opportunity to present this truth to people.
[30:08] We have the truth right here and it's trustworthy. It's good enough. It works. It's powerful. The truth is good enough to be shared and withstand questions. It's amazing. We have a book of answers for the world. But also, this truth is wonderful to those that receive it.
[30:21] I challenge you with this. Maybe there's some of us in here who are wrestling with questions, doubts we have, things we want to know more about. Go to the scriptures. Search the scriptures. They can help you. Maybe some of us in here know people who are looking for answers.
[30:33] This truth is powerful enough to stand on its own. Maybe you don't know all the answers. Let me tell you. Search the scriptures. You can find them. And friends, this Bible, Jesus, his message, it is legitimate. It is true. It is trustworthy.
[30:43] We can take it to the bank and we can count on it. It won't let us down. Let's go, Lord, in prayer. Father, thank you for your goodness and your mercy. Thank you for the Bible. Lord, I'm thankful for the truth of your word.
[30:54] I'm thankful that your truth is able to address the hearts of those of you here, Lord, and handle doubts and concerns. Father, I pray that you would help us learn to apply this truth to our hearts and minds. Help us learn to share it with those we meet, Lord, and those we encounter.
[31:07] And, Father, thank you so much for your word. In the name I pray. Amen.