In the sermon titled 'Follow Me' by Jason Dohm, the speaker delves into the Gospel of John, specifically chapter 1, verses 43 to the end, where Jesus calls Philip to follow Him. This call highlights Jesus' divine identity and authority. The sermon explores the narrative of Philip finding Nathaniel and declaring Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, despite Nathaniel's initial skepticism about anything good coming from Nazareth. The sermon emphasizes the comprehensive and continuous revelation of Jesus' identity throughout the Gospel. It draws parallels between Jesus' actions and the Old Testament, underscoring that Jesus is the central figure to whom the scriptures point. Nathaniel's transformation from doubt to declaring Jesus as the 'Son of God' and 'King of Israel' is examined, illustrating Jesus' omniscience and divine nature. The sermon further discusses the significance of Jesus' titles and the radical call to discipleship. It concludes with Jesus' promise to Nathaniel and others about witnessing greater things and interpretations of seeing 'heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.'

Our sermon text this morning is John chapter 1 verses 43 through the end of the chapter The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee and he found Philip and said to him follow me Now Philip was from Bethsaida the city of Andrew and Peter Philip found Nathaniel and said to him We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets, wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit. Nathaniel said to him, How do you know me?

Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathaniel answered and said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said to him, because I said to you I saw you under the fig tree do you believe? You will see greater things than these.

And he said to him, most assuredly I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this text that you have us in. Pray that you will be with Jason as he comes and delivers your word to us. Pray that you'll send your Holy Spirit among us and open our hearts to hear your word.

In Jesus' name, Amen. The title of the sermon this morning is right out of the mouth of Jesus. It is Follow Me. Jesus calls Philip to follow him. The amazing thing out of these two words, follow me, to me, is the word me and the identity of Jesus Christ, who it is that is calling men to follow him.

We just keep getting a little more and a little more and a little more every week as we're working our way now to the end of John chapter 1 and as we keep working our way through the Gospel we keep getting more and more and more about this identity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it just seems like it never ends. What He is to His people is so comprehensive. Last week two of John the Baptist's disciples tailed Jesus. They had heard John the Baptist, their master, point to Jesus and say, Behold the Lamb of God.

And so they followed him and they ended up spending the day with Jesus. And One of them, Andrew, who becomes one of the twelve disciples, after having encountered Jesus, the first thing he does is He goes and he finds his brother and he says, we found him! We found the Messiah, we found the Christ. He brings his brother Simon to Jesus. And Jesus, The first time he ever meets Simon, he changes his name.

He just takes authority. He takes ownership over this man. He renames him Stone. Anybody who knows anything about the Gospels and knows anything about the character of Peter, knows that Peter is not bedrock. You would not be building on Peter at this stage in his life.

But Jesus says this prophetically, not just in the sense that he foresees that Peter will be a stone, a rock that you could build a structure on, that the church could be built on. Not just that he is foreseeing that, but that he is determined that, meaning that Jesus is Lord. He takes ownership of Peter and he becomes his master and he disciples this man and changes him from what he was into what he intends for him to be. Jesus can do that. Jesus does do that.

Anyone who has walked in the Lord for a period of decades knows that in spite of your sinfulness and your stubbornness and your stupidness, God can make you into what he has determined that you will be. This week Jesus actually seeks out Philip. So last week people were seeking out Jesus, this week Jesus is seeking out Philip. And it touches off a similar chain of events where then someone else is wrapped into these circumstances. As we go to the text, let's go to the text in prayer.

Our God, I thank you, I thank you for all the stories in this room. All the stories of Your grace. As we read the stories of Your grace in the lives of Andrew and Peter last week, now in the lives of Philip and Nathaniel this week, it just makes us think of our own histories. Those of us who have repented and believed only in Jesus for salvation, we remember the time of our life when you were working on us, where we encountered you. That encounter changed us forever.

We could never be the same again because of the love of God that was experienced through Christ. Oh, bring us back to these first days, to the days of our first love. Let us return to the days of our first love as we consider these things. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. This morning we'll be splitting the chapter into three parts, so I'd like now to look at verses 43 through 46 in detail.

So hopefully you still have your finger in John chapter 1 and follow along as I read verses 43 through 46. The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee And he found Philip and said to him, Follow me. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, We have found him, of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathaniel said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Philip said to him, Come, see. So in these verses, we have Jesus finding Philip and Philip finding Nathaniel. So If you're filling in blanks on the handout, the blanks are, finds and Nathaniel. Jesus finds Philip, Philip finds Nathaniel. Again, like in the previous several weeks, our text today begins with the words, the following day.

So here we have a compressed period of time, four or five days, something like that, and just a sequence of days, one right after another, where a lot is happening, and Jesus is being brought onto the stage to do his work in the world. He's been unknown to Israel up to this point, but he's about to be very, very, very known by his works. So these are the days leading into that time. Jesus has been where John the Baptist has been baptizing on or around the Jordan River in or around Judea. So probably near Jerusalem.

People have been streaming out of Jerusalem to be baptized by John the Baptist. So Jesus has been somewhere near the Jordan where people have been baptized. Now he wants to return to Galilee. He grew up in Nazareth. Nazareth is a town in Galilee.

Like Youngsville is a town in Franklin County, Nazareth is a town in Galilee, this region. Jesus, as he begins his ministry, his home base will be Capernaum. Capernaum is a city right on the Sea of Galilee. It's in the province of Galilee. Jesus is probably going back either to where he grew up in Nazareth or to what will be his home base in Capernaum.

Jesus finds Philip, whether he finds him inside or outside of Galilee, it doesn't matter. He seeks out Philip. We haven't been introduced to Philip. This is our first introduction to Philip. We don't have any history with Philip.

We don't know if there is any history between Jesus and Philip, but we do have two clues in the text. First, in verse 44, we see that Philip is from Bethsaida, and it's the city of Andrew and Peter. So, in last week's text, we were introduced to Andrew and Peter. Andrew spends the day with Jesus and then he brings his brother Peter to Jesus and Philip who Jesus is now seeking out is from from their town, little town. Bethsaida is a small place.

Undoubtedly, Philip knows Andrew and Peter, who have already encountered Jesus and been transformed by their encounter with Jesus. So I think it's not said explicitly, but it's quite likely that at the very least Philip has heard things from Andrew and Peter about Jesus. In fact, the second clue in our text is in verse 45, when Philip goes to Nathaniel then, he says, we have found him of whom Moses and the prophets speak, Jesus. Then you have to ask yourself the question, who is this we? Well, it's very probable, I think, that Andrew and Peter are part of this, having already encountered Jesus.

So Jesus finds Philip. He seeks out Philip. This is different again than what we saw last week when Andrew and another of John the Baptist's disciples sought out Jesus. Jesus is the one doing the seeking. He seeks out Philip and he says, follow me.

Now by the way, Bethsaida, if you look at a map, in Galilee, you have the Sea of Galilee, very famous from the Gospel accounts. On the very northern tip of the Sea of Galilee, a little to the east you have Bethsaida right on the shore of Galilee and a little to the west of the Jordan. So the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan is coming into the Sea of Galilee. It's feeding water into the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River. And then on the southern end, the Jordan River exits the Sea of Galilee.

So there's water coming in at the top and water going out at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee as you go north to south. Just to the east or to the right of the Jordan River at the top would be Bethsaida. Just to the left or to the west of where the Jordan comes into the Sea of Galilee, you would have Capernaum, which is going to be Jesus' home base. So Bethsaida, the literal translation of that would be house of fishing or fish town. This gives you a sense.

We know from the Gospel accounts that Andrew and Peter were fishermen from Bethsaida probably living in Capernaum we find in other Gospel accounts. But they're from Fishtown. They're from the House of Fishing. Andrew and Peter have a business, a fishing business together with James and John. Again, this is just pulling in information we have from other Gospel accounts.

Andrew is from there as well, and Jesus finds him and says, follow me. So now Jesus is officially calling disciples to follow him. By the way we had none of that in last week's text. Andrew and Peter came into contact with Jesus, had an encounter, a transforming encounter with Jesus, but he never said, follow me at that point. The other Gospel accounts lead us to believe that their calling to follow him actually happened later.

But with Andrew it happens now in this text. Just listen to Matthew chapter 8 verses 19 through 22. Where we find the phrase, follow me again. Again, Matthew chapter 8 verses 19 through 22. Then a certain scribe came to him and said, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.

And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Then another of his disciples said to him, Lord, let me go first and bury my father, but Jesus said to him, follow me and let the dead bury their own dead. Now why do I go to that account? It's because the invitation or the command, however you want to take this, to follow Jesus is no joke. This is not follow me down the street.

This is lay aside everything and come after me. Will we have anywhere to lay our heads, Jesus? No. Can I go bury my dead dad? No.

Leave it all and follow me. Our text today isn't adorned with any of those things, but as we come to that, just understand what Jesus means when he says, follow me. He might take you to a place where you don't have anywhere to lay your head. He might say, don't worry about your dead dad, come with me now. Let the dead bury their own dad.

Can you imagine that? Can you imagine Jesus saying that to anyone? Well, Jesus can imagine Jesus saying that to someone. And He's not bashful about requiring anything or everything from His disciples. He does offer eternal life, but the claim of Jesus on your life is a radical claim.

I fear to us it has become very domesticated because we live in the United States where it costs us so little. But Jesus reserves the right for it to cost you everything, do you know that? When he says, follow me, it's no joke, it's no small thing. Just as Andrew encountered Jesus, and then he says first he went and found Simon Peter and brought him to Jesus. The very first thing he did, so now Philip finds Nathaniel and he says, we found him, the one of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets speak.

And Then he introduces Jesus in the customary way. What do I mean by that in the customary way? Well, they didn't use last names. There's a lot of Jesus's. It's a form of the word Joshua.

There would have been a lot of men that named that. So how do you distinguish? Well, the customary way was name hometown father. This is just how Philip speaks of Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.

Now I want to notice here Philip's incomplete understanding in saying, Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph. Now, I'm not blaming him, I'm just noticing that by the way he speaks of Jesus, his understanding is very incomplete. Jesus of Nazareth. Was Jesus born in Nazareth? No, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

That's particularly important. I guess Nazareth in a sense is his hometown, but it is not where he was born, which typically you would name where they were born. Bethlehem actually had prophetic significance. A lot of scorn would have been saved and a lot of confusion about the Messiah and where He came from. Remember when the wise men come from the east and they ask, where is the king to Herod?

And Herod calls together the experts and he says, where is the king going to be born? Where is the Messiah going to be born? They have the right answer, Bethlehem of Judea. That was the expectation. Secondly, the son of Joseph.

Is Jesus the son of Joseph? No. Yes and no. He grows up in Joseph's home. Joseph is the head of that household.

Listen to Luke chapter 3 verse 23. Luke 3 verse 23 says, Now Jesus himself began his ministry about thirty years of age, being as was supposed the son of Joseph. That's the word of the text. In other words, Luke, when he's recounting, when Jesus starts his ministry, he's saying, people supposed that he was the son of Joseph because he grew up in a house where Joseph was the father of that household. He was not conceived by Joseph.

He is the Son of God, the Holy Spirit, overshadowed Mary. Here's a point I want to draw out of this. The incomplete, again, not rebuking Philip for introducing Jesus and Nathaniel this way, but just saying, hey, that's an incomplete understanding of Jesus at best. I want to make this point. We should banish the thought that we have to know everything before we say anything.

Whatever Philip's history was with Jesus, it was slight. It was little. Whatever knowledge Philip had of Jesus, it was slight. It wasn't very impressive. But Philip is not waiting to know everything to say something.

Have you ever found yourself in that mode? I would like to speak of Jesus, but they are going to have questions that I can't answer. Hey, far from it! Far be that from me, says Philip. I don't have to know everything before I say something and we should be the same.

If you had been saved by Jesus, you have enough to speak of your Savior. If you've been saved by Jesus, the very hour you have enough to speak of the transforming power of the Messiah. Don't dare wait until you know everything to say something, you'll never say anything. Philip says something very important here to Nathaniel. He says that Jesus is the grand subject of the Old Testament.

He uses a term that's used frequently in the New Testament. Jesus, this is the one who Moses wrote of in the law and also the prophets they wrote of Jesus. So we have Moses' law and the prophets. That phrase is used all over the New Testament and usually when it's used, it's used really broadly to just represent all of the Old Testament. So when we see law and the prophets, it's actually a term that normally is used broadly.

It wraps up the whole Old Testament. So don't think, well that doesn't include the Psalms, no. Just because they're not part of the law or the prophets, all of the Old Testament is wrapped up normally in the use of this phrase. And by the way, Jesus is all over the Psalms. So you certainly wouldn't want to exclude that from what Philip is saying here.

Jesus is the grand object of the Old Testament. There are many subjects in the Old Testament. They're all valuable, but the Old Testament is not about any one of those other subjects. The Old Testament is about Jesus. So praise the Lord for the other subjects.

They're worthy subjects. They're true subjects. They're helpful subjects. But they're not the grand subject of the Old Testament. That is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mark Dever is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., has written a two-volume set where he summarizes every one of the 66 books of the Old and New Testament. So the first volume is a big volume because it's the Old Testament and that's numerically most of the books and most of the content. He named volume one about the Old Testament, Promises Made. Volume two summarizes the books in the New Testament. Guess what he calls Volume 2?

Promises kept. You should think about your Bible like that. The books of the Old Testament, what is their subject? The Old Testament? No, their subject is Jesus.

The great object of the New Testament is the great object of the Old Testament. It's the promises made in the Old Testament. It's the promises kept. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law, not the destruction of the law. The fulfillment of the law.

The keeping of all those promises is in Jesus Christ. I want to give you four New Testament verses that speak to this, or in one case a couple of verses. Number one, Luke chapter 24 verse 27. This is after the resurrection, and two disciples are walking down the road, they are unnamed, but you know this account as the road to Emmaus. Here is Luke 24, 27.

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he, Jesus, expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. So we know right after the resurrection not a line of the New Testament has been written. Fair assumption. So we are talking about the Old Testament. Jesus comes disguised.

He has not revealed Himself to these two disciples yet. And He unfolds the teaching about Himself to them in all the scriptures, the things concerning Himself. He is the great subject of the Old Testament. Two, John 5, chapter 5, verse 39. John chapter 5 verse 39.

Jesus is actually a rebuking unbelief and he says this in John 5 39, you search the scriptures, again the Old Testament is what is available as the scriptures when Jesus said this, you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of me. He's actually rebuking them from a study of the Old Testament Scriptures that misses the grand subject of the Old Testament Scriptures, which was Jesus Himself. He said, like, How can you think you have eternal life from the Scriptures where you don't even grasp the grand subjects? They're speaking of me. Number three, Acts chapter 28 verses 23 and 24.

This is the last chapter of the book of Acts. It's the end of church history as we get church history in the book of Acts. It is Paul in prison in Rome, but it's house arrest so that he is able to receive and teach people who want to visit him while he is under house arrest. Listen to Acts 28, 23 and 24. 28, 23, and 24.

So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets from morning till evening and Some were persuaded by the things which were spoken and some disbelieved So Paul in Acts chapter 28 Under house arrest has called Jews together and says, what have you heard about me? Here's why I'm here and here's why I'm in prison. And they say we haven't heard anything. And so they appointed day and they come in the morning and until evening, Paul goes through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua and on and on and on showing them where Jesus is. He's preaching Jesus from the law of Moses and the prophets from every book probably of the Old Testament and pressing on them.

Jesus is the grand subject of all this revelation that we've ever been given by God. Jesus is the subject of it. He is the fulfillment of all the promises God has made in the revelation up to this minute. Finally, number four, 2 Timothy 3 verse 15. This is Paul writing to Timothy and he's talking about Timothy's history in the faith.

He says in 2 Timothy 3, 15, And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures. He had a godly grandmother and a godly mother who taught him from his boyhood the Holy Scriptures, the books of the Old Testament. And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. The Old Testament is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus. In other words, I believe what Paul is saying there is, the Holy Spirit just draws out Christ from the pages of the Old Testament to bring you to faith in Jesus Christ.

The grand subject of the Old Testament. The Old Testament, just reading the Old Testament won't make you saved, but it is able to make you wise for salvation. It is able to give you the truths that you need to believe savingly on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is everywhere in the Old Testament. I wish I had time to just go through Jesus here, Jesus here, Jesus here, Jesus here.

If Paul were doing it, he could do it from morning till night. But know this, it starts in Genesis 3. What's significant about Genesis 3? Genesis 3 is where sin comes into the world. God curses mankind.

Meaning that as soon as there was a problem, God was making promises about a Savior. As soon as there was death and condemnation, God was promising to send the seed of the woman. This is Genesis 3 verse 15. The seed of the woman. Now the serpent would bruise his heel, but the seed of the woman, that is Christ, would crush his head.

The promises of salvation for sinners starts in the curse in Genesis 3.15. And then Exodus, the giving of the law and all the sacrifices and how they point to Christ. Leviticus more the same, Deuteronomy more the same, and on and on and on. The book of Joshua. Joshua is a picture of Jesus who brings his people out of bondage and across the Jordan into the promised land.

That is Jesus. David, he's a type of Christ. He's of the line of Judah, at the line of Kings, Jesus will be that. And on and on and on. Needless to say, Nathaniel is not impressed.

Maybe if he had heard Paul speak on that topic from morning till evening he would have been impressed, but he wasn't impressed at the moment and he says, can anything good come out of Nazareth? As we were praying for the service outside right before the service, there was a man in prayer who said, only good comes out of Nazareth. How true that is. He was so wrong. This despised little town.

It sounds to me like this little town had a reputation. At best, it was just an insignificant nothing that would make you say, can anything good come out of that little dot on the map? And At worst, maybe it had a reputation for things that weren't so worthy. In any case, Nathaniel is not impressed and that's an understatement. Philip, instead of being annoyed, have you ever been challenged by an unbeliever when you said Jesus is the Savior and they slander him or express unbelief and you're peeved.

Has that ever happened to you? That's happened to me a lot of times. Every time I get challenged by unbelief, there's something that rises up in my heart that is sinful. It makes me want to leave them just standing there in their ignorance about Jesus. That is called sin.

Whether Philip felt that rising up in his heart, we don't know. Here's what we do know. He didn't give voice to any such sentiment. He just said, come and see. Confident that an encounter with Jesus Christ would be all it would take to overwhelm the doubts of this man, this friend of his.

Listen to what J.C. Ryle says. I think there is so much wisdom in what Ryle says here for us and in how we share the Gospel. Listen to Ryle. If Philip had reproved Nathaniel's unbelief, if he had rebuked him, He might have driven him back for many a day and given offense.

If he had reasoned with him, if he had just tried to argue him into agreement, he might have failed to convince him or might have confirmed him in his doubts. Remember, Philip has very incomplete, imperfect knowledge of Jesus. But by inviting him to prove the matter for himself, he showed his entire confidence in the truth of his assertion and his willingness to have it tested and approved. Do you see what he's saying there? By just passing over, being peeved, rebuking him for his unbelief, or trying to argue him into submission, by just saying, come and see, he displayed, like, I have full confidence that if you just encounter Jesus, all these questions will be solved in your mind.

I don't need to rebuke you. I don't have to argue with you. Come and encounter Jesus and your questions will be answered. Ryle a few paragraphs later says this, let us assure them, talking about unbelievers, let us assure unbelievers that vital Christianity courts every possible inquiry. I find myself being so afraid of challenge and inquiry.

Why? Do I not think that an encounter with Jesus will overwhelm those things? Lay every one of those things to rest? Do we have a blind faith? Not at all.

You can't logic your way into the Kingdom of Heaven, but it's not the problem of the logic. The logic is as sound as logic ever gets. It's a problem with the heart of man. That's really what we have to contend with. Not that we have anything to be ashamed of in the logic of our faith, but that the heart of man is so dark that he'll reject all the logic in the world.

We should show we have full confidence in the solution to every quandary and every inquiry brought to us. Jesus will overwhelm all that. If they just encounter Jesus, all that is nothing. So it was to Philip. Now this does not mean that Come and See is a full declaration of the Gospel.

It does not mean we should skinny our presentation of the gospel down to just come and see. We're going to have to declare who God is and who Christ is and who man is and then ask for a response. But there is something powerful in this challenge. It is both a challenge and an invitation. Come and see.

You have your concerns, you have your doubts, I have my challenge. I come and encounter Jesus. Come and encounter Jesus. Come see what God says about His Son. This is not a dead book.

We should proclaim this is an alive book that the Holy Spirit can come and flood light on this unlike any other book in your library. This is what you need, unbeliever. This is what you need, sinner, is for the Holy Spirit to come and to bring you into the presence of Jesus. That encounter will flood away any doubts. Verses.

Back to John, are we John 1? Second section. Verses 47 through 49. Follow along as I read, John 1, 47 through 49. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said to him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit.

Nathaniel said to him, How do you know me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathaniel answered and said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. Here in these verses we have Jesus' interaction with Nathaniel and Nathaniel's remarkable declaration. So if you're filling in blanks on the handout, the blanks are interaction, remarkable.

Jesus' interaction with Nathaniel and Nathaniel's remarkable declaration about who Jesus is. Jesus sees Nathaniel coming. He says this, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit. Nathaniel has doubts about Jesus, but They are not mutual. Jesus knows the heart of Nathaniel, that this is a believing Israelite.

And he actually, though he has been slandered by Nathaniel, speaks well of Nathaniel. There is probably something in that for us. I hadn't planned to expand on that, but we should learn something from Jesus in that. Consider Psalm 32. Psalm 32 describes a godly man, it describes a believing man.

The importance of what I'm getting ready to quote from Psalm 32 is that it's clear when Jesus says, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit, that Jesus is essentially calling him an Old Testament believer. So he doesn't have the light of the New Testament, but in the same way that Abraham was saved by faith, the same way that we're saved, only we know more. That Nathaniel was a man saved like Father Abraham, the father of all the faithful, those who are full of faith. Psalm 32 verse 2. Listen to this.

Psalm chapter 32 verse 2. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. So are you with me? We are talking about a believer who is saved. Someone to whom God does not impute iniquity.

He holds back the guilt of their sin. We know looking through the New Testament lens that that is through Christ. We are speaking of someone who is saved even in the Old Covenant. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Jesus is declaring This is true of Nathaniel.

There is no deceit in his spirit. This is an honest man, not a flatterer, not a deceiver, not a manipulator. A man who will search things out and honestly view them and has the ability to do that because God has been at work in his life. This is what makes an Israelite indeed. The word rendered indeed here really means in reality.

In reality. Behold an Israelite in reality. In whom is no deceit. In whom is no deceit. Listen to John chapter 8 verse 39.

They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. So the Jews are throwing that in Jesus' faith. Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. In other words, you might be genealogically the children of Abraham, but in the sense that counts, you are not his children at all.

Do you understand that? This is not a teaching after Jesus. In other words, Paul is not making this stuff up later in the New Testament. He is teaching what Jesus taught. They threw their physical lineage in Jesus' faith.

We are children of Abraham. If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. In other words, in the sense that really matters, you're not children of Abraham at all. He had saving faith, you have none of it. Listen to Paul in Romans 2, 28 and 29.

Romans chapter 2, verses 28 and 29. Paul writes, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, genealogically, family tree-wise, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, not the shaving off of flesh physically, but circumcision of the heart inward transformation. In the Spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. Jesus teaches that and then Paul picks it up and expands on it.

There are Jews, people who are genealogically related to Abraham. They can trace the family line back to Abraham. And then there are real Jews, Israelites indeed. Israelites in reality who have the saving faith of their father Abraham. Nathaniel says, how do you know me?

We're expecting him to say, Philip told me about you. Philip is the one who encountered Jesus. So Philip and Jesus have talked and then Philip goes to Nathaniel. That is What we are expecting next in the text. I heard about you from Philip.

That's not what Jesus says at all. He says, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. That knocks him over. That knocks him over. It knocks him over.

Nathaniel goes from, can anything good come out of Nazareth to Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. So we don't know what happened under the fig tree. I joked at the beginning of the week, I'm going to study so hard this week that I'm not going to be able to tell you what happened under the fig tree. There is no amount of study that will do that because we don't have it. We don't know what happened under the fig tree.

All we know is that Nathaniel's position before Jesus said that was, can anything good come out of Nazareth? And his position after Jesus said that was, Rabbi, you are the son of God, you are the king of Israel. He is knocked over by what Jesus says. What was it that was under the fig tree? It's a source of endless speculation.

Believe me, having read the commentaries this week, it is the source of endless speculation. We cannot know. It's something only Nathaniel would have known. That's really the point. No one else on earth could have known that thing or it wouldn't transformed him from this view of Jesus to that view of Jesus.

It had to have been something only Nathaniel could have known. Which proved to Nathaniel the truth of Hebrews 4 verse 13. Listen to Hebrews 4 verse 13. And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. In Jesus saying, before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree, it caused him to know that I am naked before the eyes of this man.

Nothing is hidden from his sight. Here's an example of something like that. There was a morning, June 4th, 1990, I think is the date. My wife can correct me later on. June 4th, 1990.

I'm pretty sure that's the date. Janet was 25 years old. And she was tired of the discontentment that she found in her heart about not being married. 25. If you're 25 and desiring to be married, 25 can feel like you're an old maid, even though that's silly.

That's not true. And she was tired of that discontentment in her heart, knowing that that is sin. And so that morning, she said, God, I'm tired of sinning in this way. If I never get married, do with me whatever you want. If you want to send me to the ends of the earth, whatever you want to do with this life, if it's a single life, do that.

An hour later, I knocked on her door and said, Hey, want to get married? I didn't say it in exactly those words. We had never been on a date, but she knew. It's a long story. She knew.

That's what I was saying. So, not all mornings are created equal. And if Jesus had encountered her shortly after that, and said to her, and said to her, I saw you early the morning of June 4th, 1990. Knowing that that was such an incredibly watershed moment in her life, that would knock her over. Something like that I think happened.

It knocked Nathaniel over. Now Nathaniel calls Jesus three things. One, he calls him Rabbi. We studied that a little bit. I think it was last week.

And it means teacher, but we probably think too lightly of our teachers. This would be much more of a term of honor, so It's not a one-to-one translation. Master might be closer. Teacher or Master. It's a title of honor.

When you're calling someone rabbi, essentially you're saying this, I look to you to learn spiritual things that I don't know. That's what's wrapped up in the term, Rabbi. Secondly, he calls him a son of God. Now we've already encountered this title of Jesus in verse 34. John the Baptist says, and I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.

So John the Baptist shortly after saying, behold the Lamb of God, the substitutionary sacrifice of God who takes away the sin of the world. The next thing he is saying about him is, I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. Now when we studied that text we found out how John the Baptist knew that he was the Son of God because he was there at the baptism baptizing Jesus and as soon as Jesus came up out of the water the heavens opened, the Spirit descended like a dove and there was the voice of God saying, This is my beloved son. How does John the Baptist know that Jesus was the son of God? He heard God the Father say it.

That's pretty good authority. Nathaniel says the same thing that John the Baptist said. He acknowledges that Jesus is not only a rabbi, a teacher, a master, the one that you look to to learn spiritual things that you don't know, He's also the Son of God. Imagine that phrase. Not a son of God, the special, unique, one of a kind Son of God.

Thirdly, he says, you're the King of Israel. You're the King of Israel. Now, this is an Israelite indeed, an Israelite in reality. When you're saying you're the king of Israel, what is he saying? You're my king.

Nathaniel takes him not just as the king of the nation, he takes him as the king of himself. He is an Israelite indeed. You are the king of Israel. You are my king. You are not just my teacher and master.

You are my king. I was going to say, Nathaniel took him as king. No, Nathaniel just acknowledged his kingship. He didn't make Jesus king. He acknowledged that Jesus was his king.

Turn to Psalm 2. Turn to Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is and was, at the time Jesus spoke this, universally recognized as a psalm about the Messiah. So Nathaniel, when he hears Philip say, we have found the one that Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote would be thinking the Messiah Psalm 2. He would have already made that connection if he was a Jew of any kind of understanding, which he clearly is and was.

He would have been thinking Psalm 2. Listen to Psalm 2, or you could go to Psalm 2. Think about Jesus as the Son of God and Jesus as the King of Israel. I'm saying Psalm 2 is the reason why Nathaniel declares Jesus as the Son of God and Jesus as the King of Israel. I'm saying Psalm 2 is the reason why Nathaniel declares Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel because both of these are attached to what it means to be the Messiah in the Jewish mind at that time.

And Nathaniel would have been thinking of this. His declaration comes out of Psalm 2, I believe. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed. Remember that from last week.

Messiah and Christ just means anointed. We have the word for Messiah and Christ here. The rulers are taking counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed saying, let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. He's talking about the rebellion of the kings of the earth. Verse 4, He who sits in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall hold them in derision.

Then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion." In response to the rebellion of the kings of the earth and mankind, What does God do? From heaven he laughs and then he speaks these words. Yet, in spite of your desire to rebel and cast off my chains, in spite of that, yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. Zion is Jerusalem.

I will declare the decree, the Lord has said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. These would have been understood by the Jewish mind, by Nathaniel's mind, as words spoken by the Messiah. I will declare the decree, the Lord has said to me, you are my son today I have begotten you. Ask of you, ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, you shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Now therefore be wise, O kings, be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in him." Just what Paul teaches that every knee will bow, the believing knee, the unbelieving knee, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. It comes out of Psalm 2.

That the anointed of God, the Messiah, the Christ, is the Son of God and the King of Israel and the whole world, the nations are His inheritance. I would like to say three things about these titles. Rabbi, Son of God, the King of Israel. These three things I would like to say now. Number one, Nathaniel is now doing nothing more than just embracing Philip's testimony.

When he calls Jesus, Rabbi, the Son of God, the King of Israel, He's just saying, Philip was right. We have found the one of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote. All these titles come right out of the Old Testament testimony about the Messiah. Jesus is the Messiah. He's simply embracing Philip's testimony.

This is perfectly consistent with the expectations of the Messiah and the Christ. Secondly, look at all that was revealed right from the start. We are in John chapter 1. We are in John chapter 1. Jesus has already been called the Lamb of God, the acceptable substitute for sinners, the one who takes away the sin of the world.

We have already heard Jesus called the Messiah and the Christ, the anointed of God. All wrapped up in that is God's prophet, God's priest, God's king. We have already heard, seen him called the Son of God and the King of Israel. Thirdly, finally, Don't think for a second they had the clarity of the depth of meaning that we have. In other words, we're encountering these things in John chapter 1 and it's easy to look back and say, oh they understood exactly who Jesus is because they were saying things that express the truth of who Jesus is.

And I'm saying we're looking back through a lens the full counsel of God that the church has had for 2, 000 years, and they don't have that lens yet. So declarations are being made, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. They didn't understand that in his fullness. Jesus hasn't died on the cross yet. That gives depth and richness and clarity that we have that they didn't have when they declared it.

Their hearts were ahead of their brains. Again, I'm not accusing them, I'm observing. They're saying, behold the Son of God. We are looking back with all that revelation having had time to reflect on it. And we have a clarity of understanding and a depth of understanding that they didn't have it even when they were declaring it.

Their hearts were ahead of their brains. That explains why throughout the course of the gospel accounts, you see them grappling with his identity. We will see it with John the Baptist. John the Baptist is the one who has declared him to be the son of God, the Christ, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And then when he is in prison and that doesn't fit the template of how he thought these things would play out.

He sends disciples. Ask Jesus, is He the one or should we wait for someone else? How could this be? This is how it could be. We're looking back with the benefit of the full lens.

So we see it in depth and clarity, and their hearts were ahead of their brains, because they didn't have what we have. That explains that. Where in the world am I in my notes? Okay. They were all saying better than they knew.

Their statements of truth were more than they even knew when they were making them. Alright, last section, 50 and 51. I knew this was going to be a long sermon. That's confirmed. 50 and 51, Follow along as I read.

Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these. And he said to him, Most assuredly I say to you, Hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. Here in these two verses we have Jesus' promises to Nathaniel and others. So if you're filling in the blank, it's promises.

Jesus' promises to Nathaniel and I put in parentheses and others. Here's why I say and others. There's a linguistic distinction made here. Children, a linguistic distinction just means there is a difference in the language. The New Testament wasn't written in English.

It was written in Greek. So Sometimes when we get the translation, there are nuances that we would see if we knew Greek, that we don't see when it's brought over into English. This is one of those places. Verse 50, you is the Greek singular for you. You, one person, singular.

In verse 52, the you is the Greek plural for you. You all are in the South. In the South we have a solution for this problem. We can say y'all. The King James actually preserves that distinction.

I went to make sure I had this right. I went and got out the King James because I had read in the commentaries that this was true. You is singular in verse 50, you is plural in verse 51, and the King James, It's clear as a bell. It is the in 50 and ye in 51. Because the King James English preserves a distinction between singular and plural, where in English we don't.

We don't know when someone says you, it could be either singular or plural. So Jesus promises in verse 50, just Nathaniel, Jesus promises just Nathaniel that he'll see greater things than his supernatural knowledge of things that only Nathaniel could have known. Whatever it was that happened under the fig tree, when Jesus showed that he had supernatural knowledge that he could not have naturally, Jesus promises Nathaniel, you'll see greater things than this. And by the way, we see more and more and more and more instances just like that where Jesus displays supernatural knowledge that no one who was simply man could have known. So even in that same category, Nathaniel will get to see it many more times.

Now this raises a good question, which I haven't even addressed yet. Who in the world is Nathaniel? You'll not find Nathaniel in Matthew. You'll not find Nathaniel in Mark. You'll not find Nathaniel in Luke or anywhere else in the New Testament, you will find him here in John chapter 1.

You will find him in two verses in John chapter 21. Listen to those two verses. So I give you all of Nathaniel. You got him in our text and here's the rest of the New Testament testimony about the name Nathaniel. After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.

This is after the resurrection. In this way, he showed himself. So he's showing himself to his disciples. Simon Peter, Thomas, called the twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, that would be James and John, and two others of his disciples were together. It appears in John chapter 21, it doesn't have to be this, but it sure appears that all the names on the list are disciples of the Twelve.

Nathaniel is named among these people that Jesus appears to after the resurrection. So he's here at the beginning, he's there at the end, he's never mentioned in between, and he's never mentioned in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. In the synoptic listings of the twelve disciples, So the synoptics are the other gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke. Matthew has a listing, Mark has a listing, Luke has a listing, and every one of those listings, Philip and Bartholomew are listed side by side. Philip and Bartholomew.

Any time you see a New Testament name that starts with the letters B-A-R you translate that son of. Peter is called Bar-Jonah because he is the son of Jonah. So Bartholomew would be the son of Ptolemaeus, Bar-Ptolemaeus, Bartholomew. So my belief, and it's never explicitly said, but my belief is Nathaniel is Bartholomew. In the other listings, it's Philip and Bartholomew.

Nathaniel is never mentioned in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And Bartholomew is never mentioned in John. So that's the best evidence that I've got. No doubt Jesus' disciples saw greater things. They saw the dead come to life.

They saw the blind see. They saw the deaf receive their hearing. They saw the multitudes fed. They saw Jesus walk on water and on and on and on. These next chapters are going to be filled with signs that are greater than this.

In any event, whether Nathaniel was or was not Bartholomew, was or was not one of the twelve disciples, if Jesus said it, this promise was abundantly fulfilled, and Nathaniel saw greater things. And then, verse 51, Nathaniel and others, you as plural, so it can't just be Nathaniel, are promised this, say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man, what in the world does that mean? The commentators don't agree. They're The commentators don't agree. They're as split on this as I've seen maybe ever.

The commentators don't agree and I don't know. I don't know. I'm going to give you three options and you decide which one you like the best. I'm gonna give you the one I like least, and the one I like better, and then the one I think it is. Okay, but I'm saying this in the way that I'm saying it because I'm not sure.

Number one, here's one understanding of this. And honestly, it's not terrible, it's not a bad understanding of it. That this was literally fulfilled at the ascension. After the resurrection, after the forty days of appearing to the disciples and others, when Jesus ascended into heaven, that this was fulfilled. In Acts chapter 1 at the ascension there were angels present there with the disciples who were seeing Jesus go up into heaven.

There the angels were saying, He's going to come back in the same way that you see him go into the clouds. Listen to Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7. I believe there are strong reasons to believe that Daniel chapter 7 is actually a prophetic vision that Daniel had about the ascension of Jesus Christ. I think you'll see marks of that all over Daniel chapter 7.

I'm going to be reading 9 through 14. Just listen. This is a vision Daniel had. It was given to him by God. Daniel says, I watched till thrones were put in place, and the ancient of days was seated.

His garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

The court was seated and the books were open. Here we have the Father on the throne and there are ten thousands times ten thousands and an innumerable multitude of the heavenly host there. We have really the presence of the angels there. Verse 11, I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking, I watched till the beast was slain and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. And as for the rest of the beast, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before Him. Then He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. In the vision that God gave Daniel, One like the son of man, those are words right out of our text, comes before the ancient of days and he is given an everlasting kingdom.

To remind you of Psalm chapter 2, just like Psalm chapter 2. His enemies are made his footstool. And I believe what we are seeing here is a prophetic vision of the ascension. By the way, son of man, a phrase that we're encountering for the first time in John chapter 1 here, is used over 80 times, it's used overwhelmingly, not exclusively, but overwhelmingly by Jesus Himself of Himself. In other words, it's Jesus's self-designation.

It's probably his favorite title for himself, is Son of Man. Certainly numerically that is true. It's used 13 times here in the book of John. So, in this one text we have Son of God and Son of Man. Nathaniel has called Jesus Son of God and he is the Son of God.

Jesus has called himself the Son of Man. And he certainly is what he's calling himself the son of man. Both titles being essential, both titles going side by side, he is fully God, very God, fully man, very man as the creeds articulate it. Jesus as the Son of Man is the second Adam. Adam was the first head of the race.

He plunged the whole race into sin and rebellion, but Jesus is the second Adam. And For those who repent and believe, He becomes your head. He becomes the head of your race. He is the Son of Man. The strengths of this view that was literally fulfilled at the ascension of Jesus Christ is that you have angels present though they are not ascending and descending and this phrase son of man matches right up with Daniel chapter 7 which I believe is about the ascension.

Number two, I like this one a little better. Number two, I like this one a little better. Number one was it's literally fulfilled. Number two, that it is figuratively fulfilled in this way. Genesis chapter 28, Jacob has had to flee his home and he's headed to his relatives and while he's on the way he stops, He sleeps with his head on a rock and that night he is given a vision and there is a ladder between earth and heaven and there are angels ascending and descending.

It's almost exactly the same words about angels ascending and descending. The language probably comes from Genesis chapter 28. And Jacob ends up saying, this is Bethel. He names the place Bethel, which means house of God. Now think of what we've already encountered in John chapter 1, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

He tabernacled among us. Jesus is the house of God. So in this understanding of what Jesus is saying in our text, Jesus is the new Bethel. He is the new place where we meet God. And whereas in Jacob's vision, it was the ladder between heaven and earth and the angels were ascending and descending on this ladder, Jesus replaces the ladder between heaven and earth.

He is the new Bethel and He is the one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ. Paul says that. The strength of this understanding is that it preaches great. Who doesn't want to declare Jesus as the replacement for the ladder? We are climbing Jacob's ladder.

Yes, we are. And that ladder is Christ. He is the one way between heaven and earth. Praise the Lord. You have angels ascending and descending, almost the exact words of our text.

Modern commentators pretty much universally say this is what it means and they're not alone. They definitely, historically commentators have said this or at least held this forth as a possibility. If you just are reading modern commentaries you would say this is what this means. Number three, the one I like the best. I think it's this, but I hold it lightly.

Can you tell? Number one was it's literally fulfilled. Jesus said the ascension. Number two, it's figuratively fulfilled. Jesus replaces the latter in Jacob's vision in Genesis 28.

Number three, it's still to be fulfilled. It hasn't yet been fulfilled. I don't believe it's been fulfilled. And if so, we are included in the plural we. Meaning, Jesus promises Nathaniel that he'll get to see it, but the promise extends to me.

I get to see it because I've placed my hope in Jesus Christ. Listen to Matthew 25 verses 30 and 31. Matthew chapter 25 verses 31 and 32. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory, and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as the shepherd divides his sheep from the goats." This is about the second coming of Jesus Christ. He is coming with all the holy angels with him.

So in this we do get a vision of Jesus with the angels and actually they will be gathering they will be gathering the earth to stand before the judge. They will be ascending and descending. Listen to Paul in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. So if you just want to jot these down to look at them later, you're certainly free to. 1 Thessalonians 4, 15-18.

1 Thessalonians 4, verses 15-18. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words." And then just to add sort of color commentary to that, 2 Thessalonians 1 verses 6 through 8, also speaking of the second coming of our Lord Jesus.

2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verses 6 through 8. Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. How fearful a day that will be to those who do not believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is coming back with his host of angels to render a vengeance of fire upon all those who do not believe his gospel. I believe that's the promise to Nathaniel and a promise to me.

I expect to be with Nathaniel when he receives the fulfillment of this, but I could be wrong. It wouldn't be the first time, and it won't be the last. I'm going to skip the applications and pray. Apply this text to yourself. It has much in it to help us live our lives daily.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. I do pray that you would press these things home on our hearts and we would know how we should think differently, speak differently, and act differently as a result of these truths. May we be found out in the world saying the words of Philip, come and see to skeptics. Come and encounter Jesus.

See if your doubts aren't swept away. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.