Encountering Christ: A Personal Journey of Faith

 

Summary

In this evening's reflection, we delve into the transformative encounter between Nathaniel and Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of John. This narrative is not just a historical account but a profound illustration of how individuals come to faith in Christ. The central theme is the personal nature of Christianity, emphasizing that it is not about adhering to abstract theories or philosophies but about encountering a living person—Jesus Christ. The story of Nathaniel highlights the diverse ways people are drawn to Christ, yet all paths converge at the same point: a personal relationship with Him.

Nathaniel's journey to faith begins with skepticism, questioning if anything good can come from Nazareth. Philip's response, "Come and see," is an invitation to experience Christ firsthand. This principle is crucial; Christianity cannot be fully understood from a distance or through mere intellectual debate. It requires a personal encounter and commitment. Jesus' knowledge of Nathaniel, even before they met, underscores the intimate and personal nature of this relationship. Jesus sees beyond our arguments and pretenses, addressing us as individuals with unique needs and desires.

The sermon challenges us to move beyond intellectual barriers and to taste and see the goodness of the Lord. It is a call to action, urging us to step out in faith and experience the reality of Christ's presence and love. This encounter with Jesus is not about abandoning reason but recognizing its limits when faced with the divine. The testimony of countless believers throughout history, who have found life and truth in Christ, stands as a powerful witness to the reality of this transformative relationship.

Key Takeaways:

- Personal Encounter with Christ: Christianity is fundamentally about a personal relationship with Jesus. It is not about abstract ideas but about meeting a living person who knows us intimately and calls us to follow Him. This personal encounter is the essence of faith. [03:36]

- Invitation to Experience: The call to "come and see" is an invitation to experience Christ firsthand. It challenges us to move beyond intellectual debates and to engage with Jesus personally, allowing His presence to transform our lives. [07:01]

- God's Omniscience and Intimacy: Jesus knows us completely, including our deepest thoughts and desires. This knowledge is not to condemn but to invite us into a deeper relationship where we are fully known and fully loved. [27:14]

- Faith Beyond Reason: While reason is valuable, it has its limits. Faith involves recognizing these limits and trusting in the divine mystery of God. This trust is not irrational but a humble acknowledgment of the divine. [19:32]

- Historical and Personal Testimony: The testimony of believers throughout history affirms the truth of Christ. Their lives, transformed by faith, serve as a powerful witness to the reality of Jesus as the Son of God and Savior. [21:48]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:10] - Introduction to Nathaniel's Story
- [02:05] - The Importance of Coming to Christ
- [03:36] - Christianity as a Personal Relationship
- [06:16] - Philip's Invitation: Come and See
- [07:01] - Experiencing Christ Firsthand
- [11:25] - The Principle of Tasting and Seeing
- [13:59] - Reason and Faith
- [18:27] - The Supernatural Nature of the Gospel
- [21:48] - Testimony of the Christian Church
- [26:20] - Jesus Knows Us Individually
- [29:36] - The Personal Nature of the Gospel
- [33:20] - Jesus' Knowledge of Our Lives
- [40:49] - Jesus' Sympathy and Understanding
- [46:19] - Conclusion: Recognizing Jesus as the Son of God

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
- John 1:45-51
- Psalm 34:8
- Hebrews 4:12-13

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Observation Questions:

1. What was Nathaniel's initial reaction to hearing about Jesus from Philip, and how did Philip respond to his skepticism? ([00:48])

2. How did Jesus demonstrate His knowledge of Nathaniel before they met, and what was Nathaniel's reaction to this revelation? ([01:10])

3. According to the sermon, what is the significance of the phrase "come and see" in the context of Nathaniel's story? ([06:43])

4. How does the sermon describe the way Jesus views individuals, as opposed to how society often views people? ([27:32])

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Interpretation Questions:

1. What does the sermon suggest about the importance of a personal encounter with Jesus in understanding Christianity? How does this differ from merely engaging in intellectual debates? ([07:01])

2. How does the sermon explain the relationship between faith and reason, particularly in the context of understanding the divine? ([19:32])

3. In what ways does the sermon illustrate Jesus' omniscience and intimate knowledge of individuals, and how does this impact one's faith journey? ([27:14])

4. How does the testimony of believers throughout history serve as a witness to the truth of Christ, according to the sermon? ([21:48])

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a time when you were skeptical about something related to faith. How did you respond, and what might "come and see" look like in your current spiritual journey? ([06:43])

2. Consider the personal nature of your relationship with Jesus. How can you deepen this relationship beyond intellectual understanding? ([07:01])

3. In what areas of your life do you find it challenging to move beyond reason and trust in the divine mystery of God? How can you take a step of faith in these areas? ([19:32])

4. Jesus knows us completely, including our deepest thoughts and desires. How does this knowledge affect your willingness to be vulnerable with Him in prayer and daily life? ([27:14])

5. The sermon emphasizes the importance of personal testimony. How can you share your faith journey with others in a way that invites them to "come and see" the goodness of the Lord? ([21:48])

6. Reflect on a time when you felt like just a number in a crowd. How does knowing that Jesus sees and values you as an individual change your perspective on your worth and purpose? ([27:32])

7. Identify one specific way you can "taste and see" the goodness of the Lord this week. What practical steps will you take to experience His presence more fully? ([09:56])

Devotional

Day 1: Encountering the Living Christ
Christianity is not a set of abstract ideas but a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. This encounter is transformative, as it involves meeting a living person who knows us intimately and calls us to follow Him. The story of Nathaniel in the Gospel of John illustrates this beautifully. Nathaniel's initial skepticism is met with an invitation to "come and see," leading to a personal encounter with Jesus that changes his life. This personal relationship is the essence of faith, where Jesus sees beyond our arguments and pretenses, addressing us as individuals with unique needs and desires. [03:36]

John 1:47-49 (ESV): "Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, 'Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!' Nathanael said to him, 'How do you know me?' Jesus answered him, 'Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.' Nathanael answered him, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!'"

Reflection: Think of a moment when you felt truly seen and known by God. How did that experience shape your faith journey, and how can you seek a deeper encounter with Christ today?


Day 2: The Invitation to Experience
The call to "come and see" is an invitation to experience Christ firsthand. It challenges us to move beyond intellectual debates and to engage with Jesus personally, allowing His presence to transform our lives. This principle is crucial because Christianity cannot be fully understood from a distance or through mere intellectual debate. It requires a personal encounter and commitment. By accepting this invitation, we open ourselves to the transformative power of Christ's love and presence in our lives. [07:01]

Psalm 34:8 (ESV): "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!"

Reflection: What is one step you can take today to move beyond intellectual understanding and experience Christ more personally in your life?


Day 3: Known and Loved by God
Jesus knows us completely, including our deepest thoughts and desires. This knowledge is not to condemn but to invite us into a deeper relationship where we are fully known and fully loved. The story of Nathaniel highlights this truth, as Jesus demonstrates His omniscience by knowing Nathaniel even before they met. This intimate knowledge is a testament to the personal nature of our relationship with Christ, where we are invited to be vulnerable and open to His transformative love. [27:14]

Psalm 139:1-4 (ESV): "O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether."

Reflection: In what areas of your life do you struggle to believe that God knows and loves you completely? How can you invite Him into those areas today?


Day 4: Faith Beyond Reason
While reason is valuable, it has its limits. Faith involves recognizing these limits and trusting in the divine mystery of God. This trust is not irrational but a humble acknowledgment of the divine. The encounter with Jesus challenges us to move beyond intellectual barriers and to taste and see the goodness of the Lord. It is a call to action, urging us to step out in faith and experience the reality of Christ's presence and love. [19:32]

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (ESV): "But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him'—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God."

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you find yourself relying solely on reason? How can you invite faith to guide you in that area today?


Day 5: The Testimony of Transformed Lives
The testimony of believers throughout history affirms the truth of Christ. Their lives, transformed by faith, serve as a powerful witness to the reality of Jesus as the Son of God and Savior. This historical and personal testimony is a reminder of the transformative power of a relationship with Christ. As we reflect on the lives of those who have gone before us, we are encouraged to live out our faith boldly and authentically, trusting in the transformative power of Christ's love. [21:48]

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV): "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Reflection: Who is one person whose testimony of faith has inspired you? How can you let their story encourage you to live out your faith more boldly today?

Quotes

"Christianity is that which results when we have come face to face with Jesus Christ and know him then I emphasize particularly last Sunday evening uh what it was in this man Nathaniel that helped him to come to this position these very things that our Lord mentions about him one is that he is indeed an Israelite he was a man who was looking for salvation he was waiting for the coming of the Savior the Messiah you know no man ever becomes a Christian without Desiring it it may be very rapid in some cases but it's always there how can you possibly have salvation unless you've seen your need of it sometimes it takes people months and years John bunan tells us that he endured an Agony in that respect for 18 long months but some people they come into a meeting quite Thoughtless and heedless and in the one and the same meeting they're convicted and converted I'm not emphasizing the time element but I am saying that at some point or another a man must have felt his need and he must be seeking for it if you're merely a spectator and an onlooker you'll never become a Christian you've got to realize that you're involved and then you'll see it an Israelite indeed and there was no guile in him there was no pretense there was no play acting he wasn't assuming a part the men was desperately serious he wasn't just coming for an argument he was coming in order that he might find the Messiah very well we've been looking at all that but the thing that stands out it seems to me so clearly is this is this remarkable thing that was said to Nathaniel by Phillip Philip has his difficulty you remember we looked at it a very legitimate difficulty he was a man who knew his scriptures and that's always an advantage and that in a sense put him into difficulties for a moment there was an obvious explanation but here's the thing Philip instead of arguing with him says come and see how can any good thing come out of Nazareth says Nathaniel to Phillip and that's the answer come and see now that's the word I want to take up again this evening we looked at it from one angle last Sunday night when I tried to show what this meant in practice but come let us look at this as it presents us with the most important principle it is essential I say that we should come to him that we should really come to the Lord Jesus Christ now what I mean by that is this that uh Christianity the Christian salvation is not something that can be proved and tested from the outside or from a distance you see let's look at it like this there is our Lord over there now here are Philip and Nathaniel talking together over here now what Philip is rarely saying to Nathaniel is this look here while we're standing there it's no use we can stand here and argue for the rest of our lives and we'll end exactly where we began Nathaniel he said come and see cross the road come to him there must be this encounter there must be this meeting there must be this coming to Christ now what do I mean by that well let me use the words that our Lord himself used on one occasion he was dealing with people who were always arguing they say look here if you if you are what you say you are you say that you're the Son of God you say that the bread come down from heaven and so on and you're making these great claims for yourselves well now they said if this why not that and so on they'd got their questions and their debates and arguments and our Lord interrupted them and said if he will do his will you shall know of the doctrine whether I speak of myself or not that's it it's exactly the same thing he's saying in effect to them look here if you stay there in that attitude and with those arguments you'll never get out of it if you want to understand these things you've got to commit yourself to them first do his will give him an obedience then you'll know or let me put it to you as it is put in the Old Testament you will find it in Psalm 34 the psalmist is there again doing much the same thing he can't understand how of his fellow countrymen can stand away from God he's sorry for them he's enjoying the blessings of The Godly life and he sees them living in sin and find trying to find their satisfactions in other ways and manners and he comes to them and he puts his case before them and then he presses it home with this great appeal oh taste and see that the Lord is good now you notice the order in which he puts it he doesn't say oh see and taste not at all it's all taste and see you know you never will see until you've tasted the analogy is perfectly obvious isn't it you're taken by a man into his Orchard he's very proud of his apple trees he's got one tree in particular which he says is the best in the orchard it produces the finest apple in the world he says the taste of this apple is simply Indescribable and he waxs his eloquent as he gives you an account of it and you stand and say well it's sounds very wonderful but uh I don't know you know I I I don't understand to me there are other types and so on and you bring out your arguments and you go into the history horticulturally of this particular brand of apple and so on and so forth and you're not convinced that it is the best well there's only one answer to you take a bite at it you can't reason about a taste you've got a taste you've got to get your teeth into it and masticate it and then you'll experience it you'll prove it taste and then you will see but while you're just looking and hesitating and arguing you'll never know and you'll go to your grave without knowing the real quality of that fruit simply because you've not tasted it now you see this is a great principle therefore which is enunciated everywhere in the scripture in the Old Testament and in the new and I am increasingly convinced that this is the thing as I say that accounts for the fact that so many people are denying themselves these blessings there they sit or they stand and they say you know I don't quite see this and I can't quite understand now at that point there's only one thing to say commit yourself try it what do you mean by that says someone well let me put it again like this I mean this take this case assume it's right if you like get on your knees and talk talk to him ask him for the spirit ask him to reveal himself to you try it put it put it into practice submit yourself commit yourself taste you'll never see without tasting come and see says Philip to Nathaniel because as long as you don't come and see you'll never know but now I imagine somebody raising a difficulty even with respect to this and let me admit at this point that I'm not quite sure in my own mind whether I'm right or wrong in considering this difficulty but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and I'm going to consider it may God forgive me if I'm wrong and if I like Philip or to say to you look here I don't care what you say come and see but let me take up this difficulty I think it troubles many people they said but aren't you virtually by what you're saying advocating intellectual suicide aren't you asking us just to commit ourselves to something without our knowing what it is surely they say that must be wrong God has given us minds and brains and understandings and obviously he wouldn't have given them unless he meant us to use them and not only that they say surely the whole history of mankind shows very plainly and clearly that it is people who abandon reason and understanding and thought who generally make shipwreck of their lives they drop into the latest cult that comes along they think it's marvelous for a moment then they end in disaster obviously because if you don't use judgment and discrimination if you don't sift and wear the evidence and and balance things well of course you never know what you may be committing yourself to and is it right for a man to jettison his intellect and his powers of reasoning and just to perit himself as you are saying just plunging like this without knowing what he's doing now I think that that is a point of view that does Merit a certain amount of attention so let me try to answer it by putting it to you like this take it now in the case of this man Phillip as he handles Nathaniel he's not asking him just to take a Plunge in the dark as it were he says no no I have told you that we have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did right he's talking about a concrete person an individual he's talking about one whose name is Jesus and who has been living in Nazareth and who was brought up by a man called Joseph and who's been working there as a carpenter in other words you see this is not a call to men and women just as I say to plunge as it were into darkness no the Gospel of Jesus Christ is based upon historical facts and events well substantiated we worked out the argument last week there you can work through your Old Testament you can put down a list on paper if you like of the prophecies concerning him then turn to the new and you'll find they verified and fulfilled one after the other in the most amazing detail that's what you're being invited to not into some kind of blank not so suddenly to let yourself go and to relax and to stop thinking no no but to commit yourself to this person who's been described to you which is surely a very different thing come and see come to him come to this person now that to me is a very important distinction but let me give you some further reasons there is nothing inherently irrational or contrary to reason in doing this what do I mean by that well I mean this that the gospel and its whole system is something which if you read it and consider it must impress you if you're not too hopelessly biased and Prejudiced as being the most exalted view of life and the most exalted system of living that the world has ever seen there is no morality on Earth tonight higher than that which you find in the Ten Commandments and the moral law and in The Sermon on the Mount the whole view of life that is depicted in the scriptures stands out preeminently in its glory and in its Majesty in its Purity as in a class absolutely apart now that is the great difference you see between asking you to commit yourself to this and to him and what the Cults do and what many another agency does because what they rarely do is to just ask you to stop thinking at all they don't put any system like this before you but they say in some shape or form now you let yourself go and you'll begin to feel influences or you'll begin to have Sensations and feelings and experiences that isn't what I'm saying the invitation of the Gospel is to come to Christ to come to his teaching to come to all that is and represents there's nothing irrational in that it's not irrational in the sense that spiritualism or spiritism is irrational it's not irrational in the sense that Christian Science is irrational which says that there is no such thing as matter and therefore you cannot feel pain because there's nothing there to feel the pain and so on that's irrational but apply those tests and cannons here and I say there's nothing nothing inherently irrational here so you're not jet ising your intellect and your understanding but I thought so someone that your case is that you must stop reasoning and come and commit yourself to it it is for the for the two reasons I've just given given you but let me go on to a third isn't it self-evident and obvious the moment you really do begin to think about this that obviously we are dealing with something here that is beyond our natural understanding what I mean by that is that in this gospel we are confronted by a Frank and a valid and an open assertion of the miraculous and the supernatural we are discussing we are talking about God the infinite and the ABS absolute and the Eternal God whom no man have seen at any time or ever can see God who is Everlasting and eternal in all his attributes and powers and propensities God I rather suggest to you that what is to be irrational is to try to understand him or to try to arrive at him by a process of understanding if you really think about it you'll see at once it's impossible in other words let me quote again a statement that I'm never tired of quoting I think the modern man needs it perhaps more than any other the statement of the Great and Mighty blae Pascal probably the greatest mathematician that the world has ever seen but who was a Christian became a Christian Pascal said this the Supreme achievement of reason is to bring us to see that there is a limit to reason now I say that that is correct and that if you reason truly you'll come to a point at which you'll say well I can go so far but when I come to think of God I'm a Fool If I trust to my reason any longer there's only one thing to do I bow before him I humble myself I worship you see the very character of the truth that we are considering in and of itself should demonstrate to us how impossible it is rarely to comprehend it with the natural human understanding there it is you start with God and then you come to this person and what we preach is this you see that in that one person there were two Natures he was God and he was man two Natures in one person yet they were unmixed they didn't fuse together there is God he men God and man the god men now do you think that you're being reasonable and rational by trying to understand that the business of preaching is not to ask us to understand things like that but to believe them and to submit ourselves to them there he stands before us with this tremendous claim I said stop trying to understand stop standing back there taste and see and then as a final argument at this point let me put this to you and to me it's a very Cent and a very powerful argument we have here speaking to us a great and a mighty testimony the testimony of the Christian church for nearly 2,000 years here is a body of people that have come to him that have surrendered to him that have tasted and have seen can you dismiss them all as irrational creatures look at them together look at them singly and individually look at the mighty figures that stand out in the history of the Christian Church lectures are being given on these people here on Friday on Wednesday evenings at 6 630 come and listen to them these Mighty Men of God now I say as we are asked to come and see or to taste and see and as you feel am I going to plunge into something I know not what and I'll have no longer any control and I don't know what will happen I say the answer is look at the people who've done that can you dismiss them all I'm reminded of a story which I think puts this very well of a certain professor of theology who lived in the last century and he always had particular difficulty as I'm afraid we must say in strict accuracy most professors always have with the first year students we always know much more in our first year than in any other year well this man had that difficulty and and he could tell by the faces of some of these young gentlemen that they rarely didn't believe the Christian message the Christian faith they were philosophers and they knew their philosophy of course this simple Evangelical belief was all right for illiterate people people who hadn't had the advantages that they had had and so on he could see that that was on their faces so he was very fun of saying something like this to them the gentleman he used to say a faith and a belief that was good enough and that became everything to a Paul to an Augustine to a Wickliffe to a Luther to a celvin to a noox to the mighty succession of Puritans to a Whitfield to a Wesley to a gladston to a human is I suggest to you at least worthy of your respectful consideration and there it is you see if you say ah I can't do this because to do this is to commit intellectual suicide and I'll become a fool I'll become a psychological case I'll go soft and so on the answer is look at the men who've done it were they fools were they Psychopaths why the answer is that they're the greatest men the world has ever known the greatest benefactors that Humanity has ever seen these men stand out in every respect as Giants not only great spiritual Giants but intellectual Giants great in every respect and yet they did this thing they all became as little children they all agreed with Pascal they came to a point in which they said I can reason no more I'm failing it's impossible it's obvious what can I do I must become as Christ said as a little child I submit I give in I come I want to see come and see now then I say that that is the great crucial point to which we must all come there comes a point I say when you stop arguing and debating and putting up your ifs and butts and all your queries and all your wonderful cases and you listen to the invitation come and see it's bound to come that stage is inevitable there is a moment when like the prodigal of old we've all got to rise up and go home and if we don't we'll remain in the misery of the far country and we'll spend our time with the husks and the swine until we die in misery and wretchedness and failure arise come and see very well let's go on to my next point then what is it you find when you do come now this p is really eloquent about this you know what you'll find it's a remarkable thing this it's a glorious thing the first thing that you'll find when you come to Jesus Christ is that he knows you individually look at it here there is our Lord standing and uh we are told Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and SE of him beh behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile he knows him he knows Nathaniel and Nathaniel is astounded and amazed at this how th me oh I do want to emphasize this because I say again thank God this is one of the most glorious things about the Christian position the Christian message you're not dealt with as a mass or as a mo in the Christian faith that's the whole trouble in the world today and in life today isn't it Mass mob the individual is almost disappearing entirely out of sight in the modern world we are all numbers ciphers specs in a great mass of humanity we are dealt with all block all right you see it everywhere politically industrially it's the great thing everywhere people no longer play football themselves they sit in great crowds and watch just a few men doing it the crowd the masch the mob thank God here somewhere where I'm dealt with myself I'm an individual I'm a man I'm an entity I'm a personality or to put it in another way Christianity is not a matter of a general truth or a mass of General ideas the central Glory of this is that it's person and the first thing you discover when you go to Jesus Christ is not only that he knows you but that he's interested in you and concerned about you now I mean by that that he's really not interested in your ideas he's not interested in your thoughts and arguments he's interested in you that's the thing you see that Nathaniel discovered and he's not the only one who made the discovery there's a great deal about this in this Gospel According to St John if you go on to the fourth chapter you will find there that wonderful account of how our Lord met the woman of Samaria so called and you see the same thing happened there again the thing that astonished that woman was that he knew her and knew all about her and he wasn't interested in our arguments and all our debates facilities and so on no no he was interested in the woman herself and in her own soul and you know that is the central thing about this gospel now am I making my point plain and clear you know there are many people in this world who never face themselves they never realize their own individuality and identity they've lost it it's a very easy thing in this world to lose yourself in your ideas and in your thoughts and in your arguments and disput visions and the whole time you see you put these up as a camouflage to hide yourself behind them and you're always arguing as it were outside yourself and you yourself never come into it but Christ is concerned about you do you realize the significance and the importance of that do you know my friend a day will come in your life and in your history when you were thoughts and Views and ideas and argu ments and all the rest of it will be absolutely immaterial and you'll be leaving them behind you but you yourself will be passing through death and you'll be going on to Eternity you you see you and I are not a mere collection of ideas our ideas come and go don't they they change we're very change but the important thing is I myself I am an individual I'm alive in this world I'm passing through it I'm going through that death that is inevitable I go Beyond it I myself thank God the Lord Jesus Christ is interested in me not in things about me but in me or I could illustrate this to you endlessly there's nothing more insulting in this world is there than to feel that people really are not interested in you are such but in certain things about you if a person gives you the impression that he's not really interested in you but he has the interest that he seems to have in you because he's interested in your family doesn't he deny you rightly so you don't like a person who's only interested in you because he happens to know and like your father you want him to be interested in you and you have a right to or what are the men who shows very plainly that he's really not interested in you but interested in your money what he can get out of you well now that's life you see but the Lord Jesus Christ he cuts through it all he's interested in you yourself and he makes this immediate contact Nathaniel suddenly found that here is one who knows him he didn't know he hadn't heard of him before and how has he heard of me he says but he knows me and as you may feel in this world tonight that you're forgotten and neglected you say who am I what's it matter what happens to me I'm just Canon th or something like that I'm just one to be dealt with in the mass and in the main and you say is anything worthwhile therefore does it matter what I do with my life whether I go up or down or live or commit suicide does anything matter here's the answer he's interested in you we are living in this great city of London this Mad City with its millions of people hurt it together in this idiotic Manner and people like to get lost in the crowd as it were until things go wrong and then they feel lonely and see the crowd passing by laugh and the world laughs With You Weep and You Weep alone it's true isn't it so thank God for a blessed person who sees you alone and who knows you and who's interested in you as an individual yes but let me hurry on to the next thing he not only found that Christ knew him he found that he knew all about him listen to it here in this 48th verse Nathaniel said unto him when knowest thou me how have you arrived at this knowledge and our Lord you see gives him his answer but let me emphasize this Nathaniel's question proves that he had realized at once that the Lord knew him with a strange particularity and our lord gave the answer that we have already seen But there is a further answer listen to this have you seen its significance Jesus answered and said unto him before that Philip called thee when thou was under the Fig Tree I saw thee what's he mean by that where well this is the most remarkable thing of all this was the thing of course that opened the eyes of Nathaniel as the record tells us what it means is this it was the habit and the custom of The Devout and religious Jews to go and sit under the fig trees in order that there they might read the word of God and meditate and pray to God the Fig Tree was covered with its leaves you see in the came down pretty low it was a sort of secret chamber into which you could enter nobody'd see you you were shut off from the world you were absolutely alone and there you were with yourself and your own thoughts whatever you might be doing under the Fig Tre and what our Lord tells Nathaniel here is this do you know Nathaniel I saw you when you were there under the Fig Tree it might have been the same day it might have been the previous day he is clearly referring to some particular special thing that happened when Nathaniel was under that fig tree I can't tell you exactly what it was nobody knows we can speculate about it but it seems to me to be quite clear that it was something like this this man was an Israelite indeed he was seeking God he was seeking for the coming of the Messiah he was waiting for salvation and for deliverance and he gone there he may have been reading the prophets and here he prays to God and cries how long and I believe that God said to him as it were there's no need to wait any longer I've sent him he's come and then our Lord tells him I know exactly what happened when you were under that fig tree I can tell you about your sobbing and your crying and your weeping and your prayers and you're pleading with God I know all about it and I know what God my father said to you I saw thee thou was under the fig tree before Philip ever called thee and invited thee to come to me well there it is whatever it was this is the principle that the Lord Jesus Christ knows all about us there is nothing about us that is hidden from him here again is a great statement in the scriptures from beginning to end do you remember poor David the king of Israel who had committed their terrible sin first of all adultery then murder and he went on thinking everything was all right but God had seen it and knew all about it and he sent his servant Nathan the prophet to speak to David and to convict him of his sin and David having seen it all sits down and writes his 51st sermon this is what he says in the agony of his heart thou desirous truth in the inward parts you know all about me it's no use my trying to hide or to conceal anything you know all about me that's the glory and the difficulty in a sense truth in the inward Parts if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me says the psalmist again and here you see again this woman of Samaria finds out exactly the same thing there she is in her cleverness arguing with our Lord about religion and about worship whether you should Worship in this mountain or in Jerusalem how you should do it and so on who who did this well belong to was it the Samaritans or the Jews and so on and so forth when our Lord cuts across it all and says woman go fetch thy husband and come with and the woman said sir I have no husband and Jesus said to her thou sayest right I have no husband for thou Hast had five husbands and he whom thou now Hast is not thy husband in that said thou truly and you remember how the story ends the woman of Samaria leaving her water pot runs back to her Village and says come see a man that has told me all things that ever I did is not this the Christ come and see this men she said he knows all about me he's read me like an open book I was having a brilliant argument argument with him about religion and then he suddenly opened the book and revealed that he knew all about my immorality and the wrong life I'm living come and see him this must be the Christ ah yes says the author of The epistle to the Hebrews in his fourth chapter the word of God is quick and powerful and mightier than a two-edged sword cutting even to the dividing ofer of the Soul and Spirit and of the joints and Marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intense of the heart for there is nothing that is hidden from his sight with whom we have to do all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do and then add the 139th Psalm to it which we read at the beginning where shall I flee No Heaven hell East West Darkness light impossible he's everywhere he knows all thou understandest my thoughts a far off thou knowest my Downs sitting and my U Rising thou knewest me before I was formed in my mother's womb and in the secret parts of the earth my dear friends if you come to Christ you know you'll discover that you'll discover that he knows all about you and that is why of course people evade him and avoid him he knows all about your life he knows all about your sins and he really isn't interested in your arguments but he's interested in you and in your life and in what you've done he knows you can talk cleverly but he knows the secret sins you commit some sins are not secret they're committed with others some sins we commit alone and he sees them all when you've drawn the blinds and locked the door he reads your thoughts your imaginations Your Lust your passions he knows all about you and he'll let you know that and he'll hold it before you but thank God he doesn't stop at that knowledge he knows our misery he knows our sadness he counts our tears of sorrow and of remorse he knows our hopes and fears he knows all about our longings and our desires he's watched us struggling to live a better life and failing taking our resolutions and breaking them he knows all about it and there is nothing about us that he doesn't know you remember how the Apostle Peter had that experience a little bit later on than this he and some others had been out fishing one night and they' caught nothing our Lord tells them go back go back again to the same place throw the net on the other side and they went back and they caught so many that their net broke but at last they were able to bring the ships in and to land most of them and do you remember the effect the dead had upon the Apostle Peter he fell at the feet of Christ and he said depart from me for I am a sinful man oh Lord he felt that he was being read as an open book other people felt the same do you remember the people who owned the gine swine and do you remember how our Lord drove the Devils out of the men and sent them into the swine and they rushed over that steep place and drowned in the depths of the sea do you remember the reaction of the gines they besought him to depart out of their coasts why well they said this man can do everything and he knows everything he's reading us as an open book get away they said we can't stand it oh foolish tragic people they realized that he knew all about them and all about their sin and their illicit trade and all the rest of it but they didn't realize that he knew knew also their need their heartache the Heartbreak he knows everything what a wonderful thing this is that I am known thoroughly and absolutely and all together very well the moment I discover this you see I know it's no use trying to hide anything it's no use concealing anything it's no use bringing in my butts and saying but after all I do this or that he'll give you a thousand things that you don't do and when you tell him about your good deeds he'll tell you about your V V and ugly foul thoughts and all your evil imaginations and the desperate despicable things you've done we've all done them he'll put them all before you and you won't have a leg to stand on he knows all about us you'll find that but thank God as I close I'm privileged to say this also that you'll find that he has a marvelous sympathy he's full of encouragement understanding can you imagine can you picture the feelings of Nathaniel as he came and heard the Lord saying about him behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile what an encouragement what drawing power what sympathy how he Praises him how ready and glad he is to do so ah but you and I may not perhaps be able to say that we are Israelites indeed in whom is no guile we may have lived a sinful selfish Godless worldly life it doesn't matter if you have felt the faintest glimmering of a sense of sin and a sense of Shame if you have felt for a moment you'd like to know him and to Bel belong to him and to be blessed by him I assure you that if you listen to this invitation and come and see him if you take a single step in his Direction you'll see him smiling upon you and you'll hear him saying him that cometh un me I will in no wise cast out I don't care whether you're in rags in a moral sense I don't care if the viest filth of the gutters of London immorality is upon you this evening I don't care you can come just as you are and waiting not to rid your soul of one dark spot or blot come as you are take a step in his Direction and he'll extend his arms and he'll say him that cometh unto me whoever he is wherever he's come from I will in no wise cast out and then you see when you've heard him saying that and when you realized the way in which he knows you and reads you and gets rid of all the camouflage and reveals you to yourself as you are when you see all this and see that face that smile and those extended arms you like Nathaniel will come to the only conclusion to which one can come who comes to him and that is Rabbi Thou Art the Son of God Thou Art the king of Israel there's no other explanation look at him my friends come to him look at the portraits of him in these gospels can you explain him in any other terms as has often been pointed out if he was only a man well then he was a blasphemer if he was only a man he was a lunatic because he said before Abraham was I am he stood up and he said he have heard that it has been said by them of old time but I say unto you he says to men he doesn't hesitate to say to a man sitting like like Matthew with the receipt of Customs follow me leave everything a man who says that I say is a fool if he's only a man he's a lunatic he's possessed but can you say that he's only a god of course you can't he's patently also a man and you know in 1956 we are able to say without any fear of contradiction that it is now quite established and proved that all the attempts that have been made so often during the last 100 years to explain him in any terms whatsoever except that he is the god men have failed and have failed completely answer this question when did you last hear anybody speaking or talking about the Jesus of history you know 30 and 40 and 50 years ago You' hear very little of anything else then they were quite sure that he was only a man so they took away all the miraculous and all the supernatural they took away all his eschatology and all about the apocalyptic he was just a very good man a great religious genius a wonderful preacher nothing more a man they reconstructed the Jesus of history and they were preaching him and his social gospel but they don't do that now you know they can't scholarship alone has made it impossible they've had to admit that if you take out the miraculous and the Supernatural Well you haven't a person left at all it's a caricature so that even this much vaed scholarship as at last you see how to make this confession he can't be explained in any other way nor in any other terms come and see him commit yourself to him having considered this picture this case well go to him I say tell him how you feel ask him to reveal himself say you want to know him you want to be blessed by him you want to belong to him commit yourself to him ask him by the spirit to make it plain to you do that taste and you will see and you will say to him with Nathaniel of old Thou Art the Son of God Thou Art the Savior amen oh closing himm is himym number 100 100 thou Son of God and Son of men beloved adored Emmanuel who did before all time began in glory with thy father dwell hymn number 100" [00:04:31]

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Transcript
What was the most surprising thing in this sermon?
Were there any personal stories shared?