(John 1:51)
�And he said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see the heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.�
As Christians the medium of our spiritual lives is faith. But, within this faith God has such wonders to show us that we are drawn to an even deeper faith. There are times when the Spirit so illumines our souls that we are allowed the proof of that which we believe. Jesus promised Nathanael that this would be so.
The heavens opened at Gethsemane as the angels ministered unto Him. (see Luke 22:43) The heavens opened at His baptism as the Dove of the Spirit settled upon Him. The heavens opened at the Mount of Transfiguration as the Old Testament saints spoke with Him.
And, in a comforting picture to the infant church, the heavens opened at the stoning of Stephen as Jesus, Himself, stood to welcome home a martyr in His name.
Jesus made no promise to His disciples which He did not fulfill. Jesus has made no promise to us which He will not fulfill. How dare we ever doubt Him?
Jesus spoke as He instructed Nathanael. �And he said unto him...�
As Fundamentalist and Biblicist believer�s, we often downplay the idea of Jesus being a Teacher. But, that was part of His purpose in coming to this earth. He came to teach us the true nature of God. He came to teach us the means of personal salvation through His atonement. He came to teach us how to live holy lives, pleasing unto Him. He taught us how to take this message of sin, salvation, and Godliness out into the world about us. He didn�t just say, �Do.� He said, �Do this.�
Jesus instructed Nathanael in the goodness of Jesus. First, when Nathanael first approached Jesus, Jesus treated him with respect. Quite often we, as Christian witnesses� seem to forget this little trait. We approach the sinner with an attitude that we are better than they. We approach the sinner with an attitude that they are loathsome creatures. We approach the sinner with an attitude of hostility that they would not see our point of view.
Jesus, our example of personal work in this world, did no such thing. There was not a person on this earth who would have been near the equal of the Son of God. But, Jesus approached people with an attitude of respect for their feelings. Rather than whacking them with a view of their sinfulness, He wooed them with an view toward their potential for forgiveness. His approach was to win them to His salvation rather than to whip them to any human ideal of society.
He knew that their reformation would come. But, first, they needed regeneration!
Jesus also provided guidance to those with whom He came in contact. He taught the masses. And He taught His followers.
We do not need to �dumb down� our doctrine when we speak the others. That is part of the Gospel Message. The Great Commission of Matthew 28:19 - 20 is an admonition to teach others the ways of Christ. First salvation, of course. But, we also need to teach doctrine if we are to be in compliance with the marching orders of the Savior.
Jesus also taught the grandeur of His Person.
We need to spend more time lifting up Jesus and less time tearing down others.
In John 3:14, Jesus said, �And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.� Now, I understand that Jesus was speaking primarily of His coming death on the cross. But, the symbolism of looking back to Moses is important.
The people of Israel had been complaining, as was their normal attitude. Snakes came into the camp and began to bite them. The people were dying of the snake bites. God told Moses to fashion a brazen serpent and put it on a poll. The people were to look toward the serpent. When they did so they were cured.
I can just imagine the conversations in the tents of the people. �Moses said what?� �It can�t possibly work.� �I can�t do something that stupid. People would think I was crazy.�
But, those who believed the Word of God were healed.
People in this day, as in every other day, need salvation from their sins. The only remedy is to look to the Cross of Calvary for the salvation provided in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It will work. Only this will work. And, if someone thinks you are crazy for trusting Christ, well, you can get over the embarrassment during those eons of eternity in Heaven.
Jesus is our provision. Jesus is our protection. Jesus is our pardon from sin. Jesus is the Great God Who came to earth to redeem His creation. Look in awe to Him. But, look to Him.
Jesus also inspired. �...Verily, verily, I say unto you...�
�Verily, verily!� That is, as most of you already know, �You can be really certain that this is the truth.� Could it be any other when those words come from the lips of the Savior. Jesus never told a lie. And, He never misled anyone, either! This is the rightness of His Words. They are without error because Jesus is Divine and God does not make mistakes. The Living Word gives us the Words of Life.
So, also, does the Written Word give us the Words of Life. Many today, even those in the pulpit and, especially it seems, those in the halls of fundamentalist academia, will tell us that we do not have a Word from God which we can trust. �Sloppy copyists, pious scribes seeking to �smooth over� certain passages by editing them, and heretics who changed the Words to suit their doctrines, have so obscured what the original autographs may have said, that we have - at best - a rough approximation of those words. We have reconstructed those Words to the best of our abilities.�
Wait! Am I to understand that humans had ripped the precious preserved Words from the preserving power of God. But, other humans have rushed to God�s rescue and restored, as best they could. Do I have that right?
I�m not completely certain that it is a good idea to trust the eternal abode of our immortal souls to the pronouncements (maybe!) of such a weak God. If we can�t trust Him to keep His Own Words, how do we even know if He said anything in the first place. Maybe the skeptic is right. Maybe the Scripture is simply a work of man.
If that were true, where would we go to find true solace for our souls?
Thank the God of the Bible, that is not a true assessment. God did inspire that message for the eternal betterment of humankind. What God considered important, those Words, He has the power to do so and, obviously, would also have the intent. History, even, discloses that this is true. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 90% of all the extent evidence agrees with the Traditional Text which underlies the King James Bible. It is only the aberration among the evidence, used as a base by the purveyors of the modern language versions, which was tainted. God did preserve His True Words. They are �verily, verily,� because they are of Him. He is eternal. So, also, is His Word eternal.
This also means that there is a righteousness in His words.
That righteousness is the Righteousness of God displayed toward humankind. That righteousness is the answer to the heart need of the creature. God, the Creator, has shown the creature the means of more fully living the physical life on this physical world. That righteousness is the answer for the soul need of the creature. God has shown men how to throw off the shackles of the sin nature so that there may be true fellowship with the Creator - as was the operating intent of that creation. That righteousness is the answer for the eternal need of men and women. God, in His Word, shows the Way, which was provided by God, for temporal humanity to gain eternal bliss in the halls of Heaven.
Also, as did Jesus, the Living Word of God, display the righteousness of God before man so that man could better comprehend the truth about Him, so does the Written Word of God.
Jesus also displayed the royalty of His words to Nathanael.
Jesus displayed His Heavenly Royalty when He spoke of the hidden things of the heart of man. Jesus displayed His Heavenly Royalty when He spoke of the needs of humanity. Jesus displayed His Heavenly Royalty when He spoke the Word and blind eyes were opened, the lame walked, the deaf heard, and the souls of men and women were ushered into the spiritual presence of God as they forsook their sin and accepted their Savior.
Finally, Jesus was - IS! - the Incarnate Deity. �...Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.�
Jesus, without a hint of pride, told Nathanael of some of the wonders which he would witness as a follower of Jesus. As SGT. Joe Friday on the old �Dragnet� T. V. series, Jesus said, �Just the facts...� The fact was that the Son of God would inspire those disciples by the honor of His Person.
Can you imagine the honor of being able to spend three years, face to face, with Jesus? This was the great honor accorded to Nathanael. Nathanael had been a skeptic. Nathanael had not expected the great honor which would be his when he accepted the invitation to �Come and see.�
Wouldn�t it have been great to live back in this time and be able to talk with Jesus? We have that honor now as we approach the Throne of Grace in prayer. Too often we do not consider the greatness of the possibility of prayer. We see prayer as a little formula of our religious experience. We see prayer as a three year old child might as he sits on Santa�s knee at the department store in December. We come to Him to ask that which we need and, too often, want. We see prayer as a part out of a �B� Western. The sheriff puts on his gun belt before he steps out of the jail to face the �bad guys� in the street. We put on our prayer as a means of seeking a better sermon, or as a protection against the wiles of Satan.
The last idea isn�t all bad. We do need to understand that prayer is our guard against Satan and our pathway to power in the Spiritual realms. But, may we gain an understanding of the greatness of the privilege of being able to approach the Throne of God. What an honor has been bestowed upon us as we are invited to an audience with the Creator of the Universe!
A few years ago, when President Bill Clinton came to our town, Linda and I were invited to sit with the office staff from U. S. Congressman Lane Evans as we listened to the President�s speech. Later we were able to meet with the President for a short time.
If you think that was an honor, if that idea at all impresses you, rachet that up many, many times and you will still be nowhere near the level of honor that is the right of every single Christian. We are able to boldly walk into the presence of the God of the Universe with our petitions! Is it any wonder that we also need to enter into His presence with praise!
But, more than just the honor of His Person, Nathanael was also given the help of His passion.
Jesus didn�t just come to offer us conversation. He came to offer us conversion.
Linda and I have made several trips to Canada. Each time we have stopped at a bank to �convert� our U. S. currency to Canadian currency. It is a different country from our native land. We need to have the currency of Canada while we are on Canadian soil.
As we consider the possibility of prayer, we also need to consider that we must have our lives converted to be able to speak to the Father in a land foreign to our natural birth. There are no �illegal aliens� in Heaven or speaking to the Father. All have come to the cross of Jesus to have their lives converted to that spiritual plane of born again believer�s in Jesus Christ. This is only possible because Jesus went to that cross as the substitute for us. He took our sins so that we might be free from the nature of sin and the allegiance to Satan.
The passion of Jesus at the cross is not another simple �Bible story.� That was a real event for a real purpose. Jesus died in time so that we might live in eternity!
Because of the substitutionary death of Jesus on that cross, we have the offer of the house of His pardon from sin.
That very thought should be enough to drive us to our knees in a prayer of praise to Him!
Have you accepted that pardon? Are you a true Christian? I�m not asking if you are a �nice guy.� I�m asking if you are a Christian. I�m not asking if you are respectful of others. I�m asking if you are a Christian. I�m not asking if you are moral and upright. I�m asking if you are a Christian. I�m not even asking if you follow church rules and rites. I am asking if you are a Christian.
Well, are you?
Why not make sure right now. Just accept, in faith, that Jesus died for your sins.
Do it today!