Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, last Lord's Day, we heard John the Baptist declare, behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. Now we're not exactly sure who heard John say that at that time, but then a week later, or I'm sorry, a day later, John saw Jesus again walking. And this time two of John's disciples were standing near him. And John again declared, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. When they heard John say that, John's two followers began to follow Jesus. And it didn't end there. As they followed Jesus, They began to seek for others, desiring that they, in turn, would also follow Jesus and meet Him. And then we're going to see this morning a handful of different ways that Jesus began to gather His followers. And in this little part of the chapter, there are a number of practical lessons for us, how we might actually continue that process of inviting people to follow Jesus. And so with God's help, that's our theme. Jesus begins gathering disciples, and we could just as well say as a sub-theme, how may we gather disciples for Jesus? Our text is John 1, 35 to 51. Let me just read 40 through the first part of 42. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. So under the theme of Jesus begins gathering disciples, in the first place, following Jesus, in the second place, recommending Jesus, And thirdly, learning Jesus. Boys and girls, some of you are old enough to, you already have a kind of a job or you certainly have chores or something you have to do. But when people start to go out into the workplace, whatever their work might be, how are they prepared for that? Well, there's a variety of different ways, depending on what their calling is. So some callings require a bit of education, and then learning this theory. And then perhaps later on, hands-on experience, practicing what they've learned in the classroom. For other people, it might look like an apprentice. You start working for somebody and you're following workers who do the work you want to do. You learn a little bit here, a little bit there. And you begin to develop and then to practice the skills that you've observed. How does a person become a minister? How does a person become a missionary? denomination, it involves a sense of calling from the Lord, a recognition, at least, that that may be happening by the church, but then some preparation through schooling and then practical preparation through what we call internships, being in a church, under supervision, pastoring, preaching, all of that, and then being called by a church and receiving that call, accepting that call. So there's a variety of ways by which people begin their work. Some have learned what they're going to do for their life from their parents. But the greatest instructor who ever lived, the Lord Jesus Christ, had a very unique way of instructing his followers. You know, boys and girls, how Jesus had 12 hand-picked followers who we call apostles, and Jesus trained them in a very unique way. How did he do it? He had them walk with him, live with him, listen to him, watch him. He gave them the opportunity to ask him questions and give answers, and sometimes he would ask them questions, and they would have to answer. And eventually, kind of like an apprenticeship, he began to send them out to see if they would bring the same message that he had taught them, to do the same miracles that he had done by giving them the power. And eventually, the 11 of the 12, the one of course being Judas falling away, 11 of the 12, and then a 12th one who was added later, were given by God the commission to go into all the world and bring the gospel to whoever they met. to evangelize, we would say, the nations. That's how Jesus did it. What's so interesting, though, in the Gospel of John, it began not with Jesus, per se, but with John the Baptist. That simple declaration, Behold the Lamb of God. And as we read this morning, two of his disciples, John's disciples, they heard that, And they began to follow Jesus. Now, children, did they know Jesus? We don't know that they did. It appeared only by what they saw John say that day, hear what John said that day, or being disciples of John. They might have heard other things from John about the one who would come after him, who was greater than him. But this much we know, even though Jesus didn't say a word to them yet, Jesus was using John to draw them to himself. And here's the first very simple lesson. God often uses ordinary people to draw others to himself. And not only to draw others to salvation, but to draw others to discipleship, to not only find the way of salvation, but also coming alongside them to disciple them after salvation. Dear believer, think back in your own life. How many times God has used someone It could have been your parents, it could have been a brother or sister, it could have been a neighbor, it could have been a co-worker, it could have been a friend, a fellow church member, that God put people in your life and he used them, not to become their disciples, but to come to know Jesus. And it might not even been the first time you heard about Jesus that you responded. They might have simply planted a seed and then somebody came along and watered that seed and then maybe God led you to others who helped be a means in God's hand to lead you further. So the first question we have this morning, has God led you by some means to follow Jesus? In other words, are you following Jesus now And if so, how did that begin? But we also see in this example how the simplest of messages can be used by God to be absolutely life-changing. John said one thing that we heard Behold the Lamb of God. And that was, maybe he taught many other things about the coming Messiah, but that seemed to be the final straw, so to speak, where they no longer followed John. They needed to know, who is this? They needed to come to know him. But this very simple message. Now, what does that teach us? How many of us, when you think about reaching out with the gospel to somebody else, There comes this thought in our mind, well, I don't maybe know so much, or I'm not really gifted in speaking. What if they ask me a question I can't answer? Or things like that. But you'll notice that here is a very simple thing that John said, and it was used by God to propel these people to find out more. So we don't have to give an entire presentation, a summary of all the Bible, everything neatly packaged, sometimes a simple word. And you'll also notice that Jesus didn't say to these people, follow me. John didn't even say to them, now you follow Jesus. John simply said, behold. In other words, see here, see someone that I need you to consider. And God used even that to stir a desire in them to know more, to learn more. And you might be an instrument, I might be an instrument, to do the very same thing in somebody else's life. Now, did these two learn a lot about Jesus from that simple statement of John? Well, they heard some very important things, but that statement intrigued them. Remember last week we looked at each word separately. Behold the Lamb, the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And then later John saying, this is the Son of God. This intrigued them. It was used to stir up a desire in them to know more. And so maybe you don't have the answers to somebody's many questions, but you might say just enough that God would use it to pique their interest, so that out of curiosity, if nothing else, they might want to know more. But again, we remember these were disciples of John. So it's one thing to learn about someone, in this case Jesus, from John. It's another thing to pursue Jesus. So boys and girls, I am sure that your parents and others, your Sunday school teacher, have told you a great deal about Jesus, so that you know things about Jesus, and that's wonderful. That's where it starts. But the question is not just do you know things about Jesus, But these two disciples went to pursue Jesus, to follow Him, to find Him. They left John. And so are you making efforts, boys and girls, to follow Jesus, to learn more about Jesus, to ask questions about Him? Is someone pointing you to Jesus so that you want to know what it's like to have a relationship with Him if you don't have that already? Now, notice in verse 38, Jesus turns to those disciples who were following him, and he asks them a simple question. Did you notice what it was? What seek ye? Now, children, did Jesus know what they were seeking? Of course he did. He knows everything. But it was so interesting, he wanted to hear them say what they were seeking. And this is a really important question. Jesus is saying, what are you seeking? What are you looking for? And that's Jesus' question to you and me this morning. What are you seeking? What am I seeking in this life? What are we looking for? What is our priority? What is it that we can't do without or that we would hate to do without? If we had our way, what would life look like? What are we after? Well, they weren't satisfied with only what John told them. They wanted to be with Jesus. And that ought to be the burning desire of our life, to be not only Jesus' disciples, but to abide in Him. It's so interesting, he didn't say, who are you seeking? What do you want? In other words, what do you want from me? Why are you following me? You were disciples of John, why me? And their answer is actually perplexing, isn't it? A little bit. They said unto him, Rabbi, meaning master, where dwellest thou? So he asks, what are you seeking? What are you looking for? He asked them, or I should say they ask him, where do you live? Now, why would they do that? Well, this is another important lesson. These two didn't just want to have a brief chat with Jesus. They could have had that by just walking along with him for a while. But by asking, where do you live? It's very evident they wanted to spend time with Jesus. And beloved, there are far too many people who identify as Christian, who are perfectly happy with a life of an occasional chat with Jesus, a little bit of a stroll with Jesus. Kind of like a passing ship, often, with Jesus. What does that look like? Seldom, if ever, in the Word. Occasional, sporadic prayers with Jesus. Not much of a sense of desiring to abide in Him and what that might actually look like. And we can ask Him exactly what they asked Him. Maybe in other words, Lord Jesus, may I abide with you. May I not just address you at times, may I not just follow you in church or in a Bible study or somewhere, but may I pursue you in whatever it is I'm doing. Their question simply implies they wanted to be where He was. Now, we can say we want to know and love and learn about Jesus, but if we're serious about that, we should be frequenting the places Jesus can be found. Where do you expect to find Jesus? Now, Jesus is not here on earth bodily. There isn't a house we can go to to meet him. But the question is still an important one. Where do you expect to find Jesus? Well, here is one place where Jesus often visits his people in the house of God. There are other places where we can expect to find Jesus. Boys and girls, young people, do you expect to find Jesus in the music you listen to? Do you expect to find Jesus in the places where you go, the places where you love to go? Do you expect to find Jesus maybe in the stores you love to frequent? The things you read and look at online? Hopefully, your answer is yes. I expect to find Jesus in all of these places. But then we can turn the question around. Where might we not expect to find him? What would be a setting or something we're seeing or listening to that he wouldn't want to be there? He wouldn't want to partake in that with you if he were here. We need to take that question with us a bit for homework. Think carefully, children. Where are the places? What are the activities? What is a lifestyle where we might most likely find Jesus, where we would expect him to come alongside of us and bless what we are doing? What motives please him? Now, notice what Jesus does, children. They ask, where do you live? He doesn't give them an address. He doesn't take out a map and say, you go down this street and go over here, and that's where I'm staying. His answer is, come and see. Come and see. You need to follow me all the way to that house. You need to walk with me. I'm not just going to tell you where I live so that someday you might show up at that address and see if I'm home. No, come with me. So notice, first of all, Jesus doesn't avoid their presence, but invites their presence. They were seeking him, but in fact, he is seeking them. And if we're honest, the only reason we seek Jesus now is because he sought us first. Come and see, he says to them. Jesus invited them not just to follow him, Jesus invited them to abide with him. And that's exactly what he would say later in John 15. Abide in me and I in you. And that's remarkable. It's not us asking Jesus if we could abide with him, but Jesus is saying, I want you to abide in me. I want you near me, always. And that's a beautiful thing. They came, we read, and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day. For it was about the tenth hour." That would be roughly four o'clock in the afternoon. Abiding with Jesus. That's what he wants. May that be what we want. And one other thing before we go on. you'll notice that Jesus didn't just encounter these people and invite them. But we're going to see that as instruments in his hand, they would go out and they would invite others to know Jesus. And before we get ahead of ourselves, just keep in mind, if you have found Jesus, if Jesus has found you, If you know what it is to abide with him, if you have experienced or are experiencing his favor, his nearness, talk about it. Share it with others. There's nothing more encouraging in addition to being blessed ourselves than to sharing that blessing with others. So we may be encouraged that the Lord is among us, that the Lord is working here in our families, in our church. In the second place, this leads us to recommending Jesus. So far, we've seen John pointing to Jesus, people coming to Jesus, but that's not all that happened. Verse 40, we're told that one of the two disciples who came to Jesus was Andrew. That was Simon Peter's brother. We're not told who the other disciple is, and John did this, will do this again. The travelers to Emmaus, he'll tell us the name of the one, he won't tell us the name of the other. I wonder sometimes if Jesus leaves, if God leaves these blanks so that we could fill our names in. But anyway, we are told that Andrew goes to meet his brother Peter. Verse 41, what does he tell him? We have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted to Christ. Think about that. That is remarkable. They just spent maybe not even a whole day, but a good part of the day with Jesus. And the conclusion that Andrew has is this is the one. This is for sure the Messiah. This is the promised Christ. One visit with Jesus added to the testimony of John. This is it. He's the one, the one anointed, the long awaited, prophesied for hundreds, if not thousands of years. And yet what's so interesting, we have lived, some of us, our whole life with an open Bible, with opportunities to learn about Jesus in church and at home and in Bible studies and in other interactions. And yet, are there still people sitting here this morning who are not yet convinced that Jesus is the one, the one worth following? Andrew was convinced. That must have been a shock to Simon Peter, if you think about it. 400 years there had not been a prophet. John comes on the scene preaching the baptism of repentance, clearing the way for Messiah. And now Andrew tells his brother, this is him. We've met him. The one that John was talking about, the one that John was pointing to. We've met him. But he didn't just say it. Look at verse 42 again. He brought him to Jesus. You could just picture it. Andrew tells him, and then he takes him by the sleeve. He's like, we're going. You've got to meet him. You've got to know him. You've got to be convinced yourself. He brought him to Jesus. It's beautiful. It isn't like Peter, like, oh, we'll see. No, you're coming. You've got to go. There was an urgency here. He wanted Peter to meet the Messiah. Why? Because when he met Jesus, it was transformative. It was convincing. He wanted Simon not just to hear the message, but he wanted Simon to literally have first-hand experience about Jesus. Well, you may be wondering right about now, how can I do that? How can I do that today? Well, some of you are already doing it. Think about the children in your life, leading a young child by the hand, kneeling down next to that child, leading them in prayer to Jesus, encouraging your children, your young people, to come to Jesus, to trust that He is who Scripture says He is, that they may tell Him everything, all their sins, that they may tell him they're truly sorry for their sins, that they can rely on his promise of forgiveness. We can do that. And not just tell them about going to Jesus themselves, but demonstrate it. Let them hear you praying to Jesus, communing with Jesus, confessing to Jesus. There's a place for private prayer, certainly, but there's a place for real time pointing to Jesus, communing and communicating with Jesus. And instill in your child a confidence. The gospel is not a maybe thing. Well, maybe Jesus will hear you, or maybe Jesus will save you, or maybe someday this will happen. Encourage them to realize that Jesus means what he says, that his promises are real. and that their lives can be just as changed as these lives. And to do this, we need to have confidence, not in ourselves, not in our ability to communicate, confidence in the Word of God, confidence in the Holy Spirit. Come alongside of them when we sing. Let me stand. You remember how John, I'm sorry, in Deuteronomy, when you rise up, when you walk by the way, we don't need to have a big talk with our children about Jesus. We just need to live with Jesus ourselves, point to Jesus as often as we have opportunity, and take them along when we meet Jesus. We also notice here that Andrew, if we could say it this way, made a personal investment in his brother. He took the time to tell him, he took the time to bring him, and there are benefits. What a joy, what glory to God if somebody that we bring, maybe to church, or bring to a study, or just bring a Bible to, that God uses it. That is such joy. And so very often, probably more often than any other means, God uses the very people with whom you have a relationship now to further the kingdom. And it multiplies. Or you tell one person, and that person tells somebody, and they tell somebody. And that is how the kingdom grows. Family, friends, co-workers, neighbors. We all know what happened in Simon Peter's life when he met Jesus. He would never be the same. Just picture people you know who are lost, that they would never be the same again. And what was Andrew's message? We have found him. That's it. We found him. He didn't go into a dissertation about, you know, who the Messiah should be according to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. No, he just said, he's here and I want you to meet him. Come and see. And what happened when Peter did come? It says, When Jesus beheld him, Peter, he said to Peter, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. Wait a minute. I thought Simon Peter was meeting Jesus for the first time. Jesus looks at him and said, I know who you are. In fact, I know who your father is. Simon, son of Jonah, that would be your dad. That's who you were. Now let me tell you who you're going to be. I'm going to rename you, give you an additional name. Why did he do that? Isn't that kind of odd? Not so much today, maybe. But in Bible times, naming a child or naming a servant was actually a significant thing in this sense. Naming, the very act of naming, showed authority and a kind of ownership. You belong to me, I have named you. So you think about Adam, he was the one who gave Eve the name Eve. You are my wife, we belong together. There was an authority structure there. So him giving Simon Peter a name is basically communicating, you are now one of my disciples. You now belong to me. Well, children, Jesus did that to you too. He didn't give you a new name, but he did something better. He put his name next to yours when you were baptized. We don't read anything more about Peter's meeting with Jesus that day. And yet, that meeting would be the beginning, first of all, of a three-year journey with Jesus, and then a lifelong journey talking about Jesus to others. A little at a time. That's how Jesus taught them. He didn't just sit them down for a crash course on evangelism or the gospel. He parceled out the instruction, little by little by little. And that is still the most effective way to teach. When you rise up, when you sit down, when you walk by the way, a little here, a little there, day by day, effective. Again, not the big talk, but the constant infusion of biblical reality. into others' lives. So, to put it another way, discipling someone is not just talking. It's not just teaching. It's not just information. It's also walking with. It's also leading. It's also pointing to. It's being an example of what we're talking about. The Christian life, as we all know, is not a sprint. It is a marathon. And so discipling is not an in-a-hurry sort of thing. It's a little at a time. Now there are times when you're in a situation you're only gonna see someone once and then maybe never again. That's a different story. But for the most part, the most common, most blessed way of teaching, discipling, patience, day-by-day discipling. So let's ask this question. on Judgment Day, is there going to be anyone there who says, there was the person who led me to Jesus and who walked with me? Will anyone say that this was the person who took the time, made the effort, overcame their inhibitions, and was the means for my salvation or sanctification. Is anyone jealous of us? Is anyone jealous of our holy life or our steadfast faith, our calm reliance on the Lord, notwithstanding the circumstances, without the usual complaints that are so common in the world? I don't have this, I don't have that. So we not only point to Jesus, but we need to reflect him. Verse 43, the day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, setting north. On his way he findeth Philip, and saith unto him, follow me. So in this case, Jesus didn't use another person to bring that other person to himself. Jesus did it directly. And the Lord does that too. The Lord may acquaint someone with the word of God. I mean, if we don't even know what to say to somebody, if we can't get two sentences out connected, we can give them a Bible. We can give them some tract to introduce them to the gospel. And God may use that means to save them, a direct interaction with the word of God. Jesus' command was very simple, very direct, and very powerful. And you'll notice that Jesus didn't say, let me explain to you the way of salvation. He didn't tell this person all their sins, Philip, follow me. And this one command, follow me, it actually encapsulates the entire Christian life. The whole of our Christian life is following Him, following Him for mercy when we're lost, following Him for salvation when we're unsaved, following Him for courage, following Him for wisdom, following Him for everything, following Him for the grace to follow Him ongoing. And He leads us by a variety of ways. We know that by providence, through other Christians, through the Word, following Him. All that we know about Philip is that Jesus said, follow me. But then the next thing, does Philip just go and follow Jesus? No, Philip's like, I can't keep this to myself. Verse 45, Philip finds Nathaniel, says to him, we have found him. of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did write. Similar message to Andrew telling Simon Peter, he's it. This is the one. We found him. Who did we find? Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Now, Everybody thought he was Joseph's son, but how would he know that that wasn't the case? But look what happens. Nathaniel, unlike Simon Peter, wasn't so quickly convinced, persuaded. He caught something in what Philip said that didn't add up. Nathaniel said in answer to Philip, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Now that has two ways of looking at it, maybe both. One is the Jews in the southern part of Israel did not think kindly of the people in the north. They felt the Jews in the northern part in Galilee, they were sort of a mixed bag. They were too influenced by Greek and Roman culture. They weren't like pure and steadfast in the faith and all of that. That could have been part of it. But the word Nazareth, in other words, Messiah doesn't come from Nazareth. The scriptures teach that Messiah comes from Bethlehem. And it was supposed by many, in fact, Jesus became known as Jesus of Nazareth because he lived most of his life there, but he wasn't born there as we know. So Nathanael was thinking, I'm not so sure about this. Well, what's so interesting, notice what Philip does. Philip doesn't try to explain, doesn't try to come up with some clever answer, doesn't try to answer something that maybe he couldn't answer. And that teaches us we don't need a university course to evangelize. When somebody asks us a question we can't answer, we can just honestly say, I don't know. Or we can say, I'll try to find out for you. But notice what else. He simply said, come and see. So Philip was basically saying, I don't have an answer. I don't know how to explain it. But you need to come anyway. Just meet him once and see for yourself. And Nathaniel did. He obviously saw that Philip was changing, was excited. So maybe out of pity, maybe just because he's related, He went with him. We can do the same thing. If we're totally stuck, we don't know what to say. We don't know how to answer these questions that skeptics can ask us. We can say, well, I don't know how to answer all that, but would you just mind, we have a Bible study Tuesday nights, this food and fellowship, we have church services, or nowadays, If you can tell somebody's very reluctant to go to a church or step foot to somebody's home for a Bible study, here's a card. On there's a website. Just check out some messages. Maybe it's not your cup of tea, but give it a listen. See if this is something that appeals to you. You're bringing them to the Word. And they don't have to even leave their home. They can see. They can come and see. Now, maybe they'll take the card and throw it away, maybe they'll go online after five minutes, turn it off, but that's not your fault. You've led them to a place where Jesus could be found. Now, for those people who do have all these clever questions, who are skeptical, challenging objections, the Church is not a place Bible studies are not a place to satisfy every intellectual curiosity people bring to us. We try our best to explain the Word of God to them, the ways of God to them, but can we explain everything? Some things maybe. But we at some point need to warn such people there are some very smart people, very clever people in hell right now. Because it's pride, ultimately, that keeps us from Jesus. It is humility that attracts us to Jesus. And after all, you see, you're calling, brethren, how not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Got a couple of veterans here. Is that better? That's better. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. So, we don't need to be smart. We need to be humble to follow Jesus. Well, finally, learning Jesus. For whatever reason, Nathaniel did go, even though he was suspicious. How could somebody from Nazareth be the Messiah? He did go. It turns out, Before he actually gets to Jesus, Jesus makes it very plain, I know you. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, verse 47, and said of him, behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. So he doesn't just see Nathanael coming, he sees into Nathanael, and he speaks about Nathanael's heart. Now notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't tell Nathaniel who he was. He doesn't tell Nathaniel that I am the Messiah. He tells him about himself. He says, this is a true Israelite. This is somebody in whom is no guile. That means this isn't a crafty or deceitful person. He's very straightforward. Before the grace of God reaches us, We tend to rarely, if ever, think about God. Psalm 10, verse 4, the wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. But here Jesus is saying, I know who you are, Nathaniel. And Jesus is saying that to us, too. There's no place to hide from Jesus. There's nothing we do, there's nothing we think, there's nothing we say that Jesus doesn't know, that Jesus doesn't see. He knows us all. And we could understand why Nathaniel, hearing this from Jesus, is like, I've never met you. How do you know me? Verse 48, once knowest thou me. In other words, where have we met before? And then Jesus says something that makes Nathaniel stop, as it were, in his tracks. Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Now we have no idea, because scripture doesn't tell us what Philip was doing under the fig tree. And there's been a lot of speculation, but there's no point to speculating because we don't know. But whatever Jesus was referring to must have been so significant to Nathaniel as if Jesus was there next to him firsthand watching it. How could someone describe what I was doing when they were so far from where I am? And yet Jesus saw me. He knows me. And this startles Nathaniel. And that's gonna have an effect on us too. Have you ever had that experience? Where God communicates to you through his word, through the preaching, through a Christian friend, through some providential thing, and it's like God knows exactly what's happening in real time, like right now, and he's communicating with me. like as if he was standing right here overhearing this conversation or seeing what I am doing. Because God is here doing that. With the comfort of this particular part of the passage, God knows us, dear believer, long before we knew Him, long before we even existed. He knew us because He gave us to His Son to save. We were in the Lamb's Book of Life. Chosen says scripture before the foundation of the world in Christ. And thank God that the eye of God upon us continues. It isn't just an eternity past, but it's all through our life, all the way to glory. His eye is upon us. Verse 49, Nathanael answers and says to Jesus, Rabbi, Master, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel." What a change! Going from, how can any good thing come from Nazareth, to hearing this one statement of Jesus, who He is and what Jesus saw in Him, to confessing, you're the Son of God. Nobody said that aside from John the Baptist yet. And Nathaniel already concluded it. And, the King of Israel, the One who is the Anointed, the King of the people of God. Why would Nathanael say anything even remotely like that to Jesus? Well, for the same reason. When grace opens our eyes, when we come to know Jesus, when we come to interact with Him, aren't we amazed? Don't we learn to see beauty and glory and suitability in Him that we never saw before? When we begin to know Jesus and we begin to see Him as all that Scripture says He is, then we might say the same that Nathaniel did. So one of our last questions this morning, who is Jesus to you? Who is He to me? Is He just the problem solver? Somebody we turn to when the chips are down? Or is he somebody we adore? Somebody we value? Somebody we love? Somebody we want to live for? And then the peculiar ending of this passage, 51. Jesus answered and said unto Nathanael, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? In other words, that little bit of information convinced you, you're going to see greater things than these. And he said unto him, Verily, verily, truly, truly, I say unto you hereafter, and here comes the peculiar part, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. What? is Jesus talking about? You're going to see heaven open? You're going to see angels going up and down from earth to heaven on the Son of Man? Is Jesus a ladder between earth and heaven? Does this sound familiar? In the Old Testament, Jacob was leaving his parental home. He's on his way to Laban's house. He's at Bethel. He has a dream. What did he see? He saw a ladder, it says, between earth and heaven. What did he see on the ladder? Angels going up and down on the ladder. Who was at the top of the ladder? God. God actually spoke to him from the top of the ladder. What is Jesus saying? I'm the ladder. I am the connection between heaven and earth. You will never get to heaven except through me. There isn't ten ladders, there isn't five staircases, there's one way, one direction. And I do send my angels to minister to my people. Ruth and I were reading through Daniel, you got Michael, you got Gabriel, interacting with Daniel, protecting him, all of that. He uses his angels as ministers, but it's Jesus who makes it all possible, who makes that connection between earth and heaven. You're going to see, Nathaniel, one day, this reality. They're ascending and descending upon the Son of Man, upon me. Which is why Jesus would say later, and he's saying to us this morning, children, there's no way to God. except by trusting in Jesus, believing in Jesus. And we too, dear believer, are going to see greater things than we see now. There's coming a day when there will be such a glorious sight of the Redeemer, and of the Father, and of the Spirit, by grace, by the Spirit that lives within. We will see greater things in this. We will see the end of sin. We will see the end of temptation. We will see the ability to worship God as we always longed to do. We will see it. And we will see that Jesus is the reason why all of this came to be. So if you're wondering, how do I get there? If maybe you're skeptical, or maybe you're doubting, or maybe you're indifferent, or maybe you're something else, maybe you're afraid, let me simply say to you what Philip said to Nathaniel. Come and see. Amen.