Okay, well good morning to everyone. Thank you guys again for leading us in worship. 

We're at the last Sunday of the month, so on the last Sunday of the month, we're studying through the Gospel of John for our communion services. You'll remember we left off in the Gospel of John having looked at the testimony of John the Baptist as to who Jesus is. We saw a lot of interesting things concerning John the Baptist, the end of the old covenant, the coming of the new. 

This morning in our text, we see an example of this transition time. John is the last prophet of the Old Testament time. Jesus said that He was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, and to that time among men, there was no one greater born than John the Baptist. But it was time for the transition to the new, for the fulfillment of God's salvation plan and promise and the coming of the Messiah of Israel and the seed that would be a blessing to all nations—who is Jesus the Christ? 

We will see this morning the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus. John records here the choosing of the first disciples and the forming of God's plan for bringing the gospel to all nations, to Jew and Gentile in this new covenant time, in one body in the church. 

We'll also see the seeking hearts of Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael as they were searching, looking for, and anticipating the Messiah, the promise of God to Israel. This is a picture of the forming of God's plan for bringing the gospel to all men—the offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and ultimately His death, burial, and resurrection. He is, as John has testified, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 

Let's look to our text, John 1 at verse 35: 

“Again the next day John stood with two of his disciples, and looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and seeing them following, said to them, ‘What do you seek?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi,’ which is to say when translated, ‘Teacher, where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying and remained with him that day. Now it was about the tenth hour. 

One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ which is translated, ‘the Christ’ and he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, he said, ‘You are Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas,’ which is translated, ‘a stone.’ 

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and he found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ And Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ 

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, ‘Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no deceit.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered and said to him, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’”

I've given you four points on your outline this morning. 

First, the old to the new. 

Second, I chose you. 

Third, the promise fulfilled. 

And fourth, God's plan for salvation. 

Well, first we see in our text a transition from the old to the new in the life and ministry of Jesus. We see a transition from the Old Covenant to the new. Jesus was born under and lived under the Old Covenant. He was a Jew, and the Apostles were Jews, all born into the Covenant of Moses, and John the Baptist was an Old Covenant prophet announcing the coming of the Messiah of Israel. 

John the Apostle does not really spend a lot of time on this truth in his gospel; this is not his purpose. But as we saw in our study of John the Baptist and the other Gospels, particularly in the Gospel of Matthew, we see a great deal of emphasis on the coming of Jesus as Messiah, offering the kingdom to the Jews and Himself as King. John here in chapter 1 summarizes this truth with one verse in John 1:11: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” 

Now Matthew spends about 12 chapters on this truth. It's important for us to remember, Jesus spent the bulk of His ministry focused on Israel, offering the kingdom, Himself as the king, as fulfillment of the promise of God of a kingdom, of a ruler on David's throne, the prophet that Moses spoke of. But as John says so briefly, “He came to His own; He came to Israel, and His own did not receive Him.” 

In our text today, we see Jesus choose His first four disciples who would become the Apostles—the sent ones. I want to look at this truth of how Jesus sent them out and focused on Israel in the text we’ve looked at before in Matthew 10. If you would turn to Matthew 10 with me. 

In Matthew 10:1, it says, “And when He had called His 12 disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Now the names of the twelve Apostles are these: First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alpheus and Lebius, whose surname was Thaddeus; Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot who also betrayed Him.” 

“These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying, ‘Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs, for a worker is worthy of his food.’” 

Now here, all the way into the 10th chapter in the Gospel of Matthew, we see Matthew emphasizing the truth that Jesus is offering Himself as King. He's offering the kingdom to Israel. This is the gospel of the kingdom preached specifically and exclusively to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This is Old Covenant fulfillment—the promise given of a king, of a Messiah. 

It was not fulfilled on the earth because Israel rejected her King, but that time of fulfillment is coming for Israel when Jesus comes again to rule and reign in the kingdom. Throughout His ministry, Jesus has been preaching the kingdom, offering Himself as the king of Israel. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand; the king is in your midst; repent and receive the kingdom of God.” But they would not receive Him. 

The Jewish leaders would reject Him and seek to kill Him. The people were hungry for the loaves and fishes; they were seekers of the signs and wonders, but they would not repent—they would not believe. And in the end, they would scream for His blood: “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” 

In Matthew 12, we see a bit of a transition—a final rejection of Jesus and His kingdom message by the rulers of Israel. In Matthew 12:9, it says, “Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’ that they might accuse Him. Then He said to them, ‘What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’” 

Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him how they might destroy Him. But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there, and great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. 

It's an amazing statement, isn't it? He healed them all. Now in that time of His ministry, if you had some ailment—if you were lame, if you had a withered hand, if you were a leper, if you were sick in some way—wouldn't you find your way to Jesus? As we see, they went to great lengths to find their way, and basically, Jesus healed all the people of that region. He warned them, it says, not to make Him known that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “Behold My servant whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul is well pleased. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench till He sends forth justice to victory, and in His name Gentiles will trust.” 

Then one, Matthew 12:22, says, “Then one who was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute, He healed him so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw and all the multitudes were amazed and said, ‘Could this be the Son of David?’” 

Now you can see this scene: the crowds are enamored, and they’re saying this is the Messiah, this is the Son of David. In verse 24, now when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” 

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, look what He says, “Surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man and then he will plunder his house? 

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or the age to come. 

If you look down to verse 41, He says, “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed, a greater than Jonah is here.” They asked Him for a sign, you know, and He gave them the sign of Jonah. He said, “The Son of Man will be lifted up and be in the heart of the earth three days as Jonah was in the heart of the fish.” 

So what we see here in this passage is that the leaders of Israel fully and finally reject Jesus, and they start to plan to kill Him. They commit the unpardonable sin, and that is to attribute the works that the Holy Spirit was doing through Jesus in that time to Satan. By the way, the unpardonable sin cannot be committed today, and the only sin that will not be pardoned today is the sin of unbelief, of rejection of Jesus, and failure to trust in Him. 

What we see here in this pivotal moment is a turning—a turning from the offer of the kingdom to Israel to a focus on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the sign of the prophet Jonah. And in chapter 13, we will see Jesus begin to prepare His Apostles for the ministry that they will have in the church age when He institutes the new covenant, as Mark read from Luke this morning. It will not be until chapter 16 of Matthew that Jesus begins to speak of His death, burial, and resurrection. You'll remember a message that the disciples did not understand or anticipate, and in fact, as we see in Peter at first, they began to reject and rebuke. Matthew spends most of his gospel explaining what John summarizes in verse 11 of chapter 1: He came to His own, and His own would not receive Him. 

And in our text, we see this transition graphically illustrated in verse 35. John 1:35 says, “Again the next day John stood with two of his disciples.” This is John the Baptist. This is a tremendous ministry that he's had as the forerunner, multitudes coming out to be baptized for repentance and hear the message that the Messiah was coming to prepare themselves. But look what happens in verse 36. It says, “In looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, ‘Behold! Pay attention! Fix your attention here—the Lamb of God!’” 

And the two disciples who had followed John all of this time heard him speak, and they turned and followed Jesus. Here we have the end of John the Baptist's ministry—the voice crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way; make the path straight. The Messiah is coming.” Because my friends, in Jesus, the Messiah has come! And now it was time to leave the old and go on to the new—to follow Jesus.

Well, next we see in our text, “I chose you.” Jesus chooses His first disciples. In John 15:16 Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.” 

Jesus chose the twelve, and He appointed them to go out and preach and to bear fruit and to lead men to faith in Him. This is God's plan for salvation, for the gospel, for the forming of the church—the body of Christ, for the salvation of the Gentiles. We saw that pre-appointed or figured in Isaiah’s quote in Matthew 12 that Jesus would come and that He would bring salvation to the Gentiles. This was God's plan all along in this church age. 

God's way for bringing men to Christ is through individual believers going out into the world and preaching the gospel to lost men and imploring them to believe. Jesus, in 2 Corinthians 5:11, Paul says, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” 

You ever think about that? We often talk about being saved. Alright, you hear people talk about being saved. What is it that we're saved from? We're saved from the wrath of God for our sins. That's what Paul says here: “Knowing the terror of the Lord, knowing the righteous holy judgment of God for my sins, I believe Jesus. I trust Jesus. I put my faith in Him and His one-time death on the cross in my place for my sins to be saved from that wrath to come. And because I believe Jesus, because I believe, therefore I speak, knowing the terror of the Lord. I persuade men; I implore them to come to faith in Jesus through the gospel.” 

In verse 19 of that chapter, Paul says, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 

He has given to us the word of reconciliation—the gospel. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, in order that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

Jesus chose 12 men, and He sent them out to preach the gospel to every creature, to lead men to faith in Christ, and to disciple them, teaching them to obey all that He commanded them. This is the pattern. This is the way that God has ordained. 

We see this in Ephesians 4. If you look at Ephesians 4:11, this is a passage that we look at often that explains the purpose of this local body of the church. In Ephesians 4:11, he says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” 

Why? Why did Jesus give to the church pastors and teachers? Verse 12: “For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry.” That's a simple statement as to what Jesus' plan was. He says, “For the edifying of the body of Christ until we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.” 

“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” 

We see in the early church, right at the very beginning, that the believers met daily—why? For the apostles' teaching and fellowship—to be equipped and encouraged to go out into the world and preach the gospel. The church is an equipping center for believers to be discipled, to grow, to become discerning, to go out into the world to do the work of ministry. 

For many churches and for many Christians, this point is lost. Church does not have this purpose. It'd be like if the Packers showed up for training camp, and they practiced every day, every week, every season, and they never played a game. The whole point is that we would be witnesses. 

In John 17, in His high priestly prayer, we were left on this earth so that the world may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. We are here to be witnesses. Everything else we could do better in heaven. The whole point is that we'd be witnesses, that we bring the gospel to lost men so that they might believe and be saved. This is the plan of God for His people and for the salvation of the lost. 

We see the beginning of this in the ministry of Christ here in our text. He chose these men to make them disciples—believing learners—so that He might teach them, He might cause them to grow and understand the heart of God—the purpose of Christ in coming into the world—and that they might take that message to every creature, to the ends of the earth. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, and the preaching of the gospel is the means that God has ordained to bring men to faith. 

So we see this in the ministry of Paul as well. Paul went on missionary journeys. He was called by God as the Apostle to the Gentiles. He preached city to city, and in those cities, those people who were saved formed churches, and Paul taught them and equipped them to then go out and preach the gospel. Multiplication is the principle. 

Turn over to Acts 20 with me. Acts 20 at verse 17. It says, “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, ‘You know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews and also to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.’” 

“And see now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.’” 

“For I know this—that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.” 

“So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” 

Paul went into those cities; he preached the gospel. He formed churches, and then he taught them for three years. He taught them in order to prepare them to go out and preach the gospel. Mark and I were talking the other night about how blessed Ephesus was. Ephesus had Paul come there preaching the gospel, had Paul teach them for three years and disciple them, had Timothy, had the Apostle John. And what happened in Ephesus? They left their first love. The Lord came and removed the spirit from that place. 

It's so important that we keep focused on the purpose of the local church and what we're supposed to be doing, that we keep being reminded and renewed in our minds and continuing to grow so that we won’t be deceived, that we won’t be drawn away, and that we will remember why we are here and what it is we're supposed to be doing. And that we'll be strengthened together in encouragement and fellowship in the word, in order to go out into this crazy world and do the work of ministry—what God has called us to do. 

Here in John 1, we see Jesus begin to choose His disciples. He'll spend three years training, teaching, equipping them. And then he will send the Holy Spirit to empower them. For what purpose? Acts 1:8 says, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

Mark 16:15 says, “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature!’” Jesus chose His disciples for this purpose. And we see this in verse 38 of our text. It says, “And Jesus turned and seeing them following said to them, ‘What do you seek?’” They were seeking. They had a seeking heart; they were looking for, waiting for the Messiah. 

They said to Him, “Rabbi,” which is to say when translated, “Teacher, where are you staying?” In other words, we don’t just have a question; we got a lot of questions. We want to come and spend time with you. Where are you staying? 

He said to them, “Come and see.” And they came and saw where He was staying and remained with Him that day. It was about the tenth hour. 

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah! We have found the Christ!” And he brought him to Jesus. That’s the job, isn’t it? Bring them to Jesus. We are to bring men to Jesus, and we do that through the preaching of the gospel. 

Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas,” which is translated “stone.” The following day, Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 

So here you see these men convinced that this is the Christ, that this is the Messiah. He looks at them and says, “Follow Me,” and they follow Him. Nathanael was a little bit surprised to hear that the Messiah might come out of Nazareth. He said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 

How is it that you can come to salvation? You have to see Jesus. You have to see Jesus—see who He is, hear what He's done, and you have to believe Him. 

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and He said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit.” Nathanael said to Him, “Well, how do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” The men that Jesus chose were not special men, elite men, noble men. They were simple men, working men, sinful men. But Jesus would transform them. He would empower them. He would make them bold and powerful witnesses with a divinely empowered message—with a promise from God. 

We see Andrew and Peter—small-town men, fishermen. Philip also a friend with Andrew and Peter. These guys knew each other. Nathanael was from Cana. Interestingly, he was apparently not impressed with Nazareth, but he lived just a short walk down the road in a similarly small and unimpressive town of Cana, where we’re going to see in chapter 2 is the first miracle that Jesus did. 

It’d be like someone from Mercer criticizing someone from Manitoush Waters. There's not a whole lot of difference here. But apparently Nazareth was no Mecca of worldly appeal. But God did not choose mighty men; He did not choose noble men. 

Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 1. Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians 1:25. Paul says, “The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren: not many wise according to the flesh; not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. And the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption; that it is written, ‘He who glorifies God, let him glory in the Lord.’” 

We see an example of this in the early ministry of the Apostles in Acts 4.8. It says, “Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.’” 

Got a bold message here to the Sanhedrin. He says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 

In verse 13, it says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled, and they realized they had been with Jesus.” Not many wise, not many noble, so that God gets all the glory. It is Jesus that changed these men into powerful preachers, and it’s the Holy Spirit living in them that empowers them to preach the truth beginning at Pentecost. 

Next in our text, we see the promise fulfilled. Verse 48: John 1:48 says, “Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do you know me?’” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” 

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 

And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” 

Well, Jesus tells Nathanael, “I know you.” Jesus knew his heart; He knew that he was what Paul called in Romans—a Jew inwardly. He is a Jew who’s one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter—whose praise is not from men but from God. What Jesus calls here “an Israelite indeed.” 

And Jesus not only knew him on the inside, in his heart— we’ll see in chapter 2 that some came and believed, it says, but Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew what was in man. He knew their heart—that they didn’t truly believe; they didn’t truly trust Him. But He knew Nathanael. And He also knew him physically. Even before He met him, where he was, He saw him. 

And in verse 50, we see Jesus say something very interesting to Nathanael. He says, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Most assuredly I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” 

Well, this is a quote from Genesis 28. If you want to turn to Genesis 28 with me, at verse 10, the story of Jacob, Bethel, and his dream. Genesis 28:10 says, “Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head and he lay down in that place to sleep.” 

“Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth and its top reached to heaven, and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, ‘I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also, your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” 

Now what we have here is an affirmation of the covenant made with Abraham in Genesis 12. Notice God says to Jacob, “I will keep the promise that I made to Abraham and to Isaac,” and then He gives Jacob the same promise, ending in a blessing to all nations through your seed. 

In Galatians 3, Paul tells us that this seed is Jesus and that through Jesus all the nations would be blessed by promise, by grace, through faith—dependent on the love and mercy and grace of God. He would make the covenant promise a reality through Jesus. And that’s the essence of what Jesus is saying here. 

“You, Nathaniel, are going to see much greater things if you follow Me.” Even the fulfillment of the covenant promise made to Israel. “I am the Messiah!” And it would be Jesus in His crucifixion, His death, burial, and resurrection that would provide access to heaven, to the Father. He is the ladder to heaven—opened wide through His sacrifice. 

And so we see the beginning. We see the beginning of the salvation plan of God—the way that men can come to know Him through faith. Jesus chooses His disciples, and He begins His ministry—a ministry that culminates in the full and final sacrifice that makes propitiation—full payment for our sins—that accomplishes our salvation, that saves us from the wrath to come, in order to send us to save others through the preaching of the good news message about Jesus Christ. 

This is our commission; this is why we are here on this earth, and this is why John wrote his Gospel—that the world may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, knowing that they might believe in His name and believing that they would have life in Him. 

Praise God that we can have life through Him by the cross, through faith. And that’s why we come together this last Sunday of the month to remember what Jesus has done for us and to proclaim His death until He comes. 

Let's close in prayer: 

Father, we're so thankful—so thankful for Jesus, so thankful for the salvation that You provide through Him and what He did, what He accomplished in His one-time death on the cross in our place for our sins. Thank You that through faith in Him, we have Your righteousness imputed to us—our sin imputed to Him. And thank You that You have empowered us through regeneration, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to be Your witnesses on this earth. 

Help us to remember why we are here. Help us to remember our need for You each day and our need for fellowship, for study, for focusing on Christ, and to be reminded who we are and how we should live so that others might see Jesus in us and hear the great message of salvation through faith in Him. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray.