Consider His Omniscience

So today we're going to talk about, consider his omniscience.

Of course, last week we talked about the same passage and so forth.

Any time you Google everything, it's a top.

Yeah, AI is right at the top.

Google AI comes right to the top, and we can check that.

We can get information like that fast.

In fact, if I want to, I can go into Chat or Grok or Granola

or like 18 other names of weird AI systems,

and I could type in something and say,

hey, I have this idea.

Give me more information.

Now, I don't go search the web and give me all that information.

The sad thing is it's not always that accurate.

Like sometimes they get it back, and you check it and go,

hold on, that is not what the manual says over here.

Where did it get its source?

And you look and you find that it used Wikipedia

or the equivalency thereof too, right?

And so perhaps one of the most defining characteristics of our Lord

that sets them apart from mankind in AI and IT is his omniscience,

is that he actually does know everything.

I always appreciate one of my science teachers back when I was in high school

would talk about science, obviously, because everything's, you know,

you hear it on the web, we see the memes, it's science, man.

Okay, washing your hands is not science.

It's actually biblical.

We go back to the Old Testament.

It's biblical.

You wash your hands.

That's actually where that started at,

not when the lady at the Red Cross figured out she,

if you wash your hands, she could say babies.

If we just washed our hands like the Israelites did up to that point in time,

it was just good practice, right?

But he always talked about how if one man was to know 10% of everything

or 50% of everything in the vast volumes of the things that you could know,

how little would that really be?

I mean, an exciting kid out there.

They're learning something.

And I go back and think about how many of you guys had Encyclopedia Britannica

or all those, those huge volume sets.

And I don't know how many of you guys enjoyed reading through those.

No, okay.

There was a few topics in there I thought were great.

So when I go to do reports like on the Civil War and stuff like that,

I go grab these books, I pull them out, and I start to read.

And I would read my 10 pages out of this huge volume of information.

And I couldn't imagine somebody coming up to me saying,

I know, I memorized the entire Encyclopedia.

Okay, but now the next year comes and they have to replace that

because the same salesman came every year to replace it with the new information.

And how many of us have been around long enough to go around to the aspirin debate?

Aspirin's good for you.

Then aspirin's bad for you.

Now a little aspirin's good for you.

And now it's not.

And where are we actually on this information?

Well, we don't know.

But God does, and that's what we're going to talk about today.

So we're going to jump right into a passage of Scripture today.

It takes a time in the earlier days of Christ's ministry when he had been baptized

and he had begun teaching and preaching.

And our text records him calling out a man named Philip.

So John 1.43 says,

The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee,

and he findeth Philip, and he says unto him,

Follow me.

So to follow Christ means so much more than to go on a journey down a dirt trail.

So how many of us ever played Follow Leader as a kid?

Anybody?

All right.

Tim did.

Joe did.

I know that because we played it.

Pastor.

That game's been around for a long time.

And we'd play Follow Leader.

And Joe would go through the backyard,

Tim, Aurora, and the others like in tow.

They'd go up the swing set, down the swing set,

over the thing,

climb back over and through the loop,

down around the slide,

out the other side,

run, climb up the side of the deck,

and over the top of the deck.

And you'd follow the leader, right?

With no real understanding of the why.

Right?

Philip didn't ask why.

He just went and followed Christ.

Well, to follow Christ is more than...

Following Christ meant believing that he was who he claimed to be.

And those who followed Christ had to choose to turn from other avenues of belief,

but to trust in Christ alone.

And that's exactly what Philip did that day.

So since this first man began following Christ,

millions have joined saying,

I choose the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the characteristics of a true follower of Jesus

is they wanted others to follow Christ too.

That is what Philip did when he decided to follow Jesus.

Philip went to his friend Nathaniel to tell him about Christ.

We'll look down there in verse 45 of John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

Philip findeth Nathaniel and says unto him,

We found him!

Of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write,

Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Well, that's great.

Nathaniel did respond to Philip's gesture

and eventually became an intimate disciple of Christ.

So we consider Nathaniel's life.

Let's consider the story of how he turned to Jesus Christ

and became a follower of him.

So I apologize.

The intro takes you like halfway through some of the information

that we're going to cover next.

And I'm like trying not to jump ahead and go back and forth.

So we'll get there.

So number one, Nathaniel's outlook.

So in John 1, 45-46,

Philip findeth Nathaniel and saith unto him,

We have found him!

Of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write,

Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

And Nathaniel said unto him,

Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?

And Philip said unto him, Come and see.

So clearly, there was some bias towards Nazareth.

I assume it's like going to Iowa when you're a Nebraska fan.

Right?

Or Kansas.

I mean, for those people who spend a lot of time in Kansas.

I mean, you know.

We got past here.

I mean, I guess something good comes out of Iowa.

So it's an interesting note that Philip came to Thiel

to tell them about the Messiah.

Philip specifically mentioned the writings of Moses and the prophets.

And if you want to be an effective witness,

it's very important that you use Scripture

while talking to others about Jesus.

If all you give people is your opinion,

you're not giving them a good enough reason to trust Christ.

God's Word is what moves the hearts of men,

not our opinion.

Isaiah 55.11.

Let's see.

Somebody want to read that for me?

Joe does.

Excellent.

And then I'll read Hebrews 4.12.

Read.

You want to grab that one?

All right.

Hebrews 4.12.

Joe, you first.

Isaiah 55.11.

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth.

It shall not return unto me void,

but it shall accomplish that which I please,

and it shall prosper in the things wheretoom I think.

Read.

Read.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Even so, Nathaniel did not accept the word that Philip gave him.

He was cautious.

Cautious regarding the Scripture.

That's A if you're taking notes.

So as we consider the truths about God,

the most important question we can ask is,

what does the Bible say?

The Bible is the infallible, inherent Word of God.

Many people are quick to place their confidence in a vision or a dream or what somebody says,

but placing full confidence in God's Word is what a life of faith is all about.

When Philip shared Jesus' connection to the Old Testament prophecies,

Nathaniel was not immediately convinced that this man, Jesus, was the Messiah.

Jesus himself often had to remind people of writings in the Old Testament before they were convinced.

So John 5, 46-47 says,

For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me.

But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words?

Luke 24-27 says,

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets,

he expounded unto them in all the Scripture the things concerning himself.

So in order for people to understand that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies,

it was important for Jesus to be linked with the writings of Moses and the prophets

concerning the prophecies of the coming King and Messiah,

the one that would come from the house in the lineage of David.

And perhaps the main reason Nathaniel was cautious at first

concerning the scriptural connection to Jesus, the Messiah,

was he didn't have a favorable impression of Nazareth,

I mean, where Jesus grew up.

So, I mean, I guess we too could have the same thing,

like, thank you very much, thank you.

And it's cold. I like cold water. That's a good thing.

So, B, callous regarding Nazareth.

So, what almost kept Nathaniel from Jesus?

A preconceived idea.

So, I mean, we might have that when we hear guest speakers come,

or maybe when we have people preach, like, maybe their background,

maybe whatever it might be, might actually have some preconceived thoughts there.

Now, verse 46, it says,

And Nathaniel said to him,

Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?

And Philip said, Come and see.

So, why?

Why did he have a problem with Nazareth?

Well, Nazareth was a really busy hustle and city.

It was a trade route.

You had the military come through.

You had all sorts of people that go through.

You had traders from foreign countries coming through there.

Caravans passed.

Traveled from Gilead to the south to the west.

North of the city was the main road from Potomias to Decapolis,

and a road that Roman legions frequently traveled.

The reputation of the town for being military merchants added to the reputation of Nazareth

was a wicked, immoral place.

And Nazareth was not considered an important part of religious life,

not like Jerusalem, where the temple was.

So, what good thing comes from Nazareth?

I mean, who knows?

We do, because Jesus came from Nazareth.

So, there we go.

If you want to be rich, go to Nazareth.

But if you want wisdom, go to Jerusalem.

So, that was the preconceived motion there.

No prophet would come from Nazareth, in Nathaniel's mind.

The Messiah would have to come from somewhere else.

Those that came from Nazareth were not expected to be prophets

with great intuition or understanding.

There was a prejudice that held Nathaniel back from putting his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

At that juncture, Philip could have tried to argue with Nathaniel

by reminding him of the prophets, that they may come from unlikely places.

Instead, Philip approached him and said,

Come and see.

Now, I find it interesting, because Philip,

when Jesus said,

Follow me,

Philip was like,

Okay, let's do this.

And he believed, and he followed him.

And he comes to his friend, Nathaniel.

And Nathaniel says,

You know, I don't think,

I don't think this doesn't sound right.

Okay.

So, instead of arguing with him,

he said,

Well, come and check him out.

So, when you,

when you weigh this to people,

who seem cynical at first,

rather than get in an argument,

because, man,

there are a lot of people

who just want to get in an argument.

I mean,

we've all been there.

I mean,

whether it's politics,

whether it's religion,

whether it's marriage,

whether it's correcting our children,

like we just talked about a little ago.

People are more than willing

to jump into an argument about something.

Sometimes,

the best thing you do

is tell of what Christ has done for you first,

so,

talk about your own testimony,

which is really important,

and then invite them to see

what Jesus has done in the lives of others.

Nowhere religion has the internal

or external evidence that Christianity does.

Nowhere religion can point

to the empty tomb

of the resurrected founder

when you invite people to come and see,

you've given them a chance

to see how Christianity

is different from anything else

they have ever seen before.

So,

instead of arguing with Philip,

I'm sorry,

instead of Philip arguing with Nathaniel,

and maybe Nathaniel

would have put up a wall of defense,

like,

hey,

you know what,

I'm just going to stay here

and keep doing my own study.

We'll figure it out.

Nathaniel became curious

and decided to go see for himself.

When he met Christ,

he saw the Savior's omniscience.

So,

I have a note in here

and I'll just read it here.

Prejudice is deciding

something is unworthy

before honestly examining the truth,

which we see in science,

we see in government,

we see in education,

we see every day,

wherever we go,

that people have preconceived notions

about how things ought to go

without looking at the evidence.

And,

Nathaniel,

he was willing to go look

at the evidence.

So,

the Savior's omniscience,

John 1,

47 through 48,

and he volunteers to read that.

Thank you, Darren.

I saw Nathaniel coming to him

and said unto him,

Behold,

Israelite indeed,

in whom is no guile.

Nathaniel said unto him,

Whence knowest thou me?

Jesus answered and said unto him,

Before that Philip called me,

when thou wast under the fig tree,

I saw thee.

Christ's omniscience is an attribute

of his deity.

Nobody but God knows everything.

Contrary to the teachings

of other groups,

Jesus was not just another man.

Jesus Christ was the God-man,

God in the flesh.

So,

in 2007,

social media,

this is an article

that was written in the New York Times,

published by Thomas Friedman.

He wrote an article called,

The Whole World is Watching.

Now,

the premise of this article

was really simple.

All of us,

almost everybody in this room,

has a cell phone.

In fact,

I would be really surprised

if somebody didn't have a cell phone.

And almost everybody's phone

has a camera of some sort.

All of these come because

the phone has a microphone

and a speaker on it.

And his argument was,

is that everybody,

everybody,

whether they choose it or not,

is part of the knowledge database

because you add

to online information,

whether it's Facebook,

MySpace,

if you're that old,

whatever the other ones are out there,

X,

Twitter,

whatever it is,

those comments go out there.

And all of us are reporters

of information.

So,

if we were out

and we saw an accident

on I-29,

I guess I-80 goes through Nebraska,

I don't want to think

I need a 29,

I drive that all the time.

See an accident,

you might stop,

snap a picture,

upload it to the internet.

You just became

a media consultant.

You just became

a news reporter.

You literally are reporting

on what you've seen

and shared it with the world.

Now you have added

to that knowledge

that others don't have

because you just testified of it

and you just shared it.

So,

everyone has a cell phone,

camera on it,

everyone now is a paparazzo,

and everyone can upload

a video on YouTube.

It's true,

because it's free.

I've done it.

I've got some ridiculous videos

up there,

if you want to go check them out later.

And that makes everyone

a filmmaker.

Well,

everyone is a publisher

or a filmmaker.

Everyone else

then becomes what?

Audience?

But if I take a picture

of you and I,

upload it,

that would make you a...

Yeah,

that's right!

A public figure.

You are now a celebrity.

So,

that's right.

So,

when Daryl has done Sunday scroll

and he has taught for pastor,

he's online,

he's on record,

he's now a public figure.

So,

the application

of this article

teaches us

that we need to be careful

about the way we act,

because anybody

could be recording

our actions.

We also need to be careful

about what we say,

because anybody

could post our words

on a social media site.

Nobody truly has

complete privacy,

because anyone

could be a publisher.

There's always

somebody watching.

As Christians,

we have known for years,

there's always

somebody watching.

We know the Lord

sees everything,

and we can never

hide anything from Him.

Proverbs 15,

3 says,

The eyes of the Lord

are in every place,

beholding the evil

and the good.

If you've been saved

for even a short time,

you probably have already

learned that God

is all-knowing,

and in the passage,

we see Nathanael

learning for the first time

that Jesus,

as God in the flesh,

possesses the same attributes

of omniscience

as God.

It's convenient,

because Jesus is God.

That would make sense.

So Jesus knew exactly

who Nathanael was,

and He understood

His heart,

and our Lord knows

the heart of every man.

That's letter A.

So He knows the heart

of man there.

John 1, 47,

Jesus saw Nathanael

coming to Him

and saith of Him,

Behold an Israelite indeed,

and whom is no guile?

Jesus Christ's ability

to receive the hearts

of all men,

when He met Nathanael,

He knew Nathanael

was sincere.

Nathanael was spiritually lost,

but He was sincerely

looking for the truth.

He was not deceitful

or seeking His own

personal gain.

He was a sinner,

just as we all are,

and He was looking

for answers.

And I would say

we could see that

pretty clearly

in verse 45.

It says,

When Philip findeth Nathanael

and saith unto him,

We have found him

of whom Moses

and the law

and the prophets

did right,

Jesus of Nazareth,

the son of Joseph.

Well, I mean,

okay,

where do I go with this?

Okay,

when I was in

seventh grade,

seventh grade?

Sixth grade.

Sixth grade, okay,

we'll go back to sixth grade.

I had to think about it

for a second.

My best friend,

one of my friends,

Bobby Blank

and Justin Fisher,

we were in the same grade together,

and we as friends,

we had our,

Bobby was a nerd,

Justin was a nerd,

I was a nerd,

we all played a band,

if you picture that.

I was playing the trumpet

at the time,

Justin was playing

the bass clarinet,

which by the way,

if you've never seen

the bass clarinet,

it is huge.

And Bobby,

he played a regular clarinet,

it was quite small.

And so,

we knew what we talked

about all the time,

like we would have

conversations,

we walk up,

like if I talked to the beams,

I know I could talk about trees

and cutting it down,

what's the weather been like,

how much damage

has people had,

because they're going to know,

so that's an easy conversation

to have with the beams.

With them,

I talked about music,

it was really easy.

Or Star Trek,

because Star Trek was big

when I was in the sixth grade,

and we'd talk about

the Ford nacelles,

and we'd talk about

warp engines,

and teleporters,

and all this really nerdy stuff.

We had a conversation

that we had,

and we knew that we could

walk into each other's

conversation at any point in time

and bring up

any one of these topics,

and we would just

talk about it, right?

So Nathaniel and Phillip

clearly had a relationship

where they talked about God

as Jewish men.

They were seeking the truth,

and pretty easy to see

that when he walked up

and he says,

hey, we found him,

of whom Moses and the law

and the prophets did right,

Jesus of Nazareth,

the son of Joseph,

which makes it really easy,

I mean, not easy,

I guess,

makes that correlation

easy to understand

that Nathaniel was looking,

but he doubted

because the guy

was from Nazareth.

But Jesus knows

the heart of men.

Isaiah 53, 6 says,

all we like sheep

have gone astray,

and we have turned

everyone to his own way.

Jesus always knows

who is sincerely

looking for truth,

and he longs for them

to come to him

for salvation.

Consider Nicodemus

in John 3,

who sincerely wanted

to understand

who exactly Jesus was.

So Nicodemus

in John chapter 3,

John 3 · chapter mention

over here,

there was a man

of the Pharisees,

verse 1 there,

named Nicodemus,

a ruler of the Jews,

the same came to Jesus

by night,

and said unto him,

Rabbi,

we know

that thou art a teacher

come from God,

for no man

can do these miracles

that thou doest,

except God be with him.

So,

Nicodemus

already came,

and was already

searching the mount,

and already trying

to understand it.

We move down

to verse 9,

Nicodemus

answered and said unto him,

How can these things be?

And Jesus answered

and said unto him,

Art thou a master

of Israel,

and knowest not

these things?

Verily,

verily,

I say unto thee,

We speak that we do know,

and testify that we have seen,

and ye received not

our witness.

If I have told you

earthly things,

and ye believe not,

how shall ye believe

if I tell you

of heavenly things?

verse 14,

and as Moses

lifted up the serpent

in the wilderness,

even so must

the Son of Man

be lifted up,

that whosoever

believeth in him

should not perish,

but have eternal life.

For God

so loved the world

that he gave

his only begotten Son,

that whosoever

believed in him

should not perish,

but have everlasting life.

Just as Jesus

would eventually

meet Nicodemus,

and know he was

a genuine

in his search for truth,

Jesus knew the same

about Nathaniel.

Jesus knew his heart,

and knows your heart, too.

He knows whether you

have faith in him or not.

He is the all-knowing God.

I would also add here

that even as Christians,

obviously he knows our heart.

He knows our struggles.

He knows our desires.

He knows our cares.

He knows our concerns.

He knows what our worries are.

And my wife and I

were actually talking

about this the other day

about what's the opposite

of faith,

and I kind of went,

jokingly,

I kind of said,

well, worry.

Worry is the opposite

of faith,

because, I mean,

it's real easy

to worry about something

and say you have faith.

It's kind of like

they fight against each other.

They're just not balanced

in that conversation, right?

So here's a little

interaction thought process

for you.

So let's see how smart we are.

How many hairs are on your head?

No cheating.

Some of you have already cheated

and cut most of them off,

so I should make it

a little bit easier.

All right.

Another question there.

What were you doing

479 days ago at 413?

Okay, I'm super shocked.

I really expected Tim

to raise his hand

and have an answer for me,

because he has,

I mean,

I guarantee he has

a general idea.

So how about

479 days into the future

at 413 p.m.?

Well, that's a Sunday,

so probably taking,

I'm just kidding,

I don't know what day that is.

I didn't look it up.

When you were

in your mother's womb,

how did it,

what did it feel like

when your eyes began to form?

Fortunately,

the Lord has blocked

that one out.

I don't know.

The last time

somebody wronged you,

what was your immediate reaction?

Wow, that one hurts

a little bit more.

That one I could think of.

So, yeah,

I need some help there.

Number six,

the last time the Lord

spoke to your heart

in a sermon,

did you respond

to the Holy Spirit's leading?

We'll just leave that

for you guys

to think about there.

God knows more about us

than we know about ourselves.

His knowledge has no limits.

And that includes

His knowledge of you.

You cannot hide

anything from Him.

You may be carrying

that heavy burden

in your heart.

You may be facing

something today

while feeling

that nobody could understand

the deep pain you feel.

Your all-knowing Savior

not only loves you so much

that He would die

to save you,

but He also loves you enough

to carry those burdens

for you,

even the burdens

that nobody else

knows about.

Matthew 11, 28-30.

Tim, can you read that for us?

He says, no.

Okay, looking for

a second offer.

David, Matthew 11, 28-30.

Tim says yes now?

Are you going to split them?

He says no.

He says, David, go ahead.

Okay.

Come unto me,

only that labor

and are heavy laden

and I will give you rest.

Take my hope upon you

and learn of me.

Fry of me,

the lowly heart,

and you shall find rest

and your hope

and you'll give me

a human person.

Yeah, He knows

the heart of man.

No, secondly,

He knows the location

of man,

which I find interesting

that he immediately said,

dude, I knew where you were

when you were thinking

about what you were

thinking about

under that fig tree

over there.

So, B,

He knows the location

of man.

John 1, 48.

Nathaniel says unto him,

Once knowest thou me?

Jesus answered and said,

Before Philip called thee,

when thou wast

under the fig tree,

I saw thee.

Well, I wonder

what he's doing

under the fig tree.

I assume he's sitting

in the shade.

But Nathaniel was surprised

because he had never

met Jesus,

yet Jesus knew his heart

and his location.

Jesus knew that he was

contemplating under a fig tree.

God always sees us

as we contemplate anything

under our fig tree.

So, just as Jesus

saw Nathaniel

under that tree

and knew his need,

he sees you

wherever you are

and he knows

all of your needs.

He knows where you are

spiritually

and he knows

what weighs

on your mind.

139, 1-4,

O Lord,

thou hast searched me

and known me.

Thou knowest

my down-sitting

and my uprising.

Thou understandest

my thought afar off.

Thou compassed

my path

and my lying down

and art acquainted

with all my ways.

For there is not

a word in my tongue,

but lo,

O Lord,

thou knowest it

all together.

I really like

Psalms 139.

It's one of my favorites.

We actually sing

a song out of there.

Search me, O God,

and know my heart

and try me

to know my thoughts.

And he does.

But are we willing

to listen to him

and make the changes

that he calls for us

to do?

Jeremiah 16, 17 says,

For mine eyes

are upon all their ways.

I see absolutely everything.

No, Trump, you don't.

But God does.

For there is,

they are not hid

from my faith,

neither is their iniquity

hid from mine eyes.

Imagine the Lord

is meeting you,

just like he met Nathaniel.

I'm telling you,

and then he tells you

what you're thinking.

He's taller

than I thought he would be.

I don't know

that's what he would say.

Jesus' knowledge

of Nathaniel

got his attention

and led to a change

in his beliefs.

Jesus gave Nathaniel

every opportunity

to trust and follow him.

The sinner's opportunity,

number three.

John 1, 49-51 says,

Nathaniel answered

and saith unto him,

Rabbi,

thou art the Son of God,

thou art the King of Israel.

Jesus answered

and said unto him,

Because I said unto thee,

I saw thee under the fig tree,

believest thou?

thou shalt see

greater things than these.

And he saith unto him,

Verily, verily,

I say unto you,

Hereafter ye shall see

heaven open

and the angels of God

ascending and descending

upon the Son of Man.

Even though Nathaniel

was a good man

seeking the truth,

he was still a sinner,

just like all of us.

Romans 3, 23 says,

For all have sinned

and come short

of the glory of God.

This world has one

rudimentary problem,

and that's sin.

At the root of many problems,

in some form,

is sin.

None of us are exempt

from sin,

because all of us

have inherited

a sin nature.

I'm sure my kids

could probably tell you

one of the things

that the pastor's

talking about at home

that we talk about a lot,

you know,

and there was always strife,

and you remember

what I used to always say

about strife?

About pride?

Well, maybe it didn't sink in.

There's still time!

There's still time, right?

So, yeah.

You know,

through pride comes strife.

Anyways,

and so,

there are just those things,

Lord,

where there's sin,

and there's sin like every day,

and sometimes it's pride,

sometimes it's other things,

but it's really easy

to find it there.

Let's see,

Romans 5, 12 says,

Wherefore,

as by one man's sin

entered into the world,

and death by sin,

and so death passed upon all men,

for that all have sinned.

As serious as he was,

Nathaniel,

like every other person,

had a sin problem

that only Christ could cure.

Thankfully,

there's an opportunity

for sinners

to find forgiveness

through Jesus.

To profess faith,

as soon as Nathaniel realized

that Jesus knew his heart,

he realized that Jesus

was the Son of God,

and in all he confessed,

Rabbi,

thou art the Son of God.

No one is saved

until first believing

the deity of Jesus Christ.

Now,

the next illustration is,

there are over a billion Muslims

in the world today.

They all follow

the teachings of Koran,

and among those many teachings

is that Jesus Christ

was a person,

but he was just a person.

He wasn't the Son of God,

he wasn't a deity,

and he didn't have

any deity in him.

For a person who follows

these teachings

to have a relationship

with the Lord,

he needs to turn

that conviction

that God did indeed

have a Son,

and that his name

is Jesus Christ.

Nathaniel was a sinner

without a Savior,

but on this day,

he turned to Jesus

and believed him

as the Messiah,

God in the human flesh.

That is exactly

what Thomas said

about Jesus

in John chapter 20,

John 20:28

verses 28 and 29.

Anybody want to read that?

for volunteers.

There you go, Joe.

Fire away.

And Thomas answered

and said unto him,

My Lord and my God,

Jesus saith unto him,

Thomas,

because thou hast seen me,

thou hast believed.

Blessed are they

that have seen,

excuse me,

blessed are they

that have not seen,

yet have believed.

Notice that when

Thomas called Jesus God,

Jesus did not try

to correct him,

but rather Jesus blessed him.

It's a wonderful thing

to realize that God himself

did come to earth

and provide a way

to bridge the chasm of sin

between God and us.

In our sinful human state,

we could never earn

our way into heaven,

but because God came

down to earth

and became a man,

we can have eternal life.

Now, I've seen the preview

for the skits

for this week

for Vacation Bible School,

and that's a skit

and it's coming.

It's absolutely hilarious.

And thank you, David.

And he wrote the skits

in case you guys

didn't know that.

So when you see them,

you did a great job.

But this is the direct

application of it.

There is that gulf

of sin between God and us

and something has to span

that thing,

that gulf between God and man.

And there's only one way

and that's Christ Jesus.

He's the only one

who could ever

have filled that gap.

So there's never been a time

that you've received

God's gift of eternal life

believing that Jesus

is the God-man

who came to save you

from your sins.

Don't delay another day.

So going back

to the World Trade Center

and the bombings

back on September 11th,

everything in hindsight

is very different

for everybody, right?

You go back

and you look at that day

and you hear about

the first plane

that hit the first tower

and then you know

that another plane

hit the second tower.

But as you look back on it,

they did an evaluation

of those people

who survived

from that incident.

And there was

an interesting correlation.

When the first plane hit,

some people decided,

hey, it's time

to get out of here

and others were like,

you know,

it's probably just a drill.

It's probably just a fire

they got under control.

This tower is going to collapse.

It's, you know,

it's just,

it'll be fine.

I'm just going to keep

doing my work, right?

Well, when they went back

and they looked

at the numbers,

the people who got out

versus the numbers

of people who died,

the people who responded

immediately and sought exit,

they're the ones who lived.

The ones who stayed

and remained

are the ones

who were part

of the casualty list

from that day.

The reason that's important

is,

or it's applicable here,

salvation from sin

is the same.

those who put off

being saved

through Jesus Christ,

many people wait

until it's too late.

I mean,

I've heard stories

of people on their deathbed,

you know,

that are,

you know,

witness to them

at the end

and they're like,

no,

and they still didn't

choose at the end

to choose Christ.

That's a sad moment

for all of us,

but shouldn't wait then

because we don't know

how long our lives are.

It is short.

Nathaniel didn't wait.

Once he saw

the omniscience of Christ,

he believed.

He believed that Jesus

was God

and that he was

Israel's Messiah.

He said,

thou art the king

of Israel.

Nathaniel would have

known of the prophecies

of the coming Messiah.

As he considered Christ

and considered

what the prophets

had to say,

he knew that this was

the Messiah,

the king of Israel.

Jeremiah 25,

5-6 says,

Behold,

the days come,

saith the Lord,

that I will raise

unto David

a righteous branch

and a king

shall reign and prosper

and shall execute judgment

and justice in the earth.

In his days,

Judah shall be saved

and Israel

shall dwell safely

and this is his name

whereby he shall be called

the Lord,

our righteous.

Zephaniah 3-15 says,

The Lord hath taken away

thy judgments.

If cast out thine enemy,

the king of Israel,

even the Lord,

is in the midst of thee,

thou shalt not see evil

anymore.

By addressing Jesus

as the king of Israel,

Nathaniel was also acknowledging

Jesus as his personal king.

Nathaniel was a man

who went from being

biased

to belief.

The moment everything

clicked in Nathaniel's mind,

he believed on Christ

and that is what

all of us must do.

1 John 5-10-12 says,

He that believeth

on the Son of God

hath the witness

in himself.

He that believeth not God

hath made him a liar

because he believeth

not the record

that God gave

of his Son.

And this is the record

that God hath given us,

given to us,

eternal life

and this life

is in his Son.

He that hath not

the Son hath,

sorry,

He that hath the Son

hath life

and the that hath not

the Son of God

hath not life.

A little larger print

that probably would

help there.

God's word tells us

that we can know

that we have

eternal life.

Do not leave today

without wondering about it

or wondering about it

but take care of it.

B,

to possess eternal life.

1 John 50-51 says,

Jesus answered

and said unto him,

because I said unto thee,

I saw thee

under the fig tree,

believest thou?

Thou shalt see

greater things than these.

And he saith unto him,

Verily, verily,

I say unto you,

hereafter ye shall

see heaven open

and the angels

of God ascending

and descending

upon the Son of Man.

Nathaniel's understanding

of Christ's deity

was before he had

done any miracles.

I mean,

arguably,

his first miracle

was to tell Nathaniel

what he was doing

before he had met Nathaniel.

I mean,

so that was enough

for Nathaniel to believe,

but yet there was

many more things

to come.

The passage

is the first time

in the New Testament

uses that phrase,

the Son of Man,

to describe the Lord.

The phrase refers

to the sufferings

of Jesus Christ

and that the suffering

was necessary

for a substitutionary

atonement.

Only he,

the perfect sinless

Son of God,

would be able

to take our punishment

as he made himself

a man to take our place.

He is the only way

to God and to heaven.

Jesus saith unto him,

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life.

No man cometh

unto the Father

but by me.

So in conclusion,

religion,

obviously,

we know this

because we're here,

the church does not

give you access to heaven,

neither does religion,

although when we're

out talking to people

we often hear,

I go to XYZ church

and this is how

I'm going to get to heaven.

We also hear from people

and we talk to them,

so why do you think

you're going to go to heaven?

I'm a good guy.

I do good things.

I donate money

to charities.

I go work at the mission.

I help out

with whatever.

And we get

all sorts of reasoning

and reasonings

as to why

people think

that they're going

to go to heaven.

1 Timothy 2,

5-6 says,

For there is one God

and one meteor

between God and men,

the man Christ Jesus,

who gave himself

a ransom from all

to be testified

in due time.

It meant you put

your faith in Christ,

you put your faith

in the one who has

conquered death

and the grave.

The Lord knows

what you're thinking

and he knows

the philosophies

that permeate

your mind.

He came to earth

that you might

hear of him

and put your faith

in him for the

salvation of your soul.

If you already know

Christ is your saver,

consider the omniscience

of Christ.

That he already knows

that problem

that you're thinking

about.

That thing that

touches your heart.

That worry,

that trial,

trouble,

I mean,

I guess,

let me put it this way,

personal testimony,

right?

So,

people lose jobs,

we don't know

why we lose jobs.

People get sick,

we don't know

why people get sick.

We don't know

what the solution

is going to be.

We don't know

what the outcome

is going to be.

We don't know

the why.

And we talk

about testimony

and I don't know

that I shared this

with the church,

but I shared it

with some people,

like,

back in September,

the end of September

last year,

I actually lost my job

at SecureToss Technology

and I didn't really

understand the why.

I was looking

for a new job

and I didn't understand

which way God

was going to take this

or which way work

was going to take this.

I got to pay bills

still, right?

My mom,

she had Alzheimer's,

she passed away

in December

and I just didn't know

what was going on.

I had applied

for jobs

at several manufacturers

that had interviews

and things going on

and I just,

like,

lost my job.

It was a Friday,

got on my conference call,

my boss jumps on

and then HR pops on

and I go,

oh,

oh,

ah,

oh,

ah.

Maybe what I said

in that meeting

didn't go over it

very well.

No,

no,

whenever HR jumps on

you,

it's a bad call.

And so,

that was my last day

at SecureToss Technology

and then the next week

I flew to Chicago

for my final interview

with Axis

and I'm thinking,

yes,

Lord,

this works out really well.

I got a severance package

for SecureToss Technology.

I'm going to jump

into my next job

and I'm going to get

to travel.

That's not what I actually

needed at the time.

I didn't get that job.

God said it was time

for me to stay home

because I didn't know

my mom was going to

fall and break her hip.

I didn't know

that she was going to

go to a care center

that doesn't take care

of people.

In fact,

their same care center

is being sued.

I'm not going to use

the name in case

it gets online.

It's already being sued

because they've had

several people die

in their care

due to negligence,

right?

So I suddenly

had the availability.

I was still getting paid

by SecureToss Technology

because I had

a severance package

and how many people

get severance packages

nowadays?

I didn't plan this

but God clearly did

so that I could take time

to take care of my mom

before she passed away.

And then,

when I ran out

of the severance package,

the first day I flipped

my thing over and said,

yeah, I guess I'm looking

for a job.

Somebody I'd worked

with before called me

and said,

you got a job!

Start on Monday!

Take care of your mom.

Super nice about it.

He paid me

and helped me get

through that

and now I've moved on.

But looking back,

in the moment,

I didn't understand

the why.

And I was kind of

hurt by it.

I thought I was doing

a good job.

I thought I was

representing the company.

Well, but God knows.

And the omniscience

of Christ doesn't end

with what we think

He knows.

He does know

and He does plan for us.

We don't always see it

in the moment.

But as you go

throughout your week,

no matter what all

goes on in your life,

you have a God

who understands it all.

I kind of circled that

and bolded it

because it's real to me

because I understand

from what I've seen

and like I said,

at the time,

it was hard

because I didn't know.

But looking back,

that is.

He knows your circumstances

in your heart

and He understands us more

than even we

can understand ourselves.

He knows when we're

carrying burdens.

He knows when we are

hiding sin.

No friend or family member

will ever know you

as well as the

omniscient Savior,

Lord Jesus Christ.

All right, let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.