The Savior Seeking Men

Well take your Bible and turn with me this morning to John chapter 1. John chapter 1, we're going to be in verses 43 through 51. We have been in this section of scripture. This is a second morning, second service, second Sunday in this section of scripture. And we saw this transition around verse 35, 36, 37 into the public ministry of Jesus and then we're going to really get into Jesus public ministry as we get into chapter 2 of the Gospel of John. Now we're still in our series Christ the Son of God Believe and Live.

We know that one of the purposes of John's writing this Gospel was to be evangelistic and in these verses that we've been in and we are in this morning we see the evangelism of the Lord Jesus as He is calling disciples to Himself. Now we have seen the transition from John the Baptist to Jesus, to His public ministry and now we are seeing Him gather some of the disciples. You're going to see as we progress some of the disciples maybe you didn't know as much about. Obviously there's some like Peter, James and John that you probably know a lot about but we're seeing Jesus begin this public ministry.

Now in the other Gospels especially Matthew and Luke, those are what's called the synoptics, we see Jesus baptized, we see Jesus go into the wilderness to be tempted for 40 days and then we see Jesus begin His earthly ministry. That's where John has us right now. John does not give us the temptation whereas Matthew and Luke do. Now why do I mention that? I mention that because it is important for you to read the Gospel accounts together. You might say, "Wow pastor that's a lengthy assignment." I would encourage you to do that because the Gospels all come together to give us the total picture, the total story that God wants us to have.

So when we look at the different Gospels we see that this is after the Scripture we're in this morning is after the baptism and after the temptation of the Lord Jesus. And where John has us is Jesus beginning this earthly ministry and Jesus calling for Himself to Himself for His ministry, the disciples. Now last week we saw the title of the message was "Men Seeking the Savior." We covered verse 38 to 42 and this morning the title of the message is "The Savior Seeking Men." Now we have been seeing that we have a two-sided coin.

What I mean is we have man's responsibility and then we have man's responsibility working in connection with God's sovereignty. I refer that to as both sides of conversion, both sides of salvation. And it is evident in what we're looking at in the Scriptures. Now Wednesday night in our Bible study time I called it the "balance of salvation." Now what am I showing you? What am I wanting you to see as we're getting started? We see God's sovereignty, God working. We see man seeking the Savior. We see man exercising the responsibility.

And in the message and in the text and in last week's message coming together with this morning's message we see the total package of conversion. God working, man seeking, God saving. So that leads us to the message this morning which is "The Savior Seeking Men." Now I gave you last week's, last week I gave you the title of this week's message because they really go together and we saw last week men seeking the Savior. This morning the Savior seeking men and like I said earlier we will be in verses 43 on down to verse 51. Let's look at the text together.

Verse 43 says, "The next day he," thus Jesus, "proposed to go forth in the Galilee and he found Philip and Jesus said to him, 'Follow me.' Now Philip was from Bethesda of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathaniel and he said to him, 'We have found him of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' And Nathaniel said to him, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' Philip said to him, 'Come and see.' Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and he said to him, 'Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile.' Verse 48, "Nathaniel 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.' Nathaniel answered him, 'Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.' Jesus answered him and he said to him, 'Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe?

You shall see greater things than these.' And he said to him, 'Truly, truly I say to you, you shall see the heavens open in the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.' So we see a shift in the text and that's where the title of the message comes, 'The Savior Seeking Men.' Now you see the truths that we're going to look at this morning. There are four main truths out of the text and I trust that you will write them down for your study. I trust that you are developing the habit of taking notes.

You need to develop that habit and that skill as we're going to look at how Jesus found Philip, Philip found Nathaniel, then third we will see Jesus interacting with Nathaniel and then fourth Jesus speaks of their future. So let's look at these truths as we divide the text and let's see what the Lord wants to show us in this event of the Savior seeking men. So number one, notice Jesus found Philip. Go back to verse 43, says the next day he purposed to go forth in the Galilee and he found Philip.

Now that is obvious and he goes on to say, 'And he said to him, 'Follow me.' Now this next day tells us that this is the day following his encounter with John and Andrew and Simon, who was Simon Peter. This is the next day. What do we see? This is a change. This is Jesus on the move. But we see simplistically that Jesus found Philip. Notice a few things. First, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. This is Jesus beginning that public ministry. Now the New American that I read from says he, but all of the other translations say Jesus. So it's obvious that Jesus decided to go to Galilee. Jesus decided to move and to move on.

Second, I want you to see that Jesus found Philip. Now this is in contrast to what we saw in the previous verses, verse 37. John and Andrew we saw in the transition, they followed Jesus. Remember John the Baptist said, 'Look, behold, look over there. There is the Lamb of God.' And what does verse 37 say? They followed Christ. They sought after Christ. But notice Philip takes no initiative of his own. Jesus, he simply comes to Philip. And then the third thing I want you to see is Jesus says, 'Follow me.' This is the invitation to become a disciple. Now we learn, we've learned already what it means to be a disciple.

To be a disciple is a follower and a learner. We have removed ourselves from a true biblical definition of a disciple today. But what Jesus is saying, 'You come follow me. You attach your life to me. You learn from me. You live where I live, walk where I walk, and you become attached to me. And that's what this means. This was not a lightweight invitation. This was not an emotional invitation. He was calling him to attach himself, that's Philip, to the living Lord Jesus. Now it is interesting to see that there is no recording of Philip's response. There are no words. It is almost overly simplified in my opinion.

Now this does not mean that there was no response in faith to Christ, but that John does not record the specifics. A question. Who is this Philip? Philip is listed in the other gospels as part of the twelve disciples. He is listed in Mark 3, verse 18, and he is also listed in Acts chapter 1, verse 13. But it is John who gives us more information about Philip than all of the other gospel writers. He is mentioned in chapter 6, verse 6. He is mentioned in chapter 12, verse 21 and 22. He is mentioned in chapter 14, verses 8 and 9. Now why am I telling you this?

This Philip was one of the twelve, and he is mentioned more in John than in the other gospel accounts. And that's why it is important for us to read the gospel accounts. But Philip is called, Philip trusts by faith in Christ. We do not see his response. But he begins this journey of following Christ. Now what does this mean to us? We know we always have to get down to the nitty gritty of asking ourselves, how can this relate to me and where I am and where you are? Philip was most certainly converted, but we do not have the details. If he were not converted, he would not have been listed as one of the twelve.

Now we do know that there was one of the twelve who was not converted. That was Judas. But this is when he leaves and he begins to follow Christ as one of the twelve. Now sometimes we do not know all of the details in the scriptures about one's conversion. But that does not diminish the importance of conversion. Conversion is a historical event, and each historical event, each conversion for each person can be different. Sometimes man will seek the Savior. That's what John and Andrew did. They sought after Christ. But yet sometimes it seems that Christ goes straight to the man. So it's different with each individual.

But yet we must see that this is a true conversion. By grace through faith, he follows Christ and he becomes one of the twelve. It is a historical one-time event. So what do we see? Jesus found Philip. This is more of an emphasis on the sovereign work of God in conversion in verse 43. The second thing I want you to see is that Philip found Nathaniel. Philip, he finds Nathaniel. Look at verse 44. Now Philip was from Bus-Theta of the city of Andrew and Peter.

Philip, he found Nathaniel and he said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Then it goes on to say that Nathaniel posed some questions. But I want you to notice a difference. There is a difference in verse 43, and there is a difference in these verses. Jesus, he found Philip, but now Philip, he finds Nathaniel. See the difference? I like how John MacArthur has some comments about Philip. Listen to what MacArthur says. He says, "Like Andrew, Philip could not keep the good news about Jesus to himself, but immediately went and found his friend." I like that.

In other words, Andrew couldn't keep it to himself and he runs and he finds Simon. Now we see a man named Philip, he could not keep it to himself, and he runs and he finds Nathaniel. Philip found Nathaniel. But I want us to break down these verses because there is some truth in verses 44 through 46 that you need to see. First, just for information, Philip was from Bus-Theta. Verse 44 tells us that. Now the meaning of the name really meant house of fishing or house of fishermen. This was the town of Andrew. This was the town of Peter. It was not necessarily a large and influential town, but that's where they were from.

But notice second, Philip accurately presented Christ. I want you to go back to the text for this. Notice verse 46. Notice the scripture. "Philip, he found Nathaniel and he said to him in verse 45, 'We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, 'Jesus of Nazareth, the son of David.'" What do we see? Philip presented him as all the Old Testament said he would be. He is presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, of the law, of the prophets, and of the prophecies. What does that tell us? He believed what the Old Testament scripture said about him. Therefore, he believed accurately about Jesus.

You get that? Those words we must notice because when Philip presents Christ, he is presenting Christ as how he believed in him, and he is presenting Christ to Nathaniel, and he presented Christ accurately. He believed the Old Testament scriptures, and therefore he had a proper understanding of who Christ was. Therefore, he could present him accurately. Third, I want you to see that Nathaniel questions Philip. That's found in verse 46. "And Nathaniel said to him, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?'" Sounds pretty blunt, does it not? It almost seems rude. It almost seems critical. But we must understand some cultural things here.

In that day, people from different places would have disdain for other towns and other peoples. There were almost rivalries here. The Galileans, they looked down upon the people from Judah. Chapter 7, verse 52 tells us that in the Gospel of John. "And from this text it seems that at least some of the Galileans looked down on those who were from Nazareth." That's all that was. There were just some that kind of carried their nose a little higher and looked down upon different people. So that's all that is. But the fourth thing I want you to see, and that is that Philip urges Nathaniel. What does it say?

"Philip said to him, 'Come and see.'" Basically, all he is saying is, "Well, you come and you see for yourself." So what do we see? Philip, he finds Nathaniel. He accurately presents Christ to Nathaniel. He was an accurate witness. Nathaniel questions Philip, but yet Philip just says, "Now you come. If you want to see, you come." Now, who is Nathaniel? There's a lot of confusion here with Nathaniel, or the name Nathaniel, because he is called by other names in the other Gospels. He is called the name Bartholomew.

Some believe Nathaniel was his given name, and Bartholomew was his surname, but yet we do not know for sure, but we know that these are one and the same individual. So when you're reading in the other Gospels and you see the name Bartholomew, you just know that is Nathaniel, and we know that they change names. We know that Simon's name was changed to Peter, and some people can be confused by that, but that's who Nathaniel is. Now, like Andrew, finding his brother Simon, this is, now listen, personal evangelism. That's what this means to you and to me. This is personal evangelism.

Andrew goes and he finds Simon, and now Philip goes and he finds Nathaniel. Philip had a heart to bring at least one person to Christ, and it was Nathaniel. And what did he say? "Well, you just come and you see. You come talk to him. You listen to what we have heard." I like what the New American commentary says. It's very simplistic, but I think you need to hear it. It says that evangelism usually is advanced best by genuine, concerned, loving proclamation and invitation. You get that? I think MacArthur was right.

I think that he just was bursting at the seams to go tell someone about Christ because he loved the Messiah and there was a connection with Nathaniel. And I think the writer of the New American commentary hits the nail on the head. Evangelism is best done by genuine, concerned, love, proclaiming the truth. Philip didn't have a club. Philip did not have a rude, condescending argument. No, it was out of love. And now I want you to look at these two. Jesus finds Philip. That emphasizes the sovereign work of God. And now Philip finds Nathaniel, but yet we must ask ourselves a question. Who found Jesus? We've heard people say this.

Well, I found the Lord. We must ask ourselves, now listen, that question in light of the balance that we have here in scripture, it is accurate that we do find the Lord, but we find the Lord after God first initiates and does a work in us. We can never say that the Lord found me because in light of who we are to the Lord, the Lord doesn't lose us. He knows where we are. He knows who we are. He knows what sin we're involved in. He knows what pig pen we happen to be living in when we're lost and without Christ. So the Lord doesn't find us. The Lord seeks us and the Lord draws us and the Lord moves on us.

And through that working of a sovereign God, we are able to find the Lord. And so what do we see? We see the sovereign work of God as Jesus found Philip, he sought Philip, he went straight to Philip, and now we see Philip, he is seeking out and evangelizing this one named Nathaniel. And see, that's why I think that we really need to learn from here, because you know, we've been praying, we've been laboring for certain individuals, we've been praying faithfully for certain people on Wednesday nights. And you know what it just could be that the Lord wants to move in you and change me and open our eyes to make us, now listen, like Philip.

It could be that we've been in error, that we've been waiting on someone else to go tell our lost loved one. We've been waiting on someone else to go witness to our mother or our father, our son or our daughter, our neighbor or our friend. It could be that we've been praying and depending on the sovereign work of God, when actually God wants us to put feet to our prayers, just like Philip did for Nathaniel. So we see a lot just in these few verses. Now let's move on, I want us to see number three, Jesus interacts with Nathaniel.

Now it begins to change, and we begin to see Jesus interaction with Nathaniel, and that really goes all the way down to verse 51 as he interacts not just with Nathaniel, but with the others who were there. But let's look at verse 47 through 50. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and he said to him, behold, an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile. Nathaniel said to him, how do you know me? Jesus answered and he said to him, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Verse 49, Nathaniel answered him, Rabbi, that means teacher, you are the son of God, you are the king of Israel.

And Jesus went on to say, you're gonna see a whole lot more. Now what do we see here? This is Jesus interaction with Philip. Now, unlike Jesus interaction with Philip, John gives us more details about Jesus conversation with Nathaniel. Not only do we see some details, but we see both sides, we see both sides of the coin of conversion. We get both here and I really want you to notice, this is a very good exchange because it shows us the workings of the spirit. It shows us the workings of the spirit in conversion on man. So let's notice some things out of these verses. First, Jesus reveals Nathaniel's heart. Jesus reveals Nathaniel's heart.

Look at verse 47, Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him. Remember, it was Philip who said, you come see. Jesus said to him, behold, an Israelite, indeed in whom there is no guile. Now that might seem strange, as a matter of fact, that word guile probably seems strange to you. The English Standard Version uses the word deceit. I like how the amplified reads. This is kind of a paraphrase, but I like it. It says it like this. Here is an Israelite indeed, a true descendant of Jacob, in whom there is no guile, nor deceit, nor falsehood, nor duplicity.

That's very accurate with the original language because what Jesus is doing is, he is revealing to us and to him the true condition of the heart. All Jesus is saying is that Nathaniel is honestly motivated unlike many of the other Jews. He was honestly motivated to come and examine who Jesus was. He was not hypocritical. So all Jesus is doing is revealing the condition of Nathaniel's heart. Second, I want you to see Jesus reveals his knowledge. Verse 48, Nathaniel said to him, how do you know me? What does Jesus say? Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.

Jesus is saying that he knew Nathaniel before Nathaniel had ever met him. This is supernatural. This is supernatural. That's all that you can say to explain it. Now, this fig tree is a little confusing for some, but this fig tree here is most likely talking about a place where he was studying the Old Testament scriptures. This was used in language in the Old Testament to describe a place where men would sit down and study the scripture. It was also used in other Old Testament times to describe a place of a home.

But it really doesn't matter how this term, the fig tree was used, whether it refers to his home or a place where he studies the scripture. Either way, that's not the point. The point is that Jesus is revealing his knowledge of Nathaniel to Nathaniel. This is supernatural. This is miraculous to Nathaniel. So Jesus is revealing his knowledge to Nathaniel. He's saying, listen, before Philip ever came to you, I knew exactly who you were and where you were and what you were. Then verse 48, Nathaniel, what does he do? He questions Jesus. Go back to the verse, Nathaniel said to him, how do you know me? How is this be?

This is simple, but it is expected. Nathaniel does not know Jesus. They had never met. And of course, this is before Jesus reveals so much to Nathaniel. Nathaniel is just questioning what's going on here. Who are you? How do you know these things? And then the fourth thing I want you to see is that Nathaniel confesses Jesus. Now I know I got these a little order. I wanted to see Jesus' interaction and I wanted you to see Nathaniel's interaction. But now at the end, I want you to see Nathaniel's confession of Jesus. Look at verse 49. Nathaniel answered to him, rabbi, that means teacher, you are the son of God. You are the king of Israel.

Now there is a lot right here in this confession that we really need to unpack. This confession, this confession of Nathaniel uses very powerful and biblical language and titles. And I want you to see. First, he calls him rabbi. Now we've already learned that this word means teacher, but it means the great one. It means the great teacher. So in calling him rabbi, he is exalting Christ. He's saying, you are the great one. You are the great teacher. It wasn't just a flippant title that was given. Second, I want you to see that he calls him son of God. Go back to the verse. Nathaniel said, rabbi, you are the son of God.

This speaks of the prophecies that were made about Jesus and I will just mention one out of Psalms chapter two, verses six through seven. And that prophecy talks about the Messiah, but it talks about the Messiah being the literal son of God. So what we see here is Nathaniel is reaching back and he's grabbing Old Testament prophetic language is saying that is who you are. So he calls him teacher. He exalts him. You are the great one. You are the great teacher. Now he calls him the son of God, which lines up with Old Testament prophecy. And then he calls him third, the king of Israel.

There are multiple scriptures that refer to the Messiah as the king of Israel. Psalm two verses six through seven. Zephaniah three 15, Zechariah nine nine, Malachi, Micah excuse me, chapter five verse two. All talk about the Messiah being the king of Israel. So what I want you to see is this is a confession and it is biblically accurate, but this is a confession of an acceptance of who Jesus was. See God working. Jesus reveals Nathaniel's heart. He's not hypocritical. He's honestly motivated. And he performs a great miracle exactly for Nathaniel. I knew you before Phillip ever came.

And through that revelation of who Jesus is, Nathaniel opens his mouth. He exalts him as the teacher. And all he does is say you are what the Old Testament scripture said the Messiah would be. This is a confession that is biblically accurate, but it is a confession of his acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. And this is a great interaction because John gives us so much detail. He doesn't give us much detail about Phillip, but we see right here the sovereign work of God. We see the examination of Jesus and we see Jesus revealing to Nathaniel who he was and Nathaniel's response as he trusted by grace through faith.

See it's important to understand that this is the supernatural work of conversion. This is important for us to see. This is how the Holy Spirit works in our day. Now let me pause here for a second. This is for us to learn, bringing it down to you and to me today. In Christ's day, in Jesus' day when John was writing, the Spirit was confined, if I can say it like that, to Christ. Christ was an exact representation of God. Now what did Jesus say at the end of John? He says, "I'm leaving, I'm going, "but I will not leave you as orphans, "but the Spirit will come." We have the gift of the Spirit.

And Jesus was doing for Nathaniel what the Spirit does today. That is the supernatural sovereign side of salvation. The Spirit works, the Spirit convicts, the Spirit reveals, the Spirit draws, the Spirit opens blind eyes to see Christ. That is the supernatural experiential side of conversion. But then we see the human response. What does Nathaniel do? He's honestly motivated, but what does he do? He professes as God has revealed. And see this is that interaction that is so important because we learn so much about both sides of conversion.

And just like I said earlier, that conversion is a historical event, it is also a supernatural event and an experiential event. Anytime a man or a woman or a young person is converted, it is a one-time event that happens in their life, it is supernatural as is, it is a work of the Spirit, and it is a personal experience. See, we're already beginning to see the different experiences that these individuals had. Phillips was a lot different than Nathaniel's, but the end result was what? A trust and a belief in the Messiah. A supernatural experiential work of Christ. So let's move on, let's look at truth number four.

On the left side of verses 50 through 51, Jesus speaks to or about their future. Look at verse 50, and Jesus answered and he said to him, "That's Nathaniel, because I said to you "that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe?" And he did, but then he goes on to say, "You shall see greater things than these." And truly, and he said to him, truly, truly, which means amen, amen, this means this will be so. I say to you, you shall see the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.

So not only does Jesus tell Nathaniel that he knew him before he met him, and not only does he tell him, now he tells him the future. Jesus makes some very tantalizing statements, and this must have definitely stirred up their curiosity. Let's notice some things out of this verse. First, I want you to see, excuse me, that Jesus tells him he will see greater things. Look at verse 50, he says, "Because I said to you, "I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? "You shall see greater things than these." Jesus is speaking of this earthly ministry.

Nathaniel and the other disciples would witness all that Jesus would do on earth, things that have never even been written about. They would have witnessed the great and wonderful things that Christ would do. That's all Jesus is talking about. You've seen a great miracle here, have you not, Nathaniel? You're gonna see greater. We're gonna see that really in chapter two, starting in verse one. Jesus tells him he will see greater things. Second, I want you to see, Jesus tells him that he will see heaven open and wonderful things occur. Look at verse 51. And he said to him, "Truly, truly." Now these two words mean what we would say, amen, amen.

Basically, Jesus is saying this definitely will happen. He says, "I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened "and the angels of God ascending "and descending on the Son of Man." Jesus, what we see is referring to the dream which Jacob had in Genesis 28, 12. I don't know if you know about that dream that Jacob had. He had that dream of a great ladder between heaven and earth. And what do we see here? Jesus is that ladder. Jesus is that connection between God and man, between heaven and earth. All through the New Testament, we see that. Ephesians tells us that he is the one mediator between God and man.

It does not matter what the Catholics say about Mother Mary, only Jesus is the mediator. He is that ladder between God and man. Jesus goes on to speak like this again later in chapter three when he talks with Nicodemus there. He says to Nicodemus, "No one has ascended into heaven, "but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man." And what is he talking about? To Nicodemus, "I've come down and I've come down "to be the one God, the one mediator "between God the Father and mankind." And that's all Jesus is referring to. The office and that that he would fulfill. Third, I want you to see that Jesus tells him that he is the Son of Man.

What does he say? "You shall see the heavens open and the angels of God "ascending and descending on the Son of Man." Now, I don't know if you know it, but this title is used 13 times in the Gospel of John. Jesus, this is Jesus' most common way of describing and mentioning himself, not just in John's account, but in all of the Gospels. Now, I want you to see, this is good. Jesus is telling Nathaniel and the others who were there that they will see great things. Now, think about this. They will be a part of the earthly ministry as it is unfolded. They will see the revelation of Jesus as the promised Messiah.

They will witness him as the substitutionary death on that cross. They will witness and know the validity of the resurrection. They will witness the ascension as well as the coming of the promised Holy Spirit. They would see the fulfillment of all that the Old Testament prophesied for generations in Christ. That's all he's saying. He's saying, "Look, you've seen a miracle. "I've told you who you were before Philip ever came, "but you will see great and mighty and wonderful things. "You're gonna see exactly who I am." So what does this mean to you and to me and to us today?

We can see all that Nathaniel and the others saw, and we see these things. Now listen in retrospect. See, they saw them and they believed in my faith in the future. Now, they didn't fully understand all these things. No, there was no way. Jesus described these things. He talked about these things, and by faith they believed them, but they many times had to work through their doubts and their problems to see it when they could put their hands on it. But see, they saw it in a distance in the future, but we see it in retrospect. We look back on the truths that are taught here, and we see all that Jesus promised did come to be.

He told Nathaniel and he told all them about their future. He said, "Listen guys, you're gonna be caught up "in something that's bigger and greater "than you can ever imagine." And what do we do? We turn around and we look back in retrospect at the great things that God has done. Now, as I was studying this, I could not help, but move away from the scriptures. Now, let me explain what I mean. We look back on all that Jesus has done, but we have the privilege of looking back on church history. In church history, God has done great and mighty and wonderful things.

Let me tell you, if your faith ever begins to wane, if you ever get down in the dumps, you just pick up a good book on the Great Awakening, you pick up a good book on some famous and successful missionary, you pick up some book about what God did yesterday, and that will strengthen your faith. Why? Because you will look back on the great things that God has done. And I believe, just like Nathaniel and Philip and Simon and Andrew and John, they had a wonderful future before them. I believe we have a wonderful future before us. I believe God wants to do a great work in us and through us.

I think if the Lord could speak to us today, he would say, "You know, you've seen some good things, "but there's a whole lot more I have in your future for you." Now, as we begin to conclude, I want you to see from these verses, 'cause we really started transitioning in verse 37 and 38, all the way down to verse 51. What have we seen? We have seen the balance of salvation. We've seen it as a two-sided coin. And I repeat that because we must learn some things. But now I wanna add a third side to the balance of salvation. When you might say, "Well, Pastor, "that just throws your coin illustration out the window.

"There's not a three-sided coin." You're right. There is another side of salvation. We've already covered it in the text, but I think I wanna step back and I wanna ask you to step back and I want you to see it. We've seen first the sinner seeking the Savior. Now, we talked about this Wednesday night in our Bible study, and I encourage you, if you are lost and without Christ, if you are really questioning your position before the Lord, if you're beginning to wonder that you're not saved, if you've never tried to come to the Lord and you know that you're not right with God, I encourage you to seek the Savior just exactly like those disciples.

Follow Him, pursue Him. Isaiah 55, 6 says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found." Be like these men, get into the Scriptures, pray, come to church, be involved in the works and the things of God, seeking the Savior. I've heard testimonies of people who sought the Lord for months and years. They were in the company of God's people, in the company of the preaching and the teaching of the Word, but privately before God, they would say, "Lord, I'm not right with you and I know it, "but I'm trying to be." That's seeking the Lord. That is your responsibility. So we've learned that. Then now we've seen the Savior seeking men.

Now, we talked about this Wednesday night. Jesus says in chapter 6, verse 44, "No man comes unless the Father enables him." And I wanna encourage you, if you're in a place where you are seeking and you're trying, that is God working in you. That is God drawing you. That is God getting you to that place. You realize that Andrew and John could have never been able to seek Jesus had they not responded to the work of John the Baptist. That is the total work of God. And if you're in a place where you are seeking, that is God the Father drawing you. You are right in the middle of the plan of God. But then here's the third side.

That is the timing of conversion. We've seen how some of these individuals have come to faith in Christ right here. Look at Philip, right here. I mean, he didn't have to go through a long period of seeking. It almost seems unfair. Nathaniel, what does he say? You are all that the Old Testament said you would be. But yet, remember Simon. Because Simon's not converted right here, although Andrew brought him to Jesus. We see that Simon is converted later in Luke five, verses one through 11. And what I want you to see in that is the timing of conversion. Some people are saved sooner. Some people are saved later.

Some people are saved after they chase after the Lord and pursue the Lord for a great amount of time. I don't know if you've ever read the story of John Bunyan. He sought the Lord in a miserable state for years. It almost seems unfair. And then the Lord comes to Philip and says, come follow me. He gets up off the stool and he follows him. But this is the workings of a sovereign God. Some are saved sooner and some are saved later. But we need to recognize the timing of that because, now listen close, this is supposed to cause us to understand the workings of conversion and equip us as to know how to deal with people.

Because if we're untrained and we lack knowledge of the scripture, we will deal with lost sinners in an inappropriate manner. You see, you understand it? That's why so many people in our Baptist churches are leading people in false, cheap professions of faith. Because many churches have moved away from, now listen, the sovereign work of God in conversion. Many people don't understand the fact that someone can really seek after the Lord and still not be converted. A lot of times someone is seeking the Lord. They're trying to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.

And somebody will come along and they're untrained and they don't have knowledge of the scripture. And they'll come along and say, well listen, all you need to do is pray. All you need to do is pray. You do the best you can and God will meet you there. No, that's not the case. One must work out their salvation with fear and trembling till they get to that point where they're like Nathaniel, where they look to Christ, they hear Christ, and it's Christ that does the word. See, this is extremely important because this equips us as to know how to deal with people. I have known people who have sought the Lord.

Now listen, in a state of misery for an extended period of time. And you might think that I'm heartless. I've just let them go. Oh, I pray for them. Oh, I've read the scripture to them. I've counseled them. I preach the gospel to them. But yet they must find the Lord. They must seek the Lord. It is the Lord that comes to them. But yet there are times when people have come to me and they're at the very bottom of the bottom. And look, all I gotta do is open up my mouth. And the next thing you know, they're on their knees professing Christ. All I do is witness it. You see the workings? You see how it works?

And see, this will enable us to listen to have biblically healthy evangelism. And you need it. I need it. We need it to be able to deal properly with men and women and listen our own children. You see, we've learned a lot. Men seeking the Savior and the Savior seeking men. The two verses I really want you to remember, Isaiah 55, six. I can't tell you how many times I've told people to seek the Lord. And then also John 6, 44. Because what do we see? Man's responsibility, God's sovereignty. And then we just realized that timing, now listen, is up to him. Isn't that good? The scripture's good. Amen? Amen. Let's pray.

Lord, I wanna thank you for the wonder and the beauty of your word. That you give us exactly what we need. Lord, I know that there were a group of people in John's day who had a faulty Christ. You were dealing with that.