John chapter 1 verse 35, Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and said unto them, What seekest ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. And they came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation a stone. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, 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. Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith to him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Nathanael said unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and said 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 believe us now i shall see greater things in these and he saith unto him verily verily i say unto you hereafter ye shall see heaven opened and the angels of god ascending and descending upon the son of man amen and we'll read we'll end our reading at verse 51. Let's pray just before we bring God's Word this evening. Loving Father, we're closed in now with Thee. Oh God, we're here in Thy house, we're in Thy presence, where two or three are gathered together. In my name, there am I in the midst of them. We thank Thee for the Savior who walks among the candlesticks, the living Christ. And oh, we pray, Lord, that our hearts and our minds will be taken off to Him. Lord, give the dignity of speech and clarity of thoughts as we come now to the preaching of thy word. Lift, Lord, this preacher. Lord, take him up, I pray. Lord, cleanse the vessel, I ask. Lord, in the words of the hymn writer, empty that thou shouldest fill me, a clean vessel in thine hand with no power, but as thou givest graciously with each command. Lord, fill me with thy power, I pray. Help me, Lord, to preach for a verdict tonight in this house Lord give us Lord judgment day honesty among us we pray Lord smite the stoutest sinner through start to cry what must I do till men woman boys and girls and young people weep till born in you through the land, but we offer prayer in Jesus Christ's great name. Amen and amen. Outside of God himself, the Word of God presents to us some big personalities that if people were to list the most well-known Bible characters into a top 10 list, such people, they would find themselves on that very list. I'm thinking about people like Moses, the man that God chose to lead the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage and to bring them to the verge of the promised land. Or David, that illustrious king of Israel who saw to the uniting of a divided people and was pivotal in ushering in a golden age for the nation of Israel. Or Esther. That brave young girl who put her neck on the line, who put her life on the line to secure her people from annihilation. Or Daniel who survived a night in the lion's den because of his refusal to stop praying to his God. Or Peter, that much loved disciple who often spoke before putting his mind into gear or Paul he was taken up by God to see to the new testament church advance and flourish having once been its greatest opponent such people would have been seen by many as individuals who had big personalities. I suppose if testimony meetings had been the thing of the day whenever these people lived and walked in this world, they would have had been people that would have had full diaries. People with dynamic testimony, startling stories to tell, amazing encounters with the living God to relate to those who would gather to hear their testimonies. You can just imagine how they would have had with rapt attention, would have given attention to those who would have recounted stories of burning bushes and ferocious lions and Damascus roads and encounters with the Christ. And yet, having said that, there are other personalities that we come to meet in the Word of God that never saw a burning bush. And they never slept safely alongside a pride of lions. And they were never blinded by a light greater and brighter than the noonday sun on a Damascus road. However, such people did meet Jesus Christ in the gospel. And their conversions were as much miracles of grace as those who would be found in the top ten list of Bible personalities. One person who falls into that category of people, I believe, was Nathanael, a man that came to encounter the living Christ. His story we're told here in John's Gospel in chapter number one. And tonight I want us to simply look at the day that Nathanael met the Lord Jesus Christ. No blinding lights, no supernatural, as it were, outward manifestations of God, but simply he met Jesus Christ and his life was never to be the same again. And I want us to look at Nathanael for this particular reason. Because there is a tendency with those who are in the church of Jesus Christ to think that you need all the bells and whistles, that you need the dramatic departure from God and the miraculous intervention of God if your testimony is to be considered a special testimony, or a great testimony, or a good testimony. Such thinking would be wrong. Every Christian's conversion story is special, miraculous, great, and good. Because it takes a miracle of divine and sovereign grace to bring any spiritually dead sinner to new life in Jesus Christ. So tonight I want us to consider together Nathanael's salvation story and see what lessons we can learn from it in the gospel as we make our way through the record in John chapter 1. As we think about the salvation story of Nathanael, I want us to think firstly about the message that he came to hear. The message that he came to hear. Nathanael had a great friend and Philip. Great because it was Philip who came to Nathanael with a message that would eventually lead to the transforming of Nathanael's life. If you look there at the verse number 45 of the chapter we read, Now, Philip is only newly converted himself. And so he gets some things wrong, because Jesus Christ was not the son of Joseph. Rather, Jesus Christ was the son of God. But even that, with all of its deficiency, God was going to use Philip to introduce Nathanael to the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to remind you that before Philip ever came with the news to Nathanael about Jesus Christ, you need to note that Philip, first of all, had met Jesus Christ himself. Look at the verse 43, we read, And so what we have here is a man who himself had had a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, and now he was following after the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, Philip is a Christian. Philip is a saved man. And as a saved man, He has this natural longing, this desire, this unnatural longing, I would suppose you would say, but yet a desire nonetheless. His desire was to introduce others to Jesus Christ, the one who had changed his life, the one who had met him, the one who had justified him, the one who had cleansed him, the one who had made him. Now a child of God is this one that Philip wants others to know. And so he comes and he, first of all, he finds Nathanael. Now, what was Nathanael to Philip? We do not know. It may have been a brother, it may have been a work colleague, it may have simply been a friend. But Philip comes and he finds Nathanael, and he comes to speak to Nathanael about the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, in that, brethren and sisters, we find in what Philip did We are reminded of our responsibilities as those who have come to trust in Christ ourselves. It is our responsibility as those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, to witness and to introduce others to the individual who has so radically and transformationally changed our lives. As those who have come to hear of Christ, those who have come to encounter Christ, those who have come to believe on Christ and receive Christ, it is our responsibility, our solemn responsibility and duty to introduce others to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to be His witnesses. or that we would be found faithful discharging our duty as we seek to introduce and bring others to the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe that is the reason why you are here this evening as an unsaved person, as an unconverted person. Someone has invited you to this meeting. Someone has encouraged you to come along. Someone has brought you to the house of God. Maybe it's a family member. Maybe they spoke with you this afternoon and encouraged you to come to the gospel service. And here you are, you're in the house of God by providence and by the sovereign plan and purpose of God. Maybe it's an individual among your circle of friends and they've invited you to come and to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're glad to see you. And we're praying for you. We're praying that God will deal with your heart in the gospel. Can I assure you that that individual, that family member, that friend, that work colleague who has invited you along, that they're praying for you right now, where they sit in the pew. They're lifting their heart to God. They're praying to God that God will do something in your life. They're praying for you that God will deal with your heart, that God will open your understanding. God will convict you of your sin and bring you savingly unto himself tonight. May God hear and answer prayer tonight for you who know not Christ. Now as Philip engaged in witnessing to Nathanael there was as it were a twofold aspect in his messaging, his messaging There's a twofold aspect. Can I say first of all, that he spoke in terms of the past revelation of Christ. The past revelation of Christ. Verse number 45, Now notice what Philip doesn't say to Nathanael. He doesn't say, Nathanael, We have found the one who's got a wonderful plan for your life. He doesn't say, Nathaniel, we have found the one who can sort out your marriage that is on the rocks. I don't know if he had a wife or not, but he didn't say that. We have found the one who can make you healthy and wealthy. Or we have found the one who can give you purpose to your life. No, Philip said, we have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did write. You see, Philip knew his friend Nathanael. Nathanael, like any Jew, would have been a student of Scripture. And so Philip, he takes Nathanael to the Old Testament, and he presents unto him Christ. By the way, there was another Philip who did that, not the same. In Acts chapter 8, he took an Ethiopian eunuch to the same scriptures and he preached on to him Christ. And that man's name was also Philip. Two different Philips doing the same thing. It's really giving us here a pattern when it comes to evangelizing, when it comes to speaking to others about the Lord Jesus Christ. Because beloved, in our witnessing to others, it is important that at all times we remain biblical. that we present unto the ungodly the biblical Christ, the God of the Bible, the Christ of Scripture. This is what this meeting is convened for, the preaching of Christ and Him crucified, presenting to sinners the Christ of the Bible, the Savior of sinners, the Redeemer of God's people. And so he takes him to the Old Testament scriptures, and he says about Moses and the prophets, you know, there was no shortage of material for Philip to employ when he was speaking to his friend from such scriptures, because all the scriptures speak of Jesus Christ. You know, there's some people, when they come to preach the gospel, they confine themselves to the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Some, they will verge into the epistles, maybe into the book of Romans, maybe into the book of Titus, But you'll find Christ in all the Scriptures. You see, the Word of God is a revelation of Jesus Christ. He is the Son and He is the substance of the Scriptures. You see, to Him, the earliest biblical promises pointed to Jesus Christ, even in the days of Adam. The seed of the woman who would come to bruise the serpent's head. And Enoch, who prophesied of the Savior's second coming before even he came the first time, and of Noah, how he preached through the building of the ark, and preached righteousness, and how Christ is our righteousness, as well as those promises made to Abraham and Isaac, and to Jacob, that in their seed, in their seed, there would come forth one who would bless all nations. And yes, every sacrifice in the Old Testament economy pointed to Jesus Christ. Every high priest was a type of Christ. Every part of the tabernacle was pointing and a shadow of Christ. Every judge and every deliverer and every king who was raised up was a picture of Jesus Christ. In the books of the law, we see Jesus Christ everywhere. As I've said, Jesus Christ, the seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent's head. Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham in whom the nations would be blessed. He is the great prophet, like Moses, who would teach his redeemed people. He is the ram on Mount Moriah. He is the Passover lamb of Egypt. He is the altar of the tabernacle with all of its sacrifices. He is the scapegoat on the day of atonement. He is the brazen serpent in the wilderness. The law preached Christ. Not only is Christ the message of Moses in the law, He is also the message of the prophets. The prophets would write of His virgin birth. they would write of the place where he would be born in Bethlehem. The prophets spoke of the Savior's sufferings and the glory that would thereafter follow. They wrote about many things relating to his person and his work and his glory and his offices as Jehovah's righteous servant. They described him plainly as the king of the house of David, who came to be David's Lord as well as David's son. Jesus is the lamb spoken of there in Isaiah 53. He is the righteous branch mentioned by Jeremiah the prophet. He is the true shepherd that Ezekiel wrote about, the messenger of the covenant that Malachi referred to, and the Messiah who according to Daniel would be cut off not for himself but for his own people. Pointing us again to the cross, the Old Testament scriptures. would have pointed Nathanael to. Scriptures that were full of Christ. Scriptures that were pregnant with gospel truth. And so he brings this man, this Jewish man I believe, he brings him to Moses and the law and the prophets and he says, you'll find this one spoken of there. And so he speaks about the past revelation of Christ. But not only does Philip's message, it's not only confined to the past, but it's up to date. Because Philip, not only did Philip speak of the past revelation of Christ, he spoke about the present manifestation of Jesus Christ. You see, Nathaniel, like many today, was a little bit skeptical about Philip's claims regarding Jesus Christ. That skepticism Nathanael comes to express in words in verse 46. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Note how Philip responds to the cynicism of his friend. For Philip said to Nathanael, come and see, come and see Nathanael. Come and see. It's as if Philip turns around to Nathanael and says, if you don't believe me, come and see for yourself. If you don't believe my record, if you don't believe my report, come and see for yourself. While it is not in any preacher's power bring an individual, an unsaved person face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ in a physical way, I can, as Philip did, I can say to you tonight, I can invite you tonight to come and see for yourself. As the psalmist said, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Don't take my word for it. Trust Christ yourself. And if you do that, you'll find that all any preacher's attempts to communicate to you all that God does for men and women in the gospel, you'll find that their efforts always fall far short. You'll find, like the Queen of Sheba said, the half has not been told. You know, in John chapter 4, there was another woman who said the exact same thing. She meets Jesus Christ, just like Philip did. She goes into the city to meet those men that she had once sinned with, just like Philip goes to find Nathanael. And she's trying to convince these individuals, these men, I'm sure that we're skeptical with regard to this Jesus of Nazareth and this Savior of the world who has come into this world. And we're skeptical about this individual. And what does she say to these men in verse 29, John chapter 4? Come, see a man. which told me all things that ever I did, is not the Christ. If you don't believe me, come and see yourself. O sinner, you have heard individuals speak to you about Jesus Christ. They've told you what it is, what it's like to be a Christian. They have spoken to you about the joy of sins forgiven. They've related to you what it is to be a child of God. To be one who's in fellowship with God and can walk with God and talk with God. What it is to know the peace of God ruling the heart and the mind. And I've related that to you. And as yet you're full of skepticism. Oh, tonight I would say to you, come and see. Come and see for yourself. Come and believe on Christ yourself. Come and trust in Christ yourself. you'll find that the half hasn't yet been told you. You'll find that the preacher fell far short of what it truly is to be born again and what it is to be a Christian. Well, so we find this individual, he speaks about the Savior in the past, but he speaks about one who is up to date. And so from this account in John chapter number one, we think about the message that he came to hear. But not only do we think about the message that he came to hear, we also read about the master he came to meet. The master he came to meet. Now I've already mentioned this, but it's worth the repeating. It's very obvious from our reading of scripture that Nathanael was a deeply prejudiced man. To believe that any good thing could ever come out of Nazareth, that northern town, that sort of ghetto of Galilee. Well, that was a stretch. That was a stretch for Nathanael. To think that any good thing could ever come out of such a place. That ingrained prejudice could have very easily saw to Nathanael's rejection of Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Many would reject the Savior because of their prejudices when he lived in this world. It was their prejudices against him as a Galilean, their prejudices against him as an uneducated person outside the religious establishment. It was their prejudices against the message that he brought that really literally shut them off from the gospel. And so we find in the gospel incidences of Nathanael's fellow countrymen refusing to hear the Savior and to believe on the Savior because they were so prejudiced against him. And maybe you suffer from such a prejudicial mind. And because you do, you've already made up your mind concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that he offers you in the gospel. Oh, it's all pie in the sky. It's all fairy tales. This sin that I'm supposed to commit and this angry God who's angry with my sin, it's all pie in the sky. It's all fairy tales. That's your mind. That's how you think. You've got a prejudiced mind. The sad reality is that because of your prejudice, It has caused you to become deaf and blind to the truth of God. And as a result of that, as a result of this blindness, as a result of that, you have missed the whole message of the gospel. May God deal with your prejudices. May God deal with your skepticism to the extent that you come to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Child of God, I read this A little quote from James Smith regarding why so many are prejudiced against the gospel. It's worth listening to. Challenged my heart. He said this, he said, such people are found in such a prejudicial state, the ungodly, because they judge religion by us and not by the Bible. They look at us as its standard and not Jesus Christ. He went on to say, some by their gloom. others by their giddiness, some by their love of luxury, and others by indulgence in dress, some by being found at carnal amusements, others by profaning the Lord's day for pleasure or self-indulgence, some by one means, and some by another, produce a prejudice against religion, Christianity, and cause worldlings to say, if that is religion, I am better without it. Maybe that's why you're not a Christian. God's people. God's people. and your cynicism and your prejudices are deeply ingrained because you have witnessed hypocritical living by those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. May we never be a stumbling block. May we never be the cause of people's prejudices against the gospel. By our living, may we do nothing that would hinder others believing the gospel. You know, I'm glad of something with regard to this man, Nathanael. Though he was a man who had cynicism, though he was a man who had prejudices, Nathanael did not allow his initial misgivings and prejudices about the Savior to stop him at least taking up the offer from his dear friend to come and see for himself the one that Philip was now a devoted follower of. In other words, Nathanael was a man who was willing to give the Savior a chance. He was a man who was willing to give the gospel a fair hearing. Are you such a person? Are you here tonight willing to give Christ a chance? Are you willing tonight to give the gospel at least a fair hearing? I trust you are. There's some details regarding Nathanael's encounter with Christ that are worth noting. Notice in the verse number 47 that we're told that Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him. Later on we learn that the Savior saw Nathanael before he ever made a move towards him. Verse 48, the Savior said to Nathanael before that Philip called thee, before even that, before even Philip went to speak to you about me, when thou was under the fig tree, I saw thee. I saw thee. It's amazing to think that God has his eyes on us before we ever have our eyes on him. Proverbs 5, 21, for the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He pondereth all his going. God looks for those who seek after him. You may say, well, preacher, where do you get that? That God looks for individuals that are seeking him. I get it in the Bible. I get it in Scripture. I was reading it just before as the people were praying. Maybe I shouldn't have been doing that, but a verse came to my mind. It's found in Job 33. I'll read it to you. You listen to what it says. Speaking of God here, Job 33 verse 22. Speaking of God, He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned and perverted that which is right, and it profiteth me not. He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light." God looking for sinners. God listening for sinners. I tell you, sinner, he's listening for your cry. Is there someone here tonight who will say, I have sinned? I have perverted that which is not right, that it has profited me not? I intend to preach on this some night. God says that he will deliver your soul from the pit. He's listening, and he's watching, and he's looking for you, sinner. Just like the prodigal's father looked for his son, God is looking for you. Does he see you? Does he see you? God knew everything about this man, Nathanael, even to the point that he knew the exact type of tree that he'd been sitting beneath when Philip first spoke to him about the Lord Jesus Christ. He says a fig tree. Now, isn't that an interesting thought, a fig tree? We find another man in a fig tree. His name's Adam. And he's there with his wife. And they're sowing fig leaves together. Interesting point. man in his fallen state finds himself at the fig tree. And so we have here this man under the fig tree, and God knew the exact species of tree. He didn't say, I saw you under a tree. He said, I saw you under the fig tree, a fig tree. No, it is a reminder to you, if you're an unsaved individual, and also every Christian, that God knows everything about us. Can I say, if you're unsaved, He knows your name. He knows your spiritual state. He certainly knows your sin. He knows your past. He knows your Christ rejection. He knows your hostility to the gospel. He knows your concern about your soul. Why else would you be here? You could be a hundred other places tonight, but you're here. Are you concerned about your soul? He knows about that. He knows your heartache. He knows the heartache and the misery that sin has brought to your life. He knows your despair. He knows everything about you. The extensive insight of the Son of God that he had into Nathanael's life is seen in what the Savior says about him in verse 47. Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile. By his omniscience, Christ searched the heart of Nathanael. He reviewed his life and this is the assessment that the Savior makes. He says, here's a man in whom there is no guile. Now that does not mean that he believed that he was a sinless man. It simply means that Christ believed there's at least, there's an honest, there's a sincere man. There's a man, what he says is what he is. I wonder if the Savior was to do such a review on your life, a comprehensive review of your life tonight. I wonder what that review would say about you. As He reviews your character, as He reviews your spiritual state, would He say, there's an individual and they are in Christ? Or would He say, there's a person in Portland, Owen, Free Presbyterian Church, and they're without Christ? Would he say of you tonight that you are yet in your sin? Or would he say that you are found in a justified state? You may not agree with me, but it seems to me at least that the Savior was all the time waiting and watching for Nathaniel. He was looking for Nathaniel and his coming. Did you know that the Savior is looking for you He's looking to see if you're willing to leave your sin behind and to trust in Him and to rest your soul upon His finished work. You see, really at the end of the day, it was an encounter with the living Christ that Nathanael needed. And that is what every sinner needs if they ever are to know the transforming power of God in the gospel. It appears At least in my reading of this passage, that sometime between his hearing of Christ and his meeting with Christ, Nathanael came to believe on Christ. And that brings us to consider one final thought. The miracle he came to experience, the message he came to hear, the man he came to meet, the miracle he came to experience. Having heard of Christ, Nathanael came to Christ. And he looked on Christ. and he believed in Christ. We know that to be the case because he comes to make now confession of Christ. There in the verse number 49, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God. And then notice how he says it again, thou art, in this I am convinced, thou art the King of Israel. In a moment of time, having personally encountered Jesus Christ, Nathanael's skepticism had vanished. That would now lead him to make this incredible, personal, rich confession of Jesus Christ. He comes to employ three titles with regard to the Savior. Firstly, he refers to him as rabbi. We're given the interpretation of that previously in the verse number 38 of this chapter, which is to say being interpreted, master, but it literally can be translated this way, my master, my master. And then he uses the title, son of God. son of God. I thought about Peter's confession. In Matthew 16, verse 16, in Simon Peter, an answer says, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter says something similar. Thou art the Son of the living God. Nathanael says, Thou art the Son of God, but it's something similar. Notice what Jesus Christ said to Simon Peter in verse 17. Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. In other words, Peter, a preacher didn't convince you about this. No man convinced you about this. That I am the Son of the living God. How did this come about? The Father revealed it to you. In other words, God did it. God did it. And then, Nathanael crowns his confession with faith with the title, the King of Israel. Having attributed such titles to the Lord Jesus Christ, such could have only been done by one who had come to believe on Jesus Christ. Nathanael had come to experience the new birth. You know, in the new birth, God lays hold of one who is spiritually dead and quickens them to newness of life. In the new birth, God takes one who is shaped in iniquity and conceived in sin and conforms them to the image of God's dear Son. In the new birth, God lays hold of a captive of the devil and makes them a member of his holy family. And in the new birth, God takes a destitute beggar and he makes them a joint heir with Jesus Christ. In the gospel, he takes one. And in the new birth, one who is full of enmity against him and gives him a new heart that is full of love to him. In the new birth, God stoops to one who by nature is a rebel, and he works in them both to will and to do of his good pleasure. What a miracle the new birth is. I asked you, have you experienced that miracle? Have you been born again? Can you say of Jesus Christ, Thou art my Master, Thou art my King, Thou art the Son of the living God? Are you able to confess Jesus Christ as Lord? For if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, And shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Nathanael was a man changed radically. Radically. Now many believe that Nathanael was Bartholomew. And if that is the case, you find the last mention of this man in the upper room praying. with the other 11 disciples after Christ had ascended back to heaven. You see, Nathanael had come to meet Jesus Christ in John chapter 1, but that was not the end of his affiliation with Jesus Christ. For the rest of his days, Nathanael followed Christ. It's all well and good to make a decision in a gospel meeting like this. When you make that decision, you remember that it's for the rest of your life that you're going to affiliate with Jesus Christ, that you're going to walk with Him, that you're going to be devoted to Him, you're going to love Him and serve Him for the rest of your life, just like Nathanael did. Nathanael was invited to come to Christ by his friend Philip. That invitation, he took up. And then meeting with Christ, Nathanael believed on Christ. And from that day on, as I've said, he then followed after Jesus Christ. I feel myself very much like Philip. Tonight, I invite you to come to Christ. Come to Christ by faith. Come and see. Come and meet the Savior. That's the invitation. But will you take up the invitation? Will you believe on Christ as Nathanael did, and thereafter follow in Christ's footsteps? It is my prayer and the prayer of many that you will, and that you'll be like Nathanael. He wasn't a big person, Aldi. There wasn't lights shining the night or the day he met the Savior. He just simply met Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ transformed his life and made him a new creature in Jesus Christ. Nathanael's salvation story is a special story because it was a miracle of grace. For that's what every salvation story is. It's a miracle of grace. Children saved. It's a miracle of grace. Teenagers saved. It's a miracle of grace. Alcoholics and drug addicts saved. It's a miracle of grace. It's all grace. God's grace. May the grace of God appear to you tonight. May God in his grace draw you to himself and bring you to faith in the Savior. Let's bow our heads for a closing word of prayer. And as we do so, let me make myself available to you if you want to converse about these matters. Maybe God has spoken to you. God has been dealing with your heart. Nobody knows about that, but God has been working. God sees you. God knows where you are, just as he knew. where Nathanael was. You know what he says to you tonight? He says to you tonight, before the reverend Sturt called thee, when thou wast sitting in the pew in Portlanone, free Presbyterian church, I saw thee. He sees you. Will you see him? Will you look to him by the eye of faith and believe on him? Let's seek now the Lord in a word of prayer together. Our loving Father, we close out this meeting in prayer. Very conscious and very aware, Lord, that we need Thee to work. Oh, we can invite men and women to come and see, to come to the Savior, but Lord, it is Thee who brings them. Oh, Lord, draw them, draw them to Thyself. Oh, deal with their skepticism, deal with their prejudices, deal, oh God, with their atheism, whatever it would be. And Lord, we pray that they'll give the gospel at least a fair hearing, and that they give, oh God, the Savior, the opportunity to deal with them, and the Spirit of God too. Oh, do thine own work, we pray, in saving the lost and working miracles among us, for thou art well able to do what we cannot do. Close us now in with Thee as we make our journey home. May we arrive, O God, at our homes in safety. May Thy presence go with Thy people, and may we abide under the shadow of the Almighty. We pray now these, our prayers, and through the Savior's great and precious name.