“Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou?” (John 1:50) I do not mean to seem rude here, but Nathanael might not have got out much. Granted, from the time that Philip found him to the time that he brought him to meet Jesus there probably was at least some form of conversation, he must have at least told him some of the other things that had been going on, for if not then Nathanael had to have been one of the easiest persons on the planet at the time to deceive. I said that I saw you sitting under a tree, so I must be God, probably a little left out here in the Scriptures, wouldn’t you think?
This leads to some very interesting discussion here though, if you will allow me your time, for there are many who are professing Christ today that actually have this type of faith that is inferred only when this verse is taken at face value concerning Nathanael, and it is not the knowledge of the saving grace that we are told of in the Scriptures that we are to have. Jesus healed the sick, He walked on the top of the water, He brought people back from the dead, and so people thought that He was God. Put that in todays terms, how much of this would even make the evening news, how many television stations would change their programming schedules to just follow Him around all day to see what He might do next? A few perhaps, but not all, after all what’s the big deal, so this guy can walk on water, probably saw some magician do it last week on a different channel. But there are lot of individuals that are basing their faith on these incidences.
It is in a sense why there are people who set others above themselves as being closer to God, more in tune, if you will, with His will and therefore thought to be more obedient to Him, and again it is based on the works that they perform, not only their attitudes, which are many times way too pious , well beyond “holy.” Many religious organizations are based in this “Pyramid Theology,” those that are more devoted to God are at the top, while the “less blessed” are relegated to a lower class, until of course they show a propensity to expound on religious theology in a way that shows that our Lord has begun to bless them more, so they should be moved up the ladder in the church. The problem is very few times are these successive moves up that ladder because of faith, but only because of works. They are seen as doing things that Christ would do, maybe not walking on water yet, but pretty close.
This isn’t just occurring in certain religious organizations, but in what is considered the mainstream church, just in a little different fashion. The right words at the right time and one is seen as “righteous,” memorize a few Scripture verses, do a couple of good deeds a week, and surprise, you’ve got yourself a Christian. These individuals are reverenced not because of their faith and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, but because of an outward show, a works based system of beliefs that attempts to inform the world and all those around them that they are in fact in fellowship with God, but their hearts are far from Him. “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” (Matt. 15:8)
“Did you see what Moses did, he parted the red sea, we had better follow him,” “Did you hear what happened to Korah?” There are literally thousands of incidences in the Word of God where our Lord used people to bring glory to Himself, but there are also numerous places where individuals tried to get this glory for themselves in the Name of the Lord. How much do you suppose Balaam charged, (Num. 22) how much do you think Simon was willing to pay the apostles to get the power of the Holy Spirit, anything at any price to seem to be closer to God, to have some of that power and to make sure that others see it in me. These will all hear the same thing, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt. 7:23)
Because you heard that He walked on water you believe Him to be the Son of God, not going to be enough for you my friends, sorry. You can cast out demons in His Name all day long and still end up in the lake of eternal fire, (Matt. 7:22) you can believe all day long that He raised people from the dead, go to church every Sunday, give all your money to the poor, and you will not enter into His kingdom. It’s pretty hard not to believe something has happened when you just saw it happen, there were many who saw Jesus raise people from the dead, folks were being healed by Him every day, but don’t fool yourself into believing that only the leaders of the religious sect of the day were the only ones who continued to disbelieve, not every one that saw these miracles came to know Christ as savior.
And therein is the point of this letter to you, do you need to believe in the miracles of Christ to be saved, or do you need faith in the fact that He is. There are not just a few religious organizations that show up with the occasional miracle even these days, and if you pay any attention to when these occur, you will find that many of them relate directly to church attendance at these places, when attendance is down, well, it’s time for a miracle, it’s time to let the congregation know that He is still out there. You don’t think God is doing all of these do you, it has been and always will be one of the greatest tricks of Satan, anything to keep these people in the false religious doctrines that these organizations profess.
Think of it my friends, who is the tribulation for, the lost or those who will be saved during it? Those who have not believed in faith, those who will be left behind, the ones who are only either pretending or being deceived will be sent a strong delusion, no second chances, (2nd Thess. 2:11) and for the others? This is one of the reasons that the Lord God is going to begin the tribulation period, some people will only come to faith in Him when the times are tough, when there is no other place to turn but to Him, when the miracle has no other viable answer, but the miracle won’t save them, or the belief in it, only in the One who caused it can salvation come.
Do you need to believe in the miracles of Christ to be saved, of course not, we are saved by grace through faith, (Eph. 2:8) so what then? “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:6) That’s it, that is how simple it is to please God, we must simply believe that He is. No works, no good deeds done on our own, not an every Sunday church attendance record, not even baptism, cast out all the demons you want, and you will still not see the kingdom of God without faith. Here is where our Lord makes life interesting, here is where He says, “I made a woman for you, she is the exact opposite of you, live with her.” How are we to exhibit our faith, just the opposite of what our minds tell us, by works of course, makes sense to Him, doesn’t have to to us.
Faith when it seems as if all hope is gone, we are to love when we want to lash out, faith and love. “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” (James 2:18) “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35) The action of our faith is love and works done thru us by the Holy Spirit, nothing, not one thing that we do on our own will bring us into His presence.
There were a whole lot of people that saw His miracles, and a lot of them believed what they saw, but only because they saw, it took more than seeing the miracles that He performed to become a follower of Christ though, to become an obedient servant. How many who saw these wonders were there at the day of Pentecost and did not receive the Holy Spirit? “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) Prepare your hearts to serve in faith, no matter what your eyes see, or your ears hear, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) God does the impossible, just look in the mirror and you will see this fact. If you look only with the eyes of a trusting faith in Him, you will see a child of God.
