Are You Open To This?

​John 1:45-46 - Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." And Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 

• The Truth 

How easy is it for you to change your mind once you have discovered you're wrong?
 
This is what is going to happen to Nathanael. He is told by Phillip that he and some of the other guys have found the Messiah. The One Moses and the Prophets wrote about in their writings.
 
He is invited to come and meet the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael makes this snide remark, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
 
Whoa! What an insult? You see profiling is something that has been done for thousands of years. Nathanael judges Jesus simply because He was from the town of Nazareth.
 
I had a professor who had a favorite saying and it was "Don't confuse me with the facts my mind is already made up." I have met a lot of people like that in the world and the church.
 
Are you open to the truth? No really are you open to the truth?
 
I have been a Christian for 50 years now and I can tell you about some of my conversations with non-believers and they have a lot in common with Nathanael.
 
I remember one conversation I had with a person who knew me before I was a Christian. He couldn't believe I was falling for this Christianity garbage.
 
So I asked him, "Why don't you believe in Christianity? His answer was the Bible is filled with contradictions.
 
So I asked him, "Have you ever read the Bible"? He said, "No."
 
So I asked him, "Well, if you have never read the Bible, how do you know it is full of contradictions?"
 
Nathanael was not going to believe that Jesus was the Messiah simply because Phillip said, we have found the One Moses and the Prophets wrote about. 

• The Truth You Need To Know 

You need to know who Jesus is.  This is a vitally important question that we really must be able to answer.  This is why it is important for us to continue to read the New Testament because in there you will discover for yourself who Jesus really is.
 
Phillip saw Jesus as the Messiah. The One Moses and the Prophets wrote about in their writings. Moses writes in Deut 18:15- "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.
 
This prophet that was going to be raised up according Moses was going to be Jesus. Peter quotes this passage of scripture in Acts 3:22 and states Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy.
 
Isaiah 61:1-2 is a prophecy that Jesus Himself says He is the fulfillment of it in Luke 4:18-21.
 
I pray that you believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, and the One who sacrificed Himself on the cross of Calvary so that we could have the forgiveness of our sins.

There are a lot of other things we can believe about Jesus but the ones above are essential for us to believe.
 
Jesus is the Christ.  He is the LORD and Savior of the world. 

• Who Was Jesus To Nathanael? 

We know this much before they met he didn't believe Him to be the Messiah. Nathan was a skeptic for sure. "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?", he asks.
 
I love Phillip's response "Come and See". He doesn't engage in an argument with him. He just very calmly says, "Come and See."
 
There is a great lesson in Evangelism. We don't have to be argumentative. We don't have to force our beliefs about Jesus on any one. Some times a simple "come and see" might be our best answer.
 
Once Nate meets Jesus we have a change of his heart or mind.

John 1:48-50 -  Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."  49 Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel." 50 Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these." 
 
In order to become a disciple of Jesus you have to be open to the truth about Jesus as Nathanael did.
 
The great take away from this Pump Up to me is an "honest skeptic" can be changed. They can become believers in Jesus Christ.
 
All we have to do is be willing to tell people to come and see.
 
Think About These:
 
Truth angers those it doesn't fully convince.
 
To hear truth and not accept it doesn't nullify it.
 
The most important person to be honest with is yourself.

Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word