The Apostle Bartholomew

We want to look at one of the men that very little, quite honestly, is revealed about in the Bible. And that is Bartholomew. I want you to open your Bible to John chapter 1. There are a couple of references to Bartholomew elsewhere in the New Testament. He is listed in all of the lists of the apostles in the Gospels and in Acts chapter 1. There's a reference to him in John chapter 21 where we find out just a couple of things about him, one that he was from Cana of Galilee. And secondly that he was probably a fisherman. He was one of the seven who joined Peter when Peter said after the resurrection, ah, shucks guys, I'm just going to go back to fishing. And Bartholomew was one of the guys who went along with him. So he probably was a fisherman. He was from Galilee. But really everything we know about him other than that is found in these seven verses in John chapter 1 where we are first introduced to him and then we hear little else about him. But this introduction to him is quite fascinating. If you look at verse 43 through 45, we find him introduced for the first time. The Bible says the next day Jesus decided John chapter 1 verse 43, the next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. This is after he has been introduced by John the Baptist to the disciples who would follow him. We saw last time Andrew and Peter. But then Jesus decided to leave for Galilee, middle of verse 43. Finding Philip, he said to him, follow me. Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Betheseda. The Philip found Nathaniel and told him we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law and about whom the prophets also wrote. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Now Bartholomew is referred to here as Nathaniel. He actually had two names. Bartholomew means son of Tomi, bar that he grew word for son, Tholomew, an extended form of the name Tomi, son of Tomi. That doesn't mean a lot to us. Doesn't tell us a lot about him. But almost everyone sees this as the same man who has mentioned in other parts of the Bible in other parts of the Gospels as Bartholomew or as Nathaniel. And Nathaniel is a Hebrew name which means gift from God. And what we will see of him is truly a gift from God. Here is a man who teaches us some wonderful lessons in these very few short verses that we are introduced to him. I want us to look at several things about him this evening. Philip introduced him to the Lord evidently like Philip. He was an earnest sincere Jew who was looking for the Messiah, waiting for the Messiah to come, praying that if the Messiah should come in his lifetime, he would recognize him. And all of a sudden Philip comes up to him one day and says, we found the Messiah. And I want to introduce you to him. Philip is excited about his newfound knowledge of Jesus and he wants his friend Nathaniel to meet Jesus too. And the verses that follow verses 45 to 51, we find some interesting things about Nathaniel or Bartholomew. First of all in verses 45 and 46, actually verse 46, we find his objection. After Philip has invited him to meet Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, Philip says, look at what Bartholomew's response is in verse 46. Nazareth, can anything good come from there? Nathaniel asked, come and see, said Philip. Immediately he has an objection to the Messiah coming from Nazareth. Now there was in Nathaniel's mind at least good reason for that objection. First of all this objection springs partly from prejudice. You see Nazareth was a poor remote village in Galilee. It was a rough town. It was a military outpost for the Roman army. They had a small contingent of soldiers headquartered in Nazareth. And it was a rough military town. There wasn't much good about Nazareth. I mean you remember when Jesus grew up and went back home to Nazareth and went to the synagogue and spoke in the synagogue. He began to read from Isaiah 61 and then he said, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your hearing. It was a scripture prophesying the Messiah. So he was claiming to be the Messiah. Well the town people of Nazareth who had watched him grow up. Remember what they did? They decided to take him out and throw him over the cliff. I mean it wasn't like they just said, you know we really don't believe that. We think you're a little off your rocker. We think you need to maybe go think about this a little bit more. No they were so enraged. They said let's go kill the guy. Let's throw him over the cliff outside of town. And that was the occasion where Jesus walked through the midst of them and miraculously escaped from their anger. So Nazareth was not a real kind place. Nazareth was a rough outlying military town. The Roman occupation forces in that town. It was a rough place. And so Nathaniel has a view of Nazareth which leads him to believe nothing good can come out of that place. You mean the Messiah comes out of Nazareth? That two bit town that's really controlled by the Romans. Nothing good can come out of there especially the Messiah. Now you see what's happening is what we call prejudice. But prejudice is simply a preconceived idea before you know the facts. You know we can be prejudiced about a lot of things. But prejudice is simply having an idea or a notion in your mind, preconceived idea before you have heard or know the facts. It can be about people. You can form opinions about people before you ever get to know them. So prejudice is forming opinions about people based on the tone or color of their skin. Before you ever really get to know who they are, what they're hard as like, what kind of people they really are. That's prejudice forming any kind of notion or preconceived idea before you know the facts. We can be prejudiced about certain issues. Thinking that certain things, maybe our own personal preferences, are the way everybody should feel about things or personal convictions that we've formed even about spiritual things. If we never challenge those from the scriptures all we really have is not personal conviction, it's personal prejudice because we've never really looked into the biblical facts. There have been lots of times when I've had to be challenged about, now wait a second, John, why do you feel that way about something? Is that really biblical? Or is that just something you've come up with in your own mind, a preconceived idea? We all have prejudices that need to be challenged with the facts, whether they be biblical facts or just the facts of the situation. And you know, prejudice can actually keep people from being saved. It almost kept Nathaniel from meeting the Messiah because of his preconceived idea that nothing good can come out of Nazareth. I know that town. Nothing good can come out of there. He did not know what he was talking about. He did not have all the facts, but that was his preconceived idea. Religious prejudice is what kept the Pharisees from responding to Jesus Christ. At least it was one of the things. They're pride and self-righteousness being others, but religious prejudice was one of the reasons. We won't turn there, but in John chapter 7, Jesus has been talking to the religious leaders on one of the feast days in Israel. And so the religious leaders get together to discuss him and Nicodemus, who has already been impressed with Jesus and had a late night encounter with him, tells the Pharisees, we shouldn't judge this man before we've heard him out. And I want you to look at what they say to him, the verse is going to be on the screen, I believe, yeah, John 7.52, they replied, are you from Galilee too? Talking to Nicodemus. Look into it and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee. Now they had a religious preference or preconceived idea, prejudice about the region of Galilee. Their idea was, prophets don't come out of Galilee, he says he's a prophet, he can't be a prophet. For one thing, they didn't have the facts straight. Jonah was from Galilee. There was at least one Old Testament prophet that did come from Galilee, but they had a preconceived idea that kept them from even considering that Jesus might be a prophet. People have preconceived ideas today about the Bible, about Jesus Christ. They think that certainly the Bible cannot coexist with science, that scientific fact would rule out what the Bible says. That's a preconceived idea. It's a prejudice based on incorrect facts or an unwillingness to confront the truth of Scripture. Many people have the same ideas about Jesus Christ. You see, religious prejudice, preconceived ideas before we know the facts can sometimes even keep people from being saved. But Philip, I love Philip's answer. When Nathaniel says nothing good can come out of Nazareth, Philip simply says in verse 46, come and see. In other words, check it out for yourself. I'm not going to try to persuade you, give you four or five arguments, why something good can come out of Nazareth, just come and see. Check out the evidence for yourself. That's what it takes to overcome any preconceived idea before we have the facts. This is overthrown by looking honestly at the truth. And that's what Philip said for Nathaniel to do. So his objection to Christ came partly out of prejudice. Secondly, it came partly out of ignorance. His statement that can anything good come out of Nazareth, thinking particularly of the Messiah, was partly out of ignorance. Now, I'm using the term ignorance in the best sense of the word, simply a lack of knowledge. Sometimes ignorance is used in a pejorative way to put someone down. I'm not thinking of it in those terms. I'm simply using the word ignorance of someone who does not know all the facts or does not understand the truth. You see, Nathaniel was familiar with his Old Testament. He knew that the Old Testament identified where the Messiah would come from, and it wasn't Nazareth. It was not Nazareth. The Old Testament identified exactly where Messiah would come from. Look at this verse in Micah, chapter 5, verse 2. But you, Bethlehem Ephra'a, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me, one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old from ancient times. The Messiah, specifically prophesied by Micah, would come from Bethlehem. And when Bartholomew and Nathaniel hears, Philip say, we found the Messiah. It's Jesus from Nazareth. Nathaniel's Old Testament knowledge kicks in. He says, no, wait a second. I know the Bible. The Old Testament says the Messiah is supposed to be from Bethlehem. So no, he can't be the Messiah. He's from Nazareth. And the Messiah come out of Nazareth. But you see, he simply didn't have all the facts yet. What he didn't know is that Jesus really was from Bethlehem. He was born in Bethlehem and spent the first two years of his life in Bethlehem before he fled to Egypt. Of course, his parents took him to Egypt. And then once they were warned of an angel to return back to the land of Israel, that is when they settled back in Nazareth. And Jesus spent the rest of his boyhood years, teenage years, and early adult years in Nazareth. But he was from Bethlehem. Nathaniel just didn't know that. You see, once he got the knowledge, the facts of the situation, he would overcome his ignorance. Now the impressive thing about Nathaniel to me is this. He did not let either his prejudice or his ignorance keep him from listening to the truth. You see, what our problem is sometimes is that we have a preconceived idea about what can or cannot be right, what can or cannot be true, what can or cannot be biblical. And sometimes that's born out of either prejudice or simply ignorance. We don't have the right scriptural knowledge. And oftentimes we just shut off our mind to any presentation or acceptance of the truth of Scripture because we've already got our mind made up. What impresses me about this man is when Philip said, come and see. Even though in his mind he had strong objections to the fact that this could even possibly be the Messiah, what did he do? He went and saw. He found out for himself. He was willing to examine the facts, the truth for itself. And that's what we all need to do with preconceived ideas we have, whether they be personal preferences or convictions about spiritual things or prejudices we have about certain people. Some of those things are because we don't know all the facts. Some of them are because we are ignorant of the truth. And if we are willing to say, I will listen to the truth and I will let my personal prejudices, my objections born out of ignorance be persuaded by the truth then we will be people like Nathaniel. That's what impresses me about him. We can learn that great lesson that we should not let ignorance or prejudice keep us from the truth of the Word of God or truth from the facts about situations or about people. His objection is overruled. But I want you to see what happens next. What happens next gives us an insight into his character. In verse 47 and 48, Jesus talks about his character. When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching, he said of him, here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false. How do you know me? Nathaniel asked. Jesus answered, I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you. Now Jesus really talks about his character here and says three things about his character. First of all, he identifies Nathaniel as a godly man. You see what he says there in verse 47, here is a true Israelite. Now this is not just an Israelite racially or nationally. This is not just a physical descendant of Abraham. He's not just an Israelite. He is a true Israelite. He's a real Israelite. Now whenever you find that kind of expression in the Bible, it's talking about one who is not just nationally a Jew, but one who is truly a son of Abraham in his nature. He is a person of faith. He is one whose heart is open to the things of God. I think also Jesus probably had in mind the fact that he was an Israelite like the father of the nation of Israel, Jacob, whose name was changed from Jacob, deceiver, to Israel prints with God. You see the very name Israel means one who is favored by God, one who is a prince with God. And I think what Jesus is saying about this man is here as a man, as I look into his heart, who is not just racially or nationally a Jew. That was what the Pharisees were. They claimed to be sons of Abraham. But Jesus challenged them in John chapter 8 when they said, we are children of Abraham. Jesus said, if you were children of Abraham, you would do what Abraham did. He believed in me. He saw me before my day. But Jesus went on to say no because of your works. I'll tell you who your father is. You are of your father, the devil. John 844. But when he looked into Nathaniel's heart, he said, here is a man who is a genuine person of faith, who is like Abraham in the sense he's a son of Abraham, a true Israelite in the sense that he's a man of faith, a man who has expressed his faith in the Lord, not just outwardly identified, but inwardly, a godly man, one who knows and follows the Lord. That's the kind of person I'm looking at, Jesus said, a true Israelite, a godly man. But then he goes on to say, he's also an honest man. You see it there in verse 47, here's a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false. It's an interesting word. Jean James says in whom there is no guile. The word was literally used for fish bait. It's subtlety, trickery. It's someone who is deceitful, who is a fraud, who presents things as they really aren't, who tries to live a lie. Now, that's the opposite of what Jesus saw in Nathaniel. Is deceit, trickery, fraud, fish bait. Jesus said, here's a man that doesn't have any of that in his character. He is transparently honest. He is an honest man, sincere. His life is an open book before God and before others. He's not trying to pull the wool of anyone's eyes. He's not trying to present something that he's not. From the heart, he lives genuinely, transparently, honestly. Here's a person of integrity. What you see is who he really is. He lives who he really is before others. He's honest, transparent. No guile, no attempt to try to scheme and trick people and deceive people and make people think he's something that he's not. You know, that kind of honesty and integrity and transparency is so needed in our world today, especially among believers, where there is, as we see, with so many high-profile people sometimes, a great degree of hypocrisy and showmanship and putting on something that we really aren't. What God wants us to be is just real people, but people of integrity, people who are honest, honest as the day is long as the old expression goes. People who really from the inside out before God and before others are not trying to put on a show, just honest people. That's the kind of person, Nathaniel, Bartholomew, was. He was a godly man. He was an honest man, but he was also a prayerful man. See what Jesus said about him in verse 48? I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you. Say, what, John in the world, does that have to do with prayer, being under a fig tree? Well, I have to understand, in that culture, a fig tree was not just a literal fig tree. It was, but it was considered a place that symbolized two things in their culture. Number one, it symbolized peace and security. To sit in the shade of your fig tree, out in your yard, kind of symbolized that you were at peace, the nation was at rest, but it was also considered the place of prayer and communion with God. When you wanted to get alone with God, you got out of the house. Houses were not real big in that day. They were fairly small. So you got out of the house and away from everybody, you went set under your fig tree. You got outside and shade and spent some time in communion with God. Let me show you a couple of Old Testament verses that seem to indicate both of those ideas. The first one in First Kings, chapter 4 and verse 25, it says, during Solomon's lifetime, Judah and Israel, from Dan to Bersheba, Dan, way up in the north, the Bersheba, way down in the south, a whole country, lived in safely. Now notice how that's described. Each man under his own vine and fig tree. Now that's just a symbolic way of saying that the land enjoyed peace and safety under Solomon's reign. The extent of the kingdom was far beyond what it had ever been. It was a time of peace and safety and everybody just kind of chilled out under their own fig tree. See, it was a place of security and rest, but it was also a place of spiritual communion in Zachariah, chapter 3 and verse 10. The Bible is talking about a future day in the kingdom of Christ and it says, in that day, each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree, declares the Lord Almighty. A future to read the whole context is talking about the high priest and the religious state of Israel and being right with God. And one of the symbols of that was that people will be in peace and security in the nation, but also spend time under their fig tree, communing with God. Now I think there may be a little bit of that in this picture here in John 1 of Nathaniel. Jesus says, I know what kind of person you are. I know your heart. I know you're a person of honesty and integrity. I know you're a person of faith. And when Nathaniel says, well, how did you know that? Jesus' answer is, saw you under your fig tree. Now what that means to me and the context evidently is, I know what kind of person you are because I know where you spend time with God. See, I've watched you commune with God in your place of safety and fellowship and communion with God. I've seen you do that. I know you're a prayerful man. Now if you trace through the New Testament, you'll find that Jesus spoke very highly of a select few people, people like Noah and Abraham and David and Bartholomew. He's in high company. Here is a man who has the kind of character that we should all desire to have. It's the kind of character that I believe Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, in verse 9, when he says, so we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. What's our goal in life? To be pleasing to God. I think Bartholomew, Nathaniel, was the man, was a kind of man who was pleasing to Christ. As Christ met him for the first time. He said, I know you. I know you. You're a godly man. You are an honest man. You are a prayerful man. You immediately chose him to be one of his disciples, one of his apostles, a man who knew the Lord in the sense that being a follower probably of John the Baptist, he was a seeker after God and was repentant in his heart. And now he turns his life over to Jesus Christ, to be a follower of his. That's his character. The kind of character that all of us should seek and long to have. So we've seen his objection, his character, but notice, I want you to see something else in verse 48. That is his amazement. Because Nathaniel is amazed at something we ought to be amazed at. When he asks the question there in verse 48, how do you know me? Nathaniel asked. I mean, remember now he has never met Jesus and Jesus has never physically, face to face, interacted with him and met him. And as he has seen Nathaniel approaching, he says, here's a true Israelite. Here's an honest man. And Nathaniel's taken back by that and he says, how do you know me? Now that's a good question for all of us to ponder to think about. Because that question really surfaces an astounding truth. And that astounding truth is that God does know us before we've ever met him like Nathaniel. God knows us. He knows us inside and out. We seldom pause to think about that. We seldom stop to really think that through. That God knows everything about us. He knows everything that happens in our hearts. He knows our character. Characters what you really are on the inside. Character is what you are when nobody's looking. God knows that. God knows what you really are. He knows what I really am on the inside. Everything in our past, our present and yes, even our future. He knows about us. This is before these two have ever physically met. Jesus says, I know everything about you. I know who you are. And he knows who you are too. He sees your secret moments. He knows all of your thoughts. He knows your character. The Bible says that very plainly. In a lot of different places and a lot of different ways. It's sobering truths, astounding truths that we need to reflect on. Look at this verse in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 13. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. That would be a good verse to memorize and remind ourselves from time to time of, wouldn't it? Everything is laid bare. Nothing is hidden from the Lord. Look at this verse in Psalm 33 verses 13 to 15. From heaven, the Lord looks down and sees all mankind. From his dwelling place, he watches all who live on earth. He who forms the hearts of all who considers everything they do. Just see all the alls and everything's there. Sees all mankind, watches all who live on the earth, forms the hearts of all and considers everything they do. Everything escapes God's knowledge of you and me. And there's a verse in Proverbs that says the same thing. Proverbs 15 verse 11. Death and destruction lie open before the Lord. How much more the hearts of men? It's an astounding truth. A truth that kind of took Nathaniel back. That this man would know about him before he had ever met him. It's a truth that ought to bring us up short a little bit too. And it's a truth that takes us back too. That God knows everything about us, everything about our hearts, everything we do, everything we think, every attitude we have, God knows, God knows. So it's an astounding truth, but it's also a purifying truth. Because if God knows everything about us, if he knows all of our thoughts, all of our desires, if all of our acts are open to him, if he knows us through and through to the bottom of our hearts, we cannot hide anything from him. If he knows everything about us, if he is on earth, if he knows everything about us, if his eyes look into the innermost recesses of our lives and our hearts, then when sin approaches us, when temptation beckons to us, we need to remember that. We need to remember God sees that all. Again, let the Scriptures remind us of this truth. It's amazing truth, this purifying truth. Psalm 139 tells us this. Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. Now you talk about little things during the day, when you sit down, when you get up, God knows all about that. You perceive my thoughts from afar. It's not that God is far off from our thoughts. Because our thoughts are still forming when our thoughts are far off. God still knows them. Then He says you discern my going out and my lying down. All of the things of our day, He says you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely. You know while we're still trying to think of what to say, God knows exactly what we're going to say. That's how deep His knowledge is of us. He says you him me in, behind and before you have laid your hand upon me such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Lord, I don't understand this kind of knowledge. But you know what the Psalmist says? It makes him think about, look down to verses 23 and 24 on the screen. You don't have to look down, but here they are. Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. And you see, when we really come to grips with the truth that God knows everything about us. He knows every thought, He knows every secret ambition, He knows every goal you have in your mind and heart. He knows every word before you say it. He knows every attitude and the deeper recesses of your heart. He knows everything you've ever done said. He knows everything about you. When we really come to grips with that, it ought to lead us to pray the same prayer. Lord, Lord, search me and know me. In other words, bring out what's inside so that I can see it and deal with it. See if there's any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Lord, clean me up and lead me in the way you want me to go. See, that's a purifying truth that God knows everything about us. Proverbs says it even more graphically in Proverbs chapter 5 verses 20 and 21. Why be captivated by my son by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife? Sexual temptation. Why be attracted by that? Here's the reason why we ought to stay away from that. You notice the end of the verse? For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord and the examines all his paths. God knows everything about us. There's nothing you can think, say, or do that is hidden from Him. That thought, that knowledge ought to be a purifying truth to us that God examines all of our ways. The next time sin comes knocking at your door and temptations looking around the corner at you, beckoning you to come its way. Remember, God, you know everything. You know everything that's going on right now in my heart, mind, my eyes, my ears, my thoughts, you know everything. Lord, search me, cleanse me, lead me in the way everlasting. My ways are in full view of you, Lord, understand that and I want to walk in a way that's pleasing to you. That's a purifying truth to know that God knows it all. So here's a man who is amazed at the knowledge of Christ, about his heart, and we ought to be amazed as well and guarded because of that knowledge. Let's look quickly then in verse 49, back in John 1, verse 49, at his faith. You're hearing what he's heard. Look at how he responds in verse 49. Then the Thane you'll declared, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. That's a tremendous expression of faith. In three ways he expresses his faith in the person of Jesus Christ, causing Rabbi first. That's teacher. And Rabbi's not just, I recognize you as a teacher, what he's basically saying is, you are now my Rabbi, you are the teacher I will follow. A Rabbi was not just someone to go listen to in the synagogue, you identified with a Rabbi, you followed that person, you were his disciple, you wanted to learn the way of life from that teacher. That's what Nathaniel's saying. You are now my Rabbi, you are my teacher, I want to be your follower, I want to learn from you. And then he says, you are the Son of God. What greater testimony could be given about the person of Christ than to know you are the deity, you are from God, you are God's Son. And then he says also, you are the King of Israel. In other words, I make my confession right here that I believe you are the Messiah. Lord, all my objections have been answered. I didn't think Messiah could come from the Hezzaroth. I had some misinformed preconceived ideas before, but I tell you, having met you and seeing you and hearing what you know about my heart. I know who you are. You're the Messiah, you're the Son of God, you're the teacher, I want to follow. That's his profession of faith. And you know what? His profession of faith was public. Jesus is talking to him in public here. He's approaching him in a public place. And Bartholomew is not ashamed to publicly identify with Jesus Christ, nor should any of us be ashamed to publicly profess our faith in the Lord Jesus, no matter who we're around. To publicly identify ourselves as a follower of Christ, one who believes he is the Son of God, he is the Messiah, he is the Savior, his faith. And then if you will, notice quickly his privilege. In verse 50 and 51, his privilege. Verse 50, Jesus said you believe, because I told you I saw you under the fig tree, you shall see greater things than that. This is the privilege for Nathaniel himself. When Nathaniel himself, he says, because you have trusted me, you're going to see greater things. Whenever we step out on faith, God leads us to greater things. I'm not going to take the time to try to develop that, but just keep that thought in mind. God gives the privilege to see greater works of God to those who are willing to trust Him. You step out on faith and God will show you even greater things. How tentative we are to do that, how hesitant we are to do that, but our faith is always rewarded with an enlarged capacity to trust Him. That's true in so many areas of life. In 2 Corinthians 9, it's true of the Corinthians where Paul says to them, in the matter of giving, not so sparingly, so generously, and the God of all grace is able to supply all of your need. And He will, He says, in verses 10 and 11 of that chapter, He will give you all you need if you're willing to step out on faith and trust Him with your finances. It's true of opportunities that God opens up before us. Caleb and Joshua, two of the twelve Hebrew spies, who are willing to trust that God can give them the land, even though it looks possible. It's impossible, but they're willing to trust God. Those are the two that saw the land. Those are the two that we find recorded in the Bible that God showed many more great things to because of their faith. What about the other 10? We don't even know their names. They've passed off the scene of history. They died off in the wilderness. They never saw the great things of God because they weren't willing to take that first step of faith and trust God. Every time you trust God, He will reward you with a greater capacity to trust Him for more and to seem to do greater things. That's what He's saying to Nathaniel. That's the privilege of Nathaniel. But also, look at the privilege to all the disciples in verse 51. He then added, I tell you the truth. You and both you's here are plural. He's speaking to all the people who are around Him now. All the followers, you plural shall see heaven open. The angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Have you ever heard that before in Scripture? You remember a story like that? Comes out of Jacob's life, doesn't it? Genesis 28. When Jacob is running because of fear of Esau, running away from his land and before he gets out of the land of Israel, he lays down his head on a rock that's almost as hard as his head and he goes to sleep and he sees a vision at night. You remember the vision? A stairway, extending from earth to heaven and angels ascending and descending on that stairway. And when he woke up the next day and got interpreted for him that vision, the interpretation basically was this, I am the one who connects heaven and earth. I will protect you as you go on your journey. I will guard you and keep you and bring you back to this land. You know what Jesus was saying here? He's saying to the Daniel, you are going to find out that I am the link between heaven and I'm Jacob's ladder. I'm Jacob's stairway. I'm the one who links heaven to earth. I am the Son of God. Come down to earth and I will show you greater things than you've ever, ever realized in your life before. I will provide for you. I will take care of you. I will provide your needs. I am able to care for you just like God promised to Jacob many years ago. You will see angels ascending and descending on the Son of God. I am the link between heaven and earth. When we trust him, when we step out on faith, God gives us the great privilege of seeing him provide for our needs, of seeing him do things that are absolutely impossible for us to do on our own. That challenge should be real to us as individuals and as a church. It was for an individual Nathan or Nathaniel. It was also for a whole group, the other disciples, that God will give us the privilege of seeing him work if we will step out on faith and trust him. You know, I just can't help but imagine and think that even though we don't hear much else about Bartholomew, must have been a man greatly used of God. We don't hear about him in the book of Acts. We don't know what he did, but I believe that he must have been a man greatly used of God. This is a great beginning. I think God greatly used him. But I just want to remind you, as we close, of the lessons we can learn from this first encounter and only real encounter with this man. Pregidous and ignorance should never close our minds to the truth. Thankfully it didn't with Nathaniel or he would never have been a follower of Christ. Lesson number two, the importance of character. To be pleasing to the Lord, to be godly, to be honest, to be prayerful, to have the kind of character that Jesus would smile on, point his finger at and say, now there is a person. There's a person. I know that person. They're godly, they're honest, they're prayerful. Third lesson, the astounding and purifying truth that God sees and knows all about us. Let's never forget that. And the fourth principle, firm faith brings greater privilege. God will enable us to see him do great things as we trust him with what he puts before us. Oh Nathaniel, because you've trusted me, you'll see greater things than this. You'll see the very staircase that Jacob saw in your own life. All your needs being provided through the Son of God. We can see that too. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this disciple, this apostle that we know so little about, but what we do see is so wonderful. Help us to learn from Nathaniel, the lessons that you've shown us tonight in your word. Thank you that you know us, just like you know him. Thank you that you can use us, just like you used him. In Jesus' name, amen.