Matt. 10.

call of the Apostles did not take place till some Mark 3. time after. 44. Now Philip was of Beth- Luke 6. saida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45. 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.

10.3.

Luke 6. 14.

The five books of Moses, the first five in the Bible, are often called the law; in which there are many intimations of Christ; especially where Moses says, "The Lord thy God will Deut. 18. 18. raise up unto thee a Prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him shall ye hearken." And the prophets (above all the prophet Isaiah) constantly fore- Isaiah 53. told Christ and His kingdom.-Nathanael is supposed, with great reason, to be the same person as Bartholemew. In every numbering Mark 3.18. of the apostles Philip and Bartholomew are mentioned together; and it appears that Na- John 21.2. thanael was an apostle. It was not unusual for a person to have two names.-Nathanael did not believe that Jesus could be the Christ, because He was of Nazareth, a very wicked city this was a natural prejudice; but there may always be some good, even in the worst places; and it is wrong to judge of any man without a hearing, and of any thing without knowledge. Let us read the objection, and Philip's excellent answer to it:

46. And Nathanael said unto him, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Lay aside your prejudice; come, and examine, and judge for yourself. 47. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.

Jesus does not say, "in whom is no sin;" but there was no hypocrisy, or deceit, in his profession of religion; he was what he professed to be, a true son of Israel, a sincere believer in the God of Israel, a pious worshipper, a devoted servant; with an honest and good heart, notwithstanding many sinful imperfections and failings. How valuable this testimony from the searcher of all hearts! God grant that the same may be said of us!

48. Nathanael saith 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.

"I saw thee," evidently means, I knew what was passing in thy mind, saw thine innermost affections. It is probable, that he had been meditating and praying, as they frequently did, in the shade of a fig-tree; perhaps in desire and expectation of the coming of our Lord. This is one of the many, the very many instances, from which it is clear,

Acts 1. 24.

that Jesus knew every thought of man's heart; and this is the property of God, and God alone. Jer. 17. 10. Nathanael was greatly surprised; and regarded this knowledge as a proof that Jesus was a divine person, and the head of that spiritual kingdom, which was about to be set up:

49. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. 50. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.

Ver. 49.

No one can doubt, that Jesus, in these words, praised the holy man for his faith, and implied that he believed rightly. Now what did he believe? that Jesus was the Son of God; and by the Son of God the Jews always meant a divine person. Jesus then, instead of correcting, commended him for saying so, and promised him greater things on account of this faith we may therefore justly consider this as a proof, from the mouth of Christ Himself, that He was God as well as man. Jesus extends His gracious promise in the last verse, by a figure which seems to be drawn from the vision of Jacob's ladder. It may mean, Thou Gen. 28. 12. shalt have clearer views of me and my kingdom; unto him that hath "shall more be Mark 4.24-5 given;" I will give so many proofs of My

D

Matt.

power and Messiahship, by miracles and prophecies, by word and by deed, that all shall be as clear, to thee and to the rest of my disciples, as if ye could see the angels going up and down with messages to me. Let us now

read the verse:

51. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily truly, truly, attend to this as a great and important truth, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of. God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Let us, above all things, seek and pray to be Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile; the true people of God without hypocrisy; without any falsehood upon our lips, or any insincerity in our heart, or any known and allowed inconsistency in our conduct. St. Paul says of the people of his day, "They are not all Israel which are of Israel;" (Rom. ix. 6.) i. e. all are not the children of God who profess to be so, and belong to His visible church: in many such, the profession is deceitful; there is "an evil heart of unbelief;" there is a "form of godliness without the power;" there is the outward service of the Lord, and the outward acknowledgment of the lips, while the heart is far from Him;" in the heart the world is reigning, and it is given up as a prey to self-interest and self-indulgence. This is unhappily

the case with multitudes of those, who "profess and call themselves Christians." So far are they from thinking upon God as their great object of worship and service, that God is not in all their thoughts; from day to day, they live as without Him in the world. Here, as we must perceive, is a system of hollow-heartedness; of nothing less than mockery: "they are deceiving themselves and the truth is not in them." But let us not deceive ourselves, for the end is ruin. We cannot deceive the Lord, whose eye is upon the heart; before whom all things are naked and open. "Be not deceived: God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap : for he that soweth unto his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Gal. vi. 7. 8.) Let us pray with David: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psal. cxxxix. 23.)

LECTURE VI.

In the second chapter we read of the first miracle that Jesus wrought, the first public miracle at least: it was at Cana, a small village a few miles north of Nazareth, where He had just been with His four disciples.