Author: BTP

“When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?… Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little” (John 6:5,7).

It is interesting that of all the disciples, it was Philip to whom the Lord Jesus asked the question about where they were to get enough bread to feed a big crowd of people. Why would He pick Philip? We know from other references to Philip that he was a “one-on-one” type of person. He related well to people on a personal basis, and cared how people were doing. Earlier in John (chapter 1), we find that it was Philip who first brought Nathanael to the Lord Jesus. We will see tomorrow that Philip and Andrew were evidently good friends.

It is good to be the kind of person who notices how other people are doing, and cares for them. The Lord Jesus knew that Philip cared for others, and would be interested in how they were going to be fed. I am sure that Philip cared how the people were fed spiritually as well, but he also cared how they were doing naturally. It is a good characteristic for all of us to copy.

“Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile”! (John 1:47).

For the next few days, we are going to have some verses before us about those who were connected with the Lord Jesus during His ministry in this world. Each of them had a good, distinctive characteristic which we should think about.

Here in our verse for today, we read that Nathanael was a man in whom was no guile. What does this mean?

Guile is different from telling a lie, but it often amounts to the same thing. Guile is doing something or saying something to deceive people, often in a clever way. Afterward, the person can usually say quite honestly that he or she did not tell a lie, but others know that he or she deliberately did or said something to give a wrong impression.

Nathanael was not like that. He was an honest man, and when it was clear to him who the Lord Jesus was, he believed on Him.

“In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct Thy paths” (Proverbs 3:6).

What an encouraging verse this is! Many Christians today are certain that they know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, and they know they will spend eternity with Him, but many are not sure what the Lord wants them to do with their life in this world. Often I hear the question, How can I know the Lord’s mind for my life? We get the answer in today’s verse.

If we bring the Lord into every aspect of our life, we will find that He will show us what to do. He will “direct our paths,” and show us each step of the way. We may not know what we are supposed to do a year from now, but He will always show us the next step. Then, when we have taken that step, He will show us what to do next. It is a wonderful thing to have the Lord guide us in this way, but we must bring Him into every part of our life. We must be willing to do His will, and not insist on doing our own will.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me” (John 15:4).

Have you ever cut a branch off a tree in summer, when it had leaves on it? How long did it take for the leaves to start withering and curling up? It does not take very long, and after a few hours you will see those leaves drooping, curling, and then, a day or two later, they will begin drying out. Then the wood in the branch itself begins to dry out, as the sap in it dries up.

It is the same for believers who do not walk with the Lord. We cannot lose our salvation, but without the Lord, we cannot do anything. Just as a branch cannot bear any fruit by itself, so you and I cannot do anything for the Lord without His help. We may try to do something with human energy, but it will not be pleasing to the Lord. To bear fruit for the Lord, we need His strength.

“By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).

The Lord Jesus did not only encourage His disciples to love one another, He commanded them to do it. The kind of love that the Lord Jesus is talking about here is not natural love, but rather divine love. What is the difference? Natural love among human beings exists among those who have common interests, and who get along well together. But divine love does not require the other person to return the love; it keeps on loving anyway. That is how we should love other believers.

Of course, all believers ought to behave in a loving way, so that we get along well together. Sadly, this does not always happen. But we are to continue to love others anyway, and as the Lord Jesus said, this will show those who are not believers that we belong to the Lord Jesus.

“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

There are many people today who believe in a general way that the Lord Jesus died to put away sins, and that He suffered for the sins of this world. However, it is important to realize, in an individual way, that He suffered for OUR sins, and that it was for our sins that He bore the punishment of God. We must realize that we are not only sinners, but lost sinners, and that we can do nothing to help ourselves. Then we realize that it was for US that He suffered and died, and that He wants to be our Savior.

Our verse for today is very personal and direct, and shows us that we need a Savior. We cannot simply believe that the Lord Jesus suffered and died in a general way, but rather that He died for you and me personally.

“Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on Him: but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42-43).

Here in our verses today we see something else that is very sad. Many of the leaders of the Jews actually did believe, but would not confess it openly because the Pharisees had said that anyone who admitted that Jesus was truly the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. These rulers who believed loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

It is important for you and me not only to believe on Christ, but to confess Him openly to others. We should not be ashamed of Him, for He loved us enough to die for us. Yes, others may make fun of us, but surely God’s approval is much more important than the approval of men.

“But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him” (John 12:37).

Throughout the time of the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus, the Jews kept asking for signs and miracles from Him. But here we see that it is not signs and miracles that cause us to believe. If our hearts are hardened, no number of miracles will convince us. There must be a work of God in our souls in order for us to accept the Lord Jesus.

However, that does not mean that the miracles were of no value. Because of those miracles, the Jews should have been convinced that Jesus was indeed the Messiah—the One whom they had been expecting. They were responsible for not recognizing Him as their Messiah, and they were responsible for rejecting Him. Have you recognized who the Lord Jesus is, and accepted Him as your Savior?

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14).

Here we are at the beginning of another year, and it seems quite normal to us to go from one year into the next. But have you ever realized that before God arranged what we have in our verse today, there was no time, and there were no years? God lives and moves in eternity, but He created time in order to form this earth for man, and to enable man to live in a world governed by time. It was God who created time, and at a point in the future there will cease to be time. Eternity will take over again.

This is hard for us to understand, for we are made to live our lives on this earth in time. However, we are created for eternity, and each of us will exist forever. Where will you spend eternity? Will it be with the Lord Jesus Christ, or will it be under the judgment of God? Today God is still offering salvation to those who will come to Him.

“Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: Thou greatly enrichest it…Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness; and Thy paths drop fatness” (Psalm 65:9,11).

In their exact interpretation, our verses today look forward to what we often call the millennium—the time in the future when the Lord Jesus will set up His earthly kingdom for 1000 years. However, I am sure that as this year draws to a close, most of us can look back and say that the Lord does indeed crown the year with His goodness. Yes, some things that are not pleasant have probably happened to us during the year, but the Lord continues to bless this world, and provide for mankind. We should be thankful for all that God has provided.

As we look forward, we do not know what another year may bring. But our hope is not for a glorious millennium on earth; if we know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, our hope is for the Lord to come and take us home to be with Him. Our home is in heaven, not on earth. However, while we are still here, we can be very thankful for all the good things God has given us.