How to Find the Messiah
By William Covert
PHILIP was telling Nathanael that he had found the Messiah. Nathanael expressed a doubt upon the subject, because the One of whom Philip spoke came from Nazareth. Said he, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" But Philip had been in contact with the Nazarene, and he was so sure He was the Christ, that he did not stop to argue with Nathanael. His confident advice was, "Come and see." He knew that if Nathanael could actually meet Jesus, he would see for himself that the Messiah had come. The acquaintance would settle the question. Nathanael did as Philip suggested, and the first meeting took away all doubt. Then in delighted confidence he said, "Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel." If Nathanael had refused to see Jesus, because He came from Nazareth, probably he would have remained a stranger to the grace of God. But being a seeker after truth, his eyes were easily opened. His life of prayer helped him to come with Philip, and, too, it enabled him to see when he did come. At one time Jesus, speaking to a large class of skeptics, said, "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life." Getting near enough to see is what moves one to believe in Jesus. The Saviour told Nathanael that He saw him under the fig-tree before Philip called him. Nathanael had been under the shade of the fig-tree praying that God would help to find the Messiah. It was the Spirit in Christ that moved Nathanael to pray. The Spirit that was working in him, very readily saw the counterpart of itself when the two came together. When Jesus told Nathanael of having seen him praying for light under the fig-tree, Nathanael knew that he was meeting face to face the Son of God. The marvelous ability of Jesus to see the secrets of a penitent heart in the place of secret prayer opened the eyes of Nathanael's heart so he could clearly see who Jesus was when they met face to face. That same Spirit by which God sees men's hearts and by which the blind eyes of men's hearts are made to see, is working to-day. That Spirit opens their eyes and turns them from darkness to light. They turn from the power of Satan to God, "that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified." Acts 26: 18. When speaking of the awful condition of darkness that exists in the sinner's mind, Paul says the gospel is "hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." 2 Cor. 4: 3, 4. Satan himself is blinding sinners' minds, to keep them from being saved. The devil puts the darkness of unbelief over men's eyes, "lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." But those who will pray for light, as Nathanael did under the fig-tree, and then will hear the call of some Philip, as Nathanael did, can "come and see." The way is open. The time is now. Do you hear the call? Will you come?
WILLIAM COVERT.