Book of Common Prayer
The final judgment is the only one that counts
7 We none of us live to ourselves; we none of us die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, then, whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord. 9 That is why the Messiah died and came back to life, so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 You, then: why do you condemn your fellow Christian? Or you: why do you despise a fellow Christian? We must all appear before the judgment seat of God, 11 as the Bible says:
As I live, says the Lord, to me every knee shall bow,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.
12 So then, we must each give an account of ourselves to God.
Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee, where he found Philip.
“Follow me,” he said to him.
44 Philip came from Bethsaida, the town where Andrew and Peter hailed from. 45 Philip found Nathanael.
“We’ve found him!” he said. “The one Moses wrote about in the law! And the prophets, too! We’ve found him! It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, from Nazareth!”
46 “Really?” replied Nathanael. “Are you telling me that something good can come out of Nazareth?”
“Come and see,” replied Philip.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him.
“Here he comes,” he said. “Look at him! He’s a real Israelite. Genuine through and through.”
48 “How did you get to know me?” asked Nathanael.
“Oh,” replied Jesus, “I saw you under the fig tree, before Philip spoke to you.”
49 “Rabbi,” replied Nathanael, “you’re the son of God! You’re the king of Israel!”
50 “Wait a minute,” said Jesus. “Are you telling me that you believe just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You’ll see a lot more than that!
51 “In fact,” he went on, “I’m telling you the solemn truth. You’ll see heaven opened, and God’s angels going up and down upon the son of man.”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.