Carter s main point in this message is that when people come to Christ, they come as honest people, admitting who they really are. Two of Carter s examples were people that had failed. One was the high priest Joshua, standing before the throne of God in filthy rags had failed to build the temple. The word picture about Joshua is a typical picture of Christ putting robes of righteousness on the sinner who comes to him. This priest in filthy garments, who stands before the throne of God and then being given clean garments is compared to a Christian, who in the honesty of who he or she is, comes to Christ and receives garments of righteousness.. Another person of failure was Jacob at Bethel, who in being a liar, really didn t have the blessing until he admitted who he really was. In other words, when these two people came to and end of what they could do, they admitted their failings. Carter s main text was in John 1:45, where a third example was the honest man Nathaniel. Nathaniel recognizes who Christ is when Christ describes Nathaniel by stating that he is a man of no guile who he saw under the fig tree. Nathaniel recognizes Christ when hearing this because he knew that Jesus was describing something that could only by said by the Messiah.
