Nathanael was a true Israelite in whom there was no guile. Jesus Christ Himself was without guile more than anyone else. But what about everyone else? Peter exhorts the church of the living God to put off all guile. This is the same Peter who denied Christ and was also once (after being baptized with the Spirit) caught in the act of being hypocritical by his beloved brother Paul. He knew what he was exhorting to. He knew that we needed such an exhortation. “For if I still pleased men, [implying that he had done it before] I would N O T be a servant of Christ.” Gal. 1:10. Just as a person cannot simultaneously be a buyer and a seller of the same thing, so it is also totally impossible to be simultaneously a friend of the world and a friend of God—seeking to please men and God at the same time. You have to choose one of them. You cannot serve two masters. Most people are so afraid of people’s reproach and contempt, valuing their favor so highly, that they are full of deceit; they turn whichever way the wind blows. They are so afraid of being reproached and ending up outside the camp that they would rather choose to be unfaithful to Christ. They make flesh their strength, and their heart must then inevitably depart from the Lord. The word “Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (Heb. 13:13) will convict that person. Consider this word as well: “Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’” 2 Cor. 6:17. We also read this word about Abraham: “And he went out, not knowing where he was going.” Heb. 11:8. The entire world is under the sway of the wicked one, and most worshipers of God are unfaithful to Christ. The person who is faithful, upright, true, and honest will collide with the camp of believers and must necessarily end up outside their ranks. Everyone who has a mind to be faithful has to make a choice between giving in to the masses or being firm in his noble intention and suffering the consequence: out, outside! But then he also ends up in Jesus’ arms, just like the man who was born blind. You end up in the very best company! God be praised! Elihu said, “Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone . . . .” Job 32:21. He only knew how to be faithful to God. It would be desirable if everyone were so content in their state. Job said, “If I have covered my transgressions as men tend to do, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, because I feared the great multitude, and dreaded the contempt of families, so that I kept silence . . . .” Job 31:33-34. On the contrary, they put things from their old life in order and spoke the truth—these upright, mighty men of God—even if the situation was ever so embarrassing! Concerning Moses, it is so beautifully written that he was faithful in all His house as a servant, as a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward (Heb. 3:5), and that he chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Heb. 11:25. Dear fellow brothers, let us neither be deceitful nor fail, whether it be in great or in small things! The above-mentioned blessed men, and many more with them, spoke the truth and lived and died by it! They did not spare themselves; they did not draw back; they did not covet the glitter and honor of this world; they did not hide anything; they did not hide their light under a basket! But then they were also God’s very best friends, each one of them in his own time. All those who flatter are hypocritical: they deceive, are unfaithful, turn with the wind like a weather vane for the sake of sordid gain, and for honor, for a short time of enjoyment. They are pitiful creatures. But then they will also—as the fearful, cowardly wretches that they truly are—be cast into the lake of fire! Rev. 21:8. It is disgraceful to be convinced of what is true, and then to fail the truth because people (and very often those who are closest to you according to the flesh) are against you or because you risk losing your current livelihood.Elias Aslaksen