“COME AND SEE”
“COME AND SEE”
INTRODUCTION:
In John’s gospel, John begins with the Deity of Jesus and identifies Him as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29). We are then given details of the gathering of His (Jesus) soon to be disciples. When Philip found Nathaniel and told him they had found “Jesus of Nazareth” (vs. 45), Nathaniel’s reply was “can any good thing come out of Nazareth” (John 1: 46)? Philip’s reply was, “Come and See” (vs. 46).
In today’s religious community, there are many claims and promises made regarding scriptural positions held and long standing Bible beliefs and practices. However, when carefully examined, the truth seeker is left void of any substantiation of the claims made. When Philip asked Nathaniel to “come and see,” he was calling for Nathaniel to come and examine the evidence for himself and to make a fair and unbiased decision based on the evidence. It is our same desire as we extend this warm invitation to you to come and investigate our claim of being the Lord’s church based on the evidence—which in this case would be the sacred scriptures.
COME AND SEE—Scriptural book, chapter, and verse Bible teaching and preaching. Much of the religious messages today are filled with good stories or a health and wealth gospel. Others, who may reference the Bible, do not get to the “meat” of the matter of things necessary to your salvation. This is because the foundation was started by the creeds of men. Distinctive, Bible preaching is lost in a world craving for their “felt needs.” But the Bible teaches that God’s word must be preached! Paul wrote to the young preacher Timothy, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4: 2-4). It is obvious from this passage that not only does Paul promote the soundness of preaching, but also the attitudes of the hearers. If you desire sound, rightly divided book, chapter, and verse Bible preaching, “Come and See.”
COME AND SEE—Scriptural worship in “Spirit and in Truth.” To the church at Corinth, Paul wrote concerning their gathering: “Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse” (1 Corinthians 11: 17). Unfortunately, many “churches” are coming together for the worse. When God’s people assemble for worship, they are to worship in “Spirit and in truth.” But many come together for entertainment. Many have turned the worship hour into their hour. John writes, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4: 23-24). Worship is the sacred privilege and obligation to pay homage to God. How sad that men have turned worship to themselves. The text involves: (1) True worshippers. This implies there are false worshippers. (2). The Father is seeking true worshippers. God will not tolerate just any and everything. (3). True worshippers “must” worship in “Spirit and in truth.” There is a divine pattern that we must follow prescribed in Gods word which includes: Preaching (2 Timothy 4: 2); Praying (Acts 2: 42); The Lord’s Supper (Acts 20: 7; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-29); Giving (1 Corinthians 16: 1-2; 2 Corinthians 9: 6-7); Singing (Ephesians 5: 19; Hebrews 2: 12). To be God’s people one must love God enough to do what He commands. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14: 15). If you are looking for scriptural worship in “Spirit and truth,” “Come and See.”
COME AND SEE—Scriptural fellowship. In Acts chapter 4, it was said about the Christians in Jerusalem. “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common” (Acts 4: 32). This congregation of Christians were so united that the things they possessed was no longer considered their own but they now had a deep and grounded love and concern for their brothers and sisters in Christ. They obeyed Peter’s words found in 1 Peter 3: 8-9 to be “…of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” They wore no titles of hierarchy distinguishable from one another, but served in scriptural roles for the up building of the kingdom. There were no selected “seats” in the assembly. But they worked and served together within their abilities with love for one another and for lost souls. The Bible teaches us to “…walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4: 1-3). We acknowledge our imperfections and therefore we put on, “…mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do” (Colossians 3: 12-13). It was said about them: “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2: 46-47). If you are looking for scriptural fellowship, “Come and See.”
CONCLUSION:
Dear friend, your soul is your most precious possession you have. It will survive death and go on to spend eternity in either heaven or hell. It behooves all of us to take the necessary time to investigate what we have been taught and what we believe. To be religious and God fearing is not sufficient. We must obey the truth in order to be finally saved when this life is over (cf. John 8: 32; 1 Timothy 2: 4). The Bible invites your investigation to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5: 21). It is to this end that we are prayerfully blessed with your presence—not to take our word, but to “Come and See.”
∼By Stacey Mobley
