By Bufrey Dean Most all of us really like first hand experiences. We have to check things out for ourselves. While others can tell us about it, we want to see it ourselves. What about when we experience something exciting: We want to tell others about it. Take for instance movies. We like to ask others, Have you seen that movie? When we think about eating something exciting, most of us think about sharing our best recipes. When we remember excellent restaurants and vacation spots, with excitement, we want to tell other people they need to be there. We want to see our children in church. We want to see our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers come to church. We want to see our church grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. We need to examine why this is not taking place. We have a heart problem! Let us read Matthew 15:18. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart. Whatever our heart is excited about, that is what we will share. For some, we are more excited in our heart about our favorite football team. We are more excited about our favorite fishing hole. We are more excited about our favorite television show. We are more excited about our favorite song on the radio or we are more excited about our grandchildren. 1 / 5
Certainly, we need to ask God to fix our hearts, because we need to be excited about Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. We are not saying Jesus needs to be all that we talk about. If we are totally committed to him, he will be all that we will want to talk about! We need to share the words of Jesus with our family. We need to share the words of Jesus with our neighbors. We need to share the words of Jesus with our co-workers. We need to share the words of Jesus with our friends. As we look to John 1:46, we only have to speak three words, just as Philip said, come and see. Philip shows us how to respond with excitement about Jesus. Nathaniel is skeptical. Just like others we will run into. Through his comment, can any good thing come out of Nazareth, he reveals the disgust that Galileans have with Nazarenes. And what does Philip do? Does he give up? Does he walk away? Does he get discouraged? Does he get out his Bible and preach a message? No, Phillip speaks three very important words that you and I must learn. These words are: COME AND SEE! Philip didn t preach a three-point sermon. He didn t start condemning Nathaniel for his bad attitude. He didn t judge his actions. He simply invited Nathaniel to COME AND SEE! Another messenger comes to mind and some of you are going to be surprised at the next one. In John Chapter 4, we find the woman of Samaria speaks on behalf of every one of us who has a past. This is a lady who has had five husbands. This lady is now living with another man. This lady has a past in which she is not proud. But now, she brings a message. 2 / 5
With excitement, this woman left her water pot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, See a man which told me all things that ever I did: Is not this the Christ? She didn t think she was good enough for him. She didn t know why he chose to talk to her. She was just going to get water, but she found a well of water springing up into everlasting life! Our duty is not to condemn the sinner. It is our privilege to encourage them. We are not to preach condemnation but preach love to them. We can t clean fish before we catch them. It is most important that we get them first to COME AND SEE. Then we must look to God to clean up their lives. The good Lord has blessed me to have some church business cards printed with the words of Jesus, Come and see, as recorded in John 1:39 I keep these cards in my pocket, ready at all times. I never know when I am going to need them. I do not want to hand out bad opinions. I do not want to hand out weird thoughts. I do not want to hand out vain religion, but I am ready! I am set! I am waiting for the moment! Then all of sudden, when I see a wife that is about to give up on her marriage, I will gladly give her a card that says, come and see! When I see a man who is about to give up on life, I will give him a card that says, come and see! When I see teenagers who are depressed and running with the wrong crowd, I will give them a card that says, come and see! When I see former church members that have been out of church for many years, hurt or just forgotten, I will give them a card that says, come and see! When I see a mom who is at her rope s end and she is ready to give up on life, I will give her a card that says, come and see! When I see a dad who has lost control of his life and is going through some tough medical problems, I will give him a card. Why I am giving them a church card? The words of Jesus are printed on the card. I don t know about a lot of things around us, but this one thing I do know. Jesus is alive and well, and if we want the answer to all of life s problems, Jesus is the answer. I may not have the comforting words for the situation. But one thing I can say is to come and see the man who can: Turn your life around Make your situation good Restore your marriage Restore your fellowship with your children 3 / 5
Restore your fellowship with God Open your eyes Open your heart Cause the deaf to hear again and has already saved sinners to heaven. All one has to do is to come and see! You are not coming to see the pastor. You are not coming to hear the singing. You are not coming to see who all shows up. You are coming to see the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You are coming to see Jesus! In Matthew 18:20, we have this wonderful promise from Jesus, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. This should cause us to become excited to rejoice with joy that Jesus is with us! Notice that with Philip and with the Samaritan woman, they were so excited after they met Jesus that they had to tell somebody. If you don t have the joy in your soul that causes you to talk about Jesus, you need to come and see Jesus and ask him to restore unto you the joy of thy salvation. Look at the question that Christ asks his disciples in John 1:38 and 39. What seek ye? In other words, What do you want? What do you need? What do you need me to do for you? In Matthew 7:7, Jesus said, Ask and it shall be given to you. In Mark 11:24 Jesus said, What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive, and ye shall have them. The reasons some of us are not getting blessed is because we are simply not asking. Let us all follow the sincere words of Jesus and Come and see! The same God that saved you is the same God that caused you to be born into the family of 4 / 5
God. He will sustain you. He shall feed his flock like a Shepard: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. Isaiah 40:11 We need to become better parents. We need to set better examples. We need to become more dedicated to the church. We need to give more time to church services. We need to read our Bible more. We need to memorize more and quote the word of God often. We need to continue praying without ceasing. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. I Corinthians 2:9. 10 and 12 Once the Lord has opened our eyes, ears and heart, then we will be able to see and more fully understand what it is that God has in store for us. We don t have to wait until we get to heaven to enjoy the blessings of God. Right here, right now in this life, let us follow Jesus. The invitation is simple, just as Jesus said, Come and see! 5 / 5