Speaker 1: 0:06

Good morning, westtown Church again, and I mentioned during the early service to the worship team. Just a hint, it's awesome to sing in Portuguese, but next time I show up I would love to hear some Swahili Again. Just wanted to thank Pastors Morgan and Corey for the invitation for us to be here, and Christy and I are privileged and honored to be with you this morning. And now I have the honor of opening God's Word with us this morning, and the title for my sermon is Come and See from the Gospel According to John, and I think there's. If you're familiar with the Gospel of John, you will know that this is something that keeps on appearing every time and then throughout the gospel of John, and that John is very specific, especially in terms of what miracles. He actually calls them signs because you know, and that's very he's aware of what he's trying to do. He calls them signs because John wants to invite us to come and see. But to come and see, what Is it? The spectacular, amazing things that Jesus does, which he does, and rightly so. I really do believe that John wants us not to miss the point that these miracles whether he's turning water into wine, or he's healing a man that was born blind or he is bringing Lazarus to life again, is that? Do not dare miss the point. To come and see Jesus, to come and make much of him. That's the whole point in the gospel according to John, and so this morning we will be looking at the very last verses in chapter 1, and I'm going to read from John, chapter 1, verses 35 to the end. Would you now hear the reading of God's holy and inerrant word?

Speaker 1: 1:51

The next day again, john was standing with two of his disciples and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said Behold the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him say this and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them what are you seeking? And they said to him Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying? He said to them come and you will see. So they came and saw where he was staying and they stayed with him. That day it was about the 10th hour.

Speaker 1: 2:20

One of the two who heard John speak and follow Jesus was Andrew, simon, peter's brother. He first found his own brother, simon, and said to him we have found the Messiah, which means Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said you are Simon, the son of John. You shall be called Cephas, which means Peter.

Speaker 1: 2:40

The next day, jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him follow me Now. Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him we have found him, of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote.

Speaker 1: 2:54

Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael said to him can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him Behold an Israelite, indeed, in whom there is no deceit. Nathanael said to him how do you know me? Jesus answered him Before. Philip called you when you were under the fig tree. I saw you. Nathanael answered him Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. Jesus answered him Because I said to you I saw you under the fig tree. Do you believe you will see greater things than these? And he said to him truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man. This is the word of God. Would you pray with me, lord? We do. Thank you for this morning for your word. Would you now, holy Spirit, come upon us and would you illumine every word that falls from my mouth so that we may hear it and, having heard it, be able to believe it and be transformed by its power, because this is the living word of God given to us. For this day we pray in your name, amen.

Speaker 1: 4:02

This past August, I had an opportunity to go back to my home country, kenya, where I was asked to speak to a group of pastors about, you know, the life of Moses as a model for leadership in the church, and I was also supposed to be introducing Third Mill to them, third Millennial curriculum, which is free curriculum for pastors. And so I remember having Zoom calls with the host bishop, you know, telling him hey, by the way, I'm going to be teaching, but I'm also going to be talking to you about third meal. You have a free curriculum that you can use and bless, you know, your community, and they're like okay, that's fine. He never really paid more attention to me about the curriculum. I said, that's okay.

Speaker 1: 4:38

So we get there and the conference begins, and the first day, you know, we talk about the life of Moses and then I have my 20 minutes of fame to talk about third mirror. And I say, hey, by the way, guys, if you love what you're hearing me speak about, the life of Moses, you can study all of this material at home for free, and it's all yours and we're giving it to you for free this day. And he couldn't believe it. So he goes home and goes to our YouTube channel and starts watching videos and he couldn't stop watching them. He couldn't believe it because to him he thought, if it's free, then it's got to be terrible. You know, right, you know a video that you know some production at you know our garage or someplace, you know. So it has to be terrible for sure. He couldn't believe that this is seminary level education that is for free and he could use it. And so he came to me the next day and he said, josiah, you have no idea what a blessing, what a gift third meal is to us. This bishop had found a good thing, and so he told me that he was. He was going to call everybody that, every pastor that was not in that conference. He was going to call them. He was going to tell them about third meal. I still keep getting emails from him as he travels around the country and outside of the country, he tells me just I'm still telling people about third meal he found a good thing, he found a gift, he found something that he thought he knew was worth sharing and he wanted to invite others to come and see as well.

Speaker 1: 6:06

That's what we just read here in these verses Jesus' invitation to us to come and see. And what we just read. We realize that Jesus' invitation to us to come and see never disappoints you. You might be disappointed by looking at our material, but Jesus' invitation to you, to us, to come and see, never disappoints. Why? Because Jesus comes to us. He initiates, you know, a relationship with us.

Speaker 1: 6:34

This invitation to come and see is actually the beginning of a journey, a journey that is filled with discoveries. It's a journey that is full of love, a journey that's full of mercy and grace and wisdom and power and goodness and so much more. And Jesus is the one who offers this invitation. He comes to us, takes the initiative, comes to us, takes the initiative and says I want to have a relationship with you, heavens, come down to us, to earth so that we may know him. And this invitation is for us to come and know Jesus so that we may make him known to others, but also so that we may surrender our lives fully to him. That's the invitation we see here the glory of the eternal word of God intersecting with ordinary folk. I mean, we just read about, you know, peter and Andrew and Philip and Nathaniel, just plain old, ordinary fishermen from Galilee, right In the midst of their everyday lives, people with deep human needs, just like you and I. And as one pastor says, this is the wonder of Christ and the gospel. This is where the wonder of Christ and gospel lie the bringing together of the heights of heaven itself and the depths of earth, the glories of God and the agonies of humanity, they all come together here in this invitation to come and see. So just two things, very simple things, that I want us to see this morning. One is that this invitation to come and see, the invitation, as I just mentioned, for us to be known by Jesus, to know Him and to make Him known to the world or to others.

Speaker 1: 8:21

John the Baptist here is alluded in verses 19 and following who has been testifying of the one who's coming, the Messiah, it is his disciples that he points to Jesus, and we know that, john the Baptist, his whole goal was to point others to Christ. He didn't care about his own glory, his own halo, his own star. To him, he was always looking for Jesus and wanting to point others to him. Again, there's not a call, strictly here speaking, but the disciples recognized Jesus and they attached themselves to him. Can you imagine this? I mean, john the Baptist has been walking with his disciples for years. They've been doing ministry together. They're his buddies, they're his partners in ministry and right here he just says behold the Lamb of God, and they're gone. They follow Jesus and they leave John the Baptist there.

Speaker 1: 9:10

How would you feel if you were John the Baptist? These are my guys, we've been doing life with them and I just told them behold the Lamb of God, and off they go. Okay, guys, I know we're all Presbyterians, I said this during the early service go. Okay, guys, I know we're all Presbyterians, I said this during the early service, but I'm from Africa, so can you at least laugh or smile. Oh, thank you. There we go, just talk to me. It's lonely up here, you know, when you're standing up here as a preacher and you're just talking and I'm looking at your beautiful faces and I don't hear any man, or like I got that or I didn't get that. So engage with me. Okay, I'm Presbyterian, but I'm African. Okay, all right, thank you. Next week you can let Corey suffer as he stands here and you guys are just staring at him, all right?

Speaker 1: 9:54

John has taught his disciples well, hasn't he? So much so that when they hear those words, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of man, they just go, because that's what they were supposed to be doing. John was not the Messiah, and he said that when he came, baptizing people with water, and he said but behold, another is coming, who's going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And isn't this the beginning of the church as well? Right, two disciples following Jesus. That's the church. Right there, that's how the church has been growing since then.

Speaker 1: 10:27

As JC Ryle, the great Anglican preacher, once said that when we exalt Christ and point others to Jesus, hearts are moved and sinners are turned to saints. Praise be to God. It's not simple, folks. Right, it may sound weak and foolish, and the world does think that it is foolish, that the preaching of the gospel is foolishness to a dying world, but it is the power of God to transform people. It really is, and we do it constantly and we do it consistently. Because, truth be told, this is probably not the way you came to Christ, that someone just came to you and said, hey, by the way, jesus saves, oh, hallelujah, I accept it. Right, you probably had to hear the gospel maybe several times and be challenged maybe several times before you said yes, I do. Yes, the word of God never returns void. But sometimes we just have to keep saying the same thing over and over again and not getting tired of it.

Speaker 1: 11:32

See, these disciples are making the first steps towards knowing Jesus, towards discipleship, towards walking with him. They are symbolically walking with him. Actually, you know they're following Jesus, right, like yeah, let's go. But they're also starting to take the first steps towards discipleship. And I love what Jesus asked them here. You read the question right In verses 38, towards the end what are you seeking? What would you do? I mean, jesus is here. You know they see Jesus, behold the Lamb of God. It takes, they come and then Jesus goes. What do you want? What are you looking for? What do you want from me? What a question, right. What do you want from me? Think about for one second. If Jesus was to ask you today, what do you want from me? What would you tell him? What would you say? And I love it that the fact that Jesus doesn't you know, when they don't have an answer because they don't, he doesn't go like. Well, you go figure it out. When you have an answer as to what you want from me, then you can come and follow me, because Jesus is inviting them.

Speaker 1: 12:50

The question is a searching question. He knows their hearts, he knows their motives, he knows their motives, he knows everything about them. He wants to stir their curiosity. Tell me. And then, what's the answer? What did they say? We read it Well, jesus, where are you staying? What village are you staying in? Why Is it? Because they just wanted to know where he was staying. I mean, really, that's not why, jesus, we got questions. You're asking us what we're looking from you. We got questions, but we're not going to ask those questions here. So we need to go somewhere. Let's go somewhere, please, so we can ask those questions here. So we need to go somewhere. Let's go somewhere, please, so we can ask you questions. True evangelism, friends, doesn't press for answers, but invites. This is an invitation. Let's talk.

Speaker 1: 13:49

Notice Jesus' encounter with Andrew as well in verses 40 here, and the unnamed disciple, who I think is John, the author of this gospel. Jesus is not leaving them to search for answers, to look for him. He's there. I am here for you. I am here to meet you wherever you are. He reaches out, he initiates a conversation by asking a question.

Speaker 1: 14:15

As St Augustine not the city in Florida once said, we could not even have began to seek for God unless he had already found us. Rest in that church. Jesus found you, loved you before you ever thought about him. That's the good news. He knew you before you knew him. He called you even before you're in your mother's womb. He does not hide from us, but when we go to him we find him waiting, mercy, waiting for us. Jesus' invitation to come and see is not simply for them to come and hang out at his crib, wherever he was staying, with the goats and the cows, because I'm pretty sure that's how nice his hotel room was. It was an invitation for them to come and see only what Jesus could do for them. The invitation to come and see is an invitation for us to experience a life with Christ, the only one who could do it for us and no one else. That's the invitation.

Speaker 1: 15:41

Did you notice the little detail at the end of verses 39? There, as John notes that it was about the 10th hour, about 4 pm, which kind of gives you a clue. How would he have known if he wasn't there? He really is the unnamed disciple, isn't he? The first thing Andrew does after meeting Christ is to tell his brother. The most common and effective witness is actually private communication, right Between family and friends. That's it. We're called to witness to our brothers, our sisters, our family members that don't know Christ. And this guy, andrew, every time we meet him, he is bringing the gospel, bringing someone to Jesus. Actually, chapter 6, verse 8, you meet Andrew there. Chapter 12 of this same gospel, verse 22, the same thing. It's amazing. Amazing that the great apostle became a follower of Christ by his own brother, quiet sharing of his brother.

Speaker 1: 16:32

But Andrew is also a man who loves to play second fiddle. I mean, peter is going to become the famous dude. You know he's in the inner circle of Jesus' disciples, not so with him. I wonder what it would look like if we had Andrews. What would be a female relatable name to Andrew Andrea, okay, if we had Andrews and Andreas at church a lot, who are saying the gospel and not wanting any glory, right?

Speaker 1: 16:59

And then when Jesus meets Simon, he says oh man, I'm going to name you Peter. That's your new name, cephas, which means the rock. It's a declaration of what Peter will become, because Peter clearly here is just a fisherman and throughout the gospels, peter is not a rock. Oh, come on, now Is Peter a rock? Peter is volatile, he is impulsive. Peter is just a knucklehead. I mean, as we say, right, that's just Peter, he's not a rock.

Speaker 1: 17:30

But guess what? Jesus sees him and he doesn't just simply see this Galilean fisherman. He says Peter, I'm going to make you a rock upon which I will build my church. What is Jesus making out of you? He doesn't just see where you are right now and what you're doing right now. He sees the man, the woman, the young man, the young woman that you are to become, not on your own, but what he's transforming you to become. Oh, praise Jesus, thank you for that, amen. You're a true African Presbyterian.

Speaker 1: 18:10

See, jesus sees us, but he doesn't just see our mess and our brokenness and our fallenness and everything that is in us. He doesn't see just our weaknesses. Of course they are there, but he sees what he's about to make us Beautiful image bearers. See, followers of Jesus Christ don't simply hear. They commune with God and then they make him known. That's how we grow the church. Disciple someone so they may disciple someone else Truly. The preaching of the gospel is undoubtedly important, and we do that every day, but personal witness and friendship continues to be the primary means through which Christ is still growing his church.

Speaker 1: 18:52

The second thing I want us to see real quick is that we're not just called to come and see so that Jesus may know us and we may know him and make him known to others, but it's actually really for us to commit ourselves, surrender our lives to him fully, to his lordship, to his redemption. Jesus takes the time here, as we see in verses 43. I mean, the next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. We're not told the reasons why Jesus. The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. We're not told the reasons why Jesus decides to take a detour and go to Galilee. We're just told he went there and he went out of his way to find Philip. Why, again, we're not told. Again, we also don't know much about Philip either. Yet Jesus seeks him as one of the apostles.

Speaker 1: 19:32

I think that's good news for us Ordinary people. As we were just singing, we're not called for the ordinary, but we are ordinary people. Right, they are vital for the kingdom of God and we should never neglect that. It's interesting that Philip is drawn to Christ, is not drawn to Christ through anybody Nobody, we're not nobody just Jesus directly goes to him and witnesses and he goes boom. Yes, I believe Lord, I'm going to follow you, just like that, no questions asked. Come and follow me and Philip follows. Philip surrenders to Jesus and follows him.

Speaker 1: 20:07

See, sometimes we can think about how we, how we get to faith, how we get to Christ. Our journeys are different, right Washed by the same blood, oh, hallelujah, serve the same Christ. But if we're all to share our testimonies this morning, I'm pretty sure we would write books of how we came to Christ and notice what Philip does. What does he do? Even though Christ directly sought him, he goes out and finds Nathanael, a lighted torch that's lighting another. There's a lot of debate about who Nathanael is. Most people think it's Bartholomew. You remember that disciple in the other gospels. But in any case, notice Philip's remarks regarding Christ, that the only way that these guys would have known that Jesus is the promised Messiah was because of the Old Testament. That was the vision of Christ. That's what they knew. You know the Messiah was coming and that's what Philip is telling Nathaniel, the one who is testified, the one we know from scriptures the Messiah has come, nathaniel. However, love Nathaniel, he's like what he's from.

Speaker 1: 21:16

Where Can anything good come from? Nazareth? Now, I don't know what city Tampa has, you know, a local rivalry. Nathaniel is from Cana. I mean, this is where Jesus is going to turn water into wine. It has to be classy, it has to be a nice place to come from, right. So I don't know who Tampa is it Orlando? You guys compete with Orlando Because you can't beat Orlando. I mean, we got Disney, so, yeah, you can't beat it, right? Okay, so there's a local rivalry here, and?

Speaker 1: 21:43

But Nathaniel is actually thinking rightly, right, because he's read his Old Testament. Bethlehem, that's the Davidic city, that's where that's the city of David, that's where kings are born, right. And he's like Nazareth, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not here, not there, has to come from. He had read his Bible Again. I mean, we know how Jesus is mocked by being called Jesus of Nazareth and the Nazarene, we know, in the book of Acts, the first you know Christians were, you know, mocked, but they were called the Nazarene sect. Remember that in Acts, chapter 24? There is always an exception to the rule, and what an exception this was that the king, the Messiah, the king of kings, actually did come from Nazareth. He's filled with doubts, yet Philip does not try to convince him. Oh, I love this. Just reading those verses. Right? What does Philip tell Nathaniel? He goes like all right, let me tell you. Let me walk you through the Old Testament and show you that I'm going to convince you that this guy who says he's the Messiah, he's really the Messiah. No, what does he say? Please say it. What does he say? Thank you, come and see. See how clever I was with my title. By inviting him to prove the matter for himself, he showed his entire confidence in the truth of his own assertion and his willingness to have it tested and proved.

Speaker 1: 23:18

Friends, not many people are argued into Christianity. That can actually do more harm than good. What we need to do is invite people to come and see and confront them with Jesus by presenting the story of the cross. But here's how we do it. You don't do it from a place of complete confidence in what you know or don't know. You can still present Christ and his power and his mercy and his grace and his transformation while you're still doubting the goodness of God. Uh-oh, don't raise your hand. But how many of you struggle with the goodness of God when you look at the brokenness in the world? If I was to go through this room, would I find each one of us here able to articulate what justification by faith and sanctification means, without mincing? I know you're true Presbyterians. You probably can do it. Are you able to present the beauty of the cross, even with your doubts and your struggles of faith? That's called authenticity. People are not looking for stuff that's fake. You cannot go to people and just simply tell them I am happy all day long, nothing troubles me because Jesus is my savior. Because that ain't true. You know, one of the greatest advice I ever got from a professor when I was in seminary was this I don't remember the question that we had asked, but someone had asked a really difficult question in the class and the great theologian, john Frame you may know his name said these words. I don't know.

Speaker 1: 25:27

Notice how, as Nathaniel approaches Jesus, jesus calls him a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit verses 47. Going back to Genesis, chapter 27,. There's no Jacob in him, because we know Jacob. But Nathanael is an honest guy. His knowledge is small but his spiritual insight is also really dim. And he asked Jesus how do you know me, jesus? You'd ask Jesus how he knows you. Jesus specifies the time and the place of how he knows him. Nathaniel's response to being known is a confession that Jesus is truly king and that's coming from his heart, because he truly did believe in Jesus. We're surprised by Nathaniel's response At least I am, after this simple encounter. He was so impressed of Jesus' knowledge of the fig tree incident, but notice, he uses language that will be used later to mock Jesus at the cross.

Speaker 1: 26:35

But Nathaniel really does surrender his life to Christ. See, friends, the whole thing about coming to you know, come and see Jesus is not about merely knowing that there's a God. That's good. It's not merely knowing that he died to save you from sin. That's good too. But we got to go a step further. It's actually acknowledging that he knew us before the foundations of this world. It's actually placing our trust in him, fully in him, that he is our savior and our Lord. It's giving it all and telling take it all, jesus, I'm all yours, not just this part of this little part of me, but I surrender all of it to you. But there's more. Do you guys hear that there's more? Jesus is basically telling Nathanael you think that was pretty cool, that I knew you when you were sitting under that fig tree. Oh, there's more. You will see greater things of what I'm about to do in verses 50. This is actually just the beginning. You haven't seen God's power yet. You're just beginning to see it. You will see angels ascending and descending again Going back to the story of Jacob in Genesis, chapter 28.

Speaker 1: 27:51

Jacob had run away after stealing his brother's birthright. He was laying down in the wilderness on a stone pillow I mean, that's how desperate he was using a stone as a pillow and God is encouraging him. Is it possible, then we might want to wonder that John wants us to see what Jacob could only dream about? Nathaniel and others could actually see someday, that Jesus is Jacob's dream come true? It really is. It is Jesus saying to Nathaniel and to all of us this morning I can do far more than read your heart and know your motives, I can be, for you and for everyone who comes to me, the way, the truth and the life, the ladder that leads to heaven, actually, the only ladder that leads to heaven. It's Jesus telling Nathaniel and everybody else that will care to listen I am the revelation of the presence of God, of the glory and presence of God. It is Nathaniel being told by Jesus that I am with you Even though you are alone in the wilderness, like Jacob, I am able to comfort you even in the hardness of your stone pillows.

Speaker 1: 29:07

It is Jesus saying the words that he spoke to Martha in John, chapter 11. You remember this story? Martha's brother is dead and Jesus is taking his sweet time to show up. And Martha and Jesus have this awesome conversation where Martha is telling Jesus if you had been here, my brother would still be alive. And Jesus looks at Martha and he says well, yes, your brother will rise again. And Martha is a brilliant, awesome, good Presbyterian Jew. I meant she's read the Old Testament. She says, of course, I know that my brother will live again and I love it. I love what Jesus does to Martha, which is what he's doing to us this morning, jesus looks at Martha and he goes Martha, you are missing the point. He says to Martha I am the resurrection and the life. Like right now. I'm not talking about some future event, I'm not talking about the ends of time when your brother will rise again. I'm telling you right now, in this moment, in this hour, in this minute, your brother is alive Because I'm the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, he will live forever.

Speaker 1: 30:28

Church of Jesus Christ. Do you believe that Jesus does not just point it to some expected hope out there that lives out there? Jesus is saying to you in this moment, right now, right here, come and see me, because I stand before you, ready to transform your life and to make you anew. That's what Jesus is saying to you this morning, Not tomorrow, not 45 minutes from now, not when you're eating your lunch and I know you're ready to go eat your lunch right now. I can do more than you can imagine if you will come and see, so that we may echo with Peter. Where else shall we go?

Speaker 1: 31:22

You have the words of eternal life Because, friend, the invitation to come and see is from Jesus himself. He has come to invite you to have a relationship with him, so that you may know him and make him know. So here's an invitation for you, friends, this morning. Are you here, a poor, wretched sinner, weak and wounded by the fall? Are you sick and sore? Jesus invites you and says come. Come and buy without money. Come to Jesus if you're weary, if you're heavy laden, if you've been bruised by the fall. He says don't you wait any longer, you don't have to wait. Come to Jesus and guess what he requires from you? Nothing. He just wants you to recognize that you are broken, that you need him. And if you have come and he has transformed your life and you know him as he knows you, he says well, now go. Now go and make me known to the ends of the world. You know why? Because he tells you Westtown Church, his family is bigger than you are. His family includes people that speak Swahili and Mandarin and Portuguese and other languages. He wants them to come to the party it's a sweet, old, awesome party that he's prepared for them.

Speaker 1: 33:01

So are you going to participate in the mission that God has given to you to make Jesus now to the ends of the earth? Will you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning. Thank you for inviting us to a relationship with you. We are so grateful to you that you have saved us from our sin. You have called us out of darkness and brought us into your marvelous light, so that we may go out and spread that light to the ends of the earth. Father, would you help us to do so, in whatever way that you've called us to do so. We pray all these things in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.