Come and See

Text

John 1:43–46 ESV

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Purpose Statement

If you have any doubt that Jesus can supply all your needs; come and see.

Illustration:

Have you ever developed a picture in your mind

of exactly how a place ought to look?

I do this quite often, myself.

If you’ve never seen a place in person,

then your mind helps you fill in the missing pieces

Your imagination helps you estimate the unknown

Around my 20th birthday, I completed basic training in South Carolina

and Marine Combat Training in North Carolina

and I was heading to my Military Occupation School in California

They have MOS schools all over the country

but mine just happened to be clear on the other side of the US.

In the Golden state of California

I had never been to California

but my imagination assisted me in drawing, what I thought was a perfect picture of it in my head.

I could just see it, as clear as day

In my mind mind’s eye it looked just like a Beach Boys album cover.

Perfect weather all year round

The sounds of seagulls and waves filling the air

The smell of salt water and sand

Big cities and beautiful skylines with the perfect sunsets in the backdrop.

I knew exactly what to expect.

despite having never been there before.

Then I flew a couple of thousand miles to LAX

Stopped by the USO on the way out of the airport to grab a sandwich

And stepped out onto the streets of busy Los Angeles.

LA wasn’t exactly what I had pictured at first

The “big city” part was there

but it was very beautiful

it was dirty, loud, busy, and full of concrete.

It didn’t deter me though.

I knew I was just in the middle of too many buildings to see the real California.

So, I made my way to the bus station.

I got on a greyhound and headed out of the city to this magical sounding place.

My school was in a place that was so awesome

That it had been named after what I expected to see there.

Sandy beaches, palm trees, surfing music, and perfect weather.

As we left the city, though, reality began to sink in.

We started heading east away from the coast.

We just kept going east for a long, long time.

I though we might drive back to Alabama for a minute.

As I looked out the window, I saw nothing that looked like the California that I had imagined.

I had imagined endless miles of sandy beaches

Oh, there was sand alright

and there were endless miles of it

but there were no beaches in site.

We were in a desert place

and it was certainly deserted.

The further we drove the more deserted it looked

When we pulled up to the base where I would spend the next 6 months of my life

I was sorely disappointed.

If you’ve ever been to 29 Palms, CA,

then you know how I felt.

This was no beach boys album cover

It was literally the worst place on Earth.

The California I had imagined,

was only a small percentage of that humongous state

And 29 Palms was not even close to what I pictured in my mind.

This is what happens when you form opinions about something you’ve never seen in person.

You can hear about it all your life,

You even look at pictures that other’s have taken

but there is nothing quite like seeing a place in person.

Japan

I did the same thing when I first visited Japan in 2007 on the USS Curtis.

After many days out on the open sea

I couldn’t wait to see Japan

I had this picture in my mind of rice fields an pointy hats

Samuris walking around with giant swords

Ninja warriors, and pokemon animals

I’m only slightly joking.

I really did expect the pointy straw hats and rice fields

Now, I’m sure they do have rice fields there

but when I got off the boat

I was in the middle of the busiest city I’d ever seen

I did some exploring while I was there

and I saw cities after city

and instead of robes and straw hats

people were wearing business suits and dresses

It was so different than I could have imagined

I was young and naive

I was just a kid from a small town in Alabama

who had only seen the world in cartoons on Saturday morning

It sounds silly to me now

but I learned a lesson in my 20s

You can’t expect to know what a place is really like until you come and see

You can look at pictures all day of the Grand Canyon

but until you lean over the edge of that great chasm

You HAVE no IDEA.

Don’t just imagine what a place is like

come and see

Shift back to text

In our text, we read of a potential disciple named Nathaniel.

When Jesus started calling His disciples,

there must have been something about his appearance

or something in His voice

These young men dropped their nets

walked away from their desk at HR block

and left their ships

and followed him

They must have seen something special

Phillip was so impressed that he had to invite his friend Nathaniel

Nathanael didn’t get the benefit of seeing and hearing Jesus ask him to follow him.

He had to take Phillip at his word.

And as you can imagine, he was a bit skeptical

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

They had been waiting their whole lives for the Messiah

And for those that believed the prophesies of Daniel

The exact time period they were living it

was exactly when the Messiah would appear.

For this reason you had many charismatic leaders draw crowds

trying to convince people that they were the Messiah

The prophecies indicated that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem.

A small, but respected city because that is where David was also from.

Jesus was born there, but later moved about 16 miles away to Nazareth.

A village with that was not respected like Bethlehem

and was not recorded by any of the OT prophets either.

So, it is no wonder that Nathaniel doubted Phillip

Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?

Phillips response is where I’ve taken my title today.

Come and See.

I can talk about him until I’m blue in the face

but come and see

Phillip was skeptical of a man from Nazareth being the Messiah

Can someone from Nazareth really be him?

Can he do the things we expect him to do?

People are still asking this question today

Can Jesus really supply my every need?

And the answer is still the same.

come and see.

And boy did Nathaniel see

Because he took a step of faith

He met the man that would walk on water

He saw blind eyes open

He saw the lame walk again

He saw the deaf hear again

He saw the sick recover

The possessed delivered

And The dead raised back to life.

Nathaniel came

and Nathaniel saw.

Imagine if he said, nah

I’m good Phillip

I’ve heard about Jesus

but I’m not going to take the time to come and see him

I’ll just wait until He proves himself to me right where I am.

This is a common stance taken today by Atheist today.

I’ll wait here until God proves himself to me.

Instead of come and see

People choose to wait and see

This isn’t how it works though.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Don’t wait and see

Come and see

There are a few Phillips in here that have seen

And for your sake we want you to believe us,

But don’t take my word for it

come and see for yourself

come and see!

Investigator

Imagine for a moment that a crime takes place on the corner of 2nd and Moulton

just outside the Mellow Mushroom downtown.

2 blocks away at the Decatur Police Department sits an investigator

A witness sits across the desk from him and tells him everything that he saw.

In order to solve this crime

That investigator is going to have to get up from his desk

and walk or drive down to Moulton street.

He’s got to go to the scene of the crime

any good investigator is going to get there as quickly as they can.

At the scene of the crime is all kinds of evidence

He might see a security camera above the door of Bank Independent

He might find a bullet casing on the sidewalk

He might find drops of blood

or even the dead body itself

There could be other witnesses there to talk to

The longer he spends there,

the more evidence he uncovers

but to get to that evidence

He couldn’t wait behind his desk

he had to come to the scene of the crime.

Now imagine if that same investigator said,

well, I’ll just wait here and see what turns up.

In 48 hours the case is cold

The leads are gone

The criminal will get away

You can’t take a wait and see approach if you want the truth

You’ve got to go to the scene of the crime

You’ve got to come and see!

That is the irony of wait and see approach with God

He’s got so many miracles in store of you,

but you can’t wait and see

you’ve got to come and see.

Get up from that fig tree Nathaniel

and go see Jesus for yourself!

The Prophets prove it

One of the most famous home runs in World Series history happened on Oct. 1, 1932, during Game 3 of the 1932 Fall Classic. It was the New York Yankees vs. the Chicago Cubs, and the Yankees won the first 2 games at Yankee Stadium. Game 3 was at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Charlie Root was the Cubs pitcher. He would give up a three-run homer to Babe Ruth in the first inning and a solo shot to Lou Gehrig in the third. The Cubbies would score a run in the first, two in the third and another in the fourth. So after four innings the score was tied at 4-4.

In the top of the fifth inning, Joe Sewell led off for the Yankees and grounded out to short. Up next was “The Babe” – already a larger than life figure. As he stepped to the plate, the Cubs’ bench was riding him mercilessly. Babe would yell and gesture back. With the count 2 balls and two strikes, Ruth seemed to point two fingers toward center field. Then he belted the next pitch deep in the center field seats, exactly where Ruth had pointed.

Almost 100 years later, this story still lives in the heads of many baseball fans.

If you’ve ever played the game,

you know how amazing that feat was.

Just to hit a homerun is one thing

But to call it is another

Not just predict that it would happen

But to predict where it would go.

If Ruth had stuck out,

we’d never had heard this story.

If he ground out, or hit a pop fly

We’d never know about this at bat.

It would just be one of thousands of times Ruth stepped up to the plate.

I dare say that even if the homerun went to left field or right field

We’d have forgot about it in a couple years.

But we’re still talking about it today because Ruth called his shot

and Ruth did what he said he would do.

If anyone doubted Ruth

their doubt ended when they saw that ball fly over the center field fence.

God didn’t just call a shot

He called them all.

I wish I had time to cover this in more detail

and we may do it on a Tuesday night this year.

but the OT is full of God calling His shots.

When you dig in for yourself

it will blow your mind

Don’t just take someone else’s word for it

come and see

Isaiah 44 and 45 says that a man named Cyrus would release God’s people to come home and rebuild their city.

This was written prior to 686 BC.

Jerusalem had not been destroyed

and the Jews were not yet in captivity

and Cyrus wasn’t born

and the empire he would lead was not in control yet

It was about 80-90 years before the Jews were sent to Babylon Captivity

And 100 years before their city was destroyed.

So, to be clear,

A man of God said very clearly

not vague like a Nostradamus prophecy

but Isaiah explicitly states that Jerusalem would fall

The people would go into captivity

and and man name Cyrus would release them to come home and rebuild.

Cyrus wouldn’t be born for 100 years,

and Cyrus would be the king of Persia

and empire that would come after Babylon’s empire

If you could calculate the odds of getting the name correct of the the king of an empire that would overthrow the empire that would destroy the city that you were standing in...

Then comes Daniel onto the scene

and Daniel lays out a perfect timeline for world history

While the Jews were in Babylonian captivity

Daniel prophesied that Persia would overthrow Babylon

and Greece would overthrow Persia

and that Greece would be divided into 4 parts

and then another world leader would come in and take over the empire

That would be Augustus Caesar of Rome.

Then that empire would be divided into many kingdoms,

but would still be mingled with the previous one,

but no single empire would rule the whole world again

This is thousands of years of human history

in just 12 chapters of the book of Daniel

laid out exactly how it would happen

before it all happened.

And people hear all this, and are still skeptical?????

That’s why you can’t just hear it!

You’ve got to come and see!

The Pentecostal experience

The Pentecostal exp was prophesied in Joel 2:28

Joel 2:28 ESV

28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…

When it happened about 900 years later in Acts chapter 2

Peter stood up and said,

This is that.

And I’m here to tell you that God is still pouring out His Spirit

and if you don’t believe me

Come and SEE!

If anyone needs evidence that God is real

Just read Acts chapter 2

and then repent and ask God to make himself real to you

and When you experience the gift of the Holy Ghost

With the evidence of speaking in other tongues

You will never doubt again

but you’ve got to come and see!

Come Closer

Zacchaeus Was a wee little man as the song goes

and the Bible tells us in Luke chapter 19 that he couldn’t see Jesus

because there was a crowd

So, he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree

Just to get a glimpse of Jesus.

and can I tell you that...

If you’re not able to see Jesus from where you are...

Sometimes you just need to get a little closer

There are things in your life that can crowd your vision

but where there is a will

there is a way.

If you’ve got a need

a need that only Jesus can supply

And you have doubts that He can supply them

then you’ve got to come and see

and if you can’t see where you are

then come closer

There are many here today that you’ve stopped doubting that Jesus is real

and you’ve got faith that He can work miracles

but you’ve not seen the miracle He has for you.

that’s why today,

You’ve got to come closer

You’ve got to forget about the crowd like Zacchaeus did

and maybe even go out on a limb

and try something you’ve not tried before

open up a little more than you’ve opened up before

Instead of holding back like you often do

Perhaps the missing piece is that you came

but you couldn’t see

And the solution is to come a little closer

We can all come a little closer to Jesus

We might have expierenced him a little from our seat in the church

and we’ve felt his touch in a song

but we hold back when altar call comes along

We put up walls

Walls that we don’t want anyone to come around

There was a wall off people around Jesus

but Zacchaeus climbed a tree and looked over the wall

The only way for you to really see Jesus

and the only way for you to get your needs met by him

is for you to come out from behind the walls you’ve put up.

He won’t take them down

He won’t go around them

He will let you let him pass you by

He won’t force you to come and see

You’ve got to make up your mind

If I have to climb a tree

if I have to scale a wall

If I have to follow Phillip to Nazareth

I will come and see Jesus

Come to a place of surrender

The place you come to see Jesus isn’t always a physical place.

Some people think that just showing up to church is enough

That’s a great start

One that you should keep doing

But to get around those walls you’ve built

You’ve got to come to a place that isn’t physical

You’ve got to come to a place in the spirit

And that place is called a place of surrender.

It doesn’t matter what caused those walls to come up

Jesus wants you to come and see Him.

You may have been hurt before

By a stranger, by a loved one, even by a Christian or worse, by a pastor

Church hurt is the worst hurt there is

But walls still need to fall

You can’t keep them up forever

Let go of your bitterness

release your unforgivness

and come and see Jesus today

in a place of surrender

Talk to the Church

Some of you think I’m not talking to you today because you’ve already seen Jesus

You know what He can do

and you’ve seen His miracles in your life

but like I said earlier

We can always get closer to Jesus

and You may have seen miracles in the past

but God isn’t finished with you yet

And so I invite you to come and see what God has in store for you today.

Your best days are ahead of you.

You’re living in in the endtimes

and God chose you for such a time as this.

He’s already seen you

I’m coming to a close...

Jesus knows exactly where you are at

let me read the rest of Nathaniel’s story in closing

John 1:46–49 ESV

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 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.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Jesus told Nathaniel that while Jesus was in Galiee

He could see Nathaniel under a fig tree in Bethsaida

And this was what caused Nathaniel to believe

I came to remind someone tonight

That while you are still looking for Jesus

He knows right where you are at.

He knows what you are dealing with

He knows your hurt

he knows your sin

he knows your pain

He knows your sickness

he knows your fear

he knows your doubt

he knows your struggle

He knows right where you are at.

He didn’t wait for you to come and see Him

to come and see you.

The bible says:

While we were yet sinners...

Before you ever came looking for Him

Jesus stretched out His arms and died for you on a cross

I wonder if we could be like Zacheus tonight

and make our way to the front to see Jesus

come a little closer to Him?

Would you come?

Today is your day to get your needs met

And He can supply all your needs

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