Here we have, again, the Gospel of John, if you remember. We have gone through the Gospel of John. We finished that up about a month or so ago. But now we've been looking at some of the main themes that we find in this remarkable book. And so far, if you remember, we've looked at the love of Jesus and the joy of Jesus and the peace of Jesus that He graciously gives to all those who come to Him. And truly, our experience of those gifts and our enjoyment of those gifts is something that we need to learn more about. But those gifts are there. He says, My peace and My joy and My love I give to you who believe in Me. We've also seen how Jesus promised to help us remember those gifts as well as His words through the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so again, one of the great things about the coming of the Lord Jesus is that He came to give. He came to give of Himself. He came to give of His nature, His character, and of these wonderful qualities and virtues. But as we turn again to John chapter 1, we will see another theme that is really only found three times in the book of John, but even though it's only found those three times, I think it reveals the nature and character of Jesus in a very special way. And that is through the phrase that we just sang, and the phrase that we'll look at today, the phrase that we'll sing a little bit later. The phrase is, come and see. Come and see. Three times we find these words in John, and even though they are used in different contexts and even have some kind of a different flavor to each of them, Where they are used, those words tell us something more about Jesus and how He is worth coming to and seeing Him for all that He is and all that He has to offer. Come and see. And so let's look at these words more closely together as we find them in the Gospel of John. Because first of all, the very first use is actually by Jesus Himself. It's by Jesus, and it's joined with the very first words that we hear out of Jesus' mouth in the Gospel of John. So there in chapter 1, verse 39, Jesus says to two men who will become his first disciples, those two words, or those three words, really, come and see. And through these words, we first learn about the invitation of Jesus. The invitation of Jesus. Now, I know we just came off of Thanksgiving and there might have been someone who was, whether a family or friend, that came to you and they invited you to enjoy Thanksgiving with them. And how did that make you feel? Or how does any invitation make you feel when someone is inviting you to them? And that's not to get anything out of you, but rather to give something to you. It makes you feel kind of good, doesn't it? It makes you feel like they're interested in you, that they care about you, that they want to spend some time with you. I remember when I was, I think it was in college, I had a friend, and still stayed a friend after this, but he invited me and a few other of his friends to come to his house for a dinner. I was excited about it. I said, wow, this is pretty good. This is great. He and his wife recently married and they were kind of starting out on their life journey. And I knew both of them and really cared about both of them. And they invited me and a few others into their homes. And after we had a meal, he said, why don't we sit around in the living room on these couches? And I have a friend that wants to share some things with you. And so there was this friend, and he was all dressed up with a suit and tie, and I just came somewhat casually. And he actually had in another room a flip chart, and he brought it out, and he had a pen. And my friend invited me to a sales pitch. And I think it was probably Amway, and I think Amway's kind of known for something like this. And I thought, wait a second. Here I was thinking it was something very special to be invited to this, and yet they really only invited me not to give. but to get. And I talked to him a little bit afterwards. I told him it was kind of, you know, it was sort of a bait and switch kind of thing. I said, I would have come even if you told me it was going to be a sales pitch because I care about you. But the best invitations are not those kind that want to get. but rather give. And those are the invitations that really, truly are special to you, and that's the invitation of Jesus, isn't it? That's the invitation of Jesus. He didn't come to get, he came to give. Now, why does Jesus say, come and see, in this verse? Well, earlier in this passage, we're introduced to the forerunner of Jesus. We spent a little time referring to him this morning in our Sunday school hour, and his name is John the Baptist, right? But for some time before Jesus started his public ministry, it was John, by God's selection, who was preparing the way of Jesus through his preaching. In fact, if you go back to verse 23 of this same chapter, it was John the Baptist who was calling people to repentance. Remember? Repentance by saying, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. And that points us back to Isaiah. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord. as said the prophet Isaiah. And so one of the main ministries of John the Baptist was to preach repentance, that you are not right with God, even though you might think you're right with God, and you've got to have not just your habits changed, you've got to have your heart changed. So make straight the way of the Lord in your own heart and life. Repent. But then if you go to verse 27, he was also calling people to faith. So the gospel of Jesus is the same gospel of John, the same gospel of Paul, the same gospel that we ought to be preaching in our churches today. It's repentance turning from something and faith turning to someone. And so he says, he it is, verse 27, He it is who coming after me, and of course he doesn't refer to him by name yet, he it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latch it I am not worthy to unloose. And so as John the Baptist preaches repentance and faith in one to come, and as John preached God gave him fruit, what happens? there came some disciples and followers who believed in that message, who did repent and who did believe, though they didn't quite yet know who that was in person yet. But then John finally sees Jesus, and it'll go down to verse 29. When John finally sees Jesus, we're told that the next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto him. And so John says about Jesus, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And to the ones that had listened to his preaching before and had followed after him before, he says, This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me. He finally sees Jesus and identifies Jesus and tells all of his followers around him. This is the one that you are believing. This is the one who will save you from your sin. And then at some point after this, we're not given it in the gospel of John and the other gospels were given it. At some point after this, John baptized Jesus, because in verse 32, it says that John bear record saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove. And when did that happen at the baptism of Jesus? and it abode on Him. But then we come to verses 35 through 39, when after John proclaims Jesus, after John baptizes Jesus, and now Jesus' ministry begins. Verse 35, again, the next day, after John stood, and two of his disciples, so the ones who had repented and had believed at His word, And looking on Jesus once again, as Jesus was walking, he, John, says again, Behold, the Lamb of God! And what happens? And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And we're not told how long this took, how long they followed Jesus, and where on that pathway they followed Jesus, but then, at some point, Jesus turned and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? And they, those two disciples who were following John and now are following Jesus, they said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou? He, Jesus, saith unto them, Come and see. And so they came and saw where he dwelt and abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. Now, if you go down to the very next verse, we know who one of those two disciples was. That was Andrew, right? Who then also goes and tells his brother, Peter, to come and see the Lord Jesus. And it might've even been the second disciple was John himself, the very writer of this gospel, because we have details here that no other bystander would know and be able to write about. But from these verses, we can see why Jesus invited these men to come and see. is first of all because there was a great concern in the hearts of these two men. There was something that stirred these rugged men from Galilee to go out into the desert to hear the preaching of John the Baptist. We're not exactly sure how old they were or how young they were, but it was clearly that they had been men of trade, they were fishermen, and they were strong and rough and tough, and yet there was something in their heart that was stirred. God was moving in their life, because of something inside of them that they knew needed to be dealt with and needed to be changed. And so they go out to this wilderness to hear this man who looked differently and sounded differently than any other preacher or teacher they've ever heard, because God was preparing a way in their heart. so that they might one day follow Jesus. There was some concern. Some concern about their lives. Some concern about their hearts. And so when they heard this preacher speak and proclaim about Jesus, behold the Lamb of God, they knew that John was pointing out the very man whom he had been preaching about. And so that concern for their own souls turned to a great curiosity. And we see this there in verse 37. A great curiosity. Because after they heard John speak, what did they do? They followed Jesus. They stopped following John. And they started following Jesus. Now, obviously, John was fine with that. John was not jealous of that. In fact, that's what John was all about. He wanted people to follow Jesus, and that's what they did. They started walking after him on the path, wherever that path led, and they were hoping to just get some opportunity to speak with Jesus. So they followed him. Now there might have been others following Jesus, but at some point Jesus turned to notice those two men specifically. That's what we find there in verse 38. Then Jesus turned. They're already following him, but then Jesus turns and saw them, those two men. In spite of all the crowd that might have been around him, he looks at those two men and then says to them his very first words in John. What seek ye? What seek ye? You see, those two men, Andrew included, weren't just following Jesus. They were seeking something from Jesus, and Jesus already knew that. But he wanted to hear it from them. What are you looking for? Why are you following me? What is your need? Not only is this an encouragement to those men to keep following Jesus, but even a call to examine the very reason why they're following Jesus. And so with that encouragement, the curiosity of these two men then turned into a great craving. A great craving is they sought to have some time to see and speak with Jesus personally. And we see that also there in verse 38. They say unto him, after Jesus takes the initiative, right? What are you seeking? They say unto him, Rabbi, where dwellest thou? Now, they're not asking for his address, all right? You know, what's your address? People have asked me that before. Maybe it's because I needed to get some product from a store. They're not asking just for his address. You see, the matters that were on the hearts of Andrew and his friend were things that could not be addressed in public and on that path. They wanted to meet with Jesus personally and privately, and not just to see where he was, but to be where he was so that they could ask him their questions. And so with that question, Jesus graciously welcomes and invites those two men with those words, that theme, come and see. And so they did. What an invitation. from Jesus himself to those two men, come and see, and they did. And in doing so, they found a great contentment in the presence of the Lord. You look at the rest of verse 39, they came. Jesus says, come, they came. Jesus says, see, and they saw. They came and saw where he dwelt, but they didn't just leave. They abode with him that day, for it was about the 10th hour, so it was getting later in the afternoon, and they stayed there, and they stayed there probably, if not all night, maybe even into the next day, because Jesus was a gracious host. He wasn't trying to say, you know what, it's been a long, busy day, all right? I've been walking, and I've been teaching, I got baptized today, and I need to go home, and I need to spend a little time with my father, I need some alone time, no. Even though it was getting late on that first full day of his ministry, Jesus was willing to spend the rest of that day, the rest of perhaps that night with those two men. In fact, he invites them to do so. Now that's a gracious invitation. I remember there were times when we would be going to church, and I knew that even after our evening service, people were getting tired, people would have to go to work next day, and there were some very special times when people that were our friends and church family members, and they would say, you know what? After evening service, and this would be right during or before or after the evening service, they'd say, why don't you come over for some ice cream? Why don't you come over for a little bit of fellowship? Just you and your family. They were busy the next day. They had a busy time the next week. And yet they said, the time that we get to spend with you is more important to us than all of that. And that's the kind of host that Jesus was. He invited them to come, no matter how late it was that day, and in fact, He will keep inviting others throughout His ministry, even to the point of His death on the cross and beyond. Even though we don't find Jesus speaking these words anywhere else in John, come and see, His whole life is come and see. even when he was there on the cross and there were those two thieves by him. And the one thief was turning to Jesus, even while the other thief continued to stay, look away from Jesus. Jesus still with open arms said, come and see, come and see. And through faith, that man too is made whole. Again, we will not find these words spoken by Jesus again in the Gospel of John, but they give us the thrust of His entire life. Again, Jesus will later say in chapter 6 verse 37, What an invitation. What an invitation. Come unto me and see. Come unto me, all that are heavy laden. Come unto me and I will in no wise cast you out. And so whatever your condition is or your concern or your curiosity or even your craving like these two men, you can find contentment when you hear and respond to Jesus invitation. Come and see. How do you respond to that invitation? Well, you respond by God's grace through faith. through faith alone in that call, faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he is and all that he did. And obviously these two men didn't really know that much more about Jesus. They didn't know where that path would continue to fall. They didn't know that it would lead to his suffering and his bleeding, his dying. They didn't know that it would lead to their being called as apostles and maybe even to their own death and suffering for him. They didn't know any of that. but they responded by God's grace, through faith, in that special invitation from Jesus. Come and see. This is where it all starts. This is what we must do by grace, through faith in Him, to respond to that, and as we join Him, as we come to Him, as we learn from Him, we can keep doing so. so that we might see all that he is for us and all that he has for us." What an invitation. It's an invitation that is still open to each one of us, come and see. So the first use of these words is by Jesus. But the second use that we find in John is simply about Jesus. And really not too far from where Jesus said these words. In fact, if you go down to verse 46, of the same chapter. It is now one of Jesus' new disciples. Not one of the first two that we looked at here, but now this is talking about Philip, a man named Philip, who actually says these same words to his friend, Nathaniel. Come and see. Come and see. And through these words, we can learn more about the investigation of Jesus, the investigation of Jesus that all are invited to. Again, when we think about an invitation, you know, sometimes there are things that you want people to experience that you experience, right? Every one of us have probably taken trips that we've enjoyed, and I have loved hearing your experience. And sometimes what you experienced makes me wanna experience it as well. Maybe you've been somewhere in this country, or maybe even outside this country, and you said, wow, what an amazing place it was, and think about all the things that we've seen and done, and you would enjoy this too. Now, obviously, you're not inviting me to go along with you, though, if you do, I wouldn't say no. But you're kind of inviting me to share in the same experience that you did, because of how enjoyable it was for you, how enjoyable it might be for me as well, and that's the idea here. is experience something great from Jesus. And now he says to a friend of his, come and see what I've seen. Come and see what I've experienced. Come and find Jesus, even as Jesus found me. And so, again, we have this investigation of Jesus that all are invited to, even as this man Nathaniel was. So why did Philip say this? Well, it all starts, if you go back to verse 43, when we're told that Jesus first found Philip and called him to follow after him. Verse 43, the day following, so this is the day after the baptism. This is the day after, of course, the time when these two disciples are following Jesus. The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee. So he had finished his work there in the desert with John, and he was ready to go. But there's one more thing he had to do first. He finds Philip the day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, his wanting there, he was going to head there and he finds Philip and says unto him, follow me. Now, Philip, John tells us, was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. And so Philip findeth Nathanael and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, What? Come and see. Come and see. Now when Jesus met his first two disciples in the previous passage, we heard his gracious words. Come and see. Here we see his gracious act as he goes and finds Philip just before he's about to leave to go forth into Galilee. What a gracious thing. It's not that Jesus was waiting for people to come to him. He was actively going out to pursue others, to draw them to himself. A gracious act. And so Jesus personally seeks out Philip to be his disciple. And doesn't Jesus still do that? Luke 19 10, it says, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. He only saves those he seeks. And as he seeks, he finds. And once he finds, he saves. But once this happened, Philip just couldn't keep it to himself. Jesus found him. Jesus saved him. Jesus called him to follow him. And as Jesus found him in verse 43, then Philip goes out to find his friend Nathanael, in verse 44. Did you notice that? Jesus finds Philip, and Philip finds Nathanael. Almost immediately, we find Philip with the same heart and the same spirit as Jesus, to go out and tell the good news of Jesus. Now, obviously, again, Philip's knowledge of Jesus was very, very limited in what he knew, but he still knew enough He knew enough to believe in him, to follow him, and so Philip's message to Nathanael was a certain message. A certain message. Again, verse 45, he says, we have found him. And yet, in reality, who found him? Jesus found Philip, and yet Philip could say, we have found him. Jesus makes it in such a way, whereas even though He first loves us and first finds us, we can still say, I love Him because He first loved us, and I have found Him because He first found me. And so, who did He and the other new disciples find? Verse 45, again, "...even the very one of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write." Now, what do we find about this one whom Moses and the prophets wrote about? The Messiah. the Christ, the anointed one of God, that is, the one that God the Father has chosen to be the Savior of the world. That is who they found. That's the Messiah, the hope not only of Israel, but the very hope of the world. And so Philip's message to his friend was not just a certain message, it was also to be a convincing message. He believed that this Messiah was none other than, verse 45, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. What faith, what faith was given to Philip to be able to believe in this one, who he really knew very little about, but he knew enough to believe that this is the Christ, this is the Messiah, this is the one that Moses was talking about, this is the one that the prophets were pointing to, this is Christ, this is Jesus. Now, that is a matter of faith. But then, to all of this, Philip's message was certain and convincing, or he tried to be convincing. But Nathaniel, his friend, unimpressed, unconvinced. Sadly, he was a lot like many that we might come to and speak with about the gospel. We might be so excited to tell people about what Jesus has done for us. We might be so certain and try to be so convincing about what Jesus has done for us and how he changed us and gave us new life and made us into a new creature. And yet, how many people are like Nathanael? Unimpressed, unconvinced. And so he asked his friend, can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Nazareth? A Nazarene? What are you talking about? Nathanael showed some real skepticism. He was a cynic. He couldn't believe it unless he saw it for himself. And there's even a little bit of taste of contempt. Wait a second. Nazareth's just one of that small little town. We would think that the Messiah's gonna come from a great city like Jerusalem. So he didn't really respond well to what his friend said. But how does Philip respond? He doesn't reprove him. Wait a second, haven't you been looking for the Messiah like we've been looking for the Messiah all these years? He didn't reprove him. He didn't even try to reason with him or argue with him and go through all of the different points at that point, all right? Because he was still learning too. Instead, Philip simply invited Nathanael using the same words that Jesus had used earlier. Come and see. Nathaniel, why don't you come with me and see with me? Come like me and then see like me. Let's investigate this together. Let's look at Jesus. Let's learn from Jesus. Let's see what He's all about. And so this invitation of Christ, come and see, became the very invitation of this new Christian. Come and see. An invitation to investigate with Him the character of Jesus and the claims of Jesus and that what Jesus had done for Philip He could and would also do for Nathanael. And of course, we know that Nathanael did also go to sea. And you know, all this becomes an example to us who have found Christ because Christ has found us. Jesus said in another place something that we could apply here. Go and do thou likewise. Of course, there he was talking in Luke about the Good Samaritan, but isn't this one of the greatest good things that you can do for someone is to tell them, come and see? Go and do thou likewise. Go out and give the same invitation that Jesus gave so that others can investigate Jesus with you. Don't reprove them. Sometimes your reasoning will fall on deaf ears, and so join with them. Don't just lecture to them, but say, hey, let's follow and learn together. Let's be disciples together. Go out and give the same invitation, even as you grow in your faith and in your following of the Lord. None of us are where we can be. None of us are really where we should be. But all of us still have, by God's grace, the opportunity to grow in his grace, in his knowledge, and say to someone, come and see with me. Let's investigate Christ together. Let's learn more about Him together. And we should do so persistently and passionately, even with that desire to persuade, knowing that as we plant the seeds, as someone else may come along and water those seeds, what's God gonna do with that? He'll bring the increase. He'll bring the increase. Now, even though we don't find the exact same words when Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman at the well, if you go over real quick to John chapter four, Remember what she said to the people of her city after Jesus met her there at the well? Look at chapter four, verse 29. This same woman says to the people in her city, come see. She doesn't say come and see, nor does she even use the same word come that Jesus said, but she has the same idea. Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? The words may be different, but the theme is the same. She's saying the same thing as Philip. She's inviting those people, those townspeople to come and see for themselves what Jesus had told her and what Jesus did for her. And you know what happened in chapter four? It's like the whole crowd came. And as they came, as they were coming down those fields, Jesus told his disciples, I want you to look at these fields because look, they're white, all ready to harvest. He wasn't talking about the grain that was growing up out of the field. He was talking about those figures of men and women that were coming out to visit him and be with him and to listen to what he had to say. Come and see. So the first use of these words is by Jesus. The second use is about Jesus. But then we come to the third and last use in John, and that is in chapter 11. So go there with me, John chapter 11. Because here we find the third use of these words, and here they are even used to Jesus. So the first time it's an invitation by Jesus, the second time it's about Jesus, and Philip is inviting Nathanael to investigate Jesus with him, and now we have the use of these words to Jesus. And if you look at verse 34, and of course this entire chapter deals with Lazarus' death and resurrection, right? But there in verse 34, Jesus finally gets to Bethany to visit the grave of his friend Lazarus, and Jesus asks this question, where have you laid him? Where have you laid him? And how do the people respond? They said unto him, Lord, what? Come and see. Come and see. the same words of Jesus in chapter one, the same words of Philip in chapter one. We have the same words here now to Jesus in chapter 11. And through this use of these words, we can further learn about the interest of Jesus, the interest of Jesus that he has in the souls of men. Jesus is interested and cares for souls. But again, why do the people say these words to Jesus? Someone once called these words in the mouths of the crowd a strange echo of Jesus's own invitation back in chapter one. A strange echo. Come and see in Jesus, we get. It's an invitation. Come and see from Philip, we get it. It's another invitation. But here we have the words of the crowd to Jesus to come and see something. A strange echo, they call it. Well, it's, again, all in the context of the sickness and death and eventual resurrection of Lazarus. And we can certainly apply what Jesus said about Lazarus' sickness to even these words said to him. In fact, if you jump down to verse four, all that was said and done, including the sickness of Lazarus, was what? For what purpose? For the glory of God. that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. And I think that can be applied to the whole chapter. So after Jesus comes to Bethany, you go down to verse 33 again. After Jesus comes to Bethany, he meets first with Martha and shares some amazing things to her. And then he meets and speaks with Mary and says some amazing things to her. So after those two meetings in verse 33, we find these words when Jesus therefore saw her Mary weeping and then the Jews also weeping, which came with her. Oh, he groaned in the spirit. And was troubled. And said that question. Where have you laid him? And then they say unto him, Lord, come and see. And then, of course, we all know the shortest verse in the Bible, right? John 11, 35. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold, how he loved him, Lazarus. Now when Jesus asked his question there in verse 34, where have you laid him? It was not out of ignorance. No doubt Jesus already knew where Lazarus was. He is the son of God after all. But instead, when Jesus asked this question, it was to show his interest to his friends. And in really all of the people that were present there that day, as one writer put it, it was as a kind friend that he asked this question, to show his deep sympathy and interest in the grave of his friend. By the way, that was J.C. Ryle, who wrote that devotional book that you'll pick up later. But even more, I think it was Jesus asking this question because he wanted to be personally invited to the tomb of Jesus. He personally invited. As Jesus invited his first two disciples in chapter one to come and see, as Philip invited his friend Nathaniel to come and see Jesus to investigate him for himself, now Jesus wished to be invited. to come and see the very grave where the body of his friend now lay. You can almost call this an invitation to be invited. Have you ever wanted to do something with someone, or go somewhere with someone, and they hadn't yet quite invited you? Maybe you wanted to go to their house, or you wanted to go to a store, or you wanted to go on a trip with them, and they hadn't quite yet invited you, but you kind of were like trying to hint at it, you know? I really wanna go with you, I really wanna be with you, and so you're gonna ask them kind of a leading question, like, oh really, where are you gonna go? Oh, that sounds like a lot of fun. Oh boy, do you have anybody that you'd like to go with? Hint, hint, right? Oh, would you like to come along with me? Yes, I'd love to come along with you. And kind of in a sense here, Jesus is inviting them with this question, where have you laid him? To be invited by them. because Jesus knew that he had more to give. I mean, we know the rest of the story. We know that Jesus says, come forth, Lazarus, and Lazarus just comes forth. He's alive, right? Jesus had more to give, but ultimately, even their invitation to Jesus to come and see was based on Jesus's initiation. Where have you laid it? That's grace. That's grace. And so that's what they did. The people knew that Jesus cared, even based on his question, that Jesus was concerned, not just for Lazarus, but even for his family and friends. And so what did they do? They did invite Jesus to draw closer. Lord, come and see. We know you care. We know you're interested. We know that you love. So Lord, come and see. So I don't think this is as strange of an echo of Jesus's words that we might first think. Because even though we know that the invitation of Jesus always comes first, doesn't Jesus still want to be invited into the hearts and lives of his people in a closer way? He invites us first. We come by faith. And then he wants us to still want him in our lives. in our spiritual walk. In fact, don't we see something like this going on even in the book of Revelation? You don't need to turn there, but we're familiar with this verse. We looked at it a number of, even really, a year or two ago. But in Revelation 3, verse 20, in one of those churches, one of those messages to the church of Laodicea, in Revelation 3, 20, we actually find Jesus himself standing outside the door of the lukewarm church in Laodicea. So there were already people in this church that Jesus had invited to come and see what He had to offer, and they accepted that invitation through faith. But what had they done? Through their independence from Him, it was as if they excluded Jesus from their church. And that's the danger of so many churches, even ours. We can become so independent from our Savior that we actually exclude Him from our fellowship and He is outside the doors of the church. So what does Jesus say to the church there? To the members of the church in the lukewarm church of Laodicea, He says, Behold, I stand at the door outside and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him. and will sup with him, and he with me." Isn't that not an invitation to his own people to invite him back into their lives, back into their church, back into their fellowship? That's what Jesus wants. Jesus's desire is to be with us and to be in us and to be fellowshipping with us. So the desire that Jesus had in Bethany here in John 11 is the same desire that Jesus had in Laodicea. And it's the same desire that Jesus has in our church to be invited into the lives of his people over and over again so that we might say to him, Lord, come and see. Lord, come and see. And we can continue to say this because we know of his interest in us. We know of his care for us. We know of his love for us. And so we say again, Lord, come and see me just as I am, even as Jesus wanted to see Lazarus and his tomb. I mean, if it was anybody else, why would someone go to a tomb? Why would someone go to a grave? Well, obviously to honor that person, obviously to have thoughts about that person, to remember that person. Jesus was there to raise that person from the dead. And isn't that what he continues to do in our lives? He enlivens us, he revives us when we still languish in our formerly dead state sometimes. Right? When we are asleep at the wheel, when we slumber in our spiritual walk, we need to say and pray to the one who invited us first. Lord, come and see. Come and see the state of my heart, the state of where I am, the state of my struggles. Come and see me because I know you can help me. I know you can rescue me. I know that you can revive me still. Or maybe you need to pray, Lord, come and search me. Come and search me. Come and see and then search me because of my own doubts, my own disobedience. You know why Jesus came? Jesus came into this world to bring us faith and forgiveness to people like us. Lord, come. Come and search. Come and see. Or even, Lord, come and show me more of who you are. May this be our prayer this month. Lord, come and see me and then show me who you are, because isn't that what Jesus did here in John 11? He showed to Martha and to Mary and to Lazarus, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Do you believe that? We can know more of who Jesus is when we invite him as he invited us. Lord, come and see. What will Jesus do with your request? What will Jesus do with that invitation? He will come. He will see, and then he'll do so much more. He's never too busy. He never has something better to do. He's not in it to get something from you, but rather to give more of himself. And as it was in John 11, it is still so today. There was no question that Jesus would come. He came and saw, and then he came and did. You see, Jesus came to this world. Jesus went to that town. Jesus came to find you like he found Philip in order to show his interest and love and care for you. And this is how the words come and see are used in the gospel of John. They're first used by Jesus to show the kind of invitation that he gives to those who will follow him and believe in him. Come and see, he says. Then second, they can be and ought to be used by His disciples about Jesus. We ought to be so thrilled with what Jesus did for us that we're out there inviting others like Jesus invited us to investigate and learn more about Jesus and who He is, how He's full of grace and truth. Come and see. Who can you share that with this week? Who can you share that with this month? Come and see. But then, Those words can continue to be used by you and by me, even to Jesus, like it was here in John 11, to respond to his interest in every part of our lives. Does he still ask questions? He asked the question to the two disciples, what are you seeking? And then he said, come and see. And here, he leads the crowd with that question. Where's he buried? Because he wanted them to say, come and see. So as we respond to his love and care and interest, we invite him into our own struggles and grief, even since he first invited us into his grace. May we remember that Jesus invitation to us is still an invitation worth giving and giving not just to the world, but even to our Lord. Lord, come and see. Let's close in prayer. Father, I pray that you'll help us to hear these three words ringing in our ears as we go into this Christmas season. Because, Lord, the Christmas season is all about Jesus' own use of that phrase, come and see, an invitation to sinners who need a savior. And then, Lord, I pray that you'll give us who have come and who have seen and have tasted that you are good and have believed and are growing in your grace to now have that great desire to share that same invitation with others, just like Philip did to his friend. Come and see. Come and see. And yet, Lord, there are still times in our life where we grow very independent of you. We forget who invited who. We forget that you invited us into your own family, into your own fellowship. And so, Father, we have gone away. We've gone astray. We've become independent. And Lord, we need to even today, by your grace, say as this crowd did, Lord, come and see. Come and see where I'm at today. Come and see my sorrows. Come and see my struggles, my struggles with the enemies within and the enemies without, Lord, because I need you to search me. I need you to continue to sanctify me. And Lord, I need you to continue to show me more of yourself as you change me more and more into your own image. Lord, come and see. But then don't just see, but stay. And as you stay, Lord, continue to change. Lord, come and see. Lord, help this theme to be something that we not only respond to, not only do we share, but then, Lord, we also apply. Come and see. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.