Come and See

Come 
            And 
                       See..




John 1:35-39

35  Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
36  And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God.
37  And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
38  Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
39  He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.


Jesus asked, "What seek ye?" They answered, "Master where dwellest thou?" 
Jesus answered, "Come and see." 


John 1:45-46

45  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. 
46  And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 

Here Philip told Nathanael, they had found the Messiah. Nathanael asked, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip answered, "Come and see." 


Today, Jesus is calling out, saying "Come and see. Come dwell with me; I in you and you in me! Come see that the Lord is good. Come and see that my burden is light. Come and see my yoke is easy. Come and see; that I will give you rest for your soul."


John 1:51

51  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of  God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

Jesus answered, "Ye shall see."  We the Church are calling out to the lost. Come and see the glorious salvation of the Lord.


In John chapter 4, There came a woman of Samaria to Jacobs well. Jesus came to the city of Samaria, he was tired so he stopped to rest at the well, while his disciples went into the city to get food. Around noon the woman came to the well to draw water, and Jesus spoke to her.

"Give me to drink." And she said; "How is it you being a Jew ask of me to give you drink?" For the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans.

Jesus answered her and said; If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

The woman saith unto him, "Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?"  Jesus said, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

The woman said, "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Jesus said, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
The woman answered, " I have no husband."
Jesus said, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
The woman said, "Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet."

The woman departed into the city and called all the men of the town and said. "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done. Is this not the Christ?"


Today, Jesus is still saying "Come and see. Come taste of the Lord, see that He is good!"

David spoke in Psalm 27:13

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.

1 John 3:2 

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Come and  see.




Created by: Brittany Jenkins
Last Days Ministries Apostolic Church

Restoration of the Rebel

Repentance

Restore the Fallen

     A pastor we will call Sam fell into sin. His moment of weakness hurt his wife and family, who worked with him through his repentance and forgave him. After moving away from the community where he had suffered a tarnished reputation, he determined to live for God. Within a short time, the call of God stirred him to reach the lost again. He began bringing people too the church in the town where he now lived, baptizing them in Jesus' name, and seeing the Spirit fill them. In a few years he won dozens to the Lord.

     He accepted his pastor's gracious invitation too serve as the church's staff evangelist. Over the years hundreds of souls have been added to the Kingdom by his tireless desire too teach Bible studies and do outreach. One day, a visitor who knew Sam's dishonorable past remarked, "How could your pastor have him as a staff member?" Once told of the minister's devotion to the Lord and his labors in the harvest, the voice of the accuser had nothing more to say. Perhaps we would have a stronger army if we shot fewer of our wounded and helped them get back into the fight instead.

     Jesus said His mission was to bring back the straying sheep. One He restored was Peter. How many heroes could come back if we let them? Sam got a grip on his purpose again and is still tearing down strongholds.

by Daniel J. Koren

Restoration of the Rebel

     In order to receive salvation, one must be made clean before God. The Bible gives many examples of how God restores those who seek his forgiveness wholeheartedly and the importance of repentance.

"And Samson called unto the Lord, and said O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." Judges 16:28

     Many times we feel we are trapped in our shortcomings because
the enemy tries to makes it clear to us that we are not worth being
restored.  Did you know that God has better plans for you? "But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." Matthew 10:33

      There must be an effort made in order to reach out to God when we are out of the body of Christ. If the effort is not made, we are blatantly breaking our covenant with Christ and denying the power to withstand temptation. How could the Lord be so patient and gracious? How could a holy God restore such a seemingly unholy rebel? "The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. 9 The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works." Psalms 145:8-9


When sin receives the victory during our trials there are three things we lose from God:

1. Loss of Strength "And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, Ii will go out as at other times before and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him." Judges 16:20
2. Loss of Freedom "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." II Corinthians 3:17
3. Loss of Vision "But the Philistines took him, and putout his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house." Judges 16:21

     However, the mercy of God overpowers this all when we are restored:

• Struggle for Restoration
• God can grant repentance and remove the scales from our eyes if we do not falter in our commitment to live for God.
• Strength Returns
• God can feel a divine stirring in our hearts when all we can do is look to him for forgiveness and decide to leave what we've done against him behind.
• Final Victory
• The Lord will remember us during this time of restoration and returning of strength. 

Make it a point to repent and move on. There is no need to carry around what God already let go for you! He wants your heart and he has a place for you to dwell with him for all eternity.

Authored by:

Sis. Joy Jones

Last Days Ministries Apostolic Church

References: Davis, Richard. Lessons from History for Christian Living. Spring 2013. Hazelwood: Word Aflame Publications, 2013. 22-24. Print.