“Come, see…”
John 4:29
We live in a day when many consider the building called a church as the church… and even perceive that because people are in that building they are the church… however this sometimes is far from the reality.
As my pastor shared this past Sunday, the church in the Greek, is ekklesia, those who are called out… when this word descended into the English language it somehow became a word that was translated to mean lordly house, a designated place. The church was never meant to be a place… but a people.
So just because someone is in a building that we call a church… does not mean that they are the church, that is why we make the call, and proclaim the gospel within the church building.
This is why we invite people to church in hope against hope that they will become a part of the church and when called by God to be His church, they will not forsake the assembly but continue to join with them and study the Word of God and grow in Him.
This month, Sunday August 25th, the church, that meets in the house of Shiloh Baptist, is hosting an event. We are offering an invitation to come and see… we have titled it The Calling.
As the church we are commanded by our Savior to go…
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you
Matthew 28:19
However, our excitement over this One we know as the Christ, also compels us to cry out “Come and see!“
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
John 4:24-30
So sometimes our “Go and Tell” is a “Come and See“
So if you are reading this… I come to you just as the woman at the well came to those in her community so many years ago… that well of living water is for real… I am a woman who left my waterpot at the base of an unsatisfying well and drank of the living water that flows from the side of my Christ… I heard His call, His invitation to drink of Him in a center right front pew in the house of Shiloh Baptist.
It is here that I have grown in the grace and knowledge of God…
It is here in this house that God used His church to make me a disciple and to teach me to obey all that He has commanded me, and to know that my Jesus is with me always… even until the end of the age.
So it would be crazy of me to not run to you and want to bring you back with me to this well where I met my Messiah, my Jesus, the Christ.
When the woman at the well that day went to her town to make her appeal for others to come… she was not doing so in an off-handed casual manner. The word for “come” in John 4:29 in the Greek is deute and it gets the force of an interjection, “Come! Come now!” followed by a hortatory subjunctive. Which means it is a statement urging others to join in some action. It is an exclamatory word.
The woman at the well was not saying, “You know it sure would be nice for you to come with me sometime to see this man at the well… He was just so nice… offered me some water that would never leave me thirsty again… I really think you would like Him if you would just come and try Him”
No she was saying, “COME! COME NOW! I HAVE BEEN AND I AM GOING AND I AM TELLING YOU THAT YOU NEED TO COME WITH ME NOW!“
I am appealing to you now from the place that I met the Christ and have come to know Him more and more… and I am telling you that you need to come!
No, there is nothing special about the house of Shiloh Baptist… some parts of it are under construction, some parts of it have paint pealing, some parts have old paneling, some parts have holes, some parts have missing ceiling tiles, some parts have dirty handprints stained onto the walls, some parts need new flooring… but oh let me tell you, the church in that house… they are wonderful! They are not perfect yet, as all of us are still a work in progress, but I can promise you, that if you are willing to lay it out there, to take the time and effort to build the relationships, the church in this house, will love you unconditionally just as they are loved unconditionally by their God.
Jesus is lifted up and called Lord by His bride in this house… and His bride respects Him in this house… because she knows how very much He loves His bride, the Church, and so the church in the house of Shiloh invites you, compels you, calls you… to come and see. Don’t come just to see us… but come looking for the Christ… to come and see if indeed He is the Messiah.
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
Revelation 22:17