Come and See

“Nathanael said to him, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see’” (John 1:46).

The power of the invitation is one of the most underrated tools of evangelism. The thrill of being given the opportunity to approach God’s throne in worship can never be contained within the heart that has fully received the salvation that Christ died to manifest in us on the cross. The fire of enthusiasm should be so strong that we grow “weary of holding it in” (Jeremiah 20:9). But we need to make sure that what we are inviting others to see is authentic. Last thing we want people to see in us is hypocrisy. When we invite others to join us in we want them to see Christ in us.

When we invite others to come join us in worship we want them to see people convicted. There are enough people in the world that come to worship just for the outward appearance. When they come to the Lord’s church, we want them to see hearts that have been pierced by the truth of the “two-edged sword” (Hebrew 4:12). We want them to know they are in the presence of the Lord’s blood bought souls (Acts 20:28). We want them to see people who are “doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22). The church is made up of souls that are truly convicted by the sin that separates and the Savior that suffered to fill that void. We are to be the example to the world of the “true worshipers” that the Father seeks (John 4:23).

When we invite others to come join us in worship we also want them to see people cleansed. Many say they have been saved but still live in sin. God did not send His Son to shed His blood so we can continue in sin, but that we can be cleansed from the stain of sin (1 John 1:7) and walk in a newness of life (Romans 6:4). When people are looking for salvation they do not need to be fooled by the façade of false religion. They need to see people who have died to sin. They need to see people who desire the pleasure of God’s presence, which is life, and not the pollution of sin’s reward, which is death (Romans 6:23). When we invite others to come see the Lord’s church in worship they need to be able to see hearts that are made pure through faith in God.

When we invite others to come join us in worship we also want them to see celebration. It is a blessing to come and worship our Lord, not a burden. David said, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD’” (Psalm 122:1). This is what people need to see in us while we are worshiping, people who are honored to be with God and not people wanting to be somewhere else. Many are being deceived by satan’s trickery to believe that their bodies in the pew is sufficient for worship, even though their hearts and minds are already at the restaurant or home taking the roast out of the oven. When our hearts are convicted and cleansed then we should be expressing our joy to God for His work in the sanctification of our souls for His purpose. This is only shown through an attitude of gratitude. Our worship should be offered in a way that the people we invite can see our joy. They should see an eagerness in us that proves to them that there is nowhere else we would rather be on Sunday that in the Lord’s presence with His chosen people celebrating his power in our lives. Remember that we were once alienated from the hope that Christ died to bring to our lives. “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). We celebrate victories in the physical world all the time. The world needs to see God’s children celebrating the victory of the faith as we come before God in worship if we want to win their souls to Christ.

In His Grace,
Cub