"COME AND SEE"
“COME AND SEE”
John 1:35-39; John 1:46; John 4:29,30
JT It is the words, “Come and see”, in these verses that I have in mind and their application today. God has helped us in the past here and elsewhere as to order and ornamentation in our gatherings with a view to the enhancement of what there is for Himself in the way of life, so that the invitation to anyone enquiring is, “Come and see”. In the gospel testimony it is a question largely of what is presented for the ear to hear, but for the saints of God there is added the thought of what is to be seen in the place where God is known, where the divine presence is. These two disciples of whom we have read, are intended to be exemplary in this respect, for you notice that their interest is below the surface. They are drawn to Christ by the testimony of another; they are attracted to Him, but He would bring out what was in their hearts, what they sought. What they say is, “Rabbi” — which, being interpreted, signifies “Teacher”, and He says to them, “Come and see”. This invitation to “Come and see” opens up much in our times, for the spiritual intent is that there should be something to see in the abiding place, for that is what they enquired about; they did not want simply to see the Lord, but where He abode. It brings up the question of our meetings which are all warranted by Scripture, our meetings for prayer, for preaching, for prophetic ministry, for readings so-called and, of course, the breaking of bread; these are all scriptural. Then the question comes up as to what is to be seen in each of them in any locality, for, in general, the divine Presence is there, but it is a question of what is to be seen.
EG Does the divine Presence being there call for order and [p. 367] ornamentation?
JT That was what I thought, whether there is anything in the sense of teaching, whether the Spirit is present guiding us into the truth. In the Established Church you could not say to an exercised soul, “Come and see”, for what would he see?
WC Does the queen of Sheba illustrate your thought? She says, “I gave no credit to their words, until I came and mine eyes had seen”. 1 Kings 10:7.
JT That is an outstanding illustration of the thing.
PHH Are you thinking of the spiritual thing that is going on underneath the surface, behind the public side?
JT That is bound to affect what is to be seen: where the Lord abides, evidently in the sense of teaching, that is what was in their minds. The Spirit of God tells us what is meant by the word ‘Rabbi’. It gives the thought of some sort of a school of instruction, a means of learning and teaching, the impartation of truth and the reception of truth. It is divine, the order which Scripture employs is divine, and not only is it right but there is power behind it.
EG Must we have seen where the Lord lay before we can enter into this?
JT That would help. He had been invited to come and see where Lazarus lay. These three scriptures, it seems to me, furnish instruction as to our meetings, what people may see when they come in, if they do come in. Firstly, as to instruction, teaching, the meaning of the word ‘Rabbi’ being given, and the idea of the abiding; and then secondly, the thought of good, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?”. Well, “Come and see”! See if there is any good. Then, “Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?”, the One expected. It is wonderful! “Is not he the Christ?”; “Come, see a man”. It seems to me [p. 368] that these three thoughts come into our meetings and are intended to be read into John’s gospel to affect us as to what there is to be seen in these respects, whether in the way of teaching, or good, or the Person Himself.
FK Does 1 Corinthians 14 bear on this, a simple person coming in and falling down, “reporting that God is indeed amongst you”? 1 Corinthians 14:25 I think so. The presence of God was felt there and the apostle points out that it could not be so if one speaks with tongues. Naturally, men would think he was mad; we have to consider whether we are conveying any impression in our meetings which would lead to such a remark as that, that we are not quite normal.
AB We should approach the reading meetings in a spirit of dependence, recognising the Lord as our Teacher.
JT It is a question of how we behave at our so-called readings. Is the procedure calculated to affect an enquirer coming in? Are there conditions for the divine Presence? Can the Lord be there without being grieved in any way?
Rem In the first chapter you have repeated three times over “which is, being interpreted”, as if the Spirit of God is here as seeking to open up the truth.
JT Why not use the interpretation? It might be said, Why does the Spirit use the original word at all, and then tell us what it means? It is as much as to say, ‘If you are on the line of learning I will explain what these words mean’. We ought not to use words people do not understand in our readings, nor should we pretend to be learned men, referring continually to the original. We should use ordinary language which people can understand. John would not puzzle anybody by his gospel; it is a ‘simple page’, but he brings in original words and tells us [p. 369] what they mean. The New Translation helps us to understand, but there is no attempt to be learned.
Ques Is it an occasion for the opening up of the truth and the Spirit is always available for that if our attitude is right for learning?
JT We should have in mind that the Lord desires to be with us and that there must be nothing which would jar on His spirit. If a man says, “Come and see”, he means more than that you should see him personally; he wants you to see his house and his furniture and whatever else will enhance his glory, and that is what should be in our minds in sitting down together to read the Scriptures, that there should be in the furnishings nothing but what would enhance His glory, so that He can abide there. In this way it could be said, ‘The Lord is amongst these people, there is something different from anything we have heard previously’.
GWB In Acts Peter draws attention to John and himself, saying, “Look on us”. Acts 3:4 Were Peter and John samples of what the Lord had here?
JT They were conscious of being worth looking at in that connection, because the Beautiful gate of the temple was there. There was something there to attract the eye, but Peter’s appeal, “Look on us” means more than that; he was referring to the persons themselves.
- R. Does “Jesus having turned” mean that He had respect to the spirit of enquiry found with them?
JT That is good. The Spirit of God stresses that such are worth looking at. The Lord valued them more than any person would. He would bring out what was in their minds and hearts and I am sure He would be pleased when they said, “Where abidest thou?” It points to the furnishings of the abiding place, those with whom He would surround Himself; such as in Acts, Peter and James and John and Mary would be there, and others with them, persons [p. 370] thoroughly interested, whose attitude would enhance the position. They would not be sitting in a dull way or carelessly, but enhancing the position by their interest and attitude.
WW Why does John say, “These are written, that ye might believe”? John 20:31.
JT That is the key to John’s gospel, belief. If each one of us searches his own heart he will have to admit that he sins by unbelief, for active unbelief is sin, and the great point with John is to get believers. There were ordinary believers to whom the Lord could not commit Himself, those who were affected only by external things. He was aiming at His disciples believing, so we read in the next chapter, “This beginning of signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed on him”. John 2:11. Thus we come in chapter 20 to, “That ye may believe”, John 20:31 and He says to Nathanael, “Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou?” John 1:50. He responded and so the Lord added, “Thou shalt see greater things than these”. Such things are made known to believers.
Ques Is the element of belief seen in the two disciples?
JT It went deeper than the surface. They wanted to see the surroundings where Christ lived, where He abode. The beginning of Acts corresponds with this: each one of those in the upper room was ornamental. They enhanced the position. It would do you good to look at them: if anything good was said their faces would shine.
PHH Does belief bring us into the realm where these things are going on?
JT Yes, where persons are aglow with interest in the things of God it is active belief. Inactive belief is death; faith without works is dead.
Ques By active belief do you mean an immediate response to what [p. 371] is presented?
JT Anything that is said that I have not heard before will stir me up and even if I have heard it before it comes home with fresh power to me if I am a believer.
FCH In the epistle to Colossians the apostle speaks of “Your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ”. Colossians 1:4.
JT That is a remarkable statement — the preposition ‘in’ implies active power.
PL Would the choice woods and precious materials in Solomon’s temple bear on all this — the glory filled it?
JT Just so. The glory that shines in the persons.
- C. Are you seeking to emphasise the need of right conditions in the assembly in view of active belief?
JT Yes, so that people who come in are affected, so that they say, I have never been in a meeting like it; it is not like one of the regular churches. That is the idea of “Where abidest thou?”. What sort of surroundings are there? What kind of people are they, how do they go on? They are not ordinary religionists.
PL Is it love’s obligation to furnish what is described? Lazarus at Bethany would have been one of them.
JT That is the idea. Lazarus was one of them. Think what a man he was! It is John’s way to give you concrete cases.
GWB The queen of Sheba says, “Happy are thy men! happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee, who hear thy wisdom!” 1 Kings 10:8, 2 Chronicles 9:7. Is that the impression a person coming in should get of the saints?
JT Quite so. Our meetings should not be doleful to young people, nor should they be too long.
[p. 372] The young people should come out happier than when they went in.
Ques Has “the tenth hour” any reference to the end of this dispensation?
JT I suppose so — the day running out, you mean?
Rem I was thinking how the Lord is reviving all these things at the end of this dispensation and securing an answer to what was presented at the beginning.
PHH One would desire to come to where the Lord abides in view of our abiding with Him. It says, “They saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day”.
JT You mean they did not simply look in and leave. It is attractive. This gospel bears on that elsewhere. “Will ye also go away?” John 6:67. There was holding power there where the work of God was. Peter says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast words of life eternal”. John 6:68. It was a question of His Person, but here it is furnishings and order of the house.
FK They are together in John 20 as believing persons.
JT That is it. Believing not only that He was the Christ but all that the message conveyed. They were characteristic believers. There was no discrepancy there save that Thomas was absent as he was not a characteristic believer. It was divinely ordered that there was no jarring note there, so it says, “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord”, John 20:20 and then they are sent out in testimony. The testimony going out today is on that line, carried by inside believers, so to speak, those who believe all that is presented to them of the highest order of truth.
- R. Does it follow that one who has been on the line of ‘seeing’ has influence with his [p. 373] brother?
JT That is what you get here — “Andrew the brother of Simon” is mentioned as finding his own brother.
Ques You were referring to the Lord as Teacher and to the place where He abides. Is everything ministered from Him in that way from where He is?
JT Yes, from the highest point above.
Rem In Elisha’s day they were infidel as to the great truth of the ascension (2 Kings 2:16).
JT It is well to bring that in here because our hearts are so infidel, if we do not watch them. We are only half interested or quite listless if faith is not operative with us.
PHH The calling of the Lord “Rabbi” would mean that the mind is ready for fresh unfoldings.
PL Does the interpretation in each case convey a spiritual thought? Does it suggest that you have what is in mystery in measure? Is it a question of being initiated in that which theological language would not convey? It could not furnish words to convey these impressions.
JT I think that is so. It suggests the idea and in the books of the Old Testament you find out more about it. I suppose actually the word ‘Rabbi’ being interpreted is for the understanding of the gentile believers. And one hearing it would say, ‘I should like to get some more words like that, words which were actually used by the Lord Jesus; are there any others?’ Yes, there is another word which Mark and John use and that is ‘Rabboni’, and Mark knew other words too which the Lord used. I can understand a brother coming in among us from the denominations and asking, Are there any other books which enlarge on the Scriptures? Yes, there are books which help, and that is the way interested souls get on and heaven is delighted in interested persons. This book particularly follows up interest. Moses turned aside to see the burning bush, and God called [p. 374] him by name, as much as to say, You are taken on now. The blind man called the Lord, ‘Rabboni’ — that is to say, When my eyes are open, You are going to be my teacher (Mark 10:51).
PHH Manoah said to the Angel of Jehovah, “I pray thee, let us detain thee”. Judges 13:15. Does that spirit enter into this?
JT Quite so, and that of Gideon also: he asks the Angel to wait while he prepares him a meal. I suppose these thoughts are cumulative in Scripture, going back to Genesis.
Now, as to the next point; Nathanael is interested to know about ‘good’ (verse 46). He said, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” and Philip says, “Come and see”. It was a question now of good.
Ques What do you connect with that particularly — any special meeting, or what is among the saints generally?
JT Generally, I would say. It is an outside position, sitting under the fig tree, and the Lord sees him coming to Him. It is a question of walk; it had been the walk of the Lamb of God which had affected John, and now the Lord sees Nathanael walking. It is to bring out that the matter is now turned round; it is not what Nathanael finds in Christ, it is a question of what Christ is to find in Nathanael, because the setting here is finding. It is a question of the person who is coming to you, what the Lord sees in him, and the Lord names him. If persons come to the meetings on this line the Lord sees them coming. The walk from the house to the room is of importance in the light of this. The Lord sees what is going on; He names Nathanael here, “An Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile”. John 1:47. He was not doing much under the fig tree. He would not get help there, he was unbelieving there, but the Lord intimates to him that He saw him before Philip [p. 375] called him, as much as to say, ‘I know all about you’, but it was after Philip called him that the Lord named him. He is now coming to see and if there is a work of God there it will show itself in genuine interest. The Lord today looks for what corresponds with “Come and see”.
Ques The Lord takes the initiative in finding in this paragraph. Do you get a sense that whatever material is brought the sovereign work of God is beneath it?
JT If you are used in a gospel meeting to help a young person, the Lord has been there before you. That thought should sober us as to lengthy appeals in the gospel. The Lord must have been there before if we are to effect anything. All Philip said was, “Come and see”. He is not pleading anything. He says, “We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets, Jesus ... who is from Nazareth”. John 1:45. That is all. You go back as far as you can in the Scriptures when you talk about Him.
GWB Are you applying this also to conditions amongst the saints?
JT It is rather now the condition in the persons who are interested, what God is doing in them, what the brethren can see in them, are they worthy of consideration? If we are speaking about our meetings and what is to be found there we do not want to add anything to it which might mar it. The Lord looks for suitability. The Lord discriminates everything and He says of this man, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” John 1:47. He is fit for fellowship.
PL Is all this a set-off against attempts to explain our position in a mental way, thus making people more misty? It is urgent that they should get impressions of God among us.
JT If a soul is not affected by God, he will go away from our meetings and say, I did not hear anything much there. That will be the case if the [p. 376] Lord is not working with him, but the question is, What can we see in him? That is the way the thing works. Is there anything in him that the brethren can take notice of, that they can follow up? “An Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile”. John 1:47. Nathanael was a transparent man. The Lord was virtually commending him for fellowship. What a good case he is! Then the Lord challenges him; He says in effect, ‘Why did you believe?’ There are greater things ahead for him. He puts the matter so that the man is standing on his feet as a man of faith.
PHH Does this at all suggest the scrutiny of the Lord in the Revelation, taking account of the different assemblies?
JT Yes, and this case is an example for us. We do not want to puzzle or baffle people who are interested; we want to put them on their feet.
PL The soul is held to Him by His own personal dealings and that affords a foundation for the assembly.
JT The “thou” in John 1:49 is emphatic. “Thou art the Son of God”. John 1:49. It is not a question of other people, but ‘You are the one’. Nathanael says, ‘The real Person is there’. He presents the idea of one coming into fellowship.
EB Do we see that kind of service in Barnabas? He introduces Paul to the brethren.
JT Barnabas was an unjealous man. I would like him to come and see me if I were asking for fellowship! He would make a man of you.
GWB Would Nathanael’s question, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” constitute a challenge to mere orthodoxy?
JT An orthodox churchman would say, ‘What good can come out of these brethren?’ Angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man, is that a suggestion of the deity of [p. 377] Christ?
JT Yes, ascending first, everything proceeds from Him administratively.
The third thing is “a Man” — “Come see a man” (chapter 4:29). This is a first-hand witness, for the woman says, He “told me all things I had ever done”. Every really converted person is a first-hand witness for he or she can speak of what happened to them.
PHH Does this continue the thought of transparency?
JT That is right. She was not afraid now for all her past history is dealt with. No matter what they say when she asks for fellowship, she would say, You can say anything about me, nothing is too bad. She would be held by the Person of Christ. Anyone who had been searched as she had, would not be offended by anything that might be said, however hard. What could be said too bad if she looked back over her past history?
Rem “Who has given me power ... who before was a blasphemer and persecutor, and an insolent overbearing man”. 1 Timothy 1:13.
JT Yes, you could not say anything too bad about “the chief of sinners”, could you? What is in mind is what the Jews will be in the last days, flesh of sin working out in its worst character. So Paul is a delineation of them, of God’s long-suffering as shown to him.
FK Does Rahab in Joshua represent the idea? She abides in Israel until this day.
JT She stays. If God is working with anyone who comes to see among us, such an one will be held.
AMcG Is this woman characteristically like those in Psalm 68? She would be a subject woman. “Great the host of the publishers”. Psalm 68:11.
JT That is so. She would not be a troubler of the brethren, because you could say anything to her,
[p. 378] and she would not be turned aside, and you should not be turned aside either by what people say, or by the sight of others turning aside either, because you should think to yourself, I might have been that person. If you think of “Simon the leper”, Mark 14:3 he is a leper; that is his history and how can that man throw stones? We should save one another a good deal of trouble if we searched our own hearts. We all know what sin is, we have all had to do with it. We are not easy on young people and those asking for fellowship because we are not easy on ourselves. To be easy on them is not to be a friend to them. He “told me all things I had ever done”. The searching power among brethren is a testimony to Christ.
Ques You have no desire to blot out that page from your history. That the Lord knows all the details of our lives is a thought which should be maintained in our souls?
JT If we are honest men and women we would not deny it. If someone says something hard about us, well, the Lord has said the same thing too; that is the basis of our fellowship.
WC Did the woman wash her robes in accepting what the Lord said about her (Revelation 22:14)?
JT She was morally cleared.
GWB The good news to Samaria was brought by four leprous men; they would disarm prejudice.
JT Quite so. We are to be always repenting sinners if we are true men and women; we have learned how to repent.
PHH The thing having come out, is it a highway morally to the service of God? He spoke of worshippers in John 4. Does the Lord touch us morally in that sense in order to secure us in purity for His service?
JT Quite so. He speaks about worship to her after she had discerned Him to be a prophet.
[p. 379] Rem That was seen in Luke 7. The woman was a sinner but she anointed Christ.
JT “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much”. Luke 7:47. The Lord knew them all and He did not shield her a bit, but neither did she seek to be shielded.