104 John 14:7-11 HOW TO KNOW GOD THE FATHER Introduction: In our previous text Jesus explained to His disciples that He is the way to God the Father --- the way to heaven. In our text today He explains that He is also the way to a better knowledge and understanding of God the Father. I. An overview of our text I want to first give you a quick overview of this entire text. Then I want to come back and take a closer look at some of the verses. V. 7, "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." Jesus is still talking to Thomas, who had misunderstood about Jesus going away to heaven to prepare a place for them. He had especially misunderstood when Jesus told them that they knew where He was going and that they knew the way. Thomas thought that Jesus was talking about going away to a distant land and distant city right here on earth. So Thomas had said, "Lord, we do not know that land or city you are going to and how can we know what road to take to go there ourselves?" Jesus did not at that time explain that He was not going to a distant land or city, but that He was going away to heaven. Rather, He stated to Thomas and to all the disciples that He is the way. He did, rather indirectly, say that He was going to heaven. He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." He let it be known that He was going where God the Father is and that is heaven. So indirectly He let it be known that He was going back to heaven. He was going back to God the Father and no man can get there except by Him. Note verse 7 again. V. 7, "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also; and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." In essence, what Jesus said to Thomas is this: "Thomas, if you had really known me as you should, you would have also understood about God the Father. You would have understood that I am not going to some distant land here on earth. You would have understood that I am going away to God the Father in heaven." Yet apparently Thomas and most of the other apostles still did not understand. They were confused. But it is not Thomas who speaks up and asks for more explanation. Rather it is the Apostle Philip. V. 8, "Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." That is, "Show us the Father and that will be enough to help us understand." Philip was saying, "Show us the Father and we will be convinced that you are the way to the Father." It is a part of human nature to want to see. Remember the Russian who, after returning from outer space said that he had not seen God up there anywhere. V. 9, "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?..." It seems that Jesus is somewhat hurt by Philip's lack of understanding. Philip had been with Him now for three years. He had been with Him almost day and night. There had been a brief period in which Jesus had sent them out two by two to go through the nation to preach the gospel to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But otherwise, they had been together. He had heard Jesus preach and teach the great truths of God. He knew that no man he had ever heard speak spake like Jesus did. He had seen the great love and compassion which Jesus had for men, women, boys and girls. He had seen that Jesus loved the rich and the poor, the good and the bad. He had seen Jesus perform many miracles. He had seen Him cast demons out of those who were demon possessed. He had seen Him heal the dread disease of leprosy. That was something that no doctor in that time could do. He had seen Him heal people who were afflicted to all manner of disease. He had seen Him give sight to the blind and cause the dumb to speak. He had seen Him heal the crippled and the maimed. He had seen Jesus feed a multitude with five loaves of bread and two fishes. He had seen Him calm the winds and the waves of the stormy sea. He had seen Jesus walk upon the water in a storm. He had seen Jesus raise the dead. He had seen Him raise Lazarus after Lazarus had been dead for four days. Philip should know Jesus pretty well by now. He had seen every evidence that the love of God was in the heart of Jesus. He had seen the evidence that the wisdom of God was in the mind of Jesus and in the words of Jesus. He had seen the power of God in the deeds of Jesus. He should have known that there was a very close relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ. He should have known that the very character and nature and power of God the Father was in Jesus. (V. 9), "...he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?" How could Philip have failed to see this? Could he not see that the very essence of God was in Jesus? V. 10, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." The wisdom of God the Father was in His words and the presence and power of God the Father was in His deeds. V. 11, "Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake." Philip was a saved man. He already believed in Jesus as the Christ of God and was already saved. Therefore, he should have known that whatever Jesus says is the truth and he should have believed whatever Jesus said. But if his faith was so weak that He could not accept what Jesus said believe it just because Jesus said it, then he should believe it because of the mighty works which he had seen Jesus perform. He should have understood that God the Father was in Jesus and working through Him. II. A closer look at some of the statements in the text Philip asked Jesus to show them God the Father. He just really did not know what He as asking. At least if he was asking to see God the Father in the fullness of His glory, he surely did not know what he was asking. Back in the Old Testament when Moses had asked to see God, God told Moses, "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live." God is a Holy God who despises sin. He cannot tolerate sin and all men are sinful. Even those who are saved still live in sinful fleshly bodies. Therefore no man who is still in sinful flesh can see God in the fullness of His glory and live. The holiness of God would kill him. God did allow Moses to see a small amount of His glory. He placed Moses in the cleft of a rock and covered him over with His hand while He passed by. Then after God had passed by, He lifted His hand and allowed Moses to see His back parts and Moses lived through the experience. Perhaps Philip may have been asking for some kind of manifestation of God's lesser glory such as Moses was allowed to see. But since the fall of man into sin, only a relatively few have ever had that privilege. Another thing I would call to your special attention to is that Jesus was somewhat hurt that Philip did not yet understand that the very life and ministry of Jesus was a revelation of God the Father. God the Father and God the Son are two different persons and they have different offices in the Godhead. But they are identical in their nature. They are identical in their characteristics. They are both all-wise. They are both all-knowing. They are both Almighty. They are both eternal. They are both Deity God. In fact, all three in the Godhead are identical in their characteristics. They are, however, different persons and they hold different offices in the Godhead. But since Jesus and the Father are identical in their characteristics, then whoever knows God the Son also knows God the Father. He can get to know Jesus and in doing so, he will know God the Father. Jesus said in verse 7 of our text, "If ye had known me, you should have known my Father..." But let me call your attention to something else. These men did know Jesus and, therefore, in a limited way they did know God the Father. Even though they did not know Him in the sense of seeing Him with their natural eyes. Yet they knew Him in a sense, because they knew Jesus. What they needed to do was to know Jesus a lot better. Then they would know the Father better. The more one knows and understands about Jesus, the more he will know about God the Father and the better he will understand God the Father. Also take notice again that Jesus was disappointed in His disciples because they did not know Him well enough to understand that God the Father was in Him and working through Him. He was somewhat hurt by their lack of knowledge and understanding of Him. I cannot help but wonder if He is not somewhat hurt by our own lack of understanding of Him. Jesus asked Philip, "Have you been with me so long a time and yet you do not know these things about me, Philip?" I wonder what He would say to us. I wonder if He would not say to some, "Have you been saved all these years and yet you have never memorized any Scriptures except John 3:16 and the Twenty-third Psalm?" Perhaps some have never memorized any Scripture at all. Perhaps He would say to some, "Have an you been with me for all these years and yet you have never read the Bible completely through? Have you been a Christian these many years and yet you have never learned how to tell a lost person how to be saved? Have you been in Sunday school and preaching services all these years and yet you know so little about me and about the Bible?" Listen, we all need to know more than we do about Jesus and about God the Father in order to know more about His will for our lives. How can we know the will of God for our lives if we know practically nothing about God, Himself? How can we take a stand for Bible truth unless we read and study the Bible and learn all we can about God? Thank God the Father, any man can get acquainted with Him by placing his faith in Jesus Christ and being saved. No man can come unto the Father but by Jesus, but any man can come to the Father and get acquainted with God the Father by trusting in His Son Jesus Christ for the salvation of his soul. Thank God, also, that after one is saved, he can learn more and more about God by studying the word of God and learning more and more about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Both the Old and New Testaments tell about Jesus Christ. The four gospel books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John give a record of His life, His ministry, His death, and His resurrection. The Book of Acts gives a record of the Lord spreading the gospel to distant lands through the work of His New Testament churches. The Epistles give an account of the Lord dealing with certain problems which arose in His churches. The Book of Revelation gives a prophecy of the Lord in the future. I want to repeat: The better you know Jesus Christ and the more you know and understand about the teachings of His Holy word, the better you will understand God the Father and His will for your life. Let me call your attention to a few of the things that God the Father wants you to do. #1: God the Father wants you to repent of your sin and to confess your sin to Him. In Acts 17:30 we read, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men every where to repent." #2: God the Father wants you to place your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ to save your soul. John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." #3: After you are saved, God wants you to be baptized and get into the membership of a New Testament church. In the Great Commission Jesus commanded that His churches are to preach the gospel to the lost, baptize those who are saved and then teach and train those who get saved and baptized. He wants the saved to be trained how to life for Him. #4: After you are saved, baptized and in the membership of one of His churches, God the Father wants you to be faithful in attendance at church and to serve Him to the best of your ability. Hebrews 10:25 says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as we see the day approaching." There is one thing I can say for sure. It is not the desire of God for any man to die and go to hell. Neither does God want any Christian to get short-changed when He hands out rewards. He wants every Christian to be faithful and true to Him and He wants to be very generous in the rewards which He will give out. Conclusion: Let me ask you these questions: Do you want to go to heaven? If so, are you willing to call on Jesus and trust Jesus to save your soul? Are you willing to do so right now? If you are saved, are you ready study the Bible and learn what how God wants you to live your life? Are you ready to live your life according to the teachings of God's holy word? Is there somebody here who would like to join this church and dedicate your life to the glory of God through this church?