Introduction:
The Lord had just mentioned that He was going away and that He would prepare a place for every believer. Then He stated that He would return for His people that they might be with Him.
Jesus stated that his disciples knew the way to the Father and proceeded to say in verse 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Now the Lord makes a statement that the disciples had not considered before for Philip says in verse 8: “Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.”
A. Man wants to see God’s glory, Exodus 33:18, “And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.”
1. Man is insecure and wants to see tangible things rather than live by faith, Romans 1:17, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”
2. Man is justified by faith, Galatians 3:11, “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”
3. God does not accept anything less, Hebrews 10:38, “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”
B. God wants to see FAITH, Mark 11:22, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.”
1. Faith to believe God’s Word, Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
2. Faith to trust Christ as Savior, Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
3. Faith to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, Galatians 5:16-17, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
A. Don’t you know me, Philip? v. 9; John 14:20, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”
B. He that sees me…John 12:45, “And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.”
1. God gives light to see, 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
2. Light to see Jesus as the image of the invisible God, Colossians 1:15-17, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
3. He is the express image of His glory, Hebrews 1:3, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”
A. Because of His character, John 14:20, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”
B. Because His words are the Father’s words.
1. His doctrine, John 7:16, “Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.”
2. He did not speak of Himself, John 12:49, “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.”
3. The words He spoke were not His, John 14:24, “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
C. Because His miracles revealed God’s working through Him, John 5:36, “But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.”
1. They bore witness of Jesus, John 10:25, 38, “Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.”
2. Yet many did not believe on Him, John 12:37, “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:”