John 14:8---Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
John 14:9---Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
John 14:10---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.
John 14:11---Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
John 14:12---Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
John 14:13---And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:14---If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
John 14:15---If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:16---And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
John 14:17---Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
John 14:18---I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
John 14:19---Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
John 14:20---At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
John 14:21---He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
This disciple, one of the earliest, seizes upon the last word of our Lord and asks for a bodily view of the Father.
I. PHILIP'S DEMAND TO SEE THE FATHER.
"Lord show us the Father, and it sufficeth us."
1. It is hard to decide how much of ignorance is compatible with saving grace.
2. Evidently Philip thought of such a revelation of God as vouchsafed to Moses in answer to the request, "Lord show me thy glory."
3. He believed that such a revelation would solve all his difficulties and doubts.
4. How strange that Philip should not, in three years, have found what he aspired after. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father."
5. Yet his request implies that it was in Christ's power to satisfy his demands. (Matt 11:29).
II. OUR LORD'S ANSWER TO PHILIP'S DEMAND.
"I have been so long time with you, and yet thou hast not known me, Philip."
1. Philip was longer with Jesus than most of his disciples. The words have a touch of sadness and disappointment, as if Philip had failed to benefit by all the teaching and experience of three years.
2. The answer implies the impossibility of seeing the invisible Father with the eyes of the body.
3. But the Father is seen in him who is his express Image. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." He sees the Father's love, faithfulness, and power. The life of Christ is the true manifestation of the Father.
4. Jesus points to two proofs of his union with the Father.----His teaching. "The words I speak unto you, I speak not of myself." All was revelation of God. His miracles---"And the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." The works were a revelation of the Father's power, as the words were of his character. The disciples ought to deduce the Divinity of Christ's nature from his works. "Believe me for the work's sake."
III. CHRIST'S DEPARTURE WILL BE THE SIGNAL FOR THE REVELATION OF NEW POWER IN THE APOSTLE.
"He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father."
1. Christ endowed his disciples with power to work miracles like his own.
2. He endowed them with power to do still "greater works"---in Pentecostal conversions---which were of a far more exalted nature and with more enduring results than miracles of power. The prophecy began to be fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, and is still in process of fulfilment in the expanding growth of the kingdom of God,
3. This higher productiveness of the disciples is to depend upon Christ's higher position. "Because I go to the Father." The ascended Lord has received the "all power" of heaven and earth for the use of his Church.
4. Prayer will be the disciples part in these greater works. "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Mark the true condition of successful prayer. It must be "in Christ's Name" (not only verbally, but in perfect priority ETC!) It implies that it is by the blood of Christ we draw near to God; that we pray in the strength of Christ; that we shall obtain from Christ in heaven whatever we ask of him. Mark the large scope of prayer: "Whatsoever ye shall ask," There is no limitation save what is implied in subjection to the will of God. Mark the certainty of the answer of prayer: "I will do it." Does Jesus hear his own prayer? As the Organ of Divine power, he gives the answer. Mark the design of this prayer: "That the Father may be glorified in the Son. The object is, "Thy kingdom come."
IV. THE SOURCE WHENCE THIS PRAYER OF POWER DERIVES ITS VALIDITY.
It is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
1. Mark the moral condition of this new blessing. "if ye love me, keep my commandments." Obedience is the necessary fruit of love. "Love without obedience is dissimulation." Obedience without love is but drudgery and slavery. Our efficiency depends upon our fellowship with him in a loving obedience.
2. Mark the glorious provision that is made for Christ's absence. "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. It is Christ prayer that procures for us the Holy Spirit. So long as Christ is in heaven, in his intercessory power, we shall never want blessing. It is the Father who gives the Holy Spirit. He is, indeed, the Father of all comfort. His Fatherhood is the pledge that the prayer will be granted. The blessing is the Comforter---"the Spirit of truth." This title implies his distinct Personality, his true Divinity. Mark his various relations to believers. He is "with them" in fellowship. He abideth by them in personal comfort. He is "in them" in indwelling power. His presence will be perpetual---"that he, may abide with you forever." Christ's historical presence will be perpetual---"that he may abide with you for ever." Christ's historical presence was now to be measured by a few hours or days. The Holy Spirit will be with the Church till the end of the world. He cannot be received by the unreceptive, unsympathetic world. "Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him." The world cannot see or know spiritual things, which demands the faculty of spiritual discernment. (1 Cor 2:14) The receptiveness of the disciples, so different from the moral blindness of the world, had its origin in the spirit's indwelling, and would be still further strengthened by the fuller measures of his grace.
V. THE CONSOLATION SUPPLIED BY CHRIST'S SPIRITUAL PRESENCE IN THE FUTURE EXPERIENCE OF HIS DISCIPLES.
"I will not leave you orphans."
1. Our Lord thinks of them as "little children," who needed guidance, support, comfort.
2. His departure was just at hand. "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. The world was to see him no more after his death. After his resurrection he appeared only to his disciples. His disciples would see him; they would "behold with uncovered face the glory of the Lord" (2 Cor 3:18). The ground of this faculty of vision lay in their fellowship with this life. It is the fulness of life to see God as he is (1 John 3:1-2). Christ's life is the foundation and guarantee of the life of the believers.
3. The day of the gift of the Comforter will be the signal of fresh and enlarged blessings, "At that day ye shall know that I am with the Father, and ye in me, and I in you." The Comforter will impart the knowledge of the mystical union in all its spiritual completeness. He will witness with the spirit of believers that they are children of God. The sincerity of love will be manifested by a steadfast obedience. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, loveth me." Mark the need of knowledge to obedience. The need of obedience to loving happiness. The promise to obedience. "He shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." The Father loves all who love the Son, his own beloved Son. The Son loves those who love the Father, and makes through that very love, a more perfect revelation of himself. Thus this higher manifestation more than supplies the place of his bodily presence. [ The End ]