Jesus Is God Whoever Has Seen Jesus Has Seen The Father

This was a difficult portion of Scripture for me. In John 14, 6 through 14 is what I'm going to read right now. And I'm going to focus, verses 11 or 12 and actually 12, 13, 14. I think I'm very much looking forward to preaching. That won't be today. And I very specifically want to look at 6 through 11. And I recognize this, that Jesus in verse 1, we'll just start reading in 14, 1. Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. My Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself. But where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to where I'm going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? We see the issue. Don't let your hearts be troubled. These guys are troubled. We dealt with that last week. Troubled hearts. This is Jesus' remedy for troubled hearts. That's why I didn't want to just skip over verses 6 through 11 here. Because this is part of what's for the troubled heart too. It's not just what we looked at last week. Verse 6, Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father. And it's enough for us. It suffices. Jesus said to him, if I've been with you so long and you still do not know me, Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. You like that shift right there? Words. The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Nice shift from words to works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. And greater works than these will he do because I'm going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. Yes, I'm very much looking forward to preaching 12, 13, and 14, but that's not where we're at today. It's basically six through 11 that I want us to look at. Now, here's the thing. There's obviously some gaps in their understanding. The disciples' understanding of Christ is not where it ought to be and Jesus is correcting it. There's gaps in their understanding. Philip says, Lord, show us the Father and it's enough for us. Now, one thing I would notice about that, these guys are shaken. They're troubled. That's why he's saying, don't be troubled. They're tempted to fall away. We saw that in 16.1. I say these things to you so that you don't fall away. And you know what's interesting to me? After three years of walking with Jesus, three years of discipleship, you kind of get a glimpse of what Jesus instilled in their hearts. Because if I see something in Philip, I see this. After three years with Jesus, you know what? When he's faced with trouble, he says, Lord, if you'll show us the Father, that'll be sufficient. In this moment of uncertainty, this moment of fear, Philip's desire is for the Father. Lord, show us. Show us. That'll satisfy our troubled hearts. That'll be enough. Well, what's Jesus' emphasis? His emphasis couldn't be clearer. Look at John 14.7. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. Look here at John 14.9. You see the words? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. If you had known me, you would have known my Father. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. The first part of 14.10. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? 14.11. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Wow. I mean, Philip's got a lesson here in the classroom of Christ. Didn't he? I mean, imagine you're sitting there. Imagine you're sitting with those guys. You see Philip over there and they're having this dialogue back and forth. They're looking into the eyes of a man. And you know what? There was nothing about his external visage that caused like the Jewish leaders to say, oh yeah, that's the guy. You know what? The truth was there was really nothing about him. That he was just an average looking Jewish guy. Nothing special to the outward. They're looking in the eyes of him. He says, see me? Philip, you guys see me? Look close. You know what you're going to see? And you know, it doesn't take looking close. You can look from afar. You can look intermediate. You can look very close. What are you going to see? You know what he's saying? He says, the father, who he is, how he's defined, how you measure him, how you size him up. You know what? You can find out all that by looking at me. I declare who he is. How about that, Philip? Does that suffice it? Is that sufficient? Is that adequate? What this tells us to a certain degree is this. The disciples didn't know Jesus as they ought to have known. That's my point. There's some gaps in their understanding still. You see that. Philip didn't get that. The other guys didn't get that. Certainly, they had arrived at certain truths. They understood that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. You have the words of eternal life. We're not, I mean, they had certain things down. You remember there in the beginning, we found the Messiah. We found the one who Moses spoke about. They had certain things straight, but they still had some gaps in their understanding. You know what I wondered is, do we still have gaps? That's the question that I want to put on the table. For instance, do you know one of the things that's said in the context here? I am the way, the truth, and the life. The way. The truth. The life. No one comes unto the father except through me. So, you know what? I guess the thing is, I'm the way. The way where? Well, nobody comes to the father. You see, we typically don't have any problem. I'm the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the father. Well, he's the way where? Well, he's the way to the father. But you know what? Sometimes I don't think maybe necessarily we pick up on the truth and the life maybe just as we ought to. Do you recognize that both of those words connect us to the father? Do you know one of the things you find out here? You find out that the father is mentioned a whole lot of times, like 15 times. From verse 6 to verse 14. If you look at the father and the pronouns with regards to him, he's mentioned a bunch of times. Do you know what? The life, the truth, that also connects. Just check this out. This is all John talking. You know what John said way back in John 3? He said that Jesus bears witness to what he has seen and heard. Now pay careful attention. Yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his, Christ's testimony, sets his seal to this. That God is true. Now you want to get that. When it says that Christ is the truth, that has just as much to do with the father as the way has to do with the father. You know what? If you accept what Christ says, listen to what's, you set your testimony, you set your seal to the fact that God is true. When you hear Jesus and what he says and witnesses to, and you receive it. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God. And that's what he's saying right here. He says, I utter those words. Those words, those words are not random. He spoke every single word exactly. It was part of the body of truth that the father sent his son into the world to deliver to us. Listen to this. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true. This is John 8.26. And I declared to the world what I have heard from him. Truth. John 8.40. Now you seek to kill me. A man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. And you know what? Christ being the life that also points to the father. Think about what is eternal life? Right in this portion of scripture, before we get done with it, we're going to hit this in John 17.3. What is eternal life folks? That we might know the one true, the only, that one true and only God and who? Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. But I want you to think about this. Know, listen, think, think. Eternal life is that they know you, the only true God. And look, we know this and this often gets said, but we don't want to underestimate this. You look at the meaning of the word. It means marital intimacy. Yes, it means to come to an understanding about, but we full well know how scripture uses the term. Every woman who has known man by lying with him. That's from Numbers. What we need to recognize is this, eternal life, life, life, more abundant. Think about what it is. It's, it's, can you, listen, you know what? I have come across time and again, you know, one of the things is a young believer that I experienced. One night I went out praying and as I was coming back to the house, I was out under the moon and the clouds and out there in the fields. And I was praying. I was just a brand new believer, just only saved. I don't know how long, but as I was coming back, there was a sense of the presence of Christ with me to the point where it was more real than like something was happening. That was unusual. And when I got back to my room, his presence was so great that I, I thought one of two things was going to happen. I was either going to be taken, escorted to glory, or God was going to appear in that room. It was so great. And let me tell you this. I never really found anybody else that could connect until we had Paul Washer come. We were, we were there at Hackberry, just broken down old German house on the east side of San Antonio. And Paul came and he preached four messages for us. And I got talking to him about this. And he looked at me and he said, it about drove you crazy. And I looked at him. I thought, wow, I'm talking to somebody that's experienced this. And you know what, you know what happened? As I read Joy Unspeakable by Lloyd-Jones, he began to recount one after another. And in other reading that I've come across, I began to come across these encounters that God's people have had time and again. What I felt that night, I felt like, Lord, you have to make it stop because I can't contain this. I read about Howell Harris going up in a bell tower and God met with him there. You can read about that. He was one of these Welshmen involved in the first great awakening. He had to cry out, God, make it stop. A.B. Simpson, he was in New York City. He, same thing. I began to see this over and over, men having this encounter. Listen to me. We are in for heaven where God is going to come so close. And he is going to fill you with a fullness and a satisfaction and a joy and a glory that you are barely going to be able to contain. And this is life. And he, listen, when he created, look, marriage is a pure thing. But you think about this. The Bible itself says the marriage bed is undefiled. Let me tell you something. He created that and it's only a shadow. It's not the real thing, folks. We live in the shadow land. The greatest thing that happens behind that closed door is only, it is just a shadow. When Christ lays his arms around you, and what this is, this is a knowing. This is a knowledge. This is an intimacy that starts out with this only true God. But listen, man is alienated from this life of God. It's the life of God where all that is worth anything is to be found. This is what eternal life is. This is what heaven is. This is what glory is. But listen, no man has ever seen God, right? The only God who is at the Father's side or the only Son himself God or the only begotten Son. Different translations are different in John 1.18. But listen, Christ who is at the Father's side, he makes him, and there's our word, known. You say, well, he reveals facts about it. No, no, no, no. Yes, that's true. But you have to recognize in bringing in the facts about God, it's meant to swallow us in glory and pleasure. God wants that. All you have to do is read the song of Solomon to get a real feel. Listen, in John 17, where it says eternal life is to know him, Jesus, as he's praying, says this, I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known. What? Facts? Scholarly facts? No, no, no. You know how the verse goes on? That the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them. You see what's happening? Swallowed in love. That's life. He is the life. This is the issue here. Listen, Philip, if you had known me, you would have known my father also. This is the testimony. God gave us eternal life. And where's that eternal life? This life is in his son. Listen to this. Do you know this? You don't have a gap in your understanding here, I hope. Listen to this. You've read this. And I think a lot of times we just read over things like this. Jesus says, John 6, 57, as the living father sent me, I live, get this, I live because of the father. You ever read that? Be careful when you talk about Christ is self-existent. His existence and his life is tied intrinsically to the father. I live because of the father. So whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the life. As the father has life in himself, so he has granted. Isn't that interesting? Not just it's intrinsic. God granted it that the son has life in himself. Listen, what we need to grasp is this. Apart from the life Christ gives us, we will never share in or know the life of God. What is this life? This life is that saving relationship, that saving intimacy. Life, real, full, glorious, breathtaking, satisfying, exploding with joy. God's ultimate gracious gift to us is found right here. And his ultimate purpose with regard to man is what? That we find our way to him and Christ is the way. It's that we come under this body of truth that he wanted us to know. God reveals himself and he sends his son and he is that truth. And what is it? His purpose is that we have life that is consisting of more and more and more of God. And where is that? Jesus gives us eternal life, not just by giving us more facts, not just by giving us this knowledge about God, but by giving the very life of God himself in Christ shall all be made alive. That's what we read apart from the life that Jesus gives us. We cannot, it's impossible to share in the life of God. Christ is that life. Now, if I feel like there's gaps in my understanding, where do I go? Do I go to the spirit? I talked about the spirit when we were taking the Lord's supper. If you would know God, you know what? You don't primarily know God by knowing the Holy Spirit. Why do I say that? And I'm speaking with reverence here. I'm speaking biblically because right here in this section, you know what Jesus says? He says, this comforter is coming. And what's he going to do? Is he going to go around and tell us all about himself? Actually, what he says in John 14, 26, he will teach you all things and bring to remembrance all that I have said to you. In John 16, 13, he will glorify me. He will take what is mine and declare it to you. You don't even know God by seeking the father without Christ. Why? Because the father's invisible. No one has ever seen him. You see, it's the son himself, God, who is in the father's bosom or at his side, who declares him. If there are gaps in our understanding, we have to think. We have to think. We have to think. What does scripture say? It says in Christ, what? In whom is hidden all the treasures and wisdom and knowledge. That's where it's at. In him dwells the fullness of this Godhead bodily. It's in him. That's, we have to recognize, Philip, Philip, Philip, don't you recognize what is happening with my coming? And you know, it can be hard to see if you're standing next, sitting next to a man who just looks like him. I'm from the external appearance. He just looks like a Jew. Now they've walked with him and they've heard his words and they know he teaches like nobody. They've seen his miracles. But you know what? He came to his own. His own didn't receive him. Why? There was no halo around his head. He just, it's, and yet in him is where this full. Listen to this. John says this in his first epistle. We know that the son of God has come and has given us understanding. Understand, what sort of understanding? So that we may know him who is true. And we're in him who is true in his son, his son. So it's talking about the father. You see, he gave us understanding. Do you recognize this? There has never been anybody like Christ. No one's ever been able to say what he says. Philip, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. He stands entirely alone in the glory of his absolute uniqueness. And there's, there's Paul. He talks about the knowledge of the glory of God. Where is it found? 2nd Corinthians chapter four. Where's the knowledge of the glory of God to be seen? In the face of Jesus Christ. That's what scripture tells us. Now you have to remember the context. He's trying to prepare them to suffer. He doesn't want them to fall away. He's trying to comfort troubled hearts. That's what's happening here. So I just, listen, he's unique. He's the way, he's the truth, he's the life. Philip, I'm the one, I'm the one who declares the father. And what does all this do? You know what all this does? It cuts right through all the distortions that men dream up concerning Jesus. You know what? It simply doesn't work for you to have your version and me to have my version. You don't define him. I don't define him. He's not one thing to me and another thing to you. That doesn't work. Philip, Philip, you have not defined me accurately yet. If you're asking me to show you the father. And what we want to do is we want to get to where we're accurately defining. We don't want cracks in our Christology. There in front of Philip sat a man, a man who's saying, guys, look into my face, see me. Think about what I taught you. Think about the things that I've done. He says there in 1411, believe me that I am in the father and the father is in me. What kind of, just notice that wording. I'm in the father. He goes from saying, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. And then he says, I am in the father and the father's in me. He's not saying I am the father and the father's me. That's not what he's saying. You know what he's saying? The fabric of who I am is found in my father. The fabric of who he is, is found in me. There is such a harmony between us. Two persons in harmony. They're father and son, two different persons. The father sent the son. The son's returning to the father. The father's in the son. The son's in the father. These are two distinct persons. That's very clear. Two divine persons. Yet, there's a very singularity of disposition. They're bent. They're purpose. They're character. You have two persons in exact harmony. It's like if you have two instruments. They're separate instruments, but they're playing. In tune. One tune. Notice in context. Watch the harmony. Just listen to me. You don't have to look at all these. But this is right here in John. I just gleaned all this right out of John 14. But listen to the harmony here. I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Just notice the harmony there. I have a desire that you have the helper. I'm going to ask my father. He's going to give it to you. We're in total harmony here with the giving of the spirit. Or how about this? He who loves me will be loved by my father and I will love him. If you're loved by the father, you're loved by the son. If you're loved by the son, you're loved by the father. Their love is in harmony. Or John 14, 23. He says, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My father will love him. We, you like that plural pronoun there? We will come to him. Both father and son and make our home with him. We both set up home together in the same place. John 14, 24. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine. So he's saying my words are not mine. They're the father's. You hear the son speak. It's the father speaking. The father and the son never speak at odds with each other. It's total tandem. It's like watching your shadow on the wall. You raise your arm, it raises its arm. Christ is no shadow. He's the full reality. So you know what happens? Philip, do you know me? You're asking to see the father. Do you know me? And you know what? He's bringing them along. Because the thing is, Philip isn't denying this truth. He was just ignorant to it. But now he's getting taught. And see, that's where we're all at. You know what the Christian life is? You know, one of the main things that happens in our growth is progression in this area of just more and more, more and more. We're coming to fuller understanding of Christ. Listen to this. Ephesians 4.11 Christ gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. Why? To equip the saints for the work of ministry. But how about this? For the building up of the body of Christ. Until we all... See what's happening? What's happening is this is going on until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Did you get that? A knowledge. That's what we're seeking to attain. We're all moving towards the knowledge of the Son of God. To mature manhood. To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves carried about by every wind of doctrine. You see, the doctrines you don't want to be carried about by every wind is to be off and have misunderstandings about Christ. Why? Because Christ is the very defining element of who this God is that saved us. You see, you know what happens? We start our lives lost. And you know what happens to the lost mind? Do you remember what Paul said to the Corinthians? He said, you know what? There was a day where I once regarded Christ according to the flesh. Have you ever read that? Anybody ever read that? Well, think about that. Christ according to the flesh. What does that mean? Well, you know what it means. It's man's best attempt to figure out Christ and define Christ without the Spirit of God. Right? Don't you all agree? That's exactly what it is. Precisely. And so what? Well, the fact is, Paul said, if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, you know what? There are people proclaiming other Jesuses all over. Not that there is another, but you know what he's saying. I mean, the fact is in Ephesians 4, he says there's one Lord. Yeah, but we got a lot of people running around. They're saying all sorts of things. One Lord challenges what this world throws at us, all their supposed Jesuses. Think about it. Come on. We go out on the streets. We've been talking to people. What do they say? You know what I heard? I can remember working. The guy that oversaw the shop, he said, Jesus is the Son of God, not God. You ever heard that one? What are some of the other ones you hear? How about this? Our Muslim friends, what do they say? He's a prophet, not God. He's a prophet. He didn't die on the cross for our sins. Well, that's a supposed Jesus. That's another Jesus. You know, people are saying, well, yes, Christ is important. But you know what? Mary is either equally important, or usually they mean more important when they say that. The fact is some say he's a great man. Yeah, but that's all. Some say he's created. You've come across those people before. The Jehovah's Witnesses are very much... Some say he's brother to Lucifer. You heard that one? Some, the Jews, I mean, we want to go evangelize the Jews. What do they do with him? He's an imposter. Certainly not their Messiah. You know what some people do? They just perpetually see Jesus as a baby in a manger or dead on a crucifix on the wall. That's not the biblical Christ. They see nothing else than just a swear word for cursing. Some imagine that this Christ... And you know, we're going to get this in the prison. They just imagine a Christ, no matter how wickedly they live, he's just there smiling on them all the time. Accepts them, receives them. Some see the pictures. I hate pictures of Christ. Why? Because they're always some pathetic, effeminate, pale, anemic, dove-eyed thing. You know what I'm talking about. Some pushover. You know what? I've had more than one Muslim take me right in the context here to John 17.3. And we've already talked about it, but just listen to it again. This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God. And Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Now, let me tell you this. What? Why would they go there? Well, they would go there because they say, see, there's one true God. And then you have Jesus Christ over here. And Jesus Christ is the one speaking. And Jesus Christ is not saying that he's God. Case closed. Really? Case closed? You know what they fail to understand? That the one speaking, oh, you know what they don't hear there? This is eternal life. And what they don't recognize is there's a conjunction between the only true God and Jesus Christ. If I say eternal life involves knowing you and you, you see what he did? He put himself in the same category with the only true God. And if you say, well, no, it's only knowing Tia, but not Josh. No, no, no. Wait. If eternal life is knowing them both, you can't just take one out. What Jesus did there. Now, look, let me tell you this. Jesus did not walk around proclaiming himself God all the time. In fact, he was very ready to admit God was his God. It doesn't mean that he ever denied he was God. In fact, the way he talked, they picked up stones to stone him with because they recognized, well, he was making himself equal with God. He would say things like before Abraham was, I am. But the thing is, you need to recognize this. Jesus and the Holy Spirit who inspired the scriptures, their greatest task was not always to defend the doctrine of the Trinity. You just need to recognize that. Often scripture means to emphasize other realities, but you just can't get away from the fact that Jesus puts himself in the exact same category as the only true God. And so let's embrace that. And you know what? I find that our Muslim friends don't talk a whole lot about John 14 9 that we've been thinking about where he looks at Philip and he says, Philip, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. You won't get the Muslims typically to go there. There's a number of places in John they don't like to go. In fact, they don't really like to go to where before Abraham was, I am. Or how about this, Philip? Do you remember when I said, I am the Father, our one? Philip, do you remember that? Do you remember how the Jews responded when I said that? The Jews picked up stones to stone me. Remember that, Philip? They told me it's not for good work. We're stoning you, but what? You being a man, you're making yourself equal with God. You make yourself God. Philip, do you remember another day when the Jews persecuted me because I was calling God my own father, making myself equal with God? Do you remember all those times? Listen, what we need to recognize is this. Do you do you realize denying Christ? It's not just running around saying Jesus didn't exist. Do you recognize there were people that looked at Jesus walking down the street and they denied him? Just realizing Jesus was a real human being or a real historic figure, that's not it. We deny Christ when we simply deny that which is true about it. We deny what he said about himself when we simply define him other than he is. That's denying him other than our Bible say he is. I mean, doesn't scripture talk like this? Who is the liar? But he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Well, you see what the error was in that day. Today, yeah, we've got people denying that he's the Messiah, but we've got people denying his deity. We've got people denying all sorts of things about it. Who is that person who denies something about Christ? What are they called? Antichrist. You see, a lot of times people want to talk about the antichrist. Oh, you know, this guy's going to get all the 10 European nations together. He's going to have 666 stamped on his forehead. He's going to do all these different things. And the temple is going to be rebuilt. And they want to talk about all these different things. And you know what really marks the antichrist? Any antichrist? You just attack the person of Christ. Seek to redefine him. That's the issue there. The moment you deny anything about the Son, you know what Scripture says? No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. The moment you deny anything about the Son, you've just denied the Father. You see, Scripture says he is the radiance of the glory of God. The exact imprint of God's nature. That's what Scripture teaches us. If someone says, well, we have the same God. But they have an altogether different idea about Jesus. And the reality is, I've had people say that to me. I've had Catholics say that to me. We've got the same God. No, we do not have the same God. The true God's identity is essentially tied to Jesus Christ's identity. The Son declares the Father. Philip wasn't denying. He just didn't know. And now he's being taught. And when taught, he embraces it. But listen, when we say Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, the life. You know what we're doing? We're being exclusive. He is the. When we say he declares the Father, he is the radiance. There's none other. It's this Christ. This biblical Christ. That's the one. Him and him alone. You know what? The fact is that we have no tolerance for something else. There is an intolerance in the Christian religion. Whoever has the Son has life. What Son? Well, the Son is defined in Scripture. Whoever does not have the Son does not have life. And you know what? This has always been what offends people. We were just talking to Dennis about a situation that happened, and he was telling us about somebody that was offended. The fact is there's an intolerance in Christianity, and it offends people. In fact, let me tell you something. If you have not seen the intolerance of Christianity and been absolutely persuaded by this intolerant aspect of being a follower of Christ, you know what? You have probably never really come face to face with true Christianity. That's just a reality. Because the Christ of Scripture stands alone. Absolutely. You know what Scripture says? There is salvation in none other. There's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. We've got to be. His uniqueness has to be preserved. We cannot bend here. We cannot flex. If you think you can find God apart from this Jesus, you're altogether mistaken. You haven't really listened to Scripture. We've got to be intolerant. We can never say God can be known without Christ. That's just not possible. Brethren, we have to be utterly intolerant at this point. Absolutely. And because all true Christians are intolerant at this point, it unites us all. We're united in this. When we come in here, if there's anything we can say about this group of people, I mean, among the true Christians in this place that come together, it's this. We're inflexible about who Christ is. We've got one Christ. He's the one defined in Scripture. He's the one that declares the Father. Philip, I'm the one. Look at me. Now, I'm going to end with this. Because what I was thinking was, okay, so if I look at here and I'm really thinking about what comforts me in all of this. What's going to comfort me in trials? Well, I see that in verse 10, he says, the Father who dwells in me, right at the end of verse 10, the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I'm in the Father and the Father's in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. And you see what he's doing. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do and greater works. But you see what he's doing? He has these guys right now thinking about his works, works. And I just can't overemphasize here as we end. I want you to think about his works. Well, for one thing, we know this. John says, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written. And I'm going to talk to you about the ones that John wrote about. I'm just going to move through them really quickly, but I want you to think about them. John says, these are written, these works, these miracles, these signs, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. So I mean, if you're unconverted looking at these things, he says, this is meant to convince you. Who of who Christ is, but you know what? For us, like Philip, who may be coming into a season of difficulty. What can we say about these works? Jesus, he talked about these works. Let's just listen to John. My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. This is the thing you need to recognize. This is what he's saying. Philip, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Philip, do you recognize when I laid my hand on that leopard? You saw the Father. You see, that's his work. I came to accomplish his. My Father is working until now, and I am working. John 5.19, truly true, I say to you, the Son can do nothing. Nothing. Did you get that? Nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father do. Isn't that an interesting way to put that? That's just what my Father's doing through me. I see what he's doing, and I do exactly what I see him doing. John 10.25, I told you, and you do not believe, the works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me. John 10.37, I am doing the works of my Father. Or if I am not doing the works of my Father, then don't believe me. But if I'm doing them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works. So how does this comfort us? Just listen to this. Right here, I don't know when, but in the not too distant future, hopefully, we're going to get to a verse in this portion of Scripture that says this. Pay very close attention. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. Jesus is saying, look, I don't have to ask the Father on your behalf. Why not, Jesus? That sounds like a good thing that you would ask the Father on our behalf. Why are you telling us that you don't have to ask the Father on our behalf? For the Father himself loves you. Now, here's what I'm thinking. These guys are getting ready to lose Jesus, go under this incredible suffering and this loss, persecution and difficulty, Jesus being taken away. It's going to seem like failure and all this. He's saying this, my Father loves you. My Father loves you. Guys, think about the works that I did, and just think, that tells you who my Father is. Every one of those works, and He loves you. What do you think that's going to result in? A God who, I don't even have to ask on your behalf. You're going to ask Him because He loves you. He's going to lavish these things on you. Well, you know what, if somebody said that to you, they said, you want to see a list of the benevolence that this guy has done? Somebody came along and they said, you know what? I'm adopting you. I'm bringing you in. I'm going to make you my heir. I'm going to do... You know what? If somebody said, well, look at a list of things he already did. Just think with me. You know this, turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. You know why he had to turn that water into wine? They were poor. That's why you run out of wine. And that's why the wine they started with wasn't even very good wine. And so what happened? Do you think if you ran out of wine halfway through your wedding, it's going to be an embarrassment? Jesus, think with me. Here's Jesus out in the wilderness. He's fasted for 40 days. No, I will not turn that stone into bread that I might eat. Why? Because it wasn't His Father's will. But you know what? Here He is, poor couple getting married. He turns water into wine, into wine, wine of such excellent quality with the master of ceremonies. He's blown away by it. What did Christ do? He added gladness at a marriage feast. You see what Jesus is saying? Look at the works. I didn't do my works. I did His works. And He loves you. And I'm going away, but He loves you. And that's the kind of God you have. How about this? Healing the official son in Capernaum. You ever read that account? Here, He adds gladness at a wedding. Now He adds gladness to a family. How so? Oh, here's His Father. He's losing His son. What's that going to do to the family? Do you know what happened to that family in the end? Here they are ready to lose a son. He goes out there and He doesn't even have the faith to say, Lord, you could just give the word and He'd be healed. Somebody else had that kind of faith, but not Him. He said, come to my house. And Jesus, no, He didn't need to go there. But do you know what happened when He healed the son? This guy's going back home and some people meet him and he finds out it happened just exactly at that time of the day. Do you know what happened when Dad got home? He told the whole family about what happened. Guess what happened to the whole family? They all believed. I mean, that's the kind of thing. Jesus did more than the man once. He healed from afar. He healed at once. And because of the miracle, the nobleman's whole household became believers. And again, Jesus saying, Philip, Philip, you want to see the Father? Look at me. Watch what I'm... Philip, does that suffice? That's starting to suffice. He loves you. And these are the things He did. Healing the invalid at the pool of Bethesda. You want to be healed? 38 years of frustration. What? He came there. I can't get there. I tried to get into the pool. Can you imagine? This guy, he wants to be healed. He can't get to the pool. Something happening in the stirring of the waters. KJV says an angel came down. You know, I'm not surprised. The Messiah's in the land. God's doing things. After He died, all these dead came out of the graves. Things are happening in this day that are supernatural. And so here He is. Do you want to be healed? I mean, can you imagine after 38 years? Every attempt you make, somebody's in there before you. His heart probably withered right along with his body. Jesus, full of pity. He comes along one day and He just rescues this guy right out of this hopeless case. And what did the guy say? I have no one to help me. And Philip, does this suffice? Look at me. Realize who I am. How about the feeding of the 5,000? I mean, that's the central miracle of Scripture. Why do I say that? Because it's in all four of the Gospels. I mean, do you realize what we're told? He went out there into that wilderness to find rest. Remember, He told the guys, we've been working a long time, guys. You need a rest. Let's go out here. And you know what? He didn't deny himself. Or He did deny himself. He didn't say, well, you guys, we need rest. I mean, He denied the rest. And the disciples, what would they have done? They would have sent the people away. But He's full of pity. We can't send them away because if we send them away, they're going to faint in the way. He's just this calmness, graciousness. He takes the little that they have and He turns it into much. You see what you have to recognize is the whole time when He's saying, consider the works. You guys have to think about the works. You know what He's wanting them to do? Go back in their mind and think. They were there. They saw these things. And He's saying, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Philip? Because He's saying, chose the Father. That's sufficient. He's saying, Philip, is it sufficient? Are you really seeing it now? Is it beginning to sink in? Some of the walking on the water, the Sea of Galilee, the boat became immediately hit. I mean, these guys are out there tossed, tormented by the waves. And what does He do? He comes gliding across those waters. It is I. Be not afraid. And the whole time He's just saying, my Father orchestrated every one of these miracles. I did them, but they came from Him. They were His works. He healed the blind man in Jerusalem. We know that in John 9. I mean, you remember what was said? Nobody's even heard about a miracle like this, somebody being born blind and being healed. Not since the beginning of the world. And you know what they just sought to do at the end of the last chapter? That was where He said, before Abraham was, I am. And they sought to stone Him. You know what? He's not afraid. He doesn't just run away out of Jerusalem. You know, He's pretty bold. Nah, there's a guy that needs to be healed. I don't mind still being here. I'm not going to run in hiding. I've got things to do for my Father. And here He is, fearless. It's like He's just unharmed. He's got work to do and He's going to do those works while it's day. And it's just like He's serene and He just moves through. He moved through. People are angry. They want to stone Him. And He's just moving around all the time. Quiet, restful, peaceful. Just doing His Father's works. Here's a guy that sees. Raising Lazarus from the dead. All you got to do is think about the tears there. He wept. Jesus wept. And so, you know what I would just say? Man creates his superheroes. You know what I mean. The demigod guys that come from other planets. When they come here, what do they do? They can like spray fire and throw cars around and blow buildings up, right? Isn't that what they do? And here it is. I'm going away, guys. But look at me. You've seen my Father. You've seen your Father. And He loves you. You've watched what I've done for these last three years. He Himself loves you. And all that is His fingerprint. It's all over it. He loves you. These are His works. Those works speak. What do they say? They say He's not the kind of superheroes that men create. You just watch Jesus weep at that tomb of Lazarus. Philip, Philip, are you seeing the Father yet? Does this suffice? Well, amen, brethren. Father, show us Yourself through Christ. It's in His name we glory. It's in His name we pray. It's in His name we have a way and a life and truth and life. And we're so thankful for this salvation. Thank you in Christ's name, amen. Amen.