Well good morning. Good to see you Mike. Glad you're here. Two weeks ago now, it always works out this way, two weeks ago now we started a new section in our study of John chapter 14 and then we had to take a break last Lord's Day morning on Easter Sunday morning to talk about the gospel of a risen Christ. And so here we are, ready to pick up the pieces again. Let me see how quickly I can sort of get us back into the flow in the context of John chapter 7, or John chapter 14, excuse me, verses 7 to 14, that section we started two weeks ago now. Remember that Jesus and his disciples, as we come to this new section, are still in that secret upper room where they have been ever since the beginning of chapter 13. They will be in that upper room all the way through the end of chapter 14. But as we're into chapter 14 now, the scene there is a little bit different, for the better actually, because Judas the betrayer is now gone. They're in the upper room It is now just Jesus and his 11 true disciples. And you remember what's happened so far in chapter 13 leading up to chapter 14. After Judas departed and went out from that upper room, you remember that Jesus has said some very, very hard things. but important things to his disciples that they needed to know. He's leaving and there's some things they needed to know. And from those hard things that Jesus has said to these guys, by the time we got into chapter 14 you know where they are. They're way, way down there in the very pits of despair. You see, they have always thought, and I know I've said this a number of times before, but it's important to keep in mind, they have always thought from the very beginning, based on their understanding of the Old Testament scriptures, that Jesus was going to overthrow the Romans and establish his earthly kingdom right now, a kingdom in which they would all then have prominent roles. That was their plan. That was their script. And on Sunday, on the opening day of this Passion Week, that was all looking pretty good as Jesus, remember as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, on that colt of a donkey. And as he came in, he wrote in to thousands and thousands of people who were waving the palm branches and shouting, hailing him, shouting, hailing him as king, as the king of Israel. It all looked pretty good on Sunday. Any minute now, he's going to set up his kingdom, right? Well, no, he didn't. And by Thursday night, things have now gone seriously south for these guys. One of you will betray me. Jesus has said to them in chapter 13, they don't understand that at all. And instead of setting up his kingdom, which they thought he should have done by now, instead, Jesus has told them all in very clear, in certain terms, even repeatedly in chapter 13, he told them that he is leaving them very soon. and that where he's going, they cannot follow him now. And all of that was just not in their script at all. And then to top it all off, they also heard Jesus just tell Peter there at the end of chapter 13, that before the rooster crowed that night, he would deny his Lord three times. And Peter was kind of sort of the unofficial leader of that group, if you will. And so they've heard all that. To sum it all up, we can say this, the world has just caved in on these guys. as we're here in chapter 14, leaving them totally confused and devastated all at the same time. Think about how it was for them for three years, for three years now, ever since they've known the Lord for three years now, these 11 disciples, have had the very special and unique privilege of walking and talking with Jesus Christ right here on this earth. They have had a special and unique privilege that no other believer before them or after them has ever had. For three years now, these 11 men have been walking by sight. Ever since he saved them and called them to be his disciples, Jesus has been right there for these guys every single day, meeting their every need. Just imagine how that would have been every morning when they woke up, Jesus was there. Um, just imagine that Jesus has been their teacher. He has been their protector. He has been their provider. He has been their counselor. He has been their guide. He has been their Lord and savior. And what does it say? What did it say in chapter 13 verse one? He loved them to the end. He loved them all the way out to the end, all the way out as far as divine agape love can go. And you know that they loved him as well. These guys were fully, fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ who loved him with all of their hearts, all of their souls, all of their minds and all of their strength. And so these guys are just crushed right now. They're terribly crushed. They're terribly confused right now. And so understand that to be the setting. Understand that to be the, uh, the scene and the mood. as we come into chapter 14. How could Jesus possibly be leaving us and why would he be leaving us? These guys don't understand the cross yet. They don't understand why Judas left the upper room. They don't know what he's out there doing right now. They have no idea about a delayed earthly kingdom after a second advent. And then of course, on top of it all, there's just that devastation, that devastating pain of separation from someone they love, from someone who is literally everything to them. And so what John 14 is all about is our Lord, who certainly had troubles of his own right now, he's facing the cross, helping these men that he loved to the end, make the transition from living by sight to living by faith. They've been living by sight. Now they're going to have to make the transition to living by faith. That's the big thing that's going on here. And remember now that it was in the very first verse of chapter 14 where Jesus laid the important foundation for that transition. Remember what he said in John chapter 14 verse one, Jesus called on these guys to believe in him also, to believe in him in the same way as they have always believed in God. That's the only way guys that this transition for you is going to work. Your faith has always been in an invisible God. Now your faith is also going to have to be in an invisible Christ as well. You guys who for three years now have lived by side are going to have to make the transition to living by faith because I have to leave and you guys have to stay here for now. You remember what happened from there in the early verses of this chapter in verses two to five, Jesus went on to tell them where he was going and what was there. Remember, I'm going to my father's house and in my father's house are what? Many dwelling places. We love that, don't we? We love that promise. And then after making a promise to come for them, and take them there to be with him where he is. There was that rapture promise there in those early verses. Then he answered Thomas's question in verse six. And you know what his answer to Thomas's question was. It's right there over my head. I am the way. Thomas said, we don't know the way. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father, but through me and all of that now, leads us back up to the second section of this chapter that we got started on two weeks ago. And here's what's happening in this section. In this section of the chapter, before his departure, basically what's happening is this. Jesus is turning his disciples over to the father's care. I'm leaving. I'm turning you over to the father's care. He knows they're having a real hard time with that. And he also knows why they're having a real hard time with that. They're having a real hard time with that transition because their understanding of Jesus Christ's oneness and equality with the father is insufficient. It's very weak and it's very shallow. You see, it's been easy. It's been very easy for these guys to trust in a Christ that they could see with their eyes and touch with their hands. Uh, but they're not so sure about this new program. And so showing these guys and teaching these guys that faith in him and faith in the father is all the same faith in the same God. That's what these verses are all about. Let me read them for you again. If your Bibles are open to John chapter 14, follow along please. As I read verses seven to 14, and then we'll jump back in. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on, you know him and have seen him. Excuse me. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the father. And it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, have I been so long with you? And yet you have not come to know me, Philip. He who 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 initiative. but the Father abiding in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also. And greater works than he's he will do because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, that will I do. so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." And so this section ends with a promise that they will do his works and greater works. We're going to get to that in a week or two here. That's a great verse, verse 12. And then it ends with an incredible prayer promise. They have power in prayer. Let's pray together before we go any further. Everybody okay? All right, let's pray together. Our Lord, we thank you this morning for the privilege of coming together here on this Lord's Day morning. Thank you, Father. Through the study of your word on these Lord's Day mornings, we are all growing week by week by week in our understanding of who you are. Your word, Father, is where you have revealed yourself to us as a triune God. And so we're excited as we anticipate the wonderful truth you have for us yet to glean here, right here in this text, where Jesus will be expounding upon the depths of his oneness and equality with you. Really, he's going to be taking us down into the doctrine of the Trinity here. Father, we've never yet lived by sight like these disciples have. We will someday. We're longing for that. We're looking forward to that. But Father, we are living by faith right now, like these disciples soon will be. And so as you teach them through your son, Father, teach us. Give us everything that Jesus is giving them right now. in this text as we study it so that we can more faithfully live for your glory. We commit our study time to you asking for your spirit's help, illumination, that he would be our teacher as we study today. And we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Well, we're taking our Lord's teaching in these verses under four sub points. And under each one of the sub points, I've put this preface after I'm gone. And the reason I put that there is because that's what this is all about. Jesus is preparing his disciples, teaching his disciples about how it's going to be for them after he is gone. He's preparing them for life on this earth as believers without him here. He's preparing them to keep right on faithfully and obediently living the life of faith after he is gone. And the first step in that is to make this huge transition. After I'm gone, you guys have to learn how to live by faith instead of by sight. Huge transition for them. And when you do learn that, guys, when you do make that transition, I can promise you beautiful things are going to happen. Your faith, and we're going to see all of that, your faith in the invisible God, your knowledge of the invisible God, your intimacy with the invisible God is then going to grow by leaps and bounds through your continued faith in me. which will now be your faith in an invisible Christ, which you will then understand to be the same faith in the same God. That's where all of this is going. After I'm gone, you guys are going to understand, like you've never understood before, the profundities of my union with the Father who will now care for you just like I have cared for you. And in fact, the Father who sent me to you will soon be sending another helper. We're going to get to that in these verses later on. It's in the next section. The Father who sent me to you will soon be sending you another helper, the Holy Spirit, who will very soon be living right within you. And so what we have here are By way of outline, our four points of instruction from our Lord to his disciples on how their access to the Father will beautifully and wonderfully work through their continued faith in him after he is physically gone from them, which of course is going to happen when tomorrow afternoon. Now, two weeks ago, we got through the first point. in the first part of verse seven. And so let me just review that as quickly as I can as a lead up to the second one that we want to talk about today. Point number one here is this. After I'm gone, there's my preface, after I'm gone, Jesus said to his disciples, you will know the father. After I'm gone, you will know the father. And look at what it says at the beginning of verse seven. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on, you know him. Remember with me, and it was two weeks ago, but remember with me, be reminded again here of what this doesn't mean. It doesn't mean what it sounds like it could mean. Jesus is not saying here that these 11 disciples don't really know him in a true and saving way. They do know him in a true and saving way. We know that. And even Jesus knows that. That's not what he's saying here. What Jesus is saying here is this. He's saying that they don't know him well enough. to make this transition work. They don't know him fully enough to make this transition work. They don't know him sufficiently enough to make this transition work. What Jesus is saying here at the beginning of verse seven is that their knowledge of him, these disciples' knowledge of him is not deep enough. That's what Jesus is saying here. And it's evidence that's evidenced by the fact that they don't really know his father. They're apprehensive about this transition of being handed over to the father because they don't really know the father, right? As I said last time, I'll say again this morning, saving faith makes you a what? spiritual kindergartner, right? Saving faith is a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful thing. Saving faith transforms your life. Saving faith makes heaven now your eternal destination. But at the same time, we must say that saving faith makes you only a spiritual kindergartner. Saving faith is only level one kind of faith. And what is God's intent? God's intent is never that you would stay right there. God's intent is never that you would stay right there. There are people in evangelical churches all over this town who maybe have been there for 40, 50 years or more, and they are still at the kindergarten level. That is not God's intent for you. God's plan is for you and for these disciples. God's plan for you is to grow. His plan for you is to mature and deepen in your understanding of those precious salvation doctrines. You know what I have discovered in years of studying the scriptures is that It's not so much that we're going to be learning new doctrines all the time. As we study these doctrines from one place to the next place to the next place, what we're getting is different angles on those doctrines that are plunging us deeper and fuller into those same doctrines. So it's not so much different doctrines or new doctrines, it's a depth of understanding of the same doctrines that the Word of God hits from all kinds of various angles. And so when you get all done, this thing comes together like a beautiful tapestry. Isn't the Word of God awesome? That's the Word of God that we study, right? And so that's God's plan. And I guess what I'm saying here is that that's what didn't happen. That's what hadn't happened for these guys, like it should have happened by now. And think about it. We're just going to go ahead and call it their fault. Because you know what? When it's all said and done here, they had the greatest teacher this world has ever known, didn't they? Right by their side. They were walking with Jesus in human flesh, for crying out loud. They had the greatest teacher this world has ever known. But I think I mentioned this last time. Let me say it again. What had happened? Obviously, much of what he said to them went in one ear and went right on out the other ear. When Jesus and we, you know, we've seen examples of this. When Jesus many times said things that they didn't understand, what did they do? Did they Did they carefully think it through? Did they ask more questions? Did they sort of grind it all the way out and meditate on it and grind it all the way out to a sound conclusion? No. What happened? Most times when Jesus said those hard things that they didn't understand, they just blew it off and they ignored it because they didn't have to. He was right there, right? They didn't have to pursue it and so they took the path of least resistance. They let it go. And we've seen them do that over and over and over again. And so at the end of that, all now, here we are three years down the road and here they are now without the, that critical depth of understanding that they should have had by now. And that's what Jesus is putting his divine finger down on at the beginning of verse seven. You guys don't really know me. He's not denying that they know him in a saving way, but you guys don't really know me like you ought to know me by now, or you would know my father also. You don't like the idea. You're all upset about this idea of me turning you over to the father and telling you that I'm leaving and all of that. And it's because you really don't know the father. And that you don't know the father, guys, means that you don't really know me either. But from now on, remember that was the end of our study last time, but from now on you will know the Father. And so that's what Jesus is saying here. This is after I'm gone. From now on, after I'm gone, you guys are going to grow into a rich and meaningful comprehension of my oneness and equality with the Father. And sure enough, they did. At the end of our time last week, I gave you some examples of that. When did that new level of comprehension for these guys begin to kick in? Right after the resurrection. Remember, I think I took you to the account where Jesus was in the, where Jesus showed up in the room where those disciples, later on the day, afternoon or evening of resurrection Sunday, right? And he showed up in the room without opening the door and Thomas wasn't there. And then eight days later, he said, you know, the guys told him about that. And the other guys and Thomas said, I got to, I got to touch him. I got to see his wound. I got to feel, you know, and so eight days later, Jesus showed up again. And remember what Thomas said? He didn't even, he didn't remember that he needed to touch, right? What did Thomas say? He looked at Jesus and he said, what did he say? My Lord and my God. Right? And so that began to happen right away on resurrection Sunday afternoon, this greater comprehension. But listen, listen, that whole thing, that whole thing is really going to come together. The lights, the spiritual lights are really going to come on for these guys, um, 50 days after the resurrection on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy spirit comes down. And, uh, I wish I had time to read those verses in Acts chapter two for you. A whole profound thing is going to beautifully come together for them, um, on the day of Pentecost. And they are going to find, and the rest of the new Testament bears witness to that. They are going to find. these incredible doctrines and truth just sort of exploding in their minds as they, as they remember, you know, as they remember back, Oh, Jesus told us that, Oh, Jesus, they don't get it at all right now, but they're going to remember. And it's all going to just come together for them. The spiritual lights are going to come on like never before. And so after I'm gone, you will know the father. That's what Jesus is saying to them here. You will know the father. Let's go on. Pick up our study this morning now with our Lord's second point that begins at the very end of verse seven and goes down through verse 11. Now, tell you up front, we're not gonna make it that far. We're not gonna make it all the way down through verse 11, but we will make it this morning down through verse nine, okay? And then we'll pick it up and finish it next time. All right, after I'm gone, point number one, you will know the Father. After I'm gone, point number two, you will have seen the Father. Point number two, after I'm gone, you will have seen the Father. Look at verse seven again. And now I want you to focus with me just on that last little phrase in the verse. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on, you know him. And then what does it say? And have seen him, past tense. Here's what Jesus is saying here. Once you guys make this transition from living by sight to living by faith, you will come to really know the father through me. And number two, you will also look back at that point after I'm gone. And when you look back after I'm gone, you guys are going to realize that you have seen the Father. You don't realize that now, you're oblivious to that right now, but then you will look back and realize that you have seen the Father. Now, right now, right now on this Thursday night, these disciples all found this second statement of our Lord's just as confusing, just as puzzling as his first one. And in this case, you will notice that Philip is the spokesman for the 11. Kind of interesting. Who's normally the spokesman for the 11? Peter, right? I think I've said before, Peter had been kind of quiet right now. Peter isn't saying much right now, and he hasn't said anything at all. In fact, ever since Jesus called his bluff, on that I will blustery, I will lay down my life for you pledge that Peter made. As I've said before, I think Peter's ego is bruised right now. He's laying low. He's not talking much. And so in verse five, Thomas spoke up. Thomas is the one who asked the question that Jesus answered in the verse that's over my head. And in verse eight now, another one of the guys spoke up and this is a guy by the name of Philip. He speaks up and when he speaks up, He makes what is, what had to be to our Lord, a very, very disappointing request. And we need to talk about that disappointing request that Philip made here. for a few minutes, but before we get to that, the details of Philip's disappointing request, how about if I take a minute or two to remind you of a few things we know about this disciple named Philip from earlier in John's gospel. Let me take you way back to when we first met Philip. It was in chapter one, when Jesus called him to be his follower. The next day, he, that is Jesus, it says in John 1, 43 to 45, purpose to go into Galilee and he found Philip. So Jesus found Philip and Jesus said to him, follow me. Philip did. Now Philip verse 44 was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Both Andrew and Philip, by the way, were Jewish men with Greek names. Verse 45, Philip found Nathanael and said to him, we have found him of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And so what happened immediately after Jesus found Philip, Philip in turn found Nathanael. Philip immediately became an evangelist here. And as we think about that, it might make us think of Philip's evangelistic encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, if that comes to mind, over in Acts chapter eight, but no, no, take that back out of your mind. That was a different Philip. That was not this Philip. That was not Philip the apostle. The Philip that had the encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch was Philip, one of the seven deacons, I think it's fair to call them, who were chosen to assist the apostles in Acts chapter six and verse five. And so the Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch was not this Philip. That was another Philip. But anyway, nonetheless, this Philip did immediately move into an evangelistic encounter with Nathaniel. And so let me just stop there to say that it's pretty typical for a new believer to have evangelistic zeal. I remember that sometimes we need to rekindle that don't we after a while. But when God first saves you and when he first transformed my life I remember that. The first thing I wanted to do is to share this incredibly wonderful thing that had happened to me with somebody else. And that's a good thing. And that kind of wears off. And that's not a good thing. But we see that right away with Philip. However, mark that he's not the same guy that had the encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch. Let me give you our next encounter with Philip. the apostle, because this one gives us, I think, some real insight into what Philip's going to say to Jesus in our text today. The next time we ran into this Philip, Philip the apostle was in John chapter six, and it was, just before you know that great miracle when Jesus fed the multitudes on the mountainside with five loaves and two little fish right you remember that in John chapter six this encounter that we got with Philip was just before that miracle took place and it's right here in John chapter six where we get some real insight into this guy we get our first glimpse at Philip's faith insufficiency. And so as we begin to talk about this, and as we move towards what Philip is going to say in our text today, kind of, let me just plant the seed for you to think about that as I have thought about that, because we have that same kind of problem. I think in many cases, we have a faith insufficiency like that. So begin to think about that anyway, as we look at what we're going to see here about Philip way back in chapter six, this is just before the miracle. Now, And here's what it says, John chapter six, I'm going to read verses five to seven. Therefore, Jesus lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to him said to Philip, this is our man, Philip, Philip, the apostle said to Philip, remember what he asked Philip, where are we to buy bread so that these may eat? Where are we to buy bread so that these may eat this? He was saying to test him. For he himself knew what he was intending to do. Philip answered him. You remember Philip's answer? 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little. No hope for us on this one, Lord. Now, Philip was indeed a true believer. Absolutely was. Philip did have saving faith, but you know what he just did? He miserably failed the Christian living faith test. as Jesus asked him that question. And so would you remember with me now briefly what's going on here? We talked about it a long time ago. Jesus didn't ask Philip where they were going to buy bread, by the way, because he wanted or needed an answer to that question. What did it say in verse six? Jesus already knew what he was going to do, right? He didn't ask Philip that question because he needed or wanted an answer. And Jesus also knew that where they were out in that wilderness place, I mean, there was no little supermarket around the corner. I mean, this was, and not only that, it was, evening was, darkness was setting in, right? It was late in the day. They were out in the wilderness. Jesus knew that in that wilderness place, and at that time of day, there was absolutely no place for anyone to go and buy bread, much less bread for 20 or 25,000 people, all right? They had a big crowd of people there. Jesus asked Philip that question, people, for one reason. And one reason only, he asked Philip that question to remind Philip that what we have here is a humanly impossible situation. And he reminded him of that so as to test his faith. Here we are. We have thousands of hungry people. As I, as I said, I think there were 20 to 25,000 people, 5,000 men plus women and children. So it could be upwards of 20 to 25,000 people there. We have all of these hungry people here in this desolate place. Darkness is setting in. They're all hungry and there is nowhere to buy bread. And so what do we have here? We have a humanly impossible situation. Have you ever encountered one of those? They come up, don't they? Humanly impossible situations. You know what? You know what's beautiful about humanly impossible situations? That's where faith really works or doesn't work when you're faced with some humanly impossible situation. And let me just quickly set you up a little bit now for the answer that Philip should have given to Jesus there on the mountain that evening. You see, Philip already knew some things about his Lord. You know some things about your Lord too. And I know some things about my Lord as well. Philip knew, already knew some things about his Lord. Let me remind you of a couple of them. Philip was right there with Jesus when, uh, in John chapter two, when he miraculously turned about 180 gallons of water into the Bible says the best wine they had waiter had ever tasted. Uh, Philip had also been there with his Lord, the end of John chapter four, when Jesus miraculously healed that nobleman's son from long distance. Remember that one? Jesus didn't even go there. He didn't even go there. He healed the man, the man's son from long distance. And then how about this one? Philip had also been right there. Philip was always there with his Lord for three years. He was always right there. Philip had also always also been there with his Lord. Most recently at the beginning of chapter five, when Jesus told that man who had been laying for 38 years to get up, Can you imagine that? There's Phillip standing right there watching this conversation and watching what's happening. Jesus said to that man who had been lame for 38 years by the pool of Bethesda, pick up your pallet and walk. Jesus said to that man, Phillip watched the guy get up, roll his mat up, put it over his shoulder and walk off. Made the Pharisees real happy. But Phillip watched that happen. And so when our Lord asked Philip here at the beginning of chapter six, right, that's all before chapter six. So when our Lord asked Philip here at the beginning of chapter six, where are we going to buy bread to feed these people? Recognizing that as a humanly impossible situation, Philip should have immediately answered his Lord, something like this. Why are you asking me, Lord? You're the one who made everything that is out of nothing. Why are you asking me? Why are you asking me, Lord? You're the one who turned water into wine. Why are you asking me, Lord? You're the one who healed that nobleman's son without even going there. Why are you asking me, Lord? You're the one who made a lame man walk, who had been laying there for 38 years, almost 40 years. I saw it happen. I saw him get up and walk away. Right while I was standing there and watched you did that. Why are you asking me to solve this problem of feeding these people, Lord? You know that I can't, but I know that you can. That's the answer Philip should have given. And had he given that answer, he would have passed this faith test. But he didn't give an answer like that to Jesus. Philip answered in verse seven, 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them. For everyone to receive a little. Answer here, people, was a faithless answer. It was a faithless answer. Tragically, a miraculous solution to this humanly impossible situation by his Lord was not even there in Philip's mind. It wasn't even there. He didn't even think about that. It didn't even cross his mind. That didn't even occur to him. And again, go back to the basic question. Did Philip believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God? Absolutely. Yes, he did. But even way back here in chapter six, we see that, can I call it a faith disconnect? A faith disconnect. We see that faith insufficiency that Jesus is now putting his finger down on in chapter 14 in a conversation with this very same guy. We had one more encounter with Philip prior to this one here in chapter 14. And that was in chapter 12. There's nothing about this one that particularly applies to our, our study today, but I'm going to read it for you in a way, cause it'll only take a minute. It was one more encounter with Philip. Remember when those Greeks in chapter 12 came and wanted an interview with Jesus, this is the beginning of Passion Week. When they came seeking that interview with Jesus, they came to Philip, Philip the apostle. We don't know why, but it might've been because of his Greek name. Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. It says in John 12, 20 to 22, these then came to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and began to ask him saying, sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came, you remember this, Philip came and told Andrew, Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. Again, remember, we have no indication that the Greeks ever got that interview with Jesus. They probably didn't. I don't think they did, but Jesus certainly knew they had asked for one. And so here at the very beginning of Passion Week, these inquiring Greeks marked for Jesus. And we talked about that. Marked for Jesus, the dawning age of the Gentile. The church is coming. It's time for me to go to the cross. It's time for me to ascend back into heaven and send the Holy Spirit down. It's time for the church to be born. And so that marked the dawning age of the Gentiles. And with that little bit of background on Philip now, let's bring it all the way back up to chapter 14 and look at his, shall we call it a very disappointing question? Shall we call it a, spiritual ignorance revealing question request that Philip makes in John 14 8. From now on Jesus just said you guys will know my father and from now on you will realize that you've seen my father. When this all comes together for you guys, when you finally make this transition that you need to make from living by sight to living by faith, when you finally start believing in the invisible Christ like you've always believed in the invisible God, Then you will know my father. And then you will realize that you have seen the father. And with that statement out on the table now from our Lord at the very end of verse seven, you will have seen the father we get, we get from Philip. What an immediate response, almost like a knee jerk response. And you know what? Uh, the response we get from Philip here in chapter 14 is not any better than the response to Jesus was back in chapter six, no better whatsoever. Look at what he says. Speaking on behalf of the 11, Philip's request here to Jesus makes it very clear that in the present moment, right here at this Thursday night, in the present moment, they're all still grossly insufficient in their understanding of who it really is that they've been walking with and talking with for three years now. Yes, they've confessed Jesus as the Christ. Yes, they've confessed him as the son of the living God. And yes, They've confessed him even as the holy one of God. Peter said that. And yes, they do really believe all of that about him, at least in their minds. But there still is, there still is, keep thinking about this. There still is that serious disconnect there. There still is that serious insufficiency there. They do really believe that Jesus Christ is God, but they're still failing or falling rather miserably short insofar as being able to take that all the way out to its furthest and ultimate conclusion. I mean, just let's just think about it in simple terms. Simple logic would say, wouldn't it? That if Jesus really is God, then, We've seen God, if we've seen him, that's just a simple kind of a logical conclusion, right? But having said that, that simple logic just isn't working here for these guys, even though they have believed the premise, they still can't get themselves all the way out to that logical conclusion while they're looking at the human Jesus. I don't know if you can tell, but this is a hard thing to explain. This is a very hard, kind of a hard thing to explain it. So I hope you will meditate on this situation this week. As I just said, by the time we got to chapter six, Philip had already seen with his eyes, Jesus solved three completely humanly impossible situations. impossible from the human perspective. And so he knew Jesus could do that. And yes, I think he really believed that Jesus could do that. And yet what happened when faced with a new humanly impossible situation, where are we going to buy bread for this many people? For some reason, for some reason, Philip just fell apart right there. For some reason, Philip could not make that connection with what Jesus had clearly done multiple times before so as to trust him to do it again. And we all sometimes have that same problem, don't we? I've thought about that a lot while I've been working through this. We all sometimes have that same disconnect. Just think about it with me for a minute. We all know and believe that our Lord can do supernatural things. Do you believe that? I believe that. And you know what? We've all seen him do supernatural things. You know, we can talk about lots of different things. I've seen him do lots of supernatural things throughout the course of my life. But let me just take us all back to the one thing that we all share in common. That is the greatest supernatural miracle of all supernatural miracles. What is that? That would be our salvation, right? Our salvation people was a supernatural miracle. And in fact, it was, The greatest supernatural miracle of all supernatural miracles. What did we say when we were studying John chapter nine? It was this incredible miracle when Jesus restored the sight to that blind man, right? But it wasn't even a greater miracle later in a chapter when he, when he gave him spiritual sight, right? Salvation is the greatest of all miracles. We've seen that. We know that. And so what in the world is the problem here? What is the faith problem here? Why is there that very hard to explain disconnect? that we see here in Philip and that we all probably know about it in our own lives. I want to suggest an answer that might at least, I've thought about this a long time. I want to at least suggest an answer that might maybe at least point us in the right direction on this very hard to explain thing. Think about this. Real faith works in the realm of the supernatural, right? Real faith works in the realm of the supernatural. But where do we all live for right now? We all live in the realm of the natural, don't we? As earth dwellers, we think and live and operate in the realm of this natural world. That's our everyday experience. And so even though we believe that God can do supernatural things, and even though we've seen him do those supernatural things in our lives, Here I think is maybe getting us and going in the right direction on understanding this. Even though we believe God can do supernatural things, we've seen him do supernatural things, a supernatural solution. to a humanly impossible situation is not the first thing that comes to mind for us by default. Just because of who we are, where we live, these fallen bodies, this fallen earth that we live in. We live in a natural world. I think maybe that's part of the problem here. Unless, unless, unless we really do have our minds set on the things above. I don't think many of us do, do we? And I'm talking about me as well as you, unless we really do have our minds set on the things above where God, by the way, wants our minds to be, and not on the things that are on earth. Colossians 3.2 is the verse on that. I'm going to say that that's one of the critical keys here to fixing this hard to explain faith disconnects that is here in our text among the disciples of our Lord. They are still thinking like mere men think. instead of thinking like regenerated men should be thinking. Their thinking is worldly instead of heavenly. And I'm afraid that mine is far too often as well, and maybe yours. Our thinking is far too worldly and not nearly enough heavenly. And let's get back to Philip's request again. Jesus, you've been talking about your father, your father, your father, your father. We hear you talking about your father. You're going to your father's house where there are many dwelling places. And then you're gonna come and come for us and take us there to be with you where you are. And then you've said, Father, that we don't really know your Father. Tell you what, Jesus, how about if we make this real, real easy? Just show us the Father and it'll be enough for us, right? Let's just make this easy. Show us the Father, Jesus, and it is enough for us. Just let us see the Father, Jesus, and then we'll be happy. We'll be satisfied. We'll be content. Now, as we try to understand exactly what Philip is asking for here, I think we have to give him the benefit of the doubt and know that Philip knows that God cannot really be seen by any mortal man. I think Philip knows that. Philip didn't have the New Testament yet, but Philip did have the Old Testament. And so he would have known what God said to Moses in Exodus 33.20. You know what God said to Moses as well. Moses wanted to see God one time to remember, but God said to him, You cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live." To see God in all of his glory would be to be incinerated on the spot, right? That's the verse that John will later quote in his Gospel chapter 1 and verse 18, and we're actually going to be looking at that verse a little bit later on today. I think Philip would have known that, and so when he sent to Jesus, show us the Father, We have to assume that he was asking for some kind of a vision of God. That's probably what Philip had in mind here. I got a chuckle from reading John MacArthur's comments on this. Pray for John, by the way, he's not doing very well at all. But in his comments on this verse, John MacArthur interjected a little bit of humor right here. He actually called Philip, a pre-charismatic right here. What we need, Lord, is a vision. We need a vision, Lord. Give us a vision. Show us the Father. We want to see Him with our eyes, and it will be enough for us. Now, we don't know exactly what text if any, that Philip had in mind here, he might've been thinking of that account that I mentioned a minute ago in Exodus 33, when, you know, when God tucked Moses in the cleft of a rock and allowed him to get just a little glimpse of his glory, a little glimpse of his backside. Or maybe Philip's thinking of that time at Exodus 24, 9 to 11, when Moses went up on the mountain with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and they saw God. They saw the God of Israel, it says. And under his feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire. There's an image there of something we talked about in our heaven study one time. As clear as the sky itself, yet he did not stretch out his hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel, and they saw God, it says. And they ate and drank. Or maybe, maybe Philip is thinking of Another familiar one that would be Isaiah's vision of God in Isaiah chapter six. Remember that? We don't know which one of those, if any, that Philip had in mind here, but let me say something about all of them. It's important to understand, and we've talked about this before. It's important to understand that none of these men really, really saw God because what do we know about God? God is invisible. None of these men saw, really saw God. These were just visions. These were just various limited manifestations of God's glory for the sake of men. Theologians have a name for these things. Theologians call these visions or manifestations of God, theophanies. Maybe you've heard that term before. And sometimes these theophanies interestingly came even in human forms. I'll give you an example. when those three men appeared to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 18 to announce the birth of Isaac. Remember that a year from now, Isaac is going to be born. In between time, Ishmael was born, right? That was Abraham's plan, not God's plan, but he came to announce the birth of, of Isaac. Right. And so the Lord appeared to Abraham. It says in verse one, Genesis 18, one, And so who would the other two have been then? They would have been angels, right? And so that was a theophany, a vision or an appearance of God in human form. And so back to Philip again, we have Philip's disappointing request here in our text today. After spending the past three years with Jesus right there by his side, just imagine Philip now looks his Lord right in the eye and says, show us the father, show us the father. And it is enough for us. I just want to point out to you that this had to be a real heart sinking moment for Jesus. It had to be. It had to be. After three years of divine teaching on his oneness and equality with the Father, after three years of demonstrating his deity before these guys with literally thousands, John recorded seven, but Jesus, you know, did thousands and thousands of miracles, all things, demonstrating his deity, all things that only God could do, after all of that, Jesus has to stand there now on this day, on this Thursday night, this Thursday evening, and hear this very disappointing request from Philip on behalf of them all to show us the Father. Show us the Father, Philip said to Jesus. Not realizing at all that the ultimate answer to his request, not realizing at all that the ultimate and final revelation of God, far more than any of those Old Testament visions or theophanies ever were, was standing right there in front of him. And let's go on to Jesus' response to Philip in verses 9 to 11 now. Verses 9, 10, 11, Jesus points out, Philip's faith failures that have just been revealed by his request. There are two of them here, one in verse nine and another one in verses 10 and 11. Philip's first faith failure in verse nine is kind of a rerun from verse seven, actually. You don't really know me, Philip, Jesus says, or you wouldn't have made that request. And then the other faith failure in verses 10 and 11 is a, failure to really believe the evidence. You've not really believed the evidence, Philip, or you wouldn't have made that request you just made. We're not going to get to verses 10 to 11. I've already told you that until next time. But when we do, you will see that this second faith failure has to do with something that we have talked about many times before on our way through the chapters of this Gospel of John. But back to Philip's faith failure, number one, now in verse nine. And we're going to finish up with this one today. that you don't know my father, Philip, reveals the fact that you don't really know me. And now there's something else, Philip, that reveals the fact that you don't really know me. And that is this dumb request that you've just made. This ignorant request that you've just made of me. Look at verse nine as Jesus asks Philip, a couple of very searching questions. And these, of course, are not questions that are looking for answers. These questions are rebukes. They're gentle rebukes to Philip from Jesus. Both of the questions here are gentle rebukes to Philip from Jesus. Jesus said to him, question number one, have I been so long with you and yet you have not come to know me, Philip? Show us the Father and it is enough for us. Have I been so long with you, Philip, and yet, You have not come to know me, Philip. So long is not really defined here, but we'd have, we would have to assume, wouldn't we? I think it's reasonable to assume that Jesus is referring to that entire three year period of his public ministry. Three years. And once again, how disappointing. After that much time, Philip and the others, even though they have confessed with their mouths and believed in their minds the truth of who Jesus is, they still don't have that very real awareness of the fact that they have been walking and talking with God in human flesh. After this long, you don't really know me, Philip, or you would not have asked this crazy, silly, ignorant question. And look at question number two now in verse nine. Question number two is actually a statement question. Jesus begins with a statement in this second question, and then the perplexing question comes at the very end. And so look at this profound statement that Jesus makes now here, and then meditate on that for the rest of this week. Look what Jesus just said. He asked the first question and he said this, he who has seen me has seen the father. Pretty clear, isn't it? He who has seen me has seen the Father. I know I've said this many times before, but I have to say it again right here. Jesus Christ is the one who has made the invisible God visible. Jesus Christ is the one who has made the invisible God visible. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you need to have that truth about him permanently etched under the bedrock of your soul. How do you and I come to know God? We come to know God by coming to know Jesus Christ. The more you know Jesus Christ, the more you know God. And so here we are, our Lord's facing rebuking Philip for this question. This, by the way, is not the first time Jesus has said that about himself within the hearing range of these men. These disciples should have understood that statement in the fullness of what it means a long time ago. As I've said before, they've been hearing it for three years, but even more recently, Jesus has said almost the same exact thing once in chapter 10, once in chapter 12, and again in chapter 13, just in the recent chapters of this gospel. Let me just quickly give you those examples. You know this one, John 10.30. I hope you have that memorized. It's easy. I and the father are one. How clear can it get? I and the father are one. I mean, there's really no other way to interpret that. I and the father are one. John 10.30. The disciples heard Jesus say that. How about this one? Do you remember at the end of chapter 12, when Jesus gave that farewell sermon to close out his public ministry? In that farewell sermon to close out his public ministry at the end of chapter 12, chapter 13, now he's going to gather with the disciples in the upper room. Public ministry is over. This is the end. In that public, in that sermon to close out his public ministry at the end of chapter 12, Jesus said this, if you recall in verses 44 and 45, and Jesus cried out and said, he who believes in me does not believe in me, but in him who sent me. And so what is the implication of that? If you believe in Jesus, you've believed in, you believed in the son, you believed in the father. And then he said this almost verbatim to what he said in the text I just read for you a minute ago in our text, he who sees me sees the one who sent me crystal clear. And then one more reminder, chapter 13. Remember Jesus was assuring his disciples here, that their three years of ministry with Judas hadn't been a waste, right? They were kind of concerned about that. John 13, 20, Jesus said this to them, truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me and he who receives me receives him who sent me, right? And so what do we see here? The oneness and equality of Jesus Christ with his father. all over the place, all over the place. All of those statements were crystal, crystal clear. But in spite of all of that previous teaching, none of these 11 disciples on this Thursday night had even so much as a weak grasp on this critically important point of Christology. And yes, even including John. John, that disciple whom Jesus loved. John didn't have a grasp on this point of Christology at all on this Thursday night. But let me tell you what I know for sure. It came together for John later on, just like the rest of them. By the time John wrote his gospel, he did have a very firm grasp on this point of Christology. By the time John wrote his gospel, he knew that those precious, special, and unique three years of his life as a very young man, he knew that during those years he had seen God. And we know that he knew that by then because John came charging right out of the starting gates the very first verse of his gospel with one of the most profound statements. Listen, one of the most profound statements on this particular point of Christology to be found anywhere in the word of God. In the beginning was the word. John said, In John 1, 1 to 3, and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him. And apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being. I remember when we opened that, that verse, those first three verses in our study of John's gospel, some five years ago now, I remember that. That is a loaded, loaded, I mean, charging out of the gates with powerful, deep theology. There it is. There it is. First three verses of John's gospel. From that very loaded theological statement that John penned, we understand all kinds of marvelous things about Jesus Christ. We understand that Jesus Christ is the eternal God, right? We understand that Jesus Christ is the creator God, and we understand that Jesus Christ is the living word of God. All right there. And the word with a capital W became flesh, John went on to say in verse 14, and dwelt among us and we saw his glory. Glorious of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." By the time he wrote his gospel, John understood. Lights had come on for John, right? Now, I'm just thinking, just thinking about how beautiful it is as we study the scriptures and we have those moments when the lights come on. Isn't that a beautiful thing? It's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful thing. Look what John goes on to say in verse 18. I told you we would get here to verse 18. No one has seen God at any time. John went on to say, right? Why is that? We already talked about that. God is invisible. No one has seen God at any time. God is a spirit. He doesn't have a body. And so no one has seen God at any time. John says, but, but the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the father, he has explained him. There had been those Old Testament manifestations of God, those visions of God, those theophanies, all of that stuff that we've talked about earlier, but mark this now people. None of those came even close to the revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only full and complete and perfect and ultimate manifestation of God to men. Jesus Christ is the exposition of God. That's the way I always like to see the point there in John 1.18. Jesus Christ is the exposition of God. He is the explanation of God. He is the interpretation of God, if you will. That's what John 1.18 means. And so to see Jesus Christ, people, is to see the invisible God in all of his absolute fullness. Now we don't see Jesus Christ with our physical eyes like these disciples did. But we do see him, don't we? We do see him. We have another set of eyes besides these. We have another set of eyes. They're called the eyes of faith. And with the eyes of faith, we do see Jesus Christ. We do see his life and we do see his ministry because it's all been revealed for us in the written word of God. And we also see with these eyes of faith, not only his life and his ministry, but his sacrificial and substitutionary death on a cross. Colossians 1.15, Paul said that he, Jesus Christ, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. And then Colossians 2.9, Paul went on to say, for in him, powerful statements, for in him, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. You can just think about that one for a week or two and not exhausted. For all the fullness of deity dwells in him in bodily form. Let me show you one more as we kind of move toward the end here for today. Let me show you one more beautiful statement on this. If you've seen me, Philip, you've seen the father. Let me show you one more beautiful statement on this revelation of God of the person of Jesus Christ. If you can get to Hebrews chapter one, do so please. Hebrews chapter one. I want to show you the first three verses there. We've looked at this many times before over the years, probably two or three times that I can think of. But I want to show it to you again because it's a beautiful, beautiful statement on the person of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1.1, here's what it says. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways. All right. And so let's just stop right there for a minute to understand what the writer just said. What the writer referring to there in Hebrews 1.1 is what we call progressive revelation. Progressive revelation. God revealed himself to us progressively over time through the prophets who penned their prophecies in the Old Testament scriptures in many portions and in many ways. Some were narrative, other forms, in many portions, many ways. It came to us over time by the prophets. What that means is that the various prophets, and we know that from reading the Old Testament, what it means is that the various prophets over a long span of time, hundreds of years, got their own little slices of the revelatory pie, if you will. And many times, I think Peter makes a point of this to say this, many times the individual prophets themselves didn't even know and understand how their little piece of that revelatory pie fit within the whole pie. They didn't even know. They didn't even know. They didn't have to know. God knew they didn't have to know. Right. But God knew. And now at the end of it all, at the end of that long process, what do we have? We have the completed old Testament scriptures. We have the whole pie now that came to us through that progressive revelation. But it gets even better. Look at verse two now. Hebrews 1.2. This is so, so, so good. After God had spoken long ago through the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days, God has spoken to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. And so the revelation of God to men came first, progressively over time, long period of time, through the prophets, over a long span of time. But in these last days, now God has spoken to us in a better way, the writer says. In these last days, now God has spoken to us in a more complete way, in a fuller way, in a perfect way, and in an ultimate and complete and final way in these last days, God has spoken to us in his son. Now I know I pointed this out to you before, but it's significant. The translators added that little word his there in Hebrews 1, 2, that is not really there in the Greek text. And so cross it out. It's not there. And having that little word his in there kind of obscures, I think, the beauty of the writer's point. It literally reads like this, in these last days, God has spoken to us in son, in son. And so what is the writer getting at here? Well, I think this, we sometimes refer to people who are speaking in English or speaking in French or speaking in German. And I think that's exactly the sense of this statement in Hebrews 1, 2. In these last days, God has spoken to us in son, in son. There's a beautiful implication there. Please understand that Jesus Christ is himself, people, the very language. He is the very language that communicates and reveals God to men. But there's even more here in verse three. Let's look at verse three. And he, that is Jesus Christ, the writer goes on to say, is the radiance of his glory. John just reminded us of that. And we beheld his glory, John said in John 1 14. He's a radiance of his glory. And the writer goes on to say that he is the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. That's nothing less than a beautiful inspired statement. Jesus Christ is not just a close double for God. or a statue of God, or a picture of God, Jesus Christ is the exact representation of God's nature. With all that to think about now, let's go back to finish up today with one more quick look at John 14, 9. Show us the Father and it will be enough for us, Philip said in verse 8, to this very one who is the full, complete, and final revelation of God to men. Jesus said to him, verse 9, Have I been so long with you? And yet you have not come to know me, Philip. He who has seen me has seen the father. And then after that profound statement, the very disappointed Jesus, I'm sure, ended verse nine with a second perplexing question for Philip. Look at it with me. How can you say, how can you say, show us the father? I don't know what you think, but I think there's hurt and disappointment written all over that question there at the end of verse nine. How can you say? How can you say, Philip, show us the father right while you're looking at me? How can you say, show us the father right where you're looking at the only real and complete visible expression of God there is. How can you say, show us the father? Let me close for this morning by asking an application question for all of us. What is it? We've studied this text today. What is it that we who know the Lord should learn from this? dialogue in John chapter 14 between Jesus and Philip. What is the exhortation here? It's probably been so clear that I might not even have to say it, but I'm going to go ahead and say it anyway, just in case. The application I think is this, no matter where you are on your spiritual journey with Jesus Christ, no matter how well you know him today, the clear message of this text, think about these disciples. The clear message of this text is to say that he wants you to know him even better tomorrow, and even better yet today after that, and even better yet today after that. And so the question is, how do you do that? How do you know him better tomorrow than you know him today? How do you graduate from grade school in your faith? How do you become more than a spiritual kindergartner? Well, let me remind you of just a couple of very, very basic things, nothing profound, things you already know. But let me remind you of two things. Number one would be this, you come to know him better tomorrow than you knew him today by commuting with him, by spending quality focused time with him in prayer. Husbands and wives, do you pray together on a daily basis? By commuting with him, by spending quality time with him in prayer, but even above and beyond that, how about this? By just walking with him, all day, every day, with those prayer lines open. Do you do that? I hope you do. It's that 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, pray without ceasing concept, right? You're not in your prayer closet down on your knees and all of that. That's formal prayer. There's a place for that, and that ought to be a part of your day every day. But then there's that ongoing, just as you're going through your day, you know, a word or a phrase or a sentence here or there, you're constantly, the communication, the lines are always open, right? The telephone is always off the hook. Right? You're always there communicating with God. That's how you know him better tomorrow than you know him today. But then let me give you a second thing. And I think you probably know where I'm going to go. Right? Number two, if you really want to know him better tomorrow than you know him today, you will also have to develop people an insatiable hunger for the word of God. I mean, there's no way around that. You need a hunger for the word of God. You're going to need to have, let me put it to you this way. You're going to need to have a ravenous appetite. for the word of God, a ravenous appetite for the word of God, because you will never listen. You will never know God better than you know his word. Never. You will never know God better than you know his word. And so how do you get that? How do you develop that hunger for the word? Well, simple answer by being in the word, by being under the word, by being here, by being in the word, being under the word when here's how it works. And I know this from personal experience. I know this. When you are in the Word and you study the Word and God opens up some incredible truth for you. You know what that'll do? That'll make you hungry for more. I know it will. That will make you hungry for more. And so I hope that happens. I really hope that happens when you come here. And shame on me if it doesn't. I hope that happens when you come here. I can't wait to get here. I got to tell you this. I can't wait to get here on these Lord's Day mornings. These are long weeks. I can't wait to get here on these Lorsday mornings so that I can share with you just a few of the wonderful things that God has taught me in his word throughout the course of the week. And what I normally find to be the case is that an hour is usually not quite long enough, right? As you know, I can't wait to get here. And I really hope that all of you can't wait to get here either and not to hear me. I don't, I don't mean it that way. I don't mean it in that way at all. I don't have anything for you. I've said that before. I'll say that again. I don't have anything for you. The message doesn't come from me. It comes from him, right? I'm just that. We talked about it last week. We were talking about the gospel. Paul said, I delivered to you as a first importance, right? Paul was a delivery boy. I'm a delivery boy like he was, right? He was a better one than me by far, but I'm just a delivery boy. Like Paul was a delivery boy. The message doesn't come from me. It comes from him. And so listen, here's what happens when we come here and we opened this book, when we come here and we opened this book and study, It's precious truth for an hour or so on these Lord's day mornings. At the end here, here is the kicker. At the end of those precious times, people, we have heard from God. We have heard from God. He speaks to us through his word. We have heard from God and here now is how this whole thing works, right? The more we hear from God, the more and better we're going to know God. And the more and better we know God, more and better we're going to be able to live this life of faith for His glory. I know that to be true. I know that to be true until that wonderful day, people, when our faith becomes sight. Are you longing for that day? We're living by faith right now. These disciples are kicking and screaming about that. right? They're going to have to make that transition and they will, they will. And they did. And believe me, they did. The rest of the New Testament bears witness to the fact that they did. They got it and noted they get it good. And we're all here because of that. We're all here because they got it right. But, um, we've never known what they knew for a little while, but we're living by faith. They're living by sight again. Now we're going to join them. We're going to live by sight too someday. And that day is coming maybe soon. Well, We didn't quite get through point number two, but we will next time, Lord willing. We'll look at our Lord's second response to Philip's disappointing request and focus in on verses 10 and 11. And then by the way, keep this in mind, the week after that, there's some great stuff we have to look at in verse 12 about those, after I'm gone, you will do my works and greater works. And oh my, there's all kinds of implications to that. And so that will be a good day in verse 12, followed up by then that powerful, promise of prayer in the final two verses. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for revealing yourself to us in the person of your Son, who is the fullness of deity in bodily form, your word has told us today, and who is the exact representation of your nature. Father, we as believers in this little church know him only because of your grace and mercy and love. We do know him, Father, but we want to know him more. We want to know him better, Father, and so increase our faith today Help us to grow in our knowledge of your son. And as we do, Father, we know that we will at the same time grow in our knowledge of you. Thank you, Father, for the joy that is always ours to be here in this place on this special day. Gather with your people around the open word of God. We love you and we worship you. Thank you for our time together today. And we pray these things in Jesus name.