I want to speak to you this evening
on the unity of God the Father and God the Son. You know, the
Lord Jesus often, He often spoke of His relationship to God. He said, He's my Father. And
it was not unusual at all for him to speak to his disciples
and say, the Father, or your Father. You remember back in
Matthew's gospel, he said, after this manner, therefore, you should
pray, our Father, which art in heaven. So they were very much
aware of the fatherhood of God. and the brotherhood of all the
children of God. We know his references, so many
references to the fact that God was his father, raised the anger
of the Jewish people, especially the leaders of the Jewish religion. This aggravated them because
he kept before them this doctrine that he is God, he's one with
God. Now listen, if the Lord Jesus
is not God, if He isn't divine, then the work that He did upon
the cross of Calvary availed nothing. It didn't accomplish
anything. There was no success to it. There
was no removal of sin. There was no bringing in of everlasting
righteousness if He's not God. Everything Jesus of Nazareth
did In order to avail, in order to produce that which was his
desire, he had to be God. He had to have all authority,
he had to have all power. He had to know the mind of God,
he had to know the will of God. He had to know the law of God,
he had to know the demands of God. And no one can deal with
God one-on-one unless he's God as well. And this is what, in
the Gospel of John, this is what John is showing, from the beginning
to the end, that Jesus of Nazareth is God. He's the Son of God. And he stressed this over and
over again, and often he would, in speaking to the Jews, he would
say, And it just absolutely infuriated them. Let me show you that. Go
back to John 5. You'll remember we've studied
this, of course, back in John chapter 5, when our Lord had
healed this man who had been lame 38 years. And He healed him on the Sabbath
day. And that aggravated the Jews.
And they were ready to stone him. But as we get down, look
at verse John 5, 16. Therefore did the Jews persecute
Jesus, they sought to kill him, because he had done these things
on the Sabbath day. But verse 17, Jesus answered
them, my father worketh hitherto and I work. Therefore, the Jews
sought the more to kill him, because he had not only broken
the Sabbath, but he said also that God was his father, and
they understood what he meant by that. He was saying he's equal
with God. Now listen, the Lord Jesus could
have absolutely avoided any kind of confrontation with these people
if he just said, the Father worketh, and I work. That wouldn't disturb
him. Or he could have said, your father
worketh and I work. And that would have felt really
good about that. But he didn't avoid a confrontation
here. They needed to understand his
real identity. And that which they could not
bear, that which they absolutely stumbled over, was his absolute
deity. But He keeps this before them.
He's not going to weaken anything to keep from offending them.
There are some people who say, you know, don't offend people
by your words. Be careful what you say because
you don't want to upset anybody. Our Lord knew absolutely well
that this would upset them. This would make them mad. This
is gonna cause them to have anger and malice in their hearts. But
he didn't back off at all. You see, the doctrines of the
gospel, the doctrine of the identity of the one who died for us, the
doctrine of what he accomplished by his death, The doctrine of
how are sinners to be saved? These are doctrines that you
can't back off on. You've got to toe the line. You've
got to stand very, very firm. And our Lord Jesus does here.
He says, My Father worketh hitherto and I work. And He knew absolutely
full well the reaction He would get to that. but he'll keep the issue before
his enemies, and he'll also keep the issue before those who loved
him, all of his friends. Look with me in verse 43 of this
same chapter. And he's speaking still to these
Jewish leaders in verse 43. I am come in my father's name,
and ye receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him shall you receive. Look at chapter six in verse
32. Chapter six in verse 32. Here's where he's speaking to
these people. He's fed 5,000 men plus women
and children, and then this is the next day, they're following
him because they want more food, want another meal, want another
handout. He says here in John six and
32, then said Jesus unto them, Let me back up to verse 31. They said to him, our fathers
did eat man in the desert. As it is written, he gave them
bread from heaven to eat. Then said Jesus unto them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven, but my father, my father giveth you the true bread from
heaven. He kept this before them. Look
later in the chapter over, verses 65 and 66. Our Lord had said
several things that offended these people. He talked about
divine election, all that the Father giveth me shall come to
me. Him that cometh to me all in no wise cast out. He talked
about the fact He's the bread from heaven. He said, I am the
bread of life. He talked about the necessity
of faith. He illustrated it by eating his
flesh and drinking his blood. He talks about that which is
necessary for a man to understand the things of God. He's got to
be made alive. He's got to be quickened. The
flesh doesn't profit anything. It's the Spirit that profits.
The Word of God. He talked about the power in
the Word of God. And then he says this. Chapter
6, verse 65. And he said, therefore said I
unto you that no man can come to me except it were given to
him of my Father. You understand what he's saying?
None of you. He's looking at hundreds and
hundreds of people. He's saying not a one of you
can come to me. You don't have the ability to
come to me unless it is given to you of my Father. My Father. You can't come. He even said
earlier back in verse 44, no man can come to me except the
father which has sent me draw him and I'll raise him up at
the last day. And now he says in verse 65,
you can't come to me except you were given unto him of my father.
And it's as though He had said enough, they just couldn't stand
to hear anymore. And so we read in verse 66, it
was from that time, when He said that, when He said that, when
He said, you can't come to Me except you were given to Him
of My Father, from that time, many of His disciples, they went
back and walked no more with Him. And the issue was His deity. His divinity. Now keep reading. Then said Jesus under the twelve,
will you also go away? Literally, will you also abandon
me? Are you going to leave? Does
this offend you? Of my relationship to God that
He's my Father? Then verse 68, Simon Peter answered
in, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And watch what he says. And we
believe and are sure that thou art that Christ. You're the son
of the living God. That's who you are. You're the
son of the living God. In other words, we believe that
God is your father. We believe you're divine. Go
over to chapter 10. He keeps on stressing this. And I know there are some people
who are religious who say, you know, we need to try to get along
with people. Our Lord's not trying to get
along with them. Not on such a vital issue as His deity. There can be no compromise. There
can be no compromise as to his identity. There can be no compromise
as to the work that he did. There just cannot be. Notice here in John chapter 10. Look at verse 17 and 18. He says
to these people, he says, therefore, does my father love me? My father
loved me because I laid down my life that I might take it
again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down in myself. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father, my father. Look at verse 25. This is a little
bit later. Jesus answered the religious
leaders. He said, I told you, I told you
who I am and you believe not. He says that in response to what
they said in verse 24. Then came the Jews round about
him. They said unto him, how long
dost thou make us to doubt if thou be the Christ? Tell us plainly. Tell us openly. And Jesus answered
them. He said, I told you. And you
believe not the works that I do in my father's name. They bear witness of me. Again, drop down to verse 29,
my father, My father which gave them me, gave the sheep to me,
is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of
my father's hand. And then he makes this startling
announcement, I and my father are one. There's a unity between
me and the father. And then in verse 31, then the
Jews took up stones again to stone him. When is the then? when he identified God as being
my father. Then they took up stones to stone
him. And Jesus answered, verse 32,
Jesus answered them, many good works have I showed unto you
from my father. He didn't let up. That's what
I want you to see, he didn't let up. For which of those works
do you stone me? The Jews answered him, this is
what they said, for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy. And because of thou being a man,
makest thyself God. Look a little bit further. Look
at verse 37 and 38. He said, if I do not the works
of my Father, Believe me not. But if I do, though you believe
not me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that
the Father, and this is very, very important, that you may
know and believe that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father. That's the unit. In other words,
he's saying, you can't divide me. You remember back in John
3 when our Lord is speaking to Nicodemus, and he talked about
the, well, let's just go back there. I don't want to misquote
it. Look in John chapter 3. John chapter 3. Look at verse
13. John 3, 13. No man hath ascended up to heaven,
But he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, watch it,
which is in heaven." Which is in heaven. Here he is speaking
to Nicodemus and he says, I'm before you right now, but I'm
also with the Father. He was never away from the Father
except once on the cross. The Father forsook Him because
He bore the sins of His people in His own body on the tree.
So, oh, back over here in John 14. Back in John 14. Our Lord is speaking to His disciples. Judas is gone. He's gone out
to do that which He wanted to do. Gone out to do that which
had to happen. God is orchestrating all things. Judas went out to do that which
was predestinated to happen. And here in John 14, the Savior
again holds before them this fact. He said, in my Father's
house are many mansions. Where do the saints of God go
after death? He said, they go to my Father's
house. They had often heard him speak of God being my Father. And now though, they're a little
bewildered and even confused. Again, I remind you, he just
told them in John 10, the Father is in me and I am the Father.
Now he's speaking about the Father's house, my Father's house. And he says this in verse three,
and if I go, having told them in verse 2, I go to prepare a
place for you. He says, and if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself
that where I am, there you may be also, whither I go. You know
where I'm going. He told them. So often He told
them. He said, I'm going to Jerusalem.
I'm going to die. He told them where He's going.
They shouldn't have acted like they didn't know where He's going.
He said, I go to die. I go to redeem. And I go back
to my Father. So He says, whether I go, you
know. And the way, you know. You know
the way whereby I'll go to the Father's house. You know the
way whereby He goes to the Father's house? By way of the cross. And if you go to the Father's
house, you'll go the same way. you'll go by the way of His cross.
Isn't that right? That's the only way you're going
to get to the Father. Here the Lord Jesus came down here from
the one He said is My Father. And now He talks about going
back to My Father. Well, how are you going to get
back to the Father? By way of calvary? By way of death? By way of offering myself as
the sacrifice to God? I'll go back to the Father and
I'm going to the Father? by way of death and will go to
the father, to his father, and our father will go the same way
he went by his death. There's no other way to the father.
So he says, whether I go you know in the way you know it.
And here's Thomas. And he says, Lord, and he starts
off good. It's a good way to address him.
He's the Lord. And you'll notice Philip did
the same thing. Philip also addressed him as
the Lord. Here's what Thomas said, Lord,
we know not where thou goest. We don't know where you're going.
And how can we know the way? And Jesus said unto him, I am
the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. This is where I'm going to the
Father, and you can't go to the Father except by me. And we must
not miss this. There are a lot of people today
talk about going to heaven, I want to go see God. I want to go be
with God. You'll hear athletes on television
say, oh, praise God, I got the victory today or whatever happened. Oh, I want to thank God. And
there are people who say, isn't that wonderful to hear him thank
God? Listen, you can't come to God except through Christ Jesus.
If you leave out the Son of God, there's no entrance into the
Father's presence. He says, no man cometh unto the
Father but by me. And don't be swayed by people
who say, you know, I want to give glory to God. I just want
to thank God for all this. Well, now wait a minute. You
can't thank God and you can't go to God except through the
Lord Jesus Christ. If you miss the Lord, You miss
the Son. You miss the Father. You understand
that? You miss the Son of God. You miss God Himself. There's
no way to come into His presence except through Christ Jesus.
The Savior said, I am the way. Without Him, there's no going.
He said, I am the truth. Without Him, there's no knowing. And He said, I am the life. Without Him, there's no living.
No living. He said, I am the way. He's the
way that leads to the truth. He said, I'm the truth. He's
the truth that reveals life to us. You'll notice way, truth,
life. You know what's right in the
middle? Truth. Truth. It's right in the middle. Because the way to life is the
truth. That's the only way there is
to life. And people say, I want to live. I want to live forever. I want to live with Jesus in
heaven. Well, here's what's necessary. Understand, He's the way, He's
the truth and the life. The way to life is the truth. That's why the Lord Jesus said,
ye shall know the truth. That's what will set you free.
That's what will make you free. There is no way to God. There's no life of God except
through the truth of God. And he who is the way and the
life is the truth. He's the truth. He's the way
who leads to the truth. He said, I'm the truth who promises
life. He is the life, and He's got
to give that to us. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by Him. He's the way. Outside of Christ,
men just wander aimlessly in the wilderness of sin, led about
by every wind of doctrine. He is the truth. Outside of Christ,
men are under the authority of Satan who's the father of lies. And He's the life. He's the life. In Adam, we lost life. Christ
is our life and He came to give us life. He says, no man cometh
under the Father for anything but by Me. I look at verse seven,
if you had known me. And I'm very confident he's not
saying you have a total ignorance of who I am. He's not saying
that. But they lacked knowledge. There's
no question about that. And I would say that this is
if you had known me more fully. If you had a deeper understanding
of who I am, then you should have known my Father also. And,
watch as he says this, and henceforth, you know Him and have seen Him. And by that I believe he means
there's going to be a time coming in the future, not too many days
ahead, when your knowledge is going to increase. Ewa, the day
of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came and showed them the things
of Christ Jesus. Well, then Philip. Philip, he saith to him, Lord, manifest or show us the Father,
and it satisfies us. If we could just have a visible, tangible person right in front
of us, if He would just stand here in front of us, that would
satisfy us, because you've said you're going away. And so we
understand you're leaving. You've said several times, I
go, I go, I go. Well, if we could just see the
Father, then it would be okay if you went. if we could just
see the Father. And Jesus said unto him, have
I been so long with you? And yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? You know, that question of Philip,
or a statement, show us the Father and it will satisfy us, that
might have been acceptable when He just issued the call for them
to be His disciples, three years before this. But now wait a minute. They've been with Him three years.
They've listened to His teaching. They've listened to His preaching.
They have beheld the wonders that He did. They saw Him heal
the sick. They saw Him raise the dead. They saw Him cast demons out
of men. They saw all of these evidences
of His deity, of His might, of His power, of His authority. And yet, they're still asking
or desiring to see the Father, and this is what He says to them. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And he asked this question, how
can you say, how can you ever say or ask, show us the Father? After all you've experienced,
after all you've heard me say, After all you've witnessed me
do, how can you ask this question, Philip?" I know sometimes preachers and
teachers, we have Sunday school teachers in here tonight also,
we can get a little perturbed at people. for their inability
to understand or to see or to grasp the things that we're trying
to teach. Now, we shouldn't get perturbed
with people. We shouldn't get aggravated with
people. None of us should ever feel that
way, but it's just kind of natural if I've told you something several
times and then you ask me while I don't understand it, you almost
want to say, have you been listening? Hadn't you been listening and
you tell your students, I've gone over this several times? Like you teachers from school. You go over this, you put it
up on the chalkboard or whatever kind of board you got or you're
giving papers on it and then they take a test and they miss
it. Where have you been? Hadn't you
been listening? And that's sort of what the...
And I know the Savior is not aggravated with these men, but
they do get a rebuke. Where have you been? Haven't
you been listening? Haven't you been paying attention?
Don't you understand? Look at verse... Look at verse 11. Believe me
that I'm in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe
me for the very work's sake. He has said, don't you understand? If you
see me, you see the Father. You see me, you see the Father. And maybe Philip was thinking
about, well, I remember reading in the Old Testament about Moses.
He said, Lord, show me your glory. And God said, well, I'll pass
by, but I'm going to hide you in the cliff, the rock. Maybe
they thought something like that would happen. Maybe they remembered
reading. Maybe Philip and the rest of
the disciples remembered reading about Moses and Aaron and Nadab
and Abihu. Scripture says that they saw
the God of Israel. That's what it says, Exodus 24,
10. They saw the God of Israel and
under his feet, as it were, a paved work of sapphire stone, and as
it were, the body of heaven in his clearness. Or maybe they
remembered the words of Isaiah, the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed and all flesh shall see it together. But this is
what they were missing. The glory of God was standing
right in front of them. They had a very vague understanding
of this, and they needed additional enlightenment and illumination. The glory of the Lord was there. Philip said, now this will suffice
us if we can see God. We won't have any more doubts. We read in Colossians chapter
1 that Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. I have every confidence in what
I'm going to say. All of God, anybody will ever
see is the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. Bodily. He is the glory of God. In Hebrews chapter one, Paul,
if Paul is the writer, whoever it is, wrote that passage of
scripture, it speaks about him being the brightness of his glory.
He is the Shekinah glory. What was the glory of the Old
Testament, of the Old Covenant? There in the tabernacle, was
it not the Shekinah glory? It came out of the holy of holies.
I from the top of the Ark of the Covenant in the mercy seat,
went up into the heavens as it were, illuminated all of Israel
at night." That was the glory of Israel. That Ark of the Covenant. That's why Eli, somebody told
Eli that the Ark had been stolen by the Philistines. He said,
the glory of God's been taken away. Well, that was in the Old
Testament. The New Covenant, the New Testament
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the glory of that covenant. A real person. God in man. The Son of God. He's the brightness
of God's glory. Scripture says He's the express
image of His person. There is no inferiority with
Jesus Christ. He's God of very God. He's blessed
over all. He's God and He's man. Well, the Savior here in these
last couple of verses, He refers to His words and His works. His words and His works. Here's the double evidence of
the union of the Father and the Son. The words of Jesus Christ prove
him to be that he is God in the flesh. In fact, isn't one of
his names the Word? John 1 in the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And then
the works of Jesus of Nazareth are the works of God. and the
greatest work he ever accomplished was the work of redemption. Well,
you say, okay, well, what does all this mean for me? Let's see
if I can get a personal application of this, okay? Number one, we
seek God in vain. We seek God in vain if we seek
Him anywhere other than the Lord Jesus Christ. We seek Him in
vain. There are lots of people who
they won't use the name of Jesus Christ. Billy Graham did an interview
with preachers out in California. He's dead now. But a preacher
asked him, does a man have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? And Billy Graham said, well,
I'm glad you asked that question. I'm glad you asked that question.
And he went on to say, if a man is sincere and believes in God
by whatever name he calls Him, he's saved. Is that biblical? Well, absolutely not. I don't
care who says it, whether Billy Graham said it or anybody else
said it, whether you said it or I said it, it's absolutely
wrong. Absolutely wrong. You cannot come to God except
through Jesus Christ the Lord. You say, but you're ruling out
millions upon millions of people, even billions of people in this
world who believe in their own idea of God. They're lost. Truth is truth. This is not conditional
truth. This is absolute truth. So you're
saying if a person doesn't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as He's
revealed in the book of God, he doesn't know God, now you've
got it. There cannot be any kind of uncertain
ground on this. I say we seek God in vain if
we seek Him anywhere else other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly,
to seek God's glory, we must look by faith to Jesus Christ.
For the glory of God shines in his face. He is the effulgent
brightness of God's glory. And he gave evidence of that
on the Mount of Transfiguration. Just a little, just a little
hint of what, of his identity he gave to his disciples when
he revealed his glory. And I'll tell you, what does
this mean? It means that all that He did as our Savior satisfied
God. He did the job. And it means that those of us
who are His people, we can have absolute confidence that our
sympathizing High Priest has all power to sustain us and take
us to that location which He said is my Father's house. How do I know that when I leave
this world, I'll go to the Father's house? Because my Savior who
spoke the words is God Himself. And God can't lie. He can't lie. Well, let's sing a close...