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JOHN 14:9

"THE PURPOSE OF HIS COMING, TO REVEAL THE FATHER"

Intro: Jesus spending last hours with His disciples. As He spoke to them interrupted four
        times.

Peter -- "Lord, whither goest thou?"
Philip   -- "Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us."
Thomas -- "Lord, we know not whither thou goest and how."
Jude   -- "How is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?"

What do you think Philip had in mind when he said, "show us the Father."

Looking into His face -- "He that hath seen me, . . ."
Imagine any other teacher making this statement.

I. MAN'S HIGHEST THOUGHTS OF GOD BEFORE CHRIST CAME.
        A. Hebrew thought of God. A growing intellectual apprehension accompanied by a
           diminishing moral result.
                1. Through the passing of time, they were receiving a clearer understanding of
                   God.
                        a. His might.
                        b. His holiness.
                        c. His goodness.
                2. Yet their morals were constantly degrading.
                        a. Time of Abraham to time of kings.
                        b. Time of kings to later prophets.
                3. Somewhat true today.
                        a. Every new scientific discovery reveal a little more of the
                           greatness of God.
                        b. Each new aprehension of the universe requires an increase in
                           concept of God.
                        c. God has become too great for man to grasp or to relate to.
        B. The gentile world.
                1. Always that consciousness of God.
                        a. False notions that have sprung forth.
                        b. Even now and then some flashes of light -- Buddha.
                        c. They have all failed to Iift man on the moral scale.
        C. Finally some angels caroled to frightened shepherds on a Bethlehem hillside and
           declared to them the birth of a child who when He grew to manhood declared, "He
           that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father."
                1. He brought a new consciousness of God.

II. WHAT DID HE REVEAL OF GOD?
        A. He revealed the power of God.
        B. He revealed the holiness of God.
        C. He revealed the love of God.
        D. He revealed the fatherhood of God.
                1. More than term of tenderness.
                2. Term of law and discipline.
                3. A father that if the child is lost will spare nothing to bring him back
                   again.
                4. A father who will if necessary sacrifice himself for his child.
        E. Christ confirmed all that was true in man's ideas and corrected all that was false.
                1. Africans with their        -- stick, leather.
                2. You are right in your underlying consciousness, you cannot prosper or be
                   successful without God, with you. He casts away the stick or leather from 
                   the hand and says "Lo, I am with you." Laugh at the        but if you think
                   of doing business without Christ you are more heathen.
                3. In no other religion , a relation of religion and morals.

Ill. THE EFFECT OF THE REVELATION UPON THE INDIVIDUAL.
        A. Philip -- First to whom Christ said , "Follow me."
                Philip findeth Nathaneal.
                Feeding of 5,000.
                Greeks coming to see Christ.