Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us - astounded at how unsimple we are.

It is opinions of our own which make us stupid, when we are simple we are never stupid, we discern all the time.

Philip expected the revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in the One Whom he knew.

The mystery of God is not in what is going to be, it is now; we look for it presently, in some cataclysmic event.

We have no reluctance in obeying Jesus, but it is probable that we are hurting Him by the questions we ask.

"Lord, show us the Father." His answer comes straight back - "There He is, always here or nowhere."

We look for God to manifest Himself to His children: God only manifests Himself in His children.

Other people see the manifestation, the child of God does not.

We want to be conscious of God; we cannot be conscious of our consciousness and remain sane.

If we are asking God to give us experiences, or if conscious experience is in the road, we hurt the Lord.

The very questions we ask hurt Jesus because they are not the questions of a child.

"Let not your heart be troubled" - then am I hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled?

If I believe the character of Jesus, am I living up to my belief?

Am I allowing anything to perturb my heart, any morbid questions to come in?

I have to get to the implicit relationship that takes everything as it comes from Him.

God never guides presently, but always now.

Realize that the Lord is here now, and the emancipation is immediate.

The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy . The New Testament view is that He bore our sin not by sympathy , but by identification . He was made to be sin. Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the explanation of His death is His obedience to His Father , not His sympathy with us.

We are acceptable with God not because we have obeyed, or because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and in no other way . We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God, the loving-kindness of God; the New Testament says He came to bear away the sin of the world.

The revelation of His Father is to those to whom He has been introduced as Saviour . Jesus Christ never spoke of Himself to the world as one Who revealed the Father , but as a stumbling block (see John 15:22- 24). John 14:9 was spoken to His disciples.

That Christ died for me, therefore I go scot free, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that "He died for all" (not - He died my death), and that by identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have imparted to me His very righteousness.

The substitution taught in the New Testament is twofold: "He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."

It is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me.

These words are not spoken as a rebuke, nor even with surprise; Jesus is leading Philip on.

The last One with whom we get intimate is Jesus.

Before Pentecost the disciples knew Jesus as the One Who gave them power to conquer demons and to bring about a revival (see Luke 10:18-20).

It was a wonderful intimacy, but there was a much closer intimacy to come - "I have called you friends." Friendship is rare on earth. It means identity in thought and heart and spirit.

The whole discipline of life is to enable us to enter into this closest relationship with Jesus Christ.

We receive His blessings and know His word, but do we know Him?

Jesus said, "It is expedient for you that I go away" - in that relationship, so that He might lead them on.

It is a joy to Jesus when a disciple takes time to step more intimately with Him.

Fruit bearing is always mentioned as the manifestation of an intimate union with Jesus Christ (John 15:1-4).

When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic.

The saint who is intimate with Jesus will never leave impressions of himself, but only the impression that Jesus is having unhindered way, because the last abyss of his nature has been satisfied by Jesus.

The only impression left by such a life is that of the strong calm sanity that Our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.

Faith in antagonism to common sense is fanaticism, and common sense in antagonism to faith is rationalism. The life of faith brings the two into a right relation. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual; of impulse and inspiration.

Nothing Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, it is revelation sense, and it reaches the shores where common sense fails. Faith must be tried before the reality of faith is actual. "We know that all things work together for good," then no matter what happens, the alchemy of God's providence transfigures the ideal faith into actual reality. Faith always works on the personal line, the whole purpose of God being to see that the ideal faith is made real in His children.

For every detail of the common-sense life, there is a revelation fact of God whereby we can prove in practical experience what we believe God to be.

Faith is a tremendously active principle which always puts Jesus Christ first - Lord, Thou hast said so and so (e.g., Matthew 6:33), it looks mad, but I am going to venture on Thy word. To turn head faith into a personal possession is a fight always, not sometimes. God brings us into circumstances in order to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make its object real. Until we know Jesus, God is a mere abstraction, we cannot have faith in Him; but immediately we hear Jesus say - "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father," we have something that is real, and faith is boundless. Faith is the whole man rightly related to God by the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven.—My Father, and your Father; . . . my God and your God.

As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.—The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.—Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?—I and my Father are one.

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.—No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.—He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.—The brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.—God was manifest in the flesh.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.—Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.

I and my Father are one, the Father is in me, and I in him.—Had ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.—Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.—Behold I and the children which God hath given me.—He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.—I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.—Before Abraham was, I am.—God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.—He is before all things, and by him all things consist.—In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.