“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’” (John 14:6-8) What did Philip ask? “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” This was his heart’s desire. This passage does not tell us why Philip asked for such revelation. According to what I understand, the disciples knew how the Lord prayed and how He had fellowship with the Father. From their observation, they realized how precious it is to have fellowship with Abba. They asked the Lord to teach them how to pray. They recognized this was important. By seeing how the Lord prayed, the disciples must have discovered the deep relationship between Abba and the Lord.
The Lord desires for us to gain the Father and He wants us to see how precious Abba is. He came to the earth to make known the Father’s name. Nowadays, our modern technology makes it convenient for us to search for information. If you search on your phone with the keywords “Father in the Bible”, you’ll find numerous Bible verses in both the Old and New Testaments. However, the Lord did not just teach the disciples about the Father, but He was living a life close to the Father. Therefore, Philip truly wanted to know about Abba and wanted to enjoy what the Lord enjoyed.
The night before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus prayed to the Father, “…that the love with which you have loved me may be in them…” (John 17:26) Abba also desires the same what the Lord prayed for. Each one of us is His true born child. The Holy Spirit also came so that we can cry out “Abba” and enjoy the blessings of being His true child. The Lord said that He had made known Abba’s name. In fact, He made known the Father’s name not only through words, but also through His whole life and His prayers. He said He would continue to make it known. From then until now, He has been making known the Father’s name for more than 2000 years. In this generation, He has also made it known to us. In the first stage of our church revival movement, I felt what we had known about the Father was not enough. The Lord continued to make known Abba’s name because He wants Abba to be satisfied. When we can enjoy our relationship with Abba and His love, we will also love Abba more. This is our greatest need. The Lord wants the love with which Abba has loved Him to be in us.
Let us read John chapter 14:23. In verses 16 and 17, the Lord talked about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Verse 20 says “in that day,” which is the day the Holy Spirit would come. Verse 23 : “Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’” It’s indescribable how precious this is. If we abide in Him, we will also keep His word, and He will manifest Himself to us. (verse 21) If we abide in Him, we can enjoy all things. What did the Lord say? “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Today the Father has also made a home with us. Not only are we united with the Lord heart to heart, the Father also lives in us.
Let us read Ephesians 4:4-6 “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” The Father lives in each one of us. Abba and the Lord live in us. What I am sharing with you tonight is very essential. If you can live this way, you will experience Abba deeper. Experience Abba at a higher level.
Let us read Matthew 10:18-20 “…and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” The Lord foretells how the disciples would face persecution in the coming days. What did the Lord say? “…for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” The Spirit of the Father is in us. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all in us. God is the Trinity God. It’s very precious that we are united with the Trinity God -the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
You can pay more attention to the fact you are united to the Father. In the precious prayers, we pray to both Abba and the Lord. When we pray to the Lord Jesus, Abba will not feel jealous. Abba gave us His only begotten Son. When we love His Son, He is very happy. When the Lord Jesus rejoices because of me, Abba feels happy too. When we pray to Abba, the Lord Jesus will not feel jealous either. In 1 John 1:3 “…indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” Abba was not hung on the cross. However, when the Lord Jesus was nailed on the cross, Abba also suffered the greatest pain.
John 16:27 says the Father Himself loves you. Similarly, I can say that the Lord Jesus Himself loves you; the Holy Spirit Himself loves you. At the same time, Abba loves us because He loves His son so much. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit love us because of the love among the Trinity. This is complicated and even mathematicians cannot calculate how boundless this love is. It’s the infinite love, plus the infinite love, plus the infinite love. It’s the infinite blessings with Abba, plus the infinite blessings with the Lord, plus the infinite blessings with the Holy Spirit, plus the infinite blessings in God’s family. What we enjoy is immeasurable, beyond all things in this world!