Dear Ones:
How real is Jesus Christ to us? When Philip one day asked the Lord Jesus to show him the Father, the Lord responded by saying: “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.” (Jn. 14:9) How is it that Philip, who had spent so much time with the Lord Jesus did not KNOW him to the point where he realized that he was in the presence of God, the Father. It seems that Philip saw the man Christ Jesus, but was blind to His glory, the glory of the Father. Why?
In Psalm 63, a Psalm of David, he writes: “…my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to SEE Thy power and Thy glory, SO AS I HAVE SEEN THEE IN THE SANCTUARY.” (v.1-2) David, having the anointing of the Spirit of God, and then concentrating on worshipping God, was given the consciousness of God. What he SAW in the sanctuary was what he would trust Him to be, and to do, on the outside of the sanctuary. Worship was the first thing. I dare say that Philip had not learned yet to worship in Spirit and truth, and so, he did not perceive the reality of Who it truly was before him. He saw the man, but he did not see the Eternal God.
Why did God choose Joshua to be the successor of Moses? Was it because he possessed the talents and intelligence to be so? I believe that the primary reason was that he was first and foremost a worshipper of Jesus Christ. In Exodus 33:11, we read that, “…the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp, BUT HIS SERVANT JOSHUA, THE SON ON NUN, A YOUNG MAN, DEPARTED NOT OUT OF THE TABERNACLE.” Joshua learned as a young man that personal, individual worship of God is essential, if there is to be the clear “vision” of His glory and power. How is God ever to be a reality to him in the position of a military commander, and eventual leader of Israel, if in the quiet place He is not a reality? I think it safe to say that what Joshua saw in the place of worship was what God wanted to reveal of Himself in the midst of the responsibilities of life. This is one reason for which Daniel refused to stop praying three times a day, even at the possible cost of his own life. God reveals Himself to the heart and mind, the soul, when we worship Him by the Spirit, and in truth.
Later on in John 14, after Jesus had spoken to Philip, he spoke of the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, and the fact that He would be IN the disciples. In declaring this, He also added, “I will come to you, ” and that day ye shall KNOW that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.” (v.16,17,18,20) The Lord Jesus and the Father would become a reality to the disciples by virtue of the Spirit of truth that was to be given to them. We HAVE the Spirit of truth in our hearts today, but do we trust Him in the quietness, and aloneness of our times with the Lord every day, to reveal to us the glory of God? Dear Lord Jesus, “Let Thy work APPEAR unto Thy servants, and Thy glory (appear) unto their children.” (Ps. 90:16) Amen.
Love, Dad