Week of Meetings 02 the Father and His Family — John W. Bramhall

Christ Crucified and Living in the Believer

How wonderful to have the Lord Jesus within, and to be able to say, with Paul, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The Father Revealed in the Gospel of John

Shall we turn in our Bibles tonight to the Gospel of John? The Gospel of John, please. Chapter one. I would like to read two verses in this chapter, one verse in the eighth chapter, and then a few in chapter fourteen.

John chapter one, reading at verse fourteen. The Spirit of God writing through his servant John to say, 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.

Verse eighteen. No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Chapter eight in the same Gospel of John, and reading verse nineteen.

Then said the Pharisees unto Jesus, Where is my Father? Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. John fourteen, please. The fourteenth chapter of John, reading at verse six through verse eleven.

The Lord Jesus saying, Jesus said unto him, that is to Thomas, I am the way, the truth, and the light. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. If he had known me, ye should have known my Father also.

And from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffitheth us. Jesus said 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, show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of, or from myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me.

He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works faith. May God bless the reading and the hearing of this precious word. By the help of God the Holy Spirit, we suffice to touch upon, in each evening message, the subject of God the Father and his family.

God's Progressive Revelation in the Old Testament

It is precious to recognize that the word of God reveals the revelation of God from period to period. When we speak of the subject concerning the revelation of God the Father, we do not find this revelation particularly in the Old Testament, but God is revealed, and has been revealed in the Old Testament to his people.

May I give you three illustrations, and there but two amongst many others that could be given, but three illustrations wherein God revealed himself to his people long ago. God said to Abraham in chapter 17 of the book of Genesis, verse one, "'I am the Almighty God.

Walk thou before me, and be thou perfect.'. And the revelation to Abraham was of an Almighty Being, God in his Omnipotence and Almighty Power, and on the ground of that revelation the Omnipotent One spoke to Abraham.

For God is Omnipotent, he is the Almighty One, he is the All-Powerful One, and none of us can be able to fathom the Omnipotence of God.". It has been rightly stated that, if you could take the stars that we find in the galaxy of the Milky Way, perhaps numbering approximately 18 million, every one of those stars they claim will weigh a million times more than our little earth.

But, if you could take those stars and place them in an adequate sack, if possible, the Omnipotence of God could move them as if they were but a grain of sand. It is an impossibility to fathom the Omnipotence of the Almighty.

But, later on in the Word of God, he revealed himself to Moses in chapter 3 and verse 14, when Moses stood before that burning bush, and God said to him, and commissioned him to go to the people of Israel and deliver them out of Egyptian bondage.

And Moses said, but they will say, who sent thee? What shall I say? Who shall I say sent me? And God gave him another revelation of his mighty being when he stated, I am that I am, meaning I am the self-existent One, I am the Eternal One.

And God gave a revelation of his power to Abraham. He gave a revelation of his eternality to Moses, an eternal being. As in the words of Moses in chapter 32 and verse 40 of Deuteronomy, God says, in the heavens I live forever, and he is an eternal being.

There is no calendar to the eternal being. Eternity has no calendar. God cannot be measured by any calendar. He is the Eternal One. We are the fleeting worms of the dust. We have a beginning, and we shall have no ending.

But God has no beginning, and he is the Existent One. Later on in the book of Exodus, God revealed himself to Moses as Jehovah, a name whereby he had never before been known, and that redemptive name of Jehovah became very precious, and became very particular in relation to Israel as a nation, and by the name of Jehovah, and with many unnamed, he revealed himself as their Savior, Jehovah of the Old Testament.

And many other such names God revealed concerning himself. Every name was a revelation of his person, and a revelation of his character, a revelation of his being, more and more. But he was never known in the Old Testament by the intimacy that we find in the New Testament he may be known, and that is father.

Jesus Reveals the Father

Now, I'm aware of the fact you may find five or six occasions in the Old Testament that God is mentioned as father, but it is always in relation to the one who has brought life into existence, and in the relationship of its creatorial power and glory, rather than in any intimacy of relationship as the New Testament suggests.

But, if you have your Bible, let me point out very definitely, from Matthew 11 and verse 27, the impossibility of God being known if he can be known, and is revealed in the New Testament as father. For it was not until the Son of God came into this being sent by the Father that the revelation of the Father became manifested unto mankind.

So, isn't Jesus, in Matthew 11 and verse 27, a very significant? When Jesus said, All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

And here I'm sure that we can recognize it was not until the coming of the Beloved Son into the world to bring the revelation of the Father as such that mankind could ever know God in such a relationship, for this statement precludes the possibility of God being known in previous periods as Father.

The Word Made Flesh and the Father's Glory

Now, look with me, please, and see as we have read in John chapter 1, the words of the Apostle in the fourteenth verse. They are very important. "...that declared to us the glory of the Beloved Son of God, and the one who alone could and has revealed the Father.".

Now, let's see what John says regarding that lesson, Holy One, of whom he says the word was made flesh. The one who is the self-existent one, the one whom at the beginning of the chapter we find is the Eternal Word, is the essential being in his eternality as well as his deity, and dwelling with the Father is declared in the first verse.

But here John says the word was made flesh. He took upon him in incarnation the likeness of man, and the word was made fresh and dwelt, meaning tabernacled upon him. And John writes, "...we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten, or as of an only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.".

This is really the summation of this gospel, according to John. "...that declared glory of the Son of God, for the great subject of the book is unfashionably the glory of the Son of God, and he was thus made flesh, and he tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory," writes John, unquestionably giving reference to the fact that he, with his companion disciples and fellow disciples, together with others later who were added to the family of God, "...we beheld his glory, and that the one who was made flesh, Christ the Son of God, came to be the interpreter of the Father.".

Why? Because, as John says, when we beheld his glory, it was the glory of one who is an only begotten of a Father, full of grace as well as full of truth. And, thus, the Spirit of God tells us through John that this one who came and tabernacled amongst us was the one who thus manifested the glory of his Father, and the revelation of his Father was brought through him when he came into this scene.

The Meaning of the Only Begotten Son

May I give some explanation for the unique name that is given by John of the begotten son, the only begotten son? It is an important reference to Christ, and it indicates as the only begotten son he was the soul.

Please let me emphasize this. He was the only representative of the being and the character of the one who sent him. That is the explanation of the expression, the meaning of it. One who alone could explain, could express, and represented completely in his being and character the glory of the Father to make him known.

And the expression implies not that he had a beginning, God forbid, but a unique relationship as one who thus had a relationship that had no generation, no beginning, but was unique in relation to the Father.

But note too, if you will please, as you follow the verse carefully, this relationship, let me impress it upon you, was an unoriginated relationship. He did not become the only begotten son by the incarnation.

You know one rejoices in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus. The word was made flesh, and as we stated of his glory this morning, of the beloved son, white, he was perfect in all of his thoughts, he was perfect in all of his deeds, he was perfect in all of his works, and all that he did, and all that he was, in word, in thought, and indeed that blessed one was perfect in the in the incarnation that was him when he came to the earth.

But it was to reveal the glory of the Father which he came. For the expression the only begotten son not only implies the unoriginal relationship to the Father, but it implies that he was in the deepest affection of the Father's heart, and the thought of being in the deepest affection of the Father's heart is implied by the expression the only begotten son of a Father.

The Son in the Bosom of the Father

Now, go with me down to verse 18. Let's look into that heart as we look at verse 18 of chapter one. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Now, let us carefully and carefully consider the solemn words, and the deep and eternal character of these words relating to the Son, and that declared union and intimacy that was his with the Father.

No man has seen God at any time. The full revelation of God had never been made, nor could it have been made. Moses had a great experience with God. Now, this is not saying that the Old Testament saints did not have fellowship with God.

They did, but the complete revelation of that heart of God, in all of its affection, could never be revealed until one came who knew that Father's bosom, one who had been resting upon that bosom of the Father, one who knew every corner of that eternal heart of his Father God.

Do you remember when he paused in worship for wonder, wouldn't you? To recognize here is one of whom the apostle says, and will you note the expression? It's not always emphasized as it should be. The only begotten son which is, not was, which is in the bosom of the Father.

And, may I point out to you, in relation to the only begotten son and his intimacy and union with the Father, it was a timeless relationship and intimacy that has never been interrupted, indicating the absolute and the permanent and the indestructible relations between the Father and the Son, and eternal is.

Hope you love it. Listen, would you and I know God? How can we know him? There are many revelations of God without question of doubt, and in the glory of his creation he can be known, and the glory of the Godhead is certainly revealed in the wonders of the creation around us.

And then, when we think of his omnipotence, when we think of his omnipotence, when we think of his omnipresence, those relative attributes, the tremendous they are, great and glorious, but then I could not.

Here is one who knew greater than all the relative attributes of God, who knew the intimate affection, who knew the great resources and the infinite affection of that heart of God. So, there's a heart.

God has a heart. It would take God long to tell me how much I've got in my heart, and if I read the word of God all right, I can find it. You know, one thing is tremendous when I realize even the intellect of the Almighty, the great intellect of the eternal God is beyond human comprehension.

But, you know, what reaches a poor sinner like me is to know my God above has a heart, and who can redeem that heart? Only one who's been dwelling in that heart, in the bosom of the Father. Aren't you glad Christ came, I ask?

He has declared Him. And, oh my beloved, please may I say, God in his eternal being, the Father in his eternal character, and the eternal character of his love would never have been known, would never have been manifested, could never have been manifested had not Christ, the beloved Son, left that bosom to come to the earth.

Well, he never left the bosom, but he left the glory of his Father's presence, and he came to the earth. You know, beloved, I don't know how long. Who knows? No one. But, throughout the eternal ages, the Son has been the ineffable delight of the Father's heart, and the Father has been the ineffable delight of the Son's heart.

They never fell out of love, and through endless existence that you and I are unable to fathom, they dwelt together, and the Son, in his eternal relationship and intimacy, was in the bosom of the Father.

As though he was resting there, resting blessed be his name, with complete fellowship in love of the Father, and in the Father's presence. You know, it's a strange thing, but you remember there are two expressions, one in Luke and the other in John.

But, in Luke chapter 16, you remember that the rich man in hell saw Lazarus afar off in Abraham's bosom, and that was the most delightful place that a pious Jew wished to be when he left with us. But, you remember in John 13, that we read that lovely truth in verse 23, now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom, the disciple whom Jesus loved.

And, may I say, no person will ever know the meaning of leaning on the bosom of Christ without acknowledging that that blessed one is in the bosom of the Father to reveal the Father to his own. O Beloved, the ineffable intimacy and love between the Father and the Son, the Son sharing all the Father's counsel and enjoying all the Father's love, his place of intimacy or stay he never left, it was one of an eternal privilege, not one who was but is in the bosom of the Father.

Christ's Love and Fellowship at the Cross

Now, may I make a very qualifying remark? This was true when he was even upon the cross. I know it is written, he cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The day I caught the words of the Lord Jesus, in John 10 verse 17, when he said, No man taketh my life from me, I ask power to lay it down, and I ask power to take it up again.

This commandment received I of my Father. And then he preceded those words by saying, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life. And may I say, my beloved friends, never forget when in the agony of Calvary, and the darkness of that scene, and the impenetrable suffering of the judgment of a holy God upon sin, he was in, still in, the bosom of the Father, the object of ineffable love, and of ineffable delight.

And, oh how precious! Did you know? If he wasn't, he couldn't have declared all the Father's love. John said, note these words, No man hath seen God in any kind, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

He's made him known. He is the perfect moral representative of his Father, blessed be his name. And wherever you follow the life of the Lord Jesus, from the beginning to the end, on the earth, as he passed through this scene, every feature, every moral character, all the perfectness of the Father's heart and mind were fully exhibited in him, and by him.

He was the perfect revelation of his Father. Now, let me go with you to three texts. In the same Gospel of John, where the Lord Jesus declares himself that he was the perfect revelation of his Father.

Jesus as the Perfect Revelation of the Father

John chapter 8, please, if you will. John chapter 8, verse 19. Here are words which our Saviour spoke, and said even to the Pharisees, which we have already read in the beginning of our reading. In verse 19, John 8, they said unto him, Where is thy Father?

Oh, what a great chapter this is, as well as the preceding ones. But they say unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, You neither know me, nor my Father. If he had known me, ye should have known my Father also.

Now, look those last words carefully. If he had known me, ye should have known my Father also. I am the perfect revelation of my Father's heart. I am the perfect representative of my Father, and if you knew me, you would have known my Father too.

And he said those words to his enemy. Go with me to the 14th chapter of John, from whence we read, and verse 7, where he speaks to his disciples, and very similarly says his perfect revelation of the Father, as he said to Philip.

Chapter 14, verse 7. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also, and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. And there to his disciples, he declares himself to be the perfect revelation of his Father.

Go with me to John chapter 17, please, the last verse. John chapter 17. May I read verse 25 to get the connection clearer, and especially to emphasize the words he is speaking are addressed to his Father.

In verse 25, O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I've known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me, and I have declared unto them thy name, and you declare with, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Note the opening of verse 26 particularly. I have declared unto them thy name. What name, Father? Praise God! I will continue declaring it. And so, on three occasions, one to the Pharisee, another to his disciples, and addressing his Father personally, he declares himself to be the perfect revelation of the Father.

The Vastness of the Father's Heart

May I again repeat, for the thought dwells in my heart and in my mind, and I wish it to sink deep within. Who could ever explore in tavern the vastness, the greatness, and the completeness of the Father's heart?

You know, the heart of God, the infinite character of the heart of God, who can ever comprehend? It's beyond human comprehension. But, oh beloved, let's dwell for a moment to consider. The coming of the Lord Jesus into this world was to reveal the vastness, the greatness, and the completeness of that Father's heart.

How could he do it? How did he do it? That you and I might not only know, yes, God is, as we know. He is the Almighty One. He is the King of Eternity. He is the Eternal One. He is Jehovah-Jireh, and Jehovah-Shaman, and so on.

He is all the names that he claims, but here is one who's known him through endless ages past. The only begotten Son of the Father, and he comes to the earth to reveal his Father to mankind. We're lost in an ocean of wonder to know all the heart of the Father.

Now, let me go back to John 17 26 again, will you please? I want to emphasize this point, and in those opening words of the 26th verse in the 17th of John, Jesus said, I have declared thy name, and he certainly has, but he has, and I'll continue declaring it.

I shall continue declaring it. Do you know someone once said, and in these words of John 17 verse 3 I can see the meaning implied, for in that third verse of John 17, Jesus said, this is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

Now, what is eternal life? Eternal life is going on, and on, and on, and on, forever, and ever, and ever, knowing thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent as my beloved may thy say.

Though this son has declared the name of his Father to mankind, and revealed it perfectly, it will take all eternity for you and for me to go on knowing the Father's name, and have the Son who is the fullness of the Father's expression make him known through endless ages.

It would take you long to find out all about me. You'd soon exhaust your knowledge of this person, but to realize the exhaustless, timeless ages to come that the believer will continue knowing the Father through the revelation of God the Son.

The Father's Words and Works Revealed Through Christ

Now, let's ask the question again. How did the Son redeem the Father when he was here? Go to John 14 with me again. The 14th chapter of John's gospel. Let me read verses 10 and 11, and realize with you that there was a two-fold manner in which, or a two-fold channel through which, the Father was revealed.

John 14 reading verse 10 and 11. As Jesus continues speaking to Philip, Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me he doeth the works.

Now, notice two words particularly. My words, my works, and verse 11 he mentions the works again. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Or else believe me, for the very works' sake.

By his words he revealed the Father to mankind. By his works he has revealed the Father to mankind. These are the only two means by which any man can express himself, what he is. By my words I express myself what I am.

By what I do I express what I am. These are the only two means that any being can express himself and make himself known to others, and the Lord Jesus said to make known the Father to you and me, and by the words which he spoke, by the works which he did, he has revealed the Father.

Christ's Words Came From the Father

Now, go with me to some scriptures very carefully. By his words. Look in John chapter eight, please, with me. I want you to see two verses in John chapter eight, and I want you to note his reference to his words.

I wish you could note that his very words which he spoke originated with his Father. The words that he spoke came not from himself. Verse 28 of John eight. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

Look at verse 38, please, the same chapter, and in this 38th verse we hear the Savior say, I speak that which I have seen with my Father. O beloved, so complete, so perfect is the revelation of the Father by the words of the Lord Jesus, the very words he spoke were not self-originated.

They originated with the Father. What the Father had spoken to him, the Son spoke to others. O beloved, let's go to another scripture. Chapter five first. Chapter five, please. Chapter five and verse 19, as well as verse 30.

Chapter five and verse 19. Here he gives the authority that his words were of the Father. Verse 19. Then answered Jesus, and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.

For what think soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. All that the Father I have seen do, and all whatsoever he doeth, that is what I do. My words come from my Father. But look at verse 30.

Verse 30, and here he confesses, I can of mine own self do nothing. O beloved, what perfect dependence, what complete dependence upon the revelation his Father gave him to make known to mankind, and knocking of himself, I came not to do mine own will, but the will of him that doeth things.

And in his words, and in his works, they were completely the revelation of his Father, what the Father would see, what the Father would do. Thanks be to his name, and as we read in John 14 and verse 10, both the words and the works of his words to be the revelation of the Father, and in this way.

Christ's Obedience and Death Confirm the Father's Love

Do you recall in Hebrews chapter 10 a quotation from Psalm 40, but in Hebrews chapter 10 the Savior said, the Son declares, he makes the promise to the Father when he acknowledges the body, thou hast prepared me, and in that promise he declares, Lord I come to do thy will, O God.

And in the perfection of his life below, from the manger to the cross, by his words, by his works, he revealed the Father who saved him. Now, beloved, we must say, and compel to say this, that his death was the confirmation of that revelation without doubt.

Go again with me, if you please. We'll get to John 10. Let me read those two verses with you. Verses 17 and 18, which the Savior spoke. John 10 verse 17, for his death was the confirmation of the revelation of his Father's heart.

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it out of myself. I have authority to lay it down. I have authority to take it again.

This commandment have I received of my Father. Beloved, may I pause for a moment of adoration, contemplation, and worship, and think of him hanging upon that tree in all the agony and suffering that was his to bear under the judgment of the Holy God for your sins and for mine, and may I in worshipful wonder adore the one who verily hung, completing the revelation of his Father's love.

Therefore doth my Father love me, and realize this was the final revelation in completeness of his Father's heart, and that was the only way he could ever reveal that heart to me, to show me completely.

It was the full revelation of the Father's heart. John declared it in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 14. So, this is what John testified, and we have seen and testified that the Father sent the Son, what ought to be the Savior of the world.

God's Love Displayed in Christ's Sacrifice

Hallelujah, what a Savior! To be the Savior of the world! O Beloved, when a man and woman believe, when a man and woman will not see that the Father sent his Son, and acknowledge he sent him to be the Savior of all who will believe on him, when that man and woman believes upon that Son who died on that crop for his and her sins, that man and woman gets a glimpse for the first time into the unfathomable heart of the Father.

Beloved, do you realize how much the Father has loved you? To give his Son. Romans 5 8, the apostle Paul wrote that God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish for that everlasting life. And, I see through the word of God, as I trace the life, the words, the works, and the consolation of the death of the Son of God, I see him declaring his Father's love, and I find that the Father loves me.

Coming to the Father Through Christ

Or, can I close by just reminding you of what John said in the 14th chapter of this book? In verse 6, he says, you've come to the Father. I'm the way, the truth, and the light. No man cometh to the Father but by me.

He said to Philip, you've seen the Father. He said, you know the Father. And, my beloved, do you know him? I think it's almost 50 years ago, 45 to 50 years ago, we were preaching the gospel on the street corner in the city of Rochester, New York, and I noticed on the sidewalk there was a man standing with a little girl, taking deep interest in the message.

And, following the close of the service, he came to me. He said, Sir, I'm a socialist. Now, he would have said, I'm a communist today, but he said, I'm a socialist. And, he says, I don't believe there is a God, but he said, I'm interested in what you've been preaching, and I'd like to talk with you.

And, I made an appointment and visited the man in his home, and I recalled sitting with him in his kitchen at his kitchen table with my Bible, trying to bring before him the realities of a God. But, I never will forget when I made a statement that electrified, astonished him, and caused him to reel back in his chair and look at me in wonder and amazement.

I said to the man, I know God as my father, and he laughed, and he said, your father? Yes, I know him as my father. I wish that man did. Oh, beloved, the God who made you, the God who feeds you, the God who thinks of you, the God who loves you, gave his Son that you might know that God as your father too.

Prayer to Know the Father's Love

Do you know it? Shall we pray? Oh, blessed God, how great thou art! We bow in adoration and wonder when we know and realize what sinners we are by nature and by practice. And, the great God of the universe, who could righteously put every one of us in eternal hell?

Instead of doing so, he sent his beloved Son, who is in the bosom of the Father constantly, and he sent him to declare the Father's heart, and manifest the Father's love for all mankind. And, every one of us can bow, if we will, in humble acknowledgement.

He loved me, and he gave himself for me, if we will. So, Father, how we pray that somehow our hearts will receive the Son, and come to the Father tonight. For, we thank thee, this is the purpose of the Son's coming into this world.

Hear our prayer, and answer it for any precious soul tonight who is without the Savior in his adorable name. Now, may the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of our Father God, of the fellowship or the conviction of the Holy Spirit, according to that which is needed, be upon us.

Amen.