Now Don’t hurt the Lord - Chambers, Oswald
Philip saith unto him, lord, shew us the father, and it sufficeth us. John 14:8 1.
1 You who regarded christs command
And he findeth Philip: and Jesus saith unto him, follow me. ( john 1:43 RV)
You may have had no reluctance in obeying the lords command, and yet it is probable you are hurt- ing him because you look for god to manifest him- self where he never can lord, shew us the father. We look to god to manifest himself to his children: god manifests himself in his children, consequently the manifestation is seen by others, not by us. It is a snare to want to be conscious of god; you can- not be conscious of your consciousness and remain sane. You have obeyed Christs command, then are you hurting him by asking some profoundly perverse question? I believe our lord is repeatedly astounded at the stupidity we display. It is notions of our own that make us stupid; when we are simple we are never stupid, we discern all the time. Lord, shew us the father; shew me thy face; expound this thing to me; and his answer comes straight back to our heart: have i been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?
2. You who realised Christs character
Philip . . . Saith . . . We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of nazareth. ( john 1:45)
Like Philip, you know that Jesus christ is god incarnate, you realise his character and recognise him in the scriptures, then are you hurting him by the questions you ask? Diseased, morbid questions, not the questions of a child. Jesus has said, let not your heart be troubled, then are you hurting him by allowing your heart to be troubled? If your heart is troubled you are not living up to your belief. Are you trying to expound the lord apart from himself, bringing in ideas of your own along with your knowl- edge of his character? Are you taken up with considering your own perplexities, allowing some morbid question to perturb your heart? What our lord wants is the implicit relationship to himself which takes everything as it comes from him.
3. You who recognised Christs claim
Philip saith unto him, come and see. ( john 1:46)
In the beginning Philip obeyed Jesus christ readily, there was no traitorous unbelief in his heart; he realised who jesus was, and testified of him to oth- ers, and yet he had not perfect childlike confidence in jesus, and it was this that hurt our lord hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the father. If you know only what you have experienced, you will never see Jesus. Once put conscious experience in the road and you will hurt the lord. You can never rely on what you believe intellectually; but once have the attitude of a perfectly simple, unsophisticated child of god and there is no trouble in believing. The questions that hurt the lord are those that are not born of devotion to him. Am i hurting my lord by the kind of questions i am asking to-day? They may sound all right to others, but they hurt him.
Lord, shew us the father. Philip expected the revelation of a tremendous mystery, but he did not expect it in the one whom he knew. The mystery of god is now, this minute, not in what is going to be; we look for it presently, in some cataclysmic happening. What am i asking Jesus christ to do? Lord, shew us the father. He has done it: he that hath seen me hath seen the father. When once i realise that everything is in jesus christ, i will never allow any questions that spring from without to trouble my heart. The thing that hurts Jesus is asking him to give us experiencesi want to be conscious of gods presence. Get rid of the morbid idea of consciousness, be so completely in Jesus that his presence is salvation continually.
You have obeyed Jesus christs command and followed him, you have realised his character and recognised his claims, then are you hurting him by asking him to show you things? Show me thy face; there it is! Show me the father; there he is! Always just here or nowhere; he is here now. Once realise that and the emancipation is immediate. It is to those babes, to little children, in whom is no guile, that the revelation comes. God never guides presently, he always guides now. No wonder Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled!
