It's been such a joy being with you. John chapter 14. Verse 6 is the only verse I want to read. Verse 5, Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, And how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. I have entitled this message, The Claims of Jesus Christ. Now think about what he said. I am the way. I am the truth. If I would say something like that, it would be so offensive. Not him. I am the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Now this is the speech of one with a narcissistic or histrionic personality disorder with a deranged delusion of grandeur and self-importance, or this is the truth. No in-between. This is the most significant and important statement ever uttered. By the Lord Jesus Christ, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me. Now, in this statement, there's not even one two-syllable word uttered when he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Not one two-syllable word. Yet, eternity itself would not be able to plumb the depths of this glorious statement. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Now, what do the claims of Christ say? This is what he said about himself. What do they say to us? Well, on the very surface, it tells me that I have no way to God myself. It tells me that I'm ignorant of the truth. And it tells me I have no life. I'm, as the Bible says, dead in trespasses and sins. And what all does that mean? Well, what can a dead man do as far as the functions of life? Nothing. And this is not something, my death in sins is not something simply to be pitied. It's blameworthy. It's my fault I'm in this condition. You say, well, how can it be your fault if you were born that way? Well, whatever Adam did, I did. By one man, sin entered into the world, so death passed upon all men and that all sinned. When he sinned, I sinned. When he sinned, you sinned. You're not really charged with the sin of somebody else. You did it. I did it. It's our fault that we're dead in trespasses and sins. Now the Lord, says, I am the way. Not a way, the way. The way that excludes all other ways. He said, no man comes to the Father but by me. There is no other way. Have you ever heard of a comparative religions where they compare religions and look at their similarities and look at the things they have in common and the things they don't have in common. It's called comparative religions. And there are actually 4,300 known religions with a certain doctrine. 4,300. I mean, think about how many denominations there are within, quote, Christianity. But 4,300 different religions with a different dogma. Now, I can make this very simple. In reality, there are only two. And they have no similarities. They have nothing in common. The religion of Cain, Bringing something you think will obligate God to do something for you. If I do this, he needs to do that. And the religion of Abel, the only way God can be approached is through the blood of the coming lamb. There is no other way. There's only two religions. One is do. Here's what you need to do. The other is, it's done. It's finished. There is nothing for you to do. Do you hear that? Nothing for you to do. It is finished. All other ways, you know when the Lord said if somebody climb up some other way, a thief and a robber. All that ever came before me, the Lord said. If you put anything before Christ, now here's the origin of my salvation, Christ. Simply being found in Him. That's the origin. I can't put anything before, well, I'm saved because I fill in the blank. No, no, you missed it if that's what you believe. I am the way, the only way that excludes all other ways. Now, somebody says it almost sounds like you're saying Christ is the only way and all other religions are wrong. Well, whether I'm saying it or not, He's saying it. He's saying it. These are His words. I'm just repeating what He said. I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the Father but by Now, all other religions and religious leaders say, I'll show you the way. I'll take your hand and lead you along the way. I'll help you to stay on the way. Christ says, I am the way. Now, the way is the way from point A to point B. It's that simple. I am the way to the Father. Now, in central Kentucky, where I'm from, Lexington is the biggest city in that area, and all the surrounding cities have what they call Lexington Road. Every one of them do. The road to Lexington. Now, you can be on the road to Lexington and not be in Lexington. If you're in the way, Christ, you're already at the destination because He's there. That's how certain this is. If I'm in the way, I'm already there because He is already there. Christ, the way, if you're in the way, you're actually in, you actually arrived at the destination because He's there. If I'm in Him, He's there, I'm already there. Somebody says, I'm for sure as heaven as if I was already there. You ever heard anybody say that? I'm better than that. I'm there. Seated together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. When He says, no man comes to the Father but by Me, while it's true that when we come to the Father, we come only by Him, trusting Him, looking to Him. We're not pleading our works. We're not pleading our experience. We're not pleading our intentions. We're not pleading how we've handled temptation. No, we're pleading only Him. Don't you know that? We're pleading only Him. But this is more than that. I come to the Father because I'm in Him. When He comes to the Father, I come to the Father because I'm in Him. Now, if a lady bearing a child walked into this room and she had that child in her, she came in the room, but somebody came in with her, didn't they? And they came in just as truly, and they're in here just as truly as she is. When Christ ascended back to the Father. He walked 40 days upon this earth, and then He ascended back to the Father. You can read about it in Psalm 24, the Ascension Psalm. And they say, who is this King of Glory coming in? They said, the Lord of hosts. Why? Didn't He go in by Himself? No, He went in with all of God's elect in Him. I come to the Father by Him coming to the Father, and I am in Him. You know, if it's just me pleading Him, I don't even know whether I'm doing a good job of pleading Him. But if I come simply being in Him, that's it. That's it. That's how I get into the Father's presence. That's what the Lord means when He says, no man comes to the Father but by Me. Now that word by, that preposition is also translated through and in. No man comes to the Father but through me. And I like this the best. No man comes to the Father but in me. Accepted in the beloved when he came into the Father's presence, I come into the Father's presence. He's the way to God. There is no other way. None. He's the way of truth. All other ways are ways of lies. He's the way of righteousness. You know what that means? His righteousness. Listen to me. His righteousness is the only righteousness there is. There is no other righteousness. When David said in Psalm 71, 16, I've made mention of thy righteousness, even thine only. Why, David? He's the only one to mention. There is no other righteousness. If you come into God's presence, it's coming only in the way of His righteousness. He's the way of peace. There is no other peace. All God requires of me, every bit of it, right now and for eternity, all God requires of me, He looks to His Son for peace. Peace. If you tell me I've got to do anything, I have no peace. Oh, the joy and peace of believing. Paul put it this way in Ephesians 2 14. He is our peace. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The only peace there is, is him. Amen. There is no other peace. He's the way of salvation. There is no other way. He's the way into the holiest. He is the narrow way. And I love to think of him being the narrow way. He is so narrow that if you have anything other than him, you can't walk along this way. That's how narrow he is. If you have your good works, if you have your experience, if you have your efforts and strivings against sin, if you have your past evidences, you can't walk on the way. The only way you can be on him as your way is if you have nothing but him. Would that describe you? He's all you got. You don't have anything else. Somebody once said, if all you have is Christ, is that enough? It is if he's all you got. He is the narrow way that excludes all other ways. Now, on the broad way, there's plenty of room for the religious man and the irreligious man, for the moral and the immoral, for the liberal and the conservative, for the Democrat and the Republican, for the Calvinist and the Arminian, for the Pentecostal and the Presbyterian, for the Baptist and the Buddhist, for the Hindu and the Hottentot, for traditional worshipers and contemporary worshipers, for reformed and unreformed. Plenty of room for everybody on the broad way, but only those who have nothing but Christ on the straight way. You read it in Hebrews chapter 10 when you're reading that passage of scripture. He is the new and living way. Now that word new, this is very important. That word new means freshly slaughtered. The blood of Jesus Christ is always poignant, always powerful to the Father, just as if He just died. And that is what makes these, I hate saying it, but what about these repeated sins? You think, surely He'd say, no more! No. The blood is always new. It's always fresh. It's always powerful. He's the new. He is the living way. It's not presenting the blood of a dead animal. It's He who lives. Not only are we saved by His death, we're saved by His life. He's the new and the living way. He is my way. Now, what do you mean by that? Do you remember when Bartimaeus was called to the Lord? He had been crying, have mercy on me, thou son of David. And people told him to shut up. Hold your peace, Bartimaeus. He doesn't have time to deal with somebody like you, but the scripture says he cried the more great deal. So understand this, if you're crying for mercy, and you don't feel like you've received it, cry the more, great deal. That's what Martin Mays did. He continued. And while he was crying, the Lord, on the way to Jerusalem, knowing he was going to the cross, he wouldn't be stopped. There's something that stopped him. This cry for mercy. He stopped. And he commanded him to be called, and they said, rise up, Bartimaeus, he's calling you. And I love the way the scripture says he threw off his garments. His filthy righteousness, he got rid of it, he threw off his garments, he came to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord asked him this question, what would you that I should do unto you? Now he was asking for the, the Lord said, what do you want me to do? Isn't salvation what he does? What would you that I should do unto you? He said, Lord, that I might receive my sight. He said, go thy way. That was what he said. Go thy way. Thy faith to save thee. Go thy way. You're free. Go your way. And he followed Jesus in the way. That's what he wanted to do. He followed Jesus in a way. And understand this, following Jesus, when we hear, follow me, we generally think, well, we need to imitate him. We gotta walk as he walked. We gotta step as he stepped, but walk in his steps. Well, I'm not saying not to do that, but that's not what it means. If it's follow Jesus, you haven't done a very good job at it. And I haven't done a very good job at it as far as imitating, if that's what it means. But when you follow somebody, what do you do? You keep your eyes on them. And if you look down at your feet, you'll lose him. If you look to the side and see how somebody else is doing and compare yourself with him, you'll lose him. If you look behind you to look at the evidences you have of being saved, well, look into your experience, you'll lose him. You keep your eyes only on him, nowhere else. He is my way. the way that excludes all other ways, and if I don't see him as that, the way that excludes all other ways, I don't see him at all. If I see him, I see him in this light. Now the next thing he says is I am the truth. What a statement. I am the truth. If any other human being said that, you need to throw tomatoes at them, they are not. I mean, just thinking about myself right now, I'm so aware of how I've never told the truth. I want to say this. I hope I'm telling the truth. But I've never told the truth once, as far as I might have quoted the right thing and said it, but I had so many self-promotions. For me to say I am the truth would be such blatant hypocrisy. And it would for any man. I'm not just any man. But the Lord could say, I am the truth. Now, like I said, that's either a statement of incredible arrogance or it's the truth. Not I will show you the truth. Not I will teach you the truth. Not even that I'll tell you the truth. I am the truth. You know when it says you should know the truth and the truth shall make you free? It's not your knowledge of the truth that makes you free, it's the truth himself who makes you free. I am the truth. Anything that doesn't line up with me being the truth is a lie, propagated by the father of lies. The Lord says, I am the truth. Let me give you four quick things with regard to Him being the truth. Number one, He is the truth of Scripture. John 5, 39, you search the Scriptures, and then you think you have eternal life. And they are they, every single scripture breathed by God. All scriptures given by inspiration of God. God breathed. He said, you search the scriptures. In them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Every single one of them. I think of that scripture in 2 Thessalonians 2, 11 and 12 where it says, for this cause. What cause? Because they received not the love of the truth. The truth, I wouldn't want to say anything about the truth. There's certain propositions brought forth in bringing the truth, and you can't preach the truth without that, but the truth is not a proposition, it's a person. He said, I am the truth. Because they receive not the truth, for this cause God shall send them in strong delusion that they might believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness. He is the truth of scriptures. And he is the truth concerning the character of God. I love that verse of scripture where Philip, bless his heart, he's as dumb as we are. He said, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. And he thought he was saying a good thing. He was saying a terrible thing. He was saying, we need to see more than you. Show us the Father, and we'll be satisfied. And the Lord said, Philip, have I been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known me? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. Not, it's as if you've seen the Father. All we're ever going to see of the Father is the Son. He that has seen Me has seen the Father. You see, in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. I love in John chapter 14, verse 1, when he said, let not your hearts be troubled. Do you believe in God? Believe also in me. And what he's saying is, you believe God? Even so, believe me. Do you believe God is eternal? I'm eternal. Do you believe God is sovereign, in absolute control of every event? His will is always done. Completely sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions of men. He controls, he's controlling the thoughts that are going through your mind right now. You're freely thinking them, but he's in control of them. That's me. I'm absolutely completely sovereign. Do you believe God is all powerful? I'm all powerful. Do you believe God is independent, that he has no needs, that he can act without you doing anything? He simply wills it. That's me. All that God is, I am because I am God. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God as a distinct person. The Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything made that was made. The truth with regard to the character of God is seen in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the truth. And he's the truth with regard to me and you. How would I say this? I love the scripture in Romans 3 where he says there's no difference. You take the most moral man and the most immoral man walking on this planet There's no difference. We have a hard time believing that, don't we? But there's no difference. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the only way you and I can be seen is put us beside him. And that is most clearly seen when he was nailed to a cross, that's how bad I am. I would have done it. You say, I wouldn't have. You're wrong. You would have. You would have. That's how God views humanity. I would have done it. I'm so bad that the only way my sin can be put away is by Jesus Christ bearing it and being nailed to a cross to put it away. He's the truth regarding me and you. If you have high thoughts of yourself, look to the cross. I hope God will give you the grace to get rid of those thoughts. He's the truth concerning you and I, but most especially, He is the truth concerning salvation. He is salvation. Simeon understood this. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. And he was holding that baby, eight days old. Lord, Now let us thou thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Jesus Christ is God's salvation. He is the purpose for salvation. His glory. Now if you think his purpose for coming was to save you, Well, you and I benefited from it, but that wasn't his purpose for coming. His purpose for coming was his own glory, the glory of his father, the manifestation of the divine attributes. We benefit from that. Yes, aren't you thankful that he came? There's people saved because of that. But we flatter ourselves, oh, he came just to save me. Well, I'm glad I get to benefit from his salvation, but he came to glorify and honor his father. to make the way for God to be just and justify the ungodly. He's the reason, the purpose for salvation. He's the reason for election. Why am I chosen? Chosen not for good in me. according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. He's the reason for justification. I'm justified by his righteousness. I stand guiltless before God because of his righteousness. He's the reason for redemption. He's the one who redeemed. He's the reason for forgiveness. I'm not forgiven because I asked to be forgiven. I'm not forgiven because I've demonstrated sufficient sorrow and guilt over my sin and just beat myself on the breast. Here's why I'm forgiven. Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God for what? Christ's sake. No other reason is needed. Hath forgiven. You, he's the reason for the new birth. Why are you born again? Because he represented you and died for you and put away your sins. He's the reason for faith and repentance. The reason you have is because he gave it to you and he's the object of it. He's the subject of it. He himself is the truth and anything that is not this is a lie. No man comes to the Father but by me. I am the truth. Now, I love this. He says, I am the life. He does not say, I'm the one who shows you how to live. He does not say, I'm the one who gives you life. He says, I am the life. The life was the light of me and the only life that God will accept is mine. No other life. If I don't have his life as my life, God will have nothing to do with me. The only way you can get to the Father is if my life is your life before God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you appear with Him in glory. No other life will be accepted. I think of Matthew chapter 22, where We have the parable of the wedding feast. And the man, the governor of the feast, the king comes in to look at his guests. And he spots one without a wedding garment. Now, he's the one who gave the wedding garment. The only way you could get into this feast is if you had the wedding garment on. And he spots one man. And he says, friend, how come is thou in hither? You don't have a wedding garment. And he was speechless. He said, bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness. There is only one life that I'll accept. The life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Would you bring your life, your motives, your good works, how you've handled temptation and how you've dealt with sin, how you've resisted temptation. Would you bring that life before God? You know, many do. Lord, Lord, have we not preached in Your name? Name. In Your name. We did this in Your name. We cast out demons. Many works of power. In Your name we've done many wonderful works. They brought their life. And they heard from Him what everybody who brings their life will hear. Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. The only life that God accepts is the life of Jesus Christ. I am the life. You know, that almost seems a thing impossible, doesn't it? How can his life be my life? Why was he nailed to a cross? Because my life became his life. That's so terrible to think of. But He bore my life, my sin, my corruption. He bore my life. When He drank, we talked some about this last night, when He took that cup and drank it, it was the sins of His people. It was the life of His people. He took my life and drank it in. And that is how he was made sin. He took my life into himself. And none of us can imagine the horror of that. That's why he sweated great drops of blood, knowing that what I am, he was made to be. But just as truly as he took my life and bore my sin, His very life is given to me, so that His life is my life before God. Just as truly as my sin became His sin, my life became His life. His perfect life is my life, and if you want to know the truth about me, Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and you'll find it all. That is my life before God. What a life. Now somebody says, well, how can I know if his life is my life? This sounds great. How can I know if his life is my life? I can make this real simple. I can't, only God the Holy Spirit can. I shouldn't even say I can do anything, because I can't. But how can I know if his life is my life? I'm going to ask you one question. I'm not asking you if you're saved. I'm not asking you if you're one of the elect. I'm not asking you if you know for sure that Jesus Christ died for your sins. I'm not asking you if you've been born again. I'm asking this one question. Are you a sinner? That's all I'm asking you. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He doesn't say believing sinners. He doesn't say repentant sinners. He doesn't say, as the Puritans used to say, sensible sinners. I hate that term. Sinners are stupid. They're not sensible. He came to save. No adjective. No adjective. I'm not asking you what kind of... I'm not even going to be a sinner. He came to save sinners. Are you a sinner? He came to save you. He took your life into His own body on the tree and bore the wrath of God in your place And He gives you His life as your life before God. And you can come boldly into God's presence because as He is, so are you in this world right now. His life is your life. Now this glorious verse of Scripture, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Think about this scripture that says the same thing. Wherefore, he is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him. That means more than pleading his name. When he came to God, I come to God. seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. What a precious verse of scripture. I am the way that excludes all other ways. If you don't believe that, you don't believe he's the way in the first place. I am the truth. I'm the only truth that excludes all other truths. They're nothing. I am the life. My life is the only life God accepts, and the only way I can be saved is if I come to the Father by Him, through Him, and in Him. May the Lord enable us to simply rest in Him as my way, the truth, the life, my life. Been a joy being with you, Pastor Paul.