That's my prayer. I hope that
it is yours. Moses said, if thou go not up
with us, don't let us leave this place. And our hope this morning
is that our God will be pleased to bless His Word to our hearts
and reveal to us the glorious person of His Son who describes
Himself as the Way. the way. John 14 6, I am the
way. The way of peace, the way of
righteousness, the way of salvation, the way of hope. I am the one
and only way. The truth and the life. No man
can come to the Father but by me. We're going to look this
morning in our first hour at this title. that the Lord gives
of himself as the way. Let's pray together and ask the
Lord to bless us. Our Heavenly Father, we come
before your throne of grace in the name of your dear Son.
We pray, Lord, that you'd be pleased to send your spirit and
power to cause him to be lifted up in our hearts, that he would
be glorified, that we would find ourselves in your power and in
your ability, worshiping you in spirit and in truth, and that
you would shut us up to Christ Lord, we're so prone to look
for another way. We confess to you our wandering
eyes and hearts are always seeking for answers outside of Christ.
And we ask this morning that you would shut us up to him and
that we would find all our hope, all our salvation in his finished
work and in his glorious person. For it's in his name we ask it.
Amen. I want you and I to trust the
Lord Jesus Christ as the one and only way. And if you're like me, as I just
mentioned in our prayer, you're prone to wander away from the
way. You're prone to think that perhaps
there are some solutions to life and to whatever you're going
through, that there's an answer outside of Christ. When the Lord
Jesus Christ said, I am the way, you know the difference between
a definite article and an indefinite article. A definite article is
the word the, it's exclusive. An indefinite article is the
word a, and that means that it's optional. And the Lord makes
it very clear when he says, I am the way. No other option. There's no other way. There's
no other hope. What a glorious claim that he
makes. that we would find him to be
that way. Now there is a way that seems
right unto man, but in the end, that way leads to death. The way of salvation is to be
found only in the tree of life. The first mention of the way
in the Word of God is found in Genesis chapter 3 verse 24, where
the Lord said that he placed cherubim, those are angels, at
the garden gate with a flaming sword to protect the way of the
tree of life. You know the Lord's still doing
that. He's still sending his messengers
with the sword of his word to protect the way to the tree of
life. And I hope that he'll do that
for us this morning. And that he'll shut us up to
Christ being the only way. Turn with me to Acts chapter
24. Acts chapter 24. We look for solutions everywhere
but the one place where it is to be found. Now, Paul was accused of being
a part of a seditious group, a group that was seeking to overthrow
Rome and this group was called the way and in Acts chapter 24
verse 14 Paul defends himself before Felix and he says this
I confess unto thee that after the way which they call heresy
so worship I the God of my father's Oh, this way is heretical to
those who are out of the way. In another place, the Scripture
says that the way, Peter, I think in 2 Peter 2, verse 2, says,
the way will be spoken evil of. And men still do that. When you shut men up to Christ
as the way, the Christ of Scripture, Men say well, that's heresy you
all are a cult and Paul said that way Which they call heresy
is the way in which I worship God Believing look at the rest
of that verse believing all things which are written in the law
and in the prophets and The Lord Jesus Christ, who calls
himself the Way, is revealed throughout all of Scripture.
Throughout all of Scripture, beginning in Genesis chapter
1, verse 1, where God created the world. In the beginning, God. That's
Christ. That's Christ. He's the voice
of God. He's the light of God. He's the
seed of the woman that will crush the head of the serpent. He is
the revelation of the prophets. He's the one David spoke of in
the Psalms. He's the one who came in the
gospels and accomplished all that was promised in the Old
Testament. And he's the one who's promised
in the epistles to empower his people and to come again. This book is about Christ. And
Paul said, I worship the God of the way who is revealed in
all of scripture, in all of scripture. We don't, we don't seek to, you
know, I'm kind of like brother Robert who preached the other
Wednesday night. He said, if you have an objection with something
that I say, bring scripture, bring scripture. It settles all
controversy. Had a brother say to Ed the other
day, he said, you got Bible for that? And, you know, that's where
we are, isn't it? You have the Word of God to support
that truth, and that's what Paul's saying. Yes, yes, all of Scripture
supports the Lord Jesus Christ as the way. Let men accuse the
way as being heresy. In fact, it is the truth. It
is the truth. Now the Lord said that it is
needful that heresies be among you. God sends heretics into
his church in order that those who are approved in the way might
be made manifest. So there's a stark contrast between
the way, the one and only way in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ revealed in all of scripture and the way that seems right
unto man. What is the way that seems right
unto man, the way that leads to death? Christ is the only
one that leads to life. He said, I am the way, the truth,
which we looked at last week, and the life. There's no life
outside of Christ. What is the way that men look
to? Well, it seems right to man that he would have to make a
decision, that he would have to exercise his will in order
to earn the favor of God. That just seems logical to man.
You know, I thought about this. Man's kind of like... Somebody asked me the other day,
he said, well, does man have a will? Yeah, man's got a will.
He's got a will. It's just not free. His will
is in bondage to his nature. He's kind of like the man in
prison who's going through the chow line and they give him an
option between beans and broccoli. And he thinks because he can
choose between beans and broccoli that therefore he can choose
to deliver himself from prison any day he wants. That's the
way men are. They think because they have
the ability to make choices in life that therefore they can
choose when it's right for them to deliver themselves from darkness
into His light and to bring about the salvation of their souls
by their own free will. That just seems right to man.
But he's as blind and as ignorant as that guy in prison who thinks
he can set himself free. It is not of him that willeth.
It is not of him that runneth. That's another way that seems
right unto man. It seems right unto man that
God would bless me for my effort, my running. I'm talking to a
man the other day and he said, well, I'm doing my best. I mean,
that was his response. I said, we're sinners. He said,
well, I'm trying. I'm trying. I said, no. God's not pleased with your best.
He's not pleased with your efforts. You know, one of the glorious
things about the gospel is that it's the one place where we can
be vulnerable. You know, people by nature are
not vulnerable. They're not. You know, we come
into this world as hypocrites. We come into this world with
a facade. We come into this world pretending
to be something that we're not. And we don't want anybody to
see our weaknesses. We don't want anybody to see
our frailties. And the gospel is the one place
where we can say, not only are we not afraid to expose the fact
that we're sinners, it's actually a good thing. It's a blessing
to be made a sinner. It's a blessing to have no ability. It's a blessing to confess before
God and God's people that you're nothing, that you don't have
anything and you can't do anything. What deliverance there is, what
freedom there is in not having to play the part. You know, the
word hypocrisy is in the scriptures. We looked at this yesterday in
the men's Bible study. And it's almost a direct translation
from the Greek language. And it was a word that was used
in the Greek theater to describe the actors in the Greek dramas. And back then, the same actor
would play many different parts. And all they would do is they
would change their mask. And they'd take off one mask
and put on another mask and play the part of another character.
And then they would change their mask again. And that was called
hypocrisis or hypocrisy. And that's what men do, isn't
it? They just change their mask. Whatever color the room is I'm
in is the color I'm going to adjust to in order to please
other men. And the glorious truth about
the gospel is we don't have to play that game. We don't have
to play that game. We can be vulnerable. We can
be vulnerable before God. We can be vulnerable before one
another. We can throw those masks away and confess what we are
before God. We're sinners. We're weak. We're frail. We don't know what
we're doing. We're scared little boys and
girls in big people's bodies, and we don't know which way to
go. Lord, we're dependent upon you. We're helpless. We're weak. We're broken people. Where else in the world can you
go and admit that? and have that to be a strength. That's what Paul said. His strength
is made perfect in my weakness. When I'm weak, then and only
then I'm strong. The only way that the Lord Jesus
Christ can be the way is when we have no other way to go. All
other ways have been shut up to us. All of our abilities have
been broken down. And Christ is the only way. How free is that? How free is
that? Throw your mask away. In me, that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. What did Job say? Behold, I am
vile. Woe is me, I am undone. That's
what we are before God. The gospel brings us before God
so that we don't have to play those games anymore among men.
You know, I've quoted this many times. I'll say it again. I love
what Brother, I think it was Brother Wayne, another church up in Cherokee.
Land, Wayne Land, Wayne Land. who used to attend here, Wayne
said to me one day, he said, yeah, I do pretty well with pride
until someone else walks in the room. You don't have any problem with
pride until someone else walks into the room. Isn't that the
way we are? Isn't that the way we are? Oh, but just to be naked
before God and be able to confess that among men, that that's what
we are. That's what we are. And then
Christ is exalted and glorified as the way. He's the way. Let men play their proud, arrogant,
hypocritical games all they want. They're just as scared and just
as afraid and just as unable as you are and I am. It's just
they've got no other way. So they play in this way and
that way. Paul said the way, which they
call heresy. By that way, I worship God, who
is revealed in all of Scripture, in all of Scripture. Oh, I want
you and I to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as the one and only way. The only way to have peace with
God, the only way to have any understanding in this world,
the only way to be saved, the only way to have my sin put away,
the only way to have any confidence at all. Paul said we are the
true circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and believe on Christ Jesus the
Lord and have no confidence in the flesh. Let them accuse us
of being heretics. In fact, the word heresy means
opinion. It means choice is what it means. And they've chosen that way which
seems right unto man. the way of will, the way of works. Well, if I just try harder and
I, you know, I live a above normal life and above average life and,
uh, you know, and I, my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds in
the end. Yeah, I'll, I'll be okay. No, you won't. No, you won't. God will not forgive one single
infraction to his law, not one. Have you ever broke God's law
one time? One time. Truth is, you've never kept God's
law one time. That's the truth. But I'll lower
the standard to ask you whether or not you've even broken God's
law one time, because if you have, God's not gonna forget
it. He's not going to forget it. You've got to have that sin put
away. The way that seems right unto
man is free will, good works, knowledge. I'll just get some
knowledge. So we have Christian organizations called renewing
your mind. If I can just, if I can just
acquire some theological knowledge and understand some truths, then
I'll, you know, I'll be delivered. No, you won't. No, you won't. And of course, the world's way
is tolerance. The only one thing that's not
tolerated in the world is intolerance. And the political correctness
today and relativism that we live in is so run amok that the
one thing that men look down on more than anything else is
what they call intolerance. Well, I'm here to confess to
you that God's intolerant. God's intolerant. He's pleased with the way. And that's the only way. That's
the only way. He said, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye Him. Well, what did He
say? He said, I'm the way. I'm the way. You've got no other
way. Oh, that God would shut us up
to Christ. Close every other door. That's why coming to Christ is
not a choice. It's not a choice. You come to
Christ when you're made to come to Christ. This isn't an RSVP
that you can decline or accept based on the convenience of your
life or your desires or your will. This is a command from
God, and when the Spirit of God is pleased to make that command
effectual in the hearts of God's elect, then they will be made
willing in the day of His power, and their fetching grace is going
to bring them irresistibly to Christ. And you come to Christ,
and you're going to say, I had no place else to go. I had no
place else to go. God shut me up to the way. They've all gone out of the way.
Romans chapter 3, and the way of peace they have not known. Now everybody's familiar with
Matthew chapter 7, where the Lord said, enter ye in at the
straight gate. Now that word straight means
narrow. I had a man say to me one time
when he followed me from Arminianism to Calvinism and he said, you
narrowed the road. And then when I started trying
to preach the gospel, he said, oh no. He said, I followed you
when you took me from Arminianism to Calvinism and you narrowed
it a lot, but now it's just too narrow. It's just too narrow. He said, I can't, I can't, can't
go with you. Straight is the gate, and narrow
is the road, and few are they that find it. Broad is the gate,
and wide is the road that leads to destruction, and many are
they that are on it." Now, what does that mean? Well, it just
means what it says. It means what it says. That the
whole world is on the road to destruction. And they're all
playing the hypocrite. And that God has taken a tenth. A remnant. He's taken his elect. And he's pulled them off of that
wide road that the whole world's on. And he's put them on the
narrow road. And he shut him up to Christ. And he's caused
them to believe that Jesus Christ, the Lord, the one revealed in
scripture, is their only way. And they've said with the apostles,
Lord, where else can we go? When he says to them, will you
lead me also? Lord, where are we going to go?
You alone have the words of eternal life. We know, we believe, and
are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Lord,
you've just, you've taken away our options, and I'm so glad. If you have a choice between
Christ and something else, you will always choose something
else. Genesis chapter 18 verse 19 God
says they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and
judgment They shall keep the way of the Lord now here you
have the the the cherubim again with a flaming sword guard in
the tree of life And he said they're gonna keep the way of
the Lord to do justice God requires justice He requires, he said,
I'll not allow any sin to go unpunished, not one. So I say, if you've got one infraction
against the law, God's not going to let it go unpunished. When
the Lord shuts you up to Christ, you'll know it's a whole lot
worse than that. But every sin, every sin is going to be punished.
It'll either be satisfied in the justice, they shall guard
the way of the Lord in judgment and justice. And God satisfies his judgment
with the justice of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
that when Christ died on Calvary's cross, He bore in His body all
the sins of all of His people and satisfied divine justice
once and for all. And God says, I remember your
sins no more. No more. Oh, what hope is there
in that? I'll remember them no more. Jude chapter 1 verse 11, woe
unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain. Now what was the way of Cain? You remember the story of Cain
and Abel? What did Cain bring before God for his offering? He brought the fruit of his labors,
didn't he? He brought the vegetables, the
ground that he had tilled, and the seeds that he had planted,
and the fruit that he had harvested, and he put together his first
fruits in a basket, and oh, don't you know, they were beautiful.
They're fruits that, you know, you'd be glad to eat. And he
offered them up to God, proud that he had produced something
so beautiful. And God had no respect for the
offerings of Cain. They have gone in the way of
Cain, offering to God the works of their hands. What did Abel
bring? Abel's testimony, according to
Hebrews, still speaketh. What did Abel bring? He brought
a blood sacrifice, didn't he? He took a lamb, the firstlings
of the flock, and he slew it. And he shed blood and offered
that on an altar before God in faith that the seed of the woman,
the lamb of God that would come and take away the sins of the
world was the only thing that was going to satisfy the demands
of God's justice. But they've gone in the way of
Cain. That's the wide way. The way of the world is just
to believe that somehow They've run greedily after the
heir of Balaam. What was Balaam after? He was
a prophet for profit, wasn't he? He was a prophet for hire. He'd tell you whatever you wanted
to hear in order to get his pay. Well, that's exactly where religion
is today. Men tickling other men's ears,
telling them how wonderful they are, telling them how good their
works are, telling them how free their will is, lying to men,
lying to men about God letting them know, telling them that
God loves everybody and wants to save everybody. And men eat
it up, don't they? They eat it up, and they swallow
it hook, line, and sinker. I was fishing Friday with Donnie
Willington, and we were catching these fish, and I said, you know,
fish are just stupid. I mean, here is a dead piece
of cut bait, and he nibbles on it, and I pull it out of his
mouth, and he comes right after it again. I said, you know, how
stupid can you be? But isn't that the way, you know,
that's just, men are that way. Just throw out there some bait
and they'll swallow it. They'll swallow it. Or they perished in the gainsaying.
We're still in Jude 11. Jude verse 11. They perished
in the gainsaying of Korah. What was the gainsaying of Korah?
You remember the rebellion of Korah? Korah is the one who said
to Moses, who placed you over us? And to Aaron, we don't need
you as our intercessor. We can get access to God without
you. And God told Moses to tell the
people to separate themselves from Korah and his rebellion.
And as soon as the people separated themselves, what happened? The
earth opened up and swallowed Korah into the pit of hell. Why? Because of their rebellion against
God. That's the way that seems right
unto man. The way of Cain. The greediness of Balaam and
the gainsaying of Korah. Turn with me in closing to the
book of Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Here's the way. Here's the way. Do you need a way? Do you need
a way to God? Do you need a way to be delivered
from your sin? Do you need a way to find direction
and hope and forgiveness? Do you need a way? Look at verse 17 of Hebrews chapter
10. And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. Oh, I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful. Now where remission of these
is, there is no offering for sin. If sin's been put away,
then what are you still making an offering for it for? Why are
you still offering up something to put away sin? Having therefore,
brethren, boldness, confidence. This is not cockiness. This is
confidence. We can have confidence before
God. Confidence in what? Not confidence
in ourselves. Not confidence in our will or
our works or our wisdom. Not confidence in our abilities.
But our confidence is in the way. the Lord Jesus Christ, and
we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Now here, the Lord's using that
Old Testament picture of the holies of holies, where the Ark
of the Covenant is. And he's saying that no longer
are you threatened by the law to stay away from God. Remember,
God told the children of Israel at Mount Sinai, if anybody touches
this mountain, let him be lanced through with a spear. If an animal
touches this mountain, don't touch the law, don't touch, don't
come near. Now, what's happened? The veil
has been rent. Look what he says. The holiest,
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way. A new and living
way. It's new in revelation. It's
new in fulfillment. It's new in power. It's new in
application. It's the same old covenant that
was established before the foundation of the world. But it's made new
in the fulfilling of all of its requirements in Christ. And so he says it's a new way.
It's a living way. No longer does a dead sacrifice
have to be made in order to put away your sins. For one has suffered
once for all. And he has justified and sanctified
us through the sacrifice of himself. It's already done. And he's raised
from the dead. so that he's now alive. We're
not worshiping a dead God. We worship a living God. by a new living way which he
hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his
flesh." So that veil that separated the holies of holies was a picture
of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he bowed his
head on Calvary's cross and said, it is finished, Father, into
thy hands I commend my spirit, the scripture says that miraculously
God sent an angel and grabbed hold of that 14 inch thick veil. This isn't just a little sheer
like we have on our windows over here. This is blanket upon blanket,
14 inches thick, to make sure that no one entered into there
without proper authority. And what happens to it? It's
rent from top to bottom. God tears it from the top to
the bottom and it's opened up. The veil has been rent. We have boldness now to enter
in. Why? Because we have a high priest.
We have one who has entered into the heavenly tabernacle. That's
what he goes on to say. Look, let us draw near having
a high priest over the house of God. Let us draw near with
a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
I love in the Old Testament when Moses told the children of Israel,
he said, God requires you to worship Him. And they said, we're
going to obey God. We're going to obey God. We're
going to do everything He commands. You know what Moses did? He killed
the lamb and took the blood and put it in a basin and put the
hyssop in it and sprinkled the people with the blood. You know
what he was saying? You liars. You liars. You can't obey God. You've got to be sprinkled with
the blood of the sacrifice to be acceptable unto God. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith, nothing wavering, for He is faithful, that promised. Oh, what precious promises we
have. It's based on the faithfulness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're not faithful. You're not
able. He is. That's why He's called
the Way. He didn't say, I'll show you
the way. I'll lead you in the way. I'll help you follow the way.
He said, I am the way. I am the way. I'm the faithful one. I went
into that holies of holies. My flesh was rent. My blood was
shed. God satisfied. I'm the way. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we ask that you would give to your people faith to be shut
up to Christ and to have confidence that He has done everything necessary
to cause you to be satisfied and give us acceptance before
Thee. For we ask it in His name. Amen.