Our Lord had been speaking to
his disciples. As I said, that first message, he knew, he knew that they were
hurting. I considered that again just
a moment ago when I was musing over the notes for this next
message. I'm gonna try to pick up verses
4, 5, 6, there in John 14. And to know that he knows. You
know, sometimes we go through this life and we're struggling
and we just think, you know, nobody knows how I feel. Oh,
contraire. Yeah, he knows. He's so tender. He's so merciful to his people. And so we pick up in John chapter
14. Our Lord had just told his disciples, let not your heart be troubled.
I'm going to start in verse 4 in just a second. Let not your heart
be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. Then he's telling them, I'm going
to just pick up there in verse 4. said concerning having said
he's going to go and prepare a place for him. He said in verse
four, and whether I go, you know, and the way, you know, now here
he's telling them, he said, uh, I'm going to the cross. And he said, You know. You know that I'm going to the
cross. How did they know? He had told
them. He had told them numerous times. Son of man must suffer. He must die. Now here he is in
comforting his apostles, his people. And he reveals to them
again those approaching events. Yes, he's told them that he's
going to his father's house, he's going to prepare a place
for them to come and receive them unto himself. But he knows
that they're going to soon behold the actual event of that. They're
going to see it. And he tells them, he said, whether,
verse 4, whether I go You know, and the way you know, they're going to actually witness
his death. And he knows it's going to break
their hearts. He knows that. You're going to actually behold
me suffer and die. Zechariah had set forth Prophecy
Zechariah, I'll read this to you, 13.7, of the certainty of
his death. And he told him, he said, now,
I've told you that I'm going. I told you and you know it. Whether
I go, you know. And the way you know. What do
you mean the way? The way he's going to die. He
said, I'm telling you how I'm going to die. Zechariah 7, 13,
7. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd. Against the man that is my fellow,
the Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered. I will turn mine hand upon the
little ones. Jehovah is going to smite his
shepherd shepherd that he is ordained to die. All that the
father had eternally loved, their sin is going to have to be paid
for. We hear men talk about how sin
is dealt with, how it's put away. The way that man by nature sets
forth sin being put away. How's the norm of how sin is
put away? Here's how it is. Just tell the
Lord you're sorry. Just tell Him you're sorry. I'm
sorry. I'd like, whenever I, growing up, I'd get in a scuffle
with my brother or sister, something like that, And I'd hit them,
or they'd hit me. My mama would say, now you tell
them you're sorry. I'm sorry. Yeah, I really meant
that. That's man by nature. How does
God put away sin? Here's what man by nature says.
Just tell them you're sorry. What about justice? What about
the penalty for sin? The putting away of my guilt
truly by the blood of Christ. Why did He die? Because our sin
demanded it. Our sin demanded justice. God is a just God. So what does the Scripture set
forth that is going to have to happen? God Almighty says, I
just read it in Zechariah 13, verse 7, Awake, O sword! Against my shepherd, he that is my fellow. And the sheep are going to be
scattered, but I'm going to turn my hand. I'm going to put my
hand of covering on them. I'm going to comfort them. I'm
going to secure their peace. And when they see these things,
this suffering, they're going to remember that I said I'm going
to put away their sin. This is how God deals with sin. Whether I go on to the cross, and you know it, the way you know it. I'm going to be nailed. I'm going
to shed my blood. I'm going to die. I'm gonna be
buried. You know. And then the scripture
says, verse five, Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whether thou goest,
and how can we know the way? Now here, here again, here's
the honest admittance of a frail creature of the dust. Here's
our honest unveiling of our heart. He said, the way I'm going you
know. I don't believe for one second that Thomas was trying
to doubt the Lord's words. He voiced what any true believer
would voice. We all see through a glass darkly. We have heard the story, the
setting forth of the gospel of God's free grace. We've heard
that, and we've heard it, and we've heard it. And the Lord
tells us, the way that I go, you know. The way I go, you know. You understand, you perceive.
You know what a believer will say? Lord, I'm so ignorant. The way that you're going, Lord,
I don't know. How can we know? We know not
whither thou goest. How can we know the way? You
explain to me what happened at Calvary. Now you won't just,
you won't get in real deep, real quickly. You tell me what happened
at the cross. You explain to me. Now I know,
I know what the Lord has revealed. That He laid down His life for
the sheep. How far can you go with that? Right there. He laid down his life for the
sheep. What happened between Almighty God and Almighty God? How did God deal with sin? Thomas
said, Lord, we know not whither thou goest. How can we know the
way? How can I perceive, Lord, what
you've done? Lord, it is marvelous that you've told us that you
did go and you did put away our sin. And this is the assurance
that we have. God Almighty dealt for a people
everlastingly loved. He dealt with Himself. He dealt
with His Son, Father, Son, Spirit. And we will readily admit we're
so far over our heads, we don't know what we're truly saying.
We don't understand the way. Lord, how can we know? We're so ignorant,
we're just ignorant kids. Lord, you have given us your
words and we hear your words declared. Oh, but how we readily
admit our lack of perception. Oh, we consider that which you've
done. We're just weak, frail creatures
of dust, but creatures of His mercy. Isn't it a marvelous thing
to hear the gospel of God's grace? I've said before, I was talking
to Todd Nybert one day, and Todd told me, he said, You know what
I love about hearing the glory of God's grace, God's sovereignty,
putting away our guilt? He said, I can't understand it.
He said, but I believe it. I believe it. You ask a believer,
do you truly believe that when the Lord Jesus Christ went to
the cross, do you truly believe this, that He was actually made
sin? Now when I say that, this is
what I mean. That he was actually made what we are by nature. He actually made sin. I've looked that up so many times. I've told you about me talking
to Brother Scott so many times. Just when I'd struggle. He could tell I was struggling.
He was sitting over there. We were sitting there. I told
you about that finger. He put that finger right there. He said, let me tell you something.
Don't you ever try to downplay what Christ did at the cross
for his people. He was made sin. Though I can't perceive the depth
of it, that doesn't relieve or release the glory of it. Don't
ever try to do that. But Thomas was honest. Lord, we don't know where you're going.
He's in heaven. He went to heaven. He went to
the cross. They could see that. But when
he died, here was God Almighty made flesh and he died. And there was that body. When
Joseph of Arimathea asked the body, there was the body of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Where was he? He'd gone to his
father. You can't explain it. Here he
was. He'd gone to his father. The
application of what he had done brought him to the presence of
God Almighty in heaven. Explain that to me. No, I don't
even try. He's going, Lord, how can we
know the way? That's what the Lord told him.
Thomas verse 5. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither
thou goest. And how can we know? Here it is right here. The way. How can we know the way? We proclaim the truth of what
we know. And we know little. But we know this. His explanation
in verse 6 tells us everything that God has been pleased to
reveal concerning Him. How can we know the way? In verse 6 says, Jesus saith
unto him, I am. Now I'll tell you this,
I can just stop right there and we just preach on that. Where
do you think I'd go with I am? I'm gonna go back when the Lord
told his preacher, he told Moses. Moses says, when I go and tell
your people these things that you've told me, when I go back
and talk to Pharaoh, who do you want me to tell them sent me?
And listen to this answer. I am. You tell them that I am,
that I am has sent you. Here's the apostle, Thomas and
asking him, Lord, how can we know the way? The way, how can
we know it? How can we know the direction?
What's the map here? How can we know the way? And Jesus saith unto him, I am
the way. You know what that tells me immediately? Man has no part in man's salvation. And just in case you didn't get
that, let me just say it again. Maybe I missed it. Man has no
part. Show me in the scriptures. Show
me in the scriptures where man's work, man's efforts, you show
me in the scriptures. If you can't show me in the scriptures,
now just, that's gonna end it right there. And I can tell you
right now, you are not gonna find anything in the scriptures
that sets forth that God Almighty demands man to do something in
order for man to be saved. Just listen to what the Lord
said. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way. How much are you going to add
to that? Tell me by Scripture now, how
much are you going to add to I am the way from our Lord's
answer? That's what we're going to conclude.
It is Christ alone. Christ alone. Nothing else added. If you believe that there's something
that needs your addition, In order to make salvation effectual,
you have added to the Scriptures. You gave back it up. Your eternal soul rests on what
Christ said and what we believe in. He that believeth. He that
believeth. There is nothing added. Our Lord
said that salvation is all of grace. Beginning to end, it is
by grace that you are saved through faith, and that not of yourself. He told Thomas, when Thomas said
in verse 6, he said unto him, I am the way. I am the way. We must walk by faith. You cannot
see this with your natural eye. We see it by faith. Christ is
the way. He alone is the way to the Father. No work on our part. Everything
that man could contrive that would seem to be right, other
than that Christ is the way. Anything that man could come
up, it's going to be wrong. It may seem right. There's a
way that seemeth right. It seemeth right to a natural
heart to think that if I'm good enough, if I'm kind enough, if
I quit all my shenanigans, I don't do what I used to do, I don't
smoke and drink and run around and all that kind of stuff. I'm
doing the best I can. There's a way that seemeth right. But you know what that ends in?
Death. There's a way that seemeth right
unto man, but the way leads to death, eternal death. Well, maybe if I'm baptized, maybe if I speak in tongues,
maybe if I exercise my free will, list all of the things that you
want to list, and here's what eliminates all of that. Jesus saith unto him, am the
way. I am the way. And he said, I
am the truth. And you just go ahead, just grab
hold of this one, too. I am the truth. What does that mean? That means
that everybody else is a liar. There's one who is truth. and God's people believe Him.
I am the truth. He's the final word from God
Almighty. Everything that is in opposition
to Christ is wrong. If you want something
that will settle your heart again on what do I believe? Who do I believe? There's a lot
of places There's a lot of places that you can go somewhere and
go to church. There's a lot of places where
somebody's standing in the pulpit. But I can tell you this, and
again, I've told you recently, this has become a little bit
more real to me. I'm gonna leave this world. I'm
gonna die. I'm gonna die. I know it. I know it in the scriptures.
I know the scripture says it's appointed unto man to die. Then
what? The judgment. Since I'm going to die and there's
going to be a judgment, Lord, please don't leave me to myself.
Please, please don't leave me to me. Well, Brother So-and-so
said, well, if Brother So-and-so is saying something that's contradictory
to this book right here, Brother So-and-so is wrong. Well, you
don't have to be so dogmatic. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Why? Because we're going to leave
this world. And the Lord told his disciples, when Thomas just
honestly told him, Lord, we don't know the way. How can we know
the way? The Lord told him, Thomas, I
am the way. And I am the truth. He's the
truth. I said, First message, what is
the truth concerning God having a people? What is the truth about
that, about God having a people? Now just tell me the truth about
it. How did they become His? Well,
you might want to jot this down, Ephesians 1, 4, and follow me. How did they become His people? Before the foundation of where
He chose them. He chose a people. Well, I don't I don't think that's
fair. Well. I don't want to be so just blunt,
but it doesn't matter what you or I think it doesn't matter. Whatever God Almighty has said,
that's what's going to be. I am the way. I'm the truth. And he said, I am the life. I'm the life. What has the Lord done for his
people? They were born dead in trespasses,
spiritually dead. See, this is what man by nature
doesn't believe. He doesn't believe that man is unable to reconcile
himself back to God. He said, I am the life. John 1, 4 says, in him was life,
and life was the light of men. Left to himself, man's going
to spiritually die. He's going to physically die,
but left to himself, we're going to die. With a sincere and imperative
heart, I have got to tell all of us that once again. I just
had somebody in my family, I got a call the other, no, a text.
I got a text the other day, somebody in my family had passed away. What do you think the first thing
I thought of? They left this world into eternity. And the way they left, they will
be forever. I need life. I need life. Not what I believe is life, not
what, how I think life is attained, not what. I want to know, Lord,
you tell me. You're the way, you're the truth,
and you're the life. Listen to this. all of these
other, and I'll end right here, all of these other ways to come
to God, I like to say by decision, by
baptism, by this, that, and the other. No man, that's pretty
imperative, no man, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me, No
man comes to God except by God. No man comes to the Father. God's favor, God's acceptance
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in Christ. There's salvation
in no other. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. You know, when
I hear the imperative truth, you know what I want to do? Whenever this is preached, I
want to be there. I want to hear what God has to
say. I pray that God Almighty have
mercy upon us. I pray that the Lord be pleased
to call out His sheep. Call them out. I can tell you
this, salvation is of the Lord. Salvation has nothing to do with
me making a choice. If I call on the name of the
Lord, it's because He gave me a new heart to call. Lord, call
me afresh today. Him that calleth on the name
of the Lord. I told you, whenever you see
that ETH, just keep, Continuing, continuing. Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You find a man or a
woman that has been given a heart for Christ. You know, they're
not going to be saying, they're not going to say, well, I tell
you, I called on the Lord years ago. I don't need to call on
him again. I'm telling you what God's people do. They call every
day. They call every moment. I just,
I think to myself, Lord, thank you for giving me a heart to
call again. Why do you call? Because I need
to. I need to. I pray that God bless these words.