Let's go back to John chapter
14. We've been spending quite a bit
of time in John 14. This is such a pivotal chapter. And as I looked at it again yesterday
and again today, I thought, I want to go back and kind of look at
these verses between verses 5 and 11. and speak to you on the subject,
The Way to the Father. This is so critically vital that
we understand this. We know that our Lord had two
of his disciples that raised two issues. Issues that are raised
out of their own ignorance, out of their own desire to know more
about the Savior, But they were also raised because God ordained
them to be raised. One of the many blessed things
about the scriptures is that we know they're all inspired
of God and they're all beneficial to us. We have, first of all,
a man by the name of Doubting Thomas, he's typically called. He was a believer. But here's
a man who raised this issue of where the Lord Jesus was going
and how could he know the way to get where the Lord Jesus was
going. And then another issue is raised
by another disciple whose name is Philip. Philip having listen
to the Savior say that He was going to be leaving them, He
was going to be going away. Philip then gets to thinking
about it and he says, well, since you're going away, we'd love
to see the Father. And that satisfies. If we're
not going to see you anymore, we would be grateful if we could
see a bodily image of the Father. And sired Lord Jesus in His arranging
all things, and He does arrange all things, He arranged that
these men would raise these two vital issues because they needed
to be addressed. And you think about this, ever
since these words were recorded by John, the better part of 2,000
years ago, millions, millions upon millions of the children
of God have read this passage of scripture. And we have benefited
from these issues that these men raised, and they raised these
issues according to the purpose of God. You see, one of the things
that's always, it's always the truth Whenever one believer lacks
understanding of a particular subject, you can just be assured
of this. Other believers lack understanding
of it as well. And others want to know, and
I feel sure, and I've mentioned this before, Thomas, when he
raises this issue about where the Lord Jesus is going and how
to get there, and Philip, when he says, if you'll just show
us the Father, if we could see a visible representation of the
Father, the embodiment of the Father will be satisfied. When
they raise these issues, they didn't do so merely out of their
own, curiosity and their own desire to know, all of the rest
of the disciples wanted to know as well. And I'll tell you this,
all of us need to know where Christ is gone and how we can
get there. I don't know of a more vital
issue that needs to be addressed than this, what is the way to
God? Our Lord Jesus, He's been speaking
about the Father. He said, I'm going away. And we know by that He was intending,
He meant He was going to lay down His life a ransom for His
people. He's going to redeem us. He's
going to be the Savior of of those that the Father gave Him
in the covenant of grace. He's going to make us righteous.
He's going to make full restitution to the justice of God for all
of our sinfulness. And then He's going back to the
Father. The Lord Jesus, He knew that we all need to know the
way to God. Well, this is absolutely critical.
This is not an insignificant matter. Now, there are no insignificant
things in the Scriptures, right? We know that. There's nothing
insignificant in the Word of God. But there are portions of
Scripture that they seem to rise up off the pages, as it were,
and speak to us more fully and more vitally, and these two issues
do. The issue of the way to God and
the issue of, well, can we see God? Will God ever be visible
to these eyes of ours? So our Lord Jesus, he has these
men raise these issues and then he's going to address them. Now,
John is the one who wrote the words, but John isn't the one
who gave the response. John is one of the ones who's
with Thomas. He's with Philip. He's there
with those other brethren. Here are eleven brethren of our
Lord Jesus. Eleven disciples. And they're
listening as, first of all, here's Thomas, who raises the one issue,
and then here's Philip, he raises the other issue. They all needed
to know, and we need to know. This is so informative. It's so necessary. When our Lord Jesus, when He
speaks here, look at verse 6, when He speaks in response to
Thomas' words, when He says, I am the way, the truth, and
the light, no man cometh unto the Father by me. He speaks those
words in answering The words of Thomas, who said, and now
back up to verse five, he says, Thomas says, Lord, we know not
whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? How can we know the way? We don't
know where you're going. We don't know the way. Now listen,
if baptism is the way, we're gonna find out right now. If the way to where the Lord
Jesus has gone, wherever He's gone, and He's gone to the Father,
He's gone to prepare a place for His people, which He did
at the cross of Calvary. He hasn't been building mansions
in heaven for 2,000 years. He made a dwelling place for
us in heaven by His substitutionary death upon the cross of Calvary. the way to where He is, I'll
say again, if it's by baptism, that's the answer He's going
to give. Because here's Thomas, just honestly asking, where are
you going? How can we get there? Well, we
know that the Savior's been saying, I'm going to the Father, so how
can we get there? How can we get there? If baptism
is the route, We're going to find out right now. If obedience
to the law of Moses is the way, we're going to find out right
now. If live a better life is the way, we're going to find
out right now. This is such a weighty issue. And as we listen to what this
man asks, it's like we wait with great anticipation What's the
answer going to be? Because I want to go where He's
at now, don't you? I want to go to the Father's
house. I want to go to be with the Lord. I want to go where
He says, there are many mansions in my Father's house, many dwelling
places. I want to go there. Well, what's
the way? And it's, I'm just kind of like
this. Tell me, Master, tell me. And he says, I'm the way. It's not baptism. It's not reformation. It's not do better. It's not
work harder. It's not keep the Ten Commandments.
He said, I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Now we know this, before Adam committed his transgression
against God, and he did not act as a private individual, he was
a representative man. But before he rebelled against
God, before sin entered into the world, he had threefold blessed
privilege in relation to God. He had access to God. Anytime
he wanted, anytime he wanted, he had access to God. He had
communion with God. I'll tell you something else.
He had a knowledge of God. He knew the truth about God. and something else, he possessed
life. He was very much alive toward
God. Very much alive toward God. But then he disobeyed. He fell
and that three-fold relationship was severed. He became alienated
from God. As the hiding behind the trees, very painfully demonstrated. And having believed the devil's
lie, he was no longer capable of perceiving
what is the truth. And the evidence of that is he
made a fig leaf apron, thought it could hide his embarrassment,
his shame from God. And then he no longer had life. He didn't have any life toward
God. Because God said, in the day
ye eat thereof, thou shalt surely die. And that was strictly enforced. He died. He died spiritually. And in this exact condition,
all of Adam's seed are born. We're alienated from God. We're
not willingly receptive to the truth. We'll believe lies. And we have no spiritual life.
That's the condition we're all born in. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh. I hope you're believers, and
a good many of you are. Maybe all of you are, I don't
know. But I know this, when you had your children, They didn't inherit spiritual
life from you. They inherited spiritual death
from you. And they, here's what they inherited
from you. A denial of that which is true
toward God. And there was another thing that
they inherited from you. They didn't know the way to God.
They cut off from God. They are alienated from God.
Here's the problem. The way, the truth, and the life.
We lost it all in Adam's fall. Every sinner therefore has a
three-fold need. There's got to be reconciliation.
How can I come to God? God who's holy. God who's a consuming
fire. God who's righteous in all His
ways. God who's just. God who charges
His angels with foolishness. God with whom the heavens are
named pure? How can I come to God when I
drink iniquity like water? I'm a worm of the dust. I'm a
vile creature. I have rebelled against my maker. How in the world can I come to
God? I'm alienated from God and I'll
tell you something else, I'm not even interested in knowing
how to come to God by nature. That's the reason I readily believe
religious error. And all men do. Have you ever
thinking about some kind of false religion? Have you ever thought
about this? How could anybody ever believe
that garbage? Well, I can tell you how people
can believe garbage. We believe it by nature. Because
every religion is a works-based religion except the religion
of God that's all of grace. And it doesn't matter what religion,
what denomination you might be talking about throughout the
world. It is a works-based religion
because we receive error, not the truth. And the reason we're in this
kind of mess that we're in is because there is no life of God
in us. We're spiritually dead. We're
cut off from God, we don't love the truth of God, and we don't
have the life of God. Dead, that's what we are. And there aren't different stages
of death. If you're dead, you're dead. If you're alive, there is no
death. But we're spiritually dead. And our Lord Jesus, He says to
Thomas, He says, I'm the way. I'm the way to the Father. You
want to go to the Father? You want to go to God? You want
salvation? Here's the way. He's a new and
living way. The way is somebody. And that's somebody's work. He is the way to the Father.
He is the truth incarnate. And He is the life to His people. I've looked again today at this
verse 6. Look how absolutely simple this
is. Jesus saith unto him, watch it,
there are only three words that are two syllables. The rest of
them just single syllable words. You can't get any more simple
than this. You can't get any more direct
than this. I am the way, not a way. Not one of many ways, I'm the
way. You can't misunderstand that.
Surely not. I am the way, the truth. How
simple is that? He is the full embodiment of
the very truth of God. Everything you need to know about
God, about salvation, about life, about righteousness is in Him. He is the truth. There's nothing
false about him. And he says, the life. I am the
way, the truth, and the life. I am the life. I'm not a life,
I am the life. You want the life of God? It's
in Christ. You want the life that lasts
forever? Christ. You want everlasting life? Christ. And he says, no man,
and here's the first two-syllable word, cometh. No man comes to
the Father. There's another two-syllable
word. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. But by me. He spans the distance. between us and God. Isn't that
wonderful? There's somebody who spans the
distance. Look with me at Genesis chapter
28. I had a good time today studying
this again, talking about Jacob and Jacob's ladder. Genesis chapter
28, in Jacob, As you well know, we see an example
of the wondrous and sovereign grace of God. The Lord singles
him out as the object of grace, this man who seems to be the
most unlikely and the one who's unworthy of the least of God's
mercies. In fact, Jacob would even say
that. Here's a man who was, he's about to receive a revelation
from God. Now, Jacob hadn't done anything
to deserve this honor. Jacob hadn't done anything to
merit this great privilege. Nothing, absolutely nothing. It was God in his grace who meets
him. and makes him wonderful promises. When I think about Jacob here, on his way from Beersheba to
Haran, he is one lonely man. He got his brother to sell him
his birthright for a bowl of soup. And then he stole the blessing
from Esau. And Esau is really upset. Now Isaac was an old man. And Esau said this, he said,
I'm not going to do anything till dad passes. And he does
pass at the end of chapter 35, I believe it is. But he said,
when our dad passes, I'm going to kill Jacob. And you know who
overheard that? The word got back to Rebecca.
And she went to Jacob and said, you better get out of town. Go
to my brother's house. You'll find safety there. But
you better go, because Esau, he's going to be on the warpath.
He is really mad at you. So Jacob, he sets out to go to
the house of Laban. And here he is in verse 10, chapter
28. Jacob went out from Beersheba
and went toward Herod. He is one, he's one lonely man. He has nobody to look to. He doesn't have a home. He can't
go back. He's a wanderer. He's stolen
the birthright or got bought that for a bowl of soup or whatever. And then he stole the blessing. He's fearful of his brother.
He's on the run. He's a pitiful case. I mean,
he's a pitiful case. Robert a hawker. enjoy reading
him. Robert Hawker said, when Jacob
lay down, he said, perhaps there was never a man so forlorn, pitiful,
abandoned, unhappy, and friendless. And when he rose up, never one
more blessed and joyful. Let's read this. Genesis 28,
I read verse 10. Verse 11 says, and he lighted
upon a certain place, ordained of God. God has already marked
out where and when he's gonna meet his people, and when he's
gonna make his people meet him. It's already marked out, even
before the world began. A certain place, certain place. He tarried there all night because
the sun was set. He took the stones of that place
and put them for his pillars. He lay down in that place to
sleep. What a bed. Sleeping on the ground. He made
dust his headquarters. I tell you, it's significant
in the fact he's of the dust. He's a creature of the dust and
what's he got for a pillar? A rock. And up above his head,
there's only the canopy of stars. He's out there all by himself. And verse 12 says, and he dreamed.
And behold, be amazed, perk up, pay attention. A ladder was set
up on the earth. That's where it was set up, on
the earth. top of it, reached all the way
to heaven. And behold, the angels of God
ascending and descending upon it. And we're not left to guess
about the significance of this ladder. Hold your place right
there and turn to John chapter one. John chapter one. Just look over here real quick
in John chapter one. And by the way, as you're making
your way there, is it not a fact that every revelation
of God to men is through one medium, the Lord Jesus Christ? Every revelation of God to men
It's got to be through Christ Jesus. And I've said this a number
of times. God's not going to speak to,
and he's not going to be spoken to by any son or daughter of
Adam, except through this medium, except through this mediator,
Christ Jesus, the Lord. And the Lord is going to speak
to Jacob. This is the Son of God speaking
to him. And here's this ladder. Look
over here in John 1, 51. Jesus saith unto him, to Nathanael,
verily, verily I say unto you, hereafter you shall see heaven
opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon
who? The Son of Man. The Son of Man. This is the Son of Man. Over
here in Genesis chapter 28, this is the Son of Man. This is the
Lord of Glory. The fact that the ladder's on
earth, there he is, the Son of Man. There's his humanity. And it reaches all the way to
heaven, there's his deity. And here these angels of God
going up and down, are they not ministers who are sent to those
who are the heirs of God's salvation? And they're going to minister
to Jacob according to the purpose of God. You see, this ladder is the medium,
it's the connection. The only connection. There was
no connection anywhere except this ladder connecting earth
to heaven. That's Christ Jesus. There's
no connection with God apart from Him. He said, I'm the way. I'm the ladder. Go back to the text. Go back
to Genesis 28 now. So he sees this ladder, and look
at verse 13 now. Let me just read a few verses
quickly. Genesis 28, 13, and behold, the Lord stood above
it. The Lord, Jehovah. That's God
our Savior. That's the Lord Jesus. And he
said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereupon thou liest,
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall
be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad
to the west and to the east. and to the north, and to the
south, and in thee, and in thy seed shall all the families of
the earth be blessed. Thy seed, that's Christ Jesus. In thy seed shall all the families
of the earth be blessed. Look at verse 15, And behold,
I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou
goest, and will bring thee again into this land. For I will not
leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee
of. These are unconditional promises
of God. Listen, all things pertaining
to our salvation to our reconciliation, to our acceptance with God. All
things pertaining to everlasting life are unconditional to us. They're based upon the certainty
of the Word of God and God doing what He promised. The messenger from God, the messenger
from the covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't say, now if
you'll do this, then these things will come to pass. It's just,
I will, I will, I've done it. Mark it down. That's the certainty
of the salvation of God's elect. And look at verse 16 quickly.
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep. And he said, surely the Lord
is in this place. And I do it not. And he was afraid. He was afraid. He's in the presence
of the Son of God. He's full of reverence. Godly
fear. He said, how dreadful is this
place. This is none other but, number
one, the house of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
house of God. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. And number two, this is the gate
of heaven. Oh, that's it. This is the gate
of heaven. Christ said, I am the way. I
am the way to the Father. You wanna know the way of the
Father, Thomas? I'm the way to the Father. I'm the gate of heaven. It's like he said in John chapter
10. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out and find pasture. Well, look at verse 18. Jacob
rose early in the morning, took the stone that he had put for
his pillars. He set it up for a pillar. He
poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place
Bethel, the house of God. But the name of that city was
called Luz at the first, which means almond tree. And Jacob
vowed a vow saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in
this way that I go, and will give me the bread to eat and
the raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house,
then shall the Lord be my God. You notice he put an if there.
Lord already said he'd do those things for him. But Jacob said,
now if this all happens, that's us, isn't it? That's us. If this really does happen, take
the if out. You've got the Word of God. You've
got the very promises of the Lord Himself. He'll be my God. Our Lord Jesus is the ladder
to God. How can, it can't be any clearer
than that. It's not baptism, it's not keep
the law, it's not do the best you can. The way to God is Christ
Jesus. He's the living way, the new
and living way, Hebrews chapter 10 says that. It's the way of
blood, His blood. It's the way of sacrifice, His
sacrifice. It's the way of atonement, His
atonement. He said, I'm the way. And to
go back to our text quickly, He said, and I'm the truth. Without Him, there's no knowing
God. You can't have any knowledge of God apart from Christ Jesus.
He alone is the truth. He's the embodiment of all the
truth of God. In Him dwells the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. He is the truth. And He is the
life. Without Him, there's no living.
In fact, without Christ Jesus, all is death. All is death. You'll stay spiritually dead
unless He comes to you in quickening power. Because it says, the Son
quickeneth whom He will. If He doesn't come to us in quickening
power, we'll stay dead. And then we'll die in the Eternal
death. That death that lasts forever.
He's the life. He always has been and He always
will be the life. In Him we live and move and have
our being and that's physically and spiritually too. He said to Marth, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" He's the life. And he says, no
man cometh to the Father but by me. He's the only way of access
to the Father. There's no coming to God any
other way. He makes this statement. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father for anything, for
anything. You can't come to the Father
for anything except by me. You can't come to the Father
in thanksgiving except through Christ. You can't come to the
Father in worship except through Christ. You can't come to the
Father for salvation except through Christ, for everlasting life
except through Christ, for righteousness except through Christ Jesus. I'll get to the other next Wednesday
night. But I can't tell you how vital
this is. But you know. You know how vital
it is, don't you? All of the Word of God concerning
the way to the Father is condensed right here in this one passage
of Scripture. And you need not go anywhere
else. for this very clear information
that comes right out of the words of Him who is faithful and true. Three times in the book of Revelation.
He's called faithful and true. Faithful and true. You can trust
His Word. And He says, without mixing any words very
clearly, very simply, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. Don't you dare try to come some
other way. You're a thief and a robber if you do. That's what
it says in John 10, isn't it? Try to climb up some other way.
I'm going to get to God some other way. You're like those
folks over there in the book of Genesis. Built the Tower of
Babel. I'm going to get to God. No, you won't get to God except
through Christ Jesus. And I'll tell you, you will meet
Christ Jesus. Either as your Savior or your
damning judge. That's right. He'll say, come
ye blessed of my Father. from the foundation of the world,
or he's going to say, depart from me. I never knew you. Here's what I say, Lord, I'm
coming to you. Here I come. Here I come. Well, let's sing the closing
song.