We'll be taking our text from
John chapter 14 from the verses we just read together a moment
ago. But first I want to read you
one of the many prophecies concerning our glorious Redeemer. I'm reading
now from Isaiah chapter 61. Listen to these words. This is a prophecy of the Messiah,
that when this was written was to come. The Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound. to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort
all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give
unto them beauty for ashes, and the oil of joy for mourning,
and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that
they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of
the Lord, that he might be glorified. You remember in the Gospel of
Luke, soon after our Lord began his public ministry, he came
to Nazareth, where he'd been brought up. And as his custom
was, he went into the synagogue. And they delivered unto him the
scroll, the prophecy of Isaiah. And Luke tells us, that our Lord
found the place where it was written, the verses that I just
read to you from Isaiah chapter 61. And after he had found the
place and read that scripture and handed the scroll back to
the minister of the synagogue, he sat down and every eye was
fixed upon him. And he said, today is this prophecy,
this word, this scripture, Today is this scripture fulfilled in
your ears. And what a prophecy it was. The
spirit of God is on me. He has sent me to preach the
gospel of glad tidings. He had sent me to proclaim liberty
to the captives, to open the blinded eyes, to loose the captives,
to bind up the brokenhearted, to comfort them that mourn. My soul, who else is up to that
task? Who else is able to do that?
And our Lord told them, it's talking about me. What he just
read to them, he said, concerns himself. This day, this scripture
is fulfilled in your ears. May God be pleased to bless his
word in the same way to you and I this evening. Look again at
verse 1 of John chapter 14 and look how he begins to comfort,
to comfort his little children. He's told them, one of you will
betray me One of my very familiar friends shall betray me. Peter,
you'll deny me. All of you will forsake me and
flee. But perhaps that which troubled
him the most was the fact that he said, I'm going away. I'm
going away. I'm leaving. How that must have
shattered their misconception, because that's what it was, their
misconception at that time of what the mission of the Son of
Man was. They continually looked for him
to set up an earthly kingdom, bring them out from under the
bondage of the Roman power, and that wasn't what he came for.
My kingdom is not of this world. But with all those things in
their minds and in their hearts, with all that confusing them,
troubling them, wearing them, he said, let not your heart be
troubled. In chapter 16, he said, I've
told you that I'm going away, and because I've told you these
things, that I'm going away, sorrow has filled your hearts. Let not your heart be troubled. Heart sickness requires, for
a cure, heart sickness requires the touch, the healing touch
of the skillful hand of our great physician. Can anybody else do
it? Has anybody else done it for
you ever? No. No, it requires he alone
that was anointed for this great work. The heart, someone said,
is the cenotaph of the soul. A wounded heart, who can cure
it? Out of the heart, our Lord said,
are the issues of life. Guard your heart. A broken, troubled
heart affects everything, everything else. Our comfort, our peace,
our very outlook, our very perception of things, as it did the disciples
on this occasion, that's evident. Their perception of things was
inaccurate due to looking at it through a troubled heart. looking at it through glasses
of heart trouble, and everything seems hopeless and seems gloomy. Often, even more so to consider,
often a troubled heart refuses to be comforted. It refuses to
be comforted. They wallow in the song of self-pity
and cry, woe is me, woe is me. This is the only song that seems
a troubled heart can sing. You ever been there? I have,
and I imagine you have as well. Listen to the words of the prophet
Jeremiah. It's not without cause that he's
referred to as the weeping prophet, because he wept much. I'm reading
now from Jeremiah chapter 8. He says, when I would comfort
myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me. It's a task above
my ability. I can't do it. I just can't do
it. He went on to say, is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?
Is there no remedy? Is there no cure? Why then is
not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? Oh, bless God, the answer comes
from the only one who can cure a troubled heart. Apply the words
again from the prophet Isaiah when God said, my word, my word
shall not return unto me void. Apply that as a caption under
every promise, every word of the great shepherd to his sheep.
My word shall not. Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my word shall not. My word shall not return unto
me void. They won't be useless. They won't be ineffective like
I feel like so much of the time mine is. But he says, my word
shall not return void. It won't be empty and fruitless. It will accomplish. I like that.
It will accomplish. My word, God says, shall accomplish
exactly, exactly what I sent it forth to do. It will prosper. in the way and the purpose that
God sent it, just as the rain does what it should when it comes
down from heaven. Now, with that in mind, hear
again the words of the great shepherd of our souls. Let not
your heart be troubled. Oh, may his word not return void. The son of righteousness arises
with healing in his wings. Again, and we'll come to our
text, but I'm reading from the prophecy of Isaiah. For thus
says the high and lofty One, capitalized One, that inhabited
eternity, whose name is Holy. I dwell in the high and holy
place. Yes, I can appreciate that. I can get some handle on that. He is high and holy and lifted
up. He is God over all and blessed
forever. He's the only potentate and king
of kings. Yes, he dwells in that high and
holy place. Where else would he dwell? But
listen to this. That's not the only place. That's
not all. And also with him that is of
a contrite and humble spirit, Oh my, to revive the spirit of
the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite. Little children, let not your
hearts be troubled for the great position of our souls arises
with healing in his wings and he says my word shall not return
unto me void. Recently, Robin gave me some
notes of Brother Tommy's Bible lessons
on the Gospel of John, some of them. And I looked at a few of his
comments on this passage. And I like what he said here.
He said, the Lord Jesus Christ was determined to comfort their
souls. He was determined to comfort
their souls. We read, concerning that mission
that he came into this world to do, that he set his face like
a flint to Jerusalem. We read that when his hour had
come, he did not turn back. But he said, arise, let us be
going. He is at hand that doth betray
me. And he steps forward and says, whom seek ye? Oh, yes. And in that same glorious, glorious
determination, as Tommy said, he was determined to comfort
them. And they seem to almost refuse
to be comforted, but the Great Shepherd will not take no for
an answer. He comforts them. Let not your
heart be troubled. And here's the antidote he gives
them. The same one he gives you and
gives me. Nothing different. Nothing different. Let not your heart be troubled.
And the great physician gives this prescription. You believe
in God, believe also in me. There's the medicine. Faith in
God. Have faith in God. Believe me, he says. Believe me. I'm the truth. What I'm telling you is so. If it wasn't so, I wouldn't be
telling you this. Hmm. Believe me. Believe God. I will not leave
you comfortless. Look at verse 18 here in John
14. I will not leave you comfortless.
And you may have on the margin of your Bible as the translation
for comfortless orphans. I will not leave you as orphans,
how appropriate. Because I suspect that that's
exactly what they were feeling like. What shall we do? He's going away. We didn't ever consider that. That never entered into our thinking. This is a stumbling block. I
mean, We've been blindsided. He's going
away? What shall we do? What shall
we do without Him? We know He's the Christ, the
Son of the Living God. We know He's the Messiah. We
know He's that one that should come into the world. And now
He tells us He's going away? So in a very real sense, they
felt like orphans. being left alone. But Christ
says, not so. Not so. You're not orphans. I won't leave you alone. I won't
leave you without comfort. And when the spirit of comfort
has come, the Holy Spirit, whom I'll send from the Father to
you, he will remind you of all these things. He'll bring them
to your remembrance as only he can. And you will appreciate
what I'm saying now more then than what you realize now. Because
he will remind you and you will say one to another. He told us
that it was so. Did not our heart burn within
us when he talked with us along the way? Oh, what an amazing
supply of comfort he has. And he keeps prescribing it.
In these three chapters, 14, 15, and 16, believe what I say,
he says, and your heart will not be troubled. I've not lost my place. I've
not forgotten what I want to say. I want you to think about
what I just said, what Christ said. Let not your heart be troubled. Believe me. Believe you're God and you'll find comfort. Have
faith in God. Martha, Martha, did I not say
to you, and he said it just a few moments earlier, did I not say
to you if you should believe you should see the glory of God
Almighty, did I not just now say that to you? I declare, are you like me? I
suspect you are. That which I need to remember,
it seems is so difficult not to let slip, and things that
aren't worth remembering, I just seem like they just lock into
my brain. Christ says, remember this, child of God, and your
heart won't be troubled. Have faith in me. Rely on me. I can bear all the weights. All the weight you can roll onto
me won't be a problem. Never be concerned that you can
trust me too much. Don't worry about that. Don't
worry about that. Believe me. also, and your heart
won't be troubled. The reverse of that is proof
that it's so, is it not? Or rather, I should say, not
doing that proves that that is really the source of all our
worry, our fretting, our anxiety. We don't trust God. Isn't that so? Isn't that the
cause of it? The psalmist said, why are you
cast down, O my soul? Why are you cast down, O my soul? Now the psalmist had experienced
much, had seen much, had been blessed with so much. And yet
he asked, why are you cast down, O my soul? And he gives the same
remedy as the great physician does, have faith in God, he said. I shall yet praise him. Let's
just look at one of these blessed words of promise, one of these
pearls from the treasury of our great physician. Look what he
says in verse 6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way. And that's as far as I'm going
to go. Not the other two, perhaps another time. the truth and the
life, but just consider this, and oh, if God will enable us
to do it, to be reminded of it, I'm sure our hearts will not
be troubled. I am the way. I am the way. Present tense,
Louie, present tense. Jesus Christ changes not. He does not say, I was the way. I was this for Peter and James
and John and Philip and the others. I was the way. No, he says, I
am the way. Always the way. Whether they
realized it or not. And it's evident. Very much of it they did not
understand. But it didn't change it. He said,
I'm going away. But don't be concerned. Don't
let your heart be troubled over that. You know the way. You know
the way I'm going. You'll be going that way too.
I'm going to prepare a place to the Father's house, and that
way is for you. You'll be following me shortly.
Because these are they who follow the Lamb, whether so ever he
goeth. The Lamb knows his sheep. They
hear his voice and follow him. I am the way. And Thomas said, I don't know. I don't know the
way. But Christ, as the great physician
of our soul, says, Thomas, you do. You do. You know more than you realize.
You know me. You know the way because I am
the way. One of the great seven Great
I Ams we find in the Gospel of John. This is the sixth, if I'm
not mistaken. I am the way. And every one of those seven
great I Ams, seven, God's number it's been called, the number
of perfection. These seven perfect, great I
Am's we find in John's Gospel all refer to one and the same
glorious individual, the same as that one we find here, Jesus
Christ himself. And he says, I am all of those. This was, this rather, is not
a two-way street. This is not one of many ways,
but only one. And he says in verse 6, no man
cometh unto the Father. They never have, but by me. If you ever find yourself, I've
done this once or twice. You probably haven't. But if
you ever find yourself driving down a road, a highway, and you
notice that all the signs are backwards. You're looking at the back of
the signs. You're going the wrong way. Get
out, get off, stop, and turn around. You're in trouble. Even
so, Christ says, I'm the way, the only way by which God's mercies
come to help the sinners. And in that same way, we come
to God, like Jacob's ladder. Jacob in his dream saw a ladder. coming down from heaven and touching
the earth, and the angels descending but also ascending on that ladder. Even so, Jesus Christ is the
way to God, and all the blessings flow from him, through him, because
of him, to God's children. From Adam to Noah, Christ says,
I'm the way. From Noah to Abraham, from Abraham
to David, to David, or rather from David to John and Peter
and James and Andrew, Christ says, I'm the way. And from James
and Peter and John and Andrew down to Lester and Louis and
Larry and every redeemed sinner called by God's grace, he says,
I am the way. Never been another. Never been
another. I'm going away from you, but
I'm still the way for you. For you, that hasn't changed. That will never, ever change. Isn't that comforting? Isn't
that comforting? That will never change. Though
like Thomas, there are times we don't have clear perception
of it. Though like Thomas, there are
times we may have little faith, we all have to cry with the son
of that demoniac, rather the father of that demoniac's son.
Lord, I believe, I believe, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. That's
not a contradiction. That's the experience of every
child of God. Yes, I believe, I believe God. Oh, but at the same time, within
my same breast, there's a struggle with unbelief. So it is. But that doesn't change the fact
whatsoever. It may and does affect our comfort
of it, the consolation of it, but it doesn't change the fact
of it. Christ says, I am the way for you. Though I will be
with you for a while, and then I'll be gone out of your sight, you'll never be out of mine.
Afterwards, he would say to Thomas, because you've seen, you believe,
blessed, oh, how blessed, how blessed are those, are those
who haven't seen me, Thomas, and yet they believe. They're blessed. Indescribable
blessing. Indescribable blessing. That
Jesus Christ, by God's matchless grace and mercy has revealed
his son to you and I. My soul, if he never does anything
else until we draw our last breath, we can never thank him enough
for that. He did not leave me in darkness. And I love the darkness, Lester. That was my habitat. That's all
I knew. And I loved it. I loved it. But Jesus Christ, the great shepherd,
said, you're mine. I'm not going to leave you there.
I will not allow it. And he came to where I am, and
he turned the light on. And as Paul said in Galatians
1, when he called me by his grace, he revealed his son in me. marvelous, matchless miracle
of our wonder-working God. Yes, though I be out of sight,
you, my sheep, my little children, those chosen by the Father, those
for whom I, God, became man, Those for whom I lived and died
and arose and ascended and intercede. You're never out of my sight. Never. Never out of my heart,
the great shepherd said, and never out of my hand. Two things. So much we could say, only two
things I want to reemphasize. All that we have time for. Christ
says, I'm the way. Who? Christ. Let's think of that. And then secondly, I'm the way
always. Always. Christ is always the
way. I didn't watch any news today. Didn't want to be depressed.
Wanted to keep my mind on The good news. The good news. But I know this. I know this. Without watching, and I didn't
have to turn on the TV to find out. I know that whatever transpired
today, whatever crazy terrorist is plotting
against our country today, whatever they may succeed in doing, in
carrying out their murderous plot, or whatever else may take
place or not. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter, and I mean by that, it doesn't matter to this. It doesn't
affect this. Christ says, I'm the way. Nothing can be done to change
that. I'm the way. Jesus said so. The way. The way. So many people claim other ways,
and they say they're the way. But Christ says, not so. The
comfort is having Christ, and in having Him, we have the way. Still, Christ, this day, this
night, In the morning when we wake up, every minute of every
hour of every day that we go through this world, Christ says,
I'm the way. Feelings come. Was it Martin
Luther that said this? Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving. My hope is in the Word of God,
nothing else. Nothing else is worth believing.
That's what Christ said. Let not your heart be troubled,
you believe in God. In Revelation chapter 4 we read,
John said, I saw a door opened in heaven. Our father Adam, by his sin and
rebellion against God, closed the way to the tree of life. But Christ restored that which
he took not away, he opened the way, the fountain of the living
waters. And John said, I saw a door opened
in heaven. And then, John said, I heard
a voice saying, come up hither. Come up to where God is? Oh,
yes. Yes, you can enter because there's
a door opened in heaven. in John's Gospel, chapter 10,
said, I am the door. I am the door. In the context
of his words there in John 9 and 10, he's speaking to the Pharisees
concerning that blind man that he had healed. And they asked
him, the Pharisees, who claimed to be the leaders of the people,
the teachers, the instructors, they said, are we blind also?
And he went on in John 10, and he was talking to them, and he
says, I am the door. Not you. You claim to be. You're
a thief and a robber. I'm the great shepherd of the
sheep. I'm the door. And by me, if any man enters
in, he shall be saved. Christ is that door of access
to the Father, of acceptance, and everlastingly, he's the way. Turn, if you will, to Romans
chapter 5. Romans chapter 5, look at it with me. Here in Romans
chapter 5 is exactly what Paul tells us concerning Jesus Christ
as being the way in Romans 5 verse 1. Therefore being justified
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom Not by what, not what these hands have done, by whom
also we have access by faith into this grace. We do, oh yes,
and wherein we stand, we do, oh yes, and rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. Let not your heart be troubled. Go over to Ephesians chapter
2. And again, Paul reminds us of
the same thing, the same sweet promise, the same blessed reality
in Ephesians chapter 2. May God, as he told his disciples
that night that the Holy Spirit would do, bring these things
that he had spoken to their remembrance, take the things of Christ and
show it to them, may he do the same to us in those dark times. And remind
us of what we're told here in Ephesians 2 verse 13. But now
in Christ Jesus, remember this, remember this, you're not where
you once were. You've been translated into the
kingdom of God's dear Son. You're no longer in the kingdom
of darkness but light. But now in Christ Jesus, now
Now, as an eternal, ever-present now, like Jesus Christ himself. Now in Christ Jesus, you, sometimes
we're far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for he
is our peace. He is our peace. Well, that sounds
so much better than me trying to do something by my own works
or righteousness to make peace with God. Oh, it's so much better.
So much more comforting. that he is my peace. He is my
peace, who had made both one and had broken down the middle
wall of partition between us. Look down at verse 18. For through him we both have
access by one spirit unto the Father. Let not your heart be
troubled. Christ in Matthew 24 in answer
to the apostles question When shall these things be? And what
shall be the sign of thy coming into the end of the world? And
he said, let no man deceive you. Many shall come in my name saying,
I am Christ, and they shall deceive one or two. No, no, no. They
shall deceive many. But Christ says, I am the way. Don't go after them. Don't follow
them. Don't be disturbed. Don't be
influenced. am the way. Did anyone watch
the, what was it, a week or two ago, the Republicans debate,
the candidates for the nomination on the Republican ticket? I think there was five, five
or seven that squared off. And then later there was another
10. 10, 15, 17, something like that. There's
a passel. Let's just put it that way. There's
a passel. Every one of them said, I'm the one. I'm the one. I'm the man or the woman. You
need to vote for me. Aye, aye, aye. It reminded me of that boardwalk
I worked on as a 18-year-old, 18 or 19 years old, up in Wildwood,
New Jersey. People would be walking by, and
we would all be shouting, trying to get their attention. Step
over here. Try this. Come over here. That's what religion does. The
biggest business in America today is religion. Step right up. Come in here. We've got whatever
you want, whatever you need, whatever will make you happy,
entertainment, whatever it takes. Step right up. Signs and wonders. Christ says, don't be deceived. Don't go after them. I am the
way. God spoke to the prophet and
said, don't look to the right. Don't look to the left. Hear
the voice behind you. Thank you, my heavenly father,
that you opened the ears of this deaf sinner and made me hear
this is the way. Walk in it. walking in. And no matter what happens, who
claims otherwise, Christ says, I am. Present tense. I like what I often read in reading
the sermons of Mr. Spurgeon. He refers to this often,
as well he should. Why shouldn't he? His conversion. And I was reading one the other
evening. many years after that. But he
says, I can never forget that cold winter's
morning when the snow being so fierce, so deep, and continuing
to fall down, I could not make it to where I had planned to
go. So I ducked down an alley and went into this little primitive
Methodist chapel and sat down and there wasn't any more than
maybe a dozen people. The pastor, the preacher didn't
even make it. Snowed in, I suppose, Spurgeon said. And you know the
story. Is it not worth repeating? Does
your heart, child of God, not have a similar experience? Does
that one who shed his precious blood for you not deserve your
song of praise? Does he not deserve to hear from
you? Oh my God, how great thou art. Spurgeon said, I sat down and
that man read from this text of scripture. He said that I
shall never forget. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is none
else, a just God and a Savior. Look unto me, and be ye saved. Then Spurgeon said, in that moment,
God removed the scales from my eyes, and I saw Jesus Christ
as the substitute for sinners. And I believe, and the peace
of God that passes all understanding, blood in my heart and soul. Spurgeon
said, I still hear the clear call of that glorious gospel
promise ringing in my ears. And he says, I shall continue
to do so till my dying day. Look unto me and be ye saved. He said when he left that primitive
Methodist chapel that morning, the snow was still coming down.
And he could hardly refrain from telling every snowflake that
was drifting from the sky what God had done for his soul. Oh, my soul. The Lord, the psalmist
said, heard my voice, let me up out of the mirey clay, out
of the pit, and set me up on a solid rock. And he put a new
song in my mouth. What, David? A song of praise
unto my God. To God be the glory. Great things
he hath done. Secondly and lastly, I am the
way still. Still, still, I, your great God
and Savior, I, the only mediator between God and man, I who came
to do thy will, O God, I steal your advocate with the Father,
I steal that one who purchased you with his own precious blood,
I who appeared to put away sin, and I who obtained eternal redemption
for you, I am the way, still let not your heart be troubled. I am, I am at this moment It's
always present tense with our great God and Savior. Always. Always. Unchanged and unchangeable. Oh, sun, moon, stars, earth,
heavens, shall all vanish away. And as a vesture, shalt thou
fold them up and lay them aside. But thou art the same. The same. Thou changest not. Oh, what a comfort. What a comfort
when change and decay all around I see, especially in me. O thou
who changes not, abide with me. His appearing in the presence
of God for us testifies, as I said Sunday morning, his perpetual
worth, merit, and satisfaction. His sacrifice. It's what they sing about in
glory now. That's what stirs angels. That
is the theme of their song in glory. The multitude of the redeemed
that have already entered there are singing unto him who hath
loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. They've not gotten over it. They've
not gotten over it. Bless God. and neither should
you and I. The satisfaction of his sacrifice has the freshness, the dew of
the morning about it. It is finished, rings as clearly
as surely, as victoriously in glory now as if it did if he
had pronounced it just one minute ago. That's how eternally everlasting
is the father's satisfaction with his dear son. I am the way. Paul says we have now entered
in by a new and living way in Hebrews 10. A new and living
way. ever bringing us to God, forever,
he says, I am the way. Give me Christ. Give me Christ. Only he that has the Son has
life upon everybody else, moral or immoral, religious or irreligious,
Upon everyone who doesn't have the Son abides at this moment
the very wrath of God. Give me Christ." Like that, who
wasn't happy, Jack? The staunch elders, I think the
story goes, of the church that he applied to membership for
were not quite satisfied with his testimony of his conversion. They wanted to hear more. And
all Happy Jack could say is, I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, and Jesus Christ is my all in all. I would give anything
if I could hear somebody say that here. That God in his mercy
and grace would bring some sinner down to their knees, and they
would say, oh, I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all. What must
I do to be saved? And it would bless my heart to
tell them, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt
be safe, no question about it. Cause he is the way to God, there
is no other. Oh weary pilgrim, keep looking
unto Jesus. He's the alpha and he's the omega. You started this race by looking
unto him and you'll finish it by looking unto him. Cause he's
the beginning and the end. I am, I am And that is the very
essence of the sweetness of the words. Are they not? I am. I am. I am. I am the way. Not a creed, not a catechism,
not Calvinism, but Christ. I am the way, the eternal I am. Old John Newton said, it will
not be laid to my charge when I die. I need not be concerned, he said,
that I'll ever be charged with thinking too highly of Jesus
Christ, or expecting too much from him, or recommending him
to others too highly. No, he said, I fear that it will
be the contrary. I didn't think enough of him.
I didn't recommend enough. of the only God and Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the needy sinners. I am the way. Let not your heart be troubled. Go thy way. Eat thy bread with
joy. And drink thy wine with a merry
heart. For God, God, now accepteth thy
works. God bless you.