Todd's Road Grace Church would like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at 9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services. For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.

Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert.

In John chapter 14, verse 5, we read these words. Thomas saith unto him, speaking to the Lord Jesus Christ, 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 to the Father but by me."

Now, here, the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what I entitled this message, The Claims of Christ. He makes this claim. I am the way to God. I myself am the truth. I am the life, the only life that God will accept. No man cometh 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 most significant statement ever uttered upon this earth. One of the two. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me. In this statement, there's not even a two-syllable word. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And yet, eternity itself will fail to exhaust it.

The claims of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I hope you'll listen to this message carefully. The claims Jesus Christ made concerning himself.

Now on the very surface, I see from this statement, I am the way, the truth, and the life, is that I have no way to God in and of myself. I'm ignorant of the truth, and I have no life before God. As the scripture says, I, like all other men, are dead in trespasses and sins. I have no way to God of my own. I'm deceived, I don't know the truth, and I have no life before God. That's true with regard to me, that's true with regard to you. So how thankful I am for this precious verse of scripture where the Lord Jesus Christ says, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me.

I am the way. Not a way, but the way. the only way, the way that excludes all other ways. No man cometh to the Father but by me. Did you know that there are 4,300 over 4,300 recognized religions in this world. But let me give a lesson on comparative religions, you know, where they say you compare one with another. In reality, there are only two religions, Christ the way and any other way, works or grace. the religion of Cain, works, or the religion of Abel, coming only by the blood of Christ and no other way.

Somebody says, are you saying that all other religions are wrong and won't bring me to God? Well, whether I'm saying it or not, Christ is saying it. He said, no man comes to the Father but by me. You try to come some other way, you will be rejected. If I try to come some other way, I will be rejected. Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. No man comes to the Father, but by me. All other religions and religious leaders say, I'll show you the way. I'll take you by the hand and lead you on the way." Jesus Christ says, I am the way.

Now, the way is how to get from point A to point B, the road from one place to another. Now, here in central Kentucky, most of the smaller towns around Lexington, Kentucky, have a Lexington Road, the road that leads to Lexington. The Lord Jesus Christ is the way to the Father, but this is how he's different from other ways. If I'm on the road to Lexington, that doesn't mean I'm in Lexington. I might be on my way there, but I'm not at the destination. If I'm in Christ the way, I'm already in the destination. I'm already accepted in God's presence. in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm already there. If He's there, you are there. When He says, no man comes to the Father but by Me, While it's true we come to the Father trusting only Christ, no other hope, no other trust. That's the way we come. That's not saying it sufficiently. Christ is saying no man comes to the Father but by me. That means I come to the Father as I am in him. This is not just me coming to the Father pleading his name. If you're one of his people, that means you're in him. And when he comes into the Father's presence, all in him come into the Father's presence.

I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Now listen to this. He is the way to God. There is no other way. I want you to understand that. I want me to understand that. There is no other way to God except for Christ the way. He is called in scripture, the way of truth. All other ways are lies. He is called the way of righteousness. There is no righteousness, but his righteousness. The only way God can be approached is in His righteousness, not your own. He's the way of peace. Any kind of peace that is not just Him is a false peace. If you get peace in your conscience from anything other than Christ alone, it's a false peace. And you'll find that out on judgment day. He's the way of salvation. All other ways are ways to destruction. He is the way into the holiest. There is no other way. He is the narrow way. He's so narrow that if you have anything other than Him alone, you can't stay on the way. You'll fall off the precipice. He's the gate that is so narrow that the only way you can get through it is if He is all you have. If you have your experience and your religion and your righteousness and your good works and your prayers and your decisions and the things you intend to do, you can't get through the gate. He's the straight gate. He's the narrow way. All other ways are the broad way that leads to destruction.

And let me tell you why. It's so broad because there's plenty of room on it for everybody that wants to go that way. There's room for the religious and the unreligious. There's room for the moral and the immoral. There's room for the liberals. There's room for the conservatives. There's room for Republicans. There's room for Democrats on this broad road that leads to destruction. There's room for the Calvinist. There's room for the Arminian. There's room for the Pentecostal. There's room for the Presbyterian. There's room for the Baptist. There's room for the Buddhist. There's room for the heathen. There's room for the Hindu. There's room for traditional worship. There's room for contemporary worship. There's room for the reformed and the unreformed. Everybody has room to get on this road that's the broad way. All you got to do is believe that salvation is in any way dependent upon something you do. You're on the broad road that leads to destruction.

He is the narrow way that excludes all other ways. I love the way he's called in the book of Hebrews, the new and the living way. That word new means freshly slaughtered. At all times, my only entrance into God's presence is because of the blood of His dear Son. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. When we come in Him as the way, we come in the new, the freshly slaughtered way, and He's the living way, as opposed to a dead way. And listen to this. He's my way. The Lord said to Bartimaeus, go thy way. Thy faith hath made thee whole. And Bartimaeus followed Jesus in the way. He is the way. He's my way. He's the way that excludes all other ways. And listen to me, if I don't see him as that, the way, that excludes all other ways, I'm not on or in the way.

Now the next thing he says in this remarkable statement is, I am the truth. Now this is either a statement of incredible unsufferable arrogance, or it's the truth. He said, I am the truth. Not I'll show you the truth, not I'll teach you the truth, or even not I'll tell you the truth. 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 devil. I am the truth. The truth that excludes all other truths.

Now, when he says, I'm the truth, he's saying, I am the truth of scripture. I love that verse of scripture in John chapter five, verse 39, when he said to the Pharisees, You search the scriptures, and then you think you have eternal life. You think, if I can just live the way this book says to live, if I can find out what I need to do, I'll have eternal life. And they miss the point. He says, they are they. Every scripture, they are they which testify of me. The Bible truly is a hymn book Everything written is concerning Him. And if I don't see that, I don't see the true meaning of Scripture. You search the Scriptures. In them, you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.

I think of what Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2, verses 11 and 12 for this cause. because they receive not the love of the truth. For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. The Lord says I'm the truth. He's saying I'm the truth concerning the character of the living God. I am God. All that God is, I am. I am the truth concerning the character of the living God. Do you know that every attribute of God is revealed in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? When I see, by faith, Christ hanging upon that tree, I see God's eternal purpose. Everything that happens, happens according to His eternal purpose. And the reason why Jesus Christ is nailed to that cross is because it's God's eternal purpose. I see the justice of God. He's no respecter of persons. When sin was found on Christ, God killed Him. You see, the sins of His people became His sins, and God will by no means clear the guilty. When Christ was on the cross, He was guilty. The sins of his people have become his sins. He was guilty. God's just. He must punish sin. Oh, I see the wisdom of God, how God's made a way to be just and yet justify somebody like me through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. I see the power of God to put away sin and make it to be no more. I see the love of God. God so loved the world that he gave his son.

He is the truth. The cross is the truth. He is the truth. He said in this John chapter 14, verse one, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. And that's could just as easily read, you believe in God, even so believe in me.

Do you believe God's sovereign in control of everything? I am. Believe me, I am God. Do you believe God is absolutely just? I am. Do you believe God is independent, that he has no needs? There's nothing you must first do before he can act for you. I'm independent. Do you believe God is holy? I am holy. Do you believe God is immutable? Even so, believe in me, I can't change.

Do whatever attribute you want to mention of God, It said of Christ, in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. He is the truth concerning the character of God. And He made all God's character known in the cross.

He's the truth concerning the character of man. You know, we talk about good men and righteous men and so on. You put them beside the Lord Jesus Christ. They're not good or they're not righteous. Only He is good. Only He is righteousness. No one is like Him. He's the truth regarding man. You take the best man, put him beside the Lord Jesus Christ, and we see what a sinful, weak individual He is. And once again, the cross is proof of that.

Do you want to know how bad you are? You're not going to find out by looking within your own heart. You're going to find out by looking to the cross. You see? You and I are so sinful that when left to ourselves, we would nail Jesus Christ to a cross so we would not have to bow the knee to Him, so we would be free from Him. The cross tells the truth about men. They hate God, and when they're given the chance, they nail Him to a cross.

Jesus Christ is the truth with regard to salvation. He himself is salvation. And that was manifested in the cross when he cried, it is finished. The salvation of all of his people was accomplished. He is salvation. Every aspect of salvation is for his sake. Why am I forgiven? For Christ's sake. Why am I justified? Because it's justified by him. Why am I redeemed? He is my redemption. Why did God elect me? He chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world.

Every aspect of salvation is Him, so much so that Simeon, when he saw that little baby, eight days old, he said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. He is the truth concerning every aspect of salvation. And anything that is contrary to this is a lie.

Now thirdly, I love this statement by our Lord. He said, I'm the way, I'm the way to God. I'm the way that excludes all other ways. I am the truth, not I'll tell you the truth or I'll lead you to the truth. I myself am the truth. Anything contrary to that is a lie. And then he says, I am the life.

Notice that language. I am the life, not the one who shows us how to live, not the one who gives us life, though he does, but he is the life. And what does he mean by that? The only life that God will accept is mine. My life is the only life that God will accept. The only way you can get to the Father is if my life is your life before God.

Paul said, when Christ, our life shall appear. Christ is my life. I'm not simply saying for me to live as Christ, although it is, but the life of Christ is my life before God. The only life that God will accept is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way you can get to the Father is if my life is your life before God. No other life will be accepted.

Would you bring your life to God? Would you bring your works to God? Would you bring your motives to God? Would you bring your good deeds to God and expect to be accepted? Would you bring your striving against sin and how you've resisted temptation, would you bring that life before God? Your experience, would you bring that life before God? Many do. And here's what happens.

The Lord said, many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, we've preached in your name. You remember that, don't you? We've cast out devils in your name. You remember that, don't you? In your name, We've done many wonderful works. Oh, they had such a high opinion of the things they've done. And what will Christ say to them? Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you.

The only life that God will accept is the life of Jesus Christ. Now, how can His life be my life? I mean, I hear what you're saying. It sounds awful good, but I want to know how can it be that His life is my life and I stand before God with His life as my life? How can that be? It seems a thing impossible. How can it be?

Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. He perfectly obeyed God's holy law. And listen to this. He was incapable of doing anything but that. You know, I've heard people talk about Christ as if he could have sinned. No, he couldn't. He's God. He lived a perfect life and he could do nothing but live a perfect life. The father said of him, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Every second of his life, the father was well pleased with what he did and who he was.

Yet he is nailed to a cross. Why? because my life became his life. When he drank of that cup, the cup of which he said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. He said, the cup the Father has given me to drink, shall I not drink of what was in that cup? The sins of all his people. Scripture says he bare our sins in his own body on the tree. My life became his life. He took my sins.

Now he's the only one who could do this. I could not be punished for your sins. The only one that can be punished for their sins is the one who committed them. If I was punished for your sins, It wouldn't be just. It wouldn't be right. And as far as that goes, I couldn't bear your sins because I got too many sins of my own. The Lord Jesus Christ had no sin of his own. He lived this perfect life and the wicked, evil, wretched life of every one of his people, he drank into his own body on the tree so that my life became his life.

That's why he cried, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? My life, my sin, my lust, my evil motives, my covetous, my law-breaking, it all became his. He became guilty of that sin. When Christ died on the cross, it wasn't the innocent being punished. It was the guilty becoming punished because he became guilty of the sin that I have committed.

Here's the glory of the gospel. Just as he took my sins, his righteousness becomes mine. That's how his life is my life before God. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God. In him, his life is my life before God so that when God calls my name, he'll say unto me and to every believer, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And I know why he says that to me, because he said to his son, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And every one of his people has his life.

No man comes to the Father but by me. Have you understood that the only way you can come into the Father's presence is by the Lord Jesus Christ? May God make this real to me and to you. Amen.

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