Would you turn to John chapter
14, verse 5. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whether 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 unto the Father,
but by Me." Now, if by the grace of God I
do look unto Christ and am saved. That's what we just read from
that text from Isaiah 45, 22. God said, look unto Me and be
ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and beside
me is none else. If I look to Him, I will look
to Him as the way to God. If I look to Christ, I will look
to Him as the truth. If I look to Christ, I will look
to Him as the life, my life, before God. Now there is not
a two-syllable word in our text. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. And yet, the awesome, sublime
nature of this text is such that if we spent eternity considering
nothing else, we would still not be able to exhaust it And
we would say concerning this what Sheba said concerning the
wisdom of Solomon, the half has never been told. Christ says to this somewhat
dull question of Thomas, the next time you ask a stupid
question, we're afraid to ask stupid questions. The disciples
asked them all the time. All the time. So I don't feel
so bad about asking stupid questions. This was a dumb statement by
Thomas, kind of, I mean, Thomas, dull. We know not the way. How can we know the way? And
the Lord said to Thomas, I am the way. Not, I'll show you the
way. Not, I'll take you by the hand
and guide you along the way, but I myself am the way. Not a way, but the way. The way that excludes all other
ways. When he said I'm the way, he's
saying I am the only way. He said I am the truth. I am the truth. I'll teach you
the truth or even I'll tell you what the truth is, but I am the
truth. He said, I am the life. Not I
will give you life, not I will teach you how to live, not I
will save the life you have, but I am the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. Now if I'm to be saved, I'm going
to have to come to the Father. But notice how he says, No man
cometh to the Father but by me. Not beside me. Not behind me. Not even pleading
my name, although that's the name we plead. Lord, hear me
for Christ's sake. That is the name we plead. But
listen to what he says. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. me. So much so, that when I come
to the Father, you do also. You see, when the plane lands
at the desired destination, so too does all who are in the plane. When the plane gets there, I
get there. When the woman bearing a child
goes from one room to another, you know who else goes into that
room? That child she's bearing. When the woman enters, the child
enters. When Christ comes before the
Father, you know who else comes before the Father? Everybody
in Him. We come by Him, not just beside
Him, not behind Him, but by Him. When He comes to the Father,
being united to Him, I do too. No man cometh to the Father,
by me. I am the way. If you're lost,
what do you need? You need to know the way. There was a man by the name of
William Jay back in the last century in England and he was
boarding a horse-drawn buggy to go to Bath, England. He got in with the driver, and
they started driving toward Bath. And he started asking him all
kinds of questions about some of the points of interest. He
saw a house. He said, who lives there? The driver said, I don't
know. He said, what's the name of that river? The driver said,
I don't know. Who owns that land? The driver
said, I don't know. He said, well, what just do you
know? He said, I know the way to Bath. I know the way to God. I know the way to God. You listen
real carefully if you want to know the way to God. If you've
been lied to, if you've been misinformed, if you've been deceived,
what do you need to know? You need to know the truth. He
said, I am the truth. If you're dying, what do you
need? You need life. He said, I am
the life. I am the way, I am the truth,
and I am the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. Now let's consider this simple
yet profound statement by our Lord. Of course everything he
says is profound. I am the way. Now the way is
the road. the distance between point A
and point B, Christ is the way to the Father. He's not a way. He is the way, the only way. There are no other ways. Now
the Lord Jesus warned, wide is the gate and broad is the way
that leads to destruction. And many there be that go in
there at. You see the road to hell is a
wide road. There's plenty of room on it.
There's room for the licentious man and there's room for the
legalist. There's room for the intellectual. There's room for the emotional.
There's room for the moral. There's room for the immoral.
There's room for the religious. There's room for the irreligious.
You can get there as a drug pusher and you can get there as a preacher.
There are many roads that lead to hell. Broad is the way that
leads to destruction. And many there be that go in
there, Ed, but Christ himself is the narrow way. He said straight
is the gate. And narrow is the way that leads
to life. And few there be that find it."
Those are sobering words. I want to be in that number that
find, don't you? Few there be that find it. People complain about this thing
of being narrow, Christ being narrow. Few there be that find
it. Straight is the gate, narrow is the way. You mean to tell
me that if you don't believe the gospel exactly as the scriptures
present it, I can't be saved. Is that what you're telling me?
That's too narrow. That's too narrow. You mean if
I reject some portion, if I don't believe like you believe, I won't
be saved? I'm not asking you to believe like I believe. I
don't care whether you believe like I believe or not. It doesn't
really make any difference. But I must believe as God believes. I must
believe as God says. Whatever God says, I must bow
to. Whatever aspect of truth it is,
if it's in God's Word, I must bow. That's how narrow this is.
I can't leave out any. of this. That's too narrow. Would you rather have a wide
bridge that takes you halfway across the river, or would you
rather have a narrow bridge that takes you all the way over? This
way is so narrow you can't come with anything of your own. You
must come empty. You can't carry anything else
on this way. Christ alone A man once asked a preacher,
and I thought this was such a good question, he said, if all I've
got is Christ, if all I've got is the Lord Jesus
Christ, is that enough for me to be saved? And that wise preacher
answered like this, it is if He's all you've got. If He's all you've got, yes,
He's enough. If you've got something else,
you exclude yourself. He is the narrow way. Now let me give you some ways
that the scripture describes this way. We read in 1st Peter
chapter 2 verse 15 of the right way. The right way as opposed
to the wrong way. You see there is a way that seemeth
right to a man. The in thereof are the ways of
death. Christ himself is the right way
and all other ways are wrong ways. We read in 2 Peter chapter 2
verse 2 of the way of truth as opposed to the way of lies. Now
listen to me. The way of truth. All other religions
are wrong. They're false. There's no truth
in them. All other Gospels But the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace are false. There's no salvation
in them. He's the way of truth, as opposed
to the way of error. This way is called in 2 Peter
2.21 and Matthew 21.32, the way of righteousness. Christ is the
way of righteousness. Now somebody asked me just this
week a very interesting question. I was trying to talk to them
about the gospel, concerning the gospel of God's grace. They
asked me this question. They said, what do you mean by
righteousness? That's a good question, isn't
it? What does the Bible mean by righteousness? Righteousness
is a perfect standing before God's holy law. If I'm righteous, that means
I can stand before the Ten Commandments and measure up perfectly. That's what the Bible means by
righteousness. How good do you have to be to
be saved? You have to be as good as God
himself. That's what righteousness is.
This is the way of righteousness. Now, how in the world can that
be? Turn with me for a moment to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. Verse 5, But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness. A perfect standing before God's
holy law. I don't mean just a cover-up.
I don't mean whitewashed. I mean I stand righteous before
God through and through. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth Righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Now that's the way of righteousness. What a way that is. In Luke 1.79,
this is called the way of peace. Christ Jesus, He said, I am the
way. He's the way of peace. So much so that Ephesians 2.14
says, is our peace. You're there in Romans. Turn
back to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. Verse 25. Who was delivered for our offenses. That's why
He died. He was raised again for our justification. The complete justification of
all of God's elect was accomplished when He was raised from the dead.
God said, I accepted what He did. I accept what He did. I
accept everybody in Him. Therefore, being justified, by faith we have peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ. God doesn't have any reason to
be mad at me. He's at peace with me. And my
peace with Him comes from me seeing His peace with me. Oh,
what the joy and peace of believing. The joy and peace of knowing
that He is my righteousness before God. He is the way of righteousness. He's called in Hebrews 10, verse
20, the new and living way. Now that word new means Freshly
slaughtered. The freshly slaughtered and living
way as opposed to a dead way. What's the significance of that?
Freshly slaughtered. You commit the same sin. over and over again. It's old. It gets old. How can God forgive
me? Because the blood of Christ is
always new. It's always fresh. It's always
powerful. freshly slaughtered, new as living
as opposed to dead. He's called in 1 Corinthians
10, 13, the way of escape. He's called in 1 Corinthians
12, the more excellent way, the way of love. I like what Paul
called him in Acts 24, verse 14. He said, but this I confess
to thee after the way which they call heresy, so worship the God
of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the
law and the prophets. I believe everything God says.
And somebody may say, well, that's heretical. Doesn't matter to
me if God says it. That settles it. I believe it. Not God said it. I believe that
that settles it. No, God said it. That settles
it. It's settled. And I believe that. He said,
I am the way. And not only is Christ the way
to the Father, He Himself is the truth. He's the truth. He's the whole truth. And He's
nothing but the truth. He is the truth. He only is the truth. He's the
truth regarding God. Look in John chapter 14 verse
8. Philip, this is another one of those stupid questions by
the disciples. This one's plumb-dumb. He said unto the Lord, Show us
the Father. And we'll be satisfied. And look
at the way the Lord responds to him. Show us the Father and
we'll be satisfied. Jesus saith unto him, Have I
been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known me,
Philip? He that hath seen me is just
as if he seen the Father. I didn't say that right, did
I? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. So how sayest
thou show us the Father? He's the truth regarding God.
Colossians 2.9 says, In Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. All that God is, He
is. He's the truth regarding who
God is. You want to know who God is? God is Jesus Christ.
I love saying this. Jesus Christ is God. I don't
know of anything I like saying better. Jesus Christ is the living
God. He's the mighty Creator. He's the everlasting Father. He's the Prince of Peace. He
is God. All that God is, He is. He said,
you believe in God, believe also in Me. Do you believe God is
sovereign? I am because I'm God. Do you
believe God is holy? I am because I'm God. Do you believe God is all powerful?
That's who I am. I am the living God. He's the
truth concerning the living God. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. He's the truth regarding man.
Now, what am I? What am I? Now, I can compare
myself to other men and I can come out OK. I can always find
somebody that I feel like I'm a little bit better than they
are. Everybody can do that. I was One time I was talking
to a fellow, and he was selling drugs to kids. That's what he was doing. He
was selling drugs to kids. And I was trying to talk to him about the
gospel. I said, you're a sinner. He said, I am not. And I thought,
you'd think he'd figure it out, but he hadn't. He said, I'm a
good man. I said, what do you mean by that?
He said, well, I was coming into the parking lot today, and I
saw somebody's lights on. Turned them off for him. I didn't
have to do that. And I thought, boy, people can find any kind
of refuge of righteousness, can't they? That's a pretty flimsy
one, but he managed it. But everybody does that. Everybody does that.
But how in the world can I find out what I'm really like? I can
compare myself to somebody else and come out okay. But Paul said,
but they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves
among themselves are not wise. You see, an ant He can compare
himself to amoeba and he might look pretty big. But if he compares
himself to an elephant, that's a different story, isn't it? If I compare myself to the Lord
Jesus Christ, I find out something about what
I really am. And let me say this to you regarding what you and
I really are. He's the truth regarding what you and I really
are. If you want to know what you really are, don't look in
here. you look to the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. There, the one time God let men
do what they wanted to do, when He lifted His hand away and let
men do what they wanted to do, they murdered the Son of God.
And that is what you and I are guilty of before God. That's
what you and I are by nature. That's what you and I are if
God lifts His hand off of us. I see the truth. concerning who
I am in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I see the truth concerning
salvation. How can a sinner be accepted
by a holy God? Well, there's only one way. Christ
must undertake for me. Christ must keep the law for
me. Christ must pay for my sins. The Lord Jesus Christ must Be
raised from the dead for me. He must ascend for me. He must
intercede for me. He must represent me. He must
answer for me on Judgment Day. Christ must do all that for me.
Or I won't be saved. I see the way of salvation in
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the truth. He's
the truth concerning God. He's the truth concerning me.
And He's the truth concerning salvation. Now look what else
He says. He says, I am the way. He's the only way. He's the way
that excludes all other ways. Somebody says that's too narrow.
No, it's not. It's the only way you and I will
be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the truth. The
law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Now the law is true, but the law is not the truth. It doesn't
tell the whole story. It's true, but the Lord Jesus
Christ is the truth. The truth concerning who God
is. And then he says, I am the life. I am the life. Not I'll give you life. Not I'll
show you how to live. Not I'll offer you life. But
I myself am the life. Now what in the world does that
mean? I am the life. Well turn with me to Colossians
chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. Verse 1, If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth, for you are dead. Your life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory. Now notice Christ, who is our
life. He said, I am the resurrection
and I am the life. Paul said, I live, yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. Now what kind of life have you
lived? Now let me tell you about my
life. I'm going to talk about myself for a few minutes. Let
me tell you about my life. I'm not ashamed. I have nothing to hide. I don't care if my entire life
is exposed on a screen for everybody to see and for you to see my
innermost thoughts and desires. Somebody's saying, how in the
world could he say something like that? I mean, if my thoughts
in the last 24 hours were put on a screen, I'd get out of here
quick and I wouldn't want anybody to see. How can he say that? Every detail of my life is recorded
in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. That is my life before God. He said in John 14, 12, He that
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." The works
of the Lord Jesus Christ are my works. That's my life. That's
why I'm not ashamed. You remember in Matthew chapter
3, at the baptism of our Lord, when He comes to John the Baptist,
and He tells John the Baptist to baptize Him. And John said,
I have need to be baptized to thee. He just couldn't get comfortable
with the fact that he'd be baptizing the Lord Jesus Christ. I understand
that. And the Lord said, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. You see, when He fulfilled all
righteousness, I did too. He is my life before God. He said, I am the resurrection
and the life. How can that be? I don't know. I don't understand it much, but
I believe it. Just as truly, just as truly as he was made
sin, so much so that he felt the shame and the
degradation and the humiliation. He was ashamed before His Father. The guilt so much became His
that He was ashamed. He said, My sin, like a heavy
burden, it's too heavy for Me. My wounds stink and corrupt.
That's what our Lord said about Himself on the cross. Now just
as truly as He was made sin, I made the very righteousness
of God in Him. And that is my life before the
Father. I'm going to hear Him say to
me, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. How am I going
to hear Him say... Is that because I've been a faithful
preacher? Or is that because I'm... Well, how am I going to
hear Him say something like that to me? Did Jesus Christ do well? then I did too. Is He good and faithful? Then
I am too. Because 1 John chapter 4 verse
17 says, As He is, so are we in this world right now. He is the life. I look to Him as the way to God. He's so much the way to the God
that if you're on the road, you're already there. He's the way to
the Father. I'm looking to Him as my way
to God. I look to Him as the truth. He's the truth concerning
who God is. He's the truth concerning who
I am. He's the truth concerning God's salvation. And I'm looking
to Him as the truth. And I look to Him as my life
before God. And that's how a sinner can come
into the very presence of a holy God with boldness and confidence. Because He is my life before
God. He is my righteousness before
God. And I believe. My biography. The life of Christ. He that believeth
on me, the works that I do, shall he do also. Truly, we come to
the Father by Him. He is the way. He is the truth. And He is the life.