I Am The Way

All of you are very familiar
with this scripture. You've read it, you've heard
it read, you've heard it preached from. But Jesus said unto him, I am the way. I am the way. That's the title of my message
today. I am the way. The truth and the life. No man
cometh unto the Father but by me. I have a question. When a man dies, will he live
again? Do you believe that there's life
after this life or this death? Is there really life beyond the
grave? Do you believe, do you really
believe that there's a future state of happiness and holiness
and peace and rest called heaven. Do you believe that? I do. I do very strongly. And I know
this, that the word of God plainly declares, plainly declares that
there's not only life after death here, but it is an eternal life,
an eternal life and the life of glory, joy, happiness, and
peace. David wrote that, he said, I
will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, forever. And then David said this, I shall
be satisfied, totally satisfied, when I wake, when I'm resurrected
from the grave with his likeness. Paul wrote, I have a desire,
I'm in a straight betwixt the two, I have a desire right now
to leave this life, to depart from this world and to be with
Christ, which is far better. For he said, for me to live is
Christ and to die is gain. And to be absent from this body
is to be present with the Lord. And John wrote in the book of
the Revelation, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall
dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.
The former things, all of these former things that we've dealt
with and been exposed to, former things such as birth and life
and sickness and trial and sorrow, the former things are all passed
away. Behold, he said, I make all things
new, brand new. So there is life after death,
that's what God's word says, and if the word of God be true,
and it is, then there can be no greater goal. What could be
your greatest goal, your greatest ambition, your greatest objective,
if there is life after death? If there is a heaven to gain,
a hell to shun, there could be no greater goal than to obtain
that life everlasting to obtain that glory which follows. That's
what Paul said in Philippians 3, he said, oh, he said that
I may win Christ and be found in him, that I may know him and
the power of his resurrected life, that I may attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. That's my greatest ambition. Do you have serious thoughts
about these things? Do you have enough serious thoughts
about death and a judgment and eternity to ask, well, which
is the true way to heaven? Are you serious enough to ask
that, to be concerned about that, to be interested in that? How
can a sinner be saved? How can a sinner find peace with
God? How can a son of woman, how can
a son of Adam, born of woman attained to eternal life, life
that never dies, life that never ends, life that never cries,
life that never knows any sorrow or pain. A life of glory and
happiness and rest and peace. What's the way? How does a man
get there? How does a man get there? Well,
I know this. I know this and you know this.
I know that everything that calls itself religion today claims
to be the way to heaven. That's right. Everything that
goes by the name of religion claims to be the way to heaven.
They all, all religions, all denominations claim to have a
corner on God. They claim to have heaven in
their hip pocket. Everybody's as sure for heaven
as if they were already there. But they can't all be right because
they're so different. They can't all be right because
they're traveling different ways. They can't all be right. One
says you're saved by making a decision or walking to the front or shaking
a preacher's hand. Another says you're saved by
being a member of a certain church or being sprinkled as an infant
and confirmed as a youth and rededicated as an adult. Someone
else says you're saved by baptism. taking the holy sacraments, another
by the last rites, another by going to purgatory and getting
prayed out, another this way, that way, all got different ways
to God. But how many times does God say
this in the Bible? There is a way that seemeth right
unto men. But the end is the way of death. How many times does God say that?
Two or three times? There is a way. A way to God,
a way to heaven, a way to life. It seems right, it seems logical
to me. It seems like reasonable. You
do this and God will do something in return. You keep the law and
God will take it in. Be good and you'll be an angel
someday. But God said your ways are not my ways. Well, I boldly
declare unto you today that there is but one way to God. There
is but one way to heaven. And it's not the Baptist way
or the Methodist way or the Presbyterian way, it's not that simple. It's
not the Catholic way or the Jewish way or the Protestant way. It's God's way. And Ephesians
4 says this, there's one body, there's one spirit, there's one
hope of your calling, there's one Lord, there's one faith,
there's one baptism, there's one God and Father. Therefore
there can only be one Savior, one Mediator, and one Atonement,
and one way to God. Our God is one. He's not several,
nor is he several ways, he's one. And you see, this is what
the Lord Jesus is saying in that text I read to you a moment The disciples said to him, Lord,
we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? Well,
where was he going? Well, he's going back to the
Father. They said, we don't know the way, and he replied, he said,
I'm the way. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. Now, it doesn't matter
whether I'm a Baptist preacher or a Presbyterian preacher or
a Methodist or a Catholic preacher, whatever I am. That's the only
way to God. And I have no right to declare
any other way. I have no right to offer you
life, salvation, heaven, forgiveness, any way but the way God gives
it. And that's through the merits of his son. That's through the
representation of his son. That's through the atonement
of his son. That's through the sacrifice of his dear son. That's
through the labor, the dying and the doing of his son. That's
through the intercession of his son who said, I am the way, the
truth. and the like. And no man, it
doesn't matter who he is, morally immoral, cometh to the Father
but by me. Now what gave birth to this statement? What's the background? I try
to tell you on this television program, find out who's talking,
find out to whom he's talking, and find out what he's talking
about, and then you can interpret Well, our Lord had just told
his disciples, if you'll go back to chapter 13, he just told his
disciples that he was going away. I'm going away. And he said,
whether I go, you cannot follow now. I'm going, but you can't
go with me now. You see, that's what he said
to them. You can't go with me now. Albeit you will later, but
not now. Where I'm going, what I'm going
to do, you can't go. He trod the winepress alone.
He put away sin with the sacrifice of himself. By himself he purged
our sins. You can't go with me, he said.
Well, Peter said, why can't I go with you? Why can't I follow
you? Well, Peter said, I'll die for
you. Well, I'll die for you. And he thought he would. I'll
die for you. And then our Lord replied to
Peter, no, no, you won't die for me. I'll die for you. But you wouldn't die for me.
In fact, Peter, you will deny me. You will betray me. Before the cock crows, you're
going to deny me three times." And when he said that, they were
all troubled. You see that in chapter 13, the
last verses? They were all troubled. Troubled
in heart, troubled in spirit. Peter was their spokesman. Peter
was their hero. Peter usually was the one that
expressed the opinion of the whole lot. And here our Lord,
Peter said, Well, I'll die for you. And our Lord turned and
said, You won't die for me. You'll deny you ever knew me. they had
a right to be troubled. When they saw the frailty of
the flesh, the weakness of the flesh, they had a right to be
troubled. And I'll tell you this, if we
consider God's holiness, God's immaculate holiness and our sinfulness,
we'll be troubled. And when we consider the justice
of God, the strict justice of God, the unchanging justice of
God, which says God will by no means clear the guilty. And we
see our guilt, we ought to be troubled. And then when we consider
our unfitness for God's presence, unfitness for God's presence,
no man can see God, no man can approach the presence of God.
God dwells in a life to which no man can approach. But we'll
be troubled When we consider the certainty of death and judgment
and eternity, we ought to be troubled. And these poor disciples
were troubled, they were heart sick, they were bowed down, they
were crushed, they were depressed. That's where we take up John
14.1, when he says, Let not your heart be troubled. See that? Do you believe in God? Or you do believe in God? You
should believe in God. For God is, God was, and God
ever shall be. You believe in God? You do believe
in God. Well, believe also in me. Believe
in me, Christ said. Not in yourself. Everybody says,
believe in yourself. Don't you do that either. Don't
you put any confidence in your flesh, my flesh, or anybody else's.
Don't you believe in yourself. You're Don't believe in your
works, don't believe in your merit, don't believe in your
church. Christ said you believe there's a God, you believe God
is? Then believe in me. Moses wrote of me. Moses wrote
the first five books of the Bible, he wrote of me. Abraham saw my
day and rejoiced, he was glad. Isaiah saw my day and spoke of
me. I am that prophet of whom Moses
wrote. I am that priest. after the order
of Melchizedek. I am that king to reign over
God's heritage. Oh, the Samaritan woman, when
she was so frustrated and so confused, when she talked to
the Lord, she said, well, when the Messiah comes, he'll tell
us all things. He said, I that speak to thee
am he. I'm he. I'm your Messiah. I'm
your representative. I'm your ransom. I'm the express
image of God. You believe God? Do you believe
in God? Then believe me. I am the express
image of God. I am the revelation of God. I
have manifested thy name, he said, to the men which thou hast
given me. Believe me. Believe me. Here
you got a man, the God-man, God in human flesh, speaking to you,
telling you, don't let your heart be troubled. God seems so far
away. God seems so high above. God
seems so eternally beyond even our imagination or conception.
Where is God? Looking right at you. Christ
said, believe me, I'm come that you might have life and have
it more abundantly. Believe me. All right, listen
to what else he said. For in my Father's house are
many mansions. many mansions. Where is it? Where
is it, Lord? It's in my Father's house. It's
in heaven above. It's in the place he hath made.
And the certainty of it, he said, in my Father's house, in my Father's
presence, there are, for sure, not ought to be, might be, could
be, the mystery. No, sir, there are many, many,
many mansions, many mansions. Oh, enough room, plenty of room,
but no vacancies. Every house will be filled. And
the permanence of it, he said, there are many, the word is dwelling
places. Dwelling places, that's the permanence
of it. David said, I will dwell. I'm
not going to visit that place. That's my home. I'm going to
dwell in the presence of the Lord forever. Now, he said, if
this were not true, I would have told you. Let not your heart
be trouble." They were troubled over the future, they were troubled
over their sinful hearts, they were troubled over the prospects
of denying their Lord, of failing him, and he said, don't be troubled
now, don't be troubled. You believe God, you believe
me. In my Father's many dwelling
places and if it were not so I would have told you now watch
I go now he's gonna tell us where he's going he told him I go and
whether I go you can't come and now he's gonna tell him where
he's going he says I go to prepare a place for you in my father's
house and here's the key here's the key I go the church didn't
go the martyrs didn't go and The priest didn't go. Mary didn't
go. The Lord didn't go. You didn't
go. The evangelist didn't go. Christ
said, I go. I go. No one goes with me. I go. Where are you going, Lord?
I go to Jerusalem. I go to Jerusalem to be cursed,
spit upon. I go to Jerusalem to be tried
and denied and lied about. I go to Jerusalem to bear the
shame and the spittle of the Roman soldiers. I go to the cross
as your substitute and representative and sin offering and atonement.
I go to the cross. I go alone. You can't go with
me. I go. I go to the cross, and then I'll
go to the tomb and lie there as your scapegoat, your justifier. And I'll rise, and I'll go back
to my Father, and I'll go not into the holy place made with
hands, but I'll go into heaven itself, and there I'll make an
atonement, a mercy seat, a propitiation, a covering for you. I go to prepare
a place for you. Our forerunner has entered in
within the veil and sat down. It's not a matter of the Lord
up there as a carpenter building houses. The Lord prepared a place
for us. Who's going to stand in God's
presence? Who shall ascend into his holy place? He that hath
clean hands. and a pure heart, who has never
lifted up his soul to vanity, who has never spoken deceitfully.
Well, that lets out every son of Adam. It doesn't let out the
Son of God, the Lord Jesus. And because of who he is and
what he did, he himself can prepare for us a place. For of God he
has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
He has entered into the presence of God and made atonement for
his people. All right, now watch this. Listen
as I move on. And if I go, I go, he said, to
prepare a place for you, and to prepare you for the place.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. I will. I will come again. That's
as sure as he came the first time and as sure as he went away.
And receive you unto myself. Now this is our confidence and
our assurance that our God and Father and our Savior shall not
fail. All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh to me I'll in no wise
cast out, for I came down from heaven not to do my will, but
the will of him that sent me, and this is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I'll lose nothing,
but raise it up again at the last day." The disciples stood
on that hillside when our Lord ascended and went back to heaven,
and the angels of God appeared to them, and the angel said,
You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into this same
Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come
in like manner as you have seen him go. Now then, watch verse
4, John 14. After he had spoken these words,
all that I have given to you, he said, and where I go you know. He just told them, I go to prepare
a place for And if I go, I'll come again. Now he says to them,
and where I go you know, and the way you know. Do they? Do we? We should. It's clear here in his teachings,
it's clear through the word of God. I shall call his name Jesus,
he shall save his people from their sins. The Son of Man has
come to seek and to save the lost. This is a faithful saying,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He who knew
no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Christ suffered just for the
unjust to bring us to God. I am the door, by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved, and go in and out and find pasture.
I am the bread, I am the water. Where I go you know, and the
way you know, do we know the way? Well, this is where most
religionists miss it. You see, the way is not a doctrine,
the way is not a religion, the way is not a profession, the way is a person.
For Thomas said, Lord, we don't know where you're going,
how can we know the way? How can we know the way? And
our Lord looked at him and said, Thomas, I am the way. I am the way. That's what I've
been telling you. I am the way. I go. Where I go,
you can't come. Not now, you'll come later, because
I go to prepare a place for you. I go to Jerusalem, I go to the
cross, I go to the tomb, I go to the right hand of God, I go
to the mercy seat of glory, I go to be the sacrifice and atonement
and righteousness, I go as the forerunner to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place, I'll come back, my reward's
with me, I'll come back and receive you unto myself, that where I
am there you may be also." Now, you know where I go, and you
know the way. Thomas said, we don't know where
you're going, and we don't know the way. And that's my generation.
They'll try every way to God but the way. They'll adopt and
bow to and accept any religion but the person of Christ. After
you preach all these things, you preach the inability of the
flesh, the inability of the law, no man is justified by the law
in the sight of God. We are justified by faith, not
by grace. So you say, through faith and
that, not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Christ said, Come unto me, all
ye that labour in a heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Christ is
the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by him. And yet we say, well, I don't know the way. I don't
know the way. And that's what Thomas said,
we don't know the way. And he said, Thomas, I am the way. How can we know the way to pardon?
How can we know the way to God? How can we know the way to heaven?
Well, Jesus Christ said, I am the way. Our Lord came back to
Bethany after Lazarus had died, and Martha ran out to meet him.
And she said, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died.
And he said, your brother will rise again. And she said, I know
that. I know he'll rise again in the
resurrection, on that day, on that great day. He said, Martha,
I'm the resurrection. I'm the life. He that believeth
on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he that believeth
on me shall never die. for I am the resurrection and
I am the life." You see, it's not our doing, it's his doing.
It's not our righteousness, it's his. It's not our faithfulness,
it's his. It's not our sacrifice, it's
his. He is the way God in his wisdom
is purposed. He is the way God can be just
and justifier. He is the way that we can be
righteous in Christ. Not in the law, not in the church.
In Christ I'm righteous. He is the way we can be justified,
therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way that we're accepted,
he is the way. He's not a way, he's the way.
And he didn't just make a way, he himself is the way. In other
words, we're in him. When he came down to this earth,
we walked this earth in him. When he went to the cross, we
went to the cross in him. When he died, we died in him,
under the judgment of God's wrath, under the law, under God's justice. When he was buried, we were buried.
When he arose, we arose. And the scripture says every
believer is seated with Christ on the right hand of God. You
see, he's the head, we're the body. And where the head is,
the body can't be too far behind. Christ is not bodiless, even
as we are not headless. And when God the Father considers
Christ, He considers the head and the body. That's Christ and
the Church. Christ and His sheep. Christ
and His elect. We're in Him. Do you see that?
He is the way. He didn't make a way somehow. He is the way. He's the heir. We only join heirs with Him.
He's the bridegroom. We're the bride. He's the heir
with joint heirs, you see that? In Him, I am the way. My church
membership is just a joy that I have in Christ. Baptism is
just a confession of my position in Christ. Taking the Lord's
table is remembering what Christ did for me. These are not sacraments,
these are not saving graces, these are not things that redeem
us. Obedience and good works don't save, they're the benefits
and blessings of my relationship with Him.

I Am The Way

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I Am The Way

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