The Way The Truth and The Life

Introduction

Good morning. God is great. Amen. If you will open your Bibles to John chapter 14. John chapter 14. While you’re turning there, I’d like to thank those of you who are visiting with us for being here today. I do wish to sincerely tell you I’m glad you’re with us, and we’re encouraged by you spending time and making time to be with the Lord’s body here at South Bumby Church of Christ in Orlando. I will ask that you forgive me for not coming up to you and maybe speaking to you personally afterwards. I’m not feeling too good, and if you want to enjoy your vacation, I’ll probably stay away from you. So we’ll call that even on both sides. In John chapter 14, we have some relatively well known verses, some sayings of Jesus here in verse 1.

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen me.

I wonder what is your perspective of Jesus? If I asked you to decide in your mind, what was Jesus like? If we were able to spend some time with him or just watch him from afar in a not creepy way, what would that be like? Do you think do you think maybe that Jesus was this timid, quiet, kind to everyone? He’s just handing out rainbows everywhere, happy guy. We we kind of get that impression sometimes. Or maybe, on the other hand, you have the perspective of Jesus when he was overturning the tables in the temple and he was cleansing it, casting out the money changers, and you think of Jesus as this harsh teacher of right and wrong. And you think Jesus was just walking around calling people brutal vipers, you hypocrites, you blind guides, all the kind of kind, or maybe instructional things we ought to say, that he implied towards the Pharisees.

Well, the truth is Jesus was perfect. That’s how Jesus was. He showed the appropriate reaction to the different scenarios that he encountered in this life. And certainly that would be the path that we would emulate if we could. But I want to think about what Jesus taught. And I wonder what it would sound like today. Jesus says in John 14, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And as Christians, we rally behind them. We say, Yes, Jesus is the way. Through Jesus we can have life. And that sounds good. And it’s true. But I wonder if the implications of that were readily known, as we know that they are, that Jesus is the only way to salvation, what that reaction would be like.

In Matthew chapter seven, keep in mind, we’re thinking about how would this teaching come across today? In Matthew chapter seven and verse thirteen, Jesus says, Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. Now look with me at verse 14. It’s not behind me. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard, that leads to life. And those who find it are few. Now, what is the screaming conclusion of these verses? This is the teachings of Jesus. What screams out? There is a wide path that leads where? To destruction. There are many who go in by it. But there is a narrow way that leads to life.

And those who find it are few. So what is Jesus saying? Not a lot of people are going to find eternal life. That is what Jesus taught. Now look at me in Acts chapter 4 and verse 12. As Peter and John are before the council in Acts chapter 4. Peter concludes, and I’ll read in verse 11 by saying, This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. There is salvation in no one else. Now, from time to time I may say something profound. Here it is.

But look back at John chapter 14 with me. I am the way, the truth, and the life. Accurate depictions of Jesus as self-described. But it’s the concluding part that really kind of sticks it and twists the knife, at least the way some may perceive it. No one comes to the Father except through me. Now I ask you to consider how would this play out? Because you know what people know that Jesus said. They know Matthew chapter 7. They know Jesus said, judge not. Right? We know that passage. Oh, judge not. Can’t tell. You don’t know. So when I see what does the Bible say, Jesus teaches the Bible is in accordance with the will of God. And if it is so, these are the claims. I want to go through these.

This is not Greg. This is the words of the Bible. In two instances, the words of the Christ himself, and in the other, the words of his apostle. Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. Bible teaches that. There is salvation in no one else other than the name of Jesus. And no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. Now, this is what the Bible says. And so I have the question of what does that mean for everyone else? What does that mean for me? What does that mean for the city of Orlando? The country that is the United States of America. What does that mean?

1. What Does It Mean for Those Who Do Not Believe?

Well, consider, first of all, what does it mean for those who do not believe? John chapter 3 and verse 16, a common passage. Turn with me there. I want you to see this in John chapter 3 and verse 16. We think about this and we think this is a wonderful passage, but sometimes we think, but it’s not quite everything. But I think it’s enough if you understand what he’s saying. In John chapter 3, note with me in verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Now, the good news of the gospel, the good news, of course, we get from Romans chapter 1 and verse 16 and 17, there is the good news. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and to the Greek. That is good news. But do you know what the expense of that good news is? There’s some bad news. What would be one of the greatest days in mankind’s history? Would you agree with me that if we could develop a true cure to cancer, that that would be one of the greatest accomplishments that we could develop? That would be wonderful. That would be amazing. Millions of lives could be altered for the better. That would be remarkable. But that doesn’t change the fact that there are still people struggling with that disease, even if the cure is there.

There is an implication of good news that we can be forgiven of sins. It is that we have sinned. And the wages of sin is death. And that applies to us all. And so as we keep in mind those claims in Matthew chapter 7, in Acts chapter 4, and John chapter 14, that mankind needs what Jesus offers. That’s what the Bible suggests. Will you look with me at Romans chapter 1? In Romans chapter 1, Romans chapter 1 gives an answer to one of the best questions that one studying the Bible might encounter, and that’s with the study of the Old Testament or the new. And it’s what about all those people who during the time of the law of Moses were not of the nation of Israel?

What about them? How did God deal with them? Well, in Romans chapter 1 and verse 18, Paul writes, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power in divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made, so they are without excuse.

That all of Christianity hinges upon the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus living on this earth, Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, Jesus being resurrected from the dead, teaching us that through him is the way, the truth, and the life hinges all of our faith. And if that is not true, Christianity is not true, as Paul reasons in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, if the resurrection did not happen, our faith is in vain, and we are still in our sins. So the conclusion must be driven by the underlying thought that Christianity is real. But what about those who do not believe that Jesus lived, do not believe in God. Do you remember the story of Jonah? The story of Jonah is interesting. The prophet Jonah is told to go and preach to where?

The people of Nineveh. By the way, the people of Nineveh are not a part of the people of Israel. This was a different people. Why did he need to go there? What was he to preach? That they should repent lest they perish. And Jonah throws his hissy fit, he goes the wrong way, he finally gives up because God is going to get his way. Jonah goes to the people and he tells the people, repent or you will perish. And what do they do? They repent. And they are spared by God. But what is implied in that good news? They answered to God. If they did not turn from what? Whatever they were doing that was in violation of God’s expectations and will for them. This very law is understood through the lens of Romans chapter 1.

Did you see it in verse 20? Forever, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made, so they are without excuse. When you reason, what do those Bible passages mean for those who do not believe in God? There is one conclusion and one alone. Without Jesus, we’re lost. There is no other way. Did you see that in John 14? Jesus is the way. There is salvation in no one else. Now, this all hinges on a very important part, and I already named it faith. You realize that? Faith is crucial to this. Because we cannot go back and see Jesus. We cannot watch him. We cannot see him be crucified.

We cannot see him be resurrected from the dead. It takes faith. Nobody here saw the creation of the world. It takes faith. And so the conclusion we must reach then is what is the reasonable conclusion? What am I going to put faith in? Because faith anywhere but Christ, according to the Bible, is misplaced. And I can’t say that I saw God create the world with just his spoken word. But I can read it in the inspired word of God. I can read it in our Bible text that is written over the span of a thousand years by about 40 different authors, and know if I’m going to put my faith in something, I’m going to put my faith in Jehovah, the one true and living God.

Because that is true. And the conclusion that we must reach is one of two things. Whether God exists does not depend upon my belief in him. If I believe in God, that does not make him exist. If I do not believe in God, that does not make him cease to exist. Does that make sense? Nod your heads with me this morning. Good. Okay. We’re still wrong. Now it sounds pretty bad because what’s growing in our country? Population of atheists or agnostics. Or people who just don’t believe in God and reject any type of title whatsoever because there is no certainty. But a lack of certainty doesn’t excuse what Jesus says. It doesn’t wipe it off the table. So consider with me, what about those of another religious system?

2. What About Those of Another Religious System?

But before we go there, I want to look at a really curious case in John chapter 21. Do you remember it? Jesus is speaking with Peter, and Peter asks an interesting question. He goes with one of those what if questions. We ask those all the time. I personally love them. Those who I asked them to do not. In John chapter 21, Peter sees this one that Jesus loved. That’s John. In John chapter 21 and verse 20, notice Jesus’ response to this what if type of question. Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man?

We need to see some context. Do you know what Jesus says in John chapter 21 and verse 18? After he’s told Peter three times to tend to ask him three times, excuse me, do you love me? In verse 18, Jesus says, Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted. But when you were old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. And after saying this, he said to him, Follow me. Jesus has just told Peter, basically, you’re going to die. You are going to die because of me.

Because of your faith in me. So Peter rightfully asked, or understandably, asked the question, Lord, what about this man? What is Jesus’ response in verse 22? Excellent question. You disproved my whole system. Now, in verse 22, Jesus said to him, If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me. I have to tell you, I get a lot of questions a lot. And sometimes they revolve around different churches that you might attend with different philosophies. Might be, what about those people who were born in Saudi Arabia? After all, if you were born in Saudi Arabia, might you be born a Muslim? Might you be of Muslim faith? First and foremost, think about how Jesus answers Peter’s what if type of question.

What about this man? Jesus responds, no, no, no. You don’t worry about him. I decide what John, what happens with John. You follow me. See, that is the first perception. That doesn’t answer the question, but it’s where we must take our faith first. When we ask the questions, it must be under the underlying assumption that we will follow Jesus. Period. Now, if we want to be intellectually curious after that, certainly encouraged. Certainly worth considering. But we are to answer for our faith. So the questions that are raised about, well, what if Godzilla comes and stomps on the man before he comes and gets baptized? Or what about the man who was born in the forest that talks to no one, and he’s blind, deaf, and mute, and he sits in the forest by himself for 40 years?

Don’t affect me. I am responsible to do what? To follow after Jesus. So what about those of another religious system, though? Remember in Acts chapter 4, Jesus says there’s, if Peter says of Jesus, there is salvation in no one else. If there ever was a religious system that could have potentially been arguable, is pleasing to God, it would be Judaism in the first century, would it not? Because after all, God wanted his people to follow the law of Moses, and I know it was after the time of Jesus, but you know what? At least it had been the law. Look at me in Galatians chapter 5. How does Paul consider them trying to bind an aspect of the old law into the law of Christ?

What is the response there? Will you look with me at the first several verses of Galatians chapter 5? For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, that’s of the old law. Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you would be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, for through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

In the not too distant past, we spoke about and studied of how real faith works. Yes, the city of Jericho was given to the people of Israel by faith, but they still didn’t just sit there on the sideline and wait for God to poof it down for them. Consider, though, that argument about what if I was born in Saudi Arabia? Would I be a Muslim? Well, I think the same line of reasoning goes to if Allah is true, the true God, if I was born in the United States a Christian, does that what does that mean for those who are not following Allah? There is only going to be one religious system that’s right, or it might be none. Because the Bible claims to be the exclusive way to eternal life.

You see, that? That’s not your preachers talking. That’s not the elders. That’s not Joel Osteen. That’s not any famous preacher. That’s not Billy Graham. The Bible says, Peter teaches, for there is salvation in no one else. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If the Bible is true, that is the only way to God, because Jesus had said so. And that is the final word. If Jesus is lying, if the Bible is a hoax, there may be another one out there. And so the question is, how can I determine which religion is right? I do believe that there is a God. I don’t think that the world just proofed itself into existence or that there was some big bang.

How can I know? Without evaluating all the options. Consider if I was in a mall, Orlando has several malls. I think of the mall at Millennia as being a particularly large, nice type of mall. And if Kashka and I were to go in there shopping, that would mean hours for me and probably a dent in our wallet, but nonetheless, that was supposed to be funny. You can laugh now. Thank you. If we were to get separated. And about an hour later, I went to meet up with her, where we designated, and both of our phones were out. It’s my story. I can do what I want. How would I go about finding her? Well, I might go looking for her. I might go into shops that I expect that she would be at.

But let me ask you a question. If I’m walking to Dillard’s, because I think she might be in there, and I happen to see her, do I have to keep looking? If I have found Kashka, my wife, do I have to keep looking for Kashka, my wife? No. If you have found it, your search is over. If I go into the store that I think she should be in, even if I believe that she will be there, even if all the evidence to me points that she is there, but she is not, have I found my wife? No. The search continues until you have found that which is what you are looking for. Now you can find anything you might want. But there is only one authentic find.

In my case, there is only my wife, Kashka defined. I can pull any random person and say, I found you, but that doesn’t mean that I found my wife. When we are searching for truth, when we are searching for understanding of how this life came into existence, what am I doing here? If Christianity answers the call, then you stick with it. You don’t have to study the rest because you know what you have. And that is the other side of that exclusive coin. If the Bible claims to be the exclusive way, and if the Bible is right, if Jesus did live, if Jesus did die on the cross for our sins and was resurrected as foretold by the scriptures, then that is the way to life.

3. What About All Those Different Christian Churches?

And if I want life, that’s the way I must go. And so we see that. What does that mean? What do those Bible claims mean for those of another religious system that they need to find Jesus? Because the multiplicity of gods and other religions are not Jesus. Making Jesus a prophet is not following Jesus’ teachings. Anything that is not Jesus, and authentically following after him, is not the way. It is not the truth, and it will not lead to life. And that is what the Bible teaches. So, what about all those different Christian churches? Well, you look back in John chapter 14. Let’s do a little bit of reading. In John chapter 14, in verse 8, Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.

Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. And greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. You see in verse 22, Judas, not as scary, it said to him, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And my father will love him, and he will come to him and make our home with him. What about all those different Christian churches? Here’s the answer. First of all, what is our answer to that what if scenario? Jesus taught Peter to say what? You follow me. That’s what he told Peter.

That’s our answer when we start searching these questions first and foremost. I need to follow Jesus. It doesn’t matter what people say, it doesn’t matter what a different church teaches, including this one. It matters what Jesus has said. It matters what the apostles and the divinely inspired Word of God has revealed. That is where I must stand. And so, understanding that first and foremost, the answer to that question is that doesn’t apply to me. I must follow after Jesus. Secondly, Jesus defines who are His. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Do I want to worship with people who do not love Jesus? That’s a problem, remember? Because Jesus is what? The only way to the Father. He is the way, the truth, and the life.

And so then the argument comes out well, how can all of these people who teach different things be right? And the answer is they’re not. If I say one thing, and someone else says the other and they contradict each other, we can both be wrong, but we cannot both be right. Who is right? Whoever speaks the best? Whoever’s been doing it the longest? What Jesus has said. What is written? We will be judged by what? The words of Jesus. It doesn’t matter that there’s a lot of people who fit in those three categories, because why? What does Matthew chapter 7 and verse 13 say? The gate is wide that leads to destruction. And how many people are going to go into it? There are going to be many.

Argument by enumeration is no argument of truth. Authenticity is found in truth alone. Jesus claims to be the way, the truth, and the life. If he is correct, nothing else matters. Except for me to follow after him. And of course, Jesus covers this also in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. It doesn’t matter what I think or how we feel. It matters what Jesus has said. If you were to draw a line that divides those who are saved from those who are lost, if you look at Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21, Jesus draws the line.

4. What Does That Mean for Me?

If I pick it up and place it down, those who are saved are those who do the will of his Father who is in heaven. And do you see how that matches what Jesus taught in John chapter 14 and verse 15? If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments. And so the final question is, what does that mean for me? Because the truth is, Jesus, while kind, while loving, while encouraging, was the same Jesus who spoke of many entering the gates of destruction, who in Matthew chapter 25 depicted a scene where those who would be lost for everlasting punishment. That’s our Jesus. But our Jesus is also the way, the truth, and the life. Our Jesus, Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, is our everything.

He is our salvation. He is our hope. He is our revelation of truth in his teachings and his words. Will I follow him? There’s a lot to consider. There’s a lot to believe. If you look with me at one final passage in Hebrews chapter 11, and the lesson will be yours. When Jesus claims to be the way, the truth, and the life, and to say that no one comes to the Father except through him, that’s a lot to digest. And when you’re a Christian and you’re here with a lot of Christians, it makes a lot of sense. It’s very easy. But believing in God that you cannot see, even when the Bible reveals that He created the world with just a spoken word, doesn’t all of a sudden just say, okay, here it is.

For some that may work, for others it may not. But Hebrews chapter 11 says in verse 1, now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendations. Will you look with me at verse 3? By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. And of course, in verse 6, and without faith, it is impossible to please him. What does that mean for me? That means I need to know the book. I need to know what Jesus has said. If he is the way, the truth, and the life, I need to know what Jesus say.

I need to know not so that I can teach others, but first and foremost, so that I can follow after him. Then I can teach others. When I have submitted to and followed after Christ. And what does that mean? What did Jesus teach? In Mark chapter 16, he who believes and is baptized will be saved. Whoever does not believe will be condemned. That sounds harsh. In our world today, that sounds judgmental, but Jesus speaks the truth. If you believe him this morning, there is no excuse other than to just follow after him. If you have not been baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, you are in your sins. And Paul writes in Romans that the wages of sin is death. It doesn’t matter what a religious system teaches, it doesn’t matter anything at all, except if God exists, and what he has said goes.

Conclusion

Take advantage of the grace of God this morning. Take advantage of his mercy. Simply obey God. If you know you have sinned, if you haven’t come to him, please make it right. There is no reason to delay. Do follow Jesus. If we can help you in any way, please make it right this morning. While we have time, while we are able, and while we can take advantage of the blood of Jesus the Christ and his great sacrifice. If we can help you in any way this morning, please come forward right now as we stand and sing the invitation song.