The Way, The Truth, The Life

It is such a privilege to be with you this morning and to preach from the Word of God.

I don't take this privilege lightly. It is a high calling to preach God's Word and I pray even before I start this morning that I would be able to preach true to the text.

This is preaching that is neither above the line nor below the line of the text.

It is a challenge always to stay true to God's Word and with the help of the

Holy Spirit, that's what I will try to do this morning. So I ask you gracious God and Father to be with all of us this morning and particularly that my words might be your words and that your word might go out among us as powerfully illuminating, as enlightening, as strengthening, as iron sharpens iron.

So Lord, we do not add to your word. We don't subtract from it, but we we bring forth your word this morning in spirit and in truth.

Amen. So most of you will recall that late last year

I was able to be with you and preach from the Gospel of John and I started in John chapter 9 and then covered chapter 10 11 and 12 and then

I finished up with the Gospel of John chapter 13 on New Year's Day and I want to start this morning by just taking a brief look at those four chapters in order to kind of give some context to the sermon today, which will be from John chapter 14.

And so we're making we're making good headway here and to help us remember the big picture it's always important to remember the big picture from from anything from any of God's Word, but I'm gonna try to bring that big picture from the

Gospel of John. So we started in John 9 and by looking at the miraculous healing of the man who was blind from birth and Jesus declared at that time.

I am the light of the world. That was one of the seven great I am's He spat on the ground and made a little bit of clay and and he applied it to the eyes of the blind man

And he said to the blind man go wash in the pool of Siloam So he went away he washed and he came back seeing and declaring to the

Pharisees who claimed that Jesus was a sinner and What what did the blind man say?

He said we know that God does not hear sinners But if anyone

But if anyone is God fearing and does his will He hears him

Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind if this man were not from God, he could do nothing a man in darkness from birth was now

Miraculously able to see the one who was the light of the world

Now when we got to John chapter 10 Jesus declared this he said truly truly

I say to you I am the door of the sheep and he also declared that I am the

Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep. I know my own and they know me

But the religious leaders of the day continued in their confusion and in their disbelief as to who

Jesus really was Finally Jesus just tells him straight out in John or in John chapter 10.

I and the father are one They picked up stones to stone him for blasphemy

But he alluded their grasp Then we get to John chapter 11 in John chapter 11 a certain man named

Lazarus was sick When we start reading the that particular text the text tells us the story of Mary and Martha his sisters and the raising of Lazarus from the dead

Jesus finally arrives after Lazarus has been dead for four days He orders those present to remove the stone now in my thinking what he was saying was remove any obstacle or encumbrance that prevents you from believing that I am the

Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah The one who will raise each and every one of us and every believer from the dead and give them eternal life and So at his command

Lazarus who had died comes forth from the tomb and many of the Jews who were there believed in him

But from that day the chief priests and the Pharisees planned to kill him

They planned death for the one who gives life Before the

Passover Jesus returned to Bethany for a supper prepared by Mary and Martha as John writes it in chapter 12

Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with a very expensive perfume of pure nard

The entire house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume But Judas Iscariot objects claiming the nard should have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor

Jesus rebukes Judas Declaring the poor will always be with you, but you will not always have me in your presence

Mary's gesture was one of love and devotion to the Christ The one who would give up his own life that we sinners might live

The text then goes on to describe the scene in Jerusalem of the triumphal entry of Jesus on a donkey

That would be what we call now Palm Sunday But it becomes clear that most of those attending the feast

Did not believe in him Jesus declares from the book of Isaiah he says

He that is Satan has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart and be

Converted so that I could heal them He added I have come as light into the world

So everyone who believes in me will not remain in the darkness

Now if you haven't noticed already there's a constant tension in the gospel of John In fact, it's the the tension becomes will you in fact

Come to believe in me or will you my blindness pride and hardness of heart

Refuse to believe that I am the Messiah who sent who is sent by the

Father to save the world There is a clear progression in John's writing also which points to greater and greater miraculous signs and declarations from Jesus himself

That he is the one the one that all of Israel Has been waiting for the one that all the world has been waiting for in chapter 13

Jesus washes the feet of the disciples and Reminds them by this humble act that they must serve one another

To humble himself to humble oneself as a servant of the Most High God is to be

Greatly blessed and Jesus shows them that by actually washing the feet of each of the disciples

When we study the gospel of John we begin to see that there's there's two kingdoms and in the heavenly kingdom

The last shall be first and the first shall be last So now as we proceed

Jesus has reached the Last Supper and he's betrayed by Judas Iscariot He's getting very close to his arrest his suffering his crucifixion and yet he tells the disciples

Now is the son of man glorified and God is glorified in him

By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another

So with all of this being said, I've just covered What four chapters of the gospel of John?

But what is the big picture of the gospel of John? Well, John wants us to see and he wants us to know the person of Jesus intimately

His gospel points us from one miraculous sign to another each seemingly greater than the one before to demonstrate that God that Jesus was both

God and man the greatest miracle, of course would be the resurrection of Christ from the dead and That would point the disciples and us

To the wonderful redeeming work of Christ our Savior on the cross

So that we might trust in him Believe on him for eternal life

Now after that kind of lengthy introduction We're finally going to get to John chapter 14

So if you're not there already Go ahead and open your your copy of God's Word to John chapter 14

And we're gonna we're gonna look at some some great Some great scripture here

So I'm gonna be I'm gonna start by just reading verses 1 through 7 and then we'll take a look at John chapter 14

He starts out here. Do not let your heart be troubled Believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many dwelling places

If it were not so I would have told you for I go to prepare a place for you

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself

That you that where I am There you may be also and you know the way where I am going

Thomas said to him Lord, we do not know where you are going.

How do we know the way? Jesus said to him I am

The way the truth and the life no one comes to the father, but through me

If you had known me you would have known my father also from now on No From now on you know him and have seen him

The disciples had good reason to be troubled They had given their lives to follow

Jesus they had given up their occupation their their family I mean they they were strictly dedicated to following Jesus and Now he tells them that he must leave them and they cannot follow him now

They had set all earthly hopes on him. How could they get along without him?

They knew the limitations of their own power But knowing their troubled hearts

Here Jesus reassures them. And the first thing he says to them is do not let your heart be troubled

The Greek word for troubled is may to rest terrestrial

Although it means although You are troubled do not put yourself into a hurry or confusion and Like the troubled sea which cannot find its rest

He instructs them Also believe in God now believe also in me

This was in some sense an imperative. It was a command in other words

Stop allowing your hearts to be troubled for those who believe in me

May have a troubled life But should have an untroubled heart

For the disciples more than any should know of His character they should know of the goodness of his they should know of his perfection his providence to bring about the best for for them and Oh how we need those same words

Do not let your hearts be troubled in these troubled times because we have a

Savior we have Jesus Christ himself who tells us believe in me

So verse 2 in my father's house are many dwelling places

If it were not so I would have told you for I go to prepare a place for you

Now here Jesus gives the disciples and us a good reason to give up that troubled heart

He tells the disciples of a dwelling place Some translations will say a mansion in his father's house

Jesus points to a reunion with God the Father and Reminds the disciples to trust in the truth the veracity of what he tells them

He says if it were not I would have told you so for I go before you to prepare a place

Jesus welcomes us He lovingly prepares many dwelling places for many believers of every tribe and every tongue

He tells us he will be there Heaven for the Christian would not be much of a place

Without our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ being there first the quintessential essence of heaven is being with Christ himself

Verse 3 if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am

There you might be also Now how could the disciples think that Jesus would cease to be?

When now he tells them that under his own planning under his own initiative

He will go forth and prepare a place for them He isn't taken.

We we have of course the disciples didn't know yet about the cross This is at the

Last Supper, but he isn't We remember he isn't taken to the cross

Christ goes there under his own choosing and At his own choosing.

He will then return to receive us unto himself We will be reunited reunited with him in glory

That is the essence of heaven really not the streets of gold the pearly gates boy

Don't those sound great or the angelic hosts that will be there But rather the essence of heaven will be to be united with Christ Jesus How difficult however, this must have been for the for for the disciples to believe we have the advantage of the

Holy Scripture which assures us of Christ's second coming and Yet there are many even in our age that don't believe

Yet what a glorious thought where I am There you may be also

Not only does he prepare a place for us, but he also prepares us for that place

Verses four and five and you know the way where I am going

Thomas said to him Lord. We do not know where you are going. How do we know the way?

Well Jesus here points which direction to the way points to himself as the way

He will declare this vividly when soon he tells them that he is the way and the truth and the life

But for now Thomas and the others are confused How would they know the way the answer is of course by looking at at Jesus himself?

God is not limited by space or time But like a dedicated father

He speaks to his young son who cannot possibly understand what he's saying

Jesus reassures them that they already know the way

Verse 6 Jesus said to him I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father, but through me and This leads us to one of the amazing most remarkable verses in all of scripture

John 14 6 that's a good one to you know When you they say you should a wanna if we had our wanna kids here

You've got to memorize scripture and sometimes what you need to do is also memorize the address

And the address of this one is John 14 6 So just stick that in the back of your memory in case you forget it sometime.

Oh, I can always go to John 14 6 That's an amazing verse. So anyway, that's a great one to memorize

Memorize the address because when you come back here, you will come back here often in your

Christian walk He didn't say that he would show us a way he declared that he is the way

He didn't promise to teach us a truth. He said that he is the truth

He didn't offer a secret of life. He said that I am the life

This is one of the seven great I am's in the Gospel of John and it provides a perfect answer to Thomas's question

About how do we know the way? from a Christian perspective this Declaration could not be more powerful.

I don't know where I'm going In that true, I don't know where I'm going but Jesus does he is the way

I'm Confused. I don't know what to think But he is the truth

I'm Feeling dead inside. I can't go on He is the life

For without the way there is no going Without the truth.

There is no knowing and Without the life. There is no living the way we must

The the way we must follow The truth we must believe and the life we must hope

So there is here however a certain paradox For Jesus was soon to choose the way of the cross which seemed incongruent with the truth and And pointed to the death not not the life

But through his miraculous work on the cross and his resurrection Now we know the way we know the truth.

We have the life Interesting that this verse is controversial because it's controversial for many people of the world

Why does Jesus declare that he's the only way to salvation? There aren't many other than Christianity nobody else points that way and yet It it this is this is what the

Bible teaches The singularity of God is a common theme throughout the entire

Bible God Declares there is one

God there is one Lord. There is one spirit He demanded even from the

Garden of Eden that we worship him and worship him alone He commanded both the

Old Testament and the New Testament believer that we place no false gods

Before him and he makes a further statement that no one can come to the father, but through me

Jesus himself declares He is the only way to the father

He we we cannot earn our way. We cannot pray our way in there is only one way and that is through Jesus Christ himself

So Verse 7 if you had known me You would have known my father also

From now on you know him and you have seen him So what what is he saying here?

What is he saying? He's telling the disciples that He himself is the perfect representation of God Through his sinless character and through his miraculous signs

He demonstrated that he was God and then he also declared this.

He said that he and the father were one This is why he can say if you had known me you would have known the father also

He then reassures the disciples you have seen him meaning you have seen me

It's it's an interesting circular argument, it's really wonderful when you start thinking about how the disciples

You know How what they must have been thinking it was it wasn't like they didn't know who

Christ was they had walked with him for three Years leading up to this they knew him intimately and personally and yet, you know when he started to tell him this

They were obviously confused In other words because you have seen me you have seen the father

But Philip registers his confusion and he said Lord show us the father and it will be enough for us

The disciples had not yet seen the full revelation of God at the cross and the resurrection

So one can understand really their ongoing confusion and their ongoing doubt

Well verse 8 we covered Philip said to him Lord show us the father and it is enough for us verse 9

Jesus said to him Have I been so long with you and yet you have not come to know me

Philip He who has seen me has seen the father. How can you say show us the father?

now Here Jesus gives Philip a gentle rebuke, but I'm sure all the other disciples were thinking the same thing

Philip and the other disciples have learned many spiritual truths while walking with Jesus yet They did not completely understand him like many today.

They wanted something more tangible and To see the father seemed like that was it they could just get that far

But they did not understand No image or likeness can adequately depict

God God chose his son to represent himself to men on earth

But remember what he said to Moses he declared you cannot see my face

For no man can see me and live But here again, Jesus plainly says he who has seen me has seen the father

Verse 10 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 initiative But the father abiding in me does his works

This is a Now kind of comes the moment of truth, you know, what do we believe?

This is kind of a personal question that each one of us has had to answer Here Philip must answer the question for himself

Each of the disciples must answer that that question and so do we?

When Jesus asked Peter Who do you say that I am? Peter answered you are the

Christ the son of the Living God That was not revealed to Peter by flesh and blood but by the father who was in heaven and So it is with you and I God has revealed himself through this person of Jesus Christ by the

Holy Spirit We take no credit. It wasn't through our own cleverness our own intellect

That we discovered this So Do you believe the words of Jesus when he said

I am in the father and the father is in me Otherwise believe because of the works themselves

Jesus offered that the disciples. Oh Just a second here.

I Got to go back Do you okay? Do you believe that I am in the father and the father is in me?

Some have said that Jesus never said that he was God of Course, this isn't true

But here Jesus plainly declares complete equality with the father

He couldn't make a clearer Declaration that he is God and this immediately turns our thoughts to the

Trinity God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit as one

Even to the point that the words he says and the works he does are

Initiated by the father and then manifested through himself the

Son So we're Verse 11 believe in me that I am in the father and the father is in me otherwise believe because of the works themselves

So, what do we believe to come back to that question that this is a question that Philip had to answer

And that we have to answer. Who do you say that I am as he asked

Peter? Peter declared you are the Christ the Son of the Living God And so it is with you and I that God has revealed himself through Christ by the

Holy Spirit and As I said, we take no credit in this He goes on to say otherwise believe of the works themselves

Jesus offers the disciple to two ways to affirm the truth

First his words and then second his works He is mighty in both work and in deed

And although we were not there to personally witness his miraculous works

We can be blessed by believing that they were a true manifestation of Jesus as God Thomas said unless I see his hands and the imprint of the nails and Put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side.

I will not believe and Yet when Jesus appeared to the disciples later he asked

Thomas to do just that put his finger into the wounds of his hands and his side and then

Thomas declared and Then Jesus declared he said Thomas Because you have seen me you have believed

Blessed are they who did not see and still believed? Now that that is each of us who are true believers in Christ himself

Therefore if you haven't already as the author of Hebrews declares

Consider Jesus because he is far greater than the angels. He's greater than Moses.

He's greater than Elijah He's greater than all the prophets He's greater than the angelic hosts for he was truly the unblemished

Lamb of God Jesus tells his disciples that he must leave them But they will soon witness his scourge and his death on the cross but Hebrews 10 tells us that He that is

Jesus having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time Sat down at the right hand of the

Father So in the next in the next three verses Jesus offers three assurances for his troubled disciples

But we're going to look at those next week But for today remember where we started

Do not let your hearts be troubled Let's pray

Heavenly Father You have set your loving -kindness upon your church

Your grace abounds to us as your people as we consider your words from John 14

How blessed are we to know your son Jesus Christ and to believe and trust in him?

Continue O Lord to assure us of your great plan for us as your church

Allow us Lord to follow you as the way To know you as the truth and to live as you have given us life now and for all eternity

Allow us Lord to serve you to be salt and light to the world

To witness the gospel to those who do not yet know you Bless those who could not be in attendance today

Extend your hand of safety over those who travel at this time of the year Give hope to those who are in despair and strengthen those who are ill or infirmed

Give us courage to believe your word and to help us in our unbelief

Send your spirit Lord to those who do not yet know you To those who do not yet trust and believe in you

Convict them of their sin and their need for repentance Show them your great love and your mercy and draw them to yourself through Jesus Christ your son

Lord make the words of your of your word from John 14 come alive for us

For he said I am the the way the truth and the life No one comes to the father, but through me and Lord Strengthen us in our belief that we might believe that he is in the father and the father in him and that he goes to prepare a dwelling place for us a place

That a place for you that he might come again and that we might be

Reunited and see Jesus Christ face to face when he says well done good and faithful servant

All gracious God. We thank you for these amazing reassuring words in John 14

Be with us this week as we go forth as your servants and bless each one in the name of your son