I Am the Way #1 — Stephen Kaung

Jesus’ Farewell Discourse: The Way to the Father

Shall we attend to the Gospel of John, Chapter 14? We'll read from verse 1 through verse 6. John 14, verse 1 through verse 6. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. And where I am, there you may be also. And where I go, you know, the way you know.

Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Let's have a word of prayer.

Lord, we thank you. Because we are gathered here in your name. And we have the assurance that you are in our midst. And we are here to bow in your presence. And we are here to say to you, Lord, speak, your servants hear it.

May the Holy Spirit quicken your own word. That your word will become light to us and spirit to us. And all the glory belong to you. We pray as in the name of Lord Jesus. Amen. On that one evening, that was the last time the Lord partook the Passover with his disciples.

At that evening, the Lord told the disciples that he would depart from them. Even though in the past he had spoken the same words to them. But that one particular evening, when the Lord told them that he would depart from them, and their hearts were troubled.

Because they followed the Lord for a period of over three years. And now, their Lord would depart from them. And therefore, their hearts were deeply troubled. And the Lord told them, let not your hearts be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And when that place is prepared, I will come again to receive you to myself.

And where I am, there you may be also. The Lord comforted them. His comfort were not in empty words. The Lord comforted them and gave them a very glorious fact. He said to them, in my father's house. And when the Lord mentioned about the father's house, What is this place called the father's house?

The Father’s House and the Believer’s Prepared Dwelling

This father's house is a place where God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit dwell together. In that house, there is a perfect unity. God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, they share everything together.

There is no hierarchy in that unity. There is no more or less enjoyment of that unity. So we see the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, they are perfectly one. And in that oneness, in that family, there is a perfect harmony.

And that kind of love relationship among them is indescribable. But the Lord said to them, in my father's house there are many mansions. This house of the Father is where the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit dwell.

But He said, in my father's house there are many mansions. And in the original, mansion could be translated as to, in my father's house there are many apartments. It does not mean that in my father's house there are many individual houses.

In my father's house, there is only one big household. But in this big household, there are many apartments. And the Lord said, I go to prepare a place for you. In other words, originally this house is only dwelt by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

It was indeed a very beautiful house. But because of the love of God, He desired to include man in this household. And they become children in His household. So therefore He said, in my father's house there are many apartments.

There are countless apartments. Everyone, there is an apartment for each one of them. But even though each one of us will have our own apartment, but we are still in that big household. And the Lord said, I go to prepare that place for you.

Our Lord came to this earth. And He came to seek and sought that which was lost. Not only when He was on earth, He revealed His Father to us. And He revealed to us what kind of Father He is to Him and to us.

And He went to the cross and shed His blood for us. And because of the finished work of redemption on the cross, and He opened that way to bring us back to the Father's house. Now He is departing from this house.

His work on this earth is finished. Therefore He will return to His Father's house. But He went for a purpose. He went to His Father's house to prepare a place for us. He prepared that dwelling place, apartment for His disciples.

Today He is at the right hand of the Father. And He is there as our High Priest. And He is there to seize the seeding for us. And He has sent the Holy Spirit to this earth. And indwell in those hearts that put their faith in the Lord Jesus.

And He is praying for us at the right hand of the Father. And the Holy Spirit responded to the High Priest's prayer of our Lord Jesus. And then the Holy Spirit in us is doing the work of preparation. We know the Father's house is not a material house.

The Father's house is a spiritual house. So the apartment He is preparing for each of us is also a spiritual apartment. And strictly speaking, all of these apartments are the people that are dwelling in these apartments.

In other words, the Lord is preparing the place for us, actually He is preparing us. So that we may be fit to dwell in God's house. What kind of God is our God? And His character needs to be built right into us.

Otherwise, when we arrive at the Father's house, we will be disqualified, we will not be comfortable. And we will be uneasy about it. So what kind of God is our God? So therefore, those who dwelt with God must be God-like.

They must have His character built right into us. God is a God of glory. So therefore, those who dwelt in the Father's house must also be glory there with Him. Our God is a holy God. Therefore, those who dwelt with Him must be holy like Himself is holy.

Our God is righteous. So those who dwelt with Him must also be righteous. And this is what God's Word says, when I go, I prepare that place for you. Therefore, God is now preparing that place within us.

For His character to be incorporated into us. And He is continually changing, transforming us. And we are being transformed from glory to glory. Until we are fully conformed to the image of His Son. So that His Son may be the first.

So that His begotten Son could become the first son, the first born. And through Him, He will bring many sons to glory. And the Lord used these words to comfort His disciples. If we really understand these words, there is nothing that can comfort us more than the passage we just read from the John.

And the Lord said, after I have prepared that place, I will come again and receive you to Myself. And where I am there, you will be with Me. Where I go, you know. And the way, you know. And when the Lord said, where I go, you know.

The way, you know. Knowing is an inward knowing. It's not a knowing that is external, that is mental. It is a subjective knowing, an inward spiritual knowing. So the Lord said, you know where I go, you know where.

The people of the world do not know where I was going. But you know where I am going. You also know the way, unfortunately. And Thomas raised a question. He said, where do you want to go? We do not know.

We also do not know the way. This shows that the disciples are still living in their flesh. They were not living in the spirit. If they were living in the spirit, they should know. The way. The way came from the Father.

So naturally, when the work is done, He will return to His Father's house. But the disciples, their hearts were blinded. They did not know where the Lord was going. And they did not know the way. So the Lord said to them, I am the way and the life.

No one can come to the Father except through me. Brothers and sisters, if we desire to know the way, then first we must know the destiny of where we are going. If we do not know where we are heading or where we are going, then there is no way we can talk about the way.

Destination Determines the Way

For example, you are going to go to Los Angeles. And then you will find a way to get there. If you have no destiny or no objective as to where you are going to go, then the way is of no consequence. Because you do not know where you are going.

Our destiny, our destination determines our way. So brothers and sisters, if we are going to talk about the way, first we must pay attention to where we are going. So the Lord said, I am the way. Therefore the Lord said, I am the way.

Apart from me, you cannot go to the Father. Brothers and sisters, so first ask, where is the goal of our life? We know on this earth we are but strangers and pilgrims. And our life on this earth is a matter of just a few years, maybe 80, 100 or a few more years.

Now is this all that we live for? Is that all that we know in the book of Ecclesiastes? Chapter 3 verse 11. When God created all things, and according to their order, they all look beautiful. But he put eternity in man's heart.

We see God's creation. All created things have their season and have their purpose. And when the usefulness of that thing is over, just like you plant flowers in your home, if you have a plant, and you cultivate that plant of flowers, and when the flowers bloom, and then with a few more days it fades away.

And we say, how sad. My father loves flowers. So in our home we have peonies. And so when the flower fades, and so he will take the flower and bury it. And maybe we all have this feeling. And recently a sister who had a dog, and the dog died.

And she was very sad, very sad. And so she came to Border Cone and asked, in resurrection, will this dog come alive again? Two or three weeks ago, she telephoned her brother. And there is a little bird that she loves.

And this bird is a talking bird. This bird can say yes or no. And this bird died. And she cried. And then she asked Border Cone, in heaven would I still see my bird? And how should I comfort her? And how should I comfort my sister?

And so my brother's answer is that God created all things, they have their seasons, they have their time. Whether it's flower or it's bird, and they all have lived up to their allowed span of life. And God created for a season.

And when that season is over, it's over. So you don't have to worry about it. But man is not like that. But God put eternity into us. So we see a man, even though he lives up to 100 years, he is still not satisfied.

Because we are not just created for temporary or for a short period of time. God created us for eternity. God put eternity into us. So therefore he put eternity into us. So in a sense we are just passing through this earthly journey.

Our final destiny is not on this earth. So for us after, when is our final destiny? The scripture tells us our ultimate place, our ultimate destiny is our father's house. One day we will all return, go back to our father.

One day we all will return home. But brothers and sisters, if we realize that this is indeed our destiny, then we have to pay attention the way how to get there. How can we get to that final destiny? How can we fit to dwell in that house, the father's house?

The Lord Jesus tells us He says, I am the way. Apart from me, no one can come to the father. In the Old Testament, there was a man whose name was Jacob. He used deceitful means to stole that first birthright from his brother.

And even though he had taken that first right from his brother, and he also received the blessing of the firstborn. Because his father intended to slew him. And therefore he fled from home. So when he was drifting in the wilderness, and he was very weary, so in Genesis 28, and he took a stone and used it as a pillar, and he slept there.

If today you use a stone as your pillar, can you sleep or not sleep? But if you really, really estimate even a stone as pillar, you will sleep. And when he was sound asleep, and God gave him a dream. And he saw a ladder.

And that ladder joined heaven to earth and angels ascending and descending on that ladder. And God was on the heavenly end of that ladder. And Jacob was at the foot of that ladder. And God gave him many promises.

And when he has awakened, and he was fearful. He said, I knew not that this was God's house is here. He knew he was not worthy, not qualified. This is God's house. This is the gate to heaven. And he called that place Bethel.

And we come to read Gospel of John chapter 1. And when the Lord saw Nathaniel. And the Lord said, you are an Israelite without guile. And Nathaniel said, how come you know me? And he said, when you were under the fig tree I saw you.

Because the fig tree is a representation of Israel. And Nathaniel was a lover of the nation of Israel. And maybe at the foot of that fig tree he was thinking about the future of his nation. And he was there hoping that Messiah will come soon.

And when Messiah comes, and then he will restore Israel as a nation. And when the Lord said, when you were under the fig tree I saw you. Because the Lord knew what he was thinking under that fig tree.

And Nathaniel said, you are God. And the Lord said to him, you will see greater than this. You will see angel of God ascending and descending upon the son of man. Brothers and sisters, Nathaniel was only thinking about the nation of Israel.

All he was thinking about was the restoration of Israel as a nation by Messiah. True, one day our Lord will return. And he will restore the nation of Israel. Because his promises to Israel is irrevocable.

But here the Lord allowed Nathan to see that he came to do a greater work. And his work is to bring many back to the Father's house. He is that ladder. And through him we have our way back to God. Brothers and sisters, if our destiny today is God himself, if our destiny is the Father's house, then where is that way?

Humanity’s Search for a Way Back to God

We know on this earth, man always thinks about a way back to God. In our instinct, inside of us, God has already given us a natural instinct. This natural instinct is to allow us to meet God. If we cannot meet God, there is no peace inside of us.

Therefore, if there is no God in our heart, our hearts are restless. So Augustine put it this way. He said, God created me for himself. If I do not find rest in you, I will be forever restless. So we know in every one of us, there is an instinct built into us.

They are all seeking God. Seeking our origin. Because our origin is our final destiny. So while man was still searching, and they think of many ways for themselves. For example, first, all the religions of the world, all the religions of this world, they are seeking a way back to God.

Doesn't matter which religion. The reason for religion is because man finds himself, in himself, there is something he is not satisfied. Man discovers himself that he is incomplete. He realizes he needs to seek someone who is other than himself, somebody who is supernatural.

This religious concept of going back to God is universal. When I was young, and I read this kind of thing. There is a psychologist. After World War I, he surveyed all the nations, all the people of the world.

And from the most civilized to the most primitive. And he said, I discovered one thing. No matter how civilized you are, how primitive you are, there is a religious concept in all of them. And this religious concept, only man has it, not the animal.

No matter how animal life is, there is no religious concept there. And so therefore we have this religious instinct within us. We know there is a destiny, that destiny is our home. If we can return to God himself, then we are indeed at home.

And therefore we have many religions. Religions created out of this longing. But doesn't matter which religion. All the religions of the world are man's way to find God, way back to God. So therefore all the religions of the world, they have a way, one way in common.

So it doesn't matter if it's Muslim or Buddhist or whatever religion. Different role, but one same destiny. That's how they explain their religion. And if it's a religion, yes, it's many roles, but one final destiny.

But this one final destiny is not to walk God himself. But that one destiny is in the hell. So brother and sister, so all the religions of the world are there finding that way. They are finding that way back to the father.

But that way is the way of their own making. To summarize it. It is relying on their good works to get to their destiny. And when you go back to the book of Genesis, you know there are two brothers, one is Cain, one is Abel.

So one day, these two brothers are prepared to offer something to God. And they have a heart to worship God. This is my way of, the way I think. Possibly Abel went to the gate of Eden. Because on the east gate of Garden of Eden, the Lord put the flaming soul of a cherubim to guard the way of life.

Because they cannot enter into the garden and touch the tree of life. So possibly when they want to offer something, they went to that gate. And they cannot go through the gate because where the cherubim were flaming souls.

And this is as close as they can get to God. And Cain offered the best he can produce from the earth. Those are the fruits of his labor. The best from his labor he offered to God. And he thought by doing this, God will be pleased.

But the scripture says, God ignored, paid no respect to his offering. And Abel, his brother, and he offered a slain lamb. The blood was shed. And God had respect of the offering of Abel. And because he accepted his offering, God was pleased.

What was the way of Cain? Cain thought the way back to God relies on my own work. Therefore, I offered to God my best work, good work. I remember I attended two Jewish funerals. So when I attended their funeral, and the rabbi was there preaching.

What did the rabbi say? So and so, now he passed away. His work was already offered to God. Brothers and sisters, we all think that we have to do our best. And we do good works. And we do charitable works.

And then the good works will remove all our faults and sins. Then we have a way back to God. This is the religious thinking of the religious people. But I am sure, brothers, we all know that way we cannot get through.

And possibly some of us, we try that way. But when we walk that way, we come to a big wall. And the Lord turned us around. And like Abel, we offer God's land back to God. And there is another way. This second way is the way of men, the traditions of the fathers.

Human Tradition Versus God’s Revelation

When the Lord delivered His people out of Egypt, and He brought them to Mount Sinai, and there God spoke to them. God gave them the Ten Commandments. And God also gave them the patent for the tabernacle.

And God also gave them the priestly system. And the Lord said, if you obey all these rules, then you shall live. Then you will be My people, and I will be your God. So we know at that moment, what they have received is a revelation.

What they saw is a vision. Their faith was a living faith. As the years go by, and in time, many of the traditional fathers came into being. Because through the centuries, there were many rabbis and many teachers.

And they were there to interpret God's Word. And they will tell the people how to observe Sabbath. God said on Sabbath, you should do no work. You need to rest. But what does it mean by work? What is rest?

And so therefore the rabbis, they will interpret this Word. After their interpretation, and the other rabbis follow them. So they interpret upon the interpretation of the other rabbis. And so interpret, and then interpret, and more interpretation.

And then we have the tradition of the fathers. And they have so much traditions of the fathers, they vary God's Word. And so men become the keepers of the traditions of the fathers, and they disobey God's commandments.

So the Lord Jesus told them, you took the traditions of men in the place of God's teaching, God's Word. God said obey your parents. And He said you have to take care of your parents. And the interpretation is what you have given to God, what you should be given to your parents, you give to God, and your obligation is over.

And He said you take away God's commandments, but you substitute them with men's traditions. Even though your words were right, but your hearts were far away from me. So we see the traditions of the fathers.

Originally it was living faith. It was God's Word. But through men's interpretation upon interpretation, then we departed from God's Word, and now become all totally men's teaching. For instance, can these traditions of the fathers, can they bring us back to God?

They not only cannot bring us back to the Father, they in fact remove us from the Father further and further away from Him. Now even in our New Testament time, within the Christian teaching, Christian Church, my dear brother and sister, are we falling into the same condition?

When the Lord on earth, when He had finished the work of redemption, when He ascended to glory, He sent His Holy Spirit to us. If you read the book of Acts, you'll discover the faith of the early church was indeed a living faith.

They have an intimate relationship with the Lord Himself. There is such clarity of the leading of the Holy Spirit among them. That's something living. It came from Revelation. The Lord said, it's not of the flesh.

It is the Father who revealed to you. Brothers and sisters, at the beginning, it was a living faith. But after 2 ,000 years, we've noticed many teachings of the Fathers came into. We call them Church Fathers.

Teaching of the Church Fathers. Particularly those who belong to the 2nd and 3rd century. They were there interpreting God's Word. They add something to the Word and they take something away. After another generation, many teachers were raised up.

They were there interpreting God's Word. They are those interpreting the teachings of the Church Fathers. Today we discover in the church there are many teachings of the Church Fathers. My dear brothers and sisters, we see many groups, many denominations.

Many of these groups are there following a teaching of a particular person. Therefore we are fragmented, we are divided. The Lord's teaching that we should be one as He Himself and the Father are one.

But where are the origins of all these divisions? There's only one Bible. We have one Lord. And how come we have many groups, many divisions, many denominations? It's because of the tradition of the teachings of the Father.

Therefore we follow the tradition, follow the teachings of the Father. We do not have a first-hand direct revelation from God Himself. We receive what we have from our forefathers. What they have received, it cost them something.

And with us, it cost us nothing. And we simply enter into the tradition. We do something there. We do something but we do not know why we are doing it. Because what we do, we do not bring it into the light of God's Word.

We do not bring them into God's, before God. Many of what we consider as Christian, Christian way of life and the work that we do are indeed the traditions of man. And some may be a bit closer to the Scripture.

And some are... Those who are away, depart from the Word. We thought they were still Scriptural. Because we follow the way of tradition. Can this way bring us back to the Father? Brothers and sisters, I was brought up in a Christian home.

When I was in my youth, I received Christian teaching. I was very zealous for the Lord. But I was not saved. I have no personal relationship with the Lord Himself. Before I was saved, I preached. And I also lead prayer time.

The way I lead my prayer meeting, if I share it with you, you will have a good laugh. Because my father was a pastor. And he had many books. So when I was appointed to lead the prayer time, I went to his library and looked for a book about prayer.

And I looked into it. And there are a few testaments. And how God answered prayer. And I memorized. And I went there and lead a prayer time. I said, now God hears prayer. And so and so prayed and God answered.

And after I finished it, I would get out on our knees and pray. No one prayed. Because none of us were saved. And not only no one prayed, and some might laugh. And I was leading the prayer time. And I was very serious.

I said, when we pray before God, we cannot act this way. That's tradition. We have the form of godliness. But there is no godly reality. Brothers and sisters, the traditions are meant can that bring us back to God?

That will not bring us back to God. This way will not get us through. Today, if you are in this way. Because I was in this way once. This way is no way. And may we repent. And we will look further. The way we find in the Bible.

From the Letter of Scripture to the Living Word

The letter of the word. The letter of the word. Now we all believe Bible is God's inspired word. God breathed word. It's for instruction. It's for correction. It's for righteousness. It is to perfect us unto the words.

I believe God's word. I believe every word in this book. I believe this word, this Bible is breathed by God's breath. We often heard, people say, you do this, on what basis you do it? Does it have scriptural basis?

Can you show me what chapter, what verse in the Bible? If you can show me, then I believe. Brothers and sisters, have you heard this kind of talk? You do this, is it based on God's word? Show me the word.

Then I believe. There is nothing more concrete than this. But brothers and sisters, do you know, if you use the letter of the word, if you take the text out of context, you can prove anything. A text out of context is a pretext.

Brothers and sisters, there is nothing more trustworthy than God's word itself. If we do everything according to God's word, it must be right. Isn't that so? Now, do we dare to allow the scripture to shine light into us, to show that everything we do is according to the word?

Then you discover all that you consider once Christian, that which is called Christian, is non-Christian. But brothers and sisters, do you remember what Jesus said to the Jews? In John chapter 5, he said, you search scripture and you know there is spiritual life.

But the scripture bears witness on me. But you refuse to come to me that you may have life. Brothers and sisters, the Pharisees, they search scripture. The Lord in Matthew 23, he put it this way. You enlarge your phylactery.

You enlarge your phylactery on your gowns. On the Jewish people, when they wear their robe, there is a blue tassel on their skirts. It show that that blue tassel show that they were heavenly people. And so they lengthen that so that they are so heavenly.

And the Lord said, you are hypocrites. The Lord said, my word is true, spirit and life. In Corinthians we are told, 2 Corinthians chapter 3, letter killer, the spirit gives life. Brothers and sisters, today if we simply follow the letters of God's word, even though it is God's word, even though you do it accurately according to the word, but it is dead.

That will not bring us back to the Father. Several years ago, when there was a revival of the New Testament Church, and so many have said, we are going to establish New Testament Church. So what does it mean to set up New Testament Church?

That means do it according to the New Testament. And how does New Testament teach us? At New Testament Church there should be elders, there should be deacons. And so when you want to establish a New Testament Church, and supposing there are 10 people, OK, we will appoint 3 as elders, and 6 as deacons.

And others are ordinary believers. And we have a New Testament Church. Is that a New Testament Church? The letters kill us. I am not saying we should not observe or keep God's word. Bible is God's word.

It is unchangeable. Unless the Holy Spirit speaks once again through the written word, it is dead. God's Holy Spirit speaks what is already inspired or in the written word. The word locus is accurate.

It is eternal. It cannot be changed. If this locus cannot be rhema to us, otherwise it is allowed the Holy Spirit to speak once more to each of us personally. God has spoken once, and now He is speaking again to us.

And now He speaks to you and to me. And this is what He means by revelation. Revelation is not apart from God's word. Anything revelation apart from God's word or heresy. Revelation is God's Holy Spirit using revealed word enlightened quicker to make life to us.

And only this way will bring us back to the Father. When you read your Bible, you read this passage many many times over. But it was powerless as far as you concerned. But one day you read this same passage and then the Holy Spirit enlightened this same passage.

Then you are strengthened within. Then you touch with the reality of the Lord Himself. You are not touching the written word or the letters. You are not touching black letters on white papers. Then you are indeed there touching the living Lord Himself.

And the written word becomes a living word to us. It becomes a personal Christ to us. Brothers and sisters, this is the way. If we do things simply according to what is written in the Bible, if we do things but in our spirit we are not in touch with the living Lord, this will not bring us back to the Father.

Christ Himself Is the Only Way

The Lord tells us He says, I am the way. Way is not a teaching. It is not a doctrine. The way is a person. The way is Christ Himself. Brothers and sisters, unless you are in touch with the Lord Himself, unless you have the Lord Jesus in your spirit, you commune with Him.

At that moment His word will become living words to you. All that you ask of Him, He will surely fulfill it. It is what we are told by John 15. Brothers and sisters, there is only one way back to the Father.

We must not think that the way back to the Father, there are many avenues, many ways. There is only but one way. This way is our Lord Jesus Christ. It is more than His teaching. It is more than the words.

It is Himself. That is the way. Brothers and sisters, many God's children, if you love the Lord, you are forever seeking that way. I am afraid many of God's people have gone to nowhere. They have walked with the Lord for many years.

They thought this way was the accurate way. Then they discovered it was nothing but the teaching to the Father. And they discovered it was nothing but letters. But in their spirit they did not touch the Lord Himself.

And so there is dryness in their spirit. And their hunger, longing for that one way. And the way back to the Father. To go back to the Father's house. Brothers and sisters, many God's children, we have nowhere to go.

Remember, it is not all in these words. It is not external. There is one way. He Himself is the way. You follow Him. You seek after Him. You experience Him. He is your way. And He will bring you to the Father.

You remember in John chapter 6? And they already fed. They were satisfied. And the Lord fed them with five loaves and two fish. And so they sought after the Lord. And they want Him. And the Lord told them.

He said, I am the bread of life. If you do not eat my flesh and my blood, you have no life. When these people heard this, they could not understand it. Even many monastics said this. This is too difficult.

They all left and did not want to follow Him. And the Lord turned to the twelve. Would you go also? Please do. You want to go? You are free to go. Then Peter, he said, Lord, You have the word of eternal life.

We believe You. To whom can we go? We have no way. Brothers and sisters, within us, we have this kind of feeling. You have ways for yourself? Can you choose your own way? If we want to go back to the Father, brothers and sisters, apart from the Lord Himself, there is no second way.

If we follow the Lord, we have to follow Him all the way. Because there is no other way. May the Lord have mercy on us. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You. We thank You. You tell us, You are that way. Unless You spoke this way, we will be confused.

We will go our own way. We will never find Your way. But we thank You. Because You clearly told us, I am the way. Open our eyes that we may see apart from You, we have no other way for us to come to the Father, for us to return to Father's house.