No One But Jesus

John 14, please turn in the Word of God to John 14. Those who are regulars here will know that we finished our study in the Gospel of Luke. For the meantime, we will not begin anything new but will see how the Lord will guide and lead us from one week to the next. John 14, the words are very familiar. While I won’t expound in detail every aspect of the opening six verses, we want to look at these verses with the Lord’s help.

John 14, follow along in the Word of God from verse 1:

“Let not your heart be troubled. Ye 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 unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And whether I go ye know, and the way ye know.”

Thomas saith unto him, “Lord, we know not whether thou goest, and how can we know the way?”

Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”

Amen. Ending the reading at the end of verse 6, a well-known passage, I’m sure, to many of us. I trust that you receive it tonight as the Word of the living God. Let it not just wash over you. This is God’s Word to your hearts. So receive it and believe it. And the people of God said, Amen.

Let’s pray.

Lord, help us, help us here in this place to know the blessed assurance of knowing Thee. Knowing Thee because of who Thy Son is and what He has accomplished. This is life eternal that they may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou didst send. Oh, that we might know God. That’s the question, the question for all of us. Do I know God? Do I know God?

Lord, I pray that there would not be one here who is left in ignorance, that all here would truly know God, not just know about God, not just know about the Lord Jesus, not just know about the gospel, but every last one of us here in this place would know God. O Spirit of God, look and see our hearts. Where do we stand before Thee? Help, we pray, so that everyone here would have this blessed assurance, knowing that Jesus is mine. What a tragedy to be in the presence of those who know the Lord Jesus, to sing the themes of those who know the Lord Jesus, to hear the same promises that those who know Jesus have taken to themselves, but to stand outside. So should there be one here unsaved, save them, we pray. Oh, Spirit of God, speak, speak, speak. Do Thy speaking voice in the hearts of those that are here. Cause them to hear. You do Thy regenerating work. We beg of Thee in Jesus’ name, Amen.

As we come to this section of John’s Gospel, we’re not far from the cross, not far from the experience of our Lord Jesus as He makes His way to pay the price for our sins. And as that judgment looms, you might imagine that His mind would be more upon Himself, thinking upon Himself, considering all that is before Him, pondering all that He is about to endure. But what is striking, I think, if we’re paying attention, is that His mind, just a short time away from the cross, is thinking upon His people. His mind is going to them, considering them, looking out for them. The language of this section, really from the previous chapter, you see it, especially chapter 14, 15, and 16, and then the prayer of John 17, you see our Lord showing this deep sense of selflessness and interest in His people and a desire that they might succeed in believing on Him and living for Him. So even though the shadow of the cross looms over Him large, His heart is for His people. If you ever have the thought cross your mind, does He care about me? Even in the shadow of Calvary, Jesus cared about His people. And He still cares. He still loves and still has a deep abiding interest in His people.

The words we have read tonight, as I’ve said already, are familiar. Read in many a home during many a time of suffering, sickness, and even death. And many have received encouragement from them. I trust tonight that that will be the same. Encouragement, but also instruction. Instruction, especially if you are without the Lord Jesus Christ. If you don’t know Him, if you’re still in ignorance regarding Him.

Tonight I’ve titled the message simply, “No One But Jesus.” No One But Jesus. And I title it that way because there are a number of things He says that only He could say. Only our Lord could say a number of the things that we find here in the opening six verses. So consider with me, first of all, no one but Jesus can make a plea like this. And the plea we refer to is found in verse one. Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me. Believe also in me. The parallel construct of that shows you something of the equality of Jesus with the Father. You believe in God, believe also in me. What a plea. And it’s important to remember how the disciples had just been told that Christ was going away. And He was going somewhere where they could not follow. If you look at chapter 13, verse 36. In the previous chapter, verse 36, Simon Peter said unto Him, “Lord, whither goest thou?” Jesus answered him, “Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards.” Peter said unto Him, “Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake,” and so on and so forth.

So the Lord is saying that He is going away, and they are, of course, troubled by this. It was too much for them. They had given up everything to follow Jesus, and they had in their mind that they would stay with Him for the rest of their lives. Now He’s saying, “I’m going away.” That’s fine, as long as we can go with you. But for the time being at least, the Lord is saying, “I’m going, and you’re not.” That struck fear into them, troubled them deeply, which, of course, you can make a number of assessments regarding that, but at the very least you can see their interest in Jesus Christ. There’s a profound aspect there, just the deep interest in Jesus Christ. I’ll be anywhere, Lord, as long as you’re there. Can you say the same? Can you say the same? You know this. You know it to be true of people that whatever they may say of their interest in Jesus Christ, when they’re not where Jesus has promised to be. When they’re not in the Word and He’s promised to be there. When they’re not in prayer and He’s promised to be there. When they’re not gathered with the saints who gather, and He promises to be there. When they’re not with those who are calling upon the Lord’s name and they have opportunity to be there. Again, you show that they manifest, they don’t really have this interest that the disciples had because the disciples were of a mind, wherever you are, Lord, as long as we’re there, we are content.

Well, as I say, He’s telling them that He’s going somewhere and they will not be able to follow. And our Lord, of course, is troubled by what’s going on as well. He’s also revealed that in the previous chapter. That’s verse 21 of John 13, when Jesus is speaking to them and says, it says, “He was troubled in spirit and testified and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you that one of you shall betray me.”

So the very thing our Lord experiences, being troubled in spirit over the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, that same feeling to some degree is in the heart of His people as well. John 14.1, let not your heart be troubled. You may ask the question, I think I’ve brought this up before, but what is the difference here? Well, there’s a difference between a spiritual troubling and a carnal troubling. Our Lord is giving them a word. It’s true. It’s not designed to make them uneasy. Of course, He’s going to spend time teaching them that I’m not leaving you entirely alone. I will send a Comforter who will abide with you forever, so you don’t need to be troubled. But our Lord had a real troubling, and some of you know what that’s like. You know what it’s like to have a spiritual troubling. You’re troubled about what’s going on. You’re troubled about what you perceive in the life of another. You’re troubled about the trajectory of someone you care about. You’re troubled. It’s not carnal. It’s real.

One of the challenges we have when we see this is addressing it. It’s very difficult to address what may simply be a perception or a reading of a scenario without absolutely knowing. It’s difficult. But you know that troubling feeling, and you know it when you feel, “I can’t go and say to them, because if I say anything, it sounds judgy.” There’s maybe a real lack of evidence, but you can’t help sensing there’s something amiss. It’s awful when you hear that news or more evidence that proves that your feeling was right all along. Then you have that turmoil in your mind, maybe I should have said something. But the reality is we are limited. We are limited in what we can say and what we can do. So the Lord says to them, “Let not your heart be troubled.” And this language, of course, echoes much that you find in the Word of God, across different passages. You can think, for example, when the children of Israel are going into the Promised Land. Similar language is brought out there. In fact, just go there. Go to Deuteronomy 1. You see how the Lord is always settling the hearts of His people, and you need to know that. As a Christian, you need to know that the Lord is always in the business of settling your heart from carnal trouble, stabilizing your thinking, stabilizing your feelings. And if you’re not saved, you also need to realize God cares to stabilize the inner turmoil and feeling of heart, the sense of anxiety that may arise within your soul.

Deuteronomy 1. Verse 21, again, as the history is being accounted here, just before they enter into the promised land, verse 21, “Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee, go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee, fear not, neither be discouraged.” It’s the same idea. Don’t be troubled. You see, again, verse 29, “Then I said unto you, dread not, neither be afraid of them.” Now, the words aren’t the same, but you get the same sentiment, driving out the troubling feeling. When you feel troubled, when you feel anxiety of soul, when you feel that rising up in your heart, especially when it pertains to something that really you ought to be taking God as Word and being at peace with it, you need to speak the truth to yourself. Take God’s Word and speak these things to your own soul. They apply to you. You’re a child of God. Don’t be dismayed. Don’t fear. Let not your heart be troubled.

When Joshua was called to go in, and you have it in Joshua 1, the well-known language of verse 9. And you might say, well, what does a grown man like Joshua need a word like this for? Well, because he has these troubles as well, just like the disciples. A fear, a concern about what lies ahead. You know, when you’re leading, right, if you’re a parent and you’re leading your children, or you’re a pastor and you’re leading a congregation in some regards in various ways, you do feel a sense of trouble. You see the enemies, you see the attack, you see the assault, you see the dangers that lurk. But the Word of God, Joshua 1 verse 9, “‘Have not I commanded thee, be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest.’”

The aspect that comes at the end of that text, the presence of God, is really the defining matter of bringing peace to our hearts. The Lord’s with me. Now, you take that and you come then to John 14, and the Lord is saying, “I go away.” This is what brings trouble to their hearts. They don’t want Him to go away. They want Him near because this is the Lord with them. And you should aspire for the same, desiring constantly to have the Lord with you, wanting to live life in His presence and knowing it.

Now, of course, He addresses it, “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me.” In other words, you trust in an unseen God. Why falter in trusting Me simply because now I will be unseen? Take Me at My word. He appeals to them, “Don’t be troubled. You’re not losing out. God will be with you.” And that’s what He explains later with the coming of the Holy Spirit and the encouragement that they would not remain on their own.

Remember, child of God, God’s business is in maintaining you in a condition of peace. Through Jesus Christ, you have peace with God. Because of covenant promises, you have the peace of God. Remember the word in Isaiah 26 verse 3, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee because he trusteth in Thee.” What encouragement? Perfect peace, really? Can you enjoy perfect peace? The question really is, will you keep your mind on the Lord? Keep your mind on the Lord. And He will give you peace. You trust in Him.

The Lord knows what it’s like to feel this troubling. He knows what it’s like to feel some of the things that are going through the mind of the disciples. And He condescends to them and addresses it. He’s not condemning them. He’s not rebuking them so much as He is encouraging them and guiding them and leading them. “You believe in God, whom you cannot see. Don’t stop trusting Me even when I go away.” He knows how to address their concerns. He knows how to speak a word in season to them who are weary. It’s part of His messianic office. “I know what you need. I understand your heart.” In fact, in John’s gospel, you see this come out at the end of chapter two, where He wouldn’t commit Himself unto man because He knew what was in man. The Lord knows. He sees into the heart. He knows exactly what’s going on. And He knows especially what His people need to hear from Him.

You believe in God. I trust that’s true of you. You believe in God. Not just you believe about God, but you believe in God. You believe in God. Do you? Do you believe in God? Do you believe in the way that many Americans believe in God? Many in Greenville believe in God. We have this awareness, the consent or assent to the existence of God, but it does not make a material difference in how they live, or very little.

So there’s no one but Jesus who can make a plea like this. “Believe in God, believe also in Me.” This one who’s co-equal with the Father, says, just as you believe in Him. It’s an amazing statement, really, when you think about it. To a Jewish mind, this is of great offense and blasphemy. “Just as you believe in God, believe in Me.” You cannot say that unless you yourself are divine. You’re God, co-equal. Not a God. Not a God where there’s a greater God and a lesser God. It still would be blasphemous. It has to be co-equal, co-eternal. Our Lord Jesus is. “You believe in God, believe also in Me.”

But also, no one but Jesus can make a promise like this. A promise like this. Well, there are a number of promises you see in verses 2 and 3: “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 unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” So, you see the promises here, it’s echoing to them. “If it were not so, I would have told you. I’m promising you, I’ll be faithful in telling you what is true. I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again. I will receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Father’s house. How did that sound to the Jewish ear? “In my Father’s house.” Our Lord had already used this terminology. Again, back in chapter 2, maybe go over there just to see the beginning of our Lord’s ministry as John records it, John 2. Here we have Him with the Passover at hand, He goes to the temple, He makes a scourge of small cords to drive out those who were the money changers and so on. Verse 16, “Said unto them that sold doves, take these things hence, make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise.” So maybe that’s what He’s talking about. “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” But it cannot be.

Very recently, from this point, very recently, within a day or so, the Lord had said to them something about this previous Father’s house that He refers to in John 2, Matthew 24. The opening of that chapter, “Jesus went out and departed from the temple and His disciples came to Him for to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, see ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.”

So He referred to that temple as the Father’s house and drove out those that sold doves and so on. Now He’s referring to a place called the Father’s house. That He is going to and preparing a place that the disciples also may be there with Him. So it’s clear that there’s a shift, a transition. Our Lord is not referring to the temple, the temple that He had just said, it will be destroyed. But I’m going to a place where you eventually will be with Me.

So speaking of something else, well, the Jews had various ideas about it. What was laid out for them in the life after. Some Jewish literature of the Second Temple period described heavenly dwellings for saints and other rabbis had an imagination of compartmentalized heaven where it was classified based on merit, and there were various areas based on merit. But our Lord speaks here much more simply about what is laid out for us people. “That I’m going to a place and there’s room for you as well. I’m going to a place, there’s room for you as well, and I’m going to make sure you’re there.”

J.C. Ryle, in his simple manner, and I commend Ryle on the Gospels to you. If you want easy reading that’s devotional and encouraging, read Ryle, by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He says in this passage, “Heaven is a place of many mansions. There will be room for all believers and room for all sorts, for little saints as well as great ones, for the weakest believer as well as for the strongest. A feeblest child of God need not fear, there will be no place for him. None will be shut out but impenitent sinners and obstinate unbelievers.” Yes, we agree that the Father’s house our Lord is referring to here is something other than the physical temple that was still in Jerusalem. It refers to the place where Christ was going, and He was going to be with His Father, and there, there He promises His people also will be someday, all of them.

You may not be a hero as far as the church or the world is concerned. You may not be famous. And even the little things that you may do for the Lord might be like some of those hymns that we have in our hymnal. And you look, well, who wrote that? And it just says, Anon. That’s it. Most of our lives will be lived like that in the kingdom, anonymously. No one really knows who we are or what we accomplished. And at the end of the day, even if you know someone, do you really know what they have done for the Lord?

Our assessment will not be identical to the Lord’s. So the Lord is comforting them. He’s going to tell them something quite difficult to receive and challenging, and they’d already seen it take place with others, but it’s going to happen to them too. If you go to chapter 16, just go over to chapter 16. He’s coming near the close of this discourse. “‘These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.’” Another way you might say that, “you shouldn’t be troubled.” It’s not the same word, but it’s the same idea. Being offended, being troubled, being bothered by what’s going to happen to them. “They shall put you out of the synagogues. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God’s service.”

These things will they do unto you because they have not known the Father nor Me. It goes on to encourage them amidst the persecution not to be troubled. But here’s the thing, when you’re excommunicated, when they put you out of the synagogue, and that’s what it means, you’re going to be excommunicated. The worst shame for a Jew is going to happen to you. There will be a place for you. The same place where the Father is, the same place where the Son is. You’ll be there too. “I go to prepare a place for you.” The end of verse 2, “I go to prepare a place for you.” And I think sometimes people’s minds go to heaven itself as if the Lord’s preparing something there. But I think what really is an idea is, I’m going, and when it’s going, it’s via Calvary. The preparation is the cross. The preparation is the atoning work. The preparation is Him dying the just for the unjust to bring them to God.

The preparation is God and Christ reconciling the world to Himself. The preparation is Him being the substitute for sinners and the surety of the people of God. “I go to prepare a place for you.” Judgment will be laid on Me. Freedom will be given to you. Pardon will be purchased by the shedding of My blood. And so the confidence that we have that we are going is because He goes. His sacrifice is accepted. His work is complete. It is finished. He’s raised from the dead. He ascends to heaven. And the people of God are assured He has done everything necessary. He’s preparing a place. He’s doing what’s necessary, assuring us that we will be with God in that proximity of heaven, not just His presence with His people here.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, “Where I am, there ye may be also.” The focus of this text is not so much on when the Lord will return, “I will come again.” When? Well, that’s not the purpose of what He’s dealing with, nor even how. How will He come again? Some of that will be dealt with when the angel communicates to the disciples when they stand gazing up into heaven, “This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as you’ve seen Him go.”

And so our Lord is always looking at the consummation. I like that. Sometimes I don’t think we do enough of that. And I try to incorporate into my message a sense of the consummation, you know, the end. Not just you dying, going to heaven in spirit, but all that’s still to come even after that. Your body raised, Christ’s return, the body’s raised, judgment. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. All of that. Our minds need to be there. Our Lord’s mind was there. He’s not just thinking about the interim. He’s thinking about what’s coming at the end as well. What He is purchasing for His people. “I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Speaks to His church here, doesn’t He? Encourages His people with what is laid up for them. And this is His desire. He’s not reluctantly saying, “You’re going to be there and I don’t really want that to be the case.” This is His own desire. He wants you there. In John 17, when He prays, you hear me quote it often, “Father, I will, that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am.” I will. I like that. Father, I will. It’s My will. It’s the Father’s will too, but it’s our Lord’s personal will. For you to be with Him. “I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me.”

And so sometimes we think about heaven, caught up in details, wondering what it looks like, and there’s lots that’s hidden, things we don’t know, details that are kept from us. But here is the real essence of heaven. The Lord is there. He is there. And so in the passage, again, the passage, the troubling of the disciples is the Lord’s going away. That’s what concerns them. They don’t want to be separated from their Lord, and that’s a good spirit to have. Never get to a place where you don’t care whether the Lord is with you or not. Be like Moses. “If Thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence.” Face each day, going into the world. “Lord, if Your presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.” Don’t let me go without the abiding sense of Your nearness.

Amazing, isn’t it? He wants you. He wants you there with Him. Who are you? Who am I? That the Lord Jesus would want you or me there. “I will. I will it, Father. Please, every one of them. I want them there.” I don’t think we feel His love, really. I don’t think we get it. You know, the shepherd leaving the 99 and going after the one that’s lost. You know, that spirit of our Lord’s interest in every single one. All of them. You know, the 99 might speak up and say, “Well, that one’s always, he’s always trouble. You know, he’s always going the wrong way.” That one, and Lord, why bother? Why bother?

Maybe you feel I’m like that one. Like I’m the black sheep. I’m the one that everyone looks at and can’t see much worth in. The Lord sees it. They’re Mine. They’re Mine. And He takes them. Yes, He has to pull them out of the muck. But He doesn’t give it a good kick and say, “Look at the state of you,” so on and so forth. He just lifts it up, mucking all, all that’s tangled in and matted into the coat of that sheep. And He grabs it, places it on His shoulders, rejoicing, rejoicing. Place it on His shoulders, rejoicing. Not angry, not upset, He’s full of sheep, “What are you doing?” No, rejoicing, “Found it, found it, it’s Mine.” And He’s gonna carry every last one to be with Him where He is.

“Father, I will that those whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory.” Oh, Christian, don’t think in terms of second class. “I’m a second class citizen in heaven. I’m lower. I’m less.” No, no, no, no. You’re bought with the same blood. You’re redeemed. And you’re as much His as anyone is. So He promises, He promises that He’s going to prepare a place. And He’s going to come again and receive you unto Himself. The church will be gathered unto Christ. They will all be with Him ultimately in that great eschatological end.

Of course, the disciples struggle, don’t they? Struggle. Which brings us in finally. No one but Jesus can make a proclamation like this. There’s not just a plea and a promise, there’s a proclamation. Verses four through six. “And whether I go, ye know, in the way ye know.” Thomas said unto Him, “Lord, we know not whether Thou goest. And how can we know the way?”

Oh, the disciples. This is us. This is us. Asking questions that shouldn’t be, need to be asked if we’re paying attention. But we’re not always paying attention. We’re not. You know, it’s amazing. So as a preacher and someone who stands here and preaches and makes announcements and so on regularly. It’s always amazing to me that someone can ask me a question. I said, “Pretty sure that was just announced there a few moments ago in that service.” But you know, our minds drift. They drift. We’re not fully paying attention. We don’t grasp everything. And we’re all there. It’s not just you. It’s not like, we all have this disease. The disciples too, they weren’t paying attention always. They didn’t grasp everything. And so, Thomas asks the question, “Lord, we know not whether Thou goest, and how can we know the way?” And our Lord then responds with this proclamation, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”

One of the I Am statements of John’s gospel. Worth a study, just looking at the I Am statements, powerful. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”

A few things, just a note here as we close. And if you’re not saved, you really need to pay attention to this text. If you have any doubt about whether or not you’re saved, you need to pay attention to this text. Note first, the unique character of this proclamation. The things that He says, our Lord says here, “The way, the truth, and the life.” I am the way, the truth, and the life. They characterize it, the way, the truth, and the life. What does He mean by the way? He’s speaking figuratively, of course. But when we think of a way, we’re thinking about getting from A to B, moving from one place to another. Our Lord has spoken about the Father’s house. So in context, it would appear in terms of how do we get to the Father’s house, not the one that’s going to be destroyed, but the one you’re referring to, the one you’re going to. How do we get there? How do we get there? Well, He’s the way. He’s the way there.

So if you want to get from earth to the Father’s house, if you want to be where Jesus is, even if you say, “Well, I don’t really know what heaven is all about. I can’t conceive of all that’s involved.” But the question really isn’t so much, do I want to be in heaven? The question is, do I want to be with Jesus? If you want to be with Jesus, then obviously He’s the way. Wherever He ends up, you need to be with Him. You need to be trusting in Him, knowing Him, resting in Him, believing on Him.

To be the way speaks of His mediatorial position. He’s standing in the midst. How do people get to where God is? How do people move from where they are godless to where God is? He stands as the way. He is the way to God, the mediator between God and men. He isn’t the one simply who tells you about the way. He is the way. He doesn’t just inform you about it, but He imbibes it. He is the personification of it. So it’s not just you hear what He says, you make a beeline to Him. If you don’t arrive in Him and with Him, then you don’t have nor are you on the way.

The way, but He’s also the truth. The Lord is claiming that in Him is the very truth that brings a man to the place of many rooms or many mansions. He’s the truth that mediates a man into union with God, as it were. And our Lord’s entire ministry was a declaration of His person and the truthfulness of all that He is and all that He stood for. And later He’s going to say to Pilate in John 18, “This is My whole being. I was born to bear witness unto the truth.” But it’s not again just repeating truth statements. He’s not just a prophet in the sense of He knows the truth and tells people about the truth. He is the truth. And so in His statements and what He says always leads not around Jesus or near Jesus, but to Jesus. You don’t behold something that approximates the Lamb of God. You have to behold the Lamb of God. You have to get to Him. He is the truth. The truth that matters. The truth that leads to God. The truth that puts you where God is. The truth that reconciles you to God.

If you’re skeptical, then you go to Jesus to figure out the truth. Even if you say, “I don’t know whether the Bible is God’s Word,” I say to you, at least it should be on the list of things you must read if you’re to have any understanding of the truth. You can’t ignore it. If a man says he’s in a pursuit of truth, interested in truth, has a zeal for truth, but he never reads the Bible, I don’t take that man seriously. He can’t be taken seriously.

He’s also the life. “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He can’t mean mere existence. Otherwise, this could be said about you or me. “I have existence.” So it must go beyond that. “I am the life.” He is the very embodiment of life. Life begins and ends in Him. It’s the highest form of life. There isn’t really life outside of this. There’s existence, but there’s not this life. And our Lord makes a distinction. Distinction between existence and life.

For example, in John 10, what does He say? “I am come that ye might have life and that ye might have it more abundantly.” He’s saying this to people who are alive. All the people who heard Him that day were alive. “I am come that ye might have life.” Well, they might say to themselves, “Well, His whole ministry is about raising the dead. It’s about people who are in corpses, who are in the ground or whatever, in the tombs. It’s not really for me, but that’s not what He meant. He was looking at people alive and saying, ‘This is for you.’”

I am come that ye might have life. So if you want to have life, you have to have Christ. The life that He is referring to. He is the bread which came down from heaven, who gives life to the world. The bread in this, in the material world, sustains our life. Jesus is saying, “I am the one who gives and sustains the spiritual life.” So you can’t have spiritual life without Him. It’s all empty, it’s all vain. God is life, knowing God is having life, and since Jesus is God, to know Jesus is to have life.

I mention it, I think in prayer, this is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou didst send. You can’t have this life unless you know Him.

So what are you here for? Are you here to exist or are you here to have life? Because you’re all existing. Everyone who can hear me now exists. And there’s a sense in which you possess life if you compare it to what we understand physical death is. But there’s a higher form of life. There’s a spiritual life. And Jesus says, “I am that life.” If you want that life, it’s in Me. You don’t have to go to Eastern nations and traverse various pilgrimages, look into yourself and try to find and discover nirvana or whatever it might be. You don’t look in, you look to Him. You don’t roam the earth, you go directly to Jesus. He is the life.

So we have the unique character of the proclamation. We also have the universal character of the proclamation. Because what does He say? “I’m the way, the truth, and life. No man.” No man. That’s a pretty universal statement, isn’t it? No man. Noah. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, wherever you’re standing, however religious or irreligious, born a Jew, born a Gentile, in poverty, wealth, No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” It’s universal. Our Lord, in this statement, puts His arm around the entire world and says what is true about the entire world. No man cometh to the Father but by me.

So if you think you can find another way, all the best to you. The Son of God, who died and rose again, says, “No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” To come unto the Father, of course, is to get to the Father’s house, to be where the Father is, be where the Son abides, where His glory is revealed. And you’re not going there unless you have Jesus Christ, but also the unmistakable character of the proclamation. There’s something unmistakable here, isn’t there? No man cometh unto the Father but by me. That’s unmistakable, isn’t it? But by me. What’s universal is there’s no one going to the Father. What’s unmistakable about it is it has to be by or through because of Jesus Christ. You can’t get to the Father, and you can’t be in the Father’s house, and you can’t enjoy what Jesus refers to here unless it is through Him. You say, why? Surely there has to be another way.

It can’t be so exclusive. These words, as well known as they are, they may be, when rightly assessed, some of the most offensive language in all of Scripture. Now you read it and it sounds comforting and it’s in a context of comforting His people. So it’s not the sense that He’s bringing wrath and condemnation upon everyone because He’s talking to His people. But the deductions from what He says make it highly offensive. Jesus essentially says, “I don’t care what you do. I don’t care how committed you are to religious living, or how diligent you are in self-sacrifice, or what you may give away, or how you may live a charitable, philanthropic life or whatever, it matters not. If you do not come to Me, you don’t end up with the Father.”

There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. People are ready to accept there’s one God. That’s certainly more broadly acceptable to people. But of course, then they begin to say, “Well, look at all the Abrahamic religions believe in monotheism. There’s one God.” The Muslim believes there’s one God. The Jew believes there’s one God. Christianity believes there’s one God. And all the cults from Christianity and all the various branches of Islam and Roman Catholicism, or rather, I’m thinking of, well, any form of religion, Buddhism or whatever, they all have their own branches. But the ones who believe in a moral theism, they believe there’s one God, they might imagine to themselves, “Well, because we believe there’s one God, we’re all headed the same way.” But there’s one mediator. If you don’t go to that mediator, if it’s not via that mediator, if it isn’t in recognition of that mediator and His claims about Himself, you will not go to God.

Again, no matter how religious, devout, kind, externally loving you may profess yourself to be. So this is where I point you. I point you to Jesus Christ. He points to Himself. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”

You will never be in the Father’s house. You will never be where I am going. You will never have peace. You will never have joy. You will never have your sins forgiven. You will not be reconciled to God. You will have no inner assurances at all unless you come to Me. You see, the answer for man is found in God’s Son, fully, entirely, completely. He doesn’t need your additional works. He doesn’t need for you to add to what He accomplished. He doesn’t need for you to do your best effort. What He asks is this, believe in Me. Abandon all your own self-righteousness. Abandon your own works. Abandon trust in your form of religion or whatever it might be. Abandon any hope you have because of your nationality or any other identifiers if you do not go to Jesus Christ fully, abandoning on Him and saying, “He is all my hope.” From beginning to end, He is the answer for me before God.

If you don’t do that, Jesus says. You will not be with the Father. You will not be in the Father’s house. You will not be where He said He was going. The way cannot be in you. Really, you think the way could be in you? It can’t be in you, the way. “I can be a good person. I can be loving. I can apply myself. I can find the remedy for sin in myself,” really? These are hopeless substitutes. The way is Jesus Christ. And truth can’t be in you. We are ignorant. Oh, how ignorant we are. We can’t even say what will be on the morrow. We have no idea. Our knowledge is minuscule. The things that we know are tiny. One of the things we realize as we mature is just how little we really know about anything. You go through your teens, and if you tend to be academically inclined, and you keep going through tests, and you keep getting like 98 and 99%, you’re doing really well, you might think to yourself, “I know a thing or two about a thing or two.” But the reality is, no, you don’t. You don’t. There’s so much we do not know. So the truth is not in us. We are, by nature, vanity of our mind, the apostle speaks of, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in us. And the life cannot be in us, it can’t. You will not find life in yourself. You’re dead in trespasses and sins. So if you’re here tonight without Christ, listen to me now. The Lord puts before you life and death. Choose life. Choose Jesus Christ.

I don’t know what that might mean for you, as in, I don’t know what challenge it brings for you to make such a commitment. I don’t know what fears you have if you become a real, down-to-earth, wholehearted Christian, and not just one in name only. What might it mean? Might it alter your relationships to certain people? Might it change your ambitions and hopes for the future? Might it take away from you any sense of wanting to go out into that world out there? Maybe I speak to the young people especially. You have some aspiration to go into the world and sort of live your life away from what you determine is a little bit oppressive of this Christian existence. Guardrails aren’t meant to be oppressive, they’re meant to protect. When you come to a crossroads and there’s a red light, it’s not oppression, it’s protection. And when God’s Word says, “Thou shalt not,” and you live in an environment where people care enough to say what things you can’t do as well as the things you may do, it is love. Now, can it be abused? Certainly. I trust it’s not the case here. But let me say to you, whatever the sacrifice you may feel you’re making, you need to think seriously about the consequences if you die without Jesus Christ. If you don’t have Jesus Christ, you can’t even begin to imagine. The suffering for sin is beyond your worst nightmare. You can’t conceive of what will come upon you.

So I say to you, with all of my heart, I say to you, make sure you are in Christ. He is the way, He is the truth, He is the life. Seek Him. Let’s bow together in prayer.

This past week, someone sent me a video of a number of people being baptized. One of the individuals, as they came to their baptism, sharing their testimony. That was so encouraging. They accounted how they were raised, raised in the truth, certainly raised under God’s Word. They had in their mind as they grew up, they had in their mind that God was just to be feared. He pushes them away, He’s not interested. And this fearful concept of God that made them feel like they couldn’t just come and believe on Him. But I had the joy of that young person coming into the church in Calgary. And through God’s Word lifting that burden, through God’s Word assuring them that if you come, He will in no ways cast you out. Come to Christ. The Lord receives you. The Lord receives those who come to Him. Will you come? If you need any help, I’m glad to open the Scriptures and speak with you.

Lord, bless Your Word. May the simplicity of this language, that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man can come to the Father but by Him, encourage, but also sober those who refuse to come. Have mercy upon those without Christ here tonight. Let none perish. Let no one, not a single one, die outside of Jesus Christ. Save, save tonight. Bless all our conversation, our fellowship, and empower Your church to live this week for Your glory. Keep us in prayer, keep us in Your Word, keep us in Your love. May we live fruitful lives for Your glory, bringing forth 30, 60, even 100-fold for Your glory. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God our Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be the portion of all the people of God now and evermore.