I Am The Way (1996 Conf. in CA.)

The Bible as a Signpost to Heaven

0:00 If it were possible, I would like, beginning at the very front row, to sit down next to each one of you individually, from the youngest to the oldest, including each of the young who would understand my question and be able, at least with some degree of comprehension, to respond to it, and ask a very basic and a very simple question. And the question is this. Amidst all of the manifold stories that are found within the pages of this book that we call the Bible, the account of the flood, the account of the mighty conquest of the armies of Joshua, the sad account of the fall of David into sin, Noah in his shameful drunkenness, the record of the mighty works and... Gracious words and cruel death of the Lord Jesus, letters of apostles and messages of prophets, if I were to ask you, what is the sum total of all of this that we find within the pages of our Bibles?

1:18 Why has God given us these fascinating stories, these heartbreaking accounts of the sin and tragic failure of men, and why is it that we are not able to understand them? Women, why has the Bible given to us an account of the life, the death, the doings, the resurrection, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ? I wonder, how would you answer in a very brief compass such a question? Why has God given us this book, the Bible?

1:53 Well, I think it would be very interesting were I to record everyone's response and see if we could break them down. We could go into various categories and find certain common denominators, but in a very real sense, in a very real sense, we could answer that question very simply by saying that God has given us the Bible to be one large, massive, unmistakable signpost to heaven. God has given us the Bible to be one large, massive, unmistakable signpost to heaven. To be one massive, true, unerring signpost to heaven. Within its pages, everything that we need to know about God, about man, about sin, about Christ, about repentance, about faith, about the new birth, about a life of holiness. Every single thing we need to know in order to see us safely to heaven is contained within the pages of this book.

Introducing John 14:6: The Heart of the Bible's Message

3:14 And though we might begin in Genesis 1-1 and work our way through to the last verse of Revelation 22 and cull out of this book this massive signpost to heaven, God has very clearly, very graciously along the way distilled the whole heart of the message of the Bible in very short statements or texts of Scripture. And we're going to consider just such a text tonight that in a very real sense gives us the very heart of the message of the Bible in a very short, simple, and straightforward explanation. And that text is found from the words of our Lord Jesus in the Gospel according to John, chapter 14. Here in John, chapter 14, we have recorded the words of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself who said in verse 6, Jesus said unto them, I am the way, and, the truth, and the life,

4:37 no one comes unto the Father but by me. Now as I attempt with God's help to unpack this verse in your hearing, I have two very fundamental goals in view.

Two Fundamental Goals for the Sermon

4:56 And I want to state them up front and honestly and bluntly. I am not here in order to, to fill up some time. I am not here simply to give you an opportunity to hear another preacher. But I am here and my conscious goal in standing before you is basically twofold.

5:23 First of all, with these words of our Lord Jesus that distill the entire message of the Bible in a nutshell before us, I want to open, open them up and apply them in your hearing that in so proclaiming that gospel which is the power of God unto salvation, God might be pleased in this place tonight graciously to put forth the arm of His saving power upon the lives of some of you children, young people, teenagers, young adults, middle aged, and older men and women, and the rest of you. And God might take the proclamation of His word and make it here in this place tonight the very power of God unto your salvation. In other words, I am expounding the text because I want to take you to heaven with me. But then I have a second goal in view and that is this, that for those of you who by the grace of God have known the power of the gospel, and live in the power of the gospel, for if you've ever known it once in reality, you live in its power continually,

6:46 that you and I might have perhaps a more intimate acquaintance with a text of scripture that ought to be constantly at hand as a tool to use as we bear witness to others concerning our own faith in the Lord Jesus and as we attempt to point others to Christ as the Savior of sinners. Those are my goals, upfront, straightforward, simple, explicit, trusting God by the Holy Spirit to bless the exposition of this text that it may be the very instrument of God to bring some of you into the possession of life and salvation and it might further equip you, the saints of God, for the service of bearing a clear witness to the gospel to those that God brings within the orbit of your influence. In this marvelously simple but in many ways subtly profound text we have our Lord Jesus Christ himself telling us in his own words who he is, what he came to do, and the weight and the implications these things have

The Amazing Personal Claims of Jesus Christ: The Way, The Truth, The Life

8:11 with respect to each and every one of us. And as we think our way through the text together I want you to notice with me, first of all, the amazing personal claims of Jesus Christ as found in the text. The amazing personal claims of Jesus Christ as they are found in the text. Notice what he says.

8:40 I am the way and the truth and the life. Here are amazing personal claims from the very lips of our Lord Jesus Christ himself. He claims to be specifically three things. He says, I am the way.

9:08 What did he mean when he said, I am the way? Well, he was speaking in figurative language. The word way is the standard word in the New Testament for a path or a road that leads from one place to another. And in the setting in which Jesus spoke these words he had been speaking about his Father's house.

9:34 Verse 2. In my Father's house are many mansions. Verse 3. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you.

9:45 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go, notice, you know the way. You know the path. Thomas said unto him, Lord, we do not know where you are going.

10:05 How can we know the way? And in response, in response to those questions, Jesus says, I am the way. And in this setting he is claiming that he is the way, the road, the path to the Father's house in which there are many mansions. In other words, he is saying, I in myself constitute the path to heaven.

10:37 To state it bluntly, our Lord is claiming that all of the building materials to construct the road from earth to heaven are found in his own person and in his own work. He is the way by which God comes to us in the revelation of himself and he is the way by which man approaches us. Unto God. You will notice in verses 7 and 8, he says, If you had known me, you would have known my Father.

11:18 From henceforth you know him and have seen him. Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father and that will be sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you and you do not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father.

11:39 Jesus is the one, the way by which the Father reveals himself to us. And according to the latter part of our text, he is the only path by which we approach unto God. No man comes to the Father except by me. And the first amazing personal claim of our Lord Jesus Christ is that he is the way.

Jesus as The Truth and The Life

12:07 But then secondly, he says, I am. I am the truth. And here he uses no figure of speech. Truth is an accurate statement of reality.

12:20 Truth is that thing which at times we parents get very frustrated in trying to find out with our kids. You kids know about that. Two of them come into the kitchen. They've been squabbling and mom or dad says, Now wait a minute, wait a minute.

12:36 Let's sort this out. Let's get down to the truth. Well, she didn't know, but he did. Stop, stop, stop.

12:42 Quiet. Let's get the facts. Now, John, you be quiet and let Mary have her say. Be quiet.

12:51 And Mary has her say. All right. Now, Mary, you be quiet. John, you give your account.

12:57 And lo and behold, the accounts don't mesh. And as a parent, you say, Who is telling the truth? In other words, who is accurately reflecting the facts? That's what the truth is.

13:13 And here the Lord Jesus says, I am the truth. And in the context, it is the truth on the great issues that pertain to heaven and how men get to heaven. The truths concerning God and how men can know God. He who has seen me has seen the Father.

13:39 Jesus Christ is the accurate statement of reality concerning God. And man and heaven and hell. You remember later on, in conjunction with our Lord's trial prior to His crucifixion, Pilate cynically asked the question, What is truth? What is truth?

14:06 Well, here our text answers, Truth is a person who said, I am the truth. I embody in my person, in my body, in my body, in my body, in my body, in my body, in my body, in my body. In my words and in my work, all the reality that man needs to know with respect to the great issues of God and sin and heaven and hell and the way to God. But then his amazing claims go further.

14:37 He not only claims to be the way, the truth, but now he claims to be the life. I am the life. Now, life in Scripture is not mere existence in a conscious state. That's the way we use it at times.

14:56 There's a severe and frightening accident on the freeway. And when the EMS group arrives, the first thing they're concerned to see is whether or not within those twisted, mangled vehicles there are any signs of life in the victims. They want to see if there is yet any conscious existence, any vital signs. Are the inhabitants of those twisted vehicles alive or dead?

15:28 But when our Lord says, I am the life, He is not speaking of mere conscious existence, but rather life in the Bible is realized communion and fellowship with God. That's what life is. Jesus Himself defined it that way in John 17 in verse 3 where He said, And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. And it's beautifully illustrated in the parable of the prodigal.

16:08 You remember when that son said in his heart, I can't hack Dad's rules, Dad's restrictions, Dad's don't do this and don't go here. Dad's curfews, and Dad's all the time on my case. I've had it, I'm of age. Pop, give me what's coming to me and I'm blowing out of town.

16:30 He got his inheritance, hopped on his Honda, full throttled it and off he went to Vegas. He was gone. And when he came to himself and said, I will arise and go to my father. You remember what the father said when the father said, the father, seeing him afar off, ran and threw his arms about his neck and kissed him.

17:01 He said, this my son was what? But he's alive! Now did he believe that his son had actually had his head blown out and expired physically and had been resurrected? No! But in terms of the father having any face to face communion with his son, he was dead to him. It's a beautiful illustration of what the Bible means by life and death. You did he make alive who were dead through your trespasses and sins. A reference to the fact that in our natively sinful state we have no realized communion and fellowship with God. And here Jesus says, I am not only the way, all the materials necessary to construct a road from earth to heaven are in me. And I am the truth. All reality concerning all of the issues of life and death are to be found in me fully accurate. And I am the life.

18:08 I am in myself the one who imparts that realized communion and fellowship with God. I am come, Jesus said in John 10, 11, that they might have life and have it more abundantly. You see, men by nature have conscious being and existence. But they do not have life in the sense of our text. Now with respect to these amazing personal claims that I very briefly expounded, I want you to note two very important observations. The first is, Jesus is these things in himself. Look at the text. It's not on my forehead, it's in your Bible. If you have it, look at it.

Observations on Jesus's Claims: In Himself and Exclusively

18:59 Notice what it says. Jesus said unto him, I am the way and the truth and the life. And there's a combination of words in the original which make legitimate a rendering as follows. I even I am the way.

19:28 I even I am the truth. I even I am the life. In other words, I am these three things in myself. He did not say I came to create a way detached from me. I came to reveal truth objective to me, but unrelated to me. I came to expound a way of life. No. He is these things in himself.

20:13 I even I am the way. I even I am the truth. I even I am the life. I am these things in the uniqueness of my person as the God-man and he was conscious of that uniqueness. You see, there are some who say Jesus never claimed to be God. It was only the excessive affection and admiration of his followers that attributed to him the qualities and attributes of deity. How can they say that in the light of this very passage? For in this very passage we find these words verse 7. If you had

21:01 known me, you should have known my Father. Philip said, Lord, show us the Father and that will be sufficient for us. Jesus said, have I been so long time with you and you don't know me? You say you want to see the Father?

21:19 Philip, have you been with me all this time? Don't you know who I am? He who has seen me has seen the Father. I fully accurately represent and reveal the Father because I and the Father are one. John chapter 10. Here is a claim an unashamed, unembarrassed claim to full deity. It's repeated in words such as Matthew 11 where Jesus said no one knows the Father save the Son and no one knows the Son save the Father. Only God can encompass God in understanding.

22:05 Jesus said I fully know the Father for as to his God hood he is equal to the Father and only the Father fully knows the Son for only God can know God. He is these things in himself in the uniqueness of his person as the God man and he is these things in himself in the perfection of the work he was about to bring to completion. These words were uttered on the very eve of his crucifixion and they conclude with that marvelous prayer in John 17 where in verse 4 he says I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. I have glorified you on the earth. He was about to bring to completion his perfect obedience under the law of God. His work of validating his identity as he says in verse 11 of our passage believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me or believe me for the very works sake. And he is

23:25 about to accomplish the work of bearing away the sins of his people by his cruel death upon the cross. Where is the Lamb of God he will be slain and the knife of God's justice will be plunged into the beating heart of the Son of God as the Lamb of God. And I want you to note that with regard to these amazing personal claims Jesus underscores that he is these things in himself but now a second observation that's critical. He is these things exclusively.

24:06 Look at the text again he doesn't say I am a way I am a facet of truth and I am one aspect or dimension or conduit of life. The definite article is used before each of these claims I am the way not one among many. I am the way there is no other. And in an age of ecumenical mania in which we are to show respect for everyone regardless of what he believes and whatever we do we must not say a man's faith system is wrong damnable and delusive we must say our way we may judge to be a bit better and a bit more validated but the concept of the exclusiveness of the Christian faith as it is embodied in the person and work of Jesus is terribly offensive in a day where everyone wants to have a togetherness orgy but Jesus will not come back and rewrite his words he says I am the way

25:35 the truth the life I am these things in myself and I am these things exclusively I am the way there is no other material under heaven out of which a way has been constructed from man in his sin to God in his holiness but that which is taken out of the person and work of Jesus Christ all other materials to construct proposed ways are nothing but sand and shadows and are doomed to fail he says I am the truth I am not one dimension of truth among many truths I am not one facet of truth among many facets no I am the truth miss me and you land in error delusive damning destructive error I am the truth and I am the life again not one contributor to a collective life that there is some larger life force by which men may come into communion with God elements of which are to be found in eastern religion elements to be found in our own inner consciousness

27:03 if we dig deep enough and long enough know against all such nonsense the words of Christ and I am the life I am the life he is these things exclusively now having looked at the amazing personal claims of Jesus Christ what they are I am the way the truth and the life the fact that he is these things in himself and he is these things exclusively consider with me secondly the unavoidable implications concerning ourselves you see Jesus makes some amazing personal claims about himself but when he does it it brings to us some unavoidable implications about ourselves and what are they well the first is this that the way is not in us by nature if he says I am the way and he came all the way from heaven to earth went through all that he went through on earth including the cruel death of the cross the horrible experience of abandonment by his father resurrection and ascension

Unavoidable Implications for Ourselves: Lost, Ignorant, Dead

28:33 if he went through all of this to be the way then surely the way is not in us by nature we are lost men and women by nature we do not have the stuff to construct a way to heaven and what is clearly and unavoidably inferred and deduced from these personal claims of Christ is explicitly and repeatedly stated in the rest of the bible all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one of us to his own way there is not a just man upon the face of the earth that doeth good and sinneth not all have sinned and come short of the glory of God there is none righteous no not one there is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh after God they are all gone out of the way they are together become unprofitable there is none righteous no not one Romans 3 10 and following you see in spite of the wishful thinking of humanism the quasi religious jargon of the religion of self worth and self esteem face the fact that when Jesus said in his amazing claims I am the way he is telling all of humanity

30:02 the way is not in you it can never be constructed out of you nor by you I am the way there are no materials in human nature out of which to construct a way to God from Eden's fall onward all we could construct a path to hell and to destruction and if Jesus said I am the truth then the unavoidable implication is that the truth is not in us by nature the bible describes us by nature as spiritually ignorant oh what you say I have got a B.A. from a prestigious university well then you just are a B.A. ignorant I have an M.A.

30:52 a Ph.D. ah but listen to the scriptures Ephesians 4 17 and 18 Paul says don't walk as the Gentiles walk in a state in which their understanding is darkened alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them who being past feeling have given themselves over to hardness of heart that's not very flattering language is it I can't imagine the man who holds forth with his plastic grin in his crystal palace telling his congregation next Sunday you are natively shrouded in the mists of spiritual ignorance you have a darkened mind and you are alienated from the life of God the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 2 says something even more humbling I'm sorry 2 Corinthians chapter 4 he says if our gospel is hid it is hid in them that are lost in whom the God of this world referring to Satan has blinded the minds of them that believe not there is a satanic blindness over the minds of men and in 1 Corinthians 2 14 he says the

32:21 natural man the person who has nothing but what he got from his mother's womb in the way of intellectual faculties and faculties of perception the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither neither can he know them we are spiritually ignorant spiritually blind the truth is not in us by nature if I'm speaking to anyone tonight who's been sucked along in the frightening return to eastern religion in which truth is supposedly found either by the silencing of all of the inner agitation of our mental faculties until we are lifted up into cosmic consciousness will somehow be found as we are lifted up into cosmic consciousness or if we dig deep enough into the dark channels and caverns of our own inner consciousness there we'll find truth no my friend Jesus said I am the truth because the truth is not in you by nature there is ignorance in you by nature blindness and darkness by nature and if he says I am the life then very clearly

33:49 he's telling us the life is not in us by nature that we are spiritually dead as Ephesians 2 1 says you hath he made alive who were dead through your trespasses and sins some passages describe us in our sinful state as blind deaf sick corrupt but others go further and say we are dead there is no spiritual life no communion and fellowship with God and I say again in a day in which people are told that the great problem with American society producing the violence and the harshness and cruelty of one man against his fellow man is that we we've got to learn how to feel good about ourselves if only we'll feel good about ourselves then we'll treat one another as we ought no my friends we already feel altogether too good about ourselves that's the problem we feel altogether too good about ourselves we need to face the reality if Christ is in himself the way the truth and the life then God is saying to you and to me you are lost and you need a way

The Sobering Conclusion: No One Comes to the Father But By Me

35:16 you are blind and ignorant and you need the truth you are dead and helpless and you need life so we have looked at the amazing personal claims of Christ the unavoidable implications of those claims but now thirdly coming back directly to our text notice the sobering conclusion drawn from the claims of Jesus the sobering conclusion drawn from the claims of Jesus and this is a conclusion not made by the preacher but by Christ himself look at the text Jesus said unto him I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes unto the Father but by or through me here is the sobering conclusion drawn from the claims of Christ by Christ himself now what is often said is this people will say you see I have no complaints with what Jesus claimed to be and what he taught he was a good man whose teaching is the highest of all of teachers in terms

36:44 of its ethical and moral standards his teaching of love your neighbor as yourself do unto others as you would they should do unto you my complaint is with these followers of Christ who have so narrowed the Christian faith as to claim that in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone is salvation and outside of him is nothing but death and damnation well my friend that shows a great ignorance of Christ's own claims it is not his followers who elevated him beyond his own claims who said these words it was Jesus himself who said no one comes unto the Father but by me now look at this claim notice first of all it is universal in its scope no one comes to the Father but by me no one of any age in any place any background any race any sociological framework any educational privileges or deprivation of such privileges no one not one not one in this building will ever come to the Father except you come through Jesus Christ you have his word

38:11 you can go out of here and tell that arrogant preacher my friend your complaint is not with me you can call me anything you want and get away with it honestly you can experiment if you want call me call me anything you want but you still have to reckon with Jesus Christ when he sits on the throne to judge you and to determine your eternal destiny in the last day and he said no one no one comes to the Father except through him what will you say to him how will you pass off his words when you stand in his presence you see it is universal in its scope and it's undeniably exclusive in its intention look at the language no one comes unto the Father except through me now what do those words mean in one sense all of us will come to God in the last day Acts 17 30 Paul says God commands all men everywhere to repent because he's appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness and as surely as you had no choice in the matter of your birth you will have no choice

39:40 as to whether or not you stand before God in judgement there's not a one of you here not a one of you kids young people adults who in some pre birth consciousness went up to God and said you know God the idea of being a human being is rather attractive to me and I think at a given place in a given time I'd like to be conceived in the womb of so and so and oh by the way God I'd like to be conceived a man a woman and also God I'd like to be conceived at a time when people regard my being conceived in the womb as a blessing and I won't be violently murdered before I see the light of day now God those are the terms on which I'd like you to bring me into the world anyone here ready to claim that you talk to God that way you had no choice in it almighty God engineered the whole thing and you cannot unborn yourself you were born in God's word through no choice of your own he didn't consult you and there's a day coming when the scripture says Jesus own words an hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall come forth some to the resurrection of life and some to the resurrection of damnation you are coming to God in judgment

41:07 you are I am so what did Jesus mean when he said no one comes to the father except through me what he means is no one can come to God as father that is come to him in the approval and acceptance of God as father in the favor and the forgiveness of God as the one who pardons and cleanses from sin no one can come to God except through Christ as the way the truth and the life he is the exclusive mediator between man and his sin and God in his gracious offers of mercy first Timothy 2 5 there is one God and one mediator between God and man himself man Christ Jesus I remind you that the me in our passage no one comes to the father except through me is the Christ of biblical revelation in all the glory of his unique person described in verses 7 and

42:34 8 in all the perfection of his glorious work on behalf of sinners listen to old Bishop Ryle who wrote we should mark in these verses how expressly the Lord Jesus shuts out all ways of salvation but himself no man he declares comes to the father but by me it avails nothing that a man is ever learned highly gifted amiable charitable kind hearted and zealous about some sort of religion all this will not save his soul if he does not draw near to God by Christ's atonement and make use of God's own son as his mediator and savior God is so holy that all men are guilty and debtors in his sight sin is so sinful that no mortal man can make satisfaction for it there must be a mediator a ransom payer a redeemer between ourselves and God or we can never be saved there is only one door one bridge one ladder between earth and heaven the crucified son of God let us beware if we

44:03 love life of supposed that mere earnestness will take a man to heaven though he know nothing of Christ the idea is a deadly and ruinous error sincerity will never wipe away our sins it is not true that every man will be saved by his own religion no matter what he believes provided he is diligent and sincere we must not pretend to be wiser than God Christ has said and Christ will stand to his word no man comes to the Father but by me here is the sobering conclusion drawn from the claims of Christ by Christ himself there was an old Scottish theologian they called him Rabbi Duncan not because he was Jewish but he was so knowledgeable in Semitic languages and so steeped in Hebrew thought that they nicknamed him Rabbi Duncan George Duncan was his proper name and he had a very deep and passionate love for Christ against the backdrop of an unusually sensitive temperament overlaid with Holy Spirit conviction of sin and he greatly treasured Christ and Rabbi Duncan said these very precious words

45:30 there is nothing but Christ between us and hell and thank God we need nothing else but nothing less will do my friends that's what Jesus is saying in these words nothing but Christ between us and hell and thank God we need nothing else but nothing less will do no man comes to the Father except through me but the flip side of that is anyone can come to the Father through him his redemption is of such worth and magnitude that no one has so sinned as to put himself outside the orbit of the virtue and power of the saving work of Christ except those known only to God who have blasphemed the Holy Spirit which Jesus said is a sin that has no forgiveness in this life or in the life to come and whether that sin can even be committed in this present epoch I'm not convinced of it Paul says I was myself a

Searching Personal Questions for Unbelievers

46:58 blasphemer and a murderer but I found grace through Jesus Christ now having sought to open up the text and let the words of Jesus speak their own message as I draw this to a conclusion having considered the amazing claims of the Lord Jesus with those two observations having considered the inescapable conclusion drawn from those claims and the sobering implication Jesus words no one comes to the Father except through me I want to close by asking some searching personal questions based on what we have studied together consider yourself as we started in the beginning remember I said if I could come to each one of you and ask you what is the Bible all about and record your answer consider me now sitting next to you looking you straight in the eye no one else is around it's just you and me in the presence of God and I'd like to ask you these questions question one have you personally come to the conviction that your own condition is such that you can have no safe dealing with God apart from Jesus Christ

48:26 have you been brought to that conviction you gals you guys you kids men women teenagers have you been brought to the conviction that you can have no safe dealings with God apart from Jesus Christ you say what do you mean safe dealings I'm thinking of such words as these the writer to Hebrews says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God I'm thinking of the words of the Psalmist who said oh God if you should mark iniquities oh Lord who could stand our God is a consuming fire this is what I mean by safe dealings with God are you convinced that if God deals with you directly without this blessed mediator he must have necessity consume you in the fire of his righteous anger and cast you into hell forever for what you are and what you have done don't treat that question lightly for no one ever goes to God through Christ thinking it's a luxury it's when

49:54 we've been brought as that publican we looked at last night to the place where we see that our sins have created an irreconcilable controversy between ourselves and God and that if God does not intervene to resolve that controversy we've had it but blessed be God in Christ he has intervened have you come to the conviction that your condition is such that you can have no safe dealings with God apart from Jesus Christ my second question to you is this have you come to the conviction that only the Christ of biblical revelation can secure your acceptance with the Father have you come to the conviction that only the Christ of biblical revelation can secure your acceptance with the Father that acceptance is not in yourself not in your works not in rituals not in the church it's not in the water it's not in wafer it's not in doing this or doing that have you come come to the conviction that only the Christ of biblical revelation can secure your acceptance with the Father.

51:13 Then I ask the third, and this is the capstone question, is Jesus Christ right now your way, your truth, and your life? Is Jesus Christ right now, tonight, January whatever it is, the 26th,

51:37 it's all been a blur since we arrived a week ago, preaching hither and yonder, but this night, the 26th of January, 1966, is Jesus Christ, 1996, is Jesus Christ your way? Your way, not the way in abstraction, but your way in personal appropriation. Not the truth out there, theoretically, in abstraction, but your truth, not the life in abstraction, objectively, but your life. Is Jesus Christ right now your way, your truth, and your life?

52:28 Is he?

52:30 If so, my friend, you're a Christian. That's what it means to be a Christian. If not, and I think of you young people who have heard the gospel, some of you from the dawning of your life, some of you from the dawning of your consciousness, but the real issue is you have not personally appropriated Christ to yourself. And what are you waiting for?

52:55 You expected God will somehow, in the middle of the night, send an angel down from heaven with a big neon sign with your name on it, saying, John, Mary, Harry, Susie, you are elect. You will be saved. No. If you saw such an angel, tell him to go back where he came from.

53:19 It wouldn't be an angel of God. Because God never comes to declare a man's election to him personally. He comes and proclaims the gospel to a man indiscriminately and freely. And we only discover our election in embracing the freely offered Savior.

53:43 Christ himself tonight, dear young person, is before you. Again, the gospel saying to you, and to you, and to you, I am the way. Will you appropriate me to be your way? Will you cast yourself upon me to be your way?

54:02 I am the truth. Will you embrace me to be your truth? I am the life. Will you take me to be your life?

Call to Embrace Christ and Daily Appropriation for Believers

54:12 That's what it is to be a Christian. And, oh, I urge you with all the passion of my heart, embrace that Christ who says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And if you can say yes by the grace of God, he is my way, my truth, my life. How would you continue to be a healthy, growing, vigorous, useful Christian?

54:41 Ah, listen to Bishop Ryle, the old Anglican bishop, had great wisdom on many things. Listen to this. Let us grasp. Let us grasp and hold fast these truths.

54:53 To use Christ daily as the way. To believe Christ daily as the truth. To live on Christ daily as the life. This is to be a well-informed, a thoroughly furnished, and an established Christian.

55:17 You see, we don't start with Christ on the threshold and go to something else. In the Christian life, Paul said, As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and builded up in him, and established in him. The old bishop said, To use Christ daily as the way. What did he mean?

55:45 He meant every time you sin and every time you have the remembrance of your past sin, you think again of all that Christ, as the only Savior of sinners who died once for all, the just for the unjust, and who lives to intercede, who is at the right hand of the Father, our advocate, our representative in heaven, pleading the virtue of his precious blood. We are to live upon Christ daily as the way. We are to feed upon, upon him as our life. We are to constantly take to him, to ourselves Christ and his word as the truth. This is to be a well-informed, a thoroughly furnished, and an established Christian. I come around full circle to where I began. When I said that my purpose in expounding and applying this text was two-fold,

56:58 I was preaching to seek, to instruct and persuade you to become a Christian. Has the Holy Spirit blessed that intention? Have you sitting here tonight said, Oh God, I see it all. It makes sense.

57:16 How could I have missed it for so long? If so, then you openly declare that Christ is yours and you are his. Do it in the way of his appointment. Approach one of the elders of this church and say, Christ is my life.

57:33 Christ is now my way and my truth. And I want to openly declare it in the way of his appointment in the waters of baptism and by becoming a part of his visible church. If he is not and I have failed to persuade you, I ask you, what proof do you have that God will ever again give you the privilege of having Christ said to you, in the preaching of the gospel? What proof do you have?

58:09 You'll see the light of another day. Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth. Behold, now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.

58:24 Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart. Embrace him now. And child of God, I said, my concern for you was so to establish you in this truth that you, by the grace of God, will be able when your neighbors ask, well, what do you mean you're a Christian? I hope you could take this text now and say, let me explain in simple terms what it means.

58:51 Here, Jesus said he was the way. That means the way to heaven has been made by Christ and he is the truth and he is the life. And that you'd be able to take, take this text and use it as a framework to bear witness to your faith in Christ and to what Christ has done for sinners and that God may use that witness to bring others to embrace him as the way, the truth, and the life. And if you're struggling in your Christian life, could it be that you somehow thought, well, I go from Christ to something else.

59:29 I start with Christ, now I go on. No, no, no, no. He is to be this to you every day. He is the new and living way.

59:37 Feed upon him by faith. He is the truth. Feed upon him as he reveals himself in his word. He is the life.

59:46 Abide in him. Plead that you may daily be filled with his spirit and know the virtues of his life-giving grace, enabling you to live to his praise. May God seal his word to our hearts for our good. And for his glory, let us pray.

60:13 Our Father, how we thank you for these words of our Lord Jesus, so simple, so clear. And yet we know that they will not be clear nor simple unless the Holy Spirit illuminates darkened minds. O God, as many prayed before this service, so we pray again that some will mark this night as the night when Christ became to them their way, their truth, and their life. Draw many to yourself.

60:52 Establish your people in the truth and in the power of the gospel. Seal this word to our hearts, to our good, and to your glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.