The Way Series

The Way

CCCAG August 21st, 2018

Scripture- John 14:5-7

Intro:

How many people here had the pleasure of driving in downtown Chicago?

Prior to moving up here to God’s Country, about once a month I would have to take a patient down to a hospital located somewhere in the downtown area of Chicago. Once you get off the Interstate you are usually faced with heavy traffic and a series of one-way streets.

Because Chicago streets are always under construction, you are often forced down detours. Many of these detours are on one-way streets. Many of these streets can go on for a long time in the wrong direction and have no turn lanes so you are stuck going for up to a mile in the wrong direction. A mile in Chicago can mean 30 minutes of your time.

Is anybody gotten stuck on a street like that?

How about being stuck at a large event like a football or baseball game or a concert with a whole lot of people and they’re all moving in one direction which is not the direction you want to go? Maybe at the end of the event in your car is to the left, but everybody’s going to the right and there’s no way to go against the sea of people moving in the wrong direction.

It’s very frustrating to be going in the wrong direction, and feel helpless to do anything about it?

Many people Feel like this about life.

Maybe you’re here this morning and you’ve taken a wrong turn and got stuck on the wrong road. Maybe at some point in your life, you looked up at the one-way sign that God had for you and decided to go another direction.

Now you’re sitting here in this morning. Not quite understanding where you are now you got here or why you decided to take this road.

If that’s you this morning I have some great news for you. Jesus knows the way home.

This morning we are continuing our study in the Gospel of John and specifically the Upper Room Discourse in which Jesus Is summarizing the Gospel.

I do want to warn you this morning. Jesus is going to make some very declarative statements that have zero wiggle room in interpretation. If you are sitting on the fence about Jesus this will poke you in some very sensitive areas.

In Verses 1 through 4 of John, 14, Jesus is saying that he is getting ready to go away, and go to the cross to die for our sins. His disciples are Jewish men Who Cannot imagine a Messiah who do anything other than bring a earthly Kingdom to this Earth. That is why there so confused with him talking about going away and dying.

So if that in mind, let’s read John, 14 versus 5 through 7.

John 14:5-7

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Prayer

Every time I read these verses, I’m amazed at how Jesus is so politically incorrect.

If Jesus were to have had come today and say something like this publicly, He would be screamed down by people saying how can you make such a declarative statement about truth? How dare you call into question somebody else is truth?

Who do you think you are to say that all the world religions are not just as legitimate As Christianity?

Let’s look at just a couple of them and what they say about truth.

James pop that slide up. I saw this on Facebook this week.

Number One. Islam. Islam teaches that Allah will make an arbitrary decision regarding who gets to come to Heaven and who doesn’t. The only meaning of life is to simply obey Mohammed’s words As found in. Quran. No real truth there- just obey or else but since your obedience has no bearing on your eternal life it makes no difference in the end.

Number 2. Buddha tells us that there is no absolute truth, but we should always seek it anyway.

Number 3. Confucius. If you don’t know who Confucius says he was a philosopher in China. He would be considered the Plato, or Socrates or Aristotle of the Chinese world. Toward the end of his life, he said, don’t look at me for the truth.

Number 4 and most important for our discussion this morning- Jesus the Christ. He said, I am the way the truth and the life. And as this slide notes, Jesus is the only one who rose from the dead. The other 3 are still in their grave.