THE TRUE WAY TO HEAVEN
John 14: 1-6
It was the time of the Last Supper. Here we find Jesus and his disciples gathered in a little upper room preparing to eat together for the last time. Jesus had tried to prepare his disciples for what was ahead. They had literally left all to follow him and had been witness of the great miracles he had performed and had heard him preach the gospel of the kingdom. Yet, some how they did not fully comprehend or understand the depth and breadth of what he was about to do. In the Jewish mind, the Messiah should come and overthrow the oppressor and set upon the throne of David and rule and reign as King of Kings among them. But Jesus did not come the first time to rule and reign on earth in a physical sense, he came to conquer principalities and kingdoms and rulers of the darkness of this world. His mission was to establish a spiritual kingdom.
His talk of leaving them and going back to live with his father troubled their hearts and caused them to experience a sense of emptiness in their hearts at the thought of their beloved master leaving them. This feeling of emptiness prompted Thomas to ask, “Lord, how can we know the way?” Thomas wanted to know the way to Heaven so that he could follow Jesus their.
Our Lord made it abundantly clear to Thomas the exact way to Heaven and left no room for doubt.
He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father, but by me.”
Ill. My wife was out soul-winning with one of the ladies in our church in Kentucky, when she saw a little elderly lady going to check her mail box. She pulled up to the curve, rolled down the window and asked the little lady this question: “Ma’am could you give me directions to an address I am seeking?” She was very friendly and said yes. At which Jill responded, “Could you tell how I might get to Heaven from here?” She looked rather puzzled and took her little hand and pointed up. Then Jill took out her Bible and showed her the way to heaven and that little lady whose name was Mrs. Deppa (who happened to be a catholic) trusted Jesus Christ as her personal savior.
She got on fire for the Lord and went on bus visitation with us on Saturday.
In our passage of scripture today we see that Jesus has given us very clear and unmistakable directions of the way to heaven. When Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled”, he was also saying let not your understanding be troubled or don’t let your life be troubled. The word heart is talking about the seat of emotions and the center of moral, intellectual and spiritual being.
Jesus was trying to make their understanding clear concerning the way to heaven. The word “way” literally means “road or path” in the Greek. SO WHAT IS THE ROAD OR PATHWAY TO HEAVEN?
I.JESUS DECLARES THAT HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN
This was a very controversial statement to be made in Jesus and it is a very controversial statement to be made in our day. It is a very narrow statement. It is not an all-inclusive statement. Jesus said, “Broad is the path that leadeth to destruction, and narrow is the way that leads to eternal life.”
The reason why this is such an unacceptable statement in our day is because we are living in an age of intolerance. We are cautioned in our day about religious intolerance. We are urged to believe that every religion is equally valid and true. If we say that Christianity is the only way to heaven, then by many we are judged as being “narrow-minded bigots.” It seems we are living in an age where everything is being tolerated except Christianity.
I recently heard some one make the statement that he believed everyone was going to the same place, so it did not matter the religion you believed.
Ladies and gentlemen, that statement sounds nice and tolerant and inclusive and accepting, but there is only one thing wrong with it, IT IS NOT SCRIPTURAL. IT IS NOT WHAT JESUS SAID. Jesus said, I AM THE WAY! I AM THE PATH! I AM THE ROAD! There is no other way to heaven accept through believing in and trusting Jesus Christ.
One can practice religion and go straight to hell. Hell is going to be full of a lot of good people who religiously practiced their religion, but were not on the narrow road to eternal life. They practiced religion, but did not know Christ. Many people are religious but not right with God.
Understand that there are many paths that lead to hell, but there is only one way that leads to heaven, that is through trusting in Jesus Christ and repenting of your sins.
II. JESUS DECLARES THAT HE IS THE TRUTH
Ladies and gentleman Jesus is the only truth for eternal life.
The idea that there are really no substantive differences between religions needs to be held up to careful scrutiny and declared false. For example, Islam says that Jesus was not crucified. Christianity says he was. ONLY ONE OF US CAN BE RIGHT. Islam says that he rose not from the grave. Christianity says he did. ONLY ONE OF US CAN BE RIGHT. Hinduism says God has often been incarnate in different people including Hara Chrisna. But Christianity says God manifested himself only through Jesus. WE CANNOT BOTH BE RIGHT.
Other religions tell us there are different mediators that we can go through to get to the Father, But Paul told Timothy there is only one mediator between God and man and that is the man Christ Jesus.
Truth means that Jesus is the revelation of God. When we see Jesus we see the truth of God. The truth that Jesus teaches about heaven and eternal life is the only true truth. He is the embodiment of truth. So if you really want to get on the path to heaven YOU MUST ACCEPT THE TRUTH OF JESUS!
III. JESUS DECLARES THAT HE IS THE LIFE
Jesus is the strength of our lives. He is what living is all about. One does not really begin to live until one receives Christ. HE is the quality of life. Tbe value of life. The meaning of life that all else revolves around.
A counselor made the comment to me two weeks ago when enrolling my children in school. She knew that my children had attended a Christian school at one time. She said, “We are a Christian school too because there are Christians who attend here.” I wanted to tell her that is not what is meant by Christian education. Christian education means Christ is the center of everything. Jesus is the center of your life and everything else revolves around that because He is at the center.
A dear Christian friend is Jesus at the center of your life?
I am simply saying that JESUS IS THE TRUE WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE
For those who are lost…there IS a way home.
For those who are confused…there is a way to put the mixed up pieces of life together
For those who feel hopeless…there is a way to real hope
For those who are beaten up…there is a way of healing and renewal
For those who have messed up their lives…there is a way to forgiveness
THAT WAY IS JESUS!
I am going to ask you in just a moment to make a decision of receiving or rejecting Christ. Who will step out this morning and walk down this isle and receive the truth of the gospel. If the truth has come home to your heart this morning then do something about it. When you step out into the isle and come forward this morning you in essence are symbolically telling us that in your heart you have decided to step onto the road and narrow path that leads to eternal life.
Christians need to come and pray for the lost this morning. Others need to rededicate their lives to serving the Lord, and some may be desiring to unite with the membership of this church. REMEMBER THE ONLY WAY IS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.
