So I borrowed my dad's suit. We're going to be in John 14, verse 6. And before I start, I want to give a little bit of an introduction so that we understand the context of our text this morning. So we're going to read from John chapter 13, verse 36 through John 14. And we're going to stop right before 6. We're going to stop in verse 5. Read with me this morning. It says, Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered him, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward. Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. Jesus says in verse one of chapter 14, let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself. That where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. And Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way? So Jesus here is preparing his disciples for his crucifixion and his departure. He tells them that where he is going, they cannot come, but they will eventually. He tells them that he goes to prepare a place for them, which we know is by means of the cross. We know that the kingdom of God is not in disarray, that it is perfect, that Jesus isn't literally going to start cleaning things up and making our homes and fixing our beds, but that he's going to prepare the way by the cross. He's going to open up heaven for His people. Jesus tells His disciples that He will come back for them, and that they know the way to where He is going. And He assures them not to let their hearts be troubled. But then Thomas replies to the Lord, and he says, Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way? And in John 14.6, my text this morning, Jesus responds, I am the way, and the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for this morning and this opportunity to preach your word, Father. I pray that you would help me, Holy Spirit, that you would give me wisdom and knowledge, that you would help me to clearly communicate this message. I pray that it would be encouragement for your people, edification for your people, and that by your mercy and by your grace, you might raise one who is dead this morning into newness in life in Christ Jesus. We pray all of this in your name. Amen. So let's read John 14.6 one more time. Jesus says to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So my clear three points here in this text is way, truth and life. Jesus is the way to peace with God. You see, mankind is alienated from God. We are separated from Him because of our sin and our iniquity. By nature, we are at enmity with God. We are conceived in sin, brought forth in unrighteousness. And the Bible says that we have all fallen short of the glory of God in Romans 3.23. In Romans 8, 7 through 8, it tells us that for the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. The mind set on the flesh is hostile, not just indifferent, hostile towards God. And it does not submit to God. It doesn't submit to His law. Indeed, it cannot. It's not even able to. The bondage of sin has Him ensnared. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. The Bible tells us that God is holy, that He is righteous, that He is just, and a holy, righteous, and just God must punish sinners. The first half of Romans 6.23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. And I want to read a few verses here to kind of highlight this about God and His holiness and His justice. We see in Deuteronomy 32, verse 3 and 4, where it says, For I will proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God, the Rock. His work is perfect, for all His ways are just. a God of faithfulness and without iniquity. Just and upright is He. In Psalm 9, 7 through 8, it says, But the Lord sits enthroned forever. He has established His throne for justice, and He judges the world in righteousness, and He judges the people with uprightness. In Psalm 5, 5, you won't see this on many Christian t-shirts, The boastful shall not stand before your eyes. You hate all evil doers. Colossians 3, 25. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. In the middle of Numbers 14, 18, it says, He will by no means clear the guilty. You see, this is terrible news for you and I. You say, why? Because you have offended this God. Do you see the severity of our sin and our rebellion towards the God of heaven and earth? You see, you and I both deserve the fires of hell. By nature, Ephesians 2 would say, we are children of wrath. But there's a way. There's a way that you and I can escape the judgment. And Jesus Christ is that way. He is the way that we can have peace with God. He is the way that men who are completely hostile to God, who are at enmity with God, can be bridged back together. He is the bridge between heaven and earth. He is the spotless Lamb of God who shed His blood to make us right with the living God. Jesus Christ is that way. In 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 10, it tells us Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. You see, Jesus makes the way of peace by atoning for our sins. And he justifies us before Almighty God by his death. How does he do this? He stands in your place. He takes upon Himself all the sins of those who will repent and trust in Him. He takes all of their iniquity, all their transgressions, words, thought, deeds, and He places it on His own back. And He goes to the cross, and He endures the great, the terrible, the frightful, dreadful wrath of God. This is what Christ does for the ungodly. You see, He wipes our debt clean, perfectly, completely, and eternally. In Colossians 2, verse 13 and 14, it says this, And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him. having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. And this He set aside by nailing it to the cross." This is what He has done. Propitiation, atonement. He's taken our sin and He has died in our place. He is our Savior. You see, without substitutionary atonement, we have no hope. The scriptures say, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. That's Hebrews 9, 22. You see, God's wrath must be appeased. Why? That sounds terrible. I don't like the sounding of that. No, it's good because he's just. He's not like men who cave in or who manipulate justice, who pervert the way. He is perfectly righteous and just. That's good news. And God has done this work through the person and work of Jesus Christ, and He's done that for us. You see, Jesus is the way of righteousness. He imputes or credits into our account His righteousness. He's the way that we have righteousness. Another way you can look at the atonement is double imputation. Jesus takes our sin and gives us His righteousness, or also known as the great exchange. Jesus is the only way that we can receive righteousness. Paul says this in Philippians 3, 8-9. He says, Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him. Not having a righteousness of my own that comes through the law, but a righteousness that comes through faith in Christ. The righteousness from God that depends on faith. You see, we cannot earn our salvation. We cannot earn our own righteousness by means of the law. We have already failed to do that because we have sinned. The law of God requires perfection. The law of God requires us to hold it uprightly in every aspect and to never transgress it. We've already messed that up. We can't undo that. We have already failed to keep the law. The law is not good news for us. The law is what condemns. Consider Galatians 2.21. Paul says, I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, Christ died in vain. You see, if we could obtain our right standing with God by means of the Law, by keeping the Law, by being good and obeying God in every aspect, then there would have been no purpose for Christ. There would have been no need for His death on the cross. There would have been no need for Him to come and to stand in our place as a substitute, because we could have done it ourselves. But we can't. We need Christ. We utterly need Christ. We completely need Christ. Not just at the start, but in the middle and into the end. The whole reason of the gospel is that we cannot be good enough. You can't be saved by your works. Works are the fruit of conversion, not the other way around. Works are the evidence in a believer's life that he has come to know the living God. They are not what causes him to be saved. You can't work your way to heaven. That's not how salvation works. This is part of the reason why we can't link arms with the Catholics at the abortion clinics, because they have another way. They have another gospel. In fact, they don't even believe that we should preach the gospel. They don't believe that we should say what God has said in His Word, but that we should quietly pray. We can't link arms with them because they don't believe what Jesus has revealed about Himself in John 14 6. You see, Jesus is the only one who was perfect. He was the only one who was perfectly obedient to the law, and he never sinned in thought, word, or deed. He did the Father's will perfectly, and he accomplished, say that one more time, he actually accomplished what the Father sent him to do, and that was to save his people. Jesus is the exclusive way. We see at the end of our verse, he says, no one comes to the Father except through me. There is no other way. Jesus is the only way. Jesus says the way is narrow in Matthew 7, 13 and 14, where it says, enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many, for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. See, there are many ways, the Bible says, that seem right to a man, but their end is what? Destruction. There's many ways that man thinks is right in his own eyes. There are many paths that man takes in this life, but the Bible says if it's not Jesus, its end is destruction. There are not many ways to God. Jesus is that narrow gate. Jesus is that way. There is no other name given under heaven whereby man can be saved. We are only saved by the blood of Jesus Christ alone. Other religions cannot save, and other gods cannot save. In fact, Isaiah 44, verse 6 says, Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first, I am the last, and besides Me there is no god. We are not saved, once again, by works of the law. I'm going to highlight a few verses here. In Romans 8, verse 3, it says, For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. He did this by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin He condemned sin in the flesh. In Romans 3.20, it says, For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin. The answer to being right with God is not be a better person. Read your Bible more. Follow it more thoroughly. Try to do all that it requires of you to make God pleased with you. That's not the way to salvation. That's not the way to be right with God. You're either right or you're not. The law does not save us, and it does not justify us. It condemns us, and it reveals our sinfulness. I don't know how many of y'all have heard or seen the American Gospel, but in there they give an illustration. And he says, the law is like a mirror. You look in the mirror, and it reveals what's wrong. You've got a piece of food stuck in your teeth, for instance. And it reveals that you have food stuck in your teeth. And then what do you do to fix it? Well, you wouldn't take the mirror off of the wall and then start trying to pluck it out of your teeth with the mirror. But this is what men do with the law. The law reveals that they're sinful. The law reveals that they've transgressed against God, and then they try to use the law to fix themselves. We need another means. You see, Jesus is the only way to the Father. To not be found in Christ is to be eternally damned and without any hope. with only a terrifying expectation of God's wrath." One of the other claims that Jesus makes or statements that He makes in this verse is that He is the truth. He is the true sacrifice for mankind. Atonement is not by blood of bulls and goats. In Hebrews 10, 1-4 and Hebrews 9-12, it reads this, For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come, instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? But in these sacrifices, there is a reminder of sin every year. For it is impossible, hear that, impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Hebrews 9.12 says, He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood. thus securing an eternal redemption." The greatest hope, right there, by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. We are secure in Christ. Jesus is the true Lamb of God. His sacrifice wipes away sin, and it wipes away even the darkest of kinds. Jesus is the true God. John 1.18 says, no one has ever seen God, the one and only Son, who is Himself God, and is at the Father's side. He has revealed Him. In Acts 20.28, it says, "...keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood." Hear that. Shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. Who spilt blood? Jesus. And He's called God right there. Or in Hebrews 1, For to which of the angels did God ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you, or again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all God's angels worship him. Of the angels, he says, he makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Jesus was God in human flesh. He was 100% God and 100% man. He did not set aside His deity and then come to be an example for us, and by works of the Holy Spirit, becoming what we can all desire to be. That's not what Jesus came to do. He came as God in human flesh, and He was God the entire ministry, and is God, and will always be God, and has always been God. Jesus is the freeing truth. In John 8, 31 through 32, it says, So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and finish it. The truth will set. Amen. Jesus is the true word of God. In John 1.14 it says, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus is the Word of God, and in His high priestly prayer in John 17, He says, Sanctify them in your truth. Your Word is truth. Truth is whatever God says it is. And God is truth. Truth is Trinitarian. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all referred to in the Bible as truth. Jesus says, I am the truth. The Scripture says, let God be true. Every man a liar. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. And Jesus is the truth. And to deny Him is to live a lie. Make sure I don't skip a page. Okay. So the world that we live in suppresses the truth of God, and they do this in their unrighteousness. They reject the God they know exists. They live in a world of absurdity because of their suppression of the truth. They say things like, the only truth is that there is no truth. The only thing we can know for certain is there is no certainty. The only thing we can know at all is that we could be wrong about everything, which are all self-refuting statements. The only thing we can know is true is that there is no truth. Is that true? The only thing we can know for certain is there is no certainty. Are you certain about that? The only thing we can know at all is that we can be wrong about everything. Are you right about that? You see, when the atheist or the unbeliever says things like, truth is subjective, and that there is no absolute truth, that truth is relative to every individual, ask them, is that absolutely true? You see, the world hates God and loves their sins so much that instead of embracing the truth of Jesus Christ and having life, they would rather suppress it and live in absolute absurdity as long as their conscience is numb and they can live in their sin, doing whatever they please. Atheism is foolish. It really, truly is foolish. That is why in Psalm 14 1, it says that the fool has said in his heart, there is no God, because they know that there is. Romans 1 tells us that they know. Jesus is the truth. When absolute truth is suppressed, and relativism is embraced, abortion is no longer murder. Life is when you feel like it's life. Your physical realities no longer determine your gender. Morality is whatever you want it to be. Love is whatever you feel that it is. And there's all kinds of other sins that are embraced because everybody has their own truth. But the Bible doesn't describe truth in this way. Truth is what God says it is, because He is truth and the source of truth. Truth is not impacted by your feelings. It is not impacted by your feelings because it is objective. Truth does not change. It is constant. Truth does not flow with the culture. Truth is universal. Truth is authoritative. Truth is Jesus Christ. The impending judgment that every human being is in outside of Christ is not a subjective truth that's true for some, but maybe not others. No, this truth and reality is an absolute truth. The mercy or wrath of God is true for all people at all times in all places. You see, that's why we send missionaries. Sometimes you hear people say, well, what about those in other parts of the world who've never heard the truth, never heard the gospel, never heard about God? Well, they wouldn't go to hell surely, right? They would go to heaven because they didn't know. But that would defeat the purpose of sending missionaries. Because by sending missionaries, you would then condemn them because now they do know. But the Bible says they already know. They know that God exists and they suppress it in their unrighteousness. That's why we send missionaries. You cannot make this truth vanish by simply saying you don't believe it. Saying something like that would be like me standing on a roof and convincing myself that gravity doesn't exist. You know what? I just feel like it doesn't exist. And then jumping. The unchanging truth of gravity that is not affected by my feelings or my opinions is going to reveal itself to me very quickly. You see, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And funny side story, I've used that analogy in the square before, and I've had a guy, literally, I said, if I stood on the roof, and I just, you're telling me that if I just believe that, you know what, truth doesn't exist for me. Or gravity, gravity's just not true for me. And I jump off the roof, you think I'm gonna float? His response was literally like, maybe. That's what you have to live with, absurdity. You have to say things like that if you reject God. You see, Jesus, like I said, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is unchanging. He is authoritative. He is absolute. He is truth. The third claim that Jesus makes in our text is that He is the life. Jesus grants and gives eternal life to sinners. not the good, not the righteous, because we know what? There is none righteous. There is none good. He hasn't come to call the righteous to repentance, but He's come to call sinners to repentance. In John 5.21 it says, For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will. He is the means by which sinners who are dead in their sins and trespasses can be made alive. In Ephesians 2, we see that God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even while we were spiritually dead, we were dead in our sins and our trespasses, He made us alive in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the bread of life. Whoever eats of Him will never hunger again. The manna that God made rain to provide for the Israelites in Exodus was not eternally satisfying. They hungered again. But Jesus is the true bread that comes from heaven, and He will eternally satisfy your souls. He told the woman at the well that if she would have asked Him, who was saying, give me a drink, if she would have asked Him, He would have given her living water. Eat and drink of the Lord Jesus Christ this morning if you haven't. Taste and see that He is good. He is the life and He gives life abundantly. And those who trust in Him will for all eternity be filled. This life that Jesus gives is eternal. It's never ending and can never wither out. In John 3.36, we read, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But here's the warning. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. You see, Jesus says, no man, the very last part of our text, no man comes to the Father except through Him. We see in John 14.6 clearly the exclusivity of Christ, that He is not just a way, a truth, or a life, but that He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is not just a prophet and a good teacher, but He is God. He doesn't just point us the way or cut the path for us to follow because His way is not our way. His way led to the cross. His path led to agony and the absorption of the wrath of Almighty God. That's the way that Jesus took. His way was taking the sins of all His people upon Himself and receiving the retribution that the ungodly deserved. His way is not our way, but He is Himself the way. He doesn't just tell us about truth, but is the truth. He doesn't just tell us about life, but is the life and the giver of it. And I just want to conclude with this verse, in Isaiah 45, verse 22. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for the opportunity to gather in Your house this morning, to hear Your Word, to reflect on You and what Christ has done for the ungodly. Lord, we pray that we would think about these things, that they would impact our lives, that what Jesus says about being the truth and the way and the life would cause us to go out and share this truth, and that we wouldn't try to soften it, we wouldn't try to manipulate it, we wouldn't try to change it so as to make it less offensive, but we would say the very things that Christ Himself said. Lord, I pray that we would be evangelistic, that we would share the Good News of the Gospel with our co-workers, with our friends, with our family, with everybody we come in contact. Help us, God, to share the Good News, to be a light in a dark world, a world that is becoming even darker as we speak, Father. I pray, Lord, that you would help us to live for your glory, to repent of sin, and to love you with all our hearts, souls, and minds. Thank you, God, for your grace and your mercy in redeeming us and saving us and providing the way, the truth, and the life. We pray all of this in Christ's name. Amen.