Beloved congregation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, see the shepherd. See the shepherd as he now stands hours before his imminent death, the cruel death, the horrible death of the cross. The wrath of God is coming upon him. He's taking your sin upon himself as his property. The weight of that sin is pressing upon him. He's vexed in his spirit. Judas Iscariot has gone out to do his dirty work. The devil is in that room tempting the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter interrupting Jesus as he wants to speak. Oh, I'll go. You don't have to die. I'll take care of all these things. And Jesus says, no, Peter, I'll take care of you. And the disciples are vexed in their spirits, seeing Jesus vexed in his spirit. And he says, no, disciples, I will take care of you. I will go to prepare a place for you. I'm coming back for you. I'm doing this for you. Notice in all of this conversation, Jesus, what can we do for you? How can we help you? How can we love you? How can we help you with your vexed spirit? No, sheep are not aware of the feelings of the shepherd. Parents know that. Your Children more often than not, they don't really know or often don't really care that you might be going through a tough time, that you're struggling, that you two have had a difficult time in your marital life, and then they come home and they make it even worse. So you know a bit of that, and that's good for us to think about that, because of who it is who died for us, and how much he loves us, and how patient he is with us. What manner of love is this? Bless the Lord, O thou my soul, and all within me bless his holy name. Do you see Jesus this morning? Do you see him in all of his glory and all of his beauty? Do you see the shepherd who will become the lamb of God? Do you see the lamb of God who will go to the cross to become the lion who will take on the crown? The lamb has to be the lion because the lamb has to die and he has to live again. That's how come Jesus can be the good shepherd. And we're going to see that the whole Bible is going to be pulled together now for us. We're going to see that the whole Gospel of John is going to be pulled together for us. That every question you have is going to be answered this morning in a very simple way, yet filled with layers and profundity. And the answer is going to be, my Jesus, I love you. I know you are mine. For thee all the follies of sin, I resign. This is the way to glory. This is the way to hope. This is what takes a man who lives some 90 years to walk to the valley of the shadow of death and then dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Stephen, the name means crown. so that he receives his Stephen. Well done, O good and faithful servant, only because the good and faithful servant has done work for us. Thomas. Sometimes I think we know him as Doubting Thomas, but don't forget it was Thomas who said, let us go with Jesus to go find Lazarus that we may go and die for him. And Thomas, who at least is honest, And Thomas asked the question that I hope those of you who are saved ask and continue to ask. And any of you who are wondering will now ask, Lord, we do not know where you are going, so, or and, how can we know the way? And then listen to that answer of Jesus. John 14, verse six, besides John 3, 16, is the most memorized portion of scripture when Christians were asked. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. I know in the world of relativism and tolerance, how dare we say there's only one way to God? How dare we say that? Jesus is the only way. We don't dare to say it. We don't. Jesus said it. So don't even get into that argument with people. How dare you say it? No, Jesus said it. Take it up with Him. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord because we know there is no other way. What other hope is there for us? How else are we going to get back to God? How? Jesus, the way, the only way. Jesus, the truth, the only truth. Jesus, the life, the only life and the only way to find true living. Why? Because Jesus is the mediator between God and man. So children, that's the big word that's gonna be there for us. A mediator is a go-between. When I have trouble with someone, let's say, then I might ask someone else, could you help us solve our problem? They go in between. But a better way to think of it is a bridge. There's a big gap, and I can't get over the gap, it's too far to run, and it's too deep to go under, then what do we do? We build a bridge. And we'll find out not only does Jesus build the bridge, but Jesus is the bridge. So that God comes to us in Jesus, and Jesus comes to us in God, and now we have the way to God, that's the truth, and now we will have eternal life. But Jesus, We don't know where you are going. So how can we know the way? Now, some of you have heard this passage, read this passage, studied this passage so many times, it's hard sometimes for us to not just get a little bit irritated with Thomas. Come on, man. You've been walking with Jesus for three years. And Jesus has been talking, but remember, we've been talking about these interesting ironies of Jesus, who on the one hand says, where I am going, you cannot go to Peter. Yet you will go. So on the one hand, Jesus is talking about, I am going to go to the cross, and you are not going to be able to go to the cross. Jesus does not ask us to go to the cross in the way that he went to the cross. Now, we may die a martyr's death, and they might even crucify us. but we are not going to be crucified for our salvation. We are not going to be crucified in the sense that we are going to descend into the depths of hell and darkness and the anguish of the agony where we would cry out, my God, why are you forsaking me? Jesus has to do this for us and Jesus has to do it alone. Jesus has to prepare the way, but he also has to prepare us so we can go the way. So Thomas is confused. Where are you going? Well, Jesus has already made clear, I am going to prepare a place for you that where I am, you will be. I am where God is. Remember, heaven is not where God is, but Heaven is only to be found in God. When you find God, you'll find heaven. Well, how am I going to find heaven? How am I going to find God? I live in a dark box. I live in a room that has no light. I remember once working in a cooler, moving flowers around, and the lights went out, and those doors locked tight. There's no air allowed in there, but there's no light in there. And if you're not quite sure where you are, you don't know how to get to the door. You can't even see your hand in front of your face. That's dark. Sonia and I were in Mexico once, and we were in caves, and they turned off all the lights. It's dark and it's a creepy feeling. You don't feel safe. You don't feel alive. You're scared. What are we going to do? What's going to happen? What if nobody finds us? How do I get out of here? That's what Jesus is talking about when he says there is no other way. No one comes to the Father except through me. Why? Because I can't get out of the dark room. I can't even find the door. And you know what Jesus does? He cuts a hole in the wall and he pushes that piece out and all of a sudden the light comes shining into the room. And now I know if I walk to that light, I can get out through the window and I can get into the bastion of the source of the light. I can live. So when Jesus is saying, no one gets to the Father except through me, he's not first of all saying, you can't get to God through Allah, you can't get to God through Quran, you can't get to God through Buddha, you can't get to God through philosophy, you certainly can't get to God through your good works. That's not what's at stake here. The question is, how can I get to God? And Jesus says, me, period. I am where you want to be, because I am with the Father. Where you want to be is with Jesus. Remember we said that? Soon I will be done with the trouble of the world, going home to live with God. That's what happened yesterday, when Stephen Elgersmith said, soon I will be done with the trouble of the world, going home to live with God. Where do the faithful end up? With God. Why? Because that's where Jesus is. How do you get there? Through Jesus. He brings you. through Jesus, who opens that window so that a light shines in the darkness. You see, when Thomas asks, show us the way, we don't know where you're going. We don't know the way. He's right, we don't. Now, he may be asking it from the wrong motivation, but the question is exactly correct. It's how, Lord, can we get to God? And then the answer comes, God must come to you. That's what the whole Bible is about. And the day when Adam and Eve eat of that fruit, darkness falls upon humanity in terms of their spirituality. They don't know, and God comes to them, and he makes a promise to them. And God comes to Noah, and he makes a promise. And God comes to Abraham, and he makes a promise. Just like he did last week with Aubrey. that He reminded all of us, I made a promise to you. I am God. You can find your hope and amen in the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus Christ, whom I have sent has burst forth so that that word which is lightly shining in the Garden of Eden, is beautifully shining on Christmas Day when the glory of the Lord shines around them. To the marvel of Resurrection Day, to the glory when Jesus Christ will come again. The marvel of the light shining in the darkness of the Lamb of God who is the lion hanging there on the cross. There is the way. Christ hanging there on the cross, his feet above the earth, his head below heaven, suspended between earth and heaven, Jacob's ladder With angels coming down and going up and in time you going up to where he is There is no other way There is no other hope and without the way There is no going but without the truth There is no knowing So you shouldn't read this as Jesus saying, I am the only way. I am the only truth. I am the only life. All these three things are working together. So in God's providence, we're going to talk about the veracity or the truth or the authority of God's scripture this afternoon. We're going to hear about the yes and no of men's words and the yes and amen of God's word. In the beginning was the Word, right? And the Word was God. And the Word was with God. And then in John 1.18, it goes on to say, no one has ever seen God, but God, the one and only, who is at the Father's side, has made Him known. Do you believe that? Do you believe that that is truth? So it's interesting that John uses words that appeal to the Greeks, logos, Word, But if you ask the Greek philosophers at the time what is truth, they will say it is a series of propositions that are proven to be true, which give to us a system with which to look at life. Science, math, order, right, wrong, rhetoric. And Jesus is saying that's not what truth is. The Jews will tell you that the lens of truth is right and wrong. It's morality, it's the law. Do this, don't do that. Keep the law and things will be right. If you break the law, here's the way the law will get you to find forgiveness for your sin. And you know what? Both of these systems, a systematic proposition, or right and wrong, leave you in inky darkness. And then Jesus bursts forth. and says, I am the truth. I am the way that you can understand life. I am the way that's back to God, and God is truth. What is it that the image bearers of God need to do? They need to worship God in spirit and in truth. But I don't know the way, Lord. I don't know how. That's right, because you don't know the truth. And Jesus says, here I am. Because I am God, and God is in me. If God is truth, I am truth. And you hear those words of Job, if only I knew where to find him. If only I could go to his dwelling. And Jesus says, I am the way, believe it. Believe it, because I am the truth. Now you see the darkness. Now you see the light in the darkness. Don't be deceived and keep running back into the darkness. Don't believe the words of the devil who says that's not the light. Put your faith and your hope in Jesus. That's why he came. That's what the Bible is about. In the beginning was the Word, the Logos, the truth. Adam, Eve, I'm going to bring you two together and you're going to have a son who's going to save the world. And devil, he's going to crush your head. Believe it. Noah, I'm gonna save you and your family so that I can save the elect and from you will come one who will bring salvation to the world. Abraham, Sarah, get together. I don't care how old you are. You're gonna have a child and that child's gonna be a blessing for all of the nations of the world. I came to you and I said, I am your God. Believe in me. Believe in my son who sent me. I gave him to die unto a complete remission of all your sins. And last week we took the bread, we drank of the wine, we saw the water, we heard the word. I go to prepare a place for you. I am amen. I am the truth. This is the sixth of the seven I am statements. I am God. Without the way there is no going. Without the truth, no way of knowing. But without life, there's no living. I didn't make that up. One's smarter, more poetic than I did. But I like it. And I hope it's a good way for you to remember the passage. Without life, there is no living. We need to be clear about this, beloved. I think it's why we don't really do evangelism, and I think part of that reason is, and I look in the mirror and I see me, I like the things of the world. Livin' is wearin' a nice suit, wearin' is drivin' a nice car. Life is havin' a great wife. Life is havin' a bunch of kids who love me. Life is havin' a bunch of money in the bank account. Life is livin' on this earth. It's not. Life is to be lived with God. Life is to be lived in the service of God. Life is to be lived suffering for God. Life is to go through the grieving, the sore of walking through this world in the shadow of darkness. Then we will find joy. Then we will find, how are we gonna get through this when someone dies? What's my only comfort in life and death? That I'm not my own. That I belong body and soul to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who gives to me the Holy Spirit, that by that Spirit I am now heartily willing to live for Him. This is the beauty of Christianity. This is the exclusivity of Christianity. There is nothing else, and we need to be clear about it, and we need to be clear about it in the way that we live. Let no other idol get in the way. Let no shades cover the beauty of that light that's shining in this room, that's shining in your heart right now. The light came into the darkness, but the darkness did not receive it. Let that not be true of us. As it blows into that room, let us walk into the way where real, joyful living happens. No other way. And then do you realize that it's no longer exclusive? When Jesus says, I am the only way, it immediately becomes inclusive. Because if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, you're in. If Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, you're in. If you die confessing the name of Jesus Christ, where are you gonna go? Where Jesus is. You're in. In where? In heaven. In the room of glory. In the great mansions of wonder. He's prepared for you. The world always says, oh, exclusive. And we say, no, no, no, no. Anyone who comes to Jesus will not be turned away. Anyone who dies in the name of Jesus Christ, if they stand there upon that first judgment, when we die and we stand before Almighty God, And he says, well done, O good and faithful servant, because of what Jesus has done, you're in. Believe it, it's the devil who always keeps telling you you're out. It's the devil who keeps saying, oh, you're too wicked, and you're too sinful, or you're not good enough, or you would be way more spiritually wonderful. You know, when that really happens, any of you who have gone through depression or anxiety, how can I feel this way? Why would I feel this way if I am a good Christian? Shouldn't I be more happy? No, because you're going through something that's very real. You're going through something that sin brings upon you, and then devil beats on you, and beats on you, and beats on you, and then you do as well, and sometimes we do. Wow, why are they like that? You're not in because of your emotional state. You're in because of what Jesus Christ has done, and let the devil never take it from you. Do not doubt. And I get tired a little bit of this preaching that wants you all to doubt. If you're living a poor life, repent. If you're not living a holy life, live a holy life. But do not doubt the power and the wonder of the way, the truth, and the life. Embrace him, hold onto him, grab onto him, and watch what he does as he pulls you out. into the beauty, get out of that dark room, get out through the window, and walk now into the beauty of the light. You get Jesus coming to as close to exasperation now as we've seen him. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. And from now on, you know him and have seen him, and then Philip says, Lord, show us the father, and it is sufficient for us. Oh, come on, Philip, you were the special one. God used you to call Nathaniel. You were the ones that the Greeks came to to usher in this whole thing. Remember, we talked that Jesus, when Philip said that the Greeks have come and talked to us, Jesus said, now the hour's come. Now we're gonna move beyond Israel into the whole world. The Great Commission's gonna start, and that means I gotta go to the cross. But what Philip is asking for is, again, not totally outside of the realm of scripture. When God came to Moses, he gave him evidence. There was a bush and it burned. Remember, children? And that bush didn't burn up. That must have been pretty amazing to see. And then a voice came out of the bush. Moses, you're standing on holy ground. And then later on, when he gives the law, And then God shows his shoulder to Moses. And then when Elijah is going through a very, very difficult time, God speaks to him in the still small voice through the marvel of all the whirlwind. And then later on in the marvel of the chariot and the flaming horses and all of that marvel. And Isaiah, as he is called, sees the indwelling of the Holy Spirit into the temple like Solomon did. So the Bible, by the way, and this is important for you to understand, God never asks you to blindly believe Him. He always gives you evidence. Look at that sun this morning. The heavens declared His glory. Where do you think that came from? Go take a look at Luke King today, and you see that little baby, and my favorite is those little pinky nails. If that isn't a testimony of God, I don't know what is. God does not leave you without evidence. Look at the groom here. What do you think this is about us? Because we're such great, amazing people. This is about God with us who said, you need to get together this week to stir each other up. God never leaves us without evidence. That's why He gave us the Word. And in special times and special ways, He used special signs and wonders that we would know like we saw two weeks ago when Jesus was speaking about this to the Jews. Look at the signs, look at the wonders. I'm not simply saying believe in me blindly. Look and see what God is doing. You know that the Father is in me. You know that the Father and I are one. So remember we've been talking about predestination and the sovereignty of God is all over the book of John. The perseverance of the saints is all over the book of John. Whoever God gives to Jesus, God and Jesus will preserve them into the things of glory. There's no other way we would get into heaven otherwise. But now you see, as we move to the end, the power of the Trinitarian God. The Father and the Son are one. The Father is in the Son. The Son is in the Father. And then as we keep moving through chapter 14, we're going to find out that they send the Holy Spirit, who is one with them, so that you and I can be one with the Father through Jesus, because we're one with Him. John 17, keep them one Father. Let the world know that we are one, one in the Spirit, one in the Lord, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Why? Because there's one way, one truth, one life. You've seen me. You've seen the Father. You don't need a theophany, Philip. Blessed are you who have not seen but believe, 1 Peter tells us. He gives us the evidence, as we hear this afternoon, that the very things that are written in the Word of God, even children can see, that they came to pass, that they're true. The Bible tells me so. Don't just believe. Look at the things that I have done. Have I not been with you? He who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the work. You can see then, right, that many religions, and again I mention Islam because it's growing and we're having to deal with them, they don't want one God who is three in one. They think logically that doesn't work, which is really interesting because that would mean that God is limited to my human logic. Again, that Jesus never said that he was God, but I am. The way, the truth, and the life. The Father is in me, and I am in the Father, and the Holy Spirit and the Father are one, and we are one together. The Trinity in unity. Unity in Trinity. It's a remarkable, beautiful thing. It is the light that comes from God that we meet in Jesus Christ, because don't we read that in John chapter 1? In him we meet God, the grace of God, face to face. So the minute that any religion, any philosophy rejects Jesus as the way and the truth, they've lost the Father. And if they've lost the Father because they deny it as truth, they've lost life. Philip, that's not you. You've seen me. You've seen the works that I have done. Now, the NIV has miracles. I think the new King James does better here. It's the works. I fed people in the wilderness twice, 5,000 and 4,000. I calmed the sea. I made dead people rise from the dead. I made people who were blind see, but I did more than that. You remember when they kicked that man out of the synagogue? I was his friend. Do you remember when they came after you and made fun of you? I stood up for you. I am your shepherd. I'm the one who loved you. I gave three years of my life for you and I am going to go to the cross for you. Why? Because the Father loves you. And I love the Father and I love everyone that the Father gives me. I am the shepherd. I am the good shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. I'm the gate. I open it up so you can come on in. And I shut that gate to keep you protected and safe until Jesus Christ calls you out of this life and into the next. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become the children of God. To those who believe in his name who were born, not of blood, but the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God, believe in me. And if you can't believe in me, then look at the works that I have done. Because I tell you, you're gonna do greater works than these. Now, what are we to make of that? That is interesting, isn't it? Verse 12, most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will also do, and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my father. Okay, Jesus is not saying that when I go to heaven, you on your own are gonna do greater works than I. He's not comparing. Here's what I did, and here's what you did. What he is saying is when I go to heaven, what I have been doing, you are going to do, you are going to continue to do, and I am going to do even greater things through you and you will experience it. You're gonna see conversion. You're gonna see the worldwide spread of the gospel. You're gonna see the growth of church. You're gonna see the effects of the church in terms of the building of the kingdom of God. Schools for children. Hospitals for the sick. Welfare and care for the poor. That belongs to the kingdom of God. That belongs to the people of God. You, Jesus says, will see what I will do and it will astound you. That's why I need to go to heaven to send the spirit that you will do these greater works. And then pray. Pray in my name. Pray in my name and I will give it. Here is, this text has been horribly abused. Whatever you pray in Jesus' name, he has to give it. You really think now, do you really think that Jesus is gonna go to the cross so that I can drive a Lamborghini? Do you really think that Jesus is gonna hang there on the cross so Al can have some beautiful mansion? That is almost sick. It's disgusting. And yet preachers preach it. And you know how many Canadians believe it? You know how many people in the world believe it? What is Jesus saying? Whatever you ask in my name, whatever you ask in accordance with me, do you love me? I'm dying on the cross so you can get back to God. That's your great desire, to serve this God, to live for this God, to suffer for this God, to maybe even be crucified for this God. God, that's what I want to do. That's how I want to live. We're talking about the converted here. Those are the people who pray in the name of Jesus. As if Jesus dies to become my personal genie. Oh master, let me grant you three wishes. Let's put that far from us. It's the greatest thing that happened to Stephen Algersma. He died and went to heaven because Jesus died for him and he had faith to believe it. What more did he need? What more do you need? What more do I need? And yet I told you, I want to walk back into the room of darkness with Philip and with Thomas because the light is too blinding. It's too amazing. Sometimes it just seems too gracious. But don't, beloved. Walk to it. Walk through it. Walk into it. Because there you'll find Jesus and pray. Pray that you will be his servant. Pray that you will be part of the great work that Jesus is doing. Do we pray that enough, beloved in Sheffield? That God would use us not to pay the bills, to take care of the family first of all, but to do the things of the kingdom of God. I know I fall short. We can even do it for our church. We can even be working to make Sheffield great, and then we're still missing it. Our prayers need to be in light of the way, the truth, and the life, who brings us back to the Father, and then comes back to us, the Father to us, the bridge works both ways, so that we now become the effervescence of that light, calling people out of the excluded into the included. telling them the marvel and the beauty about Jesus. And these sermons cannot just simply be something, wow, that was beautiful to hear. It has to be something that we do. We can't just talk about it. We have to talk to people about the great things that Jesus has done. Because that's what the whole Bible's about. How do you get back to God, Jesus? What's real living? Jesus, what's the truth? The word who became flesh. Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. Without the way, there's no going. Without the truth, there's no knowing. And without the life, there's no living. So remember that cadet hymn. Live for Jesus, the life that is true, striving to please him in all that you do. Such love constrains us now to answer the call and bring all your prayers in Jesus' name. Repent and believe the kingdom of God is at hand. See the light, walk to it, get out of that window and live in the bastion of the kingdom of light for you are the light of the world, amen.