A wonderul promise for all who pray in Jesus' name

Text John 14:13,14 Date 21/05/08 Place Childs Hill Baptist

I want us to look tonight at another of the great texts of the New TestameT. It is found in John 14:13, 14. Once again Jesus is the speaker. He says to his disciples And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

The verses concern prayer and so are of interest to practically everyone. You will rarely meet a person who has not at least on one occasion or another prayed. I was walking along Cricklewood Broadway on the Friday before Christmas and I saw a great pile of shoes on the pavement. I wondered why. Muslims were praying nearby. Prayer is speaking to someone (usually in English we mean someone you cannot see) and asking them for something. Even people who are not brought up to do this seem almost instinctively to engage in this sort of activity. All sorts of people pray, even those we may least expect. I am not suggesting that all this praying is right praying or good praying – not at all. I am simply pointing out that people do pray. If you don't believe me, ask around.

Jesus spoke these words on the night he was betrayed. Following the Last Supper, Jesus had many things to say to his disciples and John records a great deal of it in Chapters 14, 15, 16 of his Gospel. Chapter 14 begins with Jesus saying Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.

This prompts Thomas's objection Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way? And Jesus's wonderful answer I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

He adds If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him which leads to Philip's request (8) Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. Jesus responds Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father?Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

He then says (12) I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. This is a great promise in itself but one that we have no time to look at tonight. It is trumped by the verses that follow where Jesus adds the even more amazing words that we want to look at tonight (13, 14) And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

We want to say four things arising out of these verses.

1. Consider this wonderful promise concerning prayer

So Jesus says I will do whatever you ask. I think we need to ask just two questions to get at what we are being told here.

1. Who is this promise for? Clearly Jesus is speaking to his disciples here and so when he says I will do whatever you ask the you he has in mind are specifically disciples, followers. See verse 12 anyone who has faith in me. This does not mean to say that Jesus will never do anything for anyone else but it does mean to say that he is committing himself only to doing what his own disciples ask and only what those who come to him in faith ask. If I say to someone I will do this or that for you – you only have to ask, then when they phone me or ask me personally for that offered help then I am under an obligation to help them. Of course, with others I have the choice - I can help or I may not do so. So, if you are not a disciple of Jesus you are free to ask Jesus to do something for you and he may well do it. You may be able to give me examples where he has answered your prayers. However, strictly speaking, this promise is only for disciples. It is for people who have already committed themselves to following and serving Jesus. Certainly if we do not come to Jesus in faith then there is no hope of an answer.

2. What does it commit to? Now this is the most striking element here. When I gave an illustration just now you notice that I didn't say “If I say to someone I will do anything you ask ....” rather I said “If I say to someone I will do this or that for you”. That is because I never would and never should say to anyone “I will do anything you ask”. I am not in a position to make such a sweeping promise. I know people say such things. You get it in several popular songs

I would do anything for you Anything for you

If I only had you by my side

I would do anything for you Anything for you

If you wave goodbye I'll be waiting for you

If I were a bird I would sing for you if I were a bell I would ring for you

If I were a tear I would cry for you for I would do anything for you

If I were a kite I would fly for you if I were a ship I would sail for you

If I were a heart I would beat for you for I would do anything for you

If I were the day I would dawn for you if I were the sun I would shine for you

If I were a rose I would bloom for you for I would do anything for you

If I were a joke I would laugh for you if I were a ball I would bounce for you

If I were a clown I would dance for you for I would do anything for you

Well, songs are one thing. As a norm we cannot really make such promises. But Jesus can. When he says to his disciples I will do whatever you ask then he means it. It is his commitment. It is his promise.

So that's the first thing. Here is a wonderful promise. It's not for everyone. It's only for disciples – though if that is how Jesus speaks to his disciples then there is hope for us all. If he will do whatever they ask then he must be willing at least to do something for anyone who asks. Take this promise seriously then. Become a disciple of Jesus Christ and believe his promise.

2. Consider this important qualification to the promise

So anyone who is a disciple has this promise I will do whatever you ask. But isn't that dangerous? Isn't it a bit like giving a child the key to the medicine cabinet? Isn't it like letting someone have a blank cheque book? Won't we end up with the lunatics taking over the asylum? It raises all sorts of questions. So if a believer asks Jesus for a million pounds will Jesus give it to him? Can he win the lottery or get a better job or a new car or live until he's a hundred just by asking Jesus? Does it mean that no believer need ever be ill or poor? If he prays to die will Jesus let him die just there and then, even though he might have changed his mind otherwise? Or what if he is having a really bad day and prays for some reason for some terrible thing like death for his enemies or to give in to his temptations and sin? It's beginning to sound more like a nightmare than a wonderful promise. It's starting to sound like a recipe for chaos not a great source of blessing.

Well, it is important, isn't it, to notice those three little words that we have not mentioned yet. What Jesus actually says is I will do whatever you ask in my name. 'Ah' says some one 'I knew it was too good to be true'. Well, yes there is this qualification but it is not a let out as such but a reminder that the true believer will want only to do what is according to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, what is pleasing to him. Thankfully, it is only that which Jesus commits himself to doing. He will do only what a Christian asks him to do if it is in line with his character and purposes. This is then not a get out clause but a word of reassurance. It is like a safety net, if you will. Yes, in general Jesus will do whatever a believer asks but he will not use that against them. Where their request would clearly run contrary to his own wise character and purposes then he overrides that request. Something like the way a good parent will give his child what it asks for but not in a way that will actually lead to their harm or hurt. Of course, parents can get such judgements wrong but Jesus always makes a right judgement as far as this is concerned.

So when a believer prays he has a great freedom. He is confident that Jesus will do for him whatever he asks as long as it is in his name. This is not a matter of adding on the phrase 'we ask this in Jesus' name' every time he prays but of asking for whatever he feels he ought to ask for but bearing in mind that the answer he gets will not necessarily be what he expects.

So if a believer wants to be rich he can ask for that but it may well be that Christ does not want that for him. Similarly, for the better job or the new car or the long life or the decent wage. As he gets to know what Jesus desires he will not want to win the national lottery or see his enemies die or give in to his temptations.

3. Consider why God answers prayer in Jesus's name

Now the question arises as to why God has arranged things in just this way. It is clear that if Jesus simply gave us whatever we asked for without qualification, then that could be disastrous. Why then does Jesus not simply give us what ever we need without there being any place for prayer at all? Well here Jesus explains the reason - so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. It is as we pray to the Son and through the Son and as the Son answers in accord with his own name that he brings glory to God the Father, which is the whole purpose of everything anyway.

It is important that we remember that this is the purpose of prayer. Otherwise, we will very easily be frustrated and discouraged. If we think that prayer is just about asking for things for ourselves we will misunderstand. If we think it is just about asking for things for anyone who is in need we will still misunderstand. Rather, we must see that it is a way for God the Son to glorify God the Father. Because all prayer is either to be to God the Son or in the name of God the Son then it brings all glory to God the Father. When prayer is made to anyone else or through anyone else or in our own name then it does not bring glory to God. As you know, the Roman Catholic church teaches that prayer can be made through Mary and the other saints not just through Jesus Christ. That is utterly false and all it serves to do is to draw attention away from God the Son and God the Father and to rob God of his glory. We can say the same thing about people who think they can come in their own name and on their own behalf to God. But God himself is clear on this. He will not share his glory with another. No, whenever prayer is made it is to be made in Jesus's name. It is to be made to him or through him and for the glory of the Father. Anything else is false and sinful. We must see this and apply it to ourselves.

4. Hear the promise repeated and confirmed

Verse 14 really just sums up what we are told here - You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. I really want to urge every one of you to get hold of this truth and to act on it. Jesus stands with arms open as it were and he says to you all, Come to me in faith. Believe in me. Ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. Do you want to be saved? I'll save you. Do you want to know the truth? I'll show it to you. Do you want to escape from hell? I will save you. Do you want to go to heaven? I will take you there. Do you want to be with God forever and forever? I can bring it about. Go to Jesus I urge you – ask him anything. As long as it is according to his will, he will do it. No questions asked.

This is how to begin to pray. Christians often go to God the Father in prayer but they also pray to God the Son. Stephen is an example of soeon ewho orayed the the Son. An unbeliever cannot really go to God and call him Father but he can go to Jesus believing he is the Son of God and asking him to act for him. I would recommend that as the way to begin to go to God. Whatever praying you may have done before I urge you tonight to go to Jesus and ask in his name for anything you want. Ask him to save you, to change you so that you are what you ought to be for the glory of God. Amen.

What the Bible is really all about

Text John 5:39 Date 19 03 17 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

I want us to look this evening at a text that is found in John 5:39, 40. The words are the words of Jesus. He is speaking to Jews in Jerusalem, people who were refusing to trust in him, and he says to them had been an invalid for 38 years. Jesus famously told this man to take up his bed and walk. Because the incident occurred on a Saturday, on the day of a Jewish Sabbath, the Jews were very concerned and accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath laws. This is one of the things they persecuted him for.

In verses 16-18 we read So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defence Jesus said to them, 

"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working." For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

From verse 19, Jesus speaks to the Jews and explains his intimate relationship with the Father. Then from verse 31 he comes on to the question of why they should believe him. He agrees that if he testifies about myself, his testimony is in some ways not valid. But he says (32) There is another who testifies in my favour, and I know that his testimony about me is true.

This is probably a reference to the testimony of his Father, which was known from time to time. He goes on though to speak about John the Baptist. Verses 33-35 You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. 

Then he says (36) … the works that the Father has given me to finish - the very works that I am doing - testify that the Father has sent me.

Quite apart from that (37, 38) … the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. Their problem is that they have never heard his voice nor seen his form, - nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.

It is then that he says You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, … he adds yet you refuse to come to me to have life. He is pointing to the Scriptures then, to the Bible, as another major source of testimony to him. With these two verses in mind I want to say four things to you

1. Here is a good practice but that in itself can guarantee nothing

Jesus begins by saying You search the Scriptures. By the Scriptures he means, of course, what we now call the Old Testament Scriptures – the Bible, the Word of God as it is. These people did search the Scriptures, they studied them, they worked hard at examining them. And Jesus doesn't object to them doing that. Far from it, that was one of the better characteristics of these people. It is good that people search the Scriptures.

Many people do study the Scriptures. The Pharisees especially were famous for it. There have been many scholars since who do the same thing. Today there still many like that. Some of them are university professors and they write very learned tomes on these things. Others are of a more amateur sort but they study the Scriptures and are able to come up with all sorts of things about the Bible. Some are quite liberal and simply want to debunk traditional views. They look for errors, anything that will undermine the real truth. Others are rather cranky. Remember that book that came out a few years ago and was a bestseller The Bible Code. Many others have claimed to have found secret codes in the Bible as well. You have heard of Kabbalah which became very popular with some a few years ago. The Kabbalists have been coming up with that sort of thing for years.

It is right that we should be encouraged to read the Bible. It does contain wonderful things. Sometimes people are encouraged in this direction by stories like this one (which comes in various forms but is probably based on something that H G Wells wrote many years ago in the nineteenth century).

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautifully wrapped gift box. Curious, and somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold.

Rather angry, he shouted at his father and said "with all your money, you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house.

Many years passed and the young man became successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but he realised that his father was getting old, and he thought perhaps he should go see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day.

Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still gift-wrapped Bible, just as he had left it, years before. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had carefully underlined a verse, Matt.7:11, And if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father which is in Heaven, give to those who ask Him?

As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had wanted. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words PAID IN FULL!

Now, as far as it goes, the story is good in that it says read the Bible, you don't know what treasure you might be missing out on and I certainly want to encourage you to study the Scriptures. Search them, research them. Do all the study in them you can. Take time to read them every day. Get to know them as well as you can.

However, it's important that you don't see this as an open sesame. Merely searching the Scriptures guarantees nothing in and of itself. These people searched the Scriptures but they didn't benefit from them. It did them no good.

Some people who don't live in London wished they did. The things they would do if only they lived in London – the plays, the musicals, the museums, etc. We live in London and we know that it is not that simple. Just living here is not enough. If you want to do all there is to do you still need time and money and the energy to do it all.

Similarly, reading the Scriptures, searching them, is good but guarantees nothing of itself. So, search the Scriptures but realise that this good practice guarantees nothing.

2. Here is a correct idea but that in itself can guarantee nothing

Jesus goes on by saying for in them you think you have eternal life. Now again they were right and they were wrong. Jesus recognised that they saw the Bible as the key to eternal life. He does not argue with that for one moment. It is in this book that the key is found However, even if you know that you are still not quite there.

Yes, the Jews accepted that there was a coming resurrection to life and they hoped to take part in that world to come but they thought that the way to it was by means of doing good deeds. They thought that because they were Jews and kept the law (they thought they kept the law) this would lead to eternal life.

No doubt there are people today who read the Bible and they read the Bible because they think that it will give them eternal life. However, if you do not know how the Bible will lead you to eternal life then it will be of no use to you.

Did you hear the story of the man who went on the holiday of a lifetime to America and wanted to take good pictures so that he would remember it and be able to share with others. He borrowed his son's Gopro camera. Sadly, he put it in selfie mode and so all his pictures were of himself (except for one selfie he tried to take). At one point he says “Look at that for a view of the mountains. Isn’t it stunning? There’s the Trump Tower – same colour as his hair.”

All you actually see is his face again. The video is on Youtube. 

Now there are people who are doing the same thing with the Bible. They believe it will lead them to eternal life and it will but they are going about things all the wrong way.

I trust you are not making the same mistake.

3. Here is a vital thing to understand if the good practice and the correct idea are to be of any value to you

Jesus then says and these these Scriptures are they which testify of Me. Here is the key to it all. If you fail to see this then all your Scripture reading will be of no use, all your realising that the Bible is the key to eternal life will do you no good.

I happened to flick through the channels on the TV the other day at home and I came across a woman telling a story. It was about how she and some friends of her had got into a party by saying at the door “we are friends of Peter's” which they were not. She was able to get away with it for a while until someone began to ask her questions. “What's your connection with Peter?” she was asked. Instead of opening up she claimed to have been in university with him. Where? In Manchester. Anyway after a few more a painful moments describing her deceit. She explained that in fact this party was a memorial one. Peter had died a year before from cancer. The party was a fund raiser organised by friends who wanted to remember him and raise money for charity. She and her friends felt pretty embarrassed you can imagine.

Now you may read your Bible every day and you may say you think it will lead you to eternal life but if you don't understand what it is really about then you will get nowhere. You need to see that it is all about Jesus

Let me give you some examples

Let's start with Genesis 3:15 where God says And I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. That is what happened at the cross – Satan struck Christ's heel and he did die but at that moment Satan's head was crushed. He will rise no more. This was God's purpose from before the fall.

In Exodus we read of the Passover Lamb by means of which the Israelites escape the Angel of death. John the Baptist points to Jesus and says

Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 

Think too of the rock which Moses struck in the desert and water flowed. Paul says very boldly in 1 Corinthians 10:4 

they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 

In Leviticus we read of Aaron the High Priest who represented the people. The Book of Hebrews reveals that Christ is our High Pries who has gone not into the Holiest place of the Temple but into heaven itself on behalf of his people.

In Deuteronomy 18:18 God says through Moses 

I will raise up for them a prophet like you like Moses from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. That Prophet is Jesus. 

Have you read that bit in Joshua before the Battle of Jericho (5:13-15) where Joshua sees 

a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, Are you for us or for our enemies? Neither, he replied, but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come. etc

And what did Joshua do next? He fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" 

He is told by The commander of the LORD's army … Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so. He is meeting with none other than the Second Person of the Trinity. 

When you come to the Book of Judges you learn about the judges or saviours who led the people then. They were all flawed individuals. They remind us that Jesus is the Saviour that God's people really need – One like them, raised up by God, filled with God’s Spirit. One who rescues people, who fights for them and defeats their enemies, who provides lasting peace and security for God's people. Jesus is the Saviour the people were longing for. One not flawed like the Judges but better than all the judges put together.

After Judges comes Ruth where we learn how Boaz becomes a guardian and redeemer to the outsider and cast off Ruth. He is referred to as Guardian-redeemer many times in the second half of the book.

Boaz and Ruth are ancestors of David the King, who himself points to his greater Son in so many ways. We saw this morning how he defeated Goliath as representative of his people and fought on their behalf.

There are many other places where we can see this so obviously.

In Job 19:25-27 Job says 

I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes - I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! Again in Esther you have the idea of one representative of the people, the Jews, who are under threat of extinction. Esther goes into the King and pleads on their behalf, saving not only herself but all the people too.

Psalms is full of prophecies about Christ. We mentioned some this morning. What about Psalm 2:6-9 (God says) I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain. I will proclaim the LORD's decree: He said to me, "You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.

Proverbs teaches us that Christ is our wisdom from heaven. 

In Isaiah 9:6 we read 

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

In Isaiah 53:3 we read He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Jeremiah 23:5 The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.

Ezekiel 34:23, 24 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.

It is Jonah's three days and three nights in the great fish that point to the death and rising again of Christ. 

Zechariah 9:9 says Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Malachi 4:2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.

You can argue about exactly how you see Christ in Scripture but he is its theme. That is what it is all about. Have you seen that? It is vital to grasp.

4. Here is a tragic mistake to avoid if you have understood this much

What Jesus actually says to his hearers is You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Because these men were so opposed to Jesus they refused to come to him. The truth is that the Bible that they claimed they loved so much is full of Jesus Christ but they had decided they would not go to him for eternal life and so in fact they were about to lose it all – Christ, the Bible and eternal life itself.

Don't make that mistake. The Bible is the source of eternal life. It is all about Christ. It is through Christ that eternal life is known. In this same chapter he says (24)

Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. That is the transition we all need to make. It is possible only through Jesus Christ.

Light and life at Christmas

Text John 1:1-9 Time 11 12 13 Place Childs Baptist Church

Let's begin by talking about Christmas trees. The origins of the Christmas tree is lost in antiquity although the connection with Germany is definite. It is from Germany in the nineteenth century that the Christmas tree along with other traditions came thanks to Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert. It probably goes back to the pagan past there and the winter tradition of bringing evergreens into the home. This tradition continued even after the Germans stopped worshipping trees and began to worship God under the influence of missionaries like Boniface.

It is said that Martin Luther began the tradition of putting lights (candles then) on the tree. One Christmas, it is said, he was walking in snow covered woods and noticed how the snow shimmered in the moonlight. Back at home he put candles on a fir tree and told his children an appropriate story. By the way, it was 1882 before the first electrically lit tree appeared – in New York unsurprisingly. Luther's idea was that the tree stood for darkness and the lights for Jesus the light of the world.

Of course, if you live in the northern hemisphere, the very nature of things means that at this time of year you get long dark nights (December 21 is the shortest day) and this is relieved by increasingly sophisticated and ubiquitous lights. The ideas of darkness and light are not difficult and come this time of year in the UK it is everywhere.

I say all of this because of the verses I want us to focus on tonight. The verses are verses 1-9 of John Chapter 1. They use the word light some seven times and the word darkness comes in verse 5: The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. Now clearly John is using the word light (and darkness) in a symbolic way. He does it all the way through the Gospel (think of Nicodemus coming by night and Judas stepping out into the night). It is well known that John begins his Gospel reflecting the beginning of Genesis – In the beginning was God ... In the beginning was the Word .... Genesis goes on to speak about God saying Let there be light and John says Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. Generally speaking, light is good and darkness bad, light stands for knowledge and goodness, darkness for ignorance and evil. What happens in Genesis 1 has a symbolic as well as a literal meaning.

We want to say four things from these verses.

1. Realise that the Word has life and is the light of men

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

John begins by going right back to the beginning. To speak of the second person of the Trinity, the one we most often refer to as The Son, he uses the word Word. He says several slightly overlapping things about the Word.

1. In the beginning was the Word. If you go right back to the beginning the Word was there. He existed then. He has always existed.

2. And the Word was with God. Being there from the beginning The Word was with God who was also, of course, there from the beginning. He was with or towards God – face to face with him.

3. And the Word was God. Not only is it correct to say that he was with God but he also was God just a she is God now.

4. He was with God in the beginning. Just to re-iterate in part right at the beginning the Word was face to face with God the Father.

5. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. Everything that was created was made through him. Nothing has ever been created without him. He had a hand in it all. One reason we know he is not a creature is because of this statement.

6. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. This follows on from the statement about everything being made through him. He has communicated life to every living creature. Any life it has comes from him. As Hebrews 1:3 puts it, he sustains all things by his powerful word. John reports later how Jesus says (5:21, 24-26) For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. … I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. Or what about John 11:25, 26? I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. John adds back here that life was the light of men and that is another I am saying – John 8:12 I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. That phrase light of life comes up many times in the Old Testament and the words light and life are obviously linked. To be alive is to see the light. Once the light goes you are dead.

So to recap, the Word is God and yet there is a sense in which he can be with God. It is as God and with God that he created all things and continues to give life and light to all. This Trinitarian theology is so important to keep to the fore in our thinking. Without that we are left with no incarnation and no gospel to share.

2. Understand that the light shines in the darkness of this world and is not overcome

That brings us to verse 5 a slightly difficult verse to translate The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it or better overcome it. The word used is best understood as referring to the darkness failing to overcome the light. This world is pictured as being in darkness – standing for ignorance and wickedness. Nevertheless the light of life continues to shine in it. The darkness is not able to choke out the light, it cannot extinguish it. When you want to put out the Christmas tree lights you switch off the power. If it is a candle, you can easily snuff it out and there is darkness. The light from God, however, is not anywhere as easily removed. It goes on shining even in the darkness of this world. Think of all the evil there has been in the world. Sometimes it overwhelms us it is so much. But the light goes on shining. Increasingly, day after day the light shines more and more brightly as we approach the perfect day.

There's something to give thanks for! It is there to encourage us. Sometimes it seems as though the night is closing in on us and the light is about to be snuffed out. When we begin to think like that we ought to stop and think again. That is not the reality. What is that verse from Isaiah quoted in Matthew 12:20? A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. Or think of Romans 13:12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light.

3. See that John the Baptist was not the light but bore witness to it as we must

Verses 6-8 are helpful in getting the difference between a prophet and the Word of God clear in our minds. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

We like to drive down to Oxford Street at some time around this time of year to see the lights. Now if we go down and see the lights and then tell you “They're really great this year. You should go and see them” then it is pretty clear that we are witnessing to the lights. Even if I say something like “I've seen the lights. Hey they're good” my point should be clear. I suppose I could wear a t-shirt with “I've seen the lights” on it or write it up for my blog. I might become such an advocate for the lights that people might even say it's the West End lights man. I suppose there is someone who gets it all organised. Do they ever say “He is the West End lights”? I don't know.

Well, John the Baptist was a man sent by God. Some did think he was Messiah but he wasn't. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe says John. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. Like all the prophets before him he was not the light as such but one who pointed to the light and to the Lamb as he so famously called him, the Lamb of God.

That's our job too as Christians be witnesses to the light, to point people to Jesus Christ.

4. Praise God that the light of men has come into the world

The last verse I want to look at tonight is verse 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. This is where John has been heading. He is talking about the Word of God and he has said that he is The true light, The true light that gives light to every man

Now he says he was coming into the world. His light was already in the world, nothing could stop it shining. But now the Light himself was coming into the world. He was shining in his own world and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. As John puts it so strikingly in verse 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. As he says elsewhere they preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. Nevertheless, just as the darkness could not overcome the light so to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. They were supernaturally born again.

Verse 9 says The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. Verse 14 says the same thing in a different way - The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. The light idea is not dropped entirely - We have seen his glory, John says the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse 18 sums it up No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

What a reason to praise God. God has not left this world in its darkness of ignorance and evil. The light has not only shone but the light itself has come into this world and shone here on earth. How can we picture it? It is one thing for a you to be lost in the dark and for a helicopter to shine down its beam of light to help you see. It is another for the helicopter to land and for the crewmen to get out and take you by the hand and lead you as he shines his powerful torch in front of him. Every illustration breaks down. Here it is that we do not have a man with a torch but one who is light itself, a human torch as it were.

A light can lead a person astray. It can lead nowhere or into danger. It can be as we say a mere flash in the pan. A true light, however, is a guiding light. It leads away from the rocks and safely to harbour. Christ the Light of the world is the one to look to now and always.

Bible's best known text: What God's done and why

Text John 3:16 Time 18 11 07 Place Childs Hill Baptist ChurchI remember some years ago being at the Aberystwyth Conference and for some reason the advertised preacher wasn't able to be there and so they asked an elderly preacher to preach – a man who died not long after. I remember this man saying that he had made a promise to God that if an opportunity like this should arise he would preach always from John 3:16 – and that's what he did. I don't know exactly how much impact it had but I do know that at least one young man was deeply affected and he went on to become a professor in a Reformed Theological Seminary in America.
Now I've not made any promises to preach on John 3:16 but in recent weeks we have been looking at some famous texts. We've looked for example at Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and John 14:6 Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. This morning I want us to look at what is probably the most famous text in all the Bible – John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3 is the chapter where Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night and is told that he needs to be born again. Verse 16 is one of several great verses in that chapter and is perhaps the best known of them all. The words were probably spoken by Jesus on that night, though they could be John’s later inspired words.
There are certain famous addresses – 10 Downing Street, 221b Baker Street, 263 Prinsengracht, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, etc. Well, this is one of the most famous, perhaps the most famous address in the Bible, the most famous text – John 3:16.
The reason it is so famous is because it says so many important things, vital things, in such a short space. Martin Luther once called it ‘The Bible in miniature’. And that's what it is.
Like Genesis 1 it begins with God - For God. It goes on to speak about his love for this world, which we see in the rest of Genesis and beyond. It speaks of how he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. This is what the OT points forward to and what the NT reveals so clearly.
Someone else said it contained the gospel in a nutshell. All you need to know is contained in this wonderful text.
The great C H Spurgeon surprisingly only preached on it once – in 1885. He was rather surprised that he had not preached on it more as, he said, it was ‘the sole topic of my life’s ministry’. I’ve preached on it more than once and maybe you've heard more than one sermon on it but it is such a great text that just as you can go again and again to certain houses and see things that you haven’t seen before so we can turn to it again and again, I’m sure, without exhausting it.
When Spurgeon finally got round to preaching it he spoke chiefly of the love of God. Interestingly, when his contemporary Bishop J C Ryle, turned to this text, his emphasis was chiefly on faith. Both are here and I want to give them equal weight. So I want to consider two things: God's love and our faith. We will ask two questions
1. What has God done? 2. Why has he done what he has done?
1. According to this famous text, what has God done?1. According to this famous text, there is a God

Now this may seem a rather obvious thing to say to some of you but we mustn’t miss it. The text begins For God and we must not go rushing into what the text means without pausing first to remind ourselves that there is a God. Now I know that by no means everyone accepts this. There seems to be a small but growing tide of atheism in the country today. Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, etc, are very keen to get us not to believe in God. And even where others at least accept the idea of God in theory, they nevertheless live as if there were no God. What is the theory of evolution all about but a desperate attempt to push God out of the picture? The Bible recognises this phenomenon. Ps 14:1-3 The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no-one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no-one who does good, not even one. The truth is that everyone knows there is a God – we all know the truth. However, for the most part we try to suppress that truth (Rom 1:19ff) What may be known about God is plain to all, because God has made it plain. For example, since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. Those who deny God’s existence or who live as if there were no God are without excuse then. Although in one sense they know God, they neither glorify him as God nor give thanks to him, but their thinking is futile and their foolish hearts are darkened. Although they claim to be wise, they have become fools. They have exchanged God’s glory for a lie. One day we will all stand before God to be judged and then all our feeble excuses about not knowing him or not being sure will crumble to nothing.
2. According to this famous text, he is a God who loves

Well, what about this God then, the God who created all things and rules over all things, the God who will judge us all one day? For God so loved … That is the thing about God that this verse focuses on. There are many other things to say about God, it is true. He is powerful. He is perfect. He is eternal. He is infinite. However, he is also the God who loves. Indeed the Bible famously says God is love. This comes out both in the Old Testament and the New.
OT - Ex 35:5-7 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. He is (Neh 1:5) the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love.NT - near the end of 2 Corinthians Paul says the God of love and peace will be with you. The reason we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us is that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt 5:44).
What an important fact this is to keep in mind. What a wonderful subject – the love of God!
3. According to this famous text, he is a God who loves the world

Love always has an object and here it is the world. Now we use the word world in different ways. When we talk about 'travelling the world' we mean something different to 'feeding the world' and something else again when we talk about 'not following the world'. The Bible certainly uses the word world in various ways – as many as seven according to one writer. What is its meaning here? Some assume it must mean every person who ever has or ever will live. It is far more likely, however, that the word is being used in the sense of the fallen world, the wicked world of sin that opposes God – the world that lies in the lap of the evil one. As one writer puts it, it may seem to us an amazing thing that God loves the whole world but he is God – that is like being impressed with a blacksmith who can carry a whole mustard seed in the palm of his hand! No, the amazing thing is that God should love this wicked and rebellious world, the world that would crucify his Son and that even now is in open rebellion. Despite its wretchedness and sin God loves the world.
Spurgeon notes how great the love of God is in that it is seen in
1. The gift it led to – God’s very own Son. We will come to that next.
2. The plan of salvation – God’s purpose to save a people for himself in this very way.
3. Who salvation is available to – As we have said, the point is not that God loves the vast world but that he loves this rotten world. Who did he love? Those worthy of it? No! He loved rotten sinners like us. Romans 5:8 God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.4 According to this famous text, he is a God who so loves the world that he gave his one and only Son

That he gave his one and only Son. Cf 1 John 4:9, 10 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. In Titus 3:4 Paul refers to the coming of Christ as the time when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared.Several writers tell the story of a family somewhere in a time of famine coming to the conclusion that the only way they can raise money is by selling one of their sons into slavery. But which one can they give up? As they think it through they realise it is impossible and conclude it will be better for them all to die than to sell one. I can identify. Which of my 5 sons would I willingly give up if I had to? Not my first and eldest, not my youngest and neediest, not my calmest and best looking, not my brightest and most helpful, my smartest and most like me. None of them. Yet God, we are told, so loved the world that he gave up his one and only Son for the world. It is not one of the angels that God gave but his very own Son. He didn't lend him either, rather he gave him. He didn't spare him so that he might by this means save us who believe.
Spurgeon again mentions an aged minister of whom it was said ‘Whatever his text he never failed to set forth God as love and Christ as the atonement for sin’. This is what this text teaches us so clearly – God’s great love and the sending of his Son to deal with sin by means of his holy life and his death on the cross.
Spurgeon speaks of
1. Who he gave – his own dear Son. It is clear from Scripture that God is a Trinity and it is the Father who has sent the Son into this world.
2. How he gave – He gave him willingly and purposefully in order to make salvation certain.
3. When he gave – The coming of Christ was, of course, something that occurred in history. However, he is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world and it is in eternity that this wonderful redemption was planned – the Father’s plan was formulated before the beginning of time. Even then the Father was willing to send and the Son was willing to go.
What an encouragement this is. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32).
2. According to this famous text, why has God done what he has done?The verse also explains why God has done what he has done. That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. So why did God give his one and only Son?
1. So that something may happen to change the lot of many

At its most general we can put it this way. God did not send his Son, as some think, simply to provide a good example to us of how to live. He is a great example, of course, but by his life and death he is very much more than that. He came to make the difference between life and death, deliverance and destruction, heaven and hell. He did not come to give life to every single person, as we've said, but he did come to give life to the many. Do not think of God or of his love in a vague way. God’s love means redemption, deliverance and blessing for many. The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most significant event in history. It has changed everything.
2. So that

1. Negatively - They may not be destroyed as they would be otherwise

We tend to think that for some reason we all deserve to go to heaven. The truth is, however, that we have all broken God’s Law. We are all guilty sinners and so we all deserve his judgement in hell. All we like sheep have gone astray. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. Have you realised this of yourself? You are a sinner, guilty before God, deserving of hell and damnation. However, through Jesus Christ you can be delivered. You can be saved from destruction. Like a man condemned to death being told there is a reprieve. What glorious good news!
2. Positively – So that they may have eternal life through him

The positive side is that God has provided a way for sinners not only to be delivered from perishing but also to receive the gift of eternal life – everlasting life in Christ. Do you see that that is what Jesus Christ has purchased for sinners by his coming and living and dying and rising again?
3. What must I do to escape destruction and to receive eternal life?

That is made very clear here. God has given his Son so That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Faith is the thing that is needed – trust in Jesus Christ. ‘But what is faith?’ you say to me. It is not simply a matter of accepting certain facts intellectually. It is not merely a matter of feelings either. What is called for is an unreserved trust in Jesus Christ. Spurgeon helpfully speaks of it like this
1. You must firmly and willingly give cordial assent to the truth. Some don't accept the fact Jesus is God come in the flesh – that he lived and died and rose as it is described for us in Scripture. Without accepting that we cannot even begin to believe. This is basic. Do you accept these facts?
2. You need to accept these facts for yourself. It is possible to accept the facts but then say ‘But that has nothing to do with me. It’s all in the past.’ True faith sees that Jesus’s coming was for them. True faith can say ‘he lived and died and rose again and that can set me free. It can save me.’
3. Finally, there must be personal trust. Can you say ‘Living he loved me, dying he saved me, buried …’? Just as in the OT the one making a sacrifice would identify with the animal by putting his hands on the animal’s head so we must closely and personally identify with the Saviour. He must be ‘My Saviour’ ‘My Lord’. Can you say with Paul He loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20)?
In the NT faith is described in various different ways.
In terms of the eyes - it is looking to Jesus (John 3:17, Hebrews 12:2). Are you doing that today?
In terms of the ears – it is to hear Jesus This is my dear Son. Hear him. (Mark 9:7) He who has ears let him hear. In terms of the feet, faith is coming to Jesus (John 6:35 I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty). Come to Jesus today.
In terms of the hands it is receiving Jesus (Colossians 2:6, Revelation 3:20, John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God). Receive him today. Open your heart to him.
It is to build your life on Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:20). Is he your foundation?
It is called putting on Christ (Galatians 3:27 for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ) – it's like putting on a coat. Have you put on Christ?
It is like eating or drinking (John 6). Are you feeding on his flesh and drinking his blood as it were?
It is a matter of commitment (2 Timothy 1:12 I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day). Have you entrusted/committed all to him? You won’t regret it.
Each of these pictures underlines how simple faith is and how suited it is to what is required. Nothing could be easier than to come, to eat, to look, etc. In each case, as well, although something is required from us, we need to depend on someone or something outside us (what we put on, what we drink, the one we commit everything to, etc). I’m sure that is why I is by faith that God chooses to save.
We usually know when we have truly trusted in Christ as it leads to peace, a new heart, holiness, good deeds, overcoming world, the inward testimony of the Spirit and a special regard to Christ.
I do want to underline that Whoever - whatever your background, whether you are wealthy or poor, intelligent or not so intelligent, young or old, whatever your religious background, etc. What matters is not us but him. Look to him! Look only to him. Not just sometimes but always. If we have already come to believe then let’s seek to believe more, to grow stronger in faith. Ask God to increase your faith.
In a sermon on this text the Puritan John Flavel makes two helpful applications.
1. Consider the preciousness of a soul. 1 Peter 1:18, 19 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.2. To slight or reject Christ is the greatest evil. Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?I want to end by referring to a well-known way of illustrating this verse. It is clear here that in giving his Son God has given the greatest gift there can be and that gift is freely given. However we need to take it. To illustrate sometimes evangelists will hold out a £10 note or sweets for kids and say ‘Here is a free gift for anyone who wants it’. Usually no-one takes it (unless they’ve seen it done before!). They think there must be some catch but there isn’t. God offers salvation to you today.
You may say ‘I don’t want it’ but that just shows that you really don't understand heaven or hell.
You may say ‘I don’t believe this free gift is available’ but this verse is very plain.
It’s tempting to say ‘I’ll think about it’ but there is no guarantee of a future offer.
Perhaps you say ‘But surely I have to earn it in some way’ but no you simply need to receive it. Receive it today.

Jesus The Only Way

Text John 14:6 Time 14/10/07 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We looked last week at a famous text, Romans3:23, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. It is a famous New Testament text reminding us of our status by nature. We are sinners who fall short of God’s glory and unless he saves us then there is no hope for us.
This week I want us to turn to another famous New Testament text, an even more famous one perhaps. It is also, I suppose, a less negative, a more positive one. It tells us not only about our problems but also what the answer to those problems is. This time I want us to focus on words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. The text is found in John 14:6 where it says Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Once again it is a great text and one worth learning if you don’t know it already.
These words were spoken, of course, on the night that Jesus was betrayed, the night before his crucifixion. In John’s Gospel we have quite a full account of that night. All the way from John 13 to John 17, John describes what happened on that night and chiefly what Jesus said.

In Chapter 13 we have the footwashing and the discussion about who would betray Jesus, etc. Chapter 14 begins with Jesus saying Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house in heaven then there are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.
It is this last comment that prompts the question from one of Jesus’s disciples – Thomas - in verse 5 - Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way? We don’t know much about Thomas but we get the impression from what we do know of him of a very loyal, even courageous disciple, but a rather nervy character who is full of doubts and fears by nature. Perhaps you can identify.
Jesus has spoken of his Father's house and its many rooms where he is going to prepare a place. Thomas is eager to go to that place but how exactly? What really is the way to heaven, to the place where Jesus has now gone?
The Lord Jesus encourages questions like this. He wants us to be honest. Just think, if Thomas had not asked this question we never would have had this wonderful answer - I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
It is in reply to this question then that Jesus says in 6 I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. He goes on (7) If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. That leads to a further question from another disciple, from Philip, (8) Philip said, Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. That question receives the answer (9-11) Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say ‘Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves, etc.
All this extra material helps us to understand better what is being said by Jesus in 14:6.
One other thing worth mentioning here is that the phrase I am the way and the truth and the life is similar to a whole series of statements of Jesus preserved only in John’s Gospel. These are what we most often call the I ams of Jesus. There are seven altogether, all carefully chosen no doubt. The others are
I am the Bread of Life, I am the Light of the World, I am the Gate/door, I am the Good Shepherd, I am the Resurrection and the life, I am the True Vine.
We can divide John 14:6 up into four obvious parts.

The first part is the most direct answer to Thomas's question about the way. The references to truth and life act in a supporting role to this statement (if the way is the star then the truth and life also play their parts. They serve to amplify and make clearer what may seem otherwise muted or unclear). The final clause gives an important summary conclusion.
1. Jesus is the way we need to walk to get to heaven and God
So think firstly of a path, a road, a way; a way that leads to heaven.
Jesus does not say as so many religious leaders have done 'this is the way' or 'that is the way' to heaven but rather I am the Way. Jesus is the Prophet who points us to heaven but he is more than that - he is the Priest who saves his people so that they have a right to heaven and he is the King who leads his people safely all the way there. He is not only our great example but also our great Saviour.
This is one of the things that distinguishes Jesus and points to him as Saviour. What you need to get to heaven is not a philosophy or a way of life but a person – Jesus Christ.
He makes clear then that he is not simply the pioneer, the one who blazes the trail to heaven but he is the way itself. He is the Saviour, the Lamb of God who takes away sin, the Ladder or stairway up to heaven, the one who can give eternal life.
All these ideas bring it home to us. Without him there is no going to heaven. Without him the way in remains firmly closed against us. It is as we come to God through him that we gain access to heaven. He is the one in whom we must put our trust.
Yes, at other times the New Testament stresses the difficulties of getting to heaven. We have to go through many troubles to enter the Kingdom of God. Here, however, Jesus teaches a more fundamental truth – that the way to heaven is through him.
If we remembered the way to heaven and to God then the difficulties in getting there would concern us less.
By nature we are wanderers – we wander far from the right pathway. We are exiles far from home, with no hope of heaven. However, in Christ we see the way back home, the way to heaven. By nature we are far from God and we cannot come to him – that is our greatest misery but Jesus is the Way to him – and the greatest joy we can know is to be brought to God through Jesus Christ. This happens when we put our trust, our confidence, not in ourselves nor in anyone else but in him.
By nature we are not on the road to heaven but Jesus is the way – come to God through him. Put your faith in him.
There are many today who lack direction, many who are wandering far and wide. People are lost. They don’t know where to turn. We need to let them know this glorious truth that Jesus is the Way.
2. Jesus is the truth we need to know to get to heaven and God
I suppose Jesus could have simply left it there – I am the way. That may perhaps have been enough. But he does not leave it there. He adds and the Truth. I am the Way and the Truth. Jesus is not only the way but also the truth.
So this time the picture is more abstract – truth. We can picture truth as a completed circle or a line that is absolutely straight. If a wall, say, is straight, we say it is true. To prove true is to remain loyal – not to let a person down. There is the path, then but there is also knowing the way to walk. 'Stick to the path' that's the key.
Again, however, it isn’t simply that he is true and that his way is true. He is not simply saying that his is the right way – many have said that sort of thing. It is not just that he truly will bring his people to heaven. He is the right way, of course, and he will bring those who look to him to heaven. He is not simply saying that he speaks the truth either – although that is again true. We can trust every word Jesus spoke. Rather he is saying that he himself is the embodiment of the truth, the truth personified.
All other ways are false. To trust in anyone else is to reject the truth and to reject the one who is the truth. We must put our trust, all of it, in Jesus Christ, who is the truth.
I know that there is this idea about today (and it has existed in the past) that truth is relative. You have your truth, I have mine. In fact truth is something objective. If we let go of that idea we will be in big trouble. That is the spirit of paganism not of logical scientific enquiry or of Christianity.
And so when Jesus says what he says he is not saying, as some Hindus might suggest, that he has discovered in himself his own way and his own truth. No, Jesus is saying that the truth, reality if you like, is found in him and in no-one else. We must see this. Not to believe in Jesus Christ is to believe a lie. It is to believe something that is false, something that will be discovered to be false in the end.

Don’t believe a lie. Believe the Truth. Believe in Jesus Christ who is the Truth.
In the Old Testament we have the promises but in Christ we have the fulfilment. All the promises are yes and amen in him (2 Cor 1:20). Jesus is also the Truth then in the sense of being the reality that all the types and shadows of the Old Testament were pointing to. All those sacrifices, the priesthood, the Temple itself, King David and King Solomon, the land itself – it was all pointing forward to the reality itself, Jesus Christ the Truth.
Don’t look to shadows or types, for mere pictures but trust in Jesus Christ, the Truth itself.
By nature we are not only not on the road to heaven but we do not even know where that road is. Jesus is the truth – know God by knowing him. Put your faith in him.
There are many today who feel all at sea. They find it almost impossible to relate to reality. People don’t know what to think. They don’t know who to trust. We need to let them know this glorious truth that Jesus is the Truth.
3. Jesus is the life we need to live forever in heaven with God
Again, Jesus could have stopped with I am the Way and the Truth. No, it is I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. Jesus is not only the way but also the truth and not only the truth but also the life.
This time we are thinking not just of a path and knowing the way along it but of the life that enables a man to travel along that road. By nature we are not able to take one step in the right direction – there I no life in us. But Jesus is the life, he gives us the power and the strength to live the life that leads to heaven. Eternal life is something that is found only through trust in Christ.
And so again we say trust I him. Eternal life, the true life that leads to heaven is found only in him.
Again it is not simply that he gives life but that he has life in himself. He is the source of all life. Apart form him there I no life – but only decay and death and deadness. He alone can bring a person alive from death so that he can walk the truth path to heaven.
Yet again we see the contrast with other religious teachers. This is how to live they say but they cannot say here is life, come to me for I have life in myself that I can give to you. Jesus is quite different to that. Cf John 5:24-26.
By nature we are not only not on the road to heaven and ignorant of where that road is. In ourselves we have no life to enable us to find and to travel on the road. Jesus is the life – become alive to God by receiving life from him. Put your faith in him.
There are many today who feel utterly dead and that is exactly their state by nature. They are cut off from God and life in him. People lack spiritual life. They are listless and languid and lacking in true life. They are dead in their trespasses and sins. We need to let them know this glorious truth that Jesus is the Life.
It is as we see that Jesus is the truth that we come to know him as the life and so find the way to heaven.
Thomas A Kempis has Jesus say "Follow me. I am the way and the truth and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which you must follow; the truth which you must believe; the life for which you must hope. I am the inviolable way; the infallible truth; the never-ending life. I am the straightest way; the sovereign truth; life true, life blessed, life uncreated. If you remain in my way you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free, and you shall lay hold on eternal life."
4. No-one can come to the Father except through Jesus
The final picture is perhaps a locked gate or door allowing admittance only to those with the key. Or better a sentry on guard at that door or gate.
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
It is often illustrated quite simply in this way. If I want to get from the front door of this church to the parlour behind me then I have to come through this room. Given the starting point and the destination it has to be that way. You can get into the parlour through the back it's true (and every illustration breaks down somewhere it's true) but that's not really starting from the front door. In the same way, of you want to go to God the Father (given our position, our state by nature) it has to be through the Son. There is no other way. It is not that we will not let you go some other way – it is simply that there is no other way given that starting point.
More simply there is only one bridge from hearth to heaven, only one bridge that will take you all the way – Jesus Christ.
Jesus is revealed in Scripture as the One Mediator between man and God. He is the only Way, the only Truth and there is no life except in him. If you want to pray to God – it has to be through him. If we want God to speak to us it is only through him that he will speak. If we want to go to heaven it is possible only through him. To live a life pleasing to God is only possible through him. Apart from him none of these things are possible.
Often people like to think that there are many ways to God but in fact there is only one. God deals with us all as individuals and no two stories are exactly the same but the actual way to God is the same in every instance for there is only one way – Jesus Christ. This sort of statement does get people quite upset at times but we need to be very clear about it.
Can you come to the true God through just any religion? Can you find God through Hinduism or Buddhism for example? No you cannot. It is only through Jesus Christ.
Can you come to the true God through Islam, through believing what Muslims believe? No. It is only through Jesus Christ.
What about Jews? Is simply believing the Old Testament Scriptures and living a good life enough? No, once again (and this is so offensive to some I know) it is not. Everyone Jew and Gentile must trust in Jesus Christ the only Messiah.
What is you simply say you are a Christian and do Christian things, is that enough? Again that is not enough. You have to come to the Father through Jesus Christ otherwise you have not come to God at all. There is no coming to God except through him. As Peter says (Acts 4:12) Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
It is clear then that we must all put our trust in him and in no-one else. Further, it means to say that we must let everyone know. If there is no other way of salvation but through Christ anything less than that will not do. We must let people know.