Sermon Tone Analysis

Jesus Is the Way, the Truth and the Life

John 14:1-6

Series: The Great I Am

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - Feb. 23, 2014

BACKGROUND:

*Jesus Christ is the great I AM, Lord God Jehovah of the Old Testament, and over the last 5 weeks we have looked at the Lord's "I AM" statements in John.

*For us the "I AM's" reveal great truths about our Savior.

But through these statements, Jesus also rightly claimed to be the God of the Old Testament.

Fourteen hundred years before Christ was born as a man, He appeared to Moses in the burning bush.

And when Moses asked God His name, God said this to Moses: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'''

*In Hebrew this name "I AM" was Jehovah or Yahweh, and it's fair to say that this is God's favorite name for Himself.

He uses it almost 7,000 times in the Old Testament.

God also uses this "I AM" name almost a thousand times in the New Testament.

I say that, because the name "Jesus" means "Jehovah is salvation."

*Please open your Bibles to John 14, to see another of the Lord's famous "I AM" statements.

This morning we will begin by reading John 14:1-6.

This statement came from the Lord on the night before He died on the cross for us.

INTRODUCTION:

*Do you ever get troubled?

-- The disciples were certainly troubled that night.

Remember the situation: The disciples had been with Jesus for almost 3 years, and they had seen the most amazing things anyone has ever seen.

They saw raging storms calmed with a word.

They saw 5,000 men, plus thousands more women and children, all fed with a little boy's lunch.

The disciples also saw thousands of people instantly, miraculously, completely healed with a word or a touch from Jesus.

They had even seen people even raised from dead!

*Then in Matthew 16:15&16, Jesus asked His disciples:

15. . .

"Who do you say that I am?''

16. . .

Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.''

*The Lord rejoiced over the revelation our Heavenly Father had given to Peter.

And Jesus boldly declared that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church.

But in the same conversation, Matthew 16:21 tells us that: "From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."

*The disciples got very troubled on that day, and their trouble only grew as they got closer to the cross.

They were highly troubled in John 14, because things had not worked out like they hoped.

They were also troubled, because they were coming face to face with their own weakness.

*In the last 2 verses of John 13, the Lord pointed out how weak Peter was, and it hurt.

37. Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?

I will lay down my life for Your sake.''

38.

Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake?

Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.

*Sometimes the Lord has to point out our failures, too.

And yes, He loves us.

Yes, He forgives us.

But it's still a time of trouble.

The disciples were troubled, because they came face to face with their own weakness

*They were also troubled, because the one who mattered the most to them in life was being taken away.

But in vs. 1, Jesus said: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me." Verse 6 gives us 3 great reasons to believe in Jesus.

1. First: Believe in Jesus because He is the way without exception.

*Jesus said, "I am the way."

The word picture is a road or some route to take for a journey, and there is no other way to Heaven but Jesus.

As He said in vs. 6, "No one comes to the Father except (by or) through Me."

The Apostle Peter later echoed this truth in Acts 4:12, when he said: "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

*Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven, though many people try other ways.

Greg Buchner explains: "Buddhism teaches that the ultimate goal is Nirvana where all pain and suffering exist no more.

And the way to reach this Nirvana is by following the Eight-Fold Path to Enlightenment.

Then you reach that place of total nothingness.

*In Hinduism, the ultimate goal is also Nirvana, but this Nirvana is different.

Instead of being snuffed out like a candle, Nirvana for a Hindu is being reunited with the all-pervading force of the universe through reincarnation."

*They believe that how you live in this life determines what kind of animal you will be in the next life.

They believe that a man's soul can be reborn in the future as a cow, a snake, a bug or some other animal.

But in Hebrews 9:27, God's Word says: "It is appointed unto men once to die. .

."

*"In Islam, heaven is a paradise of wine, women, and song.

And the way to achieve this blissful paradise is, ironically, to abstain from these things in this world.

In addition, a Muslim must follow the Five Pillars of Islam to achieve paradise.

*Judaism denies that Jesus Christ is Lord, and holds that one obtains eternal life by following the Laws of God.

But no one except Jesus has ever been able to fully live up to the Law.

So what are we to do?" (1)

*Without a way to Heaven, we are hopelessly lost.

But Jesus IS the way! James Merritt points out: "Jesus said the way to Heaven is not a principle, not a practice, not a precept, and not a philosophy. . .

The way to Heaven is a Person.

We can try to keep the Golden Rule and all of the Ten Commandments.

We can go to church, study our Bibles, pray, and give lots of money to charity.

And all of that would be great, but all of that all put together, would not pave one brick on the road to Heaven.

Jesus is the way.

And if you're going any other way, you're going the wrong way."

(2)

*A lot of misguided people are like the man who said that getting to Heaven was like getting to Boston.

There are a lot of roads that will get you there.

But a wise Christian told him: "No, getting to Heaven is much more like flying into the Boston airport.

The pilot has to land that plane on just the right runway, at just the right speed, at just the right time, at just the right angle.

There is only one way to land that plane.

And there is only one way to Heaven.

It's Jesus Christ!" (3)

*Anthony DeMello told about a family that moved into a new neighborhood.

Soon, one of the grandfathers came for a visit.

Papaw took his little granddaughter for a walk in the new neighborhood.

*They walked for around 15 minutes.

Then Papaw asked, "About how far do you think we are from home?"

The little girl said she didn't know.

"Well, what direction do you think we should take to get back?"

Papaw asked.

She said: "I don't know!"

Then with a twinkle in his eye, Papaw said, "Sounds to me like you're lost."

But the little girl smiled and said: "I'm not lost Papaw.

I'm with you." (4)

*That little girl trusted her papaw enough to know that he was the way home, and that's the way we should trust in the Lord.

Jesus Christ loves us so much that He died on the cross for our sins.

And now the Risen Savior says: "You can trust me today, tomorrow and forever.

You can trust me to lead you all the way home to Heaven, because I am the way."

Believe in Jesus because He is the way without exception.

2. And believe in Him, because He is the truth without error.