God's GPS: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life

Hey guys, the this is Chuck. And what's a different world isn't isn't it? We we don't get to meet here at the church and we're all doing this internet thing. So I just asked for your forgiveness, but your patience as we go through this this time together. I think I've got the first sermon here today, as you know, we've been going through this study of Jesus and how he made his journey towards Jerusalem going forth across the last time we were together here at church. We talked about the triumphal entry how he came as a king and how the the crowds received him as a king as long as he was acting the way that he they would you too but when they realized that he was going to be crucified it's not the kind of cake. and so from that point forward we've had that the last supper with Jesus was washing their feet and then today and how he is the way the truth and the life and

the only way to heaven is to use God's GPS Matt is Jesus. So look with me if you would at the Book of John chapter 14 in Ruby in verses 1 through 6, and I'll read those verses to begin with First Chapter 14 verse 1 let not your hearts be troubled believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many rooms if it were not so would I told you that I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and we'll take you to myself that where I am. You may be also and you know the way to where I'm going, said to him Lord, we did not know where you were going. How can we know the way Jesus said to him? I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me. Let's pray father. Thank you for this technology that you've given us that we can use to join together over the internet, but I just pray that you be with us during this time. This is a time that is been unexpected by all of us. Everything is different everyday and settle honestly, we honestly don't know what's going on. But what we do know is that you are sovereign you are in control. You were good you love us and we can trust in you so father as we go through this journey together in dealing with this virus that is going around father. Just help us to lean on you not on our own understanding. Let me just ask that you be with us. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

So did the whole idea's GPS directions and I know guys aren't good at asking for directions, but reminds me of a story that I heard one time of Billy Graham when he was in a town about to have a meeting that night and he needed to mail a letter so he went down and he couldn't find the post office, but he found this little boy downtown in the asking where the post office was and little boys showed him and then as he was about to leave Billy said to I'm going to be in town tonight and preaching and what imma be preaching about is how you get to heaven and I'd like you to come and hear me preach about how to get to heaven and little boy said I missed dry. I don't think so because you don't even know how to get to the post office. How can you know how to get to heaven? You know, we all know all the time how to get to places. I know I remember growing up whatever we would have trips the going to visit relatives someplace or we getting in the car and traveling in other states. We would have this book just be grand McNally road atlas and you know, you can figure out where to go by looking at that. I have things changed and that used to be the norm to this. Everybody has a GPS in their car on their phone and there's no satellites can pinpoint you to within a centimeter anywhere on the earth if you pay for that type of high-resolution, but all you have to do is put in the address in your GPS and you can find out how to get to where you need to go. Well, I would submit to you that GPS has been around for a long time. I say about 2,000 years because Jesus is God's GPS specifically here in the Book of John chapter 14. We see first that Jesus is the way. John Deere, Jesus said let not your heart be troubled believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many rooms if it were not so what I've told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and we'll take you to myself that where I am. You may be also and you know the way to where I'm going and you just got to love Thomas. There's a lot of Thomas and everyone of us Thomas said so we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? You know it up to this point in the Book of John. Jesus had been telling his disciples. I'm about to leave and when I leave you can't come with me. You won't be allowed to follow me. Not yet. But then I said we don't know where you're going and then Jesus being the Good Shepherd that he was who's trying to assure them that even though he would be leaving and he wouldn't leave them hanging because ultimately they could trust in him. M in Greek in this 14th chapter when Jesus says I am the way I am the truth and I am alive. It's you know any English. Just pretty standard but in the Greek, this is emphatic. It's saying I that's the echo there I M E I am I in the way I mean it synthetic. I am the way no other way. I'm not a way I am the way I am the truth. I am the life. You know, this is another thing about this is when Jesus said I am the way there's also the idea that he's again stating his deity. I asked when he was talking to the Pharisees and they were kind of arguing back and forth with him. The Jews said to him you're not yet fifty years old and have you seen Abraham and Jesus replied to him saying truly truly I say to you before Abraham was I am so again, Jesus is making it and I am the way to heaven. I am the truth about head. I am the law by the eternal life that you would find in heaven. I am he's claiming to be deity. And so when he said that to the Pharisees they pick the stones and they were trying to kill him. What Jesus wants his disciples to know is this you don't really have to know everything about the journey, you know, these disciples new ultimately. They wanted to go to heaven but heaven was the concept of never seen it they didn't know where it was. But they knew Jesus the son of God and he's telling them look all you have to worry about. All you have to know is you just have to know me because I am the way and I will take you by the hand to take you to where I'm going. So just put your trust in me. I am the way.

The next thing that we see in this scripture is that Jesus is the truth. Now, you know, here's the scripture Jesus said to him. I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me, you know, when our world today people have a problem with truth because truth in today's world is not absolute any more people say, you know, that's just your opinion of what you think about God. That's just your opinion. I can have my own opinion. In other words. They think they have this idea that truth is relative truth is what it means to them. I don't know if you've heard people say this but I haven't and always kind of drives me crazy. I'm living my truth as if there is there there's no objective truth out in the world. If they are true. It's whatever they want to believe as truth. And of course when it comes to things of God, of course, we want to live our own truth because That means we get to play God. We don't have to depend upon or obey what God says about how if we don't believe that there's a God, you know, we believe what we believe is true. So living my truth and you see this today also in people talking about how we're supposed to be tolerant and talking about different religions. You might have seen a bumper sticker that kind of looks like this coexist where you have the sea is made up for something from Islam and O as a peace symbol the e is a male symbol of female symbol the x is the Star of David or Pagan religion the S is like

The Chinese I'm time to bring mess up here about what that's called to. Do. You have to cross that equal. They're the same. But Jesus said I am the truth. You didn't say I am a truth IMDb truth. There is only one source of Truth. Jesus created the universe. Only created it, but he sustains it and he sustains it by his power and he is the truth. The last thing that he said in that verse is that he is the life now. Again, it's the same verse. I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. But it's also if you would look back a little bit in John he talked about this before whatever he went to see Lazarus. Do you remember Lazarus had died in Jesus purposely delay this trip as so that he wouldn't be there to quote on quote save him. So when he arrived Mary was talking about, you know, if you'd been here Lord, my brother would still be alive. The Jesus said to her this first chapter 11 verse 25. I am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me though. He die yet shall he live and everyone who lives and Believes In Me shall never die. Do you believe this Jesus had talked about this before, you know, all these things kind of build each other because he is the way of Salvation because he is the truth about the only way of Salvation because of all that he is the source of life. Jesus is our GPS. He is God's perfect sacrifice. He is God's perfect savior. God created The Plan of Salvation before the world even began that revolved around his son coming to Earth to live a sinless life so that he could be a sacrifice for all of you and I Jesus is the way he's the truth and the life that other part of that verse verse 6 is he is the exclusive way. It says no one comes to the father except through meeting. Now world doesn't like that. They don't like Jesus's claim of exclusivity. They'll say you're being intolerant. But the truth if you remember when Muhammad Ali passed away, this is kind of the idea of the world when he passed away at his funeral he had an Interfaith funeral and so during his funeral he had Christians he had used he had Buddhist yet Mormons. He had Native Americans all speaking from their position as a leader in their face and made it was as if they were all equally valid the problem with that is those religions are generally mutually exclusive. You know for Christians Jesus is the son of God. He is God. He is one person of the Trinity. Where is the Jews say that Jesus was a Rebel Rouser and they had him executed Islam says that Jesus is not the Son of God because Allah doesn't have any sons those claims are mutually exclusive. They cannot not be true. One of them has to be true others have to be false. It's as if our world looked at it like this. If you have this mountain, there are these different paths that could ultimately in their opinion lead to God, you know, what is Christianity likes? And it's this hot this kind of idea this type of thinking has sunken into our own event Evangelical circles. There was a poll done recently where people or ass, do you think that God accepts the worship of all religions including Christianity Judaism and Islam and 52% of evangelicals agree with that statement with friends. I'll just tell you that is not what the Bible teaches the Bible teaches what Jesus just said, I am the way the way I am the truth the life no one comes to the father except through me.

And there's no doubt about his claim. There's no ambiguity. You made it very clear. No one comes to the father except through me. Some people say that Jesus was a good person. He was a great teacher. He was a great moral person, but that's crazy. The CS Lewis said it this way a man who was merely a man and said the sort of things. Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level of a man who says he's a post or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice either this man was and is the Son of God or else a Madman or something worse. You know when it comes to claims of religion and all roads leading to God anyone can claim anything. For example one day when I went to go get my driver's license. They asked me how tall I was and I'll be in the joking kind of guy that I am so he can look at me and know I am not lying. I need chicken to it when I got home. I looked at my driver's license and it says I'm 5 9, you know, anybody can claim anything, but where is the proof? If you looked at me, you'll you'll see that my proof is rather lacking when it's some comes to proving that I'm 5 feet 9 inches tall. When it comes to Jesus, he's got the proof. I like that commercial back in the day with Wendy's. Where's the beef Jesus has the beef heat fulfilled prophecies, which if you look at him and just look at the number of prophecies that are made and what he fulfills in the you do probably probability studies on it. It's just mind-boggling that he meant all of those Jesus was crucified, but you didn't stay in the grave he rose again the third day he defeated death and he was seen by hundreds in the proof of that cannot be found in his disciples Peter denied him three times as Jesus predicted and he ran away, but when Jesus was resurrected and Peter saw him Peter's life was changed forever and he put his skin in the game from that point forward and I would submit to you that people don't Put their skin on in the game and put their life for something. That is a lie. Muhammad died died, but there is nobody in Jesus's tomb because he rose again. Like I said, the world doesn't like the idea that Christianity claims that the only way of Salvation is through Jesus, but that's what it is. That's what we claim. It is exclusive, but it is open to everybody it is open to everybody salvation is a free gift that is offered by God. But you have to accept it you have to submit to Jesus. You have to believe that he is who he says he is, you know forever relieves religions think it was Bill hybels that said this their kind of a do religion. In other words, you have to do something in order to earn favor with God. You have to be good you have to go to church you have to tithe you have to do all this do all that you have to do something with all of us have fallen short and we've seen and we fallen short of the glory of God that the best intentions in the world. Our best efforts are best words are worthless. They're like filthy rags. There's nothing that we can do to earn our salvation. Christianity on the other hand is a Dun type religion. There's nothing that you could do. It's already done Jesus did it for you on the cross? What you have to do is make a decision. Do I believe that or not will I put my faith in Jesus or not? If I do that's it. It's done. It's already done. The two thousand years ago. God created the first GPS system. God's Plan of Salvation God's Plan of Salvation had a perfect Savior and God provided that salad that savior so that we could be redeemed so that we could be washed of the sin that we have and we could be join back into his family. So 14 verses 1 through 6. So what what difference does it make? Well, Jesus said I'm going to prepare a place for you and I will return is so he is coming back again, but this time he is not coming as a savior. He's coming as a judge and the question that I would submit to you now is when he comes back, will he be your king will you have put your faith and trust in him? Will he say to you Well done, thy good and faithful servant enter into my rest, or will he say depart from me? depart into hell You know, this coronavirus is tough It's everyday is a new discovery. We don't know how it's going to turn out. Honestly think that things will get better. I know that they're going to get worse before they do get better, but I think they will get better. But you know what? Maybe they won't, you know, we've studied the Book of Revelation and talked about all the different plagues and all the different horses and all that kind of stuff and you know, we did that not too long ago and part of that sounds like what we're going through now, but the thing that we need to focus on the course is that God is still in control. God created this Plan of Salvation before the world even began. He wants all of us to accept his son for who he is. He is his son. He is the savior of all mankind if we will put our faith and trust in him.

You know we do it before but we really know it now because we never expected to be talking about this virus the way that we're talking about it now in Jacksonville now, it's on the Air Force Base in the days progress. The cases are only going to grow and the number of people that die from this virus which didn't even exist in our world six months ago. The number of people that die is going to grow folks. We are not guaranteed today let alone tomorrow. So I asked the question. Okay. So what will this is what you need to put your faith in Jesus Christ as your lord and savior because that is the only way of Salvation that is available to it is the only name under Heaven must be saved. You know the GPS is still there God's Plan of Salvation. It's still there, but you have to trust him and so I would just ask that you do that today. If you don't know Jesus already.