Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled Part 2

[0:00] Good morning, everyone. The microphone is on. That is a good thing. Please turn with me in your text to John chapter 14.

[0:11] John chapter 14. A couple of items I just want to touch on before I get into the text as a way of announcement. So, for men that are in every man a warrior, we are meeting tomorrow.

[0:25] Ray will be leading. He's back from Maui. And surfing and all that other good stuff you do in Hawaii. But the next week we won't be meeting. So, and the reason for that is the next part of the announcement, there's a leadership team meeting.

[0:41] So, if you're on the leadership team, please make sure you're able to be there. Not this Monday, but the following Monday. I've got two prayer requests for you.

[0:56] I'm trying to think of what the second one was. Just so you know, I'm actually heading, we belong as a church to an association of Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches.

[1:10] And so there is a meeting that is coming up this week. So I'm actually going to be flying to Ontario to be a part of that. And one of the items that is for discussion is that we as Fellowship of Evangelical Baptists, we affirm certain tenets of faith.

[1:27] And what they're doing is there's a proposal to open up that discussion. That means they can add to the text or take away. And the main argument that is being used is because some of the language is outdated.

[1:40] So there's going to be a vote for that. But as you can understand, when all of a sudden you're voting on changing the language, you can also change words that mean different things.

[1:54] And just as we're going to talk a little bit about today, a lot of times, a lot of churches are, there's a couple of churches that even the last ten years have entirely capitulated to the culture.

[2:06] And where they have just, we're not going to, they're going to, certain truths that we have affirmed in 2,000 years of church history, they now deny. And these are the certain truths that bring us together in Jesus Christ.

[2:20] So just pray for wisdom and humility as we go in. It's a pretty light vote, but it's a vote that I think it's important for us to be a part of.

[2:32] And on the second half of the week, there's actually another conference that I'm attending, and that is the Gospel Coalition. If you're not familiar, it's another ecclesiastical body, I guess.

[2:43] It's not a fellowship or a denomination, but it's in the States. It's actually in different parts of the world. So I've been asked to serve on the board for BC. So we're just kind of, this is the national conference, just connecting with some leaders.

[2:58] So I'm hoping that'll be a little bit of rest. Just, I have actually a couple of my best friends are going to be there. I'm getting back in Ontario, my old homies, you know, that kind of thing. I don't think they've forgotten who I am.

[3:10] But, I'm sure I'll be racing back when the weather sets in there. All right. Before I get to the text, let's pray. So yeah, just pray for those things, just as some of those relationships are created.

[3:25] And just to let you guys know, just speaking with Glenn and David Corrente, you know, we've been really praying and seeking different means of ways to come together.

[3:37] And there's another fellowship that's beginning in BC, and it's a fellowship of Christian churches. I think that's even what the name they're calling. But we want to display to the community, these are the faiths that we hold.

[3:50] And we're actually, we're thinking about putting together a video series on different tenets of our faiths. So there would be different pastors speaking just to talk about the universal truths that we hold true and affirm in this world where truth is eroding.

[4:08] So I don't know how that's going to go, but I'm pretty excited. There's some pretty forward-thinking men a part of that group. So let's pray as we get into this text.

[4:19] Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, this morning we are actually covering that could possibly be the most contentious statement in all of Scripture for the world to hear.

[4:34] Father, I pray that I'd be clear in my delivery. I'd be clear in my reasoning through Scripture. And I pray for the ears that hear this truth, that it is an eternal truth.

[4:49] It is a life-saving truth. It is the ultimate truth for peace with God. And Father, even though we live in a world that fights to determine what peace with God looks like, because this is based on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, this is the only truth.

[5:10] Father, I pray that we would understand it. I pray that we'd be able to explain it clearly and how important it is for an understanding of the gospel.

[5:22] So Lord, as we come together continuing in worship, I pray that you would certainly bless this time. In your name, amen.

[5:35] So as we look into the gospel of John, and like I've just prayed, this morning we are looking at a text that critics for over 2,000 years has said is the most close-minded statement, the most uncompromising statement, the most intolerant, the most inappropriate, narrow-minded, out-of-touch, offensive, too exclusive claim that Jesus has ever made.

[6:03] That claim is found in John 14, 6. I am the way, the truth, and the life.

[6:15] No one comes to the Father except through me. As one author states, Jesus Christ's unique claim has aroused no end of opposition from Jews, pagans, Muslims, communists, humanists, and atheists.

[6:38] As one critic states, Christianity is a contentious faith which requires an all-or-nothing commitment to Jesus as the one and only incarnation of the Son of God, to which I say absolutely.

[7:00] And what makes these statements even more incendiary or perhaps funny is that we are supposed to be living in the age of tolerance.

[7:12] We are supposed to be living in the most tolerant age. However, the exact opposite has happened. Postmodern unbelievers grant tolerance to every other religion except Christianity.

[7:29] Christianity precisely because the gospel is seen as the ultimate intolerant creed. It's interesting.

[7:40] Pastor Glenn was just sharing with me from The Rock. He was a part of this organization. It was a group of people got together and they were setting up this non-profit in the city of Squamish.

[7:51] And Glenn happened to know the person who was organizing it. And Glenn made the observation to him. They said, hey, we set up this really great non-profit organization. And Glenn being Glenn, who's pretty sharp, just simply says, yeah, I also happen to know that Christianity was the only religious group that was not invited.

[8:10] You had the Buddhist, Muslim, you know, everybody. You wanted input from everybody else but Christians. And he said, yeah, we're kind of going for a non-religious vibe.

[8:27] And Glenn said, you understand that even the world, you have your own religion. Right? So it was really a great conversation that's led to a discussion.

[8:40] And just to let you know, the city and their idea to expand what's going on, just being able to create a relationship with Matt Gunn, who works for the city.

[8:52] And he's kind of asking us if we would like more room for our church. Because he says, I perceive that as the city grows, you'll need more room for your church. Which is a very kind and considerate statement to make.

[9:05] And what led to that discussion is because we are helping with the child care and what that meant. And that led to a discussion of how much involved. That, yes, we are a part of the community. We want to reach out to the community.

[9:17] But we still want to be true to our mandate, what Jesus Christ has called us to. And the tension is, can you allow us to function within that milieu with you?

[9:31] I don't have high hopes, but I'm glad he's willing to engage. And we're able to talk about this. And we're hoping that this will be a multi-year conversation. So the reality is, we live in an age where truth is consistently questioned.

[9:48] In fact, the two greatest fixtures of truth in modern society have given way to the tolerance of the day, right? Math is no longer always true.

[10:01] And there's no longer just male and just female, right? Just men or just women. These were the two incontroversible truths that we thought we would endure forever.

[10:16] But they have capitulated to this spirit of tolerance. The world demands that Christians equivocate on this truth as well.

[10:29] And so the hatred for Jesus, since he spoke those words, has grown ever since. This morning, we're going to look at this statement by Jesus, which was an answer to a question asked by the Apostle Thomas.

[10:44] You might know him as Doubting Thomas. And consider its meaning and why this comment is exactly in line with the Bible has always presented about God.

[10:56] This just isn't a New Testament teaching. This teaching actually existed right from the beginning when God created Adam and Eve. But first, I want to recap some of what we spoke last week because this leads us to our statement.

[11:14] So, just in case you missed last week, I kind of introduced the idea that although we've been covering the life of Christ and we haven't really dealt much with the teaching between the chapters of John 14 and 17, I want to drill down on the teachings of Jesus Christ because I believe it is a most excellent view into the heart of Christ, for lack of a better word to say it.

[11:40] Chapter 14 and chapter 17 happens after Judas has departed on the Thursday of the Passion Week. He's gone to betray Jesus.

[11:53] And this teaching happens when Jesus tells the Apostles that I'm going to be leaving you and you cannot come. And even when Peter insists, well, can we come?

[12:04] You can't come. You can't come where I'm going. And it happens between then and the moment that Jesus is arrested when the ultimate fulfillment of the betrayal of Judas occurs right in the garden.

[12:20] So, we have this incredible chapters in between where Jesus kind of reveals his heart for the disciples. But I believe as he's taken these men to go out and do great things, it talks about later in the chapter, it's talking about them being a part of the greatest miracle of all.

[12:41] In case you did not know, the greatest miracle of all isn't healing. It's not curing blindness or deafness. The greatest miracle to mankind is that we have a heart of stone that God takes out and puts in a heart of flesh, which is belief in him.

[12:57] It's the renewal of man's spirit. That is the greatest miracle. And guess who's still a part of that work? Us. Today. Today, we still get to be a part of his ultimate mission of declaring this good news of Jesus Christ to the world.

[13:15] And that's why we're going to talk about why Jesus Christ is the way. Right? Why Jesus Christ is the truth and he is the life. So, there's this event that is happening.

[13:27] And it's wonderfully applicable to us today, just as it was to these men. And I told you last week, I said, I didn't want to focus on the us.

[13:38] I wanted to focus on the Jesus and the words. And my prayer request for you is that you would take the time to pray that the Holy Spirit would help you apply this text to your life.

[13:53] Right? That's what we talked about last week. So, last week, we also covered John 14.1. This is where Jesus consoles his disciples.

[14:05] They're brokenhearted. Jesus has announced, I'm leaving you. And you can't come with me. And he says, Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.

[14:18] That word troubled is a deep statement. But what God is needing to remind them is that God has always been, when he says, Believe in God, that Jesus, or God the Father, has always been the God who forgives.

[14:38] He's always been the God who saves. And he's always been the God who brings comfort to those who follow him. And he understands their distress.

[14:51] And we looked at even in our Old Testament, these heroes of the Jewish faith that we look up to, Abraham and Moses and Joshua, all needed to hear those words, right?

[15:04] Fear not. I am with you. And the reason is we are prone to fear. That's why our New Testament tells us over and over, Do not be anxious.

[15:16] Right? Believe in me. God knows us. And he's with us in this statement. Do not let your hearts be troubled.

[15:30] So that was the first aspect we looked at it. And the second aspect, which is really key to understanding what Jesus is talking about. He says, In my Father's house in many rooms, if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

[15:44] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. I will take you to myself. That where I am, you may also, that you may be also.

[15:57] And you know the way to where I am going. The fact of the matter is, if Jesus doesn't go to prepare the place, and he prepares this place by dying on the cross and resurrecting three days only, and by being the perfect sacrifice, you and I can live in fellowship with God.

[16:21] Amen? That's what Jesus is telling me. I have to go. I have to do this for you. Because heaven, we've talked about this a little bit, but it's really important.

[16:32] And it's important to so many areas we're going to talk about today, but it's really important to get this. And it's that Jewish understanding of the home. And we talked about this earlier.

[16:43] So God's got this mansion that he builds, and if we were back in first century Judaism, we would be building our homes onto our father's property.

[16:54] Because usually, we would have been following the lead of our father in their jobs, and how we lived life. We didn't have cars back then, right? It's not like they traveled far away for other jobs.

[17:06] They lived in their community. So you'd build your home. Your dad was a carpenter. Chances are you were going to be a carpenter. Your brothers were going to be a carpenter. And you'd all live there with your families.

[17:18] And you were living in this cohesive relationship. That's what Jesus is talking about. In order to have that relationship in heaven with God, you need your sins blotted out, and that's going to be done by me dying on the cross for you.

[17:38] You with me on that? So when he's talking about it, that's kind of how he's talking about this place. And then he ultimately says, and you know the way to where I am going.

[17:52] And it's almost at this point that Jesus decides to field some questions. This text in chapter 14 has three questions that the apostle asked.

[18:04] There's actually a fourth question that gets asked at the end of chapter 16, which we'll get to. But let's this morning deal with the first question. So let's look at the text that we have before us today, which is John 14, verses 5 through 7.

[18:21] Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. So notice his first statement.

[18:32] He's still thinking a place, a location, okay? That's, Thomas is kind of confused because he says, how can we know the way?

[18:44] Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also, right?

[18:58] So there's that relationship that he's talking about. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. And there we have an ultimate direction from God that if you know me, you know my Father.

[19:15] Right? So what's interesting in this statement made by Jesus that this isn't actually the first exclusive statement he has ever made about himself.

[19:28] In fact, John records for us several other times that Jesus has made radical exclusive statements about himself. If you remember in John 6, 35, Jesus said, I am the bread of life.

[19:45] Do you remember that? He says, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall not thirst. Notice he says, I'm not a bread of life.

[20:00] I am the bread of life. Jesus' statement is that he is the sole source of satisfaction for the hunger of man's soul.

[20:13] that he is the sole satisfaction for the hunger of man's soul. John 8, 12 says, I am the light of the world.

[20:24] Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. Right? Jesus is saying that he is the only guide who can lead mankind out of the darkness.

[20:40] He's it. He's the sole source of light. He's not a source of light. He is the source of light. It's not found in Buddha. It's not found in Mohammed. It's not found in Vishnu.

[20:52] It's found in him and him alone. You cannot see spiritually without Jesus. John 10, 9. I am the door.

[21:03] If anyone enters by me he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. Jesus Christ stame another radical claim.

[21:15] I'm the only door. You can't get in any or other door to enjoy that fellowship with others. The pasture with the other sheep.

[21:27] In John 10, 11 I am the good shepherd. shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

[21:41] And then finally in John 11, 25 I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me though he die it shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

[21:58] Jesus claims to be the only one who conquers death. No one else makes that claim. And he actually proved this and he makes this statement after raising Lazarus.

[22:14] Right? Lazarus remember he wasn't just dead he was good and dead. Right? The body was starting to smell he was dead and Jesus brings him back to life. No one else ever did that.

[22:26] So the first thing I want you to note in this question is that it's a question asked by all the apostles. It's not just Thomas who was thinking this but John is using Thomas as a vehicle to explain that all the apostles were talking about this.

[22:45] That's why Jesus when he responds responds in the plural in verse 6 no one comes to the Father except through me. It's not Thomas you can't come. He's talking to the group.

[22:56] That's why he says in verse 7 if you that's a plural you had known me you would have known my Father also. Notice the statement Lord we do not know where you are going.

[23:11] How can we know the way? Like I said Thomas asked this question like he's got this map out and he wants Jesus to put his finger on the destination and then if he can figure out where he is on the map he can get there.

[23:32] Lord we do not know where you are going. Please give me the directions to get there. And what's interesting is that what Thomas is asking him from a religious perspective is Jesus what laws do I need to keep?

[23:51] what commandments do I need to follow? What ultimately what do I do to get where you are going?

[24:03] That's essentially what he's asking right? The emphasis if you tell me the way then I will figure out how to get there.

[24:14] Now what Thomas is asking is the actual eternal question of man. Right?

[24:27] How do I get right with God? That is the eternal. That's the question man has always asked. Every man who's ever walked this earth knows that they are alienated from God.

[24:42] The greatest fear of man is that he or she knows that there is no escaping death both physical and spiritual. Even going back to the beginning of time man has always sought to figure out how to please God how to earn God's favor.

[25:03] Any rudimentary study of anthropology teaches us what the Bible already teaches us. Right? Every study every culture has a story of men trying to get right with the Creator because they all know they've sinned.

[25:21] They all know they've lived in a tribe whether it be a bunch of cavemen or out in the bush and don't even have a real language but they talk. They know when they've hurt one another when relationships are severed.

[25:35] They know when they've done offense. And the question is well then how do I get right with God? How do I please the gods?

[25:52] You see the truth that Jesus offers here corrects our ignorance. The truth that Jesus teaches here is that there is a way to be reconciled to God.

[26:07] Do you remember right from the beginning Cain and Abel? Cain and Abel went to give a sacrifice to God. They were both seeking to offer their offering to God, their worship, their thanksgiving.

[26:25] The Bible doesn't tell us why but it said that God did not have regard for Cain's offering. Cain became so angry that his offering was not regarded by God.

[26:45] He killed his brother. All right? This is the same thing why people in this world hate Jesus.

[26:56] because they want to give their own offering but God does not regard it because it's not Jesus.

[27:09] You with me on that? And what does that make them? It makes them angry because they want their offering to mean something.

[27:20] You see the connection right from the very beginning? the first mention of worship in the Bible. This has been going on. This is the plight of man.

[27:34] Man has always known that he is in a predicament before God and man seeks to be reconciled to God through whatever means their imagination can think of to please their gods.

[27:51] Verse 6 Jesus says I am the way and the truth and the life and no one comes the father through me. There's both a positive and a negative in that instruction, right?

[28:04] I am the way, no one comes the father with me. It's like he's saying turn right don't turn left. What that gives us is clarity. It gives us clarity that there should be no confusion of understanding this statement.

[28:21] if you remember from last week Jesus is going to the cross to die to be separated from his father to take the wrath for us and he does that so we can enjoy our relationship with the father.

[28:40] This is why Jesus insists that he must go. If he doesn't go we will never experience peace with God. God is holy.

[28:52] God cannot accept us in our present presence with sin. This is why Jesus washes us clean with his blood so we can have this relationship with God.

[29:09] My friends this is the message of the Bible even in the Old Testament. Israel was never commanded to obey the Ten Commandments so that they could be saved.

[29:24] You know that? They could not earn that right to walk with God. The rules were never the map. You with me on that one? It was never the map.

[29:37] But following God's commandments is the way to walk in a relationship with God. You with me on that one? There's that theme of relationship all over again.

[29:48] It's always existed. You guys who are parents or grandparents, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You know when you're walking in a good relationship with your son or daughter, do you not?

[30:02] They're obeying you, they're loving you, they're respecting you. And we know sometimes, right, they hit those teens and they kind of want to go their own way and they don't listen as much and they want to declare their own sovereignty.

[30:19] And as much as you love them, there's that breaking away hard head, but that relationship gets damaged. And it's the same thing spiritually with our God the Father.

[30:33] When we go our own way, it creates tension. We're not truly walking with God. God. That's why when we were studying the books of Ephesians, the Jews are so high on the word, like what it is to walk in Christ.

[30:49] What is it to walk in the Spirit? It means how you carry on your life, your relationship. Right? That's why it tells us to avoid walking in the flesh.

[31:03] Right? There's that statement. So everything that he's talking about here is this right relationship.

[31:15] But the problem with man is that we want to go our way. We want to have our belief structure.

[31:29] We want to concentrate on the map. We want our own prophets, our own false gods, our own false religions. man places their hope in morality, in their odd religious systems, than actually walking in the newness of life that is found in Christ Jesus.

[31:54] Jesus. See, here's the other thing. Even if you believe in Jesus, even if you believe that Jesus did the things that he did, it's still ultimately not going to assure you of being in a right relationship with God.

[32:13] Now, I want to answer this question. Why don't good works work? Why don't they work? Why don't sincere, loving people who worship what they think is the way to God and what could be constituted in a beautiful, lovely way work?

[32:41] Even if someone is to follow every commandment perfectly. Even if that person makes up more commandments beyond what God requires and does so in a genuine way, why doesn't that work?

[32:58] Well, the Bible clearly teaches that mankind is actually utterly ruined. Utterly ruined. The Bible teaches that we stand condemned before God for the guilt of our sin.

[33:11] Romans 3.23 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There's no exceptions. There's no nothing of the sort.

[33:23] Well, maybe you will say or someone might respond, okay, I accept that, but can't I do enough works, like, I mean, really good works to make up for my negatives, right?

[33:35] The world thinks of scales, and they can count, and some people are very aware of the bad things they've done, and if I can just do these good things, it will balance in my favor.

[33:50] You see, the problem with that is, because you've been born in sin, every action you do is actually tainted with you, right?

[34:01] You're the disease, you're the problem, and everything that you do adds to the problem. Your corruption, your filth, your depravity has tainted even your good works, your best works, and it began with the sin we inherited from Adam, the sin we were born to because we were born of man and woman.

[34:27] Our mothers and fathers were sinners too, and because of that, we are utterly corrupted. Because of this, there is no amount of moral reformation that we can do to clean ourselves up, no matter how sincere we are.

[34:49] This one author on the subject, I found a very interesting statement that he stated on the plight for mankind. He said, our past haunts us, our present confounds us, and our future dismays us.

[35:05] God, we do not even want to come before God.

[35:18] We act like Cain. We get angry when we are confronted with how our good works truly are not held in regard by God.

[35:30] God. This leads to the conclusion that man hates this truth. Man hates that they are totally alienated and hopeless without God.

[35:46] Man needs Jesus. Only Jesus, as God's sinless son, can atone for the sin through his death. Why?

[35:56] Because he lived a perfect life. He was without sin. And the only way we can be made right with God is through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

[36:11] How does that relationship happen? It requires us to confess our sin. It requires us to humble ourselves seeking pardon.

[36:22] It requires of us to surrender our claims to self-rule. God. So if you are here and you do not know Jesus and you are madly looking for a place to start on this map to be reconciled to God, this is where you start.

[36:45] Confession, humility, and surrender. This is why Jesus came. Luke 19.10 says, for the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.

[37:00] I was lost. How about you? Matthew 20.28 says, the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

[37:16] John 10.10 says, I came that you may have life and have it abundantly. So when Jesus Christ says he is the way, he is clearly stating you can only come to God through this ministry of reconciliation, through this ministry that I did so that man, through Jesus Christ and the cross and God, can live in harmony.

[37:46] that's why he is the way. So when Jesus tells us that he is the truth, it means that only through this revelation of truth are we able to see through our ignorance and lies that are a part of us because of sin.

[38:07] So when it says the way, the truth, and the life, the truth and the life are subordinate to the way. Those are the things that help point us to understanding what the way is.

[38:18] And that truth is only found in Jesus. Our spiritual reality is the condition of sin we find ourselves in, which began with Adam and Eve when they believed the lie.

[38:33] And the lie that Satan told them is the lie that he tells us today. And what Satan tells us is that God's commands aren't really good for you.

[38:44] They're too hard. They will crush you. They will just lead to your unhappiness. How many of you who've grown up as adults or saved when you were later and people said you were so much fun before than you are now, right?

[39:06] You must think you're so better than me. Satan lies that you can experience freedom and blessing by actually breaking God's commands, being true to yourself, be authentic, right?

[39:24] Be real. You see, this is the lie that has paved the way to sin and death ever since. God's truth in Jesus allows us to see our ignorance.

[39:39] God's truth in Jesus allows us to see our blindness to God's truth. Salvation begins when we accept the revelation of Jesus Christ that he is the way.

[39:53] it's funny, even now in a time of great knowledge and information, the truth still escapes those who supposedly live in the most tolerant of times.

[40:07] Physically, God's truth is not hidden. God's truth is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.

[40:18] And how do we know Jesus Christ? Christ. Through the word of God. To counter Satan's lies, we must be adept in devoting to studying the words of God in the Bible.

[40:37] If we do not know God's word, we will be like prey to lions. We will be slaughtered, wiped out.

[40:49] And when we're a Christian, we will live in discouragement, defeat, and suffer because we refuse to know what God has taught us.

[41:02] So that is the truth, the way, and the truth, and the life that Jesus offers. The Bible teaches us in Romans 6, 23 that the wages of sin is death.

[41:15] Paul repeats these words in Ephesians 2, 1. He says, it teaches us that apart from Jesus Christ, we are spiritually dead. That we are unable to do anything spiritually for our salvation.

[41:30] You see, when man understands this, man cannot have any satisfaction or hope. And their hope, their only hope for life, can be found in the person of Jesus Christ.

[41:48] You see, to be saved in Jesus Christ is not only to be forgiven, but also renewed, to be transformed. That's why Psalm 19 actually speaks the power of God's word.

[42:01] It renews the soul. It restores the soul. It brings the soul to life. life. We must be made spiritually alive.

[42:15] So that we believe that we are made willing and able to follow Jesus who is the way. In conclusion, I think we know this if you are a believer in Christ, but if you are unpersuaded, you need to understand that Jesus is the source of life that this world needs.

[42:43] And that his power of life is found in his word. John 3, 36 says, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains in him.

[43:01] So when Thomas asked Jesus, how can we know the way? It's right there in front of him. This relationship that he has with Jesus to which Jesus kindly responds, if you had known me, you would have known my Father also.

[43:22] From now on, you do know him and have seen him. The way to God is through Jesus Christ, his Son.

[43:35] Let's pray. Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, I just pray for each and every one of the souls here or that is listening online that they would truly contemplate these words that Jesus Christ says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

[43:54] I pray that they will declare this truth unabashedly without shame. we live in a world that claims to be tolerant, but at its heart it's intolerance.

[44:07] It wants the world. It does not want Jesus. It wants chaos. It does not want peace. it's important for us to understand these things when we go into opportunities to share our testimony.

[44:25] We need to begin with prayer asking that you would give them spiritual eyes that will see and understand the truth. That they can understand this truth about Jesus.

[44:37] That they can understand the truth that he is their only hope. That he is the only one in all of the eternity who can do the things that God can do.

[44:51] Every other false teacher came and just simply said, do what I tell you to do. Here's the map. Do it this way. Where Jesus simply says, I am the way.

[45:05] Have this relationship with me. So, Father, I am so grateful and thankful that just as you were preparing these apostles to leave them.

[45:15] These were the truths that you laid upon them and that you were asking them these questions. Are willing to answer their questions. You know where their hearts were.

[45:28] And, Father, you know where our hearts are now today. You know that we get anxious. We are fearful. Sometimes we do not trust as we should.

[45:41] other times we believe lies. Most of our sins are attributed to a lie that we have believed that Satan told us.

[45:52] We can be happy. We can be fulfilled. Our body needs this. Our spirit needs that. This friendship needs to be blessed and it can only happen through sin.

[46:04] Those are all the lies of the evil one, no father. And I'm thankful for the men and women who have made the word of God their source of their faith.

[46:18] Their primary defender. It's the shield. Their sword. Father, I pray that you would enlighten the eyes who do not see you yet.

[46:37] So they may see as Thomas was able to see that true life only happens in Jesus. We ask these things in your most eternal name. Amen.

[46:47] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.