May 3, 2026 | The Way, The Truth, The Life

This is the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

Glory to you, Lord Christ.

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 have 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 will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also, and you know the way to where I am going.

Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going.

How can we know the way?

Jesus said to him, I am the way, 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.

From now on you do know him and have seen him.

Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.

Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

How can you say, Show us the Father?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?

The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

Believe me, and I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Pray with me, please.

We pray, come, Holy Spirit, Lord.

We we need you.

Open, open your word to us today, Lord, that we might hear it in fresh ways and fresh ears, with fresh ears, Lord, that we might respond, Lord, that we might grow more and more into your lightness.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Invite you to please be seated.

John 14.

That was the gospel that Cindy just read.

John 14, the first 14 chapters.

John 14 is found in what we call the upper room discourse.

The apostle John dedicated five chapters of this book for that intimate time that Jesus spent with his disciples before he went to the cross.

Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.

They all revealed what took place in that upper room.

And today, verses 1 through 14, we get one of the clearest, most uncompromising declarations of who Jesus is.

And not only that, we understand why he stands alone in the midst of his church, in the center of his church.

We heard today Jesus in verse 6, he said, today, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life.

No one comes to the Father but through me.

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

This is an absolute statement made by Jesus.

And this statement is exclusive.

And this statement upsets the world.

The world that you mean to tell me all roads don't lead to Rome?

You mean to tell me all paths don't lead to God?

You mean to tell me my God and your God are different?

You mean to tell me that I believe in this religion and this religion, but at the end of the day they don't all somehow merge back to the same God?

People get upset with this statement.

It's exclusive and it's absolute.

Jesus is saying, He's saying that he's not just a way, but he is the way, the only path that leads to reconciliation with the Father.

He's the way.

And Jesus says today that he is not a truth, but he is truth itself.

The final and full revelation of who God is.

And Jesus says today that he is life, not just a giver of life, but he is life incarnate.

He is the source of all life.

It's absolute, it's exclusive.

Any attempt by anyone, even within the church, to redefine this truth undermines the very foundation of the gospel.

I mean, the reason that we are here today, the reason that we exist as the church, as the body of Christ, is not just to offer up some type of spiritual suggestion, or to offer up some kind of self-help program, or to offer up some kind of moral improvement.

The only reason that we're here is because access to God is found only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, via the cross and the empty tomb.

Philip says today, we heard, well, just show us the Father, Jesus.

That'll be enough.

And you gotta love the way Jesus answers this.

He says, Philip, I've been with you for a long time.

Philip, whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

Philip, you were with me when I turned the water into wine.

Philip, you were the one I asked.

Do we have enough provision to feed the 5,000?

Philip, you you were with me when I healed the man, gave sight to the man who was born blind.

Philip, Philip, you were with me when I called Lazarus out of the tomb.

Philip, I've been with you for a long time.

At least believe in the miracles.

I love what John writes at the end of his gospel.

The apostle John.

Listen to what he says.

He says that Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples.

He did a lot more than just what John records in his book.

He says he did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which aren't recorded in this book.

But these, the ones that are recorded, these are written that you may believe.

That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Do you know?

Do you know what John is called?

John is called the evangelist.

And don't you just hear the passion of why he's writing this book and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the urgency that he has to tell people about the Lord Jesus Christ?

He's saying that all those who read these words in this book, they're written so that by believing in Christ that they may come to have life in his name.

That these words would reveal the way, the truth, and the life to those who open up and read it.

There's an urgency in his writing.

This is why when people ask me, T, what book of the Bible should I begin with?

What book of the Bible should I open up and start reading?

I always point to John.

Read John, because you're gonna you're gonna be introduced to Jesus and you're gonna have you're gonna have a decision to make.

Many of you have probably seen the movie The Great Awakening, or maybe you're familiar with it.

I missed it when it came.

In fact, we're gonna watch it on Prime tomorrow.

We had to wait on it.

But I know enough of the Great Awakening to speak about the relationship that is found between George Whitfield and Ben Franklin.

Now, we all know Ben Franklin, at least we know he's the guy that you know sailed the kite with the key, and you know, he discovered electricity.

We all know Franklin with a ponytail and all.

We all know that.

But George Whitfield, I don't know if we all know George.

In the uh 1700s, Whitfield was one of the greatest preachers to have ever lived.

He it said that he preached over 18,000 sermons, that he had the ability before microphones, he had the ability to preach to tens of thousands of people with eloquence, with distinction.

People could hear every word.

And this is what surprised Franklin.

Franklin and Whitfield became good friends for over 30 years.

In fact, Franklin, with his printing press, would print the sermons that Whitfield would preach.

And he would go, Whitfield would go up and down the colonies, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Proclaiming you must be born again.

Proclaiming that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

The sad thing is Franklin was a deist.

Franklin was a deist.

He believed in a creator God, that God, some super being created.

He he believes that.

But that's where it stops with Franklin.

That's where it stops with a deist.

There is no God that's going to supernaturally engage with humanity.

A deist doesn't believe in the divinity of Jesus.

A deist doesn't believe in the Trinity.

A deist doesn't believe that you can be saved by faith alone and Christ alone.

And for 30 years, Whitfield and Franklin had an intimate relationship.

Whitfield would write letters to him.

And it's known that in each letter that he would always, always present the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And he endeavored to lead Franklin to Jesus.

He was compelled to do that in conversation and in letters.

But listen to the disappointment.

Whitfield died before Franklin.

Listen to the disappointment of Franklin's statement when he was approaching the end of his life.

He said, Mr.

Whitfield used to pray for my conversion.

But he never had the satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard.

You see, it's possible, it's possible to believe in God, but miss the gospel.

And this was the passion of Whitfield.

We read in John's Gospel.

He says in John in chapter 3, verse 18, that this is Jesus, that whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe, let me say that again, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already.

Because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

This is the passion of John the evangelist, and this is the passion of Whitfield.

Jesus says, Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

This is a staggering statement.

That Jesus is not saying that he's just some messenger of God.

He's not John the Baptist pointing to the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world.

But what he's saying is that he is God.

And to reject Jesus is to reject God.

And sadly for Franklin, that was the case.

Because you see, God's not hidden.

He's not this giant clockmaker that winds it up and steps back and lets everything happen.

He's not distant, he's not removed, but he is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.

So that Jesus says today, in that upper room, that intimate moment, he says, I'm going to go and prepare a place for you.

If I go and prepare a place for you, I'm going to come take you to be with me where I am.

You know, we hear that, we hear that John 14, we hear that at funerals often.

And we also hear when our loved one dies, a friend or a family member, I've heard it oftentimes that, well, you know, they're in a better place.

And somehow that consoles us.

They're in a better place.

Oh, it's much deeper and richer than that.

Jesus says, I'm going to come take you to be with me where I am.

What that means is that we are with Jesus for those who believe.

You see, the uncompromising truth of this reading in John's gospel is that Jesus is Lord of the church.

The church, we belong to Jesus because he is Lord.

All authority is given to him.

You pray in my name, it aligns with my will, it's gonna happen.

All authority.

He is Lord of the church.

And this truth is uncompromising.

Because it's built.

The church is built on his identity.

And this is so important.

I was playing golf with someone the other day, and they were bemoaning the fact that their church was kind of flatlined, that the same people did the same things, that there was never any newness, that that the budget was just flatline.

My word to my friend was the day that the church becomes an institution, it's the day that the church dies.

St.

Paul's, don't let that happen.

Don't let that happen.

Saint Paul's is built on the identity of Jesus Christ.

It's not built on tradition, it's not built on culture, it's not built on human leadership or personalities, but it's built on the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.

He's truth.

And his word doesn't get adapted to culture.

We don't stick our fingers up in the air and say, which way is the wind of culture blowing?

Therefore, we're gonna adapt the word of God to align with the winds of culture.

It's just the opposite.

His word defines what's going on in the culture.

So we operate under his authority.

Prayer and mission and ministry, they all happen in his name, under his rule, not ours.

And all to the glory of God through the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit.

You see, as we're coming to the end of a season here at St.

Paul's Church, let me just encourage you to resist the pressure to soften the exclusive nature of Jesus.

Let me encourage you to not make Jesus be less than.

Let me encourage you, like Whitfield and John the evangelist, to proclaim the kingdom of God.

Because people's souls hang in the balance of this message that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

It's urgent and it's necessary.

This is why Whitfield preached until the day that he died.

Jesus says, don't let your hearts be troubled.

Trust in God, trust also in me.

Our lives, this church, is grounded on Jesus Christ and not grounded on circumstances.

So that everything that we do rises and falls on our relationship and our view of Jesus Christ.

The gospel today, John 14, verses 1 through 14, leave no room for a less than Jesus, for a reduced Jesus.

John 14:1–14

He's not just merely a great teacher.

He's not just an example.

He's not just a helper.

C.S.

Lewis said he's either a liar, a lunatic, or he's the Lord.

And he's the way to God.

He's the revelation of God.

He's the authority of God, and he's the presence of God to his people.

So the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord of the church, and he's without rival.

He's without replacement.

He's without compromise.

You see, just like Franklin, just like Franklin, it's possible to respect Jesus.

It's possible to support the church.

It's possible to admire morality and yet miss the gospel.

Jesus says, no one comes to the Father but through me.

Let me close with this.

Another Lewis quote.

Until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.

We baptize these children, we baptize David.

It's a matter of life and death.

This is why it's important.

Because our souls hang in the balance of Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life.

Amen.