Message Information
- Key Scriptures: John 14:1-6, KJV
- Series: Alone (2017), no. 4
- Date: Sunday, November 12, 2017 (Morning)
- Venue: Trinity Baptist Church — Seminole, Oklahoma
- Speaker: Jared Byrns
- Audio File: Open/Download
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The Claim We Cannot Stop Making
A while back, I read an article called “Six Things That Christians Should Just Stop Saying.” I clicked on it purely out of curiosity, and it was written by what passes for a Christian teacher in the pages of the Huffington Post. As I read through the list of those six things that apparently we should stop saying, the entire list was complete garbage. It was designed to undermine everything from the authority of Scripture to 6,000 years of Christian teaching, Judeo-Christian teaching, on sexual purity. This supposed pastor went after everything we teach, everything foundational to the Christian faith.
The most shocking thing he had to say was that we should stop saying Jesus is the only way to heaven. I read this and thought, “Why do you even call yourself a Christian?” You can call yourself a motivational speaker and not have to claim anything about Jesus being the only way to heaven. But that is pretty much central to our message: Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Let me rephrase that carefully. If you’re here this morning and you’re not sure about Jesus being the only way to heaven, I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad we can talk to you about this. But if you consider yourself a Christian and say, “No, Jesus is not the only way,” then my question is, what is the point of even calling yourself a Christian? At that point, you are trying to live by the ethical teachings of a teacher who lied to his followers by claiming that he was the Son of God when he knew he wasn’t.
I think I did a whole series on this: liar, lunatic, legend, or Lord. He is one of those four things. He has to be completely made up, or he had to have been lying to his followers about being the Son of God, or he had to have really believed he was the Son of God when he really wasn’t and thus been a lunatic. Or, if he is none of those three things, then he is Lord. He is exactly what he claimed to be. That is what I believe, and that is what Christianity has always believed.
The writer of that article said, “No, that is merely your interpretation of the Bible.” He began to attack the idea of us having an interpretation of the Bible, and then he submitted this other idea. He looked specifically at John 14 and said, “Jesus was just trying to comfort his followers.” But what he did not seem to realize was that this was also his interpretation of the Bible.
He also did not seem to realize that we all take in information on a daily basis and interpret information constantly. You do not even realize that you are doing it. I can say one phrase to somebody in here and say the same phrase to my wife, and you will probably take it differently. If I said to Kay, “What you ought to do is,” she would probably take that as friendly pastoral advice. If I say, “What you ought to do is” to my wife, that is a different story, isn’t it?
We are all taking in information and interpreting information, but that does not mean every interpretation is something we made up out of thin air. There are some interpretations that are natural. They are common sense because words have meaning. Words mean something. I know politicians do not seem to think that anymore, but I still submit to you that words have meaning.
So he offered this other explanation, that Jesus was just trying to comfort his followers. That was his interpretation. But if we look at John 14, as we will this morning, and other passages like it, it seems pretty clear to me that it is not merely a matter of my interpretation, this pastor’s interpretation, your interpretation, or anybody else’s. Jesus made some claims to his disciples. He made claims about himself, his authority, his position, and his nature. His point is not open to an interpretation that we make up. It is open to the interpretation of what words he said and what he meant by those words.
Jesus’ words are not an empty vessel that I pour full of whatever meaning I want them to have. Words mean something. So when Jesus made claims to his disciples, what did he intend, and what would they have understood?
There are some passages in the Bible that are difficult. I readily admit that. Am I the only one who has trouble with some passages in the Bible? There are some that I have struggled with for years, and there are some I still struggle with. There are some passages that are difficult and some that are open to interpretation. A lot of times I will tell you that. I will say, “Scholars are divided on whether this means this or whether it means that, and here is where I fall on it.”
But there are also a lot of passages that are not difficult in that way. Contrary to what some churches would tell you today, and contrary to what some pastors you might see interviewed on The View or other shows would say, there are some passages that are pretty clear and not really open to whatever you want them to be.
Salvation in Christ Alone
As we have been studying the Reformation for the past few weeks, I have said that Martin Luther got some things wrong. I want to make that clear again. He was wrong on some issues related to communion, and he was really wrong in the horrible things he said about the Jews later on when he was old and cranky. But when Martin Luther and the other Reformers began to openly affirm the gospel again 500 years ago, that is something they got right. They got that absolutely right.
They got the gospel right. Jesus said it, they were clear on it, and I am going to take Jesus’ word over the word of somebody on the Huffington Post. They taught, just as the Bible teaches, that salvation is given by grace alone, not by merit. We talked about that a couple of weeks ago with the concept of sola gratia. They taught that salvation is received through faith alone and not by works. We talked about that last week, although I never used the term sola fide. And they taught that this grace-faith relationship is only possible because of Jesus Christ. They called that solus Christus.
God’s grace is offered to us only because Jesus Christ paid for it. Yes, salvation is by grace alone, but that grace is only available because Jesus Christ paid for it in full. Our faith only allows us to stand righteous before a holy God when that faith is placed in Jesus Christ.
Faith is not magical or mystical. You do not get into heaven on the strength of your faith, or just because you believe strongly and sincerely. If you put your faith in the wrong place, your faith is only as valuable as its object. The only faith that matters is the faith that we put in Jesus Christ.
Just as the Reformers taught, and just as they understood, indulgences could not save us. Those little certificates I have been talking about, the ones that were sold and said your sins were forgiven and you could get into heaven because you paid money for them, could not save you. We laugh at that today, but sacraments and ceremonies cannot save you either. The Lord’s Supper cannot save you. Baptism cannot save you. Being at church cannot save you. Church membership cannot save you.
There is one thing, and one thing only, that can save you, and that is Jesus Christ. You are not saved because the pastor says so. You are not saved because you said the right words. You are saved because Jesus Christ shed his blood and died to pay for your sins in full. He is the only way to salvation.
Any pastor or church that cannot say that clearly does not deserve the name. Is that too harsh a statement? You do not deserve to call yourself a pastor or a church if you are not clear on that one. You can be wrong about a lot of things. I have a lot of pastor friends, some from other denominations, and I think they are wrong about a lot of things. Of course, they probably think I am wrong about a lot of things, but they are actually wrong.
But if they are right on this, that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, there is a lot they can be wrong about and still be my brother in Christ. As wrong as they may be on communion or the second coming or what have you, we are still on the same team. We may not need to go to the same church, because I think there should be unity about our doctrine, at least in the important things, but we are still on the same team. If you cannot get this simple fact down, that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, then close up your church, take your pastor credentials down off the wall, and go do something else.
This is not just my opinion. Jesus himself is very clear that he is the only way to salvation. If you have not already, turn with me to John 14. We are going to look at the first six verses of this chapter as quickly as we can this morning.
Comfort Before the Cross
To give you some background, going into John 13, Jesus and his disciples were finishing up their Passover meal on the night before the crucifixion. That is when this is taking place. Judas has already left to put his plans into motion, the process of betraying Jesus. While Judas is gone, Jesus is teaching his disciples about how they are supposed to continue in his absence.
Peter gets worried at this idea of Jesus’ absence, so he asks Jesus where he is going. Jesus says, “I am going somewhere that you cannot follow me yet, but eventually you will.” I am paraphrasing, so go back and read the end of chapter 13 for yourself. But for time’s sake this morning, I am paraphrasing. Jesus says, “I am going somewhere you cannot go yet, but eventually you will.” Peter, as he often did, began to argue with Jesus. So Jesus sought to reassure the disciples and explain to them where he was going.
This is where we pick up in John 14:1. Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Think about what they must have been feeling at that point. The man they had been following, the man they had devoted their whole lives to for three years, is suddenly talking about going away. They do not understand where he is going.
There was a lot the disciples did not understand. We probably would not have understood it either in their shoes. We understand these things through the Gospels because we see how the story turned out. They were still unclear on a lot of it, and so they were worried.
Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” They had been through troubles and struggles and trials all this time, and they still believed in God. Now he is trying to shore them up and saying, “The same way you believe in God, believe in me.”
That is pretty big talk if you are not God yourself. I would never tell you, “The same way you believe in God, have faith in me too.” I have heard pastors make that statement, not good pastors, but I have heard pastors make that statement, and usually that is the kind of cult-like mentality you are getting into. I will tell you that I will let you down. I do not intend to. I do not want to. I do not try to. But at some point, if it has not happened already, I am going to let you down because I am human. You are going to expect something from me or want something from me, and I am not going to be able to deliver.
That is a pretty bold statement: “Believe in me the same way you believe in God. Have faith in me the same way you have faith in God.” That is a bold statement unless you are God yourself, which Jesus Christ was. So he tells them to hold on to their faith in him, even as they hold on to their faith in God.
Then, by way of assurance, he promises them a home in heaven. He says in verse 2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Jesus did not want them to be distraught or to lose their faith in the coming days. They were about to go through some of the most trying times they would experience up to that point. They were about to watch Jesus be arrested, tried, crucified, and murdered in a brutal and humiliating way. Then he would be buried, and they would not see him for three days. They still did not completely understand that he was going to rise again in three days.
So he wants to strengthen them for this, and he challenges them to hold on to their belief in him. Then he promises them a home. “I go to prepare a place for you.” He says, “I am going to make a place for you there. I am not just going to make a place. I am going to make a place for you.” There is going to be room for them.
Adding further reassurance, he says that if they had made a mistake in their understanding, he would have corrected it. If he had been leading them down a dead-end road, he would have warned them. It is entirely possible for people to misunderstand what is being taught. Anybody who has had children realizes that. Maybe it is just me, but children misunderstand all the time.
Some of you have heard the story about Madeleine being really excited because she thought we were going to Hawaii Auto Parts. O’Reilly. Dear, if I could afford to take you to Hawaii, I could afford to pay somebody else to fix this, and we would not be going to the auto parts store. Misunderstandings happen all the time, don’t they?
What Jesus is saying here is that if somehow they had gotten the wrong idea, and he was not really promising them heaven, and he realized they had misunderstood and it was not true, he would have told them. He would have said, “You are making a mistake. The road we are going down is not the one you think we are going down.” So he tells them, “I am going to prepare a place for you in heaven, and I can assure you it is true. You know me, and you know that I tell the truth. If it were not true, I would have already told you.”
The Way to the Father
Then we look at verse 3. Jesus says, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” He was not only going to make a place ready for them. That is incredible enough. Jesus says, “I am going to the Father to make ready a place for you.” But he also says, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
He says, “I am going to prepare a place for you, and then I am going to come back for you. I am going to bring you there.” Folks, think about that. Not only has Jesus prepared our place in heaven, but we do not have to figure out the way to get there. He is going to bring us.
The journey to heaven from first to last, the journey to salvation from first to last, is entirely the work of Jesus Christ. There is nothing for us to do but have faith. There is nothing for us to do but believe. He was going to come back and get them.
Beyond the beautiful setting, part of the joy of heaven is the knowledge that we will forever spend eternity in the presence of Jesus. He talks about the mansions here, and this is one of those areas open to interpretation. I have talked to you on Wednesday nights about how Paul says in 1 or 2 Corinthians that there is a building not made with human hands. He uses the idea of this body being a tent and a building being prepared for us in heaven. There is some question whether the mansions mean physical mansions like the Grisso Mansion, whether they refer to a fancy house, or whether they refer to the glorified body.
I do not know exactly what heaven is going to look like. Am I going to be thrilled to be there and have a fancy house? Sure, I am going to be thrilled. Am I going to be thrilled to be there, not having my own fancy house, but getting to live in the Lord’s fancy house in a glorified body? I will be thrilled with that too. There is some question about what the word “mansions” means.
But that is not really the important thing here. Jesus says, “I will receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Part of the joy of heaven, really most of the joy of heaven, will be spending eternity in the presence of Jesus.
I know we like to think about the streets of gold and the crystal sea. When we get to heaven, gold is pavement. Think about that. Let me ask you this: are you excited about pavement? Maybe if you have just been driving on mud roads and it is rainy, you might be excited about pavement. But I do not wander down my driveway every morning and dance around in the street because there is pavement. Yes, heaven is going to be beautiful and glorious, but the attraction of heaven is eternity with Jesus and the love and comfort and light of his presence.
Jesus closes this part by saying that they know where he is going. “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” In other words, “You know where I am going, and you know how to get there.” He has explained this to them.
Now, they were dense, as we all are. I have told you before that I used to look down on the apostles and think, “How stupid were these guys? They never understood what Jesus was saying.” Then I realized I would probably have been in the same boat. No pun intended since they were fishermen, but I probably would have been in the same boat with them the whole time. We just know how the story ends, so we see it more clearly than they did.
Jesus says, “Think about it. You know where I am going. I have told you where I am going, and you know the way to get there.” Then verse 5 says, “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” Jesus answers in verse 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Thomas is still confused. Jesus has said, “You should know where I am going,” and Thomas says, “We do not know where you are going.” Jesus has said, “You should know how to get there,” and Thomas says, “If we do not even know where you are going, how can we know how to get there?” So Jesus explains this one more time and makes it abundantly clear. He says, “I am going to my Father. You get there through me, and there is no other way.”
You can read this, change the meanings of the words, and use all kinds of fancy theological talk to dance around the issue and say there is some other interpretation. You can make up an interpretation out of thin air if you want to. But look at the conversation they are having. Look at what Jesus says. Look at their question: “Where are you going, and how do we get there?” And he says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
It is pretty clear to me, and I do not think it is just my interpretation. He says, “I am going to the Father. You get there through me, and there is no other way.” Is that, or is that not, what he said? He says this to them. He says, “Let me break this down for you and make it as clear as I possibly can. I am going to the Father. You get to the Father through me. There is no other way.”
Jesus Is the One and Only Way
This is not the only place in Scripture where this is taught, but we do not have time this morning to go over every place where it is taught. It is taught on page after page. You can turn to just about any book in Scripture and find something that indicates the role Jesus plays in our salvation. But here is one of the places where Jesus makes clear his unique position when it comes to our relationship with the Father.
We need to understand that Jesus is the one and only way to salvation. Some people try to play the middle ground and say, “Yes, Jesus is a way to salvation, but he is not the only way.” So you are calling Jesus a liar and still think he is a way to salvation? You are saying it is possible to trust your salvation to a liar or a confused man. If Jesus says, “I am the way,” and you say, “No, that is not true. You are a way,” then if Jesus does not know, take him off the list. You do not want to put your trust in him.
Jesus says, “I am the way.” I know I usually emphasize that a little differently than Jesus may have said it. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, the life.” I usually say, “I am the way, the truth, the life.” I realize my emphasis might put a little more emphasis on that point, but you cannot work around the second part of the statement: “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” There is no amount of linguistic somersaults you can do to get around that point. He says nobody gets to the Father except through him.
Jesus is not just a way to heaven. He is the one and only way to salvation. There is no other way. This is not something conservative churches made up. This is something the apostles themselves taught, and something they were beaten, arrested, and executed for proclaiming.
In Acts 4:10-12, the apostles are preaching after they have been arrested and told not to preach in the name of Jesus, and they go do it anyway. They say, “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand before you whole.” Then they say, “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.”
Then they make the point clearly: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” They were getting in trouble for preaching the name of Jesus, and they said, “We cannot stop because there is not salvation found in any other. There is no other name under heaven by which we are saved.” They said Jesus is the only one.
The apostles were not confused on this. This is not something fundamentalists made up in the 20th century. This is something the apostles fought and died for. The men who walked with Jesus believed that he was the only way to heaven, the only way to salvation.
What Salvation Includes
We talk about Jesus being the only way to salvation, but it is important that we define what salvation means and what it includes. We can talk to a lost and dying world all we want and say, “You need salvation.” That is all well and good, but if they do not know what that means, the message is not going to mean much to them.
First, the salvation Jesus provides includes forgiveness of sins. Salvation means our sins are forgiven, and we get that only in Jesus Christ. Paul wrote in Colossians, “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet,” or fitting, “to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Then he says, “In whom,” meaning in Jesus, “we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”
How are we able to stand before God the Father forgiven for our sins? Only through Jesus. I cannot do enough good to erase the wrong I have done. I cannot. If I spent the rest of my life not committing any sin, which is impossible, I do not think I could spend the rest of the day not committing sin. But if I spent the rest of my life not committing any sin, I would only be doing what God expects. I would only be following the law. I do not get extra credit for that, and I still have sin on my account.
It is only because the sinless Savior was nailed to the cross, shed his blood, and died for us that our sins can be forgiven. They were paid for by Jesus Christ.
Second, salvation includes peace with God. I like to think of it this way: we are in rebellion against God. Earth is a province in rebellion against our King. God created us and rules over us. He is supposed to be our King, and he is whether we like it or not, but we are in rebellion. We fired the first shots in this little revolution.
So when the Bible teaches that friendship with the world is enmity with God, in other words, that by following the world we become the enemies of God, it is not because God is hostile. It is because we started it. It is because we looked at God and said, “I hate you, and you are no longer my King.”
Romans 5 says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then it says, “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” We have peace with God through Jesus Christ because we have been justified by him. The sin and disobedience that kicked off that rebellion can only be solved because Jesus Christ paid the price for our treason. Because he took the penalty we owed, it is like a peace treaty was signed with the King.
When our sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ, we are now at peace with the God who created us and rules over us. So salvation means we have forgiveness of sins, and it means we have peace with God.
It also means we are promised eternal life with him in heaven. Romans 6 says, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Then hear this: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
What we earn by our sin is death. But the gift of God is not something we earn or deserve. It is a gift in contrast to what we really earned, which was death. He says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God promises that we will live forever. Now, do not misunderstand. The Bible does teach that we will all be resurrected and that we will all live forever, but there is a question about where that life will take place and whether it is really life. There are those who will exist forever in a place where the fire is not quenched and the worm never dies, in a place created for Satan and his angels. But God does not desire for us to have that punishment with them.
Jesus Christ died to pay for our sins so that we could instead spend eternity enjoying life, abundant life, in the presence of the Father and Jesus Christ. Eternal life is a gift that he gives us, not because we earned it or deserved it, but because Jesus Christ paid for it.
I believe the Bible is very clear that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. And the salvation he provides includes forgiveness of sins, peace with God, and eternal life in heaven. These are incredible gifts that we did not earn or deserve. I have done nothing in my life to deserve all these gifts that God has given. It amazes me that he did not give me what I did deserve, but offered me what I did not deserve.
I have all of this, and I have it only because of what Jesus Christ did. You today can have all of this because of Jesus Christ alone and the sacrifice that he made for you.