Are You On the One Way to Heaven

When he was gone, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once.

My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now, where I am going, you cannot come.

A new command I give you, love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.

Simon Peter asked him, Lord, where are you going? And Jesus replied, where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.

Peter asked, Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. Then Jesus answered, will you really lay down your life for me?

I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me.

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way? Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me. I want to begin by saying thank you to all of you who worked in the Vacation Bible School this week.

It is a tremendous joy to a pastor to see the body of Christ ministering together, praying together, evangelizing together, and especially in the cause of children.

And your work is not in vain as it's been done unto the Lord. You know it's not only a joy to your pastors, it's a joy to the chief shepherd who said to his disciples, let the little children come to me.

And children, we're thankful that you've heard his word this week. Now, I want to ask your children a question. How many of you were here at Vacation Bible School this week?

Can I see your hand? Okay, we've got... Yeah, there we go. All right. I've got a job for you this morning. We didn't have a program on Friday night, so we're going to have the program right now.

And all we're going to do is have you recite this memory verse from John 14 and verse 6. So I want to hear it from you loud and clear. You can say it together with me.

John 14, 6, and it begins, Jesus answered. All right? Here we go. John 14, 6. Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me. Thank you, children. I want to preach to you on that verse this morning.

And the first thing we need to notice right away is that these are the words of Jesus, aren't they? Jesus answered, it says. Now, who is Jesus? Well, he is God, the eternal Son of God, without beginning or ending.

The one who has always been with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. It's the one who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth.

That's who Jesus is. And without him, nothing was made that was made. Now, from where I'm standing, I can see some of the crafts that you children made this week.

Do you know what Jesus made in one week? He made the entire universe in one week. And you made it out of scraps of paper and glue and plates and concrete and tiles and marbles and all sorts of different materials.

When Jesus made everything, he made it out of nothing. This is the Jesus who's speaking to us in these words that you've memorized. And he's not only the creator, he's the judge.

You and I and all creatures must one day appear before him to give an account of what we've done while we've lived here on his earth. And he's the one who determines whether we live forever in heaven or whether we live forever in hell.

He's the judge. That's the Jesus who's speaking to us. He's God. He's creator. He's judge. And he's man.

Here he is on earth. He's got a body like you have. Two thousand years ago, this eternal God, the Son, visited our planet and he did so by becoming one of us.

He was conceived in his mother's womb and in Mary's womb by the Holy Spirit. He spent nine months in his mother's womb just as you did.

And then he was born and he was a baby. And then he grew up and he's a little boy. And he's the very same age of every one of you little boys and girls.

He was your age once. Then he was a young man. And when he was 33 years old, he said these words, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

Now, when he was a little boy, just like you're a little boy or a little girl, there's something that was different about him than you. And it's that he never once sinned.

He never disobeyed his parents. He never complained when they told him what to do. He never fought with his brothers or sisters over a toy. He never lied to get out of trouble.

He never got into trouble. of his own doing. He's perfect. That's the one who, when he's 33, says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

Now, he's come all the way from heaven to tell us this. If somebody showed up at your door and knocked and you open and there's a little Chinaman and he says, I've come all the way from China to bring a message to you, would you want to hear him?

Yes, you'd listen to him. What would that man be coming so far to talk to me about? The Lord Jesus has come all the way from heaven to tell us this wonderful word, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

So when Jesus is talking, we must be listening with both ears. We must stop fidgeting. We must stop daydreaming. Stop talking. We must listen to what Jesus is saying to us.

He's God. He's man. He's creator. He's judge. Now, what is he saying? It's nothing unimportant. It's nothing boring. He's telling us the way to heaven.

The way to his father's house. That place of unending joy. That place of holiday without end.

No mixture of sadness in heaven. He's giving us directions to his father's house where he lives. He's telling us how to get there and nothing could be more important.

Now, when did Jesus say these things? Well, he said them on the night before he died on the cross. He's just eaten with his twelve disciples.

It was a sad night for them. You can see it on their faces. They're sad because Jesus has just told them that one of them was going to betray him. They were going to, one of them was going to hand him over to his enemies to mistreat him.

And then Judas Iscariot left the room. And Jesus told the remaining eleven disciples that he was only going to be with them for a little while longer.

That he was going away and where he was going they could not now follow. And it was breaking their hearts. They had left everything to follow him.

And now he's saying where I'm going you cannot now follow. So Peter asked him Lord where are you going? Where are you going that we can't follow you now?

And Jesus goes on to tell them that he is going to the father's house to prepare a place for them. And he says I will come back and take you to be with me so that you also may be where I am.

you know the way to the place where I am going. And then Thomas said to him Lord we don't know where you're going so how can we know the way?

Kids sometimes when you go on vacation you need directions on how to get there. Parents used to use maps. Now they use Map Quest or Garmin that voice that talks right out of the dashboard to them and tells them turn right and 50 yards or turn left.

And if your parents use one of those devices for directions very early on in the process they will be asked for the destination and they'll have to punch in the destination where they're going.

You see as smart as that little voice is it cannot tell them the directions without knowing where they're going. And that's precisely Thomas' objection.

Lord, we don't know where you're going so how can we know the way? We don't know the destination so how can we know the directions?

heavens. Now this is a strange situation indeed because they don't know the precise location of where Jesus is going.

They don't know where the Father's house is. They don't know where heaven is. They could not punch in a physical address to the Father's house.

house and yet Jesus insists that they know the way to the Father's house. And they know it because he is the way and they know him.

Isn't that good? You know the way to the Father's house because you know me and I am the way to the Father's house. Thomas then is like people who are looking for their keys when all the while they are in their pocket or looking for their glasses when they turn them up on their head and all the while they are right there.

Thomas doesn't think he knows the way to heaven when all the while he does because the way is Jesus Christ and he knows him.

Now the next thing we need to notice not only who is speaking Jesus the God man but the second thing is that there is a way to heaven for sinners.

There is a way to heaven for sinners. Now the most astonishing thing about Jesus' words in verse 6 is not that there is only one way to get to heaven but that there is any way for sinners to get to heaven.

Heaven's a holy place. The holy, holy, holy, sinless God lives there. And with him live his sinless angels.

And no one with sin can ever enter in there. Even just one sin disqualifies you from heaven. That's the standard. If you want to get into heaven, you've got to be perfect.

You've got to obey all the commands perfectly. So if you've ever sinned just once, you're not fit for heaven. The holy, sinless God and his holy, sinless angels find their home in heaven.

Now, when God made the first man Adam, he was sinless, wasn't he? sinless Adam, and God made a way for sinless Adam to enjoy life with him forever and ever in his presence.

It was the way of obedience. The way of obedience. God put sinless Adam to a test, didn't he? And he said, you're free to eat from all the trees here in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die.

So, Adam is being promised, if you obey, you have eternal life. You can eat of the tree of life and live forever with me.

But if you eat of the forbidden fruit, you will not live forever with me, but you will surely die. Now, you remember, kids, what happened to Adam and Eve.

They ate the fruit they were not supposed to. That means they sinned against God. They rebelled against Him and so they could not live with Him forever.

They were driven out of the garden, weren't they? They were banished. And just to make sure that they didn't somehow get back in to the garden and eat from the tree of life and live forever with God, God posted some guards.

They were glorious angelic creatures that are named cherubim. And He put them right there to guard the way back into the garden. And with them He put a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

You know what God's saying by this guard and this flashing sword? Lord, the way to live with me forever is closed.

You can't come this way. You don't belong with me forever and ever. I'm too holy to live with sinners. And so heavenly paradise was lost.

It was forfeited by sin. And lest we blame Adam and say, well, I wouldn't have done what Adam did. Every one of us makes the same decision.

Every one of us chooses to sin against God. We don't obey perfectly what God has said. And so we too have forfeited heaven. We've forfeited living with Him forever.

We've all lost heaven because of our sins. And so that way is shut up forever to all mankind. Ever since Genesis 3, when that event happened and Adam acted for us as our representative, when He fell, we fell in Him.

And we show every day by our own sins that we vote just the same as Adam. That way to God, to living with Him forever, was closed. Flashing, flaming sword.

Why? Because that was the way to live with God by way of our perfect obedience. If we obey, we can live with Him. But if we disobey Him, we must surely die and die the second death, which is separation from God forever in hell.

So, sin makes heaven an impossible destination. And yet here in John chapter 14 and verse 6, is Jesus Christ telling His own disciples who were clearly sinners, as we read in the New Testament, that there is a way to the Father's house for them.

Proud them who were too proud to wash each other's feet. Self-centered them who were arguing that very night about which one of them was the greatest. And Jesus is saying, there is a way for you to get to the Father's house.

Now, that's not as breathtaking to us as it ought to be. The infinite holy God has made a way for certain sinners to be brought back to Him and to live with Him forever and ever.

amazing kindness in Him. The next thing we need to know is that the way to heaven is a person.

The way to heaven, this road to heaven, is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, all through our Old Testaments, the prophets were pointing forward to Him.

He's coming! He's coming! This new way to God. He's coming! There were dim types and shadows that pointed to Him.

The tabernacle, the lambs that were slain, the priests, they were all saying, He's coming! But here He is! God, the Eternal Son, become a man standing there before His disciples on the earth and He says, I'm here.

I am the way to the Father's house. I am. He not only teaches us the way to heaven, He is the way. He is the truth.

He's all the truth you need to know to be saved. He's the truth that sets you free. He is the life. He is spiritual life. He is eternal life. And in Him alone we live.

Now, sometimes they close up old roads. They just close the road. Not just for repair, it's closed for good. That's what God did with the road of human obedience as a way to live forever with God.

That road is done. That road is closed. It never was open for sinners. It was only open for sinless Adam. Because as soon as you sin once, that road is no longer for you.

So, that road has been closed, shut. Nobody can get to God on the road of good works, morality, obedience.

But sometimes new roads open up, don't they? The old ones are closed and new ones are opened. And God in mercy has opened up a new road.

that Hebrews 10 calls a new and living way to come to God. A new and living way for us to come to God, even through the blood of Jesus.

Wow, this is an expensive road. You know, our roads cost us a lot of tax money. What did it cost to open up this new road to heaven? It cost the blood of Jesus.

What a costly road this is. this new and living way to God. And so he opens this new road to heaven. The Lord Jesus becomes the substitute for his people.

You know what a substitute is, kids. You have a teacher and every day you go to school, there's your teacher. But then one day your teacher gets sick and so somebody else is in the teacher's desk.

It's a substitute teacher. It's someone who's in the place of the teacher. And Jesus decides to be the substitute for his people.

To stand in the place where his people were. Now he does that in two ways. He does it in two ways. He takes the place of his people in his life and in his death.

First of all, Jesus' life was lived in the place of his people. Where they disobeyed, he obeyed.

Where they fell, he stood. At every point where we sinned, he was tempted to, but was without sin. And so Jesus isn't just living for himself when he lived those 33 years.

He's living in our place. We'd already blown it with our lives. We'd already sinned. But Jesus comes to live in our place.

And he lives for all of his people. That means that every time he said no to sin, he was saying no to sin for his people. And he went that way all the way through his 33 years.

Perfect obedience. So on our report card, we have a whole lot of F's. failures to obey God.

We failed here. We failed there. We have F's. And Jesus on his report card has straight A's. Because he always obeyed him. He always did what pleased the father.

And he did it for his people. And here's the wonderful thing, children. Jesus is so kind that he offers to trade report cards with us. Isn't that good?

I will give you my A's and you give me your F's. You give me your sins and I'll give you my righteousness.

You give me all the times you disobeyed your parents and disobeyed my commands and I'll give you all the times I obeyed my father on earth and in heaven.

What a trade. What a deal. And so you see that his perfect life was lived for his people that they might have a perfect obedience to present before God in the day of judgment.

But when Jesus took the sins and the F's of his people, he also got with those sins the guilt and the punishment that are tied to sin.

Because the wages of sin is death. So if he's going to take your F's, he's also going to have to take the death that goes with your sin, the punishment of God's wrath.

And so that leads us to the second part of Jesus' substitution. He not only was the substitute in his living for his people, and so he lives a perfect life for his people, he's now the substitute in dying for his people.

He dies in the place of his people. So Jesus, who had no sins of his own, goes to the cross, the place of punishment, and he suffers the wrath of God that we would have been suffering forever and ever.

He does it in the place of his people. As the substitute, he gets what his people had coming. And his bloody death under God's wrath.

takes away all the sins of his people. Because you see, once sins have been punished, there's no more punishment for them. Once the debt has been paid, it's marked paid in full, and there's no more to exact out of them.

Jesus paid it all. And so the debt is completely canceled. It's paid, paid in full. And this is the new and living way that has been opened up, this new road to heaven, through Jesus' blood.

And if we trust in Jesus' blood, we can go on that road right into God's presence with confidence and be assured that we are accepted there, that that is our home.

It's my home now, and it will be my home forever and ever. It's because he suffered all the punishments that I deserved. and he's given me all his righteousness that he deserved.

So here's how Peter put it. Christ died for sins once for all. The righteous one for the unrighteous to bring us to God.

God. That bringing us to God is the way, you see? There's a way for sinners to be brought to God. There's a way, a road to get to heaven.

And how is it? It's by the righteous one, living and dying for sinners, to bring us to God. You know, that's the only way we can get into heaven, is to be brought there by the Lord Jesus.

suppose there was this great king and he never wanted to have his subjects come into his presence.

To do so uninvited would be death. But one day, two people appear in the back of the king's chamber and in through the door.

comes one of his citizens on the arm of his own son. And he brings him right up to the throne and he says, Daddy, this is my friend Joe.

And on the basis of his son, he accepts his friend Joe. The only way to appear before the great holy God is on the arm of Jesus.

He brings us to God. God. He's the way to come to God. Never appear before him without Jesus, his son. To do so is certain damnation.

But to appear with his son is to be immediately accepted. We are accepted in the beloved. We're accepted for Jesus' sake. As Jesus presents us to the father, he says, Father, yes, he's a sinner, but I died for his sins.

He says, yes, he's broken your commands, but I obeyed your commands for him. And so we come in freely accepted in the beloved.

Now the Bible speaks of this righteousness of Jesus as a beautiful robe. One hot summer day, I was in Philadelphia, and we were going out into the middle of the drug trafficking area of the city to do gospel work, to witness to people, to seek to see these drug addicts and salesmen saved.

And so there was a preacher there. He was an older man. And he went that day and he didn't have his jacket on. he had a white shirt on. It was full of dirt.

He had smeared dirt all over his shirt. And he went out there in the streets of Philadelphia and he started preaching to them that man is a sinner and every time we sin it's a stain on us.

And God is so holy we can't appear in his presence with one sin or we'll be damned forever. He said this is our condition. You drug people.

This is your condition. This is my condition as a preacher. How will we ever appear before God and be saved? He said oh there is a way.

There is a way to heaven and it's his son. His son is obeyed perfectly and so he has a perfect righteousness and it's like a perfectly clean robe and he put that on him and he said when we trust in Jesus his righteousness is put over us and covers all our sins.

Now we're ready to go into the day of judgment because God will see us in Jesus righteousness absolutely pure and he'll see us as if we had never sinned.

Wonderful. The righteous robes of Jesus righteousness. He lived for his people. He died for his people and the only way to appear before God is in the Lord our righteousness.

He's the way to heaven. The next thing you need to know about this way is that there's only one way. And Jesus says that doesn't he? There's only one way. Now that's not how it is here on earth is it?

Take for instance Warsaw. There's many ways to get to Warsaw from here. I can go out and get on 331 and go south and over on 30 and I'll be there.

Or I can go down Fur Road and over on 30. I can take old 30. I can go on 6 to 15. I can go any number of back routes and I'll get to Warsaw. But no offense folks but Warsaw's not heaven.

Is it? There may be many roads to Warsaw but there's only one road to heaven. We've got to think about this differently. We think of the many ways to get to South Bend to Mishawal.

There's only one way to heaven. There's only one road that gets there and that's what Jesus is telling us. And he tells this to us twice. Did you see that? In this little verse he says I am the way.

I am the way. Kids he didn't say I am a way. I am another way. I am the best way. No he says I am the way. There is none other.

And then as if we hadn't gotten it he says it again. No one comes to the father except through me. Kids when your parents tell you something twice in the same breath it's usually because they don't want you to miss it.

It's something very important. Jesus tells us twice in the same breath that he is the only way to heaven. Now this exclusive claim that he's the only way doesn't sit well with people.

Especially moderns. sounds judgmental doesn't it? Judgmental of other religions of the world. Oh but remember who this Jesus is.

He is the judge. Of course it's judgmental. He's the judge. And he judges which religions are true and which religions are false.

And he says they're all false except for me. I am the truth. I am the way. I am the only way. The only truth. The only life. And you'll never get to heaven unless you come through me.

And that's why the Hindus and the Muslims and the Jews and the Buddhists and the Confucianists and the atheists and all the religious people that don't come through Jesus will never get to heaven.

Because they don't come on the one road that's going there. The Lord Jesus. Jesus. And that's why you'll never get there unless you get into Christ. This is all part of Christ's honor and glory.

This is what makes him so magnificent. He's the only Savior there is. He's the only way into the Father's house. Doesn't that place an honor on him? There's none like him.

He's the only one that can get you in there. Salvation is found in no one else. There's no other name under heaven given by men by which we must be saved.

He's the only way home to the Father. He's the only sacrifice with enough merit to blot out the sins of a multitude of people who repent and believe.

There's only one mediator between God and man. A mediator is an in-between. Someone to go before God and to plead our case for us. There's only one. It's the God-man, Christ Jesus.

In other words, there's only one ladder from earth to heaven, and it's Jesus. There's only one door into heaven, and he said, I am the door. He said, I am the way.

We must come through him. There was no other good enough to pay the price for sin. He only could unlock the door. The gate of heaven and let us in.

The last thing you need to know is that the way to heaven is the road less traveled. Jesus is the way to heaven, and he tells us in Matthew 7, it's a very narrow road and only a few are on it.

But there's a broad road, and many are on it, even though it leads to destruction. Now, why is this? Why, when Jesus is the only road to heaven, why would so few be on it compared to all the others that are on the broad road that leads to hell?

Well, there's several reasons. Some are on the broad road just because they like to travel with the majority. They like to stick with the crowd. They like to be in. They don't want to be odd, don't like to be the odd man out, so they'll stick with the crowd, and so they refuse to follow Jesus Christ and to go to heaven.

Others prefer the broad road because it's broad enough for them to bring in all their baggage of sin. You see, on the broad road, they can walk in their sin. In the narrow road, you got to bring your sins to Jesus to have them forgiven and crucified and killed.

But on the broad road, there's all kinds of room for you to go on with your sin. And some people are on the broad road just because they love their sins. They don't want to be saved from their sins. They prefer their sins than to Jesus and the narrow road.

For we all like sheep have gone astray. We've turned each one to his own way. You've got your way. I've got my own way. But neither of them are his way. We've all turned from his way.

And on this broad road, there's room for my way. There's room for your way, your way, your way, your way, your way. There's room for everybody's individual way. That's why it's such a broad way. We've all chosen it. But the thing it has in common, it's not God's way.

It's not through Christ. The only way. We don't like to be told what to do. We don't like our parents telling us what to do. We don't like Jesus telling us what to do.

He's the one who tells us to honor our parents, to obey them. So we're on the broad road because over here, I just do what I want to do. Some choose the broad road because they sincerely think it's the best for them.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to destruction. And so they're on this road because they're very sincere. They may be a very sincere Buddhist. They think it seems right to them.

I mean, this was the way of my father and my grandfather and as long as I can remember, this has been the right way to live, but it's going to destruction. Many refuse the narrow road because they don't believe that they're that bad because you see on the narrow road you have to renounce all your goodness.

You have to own what you are. All my best deeds are like filthy rags. Jesus, I need the robe of your righteousness to cover me for all my sins. A lot of people don't like that because they think too highly of themselves.

I'm a moral guy. I'm not as bad as the guy on the other side of the block. surely something of my goodness will contribute to getting into heaven.

You can't get on the narrow road with those thoughts ruling you. You've got to renounce it and say, Lord Jesus, here's all my bad deeds. Lord Jesus, here's all my good deeds.

What I think are good deeds. And I turn from both of them and I come and I ask you to save me. and I beg for mercy. I have nothing good to say for myself on the narrow road.

Some people are too proud to beg, too proud to have salvation all by mercy alone. And so we find it in this day as it was in Jesus' day.

The narrow road of Jesus to heaven is only got a few on it compared to the many who are on the broad road to destruction. Does that seem sad to you?

Which road are you on this morning? When there is a road straight to heaven, should we not all be on it? There's only one other alternative and that's hell.

To not be in Christ this morning is to be on your way to hell, period. Get into Christ. Get into Christ. No wonder Jesus tells us twice, one after another, that he's the only way.

Because so many boys and girls, so many women and men are going every other direction but to him. He wants us to come to him.

So he tells us, I am the only way, come to me. So the road to heaven is the road less traveled. Oh, but on that road you enjoy fellowship with the Lord Jesus.

And it leads as he leads you into perfect heaven at last. This is the new and living way that's been opened up to heaven. It's through Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I want to ask you, children, do you believe these words of Jesus? You've memorized them. You know them. But it's not enough to know these words. It's not enough to know the directions to get to Warsaw.

You have got to get on your bike or walk or into a car and get on the road that leads you to Warsaw. It's not enough to know the way to heaven, that Jesus is the only way.

You've got to yourself, children, get into Jesus in order to arrive safely in heaven. You say, how do I get in Jesus, into this way? You do so by faith.

You say, Lord Jesus, forgive my sins. Here I am. Save me. Have mercy on me. to reject Jesus is to reject God's only way to heaven.

That's not only a tragedy for you, it's an offense to him. Do you know what that way cost to open up to heaven? We've talked about it. It cost the blood of his own son.

It cost him, the father, crushing the son that he loved on Calvary, putting the our sins on him and then punishing them with his wrath, abandoning his own son.

That's what it cost the father to make a new way into heaven. And you're bored to tears with it and you say, thanks but no thanks, I'd rather go my own way.

That's offensive to him. Do you know what that robe of righteousness cost Jesus? It's a costly thing and then you say, no thanks, I'd rather have my own filthy rags.

Highly offensive. Children, hear me when I tell you that these words of Jesus are not just grown-up words. These words are not just for grown-ups.

They're not just for adults, they're for children. Do you know that the Bible is not a book just for grown-ups? Elisha was God's prophet.

That means that when God had something to say to his people, he said it through Elisha. He was his mouthpiece and he sent his messages to his people. One day Elisha was walking toward Bethel and a group of young children came out of Bethel and they started jeering at the prophet, poking fun at him, laughing at him.

He must not have had a lot of hair because they said, go on up you old bald man, go on up you bald head. And the more they kept saying it, the more they were giggling and laughing among themselves.

Well, Elisha wasn't laughing and God wasn't laughing. And Elisha turned and cursed them in the name of the Lord Almighty.

And God himself called a bear out of the woods on an errand for him. And that bear came and mauled 52 of the youths.

God did not do you see, when they showed disrespect for God's spokesman, they showed disrespect for God's truth.

They showed disrespect for God himself. And their young age did not get them off the hook. The bear didn't say, oh, they're too young.

God didn't say, oh, they're too young. God was offended that they had rejected, made fun of, his prophet.

Now, here's the word for you children. Do you see in that? Religion's not just something, Christianity's not just something for grown-ups. God's serious about children and what they do with his truth.

And if that's what God did to some young people who rejected God's prophet, what do you think God's attitude toward those who are rejecting his own son?

His own son. That he loves like no one else can love him. Oh, it's sin, my young person, friend. Sin to reject this savior.

Another moment. Run into his arms. That's the wonder of these words. Why is Jesus proclaiming himself to be the way? Because he wants you to flock into him. He wants you to come and follow him all the way to heaven.

All the way to heaven. He will save you. Come to him. So we're back in the upper room with Jesus the night of his betrayal and the Lord Jesus is preparing his men for his death.

And he who is the way to the father is about to be abandoned by his father. And he who is the truth will very soon be condemned as a liar and crucified. And he who is the life will soon be a corpse laid in the tomb.

But you and I live on the other side of that tomb, don't we? And we look back on the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus and we say he really is who he said he was.

He is the truth. He never lied. And he really is the life. Death could not keep him in the grave. And so he really is the way to the father's house.

He's there now. And his presence there ensures, guarantees that all of his people, all who trust in him, will one day be there too. Let's pray.

Thank you Jesus Christ for coming into this world and speaking to us as God and yet as man, for telling us of this new and living way whereby sinners could actually live with God in heaven forever and ever.

Don't let these words be lost on any of us here this morning, young or old alike. Make us to treasure the Lord Jesus for what he's done by his perfect life and by his atoning death.

We ask for the good, the eternal good of sinners and we ask for the eternal glory of our Savior. We pray it in his name. Amen.