Tonight, our first scripture reading is taken from Isaiah chapter 35. And as we read Isaiah chapter 35, I especially would like to direct your attention to verse 8. where the prophet Isaiah prophesies about a highway that will be established by God for the redeemed. And as we consider the sixth I am statement of our Lord Jesus Christ today, I am the way and the truth and the life, it is very important for all of us to hear the reading of God's word from Isaiah 35 in relation to John 14, 6. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad. The desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocks. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it. The majesty of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees, so to those who have an anxious heart Say to those who have an anxious heart, be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With the recompense of God, he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs water. In the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there. It shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way. Even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come upon it. They shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return. and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. And I'll turn your Bible with me to the Gospel of John chapter 14, verse 1 through 14. John chapter 14, verse 1 through 14. 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 have I told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. And he know the way to where I'm going. Thomas say to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus say 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. 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 that 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 this 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. This is the reading of the holy and the infallible and life-giving word of God. And may the Lord bless the reading of his word into our hearts by the power of his Holy Spirit. September 29, 2011, was the day that I was forced to leave my home country and my family. And on that day, I remember coming to my wife and tell her what happened, and I must leave her and my children behind. And I still remember my wife being shocked And I can see that she was in despair and fear and doubt. And one of the questions that my wife asked me was, as any good wife would ask her husband who is planning to leave her and her children behind, she asked me what my plan was. And she specifically asked me, what is your plan for us? What is your plan for me and for our children? And with my limited power and strength and depending on God's grace and God's providence, I could tell my wife what my plan was. And I told my wife, my plan is to cross the border to Sudan, and then go to Kenya, and then, Lord willing, to go to the United States of America, and then at God's proper time to bring you and the children to America. But the one thing that I couldn't tell my wife on that day was that I couldn't tell to my wife that on this very specific day, I will come back to Asmara, to this house where we live, and I will take you and my children to the place where I will be in the United States of America. And you all know that I can't do that. I don't have that ability. I don't have that power to speak with words of assurance. I can't be certain, I can't be definitely sure to tell my wife I will come back to Asmara and take them to the place where I will be in the United States of America. But my friends, not so with Jesus Christ our Savior. In our text tonight, we see our Lord Jesus Christ having an encounter with his disciples. We call this encounter, we call this discourse, the upper room discourse. This is a farewell discourse that our Lord Jesus Christ had with his disciples. And before you come to John chapter 4, you need to read John chapter 13. Because in John chapter 13, you will see the reason why the disciples were troubled. Why they were in despair, in fear, and doubt in their life. Because in chapter 13, verse 33, our Lord Jesus Christ say to the disciples, little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me. And just I say to the Jews, so now I also say to you, where I'm going, you cannot come. And then in verse 36, he say to Peter and the other disciples, Where I'm going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward. Our Lord Jesus Christ was with his disciples for three years. These disciples were depending on Christ for everything that they needed in life and in their ministry. He was providing to them. He was leading them. Even when the enemies of the gospel, the enemies of God comes to attack them, He was there to speak to their enemies, to defend them, and to protect them, and to guide them. And now Jesus Christ told his disciples that he was going away. He will depart from them. And where he was going, they cannot come. Where he was heading, they cannot join him. And our Lord Jesus Christ, when he brought or told the news to his disciples, he saw their heart being troubled. He saw them being disturbed. He saw them in doubt and in despair. And tonight, my friends, if anyone of you is troubled in his heart, if you are in despair, if you are in doubt and fear, if you are not sure about your future and you are afraid what might happen to you tomorrow or in times ahead of you, You need to hear to your Savior. You need to listen to the Savior and how he is giving you words of encouragement and hope. Not only temporal hope, but also eternal hope for eternal life, everlasting life. when Jesus Christ saw the hearts of his disciples being troubled. You see, he had to bring a message of hope to them. He had to encourage their hearts. Christ always encourages his followers. Christ always strengthens the faith of his followers. So in order to encourage his disciples, in order to give hope and encouragement to his disciples, our Lord Jesus Christ in verse one said, let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. Tonight I want to ask you why our Lord Jesus Christ didn't make that great claim, the I am statement, in John 14, 16, as soon as he saw his disciples being troubled. Instead, as a way of encouraging his disciples, as a way of bringing hope to his disciples, He said to his disciples, let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. Do we worship two gods? Do we put our faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, at different times? Why is our Lord Jesus Christ calling His disciples to faith? In this sense, to trust in God and also in Him. You see, John, in the Gospel of John, has discovered the union between the Father and the Word, the Eternal Word. And once he discovered that, once he unites the Father with the Eternal Word, He always presents God the Father and God the Son to the faith and the trust of God's children. The reason why our Lord Jesus Christ said to his disciples, believe in God and believe in me also. The reason was our Lord Jesus Christ was telling his disciples, you believe in God, The one who have never seen. The one who is spirit. You believe in this God, the invisible God. You believe in him without seeing him. And now I'm going to leave you for a little while. You are not going to see me. I'm not going to be among you. I will be like my father. So in the same way that you trust my father, even without seeing him, I want you to trust me even without seeing me because I am God. I and the father are one. If you see me, you have seen the father. I and the Father are one. You remember what John tells us in 1 John chapter 5, in gospel of John chapter 5. What is eternal life? Eternal life is to know God and the one whom the Father has sent. That is eternal life. So Jesus is telling them, I and the Father are one. You need to trust in my God and you need to trust in me. I am God. He is claiming to be God. The whole Gospel of John, you see, tells us that Christ is God. God in the flesh. Believe in God and believe also in me. And our Lord Jesus Christ calls his disciples to find their trust, to find their strength in their faith in God and Christ the Son. When Jesus said, believe in God and believe also in me, You see, He's calling them to have faith and trust in God and also in His Son, Jesus Christ. And that, of course, by faith. He's calling their faith. He's calling them to draw strength and hope from Him by faith. And the reason for their trust, my friends, the reason for their trust in God and trust in Him was this. In verse 2, our Lord Jesus Christ tells them this. 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. So what was the reason why the disciples had to trust Jesus? To trust in God and trust in his son, Jesus Christ. The reason is because he was going, he was going, he was leaving them for a purpose. Jesus told them, I'm not leaving you just to go to my father and forget about you. I'm not going to the cross and then die and remain in the grave. I'm not going to die and rise from the dead and then go to my father and then just enjoy my communion with my father and forget about you. But I'm going, I'm leaving, I'm going away from you for a purpose. I'm going to prepare a place for you. You see, whenever we read these words, especially, I'm going away to prepare a place for you. Often we picture our Lord Jesus Christ, we portray our Lord Jesus Christ as someone who is involved in the process of constructing rooms for us in heaven. Like a constructor, constructing rooms for us in heaven. We often think that the process of preparing a place for us in heaven will be gone when he arrives to the scene in heaven. That's not what Jesus Christ is saying here. I will start preparing a place for you on my going, with my going, going to the cross. When I die for you on the cross, I'm preparing a place for you in heaven. When I raise from the dead, I'm preparing a place for you in heaven. And when I ascend to my Father in heaven, I'm preparing a way for you in heaven. So it's not His arrival in heaven where Christ will begin preparing a place for us, but He's going to the cross, He's going to the grave, and His resurrection from the dead, ascension to heaven, all these acts of salvation that Christ has accomplished for us. are ways by which Christ will prepare a place for us in heaven. And Jesus Christ is telling his disciples, you see, you need to trust God and you need to trust me. Because my father and I will accomplish what we have promised for you. I have come to the world to do the will of my father. And the will of my father is for me to prepare a place for you by my own blood and by my resurrection, ascension, and also return back to you to take you to the place where I will be. Our Lord Jesus Christ was saying this to his disciples because he knew what was coming from them. He knew the condition of their heart. He knew what each disciple was thinking. And you can imagine what was going on in their mind. This man left everything behind to follow Jesus. And I always imagine, I always picture them saying, deep in their heart, saying, we left everything to follow this man. He was our hope. He was our leader. And he promised us that he will be with us all the time, every day, and now he's leaving us. And Jesus saw their heart being troubled, and he told them, Do not let your heart be troubled. I'm going away to prepare a place for you. But where I'm going, you cannot come." And it was at this time that one of his disciples, Thomas, interrupted Jesus Christ. And he said to Jesus, Lord, we don't know where you are going. You see, by now, they should know where he's going. He has been with them for three years. He has been telling them what his mission is. He has been telling them that he will die for the sins of God's people. And that on the third day, he would rise up from the dead. And then he will ascend to heaven and sit at the right hand of his father to intercede on behalf of his people. But doubt, fear, and despair, my friends, makes you forget all the promises of God. Doubt and fear makes you doubt what God has promised for you. And Jesus, after hearing Thomas, then we see him making this great I AM statement. to his disciples and all of us tonight. Jesus said, Thomas, I am the way and the truth and the life. And from this great I am statement of our Lord Jesus Christ, this is what we learn as Christians. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only and one road to the truth about God and to the life that is everlasting. You see, from the outset, I would like to point out to you that these three powerful ways by which the work of salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ has been explained, has been unfolded to us, the way, the truth, and the life. These three great segments of this I am statement, they are not independent from one another. But they are interrelated to one another. And they find their essence in one person, in Jesus Christ our Savior. And they all flow to the children of God at the same time. If He's the way for you, He's the truth. If He's the truth for you, He's the life. We cannot separate them in our Christian life and in our Christian growth. So Jesus Christ is not saying, A, I am the way, B, I am the truth, C, I am the life. But Jesus Christ is saying, I am the way to the truth of God, and I am the way to the life that is everlasting. And of course, the life here is described, our dwelling place in Christ Jesus and in God the Father, or heaven, that celestial city to which we are looking forward to join our Savior. And tonight, we will consider three of them. these three segments of this I am statement. Of course, the first one is I am the way. The way to where? The way to what? The way to the Father. Jesus said, I am the way to the Father. No one comes to the Father except through me. You see, when Jesus was claiming to be the only way to the Father, He is excluding all other ways to heaven. Especially here in America. We live among a pluralistic society. Wherever you go in America, you will hear people telling you there are many ways to God. There are many ways to heaven. Even evangelical preachers today would tell you if you only preach Christ, the only way to the Father, you become a narrow-minded preacher, and no one will attend your service. But as Christians, you see, we need to remember this is not our claim. This is the claim that Christ is making about himself. Christ made himself exclusive. And he excluded all other ways. Muhammad didn't make this claim. Buddha didn't make this claim. All other founders of religions in our world never make this claim. Only Jesus makes this claim. And in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 7, our Lord Jesus Christ tells us this. Enter by the narrow gates, for the gate is wide and the way is easy. That leads to distraction. And those who enter by it are many, for the gate is narrow and the way is hard. That leads to life. And those who found it are few." You see, in this verse, We see two roads. One takes to destruction and one takes to eternal life. And Jesus in his claim in John 14 6 is becoming that narrow road that takes to the Father, that takes to heaven. Today's pluralistic culture will tell you there are many roads to heaven. But this is not a claim. This is Jesus claiming it for himself. But what does the way or this road means here? It is very significant for us to consider. The early Christians, before they took the name Christian, as an insult. You see, people gave them that name as an insult. But before they received that name, they were called the followers of the way, or the people of the way. In the book of Acts, chapter nine, verse one, when Saul was the persecutor of the church of Jesus Christ, but Paul still, brazen threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked him for letters to the synagogue at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, which is Christ. You see, the disciples and the followers of Jesus Christ in the early church, they understood Christ at the way to eternal life, at the way to the Father. Their faith, their Christianity was called the way, the only way to heaven, to the father. If anyone belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. But later on, you see, God, by his mighty power, converted the apostle Paul. From Saul, he became Paul. And in Acts chapter 22, with a great sense of regret and sorrow, he said this, I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women. You see, they were called the followers of the way. And Paul said, I persecuted this way. You remember Jesus Christ was, you know, by that great vision on the road to Damascus. He stopped Saul, later Paul, and he asked him, Saul, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And now Paul is saying, I persecuted this way. Which way? Christ. The way. Christ asked him, why are you persecuting me? And Paul is saying, I actually persecuted the very way that takes to the Father. The very way that takes to eternal life. The prophet Isaiah. Many, many years ago, before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, He saw this way. And He said in verse 8, a highway shall be there. And in verse 9, He said, the redeemed shall walk there. You see, God will establish a highway. And the redeemed, the redeemed of the Lord, those people whom Christ will redeem them by His blood, they will walk on that highway, which is Christ Jesus. The writer of the Hebrews understood this. In Hebrews 10, 20, the writer of the Hebrews said, By the new and living way. that He opened for us through the curtain that is through His flesh. You see, Jesus Christ, when He died on the cross, and when the curtain of the temple was torn down, And God's people had access, a direct access to the Father. You see, Christ became that road for us. That road by which we can go to the Father. That road by which we can receive eternal life. So how does Christ become the way for us? By His death on the cross, He becomes the only way to the Father. By becoming our great High Priest, by giving up His own life on behalf of His people, He becomes the only one way to the Father. Christ is the only way to the Father because He is the only mediator between God and His people. When Christ stands before His Father on your behalf, God would accept you because of the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ. Your only way to the Father, your only access to the Father is Christ Jesus. So Christ is making this claim to his disciples and to all of us tonight so that we would understand that we are actually standing on this way. And this way is the way of life. It is a metaphor. You see, when Thomas asked Jesus, we don't know the way. How can we know the way? Thomas was actually asking, Christ to give him a road map. With all its directions. With all its sign boards. And then he can travel to heaven. He can walk on this way without any difficulty. But you see what Jesus did. He asked for a road map and Jesus gave him a way. He asked for a road map and Jesus gave him a destination. And he told him, I am the way. You have to be in me. You have to walk in me. And then I will take you to my father. I will take you to heaven. So by becoming the only mediator between God and man, Jesus becomes the only way to the father. Also, Jesus is our only advocate. As our only advocate, you see, he becomes the only way to the Father. He can speak on our behalf. He can defend us. Jesus also, you see, is the only way to the Father. Because if we are not in Him, we have no access to the Father. If we are not in Him, then there is no way for us to enter to the presence of God the Father. But Jesus also claimed to be the truth. I am the way and the truth. Pontius Pilate. You see, his greatest desire, inquiry, was to know the truth. When Jesus stood before him in John chapter 18, Pilate asked Jesus, so are you the king? And Jesus answered by saying, you say that I am a king. For this purpose, I was born. And for this purpose, I have come into the world. Now listen to this, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said to him, what is truth? You see often, you know, for us truth is a fact on which we act. It has to be a fact. And then once we see, what we hear, what we read, what we observe, is a fact for us and then we act on it. In a biblical sense, you see, truth is not merely a fact on which we act. In biblical truth, truth, in biblical truth, truth is a fact on which, a fact that acts on us. It acts on us as the truth of God. It acts on us. It changes us. And how do we understand this? What does Jesus mean when he said, I am the truth? This is truth about God. Truth about Christ. Truth about salvation. Truth about eternal life. And how is Jesus Christ the truth? Jesus Christ is the truth because He is the eternal Word of God. In John chapter 1 verse 14, John tells us, And the Word became flesh. And the Word became flesh. And the Word that became flesh is the Word of truth. In John 17, 17, the Word of God says, they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. When Jesus said, I am the truth, he is saying, when I am proclaimed as the truth. when I am preached as the truth, when people know me and receive me as the truth, then I sanctify them from their sin. I sanctify them. I make them pure and acceptable in the sight of God. The Bible says, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. But from where does the truth set us free? From sin, not from foolishness, not from ignorance, not from the confusion and misunderstanding of false religion or whatever we hear about any religion in the world. But the truth set us free from sin. And that's what Romans chapter 8 tells us. Romans chapter 8 verse 32 says this, So Jesus said to the Jew who had believed him, If you abide in my word, which is truth, You are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. You see, my friends, when we believe what we know, then the truth set us free. But we need the truth. and the truth in Christ. Christ is saying, I am the source of all truths. If you want to know who God is, if you want to know what the way of salvation is, if you want to know how you can be sanctified from sin, you need to hear my words. You need to hear to the eternal word of God, because that word is the word of truth. And that truth will set you free from sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We love this verse. We quote this verse every time we declare our freedom from condemnation. But we need to remember what follows. that declaration of our freedom from condemnation. What follows that verse is this, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. That's the reason why we are free from condemnation. Because the spirit of life has set us free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. The Bible says the wedge of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Where do you find this truth? You find this truth in Christ Jesus. Where do you find this truth? You find this truth in the eternal Word of God. And when you not only know this truth, but you believe this truth, and then that truth will set you free from sin, the law of sin, and death. My friends, the truth brings us to heaven. The truth brings us to the right path of life. Our light on the road to heaven, our light on the way to eternal life is the word of truth. Jesus also claimed to be the life. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth. and the life. And what does Jesus mean by claiming to be the life? You see, Jesus, by claiming to be the life, he was telling his disciples and to all of us tonight, without me, there is no life. Outside of Jesus Christ, there is no life. He is the author of life, the author and the creator of life. He is the Creator. In John 1, verse 2, all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. A physical existence. The whole creation was created by the power of His Word. In the space of six days, He upholds all things by the Word of His Power. And Colossians 1.17 tells us that in Him all things consist. Paul tells us, and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. So Christ created the universe. Christ created you with the power of His Word. But is that where we stop about life? That's physical life. but also Christ created us for new spiritual life. Christ regenerated us by the power of his Holy Spirit. Christ regenerated us by the power of the Word. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 2 tells us that God made us alive in Christ Jesus. That's your regeneration. We received new life from the bread of life. We received new life from the light of the world, Jesus Christ our Savior. He gave us new life and then we became alive in Christ Jesus. But once we become alive in Christ Jesus, when we start existing spiritually, breathing spiritually, my friends, do we just sit back and relax as we wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ? Is that what life means? Is that what Christ meant when he said, I am the life? When we look into the scriptures, you see, we became alive for a living communion and relationship with God. And we commune with God, the Father, in His Son, Jesus Christ, and through the Spirit. So we become alive, but we become alive so that we will walk on that way, the way of eternal life, Christ himself. You see, this is the way of life. This is not just a road. This is a way of life. This is the life of God. And God gives us this life, not only this new life, but this living life through his son, Jesus Christ. When we come to Christ by faith, we become new creatures, but also we start to walk on the path of life, a new life for a living walk. And this walk as a way of life, you see, is rooted in the teaching of the Old Testament. Remember Abraham. Remember Noah. Remember Enoch. And remember Job. When the Bible refers to all these men of faith, the Bible tells us they walked with God. They walked on this way. They walked in communion with God. They knew this way. They knew this way of life. They knew that the Messiah who is to come is the only way to the Father, the only way by which men and women of God can commune with God. The psalmist in Psalm 16 verse 11, he says this, You make known to me the path of life. You see, this is in the Old Testament. And the psalmist is referring to the path of life. You make known to me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. Now, this is not about heaven. This is the experience of the psalmist while he was living on earth. While still he was on earth, he experienced this knowledge and God showed him the path of life. You make known to me the path of life. And as I walk on this path, on this way of life, then my joy becomes full. And then listen to what he says, At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. This is heaven. But he understood these two things. He understood the path of life while he was still on earth. And then he understood something about the right hand of God. And what he will find on the right hand of God. Who is on the right hand of God? Christ. And David, the psalmist is there, and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. In your son, Jesus Christ, the one who is sitting at your right hand, there are pleasures of heaven. He was walking on the path of life, and he was looking forward to those pleasures at the right hand of God, who is Jesus Christ. So when Jesus said, I am the life, he's referring to our living relationship, our living communion with him. So we are not only alive, but living. We are walking in the way of life, which is Christ. The people of God, everything that we do in this life, our worship, our prayer, our marriage, A fellowship in Christ Jesus. You see, we do all these things being on this way. We do all these things walking on this way, walking on the path of life. Christ Jesus. Christ is exhorting us. Do not let your heart to be troubled. Just be on that path of life. Be on me. Be in me. Walk in me. And then you will not be troubled about tomorrow. You will not be troubled about your future. Trust me. I am preparing a place for you. This way of life, my brothers and sisters in Christ, is our walk in Christ Jesus. And this walk is characterized by this characters. One is, you see, when we are on this way, when we walk on this path of life, we are called to walk by the Spirit, not in the flesh. If we are in this way, Christian, you are called to walk by the Spirit, not in the flesh. But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. If we are in this way, if we are in Christ Jesus, you will not gratify your sinful nature, but you will walk by the Spirit. And the second character of a Christian who is walking on this way, or on this way of life is called to walk in love. And I will echo what we heard this morning from Dr. Carter. In this way, we are called to walk in love. Love for God and love for one another. You see, in this way, on this path of life, enmity has no place. It is a walk of love. It is a life of love. Love for God and love for one another. That's the characteristic of this life. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. I am the way of life. I am the eternal life. I'm the way that takes you to the father. But until you arrive to heaven, to the presence of your father, until you join me in that celestial city in heaven, your character should be walking in love. Ephesians 5.1, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us. That's the characteristics of this life, eternal life, life in Christ, life in the paths of life. And thirdly, the character of this life that walks on the path of life, in Christ Jesus is walking in a manner worthy of our call. You see, men and women who walks on this way, on this way of life, they walk worthy to their call, worthy to the gospel. We exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and his own glory. Notice these two things. One is the one who called you into his own kingdom. You see, the first time Jesus began his earthly ministry, his first proclamation was, Here, the kingdom of God is among you. And Paul is saying to walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom. This kingdom is Christ. This kingdom is the way of life. This kingdom is eternal life. And all finds its substance in Jesus Christ who is our life. So walking in a manner of your call is walking in Christ Jesus by the strength and by the grace that Christ gives you. But also he said, into his own kingdom and then glory and then heaven. But you don't sit back and relax as you wait for the return of Jesus Christ, but you live for his glory. And you walk in a manner that is worthy to your call. Listen to this, my friends. If there is no way, there is no going. If there is no truth, there is no knowing. If there is no life, there is no living. And we find all these things in Christ Jesus. We find all these things in Christ Jesus. We find them in our Savior. If we want to be on the way, on the way of life that Christ is proclaiming to us tonight, be in Christ. If you want to know the truth, come to Christ. If you want to have life that is everlasting, if you want to have life that's meaningful, come to Christ. He is the way and the truth and the life. But my friends, this Christ, who is the way and the truth and the life. He's coming back to take us to heaven. How many of you wake up in the morning and open your mouth and say, come, Lord Jesus? Or do we wake up in the morning and say, give me more time? I want to enjoy life here. Which life? A life of sin? A life of misery? A life of war, tears, and sorrow? Yes, Christ has left us in the world for his own purpose so that we would walk on this way and become a living testimony for him. So we are here for a purpose. But Christ is coming back to take us to glory. You see, Paul in Philippians said, our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. But remember, this does not mean we now are without him. When Paul said, we wait, for Jesus Christ to come back. Or when Jesus said, I'm leaving you, and I will prepare a place for you in heaven, he doesn't mean that now we live without him. Because Jesus said, it is good that I live now, because I will send you the converter. I'll send you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will dwell in you. The Holy Spirit will show you the way. The Holy Spirit will help you on your way to heaven, on your Christian walk. He will help you to mortify your sinful nature. He will help you to look forward for heaven. The Holy Spirit will awaken you for worship, for prayer, for fellowship, for the reading and the meditation of God's word. It is better for you if I live. On the path of life, truth, we are not alone. Christ, the way, is with us. You see, there are two kinds of people in this world. One group are about journey, and the other group are about destination. In our family, we have one member of our family. I won't mention the name. When we take a trip, when we drive to North Carolina or other states, we are still in Greer driving towards our destination. We didn't even leave Greer where we live. The member of our family asks us, how much time do we have before we arrive to the destination? And then others enjoy the journey. The Christian life is not only about destination. It's also about journey, journey with Christ. journey in Christ, a living communion and relationship with God. We are in a journey, but in a journey of way of life, a living communion with the Father through His Son, Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ is coming back to take us to heaven. Your GPS can make many mistakes as you drive to your destination. But remember, Jesus never failed us on the cross. Jesus never failed us in his shepherding. Jesus never fails you in preserving you to glory. Christ will never make mistake in your life as a child of God. He has given us new life. He's sustaining us. He's sustaining our new life, but he's preserving us for glory. He's coming back to take us to glory. Paul. said, I know whom I have believed, and I'm convinced that he's able to guard until the day what has been entrusted to me, salvation, new life, and new living with Christ Jesus. So the people of God, let me ask you this. Are you in the way? Are you walking in the path of life? Are you walking in the truth? Who is Christ? Do you look forward to the return of Christ every day of your life? But the question to all of us tonight is this. Do you know Christ as the only way, the only and one road to the truth of God and to life that is everlasting. Let's pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you for your word, the reminder of your word that we as your people We are called to walk on the path of life. We are called to walk in a manner that is worthy to our call, that is worthy to you, our God. We are called to walk in knowing that Christ, our Savior, is the way and the truth and the life for us. Help us to walk on this path of life. Help us by your grace to know the truth so that the truth will set us free from sin. And help us to know this life that we have received from Christ, the way of life, a living relationship and communion with you, our Heavenly Father. O Lord, tonight we pray. That you, our God, would make what we have heard tonight effective in our Christian life and our Christian walk. That we would go to all people whom you would bring to our lives and tell them that Christ is the only road, the only way to the Father. And he's the truth. And the meaningful life, the eternal life, is found in him. We ask you all this in the name of Christ, our Savior. Amen.