Alright, well if you guys would, turn in your Bibles, if you have them, to John 14, verse 6. It's going to be our scripture for this evening. And as you guys are turning there, I want to ask you a couple questions. So give me a show of hands real quick. How many of you have ever heard the phrase, there are many ways to get to heaven? Okay, we've got a couple. How many of you have ever heard someone say, there are many paths to salvation, or there's many ways to be saved? A couple more. Alright. How many of you had someone tell you that nothing is certain, that there is no absolute truth? A couple more. Well, if you guys haven't heard these things yet, or these statements yet, I promise you, at some point in your life, you will. You see, this idea that truth is relative, that truth is subjective, truth is what you make of it, make it, it's one of the most popular ideologies in the modern day. This is what the world believes. You know, I think there's a really simple explanation for this too, and it's actually something that we touched on two weeks ago the last time I was here. If you guys remember, I talked about this idea of setting ourselves up as our own authority, sitting on our own thrones and being our own kings. That's what's happening here. You see, when we get to decide what is or what isn't true, we're setting ourselves up as the authority. We're setting ourselves up as the one who gets to decide. I want to read you a Facebook post that a friend of mine wrote the other day and just listen carefully to this and tell me if you don't hear that same pattern of thought. Here's what he said. So many of our global problems stem from tribalism and ignorance. You see, I just use the Bible as an example of violent ignorance. I still love the Bible and still consider myself a devout Christian. I just recognize that the Bible is ultimately a book of men. And like all great books, it has very clear flaws. We could solve a lot of issues in this world if we had the courage to recognize the faults in our own religious foundations while recognizing the contributions of the foundations of others. Now on the surface, this might appear like a feel-good, somewhat friendly and respectable Facebook post. But once we start to peel back the layers of what's actually being said here, once you take away some of these big fancy words and actually look at what this guy is saying, we find it to be actually a deeply false, bold and dangerous statement. Don't be fooled, guys. This is not life-saving truth. You see, my friend here, what he really wants is he just wants everybody to get along. He wants everybody to be happy. He wants everybody to feel like they're equals. For the sake of unity, he would say that the best way to live your life is to just pull truth from everywhere. He wants to say the Muslim is right. He wants to say the Buddhist is right. He wants to say the Christian is right. He wants to say that everybody each has their own truth, and it's worth believing in. Can you see the trap that's kind of being set here, guys? Look, I'll agree that on paper, when you lay this out, it looks nice, right? It sounds nice, everybody getting along. It looks like the perfect kind of utopia, where everybody gets together, we all get along, we all sing Kumbaya, you sing it about Allah, I'll sing it about Jesus. It's all saying the same thing, it's just a different way to sing the song. But this is a false picture of the world that we live in today. It just simply doesn't work that way, guys. If it did, I promise you, we'd all be doing it. If this was actually possible, if it was possible for us all to just believe our own truth and get along, we'd already be there. But I think you can look out in the world today, turn on Fox News, CNN, whatever, for just a second, and look at what's going on in the world, and I think you can tell that's not what's happening. You see, just to give you an example, the Muslim believes that Jesus was only a man, that he was only a prophet. The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ is Lord, a member of the triune God. So which is true? And who gets to decide? Well, I can tell you right now, it's certainly not me. So let me step out of the way for a second, let me back up, and I want you to listen to these words from John chapter 14, verse 6. It says this, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And there's two things that I want to do today. For the non-believer, look, I don't want to assume that everybody in here is a believer. I don't want to assume that everybody here is a non-believer. But for the person that hasn't believed yet, what I want you to hear today is I want you to hear the gospel in these words. I want you to hear the life-saving truth. And for the believer, I want you to be encouraged. I want you to be able to face the critics. I want you to be able to face the false teachers, the pretenders, the friends on Facebook who would have you believe that your truth and your faith is just the same as anybody else's. I want you to be able to stand with confidence upon the solid rock of our foundation of faith. And I want you to see that there is truly and only one way, one truth and one life. Bow your heads with me in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you for this opportunity, Lord, to be able to dive into your word. Lord, these are bold words. These are strong words, Lord. And I pray, God, that what these men would hear would be that strength, would be those words, Lord, that you would remove me from the equation, Lord, that I would simply be a vessel through which your word can be poured out. Lord, I pray for these men and the situations that they face and the everyday challenges that will arise, the conversations that will come up when they are asked and challenged on what they believe. Lord, and I pray that they can remember this scripture, they can remember these words. Lord, allow your Holy Spirit to come and to be present among us here and let your word come alive in our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's look again at our text. John chapter 14, verse 6, it says, I am the truth and I am the life. None come through the Father except through me." This is a bold claim. These are declarative statements being made here. And what are they? Well, Jesus is speaking here and he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Notice as well that it's not saying, I am a way, I am a truth, I am a life. He's saying, I am the life, I am the truth. Let's do this, before we get there, let's break each of these down and look at what's really being said here. So he starts out with, says, I am the way. Now, there's a popular analogy that a lot of people use when they're talking about the different religions of the world, and it's this idea, basically, that you have each of your religions down here at the bottom of a mountain, and at the top is salvation, or nirvana, or peace, or whatever. And basically what it's saying is that each of these different religions, they all have their different rituals, their different laws, their different belief systems, but they essentially all say the same thing, right? They all eventually lead up different paths, arriving to the same place. Personally, I think this is pretty degrading to each of those world religions, but it's also the exact opposite of what Jesus is saying here. He says, I am the way, the only way. There is no other way. And if that's not enough to convince you of the error of that analogy, of the mountain analogy that there's lots of paths to salvation, skip to the end of the verse where he says, no one comes to the Father except through me. That's about as straightforward as it gets. You see, one of the greatest things that sets Christianity apart from other religions is the fact that salvation, our salvation, is not based on our ability to climb that mountain at all. If you lay out the different world religions across the globe, if you lay them all out, you'll see that most of them, if not all of them, emphasize human works. They emphasize your ability to be able to climb that mountain, your ability to reach God or nirvana or ultimate peace. Christianity, instead, is a religion based upon grace, based upon the fact that Jesus is the way, the only way, and it has nothing, gentlemen, it has nothing to do with our own efforts and abilities. Hear these words from Ephesians, it says, And it's really, you see, it's impossible for us to actually fully comprehend this unless we understand grace and what grace is. So let's continue on here in Ephesians. It says, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, in those paths in which you once walked, following the course of this world. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved, and raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places. in Christ Jesus. You see, guys, we were never climbing that mountain in the first place. We, instead, picture us walking around in circles, aimlessly around the mountain. As a result of walking the ways in the world, we had no direction, and we were utterly lost in our trespasses. This is the way. This is what Jesus says. This is what he means when he says, I am the way. By grace, through faith, are we carried upon the shoulders of Christ Jesus up the mountain and into the throne room of God. Take it a step further. To understand this, even more so, this grace that's been showered upon us, guys, we have to recognize something else. We have to recognize that Christ Jesus is, in fact, our Lord. We have to recognize the fact that his authority comes from the true source, and that true source is God. Jesus says, I am the truth. or what is truth? How do we define truth and how do we know what is true and what isn't? Many, like my friend, would argue that truth should just be left up to the individual, should be left up to you and me. But again, if that's the case, then each person is getting to decide what is true and what isn't. So that makes my standard of truth not your standard of truth. So you can believe one thing and I can believe the opposite. Who gets to decide what's right? Who gets to decide what is true in that situation? Again, where does that leave us? That leaves us sitting on our own thrones, getting to decide what we want to believe in. It leaves us as the God of our lives without a standard or any real truth to actually live by. And this actually, essentially leads us into chaos, which is I think what you can see happening in the world right now. But look, Jesus combats this worldview by saying that there is only one truth, and that's Him. He's the standard. He is the standard by which we must live. Scripture also tells us in John chapter 1, literally the very beginning of this book, says that Christ is actually the Word. John 1, 1 says this, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now there's a word you'll often hear in church, in Bible study, it's incarnation, which laid out for you guys simply means that Jesus was the word, was our holy scriptures made flesh. God revealed himself to us in the world by sending Jesus, God incarnate, and he reveals himself to us today through scripture. If Jesus is the word, and Jesus says, I am the truth, then scripture, the very word of God, guys, has to be the truth. And this is our standard for truth. So in order to understand who Jesus is, both in his character and his teachings, we must believe what scripture says, what scripture says about Jesus, and we must believe it is true. Some people, like my friend, also like to pick and choose pieces of scripture which they like and which they agree with. Some claim that Jesus was just a good teacher. You'll hear that. He's just a good guy. He gave us useful moral teachings. But he's not salvation. He's not the only way to heaven. He's not the ultimate peace. And I gotta say, if that's really true, guys, if he's just a good moral teacher, if he was just a good old boy, I don't really think there's any reason to believe in Him. If that's the case, if He isn't who He says He is in Scripture, then what's the reason for believing in Him? And what's the reason for believing in His teachings and trusting in His character? John 10, 30 says this, I and the Father are one. That sets Him apart. I and the Father are one. Jesus and the source of life are one. You see, there's a lot of people out there that will say, yeah, I'll admit that Jesus existed. I've looked on, you know, I've gone on the internet, I've done my research, there's enough historical evidence out there to convince some people to believe that a real man, Jesus, was born in Bethlehem and lived some 2,000 years ago. But what they fail to see, guys, what they fail to see is that if he truly lived, if he was a real person, And if He really said these things, then He has to be what He claims to be. He has to be what Scripture says that He is. Now, I don't know if you guys have ever heard some of C.S. Lewis' stuff, but he came up with this liar, lunatic, or lord rubric, basically, or statement. And it basically gives us three options when looking at these things that Jesus said. So he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. None come through the Father except through me. There's really only three options when you look at that. Either he's a liar, and he's lying, he's a lunatic, he's crazy, or he's truly what he says he is, and that is the Lord of all creation. He says, I and the Father are one. Again, he must either be lying, he must be crazy, or he must be what he says he is. He can't just be a good moral teacher with an outlandish statement like that. That doesn't match up. He fails us as a moral teacher if he is in fact lying. He fails us as a good teacher if he's just crazy. So what's our option? He is truly what he says he is. Let me just state it plainly right here, guys. Let me just say this. You can't believe in the character of Jesus. You can't believe in who he is without affirming his deity. You can't believe in who he is without affirming that he is indeed Lord, that he is indeed what scriptures say that he is. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Well, what is truth? That he is Lord, that he is God, and that he speaks with all the authority in heaven. Moreover, the Holy Bible, our scriptures, are the very incarnation of Christ. The very living Christ is here with us in our scriptures. That's what incarnation means. And this book, guys, this book doesn't get its authority from man. It doesn't rest upon the authority of humans. It is the very essence and being of God. How much more, then, are we able to trust it? How much more, then, are we able to believe in it? Again, Jesus said, I am the truth. What is true? Affirm this, that He is Lord, that He is God, that He is God's Word incarnate. To understand that truth, we have to affirm that. We have to say Christ is Lord. We must affirm the holiness of Scripture, guys. Now, there's one final piece to this puzzle that really brings it all together. I want you guys to look back at our original text, John 14.6, again. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And the final piece to understanding what Jesus is saying here is this, guys. We have one life to live. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that. We have one life to live, but it's an eternal one. One of my favorite authors, J.R.R. Tolkien, wrote one of my favorite series of books called The Lord of the Rings. Got a little bit of a nerd moment here, guys. Forgive me for that. But he once penned these words, and I think it's awesome the way he lays this out. He says this. He says, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. You see, the end piece to this part of scripture, guys, is this life is not all there is. We are eternal. We are created in the image of an eternal God, and we are eternal beings. We have to lift our heads above the waves for just a second, guys, and take our eyes off this world for a brief moment and realize that everything around us here is temporary. Our lives, our careers, our homes, the very pillow that you lay your head on when you go to sleep at night, it's a temporary shade. And when it folds back, there is an eternal life afterwards. Don't be fooled, guys. Don't let your minds, don't let your hearts be captured by a temporary world that will try anything and everything to get your attention and get you focused in on it and get you stuck in that mire, that clay. Fix your eyes on the way, the truth, and the everlasting life that is our eternal rest in Christ, guys. There is a life to come. This is not it. This is not all there is. John 11, 25 says this, and these are Jesus' words. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. Whosoever believeth in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And this is our hope, guys, that we have been shown the way, we have been given the truth to rely upon, and that is Christ Jesus, our sustainer and our source of eternal life. Let's pray, guys. God, these are bold words indeed. Lord, I pray that they ring true in the ears of these men. Lord, I pray again for the conversations that will follow from here, Lord. I have to say that, Lord, there may be more questions that come. There may be more doubts that come their way, Lord. And I pray that when they do, God, that they would return to your word. that they would return to your standard of truth, God. Let them find hope in the fact that we have a truth to rely upon, a standard to rely upon, and he is a living and active God present with us, Lord, in your holy scriptures. Lord, I pray that they would carry that with them as they go, and to each of their spheres of influences and their work and their lives here at the Anchorage and their lives beyond this as well. Lord, this is a tough season. This is a tough season to be away from family. This is a tough season to be away from our friends and the people and the things that we know. Lord, I pray that they would not be distracted, Lord, that you would pull their heads up above the waves, that they would be able to see you in glory. They would be able to see your truth. God, we ask all this in your name. Amen.