So if everyone wants to open your Bibles to John chapter 14 John chapter 14 is what we're going to be looking at today This is the passage that I'm going to be teaching out of and I I want to give a little bit of a refresher because I have taught a four or five sermons in this passage. This passage is known as the Upper Room Discourse. And the Upper Room Discourse spans from John 13, chapter 13 to John 17. The word, I never actually explained this, but the word discourse just means conversation. So the Upper Room conversation is basically what we're looking at. This conversation that's being held in the upper room is between Jesus and his 12 disciples, which at this point in John 14 is actually 11 disciples, because Judas was sent out to betray Jesus. So there's only 11 of us at this point. And it's called the upper room discourse because it's set in an upper room in Jerusalem. And we know that they're in Jerusalem because this is the last week of Jesus' life, which is actually this last week in our timeline, the last week that we've had. We have Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday and all that stuff, and that's where they are right now. They're actually on Thursday, though. They're in the upper room celebrating the Passover. Okay, the Passover feast. But before we talk about the Passover, they're in Jerusalem because Jesus is going to die. They've been traveling around, and they went back to Jerusalem because Jesus knows that the Pharisees and the Romans in Jerusalem are going to kill him, and he's planning that. And this is Thursday night, which is Jesus is going to die on Friday. This is the night before Jesus' death, and he's sitting here with his 12 disciples, having a conversation with them. And it's the Passover. They're eating the Passover feast. What is the Passover? I want to talk about that because it is actually important to what they're doing and what they're talking about and why they're even in the upper room at all. The Passover feast comes from the Passover event, which is described in Exodus 12. If we remember Exodus 12, the Israelites are enslaved by the Egyptians. And God keeps telling Pharaoh, let my people go, let my people go, and he won't let them go. And so God is sending plagues to the Egyptians to try to force them to let the Israelites go. And the Passover is the last plague that God sends. What happened is God tells the Israelites to kill a lamb. So kill a young lamb, take the blood from that lamb, and paint it on the door of their house. And any house that didn't have the blood on the doorpost, God sent the angel of the Lord to kill the firstborn in that household. So any household that didn't have the blood, somebody died. But the blood of the Lamb is what saved the people in Israel. And it's important to note this because I don't think it's a coincidence that Jesus dies the week of the Passover. I don't think it's a coincidence that the night before Jesus' death they're in the upper room eating the Passover, which is a celebration or a remembrance of the Passover, when God actually saved their lives. Year after year after the Passover, the Passover event, year after year, the Israelites, the Jews, would kill lambs and they would celebrate in remembrance of that. So that's why they're up there, and I think it's really important to note that. Because Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Passover was pointing was pointing towards jesus the passover event where is just a picture of jesus uh... and that's that's the theme of the upper room we need to remember that throughout the whole all of my all of my sermons in the past in this series i've talked about theme, which is God's love for his people, right? It's God's love that saved the Israelites in Egypt. It's God's love that saves every Christian. Since Jesus died, and even before Jesus died, over and over again in the upper room, in this conversation, Jesus is showing his love for his disciples. There's a lesson in basically every statement that Jesus is making in these chapters. This is the unfortunate thing that we see with the disciples over and over again in this conversation, is they miss the lessons. Again and again, they miss the lessons. They prove that they don't know what Jesus is talking about, what he's trying to point towards, what he's trying to show them. because they're worried about themselves. They're only thinking about themselves. Just earlier in this night, we read in all the other Gospels, John doesn't actually record it, but in the other Gospels, they're arguing about who's to be regarded as the greatest in the kingdom of God. So we can see that their mind is set only on themselves, their status, their comfort, their futures. And understandably so, we can understand that as humans, Because we only think about ourselves. It's hard to think about other people. But on the other side of the room, on the other side of the conversation, we see Jesus. Who's the opposite of that? He only cares about the disciples. He actually doesn't. He's not thinking about himself. He's not trying to comfort himself. Jesus knows, tomorrow I'm going to go through the most gruesome thing any human can possibly experience, which is God abandoning you. Let alone that he went through the most torturous death that anybody can experience. God abandoned Jesus and he knows that tomorrow that's going to happen. Any of us that knows tomorrow I'm going to die, that would be the only thing that's on your mind. But that's not what's on Jesus' mind. He is consumed with the love for his disciples. He seeks only their good. In Matthew 26, which is Matthew's recording of the Upper Room, he says to his disciples, You will fall away because of me this night. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. So he knows that within a few hours, they're all going to leave him. They're just going to abandon him because they only care about themselves. And he's trying to comfort them. He's trying to show them that you don't have to worry because I will come back for you. That's what is on the top of everyone's minds on this night, is that Jesus is going to die. He's going to leave them. And he has one more intimate moment with his disciples. He has one more conversation with them. He tells them this in 14. 14 to in my father's house are many rooms if it were not so would I have told you that I go prepare a place for you and if I go prepare a place for you I will come again and I will take you to myself that where I am you may be also Christians true Christians understand the comfort in these verses which is I Am going to prepare a place for you He's leaving us, yes. The disciples see that, that he's leaving us, and that's all they care about. But where is he going? Where is Jesus going once he dies? We know now, they didn't see this, but we know now that he's going to the Father's house to prepare a place for us. How comforting really is that? How comforting is that, that Jesus is up in heaven right now, interceding to the Father for us, making sure that there's a spot in heaven for every single person that believes in Him. There's a spot specifically for you. Again, they don't see it, they don't understand it. We can see that, because we can go back and read it with the full revelation of the truth. We know they don't see it because they ask four different times, where are you going? When he just told them where he's going. How can we not be troubled? How can we not be worried when Jesus is not here? All we've banked our whole lives on, everything we've worried and cared about is disintegrating in front of us. But we can trust, we can take comfort in the Lord, but they miss it. And we see that they miss it in our text today. But we do see one of the most important questions that any human throughout time can ask, which is the question, it's the question that all religions ask, it's the question that everyone asks, and everyone falls so short of answering. They don't see the truth. That question is, where is God? How can I be sure that I will be with God in heaven one day? That's the question. Because that's the question that we need to answer, is when I die, where am I going to go? And where is God? I need to make sure that I'm right with God. So let's read. I'm going to start in John 14, verse 3. And I'm going to go to 11. It says, and I go prepare a place for you. I will come again and I will take you to myself that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way 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 work. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or else, believe on account of the works themselves. Let's pray. Father, I come before your throne to ask that you would be with me, that you would be with us. Lord, I pray that you would speak through me. I pray that you would use my words and that you would reveal the truth. the truth of your son to everyone here, Lord. Lord, I pray that anyone who does not believe in you as the truth, as the way, that they would seek you, that they would find you, that they would knock, Lord, I pray. Be with us. Amen. All right, look at verse four. I read verse three, but we're actually gonna start in verse four because that's where I'm starting. And you know the way to where I am going. That's simply verse 4. You know the way to where I am going. This statement that Jesus makes is a continuation of the statements before. It's all one statement. I have a red letter Bible so I can see it really clear. It's a continuation of this comfort that he's trying to show his disciples. He's trying to comfort them because they're flipping out, because he's leaving, because he's going to die. They're going to scatter. It's crazy. And he's trying to comfort them. He says in verse 1 and 3, let not your hearts be troubled. I am coming back for you. And now he adds, you know where I'm going. You know the way to where I'm going. And while reading this, I can't help but hear the voice of a kind, loving parent who seeks to comfort a small child. I'll show you. Well, I remember when I was seven or eight, something like that. I was seven or eight. And it was the first sleepover party that I was going to. It was a birthday party. And I was going over to my friend's house. But before I went over to my friend's house, goes she says if you're scared if you want to come home if you want to sleep in your own bed just call me at any time and i'll come get you and you can sleep in your own bed i remember that i remember her specifically saying this though that i'm just going to be down the street at our house if you need me okay and you can hear that comfort in jesus's voice i will come back for you you know where i'm going to be you know i'm just over there and I'm going to come back. But just like these disciples, I didn't trust my mom. I called her in the middle of the night. It was like 2 a.m. and I was like, I want to come home. I want to sleep in my own bed. But these disciples do the same thing that I did. They don't trust what Jesus is saying. They don't trust in the comfort that he's trying to give them. Look what comes next. That's verse 4. Look at verse 5. Thomas said to him, Thomas, Before we look at the question that Thomas asks, I want to talk about Thomas for a second. Thomas is not speaking up of his own accord. He's speaking up for all the disciples, all 11 of them. This is not just Thomas. Although, Thomas is known as Doubting Thomas, if we all remember that. He's nicknamed Doubting Thomas for good reason. because this question, but later in the gospel, when Jesus is raised from the dead, he says, I'm not gonna believe Jesus is raised from the dead until I touch the mark on his hand and I place my finger in the mark on his side, I won't believe. And within the next few verses in that passage, Jesus appears to him and says, feel my hand, touch my side. And Thomas says, my Lord and my God, So Thomas has a redemption, okay? He's not always doubting Thomas, but in this verse, he is doubting Thomas. But my point is that we can't be too hard on Thomas. That's my point. So the question that he asks, the question that he asks for all 11 of them is, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? This is the third time in five verses that they refuse to be comforted by God, the third time. when they know that Jesus' only concern is about them. This question is interesting for a few reasons. The first thing that Thomas says, he makes a statement. He says, we do not know where you are going. When Jesus just said in the verse before, you know where I'm going. Is Jesus lying by saying, you know where I'm going? Is Thomas lying by saying, I don't know where you're going? I don't think either of them are necessarily lying. He knows the hearts of the disciples. Jesus knows the hearts of the disciples. They trust him as the Son of God. Earlier, Peter says that we know that you are the Savior who has come to save. They know who Jesus is in their hearts, but they don't trust him with their minds. It's almost as if their hearts know something and their minds don't understand and won't submit to it. They don't have the mind of a child, right? We're told that we have to have the mind of a child. We have to trust with a full heart. Their pride is in the way. That's the problem. Their selfishness is in the way. That's the problem. Thomas is basically asking him, where are you going? Right? It reminds me, this question kind of reminds me though of like a kid being dropped off at school. You drop, let's say the mom drops the child off at school and she's like, all right, I'll see you later. I'll see you later. And the kid is, mom, where are you going? Mom, don't leave me. Where are you going? The kid knows where mom is going. She's going to work or she's going home or whatever. But he's just flipping out. Where are you going? They're confused and they're scared. So where is Jesus going? How do I get there if I don't know where he's going? They don't understand that he's not going somewhere on earth. He's not just leaving Jerusalem and going over to, you know, another country or another city. He's leaving them for good. All right, so we got the question down. Now we gotta find the answer. And Jesus has the most straightforward, most perfect answer that you can possibly give to someone asking that question. He says this, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. See, Jesus is not only answering where he's going, he's answering how to get there. So where is Jesus going? The answer is to the Father. He says, no one comes to the Father except through me. That indicates that he's with the Father, because you have to come to him. And we all know that Jesus' Father is God, God the Father. And God is not anywhere on Earth, right? Have you seen God? I have not seen God. God is in heaven. That's where Jesus is going. He's going to sit at the right hand of his father in heaven. He's not going anywhere on earth because his father is not anywhere on earth. Jesus is not going into a mosque. He's not going into a temple. His presence doesn't dwell in the bread at communion. He's in heaven with his father. The way to the Father. How do we know how to get there if we don't know where you are? How do we get there? The way to the Father and to heaven is Jesus. What does that mean? Jesus says, I am the way. I am the way. Is Jesus some kind of walking path? Is he some kind of like vehicle? Is he a bicycle that we ride up to heaven or something? No. I want to look at this, I am the way, just the statement, the way, in the context of the Bible. Where they are in that time, in that day and age. He's talking to the disciples. That's established. The disciples are Jewish guys. They were raised Jewish. They lived in Jewish traditions. And as we all know, the Jews love their law. They love that law. They love the Mosaic law. They love the Torah. The Old Testament law is what they all live by. Their whole life is controlled by this law. And there's a word that they use to describe the whole of the law. The Torah is something specific. The Mosaic law is something specific. But there's a word they use, and that word is halakha. And I know I'm butchering that, but the word is halakha. And the word halakha, literally translated, means the way. The way. That's what Jesus is saying. What Jesus is basically saying is, I am the halakha. I am the new halakha. We know that the purpose of the old law, the purpose of the old law that they all lived by, that they all trusted in for their salvation, was not actually the way to be saved. Its purpose was never even meant to bring reconciliation to God. You can't follow that law perfectly and get to God. You can't. The purpose of that law, the purpose of the old law that the Jewish people are following, is to be blessed by God on earth. That the nation of Israel can have blessings from God, and have God's favor. That's why they're getting, like Chris said, that's why they're getting captured all the time, and they're enslaved, and they're all this stuff, because they can't follow the law. They can't. So what Jesus is saying to these disciples is, I am now the way. I am now the law, the halakha. Right? I am the way. Does that mean that Jesus is the way to be blessed by God? No. He's the way to the Father. That's what he's saying. I am the way to the Father. He's now our standard. Yes. He is now our new law. He is the law that we are supposed to live by. What Jesus did, we're supposed to do. Yes. But we read in Matthew 5.17, Matthew 5.17 says that Jesus says, I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. See, we don't have to worry about the old law as Christians. We don't have to look at the Old Testament and worry about, you know, the Sabbath and all the stuff that they had to worry about. We don't have to worry about that. Why? Because we're not in the nation of Israel. That is not the way to God. That law is not how you get to God at all. And even if I was able to follow that law perfectly, even if I was able to follow all the Ten Commandments without fail my whole entire life, I still wouldn't get to God. I still would not even be able to get to the Father. Because it's not enough. It is not enough. Why? Why is it not enough? Because there's only one way to God. There is one way to God, and that is through Jesus. Jesus. The old law was not meant to be trusted in for salvation as they trusted in it. Because it didn't have the power to save. It didn't. That's what he's showing these disciples. I am the way to God. The true way to God. They weren't listening very well, obviously. But I'm glad that we can go back and we can read what John wrote so we can see this truth. I remember being a kid. And growing up, we used to watch this old TV show called The Waltons. Has anyone heard of that show, The Waltons? It's about a family in the Great Depression era. And I remember very little about this show. But I do remember one episode, and I actually think about it often. And that episode is this. The family, every Sunday they would go to church. The whole family would go to church, except the dad. The dad didn't go to church. Every Sunday, he went fishing. I remember that. Or fishing, or worked on the car. I don't remember. But he didn't go to church. And at one point in the episode, the youngest daughter goes to the mom. And she goes, mom, why doesn't dad go to church? Is dad going to hell? And I remember this. This is what I remember very distinctly, is the mom saying this. She used this metaphor. Imagine God is on top of a mountain. And everyone's just trying to get to the top of the mountain. They're just trying to get to God. That's all they care about. And most people take one path up the mountain. And that one path is church and Christianity and organized religion, but just like any mountain, there's multiple ways to the top, right? You can go up the backside, you can go up this side, you can take the hard way, but eventually, eventually you're gonna get to the top of the mountain. And I remember my parents pausing the episode and saying, that's not true. That is not true. Why? Why is it not true that you can't just climb the mountain to God? Because there's one way to God. There is one way to God, and that is Jesus. Most of the world wants you to believe that there's multiple ways to God. Most of the world wants you to believe that everyone eventually gets to heaven. Everyone eventually gets to God, just as long as you're sincere, and you're moral, and you're not a bad guy. There's something stopping us though. Why is that not true? Why can't I just follow the law of the Old Testament? Why can't I just be a moral guy? Why can't I just be sincere and get to heaven? There's something that these universalists, inclusivists are missing. Sin. Sin is what is keeping you from just strolling up the mountain to heaven. There's not multiple ways up the mountain. There is not. There's one way, and that is the narrow path, the narrow door, wearing the robes of righteousness that Jesus gives you. You have to be cleansed, you have to be clean, you cannot have a spot or blemish, you cannot have one sin held against you. 1 John 1.7 tells us this, The blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If you say you have no sin, you deceive yourself. If you say you have no sin, you deceive yourself. You have sin. You do have sin. And the only way to get that sin cleansed is through the Son of God. We need the blood of Christ to cleanse us. We need Jesus to wash our dirty feet, as he did to these disciples on this night. The picture of the Jesus getting down on his hands and knees and washing the feet of the disciples, that's what every Christian needs. There's no other way. There is no other way to be in the Father, in God's presence, than if you are cleaned. Look at verse 6 again. I am the way and the truth. And the truth. What does it mean that he's the truth? The truth embodied? R.C. Sproul, I listened to him while preparing for this and he said it might be better translated this way. I am the way because I am the truth. I am the way because I am the truth. There's no other way to God. because there would be no way to God at all without Jesus. Does that make sense? Without Jesus coming to earth, without Jesus coming to earth, there would be no way to God at all. We would all be headed to hell right now with no hope at all. Jesus is the truth become flesh. He is the Word become flesh. He's the true Messiah. There's not another. There is no one else. There's only Jesus. That's also why it's important for us to believe in the Trinity. The Trinity. The three-person Godhead. And I dare not try to teach the Trinity. But without Jesus being fully God, without Jesus being God himself, He would just be another human, right? He would just be another guy. Another guy with a sin nature that tries to follow the law, that tries to climb the mountain to God, and can't. Can't. And then fails and dies for nothing. For nothing. He wouldn't save himself, let alone everyone else. If Jesus wasn't a part of the Godhead, we would have no hope because he would not be the true way to God. Lucky for us. Lucky for us. He is God. He is God in the flesh. He's not some fake imitation of God. He's not a lie. He is truth. Jesus is the true life, the true way to God. I am the way and the truth and the life. The life. What does it mean that he's the life? 2 Corinthians 3, 6 tells us, Our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. Not of the letter, but of the Spirit. Listen to this. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. The letter kills. The letter in this verse means law. The Old Testament law. The law of man. The law kills, but the Spirit gives life. The law only ever brought death. That's all it ever did. That's all it ever can do, is bring condemnation. The old law was only used to bring knowledge of sin and death, right? But the new law, the new halakha, the new way brings life. It brings life. It doesn't bring death. Romans 8, verse 2 says, For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Jesus fulfilled the law. He did it. He did the whole law. He did it. There's someone that was perfect. He did it so that we can be made righteous in God's sight. We can have that righteousness that he did. Look at verse 3 and 4 in Romans 8. Romans 8 verses 3 and 4. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. He gave us a law, but we're flesh. We are sin. All we do is sin. All day long, all I do is sin. And so, I can't follow the law. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He condemned sin in flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. The law that God put on humans to bring knowledge of sin and death, that law is actually fulfilled in Christians. Why? Because Jesus did it. Because Jesus did it and He took that. He took His life and all the perfect law-abiding perfectness and truth that He is, and He puts it on you. And God looks at you, He looks at you as if you fulfilled the law. That's what this means. He fulfilled the law in us that we couldn't because we are flesh. He paid the price that we owe. We broke the law. I broke the law. What happens when I break the law? I die. That is the right punishment for me breaking the law. The penalty is death. Every time the penalty is death. Every single sin deserves death. One sin equals death. So how do you get to heaven if every sin means death? Every sin means you go to hell. Jesus paid the price. He paid the price that I owe. The law only brings death. The law can't. That's all it can do. But through Christ, there is life. There is only true life in Christ. The only true life that leads us to the Father is in Christ. The only way. There's no other way to the Father. We can know that Jesus is life. This is what it means that Jesus is life. We can know that He is life because He has defeated death. Not only has He defeated sin, not only has He taken my sin on Himself and paid that price of death, but He's defeated death. That's what Easter's about, right? That's what Resurrection Sunday, whatever you want to call it, is about. It's supposed to remind us that Jesus is the life. Stop me if you've heard this one. Jesus died on the cross and paid for our sins. On the third day, He rose again. I've heard that a thousand times. I grew up in this church. I heard it a thousand times. It never made any sense to me. It didn't mean anything to me. He died on the cross and rose on the third day. Why is everyone talking about Him rising on the third day? I don't get it. He rose from the dead. Cool. Why? Why is it important for Him to rise from the dead? Because it proves that he has defeated sin and death. It proves it. It's right there. He's standing there. He is standing there. Touch his hands. Feel his side. He's alive. He's the only person. He is the only person that has ever defeated death. Death is all around us. Constantly, death is around us. You turn on the news and it's death. Your grandpa's dying. Your grandparents are dying. Everyone's dying all the time. Everyone is just going to die all the time. That's all life basically is, is death. The same way with sin. Sin is all around you all the time. You open your eyes in the morning and it's sin. You go out the door, it's sin. You go to work, it's just sin. You look at a billboard and it's sin. And death. But Jesus, being raised from the dead, shows us that there is a true way to be rid of sin. There is a true, actual way to not die. I'm talking about spiritual death. I'm not talking about physical death. I'm talking about spiritual death. Because death is a sure thing. You will die, and you will go to hell. You will. He's the only true way of life. There's nobody else out there who escaped death. Nobody. Ever. Ever. Everyone in history is dead. Muhammad? Dead. Buddha? Dead. Joseph Smith? Dead. Popes? All the popes. Every single pope in history is dead. Except the two that are basically dead. That's what it means that Jesus is alive. That's what it means that he was raised from the dead. It proves that he has defeated death. There is no death. Death has no hold on him. Death has no hold on me because of Jesus. Look at verse 7 now. Look at verse 7. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him. Once again, in this verse, Jesus is claiming deity. He's saying, I'm God. We can see that very clear. He's showing his disciples that he's not only God, but he's the Messiah. He's the Messiah. Look at this. John 1.1, in the beginning was the word, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. The Word was God. He, He the Word, was in the beginning with God. Jesus is the Word. Jesus is the truth. He's the one they've been waiting for. He's the one that everyone has been waiting for. He's God. He's God. He's God Himself. And they don't see it. Later in the upper room, Jesus tells his disciples that he has come from the Father and he's going back to the Father. John 1, 14 and 18, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. No one has ever seen God. This is John. This is John 1. 18, John 1, 18. No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father's side. He has made Him known. He has made Him known. No one has ever seen God. No one has ever seen the full glory of God. There's glimpses in the Old Testament, right? We see glimpses of God. We got the burning bush that Moses saw. We got the angel that Isaac wrestled with, who we assume is Jesus. We got Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, right? They're in the fiery furnace. They should be dead. Why are they alive? Because they're standing there with Jesus. They're standing there with Jesus, right? There's glimpses of God. But nobody ever walked with God. Nobody ever walked with the physical manifestation of Jesus as a person. But these disciples did. He did come. He did reveal himself. He was never born as a human until Jesus came. And he didn't only reveal himself to the disciples, he revealed himself to the whole world. Everyone can see Jesus. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The truth, the truth of the Bible, the truth of God has come. When you know Jesus, you know the Father. When you see Jesus, you see the Father. That's what this verse in John 14 is saying. That's what Jesus wants us to see, is that Jesus is not only the way to the Father, but He and the Father are one. That's important. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him. I haven't seen Jesus. I haven't. I haven't walked with Jesus. I haven't lived with Jesus. I don't know the person of the physical human Jesus. I don't. And I assume I never will. Because I'm gonna die. But we know Jesus. I know Jesus. And He knows me. And since I know Jesus, I know God. And God knows me. Look at John 1, 29, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Behold, He is here. The person, the person of God, the person of truth, the person of the way, the person of life is here. The whole Old Testament and all of history is pointing towards one thing, one thing. All of the world, the purpose of all of it is right here. Jesus, the Messiah, the person that all the prophets talked about. You can go back and read the Old Testament. It's prophet after prophet. Isaiah. We read it over and over again that Jesus is coming. There is a Messiah. There is hope. There is hope for you. The person that everyone is looking for, the happiness that everyone is looking for, the satisfaction that everyone is looking for, the purpose in your life that you're looking for, everything that everyone wants and needs is here. Who is it? It's Christ. It is Christ. He has revealed himself. He's shown himself. He's saying, I'm here. I'm it. I'm it. The only right response to Jesus saying, I am God, is to fall down and worship him. To fall down and worship him. The only right response is to say, my life is about this now. Because this is it. There's nothing else. There's nothing else that is true. Because he is truth. He is the person of truth, embodied. What do the disciples do? What do the disciples do? They doubt. Once again, once again they doubt. But this time it's Philip, right? This time it's Philip asking a question. There's nothing that I can do that any of us can do to convince blind sinners. Think about that. There's nothing I can do to convince a sinner that Jesus is the way. Look at the last three verses. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father. Show us the Father, and it's enough. Just let me see Him. Just let me see the Father. I just want to see God. Just put Him right here. Make Him reveal Himself to me, and that's enough for me. That's enough. Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? How can you even say that? Because I have been with you. 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. I'm not speaking for myself. I have authority and my authority is the Father who dwells in me. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Believe me. Or else believe on account of the works themselves. What more could Jesus possibly do to convince them? What more could he possibly do to show them they still do not believe? They don't have the faith like a child. This is like the 10th time in like five verses that he's tried to show them. Not only does he have miracles, Look at this. They're with Jesus for three years. These disciples are with Jesus for three years, right? And they watched him turn bread into three loaves and two fish into enough food for 10,000 people. 5,000? I don't remember. A big number of people. They watched that with their own eyes. They saw that. They watched him raise Lazarus from the dead with just his words. They watched him raise a little girl from the dead. He said, she's only sleeping. And he raised her from the dead. They watched this. They watched this. Day after day, every day they're with him. Every single day they're with him for three years. Every single day. And not only are they watching his miracles, not only are they watching him do things that nobody can do, But they're watching him live perfectly while he's doing all that. He didn't sin once. He did not sin one time. He didn't say something selfish. He didn't do something selfish. He thought of everyone first. In this verse, these verses right here, Jesus is about to die the worst death imaginable. The worst death. And all he cares about is them. Still. Still. All he cares about is them. And they're still saying, show us the father. Show us. I showed you for three years. They still doubt him. And you can hear it in Jesus's voice. You can hear it. It's almost painful to read. You can hear the sadness and the disappointment when he says, have I been with you so long and you don't know me? You still don't know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. I am God. I'm it. How can you say, show us the Father? How can you say that? He wants them so bad to believe in Him as the way. He wants them. For some reason, they doubt. For some reason, they doubt. I remember a few years ago, one of my old friends texted me out of the blue. He's asking all these theological questions. He's asking these questions about God. How can I know that God is real? How can I know the Bible is true? Right? He grew up in a Christian home, and I don't know if you've heard this term, but he deconstructed his faith. That's the new term is, I deconstructed my faith. I grew up Christian, and I thought about it in college, and now I'm not a Christian. But basically, he decided there's not enough evidence to prove that the Bible is the way, as opposed to other religions that might make more sense on a human level. There's not enough evidence that the Bible is it. I tried to walk him through the creation and show him, look, there's stuff all around you. There's atoms all around you. How can anything exist if God is not real? I tried to walk him through the thought of consciousness. We have conscious thoughts. We have our own thoughts. How can you have a thought if God isn't real? The problem wasn't that he didn't believe in God. That's the problem. couldn't convince him. He knew God was real. He knew it because you can't really deny God because you're here. Nothing exists without God, right? The problem wasn't that he didn't believe in God. The problem was that he didn't see evidence for the Bible. He didn't see evidence that Jesus is the way to God. And after talking to him for a while, I eventually realized that the problem is not evidence. The problem is not that I don't have a perfect argument. The problem isn't that I can't articulate enough to him. I can't say the right things. Why is that? Why is it that none of us can seem to convince our friends and family that Jesus is the way? Why is that? I can't seem to... to show anyone that Jesus is it. I just can't, what am I, am I saying something wrong? What is it? We see it right here. These disciples are struggling with the same thing. Jesus is struggling with the same thing that we struggle with in those situations. They're trusting in themselves. These disciples are trusting in themselves. He's trusting in his own knowledge to discern the evidence. He's trusting in his own senses to tell him if the Bible is true. It's the same thing Philip is struggling with. He's trusting in his own eyes to see God. Do you see that? Show me God, and when I see God, then I'll believe in God. Then I'll believe that you're Jesus when you show me that you're God. He's trusting in his own eyes. He's trusting in his own thoughts. We can't trust anything. I can't trust anything that I see. I can't trust myself. I can't trust in the world. I can't trust in any other human or any human religion because they're all lies. It's all lies. It's all tainted by sin, all of it. Every single one of my thoughts, every single thing that I do, every single person that I meet is tainted by sin. It's a lie. It's a lie. It takes faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. That's what my buddy missed. That's what my friend missed. That's what the disciples are missing. That's what every unsaved person misses. They don't have faith. They do not have faith. They have faith in themselves. Listen to this. If the person of Jesus, the person of Jesus, the person of God, living perfectly, doesn't convince the disciples, what hope do I have to convince anyone of the truth? How can I convince someone when I don't even have God? Jesus can't even convince them. Eventually, we all know this, eventually they are convinced. When are they convinced? They're convinced when God reveals the truth to them. When they truly seek God, after they're all scattered, they truly seek God and they say, God, please forgive me. Please show me the truth. Show me the truth. And God shows them the truth. The last two verses here, Jesus, Jesus says, 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. This last verse, believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. I will end with that same plea, that same command that Jesus gives these disciples. Believe in me. Listen to me. To anyone. who is not a Christian, to anyone who is not ransomed by the blood of Christ, to anyone who is seeking more evidence to support the Bible, to anyone who's trusting in their own works, their own sincerity, their own way to God, to anyone who doesn't trust fully in the truth that is Jesus, the only way to God, run to him. Run to Him today. Today is the day of salvation. You must run to Him. What does that mean? What does that mean, run to Jesus? You must seek Him. You must seek Him. You must go to the Lord, because this, if you seek Him, you will find Him. You must knock, because if you knock, He will open. He will. He will open your eyes. He will reveal the truth. to you. He will show you that Jesus is the way. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the life that you need. The Holy Spirit, the third Godhead, will enter you. He will be with you. He will dwell with you. And he will bring this good work in you to completion. Because one day, One day, you will stand in front of God. Whether you are, whether you believe that you will or not, whether you believe in the Bible or not, you will stand in front of God. And he will ask you this question, he will ask you this, why did you not seek me? Why did you not seek me? Why did you not knock? Why did you not believe in my son who I sent to earth to save you? Why? And if your answer is this, if your answer is this, because you didn't do enough for me. You didn't do enough to convince me. There's only one way to you. There's only one way to you. There's only one way to climb the mountain. I didn't want to climb the mountain that way. I didn't want to come to you the way that you told me to. I wanted to go up the back side. I wanted to come up this side. I wanted to do this. I wanted to be sincere. You didn't do enough for me. Or this, you didn't do enough to convince me that the Bible is true. What more could Jesus possibly do? What more could Jesus possibly do than come to earth and die for you? What more could he possibly do than to take all of your sin, all of it, every spot, every blemish, and put it on himself. What more could he possibly do? What more could he possibly do than to defeat death, to live, to be resurrected, and to give that to you? What more could he do? What more could anyone possibly do for you? He did much more than enough. He did much more than he possibly needed to. He did everything, everything that God needs. It is not God's fault if you do not believe. It is not God's fault that there's not enough evidence. So please believe in Jesus. Seek him, and you will find him. Knock, and he will open. Let's pray. Father God, I come before your throne again, Lord, I ask that anyone Anyone who does not believe in you as the way, Lord, anyone who does not believe in you as the truth, Lord, that they would knock. I pray that they would seek. Lord, I pray that you change their hearts and you reveal the truth. In Jesus' name, amen.