This evening, with the Lord's help, I wish to continue with the series in Questions Asked in Scripture, with the question that you will find asked in John chapter 14 and verse 5, the latter part, how can we know the way? This is a question that was asked following our Lord's introduction in the first part of this chapter, in telling the disciples that in his father's house were many mansions. And he said, if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, thee may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. And then Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Set before us is heaven, the Father's house, those mansions above, And this question, how can we know the way in these gospel days? What a question. Those who may never have been brought up under the sound of the truth, those who may not know the first thing of the things of grace, of the way of salvation, and they have set before them the thought of heaven, eternity, a way of escape from the wrath to come, but how can, how can we know the way? And we could turn this question around for those of us who've made profession of faith, how do we know the way? How have we been brought to know the way? Are we in the way? Are we going in the right way? We read, there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. And there are many, many that are going in a way that they think that they are going to heaven. They think that all is well with them. But that way is not the way. It is not the right way. And so this is a vital question and such an important question for us to be able to answer. How can we know the way? A way that will bring us at last to those mansions above. So I want to answer this question that first, well we have two main points and the first will be the way. If the question is how can we know the way, what is the way firstly? And then secondly, the answer to this question, how The way is known. But firstly, the way. Our Lord answers Thomas in verse six, and he says unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. So the way, firstly, is in the person, of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Whatever else that we may understand, we would understand it in this point, and hold fast to this point, that there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved but through the Lord Jesus Christ. He testifies of that here, He testifies of it when He says that none come unto the Father but by Me, when He says if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall perish in your sins, and that there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved. This is the only name, the name that the Father hath given Him, which is the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. So immediately this would then rule out every way, every religion, every teaching apart from the Lord Jesus Christ alone. That in itself should be a great, great pointer to us in the very words of our Lord, I am I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. When we look at the words that precede those words that our Lord said, He said, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. that where I am there ye may be also. Now let us put this in an illustration. Suppose that I was to say to someone here in Kent, in Cranbrook, that I was going to prepare a place in London for them. and I'd go and prepare that place for them. But when it was ready, I wasn't going to send a map to them and say, this is how you can get to the place that I've prepared for you. I wasn't going to send directions to them, take a train and go this station and that station to get there and you come alone following these directions. If I were to say, when I have prepared this place, I'll come back down into Kent to Cranbrook here and you will go with me. I will receive you. I will take you and bring you to that place that I have prepared. All you need to do is to keep close by me, follow me. You don't need a map. You don't need directions. You don't need to know anything about the way, except me. I am the way. And that's exactly what our Lord is saying here. He is saying, I am the way. I'll prepare the place. I'll come again. I'll receive you unto myself. You won't go on your own. You go with me. I will take you there. I am the way." And that is how he sets it before Philip and before the disciples, before Thomas, before all of those that are asking the questions in this portion here. So firstly it is His person, the person of our Lord, truly God and truly man, God manifest in the flesh, Emmanuel, God with us, the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, God's true and only begotten Son. But also, not only it is His person, but His work on earth. What He is preparing them for here, and His going away, is preparing them for when He is crucified at Calvary. In one sense, the preparation is not only in heaven, but is also on earth. Because without the cross, without the sufferings of our Lord, without His death, without the blood-shedding, there would be no mansion. There would be no atonement for sin. There would be no taking away the wrath of God. There would be no possibility of any saved at all. It is only through what our Lord has done upon the Calvary's tree that makes a way for sinners to escape the wrath to come. Not only it was the work at Calvary, but it is His perfect obedience and whole life of obedience to His Father, sinless and perfect, that is to be then put on the account of His people, those that believe in Him should be given His righteousness and to appear in the presence of God faultless before the throne. So the way is through His person, And it is through His work, His sin-atoning sacrifice at Calvary, and His sinless, perfect life. It is also through His gift. The Lord says, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Our Lord's answer, I am the way, the truth, and the life, points to this. It points to the truth of the need of the sacrifice, all the types and shadows of the Old Testament pointed to the truth that without the shedding of blood there is no remission, and the Lamb of God must be slain, must put away sin, and that He is the life. I am come, He says, that they might have life, that they might have it more abundantly. I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of mine hand. So the way is through Christ's work and through His gift of eternal life to His people while they are on earth in their lifetime, a spiritual life, a life in their souls. It is also the way through His intercession in heaven. When our Lord rose again from the dead and then ascended up into heaven, He is making intercession for His people to His Father. He is our advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We read in John 17 that He prays to His Father that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. And he appears in the presence of God for us, for his people. He has gone before, as he says, I go to prepare a place for you. But in that place he is making that intercession for his people. So the way is in every aspect through our Lord Jesus Christ. And when we look at the second point, how the way is known, we'll see even more aspects, really everything is inseparable to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Our text is found in a gospel, a gospel according to John. And if we look at the epistles that John has written, then we find how important a point he makes, the believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and what we believe on Him. In his second epistle, he says in verse 9, Whoso transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed. For he that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds." And what he means is, is not just believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, It is believing what the Word of God sets forth concerning Him. There are some that say He is not really and truly God, but just a created being. That is not the doctrine of the Bible, that is not the doctrine of Christ. Some will say that He does not have a soul, that the position of the soul is taken by His divinity. That is not the doctrine of the Scripture. Thou shalt see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. He takes not on him the nature of angels, which is only spirit, or a beast, which is only flesh, but of the seed of Abraham, and therefore body and soul. Our bodies and our souls are both redeemed. We are fallen, we are lost, we are sinners, we are under condemnation, We are under the sentence of death, we must die, but it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ as truly God and truly man that we can be redeemed, set free from condemnation and guilt. And so what we believe about the Lord Jesus Christ is very important. What we believe about Him being the only way is very important. As soon as we add, as the Roman Catholic Church does, tradition to him, then we are in error. As soon as we add, as some solemnly even of our people may add, their own thoughts or own words that they have, feeling come from heaven but are not found in the Word of God or contrary to the Word of God, we're adding feelings, we're adding mysticism to the Word of God. It is only as our Lord is set forth in the Scriptures, and the way is only the way that is set forth in the Word of God. So let us then look at how the way is known. How the way is known. We would say, as we have just mentioned, that it must be as revealed in the Word of God. So whereas we had in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ brought into a very, shall we say, contracted compass, leaving no room for move or no room for bringing any other personal being into the way, So when we say the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible, the Holy Bible, the inspired Word of God, we bring again into a compass, an area, where we say, here is the truth, here is the way, is known only by what is found in these pages. So if someone says to you, well, you must go reading this book, or that book, or you need this added to the Bible, or you need some other way, you may say, no, we are told here that this is the book. We are not to add nor subtract from what is here. God has not spoken in any other ways in any other place to mankind than through the words of this book. And there may be many things that are not said, and we think, oh, I wish we could know about that. But the Lord has chosen out those things we do need. And this is highlighted in the 20th chapter of this gospel according to John. where at the end of that chapter the Apostle says, and many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. Again, it's very clearly put. Those things that are needed for salvation are here. Those things that are not, are not here. And if we want to waste our time on things that will not profit our soul and lead us straight to another way, then go outside the Word of God. But if we want to know the way, the only way, then we'll confine ourselves to the Word of God and those books that will maybe be of use in expounding and opening up and explaining it, as long as they do not add to the Word of God. The second thing, whereby the way is known, and this is absolutely vital, there's no other way of knowing it, we can know it in the head but not really know it in the heart, and that is through the new birth, a spiritual Birth. Our Lord says in John 6, John chapter 3, he must be born again. This arises because we are dead in trespasses and sins. We do not have a capability of knowing spiritual things. The natural man receiveth not the things of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. We said before that one of the things that the Lord Jesus Christ did was to give eternal life, and that life that is in His Son is given as a free and a sovereign gift at the new birth. And we must be absolutely certain of that, that the beginning must be a beginning that God has been the author of, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. The beginning must be right. It must be a new creation, the same as God created the earth, so he must create in us a new heart, a new spirit, and give us spiritual life. I pass by thee when thou wast in thy blood, and when thou wast in thy blood, I bid thee live. So that is the next point. The third is this, and very closely related to the Word of God, and that is the preaching of the Word. We read in the Epistle to the Corinthians that it hath pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. So if we would want to know the way, Then we go where the Word is preached, where the Lord Jesus Christ is preached. Where there are those that preach like the Apostle, I determine to know nothing among men, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is through the preaching of the Gospel that the Lord quickens souls and gives them eternal life, that they are born again in the Spirit. It is through preaching of the Word that the Word is explained, expounded, and apply to the heart of men, not just to their minds as we would in a Bible study, but to the heart. So how the way is known. The way is known through the Word of God, through the new birth, through the preaching of the Gospel, It is known through faith. And that again is also joined to the preaching of the gospel. In all of these points, they all center around our Lord Jesus Christ and they are all linked together because we have in Romans 10, the word of faith that is in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of faith which we preach. that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. And he joins together then, the hearing, hearing the gospel. How can they call on him in whom they have not believed? He's just said, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And again, it is him, believe in him of whom they have not heard. How shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach except they be sent? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. To the way is known through preaching of the word and through faith, which is also the gift of God, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the author and finisher of our faith. We know the way by the grace of God. Paul says when he writes to the Ephesians, by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And so It is the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the grace of God, that brings a new birth, that reveals the way and shows the way. It is a way that is just freely and sovereignly shown and imparted to His people through the preaching of the Word. We must emphasize this, by grace ye are saved. It is a gift, it is free, it is sovereign, it is all through the Lord Jesus Christ. But also the way is known through the characteristics of the way. In the Gospel, according to Matthew, and chapter 7, our Lord speaks of the way, and not just that way, but an alternative way, or really any other way. And in Matthew 7 and verse 13, our Lord exhorts, enter ye in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. And immediately then he exhorts them to beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing. In other words, teachers that profess to preach a way, but it is a false way. They're not really the true prophets or preachers of the Lord, they're false ones. And the implication is that they make the way wider than it is. The way is known by its characteristic, it is narrow. How is it narrow? The Lord Jesus alone, the Word of God alone, Sovereignly, by grace alone, through faith alone. These are the things that make it to be that narrow way. And those that make it wider will say, oh, there can be other ways of saving than our Lord, and you don't need it to be the work of God, you can just choose, it's your choice. And there'll be those that set forth that why it is not the way, the characteristics, some of those we look at further here, it doesn't need to have those characteristics in it at all. But the way is the way, is described in the Word of God, and it is what the world would call narrow or confined, restricted, not in a loose, careless way that is not confined by the Word of God itself. And so, the characteristics of the Way, in our text immediately after it, we have the Truth, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Way is characterized by Truth, not error. And how is Truth measured? By the Word of God. Truth is measured not how something or reality is viewed by man, but as viewed by God's perspective. And how do we know God's perspective? How He has revealed it in the Word of God. We always know that how we view things is by our viewpoint, how we're viewing something. I doubt many of you have seen photographs of a person holding up their hand and it appears like they're holding up the moon or holding up the sun. And because the angle of the camera, just that person's hand is just put so that the moon or the sun, which is millions of miles or thousands of miles behind them, looks small and is just in right relationship to where they are. We can have a case where we see two cars or perhaps sometimes it might be two aeroplanes and we think they're surely going to hit, they're going to collide and from our point of view it looks like that's going to happen but actually if we looked at it from another vantage point they were probably miles apart, and they weren't going to hit at all. And so we need it, especially as viewed from God's viewpoint, not from our own. And so that is where faith comes in, to trust the Word of God, trust what God says, and distrust what we feel. Another characteristic of the Way is grace, the grace that is given to the people of God. We know that we must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom. The Apostle Paul, his tribulation was a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet him. He prayed three times it might be taken away, But the Lord said, my grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in weakness. And that trial that he went through, it was God's grace, God's help, God's favor that enabled him to not be murmuring, complaining, to be kicking against the way, but to be submissive to it and bow before Him. He says, when I am weak, then I am strong. And the Lord gives that inward grace and help and strength. He read, He giveth more grace, and grace for grace. I give the grace of the spirit of prayer and supplications, and then in answer to those prayers, give further strength, inward strength, and strength to bear the sorrows of the way, the tribulations of the way, and to endure unto the end. And so it is a way that is marked out by that inward strength and grace and help that is given by God to the people in the way. It is a way that is a way that is hedged up. God has said that he would chasten and correct his children. And when they go in the way, they turn to the right hand, turn to the left, that they will hear a word behind them saying, this is the way, walk ye in it. And it is the word of God that directs them, hedges them, points out them what is the right way to walk, what is the wrong way to walk. And when they do not heed that word, then he chastens them and corrects them. We read of that in Hebrews 12, the Lord chastens every son. whom he receiveth. There is no one found in that way that will not have that characteristic, that the Lord chastens them if they go astray and do not heed to his word. The blessed thing if we do hearken to his word. But then also it is a way of mercy, a way of which we will not find that The Lord deals with us as our sins deserve. Our Lord spoke of the publican, God be merciful to me a sinner. It is a way that will be so marked out that the Lord shows mercy to us. We have not earned it. It is not by our good works and ways, although the fruit and effect of God's grace and the life he gives within is to live upright and godly lives. Yet we are very mindful. that if the Lord should mark iniquity, one thought wrong, one word wrong, we are sinners in every thought, word and deed. The Word of God says very clearly that there is no man that doeth good and sinneth not. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All our righteousnesses, that's all our good works, are as filthy rags. So it is mercy. That way, if you and I are walking in Him, we'll be marked down by mercy. It is also a way that is a holy way. The Lord is a holy God. He cannot look upon sin without utter abhorrence. He hates sin. The Apostle Peter, he says, of God, be ye holy for I am holy. This is what God set before Israel in the wilderness and sets before his people. And it is the Lord that sanctifies his people, that separates them from the world, from those things that are profane and unholy and unclean, delivers them from all their uncleannesses, and makes them to desire those things that are pure, and lovely, and holy, and those things which are above, in their thoughts, in their words, in their conduct, in their associations with this world. Come ye out from among them, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. Ye shall be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. And that shall be a characteristic of the way. that in heaven there shall not be anything that is unclean, unholy, and impure, but those that are led that way here below will be seeking, by the grace of God, to live holy, godly, and upright lives. It will also be a way of peace, the peace of God which passeth all understanding. When Paul writes to the Philippians, he speaks of this. He says in chapter 4, be careful, in verse 6, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. And in verse nine, and the God of peace shall be with you. Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do, and the God of peace shall be with you. And of course, all of these things are inseparable from the Lord Jesus Christ. In me, he says, you shall have peace. In the world, you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. And so the way in every part of it, the characteristics of the way will have those things that proceed from the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, take my yoke upon you, learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, ye shall find rest unto your souls. There will be that humility instead of pride. It's a humble way, a low way, a way that exhibits that real realization of our sinnership and unworthiness of anything from the Lord's hand. It will also be a way that is cast up the old paths, Seek ye out the old paths and walk therein. We have it in Jeremiah. We have that long list in Hebrews 11 of those that walk by faith. It's the same way that Abel went, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, all those saints of old. They went looking to Christ, trusting in Him, faith in Him. As soon as we find people pointing out new ways, different ways, ways that bridge to the world as it were, innovative ways, ways that are not cast up, ways that the ones that have gone before us, they knew nothing of that way, ways that marry up the world with the church or bring the world into the church. Those ways are not this way. It is the way that the saints have gone before us, that same path, unchanged, the Lord Jesus Christ. Ever the world will be an enemy to the people of God. The Lord says, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them. And that may be the religious world, as well as the profane world. When one wants to stick to the Word of God, and one wants to only do that in worship and in life that is prescribed in the Word of God and not strictly forbidden, then they shall be hated of this world. But it is that which marks out the way, the characteristics of the way. This is then a very important question. How can we know the way? And we may ask ourselves this evening, do we know the way? Have we recognized the way as we have set it forth this evening? Do we know something of a new birth, a new beginning? Do we know something of that way through the Word of God, through it preached, and through the Holy Spirit's work? Do we know something of the characteristics of the way, of the grace and the mercy of God? Have we had those drops of peace? And we can add on to that, of course, love, the love of God, shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. We know that we have passed by death, from death unto life, because we love the brethren. And our Lord, having loved his own, loved them unto the end. Those he has loved with an everlasting love, and therefore with lovingkindness hath he drawn them. And if we join that with Psalm 107, Whoso is wise and will observe these things, the Lord's dealings, right through life, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. So we have the way, and the way that it is known, and it is a way that Thomas here, he asked this question, how can we know the way? And we need to ask that question as well. Those that are strangers to the way, those who have never known the way, how can we know the way? And those of us who profess to be in the way, How do we know it is the way? How do we know that we are in the way, being made personal partakers of it and are not bystanders on the race just commenting on what is happening and what others are walking in, but we are actually walking in that way and that we are walking with the Lord and that the Lord is precious to us as the way and more and more We feel our need of Him to bring us on our way, day by day, and at last to receive us unto Himself. So may this question be a question that we can answer, a question that we know something of the characteristics of the Way and above all, the One who is the Way, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Lord add His blessing. Amen.