John Chapter 14:4-11

If I know you're getting ready to drive off of a bridge, I would hope that you would want me to tell you that. And not just smile and hope you feel good as you crash into oblivion. God bless you! See, I believe in being sensitive to the seeker in that we reveal to the seeker what he needs to know.

That's my version of being seeker sensitive. It's not to lie, it's not to water down the truth till it's not truth anymore. It's to say, you know what, yeah, you're a sinner, you're stuck in your sins, and there's no hope for you except through Jesus Christ. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of The Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. Today, we're blessed to have one of David McGee's associate pastors here with us, D.A.

Brown. I've got a question for you, D.A. What's the problem with avoiding words like sin and death? Bob, the Bible that we read is our ultimate guide to truth, and it talks about these things. And if it talks about these things, it's important that we talk about these things so we can have a right understanding of what God says. Today, Pastor David explains this truth as he continues in the Gospel of John, chapter 14.

Now, here's David McGee with part two of his teaching, Choose to Believe Jesus. John, chapter 14, verse 3, it continues and says, And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. So he's preparing a place, and he's going to come again and receive us to himself. Now, I don't know if you've thought about this, but you know, God, Jesus, created all the earth and the heavens in six days. But apparently, he's been working on heaven for about 2,000 years. Jesus continues in verse 4, and he says, And where I go you know, and the way you know. Now, watch this.

Thomas is getting ready to kind of blow a beautiful moment here. Verse 5, Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going, and how can we know the way? You need for the moment to kind of take off your religious glasses, because we grow up with these real misconceptions about the disciples.

The disciples were very real people. They messed up sometimes. They didn't get it sometimes. Sometimes the Lord would have to explain in fuller detail with them. As you read the scriptures, understand that and appreciate it.

I do. Because you know, even the first time I was reading through the Gospels, you know, and Jesus would tell a story, and even I would understand it. And yet the disciples, and usually after everybody else had left, and they had Jesus alone, they'd, you know, What do you mean by that? To be honest, I kept, you know, as a young believer, I kept thinking Jesus was going to go, What? Weren't you listening? I mean, you know, maybe this disciple thing's not going to work out for you.

Your levels of comprehension aren't what they should be. But now, he didn't do that. He always explained it, and he always said, Okay, look, you know, there's the sower, and there's the seed. Going too fast for you.

You with me? Okay, so, you know. And he would always go, very carefully go back. But see here, Jesus is going, Look, you know where I'm going? You know I'm going to make a place, and you know how to get there? And then Thomas goes, Lord, we don't know where you're going.

We don't know how to get there. He's probably saying what the others were thinking. Verse 6.

But you know what's cool? Before we read verse 6, if you didn't have verse 5, you wouldn't have verse 6. The verse that we're getting ready to read that has come to mean so much to so many, we wouldn't have if Thomas wouldn't have spoken up and said, What's the deal?

Where are we going and how are we going to get there? Verse 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. What an awesome verse. Notice what he says.

Let's pay careful attention. He doesn't say, I am one of the ways, one of the many truths, and one of the lives. It's not what he said. He uses a singular expression. I am the way, the truth, and the life. See, understand exactly what he's saying. Nobody goes to the Father except through Jesus. Nobody. Well, now, Pastor David, are you saying, are you insinuating that Jesus is the only way to heaven?

No. Jesus is saying that and I'm just agreeing with him. I got some of you, some of you are like, What? What? Come back. Stop. That's what Jesus is saying. I'm simply agreeing with Jesus. Understand what this means. That if I want to take the stance that there's many ways to heaven, I am taking a direct stance against Jesus. I am, in essence, calling Jesus a liar. I don't want to do that.

I'm not going to do that. It's not that, you know, and I've used this analogy before. It's not, imagine if you were dying of a dreaded disease and you went in to the doctor and the doctor said, Well, I've got great news. There's a cure for what you have. Would you sit there and go, Well, is there only one? Well, yeah, there's only one cure. Well, that's narrow minded. That's very bigoted. If you've just got one cure, I don't think I'm going to take it.

You wouldn't do that. Guys, there's a cure for sin. And it is a disease that's taken out more people than we could imagine. And there's a cure for it. I don't care that there's only one cure.

I'm just grateful that there is a cure. And Jesus with one statement wipes out any possibility of any other world religion leading to heaven. That's the statement of Jesus. That's not the statement of Pastor David.

If you've got a problem with that, you've got a problem with Jesus. There has never been a more simple and straightforward way to come to God. All the other world religions, if you looked at them at all, it gets so complicated.

And in 2000 years, you know what's interesting? Nobody has been able to come up with a simpler way to get to heaven. Man has not been able to devise a more straightforward way of how you get to heaven. That alone tells me it's God. That God devised something so simple, so straightforward, that any of us can understand it. A six-year-old can go, okay, Jesus is the only way.

That's what they're learning all over the building this morning. Jesus is the only way. And they're, okay, Jesus is the only way.

I understand that. If I want to go to heaven, I go through Jesus. He's the truth. Jesus says, I like the way that Jesus is honest with us. Have you ever known somebody and you always kind of wondered where you stood with them? Yeah, because as they were talking to you, you're like, well, what are you really saying?

What are you thinking about me? But you always know where you stand with Jesus. Jesus says, look, if you believe in me and you follow me, you're in.

If you're not, you're not. He loves us enough to tell us the truth and say, you know what? You've got to repent of your sins. You've got to ask forgiveness of your sins and you've got to follow me. He loves us enough to tell us the truth, to tell us, you know what? You're messed up and you're scarred by sin and you need a Savior. You need a Messiah. And because He says that to us, we can know that it's true and we can follow Him. I mean, imagine if He just looked at us and go, yeah, I think you're okay. You'll be fine. Just hope for the best.

He wouldn't be the truth, but He is the truth. This is why I personally have some problems with the seeker-friendly model that so many people present. The seeker-friendly model says, you know what, let's avoid words like sin and death, words like hell. Let's avoid those so everybody feels good.

There's a problem with that. If I know you're getting ready to drive off of a bridge, I would hope that you would want me to tell you that and not just smile and hope you feel good as you crash into oblivion. God bless you. See, I believe in being sensitive to the seeker in that we reveal to the seeker what he needs to know. That's my version of being seeker-sensitive. It's not to lie. It's not to water down the truth till it's not truth anymore. It's to say, you know what, yeah, you're a sinner, you're stuck in your sins, and there's no hope for you except through Jesus Christ. See, because if we take away the message, what are we doing? If we quit presenting that good news, well, let's just all go home and quit playing games.

There's plenty of churches that are just social clubs. We need to be presenting the truth as God's word presents it. And it says the life. You know, I love the depth of this and the simplicity of this, but Jesus says I'm the life. Jesus didn't say, well, I am the way, the truth, and the death.

He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And so many people, when they think about Christianity, they think in terms of dying. Well, I'll become a Christian that way when I die. I've got fire insurance. I'll go to heaven.

Man, that's whacked. See, Christianity isn't just a way to die. It's a way to live as you follow Jesus. If you wait till your deathbed to grab a hold of Jesus, man, you've been ripped off and you've missed so much. I want to grab a hold of Jesus now because he is the way, the truth, and the life.

He came to give us life and that more abundantly. Do you realize you can't really have life outside of Jesus? Oh, you can live, but you won't have life. It's amazing. Our culture pictures, we say, okay, this is living it up.

Watch TV. This is living it up. Boy, look at that. Isn't that something? And they say, look, drink and do drugs and have as much sex, and that's living it up.

But if anybody in here has ever tried any of those lifestyles, you realize how empty it is. And then you come to Jesus and, like, every morning you're excited to get up. Oh, praise God, another day. This is awesome. It's Sunday. I'm going to church.

That's awesome. See, now you've got life and the real thing, not some cheap, fake substitute. In another place, in Acts 4, verse 12, it says, Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Again, that's kind of a vague scripture, isn't it?

No, it's pretty pointed. There's no other name, not Krishna, not Buddha, not Allah, not Muhammad. There's no other name. There's only one, Jesus. Praise God there is a name. Matthew, chapter 26, verse 39 says, He went a little further and fell on the face and prayed, saying, Oh, my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. If there was any other way to heaven, you've got a real problem. Because Jesus prayed in the garden that if there was another way, that he wouldn't have to do this. So either the Father disregarded the prayer or didn't listen to it, or Jesus was and is the only way. I believe Jesus was and is the only way. And I know some people think, well, it's tolerant to say there's other ways.

No, wait a minute, wait a minute. If you're a believer, that is not an option. If you're following Jesus, it's not an option to look at somebody and go, well, yeah, there's other ways. Because it's real clear, you're either on one side of this issue or you're on the other. Either you're saying, yes, I agree with Jesus, I'm following him, he is the only way, or you're saying, you know what, he's a liar and I'm not following him.

And if you're doing that, please don't call yourself a Christian. This is truth. It's not up for discussion.

It's not relative. It's truth. Two plus two is four.

That's it. Somebody can come up to you and go, well, I think it's five. Well, you can think that, doesn't matter, still four.

You can discuss that all day long. You can think it's three, you can think it's five, it doesn't matter. Two plus two is four.

Use that kind of, there's many ways to have it. Use that at the bank next time. Well, I know two plus two might be four to you, but that's kind of narrow-minded and bigoted. So, you know, when I was balancing my checkbook, I just said two plus two is five because it helps me out. What do you think they're going to do?

Probably call somebody quickly. It's truth. It's truth. See, the life lesson here is truth describes what is right and defines what is wrong. And Jesus loves us enough to tell us.

And I'm so thankful for that. And logic itself tells you all the world religions can't be right. They can't all be right.

There's just no way. You're listening to Pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge. He'll be right back with more in just a moment. But I want to remind you of the free resources available to you on crossthebridge.com. There's a team of hundreds of people that will provide you with the information to be saved. You have a loved one that needs to know Jesus as Savior. You need people to pray for him.

You need someone to present God's word to him. Every day we're presenting God's word to him here on Cross the Bridge with Pastor David McGee. We can pray for them as well just by simply going to crossthebridge.com and click on the Pray for the Lost button. All you need to do is put in the first names of the people you love that need to know Jesus as Savior, click on submit, and immediately hundreds of people will begin praying for your lost loved ones. What an awesome way to bring your loved ones to Jesus. Here's a word from Associate Pastor D.A.

Brown. We want to take just a minute to pray for seven cities in our listening audience. South Portsmouth, Westport, Kentucky, Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, Erwinville, Heflin, and Jennings, Louisiana. Lord, thank you for these cities. Thank you for those mayors, the police chiefs, the government officials, the town councils. Lord, we pray that you would give them wisdom and discernment. We pray that they would look to your word for advice on how to lead. Lord, help us to be praying for them consistently and be a place of encouragement, not division in their lives. Father, anyone in these cities who hasn't yet put their trust in you, we pray that you would convince them and encourage them to recognize how much you loved them, so much that you died on the cross for them. And Lord, we pray for revival in each one of these cities. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse 7.

If you had known me, you would have known my father also, and from now on you know him and have seen him. Verse 8. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. Guys, you guys, they're missing it, and this isn't like the second string, guys.

This is like the A team. These are the guys that have been with Jesus for three years, and they are just, they're totally missing it. They're missing it.

They're missing the boat. Jesus says, you know, I'm going somewhere, and you know where I'm going, and you know the way. And Thomas goes, we don't know where you're going.

We don't know how to get there. Jesus said, well, I'm the way, truth to life, and if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And Philip said, well, you've never seen the Father. I mean, and see now, you know, talking about them being Yeshiva school dropouts is coming to mean more and more to you. You're like, yeah, well, I think I'm beginning to understand why they weren't chosen by some of the rabbis. Understand, and I am just, I'm studying the book. I'm reading the book.

I'm looking at it for what it says. I don't mean any disrespect for the disciples, but I want to see this book as truth, and when you look at this truth, you begin to see some things that you're like, what? What are they doing? What are they thinking? Do you understand one of their big ministry, the disciples, one of their big ministry strategies, do you understand what that ministry strategy was?

It's kind of an interesting one. One of their big ministry strategies was, send them away. They need something.

Send them away. Mark chapter 6, verse 36, people are out in the middle of the desert. They're hungry, and Jesus says, what should we do? And the disciples said, send them away. They're hungry. We're out here in the middle of nowhere. We got nothing to eat.

Send them away, that they may go in the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. Now, maybe you're sitting there going, okay, well, they messed up once. Once? Do you remember what happened when the woman was on the side of the road calling for Jesus to please help her? In Matthew chapter 15, verse 22, and it says, behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to him, saying, have mercy on me, O Lord son of David.

My daughter is severely demon-possessed, but he answered her not a word, and his disciples came and urged him, saying, send her away. She's crying after us. She's bothering us, Jesus. Send her away. Golly, these people.

This ministry thing would be great if it wasn't for all the people. They bother us. Send them away. And you're going, okay, well, two times they messed up. Two times.

I'll cover just one more. Matthew chapter 19, verse 13. Then were they brought unto him, little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray. And the disciples rebuked them. Get those kids out of here. We're too busy. We're doing ministry, and the people keep getting in the way.

Take those kids away. It's amazing when you stop and consider when you really look at the disciples and their interaction with Jesus. And why do I mention this? Because as I read through the gospels and I see the reality of these guys and their exchanges with the Lord and them missing it and them trying to send people away when they needed ministry and rebuking people when Jesus wanted to pray for them, I understand something. As I read the book of Acts, something happened to these guys. Between what we read in the gospels and what you read in the book of Acts, when Peter, who denied the Lord three times, stands up and goes to the leadership, you know, I don't care what you say. I'm going to be obedient to God, not to man. When I see the fact that 11 out of the 12 disciples, 10 out of the 11 disciples, died martyrs' deaths, some very painful deaths, I realize something happened to them. What happened?

They'd been with Jesus, and they'd been filled with the Spirit, and everything changed. And so I look at my own life and my struggles and my shortcomings and my failures, and I realize that, you know what, sometimes I'm going to miss God. Sometimes I'm not going to know what He's saying.

I'm not going to understand. But the more I'm with Him, the more I do understand. The more I walk with Him, the more I'm able to minister to others to the point that I'm on the personal journey, if you will, from the way the disciples acted in the gospels to the way they acted in the book of Acts. I'm on that personal journey to the point that I want to look around one day and say, you know, I don't care what man thinks. I'm going to be obedient to God. And that's a journey every one of us can be on as we follow Him, as we follow the Lord.

That's encouraging. There's Philip hanging, so let's read verse 9. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. So how can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? And the words that I speak to you, I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

When Jesus says, Believe Me, we would probably define it a little closer, Keep believing in Me. Don't stop believing in Me. Don't stop believing in Me when you're persecuted. Don't stop believing in Me when you're corrected. Don't stop believing in Me when you have a bad day or a bad week or a bad year or a bad life. Don't stop believing. And that should change the way you live. If you really believe in Jesus, if you really believe that He is the way, the truth, the life, then you can look around with open eyes and realize some people don't know it. Some people don't realize it.

If you think that I've exaggerated this morning, then do me a favor. Ask your friends who go to church how you get to heaven, and is that the only way? And listen to the replies that you get. And have mentally, John 14.6, ready to say, You know what? But Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Because, guys, our political correctness, our tolerance, is allowing people to slip off the edge of eternity without Jesus. That's too high of a price to pay to get along.

We can't do that to people. And maybe you're here this morning and you know historically who Jesus is. You know historically, yes, He died for the sins of the world. But do you understand He died for your sins?

Do you understand that you need forgiveness? There's not enough just to know about Jesus in your head. Charles Spurgeon said, The difference between knowing about Jesus in your head and knowing Jesus in your heart, while it's only 18 inches, is the difference between heaven and hell. You can know who Jesus was and not know Jesus.

I know who the president is, but I don't know Him. And for many years I knew about Jesus, but I didn't know Him. And then came one day when I said, I want to know Him more deeply.

I got the bad news first. No amount of right living could undo what I had done before. But the good news is when I realized that, hope walked into my life in the form of Jesus Christ.

See, when I knew there was no other way, I was desperate for that one way. And that way is Jesus. Not your good works, not through any of the other ways the world religion presents, but through Jesus.

And the good news is this morning, Jesus wants you to know Him. He wants you to receive the forgiveness of your sins through a short, simple prayer, turning from your ways to His ways, turning from your sins to His glory. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven. I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name, amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven, you've been born again.

God said He would not turn anybody away who comes to Him, and He came for those people who knew they needed forgiveness, those who were sick, not the righteous. So congratulations, friend. You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.

Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. You know, the Bible tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. But it does cost for us to come and bring that message to you and to others in your neighborhood through radio, through the Internet, and through the mobile technologies that God has gifted us to be able to use. So if you'd like to support this ministry, please go to crossthebridge.com, click on the donate button, and ask God how much he would have you give either on a one-time basis or a continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's Word continues to go out through Cross the Bridge.

Thank you so much. Well, DA, before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee. If you're not able to make it to your home church this Sunday, why not join us for our live stream at 10 a.m. Eastern Time or on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time? Just visit crossthebridge.com and click on our live stream link. There you will experience a live service from David's Home Church, The Bridge, in North Carolina. Again, that website is crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.