Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one. comes to the father Apart from me, he's saying there is only one way, there is only one name, and that is Jesus Christ. Welcome to the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
Truth is more than a set of facts or even a wise opinion. Truth is knowing and following the Word of God. And the only way to live by truth and know God is by knowing the person of Jesus Christ. Today, we're continuing our series on encountering Jesus with a message titled One Way, One Truth, One Life. And to get us started, here's Pastor John Monroe.
The cultural consensus is that there are many ways to God. Each of us is entitled to our own beliefs. And as long as we are sincere in well-being, each of us in our own way will reach our own God and go to heaven. Why is that correct? How would we know if that is true or not?
Can belief systems which contradict each other all be true? How has God revealed himself to us? God has indeed revealed himself. He has revealed himself in creation. He has revealed himself in the Holy Scriptures and He has sent His Son into our world.
As we learn today, It is God the Son, Jesus Christ, who says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except. through me. John chapter 14, let me read with you the first six verses so we understand. The context.
John 14 then verse 1. Jesus is saying to his disciples, Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many dwelling places.
If it were not so, I would have told you. For 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 to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way of where I'm going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going.
How do we know the way? And Jesus said to him, I am. The way. And the truth. and alive.
No one comes to the Father but Through Maybe. I want us to think particularly of Jesus' statement that He is the truth. I want us first of all to consider the attack on truth today. Secondly, the quest for truth Thirdly, the revelation of truth, and finally, the way of truth. First of all, the attack on truth.
God's word has always been attacked. The first recorded words in Scripture by our enemy, the serpent, were. In Genesis 3, verse 1, has God said, Eve God didn't really say that, did he? Right from the beginning of human history then, God's truth is attacked. Repeatedly in our media and our universities And even in some churches, the word of God is attacked.
Secondly, the quest for truth. I trust you are here because you are someone who is seeking the truth, someone who loves the truth. We must build our lives on that which is reliable and that which is trustworthy. One of the problems of religious pluralism and political correctness is that they discourage us from asking about and seeking the truth. First, there's an attack on truth.
Secondly, we should be seekers for truth. Third, the revelation. of truth. Turn in your Bibles to John chapter 18. Jesus before Pilate the Roman judge.
Let me read with you John 18, verses 36 through 38. Very, very important verses. Don't miss them. Here is Jesus before Pilate. Jesus answered, John 18:36, My kingdom is not of this world.
If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is. Is not of this realm. Pilate therefore said to him, So you're a king? Jesus answered, You say correctly that I am a king.
For this I have been born. And for this I have come into the world. You get this? Here is the reason why Jesus comes into the world. to bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth Here's my Voice. Do you get that? Everyone who is of the truth Hears the voice of Jesus. Pilate said to him, What is Truth. Here is King Jesus revealing the truth to Pilate, but it's too costly for Pilate.
Pilate asks, What is truth? But he doesn't wait for the answer. He tries to evade the issue. As a consummate politician, he tries to pass the buck, tries to pass the decision-making to someone else, to King Herod, to the Jews, to the crowd, to someone else. But at the end of the day, He has to decide.
And he chooses. The seat? Injustice. Cruelty. Political expediency rather than the truth.
Those who are part of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We are to love the truth, we are to hear the truth. And we are to obey. The truth. Jesus is not only a witness to the truth, but He's not only telling the truth, He is.
The Truth. You say I'm not quite sure what to believe, but I do seek the truth. That's great. Here is the truth. If you want to know the truth, listen.
To the voice of Jesus. He is the truth regarding God, sin, salvation, heaven, hell, death, and life. Truth is not arrived at by discussion. Truth is not arrived at when a few people get together and say, Well, we will work out what is true. Truth is not arrived at when you dig deep within and look within and create your own reality.
That is not truth. Truth is revealed. Truth comes from God. Our God, who is absolute truth, has spoken. He gives us His truth, and in His word, His precious word, the Bible, we have the truth of God.
We call it the Word of truth. And here in John chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus is saying, I am the Truth. God's word is truth. Paul says in First Timothy three, verse fifteen that the church, that is the body of Christ, is the pillar and foundation of the truth. And here Jesus is saying.
that everyone who is of the truth, hears his voice. That contrasts Jesus' teaching with the statement from a contemporary church's website: quote: Postmoderns feel their way to God as opposed to think their way to God. Apparently, what we feel is more important than what we believe. That's not what Jesus is saying. Everyone who is of the truth hears his voice.
No one feels their way to God. You will never ever feel your way to God. God has spoken. His revelation has come. And irrespective of what you feel, irrespective of what you think, irrespective of your own prejudices and hang-ups and desires and ambitions and dreams, all of us, without exception, must humble ourselves under the truth of God and listen to God and hear the truth.
He is. the truth. Trust your own feelings, they'll lead you astray. every single time. They will never ever lead you to God.
You must hear. You must obey. You must listen to the truth. That is what Jesus is saying here in John chapter 14, verse 6 to his disciples. I am the truth.
You will never get to the Father apart from me. I am. the truth. the attack on the truth. The quest for the truth.
the revelation of truth. Finally, Fortunately, the way. of truth. That Jesus is saying here back in John chapter 14, verse 6. I am the way.
No one comes to the Father but through me. Jesus Do you get this? Politically incorrect? I understand that. Opposed by many, I understand that.
Jesus is saying he is the only way to God. He is the way. He is the path. What is a way? A way is a path from point A to point B.
We are here on planet Earth. We are all on point A. How are we going to get to heaven? How are we going to have a relationship with God and know God and have our sins forgiven? How are we going to get to point B?
Just work it out ourselves? Just say it doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you believe something and are reasonably sincere? No. Jesus is saying, I am. The Way.
I am the truth. I am the life, no one. comes to the father. apart. from me.
Now many people consider that all religions basically say the same thing. But Jesus is saying, No, there's only one way to the Father's house. He's been telling the disciples, I'm going to go, and where I'm going, one day you're going to come. And they say, well, how do we get there? He's saying here it is.
I am. The way. You say, isn't there another way? Yes, in a sense, there is another way. Jesus talked about another way.
He says in Matthew chapter 7, really there's two ways. There is a narrow way. It is the way of life that leads to eternal life. On the other hand, there is another way it's a very broad road. and it leads to Destruction.
Two ways going in opposite directions. And how can two ways going in opposite directions reach the same destination? Absolutely. Impossible. And so, to say that all religions basically say the same thing is really nonsense.
Islam believes that there's only one God. Hinduism believes in thousands of gods. Christianity believes that Jesus is God. Islam says that Jesus is only a prophet. Which one is true?
We have been seeing as we have studied John that Jesus is God. Not only is he teaching the truth, he is the truth. Not only does he show us the way to God, he is the way. and there is no other. Yeah.
A visitor standing in the desert asked his guide. Where is the path? to which the guide replied, I am. the path. Can you imagine crossing the Sahara Desert?
Without a reliable guide Could you imagine crossing from time into eternity without a reliable guide? Jesus is the map. The guides. The way. It is therefore absolutely, absolutely essential.
That all of us have a trust in Jesus Christ. There is no salvation apart from Him. He and He alone is the only one who can take you where you are now. right into the presence of heaven. He's the way and the only way.
You say, Well, I'll follow my own religion. I guarantee it will only lead you to disillusionment. No one can keep the Mosaic law. All of us break it, all of us come short. Muslims struggle with following the five pillars of obedience.
People get frustrated with Buddhism as they never seem to reach that level of enlightenment. Hinduism with its caste system and its endless reincarnation as an exercise in futility, Jesus says, No, I am. The way. No one comes to the Father apart. From me.
If you say, is that also taught in the New Testament? Yes, I've already quoted Peter. What does Paul say? For there is one God. And one mediator between God and man, the man Christ.
Jesus. Did you get that? One God One mediator How are you going to reach God? Through the one mediator. Who is that one mediator?
Not you, not myself.
Now Mohammed. No other guru Not by creating your own reality. But through Jesus Christ. The one who came from God, who is God, who became man.
So Paul describes him as the man Christ Jesus. The unique one, our Lord Jesus Christ then, is the only mediator. Not some saints. Not the Virgin Mary. But Christ and Christ alone is the only mediator between us.
And God, He is the only way. to God. Jesus is the only way. He's the only Savior. That's what John has been doing in this gospel, presenting the uniqueness of Jesus.
He's told us that Jesus existed before the worlds began because he's the eternal God, he is from all of eternity. He shares the characters and the attributes of God because he is God. In love, he comes into time and space. As a saviour, living in this world as a man. Showing his uniqueness by giving sight to the blind, walking on water, raising the dead, turning the water into wine, feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fishes.
All of this to establish that he is no ordinary man. He is God. In The flesh. and the only Saviour. The fulfilment of over a hundred prophecies of the Old Testament regarding the coming Messiah.
Not only does he die for our sins, but as only God can do, on the third day, he rose from the dead. And he is alive, yes, alive today. Do you believe that? That Jesus is alive. The only God, the only Savior, the only way, the only truth, the only one who gives eternal life.
CS Lewis writes. There is no halfway house. and there is no parallel in other religions. If you had gone to Buddha and asked him, Are you the son of Brahma? he would have said, My son, you are still in the veil of illusion.
If you had gone to Socrates and said, are you Zeus? he would have laughed at you. If you'd gone to Muhammad and asked, Are you Allah? he would first have rent his clothes and then cut off your head. No, Jesus.
is unique. Why is it that we can say with such certainty that He is the only way? Because of who he is. God. coming from heaven.
Dying for our sins, rising from the dead, and returning to heaven. No one else has done that or could ever do that. And on that basis, Jesus says, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father apart from me. Why do we have missionaries?
Why do we evangelize? Why do we share our faith? Why do we not just say, well, people can believe what they like. Who are we to go and impose our views on others?
Well, first of all, we don't impose our views, but we do witness of one who has saved us. and has transformed us. And we believe that God's love embraces the whole world. And that wherever we go, there are people who are lost, people who need to hear about Jesus Christ. And our greatest joy as followers of Christ is to introduce others to Jesus Christ.
Whether here in Charlotte or whether in Kenya, wherever we go, that we point people and say there's only one way, there's only one Saviour, and it is our Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be deluded into thinking you can make your own way to God. Realize that God is your Creator. And he sees you. He sees you in your failure, in your sin, and in great love and grace.
He sent his son, our Savior, to save us. The Savior of the world. And so the message of the New Testament then is not to work your way to heaven, is not to look within, is not to create your own reality, but it is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. That's the message. It's the point, people.
To Christ. And you will be saved. He will take you to heaven itself. He is the way. Thomas Acampus said it so well: Without the way, there is no going.
Without the truth, there is no knowing. without the life There is no living. That's what Jesus said. I am the way. And the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father apart. From me. Do you understand that you must come to God His way? And not your way? Doesn't that make sense that you're creator?
Who created you, who put you here on earth for the purpose, should tell us the way of salvation and say, here it is. in a person of my wonderful Son, Jesus Christ. Your own way, my dear friend, will never ever be good enough, it will end. in failure. Ravi Zacharias retells Dostoevsky's famous illustration of the woman who ends up in hell.
And she screams that she shouldn't be there in hell as she's a good woman. Peter in heaven hears her screams and asks her in the illustration, What's your problem? She said that she did good things. and that she shouldn't be in hell.
So Peter says, okay. Can you name one good thing that you did on earth? She said, yes, I can name one good thing. One day a beggar came to my door. And I gave him A carrot.
Peter in the illustration checks the records. And says, Yes, it's true. It was a wretched old scrawny carrot. But you did give him a carrot. To this beggar.
So hold on. And so he ties a carrot on a string. and lures it down in the illustration into hell. And asks the woman to hold on. and will pull you out of hell.
So the woman clings on to the carrot. And up in heaven they begin to pull the carrot with the woman hanging on to it. But others in hell see what's happening. They gripped the women's ankles. They want to get up as well.
And so they grab her ankles as they're going up, and she quickly realizes that the combined weight is going to exceed the capacity of the string.
So she shouts, this old woman who was so kind that she gave a scrawny old carrot to a beggar and thinks that she's good enough for heaven, she shouts out, Let go of me, let go of me, it's my carrot, not yours. And with that, the string. Right. What's the point of the illustration? Number points, obviously an illustration.
None of us with all of her goodnesses. with all of her carrots. are ever good enough. to get to heaven on our own. You say, Well, I've done good things.
I've given a few carrots to beggars. I've done more than that. I've lived a good, clean life. Had a good clean home. Go to church.
I'm a pretty good person. What was the problem with the woman? The problem was her heart. Even in hell, she's only concerned about herself. her selfishness.
And the heart. is deceitful. and desperately wicked. And the only one who can change our heart, and the only one who can forgive our sins, is our Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed at Calvary, so that you and I could. Can have a clean heart and receive eternal life.
We need a Savior. The man Christ Jesus. The only way to heaven. You want to be free from your sin? You want to be free from your illusions and fantasies and despair.
Freedom, forgiveness, and fulfilment in life are found in Jesus Christ. Jesus says in John 8 And you shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free. And your lies. Any deceit?
Any cover-up? Any hypocrisy, any error, any secrets in your life? Will you confess them today before the Lord? Will you afresh encounter Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord and be free? That you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
The way to a life of God's blessing, a way to joy and peace and fulfillment, is knowing the truth, seeking the truth, obeying the truth. That's why we emphasize. This book. Because it is the book of truth. It is God's Word.
And to all of us, Jesus still says, Will you hear his word? I am. The way. And the truth. and a life No one comes to the Father apart.
From me. If you don't know the Saviour, will you receive him into your heart and your life? If you're a follower of Christ, But lies and deceit and hypocrisy and cover-up have come into your life. Will you confess that sin? and know the truth.
Of the Word of God, which will cleanse. and will give you a freedom. in life. Help us. Our father to do that.
We think of our enemy, who is such a deceiver. To lies. who distracts us. We pray that the truth of your word will dispel all lies and cover-up. And delusions and fantasies and error in our lives.
That we shall know the truth, that we shall know Jesus Christ. Not only as our Saviour, but also as our Lord. And that their truth will set us free, help us to love. and serve him with all of our hearts. In Christ's name, amen.
This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Our message today is titled: One Way, One Truth, One Life. And don't go anywhere yet, because John will be back in just a moment with his closing remarks. As John made clear in our lesson today, Jesus Christ is the only way to God. And that means more than simply knowing his name.
We must know Jesus personally. and put our complete trust in Him alone. But what about those moments when the darkness feels completely overwhelming? when old habits pull at you, When circumstances close in, when you wonder if you can really trust God to see you through. John addresses these very struggles in his powerful booklet, Trusting God in Tough Times.
This practical guide offers biblical truth and real encouragement for those seasons when faith feels hard. You can get your free copy of Trusting God in Tough Times by going to theverdict.org. And if these lessons and resources have helped you, Would you consider helping other listeners by supporting the Verdict's gospel outreach with a donation of any amount? Through your giving, you'll be playing an important part in sharing the gospel with new listeners and communities across the globe. You can give your tax-deductible gift today by going online to theverdict.org.
And don't forget to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast. In addition to these programs, John presents a weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam, where he shares his personal thoughts on relevant topics like church and politics, the power of hope, and how to engage the culture for Christ. You can hear it all by subscribing to the Verdict podcast.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well What's your verdict? Do you believe that there are many ways to God? Or do you understand why Jesus is the only way? Isn't it interesting that most people say they want to go to heaven when they die, but many don't have the foggiest idea of how to get there? Jesus not only told us the way, He is the way.
So do you know Jesus? as your personal Saviour and Lord. Listen next time as we continue in our series Encountering Jesus and see what happens when Peter does the unthinkable and denies knowing Jesus. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies.
Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
