Jesus: The Exclusive Path to Salvation

About sharing why people don't share the gospel, right? One of them, they said they were short-sighted, right? More focused on the, I probably get it wrong, the here and now instead of the there and then. And then he talked about, I forget what the other one was now. Help me out. Fear, people are afraid to share the gospel, right? They're afraid of pushback. Maybe they're afraid that they don't know what to say or how to answer questions. [00:46:56] (22 seconds) Edit Clip


And listen, if you are going to share the gospel, at some point in time during that presentation of that gospel, you are going to have to share with people that Jesus Christ is the way. He's the way. You're going to have to do that. He is the way to salvation. And so, that's what we're going to look at this morning. My prayer this morning is that hopefully this will encourage you, this will embolden you, just kind of give you that one more extra push, if you will, and give you confidence that when you are sharing this, this is not just a truth for you. [00:47:56] (29 seconds) Edit Clip


Is that really what Jesus meant? Or was Jesus doing like he does sometimes with parables and symbolisms and things like that? Is that what he's saying? Well, to start this, right, to get to that answer, let's go back to the beginning of that verse. How does he start? He says, believe in God, believe also in me. In other words, Jesus is equating himself to God, right? He does this all throughout the book of John. [00:51:25] (24 seconds) Edit Clip


And we're seeing this here. And then in verse 2, he comforts his disciples. He says, in my Father's house, there are many rooms. I don't know what version you read. I know the King James Version says mansions. There's many mansions. And as a result of that, it's kind of become common for us when we start talking about heaven. Like, we're like, man, I'm going to have me a big old mansion when I get to heaven. Right? Hopefully you say that. [00:52:23] (22 seconds) Edit Clip


This word translated rooms, sometimes translated as mansions, it's only used the way that Jesus uses it here two times in the whole New Testament. Usually it's used as a verb. Right? Like, I'm going to a place to do this. I'm going to a place to live. I'm going to a place to dwell. But two times he uses it like he does right here. And he uses that as a noun. Right? This is a place. [00:52:51] (21 seconds) Edit Clip


This is a place for you to dwell is what he's telling us. Okay? And that means a couple things. Number one, when we think about heaven, maybe what we shouldn't be doing is just going right to this picture of mansions and nice houses and all these great things that we're going to have. Maybe that's not how we do. If you've ever gone on vacation or you go somewhere that's very serene and pretty and you're looking out and you're like, man, this is what heaven's going to be. [00:53:11] (25 seconds) Edit Clip


And what I want to say to you this morning is I want you to think, when you think about heaven, is I want to urge you to stop thinking about all of the great things that this world has to offer. Because I promise you, God is not trying to compete with the prosperity in the West that we have. He's not at all. Don't think about a place where everything that this world has to offer is going to be there. [00:54:28] (20 seconds) Edit Clip


But more importantly, listen, we are going to be with Him. And once it tells us there's going to be no more sadness, there's going to be no more crying, no more illness, no more cancer, praise the Lord. None of that stuff is going to be there and will be with Him forever. And Jesus is saying, in my Father's house, there is a place for you to dwell. Look at it as a place, not some mansion that He's going to bless you with. [00:55:12] (24 seconds) Edit Clip


And immediately, when you read it, immediately Jesus says, I am the way. He's like, well, you're looking at Him. He says, I'm the way. And this is what He's telling Thomas. This is what He's telling them. Now, what does Jesus really mean there? The first thing we need to know is this is one of the things, of the many, that sets Jesus apart from every other religious teacher in the history of the world. [00:57:58] (22 seconds) Edit Clip


You look at Hinduism. If you do these certain things, you keep trying to do all these things and work your way and do all this, then you'll find peace and comfort within yourself and within the world. And Jesus doesn't say that. Jesus doesn't say any of that. He says, here's what you do. Come to me. Come to me. That's it. That's all that He tells us. It's through a relationship, which means there's no recipe for salvation. [00:59:00] (24 seconds) Edit Clip


We need a relationship with the God of the universe. This is what this is telling us, and that's why Jesus says, I'm the way. That's why He can say, I am the way. Now, we live in a culture today where it is a pretty common opinion that there's many different ways to God, many different paths to God. And if you look around the world, you look at all these different religions, like everybody's got this different path, but everybody thinks, you know, there's so many people think that you're, we're all going to get there somehow, some way. [00:59:21] (32 seconds) Edit Clip