SEARCH THE SCRIPTURE by Pastor Kumuyi of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry for today is here. Digest the word of the lord and pray believing.
ADULT STS LESSON 164_ THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE
MEMORY VERSE: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). TEXT: John 14:1-14
The subject of entering the kingdom of God is crucial to believers’ present happiness and eternal blessedness. In the heart of every person lies the question about what comes after life on earth, and elicits a more important question, “What must I do to be saved?” There is no other place to find answer to this question than in God’s word. The experiences of people who had walked with God attest to the validity of God’s word on the transient nature and mortality of humans (Genesis 47:9; Psalm 90:10,15). The Scripture affirms this common experience of all people that, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble” (Job 14:1). God’s remedy for our trouble on earth comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ, who, when He came, “…went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil” (Acts 10:38) and promised eternal rest to all who believe in Him. In the passage under consideration, Christ comforts His disciples on account of His imminent departure from them. He declares the necessity of His going away and the blessings they stand to enjoy. He also shows them the way into the kingdom of God and the essence of His relationship with the Father. He concludes by delegating authority and power to them to deal with situations and challenges as may arise in the course of their ministry on earth.
COMFORT AND COURAGE FOR TROUBLED HEARTS (John 14:1-4; 16:33; Isaiah 50:4; Proverbs 16:24; 25:11; Hebrews 11:10; 7:25; Romans 8:24,25)
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1). The Master’s timely word of comfort to His disciples was the needed elixir for their emotional trauma. He knew the pain which the announcement of His imminent departure would bring on them. He saw the grief in their hearts at the thought of having to face the opposition of those Jews who disagreed with the new faith He has brought. Besides, He must have noticed the gloom in their countenance when He revealed the plot by Judas to betray Him into the wicked hands of the Pharisees and the prediction that Peter would deny Him. In view of these, He took time to assure them of victory despite the challenges, grace in place of hardship, comfort instead of pain and joy unspeakable instead of sorrow. He wanted them to know that His departure would be a blessing to them, in life and eternity, and that He was going so as to obtain something better for them; afterwards, He would come again to take them home. Shepherds over the flocks of God ought to “…know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary…” (Isaiah 50:4). They should be able to discern moments when people under their watch ought to be encouraged or rebuked. Leaders should know that there is a time to correct and a time to withhold correction; a time to instruct and a time to encourage those who are in distress or distraught about life. This responsibility of pastors and church leaders are enormous and must be carried out with utmost sense of gravity. They must love the brethren both in word and in deed. By that, they would be able to comfort troubled souls, heal wounded hearts and soothe those that are bruised. The Scripture says, “Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24; 25:11). Similarly, believers must learn to comfort one another daily as we see Christ’s day approaching (Hebrews 10:25). To further reinforce the disciples’ determination to remain steadfast in the face of challenges and oppositions, Christ assured them that He was going away to prepare mansions for them in His Father’s house. “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). It is natural for people to endure all kinds of hardship in a strange land when they remember that a place of rest awaits them at home. People tend to toil with all their heart when they know that it would be for a while and afterwards, would be ushered into a place of their own. In like manner, our Lord wanted His disciples to know that they have no continuing city here because they are strangers and pilgrims on earth. They are not to sorrow much because they would soon depart this temporary and sinful world for a glorious and permanent abode in heaven. This word of assurance and comfort from Christ should motivate us to serve the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul and strength knowing that our Master has a place of eternal rest for us. No doubt, there would be varying degrees of challenges, but we must not falter in the face of danger, run away from duty and shirk our responsibilities because of pain since we know that we shall soon enter our rest with the Lord. Moreover, the Lord’s promise of “mansions” in His Father’s house is meant to draw off their minds from compulsive acquisition of earthly things and rat-race to pursue temporal gains. He did not want them to be tied down in the quest for things of this world or spend all their time to lay up “…treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal” (Matthew 6:19). He wanted them, like Abraham, to look ..for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). Believers must labour to enter that Kingdom that Christ is preparing for them by all means And at all costs. To cap His message of assurance, Christ told His grieving disciples that after He was done with preparing a place for them, He would come again to take thyem home. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where am, there ye may be also” (verse 3). Christ will come again to take us to be with Him. This first phase of His second coming is what the Church is waiting for; it is called “the rapture”. It is the catching away from the earth, of all living saints and all who have died in the Lord. At that time, all those who are born again with living, dynamic faith in Christ “shall be caught up… to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
CHRIST, THE ONLY WAY INTO GOD’S KINGDOM (John 14:5-11; Acts 4:12; Matthew 1:21; 1 Corinthians 3:11; John 6:68; 3:1-7,16; Revelation 21:10-27; Matthew 4:17; Isaiah 55:6-8)
No doubt, many people want to enter into the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, not all will be able because they do not know the way, or they willingly feign ignorance of the way. Like Thomas, they are still asking: “how can we know the way?” (verse 5). Our Lord however, did not mince words in answering this question. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). No matter the opinions of people, He affirms this truth with a note of finality without leaving anyone in doubt about the way to heaven, nor did He leave room for so-called prophets and founders of other religions to deceive people about the sure way. His affirmation is found in the words: the “way”, the “truth”, the “life”. Christ is not one of the ways, but the way; He does not just know or teach the truth, He is Truth personified; He does not just give life, He is Himself the Life. There is no excuse anymore about the way into the kingdom of God or what the truth is or Who it is that gives life. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Although there are supposedly many ways by which people attempt to reach God, only through Christ can we have access to the Father. First, Jesus is the only Way into God’s kingdom. Second, Christ is the way by His exemplary life. His earthly life was a pattern for all who desire to live the perfect godly life (1 Peter 2:21). Third, Christ is the way by His sacrificial life. He gave His life to redeem us from death. Fourth, He is the way nto the fullness of God’s grace and blessing. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. Fifth, He is the way by His teaching or doctrine. Peter said: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Christ is also the Truth. By this, it meant that He is the embodiment of truth and outside of Him there is no truth at all. People have devised all winds of doctrine whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but only Christ holds the key to all true knowledge. He is not only true in His dealings with men and God, He is the true God. He dwells in the truth, His doctrine is the truth, His messages are a compendium of the full-orbed truth, He propagates the truth and He is Truth-personified. He is the sum and substance of the Truth. The Lord crowns His qualifications here with the claim to life. He is the Author of all life, whether natural or spiritual; He created all. As the Source of life, in Him alone we move and have our being. He animates us unto godliness and eternal life. Everyone without Him are dead spiritually because He is the resurrection and the life. In verses 7-11, Christ establishes essentially that He is the representative of the Father. “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father”, He told Philip. He is the express image of God, the Father (Hebrews 1:3). This means that the Father has been manifested in the incarnation of Christ and those who encounter the Saviour need not ask again to know the Father. He gives to us a preview of our Father in heaven. This union of the Godhead makes the Father who abides in Christ to speak and work through Him. We receive a challenge here that Christ waited for the Father to speak before speaking; He fixed the gaze of His audience on the Father who works through Him; He has the same purpose with the Father; and, He obeys the Father in all things. This is the secret of Christ's successful life and ministry that stems from His abiding relationship with the Father. Christ came from heaven in order to save humanity and show us the way to get there. Having a mansion in the heavenly kingdom begins by having one’s name written in the Lamb’s book of life – the family register of all God’s children. Admission into the family of God is by the new-birth experience through repentance and faith in Christ’s atoning blood. Repentance entails acknowledgment of sin, confession and turning away from them. Answering a question from a religious Jew, Christ said: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). To be born again means to have a change of heart, which is possible only through the supernatural act of the Holy Spirit. People’s way of salvation through penance, water baptism, fasting and prayer, tithing or offering, worship of angels or other saints, etc., cannot avail as they are products of our sinful imagination and are different from God's way (Romans 10:1-4). God calls everyone who seeks to enter His Kingdom to forsake their sins and return to Him (Isaiah 55:6-8). The aspiration of entry into the kingdom of God is the whole essence of Christianity. Let us strive therefore to enter in, for many will seek to enter but shall not be able (Luke 13:24).
CHRISTIANS’ POWER AND PRIVILEGES IN CHRIST (John 14:12-14; Luke 10:19; 11:9; Matthew 21:22; Mark 11:24; John 15:7)
Believers who abide in Christ through constant reading, studying and obedience to God’s word will experience victory and fruitfulness in His service. They will advance in their relationship with Christ and be able to do greater works. Christ said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it (John 14:12,14). This is the sublime essence and blessedness of entering into God’s kingdom through salvation, learning the truths of the Scripture and living the Christ-like life of abiding in God and exercising faith in Him. Believers have in them the power that does exceeding abundantly above what they ask or think. What a great privilege of prayer Christ has bequeathed to us! United with Him, we have the power of attorney to use His unfailing name to ask “any thing” according to His will. The name of Jesus, conceived in the heart of the Father, is what heaven recognises and is the basis for the release of the blessings of salvation, sanctification, Holy Ghost baptism, healing, deliverance, gifts of the Spirit, prosperity, and other desires, which we may have according to His will. The Name of Jesus works wonders in our lives and situations. His name is an authority given to us against the devil, demons and forces of darkness. At His name every knee shall bow. When Peter with John commanded the lame man at the Beautiful gate saying, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk”, it did not fail (Acts 3:6-8). Believers can receive abundantly above what they ask or think as they call upon the Name of Jesus Christ in truth. However, it smacks of irreverence to use Christ’s name to work miracles without living the kingdom, Christ-like life.
Questions for review:
1. What informed Christ’s comfort and consolation to His disciples?
2. How can present-day believers comfort themselves?
3. What hope serves as an anchor for our souls?
4. Explain the statement: “I am the way, the truth, and the life”.
5. Why is Jesus Christ the only way to heaven?
6. What can a sinner do to enter into the kingdom of God?
7. From John 14:12-14, mention the privileges we have in Christ.
