The Only Way Home

John 14:1-6 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 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. 3 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. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Opening: A little boy’s mother asked him to go and get her broom. The little boy asked “where is it Mama?”, to which she replied, “It’s on the back porch”. The sun had just gone down and the child, like many young children, was afraid to step out into the dark, moonless night. His mama realized what was bothering him and said, “Son, don’t you remember when I told you that Jesus would always be with you? He’ll be with you when you step on to the back porch – you just have to trust Him.” The child replied, “Is Jesus really on the back porch, Mama?” “Yes, honey, now go get my broom”. The child went to the door, opened it a crack, and whispered through the opening, “Jesus, if You’re there, will you bring me my Mamma’s broom?”

As a Pastor I have heard the words above said – and I’ve preached them – more times than I can count. “Let not your heart be troubled”. When we are at a funeral, our hearts are troubled. When sickness strikes, we are troubled. But Jesus said “Let not your heart be troubled”.

Who Should Have Untroubled Hearts?

Should ALL of us have untroubled hearts? When Jesus said “Let not your heart be troubled” – the Greek mē tarassō – this is a command that can be translated,

“Stop letting your heart be troubled”

Who was Jesus speaking to when He said this? Jesus is speaking to Thomas (verse 5). He is teaching Philip (vs 8), and Jude (vs 22). Jesus was addressing John, because he recorded the conversation. In short, Jesus was addressing those who loved Him and followed Him. Jesus was addressing those willing to sit at His feet and be taught.

“You believe in God – believe ALSO IN ME”

Preach! Jesus was not talking to the religious crowd, those who are self righteous or self sufficient. Jesus is talking to people who heard His call, “Come, follow Me”. And He is telling them “Just as you believe in GOD – believe in ME for I AM GOD”. I’m not a Rabbi. I’m not just a Teacher. I am God the Father’s Son, sent from glory to you. Your faith in the Father – the same quality of faith should be in Me!

The disciples had many exposures to religious teachers – Sadducees, Pharisees, Scribes, and Herodians – who all claimed to be the Way to God. But, like the Pharisees and Sadducees – they elevated human tradition over the Word of God. Jesus told them – and us:

John 8:42-44 NKJV IF GOD WERE YOUR FATHER, YOU WOULD LOVE ME, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO LISTEN TO MY WORD. 44 YOU ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and THE DESIRES OF YOUR FATHER YOU WANT TO DO. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own [resources], for he is a liar and the father of it.

We are all born into this world broken creatures. Everyone seeks a religion to rest in – and until Jesus calls and we answer that call we walk in darkness. Jesus said:

John 8:12 … I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. WHOEVER FOLLOWS ME WILL NOT WALK IN DARKNESS, but will HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE.

That’s who Jesus is addressing when He says

John 14:1 LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED: ye believe in God, BELIEVE ALSO IN ME

Have you heard His call? Have you come to His side? Are you sitting at His feet? ARE YOU HOME? It is Jesus Who calls us home, out of the darkness and confusion and into the light. There was a song I heard right after I was saved by a man named Barry McGuire. So pretty. He sang:

Sailboats sailin’ a crystal sea
Gypsy dolphins runnin’ free
Seagulls circling endlessly
Callin’ me home
Mocking bird, butterfly
Sunset colors, ah, they’re filling the sky
Newborn baby starts to cry
Callin’ me home

When I was lost and all alone
I took a look on what I’d done
You know, the only love I’ve ever known
Was callin’ me, callin’ me, callin’ me
I heard Him callin’ me home
I’m going home, going home
I’m going home, I’m going home

Jesus called these men to His side, and they answered the call. They put down all the secondary things, and ran into His open arms. To these, Jesus said “let not your heart be troubled”. The God Who made everything, the God the Scripture tells us is “The Word”, the God we see defined in:

John 1:1-4 NKJV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and THE WORD WAS GOD. 2 HE WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD. 3 ALL THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Should you be “troubled”? If you do not know Jesus – and Jesus does not know you – you should be troubled. You don’t have to be – you could come to Him. Abraham came to Him. Moses came to Him. David came to Him. The disciples came to Him. He calls you – will you come?

A young man came to Jesus one day. He had heard Jesus was a Great Teacher, perhaps the equivalent of Gamaliel. This young man had looked on God’s creation, looked at the testimony of nature, and knew there must be more. We all know in our hearts there must be more than this life. So he asks Jesus,

Matthew 19:16 KJV – … Good Master, what GOOD THING SHALL I DO, that I MAY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE?

Is there a “good thing” I can do to get in good with God? This young man saw Jesus as a mere teacher, so the first thing He told him was:

“There are NONE GOOD, but GOD”

God is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). And we are NOT, NOT, NOT.

Each and every one of us “FALL SHORT of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Bible says that “our human RIGHTEOUSNESS is AS FILTHY RAGS” (Isaiah 64:6). Born broken because of Adam’s sin, we “WALK IN DARKNESS” (Isaiah 9:2; John 12:35) because we walk apart from God. But God calls to us out of the darkness. God gave us the Bible with its commandments to draw us to Jesus. Jesus tells this young man to keep God’s Commandments:

Matthew 19:17-19 NKJV – … if you WANT TO ENTER INTO LIFE, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS.” 18 He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

The young man listened to Jesus, and said “ALL THESE THINGS I’VE KEPT FROM MY YOUTH. What do I still lack?”. Like many of you, you’ve been religious your whole life. You grew up in the Church and attend Church still …. but you don’t feel quite right. Do you know why that is?

The Bible says that the reason God gave the Law was not to save you, but to lead you to the One Who CAN SAVE YOU.

Galatians 3:24 NKJV Therefore THE LAW WAS OUR TUTOR TO BRING US TO CHRIST, that we might be justified by faith.

There is no justification by faith in keeping the Law. The Law cannot take you home. This young man “since a child I followed that Law”, but he stands before Jesus now. His heart is restless. He wants to be home, and the Law has brought him to the very door of Heaven – but it cannot get him through the door.

The Key is REPENTANCE and JESUS.

Jesus told this man …

Matthew 19:21 SELL WHAT YOU HAVE AND GIVE TO THE POOR, and you will have treasure in heaven; and COME, FOLLOW ME

Why did Jesus tell the young man to “SELL WHAT YOU HAVE” and give it away? Because what he had was an idol, a thing he worshiped above God. You cannot follow Jesus and idols. You cannot worship two things. Jesus told him – and us – you must REPENT, put away the idols – and hearing the Voice of Jesus, “Come, FOLLOW JESUS”.

That’s where home is. Home is with Jesus. Home is loving Him, sitting at His feet, hearing and obeying His Word. Home is being unashamed of Jesus, and not letting anyone rob you of your place with Him.

He’s calling you home.

Are You Looking Forward To The Mansion – Or Jesus?

John 14:2-3 … I GO to prepare a place for you. 3 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.

At this point in His ministry, Jesus has to “GO to prepare a place for you”. Jesus isn’t talking about Heaven at this point. Jesus is going to go to hell for you. Jesus is going to suffer for your sins and mine. The God of Heaven is holy, righteous, pure, free from all sin. And this Holy God, of Whom Joshua said:

Joshua 24:19 “… He is a HOLY GOD; He is a JEALOUS GOD; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins”

You cannot make yourself good enough to stand in God’s place. God must make you good enough. God must cover your sins. We are all sinners. We are all fallen. We are all short of His glory. And God, Who alone is Holy and Pure, sees our sin:

Romans 3:10-12 … There is none righteous, no, not one: {11} There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. {12} They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; THERE IS NONE THAT DOETH GOOD, NO, NOT ONE.

When Jesus told His followers “I go to prepare a place for you”, He is telling all who will listen that He is the only One Who can do this. Where was Jesus going? He is going to the Cross. He is going to make payment for our sins. He is going to lay His life down in our place. He is going to suffer and die for those who believe in Him. Jesus is “the Lamb of God Who takes away our sins” (John 1:29). Jesus didn’t just wave a magic wand and make our sins go away.

Jesus prepared a place for us in God’s presence by TAKING OUR PLACE on the Cross. He bore the punishment for our sins. He took the hell we so rightly deserve, so that we who love Him can take His Heaven.

The Bible says …

1 Peter 1:18-19 NKJV – … you were not redeemed with corruptible things, [like] silver or gold, from your aimless conduct [received] by tradition from your fathers, 19 but WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, AS OF A LAMB without blemish and without spot.

Jesus, God’s Only Begotten Son, was sent by the Father to become a Redeemer for all who believe in Him.

God sent His Son into the world so that
we might live through Him (1 John 4:9).

God loved us, and sent His Son to be
the payment for our sins (1 John 4:10).

He alone came from Heaven – went to the hell of Calvary, died and then went to Heaven. Once in Heaven during the three days and three nights His body lay in the Tomb, the Bible says:

Hebrews 9:12, 15 NKJV NOT with the blood of goats and calves, but WITH HIS OWN BLOOD HE ENTERED THE MOST HOLY PLACE ONCE FOR ALL, HAVING OBTAINED ETERNAL REDEMPTION. … 15 And for this reason HE IS THE MEDIATOR OF THE NEW COVENANT, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that THOSE WHO ARE CALLED MAY RECEIVE THE PROMISE OF THE ETERNAL INHERITANCE.

Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). Jesus Christ is the Blessed and only Potentate, King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15). As the Only Begotten Son and God Himself He has every right to prepare a place for us in His Father’s House. He has the right, and exercises that right for us.

No angel of God prepared you a place.
Your good works did not prepare you a place.
Your benevolence toward others did not prepare you a place.
Jesus Christ ALONE prepared you a place.

Jesus went to prepare a place for you because He was alone Chosen of God to redeem His people. Jesus prayed as He approached the Way of the Cross:

John 12:27-28 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but FOR THIS CAUSE CAME I UNTO THIS HOUR. {28} Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

You are “THE CAUSE” that Jesus came for. And only those who love Jesus will be with Him in Heaven one day. Jesus has (John 17:2) “power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him”. When Jesus fulfilled the prophecy:

Isaiah 50:6 I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting.

He did that for those who love Him. Hung on a Cross in a garbage dump “outside the gate of the city” (Hebrews 13:12), Jesus suffered and died. For you. So He could do as He promised,

John 14:2 … I go to prepare a place for you.

Jesus made “peace between God and man through the Blood of His Cross” (Colossians 1:20). Jesus’ shed Blood alone “blotted out the handwriting of ordinances – offenses against God – for us” (Colossians 2:14). Jesus did this for those who came home to Him. These words,

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, and RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF; that WHERE I AM, THERE YOU MAY BE ALSO.

Jesus will come back to those who love Him NOW. Jesus will one day return for every believer, and take you to the place where He is. People like to capitalize on this text:

John 14:2 In My Father’s house are MANY MANSIONS …

and wonder about the “MANSION” we will have in Heaven. That shows a flaw in your thinking. Heaven isn’t about “stuff”. Heaven is about JESUS. It’s about being with Jesus.

When Jesus said “in My Father’s house are MANY MANSIONS (Greek monē)”, what He is conveying is that there is room enough for whosoever will. Heaven will never fill up. You won’t get to Bethlehem and find out there’s no room at the inn. There is room for those who love Jesus, who respond to His call and FOLLOW HIM.

Those Without Love For Jesus Will Not Find
The Welcome Mat Out In Heaven

John 14:4-6 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

People like to call the disciple Thomas, “doubting Thomas”. But Thomas was actually a great student of Christ. The Roman Church gave Thomas the nickname of “doubting Thomas” because – when Jesus resurrected and appeared to the disciples – Thomas was not there at the first meeting. When the disciples told Thomas Jesus rose from the grave, he told them:

John 20:25 Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.

The Bible itself never calls Thomas “doubting Thomas”. Jesus makes a special appearance to Thomas eight days later and invites him to do exactly what he told the disciples he wanted to do. “Thomas, put your finger in My hands. Put your finger in My side where the soldier pierced Me. Believe Me!”. Jesus did not chastise Thomas for doubting, nor did He mock Peter for abandoning Him while He hung on that Cross. When Thomas saw Jesus, he exclaimed:

John 20:28 MY LORD AND MY GOD!

We all have doubts. But when we do, Jesus comes to us and bids us to draw near to Him. If you are saved, you want to be near Jesus. If you are born again, you want to be near the One Who made your new birth possible.

Back to Thomas. He tells Jesus “we don’t know where You are going”. Thomas doesn’t understand where Jesus is going. In fact, none of them really understand until after the resurrection. So Thomas asks “HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?”.

Earlier we saw a young man who came to Jesus wanting to know the WAY to eternal life. Now Thomas says “HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?”. Jesus’ reply is absolute.

John 14:6 I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE: NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER, BUT BY ME.

How can Thomas know the Way that Jesus goes? The answer is simple. STAY CLOSE TO JESUS. The Bible tells us that:

Proverbs 16:25 NKJV – There is A WAY THAT SEEMS RIGHT TO A MAN, But ITS END IS THE WAY OF DEATH.

People are fond of saying “there are many ways to God”. Senate candidate James Talarico, a self professed “Christian”, a Presbyterian Seminarian and a preacher has been recorded as stating:

“Modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes. In fact there are six…”

Jesus recognizes only two genders, male and female (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4). Talarico also said:

“I find that they’re all kind of equal pathways to truth. You know, that’s how I think, you know, I always think of all of the world’s faith traditions as like a circle with that divine mystery of the universe in the middle. And we all have different names for that mystery. … Whether it’s God or Yahweh or Allah or Nirvana, the Great Spirit, whatever you call it, this is all, you know, different pathways to the same kind of fundamental truth of reality”.

This is a direct contradiction to what Jesus said in John 14:6. Jesus said “I AM THE WAY”. My comments on Mr Talarico are not meant to demean him, but to point out that though he says he is a Christian (here he said “my faith is rooted in Scripture and the teachings of Jesus Christ”), his statements are contrary to what Jesus said. What this man is preaching is what many false preachers have preached for years.

**We don’t want to offend anyone – so ALL WAYS are equally valid. If you believe this, you offend the One Who matters most. You offend God.**

The early Apostles, the preachers of the Gospel, were very specific. They declared:

Galatians 1:8-9 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach ANY OTHER GOSPEL unto you than that which we have preached unto you, LET HIM BE ACCURSED. {9} As we said before, so say I now again, if ANY MAN PREACH ANY OTHER GOSPEL unto you than that ye have received, LET HIM BE ACCURSED.

Christ alone has prepared a place for us. Christ alone has invited us – by faith – into His Father’s House, so that

John 3:15 That whosoever BELIEVETH IN HIM should not perish, but have eternal life.

Once more, read the clear words of Christ:

John 14:6 I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE: NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER, BUT BY ME.

If you do not love Jesus, if you do not cling to Jesus, if you do not walk the pathway of righteousness with Jesus, if you do not believe the words of this Book that Jesus wrote, THEN you will not enter into life.

Many like Talarico – and others – think they have life. They try to enter Heaven by the W I D E gate. They compromise with the world. They try to re-write the words of Scripture. But Beloved, “W I D E is the gate and B R O A D is the way TO DESTRUCTION, and there are MANY THAT GO THAT WAY”. The way you need to go is “A NARROW GATE, a DIFFICULT WAY that leads to LIFE” (Matthew 7:13-14).

That Way is Jesus. Jesus is the Only Way home. Jesus is home. Jesus tells us what is truth, and what is fiction. And only Jesus – NOT Mohammad, NOT Buddha, NOT Talarico, NOT Trump.

Just Jesus. I hope you know Him.