"One Chance, One Way"

Text: John 14:1-12

Grace, mercy and peace be multiplied to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Fellow Christians:

Suppose you wanted to drive to, say, Rapid City. How would you go? What route would you take? Depends, doesn't it? There are actually many ways to go, some better than others. Maybe that's partly why mankind has such a hard time believing that there is only one path to heaven. In our experience there are almost always a whole variety of ways to get where you want to go. Not so with heaven. There is only one narrow path to heaven.

So just how do we go about finding that path? The same way a little child finds Grandma and Grandpa's house: we ride with someone who knows the way. This is exactly what our Savior would have us learn from our text for this morning. That text, found in John’s Gospel, teaches us that it is good and acceptable to be the little children of our Lord Jesus, for he himself teaches us that he is, and ought to be, "The Way." There is, in other words, no other hope for mankind. We have one chance for heaven, and one chance only – Jesus Christ. Our text is found in the 14th Chapter of John’s gospel:

John 14:1-12 "Let not your heart be troubled; you 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 to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ "And where I go you know, and the way you know." ⁵ Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" ⁶ Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. ⁷ " If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." ⁸ ¶ Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." 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'? ¹⁰ "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? 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. ¹¹ "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. ¹² ¶ " Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."

Here ends the very Word of God - the words of God, not of man. That is why we can with full confidence base all that we think, say, and do – in fact our entire eternal future – upon these words alone. With such confidence in the power and blessing in these holy words, we pray, "Sanctify us through Your truth, O Lord. Your Word is truth. Amen."

It should never cease to shock any Christian whenever we see or hear just how easily folks today are persuaded that Jesus was actually something other than what he said he was. For example, whole church bodies today claim the Bible as their only source and guide, but they still deny that Jesus is himself true God. Why would anyone follow a man who could not be trusted to tell the truth? In the very first verse of our text Jesus himself says, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me." The Bible clearly forbids the worship of anything created - even the worship of the holy angels (Revelation 19:10 & 22:8-9) – and yet Jesus here tells his followers to believe in him as they have believed in the Father! He goes on in our text: "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him... He who has seen Me has seen the Father... Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?" If Jesus is not true God, then he is a terrible blasphemer and the Jewish leaders had every right - even the duty - to seek his death. If Jesus was really just what the modern, liberal church of today claims he was, then the Jews did the right thing to him.

Jesus, however, is not what the world has made him out to be. He is infinitely more, as he himself told us. Not only is he "one with the Father," he also says of himself in verse 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." This is a description of much more than a good role model for society. In fact it is hard to imagine how this statement could be any stronger. Jesus here pronounces an eternal death sentence on every man, woman, and child outside of the true Christian Church. Jesus here tells us that every Muslim, every Hindu, every Buddhist, every follower of the Jewish faith, every New Ager, every deist, theist, atheist, agnostic, every follower of Confucius, everyone who practices Voodoo and witchcraft - all are going to hell. No one goes to heaven except those who believe in Jesus Christ. That is what our Lord clearly says here in our text.

Do you believe his words? Stop. Pay attention. Think this through because it is vitally important. Do you really believe that these words are true and accurate? Because if you do, the ramifications are staggering.

Christians absolutely need to learn this immutable, rock-solid truth from the Savior. All who die outside of the Christian faith will go to hell. This is God's declaration. Every single man, woman, and child has one hope, one chance for salvation. "No one comes to the Father except through (Jesus Christ)."

The great tragedy here is that Christianity is failing miserably in sharing this truth with the world. We seem somehow to be ashamed of it. We have come to believe that showing love to our neighbor means lying to our neighbor, pretending that everything is in good order when things are anything but. Think of it this way. Imagine yourself lost in the desert, almost dead from lack of hydration. Suddenly you come to a cool clear spring of water. It looks and smells good and pure and sweet - just what you need to survive. Near the spring sits a man, a stranger, who knows what you do not - that the well is poisoned. He knows that this is the last thing in the world that you want to hear. He knows that he would much rather make you happy; much rather tell you that the water is as good and pure as it looks. Yet what would you want him to tell you? The truth, or the lie your flesh would like to hear? Would you want him to tell you what is true or what you wish were true?

The same answer holds true spiritually. Mankind would love to hear and believe that what they feel is right and good truly is right and good. A rather terrifying number of false teachers are telling these poor souls exactly what they want to hear: "There are many paths to God." "We all believe in the same God. We just give him different names." "The important thing is that we all love each other."

Do not apologize for the truth that Jesus revealed here to us. It is his truth, not yours. Mankind desperately needs to hear that there is only one path to God. That way is Jesus - simple faith that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins and that his payment is our own personal possession the instant the Holy Spirit creates faith in our hearts to believe that it is true.

John, the "disciple that Jesus loved," recorded the seven great "I am’s" of Jesus in his Gospel. In Chapter 6 Jesus calls himself "The Bread of Life." In Chapter 8, "The Light of the World." In 10 he calls himself "The Door" and "The Good Shepherd." In Chapter 11 he is "The Resurrection and the Life," and in 15 he is "The Vine." Here Jesus says of himself, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." It is an interesting fact of Scripture that God (in this case Jesus) is equal to each of his attributes. This is true because he possesses each attribute to an infinite degree. For example, God is not only loving, God is love. God not only acts righteously, God is righteousness. So also in this passage from our text, Jesus does not just show us the way, he is the way. Jesus not only speaks the truth, he is truth. He not only shows us the way to life, he himself is life.

Look again at Jesus' words in our text. Notice that Jesus says, "I am the way..." We are not saved by a principle or spiritual force. We are saved by a person - the God-man Jesus. Each time you are tempted to look to something other than the cross of Christ and the empty tomb for your comfort, return instead to these simple, powerful words: "I am the way." If Jesus had said, "This is the way..." we would be justified in looking for something to do, or a certain way to act in order to be loved by God. On the contrary, we are here told that Jesus himself is the way, and with Jesus it is always a package deal. Either Christ paid for all of our sins, or Christ paid for none of our sins. Either he paid for the big ones, the little ones, and even the ones we don’t know about, or he paid for none at all.

Thomas gave a logical response in our text, didn’t he? Jesus told them that he was leaving, and that they should follow. Thomas, speaking no doubt for all the rest, told Jesus that they did not even know where he was going, how could they know the way. Like riding in the car when you are young, you do not have to know where you are going to be led by Jesus. It is a simple matter of keeping Jesus constantly at your side; consulting him at every bend or turn in the road. We do not need to chart our own course when we go where Jesus goes. We simply need to keep Jesus in view at all times. This is really only possible when you remain in his Word, speaking to him also through your regular prayers.

"One Chance, One Way" – what do those words mean to you? Take a walk with me for a moment, backwards in time, and maybe you will see more clearly. It is January, 1978. The hometown crowd has filled the gym, we have the ball, but the scoreboard says that only 15 seconds remain and that we are behind by a point. The play is designed to go to our hot-handed shooter, but he is wisely double-teamed. This, in turn, leaves a rather diminutive point guard temporarily unattended. In front of the screaming hometown crowd, as time expires, he launches the open 13 footer just inside the top of the key – his shot. One chance, one chance only – one way to win. As the ball arcs gracefully through the air, the buzzer sounds, and the net barely ripples as the ball passes cleanly through.

Now, no matter how many times I tell that story, it will never change the way that game really ended. What really happened is that the ball hit the back of the rim, then the front, then the back, the front, the back, spun around… and fell out. Several of my teammates looked at me like I had just backed my pickup over their grandmother. With therapy I got over the trauma, in just a few short decades. The point here is that changing the story doesn't alter the reality. The chance to win was lost, never to return.

With a high school basketball game, this is obviously of no consequence, but what about life itself, and the one chance for eternal salvation in heaven? That is the one aspect of our existence where we absolutely cannot afford to lose, cannot afford to blow that one chance. Contemplate for a moment the magnitude of the question at issue here – both for the believer and for the unbeliever – eternity in either heaven or hell.

Our text, last of all, gives us a startling and wonderful promise: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." Some will try to convince you that this passage means that true Christians ought to be able to do the same miracles that Jesus performed. Jesus, in fact, promised that we would do greater miracles! How is that possible? Which of us can walk on water, feed thousands with next to nothing, raise the dead? As amazing as these feats are, you can now do greater! These miracles, done in the physical realm, were always temporal. Those who were fed got hungry again. Those who were healed eventually got old and feeble. Those, like Lazarus, who were raised from the dead, eventually died again. Not so with the miracles in which you and I can now play a role. Those miracles have eternal consequences. You can be the instrument in helping to turn a human being from hell to heaven. Now there is a miracle! When Jesus performed physical miracles he demonstrated God’s omnipotence and goodness. You can demonstrate to all mankind the full love and grace of God the Father in Jesus Christ. You can show them the one way, the one chance.

Rejoice, fellow Christians! You have found the one path to heaven. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Think of it. One chance for eternal life and you have found it!

Rejoice, but consider also with great sobriety this last question: What if your friend, your neighbor, your loved one has only one chance to learn of this same solitary path – and you are that one chance? Set aside the nonsense, and be about your Father's business. Amen.

Scripture Readings and Sunday Bulletin for April 20, 2008

^NKJ Acts 6:8-12, 7:2a, 51-60 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. ¹⁰ And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. ¹¹ Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." ¹² And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council… And he said, "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. ⁵² "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, ⁵³ "who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it." ⁵⁴ ¶ When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. ⁵⁵ But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, ⁵⁶ and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" ⁵⁷ Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; ⁵⁸ and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." ⁶⁰ Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

^NKJ 1 Peter 2:2-10 As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. ⁴ ¶ Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." ⁷ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone," ⁸ and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. ⁹ ¶ But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰ who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

^NKJ John 14:1-14 "Let not your heart be troubled; you 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 to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ "And where I go you know, and the way you know." ⁵ Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" ⁶ Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. ⁷ " If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." ⁸ ¶ Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." 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'? ¹⁰ "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? 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. ¹¹ "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. ¹² ¶ " Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. ¹³ "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

ST. PAUL EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

2510 E. Divide Ave.

Bismarck, ND 58501 (701) 223-4885 Cell: (701) 425-5483

Website – www.bismarcklutheran.org

Mr. Mark Johnson, President (222-1855) Mrs. Eileen McEnroe, Organist

Michael Roehl, Pastor

The Fourth Sunday after Easter – April 20, 2008

The Opening Prayer by the Pastor

The Opening Hymn ‑#436- (Red Hymnal)

"The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want"

The Order of Service – Supplement page 12ff. (Brown Hymnal)

The Scripture Lessons: (Printed on the back page of this bulletin)

The First Lesson: (Acts 6:8-12, 7:2a, 51-60 ) Last week we heard how God granted a time of peace and prosperity to the young Christian Church following the Resurrection. This morning we learn how he used the death of Stephen to scatter the Christian faith to the far corners of the world. Even in the death of a good man like Stephen, God can accomplish his good purposes.

Psalm 91 (Supplement page 33) (Brown Hymnal)

The Second Lesson: (1 Peter 2:2-10) How blessed we are to be called the children of God. How privileged to know and believe the mysteries of the gospel – the very truths that remain hidden from the world. So the Apostle Peter in this lesson teaches us that the same Lord that we view as our Rock and our Salvation has become a stumbling stone to the world.

The Confession of Faith ‑

The Apostolic Creed – page 15. (Brown Hymnal)

The Pre-Sermon Hymn ‑#206- (Verses 1-4) (Red Hymnal)

"Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense"

The Sermon – John 14:1-12 (Printed on the back page of this bulletin)

"One Chance, One Way"

The Offertory – (Supplement page 16 insert)

The Post-Sermon Hymn -#433- (Verses 1-5) (Red Hymnal)

"Jesus My Truth My Way"

The Offering

The Prayers of the Day followed by the Lord's Prayer

The Benediction

The Closing Hymn ‑#207- (Verses 1-2) (Red Hymnal)

"Like the Golden Sun Ascending"

Silent Prayer

Attendance ‑ Last Sunday (56) 2008 Average (52)

This Week at St. Paul:

Today -10:00 a.m. – Worship Service

-11:00 a.m. – Fellowship Hour

Tuesday -7:00 p.m. – Church Council Meeting

Wednesday -6:00 p.m. – Confirmation & Bible History

-7:00 p.m. – Midweek Bible Study

Next Sunday -8:45 a.m. – Sunday School and Bible Class

-10:00 a.m. – Worship Service w/ Holy Communion

-11:15 a.m. – Fellowship Hour

-11:30 a.m. – Quarterly Voters' Meeting

CLC News – The CLC website has been down, but only from certain locations or internet providers. If you have been having trouble logging onto the CLC website (not the St. Paul site) please let the Pastor know.

Expelled (The Ben Stein Movie) – Many of you may have seen the publicity surrounding Ben Stein's new documentary: Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed. The film reveals the vitriol and prejudice experienced by anyone in science or academia that dares even investigate the possibility of intelligent design, which we of course know as creation. Several CLC members have now seen the movie and recommend it. While not intended to be a pro-Christianity movie, it is an eye-opener and worth seeing.

Church Council and Voters' Meetings – Council members please note the meeting scheduled for this Tuesday at 7 p.m. St. Paul members please deliver any agenda items to President Mark Johnson as soon as possible. Voters please note the Quarterly Voters' Meeting next Sunday.

Direct Contribution Status – We have completed the registration process with our direct contribution provider, Vanco Services, and hope to begin inputting the data this week. If you plan to take advantage of the program and haven't yet turned in your authorization form, please do so as soon as possible. You will be notified once the program is operating.

Delegate Conference and Convention Volunteers – Still looking for volunteers.