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CHAPTER
9
CHAPTER
NINE
THE
WAY AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE
THE
WAY
Sheep
need a shepherd to show them the way. ‘My sheep listen
to my voice; I know them, and they follow me,’ said
Jesus. Today, there are so many false prophets in the
world, so many lifestyle gurus, so many false religions
and belief systems, sects and cults of every imaginable
variety and shade; and there are vast numbers who claim
to believe in nothing at all---unbelief, atheism, which
in itself is a belief system every bit as deluded as
any other false belief. How is it possible for anyone
to find a right path? Well, thank God, it is just as
possible as it ever was:
But
if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find
him if you look for him with all your heart and soul.
(Deuteronomy
chapter 4, verse 29).
“You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your
heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD.
(Jeremiah
chapter 29, verses 13-14).
In
the verses above, we have the crux of the matter. These
verses are from the Old Testament. God tells us through
Moses and through Jeremiah that the secret to finding
Him is to seek Him with all our heart and soul. And
herein lies an answer as to why so many who make an
initial Christian profession of faith later fall away.
Their emotions and intellect may have been involved,
but was it a deep, penitent cry from the heart---from
the very depths of their soul?
It
doesn’t matter what you’ve done; it doesn’t matter how
depraved you’ve become; it doesn’t matter how long you’ve
been enslaved by sin and unbelief; it doesn’t matter
if you’ve hated and cursed the name of the Christ who
died for you---He DIED for YOU! So that you might see
the love; that you might want the good; that in His
beautiful light you might see the black, demonic power
of sin in your own soul, sin that ruins your life and
the lives of those around you, sin that will unerringly
take you to hell. He died that you might see and deeply
desire to turn; to turn and believe in the Good Shepherd
who laid down His life for His sheep. Without belief
there is no faith; without faith in Jesus Christ there
is no forgiveness for sins, and what He did on the cross
will not apply to you, it will not benefit you in the
least.
Through
taking your sins to the cross; through taking the penalty
for your wrongdoing, He opened the way of forgiveness
for sins; He opened the way to salvation; He opened
the way to the right and the good, to unspeakable joy
and unsearchable riches; He opened the way to His Father
in heaven and eternal life. But, GOD did this awesome
thing. It is not a light thing. It cannot be found,
seen, understood or entered into lightly, or it will
be missed altogether. But when the heart and soul of
a man cry out to the Living God for mercy---they will
receive it:
“And
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
(Joel
chapter 2, verse 32, Romans chapter 10, verse13).
The
above verse is repeated in both the Old and New Testaments.
And what is the name of the Lord on whom we should call?
---that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.
(Philippians
chapter 2, verses 10-11).
The
very same Lord who is our Shepherd, is also the Way.
He says,
“I
am the way.”
(John
chapter 14, verse 6).
THE
TRUTH
‘What
is truth?’ exclaimed Pontius Pilate when he interrogated
Jesus. Pilate did not know the answer. He was not on
his own. Virtually the whole world, then as now, had
no idea of what is true. We are swamped from birth to
death in lies and untruths, in delusions and deceptions.
For those who see the Bible as a book of superstitions
and myths, or even simply poetic literature, there is
no truth in their understanding. And we should not be
surprised at these things when we find that the Bible
calls Satan, ‘the prince of this world’, and Jesus calls
him ‘the father of lies’.
Many
of us are followers of others who are themselves deceived;
and many of us pride ourselves that we follow no-one
in particular, but develop our own ideas of what is
true. And, so often, our own ideas are just a mish-mash,
a selection, of bits and pieces from any of the world’s
(the Devil’s) deceptions. Mine were. Until we know the
truth we are living in a grand delusion; the Devil makes
it, we make it ourselves, and others make it for us;
and, in this sea of spiritual senselessness, we all
swim around like goldfish in a bowl. We know nothing
of how things outside the bowl really are; we don’t
know who or what we are. We don’t even know there is
a bowl! We are held captive and we are in bondage. We
seek for happiness, enjoyment, pleasure. We seek to
satisfy our selfish desires, our lusts for wealth, power,
sex. Even when we think we’ve found these things, we
want more; nothing lasts. We remain in bondage, chasing
the next delusion. Only one thing can set us free, free
in heart, mind and soul; and that is TRUTH.
Some
people say there are any number of truths; that truth,
like many other things in this life, is only relative;
that truth might depend on your culture and other elements.
All politicians claim to speak the truth---so, there
can, indeed, be many apparent truths. But, truth is
so special, so precious that it cannot have differing
guises. No-one can make up his own truth, he might think
he can---but, he is just sinking deeper into delusion.
Truth is so magnificent, so glorious, as to be above
man; we could never have worked it out. Truth has always
been and will always remain; it was in existence before
the creation of the world, and will be around should
heaven and earth pass away. Truth is of God, not of
man:
Jesus
said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my
disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth
will set you free---So if the Son sets you free, you
will be free indeed.”
(John
chapter 8, verses 31-32, 36).
Remember
what the Good Shepherd says about His sheep: ‘But they
will never follow a stranger; in fact they will run
away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s
voice.’ Followers of the Good Shepherd recognise truth
in His voice.
Pilate
was, no doubt, a proud man. He was in a position of
power and leadership, the Roman Governor of all Judea.
He would have rightly regarded himself as a ‘man of
the world’. He had seen much and done much. And yet,
when TRUTH was looking him in the eye, he could not
recognise it. He was blind in hearing and in seeing.
He was in the goldfish bowl. Nothing has changed. Every
minute of every day people are confronted by Jesus.
The truth is out there, and can be found if you seek
it with all your heart and soul; Jesus says,
“I
am the truth”.
(John
chapter 14, verse 6).
THE
LIFE
Pilate
asked, ‘What is truth?’ We could make a similar statement
here, ‘What is life?’
Just
as the Bible makes a distinction between real truth
and what the world might call truth, it also makes a
clear distinction between the world’s idea of life and
the real meaning of life. According to Scripture, all
unbelievers are dead even while they live. In other
words, they are alive in the physical sense but dead
spiritually, and spiritual life is the only real life.
All physical life, human, animal or plant, ages, withers,
dies and disintegrates. Physical life counts for nothing
if it does not lead to spiritual awakening through faith
in Jesus Christ. How fleeting is our physical life,
even if we live to a ripe old age---it is nothing compared
to eternity. And, for most of us, how full of troubles
and strife---how can it compare to eternal glory? Yet,
the great number of us live only for this life.
When
we have faith in Christ, then even this earthly life
is transformed, and even all our troubles and pains
are used to our benefit:
And
we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God
(Romans
chapter 8, verse 28, KJV).
And
when God says ‘all things’ He means all things, even
persecution, disease, injury, poverty and all kinds
of suffering---God uses it to the eventual blessing
of all who love Him. So nothing is wasted, not even
the years we may have spent in the ‘wilderness’ without
faith in Jesus. I wasted 36 of them, but then came the
gift of faith, and nothing is wasted with the Lord.
As I looked back I realised the truth of the following
words:
“No-one
can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,
and I will raise him up at the last day---Everyone who
listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.”
(John
chapter 6, verses 44-45).
It
may take years of unconsciously (in the sense of not
being intellectually aware) listening to and learning
from the Father before one comes to faith in Christ,
though some undoubtedly have such faith in childhood.
God speaks to us and teaches us through the providences
and pitfalls of our lives, through the wonders of nature,
through interactions with other people, good and bad,
and through His spoken and written word. If a man lives
to be 100 and does not come to faith in Christ for a
full 99 years, but then when he does, his whole life
will have been worthwhile. He will not have lived in
vain. But, I must give a word of warning here, and that
is to say we dare not take for granted that we have
plenty of time left in which to get right with God.
If we are serious, we will not dare risk losing all.
So,
how special is our Good Shepherd? He promises His sheep
not only good pasture and care in the sheepfold of this
life, but also that we should never perish but have
everlasting life.
True
life, eternal life can only be found in the One who
says,
“I
am the life”
(John
chapter 14, verse 6).
Let’s
bring it all together:
“I
am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes
to the Father except through me.”
To
Christ---the Way, the Truth, the Life---
I
come, no more to roam;
He’ll
guide me to my Father’s house,
To
my eternal home
(Sacred
Songs and Solos)
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