"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man
comes to
the Father except through Me."—John 14:6
Here let the Way be first considered. Jesus claims it as
an emblem of Himself. The object is familiar. No depth of learning, no
elaborate skill, no ingenious reasoning, are needed to explain it. We cannot
move from place to place except our feet travel in some way. A road
facilitates communication. Without a path access is impeded. Thus to make
truth perspicuous, Christ shows himself, as the Way by which the Father can
be reached. He is the Mediator between God and man.
In musing on this emblem obvious thoughts occur.
I. Christ is an appointed Way. Sin raised
impassable obstructions to God's presence. It formed a chasm infinitely
wide, immeasurably deep. The separation knew no limits. Man cared not to
return. The desire had expired. And if the longing wish could have arisen,
no thought could have contrived, no power could have constructed, an open
Way. Angelic intelligence could have devised no help. But God in His free
mercy ordained a pathway of return. He appointed Jesus to be the Way. The
design has origin sovereign grace.
In Eden's garden God's own hand first drew the plan. In
eternal council, before the foundation of the world, the scheme of
reconciliation was ordained, and Jesus called to execute its requirements.
He accepted the mediatorial office, and undertook the appointed work. Thus
"Christ glorified not Himself" to be made the Way; but He who said to Him,
You are my Son, today have I begotten You. To testify its completion He
exclaims, "I have finished the work which You gave Me to do." (John 17:4)
Here anxious souls find copious streams of peace. The decree is gone forth,
"Cast up, cast up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the
way of my people." (Isa. 57:14) No obstacle impedes. Christ is given as the
Way to the Father. All who draw near through Him find that God draws near to
them. (James 4:8) The happy believer sings, I have believed in Christ Jesus
my Lord, and I walk in Him as the Way appointed by the Father.
II. He is the only Way. It is a
well-trodden path. What multitudes of saints have traversed it. By no other
route have any reached the rest of heaven. Abel's feet first trod it. The
patriarchs followed in the self-same track. The prophets in their glowing
terms proclaimed it, and what they showed to others, they themselves
adopted. The apostles stood as heaven's own sign-posts, pointing to this
road, and gladly did their feet pursue it. In every age, in every climate,
the saved have walked herein; and the last pilgrim who shall pass the
shining portals shall have followed in this line. One Way is not allotted to
the wealthy, another to the poor. One invites not the learned, another the
illiterate. One is not framed for the crowned rulers of the world, another
for the lowly subjects. As there is but one remedy for sin, one ransom for
the lost, one robe for the celestial throng, one release for the sin-bound,
one Gospel for all the dwellers upon earth, one faith, one Christ, one
heaven, and one God, so the Way to the Father is only one. Wherever the
enlightened preacher speaks, in the city, in the village church, in visits
to the whole, in the chamber of sickness, beside the dying bed, the essence
of his message is only one—Look to Jesus, follow Him; so only can eternal
woe be escaped, so only can eternal life be gained. Throughout the field of
missionary work—from the Equator to the Poles, amid all classes of
wilderness life, amid all slaves of superstitious worship, in all varieties
of climate and race—one only are the saving tidings. This is the substance.
There is one only Way to everlasting bliss—Jesus Christ, the appointed and
the only Savior. Jesus! we walk in You, the one Way to the Father.
III. He is a new Way. Doubtless this Way is
as old as the birth of sin. It was early mapped out, when the Seed of the
Woman was proclaimed. Our first parents and the elders of the family of
faith were called to walk in it. But midday light did not shine on it. It
was dimly traced through types and shadows, and prophetic teaching, and
various sacrifices, and symbolic rites. But now the darkness of the early
days is dispelled by the Gospel's fullest rays. Christ stands clear as the
orb of day in all His power and willingness to save. New glory illumines the
Way. The old intimations now give place to full revelations of the Lord. In
prospect of the new heavens and the new earth, He who sat upon the throne
declared, "Behold, I make all things new." (Rev. 21:5) So in devout
thanksgiving for the light of Gospel-days, the believer shouts, A new Way is
before my feet. So rejoicing in expectation of unclouded knowledge, the
Psalmist cries aloud, "O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done
marvelous things." (Psa. 98:1) Jesus! we walk in You, the new Way to the
Father.
IV. He is a sure Way. None whose feet are
planted in this Way fail to reach the heavenly end. Sometimes the pilgrimage
seems very long, and weary travelers sigh for repose. But as Abraham's
company "went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of
Canaan they came:" (Gen. 12:5) so all who choose this blessed course finally
attain the promised land. All whose names are in the Book of Life reach
finally the home of Life. Those who have received real faith in Christ never
draw back to perdition. They "believe to the saving of the soul." (Heb.
10:39) "He who begins a good work in them will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1:6) Jesus will at last "present them faultless before
the presence of His glory" (Jude ver. 24), with the avowal, "Of those whom
You have given Me I have lost none." (John 17:12) Let all, then, who through
enlightening grace are thus journeying heavenward, "lift up the hands which
hang down, and the feeble knees." Let them "gird up the loins of their
minds;" let them "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Every
step brings them nearer to the "city which has foundations, whose builder
and maker is God." (Heb. 11:10) Jesus! we walk in You, the sure Way to the
Father.
V. He is a secure Way. The road is indeed
beset with perils. It lies through the country of the arch-foe. His evil eye
is ever on each pilgrim. He hates the progress, and is ever watchful to
impede. He knows that he must check, or there will be escape. From Abel's
day he has seen multitudes thus moving from his grasp. This knowledge
intensifies his wrath, and impels him to unwearied attacks. Long experience,
also, has taught him wily arts. His armory, also, yields countless weapons.
Not one of these instruments is left untried. Each pilgrim, from first
entrance on the Way to the end, is constantly and vigorously assailed. But
all these efforts are in vain. Each humble traveler is girded with armor
mighty to resist. Fiery darts may fly, but the ready shield of faith can
quench all. Murderous thrusts may be directed against the heart, but the
true breastplate of righteousness, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
Word of God, avert the blow. Sometimes, indeed, through lack of vigilance or
languid faith, a wound may be inflicted; but the good Physician is at hand
with remedies to heal. The balm of Gilead soon allays all wounds. He who
forgives all their sins, heals all their diseases. (Psa. 103:3) Thus
believers closely following their Lord, and walking in His path, "are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation." (1 Pet. 1:5) "They go
from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appears before God."
(Psa. 84:7) Securely guarded they reach their home. Unfailingly protected,
they tread on the necks of all opposing enemies. They pass the gates of
heaven with shouts of victory, through the preserving Lamb. Jesus! we walk
in You, a secure Way to the Father.
VI. He is a holy Way. The Spirit proclaims,
"A highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the Way of
Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it." (Isa. 35:8) All who thus
journey have on their brow a conspicuous inscription, "Holiness to the
Lord." They are all born again by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. They
are all new creatures in Christ Jesus. They have all "put off concerning the
former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts; and are renewed in the spirit of their mind; and have put
on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness." (Eph. 4:22-24) They are enabled to be holy even as God is holy.
Backslidings are indeed not rare. Sometimes reviving sins entrap. But then,
what tears of penitential sorrow flow! what smitings of the breast! what
deep confessions! what cries for pardoning grace proclaim that though fallen
they still live. What vows of increased watchfulness of walk! what
supplications for more upholding and directing aid besiege the mercy-seat!
Thus apparent blight, issues in more abundant fruit, and a holy company
advances in holy path to the fair land where holiness is the unclouded sky.
Jesus! we walk in You, a holy Way to the Father.
VII. He is a joyful Way. There is sweet
rapture in the shout of Moses: "Happy are you, O Israel! who is like to you,
O people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of
your excellency!" (Deut. 33:29) The cup of joyous bliss is placed in
believers' hands. They have chosen the good part, and the Way of
pleasantness. Observe the votaries of this transient world. Amid the dance,
the laughter, and the song—in all pursuits of wealth, and honor, and
applause, there is no inward peace, no calm delight, no settled ease of
conscience, no heavenly converse with rejoicing comrades, no hopes full of
immortality. The broad road is indeed crowded, but disconsolation darkens
it. The past accuses, the present gives no rest, the future is dread
anguish. Turn to the enchanting contrast. Zion's pilgrims "sing in the ways
of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord." (Psa. 138:5) Joy is their
portion. They are called to rejoice in the Lord, and again and again to
rejoice. With grateful hearts they cheerfully obey. They "bless the Lord at
all times: His praises are continually in their mouth." (Psa. 34:1) What
happier employment can thought conceive or heaven present? They praise Him
for having "brought them up out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry
clay, for having set their feet upon a rock, and established their goings."
(Psa. 40:2) He snatched them from the broad way, and placed them in the path
of joy. They bless Him for the loved companions of their march. How sweet is
their holy communion! how charming is their exercise of prayer and praise!
What blissful confidence uplifts their hearts! They are wafted along streams
of happiness to the eternal home, where there are pleasures at God's right
hand for evermore. Thus happy, thus gloriously happy is this Way. Jesus! we
walk in You, the happy Way to the Father.
VIII. He is a narrow Way. It is not an open
plain, in which wandering feet may widely stray. Strict boundaries define
its course. Devious wanderings are interdicted. Gospel-precepts hedge it on
the right hand and on the left. At the strait gate SELF-WILL is utterly
abandoned. In the narrow Way no PRIDE may flaunt, or SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS
swell, or SELF in any form seek to gain indulgence. The humble cry is in
each pilgrim's heart, "Lord, what will You have me to do?" (Acts 9:6) "Show
me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth, and teach
me: for You are the God of my salvation; on You do I wait all the day."
(Psa. 25:4, 5) "O send out Your light and Your truth: let them lead me, let
them bring me to Your holy hill, and to Your tabernacles." (Psa. 43:3) There
are no gaps through which the half-hearted followers of the world may find
an opening to seek the noxious waters of vanity, or pluck the poisoned
berries of loose living. Wholesome restrictions guard from such injury. No
eyes can see, no eyes can find, forbidden fruit. A narrow Way leads to a
blessed end. It is an elevating joy to contemplate the charms of a truly
Christian life. As the believer has "received Christ Jesus the Lord, so he
walks in Him; rooted and built up in Him, abounding in faith with
thanksgiving." (Col. 2:6, 7) His every step is Christ, and thus conformity
to His likeness, which is the foretaste of heaven, is wrought out.
Let it be added, that a tender feeling beats in these
pilgrims' hearts. They "have compassion on the ignorant, and on those who
are out of the Way." (Heb. 5:2) They would not enter heaven alone. They
remember the misery of their early days, and hence they strive to "turn
sinners from the error of their ways, and to save souls from death, and to
cover a multitude of sins." (James 5:20) They address others with the moving
entreaty of Moses to Hobab, "We are journeying to the place of which the
Lord has said, I will give it you: come with us, and we will do you
good; for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel." (Num. 10:29) The
blessed thus scatter blessings, the happy promote happiness, the saved,
through grace, augment salvation.