Sermons of Robert Murray MCheyne 4. Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Extract

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me.” John 14:6.

It is the saying of an old divine, that God often orders it, that when he is in hand with the greatest mercies for us, then we are the most of all sinning against him; which he doth to magnify his love the more.
In the words I have read, we find an example of this. At no time did the heart of Jesus overflow with a tenderer and more sovereign love to his disciples, than when he said, “Let not your heart be troubled.” They were troubled by many things. He had told them that he was going to leave them; he had told them that one should betray him — that another should deny him — that they should all be offended because of him that very night; and perhaps they thought he was going from them in anger. But, whatever the cause of their trouble was, Jesus’ bosom was like a vessel full to over flowing, and these words were the over lipping drops of love — “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Surely such words of confiding tenderness were never whispered in this cold world before; and O then, think how cold, how dark, how dull is the question with which Thomas breaks in upon the heavenly discourse — “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?” And yet how condescendingly does Jesus bear with their cold-hearted dullness! How lovingly does he begin the very alphabet of salvation with them, and not only answers, but over-answers Thomas — gives him more than he could ask or think. He asked about the way and the place, but Christ answers, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” Regarding this, then, as a complete description of the gospel salvation, let us go over the different parts of it.

I. Christ is the Way. — “I am the way; no man cometh,” etc. The whole Bible bears witness that by nature we have no way to the Father. We are by nature full of sin, and God is by nature infinitely holy — that is, he shrinks away from sin. Just as the sensitive plant, by its very nature, shrinks away from the touch of a human hand, so God, by his very nature, shrinks away from the touch of sin. He is everlastingly separate from sinners; he is of purer eyes than to …