THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION EVER ASKED

SERMON STARTER

 

"WHERE ARE WE?"

by Murray McCandless

          It was a clear night in the summer of 1995 when American Airlines Flt.#965 from Miami, FL was setting up for the final approach to the Cali Columbia Airport. It was so routine, that the crew had been discussing seniority in the company rather than paying close heed to the position of their new Boeing, equipped with the latest navigational equipment.

Captain Nick Tafuri called across the yard to his neighbor Monique, when leaving his home in Miami that night "see ya tomorrow night"... but there was no "tomorrow night" for the captain... it was "this night"

"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? 'Luke 12:20.

"Where are we?"

          These were the final three words of First Officer Don Williams on the ill-fated flight three minutes before it would plough into the side of a Columbian mountain five miles from the airport, taking 157 souls with it. They came so close to avoiding that tragedy. The First Officer immediately pulled up on the aircraft, but those big turbofans take time to spool up. Their desperate bid for altitude was too late. A reporter so rightly assessed the tragedy in the words...

 

"The most important question came too late."

 

 

 

 

Pastor Phil  <><<

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 20, 2011

Pastor Phil Roland - Sheepfold Ministries

 

 THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION EVER ASKED

"How can we know the way?"

John 14:1-15

"Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"       John 14:5

I.  NEWS WRITING HAS FIVE QUESTIONS

          A. Five Interrogatives of News Writing

                        1. Who?

                        2. What?

                        3. When?

                        4. Where?

                        5. How?

          B. Scientific Inquiry beginnings

                        1. People stopped asking "Why? questions

                        2. They began asking "How?" questions

            C. The Top Ten Unanswerable Questions of the Last Decade

                        1. What is the meaning of life?

                        2. Is there a God?

                        3. Do blondes have more fun?

                        4. What is the best way to lose weight?

                        5. Is there anybody out there?

                        6. Who is the most famous person in the world?

                        7. What is love?

                        8. What is the secret to happiness?

                        9. Did Tony Soprano die?

                        10. How long will I live?

 

II.  THOMAS ASKS THE IMPORTANT QUESTION - v. 5b

. . .how can we know the way?"       

          A. Universalism is a Wrong Way

                        1. Everybody ends up in heaven

                        2. No Hell Fire

                        3. No Eternal Consequences for sin

                        4. "All religions offer 'A' way."

          B. Church Attendance and Membership is a Wrong Way

                        1. Many wrongly believe that a man-made structure saves

                        2. Church Ordinances and Rules won't save your soul

            C. Morality is another Wrong Way

                        1. World's Logical Thinking

                                    a. Do Good

                                    b. Follow the Golden Rule

                                    c. Don't willfully commit sin

                                    d. Observe the Ten Commandments

THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION EVER ASKED, cont., p.2

 

                        2. Man becomes his own Savior by living a "Good Life"

                        3. Death of Jesus becomes world's greatest atrocity

                        4. Ephesians 2:8,9 repudiates morality as the Way to God

                        "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of

                        yourselves; it is the gift of God,9 not of works, lest anyone should

                        boast.

            D. The Teaching and Ethics of Jesus is a Wrong Way

                        1. There was Life in His Words, not "The Way" -  John 6:66-68

                        "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with

                        Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to

                        go away?" 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall

                        we go? You have the words of eternal life."

                        2. Jesus didn't refer Thomas to His Teachings, but to Himself    

            E. The Example of Jesus is another Wrong Way

                        1. Famous Christian Book, "In His Steps," by John Sheldon

                                    a. Preacher challenges his congregation to Follow Jesus                                                 example One Year

                                    b. Famous Saying, "What Would Jesus Do?"

                        2. Soul of mankind is tainted by the blotch of sin

                                    a. You have to deal with the sin/soul-cancer

                                    b. Attempting to follow His example will end in failure

            F. Following the World's gods of Money, Work, Celebrity, Sex, Drugs

 

III.  JESUS TELLS THOMAS THE RIGHT WAY TO HEAVEN

"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
            A. Jesus answers the Most Important Question

                        1. He is "The Way" - Greek: Ho-dos - a way, road, journey, path

                        2. Christ in His person is the Way

                                    a. He can be known only personally

                                    b. He can be known through a relationship

                        3. He tells us exclusively no one comes to the Father w/o Him

                        4. He is the door to the Sheepfold / Sheepgate - John 10:1-2

              "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold                            by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a                         robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the                              sheep."

                        5. Jesus' Door is the Way - John 10:7-9

                        "Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am

                        the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and

                        robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone

                        enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find

                        pasture."

       B. Jesus is NOT the "Way Show-er," He is The Way

                        1. Disciple Philip says, "Show us the Father. . ."

                        2. Jesus replies, "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father."

                        3. Presumption, Heresy or TRUTH

THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION EVER ASKED, cont., p.3

 

       C. Religion and Ritual is not the Way: Jesus is the Way

 

JESUS

"I've tried in vain a thousand ways
My fears to quell, my hopes to raise;
But all I need, the Bible says, is Jesus.
My soul is night, my heart is steel,
I cannot see, I cannot feel,
For life, for light, I must appeal to Jesus.
He died, He lives, He reigns, He pleads,
There's life in all His words and deeds,
All-All the guilty sinner needs is Jesus.
Though some will mock, though some will blame
In spite of fear, in spite of shame,
I'll go to Him, because His name is

JESUS.

 

How can we know the Way?

Only He is the Way

John 14:1-15 (NKJV)
1 "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.
15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.