How Do I Go To Heaven? || Victory Church [Book of John #34]

we took the trek down to universal theme park down in Orlando. And if you know this, when our boys were like little little, they were all about Disney, like all about Disney. But then when they got a little bit older, they wanted the big boy rides, right? And if you know that area, Universal is what has the big boy rides. And so we packed up, we drove down, spent way too much money, had way too much fun down there in Universal. That's 2000, if you're wondering what his 2017 buoys look like, that's 2017 right there. And it just so happens that when he was younger, Isaac loved watching The Simpsons, okay? You can judge my parenting decisions later. But that's what we did. It was kind of like he and I's like hang time. Like he's a younger son, he's the small one right there. And it just so happens again, that they have a Simpsons ride at Universal Studios. And some of you are like, why would you ever walk inside Krusty the clown's mouth? Well, that's just kind of what this ride was. And I looked it up on my computer, that picture right there was taken April 5th, 2017 at 144 PM, all right? 144 PM matters because about two minutes later at 146 PM, the story changes. They say a hard right turn. So right after we take this picture,

our family's walking up right to the entrance of the ride. We're about to ride it. And it says it's a 4D ride. Now, if you know what a 4D ride is, basically it's a giant massive screen. And you're in a car sort of thing that moves up and down. The screen stays the same, but you're moving up and down, which means you're about to get sick. That's what that a 4D ride, that's what it means. And I don't do the best with it. Summer's like, no thanks. Like we get to the entrance of the ride, she's like, no thanks, I'm just gonna stay here. And, but the boys are both in. And so, I kid you not. We start walking down that tunnel. You just start right there. One, two, three, four, five. Isaac tugs on my shirt, dad, I don't wanna go. I'm like, all right, you just go back with your mom. You can start to see where this story's going. Jeremiah and I continue moving forward. And no lie, we wait like 30 minutes in this line. I mean, it's packed. It's like a summer day where it's packed. 30 minutes in this line, we ride the ride. We get off the ride and we're walking down the tunnel on the other side, do exit. And I see summer out there and I walk up to her. Where's Isaac?

And she looks at me as only a wife can do. And her eyes get this big and she says, he was with you. And my stomach drops instant panic. Isaac's eight, it's been 30 minutes at universal with 10,000 people. And we don't even say a word to each other. We just run in opposite directions, right? She turns right, I turn left. We just sprint. We probably leave Jeremiah there. I don't know. I don't know. Probably get him lost. I don't even know what happened. And it's just like literally just sprint. And I'm sprinting around everyone, just frantic. Just looking everywhere. And then I have this thought. I'm like, I wonder if he was paying attention. Come on parents, you know what I'm talking about. Like you teach your kids stuff and you don't know if they're actually listening or not. And so what we had always taught our kids is if you ever get lost, just stay where you are. Just sit down and I will come find you, right? Last thing you wanna do is just keep wandering away 'cause you're gonna get more lost. And definitely don't go with Bob in a trench coat. You know what I'm saying?

'Cause you don't know how that story's gonna end up, right? And so don't keep wandering. Don't go with any strangers. Just stay where you are and I will find you. I have a very particular set of skills, right? Like I can find you. And so I have this thought, I wonder if he was listening. And so I run back to the entrance of the line and I chirred and there's little Isaac eight-year-olds all sitting on the curb, just kind of like nervously looking around, you know? And I run over to him and I pick him up and so many hugs and so much joy and so many tears and so much trouble with summer. (audience laughing) So much trouble. Question, has he ever been lost before? I'm talking about, has he ever lost your child somewhere? Yeah, see I'm not the only, you know what I mean, right? (audience laughing) He might ever add like a child in the military or like a family member move far away, maybe even today online, some of you are deployed overseas. A lot of that, a lot of victory doesn't even know this. We actually have thousands of men and women who are currently incarcerated, watching us every single week on the "God Behind Bars" app, the Pando app on your tablet, come on. Like.

Maybe some of you guys are sick at home. Maybe you're in college in another state. Maybe you got transferred or whatever that is. But there is just something inside us that wants to go home. And there's something inside us that whenever somebody who is far away comes home, there's this rejoicing sort of thing. When we're far away, like we can't wait to come home. We just want us and the people that we love to be home because there's no worse feeling than being lost. And even thinking about this world right now, guys, like in this world, it's easy to feel a little lost. It's easy to feel a little homeless, right? Like I was thinking about this, like with politics. Can I find a home somewhere? Nah, bro, like you look at the right and you're like, "No way!" And then you look at the left and you're like, (audience cheering) Like I can find a home, right? And then with all the racial tension, like who is my home? Who are my people? Right? And then with the immigration stuff going on right now, like where is my home? And then with the economics that are happening, could I ever afford to buy a home? You know, like this world's so jacked up right now, like where is my home? Who are my people? I just feel a little lost right now.

And if I'm being honest, this is part of why having a church home is so important, especially in a crazy world, right? Some of you came here just looking for a church, but you actually found a family, come and you found a tribe to belong to, a people to belong to, a place to belong to. And that's beautiful, that's my desire for you, that's just so you guys know this summer night, the last thing we want is for you to attend here for five years and not know anybody, and you come five minutes late and you leave five minutes early, like that is not our desire for you. You can find a people here to belong to. But here's the thought for today, as important as it is to have a roof over your head, as great as it is to hopefully have somebody, when you open up the door at night, they're there to greet you as wonderful as it is to have a church family to actually call home. We have to be honest when we think about it, that there really is at the end of the day, a home much more important than all this. A home that's much higher, come on somebody, a home that's much greater, a home that's much weightier, a home that's much more eternal, than anything that we could ever find right here, a home and heaven.

And by the time we get to the last supper table that disciples have spent three years following Jesus. Like they've seen things that people have never seen, they've done things that people have never done. And if you were here last week, we saw at the last supper table, the first thing Jesus does, he blows expectations out of the water, he actually wraps a towel around his waist and he washes feet. I mean, if you have all power in the universe, what's the first thing you're gonna do? Jesus uses that power to wash feet. And then in John 14, we turn the page and he begins what we're just calling the farewell address. Jesus begins this farewell address of actually saying, "Hey guys, you haven't been listening up to this point, "but I am leaving." And it's finally, after three years, it's starting to sink in. If you read back through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus is basically dripping almost from day one that he's going to die. But here, it's not here. And so basically, the end of John, that it's starting to get in. Like they're like, oh, I thought that was like a metaphor. You know, like you're sitting in a poem, like you're actually going to die?

Our leader is leaving us? Come on guys, their hearts are starting to freak out of the way. What do you do when God says goodbye? What do you do with that? Our leader is leaving. Jesus is leaving. Like, who do we belong to? Where are we gonna go? And it's right there. Just a few hours before Jesus is crucified that he speaks this so beautiful. Here's where we're landing today. John 14, verse one. Don't let your hearts be troubled. How many of you need that word today? Don't let your hearts be troubled. Here's what he begins to do. He begins to disciple his friends on how to have peace in chaotic times. Can I be honest in America, especially in America? We are under discipled in peace. We are under discipled in peace. How do I know that? Because when something happens in the world, we freak out like everybody else. Come on guys, the economic collapse. Ah, my whole life. Come on, somebody gets elected. Oh, it's the end of the world. Oh, I just heard the earth is flat.

What am I gonna do? Come on guys. And our peace depends way too much on our circumstances. And it's right there that Jesus is trying to disciple us on how to have peace. Isn't this such a great idea? Don't let your hearts be troubled. Oh, how do I actually have an untroubled heart? Trusting God. And trust also in me. What's the solution to a troubled heart? Jesus says, "Trust the Father and trust the Son." Trust the Father and trust the Son and then He goes on. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you? And when everything is ready, with me where I am, pause. I love this, guys, here's what's happening. Jesus is reminding us that heaven is an actual place. Heaven is not an idea, heaven is not a fairytale. I know that's what the culture tells us, okay? But heaven is, Jesus is a thing, heaven is a real place. Now here's what he says, I will come and get you so that you will be with me always where I am. Okay, here's what he says. Do you wanna know where heaven is? Heaven is wherever Jesus is, right? Don't worry about the geography, worry about the person. That's what he's trying to say.

And everybody kind of gets caught up on this idea of like, am I gonna go to heaven when I die? And here Jesus is trying to start getting to this right, here, we've said this before, guys. If you get to heaven and Jesus is not there? Sorry, he went for a rude awakening. He went there like, I went towards the light. That was a freight train, move in your direction, all right? Heaven is wherever Jesus is. And here's kind of the warning built into this, here's what he's saying, is if we try and build heaven here, your hearts will always be troubled. If all your money is here, your hearts will always be troubled. If all your pleasure is here, all your hearts will always be troubled. If all of your security is built in here into a man or a woman or a government or a situation, your hearts will always be troubled. So what's the solution? I have to trust in Jesus that he's going to prepare a place for me. In fact, he says, there's more than enough room in my father's home. We have to deal with this real quick, is that Jesus right now is not in heaven building you a mansion. Okay, that's a really weird Christian thing. We're like, Jesus is making me a mansion in heaven. Jesus is not your building contractor, bro. That's actually a bad translation.

It's in the Greek, it's a bode. Jesus is making you a home. He's making you a home. Jesus, you're not going to have a hot tub and a chandelier and a helipad 'cause heaven's not about you. Come on, heaven is wherever Jesus is. And what's happening, here's what we missed 2000 years later, thousands of miles removed. This is wedding language. Have you ever heard this before? This is actually wedding language right here. Here's what would happen. In this time, a young Hebrew boy would propose to a young Hebrew girl. And if she said yes, he would look at her and say, "I'm going to prepare a place for you." And then what would happen is he'd literally go back to his father's house. He'd pick up the hammer and nails and he would literally build a room onto his father's house, communal living, where then they would all live together. And when the room was ready, he would go back and get his bride and bring her to be with him where he is. Now here's the deal. The son did not get to decide when the room was ready, which is a no-brainer. Come on guys, can we be honest?

If it was up to you, you'd just put a piece of plywood like against it, you're like, "It's good to stay home." You know what I'm talking about? And so the father's the one who decided when the room was ready. He's like, "Hey, bro, she's probably going to want a door." You know what I'm saying? "She's probably going to want some blinds on the curtains." You know, like that sort of thing. And so, but here's the deal. Are y'all picking up what I'm putting down? The son did not know when the room was ready enough to go back and get the bride. Only the father knew the day or the hour that he was going to send the son back to go get the bride to come be with. Okay, all right. There you are. And so when Jesus says, "Hey, you know that whole wedding thing? Like we're one for poses and he goes and makes a place, but he's coming back to get them to be with them where he is happily ever after." Yeah, that's what this is. That's what life is. That's what this whole thing is. And one day I will come back and get you so that you will be with me where I am. Church, here's our weekly reminder. Jesus is coming back.

Jesus is coming back. And the great thing is he tells us exactly when he's coming back in Revelation 1. You know when he's coming back? Soon. I know exactly when he's coming back soon and very soon. And when he comes back, he will take us to be with him where he is at his home and wherever his home is, that's where heaven is because that's where Jesus is. And then he continues on and he says, "And you know the way to where I'm going." And I love this so much. I love Thomas so much. Thomas says, "Actually we don't." We actually don't know what you're talking about. We have no idea where you're going. So how can we know the way? Thomas is the guy in the meeting that asked the question that everybody else is too afraid to ask, right? Like I'm sure Jesus is like, "Hey guys, y'all know where I'm going." And John's like, "Yeah, I don't know, I don't know." Peter's like, "Yeah, right, I don't know." Thomas, you ask him. Thomas is like, "Jesus, I'm clueless. I think I was tracking it the first part, but you lost me over here." Like, "I'm freaking out because you're about to leap." Like, what is really out there? Because I don't know the way home. And then Jesus very famously says, Thomas, I am the

way home. And I am the truth and on the life. And nobody comes to the Father except by me. And it's right here today where we're landing is Jesus gives his most famous, most powerful, controversial I am statement in the entire Bible. Here it is. I am the way. I am the truth. And I am the life. And no one comes to the Father except through me. And Jesus is covering a lot of ground in that statement. But one of the things he's actually trying to get to right here is this question that kind of simmers right beneath the surface and all of our psyches. Here it is. What happens when this life is over. And most of us run from that. Most of us try and stay busy so we don't have to think about that. Right. But what happens is sometimes a crisis will wake us back up. Sometimes a diagnosis will wake us back up. Sometimes somebody will die and all of a sudden we're sitting at a funeral and you're faced with your fragility once again. And you're like, man, the clock is ticking. Oh my gosh, I don't know what's going to happen when I breathe my final breath. And something we just try and bury that thing down again. But I'm asking the Holy Spirit right now to bring it up to the surface. So we'd actually think about it. Here's the big thought for today, guys. There is only one thing worse than being lost for a moment and it's being lost for eternity. But the good news is this. You already forget news. Here's what I love about Jesus. Whenever we have bad news, he has better news. The good news is this. The better news is this. The gospel is this. Is that we actually have a God who's a good shepherd who leaves the 99 who are safe to go find the one who is lost. Jesus came on a search and rescue mission. That's what he does best. And here's the beautiful thing. The people who just clap right now. You at one point in your life were the one who was lost. You were the idiot sheep who knew what you were supposed to do. And you did the opposite and you fell in a pit and you couldn't get yourself out. And you're just like, man, man. And the good shepherd Jesus had to come and get you and drag you kicking and screaming back to the pasture. And when you got there, you're like, it's a lot better over here on the Jesus side. The grass is definitely greener on the Jesus side of life. And now you would actually agree that your testimony would be is that we were not made for this temporary address. We were actually made for an eternal home. And today, listen, if you are the one who's still lost, you were in the best place ever, okay? My burden as your pastor of the pastor of this church is that you would have confidence and assurance that you belong to Jesus and that heaven is your eternal home. So I'm going to say it as clear as possible. How do I go to heaven? Jesus answers that right here. How do I go to heaven? Here's the first thought. Jesus is the way. Jesus is the way.

I don't know if you knew this. Christians were not first called Christians. All right, that actually was kind of an insult. You catch that in the book of Acts. Christians originally were called people of the way. I actually made like that better. Like Star Wars didn't have that first. Like that's ours. You know what I'm saying? Like this is the way. Like we were the people. We were those guys. And we catch this actually in Acts 9, a Saul before he starts converting people to Christianity, he was murdering Christians. This is still in that stretch. Meanwhile Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues and Damascus so that if he found any there who belong to the way, basically he could kill him. And so when Jesus says he's the way, that word way. What does it mean? Let's define it real quick. That word way means the road or the path that one must follow to get to a desired destination. We don't think about life like this very often. Every single one of us is on a path. You're like, no, I'm in an open field. No, no, no. All of your decisions, everything about your life is heading a certain direction. You were on a path right now. Now here's the deal of a path. A path has a destination. Carry out the path that you're on. It's going to take you somewhere. And what Jesus is trying to say right here is every other path will get you more lost. There's only one way that's going to get you more found and take you all the way home. And he's saying this to Thomas. He's saying, Thomas, you feel lost upside down in this crazy world. You don't know how to get home. I'm the way home. I am the way home. Get on my path and I'll take you all the way to heaven. I'll take you all the way home. Here's what I love. Jesus does not teach a way to heaven. Jesus is the way to heaven. Jesus doesn't just point at heaven. Jesus is the way, is the path to heaven. I don't know about you guys. I use Waze, GPS. We got any Waze, GPS, people? Yeah. Okay. Now some of you are young people are like, I use Apple Maps. That's why you get tickets. Okay. Waze has the cops on it. That's the one you use. Okay. I pray every day and just thank God for the life of the people who made Waze GPS. In Atlanta, you don't go nowhere without GPS. If you're new to Atlanta, use GPS. Because you take one wrong turn. Like, I go into job waste. Going to Kroger, waste.

Going to the bathroom, waste. Like, I'm just like, I wanna get stuck. I'm gonna get stuck in the traffic. But you know how this works, right? Like, sometimes the British girl tells you to turn right. Like, 10 right ahead, you know? And you're like, I know what I'm doing. I got this, right? You're like, I was born here. Like, you're just a machine. You're an app. I know these streets, right? And you start thinking that you're Waze or higher than her Waze, you know what I'm saying? Okay. And so you're like, 10 right ahead. And you're like, I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna turn left, right? And then you turn left, boom, stuck. Boom, lost. You're like, how did that accident happen? There, right? Now I'm stuck. And I am so glad that that British lady on Waze doesn't throw shade. There's no shame. There's no condemnation. She's not like, you fool. I told you to turn raw and then you still have. I'm sick of it, I'm done, I'm out.

I'm out, I'm done with it. I don't have to put up with this, right? No, no shame. No kind of, it just pops up. Re-routing, re-routing. And before you know it, again, no shame. No attitude, turn right, turn right, turn right, right, right? Here's the idea. No matter how lost you are, all you need to get you going again is to know your destination. That's all you need, guys, is to know where you're going. It doesn't matter how, it doesn't matter how many wrong turns you took. All you need to know to get back on the path is where you're headed. And I believe that somebody who's made some wrong turns in life today, needs to hear this, that when you sin, God doesn't throw shade. God's not shaming, condemnation. He's not like, "You fool, I told you what to do." I told you, turn right, you turn left. Lock 'em out. Just handle it on your arm. No. Yes, you sinned. You screwed it up, bro. You defied the Holy Spirit.

You grieved the spirit of God. You sinned. You said, "My ways are higher than your ways. "My thoughts are higher than your thoughts." God, I know you told me to turn right, but I turned left. Yes, you blew up your marriage. Yes, you blew up your job. Yeah, you got into an addiction. Yes, you did it. And we've talked about this. Sin costs you primarily two things. Time and pain. Pain for you and pain for the people around you. That's what sin costs you. But I'm here today to remind you that your wrong turn doesn't have to be your final destination. You are not a summation of your worst mistakes in your entire life. And what Jesus is crying out through the Holy Spirit today is reroute, reroute. You wanna hear the Bible way? Repent, repent. You went the wrong way. I told you to go right. You go went left, rerouting, rerouting. Okay, time to turn right again. Stop going left and time to go right. God can reroute you even through the ups and the downs of life.

'Cause it doesn't matter how many wrong turns you took. You still have the same destination. Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, and here's the deal, guys. If I can say it like this, Thomas wanted a map. Thomas wanted like turn-by-turn instruction. Do y'all remember pre-GPS? It was like turn right at the Chevron. Go 3.1 miles, smell a beehive. Turn left, you know, and you're like. And if you took one wrong turn, throw, like forgive it. Like for, you got to backtrack everything. By that point, you're just completely lost. What Thomas wanted was the turn-by-turn instructions. In other words, if we could script it out like this, it would be like, all right, honor your father and mother. Come to faith in Jesus at a young age. Get water baptized. Join a perfect church. Go to the perfect college. Get a perfect job. Mary the perfect person. Have the perfect kids. Live the perfect life. Boom, you arrive in heaven. Now here's the problem. We screwed it up on turn two. So when you screwed it up on turn two, what about the other 15 things I was supposed to do? I guess my life is ruined now.

I'm so far off track. I don't even know how to get back there. Listen, that is why God does not give us a map. God gives us a way. And his name is Jesus, Jesus is the way. So no matter how far you've strayed, even though the righteous falls seven times, he gets back up and just gets on the way. That is our job, wake up every single morning and just start walking towards Jesus. I messed it up yesterday. I can't change it. I can't change it. I took a wrong turn yesterday. and just trust that somehow he's going to make sense of this mess. Why? Because can I say it like this? Obedience is not the destination. Water baptism is not the destination. A perfect marriage is not the destination. A perfect job is not the destination. Jesus is the destination. I'm so personalized. I'm so glad that when I was 13, God did not look at me and then talk to me and say, hey, Johnson, look out. 'Cause next year, make sure you go to that youth conference. 'Cause that's when you're going to put your faith in Jesus. Make sure you put your hand up, okay?

And then I know you want to go to Chapel Hill. I know you want to go to Wake Forest. I'm going to need you to go to UGA, okay? And so when that acceptance letter comes in, make sure you do that, okay? And then that next month in October, around Halloween of '97, okay? When you get the invite to go to that retreat, make sure you do that. 'Cause that's when you're going to meet the Hotty Summer Waldridge. And she's going to become your wife. And you're going to get baptized in the Holy Spirit on the same weekend, big weekend, okay? And around 1999, make sure you go to Victory World Outreach. The name of this church back then. And then in 2001, just do it just right because you're going to get married, 2005, you're going to get hired as a young adult pastor here. So live in such a way, don't mess that up. Around 2010, you're going to launch that campus up there at Hamilton Mill. Big deal is you head into 2020, okay? You're going to get the baton to be the senior pastor. Don't mess that one up. 'Cause I would have been at 13 years old, like (mumbles) come on. And then by the time I was 14, I would have taken seven left turns and been complete. How am I supposed to do it?

I messed it all up. That's why he doesn't give us a map. And guys, the beautiful thing is this, I'm so grateful to God that he took my lefts and my rights and my wrong turns and my traffic accidents of life and my dead ends. And somehow he put it all into his pot, swirled it around and Romans 828 did that thing to work it all together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. It was just my job every single day to say, "Jesus, I messed up some stuff yesterday, "some good, some bad, some ugly, but today, "I'm just back on your way. "I repent. I come back to Jesus. "I set my eyes on you and I'm just going to go your way." That's all I can do today is I'm just going to go your way. And some of us today are so worried that we've messed it all up and we can never recover. No, just get back up on your feet and keep moving the way towards Jesus. Yeah, there's been time. Yeah, there's been pain. Yeah, some relationships are beyond repair. I don't know, but here's what I do now. My job is not to get it all perfect. My job is to keep my eyes on Jesus. I'm going to mess it up. I can't get it all perfect.

But at the end of the day, I just got to keep my eyes on Jesus because His way is the best way to live and His way is the way that's going to lead me all the way home. Listen, especially in this world, I have people every single week, they'll message me and they'll be like, "Poster, you just can't believe it." AI is the tool that the Antichrist is going to use to take over the world. And I'm like, "Wow, whew, yeah." I guess I'll just follow Jesus. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess I'll just follow Jesus. Pastor, did you hear the economic collapse? This is how it's about to happen. Wow, whew, whew. Yeah, I guess I'll just follow Jesus. Yeah, yeah. Pastor, you wouldn't believe this. The Illuminati are placing reptilian people in the highest forms of government of our land and there are aliens among us. What are you going to do about it? Oh, gosh, wow, that's crazy. Oh, yeah, well, I guess I'll just follow Jesus. Yeah, I guess I'll just go His way, stay in my lane, don't worry about what I can change, you know? See, parents here's the deal.

Let me give you a gift as a parent. We are not told to give our kids a map. We're told to train our children up in the way. Too many of us are parents. And I get it out of our love for our kids. We want to overly prescribe their life. And so, all right, when you're 18, you're going to go to this college. You're going to get a good job. 'Cause you're going to be a medical doctor. 'Cause you're going to do this. 'Cause my kids are going to do something with their life. And what happens is when they mess it up on step three, the relationship fractures. And God doesn't want that for your life, that time and pain in your life. So we're not called to give our kids a map. We're called to train them up in the way. So that as the Spirit of God would lead them, they would just get on the way and say yes to Jesus every single day. And I love this about Jesus. He did not just teach the way. He did not just point to the way Jesus is the way. So how do I get to heaven? Jesus is the way. Second thing is this. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the way to God

because he's the truth of God. Jesus is the way to heaven because he's the truth of heaven, all right? And this, listen, if you've been having fun the last few minutes, you're about to get bothered, okay? Just go and tell you this. We always say we're an equal opportunity offender, okay? Because this is the moment that Jesus What he's saying is, "I'm the one and only way to the Father. I'm the one and only way that your sins are forgiven. I am the one and only way to heaven." And we're living in days right now where that truth is under assault from every side. And you're living in a world, if you haven't experienced this lately, we're living in a world that says, "How dare you say that Jesus is the only one." My response to that always is, "Hey, actually he's the one who said it. This isn't Christianity putting something on Jesus. Like Jesus himself, self-identified and self-claimed, "I am God and there's no way to have an except through me." That's the truth. It hurts people's feelings, but that's the truth. And here's the resistance you're feeling in today's world. Let me kind of put some language around it. Christians today are in danger of violating the religion of America. Now you've never heard the sort of religion of the West, but especially America. The religion of America is not Christianity, it's not Catholicism, it's not Islam, it's not anything like that. The religion of America, what I call it, is toleraneity, tolerance. That is the religion of the country you live in. It's tolerance. Okay, here's what I mean. This religion that you live in is tolerant of anything except for anything that sounds intolerant. So as soon as you make an exclusive claim and an inclusive religion, you're now the enemy. Here's what I'm trying to say. This culture you live in has no problem with you saying that you're a Christian. As long as you also affirm the equal validity of atheism and Islam and Hinduism and Buddhism and Sikhism and Wicca and New Age and Jehovah's Witness and Mormonism and paganism and Satanism and all the other isms. But here's the problem. If you did affirm the validity of all those other religions, hate to break it to you, you wouldn't be a Christian. Now you're begging the question, why can I not be a Christian that affirms all the other religions that all past are equal and I slap a coexist bumper sticker on my car? Why can I do that? Because Jesus says no one comes to the

Father except through me. Pause, here's the problem. If you can get to the Father apart from Jesus, that means Jesus lied. And if Jesus lied, that means he's a sinner, which means he's not perfect, which means he went to the cross and it was not a perfect sacrifice. If his sacrifice is not perfect, therefore it was rejected by the Father and therefore his sacrifice does not forgive your sins, therefore you and I are still lost in our sins. Here's what I'm saying. We cannot reject the truth of Jesus and still try to embrace the salvation of Jesus. He's either all of it or he's none of it. He's either the way, the truth and the life, or he's a liar and a thief and a heretic. And here's the truth. We're told that basically all religions are valid, so we just need to choose one. Just choose one. Okay? And this is hilarious. This happens all the time. I'll post like the team here will post like a sermon clip or something of this. And people will drop in my comments and they'll say something. This is what it sounds like. Hey man, like I believe that Jesus is God, but you should be respectful of everybody's religion. If you see it, go on my page. You can see this. Right underneath it, I reply, nope, caps, literally all caps, nope, nope. Listen, here's, listen, I'm respectful of people, but I'm not respectful of demons. Yeah, I'm not respectful of the doctrine of demons that would deceive people and be wolves in sheep clothing, sowing lies and leading our friends, our family, our neighbors straight to hell. Why would I tolerate that? And so listen, this sounds like a really strong statement, but I could not mean it more. I have no respect for Islam. I respect Muslims. We're called to love people. We're called to in the same way that Christ loved us and died for us and shared truth. We're called to do the same. I have no respect for Hinduism. I love Hindus. Yeah, I have no respect for New Age. I love people who are stuck in that and deceived in that. I want their eyes to be enlightened to the truth of the gospel and the light switch to turn on and them to be delivered out of death and to lie either the long for all that. But I have no respect for demonic doctrines and systems and structures and governmental things that are wolves in sheep clothing that are literally sowing lies in our generation and taking our kids and ripping them away and dragging them to hell. I have no tolerance of that. I have no respect for that. And so listen, as victory, I give you full permission to be intolerant of demons. You have full permission to be complete. No, he goes right at it with truth and with love. And people, there's this thing. People say, "Well, basically all religions are the same."

That just shows me you've never studied religion. 'Cause every religion is not the same at all. Here's the closest you could say it. If you could actually create two camps, you would find out that Christianity is here and every other religion has some form of what's called moralistic deism. Okay, moralistic deism is essentially saying, "If I behave well enough, "one day God will finally have to let me in. "If I can climb the mountain of God." Come on guys, if I can fast on a certain day of week, if I can go on my pilgrimage, then one day, if I do it just right, maybe, maybe if I die, I'll get reincarnated and I'll do it better next time. Maybe if I can just deny myself and arrive at inner nirvana, maybe if I can just do it just right, if I have to get it just, I just climb the mountain. But Christianity is the only religion that's honest enough to look human nature in the face and call it out for what it is that you and I could never climb the mountain. You weren't strong enough to climb the mountain. You're too fragile, you're too frail. For anybody who says you can, when was the last time you said you'd never do it again and then you did it again. And then you did it again. You say I'll never do it and then you did it again. And I could never climb the mountain. And so Christianity says good news.

God knew that you could never climb down the mountain, up the mountain. So He climbed down the mountain to you. The Word put on flesh and made His dwelling among us. Christ lived among us and He was tempted in every way that we were, yet He was without sin. And He made His life a sacrifice for us. And that may hurt people's feelings, but it is the truth. It is the truth. Well, you're just a close-minded bigot who falls in an exclusive religion. Ten commandments, pop quiz. Here it is, pop quiz. Have you ever loved anything more than you love God? I dollar sure. You ever hated someone in your heart? Murder. You ever lusted after someone? A dulcher? You ever stolen anything? Thief. Okay, listen, here's the response. You're so close-minded. You think I'm close-minded? Listen, I'm so open-minded that I believe you an idolatrous, feeding, adulterous murder can inherit the kingdom of God. If you will repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Heaven opens up to you, why?

Why? Why? It's so inclusive. You don't have to be born into a Christian family, so it's not about your heritage. You don't have to belong to a certain type of people, so it's not about your skin color. You don't have to go on the pilgrimage, so it's not about your resources. You don't have to have perfect theology, so it's not about your intelligence. You don't have to give a certain amount of money, so it's not about your bank account. You don't have to be perfect, so it's not about your works. Christianity is the most inclusive religion on the planet. All are welcome to come through this one narrow gate. And here's the deal. When Jesus says it's a narrow path, a broad path over here, a narrow path here, that he is the gate, it's a narrow gate. He's not saying it's hard to go to heaven. All he's saying is, there's one way, there's only one way. And the reason that Jesus can make exclusive claims is because he's done everything needed to make Christianity inclusive. 613 commandments in the Old Testament, Jesus fulfilled every single one and then gave that righteousness to you.

It's like when God looks at you, it's like you fulfilled the law. He gave it to you through faith, through his sacrifice on the cross. Everything that was his becomes yours because he took everything that was yours upon himself. That should have been you and I on the cross, but he did it for us and then we got everything that was his. We got his righteous, his perfect righteousness for us. And that is why Christianity is not about us and what we can do, it's about Jesus and what he's already done. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works, or else we could boast about it. Because if you could earn your way into heaven, you would tell everybody that you did. But you and I could never do that. And here's the reality, you are saved by works, just not yours. You're saved by Jesus' works. And he said, it is finished. Therefore, everything you need to be pure and righteous and holy and forgiven and find a home in heaven has already been paid for and given to you when you put your faith in Jesus Christ. And now all are welcome to come home through this one narrow gate, Acts 4, 12. Good news, salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Fill in all the other names.

None of them have any power. There's only one name that has power to save you and that is the name of Jesus. And people will see that as exclusive. They'll see this is hateful. How dare you say there's only one way to heaven. My response to that always is, wait, there's a way? This is our thing guys, we think we're God, like I'll make my own way to heaven and you take like two steps and fall into Niagara Falls, you know what I'm saying? Like we can't make our own way, but God made a way. God made a way. John 3, 16, best news ever, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. I don't know if you knew this, there's more verses after that. "For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe stands condemned already. Already. A lot of people think that God's just up there throwing people into hell. No, hell is the default of humanity. Listen, when you were two, nobody had to teach you how to steal and lie about it. You have cookies in your mouth. You have cookies? I'm saying like nobody. And then that just got worse and worse and worse to the day right now. Every single one of us, we think we can make our own way to heaven. Listen, we were condemned already. What I'm saying is people think Jesus came to close all the other doors and only make one.

No, there were no open doors. They were all closed. Every single man, woman and child was condemned already. And Jesus came and opened himself as the door and said, "All are welcome now to come in through me." And we've said this before guys, nobody being saved complains that you only give them one way to be saved. Come on, you're not in a burning building and the policeman comes crashing in and you're like, "Mmm, I'm really hoping for a fireman." I'm saying, "All wait, I'm all wait, gosh, you're not drowning. So my throw is you a lifering." You're like, "I really want a jet ski." I'm like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." The plane's not going down. So my gives you a parachute. I wanted a jet pack, bro. What do you think? "Boom." Nobody complains that you give them a way. What's the response? "Thank you. You made a way. There was no way. And all of a sudden you gave me the way to be saved. We were condemned already." Jesus came to close the door and he came to open up the door. And this is the thing to take comfort in today. No one comes to the Father except by me. Isn't this exclusive pronouncement of judgment on the world? It's actually an invitation for the entire world to come home through Jesus, because

he's the way and that's the truth. So how do I go to heaven? Jesus is the way. He's the truth. Finally, he's the life. He's the life. We cannot get ourselves home, but there is one who can and he's the way, he's the truth. He's the life. His name is Jesus. Jesus did not come with a message of behavior modification. He came with a message of life resurrection. Why? Because sin does not make you bad. Sin makes you dead. And Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people alive, okay? And you and I cannot behave our way out of dead. When you are dead, you need somebody else to resurrect you. You understand this is how that works. We've got knee nurses, we've got knee like doctors, ER people, you know, a few of us? Okay. We're seeing somebody flat line and then all of a sudden they're like, oh, that's not pleasant. Mm hmm. Clear. And they shock themselves. They grab the pedal. No, no, it's kind of the definition of dead like you did like you can't do that to yourself. When you were dead, you need someone outside you to bring you back to life. That's what Jesus does.

That's what Jesus does. And John reminds us of that at the end of the book, we'll get there in just a few weeks. But he's writing, this is almost the close of the book of John. Jesus says the disciples saw Jesus do many other miracle signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book that we've already talked about over the last few months. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that by believing in Him, you will have life by the power of His name. Jesus alone, there's only one way by the power of the name of Jesus. You and I can have life. Matthew, Mark and Luke, John, all culminate in the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus. Why? Because the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus are the only way that we can have life. Right? And I'll give you this last scripture right here, Romans 3, 23, thank God we don't end at Romans 3, 23. For everyone has sinned, we all fall short of God's glorious standard. But God, come on family, thank God, that's not the end of the Bible. Hey guys, just to let you know, you all sinned and fall short of God's glorious standard and you're going to hell. Have a good day. That's the end of the Bible. But God, but God, come on, where would we be without a, but God. We're all headed to hell, but God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus How do we go to heaven, how do we go home? How are we made right with God? People are made right with God

when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life shedding his blood. It is the blood of Christ alone that forgives us and washes us as wide as snow, separates our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. The blood of Jesus does not just cover you, it actually erases and abolishes the record of wrongs that were kept against you. They are now nailed to the cross and separated from your life forever. In the last generation, the only way to life was Christ. In this generation, the only way to life is Christ. And guess what? In the next generation, the only way to life, it's Christ. It's Christ, it's Christ. And I want you to see this. Jesus does not say I'm part of the way and part of the truth and part of life. In other words, you're gonna need to do some other things to supplement me. Jesus needs no supplements. Guys, there's way too many Christians today in what's called syncretism. In other words, you're like, yeah, I do do the Jesus thing first but also dash in a little bit of astrology. Come on, a little bit of wick, a little bit of centauria, right? And then I make a little frank in Jesus, all right? Now here's the deal, you'll notice if you do that, your life is crazy right now. Because Jesus will not have roommates.

And so when you mix the all the other stuff with Jesus, He just left your life. And your demons are now in charge of taking care of you. Jesus does not say I'm part of the way and part of the truth and part of life. No, I am the way and I am the truth and I'm the life. In other words, Jesus is all you need, guys. Jesus needs no help to get you to heaven. In fact, the only thing you and I bring to our salvation is our sin. That's all we got. That's the only thing we contribute to this thing. Jesus needs no help to get you to the Father. Jesus says the way to heaven is not a principle. It's not a philosophy. The way to heaven is a person. And you and I can try and do it just right. We can try and keep the 10 commandments. We can try and do everything just right. You have the perfect marriage and the perfect this and the perfect out and the perfect out, perfect out. You put that all together and you cannot even form one brick on the road to heaven. But Jesus by Himself is the way and the truth and the life and the one who began a good work in you will carry it all the way home. And so today, if you're going any other way, you're going the wrong way. So family, do not let your hearts be troubled. Even in the mess of this world, there's one you can trust.

And He is the way and He's the truth and He's the life. And it'll get you all the way home in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. (audience applauds) It's power heads. Let's talk to them. Father, thank you that you so loved the world that you gave your only son, that whoever believes in Christ Jesus will never perish, but actually find an eternal home. You didn't send your son into the world to condemn the world. Christ Jesus came because the world was already condemned. Thank you, Jesus. That even while we were enemies of God, you laid down your life for us. When we were at our worst, God gave us His best. Thank you, Jesus. That you did not hold on to your life so tightly, but you actually laid it down for your enemies. And because of that, we are now children of the living God. Sin no longer has a hold over us. The devil is no longer our master. We no longer belong to this world. Death itself has lost its sting. Death itself is no longer our master. Thank you, it's all because of Jesus. Father, I'm asking for grace upon us as a church and as a people to be kind, loving Christ-like carriers of this good news.

Jesus actually says that we will be known by the way that we love. And so, Father, I pray and ask for your forgiveness to meet people up with truth. If we have weaponized the gospel to harm other people, the truth is Jude says this in the Bible. He says to some show mercy mixed with fear, others snatch as though from the fire. And so, God, I'm asking for insight through the Holy Spirit for each one of us on how to share the good news with the people that we love. Because ultimately, Father, we want the lost to come home. God, could you choose us and use us as messengers, as carriers of good news? How beautiful are the feet of those who carry the good news of the gospel? And Father, I just want to lift up those in our midst. I know it's crazy to think about, but it's possible to come to church and still not know Jesus, still be lost. Maybe someone's got invited in today, so someone's watching online, and you really don't know Jesus. You would say, I mean, maybe you're like an eight-year-old at Universal, just kind of anxiously looking around, being like, I don't feel like I have a home in this world. Others of us, my parents tell the story of when I was two. They lost me at a pool, community pool, and I was pressing the Coke machine buttons when they found me. Some of us have been pressing the buttons of this world, trying to get pleasure and everything out of this world. And maybe even right now, we're starting to realize, man,

I think I'm lost. So whether we came in realizing we're lost, or maybe we were just discovering it, the reality is, if we're a loss, the good news is you don't have to stay lost. Because Christ came to find you. You don't have to wander around in the desert of this world. Jesus says, I'll never do that to you. Every day with me, you're going to be more found and full of more life. So probably the most straightforward way that I could ask this is this. If your life ended today, do you know where you would spend eternity? Because more than having a full church on Sunday, man, we want heaven to be full. More than having a church home here, I want your home to be there first. And that's not possible through our good works. It's only possible through Jesus' finished work. And so today, if you would say, I came in here lost, but I'm ready to be found, and I'm ready to come home, then I want to pray with you, all right? And so maybe if you just say, I've been struggling, I've been wandering, but today I'm ready to come home. I want to pray with you, but I'd love to know who I'm praying with. Can you raise your hand if that's you? You just say, that's me. Yeah, thank you guys. That's a lot of us today, guys.

It's beautiful, you can put your hands down. I'm going to lead you in a prayer, and this is the most beautiful prayer you'll ever pray. Just not because of the words, but because of Christ Himself is about to enter into your life. Your sins are about to be forgiven, and you're about to be pulled out of your tomb. You're about to receive new life, right? Here in this moment, because God's in the room. And so family of God around these guys, let's pray together like this, say Jesus. You are the way, Jesus. You are the truth, Jesus. You are the life, and today I come to the Father through you. I reroute, I repent from my way that I've been going to go your way for the rest of my life. Jesus Christ is my Savior, my King, and my Lord. I'm going to live for you the rest of my life, because of the nails in your hands and your spilt blood. I am forgiven, and because your tomb is empty, I am now alive forevermore, all because of Jesus. I'm a child of God, forgiven and free, and heaven is my home, all because of Jesus. And I'm going to live for you the rest of my life. Holy Spirit, come into my life. Help me to live for God from this day forward in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. Come on, let's celebrate. Come on, let's celebrate, celebrate, celebrate. Thanks for being a part of Victory Church on the Pando app.

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