Spiritual Enrichment Nights | I Am... The Way, The Truth & The Life - Gary Hamrick

I don't know when your worship team rehearses. The worship team at our church has to come an hour before every service and rehearse, and you all just seem to step on the stage and just do your thing by the spirit. And I'm just amazed at the talent and just the leading of the Holy Spirit. So wonderful, again, to be with you. And thank you for coming out on a holiday, too. You came out on a holiday. So let me give you a hand for coming out on a holiday. In the States, we have—my mic sounds a little too hot. If we could turn that down just a little bit. But in the States, we have Labor Day in September. It's the first Monday of September. So it's the day to just sort of do nothing. So I hope you were able to do nothing today and to relax a little bit. But it is good to be with you. I hope you are learning some things. Every time I open God's Word, I learn so much. I could read a verse over and over again and learn something new every time. Could anyone relate to that? Be a good learner of God's Word. And be always eager to find out what is the Spirit saying in the moment. I heard the story about an airplane that was a private plane carrying four passengers. And the airplane started to have some trouble. And so it was slowly losing altitude. And there were four passengers, but only three parachutes. And so they came back. They said, you all are going to have to figure out how you're going to divide the three parachutes between the four of you. The four people were the smartest man in the world, the richest man in the world, the most famous doctor in the world, and a 10-year-old boy. So they had to decide, four people, how are they going to use three parachutes? Well, the smartest man in the world said, well, I'm the smartest man in the world, and the world needs me. So he grabbed the first parachute, put it on, and jumped. And then the best world-renowned doctor said, well, I'm an important doctor, and the world needs me. He grabbed the second parachute and jumped out. Now there's just the richest man in the world and the 10-year-old boy. And they're down to one parachute. The richest man says to the 10-year-old boy, look, I can't take it with me. I've lived a good life. You're 10 years old. You have your whole life in front of you. You go ahead and take the last parachute. And the boy said, that's okay, mister. The smartest man in the world actually jumped out with my backpack. There's still two parachutes left. So don't ever try to be the smartest person. Just say, Lord, teach me. Still two parachutes left. Smartest man in the world jumped out with that boy's backpack. All right, John chapter 13 and 14 is where we're going to be this evening. John chapter 13 and 14. We've been looking at the seven I Am statements that Jesus makes in the gospel of John. And we have made our way through five so far. We have two more. We're going to look at number six tonight and, Lord willing, number seven tomorrow night when we wrap things up tomorrow evening. But for tonight, let's go ahead and say these seven aloud and together. Do we have these seven we can throw up on the screen? There we go. Here we are. Number one, say it out loud. I am the bread of life. Number two, I am the light of the world. Number three, I am the door for the sheep. Number four, I am the good shepherd. Number five, I am the resurrection and the life. Number six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Number seven, I am the true vine. And so tonight we're looking at number six on the list. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Again, Jesus makes these I Am statements because he is asserting his divinity. He's using the same I Am statement that God used when he announced his name to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus chapter three. So Jesus wants everybody to know that he's God, but he also wants us to understand a little bit more about him and how he relates to us through these I Am statements. And here, number six, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Now, the words are actually found in chapter 14, verse six, when he makes that statement. But we actually need to back up into chapter 13 so we can see the context. I've been saying this over again. The context is always important to the text. And so the scene in chapter 13 is what we commonly call the last supper. It's when Jesus shares that last Passover meal with his disciples before he is crucified. And so Jesus has, in chapter 13, he's just finished washing his disciples' feet. Judas has left the room because Jesus has called him out as the one about to betray him. And so Jesus is left there now with the 11. And he says to them, I'm going to start reading here in John 13, starting in verse 31. And so he says this to them. He says, so when he had gone out, Jesus said, now the son of man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and glorify him immediately. Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come. And so now I say to you a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. And Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? Now, pause in the reading just for a moment your attention, because I find this interesting that Jesus just got through saying a new commandment I give you, love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. And Peter doesn't focus on that part at all. Are you giving us a new commandment? No, it's when Jesus talks about he's going somewhere, and then Peter, he doesn't even speak about the loving part. He says, wait, wait, wait, Jesus, wait, back up, back up. What do you mean you are going away? Where are you going? And then continue reading. Jesus answered him, this is the middle of verse 36, where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow me afterward. And Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake. And Jesus answered him, will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times. Now into chapter 14. So we have that backdrop, right? Chapter 14, verse one, Jesus says, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. 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. 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. And where I go, you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way? And here it is, Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus goes on, if you had known me, you would have known my Father also. And from now on, you know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. And Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He says, he who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, show us the Father? 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. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. Well, let's pause there in the reading. Look, all of this language Jesus uses throughout this conversation with his disciples, this last meal that he shares with them, and he says things like, I am in the Father, the Father is in me. He says to them, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. So Jesus is saying from different angles, I am God. He's wanting everyone to understand, I am God. In Hebrews 1.3, it says, the sun, S-O-N, is the radiance of God's glory, and the exact representation of his being. The exact representation. In the Greek, the exact representation is charakter. It's spelled very similar to our English. It's C-H-A-R-A-K-T-E-R, charakter. It means an engraving tool, or it means the image produced by an engraving tool. So Jesus is saying, it says about Jesus in Hebrews 1.3, the sun is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation. He's the image of God in flesh to the world, fully God, fully man, and Jesus adds here in our text in chapter 14, verse 11, he says, and if you don't believe me that I'm God for my words, believe me for my works. I mean, who else, he's saying, listen, if you don't believe what I'm saying, look at what I'm doing. Like who else raises the dead? Who else walks on water? Who else calms the storm? Who else produces bread and fish from a few samples? He's trying to show them over and over again from different angles, I am God. Now, listen, he's distinguished among anyone who ever lived. When you look at the major world religions, how many miracles did Buddha perform? Zero. How many miracles did Gandhi perform? Zero. How many miracles did Confucius perform? None. How many miracles did Muhammad perform? None. You know, to my Muslim friends trying to witness to them, I will ask them a few simple questions. Even based on their own Quran, how many miracles did Muhammad perform? They will say none. Did Jesus perform many miracles? Yes, he did. I will say, what does the Quran say? Is Muhammad alive or dead? Muhammad is dead. What does the Quran say about Jesus? Jesus is alive. Why do you worship a dead prophet who's done no miracles? Jesus is God in flesh, came to the earth to save us from our sins. And he makes these I am statements. And in the middle of this conversation here, and this is, you know, very important because here he is with his disciples, this last supper, and he's sharing his last parting words to them. And he says, I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So we're going to look at this tonight. Let's first have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for meeting us here. Thank you for loving us. Thank you, Lord, that we can gather in your house in your name and open your word and seek your face. And so we pray tonight that you'd speak to us in wonderful ways, that you would minister to our hearts. I pray those who came in with a heavy heart would leave lightened because you're our burden bearer. I pray those who came in here discouraged would leave encouraged because you're our comforter. I pray those who don't know you would leave knowing you because you're our savior. And we thank you, Jesus, that we can gather here in your house, be refreshed by your spirit. Pour into us, Lord. We are needy, hungry, thirsty people, and we need more of you. And I thank you, Lord, for these wonderful people in this wonderful church. I pray, God, that together as we seek you right now, that you do great and wonderful things for us, for your glory. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. So the scene here, as I've mentioned, is the Last Supper. It is the last meal that Jesus will share with his disciples before he is crucified. He is giving them a preview of what the next few days and weeks and even years are going to look like. His ministry on earth is coming to an end. His mission is about to be fulfilled. He will die on a cross. He will be buried in a tomb. After three days, he will rise from the dead. 40 days after that, he will ascend back into heaven. And this is what he is wanting his disciples to understand. He says in this conversation, before we even get to the I am statement, he says, hey, I'm going away. I'm about to go away. And you can't follow me now, but you will follow me later. And his disciples start to have questions. About some of the things he's saying. The first one who pipes up is Peter. And he says, Lord, where are you going? And then that's followed by Thomas. Thomas is the big doubter. He's like, Lord, we don't even know where you're going. How can we know the way? And so Jesus uses some language here to help them understand where he's going and why he's going. And at the end of chapter 13, Jesus exposes Peter's heart of pride that despite Peter's good intentions and bold assertions, you know, Peter's the guy who says, you know, all these other guys might fall away, but I will never fall away. I'll never fall away. Don't use words like never and always. That will usually get us in trouble. The husband and wives do this all the time. You never take out the trash. Well, what she means is he doesn't take it out as much as she would like him to take it out. But he takes out the trash. You know, you, he will say to her, you always complain. Well, she doesn't always complain. What he means is I don't like right now you're telling me to take out the trash. So we got to avoid words like always and never. Peter's this guy's like, I will never fall away. These other guys will fall away, but not me. And that's pride speaking. And Jesus says, Peter, verily I say to you, before the rooster crows, you're going to deny me three times. Before the sunlight of the morning, you're going to deny even knowing me three times. Now, that must have been pretty discouraging for the rest of the group to hear because the rest of the group looked to Peter as kind of a spiritual leader among the 12. Remember, Matthew 16, when Jesus goes up to Caesarea Philippi, who do men say that I am? They say, well, some say Jeremiah, some say Elijah, some say John the Baptist. Jesus says, well, who do you say that I am? That's when Peter steps up and says, you are the Christ. You are the son of God. And then Jesus says, and this is another opportunity where Jesus kind of knocks Peter down just a little bit. He says, you weren't smart enough to figure that out on your own. He said, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father, which is in heaven. But nevertheless, Peter gave the right pronouncement that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus says, upon this rock, I will build my church. By the way, he didn't mean I'm gonna build my church on Peter. If the church was built on Peter, we're all in trouble. We're all in trouble. He meant the profession of faith out of Peter's mouth is what the church will be built upon. But Peter's this one who makes this bold profession of faith. He's the one that stepped out of the boat. He at least tried to walk on water, did for a little bit. So you know the other 11 guys look at Peter as you're pretty amazing. You're a spiritual leader among us. So when Jesus puts Peter in his place at the last supper, like before morning, you're gonna deny even knowing me three times. You can imagine the others in the room were, whoa, this is not good news for the rest of us. Which is why then in chapter 14, verse one, look, when you see chapter breaks in your Bible, sometimes it breaks up the continuity of the story. Chapters and verses were added like in the 12th century AD. So don't let that disrupt the flow of the story. That's just man's way of knowing where to look in Scripture. But from chapter 13 right into chapter 14, everybody's probably discouraged that Peter just got put in place. And so that's why he starts out here in chapter 14, verse one, Jesus saying, let not your hearts be troubled. Like don't be discouraged here. You believe in God, believe also in me. And then Jesus uses, and this is important in the story. I want us to see this. Then Jesus uses wedding language, Jewish wedding language to help them understand what he's talking about, about he's going away, but he's coming again. And since most of us are not all that familiar with ancient Jewish wedding language, let's unpack this a little bit. Look here in John 14, verses two and three. This is a familiar passage. Probably many of you have memorized this. 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. 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. Now, a little clarification on this. If you have an ESV or NIV version of the Bible, it says in my father's house are many rooms. Okay, please don't get hung up on the word mansions. Don't think that God wants everybody to be living like the fresh prince of Bel-Air, okay? Like, oh, in heaven, we're all gonna be in mansions. That's not what this means, okay? And unfortunately, the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel has distorted this. And it makes everybody think that when you get to heaven, you're gonna be rich and living in a mansion and driving the best cars. Okay, look, let's just all remember. First of all, when we're in the presence of Jesus, we won't care about anything else, all right? Our focus is gonna be so much on Jesus. Here's what Jesus is saying. And I like ESV and NIV better, honestly, because in my father's house are many rooms. What Jesus is basically saying here is, my dad has a big house with a lot of rooms, and there's room for you. That's what he's basically saying. He's saying heaven, heaven is vast. My father, my father owns a cattle on a thousand hill. You can believe that he has a great place in heaven for all of us, and there is room for you. That's what he's saying here. There's room for you. And so, again, these verses are actually wedding verses. So let me explain. In a typical ancient Jewish wedding, it consisted of two parts to the wedding. And I think we have a slide for this. And here are the two parts. There's the betrothal period, which is separated by one year. And then there's the marriage celebration. So let me explain these two different aspects of a Jewish, an ancient Jewish wedding. The betrothal period. Marriages were typically arranged in that culture, where typically fathers would negotiate about their children, and they would make a deal. And if you were the kids, you didn't have much say. They were arranged marriages. And the dad of, say, a little boy, would offer the dad of a little girl, and they would often make these legal arrangements when children were as young as two years of age. So when kids were even as young as two years of age, or older, dads would get together. And the dad of the little boy would say, I like your little girl for my little boy. How about we make a deal? And the dads would make a deal. And the father of the boy would pay a dowry to the father of the girl. And the dowry was whatever the arrangement was. You know, the dad of the bride of the little girl could hold out and say, I want 50 gold coins. And I want 100 cattle. And I want some sheep. And then we have a deal. And then the father of the boy would push back and say, how about 25 gold coins? And I'll give you 50 head of cattle. And all this kind of stuff. They would go back and forth. And when the price was agreed upon, it was called the dowry. Now, dowry was actually alimony in advance. The reason why dowry was given to the family of the bride was because in that culture, if there was ever a divorce, or if the husband died, the woman was often destitute. Because she was very dependent on the husband's provision. So the price that was paid in advance would be held so that she would have something to live on if the husband ever divorced, or left, or died. So that was the bride price. That was the dowry that was given. And all of this was done in advance. About, honey, how long ago was this when we took Lindsay? So she was 10. No, she was probably a teenager. So this is like 15 years ago or so. One of our trips to Israel. I'm walking on a sidewalk in Jerusalem with my teenage daughter. She's probably 13, 14, or 15. This black Mercedes pulled up on the side of the road with tinted windows and rolled down the window. And this Arab man offered me 30 camels for my daughter. I said, excuse me? He said, yes, I will give you 30 camels right now for the hand of your daughter. I said, at least 40. No, no. No, I didn't say that. I didn't even understand what he was doing. He was, I mean, we're talking just recently. This still goes on. He was offering me 30 camels so that my daughter would marry whomever he had in mind, I guess a son. And by the way, that's no small change because one camel is about $30,000. So he offered me 30 of those. It was tempting. No. I only found out the price later. I was like, wow. Had I known the price then, I don't know. I might've had to learn Arabic. But anyhow, so this is the betrothal period. The dowry's given. There's a contract between parents. The marriage is arranged. And then when the children get old enough, and old enough in that culture, some say Mary was probably 15 years of age when she was betrothed to Joseph. So they didn't wait too long, usually in their mid-teen years. Then they would come together and they would exchange vows. But they would not consummate the marriage. They would be betrothed. They would exchange vows. And in that culture, when you exchanged vows and the dowry price was given and this contractual arrangement was made, you were considered married. You had not consummated it physically, sexually yet. But you were considered married. This is why, you see, when Mary got pregnant by the Spirit during the time she was betrothed to Joseph, which means they had exchanged vows, but they had not yet consummated the marriage, it looked like she had cheated. And everybody then blamed her, thinking that she had gotten pregnant outside of wedlock or that Joseph had gotten her pregnant. Either way, people knew betrothal period, you don't sleep together. And so in a Jewish wedding, that's the betrothal period. And it was separated from the actual marriage ceremony, the feast that they would have and the consummation of the marriage by one year. And even Deuteronomy says that during that year, a man was exempt from military service. Because here's what he would do. He would then prepare for his bride. And during that year period, he was exempt from military duty and he would build a room, an extension onto his father's house, okay? This is gonna all start to come together. He would build an extension on his father's house. In that culture, it was very common. Still somewhat common in some cultures today. Two, three, four generations would live under one roof. Because as a family grew and children got married, they would build a room on, they would extend the house and then you would come into that home. So then the marriage part, the marriage celebration, after one year, the groom would go back for his bride and bring her to his father's house. With great celebration, she would usually be carried on the shoulders of the groomsmen. One year later, being brought into the house and then the couple would physically consummate the marriage and then they would live together from that point on. So this is what Jesus is referring to. He's using wedding language here. And he basically says to us, you know, scripture speaks about how he is our groom. He's our bridegroom. We are, the church is the bride. He's coming again for us. You see, when he says to his disciples, I'm going away to prepare a place. In my father's house are many rooms. You see, I'm going away to prepare a place for you. He's saying, I'm the groom, you were the bride. I'm going away, but I'm gonna come back again. And I'm gonna receive you unto myself that where I am, there you might be also. Do you see all this language that he's using here? The Jews in that day would have completely understood what he was saying. He was saying, I'm gonna come back for you. You're my bride. So listen, church, we are in the betrothal period right now because Jesus has gone away and he's coming again to receive us. And he's waiting for a pure bride. That's why in his absence, you see, the church must keep herself pure for the groom is going to return for a pure, chaste bride that he wants to receive to himself that we might be with him forever and ever. So this is that language. He's coming again for his bride. We have to be ready. You know, that's the whole parable about the 10 virgins. And go home and read that because that's all the same type of language when the groom returns and some of the virgins have their lamps ready and the oil is, and it's lit and they're ready to go and others don't. That was part of the bridal procession, part of the bridal party that was supposed to go back with the groom celebrating with a great feast. So all this language Jesus is using here to communicate this great truth. Remember Revelation 19, 7, let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory for the wedding of the lamb has come and the bride, that's us, has made herself ready. And the question is, of course, are you ready? Are you ready for his great return? And this leads us now to the I am statement. We'll put up on the slide for you. John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. The way you get to God, the way you get to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ, faith alone in Christ alone. Three important things. One, if you're taking notes, Jesus said, I am the way, the way. Now, many people will try to tell you that there are many ways to heaven. We've all heard that phrase, like, all paths lead to God, right? Okay, it's not a true phrase, it's not a true statement, but there are a lot of people who think all paths lead to God. If you were told that, you were told wrong because Jesus is the only way. And then the criticism comes. I get this, don't you get this? People will criticize Christians and they will say, the problem with you Christians is you're very narrow-minded because you only talk about how Jesus is the only way. And that's very narrow-minded. And, you know, I don't want to follow somebody who says there's only one way. And here's how I turn that conversation. If somebody discovered a cure for cancer tomorrow and they said there was one pill, and if you take this one pill, it will cure any cancer, all right, nobody, nobody would say, well, are there any other choices? I really don't like the fact that there's only one pill. If you had cancer, you'd be running to get that pill. You'd be beating down the door of every pharmacy. You wouldn't care that there's only one pill. If you're in a burning building and there's only one exit, you wouldn't be asking, are there any other doors I can leave through? You'd be thanking anybody and everybody for showing you that one way to get out of a burning building. So when people say things like there's only one way, that's so narrow-minded. Yeah, you know, thank God he made a way for us, right? He made a way for us. And Jesus happens to be the way. And the only reason, the only reason why people think that that is narrow-minded to say that Jesus is the only way is because they've not yet seen their own desperate condition. Once a person realizes and admits their own desperate condition, they will thankfully say that Jesus is the way. But sometimes it takes getting to the rock bottom before you can really acknowledge how much you need Jesus who is the way. And so he says definitively, I am the way. And then also he says, I am the truth. I am the way. I am the truth. Now, I don't know exactly what it's like here in St. Vincent, but I'll tell you how it is in America when it comes to truth these days. Everybody's walking around saying my truth and your truth. You can have your truth, but this is my truth. Like, you know, you don't get to decide what truth is. Truth is absolute. So nobody should go around saying my truth, your truth, and we all get to decide what truth is. I don't think so. God has a standard of what is right and wrong and what is true and false. Our culture today is trying to twist that, distort it, and think that I can decide what truth is. And so people are going around saying my truth, your truth. We live in an age where we don't know what to believe anymore. And you can look all over the internet and you can look all through social media and you can get conflicting information. You go to one page, you Google one page, it'll tell you one thing. You Google another page, it'll tell you another thing. You go onto social media, somebody will say, well, this is my experience. Somebody else's social media says, this is my experience and it's different from your experience. And you can stand back and say, I don't know what to believe anymore. Well, Jesus, listen, despite what everybody else says in the world, the only reliable source of truth is Jesus and his word. Jesus and his word. That's why we have to understand what does Jesus say? What does his word say? In fact, remember what Jesus said to Pontius Pilate when he stood before Pilate? In John chapter 18, verse 37, Jesus said, everyone on the side of truth listens to me. That's what Jesus said. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. Not to Gandhi, not to Buddha, not to Muhammad, Confucius or Joseph Smith or Mary Baker Eddy, but only to Jesus. Remember John 1, 14, God became flesh. He took on flesh and he dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth. So Jesus is the truth. And then he says here, I am the way, the truth. And what's the other thing? The life, not a way, not a truth among many, not a life, the life. Again, it's Zoe from the other day. We talked about this. He uses the word Zoe. And so many people think that their life is in their own hands. Our life is in God's hands. And he should be in charge of our lives. People who want to be in charge of their own life are going to make a miserable mess of it. In fact, Guatemala Buddha actually perpetuated this myth when he said, quote, no one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. No, Jesus saves us. And we cannot save ourself. He's the way, the truth, and the life. I'm going to rattle off a bunch of verses here that speak about the life that comes only through the Lord. Listen to this. God created us with the breath of life. That's Genesis 2-7. His word instructs us in the way of life. That's Proverbs 10-17. He is the author of life. That's Acts 3-15. When we get saved, we walk in newness of life. That's Romans 6-4. He is the sustainer of life. That's Hebrews 1-3. He is the word of life. It's 1 John 1-1. We will be given the crown of life, Revelation 2-10. Our names are written in the book of life, Revelation 3-5. We will eat from the tree of life. That's Revelation 22-14. And we will drink from the water of life. That's Revelation 22-17. Is God not a God of life? Of course He is. He's the way, the truth, and the life. And all through the Bible, it speaks about the life that comes through faith in Him. And life is a gift, friends. The only reason we are each still breathing right now is because God gives us the breath of life. He sustains us. And what He offers us is not just natural life that we have, but He offers us life eternal through faith in Him. Fullness of life. Eternal life. So that when we die physically, we still live spiritually. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. He is the great I am. And He has opened heaven wide to all who would believe and receive. I want to share this story with you that happened with Terry and me a couple months ago. Now February of this year, we were in Egypt. As a part of my role with Museum of the Bible, being on the board there, there were board members and generous donors to the Museum of the Bible who were invited on this, it was kind of a riverboat cruise up the Nile River in Egypt with the Green family. The Green family back in the States poured millions of dollars into building the Museum of the Bible. Wonderful people. They've become, Steve and Jackie, become good friends of Terry and mine. And so they invited us to go to Egypt on this trip. And we had never been. And so, you know, we had kind of our expectations of what we thought it would be like. And in some ways, the trip exceeded our expectations. In other ways, it disappointed us. The disappointing part was, you know, we're walking through all these ancient tombs of the ancient kings. And, you know, we're going through the pyramids. And, you know, we're seeing beautiful hieroglyphics. And because of the desert conditions, the interior of these ancient tombs were painted. And it looks like it was painted yesterday. I mean, it's pristine. And the condition of everything was beautiful. The disappointing part was much of ancient Egyptian culture was fixated on the afterlife. And so most of their drawings had to do with the afterlife. The reason why they mummified their pharaohs, and they put in, you know, gold, and they put in instruments that they would need when they got to the afterlife was because, you know, they truly believed that they would all be going to the afterlife and they would need all these provisions and food and all these things to go with them. And so that part became depressing for us because as we're walking through all these different places, we're realizing these ancient Egyptians were very lost. And they had no idea. They had an understanding. You know, eternity is set in the heart of man. But if you don't understand who the true and living God is, then it became very depressing to realize all these people had these hopes, but their hopes were in the wrong thing. And so that part was discouraging. So on the riverboat, I was asked on one of the days to give a devotional to our group. And so the Lord led me to talk about, since we were there in Egypt and we were there on the Nile River, I felt led to do a devotion about the 10 plagues. And that part was interesting. You know, here we are in the Nile River and that's the first of the plagues, turned to blood, you know. And God did some amazing things because he was prying the stubborn hand of Pharaoh loose so that the Hebrew slaves could be allowed to go back home to their promised land. And so over the series of those 10 plagues, God was humbling Pharaoh. But what's interesting, and I shared this in the devotion, is that four times in the book of Exodus, when it speaks about the 10 plagues, four times it says, in addition to the fact that God did this, that the Israelites might know that he is the Lord, four times it says, and he did this so that the Egyptians might know that he is the Lord, that God also had a heart and still does for the Egyptians and for all nations. I'm sharing this Bible study and in the back of the room is our Muslim Egyptian tour guide. Now she was a wonderful lady. Her name was Amal. And she was very kind. But she told us in the first or second day that she was Muslim. And she knew that we were Christians. And so it was very cordial. And she's an Egyptologist. She was an expert in all things Egyptian. So we were learning a lot from her. But near the end of the tour, one of our friends on the trip, as a way to kind of figure out what is an inroad to Amal's heart, he said to her, Amal, how can we be praying for you? And she thought for a moment and she said, pray for my peace. I need peace. Well, earlier in the week when I gave that devotion and Amal was sitting in the back of the room, Terry and I walked up to her and we could tell that she was really curious by what I just said. She said, I never heard that the Bible spoke about how God wanted to reach the Egyptians too. And we said, yes, Amal, the Lord wants to reach Egyptians too. And Terry said to her, do you have a Bible? And she says, no, I don't own a Bible. And so Terry was carrying a smaller Bible. It was actually our daughter's before she left home. And she had left it behind. It was a small, more portable Bible to take on trips. And so Terry says to her, well, you can have my Bible and you would have thought we offered her a million dollars. And she just looked at us and she said, oh, I couldn't take your Bible. Terry says, no, really take it. If you want it, it's yours. And she said, thank you. And she took the Bible. Now we knew that she had been reading it because there were a lot of verses that we had underlined, you know, Terry or Lindsey had underlined. And Lindsey even had put sticky notes on the inside cover with different scripture verses. So through the rest of the week, Amal was coming to us saying, I saw that these certain, she didn't use the word verses. She didn't know what to call them. I saw these certain sentences were underlined. Why were they underlined? And that was giving us the opportunity to say, well, here's why this verse is important. Here's what this verse means. And so we were just dropping little seeds along the way so that near the end of the trip then, when she's asked, how can we pray for you? She says, pray for peace. I need peace. And that she'd been reading the Bible through the week. She's asking for peace. I'm sitting there on the tour bus thinking, well, she needs the Prince of Peace. The way that she's going to have peace is if she has an encounter with the Prince of Peace. On the last day of the tour, the bus pulls in to the Marriott in downtown Cairo where we're staying for our last night. And everybody starts to grab their luggage and everybody is throwing backpacks over their shoulder and grabbing luggage. And Terry goes up to Amal. Amal's just kind of standing there watching our group get their stuff. And Terry goes over to Amal and says, Amal, you know, that peace that you're looking for, you can have now. You want to tell the rest of the story? Not that I was telling it wrong, but I wanted to give you the option. So she says, Amal, you know that peace that you were wanting, you can have it now. You can have it now. And Amal says, I can? She goes, yeah. See, this is why I wanted you to tell the story. There's the mic. Come on up here. There you go. So that we don't have to tell it three different ways. Come on up here with me. My wife, Terry. So you tell the part and then I'll tell when I step into the conversation. I just whispered in her ear, Amal, do you want to become a Christian? And she looked at me and she started crying and she said, could I? And I said, yes, Jesus is for anybody. And Gary was right here doing something with our luggage. And I said, Gary, come and pray with me and Amal. So that's when you came in. That's when I came in. Thank you, dear. And so that's when I came into the conversation. And I said to Amal, I said, if you want to receive Christ, if you want to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you can invite him into your life now and become a Christian. See, even to Muslims, they believe in Jesus. They think he's a prophet. They think that he's inferior to Muhammad, but they believe in Jesus. They don't believe that Jesus died on a cross. It's interesting in the Quran, it teaches something very weird. It says that Judas took Jesus's place on the cross, that Judas died in the place and that Jesus didn't. So she has an awareness of Jesus, but it's the wrong Jesus. How many of you understand? There are a lot of people who have an awareness of Jesus, but it's the wrong Jesus. It's not the Jesus of the Bible. But she was so open in that moment because in that moment, she realized what we were offering her is something that Islam doesn't offer her. And so she realized if she is going to have peace, she needs to open her heart to the Prince of Peace, the one who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man gets the Father except by me, by Jesus. And so standing on the curb of the downtown Marriott in Cairo, our Muslim tour guide, prayed a prayer with me and Terry to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Amen. And so my encouragement to you is, I know these are spiritual enrichment weeks. So probably all of you, maybe there's one or two who don't know Christ, but you're here because it's a spiritual enrichment time. You already know Christ. So my encouragement to you is you already know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Don't be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and share this with people. Don't be afraid like, well, I'm going to come across so exclusive. He's the way, the truth, the life. Like I said, if you're in a burning building and there's only one exit, anybody's going to be happy to learn there's that one way to be rescued. When people come to the place where they realize their own desperate condition, then they will be most open to trusting Christ as their Savior. Pray for your loved ones. Pray for your family members. Pray for your friends. There's no other way to get to heaven. You can't work your way there. None of us is good enough to get there. But the one who loves us and gave his life for us said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me. So through Jesus, we get to heaven through faith in Christ and Christ alone. Don't give up witnessing to your lost friends and neighbors. You know, God only calls us to be obedient. Sometimes we are planting a seed. Sometimes we are watering a seed that someone else planted. But God gives the increase. God is the one who saves people. But he wants us to do our part to make him known to a lost world. So Father, we thank you tonight that you are the way. You open the way for us through Jesus. You are the truth. We live in a very relative world. We live in a very confused world. People don't even seem to be able to understand even what gender they are these days. It's a very confusing, troubling, truthless world. But you are the way. You are the truth. And you are the life. And we can have life. We can have eternal life, abundant life, vitality of life, through faith in you, Jesus, so that one day when we're called heavenward, we can be with you forever and ever. And so we thank you, Lord, that you open the way for us. We thank you that you're the bridegroom. You've gone away to prepare a place for us. And you said, if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you might be also. Thank you, Lord, that you are the soon-and-coming king. You will return for your bride, and you will take us home. And right now, Lord, while we're in this betrothal period, we pray that you would find us as a pure bride, waiting for your return, walking in holiness, anticipating your coming, living a life that is honorable to you so that we can be ready when you come again for your bride. And we thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.