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So in Deut. 11: 27, 28. A "blessing" if they obey, a "curse" if they do not obey, but
"turn aside out of the way". As we have seen when looking at the initial meaning of sin,
sin is a negation: "all UNrighteousness is sin", "Whatsoever is NOT of faith is sin." So
the false way, the way of death is really the negation of the way of truth, and the way of
life. Man's way is the negation of God's way.
"Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err
in their heart, and HAVE NOT KNOWN MY WAYS" (Psa. 95: 10).
Here for the moment we conclude. Our next subject must be blessed contrast, the way
of God. May the awful revelation of the path that man is treading, until grace translates
him, be used of God to the eternal blessing of many who are out of the way.
#2.
Christ the way.
pp. 154 - 156
In the former talk we found that in Scripture the gospel is called the way, and that
man's way and God's way are totally different in their character and goal. We now
consider particularly Christ as the Way, and for this we turn at once to John 14: 5, 6:--
"Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we
know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by Me."
We have already learned that man is out of the way, has gone astray, and Thomas but
expresses the plaint of us all, "How can we know the way?" The answer is Christ: He is
the way. There is an exclusiveness about this way that we do well to recognize: "No
man . . . . . but by Me" shuts us up to one way only. This feature is by no means confined
to the passage under notice:--
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before
Me are thieves and robbers . . . . . I am the door; BY ME if any man enter in, he shall be
saved" (John 10: 7-9).
Christ is the only door. Again, in John 6: we read that Christ is the true bread of
life: "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead . . . . . I am the living
bread" (John 6: 49-51). Peter likewise declares, "There is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4: 12).
An important point.
The expression, "The way, the truth, and the life" needs a little attention if we would
not miss its fulness. As it stands we have three separate facts, each and all true. Christ is
the way; Christ is the truth; Christ is the life; and chapter and verse can easily be found