THE WAY INTO GOD’S PRESENCE

John 14:6 (KJV)
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The Bible IS truth! It does not contain truth it is truth and when it says that no man comes unto the
Father, BUT BY JESUS CHRIST it means it. That statement eliminates the possibility of coming unto God
through Buddha, Mohammed, Shintoism, Hinduism, Hari Krishna or any other religion.
Look at Acts chapter six. Stephen was a disciple of Jesus Christ. Stephen did many signs, miracles and
wonders and in verse six he is confronted by the religious leaders of that time.
Acts 6:8-15 (KJV)
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.
9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and
Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
11 Then they suborned (picked or appointed) men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous
words against Moses, and against God.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him,
and brought him to the council,
13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this
holy place, and the law:
14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the
customs which Moses delivered us.
15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an
angel.
Stephen was teaching people about Jesus Christ and the religionists didn’t want to hear about it. They
couldn’t stand against the wisdom of Stephen and so they hired men to lie about what Stephen said and
paid for false witnesses to accuse Stephen.
In the first fifty verses of chapter seven Stephen gives a synopsis of the history of Israel. Then he looks
the Ruling body of Judaism and the liars and the false witnesses right in the eye and said;
Acts 7:51-8:1 (KJV)
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as
your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which
shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and
murderers:
53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their
teeth.
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of
God.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one
accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a
young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And
when he had said this, he fell asleep.
1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against
the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions
of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Saul was his Hebrew name, Paul was his Greek name. He later became the Apostle Paul, but,
right now, he thinks he is doing the will of God by upholding the law AND persecuting the
Christians.
Acts 9:1-9 (KJV)
1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went
unto the high priest,
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way,
whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a
light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is
hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Pricks are sharp sticks that the farmers would hold behind the ox’s back legs so when the ox
kicked it would hurt the ox and not the farmer.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said
unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led
him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
Paul changed that day so that he could say;
Acts 22:3-5 (KJV)
3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet
of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous
toward God, as ye all are this day.
4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
5 As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I receivedletters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem,
for to be punished.
He persecuted the WAY unto death. He was persecuting the Christians.
Acts 22:19-20 (KJV)
19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:
20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his
death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
Acts 24:13-14 (KJV)
13 Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.
14 But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my
fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
Everything that Paul knew or believed in was turned upside down on the road to Damascus and now the
Way that he persecuted he ended up believing and teaching. He forsook all else for the Way.
Others in the early church taught about the Way.
Acts 18:24-26 (KJV)
24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the
scriptures, came to Ephesus.
25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and
taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard,
they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.
Apollos knew about Jesus Christ, but he didn’t know about God in Christ in every born again
believer which is the baptism of holy spirit (Romans 10:9,10.) So Aquilla and Priscilla took him
home and taught him about the Way, more perfectly.
Acts 19:8-10 (KJV)
8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and
persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.
9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the
multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of
one Tyrannus.
10 And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the
word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
In two years and three months all of Asia Minor heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, the Way.
Acts 19:20-29 (KJV)
20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.
21 After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed throughMacedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see
Rome.
22 So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but
he himself stayed in Asia for a season.
23 And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.
24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana,
brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;
25 Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by
this craft we have our wealth.
26 Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul
hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with
hands:
27 So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the
great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all
Asia and the world worshippeth.
28 And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is
Diana of the Ephesians.
29 And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men
of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.
The whole city was filled with confusion and today it is not just a city, but, the whole World, filled with
confusion over the knowledge of the accomplishments of Jesus Christ.
So, what does it mean by Jesus Christ being the Way?
In the Old Testament, Israel had a tabernacle and later a temple. They were both set up similarly. Both
had an outer chamber or room and both had an inner chamber or holiest of all. These two rooms were
separated by a veil or curtain. The High Priest was the only one that went into the innermost room and
that was only once a year. When the high Priest went in he took the blood of the sacrificial animal in
with him to make atonement for himself and the sins of the people (Israel.) No one else was allowed
into this innermost room because it represented God’s dwelling place.
This was all symbolism for what Christ would accomplish.
Hebrews 9:2-15 (KJV)
2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the
shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold,
wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the
covenant;
5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak
particularly.
6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle,
accomplishing the service of God.
7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he
offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made
manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices,
that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed
on them until the time of reformation.
11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the
holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean,
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might
receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
The Children of Israel, in remembrance of the Passover, would offer a lamb under one year old that
didn’t have any scars or malformities , without spot or blemish. Jesus Christ Became that lamb once and
for all. By doing that he opened the way, not to the symbolic presence of God only, but to God Himself!
When Jesus Christ died the Bible says that the veil separating the holiest of all from the world had been
torn from the top to the bottom signifying that Jesus Christ paved the way for man to be reconciled unto
God.
Hebrews 9:24-27 (KJV)
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year
with blood of others;
26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Hebrews 10:19-25 (KJV)
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his
flesh;
21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting
one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
“Profession of faith” should be translated “confession of hope.” The hope of Christ’s return, the
hope of eternal life in Heaven in the presence of God!
Acts 4:11-12 (KJV)
11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved.
There is NO salvation No salvation in anyone, but Jesus Christ!
1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV)
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Jesus Christ laid down his life and became the sacrificial lamb once and for all. He made the way for
anyone who wills to enter into the presence of God. Jesus Christ is the only way into God’s presence.