July 14, 2025 • 25 mins
A study in the book of John, chapter 14.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to K Wave's Pastor Spotlight featuring the preaching and
teaching ministries of our local Southern California pastors. This week
we're pleased to bring you the Bible teaching ministry of
Bayless Conley, founding pastor of Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos.
Bayless and his wife Janet started Cottonwood Church over 41
years ago. Today the church is led by their son Harrison.
(00:22):
And is located at 4505 Catella Avenue in Los Alamitos. Today,
Bayless invites you to open your Bible to John's Gospel
chapter 14 for a look at an amazing statement Jesus
made to his disciples, and this statement is for you
and me today as well. Let's join Pastor Bayless calling
now for his message called Jesus the Way, the Truth,
(00:43):
the Life.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I want to read to you some words of Jesus
from John chapter 14, beginning in verse 1. John 14
and 1.
He said, Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in
God and trust also in me. There is more than
enough room in my father's home. If this were not so,
(01:05):
would I have told you that I'm going to prepare
a place for you? When everything is ready, I will
come and get you so that you will always be
with me where I am, and you know the way
where I am going. No, we don't know, Lord Thomas said,
We have no idea where you're going, so how can
we know the way?
Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth and
(01:26):
the life. No one can come to the Father except
through me.
The last statement that we read of Jesus there, most
of us have heard that probably numerous times. He said,
I am the way.
The truth and the life. I wanna talk to you
(01:46):
about that statement today, and the way, the truth and
the life, but we're gonna take it from back to front.
Jesus said, I am the life. It's the Greek word Zoe.
It means the God kind of life. Life as God
has it. It's translated as eternal life in the scriptures,
and it's why Jesus came. Eternal life at its heart
(02:09):
is about having a relationship with God and with His
Son Jesus Christ. And that is mankind's greatest need. We
go all the way back to the.
Garden. God created man and woman in His image and
in His likeness to have fellowship with them. He created
a family. He would walk and talk with them, makes
(02:31):
this this beautiful world and says, look, I give you
dominion over it, enjoy it. It is yours. However, everyone say, however.
God said, however, there's one thing.
That I claim exclusive right to. It's the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil. I alone set the,
(02:52):
the guardrails. I alone say what's good, what's evil, what's right, wrong,
what's sin and what is not sin. There are absolutes, guys.
And if you ever violate that, if you ever try
and take that to yourself the day you do it,
you'll die. And we read in the book of Genesis
and said Adam and Eve wanted to be like God,
deciding for themselves, good and evil. Like, who says I
(03:15):
have to live within these guardrails? You know, who, who
says there's absolutes, I'll decide for myself if it's right
or wrong. I mean, what's what's sin for someone else
may not be sin for me. You know, what's wrong
for them? Well, it may not be wrong for me. I,
I can decide for myself.
And so they partook of that tree.
And God said, the day you do it, you'll die,
(03:35):
but we read they didn't actually die that day. They
lived for a long time after that. So did God
get it wrong?
No, he didn't get it wrong. They actually did die
that day. In the Hebrew text in the original language
of the word die is there twice. God said the
day you do that, you will die, die, you'll die
a double death. They did die that day, they died spiritually.
(03:59):
It doesn't mean to cease to exist. It means to
be cut off from God, to be severed from any
relationship with God. That is spiritual death. It is separation
from God.
So they did die that day, they died spiritually. As
a result, they died the second death, the physical death,
some time later, and that profoundly affected all of us.
(04:22):
Adam and Eve were the fountain heads of the human race.
Romans 5:12 says this,
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death,
so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. That state
of separation from God spread to all humanity, you know,
(04:45):
every person intuitively knows something is missing.
You know, as a young Christian, I was living down
in Mexico and um was camped out on the beach
one night and I made a fire and was actually
cooking some beans over the fire and out of the
shadows comes this guy and his dog, homeless man and
his dog.
(05:05):
I asked him if he's hungry. He said, yeah, so
I had him sit by the fire, and I fed
him and his dog my beans.
And uh we talked a little bit and I asked
him if I could read him something. I had this
track in Spanish by a guy named T TL Osborne,
TeL Osborne. It was a long track. Took about almost
10 minutes to read the thing and it was called
(05:26):
Salvation or religion, Salvation or religion.
So I'm reading this track and to him and, and it, again,
it took 89, almost 10 minutes to, to read through
the whole thing. Two sides, small print. When I got done,
I look up at him, he's sitting across the fire,
and there's tears rolling down his cheeks.
I talked to him about, talked to him about what
(05:48):
we'd read. It basically talked about how people substitute religion
and ritual, but salvation is actually about, it's about relationship.
It's about knowing God, and I said, would you like
to know God this way? He said, oh yes. And
he prayed with me and gave his life to Christ
there at my campfire.
Now
(06:09):
Every person, as I said, intuitively understands.
That something's missing, but it's a God-shaped hole. Let me
read on there in Romans 5:18 says, yes, Adam's one
sin brings condemnation for everyone.
But Christ's one act of righteousness brings a right relationship
(06:29):
with God and new life for everyone. Verse 21. So
just as sin ruled over all people and brought them
to death, now God's wonderful grace rules instead, giving us
right standing with God and resulting in eternity.
In the life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Embracing Jesus
(06:51):
and putting your trust in Him is the only way
to receive eternal life. It is the one and only
way into that kind of life. It's the only thing
that will fill the empty place. It brings life here
and heaven hereafter.
And I think John put it very succinctly. First John
5:12 says, whoever has the son has life. Whoever does
(07:18):
not have God's Son does not have life.
That is the truth. Uh, Jesus is the life, but
he's not only the life. He said, I, I'm the life,
but he also said, I'm the truth.
We cannot enjoy the life of Jesus if we reject
(07:38):
the truth of Jesus.
Jesus said in John 8:31, it says, then Jesus said
to those who believed in him, If you abide in
my word, you're my disciples indeed, and you shall know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. Jesus
truth is the word of God. It is scripture.
(08:00):
Consider this in John chapter 1 and verse 1 says,
In the beginning was the word and the word was
with God and the word was God. And the word
with there, it's the Greek word literally means facing. It's
talking about the pre-existence of Christ, the relationship that he
had with the Father. In the beginning, the word, Jesus
was with God, was facing God. They had a face
(08:21):
to face relationship through eternity passed, and the word was God.
And then it says in verse 14, and the word.
Became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,
the glory is of the only begotten of the Father
full of grace and truth. Jesus is the word made flesh.
(08:44):
Think about this. The Psalmist Psalm 138:2 said, I will
worship towards your holy temple and praise your name for
your loving kindness and your truth, for you have magnified
your word above all your name.
God, you've magnified your word above.
(09:05):
Your name. If you claim to be following the one
named Jesus, but you won't accept his word as your
final authority, something is amiss.
The psalmist also said, Psalm 119:128. Therefore, all your precepts
(09:25):
concerning all things I consider to be right. I hate
every false way.
You know, I've shared this story before, but I, I
think it illustrates the point, well.
I was an assistant pastor for a couple of years
in a church in Beaumont, California.
And a guy that was started attending the church called
me and asked if he could come talk to me,
(09:45):
said he had an issue. I said, sure.
So he comes over to Janet in my, my apartment
and I've been there reading in one of the gospels
during the morning, and I was just pouring over one
of the parables of Jesus, just really studying it and
was speaking to my heart, and he comes in and
sits down on the couch next to me and starts
(10:06):
talking about his issue. He's got stuff going on at work.
And I'm amazed while he's telling me what's going on
at work. I'm thinking, man, this is exactly what I
just read in this parable.
In fact, he's using words as he's telling the story,
same words that Jesus used in the parable. I'm thinking
this is gonna be good.
I said, man, you're not gonna believe this. I hope
(10:26):
you do. But I said, look at this, and I
opened the Bible, put it between us. I said, read
with me and we start reading this parable, and he goes, Whoa,
he said, that's just exactly what I just said. He
said that that's exactly what's happening where that's what's going on.
I said, listen, it's gonna get better. He said, really?
I said, yeah, let's read this next part. This is
what Jesus says to do if this is what happens
(10:47):
to you.
So he reads it and goes, I'm not doing that.
I said, but that, that, that's, that's the solution. That's
what Jesus said you're supposed to do when you're in
this kind of a situation. He said, I'm not doing that.
And he got, I'll never forget, he got up, I
didn't come all the way over here to listen to that.
(11:08):
And he went out, slammed the screen door, got on
his motorcycle and tore off through the parking lot at
about 80 miles an hour.
Our friend Jesus, he's the life.
But it is also the truth.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
You're listening to Kwave's Pastor Spotlight featuring Pastor Bayless Conley
of Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos. For more information, visit
their website at cottonwood.org. Once again, here's Pastor Bayless Conley
with more of his message titled Jesus, The Way, the Truth,
The Life.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Just by way of contrast, I was just doing meetings
a few weeks ago in Europe.
Did, did some speaking in the Netherlands.
And there was a guy coming to meet me in
the meetings. He'd contacted us beforehand, so I, I knew
it was coming.
He had been watching the broadcast. He was a drug
addict and had other issues in his life, and he
got radically saved watching the broadcast, gave life to Jesus,
(12:06):
got set free from drugs, basically he's become an evangelist,
and he's written an amazing book to help other people
that that struggle with addictions.
And so he's gonna come to the meeting. He wants
to meet me in person.
And he also lets me know, says, you know, my
girlfriend and I, we've been together for 17 years. We
have 3 kids.
(12:27):
But I was listening to you teach about marriage and
about sex from the scriptures.
says, and I realized that
What the scriptures say that that sex is just exclusive
for a man and a woman within the context of
a marriage.
He said, we did everything backwards, we're not married. He said,
so my, my girlfriend and I, we, we have chosen
(12:49):
to remain celibate.
Until we are officially married.
So I, I knew that coming in and so I,
I meet with him, his girlfriend, his lovely kids, got
3 lovely small kids.
And we're, we're talking in the green room for quite
a while, while he gave me a copy of his book,
and then like I said, I knew it was coming.
He gets down on one knee.
(13:12):
Pulls out a little box with a ring in it
and proposes to his girlfriend, and she says, yes, of course,
and it was, it was quite a moment.
And all of us got down on our knees, the
little kids, him and his girlfriend and me, I put
my hands on them. We all prayed. It was really
a
Bit of a sacred moment, and I know some people think, oh,
that's so extreme. Heck, they've been together 17 years. They
(13:35):
already got 3 kids, so they're not gonna sleep together. No,
that is the proper normal response of a heart that
has received the life of Jesus.
There also embraces the truth of Jesus. Like, I'm not
gonna try and change his truth to fit my lifestyle.
I'm gonna adjust my lifestyle to fit his truth.
(14:00):
John 14:23, Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone
loves me, he will keep my word.
And my Father will love him and we will come
to him and make our home with him. He who
does not love me does not keep my words, and
the word which you hear is not mine, but the
father's who sent me. Listen, there is great blessing in
(14:21):
embracing and obeying his truth.
And I had a dear friend. He's been in heaven
quite a few years now. He was a member of
the church. He and his wife, his kids. He was
a few years older than me, his kids maybe 3,
maybe 4 years younger than me.
And honestly, this guy.
(14:43):
is no doubt was was one of the sweetest.
Kindest, most generous hearted people I've ever met in my life.
And I watched him behind the scenes, he was so kind.
It just, it just this kindness and generosity oozed out
of him.
And he just had time for everybody was so loving,
(15:06):
just amazing, amazing. And I was surprised when his kids
told me that the adult kids now says, you know, um,
He terrorized us growing up.
We lived in stark terror of him every day.
If you crossed him in the slightest way, he exploded.
He's just violent outbursts. He would cuss at us and
(15:28):
scream at us, and, and, you know, invariably there would
be physical violence as well, but his family said when,
when he embraced Jesus, everything changed. He just didn't embrace
the life of Jesus, he embraced the truth of Jesus.
You know, Jesus said, bless those that curse you. Do
good to those who hate you. Pray for those who
(15:50):
spitefully use you and persecute you. The scripture says to
forgive even as you've been forgiven, you know, in Christ,
said he embraced that truth, they said it changed the
whole family, the whole atmosphere in our home changed. There
was peace in our home, there was reconciliation in our home.
It's affected us, it's affected our kids. It changed everything.
(16:13):
When he embraced Christ and embraced the truth of Jesus,
as well as the life of Jesus. Basically,
I can't come to Jesus and say, I want eternal
life and all of the benefits that it brings.
But don't talk to me about what to do or
(16:35):
not to do.
I've got my own ideas, Jesus, about what's right or wrong.
It sounds like Adam and Eve in the garden, doesn't it?
Don't tell me what to do with my money, or
how I can express my sexuality. And Jesus, I want
eternal life, but this stuff you say about sin and
(16:55):
judgment and hell, and the exclusivity of the cross. I
don't accept any of that stuff.
No, it doesn't work that way. You can't embrace and
enjoy the life of Jesus if you reject the truth
of Jesus.
Listen to this. First John 2 and verse 4. If
someone claims, I've come to know God by experience, yet
(17:17):
does not keep God's commands, he's a phony, and the
truth finds no place in him. Now that doesn't mean
a believer will never sin, nor is it, does it
mean that we'll never struggle with temptation, but it does
mean that the one that rejects his truth does not
share in his life.
(17:37):
And again, I want to emphasize to you there is
great benefit, great benefit in embracing and obeying the truth
of Jesus, whether it has to do with his promises
or his prohibitions.
Jesus said, I'm alive.
And the truth, he also said I'm the way.
Let's talk about the way of Jesus. We talk about
(17:58):
the way and it, it speaks to us of direction.
And certainly we get that from what Jesus said in
John 14. I'm the way no one comes to the
Father except through me.
It's exclusive. It's the only way into a relationship with God.
You cannot have a relationship with the Creator unless you
come through Jesus. Jesus said this, Matthew 7:13, Enter by
(18:22):
the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad
is the way that leads to destruction. And there are
many who go in by it, because narrow is the
gate and difficult is the way which leads to life,
and there are few who find it.
It's narrow because Jesus is it.
(18:44):
It's difficult for some.
Because they don't like the guardrails of truth.
That God places there.
But it is narrow. It's a narrow way and it's
a difficult way. It's the only way into the Father's family.
It's through Jesus who is the life and the truth.
But you know, when we speak of way as well
(19:06):
as denoting direction.
It also denotes method.
You know, the way something is done, and I think
Many of God's people don't know much about the way
of Jesus. They may know about the life of Jesus
and the truth of Jesus, but they don't know too
much about the way of Jesus. His way.
(19:29):
was
Personal
Relational and unhurried.
The way of Jesus, personal, relational, and unhurried. Jesus was
never in a hurry.
He always had time for people and was content to
minister where he was. We tend to be very program oriented.
(19:54):
Jesus was people oriented. We tend to be very transactional
when it comes to our interactions with people.
But Jesus.
was very relational.
When it came to his interactions with people. And yes,
he spoke to large crowds, but we find time after
time where Jesus lingered with people, talking with them, sharing
(20:19):
meals with them. He never seemed to be in a hurry,
and yet no one in the history of the world
had more to do than he did.
Even before he entered into ministry, if you think about it.
All right, Jesus, you're 20 years old.
Don't you realize there's a lot of people that need healing? What,
(20:40):
what are you waiting for?
All right, Jesus, you're 21. Come on, there are people
that need to hear. You preach.
You should get out and do something. Why, why are
you still working in, in your stepdad's carpentry business? All right,
you're 24 now, Jesus, come on, do you realize, Jesus,
there are people here in Israel, people in your hometown,
(21:03):
they will die and go into eternity and never hear
you preach if you don't get out and preach now?
He's 26.
Jesus
What about all the sick? What about the, the, the
people that are so confused? They need to hear you,
they need your touch. She's 27, she's 28. Jesus.
(21:28):
It's 29.
Finally, at 30 years of age, he enters into ministry.
And even though he works hard, he doesn't rush around.
He has time for individuals. He has time to train
the 12 disciples. Even after the resurrection, you read the story,
(21:51):
he meets 2 disciples and, and their eyes are veiled.
They don't realize it's him. They're, they're leaving Jerusalem and
Jesus starts walking with them on the road. They're going
to Amaya, 7 miles away.
Jesus walks with him for 2 hours.
More asking questions, listening.
Talking to them
(22:13):
And then he goes in and sits down to eat
with them. Like, Jesus, this is after the resurrection. You
got hours?
To walk on the road and talk to these two guys?
What's going on?
By contrast, the pace of many men and women that
I know in ministry is build, build, build, go, go, go.
(22:36):
Don't stop, no time, take your work home with you,
no time for kids, no time for friendships. We gotta go, go, go, go, go.
No wonder so many people are fatigued and burned out.
Whether their preachers are involved in some other sort of work.
Friend God.
(22:57):
I never
In a hurry
But most people that I know are.
So, I've got a word for you. Actually two words,
slow down.
I guarantee you you will not lay upon your deathbed
wishing you had spent more time at the office.
(23:20):
My friend, Jesus' way is something we must learn. Jesus said,
take my yoke upon you and learn from me.
His way is something we must learn. Jesus truth is
something we must embrace and obey.
And Jesus' life is something that we must receive by faith.
(23:44):
The Bible says, by grace are you saved through faith,
not not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not
of works lest anyone should boast. There's nothing you can do,
nothing I can do to earn it. It is the
hand of grace reaching out and offering this life freely.
And it's received by faith by putting our trust in
Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
You've been listening to Pastor Bayless Conley, founding pastor of
Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos here on K Waves Pastor Spotlight.
Bayless will be back tomorrow with a look at Psalm
61 and a message called Lead me to the Rock.
We invite you to join us right here at the
same time Thursday.
Again, Bayless Conley and his wife Janet founded Cottonwood Church
(24:27):
over 41 years ago with a commitment to faithfully and
consistently teaching the word of God. Today, Cottonwood Church's mission
statement remains bringing a living Jesus to a dying world.
They're also known in the community for the regular community
outreach events. Cottonwood Church is located at 4505 Cottella Avenue
in Los Alamitos. Sunday worship.
Services are 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. with the holidays approaching,
(24:51):
you'll wanna check out Christmas at Cottonwood, be here for
the Christmas Eve and candlelight services, and to ring in
the new year, you're invited to the New Year's Eve
service and worship night. You and your family are welcome
at Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos. They're located at 4505
Cottella Avenue. For directions and information, visit Cottonwood.
Dot org. That's Cottonwood.org. And be sure to look for
(25:15):
Cottonwood Church on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. We invite you
to join us right here at the same time tomorrow
for another message from Bayless Conley, founding pastor of Cottonwood
Church in Los Alamitos. We hope you'll join us. Pastor
Spotlight is a production of K Wave Radio, sharing life,
delivering truth, giving hope.
Welcome to K Wave's Pastor Spotlight featuring the preaching and
teaching ministries of our local Southern California pastors. This week
we're pleased to bring you the Bible teaching ministry of
Bayless Conley, founding pastor of Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos.
Bayless and his wife Janet started Cottonwood Church over 41
years ago. Today the church is led by their son Harrison.
(00:22):
And is located at 4505 Catella Avenue in Los Alamitos. Today,
Bayless invites you to open your Bible to John's Gospel
chapter 14 for a look at an amazing statement Jesus
made to his disciples, and this statement is for you
and me today as well. Let's join Pastor Bayless calling
now for his message called Jesus the Way, the Truth,
(00:43):
the Life.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
I want to read to you some words of Jesus
from John chapter 14, beginning in verse 1. John 14
and 1.
He said, Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in
God and trust also in me. There is more than
enough room in my father's home. If this were not so,
(01:05):
would I have told you that I'm going to prepare
a place for you? When everything is ready, I will
come and get you so that you will always be
with me where I am, and you know the way
where I am going. No, we don't know, Lord Thomas said,
We have no idea where you're going, so how can
we know the way?
Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth and
(01:26):
the life. No one can come to the Father except
through me.
The last statement that we read of Jesus there, most
of us have heard that probably numerous times. He said,
I am the way.
The truth and the life. I wanna talk to you
(01:46):
about that statement today, and the way, the truth and
the life, but we're gonna take it from back to front.
Jesus said, I am the life. It's the Greek word Zoe.
It means the God kind of life. Life as God
has it. It's translated as eternal life in the scriptures,
and it's why Jesus came. Eternal life at its heart
(02:09):
is about having a relationship with God and with His
Son Jesus Christ. And that is mankind's greatest need. We
go all the way back to the.
Garden. God created man and woman in His image and
in His likeness to have fellowship with them. He created
a family. He would walk and talk with them, makes
(02:31):
this this beautiful world and says, look, I give you
dominion over it, enjoy it. It is yours. However, everyone say, however.
God said, however, there's one thing.
That I claim exclusive right to. It's the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil. I alone set the,
(02:52):
the guardrails. I alone say what's good, what's evil, what's right, wrong,
what's sin and what is not sin. There are absolutes, guys.
And if you ever violate that, if you ever try
and take that to yourself the day you do it,
you'll die. And we read in the book of Genesis
and said Adam and Eve wanted to be like God,
deciding for themselves, good and evil. Like, who says I
(03:15):
have to live within these guardrails? You know, who, who
says there's absolutes, I'll decide for myself if it's right
or wrong. I mean, what's what's sin for someone else
may not be sin for me. You know, what's wrong
for them? Well, it may not be wrong for me. I,
I can decide for myself.
And so they partook of that tree.
And God said, the day you do it, you'll die,
(03:35):
but we read they didn't actually die that day. They
lived for a long time after that. So did God
get it wrong?
No, he didn't get it wrong. They actually did die
that day. In the Hebrew text in the original language
of the word die is there twice. God said the
day you do that, you will die, die, you'll die
a double death. They did die that day, they died spiritually.
(03:59):
It doesn't mean to cease to exist. It means to
be cut off from God, to be severed from any
relationship with God. That is spiritual death. It is separation
from God.
So they did die that day, they died spiritually. As
a result, they died the second death, the physical death,
some time later, and that profoundly affected all of us.
(04:22):
Adam and Eve were the fountain heads of the human race.
Romans 5:12 says this,
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death,
so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. That state
of separation from God spread to all humanity, you know,
(04:45):
every person intuitively knows something is missing.
You know, as a young Christian, I was living down
in Mexico and um was camped out on the beach
one night and I made a fire and was actually
cooking some beans over the fire and out of the
shadows comes this guy and his dog, homeless man and
his dog.
(05:05):
I asked him if he's hungry. He said, yeah, so
I had him sit by the fire, and I fed
him and his dog my beans.
And uh we talked a little bit and I asked
him if I could read him something. I had this
track in Spanish by a guy named T TL Osborne,
TeL Osborne. It was a long track. Took about almost
10 minutes to read the thing and it was called
(05:26):
Salvation or religion, Salvation or religion.
So I'm reading this track and to him and, and it, again,
it took 89, almost 10 minutes to, to read through
the whole thing. Two sides, small print. When I got done,
I look up at him, he's sitting across the fire,
and there's tears rolling down his cheeks.
I talked to him about, talked to him about what
(05:48):
we'd read. It basically talked about how people substitute religion
and ritual, but salvation is actually about, it's about relationship.
It's about knowing God, and I said, would you like
to know God this way? He said, oh yes. And
he prayed with me and gave his life to Christ
there at my campfire.
Now
(06:09):
Every person, as I said, intuitively understands.
That something's missing, but it's a God-shaped hole. Let me
read on there in Romans 5:18 says, yes, Adam's one
sin brings condemnation for everyone.
But Christ's one act of righteousness brings a right relationship
(06:29):
with God and new life for everyone. Verse 21. So
just as sin ruled over all people and brought them
to death, now God's wonderful grace rules instead, giving us
right standing with God and resulting in eternity.
In the life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Embracing Jesus
(06:51):
and putting your trust in Him is the only way
to receive eternal life. It is the one and only
way into that kind of life. It's the only thing
that will fill the empty place. It brings life here
and heaven hereafter.
And I think John put it very succinctly. First John
5:12 says, whoever has the son has life. Whoever does
(07:18):
not have God's Son does not have life.
That is the truth. Uh, Jesus is the life, but
he's not only the life. He said, I, I'm the life,
but he also said, I'm the truth.
We cannot enjoy the life of Jesus if we reject
(07:38):
the truth of Jesus.
Jesus said in John 8:31, it says, then Jesus said
to those who believed in him, If you abide in
my word, you're my disciples indeed, and you shall know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. Jesus
truth is the word of God. It is scripture.
(08:00):
Consider this in John chapter 1 and verse 1 says,
In the beginning was the word and the word was
with God and the word was God. And the word
with there, it's the Greek word literally means facing. It's
talking about the pre-existence of Christ, the relationship that he
had with the Father. In the beginning, the word, Jesus
was with God, was facing God. They had a face
(08:21):
to face relationship through eternity passed, and the word was God.
And then it says in verse 14, and the word.
Became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,
the glory is of the only begotten of the Father
full of grace and truth. Jesus is the word made flesh.
(08:44):
Think about this. The Psalmist Psalm 138:2 said, I will
worship towards your holy temple and praise your name for
your loving kindness and your truth, for you have magnified
your word above all your name.
God, you've magnified your word above.
(09:05):
Your name. If you claim to be following the one
named Jesus, but you won't accept his word as your
final authority, something is amiss.
The psalmist also said, Psalm 119:128. Therefore, all your precepts
(09:25):
concerning all things I consider to be right. I hate
every false way.
You know, I've shared this story before, but I, I
think it illustrates the point, well.
I was an assistant pastor for a couple of years
in a church in Beaumont, California.
And a guy that was started attending the church called
me and asked if he could come talk to me,
(09:45):
said he had an issue. I said, sure.
So he comes over to Janet in my, my apartment
and I've been there reading in one of the gospels
during the morning, and I was just pouring over one
of the parables of Jesus, just really studying it and
was speaking to my heart, and he comes in and
sits down on the couch next to me and starts
(10:06):
talking about his issue. He's got stuff going on at work.
And I'm amazed while he's telling me what's going on
at work. I'm thinking, man, this is exactly what I
just read in this parable.
In fact, he's using words as he's telling the story,
same words that Jesus used in the parable. I'm thinking
this is gonna be good.
I said, man, you're not gonna believe this. I hope
(10:26):
you do. But I said, look at this, and I
opened the Bible, put it between us. I said, read
with me and we start reading this parable, and he goes, Whoa,
he said, that's just exactly what I just said. He
said that that's exactly what's happening where that's what's going on.
I said, listen, it's gonna get better. He said, really?
I said, yeah, let's read this next part. This is
what Jesus says to do if this is what happens
(10:47):
to you.
So he reads it and goes, I'm not doing that.
I said, but that, that, that's, that's the solution. That's
what Jesus said you're supposed to do when you're in
this kind of a situation. He said, I'm not doing that.
And he got, I'll never forget, he got up, I
didn't come all the way over here to listen to that.
(11:08):
And he went out, slammed the screen door, got on
his motorcycle and tore off through the parking lot at
about 80 miles an hour.
Our friend Jesus, he's the life.
But it is also the truth.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
You're listening to Kwave's Pastor Spotlight featuring Pastor Bayless Conley
of Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos. For more information, visit
their website at cottonwood.org. Once again, here's Pastor Bayless Conley
with more of his message titled Jesus, The Way, the Truth,
The Life.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Just by way of contrast, I was just doing meetings
a few weeks ago in Europe.
Did, did some speaking in the Netherlands.
And there was a guy coming to meet me in
the meetings. He'd contacted us beforehand, so I, I knew
it was coming.
He had been watching the broadcast. He was a drug
addict and had other issues in his life, and he
got radically saved watching the broadcast, gave life to Jesus,
(12:06):
got set free from drugs, basically he's become an evangelist,
and he's written an amazing book to help other people
that that struggle with addictions.
And so he's gonna come to the meeting. He wants
to meet me in person.
And he also lets me know, says, you know, my
girlfriend and I, we've been together for 17 years. We
have 3 kids.
(12:27):
But I was listening to you teach about marriage and
about sex from the scriptures.
says, and I realized that
What the scriptures say that that sex is just exclusive
for a man and a woman within the context of
a marriage.
He said, we did everything backwards, we're not married. He said,
so my, my girlfriend and I, we, we have chosen
(12:49):
to remain celibate.
Until we are officially married.
So I, I knew that coming in and so I,
I meet with him, his girlfriend, his lovely kids, got
3 lovely small kids.
And we're, we're talking in the green room for quite
a while, while he gave me a copy of his book,
and then like I said, I knew it was coming.
He gets down on one knee.
(13:12):
Pulls out a little box with a ring in it
and proposes to his girlfriend, and she says, yes, of course,
and it was, it was quite a moment.
And all of us got down on our knees, the
little kids, him and his girlfriend and me, I put
my hands on them. We all prayed. It was really
a
Bit of a sacred moment, and I know some people think, oh,
that's so extreme. Heck, they've been together 17 years. They
(13:35):
already got 3 kids, so they're not gonna sleep together. No,
that is the proper normal response of a heart that
has received the life of Jesus.
There also embraces the truth of Jesus. Like, I'm not
gonna try and change his truth to fit my lifestyle.
I'm gonna adjust my lifestyle to fit his truth.
(14:00):
John 14:23, Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone
loves me, he will keep my word.
And my Father will love him and we will come
to him and make our home with him. He who
does not love me does not keep my words, and
the word which you hear is not mine, but the
father's who sent me. Listen, there is great blessing in
(14:21):
embracing and obeying his truth.
And I had a dear friend. He's been in heaven
quite a few years now. He was a member of
the church. He and his wife, his kids. He was
a few years older than me, his kids maybe 3,
maybe 4 years younger than me.
And honestly, this guy.
(14:43):
is no doubt was was one of the sweetest.
Kindest, most generous hearted people I've ever met in my life.
And I watched him behind the scenes, he was so kind.
It just, it just this kindness and generosity oozed out
of him.
And he just had time for everybody was so loving,
(15:06):
just amazing, amazing. And I was surprised when his kids
told me that the adult kids now says, you know, um,
He terrorized us growing up.
We lived in stark terror of him every day.
If you crossed him in the slightest way, he exploded.
He's just violent outbursts. He would cuss at us and
(15:28):
scream at us, and, and, you know, invariably there would
be physical violence as well, but his family said when,
when he embraced Jesus, everything changed. He just didn't embrace
the life of Jesus, he embraced the truth of Jesus.
You know, Jesus said, bless those that curse you. Do
good to those who hate you. Pray for those who
(15:50):
spitefully use you and persecute you. The scripture says to
forgive even as you've been forgiven, you know, in Christ,
said he embraced that truth, they said it changed the
whole family, the whole atmosphere in our home changed. There
was peace in our home, there was reconciliation in our home.
It's affected us, it's affected our kids. It changed everything.
(16:13):
When he embraced Christ and embraced the truth of Jesus,
as well as the life of Jesus. Basically,
I can't come to Jesus and say, I want eternal
life and all of the benefits that it brings.
But don't talk to me about what to do or
(16:35):
not to do.
I've got my own ideas, Jesus, about what's right or wrong.
It sounds like Adam and Eve in the garden, doesn't it?
Don't tell me what to do with my money, or
how I can express my sexuality. And Jesus, I want
eternal life, but this stuff you say about sin and
(16:55):
judgment and hell, and the exclusivity of the cross. I
don't accept any of that stuff.
No, it doesn't work that way. You can't embrace and
enjoy the life of Jesus if you reject the truth
of Jesus.
Listen to this. First John 2 and verse 4. If
someone claims, I've come to know God by experience, yet
(17:17):
does not keep God's commands, he's a phony, and the
truth finds no place in him. Now that doesn't mean
a believer will never sin, nor is it, does it
mean that we'll never struggle with temptation, but it does
mean that the one that rejects his truth does not
share in his life.
(17:37):
And again, I want to emphasize to you there is
great benefit, great benefit in embracing and obeying the truth
of Jesus, whether it has to do with his promises
or his prohibitions.
Jesus said, I'm alive.
And the truth, he also said I'm the way.
Let's talk about the way of Jesus. We talk about
(17:58):
the way and it, it speaks to us of direction.
And certainly we get that from what Jesus said in
John 14. I'm the way no one comes to the
Father except through me.
It's exclusive. It's the only way into a relationship with God.
You cannot have a relationship with the Creator unless you
come through Jesus. Jesus said this, Matthew 7:13, Enter by
(18:22):
the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad
is the way that leads to destruction. And there are
many who go in by it, because narrow is the
gate and difficult is the way which leads to life,
and there are few who find it.
It's narrow because Jesus is it.
(18:44):
It's difficult for some.
Because they don't like the guardrails of truth.
That God places there.
But it is narrow. It's a narrow way and it's
a difficult way. It's the only way into the Father's family.
It's through Jesus who is the life and the truth.
But you know, when we speak of way as well
(19:06):
as denoting direction.
It also denotes method.
You know, the way something is done, and I think
Many of God's people don't know much about the way
of Jesus. They may know about the life of Jesus
and the truth of Jesus, but they don't know too
much about the way of Jesus. His way.
(19:29):
was
Personal
Relational and unhurried.
The way of Jesus, personal, relational, and unhurried. Jesus was
never in a hurry.
He always had time for people and was content to
minister where he was. We tend to be very program oriented.
(19:54):
Jesus was people oriented. We tend to be very transactional
when it comes to our interactions with people.
But Jesus.
was very relational.
When it came to his interactions with people. And yes,
he spoke to large crowds, but we find time after
time where Jesus lingered with people, talking with them, sharing
(20:19):
meals with them. He never seemed to be in a hurry,
and yet no one in the history of the world
had more to do than he did.
Even before he entered into ministry, if you think about it.
All right, Jesus, you're 20 years old.
Don't you realize there's a lot of people that need healing? What,
(20:40):
what are you waiting for?
All right, Jesus, you're 21. Come on, there are people
that need to hear. You preach.
You should get out and do something. Why, why are
you still working in, in your stepdad's carpentry business? All right,
you're 24 now, Jesus, come on, do you realize, Jesus,
there are people here in Israel, people in your hometown,
(21:03):
they will die and go into eternity and never hear
you preach if you don't get out and preach now?
He's 26.
Jesus
What about all the sick? What about the, the, the
people that are so confused? They need to hear you,
they need your touch. She's 27, she's 28. Jesus.
(21:28):
It's 29.
Finally, at 30 years of age, he enters into ministry.
And even though he works hard, he doesn't rush around.
He has time for individuals. He has time to train
the 12 disciples. Even after the resurrection, you read the story,
(21:51):
he meets 2 disciples and, and their eyes are veiled.
They don't realize it's him. They're, they're leaving Jerusalem and
Jesus starts walking with them on the road. They're going
to Amaya, 7 miles away.
Jesus walks with him for 2 hours.
More asking questions, listening.
Talking to them
(22:13):
And then he goes in and sits down to eat
with them. Like, Jesus, this is after the resurrection. You
got hours?
To walk on the road and talk to these two guys?
What's going on?
By contrast, the pace of many men and women that
I know in ministry is build, build, build, go, go, go.
(22:36):
Don't stop, no time, take your work home with you,
no time for kids, no time for friendships. We gotta go, go, go, go, go.
No wonder so many people are fatigued and burned out.
Whether their preachers are involved in some other sort of work.
Friend God.
(22:57):
I never
In a hurry
But most people that I know are.
So, I've got a word for you. Actually two words,
slow down.
I guarantee you you will not lay upon your deathbed
wishing you had spent more time at the office.
(23:20):
My friend, Jesus' way is something we must learn. Jesus said,
take my yoke upon you and learn from me.
His way is something we must learn. Jesus truth is
something we must embrace and obey.
And Jesus' life is something that we must receive by faith.
(23:44):
The Bible says, by grace are you saved through faith,
not not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not
of works lest anyone should boast. There's nothing you can do,
nothing I can do to earn it. It is the
hand of grace reaching out and offering this life freely.
And it's received by faith by putting our trust in
Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
You've been listening to Pastor Bayless Conley, founding pastor of
Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos here on K Waves Pastor Spotlight.
Bayless will be back tomorrow with a look at Psalm
61 and a message called Lead me to the Rock.
We invite you to join us right here at the
same time Thursday.
Again, Bayless Conley and his wife Janet founded Cottonwood Church
(24:27):
over 41 years ago with a commitment to faithfully and
consistently teaching the word of God. Today, Cottonwood Church's mission
statement remains bringing a living Jesus to a dying world.
They're also known in the community for the regular community
outreach events. Cottonwood Church is located at 4505 Cottella Avenue
in Los Alamitos. Sunday worship.
Services are 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. with the holidays approaching,
(24:51):
you'll wanna check out Christmas at Cottonwood, be here for
the Christmas Eve and candlelight services, and to ring in
the new year, you're invited to the New Year's Eve
service and worship night. You and your family are welcome
at Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos. They're located at 4505
Cottella Avenue. For directions and information, visit Cottonwood.
Dot org. That's Cottonwood.org. And be sure to look for
(25:15):
Cottonwood Church on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. We invite you
to join us right here at the same time tomorrow
for another message from Bayless Conley, founding pastor of Cottonwood
Church in Los Alamitos. We hope you'll join us. Pastor
Spotlight is a production of K Wave Radio, sharing life,
delivering truth, giving hope.
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