"Out of His Ways"

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

Jesus Christ is “the Way,” “the Truth,” and “the Life.” In this message we are going to focus on Christ as “the Way.” He is not only “the Way,” but He is the only way, for He adds further, No man cometh unto the Father, but through Me.

Prophetically and typically a “way” can also be termed a path, road, avenue, or street. And so it is in Revelation chapter 21, where we find the saints of God – His dwelling place – described as the holy Jerusalem (verse 10) with a street of gold. The Lord Jesus Christ is that Street of Gold. Gold speaks of His divine nature, and the fact that there is only one street reiterates the truth that He is the only way.

Christ was one person until after His ascension and the Day of Pentecost. Then Christ became a many-membered Body. Paul explains it most beautifully in the twelfth chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. Verses 12-14. Therefore, Christ is one Body with many members. No one individual is Christ, but we are each members of Him. And, as Paul explains it, there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord; and diversities of operations, but the same God (verses 4-6).

There is one Lord (Ephesians 4:5), but He ministers differently through the various members of His Body. Paul, again, speaks of this to the Corinthians. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. I Corinthians 12:14-20. It is in this way that the Body of Christ is perfected.

Ephesians 4:11-15 And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ.

There is only one Lord! However, He ministers through some as an apostle, through some as a prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, etc. It is the one Christ ministering through His many members. In the same way that the one Christ becomes a many-membered Christ, the one Way becomes a many-membered Way. The apostles are a way (or, channel) for the ministry of the Lord who is “the Way.” So it is for the prophet and every other ministry in the Body of Christ. The Lord teaches us and instructs us through the various “ways” of the “one Way.” It is for this reason that the many-membered Body of Christ is created. It is the channel for the Lord to minister in the earth in this day. Isaiah prophesied of this. Let’s look at it.

Isaiah 2:2-3 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Isaiah is prophetically speaking of this day when the Lord is ministering through His many-membered Body. It is the Lord’s house; it is His dwelling place. The Body of Christ is the house of the God of Jacob – both Zion and Jerusalem prophetically refer to His Body. I draw your attention to the statement: He will teach us of His ways. The King James translators changed the original Hebrew somewhat to make it sound more reasonable. The literal translation is: He will teach us out of His ways. His ways are those ministers of the Kingdom spoken of by Paul – the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. And I might add that the whole Body will come into this ministry. The members of the Body of Christ will be the “ways” through which the “Way” will teach the nations.

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