Let us turn to God's Word once
again. With the Lord's help I want this
morning to direct your attention to words that we find at the
end of that portion that we read in John. John chapter 8 and verse
58. The Gospel according to John
chapter 8, verse 58, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. In this Gospel, of course, we
have many of these great I am statements, how the Lord Jesus
Christ is revealed to him as God, manifest in the flesh. We can think of so many of those
statements, declares himself, to be the way the truth and the
life I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the
Father but by me I am the door by me if any man go in he shall
be saved and go in and out and find pasture I am the good shepherd
he says the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep and when
we read this portion. We begin there at verse 12 where
he says, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. There
are a multitude then of these great statements and we find
them here in this particular chapter. Back in verse 24 he said, therefore
I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins, for
if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins." The
He, the pronoun in italics indicating that it's been inserted in the
translation, whereas the Greek literally says, if you believe
not that I am. ye shall die in your sins. And then again, at verse 28,
then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of
Man, then ye shall know that I am He. And again, the pronoun
in italics, literally it says that when lifted up, that is
when crucified upon the cross, they should know that this was
indeed the Great I Am. or the wonder of the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ and how important it is that we understand
the significance of who He is and not simply the great work
that He came to do. Our salvation is in His person
as well as in His work and He is the God-man. Without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. He who came to save his people
then. He's not only a real man, but
he is never anything less than true Almighty God. Paul, addressing those Ephesian
elders in Acts chapter 20, speaks of that Church of God which he
hath purchased with his own blood. not the gods as a body, the parts
of a body, not God as blood. There we are reminded that that
one who died upon the cross, that real man who poured out
his soul unto death, who died a bloody death, was never anything
less than true Almighty God. And in fact we see how even in
dying the Lord Jesus Christ reveals something of His deity. Isn't that the significance of
those words that He speaks back in verse 28? When ye have lifted
up the Son of Man, then ye shall know that I am. Remember how later in this gospel
we see that when they come to arrest him in the garden of Gethsemane,
he declares himself to them and they fall backward, they cannot
draw near to him, they're not able to lay a finger upon him. It's not so much that they come
and take him away to crucify him, but his death is very much
a voluntary death. There in chapter 18 at verse
4 following, we're told how Jesus, therefore knowing all things
that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Who
will seek you? They answered Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am He. And again the pronoun in italics,
literally He says unto them, I am. And Judas also which betrayed
Him stood with them. As soon then as He had said unto
them, I am He, literally I am, they went backward and fell to
the ground. Or they could not take him. As I said, his sacrifice was
really a voluntary sacrifice, as he says here in chapter 10.
He had power to lay down his life and he had power to take
it again. This was the commandment that
he had received from the father. No man, no man was able to take
his life from him. even as he comes to die then
the Lord Jesus reveals something of his glory as God and we see
it here in what he says at verse 56 your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day he says and he saw it and was In this there
is a reference of course to Abraham's experience as we have it recorded
back in Genesis chapter 22 when God trying his faith commands
him to sacrifice his son Isaac and he is obedient to that commandment
is about to offer up his son but there is that provision that
is made, he doesn't kill his son, there's that ram that is
caught by its horns in the thicket that is to be sacrificed in the
place of Isaac, the great truth of substitutionary atonement,
and it is then as if Abraham receives his son again from the
dead. And when the Apostle Paul speaks
of Abraham's faith, writing in Hebrews chapter 11. See how he
speaks of Christ in his death and Christ in his resurrection. What do we read there in Hebrews
11 verse 17, by faith Abraham When he was tried, offered up
Isaac, and he that had received the promises, offered up his
only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall
thy seed be called, accounting that God was able to raise him
up even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. And what is it that is being
said here, in the context of our text this morning, about
Abram seeing the day of Christ? Oh, Abram sees these things,
discerns these things, the sacrifice of Christ, the raising again
from the dead of the Lord Jesus Christ. How when he comes to
the end of his life and that great purpose of his coming into
the world, his obedience unto death, even the death of the
cross, We see the Lord Jesus demonstrating then something
of His deity. Well, as we come to consider
these words in verse 58, I want us to consider the age and the
authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 57, the Jews say to
Him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, And as they've seen Abraham,
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before
Abraham was, I am. First of all then, the age of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, as I've already intimated, He indicates something of His
eternity as God. were to recognize the truth of
his deity, that he is God. Who is this one declaring himself
to the Jews as the Great I Am? He is that one who was born of
a virgin, born in a stable at Bethlehem. In fulfillment of
the prophecy of Isaiah, those words that we find in Isaiah
9, 6, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Oh yes, the child was born, but
that one who is the son was not born, because He is the Son,
He is the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father. The truth of
His Eternal Sonship. Now we see it time and again
in scripture. We have it in the Old Testament
in Proverbs 8. He says, when there were no depths I was brought
forth. When there were no fountains abounding with water, before
the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth,
brought forth from all eternity. He is the eternal Son of God. And what do we read when we come
to the New Testament? John tells us, whosoever transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God, he that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. This is the doctrine of the Lord
Jesus Christ, is eternal Sonship. If there be no eternal Son, there
can be no eternal Father. You cannot speak of an eternal
Father, God the Father. except there also be One who
is His eternal Son. And this is the mystery that
is revealed with His coming into the world. The Word was made
flesh, says John, and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. full of grace
and truth all the glory you see he is the only begotten Son of
God eternally brought forth and so we see out here in this portion
as the Lord Jesus is speaking to these Jews who so much oppose
him he constantly asserts the truth of his diet before Abraham
was, he says, I am. And he speaks here quite clearly
of his eternity. This is what he is asserting,
he is the eternal Son of God. He doesn't say, before Abraham
was, I was. No, he says something quite different.
Before Abraham was, I am. very conscious of that name that
God declares to Moses back in Exodus chapter 3 I am that I
am, and as I said at the outset these I am passages in which
we see the fullness of the revelation of God in the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ these I am passages they run right through this gospel
according to John And even when we come to the last book of the
New Testament, the revelation of St. John the Divine to give
it its full title as we have it in the authorized version.
Another book you see that was written by the same apostle,
writing of course under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When John
sees that remarkable vision on the Isle of Patmos, recorded
in the opening chapter of the Revelation, how he tells us what
the Lord declares of himself, I am Alpha, and Omega, the beginning
and the end, which is and which was and which is to come, the
Almighty. Again, a plain straightforward
declaration of the eternity of Him who is God's only begotten
Son. Lord and Lord Jesus Christ, here
we see Him then clearly as God, Is He not that One who speaks
in the book of the Prophet Isaiah? There in 43 at verse 13, "...Yea,
before the day was, I am." He says. Before time existed. He was there. He is the Eternal
One. He was there involved in all
the works of creation. By the word of the Lord were
the heavens made, all the host of them, by the breath of His
mouth. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God. All things were made
by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. need to recognize the significance
of these plain statements of Holy Scripture concerning the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ and this was why the Jews were
so intent on killing him or they saw him as one who was
a blasphemer Now according to the to the law of God the blasphemer
was to be stoned to death back in Leviticus 24 16 and when the
Lord Jesus Christ constantly refers to himself as the Son
of God these Jews understood that he was declaring his eternity
he was asserting his diaton and so we have it here at the end
of this 8th chapter Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up
stones to cast at him. Or they would execute him. And why would they do it? Because
of his words, because of his teaching, because of those things
that he had been saying with regards to himself and who he
was. again in chapter 10 verse 33 the Jews answered him
saying for a good work we stoned thee not but for blasphemy and
because of thou being a man make us thyself gods oh they were
so offended you see what did he say There at verse 30, I and
my father are one. Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone him. They said it was blasphemy because
he made himself to be one with God and this was the charge that
they laid against him when they set him before the Roman governor
Pontius Pilate. 19 verse 7, the Jews answered him,
we have a law and by our law he ought to die because he made
himself the son of God. Oh, he was one who so offended
them because he reveals himself. and reveals himself in all the
glory of his deity as that one who is the eternal Son of God
not only before Pontius Pilate but when he's brought before
the Jewish council there in Matthew's account of these things Matthew
chapter 26 and verse 63 following the high priest speaks to the
Lord Jesus, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell
us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said unto
him, Thou hast said, nevertheless I say unto you hereafter, shall
ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven? Then the high priest rent his
clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy. What further need
have we of witnesses? Behold now ye have heard his
blasphemy." This is the charge that they bring against him.
This is the manner in which he so offends them, because he is
revealed, as I said, in all the glory of his deity. All before Abram was a but as we think of the age of
the Lord Jesus Christ we've spoken of His deity in the sense that
He is the Eternal One He is the Eternal God but also here we
are to recognize the reality of His human nature His age as
man look at what they say here in verse 57 Thou art not yet
fifty years old and hast thou seen Abraham? No, he was born,
he was born as a very real babe. There is no questioning the truth
of his human nature and that babe that was born to the Virgin
Mary grew into a child, into a youth, into a man we're told
there in the second chapter of Luke how Jesus increased in wisdom
and stature he's never anything less than God and of course as God he is that
one who is omniscient he knows all things and here is the mystery
because as a man he grows and as he grows so his wisdom increases
These are things that we find inexplicable. How can we explain
these things? We have to bow before the mystery.
It clearly says there in Luke 2.52, Jesus increased in wisdom
and stature, or as the margin says, in wisdom and age. Again we're told there in verse
40, how the child grew. This is a real man. And here
they seem to imagine that he is somewhere in his forties. Thou art not yet fifty years
old. Well we know that the Lord Jesus
never attained such an age as that. It was when he began to be about
thirty years of age that he began his public ministry. when he
is baptized to John in the river Jordan and that ministry now
begins to be worked out obviously it seems here that
he was one who looked much older than he really was but that should
not surprise us in any sense when we consider the manner of
his life here upon the earth he was a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. We read in Isaiah 52 how his
visage was so marred more than any man and his form more than
the sons of men. How he comes as that one who
is going to be the great sin-bearer though himself the sinless one
preserved in his human nature from every taint of sin no original
sin as we know the miracle of the virgin birth that holy thing
that shall be born of thee the angel says to Mary shall be called
the son of God he is free from original sin he is free from
any actual sin holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners
made higher than the heavens and yet that one who comes to
be the sinner's substitute to bear in his own person all that
load of the sins of his people that he will take to the cross
and nail to the cross. Lord Benjamin Beddarm says so
fair of us bejeweled with tears, what beauty in grief appears,
he wept, he bled, he died for you, what more you saints could
Jesus do? Here we see him then as one who
is prematurely old because of that remarkable work that he
has come to accomplish in executing that work that the Father had
committed to Him in the eternal covenant of grace. And here is
one, you see, who can empathize with his people. How Paul speaks
of him, touched with the feeling of our infirmities, tempted in
all points, like as we are, yet without sin. All what saw temptations
what sore temptations he must bear he only could say the prince
of this world cometh and that's nothing in me but the fact that
there is nothing in him no original sin that Satan is able to take
advantage of doesn't mean that the devil will not assault him
in the most fearful manner why his life was a scene of constant
temptations. On one occasion at the end he
says to his own disciples, ye are they which have continued
with me in my temptations. How he is constantly assaulted
withstanding all the onslaught of Satan. He never sins and yet
he's tempted. and he is able therefore to succor
those who are tempted. That is the amazing thing. The reality of his human nature
is such comfort to the believer. All we draw comfort from the
truth of his diet, the fact that he is God and as God he is able
to save to the uttermost But let us not lose sight of that
human nature wherein he is pleased to altogether identify himself
with his people for as much as the children were partakers of
flesh and blood we are told he likewise took part of the same.
In fact in Romans 8 it says he is made in the likeness of sinful
flesh and for sin. He doesn't identify with humanity in the state of innocence he identifies with humanity in
that fallen condition this one who is the last Adam now he comes
to reconcile those sinners given to him in the covenant to reconcile
all of those sinners onto God all that new creation that church
that in the fullness of the time he is going to present to the
Father not lacking in any of its parts but all that it cost
the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we see then friends the
truth of the human nature as well as the divine nature and
look at how real his humanity is They take up stones to cast
at him it seems. But Jesus hid himself and went
out of the temple going through the midst of them and so passed
by. He hid himself. Is he not a pattern to us here?
As a man he hides. As a man he flees from them. Or when we are assaulted by Satan
Are we not to learn of Him, the importance of us seeking to hide
ourselves? And where are we to hide? Why
are we to hide ourselves in the Lord God Himself, the name of
the Lord? The wise man tells us it's a
strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and they say, oh that
is that sure and that certain place of refuge, the name of
the Lord. and all that that name declares
of the goodness, the grace, and the salvation of God. Again,
remember that invitation that we find at the end of Isaiah
26, come my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy
doors about thee, hide thyself as it were for a little moment
until the indignation be overpowered. what are we to do when Satan
comes and attacks us? when he comes with sore temptation
seeking to entangle our feet we are to hide ourselves and
we are to hide ourselves in the Lord our God we are to learn
of the Lord Jesus Christ he hid himself and went out of the temple
going through the midst of them and so passed by, or the age
of the Lord Jesus. What we have revealed to us here,
we see the reality of His human nature, but we see also that
glorious truth of His eternal Sonship, His Diet. But I said
we consider two things, not only His age but also his authority,
and so let us for a while turn in the second place to this authority. Jesus says unto them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. He is declaring that he is the
ancient one. is eternity. And we can think
of the words of Elihu who comes as one of those who would comfort
Job after those other three men have said as much as they can
say. Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar. Then
comes Elihu there in Job 32. And what does he say? Days should
speak, multitudes of years should teach wisdom. Or there is authority,
you see, with age. And here we see something of
the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. And how does He demonstrate
His authority? Well, although we see His infirmity,
we also witness something of His great power. The Scots minister
George Acheson makes the point here how the Lord evidences his
great power even in infirmity. They took up stones to cast at
him. But Jesus hid himself and went
out of the temple going through the midst of them and so passed
by. It was a miraculous thing. Oh yes, he hides himself. but
we have to recognize that this one is also able to deliver himself. We have a similar incident spoken
of in Luke's Gospel, there in Luke chapter 4. In Luke 4 verse 28 and the following
verse We're told how all in the synagogue when they heard these
things, they heard his teachings, were filled with wrath and rose
up and thrust him out of the city and led him onto the brow
of the hill whereon their city was built that they might cast
him down headlong. But he passing through the midst
of them went his way. and came down to Capernaum, a
city of Galilee and taught them on the Sabbath days. He simply passes through the
midst of them. Though they are so bent there
in Luke 4 upon his destruction, they'll stone him, they'll kill
him. And it was the same here, they'd actually taken up the
stones and they were ready to stone him to death. But what
does the Lord do? He goes through the midst of
them and passes by. It is a miracle. They cannot
lay a single finger upon Him. Now we know why this was the
case. It was because His hour was not yet come. Remember the words that we have
back in verse 20 of this chapter. These words spake Jesus in the
treasury as he taught in the temple and no man laid hands
on him for his hour was not yet come. And then again in the previous
chapter, chapter 7 verse 30, then they sought to take him
but no man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet
come. Always immortal, you see. And
of course, all of us in a sense are immortal until the hour of
our dying comes. The time to be born, the time
to die. Plagues and deaths around me
fly, till he bids I cannot die. Not a single shaft can hit till
the God of love sees fit. But now we see it in a remarkable
sense here in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. They would
stone Him and yet miraculously He simply walks through the midst
of them. What are the miracles? The miracles as we see in this
Gospel of John are all signs. They direct us to Him, they direct
us to His authority. The miracles in that sense are
always subservient to his teaching, to his preaching, to the words
that he speaks. Right at the beginning in chapter
2 we have that miracle of the turning of the water into wine.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and
his disciples believed on him. The importance of the miracle
is this, that it serves the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, they
believed on Him. And here as I say, the Lord even
in the midst of all is affirmative. A man appearing to be so aged They were not yet 50 years old,
they say. In the midst of all of those
things laid upon him, he still delivers himself in a remarkable
fashion. And we see something then of
his authority. And this is that one that Abraham
looks to. all the Lord speaks of Abram
rejoicing to see his day seeing it how he was glad, Abram looked
to him, Abram trusted in him Abram is the father of all them
that believe along with those friends who have the faith of
Abram looking to Christ, trusting in Christ remember how that faith
of Abram is spoken of by the Apostle in the fourth chapter
of that epistle to the Romans. What do we read there? Verse 3, what saith the Scripture,
Abram believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Oh, it was his believing in God,
but what was his believing in God? The important thing, of
course, is the Great Object. of that faith, the one that he
is believing in as we see at the end of the chapter he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strung in faith
giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he
had promised he was able also to perform and therefore it was
imputed to him for righteousness, all that that God had promised
that that he saw and discerned when he was commanded to offer
up his son, Isaac, and he was willing to obey the command,
but he sees the great truth of substitutionary atonement, he
sees the resurrection from the dead, who he believes these things,
being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also
to perform, and therefore It was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake alone, Paul says, that it was imputed to him, but for us
also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead. It's written for us. All these
things are written for us, for our learning. that we through
patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. All that the
Lord Jesus says, all that the Lord Jesus does. He's mindful
of His people in all these things. And observe here the message
of the Lord Jesus. Here in the words of our text,
Verily, verily, I say unto you before Abram was, I am." Now
he evidently is saying something very significant here because
he prefixes it not with a single but with a double verily as was
his words many times here in John's Gospel He prefixes his
teaching with this particular word. Now, literally, it is the
word Amen. That word that we use at the
end of prayer. Amen. So be it. Truly. Here we have the old English
word Verily. Verily. Well, we must carefully
consider then Christ's doctrine. the thing that he is teaching.
He is that one, remember, who is the great teacher. Our Nicodemus
is brought to recognize that. We know that thou art a teacher
come from God. No man can do these miracles
that thou doest except God be with him. He is that one who
is the fulfillment of the prophetic office. In these last days God
has spoken unto us by his Son. He is the Amen, the faithful
and true witness. Or how he speaks. Never man spake
like this man they said. When we come to the end of that
Sermon on the Mount, what do we read? Matthew 7, 28, when
Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at
his doctrine. astonished at his teaching, for
he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. He teaches with authority. Here
we have his authority, asserting his own deity, his eternity,
as the Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. And when we think of the ministry
of the Lord Jesus, how discriminating his ministry is. how we see him
in the Gospels preaching Law and Gospel. But he discriminates. He discriminates in the way in
which he deals with those that come to him. He doesn't deal
with them all in the selfsame manner. We have that remarkable
contrast in Luke 18 between the rich young ruler who comes to
the Lord Jesus there at verse 18 following and What does he
say? What must I do? What must I do
to inherit eternal life? And how does the Lord deal with
him? He deals with him in terms of the law. Thou knowest the commandments.
He speaks of the commandments. And the man vainly imagines he's
kept all of these from his youth on. But then when we come to
the end of that same 18th chapter, oh, we see a remarkable contrast.
Blind Bartimaeus, sitting there by the wayside, begging, and
the Lord Jesus coming near, and what does he do? He cries out,
Jesus, our son of David, have mercy upon them. Oh, the Lord
doesn't direct him to the Lord, does he? That rich young ruler comes speaking
of what he's going to do, what must I do to inherit eternal
life? Or this man, this blind man simply
begs for mercy and what does the Lord say to him? What wilt
thou that I shall do? What wilt thou that I shall do
unto the earth? It's what the Lord does you see,
that's the gospel, that's the difference. All but how discriminating
is the ministry of the Lord Jesus in this chapter. We see a difference, do we not?
There were those of the Jews that believed on Him. In verse 31, then said Jesus
to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free. Ah, but then those
other Jews, the multitudes, they don't believe on Him. We be Abraham's
seed, and we're never in bondage to any man. As sayest thou, ye
shall be made for her. All the Lord's ministry. He makes
a difference, there's a division. He separates. He separates the
precious from the vile. And all that we might be those
who are truly precious in His sight. We recognize the wonder
of His person, that this One of whom we read, a real man,
is never anything less than true Almighty God, the Great I Am. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
before Abraham was, I Am. He is Jesus Christ. is the sign
yesterday and today and forever. Oh God grant that we might be
those who truly know him. Amen.