Let's be in Exodus chapter 3. When we began this chapter a few weeks ago, I mentioned that one of the foremost things about this chapter is the revelation of God that is made unto us in this chapter. Throughout this chapter, there's many I don't know if expressions is the right word, but there's just many revelations.

It's God revealing himself to his people in a very blessed and intimate manner. And this morning, I want to look at, well, if we have time, we're going to look at three verses in particular, but I'm going to spend a lot of time on the first one. But if we do have time, I'll touch on them. Otherwise, I'll expand on them. another time, but the first revelation regards how our Lord reveals himself in speaking of himself in a way that we need his grace to understand it.

That'll be in verse 14. And then the second revelation is how God reveals himself toward his people. in verse 15. And it's really an expansion on what he reveals or what he says of himself in verse 14, as I understand it, as I see it. And then the third revelation regards is in verse 18 of how the Lord reveals himself to those who are outside of Christ as the God of his people. It's how the Lord reveals himself to others who are not in Christ.

But this first one regards who God is in himself, his very being. And it says, verse 14, and God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And the Lord said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. And so here our Lord reveals himself as I am that I am.

And there's something about that name, especially when you first hear it, that you think, I don't know what to make of that. I don't know how to put my finger on that. I'm not sure what he means when he says, I am that I am. And the reason why is there's nothing that we can liken God to when he says that is there.

In this world of idolatry, Men have depicted God as having feathers like he's a bird, something like that. They make beasts out of him. Aaron at the foot of Mount Sinai will make a calf, two calves at some point, out of gold. Men make beasts out of him. Men make images like he's unto man. We see these things. Man always wants to nail God down. And think of them in this way. If it said God is blue, we would probably think of the sky or something like that.

But there's nothing in this that we can put our hands on. There's nothing in creation that we can say, oh, that's what he means when he says that I am that I am. And what the Lord is revealing to us here is that except God reveal himself to me, I cannot know him. cannot know him.

And that's really what the Lord is doing. He's stirring up our hearts to seek him. And so the Lord leaves us wondering when he says, I am that I am. It's too much for my puny brain to really get my arms around it, so to speak. and just know what he means. But I do believe that by his grace, the Lord does reveal himself to his people. And he does reveal what he means. And there have been men who, throughout history, have drawn some conclusions and come up with some meaning to what our Lord says here when he says, I am that I am.

But again, We, except the Lord reveal Himself to us, it's only in philosophy that we would understand Him. It's only in a intellectual dead sense that we would know Him. We need the Lord to reveal Himself to us, because then everything that He does reveal in His Word, all is wonderful, and it finds a place, it makes sense to us, it's very sweet, and the Lord, delights to reveal Himself to you, that you would know Him and delight in Him.

And so he does reveal himself to us, but it far exceeds my ability to describe him in one message, in a lifetime of messages, because he's always going to be greater than how I can explain it. He's always more wonderful than I can say. He's more beautiful, more holy, just wonderful, much more than my words can express. He is, as Paul said, the indescribable gift. Who can explain Him in all His glory and beauty?

We'll be there for all eternity, wondering, rejoicing, and worshiping Him who is, who is God. have circled around what he means by, I am that I am. There's various translations that can give us a sense of what he means. There's a translation called the Vulgate, which would be written in Latin, the Vulgate translation. And they have it as, the way it would translate is, I am who am. I am who am. Then there's a Septuagint, and it transcribes it. The Septuagint would have been written for the Jews in Greek, as they were dispersed throughout the various lands. And the way it's transcribed there is, I am he who exists. There's other versions, though, like the Arabic. There's an Arabic version. We in English have the Textus Receptus, I guess, which is Latin, too. But in Arabic, and it's paraphrased as the eternal, who passes not away.

That's what they think it means. And then the Jews have their targums that they look to. It's sort of like a commentary on the scriptures, but it's what they read instead of just reading the scriptures as I understand it. But they have it paraphrased as, he who spake, and the world was, who spake, and all things existed.

And then some say this, that literally it means I will be what I will be. And I actually kind of like that because what that's saying to us is, what the Lord's saying here, and it's very similar to what we'll see in verse 15, but what he's saying is, as I have been, as I have revealed myself to Abraham and your fathers, Isaac and Jacob, so I will be to you in Egypt. So I will be to my people and deliver them from Egypt. As I've been to them, so I will be to you.

And that really is a beautiful picture of the Lord, of who he is. And I pray that as we go through this more, you'll see this. And so I'll do my best to give you a sense of our Lord revealing himself to us as I am. I am that I am. And it is a mystery. I hope that, I mean, as I'm stumbling through this, I hope that you see it's a mystery, yet it is a mystery revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

That is how you're going to know God. We can fumble around in abstract things, but the mystery of God is revealed unto us in a very intimate and personal way in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you will know God, know Christ. If you will know God, look to the Lord Jesus Christ because that's the one of whom this word is testifying of. And speaking of Him, that is how we know the true and living God. This is what our Lord said in John 6, verse 46 and 47. And turn to John because there's a few verses that I'm gonna quote from in the book of John. So John chapter six and verse 46 and 47. John 6, 46 and 47.

Our Lord says, Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the Lord Jesus Christ, hath everlasting life. That's how you're going to know the Father is in Christ. Look at chapter 1, John chapter 1, verse 18. This is John testifying of Christ. where he says, no man hath seen God at any time.

The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. He spoke, and that's how we know the true and living God. He hath declared him. Christ reveals to us the mystery of God. Him who we cannot know or understand, being in this flesh, dead in trespasses and sins, Christ reveals Him to us. Christ reveals God to us. Our Lord, when He was speaking to Philip, said in John 14, verse 9, he that hath seen me, Philip, hath seen the Father. All who look to Christ and see Christ and hear him, you've seen the Father, because Christ is the very Godhead bodily.

He's the fullness of the Godhead in a body. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost revealed unto us. And therefore, because these things are so, he gave a warning in John chapter five. Look at John chapter five, verse 37 through 40. He says, and the Father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness of me.

He's talking about the miracles which he did. Sometimes touching the people. Sometimes the people weren't even there. Sometimes he spoke a word. Sometimes he just said to them after the fact, it's done as you've believed, as you've asked. It's done. It's already done. And so he said, the Father hath borne witness of me, ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. All right, they didn't. His voice is Christ. And they didn't see Christ. They didn't see him there. They didn't recognize him there. And ye have not his word abiding in you. For whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. It's a testimony that all who do not believe Christ, who will not hear Christ and believe him, trust him, and follow him, they don't have the voice, they don't have the word of God in them, because Christ is the word of God.

He is the voice of God. He is the very image of God revealed unto us. Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. This word is not telling you how to get yourself saved by your doing. It's revealing Christ to you, who is the very salvation of God. And he tells us, ye, by your nature, by your will, by your actions, will not come to me that ye might have life. And so it's in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you will know God, if you will know Jehovah God, it is by Jesus Christ. That is whom he sent to reveal himself to us.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2.7, But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Paul is testifying that we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ unto you because the gospel is what reveals the mystery of God to you. because the gospel speaks of and testifies of him of whom this book writes, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is given to us to make known to us who God is. In all his glory, wonder, and power, why he's made us what he's doing, it all is revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we're gonna know who he is. Therefore, understand that everything I do say here in this message can only rightly be heard and understood and received and believed and obeyed and submitted to in the Lord Jesus Christ through faith in him, trusting him, looking to him, believe him.

He is the very salvation of God given unto sinners whereby we must be saved. It is by Christ. This name, this name, I Am That I Am, what it speaks of, it has to do with his being, the very being, the very fact that God is, the very fact that God exists.

Hebrews 11.6 speaks of this very thing, saying, but without faith, it is impossible to please God. Why? For he that cometh to God must believe that he is. We must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So this, when he says, I am that I am, it speaks of his existence.

There is a God. There is one God, right? Because there can only be one God. If there were many gods, God wouldn't be God, right? Because they're fighting. There's one God. There's only one God. And that's why he is God. He exists, and he encourages us, seek me, seek him, seek the true and living God. Seek him to know him, he does exist.

And there's people that claim to be ignorant of that fact, and they'll let you know it just by telling you the silliest things, and they have no clue about what they're talking about. This life here, as we know, wouldn't even exist without God, it would be just, void. There would be nothing. Nothing. The second thing that we may understand in this is the self-existence of God. The self-existence of God. What does that mean? It means that God doesn't need us.

He doesn't need anything for Him to be God. He's still God. Whether we are here or not, He is still God. Perfect wonderful, holy, righteous, perfect in all his being, he is God. He is perfect in himself alone, and he's perfectly content in himself. Another way I'm trying to say it is, whether there's creation or not, God is God. The creation doesn't add anything more to God, and the lack of creation doesn't take away anything from God. He is that perfect. in himself. And Moses wrote of this in Psalm 90 verse 2, when he said, Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art That's without us, whether we're here or not.

He's God. In all his perfect glory, God is God. He is self-existent. The third thing denoted here, and how he reveals himself to us, is his eternality, or that God is eternal. He's eternal. God is now, and he always was, Just as he always was without beginning, just as he always shall be without end. He is and he was just as he shall be. He is God, he's eternal God.

Let me read a few ways in which this is described just from the book of Revelation. John writing to the seven churches which are in Asia. So this is the Apostle John in Revelation chapter one, in verse four. He writes to the churches, grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come.

And then in that same chapter, these are all different witnesses here. In that same chapter, our Lord describes himself saying, verse eight, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I'm Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. He's the beginning and the end. Saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. What he is today, he always was and always shall be. Almighty God.

And then over in Revelation 4, verse 8, it's how the four beasts worship God. And I think there's a sense in which those four beasts are the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These four beasts are seen here in these Gospels always testifying to us night and day of this thing around the world.

It's always testified to. They rest not day and night saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and which is to come. Which was and is and is to come. The Gospels testify of that to us. And then it speaks of the four and 20 elders over in Revelation 11, verse 17. The four and 20 elders, 24 elders. The 12 sons of Jacob, the 12 tribes of Jacob being pictured there representing the law and the prophets and the 12 apostles of our Lord. All testifying of this one thing saying in verse 17 of chapter 11, we give thanks, we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned. All this word is testifying of our God who is, and was, and ever shall be.

The angel of the waters over in Revelation 16.5, the angel of the waters say, thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. As God is today, he was, and ever shall be. Just as God is today, he was and ever shall be.

And that is a great comfort. Think of how comforting that was to the Jews who heard that, because in it he's testifying to us. As I revealed myself to Abraham and your fathers, I shall be to you in all my word and promise. He promises. He's going to fulfill all his promises to us in Christ.

And so the fourth thing related to that point is God is immutable. And what that means simply is God doesn't change. He will not change. He does not change. Malachi 3.6, for I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Because we change. We change. Think of the great change that took place in Adam. When Adam was in the garden, when he rebelled against God and he sinned, he became corrupted, died spiritually. That fellowship with God was lost, was put away. And we change.

We can start out one way and end up a totally different way. We could begin with a good thought in mind and end up doing something totally different. That is nothing like the way we set out when we started. We could say, I'm going to do this, and then not do it at all. In fact, we even do the opposite. We can do worse than what we started out doing. I mean, that's how much man can and does change.

And so the Lord is revealing to us that he doesn't change. He will not change, and he does not change. And he reveals himself in many attributes, many beautiful attributes that all speak to and all testify something of God's grace and love and holiness. And we can't take any one of those things away. God is just, God is holy, God is righteous, God is love, God is merciful, God is compassionate, God is gracious, and God delights to do so. He delights in the mercy and he never changes, and to deny any attribute of God is to deny God. That's how complete and full he is.

When he was revealing himself to Moses, later on we'll get to this, in Exodus 34. In Exodus 34, in verses five through seven, he reveals himself to Moses in this way. And it says in verse five, and the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth. keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. And that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children unto the third and to the fourth generation. And so the Lord gives many, many words to describe him there to us.

But what's so amazing, as I was looking at this this morning, and looking over my notes here, that back in chapter 33, the chapter just before this, in verse 23, he said to Moses, I'll show you my backside. I'll show you my backside. I'll put you in a cleft, and I'll show you my backside.

And it struck me how that, The way we understand the Lord is not because we did anything first. He does it. He puts us in Christ. And then we see his backside in the sense that that's where then we understand how merciful, how gracious, how compassionate he was to us in doing that all for us. You see, it all comes after the fact. We didn't do anything to earn it. We didn't make him be gracious to us. It's all on the backside because he's already done it.

He's already passed by and done these very things for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in that cleft of the rock that we know and understand just how merciful and gracious, how loving, how holy, how just God is. That's where we see it, on the backside. On the backside of what? Because he's already done it for us, in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so there's many words that that our Lord gives, but no one word can do it except to say Christ, except to see Him in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then begin to understand just how full, how wonderful He is, how marvelous He is.

Fifth, God is faithful and constant in all His promises. And He assures us of this, how? In and by the Lord Jesus Christ. that how faithful he is, how constant he is, how he will not change. Again, this goes back to what we've seen, but it says in Hebrews 13, 8, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. And so as the Lord, again, to what he's saying to Moses, in how I've been to your fathers as I've been to Abraham and to Isaac and Jacob as I've shown myself to them I will show myself to thee and that's what he's saying to us in Christ that never changes it will never change and that is a mercy to us who are made to see our sin, who see our failings, our shortcomings, and how it's not me saving myself, because if it is me, I'm going to hell. I cannot do it.

But it's Him, and that's what He's shown us, the constancy, the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's testifying to us as He was then, He is today, and He ever shall be for us. We are saved in the grace of God and by Christ, who is eternal. And that's a great, great comfort for sinners like us. like us and so our Lord is is blessing us in and by the Lord Jesus Christ and he's given Christ who came in the flesh to manifest who the true living God is to weak puny minded simple individuals who otherwise are lost and do not know God or how to come to him or worship him but in Christ we know we come in Christ We come in Christ, right? I might be wearing a suit, you're wearing a shirt, doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. The Lord receives us in and by the Lord Jesus Christ for his righteousness.

Nothing we do on the outside can change that. Nothing we do on the inside can change that. What is, is all done because of God. And it cannot and will not change. Just look at what happened in Adam. It all blew up in Adam and God did not change from his eternal glorious purpose in making a people for himself to know him and to rejoice in him and have an inheritance of eternal life in him forevermore. And so he gave us Christ because God is spirit. God is a spirit and we don't really know what that is.

People might say, try and say they know what that is. We don't know. We don't understand that by our limited understanding. But he tells us that in John chapter 4, when he was talking to the woman at the well. And she's saying what she knows. She's, I guess, a theologian, so to speak. And she's speaking about what she knows.

But the Lord Jesus Christ is cut to it all and said, God is a spirit. And they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. And you and I don't know what that means or how to do it, but Christ has done it. He is it. And so that's how we come, because he is the way, the truth, and the light. That's how we worship God in truth. And he gives us a spirit, and how we worship God in spirit. And so he's everything. He gave us his son. And these scriptures call Jesus Christ the word of God.

And what do you use your words for? You use your words, when used properly or in a good sense, to explain yourself. to communicate to others. It's how you take what's in your mind and you communicate it to another with the word. It's how you reveal what you're thinking and what your ideas are and what you're going to do to others is by your words. And so the very person of Jesus Christ is called the word of God because he is the one who reveals to us and explains to us who God is the same way you use your words to say, I would like my toast this way or that way. but, or, or, don't. You use your words. And so our Savior is the communication of God's person to us. And that goes back to the very, very beginning.

You can go back to the garden after Adam fell. It says that he heard the voice of God walking in the garden. He heard the voice of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He heard that, right? And if you go back even further, when God said, let there be light, God was revealing that he would be gracious to a people. And he gave his word to testify of that grace that he would have for his people.

It's all through his word and it's done and in by the Lord Jesus Christ, as we read in John chapter one. beginning in verse one, when we're told, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him. Everything that is made, the Lord spoke it into existence. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the very word of God. And without him was not anything made that was made.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. Well, if Christ is the word, and he came in the flesh, and he spoke these things and did these miracles, why didn't the darkness comprehend it? Why didn't men receive it, and why didn't they understand? because it testifies to us that God must reveal himself to us in a personal and intimate way. That without him revealing himself to us in that personal manner, we will not know him. We'll only understand him the way the Jews understood him and rejected him and refused him.

But when God reveals himself to you effectually in your heart, that's when you'll hear the word of God. That's when you receive the word of God and when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who testifies to us of the Father. That's when we know him and rejoice in him of who he is and that he does not change.

And so, Our Lord tells us here, He reveals Himself to us, and He says in His Scriptures, John 3, 16, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Well, Christ came into this world in the flesh, fulfilling all righteousness, which you and I cannot do, and He did it perfectly. And He as our faithful high priest, as our Lord, the one for whom all this world is made and testifies of, He alone makes us acceptable unto the Father because we are righteous in Him. We are received in Christ. And that's why we come in the Lord Jesus Christ, to be received of the Father in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, So that's how we're gonna come. That's how the Lord's gonna receive us, is in him. It's not because of our goodness. It's not because of our works. It's not because of our form of religion. It's because of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so the Lord does that in him. Now, one more thing I'll say on this point is back in verse 11. Moses, so Exodus 3, 11. Moses said unto God, who am I? That was Moses' confession. Who am I? That I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt.

So here we see that Moses was prepared of the Lord a humble man. God made him a humble man. He stripped him down by putting him, driving him out of Egypt, putting him in the wilderness, and just leaving him there for decades. Just left him there, and he just got stripped down and was very humbled. And so he asks, who am I?

And the Lord doesn't correct Moses, right? He doesn't puff up Moses and say, oh, Moses, you can do it. You can do it. You're going to be fine, Moses. You can do it. No. What he shows Moses is that the Lord is our confidence. You're right. We can't do it. We can't do it, but the Lord said in verse 12, certainly I will be with thee. You're right, you can't do it, I can't do it, we can't do these things, it's impossible for us, but I will be with thee, the Lord says.

And so, in addition to that, if you remember, the last time Moses was in Egypt, when Moses was in Egypt, we're told that Moses supposed that his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not. Instead, what did they do? They asked him, they said, who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Who made you this prince and judge over us that you can say these things and do what you're doing? Moses didn't have an answer for him, did he? He didn't know who to say. He had no name to give them.

And so God said unto Moses in verse 14, I am that I am, that's who you're gonna tell them. I am hath sent me to you. I am that I am, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. So when they come and say, well, who are you to lead us out of Egypt? You tell them I am, I am. The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you. And so Moses asked, who am I? And the Lord revealed, Moses, you're nothing.

You have no strength. You have no ability. You have no influence. You have no power, nothing to affect anything. You're nothing in yourself. What we are in self is not important. We're just a ragtag bunch, a small body, and we're dependent on the Lord. What's important is that our God is the great I am. He's the great I am, and he's revealed himself to us in a peculiar, intimate manner.

You think about, I'm sure Adam was a very intelligent person, capable of great intelligence, and everything that Moses understood was just from the voice of God speaking to him. so that when God spoke to him, it just opened up pathways and knowledge and understanding of what to do, intending for that garden and providing for everything. He just knew it because God spoke to him.

Well, so it is with us. Our God, by the Lord Jesus Christ, speaks to us. And that's how we know God. That's how we come to God and how we worship Him, in understanding, in spirit and in truth, in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's what our Lord has done. He's provided a way for us to come to Him and know Him in spirit and in truth perfectly. It is in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I'll just close with these words from Romans 3, 24 through 26. that being justified freely by his grace through the redemption, that blood redemption when Christ spilled his blood on the cross to wash away our sins, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, to turn away his wrath through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission or forgiveness of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believe it in Jesus. And so that is the I am, the Lord Jesus Christ, who said before Abraham was, I am. I am. He is the great I am. That too is sent unto us and who reveals to us the Father. in His grace. Amen.