I want us to contemplate for
a little while just the momentous events that happen in John's
Gospel. He's recorded these things and he's selected these remarkable
stories and we're so thankful that he did when others didn't. And he tells us exactly why he's
selected these particular stories. Many other signs truly did Jesus
in the presence of his disciples which are not written in these
books, but these are written, verse 31 of John 20. These are
written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing you might have life, through
His Name, that you might have life in His Name, you might have
life by His Name, you might have life with His Name. And His Name, of course, is His
character. And one of the things that is
remarkable, isn't it, is that the one place in all of nation
Israel for those two days where God was worshipped in spirit
and in truth, was in a Samaritan village, and no one in all of
Israel knew about it. They didn't say it. This was
the first time those disciples that were with the Lord Jesus
Christ, it was the first time they'd ever been in a Samaritan
village. To be in a Samaritan village and to sleep in Samaritan
beds and to eat at tables with Samaritans would have been an
anathema to all of those Jews. And yet, the Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world to save sinners. He came to save sinners. And Paul says, of whom I am chief. All of this and all of what happens
in this world is according to the eternal purposes and the
promises of God, which are all signed and sealed in the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love what he said to that woman
at the beginning of this. He says, woman, believe me, verse
21, woman, believe me, When the hour cometh, and she
might have thought all sorts of things about when that hour
cometh, but the hour came very, very quickly. And this is what
he said, he makes a promise, doesn't he? When ye shall, you
shall, neither on this mountain nor at Jerusalem, you shall worship
the Father. In that Samaritan village there
was worship of God the Father through the presence of the Lord
Jesus Christ, because he came to them who are his bride. I want us to hear John put this
story in almost at the beginning of his gospel, didn't he? We
have in John's gospel the testimony of John himself in the beginning
was the Word and the Word was made God and we have the testimony
of John the Baptist And now we have the testimony. We have the
testimony of our Lord in John chapter three. And now we have
the testimony. This testimony is woman embodied. As the Lord gives us, the Holy
Spirit records for us a picture of salvation, a picture of testimony,
a picture of true spiritual worship. One of the things that's fascinating
isn't it, that's always fascinated me for some years and I have
to, I'm always cautious about talking about things which are
not as explicitly stated in the scriptures as sometimes you'd
like them to be, but the Jews knew that there were five things
missing from that temple. There were five things missing
from Zerubbabel's temple. They had been missing for 600
years. And they knew when they built
that temple that they weren't there. And when Herod rebuilt
Zerubbabel's temple and built this probably the most magnificent
temple of all, he wanted to ingratiate himself with the Jews win their
favour and so he built this extraordinary temple. He actually rebuilt the
ground works underneath it so he could have this huge area
to build this magnificent temple. But they knew, the Jews knew,
that for 600 years there were five things missing from that
temple. The five things missing that they knew were missing was
the Shekinah glory. The Shekinah glory of God, you
might remember when the tabernacle was commissioned, the smoke,
the cloud, that cloud that represents the glory of God, filled that
temple and the priests couldn't continue the work. And the same
happened when Solomon built the temple, the first temple, the
Shekinah glory filled the temple and the priests had to cease
their activities. The second thing that was missing
was the Ark of the Covenant. There was no mercy seat in Zerubbabel's
temple and there was no mercy seat in Solomon's temple. There
was no place in the Holy of Holies for a blood sacrifice to God
and you cannot come into the presence of God without a blood
sacrifice. There's no place of atonement.
The other thing that was missing was the fire on the altar. You
might recall in Leviticus chapter 9 when they'd finished preparations
and they put the sacrifice on the altar, the fire on the altar
came from heaven and lit that fire which was then to be kept
perpetually alight. And the same happened in Solomon's,
there's a dedication of Solomon's temple you can read about in
1 Chronicles. So there's no Shekinah glory.
There was no Ark of the Covenant. There was no fire from heaven
upon the altar. The Urim and the Thummim, light
and perfections, called judgments, were gone. Those things by which
men discerned the very word of God and the direction of God. Malachi was known of the Jews
as the last of them. When Malachi put his pen down,
there was silence, silence from God, until the angel came and
spoke to Zechariah, and the angels came. And the point, there are
many things that you will go away and ponder, I trust, in
relation to all of that. But the point I want to make
is that where the Lord Jesus Christ is, all of these missing
elements are. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
comes to the temple and he says, it's my father's house, he brings
in his own person all those missing things. He is the glory of God. He is the glory of God, impersonated
the glory of God. He is the Ark. He's the Mercy
Seat. He's the Atonement. He's the
One that came into the Holy of Holies in Heaven and brought
His own blood. He... He is the Christ. who consumed the fire of God's
wrath from heaven when it fell on him as the true sacrifice
of God. And the Lamb of God, which takes
away the sin of the world, consumed the fire of God's wrath for all
the sins of all of his people in his own person on the cross. He is the glory of God. He is
the ark of God. He is the one that conveys and
bears the fire of God's wrath. He is the Urim and the Thummim.
It all pictures Him, isn't it? He's the light and perfection.
He says, I'm the light of the world. If you've seen me, you've
seen God, he says. He is the light and perfection.
He's the one that is the way to God, the way of peace and
the way of judgment. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. He is the Urim and the Thummim.
And of course, he is the folk of civil prophecies. And that's
what this woman understood, didn't he? When the prophet, there's
a prophet, she thought he was a prophet. And he is the prophet,
the prophet that was to come. He is the one that brings the
word of God to us. He's the word, he's the word
of God incarnate. So when the Lord Jesus Christ
is present with his people, all the elements of worship are perfectly
there in him. And when he leaves and departs
from those things, there's an emptiness, isn't there? They
have all the forms and they have all the outward show. And yet, without Him and without
His presence and without the revelation of Himself, there
is no worship of God. We worship in Him, we worship
by Him, we worship through Him. True worshippers must worship
in the one person that has ever walked this earth, that has truly
worshipped God with all of his heart, all of his soul, all of
his mind, all of his strength. And he did it, he did it as an
us. I just wanted to briefly look
at the I am's and I want us to see that each of the I am's And
these are not all of them in the Scriptures. In fact, the
term is used hundreds of times in the Scriptures and it's nearly
always a reference to God. In fact, when he says to Abraham,
he reveals himself to Abraham, he says, I am thy shield and
thy exceeding great reward. And so, but we know, let's just
go through them quickly. The Lord Jesus Christ says on
the bread of life in John 6.48, he's the bread of life. And listen
to what the next verse says. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. I
want us to see these things in picture and in in relation to
what he said to the woman when he revealed that he is the Christ.
He was speaking of her receiving living waters in her that will
well up into a well that leads to eternal life. And each time
he speaks of, I am, and he says to her, I'm the Christ, he says,
I'm the bread of life, and the bread of life brings life to
the world. You might recall, the next one
is in John chapter eight. One of the next ones is in John
chapter eight. I am the light of the world,
and that was in relation to that woman that was caught in adultery
and was brought there, and the Lord says to her, where are thine
accusers? And there she was, as guilty
as she could ever wish to be, as much guilt as this woman at
the well had. And he says, I don't accuse you,
neither do I accuse you. Why? Why didn't he accuse her? because all of her sins were
made to be his sins. And he can have fellowship with
her and tell her to go. I'm the light of the world. He that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light
of life. He talked in John 8 about the
deep seriousness of acknowledging that he is God. He says, If you
believe not that I am God, if you believe not that I am Christ,
you shall die in your sins. The horror of what that means
is something I trust that none of us will ever experience, but
to die in your sins, to die surrounded by your sins and continually
reminded and be aware of them. What a saviour. How much do we
need a saviour, brothers and sisters? 1 John 10. He says, 10 verse 9, I am the
door, 10 verse 7, I am the door of the sheep, I am the door.
And then he says, by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved
and shall go out, in and out, and shall find pastures by me. That means in him, in him we
enter in. It's in him we enter in. Verse
11 of John chapter 10, he says, I am the good shepherd, and the
good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, verse
14. I am the Good Shepherd, and I
know my sheep, and am known of mine." He reveals himself to
his sheep. Always in this world he will
reveal himself to his sheep. In chapter 11, in verse 25, you
know the story of Lazarus and Mary and Martha. In verse 25,
he says unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Every revelation
of I Am is attached to eternal life. Isn't it? When he reveals himself
as the I Am, as he did to this woman, he's revealing, he almost
reveals his salvation to his people. I am the Good Shepherd.
I know my sheep. I'm no one of mine. I am the
resurrection and the life. He's come in chapter 12, he says,
I've come as a light into the world that whosoever believeth
on me shall not abide in darkness. And of course that famous verse
in John chapter 14, Jesus says unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. You come to the Father in him.
You come to the Father by him. You come to the Father by his
righteousness. You come to the Father by his
sin-attaining death. Verse 15, I am the true vine. I am the true vine. And you are
the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. Once again, it's all about union,
isn't it? When he reveals himself as the I Am, it's all about union
with him. It's all about him bringing you
into the presence of the Father. And the final one that I want
us to contemplate is the one that... is in John chapter 18,
and you know the story. He'd been in the garden, he was
in the garden of Gethsemane, and Judas had left the upper
room, and Satan had entered him, and Satan entered him, and it
was dark. And then in his union with Satan, he then goes and
has a union with the religious leaders of the Jews, doesn't
he? Jesus Christ declares to be the children of Satan. They
can all join hands together in their enmity and hatred of God.
And Judas comes with a great band of soldiers. If our understanding
of the title of the Roman man who led them, there could have
been a band of 750 people. It's extraordinary, isn't it?
They come to the light of the world and they bring their own
lights. They come to him who is the sovereign of the world
and they bring their spears and shields and their ropes to bind
the Lord Jesus Christ. What an extraordinary picture
of the depravity of man and the hopelessness of man in the presence
of God. How petty and God and he says who do you seek
whom seek you and I answered I but John 18 5 I answered Jesus
now Jesus sayeth unto them I am I am he's what he said the he
in our translation is in italics he just says I am He stood before
those men, Judas and all those other men, all those men sent
from the temple and the Romans. He says, I am God. I am the great I am who met with
Moses. I am who I am. And embedded in
that I am is I will save in the way that I will save. I will
save by my sovereign omnipotent hand, I will save by my grace,
I will save by my blood, I will save in my covenant, and all
that I save will come to me and come to God the Father in me.
And I love what happens next. There's the Lord Jesus Christ
before this band of people. And as soon, verse six, as soon
then as he has said unto them, I am he, they went backward and
fell to the ground. Just imagine 750 men with their
lamps and their spears and their shields and their ropes and all
of their other things. This mighty crowd at the very
word of God falls backwards and falls to the ground. The miracle
is that they were able to get up again. And the only reason
they were able to get up again is because the Lord allowed them
to get up again. And that great band of people
went back to Jerusalem and took him back to his death with most
extraordinary thoughts in their mind. One thing that only the
Lord would have revealed to them and only reveals to him, he didn't
go there as a victim. He wasn't going there as a victim.
He wasn't going there seeking our sympathy. He was going there
as a conquering king and a savior. He was going there to save his
people from their sins. He was going there as a triumphant
Lord. And then I love what he says
in verse eight. I have told you that I am If therefore you seek me, let
these go their way. You can have me, and all of my people
will go free. He's saying that to the law of
God and to the justice of God. You can have me, but everyone
of mine will go free. They'll go their own way. It's a glorious saviour that
we have to proclaim, is it not? Finally, with Pilate, he says,
Are you a king? Are you a king? Jesus answered,
Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice. That word of denotes origin. Everyone who is born of the spirit
and born of the truth and born of God hears his voice. That's salvation. Being brought into the presence
of God by the great I AM. As the great shepherd gathers
his sheep, as the great I Am goes to the cross on their behalf,
the great I Am has risen and reigned and is doing in this
world exactly what he did in John chapter 4. He's going throughout
this world and gathering his lost sheep. He's finding his
bride and he's bringing them to himself and he reveals himself
as the Christ to them. He reveals himself as God to
them and he reveals themselves to themselves in glorious grace
and he makes Our brothers and sisters, may
we be made of God to be asking people. May God bless his words
to our heart. Let's have a break.