Go back to John chapter 8 now.
John chapter 8. A verse of scripture I urge you
to remember. Memorize 1 Timothy 3.16. Great
is the mystery of godliness without controversy. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God, the Creator, the Sovereign.
Owner, ruler overall. Jesus Christ is God. That's a mystery. It's hid to
most. You read with me the very last
verse of John 8. It says He hid Himself. And He's
still doing it today. He's a God who hides Himself. Jesus Christ is God. Few believed
that He was God when He walked this earth. Even fewer believe
it now. Is it important? You don't know God if you don't
know that He's God. That's what he kept saying. I
saw recognition in you, or I felt it as we were reading this. How
many times he said, if you knew God, you'd know me. If you know
me, you'd know God. No man hath seen God, ever will
see God at any time. God is a spirit. But Job said,
I'm going to see God with my eyes. Isaiah saw the Lord. Who did he see? Jehovah. Who's that? Jesus Christ. We
are Jehovah Witnesses. We really are. The true Jehovah
Witnesses. To the Jews, then and now, Paul
said this, stumbling block. To the Greeks, foolishness. To
the Jews, that were religious, God came to this earth. They
didn't know him. They claimed to know God. They
came to believe God. They claimed to worship God.
Well, God came down here and they didn't know him and they
hated him. So this just destroyed everything about them. They professed
to know God and love his word, but they didn't believe a thing
that God said while he was on the earth. That's what he said.
My word hath no place in you. Did you read that with me? He
said, he that is of God, heareth God's words. Right before that
he said, why don't you understand my words? What was he saying? My word,
I'm God. The words I speak, I speak not
of myself. He said this to his disciples
in John 14. Do you believe that the Father is in me? And I in
the Father? Which is it? Can anybody explain
that? It's so in it. He's equal with
the Father. He is God. He's Jehovah. We're
going to see what that means in a moment. All who claim to
believe God and worship God but don't believe Jesus Christ is
all. They don't know God. He's all
the fullness of the Godhead body. He's all the fullness of God.
There is no religion but Jesus Christ. No truth but Jesus Christ. He's it. He said that. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. In Genesis 6, when God looked
down and said, the whole earth had corrupted my way. Christ said, I am the way. To the Greeks, he's foolish.
To the Greeks, you know the Greeks, don't you? We are them, our ancestors. Plato, Aristotle, all these philosophers,
all these droids, these Gaelic droids and all these professing
wise men. Scripture says professing themselves
to be wise are just a bunch of As Donny Bell say, idgits. Just
a bunch of blooming idgits. A bunch of idiots. Science, falsely so-called, psychology,
sociology, anthropology, it's all wrong. Why? It begins with
man. It's laughable. It's laughable. Everything modern man, everything
wise men say, I'd laugh at it, I'd scoff at it. They do. They
do. They scoff at God. They scoff at the truth. I love
the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel, don't you? I love that.
He was making fun of their God. To the Greeks, he's foolishness.
Professing themselves wise, they say that they believe... Here's
what they say. You believe that God is a person?
And that person came to earth in person? That that flesh and
blood man born of a woman, flesh and blood just like us, is God? That He's this man right in front
of us, yet He's God that filleth the universe? They say that's
foolishness. To the Greek, it's foolishness.
Ah, but to them that are saved, it's the wisdom of God. I believe He's the God of the
universe. All through Scriptures, old and new, it says He's the
One that created all things. Isn't that what Colossians said?
Of Him, through Him, to Him, and all things. By Him were all
things created. You know how John began this?
In the beginning of the Word, the Word was with God. The Word
was God. Who's that? Well, in verse 14,
He became flesh. God became a man. Jesus Christ
was Jesus. Jesus was His earthly name. That's
God who created the earth on which He stood. He never ceased
to be God when He was walking this earth. Explain that. You see, If God's not God, we have no
hope. If Jesus Christ is not God, he's the greatest imposter
to ever live. If we believe him and trust him
and look to him, as Paul said, if in this life we only have
hope in Christ, we're the most miserable people on earth. If
he was just another man, he died, and just another religious zealot
and martyr, he couldn't do anything for anybody. He couldn't even
save himself. But no, John, we believe he did
exactly what he came to do, finished the work, by himself abolished death, brought
life and immortality to light through the gospel, and went
right back to the right hand of the majesty on high where
he sits on the circle of the earth. But he's a man, yes. But he sits on the circle, yes.
Yay and amen. That's who he is. Don't have
to explain that. That's faith. That's what John said in the
beginning. Now, I'm going to show you here, I hope, what this
means to us if he's the I Am, if he's God, okay? Stay with
me. Because it's already been good, I think. I know that. But it's going to be wonderful
if the Lord lets you hear it. Christ said to His chosen disciples,
He said, Blessed are your ears, they hear. Blessed are your eyes,
they see. Whom do men say that I am? And
they said all sorts of things. He said, Who do you say that
I am? Thomas, who do you say that I am? My Lord and my God.
Is that what you say? Tammy? Thomas? Who do you say
it is? God? Hope? Elohim? Hope? Who do you say it is? John? Mike? Karen? Is it unanimous? Does everybody
here believe that way? What a blessed people we are.
This room is full of people that know the truth. The truth is
crap. He said to these men in John
8, he said, You cannot hear my word, but he that is of God heareth
God's word. And we do, don't we? We hang
on everything Jesus Christ said. We hang our souls, our eternal destiny, we hang
on his word. We believe everything that he's
of. Turn to John 14 with me. John chapter 14. Turn over there.
John 14. They didn't believe Him then.
They don't believe Him now. He can't be God. He's just a
man. He can't be God in heaven, man on earth. He's an amazing
man. He's a prophet. He's a miracle
worker. But He can't be God. He can't be God and be man. He
just can't. Well, He is. He did. He is. He was, He is, and He ever shall
be. A man, yet God. There's a man in glory. Who is
it? God. The God-man. Immanuel. God with us. That's his name. John 14. Look at this. John 14. This was to his disciples. Oh, I can't wait to get to John
14, 15, 16, 17. But verse 7. Well, verse 6, the Lord said
to Thomas, I am the way, the truth, and the light. No man
cometh unto the Father but by me. If you had known me, you should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth you know
him, you have seen him. Philip said, Lord, show us the
Father, it suffices. Jesus saith unto him, Have I
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. What's that mean? Exactly what
he said. Believest thou not, verse 10,
that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that
I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that
dwelleth in me. He doeth the works. Believe me
that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe
me for the very works sake. See, our Lord did and said only
those things that God could do and say. You remember that? Never
a man spake like this man. No man could say what he said.
Come unto me, I'll give you rest. The Spirit of the Lord has anointed
me. Today is the Scripture fulfilled
in your ear. I am the way, the truth, the
life. All judgment is committed unto
me. No man could say that. Only God can say that. God said He was God, didn't He? In Isaiah 7, didn't God say He
was God? This is a sign. It's deep. It's high. A virgin shall conceive. and Barrett's son, and his name
shall be called Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah 9, a child is
born, a son is given. Call his name, wonderful Counselor the Everlasting Father. See, I'm not trying to prove
anything by confirming to you, because you believe this. And this is what so many call
heresy, the Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons and all that,
they believe. Are you with me? I'm trying to tell you how blessed
we are that we believe that Jesus Christ is God. Hebrews 1, unto
the Son he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever. How can these
things be? That's what Nicodemus was supposed
to be a rabbi, a teacher. How can this be? And here in John chapter 8, he
says so, our Lord says who he is in such a way that only those
who know him understand. And you recognize it, two words.
Every time I read it, I could feel it. I could, and you, you
saw it, didn't you? He said who he was. The Jehovah
Witnesses said he never said he was God. That's what he said
to these men. Why don't you understand my speech?
They said, who are you? He said, the same. The one I
said in the beginning. But you don't know me. My sheep
know me. They hear my voice. Your father,
Moses, Abraham, he knew me. Verse 12, look at here, John
chapter 8. All these times, verse 12, the Lord said, I am the light
of the world. John, in 1 John 1, he said, God
is light. Whose light? God the Father,
God the Son. Yes. Equal. Spirit of light. Three persons in one. These three
are one. And one we see, the one we know,
the one we worship is Jesus Christ. Verse 16, if I judge, my judgment
is true. I am not alone. Verse 18, I am one. Verse 23, I am from above. Verse 24, if you believe not
that I am, you should die in your sins. Verse 28, when you've
lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that I am And
verse 58, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was,
I am Jehovah. That's the name, Jehovah. That's the name he's using, Jehovah. In verse 25, I quoted it to you,
they said, Who art thou? He said, Even that I said unto
you from the beginning. When? When's the first time we
hear this name? Exodus 3. Go back there with
me, okay? Exodus 3. I want us to see what
it means that He is I Am. The I Am, okay? And they talked
about Moses, didn't they? A lot. They still do. These law keepers still talk
about Moses. Our Lord said, Moses wrote of
Me. What'd Moses write? The law of
God. That's right. It's his law. Christ came, Brother John, didn't
he? They said, you're breaking God's law. I wrote it. They said Abraham was their father. We're descendants of Abraham.
He said, Abraham believed me. Abraham saw my day. He saw it
and was glad. When? Mount Moriah. That ram caught in the thicket.
Here's the first time, Exodus 3. One of you ladies said to
me one time, I love it when you preach the new and go back to
the old to show us something. Well, this is it, Exodus 3. I
am is God's name, Jehovah. The Jews believed that God was,
and this is what the scripture said, the only God who is God
is Jehovah. God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
He was known by the name of Jehovah. Every time you see the word LORD
in all capital letters, that's Jehovah. Okay? Jehovah. And many claim to believe Him
now, be His witnesses. Jews still claim to believe Him
now. Jehovah means this. Jehovah means
self-existent. Eternal, meaning has no need,
doesn't depend on anything or anyone. Eternal, had no beginning,
no end. Jesus Christ has no beginning
and no end. He didn't begin at Bethlehem.
Okay? Jehovah with us to say He's just
the Son of God. He began then. Jehovah means self-existent.
That is, the only one who is completely independent of anything
and anyone, needing nothing, needing no one. He needs nothing
and no one to subsist. He doesn't depend on anything
or anyone to exist or to live. In fact, everything lives and
moves and has its being in Him. You see, Jesus Christ is God. In Him we live and move and have
our being. Stay with me now. He says, I
am. And what that's going to mean
to us, what it means to us right now. In Him, there's therefore
now no condemnation in Him. He says, I am. I'm going to go ahead and say
it. I wasn't prepared to say it until another page later. I got to get to it. Scripture
says, as he is, so are we. Right there. See, everything
depends on him being I am. Not I hope to be or going to
be, am. And what he is, Brother John,
we are. Are you with me? And I'm speaking
things too wonderful for me. But Exodus 3, verse 1, Moses
kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, and he led the
flock to the back. Here's a shepherd, okay, didn't
know God. He came to the mountain of God.
This is where you're going to meet God, on the mountain. And
the angel of the Lord, look at it, verse 2, appeared to him
in a flame of what? And out of the midst of a bush,
he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, but the bush
was not consumed. Some of you know what this is.
Who? And Moses said, I'll turn aside
and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned. And when
the Lord saw, he turned aside. God called unto him out of the
bush. God was in the bush. Say what it says. Now that's Jesus Christ crucified.
God was in Christ reconciling the world, as I said. Our Lord Jesus Christ, not only
the angel of the Lord, he is the Lord. He's God manifesting
the flesh. And he told him, take your shoes
off. This place is holy. Verse 6, and he said, I am. The God of thy father, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Moses hid his
face. He's afraid to look upon God.
Who was he seeing? Who was talking to him? Jesus
Christ. See, God at sundry time, in divers
manner, spake unto the fathers by the prophets, hath from these
days spoken to us by His Son. It was Christ. He's the Word.
He's the One in the beginning. It's Genesis 1. God said, that's
Jesus crying. I brought it to your attention
before, that again in chapter 2 of Genesis, He's beginning
to call the Lord God, the Lord God. First God only, and then
the Lord God, the Lord God. It's Christ. Look down at verse
13. Moses said unto God, Behold,
I come to the children of Israel, and I say unto them, The God
of your fathers hath sent me unto you. And they say unto me,
What is his name? What shall I say unto them? And
God said unto Moses, I am that I am. He said, Thou shalt say
unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. Have you ever heard that voice? We just heard him say that over
and over again. I am. Look at chapter 3. It says in verse 7, I have surely
seen the affliction of my people in Egypt. I have heard their
cry by reason of their test master. I know their sorrows. Who's that?
Jesus Christ, man of sorrow, acquainted with grief. Verse
8, and I am. Come down. Some of you are smiling. I'm
going to preach to you. I am come down. Who came down? Was it not He that first was
in the heaven? Who descended? Was it not He
that ascended, descended, ascended? I am come down to deliver them
out. Who's the deliverer? Jesus Christ. To bring them up
Christ said, everyone that seeth the Son and believeth in Him,
I will raise him up. The last time. A land that floweth
with milk and honey. I am come down. He did. His name is Jesus Christ. I am. I love that. I am. Not
was. Not will be. Not hope to be. If someone will let me be. I
am. And when He comes to you, you
know what you find out? He is. You find out something
of all that He is to you. Jesus Christ is said to be, in
Hebrews 13, And all that, John, beginning in chapter 1, God said
through the Son, Thy throne, O God, and in everything that
follows in Hebrews, Melchizedek, a man without father, mother,
beginning, that's Jesus Christ. And it goes all the way over
to chapter 13, and it says in verse 8, Jesus Christ, the same. Yesterday, today, forever. Who are you? They said, the same. The one that Moses hired. He's
the same. Everything he is, everything
he said, everything he did is the same. It remains. It's done. He said, I'm the... Now what does this mean to you
and me? And I quoted that to you. As He is, so are we now
in the world. What does that mean? He is the
light. He's the light. If you see Jesus Christ, you
have light. The light of life. He's the water. Have you met Him at the well?
Have you? And you have a well spring springing up in you unto
eternal life, and no man can take it from you. It's a spring.
It will never stop. Springs are upon God, don't you?
He's the bread. Bread of heaven, bread of heaven. That's in a song about Jehovah.
Yes. He's the gift of God. The gift
of God is eternal life. And this life is in His Son. God hath given us eternal life.
What did Christ say? I am come. I am come. John 10.10.
I am come that they might have life." Man, I love this. I have life. I believe Him. I really do. I
see something of Him. I cling to Him. I came to Him.
I hear Him. I see Him through a glass darkly,
dimly, but I see Him. He said, I'm the door. You know, this fella's knocking
on your door. Don't answer. He said, I am the
door. He's the one we knock on. Let
me in. You know what he says? He opens
it. Come on in. He said, ask, you'll
receive. Seek, you'll find. Knock. It'll be opened on you. The whole
book opened up clearly when you see. He's the door. He's the
way. I'm the shepherd. The Lord, Jehovah, is my shepherd. What did Christ say? I'm the
good shepherd. Now she know me. They follow
me. He said, I laid down my life. You know why I believe, Bonnie,
that Jesus Christ died for me? I believe He's the shepherd.
I believe He's the only shepherd. He's the good shepherd. He's
the chief shepherd. He's the great shepherd. He lays down
His life for the sheep. I follow Him by His grace. I
really do. I believe Him. He said, I laid
down my life for the sheep. He said, all the Father giveth
may come unto them. Other sheep, he said, I have. They're not
of this foe. They're going to hear my voice. They're going
to hear the gospel through another shepherd, an under-shepherd.
But it's me they hear from. And they're going to follow me.
And I give unto them eternal life. This is my shepherd, Kelly
Pendry. He said, I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. You heard the story of David,
hadn't you? A bear and a lion after one little lamb. What did
David do? A man can't tackle a barren land
at the same time. He did. And this roaring lion of God of this
world, seeketh whom he may devour, you know what my hope is? Jesus
Christ. He said, I'm the way. The way. I know, I know this for an absolute
fact. I know something of God. I know
something of this book. I know something of myself. That
if I get to heaven, it's going to be one way. Jesus Christ. He's the only one able to present
me faultless before the presence of God's throne. That's what
He said. Come unto me. I'll take you there. So I keep coming. Sinful though
I am. Keep coming. Like that woman,
I keep dragging myself. You know why? Virtue goes out
of him. And I say, if I could just touch
the hem of his garment, if I could just get a little touch, lay
hold of the hem of his garment, my, my. Behold, I am the truth. I know the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth. So help me. I do. Do you? Somebody tell me the truth in
one word. Pilot, what is truth? Standing
right in front of you, didn't know. and the life. He that hath the
Son hath the life. Do you need Jesus Christ? Do
you worship Jesus Christ? Do you have faith in Jesus Christ?
Do you love who He is? Do you love what He did? Do you
love His Word? Do you? Now, do you love to sing about
Jesus Christ? Do you love a man preaching about
Jesus Christ? Do you? Either do or you don't.
You have life. That means you have the Son.
He's given you a love for the truth. He's given you a love
for Himself. He's given you something that few people have, a precious
gift called faith. And that faith is Jesus Christ.
You have life. You have life. Life. Oh, my. As He is, so are we. He's life. We're life. We have
life. He's light. We have light. He's
accepted everything He does the Father accepts. The Father is
well pleased for His righteousness to say, I'm righteous. He's made
unto me righteous. Right? Oh, I had so much to say. Turn with me in closing. Revelation
22. Revelation 22. I promise you
I'll stop within 30 minutes. We've been together here. Speaking
about the eternal one in 30 minutes. Revelation 22, the last, the
very last book, very last chapter. And he began in the first chapter
of the last book, declaring the end from the beginning. He said,
I am. First and last, I am the beginning and the end. Chapter
1, right? And he reiterates that in chapter
22, verse 13. This is Jesus Christ saying,
I am Alpha and Omega. Some of you may know that's the
first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. I mean, anything
that has any wisdom, any knowledge, anything, everything. He said,
I'm the first and last and everything in between. You don't know anything
unless you know me. He's the jot and tittle of everything. Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and the last. That's Jesus Christ. In the beginning God. That's
the first letter, words of the book in Genesis 1-1. Right? That's Jesus Christ. And Revelation 22, verse 22. Yeah, the translator's got it
wrong, Sarah. Verse 21 is not the end. Look right below it. The end. That's verse 22. In the beginning. He said, I'm
the beginning. I'm the end. And everything in between. Do
you believe that Jesus Christ is all? And you know, do you
really? Rejoice. Blessed art thou, Tom Bar-Fanon. Flesh and blood
didn't reveal that to you. But God divine. How blessed we
are. This is not doctrine. I'm not
talking about doctrine, believing the fact that he's not. Believing
Him, resting in Him, looking to Him, coming to Him, worshiping
Him, the Son. He that hath the Son hath life. Okay, John, you come. No, I'm
going to stand with you. I'm going to dismiss this in
a word of prayer.