Let the Amen sound from His people
again. Don't hold back now, male or
female. Let the Amen. Amen. I love that
word. I love that. Christ calls Himself
that. And amen, amen, however you want
to say it, means that's the way it is. And when we say amen, we're saying,
I believe that. That's the way it is. And I love
it. I'm so glad. John 8, John chapter
8, Christ is the amen, because that's who He is. He is that
He is. John 8, our Lord said in verse
58, ìVerily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.î And
they took up stones to cast at him. Jesus hid himself. What happened? They couldnít
stone him. His time wasnít come. Why? Because
heís the ìI am.î because of who he is. He couldn't touch him.
How blind is man? They took up stone, stone him,
and it says he passed right through the middle of it. You got him,
but several times they had, you got him, cast him off the cliff.
You got him, I got him. He had them in his hand to do
with as he flew. All right, we're going to cast
him off of here. You know who has the power to cast off, cast
out? He does. This is the eye. But they were so blind, he passed
right through the midst of it. He hid himself. He's a God who hides himself. That's who he is. It doesn't
matter what he did or said. The blind didn't see it and couldn't
hear it. This underscores the fact, doesn't
it, that we're dead and blind and deaf and God Christ himself
must give us ears and life and eye. His name, let's look at
three things. His name, let's look at the meaning
of it and what that means to you, to me. His name, He said,
I am. He called Himself, I am. They knew what He was saying. Yahweh. He said that to them. He said it before in John, earlier,
didn't He? John 8, 20, go back there. Verses
23 and 24. 23, 24, and 25. He said of them, ye are from beneath,
I am from above. You know, the Jews would never
say, I am. You know that? That was God's
name. And they would never use that.
That term. I am. It was that Abraham said,
here am I. I am was God's name. But they
were very careful not to use that. Our Lord here says, I am
from above. They know what He was saying.
I'm from above. You're of this world. I'm not
of this world. Verse 24, I said therefore unto you that you shall
die in your sins, for if you believe not that I am... The
little word he is not in there, is it? If you believe not that
I am, you shall die in your sins. They said it one other time,
that who can forgive sins but God? When the man was sick of
the palsy, he forgave his sins, frankly. Just to me, your sins
have forgiven you. Be of good cheer. And they said,
who can forgive sins but God? They were incensed. They were
offended. No truer words have been spoken
of them. Who can forgive sins but God? He must be God. He is. I am. If you believe not that I am,
your sins can't be forgiven. You'll die on your sin. And they
said unto him, Who art thou? He just told them. They don't
have ears. They don't know Him. We read
in Isaiah 53, that bring my people, they're going to know me. John
knew, didn't he? Thomas knew, didn't he? Simon Peter knew, didn't he?
Hit his knees, Lord. Thomas, my Lord and my God. I know Him. I must be chosen. He's God. God manifesting the
flesh. They said, Who art thou? And
the Lord said unto them, look at it, even the same that I said
unto you from the beginning. Who? When did He say? What did
He say in the beginning? In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was made flesh. John
said, The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory. He's a creator. The Word was
with God, the Word was God. The same that said to Moses on
that mountain, I am. They knew what he was saying,
but they didn't believe him. I am. Look at Proverbs chapter
8 with me. The Word, the name Yahweh or
Jehovah, that's their name, Jehovah, it means the eternal one. It means the self-existent one. Eternal, self-existent. It means
unchanging, immutable one. We just sang that hymn by choice,
by design. Immortal, invisible, immutable. It means eternal. Look at Proverbs
8. Christ said, I am the eternal
one. You know these verses are speaking
of Christ, who is wisdom. He is wisdom. In verse 22, the
Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way before His works of
old. I was set up, or that is declared
to be, the Lamb slain, the Messiah, the covenant head, from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever, or before the earth was. When
there was no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills, I was brought forth. I am. He had no beginning. This is that priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. No father or mother, no beginning
and end of days. This is the eternal one. Eternal. It means self-existent. Self-existent. I am. Look at Psalm 50. Go back there. Men and women believe in a God
who's not the self-existent God. They believe in a God who's dependent
on man's will. They believe in a God who is
subject to circumstances and events. He's a bystander in affairs. He's merely hoping and wanting
and wishing to have his way. That's not the I Am. They say
things like this, God wants. When nowhere in the Bible is
that word ever used after the name of God. God wants. Let God. Oh my. Let Him do what He wants. Didn't we just read that in Isaiah
43? I will work, and who shall let
me? Hath not the potter power of
the clay? This makes people mad. It makes me glad. Psalm 50, this is the self-existent
one, wanting, wishing, needing nothing and no one. Completely
self-existent, self-sufficient, independent of everything and
anyone, all things. He's the one that worketh all
things. He's the one that doeth all things. Everything happens
because God made it happen or set it in order. Psalm 50, you
know, they say God needs your money and God wants you to do
this and that. Well, look at verse 7. Here, O my people, I will speak,
O Israel. I will testify against thee.
I am God. Even I don't. Another place in Isaiah said,
he said, even though you don't know me, I'm your God. You don't
believe it, but I am your God. I am God. Read on, I will not
reprove thee for thy sacrifices I have earned often to have been
continually before me. I'll take no bullock out of thy
house, nor he goats out of thy foal. Every beast of the forest
is mine. The cattle upon a thousandth
hill. I know all the fowls of the mountain. The wild beasts
of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not
tell thee. The world is mine, the fullness thereof. I don't
need you. I don't need anything you have to give me. I am that
I am. I am God, self-existent, self-sufficient,
independent of anything and anyone. I will work. I have purposed
it, I'll bring it to pass. I have spoken it, I will do it.
That's the I Am. That's Christ. That's the true
Christ. That's Jesus Christ. Yes, that's
that man named Jesus. He is the very God of very God. He's not poor Jesus, won't you
let Him in. This is the Lord Jesus high and
up seated on his throne. Let's hope and pray that he'll
let us into his kingdom. This is the God. This is the
Christ of Scripture. Look down at verse 21. These things hast thou done,
and I kept silent. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether
such a one as thyself, dependent upon. I will reprove thee, and set
them in order before thy eye. Now consider this, ye that forget
God, lest I tear you in pieces." Yeah, I am. The Jews read these
things, didn't they? They read these things. They
read Isaiah. They read Psalms. They knew what
he was saying. And he didn't like it. You're
just Jesus. You're just a man. No, I am. I am. His name is unchanging. Look at Malachi 3. Go back to
Malachi 3. I am. Malachi 3. It means that he never, he always
is and always shall be, always was what he is, who he is. Unchanged,
he doesn't change, his will doesn't change, his mind doesn't change,
his purpose doesn't change, his word doesn't change, his promises
doesn't change. Don't you love that? The God of today, the false
God who changed his mind, you know, he wrote a book, got names
in it, and he might just... Listen to me now. When the Lord
said, I'll blot out your name, did he ever blot a name out?
Can you find anywhere in the book where it says God blotted
somebody's name out? No. He threatened in a language
we can understand. I'll blot his name out. But he
never did. Never blotted anybody's name
out. It's sealed. That's a little footnote. But
Malachi 3, it says in verse 6, and you need to commit this to
memory. Malachi 3, verse 6. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not going to sin. You sinners that look to me,
that I've chosen, that trusted me, those sinners. You read with
me, didn't you, Brother John? The Lord said, this is what you've
done. You haven't done this. You haven't done that. You've
made me to serve. I've put up with all your sins
and all that. Didn't He say that? But He says, I am God. I am the God that chose you. Aren't you glad he doesn't change?
Jesus Christ. And the significant people, it's
one of the last things he said before the New Testament. I am
the Lord, I change not. This Christ here, this Jesus,
is the same Lord of the Old Testament. Most people have it all wrong.
They think the God of the Old Testament was mean and cruel
and, you know, He hated people and all that. But now everything's
changed since Jesus came. God is all love. Now He loves
everybody. You know, just when you think
you've seen it all, and I've got to say this, it's as despicable as the sign is
that you see everywhere, God loves you. You see that everywhere, don't
you? God loves you. God loves you. It's a lie. God
doesn't love everybody. God loves His people. The love
of God is in Christ, Romans 8.39. The love of God was in the ark.
It wasn't on the outside. What a mockery of God's love
it would have been for Noah to stick his head out that window
and say, now God loves you. Huh? Scripture says God's angry with
them. Romans 3.36, very few people
know, says the wrath of God abides upon the unbelieving. I saw this sign that said, big
sign, big bold letters, here's what it said, God likes you. You mean God likes child molesters? You mean God likes those that
hate Him, hate His truth, hate His Son, hate His people? God
likes them? What is there to like about anybody? Would you tell me that? That
just makes my blood boil. God likes you. Right before the New Testament,
God said, the last thing He said, I change not. I am that I am, the same God
of the Old Testament, who will punish sin, and He showed it
plainly all through the Old Testament, didn't He? This God is a consuming
fire, and Christ said, the Lord shall come. He's like a refiner's
fire. Malachi 3, He's like a refiner's
fire. Christ came, He said, I've come
to kindle fire on the earth. Christ came. It's the same God
yesterday, today, and forever. God who destroyed a world full
of sinners is going to destroy them again. This is the same
God. God has not changed. In His essence, in His purpose,
in His holiness, in His decrees, in His law, in His justice, it
hasn't changed. God is love. God is merciful. God is gracious. God is the light
to show mercy. God is just God and the Savior,
but one way and one person. Anybody that doesn't believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ is under the wrath of God and will be
destroyed by God. Christ said so. He said, if you
believe not that I am, you will die in your sin. That really
struck me when I was thinking about a man. I told you about
him. He died. And I liked the man a lot. I
did. I liked him. I liked him. He and his wife
and their daughter went to school with our daughter, and we really
did. I loved him. Now, he did not believe. He was a wise man of the flesh,
and he had no use for the gospel. He never would mention God's
name or Christ, but he was moral. Everybody liked him. He died
in his sins. He went to hell. Jesus Christ said that. That's
how serious it is. I am Christ's name. Unchanging. What does that mean,
that he's I am? That means if he is God, and
he is, that means everything he said and did is absolutely
true. He said that. He said, oh, heaven
and earth will pass away, but not one word of mine shall fade. That's what he said. Everything
he said is true. The justice, the judgment, the
wrath, the condemnation is all true, but so is the mercy, so
is the grace, so are the promises. They're all yea and amen in him,
true in him. Come unto me. All ye that labor,
this is a fateful saving. Christ came into the world to
save sinners, even the chief. He said, you come unto me, I
will in no wise. Don't you love Him? You can't
lie. He said, this is forever settled in heaven. He that cometh
to me, he that needeth mercy, he that needeth saving. Sinner
though you be, no matter what you've done, you come unto me,
and I am thy salvation, and I will in no wise. Casting out. You will never marry. Don't you
learn that? You see, because I have, and I am, and I will. I am. I am. Oh, my. He is Jehovah, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He always has been, always will
be the same. This same Jesus, they say, it
shall so come in like manner as you've seen it. A man, there's
a man in glory. He's touched with the feel of
our infirmities. He knows our frames, because
He was framed. He was made in the likeness of
sinful blood, without sin. He's had touch with our feeling,
and He says, I know you, because I am. See, I should have read in Proverbs
8, it says, His delights were with the sons of men. He rejoiced
in the habitable parts of the earth. He always kept coming
down to where sinners were. He came and walked in the garden
with the first sinners, Adam and Eve. He came walking in the
garden. Oh, what rebels they were, weren't they? Oh, what
ungrateful creatures they were to shake their fist in the face
of their God and their Creator. How wonderful, marvelous and
gracious He'd been to them. Here He came walking. God the
Father sent Him. He came. What to do? What? To
cover their nakedness. To speak peace to their hearts. To give blessed promises to them.
He came down to Gideon. He came to Noah. He came to Abraham. He came to Moses. He came to
so many of them. He rejoiced. Oh, I come in the
volume of the book that's written to me. I come to do God's will,
to save thy people. Exodus 3. This is where he is
called this the first time. Exodus 3. Look at this. This
is wonderful. Exodus chapter 3. I am. Exodus chapter 3, look at verse
7. Exodus 3, verse 7. The Lord said
to his people through Moses, I have surely seen the affliction
of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry. Remember,
people, he's the same. Yesterday, today, forever. He
sees, he hears, he knows. I know their sorrows, for and
I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptian
and to bring them up out of that land into a good land and large. Is there room for me? Is there
room for you? It's a large land. And he had,
well, I don't know if you'll accept me. Oh, he has a largeness
of heart. Oh, like Solomon. He didn't turn
anybody away. And land lowly with milk and
honey into the place of the Canaanite, a new heaven, new earth. Look
down at verse Verse 13, And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I
come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The
God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say
to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? And
God said unto Moses, I am that I am, Jehovah. And he said, Thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. I got the right message this
morning, though. Tell him, I am hath sent me to you. To say what? That he is. I am. I am that I am. What is it? I am that. He's that prophet. Didn't he? He's that high priest, that great
high priest after the order of Melchizedek. That he is. He always
was and always is. I am that prophet. I am thy king. He always has been. Oh, we don't
like him. Lord God made him Lord before
the world was made. King over there. I am prophet, priest and
king. I am that I am. I am holy. And that he is. He is holy. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God. of
Israel. Just, He is just. Don't only
think of justice as something bad. Think of it as something
wonderful. If Christ paid for your sins,
God is just. He will by no means clear the
guilty, but He will by no means condemn the justified. If you're
in Christ, He said, you're justified from all things. I am. Is God
just? He is. He will always be. I am
that I am. He's love. Yes, He is. I have
loved Thee with a... How long has His love left? Everlasting. I am sovereign that He is. Therefore, I am, I have, therefore,
with loving kindness, I have drawn back. I am that I am. All He is, He does. And all He
does, He is. Who could have come up with something
like that? His name. And all that He is,
all that He does, wrapped up in three words, or two words,
I am. I am, and that I am. All He is,
He does. And all He does, He is. He said,
I have saved thee for my name's sake. I am the Savior. He will save
you. Look at a few things, and I'll
close. I'm getting away from it. Go back to John 6. Several
times our Lord plainly said, I am. John 6, 35. Look at this. John 6, 35, all through this chapter, the Lord speaks
of bread, doesn't He? This is the chapter on the bread
that the Lord spoke of. And He said in verse 35, Jesus
said unto them, I am the bread of life. Verse 48, I am that
bread of life. The children of Israel. lived
on one thing, because of one thing, and he didn't need anything
else for a long time. Think about that. And he proved
them by it. Bread came from heaven. That's
right. White thing, round, like sweet
as honey. What is it? They said, that it
is. I am, Christ said, I am that.
I've always been the life of my people, the subsistence of
my people. I live because I live, they live
also. I am the bread, the bread of
life. They feed on me, they subsist because of me. John chapter 8,
he said, I am the light. Eight or nine times. He said,
I am the light. God is light, John said, didn't
he? Who's God? Christ is. I am the
light. John 8 clearly says, I am the
light of the world. Only through Christ do we see, do we know
God and ourselves and the world, sin and what salvation is. I
am the door in John 10. He said, I am the door of the
sheep. About all men and women know
about the doors, they think Jesus is standing outside knocking.
He said, I am the door. One time they were inside and
the door was shut. Here it is. They were inside,
scared to death. The door was shut. They thought
Christ was dead. He just can't walk around without
a door. He's not outside the door. He
is the door. He said, by me, if any man enter,
He had the eternal life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. There's one door in that ark,
wasn't there? There was one door in that ark. One window for light. Christ said, I am. In John 10,
verse 14, he said, I am the shepherd, the good shepherd. Psalm 23 says,
the Lord is our shepherd. Well, who is that talking about?
The Lord Jesus Christ. He said that. I am the good shepherd. He says he's the chief shepherd.
A good shepherd, chief shepherd. One time David, when he came
to, I love that, oh, he came out there where Goliath was taunting
them, and he said to Saul and all the men around him, he said,
I was watching my sheep, and a bear and a lion came out. and grabbed one of my lambs.
He said, I went and got him. I slew him by hook or by crook.
You can't do that. I did. The Lord, he said, gave
me deliverance. And the Lord will cut this man's
head off to make that. That's Jesus Christ. He's the
Great Shepherd. He's never lost a sheep. He can't.
You can't call Him a Good Shepherd and Him lose one sheep. He said,
those that thou hast given me I have kept, not one of them
is lost. Why? He's a good shepherd. And
if the Lord is your shepherd, you can have that other Jesus that
tried and failed and, boy, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want, I shall not fear, and I shall be with him someday.
He said, I will it. The Lord is my shepherd. He said
in John 11 to Martha and Mary, He said,
I am the resurrection. Doesn't it say in Ephesians 2,
You hath He quickened? Well, we're going to live forever
some days. Hold on here. You hath He quickened. He had
the son Hathloth. Not sure I have it. Hathloth.
Didn't he say that? He's quickened us together with
Christ. It's already been done. It says he's seated in the heavenly.
Well, where are we? It says we're seated with him.
I don't understand. I don't either. But I believe
it. I have life. It just remained, you know, the
Lord peeled back His flesh to show them who He was. And we
live in this veil of flesh, don't we? But there's a new creature,
there is a new man in here, creating the image of Christ that lives,
that won't die. This body will die. This old
man of sin is going to die, thank God. When we put him in the grave,
this old man, this body of death, is going to be laid in the grave,
and he's going to be gone. And I'm so, I can't wait for
it to happen. But this new man He's created, that lived the
day he sent the word, the day he planted the seed, the day
he watered it, the day it brought forth life, a new creature in
Christ, it never dies. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but beloved, now are we the sons of God. I'm laughing
loud. It needs to be loud, doesn't
it? For our comfort. Right now. Behold
what manner of Love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we
should be called the sons of God. Right now. I am the resurrection. He said, I am the way. It's his
way. It's his will. It's his word. It's his work. It's not ours.
And that's the truth. He said, I am the truth. The
truth of anything. You want to know the truth about
anything? Just ask the church. They'll
give you the answer. Right? In him he had all the
treasures of wisdom and all. Ask something. Where'd the world
begin? Christ. What upholds all of this? Christ. What about life after death?
It's Christ. What love of God? Who does God
love? Christ. I am the truth. I am the life. Eternal life. more abundant,
he that hath the Son of Life." He said, I am the vine. I am
the vine. I am the true vine, the root,
tree of life. I am the tree of life. What does
that mean to me? Let me close with this and look
over at Ezekiel 36 in closing. What does that mean to you? Huh? If you are in Him, that is true,
the I Am. If you belong to him, if you
abide in him, what that means is, that he is I am, what that
means is, you shall. You are. You are. Salvation is what it means. It
means if you're in Him, you belong to Him, that you abide in Him.
It means you're married to Him. It means that you're one. It
means you've been foreknown. It means you've been predestinated.
It means you've been called. It means you've been justified.
It means you've been glorified in Christ. It's all been predetermined
about you, been fixed, ordered in all things and sure, unchangeable,
immutable, cannot be changed. Man, this is good. If He is the I am, and I am His,
then I will always be His. You see that? He said, because
I live, you shall live also. Ezekiel 36. So people say, well,
if you believe that, we believe that, then whatever, you know.
Live like whatever, and whatever will be, will be. No, this is
not caesarasera. This is what He said here that
he has decrees and they must be and they will be if he's in
you. Look at verse 16, where the Lord
came and said, Son of man, the house of Israel dwelt in their
own land, they defiled it. They were sinners. I poured out
my fury, verse 18, upon them. They were idolaters. Verse 19,
I scattered them. They're out in the world. They're
just like everybody else. Can't tell a bit of difference.
They're idolaters. Verse 20, they were among the heathen.
They profaned my holy name. And people say, are these the
people of God? But... Salvation's in those two words
in the Old Testament and in the Seattle Journal. But... I am. I have pity for my holy name
that they propane. Thus saith the Lord, verse 22,
I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my
holy name's sake which you propane. I will sanctify my great name,
propane among the heathen, by you. I will be sanctified, verse
23, in you before their eye. I will take you from among the
heathen. I will gather you. Not one time does He say, if
you will. Not one time in these verses does God say, I want to,
I can't, I will if they will. No, no, no, no, no. This is the idea. He said, I
will. Here's the difference between
the true God and the false one. The false one, the false gospel
says, if you will, He will, He shall. The true gospel says this,
the true God says, I will and you shall. Because I am. I will. Verse 25, sprinkled clean
water upon you, you will be clean. I will cleanse your new heart,
I'll give you. Verse 26, a new spirit I'll put
within you. I'll put my spirit in you, verse
27. You shall dwell in the land,
verse 28. Be my people. I'll be your God.
I will save you, verse 29. I will call for the corn. There'll
be no famine. I will multiply the fruit. You
will bear fruit, verse 31. And you shall remember. Here's
what you'll always be thinking of. Here's what you'll always
remember. Your own evil ways. your doings that were not good,
and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight." That's how
you know the people of God. They believe that He is, and
they believe that they are sinners. Nothing but. Nothing better.
Don't do this, verse 32, for your sakes. Be ashamed and confounded. Thus saith the Lord, in the day
that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will
also cause you to dwell in the city, that's the church, the
waste shall be builded, the desolate land be tilled. And in verse
37, that the Lord says, I will yet for this be inquired of.
They're going to ask me for it. God has purposed it. Salvation
of people, God has purposed it. And the way and the means that
He uses is for us to call on the Lord. But do you know who
calls? Those the Lord calls. I've spoken it. They will inquire
of me. They will ask me. They will seek.
If anyone doesn't ask, They won't answer. If anyone doesn't seek,
they won't find. If anyone doesn't knock, the
door won't be open. I don't understand. He must be
blind. He must be deaf. I don't understand. I don't understand. Because the
Lord said it, it must be said. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. If you don't call, you won't
be saved. But if you do call, it's because He called you. And read on, it says in verse
38, As the holy flock, the flock of Jerusalem, are followed for
solemn feasts. That's your mind. So shall the
waste cities be filled with flocks of men. That's His church. That's
His people. And they shall know that I am the Lord. There will be one of them I know
who He is. what they were, are, and who
does to save them. Amen.