Alright, we're going to read
the one verse in Exodus. We could read more, but we'll
make it up in context later. Exodus 3 and verse 14. This is the call of Moses when
God calls him and commissions him to go to deliver the children
of Israel out of the land of Egypt. And Moses said, who in
the world am I going to say sent me? And in Exodus 3 and 14, And
God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, Thus shalt
thou say to the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you."
All right, in John chapter 8, this comes up with regard to
our Savior. John 8, for the time being, we'll
read verse 56-59 John 8, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see
My day, and he saw and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him,
Thou art not yet fifty years old, hast thou seen Abraham? And Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast
at him. But Jesus hid himself, went out
of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed
by." Now, we'll eventually come to that part in verse 58. Before
Abraham was, I am. First, however, we go to the
Old Testament where this verse is mentioned in the Scripture.
Many of you, most of us, have heard of the experience of the
man Moses. Moses at a burning bush in the
backside of the desert, when there the Lord called and commissioned
him to be the deliverer of the children of Israel out of their
Egyptian bondage. Now Moses is an interesting character
in how the providence of God worked in him to make him that
special deliverer unto them. We remember Moses, like other
little Jewish boys, was born under the sentence of death in
Exodus 1 and verse 16. It was given command that all
little boy babies born to the Hebrew women were to be killed
upon their birth. But he was providentially spared
from being killed at his birth, for the king had given an order
to all of the midwives that when the Hebrew women were upon the
stool and delivered a little baby boy, that it was to be put
to death. That was the first occasion of
post-birth abortion. But the Hebrew midwives, the
Scripture tells us, feared God more than they feared the wrath
of the king. And they spared the male children
with an excuse that they gave unto Pharaoh. When Moses' mother
gave birth unto him, she saw that he was a goodly child. There was something distinct
about him, and so the Scripture said she hid him three months. When she could no longer hide
him, She made a bulrush and put it in the river and put Moses
inside of the little ark where he was found by the king's daughter
as she came down to wash in the river. The crying of the little
child. And she had compassion upon it. And she took baby Moses
and made him her very own child. Raised him even in the house
of Pharaoh. Moses was in one sense like unto
Paul. a chosen vessel unto the Lord,
and in due time preserved and called unto the work of God."
Now, at the time of his calling, Moses is keeping the sheep of
his father-in-law in the backside of the desert near on the Horeb,
and he had an experience. He saw a burning bush, and he
watched and he saw that the bush burned and burned and burned,
And yet it was not consumed. And curiosity took him aside
to see this sight. And while he is there, God speaks
out of the bush, and He calls Moses, and He commissions him
to be the deliverer of the children of Israel. And Moses asked the
Lord, if they ask me the name of the one that sent me, what
shall I answer? Who shall I say? And that's where
we have Exodus 3 and verse 14. God tells Moses, you tell them,
I AM sent me. If they ask who sent you, by
what authority have you come? Tell them that I AM has sent
you. When Moses was anxious of being
asked who sent him, whose name he came in, in whose authority
he was acting. For earlier, if you remember,
when Moses had been in the land of Egypt, he took the side against
the Hebrew that was wrong in the struggle between two of the
Hebrews. And so they said to him, one
did in Exodus 2.14, who made you a ruler or a judge over us? Moses knew that his commission
involved a Herculean task, and that it required some great authority
and manifestation of God, and that he must have the proper
credentials just to appear in Egypt and say to Pharaoh, let
my people go, and say to the people themselves, God has sent
me to deliver you out of your bondage. He could not go in his
own name or in his own strength, and Moses knew that. So God gives
Moses all the credentials that he needs. He said, you tell the
children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. But notice
that first God says unto Moses, I AM that I AM. Exodus 3 and 14. This signifies
that Jehovah God is the self-existent One. It signifies that He possesses
it being separate and independent of any other that might exist. That He is who He is, and He
will be what and who He will be. Well, even the saints must
say, I am what I am by the grace of God, 1 Corinthians chapter
15 and verse 10. The eternal God is the great
I Am. And He holds His being as the
eternal and the uncreated Spirit. And that He, as God, I Am, is
absolutely immutable. ever being what He always has
been is the meaning of those words. Now, at this first sight,
this name might seem to be insignificant to us. We might pass it by with
little notion. Strange for God to refer to Himself
as, I am what I am. Gil wrote that God is declaring
Himself, by these words, to be the Being of all beings. And also the name includes all
time, past and present and future, time to come. Gil summed up this
way, quote, I am what I have been, I am what I am at present,
I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am." That is, I am
that I am. Another wrote, quoted by A. W.
Pink in his book On Exodus, I am is the great Jehovistic name
of God. It also contains, he said, each
tense of the verb to be, and will be put this way, I was,
I am, I shall be. I am what I am. This name is unique to God. None
but God could ever say, I am that I am. I am always the same,
eternal, uncreated, and immutable. Psalms 41 and 13. Blessed be the God of Israel
from everlasting to everlasting. Psalms 106. And verse 48 also
has the same thing. In the 90th Psalm, Psalms 90
and verse 2, before the mountains were brought forth, "...forever
thou didst form the earth and the world, from everlasting to
everlasting thou art God." Malachi 3 and 6, do you remember that?
I am the Lord, I change not. And because of that, he said,
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Now, this is going to take us
to the New Testament. But before it takes us to the
New Testament and the text concerning Jesus as the great I Am, I want
us to take note of a point. Josh mentioned this, that this
name, I Am, is the unique and exclusive identification of God. It is the unique, exclusive identification
of God. He only has right and title unto
it. He only has the right to be called
the Great I Am. And make this point. There are
numerous places and examples in Scripture where men, in answering
when called, some by God and some by others, do not use the
word am in their answer. They do not say, here I am, or
I am here. But in their answers, so often,
so many times, they leave out the word am. And this is the
root word meaning to exist, or to be, or to become. Now, as
an example of the point that we are just making, we see it
at least twice from Moses here in Exodus 3. Look at verse 4
and you will see God called Moses out of the bush and said, Moses,
Moses! And look, Moses said, Hear I. Not the am, for it is italicized
in our version. Look again at verse 11. And Moses
said unto God, Who I? He does not say, Who am I? But, Who I? There's no am in
it. For in both verses, am is in
italic. Again, we see the same thing
with Abraham in Genesis chapter 22. In verse 1, God did say,
Abraham! And Abraham said, Behold I. The word I am is in italics again,
and Abraham did not use it. You see it again in verse 11.
In Genesis chapter 22, Abraham answers, Here I. He does not
answer, Here I am or Here am I. Again, in both verses, the
word am is in italic because it is the unique name of God. Even young Samuel, when the Lord
called him in 1 Samuel 3 and verse 4, answered, Here I. He did not put the word am in.
Not here I am or here am I. This illustrates the sacredness
of the name I Am, that it is unique and exclusive unto God. Only He is the Great I Am. Now, that brings us to the passage
that we read from John chapter 8, where the Lord Jesus Christ
applies this very name unto Himself in a confrontation with the Jews. John 8 and verse 58. Before we
come to that, let us acknowledge that the 8th chapter of John's
Gospel contains very much golden ore that might be mined from
this wonderful chapter of the Scripture. There is a month of
preaching here in the 8th chapter of the Gospel of John. Such things
are to be found here as, first of all, the woman taken in adultery
and forgiven. But then, that he is the light
of the world. Also, he contrasts true liberty
and true bonding. Then he enters into a confrontation
with the Jews concerning their Abrahamic ancestry and how he
applies that. He takes the opportunity to declare
to them the spiritual paternity of Abraham. Who are they that
are the children of Abraham, making essentially the same conclusion
that Paul makes in Romans 9, verses 6 through 8, between national
and the spiritual children of Abraham, that they are not all
Israel which are of Israel. Paul makes that distinction.
The Lord makes it in John chapter 8. Now, these things in John
8 occurred in the end, or close to the end, perhaps the last
day, or even the last day after the Feast of the Tabernacle. Because of the celebration of
the Feast of the Tabernacle, many Jews were into the city
of Jerusalem. In John 7, verses 37-39, Jesus
stood at the last day of the feast and made a great proclamation
that He is the fountain of living water, that all that drink of
Him out of their belly shall flow rivers of living water. In John 8, verse 2, we learn
that it is early in the morning and our Lord has come into the
city and is teaching many in the temple. In verse 31 and 32,
The Lord establishes those Jews which believed on Him, saying,
those who are true disciples who continue in My Word. In verse 31 and verse 32, the
knowledge of the truth our Lord says carries a liberating power
with it. In verse 33, the Jews, the Pharisees,
and the scribes and unbelievers take exception to hearing that
the Jews being made free saying, we're the descendants of Abraham,
we were never in bondage unto any. The Lord replies unto them
that He referred to the enslaving bondage of sin. He that commits
sin is the servant, the doulos, the slave of sin. Now the confrontation
proceeds. in John chapter 8. And if we
may advance now down to verse 51 of the chapter, the Lord makes
there a claim that the Jews do badly misconstrue the Word of
our Lord. He says that if a man keep My
saying, he shall never see death. If a man keep My saying, he shall
never taste of death. It is clear that the Lord meant
spiritual death, while they thought only of the physical death of
the body. So they say to him in verse 52,
now we know that you have a demon. Now we can really say of a truth
that you have a demon. As stated first back in verse
48, we are right. They think to show how utterly
ridiculous is the claim of the Lord. They say to him, Abraham
died and the prophets died. Moses, David, Elijah, Isaac,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, death has taken all of them away as well
as Abraham. How then are you saying? If a man keep my saying, he will
never, that is never, unto the ages taste of death. Now there's a second question
in verse 53. Are you making yourself to be
greater than Abraham who died? Are you making yourself greater
than the prophets who have all died? The most illustrious of
our ancestors have died. Godly servants of the Lord they
were. How is it that you can promise
an exemption from the same death to your followers that have been
experienced by Abraham and the prophets? And see the question,
if you will, in the end of verse 53. Who are you making yourself
out to be? Who do you say unto us that you
are? Making such a claim, do you claim
to be greater than Abraham, the father and progenitor of our
race, the friend of God, the receiver of the covenant of God
and the covenant of circumcision, our most revered ancestor? Are you claiming to be greater
than Abraham? Are you greater than our father? Does this put one in mind of
the question of the Samaritan woman who met with our Lord,
who heard a stranger which she had never seen or met before
speak unto her of giving her living water that she would never,
ever thirst again? John 4, verse 10 and 11. And she asked the question, Are
you greater? Same word as in John 8 and verse
53, Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this
well, who drank from it himself, who watered his children and
his cattle from it? And yet it gives water. Still it is giving water. Are you greater than Jacob? Or have you a greater water to
give us than Jacob gave us in this well. See his answer in
verse 13 and 14 where he said that they that drink of the water
that he gives would never thirst again. Like in John 8. They shall
never die. They shall never see death. And
yet back in John 8. And the question in verse 53
and the last part, who do you make yourself out to be? Who are you saying that you are? They had a pretty good idea.
But they wanted to hear it from Him. The Lord's answer in verse
54 and verse 55, I am not taking false or undeserved honor. My Father is the One honoring
me. The One and the same that you
claim to be your God, it is not I. that hath made me out to be
greater than Abraham, it is the very same one that you pretend
to believe in, and to worship, and to serve. And yet, in verse
55, you have not known Him. You are ignorant of the God that
you claim is your Father and God. And if I said I did not
know Him, then I should be a liar, just as you are a liar in claiming
to know Him. You don't know the God who is
my Father, the Lord is saying unto them. But I both know Him
and I keep His Word. That's the first answer of the
Lord. Now, as for your question in
verse 56, am I greater than Abraham? He said, your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, that is, by faith, and
was glad when he saw my day. In other words, he saw it and
saw it afar off. He received the promise of God. You ask, if I am greater than
Abraham? We will let Abraham answer the
question. And this is as literal as this
can be translated, I am told. Quote, Your father Abraham rejoiced,
was glad that he would see my day, and he has seen it and rejoiced,
or was gladdened, unquote. And it was not an expectation
that he would realize while living in his mortal life in the flesh. That is, he did not expect that
it would occur in his lifetime, but he saw it afar off. It was something spiritual, and
Christ said he saw it. Abraham saw my day, and he was
gladdened by it. Now the Jews respond to that
in verse 57. Look, you're not even a man yet
fifty years of age. Do you mean to stand here and
tell us that you have seen Abraham? How could such a thing be? Abraham dead for centuries. The Lord they judged to be less
than a man fifty years old. How could there have been any
contact between the two? Abraham died and you're not yet
fifty years old. Now coming to verse 58, and the
bold declaration of the Lord concerning His deity and eternality. Verily, verily, or truly, truly,
as we understand that, I say unto you, I tell you, watch this,
before Abraham was, I am. Notice the word. Not before Abraham
was, I was. But before Abraham was, I am. Before Abraham was, or before
Abraham became. Before Abraham was born, before
Abraham lived, I am. J.C. Riles wrote on this verse
something I thought was interesting. This famous verse, I believe,
can only receive one interpretation. It is a distinct assertion of
our Lord's eternality, His existence before all creation." And I think
certainly that's what our Lord is saying. It has the same meaning
as Exodus 3 and verse 14. It is the same claim made by
Christ as was made by Jehovah. The same name. And the Lord applies
to Himself the same name that God did in giving Moses the name
of Him. Tell them, I Am has sent you. I Am that I Am. As the Father
used it, so did the Lord Jesus. I Am. And it signifies an eternal,
continuous being, irrespective of time. In Exodus 3 and 14,
it is a proper name. I Am. It is not just a question
of the Lord being older than Abraham. That's not the question
at all. Or even of the Lord having seen
or having had contact with Abraham. These things the Jews considered
to be the extent of our Lord's claim. Until, and underline until,
until they heard His claim in verse 58, I am. Then they understood his claim. They understood what
he was saying. They understood what he meant
because they were well acquainted with the fact that I Am was a
famous name of the Lord God of Israel. In that it was how he
had identified himself unto Moses and would have himself identified
to the people in the land of Egypt. And they knew it because
Moses was read every Sabbath day in their Scripture. Acts
15-21, Moses of old hath in every city them that preach him being
read in the synagogue every Sabbath day. This was a long-standing
custom among the Jew. And in Acts 13-15, the Sabbath
day service, when the Jews went to a synagogue Sabbath day service, There would be selected passages
that would be read from all parts of the Old Testament. There would
be readings from Moses or it's called the Law. There would be
reading from the Psalms. There would be reading from the
prophets. You see this again in Luke 4,
17 through verse 21. Many times, no doubt, they had
heard read that passage of the account of God's words unto Moses,
I am. I am that I am. Again, it was
the name that God used to Moses. They understood now that the
Lord Jesus Christ, or Jesus of Nazareth as they knew Him, was
not speaking merely of pre-existence. And he was not speaking merely
of co-existence with Abraham, but was claiming full eternality
and equality with God. As soon as they heard it. Look at verse 59. They took up
stones against him. They were ready to stone him
to death. You have this again in John 10, 30 and 31, where
the Lord said, I and my Father are one, in verse 30. And in
verse 31 of John 10, then the Jews took up stones again to
stone him. Why were they so incited? Why were they so aroused to anger
and violence against the Savior? Why would they kill the Lord
Jesus Christ for saying that? Well, because they considered
His claims blasphemy under the law of Moses. John 10 and 33,
they said, we don't stone you for your good works. We stone
you for blasphemy because you, being a man, have made yourself
God. In Leviticus 24 and 16, a person
who blasphemed the name of the Lord was put to death. They were
killed for their blasphemy. The manner of carrying out the
sentence was by stoning, as we all know. And the witnesses against
the blasphemer or the evildoer were to be the first to cast
the stones against that person to put them under death. They
were to lead the charge. Many times was this carried out
in Israel, the stoning of one who had violated the law of God. Thus, the Lord did not stop at
claiming pre-existence to Abraham, but he carried his claim all
the way to being very God. It's not that he's claiming,
I was before Abraham, but that he is claiming to be God and
assimilating the same name unto himself, I Am. Not only the Jews, but others
have been pinched mightily with this text of Scripture. Those
who deny The full deity and eternality of Christ the Son are greatly
pinched by this Scripture. And this shows how deadly are
the errors about the person of Christ. To consider him only
a mere man, a Jew, or even a good man, and strip him of his eternality
and deity, is to join in with those ignorant, blind Jews who
call Christ a blasphemer, proclaiming His divinity and saying, I am. Christ, my brother and sister,
is very God. One and equal with the Father. Hebrews 1 and 3. He is the brightness
of His glory. He is the express image of His
person. In Him dwell the fullness of
the Godhead. as it pleased the Father that
in Him, that is Christ, should all fullness dwell." Colossians
1.19, Colossians 2 and verse 9. He was God manifest in the
flesh. 1 Timothy 3 and verse 16. He is the great I Am. Now in closing, we see the significance,
therefore, of some of the other sayings of our Lord such as I
am the bread of life, John 6, verse 51. I am the light of the
world, John 8, verse 12. I am the good shepherd, John
10, verse 11 and 14. The way, the truth, and the life,
I am, John 14, verse 6. I am the resurrection and the
life, John 11, verse 25. I am the true vine, John 15,
verse 1. And so we see, and it's interesting
that all of these are in the Gospel of John. I am, the great I am, the very
God Himself, clothed in flesh. God manifests in flesh. He is very God. No man can come
to the Father except by Him. They know not Christ, who know
not the Father. And they know not the Father,
who know not Christ. There is no coming to God except
by and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And I close by saying,
He is the great, eternal, uncreated I AM. And brothers and sisters,
the great I AM has come to deliver us. He's come down from the Father,
the great I AM, has come to loose the bondage of sin, of his elect,
destroy the works of the devil, and bring his elect ones into
the full liberty of Christ and of the gospel. The great I AM
has died for us upon the tree. I AM one with the Father." What
a wonderful statement, and there is no way to evade the deity
of Christ. in this passage of the scripture.
I am. That sent me. All right, let's
bow our heads together, please, for a word of prayer. Do we know
what?