and open your Bibles to John
chapter 8. And we'll be reading and looking at verses 48 to 59. John chapter 8, verses 48 to 59. The name of the message was,
before Abraham was, I am. I am. In verse 58, our Lord makes
a proclamation so clear of his deity. When he expresses these
words with his voice, when he says these words with his voice,
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before
Abraham was, I am. Now in this chapter, our Lord
had proclaimed that he was the light of the world earlier in
this chapter. And that if you knew the truth,
which is the Lord Jesus Christ, that you will trust him and he
will set you free. The truth, which is the truth
of the gospel, the truth of God's and grace to us through Christ,
that truth, which is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit of God,
or Christ himself, who is the way, the truth, and the life,
or both, the Word of God and Christ. You can't separate the
two, can you? He's the Word of God incarnate. Christ and the Word of truth
cannot be separated. They cannot, because they're
one. To know Him is to be set free from the penalty of sin. To know Him is to be set free
from the curse of the law. To know Him is to be set free
from the power of darkness. And that truth is revealed to
us through the scriptures by the Holy Spirit of God. That
in Christ all those things are true. We are set free. And who is Christ? Well, he's
the way, the truth, and the life, isn't he? And we give him all the glory.
And think of this, as we're going through this world, we're being
conformed to the image of Christ. That's incredible. Why do you love the Lord more
now than you've ever loved him before? because you're being
conformed to the image of Christ. Isn't that amazing? Even though our love is fickle
sometimes, isn't it? But we as believers, we grow
in grace as the years go by. We don't see it, but we do. Let's
read this portion here, verses 48 to 59. Then answered the Jews
and said unto him, We not well that thou art a Samaritan, and
hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a
devil, but I honor my Father, and ye do dishonor me. And I seek not mine own glory.
There is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him,
Now we know that thou hast the devil. Abraham is dead, and the
prophets. And thou sayest, if a man keep
my saying, he shall never taste death. Art thou greater than our father
Abraham, which is dead? And the prophets are dead? Whom
makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, if I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It is my father that honoreth
me, of whom ye say that he is your God. Yet ye have not known him, but
I know him. And if I should say I know him
not, I shall be a liar like you. But I know him, and keep his
saying. Your father, Abraham, rejoiced
to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. Then
said the Jesus unto him, art thou not yet 50 years old? And hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus saith 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 and went
out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed
by." What an incredible statement in verse 58. Our Lord proclaims the fact that
he is deity incarnate. He proclaims it. And today I'd like us to look
at this portion verse by verse. But before we do this, I'd like
us to look at a few things from verses 46 and 47, also out of
this chapter. Now, two questions in verse 46. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? Two questions pose there. Now,
these questions came as a result of the Pharisees charging him
with blasphemy and sedition. Even though they couldn't find
any proof, they still accused him. They're accusing the sinless,
spotless Lamb of God of blasphemy and sedition. He cannot sin. And yet they're saying he sinned. They also, in times past, called
him a winebibber and a glutton. Again, these were false charges
brought against him, brought against the very one who's absolutely
sinless, who's absolutely without sin. And these natural men make
these accusations against our great God. against the Lord Jesus Christ.
They do not know who he is. They have no clue who's standing
in front of them, talking to them. And these are the Pharisees. These are the blind guides leading
the blind. These are the people that the
Israel nation looks up to. It's the holders of all truth,
the who's who in religion. and they have no clue who's standing
right there in front of them. Remember Joseph with his brethren?
His brothers didn't have a clue that was Joseph, right? Think of us before the Lord saved
us. Did we know who Christ was? We
didn't have a clue. And then what does Joseph do
to his brethren? He reveals himself to them, doesn't he? That's what
he does to us. And that's what he's done to
us. Born again by the Holy Spirit of God, given faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, now we see him for who he is. But only because he revealed
himself. Oh, and what a statement here.
So they had accused him of being a wine-bibber and a glutton.
False charges were brought against him, who's the Lamb of God, the
sinless one. And no sin can be brought against
the Lord Jesus Christ, not in his life, not in his doctrine,
not in anything he's done. He's perfect. So it was very
unreasonable that they did not believe his words. But it's because they didn't
know who he was. They'd been waiting for the Messiah,
hadn't they? But the Messiah's standing right
in front of them. And they don't know who he is. Look at verse 47. He that is
of God, heareth God's words. Why do you understand the scriptures? Why, before we were saved, was
this just paper and ink? And why now is this book so wonderful
to us? Because God's given us ears to
hear and eyes to see, hasn't he? And look what it says here. He
that is of God heareth God's words. That's why we understand. "'cause now we're born again.
"'Ye, therefore, hear them not "'because you're not of God.'"
Look at that. He just plainly told them, you're
not God's people. "'My sheep,' what? "'Hear my voice, amen, sister. "'Hear my voice, and they follow
me.'" Look what he's... These words, he that is of God,
our Lord brings forth that there are some who will believe on
him, and that there are some who do not. That's called God's distinguishing
grace. I had breakfast with a dear brother
this week, and he said something that I told him I'm gonna use
it, and I'm gonna use it right now. What we believe is hard for natural
man to understand because we bring nothing to the table. See, religion, they bring their
supposed merit. They bring their supposed good
works. We don't bring anything. Nothing. And that offends the
pride of man. But that's the truth, isn't it?
And we've been given ears to hear, to understand the words
of God. And look what else he's bringing
forth here, that God's people belong to God by eternal election,
right? He that is of God heareth God's
words. When were we of God? Before the foundation of the
world when we were chosen in Christ. So he's bringing forth
God's eternal election without even saying it. Part of the family of God, indwelt
by the Holy Spirit of God, therefore we hear God's words. Granted faith to believe Christ
when we didn't believe in him at all before. To receive the
word of God now, to enjoy the word of God, to relish the word
of God. to receive it with affection,
and to look at it with reverence now, and to be in awe of the
great things that it speaks of, of what Christ has done for his
people. And he brings forth also the
reason that these Jews did not believe him was because they
were not God's children. Again, here we see the distinguishing
grace of God. Well, we know that some of God's
lost sheep were among the Israelites. He saved them, didn't he? And
he has a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation,
doesn't he? That's why we preach the gospel to all. I don't know
who God's elect are. God knows, but I don't have a
clue. So I preach the word to everyone. Say, come, come, flee
unto Christ. That's called the general call.
Goes out to everyone. And then the effectual call is
by the Lord. He uses the preached word to
affectually call his people to himself. Preachers don't have nothing
to do with that. We stumble along proclaiming the report, and somehow
God takes it from my mouth to your ears, and he uses it for
his glory. Isn't that incredible? It's absolutely amazing, and we're just One sinner telling
other sinners where to find bread. I found bread and it's wonderful. It's the bread of life. Come and feast. Come and feast. Oh, so he is displaying his distinguishing
grace here in these words in contrast of those who do not
believe his word and those who will. Now let's start at verse 48.
We see the Jews answering our Lord with an insult. Now they're
going to insult our Lord. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, say we not well that thou art a Samaritan and hast
a devil. That's an insult to the Lord.
These wicked men were not able to answer our Lord. So what do
they resort to? Well, they resort to vulgar and
blasphemous charges. Right? We're going to, we're
going to deframe them. They can't find fault with the
person, they can't, they can't find fault in Christ's words
or they're going to try to destroy his character. My oh my. Now the Jews looked upon the
Samaritans as enemies. They were half Jews. And the
Jews looked at, they, they detested them. And then they say that
he had a demon. Then they say our Lord's possessed
by a demon that made him insane. A few chapters over, they said
this. In John chapter 10, verse 20,
they said, and many of them said, he hath a devil and is mad. They
thought he was insane. Why hear ye him? Why ye listen
to him? He's crazy. What a wicked thing to say to
the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. What a wicked charge to
bring against our Savior. He's the only one who knew no
sin. He's the only one who's sinless. They say He is a demon. He controls them all. They can't do nothing outside
His permissive will. These men do not know who they're
speaking to. But he's going to reveal who
they're speaking to, isn't he? We're going to see that. This shows you how much natural
man hates the Lord. There's enmity in the heart of
natural man. They're claiming to be sons of
Abraham, and yet they hate the very one who Abraham looked to
for salvation. The true sons and daughters of
Abraham are those who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Now let's look at our Lord's
response in verse 49, and note the clarity with which our great
King speaks. I always like this too, Brother
Henry brought out that the Lord always spoke in one and two syllable
words. He spoke in words that common
people would understand. He doesn't use fancy words. Note
that when you're reading the scriptures and you read, I am
the way, the truth, and the life. Three one-syllable words. It's
amazing. It's absolutely stunning. Look
what he answers here, verse 49. I am not a devil, but I honor
my Father, and ye do dishonor me. Notice our Lord gave them no
reply to their first charge, He gave them no reply to their
first charge. Some of them said that he was
a Samaritan. Well, you know why the Lord didn't
respond to that? Because some of the Samaritans
were his elect. Remember the lady at the well? Oh, my. She believed on him,
didn't she? And then she went and told a
whole bunch of other Samaritans in the city, and they came out,
and the scripture says they believed on him, too. Some of them believed
on him, too. So God's got a people within the Samaritans. But he
does reply to the second charge. He says, I have not a devil,
but I honor my father, and ye do dishonor me. He tells them
that he has no demons. And again, they're speaking to
the one who the scripture says that the devils believe and tremble.
In James chapter 2, turn if you would there, just quick. Keep
your finger in John though, because we'll be going right back there.
In James chapter 2, it says in verse 19, I'll let you get there,
but the very one they're speaking to is the very one who the devils
believe and tremble. Now they knew who he was, didn't
they? Remember when he went to the man, the Gadarene man, and
they said, we know who thou art, the Holy One of Israel. The devils,
they know who he is, and they tremble. They even said, are
you come to torment us before the time? They know their end is near.
They know who he is. They know he's the Holy One of
Israel. And yet here they are, these
puny pieces of animated dust are throwing blasphemous things
into our Lord's face. Look here in James 2, verse 19. They'll believe us that there
is one God. Well, that's good, right? They'll do us well. The
devils also believe and tremble. They know there's one God. They
know there's not multiple gods. They're behind all those false
gods. They know they're not real. They know there's one true God. Devils are smarter than men.
Natural, man. My, oh, my. Let's go back to
our text. And our Lord tells them that
He honors the Father. How does He honor the Father? Well, He
honors the Father by ascribing all glory to Him, right? He honors
the Father by fulfilling His law. He honors the Father by
doing his will, by seeking his glory, by honoring his name. A man possessed of a demon couldn't
do that, could they? No, the Gadarene Demariach wasn't
praising God, was he? Oh, he's running around ripping
chains off naked, blaspheming probably and cursing probably.
And what happens after the Lord casts those demons out of him?
Well, then he's sitting at the feet of the Lord. What a picture
of us before the Lord saves us, eh? Running around. Oh, it was
awful what we did. God's so gracious to us. Then
he brings forth that they prove that they're
not of God by denouncing and dishonoring him. By their very
own words, they're proving that they're not of God. because they're
denouncing the one sent by God. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
five, just a few chapters over. He's the one sent by the Father,
right? And he's sent by the Father to glorify God. And the scriptures
declare, if you dishonor the Son, you know what? If you dishonor
the Son, you dishonor the Father. Look at this in John chapter
five, verses 22 and 25. This truth is clearly brought
forth before us. So in dishonoring Christ, which
is what they're doing, they were actually dishonoring the Father,
too. John chapter 5, verses 22 to 24. For the Father judges
no man, but hath committed all judgment unto his Son. Look at
that. Who is the one sitting upon the great white throne on
the day of judgment? The Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my. all judgment unto the
Son, that all men should honor the Son, look at that, all means
all there too, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which has sent him. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Look at that,
though, in verse 23. He that honoureth not the Son
honoureth not the Father which has sent him. And we see here, He says, I have not a devil,
but I honor my Father, and ye do dishonor me. So in dishonoring
Christ, they're actually dishonoring the Father as well. Next, our Lord proclaims that
he does not seek his own glory. Look at John chapter 8, verse
50. And I seek not mine own glory. There is one that seeketh and
judgeth. Beloved, as our representative
and servant of the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, He didn't
seek the glory of man. He didn't seek the glory of man.
No, He sought the glory of God. He did all things to honor the
glory of God, to honor and magnify our great Father. I look at it again, and I seek
not mine own glory, Verse 50, there is one that seeketh and
judgeth. Do you know he made himself with no reputation? Scripture
says, he made himself with no reputation, took upon himself
the form of a servant. The word of God, the second person
of the Trinity did this, made himself with no reputation, took
upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of God, or made in the likeness of man, bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. In being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. In all this, he did willingly
to honor the Father, to glorify the Father. See, God had given
him a people for maternity, and he must redeem them. He must
glorify the Father by redeeming them. He must honor the Father's
law in their place. He must satisfy the father's
justice in their place. He must appease the father's
wrath in their place. And he did that. And when he
cried, it's finished. It's perfect. It's perfect. There's nothing to be added.
We don't bring anything to the table. Nothing. Nothing at all. It's all done. It's all done. Why did he do this? To save us
from our sins. That's why he went to Calvary.
Why did he honor God's law and justice? To save us from our
sins. To purchase his bride. To redeem us from the slave block
of sin. All because his everlasting love
has been set upon us. Now let's read verse 51. And
remember, he's loved us from eternity. He says, here, verily,
verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never
see death. Now, see when it says, see death? They didn't understand this.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has pointed to the fearful consequences of
rejecting them in the last verse, letting them know that there
was one who would judge them. Now, here in sharp contrast,
he declares, if a man keep my sayings, He shall never see death. Here he's speaking of his own
blood-bought people. He's speaking of the ones the
Father gave him, the ones who'll be born again. They'll die physically.
Every one of us in this room is going to die physically. But
if we're the Lord's, we're going to live forever. Our bodies get
put in the ground, but our soul will go be with the Lord. And we'll be with them forever.
We won't die the second death. No. He's saying, all that are
my people, they're going to live forever. They're going to have
eternal life because of me. Again, he's speaking of the second
death here. When he says death, which is eternal death, when
he says there, he shall never see death, he's speaking of eternal
death there. He's speaking of eternal dormant there. Say, my
people will never see that. Never. They'll never be separated
from me. Never. Because I purchased them.
Never. Death, the physical death we
have has no power on God's people. No power on us. It's actually
a doorway for us to glory. We go out the door today. We're
going to go out these two doors. We'll go out the other door.
We're going to be outside, right? Death is like going out and going
into the land of the living, or even the land of the dead,
which is here, dead spiritually, and going to the land of the
living. And it's just like walking through that door, just like
that. That's comforting, isn't it?
That's comforting for we who are the people of God. They're
very comforting. Seeing and tasting death are
Hebrew expressions of dying. So when he says see death here,
it's just an expression of dying. When they say taste death, it's
an expression the Hebrews used for dying. And look what the
Jews proclaim in verse 52 and 53. 51, 52, they said, then said the Jews
unto him, now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead,
and the prophets, and thou sayest, if a man keep my saying, he shall
never taste of death. See, the Lord said, see death,
and they said, taste death. That's just, again, Hebrew expressions
for death itself. Again, their spiritual ignorance
is brought forth here. They do not know who they're
talking to. They have no idea at all. They are truly the blind
leading the blind. We were in that state, so we
don't look at them and go, oh yeah, look at them. We were in
that state, beloved, before the Lord saved us. I didn't have
a clue about the Bible in my teens and 20s. I had no idea
who the Lord was. I had a figment, a god of my
imagination, but I didn't even know what the scriptures were
about. I still don't know much. But what I know, I'm going to
tell. I'm going to tell you about it. Oh my. I'm learning a little
bit more each time. I sit down and study, and I can
tell you about it. Oh my. Same for you, right? Oh,
it's wonderful. It's wonderful. But their spiritual
ignorance of who this really was who was speaking to them
is very clear. No matter how simple and plain spiritual truth
is presented to natural man, they will not understand it.
So when you're a witness to somebody, don't get mad at them. Because
they don't understand what you're saying. Tell them the truth. Tell them the great things God
has done for you. And leave it in God's hands. They're going to go away thinking
about it. I can tell you that. I've told you the story about
my daughter telling me, you know, Dad, I'm going to download some of
your sermons. I just want to hear your voice. Two weeks later, she calls
me. She goes, I don't know about
this election stuff, Dad. Oh, you heard something. Oh. See? So you don't know. Don't
get mad at them. Just tell them the great things
the Lord has done for you, and leave it there. Tell them Christ
is the only Savior of sinners, and just leave it there. When
the Lord opens the door, you're going to know it. You're going
to know it. And we look at these guys, and
they don't know anything, do they? Well, did we know anything
before the Lord saved us? Did we know anything spiritually?
We might have attended a church, but we didn't really know who
God was before he saved us. You might have even heard truth.
Some of you were raised in this church. You heard truth. but
you didn't understand it. Now you may know doctrine. I know someone who knows what
we believe and can go up to someone who preaches a false gospel and
can go up one side of them and down the other with scriptures
in a good way, though not in a bad way, but does not know
Christ. So you can know doctrine and
not know Christ. Are you born again? You must
be born again. And that doesn't come about by
praying a prayer or walking the Nile. That comes about by Holy
Spirit regeneration. That's how that comes about,
by the power and might of God. Look at the words in verse 52.
They say, now we know that thou hast a devil. They're just continuing
to pour their blasphemies out, aren't they? upon the very one
who controls all things. We know he could call a legion
of angels down, six legions of angels, enough to destroy the
whole world. He don't do that, though. His face is set like
a flint. I have to die for my people.
I have to. I have to die for my bride. Oh, they think he's insane. And
then they ask him if he's greater than Abraham. Well, of course
he's greater than Abraham. He's the I Am, standing in their
midst in the flesh. But they don't know that. Now,
the Jews vaulted up Abraham and Moses to these positions, very
high. But Abraham and Moses, who did
they look to by faith? They looked to the Messiah, didn't
they? They looked to Christ by faith. When it says, Abraham
saw his day, that means he looked to Christ. That's all that means.
He looked to Christ by faith. These men are not born again.
They have no understanding of who Christ is. Now our Lord will
answer the question in verse 53. He's going to answer the
question in verse 53 and verse 54. Whom makest thou thyself? In verse 53, the Jews ask him.
Look now, here we see his answer. Verse 54, Jesus answered, if
I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my father that honoreth
me, of whom you say that he is your God. And the next four verses
is an answer to the question, whom makest thou thyself? And he says here, if I honor
myself, my honor is nothing. It is my father that honoreth
me. He's bringing forth that if he honors himself, it's worthless.
Then he brings forth that the Father honors him. So, how so, might one ask? Well,
the Father honored him at his birth, didn't he? Sent angels
proclaiming of his birth, saying, glory to God in the highest and
on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. The Father honored him then. Father honored him at his baptism.
This is my beloved son, hear him. He honored him. Father honored
him by his works and miracles, which he did through him. Then
after his death, the father honored the Lord by raising him from
the grave and seating him at his right hand. So now we see
that if you dishonor the son, you dishonor the father as well,
because even the father honored him. And then the father's put him
in a position where every knee shall bow and every tongue shall
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and he is the one who will
judge all people. Do you know all of heaven will
declare who he is? Turn, if you would, to Revelation
chapter five. Do you know that all of heaven
will give honor to Christ? Here these men are saying that
he is a devil, and here these men are saying he's a blasphemer.
But he's the very one sent by God to redeem his people from
their sins. Look at this in Revelation chapter
5 verses 11 to 13. All of heaven will honor him.
All throughout eternity will honor him. This praise will never stop.
Revelation 5, verses 11 to 13. And I beheld, and I heard a voice
of many angels round about the throne, and beasts, and elders,
and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000, and thousands of
thousands. That means a number you can't
number. Same with a loud voice. Look
at this. Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive what? Power,
and riches, wisdom, and strength, and what? Honor. Honor. Honor. and glory, and blessing,
and every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and
under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that
are in them. Heard I saying, blessing, and
honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne, for how long? And unto the Lamb, for how long?
Forever and ever. Oh, heaven will give him honor
for all of eternity. our Lord he honored God all through
his life didn't he he honored God's law perfectly in our place
look at the latter part of verse 54 of whom you say that he is
your God and in verse 55 yet have you not known him but
I know him he's saying to them you don't know God but I know
him He's sent by God. He's sent by the Father, isn't
he? He's sent by the Holy Spirit. Look at that. But I know him.
And if I should say I know him not, I'll be a liar like unto
you. He flips it right around on them,
doesn't he? He says, you're saying you know God, but you're lying.
And he says, but I know God. And if I said I didn't know God,
then I'd be lying just like you. You see how plainly our Lord
speaks? And then look what he says, but
I know him and keep his sayings. He honors God. He honors God
in his life. He honors God with his speech.
He honors God with his mind. And he did that all for us. He did that all for us, beloved.
You know what he's doing, too? He's pulling the face mask, the
false mask of the name of God which they proclaim. to know
God. He's pulling that mask right
off their face, saying, you don't know God. You don't know him. And then he says, if I said I
didn't know God, I'd be lying just like you. My, look at this words, I know
him. Christ knows God. He's sent by
the Father. He's one with the Father. And he brings forth that they
saying that they know God, they're lying. They're bringing a false
statement. And one may ask, how does he know that they do not
know God? Well, he's God incarnate in the flesh. And he's saying, you don't know
me. He's God. And he's saying, you don't know
me. You don't know the Father. You don't know me. So this isn't just any man saying
this. This is God in the flesh saying this to them. They profess
that they know God, and yet he's standing right in front of them.
Incarnate. They profess that they know the
one who sent him, and they don't even know the one God sent. Do you know he knows every one
of us intimately? I put an article in this week
that just blessed my heart when I read about how the very hairs
of our head are numbered. Do you know how intimately God
knows his sheep? so intimately that the very hairs
of our head are numbered. My. I don't know how many hairs
I have, but when I get my hair cut low, there's sure a lot of
bristles in there. But he knows. He knows. Isn't that amazing?
That's how intimately God knows his sheep. That's how intimately
he knows his people. And knowledge here means more
than just a mental acceptance of facts and natural understanding.
Turn, if you would, to 1 John 5, and we'll see what Christ
is bringing forth is that he knows God intimately
because he is God. He's one with the Father. And God's people know God. We've been taught who he is. And they did not know the one
who honored Christ. They did not know the God that
Abraham followed, because this is him, in the flesh, in front
of them. They claimed to be the children
of Abraham, and yet they hated the one who Abraham looked to.
Look at this in 1 John 5, verse 20. And we know, God's people
know some stuff. We know some things. We've been
taught some things. It's been, something's been revealed
to us that we didn't know before. And we know that the Son of God
has come. We know that Christ came into this world, and we
believe it. We know that. And hath given to us an understanding.
We didn't have the understanding about Him before, but now He's
given us an understanding. Why? That we may know Him that
is true. And we are in Him that is true. Even in his son, this is the
true God in eternal life. Look at that, we know him. More
importantly, though, he knows us. But we've been given an understanding. We read these verses in John
and we believe what he's saying. We may have read these words
before the Lord saved us and it was, again, just paper and
ink. Or someone may have told us about Christ being God incarnated
in the flesh. And we may have said, yeah, I
believe that. But we really, really didn't know him. Not until we were born again.
So God's people know the one true God. He's revealed himself
to us. And we rejoice in him. He is life eternal. He's the
only true God. And our Lord is going to make
a statement. Look at verse 56 now. John chapter 8, verse 56. He's going to make a statement
in the next two verses. They claim to be the children of Abraham.
Look what the Lord says about Abraham in verse 56. Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Now
the Jews again gloried much in Abraham. They claimed him as
their father, the father of their faith. But our Lord gives a glimpse
of who he is. He brings forth that Abraham
foresaw his coming into the world. Because who is Christ? He's the
Messiah sent by God, right? Well, the Jews were looking for
the Messiah to come into the world. And here he is. He brings forth
that Abraham foresaw his coming into the world, foresaw his dying
on the cross for sinners. My oh my. And he trusted God,
didn't he? He trusted the Messiah. You know,
he has the same faith we have. His faith wasn't any different
than ours. All God's people are saved by grace through faith.
And that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works,
that any man should boast. There's only one Savior, isn't
there? For the Old Testament saints and for the New Testament
saints. They look forward to the cross, we look back. And Abraham rejoiced to see his
day and was glad. He saw Christ dying for him by
faith. He saw the Messiah by faith, in type and by special revelation. And our Lord is clearly implying
that he is the promised Messiah here. This is what he's bringing
forth, that he's the Messiah. The seed of Abraham, in whom
all the generations of the earth should be blessed. And he's the
one who Abraham, by God-given faith, looked to and rejoiced.
He's telling those Jews very plainly that he is the Messiah.
And look at their reaction in verse 57. Then said the Jews
unto him, Thou art yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen
Abraham? Now you may wonder why they did
bring up the age fifty. I wondered that, so I looked
into it a little bit. The Jews, for the Jews, 50 years old was,
to the Jews, the completion of manhood. It was an age that they
reached, and then they could counsel people. And people would
receive their counsel. So that's why 50 years is mentioned
there. I wondered that. For a long time,
I've wondered that. So like I said, I decided to dig into it. And
that's what I found out. They could give counsel at the
age of 50. Now note how they twist our Lord's
words. He had told them that Abraham
rejoiced to see his day, meaning that he looked to the coming
Messiah. Abraham did not see Christ in the flesh, because
Abraham was dead many years before Christ even appeared. But Abraham rejoiced by faith
to see his day. He rejoiced in the coming Messiah. His faith was set upon the Messiah. He'd not seen him with bodily
eyes, but he saw him with the eye of faith, didn't he? Just
like we do. We haven't seen him with bodily eyes, but we look
to Christ by faith, don't we? God-given faith. Same way Abraham
looked. Now let's read verse 58. Now
our Lord here, he's gonna make an amazing statement. He's gonna
make a statement of his eternality. Look at this. Jesus said unto
them, verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. What a statement. He's proclaiming
his eternality. He's proclaiming that he's God.
And it's, look at that, it's all in one, in a two-syllable
word. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
before Abraham was, I am. Our Lord is here speaking of
his eternal existence. He is the everlasting I am. He is the eternal God, which
was and is and is forever. He's the one who I read about
in Exodus. That was him. That was a Christophany. Again,
the only words that God speaks to mankind is through his son. Through his son. The great I
am, the very, he's saying, he's saying, I am the one who parted
the Red Sea. He's saying, I am the one who
was a fiery, fiery pillar. I am the one who was the shade for the people as they walked
through the desert. I am the one who led Joshua into the promised
land. I am the one who saves his people. What a statement. Think of that,
the Red Sea. Remember, the Red Sea just parted
like a, it parted like it was nothing. And the people walked
across dry land. How much power does it take for
God to part the Red Sea? Nothing for him. And here he
is standing in front of them, and he says, before Abraham was,
I am. The Israelites knew who the IM
was, didn't they? That's one thing right there
that they could say, well, we don't understand what you're
saying. Oh my! He's proclaiming to them
that he's Jehovah in the flesh. He is the one who took the Egyptians
out of that bondage they were in, right? What did he do? He delivered them, didn't he?
He took them into the promised land, right? What did he do for
you and I as believers? He delivered us from the great
bondage we were in. Taskmasters to sin. He delivered
us from that. Right? And he's taken us to the
promised land, isn't he? And when our life is over, he'll
take us right into the promised land. He'll take us into glory
to be with him forever. Oh, my. That's good news, isn't
it? Oh, the gospel's wonderful news.
And how does he do it? All by his almighty hand. All by his almighty hand. He
saves his people by his almighty hand. Oh, he delivered us from
all our sins. He delivered us from the law
of God. He delivered us from the justice of God. And he's
raised for our justification. Right now, he's seated at the
right hand of the Father. And we'd be delivered from all those
things, beloved. By who? By the great I Am. That's
who delivered us. That's who our Savior is. Our
Savior is the great I Am. And this title, I Am, for the
Lord Jesus Christ, signifies the continuous being of God.
Now, He made Himself with no reputation, right? Took upon
Him the likeness. of sinful flesh and he's sinless. But he is nonetheless God. He's
fully God and fully man. That's who our Redeemer is. That's
who's the one who saved us. Why do we doubt? Why do I get
anxious sometimes? That the very one who is the
great I am has saved me. Oh, the flesh, the flesh, the
flesh. But we're learning, aren't we?
We're learning just to rest and trust Him. Praise His mighty
name. We're learning that our Savior is the great I Am. We're
learning that our Savior is the self-existent One. We're learning
that our Savior is the eternal God, and that the life He gives
is eternal life, just like Him. Praise His mighty name. So what
a statement here. The Lord Jesus Christ has unveiled
who He truly is. He's the great I am. He's the
very one who spoke to Moses, the burning bush. He's the very
one who Abraham looked to by faith. And then what's the reaction? What's the reaction? Well, look
at the natural reaction of man, verse 59. Then took they up stones
to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself and went
out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed
by. The Jews no doubt knew what he
meant. because they started picking up stones. They were going to stone him
right there, just like they did with Stephen. Remember Stephen?
They just picked up stones and started throwing them at him.
They were so mad at Stephen. They're so mad at our Lord here,
because he's claiming to be God, and he is God, though, but they
don't know it. They knew he claimed to be Joe
over here, They knew that he was claiming to be one far greater
than Abraham, because he's claiming to be the great I Am. And look
at the natural reaction of man. And you know what? You know what?
If we were there before the Lord saved us, we'd pick up stones
too. We would have picked up stones. Because it's in all of us. My,
oh, my. They did not believe his claim,
and the sin in their heart was brought into action. You see,
they've been blaspheming him. They said he had a devil. So
that sin, right, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh,
right? So they've already been speaking blasphemies against
him, and now that sin has come into action. They're grabbing
them rocks, and they want to kill him. But you know what? You know, they couldn't kill
him. You know why? It wasn't his time. It wasn't the appointed time
for him to die. He had an appointed time, beloved,
that he set his face like a flint to, to save our souls. And it wasn't
at this time. But when that time came, he willingly
gave himself as a lamb to the slaughter. What a Savior. What a Redeemer is Jesus Christ
our Lord. Praise His name.