Good day to be with our spiritual
family. I look at church as an oasis,
a place we can come for refreshment. All week in the world and we
come here. It's truly an oasis to hear about our King, to hear
about our Savior, our Redeemer, Today will be a two-part message. This morning, of course, will
be part one, and tonight will be part two. And the name of the message is,
Jesus, the Great I Am. Jesus, the Great I Am. I almost joked with Brother Matt.
You've been looking at my notes, brother? He did a wonderful message
this morning. If you get it on CD, he did a
wonderful message for Bible class for us on the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord and God
was glorified. Today we'll be looking at Jesus,
the great I Am. Jesus, the great I Am. Our portion
of Scripture that we'll use to go further into Scripture will
be found in Exodus 3. Now, a few Sundays back, we looked
at at some statements in scripture
which were made by the great I Am, and we looked at the I
Wills. Just a few of them, too. And
as I was studying for this, I found out that there's over 100 I Am
statements just in the Old Testament alone. It's incredible. I Am. I Am. And so, we looked at the
one who said, I will, And that what He wills comes to pass is
the great I Am. Is the great I Am. When God says,
I will, it will come to pass because He is the great I Am. He's God. He's God. And we looked at how it shall
come to pass. And we who believe, we who believe,
we find great rest and great peace in knowing that our Savior
is the great I Am. That our eternal souls are in
the hands of the Almighty God. And that the Almighty God, and
we'll look at the One who's called the Self-existent One. The Self-existent One. He needs
nothing. And no one. But yet, He became
a man. and died on Calvary's cross to
redeem his people from their sins. And the believer in Christ
rests in the great I Am, rests in what He's done, the one true
God. Now Moses, Moses was asking God,
what shall I say unto the Israelites? Exodus chapter 3. He was asking
God, what shall I say to the Israelites? Who do I tell them
that sent me? Look at Exodus 3, verses 13-15. Now this is Moses at the burning
bush. Moses at the burning bush. And Moses said unto God, Behold,
when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto
them, verse 13, The God of your fathers has sent me unto you,
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. And he said, Thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am has sent me unto you. Look at verse 15. And God said
moreover unto Moses, Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel,
The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me unto you. This is my
name forever." Forever? And this is my memorial unto
all generations now. Our God in Exodus, Here in chapter
3, it tells Moses to tell the children of Israel that, I Am. I Am has sent me. The great God
of the universe identifies Himself as I Am. And speaking here, He's identified
Himself as the I Am. See where it says, the Lord God
of your fathers? This speaks of Jehovah. Translated
in the Hebrew, the self-existent one. The self-existent one. The God of Abraham. The God of
Isaac. The God of Jacob. And the God
of all the elect, of all the ages. The great I Am. The great
I Am. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43. And we'll
keep this in mind. And God said unto Moses, I Am
that I Am. And He said, Thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I Am has sent Me unto you. And
then keep in mind also, in Exodus 3.15 where it said the Lord being
Jehovah, being Jehovah. Look at this in Isaiah 43. Same
phrase, same word in the Hebrew for Lord. Isaiah 43, verses 10-13,
Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, saith the self-existent
One. And My servant, whom I have chosen,
that ye may know and believe Me and understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed. There is no other God but the
self-existent Great I Am. There is no other God. Before me there was no God formed,
neither shall there be after me." These folks had carved idols
out of wood and stone and bowed before them, and they were not
gods. They were idols. And there's
no gods before the great I Am, and there's no gods after the
great I Am. He is the one true God. And look at chapter 43. Verse
43, verse 11, I, even I, am the Lord. Again, the self-existent
One. And beside me there is what?
No Savior. No Savior. There's no salvation
outside of the great I Am. There's no salvation outside
of the One who speaks here. He says, I have declared and
have saved And I have showed when there was no strange God
among you, therefore ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, that
I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am
He. And there is none that can deliver
out of My hand. No one's going to escape the
wrath and justice of God on their own. No one. People get away with
things in this world, but they will not escape the judgment
of the great I Am. But we who believe, oh, the wrath
and judgment of God is being turned away, is being appeased
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Oh my. There is none that can deliver
out of my hand I will work, and who shall let it? So here we
see the same Hebrew word used in verse 15 of Exodus 3. The
self-existent one is used here in Isaiah when we see Lord. Turn over two chapters to chapter
45. Verses 5 and 6. The self-existent One. We're
told to look. To look to the self-existent
One. To look to Jehovah. The word translated there is
Jehovah, which is translated as the self-existent One. I am
the Lord, and there is none else. Verse 5. There is no God beside
Me. I girded Thee, though Thou hast
not known Me." He must manifest Himself. We've been looking at
that in our Colossians series. The mystery must be manifested,
and He manifests it to His saints. And the mystery is the Lord Jesus
Christ and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He must manifest
Himself to us, or we will never ever know Him. Thou hast not known Me. That
they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west
that there is none beside Me. He's declaring that He is the
only God. The one true God. I am the Lord and there is none
else. No matter what anyone says, this
is God speaking. This is the great I Am. revealing
Himself. Look at verse 21. A self-existent
one. The one true God here tells us
that there's no God but Him. Look at 21 to 25. Tell me and
bring them near, yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath
declared this from ancient times? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? He knows the end and the beginning. We know things as we go through
time. He knows the end to the beginning. Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else beside me, a just
God and a Savior? So the great I AM here tells
us here, He's a just God and a Savior. And there is none beside
me. Look unto me. And what? Look
unto the great I AM. Look unto Jehovah and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else.
I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness
and shall not return. That unto me every knee shall
bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely shall one say, in the
Lord have I righteousness and strength. And we do. We who believe
our righteousness and our strength is only in Christ and Him alone.
Even to Him shall all men come, and all that are incensed against
Him shall be ashamed. Look at verse 25 here. In the
Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified. There's God's beloved. And show glory. So the same word
used in 21, 24, and 25 for Lord is the same word that was used
in Exodus 3.15, the self-existent One. Jehovah. Jehovah, the self-existent
One. So we can conclude by the Scriptures
that we've looked at right there, we can conclude from the Old
Testament that the One who said, I am, the One who sent Moses
is God, right? From what we've looked at. We
can conclude. I was talking with some guys
yesterday, and we were just reading scripture, and I just said, well,
that's what the scripture says. Well, that's your interpretation.
No, that's just what the scripture says. It's not rocket science. The scripture says that the Lord's
God. See, but people want to put their own opinion on scripture.
You can't do that. We have to read it for what it
says. And what we've looked at, The great I am, the self-existent
one, says I am that I am. I am the I am. The great I am. The great I am. So we can conclude
by looking at scripture that the one who said I am is God.
Look again at Isaiah 43, verse 11. I am, or I even, here we
go, I am, I even, I am the Lord. And beside me there is no Savior.
So the Great I Am says there is no Savior outside of Him.
And then in Isaiah 45, 22, it says, Look unto Me. Look unto
who? The Great I Am, and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth.
For I am God. There's another statement again.
I am God. The Great I Am proclaims Himself to be God, and there
is none else. Isaiah 45, 22. And there is life
and a look to the Savior. There's life in the look to the
Savior according to the verses that we've looked at. And all
the spiritual seed of Israel shall be saved. Isaiah 45, 25,
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified. Justified. So with this in mind, let's look
at the New Testament. Let's look at who our Lord Jesus
Christ was in the statements that He made about Himself. Let's
preface this with John chapter 1 first of all. John chapter 1. So we saw the
great I am through various scriptures. The great I am is God. He's God. And he says there's no savior
other than me in the Old Testament. Let's look at John chapter 1.
Scripture declares, in the beginning was the Word. So the Word here is identified.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. The
beginning. In eternity. In eternity. Before there was
ever anything. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God. Look at this. And the Word was
God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not
anything made that was made. Let's go down to John 1.14, and
then put your finger in 1 Timothy 3.16. John 1.14 though. So the word
identified in the first verse of this chapter, of John 1, is
here proclaimed to be God, and the Word was God. Look at verse 14 now. Then it
proclaims that this Word was manifested in the flesh. And
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word, the one who's
God, was made flesh. He dwelt among us and we beheld
His glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And then 1 Timothy 3.16 brought
this out on Wednesday night. This states plainly that God
was manifested in the flesh. And remember what we read in
John 1. Verses 1 to 3, and in 14, the Word was made flesh.
Look at this. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3.16. Without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
John 1.14, and the Word became flesh. and dwelt among us. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. He's seated at the right hand
of the Father right now. So, back to John chapter 1. In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. And then the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. The great I Am. The great I Am
is manifested in the flesh. Manifested in the flesh. Turn, if you would, to John 8
and let's see some statements that our Lord and King made concerning
Himself and who He was. Who He was, as we preface this
all with the great I AM, has become flesh. God incarnate in the flesh. John
8. In John 8, our Lord has been
discussing with the Jews who were Abraham's children of the
flesh. And they claim to be Abraham's
children, and they are of the flesh, but they're not Abraham's
spiritual children. Look at John 8, verse 39-41. They answered and said unto him,
Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye
were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But
now ye seek to kill me. A man that hath told you the truth,
which I have heard of God, this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds
of your father. Then said they to him, We be
not born of fornication. We have one Father, even God. And then they accused our Lord
of having a devil. And we see here, these folks
are religious folks. These are folks who studied Scripture.
And if God doesn't reveal Himself, if Christ doesn't reveal Himself,
they will never know who He is. And look at the statement that
our King makes in the latter part of this chapter. John 8,
starting in verse 53, and we'll go all the way down to 59. They
hate the Lord Jesus Christ. They hate Him. 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 he should say, I know
him not, I shall be a liar like unto you. But I know him, and
keep his saying. Your father Abraham." Now, they've
been going off about Abraham, right? And our great king, the self-existent
one, the great I Am, makes this profound statement. Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. Then
said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old,
and hast thou seen Abraham? Now remember who they're speaking
to. God manifest in the flesh. The self-existent One. The One
who identified Himself to Moses as the great I Am. The great
I Am. And look at this profound statement
He makes in verse 58, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, before Abraham was, I Am. And they knew what He was saying,
because look at the next verse. Then took up these 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. This is none other than the great I Am. the God of the universe,
the one who said, I'm a just God and Savior, the God-man mediator,
the one who said, look unto me, look unto me and be saved. The great I am. And they picked
up stones. They didn't believe who he was,
but he pronounced that he was the great I am. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, before Abraham was, I The Lord Jesus Christ. He's no
mere teacher. He's no mere man. He is the great I Am. God manifested
in the flesh. Before Abraham was, I Am. Before the universe was ever
created, Before there was ever stars, before there was ever
any heavens at all, I am. God manifests in the flesh. He states His eternal existence. The great I am. So we see here
right before us our Lord's divinity and our Lord's humanity. He is
the God-man mediator. The God-man mediator. Behold
the Lamb of God. God's redeemed my soul. Is it so with you? The great
I AM has redeemed my soul. The self-existent One became
a man to redeem the souls of His people. Look unto Me and
be saved, the great I Am says. Oh, that God would give you faith
to believe. Christ is the everlasting I Am,
the eternal God, which is and was and is to come. Turn, if you would, to John 6,
verse 35. And our Lord identifies Himself
again in another I AM statement. John 6, verse 35. And Jesus said unto
them, I AM the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. And he that believeth on me shall
never thirst." Again, do you remember the statement in Isaiah,
look unto me and be saved, where he said he's a savior and a just
God? Here's God incarnate in the flesh.
I am the bread of life. The great I am. I am he who is
the bread of life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
bread that gives spiritual and eternal life. He is the bread
that upholds and maintains the believer. We must have food. We must feast. And Christ is
the bread of life. He is our life. We who believe. He's the Messiah. He's the one
who came to give His life. He might give us eternal life
through the sacrifice of Himself. I am the bread of life. Again,
we see the words, I am. He is the bread of life. He is
the bread that every sinner needs. We're just mercy beggars and
He is the bread of life. The bread which every sinner
needs and the bread that without Him We're perishing our sins. Look at John 6, verse 51. I am
the living bread which come down from heaven. If any man eat of
this bread, he shall live forever. For the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Now
the context of verse 51, our Lord is talking about how God
gave manna. The great I Am gave manna to
the Israelites in the wilderness. And this manna sustained their
lives. Sustained their lives in the
wilderness. Oh, it pictured He who is the heavenly manna. He who sustains His people. He
is the bread of life. We who are born again, we cannot
live spiritually without Christ. We must have Him. It is He who sustains us in the
wilderness of this world. And without Him we are spiritually
dead. Oh, but with Him we are alive and we feast on the heavenly
man who is Christ daily. Daily. Daily we're trusting in
Him. Daily we're resting in Him. It's not a one-time thing, is
it? Repentance is not a one-time thing. Coming to Christ is not
a one-time thing. We continuously come to Him.
Continuously. We need Him. He's the bread of
life, the I am, the great I am. And note here in this verse,
he says, I am the living bread which come down from heaven.
He's the living bread. If any man eat this bread, which
means to believe on him, to believe on him, our Lord said, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And see, notice in our text too,
this bread He gives is His flesh. If any man eats of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 10. The bread He gives is His flesh, speaking of His
death upon the cross as the great sinner's substitute. And remember,
who's speaking this? The great I Am. God manifested
in the flesh. So think of this, the self-existent
one. The God of the universe is saying,
believe on me. I'm the bread of life. Without
me, you have nothing. Oh. Hebrews 10, verses 18-22, Now
where remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin. Heaven, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath
consecrated for us. How? Through the veil, that is
to say, His flesh. Remember in our text to John
6, and the bread that I'll give is my flesh. Heaven and high priest over the
house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance
of faith. Heaven, our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
We only have salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord, and it's only
because of what He's done. It's only because of what He's
done. The great I Am gives His life for sinners. Can we even fathom this love? That God would become a man? And as Brother Tim said in that
song, what about dust? That God would become a man to
redeem people who shake their fists at him? People who by nature hate him?
Ah, but He's loved His people with an everlasting love. With
an everlasting love. We didn't love Him. But I ask you now, believer,
do you love Him? Is He everything to you? Yes,
because of what He's done for us. He's redeemed us from all
our sins. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh. And then it goes on in John 6, verse 51 to say,
which I will give for the life of the world. Now folks will
take this and use it as universalism and say, well, see, Jesus died
for everyone. No, this is speaking that He's
not just given to the Jews who would believe on Him, but the
Gentiles also. But the Gentiles also, who were
considered to be the world. Anyone outside of the Jewish
religious system were considered to be the world. Anyone. Oh, He's not just given to the
Jews who would believe on Him, but also the Gentiles, all those
who were given to Him of the Father. before the foundation
of the world. Oh, what glorious love. My little
children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not.
And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Who's
the believer's advocate? The great I AM, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ the righteous, and
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2, verses
1 and 2. Let's turn over to John 8. We'll
look at another I Am statement by our great King. John 8, verse
12. Then spake Jesus unto them, saying,
I Am. I am the light of the world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life." Again, he's proclaiming himself to be the
great I Am. See, my Savior is not just an
ordinary man. And you who believe, your Savior
is not an ordinary man. He's God. This is why we can say to folks,
that we have such comfort, such rest, such peace, such security,
because the one who keeps us, the one who saves us, the one
who shed his own precious blood is the great I AM, God, God manifest
in the flesh. Look at John 8, verse 12. Then
spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the
world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life. Here before us the great I AM
in the flesh tells us that He is the light of the world. He
is the light of the world. And they who follow Him, they
who believe on Him, will not walk in darkness. Now there was
a time when we were in the darkness of our sins, we who believe. Scripture says in Colossians
we've been translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom
of his dear son. So every person comes into this
world in darkness, blind by nature, but here before us is the one
who is the light, the perfect one, the light of the world.
What a universal statement in that. It removes distinction
between Jews and Gentiles, doesn't it? It removes nationality distinction. It removes them. It removes between
the learned and the unlearned, the rich and the poor. Scripture declares that there
is none that seeks after God. There is none who is righteous.
None who will seek the light, the light of the world, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And left to ourselves, men love
darkness. No man will come to Christ, but
when we're made willing. No man will come to Christ on
their own, but when we're made willing. You know, I've talked
to some people who believe in free will lately, and I've come
to realize that they make their will their God. they make their
will their God. Because they boldly say that
God can't do anything unless they make a decision. Their will
is their God. My will was in bondage to my
old nature. Now my will is governed by my
new nature. That's why I keep trying to say
to them, but your will is bound to your nature. So free willers, they make a
God out of their will. and they'll perish in their sins.
But our God is the one who has... His will is supreme. People like
to pop off about free will, that there's only one real will that's
free in this whole universe, and that's God's. He can do whatever
He pleases. Whatever He pleases. Our wills
are bound by our nature. And so man will not naturally
come to the light of the will of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
oh, if the Holy Spirit reveals to us who He is, we're made willing. And those who are made willing,
they flee to Christ. They flee to Christ. And they
shall not walk in darkness. And what? They are fully forgiven
for all their sins. All their sins. Why? Because of the great I Am. The self-existent One has died
in the room and place on Calvary's cross. See, it's no way dependent
upon me, my salvation. And if you're a believer, it's
nowhere dependent upon you. It's all what the great I AM
has done. It is finished. Beautiful words for the believer. God is satisfied with the sacrifice
of Christ. The believer is cleansed by the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And John the Baptist
came to bear witness of the light, that this light is the life of
God. Darkness and death are one, and
light and life are one. And the light is the knowledge
of the glory of God. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians. Oh, our Lord is the light of
the world. But man loved darkness rather
than light. I know I was there. And I still struggle with sin
every single day, all the time. Is it so with you? Is it not
a battle? Look at 2 Corinthians 4, verses
3-6. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost. And remember, before the Lord
saved us, the gospel was hid to us. Right? But Colossians
tells us it's manifested, the mystery is manifested to His
saints. Look though, it says, it was
hid to them that are lost, in whom the gods of this world have
blinded the minds of them which believe not. lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, Christ who is the light of the
world, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we
preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord in ourselves,
your servants for Jesus' sake. I can't save any of you, but I know one who can save all
who come to him. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He can take the blackest sinner and make him white. Pure white. White as snow. Why? How can He do that? Because He's
the self-existent One. The Great I Am. God manifested
in the flesh. And He gave His life on Calvary's
cross as a substitute for His people. Look at verse 6 again
in 2 Corinthians. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness. It's not man's doing, is it?
It's not man's doing. It's God. For God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. We who believe have had Christ
manifested to us. The Holy Spirit has regenerated
us. We're born again and we flee to Christ. We flee to Christ. And this is our hope. If you're
here without Christ, oh, that God the Holy Spirit would move
in your hearts and lives and point you to Christ. Point you
to Him. Back to John 8, verse 12. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the
world. He that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life. So we've seen in these statements
that Christ He's proclaiming that He is the I Am. He is proclaiming who He is.
And men don't believe it. But those who receive Christ
and follow Christ, we do not walk in darkness, the darkness
of sin or error or ignorance or tradition. have the light
of life, and are taught by the Holy Spirit of God the things
of Christ. Then spake Jesus again unto them,
saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth Me shall
not walk in darkness. Remember how you used to think
before the Lord saved you? Remember how you used to think
about the Lord before the Lord saved you? I profess that I didn't have
a clue who God was. I'm still learning. I'm just
scratching the surface right now. But I didn't have a clue
who God was. I did not know the I am before
he saved me. I had no idea who God was. Now,
I had an idea in my head who God was, but like scripture says,
your ways are not my ways. It was a God that I had drummed
up in my imagination. But oh, when He reveals Himself,
he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life. We are taught of God, we who
believe, taught of God. who is Jesus Christ our Lord,
God incarnate in the flesh. And we learn and are given understanding
by the Holy Spirit of God about the things of Christ. Oh, He
teaches us about the great redemption that's only in Christ. He teaches
us the doctrines of Scripture which are very important. And
what do they do? Folks nowadays, they don't want
to have nothing to do with doctrine. They just want to have experience.
They want to have things going on in churches. They just, oh,
we won't get into doctrine. That divides. Doctrine is good
for us. It teaches us of Christ. It grounds. Like Brother Matt was saying,
the I Am's are like foundation stones stacked up together. And
their foundation is sure. Doctrine helps us to get grounded. Now, we must always teach doctrine
around Christ, though. Always. Because if you take Christ
out of just the doctrine, which people do it and I don't know
how they do it, but because doctrine is all about Christ. The Bible
is all about Christ. But people will rip things out
and they're making a list of things you have to do and things
you don't have to do. And it does not glorify God. But doctrine
will teach us of Christ. Teach us of the great things
that Christ has done. Great things that the I Am has
done. And we grow and we learn. But we only learn these things
as the Holy Spirit illuminates the Scripture for us. We can't
go to the Scripture on our own. I remember before the Lord saved
me and I read it, and it was just ink and paper. But after the Lord saved me and
the Holy Spirit indwells you, and you read the Scriptures,
and you're like, I've never seen that before. And even after walking
with the Lord for 20, 30 years, I've heard people say, well,
I've never seen that before. It still happens. He's still
revealing Himself to His people. And we grow and we learn as we
study Scripture. And as we hear sermons about
Christ, we grow and we learn in the knowledge and truth of
Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the true life. And we know that
the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that
we may know Him. That is true. And we are in Him. That is true. Even in His Son,
Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. 1 John 5, 20. This is the true
God. Jesus Christ. The great I Am.
And eternal life. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
10. John chapter 10. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
true God, the great I Am, the self-existent One, manifested
in the flesh, and in Him we have eternal life, and in Him we have
forgiveness for all our sins, and in Him we have a perfect
righteousness, a perfect righteousness in which we can stand before
God. Look at John chapter 10, the next I Am statement, the
next I Am statement. Then Jesus said unto them, verse
7, Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever come before Me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door. By Me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Verse 9, I am the door. The next
I Am statement, there's only one door for the sheep of God
to enter into heaven. Only one door, only one way.
Now men will tell you by the different gods that they've made
up that there's all these different ways, but our Lord, the great
I Am, God manifests in the flesh, says, I am the door. I am the
entrance. Now we go through doors all the
time, don't we? We go through doors to enter
into a place. to enter into one room to another.
And it's a constant reminder that Jesus Christ is the only
door, the only way, the only door for the sheep of God to
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Great I Am. There is no other way. No matter
what man says, they're lying. This is God who's made this statement. This is the Great I Am who makes
this statement. This is God manifest in the flesh
who says, I am the door on the entrance. And as I say, false
religions will say that they have another door, the door of
your works, or the door of your supposed free will. It's all
lies, beloved. There's only one way into heaven.
Only one. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And false religions promote false gods. But in our text here, in
John chapter 10, our Lord, our King, the Great I Am, the Self-existent
One, tells us very plainly, very plainly, and if you notice, the
Lord speaks in one and two syllable words. I am the door. Go through scripture and notice
that with the Lord. Notice the syllables he uses. This is the
I am. Very plain words. I am the door. By me if any man enter in, there's
the entrance, he shall be saved. There's no doubt, is there? He shall. And remember, this
is the I AM. This is the God of the Universe. He shall be saved and shall go
in and out and find pasture. Brother Matt brought out in Psalm
23 the green pasture. There's only one door. False
religions promote various ways to get to God or various ways
to get to whatever they want to call, I don't... But there's only one way to heaven.
There's only one door to heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ. And folks
who try to work their way into heaven, they are thieves and
robbers. False works-based preachers are
robbers of man's souls. but the sheep of God do not hear
them. They do not fall. They do not fall, the false preachers,
but they fall, the shepherd's voice, the one true door, the
only way into the kingdom of God. Look at John 10. Again,
verse 11 to 14. Keep that in mind. The sheep
of God fall, the shepherd. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep, but he that is an
hireling, a false preacher, and not the shepherd, whose own the
sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep,
and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
The hireling will run away. Trouble comes up, he's gone. The hireling fleeth, because
he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. And here's
another statement. I am the good shepherd. The great I am is the good shepherd.
And know my sheep, and are knowing of mine. As the Father knoweth
me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life. Now look
at this. I was talking to someone yesterday
about limited atonement. And I bought this scripture up.
To me, this is so plain. Again, one and two syllable words,
right? As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And we know further down in that
chapter, the Lord says to those Pharisees, you don't believe
because you're not my sheep. The Lord Jesus Christ laid down
His life for His people. For His people. And then He says
in verse 16, and this is speaking of those who, the sheep in the
Jewish fold, but look what it also says here. And other sheep
have I, I have which are not of this fold. That's us, the
Gentiles. And them also I must bring. And they shall what? They
shall hear my voice. They shall. What God commands
shall come to pass, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd,
the body of Christ, the head. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ is
God. He's the good shepherd. There's
none good but God, none. Christ is the shepherd of the
Father's appointment. God the Father appointed Christ
to be the Good Shepherd. He's the Shepherd of call and
incending to whom and upon whom the salvation and care of the
chosen sheep were committed. It's committed to Him, the Good
Shepherd. Will He lose any of His sheep?
Never. All who He redeemed by His precious
blood shall come to Him. Shall come to Him. We preach
the gospel to all. I was listening to Brother Henry
Mahan this morning. We preach the gospel to all. The general
call goes out. Out it goes. The Holy Spirit
makes it effectual to his people, drawing his sheep to Christ. So there's a general call, and
then there's an effectual call by the Holy Spirit. My sheep, They shall hear my
voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Turn,
if you would, to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. He is the good shepherd. He'll
gather the lambs. He'll gather the lambs. Isaiah 40, verses 9-11, O Zion,
that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain,
O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings. Lift up thy voice with
your strength. Lift it up. Be not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God. I say to you today, behold the
Lamb of God. Behold the great I Am. Who we've looked at is God incarnate
in the flesh. Behold the Lamb of God. May God
give you eyes to look to Christ. He gives you ears to hear the
gospel. May His Holy Spirit regenerate
you, that you run to Christ. Behold, here today we've seen
God incarnate in the flesh, the great I Am, the self-existent
One, and He is the Savior of all His people. All His people. Behold the Lamb. Behold, the Lord God will come
with strong hand, and His arms shall rule for Him. This speaks
of Christ. Behold, His reward is with Him,
and His work before Him. He must redeem His people from
their sins. He shall feed His flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
His arms and carry them in His bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young. Oh, the Good Shepherd gave His
life to redeem His people, His sheep, from their sins. And He
gave Himself freely as a ransom. As a ransom. for them that they
might be delivered from the law and justice of God. God's law
must be satisfied. We know that. Turn, if you would,
to Galatians 3, and we're finished with this. And I'll read Acts
20, 28. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves
and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, to feed the church of God which He hath purchased
with His own blood, to feed the church of the great I Am, the
self-existent One, The church, His sheep, which He purchased
with His own precious blood. God became a man. And He's redeemed
His people from their sin. This gives us great hope, doesn't
it? As believers, what peace, what security, what rest we have
in Christ. That the self-existent One is
the One who's redeemed us and keeps us. Look at Galatians 3,
verses 13 and 14. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. The great I AM hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. God's sheep are purchased by
the precious blood of the great I AM. of the great I Am, the Lord Jesus
Christ. God manifest in the flesh. Purchased. Pardoned into Christ. And God's people say, praise
His mighty name. We'll give Him all the glory.
We'll give Him all the honor. We'll give Him all the praise.
And He did it all by Himself, all by himself. God's people
are recipients of the grace of God in Christ. Undeserving, unmerited
recipients of God's grace in Christ. Oh, may God give you
faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved.