I'd like to start out tonight
in the book of Exodus 3. Exodus 3. Before I read this text, I just wanted to point
out a couple of things. In verse 2, we're told that the
angel of the Lord appeared to Moses. And as our pastor used
to tell us, all the time, that when you see that term, the angel
of the Lord, almost without exception, it's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. There are times in the Old Testament where it says,
an angel of the Lord, and that would be a regular angel, but
this term, the angel of the Lord, and we'll see this as we read,
is indeed the Lord Jesus Christ. And the other thing that we should
notice is that when God told Moses that he was going to send
him to Pharaoh, Moses questioned God in the sense that he said,
in so many words, I'm not sufficient to this task. Why are you sending
me? And without exception, you will
not find anywhere in the Scriptures that God called a man to a work,
and that man never declared, you picked the right guy, I've
got this. Never. Never. They've always,
always, and it doesn't change even in this day and time, they
always think, even Solomon, as wise as he was, said to the Lord,
I'm but a child, I don't even know how to go in or come out. But God knows who he chooses
and knows what work he sends him to. Let's begin reading in
verse 1 of chapter 3 of Exodus. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro
his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock
to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God,
even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he
looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush
was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And
when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto
him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he
said, Here am I. And he said, draw not nigh hither,
put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God
of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob. And then Moses hid his face,
for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have
surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt,
and I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters,
for I know their sorrows. And I have come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of the
land unto a good land, and enlarge unto a land flowing with milk
and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites,
the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore behold, the cry
of the children of Israel is come unto me, And I have also
seen the oppression, wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them.
Come thou therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that
thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of
Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who
am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth
the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly
I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee that
I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth
the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold,
when I come unto the children of Israel, and say to them, The
God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they say to
me, What is his name? What shall I say to them? 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. I've entitled this message, I
am. This is the first place in Holy
Scripture that we find God describing himself with the name I am. In verse 2, as I mentioned, we
read that the angel of the Lord appeared to him. And we know
from numerous places in the Old Testament that the angel of the
Lord is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We know
this because in verse 4 it tells us that God called unto him out
of the bush. I am. The word he in that text
is in italics, means it was added by the translators. This same
Jesus was the one who spoke the universe into being. He was indeed
God in human flesh, the great I am. So tonight I'd like to
look at all the places in the New Testament where our Lord
describes himself with the words I am. I'm just going to go through
these in random order. You can follow along if you'd
like, or just listen. First, in John 8, 12, we read where our Lord spake, and
He said, Then Jesus spake 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. He also said
in John 12, 46, I am come, a light, into the world, that whosoever
believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Which is exactly
where we were when God sought us out and found us dwelling
in the darkness of sin and despair. And sadly, we were perfectly
happy to be there, because darkness was all that we had ever known,
like a blind man who had never seen light, and didn't even know
that such a thing as light existed. We were sitting in darkness. How do you even begin to describe
light to a blind man? And by the same token, how can
you begin to explain a sovereign God to men that are blinded,
that have no spiritual faith? And that's how we were content
to dwell, but our God had other plans for us. In Luke, the first
chapter, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, prophesied
and said, Blessed be the God of Israel, for he hath visited
and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation
for us in the house of David, to give knowledge for salvation
to his people by the remission of their sins, to give light
to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. And
we are told in John, Chapter 1, that Christ is that true light
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. If you've
ever taken a tour of Mammoth Cave, the one where they shut
the lights off for a few minutes, you literally cannot, I mean
I did this, you can't see your hand in front of your face. You
literally know what true darkness is, and that was our condition.
when God found us, we were perfectly content. We were them, as we're
told, that sit in darkness. But we were brought out of that
and became those who dwell in Christ's marvelous light. We're
told as much in 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10. Peter tells us, but
ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation,
a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him
who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which
in times past were not a people, but are now the people of God,
which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. That marvelous light spoken of
here is none other than Christ himself. In Acts chapter 26,
when Paul was recounting his encounter on the Damascus road,
to King Agrippa, how he was struck down. He said, at midday, at
the very brightest part of the day, at midday, O King, I saw
a light in the way from heaven above the brightness of the sun,
shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And
that light was none other than the glorified Christ. How do
we know that? Because he told Saul, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. No wonder He proclaimed, I am
the light of the world. In Isaiah 60, 19, we're given
a promise. It says, The sun shall be no
more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon
give light unto thee, but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting
light, and thy God thy glory. That's the promise made, and
that promise is fulfilled in Revelation 21-23, because we
read, And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon,
to shine in it. For the glory of God did lighten
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. The Lamb who proclaimed,
I am the light. Next in John 6-35, John 6-35
we read, 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. Now, out of curiosity, I looked
it up. And there's over 20 different kinds of bread in the world,
made of every conceivable grain and vegetable. And according
to some sources, bread is the oldest type of prepared food. But all the lists I looked at,
failed to list the most important bread of all, the bread of life,
the Lord Jesus Christ. All those other breads are good
for sustaining life for the short term, at least. But there is
only one bread that will sustain the soul forever, and that is
Christ Himself. It is one of two things that
we partake of when we observe the Lord's table. And we use
unleavened bread because Christ, His body was without sin. And
he told his disciples, when he took the bread and break it,
he said, this is my body which is given for you. That body which
would soon bear unimaginable pain and suffering for his people. That body that is spoken of in
Hebrews 10.5, where it says, wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared for me. In order to be made a
sacrifice for our sins, Christ had to have a body that could
be made a sacrifice. And Christ said in Matthew 5,
6, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. And once we're allowed, once
we're enabled by God to partake of that bread of life, we never
hunger after righteousness again. because we have obtained that
one true righteousness, which God will accept, the righteousness
of Christ, the God-man. Next, in John 10, verse 9, he
says, I am the door, by me, if any man enter in, he shall be
saved, and go in and out, and find pastor. We find this verse
in the middle of chapter 10, and the verses before and after
Our Lord is explaining how the sheepfold of ancient times was
operated and how it was used to protect the flocks of sheep.
The most common sheepfold of that time was made of stone walls,
usually about eight feet tall, sometimes topped with thorny
bushes to discourage any thieves or wild animals from trying to
climb in and molest the sheep. There was only one way into the
sheepfold, and that was through the door. And our Lord is explaining
here that there is only one way into the sheepfold of God, and
that way is through Christ the door. These sheepfolds only had
one door, only one way of access. The flocks were usually kept
in these overnight so that the shepherds could go home and sleep
in their own bed at night, and in the morning they would return
to retrieve their sheep to lead them to water and pasture. And
each of these shepherds didn't have to worry about sorting his
sheep from the other sheep in the morning, because our Lord
tells us, to him, to the shepherd, to him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. and a stranger they will not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. Now as dumb as sheep are, as
pathetic of an animal as they are, they have an amazing ability
to distinguish one man's voice from another, and they will only
follow the voice of their shepherd." In that same chapter, John 10,
We read in verse 11, Christ makes this statement, I am the Good
Shepherd. Turn with me to John 10. I want
to read a few verses here. Christ states, I am the Good
Shepherd. Then he explains what he means
by that statement. He says the Good Shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. We'll begin reading in John 10
verse 11. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good
Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is in
hireling, 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 fleeth,
because he is in hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and am known of mine. As a father knoweth me, even
so know I the father. and I lay down my life for the
sheep. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one foal and one shepherd. Therefore, doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my Father." Christ makes this statement,
I know my sheep and am known of mine. This goes back to what
I just discussed about the shepherd calling his sheep by name. And
when the mob came to arrest the Lord in the garden, he told them,
I have told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let
these go their way. And Christ told God's justice
when it came looking to inflict the punishment upon us that was
so rightly deserved by us. He told that law and that justice,
I have borne their griefs and carried their sorrows. I have
endured the wrath due their sins. I have stood in their place.
Therefore, Christ says to justice, because I gave my life for the
sheep, you must let these go their way. Over one chapter,
in chapter 11 of John, we read Christ making this statement,
I am the resurrection. He made this statement to Martha,
the sister of Lazarus. We're all familiar with the story.
Before he raised Lazarus from the dead, she was understandably
quite distraught over the fact that her brother had died. Because
in her mind, Jesus didn't get there quick enough. Lord, she
said, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. Why
didn't you come sooner? You could have saved him, but
you let him die. But our Lord said to her, my
brother shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. We should have no doubt as to
Christ's ability to raise the dead. We have experienced it
spiritually. And you hath he quickened who
were dead. So which is a greater miracle,
raising a body from the dead that once had life, or to give
life where there was previously none at all? We were born in
sin, dead to anything spiritual, but we were quickened, made alive
by the Spirit of God. But why is a resurrection so
important? Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, and I will tell you why. Christ said, I am the resurrection. Paul tells us plainly why the
resurrection is essential in 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians
15, we'll begin reading in verse 12. Now if Christ be preached that
he rose from the dead, How say some among you that there is
no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is vain also. Yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ. Whom he raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not. And if the dead rise not, then
is Christ not raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, and ye are yet in your sins. Then they also
which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Paul plainly tells us if there
is no resurrection, there is no salvation, and we are yet
in our sins. But Paul doesn't leave us there.
He doesn't leave us in despair because he tells us in verse
20, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first
roots of them that slept. All is well with the sanctity
of God. There is a resurrection and there is salvation. And both
are to be found in and as a result of the finished works of Christ. Now in John 14, we read Christ
making another declaration concerning Himself. In verse 6 of John 14,
He says, I am the way. One of the meanings of this word,
way, is a road, path, or highway affording passage from one place
to another. What a perfect description of
Christ. He, through his perfect life,
his bloody sacrifice, and his resurrection affords us passage
from sure death to abundant life, from an eternity of imaginable
misery to an eternity of untold bliss. Most folks that I've known,
particularly those I knew in my younger days, had a way in
mind that they were going to achieve the things they had to
do in life. And most folks that I've met,
and I'm sure it's the same with you, had a way that they were
going to, quote, get right with God. at least our idea of God. I was raised in a Baptist church
that was the bastion of works religion. And it's funny how
some things stick with you over the years, but there used to
be a couple that came for a couple years. And this was their favorite
song that they used to sing. I'm not making this up. It's the words to this song.
I'm building a bridge across the divide. I'm building it strong,
I'm building it wide. I know that someday it will carry
me through. I'll make it somehow, but how
about you? These folks, they're hopeless
in what they did. They planned on one day kicking
up and opening the door to heaven and declaring I'm here to gather
up all the crowns that my good works have earned me. I'll step
aside while I strut down He's preached gold. But the Proverbs
16.25 tells us, There is a way that seemeth right unto a man,
but the ends thereof is the ways of death, eternal death. There's only one way to God,
only one way to salvation, to life eternal, and that way is
Jesus Christ. Also in this same verse 6 of
chapter 14, Christ declares, I am the truth. When our Lord
stood before Pilate, returning with me to John 18, when he stood
before Pilate, Pilate asked our Lord the question, what is truth? John 18, I want to read a few
verses here. John 18, beginning in verse 33.
Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called
Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus
answered him, Sayest thou this of thyself, or did others tell
it of thee? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew,
thine own nation, and the chief priests have delivered thee unto
me? What has thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is
not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered
to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from
hence. Pilate therefore said unto him,
Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that
I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice. Pilate said unto him, what is
truth? And when he had said this, he
went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in
him no fault at all. Christ tells Pilate the reason
he came into this world was to bear witness of the truth. In
Christ's prayer to the Father that we find in John 17, he makes
this statement, thy word is truth. Thy words, the same words described
in the opening verses of John 1, in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And in verse
14 states, and the Word was made flesh. I would ask the question,
what is truth? Because the blind eyes of unbelief
can never, ever see the truth, even when it is literally standing
right in front of them. Christ is the only truth that
God will accept. Everything else is a lie. Also
in verse 6 of John 14, we hear Christ say, I am the life. In John 10.10, He made the declaration,
I am come, that they might have life, and that they might have
it more abundantly. And John 1.4 reads, in Him was
life. Speaking of Christ. And in John
20, 31, But these things are written, that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing
ye might have life through his name. In the book of 2 Kings
chapter 10, we find an encounter of Jehu gathering up the worshippers
of Baal that he might slay them. And in verse 24 of that chapter,
it says, And when they, the worshippers of Baal, when they went in to
offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed four small men,
eighty men, outside of the place where these worshippers were.
And he said to them, if any of the men whom I have brought into
this place or into your hand, escape, he that letteth him go,
his life shall be for the life of him." What a tremendous picture
of Christ creating his life for ours. We're under the sentence
of death, under the sentence of eternal death. The law says
clearly, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. But Christ steps
in between the law and his chosen elect people, and says to the
law, and to God's justice, as Paul said to Philemon concerning
the wrongs of Onesimus, if he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee
aught, put that on mine account. I have written it with mine own
hand. I will repay it. And indeed he did. Every jot
and tittle of the law was satisfied by the sacrifice of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He says to them all, if ye therefore
seek me, let these go their way. And this is how we have life,
and how we have it more abundantly. For a while, Adam had life, a
glorious, sinless life, in fellowship with God in the garden. But unlike
us, whom God had chosen, Adam was
not at that time, as we now are, joined with Christ. He certainly had a unique relationship
with God. He was up to that point before
the fall as sinless as Christ himself. Perfectly righteous
in God's sight, but after the fall, after plunging the entire
race into ruin, causing, as Paul tells us in chapter 5 of Romans,
causing death to pass upon all men, he was cast out of the garden
and faced an eternity of ruin and misery. But God, who is rich
in mercy, already had his redemption, and ours, arranged in the foundation
of the world. So Adam ended up with a brighter
future than he had to begin with. He was elevated to the same status
that we are, and he joined heirs with Christ. Next, in John 15,
verse 1, Christ states, I am the true vine." And in his preaching
and his teaching to the people, the Lord never waxed eloquent,
never used big words that nobody understood. Instead, he used
examples of the things which men and women saw every day in
their life as they went about their life. His parables were
taught using those same illustrations of everyday life. Here is the
illustration of a grapevine. Anyone who has never raised grapes
probably has no idea how much work is involved. They have to
be watered, but not too much. That's the reason you only see
vineyards planted on hillsides. They have to be fertilized. They have to be protected from
the birds eating young grapes before they can mature. And one
of the most important things that has to be done is pruning.
By cutting off the dead branches, you enable the other branches
to bring forth more fruit. And in verse 2 of this chapter,
Christ declares, every branch in me that beareth not fruit,
he taketh away. It's cut off. In the original
Greek, this verse reads, every branch that beareth not fruit
in me, And what fruit is spoken of here? Most of today's religious
circle will tell you it's soul winning, convincing men to make
a profession, and adding up your numbers. But in Galatians 5.22,
Paul tells us otherwise, because we read this. But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, jealous, goodness,
faith, meekness, and temperance. And where is that fruit to be
found? Paul tells us in Ephesians 5, 9, for the fruit of the Spirit
is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. And in that goodness,
righteousness, and truth all spring forth from the true vine,
Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, lastly, turn with me to
Matthew, please. Matthew 16. Matthew 16. We begin reading in verse 13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say that
thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah, or
one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom say
ye that I am? And Simon Peter entered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. With that
statement, Simon Peter captured all that Christ is. He is light. He is life. He is truth, He is righteousness,
He is wisdom, He is sanctification, He is our redemption, He is our
salvation, and He is our resurrection. Everything that God requires
to stand before Him in perfection is found in the person of and
the finished work of Christ. When Paul proclaims, and ye are
complete in him, he means just that. This word complete means
having all necessary parts or elements, the state of being
entire, to bring to an end, to finish. And Christ is indeed
the end of the law. That law which at one time had
a claim on us, But not anymore. We possess everything required
by God to enter into glory. And we find our assurance in
these two statements in Romans 8. It is God that justifies. It is Christ that died. I hope
that has been a blessing to you. Lord willing, our friend Fred
Evans will be with us a week from tonight, and Sunday I will
be bringing the message. Be in prayer for me. Gabe Stoner
has asked me to come down to Kingsport to preach for them
next Sunday night, so I'll be heading down there. as soon as
service is over. So be in prayer. It's one thing
to stand in front of you all and proclaim the Gospel. I consider
you all family. It's like a family discussion,
but now there may be another story. So be in prayer for me
that the Lord will use my stammering words to glorify His Son. Lord
bless you. You're dismissed.