Anytime one man tells another
that he must do something, he is likely to be asked, who are
you? By what authority do you so command
me? Who sent you to me? And it's
just reasonable to expect that. Such a response is as reasonable
as it is likely. When the Lord God sent Moses
to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moses anticipated
that the children of Israel would ask him, who sent you? In whose name have you come?
By what authority do you dare so command us? When the Lord
sent Moses to Pharaoh to give him the command to let his people
go, Moses, I suspect, anticipated Pharaoh saying to him, who is
the Lord that I shall obey him? But that didn't concern him.
That didn't concern him. But when he must go to Israel,
And say to the children of Israel, I'm come to bring you out of
Egypt. He anticipated that the children
of Israel would ask him, who told you to come here? Who sent
you to us? In whose name do you so speak
to us? He might have remembered what
happened 40 years earlier. When he took it upon himself
to deliver israel and they said to him who made you a judge and
a ruler over us These questions are the very questions that moses
asked of god in exodus chapter 3 and verse 13 And these are
the questions that the lord god answered in verses 14 and 15. Let's read these three verses
together exodus chapter 3 verse 13 Moses said unto God Behold when
I am come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them
The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you and they shall
say unto 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
hath sent me unto you And God said, moreover, unto Moses, thus
shalt thou 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 hath sent me unto you. This is my name forever, and
this is my memorial unto all generations. I come and command
you and men and women everywhere to repent and to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. I come in the name of God and
command many women to bow to the authority and the throne
of God Almighty, the only true and living God. And I'm here
to tell you that all who call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. But none can call upon his name
who do not know his name. So I have a question for you.
Do you know his name? That's my subject. That's the
title of my message. Do you know his name? Let's look
at these three verses of scripture together, and I pray that God
will teach you his name. First, we see Moses' question
in verse 13. And Moses said unto God, behold,
when I come unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
the God of your fathers has sent me unto you, and they shall say
to me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? Now,
if you read the commentaries and what men say concerning this
passage of scripture, many seem to think there's something evil
about Moses asking this question. And they reproach Moses for doing
so. But the Lord God to whom he posed
the question doesn't say anything at all to indicate disapproval. Knowing his own insufficiency
for the work to which the Lord had called him Moses said who
am I I? Can't do that You sent me to
deliver your people God. I can't do that You've sent me
to bring Israel out of Egypt. I can't do that That's what he
said in verse 10 and the Lord says to him. I'm not sending
you to do it The work is mine. You're only my messenger. I You're
only if the instrument through which and by which I will work
you're the instrument I've chosen to do the work Remember the mission
upon which Moses was about to embark Any man sent upon a mission? Such a mission as this If he
is wise Must be personally assured that he goes in the name of God Any man who goes to proclaim
the gospel of God's grace. Any man who sets himself to the
work of bringing men and women from their death to spiritual
life, from bondage to liberty, from condemnation to salvation,
must be assured that he does his work in the name of God. The Lord promised, I will be
with thee. But Moses would have no visible
God and no representation of God to accompany him. And so
far as other people could tell, Moses would go to the enslaved
Israelites. He would go to Pharaoh and to
the children of Israel utterly alone, and yet claiming to be
divinely sent to deliver them. And he was to tell them that
the God of their fathers had promised to set them free. But
the people to whom he was sent had not, for the most part, any
knowledge of God. They had, for the most part,
embraced all the idolatries of Egypt. And Moses knew that they
would want to know, who is this God? This God you speak of, who
is he? What's his name? What's he like?
In those days, in that land, as it was in all the Gentile
nations, and we need to remember this, our ancestors, our forefathers,
are just like the Egyptians. In all the Gentile nations, there
were many gods, each one having a name that indicated some distinct
power attributed to him. So Moses asked the Lord to tell
him his name. Add to that the fact that Moses
Remembered that incident I mentioned earlier and when he first came
in his own strength and his own name and thought he could Deliver
the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage and they said who are
you? Who made you a ruler and judge
over us? So it is with God's servants
today So it is with God's servants in every age We're sent to proclaim
redemption grace and salvation in the name of God. I to a people
who've never known him. We're sent to proclaim salvation
by God in the name of God to a people who have never known
him. We tend to presume in our thinking
that in this country and in other parts of the Western world like
this country, men and women have some knowledge of God. Don't ever be so foolish. We preach to a people as ignorant
of God as were the Egyptians in Egypt and the children of
Israel who had been there for 400 years. With Paul, every faithful
gospel preacher cries from his inmost soul, who is sufficient
for these things? And he learns from God. Our sufficiency
is of God who has made us able ministers of the New Testament. With that, then, we can come,
turn to 2 Corinthians 5, with this message of God's free grace
that he's given us to proclaim. And we can come in God's name. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. This is the message of salvation
we proclaim. 2nd Corinthians 5 17 Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature Old things are
passed away and all things have become new. Oh What a blessed
promise of grace If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature
Old things are passed away and behold all things have become
new all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation
God has given to us the service, the labor, and the word of reconciliation. And this is it, to wit that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
the trespasses unto them, and hath committed to us the word
of reconciliation. God's committed to us this message
we preach. Now look at verse 20. Now then,
we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us. We come to you as God's messengers. God's ambassadors. Men carrying
a word from God to you. We beseech you in Christ's name. We pray you in Christ's name. Be ye reconciled to God. Quit fighting God Quit fighting
God Bow down to the throne of King Jesus Surrender to Jesus
Christ the Lord Be reconciled to God For He hath made Him to
be sin for us Who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him Now if you will look at the book of Ezekiel Ezekiel
chapter 2 Let none go forth in the service
of our savior Let no man go to preach the gospel Until he has
like moses and like ezekiel going to the throne of grace Here in
ezekiel chapter 2 verse 1 He said unto me son of man stand
upon thy feet and I will speak unto thee The spirit entered
into me when he spake unto me and set me upon my feet and I
heard him to speak to me verse 6 and Thou son of man be not
afraid of them Neither be afraid of their words Though briars
and thorns be with thee Though briars and thorns be with thee
and thou does dwell among scorpions That's where every messenger
of God does his work all the time. Among briars and thorns
and scorpions. It never gets better. It never gets easier. The briars
and thorns and scorpions never go away. But be not thou, be
not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks. though
they be a rebellious house. Verse seven, and thou shalt speak
my words unto them, whether they will hear or whether they will
forbear for they're most rebellious. That's the responsibility of
the man whose business it is to preach the gospel of God's
grace. Speak my words unto them, whether they like it or don't.
Whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. Knowing that
all the time you speak to men and women who by nature are just
rebels against God. Rebels against God. That's the
nature of humanity. God sends us to call his people. Chosen redeemed sinners to bow
to Jesus Christ the Lord because they are by nature Rebels against
God. I don't know how to express this
like it needs to be expressed preaching the gospel must always
be confrontational Preaching the gospel must always be confrontational
We're not sent to Spread honey and catch flies, as I've been
told all my life. You catch more flies with honey,
you know. I'm not here to catch flies. We're sent to call rebels,
to bow to Christ the Lord. And you who yet refuse to believe
on him, I call you this moment to bow to the King of glory. If you bow, grace and mercy and
life and salvation is yours. If you refuse to bow, I'm not
gonna hear that. I don't like the way he talks
to me. I'm not gonna listen to my talk like that. I'll get him. I'll get him. Your briars and
thorns and scorpions aren't going to change a thing. They're not
going to change a thing. I'm going to continue declaring
to you the Word of God. Bow or be damned. There's no alternative. Bow or
be crushed into hell. There's no alternative. Bow or
forever regret it in the wrath of God. There's nothing in between. Now back here in Exodus chapter
2, or chapter 3 rather, verse 14. Here in verse 14, we see
God's revelation to Moses. Moses said, who shall I tell
him has sent me? Here we see the Lord's answer
to his question. Here, the Lord God, our savior,
reveals himself in his great redemptive character. And God
said, now remember the one talking to him is the angel of the Lord.
He's talking to him out of the bush. And God said unto him,
to 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. Those words by which God reveals
himself here, I am that I am, contain all three tenses of the
verb being. all three tenses of those words
to be. They might be translated like
this. I am what I was. I am what I
am. And I am what I forever shall
be. God's name, I am, represents
his character. When we call upon the name of
the Lord, we worship him as he really is. That's what it is
to call upon the name of the Lord. To go to church and sing
songs and say prayers and go through religious stuff is not
worshiping God. To worship God in His name, calling
upon His name, is to worship Him as He really is. to worship him as God in his
revealed character in this book, in the person and work of his
son. We pray in Christ's name. When we do, we pray upon the
basis of all that he is and all that he's done and all that he's
doing. When we gather to worship in
his house, in his name, We gather to worship Him, trusting Him
in all His character as God our Savior. When the Lord Jesus,
the angel of the Lord, declares here, I am that I am, he's revealing
himself as God, the only eternal, self-existent, self-sufficient,
unchanging, immutable, independent, constant, faithful one. He's
saying, I am now what I've always been. I am what I am, and I am
what I shall forever continue to be. I am the Lord. I change not. Oh, what a description
of God. I am. I am the Lord. I change not. Remember, I repeat,
the one speaking to Moses is our great God and Savior, Jesus
Christ, the Lord. The unchangeable Jehovah the
same yesterday and today and forever the only wise eternal
God Let's look at a couple of scriptures turn to John chapter
8 John chapter 8 And then go over to Revelation
chapter 1 in John chapter 8 the Lord Jesus speaks He's speaking
to the Pharisees who were very well acquainted with the passage
we have before us in Exodus 3 tonight Jesus saith unto them Verily
verily I say unto you before Abraham was I am Now they rank
old and or they were rank old and they made some objections
They said why you're hard to 40 years old and you're telling
us you were around when Abraham was around. I But they really
understood exactly what he said. They really understood, he's
saying he's God. He's saying he's God. How do
you know that? Because in John chapter 10, the Lord Jesus asked
him, for which of my works do you stone me? And they said,
we don't stone you for a work you've done, but because you,
being a man, make yourself God. They understood perfectly what
he was saying. Look in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 8. The Lord Jesus reveals himself
to John on the Isle of Patmos, and he says, I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord. I'm the beginning
of everything, and I'm the ending of everything. I am the one who
started everything. I'm the one who's going to wrap
everything up. I'm the one out of whom everything comes, and
I'm the one in whom everything finds its fulfillment. Which
say it sayeth the Lord which is and which was and which is
to come the Almighty look at verse 17 and When I saw him I
fell at his feet as dead and he laid his right hand upon me
saying unto me fear not I am the first and the last I am he
that liveth and Was dead and behold. I am alive forevermore
Amen Had the keys of hell and of death now go back to John
again John's gospel chapter 6 In the gospel of John alone in
the gospel of John alone Our Lord Jesus made this claim no
less than 14 times 14 times he publicly took to himself this
title which belongs to none but God I am This title belongs only to God.
I am has sent me unto you. He told Moses tell Israel this
title belongs only to God and the man Jesus Christ walking
on this earth 14 times Said listen to me. I'm God I'm God look at
John 6 verse 35 Jesus said unto them I am the bread of life and
He that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth
on me shall never thirst. Verse 50. This is the bread which
came down from heaven. I'm the bread of life represented
in that manner that came down from heaven. That a man may eat
thereof and not die. Am the living bread which came
down from heaven. I am the real heavenly bread
if any man eat of this bread He shall live forever and the
bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the
life of the world verse 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I'll raise
him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him as the living father has
sent me and I live by the father So he that eateth me even he
shall live by me This is the bread which came down from heaven
not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead He that eateth of
this bread shall live forever Jesus Christ is God the bread
of life Eat. Oh, eat and live forever. We will in just a little bit
take the bread and wine of the Lord's table again. That's not
what's being spoken of here in John 6. John 6 is talking about
faith. But taking the bread and wine
of the Lord's table is a symbol of that act of faith. I don't stand here like a priest
and divvy it out to you. Because I can't divvy out to
you life and faith. I can't give Christ to you. Rather,
each one takes the bread for himself and each one takes the
wine for himself. The bread representing our Lord's
glorious humanity, His body crushed to death for us when He was made
sin for us. The wine representing His blood,
the blood of the new covenant shed for us for the remission
of sins. And you take the bread and eat
it, and you take the wine and drink it. And when you take the
bread and take the wine, Everything in that bread and wine is yours
permanently. You got that? Everything of any
value in that bread and wine is a part of you permanently. That's what it is to believe
on the Son of God. It is to take Christ for yourself. His blood, His atonement, His
righteousness, His perfection, His manhood, His Godhead. And when you take Christ for
yourself, eat the bread and drink the wine. Oh, wonder of wonders. All that
Jesus Christ, the God-man, our mediator is, is yours forever
and can never be separated from you. Look at chapter 8 of John's
gospel, 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. I am
the light, the light of the world. I give light to men. All light
proceeds from me. Follow me and you'll walk in
the light of life not in the darkness of sin Not in the darkness
of unbelief not in the darkness of chaos not in the darkness
of rebellion But you walk in the light look at chapter 10
You remember in Revelation when John Was called up to heaven. He said I saw a door opened in
heaven and Listen to what our Savior says about that door in
John 10 verse 7. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the door of the sheep. Not a door, the door. I'm the
only door by which sheep enter into the fold. Some of you came
in that door there. That's the door by which you
enter into this building. Christ is the door. The only
door by which you and I will enter into heaven. The only door
by which we enter into God's salvation. The door is made to
let folks in and the door is made to shut people out. That
same door shut against the reprobate and unbelieving is shut forever
and shuts them out of heavenly glory Come enter in by the door
and you shall go in and out and find pasture. Look at chapter
10 verse 11 The Lord Jesus says I am the good shepherd the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep I am I'm God I'm God
the light, I'm God the door, I'm God the bread, I'm God the
shepherd, the shepherd. I am the good shepherd. the good
shepherd who gives his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd,
he says in verse 14, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. That is, my sheep whom I know
as my sheep. They know me, the good shepherd,
as the good shepherd who is God. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Look
at chapter 11, John chapter 11 and verse 25. Our Lord's addressing Martha
after Lazarus had died. Jesus saith unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. I am the resurrection and the
life. I am God, the resurrection and
the life. There's a lot could and should
be said about that. We talk about the doctrine of
the resurrection. We talk about the doctrine of eternal life.
Oh, the resurrection is not just a doctrine. The resurrection
is a person. Eternal life is not just a doctrine,
it's a person. This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou
hast sent. I am the resurrection and the
life. Now look what it says. He that
believeth on me, or in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
Believing in Christ, dead sinners have life everlasting. And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Shall never die. I said this to you this morning
in one of the messages. It will bear repetition often. God's people don't die. God's people don't die These
bodies sleep in the earth These bodies return to the dust as
they should When I my mother died we went to the funeral home
in the The funeral home director, I knew she had made prior arrangements
for things and the funeral home director was trying to get us
to, you know, buy caskets with box springs so she'd be comfortable
and buy vaults so her body wouldn't decay and I got sick of hearing
it. And there were several other folks in the funeral home at
the time besides my own family and I said to him in my low whispering
voice, mother is dead and her body is going to rot in the ground. And it ought to. That's the way
God intended things. And it doesn't matter whether
it takes a hundred years or a thousand. She's going to rot in the ground.
No, we don't need the vault and we don't need box springs. These
bodies are going to the dust. Oh, but for God's elect, these
bodies are coming out of the dust. We shall not die when the
body returns to the earth as soon as the soul Departs from
the body. We have a building of God a house
not made with hands Eternal in the heavens and in resurrection
glory these bodies shall be joined to us again look at chapter 14
verse 6 John 14 6 In verse 5, Thomas saith unto
him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know
the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way. I am God the way. I am God the truth. I am God the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Thomas? I've been so long a time here
and you like Philip haven't known me. He said Thomas I am God I'm
the way to God. I'm the truth of God. I am the
life of God Come to the father, but you can't come but by me
chapter 15 look at verse 1 Our verse 5 rather I am the vine
our Savior said I Ye are the branches. He that abideth in
me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without
me ye can do nothing. I am the vine. I am the rootstock. I am the living tree. You're
branches in the vine. The branch gets all its life
from the tree. The branch gets all its nourishment
to bring forth fruit from the tree. Sever the branch from the
tree and you wither and die. Without me, you can do nothing. Christ is not part of my life. Christ is my life. And without
him, I have no life. You understand this? I am God
divine, divine of life and grace out of me, all goodness and grace
and life comes. Now turn back to chapter four,
John chapter four. Our Lord is talking to the Samaritan
woman. This name I am is our savior's
declaration that he is God come to save. He makes himself known
to chosen sinners as that one of whom the scriptures speak.
Look in chapter four, verse 22. You remember, John tells us in
first John two, he said, this is antichrist. Whosoever denieth
that Jesus is the Christ, he's antichrist. Then in chapter five,
he says, anybody who believes that Jesus is the Christ, he's
born of God. What's he talking about? He's
saying those who deny that Jesus of Nazareth is that man described
in the Old Testament scriptures as the Messiah who has fully
accomplished everything God said the Messiah would accomplish.
To deny that, he's Antichrist. But those who believe, that jesus
of nazareth actually did everything the christ must do that he is
the christ they're born of god and look what our lord says to
the samaritan woman you worship you know not what we know what
we worship for salvations of the jews but the hour cometh
and now is when true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit
and in truth For the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is spirit,
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth. The woman saith unto him, I know
that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When he is come,
he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee am. I am the, I am God, the Messiah,
that man of whom the scriptures speak. I make no attempt to prove
that he is. He cannot be known by human reason.
He cannot be made known by the words of man's wisdom and logic.
Our business is simply to proclaim him as he revealed and as he
reveals himself in all his glorious character in Holy Scripture.
The I am of the burning bush. is the God-man mediator, our
savior. The Lord Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday and today and forever. From everlasting to everlasting,
he's God. We declare with Paul, by the
grace of God, I am what I am. But he declares, I am that I
am. Well might he challenge heaven
and earth saying, to whom will you liken me? Sit down at your
leisure and read Isaiah chapters 40 through 46 and see how he
repeatedly says To whom will you liken me? How are you going
to compare me? to anything or anybody More importantly,
how are you going to compare me to the little peanut god you
talk about? How are you going to compare
me to god who can't control your sneeze, let alone the heavens
and the earth. How are you going to compare
me to God who can't overcome your will, let alone rule hell
itself? To whom will you liken me, you
fools who pray to a God who cannot save? I am, I am. Now, look at verse 15 in Exodus
chapter three. Here our great God and Savior
gives us one more of his great moreover words. In verse 14,
he tells us what he is in himself. Here he tells us what he is to
his people. And God said moreover unto Moses, thus shalt thou 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. And this is my memorial unto
all generations. It is as though the Lord had
said to Moses, I've told you all that I am. The only eternal,
self-existent, self-sufficient, unchanging, immutable, independent,
constant, faithful one. I am now what I've always been
and what I forever shall be. I am the Lord, I change not.
And moreover, all that I am is yours. I'm your God. I've made myself
your God, bound to you by my own covenant. I'm the sovereign
God who chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I am God who has pledged
himself to the salvation of my people by an unconditional promise
of unconditional grace. Here we have a threefold declaration
of covenant grace from the three persons of the triune Godhead,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We worship one God in three persons,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are
one. All three persons in the Godhead
are actively involved in the salvation of our souls. In Ephesians
1, Paul tells us this work of salvation was planned by the
Father, it was purchased by the Son, and it is performed in us
by God the Holy Ghost. And the work of all three is
absolutely essential. But all the fullness, all the
fullness of the triune God resides in Christ and is made known to
men only in Christ as Christ reveals himself to us and in
us in the saving operations of his grace. In him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The men and I were talking in
the back. Oh, what glory awaits us. What glory awaits us. In that day, when God makes all
things new, we don't even have a clue. We don't even have a
clue. But this much we know, when our
God makes all things new, We will see him face to face. How are you going to see God
face to face when God's a spirit and he doesn't have a face? We'll see him face to face. We
will be gathered around him. How are you going to be gathered
around the incomprehensible God? Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And all we shall ever know of
God and all we should want to know of God, Jesus Christ is. And when you know Jesus Christ,
Jesus of Nazareth, the man of Galilee, The man, Christ Jesus,
who lived in righteousness and died being made sin for us and
rose again without sin. The man who sits yonder in glory
in absolute control of everything. You know God in all the fullness
of his glorious being. We publish the name of the Lord. and praise the name of the Lord
and call upon all people to praise his name and publish his name
with us. How on this earth can we give
praise to his name? How can we glorify his name? There's one way, David Coleman,
by which you can glorify his name. And that's by faith in
His name, by trusting His name, by believing Him as He is, trusting
Him as He is, and apart from faith, You're going to never
please God or be accepted of God. Oh God, teach us to trust
in the name of the Lord and to praise your name. Amen.