Chapter 3, last Sunday morning when we were
pursuing our Lord Jesus in the Gospel
accounts, we ran into several expressions in that reading,
and later in some of the references that we made in trying to preach
to you, the Lord Jesus in this title I am. Two monosyllables. As simple as you can get. I am. Not I was, not I will be. I am. The great I am. Alright, in Exodus
chapter 3, Moses is about to meet with an Old Testament appearance
of Christ in the burning bush. And it is none other than a revelation
of God through his blessed Son, our Lord Jesus, before he became
human flesh. Beginning at verse 1, we read
through verse 15. Exodus 3, verse 1. Now Moses
kept the flock of Jericho, 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 middle 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 burned. And when the Lord saw that he
turned aside to see God calling, called him out of the midst of
the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And Moses said, here am I. For he said, the Lord said, draw
not near here, put off your shoes from off your feet, for the place
whereon you stand is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God
of your father, I am the God of Abraham, I am the God of Isaac,
I am the God of Jacob." And 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. He sees all
of his people at all times everywhere, not one single exception. And
I've heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know
their sorrows. I am come down to deliver them
out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that
land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk
and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites,
the Amorites, the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites,
and that's a lot of sites. 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 now, therefore, and I will
send you unto Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people..."
It doesn't say a word about trying to. "...that you may bring forth
My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." I want you to
look carefully at what Moses does. This is exactly what we
do. We say, Lord, I can't do this. I don't have these talents
and abilities. If you think about that a little
bit, the people that think they have what they need to serve
God don't have a clue of what serving God is about. You know, some people just think
if you just know how to speak words and string them together
and all this kind of stuff. Look what happened. Moses said
unto the Lord, Who am I that I should go unto
Pharaoh? Now what son of Adam would not
have to make the same state? Who am I? Who are we? We're nothings
and nobodies, but that's how it's supposed to be. Christ has
to be all. 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, the Lord speaking, I will be
with you and this shall be a token unto you that I have sent you
when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt," now watch
this, "...you shall serve God upon this very mountain." What
mountain was that? Horeb, Mount Horeb. Moses said unto God the Lord
Jesus, when I 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 to me, What is his
name? Who is this God? What is his
name? What shall I say unto them? And God said to Moses, Now here
is the name by which Moses was to identify God to the children
of Israel. I AM THAT I AM. My Bible has that all capitals
from start to finish. I AM THAT I AM. And he said, Thus shall you say
unto the children of Israel, I am has sent me unto you." And
God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shall you 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. I am. This is my name forever. And this is my memorial unto
all generations. To the gospel of John, chapter
18, John chapter 18 verses 1 through
11. 1 through 11. The Lord Jesus has just completed
in the last two chapters prior to this one instructions encouragements to the Apostles. Now they arise together, Judas
having already left them. When Jesus had spoken these words,
the ones above in the previous chapter 17 and most of 16, He
went forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron where was
a garden called the Garden of Gethsemane into the which he,
Christ, entered and his disciples." Twelve people, Judas now absent. And Judas also which betrayed
him knew the place, for Jesus oftentimes resorted there with
his disciples. Judas then having received a
band of men, and if this Greek word for band is
to be trusted, it is a band of 500 men, These would have been Roman soldiers
and then others that represented the Jewish hierarchy in their
religion. Judas received 500 men and officers
from the chief priests and Pharisees. They all come there with lanterns
and torches and weapons. They come to arrest the light
of the world, but they must bring lanterns in order to see Him,
because all they can see is the physical, and many times they
couldn't see that. Jesus therefore, knowing all
things that should come upon Him, the arrest, the mock trials,
the beatings, the scourgings, the crown of thorns, And finally,
the cross. The Lord Jesus knows clearly
and fully that He's going to that cross. That's why He came. That's why He was here, is to
do this very thing. So Jesus, knowing in verse 4,
all things that should come upon Him, He went forth, did not wait
for them to find him. He went forth and said unto them,
Whom seek you? Who are you looking for? They
answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am. The word he is not in the original.
I am. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them, not him, them. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am, they went backward and fell to the ground. you would have thought they would
have fallen forward to worship Him. But no, they fall flat of
their backside. The only wonder is that He didn't
just go ahead and send them to hell with their clothes on. It
was done once before in the Old Testament. I presume between verses six
and seven there's time expires to enable them to get back on
their feet give each other encouragement you know that we didn't see what
we just saw we didn't experience what we just experienced it's
just one man we're five hundred so in verse seven our Savior
said again whom seek you." And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Now catch the title they give
him. Jesus of Nazareth. They said earlier in the Gospels,
can any good thing come out of Nazareth? This man is just a
carpenter's son. He can't be anything. They're coming looking for Jesus
of Nazareth, a man. And they refuse to believe what
has just happened and recognize that He's also God. And if your Jesus ain't God,
you need to throw Him away because He's not any good. He cannot
help you whatsoever, none whatsoever. And now to show that our Lord is not cowering or bowing to
this vast number of people and to the officers that represent
the Jewish religion and the Sanhedrin and all that kind of stuff. The
Lord Jesus is telling them how it's going to be. He said in verse 8, Our Lord answered and said, I
have told you that I am. If you therefore seek me, let
these, referring to his disciples, let these go their way. He's not bowing to them. they've
not ruffled him but he them. There's a perfect photograph
of you and me by nature apart from grace and Christ. We're
just this dumb and just this blind and we all grew up worshiping
Jesus. You know little Jesus boy Our Lord said this according
to verse 9, that this Old Testament prophecy of Himself might be
fulfilled, that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke,
of them which you gave Me. The Son speaking to God the Father
of them which you gave Me. Now watch this, I have lost None. Not one. Well, what if they're not willing? He'll make them willing in the
day of His power. They're all unwilling. Make all the excuses you will,
my friend. If they're not all there in eternal
glory when this whole world is wrapped up and is no more, then
this man is not God. And if He is God, They must all
be there. So don't speak about his trying
and hoping and weeping and praying and cajoling. That's pure bunk
and hogwash. Verse 10. Then Simon Peter. Now you've got to think about
this one now. Peter is so brave that in just
a few hours A little servant maid just shoots
him down. She said, aren't you one of those
that were with him? And he used profanity and said,
I've never heard of him. Oh, but now with our Savior at
his side, he draws his sword. Then Simon Peter, having a sword,
drew it, and smote the high priest's servant. The servant's name was
Malchus, and Mark tells us that he took his whole ear off, and our Lord Jesus promptly put
it back on, and they still don't believe. You can see all the miracles
that this world has ever seen and not believe. The rich man
told Lazarus, how he spoke to Lazarus from hell I don't know,
but I'm not supposed to understand some of this stuff. He said,
Father Abraham, if you'll send somebody from the dead back to
my brothers, they'll Abraham said, If they hear not
Moses and the prophets, they won't hear, though one rose from
the dead. And one did. Our Lord said to Peter, Now here's
why I'm telling you Christ is in charge. When Peter took that
sword out and used it on one of their own, they would have
been all over them. But no, our Lord said to Peter
in verse 11, put up your sword into its sheath. The cup which my father has given
me, referring to his sufferings, his bleeding, and his death, shall I not drink it? I came
here for this purpose. Shall I not accomplish it?" If
he doesn't go to the tree, all of his words are blasphemy and
worthless and useless. You might as well pray to Buddha
or any other god of your choosing or pray to the one that you were
born worshiping. That's ourselves. That's the
worst of all, but that's the essence of it. All right, I need
you to look with me at some things now in regard to what we just
read. I want you to go back in Exodus now, in your mind, to
that third chapter in the 14th verse. I am that I am. And here's our blessed Savior
declaring Himself to be the I Am God. And that is either the truth
or nothing about Him is true. In John chapter 1, to which we
will not turn, in verse 1 it says, "...in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God..." Do you know the third
phrase? "...and the Word was God." Now
who is this Word? None other than our precious
Lord Jesus Christ. You can find the answer to that
in John 1.14. But if you turn for just a moment to John, I'm
going to try to keep my references just to John's gospel. See how
kind I am? John chapter 10. Let me make
a couple of statements and I'll meet you in John chapter 10. In regard to the picture that
we have seen of our Savior in John chapter 18, I have this
question. Why did the Lord Jesus manifest
Himself in this particular manner? Why did He do that? Remember what they called Him?
Who are you looking for? Jesus of Nazareth. Our Lord said
and did what He did to show them, to teach them, that He's more
than Jesus of Nazareth, infinitely, infinitely more. According to
1 Timothy 3.16, the mystery of godliness in the very first part
of it is He, Christ, is God manifest in the flesh, in human flesh. Jesus of Nazareth is God in human
flesh, and He's never been anything
less, nor can He be anything more, for God cannot improve. Our Lord voluntarily delivered
himself to these people. Look here in John chapter 10 verses 17 and 18. John 10, 17 and 18. These are our Lord's words. He's
in this famous 10th chapter about the shepherd and his sheep. Therefore
does my father love me. Why? Because I lay down my life
that I might take it again. Verse 18, talking about his life,
talking about him in the garden with all those soldiers. No man takes it from me But I
lay it down of myself. I'm not coerced. I'm not forced. My soul, he could have struck
every one of those guys and made them monuments of salt like he
did Lot's wife. He came here to die. Why? To satisfy the justice of God. and redeem that people which
God gave him in that old covenant of grace and old eternity. No man takes it from me but I
lay it down of myself. Now watch this. I have power
to lay it down and I have power to take it again. You mean the Lord Jesus resurrected
himself in his own power? That's what I mean. According
to Romans 4.25 that spells he accomplished what he intended. I have power to take it again
this commandment received I of my father. Now these men who could have been the most
favored men ever to walk this earth but now some of the most
damned These men are without excuse. Who else could do what
this man did? Nobody. We could blow a sparrow off his
perch and our Lord does it with just a word and turns around
and uses the same word and nothing happens. He must speak it to that intent
in order for it to accomplish its purpose. That's like a man
hearing the gospel. When our Lord Jesus speaks it
to your soul, you'll be converted. Until then, ain't nothing happening. Just paying the rent. Nothing
taking place. Our second thing Not only why
did he manifest himself in the way in which he did, but the
Lord Jesus in this very Gospel of John has spoken numerous times. I can't find them all. My concordance,
I look it up under I and it doesn't give me anything, and then I
look it up under the word am and it'll say I am. But they
don't give you, this is Young's concordance, The Strong's is
over here at the church, I think, so I didn't look at the list,
but this is enough. It's more than I'll have time
probably to give you this morning, but if you'll turn to John 4,
and I promised you we'd stay in John. Chapter 4. Now what's taking place in the fourth
chapter of John? Our Lord has come to Jacob's
well, and he meets a woman of Samaria, a morally loose woman,
I guess you would have to say. She comes to the well when no
other decent woman would do so. And our Lord strikes up a conversation about living water. Now, we can't
go back over this. I think we read this last Sunday.
But I want you to look at two verses in regard to Christ's
use of the word, I AM. First of all, verse 26. Let me read 25 and 26. The woman
said unto him, I know that Messiah comes. She believes in a coming
Messiah. She's standing face to face to
him and doesn't know him, but she's religious, which is called
Christ. She knows his name, at least
part of him. When he has come, he will tell
us all things. And he's already told her about
her husbands, how many she's had, and in fact, the one she
now has is not her husband, all that kind of stuff. And she's looking for this, in
the Messiah. And our Lord, to my knowledge
you can't find this any place else in your Bible. Verse 26,
Jesus said, I that speak unto you am. I am. I am. Now to show you what that
did for her, just drop down to verse 29 for a second. She ran
into town, she left her water pot. She said, Come, see a man
which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Alright, how about trying chapter
6? John chapter 6 and verse 20. Our Lord has begun the chapter
with the feeding of the 5,000. His disciples get in a boat and
they start back across the Sea of Galilee and it's dark. And so our Lord comes to them. A great storm is blowing. These seasoned fishermen are
afraid. These are not somebody that's
not used to a ship or a boat on the Sea of Galilee. So verse 19 says, when they had
rowed about 25 or 30 furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the
sea and drawing near unto the ship, and they were afraid. It's alright
to have been afraid before, but not now. But our Lord said to
them, it is I, be not afraid. Now if you have access to a book
called the Greek Interlinear New Testament and you look this
verse up in that book, It will give you the literal word for
word that makes up that verse. Whereas our translators want
it to be more fluid. They want it to read nicely and
move and flow and so forth. But we lose a lot when that's
the case. But here's a case. This is another
one of those I am's. I am. I am that I am. And then, of course, we wind
up back in John chapter 18, and it's just all over our Bibles,
this wonderful declaration of the being, the self-existent
being of God, independent, unchanging, never getting better and never
getting worse always always the same yesterday today and forever well since I told you we were
going to stay in John I just want to make reference to another
verse and you can look this up maybe I can remember enough of
it to give you the gist of it The verse is 2 Corinthians 2.16,
but Paul is talking about the ministry of the gospel, and he
says it is a savor of life unto life and a savor of death unto
death. That's true right now at this
very second in this place. What you've heard me read and
say from this book You can either save our souls or damn them.
But you can't just trifle with them and leave here unaffected. And neither could these persons
in John chapter 18. Their lives were changed forever
in that one event. Some people call it the Christ
event. Changed forever. never to be repeated, changed,
forever. Oh goodness, we've got a little
bit of time. Let me just show you a couple
of things in the book of Psalms. Now, that's the end of that other
agreement we had, so if you don't want to turn, it won't bother
me a bit, but I'm going to turn to Psalm 27 for just a minute. I never expected to get here
this morning, so I didn't even mark my places or anything. But
I just want to show you some statements in Psalms, just three
of them, real quickly, and they're all close together. Not verse
after verse, but, you know, one or two Psalms in between or something
like that. Here's the prophecy. It's called
Messianic. prophecy. That is prophecy concerning
the Christ. And they're throughout the Old
Testament, but the book of Psalms is literally full and running
over with them. Some of the Psalms are all together
about Christ and nobody else. Alright, Psalm 27 verses 1 and
2. Now look at these words in the
light of our Savior. The Lord is my light and my salvation
Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my
life. Of whom shall I be afraid?" Here it is, "...when the wicked,
even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell." And
these words were written, oh goodness, virtually 2,000 years
before Christ ever came. How about trying Psalm 35 and
verse 4? And there are plenty of other
verses in the Psalms that we're reading from. We'll just make
it short. I'm looking out for you. Psalm 35, verse 4, "...let them be confounded And
that's what happened in the garden that night. Those guys were confounded. Let them be confounded and put
to shame that seek after my soul. Let them be turned back and brought
to confusion that devise my hurt. I'm sure David knew something
about that personally, but that statement belongs to our Savior
first and foremost. Alright, Psalm 40, In verse 14, Psalm 40 verse 14, "...let them
be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy
it. Let them be driven back..." Yes,
with a word! let them be driven backward and
put to shame that wish me evil." Now if that's not John 18, I
don't know what is. Alrighty. Now since we did so