Would you turn with me to John
chapter 8? Tonight, I'm going to be speaking from Matthew chapter
5, the first 12 verses on what is known as the Beatitudes. Blessed
are the poor. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst, and so on. I've entitled this message, The Infinite Greatness of Jesus
Christ. Some kind of subject, isn't it?
I'm going to attempt to speak on the person of Jesus Christ. The infinite greatness of Jesus
Christ. Now let's begin in verse 59,
the last verse of John chapter eight. Then took they up stones to cast
at him. Now these people were mad. They
were going to stone the Lord Jesus Christ to death. Now, what
in the world did he say that provoked such a rage? For indeed he did provoke a rage
at this time. Well, let's look up in verse
51 of John chapter eight. He says, verily, verily, truly,
truly, amen and amen, I say unto you, if a man keep watch over,
guard my saying, the word that comes out of my mouth, he shall
never see death. That's a powerful statement,
isn't it? If a man keeps my saying, he shall never see death. Verse 52, then said the Jews
unto him, now we know that thou hast a devil. You've removed
all doubt. We know that you're crazy is
what they're saying. You say that if a man keeps my
saying, he'll never see death. What about Abraham? Abraham's
dead. And the prophets and thou sayest, if a man keep my saying,
he shall never taste of death. Verse 53. Art thou greater than our father,
Abraham? Wonder how Abraham would answer
that question. Ask Abraham. Art thou greater than our father
Abraham, which is dead, and the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Malachi, they're all dead. Whom makest thou thyself? Do you really consider yourself
greater than Abraham or the prophets? They're dead. And yet you say,
if a man keeps my word, my saying, he'll never see death. Just who
are you making yourself? Do you really believe you're
greater than Abraham? Verse 54. Now look at our Lord's
answer to their question. Whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, if I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. It's my father that honoreth
me, of whom you say that he is your God. Now, our Lord is saying,
I'm not making myself anything. I am that I am. I'm not making myself Anything. I'm not seeking to honor myself.
If a man honors himself, do you know what his honor amounts to? Nothing. He said if I honor myself,
my honor is nothing. He wasn't seeking to honor himself.
It was his father who honored him. If I honor myself, what
does that make it? Nothing and offensive. Look back
in John chapter 5. Verse 44. The Lord says to this
group of people, how can you believe? Which receive honor. One of another and seek not that
honor that cometh from God only. Back to our text in John chapter
eight. Verse 54, Jesus answered, if
I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It's my father that honoreth
me. Of whom you say that he is your
God. You say he is the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob is our God. You say he's
your God. Yet, verse 55, you have not known
him. You say you do. But you don't. You've not known him. But I know
him. If I should say I know him not,
I'd be a liar like you are. The way the Lord speaks. But I know him. And keep his
saying. I keep his word. Verse 56. Your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. And he saw and was glad. Now, Abraham, remember, had been
dead for some 16 or 1700 years. When our Lord made this statement.
Yet he says your father, Abraham, rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and he was glad
Verse 57, then said the Jews unto him, you're not yet 50 years
old. And if you seen Abraham, why
this is impossible. Verse 58. Then said Jesus said
unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto you. Before Abraham was. I am. And they knew exactly what
he meant by that. Because the scripture says they
picked up stones. And they're saying, we're going
to kill you. You're claiming to be God. And we're going to kill you over
this. No man should claim to be God. Now they knew exactly
what he meant. Now he'd already told them this
previously. Look back in verse 24 of John chapter 8. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I
am." Now notice that he is in italics. It was put there by
the translators supposedly to make it make more sense, but
actually it takes away from the meaning of this. He doesn't say
if you believe not that I am he, you'll die in your sins.
He says if you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins."
Now, whose name is that? We'll turn back to Exodus chapter
3. Exodus chapter 3, verse 13. And Moses said unto God, Exodus
3.13, 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's 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. Now who's speaking here? God
said to Moses, I am that I am. And in the Hebrew, that's Elohim,
it's God in the plural. God in the three persons of the
Trinity. God said, if we said this is
God the Father speaking, we'd be right, wouldn't we? If we
said this is God the Son speaking, we'd be right, wouldn't we? If
we said, this is God the Holy Spirit speaking, we'd be right,
wouldn't we? This is God in all three persons of the Trinity. Elohim said to him, that's God
in the Hebrew plural. God said unto him, I am that
I am. But let's narrow this down. Who
is speaking? It's that one who's speaking
from the bush that burned and was not consumed. That's the
Lord Jesus Christ speaking. When He appeared to Moses at
this time, He appeared in the bush that burned and was not
consumed, which is a reference to the cross. The wrath of God
came down upon Christ, but it couldn't consume Him. He consumed
the wrath. He's the only one who could do
that. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself speaking. When He says to Moses, I am that
I am, you tell them that I am hath sent thee. Now, let's go back to John chapter
8. Without doubt, what our Lord
says in verse 58 is the precise same thing He said to Moses some
thousands of years or centuries before, however long it was,
I don't know. Jesus saith unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Before Abraham was, And look over in John chapter 18, verse 3. Judas then, having received a
band of men and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees,
cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus
therefore, knowing all the things that should come upon him, went
forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus
of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am."
Notice once again, if you have a King James, the he is put there
by the translators. He says, I am. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with him. And as soon then as he had said
unto them, I am, what happened? They went backwards. and they
fell to the ground. You know what I got to thinking
about? I was thinking about that this morning. I thought, when
somebody's bowling and they throw the ball right down the middle
of the alley, whatever you call it, the lane, the bowling lane,
and it hits right in the middle and the balls, the pins just,
boom, almost explode and fall. I thought of our Lord saying,
I am, and His word like a bowling ball coming out of His mouth
and just knocking them all down. They went backwards and they
fell to the ground. Revelation 1 John to the seven churches which
are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from
him which is and which was and which is to come. Look in verse 8 of Revelation
1. Christ speaking says, I am Alpha
and Omega. The first and the last letter
of the Greek alphabet. The beginning and the ending,
saith the Lord which is, and which was, and which is to come,
the Almighty. I am that I am. Now when He says
I am, He is speaking of His isness. Is that a word? I believe it
is. He speaks of His is-ness. Hebrews 11, 6 says, He that cometh
to God must believe that He is. And that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him. Now, this is necessary to faith. As a matter of fact, it is faith.
It's a belief in His is-ness. I am that I am. If you believe
not that I am He, you'll die in your sins. I am that I am,
not I was. Not I will be, not I would be,
not I could be, not I should be, not I want to be, but I am
that I am. That's who he is. We believe
he is. He is as he is as he reveals
himself in his word and his isness is in no way predicated on what
we do or do not believe about him. He is as he is whether we
believe it or not. Our thoughts or our wrong thoughts
make no bearing on His isness. He is as He is. Now, this is His attributes. His attributes are who He is. He cannot be who He is without
His attributes. And only a person can say, I
am that I am. He's not a force. He's not a...
He's a person. I am. This is the person of Christ
speaking. This is the person of God speaking.
This is the second person of the Blessed Trinity speaking.
He says, I am that I am. He's a person. He's utterly unique. And here's his name, Jesus Christ. I am that I am. Only God fits this description. He says there's none like me.
I am that I am. And how, you're talking about
the infinite greatness of Jesus Christ. Would you all pray for
me as I try to attempt to talk about this? Because this is the
most glorious thing I could ever talk about. Pray for me. Pray for yourselves that the
Lord will give you grace to hear what's being said concerning
who He is. This is the only issue. Who He
is. Everything that we believe is
determined by this. Who He is. He said, I am that
I am. He's the only one who can say
this. He's the only being who is simple and whole. He's the only being that's not
made of parts. I'm part this and I'm part that.
You're part this and you're part that. That's why we're unstable.
That's why we're weak. But He is simple and He is whole. He's not made of parts like you
and I are. He's not 50% God and 50% man.
He's 100% God. He's 100% man, the man Christ
Jesus. He's not part just and part sovereign
and part gracious and part holy and part wise and part powerful
and the sum of the parts make the whole, not at all. He is
who He is. He's holy sovereign. He's 100%
sovereign. He's 100% holy. He's 100% gracious.
He's 100% pure. He's 100% just. He's 100% powerful. He is who
He is. I am that I am. He's infinite in all of His attributes. There are no limitations to his
being. Jesus Christ is I am that I am. There's so much I can say
about this. He is eternal. He never began
to be. He wasn't born like you and I
are. He is eternal. He never had a beginning and
he'll never have an ending. He's omnipresent. I know he's
confined to a body, yet you can't go anywhere where he's not. He
said, no man has succeeded up to heaven, but he that came down
from heaven, even the son of man, which is in heaven. Well,
he said, while I'm talking to you right here in this body,
I'm in heaven. Now I couldn't say anything like
that, could I? But He can. You can't come anywhere or be
anywhere where He's not. He's omnipresent. Jesus Christ
is immutable. That's who He is. He can't change.
He's incapable of changing. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. Whatever He was, He is. Whatever He is, He will be. And what He will be? He already
was and He is. He is the same in all of His
glorious attributes. And He's incapable of change.
He doesn't even have the potential to change. Do you know if He
had the potential to change, He'd be a mutable creature. But
He doesn't even have the potential. He is that He is. Jesus Christ is omniscient. He
knows all. He's never learned. He's never
been given any new information that he didn't know about. He's
never been surprised. The scripture says all things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have
to do. All his knowledge is foreknowledge. You know, he doesn't foresee
anything. He doesn't foresee what's going to happen. He's
decreed what's going to happen. He is as he is. He's all-wise. He's the only
wise God. He's all-powerful. There are
no limitations to His power. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Jesus Christ. I love to think of Him speaking
the universe into existence merely by an act of His will. There
was a time when nothing but God. He said, ìLight be, and light
was.î He spaked these worlds into existence. The stars were
there by His decree, by His purpose. Oh, how we see His power in creation. His power is seen in His incarnation
when God became flesh. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwells in a body. What a glorious person He is
that God becomes flesh. How His power is seen when He
kept the law. He never sinned. Now you want to talk about power.
He never sinned. How His power was seen on the
cross when the wrath of God came down upon Him. Now every time
fire came down from heaven in the Old Testament, what happened?
Whatever it came down upon was consumed. I love the story of
even Elijah when he's got the animals on those altars, on the
altar. He doused it down with water.
And then the fire of God came down upon it. And what happened
to it? It was consumed. The rocks were consumed. The
water was consumed. The dust was consumed. There
was nothing left. The fire of God's wrath came
down and fell upon it and consumed everything away. But when the
fire of God's wrath came down upon Christ, what happened? He
consumed the wrath to where there was none left. Now, who else
could do this but the Lord Jesus Christ? His power is seen in
that He actually put away sin. He made it to where my sin, the
sin of everybody He died for, He made it to where my sin is
not. It was put away. There is no more. What power He demonstrated when
He was raised from the dead. He raised Himself from the dead.
What power! What power we see as He's seated
at the right hand of the Father, representing His people. Oh,
the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you when that power
is perhaps most fully going to be seen. When you see this man
talking to you, and this is true of every believer, I'm going
to be perfectly conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that's power, isn't it? He can take me and make me just
like Himself. What power! Jesus Christ is holy. His love is a holy love. His wrath is a holy wrath. What is holiness? You want me to give you the best
definition of holiness? I've got it. I've been searching for
a definition for holiness all my, well, not all my life, but
ever since I've been preaching. What's the best definition of
holiness? Here it is. Jesus Christ. That's the best definition. That's
the only definition. He is holy. He is utterly just. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of His throne. He said, I'll by no means clear
the guilty. That's why there's a hell. Because
Jesus Christ is just. And listen to me, hell is not
a place of reform. Hell is a place of punishment
because Jesus Christ is just. His gospel is a thing of justice. He's found a way to be just and
yet justify the ungodly through what He did. God's justice is
glorified in him. Jesus Christ is good. It was
Christ who spoke to Moses when Moses said, show me your glory. And he said, I'll make all my
goodness pass before thee. What is the goodness of God?
It's his capacity to save people like me and you. He's good. He delights in mercy. The Bible is full of his isness. He said, I am that I am. And I read somewhere once where
that word implies, however, it said in the Hebrew and I, I can
see it. It says what that actually means
when he says, I am that I am is I save in the banner, which
I save. and who God is, is seen in the
manner which He saves. Every attribute of God is magnified
in the salvation of the sinner. You see, if He saves me, it magnifies
His sovereignty. He chose to save me. It doesn't
begin with me, it began with Him. If He saves me, it magnifies
His mercy that He could save somebody like me. If He saves
me, it magnifies His wisdom that He's found a way to be just and
yet justify somebody who's ungodly. Every attribute of God, every
single one of them are magnified in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I am that I am says, I save in the manner which I
save. Now would you turn with me to
Revelation chapter 22. Oh, I feel like I'm way above my head. Of course I am. It's stupid for
me to, of course I am. But who he is, isn't this glorious? I am that I am. Revelation 22. Here our Lord
speaks. Verse 13. He says again, I am alpha and
omega the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I am the alpha and omega. Now you know that's the first
and last letter of the Greek alphabet. It would be the same
thing if him saying I am A to Z. I'm A to Z. You know what that means? That
means everything spells Christ, whatever it might be. It all
points to Him. I'm the Alpha and the Omega.
I'm the beginning. That means the origin, the cause.
I'm the beginning and I'm the end. I'm the purpose. I'm the
limit. I'm the purpose behind all things.
I'm the first and I'm the last. And you know, for the first time
I've understood, have you ever wondered what that passage of scripture really
means? The first shall be last and the last shall be first.
I've always thought, does that mean the people that have it
bad here on earth, the ones that are in last place are going to
be in first place in heaven, and the ones that have it really
good here on earth, they're going to be... That's the way people
interpret that, but that... Well, he said, I am the first.
He's the first, isn't he? He's the chief, but he also is
the last. He became last on the cross.
Somebody read that passage of scripture about John the Baptist
being the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, notwithstanding he
that's least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. You
know who became least in the kingdom of heaven? The Lord Jesus
Christ. On the cross, he said, I'm a
worm and no man. Now the first, the Lord Jesus
Christ, He became last, and He did indeed become last on the
cross. But the last shall be first. He is the Alpha and Omega. He's the first and the last.
He's the chief in all things. He has the preeminence. He's
the Alpha and Omega of eternity. Now I want to read this to you.
I got this from somebody else. I'd like to read it and say,
I came up with this, but I didn't. But this is good. Listen to this. He is duration without beginning
or end. He is existence without bounds
or dimensions. He is present without past or
future. He is youth without infancy or
old age. He is life without birth or death. He is today without yesterday
or tomorrow. He said, I am that I am. Now he's the alpha and omega
of scripture. I love what our, our Lord said
to the Pharisees. He said, you search the scriptures.
You read them, you go over them, you comb them, looking for whatever
you think you need to do in order to save yourself. You search
the Scriptures. For in them, in the Scriptures,
you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify
of me." Every single one of them. He's the Alpha and Omega of the
Scriptures. He's the Alpha and Omega of our doctrine. Colossians
chapter 3 verse 11 says, Christ is all. You know, I don't care
what doctrine we're talking about. He's in the front of it. You
talk about election. I love election. I love the fact
that God chose who would be saved before the foundation of the
world. It's not so much the doctrine I love. I love the God who does
the choosing. It fills me with excitement to think of His salvations
of the Lord. It begins with Him. But who's
out in the front of election? We're chosen in Him. Not just
arbitrary, we're chosen in Him. Christ be my first elect, He
said, then He chose us in Him, our living head. We talk about
justification. Oh, I love the glorious truth
of being justified before God, being not guilty before God.
Right now, I stand without guilt before God. He is my justification
before God. He is my righteousness before
God. Talk about redemption. Having
a sin payment redeemed by His precious blood. You talk about
faith. He's the object of faith. Faith
is simply looking to Him. It's resting in Him. I don't
care what doctrine you're talking about. He is the sum and substance
of all of it. He's the Alpha and Omega in salvation. Here's the best way I can I don't want this to just be
words. He's the Alpha and Omega in salvation. He's the beginning
of my salvation. He's the end of it. He's the
Chief. Somehow, no believer has ever been viewed
by God independently of Jesus Christ. I've always been in Him. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. And His name endures forever
and men are blessed in Him. Why am I saved? Is it because
I did anything? No. It's for Christ's sake. Any other reasons? No. That's the only reason. That's
the sufficient reason. That's the best reason. And we
like it that way. Save for Christ's sake. He's
the Alpha and the Omega in salvation. And this is where my confidence
comes from. I can come boldly into His presence because of
Christ. As He is, so are we in this world.
That's our confidence. He's the Alpha and Omega in salvation.
He's the Alpha and Omega in our preaching. Turn to 1 Corinthians
2. I want you to see this. Verse 1. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, I came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God, For I determined, I made this
my aim, I made this my purpose, not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There wasn't
even anything else worth talking about. There isn't anything else
worth preaching about. This is the only issue. I determine not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, how do you,
how do I respond to this? He said, I am that I am, and
His isness is the issue. This is the only issue. It really
is. Who He is. Here's an example of what I'm
saying. I believe in what they call limited
atonement. The fact that Christ died for
the elect. He didn't die for everybody. He died for the elect.
He died for those the Father gave Him. He actually put away
their sin and He saved them. I believe in limited atonement.
I believe in definite atonement. I believe in successful atonement.
And here's why. Because of who died. That's the
issue. It's Christ that died. You're
going to tell me he can die for somebody and they end up in hell
anyway? Why, that's blasphemous. It's Christ that died, yea, rather
than risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us. This is our hope. It's Christ
that died. Now this is the issue. His isness. Who he reveals himself to be
in this book. This whole book is filled with
his isness, isn't it? You want to know who God is?
He's Jesus Christ. He's revealed in this book. His
name should be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Who is God? Jesus Christ. What does God do? Whatever Christ
does. That's who He is. Now, what about
you? How do you respond to this? Do you pick up stones to throw
at Him? Or do you bow down and worship Him? There's no in-between. You can't be an innocent bystander
here. You're either for Him or you're against Him. There's no
in-between. How do you respond to who He
is? Well, this one group, they picked up stones and they were
going to kill Him. And you know something that's
very scary? Look back on our text in John chapter 8. John chapter 8, verse 59, Then
took they up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going
through the midst of them, and so passed by. Now, He hid Himself, and I don't
want Him to hide Himself from me, do you? Oh, that he would
make himself known to me. Now, what is your personal response? I'm calling for a verdict this
morning. Let's take care of this right now. You either pick up
stones or you bow down before him and say with Thomas of old,
my Lord and my God. May God give every one of us
the grace to, in our heart, in our spirit, truly to bow down. Let's pray.