Last Sunday night, we began looking
at what Paul called in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 1 through 25,
the gospel. It's the most formal definition
of the gospel found in the Bible. And tonight we're going to consider
what Paul said is of first importance. What comes first? Now I've heard
men talk about the Bible and the scriptures and the gospel,
and they say, well, this is what's most important. And this is of
secondary importance, I think. God not be doing that. You don't
know what's, if God revealed it, it's important. Amen? Whatever
it is. But this is what God, the Holy
Spirit says is of first importance. Back to our text in John chapter
13. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus to his disciples. You call me master and Lord. We do call him that, don't we? And you say, well, for so I am. I love how awesome that sounds. If I said, you call me Master
and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am, you ought to start
throwing songbooks at me. Well, you should. This is not
something any mere man can say. But when he says it, yes. You call me master and Lord,
and you say, well, for so I am. He speaks with the authority
of God. He commends his disciples for
this. This is how the disciples addressed him in speaking personally
to the Christ. We don't have any example in
the Bible where any of them ever came up to him and said, Jesus,
Jesus, I want you to do this. Jesus, I want you to do that.
Jesus, would you? No! Master and Lord. That is how they addressed him. Master and Lord. And in the original of the definite
article is used before each of these titles of worship and respect. Master. The Lord. To use his name flippantly is
to break the third commandment. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. He shall not be held guiltless
who takes the name of the Lord his God in vain. I think that
speaks of the majesty of his person that to speak flippantly
with regard to his name is worthy of hell's heat. That is how glorious
this one is. Yes, he's the man Christ Jesus. He's meek. He's lowly in heart. He's humble. And yet to speak
of his name in lack of reverence is a sin worthy of eternal hell. That's who he is. You call me master and Lord. And you say, well, for so I am. There's only one master and there's
only one Lord, me. These titles are for no other. You call me master. You call
me Lord. You say, well, for so I am. And notice in our text, verse
13, so is in italics. It was supplied there by the
translators. You call me master Lord. You say, well, I am. That is the name of God, the
self existent one. how he spake to Moses from the
burning bush. And I hesitate to use this word
to describe the gospel, but I don't have a better word to use. The genius of the gospel, the
genius of the burning bush, the bush that burned but could not
be consumed, which lets us know who Jesus Christ is. Burning bush didn't need the
wood, the energy of the wood to continue to burn. It just
kept burning. This is Jesus Christ, God independent,
who has no needs. He needs nothing to complete
him. He doesn't need you. He doesn't need me. He doesn't
need something to make him happy. He's utterly independent. And this bush, could not be consumed. Jesus Christ could not be consumed
by the wrath of God. He consumed the wrath and put
it away as the perfect man. You call me master and Lord,
you say, well, I am. I am that I am. He's my master. If you're a believer,
he's your master. He is your Lord, you call me
master. You call me Lord. You say well,
for so I am. Now the word master is the word
teacher. Teacher. You call me teacher. You say well, for so I am. God the Father is our teacher. It is written, they shall all
be taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard and learned of the Father comes to me. God the Holy Spirit
is teacher. He shall guide you. He shall
guide you into all truth. That's his promise to every believer. What a teacher God the Holy Spirit
is. When he has come, he will reprove
the world of sin. He will teach you you're a sinner.
Righteousness, his righteousness, teach you of judgment, the accomplishment
of the judgment of the cross. What a teacher God the Holy Spirit
is. When people say God's trying to teach me something, no he's
not. God's never tried to do anything. If he teaches you,
you're taught. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
teacher, master. Now, as the master or the teacher,
he is the teacher that excludes all other teachers. He is the teacher. If you're
taught, he himself taught you. And that's a very humbling thought,
isn't it? If you're taught, it's him. that has taught you. He
might have used the voice of the preacher, but it wasn't the
voice of the preacher that taught you. It was Jesus Christ himself. He is the teacher. He is the source of truth. I love the end of the Sermon
on the Mount when it says, when he had ended his sayings, they
were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught them as one having
authority. Not as the scribes, not as the
religious. What he said recommended itself
as the very word of God. He taught them as one having
authority. I love it. Five times in the Sermon on the
Mount, he said, you've heard it being said of them of old,
and they don't quote a scripture. But I say to you, I am the only
one who determines the meaning of Scripture. I am the teacher. Turn over to Matthew chapter
22 for a moment. I think this will illustrate
this. You call me master, teacher,
you say, well, for so I am, verse 23. The same day came to him the
Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection, and asked him,
saying they came up with a plan. They thought they could fool
him and leave him speechless. Master, Moses said, if a man
die having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise
up seed into his brother. Now there were with us seven
brethren. And the first, when he married
a wife, deceased and having no issue, left his wife and to his
brother. Likewise, the second also, and the third, and to the
seventh. And last of all, the woman died also. Therefore, in
the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? For
they all had her." Oh, we've got him trapped now. How's he
gonna answer this? Jesus answered and said unto
him, you do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power
of God." Wouldn't that summarize every error? Not knowing the
scriptures, nor the omnipotence of God. For in the resurrection,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as of the
angels of God in heaven, but as touching the resurrection
of the dead. Have you not read That which was spoken unto you
by God saying, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac
and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. Now, would you have read that
and thought that must teach the resurrection? I wouldn't have. I would have heard that. And
I would have never even dreamed that the resurrection is taught
in that passage of scripture where God said, I'm the God of
the living and not the God of the dead. But yet the Lord, who
is the only one who truly tells us what the scripture means,
says this teaches the final resurrection. God is not the God of the dead,
but the God of the living. I love the way the Lord ends
up the Sermon on the Mount. The foolish man hears my sayings
and does them not. But the wise man hears my sayings
and does. As teacher, not only is He the
SOURCE of all truth, He Himself is the SUBJECT of all truth. Not A SUBJECT, THE SUBJECT of
all truth. You search the Scriptures, the
Lord says to the Pharisees, in them you THINK you have life,
and they are they. all of them, all of them, without
exception. They are they which testify of
me. And you will not come to me that
you might have life. And not only is he the source
of that which is taught, he's the one who does the teaching,
not only is he the subject He is the teacher. They shall all
be taught of God. He is God. Don't you want the
Lord Jesus Christ to be your teacher? Oh, I want him to teach
me. Anybody that wants him to be
their teacher and not simply be taught by men, but actually
have him teach you, anybody who wants him to be their teacher,
Lord, will you reveal yourself to me? he teaches. So don't be
discouraged over the fact that salvation can only be by him
teaching. Do you want him to be your teacher?
They shall all be taught of God. He himself is the teacher. The master is effectual in teaching. You call me teacher. And you
know, even though he has such dull students. Oh fools! He said this to believers. Oh
fools! And slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ have suffered
these things and entered into his glory? Then he opened their
understanding that they might understand the scriptures, but
even though the Lord's got such dull students, he is an absolutely
effectual teacher. I'm so encouraged by that right
now to think that he is the teacher. You call me master. You call me teacher. You say,
well, for so I am. You see, if he teaches you and
if he teaches me, here's what he teaches us. He teaches us
who He is. That is His revelation. It's
who He is. Do you know that is the issue?
Who is Jesus Christ? Somebody said, isn't the issue
what you think of Christ? That is an issue, but it's not
the issue. You see, He is who He is without
reference to what you and I think about Him. He is who He is. And
if he teaches you, you will know who he is. And you will recognize when you're
hearing preaching, that's not him. Because you'll know who
he is. The son of God, the son of Mary,
the God man, the creator of the universe, you'll know who he
is. And if you know who he is, guess
what? You'll know who you are. You'll know you're a sinner.
I mean, you'll know you're a sinner. You can't know who He is without
knowing who you are. You ever know who He is? You'll
know sure as you're a foot and a half high that you are a sinner. You can't bring anything to the
table. You're completely dependent upon Him. And if He teaches you,
not only will you know who He is and who you are, you'll know
how He saves sinners by Christ. Forget any knowledge you have
that doesn't cause you to look to Him as everything in your
salvation. What a teacher He is. You call me teacher. Oh, He is
the teacher, isn't He? The only source of truth, the
truth Himself. You call me teacher. You say,
well, for so I am. You call me Lord. You call me Lord. You say, well, for so I am. The Lord is the one whose will
is done. Not the one who wants his will
to be done, but the one whose will is done all the time. The Lord is he to whom a person
or thing belongs. The Lord is the one who decides.
The Lord is the owner. Can I not do what I will with
my own? The Lord is the sovereign. There's only one sovereign, the
Lord. He is absolutely sovereign. That
means that me and you and everybody else are in his hand right now
and he can do with me and you whatever he is pleased to do. And whatever he does is right
because he does it. That's what being Lord means. He's the Lord of Lords. It was
his will being done in creation when he spake this universe into
existence. That's how glorious this Lord
is. He's the creator. He created
something from nothing. Why? Because it's the Lord. He is the Lord of everything
that happens in providence. Oh, please, don't say that was
providential. When you say that, you deny what
providence is in the first place. It's all providential because
He is Lord. He controls everything, everybody,
every event. There's not a sparrow that falls
to the ground without Him. When Samuel said to Eli, Eli
said, tell me what the Lord said to you. Samuel replied to Eli,
the Lord says you can kill both your sons. He said, it's the
Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. He is the Lord of every event,
the first cause of everything. He is the Lord of salvation. Now, please hear me. If you understand this, you understand
exactly what the leper understood. He said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. There's an understanding. I can't
make myself clean. I'm unclean. And the only way
I can be clean is if he wills. my cleansing. Can you pray that
prayer right now in your heart while you're hearing this message?
Lord, if you will, I can't do anything about it. I can't make
it happen. I'm helpless. If you will, you
can. You have the ability to make
me clean before you. He is the Lord. And if we have been
taught by God, we understand that He really is Lord. This
is not an empty title. He is the Lord. Now, I think
this is interesting, that passage of Scripture in Romans chapter
10, verse 9, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the
dead. Thou shalt be saved. Did you hear what was just said? If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus. And I think this is interesting.
I have 19 different English translations and 14 of those translations
say if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is the
Lord. Do you confess that Jesus is the Lord. You know, when people
say, won't you make Jesus the Lord of your life? That's so
offensive. You can't make him the Lord of your life. He is
the Lord of your life. He's everybody's Lord. He's the
Lord of the dead. He's the Lord of those dead and
sins. He's the Lord of the living because he's Lord. Jesus Christ
is Lord. Every knee shall bow, every tongue
shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He's either Lord of
all or he's Lord not at all. There is no in between. Lord, if you will, you can. You have the ability to make
me clean. And let me Also say, it's not
merely saying he's Lord, it's believing he's Lord. Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.
Many shall come and say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not preached in your name? Have we not cast out devils in
your name, in your name? Have we not done many wonderful
works? Then shall I say to them, depart
from me ye that work iniquity. I never knew you." Now they thought
they had the works. They were many and wonderful
in their own mind. but they had never believed the gospel. And don't you be calling Jesus
Lord if you do not believe that he is Lord of salvation, he's
Lord of your salvation, you trust him only. You're not looking
to your works, you're not looking to your experience, you're not
looking to how you feel, you look to him only as everything
God requires of you and you rest in him. You call me master. You call
me Lord. You say, well, that's the only
appropriate thing to say for. So I am. If you and I do not see that
he is Lord, he's not been our teacher. If he teaches you as the teacher,
here's one thing you're sure of. He is Lord. Now, in my mind, the most powerful
illustration of what happens when he teaches is found in Luke
chapter 23, if you turn with me there. Verse 32, and there were also two other
malfactors led with him to be put to death. And when they were
come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified
him and the malfactors, the criminals, one on the right hand and the
other on the left. Now, these are known as the two
thieves on the cross, malfactors. And we know from Mark's account
that both of these men were cursing the Lord Jesus Christ, spewing
out their enmity toward him and their bitterness. If you're the
Christ, save yourself and us. Prove it. Come down from the
cross and get us off here. Oh, they hated Jesus Christ. Verse 39. And one of the malefactors, which
were hanged, railed on him, saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself
and us. And like I said, the other fellow
was doing this at first, but the other, verse 40, the
other answering, rebuked him, saying, does not thou fear God? Now, when he is your teacher,
you will know that he is God. Don't you see who it is you're
railing on? Don't you fear God? Somebody
says, well, he's talking about God the father. He may have been,
but he's also talking about God the son. This one hanging on
this cross that you're cursing, don't you know who he is? Don't
you fear God? Now listen to me. The first thing
that you and I will learn if God teaches us is that Jesus
Christ is God almighty. If I don't believe that, I've
never been taught by God. Do you believe when God looks
in your heart right now, Do you believe that Jesus Christ is
God Almighty? God manifest in the flesh. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Jesus Christ is God. Bow down. This is who he is. And when God teaches you, you
find out that The gospel didn't begin in a manger 2,000 years
ago. Jesus Christ is eternal God. Do you believe that? Do you believe that? Let's go
on reading. Verse 40, but the other answering
rebuked him saying, does thou not fear God? Seeing thou art
in the same condemnation And we indeed justly for we receive
the due reward of our deeds. If God is my teacher, I believe because God said it.
that the due reward of my deeds is eternal death. My deeds, my
deeds, what I've done. Not only who I am, the deeds
come from who I am. But this man said, with God being
his teacher, we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward
of our deeds. Now, let me ask you a question.
Not only do you believe that Jesus Christ is God, but do you
believe that if God gave you what you deserved, what you've
earned, He would send you to hell? No arguing against God. No, how could this be fair? How
could that be fair? Believe what God says about you.
Believe what God says about you. I know you'll never see, and
I'll never really see how sinful we really are, but believe what
God says. I deserve, because of my deeds,
I'm not just talking about some kind of, I'm not only sent to
hell because I'm in Adam, I'm sent to hell because of my deeds.
Somebody says, I don't want to have any identification with
Adam. Well, stand on your own then. How's that going to work?
Because of my deeds. I deserve condemnation. Now let's go on reading. Verse 41, we receive the due
reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. Now, if Jesus Christ teaches
you who he is, you will know that he is a man without sin,
that he never sinned, that he's the perfect man, the God man. He can't sin. He's incapable
of sin. He has done nothing amiss. Do you believe that about Jesus
Christ? That He is incapable of sin? The altogether just,
glorious, holy One, the Holy One of God. He's done nothing
amiss. Now somebody says, how? Now,
the Lord was 33 years living alive. How does He know He never
did anything amiss? He didn't see His life those
whole 33 years. If you know him, you know he just never done anything
amiss. That's from knowing him. He can't see. This man hath done
nothing amiss. Verse 42. And he said unto Jesus, what? Lord, He knew he was the Lord. Now this is amazing. He saw this
one nailed to a cross with a thorn of crowns pressed upon his head. His beard had been ripped out. His face, his visage marred more
than the sons of men. Beaten to a bloody pulp nailed
to a cross, seemingly so helpless. Lord, you are the Lord. He knew that Jesus
Christ was Lord and the Lord would have been speaking to him
when he said, you call me master and Lord, you say, well, For
so I am. Now, no one else saw his lordship
at this time. They saw one nailed to a cross,
seemingly so helpless. He knew, though. Why? Because
God was his teacher. You see, when God is your teacher,
you know Jesus Christ to be Lord. Now, I'm not asking you if you
know you're saved right now, but I'm asking you this. Do you
know he's Lord? Do you believe that he is Lord? Now here's how much he believed
in his lordship. He said, you're not going to
stay dead. He believed that Jesus Christ
would be raised from the dead. How did he believe something
like that? Because he knew who he was. It's not possible for
him to stay dead. You're going to come back as
a mighty reigning I know that. When you come back as a mighty
reigning king, here's the one thing I ask. Remember me. If all you do is
remember me, everything's fine. All my salvation is in you remembering
me. He's one of mine. That's all
that has to be said. He's one of mine. She's one of
mine. I represented them. I put away their sins. I remember
them. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. You call me Master. You call
me Lord. You say, well, for so I am. And this is what I want
to close with. So I am. Like I said, so's in the italics.
Translators put it there, I am. That is a name that belongs only
to the independent, self-existent God. Don't you love to think
about God having no needs? I love thinking about that because
I'm so needy. And you're so needy, whether
you know it or not. Why, we can't even take our next
breath unless he wills it. We're so needy, we're just, the
only way you can describe us is needy. He has no needs. I am needy. that I am. This shows how gracious
He is. You see, He didn't need to do
anything but what He willed to do it. He does what He does because
of who He is. He's just gracious. He's just gracious. He's just
merciful. He delights in mercy. That's
why He saves sinners. It's because of who He is. It's
not because of anything in us that would merit His favor. It's
who He is. He delights in mercy. In the book of John, This phrase is used over and
over again. That woman at the well was just
overcome with her own ignorance. She goes, well, he was saying
things to her. She had no idea what he was talking
about. She said, I know when Messiah comes, he'll tell us
all things. I am. I that speak unto thee
am. I am. I am. Be not afraid. I am the bread of life. I am from heaven and he sent
me. I am the light of the world. Ye are from beneath. I am from
above. You are of this world. I am not
of this world. If you believe not that I am,
you'll die in your sins. I love the way he doesn't use
a predicate there. He doesn't say I am, but if you believe
not that I am, you will die in your sins. I am the son of God. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I am the resurrection
and the life. The resurrection is not an event.
I am the resurrection. When I was raised from the dead,
all my people were raised in me. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to
the Father, but by me, I am the vine. You are the branches. Without
me, you can do nothing. The last time he used the words
in the book of John where they came to arrest him. Whom seek ye? Jesus of Nazareth. I am. What happened? They were driven backwards to
the ground by an irresistible force. The Lord Jesus Christ
at no time is going to let any man think they've got him. I'm
no victim. I'm in control of everything
going on. And there they are, knocked to
the ground. And he asked them again, whom
seek ye? I think there might have been
some trembling in their voice. Jesus of Nazareth. I am. Take me, let these go their way. The gospel. The reason I'm set
free is because the justice of God took the great I Am, bearing
the sins of His people, and He put them away, and now I have
His very righteousness, the righteousness of God, the righteousness of
the great I Am that I Am. You call me Master and Lord, you say, well, For so I am. And I want to say with Thomas,
my Lord and my God. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name,
that name that's above every name, our great master, our great
Lord. We ask in his name that everybody
in this room, by your grace, might be enabled from their heart
to call you master and Lord. And Lord, we confess that our
sure hope of salvation is because our master and our Lord represented
us, took responsibility for our full
salvation, came here to this earth and obeyed your law perfectly,
took our sins in his own body on the tree and put them away
by his death, was raised from the dead for
our justification. And that one who is our master
and our Lord is even now seated at your right hand, making intercession
for us, making our prayers acceptable, making our persons acceptable.
And Lord, how we look forward to that time when he returns
and every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to
confess that he is Lord to the glory of our God and father. Lord bless this message for his
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.