We started the book of John last
week, and all of these we're going to consider while we go
through the book of John, but I wanted to look at them all
at once. I've entitled this message, The I Ams of Christ. said in second peter chapter
three verse eighteen grow in grace and in the knowledge of
our lord and savior jesus christ he didn't say grow in knowledge
about our lord and savior jesus christ he said grow in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Lord said, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me. And that's what I hope takes
place tonight. I hope we come to know him better. Understand
this, your faith is as strong as you know who he is. Let me repeat that, your faith
is as strong as you know who he is. Now he says to these people in
John chapter eight, verse 24, if you believe not that I am, you'll die in your sins. Now,
where does his name, I Am, come from? I'm sure most of you are
familiar with what took place in Exodus chapter three, verse
fourteen, where the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to Moses as a
burning bush that was not consumed. And I hesitate to use this word
because it's sometimes applied to human beings and it shouldn't
be. But I admire the genius of God in appearing this way. Now, I'm not talking about genius
the way somebody says so-and-so's a genius. No, let's forget that. Let's use this word only with
regard to him. But in that burning bush that
could not be consumed, I love to think about that. That bush
burned without needing any of the energy of the wood to burn.
It just kept burning. Jesus Christ is independent God. He has no needs. Isn't it glorious to have a savior
who has no needs? Isn't it glorious to worship
a Savior who has no needs outside of himself? And this bush was
not consumed. This speaks of the perfect humanity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He could not be consumed. Not
only was he not consumed by the wrath of God, he consumed the
wrath. So that God says, there is no
fury in me. What a glorious savior he is
and how beautifully he's typified in this bush. Now at that time,
he said to Moses, when Moses said, who am I going to tell
him sent me? He said, I am that I am. Do you know he's the only one
who can say this? Me and you, we have to say, I, when we say I am what I am, we
don't even know what we are, so we can't make that kind of
statement. We can say I used to be, I could be, I wanna be,
I was, I will be. All kinds of different ways that
language can be used, but only Jesus Christ can be called I
am that I am. He never says I was. He never
says I will be. He never says I should be. He
never says I used to be. He never says I could be. He
is always the eternal I am that I am. And the Lord says in John
chapter eight, verse 24, if you believe not that I am, you'll
die in your sins. If you believe not that I am
the one who appeared to Moses, in the bush that burned and could
not be consumed. You will die in your sins. I
am that I am. Several things he says in John
chapter eight. Look in verse 56. Your father, Abraham, rejoiced
to see my day. And I feel quite sure he's talking
about what took place in Genesis 22, when a substitute ram was
provided for his son. You reckon Abraham rejoiced?
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it,
was glad. Then said the Jews unto him,
Thou art not yet 50 years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham
was, I am. Look back in verse 23 of John
chapter 8. Once again, I've already read
these. You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. He is other. I can't say that strong enough.
He's not of this world. In John chapter 7 verse 29, He
said, I'm from Him. Where are you from? I'm from
Him. In John chapter 10 verse 36,
He said, I am the Son of God. And remember what that means.
You remember when the Pharisees got upset that he called God
his father because they understood when he said that in John chapter
five, verse 18, he was making himself equal with God. And the only way you can be equal
with God is to be God. There is no other way. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead. All the infinite, immeasurable,
incomprehensible fullness of the God of glory all dwells in
the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. That body that was nailed to
a cross, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him. In John chapter 4 verse 26, that
poor old woman at the well, she was confused. That's all you could say. She
was confused. And she said, I know that when Messiah cometh, who
is Christ, he will tell us all things. You know what he said
to that woman? I am. I am. He's God's Christ. He's God's prophet. He's the
Word of God. He's God's priest. He's the one
who represents people like me and you to God. Oh, what a priest
he is. He's God's king. He has absolute
control. In John chapter 18, verse 4,
when they came to arrest him with a band of men, some say
in upwards of 500 people, he says to them, Whom seek ye? Jesus of Nazareth. I am. And what happened? They were
driven backward to the ground. You know what the Lord is letting
them know at that time? I'm no victim in this situation.
I'm not in your hands. You're in mine. and you are my
pawns doing my bidding, performing my will." They found that out
for sure at that time when they were driven backwards. I love
to think about him getting up, he says again, I bet they were scared this time.
They were probably pretty brazen and bold the first time. We're
looking for Jesus of Nazareth. Now, I think their tone was different. Jesus of Nazareth. I am. Let these go their way. And they were all set free. In John chapter 18, verse 34,
they asked Pilate asked him, are you the king of the Jews?
And he answered, my kingdom is not of this world. Isn't that so evident? My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight? Now what he's talking about,
when he's talking about his servants, he's not simply talking about
the 12 or the 11 at this time. He's saying, the weather is waiting
to do my will. All the angelic beings are waiting
to attack. Don't you know that if that was
my will, I could call for 12 legions of angels, 12,000 angels,
and just obliterate this place if that was my will? My kingdom is not of this world.
If it were, my servants would fight that I should not be delivered
to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from hence? Pilate replies,
so you are a king. Now sayest, you said it correctly. I am king. I am. King. King of kings and Lord of lords,
he that was born king of the Jews. There's such glory in his
person as the great I am that I am. You call me master and
lord, you say, well, I am. Now I want to consider his i
a m's in light of what he is to his these are all found in
the book of john like i said as we go through john will consider
them individually but they could be as i love this scripture where
he said i a m the light in the context there was a woman
who was taken an adultery in the very act. And there wasn't
any question about her guilt. And the Pharisees, the scribes,
I guess they had this set up, I don't know, you know, they
caught her in the act and they dragged her before the Lord.
And they say, Moses said in the law that such should be stoned,
but what sayest thou? Now, this woman was guilty. Now,
let me remind you, if you haven't committed adultery physically,
you have done so in your heart a whole lot of times. A whole
lot of times. You're just as guilty as this
woman is. You know, the Lord said, whosoever looketh upon
a woman to lust after in his heart hath committed adultery
already. THE REAL THING. NOW, WHAT DOES
THE LORD DO WHEN THEY BROUGHT THIS WOMAN TO HIM, THINKING THAT
THEY HAD HIM ENTRAPPED? WE'VE GOT HIM IN A PLACE WHERE
HE'S GOING TO BE CONDEMNED. IF HE SAYS, CONDEMNER, WE CAN
SAY, WHERE IS YOUR MERCY? WHERE IS THE GRACE YOU TALK ABOUT?
IF HE SAYS, LET HER GO, WHERE IS YOUR RESPECT FOR GOD'S LAW?
WHERE IS YOUR RESPECT FOR THE COMMANDMENTS? THEY THOUGHT THEY
HAD HIM in a no-win situation. And I
love the way he stooped down and wrote on the ground while
they were talking. Aren't you listening to us? No.
Just writing. And there's no way anybody can
know what he was writing. I realize that. This is just
speculation. I heard somebody say recently
you shouldn't speculate about it. Well, I can't help it. I
believe he was writing in those two stoops. Two times God's finger
wrote, only twice. First was the commandment, thou
shalt not commit adultery. And the only other time it's
written, thou art laid in the balances and found wanting. In Daniel chapter five when he
wrote on the wall with King Belshazzar, Somebody suggested he was writing
names and dates. I don't know that that's the
case, but it could be. Whatever he was writing, he stood
up the second time and said, he that's without sin among you. And I have no doubt he's talking
about this sin. He that's without sin among you. cast the first stone. And you
know how they all were convicted by their own conscience. They
weren't convicted by the Holy Spirit, because if they were,
they would have come to him for mercy. You know, he always gives
mercy to anybody who needs it, always. But they being convicted
by their own conscience, they left him. And the woman was left
alone. And he said, woman, where are
those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? No man, Lord, neither do I. You know why? There was nothing
to condemn her for. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? There was nothing to condemn
her for. Christ put that sin away, and he is the light as
to have God cannot condemn me because I have no guilt. I stand before God, and this
is true of every one of God's people without exception, I stand
before God absolutely just, holy, righteous, and without sin. Christ is the light as to how
that can be. In John chapter 14, verse 6,
he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. I bet you already
have that memorized. I am the way, the truth, the
life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. And I love the way, he says,
I am the way. He doesn't say I am a way. HE
IS THE WAY THAT UTTERLY EXCLUDES ALL OTHER WAYS. HE IS THE WAY TO GOD. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. HE IS
THE TRUTH. HE IS THE TRUTH CONCERNING THE
VERY CHARACTER OF GOD. HE IS THE TRUTH CONCERNING, IF
YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE, Don't look at yourself, look
at Him and you'll be able to figure it out if you ever see
who He is. The reason people have high opinions
of themselves is only this, they have no idea who Jesus Christ
really is. If you know who He is, you won't
have this high, cocky, arrogant opinion of yourself. You'll know
you're nothing but sin in and of yourself if you know who He
is. You see, He's the truth. He's the truth of God's salvation. He is God's salvation. He is
the truth. You know, with regard to the
truth, this is an amazing thing. I couldn't say the truth if my
life depended on it. I mean unvarnished truth. I mean
absolute truth. I couldn't say the truth if my
life depended on it. I'd always slant it in some way.
Even if I'm quoting scripture, something's wrong with me. He is. He is the life. He's the only
life God accepts. The only way God can accept me
or you, or will accept me or you, is if the life of Jesus
Christ is our life before God. I am the way, I am the truth,
I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. And here's another one in John.
I love this, John chapter 10, verse nine, I'm the door. Now, by me, if any man enter
in, he shall be saved. Now, listen to this with regard
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's an open door for every sinner. and he's a closed door for everybody
else. It is that simple. He's an open door. Come on in. You're welcome. I don't care
how bad you are. I don't care how evil you are.
I don't care what you've done. He's an open door for every sinner,
and he's a closed door for everybody else. Now, what's a door do? Let you in. What's a door do? Keeps you in. What the door do? It opens to freedom. It opens
to liberty. What a glorious picture Christ
the door. He said, I am the door. And then in John chapter 10,
verse 11, he said, I am the good shepherd. I'm that shepherd that
David was speaking of when he said, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want." He is who
Peter called the chief shepherd. He's who the writer to the Hebrews
called that great shepherd of the sheep. And he said, the good
shepherd, the good shepherd. There's only one good shepherd
in there. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep. You're included in that if you're
a sheep. You're included in that if you're a sinner. I can see
myself as a sinner easier than I can a sheep. He laid down his life for the
sheep. And the thing is, if he laid
down his life for you, my friend, you're saved. Your sins have
been put away. His death blotted out your sins. You stand before God without
guilt. You stand before God perfect.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. You see,
there's something about the death of Christ that is so altogether
glorious. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. This is not some mere man. This
is not like me dying or you dying. This is the God-man dying. And
that's, to me, that's just something I believe. The God-man died.
How could that be? I don't know, but he did. And
I know what he accomplished by his death. He put away the sins
of his people as the good shepherd of the sheep. In John chapter 11, verse 25,
the Lord was speaking to Martha, and He said, Thy brother shall
rise again. Remember how Lazarus had died?
He'd been in the grave four days. He'd already gone through the
process of decay where he began to stink. And the Lord said,
thy brother shall rise again. Martha said, well, I know he'll
rise on the last day. She'd been taught with regard to the resurrection. She had her doctrine straight
on the resurrection. When the last day comes and Christ
comes back, the dead in Christ shall rise. All men will rise.
All men will stand before God in judgment. The sheep will be
saved. The goats will be lost. I've
got that down as to what's gonna take place. I do too. I understand that. One of these
days, the dead are gonna raise. I mean, people that are nothing
but dust, their bodies are gonna come back. The sea's gonna give
up her dead. The dead will be raised. And
the Lord said, I am the resurrection. The resurrection's not an event. I am the resurrection. When I'm raised from the dead,
all of my people are raised from the dead. Now, that physical
resurrection will take place, but that doesn't take away from
this. I am the resurrection. He that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Jesus Christ is the
resurrection. I'm looking forward to that time
when my dead body is raised up, but my spiritual body has already
been raised up, and I'm in heaven right now in the person of my
Savior. That's why I love to I'd like
for somebody to say are you sure for heaven? I'm already there
I'm already there in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ John
chapter 15 verse 1 He said I am divine There's an I am I am the
vine and you are the branches. Now, I've been trying to think
about this. This is the closest possible
illustration of what union with Christ actually is. Now I've
said before, the closest relationship there can be is a baby in the
mother's womb. But you know what? There's a
closer relationship. That is very close, there's no
doubt about it. You think of how dependent that baby in the
womb is on its mother for everything. What a close relationship. But
this is closer. The same stem that goes through
the vine, goes through the branches. There's no connecting point.
The same stem that goes through the vine, goes through the branches. Now this is a great mystery,
but both he that sanctifies, Hebrews 2.11, Both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. Do you know God's elect have
always been perfectly united to Jesus Christ? Always. There's never been a time when
I have not been united to him. one with Him. To this extent,
1 John chapter 4 verse 17 says, as He is. Now you just take that
however you want. As He is. perfect to the Father,
eternally with the Father, as He is, holy, unblameable, and
unreprovable, as He is, altogether lovely, whatever you want to
say He is, as He is, so are we in this world. I am divine. That means I have always been
a person to Him. I might have been born physically
on September 9th, 1959, but I have always been in Him eternally. Logically, obviously, He came
first, but I've always been in Him, and I've always been accepted
in the Beloved. Oh, he said, I am the vine, you
are the branches. Look in John six for just a moment,
verse 35. Jesus said unto them, I am the
bread of life. that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." Now,
what you eat becomes part of you, doesn't it? What you eat
becomes part of you. And I think that has something
to do with the great mystery of Christ in you, the hope of
glory. He says, I am the bread of life. Well, how do I eat this bread
of life? He said, I'm the bread of life.
Well, he gives two very simple illustrations in this verse. He says, him that cometh to me
shall never hunger. And he that believeth in me shall
never thirst. Now, what is it to eat the bread
of life? Well, it's to come to him. It's
to come to him. And coming to Christ, is what
every believer does, just the way that leper came to him. Preached
on that just a few weeks ago. Preached on it last night in
Danville, actually, that leper coming to him. How did he come? He came and worshiped him, saying,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Now, that's what folks
who come to Christ do. They come into His presence worshiping
Him for who He is. Now, what that means is when
you worship Him, if He doesn't give you what you want, He's
still worthy of worship because of who He is. And you haven't
come to Him if you haven't come just like that. He is to be worshiped,
whatever He does with me. If He sends me to hell, He's
still worthy of all worship. He came and worshiped him saying,
Lord, he acknowledged, he's the Lord. If you will, he acknowledged
his sovereign will. If you will, not I will, but
if you will, you can, you have the ability to make me clean. I'm filthy, I can't make myself
clean. Make me clean if you will. He
didn't say anything else after that. He just waited for what the Lord
said. And the Lord said, I will. And he says that to everyone
who comes like that. I will be thou clean. And just to make sure we understand
what it means to come to Christ, he says, he that believeth on
me. He that believes who I am and
rests the entire weight of their salvation on who I am and my
ability to do what I said I'd do. He that believeth on me. If you ever come to Christ and
believe on Christ, you will not be thirsting or hungering for
anything else. Somebody says, there's gotta
be something else. You just haven't come to Him in the first place,
because if you've ever come to Him in the first place, you don't
want anything else. You simply want to be found in
Him. He is the bread of life. And then in John, this is the
last one we'll look at, John chapter six. Verse 19, or verse 18. And the
sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew. That's going to happen a lot. So when they had rowed about
five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the
sea and drawing nigh unto the ship, and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, I am. I know it says it is I in the
King James, but it's the same I am. I am. I am good. I am always good. I am holy. I am all powerful. I am all knowing. I'm everywhere. You can't go
anywhere I'm not. I am sovereign. I'm in control of everybody and
everything. My will is always done. I am
just. I am immutable. I never change. I am independent. I am eternal. I am infinite. I am all wise. I am merciful. That's his nature. I am gracious. I am love. Be not afraid. I am. Be not afraid. Now this one who is I am, the
God of glory, is the Savior who says, him that cometh to me,
I will, in no wise, for no reason whatsoever, cast off. What a glorious Savior. I am that I am. And I hope we can know him more
and more as such by his grace. Let's pray together. Lord, we bow before thee as the
great I am. We're so thankful that your son
is the good shepherd, that he's the door, that he's the vine
and we're the branches, that he is the resurrection and the
life. We're so thankful for his salvation. Lord, we're so thankful for the
revelation of your person. We're so thankful for the gospel
of your glory. Accept our thanksgiving through
the great I am. Lord, what a blessed, glorious
thing by your grace to know you, the great I am that I am. And Lord, we confess the only
reason we know you is because you've been pleased to reveal
yourself to us. And we thank you for the revelation
of your person, the revelation of your grace. In Christ's blessed
name we pray, amen.