Would you turn to Exodus chapter
three? I feel somewhat overwhelmed with
the subject for this evening. There's not a man or an angel. that could deal competently with
the subject before us. Now, I believe you'll see why
I say that when I read our text. Let's read verses 13 and 14 of
Exodus chapter three. And Moses said unto God. Behold. When I come into 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's
his name? What shall I say to 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. Has sent me. Unto you. Now, I've never heard a sermon
on this passage of scripture. I looked everywhere I could find. I'm sure there's been sermons
preached on it, but I don't remember hearing one. I looked in the
different commentators to see what they had to say. This is
such a. vast, infinite subject. It just absolutely, for lack
of a better word, it blows me away to think about this. I am
that I am. What's your name? I am. Now, who's thinking? Look in verse 14, and God said
unto Moses, I am that I am. The Hebrew word is Elohim. It's the plural of God. That's mysterious to me, but
you know that it has some reference to the Trinity. God speaks in
the plural, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
So if we said it was God the Father speaking, we'd be correct,
wouldn't we? If we said it was God the Son speaking, we would
be correct. If we said it was God the Holy
Spirit speaking, we would be correct. This is God in all three
persons of the blessed Trinity speaking. But look in Exodus
chapter 3 verse 2. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the
bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Now, you
know as well as I do that that is the Lord Jesus Christ, that
One who had the flame of God's wrath come down upon Him, but
it could not consume Him. As a matter of fact, He consumed
it to where there was no wrath left. That's the glory of the
one who's being spoken of. So we know the one who's speaking
specifically is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ the
Lord who says to Moses, when Moses says, what am I going to
say your name is? It is Jesus Christ who says,
I am that I am. Tell them that I am. Has sympathy
now throughout the New Testament, Christ is the great I am turn
with me to John chapter 8. Hold your finger there in Exodus
3. We're going to be coming back to it. John chapter 8. Verse 24. John chapter 8 verse 24, I said,
therefore, unto you. That you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I
am, you'll notice that he is in italics, it was put there
by the translators and it's really not something that should be
there. He's not saying if you believe not that I am he, he's
saying if you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins. Now this is how important this
is. I've got to have some understanding
Because if I do not believe that He is, I'll die in my sins. Now, that gives us some idea
of how important this subject is. Chuck was reading from John
1, In the beginning was the Word. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning
of God. In the beginning, He already
was. But he didn't begin to be in
the beginning. In the beginning, he already
was. Look in John chapter 8, verse
58. Well, let's look in verse 56. Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews
unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen
Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I am. And you can be sure they
knew exactly what he was talking about, because the next verse
says, Then took they up stones to cast at him. They knew he's
saying, I am that one. I am that I am. Look over in
John, Chapter 18. 3. Judas then, having received a
band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees,
cometh thither with lanterns, and torches, and weapons. 4.
Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon
him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? 5. They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth.
6. Jesus saith unto them, I am. You'll notice once again
that he is in italics. It was put there by the translators.
It really shouldn't be there. I am. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them, and as soon then, as he had said unto
them, I am, they went backward and fell to the ground. Look over in Revelation chapter
1. Verse 4, 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. That is the great I Am. I am that I am. Now, there's such power in this.
You know, he's the only one that can say this. He doesn't say,
I was. He does not say, I will be, want
to be, could be, should be, ought to be, nothing like that. I am
that I am. Now, a belief of this, some understanding
of this is necessary in saving faith. Let me give you a scripture
that backs that up. Hebrews 11, verse 6 says, He
that cometh to God, and that's what I want to do, don't you?
I want to come to God, whatever that means. He that cometh to
God must believe that he is. Not simply that he exists, but
that he is. In coming to God, I believe that
He is. I believe in His is-ness. I believe
He is as He says He is in His Word. I believe He is. That's a whole lot more than
just believing in God and believing He exists. I believe He is as
He says He is in His Word. Now, we do not manufacture a
God or make an idol that we believe in. We believe He is, and His
isness, who He is, as He's revealed in His Word, and I find this
so comforting. His isness, who He is, is not in any way dependent
upon what you and me think about Him. I may perceive Him this way,
you may perceive Him that way, but you know that doesn't have
any bearing on who He is, does it? He is as He says He is. I am that I am. When the Lord taught us to pray, what is the first thing that
He taught us to pray? We just heard it tonight. Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy Name. name. What's his name? I am that I am. The name of God speaks of his
attributes, his characteristics. I think of Lynn Neibert. There's
a particular person I think of and she has attributes. She has
characteristics. There's a person behind the name. The name of the Lord is not simply
a surname. It's who he is. His person is
known in his name. Let me show you that in scripture.
Turn to Exodus chapter 33. Verse 18. And he said, Moses speaking,
he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Now, this is an
amazing verse of Scripture, because Moses had seen some very awesome
things, hadn't he? He had seen the ten plagues. He'd seen the parting of the
Red Sea. He'd seen manna come down from heaven. He saw water
come out of that rock. I mean, he'd seen some very awesome
and majestic things. And yet when he's praying to
the Lord, he says, I haven't seen your glory. Show me what
you say is altogether glorious concerning your person. Show
me your glory. And look how the Lord answers,
verse 19. And He said, I'll make all my goodness pass before thee,
and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and
will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy
on whom I will show mercy. Now, look down in chapter 34.
Verse 5, and here the Lord begins to proclaim His name. And the
Lord descended in the cloud, Exodus 34, verse 5, and He stood
with Him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the
Lord passed by before Him and proclaimed. In proclaiming the
name of the Lord, here's what He had to say. The Lord, the
Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the
guilty. Visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children and upon the children's children
unto the third and fourth generation, and Moses made haste and bowed
his head toward the earth in worship." Don't you reckon you'd
be doing the same thing? I hope that's what we're doing
now in our hearts. As he proclaims his name, his name is who he
is, it's his characteristics, it's his attributes. Now, the
attributes of God is not a theological study. I'm scared to death to
present it like a theological study. I don't want to do that.
The attributes of God is the person behind the name. And these
attributes of God, they're not logical inferences, but they're
what the Bible actually teaches. I mean, you can use logic and
try to deduce certain things about God. He must be that. He
must be this. But what good does that do? It doesn't do a lick
of good. It doesn't do one thing. What
we want to know is what the Bible actually says concerning His
name. And these attributes of God that the Scripture gives
us are the Scriptures. That's where we get them. It's
not logic. It's not deduction. It's what
the Bible actually teaches. Truly, this is the Holy Bible. How would we know that His name
is I am that I am if the Bible didn't tell us that? You see,
we're totally dependent upon this book, this revelation from
God, this revelation of His person for us to know the living God. There's no knowledge of God apart
from this book. Do you know He's the only person
who can say, I am that I am. God is not a force. He's not
an influence. He's a person. Only a person
can say, I am. Isn't that so? Only a person
can say, I am. God is utterly unique. He says
there's none like me. You know why idolatry is forbidden?
Making an image of God. Why is it forbidden? Because
any image we came up to compare with Him would be derogatory
to His person. That's why. He says there's none
that can be compared to me. Who are you going to liken me
to? Who are you going to compare me with? He's utterly unique.
And any fleshly comparison we make, any image we make that
we think will help to explain who He is only brings down His
holy name. That's why idolatry is forbidden. He is utterly unique. He is the
only being who is simple. Absolutely pure. No mixtures. He's whole. He's not made of
parts. He's not part holy, part sovereign, part just, part gracious
and part power, 20% of each and all of them together make the
whole. That's not God at all. He is absolutely simple. He's the only being like this.
All other beings are compound and complex and that's why everybody's
so unstable. A mixture of this and a mixture
of that. Flesh here, flesh there. Only God is absolutely whole
and He's infinite. I am that I am. He is infinite
in all of His glorious attributes. There's no limitations to His
being. He's not And here's the way we think of him. This is
the way I've been guilty of thinking of him. Well, he's half merciful
and he's half gracious and the two kind of balance out each
other. No, not at all. He's absolutely merciful. That's why he must show mercy.
That's his nature. That's his character. He must
show mercy because he is merciful. He must be just at all times. He's altogether just. He must
be just because that's his character. He's just he's absolutely sovereign. He must be sovereign because
that's who he is. You see, in all of his attributes,
he's 100 percent that. You can't take him too far, can
you? In any attribute of the Lord God, he is infinite in who
he is. He says, I am that I am. I am
God. And beside me, there is none
else. I am God and there's none like
me. I love that the way the Lord
talks about himself. There's none like me. Declaring
the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I
will do all my pleasure. I am that I am. And remember,
he that cometh to God must believe. that He is. This is Jesus Christ the Lord
speaking. I'm going to name just some of
His attributes that He is, that the Bible teaches. Jesus Christ is eternal. That means He never began to
be. The same was in the beginning
before God. He never began to be, and He'll
never end. He is eternal. He said before
Abraham was, I am. Isn't that majestic? I mean,
it blows your mind. It boggles your mind to think
that He never had a beginning. He never began to be. He's always
been. That's glory. He's so majestic and awesome. He's the eternal Son of God. Jesus Christ is omnipresent.
That means He's everywhere at once. I am that I am. He's omnipresent. Now this is, this, He's confined
to a body. He's the man Christ Jesus. Right
now there's a man in glory with flesh and blood just like you
and I. Bones and hair and breathing air and whatever it is that you
do as flesh. He's a man confined to a body
with the limitations of being confined to a body and yet he's
everywhere. You know, he spoke to the Pharisees.
He said, you, the son of man, while he was talking to them
here on earth, he talked about the son of man who's in heaven. You
know, you can't go anywhere where he's not. You can't go anywhere where he
is not. He is the great I am that I am. He is the high and lofty one
who inhabits eternity. Jesus Christ is immutable. Now,
these are these are. Attributes that that are what
the theologians call I'll use the word non communicable. Non-communicable. Only he is
these things. Me and you aren't. Think how
many times. We're not talking about Jesus
Christ being immutable. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. He never changes. You know, if
he did change, it would either be for the better or for the
worse. And you know, that can't be. We read in Hebrews 13, 8
of Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. Now you think
how many times you've changed today. Think of the different
emotions you've had today, the different thoughts and the ups
and the downs and the ins and the outs. You and I have changed
so many times. We're so unstable. He never changes. He's always the same. What He
was, He is. What He is, He will be. And what He will be, He already
was. And he already is. He is the
immutable one. Jesus Christ the same. I am that
I am. Jesus Christ is omniscient. That's
a big word. What's it mean? It means he knows
everything. He knows everything. He knows all things. He's never
learned anything. Isn't that amazing? He's never
received new information. He's never been surprised. All things, the Scripture says,
are naked and open with the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. He knows all. And listen to this. All of his knowledge is foreknowledge. All of his knowledge. is foreknowledge. He knows before. And the reason He knows all that
is, is because all that is, is from Him. He is omniscient. Jesus Christ is all-wise. And there's a difference between
knowledge and wisdom. They're closely related. But
there is a difference. of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the only wise God. What wisdom he demonstrates in
all of his works. His works of creation. His works
of providence governing the universe. What wisdom he shows in his work
of salvation. How he's made a way to be just
and justifier of the ungodly. He's made a way for God to remain
totally just and yet be just in saving somebody unjust like
me. in the just for the unjust. Don't you admire his wisdom?
Jesus Christ is all-wise and Jesus Christ is omnipotent. That
word means all-powerful. I love to think about the power
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love that hymn when you sing,
All hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall. Oh, the power of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, you think how His power was seen in creation. when
He, Jesus Christ, willed the universe into existence. You know, there was a time when
there was nothing but God. And all of a sudden, He just
as an act of His will, willed the universe into existence. What power He demonstrated. What
power is seen when the infinite God became an infant. What power is seen when the Word,
the infinite, eternal Word was made flesh and became a man? What power God demonstrates,
what power Jesus Christ demonstrates when all the fullness of the
Godhead is contained in a body? His power was seen when He kept
the Law. He never sinned. He never even thought of sin. The scripture says he knew no
sin. He knew no sin. You know, if you would, until
he was made sin on the cross before that, if you would have
tried to describe, he didn't know it. Nothing but holiness. Now, he was made sin as the sinner's
substitute. He was made sin in that sense,
but in his life, his holy life, he kept God's law perfectly. He never sinned. And we see his
power there, don't we? His power was seen when he was
hanging on that cross. Now, what would happen if the
wrath of God fell down upon you? What would happen? Would you
be destroyed? And that destruction would last
forever. That's why hell is eternal. You could never satisfy the wrath
of God. You could never satisfy His justice.
But on Calvary's tree, when the wrath of God fell down upon Him,
He drank the drapes completely dry so that there's nothing left.
Now, what power can do that? That He can actually put away
the wrath of God. So there's no reason now for
God to be mad at me. That thrills me. God doesn't
have a reason to be mad at me. Christ Jesus drank the dregs
of God's wrath. What power He demonstrated when
He actually made my sin to be no more. Now, what power is that? You know, they say matter. Only
God can create matter and only God could make matter to not
be. I mean, once it's here, it's
here forever. But you know, Christ Jesus made our sins to where
they're not. They're not. Covered up, but
they're still under there. And we know they're there, and
God does, but somehow, you know, He said, no, they're gone. They're
gone. Now, only what power can put
away our sins? His power was seen in raising
Himself from the dead. His power is seen in making us
to be what we're not, sons of God. His power is seen in governing
His providence. Great is the power of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ not only is powerful,
all-powerful, Jesus Christ is holy. I am that I am. He is holy. He is absolute perfection. His love is a holy love. His wrath is a holy wrath. His justice is a holy justice. Holiness is defined by this word,
Jesus Christ. He is the Holy One of Israel. There's only one Holy One, and
that is Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is utterly
just. The scripture says judgment and
justice are the habitation of thy throne. Shall not the judge
of the earth do right? You know, we read that passage
of scripture in Exodus chapter 34 when he said, I will by no
means clear the guilty. Now, did he mean that? Under no circumstances whatsoever
will I clear the guilty. If you're viewed as guilty, it's
over for you. It's over for you. He said, I'm
by no means clearly guilty. And we see the justice of God
in His holy gospel. You know, He makes it to where
we're just not guilty. Justified in God's sight. That's
the glory of the gospel. He makes a guilty sinner perfectly
just where God sees me as just. And you know, the only way God
can see me as just is this way. I am just. That's the only way. He makes us holy and unblameable
and unapprovable in His sight. He is just. You know, His wrath
and His anger and so on come from a sense of His justice.
Let me show you scripture in Exodus chapter 11. Would you
turn with me there? Not Exodus chapter 11, Psalm
11. Verse 5. Let's start in verse
4. The Lord is in His holy temple.
The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, as eyelids try
the children of men. The Lord trieth the righteous,
but the wicked. And him that loveth violence,
his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall ring
snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest. This shall
be the portion of their cup, for the righteous Lord loveth
righteousness. That's why his countenance does
always behold the upright. The Lord is utterly just, and
Jesus Christ is good. Did you notice when we were reading
in Exodus chapter 33, verse 18, where Moses said, Show me your
glory, what did he say? He said, I'll make all my goodness
to pass before you. Now, His goodness is His mercy,
His grace, His love, His long-suffering, loving kindness, the Lord's good. The Lord delights in mercy. The Lord delights in saving sinners. You know, we talk about God's
justice and His holiness and so on, and we get scared when
we think about it, but I tell you this, He's good. Do you know
He delights in saving guilty sinners for Christ's sake? And
that's His chief glory. He says, I'll make all my goodness
pass before you. I'll proclaim my name before
you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will
show mercy on whom I will show mercy. Do you know the Lord delights
in being gracious and merciful? That's His nature. Jesus Christ
is good. You look to Christ nailed to
the cross and how we see the goodness of God. Jesus Christ
is faithful. I am that he's faithful. He can
be utterly relied upon. He can be utterly depended upon. Jesus Christ is faithful. You
know as well as I do that I could go on and on forever talking
about who he is. I am that I am. As a matter of
fact, all of heaven will be spent learning more and more of this. I am that I am. I want to close
with this thought, and this is a glorious, glorious thing to
think about. I read somewhere where this name
of God, I am that I am, in the Hebrew, contained in this name,
in the Hebrew language, is this, I save in the manner which I save."
And if you want to know who God is, you're only going to know
who He is in His salvation. Every attribute of God is displayed
in His manner of salvation. Now, you look to Christ on the
cross, the Son of God, nailed to a tree, and you tell me what
attribute of God is not there. The cross is the whole counsel
of God, and every attribute of God, His wisdom, His justice,
His holiness, His sovereignty, His mercy, His grace, His power,
it's all manifested. All that God is, He makes known
in the cross. Who He is, is displayed in how
he saves. I save in the manner which I
save. Now what a great Savior we have. Could I say anything more true
than that? What a great Savior we have. That this great God would love me." Now, that's something I just
can't get past, truly. I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how He could love me. a sinner, condemned, unclean. But he does. And he makes me
lovely. He makes me altogether lovely. I love what Paul said. He said, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. Someone says,
well, I live by my faith. I live by His faith. I live by
the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for
me. I don't frustrate the grace of
God. If righteousness came by the law, then Christ died in
vain. Isn't that a wonderful name of
our Redeemer? He's got a lot of wonderful names.
Jesus is a wonderful name. The Christ, Son of Man, the Son
of God, the Good Shepherd. We could go on and on, but no
name is more glorious than this. I am That I... Let's pray together.