I Am He

Q: What does the Bible say about truth setting us free?

The Bible states that knowing the truth, which is found in Christ, will set you free (John 8:32). In John 8, Jesus declares to His listeners, 'You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' This asserts the essentiality of understanding truth as a person—Jesus Himself—rather than merely a set of doctrines or moral standards. The freedom spoken of here is liberation from the bondage of sin, guilt, and condemnation, which the law brings upon us. This freedom is attained by a relationship with Christ, who embodies truth.

Q: How do we know that Jesus is the truth?

Jesus explicitly states, 'I am the truth,' conveying His divine identity and authority (John 14:6). In the Gospel of John, Jesus reveals that He is the embodiment of truth. When He claims, 'I am the truth,' He identifies Himself not just as a teacher of truth but as the very essence of truth itself. This declaration assures us that understanding and knowing Jesus is paramount for spiritual enlightenment. By recognizing Jesus as both God and man—the messenger from Heaven—we come to understand that all truth and revelation about God comes through Him. His life, death, and resurrection further validate this truth as they fulfill the prophetic statements of the Old Testament.

Q: Why is believing in Jesus necessary for salvation?

Believing in Jesus is essential for salvation because He is the only mediator through whom we have access to God (Acts 4:12). In John 8, Jesus mentions that without belief in Him as the 'I am,' individuals will die in their sins. This underscores the necessity of faith in Christ as the sole mediator between God and humanity. The Bible affirms that salvation is found exclusively in Jesus, who provides the righteousness necessary to stand before a holy God. Jesus' sacrificial death on the Cross embodies God's redemptive plan, making it possible for sinners to be reconciled to Him. Therefore, to reject or ignore the redemptive work of Christ is to remain in sin and separation from God.

Q: What does it mean to know the truth in a biblical sense?

Knowing the truth biblically means having a personal relationship with Jesus, who is the truth (John 8:32). Biblical knowledge of the truth goes beyond mere intellectual understanding; it involves a deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In John 8:32, Jesus emphasizes that knowing the truth results in true freedom, indicating that this knowledge is transformative. The truth is not merely a concept or a doctrine but a living person—Christ Himself. True knowledge of the truth reflects on a believer's life, leading to repentance, faith, and a new way of living that is aligned with God’s will. This relational knowledge is what permits believers to experience genuine liberty from sin and its consequences.

Q: What is the significance of Jesus saying 'I am'?

'I am' signifies Jesus' divine identity, linking Him to God's revelation to Moses (Exodus 3:14). The phrase 'I am' that Jesus frequently uses is loaded with significance, connecting Him directly to the divine name revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14. In this context, Jesus asserts His equality with God and His authority as the one who can reveal God to humanity. The use of this phrase emphasizes that He is not just a representative or messenger but God incarnate. This profound claim confronts both the religious leaders and the world with the truth of who He is. Accepting this truth about Christ is pivotal for salvation and understanding the fullness of God’s character and purpose.

I would like very much for you
to get your Bibles today and follow along with me as I bring
this message to you. I'm going to be speaking from
the eighth chapter of John. Now, I think it would be very,
very beneficial if you'd get a Bible and just sit down there
by the television and listen prayerfully and carefully to
this message. Someone came up to me this morning,
a friend of mine, and he said, do you know why the Bereans were
called more noble than the folks from Thessalonica? And I said,
yeah, I know. Do you know? He said, yeah. He
said, they received the Word and searched the Scriptures to
see if these things be so. And that's what I want you to
do today. I want you to receive this message, and I want you
to search these scriptures to see if these things be so. Would
you do that? John the 8th chapter. Now, I've
got a very familiar text. You've read it, you've heard
it probably many, many times. You may have even quoted it.
Here it is in John chapter 8. When you open your Bible to this
place in the scripture, John 8, stay there because I'm coming
back. I'm going to make some comments
and then we're going to go verse by verse and listen to what our
Lord had to say here. In John 8, 32, the scripture
says, and the Lord Jesus is speaking, and you shall know the truth
and the truth shall make you free." Have you heard that before? Sure you have. And you shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. But you
know the thing about this passage of Scripture, nearly everyone's
heard it or read it, but not many people know where the Lord
spoke these words. It's significant where He said
this. It's also significant to whom
our Lord was speaking. And also it's very important
what He meant when He said the truth. You'll know the truth
and the truth shall make you free. Now, I tell our people
at the 13th Street Baptist Church, it's so important when you're
reading the scripture, find out who's speaking and find out to
whom they're speaking. and try to find out the subject,
and then it'll open up more effectively to you. Now, our Lord Jesus is
speaking here. Now, where did He say these words?
You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Well, back here in verse 20, it says, These words spake Jesus
in the treasury as He taught in the temple. Our Lord was speaking
in the most hallowed, sacred, religious place in the world. He was in the temple at Jerusalem. That's where He said this, in
the temple in Jerusalem. He was telling these people there
in this most sacred, hallowed place, if you ever learn the
truth, if you ever know the truth, It'll set you free. And do you
know to whom He's speaking? Well, He's speaking to the Jews.
That's what it says here. He was speaking to these Jewish
leaders. Now, these were men who revered
Moses. They revered Moses. They said,
We have Moses. Abraham's our father. These were
men who revered Abraham. And these were men also who defended
the law. They studied the law. They taught
the law. They knew the law. They defended
the law. They tried to, according to their
own testimony, live by the law. And these were men also who were
very moral men, very religious men. One of them said in the
temple, he said, I'm not an adulterer. I'm not an extortioner. He said,
I tithe. I fast twice a week. I give alms
to the poor. These were very devout dedicated,
moral, really legalistic men. These were men who studied the
Scriptures. And it was to these men our Lord said, if you ever
learn the truth, know the truth, it will set you free. You see,
my friends, the truth is not a form of worship. They had that. They had an age-old form of worship. given them by Moses, a typical
form, a form of pattern and picture. But they had the form. They had
the form. That's what the woman of Samaria
said. You Jews say that Jerusalem is a place to worship and that's
where the temple was and that's where they worship. They had
the form. But truth is not the right form, correct though it
may be. And then truth is not a system
of doctrine. These men had a doctrine. You
can have a system of doctrine and it can be, to a large extent,
correct and not know the truth. And the truth is not a law of
morality and behavior. Saul of Tarsus had the law. He said, concerning the law,
I was blameless, blameless. But he didn't know God, didn't
have salvation. You see, the truth is a person. Christ said, I am the truth. He didn't say, I teach the truth,
though He did, or I point you to the truth. I am the truth. The truth is a person. It's not
a form of worship. It's not a system of doctrine.
It's not a law of morality and behavior. It is a person. And
to know this person is to know the truth. And ye shall know
the truth. and the truth shall set you free.
Christ is the truth. Jesus Christ himself is the truth. And to believe this person is
to believe the truth. And to walk with this person
is to walk in the truth. And so he said if you know the
truth, truth will set you free. Now I want you to look with me
at this message. We'll take it up from where he
spoke to these men. They, uh, when he said, I go
my way and you seek me and you shall die in your sins and whether
I go, you cannot come. And they began to ask questions.
Will he kill himself? Because he said, whether I go,
you cannot come. And then he spoke to them about
the truth, but there's a key word in this message. I must
give it to you. There's a key word and it is
the word or words. I am, I am. It's used five times in these
verses from 23 to 32, five times. Our Lord said, I am, I am. Now, where'd that come from?
Well, over in Exodus chapter 3, don't turn, let me just talk
about it for a few moments. In Exodus chapter 3, the Lord
had appeared to Moses in the burning bush, the bush that burned
and was not consumed, the Lord appeared to Moses. and told Moses
that he was to go down into Egypt where the children of Israel
had been for 400 years in captivity and slavery and bondage and lead
my people out. Go down and lead them out of
Egypt. Lead them to a land I'll show you. Deliver them from bondage. 400 years. They went down there,
70 of them. Now there were 2 or 3 million.
Some people say more. But Moses said, Who am I that
I should go down and lead these people out of Egypt. I'm one
man. And besides, when I go to them,
when I go to them, Lord, and I tell them that you sent me,
they're going to ask me, what's his name? When I tell them the
God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
the God who created the world, the God of all things, the omnipotent
living God of heaven and earth, he sent me to set you free. And they're going to say, what's
his name? What shall I tell them? Now listen,
it is capitalized in most translations of the Bible, and God said, tell
them, I am sent you. I am that I am. That's my name. I am. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ,
in this message, when He spoke to these men in the temple, these
people who revered Moses and taught the law and knew the scriptures
and thought they knew the truth, thought they knew the truth,
these men to whom He said, if you know the truth, it'll set
you free. He uses that phrase, I am, five times. Now, look at
verse 23. And He said to them, You are
from beneath. I'm from above. You're of this
world. I'm not of this world. You know
what he's saying? Truth is from heaven. If a man
knows the truth, walks in the truth, loves the truth, it'll
come to him from God, and it'll come by revelation. Truth is
from heaven. If you're looking for the truth,
don't look for it on this earth. and don't look for it from the
men of this earth. I care not how intelligent they
are, how intellectual, how educated, how wise in natural things they
are. They do not know the truth. You
see, you can get the best minds of the world together from all
walks of life, the very best minds. And wow, they'll be very
sharp and very keen and very wise in natural things. In spiritual
things, they know nothing. You see, no man has seen God
at any time. No man knoweth the Father, but
the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. You see, your
sins, my sins, have separated us from God, and God dwells in
a light to which no man can approach. And Job said this, Can you, by
searching, find out God? Can you find out the Almighty
unto perfection? What's higher than the heavens?
What can you do? It's deeper than hell. What can
you know? This is what our Lord is saying. You're from beneath.
I'm from above. You're of this world. I'm not
of this world. If we're going to find out anything
about God, anything about spiritual matters, don't look for it in
this world or from among men. Let God be true in every man
alive. Let me show you what Paul said
over here. in Romans chapter 11, he said, Oh, the depths of
the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how
unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. That's what I'm saying. That's
what our Lord said right here. He said, if you're ever going
to learn the truth, if you're ever going to know the truth,
it won't be from you. or anybody kin to you, or anybody
like you. You're a symbol of whomever.
I'm from above. You're from beneath. You're from
the earth. I'm from heaven. So if we know
the truth, we're going to have to learn it from God. He dwells
in a light to which no man can approach. Look at the next verse.
I said therefore unto you, because you're from beneath, because
you're of this world, And because I'm from above, my father sent
me. I and my father are one. And because I am from above and
God sent me, I said therefore unto you that you'll die in your
sins if you believe not that I am. Now, you notice, do you
have your Bible? This is one of the reasons I
wanted you to get your Bible. The word he is in italics. Somebody
said one time, well, the reason they put that in italics is because
it's important. The reason they put it in italics
is because it's not in the original. It's supplied by the translators
hoping to help us, but in this case, it doesn't help. Christ
said, if you believe not that I am. When Moses asked the Lord,
what's your name? What'd he say? I am. I am that
I am. And Jesus Christ here talking
about himself. He says, I am. I'm God's messenger. You know, it says over here in
Hebrews 1, God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake
to our fathers by the prophets, he hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom he made the worlds, who, being the brightness of his glory
and the exact image of his person, and upholdeth all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of God, Who is Jesus Christ? I am. He's God. And He said, if you
don't believe that I am. You see, I'm the only messenger. God spake to our fathers back
yonder by the prophets. But in these last days, He has
spoken by His Son. God has come incarnate in human
flesh. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. And if you don't hear me, and
don't receive me, and don't believe me, that I am, you're going to
die in your sins. You're going to remain in your
blindness. You're going to remain in your ignorance. You're going
to remain in your darkness if you don't believe that I am,
that I'm God. I'm the only messenger. Deuteronomy
18, Moses said, The Lord will raise up a prophet like unto
myself from the midst of you, him you shall hear. And God said,
if men don't hear Him, I'll require it of them. I am. See that? I am from above. I am from heaven. Therefore,
if you don't believe that I am, you've got no messenger. You've
got no one to reveal God to you. You've got no one to tell you
the truth. You've got no way to know the
truth. And you'll die in your darkness. And in your sin, and
in your blindness. Verse 25, now watch this. His words stunned them. And I
understand why they're stunned. Here stood a man. Oh, they said,
we know his mother. We know his brothers and sisters,
Judy, Josie. He's the carpenter. He's from
Nazareth. And he was a man. He's the God man. God incarnate
in human flesh. Mystery of mysteries. Mystery
of God. But here he stands, and he said,
I am. They knew what that meant. They were familiar with Moses.
And they said, well, who are you? Who are you? They were disturbed. They were frustrated. And listen
to what he said. They said, who are you? And Jesus
said to them, even the same I said to you from the beginning. I
told you, I am the light of the world. I am the bread of life. I am the water of life. I am
the door. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh to the Father but by Me. I am." These
were strong words, strong words. And your doubts and your debates
and your discussions are not going to change that fact. Even
from the beginning, I said unto you, I am. You know, John wrote, In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word
was God, and all things were made by Him. I'm from above. And then He said, The Word was
made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Philip said, Show us the Father.
He said, You've seen me, you've seen the Father. Believest thou
not that I'm in the Father, and the Father in me? I am the Father
One. Christ is the everlasting father,
he's wonderful counselor, prince of peace, the mighty God. God
was in Christ reconciling the world under himself. The angel
said to Joseph, call his name Jesus, which is being interpreted
Immanuel. You believe this, God with us. But I'll tell you, he said, if
you don't believe it, you've got no messenger. You've got
no messenger. You've got no truth. I'm the
truth. Now, he said in that next verse,
verse 26, I've got many things to say. Oh, many, many more things. Many things to say to judge of
you. What he's saying there is this.
I have many other things to say about you that will judge you
because like in John 5, he said, I know you. I know you. You have not the love of God
in you. You seek not the honor that comes from God only. Let
another come in his own name, and him you will receive. I come
in my Father's name, you receive me not." I know you. You claim
to believe Moses. You don't believe Moses. Moses
wrote of me. I know you. I've got a lot of
things yet to say about you. And it says here, and he that
sent me is true. What I say is truth. I am true.
And I speak the words. I speak to the world those words
which I've heard of him. They understood not. that he
spake to them of the Father. Now watch verse twenty-eight.
This is so important right here. But he said, verse twenty-eight, When you have lifted up the Son
of Man, then shall you know that I am. When you have lifted Him up,
he said on another occasion, as Moses lifted up the serpent,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up What's he talking about? He said, when you've lifted up
the Son of Man, you're going to know that I am. I am He. He's talking here about His crucifixion,
talking about the death that He would die. You see, His crucifixion
and His resurrection and His exaltation was accompanied and
followed by such manifestation of divine truth that many of
these people listening here were convinced He is the Messiah. Like the centurion at the foot
of the cross, surely this man was the Son of God. And I'm sure
many of these people standing here listening to Him right here
were redeemed and saved at Pentecost. And it says in a moment, many
of them believed. But He said, when you lifted me up, You see,
there have been many messiahs coming to the world, many reformers,
many religious leaders, but only one, and all of them have died,
but only one arose, only one, Christ. Only one ascended to
the Father where he is seated at God's right hand. He said,
when you've crucified me, when you've lifted me up, then you'll
know I'm He. I'm He of whom Moses wrote. I'm
He. whose day Abraham saw. I am He. I'm the fulfillment of every
prophecy, every promise, every pattern, every type in the Old
Testament Scriptures. I am the Passover lamb. I am
the brazen serpent. I am the rock that followed them.
I am the mercy seat. I am the great high priest. I
am the priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. When you've
lifted me up, when all this Scripture has been fulfilled, and you see
the Son of Man on a cross, in a tomb, risen from that tomb,
and ascended to glory, then shall you know I am, and that I do
nothing of myself." He speaks here as a representative man.
But as my Father taught me, I speak these things. And He that sent
me is with me. I fulfill, carry out His purpose.
I didn't come to do my will. The words that I speak are His
words, and I come to do His will. I always do those things that
please my father. Now watch this next verse, verse
30. And as he spake these words, many believed on him. As he spake
these words, many believed on him. Oh, the power of the word
of God. It may be as I'm speaking these
words. It doesn't matter. They may have heard him when
he walked this earth in the flesh. They may have heard his disciples
They may have heard the Reformers. They may have heard men in the
past years that preached the gospel. You may hear me. But
if it's His gospel and the gospel concerning His Son, the very
Word of God is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel is
the power of God unto salvation. It's the Word of life and it
gives life. My Word, He said, will not return
unto me void. James 1.18 says, of his own will
begat he us with the word of truth. You're born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed, the word of God. Romans
10.17 says, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
So as he spake, oh, the power of his gospel, the power of his
word that goes past these ears into the heart and regenerates
by God's spirit. As he spake these words, many
believed on him. And then he said, listen, look
at this big little word. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are
you my disciples indeed. Not just in profession, but indeed. If you persevere, if you continue
in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. Not in form, indeed. You see, true faith, true faith
is a living experience. It's a vital living relationship
with Christ. And true faith, if a man has
true faith, it throbs in his pulse. True faith looks out of
his eyes. True faith lights up his countenance.
True faith softens his touch. True faith mellows his voice.
True faith bows his head. True faith will bend his knee.
True faith will open his hand. True faith will curb his tongue.
True faith will humble his heart. True faith will alter his steps.
True faith will give him a hearing ear, a forgiving spirit, and
a peace of conscience. That's true faith. If you continue
in my word, then are you really my disciples, and you'll know
the truth, and the truth will make you free. You'll know Him.
What is this free business He's talking about? Well, He's talking
about freedom from the curse and condemnation of the law.
Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things written in
the book of the law to do them. Judgment, condemnation, but in
Christ through His righteousness and blood, you're free from the
curse and condemnation of the law. There's no condemnation
of them in Christ. Free from religious tradition
and form that has so many people bowed down in duty, duty, duty. Fear. Free from legalism. Free from the veneer of self-righteousness. Free from worry and fear. Free
from judgment and condemnation. Free in Christ. free in Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. And they walk not after the flesh,
they walk after the Spirit. They're in Him. The truth, you
shall know the truth. I am the truth. And the truth will make you free. Now you want this message, it's
entitled, I Am. I am. You write for it. Send $2. We'll mail you the tape
as soon as possible. And there'll also be another
message on the other side. Till next week, God bless you.

I Am He

What does the Bible say about truth setting us free?

How do we know that Jesus is the truth?

Why is believing in Jesus necessary for salvation?

What does it mean to know the truth in a biblical sense?

What is the significance of Jesus saying 'I am'?

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About Henry Mahan

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I Am He

What does the Bible say about truth setting us free?

How do we know that Jesus is the truth?

Why is believing in Jesus necessary for salvation?

What does it mean to know the truth in a biblical sense?

What is the significance of Jesus saying 'I am'?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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