? For purpose is divine ? For
purpose is divine ? This is the faith that keeps me still ? No
matter what the test ? He lets me glory in his will ? For well
I know it is best For well I know tis best. So now the future holds no fear. God guards the work begun. Immortals are immortal here until
their ? Until their work is done ? Someday
the path he chose for me ? Will all be understood ? In heaven's
clearer light I'll see ? All things worked out for good M number 477, Ed Calvary. Years I spent in vanity and pride Knowing not my Lord was crucified. Knowing not it was for me He
died on Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace
was free. and there was multiplied to me
that my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary. By God's Word at last my sin
I learned, then I ? My guilty soul imploring turn
to Calvary ? ? Mercy there was great and grace was free ? ?
Pardon there was multiplied to me ? ? There my burdened soul
found liberty at Calvary ? ? Now I give to Jesus everything
? Now I gladly own him as my king ? Now my raptured soul can
only sing of Calvary ? Mercy there There my burdened soul found
liberty at Calvary. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
flag. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. ? Spent at Calvary ? Mercy there
was great and grace was free ? Pardon there was multiplied
to me ? Then my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary If you have your Bibles, turn
to Exodus chapter 3. I'm going to read verses 11 through 15.
The title of my message is, I Am That I Am. After the Lord has commissioned
Moses to go and deliver the children out of Egypt, Moses said unto
God, Who am I that I should go into Pharaoh and that I should
bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt. And God said, Certainly
I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee, that
I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth
the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children
of Israel, and say unto them, The God of your fathers hath
sent me unto you, and they say unto me, What is his name? What
shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I am that
I am. And he said, thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am has sent thee unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses,
thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord
God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob has sent me unto you. This is my name. for ever and this is my memorial
unto all generations. Let us pray. Our Father, we bless you and thank you for
your word. It is a wonder to us. It speaks
to our minds and our hearts and causes us to rejoice and to worship
in places like this where we are astonished and bowed down
into the dust, knowing that language is such that no human being with
a finite mind can ever really plumb the depths of it. But we are thankful that you've
given us a heart and a desire for it. And where we are astounded
and in awe, we worship. Where you give us understanding,
we rejoice. Help us, Lord, to worship you
tonight. as we consider the greatness of the things that are set before
us. Pray for those who are sick, those who have lost loved ones.
Pray for the Crow family, the loss of Mark. Pray also for Dean
Parks as he's going to the hospital there in New York to look at
this cancer. We know, Lord, that you can heal
him if you're so pleased. We have seen you heal your children. We know that it's not too hard
for you. You made us. We're fearfully
and wonderfully made. This thing that has come upon
our brother is not by accident. We know it's from your hand.
And we know that it's for his good and for your glory for our
good. We know also that our desire of our heart is that our brother
be around a little longer. We love him. While we pray for
the others who requested prayer, we ask, Lord, your help for them.
Minister to them as only you can. Fix hearts and minds upon
Jesus Christ and not the things of this world. Help us tonight
as we gather here together. Bless this group with a hunger
and thirst for righteousness. Bless us with the knowledge of
who you are and what we are. and draw us to Christ. We pray
in Christ's name, Amen. Now this passage that I just
read to you is a continuation of the dialogue between God and
Moses after the Lord had commissioned Moses to bring forth the children
of God out of Egypt. Now to thought of such a thing,
Moses sees his own weakness and his own frailty and his lack
of position to be a sure hindrance to him shouldering the task that
God has given him. He was a shepherd. He had no
reputation in Egypt, knew not the Pharaoh, and had vacated
Egypt on less than favorable terms. His response is found
in verse 11. He said, Who am I? Who am I to
do this? Why are you asking me to do this?
This is the response of every one of the servants of God who
have all received the commission to go into all the world and
preach the gospel. Paul considered himself less than the least of
saints, considered himself to be the chief of sinners, and
was floored by the fact that he was appointed to preach the
unsearchable riches of Christ. Considering the monumental scope
of that appointment and the guaranteed result of it, in 2 Corinthians,
Chapter 2, he wrote, Who is sufficient for these things? What man can
handle this in fact Paul's language almost mirrors the language of
Moses when he talked about preachers he said this in first corinthians
3 and verse 5 he says who then is Paul who then is Paul and
who is Apollos but ministers by whom you believe, even as
the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, and Apollos is
water, but God gave the increase. So neither is he that planteth
anything, neither he that watereth. But God is something. God is
the one who gives the increase. He is saying what Moses said,
Who am I, Lord, to bring this people out of the children of
Egypt, or the children of God out of the land of Egypt? Moses
is as much as saying I can't do this and he is correct because
he is aware of his blatant inability but it is not the man it never
has been it is the message and the authority that backs up that
message before the Lord sent his disciples into the world
to preach the gospel he undergirded the command of his words by beginning
the saying all authority is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye, therefore, and preach
the gospel to every creature." Man is powerless. Preachers are
powerless, but the gospel is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes. Man knows his efforts are fraught
with failure, but the Lord's Word will never return unto him
void. So Moses was most reasonable
to question and doubt his own capacity to do what he had been
sent to do, but the result has never been up to him. He's just
the messenger. He's just the messenger. Power
belongs to the Lord, which is what the Lord said. The Lord
said in verse 12, Certainly I will be with thee. and this shall
be a token unto thee that I have sent thee when thou hast brought
forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this
mountain." Now that language is full of certainty. It is full of certainty. The
Lord tells Moses why his endeavors will meet with roaring success,
because I will be with him. And this was important to Moses.
If you look over chapter 34 of this book, Exodus, our Lord said
something to Moses and Moses said something to him in chapter
34, or rather chapter 33 and verses
14 and 15. And God said, My presence shall
go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And Moses said to
him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us up not thence. If you won't go with me, don't
take me. If you ain't going with me, don't
send me. But the Lord has promised Moses
that he will be with him in our very text here. And the language
which follows leaves no room for even a shadow of a doubt
as to the outcome of this situation. Listen to what our Lord says
and listen to the words that He uses. Certainly I will be
with thee. That is the promise. And this
shall be a token to you. So He is going to give him a
token. A token. He said it shall be. So this
token is coming. It is not here now but it is
out there. But it is coming. That is sure
language. I shall give you a token. that
I have sent thee when there you go when thou hast brought forth
the people out of Egypt when they're coming out of Egypt that's
what that means he didn't say if you bring them out There is
a possibility you might NOT bring them out. He says when you bring
them out, I am going to be with you, this is going to be the
token, when you bring them out. The token that is given is a
promise based on a sure thing. When you bring them out, when
Moses brings out the people, God says you will serve me on
this mountain. Now what mountain was he on?
He was on Horeb, which is Sinai. which is Sinai. He says, You
are going to serve Me on that mountain. What does that mean?
When you bring these people out, this is the token I am going
to give you. I am going to take you up on this mountain for forty
days and forty nights. And I am going to hang you out
tables of stone. And I am going to give you the
Ten Commandments to deliver to the people. I am going to give
you that. You are going to serve Me on
this mountain. It is where it is all going to happen. The Lord
speaks of giving the Law of Sinai. And if the Lord has promised
You can count on this. It's going to take place. If
He's promised it, that's the deal. He said that very same
thing in Isaiah chapter 46 and verses 9 through 11. He said,
Remember the former things of old, for I am God. There is none else. I am God. There is none like me. I declare
the end from the beginning. What does that mean? Before the
end is ever declared. he's already declared or excuse
me before he ever begins anything he's already declared how it's
going to end he declared the end when he started this is how
it's going to end up and it always ends up he said declare the end
from the beginning from ancient times the things which are not
yet done i've declared them that they're going to be done saying
my counsel my purpose shall stand and i will do all my pleasure
I'll call a ravenous bird from the east." And he did. He called
a ravenous bird to feed Elijah. He called a raven to feed Elijah. Brought him meat. Raven's a meat-eater,
but that raven kept that meat in his mouth and brought it to
Elijah on the mountain to feed him. I brought a man from the
east to execute my counsel from the far country. Yea, I have
spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also do it. This is the
language that God uses. You go, Moses. I'm sending you
to deliver this people. I will be with you and this is
a token I'll give you when you bring them out. Not if, but when
you bring them out, I'll meet you on this mountain. and you'll
serve me there. That's the promise of God. This
is a sure thing. But it always has been since
God gave this prophecy to Abraham back in Genesis 15. He says your
people are going to end up 430 years in slavery and I'm going
to deliver them by my great hand. I'm going to do it. And he did
just that as we'll see in our studies. And the question that
Moses asked in verse 13 is very interesting. And Moses said to
God, When I come unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall
say unto me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? He evidently is convinced by
God's promise, because He also says, When I go to them. in reference to his commission.
Since the people have cried unto the Lord in their distress, they
have surely been calling upon the Lord by some name, because
they've cried unto the Lord in their distress. So Moses asked
the Lord, when I go to the people, and they say that, when I say
that the God of your father sent me, and they ask for your name,
what shall I say? Now this next statement is very
interesting, because this is not his name. This is not his
name. He didn't say, This is my name.
He says that later in verse 15. He said, This is a wonder. It's an amazing thing. Who shall
I say, who shall I tell him sent me? And God simply says, I am
that I am. What a thing. I am that I am. I've thought about this phrase
since the first time I heard it. I don't know how long ago
I've thought about this phrase and I'm still thinking about
it right now and I'm telling you I can almost think I get
it and it goes right past me. I am that I am. This is astounding. It's simple, profound, plain
and incomprehensible. He's not giving his name here.
He is revealing and describing Himself and immediately we know
who is speaking to Moses. Many years later, centuries later,
our Lord was talking to some Pharisees and he talked about Abraham seeing
his day and was glad. They said, Wait a minute! you're
not even fifty years old. Well, he wasn't even thirty-three
yet, so I guess that being a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief would put some wrinkles on his face and he looked like
he was older than he was. He said, you're not even fifty
years old yet. And he looked at him and he said, before Abraham
was, I am. That's who's talking here. I am that I am. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am in John 8 and verse 58. I find that the Lord does not
refer to Himself this way again in Scripture until Jesus Christ
refers to Himself this way. You will not find God anywhere
except right here, referring to Himself in the Old Testament,
all the way through the Old Testament. Not in Matthew, not in Mark,
not in Luke, but in John where the first mention of grace is.
Our Lord says, before Abraham was, I am. Only twice. And the one who is
speaking is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. I am belongs
to Christ. What does this title mean? I
am that I am. Isn't it kind of confusing to
you? I mean if you think about it,
I am that I am. It is kind of hard to put it together. Kind
of hard to put it together. The Greek scholars called him
the eternal isness. The BEING! The BEING! Another
one called him simply BEING! BEING! He is! I am! BEING! They found an ancient inscription
somewhere over yonder that said, I am all that exists and all
that shall be. I am that I am. This is a linguistic expression
of the one who is the ESSENTIAL EXISTENCE of ALL THAT IS, of
one who is GREATER than the mind can begin to perceive while fully
embraced by faith. We are because He is! We are because He is! EVERYTHING
EXISTS because He is! everything exists because he
is being if I am was not there would be nothing there would be nothing there
would be no stars in heaven there would be no sun in this our solar
system our solar system wouldn't exist we wouldn't exist when
he says I am that I am he means that everything that is being
is because of HIM, because HE is BEING. To believe this is
the very basis of faith, though words fail to express it, in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse
6, look over there, It says without faith it is impossible
to please God. Now what is faith? Well faith
is defined in verse 1 of chapter 11. Now faith is the substance
or ground or confidence of things to hope for. It's the evidence
of things not seen. So faith is a mystery. Faith is substance that you don't
have. It's things hoped for. It's evidence
of things you can't see. Substance and evidence. This
is faith. It's a wonder. It's a wonder. What is faith
then? What does faith reside in? How does faith find its substance? How does faith find it in this
Word? We don't go by what we see, we
go by what God has said. This is what faith does. Now
he says, without that faith it's impossible to please God. For he that comes to God must
believe that third person singular of I am must believe that he
is and is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So this is faith, believing that
he is. That doesn't mean that He exists,
that means that He is the Great I Am. T.T. Shields, a great theologian up
in Canada wrote, Canst thou searching find out God? Quoted that scripture,
Canst thou by searching find out God? He said we'd sooner
empty the Atlantic Ocean with a teaspoon than by searching
find out God. that I am here breathing now
because He is. Because He is. I know I haven't
explained that. I haven't explained it to me. We revel in this description
that God calls Himself, one second grasping it, thinking we have
it, the next bowing to the fact that we can never grasp it. Here
we take up our headquarters in the dust and can but worship
and worship and worship again. Moses, you tell them I am, has
sent you. But this is not His name. This
is Him. This is Him. And in verse 14,
or verse 15, it says, And God said moreover unto Moses, Now
he's going to give him his name. Thus shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, hath sent me
unto you. This is my name forever. and this is my memorial unto
all generations. Verse 14, he tells Moses his
name, the name by which he will be forever known. First he said
he is the LORD GOD, you know this L-O-R-D is in capital letters
all the way across, GOD is capitalized with the first letter, LORD GOD.
That is Jehovah Elohim. Jehovah means the self-existing
one. Elohim means the all-powerful
ruler. He said I am the self-existing
one. Jehovah, one who is ruler over
all is Elohim. The name applied to God as He
condescends to interact with His creation. We don't find God
using the name Jehovah until He speaks with Adam. after the fall. We don't find
him interacting with his creature except by the name of L-O-R-D
capitalized all the way across. He condescends. So when he's
talking about Jehovah, we're talking about Jehovah Jesus,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the God of Abraham. He
is the Creator and the Savior, the just God and a Savior. He
is the God of Abraham, the man in whom all nations will be blessed.
He is the Father of the faithful, Abraham is. He is the Father
of all who believe on Jesus Christ. That is what it says in Galatians
chapter 3 and verse 29. He is the God of Isaac. Why does
he call himself the God of Isaac? Because in Isaac, shall thy seed
be called, Scripture says. Because you see, Abraham had
two sons. One was named Ishmael, who was
born of the flesh. Another was named Isaac, who
was born of the Spirit. Isaac. Isaac is the one in whose
name the seed shall be called. And he is also the one who pictures
what spiritual birth is. It comes from God and not man.
and I am the God of Jacob and forever ruin wretched sinner."
This is the sweetest title. It is the title that he uses
more of himself than in all the other titles he gives himself
in scriptures. He said, I'm the God of Jacob. Why? Because he's
the God who saves sinners. He's the God who saves sinners. Jacob's name means supplanter,
sneak, wicked man. wicked man. He is a sinner. Thank
God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, is the God of Jacob,
the God of sinners, the Savior of sinners. And he said, This
is my name forever, and it is memorial to all generations.
This is the name that will ever be upon the lips of His beloved
throughout time and eternity. the name of Jesus Christ, the
Savior of sinners. Philippians chapter 2 said, He
was obedient even to the death of the cross, wherefore God is
highly exalted to him, and given him a name above every name,
that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father. In Acts chapter
2, in Peter's Pentecostal message, he said, There is no other name
under heaven among men given whereby we must be saved and
in Revelation 5 which we believe has some hint of what's going
to be like in glory when we all bow before the throne of God
and Jesus Christ takes the book that is sealed with seven seals
back in front and opens it and reveals all that's in it Our
song will be worthy is the Lamb that was slain, that has redeemed
us by His blood out of every kindred nation, tongue, and people,
and made us kings and priests unto our God. Salvation unto
the Lord, power unto the Lord, glory unto the Lord. I am that
I am, has sent me. Father, bless us to understand
it with prayer in Christ's name. I don't know.