Jesus, The Great I Am

I want you to turn your Bibles this morning to John chapter 8 beginning there in verse 48.

John 8 · chapter mention

The Jews answered him, Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?

Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father and you dishonor me.

Yet I do not seek my own glory.

There is one who seeks it and he is the judge.

Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.

Let's pray.

Father, for us this morning, together as a body of believers, prayer is not something we do out of habit or routine

or because it's just the appropriate way to introduce a sermon.

We do so because we have confidence in you who answer prayer.

And we confess at the same time that we are pretty frail.

Father, we tend to be full of ourselves and our own ambitions and interests.

And Father, we recognize that your glory, your word is truly supremely valuable

and we are well served to come to you with humility and ask for your help.

That as the psalmist wrote in Psalm 119, verse 18,

Psalms 119:18

Open thou mine eyes that I might behold wondrous truths out of thy law.

And so we begin with prayer.

There are some here that need to be obedient.

For your people are charged with responsibility in the scriptures of praying that the word of God would have free course.

There are some here this morning that need to be obedient.

Some who need their hearts encouraged and refreshed.

Some who need to be drawn to the cross and to genuine repentance and faith.

And some who need to have their hearts lifted up with the love of the Lord Jesus Christ

and that their love may grow for him.

All these things flow from the preaching of your word,

from the faithful and humble prayers of your people and the work of the Spirit among us.

And so we begin by asking for your help.

And we have confidence in your answer.

And for Jesus' glory we ask this.

Amen.

Well, as we take up our text this morning,

I think it's appropriate to kind of frame where we are in the book of John.

And I want you to understand that John chapter 8 is a breakover point.

John 8 · chapter mention

If you are familiar with the four gospels,

you know that the four gospels really only cover a very small part of Christ's life.

He lived some 30 years.

And the truth of the matter is,

is that the gospels give us hardly any detail about his birth,

none about his adolescence and childhood, etc.

And the majority of the time actually focuses on the one week surrounding his crucifixion.

That is particularly true of the synoptic gospels.

What we find in John's gospel is that he takes a different tack,

and at the center of his gospel is this singular focus of making sure

that those who read the gospel understand some fundamental questions.

The question is this, who is Jesus?

And what does that mean to me?

Interestingly, in the last several weeks, for one, I was out in California with my sister,

and then later I had an opportunity to talk with some other individuals.

And in two conversations, though they were in different locations

and with radically different individuals,

we really came back to kind of the same things.

And when I actually had a person ask me, a Baptist pastor, that's always scary,

but, you know, ask me,

so what's this about all the religions in the world?

I thought that was a died-and-gone-to-heaven opportunity.

I really did.

And I explained it this way.

Even though I grew up in India, my parents were missionaries,

and I lived across the street from Muslims,

and I had Hindus around the corner,

and I had Buddhists where I went to school in the Himalaya Mountains.

How many of you noticed they said Himalaya, not Himalaya?

Just talk to me about that afterwards, okay?

But anyway, here we go.

There are really only two religions in the world.

Only two.

One that proposes mankind may work their way up the ladder by repeated efforts

and eventually get it right.

And if that idea is true, then Buddhism, or Hinduism in particular, with do-overs.

You know what a do-over is?

It's, you know, you die and get another shot at it,

another shot, another shot, another shot.

It took me a while to figure out in India why, for the most part,

people tended not to help the deprived and down.

Here's the reason.

Because you're messing with their karma.

Do you understand?

They're paying off their debt from the past,

and when you step in and interfere, guess what they have to do?

They have to do it again.

So kind of let them work their way out of this pile.

Wow.

And so here, two religions, one where men kind of work their way up,

and I love asking the question to people,

so when you die and God says,

why should I let you into heaven, what are you going to say?

Well, I've been a pretty good person.

You're on that, guess what?

You're kind of on the works-based idea of kind of working your way up.

The other idea is God knowing our desperate inability to save ourselves,

about like a drowning man pulling himself out of the water by his hair.

You know, it's like God sent his son to be the sacrifice for my sin,

and he, seeing my desperate state, loving me unconditionally,

and not because of who I am or ever would be,

he sent Jesus to be my Savior.

So in both of these conversations,

I had the opportunity of kind of ending off the conversation by saying,

because, you know, it's not like the person said,

man, I need Jesus right now.

What do I do?

I wish that had happened, but it didn't.

So it's like, so how does a pastor walk away from some of these conversations?

Here's what I did.

I said, hey, we've had a great time talking about these things,

and can I leave you with something to think about?

Well, yeah, sure, you know.

I said, why don't you read the Gospel of John,

and as you're reading the Gospel of John,

just ask yourself two questions.

Who is Jesus?

And what does that mean to me?

And that question is particularly poignant.

It's very central to what we're going to study this morning,

because here at John chapter 8,

John 8 · chapter mention

remember I said we're kind of at a turnover,

a turning point.

Prior to John chapter 8,

John 8 · chapter mention

Jesus has continued a fairly public ministry

that has gotten more aggressive

in making it clear to people who He is.

And, as you have heard me say,

when the truth is out there,

people are on the spot of saying yes or no to God,

and that's what happened.

As Jesus made His messianic and saving work clear,

people came to the point of saying yes or no.

And John 8 is a turning point.

He stops working so much in the public eye

and begins to invest more and more energy

in working towards the cross

and ministering to His disciples.

Interestingly enough,

as we were closing off these conversations

that I referenced,

I had one of them say to me,

well, you know,

I really do believe that all religions are the same.

Now, I'm on the spot.

What do I say with that?

And I said, well,

you know, I have to tell you,

if I read the Bible,

I have to come to a conclusion

of either Jesus is a pathological liar

or He's telling the truth.

Because what Jesus said is,

I am the way, the truth, and the life,

and no one comes to the Father but by Me.

And so either Jesus was a liar and a deceiver

or what He had to say about who He was

and what He'd come to do

was to be believed or rejected.

And so as we work our way

through this passage this morning,

beginning there in John 8, verse 48,

John 8:48

one of the things that I want you

to be thinking about

is this central question,

who is Jesus

and what does that mean to me?

And I'm going to take

the parts of this passage

and break them down

into two little pieces.

I'm going to let you kind of

follow along with me

and if you want to,

you could actually put a little tick mark

by verse 48.

This is the Jews

kind of reacting to Jesus.

You could put another little tick mark

by verse 52

and you could put a little tick mark

by verse 57.

So you've got to get an outline.

We see the one side

that looks at Jesus

and has the idea

that He is not

the Son of God

and the one who is

the Savior of the world.

So we're going to work our way

through this passage

and I want you to understand

ahead of time

how the outline is going to flow.

Being that we start in verse 48,

I guess we could begin this way

of saying the question is this,

was Jesus a wicked deceiver

and a liar?

In verse 48,

the Jews answered Him,

are we not right

in saying that you are a Samaritan

and have a demon?

And when they said that,

I want you to understand

that they were responding

to the ongoing logic

that Jesus had been engaging in

since the beginning of chapter 8.

It actually goes back

in chapter 6

where He came out

and made it clear

I am the bread of life.

And then in chapter 8

in particular,

He said,

I am the light of the world.

Later,

in that same context,

He made it clear to them

that those who did not believe in Him

were destined to an eternity in hell

because of their rejection

of the offer that He made

of the gospel

and salvation through that.

And so here they were.

The Jews had tried to trap Jesus

with various logical arguments.

They had actually sent some

to arrest Him.

This had not worked out.

Not worked out well at all.

And so their closing statements

were kind of a sarcastic

and what they thought

was a supremely insulting statement

to Jesus.

Now, I'm not inclined

to get into the political season.

You know that.

But I'm always impressed

by the fact that

when people don't have much to say,

they are reduced

to throwing barbs at one another.

How many of you understand

what I'm saying?

In the absence of logic,

insult will do.

And so here's what the Jews did.

They were not being very successful

at dealing with Jesus' popularity.

They were not being successful

at dealing with Jesus'

winsome ministry

and gospel presentation

that He was the one

who'd come to save people

from their sins.

And so they decided,

let's go with the absolute

knockout insult

for any average Jewish male.

We will call Him

a Samaritan

and we'll accuse Him

of being filled with demons.

Somebody's like,

ah, you can't say that about me.

You can see it going on.

And Jesus goes,

yeah, really?

Is that all you got?

Well, you look here

and they threw it.

And by the way,

you do have to understand

that Jesus had kind of

egged them on a little bit.

You understand that,

don't you?

He had referred to them

as not being part

of Abraham's children.

And He'd actually gone so far

in verse 44

to say that they were

the children of Satan.

And you can understand

that things were getting

pretty heated.

And so they threw this at Jesus

and they thought,

wow, this is going to do it.

But what happened?

You look there in verse 49,

Jesus answered,

I do not have a demon,

but I honor my father

and you dishonor me.

I want you to understand

that at the core

of the tension

between Jesus

and the religious leaders

was this question

of whether or not

their system of faith

was worthy of trust.

The Jewish leaders

had the idea

that the way in which

you got to heaven

is one,

it really helped to be a Jew.

And number two,

you had to keep

a whole grocery list of laws.

One of the biggies

was really don't mess

with the Sabbath.

And how many of you

realize that Jesus

kind of specialized

on Sunday

or on Sabbath healings, right?

It's like,

remember they said,

can you do it any other day?

And I was like,

please, no.

And Jesus kept on

letting them know

that the Sabbath

was not all about

their rules and plans.

And really,

coming back,

what the Jewish leaders

had put together

was a works-based faith.

faith.

They believed

that they were going

to get to heaven

because they were

doing the right things.

And by the way,

that is the predominant

faith of everyone.

Everyone.

Whether a person

is a professing believer

or a person

is an atheist,

at the end of the day,

they think it's going

to turn out okay

because at the heart

of it,

they think they're

pretty decent people.

Now,

I would be the first

to admit that

everybody could be

worse with practice.

But the fact of the matter

is the heart

is a dark

and deceitful place.

And when Jesus

made it clear

to the Jewish

spiritual leaders

of Israel

that their faith

in their works,

religion,

was not going

to accomplish

what they hoped,

they became incensed.

They hated

the logic

of what He presented.

Incidentally,

it was rooted

in the Old Testament

scriptures

and what God

had to say

about the heart

of man.

And so,

here we are today

sitting under

the teaching

of the Word of God

and really having

to wrestle

with the same

attitudes

that the Jewish

religious leaders

were dealing with.

Am I trusting

this morning

in my own abilities

and my own goodness

to be the remedy

for the darkness

of my own heart?

Put it another way,

are you sitting

here trusting

in your own efforts

to save you?

And that's a question

every one of us

need to answer.

Am I really confident

at the end of the day

that my increased

education

or my increased effort

and a little more

self-help,

I'll get there.

I'm not what I should be

but give me time,

it's okay.

Here's the problem.

When you start

with bad code

or to use

a mathematical

principle

that I am

always very

uncomfortable with

but if you don't

copy the problem

right when the

teacher writes it

on the board

and you take it home

and you've got

some of the pieces

wrong in the way

you copied it,

how many times

does it take

before you get it

right?

Forever.

Here's the reason.

If you don't

get the information

right to start with,

you can't come out

with the right

conclusion

and the truth

of the matter

is the scripture

says that the

heart of man

is deceitful

above all things

and desperately

wicked who can

know it.

The heart that I

have and the

heart that you

have is a place

that is marked

by darkness

and deceit

and sin.

I'm not as bad

as I could be

with practice

but I cannot

save myself

and Jesus

made that true

undeniably clear

to the Jewish

leaders.

So the practical

question for you

at this moment

is do I believe,

do I believe

that my sin

is a serious

problem

or do I believe

that I can solve

my problem

with my own

efforts

and my energy?

As we work

through the remainder

of the passage

you will notice

that Jesus

didn't back away

from the truth

of their need

and interestingly

enough as he

continued to make

his ministry

and his calling

clear what

happened is they

hardened their

heart.

Will you listen

to me?

There is a distinct

disadvantage to

sitting under the

teaching of the

gospel when a

person refuses to

hear what God

has to say.

Why is that?

The more light

you are given

the more responsible

you are for the

facts.

And gospel

teaching helps

you come to

grips with the

fact I can't

solve my problem

myself.

I need Jesus

to be the one

that helps me.

And so as you

sit here this

morning I appeal

to you that you

don't behave like

the Jewish hearers

did who said

hey I don't want

to hear what you

have to say

and I'm going

to accuse you

with the most

vile name I

conceivably can

because I want

you to step off

the message that

you have.

So when you say

no to the light

I want you to

hear this things

grow darker in

your life.

Don't risk that.

You look here in

the passage in

verse 48 the

Jews answered

you got a demon

you're Samaritan.

Verse 52 the

Jews said to him

now we know that

you have a

demon because

Jesus said hey

those that believe

in me are not

going to die.

Abraham died I

mean that was

trump for a Jew

do you understand

everything kind

mention Abraham's

name it's like

that's good that's

good you got

Abraham in the

picture that's

good and Jesus

said you believe

in me you're not

going to die well

Abraham died the

prophets died blah

blah blah and

Jesus says let's

get this clear.

the life that you

live in the

physical sense is

going to bring you

to the grave but

those who trust in

Jesus are not going

to die.

So let's kind of

step into that a

little bit more and

ask you a practical

question as you work

your way through

this is Jesus your

hope and your

confidence for all

of eternity.

I want you to put

your finger if you

would on John

John 8:51

chapter 8 verse

51 look at that it

says this truly truly

I say to you if

anyone keeps my

word he will never

see death never

see death.

Now let me ask you

a question if you

had been if you

had been writing

that verse and you

weren't invited to

do that so just kind

of buy what's there

right but if you

had been writing

that verse would

you have written it

the way Jesus

quoted it or would

you rather have

said anyone who

believes in me

shall never see

death.

which would you

prefer?

Whoever keeps my

word or whoever

believes in me.

How many of you

would prefer just

hey I believe

I believe you know

it's like I

believe.

Why did Jesus say

keeps?

Listen to me.

It's fairly easy to

profess belief.

It's another thing to

show the evidence of

the transforming power

of the gospel in

behavior that is

radically different

than the way you

used to be.

I think one of the

things that's a

detriment to the

evangelical church

today is there are

a whole lot of

people scampering

around saying I

believe and they're

acting like the

average unregenerate

unsaved person and

there's no difference

whatever in their

life.

Jesus said let me tell

you something.

Here's how you know

you got the real

deal.

There's something

happening in your

life.

It's interesting.

A couple weeks ago I

was sitting at the

table with three

wonderful people I

had the opportunity to

eat supper with and

we're in a conversation

and all three of them

were profoundly

unhappy.

I mean we're

talking about people

that had education

up to the point that

I was kind of sitting

there with degree

envy.

It's like wow I'm

impressed.

But the thing I kept

as we were just kind

of so how do you like

your job?

I work with turkeys.

And I just kept on

going on.

These were unhappy

people.

I mean really unhappy.

And finally you know

low life sitting there

in his jeans and

t-shirt and that's

California so you

understand.

I said I feel sorry.

I'm sad that you're so

unhappy.

And they looked at me

and I was like well

are you happy?

I said I love doing

what I do.

What do you do?

Here's my answer.

I said I'm a broken

person.

Who gets to talk to

broken people about the

only one who can fix

their heart.

Do you follow that?

I love that.

And here is Jesus

saying something

profound.

Look at the passage.

Truly truly I say to

you if anyone keeps my

word he will never see

death.

I'm a professional

funeral doer.

How many of you

understand what I just

said?

I'm a pastor.

I've done funerals.

In fact the truth of

the matter is the

first professional

act I ever performed

was to do a funeral.

My father-in-law thought

that I should be a

pastor before I thought

that I should be a

pastor.

pastor and he

invited me to go to a

graveside in New

Jersey and be part of

the funeral service at

the graveside.

I'm froze to death.

It was like January and

it's like what am I doing

out here?

No someday someday you're

going to be doing this.

I don't think so.

But you know what?

I'm a professional

funeral doer.

I mean and I've got to

tell you something.

Listen to me.

I love funerals.

I absolutely love

funerals because I have

a captive audience that

is obligated to sit and

listen to what I have to

say for a couple minutes.

And I never preach about

the person that's dead.

Do you know why that is?

Because they don't care.

I'm all about letting the

people who are still in

the path of dying know

about how to get it right.

And so here we are.

Jesus says to them,

hey, the one who believes

in me will never see

death.

And what he was talking

about was not the issue

of physical death because

we know for a fact that

people die.

They die every day.

Every one of us here are

going to be ground

temperature one of the

days unless Jesus comes

back.

It's just a fact.

And so you look here and

here is Jesus.

He's speaking about the

issue of not seeing death

and their immediate

response is verse 52.

Now we know that you have

a demon.

Abraham died as did the

prophets.

And yet you say, 52, if

anyone keeps my word, what?

You're not going to die.

Now listen to the response

that Jesus gives.

In verse 54 he says, if I

glorify myself, my glory is

nothing.

It is my father who glorifies

me of whom you say he is our

God.

Now follow with me so that

you understand what is

happening here.

Jesus has made a profound

and indicting statement to

them.

You are going to die in your

sins.

He said that three times

earlier in John 8.

And I got to tell you that

was pretty offensive.

People who were greatly

confident in their own

status as, hey, I'm doing

the best I can.

In fact, I'm doing better

than he is.

I mean, what do you mean

I'm not going to make it?

Jesus was profoundly

offensive to them and they

kept on pushing back at it

and here he says, listen,

let me tell you something.

I'm not in this to glorify

myself.

And what was he saying?

He was saying that the

father was the one who was

glorifying him.

How was God glorifying

Jesus?

Ask yourself the question.

How was God glorifying

Jesus?

Let me help you understand

that for one, God was

glorifying Jesus by the fact

that Jesus had the full

measure of the Spirit and

everything he said came

from the prompting and the

enabling and the power of

the Spirit of God.

Remember one of the

recurring things that people

said about Jesus?

You never heard anybody

talk like him.

You never heard anybody.

Man, he could preach your

socks off to use the

phrase.

That guy brought fire from

heaven.

Remember when they sent

people to arrest Jesus?

I mean, these were

professional arresters.

And they came to deal with

Jesus.

They kind of had it.

All right, bud, you grab

him on the left arm and

I'm going to grab him on

the right and we're going

to march him right in there

to the Sanhedrin and he's

toast.

And all they did was they

listened to him preach the

word of God and what

happened?

Walked out of there as a

kind of overawed and

fanatic.

And they came back to the

Jewish leaders and they

said, you never heard

anything like this.

I mean, that guy preached

like, wow.

How do you do that in

power of the spirit?

Something else.

Do you understand that he

did miracles that were

real miracles?

Jesus was the original

fact-checking opportunity.

What I mean by that is one

of the things that happens

every now and then is we

have quote-unquote, you

know, these fancy miracles

at these big rallies, you

know, kind of stuff.

And, you know, what

happens is in 24 hours,

48 hours, people come back

and check and see, really,

did they get healed, etc.?

And da-da-da.

And they were always around

behind Jesus kind of

checking to see whether

there was clear evidence

of him really doing the

miracles.

We're going to get to that

in John 9, by the way.

Remember a man born blind?

They're all about checking

to see whether or not

Jesus really could heal.

And there was undeniable

power that he healed.

In fact, it was so undeniable

that remember after he raised

Lazarus from the dead,

what did they think was

their best option for

dealing with the evidence

of Lazarus?

What was it?

Kill him!

If you don't like the

messenger, kill the

messenger, right?

Okay, so here we are.

How did God affirm and

glorify Christ?

By enabling him to perform

miracles.

But one other thing.

God glorified Christ by

seeing to it that hundreds

and thousands of years

before Christ showed up on

the scene, there were

repeated prophetic

statements about the

ministry of the coming

Messiah, and Jesus

fulfilled every one of

them.

In fact, one of the things

that you find over and

over again in the

Scripture, it says, he did

this to fulfill Old

Testament prophecy.

So I want you to look

here at verse 51 and

kind of lock your heart

in on this.

Those who believe in

Jesus will never see

death.

That's interesting.

Those who believe in

Jesus will never see

death.

What does that mean?

It's not physical death

because we know for one,

Jesus was going to die on

the cross.

We know for another that

ever since Adam and Eve

sinned in the garden,

human existence has been

marked by the sorrow and

the reality of death.

I want you to understand

that what Jesus was

talking about was the

fact that those who have

faith in Christ and His

finished work upon the

cross do not see death

the same way the

unbeliever sees death.

Now, when you hear a

statement like that, a

logical follow-up is,

can you prove it?

I want you to turn in

your Bibles to Revelation

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

chapter 21.

Revelation chapter 21 is

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

the way the book ends.

And listen to what it says

in Revelation chapter 21,

Revelation 21:8

verse 8 and then verse 14.

But as for the cowardly,

the faithless, the detestable,

as for murderers, the

sexually immoral, sorcerers,

idolaters, and all liars,

their portion will be in the

lake that burns with fire and

sulfur, which is the, what?

What's the word?

Second death.

Second death.

Look again, if you will,

at verse 14.

And the wall, I'm sorry,

verse 14.

Suffice it to say that 8

will do it unless Tom can

save me and find where it

says second death twice.

Because it does say it.

We'll move on.

Okay?

The point is this, is that

there is a death that we die

physically, but there is a

death that unbelievers die

spiritually.

How is that?

For one thing, death is

separation.

In simple terms, it's the

separation.

And ultimately, the

unbeliever will be separated

from God and not just kind of

separated into, you know,

kind of absence from God.

It is separation into eternal

suffering that is very real and

undeniable in the Scriptures.

The sinner's death will usher

him forever into eternal

judgment.

The sinner's death will

separate him forever from the

joys of fellowship with God.

And so that brings us kind of

here to the closing lines of

this chapter and the final point

that you want to consider.

You go back there to verse 51,

if you will, again in John

John 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8.

And here's what Jesus said.

He said there in verse 51,

if anyone keeps my word, he

will never see death.

What Jesus was saying is those

who keep his word and who

believe in him will not die a

spiritual death and suffer the

eternal absence from God the

Father.

You will be in the presence of

God and enjoy his company

forever.

I've got to tell you this

morning as I went into the

office, touched on the

computer screen, just touched

the keyboard, bang, there came

up the picture of my family, my

dad and my mom.

You know the first thought I

had?

My first thought is, dad, I'm

seeing you again.

That's what I thought.

First thought was, I'm seeing

you again.

I have no fear of dying.

And the reason I have no fear

of dying is not because I'm

deceiving myself, but because I

have confidence in the finished

work of Christ.

And I know that I will not suffer

the second death, not because I

have been a good person all of my

life, because I came to the point

of recognizing the absolute moral

bankruptcy of my soul and

confessing, I am a sinner justly

condemned before a holy God, and I

believe Jesus came to pay the

penalty for my sins.

Now, I like the way this argument

plays out here.

If you look at it, you find here

that as Jesus made this issue of not

dying clear, the Jews kind of

responded and look at their closing

argument in verse 57.

Jews said to him, you are not yet

50 years old, and have you seen

Abraham?

Remember he said, Abraham rejoiced

to see my day.

Now, that's a very interesting

statement.

What does it tell us?

Abraham looked forward to the

coming of the Savior.

That's what it's saying.

Abraham rejoiced.

Hey, how many of you sitting here

this morning, as muddy and as

difficult as your life is, are

looking forward to the day that

Jesus comes back?

That is a characteristic of a

believer.

It says this in 1 John chapter 3,

1 John 3 · chapter mention

they that have this hope purify

themselves even as he is pure.

What drives you forward?

It is an understanding that the day

is coming that Tim Kenoyer is

going to be in the presence of

Christ.

And that keeps a guard on my tongue.

By the way, my tongue without any

practice can be an absolute

cesspool.

It is a reminder of the work of

Christ in my life and my interest

in pleasing him that has slowly

changed first my heart, then my

tongue.

And you look here and Jesus says,

the Jews said, well, you're not

even 50 years old.

And look at verse 58.

Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I

say to you, and this is, remember

they loved saying Samaritan, demon?

This is Jesus with a full forehand

slap across the face of the

unbelieving Jews.

Before Abraham was, what's the next

word?

I am.

Well, what does that bring to your

Jewish mind?

Remember?

Back in Exodus, poor old Moses chasing

sheep around the backside of the

wilderness, and God comes to him and

says, Moses, you are going to go back

to the land of Egypt and you're going

to lead my people out.

You're going to deliver them from the

bondage that they're in.

And Moses says, yeah, all right, why

don't you send somebody else?

No, no, burning bush and all that.

And so Moses, all right, says, okay,

when I go back there, they're going

to say, who sent you?

And God says, well, here, get this.

My name is I am.

The self-existent.

The self-consuming.

All.

Everything that you can imagine, God

is that.

And God says to Moses, you tell them

that I am is sending you.

And here is Jesus.

If there was anything that those Jews

knew, it was the book of Exodus and

the call of Moses.

And Jesus says, let me tell you

something.

Before Abraham was, I am.

Who has the right to tell you that you

may have everlasting life despite the

darkness of your heart?

Who has the right to promise that he

will raise you from the grave?

Who has the right to assure you that

you're going to spend heaven in his

presence?

Who has the right to be able to guarantee

to you that with your conversion, you

will enjoy the enabling of the spirit of

God that you, listen to me carefully, you

don't have to stay the slave to your own

passions and your own self-centered,

unhappy focus.

The only one who can make such an

unbelievable guarantee is the one who is

the I am.

Let me close by coming back to where we

started.

At the heart of the gospel of John is this one

recurring thought that I think it's appropriate

to think.

Who is Jesus?

And what's that mean to me?

Who is Jesus?

And what's that mean to me?

Who is Jesus?

And what does that mean to me?

And I want to tell you this morning as you listen to the

preaching of the word of God, I want you to

recognize this, the scriptures are undeniable clear.

The Bible answer is right in front of you.

Jesus is the Lord and the judge of the whole earth,

and he is the only one who can save sinners.

So a question you have to ask yourself is this,

am I a sinner who has come to the point of

recognizing the moral bankruptcy and the darkness

of their own soul?

Or do I need, let's stop just for a minute so you

understand me, do I need more empirical evidence?

How many of you understand what I mean by empirical

evidence?

Huh?

Do I need anything else to convince me that I'm a

skunk?

I mean, your friend's been telling you, but you know,

you may not believe them.

Okay?

Gospel truth begins by helping us understand

there is a holy God,

and someday I will stand before him and give an account for my life.

Will I offer to him my absolute lame excuses?

Will I offer to him my incomplete and half-hearted efforts?

Or will I come to him broken and contrite and say,

I stand justly condemned,

but I believe you and your infinite grace and love were willing to put your

own son on the cross for my sins.

And the Bible puts it this way.

Whosoever believes in him, what?

Shall not perish but have everlasting life.

There's another part that I like.

Whosoever believes in him shall not be ashamed.

Hmm.

Can I tell you, as Christians,

we have the power of God to work in us so that we don't have to be ashamed.

And by the way, when we live lives that please Christ,

we become powerful, effective witnesses.

Isn't that right?

People ask us,

how come you're not so unhappy and moody and just full of yourself?

Well, I don't want to take credit for that,

because I'm not the hero in my story.

Jesus found me as a broken and bankrupt, miserable, unwholesome person.

And I came in brokenness and said,

I'm a mess and I can't solve my problem.

But I believe Jesus died for me and he died for you.

And the scriptures make it abundantly clear

that all those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

So the decision is, is what are you going to do with who Jesus is?

He is the Savior and he will be your judge.

Let's close in prayer.

Gracious Father, this morning as we consider the authority and the supremacy of your word,

we are very thankful that Jesus is the one who is the center of the gospel story.

Jesus is the one who is the hope of sinners.

Jesus is the one who steps beyond the shallow pride and arrogance of our spirit

and helps us see that apart from his complete forgiveness

and the payment of his life upon the cross, we have no hope.

And this morning we delight in the sweetness of the gospel

that gives believers joy and unbelievers hope.

Lift up Jesus among us this morning in your precious name.

Amen.

Amen.