I AM - Dave Eddinger - 5/3/26

Thank you for taking the time to listen to the well church saturday's podcast

we pray that you enjoy this message and that it creates a well of hope in your life today.

Well good morning everyone so glad you could all

be here with us last week matt shared

part two of his ongoing series trusting in

the word of god and he was focusing on the gospel accounts comparing them to

what's considered other accurate historical accounts and he showed us that the

gospels were written with much less of a time gap and that there were many more

manuscripts than these other historical accounts.

Before we go on, I want to add something that I think also speaks to the accuracy

and the validity of the Old Testament as well.

Jesus fulfilled over 300 messianic prophecies through his birth,

his life, his death, and his resurrection.

There was a mathematician, Dr. Peter Stoner, that calculated the odds of one

person fulfilling eight well-known prophecies, such as being born in Bethlehem, born of a virgin,

being betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, and being crucified.

The odds of fulfilling those eight were 1 in 10 to the 17th power.

That's 1 in 100,000 quadrillion.

To illustrate, this stoner compared it to placing 100 quadrillion silver dollars

across the state of Texas, two feet deep,

and marking one, and having a blindfolded person pick it up on the first try.

So if you extend it to not just to eight,

but to all 353 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, The chance is so randomly small

It's effectively zero Far beyond the number of people Who've ever lived on earth.

It demonstrates that the fulfillment of these prophecies is statistically extraordinary.

But what I think it demonstrates, what it really demonstrates,

is that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah and that God's word is trustworthy and true.

Isaiah 55, 10, and 11, God says, As the rain and snow come down from heaven,

and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it produce and

sprout and providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so will my word be which goes forth out of my mouth.

It will not return to me empty without accomplishing what I desire and without

succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.

Matt shared that the real reason that many people question the validity or the

authority of Scripture is that they want to do things that God says they shouldn't

or that they don't want to do things that God says that they should.

Matt used a variety of verses, a few verses.

To illustrate that while there's many different translations,

for the most part, they all end up saying the same thing with some slightly

different words. They had the same meaning.

One of the verses he shared was John 1.1. In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

I'm not going to review that again today I encourage you to listen to the podcast,

I started in John 1.1 because we're going to spend some time in John today.

But as Matt already alluded before we move to that, last week Matt encouraged

us to read the Gospel of Luke.

And it would have been easy for me today to share some reflections from Luke

because conveniently my meditations over the last few weeks have been centered in Luke.

But I felt that there was something else that God wanted me to share.

I think one of the most important things that we need to know and trust in scripture

is what Jesus says about himself.

We're going to look at the Gospel of John and focus on the I am's of Jesus,

who and what he says he is.

And one of the things I really love about the Gospel of John is John's perspective.

John, in his full gospel account, refers to himself over and over and over again

as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

And it's not that he didn't think Jesus loved the others, but that's how he saw himself.

And we should share that perspective.

We should look at the word of God and understand that Jesus loves us,

that we are the disciple that he loves.

So the I am's and in uh John

6 35 Jesus says I am the bread of

life in John 8 12 he

says I am the light of the world in John 10 7 he says I'm the door of the sheep

and in John 10 11 and 14 he says I am the good shepherd in John 11 25 he says

I am the resurrection and the life and in John 14 6 he says,

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

In John 15, 1, he says, I am the true vine.

So we'll begin with John 6, 26 to 35.

This was just after Jesus had fed 5,000 men plus the women and children with a few loaves and fish.

Jesus answered them and said, truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because

you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled.

Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal

life, which the son of man will give you.

For on him the Father God has set his seal.

Therefore they said to him, what are we to do so that we may accomplish the works of God?

And Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God,

that you believe in him whom he sent.

So they said to him, what then are you doing as a sign so that we may see and believe you?

What work are you performing? Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness.

As it is written, he gave them bread out of heaven to eat.

And Jesus said Truly, truly,

I say to you It is not Moses who had given you bread out of heaven But my Father

who gives you the true bread out of heaven For the bread of God is that which

comes down out of heaven And gives life to the world Then they said,

Lord, always give us this bread And Jesus said to them,

I am the bread of life The one who comes to me will not be hungry and the one

who believes in me will never be thirsty.

And so Jesus was comparing the manna that was provided in the wilderness to the Israelites with.

And how he was a better version. In Exodus 16, 14 to 21, it says,

When the layer of dew separated, or evaporated, I'm sorry.

Behold, on the surface of the wilderness, there was a fine flake-like thing,

fine as the frost on the ground.

When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, What is it?

For they did not know what it was.

And Moses said to them, It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat.

This the Lord has commanded.

Everyone gather as much as you will eat You shall

take an omer apiece According to the number of the people Each of you has in

your tent The sons of Israel did so And some gathered much And some gathered

little And when they measured it by the omer No one had gathered The one who

had gathered much Did not have too much And the one who gathered little Did not have too little,

Everyone had gathered as much as he would eat Moses said to them no one is to

leave any until morning.

But they did not listen, and some left part of it until the morning,

and it bred worms and stank, and Moses was angry with them.

They gathered it morning by morning, everyone as much as they would eat,

but when the sun became hot, it would melt.

So the manna not only sustained their physical needs, but because it needed

to be sought each day, each morning, it taught them that they needed to rely

on God, to depend on God every day.

Jesus taught us to pray, saying, give us this day our daily bread.

Jesus is the bread of life. We need him every day.

We need a fresh revelation of who he wants to be for us and what he wants to do through us.

Yesterday's bread may not be enough for today.

Moving on to John 8, 12. Jesus says, I am the light of the world.

The one who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

1 John 1, 5-10 says, God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with him, yet walk in darkness,

we lie and do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.

And the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous so that he will forgive

our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

It's not, though, that we can actually make God a liar.

Numbers 23, 19, God says, God is not a man that he would lie,

nor the son of man that he would change his mind.

Has he said it and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not make it good?

We don't make God a liar, we deceive ourselves.

John 17, 17, Jesus prayed in the garden, sanctify them in the truth.

Your word is truth.

Those that say that what God calls sin is not sin deceive themselves.

Those who walk in darkness cannot walk with Jesus.

In John 14, 21 and 23 to 24, Jesus says, The one who has my commandments and

keep them is the one who loves me.

And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.

If anyone loves me, he will follow my word, and my Father will love him,

and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.

The one who does not love me does not follow my words.

The word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.

In John 10, 17 to 15, Jesus says, Truly, truly, I say to you,

I am the door of the sheep.

All those who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved.

And they will go in and out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came so that they would

have life and have it abundantly.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays

down his life for the sheep He who is a hired

hand and not a shepherd Who is not the owner of

the sheep Sees the wolf coming and leaves the

sheep and flees The wolf snatches them

and scatters the flock He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care

about the sheep I am the good shepherd I know my own and my own know me Just

as the father knows me I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Jesus is the door, the entryway to the abundant life that he came to give.

He's the good shepherd who laid down his life for us.

We need to know him and be known by him.

In Matthew 7, 13 to 14 and 21 to 23, Jesus says, enter through the narrow gate

for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction.

And there are many who enter through it for the The gate is narrow and the way

is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,

but the one who does the will of the Father who is in heaven will enter.

Many will say on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,

and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?

And I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Leave me, you who practice lawlessness.

In John 11, 25-26, just before he raised Lazarus from death,

Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life.

The one who believes in me will live even if he dies.

And everyone who lives and believes in me, he will never die.

Do you believe this? Do you believe this?

In Psalm 23, 4, the psalmist says, even though I walk through the valley of

the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. And if we truly believe that Jesus

is the resurrection and the life, then we shouldn't fear death.

It's merely a shadow between this life and our eternal life with God.

2 Corinthians 5, 7, and 8 says we walk by faith, not by sight.

We are confident then and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

And none of us are anxious to die, but we shouldn't fear death. It's to be with him.

In Philippians 121, Paul says, For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Next one, this next I am, John 14, 6.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

And this one can be a difficult one for us to stand by in our society and culture

because the world might say that

Jesus is a way to heaven, but they might not agree that he is the way.

Acts 4, 12 says there is salvation in no one else, for there's no other name

under heaven that which has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.

The world says that it's arrogant and it's not inclusive to say that Jesus is

the only way to the Father, but it's Jesus himself who said it.

So he can't be away if he says he's the only way.

And in truth, far from being non-inclusive, the truth is that there's nothing more fair,

nothing more inclusive than that every person, regardless of national heritage,

race, ethnicity, age, whether male or female,

regardless of social economic standing and any other criteria that the world

tries to divide people by.

Every person has the same opportunity and the same path to heaven.

No one has an advantage. What can be more inclusive than that.

In Acts 10, 34 and 35, Peter says, I most certainly understand now that God

is not one to show partiality,

but in every nation, the one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. John 3, 16.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes

in him will not perish but have eternal life.

You know, some will argue and they'll be offended on behalf of those who may

not have heard the gospel.

They can't make the argument for themselves because obviously they're saying that the gospel exists.

So they make it on behalf of someone else.

And to them, I offer Luke 23, 39-43 When Jesus was on the cross,

it says One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at him,

saying Are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us But the other responded and rebuking him,

said Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation And indeed,

we are suffering justly, for we're receiving what we deserve for our crimes

but this man has done nothing wrong.

And he was saying, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And he said to him, truly I say to you, you will be with me today in paradise.

I believe that Jesus can reveal who he is to anyone up to their very last breath.

I don't need to understand or to know how Jesus will be revealed to people who

haven't heard the gospel.

I just need to trust that he will do it He can do it.

In John 15, 1 through 11, Jesus says, I am the true vine.

My father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.

And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes so it can bear more fruit.

You are already clean because of the word which I've spoken to you. Remain in me and I in you.

Just as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, but must remain in the vine,

so neither can you unless you remain in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches The one who remains in me and I in him bears

much fruit For apart from me you can do nothing,

If anyone does not remain in me He's thrown away like a branch and dries up

And they gather them and throw them into the fire and they're burned If you

remain in me and my words remain in you.

Ask the Father whatever you wish and it will be done for you My Father is glorified

by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.

Just as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you.

Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,

just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

These things I've spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be made full.

Jesus says, the one who remains in me bears much fruit.

Apart from me, you can do nothing. I sum it up with four words.

In much, apart nothing. We need to remain in Christ to bear the fruit that Jesus

says glorifies God and proves that we are his disciples.

So as we get ready to close, in Exodus 3, 13 to 15, when Moses had his encounter with God.

And God was instructing him to go to the people of Israel, to lead them away from Egypt.

Exodus 3, beginning at verse 13 says, Then God said, Moses said to God,

Behold, I'm going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them,

The God of your fathers has sent me.

Now they may say to me, What is his name? What shall I say to them?

And God said to Moses, I am who I am.

He said, This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel. I

am has sent me to you God furthermore said

to Moses This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel The Lord your God

The God of your fathers The God of Abraham The God of Isaac And the God of Jacob

Has sent me to you This is my name forever And this is the name for all generations,

To use to call upon me God is I am.

Jesus is I am And consider this It was written by Helen Malico It says,

I was regretting the past And fearing the future Suddenly my Lord was speaking

My name is I Am He paused I waited He continued When you live in the past With

its mistakes and regrets It's hard,

I'm not there My name is not I was When you live in the future With its problems

and its fears It's hard I'm not there My name is not I will be When you live

in this moment It's not hard I'm here My name is I am,

So whatever you need Whatever you're facing He is I am,

And so now as we Get ready to go May the Lord I am Bless you and keep you May

the Lord cause his face To shine on you and be gracious to you.

May the Lord lift up his face and give you peace.

Lord bless you. I am. Bless you today.

Thanks for taking the time to listen. We're glad that what the Lord is doing

among us encourages you.

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Visit dwellatthewell.com or come out and see us on a Sunday morning,

228 Ridge Avenue, Southerton, Pennsylvania.

I'm taking away. Yeah.