He Is I Am

Mighty God. God. God. Hallelujah. I'm glad I know who Jesus is. There's an old song that says that, right? Says, I'm glad I know who Jesus is. I'm glad I know who Jesus is. He's more than just a story. He's the King of glory. And I'm glad I know who Jesus is. What a privilege. It's not just a name. And I'm going to talk about that this morning. I was handed this assignment. Brother Spa is a little bit under the weather. And uh so I put together a little lesson. You can know a name and not know the person. Right? I know the name Donald Trump. I don't know him. You can know the names of celebrities. You can know the names of various people and yet not know the person. The person. And today I want to know him. Paul said that. That I might know him. Not just a name. There were seven sons ofKeva who decided that they would use a name that they knew but they didn't know him and they got all beat up because of that uh just knowing a name and they thought that they could use it. And sometimes we fall into this trap of using the name and not recognizing that the presence that accompanies that name. It's more than just a name that we call. It's not a magical incantation that we use, but when we speak the name, he shows up.

The one that we know shows up. And so, uh, my lesson today is called He is I am. He is I am. Now, I'm not going to tell you anything new and and things that you probably don't know today, but this is a critical doctrine in the church. He is I am. Jesus Christ made this plain. And in John the 8th chapter verses 23 and 24, it records this. And he said, speaking of Jesus, ye are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. How confusing that must have been to the the the listeners as he spoke these words. And and then further he inflames them by saying this. I said therefore unto you that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. And then a very familiar scripture, John 3:16. You can quote this. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him. Everybody say in him. This was the crux of the message of Jesus Christ that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The theme of the Bible revealed in writings some 2500 years after the creation of man is God's revelation of himself to the creature.

This is what this book is all about. The only thing that stands between you and me and eternity is right here. That's it in in in this simple short book right here. That's what stands between you and me and eternity. The destiny, the future, the fate that we will we will face someday. But the theme of this entire book is a revelation of God. God's revelation to himself with his interaction with his creatures for the purpose of a relationship. God wanted a relationship. I got to thinking about when God spoke and said of Adam, "It is not good for man to be alone. It's not good to be alone." And and we're talking about a solitary being, God himself, who exists always and and will always exist. But from the from the beginning of creation, he had in mind somebody who would have a relationship with him. Someday that bride of Christ is going to become it. It's going to he's going to present it to himself and he's not going to be alone anymore. There's going to be a church that rises to be like him for we shall see him as he is. This was the purpose of God. So thus far in time in creation, the most complete revelation of that almighty God.

And this was the message of that began in the the 30s and the 40s back in the day. It was the mighty God in Christ. The mighty God in Christ. That was the message that Adian preached and and Goss Howard Goss and many of those old-timers they kept in focus this revelation because they understood that the greatest and the highest revelation, the most complete revelation of God was in Jesus Christ. If you want to find out what God is like, look at the man Jesus because he exampled him while he lived on this earth. Paul wrote to Timothy and said, "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up in the glory." That is unmistakably Jesus the Christ. Historically from the inception of the church, revelation was met with re uh disruption on a large scale. I don't have time to go into all of this today, but every time there seemed to be a revelation or an awakening, there was always a huge disruption in the world. We had in the in the 18th century and the 1700s the the we had a what is called the great awakening in in these uh United States.

the and and the revival was sweeping and on the heels of that there was a war the revolution there was war in Europe the French Revolution and and so it it kind of took everybody's attention away from the fact that God was trying to move in the 19th century there was a second great awakening which was met and followed by the great civil war of this country and It disrupted what God was trying to do in this nation. In 1900, the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in Topeka, Kansas. And and suddenly in 1914, there was a world war that disrupted things. It just seems like that every time there is a great revival, we're on the cusp of that. There is a disruption because Satan unleashes the forces of hell. With the advent and the revelation of baptism in Jesus' name, we're again find we find ourselves in a World War II that disrupts things. And so you can see that that that throughout history when there is about to be something great that takes place or something is taking place there is a huge disruption right in the middle of the mess God is trying to work right so God has these great self-revelations first of all when he created man it was a presence when he created angels there was a presence S Gabriel said, "I am Gabriel who stands in the presence of God."

That same presence met Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and walked with them. And they heard the sound of of the Lord walking with them. He revealed himself in a presence. Whether it was whether it was visible or an audible presentation, God was wanting to have a relationship with his people. And as man began to call upon the name of the Lord, it became apparent that revelation was an unending process. Say with me this morning, he opened windows to man that man might see his glory, his character, and his nature. And and men began to call upon the name of the Lord. But the real cosmic shift that changed creation was when a child was born in Bethlehem called Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God is with us. Woo, the mighty God in Christ. And all of hell pushes against this revelation. Herod sought to snuff out the life of this child that was born in Bethlehem. When he got older, the devil comes to him in the wilderness and tried diplomacy since after all this was the devil's world. He is the prince of this world or was. And so he came to Jesus and he tried diplomacy trying to negotiate with him a and get him to submit to his rulership.

It wasn't as we read if thou art the son of God in the Greek that subjunctive is interpreted this way. Since you are the son of God. Satan knew exactly who Jesus was when he met him in that wilderness. And he kept saying, "Since you are the son of God, do this. And since you are the son of God, why don't you fall down and worship me and I will give you all of this." And Jesus Jesus, the aim of Jesus was not to convince the devil of who he was. That wasn't it. The devil knew who he was. The aim of Jesus was to convince his people of who he was, right? He wanted to convince his people, his creation, as to who he was. The four gospels all have this same theme. And it was what we read from John. If you don't believe that I am he, you're going to die in your sins. And the entirety of Jesus message was rolled up into this summation. If you don't believe, if I can't shift your belief system to what you've been believing to myself, you are all going to perish. And so he was tempted in all points like we are. Not every detail personal sin that existed but the categories. God speaks in categories. Lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, pride of life.

Jesus was tempted on those three points when Satan came to him. He was tempted on those three points at Calvary. So he was tempted in all points. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and the pride of life. because every other sin will fall under that umbrella. And he made it. And so at this point, Jesus began to speak what the Jews considered heresy. And so we've been studying the sermon on the mount, a series of as Jesus introduces this message, he said, "You have heard this and this is what's contained in the law, but I say unto you. This is what I say." And it was a it was a self-revelation really. He reduced their 613 points of the law to two things. two things. He said, "On these two things hangs all the law and the prophets, right? What were they? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second is likened to it. Love your neighbor as yourself." Now, Jesus didn't have to fulfill the points of the law. As a matter of fact, he broke the Sabbath law. What he had to fulfill were the two things on which every law and all the prophets hung. Right? That's all he had to do. Jesus said unto them, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind."

This is a f first and greatest commandment. And the second is likened to it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. on these two commandments hang all the law on the prophet. That's what Jesus said. And then he proceeded to boldly if we don't believe that Jesus was who he said he was. This was the most arrogant statement that anyone could make. He said think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I'm not come to destroy but to fulfill. How do you do that? He didn't have to prove that he had passed each point of the law if he fulfilled the two on which everything hung, on which everything was based. And so as to the first law in Gethsemane, when he prayed this prayer, not my will but thy will be done, he proved to us that he loved God, he loved the father more than he loved himself. That is true love, folks. If you love the Lord, you obey him. You submit to his will. You give in to what he wants instead of what I want or what you want. Love is manifest in obedience. And in doing this, Jesus fulfilled the first point of the law. As to the second law, he said in John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

So he fulfilled the first law of loving God with all of his heart, soul, and mind. And he fulfilled the second law in saying, "No greater love has any man than this right here. I'm going to lay down my life for my people. The critical statement given to us in John, if ye believe not that I am, was considered a full frontal assault by the Jews. So Jesus set out to prove himself and he began to reassign to himself each of those Jehovah revelations of which they were so familiar. And it's here when he did this that the Jews wanted to kill him and their hatred of him grew because they said this. Jesus said, "Why are you angry and why do you want to kill me? For what good work that I've done? Do you want to stone me?" And they said, "Oh, it's not for a good work that we want to stone you, but for blasphemy, and because thou being a man, makest thyself God." They had it just reversed. It was God who made himself man. But they got so angry and and and he just inflamed them more. You got to understand Jesus was not timid about this. He was after all God in flesh, God in a body come to come to earth. and and uh so he started with a a statement that would just rock them on their heels when he he says to them before Abraham was I am the only person that can make that kind of a statement must be one of eternality.

when he spoke of Abraham in the past, but he spoke of himself in the present, before Abraham was, I am. I'm still there before Abraham ever was. And and so it rocked them and inflamed them even more when Jesus made those kind of statements. And so there were seven huge revelations in the in the Old Testament that that came through these compound names of Jehovah. The the first one I want to talk about is Jehovah Shama. That's in Ezekiel 48:35. It says Shama means the Lord is there. Brother Brad, the Lord is there. It means that no matter David said, if I if I take the the wings of the morning, if I ascend to the heavens, you're there. If I descend to the lowest hell, you're there. If I take the wings of the morning and I fly to the uttermost parts of the earth, behold, you're there. Jehovah Shama, the Lord is there. This was a revelation declaring his omnipresence, his presence being with them. This was mo one of the most important revelations to his people, one that they live with. He was not just to the Jews some impersonal being who fills everything. But he was someone who is there. Oh, thank God that we serve a God today. that Jesus, that God that we serve, is not just ubiquitous.

He's not just hovering about everything, but the Lord is there. Jehovah Shama, he's there. Amen. Not just some, this is what many religions cannot understand is that God wants to be there with his people. He wants to come alongside his people. In Deuteronomy chapter 31:8, "And the Lord, he is that doth go before thee. He will be with thee." Woo! He will not fail thee. Listen to these words. This is Jehovah Sha. The Lord will be with thee. He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee. Fear not, neither be dismayed. In Isaiah chapter 43, these beautiful words say, "But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, oh Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel. Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine." Watch this. When thou passest through the waters, I'm there. I'm there. and through the rivers. They're not going to overflow you because I'm there. I'm Jehovah Shama. I'm there. When you walk through the fire, I'm right there. I may not take you from the edge of that, but if you go into the fire, you're going to find that fourth man standing there already present in the fire. He said, "You won't be burned, and neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."

The writer to Hebrews picked up on this Jehovah Shama and he said, "For he has said, I will never leave thee." Jesus declared himself to be that Jehovah Shama. He said in John 14:18, "I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you." Matthew 28:20, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Revelation 22:13, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. I am the first and the last. Listen to me. He was there in our past. He is here in our present. And he'll be there in all of our tomorrows. On Mount Mariah, I hurry here. But on Mount Mariah, Abraham got a glimpse and he said, "I know who you are. You're Jehovah Gyra. You're the provider." Literally, that term means the Lord sees before. He sees before. The Latin term is provided. It means to see before. We get provide from that. You you put things up beforehand. And so Abraham saw him as the provider, the God who sees. Matter of fact, in the mount of uh Mariah, it was called that where the mountain where the Lord is seen. And so he was Jehovah Gyra. This revelation was based on the provision of that ram that was caught in the thicket that would substitute for Isaac.

But the implications reach far beyond just that sacrifice on Mariah. Jehovah Gyra provided for Israel. He provided redemption from Egypt. He provided a path through the Red Sea. He provided light in the darkness. He provided a shelter from the sun. He provided food in the wilderness. He provided clothes that didn't wear out. He provided a fountain in the desert. And he provided a place of rest in the land of Canaan. David looked at what God had done and he said, "The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want." Why? Because that shepherd is my provider. Jesus then says, "I am the good shepherd. I am that one that David talked about. I'm the one who provides." He says, "The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." In the first sermon of his ministry, he stated this. Oh, hallelujah. everything that he would provide. He said, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor." The gospel to the poor is the most important thing that you will ever encounter. It's the most important thing that this life ever will offer to us. the gospel that is preached. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and res covering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Jesus said he he made a series of statements in that sermon on the mount. He made a series of take no thought statements. Got any worriers in the place today? Don't raise your hand. I I know some worriers. Take no thought. Jesus said, "Take no thought for what you shall put on." He said, "Look at the birds, the fowls in the air. They don't toil. They don't sew. They don't plant. They don't plow. They don't do any of that stuff. And yet God, Jehovah, Gyra, he provides for them. He said, "Consider the liies of the field. They don't sow. They don't spin. They don't make cloth." And yet Solomon in all of his glory was not a raid as these are. What Jesus was saying when he says take no thought your provider is going to take care of you in every situation. That is faith. Take no thought for the bondage that seems so complete because Jehovah Gyra provides freedom. Take no thought for the darkness that seems impenetrable because Jehovah Gyra provides a light for you. Take no thought for the hunger that seems insatiable because he provides a filling. Take no thought for the thirst that parches the soul because he is the living water. Take no thought for the weariness that drains the spirit because he is Jehovah Gyra and he provides rest.

And Jesus said in case I missed anything, if you ask anything in my name, I'll do it. Woo! Brother Jury, what a promise of God. If I've missed anything here today, maybe I haven't addressed your particular situation, but Jesus said, "If you ask anything, because I am that Jehovah Gyra of the Old Testament, if you ask anything in my name, I will be to you a provider." To Moses, God revealed that he was Jehovah Rafika. Jehovah Rafa. We say Jehovah Rafika. I am the Lord that health thee. Anybody need healing today? Anybody just need strength today? Anybody need whether it be a spiritual or a physical healing today? He says, "I in the Old Testament, he was Jehovah Roofa. I am the Lord that heals thee. Israel, if you know this story, had come to the waters of Myra. They were bitter waters. They couldn't drink this water and they needed water. A and so Israel had come to this place, a place in life where bitterness had threatened their physical well-being and their very existence. And the Lord says, "Go get that tree over there. Your answer is going to be found in a tree. The solution to your bitterness is found in a tree. The solution for your physical well-being is found in a tree.

Jesus showed himself to be that one, that Jehovah roofa. This was a thing that they could not argue against when he began to do these signs, wonders, and miracles because every illness that he was met with, he healed. Every every ailment, he healed. Every weakness, he healed. Every disease, he healed. from blindness to deafness to lameness to paralysis to bone disease to nerve disease to headaches to backaches even death. He walked in the room where death was and he laid hands on a child and said, "You have no power here." Hallelujah. After one such miracle on the Sabbath in Matthew chapter 12, he had restored a man that had a an arm that was withered, a shrunken arm. A and the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from then, and great multitudes followed them. Watch this. He healed them all. you get mad at me, I'm just going to take the crowd with me and I'm going to heal them all. I'm going to keep showing you who I really am. I'm going to keep doing this in spite of your unbelief. I'm going to keep doing this in spite of your resistance. Just like their healing came, Jesus already proved, folks, that he was that God who was in the Old Testament that was able to heal anything.

He healed them all. Everybody say, "He healed them all. He didn't care what the disease was. He didn't care what the sickness was. He said, "Bring it to me. Bring everything to me." And it just says blanket statement. He healed them all. We limit God so much. But we have Jesus in our midst today. We have this same Jesus that walked physically with them. But now he is here. He is here with us today. Our healing Isaiah prophesied about it. It was found on a tree who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sin should live under righteousness. By whose stripes you were healed. Listen, he could have he could have taken I'm just going to take my time and quit when I'm supposed to. But he he could have taken care of the spirit realm without ever coming to earth. But you and I would not have half of the benefits that we enjoy today if he had stayed in heaven and just taken care of the spirit realm. But he came to this earth and he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was laid on him and with his stripes we are healed. We would not have enjoyed any of that if that God had just remained in heaven.

But Jesus Christ came in the flesh uh to take our sins. And not only our sins, but he bore the pain of stripes on his back that you and I could enjoy physical healing. Hallelujah. If you're healed today, anybody ever I know I have been healed. I can I can tell you about the dates and the time. December 19th when the Lord touched my head. I can tell you about times when when God has touched me, absolutely physically touched me and I knew it wasn't because I went through any treatment. It was because the hand of the Lord just reached down and healed miraculously. So I'm telling you today that Jesus wrapped up in that name of Jesus is that Jehovah Rafikica. No matter what you are facing in life, uh the bitternesses of life, uh the spiritual things in life, uh the physical things in life, uh this Jesus that I serve today is able to heal them all. At the giving of the law, God spoke and said, "I am Jehovah Kadeshkin. I am I am the Lord who doth sanctify you. I'm the Lord who makes you holy." And this was a directive to Israel. He said, he said, "Therefore shall you keep my commandments." Watch. He said, "Therefore shall you keep my commandments and do them.

I am the Lord." This this was because he wanted a separated people. Holiness is still in effect, folks. I'll talk to this side over here. Holiness is still in effect, folks. Holiness is still very much in effect. He will have a holy people. He is Jehovah Madeshkin. I'm the Lord that sanctifies you. When he saves us, he brings us out and he brings us into the realm of his spirit. And he said, you keep my commandments, they were to separate themselves as a holy nation unto the Lord. So when Jesus spoke this same thing in the New Testament in John chapter 14 verse1 15, he said, "If you love me, Who are you? I'm he. And you got to believe that I am he. Because if you don't believe that I am he, you're going to die in your sins. Well, Jehovah, God spoke to us and told us to keep his commandments. And Jesus, you're now saying, "If you love me, keep my commandments." Oh, how it must have angered the Jews. But he is still the only effective sanctifying power today. Jesus when he had by himself purged our sins, it wasn't another. It was by himself. Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood. Peter wrote, "But you are not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

Peter further writes, uh, "But ye are a chosen generation." Listen, square your shoulders and straighten up. You've been called of God. You are sanctified to become a child of God. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. That's me. I'm him. the person that Peter talked about, a chosen generation, sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ and the spirit of Jesus Christ toward the ultimate goal that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself. Listen, a glorious church. Woo! Don't get down on the church because the church that Jesus Christ presents to himself, brother Peter preached about it a while back. I love it here in the church. in the church of the living God. The church of the living God is going to be presented as a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. He is Jehovah, our peace. In Judges 6:24, and I'm hurrying to a close, but in Judges 6:24, he proclaimed himself uh Gideon proclaimed that this is Jehovah Shalom.

He is the Lord. The Lord is my peace. It was a promise to a man who believed himself to be a coward. And the angel says, "You're a mighty man. You just got to see yourself the way God sees you." It was a promise. It was a promise that uh to a man that believed himself that he was going to die after he received a spiritual visitation. But the Lord said unto him, "Peace, fear not. You're not going to die." How often with the visitation of the Lord comes an exhortation to fear not because there's a great peace to them that love the Lord. And Jesus Jesus put himself in that role and ascribed to him that title. He said, "Peace I leave with you. My peace, brother Dave, I give to you. Not as the world giveth give I unto you." And he said, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Let's stand together. We live in a world that is fueled by fear. There's fear on every hand. Men's hearts are failing them for fear. They're they're afraid of this and they're afraid of that and and everything in the world is playing on fear. It's good to know the peace of God that passes understanding. Brother Lorenzo, I've got peace that the world didn't give.

I'm not looking to the world to to bring my peace. I know the peacekeeper. I know the peace speaker. I know the peacemaker that walks out into the middle of a storm and says, "Peace, be still." Merl Yuing used to sing a song, "Storms don't decide how long they will stay. When the master Woo. When the master says enough, they just go away. I know him. I don't just know a name today. I know Jesus. A lot of people know the name of Jesus, but I know him because he lives here and he's given me this peace that passes understanding. Hallelujah. Let's just thank him this morning. Father, we thank you for all that you are. All those wonderful names of revelation that are rolled up into one name, that highest revelation of Jesus Christ. And when we have you, we have need of nothing because all of those things that you were, you still are in Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, this day for this gathering together. Thank you for the people that are faithful to your house. I pray that you would bless our service this morning. Just grace us with your presence in Jesus' name. And let the church say, "Amen." Amen. God bless you. You can take a break here.