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Is he passed or is he present?
His name is not I was. His name is I am. His name not I will be.
His name is I am. As we’ve already learned in this series, the lord Jesus lives now in the eternal present.
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Now here is doctor Jeremiah with his message. Is he passed or is he present?
Jesus described himself in two little words that comprise three letters.
Jesus says, you wanna know me? Here’s my name. I am. I am.
Now, that title I am speaks of the self existence of Jesus.
It speaks to the fact that he is the ever present one His name is not I was.
His name is I am. His name is not I will be. His name is I am.
As we’ve already learned in this series, the lord Jesus lives now in the eternal present.
In many respects, there is no past or future for Jesus, everything is in the present.
He doesn’t live in time. He lives outside of time.
And so it is true of the lord Jesus to say that his name is I am.
And one of the challenges you have when you teach on the life of Christ is how do you help people to know Christ because in order to learn something, we have to have something we already know from which to start the process.
And there are no precedence for Jesus. There’s never been anybody like him nor will there ever be.
There’s no one to whom you can compare him.
So almighty god in his wisdom, and through his word, has given us a number of metaphors to help us understand who Jesus is.
First of all, in the sixth chapter of John, Jesus said, I am the bread of life.
Interestingly enough, this statement comes in the midst of the context of the feeding of the five thousand.
Now, watch this. The people who are Jesus that day, say, and the bread of life, they have these two thoughts in mind.
They think that Jesus is the new Moses who has come to provide mana for them every day, and that he’s going to be the miracle worker breadline for them.
So Jesus goes back to the synagogue, and he straightens them out, and this is what he said.
He said, most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven, For the bread of god is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
And Jesus got done explaining that, and I love the humor of the Bible.
And the people, they’re still living in the physical realm. They aren’t getting the message.
And they say to Jesus, lord, give us this bread always. So when did we show up tomorrow, Lord?
They didn’t understand. He wasn’t talking about physical bread, He was talking about the spiritual bread, and he was claiming to be that bread.
In John six thirty five, he said I am the bread of life and he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.
He is the core sustenance for your spiritual being. Jesus is your bread.
And in the genius of John’s unfolding gospel, the one who said I am the bread of life, says, I am the light of the world.
And once again, there is a story. You remember the story of the woman who was taken in adultery.
Now it’s interesting that when that’s all done, Jesus says to everyone, I am the light of the world.
I am the light of the world. Why would he say that?
He says, I am the light of the world, and he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.
He had just told this woman, go and sin no more.
And now he says, let me tell you how you can stay out of the darkness.
I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t get caught in the darkness.
And there is one other person that Jesus says is the light of the world.
You may be surprised at this you may not know this about Jesus.
There is somebody else beside Jesus who is the light of the world. Here it is.
Matthew five fourteen through sixteen. You are the light of the world.
I am the light of the world. You are the light of the world.
Jesus said, a city that is on a hill cannot be hidden.
Let your light so shine before men that they will see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.
I don’t promise somebody you’re saying, I don’t feel like a light.
In fact, there’s a lot of darkness in my life, pastor. Jesus is still the light.
He’s the sun. We’re the moon. We can’t generate light. We can just reflect it.
We have no light in ourselves. We can’t just push a button. It says brighter.
We are reflectors. Uh, I had a bike when I was growing up, and probably you all have bikes like this.
My bike had a little headlight on the front of it, but right underneath the seat in the back was a reflector.
That was there. So if anybody was gaining ground on me in They didn’t see me.
Their light would shine on my reflector, and they’d go the other way.
Now if I took that bike on a mud ride and the reflector got all dirty, it was useless.
So here’s the lesson from the light of the world.
We are reflectors, and the only way we can shine brighter is by keeping our reflector clean.
God wants clean reflectors.
And the way you do that, uh, he’s given you some product to keep your reflector clean.
It’s called the word of god. The Bible is the cleansing agent that keeps us clean.
When we study the scripture, when we read the Bible, That’s what god uses to help us stay clean.
Jesus said I am the bread of life, and I am the light of the world.
Here’s third statement, I am the door. Here’s what he said in John ten.
Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
All who ever come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy.
I have come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.
Now, to get this in your mind and never to forget it and see the picture that was meant to be created for us, I have to tell you a little bit about what it was like to be a shepherd in Jesus Day.
At night, when the shepherd would gather the sheep, they put them in a sheep pen.
The sheep pen was created practically.
It was movable, and it would be up to a height, high enough so that a sheep couldn’t jump over it.
And, usually, when we see pictures of that in magazines or dictionaries, it shows a hanging door on one side of this opening usually made out of rope or something.
And so the picture is when all the sheep are in, the door swings closed, and the sheep are enclosed, and they’re safe for the night.
But Jesus said, I am the door. What do you do with that?
Well, you go back and you study the history of it, and here’s what you find out.
There were no doors on a sheepfold. All that swinging door stuff, that’s Western. We created that.
A shepherd never saw anything like that in his life. Because what the shepherd did was this.
He would gather the sheep into fold at night. He would know every one of them.
In fact, we’re gonna find out in a few moments. He even had names for his sheep.
And after all the sheep were in the fold, The shepherd would go over to the opening space where they came in, and he would lay down in that space, and there he would sleep that night.
He would have his crook and his shepherd’s bar with him.
And no sheep could get out of the fold unless he crawled over the lightly sleeping shepherd.
And no one could get into the fold to hurt the sheep because the shepherd was the door.
When Jesus said I am the door, what he means is just as the shepherd was the door of the sheepfold, I am the door.
By me, you have to enter in. Now, this is very similar to the next I am.
Jesus next says, I am the good shepherd. Now let me tell you something that’s really interesting.
Jesus never referred to himself as a priest. He never referred to himself as a preacher.
He never called himself a clergyman He never said he was a bishop.
He never said he was an elder, but oh, how he loved to call himself the shepherd.
Jesus is the shepherd. He said, I am the good shepherd.
Let me tell you three things about a shepherd that the Bible teaches about Jesus First of all, the good shepherd loves his sheep.
Uh, we’ve been talking a lot about this at our house. And I know you’ll understand.
I’m I’ve never been all that much for having an animal.
My wife’s had two cats for as long as I can remember.
That may be one of the reasons I don’t know.
But as you know, we have a puppy.
And I didn’t know you could love an animal. Like, we love that puppy.
I mean, I love that dog, like he was one of my kids.
I take him everywhere I go if I can. I took him to the bank the other day he sat up on the bank, and I did my stuff, and people look at me like, I’m I think they think I’m just getting old.
I think that’s what they think. But I love that puppy, and I call him by name.
And when I leave the house, he cries. When I come back, he gets all excited. He’s my friend.
And I think that the shepherds of those early days had that kind of relationship with their sheep.
Uh, we have some evidence that they gave their sheep names, and they call their sheep by name.
And when they would come back into the fold at night, they knew every one of them.
They counted them. They made sure all of them got in.
You know the story about the the shepherd that had a hundred sheep, and one of them was lost, and he left the ninety nine, and he went to find the one.
That’s the image of a shepherd.
The sheep are the only animal I know that are totally helpless without a shepherd.
I’ve been to ministerial conferences where they speak on a shepherd in the sheep, and they love to go into detail about how sheep are the dumbest animals on the face of the earth.
And then they they say really nice things about their congregation.
I don’t get it, but that’s what they do.
Well, I I’m not going down that road, but I wanna tell you this.
We’re sheep, and we’re as helpless in our own walk in the Christian world.
As sheep are without a shepherd. Ladies and gentlemen, we need a shepherd. Amen.
And we need a shepherd who calls us by name We need a shepherd who knows us.
We need a shepherd who makes sure that we get in the fold before darkness and protects us and keeps evil beasts away from us.
We need a shepherd. That’s why we love Psalm twenty three. The lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want. Did you ever read the part that says he leads me besides still waters?
Why does he do that? Cause I don’t have enough sense to go there myself.
I’m a sheep. I am a shepherd, but I’m also a sheep.
The good shepherd loves his sheep, and the good shepherd leads his sheep.
I’ve probably said this to the lord more in recent years than ever in my early life.
Lord, I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on you.
How many of you know when you don’t know what to do and you don’t have a map that makes any sense, you gotta stay close to the shepherd.
People will always ask me, uh, Doctor. Jeremiah. How can I know the will of god?
And what they want me to do is to give them some formula that they can go ABC DME when they get all the spaces filled in.
They know they’re supposed to be a doctor and not a lawyer. But the Bible isn’t like that.
And though I have heard many constructs and many sermons about how to know the will of god, just kinda like you to put them all at the side and remember one simple thing.
The way you know the will of god is you stay close to the leader who is your shepherd.
You stay close to the shepherd who has the way all mapped out.
And as long as you stay close to him, you will always be in the will of god.
I don’t think the will of god is a place or a position. The will of god is a process.
It’s a process of walking with the shepherd. The lord is our shepherd.
He loves us, and he leads us, but here is the most important thing about this shepherd.
He lays down his life for us.
The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
You know, in studying the Bible, One of the things you learn pretty quickly if you’re a student of the Bible is if if the Bible says the same thing a whole bunch of times in a short passage it’s usually pretty important.
I mean, this is, this is called emphasis. The Bible probably didn’t have highlighters.
Writers of the Bible didn’t underline things, but here’s what happened.
If they wanted to make a point, they made the point by saying it over and over again.
So Let me just direct your attention to the tenth chapter of John, and I wanna read four verses that are in a very short span, see if you can’t pick up.
What the writer of this text wants us to know. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
John ten fifteen, I lay down my life for the sheep John ten seventeen, I lay down my life that I may take it again.
John ten eighteen, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down to myself I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
Our lord’s death was voluntary. He spoke of laying it down and taking it back up.
No one took his life from him. For no one had the authority or the power to do so.
The good shepherd the son of god voluntarily willingly of his own volition out of love laid down his life for you and for me.
He is the good shepherd, and the Bible says, because the lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need.
He is the good shepherd. He’s the bread of life. He’s the light of the world.
He’s the door. He’s the good shepherd, and the Bible says he is also the resurrection and the life.
In John chapter eleven, where this statement appears, Jesus has been called to what he thought at first was the bedside of lazarus and then to the grave side of Lazarus.
Martha was really upset with Jesus, and she said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.
But even now I know whatever you ask of God, he will give you.
And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
Do you believe that? And the Jewish people of our lord’s day did not believe many of them in the resurrection.
There was a whole group of them called the sadducees. They didn’t even believe the resurrection existed.
And here is Jesus saying to this woman, I am the resurrection and the life.
And, of course, in a few moments, he’s gonna prove it and calls lazarus out of the tomb.
The Bible is so clear about this part of what Jesus does.
Jesus is not just the I am for now. He’s the I am for the future.
You say, well, pastor Jeremiah, how’s he gonna resurrect us?
And the Bible says that one day when Jesus comes back, If we’ve passed on, and we’re our bodies are in our grave, our bodies are dead, but we’re still alive.
And the Bible says Jesus is gonna bring us with him, bring the spirit on souls of of those who have died with him.
And when the trumpet sounds and the, and the voice of the archangel is heard, those either collected or scattered remnants of our old body will be reconstituted into a like sized body as unto the lord Jesus.
In other words, when Jesus comes back to receive us to himself, if we have died and were in our grave, we’re gonna be raised up.
And in that resurrection process, we’re gonna get a whole new body.
We’re gonna get an extreme makeover on our way to heaven. You say, how do you know that?
Listen to this. Listen to these words from Philipp.
The lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body, amen.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Now, what does that mean to you?
What it means to me is though I don’t wanna die.
I’m afraid to die because more than anything else that I know in all the world, I know that when I die, that’s not the end.
God has a wonderful plan for your life and mine, that goes past the grave and ends up in eternity with the lord Jesus Christ himself.
So I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the door.
I am the good shepherd. I am the way, the truth and the life. That’s the next one.
This is the most offensive thing Jesus ever said when he was on this earth.
Are you ready for it? Here’s what he said.
He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the father except through me.
Try that on at your next office party and see what happens.
One of the biggest issues today is that you cannot be exclusive with the gospel.
And you hear things like, don’t all roads lead to heaven? No. That’s a bad trip.
You don’t wanna go on that trip. Isn’t everyone’s faith just a matter of sincerity? No.
How many of you know you can be sincerely wrong?
I am directionally challenged, and I am a living illustration that you can be directionally, seriously wrong.
And we have such trouble with this idea that almighty god would say to us through his word, here’s the way to come to god, and there’s only one way.
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man comes to the father, except through me.
And you could go home and say, well, I didn’t like that sermon pastor.
I didn’t think that was very nice. I don’t think you should say those kind of things.
You know, You could get in trouble for saying that.
Well, bring on the trouble because I’m here to tell you that if a man claims to be a representative of god and gives you any other message, he’s not helping you.
He’s damning you to an eternity without god.
He’s telling you there’s a way you can get to heaven, and that way isn’t there.
It isn’t a Baptist way. It isn’t a Presbyterian way. It isn’t a methodist way.
It’s not a charismatic way. It’s god’s way. God said, you can get to heaven.
Here’s how you do it through Jesus Christ.
And Jesus Christ said that in John fourteen, one through six, this is one of his great IMs.
He said, I am the way, the truth and the life.
And no one comes to the father except through me.
Finally, he said, I am the vine, and you are the branches.
And he said, you have to stay connected to me if you’re gonna bear fruit. Jesus is the vine.
We’re the branches. And he says, if you wanna be fruitful as a Christian, stay plugged into the vine.
This whole passage in John fifteen is really a wonderful thing to study.
It says that if you’re connected to the vine, you’ll have some fruit.
If you stay connected and really work it and make sure that you stay connected to the vine, you’ll have more fruit.
And finally at the end, it says, you can have much fruit. You can have some fruit.
You can have more fruit, or you can have much fruit.
Everybody who’s a Christian has some fruit in their life or they’re not a Christian. And here’s the secret.
The closer you stay to the vine, the more fruitful you will be.
The Bible says, the heavenly father, who’s the gardener, he prunes you.
Here’s what I’ve learned, and this is what I want you to take home with you.
You are never closer to the vine and to the father than you are when you are being pruned.
You will never sense the presence of the lord and his love for you more then when he reaches down and begins to do that work in your life, and he says, no, this is a leafy branch, and it’s sucking you dry.
You need to get that out of your life.
Because I have plans for you, and my plans are that you will prosper here and prosper here And if you do all of these other things, you can’t prosper in the things I want you to prosper in.
So there you have it seven statements about Jesus.
Well, I’m here to tell you men and women. This Jesus I’ve been talking about.
He’s He’s the real deal. Is he the bread of your life?
Is he the light of your world? Is he the door? Is he your shepherd?
Is he your way, your truth, and your life? Is he the vine for you?
He can be You could just put your trust in.
It starts at a decision at a moment in time when you say, okay, lord. Here I am.
This is my life. Move in and take over, and he will.