Before Abraham Was, I Am

 Temple Baptist Church - 5-10-2023

John 8:58

 

Introduction:

 

A.  Tonight, I want to keep verse 58 within its context to “rightly divide the word of truth.” 

 

1.  I know that I “dwell” on Biblical Hermeneutics and certain principles that must be used to interpret verses of scripture and individual words used in the Bible.  If you learn nothing else from your pastor other than how to study your Bible, I feel that I have done right well. 

 

2.  With the Word of God in your hand and the Holy Spirit of God, the Author of the Word of God, living in your hearts—you can know what God wants you to know!

 

3.  You do not need commentaries of men to study the Bible.  Your Bible, a good Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, and common sense will get the job done.  A good Bible Concordance or Thesaurus are also great aids in Bible study.

 

4.  The Context Mention of Bible Interpretation is imperative in understand correctly what is said in your Bible.  A verse taken out of context becomes a pretext at that point.  You can make the Bible say anything that you want instead of understanding what the Bible says.

 

B.  The context of verse 58 hinges on the question asked in verse 25: “Who art thou?”  The Lord answered that question plainly in verse 58: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

 

John 8:25  Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.

 

C.  Because of this answer to their question (Jesus plainly said that He was Jehovah God when He said, “I am”, they hated Him. 

 

John 8:59  Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 

D.  Jesus Christ was the Jehovah God of the Old Testament and referred to Himself as so with the words “I am:’

 

E.  The words “I am” are used 732 times in the Bible so I did not take the time to look at every reference to see when it was talking about God or man. 

 

F.  But the words “I Am” – are used app. 90 times, either spoken by Christ or referred to Christ, to declare who Christ was in the Gospels alone.

 

1.  The First Mention – Exodus 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

 

2.  The Last Mention – Revelation 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

 

3.  The First and Last Mentions perfectly agree that Jehovah God, Jesus Christ was the Almighty!

 

G.  There are many names used in the Old Testament when speaking of Jehovah God:

 

1.  Jehovah-Jireh:  The LORD Will Provide (Genesis 22:13-14)

 

2.  Jehovah-Rapha: The LORD Who Heals (Exodus 15:22-26)

 

3.  Jehovah-Nissi: The LORD My Banner (Exodus 17:15)

 

4.  Jehovah-M’Kaddesh: The LORD Who Sanctifies (Leviticus 20:7-8)

 

5.  Jehovah-Shalom:  The LORD Our Peace (Judges 6:24)

 

6.  Jehovah-Rohi:  The Lord Our Shepherd (Psalm 23:1)

 

7.  Jehovah-Tsidkenu: The LORD Our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

 

8.  Jehovah-Shammah: The LORD Who Is There (Ezekiel 48:35)

 

H.  In Exodus 3:14, the LORD God gave Moses His name: “I AM THAT I AM”.

 

1.  “I AM THAT I AM” speaks of:

 

a)  Eternality – God is an eternal being therefore, having no past nor future.  “I AM THAT I AM” speaks of an ever-present God.

 

b)  Self-Existing – Because God is eternal, He must also be self-existing.  Having no need of anything or anyone to exist.

 

2.  Often in the Bible, we find the words:

 

a)  LORD - Jehovah or – Yahweh.  When writing the name of God, Yahweh, the Jews used an abbreviated form of YHWH. 

 

1)  They abbreviated God’s name (tetragrammaton or acronym) out of reverential fear of taking the name of God lightly or in vain.

 

Exodus 20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.  (LORD is in all caps which refers to YHWH or Yahweh.)

 

2)  I thank the Lord that the New Testament believer has a far greater relationship (a personal one) with God.  In the model prayer, the Lord Jesus said to pray to “our Father, which art in heaven”.

 

b)  Many times the word “Lord” with a capital “L” followed by lower case letters is used in the Bible which means my lord, master, or owner. 

 

c)  God – Elohim – is a plural word for deity found many times in the Bible with the First Mention in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God” 

 

J.  Here we find a double mention of the words “I am”.

 

1.  Notice the 2 same words divided by a comma.  Verily, verily, Verily means veracity or truth.  Double with the comma that divides them lends to a verily to go with the truth twice.

 

2.  Verily, before Abraham, I am.  Verily, before Abraham was, I am.  This doubles the words “I am”, which lines up with the statement God made to Moses: “I AM THAT I AM” and these Jews knew PLAINLY who Jesus claimed to be.  This is what they would ask for In John 10:24.

 

John 10:24  Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. (Jesus did.)

 

Conclusion: Once again, this is not an argument of the existence of God, it is a declarative statement concerning the existence of God.  God does not argue with finite man concerning His being.  He declares His being!  God is:

 

“I AM THAT I AM” of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ, the “I AM” of the New Testament were One and the Same: Self-existing, Immortal, Immutable, Eternal, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent, and Incomprehensible.   He is GOD and He is LORD and He is Jesus Christ!

A Purposed Life

 Temple Baptist Church - 5-7-2023

Psalm 63

 

Introduction:  One of the best ways to study a context is to outline it.  Here is my outline on Psalm 63.

 

A.  The history of Psalm 63. “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.”  This is another of the psalms written either while David was hiding from King Saul or Absalom in the wilderness of Judah.  It was a favorite hiding place for David because of its vastness and its barrenness. 

 

The wilderness of Judah is the whole wilderness towards the east of the tribe of Judah, bounded on the north by the tribe of Benjamin, stretching, southward to the south-west end of the Dead Sea, eastward to the Dead Sea and the Jordan, and westward to the mountains of Judah.

 

B.  Though David suffered much in his life, his suffering did nothing to define his person.  It seems that David spent about as much time running as he did ruling!  NEVER let your troubles define your life, let your life define your troubles.  Walk with God in the midst of the storms.

 

C.  Though David failed God at times, his failures did not define his purpose. 

 

1.  NEVER let your failures define your life.  Let your failures be stepping blocks to success in life.  Get up out of the dust and dirt and keep walking with God. 

 

2.  Despite the greatness of his sins, David became the man “after mine own heart, which shall fill all my will” and established the Everlasting Throne that Christ would one day sit upon. (Acts 13:22)

 

Luke 1:32  He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

 

D.  The outline: David’s Purposing: 

 

1.  To Seek God.  Verse 1.  God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

 

a.  To seek his God. “O God, thou art my God”

 

b.  To seek his God early. “early will I seek thee”

 

c.  To seek God fervently. “my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;”

 

2.  To See God.  Verse 2.   Matthew 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

 

 

a.  He Remembered God’s Power.  “To see thy power”

 

b.  He Remembered God’s Person.  “and thy glory”

 

c.  He Remembered God’s Place.  “so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.”  He remembered the good times.

 

3.  To Praise God.  Verses 3-4. 

 

a.  With his Lips.  “my lips shall praise thee.”

 

b.  With his Life.  “Thus will I bless thee while I live”

 

4.  To Be Satisfied.  Verses 5-7.

 

a.  With His Provision. “as with marrow and fatness”  In trouble as well as the good times.

 

b.  With His Peace. “When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.” 

 

c.  With His Position. “therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.”

 

5.  To trust God.  Verses 8-11.

 

a.  With His Problems.  “My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.”

 

b.  With His Protection.   “But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.  (10)  They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.”

 

c.  With His Providence.  “But the king shall rejoice in God”  David looked beyond his present predicament to the days when he would be once again restored to power.

Noah Walked with God in Loneliness

 Temple Baptist Church - 5-7-2023

Genesis 6:1-9

Introduction:

 

A.  Last week, I preached on Enoch, a man who walked with God in Consistency.  The phrase “walked with God” is found twice in Genesis 5:22, 24.  The third mention of “walked with God” is found in Genesis 6:9.

 

B.  Genesis 6:1 is now 2764 BC or 1236 years after the Creation.

 

1.  Society, both the genealogy of Cain and Seth, lost and saved, Satanic and Messianic have seriously declined.

 

2.  The godly line of Seth is now intermarrying with the ungodly line of Cain and there is little or no difference visible between these two once distinct lines.

 

C.  The Bible tells us that the same characteristics found in Noah’s day would be found in our day.

 

Matthew 24:37-38  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  (38)  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,  (39)  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (39)  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

 

1.  Unimaginable Wickedness of Mind - Genesis 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

 

2.  Total lack of Fear of God - Hebrews 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

 

3.  Disobedient to the Word of God - 1 Peter 3:20  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

 

4.  Doomed to the Judgement of God - 2 Peter 2:5  And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

 

5.  Blinded to the Times in which they Lived - Matthew 24:39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

 

D.  When God spoke to Noah in Genesis 6:13, Noah was 480 years old.  Noah would both Preached God’s Word and Prepared the ark for the next 120 years.  He was 600 years old when the flood came.

 

Genesis 6:3  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

 

E.  This is important as God said: “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God,” BEFORE He spoke to him in verse 13. 

 

Genesis 6:13  And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.  (The word “And” ties Noah’s life of godliness with the same timeframe as the world’s total corruption.)

 

F.  Why did Noah live a life of loneliness?  Because: Genesis 6:9  These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

 

1.  Noah was a Lonely man because His Justification – “a just man”  I am not saying that everyone on earth was lost or everyone on the ark was spiritually saved (the ark is a type of safety through obedience as Noah was not spiritually saved by the works of his hands).

 

Matthew 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

 

a.  We live in days when salvation does not change the world’s Loving, it cannot change their Longing.  Are they saved or lost?  I thank God that I am not their judge but, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, it is probably a duck!

 

(1)  The Love of God is missing today.  1 John 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

 

(2)  The Love of God’s Word is missing today.  Job 23:12  Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

 

(3)  The Love of God’s People is missing today.  1 John 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

 

(4)  The Love of God’s House is missing today.  Psalms 84:2  My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

 

b.  Therefore, salvation does not change their love, it will not change their longing. and it will not change their Lives.  If you do not love right, you will not live right.  “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he!”

 

2.  Noah was a Lonely man because His Separation – “perfect in his generations” 

 

2 Corinthians 6:14-18  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?  (15)  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?  (16)  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  (17)  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,  (18)  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

 

a.  Noah was not “politically correct”.  His life told it like it was.

 

b.  Noah was not tainted with the “wokeness” of his day.  His life was contrary to the lives of others.

 

c.  Noah was not unequally yoked with the worldly and unsaved.  As did God, so did Moses: he loved the sinner but not the sin!

 

3.  Noah was a Lonely man because His Affiliation – “and Noah walked with God” 

 

Amos 3:3  Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

 

a.  Noah could not hold hands with this world without despising God.  Who we hold hands with is who we are.  “Birds of a feather flock together.”  “You know who a man is by the company he keeps.”

 

b.  Noah could not walk with this world and walk with God.  These two are contrary to each other.

 

Conclusion:  Noah walked with God for hundreds of years as a matter of salvation, salvation, and choice!  “Though none go with me, still I will follow?” 

 

Joshua 24:15  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Abraham Rejoiced to See My Day

Temple Baptist Church - 5-3-2023

John 8:56-59

 

Introduction: 

 

A.  Over the last few weeks spent in the context of John, chapter 8, we have seen Abraham referred to several times.  Abraham is named 250 times in the Bible with 11 of those mentions in John, chapter 8.

 

B.  I want to move on from the lack of saving faith of these Jews who referenced Abraham and look at the importance of this great patriarch of the Old Testament.

 

C.  Who was this man important enough for God to name “Abraham’s Bosom” after him?  Bosom:

 

1.  Bosom – a bay.  A place of refuge from the storm; a place of calm and peace; a place of abiding.

 

2.  Bosom – a woman’s bosom; a place of comfort and safety for a child.

 

3.  Bosom – a bosom buddy or friend; closeness and love.

 

D.  Abraham’s Bosom – a place where the Old Testament saints found safety and comfort while awaiting the glorious resurrection of Christ Jesus.

 

E.  John 8:56  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

 

1.  Now Jesus told these unsaved Jews that Abraham was indeed their “father” as far as the flesh was concerned, but not their spiritual “father”. 

 

2.  “Abraham rejoiced to see my day”.  Hebrews speaks of the faith of the Old Testament Jews in chapter 11 as they looked forward in prophecy to the coming of the Seed of the Woman, the Lamb of God, and Israel’s Messiah.  As we look back to Christ and Calvary by faith, we are to rejoice also.

 

a)  Looking Forward – Hebrews 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

 

b)  Looking Back – Philippians 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

 

1 Peter 1:8-10  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:  (9)  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.  (10)  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

 

3.  Abraham “saw it, and was glad”.  “Oh happy day that fixed my choice!”  “Oh say but I’m glad, I’m glad!”

 

F.  What made Abraham so special, so necessary, so important?

 

1.  Abraham’s Person.

 

a.  Abraham: A Follower of God – Hebrews 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

 

b.  Abraham: A Father of Israel – Hebrews 11:9  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

 

c.  Abraham” A Friend of God – James 2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

 

2.  Abraham’s Promise.

 

a.  The Promise of the Nation – Genesis 12:1-3  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:  (2)  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 

 

b.  The Promise of the Saviour – Genesis 22:17-18  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;  (18)  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

 

c.  The Promise of the Seed – Genesis 15:5-6  And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.  (6)  And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

 

3.  Abraham’s Position.  He is called the “Father” of our faith.  Romans 4:12  And the father of   circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.

 

a.  Abraham believed in a Truth that could be Trusted – Romans 4:3  For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

 

b.  Abraham had a Faith that could be Tested – Genesis 22:2-3  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.  (3)  And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

 

4.  Abraham’s Prophecy.

 

a.  A Lamb Prophesied– Genesis 22:8  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

 

b.  A Lamb Provided:

 

1)  In Abraham’s Day – Genesis 22:11-14  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.  (12)  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.  (13)  And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.  (14)  And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

 

2)  In John’s Day – John 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

 

Hebrews 11:17-19  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,  (18)  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:  (19)  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.