SPEAKER_00 0:04

This crowd has been a little wishy-washy when it comes to Jesus. There are some there that hate him and want to kill him. There are some there that had some good thoughts about Jesus, and they thought, well, we we believe what he's saying. But then, as it commonly is, when Jesus goes on and begins to talk more about what it actually means to trust in him and who he is, they begin to feel a little differently. And so they've been arguing with Christ, trying to catch him, trying to pin him down. They're wanting him to say something or to do something that would lead them to be able to arrest him. They hate him, as I've told you every time we meet and we talk about this particular encounter that's been going on now for like two chapters. They started hating him all the way back in John chapter 5. That's when they really started hating him. He healed a man on the Sabbath. How dare he! And now, now we are kind of wrapping up this conversation. And Jesus ends last week with that promise if you keep my word, you will never see death. And we talked about what that means to keep his word. And it will change your life. But, as is commonly the case, they didn't understand what it was that he was saying. And so listen to what they say in verse 52. The Jews said to him, Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets. Yet you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died, who you make yourself out to be? Or who do you make yourself out to be? Jesus answered, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God. But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him, and I keep his word. Listen, I want you to listen to this claim that Jesus makes. So the Jews said to him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. Let's pray together. Father, I thank you for your word. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your life, your death, your resurrection. We thank you, Lord, that you have ascended to the right hand of the Father, and we thank you, Lord, for the promise that you are returning again. We thank you for the promise of the resurrection of the dead. We thank you, Lord, for grace and mercy and forgiveness. We thank you for this gospel message that can change hearts by the power of your spirit. And today, Lord, as the gospel is preached, we trust you to do exactly that. To change hearts, to change minds, to change lives by the power of your spirit. This preacher, Lord, has nothing to offer. This preacher has nothing good in and of himself. And so, Lord, I pray that you would hide me behind the cross, that Christ would be magnified, that he would be lifted up, that you would draw men unto yourself through the preaching of the gospel. And Lord, we pray all this in Jesus' name.

unknown 5:53

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

I want to tell you that if you came this morning looking for an empty tomb, you're going to find it. You're going to find it. The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive. But you're going to find something else as well because before there was ever an empty tomb, before there was ever a resurrection, Jesus made a claim. Jesus made a claim. And this claim that Jesus made was so offensive to the crowds, to the religious leaders, to those that heard it. This claim that Jesus made was so bold, it struck to the core of those that were listening to it, to the point where it says they wanted to pick up stones and kill him. Because Jesus made a claim about himself. Now, I spoke with, and I'm gonna try not to blend my two sermons this morning. My mind might get a little discombobulated, so bear with me. But I told the early crowd this morning, I said, listen to me. If Jesus is dead, let's pack this all up and go home. We are wasting our time today. If Jesus is dead, there's no reason for us to be here. If Jesus is dead, then he's a liar and he's a lunatic, and we've got no reason to worship him. I want you to understand that this morning. You say, Well, brother Jimmy, you're a preacher. Don't you think that it would still be worth worshiping Jesus even if he was dead? He was such a good man, he lived such a good life. Listen to me, if Jesus is dead, Jesus wasn't a good man. If Jesus is dead, he was a swindler and a crook and a liar, and nothing he said two thousand years ago matters today. Everything that we believe, and everything that Jesus said about himself hinges on whether or not the resurrection was true. And there was no resurrection of Christ from the grave, then there is no resurrection for us. If there is no resurrection for us, then Paul would say, we of all men are most to be pitied. Paul wouldn't say, Oh, well, it was still a good life. Paul said, if there is no resurrection, we've wasted our lives. But this morning, listen to me and listen to me very good. You will have to make a decision about what you will do with Jesus. You say, Oh no, I ain't got to make no decision. You big old ugly preacher, you can't force me to do anything. Hey, listen, I don't have to force you to do anything, but this morning you're going to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. This morning you're going to hear a claim that he made about himself. And you will either receive it and submit your life to him and believe in him because that is the only choice for those who believe it. Or you'll walk out of here rejecting Jesus. And I do not know if you will have another opportunity to hear the gospel and believe it and receive it. This morning, if Jesus is dead, none of this matters, but I am convinced and the Bible is clear, we cannot make any bones about it. History points to the fact that Jesus was not lying. That what he said about himself was true. That while they thought that he was just the son of a carpenter and some uneducated, unlearned, troublestir, rebel rouser, sabbath breaker, what he was was God in the flesh. And in our text for today, that is the claim that Jesus makes. That is what he says. He says, Before Abraham was, I am. Because Abraham belonged to God, the prophets belong to God, and none of them are here. All of them have died. And so who does this man think that he is? They've misunderstood what it is that he's saying. They've misunderstood the substance of his promise. You see, they had a misunderstanding. They were stuck in one category, and that category was the physical. They were stuck on the worldly. What do you mean, Jesus? Because everybody dies. Now listen, I will reaffirm what they said right here to Jesus. Because they're right about that. Everybody dies. You say, well, I don't know. I might escape it. No, you won't. No, you won't. The Bible says it is appointed unto man to die once, and then the judgment. You will die. The Pharisees understood that. All throughout Scripture, we understand that. Death is coming and it does not discriminate. The Bible says life is a vapor. It's here today and gone tomorrow. And we do not know when our last breath will be. All of us will die. Amen. But they did not understand that Jesus was speaking spiritually. I want you to understand this morning that there is a death that is worse than physical death. You say, Brother Jimmy, what do you? I mean, no, there's not. There's nothing worse that can happen to you than to die. That's the worst outcome that you could ever face. That the best we can hope for is to live a long, comfortable life and to die peacefully in our sleep. That's the best we can hope for. Let me tell you something, friends. There is a death that is worse than physical death. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. But spiritual death is eternal separation from God. It's eternal hopelessness, it's eternal damnation. It's an eternity of paying for a sin debt that we could never pay back. And Jesus here, the promises that if they keep his word, if they believe in him, if they abide in him, you may die physically, but you will never taste that second death. You say, what is the second death? Let's make it very simple this morning. It is the wrath of God. The second death is the wrath of God, the eternal, forever, never-ending wrath of God. Now, friends, listen. How is it that believing upon Jesus, keeping his word, how is it that that saves us from the second death or from the wrath of God? How is it that we are delivered from that through Christ? Well, I'm glad you asked. You say, I didn't ask. You're right, I didn't, but that's how I preach. I didn't, you didn't ask, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus, the very Son of God, God the Son, God with us, Emmanuel, stepped out of heaven. He was born to Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit, by the power of God. He took on flesh, he dwelt among us, and he lived a life in complete obedience to the Father. If you're wondering how hard that would be, let me tell you, for men like you and I, born under the curse of Adam, that is impossible. We are born with a bent toward sin. No one has to teach us how to sin. We're born, the Bible says, sinners. We're born under that curse. We're born falling short of the glory of God. And all of us fail when Adam fell. We're all born under that curse. But Jesus, the Bible says, is the second Adam. And he lived a perfectly obedient life to God. And Jesus laid his own life down for our sin. You say, well, I've always misunderstood that, Brother Jimmy, because I don't what what does what one man did two thousand years ago matter to me today? The Bible says that Jesus was the once-for-all sacrifice for sin. On the cross, God the Son drank the cup of wrath that we deserve for sin. He absorbed the wrath of God in our place. He said, Well, why is it that God didn't just sweep our sin under the rug? If he's such a loving and forgiving God, why didn't he just say, Okay, I forgive you? You can come and everybody can come to heaven. It's no big deal. Listen, it's because God is just, and a just God must deal with sin. If you commit a crime and you stand before and you have committed this crime, you're guilty. And you stand before a judge who is just, what is that judge going to do? Is he gonna say, Oh, don't worry about it. It's just a crime. We'll get over it. Just sweep it under the rug, forget it every time. Is that what a just judge would do? No, a just judge is going to give you whatever penalty you are owed under the law. And God, being a just God, had to have an answer for sin. There had to be atonement for sin. There had to be a payment for sin. The wonderful news is God is not also just. When I say he's holy, I mean he is perfectly holy. When I say he's loving, I mean he's perfectly loving. God is quick to forgive. And so in his grace and in his love and in his mercy, God provided a sacrifice. Sin had to be dealt with. Sin had to be paid. For, but in his grace, God provided a way for our sin to be forgiven. I told the early morning group this, and I hope you'll be okay if I tell you this. I'm hot. I don't normally wear a jacket for those of you that are visiting with us. On the cross, God's wrath, God's justice. Listen, some people will say, and I understand, listen, when we think about the cross, we think about love, don't we? We think about grace. I get it. I do too. But while we're thinking about love and grace, we also must think about justice, wrath, anger. On the cross, the wrath of God, the justice of God, the holiness of God, the love of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, collide in Christ. You see it all displayed for you in the cross. God did for us what we could not do. We were dead in sin. We were unable to please God. There was nothing in us that would commend us to God, but God in his grace provided a sacrifice. Oh, listen. I want you to look with me. Look at verse fifty-six. Your father Abraham. I know why I've got these notes. I'm not going to use them. We went off the rails a long time ago. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. That is a claim. You say, what is it that Jesus is talking about? Well, I want to remind you of something. Did God make a promise to Abraham? Yes, he did. God made a covenant with Abraham. He promised, and his offspring would be numerous, like the stars in the sky, like the sand on the shore, right? What else did God do with Abraham? Abraham? I want you to sacrifice your son Isaac. What did Abraham do? No, God, not gonna do that. Is that what Abraham did? No. What did he do? Grabbed Isaac by the hand, made an altar. He laid Isaac, he took Isaac with him to the altar. Listen, as a father of a son, there is no more for me of a gut-wrenching text of scripture than to read that. I cannot imagine what Abraham must have been feeling, what Abraham must have been thinking, what Isaac must have been feeling and thinking. I cannot imagine. But Abraham leads Isaac to the altar, he lays him on it, he is about to make a sacrifice of his son in obedience to what God told him to do. And what happened? God provided a sacrifice. He said, Why would God go through all that? Listen. Listen. Abraham rejoiced when he saw Christ's day. Because that in and of itself is a foreshadowing, a foreshadowing promise of what God would ultimately do for us in Christ. Abraham stood on this side of the cross. And he looked forward and he didn't fully understand everything. It was like holding a dirty, dim glass up to the light and trying to see through it. Abraham could only see flashes, only bits and pieces of what God was going to ultimately do in Christ. It was a foreshadowing. But Abraham rejoiced in that promise of God. And it was credited to him, the Bible says, as righteousness. What did he believe about God? He believed God's promise. He believed God's covenant. He looked forward to how God would fulfill the word that he spoke. And we stand on this side of that promise and we look back. We read about Abraham and we see how it foreshadowed what God did in Christ. And so here, as he's speaking to the Jews, Jesus is claiming, I am the one that God promised Abraham. I'm the one Abraham was looking forward to. I'm the one the prophets were looking forward to. I'm the one that angels longed to look into and longed to search out. You think the Jews understood what he was saying? They didn't believe it, but I think they picked up on the claim. What do you mean? Abraham rejoiced to see your day. What did they say? You're not yet 50 years old. And you have seen Abraham. What did Jesus say? Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was. Now listen, just for reference, that was a long time ago. That was before David. That was before Moses. Before Abraham was, I am. What's Jesus claiming there? What did God say to Moses as he was speaking to him in the burning bush? Who should I tell them sent me? Yah. Yaham that I am. That self-existent, sovereign, covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. The I am God. Here, listen, you'll talk to some fools that'll say, Jesus never claimed to be God. Listen, that is the biggest bunch of nonsense that you will ever hear in your life. Not only here, but many other places. Jesus made it clear he and the Father are one. Yes, he did. And right here, Jesus is telling these Jews that are arguing with him, hating him, wanting to kill him, Jesus says, before Abraham was, I am. I am the I am. You said, well, that don't make any sense, Brother Jimmy, because didn't Abraham, or didn't Jesus start in the manger? Oh no. Oh no. And if that's what you think, I'm glad you're here today. He didn't start in Bethlehem. In fact, Jesus was there before the foundations of the world were even laid. He is God the Son. That's why John says at the beginning of this gospel, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God. He goes on to say, all things were made by him. He's the creator. Listen, he was the voice in the burning bush.

unknown 33:00

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Listen. He was the one who called Moses. He was the one who called Abraham. Listen, he was the one who provided the Lamb. He's the one who was standing here before them today. Who became flesh and dwelt among us and went to the cross. And on the cross, he died for your sin and mine. And the cross wasn't the end of him. He rose again. Listen, if he didn't, none of this matters. But he did. He said, Well, I think that's a bunch of hogwash. Well, I think you're dead wrong. Let me tell you something. After Jesus, I shared this with the early morning crowd, and I'll share it with you. I hope you'll, if this is your second time hearing it, I hope you'll deal with it. If you don't, deal with it. Listen, I the claim that Jesus didn't rise again is a foolish claim. You say, how so, preacher? Well, I want to remind you what the Bible says happened. After Jesus was arrested, and after he was condemned and sentenced to die, and after he was crucified, you know what happened? His disciples run off like a bunch of scared little babies. What the Bible says. They fled. They were scared to death. Peter, old big mouth Peter, he reminds me a lot of myself. You know what old Peter did? I'll never deny you. He denied him three times before the rooster crowed that day. Peter runs off crushed, devastated. Peter's licking his wounds in a corner somewhere. John's taking care of Mary, the mother of Jesus. You can only imagine what he's dealing with and what they're going through. The other disciples are scared, they're afraid. But there was something that emboldened the scared and afraid men to start preaching that Jesus rose again. And let me tell you something: not to get fame and glory and money and possessions, but to be killed, to be hunted, to be hated, to be beaten, to be persecuted. Yet what sense would it make to say that they made it up, that they stole the body, that they hid him, that Jesus was removed from the tomb and placed somewhere? Listen to me, Peter would have had a much better time fishing for the rest of his life. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, Matthew could have gone back to collecting taxes and made a good living doing it. But that's not what happened. These men, they witnessed the resurrected Christ. They put their hands in the nail-scarred hands, and they touched his side. They witnessed him ascend to the right hand of the Father. They were commissioned to go and to proclaim this gospel to the whole world. And that's exactly what they did. But listen, they wouldn't have done it if Jesus was still dead. They were emboldened by the resurrection of Christ. They were empowered by the Holy Spirit of God to preach the good news of the kingdom, to ignite the flames of the early church. And that is exactly what they did. Why? Because Jesus is not dead, he is alive. And because he's alive, every single word he said is true. And this morning, the invitation to you is to believe it. Put your faith in the finished work of Christ. You say, I just don't know if God would save me. I've squandered my life, I've lived like the devil, I've done all these things. Listen to me. The Bible says we're all dead in sin apart from Christ. There is not degrees of deadness. You're either dead or you're alive. This morning, if you walked in here dead, just understand this. You can walk out of here alive in Christ forever. Put your hope in the finished work of Jesus. Call upon his name, and the Bible says you will be saved. And if you do that, friends, we want to rejoice with you this morning. Would you come and tell us? Would you let us rejoice with you today? Would you schedule a time to talk with me and come into this baptistry and declare your faith publicly to identify with Christ? Would you do that today, friends? Listen. That is the invitation today. Come to the risen Savior. And he will receive you. Jesus says, Any man who comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. If you want Christ, he's there to receive you today. Receive him in faith. Let's pray together. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you, Lord, for your gospel. I thank you for this day. Lord, I pray all this in Jesus' precious name. Amen.