JESUS: THE GREAT I AM

Trevor S. Ferguson

January 30, 2011

Ex 3:13-14 (KJV)

13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 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.

John 8:54-58 (KJV)

54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

INTRODUCTION

Despite the clear references in scripture many today do not understand the deity of Jesus Christ and the principles of the Godhead. The bible clearly teaches that there is one God, JEHOVAH, who created the heavens and the earth and has full dominion over humanity and over nature. This God, JEHOVAH, is the ‘Self Existing One’. Before him there was no God formed and neither shall there be any after him.

The word JEHOVAH is derived from four Hebrew letters which is transliterated YHWH (Hebrew) or JHVH (English) and pronounced Yahweh (Hebrew) or Jehovah (English). As used in the Hebrew language Yahweh is the third person form of the verb “to be” and therefore means “He is” that is the “Self Existing One”; therefore when God uses this verb to refer to Himself he uses the first person equivalent, which is “I AM”. We see therefore that Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Great I AM!

Exposition

The scriptures today bring together two passages revealing to us this Great I AM.

In Exodus 3:13-14 Moses wanted to know the name of God that he would use in reporting to the children of Israel as it regards the instructions God had given him. God responded “I AM THAT I AM”; “Tell them that I AM sent you”. God was saying to Moses I AM that Self Existing One; I AM the One who is and dwells in the everlasting present. There is no limit to my person. I AM ever present with you and will be to you who you need me to be.

As we read though the book of Exodus we find several revelations of the I AM:

1. I AM  - the One whose power is greater than all the magicians in Egypt
2. I AM - the One who brings plagues upon the Egyptians but spares the Israelites
3. I AM - the One who passes over Egypt to slay the firstborn, but spares the firstborn of Israel
4. I AM - the One who parts the Red Sea to allow Israel pass through on dry land but overthrows Pharaoh and all the Egyptian army in the same Red Sea
5. I AM - the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night; I AM  - the way through the wilderness
6. I AM - the One who rains manna from heaven so that his people may find bread and sends water from the Rock when the people are thirsty
7. I AM - the Law-giver, the One who establishes his covenant with the people and will stand by them throughout their generations

By the end of the Exodus and entry in the Promised Land the Jews therefore had a thorough understanding of who the great I AM was and recognized I AM as one of the revealed names of Jehovah God.

The second passage, John chapter 8, contains a lengthy discourse between Jesus and the Jews during which Jesus which on three occasions (vs. 24, 28 & 58) declares himself to be the I AM. Note – the “he” in verses 24 & 28 is written in italics indicating that the “he” was not in the original Greek text but was added by the translators.  Therefore in the original vs. 24 would read “…If ye believe not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins”. Vs. 28 would read “…When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I AM…” In vs. 58 Jesus made an unquestionable claim to be the I AM of the Old Testament as he declares “…Before Abraham was I AM”.  Jesus then is the GREAT I AM of the Old Testament. JEHOVAH of the OLD Testament is JESUS of the NEW Testament

Like Exodus the book of John contains several revelations on the Great I AM:

1.       I AM the BREAD of Life – St John 6:35, 48

2.       I AM the LIGHT of the world – St. John 8:12; 9:5

3.       I AM the DOOR of the sheep – St. John 10:7. 9

4.       I AM the GOOD SHEPHERD – St. John 10: 11, 14

5.       I AM the RESURRECTION and the LIFE – St. John 11:25

6.       I AM the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE – St. John 14:6

7.       I AM the TRUE VINE – St. John 15:1, 5

In revelation Revelation 1:8, 11 we find another declaration of the I AM: Jesus declares, “I AM Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending; …the first and the last; …I am he that liveth and was dead; and behold I am alive for evermore … and have the keys of hell and of death.” Jesus declares himself to be the first and the last; this agrees with Isaiah’s declarations …before me was no God formed; neither shall there be any after me. I, even I, am the LORD and beside me there is no saviour. I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God (Isaiah 43:10-11; 44:6)

APPLICATION

These scriptures clearly establish that Jehovah God of the old testament, who revealed himself to Moses as the I AM is revealed to us as Jesus Christ, the author of our salvation, our hope for eternal life, the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd who gave his life for us, the resurrection and the life, the way the truth and the life, the true vine!

We conclude as John did that Jesus is the only way of salvation. As Acts 4:12 tells us “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”.

This promise of salvation is available to all today. The message of salvation is summarized in Acts 2:38 …Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Great I AM is available today to offer you a full and free salvation! Accept him! It will be the best decision you will ever make.

THE ERROR OF ELI

Trevor S. Ferguson
January 16, 2011

Text:1st Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25, 27-31
12 Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.
13 And the priests' custom with the people was that when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come with a three-pronged fleshhook in his hand while the meat was boiling.
14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; and the priest would take for himself all that the fleshhook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, "Give meat for roasting to the priest, for he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw."
16 And if the man said to him, "They should really burn the fat first; then you may take as much as your heart desires," he would then answer him, "No, but you must give it now; and if not, I will take it by force."
17 Therefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord.

22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
23 So he said to them, "Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people.
24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord's people transgress.
25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?" Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them.

27 Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the Lord: 'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?
28 Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire?
29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?'
30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the Lord says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.
31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.

INTRODUCTION
In the kingdom of God the father plays a significant role. In Old Testament times the family was clearly patriarchal, with fathers such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob being towering examples of family leadership. The father was the dominant family member. He was the head of the house and served as leader, provider, protector and priest. The father was responsible for the wellbeing of the family as well as its discipline, but his prime responsibility was religious – as family priest and teacher of the faith. It was the fathers’ responsibility to communicate a living faith in God to the next generation. Failure to do so results in a faithless generation - as we saw in Judges 2:10 “…there arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord...”

Today’s text presents us with an example of the failings of one father – Eli. I hope to use the lessons learnt from this text to prevent similar errors in this generation and ensure that our godly heritage is passed on to our children

ELI AND HIS SONS
Eli was High Priest and Judge of Israel. He served during the time of Samuel’s childhood and is known for his instructions to Samuel at the time of God’s call. Eli judged Israel for 40 years and was a good man whose life was pure. He is first seen in 1st Samuel 1, where he initially thought that Hannah was drunk, but after hearing of her distress sent her off with a blessing. The second chapter of 1st Samuel however details an account of blatant sin on the part of Eli’s sons who served as priests in the temple. In the King James Version they are described as “sons of Belial” – sons of wickedness, wicked men; they did not know the Lord!! Eli’s sons violated the office of the priest; they took portions of the sacrifice that were not allocated to the priest, contrary to the law as given in Leviticus which prescribed specific portions of the sacrifice that the priest could consume, specifically the shoulder and the breast, also all the fat was to be burnt! Hophni and Phinehas however just stuck a fork into the altar while it was yet on the altar and took whatever portion came up on the fork; they would not wait for the sacrifice to be offered and disregarded the commandments of God. They also slept with the women who served at the door of the tabernacle – introducing into the temple a type of ritual prostitution which was specifically forbidden to the people of God.

Eli offered only a weak rebuke to his sons (see verses 23-25). Hophni and Phineas completely ignored him but still Eli did not intensify the rebuke o remove them from their priestly offices.
God sent 2 warnings to Eli but still Eli did not take action against his sons. Firstly, an unnamed prophet warned that God would kill both sons in the same day (vs. 27-36 of chapter 2), then The word that came to Samuel chapter 3:11-14 which stated that God will perform the previous prophesy.

Chapter 4 details Israel’s defeat at the battle of Ebenezer – both Hophni and Phinehas were killed and the ark of God was captured, Eli fell off his seat, broke his neck and died in sorrow! Phinehas’ wife, who was pregnant, went into labour and died in childbirth. The child was named Ichabod – meaning “The glory has departed”.

APPLICATION
As fathers we have a responsibility to instruct our children (both biological and spiritual) in the principles of righteousness and godly living. When children are found to be in error they must be firmly and decisively corrected. The level of firmness and the nature of the correction must be consistent with the degree of error. Where indicated, children who have committed error (or sin) must be removed from the position of authority. This is of paramount importance in the church, but also important in business and government. Failure to act will result in God having to take action – the end result will often be death, destruction and great sorrow

CONCLUSION
Eli, although a good man and faithful priest, made a great error in failing to correct his sons. God is reminding us today of that error. We must ensure that we train up our children in the way of holiness and righteousness and take decisive action if they are found to be in error. Let us ensure that the next generation will have righteous men and women to lead people to God!

The Magnitude of God's Love

Trevor S. Ferguson

January 9, 2011

Hosea 2:14-23 (NKJV)
14 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.
15 I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 "And it shall be, in that day," Says the Lord, "That you will call Me 'My Husband,' And no longer call Me 'My Master,'
17 For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more.
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, And with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, To make them lie down safely.
19 "I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy;
20 I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord.
21 "It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer," says the Lord; "I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth.
22 The earth shall answer With grain, With new wine, And with oil; They shall answer Jezreel.
23 Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; Then I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!' And they shall say, 'You are my God!' "

INTRODUCTION
One of my favorite bible verses is from is Romans 5:7 – 8 “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This verse illustrates how that God loved us in our sinful state, when we were unlovable and certainly not deserving of his love. It is an expression of the magnitude, the vastness, and the great dimensions of God’s love. Most people, even Christians, do not fully appreciate the extent of God’s love. This can be seen in Ephesians 3:17-19 where Paul writes:

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

It is almost impossible to adequately describe the dimensions of God’s love. One writer puts it: Wide, wide as the ocean, deep, deep as the sea, high high as the heaven’s above, His love to me. Today I want to use the story of Hosea and his wife Gomer to illustrate in a graphic, true to life scenario the magnitude of God’s love.

EXPOSITION
Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, who prophesied during a period around 755-715 B.C. His prophesies were in the last years before the Northern Kingdom of Israel went into Assyrian captivity in 722 B.C. Hosea prophesied about the destruction and restoration of Israel, but he is best remembered with regards to how God used his life as an allegory to illustrate Israel’s waywardness and idolatry in the face of God’s persistent love.

The story begins in verse 2 of Hosea 1, where God instructs Hosea to take a wife from among the prostitutes, who would bear him illegitimate children, conceived through prostitution. Note however that God cushions his extremely demanding request by declaring to Hosea the purpose for his instruction i.e. the nation had committed spiritual prostitution in departing from the Lord. Hosea obeyed and took Gomer as his wife. She bore him three children, whose names reflected the state of Israel and had prophetic significance:

The first son – Jezreel, meaning God scatters, speaks to the scattering of Israel among the Assyrians
The 2nd, a daughter, Lo-ruhamah, meaning ‘not pitied’ – God would no longer have mercy on Israel
The 3rd Lo-ammi, meaning ‘not my people’ indicating that Israel would be disowned by God

Note though verse 10; the cushion appears again – Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea … in the place where it was said you are not my people, there shall it be said, you are the sons of the living God.

Chapter 2 begins with a solemn warning (read vs. 1-3). God is rebuking Israel to expose her sins and idolatry but at the same time pleading with her to turn from her sinfulness or face dire consequences. The latter verses (14-23) however ends with a message of great hope that shows the magnitude of God’s love for Israel. These are illustrated below:

Vs. 14 – God would ‘allure her’, i.e. persuade by means of attractive benefits; He would ‘speak tenderly to her’

Vs. 15 – God would give ‘The Valley of Achor for a door of Hope’. The Net Bible renders this “turn the ‘Valley of Trouble into an Opportunity for Hope’”

Vs. 16 – at that day you will call me “My Husband” and no longer call me “My Master”

Vs. 19-20 – I will betroth thee unto me forever; in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion, faithfulness, and you will acknowledge that Lord

Vs. 23 … I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy, I will say to them which were called “not my people’” “You are my people” and they will say “You are my God”


APPLICATION
When we reflect on all that Hosea did for Gomer and all that God did for Israel we can begin to grasp the true magnitude of God’s love. How that regardless of how far we may have drifted in sin God still seeks after us.

This is further illustrated in chapter 3 where Gomer again left her husband and ended up being sold as a slave. Hosea however bought her back (chapter 3:2. So I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver). This is what God did for us as expressed in John 3:16, He gave of himself, laid down his life so that we might have life, he purchased our salvation, redeeming us with his blood on Calvary.

Today he continues to woo us, to speak tenderly to us, and lead us to a place where we can love him in return. Although we fail many times he still continues to love us. These lyrics from Hezekiah Walker’s song are illustrative:

How many times do I go against Your will, then You forgive me, but yet I still turn around and do the things, the things I shouldn't do cuz I belong to You, and I know You will come through, Lord I know I take advantage of Your grace, here in this Christian race, but yet I still hear You calling my name.

Today God is calling out to someone, someone who has drifted far from the love of God, someone who might never have known God, someone who for all practical purposes is spiritually dead, but God is calling your name. He is calling you to come into his love, to experience his abundant grace and mercy, to finally find the joy of our salvation and experience the magnificent love of God.

His love is amazing, marvelous and wonderful. It is the best experience you will ever have!!

GOD IS (Part 2)

Trevor S. Ferguson
January 9, 2011

Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts

This lesson shows that God is transcendent, sovereign, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent.

Like Isaiah this should highlight our limitations and our insignificance when compared to God and expose any sin or rebellion in our lives. We must submit our will and our way to this great God and allow him to lead our lives.

See more in the following powerpoint file GOD IS (Part 2)

GOD IS

Trevor S. Ferguson
January 6, 2011

Psalms 90:2 (KJV)
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Many people challenge the existence of God. Atheists deny the existence of God, while agnostics say that existence of God is unknown or unknowable. Others have created various concepts of God, for example polytheists believe in many gods and pantheists equates God with the forces and laws of the universe. As Christians we must be able to respond to persons who challenge the existence of God and give a answer as to the reason we believe.

See more in this link: GOD IS [NKUPC Sunday School]

God bless you.