Studies in Identity - Jesus: What Did Jesus Say About Himself 04-28-24

The speaker dismisses the children's church and expresses a desire for the congregation to be as excited about the church service as the children are about their activities. He emphasizes the importance of getting to know someone personally rather than relying on others' opinions. He then discusses the identity of Jesus and how He is often misunderstood and mishandled. The speaker encourages the congregation to see Jesus as enough and not to walk away from Him when they don't get what they want. He concludes by reminding them of God's forgiveness and the importance of seeking His glory. Amen. At this time, we want to dismiss the children's church. We don't have children's church today. Oh, okay. Thank you, Tyler, for allowing me to... informing me of the fact that we do not have children's church. So children, y'all come and sit back with your parents. I apologize. Look, I mean, they're excited, right? They are excited. And as I often say, and I will reiterate this morning, I pray that one day we will get as excited about what takes place in here as they are about what takes place over there. Amen? Do we need to pass out Goldfish and juice boxes? Is that what it's going to take? Amen. I'll tell you what, I've got something better than Goldfish and juice boxes. Not Donut Holes. I've got the very Word of God that will feed us and carry us through at least until lunchtime. No, I'm kidding. Amen. Well, turn in your Bibles with me to John 8. John 8. And we're going to use verse 58 to dive into the topic, the idea, the identity of Jesus this morning. I was thinking about this whole concept of getting to know someone. And maybe you're here this morning and you're visiting with us. Maybe this is one of your first times, or you've come several times, but you've not really kind of pushed in to who we are as a church family. And maybe you're sitting there and you're still a little nervous. Well, what's the preacher going to do? What's he going to say right now? I'm not going to ask you to stand up. Don't worry about that. But I think I can kind of relieve a little bit of that tension because oftentimes, one of the most nerve-wracking things about going into a group of people that you don't know is just that. You don't know anybody. You don't know anybody. And I can sit up here this morning and tell you, man, we're a loving church family and we love you. We're glad you're here. And I can even begin to introduce people. I can say, well, Doug over here, man, he's a hard-working man. And I could go on about Doug, one of our deacons, and on and on. I can go over here and I say, Elliot's our music minister and he's our youth guy. And he does all of this. And he's very knowledgeable in music and very nice. And just talk to him and do all of these things. And I could tell you all these things about all these people, and you still leave and you're like, well, I guess I know what the preacher said about them. And you could even base your judgments on those things, right? And somebody asks you, hey, do you know Doug Shuman? Well, I've heard that name. What do you think about him? Well, he's a nice guy. He's a hard worker. Whatever I've told you. Don't take it. But, here's the thing, right? We can pass judgment on people based on what others tell us, can't we? As a matter of fact, you do it all the time. I could go through a list of celebrities and call their name and I'd be like, hey, do you know them? Well, yeah, I know this about them. I know their birthday. I know who they are. I know what they do. They're a movie star. They're a music person. You can pass all of this. Their favorite hobby is this. Their favorite quote is this. You give all this information. But you're basing your knowledge of them based on what somebody else has said. You've never really sat down with them and talked with them. Now, I was in the airport. Sarah and I was in the airport several years ago. And we're walking through the airport getting to our gate and I just happened to look over. And I was like, Sarah, Sarah, that's Stone Cold Steve Austin. Look at him in that hat and bald cap on his little airplane. You were just in the airport. Who did you see? Millie Bobby Brown. On her plane. For you, so you all don't know, she's, he, she, she, she. I don't know who this person is, right? She's on a show called Stranger Things, I think. Celebrity. We know who they are. Look at them. But do we really know who they are? What's the best way to get to know who somebody is? You listen to them, right? You spend time with them. You get to know them. And so now as we're transitioning this study from who is God, and Jesus asked His disciples in Matthew 16, verses 13 and 14, who do men say that I am? And then He goes into who do you say that I am? But to me, there is an unspoken question in the middle of those two questions that we have to push into. Jesus asking this question. Who do I say that I am? Who did Jesus tell the disciples He was? Who did Jesus show the disciples who He was? All of these men said, oh, you're Elijah. You're Jeremiah. You're Isaiah. You're one of the prophets. You're a good teacher. You're a good moral man. This is who you are. And it's not that any of those things are untrue, but it paints a limited picture of who Jesus is. But then we couple that with this unspoken question. Who do I say that I am? The identity of Jesus. Who do I say that I am is really built on this platform found in John 8, verse 58. When He says, Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. Now, I could spend all morning unpacking that, but I want to be very brief in this. The questions Jesus was teaching in the religious crowd came in in verse 57. It said, you are not yet 50 years old. Have you seen Abraham? And Jesus' response was, before Abraham was, I am. And when He made this statement, what He was saying is, I am. I am God. I am Him. I am it all. I am before everything. I am above everything. I am in everything. I am. That's the foundation that Jesus lays for His identity. So then He pushes in, and we're going to be all over the Gospel of John and the Scriptures will be on the screen, but if you would like to turn there, you can if He makes several statements about who He is. Before Abraham was, I am. But in John 6, verse 35, He says, And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. This is coming on the back side of the feeding of the 5,000. And Jesus and His disciples go across and the multitude seeks Him. And they question Him. Give us a sign. Give us a sign. Let's prove that You are the Messiah. And He says, you don't follow Me. You don't seek Me because you want a sign. You seek Me because you want free food. You want another meal. Jesus makes this correlation where they ask Him, they pressure Him and make this connection between the bread that comes down, the manna that was given to their spiritual fathers in Jesus. And He says, I am the bread of life. He is enough, beloved. He is enough. I think too many times the church wants to add something to Jesus. Too many times in our life as individual believers, we want Jesus plus something. Jesus is on the scene. He's taken five loaves and two fish and multiplied them until they had plenty, until they were all full and had twelve baskets of leftover. But what? They wanted more. Beloved, we've got to get to the point where we see Jesus as our Lord and Savior and that be enough. Jesus, pay my bills. Jesus, put food on my table. Jesus, make sure my kids behave. Make sure they do everything that I tell them to do. Jesus, make sure my job is perfect. Jesus, make sure all of these things are right in place. And the minute they're not, we shake our hands at God and say, Jesus, You're not enough. Jesus says, no, I'm the bread of life. He who believes in Me will never hunger and he will never thirst. He says, I should be enough for you, beloved, as a church, as a people of God. Jesus is enough. It's quiet, isn't it? In some ways, that's a good thing. Maybe you're looking at your life and you're saying, man, how am I living? Am I living like Jesus is enough? Am I thankful to Him like He is enough? Jesus is enough. He is the bread of life. And just like those believers in this section of Scripture, He is often misunderstood. They didn't know what they had. Give us a sign. Give us a sign. They didn't realize that they had the One who created everything in their midst. They didn't realize that they had the Sovereign God walking among them. They didn't realize exactly who Jesus was. They misunderstood Him. And oftentimes, we misunderstand Him today. We think He's a fix-it-all. He's a put-my-life-back-together. He is a genie in a bottle for us. We don't understand Him as You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. You are God among us. We misunderstand Him. We mishandle Him. Even after He did what He did in verses 41 and 52 and 60 and 66, they complained and they grumbled and they even walked away when they didn't get what they wanted. Could you imagine? Could you imagine that? Being in the very presence of Jesus. Being in the very presence of God. His glory standing right there in front of you. And walking away from it. All because you didn't get what you wanted. Beloved, I'm not saying there's never a reason to walk away from church from a church. I'm not saying there's never a reason to go and yoke up with another of fellowship. But if you're coming here and you think that we're going to do it your way because of who you are, beloved, you're wrong. We're going to seek and strive to do it God's way because of who He is. We're not into personalities. We're not into prosperity just because you may be the biggest giver or a generous giver. We want to seek to honor God with everything that we do. We would love for you to join us in that. We would love for you to come and be a part of us in that. Seeking His glory. Seeking His presence. Instead of walking away from it, let's press into who He is and touch the hem of that garment. He's misunderstood. He's mishandled. He's miscommunicated. God has forgiven you completely today. He has paid the price for you so that you will never have to face God's wrath and separation from Him for all of eternity. Think about that. Until He takes care of you, and we're going to study this as we get through the rest of the I Am statements this morning, we're going to study all the things that He is and what He does for us. Right? But if His answer to you at some point in your life is no, is He still enough? If you little one becomes sick and ill, is He still enough? If things don't work out the way you thought they should work out, is He still enough? Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Again, in John 8.12. He says, and Jesus spoke to them again saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. He is the light of the world. What does light do? Light dispels darkness. That's why He says you cannot walk in darkness. He who is in the light cannot walk in darkness because light and darkness cannot coexist. This sanctuary is proof of that. We have all of these lights on. Therefore, what? There's no darkness in the same spot. You say, well now, preachers, there's a little cubby hole under that pew right there. It's really dark in there. But if I were to take out the flashlight on my phone and turn it on and start shining light into that dark hole, guess what? The darkness is gone. When Jesus comes in, the darkness has to go. But oftentimes, we like to keep those nooks and crannies in our lives so Jesus don't go there. Beloved, that's the exact spot that Jesus needs to shine His light into. Because it's in those spots that you will find healing. It's in those spots that He will begin to mend the brokenhearted. It's in those spots that He will begin to rebuild relationships. It's in those spots that He will begin to make much of Himself. You see, in our areas that we can handle, it's good, right? I've got all of this under control. God's blessed me. Everything's great. But there's this one area of life that I'm out of control in, and so I hide it. I tuck it away. I don't want anybody to see it. And that's where Jesus says, that's what I want to get to right there. Because it's in that spot right there that you're out of control in that Jesus says, that's where I'll be shown to be strong. That's where you'll really experience My power. That's where you'll really experience My presence. It's in your weakness. He is made strong. Beloved, bear it all before Him. Let the light come in and dispel that darkness that is in your life. Light dispels darkness and it reveals hidden things. You see, oftentimes when you're looking for something, do you reach for something to provide shade for it? I want to look in this little cubby hole. Do I look for something to cover that up? No, when you're looking for something... We lost a chicken the other day. One of our chickens got out of the coop. We couldn't find it. It was getting dusk. It was the night of the men's meeting up here. Getting dusk, a little dark. I didn't go into my truck and grab my sunglasses and put them on to go look for that chicken. What did I grab? Flashlights. Why? Because I needed some light to help me find the hidden things. Sometimes Jesus puts the light on our life and reveals to us things that we didn't even know about ourselves. Hey, I didn't realize I had the faith in this area that I had until Jesus put a little light on it. I didn't know I had the struggle in this area that I had until Jesus put a little light on it. Jesus is the light of the world and He is the light of your life. And He will reveal hidden things to you so that you can draw closer to Him. He dispels darkness. He reveals hidden things. Light gives hope. Light gives hope. We've got some turkey hunters in here, don't we? He's a turkey hunter. We go out before dark. Deer hunters do the same thing. You go out in the dark. What are you waiting on? The sun to come up. Shed a little light on the situation. Why? Because you hope when that sun comes up, that animal steps out in front of you and you can send him through his maker. Because they're delicious. But the light of the morning brings hope. We talk about this at the time of death, right? They see what at the end of the tunnel? They don't see darkness at the end of the tunnel. That'd be scary. They see light. Because light brings hope. The only hope that we have in this world is the light of Jesus. Budgets won't cure the problems. Personalities won't cure the problems. New technology won't cure the problems. Laws won't solve the problems. The only thing that gives us hope in this life is the light of the world who is Jesus. It says He's the light of the world in John 10.9. John 10.9, He says, I am the door. He says it in 7 as well. I'm the door of the sheep. And in verse 9, He says, I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved. And will go in and out and find pasture. This door that He's speaking to within context is as a shepherd. These shepherds that were out in the wilderness for extended amounts of time, they would build these corrals out in the wilderness. And at night in the presence of danger, they would lead their sheep into these corrals, these walls that were built, these big pastures and cages, so to speak, that they would lead these sheep in. And there was only one way in and one way out. It was through the door. And the shepherd, at least a good shepherd, which we'll look at in a minute, a shepherd would place himself in the doorway. So that if anything came in to harm the sheep, they had to get through the shepherd. Jesus says, I'm that door. If anyone's going to get in to you, they've got to go through Him. But what does a door do? When we think about these doors here, when we think about the doors on our house, maybe some of you, like we used to do back in the day, we leave our doors open during the day, don't we? But it's at night when we close and lock them. Why? To keep the dangerous things out. To keep the dangerous things out. What does a door do? A door protects from outside dangers. Now, as a believer in Christ, there is a lot of things that are dangerous to us from the outside in. False teachings are dangerous. False preachers are dangerous. Wolves in sheep's clothing are dangerous. All of these things are on the outside trying to get in. But if they're going to get in to us, guess what? They've got to go through Jesus. Jesus is our protector. What that means is any teaching that we come to think of, any teaching that we hear, any preacher that we want to listen to, we should check with the very words of Jesus, because this acts as a protector from false teachings to us. If there is a thought or an action, was this okay for me to do? Check it with the Word. And if the Word says don't do it, and the Word says do it, then we don't change the Word, we change ourselves. Well, the Word says don't do it, so I don't need to do it. We saw this with Balaam. God told Balaam not to go. What'd he do? He kept pressing God. God, let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. He wouldn't take God at His Word. And so God said, fine, if that's what you want to do, go. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Balaam, because Balaam did not let the Word of God protect him from the outside dangers. Beloved, a lot of things that are in our life is because we've allowed them in. In some cases, we even helped them over the wall. They're hurting us, but Jesus says, I'm the door. I'm the door. No one enters by Me, comes through the door. He will be saved. Are you willing to acknowledge Christ as your Lord and Savior this morning? Are you willing to confess that you are a sinner in need of a Savior? Are you willing to enter in through Jesus? And the Scripture tells us you will be saved. Not that hope you will be, or you might be, or if you say the right things, or do the right things, or if you're here long enough, or if you're faithful enough, or if you say the right words, or if you pray the right prayer. No, you enter through faith in Christ alone. And you will be saved. He is the door in John 10. Just a few verses down. Verses 11 and 14. He says, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd. I know My sheep and am known by My own. Man, what a thought. Jesus plainly and clearly states right there, I'm the Good Shepherd. Why? Because I'm willing to lay down My life on My sheep. We say this. We often talk about this at communion time. Nobody took Jesus' life. They didn't force Him to the cross. In fact, those that were against Jesus actually got it right. Well, if you're the Son of God, you can save yourself. He could have. But He chose not to. Scripture tells us He could have called down 10,000 legions of angels. He could have poured out God's wrath on everyone at that moment. Jesus said He cried out, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. He laid down His life for His sheep. Even the sheep at that very moment that rejected Him. Even the sheep that in 2024 would mishandle Him and misunderstand Him and miscommunicate Him and for years say I don't need that, but then all of a sudden say, no, I need a Savior, and now I want to enter in through Jesus. And Jesus says, come on in, sheep. Welcome home. Because He's a good Shepherd. Not only does a good Shepherd lay down His life for His own, He also says, I know My sheep. I know My sheep. I can't help but think of after the resurrection, He meets with His disciples and He tells those women, go tell My disciples and Peter. He called Peter by name. He knew what Peter was dealing with. He knew the inner struggle that Peter had in that moment that he had denied Him three times before the rooster crowed just as He said. And in that moment, I believe, I don't know why I believe this. I might have picked it up from a video. I just think that in that moment, it was like the crowds parted and there Peter was and locked eyes with Jesus. It said Peter ran and wept bitterly. His heart was broken over what He had just done. And through the rest of those days, Peter carried that weight, carried that hurt, carried that anguish until those women came and said, we've seen Him. He talked to us. And He said, go tell My disciples and Peter. And then on the seashore, Peter, do you love Me? Yes, Peter, do you love Me? Peter, do you love Me? Three times restored. Three times He denied. He knew every detail of that. Beloved, I want to tell you this morning, that Jesus knows your name. He knows the hurt and the heartache that you may be carrying. He knows that anguish that's going on inside of you. He knows those doubts and that division of mind that's going on inside of your head. He knows every intimate detail about your life. And He's calling to you this morning. Come home. Come into the fold. Allow Me to be the door to salvation, to restoration, to rest. I'm the Good Shepherd. I lay down My life for My sheep. I know My sheep. And He is known by His sheep. We can call Him by name. We can cry out to Him. Why? Because we know He lives. He is known by His sheep. And I want to run to the end on these final ones. He says in John 11, 25 and 26, 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. He is speaking of this eternal life. But He's also speaking of eternal legacy. 1 Corinthians 15, 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. No, we have hope in Christ for the life to come. We have hope in Christ for the life that we're going to leave behind us. I pray that those that are under Your influence and under Your legacy will be pointed to Christ because of who He is to you. In John 14, 6, Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. He is the way. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. It's Jesus and Jesus only. It's not church membership. It's not a prayer. It's not an action. It's Jesus alone. He is the way. He is the truth. And this is a truth that the world doesn't want to hear. This is a truth that in some churches is not preached. In fact, we are so open-minded that our brain's falling out in some areas. But the truth is that we are sinners in need of a Savior. That's it. We're sinners in need of a Savior and Jesus is that Savior. Beloved, He loves you in spite of your sin, but He is not okay with your sin. Sin is sin. And then we have pet sins that we like to bring up and hang on as low-hanging fruit. Well, these are the sins that we're dealing with. All the while, we're keeping this sin over here hidden. I'll tell you something. Homosexuality. We like to harp on that big time, don't we? We should because it's a sin. But we can't harp on homosexuality and not harp on gluttony. Not harp on gossip. Not harp on lying. Not harp on manipulation and deception. We like to harp on this one over here and ignore all that. But what Jesus wants to do in our life with the light of the world is deal with it all. He wants to bring it all to light so that we can claim it to Him and say, God, I'm guilty of this pride. I'm guilty of this arrogance. I'm guilty of this anger. Of this doubt. I'm guilty of these things. And what He says is, forgiven. Forgiven. Come home. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. Real life. Abundant life is only found in Christ. We think we're living with the things of this world, but it's just a false teacher giving false promises that eventually will fall out from underneath us. Real life, abundant life is only found in the way, the truth, and the life. John 15, verse 1. He says, I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. He goes on in other Scriptures to talk about we need to abide in Him. If we abide in Him, we are the branches. He is the vine. If we abide in Him, then we can do all things. But if we're apart from Him, we can do nothing. What is He saying? He is the source of all things. What do you need today? Do you need wisdom? He is the source of it. Do you need strength? He is the source of it. He gives us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Wisdom, understanding, insight, strength, comfort, peace, love, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, all those things. He is the source of it as the true vine. But now, for just a moment, I want us to go back to Matthew 16, verses 13 and 14. Because Jesus reveals something about Himself in this section of Scripture that I don't want us to miss. You see, He asks His disciples, who do men say that I am? In verse 13. But there's another phrase right there in the midst of those words that if we're not careful, we'll miss. He says, who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? So even in the question, Jesus is revealing something about Himself. He's calling Himself the Son of Man. In fact, this is the most used title that Jesus uses of Himself. The Son of Man. Now what does that mean? On the surface, it means simply this. That He is fully human. We know He's not the Son of Man, a earthly Father as man, but mankind. Humankind. He is 100% human. But this title also would have given the hearers a reminder of Daniel 7.13 which says, I was watching in the night visions and behold, One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. And it goes on in this great prophetic teaching about the Messiah that was to come. So in this phrase right here, Jesus is saying I'm human and I'm divine together. 100% human, 100% God in one person. Now we don't understand that, right? Because all we can be is 100%. These people who say, well, how did you pull out the victory today? Well, we gave 110%. We didn't. Statistically impossible. 100% is all you make. And so when we hear things like, well, He's 100% God and 100% man, that's 200%. You can't be 200% of anything. I can't explain that to you. I know what God's Word says. God's Word says He's 100% God and 100% man. He is both. He is the Messiah. He is the Savior. He is the Righteous One. The Holy One that is to come. And then when He says this, that's when He moves into that question. Based on all this, based on who men said I was, based on who I say I am, who do you say I am? Who do you say I am? Based on all this evidence, all these things that you've heard and seen and experienced, who do you say that I am? Beloved, I want to ask you this morning as Ms. Patsy comes and she begins to play for our time of invitation, I want to ask you this very important question. Who is He to you? Who is He to you? Who do you need Him to be? Do you need Him to be the bread of life? Do you need Him to be the light of the world? Do you need Him to be the door or the Good Shepherd? Do you need Him to be the resurrection and the life? Do you need Him to be the way, the truth, and the life? Do you need Him to be the true bond? Do you need Him to be the Son of Man? I want to encourage you this morning. Paul, when he was talking about himself, he said this. He said, I become all things to all people that by all means, I may save some. Jesus is exactly who you need Him to be in accordance with His Word. And what I mean by that, if you need Him to be a justifier of your sin, He's not going to be that to you. But if you need Him to be a forgiver, He'll be that. If you need Him to be a healer, He'll be that. If you need Him to be someone who gives you strength, He'll be that. If you need Him to be someone who gives you wisdom, He says, let all men who lack wisdom ask for it. God gives it to them liberally. If you need Him to be someone who gives you comfort, He'll be that. If you need Him to be that friend that streaks closer than a brother, that's who He is. Who do you need Him to be? Let's stand together. As you think about that question. Who is He to you? Here at Kings Grove Outreach Church, we believe heartily in prayer. We believe prayer is a powerful weapon that we have against Satan and his attacks. We believe prayer is a powerful weapon against the sin in our life. We believe that prayer is a wonderful privilege that we have that will usher us into the very presence of God. So maybe you need to come this morning and you need to bow at this altar and you need to pray and ask God to be exactly what you need Him to be in this moment. Lay it out before Him. God, I'm struggling with this decision. God, I just need wisdom. Would You be that wise counselor? God, I'm dealing with a broken heart. Some hurt and some heartache. God, I just need You to heal the brokenhearted. God, I'm dealing with this sin in my life that I can't seem to break free from. And I need You to be that bondage breaker and set me free. God, it's been a long time since I've experienced Your presence. I just need You to be a very present help in my time of need. So come and pray this morning. Maybe you need Him to be your personal Lord and Savior. And you need to come and say, acknowledge that I'm a sinner in need of a Savior and You are that Savior. Forgive me. Cleanse me. The Bible says, if you'll confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. He will set you free this morning. You come as Ms. Tatsy plays. I'll be down front. I'd love to pray with you, pray for you. This altar is open. You come. You come. You come. You come. You come. You come. You come. You come. You come. You come. You come. You come. You come. You come.