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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/robert-plant/the-power-of-the-great-i-am/
Gospel of John, please, chapter 10 and verse number 9. John's gospel, chapter 10 and verse 9. The words of the Lord Jesus, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Down to verse number 11, please.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Down, please, to verse number 36, right at the end of the verse. Verse 36. I am the Son of God. And across, please, into chapter 11 and verse number 25 for one last verse.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. We do trust that God will bless the reading of his precious word to each one. What's upon my mind is to speak of the power of the great I am. Many years ago, probably about 30, I was in a school.
We can visit schools quite freely in the United Kingdom to present the gospel. And I was in a school, and somebody else from the assemblies had been in about a fortnight before. And perhaps it had been a little unwise in some of the things that they said.
And so I was the first person back in from a gospel hall, and I was the person to face the ire of the head teacher. And she said, Mr. Pan, I want you to know that if you're going to continue to visit my school, you cannot make any absolute statements.
Oh, I said, well, now, you would just have to be a little bit clearer as to what you mean by an absolute statement. Well, she says, you cannot tell the children that they need to be saved. Oh, okay. Tell me something else.
You cannot tell the children that Jesus is the Son of God. Oh, I said, well, that doesn't leave me much of a message to tell the children. You can say that Christians believe you must be saved. You can say Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
You can say my church believes you must be saved. My church believes Jesus Christ is the Son of God. You can say I believe you must be saved. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Oh, I said, so I can say the Bible says Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
The Bible says you must be saved. Oh, yes, she says, that's fine. That's not an absolute statement. I've been doing that ever since. Every time I go into a school, I say the Bible says, the Bible says, the Bible says.
We're going to think of some absolute statements that were made by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. At the start of my children's meetings, I always have a chorus, and it speaks about come and hear the words of Jesus, and I ask the children to tell me something that the Lord Jesus says.
They invariably come out with some of the great I am statements of John's gospel. Those are what we want to try and lift in the gospel meeting. I firstly want to think of John chapter 8, and the Lord Jesus says, I am the light of the world.
What does light do? It reveals. It casts its light upon something. You see, there was some mention made of these spotlights. I think I'm just tall enough just to be able to just be out of the line. If you're a little bit further down here, it sort of comes into your eyes.
What are they doing? They reveal the person on the platform. They put us into the spotlight. What does the Lord Jesus do as the light of the world? He reveals your condition in the sight of a holy God, and the Bible tells me this for every man and woman and young person in this room today, that you are ruined, marred, mocked by sin.
The Bible says there is not a just man, woman, boy, or girl upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Many years ago when we used to live in England, we used to have our children's meeting on a Friday night, and after the children's meeting, we came in, and my job was to mop the kitchen floor.
I watched some of the saints on Friday night mopping the kitchen floor, trying to mop the kitchen floor. There seemed to be an awful lot more water on the floor than anything else, but they did a good job, and I think the fact that we all had very good meals in a very nice, clean atmosphere is testimony to that.
But I did my best on the kitchen. That was my job. I mopped the floor. I put the things away, poured the water away. Saturday morning I would come in, and the sun had risen, and the sun was shining in through the kitchen window.
What did it do? It revealed the stains and the smears and the airies that I'd missed in my mopping the night before. What does the Lord Jesus do? He reveals our sin, my dear friend. It's not the preachers up here that tell you that you're a sinner.
It's the eternal God of heaven. He wants you to look in a mirror tonight, today. He wants you to come face to face with the fact that you are a sinner and as such you have no claim upon heaven at all, because the Bible says nothing that defileth will ever enter into heaven.
But not only does the Lord Jesus say He's the light of the world, we read there in John chapter 10, He says, I am the door to enter. You see, once you realize that you're lost, once you realize that you are hell-deserving, once you realize that you are sinful, contaminated, and unclean, you want to enter the door to be saved.
Now, this school building, I have come in the back door yesterday. I've come in the front door today. There are many different doors and accesses into this place. But for you to be saved, there is but one door.
And the Lord Jesus said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Now, dear Murray has taken a bit of flak from a few of us. But two years ago, we were holed up for three nights at the border in Houlton, trying to get over here.
Murray blames me, and I blame Murray. And so if we take the share of the responsibility, 50 -50, we're not too far off what went wrong. But there we were. And one morning we got up, the first morning, and Murray says, he knocks on my door, he says, you coming for breakfast?
I said, yes, we'll come for breakfast. And so we start off down the hallway, and I said, Murray, where are you going? Breakfast. I said, that way? Yes. Oh, okay. So I follow him along, you see, and we come to the end of the corridor.
Oh, he says, it must be the other way. I said, yeah, I know it's the other way. Well, he said, how did you know it was the other way? I said, well, you see, I used to be in health and safety, and I once went on a fire course, and the man who ran the fire course said, whenever you stay in a hotel or accommodation, you always count the number of doors from where you're staying to the exit.
Because in a fire, when there's smoke filling the corridor and you can't see, you crawl and you count one door, two doors, three doors, four doors, fifth door on the left, that's the way out. And I'd done that when we came in.
I do it in every hotel that I go into, so that I know if there's an emergency, I know the way out. Because if I don't know the exit and the door to take, it's going to be eternal disaster. My dear friend, if you take the wrong door, if you take the wrong way, it will be to your eternal disaster.
The Lord Jesus said, I am the door. If you're like, he's the door, the fire door that will lead you into safety, certainty, and enjoyment. But not only is he the light to reveal and the door to enter, he's the good shepherd to trust.
The Lord Jesus said this, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I want to tell you, my dear friend, that the Lord Jesus has paid the price for your soul's salvation.
He gave himself a ransom for all. There is enough in the work of Christ to save your soul and to fit you for heaven. Oh, dear friend, I beseech of you, understand the price that has been paid. Appreciate the work that has been done.
Understand the value of the precious blood that has been shed that can cleanse you from all sin and fit you for heaven. A number of years ago, I was looking for a new pair of trousers. When I go into the schools, I don't wear a suit, I wear a sports jacket and trousers.
And I needed a new pair of trousers. And being my size, of course, you will understand they're not just quite the easiest things sometimes to come by. And we hadn't found any apart from one pair in the most expensive shop in the whole of Northern Ireland.
And they were the unfinished ones. They have to be taken up and stitched up, you know, to the exact measurement. And Karen just said, well, we've got to bite the bullet. It's the only pair. And they were the right shade and the right shape and the right size.
And everything was right about them. You're just going to have to go and get them. And I said, that price, really? She said, that price, really? She said, because you desperately need a new pair. I'm not sending you off to visit the schools in those old tatty things that you've been wearing.
So off I went down to this shop. And I said to the man, I know him as a Christian man, behind the counter, I said, I'm looking for that pair of trousers I tried on the other day. He mentioned the size, inside leg 34.
I'm not going to mention the waist size. And I went to put them on. And he came to pin them up to the right length. And then I went out. And I gave my card across to the gentleman. And he pushed it back.
And he says, it's all right. There's nothing to pay. I said, oh, there is. I said, I found the little tag. It's just inside the right-hand pocket. I said, I had a little look, just to make sure that I read it right the other day.
I don't think I've ever bought such an expensive pair of trousers in my life. Oh, no, he says, no. He says, you see, there's nothing to pay. He said, when you were in there putting them on, he said, a gentleman came in here.
And he said, whatever that man purchases today, he said, it's on my card. I said, that all happened when I was in the changing room putting these on. Yes, he said, the man's given me his card details.
Whatever you get in here, it's all paid for. I said, do you have two pairs of these trousers? And do you have a sports jacket and a tie and a pair of shoes as well? Oh, I didn't. I just praise the Lord.
I don't know to this day who it was. But there wasn't a penny left for me to pay. It was all paid fully and freely. And finally, someone else paid the price for my enjoyment, for my blessing. Someone has paid the price.
And he paid it with drops of precious blood, says the Lord Jesus. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Oh, dear friend, you can be saved today. You can be cleansed today.
You can be fit for heaven today, because the Lord Jesus has paid the price when he died upon that cross. But the Lord Jesus says too, in John 14, He says, I am the way to go. I am the good shepherd to trust.
He says, I am the way to go. I wonder which way you're going. I've had to learn and relearn a whole new thing about driving on the right side of the road. Normally, we'd have to drive on the left side of the road, but you drive on the right.
And I've got to remember to keep on the left, to keep on the right. And we seem to have managed so far. And I've managed to return the car that somebody very kindly lent me. And I don't think that there were any dents or dints in it.
Certainly, I put in it mercifully. But you've got to go the right way. When I was a baby, I was going to say when I was a little baby, but that wasn't ever the case. But when I was a baby, my father was pushing me in the push chair in Southend-on-Sea, in Essex.
If you find London, follow the Thames estuary, and on the North Bank is Southend-on-Sea. That's where I was unfortunately born. But my father was pushing me in the push chair. And it was a one-way street.
He was on the pavement, of course. And coming the wrong way down the one-way street was a large black limousine, Jaguar. And it stopped next to my father. And the man wound down the window. Some might remember window winders.
And the man wound down the window, and he popped his head out the window. And he said to my father, excuse me, sir, could you tell me where the town hall is, please? And my father said to his dying day, my eyes nearly popped out of my head, because the man driving the big black Jaguar car the wrong way down a one-way street in Southend-on-Sea in Essex was none other than the Minister for Transport in his majesty, or her majesty's government at that time.
He was the man, he was in charge of all the roads, and the rail, and the airports, and the harbours. And he was driving his car the wrong way. My father said to him, well, sir, if you want to find the town hall, the first thing you need to do is turn your car around.
You're going the wrong way. If you're not saved, my dear friend, in the meeting today, the first thing you need to do is turn around. You are going the wrong way. The Bible calls it repentance. It's coming to an understanding that God is right, and you are wrong.
And you now realise that you are wrong, and God is right, and you want to be right, and you take God's side against your sin, and you turn away from your sin, and you turn to Christ, and you start on that right way when the Lord Jesus says, I am the way.
You see, if you continue on that wrong way, then eventually you will be lost, and lost forever in a place called hell, and ultimately the lake of fire. My dear young friend, my dear older friend, I would hate to think that you were in a conference like this today, and you missed God's great salvation, because you continued along the wrong path, and going the wrong way.
But then the Lord Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. We read that in John chapter 11 and verse 25. He's the resurrection and the life to save. Oh, you see, he can save you. He has power to save you.
He has ability to save you. You can be saved in a meeting today, because He lives in the power of an endless life, and as we thought this morning, He can save to the uttermost all that will come unto God through Him.
Many years ago, we went to France, and we visited some of the landing beaches from the D-Day invasion, and we were in a little place called Saint Mary Gliese, and it was the first place that was taken on D-Day.
I think it was the American 101st and 82nd airborne divisions that parachuted in, and were able to take over the little village of Saint Mary Gliese from the Germans. There was great loss of life on the American side, and there was a little museum there, and I went into the museum, and I was reading about all these various people who'd lost their lives in that great battle of D-Day, 6th of June, 1944, and I'm a very emotional sort of a guy, and I'm looking at these panels, and I'm reading of these young men, and the tears are rolling down my cheeks, and I looked across, and just about three meters away, there was a little French girl.
Well, she wasn't a girl, she was older than me. She was about half my size and twice my girth, and she was looking, and as I caught sight of her, and she caught sight of me, I noticed that she had tears rolling down her cheeks too.
What moved us? The death of others that we might have our freedom, but those men died once, and they can't do anything now to save us further, but the Lord Jesus died, and was buried, and rose again, and today we tell you of a risen Savior, ready, willing, and able to save any and all that will come unto God through Him.
Dear friend in a meeting, at the close of this conference, we beseech you, don't stay in your sin a moment longer. Those of you that have been in the gospel meetings in Waterloo, those of you that have been to other gospel meetings around this great state of Iowa, now is the accepted time.
Now is the day of salvation. Do not leave it one moment longer when the Lord Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. I'm going to skip, I am the true vine, and I am the bread. Therefore, believers, really, He's the bread to satisfy, and He's the vine to enjoy, but He's the Son of God to worship.
You see, we tend to miss that out in John's gospel, chapter 10, because the Lord Jesus puts in the form of a question, I am the Son of God. He's the Son of God to worship. You say, how do I worship Him?
First of all, by getting saved, but you say, I already am saved. Our brethren have already mentioned this this afternoon. If you are saved, you have another step to take. You want to be baptized. He's the Son of God.
You take orders from Him. He told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. That's what we're doing. That's what the brethren who gave their testimony last night did. That's what our brethren, Scott and Shad, did in the preaching of the gospel last night.
But then we're to make disciples, we're to baptize. Is there somebody here and you're saved at this conference, decide to take the next step and be baptized? Obey the Son of God. Be baptized. What a conference it'll be if you make that decision.
I'm going to obey the Lord in the waters of baptism. But maybe there's somebody here and you're saved and you're baptized, but you're not in assembly fellowship yet. Why not? What's holding you back? Have you not seen, have you not heard the teaching of the Word of God this weekend?
Get into assembly fellowship. Exercise the gift that God has given to you. Oh, you have a gift that's unique to you that God expects you to exercise amongst His people. Will you not take that step and say, the assembly is where I want to be.
The assembly is where God has chosen to place His name. The assembly is the place where the Lord Jesus so graciously comes to meet with His people where two or three are gathered together in my name. There am I in the midst of them.
And I'm going to put my all in to the local assembly where I'm in fellowship. Oh dear friend, I want to ask you now. He's the Son of God to worship. He's the Son of God to obey. Will you not be obedient to the Son of God?
If you're still not saved, will you not hear His call? Come, come, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, says the Lord Jesus. I am the Son of God. Absolute statements, the vital importance of the power of the great I am.
Will you come and take Him as Saviour and start for heaven today, says the Word of God. If you want to be saved, believe, trust in, rest in, place everything on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Shall we pray?