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Everything and everyone has a cause. Have you thought about that? Don't strain yourself too much, but every single human being has been caused by two other human beings, a man and a woman. Every animal has been caused by two animals. Every plant has been caused by the seed of another plant. Everything has been caused by something else. The weather is caused by different things. You want to know more about that. You can talk to Will. He's an oceanographer. The climate is changing. There's people who debate as to the reason for that, but it's caused. Everything exists as a result of being caused. Problems are caused. Diseases are joys, sorrows, defeats, victories. All are caused, and they can debate as to what the cause was, but there is a cause for everything. That's what's so striking about what we hear from Moses in Exodus chapter 3. You see, God had called him, speaking to him in the burning bush that wasn't consumed. God had called him to free God's people, Israelites, to free them from the slavery that they had experienced in Egypt. They'd been slaves for 400 years, and they were sorely oppressed, and God called Moses to be the one to lead them out, to save them from Egypt. Well, Moses really didn't think he was up for the task, as anyone would, I suppose. So when it came down to it, he asked God, he said, what if I go and tell the people that I'm supposed to lead them out, that I'm supposed to take them away from Pharaoh and the Egyptians into the promised land, which you say? And they asked me, who's told you all this? And God said, tell them I am, has sent you. I am that I am. I exist because I exist. Everything is caused except God. God is the uncaused cause of everything else. There's a theological word for that. It sometimes keeps me up at night. It's called aseity. Sometimes I can't sleep thinking about this. Jad Packer says this about it. He said, God's self-existence is the truth. At the outset of his presentation of the unknown God to the Athenian idolaters, which you can read about in Acts 17, Paul explained that this God, the world's creator, is not served by humans hands as if he needed anything because he himself gives life to all men and breath and everything else. He says that in him we live and move and have our being sacrifices are offered to idols in today's tribal religions as an ancient Athens are thought of somehow keeping the God going. But the creator needs no such support system. The word aseity meaning that he has life in himself and draws his unending energy from himself. And the Latin means from himself. It was coined by theologians to express the truth which the Bible makes clear in Psalm 90 for example or 102 or Isaiah 40 or John 526 or Revelation 4 10. So why are we talking about this this morning with reference to John 18 because Jesus refers to himself that way. John 858 says your father Abraham rejoiced that he would Jesus says your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day he saw it it was glad so the Jews said to him you are not yet 50 years old and you have seen Abraham Jesus said to them truly truly I say to you before Abraham was I am notice he doesn't say I was he says I am so I mentioned last week God is eternally now that's why he can say a thousand years as is a day and a day as is a thousand years makes no difference to him because he is eternally now he's omnipresent so when Jesus said to them before Abraham was I am they picked up stones to throw at him because Jesus because they knew he was making himself out to be God and Jesus hit himself and went out of the temple so now we come to our passage you remember the last two weeks we spent looking at what's called the high priestly prayer where Jesus prays first he prays for the glory of God then he prays for his disciples then he prays for everybody who would believe because of them which includes us and he had just finished this great high priestly prayer recorded in chapter 17 now he's in the garden where other Gospels record his agony as he prays to the father look 22 44 says in being in agony he prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground and he asked God the father he says take this cup from me meaning the cup of wrath poured out on the sins of the world then he says but not my will but yours be done Jesus having a full knowledge of what he was facing volunteers to die for our sins this has been the plan from the beginning and it hasn't been hidden you see while Moses was called by God to lead the Egyptians out of the slavery I'm sorry lead the Israelites out of the slavery of Egypt God had sent his son to lead all of us out of slavery to sin this is what Isaiah says surely his board our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken smitten by God and afflicted but he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all Matthew 1 she will bear a son talking about Mary and you shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins Jesus or he's why the original Hebrew language means God saves and all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which means God with us and John chapter 1 it says the next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt with ten plagues the last of which the Hebrews escaped through the Passover lands and in 1st Corinthians 5 7 it says for Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed the difference is that none of the lambs in the first Passover or any of the other subsequent Passover feast on the days of atonement in the history of God's people volunteered none of them but Jesus did the self-existing God the God who is eternal the God who has always been and always will be became one of us as John chapter 1 says the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory this one volunteered so in response to Judas and the soldiers Jesus did not slip away as he had many times before he steps up and he says whom do you seek it says Jesus having procured a band of soldiers some some version say a cohort of soldiers and that's important because a cohort is 144 men at least a dozen dozen so Judas having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees went there with lanterns and torches and weapons it could have been as many as 300 even some commentators say as many as 600 let's be conservative and say it was 300 have come to arrest Jesus one man this seems like overkill and Jesus knowing all that was going to happen to him so he knew that he would face arrest he knew that he would face a phony trial he knew that he would be convicted he knew that he would be tortured he knew that he would be crucified still came forward and said whom do you seek he could have gotten away like he had many times before but he doesn't he says whom do you seek they say Jesus of Nazareth and he says I am he now what's interesting is when he says I am he the entire cohort all the Pharisees all of the chief priests everyone that was there when he says I am he they fell to the ground now something interesting is that Jesus in the original language he isn't there he says I am the same name that Moses used or the God told Moses I am that I am I exist because I exist the same name that Jesus used in John 858 when he said before Abraham was I am God says to Moses I am who I am Jesus says before Abraham was I am and here when they ask him whom do you seek Jesus of Nazareth I am and they fell to the ground they knew what he was saying and that's why they wanted to kill him but he hid himself to now they all fall down this one man Jesus says his name God's name and all of them all 300 plus at least fall to the ground does it any occur to any of them to say oh no it's true he is the Son of God he is the Christ he is the Savior how could it not occur to any of them as he says the name of God as he says I am and they all fall down just because of the power of the name if it occurred to any of them they didn't say anything they got up dusted themselves off and continued with their crime why didn't Jesus escape he had the opportunity he had the power when Peter drew his sword Matthew's gospel says do you think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once send me more than 12 legions of angels that's 144,000 but how then should the scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so and that our Jesus said to the crowds have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me day after day I sat in the temple teaching and you did not seize me but all this has taken place the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled then all the disciples left him and fled he could call down a legion of angels but instead he followed tears to die in our place which is in part what we celebrate here at the Lord's Supper so in verse 8 Jesus answered again I told you I am he so if you seek me let these men go this was to fulfill the word that he had spoken of those whom you gave me I have not lost one what does this mean as you prepare your hearts to come to the Lord's Supper think about these words Jesus and chat John chapter 6 said to them I am the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger whoever believes in me shall never thirst but I said to you did you have seen me and yet you do not believe all the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out for I have come down from heaven not to do my will but the will of him who sent me and this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me and raise it up on the last day for this is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the Sun and believes in him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day have you looked to Jesus are you sure you've looked to Jesus are you sure that when your time comes when you are drawing your last breath will you have the confidence to know that you've looked to Jesus as the author and perfecter of your faith that you've looked to him to save you from your sins that you've looked to him to enter paradise with him you don't have to do anything but believe remember if you've read the story of Jesus being crucified with the two criminals on either side of him and the one says to him Jesus remember me when you come in your kingdom and Jesus says to him I tell you the truth today you will be with me in paradise if you believe have you believed if you do you'll have eternal life and Jesus will raise you up on the last day no matter what you're suffering now no matter how difficult your life has been and I know for some of you it's been very difficult all of us have experienced sorrows some more than others but no matter what you've experienced if you believe he will raise you up in the last day you may not get relief in this life some people don't so for some people this life is painful and they never experience relief but when they close their eyes in death they will open their eyes in the presence of the Lord if they believe and they will be joyful for all of eternity in Peter's sermon in Acts he says this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God was crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men those who killed him will be held to account if they do not repent all of us will be held to account if we don't repent repent means that you're walking away from Jesus that you're not believing in him for your salvation that you think that either you don't need it or that you have a different way and you turn from that repent means to turn again and you walk to Jesus and embrace him as your Lord and Savior and if you do that if you believe you will be saved and all who believe not one will be lost so if you have not yet believed I am here to ask you to beg you on behalf of God be reconciled to God he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him