<i>male announcer: In times
like these, we often ask:</i> <i>why is this happening?</i> <i>When will everything
go back to normal?</i> <i>And perhaps the most pressing
question of all:</i> <i>where is God when it feels like
everything is falling apart?</i> <i>In his book, "Shelter in God:</i> <i>Your Refuge in Times
of Trouble,"</i> <i>Dr. David Jeremiah reminds you
that even in periods of chaos,</i> <i>God is right beside you,</i> <i>exactly where he has always been
and always will be.</i> <i>God is a fortress
you can run to</i> <i>whenever you feel frustrated,
uncertain, or afraid;</i> <i>and he will always be enough.</i> <i>In this deeply personal book,</i> <i>Dr. Jeremiah draws inspiration
from the psalms</i> <i>to reveal God as a refuge
during seasons of suffering.</i> <i>As you read, you'll learn</i> <i>how to shelter
in his presence and power,</i> <i>even as you shelter in place.</i> <i>Request "Shelter in God:
Your Refuge in Times of Trouble"</i> <i>for a gift of any amount.</i> <i>Contact Turning Point today.</i> Dr. David Jeremiah: Many say,
"I know about Jesus." You may know about Jesus,
but do you know Jesus? Do you know him personally? The study of Jesus, as revealed to us
in the New Testament Scripture, shows he is
more than just a man, more than a martyr,
more than a revolutionary, more than a movement,
more than a superstar. So, who is Jesus? ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Dr. Jeremiah: Jesus is
the mystery of the ages and the marvel of history. He is personal and knowable,
and he longs to know you more. Discover how your life
will overflow when the Jesus you may not know becomes the Lord and Savior
you will always love. <i>female announcer:
In today's message,</i> <i>Dr. Jeremiah
answers the question,</i> <i>is he past or is he present?</i> Dr. Jeremiah: His name
is not I Was. His name is I Am. His name is not I will be. His name is I Am. As we've already learned
in this series, the Lord Jesus lives now
in the eternal present. <i>female announcer: Stay tuned
for Dr. Jeremiah's series,</i> <i>"The Jesus You May Not Know,"
today on "Turning Point."</i> <i>male announcer: Take the journey
from knowing about Jesus</i> <i>to deeply knowing him</i> <i>in Dr. David Jeremiah's
new book,</i> <i>"The Jesus You May Not Know,"</i> <i>yours for a gift of any amount
in support of this program;</i> <i>or for a gift of $55 or more,
you will also receive</i> <i>Dr. Jeremiah's
previous companion book,</i> <i>"The God You May Not Know."</i> <i>And for a generous gift
of $75 or more,</i> <i>Dr. Jeremiah will send you
in appreciation</i> <i>"The Jesus You May Not Know" set</i> <i>containing his new book,
study guide,</i> <i>online leader's guide,
and the He Is bookmark,</i> <i>plus his newest teaching series
on CD or DVD, which will arrive</i> <i>at the conclusion
of this series.</i> <i>Receive
"The Jesus You May Not Know"</i> <i>and these additional resources
when you support this program.</i> <i>Contact "Turning Point" today.</i> <i>female announcer:
In appreciation</i> <i>of your viewership today,</i> <i>Dr. Jeremiah would like to give
you the He Is bookmark,</i> <i>an inspirational reminder
of the names of Jesus</i> <i>to help you grow closer
to Christ each day.</i> <i>Receive the He Is bookmark
completely free</i> <i>when you contact
"Turning Point" today.</i> <i>Now here is Dr. Jeremiah
with his message,</i> <i>"Is He Past or Is He Present?"</i> Dr. Jeremiah: Jesus described
himself in two little words that comprise three letters. Jesus says, "You wanna know me? Here's my name: I Am. I Am." Now, that title, I Am, speaks
of the self-existence of Jesus. It speaks to the fact that he
is the ever-present one. His name is not I Was. His name is I Am. His name is not I will be. His name is I Am. As we've already learned
in this series, the Lord Jesus lives now
in the eternal present. In many respects, there is
no past or future for Jesus. Everything is in the present. He doesn't live in time. He lives outside of time, and so it is true
of the Lord Jesus to say that his name is I Am. And one of the challenges
you have when you teach
on the life of Christ is how do you help people
to know Christ? Because in order
to learn something, we have to have something
we already know from which to start the process, and there are no precedents
for Jesus. There's never been
anybody like him, nor will there ever be. There's no one to whom you
can compare him, so Almighty God, in his wisdom
and through his Word, has given us
a number of metaphors to help us understand
who Jesus is. First of all,
in the sixth chapter of John, Jesus said,
"I am the bread of life." Interestingly enough,
this statement comes in the midst of the context
of the feeding of the 5,000. Now, watch this, the people
who heard Jesus that day say, "I'm the bread of life," they have
these two thoughts in mind. They think that Jesus is
the new Moses who has come to provide
manna for them every day, and that he's going to be
the miracle worker, bread line, for them. So, Jesus goes back
to the synagogue, and he straightens them out,
and this is what he said. He said, "Most assuredly,
I say to you, Moses did not give you
the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you
the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he
who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." And Jesus
got done explaining that, and I love the humor
of the Bible. And the people,
they're still living in the physical realm. They're not getting the message,
and they say to Jesus, "Lord, give us
this bread always. So, when do we show up
tomorrow, Lord?" They didn't understand. He wasn't talking
about physical bread. He was talking about
the spiritual bread, and he was claiming
to be that bread. In John 6:35 he said,
"I am the bread of life. And he who comes to me
shall never hunger, and he who believes
in me shall never thirst." He is the core sustenance
for your spiritual being. Jesus is your bread. And in the genius
of John's unfolding Gospel, the one who said,
"I am the bread of life," next says,
"I am the light of the world." And, once again,
there is a story. You remember the story of the woman
who was taken in adultery? Now, it's interesting
that when that's all done, Jesus says to everyone,
"I am the light of the world." "I am the light of the world." Why would he say that? He says,
"I am the light of the world. And he who follows me
shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." He had just told this woman,
"Go and sin no more." And now he says,
"Let me tell you how you can stay
out of the darkness. I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't get caught
in the darkness." And there is one other person that Jesus says is
the light of the world. You may be surprised at this. You may not know this
about Jesus. There is somebody else
beside Jesus who is the light of the world. Here it is. Matthew 5:14 through 16. "You are
the light of the world." I am the light of the world? You are the light of the world. Jesus said, "A city that is
on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light so shine
before men, that they will see
your good works and glorify
your Father in heaven." And probably some of you
are saying, "I don't feel like a light. In fact, there's a lot
of darkness in my life, Pastor." Jesus is still the light. He's the sun.
We're the moon. We can't generate light. We can just reflect it. We have no light in ourselves. We can't just push a button
that says "brighter." We are reflectors. I had a bike
when I was growing up and probably you all
had bikes like this. My bike had a little headlight
on the front of it, but right underneath the seat
in the back was a reflector. That was there so if anybody
was gaining ground on me and they didn't see me, their light would shine
on my reflector, and they'd go the other way. Now, if I took that bike
on a mud ride and the reflector got all dirty,
it was useless, so here's the lesson
from the light of the world. We are reflectors, and the only way we
can shine brighter is by keeping
our reflector clean. God wants clean reflectors,
and the way you do that he's given you some product
to keep your reflector clean. It's called the Word of God. The Bible is the cleansing agent
that keeps us clean. When we study the Scripture,
when we read the Bible, that's what God uses
to help us stay clean. Jesus said,
"I am the bread of life, and I am the light
of the world." Here's his third statement:
"I am the door." Here's what he said in John 10. "Most assuredly, I say to you,
I am the door of the sheep. All who ever come before me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me,
he will be saved, and will go in and out
and find pasture. The thief does not come
except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they
might have life, and that they might have it
more abundantly." Now, to get this in your mind
and never to forget it and see the picture that was meant
to be created for us, I have to tell you a little bit
about what it was like to be a shepherd in Jesus's day. At night, when the shepherd
would gather the sheep, they put them in a sheep pen. The sheep pen
was created practically. It was movable, and it would be up
to a height high enough so that a sheep
couldn't jump over it. And usually, when we
see pictures of that in magazines or dictionaries, it shows a hanging door
on one side of this opening, usually made out of rope
or something. And so, the picture is
when all the sheep are in, the door swings closed,
and the sheep are enclosed, and they're safe for the night. But Jesus said, "I am the door." What do you do with that? Well, you go back and you
study the history of it, and here's what you find out. There were no doors
on a sheepfold. All that swinging-door stuff,
that's Western. We created that. A shepherd never saw
anything like that in his life, because what the shepherd
did was this: he would gather the sheep
into the fold at night. He would know every one of them. In fact, we're gonna find out
in a few moments he even had names for his sheep, and after all the sheep
were in the fold, the shepherd would go over to the opening space
where they came in, and he would lay down
in that space, and there he
would sleep that night. He would have his crook
and his shepherd's bar with him, and no sheep
could get out of the fold unless he crawled over the lightly sleeping
shepherd, and no one could get
into the fold to hurt the sheep because the shepherd
was the door. When Jesus said,
"I am the door," what he means is, "Just as the shepherd was
the door of the sheepfold, I am the door. By me, you have to enter in." Now, this is very similar
to the next I Am. Jesus next says,
"I am the good shepherd." Now, let me tell you something
that's really interesting. Jesus never referred
to himself as a priest. He never referred
to himself as a preacher. He never called himself
a clergy man. He never said he was a bishop. He never said he
was an elder, but, oh, how he loved
to call himself the shepherd. Jesus is the shepherd. He said,
"I am the good shepherd." Let me tell you three things
about a shepherd that the Bible teaches
about Jesus. First of all, the Good Shepherd
loves his sheep. We've been talking a lot
about this at our house, and I know you understand. I've never been all that much
for having an animal. My wife's had two cats
for as long as I can remember. That may be one of the reasons,
I don't know. But as you know,
we have a puppy, and I didn't know you
could love an animal like we love that puppy. I mean, I love that dog
like he was one of my kids. I take him
everywhere I go, if I can. I took him to the bank
the other day. He sat up on the bank,
and I did my stuff, and people look
at me like I'm-- I think they think
I'm just getting old. I think that's what they think. But I love that puppy,
and I call him by name. And when I leave
the house, he cries. When I come back,
he gets all excited. He's my friend, and I think that the shepherds
of those early days had that kinda relationship
with their sheep. We have some evidence that they
gave their sheep names, and they call
their sheep by name. And when they would come back
into the fold at night, they knew every one of them. They counted them, they
made sure all of them got in. You know the story
about the shepherd that had a hundred sheep
and one of 'em was lost, and he left the 99,
and he went to find the 1? That's the image of a shepherd. The sheep are
the only animal I know that are totally helpless
without a shepherd. I've been
to ministerial conferences where they speak on the shepherd
and the sheep, and they love to go into detail
about how sheep are the dumbest animals
on the face of the earth. And then, they say
really nice things about their congregation. I don't get it,
but that's what they do. Well, I'm not going down
that road, but I wanna tell you this:
we're sheep, and we're as helpless in our own
walk in the Christian world as sheep are without a shepherd. Ladies and gentlemen,
we need a shepherd, and we need a shepherd
who calls us by name. We need a shepherd who knows us. We need a shepherd
who makes sure that we get in the fold
before darkness and protects us and keeps
evil beasts away from us. We need a shepherd. That's why we love Psalm 23. "The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want." Did you ever read
the part that says, "He leads me
beside still waters"? Why does he do that? 'Cause I don't have enough sense
to go there myself. I'm a sheep. I am a shepherd,
but I'm also a sheep. The Good Shepherd
loves his sheep, and the Good Shepherd
leads his sheep. I've probably said this
to the Lord more in recent years than ever in my early life, "Lord, I don't know what to do,
but my eyes are on you." How many of you know when you
don't know what to do and you don't have a map
that makes any sense you got to stay close
to the Shepherd? People always ask me,
"Dr. Jeremiah, how can I know
the will of God?" And what they want me to do
is to give them some formula that they can go
A, B, C, D, and E. When they get
all the spaces filled in, they know they're supposed to be
a doctor and not a lawyer, but the Bible isn't like that. And though I have heard
many constructs and many sermons about how to know
the will of God, I'd just kinda like you
to put 'em all at the side and remember one simple thing: the way you know the will of God
is you stay close to the leader, who is your Shepherd. You stay close to the Shepherd,
who has the way all mapped out, and as long as you
stay close to him, you will always be
in the will of God. I don't think the will of God
is a place or a position. The will of God is a process. It's a process of walking
with the Shepherd. The Lord is our shepherd. He loves us and he leads us,
but here is the most important thing
about this Shepherd: he lays down his life for us. The Good Shepherd gives
his life for the sheep. You know, in studying the Bible, one of the things you learn
pretty quickly, if you're a student
of the Bible, is if the Bible says
the same thing a whole bunch of times
in a short passage, it's usually pretty important. I mean, this is called emphasis. The Bible probably didn't have
highlighters. Writers of the Bible
didn't underline things, but here's what happened. If they wanted to make a point, they made the point by saying it
over and over again, so let me just direct
your attention to the tenth chapter of John, and I wanna read four verses
that are in a very short span. See if you can't pick up what the writer of this text
wants us to know. "The good shepherd gives
his life for the sheep." John 10:15, "I lay down
my life for the sheep." John 10:17, "I lay down my life
that I may take it again." John 10:18, "No one
takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power
to take it again." Our Lord's death was voluntary. He spoke of laying it down
and taking it back up. No one took his life from him, for no one had the authority
or the power to do so. The Good Shepherd,
the Son of God, voluntarily, willingly,
of his own volition, out of love laid down
his life for you and for me. He is the good shepherd,
and the Bible says because the Lord is my shepherd,
I have everything I need. He is the good shepherd. He's the bread of life,
he's the light of the world, he's the door,
he's the good shepherd, and the Bible says he is also
the resurrection and the life. In John chapter 11,
where the statement appears, Jesus has been called to what he thought at first was
the bedside of Lazarus, and then to the graveside
of Lazarus. Martha was really upset
with Jesus, and she said to Jesus,
"Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. But even now I know whatever you ask of God,
he will give you." And Jesus said to her, "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. Do you believe that?" And the Jewish people
of our Lord's day did not believe, many of them,
in the Resurrection. There was a whole group of 'em
called the Sadducees. They didn't even believe
the Resurrection existed. And here is Jesus saying
to this woman, "I am the resurrection
and the life." And, of course, in a few moments
he's gonna prove it. He calls Lazarus
out of the tomb. The Bible is so clear about
this part of what Jesus does. Jesus is not
just the I Am for now. He's the I Am for the future. You say, "Well, Pastor Jeremiah,
how's he gonna resurrect us?" The Bible says that one day
when Jesus comes back, if we've passed on and our bodies
are in our grave-- our bodies are dead,
but we're still alive, and the Bible says Jesus
is gonna bring us with him, bring the spirits and souls
of those who have died with him. And when the trumpet sounds and the voice
of the archangel is heard, those either collected
or scattered remnants of our old body will be reconstituted
into a like-sized body as unto the Lord Jesus. In other words,
when Jesus comes back to receive us to himself, if we have died
and we're in our grave, we're gonna be raised up; and in that
resurrection process, we are gonna get
a whole new body. We're gonna get
an extreme makeover on our way to heaven. You say, "How do you know that?" Listen to this, listen
to these words from Philippians. "The Lord Jesus Christ, who,
by the power that enables him to bring everything
under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like
his glorious body." Amen. Jesus is the resurrection
and the life. Now, what does that mean to you? What it means to me is
though I don't wanna die, I'm not afraid to die, because more than anything else
that I know in all the world, I know that when I die
that's not the end. God has a wonderful plan
for your life and mine that goes past the grave
and ends up in eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. So, "I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world.
I am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am the way, the truth,
and the life." That's the next one. This is the most offensive thing
Jesus ever said when he was on this earth. Are you ready for it?
Here's what he said. He said, "I am the way,
the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father
except through me." Try that on
at your next office party and see what happens. One of the biggest issues today is that you cannot be exclusive
with the gospel, and you hear things like, "Don't all roads
lead to heaven?" No, that's a bad trip.
You don't wanna go on that trip. "Isn't everyone's faith
just a matter of sincerity?" No; how many of you know
you can be sincerely wrong? I am directionally challenged,
and I am a living illustration that you can be
directionally seriously wrong, and we have such trouble
with this idea that Almighty God would say to us
through his Word. Here's the way to come to God,
and there's only one way, Jesus said, "I am the way,
the truth, and the life. And no man comes to the Father
except through me." And you could go home
and say, "Well, I didn't like
that sermon, Pastor. I didn't think
that was very nice. I don't think you should say
those kinda things. You know, you could get
in trouble for saying that." Well, bring on the trouble,
because I'm here to tell you that if a man claims to be
a representative of God and gives you any other message,
he's not helping you. He's damning you to
an eternity without God. He's telling you there's a way
you can get to heaven, and that way isn't there. It isn't a Baptist way.
It isn't a Presbyterian way. It isn't a Methodist way. It's not a Charismatic way.
It's God's way. God said you can get to heaven,
here's how you do it: through Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ said that
in John 14:1 through 6. This is one of his great I Ams. He said, "I am the way,
the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father
except through me." Finally, he said, "I am the vine
and that you are the branches." And he said, "You have
to stay connected to me if you're gonna bear fruit." Jesus is the vine,
we're the branches, and he says, "If you wanna be
fruitful as a Christian, stay plugged into the vine." This whole passage in John 15 is really a wonderful thing
to study. It says that if you're connected
to the vine, you'll have some fruit. If you stay connected
and really work it and make sure that you stay connected
to the vine, you'll have more fruit. And, finally, at the end it says
you can have much fruit. You can have some fruit,
you can have more fruit, or you can have much fruit. Everybody who's a Christian
has some fruit in their life, or they're not a Christian. And here's the secret: the closer you stay to the vine,
the more fruitful you will be. The Bible says
the heavenly Father, who's the gardener,
he prunes you. Here's what I've learned, and this is what I want you
to take home with you. You are never closer
to the vine and to the Father than you are when you
are being pruned. You will never sense
the presence of the Lord and his love for you more
than when he reaches down and begins to do that work
in your life, and he says, "No,
this is a leafy branch, and it's sucking you dry. You need to get that
out of your life, because I have plans for you,
and my plans are that you will prosper here
and prosper here. And if you do
all of these other things, you can't prosper in the things
I want you to prosper in." So, there you have it,
seven statements about Jesus, but I'm here to tell you,
men and women, this Jesus
I've been talking about, he's the real deal. Is he the bread of your life?
Is he the light of your world? Is he the door? Is he your shepherd? Is he your way,
your truth, and your life? Is he the vine for you? He can be if you
just put your trust in him. Starts at a decision, at a moment in time
when you say, "Okay, Lord. Here I am.
This is my life. Move in and take over." And he will. <i>male announcer: Thank you
for watching "Turning Point."</i> <i>Dr. Jeremiah would like to offer
you "The Jesus You May Not Know"</i> <i>to take you on a journey
from knowing about Jesus</i> <i>to deeply knowing him.</i> <i>Dr. Jeremiah's new book</i> <i>will be sent to you
as a thank you</i> <i>for a gift of any amount
in support of this program,</i> <i>or with a gift of $55 or more,
you will also receive</i> <i>Dr. Jeremiah's
previous companion book,</i> <i>"The God You May Not Know."</i> <i>And for a generous gift
of $75 or more,</i> <i>Dr. Jeremiah will send you
in appreciation</i> <i>"The Jesus You May Not Know" set</i> <i>containing his new book,
study guide,</i> <i>online leader's guide,
and the He Is bookmark,</i> <i>plus his newest teaching series
on CD or DVD, which will arrive</i> <i>at the conclusion
of this series.</i> <i>Receive
"The Jesus You May Not Know"</i> <i>and these additional resources
when you support this program.</i> <i>Contact "Turning Point" today.</i> <i>male announcer: If you
have never taken the step</i> <i>to believe in Jesus Christ
as your Lord and Savior,</i> <i>you can do that today.</i> <i>If you will allow us,</i> <i>Dr. Jeremiah would like
to send you</i> <i>two resources
that will help you.</i> <i>The first is a booklet called
"Your Greatest Turning Point,"</i> <i>which will help you as you begin
your relationship with Christ.</i> <i>And the second is
our monthly devotional magazine,</i> <i>Turning Points, to give you</i> <i>encouragement and inspiration
throughout the year.</i> <i>These resources are yours
completely free</i> <i>when you contact
Turning Point today.</i> <i>female announcer: Next time
on "Turning Point."</i> Dr. Jeremiah: The Bible says
out on that same mount, to which he will one day appear
the second time, Jesus ascended into heaven, and the angels said
to the disciples, "Why are you
so upset about this? This same Jesus that you
have seen go up is going to come back." <i>announcer: Thank you
for being with us today.</i> <i>Join Dr. Jeremiah next time
for his message,</i> <i>"Is He the King of the Jews
or the King of Kings?"</i> <i>here on "Turning Point."</i>
