Yahweh!

Rev. George R. Dillahunty
Virginia Conference Evangelist
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
685 Grant Avenue
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452-3047

May 25, 2008

Text: John 8:48-59 (King James Version)

"Then answered the Jews, and said unto Him, ’Say we not well that Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?’ (v. 49) Jesus answered, ’ I have not a devil; but I honour My Father, and ye do dishonour Me. (v. 50) And I seek not Mine own glory: there is One that seeketh and judgeth.’ (v. 51) Verily, verily, I say unto you, ’If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death.’ (v. 52) Then said the Jews unto Him, ’Now we know that Thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the Prophets; and Thou sayest, ’If a man keep My saying, he shall never taste of death. (v. 53) Art Thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the Prophets are dead: whom makes Thou Thyself?’ (v. 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: (v. 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, (v. 56) Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and He saw it, and was glad.’ (v. 57) Then said the Jews unto Him, ’Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?’ (v. 58) Jesus said unto them, ’Verily, verily, I say unto you, ’Before Abraham was, I am.’ (v. 59) Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the Temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by."

Topic: Yahweh!

The fundamental question in Christianity is a personal one: "What do you believe about the Christ?" Ever since the earthly ministry of Jesus, the Christ, began, the people have been asking, "Who is this Jesus?" The Gentile physician Luke, in Luke 5:20 (NLT), records Jesus, the Christ, making a startling statement to a paralytic: "...Son, your sins are forgiven." The Pharisees - members of a Jewish party that had developed a complex set of rules and regulations for interpreting the written Law - and the teachers of the Law, immediately reacted with a question of their own, saying to each other, "Who does this man think he is? This is blasphemy! Who but God can forgive sins?"

Jesus, the Christ, stilled a tempest on the Sea of Galilee and His astonished Disciples asked themselves, as recorded in Mark 4:41 (NLT): "...Who is this man, that even the wind and waves obey him?"

Those who sat at a table with Jesus, the Christ, one day were amazed to hear Him grant pardon to a prostitute; and, they remarked among themselves, as recorded in Luke 7:49 (NLT): "...Who does this man think he is, going around forgiving sins?"

When Herod, the Tetrarch of Galilee heard details of the ministry of Jesus, the Christ, he was puzzled and asked, as recorded in Luke 9:9 (NLT): "I beheaded John,...so, who is this man about whom I hear such strange stories?"

When Jesus, the Chrisr, rode into the city of Jerusalem on the back of a doney, the Disciple/Apostle Matthew, in Matthew 21:10 (NLT), states: The entire city of Jerusalem was stirred as He entered. "Who is this?" they asked." That question, "Who is this?" is still being asked today? As we journey through the Names of Almighty God, we will focus, this morning, on a Name of Almighty God in the Old Testament