Gtcotr/ws030420
Pastor
Kenneth Bent and I were talking today and we confirmed our common goal to make
sure we always tell the truth from the pulpit. We kind of chuckled a little as
we agreed on our lifelong commitment to never use hype, focus on the current
social agenda or champion popular opinion at the expense of the Word of God. The
Word works. Too often people try to draw a crowd or impress people they imagine
important rather than represent an honest, well-supported interpretation of the
scriptures.
So,
in light of our Church’s commitment to teach the Bible, let’s begin our study
of the Name of the Lord with Proverbs 18. Once again, there will be a plethora
of scripture references this evening so you will have a broad platform on which
to base your faith.
Proverbs 18:10 ¶ The name of
the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.
Deuteronomy 18:5 “For the
LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the
name of the LORD, him and his sons forever.”
The
name of the Lord is a strong tower and God chooses people to do things for Him,
in His name … in His stead … on His behalf.
As
well, at times people choose to attempt something for God and use His
name as their superpower strength.
1 Samuel 17:45 Then David
said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a
javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the
armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
In
the Old Testament, some people were used by God to do things and other people did
things using God as their strength, but also some people simply called on the
name of God to heed their righteous requests.
1 Kings 18:24 “Then you call
on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God
who answers by fire, He is God.” So all the people answered and said, “It is
well spoken.”
James
5 says that we should consider Elijah, he was just a man, subject to the same
passions we face yet, he prayed earnestly, and God answered him and granted his
requests.
Whatever
the reason, suffice it to say that trusting the name of the Lord is better than
trusting in any other source or asset.
Psalms 20:7 Some trust
in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our
God.
When
we get to the New Testament, we see Jesus … the name above every name … filled
with power – God in the flesh … He became like us to show us what God would do
if God was a man.
Philippians 2
9 Therefore God also has
highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those
under the earth,
11 and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
Matthew
21:9; Mark 11:9; Luke 19:38; & John 12:13 “Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord.”
Both
the Old and the New Testaments give us the same prophetic promise and we see the
fulfillment of that promise on the day of Pentecost … the promise first spoken
through the Prophet Joel:
Acts 2:21 And it shall come
to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.’
3000
people were saved on that day – why – how – they called on the name of the
LORD!
Every
Believer in Christ is admonished to hold great respect for the Name of our Lord
Jesus.
James 5:14 Is anyone among
you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over
him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever
you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through Him.
The
Disciples of Jesus didn’t just teach this, they lived it as an example for us
to follow:
Acts 3
1 ¶ Now Peter and John went
up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
2 And a certain man lame from
his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple
which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple;
3 who, seeing Peter and John
about to go into the temple, asked for alms.
4 And fixing his eyes on him,
with John, Peter said, “Look at us.”
5 So he gave them his
attention, expecting to receive something from them.
6 Then Peter said, “Silver
and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
7 And he took him by the
right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones
received strength.
8 So he, leaping up, stood
and walked and entered the temple with them — walking, leaping, and
praising God.
9 And all the people saw him
walking and praising God.
10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging
alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and
amazement at what had happened to him.
11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to
Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is
called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.
12 ¶ So when Peter saw it,
he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why
look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made
this man walk?
13 “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the
God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and
denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.
14 “But you denied the Holy One and the Just,
and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
15 “and killed the Prince of life, whom God
raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
16 “And His name, through
faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the
faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in
the presence of you all.”
Truly
…
Psalms 124:8 Our help is
in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
The
Elder Apostle John was the last living Apostle of the Lamb. Very late in his
life he wanted everyone to know what he heard Jesus say with his own ears. John
recorded the Words of Jesus in the Gospel. Jesus said:
John 14:13 “Whatever you ask
in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
John 14:14 “If you ask
anything in My name, I will do it.”
John 14:26 “The Helper, the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all
things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
John 15:16 “You did not
choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit,
and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name
He may give you.”
John 16:24 “Until now you
have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be
full.”
John
also encouraged us to have confidence when we approach God concerning anything
we know to be His will.
1 John 5
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask
anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He
hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have
asked of Him.
James,
the half-brother of our Lord Jesus who was also the Senior Pastor of the Church
in Jerusalem, wrote to us concerning how we should approach God with our
petitions.
· We should ask
according to God’s will
· Subject ourselves to
God’s decision
· Keep trusting God even
when it gets hard on us
o Just like Jesus did in
the Garden of Gethsemane …
o “Not my will but yours
be done.”
James 4
2 You lust and do not have.
You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have
because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive,
because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
15 Instead you ought
to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
· As well, we should
approach God in faith …
o Trusting God loves us;
that He has a plan; He will answer in His time; He has provided everything we
need.
James
1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no
doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the
wind.
· We cannot know what
will happen tomorrow …
· We cannot know the
unfolding will of God in everything …
· But we can know God
will help us with our every concern.
When
we definitely know the overriding will of God … we are free to confidently use
that voice of command. Some of the definite immoveable and unchanging absolutes
of God’s will include:
· Salvation
o God will save every
person, every time
· Forgiveness
o God will forgive every
person every time
· Righteousness/Godliness/Holiness
o Every person should
choose what is right and just and honest every time.
· The Fruits of the
Spirit
o Love, joy, peace,
patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self-control.
o Every person should
grow and exhibit the fruits of the spirit every time.
Many
things in the Will of God are absolutes and are non-negotiable. However, some
things are fluid and not fixed. Some things should happen immediately every
time but don’t now, (Prosperity; Healing; Restoration; Heartache), but they will
…
We
cannot always know for certain if it is God’s will for us to buy a house or
rent … choose fish or chicken … marry Henry or Sam … invest in Pepsi or
Coca-Cola … and, there’s not just one college in the world that is God’s will
for every person to attend. Those kinds of things have to be determined one at
a time by both the Word and the Spirit, wisdom and counsel, often weighing the
options and opportunities and deciding as God directs …
Sometimes
God clearly speaks to us and sometimes He doesn’t.
Without
regard as to whether or not your petition is based on faith in the fixed will
of God or if you are petitioning God to help you with the best decision you can
determine, we can always have confidence that God will never leave us or
forsake us and He hears us and that His will is good for us and His way is
best.
Either
way we can approach our problems in faith that God is a good God who loves us
and gave His only Son for us and that He gave us His name to use as our
spiritual superpower. We are privileged to live and move and make our decisions
all in the name of the Lord. Have confidence when you use His name.
And
remember, If you know Him, you can use His Name.
