Sermon Transcripts

REVEREND GOD

Recently I ran across a list of unusual but actual names of businesses. I thought you might enjoy them:

·        Scissor Happy Hair Salon (Georgia)

·        Pulsam & Payne Dentists (New Hampshire)

·        Sue Moore, Attorney (Pennsylvania)

·        Morey Diggs Funeral Home (Pennsylvania)

·        Crook Brothers Contractors (Pennsylvania)

·        Kill Yourself Pest Control (Georgia)

· Killer Cafe Steakhouse (Georgia)

Then too, here are the names of some real life doctors:

· Dr. Thomas Deadman

· Dr. Khan DO

· Dr. Si Yoo

· Dr. Harry Bear

· Dr. John Looney – Psychiatrist

· Dr. Charles Paine. Imagine paging Dr. Paine, “Dr. Paine, please call the Emergency Room.”

Some of my favorite names for towns include:

· Cut and Shoot, Texas. I have been there a number of times.

· Bug Tussle, Alabama.

· Pentecost, Mississippi.

· Then there is Hazard, Viper, and Defiance, Kentucky. There are all mite-near unto a stone’s throw from each other near the Licking River.

Do you know of any strange or unusual names?

Well today I want to wrap up my series on messages on God. As I do so, as you might expect, I want to focus on GOD AND HIS MANY names.

· God has gone to great lengths to reveal Himself to mankind:

· Holy men of old spoke of God and explained Him to humanity.

· Then too, the Lord gave us the Bible. It paints a graphic picture of God and His character, His personality from eternity past to eternity future.

· Next, God came down to us as a man in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “If you have seen me, You have seen the Father.” Jesus, simply put, was God in human flesh.

· Finally, one of the clearest pictures of God that we have can be seen in the numerous names of God. The names draw for us a picture of who He is, and what He does.

The Significance of God’s Names

1. A name conveys the nature and essence of the thing named.

In Jewish thought, a name is not merely some random term, a hit and miss combination of sounds. Again, the name conveys the nature and essence of the thing named.

An example of this occurs in Exodus 3:13-22. Here Moses asks God, “What is your "name?" Moses is not asking "what should I call you;" rather, he is asking:

· "who are you;

· what are you like;

· what have you done."

God replies that He is eternal, that He is the God of Moses’ ancestors, that He has seen the afflictions of His people and that He would redeem them from bondage.

Mark 6:14 says of Jesus, “His name was spread abroad.” That doesn’t refer to some kind of ancient Judean graffiti scrawled on the walls to proclaim, “Jesus was here,” or “Jesus slept here.”

Having His name spread abroad meant:

· That people knew of Him.

· They knew who He was.

· He was a topic of conversation in places where He had been, among people who had never seen Him.

Again, when Mark said, “His name was spread abroad,” it was his way of noting that Jesus had attained honor and a good reputation.

2. Next, God’s names makes up god’s job description

For instance, notice some of the names and titles of Jesus. He is:

· Anointed

· Bread of Life

· Christ

· Deliverer

· Emmanuel

· Father

· God

· Healer

· I Am

· Jesus

· King of Kings

· Lord of Lords

· Messiah

· Nazarene

· Only Begotten Son

· Prince of Peace

· Quickening Spirit

· Resurrection

· Savior

· Truth

· Unspeakable Gift

· Vine

· Wonderful

· Yoke

And, to be sure, there are many, many more for He is much, much more!

The name Jesus actually means “GOD SAVES.” Once again, the name details God’s job description for His Son.

This is a rather difficult concept for us to grasp. Our names rarely mean anything more than a form of identification. Notice:

· The name Greg means “vigilant;”

· David means “beloved;”

· John means “God is good;”

· Paul means “little;”

· Robert or Bob means “bright;”

· Michael means “one who is like god” or, God’s messenger;”

· Angela (Angie) means “angel;”

· Donna means “lady;”

· Dorothy means “gift of God.”

Now you know people that have these names. Do the names necessarily reflect the person? Maybe yes, maybe no. It depends.

Not so, with God. His names always reveal something about Him to us. The more that we know and understand His names, the more we know and understand Him. The more that we know and understand His names, the more we can relate those names to the many and varied needs of our lives.

please notice what these scriptures have to say about his names

Philippians 2:9-11 states concerning Jesus, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Men gave Jesus names of ridicule. They called Him a Galilean which was nothing other than a racial slur back then. Pilate mockingly called Him the King of the Jews at His crucifixion while the people jeered and claimed that they had no king but Caesar. Their rejection of His name and His title was yet another part of His humiliation.

In addition to this, our Savior was given the name Jesus as a part of His identification with fallen humanity. Jesus was a very common name back then as Jesus is in Latin cultures today. There are some five different men named Jesus in the Bible. The passage then goes on to note that today God has highly exalted the name Jesus and eventually, at that name “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

I like the phrase “THE NAME” as found in the passage. This simply means that His name is higher, better, more exalted than any other name that has been or ever will be. His name is literally The Name. It is the name Par-excellence!

In Ephesians 1:21-22 the apostle is again speaking of the exaltation of Jesus Christ. Notice these words concerning the Name as found in the King James Version: “... and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places], Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come....”

Please remember, the name Jesus was not the name that Joseph and Mary picked out for the child. They may have preferred David, John or Paul; who knows? No, the name of Jesus was the Father's idea. When the Lord Jesus was born, He came with HIS NAME INTACT.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul declared that Jesus has unqualified supremacy.

· He is the image of the invisible God;

· The firstborn over all creation.

· He is the head of the Church.

· He precedes all others in priority.

· He exceeds all others in His superiority.

· He succeeds all others in His finality.

· He’s the Master of the mighty.

· He’s the Captain of the conquerors.

· He’s the Head of the heroes.

· He’s the Leader of the legislators.

· He’s the Overseer of the overcomers.

· He’s the Governor of the governors.

· He’s the Prince of Princes.

· He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Do you see what I mean? His name is exalted!

· The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 8:1, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

· Psalm 79:9 notes, “Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name....”

· Psalm 148:13 declares (King James Version), “Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent....”

· Psalm 149:3 adds, “Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him....”

HAVING SAID THAT, LET'S NOW LOOK AT SOME SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF GOD'S NAMES. We won’t cover but a few of them, you see God’s name is found some 3,500 times in the Bible.

1. The most important of God's Names is the four-letter Name represented by the Hebrew letters YHVH. It is often referred to as the Unspeak-able Name, the Unutterable Name or the Distinctive Name. We usually translate this name “JEHOVAH” or “Yahweh.” This name is more fully defined in the Bible than all other such names combined.

The Lord Himself gave it, of course, and declared it’s meaning in Exodus 34:5-6, “Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.’”

“The Lord, the Lord” as used here is a repetitive use of the name Jehovah.

Notice now Exodus 33:19, “And the LORD said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’” Again, instead of Lord, YHVH or Jehovah is the word that was really used.

And what does Jehovah mean?

· One, this Name is actually thought to be God’s personal Name.

· Jehovah is the Self-Existent One.

· The Great Creator.

· The Fulfiller Of His Promises.

· The God Of Our Salvation

· The Great I Am!

Notice Psalm 93 with me for it too describes God using this great covenant name. “The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity. The seas have lifted up, O LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea-the LORD on high is mighty. Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O LORD.”

· Here we see that Jehovah is majestic.

· Armed in strength.

· Eternal.

· Mightier than the thunder and the seas.

· His Word stands firm,

· His is holy. He is Jehovah!

Scripture goes on to note:

· He is Jehovah-Rapa -- our healer.

· He is Jehovah-Shalom -- our peace.

· He is Jehovah-Nisai -- God our banner. This signifies that the battle belongs to the Lord.

· He is Jehovah-Jirah -- our provider.

· He is Jehovah-Shammah -- The God who is here.

· He is Jehovah-Saboath -- The Lord of Hosts! This pictures God as the commander of the heavenly armies.

· He is Jehovah Tsidkenu – the Lord our Righteousness.

· He is Jehovah Raah (rohi) – The Lord our Shepherd. This denotes God’s loving care, protection and provision for His people.

Let me give you an illustration of what is happening here. Let’s say that you are a young lady that has fallen very deeply in love with a certain fellow. He is everything that you had hoped for and more. He captures your imaginations and invades your sleep. Two things trouble you about the guy though. One, he doesn’t want to share with you his name. He is evasive about it. “Later”, he says. “Just call me Bill, that will do.” “When you really need to know, I will tell you.”

Next, he seems to be somewhat of a dreamer. He is always talking about getting this and buying that. After the wedding, for instance, he says that he plans on building you a mansion. He is going to make sure that your every desire is fulfilled; that you are safe and secure from danger. On and on the promises flow. Although you love him, you have some real doubts as to whether or not he can accomplish his dreams.

Then one day, you discover the truth about your Prince Charming. He is very wealthy. In fact, he is more than able to keep the many promises that he has made. He could truly give all that he had discussed and much, much more! What does he do to convince you? He tells you his name – his name says it all. Bill Gates – the richest man in the world!

So it is with our God. He has given us exceeding and great promises.

· Promises of health,

· Of salvation,

· Of eternal life,

· Promises of mercy and goodness.

There are more, many many more! And then so as to validate the promises, He reveals to us who He is. He is Jehovah -- He is God!

· Because He is Jehovah, He can and will heal.

· Because He is Jehovah, He can and will provide....

· Because He is Jehovah, He can and will be merciful.

His name provides the surety for His great and wonderful promises!

2. Another great name for our God is “EL.”

Whenever you find the letter’s “EL” in a Hebrew name, know that the name speaks somehow of God.

· Daniel means “God is my judge.”

· Gabriel means “man of God.”

· Ezekiel means “God gives strength.”

· Elijah means “Jehovah is God.”

· Elisha means “God is salvation.”

By looking at the various uses of “EL” in the Old Testament, we see that God is:

· The Great “EL” or, in other words, the Great God.

· He is “EL” or God that does wonders.

· He is the God, of Heaven.

· The God that sees me.

· The God of Truth

· The faithful God.

· The God of knowledge.

· God the Heroic. And,

· The God of my life

As you know, God is also known as “El Shaddai.” This Name is usually translated, "God Almighty." According to another Hebrew source, it can also mean, "The One who is enough or sufficient.”

3. Then, too, there are yet other names such as Lord.

This one means Sovereign One, Master, Owner.

Jesus in Luke 6:46 asks, “‘Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?’” The point is clear, if He is our Lord, Master, Owner, then we will be quick to obey whatever, whenever. How else would a servant respond to the words of his or her master?

4. For my last name, I want to draw your attention to the name, “Reverend.”

If you know me very well, you know that I much prefer that you call me Pastor Mike rather than “Reverend.” Why you ask?

Reverend is, again, one of the great names of the Lord. Notice Psalm 111:9, (King James Version) “He (God) sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: HOLY AND REVEREND [IS] HIS NAME.” That is pretty clear, isn’t it?

The NIV says here, “He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant for ever-HOLY AND AWESOME IS HIS NAME.”

Now, I like that, “Awesome Jackson,” instead of “Reverend Jackson.” Do you think that it will catch on? Of course not, for awesome is no more appropriate to use in my regard than is Reverend. The name already has an owner! His name is Jehovah-God!

By the way, the term Reverend means, “to stand in awe of, to be awed.” “To give fear, honor and respect.”

In short, Give the glory to God.

Give respect to the office of pastor.

God is Reverend God!

I am simply Michael Jackson -- the preacher, not the singer.

LET ME CLOSE WITH THREE QUICK APPLICATIONS:

1. RUN TO HIS NAME

Proverbs 18:10 promises, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”

· When sickness strikes, run to His name.

· When enemies attack, run to His name.

· When fear tries hard to cripple your faith, run to His name.

Do you get the idea?

I enjoy singing the beautiful words found in Psalm 20:7: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”

Horses may fail you.

Men too may come up short.

Therefore, we trust HIM! He will not fail; He can’t, He won’t! Again, RUN to His name!

2. HONOR HIS NAME

Many Jews yet today refuse to speak out the YHVH name of G