I want to invite your attention
to the Gospel of Luke, the first chapter, the 31st verse. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus. Many years ago, I brought a message
many of you have heard called, What's His Name? I told you things
about him. I told you he was able to sacrifice
Abraham's ram. He was the avenger of God's elect. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. He's the Alpha and Omega. He's
the Apostle. He's an advocate. He's an adorner
of all that is beautiful. I told you that he is the ark
that supports us. He's the ancient of days. He's
the anchor that holds us. He's the angel of the Lord. And
he is my amen. He is the bright and morning
star. He's the bread of heaven. He's the beginning. He's the
brazen servant. He's the bomb in Gilead, and
he is the burning bush. He's the chief cornerstone, a
covert, a commander, a captain of conquerors, a counselor, and
he's my consolation. He was David's slingshot. He
is a day-star, a day-spring, a daysman, a deliverer, and he
is my desire. He was Elijah's mantle and Elisha's
staff. He's a forerunner, a finisher,
a first, a fortress, a fountain. He is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. He's the faithful husband forever
married to the backslider, and he's a friend that sticketh closer
than a brother. He was Gideon's fleece. He is
the gem from the Holy Land. He's the governor of the governors,
and he is God. He was Hezekiah's sundial. He's
the head of the church. He's the holder of the keys.
He's head of the heroes and harmonizer of all discords and healer of
all diseases. He is Isaac's wells. He is the
image of the invisible God. He was John's pearly white city.
He is Jehovah and Jacob's ladder. He is the one who pled with Lot
to leave wicked Sodom. He is the last and he is the
lion and the Lamb. He was Malachi's son of righteousness. He is a minister, a messenger,
a message. He is the mercy seat. He is our
Mordecai, mediator between God and man. He is master of the
mighty and he is my mighty Messiah. He was Noah's rainbow. He is
the overseer of the overcomers. He is Omega. He is the pearl
from paradise. He is the prince of the princes. He is a priest, a prophet and
prince of peace. He is a light. He is life, lily
of the valley. He is a lawgiver. He is life's
strongest cord. He is the fourth man in life's
fiery furnace. And he is my Lord. He is beyond
doubt the mighty God. This is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is called the purifier. He's
a potter. He's prince of glory. He is propitiation. His name is physician and potentate,
and he is peace that passes all understanding. He is the one
who rode with Noah in the ark. He's the only reverend. His name
is root, refuge, rock, redeemer, ransom. He is the righteous branch. He is rivers of water in a dry
place. the rose of Sharon, and he is
the resurrection. He is the Son of God, the scapegoat,
the servant. He is true Shiloh. He is the
scarlet thread, and he is Shekinah glory. He is a teacher, a tower,
and a testator. He is time's choice's theme,
and he is the truth. He is the quickener of all that
is wholesome. He is the one who walked with
Enoch. He is wonderful. He is the water
of life, and He is the way. All of these and many more are
the names of His offices and relationships, but there is a
special, peculiar, and personal name that was given Him that
I want us to look at today, and it is the name Jesus. When understood,
it causes exceeding joy. Yes, even results in dancing. This is his best name. He would
not be given a name of secondary value. The name is the highest,
brightest, and noblest of names. It is the very glory of our Lord. He is the best ever born of a
woman, and has been given the best name that any son of man
could bear. Indeed, it is an appropriate
name. It is this name, Jesus, that
we shall discover the grand characteristics of His person. We shall discover
in this name, Jesus, the reason for the name. First then, I would
have you note that His name shall be called Jesus, as our text
says here in Luke chapter 1. This name Jesus was not given
to him by Mary, neither was it given by his father by adoption,
Joseph. The name was chosen for him.
It was revealed by heaven's messengers. God did send the name by an angel,
and the angel did delight to come with it. What does the name
mean, and where did it come from? In the Greek form, it is rendered
Jesus. In the Hebrew, it is Joshua,
an abbreviation of the name Jehoshua. Numbers 13.6 says these are the
names of men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses
called Oshiach, the son of Num, Jehoshua. Moses took letters
out of the great name of Yahweh or Jehovah, and he took letters
out of the name of the boy Oshiah, and wove them into one, so that
the boy's name now became Jehoshua, meaning Jehovah's salvation. Now what did Joshua do? When
Moses could not lead the people into Canaan, Joshua did it. And
so our Jesus accomplishes what the law never could have done.
Jesus means Jehovah Savior, the salvation of the Lord or the
Savior. Jehovah Jireh, God has provided
Himself the Lamb. Joshua did smite the enemies
of God's people. Our glorious Joshua did smite
our sins and all the powers of darkness and utterly destroyed
our spiritual enemies. He did smite Amalek. Jericho
falls and the Canaanites are put on the run. He gives us victory
in every place. Our Joshua takes us across Jordan,
settles us in a land that flows with milk and honey. Oh, the
significance of the name Jehovah Saves! Matthew records the angel
saying to Joseph, And thou shalt call his name Jehoshua, for it
is he that shall save his people from their sins. His name shall
be called Jesus. It is enough to make a Baptist
leap when you consider all that was in the name. All that was
intended by the name was now coming to realization in the
baby that was to be born of Mary. Jehovah's salvation. Jehovah
saves. That is His name because that
is the meaning of His coming. He saves. He and none but He
shall save His people. The heaven chosen name, which
indicated the fact of His being and the purpose of His coming
in the fullness of time in the providence of God, in predestinating
for ordaining power of God, why it's enough to make the little
Baptist shout. How significant is that name,
Jesus? God is Savior. Jesus, a name given him because
he was destined to fulfill all that the name implies, for he
was to be the salvation of the Lord, according to Luke 2.21. Praise God for the salvation
to be accomplished by the child of Mary, he by his own act, by
his own deed, and not that of any other. by himself, singularly,
alone, personally, saved his people, purged their sins. He shall do all the work and
leave none undone. He shall begin it. Carry it on
and complete it. Therefore, his name shall be
called Jesus. He shall completely and perfectly
save his people. His people. He would not be Jesus
if he did not have a people to save because his name is Jesus,
Jehovah's salvation, because he shall save his people from
their sins. I have kept them which thou hast
given me, Jesus says. Yes, the Lord knoweth them that
are His. Jesus is an election name. Here is God invading history
to save His chosen people. Here is the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob who became Jesus incarnate, the Christ, the Savior. the Redeemer,
the long-expected Messiah is about to appear. He for whom
prophets and princes waited long is now about to come, to be born
of the Virgin of Nazareth. It is one thing when God manifests
His power in the works of His hands and the morning stars sang
together, the suns of God shouted for joy, oh, but when God manifests
himself, what music shall suffice? The divine person revealed, wrapped
in a veil of our inferior clay, the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. It's enough to make the little
Baptist dance. Jehovah's salvation is great
salvation, eternal salvation. What we have here is God manifest
in the flesh. Emmanuel, God with us, God with
us to save us. Our Savior is our God. What is the name of our God?
Salvation. His name is Jesus. In Luke chapter
1 and in verse 39, we read these words. And Mary arose in those
days and went into the hill country with haste into a city of Judah
and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when
Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the baby leaped, the
baby danced in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with
the Holy Ghost. And she spake out with a loud
voice and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the
fruit of thy womb. And hence is this to me, that
the mother of my Lord should come to me. For lo, as soon as
the voice of thy salutation was sounded in my ears, the baby
John the Baptist leaped in the womb for joy. Mary's visit to
her cousin's house gave way to the strangest occurrence recorded
in the scripture. Mary had recently been told by
the angel Gabriel that she was to bear a son. He was to be great,
rule from the throne of his father David, rule Jacob's house forever
with no end to his kingdom. It would seem that we have here
a magnificent march of majesty and mercy towards something not
yet reached. A new day is about to dawn. The commencement of a new movement
of God. Here is the great culmination,
the gathering up, the fulfillment, the great dynamic. Here is the
thought of God. Here is the summing up of all
his thoughts. the one great idea, the root
and center of all others. Here is the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the ending, the first and the last. Here
is the wisdom of God. Here is God's purpose, the mystery
of His will. I tell you, that day when Jesus
entered the stream of human history, the unfathomable depths of divine
councils were moved. The fountains of the great deep
were broken up. The healing of the nations were
issuing forth. God so loved His elect before
Christ came that at last He gave His only begotten Son. Being
told these things, Mary rushed off to a town in Judah in the
hill country straight to Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth,
her cousin, who was six months pregnant with John the Baptist. It is at this point that a strange
thing happened. As soon as Mary greets Elizabeth,
two things happen. The baby in her womb leaps. The
little Baptist baby leaped, for he was so filled with the Holy
Spirit, even from his mother's womb. While he was yet in the
womb, the unborn forerunner felt a presence. He saw the seed that
would crush the serpent's head. He saw the substance of every
Old Testament sacrifice. He saw the true Deliverer and
King of whom all the judges and deliverers in Jewish history
were types. This baby saw the coming prophet
greater than Moses, whose glorious advent filled the pages of the
prophets. He saw the true Shiloh to whom the people were to be
gathered, the true scapegoat, the true brazen serpent, the
true lamb, the true high priest of whom every descendant of Aaron
was a figure. Of him every priest was a type
in every part. of the tabernacle was a shadow
of the substance. He saw David's king fairer than
the children of men, the baby Saul, Solomon's altogether lovely
one. He saw Isaiah's child king, son
of a virgin with shoulders strong enough to bear the government.
He saw Jeremiah's branch of righteousness. He saw Ezekiel's plant of renown. He saw Daniel's stone cut without
hands. He saw Joel's hope of the people. He saw Obadiah's deliverance
upon Mount Zion. He saw Micah's turning again
to God. He saw the one Nahum saw upon
the mountains publishing peace. He saw the one Habakkuk sang
of as going forth for salvation. He saw the truth, the rebel who
builds his church and cries, it is all by grace. He saw the
one in Malachi's dream, the son of righteousness. He saw the
greatest of all the great things that would ever come to pass
from the beginning of time. He saw Jehovah's eternal purpose. He saw the wonders of grace and
power and wisdom which was wrapped up in a virgin's womb and was
about to emerge from it in the fullness of time. He saw ten
thousands of thousands of wonders connected with Mary's baby. He
saw the destinies of the elect. He saw the one who would accomplish
his own death. He saw that unto us a child is
born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon
his shoulders. He saw that in a stony cradle
in Bethlehem there would soon be deposited the eternal purpose
of Almighty God, the babe on whose history all history was
to turn. He saw it was the sin of man
that grew out this great purpose, for God made use of human failure
for revealing more of himself and of his grace and mercy. For centuries the purpose lay
hidden in the counsels of the Godhead, but now the fullness
of time had come, and the little Baptist must leap, he must dance,
he cannot contain himself, even in his mother's womb he jumps
to escape, to declare, to cry out, Behold the Lamb of God! God becomes man that man may
be lifted up, made partaker of the divine nature, God manifest
in the flesh. No sooner did the little Baptist
leap and dance and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost
as well, verse 41 says, and she sang out with exuberance, you
are so blessed among women and the babe in your womb also is
blessed. And why am I so blessed that
the mother of my Lord visits me? The moment the sound of her
greeting entered my ears, the bathe in my womb skipped like
a lamb for sheer joy. You are the mother of my Lord,
Elizabeth said. What is this Holy Ghost filling?
a filling that causes babies to leap and Elizabeth to sing
out in exuberance, Mother of my Lord. Jesus said of the Holy
Spirit, He shall glorify me. And when Elizabeth and the little
Baptist heard the message of Mary, that Mary was to give birth
to the Savior of the elect, the babe leaped In Elizabeth's womb,
the little sentence begins with the pronoun he. He shall glorify
me, Jesus said. He, the Holy Spirit. And the
sentence ends with the pronoun me, Jesus. Between the pronominal
subject and the pronominal object there is the verb shall glorify.
Two words in the English, one word in the Greek. Always in
the scripture, when the Holy Spirit is at the beginning of
a sentence, the Lord Jesus Christ is the object of the sentence.
Everything that has its origination in the Holy Spirit, has its gold
and its crown in Jesus Christ. If you are ever filled with the
Holy Ghost, you may do some leaping, but you will leap because you
have seen a Christocracy. You will leap when you hear Jehovah's
salvation is coming. You will leap when you hear Jesus
died. You will leap when you hear Jesus
lives again. Behold that Jesus saves and that
Jesus reigns. Mary, In Luke chapter 1 in verse
46, Mary's reply to Elizabeth's congratulations is found in the
46th verse, My soul doth magnify the Lord. And verse 47, And my
spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. The Holy Ghost denotes
here the life-giving breath which calls into developed existence
the germ of a human personality slumbering in Mary's womb. This
germ is the link which unites Jesus to human nature and makes
him a member of the race he comes to save. My spirit, she says,
hath rejoiced in God my Savior. God my Savior? Mary is bursting
as she considers the life-giving breath which calls into developed
existence the germ of a human personality slumbering in her
womb. This germ is the link which unites
Jesus in nature and makes Him a member of the race He comes
to save. Oh, blessed conception! Jesus,
God in the womb of one of the race of mankind. The word rejoice
in the Greek is a remarkable one. It is the same word which
is used in the passage, rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy. It is an exalting dance, a leaping
dance that this little Baptist baby did in the womb of his mother. The old commentators called it
a libato. Mary declares, My spirit shall
dance like David before the ark. My spirit shall leap. My spirit
shall spring, shall bound, shall rejoice in God my Savior. I'm bursting with God news. I'm dancing the song of my Savior,
my God. Some of our brethren Praise God,
always on the minor key, in deep, deep bass tones. They cannot feel holy till they
have the horror. Some cannot worship God except
with long faces. What a dreary pace it is. You can tell when they come through
the church doors to worship. It's as if they were going to
jail. It is as if Sunday were the worst day of the week. Some
have said, I went over there to church on Sunday. It was an
awful sight. People going through the church
doors with happy faces. My friends, the gospel that God
has come to earth. That gospel that God has condescended,
the gospel that Jesus has come to save his people is good news. It is glad tidings. And it causes
people to dance with joy, being filled with the spirit of God. We joy in God, knowing that God
has loved us and sent his only begotten son into the world to
save us from our sins. May you, my friend, today dance
with joy, for there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.