Again and again I'm continually
struck by the awesomeness of the character of God revealed
in the scriptures and I'm continually struck, as you probably have
noticed of laters, how often He actually ties His character
to His activities and His activities in relation to His people. I've been contemplating it for
a long time to do some more work on the names of the Lord. because
the names are descriptive of him and they're gloriously descriptive
of him and the more I study them the more I realise my ignorance. So in part I'm trying to correct
my own ignorance because he is worthy of knowing. As Job 22
says, acquaint now thyself with him and be at peace, thereby
good shall come unto you. And Jeremiah says, Thus saith
the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty glory in his might. Let not the rich glory in his
riches, but let him that gloryeth. Glory in this, that he understands
and he knoweth me, that I am the Lord. I love what Arthur
Pink says, an unknown God. can neither be trusted, served,
nor worshipped. And the same applies to a God
whose character is distorted. The people that know their God
shall be strong, says Daniel chapter 11. And if you read the
rest of that chapter you will see that it's a chapter of shocking
judgments because people have turned from the One True God
and made for themselves idols of all sorts. Who is like Thee,
O Lord, among the gods? Who is like Thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? And the scriptures
begin with those words that bear enormous amounts of contemplation. In the beginning God. In the beginning God. There was a time before the beginning
of things as we know them now where God existed perfectly at
peace. He was self-existent, He was
self-sufficient, He was self-satisfied and He was self-contained. And all of this creation adds
nothing to the essential glory of God. It's a manifestation
of His glory. He's created all things according
to His will, to manifest His glory. And so the scriptures
have so many names of God that we can take some considerable
time to look at all of them, but the word in the first verse
of our scriptures is Elohim. in Genesis 1.1 and it means the
worshipped one. The word Elohim is derived from
the word to worship and it's in the plural. The worshipped
one is the triune God. He's revealed to Abraham and
he met with Abraham and made a covenant with Abraham and his
name was El. And the name El which is affixed
to many of the biblical names is El the mighty and strong God. Then there's Elohim which is
the most high God, speaks of God's majesty, his supremacy. The Lord Jesus is described in
Luke 1.32 as the Son of the Highest. We read that verse in Isaiah
57.15. He's the High and Lofty One,
the Inhabitor of Eternity. He's known as El Shaddai. In Genesis 17 it means Almighty,
God All-Sufficient, sufficient to bestow grace, sufficient and
powerful to maintain His covenantal promises. God is able, El Shaddai,
able to save, able to do His will, able to bless His people. There is that oft-used name of
His, isn't it, the Lord of Sabaoth, Sabaoth. The Lord of Hosts is
translated in our scriptures and it speaks of the Lord's sovereign
dominion and power over all of His creatures. It speaks in a
sense too of Him working and operating together with the hosts
of His angels and the hosts of His people. He is just infinitely
sovereign and powerful. It's the name that's used of
God in that famous verse in Daniel 4.35, that He does as He wills
in heaven, He does as He wills on the earth and no one can stay
His hand in any way. He's also known as Adonai, Adonai,
which means to support or it also means the cause. a famous verse at the end of
the section which is called the doctrinal section in Romans 11.
It finishes that great description of God and His saving sovereign
grace and it finishes with those amazing words, isn't it? For
of Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever and ever. He supports all things. He is
the cause of all things. And unto Him rebounds all the
glory. I love what he says in Isaiah
41.10. He says, Fear not. For I am with thee, and be not
dismayed, for I am thy God. And then he describes himself
and his activities. I am thy God, I will strengthen
thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I
will uphold thee with the right hand. And you would think that
he would then say the right hand of my power. He says I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Glorious description
of our God. There is that famous Name that
Moses asked, who shall I say has sent me? And the word is
Ejah in Hebrew, I think. But it is translated, isn't it?
I am that I am. Or as I've heard someone describe
it, I will save in the way that I will save. It speaks of God's
immutability. There's no variableness nor shadow
of turning with our God. He is the God who never changes. The New Testament has other names
for our God. We have the one Lord so often,
isn't it? It speaks of God who is sovereign,
it speaks of His power, His authority, His dominion, His right to rule,
His right of ownership, of all things, and it's used to describe
the Lord Jesus Christ as our King, our Mediator and King. There is just the word God, Theos,
that's used in the New Testament a lot, isn't it? And it speaks
of God's holiness, the God who sees all things, the God who
knows all things, the God who disposes of all things. God is
light, Norm has reminded us of what 1 John says. God sees everything. To Him there is no darkness,
there is nothing hidden, nothing in the shadows. He sees all in
the brightness of His knowledge. There is of course Jehovah. our Saviour, our Deliverer. It's called in the Scriptures
a glorious and fearful name. He says with His name it's holy
and reverent is His name. And we have all those words that
are affixed to that. As the Saviour Deliverer there
is the well-known ones Jehovah, Jireh, the Lord will provide. speaking to Abraham on that Mount
Moriah. There is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord
that healeth thee. Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our
peace. Jehovah Ra'ah, the Lord my Shepherd,
Jehovah Sikhinu, the Lord our Righteousness, Jeremiah 23, Jehovah
Shammah, the Lord is there. Who is of course Jehovah Jesus,
the Lord our Saviour, the Lord our Saviour. So I thought I'd
begin looking at the names of God this evening. by talking
about the one that is in some sense most intimate to us, and
it is the one Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. And it's used in Ezekiel 48,
35. And Ezekiel in those last eight
chapters has measured and described the city of God. He's describing
the triumphant victory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's describing
the new heavens and the new earth. He's saying that it was round
about 18,000 metres, huge numbers used. 18,000 metres equates to
65,000 kilometres. And the name of the city, the
critical thing is the name of the city from that day shall
be the Lord is there. Of course the city is that city
that Revelation 21 speaks of so beautifully, that great city
that comes down out of heaven beautifully adorned as a bride
for her husband. It is a description of the Lord
and His Church, isn't it? And the descriptions in Ezekiel
cause us to be reminded again and again that it is immense.
The Lord's victory on that great day will not seem to be some
little thing done in a corner. It will be huge. It also signifies that it will
be perfectly measured. There will be a precise number
of God's children there. Not one will be missing. The
Lord Jesus promises not one will be missing. It may not be numbered
by men, and it may never be numbered even accurately by the Church
of God in this world, but it's always numbered perfectly by
the Lord. But here, critically, it has
a name. The Lord is there. It's a description of the Church
as God sees it. It's one of the things that we
need continually to do, one of the things that church is so,
I believe, helpful for, is it takes our eyes off the things
of this world and we try, as the Lord enables us, to actually
look from Heaven's perspective on things. The Church has many
descriptions, hasn't it? There are always glorious descriptions. In Jeremiah, the Church is called
the Lord, Our Righteousness. We, as His bride, bear His name. She's called in Isaiah 62, she's
called Hephzibah, which means the Lord's delight. And Beulah,
married to the Lord. They're called in the next few
verses, a holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, those who are sought
out by God. Whatever he seeks for, he finds.
A city not forsaken. The Jerusalem which is above,
the city of the living God, Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem,
it's a great city. The Lord describes them always
with possessive pronouns, doesn't he? He says again and again,
my people. As we saw in Song of Solomon,
he calls her my sister, my spouse, my beloved, my jewels. God owns this city as his own. And if you read in Revelation
those letters to the churches you'll see the Lord walks amongst
the candlesticks and he holds them in his arms, in his hands. The mystery of the seven stars
which thou sawest, where were they? In my right hand The seven
stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks
which thou sawest are the seven churches. He holds them in His
arms, in His hand, and He walks among them. It's a glorious thing to think
about, isn't it? The Lord is there. Of course, in some sense
it's self-evident, isn't it? The Lord is there always. The
Lord has been there in all of time and all of creation. He
fills all in all, even the pagans. in Paul's day seemed to acknowledge
it, didn't they? In Acts chapter 17 Paul speaks
to the people in Athens and he speaks to them of a God, of their
God, who made the world and all things therein, seeing that He
is Lord of heaven and earth and dwelleth not in temples made
with hands. So forget about your idolatrous
temple worship. He has made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth and
has determined the times before appointed and the bounds. He sets the boundary of time,
He sets the boundary of people's habitation, that they should
seek the Lord if happily they might feel after Him. They grope
around until He comes and reveals Himself. But He goes on to say
in verse 28 of Acts 17, For in Him we live and move and have
our being." There is a real sense that we are never separated from
the presence of God. God was there. He's always been
there. In the beginning God, He was
there when there was no creation and there was no time. He was
there in creation. The Spirit hovered over the waters. He created by a word. He created out of nothing. He
created effortlessly, effortlessly. God was there in the garden.
He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. Whenever we hear
of God acting in that sort of way, it is always a reference
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Even in the fall, the Lord was
there. He was there as they left the
garden. He was there in the sacrifices of Abel. He was
there in the sacrifice that clothed Adam and Eve and covered their
shame. He was there with Enoch. Enoch is described so beautifully,
isn't he? He says, without faith it is
impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe
that He is, that He exists and He is there, He is eternal and
His character has been revealed, and that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him. He was with Noah, He was with
Abraham, He was with Jacob, Jacob saw that ladder that reached
from earth to heaven. The Lord Jesus is that one who
reaches from earth to heaven. Jacob said the place is nothing
other than the house of God, Beth El, the house of God. I love what the Lord said to
Jacob as he went off. He says, I am with thee. and I will keep thee in all the
places whither thou goest, and I will bring thee again into
the land. For I will not leave thee until
I have done that which I have spoken of to thee." What a great promise. Jacob went
out as a supplanter, as a deceiver, and he came back with a new name,
didn't he, as he entered that land again. A prince. A prince with God. I am with
Thee. I will keep Thee. Our Lord Jesus
was called has wonderful names, doesn't he? Wonderful Counsel
of the Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, but
in Isaiah 7 he has another name, doesn't he? He's called Immanuel. Immanuel. God with us. God with us. Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed his people. So says Zachariah. When the Lord
Jesus came to this earth, it was God with us, God with His
people. Throughout His life, our Lord
Jesus was there as God with us, wasn't He? In all His activities, He was
God with us, God representing us. God revealing Himself to
us, God revealing His salvation. He was there with us. What a remarkable testimony we
have to Him in the Gospels of how He was with His people in
their times of greatest need. Even when He seemed to be absent,
He was there with them in a way to bring more glory. And He was
there with us, wasn't he? We were with him as he went to
the cross. God was there, wasn't he? God
was there. God was there at the cross punishing
sin. God was there being punished
for sin. God was there satisfying his
justice. God was there, the one on whom
justice was satisfied. God was there bruising the one
cursed. God was there being bruised as
the cursed one. God was there forsaking the sufferer
and God was there the sufferer forsaken. God was there pouring
out wrath and damnation, and God was there, drinking damnation
dry. God was there slaying the sinner's
substitute, and God was there. the sinner's substitute, dying
in their room instead, dying in their place, dying the death
that we deserved. God was there in the tomb, God
was there in resurrection glory and God was there with his people. Again and again I'm struck by
the fact that the Lord Jesus, when He came back, He came back
from the grave and He appeared in resurrection glory for 40
days. He appeared again and again and
again. He appeared to individuals, He appeared to the apostles as
a group, the apostles with others. He appeared to 500 of the brethren
at one time, says 1 Corinthians 15. God is there. God is there. Jehovah Shema. It's the name
of every one of God's children. God is there. He was there as
their representative in eternity. He was there at every moment
of their lives. Nothing accidental ever happens
to the children of God. God is there with them in what
is called prevenient grace, in protecting and preserving and
setting a hedge around His chosen ones all of the time of their
rebellion. God is there, God is there in
conversion, turning the hearts of His bride to Himself. It's
called, as Ezekiel 16 says, it's the time of love. God is there
illuminating His Word, bringing His Word to life, revealing who
He is, revealing who we are as children of Adam and revealing
that great gulf consumed in the love of the Lord Jesus. He is
there in all their trials, preserving and protecting them. He's there
as a chastening father. He's there when we feel the rod
of His chastising hand upon us. He's there to cuddle us and care
for us and restore us. I love what the Lord Jesus says
in John 12 verse 26. It's an amazing verse. It says,
if any man serve me, let him follow me. And then the next
words are quite remarkable, isn't it? He says, and where I am, There shall also my servant be. Get the order right first, folks,
isn't it? We think if we run off and the
Lord sort of chases after us and has to catch up with us.
If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, brothers
and sisters, you can never get outside or away from the presence
of the Lord Jesus. We are united to him. But where
I am, there shall also my servant be, and if any man serve me,
him will my Father honour. And Lord Jesus makes these remarkable
promises, doesn't He? A promise of presence, a promise
of protection, a promise of care. And what applies individually
to God's elect also applies to His churches. It's the name of
the church, isn't it? Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is
there. In that famous verse in Matthew
18, verse 20, it says, all three are gathered. The thing that's really interesting
about that is that the word gathered is in the passive tense, which
means that they don't do the gathering themselves. They are
gathered by Him. Do you get the sense of it? He
gathers His people. He gathers them. Where two or
three are gathered, together in my name, together where He
reveals His name, together where He promises to record, as Exodus
20 says, where I record my name, I will come unto thee and I will
bless thee. The Lord is there as the gatherer,
as the revealer, as the protector. The Lord is there always." Matthew 28.20 is one
of those remarkable verses in the original because he's declared
by that great name, I am, I am, six times in John's Gospel. He
says, I am the good shepherd, I am the door, I am, I am, I
am. And then after the resurrection,
He says, All power, all power is given unto me in heaven and
in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. I am with you always, even unto
the end of the world." And in the Greek it's beautiful, all
the way through the New Testament it's, I am, I am, ego ani, ego
ani. And then we get to this one here
after the resurrection, and the I and the am is split apart and
in the middle is with you. I with you am. Such is the union. Such is the security. Such is the peace of those who
are his. The Lord is there with us in
His Word, revealing Himself in His Word. We go to His Word to
seek Him and to find Him, and what we find is again and again
He reveals His character. And I don't know about you, but
the more I study the character of God, the more I find myself
at peace with who He is. And more I find myself reassured,
having the joy and peace of believing. And the Lord, of course, is going
to be with them into eternity, into the future. Ezekiel paints
a remarkable picture, if seen through spiritual eyes, of that
great house of God. The house of God will be full. The house of God will be perfectly
ordered. the city of God will be perfectly
complete. And when all things are made
new, it's the dwelling place of the righteous. And the great
banner, the great emblem, the great joy of it all is that the
Lord will be there. He shall come to be glorified
in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe. because
our testimony among you was believed in that day." The joys of heaven
and the joys for believers here now have one source and they
have one focus and they desire one presence. Again and again
I'm often drawn to that verse that Moses said The Lord had
made a promise after the shocking incident of the golden calf and
the Lord said, My presence shall go with thee and I will give
thee rest. And Moses turns around to him
and says, If your presence go not with me, carry me not up
from here. Don't let me take another step
unless you are with me. The Lord will be with his people. the Lord will be glorified in
His people. He'll come to be glorified in
His people that, this is the purpose of all of that isn't
it, that the name Jehovah Shallah, the name of our Lord Jesus may
be glorified in you and you in Him. according to the grace of our
God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that
you would cause us to be awestruck by the depth and the significance
and the wonder and the completeness and the perfection of what you
say about the intimacy and the wonder and the extraordinary
bond between your people and yourself as forged by our Lord
Jesus Christ. O our Father, we pray that we
would be caused again and again to know Him as the sure-minded,
to know Him as my Beloved, and to know and to own Him, that
I am His and He is mine. O our Father, we thank you for
the promise of your presence. We thank you for promises fulfilled
throughout time and fulfilled into eternity. We thank you,
Heavenly Father, that your word is sure. We praise you, Heavenly
Father, for your presence with us. We pray that you would bring
us again and again to look at our lives and look at this world,
look at the things of this world through the spectacles of eternity. What a glorious day it is, Heavenly
Father, and Your people will see Him face to face, because
we'll be made to be like Him. As He is, so are we in this world. We praise You for Your glorious
promises. We praise You, Heavenly Father, that they're all blood-bought
and secured and settled in the councils of eternity. We thank
You, Our Father, for Your presence. We pray for Your guiding hand
upon us, that we again and again, Heavenly Father, would be led
to walk by faith and not by the sight of these Adamic eyes. Bless us Heavenly Father. Thank
you Lord, living in our lives for Jesus' sake. Amen.