The name of the message today
is Nine Names of God. Nine Names of God. Now, in this
world, we all go through different times,
don't we? We have times of joy. We have
times of sorrow, sadness. We have some times when it's
just normal. Not a whole lot going on either. But as Brother Scott Richardson
used to say, and I love this saying by Brother Scott, a believer's
either going into trouble, in trouble, or coming out. It's
just our lives. But knowing who our God is, and knowing even what His names
mean, will help us during those times. And we know that God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are God. The three are
one. They're the Holy Trinity. They're the ones who the angels
fall down before proclaiming, Holy, Holy, Holy. That's our God below. So I'd like us to consider nine
names by which the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God,
the second person of the Trinity, is found in Scripture, because
we know He's Jehovah. He's Jehovah the Son. And He's as much God as Jehovah
the Father and Jehovah the Holy Spirit. The three are one. The
three are one. And our sweet, sovereign substitute
reveals Himself to His people through the Scriptures. And His
names are absolutely wondrous to us. Turn if you would to Isaiah
chapter 26. Now in the close of chapter 24,
Isaiah is proclaimed that the Lord of Hosts shall reign gloriously. Over there in Isaiah 24, he says,
Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed when the
Lord of Hosts shall reign in the Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
before His ancient glorious. before as ancient gloriously.
And that's verse 23. So verse 25, or chapter 25, right before our text that we'll
look at, that we'll be reading today, the prophet Isaiah speaks
of a glorious majesty of God's kingdom and the praises that
should be offered up to our great God. We should ever be praising
our God, beloved. And I know we, I just mean when
he comes to our minds, we should just be praising him and thankful
to him for the great things he's done for us. And this again can
bring us great comfort, no matter what we're going through. So
the prophet Isaiah brings forth the glorious majesty of God's
kingdom and the praises that should be offered up to God by
the gospel church for Christ's victories. over our spiritual
enemies. And when we know as believers
that we have victory through Christ, not in ourselves, but
through Christ over our spiritual enemies, oh, what comfort that
can give God's people. Because we know it's He who has
delivered us from all our sins. We know it's He who provides
for us. Now we'll be reading in chapter 26 today, which we'll
see the song of the redeemed as the day spoken of in verse
1 is the gospel day. And what great things our great
God has done for His people, in and through Christ alone,
who's God incarnate in the flesh. And we'll look at the first nine
verses of this gospel song, which is full of praise for our great
sovereign God. But our text will be in the first
four verses. It's a song of thanksgiving,
a song of praise, and a song of victory, which we know we
only have victory in Christ, not in anything we do. And we
see the assurance of the believer and the confidence for the believer.
Our assurance, each born-again, blood-washed believer, our confidence
and our assurance is Christ. If we look to ourselves, we're
in a heap of trouble, aren't we? You've heard me say many
times, when I get in trouble is when I look to myself in a
situation and get my eyes off Christ. And it happens naturally
for us. We're all prone to it. We're
all prone to it. But when we get our, that's why
Paul said, set your mind on things above. And we see it through
the scriptures as a constant reminder of keeping your mind
upon Christ, keeping your eyes fixated on Christ, no matter
what's going on in the world. No matter what's going on. The
Old Testament believers rested and trusted in the Messiah. They
trusted the grace of God, just as the New Testament believers
do, as we look to the one true Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
They look to one who's coming, and we look to one who's already
come and gone home to be in glory with the Father. Psalm 70, verse
4 says this, let all those that seek thee rejoice, and be glad
in thee, and let such as love thy salvation say continually,
let God be magnified. Praise Him. Praise him for what
he's done. And then the scriptures also
say, let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed
from the hand of the enemy. Let us tell folks what he's done
for us. Oh, he delivered me. He delivered
my soul. And always remember, an open
door is when someone asks you a question. Well, boom, there
we go. You don't have to force the door open. Just let them
ask questions. My. It's amazing. So the believer's
only comfort, the believer's only consolation, the believer's
only strength, the believer's only protection is the Lord Jesus
Christ. No one else. Nowhere else. And
it's He who has revealed Himself to us as believers. And He alone is our salvation.
We rest in the fact that our salvation is accomplished and
completely for us at Calvary's Cross. That when He died, He
really died in our place. That's my confidence. That's
who I rest my eternal soul on, do you? Oh my! What a Savior! What a Lord! Let's read the first nine verses
of Isaiah chapter 26 with this in our mind. In that day shall
this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city.
Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the
gates that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter
in. Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on
thee. Oh, what a verse. Why? Because
he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. For He bringeth down
them that dwell on high, the lofty city He layeth it low.
He layeth it low. He's going to lay low all them
proud folks, all the folks who shake their fists at Him. He'll lay them low. even to the
ground. He bringeth it even to the dust.
The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor and
the steps of the needy. The way of the just is uprightness.
Thou most upright dost weigh the path of the just. We know
we're only made just by Christ, right? Only by Christ, only by
His righteousness. Yea, in the way of Thy judgments,
O Lord, have we waited for Thee. The desire of our soul is to
Thy name. and to the remembrance of Thee.
With my soul have I desired Thee in the night, yea, with my spirit
within me will I seek Thee early, for when Thy judgments are in
the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness."
I want us to consider the first four verses of this chapter this
morning. Let's start looking at verse
1 here. It says, In that day shall this psalm be sung in the
land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation
will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. We see here the phrase,
In that day, and this exact phrase is used 43 times in the book
of Isaiah. 43 times. It preeminently refers
to the great day of salvation, the day which the Lord Jesus
Christ made the supreme sacrifice before God for our sins. And
the day when our Great Substitute gave His life. That was a great
day, beloved. That was a great day. It was
a day of sorrow, but it was a great day. Because it's the cause of
our rejoicing, isn't it? It's the cause of our salvation.
That the sinless sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ gave His life
for us. When He died upon the cross,
He purchased us with His own blood. So for the believer in
Christ who has heard the Shepherd's voice through the preaching of
the Gospel, this glorious, amazing truth brings great peace to the
sheep of God. And we desire to hear, don't
we? We desire to hear the truth of
how our Lord has saved us from our sins. Not just one, not just
two, but all of them. Don't you desire to hear that?
That He saved you from all your sins. He's washed you in His
precious blood. And He remembers your sins no
more. And that when He died on that cross, that if you're a
believer for you, as He died on that cross, He's obtaining
eternal redemption for you and for me. Oh my. And He obtained it, beloved.
And we know it's true because He cried, it is what? Finished. It's done. Oh, that should make our lips
just sing with praise. It's finished. Our salvation
is finished. It's completed. And it was completed
in that day, that glorious gospel day, beloved. And note this song
will be sung by Judah, by God's elect. In that day shall this
song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation
will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. God's chosen people. Only the
redeemed of the Lord can sing this wondrous song, beloved.
Only the redeemed of the Lord. I think back, and there was a
time when I didn't sing this song. But now, that the Lord
saved my soul. Oh, I love to sing this song. Glory to my great God. Worthy
is the Lamb who was slain. He's slain for me. If you're
a believer, you can sing that too. He's slain for me. Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain. He's slain for my sins. Oh, what
love. What love. Only the redeemed of the Lord
can sing this psalm. Only the redeemed of the Lord can sing
of the wondrous things that God has done for us. We see here in the text that
brings forth, we have a strong city. Now, this speaks of the
new Jerusalem, called Jerusalem, whose builder and maker is God.
Never forget, that the church of God is built by the Lord.
It's built by the Lord. It's His building. He adds to
the church as He is pleased. As He is pleased. It's His work,
and His people are chosen in Christ, and the scripture says
we're built up to a spiritual temple, all according to God's
sovereign will. All according to God's sovereign
will. Paul wrote about this city. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 11. Paul wrote about this city. Hebrews chapter 11,
but keep your finger there in Isaiah 26. Because we'll be going
back there. Paul wrote about this city in
the book of Hebrews. And Abraham, our dear brother,
he looked forward to this city. And I know every born-again believer
looks forward to this. Oh my, that's but a doorway,
beloved. but a doorway into the presence
of Christ for the believer. Look at this. Hebrews 11, verse
8. By faith Abraham, when he was
called, to go out into a place which he should after receive
for an inheritance, obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
whether he went. Now, isn't that true of God's people? The Lord
saves us and redeems us, and then we don't know what's in
store for our lives. We ask the Lord to guide and
direct us, don't we? And He takes us wherever He's
pleased, beloved. It's absolutely incredible. Absolutely incredible. Which he should have to receive
for inheritance. Obeyed. And he went out, not knowing
whether he went. By faith, he's adjoined in the land of promise.
as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob, and heirs with him of some promise. For he looked for
a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
He looked above, beloved. He's just a pilgrim. You know,
every one of us who are believers, we're just pilgrims. I mentioned
that today. We're just passing through. This
world's not our home. It's not at all. Now, I never
used to think that way before the Lord saved me. Is it so for
you? I didn't think that way. I wanted to get whatever I could
out of this world before the Lord saved me. I did. Not anymore. Everything I see
is gonna vanish. It's all temporary. It's all
temporary. But we look to He who is eternal,
don't we? Isn't it wonderful how God just totally changes
our views? It's absolutely incredible. Absolutely
incredible. So every believer looks for this
city. We look to be in glory with our Lord. Let's go back
to our text there, and we're seeing the latter part of verse
1, it says, salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Now note the simplicity of these words, the believer by faith,
which again is a gift from God, lays hold of the promise and
rests in the fact that salvation is of the Lord. We just rest
in that, don't we? We don't question it, because
we know we can't save ourselves, we've been taught that. We just
rest in the fact that salvation is of the Lord, and it's not
determined on me. It's all Him. It's all Him. He's done it all. And all according
to His almighty will, too. Think of that. All according
to His almighty will. And note the words here. They
proclaim that God's people are under God's protection. We're
a garden enclosed. We know that from Song of Solomon,
right? We're a garden enclosed, fenced in. A fenced in garden. And we know from our study in
the Psalms that we're a walled city. We're safe in Christ. Who's
our city of refuge? And it says here, salvation will
God appoint for walls and bulwarks. This mighty salvation, which
is wrought by God, makes the believer in Christ absolutely
safe. Absolutely safe. He's the rock
who we hide in. No weapon which is formed shall
prosper against God's people. They're secure from all harm,
even though we cannot see this, and even though we go through
trials and tribulations in this life, don't we? We're protected. We're kept by
the power of God. I was telling Brother Steve this
morning, I've been looking at the scriptures and we're the
hidden ones, the scripture says. We're the hidden ones. We're
hidden in Christ, beloved. We're hidden in Christ. Just
as a hen goes over her baby chicks, we're hidden. Safe. Safe and
secure in Christ. Safe and secure in Him. And even
though we cannot see Him, yet we trust our eternal souls to
Him, to the one who's our Savior, our Redeemer, our God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Knowing that He saved our souls.
So the concept which is being brought forth here before us
is that of a great walled city. A great walled city with towers
and fortifications. And with an impenetrable gate. A gate which cannot be broken
into. All appointed and purposed by God. That's what God's people,
we're in that city. We're in Christ, the city of
refuge, beloved. Oh my. Scripture says this in
Isaiah 60. Turn if you would there. Isaiah
60 verse 18. Look at this. Look at this. This
is wonderful. And this is... Look at this. Isaiah 60 verse 18. Keep in mind,
salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Look at this.
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land. In the land we go
to, beloved, there'll be no more violence, there'll be no sickness,
no sorrow, no sadness, no pain, no sin. Right? Violence will
no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within
thy borders. But thou shalt call thy walls
salvation. and thy gates praise." Oh my! It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful, beloved. Let's go back to our text in
Isaiah 26. Absolutely wonderful. Look at
verse 2 now. Open ye the gates that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. These gates spoken
of in these two In this verse represent Christ is the door.
He alone is the only way to the Father. He's the only way into
the into the New Jerusalem, Jerusalem above. He's the only way which
is only available to the righteous. And we know we know we're not
righteous on our own, do we? We know that we know that, but
we're righteous before God because of the imputed righteousness
of Christ. And God remembers our sin no
more. The gate has been entered by
our forerunner, Jesus Christ, who's gone in before us. The
scriptures proclaim this. Whether the forerunner is for
us entered, even Jesus made a high priest forever over the order
of Melchizedek. Brother Tim James brings forth
that the gates are the gates of realized salvation. Realized
salvation, which we know is in Christ alone. Oh my. Psalm 118 verses 19 to 21, the
Scriptures proclaim, Open to me the gates of righteousness,
I will go unto them, and I will praise the Lord. This gate of
the Lord into which the righteous shall enter, I will praise Thee,
for Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. Psalm 118
verses 19 to 21, and we know that's Christ and Christ alone.
And in light of this truth, listen again to Isaiah 60 verse 21. Thy people shall be righteous,
shall be all righteous. They shall inherit the land forever.
The branch of my planting, the branch of the, it's the Lord's
planting. were trees of righteousness planted
by the Lord, not by us. The work of my hands that I may
be glorified. I'll read that again. Isaiah
60, 21. Thy people also shall be all righteous, all of them.
There won't be one who's not righteous. Why? Because they're
covered in the righteousness of Christ. They shall inherit
the land forever. We're going home, beloved. We're
going home when we exit this world. Forever. never to be separated
from our great God. The branch of my plan, He chose
us in Christ. The work of my hands were born
again by the Holy Spirit of God. Why? That I may be glorified.
And what do we do after the Lord saves us? We glorify God. What
are we going to do in heaven? We're going to glorify God, beloved.
We're going to praise His mighty name forever. Now the latter
part of verse 2 says that the righteous nation which keepeth
the truth may enter in. Well, we know that the righteous
nation is the people of God, God's elect, made so by God. They're clothed, again, in the
righteousness of Christ. And we know who the truth is.
It says that the truth may enter. We know who the truth is. Well,
it's He who is the way, the truth, and the life, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul writes in the book of Ephesians, he says, But ye
have not so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard Him
and have been taught by Him as the truth, is in Jesus. It's in Christ. Nowhere else.
He's the way, He's the life, and He's the truth. No other
way to God. No truth but Christ. And only
one way to the Father. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go to verse 3. Now this
verse 3 here, I'm just going to touch on this, but you could
spend weeks on the peace of God. Weeks. Weeks. Months on the peace
of God. It's incredible. You really could.
But we're just going to touch a little bit today. Look at this.
Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee, because he trusteth in thee. What a verse. Thou shalt
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because
he trusteth in thee. When times of trial and affliction
come, and they will, Here is a promise right here before us.
This is a promise from God. Look at this. As we who are the
people of God, we know this to be true, that thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace whose mind has stayed on thee. Never lose
sight that this perfect peace was established on Calvary's
cross by the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ made peace with God as
our substitute, beloved, By His precious blood, He and He alone
has reconciled us to God. And this is true peace spoken
of here. This is true peace. This is a
peace with God. This is the peace that Paul says
passes all understanding. All understanding. We can't even
fathom it. We can't even fathom it. This
perfect peace was established by the Perfect One. God incarnate
in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who's established
this perfect peace. Did you have peace before the
Lord saved you? I didn't have, I was in constant turmoil. Does
the world have peace? No. It's in constant turmoil.
Why? Because of sin. But our sin's
been dealt with. For the believer, our sin's been
dealt with, beloved. At Calvary's cross. Oh my, what a savior. So now
we have the peace that passes all understanding. And note the word peace in our
text. It's one word in our text, but in the Hebrew, it's repeated.
It's peace, peace. It's peace, peace in the Hebrew.
Our great sovereign God inspired Isaiah to write it twice to confirm
it in the hearts of his people. One commentator said, I like
that. It's peace, peace in the Hebrew. It's amazing. Now false preachers, what do
they say? They say, peace, peace, when there's no peace, don't
they? They do. They tell you to trust in something
you do for peace with God. But you can never have peace
with God through something we do. We see here that God promises
peace, peace to His people. Peace to His people, true peace.
is sure as himself, because it's God who promises it. And what
God promises will always come to pass, right? Always. And note the words in verse 3,
whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee.
You've heard me say it many times. You heard me say it earlier.
When I get my eyes off Christ, I'm in trouble, right? Look at
this. Whose mind is stayed on thee. That's why we're instructed
in the Word of God to keep our eyes on Christ. Keep our eyes
on Christ. We trust Him, don't we? We trust
Him. We trust Him for everything.
He's our God. And so, during the storms of
life and the trials of life that come our way, and they will,
we're to keep our eyes upon Christ. And He's our eternal peace, beloved.
He's our eternal peace. Now, take note that this peace
is established for those whose mind is stayed on Christ, whose
thoughts are centered on Christ. And whose thoughts are centered
on the things of Christ? God's born-again people. I ask
you, before the Lord saved you, was your mind centered on Christ?
Mine wasn't. I don't even want to think about
it. But now I think about Christ all the time. Not every second. But I think about him through
the day. I wake up sometimes thinking about him. I go to bed,
you lay him down, you're thinking about him. Or just things come
up in the day and you cry out to him. That wasn't so before,
was it? What a great change God wrought.
What a miracle grace is. What a miracle grace is. So our
minds are stayed upon Christ. We think about Him, and we know
the scripture says, the just shall live by faith, right? Who's
the object of our faith? Christ, amen. That's who we,
we just focus on Him. He's the object of our praise,
He's the object of our faith. Oh, and we know that the just
shall live by faith, and we know that we're only made righteous
by Christ, by His imputed righteousness, and we trust in Him. David cried
out, my heart is fixed on thee, oh God. And the stayed mind is
described in the last phrase of verse three, because he trusted
in thee. The stayed mind trusts in Christ. I ask you, do you trust Christ?
Is he your savior? Is he your redeemer? Do you think about him now when
you didn't used to think about him at all? It's incredible. God's grace is absolutely amazing.
Absolutely amazing. And we trust in Him. He's our
all in all. We hang everything on Him, don't
we? Everything. Now let's read verse 4. Look
at this. And this is where we're going
to get the nine names of our Lord. We look at these nine names. Verse 4. Trust ye in the Lord
forever. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength. So we've seen so far that this
is a song of praise and confidence in our great God. Because He's
the only one that we're to have confidence in. Always remember
that. We're not to ever have confidence
in ourselves. He's the only one we're to have
confidence in. Because He's the source of our righteousness,
He's the source of our redemption, He's the source of our salvation,
the forgiveness of all our sins, He's the source of our strength.
That's why I always pray, Lord, give God's people grace and strength.
More grace to get through things, and strength, because we're a
weak people. I am. I need strength all the
time. I need God's grace all the time.
Is it so with you? All the time. All the time. Oh my. So our text here proclaims the
Lord Jehovah, beloved of God. It is He and He alone who is
the everlasting strength of the believer. It's He alone who we
find our comfort in. Now let's, I'm going to have
us just look at nine names of God that are a source of comfort
for God's people. A source of comfort. We can find
comfort in the names of God. in the names of God alone. He's
our great God. The first name of God which brings
great comfort to God's people is Jehovah-Hosinu, which means
the Lord our Maker. The Lord our Maker. In Psalm
95, verses 6 and 7. If you want to turn there you
can. Psalm 95, verses 6 and 7. This is proclaimed right here.
He's the Lord our maker. He's the maker over heaven and
earth. So the weary one, now think of
this, when troubles come and trials come and souls come, this
is the one who holds you and keeps you. No matter what you're
going through. And this comforts God's people.
This comforts God's people here. Oh my. Scripture says, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people. Putting this together with such
a comfort because it's wonderful to see in the names of God How
comforting. How much comfort we can find.
Look at this. Psalm 95, verses 6 and 7. O come, let us worship
Him, bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker, that there
is Jehovah Hosinu. For He is our God, and we are
the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hands. Today,
if you will hear His voice. Oh, He's the He's our God. And we're the sheep. He's our
maker. And He's the maker of all heaven
and earth, beloved. So let this truth comfort your
heart. You who are the beloved of God,
it is He who is the Lord our maker. He not only made us by
creation, but He made us His people. By God choosing us in Christ,
He made us His people. And then listen to what Scripture
says about God's people. For the Lord will not forsake
His people. Oh Lord, write that on my heart.
The Lord will not forsake His people. Never. Never. For His
great name's sake, because it hath pleased the Lord to make
you His people. 1 Samuel 12, 22. It pleased God
to make you His people. Pleased God to do that. Pleased
God to make us. And in it please God to make
us His people. Isn't that incredible? Oh, it's absolutely incredible.
He who is our Maker, by His sovereign electing grace and gracious adoption
of His people, by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and by
the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit of God, which has
been manifested, He manifested His everlasting love for His
people that He will never forsake and never leave, no matter what
comes up in our lives. Oh, my. What a great God. The second
name of God which brings great comfort to God's people is the name Jehovah Jireh, which
means the Lord will provide. Genesis chapter 28, or 22 verse
8, the scripture says, And Abraham said, My son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went
both of them together. Oh my. God had told Abraham to
go and sacrifice his son. And then in Genesis, chapter
22, verses 13 to 14, the Scriptures declare, And Abraham lifted up
his eyes and looked, and behold, him a ram caught in a thicket.
by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh. As
it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be
seen. Now look at the context of that is Abraham was going
to sacrifice his son because God told him to do it. And then
all of a sudden there's a ram caught in the thicket. There's a substitute. So think
of that name, when you think of that name Jehovah Jireh, the
Lord will provide, let us think of how God provided his son to
be a sacrifice for our sins. Not only does he provide for
us in all things, but more so, God provided himself a lamb,
himself, God himself. died as our substitute. Oh what
comfort this brings God's people. What comfort this brings God's
people. The third name of God which brings
comfort to God's people is the name Jehovah Rapha which means
the Lord that healeth thee. The Lord that healeth thee. Turn
if you would to Exodus 15 verse 26. Exodus 15 verse 26. Now it's the Lord who sent the
plagues that hit the Egyptians, right? In the book of Exodus.
But did you notice none of them touched the Israelites? Not one
of them. They're a walled people, beloved.
They're protected people. Oh my. And it's the Lord who
made the bitter waters of Marah sweet for the children of Israel,
because He's Jehovah Rapha. He's the Lord that healeth thee.
Look at this in Exodus 15, 26 and said, if thou wilt diligently
hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which
is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments,
and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon
thee, which I have bought upon the Egyptians. For I am the Lord
that healeth thee." That's Jehovah Rapha there. Lord and then healeth
is Rapha. Oh my. Now think of this. By His stripes we're healed. By His stripes we're healed.
Oh my. The fourth name of God which
brings great comfort to God's people during times of trials
and tribulations and just in regular times of our lives is
the name Jehovah Nissi. Nissi which is the Lord our banner.
The Lord our banner. Turn if you would to Exodus chapter
17. Exodus chapter 17. The Lord our banner. And He is
our banner, beloved. We rally around Him. We follow
Him. And Him alone. And He takes us
where He wills. Doesn't He? Oh my. What a great
God. Exodus 17 verses 8 to 15. Then came Amalek and fought with
Israel and Raphodim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose
us out men and go out fight with Amalek. I will stand on the top
of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand." So Joshua did
as Moses had said to him and fought with Amalek. And Moses,
Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came
to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed. And
when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were
heavy, and he took a stone and put it under him, and he sat
therein, and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the
one side and the other on the other side, and his hands were
steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomforted
Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord
said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse
it in the ears of Joshua, for I will utterly put out the remembrance
of Amalek from under heaven. He's going to wipe them right
out. And Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah-Nissan. The Lord our banner. The Lord
our banner. And we saw that Moses and the
children of Israel fought with the Amorites, beloved God, but
they won the victory not through their own strength. They didn't
win the victory through their own strength, but they were victorious
through the strength of Christ. And so we too, beloved. So we
too. We only prevail by Jesus Christ,
who is the Lord, our banner. It's the only way we do. You
know, I always used to, in religion, I remember in religion, you know,
all these books, you know, how to be a better Christian, how
to do this, how to do that. Man, there's countless pages
wasted with all that stuff. The Lord is our banner. The Lord
is the one that we rest in. The Lord is the one that we follow.
I can't make myself better. It's He who's conforming me.
It's the Holy Spirit who's conforming me and you to the image of the
Son, beloved. That's who does it. We have a greater sense of
sin now than we've ever had when we were first saved. And that's why, again, you've
heard me mention this many times. That's why Paul, near the end
of his ministry, said, I'm the chief of sinners. He had a greater
understanding of who God was, and a greater understanding of
what his sin was. And therefore, he says, I'm the
chief. Now, beloved, God's grace humbles
us, humbles us. And we rally under the banner,
the Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah-Nissa, the fifth name of God, which
brings comfort to God's people during all times, trials, and
situations. It's Jehovah Makedesh, the Lord
who sanctifies you. The Lord who sanctifies you.
Turn, if you would, to Exodus 31. Exodus 31. Exodus 31, verses
12 to 14. And remember, this is our God.
Each of these names represent who He is. He's the one who sanctifies us.
He's our banner. He's our strength. He's our provider. And the Lord spake unto Moses
saying, verse 12, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel,
saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign
between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may
know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." That's the
Lord, that's Jehovah, and in sanctify, Mekitesh. "...ye shall
keep the sabbath therefore, For it is holy unto you, every one
that defileth it shall surely be put to death, for whosoever
doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among
his people." Now Sabbath observance was a declaration that the sanctification
or salvation of a sinner is altogether the work of God. Always remember
that for the believer in Christ, who's our Sabbath? Who's our
Sabbath? It's not a day, is it? It's Christ. Is he our Sabbath on Monday?
Yes. Is he our Sabbath on Tuesday?
Yes. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, right?
He's our Sabbath. Now we come together on Sundays
and we gather together to worship God. And that's important because
the scripture tells us not to forsake the assembling of each
other together. Because we need each other. But Christ is our Sabbath, isn't
he? He's our rest. That's what Sabbath means. He's
our rest. He's our rest. Leviticus says this. Sanctify
yourselves therefore and be ye holy for I am the Lord your God.
And ye shall keep my statutes and do them. I am the Lord which
sanctify you. We love his word. It's not grievous
to us. And we love his word, don't we?
Because we love the Lord. And our sanctification is all
God's work, beloved. It's all his work. He's our wisdom,
redemption, sanctification. He's everything to us. He's everything
to us. Think of this too. We're sanctified
by God the Father in election in Christ, which means to be
set apart. We are sanctified to be made
holy. We are sanctified by God the Son in redemption because
he purchased us by his blood. And we're sanctified by God the
Holy Spirit in regeneration when we're circumcised in the heart,
born again. So there's a threefold work of grace right there. Threefold
work of sanctification. And it's all God. It's all God
doing it. It's all Him. The sixth name
of God which brings great comfort to his people is the name Jehovah
Shalom. Jehovah Shalom. The Lord our
peace. The Lord our peace. We saw in
our text that the Lord keeps us in perfect peace. Turn to
Judges chapter 6 and we'll read verses 21 to 24. Now when Gideon
saw the angel of the Lord, he feared that he would die, but
listen to what occurs. Judges chapter 6 verses 21 to
24. Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff
that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened
cakes, and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed
the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the
Lord departed out of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that
he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God,
for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. And
the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee. Wondrous words,
beloved. And then look, it doesn't just
stop there at peace be unto thee, it goes on. Fear not, thou shall
not die. Beloved, we won't, we'll die
once, but we won't die the second death, will we? No. Peace, look at that. Marvelous
words. Peace be unto thee. Fear not, thou shall not die.
Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord and called it Jehovah
Shalom. Unto this day it is it is yet in Ophrah of the Abrazinites. But look at verse 23 there. Peace
be unto thee. Fear not. Let these wonderful
words, beloved, ring in your souls. This is what God says
to his people. Peace. Fear not. He says that
to us in Christ, beloved. He says that to us in Christ.
Oh my. And we have peace with God in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ, by the blood of His cross. By
the blood of His cross. The seventh name of God which
brings great comfort to God's people is Jehovah Ra, which means
the Lord is my shepherd. He's our great Redeemer. Our
God is our shepherd, beloved. And you, who are the people of
God, marvel at this fact. When the Scripture says, the
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. That's Jehovah-Raw.
He's my shepherd. He's my shepherd. We're His sheep,
we're His property, beloved. We're His property. And we live
and move and have our being all by His grace's provision. All
by His grace's provision. And we who are the people of
God are under the constant care of the Great Shepherd of our
souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. Constant care. It never ceases. When we're sleeping, it never
ceases. Whether we're awake, it never ceases. Isn't it wonderful?
Absolutely wonderful. We're under His protection all
the time. The eighth name of God which
brings great comfort to God's people is the name Jehovah Sekinu,
which is the Lord Our Righteousness. Turn if you would to Jeremiah
23. Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23. One more after this.
Jeremiah 23, verse 6. He's the Lord Our Righteousness,
beloved. Jeremiah 23.6, in his days, Judah
shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his
name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ, beloved. Listen to what it says over in
1 Corinthians 1, it says, For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. God has chosen the foolish things
of the world, and that just means common. to confound the wise,
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world,
and things which are despised hath God chosen. in things which
are not. He's chosen those who men would
not choose. That's basically what that's
all saying. Oh, it's marvelous. It's marvelous. And yea, the
things which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that
no flesh should glory in his presence, but of him are ye in
Christ. Now remember, he's called the
Lord our righteousness over here in 1 Corinthians 1, 30 and 31.
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom.
He's all our wisdom. Righteousness. He's the Lord
our righteousness. Sanctification. We looked at
that too, didn't we? And redemption. That according
it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Oh
my. Wondrous. Wondrous. Now the last and ninth
name. You can keep going. You can keep going with the names
of God. We could do weeks of study on just each name. It's
incredible. But these will just give you
comfort. The ninth and last name. is Jehovah Shema, which means
the Lord is there. The Lord is there. Turn if you
would to Ezekiel 48.35. Ezekiel 48.35. Now let this comfort
your soul, beloved. This name, the Lord is there,
it means He's with you all the time. He's with you all the time. You remember He said, we looked
in the Old Testament, you'll never forsake us. We know in the New Testament,
in Hebrews 13, it says that God will never leave you nor forsake
you. Never. Why? Because He's always there. He's
always there. He's always there. Look at this,
Ezekiel 48, 35. It was round about 18,000 measures,
and the name of the city from that day shall be, the Lord is
there. He's there all the time. where
two or three are gathered together in my name, what? There am I
in the midst of them. He's there. Oh, it's wondrous. It's absolutely wondrous. He'll
never leave us. He's our strong tower, beloved.
He's our strong tower. So if the believer can find great
comfort through this life, through this life, that the Lord is ever
with us. And you know where there's a
gospel church? You know what? The Lord's there too, isn't he? With
the true gospels being preached and proclaimed, the Lord's there.
He's there. Oh, my. And you know why heaven will
be heaven? Because the Lord's there. Because the Lord's there. I always used to hear people
say, well, I'm going there. I'm going to see this person
and this person. They're there. They're looking at the Lord.
And now we will rejoice, but we'll be looking at the Lord.
We will. We'll be looking at the same
one as them, and we'll be saying, worthy is the Lamb, worthy is
the Lamb. I know several of you, we have
loved ones who've already gone home to be with the Lord. They're
looking at the Lord right now. And you know what? We'll be there
too. We'll be there with them one day, we who are the blood
washed, born again people of God. And we will sing that song,
worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory and honor and
power. Oh, our lips will be full of
praise, beloved. Full of praise. There'll be no
more sin. Hallelujah. There'll be no more
sin. No more struggle. No more sadness. No more sickness. Makes you homesick,
doesn't it? Makes you homesick, beloved.
Oh, my. Glory be to our great God. Glory
be to our great God. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for allowing us to gather together and to look in thy word. And
oh, what comfort, oh, what comfort we can glean, Father, in Lord
Jesus from the names, your names and titles through the scripture.
And you are our peace, Lord Jesus. You are our shepherd. You're
everything to us as believers. We have no hope outside of you,
Lord. So glory to you for revealing yourself to us. Glory for you
for redeeming us at Calvary's Cross. And glory to you, Father,
for salvation's plan that included us. Oh, my. I don't think we're
ever going to get over that, Father, ever. Glory to your name. In Jesus' name, amen.