Take your Bibles now and turn
with me to Revelation chapter 22. And we're going to just consider
one verse. Verse 16. John tells us five
things at the end of this book. Beginning with verse 16 through
the end of chapter 22, our Lord tells us His name. His name. He emphasizes His name
to John. That is the only name under heaven
given to men whereby we must be saved. Then he tells us of
the mission, the attitude, and the ministry, and her reason
to exist in this world. It is to tell men and women to
come to the Christ who bears this name. Thirdly, in verses 18 and 19,
he issues a warning to all those who would alter or take away
from the revelation of this name and of the ministry of his church. And then fourthly, he tells us
who will testify these things to men, and for them to do so with a
sense of urgency, knowing that his coming is nigh. Nigh. I think most of us tend to think
like those over in 2 Peter, who said all things continue as they
were from the beginning. That's our That's sad, but that's
true. And then he closes the book by
committing the souls of his hearers to the grace of God which is
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now this morning I would like
to concentrate all of our attention on the names given here to John
and by John to be given to us of our Redeemer and our surety,
our Savior, and our Lord. Now if you have a pen and paper,
I'm gonna be giving some scripture references and they might go
by quick and maybe you know by the scripture reference what
it is and perhaps not. If not, you can look at it a
little later on this afternoon. The names of Christ given to
us in the Holy Scriptures are given to describe the person
and work of the promised redeemer. That's what these names are all
about. You may think it's funny, but
as a little child, I grew up thinking that Christ was Jesus'
last name. Everybody called him Jesus Christ.
I didn't understand that that was his office. I didn't know
what the Christ was. Nobody told me these things,
and our church certainly didn't teach us those things. But these
names show us collectively of his character and of his covenant
offices and of his mediatorial work and of his divine authority. All of these things are declared
in his name. Now in the Bible, everything
is geared to revolve around or to be built upon or points to
our Lord's precious name. just about every aspect of our
salvation. In Acts chapter 4 and verse 12,
and also in chapter 10 and verse 43, we're told that chosen sinners
are saved by faith in His name. That's what it says, faith in
His name. In Acts 2 and verse 38, it says
we are to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He tells us in the 14th and 16th
chapters of John that we offer our prayers to God in his name. In Matthew 18 verse 20 he tells
us that we are to gather together to worship in his name. In Acts chapter 9 and verse 15
he tells us that our preaching is the declaration of his name. and we suffer the afflictions
of the gospel for his name's sake. In Revelation chapter 22
and verse 4, he tells us we're preserved and kept and accepted
by God in his name. And then I know this, at the
culmination of all things, it'll end with the whole world receiving
the declaration of his name. You can read that in Philippians
chapter two, verses eight through 11. Is his name really that important? Is it really that important?
Is that something we really need to concentrate our attention
on? Or should we just state it and
move on? How important is the declaration of his name. Well, Paul said in Romans 10
verse 13, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. That makes it of the utmost importance,
don't it? But how you gonna call on him
in whom you have not believed? And how you gonna believe in
him of whom you have not heard? And how you gonna hear without
a preacher? There has to be a declaration
of his name. None other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. All right, now here in verse
16 of Revelation chapter 22, our Lord gives us four of the
many names. Many names, Old Testament and
New Testament. but four of the many names by
which he's described in the scriptures. And these names, as the Holy
Spirit gives us an understanding, will yield to the believing soul
comfort, strength, joy, and peace, if we understand something about
his name. The verse begins with the name
mother and father were commanded to give him. Thou shalt call
his name Jesus. Isn't that how he starts his
verse? I, Jesus. Jesus was the name he bore in
the days of his humiliation. Days when he is our federal head
and representative accomplished our redemption. Thou shalt call
his name Jesus, and here's the reason. For he shall save his
people from their sins. Jesus is the name given to God
as he was manifest in the flesh. Deliverer, God with us. And this name Jesus, Savior,
Deliverer, tells us three things about Christ. It tells us, first
of all, that he has a people. He shall save his people from
their sins. This man, Jesus, born in Bethlehem,
Jesus of Nazareth, where he was raised, has a people. God gave him these people before
the foundation of the world. And therefore, all these covenant
offices, all these mediatorial offices were assigned to him
because God gave him a people to save. In John chapter 10, verse 11, our
Lord said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He has a people. In John 6, 38,
he said, I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the
will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. And God reveals himself in the
person of Jesus of Nazareth, and he manifests in him, his
love, his compassion, his kindness, his long-suffering, and his gentleness. Can you see him as you recall
the four gospels? Can you see him preaching deliverance
to the captives? He read that scripture and then
he said this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. He came
to preach deliverance to the captives. Can you see him doing
that? Can you see him giving sight
to the blind and cleansing the lepers and casting out demons
and giving the poor and needy that which they need? That which
they cannot buy? And then see him as the friend
of sinners, eating in the homes of publicans
and sinners. Men the Jews would have no dealings
with whatsoever. He sat in their home and ate
with them. Do you know a self-righteous
Jew if he were to have seen these women of the night that the Lord
saved, they would cross the street and walk on the other side rather
than walk past them? And yet one wept on our Lord's
feet and dried those feet with her hair. And they said if he
knew what kind of woman she was, he wouldn't let her do that.
You reckon he didn't know what kind of woman she was? Oh, he's the friend of sinners. And see this man, Jesus, dying
on a cross. the just for the unjust that
he might bring us to God. That thief on the cross told
his partner in crime, he said, we're up here justly, but this
man's done nothing. He's done nothing. This is the
just dying for the unjust. And then as a word of comfort
and assurance, he tells us that it is Jesus who now speaks from
heaven's glory. He's still there. That same Jesus
that was taken up from you shall appear again, that same one. And that's the word the scripture
uses, that same Jesus. And now here at the end of John's
prophecy and revelation, he says, I, Jesus. He has a people in this world,
and he came to save these people, and thirdly, he is an effectual
and successful savior. Our Lord saved I just don't like that phrase,
I got saved. I just, I don't like that. I
don't like to hear it. I know men don't understand what
they're saying when they say it. He saved all his people from
the penalty of their sins by an act of particular substitution
and redemption. He saved them, they're saved.
He was delivered for their offenses and raised again for their justification. They're justified. What Paul said, who is he that
condemneth? It's God who justifies. Who's going to bring a charge
against you? At Christ you died. And he saves all his elect from
the power of sin by his almighty power and grace in their regeneration. Paul said his prayer to God on
the behalf of the Ephesians. was for God to show what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe. Now watch
this. According to the working of his
mighty power which he brought in Christ when he raised him
from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly
places. And then he says this, and you
hath he quickened who were dead. And secondly, he is the root
of David. That's his name, he's the root
of David. And this too is a confirmation
that Jesus of Nazareth is himself Almighty God. He is the root of David, the
source and cause of David's existence. He is the beginning. All things
were created by him and for him. He's the cause that you're here
this morning. He's the cause, he's the source.
He's the root. Without the root, the tree of
David could not have been. He's the root. John the Baptist said, of the
root of Adam, the ax is laid to the root. Laid to the root. but not the
root of Christ, were cut off of the old root and grafted into
the Father's vine. David was just a lowly shepherd
raised up by Christ to sit upon the throne of Israel. And David
was a fallen son of Adam who was made by his Lord a man after
his own heart. Jesus of Nazareth is the root
of David. And then he tells us that Jesus
of Nazareth is the offspring of David. He's the root of David. He's the cause of David's existence. He's the power behind David's
heart. And then he says, he's also the
offspring of David. How can that be? How can that
be? Born of the tribe of Judah. and
of the lineage of David. In Romans chapter 1, Paul said
he was a servant of Jesus Christ, that is, of Jesus who was declared
to be the Christ, and that he was separated unto the gospel,
set apart from other men and other trades, set apart from
other vocations to preach the gospel, to be a preacher is a
great privilege and God had bestowed this upon Paul. Now watch this,
Romans 1 and verse 3. The gospel concerning his son,
Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David. The prophecies of the Christ
was that he should be born of the seed of David. And therefore,
if Jesus is the Christ, he must be born of the seed of David. Now, I understand something here.
He's not talking about Christ being born of the semen of David,
but of the lineage of David. He's the promised seed of David,
which is the same as him being the promised seed of Abraham.
And he's the lineage of David, the offspring of David, being
born of the virgin's womb and of the house of David. And being, being the seed of
David, he's declared to be the son of God. Brother Fortner said this, the
gospel is the proclamation of the accomplishments of the incarnate
Son of God, our Savior, and our incarnate God, who is our Savior. We know Him to be so because
He is the seed of David. Only as a man could He obey the
law on our behalf and suffer its penalties and curse. Only
as God could his obedience and death be effectual and satisfy
the infinite justice of God. He must be the God-man to accomplish
our redemption. And only a man in heaven, what
if we had no man in heaven? Who would intercede for you?
Who could be touched with the feelings of your infirmities?
Who could you go to, no matter what the problem, who could you
go to? Only a man in heaven could be
touched with the feelings of our infirmities, and only as
God could he effectually intercede on our behalf. He's the God man. He's the offspring of David,
and as such, he is declared to be the son of God with power,
the scripture said. with power according to the spirit
of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. And then finally
the angel tells John, here's that fourth name, he is the bright
and morning star. Jesus of Nazareth, the root and
offspring of David, is the light of the world. There's no light
apart from Christ. Where is there light apart from
Him? I tell you this often, and I'm
going to keep on telling you. I was raised in religion and
had no light whatsoever until I come to know Jesus Christ. I didn't have any light. All I had was the light of religion,
which we're told is nothing more than darkness. In him, the scripture said, was
life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth
in darkness. He came into this world, and
that light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended
it not. Our Lord said, this is the condemnation,
that light has come into the world, and men love darkness
rather than light. having upbraided all the cities
in which he did his mighty works. But they continued on, didn't
they? They continued on in their traditions and unbelief. And
here's what our Lord had to say, Matthew 11, verse 27. He said,
all things are delivered unto me of my father. All things. things created, all things redeemed,
all things made known, all things preserved, all things concerning
judgment, all things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no
man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man
the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal
him. There's no light apart from Christ. God does not reveal himself to
men in this gospel age by dreams and visions. He doesn't redeem men by the
sound of mystical voices. He doesn't redeem men by apparitions
in the clouds. God reveals himself to men by
the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the son
of God and the shepherd of our souls. He's the light. All other so-called light is
darkness. Our Lord said, take heed that
the light that be in you be not darkness. Light is knowledge. Now you take heed that the knowledge
that's in you is not darkness. And then in Matthew's gospel
he said, if thine eye, that is the eye of thine understanding,
and the eye of faith be evil, thy whole body shall be full
of darkness. If therefore the light that be
in you is darkness, Then how great is that darkness? You can't plumb its depth. The
light of Christ is the only true light and he is the bright and
morning star. He is the beginning of all light.
He's the day star which shall arise in our hearts. He is the light. He is the bright
and morning star. These are the four names by which
the revelation of God in Christ is made known. That's how he
sums up this book of revelation. He is the God-man. He is the
beginning and root of all His elect. And He is the offspring
or prophesied one, the Redeemer. And He is the light of all true
revelation. May the Lord use this study. to give us peace and understanding
and faith and assurance. Thank you.