Let's open our Bibles again tonight
to Exodus chapter 3. Exodus, the third chapter. These days, at least in our part
of the world, folks have babies and they give their babies names
because they sound pretty or they sound unusual or because
someone in the family has a similar name such as that. In other days
and other times, names were given to people with significance that
meant something, meant something distinct about that person. Our last names generally, most
of us, our last names come from just such a background. I've
never checked our family tree. I don't have any interest in
knowing much about my ancestors. I know the ones I know too well,
so I'm not too interested in knowing much about my ancestors.
I'm told that Fortner is a German derivative, comes from a word
meaning forward, and Fortners were keepers of the forward,
keepers of the crossing. Smith, must have been a lot of
goldsmiths, silversmiths, or blacksmiths. It refers to someone
who was a smith. In the scriptures, can you imagine
what delights must have come upon him when Jacob, whose name
means tricky, cheater, supplanter, was given a new name by God Almighty. He called him Israel. He said,
your name from now on will be called Prince with God. Oh, what a blessing. When David
and Bathsheba had a son and the Lord took it, then they had another
son and they called his name Solomon. And that name means
peace. David spoke in faith and confidence,
I'm certain. He said, this son, this son is
peace. God is at peace with me and I
with God. In spite of all that's taken
place, peace. And then what joy must have flooded
his soul when God sent his prophet and said, call the boy's name,
Jedediah, beloved of the Lord. Nothing's changed. What a blessing
to look at those names that God gives to men and see how God
deals with them. But God takes names to himself. Names by which he makes himself
known. Names by which he describes his
character and his work. When the Lord God appeared to
Moses in the burning bush and sent him to deliver Israel out
of Egyptian bondage, Moses knew that the children of Israel were
going to ask him who sent him. And when he told them who sent
him, they were going to require before they would pay any attention
to him, that he tell them distinctly who he is. That which distinguishes
him from everyone else. By what right does Moses had
to come and command us this? And so Moses asked God to show
him his name. Look in verse 13 of Exodus 3.
Moses said unto God, behold, when I come unto the children
of Israel, And shall say unto them, the God of your fathers
hath sent me unto you. And they shall say to me, what's
his name? What shall I say unto them? I'm
going to tell them, as you told me, the God of your father sent
me to you. And they're going to say, what's
his name? Who is he? What's the God of our fathers
like? Then in verse 14, The Lord Jesus, our great God, identifies
himself in his distinct character as God, the eternal, self-existent,
self-sufficient, independent I am. And God said, I remind
you again, the one speaking here is our Lord Jesus Christ. God
said to Moses, I am that I am. And he said, thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you. And with that, he describes his
character. Then in the 15th verse, the Lord
Jesus tells Moses his name. And God said moreover unto Moses,
thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord
God. If you can Somewhere make a note
if you're taking notes in the margin of your Bible the Jehovah
God The Singular God The Jehovah God of your fathers the God of
Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob Hath sent me
unto you This is my name forever. And this is my memorial unto
all generations. Now, once the Lord told Moses
his name, he told Moses that when the children of Israel knew
his name, they would trust him and they would follow his servant
Moses. Look at verse 60. Go and gather the elders of Israel
together and say unto them, the Lord God of your fathers, the
God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob appeared unto me saying,
I have surely visited you and seen that which is done to you
in Egypt. And I have said, I will bring
you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the
Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites
and the Hivites and the Jebusites Unto a land flowing with milk
and honey and watch verse 18 and they shall hearken to thy
voice and thou shalt come thou and the elders of Israel under
the king of Egypt and ye shall say unto him the Lord of The
Jehovah God of the Hebrews has sent us and now let us go. We beseech thee three days journey
into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Jehovah, the
Lord our God. Now I stress these things because
I want you to understand the basis of our faith in Christ
is his name. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved We call upon people everywhere
to trust and worship Christ our God We call upon ourselves to
worship and trust Christ our God I'm calling upon my own heart
and yours saying trust Christ Worship Christ obey Christ follow
Christ But the fact is I know that no one can trust him who
doesn't know him No one can trust him who doesn't know it. You
cannot trust an unknown savior. You cannot believe an unknown
God. The only way you can trust him
is to know him. So I want to tell you who he
is. What is his name? That's the
title of my message tonight. That's the question that God
our savior answers in this 15th verse. God said, moreover unto
Moses, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord
God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac
and the God of Jacob has sent me unto you. This is my name
forever. And this is my memorial unto
all generations. First, the Lord Jesus tells us
the Lord God. Jehovah Elohim, Jehovah God,
Jehovah to be worshiped, Jehovah who rules is my name forever. And second, he identifies himself
as our covenant God and savior, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac and the God of Jacob. And then he says, this is my
memorial unto all generations. That is to say, this is the name
by which I will be known Worshipped trusted and obeyed this is the
name by which I will be remembered forever You may ask well, brother
Don. Why is it so important for us
to know the Savior's name? I'm glad you asked Only as we
know his name Only as we know his name That is only as we know
that which distinctly identifies him as God our Savior, do we
trust him. It's of utter insignificance. It's utterly meaningless. It's utterly of no value to say
to someone, believe on Jesus, unless you tell them who he is. Now let that sink in. It's utterly
meaningless to say to someone, believe on Jesus, unless you
tell them who he is. For nobody knows who he is, except
they be told from this book who he is. to tell them who he is,
is to tell them that which distinguishes him as God, our Savior, the Christ,
who is spoken of throughout the scriptures. And once men and
women know his name, anybody who knows his name, everybody
who knows his name, oh, if God will teach me who he is, if God
will teach you who he is, you will trust in him. Listen to the scriptures. They
that know thy name will put their trust in thee, for thou, Lord,
hast not forsaken them that seek thee. The name of the Lord is
a high tower, the wise man said, the righteous run into it and
is safe. Now I have two reasons for preaching
this message. First and foremost, I want to
exalt, magnify, extol, and praise the name of God my Savior. Oh my God, I want that more than
life itself. I want to extol, magnify, honor,
and praise Him. In my preaching, yes, in my life,
in my thoughts, in my speech, in my actions, in my heart, in
the totality of my being. But I bring this message to you
for this purpose, that we here, this hour, might extol and honor
and praise His name. In the house of God, everything
ought to be done to praise Him, and nothing that doesn't extol
Him. Everything ought to be done to
honor him and nothing to honor anyone but him Honor God in his
house in a few weeks You'll see an article in the bulletin for
you who don't get brother moose parks bulletins by email He wrote
about the things we sing title of the article I think is be
careful what you see and And we are very careful in selecting
hymns. Brother Lindsey does an outstanding
job. You folks who sing do a great
job. Very careful in selecting hymns. And if need be, we will
alter the words of hymns to fit the doctrine of Holy Scripture.
For you dare not sing God's praise and sing that which doesn't praise
Him. You dare not sing and call it worshiping God and sing that
which is contrary to the revelation of God. We sing that which is
true to the book of God, the character of God, and the work
of God. And in the house of God, we are to honor Him. That means
all the tomfoolery, All the tomfoolery that goes on in religion, all
the entertainment and the baseball and soccer and football and youth
this and old folks that and single this and married that, all that
nonsense is totally out of place in the house of God. We come
here to worship God, to extol His name, nothing else. I have
every reason to magnify God's name. both before you and before
the world, with all of my being. With the psalmist, my heart is
resolved. I will praise thee, O Lord, my
God, with all my heart, and I will glorify thy name forever. For
great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my soul
from the lowest hell. Oh, how great God's mercy is
to me. And that mercy that I know, let
alone the mercies of which I'm unaware, compel me to cry continually,
not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory
for thy mercy and for thy true sake. Oh, how merciful God has
been to me. How merciful God is to me. How merciful God has promised
to be to me. His mercies are everlasting. And the mercies of the Lord are
continually from day to day, new, fresh every morning. Truly His mercies are great.
And it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. I say
to you who know my God, Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt
his name together. Oh, magnify the Lord with me.
Let us exalt his name together. I can't tell you how many times
I told you sometime back when the year Shelby and I were engaged,
I was in school in Springfield, Missouri. nearly a thousand miles
from one another. Didn't see each other but twice
that year. But we wrote and called every day. And I suspect about
every other letter had those words written on it. Oh, magnify
the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together.
You young people, hear my voice. You mommas and daddies, teach
your children and teach others you know. Don't even consider
the possibility of taking for your companion someone with whom
you cannot magnify God. Don't even consider that possibility. That's out of the question. That's
out of the question. What a terrible, miserable life
you live, both of you pulling in opposite directions. Oh, magnify
the Lord with me, children of God. Whatever differences we
may have, whatever things might divide us naturally, magnify
the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together.
That's my first concern. Here's my second motive in bringing
you this message. I want you to trust him. And
the surest way to persuade anyone to trust him is to tell folks
who he is. If by the power and grace of
God, the Holy Spirit, I can show you who he is, I'm confident
you'll trust him. If only you knew my God, you
would trust him. All who ever knew him did. This
is life eternal, that they might know thee. the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And they that know thy
name will put their trust in thee. Our God reveals himself
by many, many names. One name is not sufficient to
speak of him and represent him and reveal him. Any more than
one type is sufficient to represent him and picture him. But the
most famous of his names, his redemptive covenant name, Jehovah
as it's given here in Exodus chapter 3 in verse 15 This is
the name the great I am Gives to Moses This is the name of
him who alone is necessary He says to Moses. Yeah, this is
who I am. I am the necessary self-existent
eternal God I am Jehovah the Jehovah God I am the Lord God
Jehovah Implies eternality it comes from a root word which
signifies to be Jehovah is God who is God who was, God who is
to come. This is God's personal, proper,
incommunicable name. Now that's a big fancy word,
makes me sound impressive, incommunicable. What does that mean? That means
this name is never given to anybody except God, except once. And it's communicated one time.
We'll look at that in a minute. This name, though, is that name
which separates God from everything and everyone else. Jehovah. Jehovah. Many will speak of their
God and call God by different names. But He who is our God
is Jehovah. The Jehovah God. He who truly
is God is Jehovah. The Jehovah God. And there is
no other God. Everything that does not match
up with his name, Jehovah, the Jehovah God, is nothing but an
idol. The work of men's hands. They
carry it here and set it there and then they move along and
they carry their idol over here and set it there and folks look
at their God and they set him up high and they kneel down to
him or they set it down low and kneel down to him, doesn't matter.
They put him wherever they want him and use him however they
want him. Now, that doesn't just refer to men making idols that
they can see. Not many people, except papists,
in a sensible, educated day like ours, not many people, except
papists, worship gods they can see. Most people have carved
out of God from the dark forest of their own depraved minds and
say, this is my God. Look how I've made him. I won't
worship a God like you talk about. And you're right. You won't,
unless you come to know his name. Unless you come to know who he
is. Now let's see who he is. The
Lord God uses this name Jehovah. I've got from here on, got nothing
new to say to you. You've heard all of this from
me many times, but I want to show you and remind you of the
names by which our God makes himself known. And I'm going
to just, I've just picked out a few. In Genesis chapter 22,
you don't need to turn to the text unless you want to. You
can write them down and look at them for yourself. But in
Genesis 22, Abraham is with his son Isaac on Mount Moriah. And
they're about to offer sacrifice to God. Isaac is the sacrifice. But Abraham had said to his servant,
he said, I and the lad are gonna go yonder and we're gonna worship
God. Now Abraham's going up there
to kill Isaac. And he said, I and the lad, we
will come back here in three days. He's going to kill Isaac,
fully believing that God who promised the Messiah through
Isaac would raise Isaac up from the dead. And Isaac got up in
the mountain with Abraham. He said, he said, Daddy, we got
the wood, we got the fire. Where's the lamb for a burnt
offering? I know we can't come to God without a sacrifice. And
Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering. And they looked and saw a lamb
caught in a thicket. And the Lord told Abraham, take
the boy off the altar, put this ram here. And Abraham said, son,
let's call this place by a good name. Listen to what he said,
Genesis 22, 14. 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. that title, that name
by which Abraham called upon God. Jehovah-Jireh means the
Lord will provide. It means in the Mount of the
Lord it shall be seen. And this Mount Moriah where Abraham
offered Isaac is probably the same as Mount Calvary around
Jerusalem. The Lord God revealed himself
to Abraham and Abraham said, there's a day coming when in
the mount of God, God's going to show himself by a sacrifice
and he will provide. The words Jehovah-Jireh really
carry shades of meaning. The Lord will see and the Lord
will provide and the Lord will be seen in that which he provides. The Lord God sees our needs.
And he provides our need in his darling son. And he is seen in
the provision that he makes. In Exodus chapter 15, Exodus
15, verse 26. We read, if thou wilt diligently
Thou will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy
God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will
give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes. I
will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought
upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee. I am the Lord that healeth thee. That is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord
that healeth thee. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
great physician. He is our healer. He and he alone heals the bodies
of men from disease. I told you a few minutes ago,
our brother Bob Duff is soon to leave this world. He's about
to get better. No, he's about to get whole. I don't think I'll ever forget
my last visit with my dear friend, Brother Charlie Payne in Huntington,
West Virginia. I went to see Charlie. I didn't
realize how sick he was. I didn't realize how frail he
was physically. I started leaving. I said, well,
Charlie, I look forward to seeing you soon. He said, well, I'll
be coming out of here soon. I'll either come out better or
I'll come out well. He understood exactly what was about to take
place. The Lord Jesus heals his own. He heals our diseases. No doctor can, no medicine can. He heals our souls. He heals our troubles. He heals everything. With his stripes, we are. Isn't that a wonderful word?
With his stripes, we are healed. Look at chapter 17 of Exodus,
verse 15. Our Lord's name is Jehovah-Nissi,
the Lord our banner. Moses built an altar and called
the name of it Jehovah-Nissi. Our dear savior is our ransom. He is the rallying point of his
people. The banner lifted up for the
gathering together of his people from the four corners of the
earth. So we lift him high. And this instant, this banner
is lifted high like the serpent lifted up before the children
of Israel, perishing in the wilderness. And he draws all men. That is, he draws his people
out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue unto himself.
Look at Exodus chapter 20, Exodus 20. In verse two, here we see Jehovah
Elohiki, that is the Lord thy God. I am the Lord thy God. He's about to give his law, his
commandments. He's about to tell us what he
demands of me, what he demands of you, what he demands of me. These are not suggestions. These
are commandments. And you will either keep the
commandment or you will perish under the wrath of God. This
is what God, our God, commands. I'm the one who brought you out
of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. Look at verse 5.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to any other gods, nor serve
them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a
jealous God. Look at verse seven. Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for he will
not hold him guiltless. The Lord will not hold him guiltless
who taketh his name in vain. The Lord God here speaks and
gives his law. And he says, I am the Lord your
God. That means you're my property.
I possess you. I have power over you. I have
the right to do with you what I will. I am your God. Ever bow to me. Ever surrender
to me. Ever give way to me. Here's the
fifth one, Exodus 31. Exodus chapter 31, verse 13.
I love this. His name is Jehovah and Kadesh,
that is the Lord which doth sanctify you. Speak thou unto the children
of Israel saying, verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep. For it is a sign
between me and you throughout your generations. Keep my Sabbath
days, that is every Saturday you rest and worship me. You
keep my Sabbaths throughout your generations because you must
know that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. The word sanctify, I am the Lord
who makes you holy. He said, walk before me and be
holy. Be ye holy for I am holy, but you can't do that. You can't
do that. People tell us that we're justified
by grace, we're sanctified by works. What nonsense! We're made
holy by God's grace. Christ sanctified us in eternal
election before the world was. Jude 1 says so. He sanctified
us by his blood at Calvary. Hebrews 10 says so. And he sanctifies
us by his spirit in the new birth, giving us a holy nature so that
we are made the holiness and the righteousness of Christ himself,
the very righteousness of God. Not only as far as our record
is concerned, but in our own being, God gives us a holy nature. I am the Lord which doth sanctify
thee, make thee holy. In the new birth, God our Savior
comes by the power of his Spirit into the unholy sinner. and makes himself in that center
so that that center now has a new man. Listen to how the book describes
him. Created in righteousness and
true holiness. Created in righteousness and
true holiness. Created justly in true holiness
because of all that Christ has done for us. In Judges chapter
six, Gideon calls our Lord's name Jehovah Shalom, the Lord
our peace. Judges 6.24. Then Gideon built
an altar there unto the Lord and called it Jehovah Shalom
unto this day. It is yet an offer of the Azorites. That is the Lord our peace. Christ is our peace. He is our peace with God. He is our peace with one another. He breaks down distinctions and
barriers. I know that religious people
can be mean as hell. Usually are. Usually are. They're
just contrary, griping, snobbish, divisive people. Now let me tell
you something. David Coleman, griping, snobby,
divisive people don't know God. They just don't know God. Whether
that's you and me or anybody else, they just don't know God.
Those who know Christ are at peace with God and at peace with
one another and promote peace with one another. And He is our
peace within. He is Jehovah Shalom, the Lord
our peace. And then Al-Qaeda in 1 Samuel
chapter 1, in 1 Samuel the first chapter goes up to worship the
Lord. Annually, he went up to worship
the Lord where Eli was seated and in verse 3 of 1st Samuel
1 The Lord Jehovah the Lord Sabbath the Lord of hosts is spoken of
And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to
sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh That is unto Jehovah
to Sabbath, the Lord of host. What host is he talking about?
All the host of heaven. All the stars and planets and
angels and all the host of hell, all the demons and Satan. and
all the host of the earth, animal life and plant life and human
life. He's the Lord of host. He is God who rules everywhere
and everybody and everything all the time. Oh, now this is
God, the God we worship. the God we trust. This name is
expressive of his sovereign dominion and power over all his creatures. I love Luther's hymn. Did we
in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.
We're not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Just ask who that may be, Christ
Jesus it is he. Lord Sabaoth, his name. He who died in my stead is the
Lord of hosts. From age to age the same, he
must win the battle. Look in Psalm 7. Or you could
just chart it down, look at it later. Psalm 7. Jehovah Ahelion,
that is the Lord Most High. I will praise the Lord according
to his righteousness and will praise, sing praise to the name
of the Lord most high. For the Lord most high, we're
told in Psalm 47, is terrible. He's a great king. We have every
reason to pray and trust our God with complete confidence. For he is the Lord most high. governor over everything and
everybody. Psalm 23, Jehovah-Rah. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. A little Sunday school girl was
asked to quote Psalm 23 and She got up and quoted the first verse,
and she said, the Lord is my shepherd. He's all I want, and
sat down. And she got it just right. The
Lord is my shepherd. He's all I want. He's the good
shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He's the great
shepherd who rules the universe for his sheep. He's the chief
shepherd who's soon coming to gather his sheep whole. In Psalm
95 verse six, Jehovah Hosinu, the Lord, our maker. Oh, come,
let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before Jehovah Hosinu,
the Lord, our maker. He made us. He made us for himself. He made
us his people. He made us new in Christ. Oh, let us worship and bow down
to the Lord our maker. Look at Psalm 99, Psalm 99, verse
five. Exalt ye the Lord our God, Jehovah
Eloheinu, the Lord our God. Verse eight, he says, thou answers
them, oh Lord, our God. I find it remarkable that God
declares you're mine. And by his word, he declares
that he is ours, our God. Take that possessive pronoun
home with you and rejoice. He who is God, Jehovah, the Jehovah
God, the only God there is in all his being is our God. Then in Jeremiah 23 and verse
six, in his days, Judah shall be saved. Israel shall dwell safely and
this is the name whereby he shall be called Jehovah Sidkenia the
Lord our righteousness He is made of God unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption Now I said to
you in the beginning, this name Jehovah is an incommunicable
name of God. That is, it is a name given to
none but God. But there's one exception, and
maybe it's not an exception. Look at Jeremiah 33 and verse
16. Jeremiah chapter 33 and verse
16. This is talking about exactly
the same thing Jeremiah 23, 6 is, but it says something else. In
those days shall Judah be saved and Israel or Jerusalem shall
dwell safely. And this is the name wherewith
she shall be called Jehovah Zekiah. the Lord our
righteousness. What can that possibly mean?
Does God call you and me the Jehovah Lord? Can that be? The Lord our righteousness? Jehovah said, can you? Only,
only, only if God Becomes one of us If God takes our nature
into union with himself Now in the God-man our mediator who
is God? We who are God's chosen of Him,
redeemed by Him, born again by His grace, made new creatures
in Christ by His grace. We who are the righteousness
of God in Him, we who are made sanctification in Him because
He is our sanctification. If He, the God-man, is our Savior,
we have life so perfectly, so completely in union with Him
by His grace. that all he is, that man, in whom dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, all that he is, as the God-man, our mediator,
we are in him. Because his name is Jesus, who
saves his people from their sins. Jehovah Jesus, Jehovah who saves. He comes to save his people from
their sins and save them he does. Well then, may we trust him. They that know thy name will
put their trust in thee. Jesus Christ is Jehovah. Jesus Christ is God, God incarnate. That means that his obedience
as a man is of infinite worth, of infinite merit, of infinite
efficacy. His righteousness is of infinite
worth, infinite merit, infinite efficacy. His sin atoning death
is of infinite worth, infinite merit, infinite efficacy. Because His name is Jesus, who
came to save His people from their sins. And this is the name
by which He makes Himself known. God, our Savior. God the Lord. God omnipotent. God who rules. God who says. May he be pleased to make himself
yours. Amen.