Got a real problem. My notes. Well, I'll try to do it without
notes. I got my sermon notes, but I'm
assuming I must have left them... I've done this before. The problem
with this, the problem with this is I'm going to talk about the
name of the Lord and I'm going to look at the different names
of the Lord and I'll try to remember them. So 1st Kings chapter 8. Beginning in verse 41. Moreover, concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel.
He's talking about me and you. He's talking about the Gentiles. Moreover, concerning a stranger
that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country
for thy names sake. For they shall hear of thy great
name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm,
when he shall come and pray toward this house. Here thou in heaven,
thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth
to thee for, that all people of the earth may know thy name,
to fear thee as do thy people Israel, and that they may know
that this house which I have built is called by thy name. Give you a chance to sit down.
I guess you didn't find him. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that we might be
by your grace. Taught your name. Lord, if we know your name. In our hearts, we know all things. Be our teacher for Christ's sake,
forgive us of our sins and Lord grant us truly a worship service. In Christ's name we pray, amen. 14 times in this epistle. epistle, this prayer, this dedication
of the temple that Solomon made, he talked about thy people Israel,
thy people Israel, thy people Israel. But here he talks about
a stranger. He talks about a Gentile. And
the gospel is for Gentiles. That is a part of the great mystery
of godliness that the gospels preach to Gentiles. What an amazing
thing. We don't think of it as amazing
because we just don't think that way, but we ought to. We ought
to be amazed that we even get to hear the gospel. But here
he talks about this stranger that has come from a far country
because of your name. Now, what I thought about was
the Ethiopian eunuch. He was an Ethiopian, eunuch that
worshiped a false god. Somehow he heard of the name
of the God of Israel. I don't know how he heard, but
he came to Jerusalem to worship. That was his purpose, to come
and worship. He was dissatisfied with himself
and he came to worship. He was dissatisfied with his
religion. He knew something was wrong with it and he came to
worship. Do you remember when the Greeks
came up to Philip? That simply means Gentiles and
said, we would see Jesus. Now this is what Solomon is talking
about, a Gentile that comes because he hears of the name of the Lord
God. Look, in verse 41, moreover concerning
a stranger that's not of thy people Israel, but cometh out
of a far country for thy name's sake. For they shall hear of
thy great name and thy strong hand and thy stretched out arm,
which he shall come and pray toward this house. Here thou
in heaven, thy dwelling place, and do according to all that
the stranger calleth to thee for, for all the people of the
earth may know thy name. To fear thee, as do thy people
Israel, that they may know that this house which I build is called
by thy name." Now, name. Rich, when I think of Rich Bird,
I don't think of R-Y-C-H-B-Y, or is it B-I or B-Y? Whatever,
B-Y, B-Y-R-D. I don't think of nouns and consonants
and words and letters. I think of the person behind
the name. When I think of my daughter, I don't think A-U-B-R-E-Y. That's my daughter. And there's
an actual person we think of behind the name. So when we're
talking about the Lord, His name, we're talking about the person
behind the name. Now, I wish I had my notes because
I had every name he's called in the Old Testament. And there's
some 16 or 17 of them. And I'll try to remember what
I can. El Shaddai, God Almighty. I can remember most of the Jehovah's,
but all the other ones, they're hard to, I wish I could remember
them. His name of salvation is Jehovah. Jehovah. And that's the name
they're going to hear. Jehovah. And there are nine names
along with Jehovah that are added that gives us some idea of His
salvation when they come and hear of Thy great name. Now,
one is Some of the names other than Jehovah, one is I'm Jealous. And that's almost scary. The
Lord whose name is Jealous is a jealous God. So remember this
about the Lord God. He's jealous of his own honor.
He's jealous of his own glory. Don't forget that. El. El is God and there's several. God The Eternal God, the Omnipotent
God, God Almighty, God All-Sufficient, all these names, but I just want
us to deal with Jehovah's because these are the ones that I can
remember. Huh. Well, you looked them up. Okay. Elion, the Most High God, Adonai,
Lord, And it's actually translated quite often, the sovereign God.
Never thought I'd be using one of these things. El Olam, the everlasting God. Elohim, God. But I want to deal with the Jehovah's.
This is what they're going to hear, the Jehovah's. They're
going to hear of this name and they're going to come. And look
what it says in, they shall hear of thy name and thy strong hand,
his ability to be this and his stretched out arm. That's his
willingness to be this, how he's willing to bend down and do this
for us. Now, the name of Jehovah, this
is what they're going to hear. And this is why they're going
to come because of the name of Jehovah. Now there's, Jehovah
Nisi, the Lord my banner. Jehovah Raha, the Lord my shepherd. Jehovah Rafa, the Lord that heals. Jehovah Shama, the Lord is there. Jehovah Tzidkenu, the Lord our
righteousness. Jehovah Mikodishakim, the Lord
who sanctifies you. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. Jehovah Shalom, The Lord is peace
and Jehovah Sabbath, the Lord of hosts. Now think about him
and all these names and this is what he is to the believer.
And this is what this heathen will hear and will want to come
and pray to this one Jehovah. And he says, do all these things
for it. Now, the first one, Jehovah Sabbath,
the Lord of hosts. Now, what does that mean? You
know, that is the name that's used with regard to the Psalm
24, the Ascension Psalm. The Lord of hosts, the King of
glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord of hosts. And here's the point. When he
ascended, he brought hosts with him. All of God's elect. Every single one of them. And
our complete salvation is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what the Lord of Hosts means. It's his ascension name. When
he ascended, you know who else ascended? Every believer. I ascended. Every one of his
people ascended. And all of our salvation is found
in that. The Lord of Hosts. And then the
one that's real hard to pronounce, Jehovah Mekodeshachim, I am the
Lord who sanctifies you. Now, this is what I need. I need
the Lord to sanctify me. I need the Lord to set me apart.
I need the Lord to elect me. to set me apart to salvation.
I need the Lord to set me apart in redemption by paying for my
sins and making me holy. I need the Lord to set me apart
in regeneration by giving me, doing something for me. This
is what this is talking about. I'm the Lord that sanctifies
thee. Now this is what I need. I need him to sanctify me. Both
he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one. Now this is what that man's gonna
hear. And he's gonna, I want the Lord to sanctify me. And
then there is Jehovah Nisi, the Lord, my banner. He's our message.
He is our message. He's the banner we marched with. He himself is our message, Jehovah
Nisi. And then there is Jehovah Raha. The Lord is my
shepherd. I shall not want. I need the
Lord to be my shepherd. I'm a dumb sheep, and I need
him to be my shepherd, to watch over me, to protect me. I need
him to feed me. I need him to protect me from
wolves. I need him to protect me from
myself. I need him as my shepherd. Lord, condescend to be my shepherd. Now this man will hear of The
Lord is my shepherd and he's going to want to come from that
far country. I want him to be my shepherd.
And then there is Jehovah Rapha. I am the Lord that heals thee. He healed them that had need
of healing. The whole need not a physician.
But they that are sick, Lord I'm sick and diseased with sin. I need you to heal me. By his stripes we are healed. Now that's the Jehovah I need. I need the Jehovah that will
heal me. And then there is Jehovah Jireh. You know what that means? The Lord will provide Jehovah
Jireh. You remember when Isaac was going
up the mountain with his dad and he said, here's the wood,
here's the fire, but where's the lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham replied to his son,
my son, the Lord will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Now here's what I need. I need
God to provide for me everything he requires of me. And that's
what I need. I need the Lord to provide and
he does provide everything God requires of me. He provides. That's what Jehovah Jireh means. The Lord will provide. I need
righteousness. The Lord will provide me righteousness.
I need the forgiveness of sins and there's nothing I can do
to procure this. The Lord will provide that for me. I need a new heart. The Lord will provide that for
me. I need a lamb. God will provide himself as the
lamb. He'll provide for himself. I'm
not to provide a thing. He's my provider. Now, don't
you love the Lord in that aspect? Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will
provide. And this is what that man's going
to hear of in a far country. He's come to you for. And then
there is Jehovah Shalom. The Lord is peace. Ephesians 2.14 says he is our
peace. Now here's what I need the Lord
to do for me. I need him to make my peace so
that God is at peace with me. He doesn't have any reason to
be mad at me. And this is talking about the peace of justification.
The Lord is peace. If All of my sins are put away,
and I stand before God perfect and righteous because of what
Christ did for me. And I don't have to worry about
the consequence of any of my sin because there is no sin.
You know what I've got? I've got peace. The kingdom of heaven
is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. I need him to be my peace. This
is what I need in Jehovah. And then there is Jehovah Sikhenu,
the Lord, our righteousness. I don't know if, well, these
are all my favorite, but this might be my favorite of the favorite,
to have the Lord as my personal righteousness before God so that
I stand before God perfectly righteous. This is the name wherewith
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. This is the name
wherewith she shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Now this is how everybody who
hears of his name, they're gonna come because of this. Well, let's
look back at our text, verse 42, or verse 41, moreover concerning
a stranger that's not of thy people Israel, but cometh out
of a far country for thy namesake. They hear of your great name
for they shall hear of thy great name. And next he says of thy
strong hand. And what that is a reference
to is the fact that he has the ability to be all of those things
his name says. He has the ability to be my peace. He has the ability to be my righteousness. He has the ability to be my shepherd. He has the ability to be all
of these things that his name declares him to be. They're going
to hear of your name and your strong hand, your ability to
be all these things. He's got the ability to heal
me. You know, one I left out is the Lord is present. The Lord
is present. Yeah, I need his presence. I
can't be left to myself. I can't. He's got the ability
to always be present with me at all times. That's who he is.
And he's got this strength and ability to be this. And then
what it says next in verse 42, they shall hear of thy strong
hand and thy stretched out arm. What that means is his willingness
to do these things. He's willing to bend down and
stretch out His arm and pick me up and be all these things
to me. Now, you don't need to worry
about His willingness to be these things to you. I mean, sometimes
we do, like that leper. He said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. He knew he could, but he wasn't
real sure that he was willing. But do you know anybody, listen
to me real carefully, anybody that needs the Lord to be this
to them, He's willing to be that to them. He's willing to be my
shepherd. He is my shepherd. The very fact
that I desired is because he already is my shepherd. He's
willing to be my personal righteousness. He's willing to be my peace.
He's willing to provide for me. Oh, this is his willingness to
save. He delights in mercy. He delights
in being a shepherd. He delights in being the righteousness
of his people. He delights in being the one
who heals and being the one who provides. He delights in being
the banner, the message, Jehovah-Nissi. This is who he is. These people
are gonna hear of thy great name when he shall come and pray toward
this house. Now this house, this represents
looking to Christ is all it is. The temple is where the sacrifice
was. It's where the altar was. It's
where the Ark of the Covenant was. It's Christ. And whenever
they pray, they know if you know who he is, you will look only
to Christ. You won't look in any other direction.
Now, here's how I can know if somebody really knows the Lord.
They're afraid to look anywhere but Christ. They look only to
Him. Now, when He prays toward this
house, look what it says in verse 43. Hear thou in heaven, thy
dwelling place. When this man comes from a far
country, he's heard of your name. He's heard of your strength.
He's heard of your willingness to save. When he shall come and
pray toward this house, hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling
place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to
thee for. Now, is he saying if the stranger
asked for a million dollars, give him a million dollars? Of
course not. Is he saying if he's not talking about fleshly requests?
Now, I realize a lot of our requests. I'm going to ask the Lord about
everything. I'm going to ask the Lord to pay my bills. I'm asking for
my food. I'm going to ask him to heal
me when I'm sick. I'm going to ask the Lord for everything.
Uh, and that's the believers privilege says, cast all your
care upon him. For he careth for you. Now, that
being said, what this is a reference to is this stranger asking him,
be my righteousness. Answer him. Be the one who heals
me. Answer him. Be the one who, oh,
provide the lamb for me. Answer him. When somebody comes
into God's presence like this, Oh, all these things that he
says he is, Jehovah, whatever, be this to me. Now, when he comes
in your presence and asks for you to be this to him, answer
him. Give him what he's asking for.
Solomon has shown his concern for the Gentiles even then. Give
him what he's asking for. And here's why Solomon wants
this to be done. Verse 43, that all the people
of the earth may know thy name. Don't you want everybody to know
the Lord's name? I do. I want everybody to know
the Lord's name. I want them to know his name
as Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Zekinu, the Lord our righteousness. Jehovah
Shama, I'm the Lord that healeth thee. I'm your shepherd. I want
everybody to know this name and glory in this name. And this
is why Solomon wanted this to take place, that all the people
of the earth may know thy name to fear thee. as do thy people
Israel, I want everybody to be just like Israel, that they may
know that this house, which I built it, this temple, is called by
thy name, and they're gonna look only toward this temple to call
upon your name, and they know this temple has your name. All that God is is seen in the
sacrifice, in the priest, in the temple. in the way of salvation. So what a glorious thing to know
his name. Duane, thanks. That helped. That
helped. But may the Lord teach us more
and more his name and cause us to ask for all that his name
represents.