That's a beautiful song, a blessing
to me. I want to remind you that this
Sunday morning, time changes. Saturday night, rather, and Sunday
morning, you'll lose an hour sleep, but it won't bother you
a bit. Exodus chapter three. Now, I quoted that passage of
scripture from Psalm nine, Or it said, they that know thy name
will put their trust in thee. Now that doesn't simply mean
you know how to articulate it. But it means you know what his
name means. And it means you love what his
name means. Not just being able to give the
correct textbook definition, but you love what his name means. Now, you can't really know a
person and not know their name, can you? How can you know somebody and
not know their name? It cannot be done. Look in Exodus
chapter 3, verse 13. And Moses said unto God, Behold,
when I am 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 thee? And
God said unto Moses, I am that I am. I do love that name of our Lord. This speaks of His isness. It's who He is. And you know
what I really love about His name here, I am that I am? Who he is is in no way dependent
upon what me or you think about him. His name is not predicated on
that at all. He is who he is. Don't you love that? I just. I love that song you were just
singing, you know, my warrant is the word of God. Not else
is worth believing and. We know his name. I am that I
am. That's what we considered last
week. And what a glorious name this
is, but you know, this is not the name that God chooses as
his most important name. Now, I found this remarkable,
I've never seen this before, but his name, I am that I am. What a glorious name that is.
That's who he is. But read verse 15 of Exodus chapter
three. And God said moreover unto Moses,
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord
God of your fathers. Now, that word Lord is Jehovah. Jehovah. Jehovah, 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. Jehovah. And this is my memorial
unto all generations. Now, this is God's favorite name,
and I say that reverently. Jehovah. In the Old Testament,
God gives himself nine different names. All of which tell us something
about the person behind the name. There is Elohim, that is the
plural of God, and I have no doubt that it refers to the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. And this name means He who is
to be worshipped. And He is to be worshipped in
me. And then there's His name El, which means Almighty God. God omnipotent. And then there
is a lion, the Most High. I love that name. It is almost
amusing that men call other men Most High or Your Highness. There's
only one Highness, and that's the Lord God. He is the Most
High. And then there's El Shaddai.
You've probably heard that. That means God all-sufficient. That means He's utterly independent. That means you don't have anything
that He needs. He is utterly independent, all-sufficient,
needing nothing. He still says, if I were hungry,
I wouldn't tell you about it. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. Then there's the God of hosts.
That's his ascension name. There's Agni or Lord, dictator,
supreme ruler, the sovereign of the universe, the Agni. And
then there's Jah, which means that which is meet, he which
is meet, he which is becoming. I don't know if I'm pronouncing
these right. I'm trying. So if I'm wrong, forgive me.
But the next word is the word we found in Exodus chapter three,
verse 14, I am that I am. edger, the self-existent one. This is who he is. But do you
know Jehovah is his favorite name? He says, this is my name
to my people. Now, this is what absolutely
astounds me. I am that I am is who he is. That's just who he is. All of
his wonderful, glorious attributes, that's who he is. But who he
is to his people is the name that he selects as his memorial
forever. Jehovah. Jehovah. That's who he is to his people.
Now, I'm sure you're aware of this. There are seven different
Jehovah's, only one Jehovah, but seven different manifestations
of this name in the scripture Jehovah. There's Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide. Isn't
it wonderful to know that the Lord, whatever God requires of
you, He provides. I love that. Jehovah-Jireh. There is Jehovah-Ratha, the Lord,
I am the Lord that healeth thee. How many times have we found
Him healing us? We get ourselves into a mess
in such a state, but He is the Lord who continually heals us
and comes to us again and again. Jehovah Nisi, the Lord our banner,
the Lord our message. He is our message. We preach
Him, Jehovah. There is Jehovah Shalom, the
Lord our peace. And what peace we experience
from really believing that he is our peace. I guess that's
peace for man. He is my peace. Then there's
Jehovah. The Lord is my shepherd. And because my shepherd is the
Lord, you know what? I shall not want. And then there's Jehovah T'kenu.
The Lord, our righteousness. He is my righteousness. That's
why I have joy. That's why I have peace. That's
why I feel confident to come into the very presence of God
and know he accepts me because Christ Jesus himself is my righteousness
before God. Jehovah's akin to the Lord, our
righteousness. And then there's Jehovah Shana.
The Lord is present. You know, at all times, whether
I feel it or whether I don't. Remember, feelings come, feelings
go, feelings are deceiving. But at all times, I have His
presence. He is always there. The Lord is there. The Lord is
present. Now, you'll notice in our text,
He is Jehovah. to Abraham, to Isaac, and Jacob,
this speaks of His covenant, what He is to His people. Now,
look with me again at verse 15. And God said, moreover unto Moses,
this is after He had made Himself known as the great I am that
I am. He said, 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, hath sent me unto you. This is
my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Now of the glorious names he
has, this is the name which is most precious. Jehovah to Abraham,
Jehovah to Isaac, Jehovah to Jacob, and Jehovah to Todd. Just as much as he is the God
of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, you can put your name in there.
He's my God. He said it. In His covenant with
His people, I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me
a people. Now, I am that I am is His isness. That's who He is without respect
to what mere you think. But Jehovah is what He is to
His people. What this means is having God
for me. You think of that scripture,
Romans chapter 8, verse 31. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now, if that means he's for everybody,
what good does it have? What good does it do you have
God for you? If he's for everybody, if he wants everybody to be saved,
what good does it do you? It doesn't really do any good
at all, does it? But this is a reference to his people, the
Abrahams, the Isaacs, the Jacobs, the believers. those he entered
covenant with, those who believe on him. If God be for us, who
can be against us? Would you turn with me for a
moment to Hebrews chapter seven? This is talking about his covenant
relationship with his people. Hebrews chapter seven. And isn't it amazing that this
is the name God prefers? The name that he prefers. That
is, His memorial forever is the name that He is to me. The name that He is to you. That's
His favorite name. Now, I think that is just astounding. It's so hard to get a hold of
this. This is His favorite name. Look here in Hebrews chapter
7, verse 22. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. Now, surety is a guarantee. When
Christ became my surety, everything God required of me, he looked
to his Son for. That's what a surety is. It's
someone who bears the responsibility. And notice he says he's a surety
of a better testament. Now, look in Hebrews chapter
8 and we'll find out why this is a better testament. Let's
begin reading in verse 6. But now, speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ, hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much
also he is the mediator of a better covenant, better than the covenant
of works, which was established upon better promises. For if
the first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been
sought for the second, but finding fault with them. He said, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, when I make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.
Now, that seems like a pretty good covenant, doesn't it? The
Lord will take you by the hand and lead you out. That sounds
awful good to me. But yet he says this is much
better. And here's what it is. You see,
if all God does is get you by the hand, you'll end up leaving. You will. If he just gets you
by the hand, you'll end up leaving. It's going to have to go further
than that. Now, look at this passage of Scripture. He says,
They continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. For this is the covenant that I'll make with him with
the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will
put my laws in their mind and write them in their hearts. Now,
that's not talking about Ten Commandments. Ten Commandments
is written on everybody's heart. Scripture says that. The work
of the law written on everybody's heart. Everybody knows the difference
between right and wrong. Everybody knows it's wrong to steal and
to kill and to lie and all those things. Everybody already knows
that. It's not talking about God's law. That's talking about a new
nature. That's talking about His principles
of life, the principle of life. That's what this is a reference
to. I'll put my laws in their mind and write them into their
hearts and I'll be to them a God. And they shall be to me a people,
and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man
his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for also know me. From
the least to the greatest. Everybody in this covenant is
going to know the living God. And here's how it comes. For
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. And that word merciful is the
word perpetuous. I will be appeased. You see,
the blood of Christ perpetuated God. The blood of Christ removed
his reason for anger. The Lord doesn't have a reason
to be mad at you. Your sin is gone. He said, I
will be propitious to their unrighteousness. And because of that, their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. How in the world can
God forget something? The only way he can forget something
is if there is nothing there to remember. Now, do you believe that? Do
you believe the power of his blood is such that he makes it
to where there's no sin for him to remember regarding you? That's
a good covenant, isn't it? You see why that's the better
covenant than the covenant of war? I mean, it can't even be
compared. Now, it's hard to grasp. But
I'm saying to every believer. You are so significant to Christ. You are a part of his body. And
he, in his infinite glory, would not be complete without you. Now that is hard to get hold
of it. But it is not the church called the body of Christ. Every believer is a member of
his body. A member of his body, now you
are the body of Christ and members in particular. And Christ would
not have a complete body. without you, without me, without
every one of his people. Isn't that amazing? I mean, what
a, I don't know what else to say about that other than just,
I sure am grateful. I sure am thankful. This is glorious
that the Lord would view us as such. Now back to our text in
Exodus chapter three. Now he makes known his favorite
name, Jehovah. This is my name forever. This
is my memorial unto all generations. Now, verse 16, you 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." Now, I want you to notice the language.
He does not say, I will visit you. He does not say, I'm in
the process of visiting you. He says, I have surely visited
you. We're still in bondage. We still have the cruel taskmasters. We're still making the bricks
for the pyramids. And He's visited us? What good's it done us? As far
as our experience goes, we do not see where He has visited
us. And yet, God says, I have surely
visited you. They were still slaves when he
said this in their experience. Now hold your finger there and
turn to Romans chapter 8. Verse 29. For whom he did foreknow He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Now, that's easy enough to see
how that's past tense. Predestination, of course, it's in the past.
It happened before time began. Let's go on reading. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, then he also is going to call? No, called. And whom he called, then he also
is going to justify? No. He justified. And whom he justified, then he
also glorified. Past tense. This is not a prophecy
of what's going to happen. This is history. It has happened according to
the Word of God. I'm glorified. That's why people
say, I'm assuring for heaven as if I'm already there. No,
it's better than that. I am there in the person of my Redeemer,
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, I am there. Now, you
know what this is called? Now, do I look, you look at me,
do I look glorified? No. Do I even look justified? Can you even tell for sure that
I've been called? No. How do you even know I've been
predestinated? By looking at me. As far as my experience goes,
you can't see those things. And as far as being glorified,
when you're glorified, that means you don't have any sin. It doesn't
seem to line up with my experience. But I believe that I am. It's
called faith. That's what faith is. It's believing
that which you cannot see. Do you remember when God appeared
to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15? He said, you see the stars?
Can you count them? No. So shall your seed be. And the Scripture says Abraham
believed the Lord and it was counted to him for righteousness.
Now, did he have any seed at that time? Did he have any kids
at all? Did he have the prospect of having
enough Sarah's womb that already had been closed? Yet he believed
God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Believe what
you cannot see, because God said it. It's called faith. Now, it'll
come to sight. I guarantee you it will. But
he said, I have surely visited you. Verse 17. Exodus chapter 3, and I have
said, isn't that the foundation of our faith, what he said? My
warrant is the word of God, not else is worth believing. There's
the foundation of our faith, I have said. I have said, I'll
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. Now, each one of these six nations,
the name means something that will tell us something about
the promised land. The name Canaanite means. A merchant. Or a trafficker, one you get
goods from, that's what the word Canaanite means. Doesn't the
scripture say come buy wine and milk? Without money. And without price, this is not
talking about what you got to pay to get it. The direction
here is to let us know where we're to get it at. It's the
land of Canaan. Look unto me and be ye saved. Come buy this wine and milk without
money and without price. Hittites means terror. Terror. A land of terror? Well, here's
where the word comes from. Turn back to Genesis 35, and I think
this will help you. Help me. Genesis 35. And they journeyed, verse 5,
and they journeyed, talking about the twelve patriarchs, and they
journeyed, Jacob and his boys, and the terror of God was upon
the cities that were round about them that they did not pursue
after the sons of Jacob. In other words, this is talking
about God's protection. That's where that word comes
from, that word terror. The terror of God was upon all those other
lands and they were afraid to touch Jacob and his sons. This
is talking about the Lord's protection. You know in the promised land
you have the Lord protecting you. If God be for us, who can
be against us? Amorites means prominence. Prominence. What you are in Christ Jesus.
Now this is where my Self-image comes from myself or whatever
that means. I mean, this is almost getting into psychobabble. I
don't want it to. My image doesn't come from the fact that I'm a
preacher or from anything I do or intend to do. Here's my self-image. As He is, so are we in this world. Now, you want to talk about prominence. That's our prominence. The Hivites
means life-giving. That's where my life comes from. The Perizzites means unbent city,
open land, liberty. Oh, the liberty that I have in
Christ Jesus. Liberty to this extent. I don't
owe a thing. I'm debt-free. without debt before
God, and I get to do what I want to do. I want to follow the Lord
Jesus Christ. I want to. I'm doing exactly
what I want to do right now. I wouldn't want to. This is it. It's liberty. It's true freedom.
Jebusites means threshing place where we get our food from. This
is the land flowing with milk and honey. Verse 18. And they
shall hearken to thy voice. He says to Moses, these Hebrews,
they're going to hearken to your voice. Now, Moses knew something
about these people. Look at chapter 4, verse 1. They
were an obstinate, stiff-necked people, a whole lot like you
and I are. A whole lot like you and I are. Look what Moses said
in chapter 4, verse 1. After the Lord gave him all this
assurance about what he would do, this makes me feel better about
my skepticism. Because Moses escaped. I mean,
he shouldn't have been. The Lord told him what he was
going to do. But look at Moses' response.
And Moses answered and said, But behold, they'll not believe
me, nor hearken unto my voice. For they'll say, The Lord hath
not appeared to thee. You see, he knew these people.
He knew the way they would respond. And he said, They're not going
to. Now, the Lord says, Yeah, they
will. Why? Because I'm going to cause them to. They will hearken
to your voice. They will hear. And notice what it says back
in our text in verse 18. And they shall hearken to thy
voice, and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto
the king of Egypt, and shalt say unto him, The Lord God of
the Hebrews. And who is the God of the Hebrews? The Lord God of the Hebrews have
met with us and now let us go. We beseech thee three days journey
into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. God is the God of the Hebrews.
Now, what does that word mean, the Hebrews? Well, the word is
taken from the word, which means to cross over. The Hebrews are
they who have crossed over, they passed from death to life. Remember, God is the God of the living,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. They
passed from death to life. Those who believe are those who
have crossed over from death to life, from condemnation to
justification, from law to grace. He is the God of the Hebrews.
Now, you tell Pharaoh what I told you to do. Verse 19, look what
he says next. And I am sure after you tell
Pharaoh, let my people go. I am sure that the king of Egypt
will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. Now, why is he sure of this?
You know the answer to that, because ten times in this passage
of Scripture, in this account of the Exodus, ten times God
says, I will harden his heart. That's why he will not let you
go. I will harden his heart. Look in Exodus 4.21. And the Lord said unto Moses,
When thou goest to return unto Egypt, see that thou doest all
those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand.
But I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people
go. Do you remember what happened
after the first time Moses went in to Pharaoh? I'm going to jump
ahead, look into chapter 5. And afterwards, Moses and Aaron
went in and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his
voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither
will I let Israel go. And they said, The God of the
Hebrews hath met with us. Let us go, we pray thee, three
days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our
God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.
And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses
and Aaron, let the people from their works? Get ye under your
burdens. And Pharaoh said, Behold, the
people of the land now are many, and you make them rest from their
burdens. And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters
of the people and their officers, saying, You shall no more give
the people straw to make bricks, as heretofore. Let them go and
gather straw for themselves, and the tail of the bricks which
they did make heretofore, you shall lay upon them, you shall
not diminish out thereof. For they be idle, they're lazy,
for before they cry, let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let
there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labor
therein, and let them not regard vain words." Now you see, when
he said, let my people go, it ended up being worse for him.
As far as their experience goes, it ended up being worse. Look
in the chapter 20 or verse 20 of chapter 5. And they met Moses
and Aaron, who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh.
And they said unto them, The Lord look upon you and judge,
because you've made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of
Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in the
hand to slay us. And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, Lord,
wherefore hast thou done evil? so evil and treated this people?
Why is it that thou sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to
speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people, neither
hast thou delivered the people at all." Now, as far as his experience
goes at this time, it wasn't working out the way he thought
it would, was it? Things did not appear to be working
out, but were they? I think of that passage in Romans
9 where Paul quotes what happened here in Exodus, for the Scripture
saith to Pharaoh, I love the way it says the scripture says
to it. The Lord said to Pharaoh, well, when the scripture says it, the
Lord says it. The scripture saith to Pharaoh, even for this same
purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in
thee, and that my name may it be declared throughout all the
earth. Therefore, have he mercy on whom
he will have mercy and whom he will. He hardens. Exodus 3 verse
20. He says, I'll stretch out my
hand and smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in
the midst thereof. And after that, he'll let you
go. And this is a reference to the ten plagues, the rivers turned
to blood, the frogs, the lice, the flies, the disease on all
the livestock, the plague of boils, the hail, the locusts,
the darkness and the death of the firstborn. And after that,
he'll let you go. You see, the Lord's always going
to have his way. We're going to look at the what all those
plagues represent later on, but he says he'll let you go after
that. And look what it says next in verse 21. And I will give
this people favor. In the sight of the Egyptians. And it shall come to pass that
when you go, you shall not go out empty. But every man shall
borrow of her neighbor, every woman shall borrow of her neighbor,
and have heard that sojourneth in her house jewels of silver
and jewels of gold and raiment, and you shall put them upon your
sons and upon your daughters, and you shall spoil the Egyptians."
Now, God's going to give you favor. Now, that word favor is
the word that is generally translated grace. God's going to give you
unmerited favor. I sure want that. Unmerited favor. Sovereign grace. I'm a sovereign
gracer. I surely am. I'm not ashamed
of that. I believe sovereign grace. And he says, you're going
to be clothed beautifully, clothed in Christ himself. You're not going to go out empty.
You're going to be clothed. Oh, the riches of His grace.
Now, here's the thought I want to leave you with thinking about.
Can I really believe that Jehovah is all this to me? Now, I haven't, I don't really
have that hard of time believing He is that to you. But can I
really believe that Jehovah Is all of this to me? Well, let me tell you how that
question can be answered. You are commanded to believe
the gospel. God commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. You don't need to worry about
whether or not you're elect or whether Christ died for you.
You really don't. Now, there's no doubt there are
elect people and Christ only died for them, but you're not
called to figure out whether or not you're one of the elect
or whether Christ died for you. You're really not called upon
to do that. You're called upon to believe the gospel. God commands you to believe. Now, do you? Are you relying upon Jehovah
Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, as your salvation before God? Are you? Are you relying on Him?
You know, that can be answered with a yes or no. Do you see that Jehovah Jesus
is all in salvation. And you really are relying that
He is the Alpha and the Omega, that all that God requires of
you is found in Him. And you rely upon that. Now, I tell you what, I am relying
on Him right now. Jehovah Jesus. And because of
that, that's the evidence. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. That's what the Bible says. Because
of that, I know that He is all of this to me. He's the Lord
my righteousness, the Lord who provides, the Lord my banner,
the Lord that heals me, the Lord my shepherd. He's all this to
me. Isn't it amazing? Have God in
His glory. I mean, who are you? Who am I? I mean, who? Specs. We don't even count. Yet. That's not so. In God's eyes, I do count. I am in the Lord Jesus Christ. Near, so near to God. Nearer
I cannot be. In the person of His dear Son,
I am as near to God as He. Dear. So dear to God. Dearer I cannot be. For in the
person of His dear Son, I am as dear to God as He. And you want me to tell you something
that's very amazing? I believe that. I believe that. What a glorious
Savior we have. Let's pray together.