We're in the book of Third John
for both hours this morning, if you'd like to turn there.
Third John. John is writing to Gaius, whom
he says he loves in the truth. And we looked at that Wednesday
night, love in the truth. He's exhorting him in the truth. encouraging him in the truth.
And it's an encouragement to all of the Lord's elect for that
reason. So let's read our text here in 3 John, only has one
chapter, 13 verses. We're gonna read five through
eight, verses five through eight. Now I beseech thee lady, in the
second epistle, I'm sorry, third John, verse five. Beloved, thou doest faithfully
whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers. which
have bore witness of thy charity before the church, whom if thou
bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt
do well, because that for his name's sake they went forth taking
nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive
such that we might be fellow helpers in the truth. Gaius was
receiving brethren who were traveling for the gospel sake. They would
come into his house, he would feed them, they need clothing,
whatever they needed, shelter. And Paul's commending him for
that. He's bringing that to his attention. Whatever you've done,
you've done it faithfully as unto the Lord for all these brethren
and not for the praise of men, not for to receive anything of
the non-believer or of the Gentile. That's what typically that's
meant is the Gentile being the non-believer, but just unto the
Lord in love and tells him that why he did all these things,
why all these things were done, and it's for the Lord's namesake. It's for the Lord's namesake. It would seem that so often we
do what we do and we live our lives not as we wish we could,
not as we would like to, but isn't it true that everything
pertaining to salvation and pertaining to life, that all by grace is
for his namesake? Anything that's good, anything
that's good in this life, we cannot look at ourself and see
anything good, and there's a reason for that, there's nothing good
in us. But if there is goodness, it comes from the Lord, and it's
for his namesake, all by grace alone. Everything pertaining
to life, Everything pertaining to eternity. Everything pertaining
to salvation and grace. Everything pertaining to mercy
and truth is for and by His namesake. No other reason. There's no other
reason. He done everything that He did,
verse seven, because that for His namesake. For His namesake. That's the reason these men were
traveling, is for His namesake. Why did we gather this morning
together? For His namesake. It's all by grace for His namesake. Everything that the elect cling
to, everything that we hope in is because and for his namesake. If it wasn't for his namesake,
we would have no hope. But he swore. He swore when he
could swear by no higher, he swore by himself, by his own
name. He swore that he would redeem. He swore that he would
save. He didn't allow us to swear by my name or your name. He swore
by his own name. Well, what is his name? Well,
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin.
His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Prince of Peace,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. His name is Jehovah Sitkinu,
the Lord Our Righteousness, he redeemed for his namesake. This
is why everything that is done, that happens, or is going to
happen, it's all for his namesake, for his glory. Everything we
cling to, is because of his namesake. If it was up to our name, men
used to shake hands and give their word. It was their name
they were given. I give you my word. I give you my oath as me
unto you. That doesn't mean a whole lot
anymore, does it? And even if it does, it's nothing
to compare the Lord giving his word for his namesake. Nothing
can stop it. Nothing can change it or alter
it. We have no hope in our name. But thanks be to God, the bride
receives the name of the groom. The bride receives the name of
the groom. The Lord, our righteousness, Jehovah, sit in you. Why did
we receive his name? For his namesake. For his namesake. If he doesn't redeem the bride,
it profanes his name. You remember in the book of Ruth,
whenever it was brought to Boaz's attention, you're a near kinsman,
you can redeem Ruth. You can redeem her. And he said,
there's a kinsman nearer nigh unto you, nigher than I am. There's
one closer to you than I am. That's a representation of the
law. The law being what could not redeem. As a matter of fact,
when Boaz approached the nearer kinsman, he says, I can't redeem.
It would mar my inheritance. It would ruin my name. That's
what he's saying. It would ruin my name to marry
this, to this woman. And Boaz says, I'll redeem her. That was a picture of Christ. It's a picture of Christ and
we see that the Lord was the only one that could redeem his
people, all could not redeem, but the Lord did it all for his
namesake. The most amazing part of Him bearing our sin, Him becoming
sin for His people, is the fact that it didn't profane Him. It
didn't profane His name. It glorified His name. Think
about that. When the Lord poured out His wrath upon His Son, it
didn't corrupt His name. No amount of badness that's in
you can defile the Lord. No amount of badness that's in
you. He took it unto Himself and He put it away. Can't defile
Him. Isn't that glorious? No, He took
it all away, nailing it to His cross, all for His namesake.
If He doesn't redeem His bride, we have no hope, but God can't
fail. I love our God and His sovereignty. I love our God and
His choice in salvation, His election. I love everything about
our God. How that He cannot fail, He cannot change, He cannot lie. There's, you can't, we can't
say that about anything else, can we? Everything else has changed,
everything else can fail, and everything else is a lie. Other
than him, he is the truth. But oh, because of his namesake,
he can't fail. He can't fail, and he redeemed
his people. That's why the Lord's people cry out, as David did
in Psalm 115, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name. Thy name give glory. Thy name
give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Not unto
us. We don't desire the glory for
our name any longer, do we? We're not looking for our name
to be in a spotlight, and we're not looking for our name when
we stand before the Lord. We're not gonna confess our name,
are we? What name are we gonna confess before the Lord? What
name have we confessed now? Every knee should bow, every
tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord. That's what we confess
now. We confess his name, who he is. It's his isness. It's his essence. It's who he
is. He's God. And that's what his name reflects
is who he is. That's what we confess. That's
what all our hope is. His name. Only God's people desire
for him to have all the glory. And we know that it's for his
glorious names sake. Everything that he does is for
his namesake. Turn with me to Isaiah 48. Look in verse eight of Isaiah.
I'm gonna have you turn a couple places this morning, but these
glorious words that Isaiah say in Isaiah 48, verse eight. Yea,
thou heardest not. Yea, thou knewest not. Yea, from
that time that thine ear was not opened, for I knew that thou
wouldest deal very treacherously and was called a transgressor
from the room. Who's he talking to? Who's he talking to? He's talking to his people. He's
talking to his people. And he goes on and says, for
my name's sake, will I defer mine anger? No, you deserve the
anger of God outside of Christ. There's no mistake, is there?
We deserve that. We deserve damnation. We deserve hell. We deserve eternal
torment, eternal punishment. But he says, for my name's sake,
will I defer my anger? And for my praise, will I refrain
for thee, that I cut thee not off? Behold, I have refined thee,
but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will
I do it. For how should my name be polluted? And I will not give
my glory unto another. Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and
Israel my call. I am he. I am the first. I also am the last. How can, how can we be made to
hear that cannot hear? How can we be made to see knowing
that we cannot see? How can we be made alive when
we are dead? It's going to have to come through
and by him, all for his namesake, all for his glory. He says here that we deal very
treacherously. How can we who deal very treacherously even,
what does he say here in the, You were called a transgressor
from the womb. How can the transgressor be made
right? How can that which is wicked be made good? How can
that which is alive be made truth? It's going to have to come through
and by Him, all for His namesake. Not unto us, but unto Him, all
glory, all praise. How can the transgressor be justified? How can the anger of God's wrath
be deferred? How can, he says, what did he
say here? I'm gonna, for my name's sake, will I defer mine anger?
How is he gonna defer his anger? Because he will not acquit the
guilty. The Lord's just. He's a just God. He will not
acquit the guilty. That means he won't sweep it
under a rug and pretend like it's not there. How can the Lord's
anger be deferred then? How can we be refined? The answer's
simple. By him choosing to do it. by
him doing 100% of it, by him doing all of it, by his determinate
counsel, the only way that he can do it, by the Lord Jesus
Christ becoming a man, the Lord Jesus Christ the God-man, taking
our transgression, taking our iniquity, taking our corruption
into himself and putting it away. Why would he do that? Because
he sees a little good in everybody? Certainly not. There's none good
but God. Scripture's very clear. Because
he sees that we're trying our best, we're doing our part, certainly
not. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Why would
he do all that? For his namesake. For his namesake,
for his glory. For his glory. Verse nine tells
us, for my namesake will I defer my anger. Verse 11, for my own
sake, even for my own sake will I do it. For how should my name
be polluted? I will not give my glory unto
another. will not give my glory unto another. It's so clear,
isn't it? He's gonna do it all for his namesake, for by grace
are you saved through faith, not of yourself. It's the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. The Lord Jesus
Christ did it all for his people, not according to what we do,
not according to what we haven't done, or what we're going to
do or not going to do, but by his determinate counsel, he chose
to redeem, and he did so all for his great namesake. It's
not by the will of flesh. It's not by the will of man,
but it's by the will of God. He says, I'm gonna get all the
glory. I'm gonna take the most wretched, vile creatures and
make them the very righteousness of God. That's what he did on
the cross of Calvary. That's what he did. All by grace,
according to his will, all for his glory, and all for his namesake. You're in Isaiah. Turn over with
me to Ezekiel chapter 20. Ezekiel chapter 20, verse 41. I will accept you with your sweet
savor when I bring you out from the people and gather you out
from the countries wherein you have been scattered. And I will
be sanctified in you before the heathen. And ye shall know that
I am the Lord when I shall bring you into the land of Israel,
into the country for the which I have lifted up mine hand to
give it to your fathers. And there shall you remember
your ways and all your doings wherein you have been defiled.
And you shall loathe yourself in your own sight for all your
evils that you have committed. And you shall know that I am
the Lord when I have wrought with you for my name's sake. not according to your wicked
ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, saith
the Lord God. How is our savor acceptable unto
the Lord? He demands perfection. The savor,
you know what it's like to go into a home that has been cooking
something, especially cakes or something like that. You walk
in, it smells like a sweet bakery. It's pleasant to the smell. Some
of you ladies may have candles that you light that's pleasant
to the smell and perfumes and things throughout the house.
My house smells like different cookies all over the house. It's
a pleasant smell. But God is not looking for you
and I to smell good in and of ourselves. Remember, we're dead.
And the only thing that a dead person can smell like is rotten.
It's filth. You know what death smells like.
You've smelt it. Terrible, isn't it? It's an awful smell. That's
all that we can smell. So how is our smell going to
be acceptable unto Him? Well, I'm reminded in the book
of Genesis, the first time that's mentioned is when Noah gets off
of the ark and he makes a sacrifice unto the Lord. He sacrifices
unto the Lord. The Lord gave him a promise of the rainbow. Glorious promise that his wrath
had been satisfied. His wrath had been satisfied. He gave him that bow in the sky.
Noah offers up a sacrifice unto the Lord. And it went up before
the Lord, a sweet smelling savor. It's the first time that's mentioned.
On the cross of Calvary when our Lord died, whenever he bowed
his head on Calvary's cross, he gave up the ghost. The scripture
likens his smell unto a sweet smelling savor offered up unto
his father. How are you and I gonna smell
sweet unto the father? How is he gonna be satisfied?
Because we're gonna have to, it's not just, We're gonna have
to be a little bit like the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to be in
him. When the Lord sees us, he's got to see the Lord Jesus Christ
only. If he sees us without the blood,
we have no hope. We're gonna have to smell just
like him. We're gonna have to look just like him. And that's what
Christ accomplished on the cross. That's what righteousness is.
That's what righteousness has been done unto his people is
we're been made just like him because we're in him, because
we're in him. How is our savor acceptable?
Because we smell just like the sinless son of God, being found
in him, being robed in his righteousness. That's how. That's how. Otherwise
we won't smell like we should. We won't look like we should.
We won't be accepted. But the Lord's made us accepted
in the beloved. And he says in verse 44 why he
did this. Why did he do this? You shall
know I'm the Lord when I have wrought with you for my name's
sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt
things, O you house of Israel, saith the Lord God. Aren't you
glad that we received double? Our iniquities pardoned, and
our sins are put away, and we've received double of the Lord.
All the bad that we are, we have a double cure for it in the Lord
Jesus Christ, what he accomplished on the cross. All by his name,
not according to our works, not according to our corrupt doings,
not according to our wicked ways, but according to his mercy, according
to his grace alone. All for his namesake. David said
in Psalm 23, He restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the paths
of righteousness for his namesake. Why does he lead his people in
the paths of righteousness for his namesake? Why didn't he just
leave us to ourself for his namesake? Why are we still alive? Why are we still, it's in him
we live, move, and have our being, it's all for his namesake. It's
all for his namesake. Our Lord swore by his own name
to make his people the righteousness of God. And who's going to stop
him? Who's going to stop him? Nobody can stop him. When fears
and doubt assail, remember that he swore by his name and he cannot
lie. He cannot lie. Even in the valley
of the shadow of death, we fear no evil. Why? Because he leads
us in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. He comforts
his people. He comforts his people. How much better can the Lord
defend his children than we can defend ourselves? You ever had
a confrontation with somebody and you want to defend yourself,
you want to take up for yourself, but you know if you say anything
just about it, it's gonna come back to haunt you, and you wrestle
with that emotion at that moment, and the Lord gives grace. How
better can we, how better can God defend us than we defend
ourselves? infinitely better, vastly better. Infinite, that's
the word, infinitely better. He defends his people. He defends
his people. God said, I will lead you, I
will defend you, I will protect you because I have bought you
at the price, I have redeemed you, thou art mine, for my name's
sake. Why should we fret? Why should
we worry? Why should we not? We shouldn't,
but we do. But the flesh does, doesn't it? All the time, the
flesh does. 1 Samuel 12, 22 says, for the Lord
will not forsake his people for his great namesake. Do you believe
that? The Lord will not forsake his
people for his great namesake. When he said, I will never leave
you and I will never forsake you, he just told us why he's
never gonna leave us or forsake us. For his great namesake. Not because of what you've done,
not because of what you're doing, or what you're gonna do, or what
I've done, or what I'm doing or gonna do, but for his great
namesake. Does that give you comfort? It's
not about your name, it's about his name. It's about his name. For his namesake, his great namesake. Then he goes on to say, he'd
done all this. The Lord will not forsake his people for his
great namesake, because it hath pleased the Lord to make you
his people. It pleased him to make you his people. By great
designs of grace, he chose to make you his people. Nothing about this salvation
is dependent upon you and I. And that angers the self righteous,
but it comforts the center. Nothing about this salvation.
Nothing about this salvation is dependent upon you and I. It's all based on his name on
his for his name's sake. All of it. Our name is not holy. But his is, he said in Isaiah
57, for thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity,
whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy
places with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit
to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the
contrite ones. See, you and I can't become holy
in what we do. We're opposite of that. The flesh
is opposite of that. But because his name is holy,
He gives his people his name. We're made the holiness of the
Lord and the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all for his name's sake.
How are we to approach the holiness? Well, we just read we have to
have a contrite and a humble spirit, but he has to give that,
doesn't he? Why would he give a contrite and humble spirit
to something as prideful as you and I? For his namesake, for
his namesake, for his glory. All by grace, isn't it? He saves
to the uttermost. We used to say to the gutter
most, it doesn't matter how far down you are, he saves that far
and infinitely more. He's God. He's God and he does
it for one reason, for his glory, for his namesake. Why did he
choose to love sinners? For his namesake. Why did he
choose to redeem those sinners? For his namesake. Why does he
choose to comfort us with his precious word to give us manna
day after day or so undeserving? It's because it's all of grace
by for his namesake, for his namesake. Why would he give a
wretched, vile, dead dog sinner anything but hell, anything but
hell for his namesake, for his namesake? Why would the glorious, sinless
savior die, shed his precious blood to redeem his people for
his namesake, for his glory? He gets all the glory in this,
doesn't he? And the more we hear about how bad we are, the more
we hear about how good he is, We don't mind him having all
the glory at all, do we? As a matter of fact, that's the
way we like it. Lord, you are not unto us, oh Lord, but unto
thy name. Thy name be glory. All for your namesake, Lord.
Songwriter said, nothing can for sin atone, nothing but the
blood of Jesus. Not of good that I have done,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. The Lord was satisfied with that
blood. All for his namesake. Because of who he was, the Savior
shed his blood and his people have been redeemed. They've been
set free from the bonds of sin and death. Salvation was actually accomplished
for his namesake, for his glory. I love the fact that it wasn't
for my namesake, meaning I had no part of it. I know, but now
did he become the center substitute on the cross of Calvary bearing
our sin, knowing us by name? Absolutely. Certainly he did.
Or is our name written in the Lamb's book of life? Yes. But
why, why is all that for his namesake? It was for his glory
and for his honor. Salvation was accomplished on
the cross of Calvary. 1 John 2, we drew a text from this
a couple weeks ago, says, I write unto you little children because
your sins are forgiven. Do you know why? For his namesake.
Your sins are forgiven for his namesake. No greater hope than
to know our sins are gone. No greater rest than knowing
everything, everything we believe revolves around this one glorious
truth. It's for his namesake. It's for
His namesake. Run to flee to Christ. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on His name. Believe
on His person. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel 36, 22 says, Therefore say unto the house of Israel,
Thus saith the Lord, I do not this for your sakes, O house
of Israel. Turn over there with me. You're
in Ezekiel chapter 20, I believe. Turn over with me, Ezekiel 36.
I want to show us this in closing. Let's just read this one verse.
Ezekiel 36, look at verse 22. Oh, verse 21 first. But I had pity,
here's why, for my holy name. But I had pity for my holy name,
which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen whether
they went. Therefore, say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes,
O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have
profaned among the heathen, whether you went. Even though you profane
my name, I'm still gonna redeem you. Even though you can't do
anything but sin, I'm still gonna make you the righteousness of
God in Christ. Even though we are utterly sinful, The Lord
took every single one of those sins and put them away. You know
why he did that? Not for your glory. For my namesake. For my namesake. He said, I'm still gonna redeem
you. It's not what you've done. It's what I've done. It's not
what you're gonna do. It's what I've done. We rest
in him. We rest in his name. For his
namesake. Last name I'm gonna give you
of the Lord is the one we often talk of. the Lord our righteousness. Scripture says that that was
the Lord's name. And then whenever the bride's
called, he says, what's her name gonna be? And they said, her
name's Jehovah Sitkinu, the Lord our righteousness. He's given
us every one of his names. We are in Christ Jesus. Everything
that is in Christ, his people have in him. In the Lord Jesus
Christ, we've been made the righteousness of God in him. And it's only
for one reason. Well, it's by grace. I mean,
we know that, but you understand what I'm saying. It's for his
namesake, for his namesake. Let's pray. Father, cause us
to rest in you. Cause us to rest in your glorious
gospel for your glory, for your namesake in Christ's name. Amen. Let's take a break.