It's good to be here with each
of you tonight to worship our Lord and God. Let's look together
tonight in Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Tonight I want to just preach
from the first sentence here in verse number seven, and pray
that the Lord would bless us as we look at this, and maybe
if the Lord allows, the Lord willing, maybe next time I preach,
I'll preach from the second part of verse number one. But Solomon
wrote here, Ecclesiastes seven, verse one, a good name is better
than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of
one's birth. I want us to think about this
statement that he made here, that a good name is better than
precious ointment. Ointments with beautiful fragrances
were considered great treasures in the time of Solomon. We might
kind of think the same thing if we go to Macy's or Dillard's
and try to buy some perfume or cologne. They're pretty expensive,
aren't they, these days, but not like they were back in these
days. They were actually, these fragrances,
these ointments, were actually kept with the jewels and the
gold and everything else that the riches of the nation. So
when he talks about it being that a good name is better than
precious ointment, We have to remember, for them, ointment
was indeed precious. And of course, a good name is
better. It's a much greater value, much
greater value than ointment. And so I want us to start the
message tonight just kind of thinking about the name which
is above every name, that name that truly is more precious than
ointment. That is the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ. His name, you remember Isaiah
prophesied of the coming of the Christ and the coming of the
Messiah. And he said that for unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful. Wonderful, that's the first name
that he's given there in the prophecy. And you know that word
wonderful, it actually means a miracle. His name shall be
called wonderful, a miracle. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. And truly, I believe that the
greatest miracle that you and I will ever have the blessing
of knowing anything about the greatest miracle that ever has
been or ever shall be is the incarnation of the Son of God. You know, we The Lord has taught
us in part about this truth, that the Lord Jesus is the eternal
Son of God made flesh. He's taught us a bit of this,
but we should never take the fact that if we know just a little
bit about this truth, what a blessing that is. The majority of the
world around us has no idea concerning that truth. No idea whatsoever. How the divine and human natures
could be joined together in the single person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. How the divine and human nature
could be joined together in one person, the single person of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember the Lord Jesus Christ
asked his disciples, he said, who do you say that I am? And
you remember Simon Peter answered and said, They are the Christ,
the son of the living God. And the Lord Jesus told him,
he said, oh, Simon, blessed are you. For flesh and blood has
revealed this unto you, but my father, which is in heaven. Don't
begin to believe that those around us that are lost in this world
have any understanding whatsoever of who Jesus really is. Emmanuel, God with us. God in
our nature. God manifests in the flesh. What
an unsearchable miracle. Every time I try to even speak
about this, when I'm asked to speak, and I study, and I study,
and I look, and I read, and at the end of it, I just have to
say, what an unsearchable. It's beyond anything that I can
begin to understand. How that as the Lord Jesus, as
the eternal son of God, think about this, he did not in any
way, in any way whatsoever relinquish any of who he was from all eternity
as God. None of his attributes were diminished
in any type of way. If we just think of his power,
the power of the Son of God. When God came in human flesh,
the Lord Jesus did not lose any of his power that he had had
forever from all eternity as God. And when you think about
that baby laying upon the breast of his mother Mary at that very
time, being the one that was upholding all of creation by
his power, the one who depended upon Mary for the sustenance
and life from the milk that she gave to him, was the one that
was given life and breath and being to all that has life, breath,
and being. What an amazing, no wonder his
name is called Wonderful. What a miracle. You remember
when the Lord Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, he said to him,
he says, if I've told you earthly things and you believe not, how
shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? And the Lord
Jesus Christ had been talking to him about the new birth. About
the wondrous, wondrous, wonderful, miraculous. work of the Holy
Spirit in the life of a sinner who's dead in trespasses and
sins to give us life, to give us spiritual life so that we
may look to the Lord Jesus Christ in salvation, so that we may
see the kingdom of God. Those are the things the Lord
Jesus had been talking about. And he said, if I've told you
earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if
I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to
heaven. but he that came down from heaven,
even the son of man, which is in heaven." What was he saying? That attribute
of omnipresence, the fact that God fills all things, all places,
the Lord Jesus said, he was at this time, as he was looking
at Nicodemus, talking to him, still in heaven with his father.
These are things that are miraculous, aren't they? Such a wonder. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful. You remember
next, Counselor. Counselor, the Lord Jesus Christ
spoke as one, the scripture says, who had authority. That's what
his enemies, that's what all those around said about him.
He spoke as one who had authority. When he spoke, the matter was
settled. There wasn't any rabbi so-and-so
said this, and this rabbi said that. No, he spoke as the counselor
with authority. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God. The Lord Jesus is the Almighty
God. the everlasting father, that
is the eternal son, he who is the alpha and the omega, the
beginning and the end, the one who has always been, his name
shall be called the eternal father, the prince of peace. Well, that's
a name we love, isn't it? The prince. Surely, truly his
name is more precious, precious than ointment, than the most
precious ointment. He made peace by the blood of
his cross, peace for rebels, peace for sinners, peace for
his enemies, the prince of peace, the king of peace. No wonder
the scripture says, wherefore, wherefore God hath highly exalted
him. and has given him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, whether they be things in heaven, things in earth, things
under the earth, and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God. Truly his name is a good
name, isn't it? The name of the Lord Jesus, such
a good, precious, wonderful name. But in this verse here that we're
looking at tonight, Solomon is not speaking concerning the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, but rather he's speaking about the
name of his people, his sheep, his disciples. I know if you're
a believer tonight, I know that like you, like me, you, when
the Lord began a work in your heart, he gave you a desire to
have a good name. He gave, he gives us a desire
when we're born again, he gives us a desire to have a good name,
that is to be a good testimony in this world. That is for, to
honor our father who's been so gracious to us and choosing us
and sending his son to die for us and honoring our savior who
came and bore all that he bore on our behalf. and honoring the
Holy Spirit who's come to dwell within us and seal us unto the
day of redemption. God gives us a desire. He gives
His children a desire to have a good name. That is a name that
honors our Father and our Savior. And I thought about What is that
good name? What is that good name that we
want to have? And that's what I want to speak to you in the
next few minutes. I've already taken way too long
on the first couple pages of my notes here, but I think I
can still follow through here. A good name. Would it be a blessing
if we, like the disciples in Antioch, would it be a blessing
if people called us Christians. Because of what they saw in us
and in our life that they would call us Christians, that is followers
of Christ, servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, a good name, a
Christian. Those who have in reality heard
and heeded the call of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he said, come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give
you rest. Those of us who've heard that
call and have heeded that call and have come to him, we need
to come tonight. Now, you say, well, I came 20
years ago. I came 30 years ago. I came 50
years ago. We need to come tonight, don't
we? The call from the Lord Jesus Christ is tonight. Come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you
rest. Maybe we're laboring and burdened
under the burden of guilt and sin. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. He can give you rest. He's the
only one who can. Maybe we're burdened tonight. Under the burden of anxiety and
fear, maybe heartache, hurt, depression, whatever, whatever
it is that we're burdened with tonight, the Lord Jesus says,
come unto me and I'll give you rest. He said, take my yoke upon
you. Take my yoke upon you. You know
that word, yoke, what it's talking about, what it says is yield
yourself to serve me. That's what that action, yield
yourself to serve me, just like the oxen who yield their neck
to have the yoke put upon them to pull the plow, to serve in
the service of their master, to plow the field. That's the
picture here that the Lord Jesus Christ gives us. Take my yoke
upon you. And learn of me, for I am meek
and lowly and hard, and you shall find rest unto your souls. You remember the theme of Ecclesiastes
is there's no rest for us in anything in this world. It's
all temporary. It's all transitory. It all passes
away. The Lord Jesus says to come to
him, and he will give us rest. He will give our souls rest.
He said, for my yoke is easy. My yoke is easy. And my burden
is light. My yoke is easy. My yoke is a
good and kind. He's a good and kind master.
He calls us to come to him and take his yoke upon us. And his
yoke is a good. You know, have you ever had a
boss that just wasn't very good? I've had some mean. I had one
boss that was particularly pretty hard to work for. And when I
no longer had to be around him, I wasn't very sad about it. I'm
going to be honest with you. But the Lord Jesus Christ, his
disciples had walked with him, their master. They called him
Master and Lord. They said, well, because so he
was. And when he told them he was leaving this world, they
were filled with sorrows. Their hearts broke. Why? Because he's a good master. He's
a kind Lord. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly. You shall find rest unto your
souls. What a name. You see why I say
that would be so wonderful to be called a Christian. People,
whether you're able to testify to them or not, that they see
our life and go, you know what? That person, they're a servant
of Christ. They follow Christ. Secondly,
and I have three of these, would it not be wonderful and such
a blessing if we had the name of Believer? There's no better
name. There's one greater name, but
no better name to desire here for us, a Christian believer.
What a wonderful, what a wonderful thing to be called a believer,
as Abraham, a believer. If it could be said of us, he
or she staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded
that what he had promised he is able to perform. Wouldn't
that be wonderful? To have that testimony that we
staggered not at the promise of God, knowing that what he's
promised Oh, we are so weak and incapable of anything good, but
our salvation is in he who is almighty, the one who's able
to do what he said that he would do. The Lord Jesus said, he said,
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, how did Moses
lift up that serpent? He lifted him up upon that pole
so those who had been bitten by the snakes who were dying
because of the venom of the snake could look at that serpent upon
that pole that was lifted up and with the look that they would
live. The Lord Jesus said, even as
Moses lifted up that serpent in the wilderness, he said, even
so must the son of man be lifted up. Speaking of himself, he must
be crucified. He must be hung upon that tree.
Why is that? That whosoever believeth in him. Our pastors told us before, I
can't remember who it was, but the story of that preacher who
said it, this word whosoever is better than his own name being
written there. Because he would find a way of
believing that it was some other Jonathan Pledger that the verse
was talking about. No, it said whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The Lord
Jesus is able, he's able to do what he said he would do. Sin
had to be atoned for. He had to go to the cross, and
he did. Sin had to be paid for fully,
completely. Justice had to be satisfied,
and it was. And because the Lord Jesus satisfied
all the demands of the justice of God, now he's able to do what
he said he would do, which is save all that believe in him.
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life." What a good name, Believer. If God, by his grace, will enable
us to believe in the Lord Jesus tonight, what a wonderful name
we have, the name of Believer. But there's a third name. that
I find even more comforting than these two names. And let me spend
just a few minutes on this. There's a third name I find much
more comforting. The name of Christian is wonderful,
a follower of Christ, a servant of Christ, but I know that so
often I fail, and I don't follow the Lord as I should follow him,
and I don't serve him as I should. I know that. And the name believer,
That's a wonderful name, to be called a believer. But I have
to confess, being honest, that I'm like that father with a sick
child that said, Lord, I believe. He said, all things are possible
to him that believeth. And he cried out. He said, Lord,
I believe. Help my unbelief. You say, can
a believer be an unbeliever? I can speak for one. I believe. Am I like Abraham, staggering
not at the promise of God, but being strong in faith all the
time, knowing that what he has promised, he's able to perform?
And when we doubt, we don't doubt whether he is able, but we doubt
ourselves only. We doubt who we are. And I don't
know about you what I feel or don't feel. That's such a burden that we
should not bear. But we all want to have good
spiritual feelings, don't we? If you said you don't, I think
you'd be lying to me. We all want to. There's many
times that I don't. I don't. But you know what? That doesn't in any way whatsoever
change the truth that whosoever believeth in me hath everlasting
life. The Lord Jesus Christ, I come
to him. I believe in him. I trust him. I don't have the least bit of
confidence in anything or anyone else than in him for my salvation. I know that if I have to contribute
in any way, I'm going to be lost. I am lost if it's up to me. But
praise God, it's not. The Lord Jesus was lifted on
the tree. He paid the price, and those
that believe in him have everlasting life. So what is this name that
is so precious? There's a prophecy in Jeremiah
that says, in those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem
shall dwell safely. That's a prophecy about the church.
In the day of the Messiah, his church shall dwell safely, and
this is the name wherewith she shall be called. This is the
name that I want. This is that greatest name, the
Lord, our righteousness. She shall be called the Lord,
our righteousness. Don't you want that name? That's
the name. That's the name that we need,
the Lord, my righteousness. To have the perfect life of the
Lord Jesus Christ imputed, charged to me as my own. That my name
may be the Lord, my righteousness. That perfect life of obedience
that the Lord Jesus Christ yielded as a servant of Jehovah. always
in every way, at all times, always delighting His Father, always
being obedient, always being believing. That establishing,
that righteousness, that is the name that gives me comfort. The Lord, my righteousness. That's
the most precious name. That's the best name. It's not
only a good name, it's the best name we can have. better than
any precious ointment. It is by the obedience of one,
the scripture says, that many shall be made righteous. By the
obedience of one. Who's that one? The Lord Jesus. By his obedience, many will be
made righteous. The Lord Jesus, the eternal Son
of God, was manifest in the flesh and came as the servant of Jehovah. And as creatures, we are required,
as Solomon says later on in this book at the conclusion of the
message, to fear God and to keep his commandments, for this is
the whole duty of man. But we've all failed in that
duty, haven't we? Have we always reverenced God?
Have we always kept his commandments? We know that we haven't. But
the elect of God, for whom the Son of God became surety, we
failed in our duty. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. God requires perfect obedience,
and we're not able to render it. But he doesn't stop requiring
it. God did not lose his right to
require that we be perfect and holy when we lost our ability
to live a holy life. He still requires that and we've
come short of his glory. So how can we be accepted as
righteous and as obedient when we are unrighteous and disobedient? That's the question that the
gospel answers. That's the message of the gospel. God the Father speaks in prophecy
and he says, behold my servant, whom I uphold. Mine elect and
whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. The Eternal
Son speaks in prophecy and answer and says, lo, I come. In the
volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God. Yea, thy law is within my heart.
God the Father surveys the life of the representative, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and he says, this is my beloved son in whom I'm
well pleased. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. You see, you and I were never
under the ceremonial law that the Israelites were under. We
were never under that law. But all of God's creatures are
under the moral law of God, that law that requires us to love
him with all our heart, soul, being, and mind, and to love
each other as ourselves. We're all under that law, and
we cannot keep that law. Hence, the servant of Jehovah,
the Lord Jesus, came into this world. Why did he come? As the
eternal son of God, why did he need to come into this world?
He didn't need to come for himself, did he? He had to come because
he came as our surety to do for us what we can't do, which is
to obey God perfectly, to magnify the law and make it honorable. So why was he manifesting in
the flesh? Why did he become Emmanuel, God
with us? Why did he become bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh, yet without sin? Why did he do
that? He did that so that we might
be received of God. Let's hear what he said as to
why he came. This is what he said. He said,
even as the Son of Man came. Why did you come, Lord? I came
not to be ministered unto, he didn't come to be served, but
to minister, that is to serve and to give my life a ransom
for many. To minister, that is to establish
a perfect righteousness with his life and to go to the cross
and pay the debt of the sin of all God's people. That's why
he came. And let's look at one other passage
with me. Taking a little bit longer on
Wednesday night than I'd like to, but look at one passage and
I'll be done. Matthew chapter 12. I think this
will be a blessing to you. Matthew chapter 12. Matthew 12 and verse number 14. Then the Pharisees went out and
held the council against him, how they might destroy him. But
when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from that, and great
multitudes followed him, and he healed them all, and charged
them that they should not make him known, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Behold my servant,
whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him,
and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive
nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall he not
quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name
shall the Gentiles trust. In his name, a good name is better
than precious ointment, and the best name The best name that
any believer can have is the Lord, our righteousness. Do you
have this precious name tonight? Can you rejoice in that with
me tonight? By faith in the Lord Jesus, that
he came to be your righteousness. I pray that that will be true.
Brother Bill, if you would lead us in a song and if you would
ask someone to dismiss us in prayer.