Certainly the presence of the Lord is in this place. If you have your open please to Phil. chapter 2 verse 9 as we talk this morning about the "Name that is above every name". Shakespeare said there is nothing in a name. He said that a rose that is called by any other name is just as sweet. It is with great joy that I tell you that after all of the suffering that Shakespeare caused me in school, HE'S WRONG. And let me prove it to you.
If I gave you a check with my name written on it for a million dollars and you took it to your banker, he would laugh. But if I gave you a check with David Rockefeller's name on it, your banker would fall on his knees, in reverence, because that name means something in the halls of finance.
What is in a name? A big fierce lion pounced on a monkey in the jungle and he demanded, "tell me the name of the king of the jungle." And the frighten monkey said, "you are the king of the jungle, O'lion." So the lion let him go. The next animal that the lion met was a zebra and he pounced on the zebra and he demanded, "Tell me, zebra, who is the king of the jungle?" And the zebra who was terrified said, "You are the king of the jungle, O'mighty lion." So the lion let him go.
The lion then came to an elephant and he ask the same question, and the elephant grabbed the lion with his powerful trunk and twirled him around and around and around, like a dish towel and he threw him about 50 feet and he smacked his head into a tree. And the lion got up and said, "Alright, alright, just because you don't know the answer is no reason to get mad."
What's in a name? The Bible says that a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.
There was a rancher who lost his beloved dog and so he put an ad in the newspaper to recover the dog. And the ad read, "blind in one eye, one ear has been shot off, has a sever case of the mange. Has a broken tail. Was recently castrated and answers to the name of "Lucky". Woo, I think not. Great name, but it didn't fit his profile.
What does a name mean? What do you think of when you hear the name, Shakespeare? Poetry. What do you think of when you hear the name, Judas? Trader. What do you think of when you hear the name, Hitler? Monster, murderer. What do you think of when you hear the name Beethoven? Music.
But there is a name that's above every name. It is a precious name. It is a powerful name. It is a saving name. It is a conquering name. It is a eternal name. It is the name of Jesus, who is the Christ, the only begotten Son of the Father. When the smallest child whispers the name of Jesus, in his night time prayers, beside his tiny bed, every demon in hell trembles in absolute fear. When that name is whispered over the tortured lips of those who are sick and suffering, diseases begin to disappear and suffering and pain stops, because of the power and the majesty of Jesus name.
Mention that name which is above every name and immediately fear begins to vanish and faith is born. The black clouds of depression are forced to roll away. The shackles of misery and habit are broken and instantly into the life burst Jesus the Mighty Conqueror. Mention that name which is above every name and instantly God will begin to open prison doors and set the captives free. I'm telling you the Jesus can set you free from every thing that holds you prisoner, mentally, emotionally, or physically, for He is the Great Liberator.
When you call upon that name, blind eyes can see, deaf ears begin to hear and the dumb can speak, and the lame leap with glory, because Jesus is the great physician. When they began to speak that name in the upper room, it cause the wind and fire of a pentecost to take place in the book of Acts.
My prayer is "God let the wind and fire of that pentecost come to First Baptist and let us have the presence and the power of the living God in this place.
When you mention the name of Jesus, there is forgiveness for the unforgivable. There is love for the unlovable. There is mercy for the merciless. And there is hope for the hopeless. The prophet Isaiah said, "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. According to this text, He is my Friend and my Savior. He is my deliverer and He is my Counselor. He my Comforter, He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is the soon coming King.
The name of Rockefeller will open the doors of finance. The name Einstein will open the doors of science. The name of Beethoven will open the doors of music. But the name of Jesus will open the gates of heaven and close the gates of hell.
Let's read Phil. 2:9-11 (read scripture)
Can we pray.
Father, thank you today for your great grace and the presence of Jesus in this place and all of God's children said, Praise the Lord.
His name is above every name. Every title that man gives himself (king, prince, duke, lord), are giving to gratify their ego and their vanity. Alexander the Great is a high sounding title but he was a man who died of a venereal disease at the age of 33. He was not great, he could not even conquer his own passion. Herod the Great is a lofty title, but he was a moral monster who murdered 9 of 10 wives for absolutely no reason. He was the man, who by legal decree, demanded that his only son be executed the day he died, so that Israel would mourn, because he knew that Israel hated him and love his son. He was the man that decreed that all of the innocent should be slaughtered when Jesus was born in Bethlehem's manger.
Herod the Great is a lofty title, but he was a moral monster and you would never want to know him. There is one man who walked across the stage of human history, whose greatness is greater than any human tongue can tell. He is called the great I am. He is called the Great Physician. He is called the Great Shepherd who guides and provides for those that love Him. Never in human history has there be a child who is born a living God, from womb of a virgin. But Jesus was. Never was there a man who was wounded by Satan and yet in His finest hour, crushed him at Calvary's Hill. But Jesus did.
Never was there one who was the Savior of men, yet was crucified by men, but Jesus was. Never was there a person buried in a grave 3 days and yet on the third day arose, just as He said He would, every day of His public ministry. I have be to the tomb of Grant and he is still there. I have been the grave of Lincoln and he is still there. I have been to the grave of Jefferson and he is still there. But when you go to the tomb of Jesus, it is empty, for He is risen, for He alone is the living God, whose name is above every name, who is worthy of our praise. Amen
His name is above every name. He is our joy. He is our hope. He is our Salvation.
DO YOU KNOW HIM? HAVE YOU ACCEPTED HIM? IS HE THE LORD OF YOUR LIFE?
There is a song that says, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST IN AMERICA NEEDS TO FULL IN LOVE WITH JESUS AGAIN.
We've fallen in love with doctrines, but it's time to go back to the basics and fall in love with Jesus who is the lover of our souls, Who has redeemed us and made us kings and priest unto God. Only Jesus can save and only Jesus can give us hope.
His name is above every name. In this scripture He is called the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. He is the Bright and Morning Star, He is the Bread of Life, He is the Only Begotten of the Father. There are not many Sons of God, there is but One Son, and thru Him is salvation alone. He is the Corner Stone, precious and Elect in Zion. He is the Daystar. He is my deliverer. He is Immanuel, God with us. He is the light of the world. He is the Lamb of God. He is the God of all hope. His Name is above every Name, give Him glory. Amen.
His name is a Saving Name. The angel said to Mary, "Thou shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." What does it mean to be saved? It does not mean that you've been baptized. There are plenty of people in hell who walked thru somebody's baptismal tank. Everybody singing about heaven is not going there. I want you to understand that. What does it mean to be saved? It does not mean you've joined the church. Joining the church no more makes you a child of God than a bath, a bar of soap and a red ribbon will make a pig a poodle. You have to be transformed into the glorious nature of Christ by having received Him.
It does not mean you are a doer of good works. What does it mean to be saved? It means that you have publicly confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And Jesus says, "If you deny me before men, I will deny YOU before my Father and His angels in heaven." There are lots of people who can come inside a beautiful church like this and confess Christ. But tomorrow when they are nose to nose with some bourbon drinking, long haired, cigar smoking hell raiser and he ask if they are a Christian, they look down at the ground and shuffle around, "Wellllll, I don't know. I'm a baptist.
If someone ask if you know the Lord, and there is just a hint that they are trying to challenge you, you get about that far from their nose (thumb to forefinger) and you say, "YES!!!! WHAT ABOUT IT?" I mean, move the wig back on their head. We are children of God.
The angel said, "for it is He that shall save". Abraham cannot save. Buddha cannot save. Mohammed cannot save. Humanism cannot save. The New Age cannot save. Staring into a crystal cannot save. Education cannot save. Only Jesus can save your soul. Jesus said, "I am the Door and no man cometh to the Father, but by Me." Say that with me, "No man cometh to the Father, but by Me."
"He shall save His people" That is a statement of limitation. It is simply saying that not everybody is going to be saved. Is salvation for everyone? No it's not. Just His people. Who are His people? Only those that believe and call upon His name. And if you have not believed and called upon His name, you may be moral, you may be so good that you have never received a traffic ticket. But if you have not called upon the name of Jesus, according to the Bible, you are lost, living in sin, without God and without hope.
The angel said, "He shall save His people". It is a statement of prophecy and passion. Prophecy, because God said, "salvation will come". Salvation will come to the gutter most to the utter most. Salvation will come to those who are saturated with guilt of the past. Saved from the fear of the future. Saved from an every lasting hell without God. I want you to understand that's what saved means.
People often say to me, "Pastor, God couldn't save me, I sinned too greatly." That is a lie. There is not a person in this room, who has lived a life so steeped in sin that the grace of God cannot redeem you. The angel said, "He shall save." Repeat that with me, "He shall save". Say it again, "He shall save."
You say, "You don't know what I've done." Just one prayer in Jesus name and it's all gone from your records.
In closing. Life in America is filled will stress and strain. How many of you know that is true? This is the Malox generation. Someone sent me the other day a stress diet. I want to share it with you. You get up in the morning and have half and grapefruit and one piece of dry wheat toast. For lunch you 4 oz. of lean broiled chicken breast and 1/2 cup of black coffee. And then for supper you have 2 loaves of garlic bread, one large mushroom pizza, 3 snickers and an entire frozen cheese cake, eaten directly from the freezer. Hallelujah for supper.
Life is full of stress. And sooner or later you are going to come to a crisis you can't handle by yourself. In your marriage. In your health. In your business. With your children. Somewhere, some time, something is going to happen that money and power and fame and influence can't affect. What do you say when bad things happen to good people. What do you say to parents, standing beside the shallow grave of an infant taken suddenly and tragically.
What do you say to a man or woman who are suddenly devastated by divorce, when they go back to an empty house, an empty bedroom. Empty closets. And halls where the pictures of their children use to be. An abandoned doll is under the bed, an abandoned football is in the back yard. And for some of you, who have good, healthy, happy marriages. You say, things like that do not happen. OH....YES....THEY....DO. What do you say? In the chaos of that dark and dismal hour comes Christ, the name that is above every name. Into the darkness comes His flaming light. Into a moment of sorrow comes peace that surpasses all understanding. The sob becomes a song. It is the song of Solomon recorded in Proverbs 18, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it and they are safe in the storms of life.
There are 4 pictures in the Bible that reflect the strong tower of the name of the Lord. I only have time for one. It is the picture of Abraham climbing Mount Mariah with his son Isaac. Only Abraham knows that Isaac is to be sacrificed on top of the mountain. And Isaac ask his father a heart stopping question, "Father, where is the lamb for sacrifice? You have the dagger, you have the wood, where's the lamb? And Abraham reaches down into the deep reservoirs of his soul, and says, "Jehovah-jireh" which literally translates, "God can see". It implies God will provide. And there is a relationship between vision and provision. But I want to stay with the original translation, "God can see". Repeat that with me, "God can see".
When Isaac ask Abraham, "where's the lamb?", Abraham could have said, "I can't see how God is going to get me out of this mess." Have you ever said that? By faith, Abraham ran into the strong tower and he said, "Jehovah- jarah", GOD CAN SEE. I want you to hear me, God can see what you cannot see. On the other side of the mountain, unseen by Abraham, was a ram. The answer. And an angel of the Lord had that ram by the horns and he was talking to the ram. He said, "Ram, do you hear that man on the other side of the mountain. He is saying, "God can see." We have an appointment at the top of the hill. If Abraham keeps going, we are. I'm sure the ram resisted, because he was less than enthused.
But when Isaac would ask Abraham, "Father, where is the lamb?" Abraham would say, "God can see". Abraham went to the top of the mountain and built the sacrificial altar, saying, God can see. And he tied his son, hand and foot. Saying, God can see. And he lifted his razor sharp dagger into the sun, ready to thrust it into the chest of his only boy and he looked into the face of God and said, "God can see". Then the Bible says, "And then", only after he had done everything God had told him. "And then Abraham looked and saw the Ram caught in the thicket by the horns." I want you to hear this, Rams do not get caught in thickets unless angels tie them there.
When you obey God, God will drag the answer by the horns and He will tie it into your life and you can not escape it when God provides it.
Many of you here today are facing a great crisis. I challenge you today to run into the strong tower of the name of the Lord and say, "Jehovah-jireh", God can see. Some of you are facing a financial crisis. You see no answer and you are tempted to saying, "I don't know how God is going to get me out of this." DON'T SUBMIT TO FEAR. Hold on to God's unchanging hand and say in faith, "JEHOVAH-JIREH" God can see. Run into the high tower of the name that's above every name and keep confessing, "God can see", "God can see", say it with me, "God can see", "God can see". Some of you are facing crisis in your health. You can't see an answer. Your doctor can't see an answer. But there is a Great Physician looking over the mountains of heaven and He CAN SEE AN ANSWER, and He HAS the answer. Confess in your night time prayers, "God can see"
I tell you today, hurting heart, "God can see". He sees how you are. He sees the tears that go down your cheeks in the midnight hour. He sees the lump in your throat and the hurt in your soul. HE SEES, and He's tying the answer by the hands of angels, so that you can know Him, as the name that's above every name, AS THE STRONG TOWER that can give you the answer. CHRIST...IS...THE...ANSWER....FOR YOUR LIFE.
Let's pray.
