THE NAME OF JESUS
1st Peter 4:11
Introduction: We started this series of messages last week. I had originally had planned to preach this as one message on the Sunday before Christmas. But it became more as I studied and thought for just one message.
In
the last message we saw why the name of the Lord Jesus prized. I give only three reasons. They were as follows in review. First of all we saw that His name is
prized because it is though His name that we have the answer of our supplication. If it was not for the name of the Lord
Jesus, we would no right to ask of God anything.
Secondly,
His name is prized because it is through His name we have the assurance of our
salvation. Acts
4:12
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
If
that is not assurance, I am not sure what is. Of course, we have many verses of
scripture that assure us of our salvation.
But our Saviour begins and ends with the name of Jesus.
Thirdly,
His name is prized because it is through his name we have the abundance of
supply.
Philippians
4:19
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Charles Spurgeon said this and I read his quote last time and still I want to repeat it again. “Father, help us to speak of Jesus in such a way that others might see at least a faint outline of His incomprehensible beauty. Then, by thy Holy Spirit, shine through the mist of our cloudy language that Christ may be revealed in all of His glory.”
John
Jowett breathed this prayer. “Almighty
Father, how we thank Thee that when our souls catch a glimpse of the riches of
His grace, the wonderful vision moves us to inevitable and immediate praise.”
HIS
NAME SHOULD BE PRAISED!
Many times we talk of
praising. Many times we call what
we are doing praising. Many men
know how to flatter; few men know how to praise. But if we want to really praise the
Lord, we will have to praise Him for who is. Today I want to give few thoughts about
praising the Lord. Every one of us
has the capability to praise the Lord. Praise is the rehearsal of our eternal song. (Charles Spurgeon)
I. WHY
SHOULD HIS NAME BE PRAISED?
I have a few
thoughts along this line. Last
time, I mentioned that I am going to give a few thoughts and pray that the Lord
will spark you to think about this message and come up with a few reasons of
your own. I once again hope this
sparks your own thinking.
A. It is through His name we have the
conversion of our souls.
Acts
4:12
“Neither is there
salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved.”
First of all what cannot
convert us? A church cannot convert
us. A creed does not convert
us. Changing our ways like changing
over a new leaf does not convert us.
It is only in the name of Jesus that we have our conversion.
Secondly, why do we need to
be converted? We are lost sinners. Ephesians 2:1-3
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
1. We are dead in our sins and trespasses.
2. We live a life of disobedience
against the Lord because we all lived in the devil’s family.
3. We were depraved. Our flesh always leads us down the wrong
path. The wrong path is the one
away from the Lord. Every man,
woman and child is capable of anything at any time if in the right
circumstances outside of the Lord Jesus.
4. We are doomed. We were not waiting to come under the
wrath of God. It is present with every
person who does not have Christ as his or her Saviour.
John
3:36
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Thirdly, we can be converted. The word “converted” means
to turn. In our lives, it means to
turn to the Lord.
Acts
15:3
“And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.”
Throughout the
New Testament, we see many conversions.
We see Paul’s conversion in Acts chapter nine. But the one that thrills my soul is the
conversion of the thief on the cross next to Jesus.
Luke
23:39-43
“And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
This man was
saved just like every one of us. He
called upon the name of the Lord Jesus to be saved. Romans
10:9, 13
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
B. It is through His name we have
comfort in our suffering.
Acts
4:10
"Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole."
What ever the needs are in
your life they can be meet in His NAME.
Remember what the songwriter penned down and we have sung many times.
Take the name of Jesus with you,
Child of sorrow and of woe;
It will joy
and comfort give you,
Take it then where'er you go.
How many times has preachers
of the gospel visited the hospital and watched the mother of a suffering child
find hope in the NAME of Jesus? Or
stood at the bedside of a dying saint and seen a peace come over them after
hearing the NAME of Jesus read.
Some of the truths of the
comfort of the Lord Jesus can be seen in these statements.
1. Jesus’ Comfort is Infinite. You can never find it to end.
2. Jesus’ comfort is Inexhaustible. You will never it to end.
3. Jesus’ comfort is Immutable. In other words, it will never change.
4. Jesus’ comfort is instantly available. His comfort is only a prayer away. It is only a heartache away. It is a sorrow away. Why? It is because His name is always comfort.
C. It is through His name that we have
a Commander in our soldiering.
2nd
Timothy 2:3-4
“Thou therefore endure
hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth
himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen
him to be a soldier.”
Our Commander leads us all
the way. Our Commander trains us
for the bigger battles with the smaller ones. Our Commander knows the outcome of all
that goes on in our life. There has
never been a Commander like our Lord Jesus. He is victorious over death, hell and
the grave.
II. WHEN
SHOULD HIS NAME BE PRAISED?
He should be
praised continually.
Psalm
35:28
“And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.”
Psalm
71:6
“By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.”
He should be during
our life. Psalm
104:33
“I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.”
He
should be more and more. Psalm
71:14
“But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.”
He
should be day and night Revelation
4:8
“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”
He
should be day by day. 2nd
Chronicles 30:21
“And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness: and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD.”
He
should be for ever and ever.
Psalm
145:1-2
“I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.”
We should be
praising the name of the Lord Jesus early in the morning. We should praise Him at noontime. He should be praised at meal times. We should praise Him at evening and nighttime. In other words, we ought to praise Him
all the time.
III. WHERE
SHOULD HE BE PRAISED?
Psalm
150
“Praise ye the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise
him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the
trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance:
praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise
him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.”
He should be praised
on earth. In this time of year that
people are celebrating Christmas, it seems that many are focused on everything
and everyone except Him.
He will be praised
throughout eternity. Time will not
permit us to review all the verse in chapter four and five of the book of Revelation. But that is the time to come and the
song of heaven is Jesus. Let give a
few verses.
Revelation
4:8-11
“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
IV. HOW
SHOULD HE BE PRAISED?
A. Jesus
should be praised with our lips.
Hebrews
13:15
“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
Many people talk of war,
wages, Washington and the weather but few talk of the Word of God. This is another name for the Lord Jesus.
People talk of crime,
corruption, climbing gas prices but rarely of Christ the king. That is why it is our place to praise the
Lord with our lips.
B. Jesus should be praised with our
Love.
Deuteronomy
6:5
“And thou shalt love the
LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
might.”
Joshua
23:11
“Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.”
Psalm
116:1
“I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.”
C. Jesus should be praised with our
very lives.
Matthew
5:16
“Let your light so shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is
in heaven.”
Conclusion: This list of the reason why He
should be praised and how we should praise Him is almost as endless as He
is. But you cannot really praise
Him if you have never been born again.
It takes the realization that you are a lost sinner and you need that
Saviour whose name is and will always be Jesus. Why did He come? The Lord made sure that we know this.
Matthew
1:20-21
“But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
Every
saved person that is right with God wants and will praise Him.