Perhaps it was so outlandish you would not even mention it to anyone. Let me give you a couple of examples.
(1) WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO HAVE AN EVIL GANG TRAVEL ACROSS THIS COUNTRY AND PULL UP ALL THE ROAD SIGNS IN ONE NIGHT?
This would not bother us in the slightest if we only had to travel on roads we were familiar with, but, once we would have to go beyond that area we would begin to have some serious problems. The only way a person could travel out of familiar territory would be to stop and ask directions.
(2) WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE IF NO NAMES WERE GIVEN TO PLACES, OR THINGS, OR PEOPLE?
Every time we would go to a different place we would have to ask, “What is the name of this place?” This would be very confusing and time consuming.
To keep down confusion we have given everything names. For example, restaurants have names and when we hear those names we associate them with places. As soon as we hear the name “Shoney’s” etc., immediately a picture comes to our minds.
Illus: In Columbia, S.C., there is a very popular restaurant that had no name assigned to it. Finally they named it, “No Name” restaurant.
Again, those who live in the area, when they hear the name “No Name” the picture of this restaurant comes to their minds.
EVERYTHING and EVERYONE has a name that we can identify it by. Let us look at...
I. OUR NAMES.
Now if we did not have personal names, we all would have the same name. To get our attention, people would have to call, “Hey you!” In other words all first names would be HEY and our last names would be YOU.
Sometimes people are given names they wish they had not been given. For example...
Illus: A preacher whose last name was HOGG, had quite a sick sense of humor. When his girls were born, he named one IMA, and the next one, URA. Can you imagine what it must have been like when those girls had to get up and tell their names in school?
• One would have to say, probably embarrassed, “Ima Hogg.”
• The other probably had to stay in for recess after saying, “Ura Hogg.”
Famous people’s names are often seen in neon lights. It always seems tragic when some of these will be willing to sell their names to liquor or cigarette industries, or something even worse.
Those who do this are telling us several things about themselves.
(1) They have no respect for their own names.
(2) They will do anything for money.
(3) They have no concern for others.
If they did, they would never sell their names to promote or endorse evil things that destroy lives and break up homes.
Those who sell their names are NOT WORTHY of any ADORATION OR ADMIRATION that is given to them.
Proverb 22:1 states clearly, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches...”
Illus: Years ago, in South Carolina, one of the major banks came into some very serious financial problems. The officials met and decided their situation demanded that they reorganize.
They selected a successful farmer in the area to be their new president.
When they approached him about their decision to make him president of the bank he was absolutely speechless. After they left him, he thought, “Why have they selected me to be the president?” He then came to this conclusion: “This bank is having some serious financial problems and evidently they think I have an abundance of money and I can bail them out.” So, he met with them again and told them, “Gentlemen, I appreciate the offer of this position, but I am not as wealthy as you may think.”
The board saw the confusion on his face and told him, “The reason we selected you to be president is because you have something that is worth more than money. YOU HAVE A GOOD NAME!”
The Bible says, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches...”
Illus: Everyone has played the game called, “Association.” In this game one calls out a word and someone else is to speak the first thing that comes to his mind.
When your name is called, what do people immediately think about?
Illus: After having denied it for over seven months, Bill Clinton finally confessed to having a sexual affair with a twenty-one-year-old intern. A poll was taken in which people were asked, “What do you think about when you hear the name, ‘Bill Clinton?’” The answer was staggering. The poll indicated that “liar,” popped into the minds of over fifty percent of the American people.
When people hear your name, WHAT IS THE FIRST THING THAT POPS INTO THEIR MINDS? You can rest assured of this. When your name comes up, people have a mental picture that pops up. It happens every time! For example...
Illus: A young man in college was studying Hebrew. The professor gave the class a list of words dealing with hate, stubbornness, rebellion, etc. The young man had to know them the next day. He tried to learn them, but could not remember them--until he began to associate each one with folks he knew. The next day, on the test, when he saw the Hebrew words for hate, stubbornness, rebellion, etc., he associated them with the folks he knew who had these things in their lives and had no trouble answering the questions. In fact, he scored high on the text.
HOW DID HE GET THE GOOD GRADE? The association helped him remember.
We should live our lives in such a way so that when our names are called people associate us with GOOD things. The first thing they should associate us with is with the word, CHRISTIAN! Every time our names are called they should be associated with:
• Decency.
• Honesty.
• Kindness.
• Truthfulness.
These are good things to have associated with our names.
Again, God’s Word says, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches...” We must be on guard and understand that the devil will do anything and everything he can to destroy our good names. DO NOT LET HIM DO IT!
We have looked at OUR NAMES, now let us look at...
II. HIS NAME.
Look at Phil. 2:9-11. We read, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Again, look at verse 9. We read, “, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name...”
The names of great men still are with us today. For example,
(1) THE BIBLE RECORDS some of the stories of great men such as: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Peter, Paul, etc.
(2) HISTORY BOOKS RECORD stories of great men such as: George Washington, Stonewall Jackson, Abe Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Caesar, Napolean, Shakespeare, and many more. These men went down in history for some great thing they accomplished while they were here on earth.
(3) RELIGIOUS HISTORY RECORDS some of the stories of great spiritual leaders, such as, Spurgeon, Moody, Edwards, Beecher, Truett, Finney, Wesley, Luther, and many more.
But, all the greatness of all of these great men put together would not come close to the greatness of our Lord Jesus!
Illus: A contemporary Bible scholar said that “The latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words in describing this person, Jesus. His description took more space than was given to Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed or Napoleon Bonaparte all put together.”
Illus: The Lord Jesus is many things to many people.
• To the artist He is the One Altogether Lovely.
• To the architect He is the Chief Cornerstone.
• To the astronomer He is the Sun of Righteousness.
• To the baker He is the Living Bread.
• To the banker He is the Hidden Treasure.
• To the biologist He is the Life.
• To the carpenter He is the Sure Foundation.
• To the doctor He is the Great Physician.
• To the educator He is the Great Teacher.
• To the farmer He is the Sower and Lord of the harvest.
• To the florist He is the Lily of the Valley and the Rose of Sharon.
• To the geologist He is the Rock of Ages.
• To the horticulturist He is the True Vine.
• To the judge He is the Righteous Judge.
• To the juror He is the True Witness.
• To the jeweler He is the Pearl of Great Price.
• To the editor He is the Good Tidings of Great Joy.
• To the philosopher He is the Wisdom of God.
• To the servant He is the Good Master.
• To the student He is the Incarnate Truth.
• To the toiler He is the Giver of Rest.
• To the sinner He is the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world.
• To the Christian, HE IS THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD, THE SAVIOR, THE REDEEMER AND LORD!
This is why the Bible says He has been given a name above every name on this earth.
What do you think about when you think of the name of Jesus.
A. When we think of the name of Jesus, we think of sacrifice.
John saw the Lord Jesus walking and said, John 1:29, “...Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Throughout the Old Testament, men and women brought sacrifices to the temple to be offered up for their sins. These were not scrawny animals that were about to die. These were the best they had. They were lambs without spot or blemish.
But, the ultimate sacrifice was made when:
• GOD BECAME FLESH. He, Who had so much, became a babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes.
• CHRIST WHO HAD ALL POWER. He Who had all power, swapped it for the strength of a baby that was totally dependent on his parents. When we think of the name of Christ, we can not help but think of SACRIFICE! He sacrificed so much in order that you and I could be saved.
When we think of the name of Christ, we can not help but think of the great sacrifice He made. Also...
B. When we think of the name of Jesus, we think of power.
Illus: We are told that during the days of Nero there was great fear in the hearts of all men. Nero had killed so many people that it struck fear in people when he walked among them because they did not know who might be the next to be killed.
We are told that wherever he went there was almost complete silence because as he came, in every direction men and women would whisper, “Quiet, Nero is coming!”
But listen, JESUS is the MOST POWERFUL NAME on this earth.
Acts 4:12 states clearly, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Ungodly men and women who were unable to obtain help anywhere else, turned to the Son of God. They called on the name of the Son of God and immediately they were delivered from their sins.
Illus: In Mark 5, Jesus came to the country of the Gadarenes. He was met by a man so filled with demons that he had to be chained like an animal.
In verse 5 we are told this about him -- “And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.”
Then we read in verse eight that the Lord cast the demons out of that man. Just look at the change the Lord made in that man! When people from the city came out to see how the Lord affected this mad man, the Bible says, in Verse 15, “And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind:...”
The name of Jesus is the most powerful name that has ever existed!
Conclusion:
The story is told of a dad and son who went for a walk one evening. The son saw a lighted star hanging in the window of a home and asked his dad why it was there. The dad explained it represented a son who had gone off to war and died serving this country. He then went on to say that the family had placed that lighted star in the window in memory of their son.
The little boy then looked up into the sky and said, “Dad, now I know why those stars are hanging in space!”
The father asked, “Son, what do you mean?” The son said, “Dad, those stars are a constant reminder to us that God’s Son came to the earth and gave His life on the cross for our sins.”
Isaiah 9:6 says it this way. We read, “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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
The Bible says, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:...” Just as the devil tries to destroy our good names, he tries even more to destroy the name of Christ.
To some people today he has made the name of Christ no more than a curse word, but one day every knee shall bow at the name of Christ, and confess that He is Lord of all.
Listen, lost person, you do not have to accept the salvation God has so graciously provided for you by the shedding of the blood of Christ.
Christ left the portals of heaven and died for your sins, but you can say, “So what? I didn’t ask Him to do that for me.”
I remind you, you do not have to accept His gracious gift, but there is something you will have to do. One day you will have to accept THE WRATH OF GOD! That is something you will have no choice about.
But, today you do have a choice. You can come and bow before this loving Savior, Who died for your sins. Or, you can wait until later and bow before Christ before you are cast in to lake of fire, there to spend eternity. Won’t you come now? Don’t wait until it is too late!
I. OUR NAMES.
II. HIS NAME.
Note: You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach some of these sermons on Youtube. Just type…YOUTUBE LYKESLAND
