Names are important. Most parents put a great deal of thought into naming a child.
After all, one day that child is going to grow up and tell them what they think about being stuck with the name they must live with the rest of their life.
Naming a child is such an important thing, that many parents go out and purchase a books that has thousands of names, telling how these names originated.
Some parents choose to name their child after entertainers.
Such as Rocky or Tammy
Illus: We are told of a pregnant woman from Virginia who was involved in a car accident, and while in the hospital, she fell into a coma. When she awoke days later, the woman noticed that she was no longer carrying a child, and asked, “Doc, what happened to my baby?”
• The doctor replied, “Ma'am, you've had twins! You're the proud mother of a handsome baby boy and a beautiful baby girl.
• Also, you should know that while you were in a coma, your brother named the children for you.”
• “Oh, no!” shrieked the woman. “Not my brother! He's not really all together!”
• “What did he name them?”
• The doctor replied, “Well, ma'am, your brother named:
• Your daughter Denise.”
• “Your son “The Denephew”
Names are fascinating, but the Names of Almighty God are the most fascinating of all.
We began to appreciate the name of El-Elyon when we look at the life of Abraham.
Abraham stands out among the Jews as the Father of the Jewish race. Before he became the Father of the Jewish race, he lived in what was considered to be the heathen land of Ur.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT ABOUT UR?
It was a heathen land, but the city of Ur had the most PROSPEROUS, ADVANCED CULTURE IN THE WORLD during that time.
It was the Silicon Valley of that age.
God asked Abraham to leave the land of Ur to find a city whose builder and maker was God.
Illus: Israel is the only nation in the world that the Word of God talks about a nation whose BUILDER AND MAKER is God.
But God asked Abraham to leave this prosperous place called the land of UR.
Illus: This would be like asking an American who is blessed to live in this great nation of ours, to pack up and move to some impoverished country like India or Haiti.
God was asking a lot of Abraham to leave such a place. He was CONTENT to live there until the day he died.
Illus: This reminds us of the wise old gentleman who retired and purchased a modest home near a junior high school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and contentment.
Then a new school year began. The very next afternoon, three young boys, full of youthful, after-school enthusiasm, came down his street, beating merrily on every trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action.
The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young noise-makers as they banged their way down the street.
• Stopping them, he said, "You kids are a lot of fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. In fact, I used to do the same thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I'll give you each a dollar if you'll promise to come around every day and do your thing."
• The kids were elated and continued to do a bang-up job on the trash cans.
• After a few days, the old-timer greeted the kids again, but this time he had a sad smile on his face.
• "This recession's really putting a big dent in my income," he told them. "From now on, I'll only be able to pay you 50 cents to beat on the cans."
• The noisemakers were obviously displeased, but they accepted his offer and continued their afternoon ruckus.
• A few days later, the sly retiree approached them again as they drummed their way down the street.
• "Look," he said, "I haven't received my Social Security check yet, so I'm not going to be able to give you more than 25 cents. Will that be okay?"
• "A lousy quarter?" the drum leader exclaimed. "If you think we're going to waste our time, beating these cans around for a quarter, you're nuts! No way, mister. We quit!"
And the old man lived in contentment the rest of his life.
Abraham could have lived in the land of Ur the rest of his life content in this thriving country, but God wanted him to leave.
Look at Genesis 12:1-4, we read, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.”
Notice the Bible tells us that Lot went with him. Now God did not say a thing about taking Lot with him.
Later on Lot was the cause of a lot of problems in the life of Abraham.
A lot of the problems we incur in life are due to us taking upon ourselves things that God never asked us to do.
According to the previous chapter, (Genesis 11:32) his father died.
IS THAT SIGNIFICANT? YES!
Notice, it was only after his father had died that Abraham was ready to leave his country.
• I do not wish to sound disrespectful to the fathers in the congregation, but it was not until the “Old Man” had died that he was willing to OBEY.
• In the spiritual realm it is this way also, it is only when the “Old Man” dies that we are willing to obey the Lord.
Also, we need to consider Abraham was not willing to obey until the death of his father.
Sometime God has to bring tragedy in our life before we are willing to obey.
God promised him six blessings if he would leave his relatives and allow God to lead him to this country God wanted him to dwell in.
In what is known as the ABRHAMIC COVENANT God promised:
(1) I will make a great nation of people out of you
(2) I will bless you personally
(3) I will give you a name that will be famous and will be remembered
(4) I will bless those who are gracious and kind to you
(5) I will curse those who dare to be your enemies
(6) What I will do through you will be so important that all humanity will be blessed because of you.
These were incredible promises considering that Abram and his wife Sarai struggled with infertility and had no children together for many decades (even into their senior years). Yet eventually, despite Sarah’s old age (90), God allowed her to conceive, and their son Isaac was born (Genesis 21:1-7).
Isaac then later fathered Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel, father of the 12 tribes of the nation of Israel.
BUT AGAIN, these are SIX OUTSTANDING BLESSINGS God promised Abraham!
When you examine these six promises you become more appreciative of this ABRAHAMIC GOD made with Abraham.
We do not have time to go into detail examine each one of them. But I would like to share at least TWO with you.
For example,
(1) And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Did you know that Christ is a descendant of Abraham?
God said Abraham I am going to send a Savior to save mankind from their sins, and I am going to do it through you.
Because of this ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH HAS BEEN BLESSED!
(2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great;
God has done that, three religions today hold Abraham up in high esteem…
1) Jews
2) Christianity
3) Muslims
God made some wonderful promises to Abraham, he could have allowed these promises to make him arrogant.
But God knew he could handle these promises with gratitude.
God promised to richly bless Abraham if he would obey Him in a way He had never promised to bless any man before.
For example, God promised that He would become a great nation.
They have become a great nation!!!
Israel has no oil, chronic water shortages and many enemies. And yet, it's one of the most dominant nations for its size
Illus: That little land that is only 8,019 square miles is so small but it is so important it is hard to turn our television set on each evening and not hear about this great nation that is surrounded by enemies that wish to wipe them off the face of earth!
But they know to do so Israel strong military could wipe them off the face of the earth.
God promised Abraham if he would leave the land of Ur that he would make of him a great nation.
God has kept his promise!!!
But God did not stop there….
God said “I will”:
• “Bless them that bless you!”
• “Curse them that curse you!”
Illus: Many believe the reason that America is the country it is today, is because of the promise God made HE WOULD BLESS ANYONE THAT BLESSED HIS PEOPLE, AND CURSE ANYONE THAT CURSED THEM. (I am one of those who believe that with all my heart.)
Let me give you an example.
Illus: Russia and America was once the two strongest super powers on earth.
Russia has always been against Israel, and America has always recognized Israel to be our strongest ally.
Russia is no longer a super power, while America today is the only super power on the face of the earth.
God promised Abraham that He would bless those that blessed this nation, and God is still keeping that promise today!
But listen, God is not like people. When He makes a promise HE IS CAPABLE OF KEEPING HIS PROMISE.
Illus: I am like any other pastor I have had people promise me they would attend church and they never kept their promise.
El-Elyon not only promised to bless and He has always kept His promise.
El-Elyon made these wonderful promises to Abraham.
Let me show you several things about El-Elyon
I. HE IS A STRONG GOD
Once Abraham started to leave the land of Ur and seek the promises of God, he had many powerful enemies that tried to stop him.
Listen, we can never obey God without the enemies of God trying to stop us.
But El-Elyon is STRONG enough to deliver us from all our enemies.
• The name El-Elyon means God is the . . SUPREME GOD.
• The name or title "El-Elyon" emphasizes God's SUPREMACY above all others.
The name El-Elyon meant a lot to Abraham, because he grew up in a heathen LAND OF MANY GODS.
In fact, his father was not only an idol worshipper, but he was an idol maker.
Illus: Story is told that Abraham when he was a young man his dad who was an idol maker asked him to run his shop filled with all kinds of idols on display while he went for some supplies.
While his father was gone he began to look at these idols and began to realize how ridiculous it was for people to worship them.
He got him a large stick and began to destroying them.
When his father got back he saw these idols all scattered on the floor and said, WHAT HAPPHENED?
Abraham said that big statue you have in the corner took a stick and destroyed them.
His father said, That is impossible, that idol is only a piece of clay!
Abraham said, If these idols are only pieces of clay than why are we making them???
During the life of Abraham in the land of Ur they had all kinds of idols that people worshipped!
Was this significant to Abraham?
Yes, God who told Abraham to leave this land, God’s name here is EL-ELYON!!!
DO YOU KNOW WHAT EL-ELYON mean?
It means God is “El-Elyon”, supreme above all other gods.
The name El-Elyon relates to the Supremacy of God.
• “El” is God.
•“Elyon” is “Strong”
• Put them together and we have a “Strong God.”
Look at verse 20, we read, “And blessed be the most HIGH GOD,(El-Elyon) Which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand….”
Notice, as he obeyed God, he referred to his enemies as God’s enemies, and said that God had delivered his enemies into his hands.
As we serve God and do His will, we need to remember that those who oppose us in God’s will are opposing God, and He will deliver them into His hands.
• Isn’t it wonderful to serve a “Strong God”. He can deliver us from all our enemies.
• When you think about your most powerful enemies, it is refreshing to understand that EL-ELYON is greater in strength than all of them put together.
Abraham was so impressed with the STRENGTH OF El-Elyon, that he gave a tenth unto Him.
Look at Genesis 14:20-23, we read, “And he gave him tithes of all. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shoulders say, I have made Abram rich:”
Abraham was so impressed with El-Elyon that the Bible said he gave a tenth of his wealth unto the Lord. And he was a very wealthy man!!!
I have read all kinds of books to motivate people to tithe, but as a pastor for many years I have concluded…
• A man will not tithe unless He is impressed with the SUPREMACY OF GOD.
• If he does not recognize the SUPREMACY OF GOD, he will find a thousand things in his life to spend that money on.
He is not only mighty, HE IS ALMIGHTY. He is El-Elyon! EL-ELYON IS STRONG.
But also-
II. EL-ELYON IS SOVEREIGN
El-Elyon also means God is the Sovereign God.
Look at Genesis 14:21-23, we read, “And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.”
Abram was saying that God is the Sovereign God.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE SOVERIGNITY OF GOD?
It means:
• If I am made rich, God made me rich
• If I am made poor, God made me poor
Whatever happens in our life, it is going to be by the Sovereignty of God made it happened.
Now sometimes when people hear you talking about the sovereignty of God, they want to put you in the camp with the Hyper-Calvinists. I'm not in that camp for sure, but I do believe in the Sovereignty of God.
TO ME, THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD SIMPLY MEANS THAT GOD IS THE BOSS, HE IS LORD!
Illus: A man goes into a pet shop to buy a parrot. The shop owner points to three identical looking parrots on a perch and says:
• "The parrot to the left costs 500 dollars". "Why does the parrot cost so much?" the customer asks. The owner says, "Well, it knows how to use a computer."
• The customer asks about the next parrot and is told, "That one costs 1,000 dollars because it can do everything the other parrot can do plus it knows how to use all the other equipment you find in an office."
• Naturally, the increasingly startled man asks about the third parrot and is told "That one costs 2,000 dollars."
• Needless to say the man asked, "What can IT do?" To which the owner replies "To be honest I have never seen it do a thing, but the other two call him boss!"
God is El-Elyon, which means He is Sovereign.
He doesn't have to ask you or me about anything. He is sufficient within Himself to do everything that He wants to do.
Illus: When Bill Clinton was president, his wife played a major role in his administration.
When George W. Bush became his successor, a journalist asked Laura Bush if she would be active in his administration?
She smiled and said, “He is capable of doing the job without me!”
Listen, God (El-Elyon) is capable of doing the job of running this universe without asking for our advice. He is the one who is to be exalted above all others.
Abram said, "I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet" because he didn’t want the king of Sodom to come back and say, “I have made Abram rich.”
Abram knew the Sovereign God made him what he was.
Illus: This is an interesting story about Billy Graham. When he was young, 50 years ago, he was like any other traveling young evangelist. But he came into Los Angels and the crusade began to develop and expand as the hand of God was obviously on him at that time. The rich newspaper man William Randolph Hearst, went and heard him. And he came back and told his newspaper to promote Billy Graham, to give him the utmost of coverage. The news media sent it all over the United States and it did help Billy Graham.
• Years later, someone said, “Well, the newspapers made Billy Graham famous”.
• It was not William Randolph Hearst that made Billy Graham famous, it was the Sovereign GOD of heaven. It was El-
God wanted it done and got it accomplished through William Randolph Hearst. He is the Sovereign God.
El-Elyon is the SUPREME GOD OF THE UNIVERSE.
Conclusion:
God’s Sovereignty is the SUPREME COURT for mankind.
It is important for everyone here to recognize the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.
Let me share with you some scriptures to support that.
Psa. 33:10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Psa. 115:3 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
Eph. 1:11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Rev. 19:6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
I Cor. 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
God is the SUPREME AUTHORITY OF THE UNIVERSE.
But in saying that I need to say that God’s SOVEREIGNITY IS INCLUSIVE…
God’s Sovereignty is INCLUSIVE!!!
It includes:
(1) Macro things in our life (Big)
(2) Minute things in our life (Small)
Illus: Hairs of our head…not one hair can fall from our head that He does not know about it.
Illus: Not one bird can fall from the sky and Him not know about it.
If He did not know the MACRO THINGS of life and the MINUTE THINGS of life He could not be the OMNISCIENT GOD OF THE BIBLE.
But here is something very important about the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD…
GOD’S SOVEREIGNITY ALLOWS US MORTALS A FREEDOM TO CHOOSE?
His Sovereignty allows us to choose to go to hell.
• His Sovereigntist allows us to choose to go to heaven
• His Sovereignty allows us to CHOOSE but His Sovereignty does not allow us to choose the consequences.
I. HE IS A STRONG GOD
II. HE IS A SOVERIGN GOD
