Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.newcityfellowship.com/sermons/102309/whats-in-a-name/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Ezekiel chapter 36, verses 16 to 32.! Again the word of the Lord came to me.

[0:32] Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Verse 18. I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their eyes.

[0:49] I dispersed them among the nations and they were scattered through the countries. I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned my holy name.

[1:04] For it was said of them, these are the Lord's people, and yet they had to leave his land. I had concerned for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had come.

[1:21] Therefore, say to the house of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says. It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone.

[1:46] I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declare the sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy to you before their eyes.

[2:10] For I will take you out of the nations. I will gather you from the countries and bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you.

[2:20] I will make you clean, and I will cleanse you from all of your impurities and from all of your idols. I will give you a new heart and a new spirit.

[2:33] I will remove from you the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

[2:48] You will live in the land of your forefathers. You will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from your uncleanness. You will call on the grain to make it political and will not bring famine upon you.

[3:05] I will increase the fruit of the trees, the crops of your fields, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then I will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds.

[3:20] I will... No. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for the sins and detestable practices.

[3:30] I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake. Declares the Sovereign Lord.

[3:43] You may be seated. Verse 20, 21.

[3:55] Wherever they went among the nations, they profaned my holy name for it was said of them that they, these are the Lord's people, and they have to leave his land. I am concerned about my holy name, which was profaned among the nations for the earth.

[4:11] And then another one, 2 Chronicles 7, 14. You know this one. If my people who are called... I am in the name. ...will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from the wicked ways, then I will hear from them and forgive them, give their sins and heal their land.

[4:29] What's in the name? What's in the name? Karen reminded me this morning of that. That comes from Romeo and Juliet. I didn't know that. I thought that was just a popular thing.

[4:41] See, I never liked Shakespeare anymore. Now, when a loving parent gives a child a spanking, what does he or she often say?

[4:57] I know, I used to say it all the time. This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you. And my son has said, Dad, please don't hurt yourself. All right.

[5:14] So when God disciplines his people, he says the same thing. Have you ever thought about that? So God brings discipline on you. When he has to spank you, it hurts him more than it hurts you.

[5:26] Oh, my goodness. This passage begs two questions. How did God's people end up scattered among the nations? And the second question, why was God so determined to restore his people to the land he promised them?

[5:44] All right. Let's look at the first question. How did God's people end up scattered among the nations? Well, Ezekiel told Israel that they had to found their land in two ways.

[5:58] First, through bloodshed. You know that they burned their babies alive on pagan altars, except as the altars of Moab.

[6:11] You know that? They didn't do injustice. They said they didn't do violence. They said they didn't do greed. And a whole lot of other things. And the second way they found the land was through ideology.

[6:25] They were distracted from God through the worship of pornographic idols.

[6:38] You know the thing with me? I mean, this was, I mean, John Nelson brought that out the other day. In the temple itself, they brought these pornographic idols.

[6:48] idols. Boy, I tell you, they had some nerve. And it affected every aspect of the people's lives and it dragged them away into every conceivable type of conversion.

[7:07] See, the Canaanites, they took church growth seriously. You see? If you went to a Canaanite church, you'd be there at the northwest by the temple prostitute.

[7:18] And she would take her to her chambers and help me worship. And if you really wanted to get spiritual, you'd go to the young boy. Hello.

[7:32] Not done for that. God repeatedly warned them that if they continued along this destructive path that he would discipline them by scattering them among the nations. And being a good father, God was very concerned that his people be restored to right relationship with him.

[7:52] And whenever I had to get my kids' finances and stuff, it wasn't that often. They were busy. It would always be that sweet time of reconciliation that they had on the side of the people.

[8:03] I didn't mind what I loved. And they realized that was their way or their thing, you know? And they realized I was wrong.

[8:15] Meaning they were wrong. So, what's in a name, you ask? Well, much more than you could ever imagine.

[8:27] Amen. God laid his reputation on the line to discipline his people. In the ancient Near East, a nation was uniquely tied to its land.

[8:46] And it was uniquely defined by its land. Who were the Canaanites? They were the people who lived in Canaan. If the people were forced to leave its land, then it was a clear demonstration that the God or gods they worship were not strong enough to protect them.

[9:11] It didn't matter why they were forced to leave, whether it be invasion, banjo, economic distress, disease, or whatever. Or terrorism, you know, whatever.

[9:27] It didn't matter. But therefore, so when they were scattered among the nations, those nations concluded that God was weak and a winner and a chunk.

[9:43] I didn't know those things are great. I got some great air to prove that I've never been a service. saying. And thus, the name of God was profaned.

[9:57] It was ruined. It was slandered. Imagine the kind of pressure the Babylonians put on Daniel and his friends.

[10:09] Huh. That way ain't nothing. We're good but it's simple. Why don't you submit to the storm gods of Babylon because after all, we are the superpower.

[10:21] And we're going to make that ball on red again but anyway, that's all right. Okay. God's people were his.

[10:35] Why? Why were God's people his? Because what? They, well, that. But because they were called by his name.

[10:48] Right, right. He chose to call them by his name. That's what they were chosen. Right. Israel. What does that mean?

[11:01] One who prevails with God in the name. That's a good name. Judah. What does it mean? Praise the Lord. These people were named that.

[11:14] And discipline in Israel was so important that God even allowed his holy name to be profaned among the nations. In the Old Testament times, a person's name was equivalent to the person himself.

[11:31] So when Israel rebelled against God, they profaned his person in two ways. By their actions, the actions of Israel itself, and by the ridicule of the nations, they were scared of them.

[11:53] What's his name? Much more than you could ever imagine. The second question that this passage begs is, why was God so determined to restore his people to the land he promised them?

[12:12] You get me? I did why? Because they were called by his name. You know, I like this stuff. This is a lot. We've got a lot of good take care.

[12:24] Like I said, this is like the old free wire, you know? I've got some ideas. Why don't we stay here? We had a clean sanctuary because God was a servant of the people stay, right?

[12:39] No, no, no. So they were caught by God's name, but God would not let his name be profited forever.

[12:52] Amen. Amen. God would restore his people, not for their sake, but for the sake of his holy name.

[13:04] and in restoring his people, God would demonstrate to the nations that he is the only true and living God, and that he is the God who deals with his people according to pure grace.

[13:20] All right, so that's a nice story and all that, but what does that have to do with us? All right. All right. Hang on, this thing is acting up now.

[13:35] Come on. How do you do this? Anyway, give me, give me, give me, I'm going to switch over to the phone here. Hang on, let me see.

[13:46] This is my wife put in some, her cold beard, and she's jumping up and asking me for a cold, which I don't have. All right, here we go. Ah, prison.

[13:58] Oh, no. All right. later. Okay, all right. All right, I'm making the switch, making the switch, making the switch.

[14:13] All right. All right. Now, let's have a backup, you know? Later.

[14:25] All right, hang on. All right, come on. Okay. All right, I think I got it. So, what does this have to do with us?

[14:37] Well, idolatry is not limited to Israel and Ezekiel today. It still plagues us today. Amen, amen.

[14:48] Now, many of you say, I don't know about what is. I don't know about what is. Okay, so I'll take it. first, idolatry affects what we are devoted to.

[15:00] Right, right. True emotion requires strong love and loyalty. Right? Right, right. What's the first of the great commandments?

[15:12] Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, your strength, your soul, your everything, right? Right? If you really love God, then you will love him. But I think I can carefully, let me see, I can safely say, I can safely assume that everyone here has some kind of devotion to God.

[15:36] Can I make that assumption? Yeah. Because if you didn't, I don't think you could be here. Right, right. Is there an exception somewhere? You want to pray that I see Jesus now? Okay.

[15:47] Now, there's no sin in devotion to friends and family and all that. There's nothing wrong with that.

[16:00] However, not having God as your highest object of devotion is a form of idolatry. Amen. Amen. Now, we may not be idol worshippers in these modern times, but we are often idol devotees.

[16:20] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Ouch, that hurt my toe. I don't know about you, but I see theology in everything.

[16:32] For example, the blues gives us a lot of good theological lessons. I don't know if we've ever thought about that. It does. When the blues is sung from a man's point of view, it's about how his woman mistreats him.

[16:53] Yeah, yeah. And guess what? This is how God's people treat God. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[17:04] Remember the story of Isaiah? Okay. All right. She claims to be devoted to her man, man. But her real devotion is to other men.

[17:19] One of my favorite blues songs is one by Ray Charles called I've Got News For You. I don't know, make a cool this movie. I don't know, but it is. It's so practical truth.

[17:32] It goes something like this. You said before we met that your life was awfully tamed. Well, I took you to a night club and the whole family remained.

[17:53] Oh, hallelujah. You found that you'd be late because you took the wrong express and then you walked in smiling with your lipstick all messed.

[18:11] And then finally here third verse. You wore a diamond watch playing with was from Uncle Joe. When I looked at the inscription it said love from Daniel.

[18:27] I mean doesn't that sound like the prophets? After each verse Ray Charles would reply somehow your story don't ring true.

[18:38] I've got news for you. Well, look at the way we treat that. Look at the way we proclaim this name. When the blues assume from the woman's point of you though, it is about for a piece of man how he mistreats her.

[19:00] One man don't love and treat me all so mean. You know, you know, guess what? This is how idols mistreat and abuse us when we are devoted to them.

[19:17] Oh, right, right. You might think I'm a little psychologious here talking about singing the blues, but you know, God sings the blues sometimes.

[19:31] He's saying anything I say in chapter five verses one through seven. Quote, I will sing for the one I love. Hello, just the guy talking.

[19:42] Yeah, yeah. A song about a vineyard. My love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it deep and cleared it of stones.

[19:53] He planted in it. He cut out the wine press as well.

[20:04] You look for a crop of good grapes, but it yields an only bad fruit. And it goes on.

[20:15] It's really amazing how God ties that together. You look for righteousness and only from violence. You know, idols will do anything to steal your devotion to God.

[20:32] I know. That's right. I'm a better in idol devotion, so I know what I'm talking about. Thanks to you, Jesus.

[20:46] They seduce us with incredible promises and demand very little at first. In essence, they couldn't do us to say, how can you lose with the stuff I use?

[21:04] But they never keep their promises. Why? Because they are incapable of keeping those promises. Promises only don't keep.

[21:18] Each time we pursue an idol, it delivers less and demands more. Amen. eventually, the idol's demands exceed what it delivers.

[21:33] Right. And at this point, those of us have more common sense, or in Christian terms, common grace, right? To give up on the idol and cut our losses.

[21:46] ourselves. However, when we are addicted, we continue pursuing the idol.

[21:59] And finally, the idol demands everything and delivers nothing. Amen. At this point, we are the idol's slave. Yes.

[22:10] Yes. Yes. Yes. When that idol's finished with us, it doesn't say thanks.

[22:22] It discards us like yesterday's stinky garbage into a dumpster of dead. That's what I do. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Well, the second way it affects us today is not just in our devotion, but in our worship.

[22:40] Hmm. true worship requires ultimate reverence and adoration. The first is any commandments.

[22:56] What does it say? You shall not have any guns before me. Now, I would safely assume that no one here actually bows down and worships man-made objects.

[23:12] You don't do that. Of course, we're too sophisticated for that in these days. We don't do sleep and stuff like that. Right? Right? But here's the point.

[23:29] All idols, all idols are abusive to human beings. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is why God says in Ezekiel 34, 14, do not worship any of the God for the Lord whose name is jealous.

[23:46] Yeah. He's a jealous God. Now, you know, you might say, oh, how can God be so jealous? Oh, no, no, no. God's jealousy is not like our jealousy.

[23:59] Our jealousy is petty. It's self-sinnative. Right. It's obsessed with our own personal pleasure, even at the expense of others. That's our jealousy.

[24:12] That's not God's jealousy. God's jealousy is altruistic. In other words, it involves a self-less concern for others. God is willing to let his name be profane so he can discipline and restore his people.

[24:29] That's altruistic for him. God's concern for our well-being has been at his own expense. God doesn't need us.

[24:43] That's right. That's right. But God is jealous for us. What's it mean, y'all? More than you can ever imagine.

[24:55] We may not worship man-made objects, but we tend, all of us tend to worship man-made deeds. Oh, we may do us.

[25:08] How? Here's the thing that trips us all up. When we think of God as limited, or in limited terms, we reduce him to a man-made deed.

[25:22] Right, right, right, right, right. Such an idol is not worthy of our worship or emotion. I find a lot of people out there who don't believe in God, because what they see coming from us is the worship of a man-made deity we call God.

[25:42] I know it. I know it. Sometimes it's wise to ask people who don't believe why they don't believe. Ask them to describe this God that they reject.

[25:57] you might be surprised what you hear. I grew up in the church. That's all that came across to me was a man-made deed.

[26:11] Thank God that somebody got me for the word of God. When God relates to us, he does so on terms we can understand for our sake.

[26:26] But we foolishly think that God is limited by those terms. God wants you to speak English or Spanish.

[26:38] That's okay. But then when you think that God will only speak English or Spanish, that's the problem. Does that make sense? For example, there's a stupid debate going on today that's raging all over the place about God and gender.

[26:59] Some think that because God uses the pronoun he, means that he is male. And others, who react in toxic masculinity, are claiming that God is female.

[27:15] While others, such as some politicians in the state of Texas, claim that God is not binary. The God of this stupid debate is nothing but an idol, a man-made deity.

[27:39] Because God is not limited by human categories, such as gender. That's right. God reminded Jeremiah that he was unlimited by anything outside of himself.

[27:55] In chapter 32, verse 27, he said, I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? Now, let me ask you some questions here.

[28:10] Again, I got stung when I was preparing this. I certainly have done all these things. Do you believe that God is spiritual? No?

[28:24] However, if that is the extent of your understanding of God, that he's just spiritual, then the words of the man may be, do you call that? Huh.

[28:43] And why? Because God is not just spiritual. John 4, 24, says that God is spiritual.

[28:53] Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Do you believe that God is spiritual? God. The message still of our understanding of God, that we worship a man-made deity called God.

[29:14] Well, when we name this man-made deity after God, we surrender his name. Right. Right. Why? Because God is not just loving.

[29:26] God is love. Right. Do you believe that God is for justice?

[29:39] Oh, I don't know. I'm sitting on some toes now. man. I don't know. But that's the extent of your understanding of who God is.

[29:51] Then what you've done, you've reduced him to a man-made deity who's nothing but a social justice activist. You're right. You're right. You're right. God is not just for social justice.

[30:07] God is justice. Amen. Amen. Without God, there would be no justice. Amen. And there would be no central justice.

[30:21] We believe that God exists. Right. But that's the extent of our understanding of God.

[30:34] Then we worship a man-made deity called God. And when we name this man-made deity after God, we stand in this name. Why? Because God does not just exist.

[30:46] He is existence. Amen. Without God's existence, there would be no existence. Amen. Did you understand? Yes. This is what God was telling Moses at the tree.

[31:02] Moses, what's your label? What's your handle? He's got said, no, no, I don't play that. I am. All right.

[31:17] Have you ever felt that God let you down? Don't raise your hand. I don't see what it is. Well, guess what?

[31:34] It was a man-made deity. Come on, God. Amen. God does not fail. Amen. God is faithful.

[31:44] He is faithfulness himself. He is. And yet, we blame the true and loving God. And in some doom, we profane and slain God's name.

[31:59] Unfortunately, I have met people, I have known people who have abandoned their faith in God. I think we're unconverted. them. Guess who they really abandoned.

[32:17] Guess who they really blamed. And guess whose name they profane and slain. All of us here have gone off this.

[32:28] well, let's wrap this up. Why was God, why was God so determined to restore his people at the time of Ezekiel?

[32:46] Come on, you know why. Because they were called by God's name. What's it in name? More than you let them know.

[32:58] God would not let his name be profaned forever. And God would do this not just for their sake but for his name's sake.

[33:16] Why has God promised to save us today in spite of our extensive ideology both in our devotional life and our worship life.

[33:29] Why? Why? Why? Why? Because we are called by his name. Right, right. And God will not put his name equal things forever.

[33:41] Just think about that. God chose to put his name on you. God redeemed us not for our sakes but for the sake of this name.

[33:56] In the body of Christ we bear Jesus' name. What's his name? Much more than you would have ever imagined.

[34:09] 2nd Corinthians 124. No matter how many promises God has made they are yes in Christ and through him the amen is spoken by us to the Lord and God.

[34:26] Yeah. In Christ that means we are in his name. Why?

[34:37] You know why. we bear the name of Christ. Psalm 23 verse 1-3 The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me lie down in mean fashion he leads me inside beside the still waters he restores my soul he guides you fast the righteousness of righteousness righteousness of righteousness of righteousness of righteousness of of of of help us God our Savior for the glory of your name deliver us and forgive us our sins for your name sake Jeremiah 14 11 all of our sins testify against us do something Lord for the sake of your name yeah yeah we we have often rebelled and we have sinned against you and then finally 1 John 1 12 I am writing you dear children because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name yeah what's in the name what's in God's name what's in God's name it's

[35:55] God himself amen the salvation is every other benefit that God has provided for us what's in the name don't get back thank God every day every moment for the privilege of bearing his name amen amen let's pray Lord thank you so much for your word thank you for your promises thank you for your name we don't think like that sometimes we just take these things we ran to we we stand on you without simple imaginations God break us with that open our hearts open our minds make us open to the great things that you have tell us and to lead us and Lord let us live according to you over not for our sins but for the sake of your holy name we ask you to may may!

[37:23] !! may!