[0:13] Singing this morning. There's something about that name, the name of Jesus. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess I want to talk to you this morning about names odly enough, if you haven't figured it out, the names of God. There is a lot of debate that seems to be going around right now. What do you call God?
[0:39] What do you address God as and when you pray? What do you call Him when you pray? What is the title that we should give him that he's due? And I want to talk to you about that this morning. And in the times of the Old Testament and the Jews, names were very important.
[1:00] They used names to signify meanings or things. God often gave names to children to signify the importance of what he had called them to do or wanted them to be. So names were very important to Jewish customs and to times when they announced the birth of Jesus, they said what his name would be emmanuel, God with us. His name shall be called Jesus, the Prince of Peace. So there's a lot of importance in names.
[1:34] And so quickly this morning, I'll give you just a list of a few names. If you would like them, I can give them to you later on because it'll be a lot to write down. And you'll have to bear with me. A lot of these are Jewish names and you all know how well I do with Jewish names, but I will do my best. But as we go through this, I would just like you to consider as they considered when they give these names of what God meant to them at the time.
[2:05] So let's just open with a word of prayer. Father, we just thank you for all that You've given us. Lord, we thank you that Your Name is a name above every name. We thank you for the worship and song and how we lifted up the name of Jesus and glorified his name. Father, we just pray that it'd be a sweet smelling savor in Your nostrils as our worship to you.
[2:29] Lord, we just pray that you bless this time together. I pray that you would give me every word to say that you would speak to us through Your Holy Spirit, that we would hear the truth of Your Word, that we would be doers of Your Word. Lead and guide us in these next few minutes. Father. In Jesus name I pray.
[2:47] Amen. The order that I will give you these names is not particular of significance but in order of when they're mentioned in Scripture. So we see in Genesis one. One mentioned 2599 times in Scripture is a pretty important name is Elohim. That is God.
[3:09] That is the Hebrew name for God, Elohim. It shows that he is the majestic ruler over all. And when they would say Elohim, they were mentioning Supreme God that he was above all. It also is a plural word. When you see in the beginning God is not talking about God singular, it's talking about God in three.
[3:41] Talking about God plural. Now, are we talking about three different Gods? Absolutely not. We're talking about three different parts of the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
[3:54] So in the beginning, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit created the heavens and the earth. That is elohim. There are several of them, so I could give you a whole lot more on it. But I've only got till 12:00, so we'll try not to keep you till two today. The next one is Yahweh.
[4:16] It is probably one of the most important names, most Holy names to the Jewish people. It is often mentioned as Lord or Jehovah. We see it in Genesis 24. It's used 6519 times in Scripture. Another important name, this is Yahweh.
[4:40] It is the proper name given to God by Jewish tradition. They considered it so holy that they were even scared to speak this name. Now, there's other writings of this in Hebrew. They spelled it y hwh. You think?
[5:00] Well, that's OD. There's no vowels or nothing. Well, blame that on Hebrew. Okay, not me. But it was pronounced Yahweh.
[5:10] And later on, they even stopped saying the name because they thought it was so sacred and so holy that if they said it, they may be in danger of breaking one of the Ten Commandments into not blaspheming the name of God. This was a very sacred name to them, as they called God Yahweh, the Supreme, God, the God over all. Then they come up to now, here's a good one that I told you I'd have a good time pronouncing l elion. This is Most high God. This is seen in Genesis 1418.
[5:52] For those who are taking notes. It's E-L-Y-O-N-L-E-L-E-L-Y-O-N. Most high God. Genesis 1418. We see this about 52 times in Scripture.
[6:06] It means the highest or most high. It is used together with elion means the Most High. It refers to the characteristic of God that is above everyone and everything. The name describes his position as sovereign, majestic, supreme God. Okay, the next one is Adenai.
[6:32] This may be a familiar one to you. We have a song that we sing, and it uses the name of God as Adenai. This is Lord. This is Master seen in Genesis 15. Two used about 434 times in Scripture.
[6:52] The adenine means lord, master or owner. This is a name emphasizing that God is in charge of his creation, his people. He is the Lord of Lords. That is Adenai ROI Elroi, the god who sees me. It's a very interesting one we see in Genesis 1613 for the first time.
[7:20] And it's only used one time in Scripture when the servant of Sarah Hagar, when she was encountered of the angel of the Lord. She proclaimed this name as the Lord who is powerful of his promises about the son that he had promised about her and what he should do. And that she acknowledged that you are the God who sees me. El Shadai. Now, there's a more familiar one, right?
[7:57] It means Lord God Almighty. We sing that song el Shadai I won't break your heart There. I'm sorry. It is first seen in Genesis 17 one. It is used about 48 times in scripture.
[8:14] It tells God is our provider, our supplier, our nourisher, satisfying his people with the needs as a mother would a child. That is El Shadai. This is the god. He is our sustainer, el OLEM, the everlasting God. It is first seen in Genesis 21 33, used about 439 times in scripture.
[8:45] L, we know, is from elohim Olam means forever, always, continuous existence. Perpetual, everlasting, evermore. He is indefinite. He is unending. He is without end.
[9:04] He is eternal. This is what elam means. He is the everlasting God. Now, we like this one. The next one is a good catchy tune.
[9:19] Jehovah Gyra. Jehovah Gyra. You know that song? We sing that a lot of times. It is a good song.
[9:27] Got a real catchy tune to it. This is The Lord will provide, the Lord is our provider. It occurs in Genesis 20 214. And this Jehovah, we know from Yahweh, means Lord or master. Gyra means to provide or to see or provide.
[9:48] When Isaac asked Abraham Father, who will provide a lamb, he used this. And Abraham replied to him, the Lord will provide. In Hebrew, it went, Jehovah Jairah will provide. He is our provider. And God did provide a ram, god did for Abraham and Isaac.
[10:12] And God provided a sacrifice in his dear son, Jesus Christ. So God is our provider. Jehovah Jairah. Jehovah rapha is the Lord who heals. Now, all these I tell you, I hope this is interesting to you.
[10:30] As the Jews would pray and as the Jews would make reference to God they would use these different names based on what he was doing in their lives. Abraham said jehovah gyro. He will provide. Jehovah rapha. He will heal.
[10:47] He will heal our land. He will heal our people. In Exodus 1526, we see this Jehovah again is actually Yahweh, and means Lord and master. But Rapha means to heal or to make healthful together. It means the Lord who heals you.
[11:08] God is our great physician, right? We've gone to him this morning and we've asked for healing. For those who are sick, he is Jehovah Rapha to us. We may not say that, but God is our healer, is what we say today. He the God who heals.
[11:26] Jehovah nissi. The Lord my banner. That's an interesting one. And this gives notation to going to battle. And when they would go to battle, you remember the old you see where the whole armies would line up and they'd just have big lines.
[11:45] And you had the one that had the flag or the banners telling who they were for who their king was, who was in control of all that. God is our banner. He goes before us to battle. That is Jehovah nisa. It incurs.
[12:04] In Exodus 1715, we see there Jehovah jahweh. NASA means nissa if I'm pronouncing that right. N-I-S-S-I means flag or banner together means the Lord my banner. He goes before us in battle. He gives us the victories over our battles.
[12:28] Remember, he told Joshua, the battle is the Lord's. Right. He's going to provide. He will win this battle for us. He is the one who wins the battles.
[12:40] El Kwana. Qanna. Now, in the English, we always have a U after Q, but the Hebrew does not. This is a jealous god. You say, Wait a minute.
[12:53] Now, how can God be jealous? I thought jealousy was a sin. It's not a jealousy like we have today, or like Robert. No, I didn't say that. It's not a jealousy like you would have for a husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend.
[13:07] It's not that kind of jealousy. It's not a jealousy of an ego. It's a jealousy of I am the one who stains you, sustains you. I am the best for you. I want you to understand that, that I am your everything.
[13:23] There is no place else for you to go. It's not an ego thing. It's not a fear of being replaced. It's a wanting of wanting you to come to him, to acknowledge it. He is your all in all.
[13:37] He is your everything. So it's El kwana, the jealous god. Now, here is a good one. Rennet, I'm going to mess this all up, I know, but Jehovah mekadeshim. It's a big word.
[13:53] M-E-K-O-D-D-I-S-H-K-E-M for those who are taking notes. The Lord who sanctifies you, the one who sets you apart. We see this in Exodus 30 113. And in Leviticus 20, verse eight. The Mckeshad kim means holy or set apart together with Jehovah, it means the Lord who sanctifies you.
[14:22] He sets us apart as his children. When we become believers, we are sanctified through his word. We are sanctified by God. So that is Jehovah medkesha kim. I'm going to even stop trying.
[14:40] Jehovah shalom. Now, you might know what that is. You hear that a lot from Hebrew people. When they greet one another, they say, Shalom. What does that mean?
[14:51] Peace be with you. So he is the Lord of Peace. Occurs in Judges 1624. Shalom means peace or absence of strife, complete or sound together, which Jehovah. Shalom means Lord is peace.
[15:11] Just remember that when everything seems to be falling apart and everything just seems to not be going right. He is the God that surpasses all understanding. He is the God that gives us peace through our storms. He is jehovah shalom. Jehovah sabbath, the Lord of hosts, is first seen in Samuel one three, used in the Bible 285 times.
[15:39] Sabbath means army going out to war using together with Jehovah and Sabah. That means the Lord of armies, the Lord of hosts. Now he is our banner. His banner over us is love. Remember that verse that David talks about?
[15:58] But he also is not just our banner. He's the captain of the armies, of all of the angels in heaven. He is the Lord of hosts that leads us into battle. He is our victor. Through him we can conquer all things.
[16:14] The Lord reigns over all things, over all the hosts of heaven. He always is there to defend us, to fight our battles, to win our wars, and no enemy that he cannot defeat. So to the Jews and to us, jehovah Sabat, jehovah raha, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.
[16:43] David would append, jehovah raha is my shepherd. I shall not want. And this is used in Psalms 23, one we see used in several references genesis 40 815, Genesis 49 24 and Psalms 81. Raha means shepherd or feed, to supply with food or to be a good friend. Jehovah rapha means The Lord is my shepherd.
[17:14] A friend who provides and nourishes and protects as well as the rest, gives rest for weary peoples and souls. The next one is Jehovah. Oh, boy.
[17:34] This is the Lord our righteousness. It's first seen in Jeremiah 23 six in Jeremiah 30 316 said, Kenyu means justice, rightness, righteousness, deliverance, victory and prosperity. He is the Lord, our righteousness.
[17:56] Jehovah shamam, the Lord is there. He's always there. He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Trying to bring the Hebrew terms to what we would say today.
[18:11] I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. It means that he's always there, although we don't understand it, we may not see Him. He never leaves us. Using, let's see, together with Jehovah Shamam, the Lord is there.
[18:27] God has revealed this name at a time when Israel was in rebellion in captivity, god was always letting the Jews know that he had not forsaken them and that he was still there, both in their presence as well as in their future. Regardless of what you're going through, he has promised us, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. No matter how far you may think you've fallen away, he's just one step back behind you. He's always right there with us, never leaving us, never forsaking us.
[19:02] And these Jews hold, and these Hebrews held these terms of God very sacred, as they acknowledged who they was or who he was in their daily lives, and they had word for him. Now, in the English, we don't so much do that, do we? We oftentimes will say, you know, we're going to pray and ask the Lord to heal. Yeah, we would say, he's got our healer, he's got our provider, he's got our protector. He is all this one of the great ones we always hear.
[19:35] Exodus 314 when Moses asked him, who shall I say has sent me? He said I am that I am. That is Yahweh. That is God supreme. There is none like me.
[19:50] There is none above me. I am the great. I Am. He says, he said, Thou shalt say this to the children of Israel. I am yahweh has sent me unto you.
[20:04] He is the great. I am.
[20:10] Two. Timothy, four. Eight. We see that he's also, and we've seen this in the Hebrew names, he is the righteous Judge. So we acknowledge God in all forms and facets of life, of how he provides protects for heals.
[20:26] But also we need to understand that he is a righteous judge. He is judging our ways and he is correcting our paths. And one day that we'll stand before Him at the judgment seat of Christ, and not be judged for our sins, but judged for what we have done for Him. And no one can question Him. He is righteous in all of his judgments.
[20:51] One day there'll be a great white throne judgment, where all who have not accepted Jesus as their personal Savior, that's the place of judgment for sin. And no one can question his judgment. He is the righteous judge. He is the God. There is none like him.
[21:12] So my question is, after I give you all that now, what do you call God? What should we call him? What would we refer to? We say God. We say Lord, we say many things.
[21:26] But Jesus was talking to his disciples and they heard Him. Or he was praying and his disciples heard Him praying and they thought, wow, he prays with such authority, he prays with such power, he's praised with such confidence. Lord, teach us to pray. You know what Jesus started out with when you pray? Matthew six nine.
[21:53] After this manner, therefore pray you our Father.
[22:00] He is all that. He is the great I am. He's the provider, he's the King of kings, he's the Lord of Lords. But he's father. Jesus says call him Father.
[22:13] That's for those who have trusted Jesus as their personal savior and given their life to Him, his blood has covered them. God is your father. He said, Brother Kenny, you've lost your mind. That didn't sound very respectful. How could you call such a great God Father?
[22:34] Well, I can't tell you how that's possible, really. I know it's through the blood of Jesus. But why he would allow me to call him Father, I have no idea. That's God's grace. That's God's love.
[22:49] That's God's mercy. Matthew 516 jesus makes another reference. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify who your Father, which is in heaven. Matthew 542 that you may be the children of your father. Isn't that awesome?
[23:15] He's Daddy, you say, well, now you've got real build. You're almost blaspheming. Now, Kenny, I'll explain to you what Daddy means to me in just a minute. Matthew 548 be therefore perfect even as your Father, which is in heaven. Jesus makes many references to him being Father, not Yahweh.
[23:40] He is yahweh. He is Jehovah, Jairah, he is all those things. But all those things are wrapped up in Father. I want you to understand that today. Ephesians one five.
[23:56] Now, how can we call him Father? Paul gives us a little bit of example of that in Ephesians one five. Having predestined us unto the adoption of children, did you know before the foundations of the world, it was God's plan that every one of us in particular, in context of this, the Gentiles too, would be the children of God wow, that's awesome. By Jesus Christ through himself. So we are adopted into the family of God through the blood of Jesus Christ.
[24:34] That's how we become part of the family. And this was done according to good pleasure of God's will. It says in Ephesians one five, Romans eight, four through 17, but as many that are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now, you women don't get upset, your daughters too, okay? But they are the sons of God.
[24:59] They are the children of God. For you have not received the spirit of bondage, of slavery again and of fear, but have received the spirit of adoption whereby you cry, Abba, Father.
[25:17] You want to know where to go, god just honor him. Because Abba Father my Father, which is in heaven and in all that you're saying, he's my provider, he's my protector, he's my banner, he's the captain of my battles and the wars that I go through. He leads me, he protects me, he guides me, he judges me, he corrects me. He loves me. This is who my Father is.
[25:48] This is who he is to me. Now, Abba is a lot of people would say, and I've used it too, and I think I keep using it, but there is a little bit of argument that Abba is not Daddy or Papa. But to me, the definition of papa or Daddy is a pretty sacred word. I told you. I'll tell you in a minute.
[26:10] But Abba means it's a very intimate word. It's showing intimacy with God. And in that intimacy, you are acknowledging Abba. You are in relation to him through the blood of Jesus Christ. Abba, I honor you.
[26:28] I worship you. I want to do everything you say. That's how much I love you. That's how much I worship you. That's Abba.
[26:40] I want to obey every word. I want to please you more than anything else. And he says, the Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then what? Heirs?
[26:57] Heirs of God. And join heirs with Christ. If so that you be that we suffer with him, that you may be also glorified with him. Jesus was glorified and said at the right hand of the Father. We have that same thing coming.
[27:18] Join heirs with Christ, my savior as his god's. Deal, children, you all understand that this morning? Do you get that this morning? Do you know what you have in Christ? That because of Jesus and his shed blood on the cross, I'm made part of the family of God and I worship him and call him Father.
[27:43] I like that. I hope you get that. If you could just get a hold of what that means, I'll give you an illustration. And it may be lame to some of you, but it hits home to me. My dad was pretty well known in the 70s.
[28:02] Not bragging, I'm just telling you, try to give you a little bit of picture of maybe he's not God, but he was pretty well known all over the eastern United States by thousands of people. He's sang at conferences, he's saying at revivals, he's saying at Liberty University. He was invited to sing at the inauguration of Ronald Reagan. All these things he did. And he was known by a lot of people, and they called him Mr.
[28:34] Heinzel or Brother Jim or a great soloist Jim Heinzel. They had all these titles for my dad. And he was a minister of music. He was a soloist. He was a music director.
[28:52] He was all these things to people. But there was a close knit group of people that just called him Jim. And you all might not even ever heard of him if I hadn't told you. But back in those days, he was pretty popular, pretty well known, and had a lot of titles. And all these things meant something.
[29:12] And as a child, I thought, that's my dad. I mean, I got to go places that I never would have if it hadn't been for Jim Heinzel. I mean, I went in big name preachers offices and played with their candy bowl and probably made a mess in their office. Why? Because I was with Jim Heinzel.
[29:37] I was a nobody, but I was with him. And you know what I called him? Daddy. Daddy. Everybody called him all kinds of things, but he was Daddy to me.
[29:50] And because he was my daddy, I had access to all kinds of places I had. All that my daddy was offered was given to me. Not because of me, but because Daddy, he was my daddy. And you know what? There's only four of us in this world that could call him that.
[30:11] It was a precious name to my dad. Now, if I'd have called him Jim one day next week when I woke up, that would have been so disrespectful to me to say, hey, Jim with that term, old man.
[30:30] Guys don't ever call me old man. I know you're big, but I think I could muster up enough in and put you out for a day or two.
[30:42] I have learned since I have become a father one of the most precious things. I've been called captain, I've been called chief. I've been called this, I've been called that. I've been called names I can't mention in church.
[30:59] But the most sacred name I've ever been called, the most special name I've ever been called was Daddy. Now, Papo, those are precious to me. When my children call me Daddy, it's an intimate relationship that I share with no one else, and it is so intimate and so meaningful to me. And that, as I would say it to my daddy, it wasn't just, hey, dad. Hey, Daddy.
[31:33] It was special to me. Now when I was mad at Daddy. It wasn't Daddy. I didn't want to talk to it. But when I was in right fellowship and relationship with him and I understood he was the supreme of our family, that he was the provider of our family, that he was the protector of our family, that he did all that he could for our family to keep us safe and from harm.
[32:00] Have shirts on our back and food in our belly. And he obviously did a good job with me. He did all that. I wrapped all that up in one word daddy.
[32:16] I get to call my heavenly Father Daddy. Now, I don't call him Daddy. That's a name I have for my earthly father, but my heavenly Father to me is Father in Heaven. See all these surnames and these titles that people are arguing over? Oh, you need to call God, yahweh.
[32:41] And you need to call Him this and you need to call Him that. You know what that's for? That's for the people that don't know Him. That's for the people that don't have a relationship with Him, because if you had a relationship with Him, if you were his child, it would be an honor and a pleasure for you to be able to have the privilege to call him Father.
[33:03] I can preach that right there. I get excited about that. Don't worry about the titles and all the yes, they're important. Yes, he's all that. He is the great I am.
[33:15] He's my father. Whoo. That's good stuff. Thank you, Lord, for that. I don't have to worry about, oh, did I call Him the right thing today?
[33:25] Did I need to call him sir or Mr or this or that? No. He's abba father. I almost can preach this morning, y'all. I told my daughter yesterday, I said, I don't think I've preached in about four weeks, so you all just hold on.
[33:40] Tomorrow we get to call him Abba father. If you're his child, you can call him the same thing. And I don't believe it offends him. Jesus told us to call him that, and all that he is is wrapped up in that you've been bought by the blood of Jesus, sealed with the Holy Spirit, adopted in the family of God. He is your father too.
[34:17] So when you pray, don't feel bad to say father in heaven, hollow it be your name. That means let your name be holy. Let your name be glorified where not just in Me, but in the whole earth. Let all know that your name is holy. Let all see that who you are, that they one day could be put in the family of God and call you Father also.
[34:49] Isn't that good? If we're in the family of God, he is our Father.
[35:02] I know on New Year's Day, brand new year, first day of the month, I'm supposed to stand up here and preach a good, inspiring message of you making goals and setting things for the new year and all that you need to be, and you better do this and you better do that. That's not this message, but it is this message. This is my prayer for you today. This is my prayer. This is my goal for you this year.
[35:35] If you're not there right now, if you're not there that you too can honestly, without any reserve, cry to our Heavenly Father and cry, abba Father, that you go very right past the veil, into the very throne of God. Cry Him up in his lap and say, abba Father, I love you so much, I want to serve you. I want to do everything you tell me to do. I want to be all that you want me to be because I'm your child.
[36:12] That's my goal for each and every one of you, without reservation, cry out, Father, don't worry about Mr. Don't worry about Yahweh. He is that. I don't want to take nothing away from that. But understand, you can wrap all that up in Abba Father.
[36:31] That's my prayer for you. And why is that so important? Because when you can cry out to Him and say, father in Heaven, you know what you're doing? You're acknowledging an intimate relationship that only you can have with a holy God, with the great I Am, the creator of all things, the giver of life.
[36:57] Easy for me to say. Sustainer of all things. He is the great, I am. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning. In the end, there is none like Him.
[37:08] And I call him Daddy. Oh, that's good. I call him father. I'm His Son, and he's made that possible through the blood of the Lamb. I want you to know that that's my prayer for you for this year, that we draw closer to Him to have that intimate relationship.
[37:28] I heard a person say one time, I don't know about all this relationship intimacy. That sounds so sacrilegious, that sounds so disrespectful. Hey, wake up. Wait. That's what Jesus died for you on the cross for, to restore that relationship where he can come in.
[37:48] The cool of the evening and walk and talk with you and share with you all that he has for you. What you've done today to have a relationship is what it's all about. That's why Jesus died. And when he comes, say, Father, which art in heaven, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Holy and hollow is your name.
[38:17] I worship you.
[38:24] The Bible tells us, at the name of Jesus, every tongue will confess. Every knee shall bow.
[38:34] You say, Well, Brother Kenny, we better be calling Jesus by his name too. Well, yeah, but he also says, I am the great. I am too. Revelation, he says, I am the first, I am the last. I am the alpha and omega.
[38:56] He is God. He is my father. I am his son. And that with every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. I don't want to shake you up here, but I don't think that's for us, what we're already doing it.
[39:14] When his name is proclaimed to the heathen, they will bow and worship Him, because his name is above every name. He is holy. So when they say that he will bow at the name of Jesus, every niche shall confess that's for the heathen, that's the ones who haven't. Because as his child, I find myself often at the throne of God, worshipping and praising his name already. And if you're his child, you ought to be doing the same thing.
[39:48] But one day, those who aren't, will, because his name is above every name, and I get to call Him Father. My prayer is for you, too, to know that relationship, that he is established with you. Father, we thank you. What a powerful message. What is power in the name of Jesus?
[40:12] There's power in your name. And Father, we are so humbled, we are so blessed. We are so grateful that you have said, Just call me Father. Oh, we thank you for that. We thank you that you want that relationship, that intimacy with us that we don't deserve.
[40:36] We can't comprehend that kind of love, that you would love us and give yourself for us and then just say, just call me Father. Father, we thank you for that today. We thank you for your blessings. We pray, Father, that many would know you as Father, to develop that relationship and that intimacy, to understand that you are our all in all. We love you.
[41:07] We want to please you. We want to do every word you tell us to do because you are our Father. Thank you for this time, this sweet time of fellowship together. Lord, just pray that you would lead and guide us all that we saved by your Holy Spirit that would reveal to us all truth. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
[41:32] Amen.