THE NAME OF THE LORD

THE NAME OF THE LORD

What is the Name of the Lord?

Don't be too quick to answer that, for I know what you might be thinking. The name "Jesus" will not be a satisfactory answer, though I will not say you are wrong.

But, the Bible is what I call "self-contained", or speaking its own language. The language of the Bible is not necessarily English, Greek or Hebrew. It is a Spiritual language, and it is necessary for the Spirit to interpret that language. If we try to read it as an earthly language, we will most certainly miss the true meaning. We MUST have access to the Spiritual meaning if we are to have the proper understanding.

Let's go to the book of Exodus, chapter 33. Here is a record of Moses chiding with God-- telling Him that He has not adequately equipped him to lead the people of Israel. He needs to know more about the situation at hand, or he is not sure he wants to continue with the assignment.

Exodus 33:12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation [is] thy people. And he said, My presence shall go [with thee], and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not [with me], carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? [is it] not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that [are] upon the face of the earth. And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

Then the Lord JEHOVAH makes some commitments to Moses, one of which is to reveal HIS NAME to him. Moses went a bit further, and asked the Lord to show him HIS GLORY. But that request was a bit too much, though He would show Moses HIS WAY. (I take that to mean He would show Moses the "WHY" of "WHAT" He would be doing in and through Israel.)

Exodus 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

The Lord told Moses to come alone to the top of the mountain first thing in the morning, and He would attend to the matter. Moses was to take two more tables of stone for the Lord to write upon, because he had angrily broken the first two. (Moses broke the law, and got by with it.)

But, let's listen to what the NAME OF THE LORD sounded like-- straight from the Lord Himself.

Exodus 34:5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear [the guilty]; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth [generation].

Needless to say, that got the attention of Moses, and he hastily "came to attention" right then and there. Exodus 34:8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.

It should also command our attention, for there is much said about that Name throughout the scriptures.

The NAME was a description of the VERY NATURE of the Lord. HIS NATURE IS HIS NAME!

One that comes to my mind right now is found in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, as it was given to John on the Isle of Patmos.

Revelation 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

When we accept Him, He BEGINS WRITING HIS NATURE upon us (our forehead-- our mind-- the seat of our lives). It is not a "Once-‘n done" deal. Rather it is a progressive process which is accomplished by OUR CONSENT AND CO-OPERATION with His Spirit as He works HIS NATURE into our beings through the vicissitudes of our lives.

At some point, (and I can not say where it is) we can reach a stage of development in God where He looks at us and is satisfied with what He sees.

We will have HIS NAME upon our forehead.

It will be worth every ounce of determination and effort it will have cost us to have attained to that degree of Spiritual refinement and ascendancy.

THE NAME APPLIED
THE NAME IN THE FOREHEAD

When the Church was very young-- in fact in its first day-- while some were looking for the whiskey jugs-- thinking the first Church members to be drunk, Peter stood up and gave a message from God-- inspired by the Holy Ghost. He told the members of the Jewish nation that they had, with wicked hands, crucified the one who had come as their Messiah, and who had been made both LORD and CHRIST.

The Spiritual Force with which the message was delivered was such that any honest heart could not resist it. It was electrifying, and the results were immediate.

Acts 2:37, 38 Now when they heard [this], they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men [and] brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Why does baptism become a part of the equation? First, because God commanded it-- whether we understand it or not. But there are a few explanations-- some of them good, and some of them not so good. I suspect that the best of the attempted explanations fall far short of doing the matter justice.

But one comes to mind right now, which is about as good as any I have heard. Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Notice, Paul specifies that our baptism is into Christ, or Jesus, who is the Christ.

This is accomplished when we are baptized in, or into, the Name of Jesus Christ. That Name, which is above every name, is applied to us when we are baptized into it.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus was quoted, (Mat 28:19) as commanding to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost? Have you ever wondered why the early Church leaders did not do it-- even one time? Every recorded baptism in the book of Acts was administered in the Name of Jesus, or the Name of the Lord.

Fact is-- there is almost conclusive proof that the original manuscript contained the phrase "in My Name" instead of the modern rendering. The "proof" that we have is to be found in the writings some of the earliest Church leaders (Eusebius, for one example). In every instance of quoting Mat 28:19, they quoted "In My Name."

Those first manuscripts were destroyed, and replaced by altered versions after the Council of Nicea, according to the late A.H. Broughton.

But, that is not the real subject I want to deal with today.

What I really want to deal with is the different ways in which the Name of Jesus can be applied to our lives.

One method is, obviously, by immersion in or into the Name of Jesus.

I cannot serve as judge over anyone who is immersed, sprinkled, dunked or whatever else, in any other fashion. God alone knows the hearts of all people, and He alone is qualified to be the judge. But, knowing what I know, I can be satisfied with nothing short of immersion in, or into the Name of Jesus.

But I see another way in which the Name will or will not be applied to each one of us as an individual. Listen while I quote you some scripture--

Revelation 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

Revelation 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name [shall be] in their foreheads.

If I have understood the Word correctly, these are Christians who stand out in the midst of other Christians-- "head and shoulders above the rest."

The term "forehead" is understood to be referring to the source of all activity of the person. The seat of all emotions and actions. So, what does this mean? There is a reward for those who meet the requirements

Is it possible to have the Name of Jesus applied to our lives in baptism, and still not have it imprinted into our foreheads? Without doubt this is true.

Jesus will, if we let Him, refine our natures to be more conformable to His Spirit. But not all of us are willing to submit to the process of refinement. Heat and acids are tools of refinement. We shrink back from both of them, if we obey the impulses of our flesh.

And this can be going on while we are still safe and secure in the Name of Jesus (by baptism into His Name).

But the JEWELS OF THE LORD will be those who have permitted the "hot and hurtful" process of character refinement to be accomplished in us.

Why should we allow the refinement of character to take place? Aren't we assured a place in Heaven without it? Probably so. But there is something BETTER THAN HEAVEN. It is Heaven AND His Name in the forehead