NAME OF JESUS

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon of the Week #200640 – October 8, 2006

           Ladies and Gentlemen, listen to Paul as he tells us in Philippians chapter two, how the Lord Jesus Christ considered not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking upon Himself the form of a servant, made in the likeness of man, found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself even unto death, yea the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and gave unto 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.

The name of Jesus is above every name. Consider how Peter said to a man lame from his birth, “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk.” Paul spoke to the demon that was in the maid in Acts sixteen and said, “I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ come out of her.” Jesus said, “Whatsoever ye ask in My name that will I do.” Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Listen to Peter in Acts two, “Repent ye, 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.”

God has given Him a name that is above every name in Heaven and on earth. Jesus in the Scripture is called by many names, and each Name helps us see Him from a different perspective; so here are a few of the terms that describe the One whose name is above every name in Heaven and on earth. Wonderful is one of His names.

WONDERFUL

          In Isaiah nine he said, “Unto us a son is given, unto us a child is born, and his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”

Jesus is wonderful. He was wonderful in His birth; there was never another like it. Gabriel told Mary, “The power of the most high shall overshadow thee, wherefore the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God.”

He was wonderful in His life. In John eight, He issued the challenge to His enemies when He asked, “Which of you convicteth Me of sin?” There were no takers. In Hebrews four it is said that He was tempted in all points like as we are and yet, without sin.

He was wonderful in His resurrection. The only resurrected person who never died again after being raised from the dead.

And what a wonder it will be when Jesus returns on the clouds with all the holy angels with power and great glory. What a wonder as Christians to be caught up to meet Jesus in the clouds, and meet the Lord in the air. Many Christians in all parts of the world who hear this program and I have never met, but the day will come when we shall meet face to face, here, there, or in the air, and you can count on it, because His name is wonderful. And that reminds us that His name is also called the Prince of Peace.

THE PRINCE OF PEACE

When the Lord Jesus was born the Heavenly hosts appeared to the shepherds and proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest; peace on earth and good will to men.” It looks like the angels were mistaken as we hear the news concerning the possibility of the next terrorist attack and the possibility of World War Three. The problem lies in the fact that mankind has over-looked the first part of the angelic message, “Glory to God in the highest.” How can it be said that America has given glory to God in the highest with such laws permitting abortion, and when the name Jesus Christ cannot be used in public prayer. They say we should not bring religion into politics; so why do they bring politics into religion by having prayer, and then insist on leaving the name of Jesus out of it. Jesus said, “If you ask anything in My name that will I do.” He never said anything about answering an ecumenical prayer, prayed in nobody’s name. As a matter of fact the Apostle Paul told Timothy, “There is one God and one mediator between man and God, Himself man Christ Jesus.” If the name of Christ is deleted from the prayer, they might as well delete the prayer. Jesus is still the Prince of Peace just in case anybody wants Him. Not only is He the Prince of Peace, but He is also the Great I AM.

I AM

        When the band of soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus went forth and saith unto them, “Whom seek ye?” They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.”  Jesus saith unto them, “I AM.” When therefore He said unto them “I AM,” they went backward and fell on the ground. Again therefore He asked them, “Whom seek ye?” Jesus answered, “I told you I AM.”

God said unto Moses, “I AM THAT I AM.” What a demonstration of the power of Jesus when several hundred soldiers fell down backwards with the simple declaration of Jesus’, “I AM.” Only when He, of His own accord, withdrew the power were they able to arrest Him. Think also if they fell before Him when He stood before them clad in the rags of His mortal flesh. What will it be like when these miserable wretches are called out of their graves to stand before Him in all His glory surrounded by angels?

Many times the title of I AM was used by Jesus. He said, “I AM the bread that came down out of heaven; he that eateth this bread shall live forever.” He said, “I AM the door of the sheep.” He said, “I AM the resurrection and the life, if a man believe in Me though he be dead yet shall he live. If a man live and believe in Me he shall never die.” He said, “I AM the Good Shepherd, the Good Shepherd layeth down His life for the sheep.” He said, “I AM the light of the world, he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.” He said, “I AM the way, the truth and the life no one cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” God hath given unto Him a name that is above every name. His name is the Great I AM and His name is also the Root out of dry ground.

ROOT OUT OF DRY GROUND

         Isaiah 53:2, “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground: He hath no form, nor comeliness; when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

Jesus, the name that is above every name is the Root out of dry ground. There is no way to explain a beautiful rose growing in the arid dryness of the desert. This is the situation with Jesus. How can you explain His life? There was nothing at Nazareth that would bring forth such a life. It was proverbial that nothing good could come out of Nazareth. Even His enemies could not explain Him. In John 7:15, they were confounded with His knowledge and said, “How does this man knoweth letters having never studied?” Jesus told them how He learned when He said, “My teaching is not mine, but His that sent Me.” There was nothing in His surroundings to explain Him except to say with Isaiah, “He is a tender plant brought up like a root out of dry ground.” Another name of Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star.

THE BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR

        In the last chapter of Revelation Jesus called Himself the Bright and Morning star. This was the fulfillment of the prophecy of a reluctant prophet called Balaam. In Numbers twenty-four, “A Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall arise out of Israel.” That prophecy was fulfilled at the birth of Jesus. There were two stars when Jesus was born: the star in the sky, and the Star in the manger.

The stars in the heavens were reliable guides to the ships at sea especially in the days of the sailing vessels. One time a sailor was told to take the wheel and keep his eye on a certain star. Hours later the Captain appeared and found the ship off course. He said, “I thought I told you to keep your eye on the star.” The sailor said, “I did, but we passed that star two hours ago.” Jesus, the Bright and Morning Star is a sure guide for the Ole Ship of Zion. Keep your eye on the Star.

Jesus Saviour pilot me over life’s tempestuous sea;

Unknown waves around me roll, hiding rocks and treacherous shoal.

Chart and compass come from Thee, Jesus Saviour pilot me.

Think too, the Bright and Morning Star is a reminder of the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. The morning star is the brightest star in the heavens and appears just before sunrise. That title of Jesus is a reminder of the return of the Lord when we consider that He said three times in that last chapter of Revelation, “I come quickly.” What a comfort to think of the Lord Jesus as the Bright and Morning Star.

Near the cross a trembling soul

Love and mercy found me.

There the Bright and Morning Star

Sheds its beams around me.

We need to remember also that the Bright and Morning Star never changes. The stars that we see in the heavens in the twenty-first century are the same stars that shone down on the Apostles when the Lord walked upon the earth. How much more is that true with the Bright and Morning Star? People today, in their eighties and nineties, can still remember how they chanted in their childhood the same nursery rhyme as the children today, “Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky.” Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star and He is also Emmanuel.

EMMANUEL

When Gabriel announced the coming birth of Jesus to Joseph, it was said the prophecy was fulfilled and His name shall be called Emmanuel, which is by interpretation God with us.

Jesus is with us in His birth because He lived in a human body; God with us. He was subject to the same temptations of humanity; God with us. He is with us in evangelism. He said in the Great Commission, “I AM with you always even unto the end of the world;” God with us. He is with us in death; He died like the rest of us, and beyond that He tasted of death once for every man, and He will be with the Christian at the moment of death, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. His name shall be called Emmanuel; God with us. That name that is above every name is also called the Resurrection and the Life.

THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

Jesus said unto Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Jesus is the resurrection. That is His name. There are several people who have been raised from the dead, but He is the only one who deserves the title.

In the Scripture there were several resurrections. In the Old Testament, Elijah and Elisha raise the dead; then in the New Testament, three by the hand of the Lord Jesus: the widow of Nain’s son, the daughter of Jarius, the resurrection of the rotting corpse of Lazarus. Then there was one by Peter in the resurrection of Dorcas, and one by Paul, a young man who fell out the window and was taken up dead.

If I could call the roll of all those who have died and then raised up, I could stand at the grave of the widow of Nain’s son and say, “Where art thou?”  and the grave would yield no answer.  He has long since died again. Then one by one; Jairus’s daughter, Lazarus, Dorcas, and Eutychus, each time saying, “Where art thou?”  and the grave would be silent.

But let me stand at the grave of Jesus and call out, “Jesus, thou Son of God, where art thou?” The answer would come from Heaven as recorded by the Apostle John in Revelation, “And when I saw him I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last and the living One; and I was dead and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” The name of Jesus is the only name that can be called the Resurrection and the Life. And now the most powerful name the world has ever known King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

In Revelation John saw a vision of Jesus riding on a white horse, “And He hath on His garment, and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” That is the name of Jesus. A name exalted above every name in Heaven and on earth.

We should not be surprised that He will come as the King. When He was born into this world, He came as the King. The wise men asked, “Where is He that is born King of the Jews?” They wanted to make Him King after He fed the 5,000. When He rode into Jerusalem on the day of the Triumphal Entry, He came as King. Listen to the multitudes as they cried, “Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold thy King cometh unto thee.” In His prediction of the Judgment in Matthew twenty-five, twice He is called King. At His trial they crowned Him with a crown of thorns and kneeled before Him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews.” Then Jesus confessed Himself as King when He said to Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this world”, and went to the cross as King. Pilate wrote the sign himself that said, “This is Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.” In view of all this, it is natural and expected that He will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. On His head he will be wearing many crowns because He is the King of everything.

Let Enoch, the seventh from Adam tell how it will be. Enoch prophesied: “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousand of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard sayings which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

When the King comes He will come in force. He will have a sword proceeding out of His mouth, and with it He will smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron. Paul tells us the sword of the Spirit  is the Word of God. And in Hebrews, “The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword.” It was the King Himself that said in John chapter twelve, “The word that I spake unto them, the same shall judge them in the last day.”

During World War Two there was a list of the leaders of the major nations in the newspaper. The first in the list was Churchill, under him the second was Hitler, the third down was Roosevelt, the fourth was I.L. Duce, the fifth was Stalin, and the name at the bottom of the list was Togo. At the end of the list was the question, “Which one of these world leaders will be the true victor in the war?” The winner was spelled out at the bottom of the list by the first letters of those six names--C.H.R.I.S.T.

Jesus has to be the ultimate winner because God has given unto Him a name that is above every name in Heaven and on earth KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

CONCLUSION

The name of Jesus by itself is the greatest name of all: greater than any name in Heaven and on earth. Napoleon was a great man, but Caesar was just as great. Washington was a great man, but Lincoln was just as great. Edison was a great man, but Einstein was just as great. Jefferson was a great man, but Theodore Roosevelt was just as great. Columbus was a great man, but Lindburgh was just as great. Henry Ford was a great man, but John D. Rockefeller was just as great. Paul was a great man, but Peter was just as great. Abraham was a great man, but David was just as great. But when you name the name of Jesus, that is the greatest name of all.

But what does the name of Jesus mean to you? To the geologist He may mean, the Rock of ages; to the horticulturist, He is the Lily of the valley and the Rose of Sharon; to the astronomer He is the Bright and Morning Star; to the baker, He is the Bread of life; to the electrician, He is Light of the World; to the undertaker, He is the Resurrection and the Life; to the Doctor, He is the Great Physician; to the bride, He is the Bridegroom of the Church which is the Bride of Christ; to the ruler, He is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; to the lawyer, He is the Advocate with the Father, and to all these He has to be the greatest name of all. The name of JESUS; the One who came to seek and to save that which is lost. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.

        Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the name which is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, of things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.