The Name Above All Names!

“The Name Above All Names!”

December 17, 2006

Pastor Steve N. Wagers Gardenview Baptist Church Jacksonville, FL

1 “The Name Above All Names!” Isaiah 9:6 Pastor Steve N. Wagers December 17. 2006 Sermon Outline 1. A Name for the DECISIONS of Life! A) His Unchallenged Authority B) His Unsurpassed Ability 2. A Name for the DEMANDS of Life! A) A God Mighty in Creation B) A God Mighty in Salvation 3. A Name for the DIFFICULTIES of Life! A) He Loves Us B) He Leads Us 4. A Name for the DISTURBANCES of Life A) We can Rest in Him B) We can Rely on Him

History has given us some most disparaging names. For example, we have Charles the Simple, son of Louis the Stammerer. So called for his policy of making concessions to the Norse invaders rather than fighting.

There is Ethelred the Unready (968-1016) so called because of his inability to repel the Danish invasion of England. At first he paid tribute to the Danes, but their raids continued and he was forced to abandon England for Normandy in 1013. Those who are more generous call him Ethelred the ill-advised.

Then, we have Louis the Fat, like his father, was obese. At the age of 47 because of his extreme corpulence, he was unable to mount his horse. We

2 also find Louis the Sluggard, noted for his self- indulgence, ruled from 986 to 987 over the Franks.

A census taker was working in the hills of Arkansas. He walked up to one shed where a woman was sitting on the step. After introducing himself, the census taker said, "How many children do you have?" The woman answered, "Fo'."

The census taker then asked, "May I have their names, please?" The woman replied, "Eenie, Meenie, Minie and George." Confused, the census taker said, "Okay, that's fine. But may I ask why you named your fourth child 'George'?" "Because we didn't want any Mo'."

Until the 14th century most people had only 1 name. In medieval England, it is estimated that, 3 out of every 5 men carried the name Henry, Robert, John, William or Richard. As towns and cities grew so did the necessity to further identify individuals and families; thus, requiring a second name, or a surname.

Surnames were often derived from a place, an occupation or a common nickname. For example, place names identified where a person lived or came from. Occupational names identified what a person did for a living; thus, giving the surnames such as Miller, Butcher, Baker, Taylor or Butler. Nicknames were used to identify someone’s personality, features, or unique characteristics.

3 It is estimated that there are more than 3000 names of God revealed in scripture. However, some of the greatest names of God are found in Isaiah 9:6. The prophet Isaiah looks 740 years into the future to see the coming Messiah. He looks to a little city called Bethlehem and envisions a cradle, a cross and a crown.

In verse 6, we’re told that “his name shall be called.” In the Hebrew language, “to be called,” means that the person spoken of will be what he is called. In other words, the names that they are given will fulfill their title.

Thus, Jesus is called, “Wonderful counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.” In other words, He shall be all of these things, both in name and nature. He will be given a name above all names and His name will encompass 4 distinct areas of life.

First of all, He is given:

1. A Name for the DECISIONS of Life!

The name “Wonderful Counselor” is actually one Hebrew word and denotes 1 name within itself. It is not that He is “wonderful” and a “counselor;” but, that He is a “Wonderful Counselor.” Thus, His name qualifies Him to take care of the decisions of life. For one thing, His name indicates:

4 A) His UNCHALLENGED AUTHORITY!

The root word for “wonderful” was often used to speak of something marvelous and miraculous. A “counselor” was often used, in those days, to speak of a king.

The name “Wonderful Counselor” denotes God’s authority to qualify Him as a marvelous and miraculous King. He looks to no one else, He lives for no one else and He leans on no one else. He is God, in and of Himself. He is God and God alone.

In the realms of government, countries are normally under the headship of a King, a dictator, a prime minister, a cabinet or a president. The government is to lead, and the people are to follow.

However, in God’s realm of government, He is the King. He is the Dictator, the Prime Minister and the President. And the only Cabinet in Heaven is made of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. His name grants Him the unchallenged authority to be what He wants to be, and do what He wants to do.

However, His name also denotes:

B) His UNSURPASSED ABILITY!

We read in verse 6 that “the government shall be upon his shoulder.” The context is, of course, national; but, it could also be rendered personal as

5 well. While Isaiah is making reference to public life, he also speaks of one’s private life. In other words, if He is God enough to handle the governments of this world, He is certainly God enough to handle the government of our individual lives.

Our lives are filled with problems, pressures, predicaments, perils and perplexities. As a result, many people are looking for a way to handle the decisions of life.

In an article entitled, "America's Last Men and Their Magnificent Talking Cure," Os Guinness talks about how America has become the world capital of psychological-mind-set and therapeutic endeavor. Although America has only 6 percent of the world's population, it boasted over 1/3 of the world's psychiatrists and over ½ of the world's clinical psychologists. Eighty million Americans have now sought help from therapists, with an estimated 10 million doing so every year.

But, ladies and gentlemen, Jesus Christ is the “Wonderful Counselor.” He has the unchallenged authority, and the unsurpassed ability to handle the governments of this world, while still taking the time to handle the government of our lives. He is more than able to take care of the decisions of your life, as well as my life.

Secondly, He has been given:

6 2. A Name for the DEMANDS of Life!

Isaiah gives Him a second name, and it is the name “Mighty God.” The Hebrew rendering is ‘El Gibor,’ and it is the strongest of all the names listed in Isaiah 9:6.

The Hebrew word ‘El’ is the word for God. The name ‘Gibor’ literally means, “Hero.” Thus, the name, “Mighty God,” speaks of One who is indeed God Himself. He is our hero. He may not be super- human, but He is supernatural and well able to take care of the demands of life.

The Bible teaches us that, as ‘El Gibor,’ or the “Mighty God,” He is:

A) A God Mighty in CREATION!

The pages of the Bible open, in Genesis 1:1, with the immortal words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” That statement has prompted many to ask the question, “Where did God come from, or where was God before creation?”

The answer is that He did not come from anywhere; but, He was where He always had been. He was God before the beginning.

You see Genesis 1 does not denote the beginning of God’s existence; rather, it denotes the beginning of God’s creation. Thus, as the God of creation, He

7 stepped out from behind the curtain of nowhere, onto the platform of nothing, from nothing and with nothing; and, spoke everything into existence that exists. He said, ‘Let there be,” and there was.

As ‘El Gibor,’ the “Mighty God,” there was never a time when He was not, and there will never come a time when He shall cease to be. He was neither evolved, grown nor improved. He cannot change for the better, for He is already perfect. Being perfect, He cannot change for the worse. Altogether unaffected by anything outside of Himself, improvement or deterioration is absolutely impossible. [1]

In the words of R. G. Lee, He is the “creator behind all creation. He is the designer behind all design. He is the lawmaker behind all law. He is the supreme fact of history. He is the supreme fact of science. He is the supreme fact of philosophy. He is the supreme fact of life, death and eternity. Thus, He is the great need of the vast creation which He created, and in which we live.” [2]

He is the God of eternity past, eternity present and eternity future. He had no beginning and will have no end. All things were created with Him, to Him, for Him and by Him. He is the God who created this world, controls this world; and, can do anything to this world, for this world, with this world, or in this world that He chooses to do. He is a God mighty in creation, but He is also:

8 B) A God Mighty in SALVATION!

The God of creation saw that everything that He created was “good;” but, something was missing. Thus, He created man as the pinnacle of His marvelous creation, and saw that it was “very good.” Man was created to fellowship with God, and was created to be like God, because he was made in the “image of God.”

However, in Genesis 3, what Martin Luther called the “blackest page of human history,” sin entered the picture; hence, separating man from God, and God from man.

Thus, with sin came death for the “wages of sin is death.” Therefore, as sinners, condemned to death by sin, we stood far off, far out and far away from a Holy God. There was only one remedy for man’s sinful condition. Something had to be done to bring man back to God.

More than 2000 years the solution came in a cradle so that He could go to a cross. God became man, in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. It was at that moment that Jesus reached toward God, with His hand of deity; He reached toward man, with His hand of humanity, and reconciled man to God, and God to man.

9 Jesus took man’s guilt and offered God’s grace. He made it possible for us to once again find fellowship with God, forgiveness from God and freedom in God. He came to do what we could not do, and what no one could ever do. He came to be born to die, that we could be born again and never die.

He is a God mighty in creation. He is a God mighty in salvation. I submit unto you that if He is mighty enough to create us and convert us; then, He is certainly mighty enough to take care of all the demands of our lives.

Thirdly, He has:

3. A Name for the DIFFICULTIES of Life!

One of the most precious, sweet and blessed names of God is found in the name of Isaiah 9:6, “the Everlasting Father.” If you are a Christian, you may be without an earthly father; but, you will never be without a Heavenly Father who will take care of the difficulties of your life.

For one thing, as a father:

A) He LOVES Us!

The name “Everlasting Father” is rendered in the Hebrew, “Father of Eternity.” It speaks of God’s benevolence. It denotes God’s care, concern and compassion for His children.

10 We read in Psalm 103:13, “Like a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” In Isaiah 63:9, we’re reminded that “in his love and in his pity he redeemed” us.

The day that we were saved we were birthed into the family of God and adopted as children. That day, He became our Heavenly Father. There are those who say that we are all God’s children, and God is the Father of all.

But, friend, God’s children are ONLY those who have been saved by the grace of God, sanctified by the Word of God, and secured by the Spirit of God. Only those who know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior can lay claim to being a child of God.

If you are saved, then, and only then God is your Heavenly Father. As your Father, He loves you just the way you are. In fact, there is nothing we could do to cause God to love us anymore, or any less. He loves us with an unconditional love, an unprecedented love, and an unexplainable love.

Oh blessed thought that, He who rules the vastness of eternity, and He, whose life stretches from “everlasting to everlasting,” would take the time to care for us, and love us.

As a father, He not only loves us, but:

B) He LEADS Us!

11 No earthly father, worth his salt, would ever abandon his children, or lead his children intentionally into danger, distress or darkness. Yet, Jesus said in Matthew 7:11, “If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, HOW MUCH MORE shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

If you are saved, then you have a Father who will protect you, preserve you, and provide for you. If you are saved, then you have a Father who will not fail you, flee you, forget you or forsake you. He loves us and leads us to take care of the difficulties of life.

Finally, He’s been given:

4. A Name for the DISTURBANCES of Life!

It’s interesting to note that in a total of 3550 years of recorded civilization, only 286 years have been spent without war somewhere on the planet. Yet, during that same period of time over 8000 peace treaties have been signed. Someone has described peace as, “The brief, glorious moment in history where everybody stands around reloading.”

We live in a world that is seeking, striving and starving for peace. However, our world looks for peace in things that contain no peace. Peace is not found in possessions, positions, politics, or prestige. Peace is only found in a person, referred to by Isaiah as “the Prince of Peace.”

12 If He is the “Prince of Peace,” then He is more than qualified to take care of the disturbances of life. If He is the “Prince of Peace,” then:

A) We can REST in Him!

Isaiah makes reference to Him as “the Prince of Peace.” Several chapters over, in Isaiah 26:3, he gives further commentary by saying, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

In other words, Isaiah is saying, “He is the Prince of Peace, and if you want peace, then you must rest in Him.” Ivor Powell said, “When the Prince of Peace reigns in your life, the Peace of God rules in your heart.”

I love how Corrie Ten Boom said it, “When I look at the world, I get distressed. When I look at myself, I get depressed. When I look at Jesus, I AM AT REST!”

If you want His peace, then you must live for Him, look to Him and lean on Him. If you want His peace, then you must learn to rest in the fact that He is God, He’s still on the throne, He’s still in control and He’s got the whole world in His hand.

But, we can not only rest in Him:

B We can RELY on Him!

13 The word “stayed” in Isaiah 26:3 comes from a Hebrew word that gives us our English word, “staff.” A staff, in those days, was closely related to shepherds. The staff served a variety of purposes. It was used to count, to corral and to correct the sheep.

However, the staff was not only used to count, corral and correct the sheep; but, it was also used to comfort the shepherd. At the end of a long, hot day, the shepherd would lean upon his staff for support. It was used to support the shepherd when the shepherd could not support himself. You could say that the shepherd relied on his staff to hold him up.

Thanks be to God, in the same way you and I can rely on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our shepherd’s staff. When we cannot support ourselves, we can rely and lean on Him. When we cannot see the way, we can rest in Him, and rely on Him who is the way. He hears us when we pray; he helps us when we’re down, and He holds us when we’re weak.

A number of years ago, there lived a medical missionary in China. Whenever someone came to him for treatment he would always tell them the story of Jesus. One morning, before the clinic doors were opened, there came to the missionary an old woman stooped with age. He could tell by the dust on her feet and clothing that she had come a long way.

That morning he treated her and as always, told her about Jesus. The medical missionary said, "As the

14 rose opens to receive the rays of the noon day sun, so her heart opened to receive the Savior. Her tears made little rivulets down her dusty cheeks as she opened her heart to Jesus.

Several weeks later, there was a knock at the missionary's door. When he opened the door, he found the same old woman that had come to him several weeks before. She said, "Sir, He has saved me and I know He lives in my heart. He has made my life so happy! But sir, I have forgotten His name. Could you please tell me his name again?" The missionary repeated over and over again the name, "Jesus," and each time the little old lady echoed that name, "Jesus."

Lela Long heard the story and wrote:

There have been names that I loved to hear But never has there been a name so dear To this heart of mine, as the name Divine. The precious, precious name of Jesus.

Jesus is the sweetest name I know, And he's just the same, as His lovely name. And that's the reason why I love Him so, For Jesus is the sweetest name I know.

It was from that story, as well as Lela Long's hymn that inspired J. Wilbur Chapman to pen the words of that immortal hymn:

15 Jesus! What a friend for sinners! Jesus! Lover of my soul; Friends may fail me, foes assail me, He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Jesus! What a strength in weakness! Let me hide myself in Him. Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing, He, my strength, my victory wins.

Hallelujah! What a Savior! Hallelujah! What a friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.

Jesus painted no pictures; yet some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him. Jesus wrote no poetry; but Dante, Milton, and scores of the world's greatest poets were inspired by Him.

Jesus composed no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratories they composed in His praise.

He never wrote a book, but hundreds of thousands of volumes have been written about Him. His words have been translated into more than 1000 dialects and languages. He built no sanctuary, but millions of Churches, chapels, and cathedrals have been built to

16 worship Him. He raised no army, but those who would fight for His truth and principles, the world over, can be numbered into millions.

Born of a lowly mother, without an earthly or human father; reared in meekness in a remote town of Nazareth; without credentials from the religious leaders of His time; with no accredited education from the schools of His day; hated by religious leaders, followed by the poor, the illiterate and the downtrodden; called a son of the devil because of His own unorthodox birth; falsely accused of blasphemy by the hierarchy; mocked by the crowds which had pursued Him in the days of His prosperity; His death demanded by the angry mob, the multitude; condemned to die by crucifixion; buried in a borrowed tomb.

It would seem that after that the world would have heard the last of Him, But no! The pages of history are besmirched with the blood of those who died for Him. Wars have been fought; thrones have been abdicated because of Him. Throughout the centuries His name is still above every name.

His name is enduringly strong. His name is entirely sincere. His name is eternally steadfast.

His name is immortally graceful. His name is imperially powerful. His name is impartially merciful.

17 His name is unprecedented. His name is unparralled. His name is unsurpassed.

His name is unexplainable. His name is unattainable. His name is undeniable.

His name is invincible. His name is incomprehensible. His name is irresistible.

His name always was. His name always is. His name always will be.

His name brings power. His name brings protection. His name brings peace.

His name gives forgiveness to the out and out. His name gives fellowship to the in and out. His name gives freedom to the down and out.

His name cleansed the leper. His name healed the paralytic. His name restored the wayward.

His name gave sight to the blind. His name gave hearing to the deaf. His name gave life to the dead.

18 His name causes devil to fear. His name causes diseases to flee. His name causes dynasties to fall.

His name cannot be gotten out of your mind. His name cannot be gotten off of your hands. His name cannot be outlived. His name cannot be lived without.

His name will lead you when you forget. His name will lift you when you fall. His name will love you when you fail.

His name will heal you. His name will hear you. His name will help you.

His name is so much above every name that “God also hath highly exalted him, and given 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.”

He has been given a name for the decisions of life. He has been given a name for the demands of life. He has been given a name for the difficulties of life. He has been given a name for the disturbances of life. He has been given a name above all names.

19 Endnotes 1) Gleanings in Genesis, A. W. Pink, pg. 28. 2) “Great is the Lord,” R. G. Lee, pg. 109.