whats in a name (starville church jul 19 2009)

8/12/2019 Whats in a Name (Starville Church Jul 19 2009)

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1Ch 4:9-10(American Standard Version): And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and

his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. ! And Jabez called

on the "od o# Israel, saying, $h that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and

that thy hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest %ee& me #rom e'il, that it be not to my

sorrow And "od granted him that which he reuested.

I read this #rom the ASV because it*s easier to see the correlation between Jabez*s name and his

&rayer. +hen we thin% o# the rayer o# Jabez, we o#ten thin% o# the -rst &art blessing and

e/&ansion. But #rom these 'erses, we can see that he also had another &etition 0 he as%ed "odto #ree him #rom the im&lications o# his name.

1Barnes: 2In 3h45:! Jabez alludes to his name, 2sorrow#ul6 (margin): 2"rant that the grie#

im&lied in my name may not come u&on me667

We know that names can be very signifcant. Tonight I want us to consier - What!s in

a name" #$ur names% &is name'

$89 A;ell, it*s the trans#orming &ower o# 3hrist to change us #rom our old nature into

something new.

F3o G:H 0 2here#ore i# any man be in 3hrist, he is a new creature: old things are &assed away

behold, all things are become new.6

Jacob

(en )*:*4-*+ And Jacob was le#t alone and there wrestled a man with him until the brea%ing

o# the day. FG And when he saw that he &re'ailed not against him, he touched the hollow o# his

thigh and the hollow o# Jacobs thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him. FK And he said, et

me go, #or the day brea%eth. And he said, I will not let thee go, e/ce&t thou bless me. FH And he

said unto him, +hat is thy nameC And he said, Jacob. FL And he said, hy name shall be called

no more Jacob, but Israel: #or thou hast stri'en with "od and with men, and hast &re'ailed.


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"od*s blessing to Jacob was to change his name, and by doing so, >e also changed his character

>e went #rom 2a decei'er and su&&lanter6 to being called 2a &rince with "od6.

Another e/am&le is eter 0 in John :5F, Jesus gi'es him that name, meaning 2a roc%6. re'iously

he was 'ery rash and unstable, but Jesus recognized that he would become -rm and constant.

"od gi'es e'ery one o# us that same o&&ortunity to be changed. $# course, none o# them were

com&letely changed right away. $ur e/&eriences with "od are both instantaneous and

&rogressi'e an ongoing wor%.

Jer L:MK hen I went down to the &otters house, and, behold, he wrought a wor% on the

wheels. 5 And the 'essel that he made o# clay was marred in the hand o# the &otter: so he

made it again another 'essel, as seemed good to the &otter to ma%e it. G hen the word o# the

$9D came to me, saying, K $ house o# Israel, cannot I do with you as this &otterC saith the

$9D. Behold, as the clay is in the &otters hand, so are ye in mine hand, $ house o# Israel.

8n#ortunately, we can at times li'e 2u&6 to our old name, and all the negati'e things associated

with it. +e gi'e in to our sin nature and become li%e that 'essel that was marred. ow many ha'e traced bac% their #amily treeC Always 'ery interesting. 1uc%ers* chart in their

a&artment7 But i# we go bac% #ar enough, all o# us ha'e a common ancestor in Adam. Adam*s

name means 2earth6, which is a good reminder to all o# us o# where we come #rom. +e ha'e an

earthly nature, a corru&t sin nature &assed down to us #rom our #ather, Adam. +e can*t change

our &ast 0 but we don*t ha'e to be bound by it either.

Joh :FM But as many as recei'ed 13hrist7, to them ga'e he &ower to become the sons o#

"od, e'en to them that belie'e on his name: M +hich were born, not o# blood, nor o# the will o#

the Oesh, nor o# the will o# man, but o# "od.

So our earthly heritage is not nearly as im&ortant as our s&iritual heritage. +hen we acce&t

3hrist, we*re gi'en &ower to become sons o# "od. +e*re ado&ted into >is #amily and no longer

bound by our old name, our old Adamic nature. +e ta%e on the name o# 3hrist. +hat a &ri'ilege

that is Act 5:F 0 2either is there sal'ation in any other: #or there is none other name under

hea'en gi'en among men, whereby we must be sa'ed.6 It*s a great &ri'ilege to be called

23hristians6.

ro FF: 0 2A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches6 0 certainly there is no better

name we could choose than the name o# 3hrist >imsel#. >is name is more 'aluable than any

treasure. But we must also remember that when we recei'e >is name, we also recei'e certain

res&onsibilities to maintain the honor o# that name.

Fi F:P 0 2e'ertheless the #oundation o# "od standeth sure, ha'ing this seal, he ord %noweth

them that are his. And, et e'ery one that nameth the name o# 3hrist de&art #rom iniuity.6

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aul rebu%es the Jewish belie'ers in 9ome #or this 'ery thing: 9om F:FMF5 0 2hou that ma%est

thy boast o# the law, through brea%ing the law dishonourest thou "odC F5 =or the name o# "od

is blas&hemed among the "entiles through you, as it is written.6

he way we act reOects u&on "od*s name. It*s a 'ery serious matter. 2Qour li#e might be the only

Bible many &eo&le will e'er read.6 An attitude o# 2Do as I say, not as I do6 is blas&heming the

name o# "od. As we*'e heard be#ore, the world %nows how a 3hristian is su&&osed act. +e want

to be a good testimony o# the name o# Jesus 3hrist.

h F:F 0 2hat ye would wal% worthy o# "od, who hath called you unto his %ingdom and glory.6ot an easy tas%, but?

Joh :F 0 2But as many as recei'ed 13hrist7, to them ga'e he &ower to become the sons o# "od,

e'en to them that belie'e on his name:6 "od*s &ower to 2wal% worthy6 as >is sons and

daughters is a'ailable to us. >is grace is suRcient.

1Side thought about names7 0 "od*s many names re'eal diNerent as&ects o# >is character. As we

go through certain e/&eriences, we learn more about +ho >e is. In Act H:FM, aul sees in

Athens 2an altar?$ >< 8$+ "$D.6 >ow sad hey didn*t e'en %now who or what they

were worshi&ing. But our "od isn*t li%e that 0 our "od is 'ery &ersonal. o need #or a 2&antheon6

o# gods li%e the "ree%s. >e re'eals >imsel# to us in the e/act way that we need to %now >im.

At -rst, when we are lost sinners, >e comes to us as Jesus, our Sa'ior. $ther times when we*re

suNering, >e comes as Jeho'ah 9a#a, our >ealer. +hen we need com&anionshi&, >e is

e is he AllSuRcient $ne.

is names to us, >e gi'es us >is name and ma%es us a &art o# >is

#amily.

Just li%e Jabez didn*t sim&ly resign himsel# to the sorrow im&lied in his name, we don*t ha'e to be

bound by any curses or iniuities attributed to our names. +e aren*t doomed to a li#e o# sin Eust

because we carry the name o# Adam. But we can call on the name o# our "od and as% >im to set

us #ree #rom our old nature. And as we o'ercome by the &ower that >e gi'es us to be >is sons,

9e' M:F says >e will write >is new name u&on us, and also the name o# >is city, the new

Jerusalem, so that we can be established as a &illar in >is %ingdom #ore'er. hat*s the name I

want to be identi-ed by, don*t youC o other name but the name o# Jesus.

whats in a name (starville church jul 19 2009)

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