Empowered by Praise, Part 4

Thank you for joining listeners all around the world for this episode of Leading the Truth Network. Thank you for joining us today.

We'll be right back. his name. Up next, Dr. Yusef looks at names of God, names that will help you experience God in a deeper and more intimate way.

Here now is Dr. Michael Yusef to begin. There are some here and on the sound of my voice who remember a day when a person's name was far more important and valuable than money and prestige. Now for those of you who have not seen those days, have not experienced those days, let me tell you there was a day when a person's name was of more value than all the gold and the silver in the world. There was a day when a person's name meant everything to them.

Like many of you, I grew up thinking that way. Growing up in a Christian home, in a sea of a non-Christian world, our name and our family name meant everything because it literally represented Christ himself. But even today, there are certain names, as soon as they are mentioned, automatically it communicates integrity or dishonesty. When you hear a name of a person to this day, you're still either communicating honor or dishonor.

When a name is mentioned, you immediately, it communicates the character of that person. I read a story about a young couple who were expecting their first child, their first child. And those of you young mums and dads know what I'm talking about, we've seen it with our kids, and they're struggling with what they call the first child, what they're going to call him. And finally, mama said, we'll call him Timothy.

And dad said, over my dead body. Well, she couldn't understand the vehemence by which he's resisting that name. The bottom line was, that when he was a boy in school, there was a bully in the playground. His name was Timmy. And he could not even imagine, he could not think of his precious little boy as going to be referred to as Timmy.

But why? Because the name represents, for him, represented the worst of memories, growing up as a young boy. In biblical times, they named children for what they wanted or hoped that they would grow up to be.

That's always, you see that in the scripture. Well, he named him this because of that. And he named him this and so forth. These are important. These names are important. But listen to me, not only the names are important, the adjectives that we use with our children are vitally important. They really are. Listen to me. Whether you use those adjectives in front of them or not in front of them, it's very important what adjectives you use to describe your children.

Let me illustrate this. A first grader and a first grade teacher who was often, you know, starts the school year asking the kids, what do you want to do when you grow up? You know, that's always a standard with her.

And she always gets the normal, you know, run of the mill stuff. I want to be president, I want to be an astronaut, I want to be a fireman, and so on. And it just, except for little Billy. Billy said, when I grow up, I want to be possible. And the teacher queered it, asked again, she said, possible? He said yes, because my mom thinks I'm impossible.

So when I grow up, I want to be possible. We often label our children, so be careful. Sometimes we don't realize it, but be careful. Now my friends, I want to tell you, if names are important for mortals like us, human beings, if names are important to us, I want you to think of the absolutely, vitally importance in the names when it comes to God. And that is why you find that in the Word of God, as we will see in a minute, names represent a person, represents that person's mission, that person's future. And that is why when God changes the mission or the future mission of a person, he changes their name. That is why God renamed Abraham to Abraham. He changed Jacob to Israel.

We see the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He changed Simon to Peter. And he changed Saul to Paul. Because every time there was a name change, it represented a new vision and a new mission for that person. Every time there is a change in name, it signifies a new calling for that person. Now hopefully by now, some of you are asking the question, Michael, what has this got to do with the praise filled life that you've been preaching about?

And we're continuing in this series. Everything. Everything.

Why? Because the names of God are the composite of God's self-revelation. Because the names of God reveals to us his nature, his identity, his sovereignty, and yes, his will and purpose for us. If you truly want to know God, then you must know his names.

Please hear me right. The reason God reveals his names to us in the Scriptures, and there are a whole number of them, it is because he longs in his heart for us to be intimate with him. The reason God reveals his names to us is an evidence of the fact that he wants us to praise him more fully and more completely. The reason why God reveals his name to us is an evidence that he wants us to freely enter into a deep, not shallow, which we see all around us, but into a deep and abiding relationship with him. If you ask the average person, what is the sacrifice of praise, they'll probably give you all sorts of answers.

Some will not even know how to answer that. But listen to what Hebrews 13, 15 said. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continuously, how often? Only on Sundays?

Let us what? Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips, as we confess his name. Question, what is that sacrifice of praise? Well, I told you in the last message that David, in praising the name of God, he literally is a king. He's the king of the most powerful nation at that time, but he humiliated himself before God in the praise of God. He couldn't care less what people thought of him. He honored God in front of everybody, and he forgot that he is even a king.

Why? Because he wanted to honor God in praise. And here in Hebrews 13 gives us the answer. A sacrifice of praise is the confession of the names of the Lord. The sacrifice of praise is the speaking of the name of the Lord in our personal lives.

The sacrifice of praise is the invoking of the power of the triune God in us, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the last several messages that we've been looking at in this series, I have been telling you about the importance of the praise-filled life. Today I want us to practice that. And we're going to do, this is a very practical sermon. We're going to practice it. And then, I want you to take this exercise and do it every day.

Because praising God is not something you just do on Sunday morning. And those of you who are taking notes, I want to give you a heads up. Start writing now, because I've got nine names of God. I want to go through them very quickly, so I don't want you to miss.

And then I'm going to come to the end and show you. But we're going to be praising those nine names, for now anyway. And I'm going to get you to do them in the Hebrew language, not in English.

Alright? Not the anglicized stuff that comes from the Latin. We're going to do it in the original language. The first name and the most used name in the scripture of God is Yahweh. Say it with me. Yahweh means the God who's always there. Yahweh means the name of God, and it's used more in the Bible than any other name.

In fact, it's used 6,800 times in both Old and New Testament. And the translation literally, Yahweh, means to be, or the ever-living God, or the self-existing God. All that means that God does not need anything outside of himself.

He does not need anyone outside of himself with his self-existence. And that is why I want you to yell with me, praise Yahweh. Praise Yahweh. God bless you. The second name that revealed to us in the scripture is Yahweh-Yahrah. Can you say that? Yahweh-Yahrah.

In English, we often say Jehovah-Jireh. And then the song, the kids often sing here, and they have to go and explain it, you know, my provider. Because I'm going to explain to you it's more than just a provider. The word means a lot more than just being my provider.

I just want to give you the background so you know where it came from, okay? In Genesis chapter 22, Abraham, in obedience to God, takes Isaac in order to offer him as a sacrifice on Mount Moriah. But don't miss what I'm going to tell you because a lot of people switch off at this point. In verse 5 of Genesis 22, verse 5, here's what Abraham said to the servants.

He said, you stay here at the bottom of the mountain while the lad, talking about Isaac, the lad and I are going up to the mountain to offer a sacrifice. Then, here's what comes, it's coming, are you ready for it? Then we, the two of us, are coming back. Now, if you've got this, say amen. Amen. It's not I'm going to offer Isaac as a sacrifice and I'm coming down and you'll be waiting for me. No, no, no, no, no, no. We, the boy and I are coming back.

Why? Because Abraham was so absolutely confident in God's promise to him. Abraham was so fully trusting in the promise of God to him. Abraham was totally and completely resting upon the fact that God always, always, always keeps his promises. He was abundantly confident that if he sacrificed Isaac, God is going to raise him from the dead and is going to come back with him. And so he gets up to the top of Mount Moriah and he gets ready and Isaac asks the question, Father, where is the sacrifice? And here, the Holy Spirit of God gives Abraham a word of prophecy. One of the most powerful words of prophecy ever since Genesis 3.15. And Abraham prophesied with clarity about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and offering himself as a sacrifice on Mount Calvary 2,000 years later. And so when Isaac asked the question, Abraham said, Son, God will provide himself. Now there's some people would translate this as God himself will offer a sacrifice.

No, that's not how it reads in the original. God will offer himself as a sacrifice. He's prophesying of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is a magnificent picture of the Son of God being offered as a sacrifice for all the sinners who will repent and turn to him. He said, on Mount Calvary 2,000 years later, God's Son is going to hang on the cross and offer himself as a sacrifice. And as Abraham gets ready with his knife, he hears the voice of the Lord say, don't you dare.

It's a use of translation, but you get what I mean. Don't touch the boy. He said, now Abraham, I know that you completely and fully trust in my promises. I promised you, Isaac. You waited for him for 25 years.

Now you got him. And as Abraham looks over in the thicket, and there is a ram, and you offer him as a sacrifice. Right on that spot, Abraham builds an altar and calls it Yahuwah Yara. Yahuwah Yara. The word Yara, literally, literally, and by the way, it's the same word in all three Semitic languages.

Aramaic, Arabic, and Hebrew. Yara is the one who sees ahead, not just the one who sees. Everybody can see. But it's the one who sees ahead.

If somebody high up there, he can see things you can't see. When was the last time did you thank God for going ahead of you and rescuing you even when you did not know it? Because he sees your needs before you do. Because he sees your needs before the needs arises. Because he sees the problem before it appears. Because he provides a solution to your impossibility before you discover them. Because he sees your difficulties and he helps you overcome them. Because he sees your temptations and he gives you victory over them before you face them. He is Yahuwah Yara.

He sees ahead and prepares ahead even when you can't see it. Now there's nothing that you are facing today or you're going to face in the future that God has not already foreseen and made plans for. Yahuwah is our provider today, tomorrow, and for all of eternity. And so I want you to yell with me, praise Yahuwah Yara. Praise Yahuwah Yara. And amen.

I can get overwhelmed because I know experientially and many of you do too. Amazing how he goes ahead and makes provision before we even realize what was happening. Now I come to the third name that God reveals to us about himself and that's Yahuwah Rapha. And you find that in Exodus chapter 15 verse 26. Here God is making a proposal. He literally making a proposal, offering a proposal to his people. Here's what he said to them. If you carefully listen, by the way, there's a difference in Hebrew between listening and hearing.

Okay? I can hear you if you're speaking to me in a Semitic language, but I'm not necessarily listening to you. See, in Hebrew, listening meaning obeying. I'll make it easier for you.

It means obeying. Are you listening to me, Bobby? Are you listening to your kids? Are you listening to me?

Well, they are hearing you, but they're not listening to you. And so God is saying, if you listen, that is if you obey me, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases that are brought on the Egyptians, for I am Yahweh Rapha, the Lord, our healer. Now the word Rapha means to heal, to cure, or to restore, more accurate. And beloved, God doesn't only heal and restores. Healing is his name.

Can I get an amen? Healing is his name. His name is synonymous with wholeness. His name is synonymous with power for our weakness. His name is synonymous with being a balm on our wounds. His name is synonymous with healthy self-image. His name is synonymous with mending broken hearts. His name is synonymous with the renewal of our degenerate minds.

His name is synonymous with restoring shattered relationships. And the greatest wholeness, of course, we're going to experience when we see him face to face, because the Bible said we're going to be like him. And imagine that day, we're going to be like Jesus. And that is why we praise and we worship a door, Yahweh Rapha. We praise who? Yahweh Rapha. And the fourth name God reveals to us about himself is Yahweh Nissi. God is my banner.

Sounds strange, doesn't it? God is my flag. It's basically, you know, if you're marching down behind your school flag or college flag, whatever it is, the banner, he's the banner. We're marching under his banner.

It's a wonderful name. Exodus 17. When the Amalekites, by the way, the word Amalekites itself means giants. These were big boys.

I don't know, nine feet tall? They were big, big, big, big people. They don't exist anymore, thank God. He said, I'm going to wipe them out, and he did. Before they got into the promised land, when they got to the wilderness, the Amalekites said, we're going to wipe the Israelites. We're going to just wipe them out.

Just think about this. Not the prophets, nor the Messiah, who was in the loins, and some of them would have been wiped out. And so at this point, Moses said to Joshua, he said, Joshua, I want you to take a group of fighting men. Now remember, these are not really a huge army. They're just a group of fighting men.

Joshua, being the second in command, is the successor of Moses. He said, I want you to take a group of fighting men, go down to the battlefield, and you fight those Amalekites. And imagine the knees that were knocking. Ooh, we're going where?

We're going where? Those guys, have you seen how tall they are? Do you see how big they are? And they said, yep, you go down and you fight them, but I want to give you the assurance that I am going to go up to the top of the mountain, and I'm going to hold my staff. Beloved, this was not just any old staff, but the one that Moses had. That was the staff that God used to perform many miracles. It was the staff that was the symbol of prayer life. This was the staff that was the symbol of intercession. This was the staff that was the symbol of Moses' special relationship with the Lord. This staff was a symbol of Moses' utter dependence on Yahweh.

This staff was a symbol of Moses' complete trust in the power and the might and the graciousness of Yahweh. And so Moses goes up to the top of the mountain, he lifts up the staff, in fact he gets very tired, and his arms get shaky, two people had to come and hold his arms. And the Israelites defeated the Amalekites. So in the aftermath of this great supernatural, supernatural victory, this ragtag of an army that could not have beaten those big boys, this is supernatural victory. The Lord said to Moses, write this on a scroll as something to be remembered.

I don't want you to forget this happened, but also I don't want you to forget what I'm going to tell you, and that is I am going to wipe them off from the face of the earth. And God did. And here Moses builds an altar to the Lord. And he calls it Yahweh Nessie. Banner, flag, he is my banner. Can you say Yahweh Nessie? The Lord is my flag, he's my banner.

Now beloved Hemorrhag, please, when you're fighting under Yahweh's flag, let me tell you, on the authority of the word of God, you are assured of victory. You're listening to Leading the Way, the Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Michael Yusef, pastor of the Church of the Apostles in Atlanta. In fact, if you live near or travel through the Atlanta area, won't you consider visiting the Church of the Apostles, experience vibrant worship and passionate study of God's word in person? And if your days are as busy as mine, you could probably use a moment each and every day to just take a breath, close your eyes, refocus on eternity, refocus on what really matters. Well, subscribe to Dr. Yusef's daily My Devotional email.

You can do just that. This is a short, easy-to-read email packed with practical and, more importantly, biblical words of truth to encourage you in your day. Experience a few verses from the Bible, words of wisdom from Dr. Yusef, and help things come back into an eternal perspective. Get signed up for My Devotional when you visit ltw.org or one of the ministry representatives is so happy to give you some guidance, give us a call, 866-626-4356. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth.