The Names of God

We have 2 reasons tonight. The first 1 is from exodus chapter 31 versus 12 to 18. And the second 1 is 1 Corinthians 1 1 2 3. So if you wanna get those ready, we're gonna we're gonna have our readings. The first yeah.

So as as I say, exodus chapter 31 versus 12 to 18. And 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 1 to 3. Let's see what God says. Then the Lord said to Moses, say to the Israelites, you must observe my sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come so that you may know that I am the lord who makes you holy.

Observe the sabbath because it is holy to you. Anyone who dissociates it is to be put to death Those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. For 6 days, work is to be done. But the seventh day is a day of Sabbath rest, holy to the lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, is to be put to death.

The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever. For in 6 days, the Lord made the heavens and the earth. And on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed and the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai. He gave him the 2 tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 versus 1 to 3.

Paul called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and our brother Sosthenes, to the Church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be his holy people. Together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our lord Jesus Christ. Their lord and ours. Grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Heavenly father.

We do thank you so much for the opportunity to gather together in our homes all around Kingston, and we thank you for those who are tuning in father of field. Law, we we thank you for your word. We thank you for your god who who speaks to his his people. And Lord, now as as Tom comes and speaks to us about how you make us holy, please would you open our ears, give us hearts that are open to listen and and change, Lord. And we pray that we would marvel and revel in your love and grace to us in this way.

And so please would you help help Tom Now we pray in Jesus name amen? Okay. Welcome to our evening service. This is the last in our names of God series, and I hope there's been an encouragement and challenge to you as we've been thinking about our lord and the way in which he reveals himself through his names, which he gives us in scripture. And tonight, we are looking at the last 1, the lord who sanctifies you.

And we're going to be thinking about that from Exodus 31. But I want to actually start with 1 Corinthians. And if you've ever read the book of 1 Corinthians, you'll know that it was a church with with problems. There were people in the church desperate to be strong and to be seen as wise and influential. There were divisive people who didn't want to work hard at unity, but would rather boast in their spiritual credentials.

Paul says that some in the church were like clanging symbols. Who made lots of noise about their gifts and their knowledge and their ability, but that they lacked the greatest gift of all. Love. So you read the book and you see that in many ways it was a church gone wild. And yet look how Paul describes them in 1 corinthians 1 verse 2.

To the Church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus. And called to be his holy people. And as I say, given the sort of things that were going on in this church, it is remarkable that he would say something like that in his introduction. Before anything else, he wants this church to know that Jesus has made a difference when it comes to who they are. Every Christian in corinth and every Christian watching this this evening has battles with sin.

But if we're trusting in the Lord Jesus, the good news is that that sin no longer has the final say. When it comes to who we are, it no longer defines us. Because of God, we have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. And called be holy. Here's how he puts it again in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 11.

He lists off these sins, and then he says despite these sins, you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. So I don't know how you feel when you think about holiness or sanctification or living a godly life. Maybe that is something you've really tried to do in the past, but you've come to believe that you simply cannot. Do it. And if that is you and let's face it, we've all been in that position before.

Then this name of God in the book of Exodus. This truth in 1 Corinthians is great news for us, the people of God. Exodus 31 verse 13, say to the Israelites, you must observe my sabbaths, This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the Lord. Who makes you holy. That is his name.

That is how he reveals himself and that is his work in the lives of his people to make us only. And with that in mind, we're just gonna look at 2 points this evening. The first point is this, who is this lord who makes us holy? And what does it mean to be holy? Who is this law that makes us holy?

And what does it mean to be? Holy. So the first point, who is this lord? Well, in verse 12 of exodus 31, we're told that it is the capital l o r d, which which is the personal name for God, yahweh. And as we've been seeing in this series, Yahweh is the covenant name for God.

So it's like the title, husband, or wife. It's a name which tells you something about the nature of the relation ship. This is not just boyfriend and girlfriend. These are not just partners This is a covenant name. A covenant has been made.

Promises have been made. Yairwe tells the people have got something about their relationship. It is built on promise. So this is the Lord Yahweh it is the marriage name or the family name for God. And although it's the same with have seen that in our series, it is worth emphasizing again at the end.

1 of the things which you sometimes read in Christian books time to time, is something like this or some statement to this effect. The bible is not about us, it's about God. Than if you've read something like that before. The bible is not about us. It's about God.

And what they're trying to say there is that when we read the bible, we want to avoid a man centered approach, which makes us the center stage actor which makes it all about us and who we are rather than actually a book which reveals God as our creator and how we fit into his plan. So there's something good about that emphasis. But where that statement is misleading, is that actually from the very first page of the bible until the very last page of the bible, God is revealing himself to people. People are involved in his self revelation. And you know, in the old testament, that was what made God so distinctive.

You see with bail, it just wasn't like that. If if you were a worshipper of bail and there was no rain and no children are being born into your community, you could fairly assume that you'd upset him. But how? What did you done wrong? How were you supposed to put it right?

What exactly was he upset about? You couldn't really know he was the storm god. He was the lord of fertility. He had these titles but he never revealed himself in the context of covenant and relationship. You could never really know who he was, what he loved and what he hated.

But Yahweh the 1 true living God does do that. His names don't just reveal him They reveal what it's like to know him. It's not just the Lord a refuge. Like a title. It is the Lord Hour refuge.

Not just the Lord is righteous but the Lord Hour righteousness. He's not just the Lord who is a light. He is the Lord our light. He is not just the God who is holy. He is the God who makes you holy.

And because of Jesus, he is not just a father. He is our father. These names reveal what it's like to know God. He reveals himself in the context of relationship. And not just to individuals.

That's the key that he reveals himself to a people. He is these names, all that we've looked at in the series. He is these things for the church. Ephesians 5 25 puts it this way. Hus husbands love your wives, just as Christ love the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.

So who is it that acts? It's Christ What does he do? He makes holy. Who does he do it for the church? He sanctifies a people.

And actually in exodus 31, the you is plural. So it's not just I am the lord who makes you individual holy. It's I am the lord who makes you all holy. You plural, holiness and the church go together. The lord sanctifies a people.

And we'll think more about that in just a moment. But for now in this first point, it's enough to sing, that the 1 who sanctifies us is Yahweh the relational God When it comes to holiness, our father is the chief doer. He is the 1 who does it for us. He makes us holy. So Yowei is the 1 who makes us holy.

Secondly, What does it mean to be made holy? Well, you might think of it this way. If you were to adopt a child From the moment, I guess, that you sign the paperwork, pick them up and bring them home. They are your child. There has been a change in position.

They are now officially your children. But in those first few weeks and months, things might be really strange for them. Particularly if they're a bit older, There's a new culture to adjust to. There's new ways of doing things. There's new traditions.

There's gonna be do's and don'ts that they weren't familiar with. And therefore, it is going to take time to grow into the likeness of the family. The position has changed. That's done, but there will also be a kind of progress in family life. And that is exactly how Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 2.

To the church of God in corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus. There's a new position. They've been set apart, sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be his holy people. There's going to be progress. There is position and there is progress.

When it comes to holiness. Now, when it comes to the position side of this, In the old testament, there's a very common word for holiness, which which does refer to life and the kind of moral life that we live. But very often, it just means to be set apart or to be different. And that is why things like shovels and lampstands and mountains can be called holy. I mean, a mountain cannot be morally pure, but it can be set apart for a special purpose by the lord.

It can become unlike other mountains if the lord sets it apart. Or if it's helpful illustration, you might think of those colored chopping boards that we have at the hub and maybe you've got them at home. They're all the same size. They're the same kind of shape, and it's the same plastic. But if it's red, it has been set apart for raw meat.

It has been set apart for a special purpose. That That's the idea. And if we were to take a or do a big survey of this section of exodus, we would see that yahweh making things holy is the big idea. In 1 book I was reading, they've done a wordle diagram, which which takes a portion of text And what it does is it searches for the most common words in a section, and then it creates a diagram where the most used words are the largest. And although it's not a perfect way of doing bible study because something very very important might be sent just once.

It is 1 way of getting the big picture of the section of a book of the bible. And I'm gonna send it to the media team, and hopefully you're gonna you're gonna see that wordle diagram. And you will see that your way make holy are the 3 biggest words in this this whole section of exodus. The Lord wants the tabernacle and the altar and the lampstand and his people to be different. He wants to set them apart.

And actually, that is what the Sabbath was all about. If you have a look at verse 12, This name comes in the middle of some Sabbath instructions. So have a look at verse 12. Then the Lord said to Moses, say to the Israelites, you must observe my sabbaths. This will be a sign between you I me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the lord who makes you holy.

So what was the Sabbath? Well, there's whole sermons we could preach on it. But it is a reminder that they should rest as God rested. It is a reminder of their salvation. But the Sabbath was also to be a sign for God's people.

Every week they were to have a set apart day to remember that they were a set apart people. A sanctified day for a sanctified people. And so the whole point of the Sabbath was to remind them. The Lord has made you holy and chosen you for himself. So to be holy, is to be set apart.

That's 1 side of it. You're adopted into the family. But the other side of it is a kind of progress in holiness or again to take the adoption illustration. Once we're in the family, we grow into the family likeness. In Titus, chapter 2 verse 13, Paul puts it this way and just see the themes with holiness and purity and the life follows.

He says our great God and Savior Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself, a people that are his very own. God has done that in Christ. He's a decisive act. He's purified his people, but what are they like eager to do? What is good?

With the new position comes a new passion for holiness. Now when it comes to this life of holiness or living living a pure life for God. There are a number of different ways in which we can go we can go wrong. So what we're not talking about here is being the type of person who loves loads and loads of very panickety details laws about how to manage and control your life or other people's lives. That that kind of thing Although it can look pious, because here's a person who's thought really carefully about everything and how exactly they must live and what exactly they must avoid and when.

Actually, it can just be a mask. And the things of the holy spirit The character of Jesus, the things of patience, and gentleness, and goodness, and self control might might actually be missing. So we mustn't mistake it. From being a sort of luring person. Or we might think that holiness is looking at what the world seems to like, and thinking, oh, crumbs, I better avoid it.

It must be wrong if the world likes it. So for instance, Netflix, you know, the world is pretty into Netflix. It likes Netflix. And a wrong Christian attitude might be to say, okay, well, it's popular in the world. Therefore, it must be inherently evil.

Because if it was good, the world wouldn't like it. And so therefore, I've got to avoid it myself. That would also be a wrong way of thinking about holiness. What we are being called to in this life of good, this life of progress is what Paul talks about in Romans 12. When he says that we need to have our minds renewed by the mercy of God, so that we can test and approve what is good and perfect and pleasing so we can live according to his will.

It's what Paul emphasizes in Galatians 5. When he talks about the spirit of Jesus producing the character and the fruit of Jesus in our lives. That's that's holiness. Or to pick up on an earlier point, another way we might go wrong is we think that holiness is just personal goal. It's all about me and my holy life independent of others.

But as I've already tried to show you, that cannot be the case. Because in exodus, God says, I am the Lord who makes you all plural, holy. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is writing to a church. Holyness is a group activity. And when we think about it, that must be true.

How how can I, for instance, grow impatience if I don't go to church? I I I need other people around me, brothers and sisters in order to grow in love and patience and kindness. So you see with with the new position in Christ comes a new passion. To grow up into the likeness of Christ. Martin Luther apparently put it this way although it's hard to know who originally said it.

He says, we are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. We are saved by faith alone but the faith that saves is never alone. In other words, saving faith. Comes with a passion to be like Christ. And so how do we then condense this down and apply this name of God to us.

Well, the first thing to say is that if you are a Christian this evening. Watching this, if you are a born again new creation in the Lord, then let this name strengthen you in the battle. In Christ, you have already been set apart. You have been made holy in the lord. Jesus Christ on the cross died for you.

Your sins are paid for. But just as important, he also lived for you. He died for you and he lived for you. He lived the perfect holy life. And by faith, that is counted to us.

I love the way Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30. He really wants them to get this, it seems. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, It is because of God that you are in Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God That is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Christ is our righteousness. Christ is our holiness, he says.

If we are in him, we are made like him. That is not a legal fiction. That is not God pretending that something is true when it isn't. That is the gospel hope. We have been made righteous and set apart in Christ.

But the grace that God gives goes even further. You see, 1 wrong way to take this sermon would be to say, okay, I've got it. The the positional side of this is God's work. The progress side is all down to me. God does the first bit.

I do the second bit, and together we'll get there in the end. That is not actually how Titus put it. Do you remember? We're told that Christ purifies us and he gives us the passion. To do good, and he gives us the grace to say no.

The grace that says no to sin and to you what is good. He gives both the purification and the grace to live the life. And so when it comes to holiness in both position and progress. Grace. But with that in mind, we do have a very real and very active role to play.

Remember Luther's point, saving faith is never alone. It must produce a new life. And that is a must by the way. There is no such thing as a set apart Christian who has no interest in being like Jesus. They always go together, we must by God's grace put sin to death, we must by God's grace throw off the sin that so easily entangles.

We must, by God's grace, be set apart from the world. And therefore, the challenging question for all of us brothers and sisters is in what way do we need to grow in the family likeness? Is there anything in in your life at the moment? That truth be told you need to throw off in the pursuit of being like Christ. Is there anything good good or bad it could be?

That if you're honest is compromising your holiness. Or perhaps we fallen into the trap of replacing the real true spirit holiness with a religious counterfeit. Well, if so, let's be quick to repent. Let's be quick to come back to our gracious Savior and to turn to this lord of exodus 31 13. What a wonderful name this is to finish on.

Say to the Israelites. You must observe my sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you and for the generations to come. So that you may know that I am the lord who makes you holy. Take a minute this evening.

Just to come to this lord, to say sorry to confess, and to ask for his help to thank him that you've already been set apart. And to ask that you may grow in your life into the family likeness of Christ. Just a moment to do that. Heavenly father, we thank you that you are our gods and we thank you that we can know you by your names. And we thank you that you reveal yourself in these relational terms.

This is what it's like to know you. You are our light and our righteousness and our joy, you are our refuge, you are our hope, and our encouragement. And as we've seen tonight, you are the Lord who makes us holy. We thank you Lord that in your son you have set us apart, you have made us righteous, you have called us to be different. Lord, how gracious you have been to us.

And we pray that you would help us all in our own lives to grow in the family likeness, to continue to fight for holiness, to battle with all the strength that you give us. To be evermore like our Savior Jesus Christ, and we ask it in his name. Armet.