Numbers 6:22-27, English Standard Version (ESV): Aaron's Blessing

Transcription

1 Sermon Notes and Scriptures The Holy Name of Jesus January 1, 2017 Robbie Pruitt Numbers 6:22-27, English Standard Version (ESV): Aaron's Blessing 22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 27 So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them. Galatians 4:4-7 English Standard Version (ESV) 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Or: Philippians 2:5-13 (ESV) 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

2 Luke 2:15-21 English Standard Version (ESV) 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Prayer: The Holy Name: January 1 Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 213). (Preface of the Incarnation).

3 The Most Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ The Circumcision of Christ Sermon Title: The Blessing of Jesus Holy Name Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and welcome to Christ the King! My name is Robbie Pruitt and I am a Pastoral Associate here at Christ the King and I am so glad that we are starting 2017 off right together as we worship our crucified and risen King in the rich Anglican tradition, make Him known in our community by what we say and do, and to grow together as a church family, which is our churches mission. Again, on behalf of our pastor, David Glade, who is traveling this week, we want to wish you and your family all the best in 2017 and always. David sends his new year s greetings and is praying for us this morning as we enter this time of worship together. He wishes you and your family a very Happy New Year! Let s pray together. Lord, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen! (Psalm 19:14). Today s sermon is titled The Blessing of Jesus Holy Name. Summary: Blessing and salvation come through Jesus Christ our King; through Christ and Christ alone. Today we celebrate the feast day of The Most Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, formerly named the feast of The Circumcision of Christ, where we remember the naming of Jesus by Mary and Joseph eight days after His birth at His circumcision. All week, in my preparation for this sermon, I have had the words of an old Methodist hymn in my head. The hymn is called, " There's Within My Heart a Melody". I will spare you and will not sing it, but this is how it goes: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Sweetest name I know. Fills my every longing. Keeps me singing as I go. Feasting on the riches of his grace. Resting neath the sheltering wing. Always looking on his smiling face. That is why I shout and sing. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

4 Sweetest name I know. Fills my every longing. Keeps me singing as I go. Isn t that so good! There is something sweet about the name of Jesus! In our first reading in Numbers 6:27 the blessing of God s sweet name is promised, So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them. (Numbers 6:27, ESV). In the Gospel reading, and in Matthew 1:21, we see the fulfillment of this verse as the angel spoke to Joseph and said, She [Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matt. 1:21, ESV). And in Luke 2:21, Luke s Gospel says, And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21, ESV). There is something in a name. Names are extremely important. Jesus name is of utmost importance. His name is so important that God sent His messenger, an angel, to ensure the name was right, and rightly given. The angel said, His name is to be Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matt. 1:21, ESV). According to the Tyndale Bible Dictionary, the name Jesus means savior or Jehovah [Yahweh] is salvation. This was the name given to the Messiah. This is the name above all other names. As in Aaron s Blessing, it is in the name of Jesus that we are blessed. There was an article in the Guardian, entitled, One in five mothers say they chose the wrong name for their child, poll finds. In the article, the term namer s remorse is coined. The article says, One in five mothers feels namer s remorse and would pick another name for their child if they had the choice, according to a survey before this week s annual announcement on baby names. My wife and I both have had some first-hand experience with this. Irene s parents renamed her after she was born, having not been able to agree on her first name and middle name. Irene s mom finally won with Irene as her first name. However, when her mom was recovering from Irene s birth, her dad tricked her mom into changing the name to what he wanted. When her mom

5 rested up and saw what had happened, she was not happy and she changed it back. They all laugh about it now, but that s intense. As for me, God is gracious and good and spared me of some namer remorse of my own, concerning what I believe a less than ideal name. If I had been a girl, my mom was going to name me Tida. Tida! Now, if your name is Tida, I am happy for you, and hope you love the name. As for me, this name just does not work. No one s name is Tida in our family, and I do not think the name fits me very well. I ended up with name Robert Charles Pruitt, after my dad s best friends Bobby and Charles. These names have significance and meaning. Bobby was a great friend to my dad and died way too early. My dad wanted remember and pay tribute to him by giving me his name. My uncle Charlie, my dad s other friend, did not have kids at the time, and even now only has girls, and my dad wanted him to have a namesake. I carry these names with pride. They have meaning and significance. And though I go by Robbie, my legal name Robert means bright fame. I can see this vibrancy in my personality and I attempt live into my names. Do you know what your name means? Do you know why your name is significant? No matter what name we have, there is no greater name than the most Holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ! The name of Jesus carries with it great blessing. God has given us the blessing of his own Holy name, the name of Jesus. It is by this name of Jesus that we are forgiven and saved! No other name will save us. It s the beginning of a new year and I imagine that we all want the blessing of God in If we are to have God s blessing, we must put His name above all other names, including our own. We must put His name above our own fame. As Numbers 6:27 says, So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them. (Numbers 6:27, ESV). The blessing we are seeking can only be found in Jesus Christ our King. For years, I have been speaking Aaron s blessing over our daughter Grace, and now I say this blessing over our daughter Hannah as well. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep

6 you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:22-26, ESV). Aaron s Blessing is one of the greatest blessings and prayers in all of scripture, right up there with the Lord s Prayer, and it hinges upon God s Holy name. I had not seen this before, always stopping at verse 26, but verse 27 makes it clear how this blessing is conferred, So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them. (vs. 27). It is God who blesses us! Aaron s Blessing assures us that God has blessed us and keeps us. God has made His face to shine upon us and has been gracious towards us. He has lifted His face to us and gives us His peace. God has given us His name and His blessing (Numbers 6:22-27). In the commentary The Message of Numbers, Raymond Brown says, In a consumerist culture, people no longer look to God as the source of life s best gifts. Our neighbors adore their deified alternatives: pleasure, possessions, popularity, sex, [and] self. One of the world s biggest advertising agencies claims that brands are the new religion. People turn to them for meaning. The most successful brands are those that stand not just for quality and reliability but for a set of beliefs that they refuse to compromise. Scripture asserts that God alone is the source of our lasting satisfaction and fulfillment. Alluring substitutes are flimsy commodities, doomed to disappoint the millions who clutch at them. (p. 56). In the Thomas Nelson, New King James Version Study Bible, the commentary on Numbers 6:27 says, Perhaps the most impressive element of this passage [Aaron s Blessing] is the conclusion [in verse 27]. God intended to place His name on the people. They would bear the benediction of His name as a spiritual brand, a mark of identification that they were a people peculiarly related to God Himself. The name of Jesus Christ is our brand. This is why we are called little Christs, Christians, when we become Christ followers. We take on His identity. Do we identify more with the name of Jesus or our own names? Are we more concerned about His name or our own fame?

7 Jesus name is superior and is essential for our lives and salvation. As Matthew 1:21 says, And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matt. 1:21, ESV). God has saved us from our sins in Christ Jesus our King. Acts 4:12 is clear that there is salvation in no other name. This passage asserts, And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12, ESV). And Romans 10:13 promises us that Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Rom. 10:13, ESV). God s blessing comes through God s name. We must put God s name above our own names. We must put His name above our own fame. Pride and selfabsorption gets us in trouble every time. We need humility. We must avoid pride, and idolatry at all costs. This is the lesson from Babel in Genesis 11. In their pride, the people wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted heaven without God. They wanted life on their terms. They wanted to be like the giants in the land and wanted to be great. They were, as we would put it, trying to keep up with the jones. In our Philippians 2:5-13 reading, we see the solution for this pride and idolatry. In Philippians, we are urged by Paul to focus on Jesus. There are at least three things in this passage which are emphasized: 1. a better mind, 2. a better name, and 3. a better work. (Philippians 2:5-13). Paul encourages the Philippians to have the same mind of humility as Jesus had. He said, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8). This is the humility we are called to. To be crucified with Christ, nevertheless, to live, yet it is not us who live, but Christ who lives within us (as in Gal. 2:20). Andrew Murray said it this way, Christ is the humility of God embodied in human nature; the Eternal Love humbling itself, clothing itself in the garb of meekness and gentleness, to win and serve and save us. This is Jesus Christ our King!

8 Next, Paul encourages the Philippians to focus on the name of Jesus. He says, Therefore God has highly exalted him [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11). We are to be bearers of the name of Jesus and to submit underneath the Lordship of Jesus Christ our King. Lastly, Paul points the Philippians to a better work, the work of Jesus Christ in us, for His good purposes. Paul says, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13). God is at work in us to will and to work for His good pleasure. His work is a better work. In conclusion, when we take on the name of Jesus Christ our King, we are adopted sons and daughters, we have an eternal inheritance. Everything is ours in Christ Jesus our King. (The story of the death of Mr. Swain, his name, and his legacy) My wife and I went to the funeral of my best friend s father over Christmas In Galatians 4:4-7, we see that we are redeemed and welcomed into the family of God, through Jesus Christ our King. Paul says, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:4-7, ESV). We are God s children. All He has is ours. God has given us His name and His blessing. This is what Christmas is about, and this is what will bring about blessing in this new year and beyond into eternity. This is one of the lessons from the prodigal sons in Luke 15. When the oldest son did not want to come into the feast because of his bitterness concerning the father s grace toward his younger brother, the father tells the oldest son, all I have is yours. He was speaking of the son s inheritance. When we take on the name of Jesus, above and before our own names, we are sons and daughters of Jesus Christ our King and we have an eternal name and inheritance in Him.

9 Augustine said, Christ is not valued at all unless He is valued above all. Above all others, will you receive The Most Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ our King today? Come to Him. Take on the name above all other names. Come to the feast. Final Blessing: Now, may The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:22-26, ESV). Closing Prayer: The Holy Name of Jesus, from Philippians 2:5-11, ESV Lord Jesus, yours is the name above all other names! Help us to walk in humility, having this mind among ourselves, which is ours in Christ Jesus. Though you were in the form of God, you did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied yourself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, you humbled yourself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. We praise you, Lord Jesus, because God has highly exalted you and has bestowed on you the name that is above every name, so that at your name, the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And it is in this Holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen! (Philippians 2:5-11, ESV) Works Cited ( ( (Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, Tyndale Bible Dictionary, Tyndale Reference Library (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 695.) The Message of Numbers, Raymond Brown. (p. 56). Thomas Nelson, New King James Version Study Bible, the commentary on Numbers 6:27

10 Sermon Notes The Blessing of Jesus Holy Name Numbers 6:22-27, Luke 2:15-21, Philippians 2:5-13, Galatians 4:4-7 Robbie Pruitt So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them. (Numbers 6:27, ESV). She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matt. 1:21, ESV). And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21, ESV). Most of us are seeking blessing in our lives and in this new year. Blessing comes through the name of Jesus. What we are seeking can only be found in Jesus Christ our King. Arron s Blessing: God has blessed us and keeps us. God has made His face to shine upon us and has been gracious towards us. He has lifted His face to us and gives us His peace. God has given us His name and His blessing (Arron s Blessing, Numbers 6:22-27). And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matt. 1:21, ESV). And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21, ESV). o God has saved us from our sins in Christ Jesus our King. o And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12, ESV). o Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Rom. 10:13, ESV). God s blessing comes through God s name. We must put God s name above our own names. His name above our own fame. o Humility, pride, and idolatry: lessons from Babel (Genesis 11). o A better mind. A better name. A better work. (Philippians 2:5-13) As adopted sons and daughters, we have an eternal inheritance. Everything is ours in Christ Jesus our King. (Galatians 4:4-7). God has given us His name and His blessing. o Lesson s from the prodigal sons (Luke 15). Christ is the humility of God embodied in human nature; the Eternal Love humbling itself, clothing itself in the garb of meekness and gentleness, to win and serve and save us. Andrew Murray Christ is not valued at all unless He is valued above all. Augustine You don t realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. Tim Keller