Articles
Reverend is His Name
Reverend Is His Name
By Kent Heaton
The book of Psalms is a powerful testimony to the majesty, praise, glory and awesome power of Jehovah God. Isaiah wrote the words of the Lord, "To whom would you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me, that we would be alike … Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me” (Isa. 46:5,9). How majestic is the name of the Lord and holy. The Lord instructed the children of Israel not to take His name in vain as He prescribed the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain” (Ex. 20:7).
The name of God is “Jealous” (Exodus 34:14) because the Lord God is a jealous God. To be jealous is to be “intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness; hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage” (Webster). The Lord is intolerant of those who would seek to put other gods before Him or take His name in vain. No one can be equal with Jehovah God!
An unnamed psalmist penned the words of Psalm 111 to declare the power of the Lord in creation. Seen clearly in the psalm is the overshadowing power of the providential care and grace of the Lord to the faithful. All men must stand in awe of the Creator of this world to declare the name of Jehovah God as the great “I AM” (Ex. 3:14). How great is our God and yet how small is man. In verse nine of the text the psalmist declares the name of the Lord is “Holy and Reverend (awesome)”.
The holiness of the Lord is unquestionable. Peter exhorted the early disciples to be holy because God was holy (1Peter 1:16). The name of God is “reverend” because it is a name to be feared and worshipped. The Lord is worthy of reverence because of His greatness, His grace, His sacrifice and His love. What man among men can take the name “reverend” to be feared, worshipped or adored?
Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) wrote in The Treasury of David: “The whole name or character of God is worthy of profoundest awe, for it is perfect and complete, whole or holy. It ought not to be spoken without solemn thought, and never heard without profound homage. His name is to be trembled at; it is something terrible; even those who know him best rejoice with trembling before him. How good men can endure to be called ‘reverend’ we know not. Being unable to discover any reason why our fellow-men should reverence us, we half suspect that in other men there is not very much which can entitle them to be called reverend, very reverend, right reverend, and so on. It may seem a [small] matter, but for that very reason we would urge that the foolish custom should be allowed to fall into disuse.”
Spurgeon suggests that this is a small matter, but God considers it a matter of greater importance. Asaph wrote in Psalm 50:21, "These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.” The triviality of man’s respect for the name of God will not go unnoticed by the Creator. “Holy and awesome is HIS NAME” (Psalm 111:9).
Unevenly Yoked
You live a lonely life. You’re a single Mom in church. You watch other husbands hold their wives hands when we pray together in church, and yours is nowhere to be found. You worry about what you have to teach your kids, and whether he will let you. I know you think you’re strong, but sometimes he brings you down. You feel so weak, you want to give up. It’s hard being unevenly yoked.
You feel like you are being punished. But don’t blame God. You chose this man, not Him. You pray for him constantly hoping someday you’ll have a Christian husband. The road is very rocky; you hope you will survive. But until then, you live two separate lives: one with him; one with God. (By an unevenly yoked wife who chooses to remain unknown)
Ain’t It Funny
--How we set our clocks to arise at 5:00 A.M. to be at the job by 7:30; yet, when Sunday comes we can’t get to the church building for the 9:30 A.M. Bible study to learn more about the one who gave us our jobs.
--How we call God our Father and Jesus our brother; but find it hard to introduce them to our family and friends.
--How small our sins seem; but how big “their” sins are.
--How we demand justice for others; but expect mercy from God for ourselves.
--How much difficulty some have learning the Gospel well enough to tell others; but how simple it is to understand and explain the latest gossip about someone else.
--How we can’t think of anything to say when we pray to God; but don’t have any difficulty thinking of things to talk about to a human friend.
--How we are so quick to take directions from a total stranger when we are lost; but are hesitant to take God’s direction for our lives. (Are these things really funny?)
Duck Church
One fine Sunday morning, the ducks gathered for duck church. They waddled into their duck pews, sang from their duck song books, and listened to their duck preacher. The duck preacher said, “Ducks, you don’t have to waddle. You have wings like eagles. You can fly! Fly, ducks, fly! The ducks all said, “Amen, Amen!” Then, when the service was over, the ducks got up and waddled home.
New Testament Application: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” (James 1:22-24)
A Moments Wisdom
--God puts the church in the world, while Satan tries to put the world in the church.
--To grow tall spiritually, a man must first learn to kneel.
--Revenge is sort of like biting a dog because the dog bit you.
--People look at preachers out of the pulpit to see what they mean when they are in it.
--If we let God guide, He will provide.
--Even folks on the level will have their ups and downs.
So… How Well Do You Listen to the Sermons?
A minister and two of his friends from the congregation went bear hunting, and all three of them saw a bear at exactly the same moment. They raised their guns, fired, and the bear fell. Then came the discussion about who shot the bear. The mystery deepened as they searched for bullet holes and found none. Finally, the man up near the head whistled in amazement and said, “I guess the preacher got him.” “Why is that,” the second man objected. “Well, the bullet went in one ear and out the other,” he replied. (No bears were harmed in the telling of this story.)
Upcoming Sermons
9/10/23 AM - Saying What No One Wants to Hear; PM - Judged by the World
9/17/23 AM - Doubts that Do Not Damage, Part One; PM - Learning about Learning
9/23/23 AM - Doubts that Do Not Damage, Conclusion; PM - Living and Learning
