THE NAME
[p. 566] THE NAME
Leviticus 24:10 - 16; Matthew 18:20; Genesis 35:9 - 13
I intend to speak this evening, brethren, about the Name. This scripture speaks of blaspheming the Name, a serious offence. We should understand what the Name signifies; understand that in the mind of the spiritual there is only one Name that could be so alluded to. The men in the camp in Israel had acquired names of renown; Moses and Aaron and others. Moses had acquired a great name, but the Name as set forth could allude to none of their renowned affairs. It could allude to only one Person — and that is Jehovah.
In the New Testament we have reference to Jesus as the One in whom all the fulness is revealed. The spiritual understand that; that it alludes to the Deity. It could allude to no other. We find that in Hebrews that Jesus is said to have made purification of sins; and afterwards to have set Himself down at the right hand of the greatness in the heavens. We do not need to question that greatness — it could only be the greatness of One. Then, again, He sat down at the right hand of the throne. Here again the spiritual is to be understood. It is to bring out who Jesus was; that He Himself is divine. No one of his own volition could set himself up and be a divine Person. So that we understand what these circumstances mean. They allude to God. What greatness and fulness in the Name! — as in this instance in the Old Testament; we are to be imbued in our whole being with the idea of the Name — and that it all centres in God. Whatever is of value must emanate from Him. This brings out the gravity of the crime committed here — blaspheming the Name.
The mother of the man who committed the crime was an Israelite and his father was a heathen. The man therefore was a mongrel, not of the true seed. He was [p. 567] not of the right strain. He was a mixture, of which there are millions today — persons who are not of the right seed. A person who has the right father and the right mother is different — like Isaac. Isaac was and represents a wholly right seed. That is to say, one who has God as his Father, knowingly, and who apprehends the assembly. That is, all true christians. This blasphemer was not that. He was a mongrel. A warning indeed as to mixtures — unholy mixtures. The result is usually baneful. Here is the most serious offence — to blaspheme the Name. The Name, beloved friends. Does it appeal to your heart? The Name!
How we cherish a little natural greatness for our names, our ancestry, so as to have some little honour. There are people who make money in looking up ancestries, and they never fail to find them. They find ones of distinction; or if there are none, they will attach some distinction to the family tree. Then, again, our natural ability is sure, if rightly used, to bring a person into distinction in this world. However obscure a man’s origin, if he uses his ability well, he is sure to obtain distinction. And there is money — money buys its way even to the purchase of titles. But all this is to the one end (and I am not speaking of any one else but myself; I know what the natural man is: if one knows himself, one knows everybody, in a sense). The more we value our name, the more likely we are to blaspheme the only right and real Name — the only abiding One. Those in this world knew who Jesus was. They knew well enough how transcending He was. They knew in their hearts what He was. They discerned that He was the true One. They would overpower Him with honour to make him part of their system. The world has no difficulty on that line. It would absorb Christ and make Him part of the system. How much would He adorn it!
But He does not intend to adorn this world. The blind man in John 9 was to wash away what Jesus had put on his eyes: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam”,
[p. 568] said the Lord. It meant that the Lord did not intend to add to this world — He did not intend to adorn this world.
If you want the world, you must make up your mind that, you must have it without Christ. The man said to the Pharisees that he was blind but that now he was seeing. What did he see? He really saw, beloved friends, that Jesus had come to wipe away the sin of the world.
And so this ‘mongrel’ had a name, no doubt. His mother’s name was known; she had a certain distinction. But he blasphemed the Deity. How much of that is going on! The Lord says to Philadelphia, “thou ... hast not denied my name”, Revelation 3:8. The whole system, beloved friends, is again alluded to. The Lord’s Name is being set aside. The Lord does not like it. When we speak of Christ, when we present Christ to others, it involves the Name. What are you baptised to? Unto Christ — to the Name. Why should we be baptised to any other? I am baptised to that glorious Name. Why should I take on any other? To take on any other is to discredit that Name, to make little of it. The Lord does not like that; He makes a great promise to Philadelphia, for that assembly has not denied His Name. That promise holds good this very night.
The mystery of iniquity does its work, aided by Satan, but it is always held back. It is held back tonight. Why should I relinquish that Name? In it is all the Deity. Denying It is blasphemy; the Name! God is jealous about this. We have to deal with the Lord in these things. We must be on our guard against blaspheming the Name. I am not speaking of how it is used in the gutters and streets. I am speaking now of christians blaspheming the Name. God’s eye is upon it all. God is putting in His claim for one and then another. He has put His claim upon us; that His Name should be honoured. His Name is to be praised.
Matthew’s gospel describes what governs those who are not drawn into disregard of the divine Name. This [p. 569] verse is like a charter for christians. “Gathered ... unto my name”. Those who love Him meet together — two or three, or twenty or thirty, or two hundred or three hundred; but however many, all are gathered unto that glorious Name! Think of the magnitude of it. Is it not attractive to you? Most of us here understand that the Lord has put in His claim, and I would ask, Would you not like to be one of those who do not deny the Lord’s Name? No power can overthrow those who are gathered unto His Name. May God help us to understand the greatness of this.
No matter how good our meetings may seem to be, the Lord says that He must have the last word. It is a most serious matter. As in Revelation, He is walking in the midst of the lamps, and passing judgment upon the assemblies. He says to those who do not deny His Name, “I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial”, Revelation 3:10. Oh, that we might move in the right direction!
Our Lord’s Name was one of renown. He sprang from Judah. What a Name!
Jacob is the first with whom the idea of the house of God is connected in Scripture. John gives us the persons, and brings in tabernacle conditions for those who love the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of us is to have a name. Every christian is to have a name and is to be known in heaven by his own name, the name that Jesus gives him. Would you not like to know it — the name that Jesus gives you? Rejoice that your names are written in heaven, not in London or in Paris, but in heaven! Think of having a heavenly name — an everlasting name — written in heaven! There are grades of distinction; every one of us having our names registered in heaven. The builders for the heavenly tabernacle must be a heavenly people. The finest piece of architecture in this world is nothing to God. The tabernacle down here was to be a copy, in a sense, of what is up there. It is a heavenly institution. We are told that we are a tabernacle down here for God. We [p. 570] are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit. How great a fact that is! It is a wonderful system of things. We have our names. If I apprehend my heavenly calling, that name shall be my heavenly name.
Things may detain us even after we have the light. Money may detain us. But we cannot bring our money, or our cattle, or our distinction in this world into the house of God. We may as well let them go now; they certainly will go when we die. As it is said, we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly shall carry nothing out.
Is it not attractive to have a name in the house of God, a name that endures, that is written, as I might say, in letters of gold up there. Is it not attractive for each of us to have a name in that house? May God help us to see this. What I am naturally is to be dropped; I get another name. Jacob was to be called Israel. “Israel shall be thy name”.
God discloses Himself to us in the most delightful surroundings. You see what a circle we are brought into, and how we acquire a name by which we are known. Though I may call you Mr. So-and-So or Mrs. So-and-So, I am thinking of you — what you are, not merely your name. It is what we are. If you get distinction in the house of God, it will stay with you. Would you relinquish that glorious name in heaven for some tarnished bit of renown here? May the Lord help us to see these great things and to come into them — share them together. May we sit down together up there, and be no longer the children of God scattered abroad, but gathered together with Him, up there.