Greg Laurie - What's in a Name (03/31/2018)
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Pastor Greg Laurie preaches on Isaiah 9:6, exploring the profound names of Jesus—Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace—revealing His purpose to bring wonder to life, guidance in decisions, power for demands, and eternal hope. He invites people to accept Christ as the true gift of Christmas for forgiveness and eternal life.
The Importance and Humor of Names
Hey if you brought your Bible I am going to read in a moment from a very familiar Christmas passage Isaiah 9:6. But the title of this message is, "What's in a Name?"
You know I heard a story about a guy who got stuck with the last name of Odd. Can you imagine what he had to deal with? Everywhere he went he would introduce himself as Odd. "Oh that's Odd." "What an Odd name." He hated it. All through life he had to put up with these jokes and snide remarks about his last name.
So he actually gave instruction that upon his death he didn't want anything put on his tombstone. He wanted a blank tombstone. He couldn't bear the thought of people standing at his grave and continuing to say that thought. So he just, a blank tombstone. And they did exactly as he requested.
But the strange thing is when people walked by and saw a tombstone with no inscription they would say, "That's odd."
You know names are important. If you have been stuck with a difficult name you know what I am talking about. One psychologist studied the names of 15,000 juvenile delinquents and discovered that those with odd or embarrassing names were in trouble four times as much as the others.
I went through life with a girl's last name. Right. Greg Laurie. L-A-U-R-I-E. And I would spell it. "What is her name?" "Greg Laurie." "How do you spell it?" "L-A-U-R-I-E." "Well that's like a girl spells it." "Yes it is."
And then to make matters worse I got stuck with a nickname. How many of you had nicknames through life? Well I don't know where this came. Well actually it was my aunt who came up with it. My nickname was Pogo. Don't ever call me Pastor Pogo. I will not respond. But so now to what insult to injury I am Pogo Laurie. Thank you very much.
So I have some sympathy for those who have names that they are not happy with. In fact people will anguish over what to name their children.
Unusual Names from the Past and Present
You know during the 60s as a lot of people were having kids. A lot of them living on communes. As a matter of fact they didn't want to choose the more traditional names that they had or their parents had. So they started coming up with some very unusual names.
These are names actually given to kids by their parents who lived on communes. Mourning. Carrot. Sunshine. Fender. Gravy. I am not sure about gravy. How about this one. Doobie. That is a child destined to have drug issues. You know what I am saying. We don't know why our son is struggling with drugs. What is his name? Doobie. That is his brother Junkie right over there.
Why would you name your kid that? Now the popular names of eras, days gone by with names like Charles, John, Robert are gone. And now parents will actually Google for new and unusual names.
And they want to be very careful as one parent said in an interview about naming her child. She said, "Well I don't want to name my child after a serial killer in Nebraska." So you are trying to find just that perfect name.
And by the way here are the most popular names today for girls. Number ten. Abigail. We have any Abigails here? Okay. It is not that popular. They are probably all in the nursery right now. That is why.
Number nine is Emily. Madison. Chloe. Call out if this is one of your names. Lily. Ava. Olivia. Isabella. Emma. None of these names. And the number one girl's name? Gertrude. I made that up. Number one girl's name is Sophia. Any Sophias? Yeah they are not that popular. Okay.
For boys. Number ten. Logan. On to Lucas. Noah. Ethan. Jayden. Jacob. Liam. Mason. Oh. Which one? Okay. Yeah. Jackson. And the number one name for boys? Greg. No it is Greg. It is actually Greg Laurie. Which is weird. But anyway.
People come up with all these names. Because everyone wants to be a little different. You know girls will often get names like Amber, Jade, Diamonds and Crystal sort of gem names. And now the new trend in boy names is geographic names. These are actual names. Austin. Dakota. Zaire. Dallas. There is one of them. Israel. Sydney.
You know these are cool names. Is anyone ever going to name their kid Riverside? Meet Young Riverside? There is his brother San Bernardino. His nickname is Verdue. And here comes a little Pedaly on the tricycle. Come on Pedaly. Pedal along. I don't think those names make it.
Celebrity Stage Names and Biblical Naming Practices
A lot of celebrities. You have heard their names. They are not their real names. They are stage names. How about Cornelius Crane Chase. Also known as Chevy Chase. Frances Gumm changed her name to Judy Garland. Karen Johnson changed her name to Whoopi Goldberg.
Thomas Mapather IV changed his name to Tom Cruise. Gordon Sumner changed his name to Sting. David Hal Evans became the Edge in U2. Paul Hewson became Bono. Tracy Morrow became Ice-T. No wonder. That is just not a gangster name is it? I am a gangster. What is your name? Tracy Morrow. It is not working. It is not working.
How about this one. Brian Hugh Warner became Marilyn Manson. I like this one. Vincent Damon Furnier became Alice Cooper. Here is one of my favorites. Arnold Jerry Dorsey became Engelbert Humperdinck. Sounds to me like you would be Engelbert Humperdinck and you would become Arnold Jerry Dorsey. Right? Kind of an interesting name. But it is memorable.
So I am thinking of it. I want a stage name now. You know. I mean come on. I get one too. Sting is taken. So I am going to be Stink. I like that. Pastor Stink. Nice to meet you. I will go with Humperdinck as well. Stink Humperdinck. That is my new stage name.
Well listen. In biblical days names meant something. They didn't just come up with trendy names or popular names. They would give a name to a child often relating to the events surrounding the child's birth.
For instance there was a child born who was hairy from head to toe. So guess what they named him? Harry. Also known as Esau. That is what Esau means. Harry.
And then his brother who was his womb mate came out right after him. Holding on to Harry's heel. They say, "Oh look. Let's call that one heel catcher." Known as Jacob. That is what Jacob means.
One woman was pregnant. She heard that the Ark of the Covenant had been stolen. She went into shock and gave birth to a child and they named him Ichabod which means the glory has departed.
Would you hang out with a kid with a name like that? This is my friend. The glory has departed. Don't hang out with that kid. So they would give names that meant something.
The Most Important Name: Jesus
Well let's talk about the most important name ever given to a child. You remember that the angel Gabriel announced to both Mary and Joseph they would have a child that would be the Savior. The long awaited Messiah.
And he said, "You shall name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins." Jesus. This is the name that divides human time. This is the name that is above all names. This is the most powerful name in all of the world. Jesus Christ.
If you don't believe me just say his name out loud somewhere and watch what happens. You can say anything about anyone. And you just say, "Well Jesus Christ said." And people will look at you like, "What kind of a fanatic are you?"
Even atheists invoke the name of Jesus. Some of them will even say, "Well I don't believe that a man named Jesus ever even existed." Yet when I am really angry I say, "Jesus Christ."
Well why don't you say Santa Claus then? Oh sorry. Did some of you believe he was real? Pastor Brad is devastated right now in the front row. He had the cookies out. The milk. The whole deal.
Well or why don't you say Ebenezer Scrooge or some fictitious name. No. The reason you say Jesus Christ is even if you don't think he exists by saying his name in that way you are sort of acknowledging the power of it.
The Bible says that the name of Jesus Christ, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that He is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Isaiah 9:6 – The Prophetic Names of the Messiah
Well let's look now at a very familiar Christmas passage. Isaiah 9:6. This statement was made 700 years before Christ was born. But in the statement of Isaiah we get a lot of insight into the name, purpose, and work that Jesus came to do.
Isaiah 9:6. "Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon His shoulder. And we will call His name Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, of the increase of His government and peace. There will be no end upon the throne of David and over His kingdom."
Notice it says, "Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given." You know we may think of Jesus arriving in that manger in Bethlehem as His beginning. In one sense it was. That is when Jesus was born into the human race as a human being. Fully man. Yet fully God.
But that was not the beginning of Jesus. Because you see Jesus is God. Being a part of the Trinity. He has always existed. He has neither beginning nor end.
So another way to look at Bethlehem is that was when He arrived on planet earth. When He came to live among us. He lived our life and ultimately He died our death.
For us it was the entrance of Jesus Christ to earth. But for God it was the departure of His Son from heaven. "Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given." God gave His Son.
Wonderful – Bringing Wonder to Life
But we saw the arrival of Jesus Christ on this earth. And then we read about Him. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor. The Mighty God. The Everlasting Father.
Every one of these descriptions of Christ tells us something very important. For starters we read His name is Wonderful. That takes care of the dullness of life.
This word wonderful comes from the root word wonder. In fact it was Bertrand Russell that claimed that half of the sins of mankind were caused by the fear of boredom.
You know we have never been more advanced technologically than we are right now. We have our iPhones and our iPads and our iPods and we have our Blu-ray players and our 3D plasma television sets. And we Facebook and we tweet and we text and we play Angry Birds all at the same time. And then we say I am bored.
Isn't that true? I am bored. What else is there to do?
You know a lot of gadgets are going to be given out this Christmas. I heard that electronic gadgets are the number one seller this year. People are all excited about all the newest gizmos that you can get.
You need to just know that. You are going to get it. There will be that initial thrill. But then they are going to announce an update is coming in one month making your gadget effectively obsolete.
A lot of those presents that we open up are going to frankly disappoint. And you know if you are an adult you will fake it and say "Oh gee thanks so much. I have always wanted another fruit cake" or whatever.
But you know with children they will just tell you what they think of your present. If they like it they will let you know. If they don't like it they will just walk away from it.
I have four granddaughters. And I decided to get them all Hello Kitty bicycles this year. So I got all these bikes and I took a long time to figure out who should get what. Riley is the oldest at age six. And there is Stella at age five. Then there is Lucy at age three. And then there is little Allie only a year old.
So they all got a Hello Kitty bicycle. And I wanted to do the big reveal so I put them in my garage. It was like just an explosion of pink right there. Pink. All these pink bikes.
I had them all set up. I said to Jonathan my son, "Okay hit the door opener." And I had my camera out. I was going to video the reaction.
And the door opens. And here are the Hello Kitty bikes. And you could hear them excited clapping before the door opened. And as it opened they just sort of looked like, "What do we do?" And they all went to the wrong bike.
The oldest Riley didn't go to the big bike. Instead she went to one of the small bikes. Stella went to a small bike. Lucy who was supposed to get a small bike went to Allie's bike which is really little. And the big bike was left. So I took that. So I have got that. I have got a really cool Hello Kitty bicycle with a nice little bell right now.
But you know people will tell you how they feel. But what is this all about? God is wonderful. A better way to translate this is God is awesome. That would actually be a literal translation. He is awesome.
Because the word wonder can be translated God is amazing. He is surprising. He is astonishing. He is admirable. He is bewildering. He is awe inspiring. He is beyond human ability to understand.
Now we use this word awesome a lot. "Oh man. That car was awesome." "Oh that movie was awesome." "Oh that taco was awesome." I don't know if you are bewildered by a taco. I hope not.
But God is the only one that is truly awesome. Medical science seeks to add years to your life. But only Christ can add life to your years.
And there is nothing that this world offers that is going to fill the void in your life. A void that was created to be filled by God Himself. His name shall be called Wonderful.
Counselor – Guidance for Life's Decisions
Number two. His name will be called Counselor. That takes care of the decisions of life. And we all have a lot of those.
Psalm 73:24 says, "You will guide me with your counsel and afterward receive me into glory." Did you know that God Almighty wants to give His personal counsel and direction to you?
People will go a lot of places to try to find answers today. They will go to Google and actually type in, "What is the meaning of life?" What happens after I Google?
And now if you have an iPhone, there is this new feature called Siri. And I don't know if you have seen this, but you press the button and you can ask Siri, like, "Where is good coffee in Riverside?" Or "What time does this movie start?"
And amazingly, a good deal of the time, not all of the time, it will answer and give you a pretty accurate description of what you need to know. Sometimes pinpointing your location. Telling you what is near you.
And sometimes I will mess around with Siri. I recently asked her, "What is the meaning of life?" Here is what Siri said. "I don't know, but I think there is an app for that." I thought that was hilarious.
Then I asked her again, "What is the meaning of life?" She said, "I can't answer that now, but give me some time to write a long play in which nothing happens."
Someone is coming up with this stuff, you know. Another person asked Siri, "Why am I here?" And her answer was, "I don't know. And frankly I have been wondering that myself."
Listen. You don't need to turn to Google or Siri for the answers you are looking for in life. God has given you all the information you need right in this book called the Bible.
So start reading this. The Bible says of itself "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It is useful to teach us what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out. It teaches us to do what is right. It is God's way of preparing us in every way fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do."
Mighty God – Power for Life's Demands
Then this verse goes on to say He is the Mighty God. His name is Mighty God. That takes care of the demands of life.
It is mind boggling to think that Jesus the baby was God. And it is hard for us to imagine a baby who is God. I mean did light radiate from His translucent skin? Did He have a little tiny baby halo over his head? No.
Did He talk? "Hello Mary. Hello Joseph. I am Jesus. I am God Almighty. Get me out of this manger now." He was like any other baby. He needed his diaper changed. He cried. He was dependent upon the nourishment of a woman.
This is the amazing thing about the incarnation. God came in such a helpless way. Max Lucado wrote about it this way. And I quote, "Divinity arrived. Heaven opened herself and placed her most precious one in a human womb. The omnipotent in one instant made himself breakable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. He who sustains a world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl. God is a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The Creator of life being created. No silk. No ivory. No hype. No party. No hoopla. Were it not for the Shepherds there would have been no reception. Were it not for a group of stargazers there would have been no gifts. Yes. God had come near."
You should call His name the Mighty God. And this reminds us that God has all the power that you need for life.
You know a lot of people are going to get electronic gadgets for Christmas as I mentioned. And a lot of them are going to find their device doesn't work so they are going to call tech support.
And here are the two questions tech support people always ask. Number one. "Is it plugged in?" Number two. "Is it turned on?" It is amazing how many things don't work because they are not plugged in or turned on.
And we will struggle through life trying to live as a Christian. And here is the question God might ask us. "Are you plugged in?" Because all the power that you need to live this life has been given to you.
And if you are not able to live this life it is because you are not tapping into that power that has been given to you by the Almighty God.
You might say, "Well Greg listen I don't know about you but the world I live in it is hard. In fact I would say it is really hard to be a Christian."
Hey let me take that a step further. I don't think it is hard to be a Christian. I think it is impossible to be a Christian. How do you like that? Without the power and help of the Holy Spirit. I can't do it. I can't do it. You can't do it.
But as the Apostle Paul said "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." He is the Almighty God.
Everlasting Father – Hope for the Future
But number four. He is the Everlasting Father that takes care of the future of life. And we have to remember that life is not just this short time of existence we have here.
The Bible teaches that we are a living soul. As C.S. Lewis put it, we are not a body that happens to have a soul but rather we are a soul wrapped in a body. And we will live forever.
But of course that is not a good thing if you don't believe because you will live forever separated from God in hell. No. The idea is I want to live forever in harmony and fellowship with God in heaven.
He is the Everlasting Father. I don't know what state your family is in right now. Maybe you have a dysfunctional family. Most of us do. And that will be on display in just a few hours. As the extended family regathers together again.
And we meet cousins we never even knew we had before. And maybe dad is gone. Maybe dad left. Maybe dad was never there.
I never had a father growing up. Conceived out of wedlock. And then with a string of guys my mom married seven in total with a bunch of boyfriends in between. You know. I never had an earthly father.
But one day I discovered I had a heavenly father. And he has always been there for me. He was there when I didn't have an earthly father. He was there when the father who adopted me died. He was there when my mother died. He was there for me when my son died.
And this Everlasting Father will be there for you as well. God is the Father you may have never had. But He wants to show you His love. Be reminded of that in this Christmas season. He is the Everlasting Father.
The Government on His Shoulders – Future Reign
But notice this verse goes on and says, "And the government will be upon His shoulders." I look around at the government now. There is no way it is on His shoulders. It is a mess.
There is coming a day in the future. This is speaking of a future event when Christ will come again. There is a bit of space in human history between verse 6 and verse 7.
Verse 6 says, "Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon His shoulders." That hasn't happened yet. That happens when Christ comes back and rules and reigns.
But listen to this. Before the government will be upon His shoulders He had to first take a cross upon His shoulder and die on the cross.
As I said in that video rolling red is the color of Christmas. And the reason for that is red is the color of the blood that flew from Emmanuel's veins. It is the blood that came from Jesus as He hung on the cross.
Red is not the color of Christmas because it is the color that Santa wears or it is the color that our bank account is in because we are in the red after the bills come due.
No it is red because Jesus came with the express purpose of dying. We don't like to think about that at Christmas time. We like to think of the babe in the manger. And that is a good thing to do.
But remember that little baby came with the express purpose of living a perfect life on this earth and then going to the cross and dying for the sin of all humanity.
Before there was a planet called earth, much less a garden called Eden, or a city called Bethlehem, a decision was made in heaven. And the decision was that Jesus Christ would come to this earth and be born, live for thirty three years, die on a Roman cross, and rise again three days later.
So here is the good news. Why did He do that? He was born to die that you might live. He died so He could offer to you tonight the ultimate gift of eternal life. The gift that you must receive.
The Gift of Eternal Life Through Jesus
Now if I were to offer you a gift and you really wanted that gift what do you need to do? Well you need to just reach out and say "Thanks, Greg." And I will just say "Enjoy it. I am just happy. It is what you wanted."
And God is offering you a gift. And you have a choice tonight. You either accept this gift or you reject this gift.
You say, "What is the gift?" It is a gift of eternal life. Jesus purchased it with His own blood and He offers it to you now.
Now what are you going to do with it? I know we like to be passive about this and think good thoughts about the babe in the manger. And think well of Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus the miracle worker. Jesus the prophet. Jesus the guru. Whatever you think He is.
Listen. Jesus claimed to be God in human form. Jesus claimed to be the only way to a relationship with the Father. Jesus was born. He died. He rose again.
And now He stands at the door of your life and He knocks and He says if you will hear His voice and open the door He will come in.
Have you asked Him in yet? If not would you like to? You can. And then you will discover the true wonder of Christmas. It is not found in a box under a tree. It is found in the blood that was shed from the tree called Calvary by Jesus Christ for you.
And if you will say to God "I am sorry for my sin" and put your faith in Jesus and ask Him to forgive you He will come and live inside of you and give you the guaranteed hope and certainty that you will go to heaven when you die.
If you have not done that why don't you do it now. We are going to pray and I am going to give you an opportunity to ask Christ to come into your life.
There might be some of you that have joined us who maybe were raised as a Christian. But you have sort of put God in your rear view mirror. You have just gone off living your life the way you want to live without Him. You have forgotten about God.
Here is the good news. God has not forgotten about you. He loves you. And He is calling you home. Calling you back home to Him if you will come to Him tonight.
So if you need to make this commitment or recommitment do it now.
Invitation to Accept or Recommit to Christ
Let's bow our heads if you would and pray.
Father I pray for everyone here. Everyone listening. Everyone watching. If they do not yet know You Lord help them to come to You and believe in Jesus Christ. Help them to put their faith in that One who was born in the manger and died on the cross and rose again from the dead. Help them to say yes to Jesus we pray.
When our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying. If you would like Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sin. If you would like to know that when you die you will go to heaven. If you would like that void inside of you filled. If you would like your guilt taken away. If you would like to say yes to Jesus tonight wherever you are sitting, would you just lift your hand up and let me pray for you?
You want Christ to come into your life. Just lift up your hand and I will pray for you. God bless you. Anybody else? Lift your hand up where I can see you please. Up there in the balcony. God bless you. Down here on the ground floor. God bless you. There in the back in the middle. Hands are going up everywhere.
Now I can't see you outside in the amphitheater or in the court building. But really that doesn't matter, does it? God sees you. This is a commitment you are making to Him.
You guys raise your hand out there as well. If you want Christ to come into your life. God bless each one of you.
While our heads are still bowed maybe some of you would say, "You know Greg I have forgotten about God and I have been running from God. And I know He is there. And I want to come back to Him tonight. I need to make a recommitment to Christ." Pray for me.
If that is your desire would you lift your hand. Let me pray for you tonight. You want to come back to Jesus Christ. God bless each one of you. God bless all of you.
Father I pray now that you will help each one of these that have taken this little step of faith and this prayer to take the next one. And follow you. For we ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
Listen. Everyone that Jesus calls He calls openly and publicly. And in a moment Phil is going to lead us in a song of invitation.
And I am going to ask if you raise your hand with me during that last moment of prayer saying that you want Christ to come into your life or saying you want to come back to the Lord. I am going to ask that when Phil starts this song in a moment that you would get up out of your seat, walk down these aisles and stand up here in the front.
Now why do I ask you to come publicly? Because Jesus said if you will acknowledge me before people I will acknowledge you before my Father and the angels in heaven. But He added, if you deny me before people I will deny you before the Father and His angels.
So this is a way to acknowledge Him publicly.
Listen. If you are outside of the amphitheater we are going to open up that side door there and these back doors. I want you to come and join us here in the sanctuary.
If you are up in the court building I want you to go to the front of the room where the screen is and I am going to lead you in this prayer.
So again, if you raise your hand even if you did not. But you want Christ to come into your life. You want your sin forgiven. You want to find that meaning and purpose in life you have been searching for. You want to go to heaven when you die. Or you have fallen away from the Lord. You want to come back to Him now.
Get up out of your seat. Come on down to the front and stand here and I'll lead you in a prayer. Get up and come now.