There is Nothing Better Than a Good Name, Part 3

On this, the 21st day of January in the new year of 2024, what is the condition of your name? How is your name in your community? How is your name in your church? How is your name in the workplace? How is your name in your school? Do you have a good name? Because there's nothing better than a good name. A good name, as we have been talking about the last several weeks, is that it's a God-like character. Because God is good, then those who follow Him then are the children of God, they're sons of light, they're children of the light.

And the only way to have a good name is to be a follower of God. And the name speaks of character, the quality of your being. It's a Christ-like character. To have a good name is to have a God-like character. How is your name? We've given you four principles that help you have the kind of name that exemplifies a God-like character. First of all, a good name simply is conceived in spirituality.

You must be born again. You must be a child of the living God. In order to be a son of God, to be a partaker of the divine nature, to have a good name, you must be born again. So it's conceived in spirituality. Number two, it's characterized by integrity.

That is, everything about your life at home, at work, at play, at school, in your relationships, in your community, no matter where they're at, they're always the same. You are the same person no matter where you are, no matter who you're talking to, no matter what relationship you're engaged in, you are the same across the board. That's a man of integrity. It's characterized by integrity. Number three, it's committed to purity, committed to live a pure and holy life because God is holy and we are to be as holy as God Himself is holy, as Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1.

Then we then are committed to living a pure and holy life. You can't have a good name living an impure life, living an immoral life. It only comes because you are committed to purity. So a good name is conceived in spirituality. It's characterized by integrity. It's committed to purity and it's consumed with veracity. It's consumed with nothing but the truth. Everything in your life screams truth. Every decision you make is governed by the truth. Every relationship you're in is governed by the truth.

The question comes, is that the way it is for you? The Bible says in Proverbs 23, 23, buy truth and do not sell it.

That's just a tremendous statement. Buy truth and never sell it. In other words, Solomon tells us that no matter what it takes, no matter what the cost, obtain the truth because truth is costly. It will cost you friends. It will cost you family. It will cost you maybe even your job. It will cost you your position at your job or your position in your school. Truth is costly, but it's rewarding as well. So Solomon says, buy truth, never sell it, never compromise it, never sell out the truth. That is just so important to understand.

You should have as a label across your door as you leave the house every day, buy truth, do not sell it, Proverbs 23, 23, so that when you leave your house, you're never going to compromise the truth of the living God. Now why is this so important? Well listen to what the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 24.

If you got your Bible, turn to Proverbs 24. Chapter 24 verses 3 and 4. The Bible says this. Remember Psalm 127 verse number 1, unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. God has to build your house. He doesn't build it with brick and mortar. So how does God build your house? Unless the Lord builds the house, you'll labor in vain. So let the Lord build the house. He do that. Proverbs 24 verse number 3, by wisdom, a house is built. By understanding that house, then will be established.

And by knowledge, the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Those two verses speak volumes to you as a father, as a mother, as a parent, and the condition of your household. By wisdom, the house is built. Wisdom is the application of truth to life. By understanding, it is established. Understanding is the verification of truth to life. By knowledge, all the rooms are filled with pleasant and precious riches. Knowledge is the clarification of truth to life. That's very important to understand that.

They are all very similar, but yet distinctly different. Wisdom applies truth. Wisdom is not what I know about the truth. Wisdom is how I apply truth to the everyday life that I am living. So by wisdom, by the application of truth to life, the house then is built. It doesn't mean that it is erected. It's a word that means to restore, to take that which is not doing well and restore it back to its original purpose. You can't do that without wisdom. And wisdom applies truth to life. That's why you buy truth and you never sell it, because you can't restore your home without the truth.

You just can't. And by understanding, understanding is the verification of truth to life. That is, it's verified by demonstration and by testimony, by illustration. Because you apply it to life, you now then can verify it in life. If you don't apply it, you can't verify it. The only way it's verified is because you apply it. And so by understanding, the house then is established. That's a word that simply means to fortify, to strengthen. That which is beginning to fall over, that which is beginning to lean over is set back up erect.

So once the house is restored, it can be set in order so that it has a firm foundation. That happens when understanding rules in the home. And then it says, by knowledge, all the rooms are filled with precious and pleasant riches. Knowledge is the clarification of truth. It clarifies it through what? Instruction, through teaching. Listen, you can't clarify the truth unless you've already verified the truth. And you can't verify the truth until you have applied the truth. So there's an application of truth, there's a verification of truth, then comes the clarification of truth.

I'm then able to teach the truth effectively because my children are willing to listen because they see the truth lived out in mom and dad. So important. Proverbs 24, 14 says, know that wisdom is thus for your soul. If you find it, then there will be a future and your hope will not be cut off. Without wisdom, you have no future. With wisdom, you do. Listen to what Solomon says in Proverbs chapter three, Proverbs chapter three, verse number 13. How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.

The man who is able to find that which he applies to his life and then is able to verify in his life through testimony and demonstration says, for her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels and nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand, in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her and happy are all who hold her fast.

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth. By understanding, he established the heavens. By his knowledge, the deeps were broken up and the skies drip with dew. My son, let them not vanish from your sight. Keep sound wisdom and discretion so they will be life to your soul and adornment to your neck. Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden fear nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. That's why you buy truth and you don't sell it out. But is it not true that we find it so easy, so hard to buy it, so hard to obtain it, so hard to apply it, so hard to verify it, yet so easy to sell it? I wrestled with whether or not I'd share this illustration with you or not. And I came up on the side that I was going to share it with you. And I thought it'd be very important for me to read what was said because it was given over the airways for many, many millions of people to listen to.

There's a pastor in the Midwest. You probably know him, have heard him well on the radio. He's a Scottish pastor. His name is Alistair Begg. He has a ministry. The ministry he oversees is called Truth for Life. Okay? That's why I'm sharing the illustration because a good name is consumed with veracity. It's consumed with truth. That truth for life is the mantra of the person with the good name. So he oversees a ministry entitled Truth for Life. He has a huge church in Cleveland. And one day, he had a conversation over the airwaves with a grandmother who called in.

And the grandmother who called in was not asking a theological question. She was asking a relational question. It wasn't a theological treaty about some doctrine of the Scripture. It was basically the application of truth for life. Very important. So the grandmother calls in and this is what Alistair Begg says. She called in and she said these words, my grandson is about to be married to a transgender person. And I don't know what to do about this. And I'm calling to ask you to tell me what to do.

Now, before I go further, I want you to think about that question. Your grandson is about to marry a transgender person. What would you do? Remember, the person with a good name is consumed with the truth. You want to apply it, verify it, and clarify it, no matter what. And so she calls in and she wants to truly know what to do. She's emotionally stretched and strained. She loves her grandson. She wants to support her grandson. And so she calls in and asks a pastor what to do in this situation. What would you do?

I'm going to read to you what you should never do. But these were the words of Alistair Begg, who oversees the ministry, truth for life, to the woman. He says, does your grandson understand that you believe in Jesus? Now, first of all, that's the wrong question.

Why? Because the demons believe in Jesus, James 2, verse number 19. That's just the wrong question to ask anybody. Probably everybody believes in Jesus, the historical figure who lived and walked the earth and died and was crucified. Most people believe in Jesus. So to ask your grandson who wants to marry a transgender person if he believes in Jesus and knows that you believe in Jesus, he'd probably say, yeah, he knows that. He probably believes in Jesus too. If you ask a question like this, does your grandson know that you honor and love the God of truth and that you're committed to never compromising the truth?

Does he know that? That's the question you should ask, not because you know that you believe in Jesus. That's just a weak question to ask anybody. She says, yes. So his next question, does your grandson understand that your belief in Jesus makes it such that you can't countenance in any affirming way the choices that he has made in life? In other words, does he know that you're not affirming this lifestyle? She says, yes. I said, said Asherbeg, well then, okay. As long as he knows that, then I suggest that you go to the ceremony and I suggest that you buy them a gift.

That is an horrendous answer for a woman who wants to know what to do in this situation. That's a horrible answer. Why? Let's say he knows that you are committed to the truth and you love the God of truth. But if you go to the wedding, you are affirming this relationship. You are condoning the marriage. You just don't attend a wedding without affirming the couple that are getting married. And yet God says you're not to associate with the sexually immoral person.

A better answer would have been to take her to the scriptures and help her because it's the truth. So you take her to the truth to help her understand what she should do. In Ephesians 5, it says this, verse 3, but immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints. And there must be no filthiness and silly talk or coarse jesting which are not fitting but rather the giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ of God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers with them. How much clearer can that possibly be? For you were formerly darkness but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness and righteousness and truth. Truth. Trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord, do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness but instead even expose them.

Expose them to the light for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light for everything that becomes visible is light. And then the Apostle Paul goes on to talk about how you are to walk wisely, not unwisely. My friends, this is so important. I love Alistair Begg. I've got his books. I read his books. I've listened to him many times. He's speaking at the Shepherds Conference in March at MacArthur's Church.

But he was wrong on this one, majorly wrong on this one. The woman's response on the radio was this, what? That's her response. I'm calling in for wisdom and this is what you give me? Now, here's the key thing. He says, if you don't go, you will affirm what he already believes, that Christians are judgmental and critical of this lifestyle. Absolutely. Absolutely, we are. Not in a derogatory way, but in a biblical way, we are. And we love them through it. We explain the truth to them so they understand the truth.

But you see, Mr. Begg, Alistair Begg says that you don't want to tear down the bridge you want to build between the two of you. I got news for you, nowhere in the Bible does it say you're to build the bridge between you and the unbeliever. It says you are to be salt and you are to be light. But nowhere does it tell you to build the bridge between you and the unbelieving world. Now, you might think I'm too harsh and maybe I am, but I live my whole life buying truth and not selling it. That's the mantra for my family.

It's how we want to live our lives because that's what God wants us to do, to be consumed with the truth of the living God. Years ago, it was probably 23 years ago that a man came to me that was a part of the church I had pastored for 14 months before we started this church. And we had an office in San Dimas. We had not yet purchased this facility, so we had an office in San Dimas. And he called the office and asked if he could come by and see me. So I said, sure. He was a friend of mine from the previous church.

He came to me and said, I don't want to take a lot of your time, but I just want to let you know that you were right and I was wrong. When you took your stand on the truth about repentance, when you took your stand on the elders having to resign because of immorality and impurity on the board, and they wouldn't do that, and you took a stand against that, I didn't stand with you. He said, I didn't stand with you because of the pressure of my wife and my children, and so I went along with everyone else.

But I want to let you know that you were right to stand on the truth and I respect you for that. My family and I are moving to another state in a couple of weeks, and I will let you know that I won't make that same mistake again. That was a great testimony. But I wonder who respects you because of your stand on the truth. Will you do all you can to obtain it? Matthew 13, you have two parables. What about the parable of the pearl, the parable of the lost treasure? Both individuals, once they found the pearl and the great treasure, they sold all that they had in order to obtain it because they knew the value of the truth of the gospel.

How about you? The Bible says, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16, for what should a prophet, a man, if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? It's so hard for me to move off of this point because it's so incredibly important for us to grasp. How easy it is to sell truth. How hard it is to buy truth. But to have a good name, you must be consumed with that truth. Point number five, a good name, I'm going to put these two together, five and six, and finish 7, 8, 9, 10 next week.

It's conditioned by simplicity and clothed with humility. A good name is conditioned by simplicity and clothed with humility. There is one person in the Scriptures, there's more than one, but there's one that specifically exemplifies this. His name is John, John the baptizer. He was a man simply conditioned by simplicity. A person that's conditioned by simplicity never draws attention to himself or his sin, but always to the Savior. That was John the Baptist. Listen to what the Bible says in Luke's Gospel, the third chapter.

It says these words about John, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. That's just a mouthful of information. The word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, while he was in the wilderness. What's he doing in the wilderness? Why is he there? How long has he been there? Well, if you go to Luke chapter 1, verse number 80, it says, and the child that is John continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

So, you got to connect the dots. Zacharias is a priest in Israel. Remember, he was doing his priestly duties when the angel came to him and said that his wife, Elizabeth, who was barren, was going to have a son. And there was just so much excitement surrounding that, and Zacharias writes this long Benedictus in Luke chapter 1 about the coming of the Messiah and the coming of the forerunner, John, who would lead the way for the Messiah, and just a tremendous blessing. But John's in the line of being a priest in Israel.

So, what's he doing in the desert? So, John, probably, best-case scenario, is that at the age of 20, he would begin training for the priesthood. So, the guess is that by the age of 20, he was beginning to move into the desert. If you've ever been to Qumran with me in the wilderness there, in the Judean wilderness, they talk about perhaps that John the Baptist would have been a part of these scribes who were writing down the truths of the Scripture and coming to understand the Old Testament law and coming to understand the coming of the Messiah, and maybe John was one of the men that was with them in Qumran.

We don't know that for certain. There's speculation that that might have been the truth. We don't know, but we know that John was in the wilderness. So, probably around the age of 20, he moved to the desert. He moved to the Judean wilderness. If you've been there, it's hot. During the day, it's cold. At night, there's nothing there. He began his ministry at 30. So, presumably, he was there for 10 years in the wilderness. Why? Because there's something about John that lived the simple life. He didn't live the ostentatious life.

He didn't live the embellished life. He didn't live the life of the religious establishment in Israel. His whole life was an antithesis to that lifestyle. His lifestyle was totally against the way the religious establishment lived their lives. So, whether it was his diet, which was wild honey and locusts, which was the food of a poor man, whether it was his dress, which was camel's hair and a leather belt, which again was the dress of a poor man, whether it was his dwelling in the wilderness for those 10 years before he came out of the wilderness like a locomotive preaching the gospel, or whether it was, number four, his declaration, all of it signified a life conditioned by simplicity.

He lived a life that was an antithesis to the world, completely different. And he was clothed with humility. He came out of the desert like a locomotive preaching repentance for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And all of a sudden, there were throngs of people, scores of people. The text tells us that all of Jerusalem was coming down to the Jordan to be baptized by John the baptizer. He was so popular that it says in Luke chapter three, verse number 15, now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John as to whether he was the Christ.

Think about it. Everything surrounding his birth was prophesied. He's the fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 40, verse number one, Malachi chapter three, verse number one.

Here's a man who was the fulfillment of prophecy. That could build your ego, but not John, not John. Here's a man who was a son of a priest in Israel. He would be a popular name, a popular son. That could build your ego, but not John, not John. Here was a man who was called out by God to be the forerunner to the Messiah. Hey guys, I'm the one leading the way for the Messiah. That would build the ego, but not with John. He was clothed with humility. In fact, he said in John three, verse number 30, he must increase, I must decrease.

I'm not worthy to loosen the thongs of a sandal. I'm not. And everybody was wondering whether or not he was the Christ. Not John. He was clothed with humility because he was conditioned by simplicity. That's why he had a good name. That's why Jesus said there's not a man greater than John born of a woman. Not just simply because he was a forerunner to the Messiah, but he was the kind of man that exemplified a God-like character. Further on in Luke's gospel, the third chapter says this, so with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.

But when Herod the Tetrarch was reprimanded by him, why would he reprimand Herod? Because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all. He locked John up in prison. Here was a man so consumed with veracity that he would confront the leader in Israel because of an illicit relationship that he had with his brother's wife. And he would condemn the immoral things that he did. Why? He was consumed with truth. So I'm going to call you out, I'm going to confront you, I'm going to make sure you know you're wrong because God expects us to live to his standard and Herod, you are not.

And John was still in the prison, you know the story, John was beheaded, why? A good name conceived in spirituality, characterized by integrity, committed to purity, consumed with veracity, conditioned by simplicity, clothed in humility, listen carefully, is always contested by the enemy. And that's next week. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for today, the chance you give us to spend time in your Word. Our prayer, Father, is that we would truly live in light of your Word. And that, Father, as a church, we would realize this is a place where the holy truth is wholly taught all the time.

We thank you for those who are here today. Pray that, Lord, your Word would speak to their hearts, and that, Lord, you do a mighty work in their lives, drive them closer to you until you come again, as you most surely will. In Jesus' name, amen.