There is Nothing Better Than a Good Name, Part 4

This morning as we bring to a conclusion our little miniseries for the new year, I want you to turn with me in your Bible to 2 Samuel chapter 12, 2 Samuel chapter 12.

It is a very familiar story to most of us who have been raised in the church. Even for those outside the church, they know the story of David and Bathsheba. But there are probably some things that maybe we don't know so well. And I want to try to point that out to you this morning as we introduce our time together in the Word. The Bible tells us in 2 Samuel chapter 11 that when kings go out to war, David the king decided to stay back in Jerusalem. The story of David and Bathsheba begins with a downward spiral in David's life.

It begins with idleness on the part of David. Idleness always leads to laziness. Laziness always leads to carelessness. And carelessness in this case led to lustfulness on David's part. That lustfulness led to covetousness. That covetousness led to foolishness. That foolishness would lead to stubbornness on David's part. Ultimately, all of that would lead to brokenness. The downward spiral of sin in a person's life is seen in 2 Samuel chapter 11 with David's sin with Bathsheba. So what God does is send to David a prophet.

The prophet's name is Nathan. And Nathan will relate to him a story. Whether it's true or not is irrelevant, but it's a story that pricks the conscience of David. This is what the story says. There were two men in one city and the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb, which he bought and nourished, and it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom and was like a daughter to him.

Now, a traveler came to the rich man and he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him. Rather, he took the poor man's ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. Then David's anger burned greatly against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die. He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and had no compassion. Nathan then said to David, you are the man.

You are the man. And thus says the Lord God of Israel, now listen to what God says, it is I who anointed you king over Israel.

It is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. If that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these. Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? Notice the phrase, why have you despised the word of the Lord?

Why David, after all I've done for you, and I would have done a whole bunch more, I anointed you when you were young as king over Israel. You were the one who defeated Goliath as a 17-year-old boy. I protected you from Saul. I preserved your life so that you might be the king over Israel. I've given you your master's house and all that he has. I would have done so much more for you had you just obeyed me, but you despised the word of the Lord. Remember Proverbs 13, 13, you need to mark it down, you need to underline it, you need to memorize it.

Proverbs 13, 13 says that he who despises the word will be destroyed by that word. The New American Standard says, we'll be in debt to that word. But the King James Version says you will be destroyed by that word. The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But the fact of the matter is when you look down upon the word of God, when you despise it, when you disobey it, when you treat it as if it means nothing to you, you'll be in debt to it. Why? Because you're held accountable to it.

Very few people realize that. Whether you're a believer or an unbeliever, you're held accountable to one standard, and that is God's standard. And if you disobey that standard, it will cost you. And so listen to what Nathan says, you have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me. To despise the inspired word is to despise the incarnate word.

So when you go against what God says, you go against God personally. He says, you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household. I will even take your wives before your eyes and given them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. Indeed, you did it secretly, but I will do the same before all Israel and under the sun. Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.

And Nathan said to David, the Lord has taken away your sin, you shall not die. You've been forgiven. The penalty for adultery was stoning. God has taken away your sin. You shall not die. God will spare your life, David, but the consequences will remain. Forgiveness never negates consequences. And here's the point I want you to see. Verse 14, the Lord has taken away your sin, verse 13, however, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. You have given an occasion for the enemies of the Lord to speak against your God.

Remember I told you a few weeks ago that we had a statement in our home for our children, do not defame the name. Don't profane the name. The name of Christ. Don't bring a reproach upon the name of Christ or the church of Christ. It will always cost you. Don't do that. David had defamed the name of the Lord to his enemies. The enemies didn't believe that their God, Israel's God, was a holy God. And now the King of Israel has committed an unholy act. And if the holy God had given to you a king who was to represent your God, who was holy and lives unholy, you must have an unholy God.

David had defamed the name of the living God by despising the Word of God by despising the name of God by doing what he wanted to do in spite of what God's Word said he should do. He had caused the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the name of God. You see, everything we do in life is all about the name of Christ. Christ does what He does for His name's sake. Over in the book of Ecclesiastes, I'm sorry, Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 36, listen to what the Lord says to the nation Israel who profaned the name of the Lord.

He says, when they came to the nations, verse 20, where they went, they profaned My holy name because it was said of them, these are the people of the Lord. Yet they have come out of His land. But I had concern for My holy name which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. God says, do not profane My name.

Do not defame My name. But Israel did. Verse 22, therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, it is not for Your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name which You have profaned among the nations where You went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations which You have profaned in their midst. Because You profaned My name, because You defamed My name, I'm going to make Myself known through the acts that I perform in Your midst, so that all the nations will know who I am.

Because evidently they're not going to know by the way You lived Your life. You defamed the name of the Lord. So God does what He does for His name's sake. He never does what He does for Your sake. He does what He does for His sake. So He says these words, then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you.

You will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers, so you will be My people and I will be your God. Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness.

Then I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. Verse 31, then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourself in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. I'm not doing this for your sake, declares the Lord God. Let it be known to you. What I'm going to do when I bring a new covenant promise upon you and cleanse you from all your filth is not for your sake. It's for My sake. It's for My name. It's for My glory.

It's for My honor. In other words, everything that we are to do, we are to do for His name. Psalm 115, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory. Not to us. It's all about the name of Christ. Christ does what He does for His sake. Philippians chapter 1, verse number 29, Paul says these words. He says, Why do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? It's for His sake. It's for His name. It's for His glory. It's not for your sake or your name. And you will suffer in the name of Christ for His sake.

Over in 3 John, verse number 7, John says to his beloved Gaius these words, that when you take strangers who are worthy of God into your home, they went out for the sake of the name. Whose name? God's name. God does what He does for His name's sake. John chapter 14, verse number 13, Christ says, Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. Why? Because everything you ask needs to be in accordance with who I am. And when you ask in My name, according to My will, according to My character, the Lord will answer so that He is glorified. Why does God answer your prayer? Because you have a need? Oh, no. He answers your prayer because He wants the Father to be glorified. God answers prayer for the glory of the Father, for Himself, for His name's sake. It says over in John chapter 15, He says, If the world hates you, verse number 18, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.

He says, If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake. They're doing it for My name. For My glory. Over in Matthew chapter 24, during the tribulation, it says these words in verse number 9, Then they will deliver you to the tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

Everything is about the name of Christ. He says, Do not profane My name. Do not defame My name. Because whoever despises the Word will be in debt to that Word, will be destroyed by that Word. There's a high price to pay when you dishonor the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants you to understand that. In the book of Acts, the fourth chapter, Peter and John had healed a lame man in chapter 3. And so the religious establishment came against them. And they said that they should not speak in the name of this Lord anymore.

They said to the rulers and elders, If we are in trial today, verse number 9, for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name, this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved.

Verse 17, but so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them not to speak any longer to any man in this name. Don't speak this name any longer. But they did. And as they did, they were flogged and beaten. And in chapter 5, verse number 40, they took this advice and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus any longer. Acts chapter 9, verse number 15, Ananias gives the word of the Lord to Saul and says, The Lord said to him, Go, for he, Saul, is a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake.

Everything is about the name of the Lord. And if we are to be the kind of people that do not profane nor defame the name, we must have a good name because there's nothing better than a good name. And the only way that happens is because it's conceived in spirituality. It's characterized by integrity. It's committed to purity. It's consumed with veracity. It is conditioned by simplicity and clothed with humility. We're trying to help you understand that in this new year, you need to develop a good name so that the name of Christ is not profaned nor defamed by the way you live your life.

And therefore, it must be clothed with humility. It was John the Baptist who said, He must increase, but I must decrease. Remember what Solomon said in Proverbs 15, verse number 33, before honor comes humility. Paul said these words in Romans chapter 12, for through the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think. What a great verse. If you present your bodies a living sacrifice, that's Romans 12, 1, and you are not conformed to this world but transformed by the renewal of your mind, you will not think more highly of yourself than you want to think.

He goes on to say in verse number 16 of Romans 12, these words, be of the same mind toward one another. Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. In other words, don't estimate the fact. Don't look at yourself that you are a wise man.

Don't compare yourself among those around you. Compare yourself to one standard, God's standard. That's how you hold yourself accountable. It's to God's standard. And you know the words of Philippians chapter 2, where the apostle Paul says these words. He says, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

Do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others. Had this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. That's why Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 5 verse number 5, you younger likewise clothe yourself with humility. Same word that helps us understand what happens in John chapter 13. For the word clothe yourself is the word that means to tie in a knot. In other words, Peter was going back to John 13, where Christ would take a slave's apron tied in a knot and begin to humble himself before His men and wash their feet.

Peter says, clothe yourself with humility. Those who are conditioned by simplicity are clothed with humility. And those who are clothed with humility because they want to have a name, a good name that honors the Lord and doesn't profane the name of God will always be contested by the enemy. This is where we left off last week, contested by the enemy. Job was an upright, God-fearing man turning away from evil. Job was the greatest man on the planet, and he was contested by the enemy. You live a righteous life, you'll be contested by the enemy.

1 Peter chapter 5 verse number 8, our adversary, our enemy goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. So, Peter says, be alert, be vigilant, be watchful because that's the way Satan is. Think of the apostles. They were looking to live a life that never defamed the name of their God, and they were flogged for the name of Christ. They were beaten for the name of Christ. The apostle Paul would suffer for Christ's name because he'd be contested by the enemy day in and day out. Paul would say these words in 2 Corinthians 2.11, that we are not ignorant of Satan's devices.

He says that in the context of the church at Corinth forgiving a young man who had repented of his sin because he had committed incest. And Paul says, I have forgiven him. And if I have forgiven him, you need to forgive him because we are not ignorant of Satan's devices. Do you know that when you have an unforgiving spirit, you have opened the door for Satan to take a hold on your life and your family? He wants to destroy your family. He wants to destroy your testimony. He wants to destroy your legacy.

He will do all he can to do that, to bring so much disruption in your life, to live a life to the glory and honor of Christ. It's always going to bring the adversary's darts and flaming arrows against you. That's why you take up the whole armor of God, that you might be able to stand the devil and stand fast in the faith because you must resist him because he's coming at you with an onslaught of the flaming arrows. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 11, Paul says, as a serpent deceived Eve by his crappiness, my concern is that your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

Paul knew. Paul knew about the adversary's attacks. His concern for the church at Corinth is that they would not be led away from the simplicity and the purity of devotion to Christ because Satan is so deceitful, he is so crafty at what he does that so many times we can't even recognize his presence among us because we are not aware of all his attacks that come against us. Whether it was Job or whether it was Joseph, whether it was Daniel, Christ, Paul, John the Baptist, all these men who set their lives at not defaming the name of Christ would suffer for the sake of His name because when you set out to have a good name, it will always be contested by the enemy.

Remember in the book of Revelation chapter 2, Revelation chapter 2 verse number 13, as the Lord says to the church of Pergamum, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, and you held fast My name. You did not defame My name. You did not profane My name. You held fast to My name and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one who was killed among you where Satan dwells. Even in the days of Antipas, you know what Antipas' name means, right? It means against all.

He was against everything that was against the name of Christ. He suffered greatly for it, but He was commended in Scripture, His name written down for all eternity in the eternal living Word of God, Antipas, My faithful witness. He did not defame or profane My name. No, He was willing to die for My name. That's why Antipas has a good name. It will always be remembered because the memory of the righteous will always be etched in eternity. So, there's nothing better than a good name, but a good name must be conceived in spirituality.

If it is, it will be characterized by integrity. If it's characterized by integrity, it's always committed to purity. If it's committed to purity, it will be consumed with veracity, the truth of the living God. And that which is consumed with veracity is always conditioned by simplicity and clothed with humility and will always be contested by the enemy. But those who seek to have a good name understand that a good name is always captivated by God's glory. It's captivated by God's glory. No matter how hot the arrows, no matter how difficult the pain, no matter how strong the rejection, they are captivated by one thing, and that is the glory of the living God.

They understand 1 Corinthians 10 verse number 31, that whatever you do, whether you eat or whether you drink, you do all for the glory of the Lord. As the apostle Paul said in the book of Ephesians, the third chapter, Ephesians chapter 3, verse number 20, now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.

Amen. To Him be the glory in the church individually. To Him be the glory in the church corporately. To Him be the glory in the church perpetually forever and ever and ever. Amen. Those who seek to have a good name understand that there's nothing better than a good name. And because there's nothing better than a good name, they are captivated by the glory of God. They are captivated by the name of God. They are captivated by the radiance of God. And so, therefore, they go to give God glory all the time.

1 Corinthians 6 talks about the fact that, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? And therefore, it is for His glory that it resides in you. And therefore, all that you do should be done to the glory of the living God. In other words, what you do is you live reflecting the righteous radiance of your Redeemer. Why? Because you do not want to defame His name. You do not want to profane His name. You want to lift up His name. You want to glorify His name. You want to honor His name.

So, Paul says in Philippians 3, this is the Christian. We are the marked ones. We are the ones marked out by God. He says these words, we are the ones who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. That is the most succinct definition of a Christian in Scriptures. We are the marked ones. We are the called out ones. We are the ones who glory only in Christ Jesus. We are the ones who worship in the Spirit of God. We are the ones who put no confidence in the flesh because we know it's not about us.

It's about God and His glory. And so, those who seek to have a good name are captivated by God's glory. And those who are captivated by glory, number nine, are the ones who are concentrated on their own maturity. They want to grow in the nature and image of Jesus Christ our Lord. They want to grow spiritually. They want to feed on the Word of God. They want to spend time with the Lord. They want to spend time with the Lord's people. They are so captivated by God's glory that they can concentrate now on growing in that glory.

Remember 2 Corinthians 3, 18, that we behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, that we open the Word of God is like a mirror that shows us the glory of the Lord. And we are changed from one level of glory to the next level of glory, even as by the Spirit of God. In other words, when we are captivated by glory, then we are concentrated on our own maturity. That is, we want to grow and so our whole life is concentrated on one thing. How can I grow in the image and likeness of my God? How can I boast the fact that I know the Lord, not in my riches, not in my wisdom, not in my strength, but in knowing Christ as my King and as my Lord?

That's what I want to do. I want to grow spiritually. Daniel said it well, those who know their God, they display strength and exercise great exploits. Those who know God, everybody sees their strength. Those who know God do things that others do not do. They display great exploits of God. Why? It's God working through them. It's God energizing them. It's God moving them. There's nothing better in life than a good name. A God-like name, a name that's conceived in spirituality, a name that truly, truly understands salvation and giving its life to the Lord.

That name is characterized by integrity, committed to purity, consumed with veracity, conditioned by simplicity, clothed in humility, contested by the enemy, captivated with God's glory, concentrated on maturity. And lastly, that name is commemorated not just in your family, but for all eternity. That name is commemorated not just in your family, but through all eternity. Remember Proverbs 20, verse number 7, blessed is the man who walks in his integrity, and how blessed are his children after him.

What a statement. The man who walks in his integrity affects his children so much so that they now are blessed. David, David way back in 1 Kings, after his life has been lived, he's about to die. He says in 1 Kings chapter 2, verse number 1, as David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son saying, I am going the way of all the earth, be strong therefore, show yourself a man. Now, what a statement, be a man, show yourself. Well, how are you going to do that? He tells him, he says, keep the charge of the Lord your God to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies.

According to what is written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn. That the Lord may carry out His promises, which He spoke concerning me saying, if your sons are careful of their way to walk before Me in truth, with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. God says, I need you to honor Me.

I need you to live for Me. I need you to walk in My statutes, keep My commandments, observe My testimonies. And if you do, this will affect succeeding generations unlike you have ever seen. God wants to bless your life more than you want to be blessed, I presume. Our God is a gracious God, a loving God who so desperately wants to use you for His glory and honor, who wants His name, His name to be put on display in your life. He wants people to see His name for His sake, for His glory. He wants people to be able to understand Him through the life that you yourself live.

That's what He wants. That's why in Psalm 112, these words are written, "'Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments! His descendants will be mighty on the earth. The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in His house, and His righteousness endures forever.'" Verse 6, "'For He will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever.'" Forever. So that the day comes when you pass from this life, and that day is going to come, maybe quicker for some of us than others, but it's going to come.

And if you know the Lord, you pass from this life into the presence of the Lord to hear these words, "'Well done, thou good and faithful servant.'" That's a good name, commemorated not just in your family, but for all eternity. The Bible tells us in two places, Romans and Corinthians, that God will praise You. Wow. We're going to heaven to praise God, but God's going to praise us. Why? Because we put His name on display, honored His name for the glory of His name forever. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for today, the opportunity You give us to spend this time in Your Word.

Lord, my prayer is that every one of us would seek to have a good name, a name that's godlike, a character that represents the King, that honors the King and glorifies the King. For everyone in the room today, I pray that their lives would be right before You. If they are, their lives will be right with one another. If they're not right with one another, they are not right with You. And my prayer, Lord, is that they would be right with the King of Israel. And my prayer, Lord, is that everyone in this room would know Christ, that the name written on the white stone, as Revelation chapter 3 tells us, the name written down, the new name, which no one knows but the one who receives it, that that name written in the Lamb's book of life would be true of us.

That no one would leave today without coming to grips with their eternal destiny. That they might live a life that honors and glorifies not their name but Your name. We pray in accordance with Your name, for Your glory, for Your sake. Amen.