159: Tim Badger - Exhortation: I Will Be...With You

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Welcome to Good Christadelphian Talks. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. And I'm Brian. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to listen to.

2. 0:33

   And now, let's talk more about this week's talk. Welcome to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast. This is Brother Brian. God be with you till we meet again. By his counsels, guide uphold you. With his sheep, securely fold you. God be with you till we meet again. This week's talk is an exhortation by Brother Tim Badger, which was originally given in August 2019 in Adelaide, South Australia.

3. 1:21

   Brother Tim uses this phrase from our beloved hymn 435. And he asked the question, Are we missing the point? What does it really mean when we say, God be with you? And what's the context from scripture? Brother Tim always brings a lot of energy and passion. And this talk is no different. This was actually one that we got multiple recommendations for.

4. 1:50

   And I can see why it struck a chord with those who have heard it. It's very uplifting and encouraging look at why the very name of God himself is reason for us to have a growing confidence and a hope that is sure. So I just want to say thank you again for all the recommendations that we do get.

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   They really are the bread and butter of what this podcast is all about. So keep them coming. And as always, we hope this strengthens your faith and brightens your day. Brother Tim Badger, I will be with you. Good morning, everyone.

6. 2:38

   Lovely to be with you. It's a bit more sunny down on the flat, but that's okay. We're happy to come up and endure a bit more cold. It is lovely and warm to be with you all. And this morning, what we want to do, God willing, is just let God's word show to us a theme that's right there from the beginning of the Bible and the beginning of God's revelation of himself to his people right to the very end of the book.

7. 3:05

   And it's a message that's been really important for me lately and really encouraging. And I want to share it with all of you, not just older brothers and sisters, but young people here listening as well and reflecting on what all this means and what's going on in terms of remembering the Lord Jesus Christ.

8. 3:25

   Is it possible? Who controls the little screen? Is there John? It's John. It's got to be John. Can you put hymn 435 on there, John? Is that all right? I think it's our last hymn.

9. 3:39

   Yeah, okay. That's fine. Can you do one more? Yeah, that's fine. Any one of those. We'll just leave it up there because we're going to refer to that in a second. If you want to have your hymn book open to see them as well, we'll use that in a minute. But you're probably familiar with the words of hymn 435, which is really the theme of what we want to look at this morning.

10. 4:01

    God be with you till we meet again. It's a little phrase that if you just pause and think for a second this morning, you might remember the last time you said it to someone. When was the last time you can remember saying, God be with you? Or the Lord be with you. The Lord bless you.

11. 4:18

    You might have said it to someone on the weekend when they were traveling on Friday. Maybe you've said it to someone in the car park at Hebron when you're breaking up from ecclesial camp. Or it could be something that when your family's gone on holiday and we say, God be with you. Even when we're leaving meeting on a Sunday morning, sometimes we say because we care about each other, God be with you.

12. 4:40

    God bless you this week. And it's something that I've just been forced to reflect on by looking actually at the book of Joshua. Because it's something that I feel like I've said without a lot of meaning. It's almost kind of like a catch you later. God be with you. And I just want us to think about that this morning.

13. 4:58

    What does it actually mean when we say, God be with you? And do you feel it, brothers and sisters and young people? How near do you feel God to be in your life? I feel that this is something that's been really useful for me to reflect on. Sometimes God for me, the God of the Bible, is at times in my life from day to day a little bit more distant than he should be.

14. 5:24

    We often say this little phrase, and if you're like me, the sheer weight of what I'm saying when I do escapes me. There's a book, and the book is Joshua, that opens up with this little exhortation. And I just want to go there. Not that we're looking at Joshua, but I want to look at this exhortation that frames the entire book.

15. 5:45

    Come to Joshua chapter 1. This whole book of Joshua starts off with this little phrase, this idea, this little exhortation, God be with you. And I love it. And it's really encouraging.

16. 6:02

    So Joshua chapter 1. It's actually right at the start of the book. Right at the start of the chapter. So Joshua chapter 1 says, After the death of Moses, verse 1, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead.

17. 6:22

    Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all the people, to the land which I'm giving to them, the children of Israel. Now, that's a hard thing. And it's probably harder for us to imagine the shoes that Joshua has to fill and the challenge that's ahead of him when he's taking this entire group of people now to charge across the Jordan River.

18. 6:45

    And what's going to happen on the other side? How are they going to get across that river? So God gives this really encouraging message to Joshua. And it's not the first time he's spoken directly to Joshua. Look what he says in verse 5. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.

19. 7:03

    As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you, nor forsake you. And that's the source of strength in the next verse. Where Joshua gets his strength and courage from is that very promise in his explicit faith, in the idea that God will be with him in the challenges he's about to face.

20. 7:27

    And he makes this link for Joshua and he says, the proof of this was the fact that I was with Moses. You knew and you know that I was with Moses. And just as I was with Moses, I'm going to be with you. So the proof that God would be fulfilling this promise was already acted out in the life of Moses.

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    Joshua knew that God would be. He'd seen God with Moses every step of the way. God says, I'm going to be with you just the same. Now the really cool thing is this exhortation, that God be with you, comes up at the end of the chapter as well. And it's not coming from God this time, it's coming from Joshua's brothers.

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    Some of the brethren from the eastern tribes. I don't know if you've noticed this before, but I think it's really awesome. The whole of chapter one is framed around this message of I will be with you. So come down to verse 16 of chapter one.

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    There's a group of people talking to Joshua and it's the leaders of the eastern tribes. Now look what they say, this is really cool. So they answer Joshua, these eastern tribes, saying, all that you command us, we will do. And wherever you send us, we will go. So here's Joshua's brethren being really obedient and saying, we're going to take your lead, we're going to listen to you, Joshua.

24. 8:48

    Look what they say. Verse 17. Just as we heeded Moses in all things, now Joshua, we're going to listen to you. Only Yahweh, your God, be with you. As he was with Moses. Now I want you to just think about this in a big general term. Joshua chapter one starts off with God coming to Joshua and grabbing him by the shoulders and his hands gently and saying, I'm going to be with you just like I was with Moses.

25. 9:18

    And later in the chapter, his brethren, Joshua's brothers say, Joshua, God be with you. He's going to be with you just like he was with Moses. And that frames a little bit of where I'm going to come from this morning, brothers and sisters. There's two aspects to this exhortation of God being with us.

26. 9:35

    One is God tells us he will and we've got to have faith in that. The other one is God knows that we're human and we struggle to believe that at times. That's where we all come in for each other. Part of our role on Sunday morning, but that's a fraction of our discipleship.

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    Part of our role in everyday life, on the phone, wherever we interact with each other, is to confirm that promise to each other. That yes, God will be with you. I know he will. He said it to you and now I'm saying it to you as well, brother or sister or young person.

28. 10:13

    And I think God knows that we struggle to feel that presence that he has said is with us. And so that's where we come in as brothers and sisters to also encourage each other and say, no, God will be with you. Do you know, there's something really tangible and powerful about someone going with you, isn't there, to do something hard or challenging in your life?

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    You ever been in that moment where things aren't going right or you know something daunting is coming up or challenging and someone comes to be with you? A friend, it could be your spouse, it could be another young person, it could be an older brother, it could be an older sister and they just sit down with you and they're next to you and the very fact that they're with you gives you strength and comfort.

30. 11:05

    Gideon had this happen to him. It's one of my favorite stories in Judges and it's just like a passing comment. I don't know if you remember, Gideon's finally got his 300 men to go down to the Midianites. I think it's in, it's chapter eight of Judges, but, and God says, right, you've got your men, let's go, go down to the camp of the Midianites and Gideon's afraid and God says, don't be afraid and he says, but if you are, take your servant, Purah.

31. 11:32

    Do you remember that? It's the only time he comes up on the record, once and so Gideon's like, all right and he takes his servant and they go together down to the camp of the Midianites and that's it. The only function that Purah serves in that story is that he's with Gideon. He's afraid to do it on his own and he's got 300 men, he's got the verbal promise from God and all those little signs along the way like the fleece and everything.

32. 11:54

    No, Gideon, I'm definitely with you but he struggles to believe that and he's fearful of the Midianites and he just needs a friend with him and there's nothing that Purah does. We don't know that Purah's got a bigger sword than Gideon or he's got all this stuff with him, extra ammo to fight the Midianites.

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    He's just a guy who's a servant and he's with him and that gives power and strength to Gideon. We need that too as brothers and sisters and young people and we need each other to confirm and remind ourselves of the promise that God is with us and he's with us for our good and ultimately, brothers and sisters, God wants us to be able to go down to the camp of the Midianites even without a friend like Purah to believe in that raw presence that God is with us each day to develop our faith.

34. 12:45

    Well, that's what's happening in Joshua chapter 1. The promise comes from God and the promise is then encouraged by Joshua's brothers. Yep, he's going to be with you. Let's think about this morning. See, some... Whoa, nice. It disappeared. Thanks, John. Look what it says. Just think about those words, right? And think about how nice they feel when we sing them, how profound they actually are.

35. 13:12

    God be with you till we meet again. by his counsel's guide, uphold you. With his sheep securely fold you. God be with you till we meet again. I mean, these are nice words, brothers and sisters, but they're so much deeper. They're sentiments, really, if you look at those words that are at the core of our discipleship and understanding of God and how he works with us.

36. 13:42

    You might think, as I did, looking at Joshua chapter 1, you think, well, yeah, you know what? Joshua was this military commander. He had a special mandate from God. He had special promises with him. And, Tim, when you look at Joshua chapter 1, of course God was going to be with him. Doesn't that feel like that?

37. 14:02

    Like, he's this mighty leader in Israel. He had a mandate. God said he's going to be with him. And, of course, he's going to be with Joshua. But I don't know about me. I'm just a brother, sister, a young person in 2019, cruising around, trying to follow Christ and failing along the way.

38. 14:19

    Where does that promise, like, I don't know if I can relate to that promise being given to Joshua as he's about to conquer the land of Canaan. I will be with you. Well, of course he was going to be with Joshua. Well, whoever wrote the epistle to Hebrews takes that little thought in our brain and wipes it out.

39. 14:35

    Come to Hebrews chapter 13. That promise to Joshua in Joshua 1 is meant to be read by us as applying to us right now in 2019 in whatever you're going through. Young person, single sister, single brother, older person, family, whoever you might be. Those words in Joshua 20, chapter 1, do not just apply to Joshua, the warrior of Israel.

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    And we're told that and it's a really cool passage that helps us understand how to read the Bible, especially passages in the Old Testament.

41. 15:19

    Look at Hebrews 13. Just a little bit of context. Verse 1. Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers for by so doing some of unwittingly entertained angels. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, those who are mistreated since you yourselves are in the body also. And then he has a little thing to say about marriage in verse 4.

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    Marriage is honorable among all and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. And then he slips into this little encouragement. Verse 5. Look what he says. And he quotes Joshua chapter 1. Let your conduct be without covetousness. be content with the stuff that you have for he himself has said, quote, Joshua chapter 1, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

43. 16:19

    Now, that's not just found in Joshua chapter 1, brothers and sisters. You'll see it in the life of Jacob, another famous patriarch. And you think, of course God's going to be with Jacob. He gave him the promises. He's got major plans. He was one of the forefathers of Israel. But the author to Hebrews takes that promise that was given to Jacob and reiterated to Joshua in Joshua chapter 1 and he says, look, if you're struggling with covetousness as a brother or sister or young person in 2019, then take encouragement from the promise that was given to Joshua.

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    I will never leave you nor forsake you. In all of your challenges and struggles with sin, maybe it's covetousness, don't forget that promise that was given to the leader of Israel is exactly the same promise that applies to God's people of all ages, not just to leaders like Joshua. That's a beautiful thing, brothers and sisters, to understand that God is not just with prominent people.

45. 17:19

    Of course not. That's rubbish. God's with every individual in that flock in Israel to hold true to his promises and to see that through, to uphold them and to carry them. So we can boldly say, Yahweh's my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? And that's applied to you and me right here, just as it was to the Hebrews getting this letter.

46. 17:50

    It's no longer just a promise to a prominent person who bore great responsibility. It's a promise to every single young person and brothers and sisters of all ages. You see, brothers and sisters, this is just how God works. He's with us. He's not distant. Each person is of utmost care to him. And he's promised that he will not leave us or forsake us.

47. 18:18

    And he has asked us this morning, I believe, to renew our faith in that profound promise. How near do you feel God is to you? Well, this all goes back to Moses, right? We saw that in Joshua 1. The references keep going back to Moses. And the story, in a sense, begins in Exodus 3.

48. 18:40

    And I want to take you to Exodus 3, brothers and sisters. We have to go here because God and Joshua's brothers said this is just like it was for Moses. God was with him.

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    I love Exodus 3. Here is the great turning point in the story of the Exodus with the appearance of a burning bush that's unconsumed that catches Moses off guard as he's shepherding his sheep in the wilderness. And he sees this bush and he's drawn towards it and he's revealed in that bush the purpose and the character of God.

50. 19:25

    And it's a staggering account. It's actually a staggering context, too, when you think about it, brothers and sisters. This is a crucial point in Israel's history. God is about to save them out of Egypt and not just physically but spiritually as well. They're in serious darkness. darkness in Egypt and probably more so than they even really know.

51. 19:45

    And we get evidence of that in Exodus 3. There's no way out for these people and it doesn't seem that they're really praying to God in a knowing way. I could be wrong in this but it just strikes me as it seems like they're not praying to God in a deliberately knowing way.

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    Their cry has gone out and God's heard that and he will save them. But these are a people who it doesn't seem they really know their God anymore. They're so astray from him but they're crying out and God will deliver them because he loves them.

53. 20:19

    Well what happens here? God comes to Moses the angel of the Lord appears in that flame of fire and he commissions Moses to bring them out of Egypt. Look what it says in verse 11 but Moses says to God who am I that I should go to Pharaoh that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.

54. 20:40

    Look at verse 13 Moses said to God indeed when I come to the children of Israel like as your representative when I come to the children of Israel and say to them oh the God of your fathers has sent me to you and they say to me what's his name what shall I say to them?

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    Now just think about that for a second brothers and sisters that's extraordinary. So Moses is going to show up to Israel so pretend I'm Moses for a second and I approach you as the Israelites or the leaders of the Israelites and I say look God sent me to deliver you from Egypt and the big question that Moses predicts will be on your mind is you will want to be knowing what's the name of this God of our fathers that sent you.

56. 21:24

    Don't you think that's odd? I mean surely they know who the God of their fathers is Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that's who it is but they want to know a name and I wonder brothers and sisters if that just shows us how far the people of Israel have fallen from God in their understanding their unique understanding of God it's almost like they're wanting to know if he has a name like all the names of the Egyptian gods that they've become entangled with in Egypt and we know that they have to some extent but God doesn't have a name like one of the Egyptian gods and Moses knows they're going to want that name to pin him to to put him in a box and say this is who he is this is who I represent so God goes along with it in verse 14 and he says alright well if they ask you what's my name look at verse 14 God said to Moses I am who I am and he said thus you shall say to the children of Israel I am has sent me to you now that is really bizarre okay because that means Moses is going to go to the people and the people are going to say hey Moses who's this person who's this God the God of our fathers what's his name and Moses is going to say I am has sent me to you now the Hebrew I am who I am can just as legitimately be read I will be who I will be and in a sense if you check out what the Hebrew scholars say

57. 22:57

    and I checked with our Hebrew teacher at school as well it seems like it's fair to say that the Hebrew there is not present or future it's both which is kind of weird to us but the Hebrew can be just as legitimate as saying God is saying I am versus I will be it's kind of both all in one so for Moses to come to the children of Israel and say I am has sent me to you or I will be has sent me to you they would have been listening and thinking what on earth and it's weird in Hebrew brothers and sisters just as it's weird in English that's not a normal name okay it's like if you think about it it's like you finding someone in the grocery store or you come up to me in the grocery store and you say what's your name and I say I will be not only is there this awkward tension that would ensue but you'd kind of go away scratching your head thinking well I don't know what that's all about but the very fact that he does that brothers and sisters tells the whole nation of Israel to think this through it grabs their attention because it is so weird it's weird in Hebrew and it's weird in English and God deliberately did it he didn't say his name in a normal way like all the Egyptian gods the very fact that God does this brothers and sisters arrests their attention and it arrests ours he is saying something different than just giving himself a label or a name what God is saying to the people of Israel

58. 24:25

    at the time is that he just is he self exists you don't need to put him into a box you don't need to give him an official normal name he is always and will be he self exists that's it there is nothing else to know in that sense about him that is the crucial aspect of this God he will be who he will be or he is who he is it's a beautiful and amazing statement he just self exists on his own but the question is this brothers and sisters right and this is what I've never really asked myself before who will God be I mean when he says I will be who I will be or I am who I am what is he what are you God and I think that the Israelites would have been left there thinking okay well but what are you like and what will you be if that's what you're trying to tell us and that's actually exactly the power of this brothers and sisters for them to sit back and think wait who will you be is exactly the question that is begged by that description that God gives for Moses to tell people well what's the answer the answer is in verse 12 and it's beautiful brothers and sisters and I feel it's crucial to this entire story I will be I will be what who will God be who is he well the primary answer to that question brothers and sisters is in verse 12 he's already said it and he used exactly the same Hebrew verb as he reveals his name to be to the people

59. 26:08

    look at verse 12 so he said speaking to Moses he said to Moses I will certainly be that's exactly the same Hebrew as I will be in verse 14 who I will be repeated twice so he's already used this this Hebrew verb that means I will be or I am who I am verse 12 I will be what who and the whole point of this brothers and sisters is that God will be with them that's who he will be he will be with them and when he says I am the primary element of that is that I am with you that's the whole encouragement to Moses that he has the strength and the courage to walk out of Egypt on the power of God because God will certainly be with him that's the whole message of Exodus chapter 3 now brothers and sisters sometimes we we take that that that expression of God and we we kind of turn it just into future I will be mighty ones of Israel what's this Yahweh Elohim means I will be mighty ones you can translate it that way well come down to verse 15 because this is where the Yahweh name is obviously stemming from Yahweh is built on the same verb as I will be or I am so in verse 15 when Moses actually goes to the people he's going to say Yahweh has sent me to you or he who will be has sent me to you that's where we get the word Yahweh from so moreover in verse 15 God said to Moses thus you shall say to the children of Israel Yahweh

60. 27:57

    God of your fathers so that word Yahweh is the third person version of I will be who I will be so that's how he's going to reveal himself to Israel and the whole idea here brothers and sisters is that Yahweh will be with them he will be and you can fill in the blank he will be with them sometimes we sort of use this verse to talk about God manifestation I mean it's in the name right we say God will be mighty ones and in the future when Christ comes with the saints there we see all of the Elohim or the mighty ones with God and we sort of emphasize this future aspect of the name of Yahweh brothers and sisters that is I'm sure there's truth in that and there is that this whole plan and purpose of God pulling out a people for his name I will be mighty ones but if that is true brothers and sisters if God is going to bring together mighty ones in the age to come of which you and I God willing are part of that then it's then it's very apparent that he has to be with us now in order to get us there we're not going to getting there on our own God's going to be with us now so that we will be the mighty ones of Israel in the future and the whole point of Exodus chapter 3 is right here right now I will be with you and I will be with you as you exit Egypt it's now from this day forward I'm with you God has always been

61. 29:27

    with his people and by that very fact brothers and sisters you just think about this by the very implication of God's name I will be with you there's fellowship with God there's covenant there's a closeness of the God of Israel to his people and in the very name of God brothers and sisters there is an element of a personal nature that God has promised us he will be at our side he will be with us and just as he was with Moses and Israel and Joshua he will still be with us now you know it's interesting because you think well why is God with us and the answer is he's with us to save us that's his whole purpose he's calling us and saving us as a people so that we can be with him there's a little phrase that we quote from time to time from our uncle John Thomas he wrote it ages ago obviously in an article there's a person who wrote in I think it was in the Herald a person who wrote in and it was kind of their concern was look there's all these people dying that have never come to a knowledge of the truth how is that fair that's I'm paraphrasing it and John Thomas wrote back and said well actually like when you think about it this might help balance it out he wrote this phrase God manifestation not human salvation is sort of the divine purpose that's what God's doing he's manifesting himself so it's not all about trying to save people so there will be people that don't ever come to a knowledge and are lost

62. 31:08

    lost forever but I don't think brothers and sisters John Thomas ever meant that to be a balanced perspective of the whole summary and purpose of God he was responding to a question and in context that's a fair statement to say but I reckon ! I reckon we need to be careful when we use that phrase as if it's a summary of the entire doctrine of God manifestation and it's not it's not a balanced statement perhaps if someone was trying to write a balanced statement it would say something more like this God manifestation through human salvation is what God's all about because you will not find a message in scripture brothers and sisters where God is cold and distant and uninterested in the people who bear his name he is manifesting himself through saving people he loves his divine family that's what he's all about and here is the very epitome of his name brothers and sisters the very Yahweh name which we revere and give so much credence to because he's revealed it in such a powerful way is actually a name that's deeply personal to us it speaks of a God who's not far away it speaks of a God who's right here with us to save that's what Yahweh is and I feel and I don't know if I should say this but I feel sometimes the way we use Yahweh can make it almost feel like it's this like this kind of distant iconic name it is it's powerful so powerful but the powerful nature of it is that he's right here with us I will be with you interestingly right over the years

63. 32:55

    the Jewish people have put such reverence to the name of God that they won't pronounce it and same with my my Hebrew teacher at school I was talking to her and I said the Yahweh name and she was kind of like like Orthodox Jews definitely don't say that they'll just say the name because they think that's taking God's name in vain like you don't pronounce the name Yahweh you just refer to the name and the Jews have done this for a long long time and it's where Jehovah ended up coming from and everything else I'm trying to get around pronouncing Yahweh now brothers and sisters what has that done?

64. 33:30

    what it's done is made the God of the Old Testament this remote far off untouchable kind of unfeeling cold God that's what it's done it's made God something completely impersonal and so far off that kind of like it's almost like we're back on the mountain with the smoke burning on top what the Jews have done brothers and sisters is great damage to Yahweh's name by enforcing that sort of perspective the whole point when God reveals Yahweh's name in Exodus 3 is he's not distant he's right here with you that's what Yahweh's meant to conjure up he's with us it's the exact opposite of what's happened by what the Jewish people have put on the Yahweh name God is with us brothers and sisters he's with us to save do you know when you just come to Proverbs 18 this is a really awesome verse that I've only I feel I think begun to understand by looking back at Exodus chapter 3 and the story of Joshua and that theme of I'll be with you this is great Proverbs 18 is a little proverb that I grew up singing around the campfire and I'm currently trying to teach it to some kids at school but I'm not I don't have a great singing voice so it's not going amazing but it's really great and it's just it's just verse 10 without music the name of Yahweh is a strong tower the righteous run to it and are safe what does that even mean the name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous run to it and are safe now I believe women sisters this makes

65. 35:29

    way more sense to me now it was kind of like this weird abstract thing like how do you run to the name of God and why is it a strong tower but let's just think about what Yahweh means if Yahweh preeminently in its context means I will be with you then suddenly Yahweh's name is a strong tower for us and because of what we understand it to be on a very personal sense not just on a national leadership sense then we can run to that name and everything that it promises and find strength now little story that happens in Judges chapter 9 you're probably familiar with remember Abimelech he's cruising around trying to take over leadership and he comes down in Judges chapter 9 to the town of Thebes do you remember that little it's right before he dies right he cruises down into this little town of Thebes and all the inhabitants of Thebes it says in Judges chapter 9 the whole city runs into this strong tower and it's called the tower of Thebes I don't know how big it was but you get this idea that all the people cruise into this tower and they bolt the door and they run up into the tower and they're looking down and Abimelech comes with his guys and he surrounds the bottom of the tower you can just see him looking up and he's going to burn the door down and smash it down and try and charge all those people now the whole town is in that tower for refuge and for safety and just before he can do anything the millstone plops onto his

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    head and he's gone it's over but if there's ever a visual that Proverbs 18 is picking up on think about that brothers and sisters that's like the name of Yahweh that tower in Thebes we can run into that tower bolt the door and climb to the very top of it and we're safe and that tower is Yahweh his name I will be with you the more we can believe that brothers and sisters the more we can encourage that understanding of God and each other the stronger and safer we'll be that's a beautiful image the name of the Lord is a strong tower well if it is brothers and sisters then why don't we find it in the New Testament and you see we as a community and other Christian denominations have made hay over this tried to find out what happened to the name of Yahweh was it there was Matthew originally written in Hebrew and we've lost it and that's what we're meant to actually read Yahweh where is the Yahweh name in all of the New Testament if it's such a strong tower what happened to Yahweh because when you read the New Testament you don't find it it's just the Greek word that's transliterated not transliterate it's just the Greek word Adonai sorry I'm getting confused with Hebrew the Kyrios and various other things the Lord that you use in the Greek language you don't have it in the Greek as transliterated from Hebrew now the interesting thing is brothers and sisters people could have transliterated it from Hebrew you find the word Lord of Sabaoth in the epistle of James which is

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    a transliteration of Hebrew he deliberately took the Hebrew word and said Lord of hosts Lord of Sabaoth no one does that for Yahweh why and the answer is Jesus he takes that whole name and he's putting it into absolute practice everything that the Yahweh name meant I will be with you is profoundly in Jesus Christ come to Matthew chapter 1 this is beautiful now I believe brothers and sisters that Matthew chapter 1 and 2 is the equivalent of Exodus chapter 3 if you just think about it there's an enormous number of parallels between what happens in Matthew 1 and 2 in Exodus chapter 3 people are trapped in Egypt there's a need for a deliverer and look what happens this chapter Matthew 1 is all about the name look at verse 20 and while he thought about these things Matthew 1 verse 20 behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying Joseph son of David do not be afraid to take your to you marry your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit now look at verse 21 and she will bring forth a son and you shall call his name so the focus here is the name his name is Jesus for he will save his people from their sins so if you you look at Exodus chapter 3 there's the name of Yahweh I will be with you to bring you out of Egypt Matthew 1 his name is Jesus which means Yah will save from what from your sins so the very theme of Matthew 1 and Exodus 3 is the

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    same saving people from sins from Egypt and look at verse 23 behold the virgin shall be with child and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which is translated God with us brothers and sisters that's Exodus chapter 3 I will certainly be with you and here it is in Matthew chapter 1 God is with us through Christ and whereas in Exodus chapter 3 you had a burning bush that caught the shepherd off guard while he was tending his sheep in Matthew 1 and 2 you have a shining star that catches the shepherds off guard while they're tending their sheep and as in Exodus chapter 3 you have an evil ruler named Pharaoh in Matthew chapter 1 and 2 you have this evil ruler named Herod and in both cases a name is revealed that God's going to be with his people and save them which is why in verse 15 in Matthew 2 he quotes out of Egypt I have called my son to make the link explicit so the question brothers and sisters what happened to the Yahweh name in the New Testament the answer is it is now in Jesus the son of God he's been given a name that's highly exalted above every other name and Jesus now is how God is with us it's through Jesus Christ that we're saved from our sins it's the presence of Christ that is with us no doubt brothers and sisters when Christ at the end of the gospel of Matthew gave his final encouragement he knew that these words would be encouragement lo I am with you always even to the end

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    of the age and so brothers and sisters the encouragement is this that Yahweh's message that he will be with his people has never been broken he's with us now in 2019 through his son the Lord Jesus Christ just as he was with Moses and Joshua God is with us brothers and sisters to save us from our sins this is unchanging and utterly sure God is and that cannot be annulled and Joshua took that message personally and needed it needed it when the walls of Jericho looked so high needed it when AI turned its tables against them needed it when he was certain that the people would fall short of following God and we needed to brothers and sisters we need that absolute faith that God is with us through his son through our brothers and sisters when we see the morality of the world and its challenges when we make mistakes young and old that does not mean that God's no longer with us if you look at the life of Jacob and he could determine that God had been with him through his life that wasn't a logical conclusion because Jacob had been so good it's because he just knew that God kept his promise God being with us is not proven by a life in green pastures it's something that we need to believe outright even when we're not in times of green pastures when things are challenging for young and old God is with us we need to believe that God is ready to work with us and strengthen us he will never forsake us brothers and sisters he will never forsake

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    us and you might think he probably would forsake me because I've messed up so much look at Israel he never forsook them he was with them that's part of his character that's embedded in his name and he will be with us brothers and sisters as he was with Joshua we need to see his hand each day and I believe as a community we need to encourage that hand to be seen in each other's lives you know one of the ways that God is with us brothers and sisters is through other people Psalm 54 verse 12 says God's my helper and then he says he's with those who uphold my life which means think about this God can be with you through the actions of other brothers and sisters that could be how he's helping you which means that we can be a vehicle for God to be with other people in our ecclesia young and old when we support them and show the spirit of Christ because if we show a brother or sister young person the spirit of Christ then that in a sense is how Christ is with them it's not our doing it's the spirit of Christ in us being shown to other people so let's go this morning brothers and sisters and young people knowing that God is with us and that is something that we can have rock solid faith in it's in the very name of God he's been at pains to tell his people this for so long he wants them to believe that he's near not distant for the older brother or sister who's feeling for the first

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    time the limitations of old age and health the message is that God is still with you for the single brother or the single sister for whatever reason who's feeling the sharp edge of loneliness and wondering what to do take heart this morning Yahweh says he's with you for the widow or sister living on your own with little support God is with you for any young person feeling the waves and the pressures of the world God is with you and he always will be doesn't mean we don't make mistake doesn't mean we don't trip but we rise again going on the strength that our God is not one who's distant but has his loving arms around us and folds us carefully under his wings Hebrews chapter 13 literally says in the Weymouth translation using the Greek for what it says on the surface for God himself has said I will never never let go your hand I will never never forsake you so that we fearlessly say the Lord is my helper I will not be afraid what can man do to me

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