Ni including Josh, who is in charge of sound.
Alright.
Where are you, Christmas?
Why can't I find you?
Why have you gone away?
Where is the laughter you used to bring me?
Why can't I hear music play?
My world is changing, I'm re-arranging
Does that mean Christmas changes too?
Where are you, Christmas? Do you remember the one you used to know?
I'm not the same one, see what the time's done
Is that why you have let me go?
Christmas is here everywhere
Christmas is here if you care
If there's love in your heart and your mind
You will feel like Christmas all the time
I feel you, Christmas
I know I found you, you've never been away
The joy of Christmas stays here inside us
Fills each and every heart with love
Where are you, Christmas?
There you are with love
Today the good child is born of you
Today the good child shines everywhere in the world of the world
Jesus, born of this day, he is the light of salvation
Oh Jesus, born of this day, he is the King of all nations
We hold the Lamb of God as one
We sing of love to everyone
Jesus, born of this day, heavenly child, you the angel
Oh Jesus, born of this day, he is our Lord and our Savior
Today our hearts rejoice in him
Today the light of his fire fills us with power and brings peace anew
Jesus, born of this day, he is the light of salvation
Oh Jesus, born of this day, he is the King of all nations
Today our child is born of you
Today the glory of God shines everywhere in the world of the world
He is light, he is love, he is love, he is Christ, born on Christmas day
Born on Christmas day
Amen
Coming soon to a New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church near you, Grand Prix sign ups!
Christ was born in Bethlehem, hallelujah, Son of God and Son of God, hallelujah
Glory be to God Almighty, hallelujah, Glory be to God Almighty, hallelujah
Hallelujah, born of the earthly child, hallelujah, of the world without him found, hallelujah
Jesus died in Calvary, hallelujah, he was born of Zion's
Hallelujah, Glory be to God Almighty, hallelujah, Glory be to God Almighty, hallelujah
With the blessedness of God, hallelujah, with the blood of Christ, hallelujah
He will live with him all his days, hallelujah, one for all, with him say, hallelujah
Glory be to God Almighty, hallelujah, Glory be to God Almighty, hallelujah
Amen
Tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born
While shepherds keep their watching, or silent thoughts find light, behold the Father of us, the Son of Holy God
It's Christmas morning, still barely just before you, you just simply have to be excited.
No? Are you worn out? Are you used up? We're just getting started, this is Christmas day.
We're praising the Holy God. I know you probably Christmas shopped, maybe cooked, ran around town, some of us ran around town finding out what stores were closed last night.
I heard that story this morning. Right? We've done a lot. But we're not done, we're just getting started.
So it's Christmas day, you just have to be inspired. Yes? Alright, what do you got? Let's hear it.
How has the Lord worked this week? It's been amazing. Go.
So, prior to this sermon, the greatest story it's ever told, but I'm just going to call it one night only.
I was just thinking about, and I'm not glory to God, but I've been able to share the gospel through so many movies.
Spider-Man 3, The Matrix, every time I watch a movie I'm just like, God can you speak to me?
And I'm just like, yeah, that's so awesome. I can see God in this, I can see Him trying to share His message through this.
But I just want to talk about, with all those movies, they're fiction. They have a great story, but here we've got a true story.
And I say story, I mean a real story, that one night only, if you didn't know this, angels in the Bible just don't show up.
They show up for a message, they appear, and people are on their knees. They sacrifice to Him, so they say, hey, don't kill us.
God sent an angel of death to destroy a city, but we can talk about that later, wasn't God trying to kill everybody?
There was a reason for it. The idea is these angels are super major, powerful, and they don't just show up, there's angels here every day.
And I would also say, I'm just going to say ignorant faith, and I'm going to say it's wrong faith.
People are blessed, there are miracles, there are healings from angels, because if someone calls on something, by God's grace and mercy,
people are going to be healed, there is a favor of God, it doesn't change who God is, how gracious and good He is.
So that night, and the shepherds were just watching their flocks at night, literally just watching the flocks, they were just there,
and all of a sudden, a multitude of angels appeared out of the sky, they saw them. You don't get to see angels.
Like I said, this is one night only, this will be the only night. The angels itself, they weren't here to boast,
or I believe they were even created for this day, just to come out and say, glory to God in the highest, the son of David, Christ the Savior is born,
peace and good will to all men, and they just start singing, there could be thousands, multitudes, ten thousands upon ten thousands,
who knows how many there are. And the shepherds are just watching this one time only, because you don't see any more angels come out,
you haven't seen them for two thousand years, for anyone to come out in a multitude. I mean these are angels.
This isn't like, you know, when we come out and have a concert, sing amazing songs, it's really cool and stuff,
but these are literally God's creation, singing a song to proclaim the birth of a Savior.
And so I just wanted to encourage us today, and just a reminder, that's why I call it one night only,
this was the greatest gift that God could ever give of himself. He gave his son to be born as a babe in Bethlehem,
and to anyone that will call on his name. And so I just wanted to say, Merry Christmas to y'all, I love this story,
because there's no story like this. You could never rewrite this story, and if you did that story, you could never change that day
that he came to shepherds. Shepherds were the least of the people, not because he couldn't come anywhere,
people just seemed to sky lit up, but they got to see a concert like they've never seen before.
And it probably didn't last very long, because they just shared a message and boop, gone.
But they were able to see a message, and today we can declare that message today.
So Merry Christmas to all New Light's family.
Amen. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.
Alright, who else? Are you inspired?
I hope you've been at least looking at the Christmas story this week.
Earlier this month we went thoroughly through it in the sermons, and I was very blessed.
And then right up to last night, the anticipation, we talked about the anticipation.
And if they were anticipating His coming, then Christmas is the day that we celebrate His coming.
But it is not the first time that Jesus visited earth, it is not the first time that Jesus was involved in creation.
He was involved in everything that was created at the beginning.
You can read about that in John chapter 1. Nothing was made except that which was made through Him. Praise God.
And He is the full embodiment, the full glory, the full awesome presence of God as a man on earth.
We are blessed.
Anyone else have something you'd like to share? We're going to pray?
Alright, Brother Tim, would you pray for us then as we transition and we baptize and offer him some more worship?
Let's pray with Tim.
I'll take it.
I see
a snow, a snow
shining in the night
with the whole world
moving in line
with the whole world
moving in line
to the shepherd
Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd, howl
Do you hear what I hear?
A snow, a snow
crying above the tree
with a voice
as big as the sea
with a voice as big as the sea
said the shepherd boy
to the mighty sea
Do you know what I know?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd
I'm going to read, this is Isaiah 9-6, which is a prophecy about the coming of Jesus that was written almost 700 years before it was born.
I'm going to read a phrase from it and I would like you to say back to me, his name is Jesus.
So let's practice that one time on the count of three. Ready?
One, two, three, go. His name is Jesus.
Karina, you with me? Don't be too distracted by that phone now.
Okay, so I'm going to read the phrase and I want you to say back to me, his name is Jesus. Each time.
This is Isaiah 9-6, broken down.
First one says, for a child will be born for us.
His name is Jesus.
Thank you, very good. That was good.
A son will be given to us.
His name is Jesus.
Thank you so much.
And the government will be on his shoulders.
His name is Jesus.
Very good, nice and loud.
He will be named wonderful counselor.
His name is Jesus.
Mighty God.
His name is Jesus.
Eternal Father.
His name is Jesus.
Prince of Peace.
His name is Jesus.
Thank you very much.
Interestingly enough, in the middle of that verse it says he will be named and then it says wonderful counselor,
Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, but we know that his name is Jesus.
Those are titles like doctor or father, right?
And so they are showing us really the character about him, what we need to know about who he would be.
And then when he is born, he is given the name Jesus.
We have one more activity that we're going to do.
I'm turning the page, but we have one more activity that we're going to do before we start.
And for that I will need a volunteer.
So I need somebody to volunteer to come up here.
Come on up here.
Is it Ashley? Did I say that right?
Okay, so we're going to have a little game.
So in my pocket I have two sets of locks.
You don't have to come on stage, I'll come down to you.
So this is going to be your set.
You count the locks.
One, two, three, four, five.
And then how many keys?
Five.
There are actually ten total, but there are two copies of each one, right?
So now the interesting thing is each lock has its key locked to it.
See it?
Yeah.
So I'm giving her five locks.
You take those five locks and ten keys.
And I have a bag here.
How old are you?
Thirty-six.
You can probably remember that, okay?
I have five also.
Simple math.
And I have sets of keys on each one.
Each one of mine has two keys as well.
So basically these are identical locks and keys to hers.
Presumably the keys are different, but the locks are identical, okay?
So we're going to race.
I'm going to open my five locks and you're going to open your five locks.
Are you ready?
Yeah.
So presumably what are you going to use to open the locks?
The keys.
The keys, okay?
So do you think maybe one of the other keys will work like you can do it like this?
You can do the key here and work on the...
I bet you might be right.
Are you ready to go?
On your mark, get set, go.
Okay, I've got my five locks.
Here we go.
Done.
Okay, try again.
Did you get one yet?
No.
Nothing.
I'm over two.
How about you?
Nothing.
Nothing?
Uh-oh, she's got one.
I'm going to go behind.
Oh, I got nothing.
I'm getting mixed up here.
How many got nothing?
I still want one.
Yeah.
Nothing.
Okay, this key better work or I'm in trouble.
Darn it, it's a...
The old one doesn't matter.
I got one.
I got two.
Oh, no.
I got two.
Oh, I'm catching up.
It's a race now.
We're on baby.
Three.
Look at that.
I'm going to have a problem with the ending.
Oh, no.
Now what?
This is the only key that worked.
I'm going to take this off.
Oh, no.
I'm getting close.
This is the only key that worked.
Bye.
Congratulations.
You win.
Congratulations.
Very good.
All right.
Keys and locks, they come in many forms.
This morning, I wanted to go on the Verizon website and they had to send me an email and
it says, do you allow or disallow this person to get on the website using your email address?
It's called a multi-factor authentication, which means a lock.
That's what it means.
Okay?
And so I said I allow and then because he put in the wrong password, he still didn't
because a password also is a lock.
There are lots of different kinds of locks and there are lots of different kinds of keys.
Okay?
Sometimes you say please to someone and they're more likely to give you what it is that you're
asking for because please is the key.
And politeness is both a key and a lock.
Oh, wait.
Now we've discovered that sometimes things are keys and locks.
Sometimes they're both, keys and locks.
So that's pretty interesting.
So we're going to look today at the key and lock that all of the other keys and locks
are pointing towards.
Okay?
All of creation has keys and locks everywhere you look and they're all pointing toward one.
Would you grab your Bibles and go with me?
Maybe give me a hoot, a holler, amen as we go to Luke chapter two.
Thank you for those of you who participated.
Did anybody not get to?
They wanted to, but they didn't know they were supposed to yell right there.
Okay.
We'll do it again.
Ready?
We're going to Luke chapter two.
All right.
I think it was, I heard somebody knew.
Okay.
We're good.
We added one person.
Okay.
We're good.
Luke two, 21.
This is the word of God, which amazingly enough is God's very, very inspired method of pointing
us to the locks and keys of the universe, in particular this one.
Okay?
So we're just going to use one verse from Luke chapter two.
I will tell you that this is the story of the birth of Jesus and we did study it earlier
this month.
We went through all of these verses and now we're going to hone in on one moment in time.
Okay?
And it is the one kind of that we didn't read because we didn't quite go that far and it
is Luke two, 21.
All right.
So in Luke two, 21, it says this, when the eight days were completed for his circumcision,
he was named Jesus.
And it's in great big all capital letters, J-E-S-U-S, all in caps.
He was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived.
Oh, that's good stuff.
All right?
She named him Jesus and it says right in there that she named him Jesus because he was given
that name, as we know by the angel Gabriel, before he was conceived.
This name, Jesus, is his name and it is a key.
This name, Jesus, was given to him chosen by God.
Gabriel, the angel, in just a few verses before, in Luke one, verse 30, it says, back over
here, the angel told her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Now listen, you will conceive and give birth to a son and you will call his name Jesus,
all in capitals.
He will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the Lord of God will
give him the throne of his father David.
So she gets the prophecy that she will have a son and that his name will be Jesus.
Okay, Bible scholars, what does the name Jesus mean?
Very good.
It's actually Jehovah or God saves.
That's what it means.
Okay?
And so what does the name Jehovah mean?
Does anybody know?
That's tougher, isn't it?
So Jehovah is actually, I'm going to mess up the word, but I won't even try it, but
it's a shifting of the word Yahweh.
Now you know what that word means, right?
That is the personal name of God and it literally means I am.
Now wouldn't you love to have a name?
I mean you probably wouldn't because then you'd be God and you don't have the powers
of God.
But if not, wouldn't it be cool to just say I am and everybody knows who you are?
I wish that were so even of God.
But God's name, I am, Yahweh is then shifted and it's the Latin version, we get Jehovah
and it actually is phonetically sound, it's got a three in it of all things.
It's like D3E and then what we would say was an H and then it's an OU.
So it's actually in the Latin Jehovah.
It's a stretched out U like Jehovah, almost like Jehovah but not.
And it's the Latin version of the word Yahweh.
It is the proper name of God and they never say, Jews never say Yahweh or Jehovah, either
one.
They say Adonai, which is Lord and it kind of comes over from the Greek, transliterated
sort of through the Greek and it means Lord and it is the Lord.
And Jehovah also means the Lord, the one, the only God.
This is God we're talking about, the creator God.
When you see Yahweh in the New Testament you will see it translated, capital L, capital
O, capital R, capital D. It is the Lord, the creator God who started it all, who was before
creation began, before anything existed, he existed and he created it all.
That's the God.
I am God, says God.
And Jehovah saves, says Jesus.
God gave him the name Jesus.
He gave it through first the angel Gabriel but then on the eighth day when he went to
be circumcised in the temple, Mary and Joseph told them that he would be named Jesus.
Isn't it great to know that Jehovah saves?
Boy, it would be awesome if there was only ever one Jesus, wouldn't it?
But it isn't so.
There have been other men named Jesus.
In fact, for a long time in Mexico it was quite common to name people Jesus, named after
Jesus.
Probably meaning the same thing, Jehovah saves.
And it is a great thing to know that Jehovah saves.
So you can reverse it.
You say, wouldn't it be great if we were all named Jesus?
So that everywhere you went you'd be saying Jehovah saves, Jehovah saves, Jehovah saves,
which is true.
Except it would not be great, would it, if we were all named Jesus?
Because then how would you call your kids?
You've got to clean your room, son.
Jesus.
No, the other Jesus.
No, not that one, the other Jesus.
God saved you.
The other Jesus.
God cleaned your room.
That would be extremely confusing.
So we can't all be named Jesus.
But there have been a lot of Jesuses.
There were even other Jesuses in Jesus' day.
Well, I tried to say that three times fast.
Other Jesus in Jesus' day.
So there were other Jesuses in Jesus' day.
I did say that pretty well.
Anyway, the point is there were others.
So you've got to be clear about who this Jesus.
This is the Jesus whom God gave the name Jesus through the angel Gabriel.
And he was born to a virgin in Bethlehem, lived a sinless life, and eventually died
on the cross.
This is that Jesus who died on the cross but did not stay dead, rose again on the third
day.
He had a fairly colored life.
Good things and bad things happened.
It was difficult at times.
They came to him for healing when he was tired.
They came to him for teaching when he was tired.
He got away alone by himself.
He would go to the garden of Gethsemane into wilderness places and spend time alone with
God.
He's 40 days he fasted in the wilderness, led there by the Holy Spirit.
40 days he fasted, tempted then by the devil himself.
This is our Jesus.
And God gave him his name before he was ever conceived.
You ever know anybody picked out baby names before the baby was conceived?
I mean, somebody, yeah.
You know, thinking kind of romantically.
I think if I ever had a boy he'd be named.
We did that.
I had a plan to name my firstborn son Jason.
Could have been Jason, Erin.
You could have been Jason.
But no.
Jason Daniel.
And now we see the problem.
Yeah, it worked out, didn't it?
Yeah, but she spelled it wrong.
But it's okay.
We love him anyway.
His middle name is Daniel?
See?
There you go.
I had a plan to name all my grandsons Daniel.
That was my plan.
It hadn't happened yet.
Anyway, God gave her the name before he was conceived.
And then she gave it at the baptism.
And his name was chosen by God.
He is that Jesus.
Notice then, his name is a key.
His name is a key.
Go with me if you're following along in your Bibles.
We're going to use a number of verses today.
Not a big number, but it's a good solid.
Probably about five total.
We're going to look briefly at Hebrews chapter one.
So in Hebrews, in the New Testament, you're going to go way out to the right.
Not too far.
We're going to Revelation.
We'll be in the end times before you know it.
We're going to go out to the right to Hebrews.
Someone want to come find it in my Bible up here?
In a minute I'm going to have to use the table of contents.
Anybody else?
Okay, there it is.
Okay.
Hebrews chapter one.
This is a different Bible than I normally preach out of, but that's no excuse.
Here we go.
We're going to look at verse four.
It's power packed.
Right?
It's talking about Jesus.
Which Jesus?
This Jesus who received his name before he was conceived, who was born in Bethlehem to
a virgin named Mary and her betrothed husband.
He had married her by the time that Jesus was born, but he had not married her by the
time that Jesus was conceived because he's not Jesus' father.
God is Jesus' father.
But Mary and Joseph gave him his name Jesus on the eighth day in Jerusalem.
They fled to Egypt.
They returned.
They settled in Nazareth.
We know who this Jesus is.
God gave him his name before he was born.
This is that Jesus.
His name is a key here in Hebrews chapter one.
He's talking about that Jesus.
In verse four it says, so he became higher in rank than the angels just as the name he
inherited is superior to theirs.
God elevated Jesus' name.
In fact, you could almost say that God had elevated Jesus' name from the beginning of
creation.
Go back to verse one of that and here it goes.
It says, long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in
different ways.
In other words, God's been revealing the key all this time.
In these last days he has spoken to us by his son whom he has appointed heir of all
things and through whom he made the universe.
He is the radiance of his glory, the exact expression of his nature, and he sustains
all things by his powerful word.
After making purifications for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
So he became higher in rank than the angels just as the name he inherited is superior
to theirs.
This name of Jesus is a superior name.
This name of our Jesus, the Jesus, not just any Jesus, but the Jesus whom God named, whom
God sent to be the key, his name is a key.
His name is a key.
Look at Acts chapter four.
Going back to the left, you always find Acts right after the book of Luke, probably because
Luke wrote all that big piece back to back.
The book of Luke and the book of Acts, he wrote pretty much back to back and they kind
of pair up nicely.
So Acts chapter four, beginning in verse eight.
Now you know this story maybe, maybe not.
I don't know.
Most people have heard a little bit of something about it.
Peter and John were arrested.
They healed a man.
Silver and gold have I done, but such as I have I give unto thee.
And they healed him and he got up and he could walk normally and stuff and become no longer
a beggar basically.
And then they get arrested because they're preaching Jesus and all that's going on.
And this is right in the middle of that story.
Verse eight, it says, then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and he said to them,
rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today about a good deed done
to a disabled man by what means he was healed, let it be known to all of you and all the
people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified and
whom God raised from the dead by him this man is standing here before you healthy.
This Jesus is the stone despised by your builders, by you builders who has become the cornerstone.
There is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to people
by which we must be saved.
Now don't you wish you were named Jesus.
Man, that's awesome.
That we can't all be named Jesus and even if we were there is only one Jesus.
His name was given to him before his birth.
He was born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, lived a sinless life and died on a cross.
He was the stone despised by the builders but he had become the cornerstone, the key.
There is no salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to people
by which we must be saved.
Listen to me, don't tell people you got to believe in God to be saved because that's
not how it's done.
There are Muslims all over the world who say they believe in God and they don't know Jesus
and they're just as destined for hell if they do not accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
and they're not the only ones.
There are people all over the world.
There are people all over East Toledo, all over Toledo and all the metropolitan area
and all over Ohio and all over the United States who definitely believe in God.
They believe in God and everything about God.
He created the universe.
He loved us.
He loved us so much that he sent his son.
Here's what they haven't done, many of them.
They have not come to the God of the universe through Jesus and there is no other name given
among men by which we must be saved.
You cannot be saved by Allah.
You cannot be saved by the Almighty Dollar.
You cannot be saved by family.
You cannot be saved by honesty.
You cannot be saved by your hobbies or your recreation or even, wait a minute, you cannot
be saved by your Bible.
You must be saved by Jesus.
And this is true because it is Jesus who is standing at the right hand of the Father making
eternal intercession for those who have believed in God and come to God through the name of
Jesus.
There are guys named Joe in heaven and they may entreat God and in heaven they may have
what it is that they desire but they did not die for your sins.
They did not come back to life again on the third day.
They are not the Savior and they are not Jesus the Nazarene who was put to death primarily
because people didn't like the fact that he is the key.
His name was chosen by God and his name is a key.
And lastly, his name, his name, his name, capital H, capital I, capital S, his name is
a lock.
Oh.
You ever forget your password?
Third try locks you out.
Now you've got to call customer service, right?
Or the network password in your house.
You ever forget your car keys?
Like leave them in your husband's car when you drive to work, make him have to drive
an hour back home.
You ever do that?
Nobody's ever done that, right?
You ever want to make a call?
Reach for your cell phone.
Your cell phone is the key to making a cell phone call.
You need a cell phone to make a cell phone call.
That's kind of how that works.
You ever leave it at home?
How many times did you reach for your cell phone to make a call that day and go, oh crud,
I forgot I left my cell phone at home because you're used to having the key with you.
Nobody likes a lock standing in the way of what they want to do.
Nobody likes a lock standing in the way of who they want to be, how they see themselves.
The truth is, let's just get realistic.
Nobody likes a lock.
I don't like the locks on my house.
I don't like the locks on my car.
I don't like locks.
I wish I lived in a world where no locks were needed.
There are parts of the world where they never lock their houses.
You want to come in and take something?
Just take it.
You can do that a lot easier if you have nothing of value.
But hear me now.
This salvation of Jesus is not something of value.
It is everything of value.
This Jesus, whose name is a key, his name is also a lock.
Turn with me to Acts chapter 19, which will be our last passage of scripture today, although
we will look at Isaiah 9, 6 in the conclusion and do that little reading again.
Acts 19.
So you're just basically going to the right if you had stopped in Acts 4 with me.
Acts 19.
We're looking at verse 12.
So there's a kind of a sort of a revival thing going on in Ephesus.
It's getting a little spark.
You know, people are hearing about Jesus and they're starting to come to God.
And there are some extraordinary miracles that have happened.
In verse 11, it says God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul's hands so that even face
cloths or work aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick and the diseases
left them and the evil spirits came out of them.
That's pretty incredible that Paul, through the power of the Lord, of course, was doing
miracles when he wasn't even present.
They would take a little napkin that he, you know, he blew his nose, he handed it off and
some guy could walk again.
It was awesome.
Verse 13 then says, then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the
name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying, I command you by the
Jesus whom Paul preaches.
I think it's interesting that they did it that very specific way.
They didn't say Jesus of Nazareth.
They didn't say the Jesus that was crucified and rose again on the third day.
But they did identify him.
They identified him as the Jesus whom Paul preaches.
This is really interesting, isn't it?
It's clear that they don't know Jesus.
They have not met Jesus.
They have not come to a personal relationship with Jesus.
They've not come into faith in God through Jesus.
They do not know that Jesus' name is a lock.
They do not really know that Jesus' name was chosen by God.
But they think it's a key.
When Ashley and I were opening the locks, it was like, well, this key might work.
This key might work.
And here are some folks who realize that Jesus' name is a key and they're going to try to
use Jesus' name to overcome some evil spirits.
Do you think that they would have any success?
Well it says in verse 13, then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce
the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits saying, I command you by
the Jesus whom Paul preaches.
Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.
That word means they began in the past and they were continuing to.
In the English we say were.
And by the way, that's what we usually mean.
That we started doing something and we're still doing it.
We were walking to the store.
We left for the store.
We're still walking to the store.
Or we can say, at two o'clock yesterday we were walking to the store because we had begun
to walk to the store and we hadn't finished yet.
That's what we mean when we say were.
And that word there means they had begun to do it and they hadn't stopped yet doing it.
Meaning they probably had some success pronouncing Jesus against or over top of these evil spirits.
They were continuing to become a process for them.
The seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.
The evil spirit answered them, Jesus I know and Paul I recognize, but who are you?
And the man who had the evil spirit leapt on them, overpowered them all, prevailed against
them so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.
This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks.
Then fear fell on all of them and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
That's probably when they moved into all caps, you think?
Like previously it was capital J and then just like in small ESUS because the first
name proper, proper now.
And then he moved into all caps.
Whoa, this Jesus of Nazareth who lived, who died, who rose again, this Jesus of Nazareth
who parents carried him off to Egypt and came back again, this Jesus whom God gave him his
name before he was born, born of a virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, tempted by the
devil but still didn't sin, died on a cross, rose again.
That Jesus, whoa, he's not just a key, he's also a lock.
When we started I handed Ashley five locks and ten keys.
And if you picked up one thing out of your hand you have a 66% chance.
So I've got ten keys and only five locks.
I guess I could use a key to open a lock.
That makes some sense, right?
I try one of the other keys even though it looks like the keys are paired up and the
key won't reach.
I'll try one and see if it did.
That's how we were able to do it.
Have you ever tried to open a lock with a lock?
That's dumb, right?
I mean that's not the way it's supposed to go.
We all know that inside there's little things that this key, and some of us know how the
insides work, Brother Tim knows this really well, how the insides work and some of us
don't but if you don't put a key in there or a lock pick or a bobby pin or something
in there, that ain't going to open and you can fiddle with this lock all day and you
might even pound it down flat and make a lock pick or a key eventually but to get there
you're going to need a key.
Opening a lock with a lock is not how it works.
And so right away Ashley was able to say, I'm going to use a key, you know, it might
not necessarily be the right key, I'm going to use a key and see if one of these keys
will work and that's how we were able to do it.
We found one that would work and I submit to you it's because it's a small lock and
a small key and there's not much variety.
But in life there's a lot of variety.
There's a lot of people going, well I think I'm going to get there and this is how I'm
going to do it.
I'm going to collect cars or I'm going to collect money or I'm going to collect a finer
house or I'm going to belittle my children and talk to them down, like tell them how
stupid they are and then they'll do what I tell them to do because they think I'm smarter
than they are or I'm going to get real loud and throw stuff around and then everybody
will walk on eggshells around me and then I'll be able to manipulate people and get
them to do what they want or I'm going to dress nice or I'm going to dress down so people
won't expect and people will give me more stuff or whatever.
People got all these plans.
There are a lot of issues in life and you can't solve those issues with a lock.
You can only solve them with a key and so we go, oh well the name of Jesus.
That makes perfect sense.
I'm going to follow Jesus.
But don't forget Jesus is not only a key, Jesus is also Himself a lock.
If you forgot your password and can't get in then you can understand that if you come
to God by some other method other than the key, the lock remains locked.
When you're trying to get in Google, you have to have told them what your username and password
was in advance and if you put the right username and password, they let you in and if you don't,
they keep you out.
If you personally install the lock, you go to the store and you buy a lock and they don't
give you a key and then you lock your house and you can't get in, right?
No, they give you a key.
The key comes matched to the lock.
Jesus is both a key and a lock.
The problem is those who do not know Jesus, those who do not want to themselves follow
the Lord, those who do not want to be a Christian or be the kind of person that God wants them
to be, they don't want to deal with the lock.
They just want to do an end run.
Let's forget it or let's batter our way through.
We don't want to accept that the lock and the key are for everyone, every Jew and every
Gentile and that by believing in God through Jesus Christ, His Son, we can be saved.
But in this very story, when the lock shows up, when they go, yeah, you can talk to me
about Jesus if you want because I know who Jesus is, but I don't know you.
And the next thing you know, it's a brawl and people are running out beat up in their
underwear, right?
How embarrassing because I tried to wield the key.
What I discovered was my fake faith that doesn't honor God, my effort to manipulate life, my
wisdom and my trickery, and none of it was good enough.
If I'd humbly come before Jesus Christ and said, Lord, will you save me?
And if I'd have been plugged into the Holy God of the universe through Jesus, then when
I say in Jesus' name, they know who I'm talking about and I know who I'm talking about.
And if that had happened, if those men had come to God through Jesus in advance, then
they wouldn't have said the Jesus whom Paul preaches.
They'd have said Jesus who is my Lord, Jesus who is my Savior, Jesus who is God of the
universe, this Jesus whom God named.
We know who we're talking about.
Do you know who I'm talking about?
Yes, I know who I'm talking about.
I know Jesus and I know Paul and I know you because you're a follower of Jesus.
And that's what the people of Ephesus begin to do.
They magnify the name of Jesus.
They begin to do their work and they're speaking about Jesus.
And in verse 18 it says, and many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing
their practices.
They stopped hiding their secret sins and started saying, I'm living for Jesus now.
I don't need that anymore.
And those who practice magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone.
So they calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver.
They didn't sell them at a garage sale.
Sometimes some years ago, many years ago now, the Lord really convicted me in our house
to give up rated R movies.
And then we had a number of really good rated R movies that we liked.
And I'm not saying you have to do this, okay, but this was our example.
I'm using an example.
We gave up rated R movies and we had probably about, I'd say maybe 15 or 20.
It wasn't a big number or anything, but we had about 15 or 20 of them.
And Sherry and I were riding a car when I brought it up to her.
I remember the day and she said, well, what are you going to do with them?
And I said, well, I'm just going to throw them out.
And I was thinking in my head, cause I, you know, there is a miserly side to me.
Like I don't waste money if I can help it.
And thinking in my head, well, I could sell them.
But I thought, but if I sell the rated R movies, then while I am not a watcher of rated R movies,
I become a peddler of rated R movies.
And that doesn't sound right either.
And so we decided to just throw them away.
It's probably about, I don't know, back, this was back in the day when people actually watched
DVDs, I'm guessing it was probably about a hundred dollars worth of movies.
We could have sold them for five, 10 bucks a piece probably.
We'll just throw them away.
And as we went through and the Lord convicted me, there was one movie that was there that
has a really strong Christian message.
In fact, it really spoke to me in one of the first sermons I ever preached.
And we kept that movie.
So to this day, for the last, now it's been what, 20 years, we've owned one rated R movie.
Same one.
And somebody's going to go, well, what is it?
And if I tell you the name, then you'll know.
Understand?
This Jesus, this Jesus got his name before he was conceived.
He was named by Mary and Joseph on the eighth day.
He was born in Bethlehem to a virgin and the angels testified of his birth the day, the
night he was born.
They fled into Egypt because Harry was going to kill all the babies.
When they returned, when they returned, they diverted into Nazareth because of the rumors
that they had heard.
And he was raised there in Nazareth.
He's Jesus the Nazarene, though he was really born in Bethlehem.
Came on the public scene and John testified every day.
Repent, repent for the King of God has a hand.
But that is, his ministry was closing out.
He began to say, realize, you do realize all that I've been saying all this time is that
I am not the one.
But there is one among you yet who will come.
And while I baptize you with water, he will baptize you with the Spirit of God.
And Jesus did that.
And he did miracles.
And he said, if you don't believe in me, believe in the miracles that I do.
And Mark, I think it's chapter nine.
There was a man who was casting out evil spirits in the name of Jesus.
And by the way, doing so successfully.
And the disciples told him, we told him to knock it off because he was not following
with us.
And Jesus said, don't worry about it.
He said, don't molest him because it's hard to do something powerful.
He said a miracle is how it's translated in English, but it really means something powerful.
It's hard to do something powerful in the name of Jesus.
And then anytime shortly thereafter speak badly about me.
He was Jesus.
Those who know him today find it hard to speak badly about him.
If Jesus has done a powerful thing in your soul.
If he's transformed you, born you again, started you fresh.
And that's how it works, by the way, for those who magnify his name by turning from your
sins and turning to God through Jesus.
By refusing to worship anyone or anything else, recognizing who Jesus is.
By choosing to be all in for God through Jesus.
There is a new birth.
A sealed up heart protected.
A learning of what God desires from us.
Profoundly affected.
But for those who do not magnify the name of Jesus.
For those who don't know which Jesus I'm talking about.
For those who try to come to God by some other way.
They try to open a lock with a lock or with a key that doesn't fit.
There is no eternity in heaven with God.
You must come to God through Jesus.
Because his name was given to him before he was born, because his name is a key.
And frankly and painfully, his name is a lock.
There will never be another Jesus.
No one else is coming to die for your sins before Jesus comes again to begin eternity.
To judge, to sort.
When you get this right, choose the right man Jesus.
Choose the right God the Son.
You will be saved.
You will receive the Holy Spirit.
You will be profoundly affected.
Born again.
Starting essentially a new life.
You will then work diligently to magnify his name every day.
You will work diligently to magnify his name every day.
Because his name was chosen by God before he was conceived.
His name is a key and his name is a lock.
And every other key, and every password, and every multi-factor authentication, all of
it.
Every bit of security and every breach of security is all designed to point to Jesus.
I will read the phrases from Isaiah 9-6 again in closing.
And I'll ask you again to say his name is Jesus in between each phrase.
I'm almost there.
There it is.
This is the prophecy written about Jesus' birth almost 700 years before he was born.
And it goes something like this.
This is one of them.
There are multiple.
It goes something like this.
For a child will be born for us.
His name is Jesus.
Nope.
We're going to do it again.
Everybody ready?
Take a breath.
Clear your throat.
Okay, here we go.
For a child will be born for us.
His name is Jesus.
A son will be given to us.
His name is Jesus.
And the government will be on his shoulders.
His name is Jesus.
He will be named.
Jesus.
Yeah, that was good.
Thank you, Larry.
Wonderful counselor.
His name is Jesus.
Mighty God.
His name is Jesus.
Eternal Father.
His name is Jesus.
And Prince of Peace.
His name is Jesus.
His name is Jesus because Jehovah saves and He would be the key and the lock.
His name is Jesus.
I'm going to ask a praise team to come forward at this time and lead us in a closing song.
If you're here in this room and you have not come to faith in God the Father through Jesus
Christ the Son, then you are not saved.
And you will not go to heaven when you die.
Unless you right now do.
Or you do between now and when you die.
Why put it off?
His name is Jesus.
When we see who He is, His lasting testimony going on 2,000 years, named before He was
conceived, born to a virgin in Bethlehem, fled to Egypt, returned to Nazareth, a public
ministry healing, saving people from their sins.
He even pronounced people sinless.
Forgave them.
The bread of life.
Our Jesus.
Will you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today?
A Lord means I recognize He has a right to tell me what to do and I do it.
And a Savior means He paid the price for my sins.
And then live magnifying His name every day until either He comes again or we die.
I'm kind of hoping for the former.
But I guess I'm good either way.
Because Jehovah saves. His name is Jesus.
Would you stand with us and sing this song?
And then if you're responding in some way, you don't have to sing.
You can walk right forward, stand here with me amongst the locks and say, I want my lock
opened.
I want to be saved.
Surrendering my life to the Lord Jesus today.
And then you will magnify Him every day going forward.
You come and He's speaking in your heart today.
As little children we were two Christmas boys.
And all the gifts and toys we knew we'd find.
But we never realized a baby born one blessed night.
He gave us the greatest gift of our lives.
It won't matter if you think you're saved in the end.
It won't matter if someone else thinks you're saved.
You can go all the way out screaming, kicking, complaining, whining, questioning.
It just matters if you're saved or not.
Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you.