Good evening. Our scripture is taken from the 18th chapter of Book of Proverbs, and I ask for the right to read verse 10, but I want to read verses 10 and 11. So we'll be looking at Proverbs chapter 18, verses 10 and 11. It reads as follows. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous man runs into it and is safe. A rich man's wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall is in his imagination. They got rich, we bless both the reading and the hearing of his holy word. As we look at this interesting statement, the wisdom portion of the literature or the wisdom literature, the Bible, the first thing to note as you look at the text itself, especially in verse 10, that the main subject of verse 10 is the sacred covenant name of God. When we've, I know we've called attention to this before, but anytime you see the word Lord in the scriptures and all uppercase letters, the name of God that's being revealed there is Jehovah, and the name was so sacred among the Jews that they would not even write it in its completion. They would write what is called the tetragramaton, which is it was an abbreviation of the name of God. They would remove all of the vows, and it was spelled with simply four consonants, and it was considered the sacred name of God. Now some might argue that there was a superstition attached to that, but certainly when we hear the people of God, so irreverently using the name of God, at least they aired in the side of reverence, on the side of reverence. But in any event, the name that's the name of the Lord that's mentioned here, it's the unique name of God. It is the name that is called his sacred or his covenant name. The best meaning, I should say that is described to this name, or this divine disclosure, self-disclosure, is the becoming one, and that's what it means. In fact, the Lord tells Moses, I am that I am, and a better English translation of that phrase, is the becoming one, the all becoming one, or to put simply the one who becomes all, becomes all that his people need. That's what's the name Yahweh or Jehovah. So that's why we don't get all been out of shape when people use the name Jehovah, because they're actually referring to the covenant name of God. Je Campbell Morgan, who was an outstanding expositor, early part of the 20th century, gives this very succinct description of what is entailed in that covenantal name of God, the idea of God being the all becoming one, or all that his people need. He puts it this way, he says, it is the name Jehovah is the adaptation of the infinite being to finite being in order to bring about the strengthening of the finite being. So in other words, it's the infinite yielding his condescending to the finite for the strengthening of the finite, and so he becomes all that his people need. Now, to another observation about the passage itself, we see that it contains, in verse 10, it contains the unusual, the sacred covenant name of God, Yahweh or Jehovah, but the other thing to observe is the interesting imagery, the contrast and the imagery that's contained in that name. When you think of a name, it's usually a descriptor, or sometimes people name their children according to either a family tradition, or sometimes they name their children with a message involved for everyone that their children will encounter. Dick Gregory named one of his daughters, Miss, and he did this when she was, she was born, I think somewhere in the 50s, he says, so that every person that calls her will, refers to her, will have to call her Miss Gregory, they can't call her girl, they gotta call her Miss Gregory, or they calling her out of her name. He had a friend whose mother named one of her sons, Lawyer, because she had high aspirations that he would, now he didn't become a lawyer, we know another brother who was named Judge, and again it was, it was the ambition of parents, and in each one of these cases, we're talking about families that came from struggling situations, and they provided education and opportunity for their children, and they put in their children. They sort of invested in the naming of their children, something better than they were used to. So we use names as a way of sort of expressing something, giving a sense of meaning, you can almost tell children that were born in the 70s in certain communities, and what they thought, because there were a lot of radical names that were given, there was the return to Africa, kind of names, and that's so much is packed in a name. And so the idea of one's name, and sometimes the names that we see, especially given in scripture, are not only, they're not only expressing ambitions, but they're oftentimes descriptors, they describe something, parents are at times, for instance, John's parents, John the Baptist, his parents were told what to name him, because of the function that he would serve, the same thing with Jesus. His name would be, his name shall be Jesus, because he shall save his people from their sins. So names are not only indicators of the aspirations and hopes of the ones who do the naming, but sometimes names, especially as they are used in scriptures, are descriptors of what a person is or a message. There's usually a message, I love them, the Old Testament, especially when places are given a certain name. By the way, Theo Bethel, he has one of the best and most godly names that you can imagine that has so much scripture attacks to him. Theophilus meaning friend of God, and then his last name, if that weren't enough, it would be good enough at theophilus Smith, but oh no, he's Bethel. And we learned from the book of Genesis that Bethel means the house of God. It is the place where where Jacob encountered God the first time and then on his trip back when he encounters him the second time and wrestles with the Lord, he remains the place. El Bethel, the god of the house of God. So it's interesting how names are used because they tell a great deal. Now here's what's unusual. And perhaps to help us with this unusual use of the name of God, we have this contrast. What's unusual here is the imagery that is suggested by the wording of the text. The name of God is described in the imagery that's used. It is described as a high tower, a high tower which refers to a safe place that provides security. Now the very use of the word tower indicates that it is elevated. And the idea is, and perhaps even a better description would be, that a high tower is a fortified elevated structure. And it's kind of unusual. You say a name is a lot of things. And then it goes on to say that the righteous person runs to this tower. And that's kind of unusual. The imagery here is a little bit unusual for a number of reasons. Usually you don't, a lot of, there's a lot of comforts in the names that God uses to reveal himself to his people. In fact, he uses Jehovah usually in conjunction with something. And by the way, the very fact that Jehovah itself, which as best we can describe it, means the all becoming one. Therefore, the different phrases that are used in conjunction with it, such as Jehovah Jaira, the all becoming one becomes the provision. Jehovah Nisi, the all becoming one becomes the banner for his people. So the different uses and things that we connect to Jehovah is a description what he is becoming for the welfare of his people. But what's unusual here is this imagery of a tower that somehow the name of God, the most sacred name of God, is portrayed as a tower where the people of God can run. So how do we find refuge in a name? Well, to kind of give us a hint as to the point that the writer is making, that's where we get the contrast in verse 11. The righteous person seeks or sees in the covenant name of God a place of refuge. Now, to show the contrast, look at verse 11. It says, but a rich man's wealth is his strong city. And here's where the contrast comes in. The rich man's wealth is his strong city and like a high wall. And I love this in his imagination. The image that is given here for the rich man. And by the way, this is not to denounce wealth. That's not what the scriptures are saying. It's the challenge that wealth presents and not just wealth. There are a number of other things that can give us the deception or can deceive us into thinking that we are more than what we are. Whether it's wealth in some cases, and this is why James and Paul in the New Testament, it admonishes the elders to make sure that you let them know that they are dependent. Don't let them be satisfied in their wealth. And we read this morning from 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 in our Sunday school class, which Paul is quoting from Jeremiah. He says, let the rich man trust in his riches or the strong man in his power. So the point that is made with this imagery and with this contrast is that people depend on something outside of themselves. And they define their security based on how they define themselves. So in other words, we read, for instance, in the Psalms and in Isaiah, some trust in chariots and some trust in horses. But the contrast is, but I will trust in the Lord our God. So what is it that people trust in? And here's what the writer of Proverbs is doing for us. He's saying, here's the wealthy person. He's not saying that it's a sin to be wealthy, but it's the very point that Jesus makes when he says that it's difficult for the rich man to enter into the kingdom as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. So the reason is the more we have and the more we think of ourselves, the less dependent we will be upon God. So that wealth is wrong. Hold in mind Abraham was a rich man and the Lord made him richer. Job was a rich man and the Lord made him richer. It seems that Lazarus, the friend of Jesus and his sisters were well off. So there's no shame and there's nothing innately sinful about being wealthy. The issue is, how do you define your strength? And so I love the way that the passage reads in verse 11, it speaks of the rich man, the man who is wealthy, that in his imagination, that his money is like a strong wall. Brothers and sisters, there are many people who think that same way, that their security, either that which they have or that which they are striving for, the idea is somehow that our strength is defined and determined by our bank account. And the assumption is, and trust me, people who have a certain amount of money, there are certain things that we stress over, they just don't even think about it. And because they don't think about it, they deceived themselves. That's why the writer says that in their imagination, that's a strong wall. Because a little money can move some things that influence some people, because a little money can give you certain physical securities and advantages, it gives the impression among a lot of people that they are strong. In the same way that the person who we used to tease about this, some friends of mine, that those people that were picked on, we would see in junior high school, then all of a sudden in the 80s, they would go to the gym and work out as if muscles are going to give you heart. Muscles are not the same thing as courage. And so sometimes people think that because I'm big and because I'm buffed or because I've got weapons, that's my protection. And that's the point that he's making here about the wealthy man, the wealthy man, trust in his wealth as if that is his fortress. Here's what he offers on the flip side. Instead he says that for the righteous person, in verse 10, the righteous person he says runs to the name of the Lord and finds safety. Now that brings up two questions to me. That brings up two questions. The first question is this. What does the name Jehovah protect the righteous person from? What is it that it provides? Because again, the whole idea, the imagery of a tower, a fortified elevated tower, the impression is that there's protection. You are protected from something. So what is it that the name of Jehovah protects the righteous person from? And in fact, what is implied by verse 11 is that it provides a protection that money can't. So what is it that we are protected from in the name Jehovah? And the second question that stems from the first one is how does the righteous person run to the name of Jehovah? I think those are, that kind of gives us a sense of what's being driven home here. So in order to answer the first question, what does the name Jehovah protect us from? It raises sort of a subsidiary question to that. And that is, because it kind of depends on how people define the biggest problem that fallen mankind has. Or in other words, not even just fallen mankind. One could put it this way. What is the greatest threat and the greatest danger faced by man? So if we were to begin there, because what does the name of Jehovah protect us from? I would say that it must be a needed protection. So what then does man proceed to be his greatest threat or his greatest danger? Now some, you might be surprised at some of the answers, but some people think that man's greatest threat and greatest problem is physiological. It said our bodies are exposed to so many things, chemicals and various things. So if we don't be careful of what we eat, then we're going to eat ourselves into extinction. And so if there is, there are physiological threats. There are things that we breathe, you live in certain parts of the country and certainly you can almost see the air that you're breathing. So yes, there are things that are a threat to us physiologically. Some would say that our threat, our greatest threat is economic. It's that there are threats that in fact, we talk about the disproportion of wealth throughout the land, not just in this country, but throughout the world. And so how many people that we know of in various parts of the world that don't have enough to eat? And so we look at our problem, we look at our markets, our financial markets as they go up and down and we all have experienced the ups and downs of the market. Remember the crash in 2008. Remember all of the things that we've experienced in our history, the Wall Street crash in 1929. All of these things, we say that our economy is perilous and if certain things are not done, it will crash. And the question becomes what happens when it crashes? Well, mankind sees to exist. Then others say that no man's greatest problem is man's inhumanity to man coupled with weapons of mass destruction. The truth is we have the ability to pretty much destroy life as we know it on planet Earth and unfortunately we have some not to stable people that are responsible for those weapons. And so when we look at world leaders that are not the most emotionally and psychologically sound and stable, where they hurl insults at the world as if it's nothing. And then we think that all it takes is a written order from them and we could be at war. Surely you say well that is our greatest threat. And so we have agreements to deal with those issues and there are a number of things that we would perceive as being our greatest threat. And so the answer if we look at it in that way, does the name of Jehovah protect us from our physiological problems, our economic problems, our problems of annihilation, the possibility of annihilation of the human race? What is it exactly that the name of Jehovah protects us from? And I would dare say that one's religion is almost determined by the perception of what is our greatest threat and what is the greatest protection from that threat. And so how you define that threat is oftentimes the way that you would define your religion. But notice that the text says that it is the righteous that runs to the name of Jehovah and finds safety. So now here's the thing, the righteous person that is set forth in the scripture is generally not the one who performs righteous deeds. So we have to be clear on the categories here. When the Bible speaks of the righteous, he's not saying the person who was morally pure because all you have to do is look at Romans 3, 23 and that would just shoot that down. There is none in Romans 3, verse 10 he says there's none righteous, there's none that do with good and then it just goes on to explain what in case we didn't get it the first time and then it just comes to this climactic point in verse 23 and says that all have sinned. And have come short of the glory about so then that raises the question who is the Bible referring to when it refers to the righteous. In that case, we would say that the righteous person is not the one who performs the righteousness that is demanded by the law. But rather the righteous person is the one that embraces the gift of righteousness or the righteousness of another. Brother Wright and his prayer referred to a phrase that Luther used often where he talks about an alien or foreign righteousness. And what we are credited with is a foreign righteousness, a righteousness that is outside of us and a righteousness that is not our own. So the righteous person as set forth in the scriptures can be one of two people and we looked at this and we saw this in our exposition of Psalms 1. The righteous person is either the person who performs all of the requirements of God's holy law or the righteous person is the one who looks by faith to the one who has kept God's holy law. And so since we know that we are not in group A therefore because that group A is a lonely group, there is only one person. There is only one person who has kept God's law in thought, word and deed and who has not failed it in any part at any time. Anyone else outside of that one person who is Jesus is righteous by declaration and not by performance. We need to know that. And so if we are righteous, declared righteous by God because of our faith in Christ, therefore the righteous person is the one who embraces the righteousness of another by faith. Now here is what we know that righteous person in order to embrace the one who is righteous, they must first be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus tells Nicodemus and John chapter 3 that you must be born again or else you can't even enter into the kingdom. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Spirit. So therefore can we not say that the righteous person who is righteous by faith or by declaration is also a regenerate person? And if they are regenerate then what that means is that that is to say that at one time as Paul says in Ephesians 2 they were dead in trespasses and sins. But they have been quickened by the Spirit of God through the ministry of the Spirit and the gospel they have been awakened. And you know the first thing that they have been awakened to, they have been awakened to the greatest threat and the greatest danger of fallen humanity. They have come to themselves when we are awakened by the Spirit of God we realize that our greatest problem is not poverty. Our greatest problem is not even idiots that have access to the nuclear codes. That's not even our greatest problem. Our greatest problem is not tyrants, our great and not to say they are not problems. Our greatest problem is not the world economy and our greatest man's greatest problem is not even his overall health. We are awakened by the Holy Spirit to be made aware of the fact of what our greatest danger is and you know what we discover? Our greatest danger is living under the sovereign eye of an offended deity. Our greatest problem, our greatest danger is that the God of the universe has an ought against us. That's our greatest problem. And here's what complicates that problem or compounds that problem. He is omnipotent which means he has all the power. He is omnipresent which means he is everywhere. And he is omniscient in that he knows everything. And if that's not enough he's perfect in all of those things. And as Jonathan Edwards defines perfection he says perfection is that which cannot be improved upon and it can't be diminished. All of us can think about things that we used to be able to do but we can't do anymore and none of us are 100 years old yet. God is eternal and there is nothing that he could do that he still can't do. He doesn't grow tired, he doesn't grow old, he doesn't forget. That's our problem. And it's not until we have been awakened by the Spirit that we understand what our problem is. Our problem is not that oh I need to do better. No our problem is that we have offended the sovereign deity of all of creation. And as we are awakened by the Spirit we are awakened to what our real danger is. How dreadful how terrible it is as the writer of Hebrews says to fall into the hands of a living God. That's our problem. Now again it's important that we understand that as it relates to religion. Because people are defining their religion according to the way they define their problem. And here's why the contrast that we see from verses 10 and 11 are important. You see if you have offended and we see this by the way in our Wednesday night Bible study that if you have enough money you can possibly potentially bribe those who are in power who are impressed by your money. So therefore Heyman offers to pay a great amount of money into the treasury of King Zerce's and he turns the other way and let him in act a great atrocious sin against the Jewish people. Because we again if you know enough people paying up money certain things that you can do I was listening to a brother who was saying that he was with some businessman and they were traveling across across the world. And he was it was a last minute trip and the person that he was traveling with to do business with him. He called him he was on his way somewhere else he says listen I need you to meet me at the airport. He went to the airport to meet him. He says where we going he says we're going to somewhere in Europe. I think it was Paris. He said well I don't have my I don't have my passport. He said that's okay you with me. Yeah go figure right. That tells me that as as inconvenient and as necessary as as it may be to have all of our checkpoints that is your checkbook is at a certain amount. Checkpoints don't matter. He said you you with me all you need to do is be with someone and that's the mindset that people have that if I have enough I can do enough. And so the God awakens us to what our greatest problem is and if our greatest problem is an offended deity then there's nobody that has enough money in their bank account that can take care of that problem. Francis Schaeffer says that God is neither a respecter of persons nor a taker of bribes. So here's what we are waking to our greatest danger is our offense against God and God's charge against us. And therefore the name of God the name Jehovah is a deliverance from our greatest danger. In other words the name Jehovah is what saves us from Jehovah and so therefore it is for us a strong tower. It is for us and then the writer says that the righteous run to it so that brings us to the question then if the first question is what does the name of Jehovah provide protection from? And the name of Jehovah provides protection from Jehovah and a moment will demonstrate it even from the example of Abraham. But then that brings us to the question then how do we how do the righteous run to the name of Jehovah because it's imagery how do you run to a name? I think the way that we do that is those who have been awakened since the righteous are those who have been regenerated and awakened by the Holy Spirit and the first thing that we become conscious of when we are awakened is our danger. Then what we are able to do is what Paul describes in Romans 10 that we believe in our hearts that we are in danger and the only solution that we can get can get us out of that danger is the name of Jesus. And so therefore we are able to put in our tongues the name above all names that that the writer in or Luke says in Acts that at the name of Jesus men must be saved. It's the only name given among men whereby men must be saved. We run to the name Jehovah as it is seen here the covenant name of God we run to the name Jehovah when we call on the name of Jesus. And you know what the name Jesus means actually in Hebrew is Yeshua and the name Yeshua simply means Jehovah saves and he saves us with his name. Now here's how we can see that Jehovah saves us from Jehovah in the story of Abraham. You remember Abraham at one time had been an idolater and the Lord had promised him a child and you know all of the things that took place before that child was born and then eventually Isaac was born. But before that there was a test run there was a test kitchen by the name of Ishmael. And Ishmael was his son and Abraham provided for the son but it wasn't the child who promised the child who promised was Isaac. Remember how I have one point now that we're all clear on on on my fulfilling my promise to you Abraham the Lord comes to Abraham and he says Abraham I need you to do me a favor. You get up and I want you to take the son that you love the son of promise and I want you to take him and sacrifice him to me. Interesting enough Abraham doesn't raise any questions. He just gets up and he gets Isaac and he heads to the place that God had called him to. As a matter of fact we read in the book of Hebrews that it says by faith Abraham offered up his son and the reason even we know that he doesn't actually offer him up but in the mind of Abraham when he got up and headed to the mountain Isaac was as good as dad. You know the story how Isaac when they get to the place the place that the Lord had called him to and Isaac looks around and by the way he's not a kid. He's not six years old he's a young adult. He looks to his father and he says father I see everything set for sacrifice. I see the altar I see the wood but where is the lamb and Isaac allows himself to be placed on the altar and you know what Abraham says he says the Lord himself will provide and he takes Isaac and he places him on the altar and he ties him to the altar and this willing submissive son allows his father to tie him to the altar. Abraham takes a knife and raises his hand and he's ready to bring it down on his only the son of promise. The names who tells him not to stay your hand and then he gets this statement and it's out of that scenario that we get Jehovah again. And it's at that point that when Isaac wants to know who will provide the sacrifice Abraham says Jehovah Jaira. Now here's why this is important because we use that Jehovah Jaira for everything. We act like it's a master plan. Know what God is promising to provide by the use of the name Jehovah Jaira is a sacrifice that meets the demands that we are not able to meet. The question that Isaac raises is a legitimate question Lord where is the sacrifice and the answer to that is Jehovah Jaira will provide God will provide the necessary sacrifice. Here's what's interesting years later the New Testament almost on the same spot where Abraham offered up his son and God said no I don't know. Stay back, stay your hand Abraham. God there's another only begotten son that is on a Roman cross in the same spot. And instead of the father holding back his hand he brings it down and there's your Jehovah Jaira the Lord providing the righteous body of his only begotten son. So that those who are declared righteous can have some righteousness in their account. The Holy Father brings down his wrath fully upon his only begotten son and brings forth blood to cover the sins of those that he receives by faith. The name of the Lord is a high tower and the righteous run to that name for safety. Brothers and sisters the name of the Lord Jehovah Jaira is what we are claiming when we look to Jesus and ask Him and confess His name as our only begotten savior. It is God's provision the greatest danger for man is the wrath of God and the only escape is the name of God that he has wrapped in covenant fakefulness. The name of the Lord some folk run to chariots some think that that their which and their strength is enough to stand in the day of judgment some are even puffed up enough to think that their good will be enough. But the righteous run to the name of Jehovah and in it they find safety there is nothing that we need to stand before God that is not embraced in the name that he's given us access to. That's why Jesus says you can go and pray to the Father in my name. It is in the name of Jesus that we declare people to be in or out of the body of Christ the name Jehovah is a high tower and the righteous run to it and are safe. Let's pray our Father and our God we do thank you thank you for giving us access to your sacred covenant name we pray that we would wear your name with integrity that we would declare it with integrity. But most of all Father we pray that your people would see in your name the safety and the security of a high tower and that we would take comfort in it and that we would therefore be emboldened for your service because we are wrapped in your name. Thank you Father for giving us access to the name of Jesus which connects us to your great covenant name. Let us see in that provision all that we need until we are in your presence. We thank you for this word in Christ name amen. Amen would you please stand now on to him who was able to keep you from stumbling and present you fought list before his presence with exceeding joy to the only wise God our savior be power majesty and dominion both now and forever that all of God's people say amen.