Changed Lives — Don Wilkerson

Lindale, Texas, 75771, or calling 214 -963 -8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to your friends.

Jesus Knows Our Past and Promises Transformation

KENNETH, LIVES, CHANGED LIVES, JOHN CHAPTER 1, AND WHILE YOU'RE DOING THAT, LET ME SHARE WITH YOU ONE OF THE OUTREACHES THAT WE WORK CLOSELY WITH IS IN BROOKLYN, WILLIAMSBURG, PASTOR BEN PADILLA, AND THEY HAVE AN OUTREACH CENTER THERE.

AND THIS LAST WEEK, IT WAS BROUGHT TO THEIR ATTENTION, IN FRONT OF THEIR CENTER, THAT A GENTLEMAN HAD OVERDOSED, AND THEY BROUGHT HIM INTO THE CHALLENGE CENTER, AND HE WAS UNCONSCIOUS, AND SO THEY WERE SLAPPING HIM, TRYING TO REVIVE HIM, AND THEY PUT SOME ICE ON HIM, AND TRYING TO REVIVE HIM, AND PHYLLIS, ONE OF THE WORKERS WHO ALSO COMES HERE, TIME SQUARE CHURCH, HE CAME OVER, AND LAID HANDS ON HIM, AND SAID, IN THE NAME OF JESUS, I REBUKE DEATH.

AND HE CAME OUT OF IT JUST LIKE THAT, AND HE SAID, GET THIS OFF OF ME, AND EATING ALL THAT ICE, HE SAID, WHAT'S THIS DOING ON ME? GET OFF ME. HE STOOD UP, AND WALKED AWAY. AND LET'S PRAY NOW THAT HE COMES AND FINDS THE LORD.

THE LORD SPARED HIM, AND HE WAS GONE. HE WAS ON HIS WAY TO DEATH, BUT IT WAS REBUKED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. HALLELUJAH. JOHN CHAPTER 1, VERSE 40, IT SAYS, ONE OF THE TWO WHO HEARD JOHN SPEAK AND FOLLOWED HIM WAS ANDREW, SIMON PETERS' BROTHER.

HE FOUND FIRST HIS OWN BROTHER SIMON, AND SAID TO HIM, WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH, WHICH TRANSLATED MEANS CHRIST. AND HE BROUGHT HIM, HE BROUGHT HIS BROTHER TO JESUS, AND JESUS LOOKED AT HIM AND SAID, YOU ARE SIMON, THE SON OF JOHN.

YOU SHALL BE CALLED CEPHAS, WHICH TRANSLATED MEANS PETER. NOW, THAT VERSE RIGHT THERE, IF PROPERLY UNDERSTOOD, IS BOTH CONVICTING AS WELL AS ENCOURAGING. JESUS GIVES US, IN THAT ONE LITTLE VERSE, A COMPLETE REVIEW AND PICTURE OF A DISCIPLE'S LIFE, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.

HE SAID, YOU ARE SIMON, THE SON OF JOHN NOW. IN OTHER WORDS, I KNOW YOUR PAST. I KNOW YOUR BIRTH. I KNOW YOUR HISTORY. I KNOW YOUR PRESENT. I KNOW THAT YOU ARE A JEW. I KNOW THAT YOU'RE A SINNER. YOU'RE SIMON NOW, A QUICK-TEMPERED, IMPETUOUS, ROUGH FISHERMAN.

AND YET JESUS LOOKS AT SIMON IN ALL OF HIS HUMANNESS, IN ALL OF HIS SINFULNESS, IN ALL OF HIS UNRIGHTEOUSNESS AND HIS RELIGIOUSNESS, AND HIS SPIRITUAL EMPTINESS. AND JESUS SPEAKS PROPHETICALLY TO SIMON.

HE SAYS, YOU ARE. YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE, SIMON. I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE. AND IN FACT, I DON'T LIKE WHAT YOU ARE. I DON'T LIKE WHAT I SEE. BUT THEN IN THE SAME VERSE, HE SPEAKS, HE LOOKS INTO THE FUTURE.

HE SAYS, YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE, BUT YOU SHALL BE. I SEE YOU, SIMON, BEING CHANGED AND TRANSFORMED INTO CEPHAS, INTO A PETER. YOU SEE, AT THAT MOMENT, SIMON WAS ABOUT LIKE THE SAND ON THE BEACHES FROM WHICH HE HAD FISHED.

BUT JESUS SAID, SIMON, I'M GOING TO TAKE THAT SAND, AND I'M GOING TO MOLD IT, AND I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU A DIFFERENT MAN, A NEW MAN. YOU'RE GOING TO BE CHANGED. YOU'RE GOING TO BECOME A ROCK. NOBODY PROBABLY KNEW SIMON BETTER THAN ANDREW HIS BROTHER.

AND THAT'S PROBABLY THE REASON THAT WHEN HE FOUND THE MESSIAH, HE WENT RUNNING IMMEDIATELY TO HIS BROTHER AND BROUGHT HIM TO JESUS. AND ON HIS WAY, HE PROBABLY WAS THINKING, IF THERE'S ANYBODY THAT NEEDS THE MESSIAH, I KNOW PETER.

I KNOW HE NEEDS JESUS. IF ANYBODY NEEDS CHANGE, IT'S PETER. AND SO HE BRINGS HIM TO JESUS. AND MAY THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAK PROPHETICALLY TO YOU AS JESUS DID TO PETER. TONIGHT THESE WORDS APPLY TO YOU AND TO EVERY ONE OF US.

YOU ARE, BUT THANK GOD YOU SHALL BE. HALLELUJAH. YOU ARE WHATEVER YOU ARE. WHATEVER YOU ARE AT THIS MOMENT, BUT YOU CAN BE CHANGED. YOU SHALL BE. I RECALL A TIME WHEN I REALIZED THAT I WAS NOT THE HOTSHOT CHRISTIAN THAT I THOUGHT I WAS, BUT THE LORD THROUGH HIS WORD GAVE ME A PICTURE OF THE SIMON IN ME.

AND HE SEEMED TO SAY TO ME THAT YOU ARE, YOU'RE THIS, YOU'RE SUCH AND SUCH AND SUCH. HE PINPOINTED MY NEED, MY SIN. I THOUGHT I WAS A SOLID ROCK, BUT INSTEAD I WAS SHIFTING SAND TOSSED BY THE WAVES OF THE SEA.

AND IT'S A GRIEVOUS THING AS MANY OF YOU HAVE DISCOVERED. IT'S A GRIEVOUS THING TO DISCOVER AREAS OF WEAKNESS AND SIN THAT YOU NEVER THOUGHT THAT WAS THERE. AND WHEN JESUS SAID TO THIS FUTURE DISCIPLE, YOU'RE SIMON, IT WAS LIKE NATHAN THE PROPHET POINTING THE FINGER AT KING DAVID AND SAYING, THOU ART THE MAN.

IN JOHN 2 25 IT SAYS HE, SPEAKING OF JESUS, HE DID NOT NEED MAN'S TESTIMONY ABOUT MAN, FOR HE KNEW WHAT WAS IN A MAN. AND HE KNOWS WHAT'S IN US TONIGHT. HE KNOWS WHAT'S IN YOU. HE KNOWS WHAT'S WITHIN ME.

HE KNEW WHAT WAS IN SIMON. LUKE 16 15 SAYS, AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, YOU ARE THOSE WHO JUSTIFY YOURSELVES IN THE SIGHT OF MEN, BUT GOD KNOWS YOUR HEARTS. FOR THAT WHICH IS HIGHLY ESTEEMED AMONG MEN IS DETESTIBLE, IS DETESTIBLE IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.

JOB 34 21 AND 22 SAYS, FOR HIS EYES ARE UPON THE WAYS OF MAN, AND HE SEES ALL HIS STEPS. THERE IS NO DARKNESS OR DARK SHADOW WHERE THE WORKERS OF INIQUITY MAY HIDE THEMSELVES. AND IT GOES ON IN VERSE 25, IT SAYS, THEREFORE HE KNOWS THEIR WORKS, AND HE OVERTHROWS THEM IN THE NIGHT, AND THEY ARE CRUSHED.

I KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE CRUSHED UNDER THE CONVICTING HAND OF GOD, AND TO HAVE HIM SAY TO ME, YOU ARE, YOU ARE SIMON. I KNOW WHO YOU ARE. I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE. AND THEN THE FULL PICTURE OF WHAT I AM OR HAVE DONE IS PLACED BEFORE MY EYES.

IT'S NOT A GOOD PICTURE TO DISCOVER THAT YOU'RE A SIMON. BUT JESUS DOES NOT ONLY CONVICT, HE PROPHESIES, HE ENCOURAGES, HE ANNOUNCES, HE BRINGS GOOD NEWS TO SIMON. HE SAYS, YOU ARE, THAT'S TRUE, BUT THERE IS COMING A CHANGE.

YOU SHALL BE, SIMON WILL BE A PETER, FLESH WILL BECOME SPIRIT, THE WEAK WILL BECOME STRONG, THE DENIER WILL BECOME THE DISCIPLE OF THE INNER CIRCLE, AND THE BOASTFUL WILL BECOME THE HUMBLE. YOU SEE THE STORY OF THE DISCIPLE THAT WE KNOW AS PETER IS A STORY OF A MAN WHOSE NAME WAS CHANGED.

AND IT'S THE STORY OF EVERY BELIEVER WHO WANTS TO BE CHANGED. NOW TONIGHT YOU HAVE A NAME. IT MAY BE A GOOD NAME, IT MAY BE A BAD NAME, OR IT MAY BE IN BETWEEN, BUT YOU HAVE A NAME. AND I ASK TONIGHT, WHAT KIND OF A NAME IS IT?

AND HAS IT GONE FROM A SIMON TO A PETER? YOU SEE WHENEVER OUR NAME IS MENTIONED, PEOPLE ASSOCIATE SOMETHING WITH THAT NAME. WE EITHER HAVE A GOOD NAME, OR A BAD NAME, OR MAYBE SOME PEOPLE JUST CAN'T QUITE GET A HANDLE ON US.

YOU KNOW WHEN OUR NAME IS MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, THEY GO LIKE THIS. WELL, YOU KNOW, HE'S SOMETIMES THIS, AND HE'S SOMETIMES THAT. WISHY-WASHY, YES. MORE WISHY THAN WASHY. REVELATION 3, 2, THE ANGEL OF THE CHURCH AT SARDIS WROTE SAYING, I KNOW YOUR DEEDS, THAT YOU HAVE A NAME.

YOU HAVE A REPUTATION THAT YOU'RE ALIVE, BUT YOU ARE DEAD. NOW THE NAME THAT I SPEAK OF IS THE CHARACTER, THE REPUTATION, THE TESTIMONY THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR NAME. NOW IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE WORD FOR NAME APPEARS 228 TIMES, AND IS ALMOST ALWAYS USED IN REFERENCE TO GOD OR TO JESUS.

The Name Above Every Name and the Character of Christ

THAT'S THE NAME THAT IS ABOVE EVERY OTHER NAME, AND THAT IS THE NAME THAT WE TRY TO EMULATE SO THAT HE, WE BECOME LIKE CHRIST, SO THAT HIS NAME IS IMPLANTED UPON OUR HEARTS, SO THAT WE EMULATE HIM. PHILIPPIANS 2, 9 SAYS, THEREFORE ALSO GOD HIGHLY EXALTED HIM AND BESTOWED ON HIM THE NAME THAT IS ABOVE EVERY NAME, AND HIS NAME REFERS TO ALL THAT HE IS AND ALL THAT HE HAS DONE.

IT REFERS TO HIS ATTRIBUTES AND HIS CHARACTER, HIS POWER AND HIS WORKS, AND THERE'S A LONG AND WONDERFUL LIST OF NAMES FOR JESUS. HE'S SO VAST, HE'S SO MIGHTY, HE'S SO AWESOME IN HIS PERSON, IT TAKES THE WRITERS OF THE SCRIPTURE NUMEROUS NAMES TO GIVE US THE FULL PICTURE OF WHO HE IS.

IN FACT, ONE OF THOSE NAMES THAT HE IS, IT SAYS HE'S THE ALPHA AND OMEGA, AND ALPHA IN GREEK IS THE FIRST LETTER AND OMEGA IS THE LAST. IN OTHER WORDS, IT SAYS HE'S THE A TO Z. HE'S THE A TO Z. FOR EXAMPLE, HE'S OUR ADVOCATE, HE'S OUR BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR, HE'S OUR COMFORTER, HE'S OUR CREATOR, HE'S OUR DELIVERER, HE'S OUR ETERNAL SALVATION, HE'S OUR FAITH, OUR GOD, OUR HEALER, OUR SINNER, SESTER, OUR JUSTIFIER, OUR KINSMAN, REDEEMER, OUR LAW GIVER, HE'S OUR MANNA, HE'S THE NAME ABOVE EVERY NAME, HE'S OUR OFFERING, HE'S OUR PROPITIATION, HE'S THE QUENCHER OF EVERY THIRST, HE'S THE REDEEMER, HE'S OUR SAVIOR, HE'S THE TRUTH, AND YOU GOT TO GO A LITTLE BIT TO FIND YOU.

HE'S OUR URIM AND URIM, HE'S OUR THUMAM, THAT MEANS DIVINE GUIDANCE, HE'S OUR VICTOR, HE'S OUR WORD, HE'S OUR WATER, HE'S OUR WONDERFUL COUNSELOR, AND HE'S OUR MOUNT ZION THAT WE COME UNTO, HALLELUJAH.

THE BEST ANSWER GIVEN REGARDING THE NAME TO CALL HIM IS THE ONE THAT MOSES SAID, WHAT DO I CALL YOU? THE BEST ONE IS I AM THAT I AM, HALLELUJAH. BUT THIS MESSAGE IS NOT ABOUT THE NAME OR NAMES OF THE LORD, BUT IT IS ABOUT THE NAME THAT WE'RE KNOWN BY, BUT WE 'VE GOT TO KNOW THAT NAME AND THAT CHARACTER OF JESUS THAT HE WANTS US TO EMULATE.

Biblical Names as Pictures of Character

NOW IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, ONE'S NAME OFTEN DESCRIBED HIS CHARACTER, OR AT LEAST HOPE FOR CHARACTER. AND I 'VE BEEN FASCINATED BY, AND SOMETIMES AMUSED BY THE NAMES GIVEN SOME OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PERSONALITIES.

AND I 'VE KIND OF MADE A STUDY OF THEIR NAMES AND WHAT THEY MEAN. AND SOMETIME I 'LL PREACH A MESSAGE ON IT. BUT I 'LL GIVE YOU A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES. DEBORAH FROM THE BOOK OF JUDGES WAS A PROPHETESS. AND IT'S INTERESTING THAT HER NAME MEANS BEE, AS IN STING, AS IN BUZZ.

AND IT SUGGESTS THAT SHE WAS A BUSY LITTLE BODY WHO CARRIED A STING ON OCCASIONS. IN FACT, IN JUDGES 4 -5 IT SAYS, AND SHE USED TO SIT, THIS IS DEBORAH, SHE USED TO SIT UNDER THE PALM TREE IN THE HILL COUNTRY OF EPHRAIM, AND THE SONS OF ISRAEL CAME TO HER FOR JUDGEMENT.

IN OTHER WORDS, SHE WAS A WOMAN OF GOD. SHE WAS NOT A BUSY BODY BEE, BUT SHE WAS A BEE WHO DISPENSED HONEY. AND THE SONS OF ISRAEL CAME TO HER AND THEY GOT SWEETNESS OUT OF HER. GOD GIVE US MORE DEBORAHS IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.

AND THEN THERE'S ANOTHER FELLA THAT I WANT TO MENTION TO YOU. AND WE HAVE A FEW OF THEM IN THIS CHURCH. HIS NAME IS EUDICUS. AND IT'S COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT SOMETIMES IN THE SERVICES AND SOMETIMES WHEN I'M PREACHING THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN ONES OF YOU ARE INDIVIDUALS.

WE HAVE A FEW EUDICUSES IN THE CHURCH BECAUSE EUDICUS WAS THE FELLA IN THE BOOK OF ACTS THAT FELL ASLEEP WHEN PAUL WAS PREACHING. AND IF WE HAVE ANY EUDICUSES IN THE SERVICE RIGHT NOW, I GOT TWO WORDS FOR YOU.

WAKE UP. PROBABLY DIDN'T HEAR ME ANYHOW. EUDICUS WAS SITTING IN A WINDOW LISTENING TO PAUL PREACH AND HE PREACHED A LONG TIME. I MEAN HE WAS LIKE THE PREACHERS THAT PREACH HERE ON SUNDAY. HE FELL ASLEEP AND FELL OUT OF THE WINDOW AND DIED.

PAID FOR HIM AND REVIVED HIM. DO YOU KNOW WHAT EUDICUS MEANS? DO YOU KNOW WHAT HIS NAME MEANS IN GREEK? NO IT MEANS LUCKY. IT MEANS LUCKY. HE WAS LUCKY PAUL WAS A PREACHER THAT NIGHT WHEN HE FELL OUT OF THE WINDOW.

NOW ON CERTAIN OCCASIONS AND IN A FEW SELECT CASES A NAME CHANGE TOOK PLACE AS A SIGN OF A NEW RELATIONSHIP THAT A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD HAD BEGUN. ABRAHAM WAS CHANGED TO ABRAHAM WHEN HE ENTERED INTO A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

NOW THERE ARE THREE BIBLICAL CHARACTERS THAT I WANT TO SPEAK ABOUT TONIGHT. TWO OF THEM HAD A NAME CHANGE. BUT MOST OF ALL THEY HAD A CHANGE OF HEART. AND AS A RESULT TWO OF THEM WERE GIVEN A NEW NAME.

AND THE THIRD ONE, THE SECOND ONE WE'RE GOING TO MENTION HAD A NEW REPUTATION AS A RESULT OF IT. FIRST OF ALL LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT A MAN WHO LIVED UP TO HIS NAME. A MAN WHO LIVED UP TO HIS NAME. THERE IS PROBABLY NO OTHER PERSONALITY IN THE BIBLE WHO LIVED SO EXACTLY UP TO HIS NAME OR WE MIGHT EVEN SAY DOWN TO HIS NAME THAN THE PATRIARCH JACOB.

Jacob: Confronting a Manipulative Identity

JACOB WAS JUST WHAT HIS NAME IMPLIED. ONE WHO GOT WHAT HE WANTED BY CON AND BY CRAFT AND BY CUNNING WAYS. AND HE LEARNED IT, HE WAS TAUGHT IT FROM HIS MOTHER, REBECCA WHO TAUGHT HIM HOW TO MANIPULATE.

REBECCA OVERHEARD HER HUSBAND ISAAC SPEAK TO ESAU, JACOB'S TWIN BROTHER TO BRING HIM HIS FAVORITE SAVORY DISH. SHE IMMEDIATELY RUNS AND GETS JACOB AND QUIETLY SO HER HUSBAND CANNOT HEAR, SHE WHISPERS INTO HIS EAR AND SHE SAYS, LISTEN TO ME, GO BRING ME TWO CHOICE KIDS THAT I MAY PREPARE THEM AS A SAVORY DISH FOR YOUR FATHER SUCH AS HE LOVES SO THAT HE MAY BLESS YOU BEFORE HIS DEATH.

YOU SEE REBECCA'S FAVORITE WAS JACOB AND SO SHE DOES WHAT I HAVE SEEN CERTAIN OTHER MANIPULATING MOTHERS AND PERSONS DO WHEN THEY ARE UNWILLING TO LET GOD PERFORM HIS WILL HIS WAY EITHER BECAUSE THEY DON'T LIKE GOD'S METHODS OR BECAUSE HE'S TOO SLOW FOR THEM.

SO THEY CONNIVE AND THEY SUDDENLY WORK BEHIND THE SCENES AND THEY GET PEOPLE TO DO THIS FOR THEM. THEY GET PEOPLE TO DO THAT AND WHEN IT ALL COMES OUT TO THEIR FAVOR, THEY SAY, OH, ISN'T THE LORD WONDERFUL?

LORD WONDERFUL MY EYE. IT WAS A MANIPULATING PERSON BEHIND THE SCENES. BEWARE OF MANIPULATING MOTHERS LIKE REBECCA. I 'VE SEEN THEM IN THE CHURCH. I 'VE SEEN THEM BEHIND THE SCENES TELLING, CALLING THE SHOTS IN FAMILIES AND IN MARRIAGES, CAUSING UNTOLD TROUBLES.

AND LIKE MOTHER, LIKE SON, JACOB GOES BEFORE HIS FATHER, LIES AND STEALS THE BLESSING OR THE BIRTHRIGHT. AND WHEN ISAAC INFORMS HIS SON, ESAU, THAT JACOB HAS COME DECEITFULLY AND TAKEN AWAY THY BLESSING.

YOU KNOW WHAT ESAU'S REACTION WAS? HE LAUGHS AS IT WERE. AND HE SAYS, I'M NOT SURPRISED. I'M NOT SURPRISED. HE'S JUST LIVING UP TO HIS NAME. THIS IS WHAT IT SAYS IN GENESIS 27, 36, IS HE NOT RIGHTLY NAMED JACOB?

FOR HE HAS SURPLANTED ME THESE TWO TIMES. YOU SEE, JACOB IS THE CLASSIC CON MAN OR CON WOMAN. HE IS A PICTURE OF THOSE WHO HAVE USED TONGUE OR TRICKERY OR WHATEVER TO GAIN ADVANTAGE. PROVERBS 11, 20 SPEAKS OF THOSE WHO ARE PERVERSE IN HEART.

AND THAT IS WHAT JACOB HAD IN HIS HEART. AND GOD NEEDED TO CHANGE HIM. ALRIGHT, THAT'S JACOB, A MAN WHO LIVED UP TO HIS NAME. LET ME GIVE YOU ANOTHER ONE TONIGHT. A MAN WHO DIDN'T LIVE UP TO HIS NAME.

Onesimus: From Uselessness to Usefulness

I REFER NOW TO A NEW TESTAMENT CHARACTER, A RUNAWAY. A MAN WHO RAN AWAY FROM HIS OWNER AND IN DOING SO COMMITTED A CAPITAL CRIME. THE FATHER'S NAME WAS ONESIMUS. AND PAUL WROTE ONE OF HIS, ONE OF HIS LETTERS IS CONTAINED, IS GIVEN TO US AS HE WRITES TO ONESIMUS' OWNER, SLAVE OWNER, WHOSE NAME WAS PHILEMON.

AND THERE IS A BOOK THAT BEARS HIS NAME OF THAT IN THE BIBLE. AND IT SAYS IN PHILEMON, IT'S ONLY ONE CHAPTER, BUT IN VERSE 10 AND 11, PAUL WRITES TO PHILEMON, HE SAYS, I APPEAL TO YOU FOR MY CHILD, MEANING MY SON IN THE FAITH, WHOM I HAVE BEGOTTEN IN MY IMPRISONMENT, ONESIMUS, WHO FORMERLY WAS USELESS TO YOU, BUT NOW IS USEFUL BOTH TO YOU AND TO ME.

NOW APPARENTLY WHAT HAPPENED IS THAT THIS ONESIMUS WAS SAVED THROUGH PAUL'S PRISON MINISTRY. I BELIEVE THAT MAYBE SOME OF THE OUTREACH WORKERS WENT OUT INTO THE TIMES SQUARE OF ROME AND SAW THIS FELLA HANGING OUT WITH ALL OF THE OTHER TYPES LIKE HIM AND SOMEHOW BROUGHT HIM TO PAUL AND HE CAME AND HAD A GLORIOUS CONVERSION.

NOT ONLY WAS HE CONVERTED, BUT BECAME, PAUL WAS ALLOWED VISITORS IN HIS PRISON, SO HE WAS THERE MANY, MANY TIMES AND PAUL DISCIPLED HIM. THEY WERE VERY, VERY CLOSE. PAUL SAYS THAT THEY HAD A VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP.

NOW IRONICALLY, THE NAME ONESIMUS MEANS USEFUL OR PROFITABLE. AND YET UNTIL HE CAME TO THE LORD, HE COULD NOT AND WAS NOT LIVING UP TO HIS NAME. AND PAUL ADMITS THIS AND HE WRITES TO PHILEMON AND HE SAYS TO HIM, THAT FELLA ONESIMUS, I KNOW HE WAS NO GOOD TO YOU.

HE'S USELESS TO YOU AS FAR AS YOU UNDERSTAND HIM, BUT I'M SENDING HIM BACK BECAUSE HE'S HAD A CHANGE OF CHARACTER. BUT WHEN HE CALLED HIM AND SAID HE HAS NOT IN HIS PAST LIVED UP TO HIS NAME, REALLY WHAT PAUL WAS SAYING IS THAT HE'S A GOOD FOR NOTHING.

HE'S A WASTE. NOW TURN WITH ME TO JOHN, EXCUSE ME, MATTHEW CHAPTER 5, BECAUSE JESUS USED THE SAME TERM, GOOD FOR NOTHING. AND I WANT YOU TO SEE THAT THE LORD CAN TAKE ONESIMUSES. HE CAN TAKE PEOPLE WHO HAD EXPECTATIONS THAT THEY WERE GOING TO TURN OUT TO BE GOOD, BUT THEY DIDN'T TURN OUT THAT WAY.

OR HE CAN TAKE A NOBODY, HE CAN TAKE A WASTE AND HE CAN MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF THEM. LOOK AT MATTHEW CHAPTER 5, VERSE 13, JESUS SAID, YE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH, BUT IF THE SALT HAS BECOME TASTELESS, HOW WILL IT BECOME SALTY AGAIN?

AND THERE HE SAYS THAT IT IS GOOD FOR NOTHING. I NEVER REALIZED THIS UNTIL I WAS READING THIS THAT JESUS CALLED CERTAIN PEOPLE GOOD FOR NOTHING. IT IS GOOD FOR NOTHING ANYMORE EXCEPT TO BE THROWN OUT AND TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT BY MEN.

NOW THIS JESUS WAS TALKING ABOUT THE SIN OF BEING TASTELESS OR IN JESUS' WORDS, GOOD FOR NOTHING. AND YOU SEE, ONESIMUS IS A TYPE OF PERSON OR BELIEVER WHO NEVER QUITE LIVES UP TO HIS OR HER NAME. THEY SHOW PROMISE, BUT THEY'RE LIKE SALT THAT THEY LOSE THEIR SAVOR.

AND INSTEAD OF BEING PROFITABLE, THEY ARE UNPROFITABLE. AND I'M SURE THAT YOU HAVE SEEN ONESIMUSES. WE HAVE SEEN THEM COME INTO THIS CHURCH. THEY'RE LIKE THE SEED THAT SPRINGS UP IMMEDIATELY. AND THEY APPEAR TO BE ON THEIR WAY.

THEY APPEAR TO HAVE A CHANGED LIFE, BUT THEY NEVER QUITE LIVE UP TO IT. THEY NEVER LIVE UP TO THE EXPECTATIONS. BUT MY FRIEND, YOU SEE, WE ARE CALLED UPON TO BE ONESIMUSES, THE ONESIMUSES OF THIS EARTH.

Living as Salt in a Decaying World

NOW IT MUST HAVE SOUNDED STRANGE FOR THE CROWDS LISTENING TO JESUS TO HEAR HIM SPEAK OF HIS DISCIPLES AS SALT, BUT IT WAS VERY APPROPRIATE. THE MASTER WHO HAD CHOSEN THEM HAD ALSO CHOSEN US AS AN ELEMENT OF PURIFICATION TO PREVENT DECAY.

AND THERE'S TWO OR THREE THINGS ABOUT SALT THAT YOU WANT TO KNOW THAT APPLY AND OUGHT TO APPLY TO EVERY ONE OF US. FOR EXAMPLE, SALT, WE ARE TOLD IS GOOD. SALT IS GOOD. THE PHILOSOPHER HOMER CALLED SALT DIVINE AND PLATO SPOKE OF IT AS A SUBSTANCE DEAR TO THE GODS.

IT WAS CHEAP. IT WAS PLENTIFUL. IT'S AN INDISPENSABLE ELEMENT IN THE FOOD OF BOTH MEN AND ANIMALS. AND WITHOUT SALT, PUBLIC HEALTH, ESPECIALLY IN BIBLE DAYS WHERE THEY HAD NO REFRIGERATION, PUBLIC HEALTH WOULD HAVE SUFFERED.

AND OLD EASTERN PROVERBS SAYS, IF YOU TIE UP SALT, YOU TIE UP THE WORLD. THAT'S WHAT THEY BELIEVED. SALT IN THAT DAY WAS LIKE OIL IS FOR US TODAY. IF YOU COULD TIE UP THE WORLD'S OIL SUPPLY, YOU TIE UP THE WORLD.

AND WHEN JESUS TOLD THE DISCIPLES, YE ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH, HE WAS SAYING SOMETHING. HE WAS SAYING THAT WHEREVER YOU HONOR ME, THERE WILL BE GOODNESS AND THERE WILL BE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND YOU WILL HELP TO PRESERVE THE SOCIETY AND THINGS AROUND YOU.

AND THAT'S WHAT CHILDREN OF GOD OUGHT TO BE. WE OUGHT TO BE THE SALT OF THE EARTH, LIVING UP TO THE EXPECTATION THAT GOD HAS PLACED UPON US. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU'RE SALT AT WORK, YOUR PRESENCE IN A CROWD OFTEN WILL SHUT PEOPLE'S MOUTHS.

WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, I REMEMBER THAT I'D WALK INTO THE LOCKER ROOM AT GYM AND ALL OF A SUDDEN IT WOULD GET QUIET. OR SOMETIMES INNOCENTLY I'D WALK UP TO MY FRIENDS AND I THOUGHT THEY WERE ENGROSSED IN SOME STUDY, SOME BOOK OR SOME STUDY, INSTEAD THEY WOULD BE ENGROSSED IN A PLAY BOY MAGAZINE.

AND THEY TURNED AROUND, THEY CLOTHED AND SAID, YOU CAN'T SEE THAT. THEY PUT THE MAGAZINE AWAY. WELL, I DIDN'T KNOW IT THEN, BUT IT WAS AN HONOR TO BE TREATED AS SUCH. AND I WANT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING, IF YOU'RE AN ONESIMOUS, IF YOU'RE THE SALT OF THE EARTH, YOUR PRESENCE ON THE JOB OR IN YOUR HOME IS A PRESERVATIVE ELEMENT TO STAND UP AGAINST THE FLOOD OF INIQUITY THAT IS THERE.

A friend of mine told me the story. He said, I was in a barber shop and they started telling all kinds of dirty jokes. And finally he had heard enough. And one of the, his bar, the one cutting his hair, he paused and he looked around.

He said, I got a good one. He said, are there any ladies here? And my friend said, spoke up. He said, no, but there's a Christian here. And he said, you could hear a pin drop. He said that barber shop got quiet and I had never heard it so quiet before.

Not a word was said from that on, from that point on. Now you say, brother Don, that wouldn't matter in my job. Well, listen, let me tell you something. It'd be worse if you weren't there. It would be worse if you're not the salt of the earth.

The only reason why the flood of iniquity is not worse in this land is because the salt is still here. Second Thessalonians 2, 7 says for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who restrains will do it until it is taken out of the way.

And that's what we believe. That's why we believe that God wants us here in times square to be the salt in this city, to be a restraining force. And listen, you're salt wherever you are. Another thing about salt, it's cheap, but it's valuable.

And no matter how insignificant you may feel you are in the church or in the job or wherever the salt is placed on the table and we must never belittle our personal value to God or to man. Sometimes you may feel that way.

You may feel like you're just a mere grain of salt, but let me tell you, there's no table. There's no home. There's no good meal. And God wants you to be salt where you are. And I want you to know that when you're not here in the house of God, you're missed.

You're missed. You're the salt of the earth. Now let me go on to talk about the third character. I want to call your attention to the name that we started with, and that's Peter. Peter is a type of person who constantly struggles to live up to his name and the expectation that the Lord had for him.

Peter’s Struggle to Become the Rock

There were occasions in which Jesus called Peter by certain names. We read to you the one in John 1 42, he addressed as Simon because he was not, he had not yet forsaken all to follow Jesus. In Luke the fifth chapter verses 10 and 11, Jesus said to Simon, do not fear from now on you will catch men.

And when they had brought their boats to, to the land, they left everything and followed him. And that was the second time Jesus called Simon by his name. But note again, he's called Simon as in John 1 42 because yet he had not become Peter.

And then in Matthew 16 23, Jesus called Peter by another name. And some of you remember what that name was. He called him Satan. Listen to it. Jesus called Peter Satan. He turned and he said to Peter, get me, get behind me, Satan.

You are a stumbling block to me for you are not setting your mind on God's interest, but on man's. Now the reason for the rebuke is that Peter is that Jesus had introduced talk of suffering and the cross that he must suffer.

And you see, Peter was one, partly he had responded to follow the Lord because he was excited about the position that he would have, the rank that he would have, the power that he would have. And Peter was one who wanted the crown without thorns.

He wanted a kingdom without suffering. And Peter said no to his message. And so in Luke, here in Luke the 16th chapter, Peter says to Jesus, when he talked about going to the cross or he talked about dying, Peter said, shook his head.

He said, God forbid this will never happen to thee. And what he really meant was it'll never happen to thee because if it happens to thee, it'll happen to me. And at that moment, Jesus was reminded of the great tempter in the wilderness.

And this is why Peter is called Satan. Satan literally means adversary. And you see, Peter's ideas were not God's, they were man's. And you see, Satan is any force which seeks to deflect us from the way of the cross.

Satan is that influence which turns our back from the hard way that God has set before us. And even a disciple can be like Satan when man's will gets in the way of God's will. On another occasion, Jesus addressed Peter as Simon three times.

It's in John 21. You can look at it if you want, but I'm sure it's familiar to you. Three times he calls him Simon. This was the post resurrection appearance. And Peter is acting like a Simon, not like a Peter.

And three times Jesus asked Peter or calls out, he said, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? And the these that he was referring to was the fact that Peter had backslidden. He had gone out fishing.

And the call to Peter here is Simon. And it's a picture of a disciple acting like a Simon rather than Peter the rock. It was the old Simon. The old nature had taken over and Jesus could not call him Peter because he didn't act like a rock.

He acted more like a dead fish. But you see all three of these men, Jacob, Onesimus, and Peter were changed men. Two of them were given a change of name to denote a change of heart. And all three of them were called by the name that signified the manifold grace of God in their lives.

And oh, may we be challenged tonight. May you be challenged. I don't know what you are tonight. I don't know what your name is tonight. Whatever it is, whatever you are, God can change your name and turn you from a Jacob to an Israel, from a Simon into a Peter.

Hallelujah. That's what's been happening to some of you. If you are, or you have been fighting a battle of being a Jacob, God can turn you into an Israel. Let me ask you tonight, are you one that battles with the spirit of a Jacob?

Jacob, who was the manipulator, always scheming for personal advantage, always looking out for number one, always looking out for myself. And if God doesn't answer your prayers, you try to answer them for him.

One, one young convert told me one day, he said, brother, Don, he said, pray for me. He said, I have conned people so much all of my life. I have manipulated people so much. It's second nature to me. He said, pray for me.

He said, it just oozes out of my life. Every time, any encounter, all I'm thinking about is conning, manipulating. And what he was saying was, please catch me. Stop me. I want to change. And you see, the church has its share of Jacobs.

And some of them have come in here and they've been changed. Hallelujah. And some haven't. But the first step to change in this regard is to call it what it is, to call it what it is. You got to call yourself by the proper name.

You know, sometimes kids growing up, they have their parents give them a name. It may, may not be appropriate for them to do this, but you know, kids grow up and they have a certain kind of behavior and they're given a nickname sometimes, or brothers and sisters will give them a nickname.

And you know, sometimes one will say to the other, boy, you're, you're, you're living, you're acting in character. You're living up to your name. You've got a certain name. Well, if you are a Jacob, if you have a certain kind of name, then tell it like it is.

Tell the Lord, yes, I am a Jacob. I'm a manipulator or whatever. Because you see, when the angel of the Lord wrestled with Jacob and Jacob said to him, I will not let thee go until you bless me. And I've heard that preached in many ways.

And I've heard the blessing promised to people who are not entitled to it because they never did what Jacob did. This is what happened when the angel, the Lord, which was the Lord himself wrestling with Jacob.

And you know what he was after. In fact, I preached a message here one time called Victory's Limp on a whole message, just on this and what God was after, what the angel, the Lord was after was to Jacob to say, yes, I am what I am.

I admit what I am and I want to be changed. That's what he meant when he said, I'll not let you go until you bless me. I'll not let you go until you get this thing out of my life. I don't want it. In fact, in fact, the angel, the Lord came to Jacob and he asked him this one question.

He said, what is your name? Now that would seem ridiculous. Of course the Lord would know what his name is. And the Lord did know what Jacob's name was. But what he wanted to find out is if Jacob knew what his name was.

He wanted to find out if Jacob knew that he was a Jacob, that he had all this carnality in him. And when Jake, when he said to him, what is your name? To properly understand it, you have to understand this, that when he said to him, what is your name?

It was like there was a long pause. And then Jacob answered it, but he answered in a whisper. The original language says that he answered in a whisper. And when he said, what is your name? He said, in other words, the light dawned on him.

And he finally said, Oh, what they have been saying about me for 20 years is true. A Jacob. And when he said that it was here, it was like you coming to the altar and saying, Lord, I lay this thing down.

I lay my sin down. I lay my Jacob down because I don't want to be a Jacob anymore. And the moment he said that, God said, I'll bless you. I'm going to give you a new name. You're Israel from now on. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Oh, has the Lord given you a new name since you've been coming? Hallelujah. Has he given you a new name? What about Onesimus? The Lord turned a waste and no good into a useful servant. Paul says of Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my prison ministry.

It means that this runaway, this good for nothing grain of salt that had lost its favor in God's sight and man's sight, this runaway, this homeless soul, Onesimus got saved. And Paul says, now he can live up to his name.

Now his name means something who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. Oh, my friend, it's remarkable what God can do to a nobody. What he can do to a waste. What he can do to a nothing and change him into an Onesimus and make him profitable.

Some of you had a bad name. You've had a bad name. Listen, Proverbs 21, 24 says this, quote, proud, quote, haughty, quote, scoffer are his names. He was naming, he was saying are his names. This person's proud, haughty, scoffer.

And I want to tell you tonight, if you've had any of those names or any other name, God wants to change your character and change your name and make you an Onesimus. In fact, tradition tells us that one of the Christian martyrs, name slips my mind, Ignatius, one of the Christian martyrs wrote a letter.

In fact, the letter is preserved. He wrote a letter when he was in Sardis, he wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus. And he said in his letter, he said, thank God for the Bishop that he has given you, whose name was Onesimus.

And tradition says that this runaway slave Onesimus went back and paid restitution, was discipled and grew in the Lord and became a Bishop in the church at Ephesus. That's what God can do, my friend. That's what God can do.

The New Name as Complete Submission to Christ

Finally, I want you to know how the Lord prophesied how and when Peter would truly become Peter the Rock. Now remember also that the concept, and let me, let me explain this. The concept of having one's name changed is very, very important.

It has great significance. Babylonian Kings in the old Testament changed the names of their vassal princes. Pharaoh changed the name of Joseph. His name was Zephanith Paniah. That was his Egyptian name.

Masters also imposed names. They gave their own names to their slaves. Perhaps even the marriage custom of the wife, assuming the name of the husband rest originally in this same concept. And you see these old Testament Kings did this in order to convey the idea of absolute authority over their subjects.

And that's why they gave them their own names. And you see the same idea is conveyed when the Lord changed Peter's name. And he is saying to Peter, I want to take complete and absolute possession of you.

And I want to have complete mastery over you. But you see, Peter was not cooperating. For three and a half years, Jesus fought to have Simon become Peter and to become exclusively his, but he keeps fighting it.

His old Simon keeps coming up. But as in marriage, Jesus wants to give us his name to be linked to him eternally because we accept his complete and absolute authority over our lives. If you and I were on the beach with Jesus and as the disciples were in John 21, what name do you think that he would call to us?