Studies in Identity - God: The Names of God - Adonai 03-10-24

Overview: Pastor Williams continues in our studies of the different names of God and their meanings. He explains that "Adonai" means "My Lord, My Master, or My Owner" and emphasizes the importance of acknowledging God as the owner of everything in our lives. He also mentions the progression of understanding God through His names, from recognizing Him as the Creator God (Elohim) to understanding His power and greatness (Jehovah). The message includes the story of Gideon and how he addresses God as "Adonai Jehovah," recognizing His personhood and authority. The message encourages us to realize that everything we have belongs to God and to hold our possessions with an open hand, acknowledging Him as the true owner. Transcription: Judges 6, verses 11-24, as we continue our study on who is God, the identity of God, who does Scripture say or reveal Him to be through His names. This morning, we will study Adonai. He is Adonai. And this is just one of the 445 times that this name is given to us in Scripture. This name, when correctly applied, means My Lord, My Master, or My Owner. And so when we call God Adonai, we are recognizing that about Him. We have said it in today's language that when you acknowledge Christ, you acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior. We will go so far as to say He is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. And a true salvation experience doesn't just acknowledge Him for forgiveness of sins, it also acknowledges His Lordship in our life. This is the Adonai application to Jesus. My Lord, My Master, or My Owner. We will recognize this in the Old Testament by the capital L, lower case O-R-D, in comparison to the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D that is Jehovah. And so, the English version, they both use the name Lord, but if it's all caps, it's Yahweh or Jehovah. If it's capital L only, then it is Adonai. Our understanding of God often progresses through His names. You see, it's oftentimes that we will believe God, we will trust God, we will see God talk to us in the Elohim realm. He is the Creator God. There is a Being that is above us, outside of us, that is the Creator of all these things that by chance, we didn't happen. There's two main theories within creation. Obviously, evolution and creationism. That there was an all-powerful Being behind creation. Evolution says we happen by chance. Now, that takes a lot more faith than I have, if I'm honest. I've never seen order come out of chaos. And that's exactly what they're saying happened. I don't care how many times you blow up an auto parts store, a Cadillac's not going to present itself. I don't care how many times that you go and stand in your garage and how much time you spend standing in your garage, you're not going to turn into a car. Order does not come from chaos on its own. Order becomes from order. And so there is a God who is above and outside of everything that we see that has been created, and He fashioned everything together in an orderly form. That's how we have come. That is the Elohim level of God. Then there's the Jehovah God that as we understand that there is a God who created all these things, that He is above and outside of all of these things, time, space, and matter, then we can begin to see the powerfulness of God, the self-existent God that He moves in mighty ways and He does miraculous things that we can see things that defy the natural world, like life, like order, like precision. All of these things come because there is an all-powerful God who is ordering those things. That's Jehovah. And when we understand that there is a Creator God and we understand there is an all-powerful, self-existing God that is moving and active within the lives of the people of the natural realm, and then we begin to understand if that's true, then that's the One that I want to serve. That's the One that I want to believe in. That's the One that I want to follow. That's the One that is my God. My Master. My Owner. And so we see this progression within the belief system of most believers that man, it came to a point in their life there's got to be something more than this. Oh, this is the God that I learned about. This is the God that I believe. This is the God that makes the most sense. This is the God that is real and true. And because of that, He is my Lord, my Master, my Adonai. Let's read together Judges 6, verses 11-24. Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree, which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the son of Abizrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. Gideon said to him, O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the Lord turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? So he said to him, O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And the Lord said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man. Then he said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to you and bring out my offering and set it before you. And he said, I will wait until you come back. So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an effeth of flour. And the meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and he brought them out to him and under the terebinth tree and presented them. Then the angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock. And pour out the broth. And he did so. So he said, put the bread and the meat on this rock and then soak it in that broth. Make sure it's thoroughly wet. Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And fire rose up out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. Now Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God, for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. Then the Lord said to him, Peace be with you. Do not fear, you shall not die. So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it The Lord is Peace. To this day, it is still in Ophrah of the Abyssalites. So we see that one name of God that we've already studied. The Lord is Peace in verse 24. But I want you to back up for just a second to verse 22. You see right in the middle of that verse, Alas, O Lord God. That word Lord is Adonai. Now the English version in this instance, that word God right there, is actually Jehovah. So he's saying, Adonai Jehovah. He is recognizing that the personhood of God. You're not only my Master. You are my Lord, my Master, my Owner, the all-powerful, self-existent One. In just those three words, O Lord God, we see the heart and the faith of Gideon. Adonai. What does that mean for us? What can we learn from God being Adonai to us? We need to first of all realize, and this is really where it has to start, is that He is Owner. He is the Owner. You know, we live in a culture that has a lot to say about our stuff. Building my life. Leaving my legacy. What I can gain. What I can build. What I can own. That is your property. That is your family. That is your business. That is your... And God says, no, it's Mine. Owner. That's where we have to start. There is nothing in our lives that we should hold so close to us that we say, this is Mine. Because it's not true. This is God's. Everything that we own is God's. All of this earth is God's. Exodus 19, verse 5 says it this way, All the earth is Mine. Job 41, verse 11, Everything under heaven is Mine. Deuteronomy 10, verse 14, Indeed, heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God. Also, the earth with all that is in it. Psalm 24, verse 1, The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness. The world and those who dwell therein. So what belongs to God? Everything. Beloved, this church building does not belong to you. It does not belong to me. It belongs to God. Those vehicles that are parked in those parking spaces right outside this building, though your name may be on the title, it doesn't belong to you. It belongs to God. That house or that dwelling place that you will drive back to, even though your name may be on the deed, your name may be on the renter contract, your name may be on some piece of paper somewhere in files, it doesn't belong to you. It belongs to God. That's where this has to start. Because if it doesn't, then what our life will be about is that thing. If that car is mine, then I'm going to do everything that I can to make sure that car is exactly what I need it to be. I'm going to strive. I'm going to work. I'm going to stress myself out to make sure that car is the best of the best of the best. We will kill ourselves fighting for what we think we own. That house. I've got to sacrifice everything to make sure that this house is everything that I should need it to be. We will stress ourselves out. Oh, this house has to be perfect. I can't have the grass too long or the neighbors might complain. I can't have a light bulb that don't work. We will stress ourselves and worry ourselves if we think for one second that that house is something that we own. It's mine. I've got to take care of it. I've got to make sure it's the best of the best of the best. Now, should we take care of our possessions? Absolutely. Why? Because God gave it to us. God has allowed us to be a steward of what He has given us. And so, yes, we should take care of it, but we should hold it, as I say, with an open hand. God, You gave it to me. It's Yours. Scripture tells us, forgive us and the Lord taketh away. If you woke up tomorrow morning in the same situation that Job found himself in, your family was gone, your house was gone, your possessions were gone, your cars were gone, your bank account was gone. If you've lost everything, would you still be able to look to Him and say, God, You are good. You are gracious. And You are merciful. If not, then we are staying in great danger of Him not being Adonai to us. We stand in great danger of that house, that family, that possession, that bank account being Adonai. Our Lord, our Master, our Owner. We have to start right here that God is the Owner of all things. God is the Owner of it all. He is the Owner of our all. 1 Corinthians 4, 7 presses into this when it says, for who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Think about that for a second. What do you have that wasn't given to you? Well, now wait a minute, preacher. I worked hard to buy that truck. Who gave you the opportunity and the ability to work? Now wait a minute, preacher. I've worked hard to save my money and I've built a pretty good bank account, but who gave you that opportunity, that ability, that knowledge to know how to do that? I know some people in my life, man, they can find some deals. It blows my mind. Well, how'd you get that new truck? Well, I had this four-wheeler and I traded it for a snowmobile and then I traded the guy for that for this old beat-down clunker and there's somebody who just really wanted that clunker, so he gave me a brand new truck for it. That don't make sense. I know people who... Man, they can say, who gave them the mind to know if I trade for this and trade for this and get this and got this, then somebody's going to want this and so then I can get what I want. To be able to see all of that played out is a marvelous... and maybe that's you. Maybe you have that kind of mind. Maybe even on the business side, you think, well, if I do this job, then I work into this position and then I can be the owner of this company in a matter of years. You have that mindset and that ability and that drive and that push. You didn't get that on your own. It was given to you by God for His glory. Everything that you have, every minute detail of your life, you have been given. C.S. Lewis put it this way, every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment is given to you by God. 1 Timothy 6, 7 says, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. 1 Corinthians 7, 23, you were bought at a price. You were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of men. God is to be our Master. Not popularity. Not possessions. Not people. 1 Corinthians 6, 19, do you not know that your body is a temple over the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. Beloved, this is where our understanding of God being Adonai has to start. It has to start right there. And what we need to understand is how freeing that is. That I'm not my own. That it's not up to me. That as fluctuating as my desires are over here today and over there tomorrow, look, I've told y'all this story. Sarah told me at one point in my life, I've got to pick a hobby and stick to it. Because I had bowling balls. I had disc golf. I had golfing stuff. I had fishing stuff. I had gold panning stuff. You name it, I had the stuff to go do it. Because if somebody called me up and said, hey, you want to go do this? Yeah, let's go. I wanted to borrow stuff. I wanted to have my own. I had so many hobbies that I didn't do any of them. And so Sarah's like, you've got to pick one. And I'm still like that. Man, I'm all over the place. What if my salvation was up to me? Where would I look? I would look to this God today, this God tomorrow, that God the next day, that one over there, the next. I would look for it everywhere. Because I'm all over the place. Y'all know that. Y'all say to me, I'm up here, I'm down here, I'm down the hall, I'm over there. I'm everywhere. The fact that I'm not my own brings me great peace because it's settled. It's done. It's over with. He is my Master. He is my Lord. He is my Owner. It's not up to me. And so now I can say, thank God that it's not up to me. Because if it was, I would fail miserably. And I wouldn't stick to it. And I would give up on it. And I would falter. And I would fail. But I'm not my own. I'm His. And beloved, if you put your faith and trust in Christ, so are you. He is the Owner. Which means He is responsible. It means He is responsible. If He's the Owner of it all, if He's the Owner of it all, He is responsible for His creation. Look back at verse 11 and 12. Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree, which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abysarite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, the Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. Now there's a lot in those two verses. The fact that he knew exactly where Gideon was hiding in a winepress. The very fact that he sat under a tree who he knew belonged to somebody who was somebody's son who belonged to this family. And he says all of that, but then he also knew who Gideon was. In the midst of his hiding. In the midst of his cowardice, he knew who Gideon was. He was responsible for his creation. Now this is beautiful. Because following that after he says, you mighty man of valor, Gideon's response in verse 13 says, Gideon said to him, O my Lord. Now what do you notice about that word Lord right there? It's lower case. Now this has the same root as Adonai. It's Adonai. This is an application to man. This is what Gideon's saying. We know this response because it says, Scripture says, and Gideon said to him. Gideon was being a little bit of a smart aleck right here. O Gideon, you mighty man of valor, the Lord is with you. O my Lord, you're with us. Why are we in this situation? Gideon didn't realize or recognize who he was talking to. He was being a little bit of a smart aleck. If the Lord is really with us, the God who did all of these miracles, who brought him out of the land of Eden, all the things that I've heard about from my fathers, if that's the God that's with us, why are we in the situation we're in? A very real question that some of us have asked, isn't it? God, You're my Lord. You are my Adonai. You are my Jehovah. Why am I going through this? Why have great preachers and great servants of the past suffered and died in the way that they've suffered and died? Why have we seen family members who love the Lord and they've served God, and yet they die early? Why? God, if You're with us, why are we going through this? A very real question, isn't it? It may be a question that you find yourself facing right now. And I wish I could give you an answer. A definitive answer. Let me put it that way, because I can't give you an answer. Because God's responsible for you. And God's doing something in your life in this situation, through this moment, that is going to bring Him glory and it's going to be for your good. I want you to notice something here. Verse 11, His response is, Oh, my Lord, if You're really with us. Then He goes through what He went through, He took the meat and the bread, poured it in the broth, and the fire consumed out of the rock. Look at verse 22. Now Gideon perceived that He was the angel of the Lord, so Gideon said, Alas, O Lord God! God moved him from a skeptic to a believer. God grew him in his faith in that moment. He took him from Adonai in verse 15 to Adonai in verse 22. He used this situation. He used this circumstance to grow Gideon into the mighty man of valor that he knew he was back in verse 12. Luke 12, 22-31. Don't turn there, but listen. Then He said to His disciples, Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, which they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these. And if then God so clothed the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind, for all these things the nations of the world seek after. And your Father knows that you need these things, but seek the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. You see, Gideon was seeking the things of this world. Gideon was in the wine threshing the wheat that he might have bred. Gideon was asking, how can you do these things through me as I cowered in the corner? How can I save? That's what he says, I'm the least of the family of Manasseh. And even in the family of Manasseh, I'm the least in the family. I'm the lowest of the loaves of the loaves. How can I save Israel? And look at God's response in verse 16. He says, and the Lord said to him, surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man. So even if it's you alone, because I'm with you, you are conquered. Because I'm with you, you can have victory. Because I'm with you, you will have everything you need in the midst of your battle. Beloved, quit looking to the world for your answers. Quit looking to the world for the things you need. Quit trusting in yourself and the ways of the world, and seek the Kingdom of God, and all of these things will be added to you. How can we have victory in this life? Over the situations, the circumstances, the problems, the hurts, and the heartaches. We need to seek Him as Adonai. We're real comfortable with Him as Elohim. We love it when He's Jehovah, but it's the Adonai that we often have problems with. Your Master. Your Lord. And your Owner. That's where we usually turn to our own understanding. That's where we turn to the ways of the world. That's the way we turn. I love the fact that you are a Creator, God. I love the fact that You created me. I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. And You've made me in Your image. I love the fact that You have done all these things for me. And I love the fact that when You show Your power by being the Provider, by You show Your power by being the Healer, You show Your power by giving me peace. I love all that. But just don't ask me to do something I'm not willing to do. Just don't press in to me and call me into something that's a little uncomfortable. Don't tell me to give up something I like. Don't tell me to sacrifice my son on the altar. Give me a comfortable life. Give me an easy life. Give me a life the way I want it and I'm fine with it. But the minute that You say You're my Master and my Lord, then I have a problem. Beloved, He has had on us. He has bought us with a price. He is responsible for His creation. To grow them, to draw them close, to show them. And listen, He does that. He does that. He has given us the glorious invention of the print press so that we can have the very words of God no longer orally spoken, but in front of us. He has given us the glorious invention of technology that I no longer have to carry. And I'm not saying it would be a big problem, but a big, heavy book everywhere I go. I can have something as small as this in my pocket at all times. And look, holy Bible, number 17. That was Wednesday night. Let's go down to Judges 6. Verse 11, "...of the angel of the Lord came and sat under the tarimah tree..." He is revealing us to Himself. And we have access to His Word like never before. There's some of you in this room, I'm included to be honest with you. I've reached that age where I can remember a day that this was a marvel. If I was a teenager and somebody came to me and said, you have the power of that computer on your desktop, if you have that power in your pocket, I'd be like, man, that's amazing. And yet, here we are. And yet, we find ourselves neglecting the reading and the studying of His Word more and more. Because we get nervous about Him being Adonai. What is He calling us into? How is He going to be Lord and Master of our life? He's responsible for His creation. He's responsible for His glory. Through the work of His creation, His invisible attributes are clearly seen. He has shown us His glory everywhere around us. Just walk outside and stop and smell the roses as they say and consider that rose and how good it smells and how beautiful it is. And then you understand, man, roses attract bees and breeze help gardens and gardens feed us. And you understand how everything is connected. And let it cause you to pause for just a second and consider the glory of God in that creation. Not only through the work of His creation, but through the works of His creation. 1 Corinthians 10.31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. How does God reveal His glory to others? How does God reveal His glory to a lost and dying world? He reveals His glory to them through us. Who have you shown the glory of God to lately? Who have you shown that He is your Master? He is your Lord. He is your Owner. Matthew 5.16 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. He is responsible and lastly, He is worthy because He is Adonai. Because He is the Owner. Because He is responsible for His creation, He is worthy. He is worthy of our submission to Him as Adonai. He created you. He has provided for you. Elohim, Jehovah, let's worship Him as Adonai. My Lord, My Master, My Owner. Your Lord, Your Master, Your Owner. Submit to Him as such. He is worthy of our worship. He is who He is. Beloved, creation screams it. His Word screams it. My experience of Him screams it. Your experience of Him, whether you recognize it or not, screams it of Him. If you don't believe that, stop breathing. Just draw in a breath and hold it. Because He's the One that gave you that air to breathe. If you don't think He's been good to you, just stop breathing. The minute you can't breathe, that's the second you realize God's been good. He gives me air to breathe. He created my lungs to take in that air and exchange it and push it out. I could go on and on about how good His creation screams He is. But then on top of that, He's given me the opportunity to be your pastor. I count that a great blessing and a privilege. He has given you a community and a family to live in and to worship with together that is a blessing and a privilege. And He is Elohim. He is Jehovah. We worship Him as Adonai. The question for you to ponder this morning is very simple. Who is God to you? Who is God? Is He just Elohim? Is He just Jehovah? Or is He Adonai? That's where the faith really becomes real. That's where the faith, where the rubber hits the road as they say, is are you allowing Him in your life to be your Master, your Owner, your Lord? Because when we get to that point, there's a freedom, there's a grace, there's a mercy like we've never experienced. A peace. That God, it's all yours. This battle, this struggle, these possessions, it's all yours. Use it and use me as you see fit. And just like He did with Gideon, just like He did with a countless other number of people in His Word, He will do big things and great things in you, for you, and through you when we get to that point. You need to come this morning. This altar's open. Maybe you just need to come and recognize who God is. You need a freshness to say, God, You are Adonai. Or maybe you've never thought about that. You've never acknowledged Him as that Master, that Lord in your life. And you need, through salvation, to come and say, You are Adonai. Maybe there's that loved one, that situation, that circumstance in your life, that you need to lay at His feet as Adonai. Say, God, You're Adonai over this situation. Use it for Your glory. You come as the Lord leads. You pray. I'll be down front. I'd love to pray with you, pray for you. You come as Ms. Patsy prays.