They bring up eternity. Across the world and in our country, we looked at eternity. And we came back, you know, looking at what transpired in the past eight days, you know. Our ex-president was hissed by death. And that took to that place in our minds. And we're all reminded that eternity is the destiny of all men. You know, we started on this subject of destinies and we will continue in that vein. We were pretty far along the road. We looked at destinies of believers, We look at destinies of nations, and we were still on the subject of destinies of God's earthly people. You know, I was reading a poem by a man by the name of William Ernest Hemingway. And I was struck by his words. He considered destiny. And I also want to read some of the verses of his poem. Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever God may be, for my unconquering soul. And then the last verse of that prayer reads like this, no matter how straight the gate, how charged with punishment the scroll, I am the master of my faith and the captain of my soul. That must have been a very sad man, and he was. This gentleman was afflicted with tuberculosis, we are told, from age 12. And he wrote this poem on his hospital bed at 25 years of age, being wrapped in pain and hopelessness, most likely. He tried to draw strength from his inner being. He was grateful for his unconquerable soul. But then he went on to say that he is the master of his fate and the captain of his soul. That is not true. You know, God is the, would determine the destiny of souls. Again, based on our relationship with him. you know, through the Lord Jesus Christ or otherwise. You know, I had somebody who I knew who died in an accident. And before he died, there was a song. There's a song to that effect, actually. I don't know the words of the song. Master, my spade, captain of my soul. He put that as well. He wanted that as part of the eulogy. Most of you know the Lord. And he was deceived somehow. No one is happy nor their soul. So today we want to continue on a subject of destinies. And this is our theme verse that God's name be blessed forever and ever for wisdom and power belong to him. It is him. who changes time and periods. He removed kings and appoint kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the people of understanding. So God is the determiner of destiny. You know, Jim read a verse, I captured it in 1 Samuel chapter 12, I said, It's so in keeping with the thoughts that we will share today, for the sake of his great name, the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own, because of his great name. That is really the substance of what we want to talk about today. It is why God would act in the world to defend his name and his reputation. You know, destiny is again is in God's hand, destiny of the nation, world, and the individual's eternity is the destiny of all men, whether it's heaven or hell. Eternity is in the destiny of all men. And again, we always like to preach a gospel when we preach. You choose. As God said, I set before you life and death. Truth. That is the greatness of God. He gives men the power of choice. Choose life and live. Or choose death and perish. That's the invocation of God. That's a call of God to men, even today. You choose. You choose. You know, we were talking about that great name. God will always act to protect his reputation. And this is a key verse that we want to just spend some time on. We want to look at it in a different version. I will bow toward your temple. I will give thanks to your name for your mercy and truth. For you have made your word according to all your name. The King James Version says, for you have made your word above your name. And that could be a bit misleading. leaving that interpretation, that translation. We just should explore it. We look at another version, Holman, which is a modern translation. And that says, I have exalted your name and your promise above everything else. So God's word and his name, they're tied together. ESB, another modern translation, put it, your steadfast love and faithfulness For you have exalted above all things your name and your word." God would act, and we're gonna see as we continue our study, it's all about his name, his reputation. So when we know about God's name, we are talking about his authority and his reputation, you know? God's word is as good as his reputation. And I, in my own mind, this is how I put it, God's reputation is the pillar that supports his word. You know, for example, I'm gonna make a promise to you that I can't keep, right? Let's say I promise to give you a million dollars. You know that it's a joke. But if I'm a millionaire, and I said it, my reputation as a billionaire, that has some substance, right? So that's it. Reputation is all about, is everything with God, his name. You know, Hebrews 6. We read there that there are two notable things. We mentioned this something last week or sometime. The two things that guarantees God's word. is his name, all right, and his word. His word and his name, God made a promise. And as a word, he writes his name to it. And we can have assurance that it is good as done. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. We learn this as kids. a good name is better than safe and bold. We learn that, you know, as kids. We're not talking about your surname or your first, that's not what it's talking about. You know, there was a president in Trinidad and Tobago whose name was Innocent. And one day he said, what is in a name? I'm Innocent, am I Innocent? No. So we're not talking about what you were called from birth. It's someone about your reputation. You know, having a good reputation as a person is to be chosen above money. You know, I've had the opportunity as a professional. I could have been rich, very rich, if I was a dishonest person. I was in a situation where I was approached in the middle of the night Paul came to me to change some technical report that I did, because in the words of the person speaking to me, and with all our people in touch with the Prime Minister, my report was not palatable. I could have changed it to be rich. But as a professional, that's not who I am. The reputation is to be chosen above riches. And so God has a reputation that he will maintain. Now, that has very serious implications for the believer. Meaning, if you choose to act in the Son of the Lord's name, he may choose to act against you. And in my life, I've seen that happen. I've seen that happen. I've testified. Right here, I think, and elsewhere, that I've been to assemblies where men were really bringing this on with a large name. And after constant pleading by the brothers, they wouldn't budge. There's a brother from Grenada who has gone on to believe the Lord. He said, God would settle this with a shovel and a spade. And God did. In his own order, God did. You know, you are not free to dishonor his name. That's why as Christians, you bear his name. Be very careful how you live. You know, you cannot be living in sin and claim that name. God will act to protect his name. Paul talks about it in Colossians 11. For this reason, sorry, some sleep and some die and some are sick. Thank you, buddy. Sorry. So it's very important to understand that God would do what is necessary to protect his reputation. And that has huge implication for us as believers. Now back to where we were focused on the Jews and God's dealing with these people. You know, This is very poignant when it comes to these people. We read that this morning. For the sake of His great name, the Lord will not reject His people. Because the Lord has been pleased to make you His own. God placed His name on these people. And God is going to act on them, not because they are good, but because of his name, his reputation. So let's just recap where we left off the last time. We go back to Ezekiel, that's where we were. And we saw that this is all future things, that has not happened yet. We know it was all in the last days, It's all future things. And it may well be very closer than we think. In chapter 37, God is speaking to dry bones. And those dry bones became a mighty nation. Talking about the Egypt, the Jewish nation. For over 20, well, not that long. It may have been over 1900 years. Jews were dispersed among the nations, and they were a nation without a country. And we know from 1948, the dry bones came to life. Now, Ezekiel was writing this during the exile, that Babylonian exile. So there could have been a partial fulfillment of this, in the context of easy care, that is a long range. God was talking long range and we saw what happened. These people have been abused. It's written down, it's everywhere. And as someone says, humanly speaking, they should not have been a people. They should have just disappeared from our face over there. But God has His plan and His purposes cannot be thwarted. And we read it again, for the sake of His great name, God would act on their behalf. So in 37, the dry bones are coming to life. In 38 of Ezekiel, The nation that is formed from the dry bones is threatened by a multinational power. And we've already been through it. And from what we look at, the names of the countries are listed there. At the time when the prophet was writing, these were lands occupied by different people. Most of those people have disappeared, but nations are formed now due to migration and so on. And the names like Iran was there, Turkey was not there. Their names are mentioned, Goldman. At other nations, we looked at that the last time, a whole coordination and of course, may God, mystery nation, most people. But now, 50 years ago when I was a young believer, I was saved on the preaching, Israel break Russia's backbone, 50 years ago. That's what the Bible teaches and it's calling today, that is Russia there. And we see all the sign, Russia is all part of that. Russia always supported the Islamic country. We saw that formations forming and the goal is one and only one goal. to destroy the nation that just came to life. Still is. This is Hamas goal. This is Hezbollah goal in Lebanon. This is Iran's goal. And Turkey, which used to be a friend of the Jewish people, have become Islamic, and that is their goal as well. I want to read what Edo won. This was on May 29, not too long ago. I quoted something he said the last time. He's always talking about this. This is what he says there, the United Nation, the spirit of the United Nation is dead in Gaza, is what he says. United Nation cannot protect his own staff. What are we waiting for the act? The spirit of the United Nation is dead. And he went on to say here that the, the Muslim majority countries are failing to take common action over Israel, and he's calling on Muslim Islamic world, all right, they should make a common decision, of course, to settle this score with Israel. That's in essence what he's saying. He is speaking prophetic language. That's what we've been talking about in the past few weeks. It's an Islamic call. They are gathered for one purpose, to undo what God has done. But God's purposes cannot be thwarted. And we see God is going to act with Ezekiel 39. And how will God act? God is going to act with massive earthquakes, unprecedented. He said, there will be great earthquake in the land of Israel. The convulsion will be so severe and vast in its effect that all creatures, fish, bird, beasts, all the creatures, they will tremble. The cliffs will crumble. Every wall shall fall down. God is going to act in an unusual way. And he's all using nature. Confusion, every man's soul will be against his brother. Pestilence, we looked at that. All kind of pestilence and bloodshed. And nature said, a rain and hail and brimstone, 100 tons stones falling on men will plummet the earth, killing all these people, fire and so on. The God is gonna act in a dramatic way, because right here, if you go back to Ezekiel 30, Ezekiel 30, the result of that act will be, God says, look at this verse, That the house of Israel might know that I am the Lord their God. Because they are unbelieved right now. And the nation will know that they went into exile on my account. So God is going to write the ship of history. All right? You know, they're teaching in universities. These people were never there and all that foolishness. God is going to make the record straight. And then you will know God is going to say, now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob, I will be jealous for my holy name. My reputation is on the line. When it comes to this thing, there's a promise outstanding. A promise that was ratified in blood. A promise that God ratified by himself. There was no man involved here. We know the story in Genesis 15. When God rectified the promise of Abraham, he told Abraham to do what they normally would do when you sign a contract. You get some animals, you kill it, and you split it in half. You lay a path between the theses, and the parties will walk between the parties saying, let it be to me if I shall break this contract. So Abraham did all of that, but only God walked the path. He made a covenant with himself that cannot be thwarted. His reputation is on the line. Think about that. When you look at the Jewish people, remember that. God has a reputation to defend. It's not about the people. Not about them. They all are sinners. They all are bad people, some of them. They're atheists, not to them. In fact, when they signed the Declaration of Independence, there were lots of atheists that signed it. They don't believe in God. They don't want God. Coming out of the Holocaust, they rejected the concept of God. But he has placed his name on this street, and he's going to defend his name. It's all about him. It applies to us, too, all right? It's not about me. It's about God and his glory. Listen to what it says in chapter, this is just chapter 36. Why God is going to do what he's going to do. As capital of the nation. When it came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my name. And then the people said to them, these are the people of the Lord. And yet they had to go out of their land. That was not good for God. I was concerned for my holy name, which the house of Israel profane among the nations. Therefore I say to the house of Israel, it is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations. I would vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned, which you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the law. When through you, I vindicate my holiness in their eyes. So God is going to act, not for them, but God is going to act for his own reputation. We're going to see something like that in the near future, somehow. Based on what we see happening. The drums are beating, look at the ukus. a thousand miles to the east. They have fired rockets at Israel. One went into Tel Aviv and killed a man. This happened in the week here, this week. So these are all the people that are independent in Ezekiel 38, all those people, all again influenced by the snakehead Iran. It's all coming together and God is going to act. They don't even know that their names are written there for destruction. They have a destiny on the mountain of Zion. It's not Israel going to do it. God Almighty is going to do it for the sake of His name. So look at that. And we want to look at the nations. That's where we left off. We're not going to get to it today. Israel is the burden of the nation, all the nations. A lot of nations. But today, we're going to look at some examples of God acting to protect his reputation. He has a history like that. You know? But before I get to that, on the news yesterday, I looked at the news. At least I identified 20 teenagers that have joined. Australia is one of them. Ireland is one of them. Spain. All them are overseas. And the United States is tapping to the ICG, which is the International Court of Justice, which is led by an Islam, mostly. Very biased Jews. And they are threatening Jews in terms of all that's going on in the settlements and Jerusalem and on the Gores. Divide Jerusalem. God has placed his name there. It's the only city on planet Earth where God has placed his name. And God said, that city is going to be a heavy stone. Anyone that try to lift it will be hurt. Yet, that is what they're ailing at. Divide the city. Give it to these people that say, they don't want a country. They want everything. So how will there be peace? They're trying to do the impossible. And as a result of that, I believe That's where all the nations are going to come together to try to enforce their intentions. And that's where they're going to be bruised. God will act to protect his reputation. Let's go to Abraham, great example. You know, Abraham was called to leave his home, his country, and God said, I will make you a great nation. I will bless you, make your name great. and make you a blessing, and them that honor you, and so on, I will curse." So that was the promise. God made a promise to this man. Abraham, in difficult times, went down to Egypt, and we saw what happened. Pharaoh tried to thwart God's purposes by his own foolishness, put it that way. He took Sarah's wife, Abraham's wife, for himself. And the scripture tells us that God afflicted the house of Pharaoh with great, that word with me is with bitter plagues, because there was an act where he was about to thwart God's purposes. God's reputation is on the line. He made a promise to this man And here was an occasion where Satan is going to thwart that purpose. And we saw God acting. God was acting because of Abraham, per se. Abraham, yes, was a secondary whore. But God was acting to protect his reputation. I made a promise to this man to take him from here to here. And he will get there with his wife. His purposes cannot be thwarted. Abraham, again, as he journeys on, Abraham went to the Philistine country, Ndugera, and it occurred again where she must have been a very beautiful woman. The time they saw her, they wanted to take her away from him. That was the culture. You know, still, you know, you go to some of those places in the Middle East where there's no law and order, they do what they want to do with you. The stories about people going in just mean abuse because that's the culture. And so we see Abraham is faced with the same problem in the Pinnatec territory. And what God did? While Abraham was cowering in fear, trembling, and trying to wiggle his way out of this, God stepped in. God spoke to this man, Abimelech, the ruler or the king in a dream, he said, you are a dead man, dead. Oh, where am I now? Yeah, you're a dead man because of the woman you have taken. He's married. And so we saw that in Abraham praying. But this man and God relented. God literally closed all the women in that place. God acted to protect his reputation. He made a promise to this man. He made a covenant with this man, and that covenant is binding. No man, no devil would thwart his purpose. And so we saw God acted very swiftly there. Abraham is a great example. God will act to protect his reputation. And that's how we have confidence. He made a promise to us and he put his reputation on the line. You can trust him. He's going to keep his promises. Pharaoh, fast forward. Israel, God told Abraham they're going to go to Egypt for 400 years and all that. Again, the word is, remember we said that, God exalt his word according to his name. His reputation is what holds his word up. Just as he said, 400 years. And he said, when they leave, they're not going to leave empty. They're going to leave rich. And that happened. We know the story. They borrowed, and they left with all the gold of Egypt. That was according to the promise. God's reputation was on the line. Even though sometimes it appears not to be so, as in the case of these people, they complained they were in a lot of pain. But the time came when God saw the pain. And he's going to act, he said, he appeared to Moses and he said, Yahweh, I am Yahweh. And if you look at the progressive revelation of God, You know, Abraham first knew God as El Elyon. All the nation around, that's why they call it God as well. The most high. But to Abraham, he was early and young until he met Melchizedek. El Elyon, the most high God, maker of heaven and earth. And we say that was a progressive revelation. I am El Shaddai, the almighty God. Progressive revelation of who he is, his name, his reputation, the God Almighty. He made a promise to Abraham about his son, and that's how he revealed himself. I can make it happen. At 90 years of age, you get a son. I am El Shaddai, God Almighty. He's put his reputation on the line. And so we see here, In the case of Moses, God is revealing himself in a different way. He said, by your ancestors did not know me as Yahweh, the God that keeps covenant. But God is going to reveal himself to his name as Yahweh, the God who keeps covenant. And God is going to make himself known to Pharaoh in this way as well. Moses went to Pharaoh and said, Yahweh, the God of the Jews, or the God of Israel, say, let my people go. And this is what Pharaoh says. He challenged God's reputation. Who is Yahweh that I should obey? That was a challenge, and letting the people go. I do not know anything about Yahweh, okay? where he would know something about Yahweh. And we know the story. We know the story. God made himself known to Pharaoh very clear that he is the God of God, the Lord of Lord. And Pharaoh bowed when it was very late. He lost a lot. Egypt was destroyed. Yes, Yahweh. So Moses went to the people and talked to them, I am Yahweh, who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God Almighty, I did not reveal myself as Yahweh to them, and so on. And so we continue to see here, God promised something to the people, I will deliver you, redeem you. take you as my people, you'll be, I'll be your God. I will, and you will know that I am Yahweh, your God. I will bring you from the land I saw. I will give you the possession, I promise, to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. I am Yahweh. But the poor people did not listen to God. And so God had to ask, God is going to make his reputation known to not only Pharaoh, but to these people that didn't know him at all. And that's exactly what's going to happen as we saw it easy here. When God acts to protect his reputation, he's not just making himself known to the enemies of Israel, but he's making himself known to Israel themselves for their transformation, telling them, I trust him. You see? And so God warned him. I love this here. He said, look, God told Pharaoh, I could have killed you, you know. I could have put you to death like that. But this is what I have raised you up. That I might show my power, that my name might be proclaimed to all the earth. That my reputation might be proclaimed to all the earth. Yes, you still set yourself against my people and all that. So God had a purpose in dealing with Pharaoh the way he did. He could have ended like that. But God had a bigger plan. That was to proclaim his reputation to all the earth. He has a history of defending his reputation. That's what we're trying to establish. It has been enduring. Then we come to the golden calf, fast forward. The twin of Israel are now all of Egypt. and they're on their way to the promised land. Moses and Aaron went up to the mountain. I thought Moses and Joshua went up. And they spoke to God face to face. And we're going to see after this experience, God never speak to a man face to face again. Definitely. He changed the relationship with God. Definitely. As Moses went up, we know the story, they made a golden calf and they worshiped it and said, these be of God that brought you up out of Egypt. That's an insult. It was an insult to his reputation. They're saying these dumb idols is what brought them out of Egypt when they saw the manifestation of tremendous power. In fact, that was the standard of God's power in the Old Testament. New Testament standard is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. And yet they're attributing that to some dumb idol. That was very, very offensive. And God said something. He said, you know what Moses? I am going to destroy these people. And I'm going to make a nation out of you. That would have been still in keeping with the promise. Moses was a child of Abraham. But then Moses, the man of God and the great leader of God, struggled with God in the most consequential prayer in the Bible. Moses was frank and open with God. He said, oh Lord, Why does your wrath burn against his people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt? He's challenging God by a mighty hand. What would the Egyptians say? Reputation. He's challenging God. Your reputation will be mine. They would say that you brought them out to kill them in the mountain and to consume them from the face of the earth. Now turn from your anger and relent. Moses was bold in his challenging God, and that was okay. They did have a bet. Remember Abraham, God is going back again. You have a reputation to support and to sustain. You made a promise to these people, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom you swore by your own name. and said, I will multiply and so on and so on and so on. And the Lord relented. Moses is to be admired as a great man of God, as a leader of the people. He could not easily say, but God, make something great out of me. He was not concerned about himself. He was concerned about the people of God. That's leadership. Leadership among God's people. It was about your glory, your reputation, and the well-being of the people on whom you place your name. That was Moses' overwhelming concern. And we see there where God relented. God relented. And this is where he said again, God changed the way he responded. He's dealing with men. Moses We saw in chapter 24 of Exodus, Moses and the elders, they went up to the mountain and they spoke to God face to face as a man speak to a friend. That's how God dealt with it. After this event, God stopped that. God said, it is distant. You will not see my face anymore. And God kept his distance. It was a very consequential effect here. But again, God acted to protect his reputation. And we saw Moses pleading, show me your glory. Moses wanted to see that glory again. God said, no, you will not see my face. For now, any man that sees my face will not live. but you're going to see my backside. That's what God said. You're going to see something that is great, but you're going to see my face no more. God acted to protect his reputation and the reputation has to do with who he is, his character, who he is, greatness in mercy, greatness in grace. All it has to do with his reputation, you know, And God will always act to protect those attributes. The very thing you have spoken, I will do. So you have found favor in my sight and saw, and God told him, I'm going to go thus far, but no more. When here with men, I'm going to keep my distance. but I'll be gracious, I'll be merciful, until the Lord Jesus Christ came on the scene, of course. And for the first time, angels, our men, have seen God as a man. God will always protect his reputation. I'm going to stop there. We can go on. There's another example we have, but we're going to pause here. Hezekiah is another great example of that. The king of Assyria challenged the God of heaven. When he says, Hezekiah is deceiving you. He said, which God? He says here, Hezekiah, Assyria said, I'm trying to get words of your letter. When he challenged God, he said, do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord. Yahweh, saying the Lord will deliver you All right, do not give the city to the king of us. Do not listen to him. Make peace with us and come out to me. He was challenging the God of heaven there. That's when God got involved and God acted to protect his reputation. And we know what happened. That very night, 185,000 Syrian soldiers were killed. And this man went back with his tail between his legs in Senatoria. And you know what happened? He was murdered by his own son. Don't challenge God's reputation. He will act to protect him. And we're going to see that how that applies to the Jewish nation. We saw that in the musical, we want to look at the point, Zechariah's where the nation would try to lift God's that stone. don't need to be broken because God is going to step in and he's going to, he would react because he made a promise. He has a covenant to defend. God will act. And the nations will know that he is the God of Israel, Yahweh. God will make promises and will keep them. His purpose is canal. Father, we just want to thank you again for your Word that teaches us so much of who you are. Gracious, loving, faithful, merciful, yet a God who is almighty, able and willing to keep that which you have promised. And in that, the Apostle Paul, the writer can say, we have laid whole to the hope that was handed to us by this God and that fled for refuge in Him, which hope we have as an anchor to the soul, it is sure and it is steadfast. We just want to thank you again, Lord. We have joy knowing that our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I go to prepare a place for you. And he said, I will come again and Lord really hold upon his promise for he's a God who keeps his promises. We just want to thank you again, Lord, for your word and just pray that we all be encouraged today. As we see from the scripture that you are a God who keep your promises and keep covenants forever.