The LORD is my Righteousness: YHWH Tsidkenu

Sharing good news of great joy to all people.

Elation Church. Today is week number three. Everybody

say week number three. Week number three in our

series that we've entitled, Hello, My Name is

God. Hello, My Name is God. What are names all

about? What's in a name? Each week I've been

giving you examples about what's in a name. So

names signify identity. Everybody say identity.

Names signify identity. And something curious

about me is when I was growing up and I wanted

to play junior high school football in the state

of South Carolina, I had to produce a state birth

certificate. I had a county birth certificate,

but I didn't have a state birth certificate.

So when it came in, it didn't help me much. Because

on my state birth certificate, it said that my

name was No Name Forrest. My parents didn't name

me before we left the hospital. So actually on

my county birth certificate, it says Unnamed

Forrest. On my state birth certificate, it said

No Name Forrest. We had to get that changed,

and to this day, my state birth certificate has

an asterisk on it. And the asterisk lets people

know that my name has been changed from my birth

name. So technically, I'm no name Forrest, even

though I've always gone by Jeffrey Dean Forrest.

Most people just call me Dean. And there's a

name that... has been mine since I was nine years

old, Friday morning when I was nine. I got a

new identity, and that name is that I'm a Christian.

I'm a Christ follower. That's not just something

added on. I mean, that's who I am. That's my

identity now. I am in Christ, and I am following

him. So names signify identity, but names also

signify relationship. I've got a lot of relationship

names. Now, my mom always called me baby. Even

when I was 50 years old and she was introducing

me to people, she would say, this is my baby,

Dean. That's because I was the youngest of four.

I was always the baby. Didn't matter how old

I was. She called me baby. She rarely said my

name. All I heard. was baby most of the time.

That's what mom called me. Now, my dad didn't

call me baby. My dad just called me son. Come

here, son. So, that's a relationship name. In

October of 84, I became a husband. Why did I

say October? I don't know. There I am trying

to be good, and I wasn't good. It's definitely

August. It's August 5th, to be exact. That's

a different testimony. I was called in the ministry

in October of 92, and sometimes October just

comes out. August 5th of 1984, I became a husband.

But Ganna does not call me husband. She does

not say, husband, can we go shopping today? That's

not what she says. Now, here's what she calls

me. Most of the time, when I'm doing good, she

calls me honey. But maybe after me saying October

today, I might not get honey the rest of the

day. I'm not sure. But she calls me honey. In

January 31st of 1992, not October, I became a

father. But Jeffrey, I don't believe, has ever

called me father because we don't live in Great

Britain. Oh, father, can I have $20? No, he doesn't

call me father. He calls me dad. And that kind

of changed. It used to be daddy when he was young,

but then we dropped the D -Y as he got older.

He calls me dad. These are all relationship names.

If I just tell you these names are my names,

you automatically know. that I'm married, that

I've got a child. You learn things about me by

hearing my names. Right? I'm also a brother,

an uncle, a nephew. All those names. Now, names

also signify activity. Activity. Everybody say

identity. Everybody say identity, relationship,

activity. I've got a lot of names that identify

my activities, the things that I've done, what

a person does. I was a student for a lot of years.

I was a cook. My junior year of high school,

I became a cook at Quincy's Steakhouse. They're

not around anymore, but it's not my fault. It

was good food. Does anybody remember the big

fat yeast roll? Anybody ever been to Quincy's?

Big fat yeast roll. I've actually been paid to

run sound at events. I was a custodian at Disney

for a while when we first came down part time.

Been a janitor. My wife and I had a contract

where we would go clean offices. I was a screen

printer. Bought my own equipment and did my own

artwork, made my own screens, screen printed

t -shirts. I was an A &R director. That was before

screen printing t -shirts because that put me

in the face of a lot of singing groups that needed

t -shirts to sell when they went out to sing.

So I was an A &R director at Mark 5 Records.

I still don't know what that means. I know it

means artists and repertoire, but I don't know

what that had to do with my job. I don't know.

I was the vice president of Heartlook Records,

one of our record companies. One day the boss

came in with some business cards that said I

was the vice president of Heartlook. The only

thing was I didn't get a raise. I just got business

cards and a title. I've been the music director

of state and national... organizations. I've

been an event planner. I've rented space and

planned events all over the place. Nashville,

Indiana, Arizona, here in Florida, in South Carolina,

North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, I've planned

events. I was a crusade director several times.

I've been the president of state and national

organizations and a non -profit corporation.

I've been the worship leader at events. I guess

the closest thing to a claim to fame is I led

worship in the Ryman Auditorium. Nobody even

said, ooh, ooh. That and about $12 will get you

a cup of coffee at Starbucks. All right. i've

been a conference director we started a conference

that ran for 21 years for students in myrtle

beach over new year's i was an evangelist for

over 20 years i was a chaplain for nine years

i've been a preacher since 1992. Some people

call me preacher. Some people call me preacher

dean. Some people call me pastor. Some people

call me pastor dean. Look to the person beside

you and say, that's a lot of names. That's a

lot of names. That's more than 29 names because

I added a few. 29 names. Now, if you've never

met me before, you just found out a lot about

me and my past by just hearing my activity names.

I found out a lot about me, but I'm just one

person. And in this series, we're looking at,

hello, my name is God, but in the Word of God,

God has given us names to let us know more about

who He is, who He wants to be in relationship

with you and me, what He wants to do, the things

He wants to do for you and for me. We find out

a lot of those things by looking at the names

that He gave us. So we see identity, we see relationship,

we see activity in a name. Psalm 910, this is

our foundational verse for this series. It says

this, And those who know your name will put their

trust in you. For you, Lord, have not forsaken.

Those who seek you. I want you to think about

that. Those who know your name. When we know

who God is, when we know him by name, then we

can put our trust in him. That word trust can

also be translated confidence in English. When

we know who God is, when we know his name, Then

we can have confidence in Him that that's who

He is. That's what kind of relationship He wants

to be in with us. That's what He wants to do

in our lives. We find that out when we know His

name. And we can have confidence because of the

second half of this verse. We can have complete

confidence because God has not forsaken. He has

not turned His back. On anyone. He doesn't do

that. He will never leave you. He will never

forsake you. I'm sure in your life you might

have experienced sometimes when you thought that

God was not there when you were going through

some difficult times. We all go through difficult

times. I've been in that place before. I was

like, God, where are you at? I'm hurting. I'm

in trouble. Where are you at? But God did not

forsake me during those times. And I can tell

you that He didn't forsake you. Because God does

not forsake those who seek Him. Sometimes when

I felt abandoned and all alone, it's because

I wasn't seeking God. I was so overwhelmed by

what I was facing that I wasn't even thinking

about God. I see about three heads shaking. Does

anybody else know what I'm talking about? Listen.

When you know who He is, you can put your trust,

you can put your confidence in Him. And you can

be so confident knowing that He will not turn

His back on you. He will not forsake you when

you are seeking Him based on who He says He is.

That's good preaching. That's my amen button

that the church gave me for my birthday. I just

hit it every once in a while. Hello, my name

is God. Let's look at the name that we're looking

at today. We started out with Elohim. Everybody

say Elohim. And Yahweh. Everybody say Yahweh.

And last week we looked at Yahweh Shalom. Everybody

say Yahweh Shalom. He is our peace. Today we're

looking at Jeremiah 23, verses 5 and 6. For the

Jeremiah 23:5

time is coming, says the Lord, when I will raise

up a righteous descendant from King David's line.

He will be a king who rules with wisdom. He will

do what is just and right throughout the land.

And this will be his name. You ready? The Lord

is our righteousness. Notice that this doesn't

say, the Lord is righteous. We would all agree

with that, right? He is righteous. But, when

Jesus came, this is a prophetic verse talking

about Jesus. It said, His name is... The Lord

is our righteousness. And this is Yahweh in the

Hebrew. Yahweh Sidkenu. Go ahead and try your

Hebrew. Yahweh Sidkenu. He did great. Did great.

That's his name. That's who he is. That's what

he wants to do for you and for me. Yahweh is

his name. Sid Canoe is what he gives. I am is

our right. That's a direct translation from the

Old Testament. I am is our right. So I can say

it personally. I am is my right. I am is my right.

God's name, Yahweh's Sidkenu, takes us somewhere.

It takes us from works -based righteousness to

gift -based righteousness. That's so good, I'm

going to say it again. God's name takes us from

works -based righteousness to gift -based righteousness.

This changed my life when I found this out. I've

never been the same since I found this out. Works

righteousness is I'm achieving righteousness

through my actions. I'm just struggling to be

right with God. You know, have you ever said

about somebody, they're just not right with God?

Have you ever thought that about yourself? I'm

just not right with God. Well, if you're depending

on your ability to perform, you will never be

right with God. You can look through the Bible.

No one has ever been right with God based on

their ability to perform. No one except one,

and his name's Jesus. He's the only one. The

only one. Now, this might be hard for some of

us to swallow, but go ahead and say this. In

Christ. I am righteous. See, there was a time

when I probably couldn't say that, I couldn't

stand and say, I'm righteous. See, no one but

Jesus has been righteous based on His ability

to perform. So God's name. I am is my right that

moves me from looking at my ability to be right

with God to me receiving God's righteousness

as a gift. When we're in Christ, here's what

it means. It means that we've been declared innocent.

Not that we've just been declared not guilty.

We've been declared innocent. Like it was never

there. Like your sin never took place. Now when

I look in the mirror, I say, well, I've sinned

a lot. But when God looks at me, He says, innocent.

It's like I've never even sinned. And we're declared

innocent when we're in Christ. In Old Testament

and New Testament, we could say this. Righteousness

is a gift for everyone who is in faith and everyone

who is in Jesus. Now I'm going to prove it. 2

Corinthians 5 .21 For God made Christ, who never

sinned, to be the offering for our sin, for your

sin, for my sin, Right with God. We could be

made right with God through Christ. I remembered

this. I memorized it. I am the righteousness

of God in Christ Jesus. If you've memorized that,

and we memorize different versions, listen to

that good news. Jesus, who never sinned, became

the offering for your sin. So that you could

be made right with God in Him, through Him. That's

just almost too good to be true news, isn't it?

Romans 4, 7 and 8. Oh, what joy for those whose

disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put

out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record

the Lord has cleared of sin. There's no book

in heaven with your sins written down in it.

Some of you are like a calf looking at a new

gate. Somebody smile. Because if you're in Christ,

There is no record of my sin in heaven. Because

my sin was put on Jesus on the cross. I used

to be afraid that I was going to get to heaven

and there was going to be a big book come out

and every sin that I ever committed is going

to be in this book and I'm going to have to deal

with that before I enjoy heaven. Has anybody

ever thought there's going to be a video? and

it's just going to show everything you've met,

everything. And not only are you going to see

it, everybody else is going to see it too. I

don't know where in the world preachers come

up with such nonsense. Oh, what joy! For those

whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are

put out of sight. Guess what? Joy for those whose

record the Lord has cleared of sin. God saved

you by His grace when you believed. And you can't

take credit for this. It's a gift from God. Salvation

is not a reward for the good things we have done.

So none of us can boast about it. None of us

can boast about it. We're saved by grace through

faith. God's grace, most of the time we just

say unmerited favor. But I'm not sure that we

grasp How big that is. Grace is God's unmerited.

That means we don't earn it, work for it, or

deserve it. It's His acts. It's His actions of

kindness and favor towards you and towards me.

Just like sin never happened. I don't know what

it'd take for some of you to smile. If you're

not smiling now, I don't know how to make you

smile. Because this is good. Romans 4, 4 and

5. When people work, their wages are not a gift.

I used to have jobs, and when payday came, I

was looking for my paycheck. Because I've worked,

and now I want my paycheck. I'm thankful that

that doesn't work that way with God. Because

I've done a lot of work that deserves a bad paycheck.

But God, through His mercy, says, no. You're

not going to get that paycheck. Because I don't

see that. I've dismissed that. I've cleared that.

I've declared that you are innocent. And here's

why. Because when I look at you, I see the blood

of Christ. I see Jesus dying for your sin on

the cross. I don't see your sin anymore. I see

the sacrifice that was given for your sin. When

people work, their wages are not a gift, but

something they have earned. But people are counted

righteous not because of their work, but because

of their faith. Everybody say faith. Because

of their faith in God who forgives sinners. Genesis

15, 6. Abraham believed the Lord. Everybody say

faith. Abraham believed the Lord and the Lord

counted him. as righteous because he was a really

good person. Is that what it says? Not what it

says. The Lord counted Abram, who we know as

Abraham, counted him as righteous because of

his faith. How simple does it need to be for

us to take hold of it? Righteousness is received

by faith. Like all of God's grace gifts, like

all of God's promises in His Word, they're received

by faith. Just like salvation is received by

faith, righteousness is received by faith. What

are the steps of faith? We've done whole series

on this. I'm just reminding you. First of all,

you have to hear it. You have to hear it. I can't

tell you how long I was a follower of Christ

before I heard what I'm telling you today. I

had to hear it. So you hear it. You hear God's

Word. Then you wholeheartedly believe it. Now

even the first time I heard it, I probably didn't

wholeheartedly believe it. Because I had so much...

religious baggage that it was hard for me to

believe it. Does anybody know what I'm talking

about? I praise God for those people who have

no idea what I'm talking about. Because you never

just had all that religious bondage, baggage

to take care of. You don't have things to unlearn.

You can just hear the truth and believe the truth.

But we hear, we believe. Then we begin to put

our words in agreement with what we wholeheartedly

believe. So we look in the mirror and look at

ourselves and say, I'm the righteousness of God

in Christ Jesus. I am right with God. God's not

ashamed of me. God's not mad at me. God doesn't

have a big list of everything I've ever done

wrong in heaven to bring up to me. No, He separated

that as far as the east is to the west. That's

what the Bible says. So every time I start feeling

condemned or feeling shame or feeling guilt and

feeling condemnation, I need to go to what I've

heard and what I've believed and I need to speak

that. Are you with me? And then I need to receive

it. I need to hold on to it. I need to act like

it's so. Act like it's real. Isaiah 61 .10 I

am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God. You

know why we're... Overwhelmed with joy. You know

why you can be overwhelmed with joy in the Lord

your God? Because He has dressed me with the

clothing of salvation. And draped me in a robe

of righteousness. It's a great exchange of salvation.

Because my righteousness was like filthy rags

before I came to Christ. No matter how good I

tried to be, it was like filthy rags. But when

I came to Christ, I took off my righteousness

and received His righteousness. He gave me the

clothing of salvation. He draped me in a robe

of righteousness. I'll take it too. So give for

righteousness is not doing right or trying to

be right in our flesh. Give for righteousness

is just being right because God has declared

us right. It's putting on right clothing. Right

clothing. John 16, 8. When He, the Holy Spirit,

comes, this is before Pentecost. When He, the

Holy Spirit, comes, He will convict the world

of its sin. Does anybody remember that day that

you were convicted of your sin? You're convicted.

He will convict the world of its sin. And of

God's righteousness. And of the coming judgment.

The world's sin is that it refuses to believe

in me. And listen. Righteousness is available

because I go to the Father and you will see me

no more. This is what the Holy Spirit does. He

convicts us of our sin, but he doesn't just condemn

us in our sin. He convicts us, and then he says,

hey, you're a sinner, and your sin separates

you from a holy God. All have sinned and fallen

short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is

death. But I've got some good news for you. Righteousness

is available. That's the work of the Holy Spirit

in this earth. He does a lot more things for

us too, but this is the beginning. Righteousness

is available. Righteousness is available through

Christ's finished work on the cross. To become

right with God, that's the first step of receiving

God's righteousness. And the second step is to

be right with God. To be free from the guilt

and the shame and the condemnation of sin. You

can be free. You can be free. According to God's

Word, when I'm in Christ, I'm clothed in Christ's

righteousness. My record has been cleared. And

then I can reject shame, guilt, and condemnation.

And I can receive righteousness by faith, just

like Abraham, just like every Christ follower.

Righteousness is available. I was hoping I had

another slide, but if it comes up later, it's

okay, because I just need to say it now. My whole

experience with God changed. When I found out

who he was. It changed. The two. That's why we

started with him. The two compound names of God.

Yahweh Shalom. And Yahweh Sidkenu. Completely

changed my life. I accepted Christ when I was

nine years old. My dad's a preacher. So I was

at the church every time the doors were open.

And we didn't just have a Sunday morning service.

We had Sunday morning. Well, first we had Sunday

school. Then we had Sunday morning preaching.

And then we had a discipleship training. And

then we had an evening service. And then we had

a Wednesday night service. And then at least

twice a year, we had revival, which was Sunday

night, our Sunday morning, Sunday night, Monday

night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday

night, Friday night. And I was at every one of

them. And then we would have special events.

You know, Vacation Bible School was Monday, Tuesday,

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I was there. I never

missed. But I missed Yahweh's Shalom and Yahweh's

Sidkenu. Because I spent years with my religious

experience. I was just focused on my ability

to perform. And that's what my whole experience

was. Every Sunday, I just... thought about every

Sunday night, Sunday school, discipleship training,

Wednesday night, every time I was at church,

I was just like, boy, I really messed up. I've

messed up. You know, my attitude, the things

that I say, what I've done. God is so disappointed

in me. And I would just think, I constantly thought,

about how sorry I was. I'm just a sorry Christian.

Because I keep messing up. I'm serious. Always

under guilt. Always under shame. Always under

condemnation. That may be why some people get

to the point where they don't even want anything

to do with church anymore. Because all it does

is make them feel bad. I mean, it's not that

my dad preached condemnation. It's just, that's

just all I ever thought about. I've been into

some churches that actually preach condemnation

and shame and guilt. My dad wasn't that kind

of preacher, but that's just what my experience

with God was just always about. But then I found

out that I can have peace. I found out in Romans

8 .1 that now there's therefore no condemnation

for those who are in Christ. I found out those

things. And it took me a little while to, I like

to call it, kicking over the sacred cows. You

know what I mean? I mean, it's like all these

religious entrapments that I was in. I mean,

it took me a while to shake it off. But I'm here

today to tell you that I'm free. I'm free. Now,

some people listen to messages like this and

they think, well, preacher, you know, you're

just giving people a license to sin by what you're

saying. Has anybody ever heard that phrase before?

Or is it just preachers that hear that phrase?

You're just giving everybody a license to sin

if you tell them that God is their righteousness

and it doesn't have to do with their ability

to keep the rules. You're just telling people

to just go be as wild as they can possibly be.

That's not what I'm saying. If you taste and

see that the Lord is good, if you get a hold

of what He did for you, what Jesus did for you

on the cross to become your righteousness, you

don't want to go live a wild and loose life.

I mean, Paul even said, Should we go on sinning

that grace would abound? Some of the strongest

language in the Bible is no way. We'd never do

that. If that's what you take this message to

mean, you don't even know the grace of God. You've

never got a hold of that. But I became free.

And my... My religious experience moved from

looking at me all the time to looking at God

and looking at other people. Because when I was

focused on my inability to perform, I was pretty

useless for the kingdom of God. Because I was

just self -focused all the time. I mean, it was

a bad way, but I was just looking at me all the

time. God doesn't want us that way. He doesn't

want you that way. To just be focused on yourself

and your inability to perform all the time. That's

not what God wants. That doesn't please God.

Because if that's the way you're living, you

know what? You haven't got a hold of who he is

yet. And I'm telling you today that he is the

I am. who is your right, and you need to hear

it, you need to wholeheartedly believe it, you

need to put your words in agreement with it,

and you need to act like it's true. Romans 14,

17. I quote this one a lot. I rarely have it

on the screen. Kingdom of God, the eternal rule

and reign of God, is not eating and drinking

because they have a lot of rules. Everybody say

rules. Rules. What they could eat, what they

couldn't eat, what they could drink, what they

couldn't drink. Judaism. They had a lot of rules.

But the Holy Spirit tells us through Paul that

the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking.

It's not about just being so concerned about

the rules. It's not what it's about. Here's what

it's about. It's about righteousness. It's about

peace. It's about joy in the Holy Spirit. And

if your religious experience is not focused on

gift righteousness and the peace of God that

surpasses all understanding and the joy that

we can have in the Holy Spirit, well then, you're

focusing on the wrong things. Because that's

what the kingdom of God is about. So here's the

DFV of the verse I just read. You don't know

what DFV means. That means Dean Forrest Version.

Just expanding that verse. Commentary on the

verse that I just read. When we have confidence

in Yahweh Shalom and take hold of His peace,

That is beyond understanding. He is your peace.

If the only peace you have is dependent on what's

going on around you, all you have is the world's

peace. You don't have the peace of God. There's

a peace that's greater than that. There's a peace

that is beyond my understanding, beyond the understanding

of humanity. that you can have even when nothing's

going right. There's a peace that you can have.

I mean, this past Tuesday, I preached my sister's

funeral. There's a peace that you can have. There's

a peace. It's who God is. Jesus has given you

His peace. And it's who He is. You can have it.

But you have to receive it by faith just like

you receive salvation by faith. You have to receive

Yahweh's shalom by faith. That that's who He

is. That's what He wants to do for you. That's

what He has given you. And then now you hear

it. You believe it. You put your words in agreement

with it. And you receive it. When we have confidence

in Yahweh Shalom and take hold of His peace,

it is beyond understanding. And have confidence

in Yahweh Tzidkenu to embrace this freedom that

I'm talking about. The freedom of God's gift

righteousness. When you take hold of both of

those things by faith, Listen, you will overflow

with joy in the Holy Spirit. Just letting you

think about it a second. I know you're ready

to go home thinking about what you're going to

eat and all that kind of stuff. This is bigger

than that. This is spiritual food that will carry

you a long time. When you have confidence in

Yahweh Shalom, take hold of His peace. that is

beyond understanding, to have confidence in Yahweh's

sick canoe, to embrace the freedom of God's gift

righteousness, you're going to overflow with

joy in the Holy Spirit. And you're still not

smiling. Joy is not deep and hidden. That's not

what the word in the Bible means. It doesn't

mean that it's deep and hidden. It means that

it's expressed. Those who know your name, those

who know that God is Yahweh Sidkenu, those who

know that God is their righteousness, will put

their trust and put their confidence in it. knowing

that He will not forsake them, He will not turn

His back on them. You can hold on as the righteousness

of God in Christ Jesus. When we trust and have

complete confidence in Yahweh's sick canoe, here's

that slide I was looking for. When we trust and

have complete confidence in Yahweh's sick canoe,

our focus moves. From our ability to perform,

which is works righteousness, to our place in

the kingdom of God, which is gift righteousness.

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