As we discover the names of God, we've talked about Elohim. We've talked about El Shaddai. We talked about Jehovah Jireh. We talked about Jehovah Rapha. We've talked about Abba. And today I want to share a name with you that has more to do with how you see him versus how he truly is. Okay, so I want this discovery of the name that we will discuss today to enlarge you and enrich you and to humble you.
This particular name we're going to talk about today is not a name that people use until they come to the end of themselves. Hit rock bottom or have a divine encounter. You have to be humble to use this name today. And let's go to Acts chapter 26 and meet me at verse 12, Acts chapter 26 and verse 12. This passage is a recount of the Apostle Paul, who used to be Saul of Damascus. And he is standing before King Agrippa and telling his story before an audience.
He says in verse 12, while thus occupied, as I journeyed, he's moving to Damascus with authority and commission. He's got power and authority from the chief priests to do what he's been doing. Verse 13, at midday, right in the middle of the day, O king, along the road, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun. Now, what kind of light from heaven is brighter than the sun in the middle of the day?
He sees a light from heaven brighter than the sun shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, this light was so bright, it knocked him down. In light, there is power. In light, there is power. So the sun, I ain't never went outside and the sun was so bright, it knocked me to the ground. That has never happened. But this light was so bright that it knocked him down. So we're talking about a light that is bright, knocked him all to the ground.
Verse 14, and I heard a voice speaking to me saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. Basically, it is hard for you to run from your call. It is hard for you to stay away from what I am trying to impress upon you. It's hard for you to kick against the goats. And so I said, verse 15, who are you, Lord? He said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
But rise and stand on your feet. Jesus showed up for this purpose, for I appeared to you for this purpose to make you a minister and a witness, both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will reveal to you.
He says, I will deliver you from Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me. In verse 19, therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Watch this.
Jesus appears. He says, to him, knocked him down because his brightness was so bright that he couldn't stand on his feet. And when Saul saw Jesus, the first thing he said to him was, who are you, Lord? Now, this definition of the word Lord is the word Adonai. Somebody say Adonai. Now, Adonai is a Hebrew word. The New Testament was primarily written in Greek. So if you do a Bible study, you wouldn't see the word Adonai because it's a Hebrew word and this was written in Greek.
But this is the the Hebrew word for this Greek word, Lord. OK, Adonai. He says, who are you, Adonai? God is not only our creator. He is our Lord, our master and our owner. The name Adonai means ruler, owner, master. The name Adonai is a name that means I am the one in charge. Okay? Not like a dictator, although the name means dictator, not like a dictator, but more like a shepherd. Okay? Adonai is a shepherd, a loving God who leads, governs, and deserves our full surrender.
Knowing him as Adonai will cause you to make a deeper commitment to him. And so notice on the road to Damascus, Saul, who was killing Christians, He had permission to, the first time he encountered Jesus, he called him master, owner, ruler. Lord. The very first time he encountered Jesus, he knew who he was. He is Lord. He is my master. He is my ruler, and he is my owner. Now in Romans chapter 1, verse 1, Romans chapter 1, verse 1, we see the Apostle Paul say this.
Paul, a bondservant. Somebody say bondservant. Of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle separated to the gospel of God. Philippians 1, 1. Philippians 1, 1. Take a look at this. Paul and Timothy, bondservants. Say bondservants. Of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the bishops and the deacons. Let's take a look at Titus 1.1.
Paul, a bondservant, say bondservant, of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgement of the truth which accords with his godliness. Let's look at Galatians 1.10. Galatians 1.10. Paul says, for I do not persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I still please men, I would not be a bondservant, say bondservant, of Christ. Now, what's interesting in these four verses that I read that Paul clearly tells us that he is a bondservant.
And one of the things that I thought was interesting is there is a difference between a slave and a bond servant. So a slave is a person who is owned, legal property of a master, forced into labor. They are someone that has no right, no autonomy, and they have no freedom. They are forced to do what the master has commanded them to do without any choice whatsoever. They are being controlled, they are being abused, and they have no right to even stop it.
That's a slave. But what I thought was interesting is a bondservant, or another word for bondservant is bondslave. A bondslave is a person who serves another by voluntary choice, willingly serves a master because they love him. When Paul called himself a bondservant, he wasn't saying he was forced into this. He chose to give his life fully to Jesus because he trusted him. It was about loyalty and love, not control and abuse.
Once again, a bond servant is someone who voluntarily or willingly serves a master. They are not doing it by force. They are not doing it by coercion. They are doing it because they love their master and they completely trust him. You were once a slave to sin, but now you are a bond servant of righteousness. Say amen to that. I said, say amen to that. God, Elohim, Adonai, does not force us into servitude. He invites us into a relationship with him.
Well, I want you to understand that when you made Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life, he purchased you. So you are a spirit. You have a soul. You live in a body. Say this out to me. I am a spirit. I have a soul. I live in a body. You are a spirit. That spirit was recreated when you gave your life to God. Old things passed away. Behold, all things became new. So on the inside of you, you are a new creation in Christ. Your spirit man is in tune with the Holy Spirit.
You have newness of life. You have been born again. You are new. You are fresh. You are original. You are a species of being that never existed before. and you are in common union with the Holy Spirit on the inside of you. You have a body. This body is what you live in. Some of us are different colors, different shapes, different sizes. This is just a body. It's temporary. And when this body gives out, our spirit still lives and will go on to be with the Lord.
Amen. You clap because that's going to happen one day unless the rapture takes place first. Amen. Here's what many people don't realize is the Lord Jesus, Adonai, purchased your body. I need to say it again because you think it's your own body and you can treat it the way you want to treat it. Your body was purchased. He bought your body. So he owns your body. That means you can't do whatever you want to do. You can't like whoever you want to like.
Oh, well, I don't feel like doing this or I don't I feel like doing that. You are purchased. You are bought. You are owned. And he wants you to do what he said in his word with your body. Buffet your body. Discipline your body. Put your body under subjection. Amen. Don't let your body tell you what to do. You tell your body what to do. I can eat ice cream all the time, okay? And I can eat every day. Matter of fact, I have before. Every day.
Eat some ice cream. There's a good friend of mine. He might listen to this podcast, but I went over to his house, and he and I talked about that we both like ice cream, and he went to his fridge, and I eat about a time. I eat maybe two scoops, you know, two scoops. He ate half the gallon, okay? He was like, you want some ice cream? I said, oh, whoa, whoa, bro, now that's too much ice cream. He said, there's no such thing as too much ice cream. I say, he and I eat ice cream differently, okay?
But consequently, I like to tell my body no sometimes. My body says, I want some ice cream. I say, no, you're not getting any today. And they say, I want it now. And I say, no, no, you're not getting any today. And I hear it, give me ice cream now. No, I said. And this is why fasting is important. Right? Telling our body what to do. And so when we have given our lives to the Lord Jesus, we are recreated in our spirit. Jesus Adonai purchased our body so he owns us.
And now what we have to do is renew our mind. Our mind is our soul is our mind, our will and our emotions. We have to change the way we think. We have to get in the word of God and think like the word thinks. We can't think like we want to think. We can't think like we want to feel. We can't think like the temptations that are coming our way. We have to think like the word tells us to think. This is what renewing the mind means.
I tell my mind what to think. I don't let my mind tell me what to think. And this is why you get in the word of God and you say, no, I am going to think like the word. Tells me, I should think, and I'm going to have what the Word says I'm going to have, and I'm going to do what the Word says I'm going to do. That's how you renew your mind.
And so when we're talking about Adonai and calling him Adonai and Lord and Master, we're going to have to renew our minds to these terminology because truth be told, we don't like to be owned by anybody. Just be honest, you don't want nobody to be your master. I would love for Stacey to call me Lord and Master But one time, I said, you know, Sarah used to call Sarah used to call her husband Abraham Lord And she said, do you want your Adam's apple?
And I said, oh, I said, okay, yeah, I do I do, I want my Adam's apple So that, I want to keep it, okay I don't want her to strike it, okay. And so we we don't we don't like we don't like to be owned. Come on. We don't want we don't want somebody, especially as you get older. It's especially I remember when I was in my early 20s. Don't tell me what to do. I already know what to do. I know more than you. Right. I knew more than my parents. Right. I already know what to do.
I know they don't tell me. We don't like to be told what to do. We don't like to be ruled. We don't like to be owned. We don't like to have a master. And that's some of the foolish things. I was young and dumb being foolish, thinking I knew more than my parents, thinking I knew more than everybody else. Foolish and dumb, right? I didn't know what I didn't know, right? And so don't tell me what to do. I know what to do. And that's kind of how we are.
We don't want anybody to tell us what to do. We don't need anybody to lead and guide us and direct us. We don't want to be owned. We want to be a free spirit. So you can only refer to Adonai if you're humble. And that's why we said at the beginning, unless you hit rock bottom, you may not ever be able to use the name Adonai. Unless you get to your lowest point and all the weight of the world is on you and you don't know where else to turn.
Some people have to get to that point before they shout Adonai, Master, Lord, Ruler, Owner, help me. You got to be humble. And so this name is more about our response to his leadership than it is really about the name itself. Because we're going to have to get to the points that we say, I am yours to command. What do you want me to do, Adonai? Because you own me. You purchased me. You bought me, not with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus.
What do you want from me, Adonai? What do you want me to give? What do you want me to say? You don't want me to go over there? You don't want me to do that? I'm here to do what you want me to do. You know why the reason why we're part of the body of Christ on the earth is to do what the head wants us to do. That's it. It's not before we can do whatever we want to do. And if you want to do whatever you want to do, serve the devil. And you can do whatever you want to do and go to hell.
He'll take you right on with you. He'll say, come on, I got a place right down here right next to me. And you did everything you wanted to do. Now spend time with me. No, we're not here to do what we want to do. We're here to do what Adonai tells us to do. Come on, somebody say amen to that.
I was working. Y'all know my story, working at a bank, making well into the six-figure range, doing very well, number one sales rep, very light, increasing, looking, had dreams of maybe opening up my own financial firm. I was doing really, really good. And Adam and I said, I want you to quit this and go into the ministry. What? I could serve you in this position. He says, no, I want you to quit, and I want you to go into the ministry.
I said, well, I can do both. He said, no, nothing wrong with people that do both. Nothing wrong with that. You got to do what Adonai's telling you to do. He said, I want you to quit. I want you to put your two-week in, and I want you to go into full-time ministry. I went, wrote my two-week out. They thought I was lying. You really leaving? You going to a competitor? No, I'm going into the ministry. No, you're going to a competitor.
I'm going to the ministry. Well, they didn't believe me. They walked me out that same day. Security came, get you a little box and walk me right on out the door. I got to obey Adonai. Amen. So I said, you know, I'm yours to command. I said, if we fall flat on our face and if we starve and if we lose everything that we have accumulated because of you, I'm going to tell everybody Adam and I didn't take care of me And you know what I heard him say?
Do it, deal Let's make that deal, Deal, okay, if I don't take care of you Then you can tell everybody That I didn't take care of you Look at me now I'm well taken care of, amen Amen. He's taking care of me My wife said to me If we do this, I only have one request What's that request, babe? Can I still get my hair done? I said Adonai will provide You can still get your hair done now watch this. A bondservant chooses to serve out of love, not fear.
A slave serves out of fear, but a bondservant serves out of love. True freedom is found in surrendering fully to Jesus. That's where true freedom is found. Fully surrendering to Jesus because your surrender leads to purpose, power, and peace. Let me say it again. You're surrendered to him. I'm yours to command. You are my master. You are my ruler. You are my Lord. You are my owner. I surrender to you. I'm yours to command.
That's where you find purpose, power, and peace in complete surrender to him. Now watch this. If you are a slave, the master treats you like a slave. Doesn't love you. doesn't care about you, barely feeds you, whips you, beats you, takes full advantage of you, your property may sell you, may cut you off from your family, may treat you terribly, has no regard for you. But when you become a bond slave or a bond servant, the master willingly takes full responsibility for you.
Now, listen to me. When you are a bond servant, The master says, I will care for you. I will lead you. I will guide you. I will protect you. I will feed you. You are my responsibility. Man, this is so good. If you get this, a slave care nothing about a bond servant says, I'm a willily serve you. I'm gonna do whatever you tell me to do. The master says, okay, I got you.
I got you everything you need I got you everything that pertains to what is in your life I got you whatever it is that you lacking I got you whatever it is that you need I got you whatever it is that you want I got you come on say amen to that the when I when you and I are bond servants and we lean into that surrender into him and know that he's master and ruler you can begin to ask the master for things you want. And he says, I got you. Glory to God.
Glory to God. Say, I'm a bond servant. Say, he's my master. When you just say, hey, I don't rule myself. I'm not here by myself. I'm not making decisions by myself. I'm not doing what I want to do. I am a bond servant. I've had people come to me, you know, as I'm pastor of church, pastor, I think we ought to do this. I think we ought to do that. Listen, I am open to suggestions. I am not that guy that all of the suggestions come from me.
I'm open to them, but you all need to realize this. I don't even do what I want to do sometime. There are things I want to do and the Lord said, that's not what I want you to do. You know, I want to do this. That's not what I want to do. I don't even get to do what I want to do. I'm a bond servant unto my master, Adonai. And I only do what he commands me to do. Say amen to that. And so when you become a bond servant, the master is totally responsible for you.
You're literally leaning in your entire livelihood. Into his hands. You're living in his house. Listen to me now. And he's a physician. So if you get sick, he'll heal you. Come on, somebody. If you broke, he'll provide. He's rich. If you're lacking food, he can multiply food from fish and bread. If you need a job, I'm about my father's business. He got a business. He'll put you to work. Come on, somebody. Amen. He is the master. And you are the bond slave of the master.
When you become a bond servant, you no longer have to take care of yourself. He will protect you, provide for you, and direct you. You are more than a slave. You are a bond slave. A bond servant when you realize Adonai is your master. Say that. He's my master. Say this. He's my owner. He's my ruler. He's my dictator. I only do what he tells me to do. Now we're humble. The only humble people can do this. Now we're humble and now we can call Adonai. Adonai, I'm lacking. I'm lacking in this area.
Adonai, you're the master. Take care of this for me. And Adonai says, you're my bond servant. I got you. It may not be, like we said in worship, it may not be on your time frame. And I've learned a lot of things don't happen on my time frame. A lot of things happen a lot slower than I want to happen. But it does happen. Amen? It happens. because in the process, we're learning more about ourself that we didn't know. If everything happened immediately, I'm talking to somebody.
If everything happened immediately and instantly, you would never learn the word patience. If everything happened immediately and instantly, you would never understand the character and nature of God. If everything happened immediately, you would stop praying. You would literally stop praying if everything happened suddenly and immediately you would stop. God knows that I've got to teach you something about me in the process.
And you're going to learn some things about yourself in the process that you're stronger than you think you are. You're more vibrant than you think you are. You have more stamina than you think you do. You have more strength than you think you do. You have more fortitude. You have more guts than you think you do. And when you realize that, you're like, you know what? I'm glad it took a long time.
I'm glad that it didn't happen instantly. Come on somebody, who am I talking to and they know what I'm talking about? I'm glad that it took a little more time because I learned some things. Pookie, I got rid of Pookie in the process, come on. Ray Ray couldn't stay with me. I didn't realize that a family member was stabbing me in the back the whole time. I had to go through that process to understand what was going on. You gotta know that God has you written in the palm of his hands.
And Adonai is taking care of you, watching over you, leading in God. If you just trust him and surrender and yield, he got you. He'll take care of you. He'll provide. He'll watch over you. He's the one that we call Master, Lord, Savior. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Come on, give the Lord a shout of hallelujah. Hallelujah. Luke chapter 6, 46. Luke chapter 6 46 but why do you call me Adonai Adonai and do not do what I say.
Listen to this why do you call me Lord Lord and do not do what I say because he is not your Lord. There's a theology out that's called the lordship theology, and you can do your own research on it. I don't fully agree with it, but there are some aspects of it that I do agree with. In the lordship theology, if you don't make him lord, then he's not savior in this theology. I don't agree with that. I believe he can be savior, and you can learn to allow him to be your lord.
So he can be your savior, but he may not be your lord. In the lordship theology, they say he can't be your savior unless he's your lord. I believe you can receive salvation and learn how to humble yourself and call him Lord. But you better be working on him being your Lord, or we may have to question if you even gave your life to the Lord. Amen? You're going to live like you want to live. He might not be your Lord or your Savior.
Okay? And so when we understand that he is my Lord, why do I call him master, master, owner, owner, ruler, ruler, dictator, dictator, and do not do the things which he says? Somebody say, I'm yours to command. That's to be our posture. I'm yours to command. Is Jesus just your savior or is he truly your Lord? That's a question you have to answer. Is he only your savior or is he also your Lord, your master?
Is there anything in your life you're still trying to control instead of letting Adonai lead? Is there anything in your life you're still trying to control instead of let Adonai lead? Is he Lord over your schedule, relationships, finances, and future? Let me say it again because some of y'all want me to just keep going, but I got to go back over this one. Is he Lord over your schedule? Pause. Look at your schedule. Is he Lord over your schedule?
Is he Lord over your relationships? Who are you still hanging with that he, Adonai has told you to stop talking to them. You know what I'm talking about. That is wasting your time, energy, efforts, your peace, your purpose. I'm thinking about people right now I just need to stop talking to. Amen. Is he Lord of your relationships, your finances? Or is Starbucks Lord of your finances? Come on. Is he Lord of your finances?
And is he Lord of your future? Your relationship with Adonai is not a democracy. Oh, I know we like to use the word democracy, and democracy is a good thing because we get a chance to vote. I love the opportunity we have to vote, and we vote for, in our country, in the United States, we vote for representatives, and so we're actually a democratic republic. We get a chance to have representatives there that represent our vote.
I love that we have that but in The kingdom there is no democracy, We're not voting I'm not asking you to vote and in the Lord has never asked you What do y'all think we're gonna all vote on this and see what the Lord's never done that He never will because it's not a democracy I. It's a theocracy. He reigns not by vote, but by divine right. Amen. Amen. And so we have to understand when he's your Adonai, you're not voting. There is no, he's not asking, you know, what do you think we ought to do?
He's saying, this is what we're going to do. And you say, I'm yours to command. Yes, sir. I'm yours to command. Glory to God. Do you trust Adonai enough to obey him when you don't understand? Do you trust him enough to obey him when you don't understand? Adonai.
Do you trust him enough to obey? And there was one particular time I had a friend and we were a bunch of guys were going to the movies and Stacey and I had just gotten married and I was working in corporate America and we were all like, let's just take off work and go to the movies.
We had planned it. Let's just go, and we were going to go see Batman, you know, and we were going to take off work, and we were going to go to the movies, and one particular guy said, I ain't going with a bunch of guys to the movie. What's wrong with y'all? I ain't going with y'all. Ain't no girls going? Like, no, ain't no girls going, just a bunch of guys. I ain't going with y'all. We said, all right, we went to the movie.
Come back after the movie. I see him the next day. He mad because he said we didn't invite him to the movie. Y'all didn't invite me to the movie. We said we were going. You said you didn't invite me to the movie. Then he acted like he wanted to fight. He was mad at me. You know, like, you didn't invite me, man. I wanted to go to the movies and y'all went. I said, we told you we were going out there. You didn't invite me. You didn't tell me when. You didn't tell me what time you invited me.
And I said, well, I want to fight, too. Well, what's up? Now, you, what's up? Me and you, let's go. Okay, you want to fight? I want to fight. I went home and told Stacy. And Stacy said. Stacey said, Devon, she said, this is what you do. She said, apologize to him for not inviting him and just see what happens. I said, I don't want to do that. She said, apologize. Just apologize to him. Just watch. I know what's going to happen. Just apologize to him.
I said, okay, you know, it's good to listen to your wives. I said, okay, I'll submit to that. Amen? Scripture said we should submit to one another. I said, I'll submit to that. I went back next day. I said, man, I said his name. I said, I want to apologize. I should have invited you to the movie. He said, oh, man, I know, man. You should have invited me. I forgive you, man. I forgive you, man. I know I really wanted to go. And I said,
I should have invited you, man. Yeah, and we hugging and stuff. I get home, I tell Stacey, she said, I knew that was going to happen. I know. She said, his feelings were hurt. His feelings were hurt, and you just apologized. He was fine. Why did I tell you that story? Because sometimes we got to do things we don't want to do. I didn't want to apologize to that man. I had no intention of that. But I have sometimes when you're serving Adonai, you're going to have to do things you don't want to do.
Adonai is not going to always ask you to do things that you want to do. OK, you're going to do things you don't want to do. But get a good attitude about it. Amen. And do it because Adonai told you to do it. Say this after me. You are in charge. I am yours. I will follow. Stand to your feet right now. Glory be to God. This is how you experience true life.