Date of message: 28 September 2002
Subject: The Names of God - YHVH M'Kaddesh

Shalom, Boker-tov ( good morning ),

Have you ever had a strong desire to have your personality lined up perfectly with the LORD's personality? Jesus wants you to have a total image of Himself living through you. He gives us that image in the name YHVH M'KADDESH.

That name was first given in Leviticus 20: 7 - 8 and it means "The LORD Who sanctifies."
" You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.
" You shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
The Book of Leviticus tells us about the people who had already been redeemed for they all passed through the Red Sea and came up on the other shore in Arabia. They still have their sin and they were still murmuring and grumbling to Moses about the harsh desert condition. Yet the LORD brought them through, clothed them and fed them. And in the process, the LORD wanted to mould them into a new people; He wanted them to forget their past and look to Him and trust Him for their blessings. And so He gave instructions for them to consecrate and to dedicate their lives to Him.

The process of sanctification practiced by the Jews and especially by the priesthood is rather laborious and time consuming. Before a priest can come before the LORD, he has to be washed ceremonially and change into his clean clothes and then only can he come before the LORD with his animal sacrifice. If there were any spot of uncleanness still found in him, the LORD would reject him and he would be killed instantly by the LORD Himself.
Praise the LORD, today we can come before the LORD as we are. We do not need to bring any more animal sacrifices because Jesus became that One perfect sacrifice when He died for our sins on the cross. The price He paid is more than sufficient to pay the price for not just yours and mine but for everyone on the earth, past, present and future. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 10: 9 -10: -
" Then Jesus said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will." He takes away the first in order to establish the second.
" By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The LORD found fault with the first covenant. Every year on the Day of Atonement, the people had to come before Him bringing their sacrifice. If the LORD accepted their offering, their sins would be forgiven them for one year and then the following year, they will need to come before the LORD to sacrifice yet again for their sins for the past year. They had to do this every year and prayed hard that the LORD would favor them and forgive them. They had to live in fear not knowing whether the LORD would accept their sacrifice or reject it.

But thanks be to God, the first covenant has been done away with. Jesus came and established a new covenant; a covenant of grace and not of law. In the first covenant, it was always "you shall..." but the second covenant says, "it is done." We do not need to go through those ceremonial washings that the Jews had to perform before they came into the presence of the LORD. For us, we have been sanctified by the body and blood of our LORD Jesus Christ and we can now come boldly into His presence and put our requests before the Father. We are accepted because of Jesus' blood on the cross.
Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church in 2Corinthians 5: 21 -
" He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

We have been sanctified the moment we believed in Jesus and received Him into our lives as our Lord and Savior. The LORD does not see us as we are. Our standing before the Father now is the same as Jesus' standing before Him. Our confidence is not on how God sees us but, as the apostle John wrote in 1John 4: 17, "as He is, so also are we in this world."
Jesus, on the night before His death, took water and having girded Himself with a towel, began to wash the feet of His disciples as they were reclining at the table for dinner. As He came to Peter, he did not allow Jesus to wash his feet. But when Jesus told him that it was necessary for Him to do so otherwise he would have no part with Him, Peter responded and told Jesus to wash his hands and his head as well. Jesus replied that he had already been washed and that it was only his feet that needed washing (read the Book of John chapter 13 verses 1 - 11).

When we believe in Jesus, we are washed by His blood and that was what He meant when Jesus said, "he who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean." Jesus washed His disciples' feet signifying that we need to cleanse our daily walk with His word (so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word - Ephesians 5: 26).

My friends, you too can experience the same favored position because Jesus died for all of us. You do not have to act or behave like the Old Testament Jews because the LORD Himself is YHVH M'Kaddesh, the LORD Who sanctifies. Jesus not only paid the price but He is now standing before the Father and is interceding for us on our behalf. Now the way is clear for us to approach the LORD and worship Him.

Take a few moments and reflect on what He had accomplished for you on the cross. If you want to, pray the following prayer to invite Jesus into your heart and start to enjoy the blessings of being sanctified by Him.

Our Abba Father, thank you that You love all of us so much that You did not leave us alone in our sins but gave us Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came and was obedient to You even to the point that He died for all our sins and now we are made righteous before Your presence.

Thank you Lord Jesus that You took all our curses in Your body so that we can receive Your blessings in our lives. Thank you that we are now children of the LORD and joint heirs with You in Your kingdom. Come, Lord Jesus, into my heart and take up precedence over my life.
Thank You Father that because of Your Beloved Son's death, I am now a child of Yours and I am greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved. Thank you and I pray all these in the most precious and holy name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our Yeshua Ha'Mashiarch (Jesus the anointed One). Amen.

If you have prayed that prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family of the Father ( and it is a very large universal family ). It is important that you are not alone facing your personal trials but that you can obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together? You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father, for fellowship and for study of the Word of Christ.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 - 26

Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
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