Title: The Name of Jesus – 6
“The Power of the Name”
Text: Philippians 2:9-11
Before we begin on this morning’s message, I want to share a prayer with you from Paul that I already shared with you at the beginning of this series. It is a powerful prayer and applicable to each of us that is setting here this morning.
I. PAUL’S PRAYER
Paul was praying a prayer for the Church at Ephesus in the first chapter of Ephesians. He wanted them to see something, to understand something. So, he prayed that the eyes of their spirit would be enlightened to truths that they would never be able to figure out in their heads. I want to read that prayer to you because it is the same prayer that I have for us at Calvary concerning the Name and the power behind it.
Ephesians 1:17-23; “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”
Paul’s prayer was not just for the Church at Ephesus. This is a Spirit-given prayer. It belongs to believers everywhere. It is a prayer that the eyes of our spirits might be enlightened to some things. Paul did not ask that the eyes of our minds would be opened, he said the eyes of our spirits. We have to get the knowledge of God’s Word down in our spirits, our hearts, down on the inside. We cannot get it with our mentality. Our minds are not great enough to grasp it. God wants us to know some things in our hearts. According to this prayer, what does He want us to know? I am glad you asked.
➢ The riches of our inheritance
➢ The exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe
➢ Christ was raised from the dead and set Him in the heavenly places far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named
➢ He has put all things under His feet
➢ Christ is the head over all things to or for the church
Paul’s prayer is that the Church would understand the inheritance that they have, which we have already covered in this series. He wants us to understand what we have in the Name of Jesus. I can preach this message series for the next year or two. I could tell you of all the mighty things that God wants to do in your life. I could tell you that we have all power and authority in the Name of Jesus, but I have come to realization that I can preach until I am blue in the face and sometimes I do, but until God opens the eyes of your understanding, you will never truly get it. You have a power inside you that you have never unleashed simply because you always say, “Whatever God’s will is, let it be.” God’s will is always found in His Word. It is time that we stop setting around waiting for God’s will to happen in our lives and start taking some action and getting in the Word to find out what His will is exactly. Then stand on those promises forever. Remember, the only thing that activates God’s will and God’s power in your life is faith.
Remember what Peter said in Acts 3:16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong.” His name was not enough to heal the beggar at the Gate Beautiful, Peter had to have faith in that Name. You cannot tell me that what I am preaching is wrong because I know from experience that it works. The man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument. Go ahead and argue with me if you want to, but God will heal you if you are willing to stand on the Word and believe it. Faith is what activates miracles.
There is so much power wrapped up in the Name of Jesus. The Name of Jesus is the most important possession that you will ever have. And it is a possession because when He left this earth, He gave it to you.
After the American Civil War the managers of the infamous Louisiana Lottery approached Robert E. Lee and asked if he'd let them use his name in their scheme. They promised that if he did he would become rich. Astounded, Lee straightened up, buttoned his grey coat, and shouted, “Gentlemen, I lost my home in the war. I lost my fortune in the war. I lost everything except my name. My name is not for sale, and if you fellows don't get out of here, I'll break this crutch over your heads!”
Everyone knows that a Name is important and powerful. This man knew the importance of a Name. Throughout this series, we have learned about the most important Name in the Universe. The Name of Jesus is a Name above every other Name as our text says. Paul’s prayer is a prayer for enlightenment, but he also gave us some instructions.
II. DO EVERYTHING IN THE NAME
Colossians 3:17; “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
Whatever you do, do it all in the Name of Jesus. That means:
➢ If you sweep the floor, sweep it in the Name of Jesus.
➢ If you wash the dishes, wash them in the Name of Jesus.
➢ If you make the beds, make them in the Name of Jesus.
➢ If you teach a Sunday school class, teach it in the Name of Jesus.
➢ If you sing a song, sing it in the Name of Jesus.
➢ If you play an instrument, play it in the Name of Jesus.
➢ If you work in a service station, work there in the Name of Jesus.
➢ If you work at the Mines, work there in the Name of Jesus.
➢ If you drive truck, drive it in the Name of Jesus.
➢ If you lay hands on the sick, do it in the Name of Jesus.
➢ If you cast demons out, do it in the Name of Jesus.
Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it in the Name of Jesus. That is exactly what this Scripture says. That Name has something to do with us in our everyday life.
In the early days of the Church, they were taught to do all things in that Name. Everything they did, they did in the Name of Jesus. Everywhere they went, they were conscious of that Name. No wonder people outside the Church feared that Name more than anything else. The authorities that took Peter and John into custody after the healing of the man at the Gate Beautiful threatened them.
Acts 4:16-20; “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” 18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Peter and John’s response to these men were; “We can’t help but speak in this Name. We are not going to stop speaking this Name no matter what you do to us.”
The Name of Jesus should be such a huge part of our lives that we can’t help but speak the Name of Jesus. He has been to good to me. It should be such a part of our lives that the people outside of the Church should be taking notice. Those authorities took notice of Peter and John and marvelled.
Acts 4:13; “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
I don’t care how smart people think I am as long as they know there is something different about me and that I have been with Jesus.
They didn’t have several churches in the first century like we do today. We are members of the same Body of Christ and what the Spirit spoke through Paul to the Church at Colosse belongs to the Church today. It belongs to the believers everywhere. Whatever we do, in word or deed, do it all in the Name of Jesus. That is for you and for me. Not only are we to do everything in the Name of Jesus, we must also realize that:
II. WE ARE WASHED, SANCTIFIED, JUSTIFIED IN THE NAME
I Corinthians 6:11; “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
You notice those first few words of that Scripture. “And such were some of you.” In order to understand what that means we need to back up a little to find out what we were before He washed, sanctified and justified us. Once we know what we were, it helps us appreciate what He has for us more.
I Corinthians 6:9-11; ΒΆ “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (means homosexuals), nor abusers of themselves with mankind, (this also means homosexuals, including lesbians, don’t they have any rights? Of course they do, they have the right to go to hell along with any other sinner, but sometimes we forget that they also have the right to go to heaven if they want to denounce their way and follow Jesus, and I have the right to try to keep them out of hell.) 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you:”
When you actually read over that group of sins, that is some pretty bad stuff. This Scripture does not want you to focus on the bad stuff; it wants you to focus on the power of the Name of Jesus. Praise God for that power. After mentioning all those horrible, gross sins, it goes on to say in the next verse:
I Corinthians 6:11; “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
In other words, Paul is telling the people of Corinth and us that some of you were in that group of people, but the power of the Name of Jesus has taken care of all that sin. Once we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, we no longer have to worry about those sins because we are brand new creatures. Now that is power.
