4-1-15 Accessing God's Power - The Power of the Name of Jesus
Accessing God's Power
Introduction to series
Accessing God's power is one of the key issues of the Christian life, and this series of sermon outlines was created with that in mind. There's no doubt that there are many Christians today who are living powerless lives. They do battle daily against sin, addictions, and spiritual bondage, and with little or no success. Is it possible to change this? Or are they doomed to living defeated, miserable lives?
Fortunately, there is an answer. These sermon outlines show that God
has a solution to every problem and His unlimited power is available to
us to that we can live victorious lives. That's what this series of
sermon outlines on Accessing God's Power is all about.
The Power of the Name of Jesus
The Power of Praise and Worship
The Power of the Blood of Jesus
The Power of God's Word
The Power of the Holy Spirit
Accessing God's Power - The Power of the Name of Jesus
Date January 4,2015
Scripture Reading Phil 2:9-11, John 14:13-14
from series Accessing God's Power
Introduction
The Bible teaches that there is power in the name of Jesus, but what
does that mean? Can I use the name of Jesus to get anything I want from
God? How does the name of Jesus relate to prayer? How does the name of Jesus unlock the power and authority of heaven?
These questions and more are answered in this sermon outline on The Power of the Name of Jesus.
What's in a name?
People have given their children the most ridiculous names.
Ill. One non-believing American couple named their daughter
Atheist Evolution. Bob Geldof and his wife thought they'd be creative
and named one of their daughters Peaches Honeyblossom Charlotte Angel
Vanessa. She says she hates ridiculous names. Her big sister is Fifi
Trixibelle, while her two younger sisters are Pixie and Heavenly Hiraani
Tiger Lilly. Rock star David Bowie called his son Zowie, but Zowie
didn't like that so he changed it to Duncan. Keith Richards - of the
Rolling Stones - named his daughter Dandelion. She tells everyone her
name is Angela. Jamie Oliver and his wife Jools have two daughters
named Poppy Honey and Daisy Boo. Jerry Seinfeld named his offspring
Shepherd. Or how about some other names people have called their
children like Peanut, Together, or Hallelujah?
But just in case you're thinking this is an Anglo-American phenomenon, the Asians are getting in on it too.
Ill. A Vietnamese man named his son Mai Phat Sau Nghin Ruoi, which
means "Fined Six Thousand Five Hundred", which is how much it cost him
for ignoring the country's two-child policy. Malaysia has even had to
ban some names: Ah Gong, which means Unsound Mind; Sum Seng, which means
Gangster; and Chow Tow, which means Smelly Head.
The thing is, names are important.
Names were important in the Bible; some people like Sarai, Abram, and
Simon, changed their names to indicate something significant.
In 1 Sam 25, Abigail told King David, "My husband's name is fool, and that's what he is."
Since
the days of antiquity, people could speak or act 'in the name of'
someone because the name represents authority and power. Decrees
could be issued and oral messages delivered in the name of a king,
for example. For Christians, the name of Jesus Christ is the most
wonderful and most powerful name in existence. In Psalm 72, although
King David was writing about his son, Solomon, he also speaks
prophetically of Jesus Christ. Verse 17 says,"His
name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the
sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him
blessed."
But the most significant name of all is the name of Jesus.
Today, we're beginning a series called Accessing God's Power, and in particular we're looking at the power of the name of Jesus.
The power of Jesus’ name is immense.
There is victory in Jesus’ name,
There is life in Jesus’ name.
There is power in Jesus’ name.
There is healing and salvation in Jesus’ name.
All things are possible through the name of Jesus. God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. There is power to overcome everything in the world through the name of Jesus. I am looking forward to a wonderful union through the name of Jesus. There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
I want to instill into you a sense of the power, the virtue and the glory of that name. I believe there is immeasurable power in the name of Jesus.
Phil 2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him
the name which is above every name, (10) that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of
those under the earth, (11) and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
All of that, at the name of Jesus!
I kind of imagine it like this: One day, all of heaven will be
gathered together, and all the souls who have ever lived, and Satan and
all his angels and demons. Then as the Lord Jesus Christ makes His
entry, His name is called out, and every creature of heaven - the
elders, the angels, the living creatures of Revelation - Satan and his
hordes, and every human of every nation and tribe and colour and
religion, shall all fall on their knees.
But I have seen nobody will be able to help themselves because of the immense power of the name of Jesus. Some will bow out of love for that name, and others will bow because of fear.But the power of the name of Jesus will be evident to all of creation. That same power is available to every true believer in Christ.
John 14:13-14 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If you ask anything in My
name, I will do it.
I know that through His name and through the power of His name we have access to God. The very face of Jesus fills the whole place with glory. All over the world there are people magnifying that name. and O, what a joy it is for me to utter it.
This is a great promise, but what does "in the name of Jesus" mean?
So often - especially in Pentecostal churches - we take it to mean the stamp of approval.We'll pray, "Lord, I want a new house, Mercedes, Rolex watch, latest
computer, and … oh yeah, boom (stamp of approval), in the name of
Jesus."
And guess who decides whether something should get the stamp of approval? We do. But is that what it means? I believe that the name of Jesus isn't just a magic formula. We can't just pray whatever we want, add "in the name of Jesus", and
think that that means our prayer must be answered because we used the
right formula. Or that God is up there listening and saying, "Nah, I don't think so.
Nope, nope, nope. Oh hang on, they said, 'In the name of Jesus'. Oh,
okay, since you put it that way." That's not how it works.
This approach only leads to disappointment - people say, "I tried what the Bible says and it doesn't work"; I prayed in the name of Jesus and nothing happened.
Of course nothing happened, because that's not what it means.
Sermon
So how does it work?
How can I ensure that I access the power of Jesus' name the way God wants me to?1. I need to understand that if I use the name of Jesus, I acknowledge that I'm a representative of Jesus Christ.
Ill. Peter and John were helpless, were illiterate, they had no college education. They had been with Jesus. To them had come a wonderful revelation of the power of the name of Jesus. They had handed out the bread and fish after Jesus had multiplied them. They had sat at the table with Him and John had often gazed into His face. Peter had often to be rebuked, but Jesus manifested His love to Peter through it all. Yea, He loved Peter, the wayward one. O, He’s a wonderful lover! I have been wayward, I have been stubborn, I had an unmanageable temper at one time, but how patient He has been. I am here to tell you that there is power in Jesus and in His wondrous name to transform anyone, to heal anyone.
Ill. (Acts 3-4) Peter and John are going into the temple and they
see a man who is in his 40s who's been crippled from birth. When they
heal him in the name of Jesus, it really creates a stir. People have
been walking past him for years. "Hey, isn't that what's-his-name?"
"Yeah, that's him." "What happened?" "I don't know. Let's find out."
Crowds of people gather round and the apostles take the opportunity to
preach the gospel. Next thing you know, here comes the captain of the
guard, and the priests, and the Sadducees, and Peter and John are
arrested.
The religious authorities are faced with an undeniable miracle, so all they can do is threaten the apostles and…
Acts 4:18 it says they … commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
Poor Peter, and poor John! They had no money! But they had faith, they had the power of the Holy Ghost, they had God. You can have God even though you have nothing else. Even though you have lost your character you can have God. I have seen the worst men saved by the power of God. Notice this, when the apostles preached, they did so in the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus is so marvellous. Peter and John had no conception of all that was in that name; neither had the man, lame from his mother’s womb, who was laid daily at the gate; but they had faith to say, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And as Peter took him by the right hand, and lifted him up, immediately his feet and anklebones received strength, and lie went into the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. God wants you to see more of this sort of thing done. How can it be done? Through His name, through faith in His name, through faith which is by Him.
What does that mean?
You can read the sermon in Acts 3. We can see there what it doesn't mean. They didn't preach the gospel and tag "in the name of Jesus" on the end. Preaching in the name of Jesus meant they preached as His representatives.
Let's have a look at how this works, because we have a parallel situation today.
Ill. I can't just go up to X and say, "I arrest you in the name of Her Majesty the Queen." And the main reason I can't is that when I say "in the name of Her
Majesty the Queen", I'm implying that I'm her representative - and I'm
not.
The same principle is found in Acts 19:11-16:
Ill. Here's the story: Paul is doing the most amazing miracles.
Sometimes people bring pieces of cloth to him, all he's got to do is
touch them and the people touched by the cloth are healed, or demons
leave. But Paul is being watched. A Jewish high priest named Sceva has
seven sons, and they see him casting out demons, and they have this
discussion: "Wow! Did you see that? That is way cool." "Yeah, how did
he cast out that demon?" "Looks pretty simple to me. He used special
words: In the name of Jesus." "Well, that's gotta be better than
abracadabra." "Hey, I know a guy down the street who's seriously weird;
he's got a demon. Let's try it out on him." "Great idea, dude." So
off they go down the street, into the guy's house, gather round, and now
it's time to get spiritual: "In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches
(they didn't have a clue who Jesus was), evil spirit leave this man."
The English tells us that the evil spirit said, "I know Jesus, and I know Paul…" But in the Greek there are two different words for "know".
It would be better if the evil spirit said, "I know Jesus, and I know about Paul. I've heard of him - he's a pain in the neck. But who … are .. you?" And with that, this one man, fuelled by demonic power, beat the
living daylights out of all seven brothers, and they fled, naked and
bleeding.
This story has important implications for us. It means that when I use that phrase "in the name of Jesus", I better
make darn sure that I'm actually representing His interests. I can't say, "I claim that Mercedes in the name of Jesus". If I do that, whose interests am I really representing? - Mine. Just because I'm lusting after that car doesn't mean God wants me to have it.
This story also demonstrates that our representation of Christ is
based on relationship - the sons of Sceva made the mistake of thinking
that it was a formula, but they didn't have the relationship.
No relationship means no authority and no power.
2. If I ask in the name of Jesus, I will ask according to His will because I'm representing His interests.
1 John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that
if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (15) And if we
know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we have asked of Him.
I have to pray according to God's will. But I don't necessarily need a Bible verse to support what I'm asking for.
Ill. Imagine God sends me to Africa to preach the Gospel, and I'm
walking from village to village, and I'm preaching, and I think, "Man, I
could be a lot more effective if I had a motorbike." So what should I
do? Get a Bible verse, a promise? I pull out my Bible concordance,
looking for a verse. But I'm not going to find a Bible verse on
motorbikes. So I can't be worried about that. I'm representing the King. And I'm going to expect all the help I can get in doing His will most effectively.
The key here is whose interests am I representing?
3. If I am representing the Lord Jesus Christ and His interests, the name of Jesus gives me access to all the power and authority of heaven to back me up.
Ill. If I go up to someone and say, "I saw you run that red light.
I'm putting you under arrest." He'll say, "Yeah, right. You and
whose army?" But if I'm Inspector Lenin, and I say, "I saw you
snatch that chain. I'm putting you under arrest." That's different.
He looks at my uniform which represents my legal authority, he looks at
my gun which represents the power I have to back that authority up, and
he says, "Okay Inspector."
The
name of Jesus Christ is not a magic word. The power is not even in
saying words, but in understanding and believing all that the name of
Jesus Christ signifies. His name represents all of His finished work
on the cross, fulfilling God's plan of redemption and salvation,
victory over sin, death, and over the devil's entire realm. When the
name of Jesus Christ is invoked, it carries all of the power and
distinction God gave to it. God raised Jesus from the dead, elevated
Him to His right hand, and gave Jesus a name above "every
name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to
come." (Ephesians
1:21)
I can say the same words, but with different effects. Because it's not who I am that makes the difference, it's what or who I represent. That makes all the difference. You can be confident that if you're representing the interests of the
Kingdom of God and not just your own interests, you will have all the
backing of God's power and authority. Nothing will stand in your way - absolutely nothing.
Through faith, nothing can prevent you from achieving the will of God in your life.
Rom 8:31 …If God is for us, who can be against us?
Once I've made certain that what I'm asking for is the will of God for me, I can ask with confidence.
John 14:13-14 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Now let's take a look at some of the things that happened in the Bible through the name of Jesus.
1. Signs and wonders were done through the name of Jesus
Acts 4:30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and
wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.
Now remember: "in the name of Jesus" isn't a formula. Verse 30 is the end of a sentence that began in verse 29.
Acts 4:29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,
What were they doing? Representing His interests by preaching the Word of God. And with that in mind, they could continue to represent His interests by asking for signs and wonders. They weren't just asking for miracles so they could go home feeling
all fuzzy inside - "Ooh, I heard the angels singing in the worship
today." That's nice, and I'm not knocking that - but if supernatural
manifestations don't somehow work to the advantage of the Kingdom of
God, it doesn't really matter if we never have them again. The purpose of signs and wonders is to advance the Kingdom.
Let's look at what else Jesus' name can do.
2. The name of Jesus brought healing
Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."As they say, this man was begging for alms, but they gave him legs.
There is healing in the name of Jesus.
3. The name of Jesus brought deliverance from demonic powers
Acts 16:18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed,
turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus
Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour.
Both of these - the healing and the deliverance from demons - happened when the apostles were preaching the Gospel. They were representing the interests of the Kingdom of God.
4. The name of Jesus brings answered prayer
John 14:13-14 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If you ask anything in My
name, I will do it.
Being mindful of God's interests is the key to answered prayer.
5. The name of Jesus brought salvation.
Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Salvation, being reconciled with God, the receiving of eternal life, can only be obtained through Christ.
There is no other way.
It
is by faith in this name above all names, the name of Jesus Christ,
that people are saved, set free from bondage, healed of sicknesses
and diseases, and made whole. There is no other name under heaven
more powerful or more significant, and this is a dynamic reality that
Christians can believe in and have complete confidence in.
"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:13)
"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:13)
Invitation and The Final Challenge
God wants us to understand that when we speak the name of Jesus in real belief, God does the miraculous, God does the impossible. Cripples are healed.
There is no situation where the name of Jesus can’t be used.
• Like Peter and John if people we know are saying don’t tell me about Jesus. Don’t talk about Jesus in this house, or this workplace. Pray like they did for more boldness, more opportunities.
• If you don’t know what to do – pray in the name of Jesus for help, for ideas, for words, for actions. ‘Dear Jesus I ask in your name for you to show me what to do’. Or similar prayers.
Be bold – expect Jesus to back His name up. Speak it with the knowledge that Jesus has given you and me exactly what Peter and John had. “What I have I give to you..” what did they have? The name of Jesus!
I believe God is calling us to rise several levels in our faith in the name of Jesus – based on what the Word of God says so clearly to us about it.
Many years ago I read a story of an American nun who was attacked in somewhere like Central Park in New York. As the man was about to rape her she spoke the name of Jesus and the man suddenly stopped and ran away in fright. She believed not only in the name of Jesus but that He was there with her and she was saved.
I encourage us all to pray this week prayers that adore the name of Jesus, that honour his name and to pray believing in His name.
One of the ways that we grow our faith in the name of Jesus is to speak prayers of adoration to Him about it, to exalt Jesus’ name and we will do that together as our concluding prayer in a minute. And after our prayer I’m going to suggest an exercise.
Please join me in this concluding prayer adding your own words to exalt Jesus’ name:
Dear Jesus I lift your name up.
It is the name above all names.
You are the Christ.
You are the Good Shepherd;
You are Emmanuel
You are the Saviour
You are the Redeemer
You are the Rock
You are the Son of God
You are the Lamb of God
You are the bread of Life.
I honour and bless your name Jesus.
I believe in your name Jesus, Son of God Risen Lord.
I declare that there is salvation in no other name but your name Jesus. I believe there is healing in your name Jesus. I ask now please Jesus that you would expand and increase my faith and boldness and confidence in using your name to your glory. And I pray this in your name Jesus. Amen.
In your hearts please add your own prayers that honour the name of Jesus and declare your belief in His name.
EXERCISE
What do you want to ask for right now in Jesus’ name? I invite you to ask now and then to honour and bless His name.
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