THERE IS POWER IN THE NAME OF JESUS
The Power of Christ’s Name
“And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” — Acts 3:16
Romans 1:16
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…”
A power that shines through the fogginess of this world and all its confusing worldviews. A power not created by kindness alone. A power not produced by positive thoughts and optimism. A power that cannot come by means of social justice enthusiasm, or the popular tribes of the cause celeb. A power found only in the gospel message shared by followers of the name above all names. And that power must be shared in Christ’s name if it is to receive and distribute his power through that sharing. You can’t hide his good news under the bushels of your comfort zones. You cannot hide his light under your cloak of good vibes absent his powerful name.
Why?
Faith doesn’t come by osmosis.
The unbelievers will see right through it. They’ll see you as a self righteous hypocrite.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And blessed will be that message because it was shared in His powerful name.
Penn Jillette (self avowed atheist)—
“If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward, and atheists who think that people shouldn’t proselytize — Just leave me alone, keep your religion to yourself. How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
What’s there to be ashamed of? Are you afraid you’ll be tagged as “one of those…”? One of those what? Believers? Followers? Christ’s kids?
Damn straight you are! You’re a child of God, unashamedly. You love Jesus and he loves you. So why would you not also love his powerful name? Truth is you’d better love his name because without it the enemy will expose you and dispose of you. You’ll be of no good use to his kingdom.
Act 1:8
Jesus said, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
There is power in his name:
John 14:13-14
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
Repeat after him:
Acts 2:38
Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
It’s not difficult at all. It’s not shameful, or scary, it’s natural for them who claim to be “in Him”. It’s what he wants from you. God the Holy Spirit, would have all his servants use plainness and clearness of speech, and He is pleased to bless what is said in His Son’s name.
Let me conclude with this:
There’s another reason it’s very important that our example, our Christian actions, and evangelistic deeds must be given in the name of Jesus Christ. It’s a bulwark against pride and sin in general. It goes a great way towards preventing us from making the message more about us and little if anything about Jesus. In short, “lest they should boast”. His powerful name guards our hearts and minds against the snares and sin traps of the Devil. His powerful name empowers our words and humbles our spirits. And thank God for that, because throughout history many a Christian effort has fallen into those traps and been found wanting.
Is it the name, or is it the faith in that name?
Think long on that question, it’s a good question.
Now look again—two things are happening, one is Christ’s powerful name, and second a believer has faith in that powerful name. Which of the two does the powerful work?
Now read the verse again:
“And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” — Acts 3:16
Where is the power?
“Faith in his name”?
Or
“The faith which is by him”?
Which of the two actions gave perfect soundness in the presence of all who looked on?
Know this friend, without clearly articulating from where your faith abides, you and your message are articulated by your own strength and goodness. To become “the good news” it MUST come in the name of the Lord. I've got news for you; the local ELKS club is doing many of the same good well-meaning deeds you're doing. And not necessarily in Jesus' name. Many wonderful organizations are doing amazing good in the world. They aren't advocating for Jesus in his name but they do wonderful good. Your mission is to love God and operate in the power of his name which has the power to break the chains of sin, a power beyond meeting the temporal needs of the least of us. Those great works will only be amplified if you serve first the kingdom of God in the power of his name.💪