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Treasure Hunt (Part 1) - The Power Of His Name Series
Contributed by Kevin Taylor on Nov 24, 2000 (message contributor)
Summary: Do you fully understand what Jesus did for you on the cross? He didn't just die so you wouldn't have to go to hell!
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Part I - The Power of His Name
I. Power of Attorney
A. You and I, and every believer like us, have been given “power of attorney,” the legal right to use His name!
B. According to the Encarta Encyclopedia , the term “power of attorney” means the following:
“It is a written document, certified by a notary public, designating a person or party as an agent empowered to act for another person (principal) in a legal capacity. A general power of attorney authorizes the named agent to act on behalf of the principal or signer in any legal circumstance. Most frequently, people will give another person power of attorney when they are ill or for other reasons are unable to conduct their own affairs, or when they are absent from home or business for a long period of time.”
C. Jesus has given you and I, those bought by His blood, power of attorney over His name and His affairs.
D. The authority of the Power of Attorney is determined by how much authority the named principle represents.
E. The measure of Jesus’ ability is the same measure of the value of His name! Therefore, all that is invested in His name also belongs to us for Jesus has given us the unqualified use of His name.
1. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:23-24)
F. Jesus not only gives us the use of His name but He also declares that the prayer, prayed in His name will receive His special attention!
G. Jesus says, “Whatever you ask of the Father, in My name, I will endorse it and the Father will give it to you!”
1. This puts prayer on a legal basis.
2. Under the new Covenant, when we take our privileges and rights and pray in Jesus’ Name, it passes out of our hands into the hands of Jesus: He then assumes the responsibility of that prayer, and we know that He said, the Father would always answer His prayers.
3. But, we must obey His commands. Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” (John 15:7)
4. As a believer, we take Jesus’ place on earth to carry out His will, and He takes our place in heaven before the Father in prayer.
5. Jesus said, Behold, I give you the authority…” (Luke 10:19)
a. He can say this because He has told us that He has been given all authority in haven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18)
b. But, now, He says, “…I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19)
6. Therefore, He is with us in the Power and Authority of His Name! (Power of Attorney)
II. What Does His Name Mean?
A. To the Father, His Name means more than our hearts and minds will ever grasps. However, there are a few Scriptural references that will help us understand a little of the meaning of Jesus’ name to the Father.
1. First, He inherited a more excellent name than any of the angels in heaven, as the First Begotten Son!
2. Second, God gave Him a name above every name that at His name “every knee should bow, of those (names) in heaven, and of those (names) on earth, and of those (names) under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11) Every knee will bow in all three worlds. Satan made a mistake when he put a name to cancer, and leukemia, and allergies!
3. Thirdly, by His conquest over sin, over Satan, over disease, over death, hell and the grave, He acquired a name that is above all names!
B. So, the possibilities and provisions begin to unfold beyond our comprehension when we speak the Name of Jesus. When He says to the church, “Whatever you ask the Father in My name,” He is giving us a signed check from the heavenly resources and asking us to fill in the blanks.
III. How Jesus Obtained the Name Above All Names
A. Hebrews 1:1-4, Paul gives us a description of how Jesus obtained the name above all names.
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.”