Title: The Name of Jesus – 3
“Authority in the Name”
Text: Mark 16:17-19
Last week we started a series on the Name of Jesus. I am just going to do a quick review of what we learned last week before we get into this message this morning. In the first message we set the foundation of this entire series. We learned that Jesus inherited that Name when He rose up from the grave. We also learned that in order to truly understand the authority we have in His Name, we must know that Jesus not only faced physical death, but the worst death that He endured was that of spiritual death. Spiritual death means separation from God.
Sunday night, we began the message with Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians, which is for us also. His prayer is found in Ephesians 1:17-23. He prayed that the eyes of the people would be opened to the power that they possess in the Name of Jesus. He not only wanted the church of Ephesus to have a head knowledge of the power of God, but also a heart knowledge.
We ended last Sunday night with the victory of Jesus. I showed you in Scripture how Jesus made a public show of the devil. He met the devil and all his demons on his own turf and literally dethroned him from all powers and all authority that he ever possessed. The Bible says that Jesus stripped him of his weapons, of every thing that he had a paraded him up and down the halls of hell. No wonder the devil is afraid even at the mention of His Name. No wonder the devil runs every time that Name is mentioned.
This morning we are going to spend a few moments on the authority that there is in the Name of Jesus. When Jesus appeared to John on the isle of Patmos, He said in Revelation 1:18; “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen, and have the keys of hell and of death.”
The one who has the key is the authorized one. I have the key to every door in this church, not every one has access to all those keys. Unless you have been given some kind of authority that has been delegated by me, you don’t have those keys. The ones with keys are the ones with authority. Jesus is saying here, “I am the authorized One.” He has the authority over hell. It might be the place that the devil lives, but Jesus says, I am the One with the keys, I have authority over that place. He has the authority.
Just before He ascended to be seated at the highest place of authority known to man, Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-19; “All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” He immediately delegates His authority in the earth to the Church: “Go ye therefore…” Then He promises in:
Mark 16:17; “And these signs shall follow them that believe; IN MY NAME.” In My Name! In the Name of Jesus! He authorized us. He gave us His Name as the authority. The power is in the Name. The authority is in the Name. He gave us the Name that is recognized in three worlds, it is the Name that has authority in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth. That Name is the most powerful Name that will ever escape through your lips.
Angels, men and demons have to bow at that Name. That Name belongs to us. We are authorized to use that Name.
Jesus Himself commissioned us in Matthew 28 and Mark 16; Listen:
“All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth, Go ye therefore … And these signs shall follow them that believe; IN MY NAME shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Some people like to believe that all these signs were for the early Church, but that could not be further from the truth. The Name of Jesus belongs to us today! Thank God, there is salvation in that Name, but it is more then just salvation. That Name still has all the power, all the majesty, all the glory and all the authority it ever did. Jesus has been lifted to the highest position of the universe, far above every known authority, every known principality, every known power, the Name stands for everything that Jesus is. It has been given to us.
The Church has been rich since its beginning. Yet, somewhere along the way we thought that we were being humble and started setting around singing; “Here I wonder like a beggar, through the heat and through the cold, or my favourite is; “Just build me a cabin in the corner of glory land.” That is not being humble, that is being ignorant. We have a rich inheritance and as long as you set around feeling sorry for yourself, set around thinking you are unworthy of God has for you, you will never receive the rich inheritance that Jesus wants to give you. You have His Name, which gives you access to everything that you need.
Again this morning, I pray like Paul did, that the Lord would open our eyes to know what the Name of Jesus means. Too often, the Scriptures we are hearing fall on deaf ears. After the service, we proclaim, what a great message never to think about it again for the rest of our lives. I pray that we would get a revelation of what God’s Word says to us concerning the Name.
E.W Kenyon received a revelation of what the Name was all about. Listen:
Oh, that our eyes were open; that our souls would dare rise into the realm of Omnipotence where the Name would mean to us all that the Father has invested in it; that we would act up to our high privileges in Christ Jesus. This is practically an unexplored tableland in Christian experience. Here are there, some of us have experienced the authority vested in the Name of Jesus. We have seen the lame walk, the deaf hear, the blind see; those on the verge of death brought back instantly to health and vigor; but, so far, none of us have been able to take a permanent place in our privileges and abide where we may enjoy the fullness of this mighty power.
Smith Wigglesworth was a man that got into the edge of this place that E.W. Kenyon spoke about.
In Wigglesworth’s book, “Ever Increasing Faith,” he tells about going to Wales to pray for a man called Lazarus. Lazarus had been a leader in the assembly; working in the tin mines days and preaching nights until he broke down physically and collapsed. Tuberculosis set in. He lay bedfast and helpless for six years.
God spoke to Wigglesworth and told him to go raise up Lazarus. When Wigglesworth walked into his room, Lazarus looked like a skeleton with skin stretched over it. Wigglesworth endeavoured to get him to release his faith, to believe God. But he was bitter. Others had prayed for him. He thought God should have healed him by now. After all, he had given his life to Him, working days and preaching nights.
Undaunted , Wigglesworth said to the people he was staying with, “Could we get seven people to pray with me for the poor man’s deliverance?”
So, seven people, plus Wigglesworth, went into the room where Lazarus lay on the verge of death. The eight believers circled around the bed, holding hands. One brother took one of Lazarus’ hands; Wigglesworth took the other to include him in the circle.
Then Wigglesworth said, “We are not going to pray; we are just going to use the Name of Jesus.” They all knelt and whispered that one word, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” The power of God fell, and then it lifted. Five times it fell and lifted as the little group spoke that magnificent Name. The man in the bed was unmoved. The sixth time the power of God came down on that man, it remained.
“The power of God is here,” Wigglesworth told him. “It is yours to accept.” The man’s lips began to move. He made a confession. He said, “I have been bitter in my heart and I know I have grieved the Spirit of God. I am helpless. I cannot lift my hands, nor even lift a spoon to my mouth.”
Wigglesworth said, “Repent and God will hear you.”
He repented and cried out, “Oh, God let this be to Thy glory.” When he said that, the power of God went through him.
Wigglesworth said, “As we again said, ‘Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! The bed shook, and the man shook. I said to the people who were with me. ‘You can all go downstairs right away and we will follow. This is all God. I’m not going to assist Him.’ I sat and watched that man get up and dress himself! We sang the Doxology as he walked down the steps. I said to him. ‘Now tell us what happened.’ It was soon noised abroad that Lazarus had been raised up, and the people came from all the district round to see him and hear his testimony. And God brought salvation to many.”
No matter how many times I read that story, I get more and more excited each time. There is power in that Name! This isn’t some unreachable message series that you can never attain to. It is not to hard of a gospel to grasp ahold of, it is simple, the Name of Jesus belongs to every believer that is here this morning. It doesn’t matter what your background is. It doesn’t matter what race or nationality you are, it doesn’t matter what you have for education. The Name of Jesus has been made available to every believer. It is a free gift, that is all it takes is faith, real, Bible based faith to activate that power. It takes faith in the Name and what that Name stands for.
If our minds could only grasp that Satan is paralysed, stripped of his armour by Jesus Christ, and that disease and sickness are servants of this Man, Jesus. At His voice, sickness and disease must depart. They are servants of the Most High God. When His Name is mentioned in faith, sickness and disease has to bow.
I want to read a very interesting story from Scripture:
Matthew 8:5-10; ΒΆ “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
What did this Roman centurion say to marvel Jesus? Why was Jesus so impressed with this man’s faith? This man was telling Jesus, “I know how authority works. I am set over these hundred men and I know when I tell them to do something they will do it.” This statement is telling Jesus, “I know that you have been set over disease. You are the Master over demons and the laws of nature. You have been given authority over disease and sickness. All you have to do is speak, and sickness and disease will obey you.”
That is the kind of faith that this man had in Jesus. “You don’t have to come to my house, Your word will do just fine, because you are the Master over everything anyway and when you speak, everything has to obey. So go ahead and speak over this disease, it will leave.” That is faith!
That is the way that Jesus was while He was down here on earth, but now He has left, but that same authority that this man spoke of in Matthew is what we have right now. It is called delegated authority. We have the authority to speak over sickness and disease in the Name of Jesus and it has to go. But we need the same faith that this man had. We have to know when we speak it, it will happen. It is all about faith in the Name of Jesus. He has given us this authority.
