Title: The Name of Jesus – 7
“Who We Are In Christ”
Text: Philippians 2:9-11
We have been learning some tremendous truths concerning the Name of Jesus for the past several weeks. I was in prayer this week wondering what to preach for seniors. I want the perfect message that would honour them in the way that they should be honoured. What could I preach that would be old fashioned preaching that they would love and be able to glean from? I could not get this series out of my mind. The more I thought about it, the more I realized you can’t get much more old fashioned then speaking on the Name of Jesus. So, today we are going to continue on this series.
I am honoured to be your Pastor. I love you each and every one of you. As I was praying and reading this week I came across an illustration that is very fitting as to where we are as a church. I want you to listen very closely.
History provides us with a lesson from a great military leader. Alexander the Great led his armies in victory after victory, and his desire for ever greater conquest finally brought him to the foot of the Himalayas. He wanted to go beyond these intimidating mountains. Yet, no one knew what was on the other side. Senior officers were troubled by his new vision. Why? They had gone to the edge of their map. There was no map for the new territory that Alexander wanted to possess. These officers had a decision to make: would they be willing to follow their leader off the map, or would they be content to live within its boundaries? They chose to follow Alexander.
I believe that this is where we are as a church body. We have a leader, which is me, that is receiving some new truths out of God’s Word and they are out of the Word, not my head. I am ready to step into the supernatural; I am ready to receive the miraculous for individuals and for the church body. I am ready to go off the map. However, we have some people that are trying to decide if they want to follow or not. I am asking you to trust me in the direction that we are taking. We will receive victory, we will receive things that we have never known before, but you have to trust me as your Pastor. You have to decide today to follow the leader that God has placed here for this present time.
The Name of Jesus is the most powerful Name in the entire Universe. In the past few weeks we have talked about “The Inheritance,” “The Victory of Jesus,” “The Authority in the Name,” “The Name Belongs to Us,” “Two Ways to Use the Name,” and then last week I preached on “The Power of the Name.” The titles sum up the review for this series.
When I started this series several told me to just keep going because they enjoy it so much. I don’t know if you still feel that way, but it doesn’t matter because we are going to keep going on this subject until the Lord tells me to stop. If He keeps giving it to me, then I am going to keep giving it out. If you want this series to make an impact in your life, you really need to order the series on CD and listen to them over and over again. I have spent so many hours of study for this series that you cannot possibly grasp all of this in a Sunday morning service. So, please get the CD’s. If you can’t afford them, we will give them to you. I want you to have them in your hands and in your CD players. This is one of the most powerful series that you will ever hear.
Today, I want to go a little deeper. Before we can get the true effects of what the Name of Jesus can do for us, we have to understand whom we are:
I. WE ARE IN CHRIST
I encourage you to go home this week and in your Bible reading time to open up to the Epistles and read through them. As you read, look for the following:
➢ In Christ
➢ In Him
➢ In Whom
➢ Through Whom
Write down all the Scriptures that you find on a piece of paper and meditate on it. You will find approximately 140 Scriptures, which tell you who you are, what you are, and what you have because you are in Christ. It is time that we stop believing what people tell us we are and start researching the Scripture to find out what God says we are. People can tell me I am no good if they want, but I know what God’s Word says about me and God’s Word is really all that matters to me.
These Scriptures show you your position as a believer. You are in Christ! They show you your legal standing with Christ. They show you your place in the family of God. They show you your place in God’s purpose and plan. By studying these Scriptures you will finally find out what God’s Word says about you. You will come to see your place in Christ. You will see that when Jesus gave the Church the right to use His Name, He authorized us to be His representatives in the earth. You will see that the moment you received salvation, you became worthy and you became righteous. Here are a few examples:
II Corinthians 5:21; “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Philippians 3:9; ¶ “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”
Colossians 2:10; “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:”
II Thessalonians 1:12; “That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
I John 2:5; “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”
I John 4:13, 15-16; “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
I John 5:20; “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”
This is just a very small portion of the Scriptures that proclaim that we are in Him. Why are we so afraid to step out and do the supernatural when we have the supernatural God in us?
E.W. Kenyon once said: “When we pray in the Name of Jesus, we are taking the place of the absent Christ; we are using His Name, using His authority to carry out His will on the earth.”
Before we use the Name of Jesus effectively we must understand that we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us. What we do, we do through Jesus and Jesus does through us. We are His representatives. We are In Him.
Not only do we have to understand that we are in Him, we must also know:
II. AS HE IS, SO ARE WE
I John 4:17; “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because AS HE IS, SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.
The Scripture says, “As He Is.” As who is? As Jesus is, so are we! Where is this talking about? Some may get a little confused by this Scripture. You may say, well it is talking about heaven because it is the day of judgment. No it says, “As He is, so are we in this world.” Not when we get to heaven, we are as He is right down here on this earth.
Remember, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Jesus is the same right now as He was when He walked on the shores of Galilee. Jesus is the same right now as He was when blind Bartimaeus, a beggar, sat by the wayside outside the city of Jericho and cried out, “Jesus! Have mercy on me!” People around him, even the disciples, tried to get him to be quiet, but he refused. Jesus stopped and commanded him to be well.
I could take you from one account to another and show you how Jesus was and because He never changes, I could show you how He is right now. I don’t have time to show you all those miracles that He performed. But the way that He is, so are you. Why shouldn’t you be healing the sick? Why shouldn’t you be delivering the captive? You should! We are missing our commission as a believer. You need to use that Name on every disease, affliction, financial struggle, and every demon in hell that comes after you. As He is, so are we in this world!
When we believe this we do as E.W. Kenyon says:
We take Jesus’ place and use the Name of Jesus just as though Jesus Himself were here. The only difference is that instead of Jesus doing it, we are doing it for Him; we are doing it at His command. He has given to us the same authority he had when He was here, and the believers position in Christ gives him the same standing with the Father that Christ had when He was here.
Let that soak through your heads for a moment. It is an absolute Bible fact. We have the same standing with God that Jesus had when He was here on earth. In order for the Name to work on your behalf, you have to believe that.
In closing, I would like to share a prayer that Jesus prayed for believers. This brings home this point that I am trying to make.
John 17:20-23; ¶ “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
This Scripture is packed with power. In verse 22 Jesus says, “the glory which you gave to me, I give to them.” Then in verse 23; Jesus says, my prayer is that the world may know that you have sent me, but it doesn’t stop there. I want them to know that you love them just as much as you love me. That is powerful! We have the same standing with the Father as Jesus had. We have the same authority, the same power. You must know that as Jesus is, so are you. You are a joint heir with Christ.
