Acts 4:8-12 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 He is "’the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Names can sometimes open doors of opportunity for you. If you were trying to get somewhere in the computer field, and you happened to have worked with Bill Gates on a project or two, you can imagine the opportunities you’d have in the business field just by saying, “I used to work with Bill Gates. We worked on Windows 95 together.” If you were in the political arena and were trying to get an appointment to a particular post, and you just happened to know Governor Carlson really well, you might be able to get somewhere by dropping his name. It’s often been said that it’s know WHAT you know but WHO you know that really counts.
Maybe you don’t know anyone important in high places that can open doors of opportunity for you in the workplace or in the political arena. But there is one name you can use. It’s the name of Jesus. If you know no one else in the whole world, but you know Jesus, you have one name that can get you all kinds of favors in the highest place of all. So don’t be afraid to ...
Use The Name Jesus!
I. Use it when you step before God
The story we have before us today is really a follow up to the story which we had last Sunday. Peter and John had gone into the temple to worship. At the gate of the temple, they met a man who was crippled and begging for alms. Peter answered him by saying, “We don’t have any money, but what we have we will give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Immediately the man jumped to his feet. That whole afternoon people saw him “walking and jumping, and praising God.”
Of course, this is just what the leaders of the Jews needed! Another miracle! And in Jesus’ name! The temple police arrested the disciples that night and kept them in jail overnight. The next morning they brought them up before the Sanhedrin. The last thing the Jewish leaders wanted was some man running around the temple who had been crippled up his whole life claiming that Jesus’ disciples had healed him. So they demanded an explanation from them. “By what power or what name did you do this?” they demanded of Peter.
Under pressure, Peter had denied Jesus once. In fact three times. He would never do that again! Listen carefully to his answer. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.” The man was healed by using a name - Jesus’ name. Please understand that this does not mean that Jesus’ name is like a magical formula that you can use to get anything you wish. It’s not like some magician’s chanting - “abra-ka-dabra” - or something like that. To do something in Jesus’ name means that you do it in the faith of what that name stands for.
Let me give you a couple of examples. Sometime during your life, if it has not happened already, you or someone you love is going to become very sick, or be in very serious trouble. The Bible says that whatever you ask God in Jesus’ name, he will give it to you. God will hear and answer your prayer. But what does it mean to ask something in Jesus’ name? It means that you believe in everything that Jesus did for you. It means you believe that God cares for you because by faith in Jesus, you are his child. It means you are confident that God must make everything work out for your good, because he has forgiven all your sins and will not punish you for them or count them against you. It means that you know that it is God’s will to bring you safely home to heaven, for it was for heaven that Jesus died to save you.
So you pray in Jesus’ name because Jesus is your confidence before God. You pray with the confidence that for Jesus’ sake, God who is in the highest heavens surely cares for you. That for Jesus’ sake God knows you and sees your trouble and will know what is best for you. That for Jesus’ sake God will either take away your trouble, give you the strength to bear up under it, or will deliver you to his home in heaven. That’s why we ask - in Jesus’ name.
Another example of using Jesus’ name when we step before God is in our daily confessions. That isn’t something people talk about much today - confession. I worry that it might also be something we just don’t do enough, either. Luther used to call it “praying through the commandments.” Does a day go by that we have not committed a sin? Do we let sins grow unchecked because we have not presented them to God in true sorrow and repentance that we have offended him? I have to warn you that your bedtime prayers may grow longer if you take the time to make a confession of your sins before God each day.
But how can we ask God not to hold our sins against us? How can we ask him to forgive that same sin we’ve wrestled with daily for months and maybe even years? We ask even with boldness when we say, “Father, forgive us for Jesus’ sake.” These are not just empty words we speak. We speak them with the faith that what we read in our epistle lesson today is true. 1 John 2:1-2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” If those words are true, then EVERY sin I commit has been paid for on the cross and God has already in his heart forgiven them all. So we ask in Jesus’ name with the confidence that God has and does and will forgive. We ask further with the confidence that the ONE who removed the guilt of our sins can also work such a miracle in us that we will be able to overcome it as well. This is what it means to confess our sins in Jesus’ name.
Friends, when we step before God in your prayers, use the name Jesus. Use it not just because it sounds good at the end of a prayer, but because you believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection has opened a place in God’s heart for you. There is another place where we shouldn’t be afraid to use the name Jesus.
II. Use it when you stand before the world
I cringe when I hear Christian people using the name Jesus in the middle of a sentence when it doesn’t mean anything. “Jesus, it’s cold out today.” We would expect people of the world to use Jesus’ name for unholy purposes. They have no regard for Jesus and no respect for his name. But God forbid that we should use his name in such a way! Listen to James 3:10-12 “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” Isn’t it amazing that our God in heaven still listens when we use Jesus name to ask is forgiveness when we have used it for make an empty oath or a idle curse? It just shows you how fully and freely God does forgive!
I hope and pray that the people of this world do not hear us use Jesus’ name in the wrong way. But do they hear us use Jesus’ name in the good way? Can you remember a single time this last week outside of being in church or having your prayers and devotions at home that you used Jesus’ name for the purpose of praising him? If we use Jesus’ name only when we come to church, only when we sing hymns, only when we say prayers, only when we are having a talk with God, then how will the world know about him? How will our children know we put our confidence in Jesus for everything in life, and that we love him more than anything else, if we do not say his name out loud?
Peter was not afraid to say the name. When he healed the man by the gate of the temple, he clearly said “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” He said the name because he just didn’t want that man to know how to walk, but he wanted that man to know how to walk with Jesus the rest of his life! Again standing in the court of the Sanhedrin, Peter was not afraid to speak the name. “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 He is "’the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." I don’t know if any of them believed his words that day. But at least they had a chance to hear that Jesus was the only way to heaven just one more time.
Where did this man who once backed down to a servant girl and denied he ever knew Jesus get the courage and boldness to step before the theological giants of his day and tell them about Jesus? Let’s not miss the words that begin our text. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them.” As promised Jesus gave his disciples his Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit that gave Peter boldness to speak and put into his mouths the words he spoke.
And don’t we also have the Spirit in us? We have been baptized into Jesus’ name and according to his promise the Holy Spirit works in us through our baptism. We hear the Word of God, and according to Jesus’ promise, the Holy Spirit works in us through this Word. If we believe in Jesus, then the Holy Spirit is surely in us because [1 Corinthians 12:3] “No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.”
So don’t be afraid to use Jesus’ name before the world. Does it seem awkward to pray out loud with your family with prayers from your heart? Does it seem strange and awkward to have that family devotion? When you are in a discussion at work with friends and it turns to some religious topic and you know the truth is not being heard, be bold. Speak up. Defend Jesus’ name! Surely the Spirit will help you remember what you have learned and show you what to say!
Some years ago in downtown St. Paul there was an old church that was surrounded by a business district. Once people came by the hundreds to worship there. But at last only a few came in from the suburbs each Sunday. One day the church burned down. On the altar there was a large marble statue of Jesus which fell into the basement and remarkably was preserved intact. The next morning the firemen carried the statue outside and put in on the street, where the arms of Christ beckoned to the crowd that gathered to see the fire’s aftermath. Until that morning when the firemen carried the statue of Jesus outside the church, few people had seen its striking image of gracious invitation.
Friends, we who know Christ, who have seen him with the eyes of faith, who have knelt before the cross and who have traveled to the opened tomb, who have prayed in his name and confess our sins in his name, we have a mission. That mission is to carry Christ’s name outside this church to our families and into our communities.
