The Name

Thank you, God Almighty. There's none like You, Father. We just want to worship You. We just want to worship You. Oh, Father, we worship You. It's all about You, Father. Thank you that You are present here tonight. Thank you that You bring life to this interaction, every component of it. Without You, it's nothing. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that You are present. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that You paid the ultimate price to make this possible, to become one with our Father, to receive life, eternal life, to be filled, to be equipped, to be raised, to be sons of God, to live in a time such as this.

Thank you, Father, that we may know You, that we may love You, for You first loved us. Thank you that Your love is more real to us than anything in this world. I pray, Father, that every single person that is here tonight will have an encounter with the only living God. Every person that listens to this message will be touched by Your presence. Thank you, Father, that You are God. You are God, the Almighty God.

Thank you that You are far beyond what we can think and say and pray and even conceptualise. We worship You, Father, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

You can grab a seat. I think if you worshipped that and you listened to the words of that song, you received the whole message for the evening already.

That was just amazing. I've spoken about it so often that what God's intention was with this earth hasn't changed. We're in a different dispensation, but His intention hasn't changed. His intention right from the beginning was to fill the earth with His presence. It's still what He wants to do, and we're in a different dispensation that works differently than in the Old Testament. It's a privilege to be in a time such as this.

But God chose to fill this earth with His presence through man, and still through you. The way God impacts this earth, the way that God multiplies in this earth, is through human beings, through every one of us. God chose us as the vessels. But the amazing thing, and something we are grateful for, is that God didn't leave us to our own devices. It's not about what we can do and what we have available to be able to achieve that.

No, God gave us everything. He gave us everything we require. Part of that is He gave us the Word, gave us the Holy Spirit, and I want to add to that, with the song we just worshipped, He gave us access to use the name of Jesus. Now that is much more than what we can actually even anticipate and grasp.

Why is it that the name of Jesus is so powerful? That's what I want to share about. When I prepared to share about that, because that's what came up in my heart, it just kept coming, it just kept coming: why is the name of Jesus so powerful? So there are fourteen things that came up in my heart, and I'm going to run through all of them with about two or three verses on every one of them.

I hope you kept your night open till eleven o'clock. I think that's the great thing about us recording this. I'm probably going to rush through it slightly more than what I would want to, but there is so much Scripture that just came up in my heart that I would want to share all of it. You can get the recording afterwards on the app. If you don't have the app yet, somebody can help you download it or search for it, Alethinos. For those of you on the recording, at the bottom there is a button you can click on that says Verses Used.

If you click on that, we list all the verses there so you can go and study that for yourself, because that's the whole intention. That is our purpose. Our purpose here in facilitating this is activation. So the responsibility is with you. I'm just doing my small role. Every person here is doing their role. But ultimately it's about your relationship with God, about your activation, about you increasing in the desire to spend time in the Word, to make it your own, to make the Word come alive in you.

That's why we put it in there, so you can print it out and study it. What we've also started doing now is we take a transcript of the audio and add that at the bottom as well. So for those of you who prefer a printout and want to highlight and write on it, just print it out. You'll see now at the bottom there's a transcript as well.

Right, so why is the name of Jesus so powerful? I think the first thing that came up in my heart was just the overall answer: it's what it represents. It's not the name — it could have been any name — but it's what it represents. So what is it that it represents? I'm going to start running through that.

Number one is the victory of God.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33 (NKJV)

Remember, the overall theme of what we are speaking about is why the name of Jesus is so powerful. It's because of what it represents, and the first thing it represents is victory. We're not in the Old Testament. We're not still waiting for Him to come. And not only did He come, He came and He conquered. So what that name represents is victory, already.

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NKJV)

Now, when we speak about the name and why it's so powerful, I don't know about you, but it continued to come up in my spirit that we are not just now speaking about something theoretical, doing a theological study to say, “Okay, that's why the name of Jesus is so powerful.” This is about when you use that name — what comes up in your spirit when you use that name? All of this will start coming up in your spirit. Whether it is in prayer, in declaration, in command, or in worship, when you use that name, let this come up in your spirit. First and foremost, it's victory. He is Lord, He's God. He attained the victory, and we walk in that victory.

Number two, it represents authority and the Kingdom of God.

“…which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”

Ephesians 1:20-21 (NKJV)

I mean, this is loaded.

“And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Ephesians 1:22-23 (NKJV)

I realise I listed fourteen things — those are the ones that came up in my spirit — but I think you could probably continue to about number one hundred. I'm fairly convinced of that, because even just reading this verse, I want to add seven more. But this is the idea, that you process this.

I realised as I prepared there's something worthwhile to mention here. There's often this discussion about what translation of the Bible you use, and you'll see even here I've used different translations. In the end, I started realising there are reasons why there are different translations. From time to time there are new manuscripts, or they go back further and do more studies, and continuously they find out that a verse that's in there actually shouldn't be there, or it should belong somewhere else. Don't get hung up on those things. Don't spend your time day in and day out knocking this translation and that translation. At the end of the day, you're losing the whole plot.

For me, when I study the Word of God — and I'm sure all of you have experienced this — I look at a verse, I read it, and I know in my spirit they translated it wrong. I just know. I know it shouldn't say that; I know what it should say. Why? Because the Holy Spirit brings that conviction in my heart. Please, I'm not saying that happens often — I'm talking about one out of a thousand verses. I'm not questioning every verse I read. Just sometimes it comes up that I should question what I read. So use the translation you know is fairly accurate but that you are comfortable in, and trust the Holy Spirit to reveal to you when you read something.

And when you want to compile a doctrine — say, on baptism — you can't just use one verse to build a doctrine. You use different Scriptures that confirm each other, and you come to that conclusion. That's why sometimes when you read a verse and compare it with another, you'll see, “Okay, this is actually what it should be saying.” That's just a side note.

So all of this relates to the victory as well, but it's more than the victory, because it leads into Ephesians 1:21: “far above every rule and authority and power and dominion.”

I've shared with you so many times when my journey started in 2009, and I went into Stellenbosch, into Kayamandi, into one of these shacks. I was walking on my own, and it was in this dark alley — it's a scary place, let's call it what it is. I had to go and minister to somebody, and they said to me, “There's weird things, and it's terrible, and this person is dangerous.” I couldn't even fit into the place, and when I stood in front of it, what came up in my spirit was this: “I am so glad that the God I serve is the number one God.”

What I sensed in my spirit is that it doesn't matter what I encounter when I go into that shack, because it can't have more authority than the God I serve. So I don't have to understand — and I say this very respectfully, I don't take it lightly — often when I counsel I tell people, “You don't have to speak for an hour. I don't have to understand how big the problem is. You need to understand how big the solution is.” It's the same principle here.

He put Him far above every rule and authority and power and dominion. So again, when you use the name of Jesus, do you have a conviction that there is nothing that even can compare to it? There's not a close second runner-up that can come close, so that you'd say, “If I use the name of Jesus, but what if he uses that name?” He can use whatever name he wants — whatever demon or evil spirit or name he wants to call up — it doesn't matter, because it doesn't have competition. The name of Jesus is above every rule and authority and power and dominion.

So when you use the name of Jesus, it represents the ultimate authority that there is. There's nothing that can compare to it.

“Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.”

1 Corinthians 15:24 (NKJV)

Oh man, can you imagine this? Jesus has all the power and all authority to bring everything to an end, and He'll bring it to an end when He goes to the Father and presents the kingdom, and says, “Father, for what You have called Me, here it is.” Nothing can stop Him from doing that. He's got all power, all authority, all ability to get to that stage when He will bring the kingdom and present it to the Father. What does the name of Jesus represent to you when you use it? All authority — it even represents the Kingdom of God. When you talk about Jesus, you're talking about the Kingdom of God in its fullness, represented by the name of Jesus.

Number three, the hope of the glory of God.

“God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Colossians 1:27 (NKJV)

So when you use the name Jesus — and I know I've spoken about this many times, about the difference between the name Jesus, Jesus Christ, Christ, Christ Jesus, I know there's a difference — but tonight I'm just going to focus on the name of Jesus encompassing all of those names, okay?

Now, that's an amazing thing: that Christ in you represents the hope of the glory of God manifesting in this earth. Is it guaranteed that it will take place through you? No, it's a hope. God sincerely hopes that the glory He's put inside of you, you will manifest in this earth, so that His glory might be seen by all. So again, the name of Jesus represents the fullness of the glory of God, which by itself is more than what our minds can comprehend.

“For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.”

Habakkuk 2:14 (NKJV)

We have an expectation — the Ephesians 4 expectation — that until we come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, to a perfect man. We are heading somewhere. We are not there yet. Thank God we are not there yet, because if this was the end result, I'm sure nobody would be happy. But we are going somewhere, where more and more of the fullness of Christ will manifest, and part of the fullness of Christ that will manifest is the glory of God that will just show up.

I know this is changing gears quite a lot, so I'm not going to talk about it much. Can you give me Romans 6:4? I want you to process this in your own time. I don't want to speak about it now because I'd need an hour.

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Romans 6:4 (NKJV)

I want you to note one thing: what raised Christ from the dead? The glory of God. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine the ability of the glory of God? We sometimes tend to narrow down the glory of God, as if, if we could see something in this place, a glory cloud, and we can see that, we think that's it — that's the glory. The glory rose Jesus from the dead. What does the name of Jesus represent? It's the hope of the glory being manifested. That is represented in that name.

We've touched on this already, but number four represents a position in heaven.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

Ephesians 1:3 (NKJV)

So we've already realised that Jesus died, that He was resurrected, that He ascended, that He's seated at the right hand of the Father in heavenly realms, and we read that He is above every authority, power, dominion, whatever you can come up with — He's above and beyond that. But there's a place where He's at. It says we have been given the opportunity to be seated in Christ Jesus in the heavenly places. So again, when you use that name, does it represent for you your position in Christ?

It's not just using the name of Jesus, it's what it represents. When you use the name of Jesus, realise you are using it from within Him, in heavenly places. Not only authority, but a place of being, a dispensation of being, a reality of being, that that name represents when you use it.

“In Christ, we too have been claimed as God's own possession since we were predestined according to the purpose of Him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will.”

Ephesians 1:11 (NET)

I'm reading from the NET translation, but we might only have the New King James up there, so there might be slight differences, but it may be good that you have both. So, in Christ — that name represents our position in His position, in heavenly places.

Number five, speaking His name is like a trumpet. It's like a declaration.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NKJV)

“Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!'”

Revelation 11:15 (NKJV)

Can you imagine that this has been written, it has been declared, there is a time that will come that that trumpet will blow and Jesus will come.

It will be the end. It will be that time that the authority that has been given to Him, He will take the kingdom and He will present it to the Father. But isn’t it amazing that every demon, and even Satan, knows that that time is coming? So imagine that every time you declare the name of Jesus to everything here that is not from Him – every evil spirit, every demon, and even Satan himself – when you declare the name to them, it is like the trumpet blowing that says, “He’s coming. He’s coming. He’s coming.” Just using that name is a trumpet declaring that He’s coming again. He’s coming again.

Number six: it represents the victory over Satan.

“Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

Colossians 2:15 (NKJV)

When Jesus died and went to hell, He took the keys of hell and of death from Satan. He made a public spectacle of them. He disarmed them. They have no power, they have no authority other than what we allow them to have.

“And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

Romans 16:20 (NKJV)

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

Revelation 12:11 (NKJV)

Using the name of Jesus represents the fact that that victory over Satan has already been attained. Part of what we do in this earth is not to overcome Satan; part of what we do in this earth is not to fight Satan. Don’t confuse it. Jesus did what He had to do. What He did was fulfilled. He did everything He had to do, and part of that was to take that authority and the power over death away from Satan.

So when you use the name of Jesus, it represents everything He did when He went down to hell and overcame Satan. Whatever power He needed to do that was done already. When you use the name – and I don’t want us to just focus on this as if we’re using it for demons and Satan or whatever, it’s far more than that, we don’t even focus on that – but that name represents the completeness of the victory that Christ attained. We don’t have to add to it. That name represents it.

Number seven: it represents a personal revelation of who Christ is to you. There are scriptures that speak of people who received the Word of God, but it didn’t benefit them because they didn’t mix it with faith. There is one scripture I’ve used often because it says so many things to me. I’m going to read it to you again, from Acts 19, from verse 13.

“Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.’”

Acts 19:13 (NKJV)

So they called the name of the Lord Jesus – this should raise your antenna. You cannot live somebody else’s revelation of Jesus. Somebody can help you, support you, direct you, reveal some things to you, but all of that is help to position you in the place where you embrace it for yourself. It must become personal revelation, like these men found out quickly when they said, “Get out, in the name of the Jesus that Paul serves.” What happened? There were also seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this.

“And the evil spirit answered and said, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?’”

Acts 19:15 (NKJV)

Many translations actually say, “Paul I’ve heard of. Jesus I know. But who are you?” For me, ever since I first read that verse, it has always represented this: what he’s saying to them is that they have no revelation of Christ Jesus, and they have no revelation of who they are. They were trying to access some power, because in the verses before this it speaks of God doing great miracles through Paul and Peter – how handkerchiefs were sent out and people started receiving healing. These men wanted the power, but they didn’t have the relationship. It doesn’t work that way. It’s all about the relationship.

“Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

Acts 19:16 (NKJV)

When you use the name of Jesus, embedded in that is your personal relationship with Him, and it matters, because our gospel is a gospel of relationship.

Number eight: that name is recognised by angels, and it puts angels into action.

“But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’ And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.’ But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.’”

Hebrews 1:6-8 (NKJV)

“Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure.”

Psalm 103:20-21 (NKJV)

When you use that name from a place of revelation and conviction, every angel responds because they know Him, and they have been tasked. Every angel recognises that name.

Number nine: it represents the fact that all the worlds were created by it.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.”

John 1:1-5 (NKJV)

“Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw His glory – the glory of the One and Only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.”

John 1:14 (NKJV)

What flesh is that? Jesus. You’re going to have to spend time on this afterwards – as you can see, this is a lot of verses and a lot of things I’m sharing, and my intention is that you definitely go and spend time on this afterwards. But just process this: when you use the name of Jesus, it represents the creative ability of God, the creative ability that was used to create the worlds. All of that is represented in the name of Jesus. Nothing was created that was not created by Him, and the name of Jesus represents that.

Number ten: the name of Jesus represents His oneness with the Father.

“Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father”?’”

John 14:8-9 (NKJV)

They saw Jesus. Jesus said, “If you saw Me, you saw the Father.”

“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.”

John 17:22 (NKJV)

I’m saying this from the limited human ability I have to convey it, but just when you think that what the name of Jesus represents is already of some magnitude and ability, then it kicks in that it represents His oneness with the Father – and that takes it to a different level. When you use the name of Jesus, it’s not just Him as one of the Trinity; it represents His oneness with the Father and the fullness of the ability of the Father through Him. It’s beyond what we can grasp with our minds. He is one with the Father.

Number eleven: it activates the Holy Spirit. I’ve explained before what the function of the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit brings us the presence of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the active force that executes, on behalf of the Father, the ability and the authority. Jesus said that when He goes to the Father, it will be good for us, because He will then send the Holy Spirit, and when we have received the Holy Spirit, we enter this new dispensation. The Holy Spirit brings us the presence of the Father; He is the one who executes. But the Holy Spirit responds to the name Jesus. When you, for instance, say, “Be healed in the name of Jesus,” it is not Jesus who heals – it is the Holy Spirit who activates and heals. So the Holy Spirit responds to the name Jesus.

“Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.”

Acts 2:33 (NKJV)

This is the dispensation we have entered, because Jesus said, “I’m going to the Father,” but He’s sending another one – the allos parakletos, one of similar kind to Me, He’s sending that one. From that time we have the ability for God to dwell inside of us. Without the Holy Spirit, that was not possible. So the name of Jesus doesn’t just represent all these things about Him and the fact that He’s one with the Father – beyond that, it even represents the fact that the ability of the Holy Spirit is embedded in that name. When I went through this, I realised the whole Bible is just summed up in one word, and that’s Jesus.

We can get practical on number twelve. The name of Jesus is the name we were given to pray in.

“And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”

John 16:23 (NKJV)

This is maybe something practical to keep in mind: Jesus is saying, “You will not ask Me, you will ask the Father, but in My name. And when you ask the Father in My name, it is as if I am asking the Father.” Through His victory, and being seated at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest, He has made it possible for us to now speak to the Father directly. But we don’t just speak to the Father – and hear me on this – we don’t speak to the Father as a nobody, or as somebody who has no access. We speak to the Father as if we are Jesus sitting right next to Him, because that is what Jesus is saying: “When you ask the Father, but you ask Him in My name, He will do it.” That is why we pray to the Father, but we end that prayer by saying, “In the name of Jesus.” I trust that after today, whenever we pray and end off a prayer in the name of Jesus, all fourteen of these things will dawn on your spirit as to what it means to use that name. It’s not a religious thing. It’s not a habit. It represents everything about God.

Number thirteen, which sounds like something I should have started with, but this is where it belongs: it’s the name that makes salvation possible.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

Romans 1:16 (NKJV)

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

John 14:6 (NKJV)

If you want to get to the Father, you need to know the name of Jesus, because without receiving salvation, without receiving Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, it’s impossible to get to the Father. So what does that name represent? It represents everything to us concerning eternal life. It represents salvation, the way, the truth, the life. Everything about it is contained in the name Jesus. Without that, and what it represents, it’s impossible to access the Father.

Salvation is more than just the initial process. The Word says, “Work out your own salvation” – speaking of the zoe life, that eternal life, that God-kind of life, that victorious life, manifesting continuously. What Jesus, and the name, and what it represents, gives you access to is all of that. It’s not just that once-off moment, although that is the most significant for us, because having accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you know you have eternal life. You only have to do that once, and you have eternal life. Doesn’t matter what you do after that – well, I don’t want to go into a theological debate, but yes, you can lose your salvation, though it’s not easy. It’s not just because you sin; it’s because you have to get to the place where you denounce Jesus. So it’s possible, but it’s very unlikely, with the Holy Spirit inside of you, that somebody could possibly even get there. But yes, it’s possible. So once you’ve received salvation, that name continuously gives you access to the place you live from, to manifest the fullness of what is included in your salvation.

Then the last one: it represents the fact that He is Lord and that He is God.

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:9-11 (NKJV)

When we speak that name, just speaking it should change our hearts. I pray to God that every time we use that name, it transforms us. From our spirit, when we use that name, we get transformed more and more like Him, with more and more conviction. I want to say, even if it’s just this aspect, that when we use that name, we can say, “He is Lord. He is God.”

There’s a verse I want to share that sums up quite a lot of these things as it came to my spirit.

“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.”

Hebrews 1:1-4 (NKJV)

God loves us so much. Everything He did is because of His love for us, and He chose how things work. He created things, He formed things, He structured them the way they function. And God chose, like it says in Romans 1, that His power – not a theoretical thing – His power is contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ to grant salvation.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. That's what God chose to do. It's the way He chose to structure it. It's how He made it possible, and that's why Jesus said, "It's impossible to come to the Father. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life." That's the way God designed it. If you can think about this: how the fullness of God, the ability of the Word, the powerful activation of the Holy Spirit – all of that is contained in the name of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ.

There is for us nothing outside the name of Jesus. You don't have to search for anything outside the name of Jesus. Just understanding what that name represents is everything that you require.

So I'll summarise. It represents the victory of God, represents the authority, the kingdom of God, the hope of the glory of God.

It represents a position in heaven. Speaking that name is like a trumpet declaration of His coming again. It represents the victory over Satan. It speaks of your personal revelation of who Christ is to you. It is recognised by angels. It is what was used to create the worlds. Nothing was created outside of that name.

It represents the fact that He's one with the Father. It activates the Holy Spirit. It's the name we were given to pray in, and it's the name that makes salvation possible. It's the name that is our Lord and our God. Amen.

So you've got homework. I would recommend – is our worship team here? You guys? Okay, so maybe you can play that song that we worshipped before we started. You can play that again, if the worship team then want to quickly set up while we are busy with that. And I want to encourage you, while we are busy worshipping, just allow this name to be to you everything that it represents.