In His Name

In His Name

What does the expression “in His Name” mean? We know that the expression “in Christ” as used about one hundred and thirty times in the New Testament, shows us the believer’s position, his Legal Standing, his place in the family and in the purposes or program of God.

When Jesus gave the Early Church the Right to use His Name that Right meant that they were to represent Him; they were acting in His stead, and when they prayed in Jesus’ Name, it was as though Jesus Himself were praying.

I mean that we are taking, Christ’s place and acting as Christ’s representatives.
Christ is at the Right Hand of the Father-we are here as His representatives, not only collectively, but individually.

When we pray in Jesus’ Name, 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.

When we say, “Father, we ask this in Jesus’ Name,” we are praying representatively.
We are saying, “Father, Jesus is up there at Thy Right Hand and He gave us the Power of Attorney to carry out your will on earth. So here is this great need. We ask Thee in His Nam to meet it.”

That need may be for finances; it may be for power in ministry; it may be for the salvation of souls; it may be for the healing of a sick one, but we take Jesus’ place and use Jesus’ Name 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 us the same authority He had when He was here, and the believer’s position in Christ gives him the same Standing with the Father that Christ had when He was here.
This unlimited use of the Name of Jesus reveals to us the implicit confidence that the Father has in the Church. This in itself is a challenge. The simplicity of Peter’s use of the Name of Jesus in the Book of Acts compels us to believe that Peter knew he was acting in Jesus’ stead, with the same authority that Jesus had.

You will notice he does not stop even to pray for a sick one all he does is to say, “In Jesus’ Name, rise and walk.” There is no hint that he attempted to exercise what we call “faith” in any manner; it reduced itself to a simple business proposition with the Early Church-they remembered what the Master said and what He said, was true, to them.
He said, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, I will give it you.”

They did not argue about it; they did not worry about it; they did not stop to analyze what it meant all they did was to act on the Words of Jesus. They did not understand all that Paul afterwards revealed to us in Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians, but they did know that Jesus had given them a Right to use that Name and they entered into that Right with the simplicity of a child.

It seems to me that this is what we need to do today. “In My Name, ye shall cast out demons; in My Name, ye shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” This was given to believers, and we are believers.

“Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My Name, He will give it you,” is a declaration that is simple enough for anyone to understand. We have been baptized into that Name publicly; and spirit¬ually, we have been put into Christ by the New Birth so that we now are in the Vine as one of the branches, and the Vine is Christ.

We are in Christ, and being in Christ, we have a right to use His Name! and so in that Name we act representatively, legally This glorifies the Father; this magnifies Jesus; this ans¬wers the need of humanity. Here is supernatural power that is available to every believer.

It is not a question of education or ordination but merely a question of my apprehending my own true position in Christ, and there using the power that has been legally given to me and to every believer. Oh, the wonder and grace of God!