Do All Things in The Name

Do All Things in the Name.

“And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Col. 3:17.

In Ephesians, He told us when we worshipped the Father, it must be through the Name, but now, “whatsoever ye do in word or in deed, all must be done in the Name.”
This ends the controversy in regard to praying to Jesus. This gives Jesus His position; this exalts the Name in our daily life.

Whatsoever we do in word or in deed must be done in that Name, and in that Name only. In 2 Thess. 1:11-12 we have another view of this: “To which end we also pray always for you that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfil every desire of goodness and every work of faith, with power; that the Name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in Him.”

This sets forth more clearly perhaps, than any other Scripture we have used, the place of the Name in our daily life and ministry; that this Name may be glorified in our lives, and glorified through our ministry. How could it be glorified more than by using it as the Early Church used it?

“Now, we command you, brethren, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which they received of us.” 2 Thess. 3:6. Here, Paul commands the Church, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, to withdraw from every brother that walks disorderly.

How mighty that Name must have been in the mind of the Early Church! “Through Him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which make confession to His Name.” Heb. 13:15. Their public testimony was a confession of that Name.

I can understand now what it means in Acts 8: where it speaks of Philip preaching the kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus. They preached the Name; they heralded the power, might, and wonder of that Name. They appreciated what the promise of Jesus meant when He said, “Hitherto, ye have asked nothing in my Name.”

They went out and suffered for the Name. I understand more clearly how the Jews felt when they forbade the disciples from preaching any more in that Name. Afterwards, when the disciples were arrested, they said, “Did we not straightway forbid you preaching in this Name, and you have filled Jerusalem with it.” They knew its value, they lived in the freshness of its power, and those Jews knew its power too.

In James 2:7 we read, “Do not they blaspheme the honourable Name by which ye are called?” Tames called it “that honourable Name.”‘ The Name that had wrought such mighty things through all the country was looked up to with honour, respect, and love.
“Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord.” James 5:14.

The sick were anointed in that Name for their healing. “If ye are reproached for the Name of Christ, blessed are ye.” 1 Pet. 4:14. They gladly bore the reproach of that Name.

You can see very clearly that the Name of Jesus held a position in the front rank of their teaching; and whenever they entered a heathen village or city, they preached to them that Name as Philip preached it down at Samaria.

They let the people know that the Name of Jesus had the power to heal the sick, cast out demons, perform miracles and prodigies-that their God was represented in that Name.
“I write unto you, My little children because your sins are forgiven you for His Name’s sake.” 1 John 2:12. Here, the Name is used in another sense, but with what a wealth of suggestiveness.

Sins are forgiven for His Name’s sake-for the sake of that Name. “And this is His commandment, that we should believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another.” I John 3:23.

The command that we should believe in the Name is literally that we should believe the Name – the preposition “in” is not Greek. That we should believe the Name-believe it for what it stands-believe it for all that it means in the heart of the Father-that we believe the Name!

Reader, ask your heart this question, “Do I believe the Name of Jesus? What does it mean to my life?” “These things have I written unto you that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe ON the Name of the Son of God.” I John 5:13.
Here is a contrast between “in” and “on”.

We believe ON the Name for salvation; we believe IN the Name for power in service.
Our position as believers in Christ gives us a legal right to pray in the Name of Jesus and take out of that Name the wealth of love, and riches, and grace, and salvation, and redemption that belongs to us.

We see by the teachings in the Epistles what Jesus meant when He nave the great promise of the use of His Name. The Name of Jesus became the center around which
everything was builded in their missionary activities. They lived, and wrought, and praised in that Name.

That Name meant food and raiment; it meant deliverance from the hand of their enemies: it meant power over demons and diseases; it meant worship, and praise, and access to God. Enwrapped in that mighty Name is the invisible power and miracle working might of the Church of Jesus Christ today.