Why the Name of Jesus and Gifts of the Spirit Is All God's Grace

In today’s podcast, we take up the Name of Jesus and its connection to God’s grace and power. The medieval theologian John Duns Scotus was visiting Rome, and the Pope took him into the Vatican treasuries. Running his hands through the silver, the Pope said, “No longer does the church have to say, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’” The theologian replied, “That’s true, but also no longer can we say, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk.’” ¹ That’s an impactful and telling story that illustrates what happens when money becomes the focus of one’s life. We must cling to the Name of Jesus and hold it in high esteem in our lives. There is nothing like the Name of Jesus for restraining anger, assuaging the swellings of pride, healing the wound of envy, restraining the course of wantonness, quenching the flame of lust, moderating the thirst of covetousness, and putting to flight all lasciviousness. For when I name Jesus, I set before myself the image of the Man, meek and lowly, kind of heart, sober, chaste, merciful, peerless in purity and holiness, and at the same time, the Almighty God, who heals by His example, and strengthens us by His help.² Having access to Jesus’ Name and the power invested in it is our focus on today’s Light On Life.

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#S4-039: How to Use the Name of Jesus to Live A Miracle Life [Podcast]

[Tweet, “The Name of Jesus, can and should permeate every aspect of your spiritual life.”]

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You can view a ‘no frills’ transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.

Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.

This weeks’ Call to Action’ is:

Examine the use of the Name of Jesus in your everyday life. Is it necessary for you? Be methodical and specific in thinking about what kind of place the Name of Jesus holds in your daily walk.

Join the Conversation

Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week’s question is:

Question of the Day: How have you applied the use of the Name of Jesus to a specific situation you faced? Share a testimony today. Please share in the comments section below./callout]

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 42 years ago. He has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. Both he and his wife Sharon of 38 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is both the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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If you enjoyed the podcast, please rate it on Stitcher Radio and leave a review. If you have a suggestion for a Bible topic you would like to see taught, or if you have a question, please e-mail me at emery@emeryhorvath.com.

Podcast Notes

Review Grace and Power

So now, in previous podcasts, we saw that there is a definitive connection between God’s grace and God’s power.
We saw in Acts 6:8 how Steven was full of grace and power.
Also, we took a look at the compassion of Jesus for the wandering sheep, the displaced people, who had no shepherd in Matthew 9.
Jesus had compassion for the lost sheep among the people.
He admonished us to pray about that situation — He took action — He did something. He set in motion something — He said something.
Compassion, favor, grace, does something — it speaks.
It does not remain silent.
God’s Grace not only speaks; it heals.* When Jesus went ashore, he saw a massive crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
There were so many sick people.
But God’s power went to work, flowing through Jesus and healing the multitudes.
God’s grace does stuff — it moves, heals, delivers, and sets people free.
We also saw grace at work in the life of Paul, strengthening and enabling him.
All of that took power — it took God’s power to get Paul through this thorn in the flesh, this horrible huge pile of persecutions he experienced.
Power is the result of grace.
God’s power coming upon, the Spirit of God resting upon Paul amid his trials is something we can all look for.
What will that power do when it comes?
It heals — it will strengthen, invigorate, and lift.

The Name of Jesus, the Gifts of the Spirit, and Grace

So, since we now have this ‘power’ connection to grace that we can add to favor, compassion, mercy, and generosity.
Here is a couple of other ties between grace and power: Let’s look at them – the Name of Jesus and the gifts of the Spirit.

Jesus Name, and the Grace of God

The first link we want to look at is the Name of Jesus.

Philippians 2:5–9 (ESV) — 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Wow! Is that a mouth full of good news or what?
Jesus was in the form of God.
The most critical word in that sentence is ‘was.’
Was is past tense, meaning Jesus no longer has the form of God.
He used to have it but, not anymore.
What does that mean?
The Greek word ‘form’ means outward appearance, shape generally of bodily form³
Jesus did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped.
The five words ’a thing to be grasped’ is all one Greek word, and it means spoil (rightful) or property taken by force or violence, especially property which one believes to have a rightful claim to.
It means something to be held on to forcibly J. Harold Greenlee, An Exegetical Summary of Philippians, 2nd ed. (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2008), 96.
Jesus did not consider His right to God’s form a thing to be grasped, something to cling to by force even though He had a rightful claim to it as God.
Jesus laid aside His right to the form of God willingly.
He had every right to say no.
But He didn’t.
His refusal to His rightful claim opened the door to life for you and me.
God highly exalted Jesus and bestowed on him the Name.
Where is the concept of favor in this verse?
You guessed it – it’s in the word bestowed.
The word ‘bestowed’ means giving with grace or giving graciously.
Giving the Name must mean that God the Father had the Name in heaven.
How could you give something you don’t have?
It means to give something as a sign of one’s benevolent goodwill toward someone.
This word links to the generosity aspect of grace.
The God who abounds in grace towards us gave us something – He highly favored us — He graced us by giving us access to the Name.
God exalted Jesus and highly favored Him — that’s what the word bestowed means — with a name that’s above every name.
So, the generosity aspect is in view but also, we can see the compassion part of the grace of God, and the mercy of God, in giving us a door to the Name of Jesus.
That Name, the Name of Jesus, gives us access to answered prayer.
We pray in that Name; we sing in that Name — we exercise authority in that Name.
Healing is received and ministered to others via that Name.
There are so many areas where the Lord encourages us to use His Name.
Listen to it now.

Colossians 3:17 (ESV) — 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The Name of Jesus can and should permeate every aspect of your spiritual life.
I mean, that’s what everything means, right?
The Name of Jesus should constantly be on your lips.
Constantly means every day.
You should end that prayer in Jesus’ Name when you pray over your food.
If and when you ask for wisdom, insight, or direction, use the Name when you ask for anything.
When you need strength, call on the Name.
We know that Jesus ascended into heaven,

Acts 1:11 (ESV) — 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Jesus went to heaven but, He left behind His Name.
And when He got to heaven, He sent His Spirit into the world.
You can learn about using the Name by reading the book of Acts.
The Name of Jesus was all over that book.

Using the Name of Jesus in Acts

Baptism and the Name

Listen to this verse in Acts ten.

Acts 10:48 (ESV) — 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Here is another verse along this line in Acts two.

Acts 2:38 (ESV) — 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Baptism is by the Name of Jesus — do you see that?
‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus’ — that’s the Word of God.
You can see the grace aspect here in the words ‘the gift of the Holy Spirit.’
The word for gift here is the word ‘charis,’ and it is the word for grace that we’ve been looking at all along.
So, the Holy Spirit coming to us is a matter of God’s compassion to us.
It’s a matter of God’s mercy to us — it’s a matter of God’s favor to us — it’s a matter of God’s generosity to us.
These are all the words that grace means.
The Name of Jesus is part of salvation.
We are saved in the Name of Jesus.
We are saved by calling on the Name.
Look at this verse whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Acts 2:21 (ESV) — 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

The Name of Jesus and Healing

Acts 3:6 (ESV) — 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

Notice something vitally important in this passage.
Peter engaged a lame man who sat at the Gate Beautiful, begging every single day.
Peter’s response to him was to say, ‘Man, we don’t have any money, but I do have something that Jesus left behind for me to use, the name of Jesus.
So, in that Name, rise and walk.
Note the fact that Peter did not pray.
He did not say, Father God, in the name of Jesus, I ask that this man would be healed.”
That’s not what he did.
What he did was use the name as a direct commandment.
He exercised authority through that Name.
Peter pointed to that man with his finger and said, rise and walk in the Name of Jesus — No prayer at all, none.
So, the Name of Jesus can be used by praying but, the Name of Jesus can also be used by saying.
You can speak in that Name.
You can command in that name, and what you say, what you command will take place.
If what you say is in line with the Bible — you can’t go saying a bunch of junk.
Your words must be in line with scripture.
So, there is healing available in the Name.
When the religious leaders arrested them and drilled them about the Name of Jesus and what happened to this lame man, Peter boldly declared.

Acts 4:10 (ESV) — 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.

What did the religious bunch do?
Drop to verse 18 and you will see it.

Acts 4:18 (ESV) — 18 So they [the religious bunch] called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

The hypocritical religious leaders told Peter and the disciples not to use the Name of Jesus.
Isn’t that funny? — that should be funny to you.
Why did they do that?
I’ll tell you why they did that.
They recognized that the Name of Jesus was the source of this miracle.
The religious crowd didn’t want any more people healed — they don’t want any more stuff stirred up about Jesus or his Name, for that matter.
So, during his earth walk, and I want you to get this, these same religious leaders were persecuting Jesus and trying to get rid of Him.
They thought they did it — they thought they succeeded.
They thought crucifying Him got rid of His influence.
But instead, Jesus rose from the dead — went back to heaven, and even with the fact that He has gone to be at the right hand of the Father, His influence has been magnified to the nth degree.
They tried to get rid of Him, and all they did was make Him bigger.
The Name of Jesus is still being echoed and has a tremendous impact on the people.
So, they didn’t get rid of Jesus at all.
Now, all his disciples who believed in him have the name of Jesus on their lips and are exercising the same authority that Jesus did in his earth walk.
Glory be to God — what a tremendous move by the Father God.
And it wasn’t just this man — this singular person who was healed.
Look at the expanding reach of the Name of Jesus.

The Expanding Reach of the Name of Jesus

Acts 5:12–16 (ESV) — 12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

In this passage, you can see the people being healed left and right.
A tremendous move of God was taking place.
Multitudes were being healed.
People were carrying the sick out into the streets, and the shadow of Peter fell on them, and they were healed.
The people gathered from the towns all around Jerusalem.
Hundreds and hundreds of people brought the sick people afflicted with unclean spirits, and every one of them was healed.
This passage doesn’t specifically mention the Name of Jesus, but you got to keep reading because all these miracles did take place via the Name.
Verse 17 of Acts 5 says that the religious leaders arrested the apostles and put them in a public prison.
This is now the second time they were jailed.
These disciples have a rap sheet.
But during that night, while all of them were sitting on a jail cell, an Angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out.
The next day, these same disciples went back to the temple to teach — they were bold now.
So, the religious leaders were stunned by these events and arrested them yet again and brought them before the council.
The high priest questions them.
Listen to what the high priest.

Acts 5:28 (ESV) — 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

So, these disciples are teaching in the Name, they’re praying in the Name, they’re healing people in the Name, and whatever else they’re doing, they’re doing all in the Name of Jesus.
Now, how did the religious crowd react to all of this?
They wanted to kill them and destroy the disciples; they were so mad.
But one of the leading Pharisees talked the religious leaders out of it.
So instead of killing, them they beat the fire out of them — they beat them up.
Listen to what their parting words were to the disciples.

Acts 5:40 (ESV) — 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

What did the disciples do with that threat?
They totally and absolutely ignored it.
They went out and preached, continued to teach, continued to pray, and kept on healing the people in the Name of Jesus.
So, using the Name of Jesus is vital and critical that you have the right to disobey civil authority who will tell you don’t use the Name — defy religious authority when they tell you not to use the Name.
The Lord’s message to you is that it doesn’t matter what men say – use the Name.

#S3-011: What’s the Value of a Good Name? [Podcast]

___________

References:

Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes, electronic ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), 120. ↩
Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Bonaventure, The Life of Christ, ed. W. H. Hutchings (London: Rivingtons, 1881), 335. Elliot Ritzema and Rebecca Brant, eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Medieval Church, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013). ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 659. ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Why the Name of Jesus and Gifts of the Spirit Is All God’s Grace

Podcast: Light on Life Season 8 Episode 50

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

Review Grace and Power

The Name of Jesus, the Gifts of the Spirit, and Grace

Jesus Name, and the Grace of God

Using the Name of Jesus in Acts

Baptism and the Name

The Name of Jesus and Healing

The Expanding Reach of the Name of Jesus

Listen to the Audio

Click Play to Listen | Right Click to Download | Subscribe in Stitcher Radio

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources

You can find more information on the book of Ephesians by clicking on the links below.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Podcast Notes

Review Grace and Power

The Name of Jesus, the Gifts of the Spirit, and Grace

Jesus Name, and the Grace of God

Using the Name of Jesus in Acts

Baptism and the Name

The Name of Jesus and Healing

The Expanding Reach of the Name of Jesus

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