Power in the name of Jesus?

21 September 2020
Series: Bible study
Topic: Jesus , name , power

Speaker: Apostle Ernie

Do you believe there is power in the name of Jesus?

Most mainstream Christians would say yes; if we use the mighty name of Jesus, it carries with it authority, power, demons tremble when they hear His name.

Why do you believe this?
Is it because someone told you this or because the Bible says so in Heb 1:4 and Phil 2:9?

How do you understand “power in the name of Jesus”?

Do you understand it as if saying the name Jesus guarantees automatically a miracle every time? If that were true, then nobody would be sick, nobody would be poor, the world would be at peace, and everything would be ok, considering we just had to say the name of Jesus as a magic mantra for everything to change.

We all know this is not the truth, Christians become sick, poor, and sometimes we die sudden deaths in horrific accidents or painful, debilitating diseases. Therefore, it is evident we can not understand Heb 1:4 and Phil 2:9 as the name of Jesus is our magic mantra guaranteeing us a miracle.

Ok, how are we then to understand Heb 1:4 and Phil 2:9?

If we want to understand Heb 1:4 and Phil 2:9, we have to keep in mind Yeshua (Jesus Christ), and all of his disciples were Jews. When Paul wrote Phil 2:9 and Heb 1:4, he wrote it with a Jewish mindset. So to understand these scriptures, we have to read it with a Jewish attitude. A name can be the actual given name from a Jewish perspective, but it can also be Shem, a Hebrew word for reputation or character.

If we understand Heb 1:4 and Phil 2:9 as Shem, it all makes sense. Then what Heb 1:4 and Phil 2:9 says is this:
Yeshua’s’ authority connects to His character and not His given name. To understand Heb 1:4 and Phil 2:9, we have to know what His character was.

The question then gives itself, what was Yeshua like as a man? The answer: He was perfect because He always followed the Torah. His obedience to the Torah gives Him authority (Heb 1:4, Phil 2:9); this authority is given to all who believe in Him if we do what He did and obey the Torah. (1. John 2, James 2, 1.Cor 11, Luke 6:46, Matt 23:2, all the Gospels) We see this in Rev 12 and Rev 14, where it says, those who obey the Torah and believe in His Blood, will overcome the devil. And John 14-17 says if we follow the Torah, Yehovah will live in us and love us making us one with Yeshua.

This is from the Bible, but most of Christianity would disagree and say the Torah is impossible to obey. I could easily prove to you, from the Bible, where it says the Torah is easy to follow. But because Christianity no longer believes in what the Bible says, instead believe what man says, they have rejected the one thing that gives us authority in Jesus’ name. Do you see how the spirit of the Antichrist operates in Christianity?

The spirit of the Antichrist does not mind it at all if you believe the name of Jesus is a magic mantra, but he fears those who obey the Torah because he knows they have the authority to overcome him.

Is there power in Jesus’s name? No, not in saying the name of Jesus. There is power in His character, and if we imitate His nature, we will share in His authority and power.

What about the name of God, is there power in His name, the name of Yehovah?

Yes, there is power in Yehovah’s name, and yes, there is power in speaking His name out loud. (Rom 10:13) This is why historical Antichrist figures, like Antiochus Ephinaus, made it illegal and punishable by death to speak Yehovah’s name and teach the Torah. Antiochus’s spirit knew what authority there is in the Torah and the name of Yehovah.

If we want to understand why there is power in speaking Yehovah’s name, we must remember what we talked about earlier. Jews wrote the Bible with a Hebraic mindset. We who live today live in a world with Greek philosophy influencing everything we do, learn, and say. If you compare the two, you will quickly see huge differences, one of them being the lack of separation between the physical world and the spiritual world in the Hebraic mindset. From a Hebrew perspective, there is no separation between the two worlds, and what happens spiritually will always affect what happens physically.

This is why, in Ex 23:13, we find a commandment that says it is a sin even to speak out loud other gods’ names.

Why is it a sin?

When you say out loud the name of an evil spiritual entity, you will invoke that demon, affecting you physically.

This could be not easy to understand for some of you, but think of it this way: Try thinking of the name of someone who bullied you, or someone you know hates you or dislikes you. How does that make you feel? Thinking of that person’s name affects you physically. Now try to think of the name of someone who loves you. How does that make you feel? Thinking of that person’s name affects you physically. Suppose thinking of the name of a human being has such an effect on you. Why is it difficult to understand that speaking the name of a powerful evil spiritual entity can physically affect you?

This is why it is a sin to mention other gods’ names because Yehovah wants to protect us from them. This works two ways; if there is power in the name of an evil entity to curse and physically harm us, then there is blessing and protection in speaking the name of our God Yehovah.

In Numbers 6:27, the Bible says that if we speak Yehovah’s name over someone, it will cause them to be blessed. In Rom 10:13, it says, if we call out His name, the name of Yehovah, we will be saved. Rom 10:13 is not just speaking about eternal salvation; it is referring to salvation from everything.

When we speak out loud the name of Yehovah, we invoke Him and His character. If we are already living in obedience to the Torah, invoking Him and His character will cause us to be blessed and protected. (Deut 28:1-13) But this comes with a warning; if we call upon His name and we do not live in obedience to the Torah, it will cause us to be cursed. (Deut 28:14-45)

So there is power in Yehovah’s name, a power we can tap into by imitating Christ’s character in His obedience to the Torah. But this is not only a power for blessing and salvation; it is also a power for protection in our minds.

In the last chapter, we touched upon how Yehovah’s name is a strong tower and protection for Yehudi; they run to it and are safe. If you call upon His name in your mind, it will cause your mind to be blessed and protected. It will cause you to think clearly under pressure and stress and hear Him clearly when He wants to guide you. It will cause you to be healed in your mind and on your soul for old wounds from your past.

How? By calling upon His name in your mind.

So there is power in Yehovah’s name, a power we can tap into as long as we live in Yeshua’s power and character. I have seen this work, time, and time again in my own life.

As a child, my biological father was absent from my life for most of the time. He was physically there, but he never engaged in my life as a father should. When he did attempt, it was always based on lies. I can remember one time; he told me how our local bank’s bank manager had promised him I could get a loan for my education, and I did not have to put up any collateral. When I wrote the bank manager to ask for a loan and told him what my father had said, it turned out to be a lie. He had never promised I could get a loan for my education without any collateral. So even though my father made an effort to engage in my life, his actions were based on lies most of the time. There are other examples, but I do not have the time to go into them.

This, of course, made me feel as if I could not trust him, and I had to figure things out for myself.

One of the things my father never taught me was how to handle a crisis. His way of handling crisis was to lie and hope no one caught him; sometimes it worked, sometimes it did not. So I quickly learned that was not the way to do it.

When I got married, I came into the marriage with a load of baggage and old wounds from my father and mother. This, on top of not knowing how to handle life and crisis, and never having learned how to be a man, made the first years of marriage very difficult for me. I made many wrong judgments that have caused consequences for my wife and me, effects we still have to work through. And looking back, I see how it all happened because I tried to be a man, a husband, but I did not know how to be.

I do not have the time to go into all the details, but I can remember how my wife got sick the first year. We were on a mission trip to a foreign country, and I had just learned the language. I was so scared, so worried, and I did not know how to handle the situation. So I came up with the idea I should try to buy all the vitamines I could find to cure her. It worked, but I also bought many vitamines that did not work, and it was costly. To this day, my wife and I are still paying for all the debt we accrued during our first marriage years. Debt we accrued because I did not know how to be a husband and a man, and I believed money was the solution.

Since then, I have gotten older and wiser. Now I know how to be a husband and a man. Now I know that it is ok to say no, and I know how to explain to my wife why we can’t afford it. Now I know money does not solve everything, and if I am in a crisis, the world is not going to collapse around me. But as I said, the consequences are still there.

Struggling with debt, and at the same time being told by Yehovah to launch your ministry offering everything for free, seems crazy
and like the worst possible thing to do. But through it all, Yehovah has taught me how to be a man and how to trust Him for the impossible. Through it all, Yehovah has taught me what my father never taught me, how to handle money, how to handle a crisis, and how to lead as a husband and a man.

He has taught me that a crisis has to be faced head-on; it will not go away by itself. And yes, it is scary, sometimes terrifying to do, but it has to be done.

One of the ways He taught me is to face a crisis in His name, Yehovah’s name. I have seen, and I am still seeing how taking shelter in His name in my mind gives me the peace and the clarity of thought I need when a crisis comes, or I dont know how to handle something.

Next week, I have to pay the monthly expenses for this ministry; I have to pay my regular family bills and make sure we have enough to live on until the next paycheck next month. Right now, at this moment, I do not know how I will be able to do this. As of today, I do not have the money I need for this.

Six years ago, I would be panicking by now; all stressed out. And I am not saying it is not tempting to do so, but instead, I make sure to take refuge in Yehovah’s name in my mind. Every time I am tempted to worry or stress, I go “Yehovah” in my mind, or “Yehovah has already given me the money I need.” I make an effort to shift my focus from my needs to His name, and it works every time.

So what I am trying to tell you is this: there is power in Yehovah’s name, and I have seen it, and I keep seeing it as a reality in my own life. Today, I encourage you to do what I have done and use the power He has given you in His name.

Do you need prayer? Prophetic word? Contact me for free on Messenger or e.mail apostleernie@outlook.com

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