God bless you in the exalted name of Jesus Christ, at which every knee in heaven and earth must bow (Philippians 2:10).
Isn’t that wonderful? Every knee bows to the name of Jesus Christ, and God has given those of us who have made Christ our Lord the privilege of using his name! What a loving God! When we are saved, we are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Now we live with him as our Lord. We immerse ourselves in everything that name of Jesus Christ represents, in everything that name is and has before God. One’s name was important in the East, for it represented everything about the person bearing the name. That should help us understand what we are doing when we use the name of Jesus. Our use of Jesus’ name should be in accordance with our identification with him and the authority he gave us to walk in his steps.
Biblically, doing something in someone else’s name implies a couple things. First, you come by and in the authority of the named person, and second, you come in his stead. Doing something in someone else’s name means not doing it in your own authority, but because someone else authorized you to take the actions. When David fought, Goliath, he came unto him “in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied” (I Samuel 17:45). David knew that he was not coming in his own power or authority but in that which belonged to God alone. He came with God’s authority and fought in His stead. No wonder he was confident and victorious.
Because we come in someone’s stead, the person to whom we come is expected to react or respond to us, not on the basis of who we are, but as if the person who sent us was there himself. They are obliged to treat us as they would treat the one who authorized us to act on his or her behalf. When David sent servants to Nabal to ask for food, “they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David” (I Samuel 25:9). Therefore, when Nabal insulted David’s servants (who came in David’s name), he insulted David just as directly as if he had spoken to him face to face. That’s why David acted so severely (I Samuel 25:13).
I am so thankful that the Bible clearly shows us that the principalities and powers in the kingdom of darkness are stunned, withdraw, recoil, and quake when confronted by believers in the authority of the name of Jesus. Indeed, James 2:19 says demons “tremble” in the presence of a believing believer using the name of Jesus. The word “tremble” is the Greek word phrissō, which means to bristle from fear or shudder. The presence of a believer exercising his authority sends them into shock, panic, and dismay. However, our victory is not from making them tremble, it’s from casting them out. So, the next time the opportunity arises let’s be ready to remove them. Let’s be bold and take authority and cast them out in Jesus’ name.
Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world, the devil is no match for the awesome power of Christ that dwells in us. When we speak in the name of Jesus, empowered by holy spirit, the evil spirit realm hears and submits, just like they would if Jesus was there doing it personally.
Just before he ascended to be seated at the right hand of the Father, Jesus said, “All power [exousia, authority] is given me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). He then immediately delegated his authority saying, “Go ye therefore. . . teaching them. . . whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19,20). Then He promised that “these signs shall follow them that believe; IN MY NAME shall they. . . .” He said, “in my name!” It all happens in the exercise and operation of the name of Jesus! Our power and authority is in doing what we do in the name of Jesus, because all power in heaven and earth has been given to him.
If we want the name of the Lord Jesus to be magnified like it was in Acts 19, we must learn who we are as members of the family of God. Then we will be more likely to use the name of Jesus properly and frequently. There’s no other name like it, and we have been authorized to use it. So, let’s get after it? We are God’s best and certainly God blessed.