The Power of His Name

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's evangelism bundle. But first, here's the message, The Power of His Name. This is happening in the book of Acts.

Jesus the risen Lord has ascended into heaven. He promises His followers the power, the presence of His Spirit. And on the day of Pentecost the Spirit of God came upon His people filling them with fiery words and fiery hearts. And they went out spreading the gospel everywhere.

The church is ignited. And thus we have the power of spiritual engagement as they are spreading the good news of Christ across the city. Thousands are coming to faith in Christ. Literally thousands are being born again. Bible scholars estimate that between 20 and 30 people a day were responding and receiving Jesus the risen Savior into their lives. The church is growing.

Its dynamic witness is expanding. The fire is spreading. But when God opens the windows of heaven to bless us, Satan opens the doors of hell to blast us. And so the devil launches a vicious campaign to snuff out the fires of faith. Religious leaders inspired by Satan attack the church and a time of persecution begins. Ultimately hundreds of thousands of believers died for their faith in Jesus.

Jesus Christ. The fact is the enemy is still like a roaring lion roaming about seeking whom he may devour. And he attacks those who truly follow Christ.

And he is still seeking to devour and to destroy the church today. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ you will face opposition. While it may not be physical persecution there will be spiritual oppression and opposition and resistance if you truly follow Christ.

Peter said don't think it's strange, don't be surprised concerning the fiery trial that is to come upon you. 2 Timothy 3.12 tells us that all who live godly in Jesus Christ will suffer persecution. So if you live godly, if you live a godly life, if you live for Christ, there will be opposition.

Now if you co-exist in the culture and if you don't stand for Christ or if you separate yourself to the degree that you're living in a holy hole somewhere and you're not standing up for Christ in the culture then maybe you can co-exist. But if you take a stand for Christ you will face the fire of opposition. The fact is God often allows suffering, trials and difficulties and opposition in our lives to separate the pretenders from the contenders.

Those who know and follow Christ and those who are simply going through the motions. If you have a shallow faith when the fires and the fierceness of temptation and tests in life appear then you will shrink. But the Bible says the fear of man is a snare. So many are afraid and they give up when they are assaulted or attacked but I love Proverbs 28 and verse 1. The Bible says the righteous are as bold as a lion. The guilty flee when no man pursues but the righteous are as bold as a lion. May God give us lion hearted believers.

Brave hearted Christians who are willing to stand for Christ and the power of His name. So that's what is happening here in Acts chapter 4. And when your faith is challenged you need to respond with boldness and courage and fearlessness even as we see in the text before us. So look at verse 1, they heard the Word which was the testimony of Jesus and they believed and the number of the men came to be about 5,000. Men from all over this community in Jerusalem were responding with bold faith and as a result their children, their wives were following them. So if the men numbered 5,000 you would assume the church is now what, 15, 20, 25,000 people. I want to challenge you men as I often do to lead the way to set the example in your family, to be numbered among those who follow Christ. There is a great feminization of the Christian faith in our generation and many men have the idea that faith is for women and children or someone who is weaker. But God calls men to follow Him and to be Christ's followers every day of your life. It doesn't take much of a man to be a Christian but I tell you this, it takes all the men there is of you to follow Jesus. And so the number of the men came to be about 5,000. Look at verse 5, and on the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest.

Do you recognize him? This is the same high priest that presided over the death of Jesus. And Caiaphas, Caiaphas also cooperated in the execution of Jesus. He names John and Alexander and all who were in the high priestly family. And when they set them in the midst they inquired, by what power or by what name did you do this? Then Peter, and here's the key, filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed? In other words he's saying, oh excuse us. Are we on trial here today because this man who has been crippled all of his life is standing in front of you whole, complete, healed?

Is this what we're being charged for? Okay. Then verse 10, let it be known to you and all of the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ, and His name speaks of His power, speaks of His authority, it speaks of His character, it speaks of His name, it speaks of His name. And yes, yes, it does matter what we call God.

I'm hearing it everywhere. Turn on television, radio, the discussion, the debate, theological as well as secular circles is, well after all, whatever name you choose to call God, whatever name you may choose to identify your God, He is the same God. That's not what the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us there's one name given among men whereby we must be saved. There is only one name that can ultimately describe our God and our Savior. We do not worship the gods in the names of other gods.

We worship the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is by His name, that name, which is the name of salvation that we worship and we witness. And so He said it is in that name, again look at verse 10, the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified. This is the same Simon Peter who shrunk in the face of the fire as Jesus is being led away and crucified. This is the same Simon Peter who denies the Lord Jesus Christ three times, but something has transformed his life. Something has changed and that something is Jesus and His resurrection. And now he is filled with a risen Christ and he is transformed into a bold, bold believer and witness for Christ. So now imagine this, he's standing in front of the same crowd that crucified Christ, the same bunch that sent Jesus to the cross.

A Nazarene fisherman, unlearned and uneducated. But he's standing courageously and boldly in the midst of all of these. And he's saying you crucified the Savior.

Now you know when you have blood on your hands and you've gone so far as to kill someone, killing the next one is not that big a deal. So he is looking in the faces of those who put Christ on the cross, and I'm not speaking here of a race of people, I'm speaking of a religious sect in this day which determined that Christ was not their Messiah and therefore turned Him over to the Romans to die. Jesus died because of the sin of all of us and yes we are at the cross. We sent Jesus to the cross, all of us.

But having said that, it is a historical fact that Peter stood before the very Sanhedrin and accused them of crucifying Christ. But notice what God did, whom God raised from the dead. And by Him this man is standing before you well. Now look at verse 11. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone, the centerpiece of civilization, the cornerstone of life. Look at verse 12. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, literally the word is illiterate men, they were not trained in the rabbinical schools of their times.

These were untrained, uneducated men, common men now doing an uncommon thing. They were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, The Power of His Name. You have a God-given calling to take the gospel to the world. That's why we've put together a special bundle of resources to help you grow in your love of the gospel and share it with others. This evangelism bundle includes three of Pastor Jack Graham's books, The Hope of Easter, Lifebook, and God's Promises for Doubt-Filled Days. This evangelism bundle is our thanks for your gift today.

And thanks to a generous matching grant, your gift today will be doubled. So call now to request your evangelism bundle when you give. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, The Power of His Name. The theme of Acts chapter 4 really is boldness, fearlessness. And every believer should be bold in faith and bold in witness.

Now when we talk about boldness, we're not talking about brashness. Not getting in people's faces and shouting, but rather boldly and openly obeying God in our faith and in our witness. It's a word which means openness, confidence. So openness and confidence before God and before man. Wide open about our faith. Not holding back, not hiding, no secret disciples, but openly standing for Christ. Confidently proclaiming our faith. This is a faith that is fearless and courageous. What separated these believers, Peter and John and all the rest, was the fact that their faith was conspicuous. Their faith was contagious and their faith was courageous. Do these words describe your faith?

Conspicuous, contagious, and courageous? Because of the power of His name, persecution became inevitable. Interestingly enough, through the ages the greatest persecutor of Christian faith is often religion. In this case they were before the Sadducees.

You often hear in the New Testament, especially in the days of Christ and the Gospels of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a prominent sect among the Jews in that day. But the Sadducees were also very prominent and very powerful. The Sadducees were the ruling class, the aristocratic wealthy class, and they were in league somewhat with Rome. They had accommodated to the rule of Rome because they therefore were able to maintain their position, their power, their prestige, and yes, their profit.

It was about the money. Theologically, they were liberals. They were rationalists who denied the supernatural. They didn't believe in the supernatural in any way. They didn't believe in angels. They didn't believe in miracles. They didn't believe in life after death. They didn't believe in heaven.

They certainly didn't believe in the resurrection. And so Peter and John are boldly standing before these who deny Christ and deny the resurrection. And they proclaim the resurrection. And it is the resurrection and the message of the risen Christ that brings these Christians into conflict with the world. Unfortunately today the message of the modern church, the contemporary church, is often so diluted with rationalism and universalism that it's not even recognizable today.

We are so afraid of appearing that we're dogmatic about anything. And the person therefore with strong biblical conversions is seen, or convictions rather, is seen as an intellectual artifact or a fool or a fanatic. Time and again we meet ministers on talk shows, on television and radio, and when asked the hard questions about salvation in Christ alone or heaven or hell or any difficult question that separates the Christian faith from all the religions of the world in this pluralistic environment so many are waffling and weakening. And in my view there is nothing more pathetic than a weak preacher when given an opportunity to stand for Jesus Christ ultimately denies Him.

Not these men. These who stand for Christ. And therefore the persecution is inevitable. I've already said if you take a bold stand for Christ, even sometimes in your own family and among your own friends, opposition will roll in.

The whole goal initially of the opposition was to shut them up. When they realized that they could not imprison them rightfully, later on in this passage they said, we command you never to speak in the name of Jesus again. Don't speak this name again. Don't talk about this anymore.

So Peter and Jodah said, okay now wait a minute here. You say don't talk about it. God says talk about it.

What do you think they're going to do? They said we must obey God and not man. They would ultimately say we can't help but speak of those things which we have seen and heard. Frankly one of the reasons that many who claim the name of Christ never name the name of Christ is because they haven't seen very much and they haven't heard very much. If you truly believe in the reality of the resurrection, if you believe that these men, as having seen Christ, that Jesus is alive, that Jesus is Lord of life and Lord over death, if you truly believe that, nothing could stop you from talking about Jesus.

Nothing. Not the fear of man, not the fear of opposition. Nothing would stop you from talking about Jesus if you truly have been with Jesus.

I'm convinced that the reason many do not name His name or speak of Him or talk of Him at all is because they have never been saved. Now I realize that not everyone can share their faith in the same way. God hasn't made us in the same way, hasn't designed us. We all have different abilities and liabilities. We all have different gifts and talents and personalities. And God chooses to use us with what we have and not everyone can do it like Peter and John did it. I can't.

You can't. But God has given us a witness and God has given us a message. And what we need to do is to find our way of telling that message, of sharing that message and make sure we're doing it God's way every day regardless of the persecution. Because secondly, you see there is an irrepressible proclamation. What got these men in trouble was the fact that they preached the resurrection. They knew He was alive. Thousands were believing. These 5,000 men were believing. Why were they believing at such an unprecedented rate?

Why? Because the message was believable. Then there is invincible power. Power in His name.

There is an irrepressible message, there is inevitable persecution, but there is invincible power. They said, how have you done this? In what name? By what authority?

Have you done this thing? And without hesitation they said, by the power of Jesus Christ, His name and His name only. And then He gave that verse that echoed the words of Christ Himself, that there is salvation in Him and Him only.

For the Christian faith is not a copy, it is an original. The Christian faith is unique and distinctive in all the faiths of the world, of all the religious systems of the world. Because we believe that Christ and Christ alone is Savior and Lord. That it is only in Him by His name, as the scripture says, that we are saved. This echoes the words of Jesus Himself in John chapter 14 verse 6 who said, I am the way and the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father except by me. Paul weighs in on this issue later when he says there is one mediator between God and man, one go-between between God and man, one who brings man and God together and it is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one mediator between God and man.

Jesus said, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. So when you see Jesus, this is God performing miracles. This is God dying on the cross.

This is God coming out of the grave. This is God living in the life of the believer. For God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Therefore, no matter how good we may be or how hard we try, though we may feel better about ourselves because we live a good life, no amount of good living can gain the favor, the appeasement of a holy God. And only by the blood of Jesus Christ are we saved. Only by the power of His name do we enter into eternal life. That is the unique and distinct message of the Christian faith.

Under no circumstance should we deny the exclusivity of the gospel of Christ, the very word of God which says there is salvation in no other but this name. You say, well I want everybody to be saved. I want all these people out there to know God to be in heaven. Well don't you think God wants these people to be in heaven more than anyone, more than you? God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance.

So God sent His Son, Jesus, because of His love, He gave His Son, His only begotten Son, to die on the cross to provide salvation through His resurrection to all who would believe. And the millions who are in darkness and who are on that broad way that Jesus said leads to destruction can get on the narrow road to eternal life and salvation through Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. But we must not deny the message of Christ. The fact is, all truth, when you say something is true, it's intolerant of error. Why do we in this pluralistic generation of ours have such a hard time believing that there is a true God and that there are false gods?

What's our problem with that? When the Word of God is so clear that Jesus is not just a Savior but the Savior. He's not the best way to heaven, He's the only way to heaven.

For there is no name given among men whereby we must be saved but the name of Jesus. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, The Power of His Name. 3.2 billion people in our world still have no access to the good news of Jesus and we must do whatever it takes to reach the lost with the hope of Christ. That's why we're excited to tell you about a matching grant that will double whatever you give today to help reach more people through PowerPoint. Your support will help broadcast the gospel into some of the most spiritually dark corners of the earth. We'll say thanks for your gift by sending you three of Pastor Graham's books to help you share the gospel right where you are.

This evangelism bundle includes The Hope of Easter, Life Book, and God's Promises for Doubt-Filled Days. So call now to have your gift doubled by the match and request your evangelism bundle. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. That's PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? As I mentioned in today's program, it would be criminal if you discovered the cure for cancer but kept that cure to yourself. Yet at the same time, many Christians have received eternal life in Christ. They found the cure for sin and salvation and never mentioned it to anybody else. The fact is, if you know Christ, you want to make Him known. If you believe He has forgiven you of all your sins, changed your life, and given you a hope and a future that is forever with Him, how can you not speak of Him and what He has done for you? Today, if you are a child of God, think about the difference Jesus has made and is making in your life. How He has changed your thought life. How He has changed your habits, the way you behave, the peace that you now have in your life. I want to challenge you then to share the ways that Christ has changed and is changing you every single day. That you are not the person you ought to be, but you are not the person that you used to be.

Jesus is changing you. Now this doesn't have to happen in some forced or canned conversation. It can be something as brief as a note of encouragement to someone who is hurting. Or it can be a phone call to let someone know you're praying for them. It can be a quiet conversation over coffee just speaking of the things of the Lord in your life. The Bible says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Whatever God leads you to do, do it right now. If you're afraid or nervous about talking of Jesus and the things of God, then ask God every day to give you the power and the boldness. That in the name of Jesus you will share Him and His love with somebody else. I truly believe as you commit to sharing Christ with others, God will give you an incredible courage that you've never known before.

And I believe that He will use you to influence others for Him. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint, your gift will be doubled by a matching grant. Call 1-800-795-4627.

That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. On the next PowerPoint, Dr. Graham brings a message about why you need prayer and the power it unleashes in your life. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.