Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Acts of the Apostles,
chapter 4, and reading for our text just a few words in verse
18. Verse 18. In the name of Jesus. The whole verse reads, and they,
that is the council of the high priests, they called them, Peter
and John, and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach
in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. What a
command that they were given. Why was it that these leaders,
that these religious men of their day, we read of them in verse
five, the rulers and elders and scribes, Annas the high priest,
Caiaphas, John, Alexander, those are the kindred of the high priest,
all of them, why was it? They were so hostile against
the name of Jesus, not against God, not against Moses, not against
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, but Jesus. And there they were being forbidden
to preach or to teach, not to speak even, not to speak at all,
at all. or teach in the name of Jesus, how hostile they were. And yet, dear friends, there
are those even today, those that will have a profession of religion
and even say that they are Christian, that on certain occasions will
be very, very careful never to mention the name of Jesus. What a solemn thing, and how
we need to be reminded of how vital it is that we testify to
the name of Jesus and who he is, the eternal Son of God, the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Many
years ago, over in Australia, working as an engineer, one of
the colleagues that I was working with from another firm was a
deacon in an Armenian church. One day when we were speaking
together on the things of God, he said to me, he said that he
was a member of a Masonic Lodge. And I expressed surprise as to
how he could be. a member of such an organisation
and yet be a Christian. And I said to him, I said, they
will require you to believe in a God, but you must not define
that God. You must not say that that God
is the Lord Jesus Christ or the triune God, God the Father, Son
and Holy Ghost. And he looked at me, he said,
well, that explains then. He said, when I joined them,
he said, I had to make a profession that I believed in God. But when
I wanted to tell them my experience and my call by grace and my belief
in Jesus, they didn't want to hear it. And many today are quite prepared
to say that they believe in God and call on God publicly, but
not in the name of Jesus. Everyone is to supposedly have
their own God or own idea of God, but never to define him. But that should never be the
case with a true Christian. Never be the case with the Lord's
dear people. You look at the account that
is here before us, what led up to the charge of these leaders. There was a miracle that was
performed. And notice the example of the
apostles here. In chapter three and verse six,
we read of them coming to this man that had been lame from his
birth. And Peter says, silver and gold
have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. He didn't only even just
say, in the name of Jesus Christ. He clearly identified who he
was meaning. that Jesus of Nazareth that they
had crucified and that they had slain. It was in his name. And he took him by the right
hand and immediately his feet, his ankle bones received strength. He leapt up. Later on, Peter
and John clearly testified It was through the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It was not through their power,
is not something of their own at all. We have it in verse 12
and 13. He says, ye men of Israel, why
marvel at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on
us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this
man to walk? The God of Abraham and of Isaac
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son,
Jesus. And then he charges them with
what had happened, whom ye delivered up and denied him in the presence
of Pilate. What a solemn thing still for
those that even are professed believers to deny him. ye denied the Holy One and the
just, and desired a murderer to be granted to you, killed
the Prince of life. What precious things, he says,
concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. He has an exhortation, in verse
19, repent ye therefore, be converted that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord, and he shall send Jesus Christ, whom before was
preached unto you. What a clear message is given
as well, that this Jesus in verse 26, first God having raised his
Son, Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one
of you from his iniquities. And so then when they are brought
before their rulers, and Peter made sure they're on the same
thing, if we be this day be examined of the good deed done to the
impotent man by what means he's made whole, be it known unto
you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of
Jesus of Nazareth, whom ye crucify, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand before you whole. Again and again,
John, Peter, the apostles, they are testifying of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's not just testifying of God
or the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, but Jesus of Nazareth
is being set forth again And again, and it is this name then
that the elders, the council, when they conferred together,
conferred amongst themselves in verse 15, saying, what shall
we do to these men? What shall we do? What shall
be the most effective thing? What shall be the thing that
shall stop this message going out? that it spread no further
among the people, let us straightly threaten them that they speak
henceforth to no man in this name." You see, what Satan would
have, what men would have who do not like the truth that there
is but one name, and that is what the apostles, they were
very, very clear in verse 12. Neither is there salvation in
any other For there is none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved. And yet these, the council would
say, we've heard this, we've heard you say this, but you're
not to teach in this name, you're not to set this name forth. What
a solemn, solemn thing to say. And yet how more solemn when
those who know this truth and are to be ambassadors and ministers
and called to pray publicly or speak publicly, refrain from
ever mentioning his name. Shame on them, shame on us, should
we walk that path. May we remember that God hath
given him a name, we have it in Paul's epistle to the Philippians,
a name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow. Of things in heaven and things
on earth and things under the earth, that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father. Not every tongue obey thee, ascribes
the Pharisees the council and never teach or speak in that
name, but rather speak it forth and set it forth. And why is
it? No, Paul writing to the Philippians,
he traces the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ being found in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, made himself
of no reputation, in that took on him the form of a servant,
made in the likeness of men, being found in fashion as a man,
humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
him. He sets forth the coming, Emmanuel,
God with us, that this is Jesus Christ. He sets forth How he
humbled himself, he laid down his life for ransom. The wrath
of God fell on him. His blood was shed instead of
his people for whom he stood and whose sins he bore in his
own body on the tree. And that dear man, the man Christ
Jesus, God hath exalted him. He is the Prince and the Saviour. because he has borne the cost,
he has paid the cost, he has set his people free, he has delivered
from Satan's hand, it is he that hath all power, given him in
heaven and in earth, and he is exalted to give repentance and
remission of sins unto Israel, that is, his spiritual Israel
as well as the literal Israel, the Jews and Gentiles, have that
one common way in which they are to obtain the forgiveness
of sins that is known by repentance and that gift is given by the
Lord. The same as a witness in these
apostolic days that it was through the Lord Jesus Christ that gave
that impotent man faith to receive strength and to be made perfectly
whole. That gift was given by the Lord
Jesus Christ. It was through his power that
wrought that. And we are told in Paul's epistle
to the Ephesians, it is the same power that God wrought in Christ
in raising him from the dead as is put forth to make a believer,
to bring us out of spiritual death to spiritual life and to
quicken us and make us alive. This is the work, the blessing
of the Lord Jesus Christ, given a name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. And I felt it
upon my spirit tonight to reaffirm among us how vital, how needful
it is that we should use the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We should set forth his name
and be unashamed of it, and especially because we do find those that
when they are in, you might say, a wonderful opportunity, a world
stage, called upon to exercise acts of prayer, and they fail
to mention this precious name. on them, shame on them. But may
we be delivered from walking in that same path. And so I want this evening with
the Lord's help. We've already mentioned, of course,
several of the reasons, the most important reasons why this name
should be set forth and clearly testified before men. But I want
to look at seven other reasons that we need reminding of as
to why it should be very prominent amongst us, the Lord Jesus Christ. I know I've had those that I've
spoken to at the Dora Chapel here, they've walked past the
door and they're quite happy to speak about God and being
saved. But then as soon as I've mentioned
the Lord Jesus, they've realised that I am cutting off all that
do not believe in Him. And they immediately think of
all different other cults and religions, and so what about
them? What of those who've never heard the Lord Jesus Christ? The Word tells us very clearly
that man shall be without excuse in believing that there is a
God, because of the creation itself, that the Lord Jesus Christ,
his name, is to be preached among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. And where we are given that charge,
then we must say as the apostles did and testify as they did,
neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be
saved. Well, the first thing I'll bring
before you is the path of prayer. Remember the Apostle Paul? It
was those that were calling on this name that he was at first
hailing men and women to prison because they were calling on
the name of Jesus of Nazareth. But what does our Lord say in
the Gospel according to John chapter 14 verses 13 and 14? Whatsoever ye shall ask in my
name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. If ye shall ask anything in my
name, I will do it. And then in the following chapter,
We have in the 16th verse, ye have not chosen me, but I have
chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth
fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall
ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. And then in the next chapter,
chapter 16, we have again, these were and in that day ye shall
ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing
in my name. Ask, and ye shall receive, that
your joy may be full. Many years ago, over in Australia,
we were often very grieved with one of the brethren that were
never in his prayers, whether at the beginning or end, ever
pray for Christ's sake or in the name of Jesus. And there
was nothing we could do to convince him of how vital it was to ask
in that name. It is vital. We think of our
parliament here in the UK, If there is a member of parliament
that gets up and he ignores the chair and he speaks across the
house and he speaks to his fellow members, he'll be pulled up and
reminded that he is forced to speak through the chair. And
that in his remarks, every now and again, he'll mention the
speaker. He will acknowledge that he is
speaking through him. And that must be so ever. We
come before the Lord in prayer. There's those wonderful sacred
offices that the Lord Jesus Christ has. He is our advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He is appearing in
the presence of God for us. He is our great High Priest. We are to do as we're exhorted
in Hebrews to come boldly unto the throne of grace that we might
attain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And the verses that we've read
here of our Lord speaking in John is that we ask in his name
and may that be so then. Whenever we come before the Lord
in prayer, whether it is private, whether it is in our chapels,
or whether it is in inauguration or wherever it is, that it is
always set forth as being presented in the name of Jesus. Secondly, may we remember that
one of the commissions of our Lord was that we should make
disciples of men. A disciple is a follower, a follower
of Jesus. In the epistles, where they believed,
they became followers of the Lord and followers of us, said
the apostles. The apostle Paul says, be ye
followers of me, as I also am of Christ Jesus. If that is to
be how we are known, then may we never be ashamed
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because if we are a true disciple,
if we are truly saved, we will follow him. He is the firstfruits. He is ascended up into heaven.
We would follow him here in tribulation, We follow him to glory. The Lord
says, Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me be with
me where I am, that they may behold my glory. And may we be
like the apostle Paul. Be ye followers of me as I also
am of Christ. And he's not ashamed to say to
everyone to ask him, I follow the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a
disciple of him. You know, the man that was born
blind, and the Lord opened his eyes. You know, the Pharisees,
they didn't believe that he had been blind. They certainly didn't
want to acknowledge that it was Jesus of Nazareth that had opened
his eyes. They say to him, thou art his
disciple, we are Moses' disciple. They spoke it as a way of disdain
and scorn. We're a disciple of one much
more nobler than you. We are Moses' disciple. But that dear man, he was not
ashamed of the Lord. And the Lord came after they'd
cast him out and revealed himself wonderfully to him. And may we
never be ashamed in our workplace, in our families, in our churches,
on the public stage, to clearly declare that we are a follower
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the Lord, when he was
apprehended, he was asked of his followers, asked of his disciples. in the Gospel according to Mark,
in chapter 8, we have a solemn word. Verse 34, the Lord called unto
him, called the people unto him, with his disciples also, and
he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever
will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose
his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save
it. We might perhaps say of this,
lose his life, lose his reputation, lose his job, lose his friends,
lose his family. lose his wife, lose his sons,
his children, his parents, for the gospel's sake. The same shall
save it, for what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole
world and lose his own soul? And what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? Therefore, whosoever therefore
shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and
sinful generation, Of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed
when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. What a solemn word. May we never
be ashamed of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, but unashamedly
a disciple, a follower of him. But then in the third place,
the preaching, of the gospel. You know, when the Apostle Paul
had been converted, then, or saw that he was, immediately
he preached that Jesus was the Christ. Well, the disciples,
they were very frightened of him, and it was Barnabas that,
in chapter nine of Acts and verse 27, that he took him and brought
him to the apostles and declared unto them how he had seen the
Lord in the way and that he had spoken to him and how he had
preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. That very name that he was persecuting
men and women because they were following, he was preaching in
that name. And of course, Eunuch had Philip
preached to him, he began at the same scripture and preached
unto him Jesus. The Apostle Paul says to the
Corinthian church, I desire to know nothing among you save Jesus
Christ and him crucified. How prominent the whole preaching
is to be a lifting up of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I, if
I be lifted up above the earth, will draw all men unto me. It's
only that which will heal guilty, hell-deserving, sin-bitten sinners. The Lord says in John 3.16, As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but should have eternal life. There is none
other name, and in preaching, that must be set forth. The Lord Jesus Christ must be
exalted, not just as a way, but as the way. Our Lord Jesus Christ
spoke in no less certain way. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. I am the only way, I am the door,
I am the way. There is none other name given
among men whereby we must be saved, and preaching must reflect
that. Then we have in the fourth place
the ordinances of the house of God. What would they be without
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Baptism is to be baptised in
the name of Jesus, not excluding, of course, as the commission
was in Matthew, in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost. But we have that in the early
church second of Acts, in verse 38. Then Peter said unto them,
those who were pricked in their heart, Repent and be baptised
every one of you in the name of Jesus for the remission of
sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Not that
baptising gives remission of sins, it's a sign, it's an evidence
of one walking in obedience to the Lord. He that believeth and
is baptised shall be saved. And so, We have the ordinance
of baptism, buried with him in baptism unto death, risen again
in newness of life. That is believers' baptism. It
is a sign of identifying with the death and resurrection of
our Lord and Saviour. Then we have the Lord's Supper,
and we are strict Baptists. We believe that there should
be a profession of faith first, a work of God in the heart, and
then a willing, a free will offering in the way of obedience in baptising,
and then a partaking of the Lord's Supper. Only those that have
come to the Lord's Table in that way are right participants of
it. That's why we are called strict
Baptists, not for any other reason. And so in the Lord's Supper is
not a fresh sacrifice, It's an ordinance. You do show force,
says our Lord, the Lord's death till he come. It is an identifying
and a clearly lifting up and setting before the Church of
God again and again. It is in the broken bread, the
broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is in the cup, the
shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. you do show forth the
Lord's death now when it is observed, his death that was 2,000 years
so ago, until he come, which we don't know how soon, when
the Lord will come again the second time with power and great
glory, ushering in the end of the world. Those ordinances of
the Lord's house are full of the Lord Jesus Christ. to deny
his name, to somehow blot it out from worship, is to blot
out the ordinances that explicitly are designed to have his name
in the forefront and to be set before his people again and again. Then we have in the fifth place
our gathering together Some might say that in Matthew 18 is in
a church meeting situation, in a judgment situation, but it
applies to all gatherings of the people of God. That where
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them. We gather in the name of Jesus. And in gathering in that name,
We have his promise of being with us. Are we going to gather
and say that we want to keep this name in the background?
We don't want to offend anyone. We don't want to clearly set
forth this name. May we never walk that path. That we be clearly gatherings. Unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. Wheresoever the carcass is, there
shall the eagles be gathered together. And think of that concerning
these in the last days when the Lord shall come. Wherever the
Lord's people are there, the Lord will be. Wherever the Lord
is there will his people be. They are drawn together. We have in the Song of Solomon
the type of Christ and his church. And we have the church wanting
to hear from Christ and Christ wanting to hear from the church.
Truly those that love. each other and may we be of those
that love our Lord Jesus Christ. But then in the sixth place it's
our trust. Where is our trust? That beautiful
promise spoken again and rehearsed before us in Matthew 12, 21. In his name shall the Gentiles
trust. Jew and Gentiles both trusting
in that precious name. What a name to trust in, to shelter
in, to believe that in that name
there is life, there is everything in that name. That is the name
that God the Father hath highly exalted. It is the name he's
given to his beloved son before he was born. And it is the name
that was hidden right through all the ages, a secret name,
until we come to the first chapter in the Gospels in Matthew. His
name shall be called Jesus. Do you trust in His name? Do
I? Is His name all our trust? Is it His name that when we gather
together, We gather that the Lord will gather with us, and
we trust he'll bless the word and come with the word. Now in
the last place, in Colossians, whatsoever ye do, do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. How all-encompassing that that
is. That those things that we do,
and especially in the Church of God, that all of it is done
in his name. What a solemn thing when men
do those things that are contrary to the word of God and yet still
in the name of the Lord, that do many atrocities, many evil
things, and label it in his dear name. May we truly know the spirit
of our Lord. May we truly trust in him, May
we love to hear him preached and set forth among us. May we obediently follow him
in the ordinances of his house and as true disciples in all
aspects of our lives. And when we come before God in
prayer, that it is his name that we plead and his name that is
all that we bring, tis Christ instead of us is seen when we
approach to God, that our poor prayers are sweetly perfumed
with Christ's precious blood and merits. Dear soul, you may
feel tonight how full of sin, how full of shame you are in
all of your life and your followings. We fail, but the Lord does not
fail, and the Lord will not forsake his dear people, and he won't
deny himself or his dear name. May we be encouraged in him.
David in his day encouraged himself in the Lord his God, and may
we encourage ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ, a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. Yes, your grief, acquainted with
it, Your sorrows, He has borne our sorrows, carried our sorrows. What a mercy to have a sympathising
High Priest over the house of God. And it is this dear name
that is our shelter, our refuge, our help. This dear man, this
despised man, this hated man, this man, the God-man, Christ
Jesus. who is our only hope and only
refuge for time and eternity. Blessed soul, if we can truly
say, we have him as our companion tonight. Here's him as our refuge
and help and that the God of heaven have magnified his dear
name in our hearts and that we will not be ashamed of him. Though
he slay us, yet will we trust in him. Though He cause us to
go through fire and through water, yet He will, we know, bring us
out into a healthy and wealthy place. Is anything too hard for
the Lord? Nothing is too hard for Him.
And may we trust in Him that He will do that which is right
and that which is good, that we be of the same mind as our
dear Saviour. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. And that we might be found then,
especially times of difficulty and sorrow and not knowing what
way to go, to cleave close to him. And as he puts forth his
sheep and he goes before them, that we follow closely in his
footsteps and mark the steps and mark the way he trod, and
we'll find it a way. a way that leads to Calvary,
but a way that leads through death to eternal life, to heaven
itself. May we be found cleaving, cleaving,
close to this precious Jesus. And while we are here below his
name, not like the council would have with the disciples that
they don't want him, to speak in that name at all, but that
we might often have his name upon our lips. That it might
be that in the name of Jesus, instead of not to speak at all,
Lord, teach in the name of Jesus, that we do speak and we do teach
in the name of Jesus. whether men will hear or whether
they will forbear, because it is in this name only that there
is life, there is hope. Before the apostles came to this
man on whom this miracle was performed of healing, he couldn't
walk, he was helpless, he had nothing in himself, but the Lord
blessed. through the name of Jesus. And
that is the only way that you and I or our loved ones will
be blessed, is through this blessed name alone. Lord, help us in
our small and feeble way in which we feel the fail so often, to
lift up this precious name. Unto you which believe, he is
precious. May we then be helped to continue
to speak and to teach and to pray and to lift up the precious
name of Jesus. Amen.