the tenth chapter of Romans.
You remember last Sunday morning, I spoke briefly from this verse
of Scripture, Romans 10, 13. I mentioned last Sunday morning
the preacher whom I heard on television, and he spent a great
deal of time on the word whosoever. Romans 10, 13, for whosoever
shall call, whosoever shall call. He talked about it being a wide
word, and verily it is. It is in fact, it is indeed a
wide, wide word. Jew and Gentile, bond and free,
male and female, barbarian, Scythian, it's a wide, wide word. Whosoever,
whosoever. And then he spent a great deal
of time on the latter part of the scripture, the last three
words, shall be saved. He talked about God's shalls
and God's wills, whatever God gives to a man is for eternity,
it shall be done. Every promise of God is secure
and sure, it shall be done. What it means to be saved. But
he had little or nothing to say about the middle part of that
verse, which declares the name of the Lord. The name of the
Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. The name of the Lord. Well, I've
been giving a lot of thought to that this week, and I plan
to speak to you this morning on the subject, the name of Jesus.
The name of the Lord. What's in a name? And if you
will, I'd like you to turn to the book of Acts now, chapter
3, verse 6. What's in this name? Why is so
much emphasis put on the name of the Lord, the name of the
Lord? In Acts chapter 3, in the third
chapter of the book of Acts, Peter and John, it says in verse
1, went up together into the temple. They'd gone to the temple
about the And our prayer being about the ninth hour, Peter and
John, two of our Lord's disciples, had gone to the temple at three
o'clock in the afternoon to pray. And there was a certain man laying
from his mother's womb, who was carried, whom they laid daily
at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful. There are
several gates there at the temple, and this particular gate is called
Beautiful. And there was where this man
lay every day at the gate called Beautiful, and he would beg there.
He would ask alms of them that entered into the temple. Here's
a man forty years of age, laying from his mother's womb, sitting
by this gate in his deformity and impotence, with his hands
out begging to all the worshipers, begging from them, the worshipers
who went into the temple. Verse three, who, when he saw
Peter and John, seeing Peter and John about to go into the
temple, he held out his hand to them, these two disciples
of our Lord, hoping to receive something from
them, some money. And Peter, fastening his eyes
on this man with John, said, look on us, look on us. Here is man in his impotence
and helplessness and inability, in his rags and dirt and filth.
And this is a picture of Christ redeeming sinners. When our Lord
raises a dead man from the tomb, He's showing how that He raises
spiritually dead people. It's not just demonstrating our
Lord's power over death, but also His power over spiritual
death. When our Lord gave sight to the
blind, it's a picture of how that he gives spiritual sight
to those who are blind by sin. When he gives hearing, and when
he causes the lame to walk, the lame and Adam are made to walk.
And that's what this is all about here. And this man reached out
to Peter, and Peter fastened his eyes on him, and he said,
look on us, look on us. Verse 5, and he gave heed to
them. He heard Peter. expecting to
receive something of him and of John. And Peter said, now
watch this, I don't have any money. Silver and gold have I
none. I don't have any money. But what
I have, such as I have, give I thee. Now watch this,
in the name, in the name In the name of Jesus Christ, in the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you rise up and walk." And Peter took him by the right
hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and his ankle bones
received strength, and he—this man's forty years old now, he's
never walked. From his mother's womb he's been
a cripple. Think of the condition of his legs, his body. And he
leaping up, stood and walked and entered into the temple,
walking and leaping and praising God. Praising God. And all the people saw him walking
and praising God, and they knew who it was. They knew it was
he that sat and begged for alms at the beautiful gate of the
temple. They were filled with wonder and amazement at that
which had happened to him. And as the lame man, which was
healed, held Peter and John, he just held on to them. He wanted
to stay with them, and he took them by the arms, you know, by
the hand. All the people ran together unto them also, unto
Peter and John, in the porch that's called Solomon's porch,
greatly wondering. Now I want you to watch Peter's
admonition. And when Peter saw it, he saw
the wonder on the face of the people, the amazement in their... literally idolizing those disciples
as they gathered around them. Here's a man that had never walked,
and Peter saw what was going on. He saw their amazement and
their wonderment. Now watch what he said. He answered
the people, verse 12, Ye men of Israel, why marvel at this
miracle? Why are you so amazed? And why
do you look so earnestly on us? as though by our own power, or
by our own holiness, we made this man to walk. The God of
Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, and the God of our fathers,
hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom you delivered up, whom you
denied in the presence of Pilate, when you said, Give us Barabbas,
when he was determined to let him go, finding no fault in him.
But you denied the Holy One, and the just one. And you desire
a murder to be granted unto you, and you kill the Prince of Life,
whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses.
Amen. Now what's this? His name. This is our subject. His name.
You remember when that man was lying there, twisted and impotent
and broken and lame and helpless, and Peter said, in the name,
in the name of Jesus Christ, you rise up and walk. Now, he's
explaining what's taken place to a bunch of people who's literally
worshiping Him and adoring Him and about to follow Him. He says, hold it. Hold it right
there. It is His name and through faith
in His name that has made this man strong. It's not me. I have nothing to do with it.
It's that name. that name. Well, the priest. This didn't
go on without coming to the attention of the priest. They just didn't
fade back into the background, these disciples, after this was
done. They just didn't disappear, you know. This is a notable deed. This man had been lying there
all these years. They all knew him. And they saw him walking,
leaping, praising God, going in and out of the temple. And
this shook some folks up, especially the head honchos in the temple,
the priest, the chief priest, the captain, the Sadducees. So they came and found the disciples
and laid hold of them. They surrounded them. They surrounded
Peter and John, and these fellows, these captains of the temple
and the Sadducees and the chief priests and the high priest,
and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and all these fellows gathered
here around these disciples. Verse 7, Acts 4. Acts 4, verse 7. And when they
set them in the middle up, it's a frightening thing. A while
ago, the disciples were frightened by the people as they gathered
around them in amazement and wonderment, and came upon them,
you know. I could have carried him on my
shoulders and made him king, you know. He said, hold it right
there in his name. It's his name. Don't look on
me. Now these fellas are gathered
round him, you know, and it's a different atmosphere. It's
a different attitude. It's the gnashing of teeth. It's
the clenched fist. It's the, what's going on here,
you know. You're encroaching on our territory. And they said
in verse 7, when they set them in the mirror, they said, by
what power and by what means are you acting? and functioning
and doing things like this. By what power, by what authority,
and by what niche are you doing what you're doing? Peter's not
at a loss for words. When a man's preaching Christ
and glorifying Christ and seeking to honor Christ, God won't leave
him at a loss for words. He'll honor his words. So in
verse 10, Acts 4, he said, all. All of you. And to all the people of Israel,
all you captains of this temple, and you Sadducees, and Pharisees,
and high priests, and Annas, and Caiaphas, and John, Alexander,
and all the rest of you, let—I got something to tell you. That
by the name—you just can't get away from it, can you? You see, you don't see yet, but
you will, why I got so upset with this preacher last week.
As I listened to that big, big preacher. He has all the credentials. He's got his college ring, he's
got his DD and all this, that big preacher. Renowned. But he
didn't know the gospel, because he never did preaching. He dealt
with the whosoever's in the shallows and never dealt with the name,
Milton. Never dealt with the name, never touched him. He'd
have known it, he'd have said it. Peter couldn't get away from
it. Every time they pushed Peter, he said, it's the name! Every time people came in amazement,
wanting to reward him or laud him or honor him, no! It's that
name! And when they wanted to kill
him, he said, that's that name! And when they wanted to know
what power, what power could he operate on, that name! Boy,
if you ever know that name, you'll be that way too. Do you ever
learn that name? Most people don't know that name. Yeah, he said, be it known to
every one of you that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom you crucify, whom God raised from the dead, by Him that this
man standeth before you whole, by His power, by His face, this
is the stone which is set at naught by you builders. You're
trying to build a building without the, without the cornerstone. Can't be done. And you set it
not, that which is ahead of the corner. And I'll tell you something
else. Neither, verse 12, is there salvation in any other, for there's
none other name. There's none other name. Unto
heaven given. Given. Don't forget that word
as I move on in this message. The name given. There's none
other. Under heaven, under the galaxies,
under the third heaven, under wherever God is in the north.
No name! You can talk about Catholicism, or
Jews, or Israel, or Baptists. There's no name. Forget your
names. They ain't worth the time it
takes to say them. Just one name! Just one name. And it was given. whereby we
must be delivered, must be saved. Well, these chief priests and
elders and Pharisees and Sadducees and captains of the temple and
high priests got together after they'd seen the boldness of this
man Peter, and they realized he hadn't been taught in their
schools. He didn't talk like they talked. He talked like a
man with some authority. He talked like a God-taught man. And verse 16, they said, what
shall we do with these men? How are we going to handle this
situation? How are we going to handle this? If we will ever learn to preach
that name, to worship in that name, and to declare that name,
it'll be like that name he spoke in the garden when they came
to arrest him. They said, we seek Jesus. He
said, I am! And they fell down. The forces
of evil The powers of evil and darkness fall before that name. But when we come in our own name,
we just start a fuss, that's all. You know why churches are
filled with a lot of fussing and division and quarrels? They
got the wrong name. They're doing things in the wrong
name. And they said, what are we going to do with these fellows?
Verse 16, for that indeed, indeed, without question, a notable miracle
has been done to them, is manifest to all that dwell in Jerusalem,
and we can't deny it. But, that is spread no farther. We want our religion to be left
alone. We want the status quo, that's
Latin for the mess we're in, to keep going like it is, nobody
touching. We're happy, we're all right,
we don't want to be disturbed. Let it spread no further among
the people. Let us straightly threaten them. They can carry on their prayers
at the third hour, their sixth hour and the ninth hour, we don't
care. They can keep the Sabbath day,
we don't care. They can bring their tithes into
the storehouse, we don't care. They can cross the light, sow
a wind, all they want to, we don't care. But that they speak
henceforth no more in this name. That's got to stop. That's got
to stop. Play church all you want to,
but don't preach this name. And they called them and they
commanded them. Now you fellas, we're going to
give you a lot of latitude. Keep your denominational program
going and have you Saturday night singings and all these things,
and take up your orphans and build your schools and hospitals,
ain't got no objections to all that. Keep your rules and regulations,
your Sabbath day. But they called them, verse 18,
and commanded them, don't speak any more or teach any more that
name, that name we don't want around here. Don't want that name. Speak no
more. speak no more in that name."
Well, why all this turmoil about that name? All the way through these two
chapters, folks, Peter, the apostles, and the priest, and all these
fellows, they've got a whole lot to say about that name, that
name, that name. Why does the apostle Peter continue
to emphasize that name? Why did the prophets of old and
the apostles constantly refer to that name? Let's look up a
few. Look up Isaiah chapter 9, verse
6. This is no new thing here that
Peter invented. We preach no new gospel. Like
Paul of old, ours is the ancient gospel which he promised to afford
by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Isaiah had something to say about
the name. Isaiah 9, verse 6, under us a
child is born, under us a son is given, and the government
shall be on his shoulder, and his name, call his name Wonderful
Counselor, the mighty God, that's his name, the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government
and peace there'll be no end." Well, Jeremiah, turn to Jeremiah,
chapter 23, and listen to Jeremiah talk about that name. That name,
if thou shalt call upon the name, whosoever shall call upon the
name. In Jeremiah 23, 5, it says, Behold,
the days are coming, saith the Lord. I'll raise up unto David
a righteous branch and a king. shall reign and prosper and execute
judgment and justice in this earth, and in his days Judas
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his
name, whereby he shall be called. You'll
recognize him by the name, you'll know him by his name." Capital letters, the Lord, our
righteousness. Jehovah Sidkenu. That's his name. in the name of Jesus. There's none other name unto
heaven. Do what you want to, but don't
preach in this name. It won't have its name around here. Matthew 1.21, the
angel said something about that name, when God put that star
in heaven two thousand years ago over the little city of Bethlehem.
where he would be born, whose goings forth have been from everlasting."
God sent His messengers from heaven down to this earth, and
they visited the little Jewish maiden. And then they visited
Joseph, the engaged husband of Mary. In verse 21 of Matthew
1, He said, Matthew 1, 21, and, "...Mary, bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus." for he shall save his
people from their sins. And all this was done that it
might be fulfilled, which was written of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bring forth
a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, which is God with
us." That's his name. Joseph, that's his name, God
with us. And then when our Lord was about
to ascend to heaven, back to the Father. In Luke 24 he gathered
his disciples around him, these disciples who were going out
to a hostile world. They were going out with a message
which men despised and hated, which offended the dignity and
wisdom and pride of this world. And our Lord gathered them about
Him, and He said in verse forty-four of Luke, chapter twenty-four,
He said to them, These are the words I spake to you while I
was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which are written
in the law of Moses in the prophets in the Psalms concerning Me. And then He opened their understanding
that they might understand the Scripture And he said, Thus it
is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer, and to rise
from the dead the third day, that repentance and remission
of sin should be preached in his name." Beginning at Jerusalem. And then Philippians chapter
two, and I want us to look at this for a moment. Why all the turmoil about this
name? Preacher, why are you so taken
up with this name? Why do the apostles keep talking
about the name?" Philippians chapter two. I want you to look
at this, and this sums it up and brings it together. Philippians
chapter two, verse six. Who being? Verse five says, Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being
in the form of God." Preacher, what's that mean? Who being in
the form of God? Preacher, what's that mean? It
means this, that Jesus Christ is God. This
being the nature and essence of God, Jesus Christ is God. From all eternity, He's the living
God. Being in the form of God. When
it says he is in the form of a servant, it says he's really
a servant. He's in the form, habit, of a
servant. That is, he's really a servant.
He's in the form of a servant. When it says he's being found
in fashion as a man, it's saying he's really and truly a man.
So when this scripture says, being in the form of God, being
in the form of God, verse 6, who being in the form of God,
he thought it not taking something that wasn't his to be equal with God. He is equal
with God, same attributes, same glory, same power. He said, as
the father quickeneth the dead, so the son quickeneth the dead. So being in the form of God,
he is really and truly God, same nature, same glory, same attributes. He is in the form of God. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. He that has seen Me
has seen God being in the form of God." Look at verse 7. But by His grace He made Himself
of no reputation, for while this form of God was hidden from the
eyes of men, God became a man. made himself of no reputation.
He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we see him there's no
beauty. We should desire him. He's despised and rejected of
men. A man of sorrow is acquainted
with grief, and we hear, as it were, our faces from him. He
was despised, and we esteem him not. The carpenter, wine-bibber,
glutton, made himself of no reputation. And voluntarily, it wasn't forced
upon him, but voluntarily, verse 7, he took on himself. He said,
no man takes my life, I lay it down. No man makes me do what
I'm doing, I do it willingly, voluntarily. He became the servant
to his father, mine elect, my servant, in whom my soul rejoices. He became a servant to his people. He said the son came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister and give his life a ransom for
many. He, the form of God, being in the form of God, the same
attributes, equal with God, same nature, same glory, same power,
yet for a season, for a while, He was made a little lower than
the angels and took upon Himself the form of man, the form of
a servant. The form of God was hidden, and
they said, We know who He is. He's a carpenter. We know who
He is. He's Mary's son. And he was made in the likeness
of men. He became literally bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh. He was born of a woman. He was
made under the law. He was tempted in every point
as we are, yet without sin. He was literally numbered, identified
with us transgressors. Made in the likeness of men.
Can you believe it? Yes. Can you understand it? No. God became a man? Can you believe
it? Yes. Can you explain it? No. I can't. I can't. But verse eight says, in being
found in passion, in habit, as a man, he humbled himself. And he became obedient. Obedient
from the cradle to the cross. Obedient. No man has ever been
obedient to God, to parents, to magistrates, to the ceremonial
law, to the moral law, to all the requirements of God. Obedient
in every jot and tittle from the cradle to the grave. He became
obedient. Not my will, thy will be done. In a total dedication, in a total
consecration. He became obedient. And by His
obedience, He imputed to us that perfect, holy, spotless righteousness
of God. My representative, obedient!
Obedient. Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not for a moment robbery or taking something that wasn't
His to be equal with God. Yes! Willingly he made himself
of no reputation. Everybody that was in his body
deserted him, turned thumbs down on him. Even his closest friends
and his own half-brothers would not believe on him. He walked
the winepress of Droserath alone, despised and rejected. a servant
to his father's eternal covenant, a servant to his people for whom
he was made surety, made in the likeness of men, despised sinful
flesh, and became obedient." Obedient. Obedient to the death
of the cross. even to the death of the cross,
even to that awful, ignominious, cruel, inhuman cross. Dying under the wrath of a holy
God, under the mockings and harassment of an ignorant people, last stand,
despised and rejected till even when he cried, My God, why have
you forsaken me? Obedient Though he was flawed,
he learned obedience by the things he suffered. Obedience. Christianity do all that for
two reasons. He did it to honor and glorify
his father in the fulfillment of his father's will and testament
and covenant. And he did it because he loved
his sheep. And they had to have a perfect
righteousness which they couldn't produce, and only he can. And
they had to have a satisfied justice, fully satisfied, completely
fulfilled in every jot and tittle. If God can find one thread, one
atom of evil in Christ, we're goners. Wherefore, the cause
of all, wherefore, what's that there for? Wherefore? the form of God, made himself
of no reputation, took on himself the form of a servant, but made
obedient even to the scarce wherefore. God the Father has exalted him,
not you, him, not the angels, him. He's exalted him above our
exaltation. That's right. God the Father
hath exalted him, to which an angel said he at any time, Thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. To which an angel said
he at this time, Come up and sit at my right hand, till I
make you enemies thy footstool. The Father hath exalted him. Watch it now, stay with me. And
the Father hath given him a name. Poor fool. poor leader, blind
leader of the blind, spending your time on the whosoever's
when you ought to be spending your time on the name. The whosoever's
will come along if you'll preach the name. The shalls are only
shalls in that name. They're not shalls for any other
reason. God ain't got a shall apart from Christ. Shall be saved,
but only in that name. Because of that name, through
that name. I'm telling you. You've played
the game till your gospel hardens your hearts and everybody else's,
and nobody knows anything about the name. But God knows. God
hath highly exalted him above all exaltation, and given him
a name. It is a name above every name! Oh, I love it. Sinners all love
it. Here's the answer to my question.
Peter, why all the turmoil about that name? Why are you constantly
referring to that name? Why do you keep talking about
the name? Why do the prophets and apostles talk about the name? And the answer comes back, God
gave it to him! And it's the name I preach, and
the name I profess, and the name I trust, and the name I love,
and the name upon whom I call! It's the power, and the glory,
and the authority, and the fame, and the renown God gave to the
God-man! None other wears this name, who,
being in the form of God, was made in the likeness of flesh,
and he became two natures in one, the God-man. That's his
name. Nobody ever would. Yes, he did.
Yeah, Moses! You had a main prophet, glorious
name, but he's greater than you, Moses. He's that prophet. Yeah, Aaron, come on, Aaron,
you got a name, high priest, and the whole nation trembled
before you, and that name, high priest, is glorious, but none
are fit for wearing it like he wears it. He's a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek. He wears the name. David, you're
a king, and a pretty good one, but you ain't nothing compared
to the King of kings and Lord of lords. He wears that name.
This is not His name, Son of God. That's what He is. He wasn't exalted as God. You
can't exalt God. He's high as He can get. God has given him a name which
is above every name. God has highly exalted him, not
as the Son of God. He can't be exalted. That's what
he is. This is not the name Son of Man.
That's what he became. And as only man, he cannot be
the object of worship. He does not worship a man. Can't
exalt him as God. He can't be exalted as a man.
But as God-man, As the Redeemer, as the Savior, as our righteousness,
wisdom, sanctification, and redemption, the Father has said, in this
name, you'll be exhausted about every day. He's given a name,
He's given fame, He's given renown, He's given glory, He's given
honor, He's given dignity, as never before thought of, spoken
of, or bestowed upon any creature. The Father hath given him all
power in heaven and earth, all authority over all flesh, that
at the name of the God-man. But, verse 10, no translation
is perfect. It says that at the name of Jesus,
I wish to change one word. that in the name of Jesus. Because this is an idolatrous
world. And this bowing, and this bowing,
and this worship that saves, is not an outward act upon hearing
the name. We say Jesus, everybody gets
religion. We say Jesus, everybody bows. It's not bowing at the name. Nothing is shown by such outward
respect. It's to bow before God in His
holiness and His righteousness and justice in the name of Christ. See what I'm talking about? Because of the God-man's person
and work. It's by reason of his office
I come to God. In the name of Jesus. It's by
reason of the work He performed. It's by reason of the power conferred
upon Him. It's by reason of the mercy He
can bestow. It's by reason of the glory and
position He occupies. It's in the name of Christ I
pray. It's in the name of Christ I
plead. It's in the name of Christ I
worship. In the name... Mike, you see
that? God bless you if you do, God
have mercy if you don't. Because there's none other name
under heaven. And old Peter had a hold of this,
he had a hold of this when he came by that old crippled man
and he said, I don't have any money, but if I gave you money
you'd spend it and you'd be broke tomorrow. I don't have anything
to give you monetarily. But in the name,
in the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk. And I'll tell
you this, sinner, bow down from your mother's womb. It's been
forty years or longer that you've never spiritually walked. You've
been, you've never seen the glory of God. You've never heard the
voice of Him who speaks from heaven. I'll tell you, in the
name of Jesus Christ, in His name now, the God-man, the God-man,
in His, who He is, what He did, why He did it, where He is now,
in His name, come to God, rise up and walk. And whosoever shall call upon
that name, shall be safe.