This article is from the August 1990 issue of The Pentecostal Herald, pages 2, 18 and 19.
People of the Name
by David K. Bernard, Associate Editor
"God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name" (
Acts 15:14).
The note on the windshield of my car read, "Would you take me to your church?" I did not recognize the name and telephone number at the bottom, but I called the number and arranged transportation for the girl who had made the request.
Like me, she was a student at the University of Texas at Austin, and she was searching for God. While visiting a friend of hers at the apartment complex where I lived, she had been attracted by the bumper sticker on my car, which said: "PEOPLE OF THE NAME. . .
JESUS" and in small letters, "United Pentecostal Church." Although she knew nothing of our message at the time, as a result of this contact she is a member of a United Pentecostal Church today.
I One day as I was driving the same car down a freeway in Houston, someone behind me began honking his horn insistently. I looked back to see the driver pointing repeatedly toward the top of his car with a big grin on his face. It took me a while to realize that he had read my bumper sticker and was pointing one finger to heaven. He wanted me to know that he too was one of those People of the Name who served the one true God.
On another occasion, as I drove along a road that had various places of worldly entertainment -bars, a massage parlor, an "adult" bookstore, a movie theater- the devil seemed to say, "If you were to go into one of these places, no one: would recognize you. You could have fun and never get caught." Immediately I thought of my bumper sticker, and a question came to mind: If people saw my car parked at one of these places, what would
they think of my church and, most of all, my Lord? Of course, the true motivation and power to resist temptation that day did not come from the name on the bumper sticker but from the Bearer of that name, who dwelt in my heart by His Spirit.
On these three occasions and others like them, my bumper sticker served as a mark of identification to an inquirer, to another Christian, and to myself. Similarly, the name of Jesus identifies us to the world, to fellow believers, and to ourselves. God's people have always
been identified by His name.
In the Old Testament
In the Old Testament God established a covenant with the nation of Israel. If the Israelites would serve Him, He promised to establish them, make them a holy people, bless them greatly, and make them a witness of Him to all nations; and He expressed this plan by identifying them with His name Jehovah.
Moses proclaimed, "The LORD (Jehovah) shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses,and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee" (
Deuteronomy 28:8-10).
Throughout the Old Testament, God identified His people as those who were called by His name (I
1 Chronicles 7:14;
Isaiah 43:5-7:
Daniel 9:19). God's name represents His character, power, authority, and presence (
Exodus 3:13-14; 6:3-8: 9:16: 23:20-21; 1 Kings
8:27-29). To be called by His name means to be identified with Him, to know His divine character, to experience His miraculous power, to live under His sovereign authority, and to dwell in His sacred presence. God's name represents God Himself; it is God in self-revelation.
God's people exalt His name (
Psalm 34:3). They praise and bless His name (
Psalm 113:l-3). They seek His name and call upon His name (
Psalm 83:16; 105:l). They sanctify His name, treating it as holy, revered, and sacred by the way they use it and also by the way they live (
Isaiah 29:23). By word and deed they declare His name to each other and to the world (
Psalm 22:22).
Those who fear (respect, revere) God's name and those who love God's name have a great inheritance (
Psalm 61:5; 69:36). Those who remember His name have an unfailing source of strength and protection (
Psalm 20:7;
Proverbs 18:l0). God reserves blessings for those who think on His name (
Malachi 3:16). The faith, commitment, and holiness of God's true people in the Old Testament is summed up in the words of
Micah 4:5: "We will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever."
In the New Testament
The New Testament church continued to exalt God's name, the only difference being that they had a greater revelation of God and His name. The God of the Old Testament- Jehovah-manifested Himself in flesh to be the Savior, and the name by which He chose to
come was Jesus, which literally means Jehovah-Savior. (See
Matthew 1:21,23.) The name of Jesus is the only saving name (
Acts 4:12), the highest name ever made known to us (
Philippians 2:9), and the name by which the New Testament church is identified.
God united both Jews and Gentiles into His church, thereby establishing a people of the name of Jesus (
Acts 15:14). New Testament believers have the name of Jesus invoked over them (
Acts 15:17;
James 2:7).
Jesus instructed His disciples to gather in His name (
Matthew 18:20), to pray in His name (
John 14:13-14), and to preach in His name (
Luke 24:47). He said they would cast out demons, speak in tongues, receive divine protection, and receive healings in His name (
Mark 16:17-18) as well as receive the Holy Spirit in His name (
John 14:26). He also warned that they would be reviled, persecuted, and hated for His name's sake (Matthew
10:22; 24:9).
After the New Testament church was founded on the Day of Pentecost, the believers went forth in the name of Jesus. They baptized by invoking the name of Jesus (
Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48: 19:5; 22:16). They prayed for the sick and received healings by invoking the name of Jesus (
Acts 3:6, 16: 4:l0:
James 5:14). They cast out demons by invoking the name of Jesus (
Acts 16:18). They experienced many signs and wonders in the name of Jesus (
Acts 4:30).
The early church taught and preached everywhere in His name (
Acts 5:28, 40, 42). They called on His name (
Acts 9:21), labored for His name (
Revelation 2:3), held fast to His name (
Revelation 2:13), and refused to deny His name (
Revelation 3:8). In fact, they proclaimed that salvation was only in the name of Jesus (
Acts 4:12). They lived a holy life in order to bear witness of His name (I
1 Timothy 2:19). They bore His name to the world, and they suffered for His name (
Acts 9:15-16). They were reproached for His name (I Peter
4:14), and they even risked their lives for His name (
Acts 15:26). When persecuted, they rejoiced "that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name" (
Acts 5:41). They did not enjoy beatings, imprisonment, deprivation, and martyrdom any more than we do, but they rejoiced that even their enemies identified them with Jesus.
Today
Strangely, much of Christendom does not teach the doctrine of the name of God, and many professing Christians seem reluctant to be identified totally with the name of Jesus. Instead, they seem to regard the supreme name of God as unimportant, unknowable, or expressed by a trinity of titles.
Some of them even attack or ridicule Oneness Pentecostals for our devotion to the name of Jesus. Some call us "Jesus Only" as a term of disparagement. (The label originated because we baptize in the name of Jesus only, but some use it to charge us falsely with denying God as the Father and the Holy Spirit.) In Central America other groups sometimes ridicule us by using the label of "Jesusites."
Significantly, even when others revile or persecute us, they identify us with Jesus. We can rejoice that even when their intent is to discredit us, they nevertheless recognize our devotion to the name of Jesus. One observer joked that we should not be called "Jesus Only" but "Jesus Everything." Another trinitarian observer remarked publicly, "No one loves and exalts Jesus more than you folks do:'
To be people of the name of God means to enjoy the blessings of God, including the greatest blessing of all, salvation. I t means we are to worship God with all our being, to walk in holiness as people who are dedicated wholly to Him, and to be a witness of Him to the rest of the world. In short, the Name is our identification.
It is our supreme privilege to be identified with the only saving name, the highest name ever given, the name of Jesus. One day everyone will confess that name (
Philippians 2:l0-11). Those who confess the name of Jesus now confess Him in salvation (
Romans 10:9 -13); those who wait until later will confess that name in judgment.
Let us confess the name of Jesus now in salvation by repenting of sin, being baptized in the name of Jesus, and receiving the Holy Spirit (
Acts 2:38). And from that time forward, let us walk and live in His name, exalting the name of Jesus in our worship, our lifestyle, and our witness.
"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" (
Colossians 3:17).
Hybrid Mode
