Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Wait on the Lord Pt.7

That's what we want to talk about this morning, the name of Jesus and the effectiveness of prayer. There isn't any effective prayer without understanding what it means to be a part of the Name and abide in Him and His Word abiding in us. The Scripture says, "Then we can ask what we would and it be done." So, what has happened over the years, people have read some of these great promises of God and made them unconditional in the areas of prayer and using the name of Jesus and seemingly thinking that all we have to do is attach the name of Jesus to anything that's our will and God is obligated to do it. So we pursue some type of personal ambition in the name of Jesus and expect it to be done. Many times we're able to bring about self-fulfilled prophesies or promises by our own diligence, by cunning and very humanistic methods, and sometimes attribute the name of Jesus to it. In our own minds we actually delude ourselves, believing a lie that God is working in us and that God is working for us. As believers, we need to understand what it really means to be representatives of the name of Jesus. That's what it's really all about. When it's talking about praying in His Name, it's talking about, actually, properly representing Him as ambassadors of Christ.

We've talked about it before, and we'll talk about it again this morning about the legal representation of Jesus as we're praying in His Name, or letting our lives actually be epistles that are being read of God. It's vitally important. I think one of the best ways to really understand it is from a practical example--then we'll go back and look at the theology. The practical example that so many of us are aware of is found over in Acts, chapter 3. Let's turn over there. A very familiar passage of Scripture in Acts, chapter 3, about what it means to pray in the name of Jesus. Jesus said if you ask anything in My name I will do it. Now, if that was an unconditional promise, we would be in pretty good shape, wouldn't we? But it's a very, very conditional statement that's made.

As we get ready to study this morning we're going to have to see that in dealing with that Scripture, ""If ye", and we have to find out who the "ye" is that He's speaking to, because its not universal, everybody doesn't require. That commandment is not to all of the "ye's" that put it upon themselves as candidates for the power of God. He very clearly in that passage tells us who it is that's a candidate to be one of the "ye's". If ye should ask anything in My name, I will do it. Secondly, we have to understand what it is to ask in the Name. Thirdly, we're going to look at the fact that the motivation always has to be to glorify the Father. That's what's in that verse. Yet if you listen to Christians, and especially over the last decade those that were so influenced in the faith movement and all of those re-emphases of the authority of the believer which was necessary in the Body of Christ, but perverted. You'll find out that so many of those had a misunderstanding of the use of the name of Jesus; and it was for personal gain, personal glory, and not the glory of the Father.

In Acts, chapter 3, lets take a look at this, a passage that we're all familiar with. Peter and John were heading up to the temple. It was the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. Three o'clock in the afternoon. They're rolling up there to spend some time in the presence of the Lord. There was the lame man that was there at Gate Beautiful asking alms. Peter, then, in verse 4, the Scripture tells us "...fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them" (Acts 3:4-5). Then Peter makes this phenomenal statement in verse 6. "...Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have...." Get that phrase, "such as I have." I have something that's in my possession that's my responsibility, that's my privilege, that transcends anything that you think you need. You think you need silver and gold. You need eternal life. You think you need healing. You need the lordship of Jesus. You need the image of Jesus. Peter speaks to them and says, "What I do have--I don't have what you're requesting of me this moment, but what I do have I give you." "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk."

We're going to look at some of the specifics of that in just a moment. Look over, if you would, further on in the fourth chapter, and verse 10 tells us, "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him..." By the Name, by Him, that by the Name, by Him. I want you to see the relationship here. That God and His Word, God and His name, are one. Now we know that intellectually, but we need to see it practically. When the name of Jesus is spoken in faith, when the name of Jesus is spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by obedience to the mandate of the Spirit of God, God is on the scene. Jesus said, I will be there and I will confirm the Word with what? Signs following. Now this is the commandment of God. This is the promise of God. When Peter is reiterating this, he says, "...that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole." It's not going to be done without His presence. By Him. Jesus must manifest His presence. It's not in a formula. It's not just words. It's the person, it's the presence, it's the power of God. We need to be then conscious of the presence of God in our lives and the need to work on the awareness of that presence in our lives. A jealously for that presence and properly representing that presence in our prayers, in our lifestyle. The simplicity of knowing that He's gone before us and prepared a way. He said, "I'll go with you and confirm the words that you speak with signs following."

As we share this morning on the name of Jesus and praying in that Name, of course, it's absolutely necessary that we talk about faith in that Name. You can't properly represent the name of Jesus without faith in that Name or believing in that Name. So, in other words, prayer in the Name or with a knowledge of God isn't sufficient. You can't have a knowledge of God; you must have a relationship with God before that Name is effectual. The name of Jesus on the lips of someone who doesn't have relationship is powerless. It's less than powerless; it's blasphemy! Peter here, then, is walking in relationship with Him and the very thing we have to understand, this Name became a part of him in the Upper Room. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, the infilling with the Comforter. Jesus said, "Greater things shall you do, because I go to the Father, and if I go to the Father, I shall send the Comforter, and the Comforter will be with you and He shall be in you, and I will never leave you or forsake you through that presence. He will bring all things to your remembrance. He will glorify the Father and He will glorify Me."

If we're going to effectively move in the authority of the name of Jesus we need to be aware of the indwelling Holy Spirit. I'm not limiting it to the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. I think that amplifies, multiplies--but every born again believer is indwelt with the Holy Spirit. It's the awareness of the Spirit that's within us that brings about an effect to that name of Jesus. You see, Peter moved in both realms, didn't he? He moved prior to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He was able to do miracles as they went out, both the twelve and the seventy. In the name of Jesus they preached the Gospel. In the name of Jesus they healed the sick. Then when persecution came, he denied that same Name he did miracles in because he wasn't filled with the Holy Spirit.

I would encourage you this morning, if you've never been filled with the Holy Spirit, begin to realize that there is more there for you--an infilling of the power of God so that name of Jesus becomes a reality in the everyday life. You see how practical it is. He wasn't praying somewhere and getting a revelation, "Now go to the temple to Gate Beautiful." He was about his daily routine and then God gave him opportunity to move in the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit. How many times did he pass this guy? Because now he had a heart of prayer-- this was a man that had been transformed in the Upper Room. This was a man who had an agenda of his own, who had been stripped of it through his own denial. When all of his pride and all of his self-reliance had been stripped away he was a man, now, as a candidate to be used for the glory of God. The trials and the persecutions and failures, if you don't quit are what make us better representatives of the name of Jesus. It becomes more purely His name and not our own methods and our own assurance.

The best illustration is the one we shared many times. Let's go over it again so you can understand what I'm talking about. This is important. There is probably no better illustration to understand praying in the name of Jesus than the very simple transaction that we're all aware of that takes place at the bank. When you go down there with a check and it says, "Pay To" and your name is on there, the signature of that person is the authority. The worth of that individual and what's available in that institution answers all questions. It doesn't matter what you look like, it doesn't matter what your personal worth is, you are the bearer of this promise and it is fulfilled. So we look at the illustration. We go in there. What happens if you go in there and let's say you're in New York and you go into Chase Manhattan and you say, "Hello, I'm brother Christian and I would like $100,000.00." The teller would look at you and say, "Okay. Do you have an account here?" "Well, no." "Okay. Where do you have an account?" "I really don't have any bank accounts." "Oh, so you deal in all liquid." "No, I really don't have any money. I'm really not worth anything." Now how many of you know that that's your condition this morning? You're worthless. You have no value. When you approach the throne of God you are broke. Now, you need to understand that. There is no worth in you. You have no right to draw on the Kingdom of God personally. The thing that hinders our prayer more than anything is that we really still think that we're worth something. We think we have rights. We think that because we go to church. We think that because we're good people. We think that because of many of these other things that somehow we merit God moving on our behalf. You hear it all the time, "Why do bad things happen to good people? Shouldn't they have a better lot in life? How come that person has more than me?" All these different things, and we still think that somehow we're deserving. We can never pray effectively in the name of Jesus until we understand we are worthless. We have no right to anything outside of His worth. Yet at the same time, same person, personally worthless, walk into that bank and down here signed Donald Trump. Guess what? You're walking out with $100,000.00. It's that simple. It doesn't matter how tattered your clothes are. It doesn't matter what your personal education is. It doesn't have anything to do with your personality. In Donald's name you are now worth $100,000.00. It was conferred upon you. There was a legal right to access that.

So we understand, as we begin to look at those principles, that's exactly what it means to pray in the Name of Jesus. But we negate all that Jesus has done--all that He has accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection, that somehow in the midst of this operation of withdrawing we bring up the personal issue of our own merit. It doesn't have to be articulated, but it's the war that we are dealing with in our own lives. What would happen if you walked in there and walked up to the teller and handed him the check. He sees that it's valid. He runs a check to make sure that Donald has enough in the bank. He says, "Okay, I'll get the money." "No, wait a minute. Let me have that. I just really don't know if this is his will or not." You fold it up and put it in your pocket and walk out. You say, "I just need to meditate on this to find out if it's really his will for me to have the $100,000.00." He told you it was His desire for you. You can't pray effectively until you hear what God has to say belongs to you in the Name of Jesus. There is no effectual praying in the Name of Jesus until you know the promises of God. You have to know, with assurance, because if you ask doubting "...let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." You see, what happens is many of us pray prayers of doubt and then we go out and make it up in our own efforts and want to attribute it to God. We got what we prayed for in our own strength, or we conned other people, but we didn't receive it of the Lord. I want to tell you something. If you pray doubting, you receive nothing of the Lord.

Tonight when we talk about the faith aspect in this and how to pray in faith, in absolute assurance of the promises of God--"Those that come to Him must believe that he is, and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him." "It is our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom." That ability to discipline our hearts and our minds through the Word of God so when we access God, we are absolutely convinced that what we're speaking is His will for us at this moment. That has to do with relationship. You see, we can't go through the Scriptures and just pull out promises and say, "This is the will of God." No. Do you understand that God's will for you at this moment might be to stand under His chastening? He's not going to give you that right now. Do you realize that the condition that you're in may be there because of a lack of character in your life? Like any loving Father, He's not going to just lavish things on you to destroy you. You see, you have to understand the Fatherhood of God and His desire and purpose and to be able to determine then as we're going to talk about tonight the understanding of whether or not this Word being spoken is rhema to us, His specific declaration of His general will to us at this moment in our lives. We'll talk about how to recognize that.

Right now, we're talking about this practical aspect of Peter coming and saying, "In the Name of Jesus." As Jesus' representative, I'm here doing what He commanded us to do: "Go into all the world, preach the Gospel, heal the sick, cast out devils." How many times had he passed this man? All of a sudden supernaturally his eyes become fixed upon him. You see, you're not going to have this type of result until it's rhema and until it's God ordaining. You're not going to go out because God said you can lay hands on the sick and they shall recover and every person you touch is healed. The ones that are going to get healed are when your eyes are fixed upon Him and you understand that the presence of God is there and that you are now representing the Kingdom of God at this moment. You see, ambassadors to other countries don't make policy. They have no right to move outside of what the specific declaration is for them at that moment. When they're moving inside of that, they're moving with the same power of the government that they represent. Anything that moves outside of that directive, they're just as impotent as they were when they took that position. It's important that we spend time in the Word of God and the presence of God to hear those moments when the Spirit speaks and we'll be there and represent Him properly. You say, "What do we do in the interim between the times that He speaks?" Be listening. Be aware that He wants to speak and that "it's His good pleasure to give us the kingdom." That "God is not willing that any should perish." Pray for all of your unsaved love ones, but you'll know when you've prayed in faith. You'll know when God has moved upon you and that power has gone forth and it is irresistible. You know the difference when God's words flow from your mouth. What do we do in the interim? We say what God says. We rest in faith. We declare the truth of God's Word and we expect, then, His visitation. This is one of those great moments when as they're going forth to pray and seeking the presence of God and he speaks in the Name of Jesus. "Look on us." The man looks on them. "In the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk." The man begins to leap, and jump, and praise God and the people begin to rejoice. This man grabs them and he says, "Why look on us." "Well, you just told me too." "As by our own power... we want you to understand something: There is no power except in the Name of Jesus." Hear what Peter is saying. We become intricate parts of the operation of God and the establishing of the Kingdom. His power is going to flow through us, the glory that's in the earthen vessels, but we can't begin to think that it's from us. We don't initiate it, we don't consummate it; we're vessels through which this glory flows. Those that are most used are those that are most aware, always in preparation, always in training. How about if you trained, and prayed, and fasted and studied all of your life and only got one of these visitations? It's worth it, praise God. Because His will would have been done in your life. So we become aware that's its all for the glory of God that the Father might be glorified in the Son, and so we rejoice in His goodness and the privilege of being called the sons of God. In the midst of all of the circumstances of life we just rejoice in the goodness of God and declare the greatness of that Name.

"Be it known unto you all [verse 10 of the fourth chapter], and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole." You need to understand something very clearly, verse 12, "Neither is there salvation in any other name for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." I believe that coming into this hour that you and I are facing, that this Name that we're talking about this morning, this cornerstone that was rejected by the builders, is going to be the true issue that separates the body of Christ, the true bride, from the apostate religious system. Those that not only know how to move in the power of this Name, but those who are willing to be persecuted for this Name, those that will rejoice in the goodness of God, and declare that there is no other Name under heaven where men can be saved.

You all know it, we experience it on a daily basis, don't we? Through this last ordeal here in the country, the attack through the friendly religion and we begin to see the political pressure. I was reading some articles just recently, again, about how the major faiths need to come together and come to a common ground so there isn't this conflict between Christian, Jew and Muslim. How many of you know that there is just one problem with that? What is that problem? Jesus! What are you going to do with Jesus? When we start talking about that in light of prayer, you're going to see, then, that the ability to faithfully move in prayer is really what bears out whether we are truly in right relationship with Him or not. That's what we want to talk about this morning: That abiding in Him.

You see, Peter represented Him prior to Pentecost. Peter represented Him in the garden of Gethsemane by sleeping. He was there with Him. He was one of the boys serving, giving it his all, making his great profession that though everyone else forsakes you, don't worry, I'm here for You, Jesus. All the other disciples said: Amen. Us, too. He said, "You don't have a clue what is coming on you. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. Watch and pray that you don't relay on your own strength. Watch and pray that you're not drawing from the resources of the world's system and putting My name on it. Because I'm going to put you through a sifting right now that's going to purify you. Satan desires to have you, but [What?] I prayed for you." Do you want to know something? Your prayer is not sufficient. You're not going to make it on your prayer. Jesus is praying for us. He ever lives to make intercession for us. It's His prayer that causes those rhemas to come. It's His prayer that brings the Word of God to us. So if "the Word of God does not return void, but accomplishes that whereunto He sent it," Isaiah said. It's Jesus' intercession that causes the Word of God to become a reality in us through the Holy Spirit and then enables to react and to then reiterate what has become reality in our hearts. That's the only kind of effective praying there is. As we're prayerfully in the Word of God and humbling ourselves and recognizing our own inabilities, then as we become weak His strength can be perfected in us. This was the process that Peter went through that brought Him to this place.

Now, let's go back to the theology of this for just a second. Turn back to John's Gospel. In John's Gospel we begin to pick up the theology of this as Jesus begins to speak this revelation. Go to John 14, but also go to the epistle of first John. I want to look at the passage that we were talking about in our last session. First John 3:22, "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." Whatever we ask we receive of Him because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Things that just delight the heart of God. The Bible says that without faith it is impossible--so to do the things that are pleasing in God's sight means we have to be walking by--so if were going to be doing the things that are pleasing in God's sight, it means we have to be walking in the spirit, we have to be walking in faith. You cannot be walking in faith, doing the things that are pleasing in God's sight when your orchestrating your own life--to any degree. I didn't say you couldn't make decisions without stopping and kneeling down, praying, and getting a word from the Lord. Because "...the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:" What I'm talking about is the fact that we can't go and make any decision or take any course without reliance on God. Understanding! I'm at all times amendable to the purposes of God in my life. Whatever God says to me, I'm going to do it. The circumstances don't govern me, but only the commandments of God. The commandment of God is what? The greatest commandment, the whole duty of man is what? Love God, keep His commandments. Which commandments are we supposed to keep? Just the Decalogue? Well yes, you're supposed to keep the Decalogue; "But I say unto you..." So there is another set of commandments, isn't there, that go beyond the Decalogue and that's the commandment of life in the spirit. "For the law of [spiritual living] in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." There is a higher law. It's the law of death to self. It's the law of absolute dependence on the lordship of Jesus, the commandments of God, or that we don't trust in the arm of the flesh, but we absolutely rely on His lordship. That's the commandment. When Jesus said, "I want you to keep my commandments," that's what He's saying. "I want you to die to yourself, subordinate to my lordship, and love one another." It's that simple. Part of it is the proclamation of the Gospel.

Keep your fingers in those two spots and go to Acts 10 for a moment. It's a good thing we have ten fingers. In Acts, chapter 10, as we're relating to the commandments of God, verse 42 says that after He rose from the dead, [verse 41] they're giving their testimony. God is raised in verse 40 "...even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead, and he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead." Now this is the commandment. Keep My commandments. This is one of the major commandments. Okay? Preach to the people. Testify of My ordination to be the judge of the living and the dead. Proclaim My lordship not in word, but in your own dependence, in your own obedience because you are epistles that are read of men.

First John, go back there and look. This is My commandment [verse 23] that we should believe on the name of His Son. Keep His commandments. Do those things that are pleasing, your prayers will be answered. What are His commandments? Here is my commandment, He tells us in the next verse: Believe on the Name. If you're going to pray in the Name, you have to believe in the Name. Now, believing literally means to have a life of corresponding action to what you say you believe. True belief is doing, not saying. True belief is a life that is representative of Jesus' life. We just do what He did. We say what He would say about any given situation. We respond the way He would respond. True belief in the Name is a reliance on our relationship with the heavenly Father that we are representing eternal purposes and not our own. That's where Jesus obtained His strength. He understood that He was on a mission. Can I ask you this morning, how clear is the vision to you of the mission that you're on? You know the problem with many of us here? We're discontent. We don't know which direction we're going. Should I do this? Should I do that? What do I do? What about my investments for the long-term? All of these things and our minds are just absolutely in turmoil over everything temporal that we missed our real mission. Though many of us have not literally hung our heads and walked away like the rich young ruler, we're still trying to hold on and we have not yet divested ourselves of everything but the mission that God has us on. That mission may be the very job that you're working as you're there representing the Kingdom of God and you're an epistle being read of men. The fact of the matter is--listen to me very clearly, this could help change your life. The fact of the matter is that you're spending a lot of time praying, is this God's will. I don't know. The fact of the matter is you need to start believing that it's God's will, rest in it, and be assured that if He didn't want you there He would put you somewhere else. "How is He going to do it?" How about causing your company to go bankrupt? That's a start. How about you show up and some Arab missed his target and you're building is gone. There are a lot of ways God can get you where He wants you. "But I don't know." You're cumbered by too many things. You're missing the point. God's in charge. You didn't get where you are--God put you there. You didn't get there in your own strength, God put you there and He'll get you where He wants you. You see, the Name of Jesus, believing in the Name of Jesus, is the ability to stop and rest and trust. You're not in control. We all fall into these dilemmas.

I was so frustrated the other night. I told Janet. She was there in bed. She had gone through another ordeal that I won't go into at this time. We were just dealing with this and I thought, "Dear Lord! What's next?" I told her, I'm at saturation point and the reason is because I'm trying to do too much. I just need to get apart and realize that it's out of my control. This will help you some. As I was praying and seeking the peace of God--like I said, I was right there on the edge thinking, "Lord, I need Your peace." The Lord spoke to me by His Spirit and He said, "Be anxious for nothing." I can't tell you how many times I have quoted this Scripture, but one of the phrases just jumped out at me. He said, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything in prayer and supplication..." Then the Spirit spoke to me, "How thankful are you?" He said, "You're wanting peace without thanksgiving." It all became clear--"Whoa!" The Spirit spoke so clearly. "You want peace without thanksgiving. Do you understand how much you have to be thankful for?" The Lord began to share and I began to rejoice and to praise the Lord with thanksgiving, and the peace of God that passes understanding came to keep my heart and my mind. You see, the prayer in the name of Jesus correlates to our subordination to His lordship. Understanding that we are exactly where He wants us, that we are in this situation for His glory and His eternal purposes. He's expecting us to worship Him and to represent Him. Whether it's in rest, or whether it's the warfare we talked about couple of sessions ago, we need to see and hear what He says, and then, always ready to do it. That's belief, to do it. The doing is the belief. Not the speaking, the doing. We'll talk more about that tonight as we get into the faith aspect of this. He tells us, then, here is His commandment: Believe in His name. Believe on the name of the Son and love one another; and he that keeps these commandments dwells in Him and He in him. "...And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us" (1 John 3:24). Look at this dwelling aspect. What does that cause you to think of immediately? Doesn't your mind go to John 15? "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will..." He that dwelleth in Him. Now that's not just a coming into the presence of God that's a continual relying on the presence of God. Now there's a conscious awareness of His presence, but then there's the awareness through His promise that He never leaves us or forsakes us. There's the manifest presence, but there's the constant presence through His promise. "I will never leave you or forsake you. I will not leave you comfortless."

As we prepare to pray in the Name of Jesus, then, it all starts with what? The abiding aspect. We come back and say, "Okay, (now, get this in your notes) Am I relying right now? Am I resting? Am I abiding? Is my mind at rest in the promises of God or is there something rattling around and still from the world's system, the natural perspective?" Before we pray we deal with all that residual noise. We say, "Father, there are still all of these other thoughts. I'm confused and fearful. I still angry, and I'm still--whatever it might be. Father, I'm asking You now to cause those things to be dealt with as You bring me into the awareness of Your presence, so I can go out and effectively represent You and pray in the name of Jesus, and the Father be glorified in the Son. I'm anxious because I'm still in control. I'm still orchestrating these circumstances and I need to die to Your lordship, because I can't pray in Your name as long as I have any worth or any trust in my own ability, my own strength." That's what God is speaking to us.

As we look over into John, chapter 14, we see Jesus responding in this fourteenth chapter. So many people, they're just interested in verses 13 and 14, but there's a whole lot more in this chapter. For funerals we use the first couple of verses, and what a great promise that is to us. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14: 1-3). We have that promise, then, of that assurance that in the end we are going to be with God. We rejoice in that. But we need the assurance that we're going to be with God now. I need that assurance today! I need You now. I need Your presence that will bring me peace or power--whatever is necessary in the midst of this. He closes that thing by saying this: "And where I go you know." Thomas said, "Lord, we don't know! How can we know the way?" And the most famous of verses, right? The sixth verse, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." That verse and the one we just read over in John, can cost many of us our lives somewhere here in the near future, because that's exactly what the Antichrist is going to try to back us off of. Jesus' comment to us in verse 7: "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also..." and from here on I want you to be aware that you have known Him and seen Him.

Jesus begins to open up some revelation to us here that helps us in our prayer lives, in our reliance, our trust in His direction of our daily steps; our capacity to draw on the wisdom of God and the will of God. Phillip seemed to be a slow learner. Jesus just makes this comment, "...Henceforth, ye know Him, and have seen Him. Phillip saith unto Him, Lord, show us the Father" (John 14:7-8). Aren't you glad the Lord is patient with us? "Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father and how sayest thou shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" (John 14:9-10). Here's the secret: the Father in me doeth the works. The Lord in you does the works. This is how this thing works for us. It's the confidence, as Jesus was here representing and speaking the words of the Father, the Father worked in Him. As we speak Jesus' words, He works in us and confirms His Word with signs following. How purely does it work? As purely as you're depending upon His lordship. The reason it worked perfectly for Jesus is because He perfectly relied. So the real battle for you and I, then, as it becomes a life of walking in the Spirit, relying on the power of the presence of God in our lives, comes to a continual tearing down of our own will and our own understanding, and our ability to read the promises of God and let them become truth to us. As they stand in contrast to all that the world calls wisdom--to what appears to be logical. Now the thing that we don't understand--we seem to think, "Okay, I've memorized Scripture, I know the Word of God." It's just like I shared with you a moment ago, how we have to come into the presence of God, and He speaks and a verse that you've quoted a thousand times that may have helped you five hundred times in the past, now becomes food to your spirit again. It now refreshes you. Your spirit absolutely begins to soar in midst of trial, and under burden, one word spoken and you're free, praise God.

This is what the Lord is speaking of here concerning His relationship to the Father. "Believe me [He says] that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also" (John 14:11-12). What was Jesus' work? Representing the Father. A lot of people seem to think that it was the miracles. No. The miracles were only means of glorifying the Father, representing the Father, revealing the Father. So we don't need to concern ourselves with the method God is going to use, but that He is glorified. I'm not looking to see, and I don't need to know, how God is going to do this, but I understand that He is going to do it. Do what? Deliver me, heal me, pay my bills? No! Glorify Himself. Praying in the name of Jesus--You have never biblically prayed in the name of Jesus until the motive is the glory of the Father, period. That's what it all comes down to. The assurance that we prayed effectively is when we're assured that we're praying with death to self. I know that I'm free from self in this thing. God has set me free. Jesus, His presence, has become reality. He washed me with the water of the Word. His Spirit has spoken words of truth to me in peace. I stand assured at this moment that I speak in the name of Jesus. I am here representing His authority for His glory and no other purpose. I know then that the things that I prayed I have of Him. "This is my confidence that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. If we know that He hears us, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." So it all comes down to the glory of the Father.

Look what it goes on to say. "That which I do shall he do and greater than these shall he do because I go to my Father." Now so many people--a lot of commentators would comment on this verse and make all kinds of different observations. We know that it's not greater in magnitude than the works that Jesus did; because we see the great miracle that He did, the raising of the dead, the opening of the eyes of those born blind, the lame walking, the multiplying of the loaves and fishes, water to wine, walking on the water, stilling the storm. So we know that it doesn't speak toward the magnitude of the miracles. Some people would tell us that it has to do with--not the magnitude, but the quantity, because in each one as they experience this and the body is large and the body is now multi-faceted and representing Him, and each of us now represents Him, so there is more in volume now being done. I think there is validity to that. I think that's a lot of what the Lord is saying. I think it goes a little further than that, also. I think what He says, that you're going to do greater things than these, is because He goes down and represents the change in His ministry. He now, having paid the price, defeated the powers of darkness, led captivity captive, when this is going to begin to manifest itself. He will then have ascended to the right hand of the Father and He ever lives to do what? Make intercession for us. The greater things are going to be because He is now in a state of His glorified being. He has now sufficiently destroyed the powers of darkness, and the intercessory prayer of the will of God is going to have greater degree because the powers of darkness have been defeated. It's an assurance then. What He's saying is, you can expect greater things because you're going to have even less opposition. I have defeated the enemy. I'm ever going to live to make intercession and I'm going to send you forth as ambassadors. The victory has been won. Do you believe in My name? See, that's believing in His name. Believing that He's won the victory, that Satan is a defeated foe, that sin no longer has dominion over us. Is that how you pray, with that assurance? Or are we still trying to get God to do stuff? The Bible makes it very clear that there is nothing else to be done, and everything that pertains to life and godliness has been given to us in the indwelling person of Jesus Christ. So we quiet ourselves and we die to ourselves. We stop trying to rely on ourselves. We go to the bank and realize that we're penniless. I can't contribute one thing to this solution.

We want to pull our own weight. We want to be able to contribute. We want to be able to have some kind of input into this thing. All you're doing is limiting the power of God. That's the same thing that happens, kids, every time you don't obey your parents. That's the same thing that happens, wives, every time you don't submit to your husbands. Every time you take back your own will and think you have certain rights, you've just taken His lordship out of the equation. We've talked about this before for you ladies who seem to think you have it so tough in having to submit. Now, if your husband is a carnal jerk, I'm not talking about him. Do you understand the awesome responsibility of a godly man seeking the will of God for his life and his family trying to die to himself so he can submit sufficiently to Jesus to hear clearly, to give the guidance to other lives and not just his own? It's an awesome thing to be in that position of authority and having to humble yourself and realize it doesn't stop here. I'm not the authority. I'm only an oracle. A mouthpiece. The wisdom and power is God's; it's not mine.

Jesus speaks here in this fourteenth chapter, and we'll finish with this for this morning. "You're going to do greater works because I go to the Father, because the victory has been won. The kingdom has been established. For this purpose I was manifest, to destroy the works of the devil. I've done that and I ascend to the Father. I will send you a Comforter, and because of that you're going to do greater works." "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, [say it with me again] that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13). That's praying in the name of Jesus. So many of us seem to think that praying in the name of Jesus is coming up with some great idea and saying, "In the name of Jesus, I rebuke you, devil. In the name of Jesus I speak prosperity for my business. In the name of Jesus, I..." What? Can you see some ambassador running through some foreign country doing that? In the name of Bush, I--whatever it is. You go do the job you were sent to do. You have no authority outside of the documents that you bear in the representation of His name. The motive is always the glorifying of the Father. Now watch, "...and that the Father is glorified [how] in the Son." Look on me. Don't look on me. Look on me, the ambassador. Mr. Ambassador, thank you, thank you so much. Don't look on me, I'm just representing. Understand that I'm here with authority. Don't give me the glory. Don't think the power isn't here. I'm here representing the Son. I'm here glorifying the Father, the mission, through the victory of the Son, and that's what this is all about.

He goes on and says, "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it." Some people just try to live off 14:14, "If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." They seem to think it's carte blanche and go out and whatever you say or put the name of Jesus on the back of it, that that is what's going to happen. That's not even close to what that passage is saying. You have to start the context of this thing clear back in verse 6. The awareness of the whole purpose of the Father being glorified in the Son and the representation that Jesus was here speaking the words of Father and that all He's doing is sending us forth as His representatives, to continue the mission that He was on. It has nothing to do with us building our own kingdoms.

We will see tonight how this relates to specific things in our lives. We're going to talk a little bit tonight about this prayer of faith in the name of Jesus as it pertains to the mission that we're on, and the general promises of God that we would be a people who were the head and not the tail. We're a people who God is going to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessing upon us. We're a people who are healed by the stripes of Jesus. We're a people who were given all power and all authority over all the power of the enemy and nothing by any means shall harm us. Yet all over the world Christians are being harmed. We understand, then, this abiding aspect and what this means when it says, "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it." Do we then just pray that prayer and whatever it might be, the keeping of the commandments and then just say, "Well, the will of the Lord be done"? When you've prayed His promises you've prayed the will of the Lord. You can pray with authority and expectation in the name of Jesus. With great expectation, with no doubting, because don't let that man think he'll receive anything of the Lord. With an understanding, too, that His ways are above our ways and that faith allows us to pray with absolute assurance that that promise will be effected as it's become energized in our heart. Now remember, we're not talking about you going out and picking some things. We're talking about the man who is praying that prayer that was energized by the Spirit of God, you have no right to do anything to do anything but to expect it to come to pass in the name of Jesus and rest in it.

We're going to make a distinction tonight of praying in His name according to your understanding of His purposes that is totally ineffectual. That's when many of us get discouraged, many of us faint, and then many of us begin to doubt these promises, when in fact they're sure to a thousand generations.

Father, we ask You to make it real to us as we continue in Your Word. Speak to Your people even this evening, and as we take some time and study this afternoon the name of Jesus, that we would relate it to the practical applications in Your Word as we look at Acts 3 and see those who ministered in Your name. As we look at the apostle, the great man of faith who sought You to deliver him from the messenger, and learn the grace of God that is so sufficient. A people called to declare Your promises and Your purposes also called to rest in Your application. It's beyond us. If you can figure it out, if you can replicate it, it's not of God. Even these promises that are so sure and so simple have an infinite application to each specific life. God in His eternal wisdom and power applies every promise specifically for your good and His glory. Rest in that and let the Father be glorified in the Son. Let's stand before Him.

As Gary plays for us, we'll take a few minutes and allow the Holy Spirit to apply the Word in your life. What have you heard this morning? What has the Holy Spirit said to you? There is no limit to what can be withdrawn from the power of heaven in the name of Jesus. When we enter in with that spiritual check, nothing is impossible to us.

We'll see tonight, as we study on faith a little bit and talk some more about the name of Jesus that it actually grieves the heart of God when we pray with little expectation and when we pray limiting His ability. God wants to do exceeding abundant above anything we could ask or even think. But we have to deal with some motives. We have to deal with the death to self, the crucifixion of this flesh. When God has spoken to you through His Word by His spirit confirming to your heart--don't waiver, don't in any way doubt that your God is able. Exceeding abundant. Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, the final reward. It's always beyond what you can expect when God is the source.

Let's sing this together and glorify Him this morning. "I Exalt Thee." Hallelujah! Take a moment and worship Him this morning. Give Him the glory that's due His name. Thank Him for the goodness. Thank Him for His presence. Thank Him for the unspeakable gift of redemption. Rejoice in the goodness of your God. Boast in His power and majesty this morning. Declare His greatness. Declare His eternal purposes. Hallelujah!

Is it about the answer, you getting the answer, whatever it is? Or is it about the love of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us, and being made sin with our sin that we might be made righteous with His righteousness? You see, the goodness of God isn't seen just in some temporal manifestation. It's in the work of Him coming and paying the price and seeking us while we ran from Him. Then we question His good for us because some momentary need hasn't manifested or delayed. Don't lose sight of the big picture. The victory has been won, the price has been paid, His blood has cleansed us, His stripes have healed us and we're to go and boast and glorify the Father and speak it to a world who is still in bondage that we have a Father that loves us. He's not willing that any should perish. That's keeping His commandments. That gives us the right to ask in His name. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody and say, "If you love Him, keep His commandments." Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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