The Power in the Name of Jesus
Mark 9:38-39:
And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
Luke 9:49-50:
And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.
And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.
Here we have a very interesting situation. An unauthorized, noncommissioned preacher was successfully casting out demons in the name of Jesus. This man was not one of the ones anointed by the Lord to cast out demons. Jesus never gave him any power or authority. This was before the Church Age. This man was not saved, let alone baptized with the Holy Spirit. How on earth could he have cast out devils in the name of Jesus?
One thing this man obviously had was a revelation of the power of the name of Jesus. He realized that Jesus had authority over all devils. So the man ordered devils to leave in the name of Jesus. He knew that they were subject to Jesus. He seemed to know that His name had authority on the earth. And thus, a “nobody” made the disciples angry with his success in the ministry.
If you think that’s something, consider Matthew 7:21-23, where we see that even an unbeliever can use the name of Jesus to cast out devils and do wonderful works! The disciples knew the power of Jesus’ name; in Luke 10:17-20; they were rejoicing that the demons were subject to them through Jesus’ name.
If the unidentified man could use the name of Jesus like that then, how much more can we use it now! After all, Jesus identified some of the works that believers would do in His name, including healing of the sick and casting out of devils (Mark 16:15-18). Jesus said in John 14:12-14 that we would do the works that He did. How? By using His name. If we ask anything in His name, HE will do it. That is why Luke says that his gospel was a record of what Jesus began to do and to teach (Acts 1:1-2). Jesus is continuing “to do and to teach” through His Body on earth, the Church.
This is a little different from the thought expressed in John 15:16 and John 16:23-27, where Jesus promised that whatever we ask the Father in His name, the Father will give it to us. In John 14:12-14, we see the truth that Jesus Christ Himself backs up His own name. He has pre-authorized us to use His name as a blank check.
What a privilege! And what a deal, too! We get the easy part. We simply use the name of Jesus. He does the hard part – healing. Too many times, we pray when instead we should simply use the name of Jesus. A quick tour of the New Testament shows that the apostles did not really pray for the sick – they used the name of Jesus to heal the sick. (Yes, Paul prayed before he laid hands on Publius’ father in Acts 28:8-9, but the Bible does not say that he prayed for the man. He prayed and then laid hands on the man so that he would be healed.) The disciples knew that Jesus backed His name and they used His name freely.
In Acts 3:1-16 we see that Jesus’ name, through faith in His name, healed a crippled beggar. In Acts 4:7-10, Peter said that the man was healed “by the name of Jesus Christ.” In Acts 4:29-33, the disciples prayed that signs and wonders would be done by (note the use of that word again) the name of Jesus. In Acts 16:16-18, Paul commanded an evil spirit to leave in the name of Jesus Christ and it did. We should expect the acts that Jesus did to be done wherever we use His name.
The Name of Jesus Makes Everything’s Knee Bow NOW
Philippians 2:9-11 shows us that the name of Jesus is powerful enough to make the knee bow of everything everywhere. This passage doesn’t say that they bow to Jesus; it says that they bow at His name. We are the ones who use that name – Jesus doesn’t use His own name on the earth today.
Someone took me to task for this rendering of Philippians 2:9-11, objecting that this was a prophecy about the Great White Throne Judgment. I can see how someone could read it that way, but there is a problem with that interpretation. Revelation 20:11, beginning the account of this judgment, says, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.” They don’t exist, at least not in habitable form, at the time of the Great White Throne Judgment! Five verses later, we read in Revelation 21:1, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” So during this judgment, there is no heaven (in the sense of the atmosphere over the earth), and no inhabitable earth, since both are being renovated by fire. No one is left “under the earth” when the earth is no longer there. So it makes no sense that a Scripture that talks about knees bowing in heaven, on earth and under the earth could refer to a time when these places won’t be around.
There is no mention of knees bowing at this judgment anyway; perhaps this has been confused with the judgment seat of Christ for believers.
Romans 14:10-12:
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For as it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
This talks about the Judgment Seat of Christ, which is completely different from the Great White Throne Judgment. The former is for believers only, where our works done in the body are judged; the latter is where unbelievers receive their final damnation sentence. The devil and his cohorts are not present at the Judgment Seat of Christ, nor are unbelievers, so their knees cannot bow to Christ during this judgment either!
Because the devil and his demons won’t be at that judgment seat, their knees won’t be bowing then. So Philippians 2:9-11 can’t mean that their knees will bow at the judgment seat of Christ. However, it does make sense that their knees must bow now, given that we have authority over the devil and demons in the name of Jesus (Luke 10:17-20, Mark 16:17). Even the demons must acknowledge His lordship, as they are powerless to stop any command issued to them in His name.
Someone further objected that you can’t just go shout the name of Jesus in a fast-food place and make every knee bow there “on the earth.” That’s nonsense if you understand why you use the name of Jesus – to do His works on the earth. Jesus did not go around making knees bow at the local eateries. In fact, this passage is generally translated to read (as in the King James quoted here) that things, not people, bow their knees. If that surprises you, consider that Jesus spoke to a storm and stilled it and spoke to a tree and killed it. Things on the earth bowed to the Head of the Church. Given that we are His Body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:23), it should be no surprise that things on the earth bow when we use the name of Jesus.
Your Authority Is Not Based on How You Feel Today
I know people who have been healed of serious conditions when the preacher felt nothing and they felt nothing while being prayed over. One of these was blind before a meeting but he got his sight even though nothing manifested until the next morning. My friend who laid hands on him and the man himself felt absolutely nothing at the time. I was there and I didn’t feel anything either. You can’t go by feelings. I’ve seen wonderful miracles at times when if I went by how I “felt” I would be sure nothing was happening. The policeman directing traffic downtown may not feel like he has authority to make anyone stop when he gets up in the morning, but the cars will still stop when he puts up his hand.
You don’t have to feel like the name of Jesus will work any more than you have to feel like your car will start when you turn the ignition switch (if you have a car that uses a key and an ignition). Feelings have nothing to do with your authority in Christ. The President does not stop being the President if he rolls out of bed one morning and doesn’t feel like he’s the President. You might not even feel like you’re saved in the morning. You can’t be led by feelings. All you have to do is use the name of Jesus. It’s easy; don’t make it hard. Believe that He will back His name, as He promised He would, and help someone get free! If someone who didn’t even know Jesus personally could get people free using His name, surely we who have Him living inside us should be able to do it!
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