There’s Something about that Name – Acts 4:1-12

When I was in Bible School there was a very popular Christian Trio visiting church after church.

They came to the church where Judy and I were members, and the building was packed with more than 2,000 people.

In those days, before they moved into the current Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), their style was respectful, and for the most part, reverent.

They were writing and singing the most popular songs in Christian circles at the time:

“The Old Rugged Cross Made the Difference,” “The King is Coming,”

“Something Worth Living For,” “Thanks to Calvary.”

They had dozens of fairly decent songs.

The group was not, and is not, Baptist, but rather Church of God (Indiana),

But they were visiting a lot of the biggest, most important churches of the Baptist Bible Fellowship.

In 1970, I was just a young Christian and didn’t know very much.

I was singing along with many of their songs, but there was one that just made my skin crawl.

It was called “There’s Something about that Name.”

There was nothing in the song that appealed to me, but there were several things that repelled me.

For example it was sung by the lady in the group;

I learned that this woman was an ordained minister.

As far as I can remember it was her only complete-song solo.

And she sang it in a Bing Crosby style – it was crooned into the microphone.

And then there were the words to the song, or perhaps I should say, the lack of words:

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; There’s just something about that name.

Master, Saviour, Jesus; Like the fragrance after the rain.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; Let all Heaven and Earth proclaim.

Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there’s something about that Name.”

Even in my spiritual infancy, I considered that song to be nothing but fluff – cotton candy.

And when people said that it was only meant to worshipful, I questioned their definition of worship.

In our church hymnal, we have a couple of songs that are not too much better.

“There is a name of wondrous sweetness, resplendent with immortal fame;

I glory in its grand completeness, it is the Saviour’s precious name

There is no name of rarer beauty; then shall I ever blush with same;

Nay! ‘Tis my joy, and not a duty, to magnify my Saviour’s name.

This name all other names transcending, Remains for ever more the same;

Some day, with angel voice blending, I’ll sing the praises of His name.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus took away my sin; Jesus, Jesus, Jesus now abides within.

Then give me Jesus, Jesus, now and ever more the same;

Then give me Jesus, and only Jesus, O magnify and laud His name.”

And here’s one that you know far better:

“The name of Jesus is so sweet, I love its music to repeat;

It make my joys full and complete, the Precious name of Jesus.

Jesus, oh, how sweet the name; Jesus, every day the same;

Jesus, let all saints proclaim, its worthy praise for ever.”

What I would like to do this morning

Is to try to help you see that these songs do not reflect what Peter, or the Bible, says about the Name of Jesus.

The Name of Jesus is an Omnipotent Name and an Authoritative Name.

The Name of Jesus is an Exclusive Name and the only Redemptive Name given among men.

The Name of Christ is an OMNIPOTENT Name.

But when I say that I don’t mean that it is some sort of magic charm.

The name “Jesus” is not a mystical incantation to throw at Satan whenever he comes to tempt us.

It’s not a spiritual can of mace used to scare away, or cast out, demons.

I have seen people wearing necklaces with the name “Jesus” in gold letters.

A Roman Catholic often wears a crucifix, and these people wear “Jesus” in precisely the same way.

But the omnipotence of the name has nothing to do with 4 or 5 letters of the alphabet.

Have you noticed that there have been 7 references to the Name of the Lord so far in the Book of Acts?

Are you aware that there will be 6 more before the end of Acts 5?

And not one of them is used in the mushy, gushy, superstitious fashion that these songs suggest.

When Peter and John walked up to the lame man in the Beautiful Gate, the preacher made a statement which I hope has been indelibly imprinted on your mind:

“Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the NAME of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”

Peter implied that there is something about that name which had the ability to make this man walk for the first time in his middle-aged life.

There is omnipotence somehow connected to the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

In Acts 4:10 Peter explained to the crowd:

“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 doth this man stand here before you whole.”

Later in this chapter, when Peter and John had reported to the church what had happened,

And why they didn’t make it home for supper the night before,

Someone led the church in a prayer of praise, which concluded with the words:

“And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the NAME of thy holy child Jesus” – 4:29-30.

There really is something about that Name.

But it’s not that it merely warms the heart – it should over-turn and heal sin-broken hearts.

In the name of Moses there wasn’t the healing of the sick.

In the name of Abraham there were no great signs and wonders.

And the Apostles were not promoting their own good names either.

It was in the name of God’s son Jesus “through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all” – 3:16.

The Name of Jesus is an omnipotent Name.

And it is omnipotent because it is an AUTHORITATIVE name.

Here is where I hope that you can see that the Biblical use of the Name of Jesus is really different from what those three songs suggest.

At the conclusion of the first sermon when the people were crying out, “Men & brethren what shall we do?”

“Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you IN THE NAME of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

What he was saying was that those repenting sinners were to be baptized under the name or authority of Jesus Christ.

And when the Sanhedrin was interrogating them,

“They asked, By what power, or by what NAME, have ye done this?”

Those priests wanted to know where the Apostles got their power and authority to work this miracle.

They had asked the same question of the Lord Jesus,

But they denied the answer,

And said that what He was doing was through the power and authority of Beelzebub.

James Strong defines the Greek word “onoma” (on’-om-ah) – “name” and says:

“The name is used for everything which the name covers,

Everything the thought or feeling of which is aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing, remembering, the name,

For example: the name stands for one’s rank, authority, interests, pleasure, command, excellences, deeds etc.”

In other words, the name of Jesus represents everything that the Second Person of the Trinity is.

The Name of Jesus should take us back to His eternality.

The Name of Jesus should remind us of His omniscience.

The Name of Jesus stands in the spotlight of His deity and everything else about Him.

There is omnipotence in the name of Jesus, not because it begins with the letter “J’ and ends with “S”,

But because it signifies all that is contained in the omnipotent and sovereign Son of God.

Jesus once declared, “All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth.”

The name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is a reference to the sovereign authority of Christ.

And that means that no one should be flippantly throwing around the name of Jesus.

“The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.

He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” – John 5:22-23.

The name of Jesus is omnipotent because it is authoritative.

And third, the name of Jesus is EXCLUSIVE.

It is exclusive, and even intolerant, because of Christ’s omnipotence and His sovereign authority.

Let me try to illustrate it this way:

Let’s say that we drove down Spokane Street to the three dams here in Post Falls.

Let’s say that I closed all the gates and spillways until not a drop of water was going over those dams.

And then you stood in the river bed

Now let’s say that while you are firmly planting your feet in the rocky bed of that river, I opened the spillways again as wide as they will go.

How well do you suppose that you’d withstand the power of the unleashed Spokane River?

You’d be swept away in a moment’s time; you’d be dead in seconds.

You’d be drowned, crushed and ripped apart on the rocks before you could say “Shibboleth.”

Or is it “Sibboleth?”

But, science and math tells us that you did resist the force of that water, however insignificantly.

You presented a slight problem and offered a drop of resistence to the flood of water,

Because that water, although incredibly powerful, is not omnipotent.

The fact that a dam can stop the river is proof that it isn’t all powerful.

But, Jehovah, on the other hand is absolutely omnipotent.

There is nothing that can offer a toothpick’s of resistence to His power.

Man can oppose God only as God permits that opposition.

So for all practical purposes it’s not really opposition.

Not only is the Lord omnipotent, but He is sovereign;

Jehovah has absolute authority over all created matter, as well as power and strength to do anything.

He has the authority as well as the might to do whatever He chooses.

He has the exousia as well as the dunamis to do what men think is impossible.

These two things mean that what He says goes,

What he determines is, and what He decrees cannot be contested.

And Peter correctly told those religious leaders that day:

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” – Acts 4:12.

The sovereign and omnipotent God has decreed that there is no name –

But the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,

Through which sinners can be delivered from the effect of their sins.

The Jews claimed Abraham and Moses to be their spiritual fathers,

But Abraham and Moses had been dead for centuries, proving that they were nothing more than important sinners somewhat like the rest of us insignificant sinners.

Moses is not the name whereby we must be saved.

And the law of Moses is not our saviour either.

Hare Krishna and Buddha are not false gods; they aren’t gods at all – just foolish ideas.

Mary is not the co-executrix of salvation standing beside the Lord Jesus.

She doesn’t save people from their sins in the name of Christ.

Mary was born a sinner like the rest of us, and she needed a Saviour like the rest of us.

Mary called God her Saviour and Christ her Redeemer.

I know that it’s not politically correct, religiously tactful or even naturally polite:

But truth doesn’t always fall into those categories.

It is true never-the-less that after the final judgment, there will not be a single Buddhist, Muslim, or Hindu outside of Hell.

There may be thousands of former Hindus in the Celestial City, but no then current Hindus.

And it may be intellectually chic to say, “There is no God,” or that ” the deity of Christ was the fabrication of a bunch of mad-men,”

But those who say such things are eternally doomed

Because they are without the only name under heaven given among men whereby we can be saved.

Furthermore, just because someone is a member of a Christian denomination that doesn’t mean that he has been presented with the Person behind the Name which is above every name.

The name of Jesus is exclusive.

But it is never-the-less the REDEMPTIVE Name.

There is salvation in this name – or I should say:

There is salvation in the divine Person who bears this name.

Again, I can’t stress it enough, that it’s not the five-letter word, beginning with “J” that is the saviour.

It is the One and only Person who bore that cognomen on earth 2,000 years ago and in Heaven today.

He is the Saviour.

Furthermore, it was not just that the Son of God, born of Mary, step-son of Joseph called himself the Saviour.

The One behind the Name took care of the requirements of salvation:

Before the foundation of the world, God decreed that it would take the death of this Anointed Son.

Under the authority of God, and carried out by the omnipotence of God, Christ went to Calvary bearing the penalty for the sins of His people.

Jehovah deemed that the penalty for sin must be death.

“The wages of sin is death.”

So it would require blood to cleanse away the stain, shame and blame of sin.

“Without the shedding of blood there is no redemption.”

“It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”

There has never been a man or woman who has died, who didn’t die in his or her own sins.

There has never been blood shed, which wasn’t sinful blood.

Until the sinless Son of God died and shed His blood on that Roman cross.

This means that there is no other person or sacrifice available to save sinners like us.

And therefore “neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

So as was said in Acts 2:21 – “WHOSOEVER shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

In fact, ONLY THOSE who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.

This is the only redemptive name under Heaven given among men.

If the Person Who wears the Name “Jesus Christ of Nazareth” is not your Redeemer, your personal blood sacrifice, your Saviour,

Then you are still in your sins and still on the broad road that leadeth to Hell.

“There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Are you in saving arms of the Lord Jesus this morning?

Have you been sprinkled with the blood of Christ?

Come and let us talk more about this?

Repent of your sins, and trust the Saviour today.