Sermon Tone Analysis

Acts Series #7

Back to the Beginning:

When Church was Church

*No Other Name*

*Acts 4:12*

 

"I can Do what I want to do"

"You aren't the boss of me"

"The Devil made me do it"

"I didn't want to cheat but my coach told me to"

"I didn't want to lie on my reports, on the phone call, to the inspector, but my boss told me to"

"It's NOT illegal so that means I can do it"

"It's illegal to speak the truth, so …"

"Don't blame me, I'm not in charge"

 

The Sadducees asked Peter and John "By what power, or what name did you do this?"

How did you do this and

Who told you that you could do this

 

Let me ask YOU a question today … By what name, authority, power, do you live and move and have your being?

"I'm a self-made man"

"I'm my own woman"

"I'm making my own way in the world"

 

Really?

Well … good luck with that

Proverbs 16 has some things to say about our "authority"

V1 - /to man belongs the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue/

V3 - /Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed/

V9 - /in his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps/

Pro 19:21 - /Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails/

 

In him we Live and move and have our being

 

*1.

Authority *- /exousia/

 

*authority - exousia /- ex-o-see-ah/ - means / power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases, the power of authority of influence, and of right in privilege, power of rule or government - the power of the one whose will and commands must be submitted to by others/*

* *

*Authority in Teaching - old traditions and false Doctrine goes out the window when Jesus comes to reign because he has authority that surpasses man's traditions*

*Mark 1:22** /the people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law/*

* *

* *

*Authority over Demons - *

*Mark 1:27**/ the people were so amazed that they asked each other "what is this?

New teaching - and with authority!

He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him"/** *

* *

*Eph 1:21 **/far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also n the one to come/*

* *

*1 Peter 3:22**/ - (Jesus) who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand - with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him/*

* *

* *

  A.

In *Prayer* -

    1.

John 14:14 - /I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

14 You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it/

    2.

John 15:7 - / if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you/

    3. 1 Jo 5:15 - /if we know he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him/

 

    4.

John 16:23 /… I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name/

 

  B.

Over *satan's* *attack* -

    1.

Eph 6:12-17 - /our struggle is NOT against flesh and blood but against rulers … authorities … powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms/

    2.

Put on the whole armor

    3.

What Protects us in the armor - JESUS CHRIST is in EVERY piece of Armor - that protects, empowers, and gives us authority over the evil one -

    4.

Breastplate of Righteousness - Jesus is OUR Righteousness - Romans 3:22 - /the righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe …/

2 Cor 5:21 (/in Christ) we become the righteousness of God/

    5.

Belt of Truth - Jesus said /I am the way the truth and the life … /

    6.

Feet - Gospel - / /Rom 1:18 / not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ … it is the power of God/

    7.

Shield of Faith - Faith in what?  - The Cross of Christ - When I believe that Christ WON at the Cross, that he defeated every foe, that he forgave every sin and defeated every temptation, that because of the Cross, no weapon formed against me has to prosper, THEN the fiery darts are extinquished

    8.

The Helmet of Salvation - salvation in who?

From whom, by whom?

JESUS CHRIST

    9.

Sword of the Spirit - The Word of God - who IS the Word of God - Jesus Christ - John 1:1 - The Word was with God, the Word was God … 14 the Word became flesh and dwelt among us

 

  C.

over *Sin*

    1.

Romans 8:10 /If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you/

    2.

Romans 8:37 /in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us/

    3.

Romans 7:24,25 /What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!/

There IS NO Other Name that has Authority - /exousia/ - which is available

- in prayer

- Over Satan

- Over Sin

There is also NO Other Name of Rights and Authority but also

 

*2.

Healing and Power*

 

that's the Greek word /dynamos/ - that is the inherent power available by no other name but JESUS

 

I won't spend a lot of time here, but … There is NO other name that can do what Jesus did for this man, but it is NOT about making a lame man walk it was about his ability to make a broken man WHOLE

 

This man needed health and there is no other name that could do for him what had been done

 

He had been at the gates of the Temple for decades but Religion couldn't do it for him

There were plenty of influential and famous names of the day that went by this man every day

Annas - everyone knew him, he was high priest from AD 6 - 15 and the Patriarch of this priestly famous family

Caiaphas - high priest since AD 18 and known for getting rid of that radical Jesus of Nazareth

His famous family including John and Alexander

But those famous names couldn't bring health and wholeness to this man.

Just because everyone knows the name doesn't mean the name has power

 

But the name of Jesus has dynamos - power that is the power that healed this man

 

It's NOT about What Jesus did for him, it is about his ABILITY to do all things

 

In Mark 5 there was a woman who had dealt with a disease in her body for 15 years

She had been to many names

She had spent all she had the scripture tells us but only got worse

But she came to Jesus …

She worked her way through the crowd, and threw herself at the feet of Jesus touching the HEM of his garment and she was healed, she was made whole and Jesus said "who touched my clothes?"

Because he had realized that Power had gone out of him.

Jesus doesn't just have a fancy title and fearful authority.

He has the real power to go with it.

Adolf Hitler had authority and power of numbers who blindly followed him, but when his followers were gone, he took his own life in fear because he had no REAL power

 

Saddam Hussein had power to rule a nation in fear and cruelty, but when someone finally stepped up and took away his power i.e. his guards, his money, his safety, he ran, and he hid in a hole and when they found him he said "I'm Saddam Hussein and I want to negotiate the terms of my surrender"

 

Those men and countless other men who had authority but limited power lost their position and their power when their followers left.

But Jesus Christ has not only Authority, Rights, and Privilege, but he has the POWER, of Life and the Power of Death and his power is NOT conditional on his followers or anything else, his power is inherent in his nature and being

 

There is NO other name that has the power that Jesus has, power over life, power over death, and power in the future

Luke 21:27 - says /at that time, they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory/

 

We are Vehicles for God's Power in the Name of Jesus be shown to the World

 

2 Cor 4:7,8 /God said "let light shine out of darkness" made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ 12 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us/

 

It goes on to say /we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perpleed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed/  - why?