Topical Study
THE NAME OF THE TRUE JESUS CHURCH (I)
(1) The Church Must Exalt The Name Of The Lord Jesus Christ
1. It is only reasonable for God’s church to bear the name “Jesus” since the Lord Jesus Christ had shed His blood to purchase her. As an analogy, a person will register a property in his name after purchasing it as proof of ownership. Similarly, the Lord Jesus Christ had redeemed the church by shedding His precious blood and sacrificing His life. As such, isn’t it justifiable for the church of God to bear His name?
Acts 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
Eph. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
1Cor. 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
2. We are the church of God, representing the field and the building which He had purchased at a price. In other words, it is right for His inheritance to be identified by His name and not by any other names.
1Cor. 6:19-20 19Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
A church must be called by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ since her glory belongs to Him. Otherwise, she belongs to the congregation of a particular church, depriving Him of His glory.
Ps. 115:1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth.
Isa. 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”
God wants to glorify His own name by appointing apostles, prophets and evangelists in the church and by bestowing spiritual gifts (i.e. wisdom, knowledge and the power to perform miracles, heal sicknesses and cast out demons) on them. If a church does not bear the name of the Lord but is called by any other names, isn’t she glorifying them instead?
3. In current times, many Christian denominations are unwilling to call their churches by the name “Jesus”. Rather, these churches bear a myriad of names and consequently, “…there are many gods and many lords…” (1Cor. 8:5). Prophet Jeremiah said:
Jer. 11:13 For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
It is an undeniable fact that secular churches have replaced the name of God with the name of Baal and every other gods, similar to Judah. Even so, David neither poured drink offerings on their altars nor worshipped their names with his lips.
Today, we believe that secular churches would have chosen to name themselves by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ instead of blaspheming God if they share the same mindset as David.
4. Many secular churches choose to exalt themselves by their chosen names and not by the name of God. They regard the practice of naming themselves after the names of places, persons and things as the norm. However, they are dishonouring the good name of the Lord Jesus Christ with their rebellious action. They are the perverse generation who rely on their own counsel to walk in the unrighteous way.
Isa. 65:15 You shall leave your name as a curse to My chosen; For the LORD GOD will slay you, And call His servants by another name;
Great retributions shall befall those who leave (use) their names as the names of churches, for God shall slay them all. He will call His “servants by another name”; the “servants” here do not refer to Moses, Elijah, or any one of the prophets or apostles. Rather, they refer to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In other words, God will call His church by the name “Jesus”.
Isa. 65:3 A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick;
Those “who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick” are the churches who bear the names of other gods. The Lord “will not keep silence” but “will measure their former work into their bosom”.
Isa. 65:6-7 6“Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will repay—Even repay into their bosom— 7Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,” Says the LORD, “Who have burned incense on the mountains And blasphemed Me on the hills; Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”
5. Many secular churches wrongly perceive that their reputation will endure from one generation to another if they name their churches after an honourable person or a famous place. However, this is the way of the foolish since all the works of a man are similar to “the beasts that perish” for they are corrupted and cannot last forever. In fact, God wants to highly exalt the name “Jesus” by calling the church with His name so that she will last forever and “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against [her]”
(Matt. 16:18).
Ps. 49:11-13 11Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, Their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names. 12Nevertheless man, though in honour, does not remain; He is like the beasts that perish. 13This is the way of those who are foolish, And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah
6. The name “Jesus” is given by God. It is a “name which is above every name” which is exceedingly honourable.
Phil. 2:9-11 9Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Matt. 1:21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
It is the church’s right to be named after the Lord Jesus Christ since she is exceedingly honourable. Those who have denied the name of the Lord Jesus Christ are depraved and without honour. They are mired in their wrongdoings!
7. The church which bears the name of the Lord Jesus Christ has the presence of His life in her. Through His name, she is empowered to deliver believers from their sins and lead them to the path of eternal life. On the other hand, a church which does not bear His name is not the church of the living God. Since she can neither atone sins nor grant eternal life, she is nothing but a congregation of sinners!
John 17:8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
John 20:31 but these are written that you may believe that JESUS is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
Ps. 79:9 Help us, O God of our salvation, For the glory of Your name; And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, For Your name’s sake!
8. How can one be called by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?
When a church is named after the Lord Jesus Christ, she naturally assumes the identity as His church (i.e. the church of “Jesus”). Thus, believers belonging to His church will be identified by His name! Similarly, believers from secular churches using other names will be identified as “believers of that particular church”. Hence, how can they claim to be associated with the Lord?
Jer. 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.
“The house which is called by My name” (Jer. 7:10), “the city which is called by My name” (Jer. 25:29) and “all the Gentiles who are called by My name” (Acts. 15:17) signify the church which bears the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must call the church of God by His name so that she can be the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who fail to understand the significance of exalting His name by His church are causing her to be a den of thieves and an altar of other gods.
Amos 9:12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the LORD who does this thing.
Jer. 7:11 Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.
1Pet. 4:17 For the time has come for judgement to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Jer. 25:29 For behold, I begin to bring calamity on the city which is called by My name, and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished, for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,” says the LORD of hosts.’
9. The Lord Jesus Christ said, “And I [Jesus] have declared to them [apostles] Your name [LORD].”
John 17:26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
What did the Lord Jesus Christ mean?
In the Old Testament, God is called the “LORD” but in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ is called the “Lord”. The Lord Jesus Christ had declared this mystery plainly to His disciples.
John 16:25-26 25“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you;
The apostles were told plainly about the name of God spoken through the prophets in the Old Testament and the name “Jesus” by which He would be called when He came into the world in the New Testament. Therefore, the church of God after the period of the New Testament must also be called by the name “Jesus” in order to be identified as His church.
10. There is no other name other than the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The church of God must be called by the name “Jesus” so that she can highly exalt and glorify His name. With the presence of His life in her, she will be able to lead believers to eternal life.
~ to be continued ~
The ACTS 2024 January/February