SENT Part 9 | Something About That Name!! | Acts 19:1–20

It's interesting. It's interesting, but it's a reminder that the name of Jesus is not to be abused. You can't pimp out Jesus for personal privileges. We can't claim his name and deny his nature. We can't wear his cross and reject his cost. We can't praise him on Sunday and play him on Monday. We can't quote his words and defy his ways. But Jesus is our savior, not our sponsor. He is our master, not our mascot. [00:21:40] (44 seconds)  #RespectJesusName

Using Jesus' name for prosperity, health and wealth. Saying, if I say it in Jesus' name, he'll make me rich. If I claim it and name it, it's mine. Leave Jesus' name out of it. Using Jesus' name to justify our lifestyle choices as though we can live any kind of way because Jesus loves anybody. No, Jesus has called all of us to holiness. We can't put Jesus name on our sin. Leave Jesus name out of it. [00:23:21] (38 seconds)  #DontUseJesusForGain

God was doing miracles in that day. Lame people were starting to walk again. Blind people were getting their sight back again. People that had bleedings were now being healed again. People that couldn't hear their ears were being unstopped. And the reason God was doing it thin was so that people would understand this God that Paul was talking about was not a fiction of their imagination, but this God that they were talking about was a miracle working God. The same miracle working God that rose Jesus was still working in that day. [00:18:06] (37 seconds)  #MiraclesValidateGod

And in that very moment, he began to open God's word to help them to understand who Jesus is. See, your theology begins when you understand who Jesus is. Until you understand that Jesus is the center of the Christian faith, you will have gaps in your theology. You will try to earn your way to God. You would try to think of him as a good teacher. There are many faiths that try to put Jesus in several categories. [00:06:58] (34 seconds)  #TheologyStartsWithJesus

Friends, I want you to understand in a world that wants to talk about God, but wants to ignore Jesus, you need to understand Jesus is the center of the Christian faith. Jesus, the eternal son of God who became human, lived sinlessly, died sacrificially, rose triumphantly, reigns gloriously, intercedes continually, and will return victoriously. I want you to know Jesus is the center of the Christian faith. [00:11:04] (34 seconds)  #JesusIsTheCenter

We need to be careful because these these mistaken ideologies and ideologies and identities, they seek to deceive us. And what happens, we live in a world where most of us want a Jesus that serves us rather than a Jesus that we serve. We want to create a personal concierge for Jesus. Jesus says, No, I did not come for you to use my name, but I came for you to bow down to my name. [00:24:29] (32 seconds)  #ServeJesusNotYourself

That the word of God, when you come on Sunday, shouldn't be the first time you open your bible. But that you ought to make it a habit to read one chapter a day or two chapters a day or where we may be in our series because the word of God will help you to understand more and more about Jesus Christ. He's the center of the faith. Matter of fact, the whole bible is about Jesus Christ from cover to cover. Every book is either pointing to him or telling us about him or telling us he's coming back again. [00:15:26] (35 seconds)  #ReadBibleDaily

It's not just teaching that takes place, there are also miracles that take place. You see it right there in verses eleven and twelve. Look at verse 11. And God did extraordinary miracles through Paul. What a powerful verse. I want you to notice something though. God is the subject of this verse. It's not Paul, but God did extraordinary miracles. God. God. God did miracles is the word dunamis. It is this ideal of power. That that not only is God giving sound and solid doctrine being taught, but along with that teaching, God is doing miracles to both validate the message and to also remind people of the power that's found in him. [00:16:02] (53 seconds)  #GodDidMiracles

And then he lays horns on them and the holy spirit comes upon them. And they begin to speak in languages and tongues and they begin to prophesy in that moment. Friends, I want you to understand, even read the scripture. This describes one moment. I want you to know you don't have to do something special to get the spirit in your life. But as soon as you profess the name of Jesus Christ, as soon as you put your faith in Jesus, the spirit automatically comes into your life. You have the power to live the Christian life. [00:12:29] (33 seconds)  #FaithBringsTheSpirit

And apparently, it seemed like it's worked a couple of times until they come upon the wrong one. And this one not only hears it, but when he replies back to him, he says, listen, I know Jesus and I know Paul, but I don't know who you are. And then this strange text says he then begins to put a beat down on them because they they they they don't have the power that they thought they had by using the name of Jesus. It's interesting. It's interesting, but it's a reminder that the name of Jesus is not to be abused. [00:21:10] (39 seconds)  #DontExploitJesus

Some say he's a prophet. Some say he's a teacher. Some say he's a holy man. But you and I know Christianity teaches us that Jesus is not a good teacher. He's just not a prophet. No. He's the son of the living God. [00:07:32] (17 seconds)  #JesusIsSonOfGod

But these miracles that are taking place are done through the instrument of Paul because God uses people. And God chooses to work through Paul. Matter of fact, he's working through Paul to such a degree that we don't see this in text often. But even the the handkerchiefs that Paul is using to wipe his brow with, people are taking them and putting them on ill people, and ill people are becoming well. The aprons that Paul would use when he would do his work in tent making, They would take those aprons and lay them on people and people would be healed. But you do know it wasn't the the handkerchief that was doing the healing. Oh, don't you be buying no handkerchief from nobody. There's no healing power in a handkerchief or in anybody's apron. [00:16:56] (56 seconds)  #GodUsesPeople

And so when these disciples are struggling, they're struggling because they don't know Jesus. And Paul begins to introduce them to the gaps in their faith that maybe they had never heard of Jesus. They just never got the full story. But as soon as Paul tells them about Jesus, you can't wait. You can only imagine the lights that go off in their mind. They recall John talking about there's one coming after me whose shoes I can't even lace. And when Paul tells them the one he's talking about has already come, and not only has he came, but he came and he died so that you can have life and he's been risen from the dead. Immediately, those those disciples say we wanna get baptized. And they get baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:11:38] (50 seconds)  #KnowJesusGetBaptized

It teaches us it's a good thing to have conversations and dialogues about the faith. It teaches us that it's important for us as a family of faith to have conversations so that we can grow in our understanding about who God really is. And I love this because the text says that when they ask them, you watch their posture. They are both honest, They are both humble, and they are both open. They said, listen, we've never even heard of the holy spirit. We appreciate their honesty, but it shows us that there's nothing wrong with wrestling with the truths of God's word. Matter of fact, the church is the place, a safe place where God gives us room to wrestle with the truths so we can come to God's true understanding. [00:04:14] (50 seconds)  #WrestleWithFaith