No man ever preached and then DEMONSTRATED the POWER that is in the NAME of our Lord Jesus Christ, as did our Brother William Branham. God had given him a revelation of the mighty power that lies in that Holy name. This revelation was the key to Brother Branham’s victory over the hordes of darkness, and there can be no real victory in the Bride until she has the same revelation. But, how are we to come to this place of revelation victory? Is it beyond our reach? Is it just for a few special people, or is it for those who have somehow been able to restrain from being “Of like passion as the rest of us?” No, the only thing that has to be special about us is that we have been BORN AGAIN.
Then how do we come into this revelation
that is so power-filled and life-changing? The answer is so simple that some,
perhaps, will not believe God’s way to receive it. It will come through the
preaching and the study of the scriptures that set forth the TOTAL POWER that
is in the name and that teach our God-given right and responsibility to use it.
That is to say, the revelation power lies in the written Word itself. Most of
us have failed to realize that THE LIFE AND POWER OF GOD lies on the pages of our Bibles in the form
of His written Word!
We are never to read the Bible as we read
other books. The Bible is a SPECIAL BOOK. We are to understand that the WORDS
recorded there are filled with LIFE CHANGING POWER. In those words lie the
ability of God to instill His own FAITH into the human heart. Rom. 10:17,
“So then FAITH cometh by hearing, and hearing by the WORD of God.” In
our modern language, we would say, “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” We
surely understand that it also means, “Faith comes as we read and study the
Word.”
And so in the beginning, as we start out to
seek the Power of that Name that it may
become our own weapon of victory over all devils, we simply take our Bible in
hand and study the parts of the WORD that promise this power and ability to ALL
WHO BELIEVE. Remembering that as we read there is a power in the words we read
that can, and will, put a faith in our hearts that will move us to action. As
we study His promises, keep them before our eyes and in our minds day and
night, we will become aware of a new faith coming in. (Prov. 4:20-23)
As the new faith moves in, we will at the
same time be greatly encouraged to get into the Word more and more. Every real
Christian has a God-given desire to be able to see the supernatural works of
God. We can never be truly satisfied until “The works that He did we are doing
also.” (John 14:12) The Children of God are to do the WORKS OF GOD! It
is the supernatural that attracts the people. The worst sinner in town will
stop his sinning long enough to investigate a miracle he has seen or heard
about. Not only do we Saints have a great desire to see the supernatural, but
the lost have it as well. Though many will doubt and suppose it to be a fake,
what they really want is to see and witness God’s genuine Power at work. This
is the bait on the hook that will attract the LOST SOULS to the place of
hearing the Gospel of the Kingdom. (Please refer to our sermon, “Fishing with
the Proper Bait”, June 1998) Also, refer to the sermon, “Fasting: God’s Secret
Weapon”, April 1997. Fasting is a key to putting the flesh down and opening the
door to our spirits that we may receive revelation.)
Our subject is, “The Power That is in the
Name of Jesus Christ.” May I list the basic requirements to be met before we
set out in the effective use of His powerful Name?
First, we must actually be Children of God through the NEW BIRTH. Our
old nature (Soul) must have been changed. The Spirit of God must be dwelling in
us. John 3:3, “Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom
of God.”
Next, we must be striving to walk in ALL THE LIGHT that the Father has
given us, not that it will be a perfect walk, but we repent when we fail and
press forward. I Sam. 15:22, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.”
Third, we must have no unconfessed sin in our lives. This always leaves
us under condemnation and spoils our confidence. I John 3:21, “If our
heart condemns us NOT, then have we confidence toward God.” The enemy well
knows our sins, and whether or not we have repented and received forgiveness.
The Prophet declared that the devil fears the consecrated life. Resist him with
all sins under the blood and he will flee. (James 4:7)
And Fourth, we must have the revelation of the POWER that is in that
NAME! Luke 10:17, “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying,
Lord even the devils are subject unto us THROUGH THY NAME.”
Fifth, which is the number of Grace, we must know of a certainty that
people of like passions as we are have been granted the Authority to use His
Name. GRACE has granted permission for the likes of you and I to take His name
in our mouths and use it with authority. John 16:24, “Hitherto have
ye asked nothing in my Name. Ask (In My Name) and ye shall receive that your
joy may be made full.” Jesus, Himself, has made it legal in the spiritual
world for His Children to take His name and come against the enemy.
There is absolutely no doubt at all in the mind of Satan that this authority
has been granted to those who meet the simple requirements of God. In Acts
19:13-16, we read, “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took
upon them to call over them which had evil spirits, the NAME OF THE LORD JESUS,
saying we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.…..and the evil spirit
answered and said, Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are ye?” The
attempt by these Jews to use the Name without having met the requirements,
turned out badly. First of all, they had not been born in to the Kingdom.
With those of us who have been SAVED, it is
not a matter of education, nor how many of the deep mysteries we understand,
nor is it even a matter of our CALLING. Rather, it is a matter of our consecrated
lives to the One whose Name we have been granted the AUTHORITY to use, coupled
with our knowledge of God’s COMMAND to use it. We are not to wait until we FEEL
that we have the ability to use the Name, we use it because we have been given
authority in the WORD to use it, then Commanded to move out and obey. FAITH
DOES NOT DEPEND ON FEELINGS. BIBLE FAITH DEPENDS ON THE PROMISES OF GOD AND
WHAT HE HAS TOLD US TO DO.
It is after we step out on His WORD ALONE
that our dead faith comes alive. James 2:17, “Even so faith, if it
hath not works, is dead, being alone.” To wait for some kind of an EMOTION
to motivate us to using the Name, is not Bible faith. It is just going by feelings,
and when the doubts from Satan are fired at us, AS THEY WILL BE, and our feelings
are no longer going along with what we have prayed, then what we thought was
faith is done away. Why? Because our faith was not based on God’s WORD ALONE,
but on feelings.
Once we have the revelation that no FEELING
OF DOUBT can change the LIVING WORD of God, nor change one particle of His
PROMISE, then we can pray, “The prayer of faith that will save the sick and
cause our God to raise him up.” (James 4:15) How often have we
“Tried to believe”, not understanding that we are already BELIEVERS because we
have been Born Again? We do not need to struggle to believe. The Life of God is
in us, and we are made Believers through His life.
QUOTE: DIETY OF JESUS, PAGE 12, “You
are Sons and Daughters of God. ALMIGHTY GOD LIVES IN YOU. THE LIFE OF GOD IS IN
THE HUMAN BEING.” (End quote) We know that we have a revelation of His perfect
character. Do you not know that he is PERFECT GOD? Knowing this makes us Believers
IN HIM. It has nothing at all to do with our imperfect life in the flesh. That
will always be, but we keep our sins under the Blood. We are never told to have
confidence in the flesh. (Phil. 3:3) Perfect faith looks only to THE
WORD OF HIM WHO IS PERFECT. And His Word declares we are forgiven moment by
moment as we have need, and that by believing this, we have a right and an
obligation to use HIS NAME.
By taking His Name on our lips and USING it
against the enemy, the POWER that resides in the NAME is released. MARK
16:17, “In My NAME shall they cast out devils….they shall lay hands on
the sick and they shall recover.” In the use of His Name, OUR CHARACTER is
not brought into question. This is the glorious thing about being granted the authority
to use His Name. We lay our character down as we lay OUR NAME down and pick up
HIS NAME. With all our sins under the blood, we strive toward being more like
Jesus. In the meantime, we are granted the mighty privilege of operating
against the devil under the protection of His Name and Character.
It might help us to better understand the
meaning of using His Name if we stopped and considered some natural things
concerning our own name. In the community where we live, when our name is mentioned,
the minds of the people that hear it, go immediately to the character that our
name reminds them of. If I have been a thief, a liar, a shiftless no-good, and
a burden to the community, then all of this flashes through the minds of the
people when they hear my name.
On the other hand, if I have been a man of
my word, a hard-worker, living a clean life before my
community, then when my name is mentioned the thoughts of the people go at once
to these facts. The point is this: the devil knows all about the life and
character that is behind the NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. For thirty-three and a half
years, he was not able to lead the man bearing this Name into sin. In His life
time, this GOD-MAN exercised full control over Satan and all his demons. There
was not one failure that can be connected to that Holy Name. When He rose
triumphant from the grave, He had then been completely victorious, in Life, and
in Death.
From that time until now, the enemy has
walked in fear of THAT NAME. He understands that the POWER in that NAME lies in
the life behind it. That power was not just GIVEN, it was EARNED in the fullest
sense of the word. At that Name, when used in faith by a Christian Believer,
every devil now bows before it. Not that they will some day, but they bow now!
Every human knee has not yet bowed, but because Satan has been defeated and a
sentence already passed, he is no longer a free-moral agent, and in all his
ways is subject to his Creator.
Not only is he subject to his Creator, but
he is subject to every Christian Believer. This is so because the Lord Jesus
has given us the authority to use His All Powerful NAME. Mark 16:17,
“And these signs shall follow them that believe. IN MY NAME shall they cast out
devils…..they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” Luke
10:17-19, “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying EVEN THE DEVILS
ARE SUBJECT UNTO US THROUGH THY NAME.” In verse 18, Jesus answered and
said, “Behold, I give unto you POWER to tread on serpents and scorpions, AND
OVER ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY…..”
And where
does this power lie? It is in THE NAME of the One who had so totally defeated
the devil at every encounter. In times past most of us have failed to realize
the Awesome Power bestowed on us by the
authority to use THE NAME. We are never to come against the enemy from the
platform of our own name or character. We lay down our name, and by so doing we
lay down our character and pick up His mighty NAME and His perfect character.
Satan has had all the dealings he cares to have with the PERSON AND THE NAME OF
JESUS CHRIST.
When that NAME is used in his presence, his
mind goes at once to the sin-free life that is behind it. He remembers how he
was compelled to obey every command ever given to him by the Bearer of that
NAME! He remembers the terrible day that this God-Man stood and delegated
authority to His twelve Disciples to use His NAME. He remembers how the Angels
of God enforced the use of that Name in the mouth of these men. He remembers
with terror that at a later time, this Jesus Person “Called other seventy
also and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place.” (Luke
10:1-10) Again and again, he and his evil spirits were driven out by the
use of THE NAME in their mouth.
And, if these things were not bad enough to
remember, at the mention of that NAME, he also remembers the fateful day when
Jesus spoke again just before His leaving. This time the authority was not just
delegated to the twelve or to the seventy, but to “THEM THAT BELIEVE.” (Mark
16:17) From that time to this, Satan has realized that his only hope was to
attack the minds of God’s people, and by hook or crook cause them to disbelieve
the scriptures that declare our authority over him.
He now knows that if Christians ever realize
the control they have over him, by the use of THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, that
they will also cast him out and spoil his every evil work. Matt. 12:28-29,
“But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is
come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house and spoil
his goods, except he first bind the strong man. (Devil) And then he will
spoil his house.”
What a
powerful, glorious truth to know that we, who are men of like passion as were
the men of old, have been commanded to bind the strong man and spoil his works.
No words can rightly express the feeling that comes when we know we can take
the NAME OF JESUS and cast out a cancer devil who is destroying a life, or one
who is causing deafness or blindness, or any other kind of a germ related
sickness. These devils are today just as much subject to THAT NAME as they were
in the Book of Acts. Perhaps our failure to see it manifested is in our failure
to preach and teach it as was done in the Book of Acts.
In the Book of Acts, the ministers preached
the POWER that is in that NAME. Acts 8:12, “But when they believed
Phillip preaching the things concerning the Kingdom, AND THE NAME OF JESUS
CHRIST, they were baptized both men and women.” These men preached ABOUT
THE NAME. They learned at once that it was THE NAME that caused devils to flee,
and the sick to be healed. They found that when they spoke THE NAME it was the
same as when the Bearer of the Name was present. Acts 3:16, Peter said, “HIS
NAME, THROUGH FAITH IN HIS NAME, HATH MADE THIS MAN STRONG…..”
In Acts 4:7, Annas the High Priest and Caiaphas at Jerusalem, had
the Disciples brought in and asked them, “By what power, OR BY WHAT NAME
have ye done this?” (Healed the man at the gate Beautiful) In their carnal
minds even they knew it had something to do with using the NAME OF JESUS. In Acts
4:18, they “Commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in THE NAME OF
JESUS.” We do understand, do we
not, that it was the devil himself speaking through these men, attempting to do
away with THE NAME? Yes, he quakes before that NAME, then and now! Therefore,
his number one objective is still to stop the use of it through unbelief.
Brother William Branham, God’s Prophet,
preached THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, and the last day Bride must do the same.
QUOTE: ISRAEL AND THE CHURCH, PAGE 91,
“And God said speak to the rock and I’ll bring forth it’s water….Now he took
first and smote the rock with a rod. And when he smote that rock, that rod was
God’s judgment rod. It was the Rod of Moses, God had Moses in his hand. AND
WHAT THAT ROD WAS IN MOSES HAND THE NAME OF JESUS IS IN THE CHURCH TODAY.
That’s right, that’s the truth Brother. If those Egyptians could ever have
gotten that rod out of his hand he was powerless, and if they can ever take THE
NAME OF JESUS away from the Church……and get you away (from it) and you go out
and blaspheme it and make fun of it and everything else, and then try to come
in and pray in it, you can’t do that! (You’ve) Got to keep it sacred. Take THE
NAME with you. DEVILS WILL SCATTER LIKE ROACHES ON A FLOOR WHEN LIGHT IS TURNED
ON.”(End quote)
QUOTE: THE NAME OF JESUS, PAGE 29,
“But remember, don’t confuse it, for when they received these names of these
denominations they would die right there, right in those same things. (Names of
their churches) But, He said just before the Methodist and Pentecostals going
out, ‘I have set before you an OPEN DOOR.’ There you are, THE NAME RESTORED
AGAIN. I have set and open door, I am the Way…..the Truth and the Life. WHAT IS
IT, (The Name of Jesus)? It’s that open door.” (End quote)
The Name of Jesus Christ restored
to the Bride is the open door to the Bride Revival promised. The use of THAT
NAME is connected with the Third Pull Ministry that was given to the Prophet
after the Seals were opened. He was raised to a higher plane of faith, so that
as before times he had required a vision before he would speak “Thus Saith the
Lord” it came to pass that he spoke five times without having seen a vision,
and God did not let his words fall to the ground. He spoke squirrels into
existence, a storm out of existence, a tumor out of his wife’s side, life into
a small dead fish and salvation to Sister Wrights two sons.
The Third Pull Ministry had to do with
SPEAKING THE WORD and using the RESTORED NAME to back it up. The Lord Jesus was
the first sheaf waved before the people 2000 years ago, and to be waved again
in the last days. First, in the Prophet William Branham, and then again just
before Rapture in the Bride. The Prophet is about to “RIDE THAT TRAIL AGAIN” as
the Bride believes the Message he brought and moves out speaking the Word and
“Praying the Prayer of Faith.” We are to use THE NAME OF JESUS though we
tremble when we do it. It is not us, it is the POWER behind the NAME. WE DO NOT
NEED TO FEEL ITS POWER. We know it’s there from the testimony of the WORD. We
do not have to SEE RESULTS immediately, we know the work is done. The Word says
it is done. John 14:13, “And whatsoever ye shall ask IN MY NAME that
will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Oh Lord, give us
your NAME in our mouths and send us forth also, as sheep among wolves, to drive
back the demonic forces and set your people free. AMEN!
