His Fame, Our Gain

“His name, His fame, our gain.” “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matt. 7:21–23). The power of the name of Jesus transcends all borders in both the physical and spiritual realms. People who have tapped into this power are not always doing so with the proper motivation. From the time of the fall of man until the birth of Jesus, demons had a free hand to do as they pleased upon this earth. Their only active enemies were those who served the God I Am, our God, all the time doing so without the influence of the Holy Spirit and the covering of the blood of Jesus. The demons were having a heyday and it showed. Just look at Saul! However, once Jesus came on the scene, everything changed. Suddenly, the power of His name alone became enough to cause the demonic realm to tremble at the very mention of it. On one of my many trips to the inner city, I had my first of many experiences seeing this power manifested before my very eyes. As I was preaching at one of the stages in Golden Gate Park, a man who was obviously demonized in one form or another approached the crowd with one thing on his mind—to disrupt the work of God. As he began getting louder and louder, I felt compelled to point my hand at him and command that he be quiet in the name of Jesus. It was as if he had been hit with a bolt of lightning. As soon as I mentioned the name of Jesus, the man hit the ground and was totally unconscious until the very moment our event ended, at which time he calmly rose to his feet and marched off down the street. It was immediately apparent to me the power was in the name, not me, and I have used that name for His glory many more times since. However, there are many out there who have recognized that power and have and, possibly still, are using it for personal gain. Those who do such things are those whom Jesus is speaking of, and they have their own reward, for they will not enter the kingdom of heaven. And even worse, they will hear these words from the very one whose name they used: “I never knew you; depart from Me.” Can you imagine the pain, the hurt, and the hopelessness that will fill their souls? Again, a tree will be known by its fruit. When you see people who espouse to be one thing in public and they are another in private, red flags should be going up everywhere! Flee from their very presence, and pray about what, if anything else, you should do. If the Lord leads you, then go with two witnesses and confront them privately. The works of darkness have been allowed to run rampant for long enough, and anytime we can, we should use the name of Jesus to reveal their deceit and glorify our King. If blasphemy or heresy is taking place, expose the works with the Word and prayer, then allow God to take care of the situation. He is able to defend Himself. † Father, please give us the ability to see and the strength to stand up to those who wrongly use the name of Jesus to lead others astray. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.