In The Name Of Jesus

As we continue along exploring in the book of Luke we see that Jesus leaves His home town after the angry mob wanted to attack Him.  Jesus goes off to a town in Galilee called Capernaum.  Let us read in Luke 4:31-37:

31 “Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day. 32 There, too, the people were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with authority. 33 Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil spirit—cried out, shouting, 34 “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 35 But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further. 36 Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!” 37 The news about Jesus spread through every village in the entire region.”

What we see here is Jesus exercising His authority given to Him by God.  His presence was all it took for the demon to get all frazzled.  When taunted by the demon Jesus simply silenced him and then cast him out of the man causing the man to drop to the floor.  This I would have imagined would have been an eye opener for the whole synagogue and it says this news spread like wildfire throughout the whole region.  If we look closely at the events that happened here, we will see that the demons are scared of the mere presence of Jesus.  We as believers are also given this power, let’s look at Mark 16:15-18:

15 “And then he told them, “Go into the entire world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. 17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

From reading in the book of Mark, we see not only does the presence of Jesus frighten the demons; His name alone will cast them out.  This is a gift given to His believers as it was given to His disciples so we too can go out into the world performing miracles, signs, and wonders.  The Lord said for all who believe and are baptized, we will be saved and what will accompany us will be miraculous signs.  The questions I have are this, are we accepting this into our lives, and are we out performing these miracles so as to witness to this sick lost world?

As we continue in Luke 4:38-44 38 “After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal her,” everyone begged. 39 Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them. 40 As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. 41 Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak. 42 Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.” 44 So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.

We see His mission continue as He goes to visit Simone’s home.  He finds Simon’s mother-in-law very sick, and what does Jesus do?  Yes, He heals her removing her fever and restoring her health.  Christians we must start to truly believe in the power of Jesus, we have been given gifts.  If there was ever a time to go about our daily lives and exercise our authority given to us it would be now.  These times we live in, there are countless millions lost, sick, hurting, and in need of healing, encouragement, and love.  Make it your mission to put on your disciple glasses and see what the world needs.  It’s time for us to start pulling our weight as believers and do what is asked of us.  What did Jesus say in verse 43, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.”

His instructions for believers are the same, we are to go into the world and preach the Good News, performing signs and wonders and these miracles ordained by Jesus come to life for all people to see.

We, God’s chosen, have a power given to us, a power that can cast demons out, heal the sick, change lives, bring peace, and most of all save us from an eternity in hell and that power is simply the name of Jesus.

Today remember who you are, you are a child of the most high God and you have all authority given to you to do your job as a Christian.  If you’re going to claim it then don’t have idle hands, the Bible says in James 2:14-26:  

14 “What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.  Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? 21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. 25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.”

Here is a word of advice, if you don’t know how to get involved with doing than find a good Bible-based church and start making friends who have a passion for Christ, you will know them by their fruit as it says in Matthew 7:15-20:

15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. 16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Find the right people to surround yourself with and doing the will of God will become so much easier, remember this day there is Power in the name of Jesus.