By The Power of Your Name

John 17:11b-19

June 4, 2000

Goal: That by the Power of God’s Name the hearer be encouraged to be a faithful disciple.

There is a story of a farmer who bet that he could lift a full-grown steer. He just wanted 18 months to prove it. (The farmer figured that he could lift a newborn calf and if he lifted it every day as the calf gained a few pounds, his own strength would grow at an equivalent rate—as long as he kept picking up the calf every day.) So he tried it. Every day he went to the corral and lifted the calf. As it got heavier, he just strained a little harder. … Now, I’m going to let your imagination add the punch line. Would you bet on the farmer? Can you see him lifting a full-grown steer and collecting his bets? The picture of this farmer gives us a view of what it’s like to try to carry the burden of one’s own sin and troubles with one’s own strength. It isn’t going to happen. The load only gets heavier.

Before I go any further, I want to clarify something. It is commonly, although wrongfully, thought among some Christians that once a person is saved by grace through faith, living a sanctified life becomes the work of the individual. St. Paul makes it perfectly clear that this is not the case when he writes to the Galatian Christians: “I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Galatians 3:2-3 NIV)

The answer to Paul’s rhetorical question is NO! It is by the Holy Spirit working in the power of God’s Name that we are changed from one degree of glory to another. Living a holy, God-pleasing life comes not from observance of rules or law, but from grace through faith. Any other teaching is simply not Christian, or biblical.

Christians get involved in some real messy stuff in this world for one reason and one reason only. It is because of our lack of faith and trust in God and His Word. “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth,” Jesus prays. We are set apart by the word of truth. The action happens to us, not from us. However, let no one think he will escape responsibility for his bad behavior because of grace. That is like saying we should sin the more that grace may abound the more. God forbid that any would diminish the power of the cross with such gross unbelief.

Thus, you see that the specific problem is unbelief, and the location and diagnosis of the problem is right here at home in us. One word sums the danger the world presents to us: UN-BE-LIEF. The world’s danger comes, not in the computer, or the game, or the music, or the television, or the book. The apostolic word is sure: “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4) And just in case we missed it the first time around, John says the same thing in the next verse: “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Well, there are possible solutions to our problem of unbelief that many try. One is to give up on other people because they just don’t get it. In that case we become more and more convinced that there are fewer and fewer people who can be saved because fewer and fewer people believe the way I do. It’s like saying to a life-long friend, “Isn’t it a shame that there are only two of us left who know how to cure the world’s problems? But then, I’m not so sure about you, either.” In such a case, our sphere of understanding becomes limited to what I think, period. Where does God fit into that picture? Of course, He does not fit.

We might also try to deny that God really means what He says, and simply go along with the world; its desires, philosophies, and behaviors. By doing that, we can have many friends, all of them agreeing with us. Only, there is this sure word from God: “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives for ever.” (1 John 2:17 NIV)

Either of these options only multiplies the danger we face by separating us farther from God, from his protecting care, and from others who can help us, and we them. And, worst of all, separation is wrong. When we Christians withdraw from the world, the world is left without light to fall into decay and darkness with no help, no hope—the very opposite of Jesus’ life and ministry.

There is really only one answer to our problem of unbelief; The Gospel Answer. Jesus prays, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name. … My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”

One of the marks of a good family is that it offers protection and safety, a place where there is emotional, social, psychological, and physical protection from the harshness of the world. To protect our families we employ home security systems, automobile air bags and seat belts, immunizations, self-defense programs, neighborhood watches, and much more. Good families go out of their way to provide protection for their families. So do godly families.

And God has given his family an even higher level of protection. The Psalmist learned that God’s “way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless; he is a shield for all who take refuge in him” (Ps 18:30). In the face of a dangerous world, we have divine deliverance through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To us he grants forgiveness of sins and gives strength to stand no matter the circumstance. By the power of his name, nothing can defeat us when we are joined to him by faith.

Being one with God results in a total new experience for us as we relate to the world and other people. Listen again to Jesus’ words: “For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” In other words, Jesus has set himself apart on our behalf so that through him we may also be joined as one to the Father. So how is it that we are in the world but not of the world? Paul answers our question for us. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no-one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:4-10 NIV) You do believe this, don’t you? Amen.