The Gift of Jesus’ Name | Jentezen Franklin

0:00 Hello, this is Jensen Franklin, and thank you so much for joining us for this week's podcast. Our goal is to provide you with biblically-based teachings that will challenge, inspire, and equip you to live for Jesus. If you haven't already, I'd love for you to go ahead and subscribe today to this podcast so you can get the latest updates from us and you don't ever have to miss a new message. Let's go right into the service. Record it at Free Chapel. I believe it's going to bless you today.

0:33 Let's begin reading in Matthew 1, verse 18. And I don't want to hurry through this. This is a beautiful story. This is what it all comes to. This is what all of the types and the shadows and the tabernacle and the sacrifices and the priesthood, it all comes to this moment. Verse 18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly to divorce her. Because back then, if you were engaged to be married, you had to get a divorce. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

1:47 And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. I want to preach this morning on the gift of Jesus' name. The gift of Jesus' name. We have a lot of gifts that we give. Americans spend on average $900 per household at Christmas. The amount after Thanksgiving, starting the day after Thanksgiving, all the way up to Christmas is close to $3 trillion spent on gifts. I think what was interesting is the average woman shops 20 hours on average. I would say that's very low.

2:46 But for Christmas, for Christmas, you ladies shop 20 hours. And they said there was a peak in gift buying starting December the 22nd. And they didn't say this, but I said, that's the men. That's the men going to do this stuff. Get down to business time, December the 22nd. The clock is ticking.

3:10 So we know that the tradition of gift giving goes back to the story of the wise men. That's where it comes back to. We're given this source of gift giving for Christmas when the wise men came and brought gold, myrrh, and frankincense. The greatest Christmas gifts were given by our God to us. God is a good gift giver. He gives good gifts. The Bible said every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of light. And so I was just thinking about how many gifts I have in my bag that God has given me through the years. The gifts that he has bestowed upon me and my family are just astonishing and astounding. And I know you feel the same way.

4:09 But I thought right off of the top, if I were to reach in and say, what am I so thankful for that God has given as a gift to me? The first gift that comes to mind to me is right off of the top, the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Bible said in Acts 2, 38, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For this promise is unto you and unto your children and unto your children's children. And I just want to say this morning that out of all the gifts that God has given me, so many blessings, the gift of the precious Holy Ghost. When he filled me with the baptism of the Holy Ghost, just like the Bible talks about in Acts 2, just like the Bible talks about in the books of the Bible and going all through the New Testament.

5:17 And I was filled with the Holy Spirit in a revival on a Friday night. It was one of the greatest gifts. I shall never forget that night. I prayed in the Spirit, spoke as the Spirit gave me the utterance, and it was worship. It was powerful. I pray in the spirit every day of my life because I've been baptized in the Holy Ghost and fire. And it's a precious, precious gift. Somebody say amen. What a beautiful gift the gift of the Holy Ghost is. The Bible talks about in Ephesians 4 the gifts of the fivefold ministry. And they calls them gifts. The gift of a pastor. the gift of evangelists, the gift of apostles and teachers, and all of these areas of ministry, the equipping of the saints. It's a gift from God. I think about the gift of his mercy, the gift of his grace. I look in my bag of gifts that have come from the Father, and I think of the gift of his love. What about his precious blood? What about his word, the gift of his word, The gift of life.

6:36 Here's one. The gift of health. What a blessing. One of the greatest gifts that God ever gave that I want to focus in on was what he spoke through the angel to Mary. Said, you will bring forth the son and you shall call his name Jesus. Now this week, my family has been in the hospital with my youngest daughter, Connor, and her husband, Aaron. And we had a baby. We have six grandchildren now.

7:13 The baby still does not have a name. Bless its heart. It doesn't have a name. They're still deciding on the name. and I have a new appreciation for what I'm preaching because the angel named this baby that Mary had. I'm ready for that at this point. And the angel said his name, and he was speaking for God, his name shall be called Jesus. And in that moment came the gift of Jesus' name to planet earth. The gift of the name of Jesus, We don't understand how powerful that name is. We are given a powerful insight in Micah chapter 5 and verse 2. But thou, O Bethlehem, though thou be little in Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth the ruler of Jerusalem.

8:12 And his going forth, his goings forth have been of old from everlasting. He's talking about a God who has been going forth all the way back to the Old Testament. He's moving, moving, moving until we get to that manger in Bethlehem. It's the going force of God. God on the move. God unveiling himself like an onion with the layers just being peeled back and revealed. God was going forth throughout the scriptures. He started it at creation. The same God who created the heavens and the earth was the same God who was born in that manger. Jesus was God in skin.

9:08 Layer after layer began to be unfolded and unveiled. And he begins in the Old Testament to give names of who he was. We begin to see the going forth of God in the names of God. The first time that God appeared to a human being and said to them as an epiphany, meaning no man can see God and live in their natural body. But God would show up like with Abraham, he cut a covenant and came in a flaming fire with Moses, the bush, the burning bush. And that was God manifesting himself. And the first time he showed up and spoke and identified himself, he used the Hebrew word, I am Elohim. I am Elohim, which means most high God.

10:03 There is none beside me. I am in a category of my own. I am the most high Elohim. And then the second time that he showed up, he showed up and used a different name. He's layering. He's showing, going forth into dimension after dimension. And he said, I am Adonai, which means master and Lord in Hebrew. I am Adonai. I am Elohim. I am master. and I am Lord. And then comes another beautiful name of God in the old Testament. When he gave it to Abraham, he said, I will reveal myself to you as Yahweh. Yahweh is his name. Elohim is his name. Adonai is his name. And then he starts manifesting himself in different ways to different people. He showed up in one battle and he said, you will now know that I fight your battles and I will be called Jehovah Nissi, which is my banner of victory.

11:12 Hallelujah. I'm a victorious God and I fight for my children. He's he's going forth. He's showing us who he is and what he's going to look like and what his traits will be like. And then he manifests to Abraham another name. He said, I am Jehovah, or I should say to the children of Israel at the, at the bitter pool. He said, I am Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that heals thee. And then on another occasion, he said, I am Jehovah Shama, the God who is there. I never leave you. I never forsake you. And then he manifest himself as Jehovah. This is an important one. Sidcanu, which means the Lord, my righteousness. I'm telling you that I'm working on something God said in my going forth. And as this message progresses from the old Testament, I'm working on something that when you call on the name that I give you, my righteousness will be imputed to you. And when the father sees you, you, he will see my son or my daughter, you will be covered in my righteousness. And then he gives another mighty name to Abraham as Abraham is going up to sacrifice Isaac. He says on that mountain, stay your hand. I will provide. I am Jehovah Jireh, your provider. Anybody in here know about that God, Jehovah Jireh, I will provide all that you need. And then he gives another name. I'm Jehovah Shalom, the God of peace. There is nobody like our Jehovah. Oh, what a beautiful, powerful God. And that's why he said in Psalms 96, it says in your Bible, sing unto the Lord. But if you look the Hebrew word used there is singing to Jehovah a new song. Let all the earth proclaim there is no

13:18 God like our God Jehovah. Nobody's like Jehovah. There was a God in the Old Testament called Baal that they worshiped. He was the God of rain, but when they needed rain because they were in famine, the prophets of Baal cut themselves and cried out for their God to send rain and their God could not break the drought. But Elijah went up on the mountain and began to pray. And a cloud appeared the size of a man's hand and suddenly rain began to pour out of that little hand and it filled and the famine was over and the rivers began to flow and the power of death was broken on the people because there's no God like our God. Dagon was another God in the Old Testament. The Philistines worshiped him. He was half man as a statue, half man. And the bottom part was the, a fishtail and they worshiped him. But God said, there'll be no God like Jehovah. And when they put the arc of the covenant beside the statue of this Philistine God, Dagon, God knocked him off his statue and broke him into pieces because every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. There's none beside me, Jehovah said, there's none like me. I am God. There was Ashtaroth and Molech, but in Isaiah 45, he said, there will be no other God greater than I am. I want you to know Satan is not equal to God. We act like it's, you know, it's like it's, it's good. It's evil. It's hot.

15:03 It's cold. It's equal opposites. It's God. It's Satan. No, no, no. Satan is an angelic reject. He was nothing but an angel in heaven, and he was cast out by the finger of God. God just flicked him off and said, get out, and that's it. He's defeated and will always be defeated. There is no God like our God Jehovah. Oh, how powerful our God is. And this is what the anthem that the apostle Paul wrote in Philippians chapter two, it says concerning this baby that would be born, who thought it not robbery. Jesus thought it not robbery being made. I want you to listen to these words, being made himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a bond servant. He counted it not robbery to be equal with God. That top part of that verse says, and coming into the likeness of men. See, he's going forth now and here comes the plan of being found in appearance as a man.

16:13 He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those things in heaven, of those things on earth, of those things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of the Father. What a gift. The gift of the name of Jesus. Every knee shall bow. Every tongue shall confess. The president's going to confess it of every nation. The king of every nation, the richest, the most powerful, the most ungodly, the biggest atheist in the world will bow their knee and tremble one day and confess Jesus is God. Jesus is Lord. The ultimate going force of God was the incarnation. God was manifest in flesh. I want to say it bold like I want to say it. Jesus is not one of many or one of several. Jesus is God. Jesus is God in the father. Jesus is God in the son.

17:39 Jesus is God in the Holy spirit. The Holy spirit is Jesus. The son is Jesus. The father is Jesus. And these three are one hero Israel. The Lord, your God is one Lord. There is one on the throne and he alone is worthy of our praise. He has highly exalted him and given him a name above every name that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. If Jesus is not God, then he is a liar because that's what he claimed when he began to preach his message. God, the Bible said in 2 Corinthians 5 and 19, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. God Almighty.

18:36 Oh my goodness. The God of creation. The God who said let there be all of him was in Christ vitally. We can't get our head around that. But he was in Christ reconciling us to himself. he's either Jesus is either God or he's not God he's either good or he's evil he's either true or he is a false prophet was Christ an imposer when he an imposter when he said in John chapter eight in verse 48 before Abraham was, I am. Was he an imposter? Was he lying? He said before Abraham was, I am, I was, I was existing. What do you mean? You're only 30 something years old. No, I was back there before Abraham was. I'm God. That's what he was saying. Was, was he impersonating When he said in John 10 and verse 30, I and my father are one.

19:50 Was he usurping authority when he said in Matthew 28 and verse 18, all power is given unto me. Listen, very specific. In heaven, there's nothing more powerful that has more power than me. I am God in heaven and on earth. All power is given unto me. This is why they hated him so much. He said, if you see me, you see God. Was he an imitator when he said in John 14 and verse nine, it was Philip who asked, show us the father, Jesus. And he says this, if you have seen me, I like Jesus. He was not having split personality. He wasn't having an inferior complex attack. He said, if you see me, you have seen the father. I'm it.

20:44 I am the manifestation of all of God. I'm right here. I'm 100% flesh because God had a problem. God said, I've got to save mankind. So what I'm going to do is I'm a God. God is a spirit. John four said, God is a spirit. So how can a spirit bleed? How can a spirit die? How can a spirit cry? How can a spirit be touched with the feeling of human infirmities and weaknesses? He said, I'm going to make a way where I, God, who cannot bleed, will bleed. And I, God, who cannot cry and be broken and upset, I'm going to feel everything human beings feel. And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to wrap myself in flesh and I'm going to come down to earth. and I'm going to put all my power, all my glory in an eight pound baby. That's the average little boy that's born.

21:41 Eight pound baby. All of God's glory will be smashed in and put inside of that baby in Mary's womb. And when he comes forth, it's the ultimate going forth of God to show up on planet earth. No wonder when he began to preach, demons cried out, Why have you come to torment us? No wonder the woman with the issue of blood said, if I can just touch the hem of his garment, he's so powerful. It's like taking your thumb and putting it on a water spigot and on a water pipe and just condensing and making the water really spray hard. That's what Jesus, he condensed all of his glory in the body of a physical human body. was he a blasphemer when he said, if you believe not that I am, you will die in your sin. Was Christ a fraud when he said in John 14 and verse 11, I am in the father and the father is in me. To deny the deity of Jesus is to deny the ability of God, the truth of God, the creation of God, the word of God, the worship of God, the mercy of God. To strip Jesus of his deity is to put the demons back in the demoniac in Mark chapter five. To strip Jesus of his deity is to put the blindness back on poor old blind Bartimaeus begging by the roadside. To take the deity away from Jesus is to take the wine out of the water because if he wasn't God, he couldn't turn water into wine and he couldn't open blind eyes. To strip Jesus of his deity is to put dead men like Lazarus back in the grave and to strip Jesus of his deity is to take your name out of the Lamb's book of life because you'll never be worthy and good enough. It's only the lamb who is worthy.

23:51 And Jesus is that lamb. What a gift. The name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Does anybody believe in the power of the name of Jesus? Speak that name with great authority. Speak that name. And when you do in faith, demons back up and healing flows wherever that name is spoken. There's life. There's power in his name, the deity of Jesus Christ and his name. the gift of his name.

24:32 When a baby is born, people ask two questions. How big is he? And what's his name? I'm telling you how big he is. There's not, there's not multiple. We don't serve multiple gods. We serve one God, one savior, one on the throne. His name is Jesus. And when you get to heaven, he will have a physical body that still has the wounds. of the crucifixion because the marks of the covenant in the Old Testament was circumcision. But the marks of the new covenant, of the better covenant, of the blood of Jesus Christ are the marks and scars of his hands, his side, his back, his brow, his feet. One day I'm going to touch them. One day those hands, nail scarred hands are going to welcome me home.

25:31 Wrap his arms around me. Whisper in my ear with the same lips that created the sun, the moon and the stars. I love you, Jensen. Welcome home. Welcome home. Welcome. In John 8 and 24, listen to the I am's of Jesus. In Exodus 3 and verse 14, whoever God is showed up in a burning bush and he said, when they ask, who am I? You tell them, I am that I am. Watch Jesus in John 4 and 26 when he shows forth and goes forth into the earth. He gets to the woman at the well and she asks and, you know, and she starts lecturing Jesus. You know, this well was dug many centuries ago by our father, Abraham, our father, Jacob.

26:35 And our fathers worshiped here. And Jesus interrupted her. Watch him now. I love this. The I am. And he said, yes, your fathers worship, but they didn't know who they were worshiping. And then he said in John 4, 26, I who speaks unto you, I am he. Whew. You missed it. I thought that would get that crowd and that crowd. Did you hear what he just said? He told that woman, y'all been worshiping all these generations and didn't know, I am here. I am he. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. I am. All the way back to the burning bush. I am he. No wonder when they came to arrest Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane in John 18 and 6, the soldiers asked, which one is Jesus? And Jesus, which one is he? And Jesus spoke up, I am, am, am, am, am, am, am. And when he did, the Bible said all the Roman soldiers, fully armed, fighting men, Spartan kind of men fell to the ground. Every knee must bow.

27:48 If no man takes my life, I lay it down freely. I am what's there in the body of Jesus. Jesus is God in skin. Hallelujah. We don't have to worry about how God is and what he's like. All you got to do is read about Jesus and you'll find out how he loves, how he cares, how he feels about you. I must not be important. Really? Really? I mean, and all these people who act like all creation is the same. I'm going to tell you something. It was all created for us. And the reason I know why we're special, we're different from the whales. We're different from the deer. We're different from the birds. We're different from the bees. We're different from the fish in the seas. We're different from all of that. We're superior. You want to know why I know?

28:39 Because when Jesus came, he did not come back as a whale. He did not come as a bird. He came as a human being because we're the most precious thing that he could find on this earth. Quit saying, am I important? You're important enough for him to wrap himself and come down to your world and find you in your sin and pick you up and love you and clothe you in his forgiveness, grace, and love. Hallelujah. And in John eight, now I'm almost done. This is it in John eight. And, but if you run for the car, I hope you trip. Amen. John eight in verse 24, except you believe in me that I am, you will die in your sin. Seven times Jesus said, I am.

29:39 I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the door for the sheep. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the good shepherd. I am the true vine. that's who Jesus is the gift of Jesus name I found some of my old notes I actually have notes I go through chat GBT don't have nothing on me I have old old notes I wrote this I found this this was back where you couldn't just google something Jesus the name Jesus is mentioned 909 times in the New Testament. It's an easy name.

30:31 It has five letters, two syllables. Jesus. In comparison, the oldest name in the, or the longest name in the Old Testament is a name, and I'm gonna spell it for you, T-I-G-L-A-T-H-P-E-L-E-Z-E-R-A-B-O-N-I-B-E-Z-E-K. That's Tiglath Pelerzier Aboni Bezek.

30:59 And when I read that, I thought, I'm glad you didn't name him that. I mean, can you imagine, Clay? Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Tig laugh. Peller's ear bonabizek. Tiglath, Peller, Zerbino, Bezak, there's just something about. It just doesn't fit. I can't hear the music. I'm so glad he didn't name him that but there's something about that name the gift of the name of Jesus I've said it in the greatest crisis of my life, Jesus.

32:02 I've said it before I've walked to a thousand pulpits, Jesus. I've said it when hell was attacking my life and my family, fighting demons day and night, Jesus. I've said it over people's bodies who were wracked with pain. I've said it at grave sites. I've said it in IC units. There's just something about that name.

32:35 It's a different name. And the gift of the name of Jesus is so powerful. I really want to say thank you for joining us this week. If you haven't already, make sure you click on the subscription button and leave us a review. It helps this podcast reach even more people when you comment.