the Name Of
J e s u s:
It’s for
Life,
Not Just for
Christmas
an
examination of this precious subject & a biblical refutation of the false
claims of
E.
W. Kenyon & Kenneth E. Hagin
-7-
It is inevitable that
there would be a certain degree of pushback
regarding the nature of my comments on the subject at hand. I don’t mind that
at all. I know that ‘As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so
the curse causeless shall not come.’ (Proverbs 26:2). Those who have
come against this work in defence
of the heresy highlighted here,
have fallen into a trap. Having adopted one error, they are systematically
prone to accept others. Paul says, ‘But foolish
and unlearned questions avoid,
knowing that they do gender strifes. And
the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to
teach, patient, In meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves; if
God peradventure will give them repentance
to the acknowledging of the truth; And
that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil, who
are taken captive by him at his will’. (2nd Timothy 2:23-26). This
has gone beyond what is right
& what is wrong. It is a
matter of truth. Despite the
claims that the teachings of Kenyon & Hagin are revelation knowledge as opposed to sense knowledge, a plain reading of the text of Scripture
shows that they are hugely mistaken
& exceptionally dishonest in
their exegesis. They rightly characterise,
but wrongly attribute. They rightly recognize, but wrongly assert. They rightly pinpoint, but wrongly interpret. This has gone beyond
what is right & what is wrong. It is a matter of truth. If you still feel the need to email me, go ahead. Alternatively,
you can read your Bible, instead.
Several dissenters have
attempted to prove that The Lord Jesus did receive His Name after His
death, burial, descent into hell, torture, new birth, resurrection & ascension.
This is their stated
belief, not mine. Of course, their go to text is Revelation 19:12.
Let’s look at that in its context.
11 And
I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse;
and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His
eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he
was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his
name is called The Word of God. 14 And the
armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine
linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness
and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his
vesture and on his thigh a name written,
KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:11-16).
In reality, this verse is
not
saying what some argue it is saying, but we will circle back to this point. The
assertion made here is that Kenyon et al are correct when they state, ‘The inference is that there was a Name known in heaven, unknown elsewhere, and this Name was kept to be
conferred upon someone who should merit it.’. Well, I hate to break it to
you, but the fact of the matter is that E. W. Kenyon & Kenneth E. Hagin are
both wrong. Dead wrong. Nice
try, but no jelly & ice cream. The Name is not unknown. It is
known to The Lord Jesus Christ, Himself. Paul says, ‘For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Romans
10:13) Peter says, ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we
must be saved.’ (Acts 4:12). The Name of Jesus
has been ‘..given among men..’,
not hidden from them. These heretics confuse & are confused by their own
narrative.
Understanding the
importance of Jesus’ Name is paramount, because we who believe, endeavour to
conduct His
Kingdom’s business & advance His interests. There
are, however, others who have shuffled their agendas to the top of the
pile, not His. This is mercenary, to say the least, but it
is a fact that a different Jesus bears a different name. almighty
God recognises one Jesus, Whom He has made Lord & Christ. (Acts
2:36).
Our Jesus, the
bonafide Saviour of the world is ‘..the faithful witness, and the first
begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth..’ (Revelation
1:5). He is ‘..Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending…which is,
and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.’ (Revelation
1:8). The Lord Jesus Christ is ‘..he that liveth, and was dead; and
behold…alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.’ (Revelation
1:18). He is ‘..he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key
of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man
openeth.’ (Revelation 3:7). Jesus Christ is ‘..the Amen,
the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.’ (Revelation
3:14). He is ‘..the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David..’
(Revelation 5:5) & ‘..the root and the offspring of David,
and the bright and morning star.’ (Revelation 22:16).
When we go through
the gospels & New Testament epistles, we will see even more of The
Lord’s attributes. Furthermore, when we view Christ in prophecy, in
Christophany & in type & shadow, under the Old Covenant, our picture of
Him becomes rounder still. But let me tell you what we will not
see.
We will
not see a soft Saviour, Who was powerless. We will not see a prayer
broker. We will not see a business proposition. We will
not see The Son taking on the nature of satan. We will
not see Him suffering & being tortured in hell by the powers of
darkness. We will not see Jesus Christ being born again to new life,
like a common sinner.
This teaching
concerning Jesus’ Name by Kenyon & Hagin respectively, is designed to denigrate
The Lord Jesus Christ. Their false doctrine strips Him down & then re-presents
Him as the pattern son of heretical Gnosticism.
For them, it was not
enough to mention the power, authority & majesty of The Name of Jesus. They
went further with every intention of going too far. Jude says, ‘But
these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know
naturally, as brute beasts, in those
things they corrupt themselves.’ (Jude 1:10). Put into
the simplest of terms, we will always get ourselves into trouble, when we don’t
know what we’re talking about. Furthermore, it follows that we will be in
greater difficulty when we lie. Such is the case with E. W. Kenyon &
Kenneth E. Hagin. Buckle up.
Hagin states: ‘There is a key to
prayer without which we can get nowhere.
This key will unlock the doors and windows of heaven and grant our every need. This
key is the Name of Jesus. Absolute poppycock. This isn’t found in any
Gospel accounts, nor is it in the writings of the Apostoles. but you will find
it all over Gnosticism & The New Age.
The Name of Jesus ©
copyright Kenneth Hagin 1979 (emphasis added).
He goes on: ‘Jesus is our Mediator, Intercessor, Advocate, and Lord. He stands
between us and the Father. No place in
the Bible are we told to pray to Jesus. We are always told to pray to the Father in Jesus' Name. Therefore, to be
sure our prayers reach the Father, we must come according to the rules laid
down in the Word.’. rules laid down
in the..? check the manuscript evidence. The word ‘me’ appears in
sources older that the Received Text of the KJV. Hold that thought.
The Name of Jesus ©
copyright Kenneth Hagin 1979 (emphasis added).
In typical word of
faith teacher fashion, believers are led by the nose to believe that there is a
formula
involved. When you’re led by the nose, you cannot smell that things are off. This
occurs whether they are teaching faith, prosperity, healing, prayer or any of
their other spurious, unbiblical doctrines. There are always certain keys,
secrets & steps to follow, which they claim guarantee success. This is not
found anywhere
in the text.
Hagin continues: In demanding our rights closely
associated with the Scripture we just examined— because
the Name of Jesus is involved—yet different in application is another
promise Jesus made regarding the use of His Name. JOHN 14:13,14 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I
do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in
my name, I will do it. Jesus is not talking about prayer here. (He is
talking about prayer in John 16, because He said, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name, he will give
it you") Here He said, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my
name, that will I do . . if ye shall ask any thing in my Name I will do it."
He is not talking about praying to the Father to do something. He is talking about using the Name of Jesus
against the enemy in our daily life.
The Name of Jesus ©
copyright Kenneth Hagin 1979 (emphasis added).
Now we’re getting to
the crux of the matter. Demanding. Not only can we get
whatever we want from The Father by using the key to prayer, we can also tell
The Lord Jesus Christ what to do. He is saying that we can demand that
Jesus does this, because, according to Hagin, Jesus said He would.
That’s some strong heresy right there, but to soften the blow, Hagin sugar
coats it by claiming that The Lord was ‘..talking about using the Name of
Jesus against the enemy in our daily life.’. The text does not say this.
Anywhere. Even if this were true, which it is not, the believer is
still demanding
that Jesus does something. In reality, The Lord Jesus Christ does not jump
through man’s hoops.
He persists: ‘The word "ask"
also means "demand."
"Whatever you demand in My Name,
I [Jesus] will do it.".
I was teaching this once and a professor of Greek, who was qualified to
teach the language in any university, was following along in his Greek
Testament. He came to me after the service, saying, "Brother Hagin, I
never thought of that until you brought it out, but the Greek literally says, Whatever
ye shall demand as your rights and privileges, that shall I do. Strong's
concordance brings out this meaning of the Greek word translated ask:
"to demand something due.".’. Ok, let’s look.
In an effort to kill
as many Charismatic & Neo Pentecostal birds as possible, with one stone,
let’s see what Mr. Strong has to say. To be honest, I have never used his
concordance for reference. However, because Hagin cited his work, we’ll have to
have a butchers.
The Greek word
translated ask is aiteō. According to Strong, this word means ‘..to
ask, request, petition, or demand.’. Don’t do any Charismatic cartwheels yet though,
because There’s a little more. Strong’s commentary reads thus; ‘While
aiteō can mean a humble request, in the context of ancient near-eastern family
or legal structures, it implies an
expectation of something happening based
on a covenant or relationship—like
a child making a valid request of a father. It is not a passive "begging"
but a confident petition made by
someone who knows their position.’.
Our position is that of servanthood.
This is not a slam dunk. The word demand
is one
of several definitions available, not the only one. If, as Hagin
suggests, the word ask means demand, or to demand
something due, we are in deep trouble theologically. Are we being
given permission to act like spoilt brats? Have a look at that problem in your
own time. Strong is not saying what Hagin claims he’s
saying. Noted biblical grammarian & Greek scholar, A. T. Robertson, says
the following.
‘The inclusion of
the word "me", as in "If ye shall ask me anything..." is heavily supported by ancient manuscripts...Because
the text reads "ask me," this verse explicitly teaches
direct prayer to Jesus..Rather than prayer being directed exclusively to
God the Father, Jesus invites His followers to pray directly to
Him...this is exactly what Stephen does while being stoned in
Acts 7:59 "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" and
what is practiced in Revelation 22:20 "Come, Lord Jesus".’.
A. T. Robertson,
Word Pictures in The Greek New Testament
© 1977 (emphasis added).
Given the manuscript
evidence concerning the presence of the designation ‘me’, i.e. ‘Whatsoever
you ask me..’, which
is also supported by Strong, it follows that Hagin is teaching
believers to demand that Jesus act on their behalf. It cannot be had
both ways, Ken. You should have done your homework. Remove the sugar coating
& those are the bare bones of the argument. They are dangerous
claims.
Where does a nutcase
get their heresy? From another nutcase, of course. Kenneth E. Hagin simply
lifted the writings of E. W. Kenyon & made them his own, without fact
checking him. At best, this is supreme laziness, or at worst, intellectual
dishonesty of the highest order. Why would these men deliberately ignore what
is in the text & yet willingly embrace what is not? Throughout these teachings
we have seen a steady divesting of Christ. The true emphasis is not on us
getting what we want. It is on Him & His ability to grant what we ask of
Him, in His Name, because of His providence.
Also, the ‘..expectation
of something happening based on a covenant or relationship like a child making
a valid request of a father.’, has to involve an informed
association, otherwise it is arbitrary. It is absolute garbage to claim that
any so called ‘..professor of Greek, who was qualified to teach the language
in any university..’ signed off on Hagin’s foolishness. Who was this
professor? John 14:14 cannot be translated as ‘Whatever ye shall demand as your rights and
privileges, that shall I do.’. I
have not been able to find a single translation with this rendering. Why?
Because there ain’t one!
Of course, Strong is not the only source available to shed light on the
subject at hand. W. E. Vine says this. ‘Aiteo more frequently suggests the
attitude of a suppliant, the petition of one who is lesser in position than he to whom the petition
is made; e.g., in the case of men
in asking something from God; a child from a parent; a subject
from a king; a beggar from a passerby.’.
W.E. Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words published in 1940 and
without copyright.(emphasis added).
The last time I checked came across someone in
Scripture who demanded their rights & privileges, as something due to them,
they ended up in a parable. We must not make this error.
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.
And he divided unto them his living (Luke 15:11-12).
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© by david Samuel Parkins mmxxvi all rights reserved.
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