the Name Of

J e s u s:

It’s for Life,

Not Just for Christmas

 
-4-

The Name of Jesus is sacred. Yet a significant part of The Church at large has forgotten & neglected this truth. Many have traded it in for something way beneath its true worth. The Name of The Lord has been grievously offended, instead of being systematically defended while the widespread false teaching of the Charismatic Movement & modern Neo-Pentecostalism have made devastating doctrinal inroads into biblical Orthodoxy. This threat is real, but isn’t treated as such, although what is being taught is promoted & tolerated to degrees that are equally unbearable. It is in this spirit that we address this subject, by examining the claims of E. W. Kenyon & Kenneth E. Hagin. These men lied to The Church & have led countless millions into dangerous errors concerning Jesus’ Name & Christology. They claim that believer’s possess legal rights, the power of attorney, guaranteed answered prayer & unqualified use of The Name of Jesus. If these elements were true, there would not be the mountain of unanswered, unbiblical prayer in the recycle bin, by The Throne of God. Ok, I’m kidding. There is no recycle bin by The Throne of God.

We have seen what The Lord Jesus said to His disciples concerning His Name. The Lord spoke of the fullness of joy & a day in which they would have access to The Father. Messrs. Kenyon & Hagin assert that this new day meant the era of the new creation, the new covenant & the new testament. I wholeheartedly contend that they are accidentally correct in their assertion, but wholly incorrect in their application. Remember, the backdrop of Jesus’ teaching is The Feast of Tabernacles, which is a type of The Millennium.

When Jesus says ‘..at that day..’ I believe that He was deliberately pointing right to the heart of Jewish belief in Messiah’s reign upon the Earth. Throw that at a Jehovah’s Witnesses doctrine & see if it sticks. Let’s look.

¹⁰ And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious (Isaiah 11:10). 

¹⁸ And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely (Hosea 2:18). 

¹¹ In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain. ¹² I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. ¹³ The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. ¹⁴ Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil anymore. ¹⁶ In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. ¹⁷ The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing (Zephania 3:11-17).  

⁸ And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. ⁹ And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one (Zachariah 14:8-9). 

I have been told that this Millennial link is tentative at best, but given what Jesus said, when He said it & to whom it was said, I would argue that my contention is worth more consideration that the threadbare offerings of multiplied liars! I’m not negating the new creation, the new covenant or the new testament in favour of the Millennium. I am saying that it cannot be ruled out in our interpretation of the teaching of Christ. It must be taken into consideration.

He said, ‘At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you.’ (John 16:26). Yet right now in this age, with the new creation, the new covenant & the new testament, The Lord Jesus does pray to The Father for us.

³⁴ Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us (Romans 8:34).

¹⁹ Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; ²⁰ Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec (Hebrews 6:19-20). 

²⁵ Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). 

²⁴ For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:24).

Kenyon & Hagin are dead wrong. Where is the evidence of the 100% success rate of Hagin’s prayer life? Remember, he said, ‘I have not prayed one prayer in 45 years ..without getting an answer. I always got an answer—and the answer was always yes.’. Yet, Mr. Hagin still needed the doctor, the dentist, the optician & eventually the funeral director. Where was his power of attorney? Where was his legal right? Where was his unqualified use of Jesus’ Name? I’ll tell you where it was. It was in the recycle bin by The Throne, because Jesus was not saying what Hagin said He was saying. Hagin did not do his homework. His teaching was more exit Jesus, than exegesis.

‘When Jesus gave us the legal right to use his Name, the Father knew all that that Name would imply when breathed in prayer and it is His joy to recognize that Name. So the possibilities enfolded in that Name are beyond our understanding, and when He says to the Church, "Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in My Name" He is giving us a signed check on the resources of heaven and asking us to fill it in. He gave us a signed check on the resources of heaven. It would change our lives to make an exhaustive study of the resources of Jesus in order to get a measurement of the wealth that Name holds for the Church and for every believer today. If we have a low estimation and a low respect for the Name, we will not expect much, because we do not know what belongs to us.’.

The Name of Jesus © copyright Kenneth Hagin 1979 (emphasis added).

Can you see what Hagin has done here? Can you see it? He has whittled the significance of The Name of Jesus down to the accumulation of temporal & material things. Not only has he done that, but he has also removed Christ from the centre as both object & subject, placing us there instead. This is blasphemous. This is taking The Lord’s Name in vain. Nowhere in the text does Jesus indicate that His Name is a thing to be used. A meal ticket. A magic wand. A rubber stamp. Instead, He declares His status as Lord & Messiah. Hagin overlooks this & fails to mention it, choosing rather to lather his false preposition over The Church at large.

While The Church was wallowing in excitement about guaranteed answered prayer & unlimited access to power, the next evolution of this false teaching was carefully being layered into place. With mankind manoeuvred to the centre as both subject & object, the next step was to denigrate Christ & further elevate man. This is subtlety on an Edenic level. Buckle up. This is about to become a bumpy ride.

‘Kenyon points out that men obtain great names in three ways. Some men are born to a great name—a king, for instance. Others make their name great by their achievements. Still others have a great name conferred upon them. The more excellent Name came by all three means. Jesus' Name is great because He inherited a great Name. His Name is great because of His achievements. His Name is great because it was conferred upon Him.’.

The Name of Jesus © copyright Kenneth Hagin 1979 (emphasis added).

In order for these things to appear true, Hagin had to reverse engineer his own hollow interpretation through The Scriptures. Whilst it may be correct that men gain their names by the means suggested, the assertion that Jesus obtained His name in the same way, is as unbiblical as it is absurd. However, in order to push another agenda, this false foundation has to be established first. Let’s look. Hagin begins by shamelessly mangling one of my favourite passages; Hebrews 1. Grab your Bibles & Brace yourselves.

¹ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, ² Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; ³ Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; ⁴ Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. ⁵ For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? ⁶ And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. (Hebrews 1:1-6). 

‘Jesus inherited a "more excellent name than they." He inherited a greater Name than any angelic being. As Son, He is heir of all things. He is "the express image" of God. He is "the brightness," or as one translation reads, "the outshining," of the Father. He is God speaking to us. And He "by inheritance obtained a more excellent name." When did He inherit it?’. Well, why don’t you tell us Ken. We’re longing to know.

Hagin continues: ‘He did not inherit anything in heaven before He came to this earth, because He already had everything. He did not inherit it when He came to the earth, because the Epistle to the Philippians says that He stripped Himself of all honour and glory. When did He inherit His Name? There is a clue in the following verses: HEBREWS 1:4-5 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained amore excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee?.... These verses tell us when He inherited this more excellent Name. It was when God said to Him, "Thou art my son, THIS DAY have I begotten thee" This day! That's when it happened—the day He was begotten.’. Perhaps Mr. Hagin should have learned to read Braille, because evidently he was blind!

He goes on: ‘Most people think He was begotten when He came into the world as the Babe of Bethlehem. No! Oh, no! Begotten means born, The Son of God was not born as He took on flesh. He pre-existed with the Father, He just took upon Himself a body. HEBREWS 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. He was not begotten when he came into the world; He always pre-existed with the Father… No, "Thou art my son, THIS DAY have I begotten thee," is not talking about the day He took upon Himself a body. Then what day was it? ACTS 13:33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that HE HATH RAISED UP JESUS AGAIN; as it is also written in the second psalm, THOU ART MY SON, THIS DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE. When was it that Jesus was begotten? When He was raised up! On that Resurrection morn!’. Really Ken? Really? I’m only asking because I can read & the text doesn’t say that anywhere!

I know that this is painful to walk through, but it is necessary. Hagin revealed where he was going with his shallow & impractical falsehoods. He willingly & deliberately abandoned Orthodox Christology. Hagin’s teaching followed the lines that E. W. Kenyon laid down. The ways in which men obtain their names. Inheritance. Bestowal. Achievement. However, we are not talking about men here. We are talking about The Eternal son of God. Hagin failed to recognise the difference between earthly succession & eternal inheritance, smudging the line & carelessly confusing the two. If he had done some basic study instead of systematically ripping off the erroneous writings of E. W. Kenyon, The Church at large could have been spared this diabolical diatribe.

Hebrews 1 systematically champions the unparallelled supremacy of Jesus Christ. He is superior to the Prophets. He is the appointed Heir of all things. He is the sole agent in creation. He is the sustainer of said creation. He single handedly purged our sins & occupies His seat at The Father’s Right Hand. He is greater than the Angels. He is in possession of a better name than they have. Hagin’s argument is set out to prove that Jesus received something that He did not have previously, despite the glaring credentials laid out in these verses. He wanted to & indeed did do something bad.

The logical conclusion that Hagin’s false teaching led to is this; Jesus Christ is an exalted, born again man. That, my friends, is uncomfortably close to Mormonism. According to Hagin et al, Jesus has inherited a name that was given to Him, when He was raised from spiritual death!

‘Why did He need to be begotten, or born? Because He became like we were, separated from God. Because He tasted spiritual death for every man. His spirit, His inner man, went to hell in our place. HEBREWS 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Physical death would not remove our sins. He tasted death for every man—spiritual death. Jesus is the first person ever to be born again. Why did His spirit need to be born again? Because it was estranged from God.’. This is blasphemy & damnable heresy.

The Name of Jesus © copyright Kenneth Hagin 1979 (emphasis added).

In our next meeting we will examine Hebrews 1:1-6 as well as Psalms 2, Christ’s Messianic inheritance & the heresy that The Lord Jesus was the first person ever to be born again. Remember, The Name of The Lord has been grievously offended, instead of being systematically defended while the widespread false teaching of the Charismatic Movement & modern Neo-Pentecostalism have made devastating doctrinal inroads into biblical Orthodoxy. Bring it on!!

 

 

 

copyright © by david Samuel Parkins mmxxvi all rights reserved.

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