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’. (2^nd 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).

 

copyright © by david Samuel Parkins mmxxvi all rights reserved.

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