Jesus made a powerful statement; “All power is given unto me”.

“18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20

The same power that Jesus had, he gave to his Church. There are three ways that we were given power. I’m going to write about them, but, first I’d like to deal with the issue of the NAME in verse 19.

In the early 1900’s God restored the revelation of water baptism in Jesus’ name to the church. Over the years I’ve heard people try to explain and defend this apparent contradiction in verse 19. Some say that Jesus is the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

The name of the Father is not Jesus, but YHWH (tetragram) or more commonly called Yahweh.
The word “Name” doesn’t refer to a proper name, as our western culture views the word “name”. The ancient eastern, Jewish culture has a different understanding of the word “name”. In addition to a proper name, it also means”: rank, or authority; to do a thing by ones authority, acting on one’s behalf, promoting ones cause.

Two examples from the bible are:

Matthew 10:41
41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.

John 5:43
43 I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (of his own free will and authority)

As I said, I will write about the three ways we were given POWER, but before I can get to the subject at hand – I feel the need to deal with this issue of the NAME along the way.

To fully understand Matt. 28:19 we must read this passage in proper context. One key word that must be noticed is: “Therefore”. “Therefore” never stands alone. “Therefore” always stands in the middle of a thought of the writer or the one speaking. Though the sentence ends with a period, the complete thought is revealed within the two sentences or verses. The “Therefore” makes it impossible to understand verse 19 apart from verse 18.

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

All power in heaven! From God, even our Father. The Holy Spirit! All power in earth! Above all principalities and powers in heaven and earth! Who has all power and authority? Jesus. Who gave the command to go and baptize, and teach his doctrine? Jesus. So when they went they baptized in the name Jesus, the one who had all power and authority in heaven and earth (Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost);

The same power that was given unto Jesus, he gave unto his church. Because Jesus has all authority, we have all authority. We have the power over the enemy, we have the power to heal the sick, we have the power to cast out devils, He gave us the same miracle working power. Signs, miracles, and wonders are given to the church.

John 14:12
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

The following are the three ways we have been given Power:

1. We have his SPIRIT with Power

Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

John 7:38-39
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

The Holy Ghost is like a river that flows forth from us. It’s power that comes forth. Power to defeat the enemy. Power to overcome obstacles. Power to subdue our own bodies. It gushes forth. When we flow in the spirit we can do exploits in Jesus’ name. It springs up and it has no end. The Holy Ghost comes forth with power to heal every manner of sickness.
The same power Jesus had, he gave to His church. Ye shall receive POWER after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you!

Not only do we have his Spirit with Power, but…

2. We have his NAME with Power.

Luke 10:17
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

Mark 16:17-18
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

In his name we have been given power over sickness, authority over demonic forces and satanic powers. When he said “take up serpents and drink any deadly thing” He was referring to the power of the enemy, not literal snakes and arsenic, but the deadly venom and poison of the devil. We have power over him; he CAN NOT hurt us. Witchcraft can not hurt us. Voodoo can not hurt us. We have his Spirit. We have his NAME. We have His power. Greater is He that is in you tan he that is in the world. Don’t fear the devil. He can’t hurt us.

Luke 10:18-19
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

When I command evil spirits to come out in the name of Jesus – They must obey. When I lay hands on the sick and pray in His name – They must be healed. When I command in Jesus name, heaven backs it up. God doesn’t see my name, He sees the name of JESUS!
We got the name! We Got Power!

We have His Spirit with Power, we have His Name with Power, and…

3. We have God’s WORD with Power

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Ephesians 6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Speak God’s Word. Problems are real. God’s Word is real. His Word is more powerful than your problem. God’s Word will over power any situation you can face. Speak the Word of God to your problem, to your situation, to your finances, to your sickness and it has to change. The words you speak become your reality. Speak God’s Word. We must have the word of God in our heart.

Proverbs 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Jesus resisted the devils temptation with the Word. Don’t let the enemy define you. Don’t let him make you believe that you’re less than what God says you are. When he says you can’t. You say I can. When he says your weak you say I’m strong.

Joel 3:10
Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

We must speak the word! Stop saying you’re too fat. You’re not good enough. You’re not smart enough. You’re not pretty enough. You’re not strong enough. You don’t know enough. Speak the word of God to your condition. The Word of God says:

Psalm 107:2
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Romans 8:37
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

We have authority in Jesus name, by the Word, through the Spirit.
He gave us His Spirit, His Name, and His Word. Jesus gave Power and authority to the Church. WE GOT POWER! Use what you got.

As long as we go to church every Sunday and worship, the devil is happy. That’s where he wants us to be and that’s where he wants us to stay. All that God gave us, wasn’t simply for us to come together and worship him and thank him, but He gave us power over the enemy so that we could go forth and defeat the devil and his kingdom. That’s why Jesus said “Go ye, therefore”. He had all power. He gave the power to his Church. Now he’s saying…Go! Go!

You got power. Use what you Got!