Executive Prayer - The Name of Jesus

[00:00:00] We're going to read quite a number of verses. We're going to start in the psalms with psalm 72. You would like to follow in your Bible. [00:00:13] We'll lay a foundation of scripture for all that we shall say. [00:00:22] Psalm 70, 217. [00:00:26] His name shall endure forever. [00:00:32] His name shall be continued as long as the sun. The wonderful messianic promise of our Lord Jesus Christ. His name shall endure forever. [00:00:49] And in the song of Solomon, the little verse that we spoke about on Sunday, the song of Solomon. Chapter one, verse three. [00:01:02] Thy name is as oil poured forth. [00:01:09] Thy name is as oil poured forth. The pouring forth of the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus. [00:01:21] Now let's turn to the New Testament and a series of scriptures. First of all, John, the gospel according to John, chapter 17, verse six. [00:01:35] John 17, six. [00:01:39] Now I want you to note very carefully these words. Don't let them just run off you like water off a duck's back. Just think, as we read them, I manifested thy name, thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world. [00:02:03] Verse eleven. And I am no more in the world, and these are in the world. And I come to thee, Holy Father. Keep them in thy name which thou hast given me. [00:02:22] And I guarded them. I'm sorry that they may be one even as we are. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me. [00:02:40] Verse 26. [00:02:43] And I made known unto them thy name and will make it known that the love wherewith thou lovest me may be in them, and I in them. [00:03:00] Those few words warrant very much meditation and reflection when you think of it, thy name which thou has given me, the name of Jesus. [00:03:18] Then we turn to Luke, chapter 24, Luke 24 47. [00:03:32] The Lord Jesus, the risen Christ the king, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. [00:03:53] That remission of sins should be preached in his name. [00:03:59] Now to Matthew, chapter 18, verse 15. Matthew 1815. [00:04:14] And if thy brother sin against thee, go show him his fault between thee and him alone. If he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouths of two witnesses or three, every word may be established. And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church. And if he refuse to hear the church, also let him be unto thee as the gentile and the publican. Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. [00:05:26] And then if you will turn again to John. The gospel of John, for another short series, John 1413. [00:05:45] John 1413. 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 anything in my name, that will I do. John 15, verse 16. [00:06:10] Ye did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the father in my name, he may give it you. [00:06:31] And then chapter 16, verse 23. [00:06:37] And in that day ye shall ask me no question. [00:06:41] Verily, verily, I say unto you, if ye shall ask anything of the father, he will give it you in my name. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made. [00:07:04] Then back to mark. [00:07:07] Quite a ramble in scriptures this evening. [00:07:11] Mark 1617. [00:07:19] Mark 1617. And these signs shall accompany them that believe in my name shall they cast out demons, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. [00:07:40] Now, acts, the book of acts for our last little group, acts, chapter three, verse six. [00:07:57] Here is the fulfillment of what the Lord said. [00:08:00] But Peter said, silver and gold have I none, but what I have that give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. [00:08:16] And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and his ankle bones were seized strength and leaping up he stood and began to walk. Then verse 16. [00:08:33] And by faith in his name hath his name made this man strong. Now the margin of my Bible, which is the standard version, has a very interesting alternative. It says this. And on the ground of faith in his name hath his name made this man strong. [00:09:02] Then chapter four, verse seven. It's still the same incident. [00:09:08] Chapter four, verse seven. And when they had set him in the midst, they inquired, by what power or in what name have ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders, if we this day are examined concerning a good deed done to an impotent man, by what means this man is made whole. Be it known unto you all, unto all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even in him doth this man stand here before you whole. He is the stone which was set at nought of you, the builders, which was made the head of the corner, and in none other is there salvation, for neither is there any other name under heaven that is given among men whereby we must be saved. Now, of course, they forbade them to speak any more in that name. And then verse 23. And being let go, they came to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders and said unto them. And they when they heard it, what did they do? They lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, o Lord, thou that didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is who by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our Father David, thy servant did say, why did the gentiles wage? And the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves in array, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ, for of a truth in this city, against thy holy servant or child Jesus, whom thou didst anoint. Both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel foreordained to come to pass. And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings and grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness, while thou stretchest forth thy hand to heal. And that signs and wonders may be done through the name of thy holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken, wherein they were gathered together, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God with boldness. [00:11:42] Now our subject this evening has grown out of a question that I was asked by two of the brothers about prayer and action in the name of the Lord Jesus. We often mention what we call executive prayer. Executive prayer and action in the name of the Lord Jesus. And it was suggested to me that perhaps it would be very good if we were together to inquire into exactly what we mean by this term. Executive prayer and action in the name of the Lord Jesus. [00:12:25] Now, of course, in one evening we will not be able to explore by any means fully such a tremendous subject. But I must say that for some time I have felt that there has been need amongst us of some very much clearer understanding of this matter. It seems that the Lord is leading us into situations and up against problems that until you and I learn to use the equipment which is provided for us in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the outpoured Holy Spirit, we will never be able to get anywhere. We shall remain saved people. [00:13:12] We may be able to grow personally, a little, and even corporately, but we shall be continually at the mercy of all the ites, the Philistines and the Jebusites and the Hivites and the Girgashites and all the other rites that there are. And the Lord knows there are many. [00:13:32] Well, now, what can we say about executive prayer and action in the name of Jesus? The first thing I would like to underline, which I feel we must as a foundation to what we say, we must look at the significance of the name of Jesus. [00:13:52] Firstly, the person of the Lord Jesus. [00:13:58] To whom is this name Jesus given? [00:14:04] Now, the first thing we have to say if we turn to Matthew chapter one and verse 21, is this, that it is the human name of God. [00:14:18] The human name of God. Thou shalt call thou and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. And then a little farther down, it tells us it is the fulfillment of that which was spoken by the law through the prophet saying, behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name God with us. [00:14:51] God with us. Now, that's not just a kind of general name or title given to some human being or some great prophet that God was behind him. The whole thought was, of course, God had been with all the prophets. If that were true, all of them could have been called Emmanuel. But this, this one who was to be born of the virgin was to be unique and singular in this simple fact that God was actually here present in flesh and blood. [00:15:30] Jesus, therefore, is the human name of God. [00:15:35] We may know him as El Shaddai. We may know him as the Almighty. We may know him as Jehovah. We might know him as the Lord of hosts. We might know him as the most high. But there is no name more glorious, more tender, more revealing, more touching, as far as we sinners are concerned, than the name of Jesus. It is the human name of God. [00:16:08] If we were left with all the other names, we would have tremendous names. But this name of Jesus surpasses them all, surpasses them all in splendor, surpasses them all in grace, surpasses them all in glory, because it is the human name of God Almighty. [00:16:31] The word became, fled, and dwelt amongst us. [00:16:40] Jesus. [00:16:41] So every time you and I use the name of Jesus, we are appealing to the humanity of God. [00:16:51] Isn't that amazing? Every time you and I use the name of Jesus, we are appealing to the humanity of God. Contradiction in terms, but absolutely true. [00:17:03] God of God and man of man. [00:17:08] Every time I cry in the name of Jesus, it is the humanity of God I make my appeal to. I appeal to the divinity, the deity, the almightiness of God through Jesus. [00:17:26] Well, that to me is glorious. It may not mean when I was first saved, I was only twelve. I'm afraid the human name of God meant very little to me. Indeed, I loved the Lord Jesus, but it didn't mean much to me. But I'm not old. But as I've grown a little older, the name of Jesus, the human name of Jesus, means more and more and more just to think that one day I shall stand before someone who has a colour to his hair, color to his eyes, who has a complexion, who has a face that corresponds to mine. He's human. Hands, arms, legs, feet. [00:18:14] He's not some giant 20ft tall. He's about our height. [00:18:20] It is to me tremendous to think that there is God, the sun, located in a human body. The span of a normal body. It is tremendous. [00:18:32] But I mustn't stop there or we won't get anywhere. The second thing about this name of Jesus is this. [00:18:42] That it is the name of God's anointed one. The name of God's anointed one. Acts, chapter four. [00:18:53] That passage we read together. [00:18:55] Acts 427. [00:19:01] More of a truth in this city against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint. [00:19:08] Then again, chapter two, verse 36. Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God hath made him, that is Jesus, both Lord and Christ. [00:19:24] Now, Christ is the greek form of messiah, and all it means is the anointed one. The anointed one. God hath made him both Lord and the anointed one. [00:19:39] Now, if you turn back to Luke, chapter four, verse 18, you know when the Lord Jesus was in the synagogue at Nazareth, he opened the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. [00:19:56] And then he read this. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Verse 21. And he began to say unto them, today, hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears. The Lord Jesus is the anointed one of God. What is he anointed for? Well, he is anointed. Listen to all these things and as much else. If you look in Isaiah, chapter 42, as well as in Isaiah, chapter 61, you will find a long list of the things that he is anointed to do. He has anointed, it says, to preach the gospel to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. And if you look in chapter 60, you will find the brokenhearted are mentioned, and those that are in prison houses and in dungeons are mentioned. And then if you look in chapter 42, you will find many other things as well. This is what the Lord Jesus is anointed to do. He is anointed by God to be the wonderful liberator of all who call upon him, the healer, the restorer, the savior, the redeemer, and so much else. He is anointed. If you read on in chapter 61 of Isaiah, you'll discover he is anointed to be the builder of the church, the gatherer of the Israel of God, and the builder of the church of God, the eternal dwelling place of the almighty. [00:21:50] What a tremendous thing it is then, that the name of Jesus signifies the anointed one of God. It is Jesus Christ, or Christ Jesus, the most common of all the ways that the Lord is referred to in scripture, Jesus is the anointed one of the Lord. And, my dear friends, he is the anointed one of God. Tonight, never think that with his work finishing on Calvary, his anointing has ceased. His anointing is as fresh as ever. Tonight, at the right hand of God the Father, our head stands anointed, absolutely anointed, for this glorious ministry of liberating men and women, restoring those that have fallen away, saving the unsaved, and so much else. Well, we can't, I say, stay with too much of this. Of course. The name of Jesus is the name of the savior. [00:22:52] Supremely, it is the name of the savior. Matthew 121, which we've already read, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for it is he that shall save his people from their sins. The savior. Every time we hear the name of Jesus, our hearts leap. If we're the saved of God. I don't know any true christians that the name of Jesus doesn't do something to, it just somehow does something. [00:23:21] Something moves inside because Jesus is our savior, my savior. He's your savior. He is the one who shall save his people. From their sins. Acts, chapter two and verse 21 has that wonderful little scripture that we know so well, and it says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The name of the Saviour. It's wonderful just to think of the name of Jesus. And then I would like to add one thing more. Many things we could add, but one thing more, which I think is fundamental. The name of Jesus. This is the name of the supremely exalted one enthroned at God's right hand. [00:24:22] Ephesians and chapter one. [00:24:28] This Lord Jesus, where is he tonight? Well, listen to this, which God wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand. Made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church. What a glorious position the Lord Jesus has got. No one has such a supremely exalted position as the Lord Jesus. Listen, he's far above. Not just above, but far above all rule, authority, power, dominion. And every name that is named not only in this world, but that which is to come. Now, even you and I don't know the names of those that are to be in the world that is to come. Come. [00:25:33] We know there are many new names. We're told in the book of revelation they're going to be new names which are given to us, new names. But this name of Jesus is the one that is supreme, the one who is exalted above all. Now, if you turn to Philippians, next letter, chapter two, verse nine and ten, we read this. Wherefore also God highly exalted him and gave unto him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. [00:26:24] We may not seem to be on the winning side just now, but we are. [00:26:30] That will come true before the eyes of every truly born again believer. They will see the whole universe and all who have ever lived. [00:26:42] And they will see that vast concourse of living souls bowing down like a great way to the risen Lord, like a great wave. A ripple will run through out to the farthest extents of outer darkness. [00:27:00] And all will bow the knee. Whether in heaven or earth or hell, everything will bow the knee. One thing I know I'm not a Roman Catholic, but there's one thing that has always amazed me in roman catholic mass is when the bell is wrong and everyone goes down, just like a wave of ripple and everyone goes down. I think somehow, although I don't agree with that kind of thing at all, I must say that it'll be something like that in the end when at the name of Jesus, everything, everything in the whole universe will bow the knee automatically, spontaneously to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, my dear friend, the point is this. He is there already. [00:27:59] He is not going to get there. Hes there already and hes not even fighting tonight. Hes seated, waiting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet. [00:28:12] That's something of the significance of the name of Jesus. Now, what is its significance then for us? Well, running back over this, it is this. [00:28:25] The name means this. The once crucified one, the once humbled and humiliated one is now exalted and enthroned. [00:28:41] His work is finished. [00:28:44] His spirit is poured forth. [00:28:49] Everything that was could be done for the salvation of every man or woman, from the most decent to the vilest, has been completed. [00:29:01] Single human being, whatever their color or whatever their crime, can turn to our Lord Jesus Christ and find in him one who is able to save from the very teeth and jaws of hell itself. [00:29:20] That's what it means. [00:29:22] It also means this, and let's get it clear, because very few christians have got it, that his work is finished. [00:29:31] There are so many christians unfinishing it and then trying their best to finish it. It's a finished work. It's absolutely finished. The very root, the very foundation of your salvation, of my salvation is that he completed his work on the cross. The work of our salvation has been completed. Yes, of course. You and I have got to enter into it. Of course, we have to possess it step by step, stage by stage. But never forget, the work is a finished work. It's all of grace, the foundation upon which God gives himself his life. Everything is the finished work of the Lord Jesus. The Father never departs. The spirit never departs from this one single foundation, the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the great basis upon which the Father moves and the holy spirit moves. Never forget it. And never forget that the Holy Spirit has been given in all the welter of singing hymns about a new Pentecost and another Pentecost. And a fresh this and a fresh that. Let's never forget that the Holy Spirit has been poured forth. It is the birthright of every child of God. My dear, dear brother or sister, if you haven't entered into it, that's your fault. [00:30:51] The Holy Spirit is poor. [00:30:53] You and I, on the basis of the finished work of Christ, the blood of Christ, can step in by faith and take what is ours, of the fullness and the empowering of the Holy Spirit of God. It is ours not because you and I are righteous, not because you and I are worthy, but because of a finished work. [00:31:16] Another finished work. [00:31:20] Now, that needs to be understood. And there are very, very few people who do understand it. I mean, amongst us who are believers, we all the time got this idea that somehow we've got to make the grade. And when we make the grade, a sudden blessing drops on us from heaven. [00:31:37] But in actual fact, the work of Christ is a finished work, and you and I will never make the grave until we enter in just as we are. [00:31:51] We had to learn that when we were saved. But we have to learn it along every step of the line, that unless you and I step into it, then we haven't got the power to make the grade. We haven't got the power to. To live the life that we ought to be living. We haven't got the power to really serve the Lord as we should. It's very simple. And the enemy, just as it were, turns the thing around. He inverts the order, and he whispers things, all whispers things all the time, and just gets us on the old line that we're not really worthy enough. It's no good you asking. It's no good you claiming your portion, because the Lord would never give it to you. [00:32:38] You give it to Hudson Taylor, of course, and Andrew Murray. [00:32:42] A number of others. [00:32:44] Misses pen Lewis, of course. She was remarkable anyway. And this is the kind of thing that the devil says to us. It's a strange thing. When the saints are dead, the devil says very good things about them. [00:32:57] But when they're alive, he always says the most terrible thing about them. So you can always be certain that the devil whispers into your ears all kinds of things about the day, about the dead saints, which are very nice. [00:33:07] Oh, of course, so and so is a marvelous person. Of course, you reading sons's book, you think, oh, but then the devil says, of course it's all right for them. [00:33:17] They had a bent that way. [00:33:20] They had a kind of christian background, christian upbringing and so on. And so on. Well, whatever you and I may think, all the devil's flattery as well as his malicious insinuations are all lies, because they may be the truth, but told in order to insinuate a lie in the end into us and get us off the foundation of the finished work of Christ onto the foundation of our own goodness, our own worthiness, our own acceptability with God. [00:34:03] Well, here it is. The significance of the name of Jesus is this, that the once crucified, humiliated, humbled one is now exalted and enthroned. His work is faithful and the Holy spirit is poured forth. The second thing that comes out of that is this. He is beyond the enemy's power to touch. Oh, I think that's so wonderful. He's beyond the enemy's power to touch. The enemy touched him all through his life and certainly had a tremendous time with him on the cross. [00:34:38] But now the Lord Jesus was sword above the enemy's power. He's far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. In every name that is named. He's gone beyond the power of the enemy ever again to frustrate or hinder or nullify or gainsay. The devil may have a wonderful time with us, but he can't do anything with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the devil hates us, because we are, as it were, left down here until the Lord comes back. And so he thinks he'll have a go at us. [00:35:19] I'll come to that if I have the time. In a moment. [00:35:22] But you see, the Lord Jesus is beyond the enemy's power to touch. He's utterly victorious. There is nothing he cannot do and there's nothing he cannot achieve, nothing at all. [00:35:36] That's the position of the Lord Jesus, and he's waiting for his ultimate vindication and trial. He is seated, as I said before, his work is intercession. Now, not fighting. [00:35:50] He is interceding for us. That is true. [00:35:54] But he's not fighting. [00:35:56] He is seated because his work's finished. The Lord Jesus is, as it were, just saved. That's finished. [00:36:04] I am king of kings and Lord of Lords. The world may be in a mess. My church may be in a mess. [00:36:12] Things may be dark and terrible. [00:36:16] But the ultimate vindication of triumph is absolutely certain. I am here. The Lord Jesus is in heaven as the guarantee that you and I are going to get there. That's so wonderful. He said it himself. I go to prepare a place for you. That's exactly what he said. He's gone on before in order to take us with him. The glory of our union with Jesus Christ is so tremendous that we can't be left. Think of it. We cannot be left. We are one with him. We are part of him, so we can't be left. He is in the throne. And there's a sense in which just because he is so absolutely, absolutely supreme and exalted, he can let the enemy do his worst, and still the Lord Jesus will win. [00:37:08] Now, what does that mean then? Well, let's put it like this. [00:37:13] The name of the Lord Jesus means that he is still the saving one tonight. He is still the anointed one tonight. He is still the reigning one tonight. And he is still the predestined one tonight. [00:37:29] It thrills me to think of the Lord Jesus, the predestined one. [00:37:34] The predestined one. Ephesians, chapter one. Predestined by God to be the head and the sum of a new creation. [00:37:45] Now, whatever we may feel about our own unworthiness or our own failure or our own weakness and so on, there's one thing that we can be absolutely certain about, and that is the Lord Jesus. [00:37:57] We know he's worthy, and we know he is the predestined one of God, predestined to be the head and the heart of a new heaven and a new earth. Now, to me, that's very wonderful. If you want to turn to it, it's Ephesians one. [00:38:16] It's a very involved passage, verse nine, making known unto us the mystery of God's will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times. To sum up, all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth. In him, I say, in whom also we were made, a heritage having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will. [00:38:56] The Lord Jesus is a cornerstone, elect and precious. [00:39:04] That's wonderful, isn't it? It just means he's predestined. He is the predestined one of God. Well, now, think of it. Tonight, the Lord Jesus Christ is beyond the power of the enemy, at the right hand of God the Father. He is the saving one, able to save to the uttermost any who come unto the father by him. He is the anointed one. What does that mean? He is the anointed one, able to bind up, able to heal, able to restore, able to liberate, able to answer the difficulties and promise. He is the anointed one of God. He is the builder of the church. He is the one who will gather the people of God together. It's wonderful. The anointed one, he is the reigning one. It may seem to us that men are reigning. It may seem that communism is reigning. It may seem to us that darkness is reigning world rulers of darkness. But we are just an embassy of our lord. [00:40:01] He is the reigning one. We are here on alien territory in a fallen world, but he is the reigning one, and he's the predestined one. Well, now, having said all that, what does it mean, this phrase in the name of Jesus? [00:40:19] The briefest glance at a concordance will show how common this phrase is in the New Testament. In the name. [00:40:32] In the name. You will find it used in connection with all kinds of things, not just prayer. We're not just told to ask in the name, but all kinds of things are associated with in the name. I suggest you take a concordance and you go through it. You'll find it a really rather wonderful study on your own if you just look up all the references to this little phrase in the name. Now we've talked about the name of Jesus. [00:41:03] What lies behind this phrase in the name? Because that's very, very important. Well, the first thing we can say is we are saved and born of God through believing on the name. [00:41:22] John, chapter one, verse twelve. [00:41:27] But as many as received him to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God saved and born of God through believing on the name. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever shall call upon upon the name of the Lord. It's not just that you here believe in that name over there, but you believe on the name. You act, something happens, and you are united to the person whose name it is. You believe on the name of Jesus. Or if you like, you believe into the name of Jesus. Now think of it, because that's literally the preposition that is used. You believe into the name of Jesus, you step out of yourself, out of unbelief, into the name of Jesus. Just like a woman when she marries a man, she loses her own name. She becomes misses so and so. [00:42:49] She loses her name, her maiden name, and takes a husband's name. She has been joined to him and shares his name. So you and I, in believing on the name of Jesus, lose our own name in one sense, and we enter into his name. [00:43:10] Well, now, that's rather wonderful. If you turn to John 20 and verse 31, you will see it's put in just another way here. But these are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing ye may have life in his name, God gives us life in his name. Now, just wait. [00:43:43] How do I get life in his name? [00:43:47] Think about it. [00:43:50] How do I get life in his name? Does God say, well, now look here, you. [00:43:55] I will give you eternal life. [00:43:58] You are there, I am here. I will give you eternal life in the name of my son. Not at all. What it means is if you step into Christ, God gives you life. [00:44:11] You believe into the name. In other words, you believe into Christ, you're in him. You're in him. And now God gives you life. [00:44:25] In him is life, and the life was the light of men. [00:44:32] That's wonderful, isn't it, when you think of it like that? So we can go on and we can say what lies behind this phrase in the name when it means we are joined to him, we are sharing what he is. We share his life. Well, we share everything. We are so joined to the Lord that in the sight of God, in the mind of God, we share his death, his burial, his resurrection and his ascension. [00:44:59] We are crucified with Christ. I have been crucified with Christ. We are buried with Christ. We are buried, therefore, by baptism, with him. [00:45:08] We are raised with Christ. We are raised with him to walk in newness of life. We are ascended with him, made to sit together with him in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus. God has so joined us to Christ. But as far as he is concerned, we share his history. When he was crucified, we were crucified. When he was buried, we were buried. When he was raised, we were raised. When he ascended, we ascended. It's so wonderful that Paul in a sudden burst of revelation, says, when Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall we be manifested with him. [00:45:48] In other words, when he comes back, we shall be with him. So glorious is this thought of sharing Christ, so intimate, so practical, that when he comes back, we shall be raptured to be with him and shall appear with him. [00:46:08] That's wonderful. [00:46:10] Now, you see, I can illustrate it like this. You see, I have many members in my body. I have legs and limbs and all kinds of things, all part of my body. But every part of this body shares the name of Lance Lambert. [00:46:26] They're all in here. They're all joined to one body. Not one bit of me is Ron Roberts. [00:46:32] Not one bit of me. [00:46:34] I may have hands a little bit like his, but they're not his because they're joined to me. They're part of my life, and therefore they share me, every part. [00:46:51] Now they have a right to the name of Lance Lambert. When this hand stretches out and takes that glass, my fingers could say, you know, this is Lance Lambert. [00:47:00] When the glass could say to the hands, don't be silly. You are not Lance Lambert. Lance Lambert's up there. But the fingers say, oh, dare you. [00:47:11] I'm joined to the body, and that body is love's lamb, but I am part of him. Now, you and I, this not far fetched. You and I are members of Christ. We are actually limbs of Christ, and therefore in the sight of God, we share his name. That's why you and I can ask anything in his name. It's not a little charm, it's not a little thing, a little sort of suffix we add to our prayers, so, so, so, so, bless grandma, bless, so and so, blessed, bless aunt, so and so, bless missionaries, so and so, in the name of Jesus. [00:47:45] It's not just a little thing, we add a suffix. [00:47:48] When you and I say, in the name of Jesus, we are really saying, father, I believed into Christ, I am joined to Christ, I am part of Christ, and I am praying in the name of Jesus. Christ is a glorious position to have. [00:48:09] And you see, when you and I start to understand something of what it is that we have been crucified with him and buried with him and raised with him. If only the spirit of God will touch our eyes and we see it, not that you and I have done it, but that he has done it, and that we were in him when God did it. [00:48:32] That's our history. [00:48:34] And we are indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit in the name, because the Lord Jesus expressly said in John chapter 14, John 1426. But the comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will see in my name, whom the Father will send in my name. The Holy Spirit is sent in the name of Jesus. That's that little phrase in the song of Solomon, thy name is as oil poured forth. And again in acts chapter two and verse 38, it says this, repent ye and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, unto the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. In the name of Christ, ye receive the Holy Spirit as well as the remission of sins. Now, I find all that very wonderful and then again, this little phrase in the name means that we are members of his body, as I have already pointed out, but now in a corporate sense, not that I am joined to Christ. I am in him. He is in me. Therefore, I can use his name in prayer. We can personally, each one of us can come at any time of the day or night to the Father and say, Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to speak, and God will always listen. [00:50:20] But we are also corporately his body. [00:50:25] And I believe this is an aspect of the name which is often forgotten in Matthew, chapter 18, verse 20, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. It's very interesting, in one corinthians, chapter one and verse ten, that when Paul is dealing with all the divisions at Corinth, he says this, I beseech you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that there be no more divisions amongst you. [00:51:02] It's as if Paul understood what the name of Christ meant. It wasn't just something personal. It wasn't just something, as I've said, added to prayer at the end of a prayer. But for him, it meant that we were all members of one body. We were all sharers of one Christ. Therefore, there can be no division if we divide. If there is division, generally, locally or personally, then we are dividing Christ. We are abusing Christ. [00:51:34] It's a terrible thing. [00:51:36] So when we speak of in his name, that's what we mean. So it is his life, his will, his work, his authority, his power, his resources that are ours. In the name, you see, I am in the body, therefore his life. [00:52:02] I have a right to his life. I am in him, therefore I have a right to his resources. I am in him, therefore I have a right to the authority of the head. [00:52:14] I am in him, therefore I have a right to his power. I am in him, therefore I have a right to the will of the head. All these things begin to open up. That's what it means. In his name, you and I are in him, and therefore we share all these things. Well, now, having said all that, what does executive prayer and action in his name mean? [00:52:51] Well, executive prayer and action is not supplication, it is not inquiry, it is not petition. [00:53:07] I am sure the Lord at times must grow weary of us, for really and truthfully we spend all our time supplicating. [00:53:17] Lord, bless Lord, do this. Lord, do that. He must say, oh, if only they would take a stand of faith. [00:53:29] Why, they ask and ask and ask and ask and ask and ask as if they haven't got a Bible. [00:53:36] They ask just as if they ignore great portions of the Bible. [00:53:42] It's not supplication. It's not inquiry. Supplication is a very necessary thing. Inquiry is a very necessary thing. Many of us make mistakes because we never inquire of the Lord to start with. We just do things instead of inquiring. Very important petition. It's not just petition, but petition, of course, is important. Ye have not because ye ask not, but it's not those things. Executive prayer and action. And it's not discussion. [00:54:10] A great, great, long winded discussion in which everyone contributes something, and then in the end, they do nothing because there's been too much discussion. [00:54:20] Sometimes that happens. Everyone. And everyone talks and talks and talks and talks and talks. Lindsey Glegg once said that the work he was in, he was, thank God there was no committee in it, because if it had there been a committee, it would have been bogged down 2030 years ago. [00:54:37] But he said, we have got a committee. I've often told you this, he said, we have got a committee. It consists of three of them, all in heaven, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. And they always agree. [00:54:48] And that committee gets things done. But it's not just discussion, and it's not just simply, as it were, coming to a kind of decision. Some people think executive action means we come to a decision and we just carry it out. You know, decisions of book come to come to, by one way or another, majority vote, or by much discussion and wrangling, and finally, everyone agrees, and still nothing happens. It's not executive action simply because a decision is reached. What does it mean? It means this executive prior and action is the carrying of God's word, of God's will, and of God's commands into operation. [00:55:40] Simple as that. What does to execute or executive mean? I looked it up in the Oxford Dictionary, and I thought this was very good. Listen. [00:55:49] To carry a plan command sentence into effect, it doesn't mean a sum devil thing to chop off someone's head or shoot them. [00:56:03] That's another kind of execute altogether, although I'm quite sure some people would like to see it done in the Lord's work. [00:56:09] It's not that it means to carry plan, a plan, a command or a sentence into effect, or, and I like this, to make valid by signing. [00:56:24] To make valid by signing. Now, there you've got the heart of executive prayer. To make valid by signing. It's as if we say, Lord, we add our signature to this. [00:56:35] This is something in your word you've revealed to us. This is something which we know to be your will. Now, Lord, here are our signatures. Together we sign it and it's then as if heaven says, righto, it's done. [00:56:49] Whatsoever ye bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loose. It doesn't mean that we've got to actually use that phrase, although I'm quite sure we ought to bind things and use the word bind and loose things and use the word loose. But what it does mean is this, that every time you and I rise up together as one man, instead of all this kind of the so and so has got something wrong with the stomach and feels a little bit off color and someone else has knocked out. No one ever thinks it's that the enemy, they've all just knocked out, all the responsible ones are knocked out all over the place. And so one person tries to reach there and there's hardly an arm in. [00:57:26] And probably some are thinking, oh, dear, dear, dear, someone. So sort of histrionics. Again, dramatics. [00:57:35] In actual facts, spiritual things are spiritual things. [00:57:42] And once group of people begin to see the invisible and act and act just as if it was the visible, something starts to happen. Of course you're going to be dramatic. If you saw this place filled with vile and foul fiends floating around in the air, you might get a bit dramatic. [00:58:05] But just because you can't see those things, you don't get dramatic. But believe me, my dear friends, if you saw a few rats scud through this floor, some of you'd have some dramatics, because you've got visible sight and you see the things. [00:58:21] So as soon as you see them, there'd be some ladies up on their chairs and a few other things said, I might add, because we are seeing something with the visible sight. This is what happened when this poor young man said to Elisha, oh, dear, we're surrounded by all these armies. What are we going to do? And all Elisha said, lord, open his eyes. [00:58:46] And the Lord touched the boy's eyes and he looked up and he saw the whole hill, the whole man, absolutely entrenched with the host of God. Well, he forgot the armies of the enemy altogether. Then he just took one look at, oh, my word, we are going to have a victory. [00:59:05] It's as simple as that. You see, you see when you see things, when you really see things and you start to act on what you see, some people may think you're a little bit of, but in actual fact, how else are world rulers of darkness to be to be touched and influenced by the name of the Lord? How else are hosts of wicked spirits to be disarmed? How else are principalities and powers to be got rid of? What are we supposed to do? [00:59:37] All be like some beautiful old gentleman's club belonging to the empire, days all gone. [00:59:50] I mean, what are we supposed to do? [00:59:53] No, we're not supposed to be like that at all. I'm quite sure that all that kind of gentility has got to go in this awful, awful conflict of blood and sweat. If once you see it, we must thank God that not everyone does see it. I'm sure it would unhinge a lot of people just to see the battle that there is in the atmosphere in the under. But believe me, dear friends, in actual fact, the whole of this world is controlled by invisible forces. The visible are just mere pawns in a vast game. [01:00:35] People always seem to think you're talking in a queer way when you start along that line, but why do they believe in God? [01:00:42] If you believe in God, you believe in his word. He tells us there are world rulers of darkness. He tells us there are princes of the nation, principalities and powers that control the destinies of nations. We're told that the things that happen outwardly are only the result of what's happening in the invisible world. Those things that control the destinies of peoples and nations and areas are being ruled about. And therefore, outwardly we see revolution and war and all other kinds of things. [01:01:12] But if you and I have eyes open, and I'm not always saying that we've got to have them open on a universal scale like that. [01:01:19] But this comes right down to our personal situations. [01:01:23] Spring has come. [01:01:31] It does come down to our personal situations and those personal situations. If the enemy can come into our personal situations, he knocks us out effectively. [01:01:45] And once he's knocked enough of us out, the general situation can take care of itself. [01:01:51] So simple as that. [01:01:53] So I think it's a wonderful thing to look at it like this, to carry a plan, a command, a sentence into effect. Oh, listen, the Lord has passed a sentence on the devil. He's passed sentence of death upon his host. [01:02:07] It's all past. [01:02:09] And you and I can carry it into effect, because the devil can only take as much as we allow him to have. [01:02:19] We just give him. [01:02:21] So if you make him, if you think of him as almighty, he'll be almighty. You think of him as chained, and he'll be chained. [01:02:30] He'll take just what you allow him to give him. [01:02:34] But in actual fact, the sentence of death has been carried out. He's not dead, but the sentence has been passed. And every time a company of people rise up and carry that sentence into effect, the enemy scans off, can't bear it because it is a bell tolling out his inevitable end. [01:02:57] And he knows it. [01:02:59] His time is short. It says in one part of God's word, he will come down knowing that his time is short. Knowing that his time is short, he knows his end is inevitable, so he's just going to wreak as much havoc as he possibly can. [01:03:13] But you and I can carry the sentence of God into effect. We can bind the strong man and spoil his goods. As dear brother, we so often used to say, it wasn't just a dear old Welshman who, because he came from the mountains, was a bit queer anyway. [01:03:30] In actual fact, that man knew what he was talking about. [01:03:35] We can bind strong men in executive prayer and action. Bind them so that they are absolutely bound. Not because you and I can do anything, but because in the name of the Lord, we bind them and heaven says they're bound. [01:03:50] And when our Lord Jesus Christ says, ratify something from heaven, it's done. [01:03:56] The enemy doesn't dare do anything else when the Lord Jesus says something. [01:04:01] So you see, it is tremendous to recognize this. This is what we mean by executive prayer and action. We take the finished work and apply it. We make it effective. [01:04:12] Think of the finished work of Christ. Think of all that's included in the finished work of Christ. We can take that finished work, we can take that, shed blood. We can take that complete victory of the Lord Jesus Christ and we can carry it into effect. [01:04:30] And to me, this is the serious side of this whole matter. [01:04:35] If you and I do not carry it into effect, it stays ineffective. [01:04:44] It's as simple as that. [01:04:47] It remains ineffective. [01:04:52] But once you and I, by faith, not only ask, not only inquire, but take the finished work of Christ and start to apply it to situations. [01:05:02] We carry it into effect, things begin to happen. We take the victory of Christ while we've learnt it only, I think we see, I think it was dear old Mary Reese who taught us a little bit about that. Every single meeting she had in this place before she came down, she said, Lord, we're gonna have a glorious time. After she'd had a battle about it, then she said, now, Lord, we're gonna have a wonderful time. Thank you for the victory. And she always seemed had a wonderful time too. [01:05:27] That was because it was executive, you see, it's not much prayer. [01:05:32] There may have to be much prayer, there may have to be much inquiry, much petition, much importunate prayer. But executive prayer, it takes as long as it takes you to sign a letter. [01:05:46] Once it's the know and will of God, all you've got to say, Lord, is there are it's done. We may have to stand like that for months, but the signature's there. [01:05:57] We are making validation, the will of God by signing. [01:06:05] I think that's wonderful. [01:06:07] And we allow the Holy Spirit to continue the work of Christ through us. How much he wants to, how much he wants to do in this poor world with all its need. Well, now I think we must end. But I'm going to read to you one or two scriptures in closing, as we began with them. [01:06:24] I read you John, chapter 20. And now these are all scriptures that are used by the Roman Catholics and are completely bypassed by nearly all Protestants. I don't know why they seem to be frightened to death a thing. [01:06:42] John 2021 Jesus therefore said to them again, peace be unto you as the Father, even so send I you. And when he had sent this, he breathed on them and said, saith unto them, receive ye the Holy Spirit. Whosoever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them. Whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. [01:07:09] Now that scripture, I don't just say it's Roman Catholic, it's scripture. What it means is this, that ye, the Holy Spirit, and we, Christ and ourselves, have become so one that in us he can actually do things. He frees people. [01:07:29] He frees people to us. He touches their very sins and frees them from them. [01:07:35] I've known it once or twice, people have come upstairs and they can't come to Christ, and they've known straight away. What can we do? So we've called one or two into prayer, we've just prayed over them, and then all of a sudden they say, I see in general, they always weep when there's such a case. Do you see those sins you forgive? They are forgiven. Those who have the sins you take, never take, they pray through, because the Lord looks upon us and himself as so one. [01:08:07] Tremendous, isn't it? It's a mystery. And then if you turn to Matthew, chapter 16, verse 19, I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Chapter 18, verse 18. Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And then I would like you to turn to Isaiah 45 and verse eleven. [01:08:57] Thus saith the Lord, the holy one of Israel and his maker ask me of the things that are to come concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands. Command ye me. Isn't that an amazing word from the Lord concerning the work of my sons. Sorry. Concerning. Yes, the work concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands. Come on, ye, me, my. [01:09:31] To command the Lord actually to tell him what to do. [01:09:37] It doesn't mean that we can ask just anything. We want to consume on our own desires and lusts and get it. But what it means is this. The secret is union. We are so one with Christ. We are in him, he is in us. The spirit of God has joined us together in one spirit, that we will with him quite spontaneously. The very desires that come into us are of him in this matter. Command ye me. Now, you know, the psalmist actually had the secret of executive prayer and action, and you will find it in three places in the psalms. Psalm 20, verse five. In the name of our God, we will set up our banners. Well, it says, first, we will triumph in thy salvation. That's the standard version rendering, we will triumph in thy salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners. You know, in the old days when there was a big battle, it was all done in a very leisurely way, and the armies used to come up very slowly, and then they used to view each other from a great distance, and then they used to set up their banners on either side, as it were. [01:10:48] No more has come to a gentleman's agreement. When the battle started, it was a real battle, but they set up their banners. In other words, they meant business. [01:10:58] These intruding forces were being told, we are here. [01:11:03] And if you think you are just going to come into this country and take it from us like that, we're setting up our banners to let you know we'll fight to the last man. [01:11:15] We will triumph in thy salvation. In the name of the Lord our God, we will set up our banners. We will resist the devil in the name of the Lord, we will stand against him, not to hurl epithets at him, not to sort of hurl abuse at him, but simply to set up. In the name of our Lord, the Lord our God, our banners will hide in him. [01:11:40] And then in psalm 44 five, through thee we will push down our adversaries through thy name will we tread them under. That rise up against us. The sarwise has got the secret. We will tread them under. I'm afraid they are our enemies are often treading us under. [01:12:07] But he's a wonderful spirit here. Through thy name. Through thy name. [01:12:13] Not just human grit, human courage, human character. But through thy name will we tread under our enemies. And then Luther's favorite psalm, 118. I have no doubt as to why it was his favorite psalm. The whole psalm is just filled with the kind of spirit that was in the man. Listen. From verse ten to twelve all nations compassed me about. Now you couldn't have more than that one man against all nations. Just think of it. All nations compassed me about. In the name of the Lord, I one of us. I will cut them off. Nations. [01:12:56] The psalmist has got the secret. [01:12:59] Listen. They compassed me about. He's not letting you forget it. Yea, they compassed me about. He certainly isn't letting you forget it. In the name of the Lord, I will cut them off. Now listen to what he says. They compassed me about like bees. They are quenched as the fire of thorns. In the name of the Lord I will cut them off. [01:13:25] What spiritual determination. Oh, there's such a need of a kind of spiritual churchillian spirit in us believers. A kind of spirit that refuses. I don't mean just a natural thing of the flesh but that is the spirit of God in us. [01:13:43] We will not let the enemy rob us of our inheritance. We will not let the enemy just come in and press us down. And, oh, press us. [01:13:53] In the name of the Lord, I will cut them off. [01:13:57] Well, that's tremendous. [01:13:59] It needs desperately to become our secret. [01:14:02] We have no excuse. Only unbelief or sin unconfessed can paralyse us. What we need is to have our eyes open. [01:14:12] What do we need our eyes open to? We need our eyes opened to our exalted Lord. [01:14:19] If we could catch one glimpse of him, exalted and enthroned and see that the name of Jesus is the heart of it all. He has carried the human name of Jesus up to the throne of God to the supreme heights of exaltation. And there it is. [01:14:38] The name of Jesus. If you and I could see it and see that you and I are saved. In the name of Jesus living in the name of Jesus serving in the name of Jesus fellowshiping in the name of Jesus. We are in him. [01:14:55] It will be tremendous. [01:14:58] It's just as if the head is up there and the body is here. That's as simple as that. [01:15:05] Tremendous. A clearer vision of the enthroned Christ and the meaning of his name by faith. The second thing, by faith, to stand continually into all that his name means and holds, means and holds. In other words, in all the situations of life, just simply say, lord, in the situation I stand into thy name. [01:15:31] Brother Patterson once said to a friend of mine about a dear little old missionary, Miss Gow, from north India. He said, I would give all that I had if I could see what she sees in the name of Jesus. [01:15:50] She had an amazing story of what the Lord had done in his name. Just a little, little woman living amongst fierce frontier tribesmen. And she was. They were all frightened to death about when there were two great tribes that were going to war and so on. It was the. The commissioner of the district, a britisher, so frightened to death of the whole thing, he called Miss Gow in and said, miss Gow, you go. You're the only one who can deal with it. She walked out in the name of the shadow, go in the name of the Lord. And went out and stopped the whole thing. In the name of the Lord. [01:16:29] Well, of course, there are many other remarkable stories like that, but you should just stand into the name. We've got to see what it means. You can't just do it. We've got to see what the name means. See the exalted position of our Lord Jesus. See that he is the anointed reigning, saving one, and tend to use it personally together to know and use the word of God in the battle. The blood of Christ and the power of the spirit. You and I will never overcome in this battle unless we know the word of God. Here's a little book that I've longed to have reprinted. And when I went to the States little while ago, I was going to go to CLC to beg them to do it, but never got to them. [01:17:09] Also, someone had borrowed it, and this is the only copy that I had, so I couldn't find it and I didn't know who borrowed it. [01:17:19] But this little book was by a lady called Misses Tiedemann Chilvers, a most remarkable woman, a great friend of misses pen Lewis, and it's called the victory of Calvary. It's one of the most remarkable little books I think, that's ever been written on the subject. Why? Well, listen to it. It's not a little message, even a message like I've given you the evil. It's not a message like that at all. Listen to this candidate. This is what I like suggestions for prayer warriors. You should see them, my God. I mean, there's nothing theoretical about this. Listen, take cover beforehand for yourself and yours. Remember what atonement means covering. Use and quote the scriptures fully. Quote also from examples in history as recorded in the word. Quote correctly. The least flaw takes off the keen edge. The omission of a small word or the insertion of a wrong 1 may be of tremendous importance. See, Satan's misquotation is tremendous. [01:18:15] Be suspicious. Never accept evidences or decide upon any course of action, of sight, feeling or circumstance without investigation. For maybe the enemy is bluffing you. His bluff and counterbeats are so cleverly disguised. Bring all to the bar of the word of God and the cross. Jesus better not read anymore. I shall find this method again by the number of people who want to read it. But then there's this. Weapons of destroying power. [01:18:43] Three whole pages of scriptures, just scriptures. Weapons of destroying power. No woman would write that who didn't know a little bit about it. [01:18:54] It's remarkable, isn't it? [01:18:57] You think you know how to play divine assurances to prayer warriors. [01:19:03] My, she's count them from every part of the Bible. [01:19:07] Two whole pages of them. I wanted to get that book reprinted for the last three years. It was Brother Reese's dying wish to get it done again and again. Was on to us about couldn't we get this reprinted and get a copy and wear the hands of every grand. It's because it's a little manual in spiritual warfare. There are many little books written about spiritual warfare, but there are so few that give us practical things as to what we can do, scriptures we can use. [01:19:37] I can't understand people who go to a prayer time without a Bible. It's like a soldier going into a terrible battle without a gun. [01:19:45] The most remarkable things asking to be slaughtered. And some of them are, well, executive prayer and action in the name of the Lord Jesus. You know, from the youngest to the eldest, we are all in Christ. If God has saved us. And here is the equipment God has given us. The days that lie ahead of us are not going to grow brighter. They're going to go darker spiritually. And therefore you and I need to know more and more the dynamic equipment that God has provided for us. [01:20:23] Otherwise we shall not last. We shall not outlast the battle, but we can overcome him, the enemy, by the blood of the lamb, by the word of our destiny. And because we do not love our lives even to the dead, it can be done and it will be done. [01:20:41] So let's all. Take courage this evening and remember here we have a tremendous thing. It's not that you and I have got to struggle through. It's been done. That's the glory of it's all been done. All you and I have got to do is rise up as a man and say, Lord, we're going to put our signature to these things now. From now on, we're going to put our signature to them. When you say that you were manifested to destroy the works of the devil, then, Lord, it's going to be done. [01:21:07] And when you've got enough people standing together, agreed, absolutely agree together, it will be done of our father who is in heaven. [01:21:18] May God help us. And remember this, that whenever it comes to executive prayer or action you can make quite sure that the strangest feelings and the strangest little incidents will happen to knock every single one of us out. [01:21:35] It happens again in remember that we must not be ignorant of his devices. Shall we pray? [01:21:51] O beloved Lord, we ask thee together that thou wouldst blot out anything untoward in this time, this evening. Anything not of thyself, lord. But we do pray. Dear Lord, thou open our eyes to see something of what it means, this executive prayer and action in thy name. O, teach us how to pray, lord, in this way teach us how to execute thy will, to execute thy plan, to carry into effect thy commands. O teach us, Lord, we pray that we may be a people who know what it is to reign with thee on the earth. [01:22:36] We ask it, dear Lord, in thy name. [01:22:41] Amen.