The Name Of Christ

Many times you see people at some big crusade, or people who go to church, or to a revival or whatever, and they "walk the aisle for Jesus," or they "pray at the alter," or they join the church...and they are told to go home and read the gospel of John.

Well, is there something wrong with that? No, there is nothing wrong with reading the gospel of John, or the other gospels, or any other book of the bible. Paul says, in 2 Timothy 3:16 that "all scripture is profitable." There is nothing in God's word that should be ignored or left out or shunned. All of the bible is FOR us. But...the thing about the gospel of John...not all of the bible is written UNTO us and not all of the bible is ABOUT us.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Now when it says, "rightly dividing the word of truth," it is a direct reference to the gospel. The gospel of YOUR salvation. Notice in:

Ephesians 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

So the word of truth that we are told to rightly divide is "the gospel of your salvation." And the point is: The gospel of John does not contain the gospel of your salvation. Nowhere in the gospel of John do you find the gospel that Paul preached to the Gentiles.

The gospel of John is "manifestation and identification." In other words it records the manifestation of Israel's Messiah. It identifies, that is, it NAMES the name of Christ. The idea being that Jesus Christ, in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John is IDENTIFIED with the nation of Israel and those who believed on him were to be IDENTIFIED with their Messiah.

That was done by water baptism and it's called "the baptism of repentance for remission of sins." That message is consistent all the way through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and into the book of Acts in Peter's ministry and the ministry of the others, such as Stephen and Philip. Let's notice a few things.

John 1:30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

John 1:31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.

Notice the "therefore" in the verse? What is the "therefore" THERE FOR? It tells you why John was sent to baptize with water. It was to MANIFEST Israel's Messiah to Israel. And that is in one accord with 1 John.

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

1 John 1:2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

He was MANIFEST to Israel. John 1:11 says that "he came unto his own." Notice again in the passage:

John 1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

John 1:34 And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

So the issue in the gospel of John is IDENTIFICATION. First the identity of the Son of God, and secondly, that those who would believe were to be IDENTIFIED with him. Notice Peter's message:

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

To be baptized IN THE NAME of Jesus Christ was to be identified with the Messiah, the Son of God. Notice Nathaniel:

John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

John 1:48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

John 1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

And that is consistent all the way through the gospel of John. Follow along as we look at a few verses:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Now a lot of people claim that John 3:16 is the gospel that Paul preached. But what does it mean that "he gave his only begotten Son?" Well, look back in Isaiah at the prophecy. It actually begins in Isaiah chapter seven where you find the prophecy of the virgin birth of Christ but notice in chapter nine:

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The US in the passage is the national of Israel and the "government" is the Kingdom.  Hence, in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John the preaching and teaching is the "gospel of the kingdom." But a kingdom must have a KING and that's what John is about. His identity. Compare Matthew where the angel is speaking to Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus:

Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Notice the name there? Thou shalt call his name JESUS. The name "Jesus" means Jehovah-Saviour. That's why in Isaiah we saw "the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. You also need to note that it says that he shall save HIS people from their sins. Well, in the context who are HIS people? Only the nation of Israel. Jesus said in Matthew 15:24 "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

So in John 3:16 God GAVE his only begotten Son...but in the context what is in view? Notice in Luke:

Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

Luke 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

Luke 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Luke 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

And that is is one accord with Peter's preaching in the book of Acts. Peter accuses the men of Israel of murdering their Messiah. He says repent and be baptized, that is, be identified with him. He says that God has rasied him from the dead to sit on the throne of David. Notice:

Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

So there is nothing at all in John 3:16 that would suggest that Christ died for all sins of all men so that those who would believe would be baptized by the Spirit into a joint body of believers called the church, the body of Christ. All of that was a mystery which is not in view in the gospel of John. Those things were LATER revelation given to the apostle Paul.

John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

And the wrath did come upon unbelieving Israel. They were cast away and scattered among the nations and Paul writes in Romans 11 that through their FALL salvation came to the Gentiles. But there is certainly nothing at all like that to be seen in the gospel of John. But let's look at some more verses:

John 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

John 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Notice what Peter says in Chapter six:

John 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

John 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

John 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

And that was the consistent message. The identity of the Messiah. The "church at Jerusalem" was built upon that confession. Notice:

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

Matthew 16:14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

Matthew 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The Rock is Christ, no doubt about that, but the church in view, the "church at Jerusalem" was built upon that confession, that Jesus IS the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now back in John:

John 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

John 10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.

John 10:38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

Now come to Chapter eleven and notice Martha here:

John 11:23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

John 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Now notice Martha's confession:

John 11:27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

That was what was required. To believe IN the name. To believe that Jesus IS the Christ which was prophecied. Notice again in 1 John.

1 John 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Notice in 2 John:

2 John 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

So the issue was to hold fast to the name. Back in the gospel of John:

John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Now come back to chapter 12:

John 12:37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:

John 12:38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Now that is a direct quote from Isaiah 53 and verse one. We want to go there in a minute but notice here:

John 12:39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,

John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

John 12:41 These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.

In Isaiah, chapter 53, there is an individual who is referred to something like 48 times. Isaiah 53 only has 12 verses but a certain individual is referred to a total of 48 times in those twelve verses. The reference is to "he" and "him" and "his" but his identity is never mentioned. THAT is what the gospel of John is all about. Notice the Ethiopian Eunuch.

Acts 8:26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

Acts 8:27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

Acts 8:28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

Acts 8:29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

Acts 8:30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

Acts 8:31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

Acts 8:32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

In other words he is reading from the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, and the verse is verse seven.

Acts 8:33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

Acts 8:34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

Acts 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

And that is in one accord with everything we have been reading in the gospel of John. You can see that here. Notice:

Acts 8:36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

Acts 8:37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

So Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is identified and the Eunuch is identified WITH him in water baptism. That's the consistent message. Notice back in John:

John 20:30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:

John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Well then, how would they have life through his name? By the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. The message of John the Baptist, the message of Philip, and the message of Peter in the book of Acts.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Now...the remission of sins. All of John, chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 takes place in the last 24 hours before the crucifixion of Christ. But John 13 begins the account "after the supper was ended." So we don't see the supper in John but we do find it in Matthew. Now notice.

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

Matthew 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

Matthew 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Notice THE new testament. The statement implies that there was an old one. So, as the OLD testament was made with Israel, it was called the Law of Moses, so will the new testament be for Israel at Christ's second coming. But notice he says "my blood...which is shed for many." That should be another clue. Many is not the same as all. All can be many, or many, many, or many, many, many but many can never be the same as ALL. Paul's doctrine is that the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to ALL men, and that God would have ALL men to be saved. But here we don't see salvation complete. We see REMISSION of sins.

And that is exactly what Peter preached, the remission of sins. In other words, those who believed the message preached by Peter would be baptized IN THE NAME, that is IDENTIFIED in the name of their Messiah, Jesus Christ, looking forward to the atonement, the blotting out of their sins at the second coming. That's clear from what Peter says:

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

Acts 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins looked forward to a FUTURE day of atonement for Israel at the second coming of Jesus Christ. But, as you see, nowhere in all of this have we seen Paul's message.

Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Romans 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

So what Israel looks forward to at the second coming of Christ, we already have by the doctrine committed to Paul to the church, the body of Christ.