Once again, it's good to see everybody this morning. Last week, if you were here, we turned to the Book of Colossians and we took a look at verses 16 and 17. Maybe some of you weren't able to be here, but maybe you heard the message once it was posted out on Sermon Audio. And I think last week when we got into that message, I told you, hey, this is going to be a two-parter because sometimes I'm a little long-winded and I can't get it all in in one sermon. So this week, we're going to pick back up where we left off. We'll do some rehash and bring everybody up to speed. If you would, turn with me to the book of Colossians, chapter 3 and verse 16 again. And we're going to begin talking about the power, we're going to talk about the authority that's in the name of Jesus. Y'all remember we talked about this a little bit last week, but that's what we're going to talk about again this morning, and we're going to continue in more detail, and we're going to, last week we talked about it in kind of a summary, and we're going to kind of drill into it this week. Colossians 3, verse 16, this is what the word of God has to say. Lest the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And then verse 17, this is our focus. And whatever you do, in word or deed, and I would tell you to underline this if it's not already underlined in your Bible, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through it. So I asked the question last week, I said, okay, we're to do everything in the name of who? We're to do everything in the name of Jesus. We're to do how much in the name of Jesus? We're to do everything in the name of Jesus. This morning I wanna start out by asking this question, what is everything? What is everything? We say do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Well, what is everything? Well, I'm gonna talk about three specific things that it means this morning. And I, by no means am I covering it all exhaustively. Every time I get in the Word and dig in, the Lord shows me something new that I've missed 20 times over. But this morning, he's laid on my heart these three things that we're gonna talk about this morning. Number one is this, when we start talking about what does it mean to do everything in the Lord Jesus, Here's three things that we gonna talk about to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. Number one, you gotta ask yourself this question. Is this deed that I'm about to do? Is this act that I'm about to participate in? Is this habit that I have? You gotta ask yourself this question. Is it consistent with the personality of Jesus? Is it consistent with the personality of Jesus? Now, what does that mean? Well, what does that mean? When I ask that, what does that mean? It means that if I'm about to do something, if I'm about to do something, do I feel good enough that I can put Jesus' name on it? And we talked about this a little bit last week. What I'm about to do, does it feel good enough to me that I can put the name of Jesus on it? Is it consistent with the personality of Jesus? What you're about to do, is it consistent with the character of Jesus? Back when I was growing up, we played a lot of ball. Me and brother Frank were talking about ball this morning. We played a lot of ball. And when you was a kid growing up playing ball, a lot of times you'd go to the store and maybe you was gonna get your own ball back. Maybe you was gonna get your own ball glove. And a lot of the companies like Spalding and others, they would go and they would talk to the superstars. And they would get them to endorse equipment. And as a boy growing up, I loved watching baseball on TV and you could go and you could find a bat and it would have the signature name of your favorite player on the ball bat. Sometimes it would have the name of your favorite player on the ball glove. Other people say, well, I didn't play baseball or softball. Maybe your thing was basketball. I don't know. Maybe it was basketball. And back in the day when I was growing up, the big dog in basketball was Michael Jordan. He was it. Some people still argue he is still it. But he was it. And you could go and you could get your basketball. And they had basketballs that had Michael Jordan's name on them that he endorsed. There's a pair of shoes. Y'all ever heard of Air Jordans? They still around. They still exist. And they're still very popular. Had his name on it. But when these people put their name on a piece of sporting equipment, what they were actually saying is this. They were saying, I endorse this. as a superstar am telling you this equipment meets my standard. That's what they were saying. This meets my standard. When that person put their name on a piece of equipment, they were saying this is consistent with who I am. Now, when I want to know whether or not I can do something, I'm going to tell you, I don't have to go to the Bible and find the chapter and verse where it says you can do this or you can't do this. You don't have to go digging through the Bible trying to figure out, can I do this? Have you ever had anybody say, can you show me in the Bible where it's wrong to gamble? You ever had anybody ask you that? Oh, I have. Preacher, I want you to show me chapter and verse where it speaks specifically to gambling. Or maybe they've said this to you before, just to be a little smug. Preacher, can you show me in the Bible where it's wrong to go watch an X-rated movie? Can you show me in the Bible where it's wrong to go watch an R-rated movie? Can you show me in the Bible where it says don't go watch a PG-13 movie? Now, I want you to show me specifically where it says people will ask questions like that. Now, I want you to understand something. And I'm going to say this, and a lot of y'all are going to want to jump out of y'all seats as soon as I say it. The Bible is not a rule book. You say, hold on preacher. Somebody run him out the door. Let me tell you something. The Bible is not a rule book. It's not a book full of rules. It's a book full of great principles and there is a difference. There is a big, let me explain this to you. Now, let's talk about it. It's not a book of minute laws. It's not. It wasn't written to be a book of minute laws. I'm grateful it's not a book of minute laws. If the Bible were a book of minute laws, it would be so big I would have to push it around with a wheelbarrow. And I would never find anything in it. It wasn't meant to be that. It wasn't meant to be that at all. It's a book of great principles. God gives us great principles, not rules. There's a difference. There's a big difference. God doesn't give us a minute list of do's and don'ts. If God were to give you a minute list of do's and don'ts, at some point those rules wouldn't apply anymore. You said, hold on preacher, wait a minute. What do you mean they wouldn't apply anymore? Well, the rules in the first century wouldn't apply to the rules now. The rules now wouldn't apply to the rules in the first century. You say, no, wait a minute. I'm not following. What are you talking about? Well, back in the first century when they wrote the Bible, now wouldn't that have been something when they opened the Bible and they read it and it said, thou shalt not do 100 miles an hour in a school zone. What's this all about? Or we'll get back to the example I had just a minute ago. Thou shalt not go see an R-rated movie. They would have said, what's a movie? What in the world is a movie? And what's R stand for? It would have made absolutely no sense. God gives us principles. Well, what's a principle? What is the principle that we're going to talk about today? It's the name of Jesus. Can you put his name on it? Can you put his name on it? There are great principles that underlie all of these rules we just talked about. I could go into great detail. We could spend all morning long and I could talk to you about the principles. that underlie the gambling industry and the problem with it. But we would be talking about principles because it applies to so much more than just gambling. There's great principles. Can you put his name on it? Could you sign his name to it? Could you say this is consistent with the personality of Jesus Christ? Do I have to say, should I go watch this movie in the movie? It's rated TG 13. Well, the question is, can I put his name on it and say, Jesus endorses this? Could you? This isn't, we like to make things real hard. I'm going to tell you right now, things aren't as hard as we like to make them. Now, you can go as deep in the Bible as you want, and the Lord can take you to depths you've never thought imaginable, and he can teach you throughout your entire life. But it's very easy for me to understand right and wrong just by saying, can I put his name on it? Can I put his name on it? Can I sign his name to it? If I were to do this, would he get glory from it? Now, if God give us this little list of minute details and laws, you want me to tell you what most of us could do? We'd find loopholes in all the laws. We'd find loopholes. The doubt shall not drive a hundred miles an hour in a school zone, but you don't understand, I had to go to the hospital. Had to do it. We'd come up with the reasons to break the law, but you'll never come up with a reason to break a principle. Principles are principles. And I'm going to tell you, there is no loophole in a principle. One of the greatest principles in the Bible is what we're talking about this morning. Do everything in the name of Jesus. And so if you're wanting to know if there's a habit, an association, if there's an investment, if there's anything that you're going to do, if you want to know if it's right or wrong, can I put his name on it? I'm about to participate in some dealing with somebody. Is it shady or is it not? Would Jesus sit down at the table with me to do this? You say, preacher, it's not that simple. Absolutely, it's that simple. As a matter of fact, if you have to sit down and question whether it's right or wrong, then you probably shouldn't be doing it in the first place. It's that simple. Say, well, I don't know if this is right or wrong. Well, then don't do it until you do. Maybe you need to spend some time with the Lord in prayer. There's a principle. If you don't know whether his name ought to be on it, and you don't know if he'd get glory from it, leave it alone. It's pretty simple. You say, but preacher, I want to know. Well, that's fine. Set the foot of the cross and pray and dig and get in God's word. But the bottom line is it's easy to know whether you put his name on it or not. Let's look at it again here. Verse 17. Whatever you do in word or deed number one do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ But number two give thanks to God the Father through him Anything you couldn't sign Jesus's name to and say God. I thank you for it. You have no business doing it none That's the first principle Do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus. Is it consistent with a personality of Jesus? Can I imagine Jesus being involved in this thing? Would he smile at it? Would he give me the thumb of approval? Is it consistent with a character of Jesus? All right, well, then what's number two? The act or deed that you're doing, does it claim the power of Jesus? Now we're in the new territory from last week. Does it claim the power? Not only the personality of Jesus, does it take the power of Jesus to get it done? Why is that important? Do you have any idea how many things we do throughout the day? And all those things that we do, we're doing for us, not for him. I'm going to tell you right now, if everything you do, you do for him, it's going to have the power of Jesus behind it because you're doing it for him, not for you. What you're about to do, is it for him? Does it take his power to get it done? If you're doing it for him, I guarantee you it takes his power to get it done. You can rest assured his name not only stands for personhood, but his name also stands for power and authority. John chapter 14 and verse 14. Jesus said this, and y'all be familiar with this. John chapter 14 and verse 14, Jesus is talking and he says, if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Y'all heard this before, right? If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. What does that mean? What does that mean? Jesus is saying anything that has my name behind it, my power will take over to get it done. He doesn't say if you ask it in my name, then you can do it. You notice that. He doesn't say anything you ask in my name, Then you can do it. That's not what it says. He says, anything you ask in my name, who's going to do it? I will do it. Not you. I will do it. There is incredible power in the name of Jesus. I'm going to tell you right now, I have seen things that only Jesus can do. Most of y'all in here have. I watched it play out this past week. There are things that are beyond human capability. There are things when you call on the name of Jesus Christ, you can rest assured that he's doing it. It's in his power. I have seen things that only he can do. Anything he puts his name behind There's incredible power in his name when you bring your life into alignment. This is the key When you bring your life into alignment with a character of Jesus When you align your life with with the character of Jesus. When you begin saying in truly meaning, I'm going to try to do everything consistent with a person of Jesus Christ. Every decision I make, I'm going to do it in consistent alignment with who Jesus is. When you bring your life into that kind of alignment and you call on him, you're going to find out what true power is. Most of us don't have a clue. because most of us don't have our life aligned like that. Most of us, from time to time, we kind of have that hit or miss. We see him work, we don't see him work, and we say, well, he's just kind of fickle. He does things one way, and sometimes he does it this way, and sometimes he does it that way. You know, I don't know. You can't really ask him to go heal anybody, because he might decide to heal them. He might not decide to heal them. You just don't know. So I just pray that he's going to do his will. I don't know what it is, but I'm not worried about it. I'm going to tell you right now. You get aligned with a person of who Jesus is and you get on your knees and you start talking to the Lord and you start aligning yourself with the Lord, He's gonna allow you to know what He wants done and you start praying for it and watch Him work. Don't tell me it can't happen. I've watched it too many times. I've seen it too many times. But you got to have your life aligned with Him. We like to have our life aligned with us. Everything we do is about us. Walk out this door one day and just take note of all the decisions you make. Just scribble them down. Just one day. And when you take note of all those things, figure out why you're doing it and who you're doing it for. Figure it out. You say, well, every decision can't be for the Lord. Well, absolutely it is. Believe me, it is. It certainly is. How much time do you have in a day? 24 hours. All of us got the same amount of hours there. How many minutes we got? 60 minutes. How many seconds in every minute? 60 seconds. Everything we do through the day, who we doing it for? We spend a whole lot of our day doing things that have nothing to do with Jesus Christ. A whole lot. I find it funny we talk about how we don't have much time. We don't have much time. There ain't enough hours a day. There ain't enough hours a day. You don't wonder how many hours a day you would have if you did everything for him and cut all the stuff out for you. Oh my goodness, the time you find. I found some just last week. Sit down and was thinking about all the things I needed to do. All I got to do. I got to do all these things. I don't know how I'm going to get this done. And I sit down and I thought, you know what? I've been aligning myself, trying to walk closer to the Lord than I ever have before. I've made that a goal of mine this year to really get closer to the Lord than I ever have before. Sat down and started looking. I thought, I'll tell you what, I'm spending about half my day doing nothing that has to do with hymns about me. Boy, the time I came up with. You start aligning your life with Jesus Christ, you'll start seeing him work in ways you've never known before because everything you're doing, you're doing for him and not for you and you start to recognize all the things he does for him to bring himself glory. It's not rocket science. It's not difficult. You begin to add his name to the things that he wants you to do, not the things that you want him to do for you, then you'll see his power. Big difference. When Jesus was here during his earthly ministry, he sent representatives out. He sent them out to preach, and he sent them out to teach, and he sent them out to hand out the gospel message. He sent them out to share the kingdom. And here's what happened. Luke chapter 10, verse 17. Here's what happened when he sent them out. Listen to it. The 70 returned with joy saying, listen to what they said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name. I'm gonna tell you something folks, Even the demons submit to us in your name. I want to, there is incredible power in the name of Jesus. There is incredible power. You see, it's the name. It's the name that gives the authority. Yeah, y'all have a checking account. Anybody here got a checking account? I got a checking account. Most everybody in here probably has a checking account. Most of you probably don't write checks very often anymore, but most of you have written check. If you had a checking account and you got a check and you decided you were going to write somebody a check for $100. And you write that check for $100 and you give it to somebody. They'll take that check. They'll go down to the bank, has your name on it. They'll carry it down to the bank and they'll give it to the bank and the bank will give that individual some of your money. Why? Because it's got your name on it. It's got your name on it. That means you have given the bank, you have given the bank the authority to take your money. Give it to another individual and you're not there, but your name is on it And they have the authority to act on your behalf The name stands for the person that signs the check Your name represents you now suppose that check bounces I'm gonna let y'all in on a little secret. They will not put the check in jail. They will put you in jail and It's not the check that's gonna go to jail. You see, the name on that check represents you. When we talk about the name of Jesus, you cannot disassociate the name of Jesus from Jesus. The name of Jesus represents Jesus as much as the name on the check represents you. When a policeman stands out on the road, Maybe it's been an accident. He stands out there. Traffic's coming, and he's got an 18-wheeler barreling down. And he sits out there, and he holds his hand up. Maybe he holds his hand up like so, and he throws it up there. Maybe he blows a whistle, and here comes this 18-wheeler. And all of a sudden, that 18-wheeler starts slowing down and slowing down and slowing down, and he comes to a stop. Let me ask you, what stopped that truck? Was it that 150-pound police officer standing out in the road with his hand up? He's not stopping that 18-wheeler with 150 pounds of skin and bones. He's stopping that truck with authority he has written on his badge. When I live my life in the name of Jesus Christ, I mean when I truly live it in the name of Jesus Christ, I don't need anything other than Jesus Christ to accomplish anything. And I don't need to do anything I can't sign Jesus's name to and give him thanks for. And it means, therefore, when I can sign his name to something, When I can give him glory, when I give him thanks for something, I can do it with the authority and with the power he gives me. And when I ask things in his name, when I'm perfectly aligned with him, he's gonna back every single thing that I'm doing because I'm doing it for him. And it's gonna be him working through me with his power to get things done, not me. Now here's the third thing. Number one. Ask yourself, is it consistent with the personality of Jesus? Can I see Jesus doing it? Can I see him smiling on it? Can I see him approving it? Number two, does it require the power of Jesus to get it done? Does it claim the power of Jesus to get it done? Then number three, does it culminate in the praise of Jesus? There's a culminate in his praise. Did you know the only thing you can know about me you know through my body? Did you know that? The only thing you can ever know about me you know through my body. You say, I don't know preacher. That's not true. That's not true. I know something about you by your words. How do my words get out of my head? If I don't speak it, you can't know it. If I don't write it, you can't read it. You cannot know me outside of my body. It is absolutely impossible for you to know me outside of my body. My body tells you everything. You say, well, preacher, maybe I don't know. Maybe I don't know you, your words, but you know what? I can know your attitude. No, you can't. I can know how you feel. No, you can't. If you're not looking at me and I don't have some kind of body language telling you whether I'm upset, whether I'm mad, whether I'm happy, whether I'm... You can't know anything about me. You can't know anything about me. You can't know anything. You can't know my attitude and the way I look or what I say or what I do. The only way you can know anything is my body has to somehow let you know something about the man inside, isn't that true? Isn't that true? Did you know that one of the main ways this world knows anything about Jesus is through his body? You do know that, right? We are his body. We're here to minister Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. We are his body. I read something the other day that was so true. The person that wrote it said, the Christian is the visible part of the invisible Christ. And Christ is the invisible part of the visible Christian. That's a truth. and therefore the reputation of Jesus Christ is wrapped up in us and what we do day in and day out when we got a world that doesn't know him watching us. You do realize that. You realize the responsibility we have as a Christian that we just do not even, we just, we don't even half think about the responsibility we have for being Christian. Everything that we do, we're his body and we demonstrate who he is to the world. His reputation is wrapped up in what we say and what we do. And I'm going to tell you, one day we're going to answer for what we did with his reputation. That's tough, isn't it? But it's the truth. I tell you, if we thought about that every day and if we lived it every day, we would act completely different every day. A lot of people, a lot of people have little fish on their car. Y'all ever seen little fish on the back of the car? You know, Christian symbol, you got the fish on the back of the car, somebody'll have a cross, somebody'll have a little fish, different things. A lot of people have a fish on the back of their car, bumper sticker or whatever. Listen, if you're one of those people and you're not gonna drive right, And you gonna yell at people when they go down the highway? Do me a favor, take it off the back of your car. Because I don't want people knowing that you're a Christian. Is that not bad? But it's the truth. If you're gonna act a fool, don't put it on the back of your car. Because Christ is depending on us to live for him. Because there's a world watching. That's what it means to do everything in the name of Jesus when it's consistent with his personality, demanding his power and resulting in his praise and his glory. That's doing everything in the name of Jesus. And when you do that, when you do that, not until then, But when you do that, you're going to find out what real worship looks like. You're going to find out what real worship looks like seven days a week. You're going to find out what it looks like in every place, in every way. And you're going to find out what it really looks like to give glory to God day in and day out. You're going to find out what Jesus is truly capable of doing when you do everything. in the name of Jesus. Bow your heads with me. Dear Heavenly Father, I just thank you for another day. Father, I thank you for your word today. Lord, I pray that you'll help me in a very real way to practice everything that I preach, everything that I've shared, that everything that I do, whatever it is, word or deed, I might do to your glory, that I might do in the name of Jesus and give you thanks for it. Father, I pray each and every person in here, Lord, I pray that your words touch their heart. I pray that they would take heed, evaluate everything they say and do, the way they act, to test themselves to find out just how closely they are walking with you. Are they really aligned with you? Are they doing everything in the name of Jesus? Lord, we as Christians are your body. People are watching to understand who Jesus is. Lord, help us to live godly lives. Lives aligned with the person of Jesus Christ that when people see us, they would come to know him just in how we act, how we talk. how we walk and what we do. Father, I pray if there's somebody here doesn't know Jesus as Lord, Savior, and King, they'd make the decision before they leave that you'd receive glory. I ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.