Power in the Name by Derek Prince

Author:Derek Prince
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Names of God, Christian Life, General, Religion, Biblical Studies, Spiritual Growth, Christian Theology
ISBN: 9781603741217
Publisher: Whitaker House
Published: 2009-06-01T15:16:27+00:00

CHAPTER 12

God's Messengers

Another disguise God has used many times in history and

continues to use today is His messengers. It is a principle in Scripture—one that is demonstrated many times and emphasized in scriptural teaching—that God identifies

Himself with those whom He sends as His representatives.

This means the way we respond to God's messengers is

counted by God as our response to God Himself. We cannot

reject God's messengers and claim to receive God. I am

afraid some people simply have not grasped this concept.

The Principle Of Identification

Let's look at what Jesus said about this subject in some

passages in the New Testament. The first passage is from

the book of John. Jesus said to His disciples,

I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send

accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the

one who sent me. (John 13:20 NIV)

In this verse, we see that the principle goes all the way

down from God the Father. God the Father sent Jesus, His

Son. Those who received Jesus received God the Father.

Conversely, those who rejected Jesus rejected God the

Father. (See John 12:48-50.)

But the principle does not end there. Jesus, in turn, chose

certain men—and rather unlikely men. They were not

theologians, they were not priests, and they were not highly

educated. They were fishermen and tax collectors and such,

people whom the world would not have esteemed very

highly. Jesus made them His disciples and sent them out as

His representatives. And He said, in effect, "The way people treat you is the way people treat Me. If they receive you, they receive Me; but if they reject you, they are rejecting

Me [though they may not recognize it]. If they reject Me,

they are also rejecting My Father." That is a very emphatic verse.

Acceptance Or Rejection

Jesus stated this principle of identification—and of

acceptance or rejection—more fully when He sent His first

disciples out to preach the kingdom of God.

Whatever town or village you enter, search for some

worthy person there and stay at his house until you

leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If

the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it

is not, let your peace return to you. (Matthew 10:11-

13 NIV)

It is a remarkable fact that the messengers of Jesus have the authority and the ability to transmit His peace to those who receive them. But they can also withhold His peace from

those who do not receive them in a worthy way. Jesus

continued,

If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your

words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave

that home or town. (verse 14 NIV)

To shake the dust off your feet was a sign of totally

disowning something. To do so was to say, "I accept no

responsibility for you." Jesus continued His instruction to His disciples with this very remarkable statement about those who reject them:

I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for

Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than

for that town. (Matthew 10:15 NIV)

Sodom and Gomorrah were cities that were guilty of a sin

that God utterly condemned and judged. God judged them

with a remarkable, dramatic overthrow, setting them forth as

an example to all who should indulge in that sin in future

times.

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