Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Let’s continue our recognition tour, in preparation for Thanksgiving, by recognizing the greatest name ever.

Today’s scripture, Philippians 2:9-11 (NLT) declares…
[9] Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Consider…
One of my favorite songs sung by my childhood church’s Senior Choir, led by it’s director Willie B Hale, was a hymn with the lyrics…

The name of Jesus is so sweet,
I love its music to repeat;
It makes my joys full and complete,
The precious name of Jesus.

Refrain:
“Jesus,” oh, how sweet the name!
“Jesus,” ev’ry day the same;
“Jesus,” let all saints proclaim
Its worthy praise forever.

Those lyrics inspire me to make a medley that adds more prescious lyrics like Rick Dillard’s rendition…

[Verse:]
When your lonely heart fills with despair
Remember God cares (God cares for you)
When you’re in doubt and you can’t find your way out
He will see you through (see you through, see you through)

Just call on that name of Jesus
No need to call out loud;

[Chorus:]
[Tenors:] Oh how precious…
[Sopranos/Altos:] precious…

[Tenors:] oh how precious…
[Sopranos/Altos:] precious…
[All:] precious is His name

[Bridge 1:]
Oh how precious is the name of Jesus
Ooh (He will hear you each time you call)

Oh how precious is the name of Jesus
Ooh (I know He’ll pick you up each time you fall)
(His name is Jesus…)

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

As the choir repeats Jesus, the music shifts and another lead sings the hymn lyrics…

There is a name I love to hear,
I love to sing its worth;
it sounds like music in my ear,
the sweetest name on earth.

Refrain:
O how I love Jesus,
O how I love Jesus,
O how I love Jesus,
because he first loved me!

Finally, this beautiful medley finishes with Hillsong’s lyrics…

… You were the Word at the beginning
One with God the Lord Most High
Your hidden glory in creation
Now revealed in You our Christ

… What a beautiful name it is
What a beautiful name it is
The name of Jesus Christ my King
What a beautiful name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a beautiful name it is
The name of Jesus

Now that we’ve concluded our praise and worship, let’s highlight some scriptures that explain what makes Jesus’ name, THE NAME above all names.

First, it was the name give by God…

Matthew 1:20-21 (NLT) attests…
[20] As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. [21] And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

And Luke 1:30-35 (NLT) affirms…
[30] “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! [31] You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. [32] He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. [33] And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” [34] Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” [35] The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

Jesus is the name above of names because His daddy, God the Father, named Him.

What also makes Jesus’ name supreme is because it’s the access code to what God has…

We know that because John 14:6 (NLT) says…
[6] Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Jesus said in John 14:13-14 (NLT)…
[13] You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. [14] Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

And He expanded in John 16:23-24 (NLT)…
[23] At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name. [24] You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.

Jesus is the name that engages God. The Holy Spirit illustrates this in Acts of the Apostles 3:6-8 (NLT)…
[6] But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” [7] Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. [8] He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

Notice, in this situation Peter declared, and provided, healing in the name of Jesus.

This reveals three quick points about the use of Jesus’ name…

• It engenders confidence God will give grant our request

1 John 5:14-15 (NLT) affirms…
[14] And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. [15] And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

• It empowers us to act… notice Peter took the man by the hand

Philippians 4:13 (NLT) attests…
[13] For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

• It benefits others.

James 4:3 (NLT) admonishes…
[3] And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

This made me think of the scene in the Movie Dream Girls between Effie and her brother…

[Intro: Effie (C.C. spoken)]
What about what I need?
(Curtis says it’s the best thing for the group)
What about what’s best for me?
(He feels the Dreams can cross over)
What about how I feel?
(But when we’re famous, I’ll write great things for ya. Effie, do it for me)
What about me? What about me?

[Verse 1: C. C.]
It’s more than you. It is more than me
No matter what we are, we are a family
This dream is for all of us
This one can be real
And you can’t stop us now
Because of how you feel

[Verse 2: C.C.]
It’s more than you. It is more than me
Whatever dreams we have, they’re for the family
We’re not alone anymore, now there are others there
And that dream’s big enough
For all of us to share

I believe our big brother Jesus says the same thing to us about using His name…

It’s more than you. It is more than me
Whatever dreams we have, they’re for the family
We’re not alone anymore, now there are others there
And that dream’s big enough
For all of us to share

That makes me hear Katy Nichole sing…

I speak the name of Jesus over you
In your hurting, in your sorrow
I will ask my God to move
I speak the name ’cause it’s all that I can do
In desperation, I’ll seek Heaven
And pray this for you

I pray for your healing
That circumstances would change
I pray that the fear inside would flee in Jesus name
I pray that a breakthrough would happen today
I pray miracles over your life in Jesus name, in Jesus name

Jesus is the name above all names because it’s the only name with power to make things better for everyone!

That just made me hear Todd Delaney singing…

We love to call Your name
It’s something we cannot explain
That happens when we proclaim
Your Great Name, Your Great Name (We sing King Jesus)

King Jesus
No other name
King Jesus (None stronger)
None stronger
We can call on You
Things change, yes
When we call on Your name (We say King Jesus)

King Jesus
No other name
King Jesus (We say none stronger)
None stronger
We can call on You (Yes God)
Things change, yes
When we call on Your name
There is power in the name of Jesus
Power in Your name
There is power in the name of Jesus
Power in Your name (Come on sing)

This brings me to the last point we’ll recognize today about Jesus’ name.

Let me begin by sharing a joke that I hear Joel Osteen tell…

Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on his computer.

They had been going at it for days, and God was tired of hearing all of the bickering.

Finally God said, “Cool it. I am going to set up a test that will run two hours and I will judge who does the better job.”

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused. They did spreadsheets. They wrote reports. They sent faxes. They sent e-mail. They sent out e-mail with attachments. They downloaded. They did some genealogy reports. They made cards. They did every known job. But ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, the rain poured and, of course, the electricity went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed. The electricity finally flickered back on and each of them restarted their computers.

Satan started searching frantically, screaming “It’s gone! It’s all gone! I lost everything when the power went out!”

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours. Satan observed this and became irate.

“Wait! He cheated, how did he do it?”

God shrugged and said, “Jesus saves.”

When I shared this joke with my wife, she chuckled and said that’s funny because I am posting Wednesday’s message today because I failed to save my work too.

Seriously though, Acts of the Apostles 4:10-12 (NLT) follows up on the miraculous healing in Jesus’ name one chapter earlier. Let’s read Peter’s speech…
[10] Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. [11] For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ [12] There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Notice, Peter concludes with the fact that salvation is exclusively in the name of Jesus.

I imagine that why the Apostle Paul was inspired to write Romans 10:9-10 (NLT)…
[9] If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

The Holy Spirit just showed me that our faith declaration is that Jesus is Lord! That means, we’re saved by declaring Jesus is in charge!

So today, recognize Jesus is the only name that matters!

Today’s song is…
Jesus Be The Name

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)