By Nathan Handley
Contributing Writer, B&R
JACKSON — Jordan Easley, pastor of First Baptist Church, Cleveland, said as long as there is power in the name of Jesus, the church has hope.
“We’ve been given access to the name of Jesus, the only name that brings power,” he said. “There is infinite power in His name.”
Easley preached the convention sermon at the 2018 annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention Nov. 13 at West Jackson Baptist Church in Jackson. He said people have a tendency to hear sermons at conventions and think they should go back to their churches and fix things with better programs, personnel or publicity, but those things do not have power.
“If something powerful is going to happen in our context, it’s going to happen in one name, and that is the name of Jesus,” Easley said.
He said the Bible teaches that demons were powerless in His name, healing happened in His name and salvation happened in His name. “Nothing great, nothing powerful ever happens in any other person’s name,” he said.
Easley said the church has been given access to the infinite power of Jesus’ name so that it can accomplish His great mission of bringing the world to Himself. He said when Jesus gave the church access to His name, he gave it everything it needs.
“The authority of God was given to the people of God through the Word of God so that we can do the work of God,” Easley said.
He said two things can be expected when Christians act in the name of Jesus: Opposition will come, and the church will move forward. He said while opposition is part of the package when following Christ, greater persecution for the church always leads to greater potential for the gospel.
“When the church is opposed, it gets bigger, it gets stronger and it gets more effective every single time,” Easley said.
He said nothing can stop God’s church, and that should be a huge encouragement for God’s people when the cultural climate around them is rejecting truth and they hear about Christians being attacked, ostracized, abused and even murdered.
“We shouldn’t be hanging our heads as if we have zero hope,” Easley said. “Those are the moments when the church ought to rise up and believe God for something great, because as long as there is power in the name of Jesus, we have hope.”