"For the sake of the
Name they went forth" (3 John 7).
"...the world hateth
you... they will also persecute you... But all these things will
they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him
that sent me" (John 15:19-21).
That portion in the Gospel
throws light on the statement in the epistle, and shows that it
was ignorance as to Who it was that bore the Name that led to the
persecution of the servants who sought to honour the Name.
The
Significance of the Name
We do not realise how little
that name Jesus meant to the world, and especially to the Jews,
in those days. It was a very common name, and for the people of
those days there was little to discriminate between one Jesus and
another. How different it is with us! What a shock we should have
if today a father named his boy Jesus! We should say it was
blasphemy! Why is this? Well, what a lot has come to be known as
included in that name! What a lot that name now represents for so
many in this world! The result is that we can hardly think of
anybody else being allowed to have that name. We now reserve it
for One only; but not so then. That which you and I know to be
compassed by that name had to be made known, had to be
established. It was entirely unknown and unrecognized, and it was
the whole work of the Church to make known what lay behind a
common name held by an uncommon person; for there was nothing
common about One who was called by that name at that time.
Now Christianity as a whole,
its full content, has been gathered up in small phrases. In New
Testament times it was like that. For instance, the very name
Christian was a most comprehensive thing. It came about also that
they summed up the whole of Christianity in a little phrase,
"the Way". Paul went on his journey to Damascus with
authority from the High Priest to arrest any he found that were
of "the Way" (Acts 9:2). He said, "I
persecuted this Way" (Acts 22:4), and again, "After
the Way which they call a sect, so serve I the God of our
fathers" (Acts 24:14). At Ephesus
"there arose no small stir concerning the Way" (Acts
19:23). So you see, everything of Christianity in those days
was gathered up into this phrase, "the Way".
In exactly the same manner
Christianity became gathered up into this phrase, "the
Name". It was Christianity. "The Name"
carried everything that Christianity meant for the world in those
days. It became therefore the very concern of Christians to make
known the fulness of the meaning of that name, the uncommonness
which lay behind it. Yes, that was the great concern - not to
make a name, not to seek a name, not to have a name, but to make
known the Name. This we find they did in several ways.
Testimony
to the Name
Firstly, by testimony.
Everywhere they testified in the name and to the name of Jesus.
It was the universal and spontaneous ministry of the Church. So
much had they found in Him who bore the Name, so much had it
become to them, that it was to them an exclusive name, a unique
name, no matter how many others might be called by that name. For
them there was really only One who had that name, and so much was
it so, that everywhere they were bearing testimony to Him who
bore it. They were saying, "This Jesus"; "Jesus of
Nazareth". How something very common and well-known became
invested with something beyond all knowledge, beyond all that is
ordinary! How heaven became bound up with something which amongst
men was nothing in particular! - and they had seen what heaven's
estimate of the Name was. Yes, truly for them they could say 'How
sweet the name of Jesus sounds!' Everything for them in their own
hearts and lives was bound up with the Name, and so it broke out
in testimony everywhere.
That is a simple statement, but
what I am really throwing out by way of challenge to our own
hearts is this, that all real ministry is testimony, and there is
no particular class set apart for that. The ministry springs out
of the preciousness of the Name, the value that has been brought
to our own hearts and lives in the name of Jesus. If you and I
have no ministry and no testimony, then it is because He is not
as precious to us as He should be. It cannot be otherwise. Oh,
no, this is not a legal obligation, something put upon us that we
must do - that if we are Christians we must confess Jesus, we
must speak about Him, we must tell people, and have a bad time if
we fail to do so. That is a wrong realm of things. With them, the
very heart union with Him and the preciousness of His name
resulted in testimony. It was spontaneous.
Suffering
for the Name
Then it expresses itself in
suffering. It was said concerning Paul at his conversion, "I
will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's
sake" (Acts 9:16). Again, of the disciples it is
recorded that they rejoiced "that they were counted
worthy to suffer dishonour for the Name" (Acts 5:41).
You may know something of suffering for the Name, but it is here
that our heart-relationship to the Lord is really put to the
test. There are numerous ways in which we may suffer, but suffer
we shall if that name is upon us. Whether we accept the suffering
or shirk it may be another matter. Whether or not we yield under
the pressure, and compromise and lower our standard, will prove
how much the Name is to us after all. For the sake of the Name
they went forth in testimony. For the sake of the Name they went
forth in suffering. It came upon them; they were called to suffer
for the Name.
Living
According to the Name
Then the Name determined their
manner of life. What a strength it was to them that the Name was
so much, what a safeguard, what an inspiration! This lay behind
their manner of life, their character, their conduct. I think we
often need to be checked up here. You see, our very character,
demeanour, behaviour, everything about us, can either honour or
dishonour the Name. This is not too low a level upon which to
speak. We want to watch, because there are always those who,
inspired by the great defamer whose sole object is to dishonour
our Lord, defame Him by any possible means. Satan is always
provoking people to watch those who bear the Name and to come at
once upon anything that they judge to be out of keeping with it.
This can touch us in countless ways and at countless points. To
be slovenly, slipshod, careless, in our behaviour, our talk, our
dress, our deportment before people, all of this touches the
Name. There is so much that tells us that we are to commend
ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God (2 Cor.
4:2). We are not to order our conduct merely in the light of what
we think to be all right and unharmful, but in the light of what
the world looking on may say about it, and of how others may
interpret what we do. It is the Name that is involved.
I said this is a great
strengthening and safeguarding thing. It is also an objective
thing which can take us out of ourselves. We may have our bad
times spiritually and go badly down under trial - it may be
physical, it may be circumstantial, it may be a direct assault by
the devil himself; but then how often have we taken ourselves in
hand and said, 'Look here, now, do not forget the Lord's name!
Other people are watching, they are taking note. It is the Lord's
name that is at stake. Pull yourself together, however badly you
may be feeling; anoint your face, appear before people as though
it were otherwise.' We have to slay out of hand that element of
self-pity, that drawing of attention to ourselves. There are
times when for the sake of the Name we are to go before people
with our faces anointed while our hearts are breaking. Otherwise
others may lose heart, may despair, may find something in us
which they are looking for to support some doubt of theirs; and
we must not feed that sort of thing. God help us, it is not easy;
but that is suffering inwardly for the sake of the Name. How many
tragedies there are in the background of lives which no one else
knows anything about except the Lord. The face is kept strong for
the sake of the Name, by the grace of God. It must be like that.
Jealousy
for the Name
I am trying to emphasize one
thing, namely that "for the sake of the Name they went
forth"; and for them that meant that before men
they were going to be a credit to their Lord. They were going to
live and conduct themselves so that no one should be able to cast
dishonour upon the Name because of them. They were going to
suffer much persecution for His name's sake, but in their
meekness, their unoffendedness, in their selflessness under
suffering, yes, in the triumphant joy of their Lord even when
their hearts were very heavy, they would all the time be firstly
considering the Name; not, 'How bad I am feeling, how hard my lot
is', but, 'I must be careful for the sake of the Name'. That is
the message.
It is an attempt - as I think
the Lord has laid it on my heart - to bring us in a new way to a
place where the name which is called upon us is seen to be a
glorious name, a triumphant name, a beautiful name. I could say
very much more from the New Testament about that name. It is the
name of supreme authority, and so they went forth to make known
its authority. Their proclamation was, Jesus Christ is Lord! They
did not use the Name merely as a charm or a talisman with which
to do things, or for their own glory. No, it was through faith in
the Name that the Holy Spirit worked wonderful things for the
glory of Him whose name it was. It was the name of authority; it
was the name of matchless beauty; and oh, so much more!
First published in "A Witness and A Testimony"
magazine, Nov-Dec 1951, Vol 29-6