By Ron Thomas
There is nothing in a name if the name
means nothing to you. If your name is “Mike”, but you answer
to any other name, your given name means nothing to you
(showing disrespect to your parents). If there is nothing in
a name, if you are a woman named Janet married to a Mike
Smith, then it will not matter to you if you are called
Janet Perpendicular, Rectangular, Rotund, Mallory, or any
other name. I dare say, that in some way, there is something
in a name to you.
To the Lord, there is something
significant in a name. And in none other is there salvation:
for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is
given among men, wherein we must be saved (Acts 4:12, ASV).
In the New Testament, one does not read of a congregation of
the Lord’s people with the name of a man attached to it. In
fact, in the New Testament, if there is a name attached to
the holy institution “built” by the Lord, the only name is
“God.” There is something in a name.
There is no other name under heaven to
whom people must submit, but the name of Jesus. There is
something in a name. There was no religious institution
under heaven whereby any Israelite could be pleasing to the
Father of glory, but by the name He chose. The Lord would
accept no substitute in Israel’s worship of Him, with such
names like “Baal”. There is something in a name. In our own
religious context, those who think there is nothing in a
name only think this so they can continue to be a member of
an institution man-made.
A building with the name of the Lord on
it does not make it the Lord’s church, but it might be an
indication of something. Is there something in a name? the
Lord thought so.
- Ron Thomas preacher
for the Sunrush Church of Christ, Chillicothe, OH. He may be
contacted through the congregation's website. http://sunrushchurchofchrist.com/
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