When Jesus lived in the world he wasn’t a part of any sect. In Matthew 23 He spoke rather strongly against the Pharisees, which was considered the strictest sect of that time. Other times he also spoke against the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees, another sect. Jesus said in John 5:43, ‘I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.’ Jesus came lifting up and upholding his Father’s name. He didn’t come in his own name or to make a name for himself. He was always pointing to his Father in all. So he could say the words that I speak aren’t mine, but my Father’s, the doctrine that I bring is not mine but my Father’s and the works that I do are not mine but my Father’s.
References to More Bible Verses
In John 17:6 in Jesus’ prayer he prayed, ‘I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.’ :12, ‘While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.’ :26, ‘I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’ Jesus wasn’t mentioning some special, secret ‘name’, but was manifesting to them all that his Father was, is and will be. At that moment the way that he continued to make it known was going on to Gethsemane, praying ‘Not my will, but yours be done.’ And then on to the cross where he took our place and our sin upon himself giving us eternal hope. Showing us the love of the Father – God is love (1 Jn 4:8). So Jesus came manifesting the love, holiness, truth, etc. of his Father.
Exodus 34:5-7, ‘The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”’ When the LORD spoke of his name, he mentioned qualities that describe what he is, the manner or way in which he acts. He understands that what is important is what we are (and he is), not some name that is spoken or written. There are many that have a name that they are alive but in reality are dead. (Who are the guilty in these verses? – the unrepentant.)
In Genesis 11: when the people wanted to make a tower that would reach to heaven, they said, ‘let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the earth.’ God made sure they were dispersed and so ended their work. The LORD isn’t looking for a people with a name or trying to make a name for themselves, but wants a people that are willing to take his name and manifest his name like Jesus did. We see a name doesn’t make a people one today either, but it is when a people are His and then want to manifest his name.
In Matthew 5-7 Jesus spoke of my Father, your Father and our Father 17 times. He was trying to help his disciples enter into this relationship of a father with his children. I almost never called my dad by his first name, but it was always dad or father. Other people, who were not his children, called him by his first or last name. Salvation is to know God as our Father, to be his children.
In Acts 11:16, ‘And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.’ Even the word Christian wasn’t something that the disciples made for themselves or used of themselves, but rather it was other people who were not of the faith, applied that name to those that followed Jesus.
I suppose people in Jesus’ day would have said that he was nondenominational or founded ‘the church with no name’ as he wasn’t a part of any of the sects of his day. He didn’t make a name for himself or his disciples. But the reality was that he came to manifest his Father’s name to those who were willing to do the same.
The purpose of this www.thefellowshipoftruth.com is to provide information about a non-denominational network of home-based churches that can be found in nearly every country of the world. We are imperfect people trying hard to fulfil the plan that God has laid out for each one of us. We do our best to follow the teachings of the Bible at home, work and in the place of worship. The format and structure are Bible based and very similar to what we read about the early church in Acts and I Corinthians (Acts 1:13 and I Cor 16:19.) Each week we meet in homes for fellowship and worship on Sunday mornings and Bible studies on Wednesday nights. From time to time, we also have larger Gospel services where multiple home-based churches meet together. These meetings serve to strengthen the faith of the believers, and also, help to explain our beliefs to those who are being introduced to our faith for the first time.