Do Everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus in our Daily Life and Service in the Church

As believers in Christ, we need to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus in our daily life and our service in the church (Col. 3:17).

In everything we do and in all our service to the Lord, we need to do all things in the name of Jesus so that God would get all the glory.

Amen, may we be those who do not do things in our name or for ourselves, and may we serve the Lord according to His purpose and heart’s desire, not according to our preference.

When we speak of doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus and of being in the name of Jesus, we need to realize that Christ is our pattern in this respect.

Actually, the oneness in the Divine Trinity is the pattern in this matter, for the three of the Godhead always do things in oneness, even one in another’s name.

For example, the Lord Jesus came in the name of the Father, and when He came, the Father came with Him. And He did everything by the Spirit.

Then, when the Son sent the Spirit, the Father actually sent the Spirit in the Son’s name.

Some may think that this is too complicated, but this whole thing shows a wonderful pattern of being in the name of the Lord.

We cannot just do things and say “in the name of the Lord I do this”, and we can’t just say things and then conclude “in the name of the Lord”, and expect that all this is in the name of the Lord.

To be in the Lord’s name and to do things in the name of Jesus means that we are one with Him.

There are a few verses in John where we are told that we can ask anything in the name of the Lord Jesus, and it will be done for us.

This is almost as if the Lord gives us a blank cheque, and we can write down the amount we need, and He will do it, as long as we ask in His name.

Some “prosperity gospel” preachers use this to promote a certain prosperity line, and they may get rich, but this is not the proper application of this portion.

We need to be in the name of the Lord Jesus, abiding in the Lord and remaining in the organic union with Him in the mingled spirit, so that we may ask in the name of the Lord, in oneness with Him.

When we ask the Father something in the name of the Lord Jesus, we are one with the Lord, and our asking is actually Christ asking in us.

May we be those who not only call on the name of the Lord to enjoy and receive Him as life but even more, be one with Him organically and abide in Him so that we may ask in His name, allowing Him to ask in us, for the Father to be glorified.

We need to Do all Things in the Name of the Lord Jesus in our Christian Life

Col. 3:17 is a wonderful yet mysterious verse telling us that we need to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus in our Christian life.

The name denotes the person; to do things in the name of the Lord Jesus is to do all things in His person (Rom. 6:3; 8:1; 1 Cor. 4:15; 2 Cor. 5:17).

This is the basic aspect of our Christian life – doing all things in the name of the Lord Jesus (Eph. 5:20).

From our baptism, when we were put into Christ, we need to be in the name of the Lord and do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus so that He and us, we and Him, would have the same living.

Having been buried with Him, we now need to walk in newness of life; this means we need to have a living in His name.

In His name, we need to live, so that He lives in us and we live in Him, even live Him out.

In our daily life, as we are with our spouse, our children, our housemates, our workmates, and with all kinds of other people around us, we need to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus.

We should be able to say that we do the ordinary things of our daily life in the name of the Lord (1 Cor. 10:31).

We may need to go shopping: we need to do our shopping in the Lord’s name.

We may need to get a haircut or mow the lawn – we need to do it in the name of the Lord.

We may prepare for a particular activity or for an exam, and we may be distracted by someone; we simply need to do all in the name of the Lord.

It is not just the extraordinary things that we need to do in the name of the Lord, such as our preaching of the gospel or baptizing others, but in the ordinary things of our daily life, we need to do all things in the Lord’s name.

As we have a meal with our family and interact with the different members of our household, we need to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus.

We may be waiting at the traffic light and the car in front of us moves so slow that we miss the traffic light, so we may have to wait for two or three minutes; even in such situations, we need to do all things in the Lord’s name.

We have been baptized into Christ and we have been made one with Him; this is a fact, whether we feel it or not.

We can taste this when we call on the name of the Lord.

We can also experience this as we read the word of God; as we read and pray over the word of God, we receive more of the element of God into us, and the Lord within us regulates our daily living.

God’s word, the will of God in His word, regulates us; as we allow the Lord to regulate us through His word, we do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus.

On the positive side, we can call on the name of the Lord to enjoy Him and be saved in life.

On the negative side, we need to allow the living word of God within to regulate us and keep us one with the Lord as we do all things in the Lord’s name.

When we say that we are doing things in the name of the Lord, the entire universe is reminded that there are some people who are absolutely one with Christ.

Everywhere on earth man rebels against God, but here we are, taking the lead to be one with the Lord and do all things in his name.

If we do all things in the Lord’s name, we are victorious, but if we do not, we are defeated.

May we not take this matter as a formality or outward practice; may we learn to be one with the Lord and do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus, we want to learn to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus. Hallelujah for the name of Jesus, a living name, a name that brings us into His very person! Lord, may we be, live, and do all things in the wonderful name of Jesus! May we all be able to say that we do the ordinary things of our daily life in the name of the Lord. Oh Lord, we love You. We are one with You. We want to live in the mingled spirit, in oneness with You, so that we do all things in the name of Jesus. We want to do our shopping, our chores, our speaking, our physical exercise, our cooking, and our gardening in the name of the Lord Jesus. Even when we miss the bus or someone cuts in front of us, we still want to do all things in the name of the Lord. Amen, Lord, may we learn to do all the ordinary things of our daily life in the Lord’s name so that God would gain all the glory!

Our Service in the Church requires that we Do Everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus

Not only in our daily living but even more, our service to the Lord in the church needs to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Our service in the church requires that we do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus (Rom. 1:9; 6:6; 7:6; 12:1, 7; Col. 3:17).

This means that we cannot initiate our service for the Lord; rather, our service must be initiated by Him and it must be carried out according to His desire (Matt. 7:21; Phil. 2:13; Eph. 1:9, 11; 3:2, 7-11).

Matt. 7:21 is a great warning to us all, for here we see that it is possible to do many things in the Lord’s name, even perform great works of power in the name of Jesus, yet He does not recognize them.

Not everyone who says to the Lord, Lord, Lord! will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of the Father who is in the heavens.

In Rev. 2:2-3 we see that the church in Ephesus had many great works and labor and endurance, but they lost their first love.

Some believers love to work for the Lord and may even be addicted to working for God, yet they are not doing things in the name of the Lord.

We may be doing many things for the Lord in the church life and we may love what we do, but there’s a risk of losing the Lord’s testimony because we do not do all things in the name of the Lord in our service.

Some may even cast out demons and heal the sick, but the Lord may never acknowledge them, for they did not do things in the name of the Lord.

May the Lord save us from the shame of being before the judgment seat of God and being told that the Lord does not approve of what we have done “in His name.”

May our service be related to God’s purpose, being identified with God’s purpose and His economy.

May our service be initiated by the Lord and not by us, by His will and not by our desire or burden.

And may our service to the Lord be done by the Lord’s power, not by our self-power or natural power.

May we allow the razor of the cross to shave our natural power and ability and may we be one with the Lord so that in the Lord’s service we would do all things in the name of the Lord.

Brother Watchman Nee has a very precious quote regarding our service to the Lord in, What Shall This Man Do,

Those who only serve by words and works find that they have no ministry at any time they are reduced to inactivity or silence. The measure of your ministry is not determined by the measure of your activity; only let the slaying of Jesus work in you, and life must be manifested. Death in me; life in you.

We need to allow the slaying of Jesus to work in us so that His life may be manifested in others.

When death works in us, life operates in others.

We may not be doing many things outwardly but may remain in the death of Christ inwardly, but life operates in others.

When we’re restricted in pursuing, may no disquiet beset us but, underneath the Lord’s faithful dealing, may we have no murmurs or regrets.

Sometimes it may be that it is so easy for us to work for the Lord but it is not easy at all to do nothing for the Lord, being restricted by Him. Oh Lord Jesus.

The service of the building up of the church is a life-ministering service; it is a service that supplies others with the divine life (2 Cor. 4:12; Rom. 12:1, 7).

Serving the Lord in the church is not merely taking care of outward things and meeting the necessary needs; it is to supply life, for church service is a service of life (8:2, 6, 10-11).

In our service to the Lord in the church, we need to do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus so that we may minister life to others.

Lord Jesus, may we do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus as we serve the Lord in the church life today. Save us from initiating the service or just doing things for the Lord in ourselves. We give You the preeminence, Lord, and we take You as our source. You be the One who initiates the service. You be the One serving in us, and You be the One doing everything in our doing. We don’t want to merely do things for You outwardly yet without being in Your name. Save us from the shame of being rejected by the Lord at His judgment seat because of our serving God not in oneness with God and according to His purpose. Oh Lord, may we allow the death of Christ to operate in us so that His life would be ministered to others. May we remain in death and under restriction so that the divine life would be richly supplied to others. Amen, Lord, may our service for the building up of the church be a life-ministering service! May our service be supplying others with the divine life!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1990, vol. 2, “Messages to the Trainees in Fall 1990,” pp. 466-467, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing, Experiencing, and Living the All-inclusive Christ for the Genuine Church Life (2023 spring ITERO), week 5, entitled, Doing All Things in the Name of the Lord Jesus.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – The work must be the fruit of life, / Born thru the Spirit’s flowing; / As branches of the Lord, the vine, / Fruit bearing, life bestowing. / ’Tis Christ Himself thru us to work, / Himself as life expressing, / And all the riches of His life / To others manifesting. (Hymns #910 stanza 2)
  – Life is full of opportunities / Ordered by our Father’s hand: we see / Everything’s the best that it could be, / So let’s gain Christ! / Christ our content and reality / To shine out from us unceasingly: / He must have a way in you and me, / He must have a way. / Hallelujah! In the body we / Bear the death of Christ continually: / Thus His life comes forth for all to see as / The outer man is broken down, / The inner man is shining so that— / In these earthen vessels men can see / There’s the treasure of reality! / Thus the gospel’s glorious light will be / Shining out from us. (Hymns #1178 stanza 2)
  – Every moment, every member, / Girded, waiting Thy command; / Underneath the yoke to labor / Or be laid aside as planned. / When restricted in pursuing, / No disquiet will beset; / Underneath Thy faithful dealing / Not a murmur or regret. (Hymns #403 stanza 3)