‘In the Strong Name of Our Collective Faith’? Closing of Inauguration Benediction, LACKING IN JESUS’ NAME, Refuted by Pastor
FUTILE PRAYERS AT THE INAUGURATION
GIVEN THE EXTENT OF BIDEN'S SINS, NO MAN CAN INTERCEDE FOR HIM THROUGH AN ARROGANT PRAYER THAT IGNORES JESUS, GLORIFIES COLLECTIVISM/COMMUNISM
CATHOLIC IN NAME ONLY BIDEN MINIMIZES JESUS, GLORIFIES MARY & SUBSTITUTES AN APOSTATE MINISTER TO APPROACH GOD IN VAIN
Matthew 24:10 - And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Matthew 24:12 - And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these,”
2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
John 14:13-14 and John 16:23-24 are some of the most powerful verses in all of scripture related to prayer. In fact, when most of us pray we conclude with the phrase, "in Jesus' name."
But what does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus? When we pray in Jesus' name
1. We are admitting the bankruptcy of our own name.
When I pray in Jesus' name I come boldly before God because of the power of his name. It would be like a bride coming from abject poverty to marry a wealthy husband. At that point the woman takes the name of her husband and all that entails. She no longer acts in her name, but in his.
2. We identify with the person of Jesus Christ.
Jesus has literally given us his name. When I use that name, I am confessing that he is mine and that I am his. It is like going to the bank of heaven, knowing I have nothing deposited. If I go in my name I will get absolutely nothing. But Jesus Christ has unlimited funds in heaven's bank, and he has granted me the privilege of going to the bank with his name on my checks.
3. We pray in his authority.
We are like the child who picked up a policeman's hat, wandered out onto a busy intersection and began to direct traffic. The people in the cars followed the child's direction because they respected his position of authority. To pray in his name is to ask by his authority; and to ask by his authority is to ask in accordance to his will as revealed in his word.
4. We submit to his will.
Jesus' authority rested with his submission to the Father, so our authority rests with our submission to him. To ask in his name is to ask according to his nature, and his nature is one of submission. This, by the way, is why prayers that ask for things contrary to the Word of God will never be answered.
5. We are representing him and his interests here on earth.
It is much the same as the legal arrangement known as the power of attorney. In such matters one person may represent another in his absence. They act in their behalf. Jesus has given every believer unlimited and general power of attorney in all matters and with the right to use his name in every situation.
6. We pray expectantly.
When we pray in Jesus' name, we may expect the answer in accord with the value of his name. So we can pray with great and excited expectation.
BY HEATHER CLARK
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:
WASHINGTON — “In the strong name of our collective faith, amen” was how Silvester Beaman of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Delaware ended his benediction on Wednesday during the Biden-Harris inauguration. His avoidance of using the name of Jesus in the prayer was noted by at least one pastor, who refuted Beaman’s choice of words online.
“It must be said: there is no such name,” wrote Mike Riccardi, the pastor of Local Outreach Ministries at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.
“And even if there were, that name would not be the only name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12),” he noted. “It would not be the name above every name — the name to which every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance (Phil 2:9-11). It would not be the name of Christ, in whom alone are the promises of God yes and amen (2 Cor 1:20).”
Beaman, a longtime friend of the Biden family who participated in the funeral for Beau Biden in 2015, had been asked by Joe Biden to close out the inauguration ceremony with prayer.
“Joe Biden is a man whose life experiences have taught him to seek the face of God,” Beaman told NBC News. “He’s had some dark times in his life. And he’s someone who is naturally a person of faith. He prays and listens to God.”
“We need a president who is after the heart of God,” he continued. “In these terrible times, if anybody can bring healing and reconciliation to a divided country, if we give him room to work, Joe Biden can be that person.”
On Wednesday, Beaman asked for God’s favor on Biden and Harris, controversial figures who were opposed by Christians in the election primarily because of their support for homosexuality, transgenderism and abortion “rights.”
“God, we gather under the beauty of your holiness and the holiness of your beauty. We seek Your face, Your smile, Your warm embrace,” he said. “We petition you once more in this celebration. We pray for divine favor upon our president, Joseph R. Biden, and our first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, and their family.”
“We further ask that you would extend the same favor upon our vice president, Kamala D. Harris, and our second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, and their family,” Beaman continued. “More than ever they and our nation need You.”
In keeping with the theme of unity, he spoke of realizing the common humanity, which compels one to have compassion for the sick, poor, elderly and oppressed. In brevity, Beaman also mentioned confessing sin and seeking forgiveness.
“In you, O God, we discover our humanity. And in our humanity, we discover our commonness, beyond the difference of color, creed, origin, political party, ideology, geography and personal preferences,” Beaman stated, remarking that men should “make friends of our enemies.”
He also touched on the nation’s stain of slavery, noting that slaves had been used to build the U.S. Capitol building.
“Let us all acknowledge from the indigenous Native American to those who recently received their citizenship, from the African American to those whose foreparents came from Europe and every corner of the globe, from the wealthy to those struggling to make it, for every human being — regardless of their choices, that this is our country,” he proclaimed.
“As such, teach us, O God, to live in it, love in it, be healed in it, and be reconciled to one another in it, lest we miss kingdom’s goal.”
Beaman then ended the prayer with, “To Your glory, majesty, dominion and power forever. Hallelujah. Glory, hallelujah,” the latter of which when literally translated means, “Praise Yahweh.”
But then he said, most likely to again incorporate the theme of unity, “In the strong name of our collective faith, amen.”
View Beaman’s benediction in full here or watch the video below.
Riccardi shared his thoughts about the prayer on social media Wednesday evening.
“We do not petition the Father in the name of our faith. Our faith is worthless apart from the object in which it trusts,” Riccardi wrote. “To come before God in the name of our faith is to come before God in our own name, which is blasphemous, idolatrous, and hopeless for those who do not possess the infinite righteousness required for fellowship with God.”
He said that God accepts nothing less than coming to Him in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.
“Instead, those who would hope to receive anything from the Father must come to Him in the name of Christ His Son, for all the promises of God are yes in Him alone,” Riccardi outlined. “And coming before God in the name of Christ — who has accomplished the infinite righteousness required for fellowship with God — in union with Him we are heard for Christ’s sake.”
“Our prayers before the Father — the holiest of which are laced with enough sin to damn the entire human race for eternity — are thus sanctified in the sweet name of God’s dear Son, and received as a sweet-smelling aroma of the sacrifice of His own precious blood,” he said.
“Solus Christus.”
Read Riccardi’s post in full here.
1 Timothy 2:5 states, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 96:5 also teaches, “For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.”
The late Anglican preacher J.C. Ryle also once said, “Live a courageous life. Confess Christ before men. Whatever station you occupy, in that station confess Christ. Why should you be ashamed of Him? He was not ashamed of you on the cross.”
“He is ready to confess you now before His Father in Heaven. Why should you be ashamed of Him? Be bold. Be very bold. The good soldier is not ashamed of his uniform. The true believer ought never be ashamed of Christ.”
At the close of his prayer at the inauguration, Dr. Silvester Beaman concluded, “To your glory, majesty, dominion and power forever. Hallelujah. Glory, Hallelujah. In the strong name of our collective faith, amen.”
It must be said: there is no such name.
And even if there were, that name would not be the only name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). It would not be the name above every name—the name to which every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance (Phil 2:9-11). It would not be the name of Christ, in whom alone are the promises of God yes and amen (2 Cor 1:20).
We do not petition the Father in the name of our faith. Our faith is worthless apart from the object in which it trusts. If we came before the throne of God solely in the name our faith, we would be cast into hell, for our faith has nothing in it that is virtuous or meritorious before God.
To come before God in the name of our faith is to come before God in our own name, which is blasphemous, idolatrous, and hopeless for those who do not possess the infinite righteousness required for fellowship with God.
Instead, those who would hope to receive anything from the Father must come to Him in the name of Christ His Son, for all the promises of God are yes in Him alone. And coming before God in the name of Christ—who has accomplished the infinite righteousness required for fellowship with God—in union with Him we are heard for Christ’s sake. Our prayers before the Father—the holiest of which are laced with enough sin to damn the entire human race for eternity—are thus sanctified in the sweet name of God’s dear Son, and received as a sweet smelling aroma of the sacrifice of His own precious blood.
Solus Christus.
Little children, guard yourselves from idols (1 John 5:20).