It is written in 2 Kings 2:14, that Elisha smote the waters of Jordan with Elijah's mantle. If we consider Elijah here as a type of Christ taken up to Heaven and Elisha as a type of the Church left behind on earth to carry on His ministry, then the mantle of Elijah must be a picture of the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ that He has committed to His Church. Jesus has given us the way, just as Elisha used the mantle to make a way through the River Jordan.

However, it is not just a matter of repeating the Name as though it were some sort of magic charm. Many use His Name in that way, but nothing happens. There is no manifestation of power and no removal of the mountains that block up the way.

Gehazi once took Elisha's staff and under instructions from Elisha, laid it on a dead child. He may also have at that time cried out in an authoritative manner, "In the Name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, arise from the dead." But nothing happened..

God doesn't just listen to the words that a man says. He looks at his heart. The power of the words depends on the type of man that uses them. God knew that Gehazi's heart was not set on the glory of God but on the world and on personal gain.

Elisha's heart was different. He sought God's glory alone and so God could commit His authority to him. And so when Elisha prayed, the dead child arose immediately. When he smote the waters of Jordan with the mantle, they parted into two.

I have met people who use the Name of Jesus and keep on repeating it (sometimes at the top of their voices), but nothing happens. They have reminded me of the prophets of Baal who shouted and screamed on Mount Carmel. The kingdom of God is not manifested in mere words (no matter how loudly or how authoritatively spoken), but by power. If Elisha had not been an anointed man, he could have hit the waters as hard at he liked, with the mantle, but nothing would have happened. It would have been just a waste of time and energy! The anointing of the Spirit is indeed essential if we are to use the Name of Jesus with real power.

In Acts chapter 3, we find Peter using the Name of Jesus; and God's power was manifested. The lame man began to walk. It was so obvious a miracle that no one had to go around showing people the man's medical reports in order to convince them that he had been healed. There was nothing uncertain or shady about that miracle. There was no doubt left in anyone's mind as to whether or not a miracle had actually taken place-as is so often the case with "miracles" wrought by some 20th-century healers!

We find right through the Book of Acts, the disciples using the Name of Jesus again and again to remove every obstacle that came in the way of their fulfilling God's purposes. They really knew the anointing. And that's why the Acts of the Apostles ends with the word, "unhindered" (New American Standard Bible). The gates of Hell could not stand against such a powerful Church.