By a name, is meant that by which anything is identified, or by which anything is known or called. My parents gave me the name Ethridge, and that is the name by which I am identified. God gave his people a name we are told, "which the mouth of the Lord shall name." In Isaiah, 62:1-2, we read, "For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name."

I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I am a member of that body of people who "were called Christians first in Antioch, (Acts 11:26). I wish it to be understood that I am a member of the church of Christ, the church of God, the New Testament church, the church of the Bible, the only church mentioned, spoken of, recognized, authorized, or even remotely hinted at in the word of God, or by the word of God. The church of God is the church of Christ, because Christ is God’s Son and inherited God’s name. Jesus Christ is the founder of the church of which I am a member, and of which Paul was a member (Matt. 16:18). Such a thing as a denomination or man-made, man-named, institution was never heard of on earth till six hundred years after the death of Christ, or until the great "falling away" predicted by Paul, when Roman Catholicism got the world by the throat, so to speak, and ruled and dominated it for one thousand years.

Jesus Christ was misrepresented, villified, and persecuted. I know of true and loyal brethren who are misrepresented and looked down upon by people who claim to be Christians. It is because the loyal brethren will not compromise the truth, and "kowtow" to people who are mocking God to His face, by setting up churches of their own. Every human denomination on earth was established by some uninspired human being and is not found in the Bible. If it was not for learning the truth, it would be sacrilegious to go to the Bible to try to find the existence of a thing that everybody knows is not there. Is it on account of ignorance? Paul says in I Cor. 14:38, "But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant." In other words, it is useless to try to teach ignoramuses who flaunt their stupidity as superior wisdom and who pretend to be spiritual, when repudiating the plain teaching of the word of God through a chosen apostle.

When was the new name given? The prophecy was given in Isaiah, 62:1-2, and the fulfillment is found in the Acts of the Apostles. What was the prophecy? "When the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name." When did all kings see His glory? When He burst asunder the bonds of death and rose triumphant conqueror over death and the grave. When were the Gentiles admitted into His kingdom? They saw His righteousness and were admitted into His kingdom at the house of Cornelius. The same word "called" is used in both the prophecy and the fulfillment. In the prophecy, "thou shalt be called by a new name"; in the fulfillment, "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."

I don’t believe a fair-minded person on earth could see otherwise, than that a new name was to be given to the people of God; and we have learned when it was given. Our denominational friends say the name Christian was given by enemies in derision, as a nickname; but of course I wouldn’t have any confidence in such "churchanity" as that. That is done through prejudice and to tickle the fancies of denominationalists. All commentators and Bible Scholars of any note the world over, admit and agree, that they were divinely called Christians.

In Acts, 26:28, Agrippa said unto Paul, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." He did not say, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Mormon, Christian Scientist, or Adventist. Would Agrippa have been satisfied to wear a nickname? I hardly think so. Do you? "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf," (I Pet. 4:16). I appeal to your fairness and good sense; can I wear a human name and glorify God in that name? No; for when I wear any other name than that given by Him, I am dishonoring Him in so doing. The denominationalists say they are Christians, but they refuse to wear the name given by Him. They prefer the human names Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, Adventist, Mormon, etc. The latest is the "Four-Square, Gospel Church" founded by Aimee Semple Mcpherson-Hutton in California. It is said that everything works around to what is appropriate; Aimee found her rightful place, on the vaudeville stage.

Jesus Christ is represented in the Bible as the bridegroom and the church as his bride. Every true, genuine, Christian on earth who has been scripturally converted, is married to Jesus Christ. When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of your sins, confess Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, and baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and rise to walk in newness of life; then and there you are married to Christ and assume all the duties, obligations, and responsibilities that a wife bears to her husband.

But, suppose when Brother A married his wife and assumed all the duties, obligations, and responsibilities due a wife, that she had said, "I am not going to wear your name; I prefer the name given me by my parents, or the name Jones, Smith, Brown, Green, for euphony’s sake." By euphony’s sake, is meant a name that has a sweeter or pleasanter sound, or a more liquid or flowing sound. Would she be honoring her husband, and how would her husband feel toward his wife? I leave that for you to imagine. That is the way movie actors and actresses do. Hollywood is a notorious hotbed of divorce scandal, making a mockery of the great institution that God ordained. Where people deliberately and persistently refuse to wear the name God gave to His people, they are not honoring and glorifying His name.

I know that I can understand God’s way, will, and word, just as well as I can understand an article that I read in a newspaper; for it is written in the same kind of plain, simple, understandable English language. It would be a reflection of man's intelligence to say he cannot understand it, for Isaiah says, The way is so plain that wayfaring men though fools need not err therein. It is not a matter of understanding; it is a question of faith. Do you believe what God says? Do you believe what Jesus Christ says? Do you believe what the Holy Spirit says?

It is beyond my comprehension how a man can take a man or woman into the water and with uplifted hand say, "I baptize you my BROTHER, my SISTER, in the name of Jesus Christ"; for he is not baptizing that man or woman into Jesus Christ, but into the human organization which he represents. He has no authority to do such a thing; and when he does it, he is desecrating the name of the Most High God. "If any suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name," (I Pet. 4:16).

Do you not want to wear the name God has given to His people? He said, "There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Or do you want some human name invented and originated by some uninspired human being? Do you not want to wear that name that Paul says in Eph. 1:21, "is above every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come"? In Zech. 14:9, we read: "In that shall there be one Lord, and His name one." Today, there are hundreds ‘of names in the world, but "in that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one."