Holy Name vs. Holy Spirit

IF ONE were to look through the many, many resources available from all denominations, facets, realms, and religions of the world, one could find hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of resources with “information” on God’s Name. But, with all these things suspended in my reader’s ears, let me propose this as well: Is it true that all such resources are nothing but 99% FRIVOLOUS in actuality?

What I will attempt to present today will be a overview of the PRIORITIES in the Christian’s life. My goal here is to make it clear that knowing The Lord Jesus Christ, obeying His Will, and following His Spirit, should be every born-again (of His Spirit) believer’s aim.

A hypothetical example:

SAY YOU HAD a friend, or, maybe even a friendly acquaintance that you’ve known, perhaps for a number of years. Now, let’s believe this friend’s name is Mary Walker.

All right, one day Mary calls you up, wanting a little friendly chit-chat. You answer the phone and she starts “Hi, this is Mary; how are you?” You respond, “Oh, Mary...Mary who?” Now, Mary may be assuming you are a little sleepy or something and responds, “It’s me, Mary Walker, the one you’ve known for years!”

You, the technicality freak that you are, retort “Mary Walker? What’s your middle initial, name, family tree, heritage, address, name in Greek, date of birth etc.” Now Mary, being the patient kind of person that she is, doesn’t get too angry, and just responds calmly: “It’s me ok. Hey, I was just wanting to see how you are, and what you’re up to.” Then she waits for what she’s hoping will be a more friendly reaction. However, instead of a little cordiality, she finds herself being pelted and harassed with even more rude and uncalled for questions.

OK, NOW PLEASE KEEP THIS CONVERSATION IN MIND as you read this short article!

I do not think it is fair to do research on close friends/relatives, when you should be asking them yourself. If you met them with one name, why seek to call them something else?

It is the author’s knowledge and personal experience that the Lord Jesus/God the Father Almighty will respond to any and all earnest hearts desiring HIM, not just respond because He is being called by some Greek, Hebrew, or other ‘special’ name!

Study to...boast?

NOW, I DO understand that some people think along these lines: “I do love Him, but we are to study and learn DEEPER things of God also.” I would say to such a soul, “YES, it is not that we do not study, but, if you received salvation through, and believe that Jesus Christ was/is the Messiah, WHY are you trying to find a DIFFERENT name for the one whom you received salvation through?”

I think this skewered philosophy is rooted in the pride that started back in the garden when the serpent tempted Eve that she could, “know what God knows/be like God.” It does not make sense to make sure that people call the Lord something that they do not call Him, when they may be closer to God than you!

Sometimes, when I meet people, they just want to talk about the name of God. Be it known, when they are so busy talking about His name [supposedly] that they DO NOT KNOW HIM. If they truly knew Him, they would find that the plain old name of Jesus has so much POWER in it, that they need not another. It is also possible that they are seeking for a deeper relationship with Him, and they think they can attain it by finding a “better name!” Friend, do not look to find a closer path to God by finding out His “real name.” It will more than suffice to cry out to “Jesus”—SIMPLY BELIEVING AND SIMPLY RECEIVING!

Try it out! Ask them what God is doing in their lives and compare the list to the signs that WILL FOLLOW them that believe in Mark 16:17+18: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” The reason there are very little or no signs in their lives, is because they are looking for the HOLY SPIRIT in the flesh.

Paul refers to this type of thing as well, in Galatians 3:3: “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” The remedy is that we, having begun in His Spirit, shall be growing and perfected in His Spirit, NOT by our (self) flesh.

Another Scripture to consider is Gal. 4:29: “But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.” When a person is going after those carnal things, and believing those to be his answer, he is literally PERSECUTING THE HOLY SPIRIT! Many are doing what the Bible, in Matthew 23:24 warns against: “You blind guides, filtering out a gnat and gulping down a camel!” (AMP, See also Lev. 27:30; Mic. 6:8).

My Inspiration

THE OTHER DAY, for the first time ever, I was researching in a Freemason book, and I have to admit I was appalled. The book was over 800 pages long, and the one dominant theme was the supposed name of God. And mind you, there must have been over 1,000 different names of God in that book. How ridiculous!

However, this actually isn’t the first time I’ve seen something like this, because I have known Messianics that are so concerned about Jesus’ supposed name, that they will actually consider you an unbeliever if you do not use the name Yashua, Yeshua, Yahweh, etc. And keep in mind that if one is an English-speaker, the English name ‘Jesus’ is good enough!

Now, if you want the technical name of God, just keep in mind that it is not something to get obsessed over! Remember, the conversation, or the lack thereof with “Mary?” In this hour, the Lord is calling His people to be one with Him in Spirit and in truth. It is important to let His Spirit lead and guide us into His Will and Way, and to not get side-tracked on issues that are petty. PREACHING THE GOSPEL FOR MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN TO REPENT AND COME TO JESUS IS THE MAIN ISSUE AND FOCUS.

If God wants to lead you to a more technical name for Himself, that is God doing the leading and not yourself, then that is good. However, what I am saying is that if you encounter genuine Christians, and are acting like a variant in a name is a doctrine of salvation, you are lacking real-life knowledge of the Lord, and should beg Him for a closer relationship and His Holy Spirit, because that is what He has promised believers: “When He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth...” (John 16:13). This Scripture is referring to the promise of being filled with His Spirit.

Besides, I will now show that you CANNOT find “the real” name anyhow!

ANOTHER POINT I would also like to show is that in heaven, we will not think as men with carnal reasoning, but we will have a much deeper communication level (for extensive references to this, a vast variety of experiences may be found if one looks into Heaven and Hell testimonies available). This is along the same lines as Jesus states in Matt. 22:30: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (See also Mark 12:25). The angels talk in a heavenly language. We, as Spirit-filled Christians should, or should seek to, speak a heavenly language as well (See the many ACMTC publications on the Holy Spirit and the Evidence of/Gift of tongues).

So, considering this, the knowledge we supposedly gain about “His name” will be replaced with the knowledge of Him Himself in Heaven. Although, if we do not know Him now, even if we DO know His name in our dialect (or even if we know it in the thousands of dialects that there are), if we do not know Him, He will say to us: “...Truly, I have no knowledge of you [I NEVER KNEW YOU!!!] or where you come from; go away from me, you workers of evil” (Luke 13:27, BBE).

Recall:

NOW, I WOULD adjure you to recall the story about our phone conversation with Mary from the beginning of the article and answer these:

Questions For Consideration:

1. WAS THE caller truly interested in knowing Mary?

2. Was any NAME outside of the basic Mary Walker necessary for conversation?

3. Do you think that Mary was prevented from talking to the caller because they did not know her full name, or because of their own technicality?

4. How does this apply to us?

5. I have thought of some groups that focus on the name of God/Jesus, instead of being focused ON Jesus/the Holy Spirit, including:

~ Mormons

~ Sects of Sabbath-Keepers

~ Twelve Tribes

~ Messianics

~Can you think of anybody else?

And, I will leave you with another question: have you had a real experience with the Holy Ghost? If you have not, ask Him to fill you. If you have been filled with His Spirit already, ask for more! The good thing about the Lord is that if we are in Him, there is no end: we can continually move from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18)!