THREE LIFE-CHANGING BLESSINGS THE MOST HOLY NAME BRINGS

In Y’shua's time Jewish custom forbid everyone from pronouncing the names I am and YHVH. The Jews called God Adonai instead. But Y’shua was there to replace with the truth the false teachings lurking in the minds of His disciples. He uncovered the God-appointed names (reverting Adonai to I AM and YHVH) and pronounced them publicly. He did at the risk of being stoned to death (John 8:59). 

⁶ Father, I have revealed [uncovered] Your name to those whom You gave Me out of the world… ⁸ I gave them the words that You gave Me and they accepted them… ¹⁴ I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world… ¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth. ²⁶ I have made Your name known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I Myself may be in them. JOHN 17

Y'shua prompted His disciples to stop calling God Adonai whose real names were I AM and YHVH (Hebrews 2:12). To this we should take cue. Let us stop calling Him Jesus whose real name is Y'shua. Matthew 1:21 and Luke 1:31 instruct us to call Him Y’shua. The instruction is a command, imperative for everyone to obey.

The name Y'shua brings three blessings to those who put their faith in it. As a Pastor I would not want anyone to miss the blessings. They are life-changing. 

What are these blessings?

Blessing No. 1:  YOU GET A WEAPON TO REPEL LUCIFER AND HIS DEMONS.

The most holy name is an extremely powerful weapon in spiritual warfare. It shoos away the demonic spirits in our midst and neutralizes their wicked works. Tremendous terror seizes them every time the name is vocalized.  

There are occasions when I do exorcism with other pastors. It has been observed that when their “In Jesus’ name!” fails to cast out the demons, my “In the name of our Lord Messiah Y’shua!” works. My xperience jibes with the finding of the Seventy-Two:

¹⁷ The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.” LUKE 10

If we carry the name of Y'shua in our hearts, there is no reason for us to fear Lucifer and his demons. As Don Moen said in his song Be Strong and Take Courage, “Nothing can face you that you can’t command.” 

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. EPHESIANS 6

Blessing No. 2:  PERSONAL SALVATION

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. ACTS 4

The demons have replaced the most holy name. First, because replacement causes them no fear, discomfort or pain. Second, because they do not want anyone to be saved. Do not be deceived though. There is no other name by which we could be saved.

⁹ If you confess with your mouth Y’shua is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved… ¹³ For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ROMANS 10

¹² To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. JOHN 1

If you carry the name of Y'shua is your heart, be ready for your faith will be tested. The evil empire will make life very difficult for you. You will experience rejection, alienation, persecution and hostility. Y’shua warned about it: “They will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of My name” (Luke 21:12).

Stand firm and God will say to you: “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept My Word and have not denied My name” (Revelation 3:8). 

Blessing No. 3:  Key to Quick Answered Prayer

¹³ I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴ You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it. JOHN 14 

If you carry the name of Y'shua in your heart, you will not have to steal, beg or borrow from your neighbor when you come to be in need of something. You will not have to weigh down your heart with worry or envy or self-pity. You can ask God to supply you your need in Y’shua’s name. God will deliver the needy who cry out to Him (Psalm 72:12). There is nothing He cannot give. His wealth has no limit; He owns everything (Job 41:11, Psalm 24:1, Leviticus 225:23, Psalm 50:10, Haggai 2:8). He can create anything out of nothing.

What is it that you need? The word ask in Matthew 7:7 is aiteo. The better translation for it is demand. Demand to be given in Y’shua’s name.  

Your needs can be categorized into six:

1. PHYSICAL NEED: Health, vitality and strength;
2. MATERIAL NEED: Food, water, clothing, shelter, heat and air;
3. MENTAL NEED: Knowledge, understanding and wisdom;
4. EMOTIONAL NEED, companionship and laughter;  
5. FINANCIAL NEED: Regular source of income or financial security; and
6. SPIRITUAL NEED: Soul-growth, salvation, restoration, inner joy and serenity. 

² You want something, but you don’t get it… You do not have, because you do not ask God. JAMES 4

²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. JOHN 16

The Philippines has a very high incidence of poverty and misery, even among the Born Again pastors. Yet nobody has to wallow in it. God has promised to give abundance to those who ask for it (Matthew 25:28).

²¹ It is very easy for the Lord to make a poor person suddenly rich. SIRACH 11  

Learning Application: We have taken the liberty of replacing all scriptural references to “Jesus” and “Christ” in this blog with Y’shua and Messiah respectively. That is because when Y’shua said “Ask in My name”, He was saying "Ask in My Hebrew Aramaic name." Also because when the Seventy-Two said “Even the demons submit to us in Your name”, they were saying "The demons submit to us in Your Hebrew Aramaic name." Furthermore, because when the Scripture says “There is no other name by which we must be saved”, the Scripture means His Hebrew Aramaic name. The name Jesus does not exist then.

IF JESUS IS NOT GOD'S NAME, HOW COME THE DEMONS FLEE WHEN THE NAME IS INVOKED AGAINST THEM? 

Bishop Levi Bar Thoma, head of the Ancient Apostolic Church of the East in the Philippines, gave this explanation: “The demons are great deceptors. They pretend to flee in order to promote the wrong name.”

The Spirit has impressed on me one more reason: God is the King of mercy! He is waiting for us to learn the most holy name and call on it, but until we do, He is granting petitions addressed to Jesus  just so we could be helped. Hallelu-yah for God’s mercy!

Are we being biblical here? Yes, we are. God was not pleased with being addressed as Adonai. It’s an unauthorized name. Nonetheless He granted the petitions addressed to Adonai just so the petitioners could be helped. God has been merciful to the ignorant. 

Take note: We said ignorant, not ignoring. Ignorant is the person who does not know the truth. Ignoring is the person who knows but sets it aside in favor of the false. You are not ignorant anymore because now you know Matthew 1:21 and Luke 1:31. If you continue in calling on Jesus, moreso in teaching others that it’s okay to call on Jesus, then you are ignoring. You are no different to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were stubborn and sinful: stubborn because they were forcing their human will to prevail over God’s will, and sinful because they were deliberately ignoring and disobeying God’s instruction.

²¹ I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.  MATTHEW 5

Share Your Blessing

Aren’t you blessed today? Oh, yes, you are! Many do not know the most holy name, but you do now. Many do not know the three blessings that come with calling on the name, but you do now. Use your gain to your advantage. Pause for a moment and pray in the name of Y’shua. Go ahead, pray for freedom from satanic bondage, for freedom from poverty and misery, for freedom from the Second Death.

One more thing: Do not keep your gain to yourself, please. Share it and bless your neighbors with it, especially your loved ones. Spread the Good News!

³² Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven. MATTHEW 10

⁸ I tell you, whoever acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns Me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. LUKE 12

ARE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS PASSÉ & IS OBEYING THEM EMPTY LEGALISM?

Many churches claim this is the teaching of St. Paul—particularly in Colossians 2:14, Ephesians 2:15, Galatians 3:25, Romans 10:4 and 7:6. Is the claim legitimate? The answer is No.

Scripture says, “The Lord will judge the world in righteousness” (Psalm 9:8). Along this line, St. Paul wrote:

¹³ It is those who obey the Law who will be declared righteous. ROMANS 2

¹² The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. ROMANS 7

²¹ Is the Law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! GALATIANS 3 

³¹ Do we, then, nullify the Law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the Law. ROMANS 3

¹⁴ I [Paul] believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets. ACTS 24

St. Paul was not telling anyone to disregard or disobey the commandments. The Ten-C are never passé and obeying them is not empty legalism. What St. Paul was saying in Colossians 2:14, Ephesians 2:15, Galatians 3:25, Romans 10:4 and 7:6 is that no one may re-enter the kingdom of God by sheer obedience of the Law of Moses (the Ten minus Commandment No. 1 version). He was saying the Jewish belief must be corrected.

The full teaching of St. Paul was this: Man’s relationship with God should be one of faith perfected by 100% obedience of God’s instructions, resulting in good works motivated by LOVE.

It was not obedience that really mattered but the motive behind the obedience. If LOVE was not the motive, then the obedience was insipid and worthless in God’s sight. 

¹⁰ Love is the fulfillment of the Law. ROMANS 13 

Also, St. Paul stressed that obedience must be accompanied with faith that Y’shua is God. (Y’shua is Jesus Christ to the world.) God alone can forgive sin and so Y’shua alone can forgive sin. He who has no faith in Y’shua will not receive total forgiveness of his sins. Without the total forgiveness, the impure will stay impure and barred from heaven; his obedience will be worthless—an exercise in futility, an empty legalism.  

⁴ If anyone ever had the reason to hope that he could save himself, it would be me [Paul]. ⁵ For I went through the Jewish initiation ceremony when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish home that was a branch of the original Benjamin family. So I was a real Jew if there ever was one! What’s more, I was a member of the Pharisees who demand the strictest obedience to every Jewish law and custom. ⁶ And sincere? Yes, so much that I greatly persecuted the Church; and I tried to obey every Jewish rule and regulation right down to the last point. ⁷ But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so I can put my trust and hope in the Messiah alone. ⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Messiah Y’shua my Lord. I have put aside all else, counting it worth less than nothing, in order that I can have the Messiah, ⁹ and become one with Him, no longer counting on being saved by being good enough or by obeying God’s laws, but by trusting the Messiah to save me; for God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith—counting on the Messiah alone. PHILIPPIANS 3 tlb

¹⁵ We are not under Law but under grace. ROMANS 6

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that one can boast. EPHESIANS 2

Think logically. Sin is the breaking of the Law (1 John 3:4). If the Ten-C were passé, that would mean no more sin and no more need for total forgiveness and for faith in Y’shua. No more need for anyone to be righteous, ethical and decent. No more need for religion, the churches and the clergy!      

Many churches teach that the New Covenant has replaced the Ten-C (“the Law of Moses”) with the two commandments of Love God and Love your neighbor (“the Law of Christ”)? Is this true? 

It is not. Y’shua said:

¹⁷ Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill [pleroo, make full, perfect] them. MATTHEW 5

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. MATTHEW 24

¹⁷ It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. LUKE 16

¹⁹ Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. MATTHEW 5

Take note of His encouragement for the Ten-C to be taught and obeyed.  

²⁹ Let them listen to Moses and the Prophets. LUKE 16

³¹ If you continue in My Word, you really are My disciples. JOHN 8

²¹ My mother and brothers are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice. LUKE 8

³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. JOHN 3

Discard and dishonor the Ten-C? Do not be hoodwinked. Y’shua said:

¹⁷ “If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” ¹⁸ “Which ones?” the man inquired. Y’shua replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” MATTHEW 19

Never will God abolish the Ten-C because doing so will contradict the very purpose of His incarnation and His instituting the New Covenant. “I will put My Law in their minds and write it on their hearts,” said He in Jeremiah 31:33. To stress this, the New Testament quoted Jeremiah 31:33 twice in Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16.

²⁷ I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws. EZEKIEL 36

¹⁹ Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 1 CORINTHIANS 7

³⁴ I will not violate My covenant or alter what My lips have uttered. PSALM 84

⁸ (The commandments) stand fast for ever and ever. PSALM 111 kjv

The Gospel teachings were given to expound the proper intentions and applications of the commandments, to raise our level of awareness of them. The two commandments Love God and Love your neighbor (which really are one) were not given to replace the Ten but to make the Nine to be Ten again. The element of love was reinstated to perfect and amplify the Law.

God did not expunge any commandment. What He expunged were the man-made traditions (kjv calls them the handwriting of ordinances) that were effectively diluting or nullifying the sought-effect of the commandments to which they were grafted.

¹⁴ [He] canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross. COLOSSIANS 2

Let us cite an example of a man-made tradition that was expunged off Commandment No. 5.

³ (Y’shua said to some Pharisees and teachers of the Law from Jerusalem:) Indeed, why do you break the command of God by your tradition?  ⁴ For God said, Honor your father and your mother and Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. ⁵ But you say, “If anyone says to his father or mother I have promised to give to God what I might have used to help you ⁶ then he is rid of his duty to honor his father or mother.” Thus, by your tradition you make null and void the Word of God! ⁷ You hypocrites! Yesha’yahu [Isaiah] was right when he prophesied about you, ⁸ These people honor Me with their lips but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines. MATTHEW 15 cjb

¹² Then His disciples came to Him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” ¹³ He replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” MATTHEW 15

In the Oxyrhynchus Gospels Y’shua explained to His disciples, "The Pharisee plans in advance; before doing wrong, he slyly reasons everything out. Take care that you do not end up suffering the same fate as them. For the wicked of humanity receive Judgment not only among the living, but they will also undergo punishment later." (Wikipedia)

¹¹ “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that He was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. MATTHEW 16

Many churches teach that the Messiah’s resurrection had fulfilled the Law and therefore observing them is no longer necessary. Is this true?

It is not. Let us recall what Y’shua said on the matter:

¹⁸ I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. MATTHEW 5

Take note of the words “until heaven and earth disappear.” Neither the earth nor the heaven (the sky) has disappeared or passed away. That means the Ten-C stands.

Colossians 2:17 says the Law is a shadow of things to come, the substance of which is Y’shua. That is true. But “not everything that must happen has happened”—at least not yet. The Law is given so man could be restored; therefore, the fulfillment of the Law will come after the Judgment, when the impure-turned-pure shall have received his reward of restoration. This being the case, observance of the Ten-C is still necessary.

Y’shua purified the commandments of the corruptions grafted into them. He warned us of the troubles we shall face for obeying the commandments. This indicates that He expected us to keep and honor the Ten-C.  

¹⁷ Then the dragon was enraged at the woman [the Church] and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Y’shua. REVELATIONS 12    

²⁰ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. JOHN 15

² They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. JOHN 16

Many churches teach that the Ten-C is only for the Jews. Is this true? 

It is not. If it were, why else did God say in Leviticus 24:22, “You are to have the same Law for the alien and the native-born”?

¹³ Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. ECCLESIASTES 12

Observance of the Ten-C does not stop in Isra’el. The Jews are called to live by the Ten-C and so are the rest of the world (Buddhists, Taoists, Hindus, Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics and Born Again Christians included).

¹⁵ The community is to have the same rules for you and for the alien living among you. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. You and the alien shall be the same before the Lord. ¹⁶ The same laws and regulations shall apply both to you and to the foreigner living among you. NUMBERS 15

¹⁶ Then, if [the other nations] will carefully learn My people’s ways, swearing by My name, “As Adonai lives,” just as they taught My people to swear by Ba’al, they will be built up among My people. JEREMIAH 12 cjb

God looks down from heaven at both Jews and non-Jews to see if there are any who are wise, any who worship Him (Psalm 53:2 tev). He is waiting to welcome into His kingdom Jews and non-Jews whose hearts are right with God.

¹⁰ Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? MALACHI 2

²⁹ Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too. ROMANS 3

⁵ [There is] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. EPHESIANS

¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. JOHN 10

⁶ And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve Him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship Him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to My covenant— ⁷ these I will bring to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. ISAIAH 56

Whether one is born a Jew or non-Jew is immaterial. God is after the spiritual man, not the physical man. He does not look at our religion, nationality, skin color, intelligence, wealth, gender, strength or physical beauty; God looks at our hearts. To Him the true Jew is anyone who hears the voice of the Good Shepherd and heeds His instructions. The true Jew is he who worships God in spirit and in truth. The true Jew is he who soaks in LOVE and exudes it.     

⁶ For not all who are descended from Isra’el are Isra’el. ⁷ Nor because they are descendants are they Abraham’s children. ROMANS 9

²⁹ A true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the Law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. ROMANS 2 nlt

The true Jew is the true lamb of Messiah Y’shua.

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