williemac said:
How is it that Jesus in Rev.3:20 was able to stand at the door and knock? He declared that those who Hear Him and open the door, He would come into them and have a relationship. How is it that Jesus is able to make this promise? This is about His indwelling presence , which I have. I opened the door, and was filled with THE Holy Spirit. John 17:3 is about relationship.
But did you know about things such as the power of attorney? When you do something in someone's name, you are doing it on their behalf. It is not about the name, it is about the authority. The same goes for reputation. In my trade, I have a good name where I live. This is not about the name "Howard" having any special properties. It is about my reputation in the trade. As well, when Jesus said He came to declare the name of God, He was speaking of the nature and character of God (reputation), not that He came to tell everyone what God's name was. That is not the point. How does anyone imagine that His main agenda is that people get His name right? He wants us to know about Him so that we can dispel the lies of Satan and turn to Him in trust and love. His point is to draw us into a personal encounter with Him. Do I know His name? Yes. But I also know His voice. I most certainly know Him, but more importantly, He knows me. That is a more relevant question. Does He know you?
For many, it is not important to know God's personal name and attach themselves to it. However, Jesus does
not agree with these, for he said in prayer to God: "I have made your name manifest to the men you gave me out of the world......I have made your name known to them and will make it known (and why?), in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in union with them."(John 17:6, 26)
What did Jesus mean here ? That for his disciples to come to love the Father as he does, they
must know and love the name of the Father, making this name known to all. How can anyone who claims to be a Christian be truly such if they reject God's personal name ? Jesus taught his disciples to pray for that name - Jehovah - to be "hallowed" or sanctified. If anyone does not agree with this, can one rightly call themselves a Christian, saying that they follow in Jesus "footsteps" ?(1 Pet 2:21)
At Jeremiah 24, there is seen "two baskets of figs set before the temple of Jehovah", in which "one basket, the figs are very good....as for the other basket, the figs are very bad."(Jer 24:1, 2) What are the "good figs" noted for ? Of them, God says: "And I will give them a heart to
know me, that
I am Jehovah; and they must
become my people, and I myself shall
become their God."(Jer 24:7)
Hence, one that does not accept and honor the name Jehovah
cannot be among his people, for they are like the man that sneaked into "the marriage feast" at Matthew 22, but was discovered by the "king" as improperly dressed, and was subsequently "thrown....out into the darkness outside."(Matt 22:11-13)
In 1513 B.C.E., after the 6th plague upon the Egyptians, Moses went before Pharaoh and said that "by now I could have thrust out my hand that I might strike you and your people with pestilence and that you might be effaced from the earth. But, in fact, for this cause I have kept you in existence, for the sake of showing you my power and in order to have
my name declared in all the earth."(Ex 9:15, 16) Just as Jehovah's name was "declared in all the earth" following the annihilation of Pharaoh and his army, so likewise will this be the case when this corrupt "world" ends at Armageddon.(Rev 16:14, 16; Eze 36:22, 23)
In about 13th century B.C.E., when Samuel was serving as a young boy at the tabernacle in Shiloh, Eli the high priest was told through "a man of God" that "those
honoring me I shall honor, and those despising me will be of little account."(1 Sam 2:30) Only those who are honoring God's name Jehovah will God honor, but any who try to hide it rather than put it on display for all to see will be despised by Jehovah.
Proverbs 18:10 sums up who are considered as righteous by God: "The
name of Jehovah is a strong tower. Into it the
righteous runs and is given protection." Thus, those who are righteous in Jehovah's eyes run to him and his holy name. Otherwise, they are
not considered as righteous, wanting to set their own religious course.(see Ex 32:5, whereby the Israelites made a pagan "festival to Jehovah" but later some 3,000 were killed for this pagan act, Ex 32:27, 28)
At Isaiah 66, there was a spiritual division within the nation of Israel, for there were those who were hearing "the word of Jehovah", that were "trembling at his word", but was hated by fellow Israelites. Why ? "Your brothers that are hating you, that are exclusing you
by reason of my name", with the righteous ones having said 'May Jehovah be glorified'.
However, the majority of the nation were not "trembling at (Jehovah's) word", not wanting Jehovah's name glorified, and hence, hatred came to be a dividing wall, that excluded their "brothers" by "reason of (Jehovah's) name". Most of the nation did not love the name Jehovah; only a few. If a person had a "friend", but this "friend" was unwilling to use this person's name in public, being ashamed of it, could he be considered as a real friend if he just called him "the man" and hid his name ?
At Romans 10, the apostle Paul, quoting from Joel 2:32, wrote that "everyone who
calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved."(Rom 10:13) And Peter, on the day of Pentecost, told the Jewish audience concerning the fulfillment of Joel 2, that "everyone who
calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved."(Acts 2:21)
Hence, it is vital that for a person to be saved, these have to "call on the name of Jehovah" by exercising faith in him through his Son, Jesus Christ.
