“His Name, the only Name”

by Sandy Simpson, 9/5/14

Zechariah 14:9 NIV The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.

The reason I wrote this article based on Zech 14:9 is that I was reminded of how many so-called Christians, who are influential in the churches, are promoting the worship of God in the names of other gods. Here are just a few examples.

A surprisingly central feature of all the world’s religions is the language of light in communicating the divine and symbolizing the union of the human with the divine: Muhammed’s light-filled cave, Moses’ burning bush, Paul’s blinding light, Fox’s “inner light,” Krishna’s Lord of Light, Böhme’s light-filled cobbler shop, Plotinus’ fire experiences, Bodhisattvas with the flow of Kundalini’s fire erupting from their fontanelles, and so on.53 Light is the common thread that ties together near-death experiences as they occur in various cultures. (Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, pg. 146)

“There are a thousand paths to God, and every one gets you there” (Neale Donald Walsch, Friendship with God, an uncommon dialogue 1999, p. 357)

Mother Theresa practiced today’s open Catholicism “I love all religions. ... If people become better Hindus, better Muslims, better Buddhists by our acts of love, then there is something else growing there.” She upheld that there are many ways to God': “All is God--Buddists, Hindus, Christians, etc., all have access to the same God.” (12/4/89 Time, pp. 11, 13)

SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE (Bible Translation Society) “There is an unwarranted skepticism towards the heathens' possession, if at all, of a very limited and low knowledge of the divine from the so-called “natural/native religion.” The adoption of a local name for the universal God will facilitate mutual transformation of both Christianity and the native religion and culture.” ⁽God's Asian Names: Rendering the Biblical God in Chinese, Archie C. C. Lee, SBL Web Site, http://www.sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleId=456)

Richard Twiss was on the 700 Club show with Gordon Robertson (Pat Robertson’s son) and in an interview he told Gordon that the Great Spirit of the Indians is the same as the Holy Spirit. Robertson heartily agreed.

DANIEL KIKAWA (Aloha Ke Akua): So by finding the native name of God which in, in Japan we found that name Ameno mi-naka-nushi which means the God in the glorious center of heaven and he is their creator God who created everything. And so we found this name of this creator God there, and it immediately says he’s a Japanese God and he loves them.” (Word to the World interview with Daniel Kikawa, Feb. 16, 2006 #9) He has also promoted that the name of God in Hawaii is I’o.

You can keep your own religion - Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism - you just need to add Jesus to the equation. Then you become complete. You become a Buddhist with Jesus, a Hindu with Jesus, a Muslim with Jesus and so on. You can throw out the term Christianity and still be a follower of Jesus. In fact, you can throw out the term Christian too. In some countries, you could be persecuted for calling yourself a Christian, and there is no need for that. Just ask Jesus into your heart, you don't have to identify yourself as a Christian. (Rick Warren, UN Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, referenced http://simplyagape.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html)

HENRY NOUWEN (Christian/New Age author) “Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God's house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God” (Henri Nouwen's last book p.51, Sabbatical Journey Crossroad publishing Co., New York, 1998, Quoted in a Time of Departing by Ray Yungen, http://www.letusreason.org/Popteac23.htm)

YWAM (Youth With A Mission): The Charisma article noted: "Messianic Muslims, who continue to read the Koran, visit the mosque and say their daily prayers but accept Christ as their Savior, are the products of the strategy which is being tried in several countries." A YWAM staff writer wrote: "They continue a life of following the Islamic requirements, including mosque attendance, fasting and Koranic reading, besides getting together as a fellowship of Muslims who acknowledge Christ as the source of God's mercy for them... YWAM is also adopting this approach in India, where a team is working with a Hindu holy man." (YWAM in Foundation, May/June 2000, p. 39)

VICTOR KAZANIIAN JR (Episcopal priest): He wrote in Episcopal life Forum, “ We walk side by side, fellow travelers on life's pathways. I speak of being awakened to the wonder and mystery of the world, using words that reflect my window to the divine, the one whom I call my Lord and my God, Jesus, the Risen Christ. You, too, speak of being awakened to the wonder and mystery of the world, using words that reflect your window, to the divine through the teachings of the Buddha, of Baha'u'llah, of Lord Mahavir, of Muhammad, teachings from the Torah, the Guru Granth Sahib and the Vedas. As I hear you speak and as I look into your eyes, I see God. I feel God. I experience God in you, not just a partial reflection of my Christian God, but the creator, the divine spirit in wham we all live and move and have our being. How magnificent is this divine force that it should appear across the Earth like the flowers of a garden in so many different shapes and hues.” “It is not simply so-called “religious fundamentalists” who practice this exclusivism. No, there is a kind of tolerance of difference preached by liberal church folk, which still clings to a Christocentric world view and becomes apparent when we proclaim our faith using language that devalues the faith of others.” “There is no place for religious exclusivism in Christianity. It has been arguably the single greatest source of human misery during the past two millenniums. It must be replaced by an understanding of the interwovenness of all life, of all religious traditions” (Episcopal life Forum p.20, June 1998)

PETER KREEFT (professor of philosophy at Boston College): “We can and should investigate and learn from the wisdom in other religions” (Peter Kreeft Ecumenical Jihad p.79). “Allah is not another God...we worship the same God”(Peter Kreeft Ecumenical Jihad p.30). “The same God! The very same God we worship in Christ is the God the Jews-and the Muslims-worship.” (Ibid. p. 160)

ROBERT SCHULLER (Crystal Cathedral): “We know the things the major faiths can agree on. We try to focus on those without offending those with different viewpoints, or without compromising the integrity of my own Christian commitment” (USA Today, March 23, 1989.) “It's time for Protestants to go to the shepherd [Pope]. Schuller has stated “if he came back in 100 years and found his descendants Muslims, it wouldn't bother him....” (Robert Schuller, comments on the Papal visit, LA, 1987) "The Christ Spirit dwells in every human being, whether the person knows it or not." (Robert Schuller, Possibilities Magazine, Summer 1986, pg.12)

POPE JOHN PAUL II (Deceased pope of the RCC): “He welcomed snake worshipers, fire worshipers, spiritists, animists, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and shamans, was supported and attended by representatives of the World Council of Churches and even evangelicals. Represented there were the YWCA and YMCA, the Mennonite World Conference, the Baptist World Alliance (which includes the Southern Baptist Convention), the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Lutheran World Federation.” (1986 Gathering For Prayer At Assisi, http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/jp2.htm)

"It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts,"… "Is our religion the only one that understands the true meaning of life? Or does God place his truth in others too? ... The gospel is not our gospel, but the gospel of the kingdom of God, and what belongs to the kingdom of God cannot be hijacked by Christianity" (p. 194). (Brian McLaren, An Emergent Manifesto, Baker Books, referenced http://simplyagape.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html)

REV. JAMES MORTON (former dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and founder of the Interfaith Center of New York) Mr. Morton, who described himself as ``anti-boundaries,'' urged the audience to be “the best Muslim, Jew, Buddhist that you can be,'' but
to explore other religions and cultures as they might explore foreign cuisines. They won't lose their identities, he said, but “become
richer.” (http://www.apologeticsindex.org/an990301.html#26)

NEALE DONALD WALSCH (Christian/New Age author) “There is only one message that can change the course of human history forever, end the torture, and bring you back to God. That message is The New Gospel: WE ARE ALL ONE.” (Neale Donald Walsch, Friendship with God, an uncommon dialogue, 1999 p. 373) “There are a thousand paths to God, and every one gets you there” (Neale Donald Walsch, Friendship with God, an uncommon dialogue 1999, p. 357)

"Fourth, New Light embodiment means to be 'in connection' and 'information' with other faiths. To be in-formation means to know each other’s songs almost as well as one knows them oneself, and to enlarge the community to include those whose conceptions of God differ from ours in form. To be in connection means to be able to sing, not only selected stanzas, but all the verses" … "One can be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ without denying the flickers of the sacred in followers of Yahweh, or Kali, or Krishna. A globalization of evangelism 'in connection' with others, and a globally 'in-formed' gospel, is capable of talking across the fence with Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim--people from other so called 'new' religious traditions ('new' only to us)--without assumption of superiority and power."(Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, p. 129-130)

So what are the implications of this prophecy in Zechariah 14:9? (1) That before the return of Christ there have always been many “gods” worshipped in many names. (2) That the saints who return with Christ (Zechariah 14:5), those who were Raptured, are the ones who had already believed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those remaining are forced to acknowledge that there is “no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” because they were left behind in the Rapture and survived the Tribulation.

Zechariah 14:9 is a wonderful hope for those who are His true worshippers; and a dire prediction for those who claim that God can be worshipped in the names of the supreme beings of the nations. They have forgotten that there is only One Name under heaven by which men may be saved.

Matthew 12:21 In his name (Jesus Christ) the nations will put their hope.”

Not in other names like Allah, Baal and I’o.

Luke 24:47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

The true proclamation of the Gospel must be done in Jesus’ name, not in the name of the false demonic “supreme beings” of the nations.

John 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of

Only those who have believed in the name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah), become the children of God. All men are the creation of God but only through the Son can anyone become a child of God.

John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Only those who believe in the name of Jesus Christ will have eternal life.

Acts 10:43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

The whole Bible testifies of the salvation in the name of Jesus Christ.

1 John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

Those who choose to worship God in another name show that they do not love God.

There is only One God, YHWH, and always has been. The angels are not gods, humans are not gods, the demons are not gods. There is only One God eternally existing in Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Mark 12:32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.

There is no other God and no other Name.

1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

The One God consists of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is evidenced in this verse by Paul referring to Jesus Christ as Lord (Kurios), a title only used for God.

Ephesians 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

There has only been One God from the beginning of time till today and throughout eternity.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,

Jesus Christ can only be a mediator for us because He sits at the right hand of the Father, being part of the Triune nature of God, and therefore since He is eternally the God-man can make intercession with us within the Godhead.

This is a quote from my article Generic and Specific (http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/GenericandSpecific.html) - Two reasons why the Bible translation societies, putting the names of supreme beings in Bible translations, is unbiblical:

God Has Many Names?

The claim that God has many different names, therefore any “supreme being’s” name can be used for God, is false. God has one name that He revealed to Moses.

Exodus 3:13-14 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am (YHWH): and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

The Bible says over and over again that any true believer needs to worship God in “His name”, not in “His names”. The Bible never teaches that, in fact it forbids it for true believers. There are many instances of calling for the worship of God “in His name” but none stating “in His names”.

1 Chronicles 16:29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

Psalm 29:2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

Psalm 86:9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name.

Revelation 15:4 Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Psalm 96:2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.

Psalm 116:13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

Isaiah 65:1 [ Judgment and Salvation ] “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’

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

His name is YHWH or YHVH, revealed first to Moses. There is no other name of God. God’s Son is Yeshua, based on the name YHWH. In English we often use Jehovah and Jesus, a Greek translation. Any other “names” of God are actually titles or attributes of God attached to His one Name, YHWH. God’s name is “I Am”, YHWH, Yahweh in Hebrew or Jehovah in English. That is the name He told Moses when he asked and the name by which He must be worshipped. Other names in the Bible for God are not His “Name” but attributes added to His Name to describe Who He is.

Therefore to lead people to try to worship God by other names is sacrilege. Unless they change their message and beliefs, the followers of Don Richardson, Daniel Kikawa, Richard Twiss, YWAM and a whole host of others in the New Apostolic, Emergent Church and World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People movement, will end up being forced to acknowledge their heresy after it is too late. I implore them to stop bringing people to worship “supreme beings”, stop putting the names of false gods in the Bible, and stop putting down those who brought and continue to bring “The Name” to all the nations!

For more information on what the people mentioned above are teachings, read a wealth of articles in my WCGIP section as well as our book “Idolatry in Their Hearts”.