Lesson for November 17, 2019
The Compound Names of Jehovah – Lesson 3
Jehovah-Shalom means the Lord our Peace. Peace means spiritual prosperity, which is the provision from God for all believers who faithfully execute the Protocol Plan of God. All believers have peace (reconciliation) with God as a result of their faith in Jesus Christ at salvation, but not all believers experience the peace of God in their daily lives. (Judges 6:22-24; Philippians 4:7)
Peace with God (reconciliation) is accomplished by the removal of a barrier that exists between God and man. Once this barrier is removed, the possibility exists for peace between God and man. The barrier that separates God from man is sin. Every person is born with a sin nature, which is passed down genetically from the father. Mankind also possesses Adam’s original sin, which is imputed to him at birth by God. It is Adam’s original sin that condemns the human race. Personal sins are committed because mankind possesses a sin nature. (Ephesians 2:14-18)
Since God can have nothing to do with sin, the “sin-barrier” must be removed so that mankind can have a relationship with God. We are talking about the spiritual mechanics that accomplish. Jesus Christ is the sin-bearer, which means that He was judged for our sin (Adam’s original sin and our personal sins). The judgment of sin satisfied the righteousness and justice of God. The person who accepts Jesus Christ as his “sin-bearer” is immediately reconciled to God, having been placed in union with Him. This means that a believer is no longer God’s enemy, but peace now exists between this individual and God. Since God is not a respecter of persons, anyone who believes in Christ as Savior will be reconciled to God.
The peace of God (spiritual prosperity) is different than peace with God. Spiritual prosperity is a result of God “pouring out” greater blessings into the life of a believer who is growing spiritually. When a person trusts Jesus Christ as personal Savior, a potential is established for greater blessings from God. Salvation is based on the grace of God, apart from any human merit, as is the Christian Way of Life. (Titus 2:11-12) Therefore, the potential for blessing is based on the grace of God. A blessing is a benefit bestowed upon believers by God.
Why does God bless or bestow benefits on believers? Since blessings were given to us in eternity past and based on the grace of God (Ephesians 1:3), it is impossible for a believer to earn or deserve the blessings of God. In other words, God does not bless us because of our works, even if they are legitimate divine production (i.e. witnessing, giving, praying, etc.). God blesses you on the basis of His righteousness resident in your soul (Matthew 6:33, II Corinthians 5:21). This allows God to be just and in keeping with His grace policy (even if you are not living your spiritual life). You cannot coerce God into blessing you by what you do or do not do. However, it is your choice to access or appropriate greater blessings. The way to access greater divine blessing is to increase your capacity to receive them by learning and applying Bible doctrine under the control of God the Holy Spirit. And remember that the production of divine good is itself a divine blessing.
Increasing capacity in your life is a grace function. Under your pastor-teacher, you study and apply Bible doctrine, which produces growth and increases capacity. Remember that God is not going to give you more than you can handle. Therefore, divine blessing comes as a result of compliance with God’s system of blessing. Is your volition involved? Absolutely! You are the one who must choose to trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, you must choose to study and apply the accurate teaching of God’s Word to your life, and you must choose to allow God the Holy Spirit to control your life. Accordingly, God is waiting to send blessings to each of us. (Isaiah 30:18)
Jehovah-Sabaoth means the Lord of Hosts. The Lord of Hosts is the same as the Lord of the Armies, which means that it God who goes before us and fights our battles when we allow Him to do so. He did it for Israel in the Old Testament and he will do it for Church Age believers. Believers in the Church Age are in a spiritual battle with Satan, his world system and his demon army. (Joshua 5 :14-15 ; 6 :1-20)
It is imperative for the advancing believer to put on the entire “armor of God” because this is his defense against the schemes of Satan, his demons and his world system. Believers are in a spiritual battle with the forces of Satan. We were created to resolve the Angelic Conflict and we are in a spiritual battle whether we realize it or not. Satan’s desire is to keep us distracted and confused. He does this through his world system and the influence he imposes on our thinking. (Ephesians 6:10-17)
Believers need to understand Satan’s strategy and tactics. Satan is the ruler of this world system and he has total power to influence the system which he controls. (Luke 4:5-7; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; II Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2) He has the power to destroy us, to remove us, to discredit us and only the grace and power of God offsets all of Satan’s power. Therefore, as the ruler of this world, the devil has a policy and a strategy regarding the nations of the world. His policies are anti-Christian and anti-establishment. So, we must understand that Satan has policies, strategies and tactics by which he puts his plan into operation. (Revelation 12:9; 20:3,8)
Satan has strategy also regarding believers. He accuses believers in Heaven. (II Corinthians 2:11; Job 1:6-11; Zechariah 3:1,2; Revelation 12:9,10; I John 2:1,2) He is the sponsor of reversionism.
(I Corinthians 10:19-21; 11:3,13-15) He frustrates the will of God for us in three areas: the mental will of God (what God wants us to think – Ephesians 4:14; the geographical will of God (where God wants us to be – I Thessalonians 2:18; the operational will of God (what God wants us to do – James 4:7-8). Satan does everything he can to create malfunction in our application of Bible doctrine. He does this through creating worry, anxiety, mental attitude sins in the world around us. (I Peter 5:7-9) He destroys the believer’s focus on Christ by influencing them to get their eyes on people or on self. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Satan likes to dupe believers into becoming involved in social programs to improve his world. Religion is a part of the devil’s strategy. Religion was created by Satan to counterfeit the plan of God. Christianity is not a religion it is a relationship with God through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But religion, by way of contrast, is man seeking to gain the approbation of God by his own efforts, his own plans, his own merits and his own systems. Religion represents the evil genius of Satan.
Satan’s evil genius set up an evil organization of fallen angels called demons. Paul lists these as the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this darkness and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places in Ephesians 6:10-17. Rulers are the top officers, the highest and most powerful fallen angels under the command of Satan, and they are the equivalent of the archangels in the elect angel organization. Powers are the commanding officers in the angelic army. Satan understands the importance of discipline and authority. His army is highly effective because they are highly organized and disciplined. These officers command the millions and millions of demons in the armies of Satan. World forces means world rulers. It refers to a special corps of demons who might be classified as Satan’s ambassadors. He has these in all of the ruling places of the world. These are special ambassador demons whose job is to influence the world rulers so that Satan can attempt to control history. He has never succeeded in doing so but he never stops trying either. (Daniel 10:13-20) One of these demons is called the prince of Persia and one is called the prince of Grecia in Daniel 10:20. These demons brought darkness and gloom by means of religion and immorality. The policy and the function of Satan is a policy of spiritual darkness and evil. Spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places describes the entire demon army of Satan.
Ephesians 6:11, Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil means believers need to be fully armed with the spiritual equipment provided by God during the intensified stage of the Angelic Conflict against the entire demon organization under the command of Satan. Inasmuch as we fight against an unseen enemy, Satan and his demons, we need to use special supernatural equipment to win the victory God has provided in grace. The equipment is listed in Ephesians 6 as truth (Bible doctrine), the righteousness of God (practical righteousness), the Gospel (salvation), faith (what you believe) and the Word of God (application of Bible doctrine).
When the demon armies start throwing their “fiery darts” at us, we need to have enough accumulated doctrine in our souls so that we have effectively put on the full armor from God. The result will be that we will be able to repel all of the attacks of Satan and his demon army. The great overall principle of these verses in Ephesians is that there is no power which belongs to Satan that is great enough to destroy any believer who is using the full armor of God.