“THE WONDERFUL RESULTS OF CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD”
Rev. James Bigelow

Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Rom 10:12-13 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

• This particular phrase is only used 3 times in the Bible. The source, of course, is the writings of the prophet, Joel. His was a prophetic utterance that spoke of a future deliverance. The other 2, being in the NT, are quotations, which were used to prove a certain point.
• In Acts 2, the Spirit of God inspired Peter to speak from the book of Joel so the crowd of people that he addressed would understand that the outpouring of the Holy Ghost that they had just seen and heard was available to every one of them individually. He said it was for “whosoever”.
• The 3rd passage, found in Romans 10, underscores the great truth that with God there is no respect of persons, regardless if they are Jew or Greek. The same Lord who is over all is rich unto all that call upon him. It does not matter what nationality you are. Your race, skin coloring, origin of birth, and parentage are irrelevant to how God feels toward you. Simply call on his great name and he will save you!
• The original statement, as recorded in Joel 2, says “whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. Literally, in the original language of Hebrew, the word means that a smooth escape shall be effected; it also carries the thought of absolute certainty of being released from a dangerous position, or rescued from certain destruction, and that it would be done speedily.
• When Peter quoted Joel, as recorded in Acts 2:21, he said, “whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In other words, they would be made “safe & sound” – delivered from the penalties of judgment, saved from the evils of their day, and protected from injury or peril. The word “saved” is translated elsewhere in the NT, based upon the context, as “healed, preserved, made well, restored to health”, and “made whole”.
• By combining both the Old and New Testament meanings, we find that when someone is delivered, or saved, he enters into some great and wonderful promises. We could say it this way: “For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall escape from out of the hands of their enemies. Their escape will be smooth, as though they were so slippery that no adversary can hang on to them. (We might liken it to someone trying to capture and hold on to a greased pig that is kicking and squealing. That little porker is going to get himself free right now)! Once God sets you free from the devil’s snare, your will be kept through faith by the power of God. The Lord himself will protect you from further harm or danger or death.”
  Not only that, but you have a divine promise of healing: physically & emotionally as well as spiritually. If your life has been fragmented, if your heart has been broken, if your spirit has been wounded, if your resistance to sinful temptations has been weak, Christ Jesus will put you back together, bind you up, strengthen you, and make you whole!
• What are the events that lead up to so great salvation? When, where, why and how does all this marvelous deliverance begin?

Gen 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

• Get the picture: Adam & Eve have been barred from the garden of Eden…
• Seth. The Hebrew word means “appointed” or “set.” In reality, Seth became the one on whom God could depend as the foundation stone for His family. He was “set” or “appointed” to take up the work and mission of Abel. Cain had forfeited his right to carry forward God’s plan for man’s deliverance. Seth would take the burden and the privilege upon his shoulders. Through Seth’s descendants, God would fulfill His promises.
• Cain had been driven from the presence of the Lord because of willful disobedience. He married, and his children after him built cities by their own initiative, self-reliance, worldly knowledge and ingenuity. They became the inventors of all the music, poetry and other fine arts of a secular, humanistic lifestyle that is apart from God. One of his descendants named Lamech was the first man to commit polygamy. The names of his two wives were Adah & Zillah (beauty & tinkling). Undoubtedly the physical and external charms and ornaments of the two women attracted the man and so he married both.

26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

• Enos is the general name for all men, which speaks of the weakness, frailty, and misery, of man’s state. He is a mere mortal and is corruptible. His glory is as brief as the wild flowers of the field that spring up, bloom for a season, and soon fade away.
• Seth, the appointed one; Seth, the one chosen and set in place by the Lord to propagate and nurture offspring who would be righteous and godly, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
• Enos’ name spoke volumes. It pointed out the need for an outside source of strength, ability, wisdom and health. It declared plainly: “I am poor and needy; by myself I can do nothing. The things that I would do, I do not; and the things that I would not do, those things I do. Who is able to deliver me from this body of death?”
• Then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
• Perhaps they expressed their cries in melodic choruses, such as: “Here I am, Lord, here I am. I give all myself to thee…”, or, “Without him I can do nothing…”
• While the family of Cainites, by the building of a city, and the invention and development of worldly arts and business, were laying the foundation for the kingdom of this world; the family of the Sethites began, by calling on the name of the Lord, to found and to build the kingdom of God. As a certain songwriter said, “I found the answer, I learned to pray…”
• To call upon the name of the Lord, is to worship Him, as he is, depending upon Him. “The name of the Lord,” expresses his true being – that which he is. Hence, so often in Holy Scripture, people are said to “call on the Name of the Lord,” to “bless the Name of the Lord”, to “praise the Name of the Lord”, to “sing praises to His Name”, to “make mention of His Name”, to “tell of His Name”, and “to know His Name”. Those two words, “the Lord,” express the thought that he is, and that he alone is. The Lord is the Unchangeable One; the Self-Revealer who gives the knowledge of himself to whosoever will call upon his name.

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1. Abraham’s worship, in the presence of the idolatries of Canaan, is spoken of under the same words, “he called upon the Name of the Lord” (Gen 12:8; 13:4; 21:33; 26:25).
2. Elijah says to the prophets of Baal, “call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord” (1 Kings 18:24).
3. Naaman the Assyrian says of Elisha, “I thought that he would come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God” (2 Kings 5:11).
4. Asaph, in Psa 79, and Jeremiah, in 10:25 pray on this wise; “Pour out Thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known Thee, and upon the kingdoms which have not called upon Thy Name” (Ps 79:6; Jer 10:25); and
5. Zephaniah foretells the conversion of the Gentiles, “that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent” (Zeph 3:9).

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• I read to you in the beginning of this message from Joel 2:32, as that appointed prophet, speaking as the mouthpiece of the LORD, predicted that the coming deliverance would be in mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and that is exactly where it took place.
• Why in Jerusalem? Because Jerusalem was known throughout the world as mount Zion, the holy city of the LORD God, the King of Israel. The temple, the focal point of Jewish worship unto the one true God, was in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the headquarters city. It was the designated location for the tribes of Israel to gather when they commemorated their several religious holy days, feasts, and festivals.
• On the occasion mentioned in Acts 2, devout Jews from every nation under heaven had traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. Pentecost was 1 of the 3 great annual festivals that every Jew was required to attend. The other 2 annual feasts were Passover and Taber-nacles.
• Pentecost was dated 7 weeks after Passover (7 X 7 = 49). The dawn of the 50th day was known as the day of Pentecost. Pentecost means 50 days.

Each of the three annual Jewish feasts marked a step in the historical progress of Israel:

• The Passover commemorated the deliverance out of Egypt when the LORD passed over Israel, protecting them from the destroying angel and sparing them, and so achieving for them the first step of independent national life as God’s covenant people.
• Pentecost marked the giving of the law on Sinai, the second grand era in the history of the elect nation. God solemnly covenanted, “If ye will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people, and ye shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:5).
• The holy nation now needed a home. The feast of Tabernacles commemorates the establishment of God’s people in the land of promise, their pleasant and peaceful home, after the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, living in shifting tents. They took branches of palm and willows of the brook, and made temporary huts and sat under the booths.

Prophetically and typically:

1. The Passover points to the Lord Jesus, the true paschal Lamb sacrificed for us, whose sacrifice made possible our deliverance from sin. Heaven announced the name of the Christ who was to be born to Mary, saying, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matt 1:21).
2. Pentecost points to the birth of the Church, the great & memorable day when the Spirit descended suddenly from heaven and filled an upper room in Jerusalem where 120 believers in Jesus Christ had gathered to wait for the promise of the Father and to call upon the name of the Lord. A great ball of fire burst in their midst and divided into tongues of fire that sat upon each of them. All were “filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues”. The Spirit wrote the New Covenant of grace in the heart more effectually than the law of Sinai had done on stone tablets.
3. The Holy Spirit has not merely descen-ded but still abides in the church as His temple, giving all who call upon the name of the Lord a perpetual Pentecostal feast. Redemption has been made possible by the shed blood of Christ; the earnest of our inheritance for an abiding home in heaven has been paid.

• The prophet Joel predicted that in Mount Zion … would be deliverance. Jesus said that “repentance and remission of sins” were to “be preached in his name”, the name of Jesus, “in all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). Jerusalem was the center of the worship of God. There the Church was founded; from thence it spread over the whole world.
• Paul, in 1 Cor 1:2, wrote “to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
• Isa 55:6 says, Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.
  This lets us know that God may now be found. It also implies that the time will come when it may be impossible to obtain his favor. In other words, if God forsakes mankind, and if he wholly withdraws his Spirit; if men have committed the sin which can never be forgiven; or if they neglect or despise the provisions of mercy and die in their sins, it will be too late.
• I would that you who are not right with God would see the importance, then, to seek for mercy at once-because, if you slight it now, the offer may be withdrawn. If death should overtake you before mercy is gained, you will be removed to a world where mercy is unknown! The present moment is very important – for another moment may place you beyond the reach of pardon and of grace! Every sinner that shall be condemned to the lake of fire will be caused to understand that God is just. We ought to be thankful that today he is not only just, but the justifier of all who put their trust in Christ!
• The terms of salvation are easy. Even a child can be saved if he will breathe out a broken-hearted petition to the God of heaven. Those who end up lost will have only themselves to blame. The terms of salvation could be made no easier; and man can ask for nothing simpler.
• In an important sense God is equally near to us at all times. But there are influences more favorable for seeking him at some periods than others. For example, God comes near to us in the preaching of his word, when it is strikes the conscience with convicting power. He is near when we languish in sickness; he is near us when others nearby are being blessed; he is near when a saved friend pleads with us.
• Saul of Tarsus, a self-described chief of sinners, was immediately obedient to the faith when he was confronted by a saintly man who told him, And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. (Acts 22:16).
• An Old Testament character named Samson was made to realize that the LORD is near when he is called upon in a time of danger and distress.

Judges 15:18 And he [Samson] was sore athirst, and called on the LORD, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
Samson had grown weary in battle against the Philistines. He had cast down the instrument with which he had slain a thousand men. God caused water to spring forth from that skeletal jawbone of a donkey. When Samson drank from it, his spirit returned, so that he revived again. The fountain of water was named En-hakkore, ‘the crier’s well’, or ‘well of supplication’.

• You and I can be assured that the sound of our supplications not only ascends to heaven, but those prayers assuredly reach the Hearer of prayer.
  Listen to what is recorded in the scripture of truth, that you might gain encouragement and faith thereby:

2 Samuel 22:4, 7:
4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
7 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

Psalms 4:1, 3:
1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.

Psalms 145:18-19
18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

Jer 17:14
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

Zephaniah 3:9
For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.

Exodus 2:23
And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

Exodus 3:7
And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

Numbers 20:16
16 And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt:

1 Chronicles 5:20
And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.

2 Chronicles 18:31
And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them to depart from him.

Psalms 3:4
I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

Psalms 30:2
O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

Psalms 34:6, 15, 17
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Psalms 40:1
I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

Psalms 56:9
When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.

• Take heart! Our text declares that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. The word “whosoever” is an inclusive term. YOU can be saved. YOU can be delivered. YOU can be healed. YOU can be victorious over your enemies. YOU can be preserved in safety.
• These truths contain great and precious promises and give all of us great incentive to CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD!