How Do I Call on the Name of the Lord?

Intro:

Good evening.

(I hope that we all are enjoying the lectureship so far. Thank you for being here for our 6 o clock service). (We have 3 more great nights of the lectureship starting tomorrow night at 7).

Turn with me please to Romans chapter 10.

We heard a wonderful sermon from Michael this morning on “How Shall They Hear Without a Preacher” from Romans 10:14.

Look with me again at not only verse 14, but the verse that immediately precedes it as well:

Here we find a tremendously important statement with regard to our salvation:

Romans 10:13–14 NKJV

For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

The first thing we want to notice tonight is that we MUST call on the name of the Lord in order to be saved — There are some other verses that will show that as well.

But another thing I want you to immediately notice is the connection between “call on the name of the Lord” and HOW CAN THEY call on Him if they have not believed ...”

What do we need to think about there?

You see, a lot of denominational friends will say words to the effect of — “Call on the name of the Lord — just believe in Him, and you’ll be saved” …

But how can we know just looking at these two verses alone that this can NOT be the case?

Look at v. 14 again — “How then shall they CALL on Him … in whom they have not BELIEVED?”

Do you see that the verse is saying CALLING on Him and BELIEVING in Him are two different things?!

In this question in v. 14, there is a progression.

Paul is asking the question — How can someone CALL on the name of the Lord if he did not FIRST … BELIEVE in Him?

Two separate steps!

(And then other steps are mentioned too — You can’t believe if you haven’t first HEARD — and you can’t HEAR without a PREACHER!)

So the question for the hour tonight becomes this — If calling on the name of the Lord does NOT mean belief, then what DOES it mean?

Let’s first go to …

Gen. 4:26

Genesis 4:26 NKJV

And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.

Let’s think about this little verse for a moment, thinking about some context from the surrounding chapters.

What happened previously in chapters 3 and 4?

The first sin in the Garden with Adam and Eve — chapter 3, right?

Chapter 4 - Cain commits the first murder, killing his brother Abel.

Chapter 6 after this, the wickedness of man greatly increased to the point that “every intent of the thoughts of (man’s) heart was only evil continually.”

In other words, sin has been introduced, and it is RAPIDLY INCREASING in this section of our Bibles.

But there are a couple of bright spots!

One I immediately think of is Genesis 6:8 - “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord!”

Why?

Because Gen. 6:9 says that “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God!”

Well, let’s think about this verse from chapter 4 - “And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. THEN MEN BEGAN TO CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD.”

This is one of the few BRIGHT SPOTS in the midst of otherwise dark times wherein many multitudes of people were walking in darkness leading up to the flood!

There were some men — Men like Noah, men like Enoch (Gen. 5:24 says that “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.) — These men were the caliber of men who CALLED ON THE NAME OF THE LORD — They WALKED with God!

They were the kind of men who were OBEDIENT to the Lord’s will!

So what I want us to think about now, now that we have seen this concept brought up in the early chapters of Genesis, is to think about 3 words that I think describe well the mindset of one who calls on the name of the Lord:

3 Words That Describe Those Who Call on the Name of the Lord:

And they are — Dependence, Reliance, and Obedience.

Those who called on the name of the Lord had an ATTITUDE of this — I trust God, and I’m going to obey Him.

Hebrews 11:7 - “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

That is, Noah BELIEVED God, and he ACTED on that belief by OBEYING God.

Noah DEPENDED on God. Noah RELIED on God. Noah OBEYED God.

Look with me at the Psalms.

Here are a few Psalms that I have selected that illustrate this same mindset, this same attitude of dependence upon God, reliance on God, that results in OBEDIENCE to God:

Psalm 50:15 NKJV

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

That particular Psalm is about God in His goodness and Power, the fact that “God hath shined” (v. 2), that the righteous worship Him and are thankful to Him!

It talks about the wicked in verses 16 and following, and then in v. 23 it says:

“Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who ORDERS HIS CONDUCT ARIGHT I will show the salvation of God.”

In short, we are dealing with those who DEPEND ON God, RELY ON God, and OBEY God!

8. What about …

Psalm 120:1 NKJV

In my distress I cried to the Lord, And He heard me.

This short Psalm of only 5 verses deals with the idea of dealing with one’s enemies.

I think about the fact that we have to deal with the ultimate enemy — Satan.

But the verse that opens the psalm is teaching us, in the midst of the battle, to DEPEND ON, RELY ON, and OBEY GOD!

9. Another psalm …

Psalm 145:18 NKJV

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.

This psalm is about (surprise, surprise!) depending on/relying on the Lord!

In fact, v. 15 says “The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You (God) give them their food in due season,”

V. 19 - “He will fulfill the desire of those who FEAR Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.”

This is about reliance and dependence on God.

10. We could look at other O.T. verses that show this as well, but I want to move on.

11. So far we have shown that we MUST call on the name of the Lord to be saved.

We showed from Romans 10:14 that calling on the name of the Lord and believing are NOT the same thing. (Because they are clearly different steps in the process).

We have shown that in the midst of dark times of sin in the early chapters of Genesis, there WERE a few who walked with God — men who began to call on the name of the Lord (Gen. 4:26).

And we have shown that there is an ATTITUDE that goes with calling on the name of the Lord — and attitude of reliance/dependence on God, and obedience to His will.

12. Now let’s look at an important passage from the book of Joel.

Joel chapter 2:

The context of this book is that God’s people needed to repent.

God had sent a locust hoard to punish His people — in fact, one type of locust after another had just utterly DECIMATED their crops!

This needed to be a WAKE UP CALL — The people needed to get right!

With that in mind, in verses 12-13 we read:

Joel 2:12 NKJV

“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”

Joel 2:13 NKJV

So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.

2. That is the message of the book of Joel — repentance!

3. Well, there is a prophecy in the latter part of chapter 2 that we want to look at now — a prophecy that is going to find fulfillment on the Day of Pentecost in Acts ch. 2.

Joel 2:28 NKJV

“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.

Joel 2:29–30 NKJV

And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

Joel 2:31 NKJV

The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Joel 2:32 NKJV

And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord calls.

4. Here we see that calling on the name of the Lord is tied directly to salvation, just as we began discussing from Romans 10:13.

5. Well, let’s go to the fulfillment of this prophecy …

Acts 2:

This, of course, is the day of Pentecost after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.

The apostles had each spoken in tongues, resulting in astonishment from the crowd of devout Jews that had gathered in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven.

Peter embarks on this magnificent Gospel sermon, and in Acts 2:21 he says:

Acts 2:21 NKJV

And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’

4. From what was he quoting? (Joel chapter 2!)

5. Look at verses 16ff.

Acts 2:16 NKJV

But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

Acts 2:17 NKJV

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.

Acts 2:18 NKJV

And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.

Acts 2:19–20 NKJV

I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Acts 2:21 NKJV

And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.’

6. Very clearly, then, we have seen that we must call on the name of the Lord in order to be saved — We’ve seen it here, we’ve seen it in Romans 10:13, and we’ve seen it in Joel 2:32.

7. So finally, let’s go to the passage that settles it in stone for us, what it means to call on the name of the Lord!

Acts 22:16

In context, Paul is retelling the story of how he became a Christian.

Acts chapter 9, it takes place.

In Acts chapters 22 and 26, he is telling people about what had happened back in Acts chapter 9.

You remember: “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting Me?”

And, “Go into the city, and you will be told what you MUST do.”

He went and listened to Ananias, and Ananias told him what he MUST do.

Acts 22:16 is Paul’s retelling of what Ananias told him to do!

Acts 22:16 NKJV

And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

2. How do I call on the name of the Lord?

3. Well, ultimately, I call on the name of the Lord when I’m baptized into Christ for the remission of my sins (Acts 2:38 compared to Acts 22:16 and countless other verses!)

4. “Calling” here in Acts 22:16 is a participle — It’s a word that has a verb form with an -ing after it (call-ing), and it’s used here as an adverb modifying the verb “be baptized.”

5. It answers the question — WHY am I being baptized? In order to CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD! (I’m making an appeal to HIS AUTHORITY to save me!)

6. When a person loves the Lord with all his heart, he totally DEPENDS on the Lord, totally RELIES on Him, therefore, he will OBEY Him — he CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD in baptism because … That’s exactly what Jesus Himself said to do to be saved — Mark 16:16!

Mark 16:16 NKJV

He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

7. If I am willing to make Jesus the Lord over MY life, then I’m going to call on His name the WAY that He said, and that means I’m going to put Him on in baptism for the remission of sins.

8. We’ve barely scratched the surface of all the verses that teach this further — We could have also looked at Romans 6:1-7, Galatians 3:26-27, Col. 2:11ff, and many other verses!

9. Let me conclude with just a few other thoughts.

CONCLUSION:

We have seen at what point we DO call on the name of the Lord.

Let’s briefly note what calling on the name of the Lord is NOT:

Calling on the name of the Lord is NOT just giving “lip service” to God.

Luke 6:46 - “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”

As we alluded to earlier with Rom. 10:14, calling on the name of the Lord is NOT faith only:

John 12:42 says “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.”

Were those folks saved if they continued that way? (Not according to Matt. 10:32-33)!

And unfortunately, there are countless people who BELIEVE but will not be baptized for the correct reason either!

Will they be saved? (Not according to Mark 16:16 and many other verses).

Final thought — In studying for this sermon, I came across the phraseology of calling on the Lord’s name in 2 Tim. 2:22 — That verse is found in context of those who according to v. 21 before it are “sanctified and useful for the Master.”

So let’s read it!

2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV

Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

6. “Those who call on the Lord out of a PURE heart!”

7. “Blessed are the PURE in heart, for they shall see God!” (Matt. 5:8)

8. Are we pure in heart to the point that we will CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD when we are baptized into Christ and then live our lives as faithful Christians to the end of our days?!