Let Us Call upon the Name of Jesus

Let Us Call upon the Name of Jesus

 

Psalm 50:15 "And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."

 

Trouble, according to its dictionary meaning, refers to "a very distressing and painful matter or situation." And there are not only physical troubles, in which we face difficult circumstances in the flesh, but also spiritual troubles, such as being tested by God or being cut off from God.

 

In any case, whether the trouble is physical or spiritual, when a difficult time comes upon us, we must not try to escape from that trouble by relying on unreliable human beings (Proverbs 25:19, Psalm 146:3) or by following the teachings of the world (Colossians 2:20-23). If we believe in Jesus, then according to the method taught in the Bible, we must call upon the name of Jesus and receive salvation, that is, deliverance, from Jesus. This is because our faith must be the faith that believes only "the name of Jesus is the name of our salvation" (Acts 4:12).

 

Joel 2:30-32 "30And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Jehovah cometh. 32And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered; for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those that escape, as Jehovah hath said, and among the remnant those whom Jehovah doth call."

 

The words from Joel above are later quoted twice in the Gospel age. First, on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of truth descended upon this earth for the first time, God caused this word to be proclaimed through the disciples in the languages of many nations.

 

Acts 2:17-21 "17And it shall be in the last days, saith God... 19And I will show wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: 20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord come, that great and notable day. 21And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

 

And through the apostle Paul, whom Jesus chose after His resurrection, He also caused the same word written in Joel to be preached, just as He had done through the other disciples whom He had chosen before His resurrection.

 

Romans 10:12-13 "12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him: 13for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

 

When we compare the passages mentioned above, in the Old Testament, Joel 2 says, "whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered." But in the New Testament, Acts 2 and Romans 10 say, "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Just as Jehovah was our Lord in the Old Testament age, now through the gospel of the New Testament, Jesus has become our Lord. Therefore, in order that we may call only upon the name of Jesus, who is the one Lord, Jehovah and Jesus are both called by the same title, Lord (Acts 2:34-36, Romans 10:9, Philippians 2:11; see The Name of God, "Jesus"). It is very important for us to know this. This is because when Psalm 50:15 says, "call upon me in the day of trouble," we must know exactly who that "me" is so that we may call upon Him and rely on Him. Therefore, if today we find ourselves in hard and difficult circumstances, we must call upon and appeal to Jesus in the name of Jesus, for He is the One who will deliver us from that trouble.

 

Zechariah 13:8-9 "8And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God."

 

Zephaniah 3:9-13 "9For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent... 12But I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall take refuge in the name of Jehovah..."

 

Through the passages above, we are also taught that when those who are being tested call upon and trust in the name of God, they can be protected and remain to the end. The reason it is important for us to remain to the end is that only those who remain to the end through various trials are said to receive "salvation."

 

Romans 9:27 "And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved."

 

Matthew 10:22 "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved."

 

By our own strength, we cannot endure to the end. It is possible only by the name of Jesus. Through the Bible, we are taught that even the people of Israel, though they had been chosen by God, could not endure to the end when rain did not fall for three and a half years.

 

1 Kings 18:21-24 "21And Elijah came near unto all the people, and said, How long go ye limping between the two sides? if Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 22Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of Jehovah; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men... 24And call ye on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Jehovah; and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken."

 

Elijah told the people of Israel, as in the passage above, that if Jehovah was their God, they should follow Him. Yet astonishingly, the people of Israel did not stand on God’s side. This was because of the tribulation of having no rain for three and a half years. In the same way, when tribulation becomes severe, no one can confidently say how we today might change (Matthew 23:30-31). Therefore, since none among us can dare to say that he stands (1 Corinthians 10:12), we all must not rely on our own strength, but humbly call upon, that is, rely only on, the name of Jesus. The prophets of Baal called upon the name of Baal, and Elijah called upon the name of Jehovah. As a result, the one who received an answer by fire was not the 450 prophets of Baal, but Elijah alone, the prophet who called upon the name of God.

 

Therefore, when we face hard and difficult circumstances, our only solution is to call upon the name of God, that is, the name of Jesus!

 

2 Chronicles 14:11-12 "11And Asa cried unto Jehovah his God, and said, Jehovah, there is none besides thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength: help us, O Jehovah our God; for we rely on thee, and in thy name are we come against this multitude. O Jehovah, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. 12So Jehovah smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled."

 

The passage above describes the scene in which Asa cried out to God when Zerah the Ethiopian came against Asa, king of Judah, with a great army. What can the weak do against the strong in such a situation? The only One who can help us is Jesus alone. If we do not have the help of Jesus, how can the weak defeat the strong? Therefore, we must call upon the name of Jesus by faith.

 

The battle between the giant Goliath and the boy David also clearly teaches us how important it is for us to rely on the name of God.

 

1 Samuel 17:45 "Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to thee in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."

 

In the end, the young David, who did not rely on sword or spear but relied only on the name of God, won that great battle... Now these words must not remain merely as histories of the past, but must become "present faith" for us who are living today. This is because God had these past histories carefully recorded and preserved in the Bible until today in order to give us, who are living today, "the faith that calls upon the name of Jesus."

 

In addition, from the passage in Acts below, we can know that if we today are to enter the kingdom of God, we must go through much tribulation.

 

Acts 14:22 "Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."

 

This word gives us boldness. This is because it tells us that there will be much tribulation for us until we enter the kingdom of God, and through this, our attitude toward the day of trouble can become bold through faith. Therefore, what we must be concerned about is not whether the day of trouble will come upon us, but that we must remember this: "How much will we be able to call upon the name of Jesus by faith in the day of trouble?"

 

Proverbs 24:10 "If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small."

 

Luke 18:1-8 "1And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint... 6And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge saith. 7And shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night, and yet he is longsuffering over them? 8I say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"

 

As this passage says, when we call earnestly upon the name of Jesus by faith all the more in the day of trouble, Jesus will see that faith and will quickly save us. We must not become faithless people who do not believe that Jesus will answer us. Rather, we must always believe in the salvation of the name of Jesus, and by that faith call upon the name of Jesus to the end. Then Jesus will surely answer our prayer, and in the end our joy will be full!

 

Acts 4:7-12 "... 9If we this day are examined concerning a good deed done to an impotent man, by what means this man is made whole; 10be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even in him doth this man stand here before you whole... 12And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved."

 

John 14:13-14 "13And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do."

 

John 16:24 "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be made full."

 

Amen.