Joel 2:32

Well then, someone will say, will the large number of Christians who do not keep all the commandments practice the observance of some of them in vain? In this connection, it is well to recall blessed Peter, who, after he had performed so many good actions and had been a recipient of such great blessings, was told, upon his being guilty of one lapse only: "If I do not wash you, you will have no part with me." I shall not point out that his act bore no signs of indifference or contempt but was a demonstration of honor and reverence. But, someone might say, it is written, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

This is Joel the second in order who was privileged to prophesy concerning the mystery of the Lord Christ, for he speaks thus (chap. ii, 28-32): And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your …

Whosoever shall call - Who hearing the gospel repents and believes in Christ. Delivered - Either from those outward afflictions, or which is infinitely better from eternal miseries, which will swallow up the unbelieving world; "and it will aggravate the ruin of those who perish, that they might have been saved on such easy terms." Is it then easy for a non-elect to repent and believe?

Here we have God contending with his own professing people for their sins and executing upon them the judgment written in the law ( Deut. xxviii. 42 ), The fruit of thy land shall the locust consume, which was one of those diseases of Egypt that God would bring upon them, v. 60 . Here is the war proclaimed (

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And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered,....

Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord - כל אשר יקרא בשם יהוה col asher yikra beshem Yehovah, “All who shall invoke in the name of Jehovah.” That Christ is the Jehovah here mentioned appears plain from Rom 10:15, where the reader had better consult the notes. “This refers,” says Bp. Newcome, “to the safety of the Christians during the Jewish and the Roman war.” It may: but it has a much more extensive meaning, as the use of it by St. Paul, as above, evidently shows.

Therefore, Jesus is JEHOVAH; and the phrase means, "Call on Messiah in His divine attributes." shall be delivered--as the Christians were, just before Jerusalem's destruction, by retiring to Pella, warned by the Saviour (Mt 24:16); a type of the spiritual deliverance of all believers, and of the last deliverance of the elect "remnant" of Israel from the final assault of Antichrist.

VENGEANCE was in full career. The armies of divine justice had been called forth for war: "They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war." They had invaded and devastated the land, and turned the land from being like the garden of Eden into a desolate wilderness. All faces gathered blackness: the people were "much pained" The sun itself was dim, the moon was dark, and the stars withdrew themselves: the earth quaked, and the heavens trembled.

I THOUGHT within myself, "What shall be the topic for the last sermon before I depart to my quiet resting place?" Perhaps my sermons for the last day of this long stretch of work may be my last, altogether, for life is very frail. When I hear of first one and then another in strong health being suddenly taken away, I am made to know the uncertainty of life in my own case. It were wiser to trust a spider's web than the life of man!

I THOUGHT within myself, "What shall be the topic for the last sermon before I depart to my quiet resting place?" Perhaps my sermons for the last day of this long stretch of work may be my last, altogether, for life is very frail. When I hear of first one and then another in strong health being suddenly taken away, I am made to know the uncertainty of life in my own case. It were wiser to trust a spider's web than the life of man! Brothers and Sisters, we live on the brink of eternity and had need behave ourselves as men who will soon face its realities. We may have to do so far sooner than we think. So I said within myself, "Shall I feed the flock of God in the rich pastures of choice promise?" Truly it would have been well to have done so, but then I thought of the stray sheep—must I not go after them? The 99 are not in the wilderness and, therefore, I shall not be leaving them in any danger. They are well folded and the Chief Shepherd will not forget them. God has given them to have life in themselves and the green pastures are with them in plenty—they can afford to be left alone better than the perishing ones. But as for the wandering ones, can I leave them among the wilds and wolves? I have tried to bring them to the great Bishop and Shepherd of souls, but they have not yet returned—how can I forget them? How can I endure to think of their being lost forever? So I thought I would go out once more after the lost ones hoping that the Lord would help me to find them, even now, and bring them to Himself! I earnestly ask your prayers that a very simple Gospel address may be blessed by God to the immediate conversion of those among us who have long halted and are hesitating even unto this day. I could not have chosen for such a purpose a more suitable text—it is one of the broadest declarations of Gospel doctrine that can be found in Holy Scripture.

VENGEANCE was in full career. The armies of divine justice had been called forth for war: "They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war." They had invaded and devastated the land, and turned the land from being like the garden of Eden into a desolate wilderness. All faces gathered blackness: the people were "much pained" The sun itself was dim, the moon was dark, and the stars withdrew themselves: the earth quaked, and the heavens trembled. At such a dreadful time, when we might least have expected it, between the peals of thunder and the flashes of lightning, was heard this gentle word, "It shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered." Let us carefully read the passage: "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered." In the worst times that can ever happen, there is still salvation for men. When day turns to night, and life becomes death, and the staff of life is broken, and the hope of man has fled, there still remains in God, in the person of his dear Son, deliverance to all those who will call upon the name of the Lord. We do not know what is to happen: reading the roll of the future, we prophesy dark things; but still this light shall always shine between the rifts of the cloud-wrack: "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered." This passage was selected by the apostle at Pentecost to be set in its place as a sort of morning star of gospel times.

Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord - 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, to know His Name” but it is very rarely said “I will praise the Name of God” (Psa 69:31; Hebrew), for the Name rendered “the Lord,” expresses that He is, and that He Alone is, the Self-Same, the Unchangeable; the name rendered “God” is not the special Name of God. Hence, as soon as people were multiplied and the corrupt race of Cain increased, people “began,” after the birth of Enos, the son of Seth, “to call upon the Name of the Lord” Gen 4:26, i. e., in public worship. 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; Gen 13:4; Gen 21:33; Gen 26:25. 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” 1Ki 18:24. Naaman the Pagan says of Elisha, “I thought that he would come out to me, and stand and call on the Name of the Lord his God” 2Ki 5:11. […]