Good Morning Beloved.
I am so thankful for all of you.
Thank you for joining us today
Heavenly Father,
I pray for each of those in this safe space
Lord, protect Your church from sin
Help us to use this time together,
to worship You, hear what Your Holy Spirit is saying to each of us
Equip and prepare our hearts and mind, for those we'll encounter
upon leaving here today
Let us leave without our baggage, take with us only Your sacred truths
Let us hear those who are silently crying for help
Let our eyes see those who are hurting in secret
Let us love, as You love
In the precious name of Your Son, Jesus
We ask and pray these
Amen
I've called this message: O Wretched Man That I Am
Many Christians today, often send the world mixed messages:
We share the Word Of God then argue over doctrine.
We share the message of God's love then spit out godless condemnation, rather then edify
We tell people to stoop down for a brother, consider the poor, yet turn our backs on a person in need.
Christians are known by the world as having multiple personalities.
If we are honest, then we admit that we’d like to do certain things.
If we are sincere, then we withhold from doing them.
The world doesn’t understand “deferred gratification.”
The world doesn’t respect behavior based upon principles.
Even we find ourselves talking to ourselves over many things:
Justifying our wrong, while identifying the sins of others.
We tell people the joys of a relationship with Christ,
then complain about our trials.
Beloved, we need to get to saving souls, sharing God's message of hope.
Preaching Christ crucified
"And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Will be delivered;"
Joel 2:32
"‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’"
Acts 2:21
"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved."
Romans 10:12-13
This particular phrase is only used 3 times in the Scripture. The source,of the first, is the writings of the prophet, Joel. His was a prophetic utterance that spoke of a future deliverance. The other 2, verses, being in the New Testament, are quotations of the original verse, which were used to prove a certain point.
In Acts chapter 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, which is found in Romans chapter 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 New Testament, is 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 can learn 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.
Once God sets you free from the devil's snare, you 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. Now that certainly doesn't mean the devil won't keep trying to draw you back into his greedy little clutches. But he won't have power over you anymore!
And 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 again, stronger than before!
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"
"Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord"
Genesis 12:8
Also in Genesis 13:4; 21:33; 26:25.
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.”
1 Kings 18:24
Naaman the Assyrian says of Elisha, "But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper."
2 Kings 5:11
Zephaniah foretells the conversion of the Gentiles, "“For then I will give to the peoples purified lips,
That all of them may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him shoulder to shoulder."
Zephaniah 3:9
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 (Shavuot). Pentecost was 1 of the 3 pilgrimage festivals that every Jew was required to attend. The other two annual feasts were Passover (Pesach) and Tabernacles (Sukkot)
Pentecost, or Shavout, biblically, this is solely an agricultural celebration. Falling exactly seven weeks after Passover, which occurs at the time of the late spring harvest.
Passover, or Pesach, is a celebration of the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt, as well as the beginning of the new planting season after the winter rains in Israel, since it falls in the early spring.
The Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land, and celebrates the way in which God protected them under difficult desert conditions
Each of the three annual Jewish feasts marked a step in the historical progress of Israel.
Essentially, all of the male Israelites go to travel to Jerusalem, this is why they are called “pilgrimage” festivals, to have the priest offer the animal sacrifice that was incumbent on each of them.
Women, in ancient times, were not given the same religious or legal right as men, though did however, have the same spiritual and religious obligations as men.
Prophetically and typically:
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." Read Matthew 1:18-21
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.
The Holy Spirit has not merely descended 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 24:44-49. 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 Corinthians 1:2-5, 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."
Isaiah 55:6 says,
"Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call 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 not be made 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.
"Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the Lord and said, 'You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?' "
Judges 15:18
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:
"I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies....In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry entered His ears."
2 Samuel 22:4, 7
Psalms 56:9
"When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me."
In Closing.....
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!
The Unsaved Present:
Man has internal desire to sin, and cannot please God in flesh
We are free moral agents, but all righteousness are as filthy rags. All good must be done “in Christ.” We are not free to do good, but we are free to choose Christ, and that takes us to the next stage of “spiritual evolution.”
The Saved Present:
Man physically still has the internal desire to sin, but an internal spiritual power has been implanted that produces ability to do good.
"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find."
Romans 7:18
"for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
Philippians 2:13
The Future For The Redeemed:
The body will be resurrected to match the resurrected spirit, thus we will no longer have any desire to sin, but will even be INCAPABLE of sin as well! Free moral agents? Perhaps, but with knowledge and experience that cannot be discounted. Probably not, having been conformed into His image with the promise of ever being in His presence, I feel that will be replaced with something even greater.
"Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 2:38
We all have the choice to decide, God gave us the gift, or curse, or Free Will, meaning we are our own free moral agents.
That brings us to our dilemma:
How did we get INTO this situation and how do we get OUT?
"For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body."
Romans 8:22-23
And now
may the Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries