Romans Series #8
“Everyone Who Calls”
Pastor David Moore
Old Testament reading: Joel 2:23‐32
O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He has given the early rain for your vindication, He has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before. The threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you.
You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
How can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? Romans 10:14
Theme: Zeal without knowledge is dangerous. Paul is trying to bring his fellow Jews to full knowledge of what God is doing and invite them along for the ride. Christ, he says, is the end of the law. No one is any longer going to ever be righteous through the law. ~D. Moore
New Testament reading: Romans 10:5‐17
Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the Law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say?
“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.”
(That is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in Him will be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on Him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim Him? And how are they to proclaim Him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” So faith comes from what is heard; and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
Leviticus 18:5 You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; by doing so one shall live: I am the Lord.
Deuteronomy 30:1‐2 When all these things have happened to you, the blessings and the curses that I have set before you, if you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, and you and your children obey him with all your heart and with all your soul, just as I am commanding you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, gathering you again from all the peoples among whom the Lord your God has scattered you.
Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe. ~Saint Augustine
We will never regret calling on Jesus, having Him as our Lord, and the call to follow Him is for all people, Jews, Greeks, and all people of the world can call upon Jesus for their Salvation. ~D. Moore
Matthew 16:15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
We are responsible for loving God so much that the love overflows to others because we are amazingly blessed. You never know how God is going to use you to build His Kingdom. Keep praying for opportunities to bless others and the eyes and ears to be aware of the special moments.
God bless.