“And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”(vs21).
Whoever calls on the Lord shall be saved, and this includes you, and everyone that you'll ever know. We don't lose hope for men because our hope for men's salvation is God, that He is great enough to save sinners who simply want it, calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ according to His promise. He doesn't say, “Not you. I have my elect”, but He takes every sinner and gives him grace, life eternal, and blessings. The Son of God has earned heaven for ALL who call upon Him for it, and this is why we preach Christ, so that SINNERS, by God's grace, may be moved God-ward to see and believe on Christ.
At Pentecost, the disciples were in one place together - united in prayer and seeking obedience to the Son of God - when He came in power by the Spirit. It says, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them” (vs1-3). It is the same with us: we gather, seeking to honor Him, and He comes upon us with power continually, giving us GRACE, so that we have something to say. We read, “ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (vs4). They spoke in other languages - understood by those around them - but we'll speak the wonderful works of God in the power of the Spirit, gathering interest, so that others can be saved.
We are STILL waiting on God daily, waiting to obtain fresh power by believing upon Him. We seek Him in prayer, so that we may praise Him in preaching and behavior. God uses the miracle of our new life and the gospel message to make blind and sarcastic sinners bow to Christ in conviction of the Spirit.
Don't deceive yourself into going in your own strength, for you'll fail; don't deceive yourself into thinking it is hopeless, so you will hide Christ and compromise. No! The way is plain. Unite with God's people in obedience, and He will give you power to live godly, and by this, persecutions and mockings will happen, but as you persist, God will also open doors for you to tell the message of Christ, the salvation that He's earned. We read, “But Peter, staind up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day [9am]. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel” (vs14-16). He does this, because people who are blind and lost, like you and I were, shall be saved, because Christ in the gospel fetches them, bringing teaching to the heart undeniably, so that they can't resist (2 Sam 9:4-5).
You and I were blind teachers of the blind, and blind followers of others - deceived, proud,and deceiving. And yet, someone had the Spirit, and they spoke, and we heard, and we called, and we were saved. We read, “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? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? (Rom 10:14-15). We live for this “sending”, to be sent to preach Christ and live godly by the Spirit, for the good of others. This is love.
Finally, we don't have a Christ that NEEDS man's help, but we have a Christ that saves ANY man who calls upon Him. He says, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”. This has helped me repeatedly, when I don't know my election and doubt that I can make it. I see that I can call upon Him, and He will not fail. It has nothing to do with how I've been (merit); it has everything to do with who He is: gracious, faithful, and appeased in Christ. Bless His name. Whoever you are, you may go from death to life, from misery to joy, and from hell-bound to heaven bound, simply by saying, “Lord, save me”. We read, “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, Lord, save me! And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt 14:30-31). Don't think you can have it your way, but on His terms, know that He'll save you, assuredly.
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