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Romans 10:13  “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Paul quoted this truth from the prophet Joel (2:32). In the Old Testament, to “call on the name of the Lord” refers to worship and thanksgiving and prayer directed to the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the one who promised rescue from sin, deliverance from death, and life forever to all who trust His promises. Those who have faith in God will call on His name.

However, Jesus issued a warning that appears to contradict this promise.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Rather that contradicting, Jesus is clarifying what it means to call on the name of the Lord. It is not simply saying His name or crying it out in desperation that God desires. He wants us to believe that He is the promised Savior, God Himself, come into the world to take our place in punishment and whose death paid for the sins of the world. God requires faith.

Hebrews 11:6 … without faith it is impossible to please God…

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) shows the problem of putting our confidence in ourselves and our efforts. The one who did so did not go home justified. The one who believed God’s promise and begged for mercy received pardon. Calling on the name of the Lord comes only from faith.

John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Those who have this faith will not be perfect. They are still sinners. But their faith receives the covering of the perfection of Jesus which He earned through His life and gives to those who believe in Him.

To those who think, “Yeah, but I still have to do my part,” Jesus offered this counsel.

John 6:28–29 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Our only “work” is to believe, which in itself is a gift from God. We call on the name of the Lord in faith and have the assurance we are saved for His sake.

Johnny Lee had a hit song years ago that said he was “looking for love in all the wrong places.”  That is a good description of how most people look for answers to life’s questions. They are looking in the wrong places. I started reflecting on this yesterday based on this passage:

Isaiah 55:6-9 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah says plainly that the Lord may be found, He is near, and that He is higher than our thoughts. The way we find Him is in His Word. God reveals Himself to us so that we can know Him.

Psalm 145:3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.

To think that our minds could understand and contain everything about the creator of all is terribly presumptuous. He reveals to us what we need to know to be forgiven. It is in the Bible that we find what we seek.

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

Romans 10:8 “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming.”

That Word tells you all you need to know about God, the Word become flesh who came to take sin on Himself and take care of it for you. That Word provides the answers needed for this life and the life to come.

Those who seek God are invited to Call on Him. We call on Him in repentance. God invites even those who have chased and followed other gods to turn from their sin and return to Him. God wants all to call on Him in faith. Sorrow over sin means nothing without faith in the true God, without confidence in Jesus Christ as the one who has paid your debt to set you free.

There are seekers all around you, those looking for the answers to life’s problems, looking for purpose and direction and guidance, looking for forgiveness of sins. The answer is found only in God, only in His Word, only in Jesus. Invite those who are seeking to Call upon the Lord, turn to Him, and find what they are seeking.

The church body to which I belong finishes their convention today. We met under the theme “We Preach Christ Crucified.” I was happy to hear many of our speakers remind us that our overall task is to do just that:  Preach Christ Crucified.

One of our presenters was “Flame.” He is a Christian rap/hip hop artist who earned a Master of Arts degree from Concordia Seminary in Systematic Theology. He spoke powerfully about discovering that God’s grace is what saves us, not our efforts or what we do. He shares that in his music.

Wikipedia says that when he discovered Lutheran theology, Flame rejoiced:

“It wasn’t until I stumbled upon Lutheran thought that I discovered the treasure found in the liturgical and sacramental side of things.” He praised the Lutheran tradition for its “ancient truths that will comfort contemporary consciences” and said that those “Truths that will bring people out of their heads and lift their heads from navel-gazing onto the sweet means of grace that God has provided outside of us.”

 This is why we must continue to keep our focus on preaching Christ crucified. He took our punishment, paid our debt, redeemed us from death and gives us forgiveness. It was all His work, His doing, and we get the benefit of it.

I pray that we will all strive to preach Christ crucified in our individual circumstances.

Job had all kinds of questions. He had been through a lot. He experienced terrible hardship and suffering. He had been a faithful and upright man of God, “he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). Yet God allowed multiple tragedies to befall him. It was so bad that his wife encouraged him to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). It was bad. So you can understand why he would have some questions. Here was one of them.

Job 14:14 If a man dies, will he live again?

People have pondered that question down through the ages, both those who know the true God and those who do not. Some have devised religions by which they can merit a reward in another life and world. But we do not have to do that. We have the answer we need in God’s Word. The Word made Flesh who came to save all people from sin and death spoke the answer to us Himself.

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies,,,”

Will we live again? With faith in Jesus the answer is a resounding “Yes!”  And this was God’s promise to the world ever since the Fall. God said He would send a Savior to crush Satan’s head and He was true to His Word. Jesus came and did what was needed for everyone to be saved. That included those who lived before Jesus came, people like Job. He believed in God’s promised rescue. He was looking forward to it while we look back at it, but it was the same saving faith.

Job 19:25–27 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

One of my favorite Easter hymns is based on this Old Testament passage.

I know that my Redeemer lives
What comfort this sweet sentence gives
He lives, He lives, who once was dead
He lives, my ever living head!

He lives triumphant from the grave
He lives eternally to save;
He lives all-glorious in the sky,
He lives exalted there on high.

He lives to bless me with His love,
He lives to plead for me above,
He lives my hungry soul to feed,
He lives to help in time of need.

He lives to grant me rich supply,
He lives to guide me with His eye,
He lives to comfort me when faint,
He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.

He lives to silence all my fears
He lives to wipe away my tears;
He lives to calm my troubled heart
He lives all blessings to impart.

He lives, my kind, wise, heavenly Friend,
He lives and loves me to the end;
He lives, and while He lives, I’ll sing;
He lives, my Prophet, Priest and King.

He lives and grants me daily breath;
He lives and I shall conquer death;
He lives my mansion to prepare;
He lives to bring me safely there.

He lives, all glory to His name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same
Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives,
“I know that my Redeemer lives!”

 He lives and I shall conquer death. Yes, we will live again. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today is my mother’s 90^th birthday. Four score and ten is a long life. Her father lived to be almost 100, and several of her sisters lived well into their nineties. I won’t get to see her today because I am attending the convention of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in Milwaukee. However, we will be having a celebration for her with our family this Saturday.

In recent conversations, mom has asked me a question I heard many times in my ministry: “Why am I still here?”  She has also told me “It is no fun getting old.”  Her joints ache, her legs don’t work well, her hearing is bad, she gets shots in her eyes every couple of months, and she has a long list of other things you would expect for someone who has lived so long.

I don’t pretend to understand exactly how she feels, but I listen and try to remind her of God’s promises. She is a dearly loved child of God, bought with the blood of the Lamb, brought into the family through Baptism, confirmed in that faith and assured of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

The life we live on this side of heaven will have trouble. That is the result of sin. But our lives can still be counted as blessings. God did not abandon us to suffer all our sin deserves. He rescued us from death and gives us life instead. This changes everything. Those who have put their faith in Jesus have the confidence that our loving God is in control and has already provided what we need most.

Psalm 31:14–15a But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hands.

I hope and pray you have a happy birthday, mom. See you soon.

Psalm 20 For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. ² May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. ³ May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. Selah ⁴ May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. ⁵ We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. ⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. ⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. ⁸ They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. ⁹ O Lord, save the king! Answer us when we call!

Christians are in the habit of praying for one another. The petitions we lay before our heavenly Father are heard by Him for Jesus’ sake. And we know that He will answer in the way that is best for us.

Psalm 20 is a prayer. It appears to be a prayer for the nation of Israel before going to battle. However, this prayer is not just for those who are in the military. It is appropriate for people no matter the “battle” they are facing in their lives.

Notice the tone of this prayer. It is wishing well for others. Isn’t that what most of our prayers are doing?

• Lord, grant healing
• Lord, grant relief
• Lord, grant protection
• Lord, grant your blessing

Those are the kinds of pleas we should present to our gracious and loving Father.

Something that always catches my attention in this Psalm is what it says in verse 7:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

The world places their confidence in their own might, in their possessions or their position. Those things are the strength of this world. But we trust in the name of the Lord our God. The name of God, which we are told to keep holy, is powerful. It is by His name that we are saved!

Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Jesus, which means Savior, is the one who did what was needed for us to be rescued, redeemed, restored, forgiven, made holy, and saved.  His life was lived for us. His death was died for us. His resurrection was for us. And our faith in Him receives the benefit of all He has done. Why would we trust in anything other than His name?

Philippians 2:9–11 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As you pray for others, remember to pray that they would trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Something good to remember when reading God’s Word is that while God is the author, he used men to write the words. They were led by the Spirit of God to write, but they were men like all of us, who lived in a fallen world and endured problems and hardships and difficulties like we all do. As such, they had questions like the rest of us. In His infinite wisdom, God often had them include those questions to help us understand they lived in the same sinful world in which we find ourselves living.

Psalm 8:3–4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, ⁴ what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

This observation has been made by believers and non-believers alike. Man is nothing more than a tiny speck in the universe. Could we be any more insignificant? And believers naturally wonder how the one in control of everything could possible care about us.

The nice thing about Scripture is that it does more than posit questions. It gives us the answers that we need. It may not give us all the answers we want, but it gives us the answers we need. What is man?

1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

The one who created us all loves us, in spite of our sin and disobedience. He wants to restore all people to a place in His family. He made it possible for us to be His restored and redeemed children by coming down here Himself to pay the penalty our sins demanded. He took our place, paid our price, conquered death and gives that to anyone who would believe in Him. That is lavishing love indeed!

Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

By virtue of faith in Jesus, you can be assured that you are God’s dearly loved child. He is with you now, and you will be with Him forever.

Yesterday I shared that the Ten Commandments are God’s instructions on how to love. When Jesus was asked what commandment was most important, He gave a beautiful little summary of God’s Law in Matthew 22.

Matthew 22:37-39 ³⁷ ”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

The Commandments all boil down to this: Loving God above everything else, and loving your fellow man. Paul put it even more succinctly in his letter to the church of Rome:

Romans 13:10   Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

That is what God’s commandments are all about: Love. If you love God above everything else, you keep all the commandments God has given. That sounds pretty good. On the other hand, if you slip up just the least bit, you have not kept any of the commandments. That is the message we read in James:

James 2:10  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

And Scripture makes it very clear that those who do not keep God’s Law deserve punishment, severe punishment. Adam and Even knew that eating of the forbidden fruit would bring death, and it is no different for you. Because of sin, that is what you have earned.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death

Thinking about God’s Laws, your lack of obedience, and what He tells you in His Word can leave you feeling depressed. You realize that you are inadequate. You have not done what God requires. He tells you to love, and you have not done it, at least not the way he tells you to. When you understand how serious this is (the wages of sin is death), when the gravity of your situation hits you, it hurts. You want to do what God demands. Your spirit is willing but your flesh is weak.  What can you do?

The God who is LOVE had a plan, a plan the world sees as “foolish.” God would make His love incarnate. He would become one of us in order to take our disobedience on Himself and pay the price our sins demand. He would do this to restore us to God’s favor. Christ Jesus did all that for you by loving you and living a perfect life for you. He loved you and rose from the dead for you. His love has given you pardon and peace with God, in spite of what is going on in the world. He has brought you forgiveness and life and salvation. That passage I read earlier from Romans 6 – I only read part of it. Listen to the whole verse:

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is what God’s love is. Knowing what He has given us in Jesus, we strive to live according to that “to do” list He has given us. It is our response to what He has already done for us in Jesus. Or, as John put it:

1 John 4:19  We love because He first loved us.