#Jesus Is The Name Of The Lord By Which We Are Saved

Act 2:14-21  But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.  (15)  For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.  (16)  But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:  (17)  “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;  (18)  even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.  (19)  And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;  (20)  the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.  (21)  And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

On the day of Pentecost, the people were wondering what all these things meant, namely the apostles speaking the word of the Lord in a language everyone could understand. Each person understood each apostle in their own native tongue. Peter tells them and us that this fulfilled what was written by the prophet Joel chapter two. The Holy Spirit has come down upon all flesh. It is the beginning of the Last Days.

The Holy Spirit put his word in the mouths of the apostles, that word is Jesus and all he has done, which is the nature of prophesy from the Holy Spirit. Joh 16:13-14 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  (14)  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” As we can see from the rest of the sermon of Peter in this chapter and the rest of Acts, the Holy Spirit does that, declare Jesus and glorify him.

So we who hear and believe the good news of Jesus Christ, we too receive the Holy Spirit and speak to others concerning Jesus Christ, how he has provided the blood to cleanse us from our sins, how he have redeemed us with his death and how he has overcome death that everyone will be raised on the Last Day from the dead, some to eternal life and some to eternal perdition. The Holy Spirit is still operating on men to this day so when they hear the good news their hearts would be open to it.

Now we have not seen reported all the celestial events that Joel prophesied in the Gospels, but that does not mean they did not occur. In the preceding hours of Jesus’ death upon the cross, most certainly the sun had become dark. It was a full moon, opposite the earth from the sun, so opposite of Jerusalem on this big globe, it’s very likely it was red. There was an earthquake at Jesus’ death. Jesus’ death was the manifestation the Lord had come, that great and magnificent day. It seems though, that before the Lord returns, these signs shall be repeated.

Finally, we have fulfilled that passage, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Now this is important. The Lord Joel referenced is Yahweh, Jehovah, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, of all that is seen and unseen. Peter tells us here, Jesus is that name of the Lord which is to be called upon. Jesus is Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah, the great I am. When we confess Jesus is Lord we don’t just mean he is the ruler of our life. We mean he is the ALL CAPS LORD of the Old Testament.

This is calling on the name of the Lord, i.e. Jesus is salvific. We call on the name we believe can and will save us. Since Jesus is Lord he can and is able to save us and is willing to do so.

Dearest Jesus, you have given us your name that all who call upon it will be saved and not disappointed. Always give us your name upon our lips so on the day of your revelation, we may indeed be saved from our sins and the judgment and enter into eternal life. In your precious name we pray. Amen.