Today’s Passage: “And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” Acts 2:21
On the morn prior to September 11th, my thoughts turn to that fateful day ten years ago when we first learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the crash of UA Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. The reality of the situation was hard to grasp on that terrible morning. Employees were gathered around televisions in break rooms around the nation. People were glued to the TV sets in homes everywhere, horrified at the breaking news and wondering what could have caused so many planes to crash. As Americans, most of us felt relatively safe from wars and terrorism on U.S. soil. And yet, here we had sustained a devastating attack in our own homeland. How could this be?
I remember reading that hospital staff near the Trade Center was on high alert for the enormous amount of victims who would need assistance when the first tower was hit. They headed to the hospitals, ready for action. They waited apprehensively for the influx of hurting patients, imagining the hustle and bustle, the code reds, the life-threatening injuries, the emergency surgeries, the need for more hospital beds. All was ready, and they waited. News of the fall of the second tower came, and they felt the intense fear of the situation, willing themselves not to panic, and waited for an even greater number of trauma patients to arrive than they had anticipated. Still they waited. And they waited…
Then the real horror set in. Their imaginations had depicted the worst case scenario: the mass number of people in need of medical attention; but the reality was much worse. No one was coming. Very few had made it out of the towers alive. Their adrenaline had pumped, their minds were prepared for the task at hand, but all was silent. And this new nightmare was worse than anything they had expected. And so they slowly began to vacate the hospitals and return to their homes, heavyhearted, dejected and sorrowful.
When I think of this, I pause to consider how many people must have called out to the Lord on that day. How many prayers were lifted up for missing family members and friends? How many of us prayed desperately that people would be found alive in the rubble? And how many seats that Sunday were filled in churches across the country that had been empty the week before?
I have heard that natural disasters like hurricane Katrina and tragedies like the September 11th attacks tend to increase church attendance. Bible sales also tend to soar in the wake of great losses. These are certainly some of the positives – the good things – that can come from tragedy. Though we certainly would not choose for people to suffer in such a manner, and do not intend to make light of a tragedy, it is not disrespectful to the victims to realize that in addition to the great heartache and loss, there were some good things that arose from the rubble. Surely many souls were restored that had left their first love, Christ. (Revelation 2:4) After all, Romans 8:28 teaches us that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Though not everything that happens is good, we can be assured that if we are in a right relationship with God, good can come from even the greatest catastrophe.
In Joel 2:32, we learn that “it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls.” This great day has come! Jesus came to this earth, lived a sinless life, carried our punishment upon himself and died on the cross. And He arose on the third day, destroying the power of sin over us and giving us the opportunity to call on His great name!
Peter quoted this passage in Joel during his sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. He informs the audience by way of his inspired speech that the glorious day they had awaited had come. When the people realized that Jesus was the Messiah they had long awaited, and that they had crucified Him, they were greatly alarmed. Surely this was the greatest Tragedy of all time. They had killed the Son of God!
What were they to do in order to be forgiven? How could they be saved? As Peter had spoken, they were to call upon the Lord and be saved. But consider what Peter tells them they must do in order to be saved: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38.) How did these people call upon the Lord? We have the answer in Acts 2:41-42: “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” These people responded to the gospel by being baptized into Christ. Also note that after they called upon the Lord by obeying what they were told, they “continued steadfastly” in four things: God’s Word, fellowship with other Christians, the Lord’s Supper (communion) and prayer.
What was Jesus’ instruction to the apostles before He returned to heaven? Often called “the great commission,” it was the command to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15-16.) And in Matthew 28:19-20, it is recorded that He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Many may call on the name of the Lord when hard times come but do they truly respond to the gospel call? Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21.) We see here that even by calling on the Lord, we are not saved if we do not obey His Word. The Bible is filled with examples of people who, though they considered themselves religious and in a right relationship with God, were condemned because they did not obey. From Cain, King Uzziah and Nadab & Abihu, who did not obey God’s directions for acceptable sacrifice and worship, to the people on Judgment Day who have not obeyed the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8), punishment came or will come as a result of failing to obey God’s commandments.
So a new question arises. Will merely believing and confessing Christ qualify as obedience? As always, let us see what God says in His Word with an open mind, willing to challenge our long-held beliefs and the things we have been told by men. In James 2:19, we learn that the demons believe and in fact, they fear the Lord. Yet this is not enough. James states that “faith without works is dead” in James 2:20.
Now, does this mean that we are to work our way into heaven, based on the merit of our good works? Certainly not. We can never earn heaven. If we feel that our good works deserve reward, we should carefully read Luke 17:10 in which Jesus warns that “when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ” No, dear sisters, all of the good we can do is merely our duty. For the fact is that we are all human beings, and all human beings sin. We all sin; therefore, we all “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23.)
God offers the gift of salvation to all of us because we cannot be saved without His gift. Ephesians 2:8 teaches us that salvation is by God’s gift and not as a result of our own work. However, having said that, it is important to point out that works are necessary. Though works will not earn salvation apart from God’s gift of grace, there are certain works required in order to receive the gift. They are God’s stipulations, if you will, for accepting the gift of grace.
We know that we cannot enter into a personal relationship with God except through Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6.) And as we read before, He also said that only those who obey the Father’s will can enter into heaven (Matthew 7:21.) So, we see that obedience is necessary in order to be saved. Again, it is not because of what we have done for Christ, but as a response to what Christ has done for us.
Meditate on the words of Titus 3:4-7: “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” This sums it up so clearly. God offered us the gift through Jesus’s blood. Note that it was through the “washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.”
Let us look further at the letter to the Roman church, in which they were reminded that “that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death.” You see, this is how we are washed. Not that the water physically cleanses us of our sins, for the water is not holy. It is our response in obedience to the gospel in the manner set forth in the Bible by which we come in contact with Jesus’ cleansing blood. Baptism is symbolic for the death (dying to the old man of sin), burial (being buried with Christ in baptism) and resurrection (arising from the water, reborn as a new creature) (Romans 6:3-7.)
In baptism, we put on Christ (Galatians 3:27.) We are born again by water and the Spirit (John 3:5), which should cause us to leave behind the old sins and live for Christ. This is a lifetime commitment, and not a whim. Our rebirth must never be based on an urgent fear but then forgotten in the expectation that once we have become a Christian, we can do whatever we want to do thereafter. It must be the beginning of a life dedicated to pleasing God in the manner in which HE wants, and not in the manner which we prefer.
So we return to our consideration of those who call upon the Lord during periods of great trial. Were many prayers offered up on that day ten years ago from some who had never voiced them before? I would venture to guess so. How many people called upon the Lord and yet so quickly fell away and returned to their former lives of sin? Have their wake-up calls turned to a distant memory, as if they had hit the snooze buttons of their consciences? Are their hearts no longer pricked and their fears all but forgotten?
Bringing it closer to home, what about me? First and foremost, have I been saved? Have I been washed in the blood of Christ so that my sins have been forgiven? And if so, is it fair to say that was I fired up for the Lord when I called upon Christ but now my fire has dwindled to a smolder? Did I obey the gospel with the intent on sharing the great news with everyone around me, but after time, allow the fervor to wane into apathy? Do emergencies, tragedies and trouble cause me to temporarily renew my faith but then fall again during times of peace?
I believe these are questions all of us should consider periodically, including and especially me. First, we must put on Christ, and then we must live Christ every day of our lives. Our lives should be such that whether tragedy strikes or not, our prayers and worship continue. And though we may have more fervent, intense prayers at times of great trial, as Jesus did in Gethsemane, the amount of prayers and personal Bible studies should not diminish when things are going along smoothly. In fact, it is at times like these that we must be aware of our attitude. We may grow so complacent that our defenses against the devil’s wiles weaken. Sometimes, when we feel that we are the strongest, we may become confident in our own abilities and lose sight of the fact that God is the reason for our peace. At times like this, we may find that we are most vulnerable to the lure of sin (I Corinthians 10:12.)
In closing, let us remember all of the people who lost their lives. Let us pray for their families and for those who witnessed the horrors of the devastation firsthand. Let us pray for the first responders and medical staff and everyone who helped get the survivors to safety. But let us also remember that there is an even greater tragedy awaiting us if we do not obey the Lord. On that day, there will be no time for reflection and for repentance. That day will come swiftly, like a thief in the night, and we will be lost forever if we are not found in Christ (2 Peter 3:10.) A thief leaves no signs that he is coming. Though we may hear others saying they can tell the end is near from the signs they see, we must remember that “no one knows” the hour or day that the Lord is returning (Matthew 24:36, Matthew 25:13, Mark 13:32.) We must always keep in mind Revelation 2:10 in which Christ said, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” If we do this, it won’t matter when He comes. We will be ready to say “Maranatha!” (Our Lord has come!)
God bless you all, dear sisters. My prayer is for each and every one of you and for your families, that on that great Day of the Lord, we will all be found faithful, in Christ and ready to meet Him in the air!
