Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered… As the preceding passage is claimed by St. Peter in the Acts, so this is claimed by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, as referring to the dispensation of the Messiah. The declaration of Joel is descriptive of the gospel - the glad tidings of salvation adapted and published to all mankind. Observe - I. IN WHAT THE DELIVERANCE CONSISTS. Not in exemption or release from temporal calamity or disaster; but in spiritual rescue and emancipation - salvation from sin, its bondage and its penalty. II. UPON WHAT CONDITION THE DELIVERANCE IS PROFFERED AND PROMISED, Calling upon the Name of the Lord involves: 1. A sense of personal need and danger. 2. A conviction of the power of God to save. 3. Faith in his declared willingness to be the Deliverer of his people. 4. The cry of the heart to God the Saviour. III. TO WHOM THE PROMISE OF DELIVERANCE IS ADDRESSED. "Whosoever" is a wide, all-embracing term, comprehending not only every class of society, but every nation, and every grade of character. St. Paul himself scarcely went beyond this, when he said that "God is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe." - T. Parallel Verses KJV: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. |
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