【Beseeching】Day 230 附中文

2021-02-16 精明的管家 Good Land

Day 230: Prayer for the saints to help people call on the Lord in their preaching of the gospel

February 6, 2021

Pray that in their preaching the gospel, the saints would learn to help people to open their mouth to call on the Lord (Acts 22:16; Rom. 10:8-15 and notes 101, 131, 132, and 141; Hymns, #1327, s. 3).

Acts 22:16—And now, why do you delay? Rise up and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name.

Rom. 10:8-15—But what does it say? 「The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,」 that is, the word of the faith which we proclaim, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart there is believing unto righteousness, and with the mouth there is confession unto salvation. For the Scripture says, 「Everyone who believes on Him shall not be put to shame.」 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him; for 「whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.」 How then shall they call upon Him into whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe into Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without one who proclaims Him? And how shall they proclaim Him unless they are sent? As it is written, 「How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the news of good things!」

Rom. 10:101, with—To believe with the heart is toward God; to confess with the mouth is toward man. To believe with the heart is to believe in Christ, who was glorified and raised by God from the dead; to confess with the mouth is to confess that Jesus, who was despised and rejected by man, is Lord. Both are conditions for our being justified and saved.

Rom. 10:131, calls—Calling on the name of the Lord is the secret not only to our salvation but also to our enjoyment of the Lord’s riches. Beginning with Enosh, the third generation of mankind, and continuing all the way down to the New Testament believers, God’s chosen and redeemed ones enjoyed Christ’s redemption and salvation and all His riches by means of this secret (see note 211 in Acts 2).

Rom. 10:132, saved—To be saved here means to be brought into the enjoyment of the riches of the Lord. The Lord is rich to both Jews and Greeks. All who call on the Lord’s name enjoy this rich Lord; as a result, they are filled with Him and express Him.

Rom. 10:141, believed—One who believes into the Lord will surely call on the Lord’s name. Calling on the Lord results in immediate salvation (vv. 10, 13).

Hymns, #1327, s. 3:

Empty wand’rer drop the striving—
Isn’t worth all the troublin』;
Open up your heart believing,
Call 「Lord Jesus」 and He』ll come in!
   Then today you』ll find Him,
   And calling on His name,
   You’re joined to Him, you’re one with Him—
   You』ll never be the same.
      You won’t want to!
   Jesus, Jesus is my life now,
   Jesus, Jesus is my life;
   I’m fully satisfied now,
   Jesus, Jesus is my life.

MINISTRY PORTION:

Suppose a sinner hears the preaching of the gospel and is persuaded to believe in the Lord and call on Him. He may pray quietly, 「Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I thank You for dying for me. I believe in You. Your blood cleanses me. You give me eternal life.」 A person who prays like this can be saved, but he may not be saved in a strong way. Suppose another person is convinced that he should believe in the Lord Jesus. But instead of praying quietly, he calls aloud on the name of the Lord, declaring that he believes in Him and receives Him. If he calls on the Lord in this way, his experience of salvation will be very strong. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 11, pp. 99-100)

There is another matter to which many can testify. When you preach the gospel to someone, you may think that if you can make the message logical and clear to him, he will then believe in the Lord. In actuality, however, you may speak one sentence, and he will argue back with three sentences…The best way is to help him open his mouth to call on the Lord.

There is a brother who truly knows how to preach the gospel in this way. One day he met someone on the street and greeted that person with a smile, saying, 「Sir, let me tell you, I have Jesus! You also need Jesus! Will you please call with me? Call, 『O Lord Jesus!』」 Unexplainably, that person began to call with him. Then the brother asked him to call 「O Lord!」 a little louder. This was the way this brother preached the gospel, and many were saved…Moreover, when others call on the Lord with you, their spirit is unconsciously opened to the Lord. When their spirit is opened, the Lord, who is the living Spirit, enters into their spirit, and they are saved. Many brothers and sisters can testify to the fact that the quickest and most effective way to preach the gospel is to help people call on the Lord Jesus. When they call on the Lord Jesus, their reasonings are gone, and they cease their arguing.

Amazingly, when a person calls on the Lord Jesus, his speaking is changed. Before he called, he said that there was no God; but after he calls, 「Lord Jesus,」 he confesses that there is God. (CWWL 1972, vol. 1, 「The Lord’s Recovery of Eating,」 ch. 4, pp. 75-76)

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