GOD'S SALVATION

Lesson Nineteen

HOW TO CONTACT THE LORD

BY CALLING ON THE LORD'S NAME

Burden to Impart:

The Lord is near to us and we may freely partake of His salvation by calling upon His precious name. Calling upon Him is the simple way to "take of the river of the water of life" which God's Word has told us is given "freely" to all who desire to drink (Rev. 22:17). Also, by calling upon the Lord in a real way we sense that He is very near to us and lets us experience His riches in an abundant way (Psa. 145:18; Rom. 10:12).

Memory Verse: "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth" (Psalm 145:18).

Facts to Teach:

  1. Once we have received the Lord Jesus as our Savior and have been baptized, we are saved. We are saved before God eternally as well as before men publicly.
  2. We were saved by realizing our need of Christ (our lost condition, our sins, our guilt, our emptiness, etc.) and asking Him to save us. Having realized our need we simply called upon the Lord Jesus and freely received Him and His salvation.
  3. Although we all felt led to believe in the Lord and receive Him for different reasons, the Bible reveals that we were actually all very much alike. We were all thirsty. God's salvation to us is like the cleansing, filling, satisfying river of water of life (Rev. 22:17). In the last chapter of the Bible we are invited to "come, take the water of life freely."
  4. The Lord's salvation is near to us and is ever available to us. Otherwise, how could we take of it "freely"? Although our salvation is eternally secure, we still need a day by day, even moment by moment, supply of the Lord's life in order to enjoy this wonderful salvation that we have received. Our daily experience shows us that as Christians we need to continuously "take of the water of life."
  5. The way we take the water of life is by simply calling upon the Lord Jesus. When we prayed and called upon His name the first time, He saved us. However, we often tend to drift away from the Lord. We get occupied with other things. Some things may be good, some may be bad. But the result is the same, we find ourselves distracted from the Lord and we sense a "dryness" within us. We do not need to struggle desperately in order to recover the satisfaction of the Lord's presence within us. We simply need to turn to Him within our heart and spirit by calling upon His name. We will find that He is near to us whenever we call upon Him in a real way (Psa. 145:118).
  6. Although it is not necessary to shout when we call upon the Lord's name, it is helpful to call upon Him audibly. By practicing this we are saved, enlivened, strengthened, uplifted, and enriched.

[See Life-study of Genesis #25, and booklet entitled Calling on the Name of the Lord.]