I love that song. Thank you. Acts chapter 2. Tonight, I'm going to be preaching
on the message of the angels out of Luke chapter 24. And I've
entitled this message, The Door Opened Wide. And it doesn't have anything
to do with me opening the door wide. That's not something I
can do. But this is the Lord opening the door wide. Now, the Lord was on earth 40
days after his resurrection, preaching the gospel to his disciples. But in Acts chapter two, We have
the first sermon by a sinner saved by grace. Now, the Lord
had been teaching them, no doubt, these 40 days. The scripture
says he opened their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. And here we have the example of a man, a sinner
saved by grace, who had some understanding of the scriptures. Now the outpouring of the spirit
had taken place and the people were hearing the gospel in their
own language. And we read beginning in verse
12, and they were all amazed and were in doubt. Acts chapter
2, verse 12, saying one to another, what meaneth this? What meaneth
what? Well, they were hearing the gospel
in their own language. 17 different languages are mentioned
in Acts chapter 2, and they're all hearing the gospel in their
own language. Others, verse 13, mocking said,
these men are full of new wine. They're drunk. That's why they're
acting this way. But Peter, verse 14, standing
up with the 11, lifted up his voice. This is the same Peter
who had a few days earlier denied the Lord in front of the little
maid. scared to death. Now he stands
up and lifts up his voice and said unto them, ye men of Judea
and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken
to my words. Listen very carefully for these
are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it's but nine o'clock
in the morning, but this is that. which was spoken by the prophet
Joel. And he's going to quote a passage
from Joel chapter two, verses 28 through 32. But I love Peter's
appeal, the scriptures. You know, in our day, we get
famous people, athletes. They believe this way. People
like to have them speak. Maybe you'll listen because this
person is speaking. This is what he believes. Our only appeal is scripture. And we need no other. He appeals
to what Joel said in Joel chapter two, verses 28 through 32. Verse
17, it shall come to pass in the last day, saith God, I will
pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my
handmaids, I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and
they shall prophesy." This is talking about this speaking in
different languages. And I will show wonders in heaven
above and signs in the earth beneath. blood and fire and vapor
of smoke. This is a judgment. The sun should
be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great
notable day of the Lord come and it shall come to pass. And it's my prayer that this
is what comes to pass this morning in this place with everybody
in this room. It shall come to pass. that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, this is Peter's introduction
to what is known as this great sermon on the day of Pentecost.
And in this sermon, 3,000 people were brought to a saving knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he introduces this message
and he's going to comment on it more during the message. But
he introduces the message with this free grace promise. Whosoever. Are you one of those people?
Whosoever. shall call. He doesn't give us
anything to try to live up to. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. That's the most important part
of this message. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, the first thing that I would
notice is a need to be saved. A need to be saved. If you do not need to be saved,
this message will hold no interest to you but if you need to be
saved the Lord said the whole need not a physician but they
that are sick He healed them that had need of healing. He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, the first thing I want to
talk about is the need to be saved. Well, the first question
is saved from what? Saved from what? You say, I need
to be saved. Saved from what? I need to be
saved from God. That's my problem. That's your
problem. You see, sin is against him. That's why it's so bad. Somebody
says, well, my sin doesn't hurt anybody. Well, that's debatable.
That's debatable. But that's not the point. Your
sin is against God. I need to be saved from God because
my sin is against him. And the fact of the matter is,
I'm in His hands. He's not in mine. He can do with
me whatever He's pleased to do. He can save me or He can send
me to hell. And whatever He does is right.
He's the one I need to be saved from because I'm in His hands. There really is such a thing
as the wrath of God. There really is a place called
hell where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.
There is such a thing as eternal punishment and it's God who punishes
men eternally. I need saved from God. Number two, I need saved from
myself. I'm my biggest problem. And I
need saved from myself. If God doesn't do something for
me and in me, I will not be saved. I need saved from myself. Now, most people take for granted
what they call free will. They can be saved when they want
to be, when they decide to be. They never take into account
that that's just not true. There's no such thing as free
will. You can't just up and decide
to be saved. You've got an evil nature. You're your problem. I'm my problem. I'm controlled
by a sinful, wicked nature. And if God doesn't do something
for me, because of me, I'll go to hell. I need safer myself. I'm my biggest problem. I need
rescued from myself. I inherited my father Adam's
evil nature. I'm dead in trespasses and sins.
And if God doesn't rescue me from myself and do something
for me, I will not be saved. Thirdly, I need to be saved from
my sins. I need to be saved from God.
I need to be saved from myself and I need to be saved from my
sins. Turn with me for a moment to
Matthew chapter one. Hold your finger there in Acts two and
turn to Matthew chapter one. Now, what do I mean by needing
to be saved from my sins? Well, first I need to be saved
from the punishment of my sins. God's just. He's going to punish
sin. I've sinned. How can I be saved
from that punishment? I need to be saved from the power
of my sins because I cannot not sin. I can't. I need to be saved
from the power of my sins. By nature, I can't believe. I
can't repent. I can't love God. I'm under sin's
dominion by nature. All are under sin. I need to
be saved from the power of my sins. I need to be saved from
the pleasure of sin to where I don't want sin. I need to be
saved from the presence of sin. And look at this scripture in
Matthew chapter one, verse 21. And thou shalt bring forth a
son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save
his people from their sins. Beloved, that's what I need.
I need to be safe from my sins. I need to be safe from the penalty
of my sin. And he did that by justifying his people to where
I have no sin to be condemned for. That's what I want. I need to be safe from the power
of my sin to where I can believe, to where I can come to Christ,
to where I can repent, to where I can love God. And oh, how I
long to be delivered from the very presence of sin and the
pleasure of sin to where I know no sin. Now, the need to be saved. I need to be saved from God. I need to be saved from myself. And I need to be saved from my
sin. Now, I want to give a word of
encouragement to anybody who needs to be saved. I want to
give a word of encouragement to anybody who calls upon the
name of the Lord. If you call something you didn't
know about preceded your calling. He's calling you. That's why you call. He's calling
you. Look what Joel says in this passage
of scripture. If you can turn to the book of
Joel, right after Hosea, there's Daniel, there's Hosea, and there's
Joel. Joel chapter 2. I want to read this passage that
Peter quoted. Joel chapter 2, beginning in
verse 28. and it shall come to pass afterward.
Then I'll pour out my spirit upon all flesh. This is what
Peter was quoting. And your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams. Your
young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and
upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit, and
I'll show wonders in the heavens and the earth, blood and fire
and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood before that great and that terrible
day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. For in Mount Zion and Jerusalem
shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, and in the remnant
whom the Lord shall call." You see, if you call, there's one
reason he called you. The ones who call are what the
Bible calls the called. Listen to the scripture. And
we know that all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans chapter eight, verse 30.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. Romans 9, 11, for the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. 1 Corinthians 1. 23 and 24, we
preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block,
unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called. Christ, the power of God, and
Christ, the wisdom of God. If you ever need to be saved,
and if you call upon his name, There's one reason. He's called
you. God's sovereign election and
predestination doesn't prevent men from being saved that otherwise
would have been. It causes men to be saved who
most certainly would have been damned. Thank God for His sovereign
call. It opens wide the door of mercy
for all who call upon His name. Now, back to our text in Acts
chapter 2 verse 21. And it shall come to pass Everything God ordains shall
come to pass. You know, that phrase is mentioned
hundreds of times in the scripture. It shall come to pass, Old Testament
and New Testament. And the reason it will come to
pass is because God ordained for it to come to pass. Therefore,
it shall come to pass. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now I want us to consider the
extent of this call. This is a free grace promise.
Do you need to be saved? This is for you. Who is this for? Me? Are you a whosoever? Then it means you. That's as
plain as I know how to say it. If you are a whosoever, this
means you personally. What if it said whosoever is
six foot six? If they call they shall be saved. I mean, you'd be left out. What if it said, whosoever makes
$500,000 a year shall be saved? It has $100,000 in their bank
account. Where would that leave you? You
couldn't take the promise to yourself. What if it said, whosoever
is good and righteous They shall be saved. Where would that leave
you? What if it said whosoever has
the bent and tenor of their life is good and righteous, they'll
be saved. Where would that leave you? What if it said whosoever knows
they're one of the elect shall be saved? How would that sound
to you? Whosoever knows for a fact that
Christ died for them. Where would you fit in there? Whosoever is justified and sanctified,
they shall be saved. In all of these instances, there
is a description that if you do not fit, you have no right
to call. But blessed be God, it just says,
whosoever. Whosoever. I'm in that demographic. You know, with regard to all
those things that I just said, there are times I couldn't say
I know for sure that I'm one of the elect. I know for sure
that Christ died for me. I know for sure that I'm saved.
There's not a day that goes by when I'm afraid I'm not, for
some reason. But at all times, I am a whosoever. That's the extent of this call,
this free grace promise Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. If you call, if I call, we will
be saved. As I said previously, this is
a free grace promise. This is better than if it said
my name. I'm vain enough to have punched in Google to find out
my name in there. And I found out, you know, there's
a lot of Todd Nyberts. There are. I'm not the only Todd
Nibbard. It might have been some other
Todd Nibbard. If Todd Nibbard calls upon my name, he'll be
safe. It might not have been talking
about this Todd Nibbard, some other Todd Nibbard. This is better. Whosoever. Whosoever. Are you a whosoever?
Then this is for you. Whosoever. That's the extent. Do you see how wide God opens
the door? This is God opening this door. Whosoever, if you're a whosoever,
this is for you. Don't worry about whether or
not you're one of the elect. Don't worry about whether or
not you're saved. Just forget all that stuff. Are
you a whosoever? That's the only thing I'm asking.
That's the only thing God's asking. Are you a whosoever? This is
God opening wide. the door, whosoever." Now, my next point is the most
important point. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. This is the most important point. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. The one on whom we call is what
is most important. We call upon the name of the
Lord. Now the name of the Lord is not just his name that we
can pronounce audibly, Jehovah, or God Almighty, or the Lord. The name of the Lord represents
all of his glorious attributes. Turn with me to Exodus chapter
34. I want you to see this in the scripture. Exodus chapter
34. Verse five. And the Lord descended
in the cloud, and stood with him there, Moses, after Moses
had requested to see his glory. And the Lord descended in the
cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the
Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed, the Lord The Lord God, the Lord Almighty,
all-powerful, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the
guilty. visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children and upon the children's children
and to the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste
and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. God's name is who he is. Who is he? He's holy. Lord, save me in a way that honors
your holiness. Who is he? He's sovereign. Lord, sovereignly will my salvation
as an act of your sovereignty. He's just. Lord, save me in a
way that honors your justice and glorifies your justice. He's
merciful. Lord, save me by your mercy. He's all powerful. Lord, by your
almighty power, look down and save me. I'm invoking, I'm calling
upon all of his attributes. Lord, save me by who you are.
Save me by your name. Save me for your name's sake,
not because of anything in me. Do it for your own glory. Lord,
you do what you do for your own glory. Save me in a way that
gives you all the glory so that I'm a trophy of your grace. Lord,
save me by your name. Now that's our plea. The doors
open wide, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. Now I'm calling on His name to
save me and I'm calling on His name to save me for His name's
sake. His name means Jehovah is salvation. He is so merciful in the names
He's given to us in Scripture that we call on His name. For
instance, He's called Jehovah Sikinu, the Lord our righteousness. Oh Lord, be my righteousness. He's called Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide Himself
a sacrifice. Lord, provide a sacrifice for
me. He's called Jehovah Raha. I am the Lord that healeth thee.
Lord, heal me. He's called Jehovah Shama. The Lord is present. Oh, be present
for me. Be present for me before your
father. Represent me. Let me be saved
by your presence. Jehovah, the Lord is my shepherd. Lord, be my shepherd. So I shall
not want more Jehovah Nisi, the Lord, our banner being the banner
over me. Oh, Lord, save me by your name,
whosoever. Look at the breadth of that word,
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
now. Whosoever shall call. Whosoever shall call. It says nothing of what we must
first do or be. Whosoever shall call. Now, what's it mean to call on
his name? You know, the scripture gives
us so many real, live examples of what it is to call on His
name. It's really very simple. Peter
has been walking toward the Lord, walking on the water. All of
a sudden, he sees the wind boisterous and the waves. He takes his eyes
off Christ. And what does he do? He begins
to sink in the water. I guess he couldn't swim. He's
going to drown. Lord, save me! And the Lord reached
forth his hand and grabbed him and brought him out. You ever
prayed that prayer? Lord, Satan, the thief on the
cross. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. I know you're not going to stay
dead. You're going to rise from the dead and you're going to
come as a mighty conqueror and king. Oh, when you come, Lord,
Remember me? That leper came and fell down
on his face and said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. What about that man who had the
demon possessed son? He said, Lord, I believe help
thou my nonbelief. What about the Syrophoenician
woman? Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. My daughter is grievously vexed
with a devil. What about blind Bartimaeus?
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Don't give me what
I deserve. Withhold that from me. Do something
for me. And you know, some people tried
to shut him up. But you know what the scripture
said he did? He cried the more. A great deal. Have mercy on me. Now, is there anything difficult
about that? Right now, without saying a word, you can cry out
in your heart, Lord, save me. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. That's what it is to call on
the name of the Lord. We're calling on his name. Save
me by your name. Save me by your attributes. Save
me by your power. Save me by your grace. Lord,
save me. Whosoever. Oh, how wide that
door is open. Are you a whosoever? Whosoever. And everybody who needs to be
saved is in that group. If you're somebody who needs
to be saved, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. Shall be saved. That's what we're
asking him to do for us. Lord, save me. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, what does it mean to be
saved? It means to have your sins forgiven. What a glorious thing to have
all your sins forgiven and blotted out. It means to be justified. It means that if He saves you,
you stand before God without any guilt. You stand perfect
in his sight with perfect righteousness. It means to be redeemed. It means
all your sins are paid for and it's not a payment you made.
He by himself purged our sins. It means to be given a new nature,
a nature that you did not have before, a new heart. You know,
somebody says, give Jesus your heart. He doesn't want it. He
doesn't want it. There's nothing about it that
is attractive to him at all. But he'll give you a new heart.
David said, created me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right
spirit within me. It means to be born again. It means to be kept and preserved
in the Lord Jesus Christ so that you persevere all the way to
the end. It means to be made a son of
God, not merely a pardoned criminal, but a son of the living God.
It means to have the life of God himself in your soul, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. It's to have everything to work
together for your good, no matter what it is, and for his glory.
It's to be holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. That's what it is to be saved. It's to be glorified, it's to
be perfected forever, it's to have eternal life. It's to spend
eternity beholding his face. That's what it is to be saved.
And notice the sureness of this. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Absolutely certain. Now I've got one last point. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord, shall be saved. Ananias, the only time we read
about this man is in the experience of Paul when God knocked him
off his horse and blinded him. But even Saul is going to hear
from a preacher. God sent Paul a preacher. named Ananias. Don't know anything
about the man. Before, we never hear of him
again after this. I think it's glorious the way the Lord sends
Paul a nobody. Somebody nobody's ever heard
of and we never hear of him again. He sends Paul a nobody. Now,
if I was the Lord, I would have sent Peter or John or somebody
like that, but Lord's wise. And he sends Paul a nobody from
nowhere. Now Paul had been knocked off
his horse and he was scared to death. He didn't know what was
going on. Remember he was on his way to
kill some Christians. Put him in prison. He hated the
name of Jesus Christ. And all of a sudden he sees a
great light above the shining of the sun and he falls to the
ground blinded. And he hears a voice, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? Who art thou, Lord? He didn't
know. I am Jesus, whom you persecute. You're just hurting yourself.
It's hard for you to kick against the pricks. Every kick you bring
against me is only puncturing yourself. Lord, what would you have me
do? Arise and go to Damascus, and
it'll be told thee what thou should do. And so they lead him
blind to Damascus. Now during that three day period,
he didn't eat, he didn't drink, he was scared to death. And then
the Lord sent this man, Ananias. And Ananias comes and puts his
hand upon this blind man. And he says, brother Saul, receive
thy sight. And Paul says, the same hour
I looked upon him and he said to me, the God of our fathers
hath chosen thee. You ought not talk to a young
believer about election. Really? First thing Paul heard. Now understand this, you can't
preach the gospel and not preach election. Can't be done. The God of our
fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldst know his will. This is the will of God, that
of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise
it up again at the last day. And that you should see that
just one, There's just one, just one. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's made a way to be just
and justify somebody like you. And hear the voice of His mouth,
not just my voice, but you hear the voice that wakes the dead.
For thou shalt be His witness to all men. of what you've seen
and what you've heard. And now why tarryest thou? What are you waiting on? Arise
and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name
of the Lord. You know what Paul did after
hearing that? He rose up and he was baptized. And the act of baptism did not
wash away his sins, but what baptism represents washed away
his sins. When Christ lived, I lived. When
he died, I died and my sin was washed away. When he was raised
from the dead, I was justified. Arise, what are you waiting on?
You waiting to get better? You waiting to understand more?
What are you tarrying on? Don't wait. Arise and be baptized,
washing away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord. You know what Paul did at that
time? He called upon the name of the Lord. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And I pray that everybody in
this room right now calls upon the name of the Lord. And we have this free grace promise
in calling. We shall be saved. Let's pray. Lord, we call upon your name. Save us by your grace, by your
righteousness, by your mercy, by your justice, by your sovereignty. Save us by who you are. Lord,
those that do not call, we ask that you would cause them to
call by your irresistible, invincible grace. Take this message and
bless it and use it for your glory and for our good. In Christ's
blessed name we pray, amen. Dwayne, could you lead us in
closing hymn? Let's stand and sing hymn number
249, Just As I Am.