第六週■週五
晨興餧養
徒二 21『那時，凡呼求主名的，就必得救。』
七 59『他們正用石頭打的時候，司提反呼求說，主耶穌，求你接收我的靈！』
呼求主名不是新約的新作法。這件事開始於創世記四章二十六節，人類的第三代以挪士。接着有約伯（伯十 二 4， 二 七 10）、 亞 伯 拉 罕（ 創 十 二 8， 十 三 4，二一 33）、以撒（二六 25）、摩西和以色列人（申四 7）、參孫（士十五 18，十六 28）、撒母耳（撒上十二 18，詩九九 6）、大衞（撒下二二 4、7…）、詩人亞薩（詩八十 18）、詩人希幔（八八 9）、以利亞（王上十八24）、以賽亞（賽十二 4）、耶利米（哀三 55、57）和其他的人（詩九九 6）；他們在舊約時代都呼求主名。以賽亞也囑咐尋求神的人，要呼求祂（賽五五 6）。甚至外邦人也曉得，以色列的申言者習慣呼求神的名（拿一 6，王下五 11）。…神命令並願意祂的百姓呼求祂（詩五十 15，耶二九 12，詩九一 15，番三 9，亞十三 9）。這是飲於神救恩泉源的喜樂之路（賽十二 3 ～ 4），也是以神爲樂的享受之路（伯二七 10）。以神爲樂就是享受神。因此，神的子民必須天天呼求祂（詩八八 9）。這是約珥關於新約禧年所豫言的歡樂作法（珥二 32）（使徒行傳生命讀經，七七至七八頁）。
信息選讀
在新約裏，彼得在五旬節那天，首次題起呼求主名（徒二 21），應驗了約珥的豫言。這應驗是關乎神在經綸一面，將包羅萬有的靈澆灌在祂所揀選的人身上，使他們能有分於新約的禧年。約珥關於神新約禧年的豫言及其應驗有兩面：在神那一面，祂在復活基督的升天裏，將祂的靈澆灌下來；在我們這一面，我們呼求這位成就一切、達到一切並得着一切，升天之主的名。我們這些在基督裏的信徒，要有分於並享受包羅萬有的基督，和祂所成就、所達到、所得着的一切，呼求祂的名是極其需要的（林前一 2）。在神新約經綸裏，這是一種主要的作法，使我們能享受這位經過過程的三一神，叫我們完全得救（羅十 10 ～ 13）。早期的信徒在各處都呼求主名（林前一 2）。對不信的人，尤其對逼迫的人，呼求主名成了基督信徒普徧的記號（徒九 14、21）。司提反在遭逼迫時，曾呼求主名（七 59），這必定使逼迫他的掃羅印象深刻（58 ～ 60，二二 20）。然後，不信的掃羅以他們的呼求爲記號，逼迫那些呼求的人（九 14、21）。等到他被主得着以後，那把他帶進基督身體交通裏的亞拿尼亞，立刻囑咐他要呼求着主的名受浸，向人表明他也成了這樣呼求的人。他在提後二章二十二節對提摩太所說的話，指明早期所有尋求主的人都呼求主名。毫無疑問，他是一個這樣實行的人，因爲他囑咐他的青年同工提摩太要照樣作，使提摩太能和他一樣享受主。
我們傳福音，幫助人得救時，需要鼓勵他們呼求主名說，『哦，主耶穌！』我們從經歷知道，人呼求主名越強，他對救恩的經歷就越強。
根據行傳七章五十九節，司提反被人用石頭打的時候，『呼求說，主耶穌，求你接收我的靈！』大數的掃羅贊同他被殺，並且參與對耶路撒冷召會的大逼迫。根據九章十四節，掃羅從祭司長得來權柄，要捆綁一切呼求主耶穌之名的人。他去大馬色的用意，就是要捉拿一切呼求主名的人。這指明呼求主耶穌的名，在早期是跟從主之人的記號。這種呼求必定是別人聽得見的，因而成了一個記號。在掃羅的時代，信徒乃是呼求主耶穌之名的人（使徒行傳生命讀經，七八至八一頁）。
參讀：使徒行傳生命讀經，第九篇。
WEEK 6 — DAY 5
Morning Nourishment
Acts 2:21 And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
7:59 And they stoned Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!
Calling on the name of the Lord is not a new practice that began with the New Testament. Rather, it began with Enosh, the third generation of mankind, in Genesis 4:26. It was continued by Job (Job 12:4; 27:10), Abraham (Gen. 12:8; 13:4; 21:33), Isaac (26:25), Moses and the children of Israel (Deut. 4:7), Samson (Judg. 15:18; 16:28), Samuel (1 Sam. 12:18; Psa. 99:6), David (2 Sam. 22:4, 7…), the psalmist Asaph (Psa. 80:18), the psalmist Heman (88:9), Elijah (1 Kings 18:24), Isaiah (Isa. 12:4), Jeremiah (Lam. 3:55, 57), and others (Psa. 99:6), all of whom practiced calling on the name of the Lord in the Old Testament age. Isaiah charged the seekers of God to call upon Him (Isa. 55:6). Even the Gentiles knew that the prophets of Israel had the habit of calling on the name of God (Jonah 1:6; 2 Kings 5:11)…It is God’s commandment (Psa. 50:15; Jer. 29:12) and desire (Psa. 91:15; Zeph. 3:9;
Zech. 13:9) that His people call on Him. This is the joyful way to drink from the fountain of God’s salvation (Isa. 12:3-4) and the enjoyable way to delight oneself in God (Job 27:10), that is, to enjoy Him. Hence, God’s people must call upon Him daily (Psa. 88:9). Such a jubilant practice was prophesied by Joel (Joel 2:32) for the New Testament jubilee. (Life-study of Acts, 2nd ed., pp. 67-68)
Todays Reading
In the New Testament, calling on the name of the Lord was mentioned first by Peter, in Acts 2:21, on the day of Pentecost, as the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. This fulfillment is related to God’s outpouring of the all-inclusive Spirit economically upon His chosen people so that they may participate in His New Testament jubilee…Calling on the Lord’s name is vitally necessary in order for us, the believers in Christ, to participate in and enjoy the all- inclusive Christ with all He has accomplished, attained, and obtained (1 Cor. 1:2). It is a major practice in God’s New Testament economy that enables us to enjoy the processed Triune God for our full salvation (Rom. 10:10- 13). The early believers practiced this everywhere (1 Cor. 1:2), and to the unbelievers, especially the persecutors, it became a popular sign of Christ’s
believers (Acts 9:14, 21). When Stephen suffered persecution, he practiced this (7:59), and his practice surely impressed Saul, one of his persecutors (vv. 58-60; 22:20). Later, the unbelieving Saul persecuted the callers (9:14, 21) by taking their calling as a sign. Immediately after Saul was caught by the Lord, Ananias, who brought Saul into the fellowship of the Body of Christ, charged him to be baptized, calling on the name of the Lord, to show others that he too had become such a caller. By his word to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:22, Paul indicated that in the early days all the Lord’s seekers practiced such calling. Undoubtedly, he was one who practiced this, since he charged his young coworker Timothy to do this that Timothy might enjoy the Lord as he did.
When we preach the gospel and help others to be saved, we need to encourage them to call on the name of the Lord and say, “O Lord Jesus!” From experience we know that the stronger a person calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, the stronger will be his experience of salvation.
According to Acts 7:59, when Stephen was being stoned, “he called upon the Lord and said, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Saul of Tarsus approved of this killing and joined in the great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. According to 9:14, Saul had authority from the chief priests to bind all who called on the name of the Lord Jesus. Saul’s intention in going to Damascus was to arrest all those who called on the Lord’s name. This indicates that in the early days calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus was a sign of being a follower of the Lord. (Life-study of Acts, 2nd ed., pp. 68-70)
Further Reading: Life-study of Acts, msg. 9
