Preface to the Second Edition

God desires that all people come to salvation. I am deeply grateful to my Heavenly Father for saving me from sin and granting me the new life in Christ in my early teens. Ever since then, God has put in my heart a deep hunger and thirst for Him and His Kingdom. I always cry out to God, “O Lord, I want to know you more and follow you all the days of my life.”

In 2005, I came to have a clear understanding of God’s salvation for mankind through a series of teaching on Biblical monotheism given by our beloved teacher, Pastor Eric H.H. Chang. Being able to sit in teaching sessions taught by Pastor Eric was a great privilege and blessing to all our coworkers. We would get inspired spiritually. Our spirits would get uplifted. The fire of God would burn deeply in our hearts. God opened our eyes to see Biblical truths through His servant.

This book comes from Chapter 17 of a longer book (400+ pages) that I am currently working on, “Our Road to the One True God, YHWH,” which, if God willing, will be published at a later date. As I was working on this chapter on “Salvation in the Name of YHWH,” the Spirit of God kept urging me to write a more thorough exposition of Joel 2:32, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This significant statement is cited by the apostle Peter in Acts 2:21, and the apostle Paul in Romans 10:13. A lot of spiritual riches are packed in this short statement regarding God’s salvation for humanity and how we can live a life of faith prayerfully under the Lordship of God and Jesus Christ. We call on the name of the Lord for the empowering of the Spirit so that we can fulfill the mission given to the Church. In the course of meditation and writing, the freshness of the content has taken on a new life such that the present work is put into a short book for people to use in evangelism.

Calling on the Name of the Lord has been a life-long spiritual dis­cipline in my life. Through God’s Name, we meet with the one true God. God is not silent. He is silent only to those who resist drawing near to Him. I have learned to call on God’s Name to love Him, walk with Him, learn to be His friend, and let God come close to me in all areas of my life. I call on God’s Name to save me from selfishness, self-deception, tempta­tions to sin, and pride. Daily, I call out to God to cleanse and purify my inner being. Many times, God rescued me physically even before I knew that my life was in great danger. Living in a complacent world in which Christians are falling asleep spiritually, I often need to cry out to God for His fire to burn fervently within me so that my heart does not grow cold. Calling on the Name of the Lord has indeed taught me to have the right fear of God. In serving the church these past 30 years, I have learned to call on the Lord to mourn for the sins of the church and to overcome weaknesses that hinder my service to Him. God answers. God saves.

We experience God’s salvation by calling on His Name, not only in times of crisis but more so in every breath that we take each day. It is in the many ordinary events of life that God awakens us to experience His care, presence, protection, and salvation.

Salvation is a vast subject. This book focuses on one aspect of Soteriology: how we experience salvation in the calling of the Name of YHWH. The Gospel message that we hear today is mainly centered on the popular precept that Jesus saves us. This raises a question: How does Jesus save us? Apparently, the role of YHWH as Savior has been obliterated. After listening to Pastor Eric’s expositions on Biblical monotheism, I searched the Scripture and consolidated the conclusion that YHWH God is the One who saves us through Jesus. On the surface, most Christians unwittingly accept this statement to be true; however the identity of God needs to be understood in light of Scripture. Who is God? The God of the Bible is YHWH. And as we focus to call on YHWH, we will be able to correctly identify “this Jesus whom God raised up” (Acts 2:32) for our salvation.

I would like to share my first-hand experience and understanding on this Biblical theme that YHWH God saves us through “this Jesus” preached by the first century apostles. Our faith in God and Jesus needs to be grounded on the authority of the Word of God.

I have also woven into the writing a Biblical word study method to help readers understand the broader themes that emerge from the book of Joel, Peter’s sermon in Acts 2, and the overall salvation message in Romans 9 to 11. In a wider framework of these three passages, we can get a bird’s eye view to see the wood for the trees. Tables and graphs are provided for readers to see Scriptural evidences vividly.

In this book, you will discover the key to a vibrant prayer life. Calling on the Lord has a much broader vision that goes beyond a personal salvation. Unfortunately, most churches proclaim a Gospel that tells people to accept Jesus into their hearts to be their personal Savior. As a result, most Christians have become very individualistic. We have subtly allowed self-interest and the trend of rampant individualism in our culture to distort our understanding of God’s saving work. God saves us so that we can be a part of His new creation to live for His Kingdom. Calling on the name of the Lord is much bigger than ourselves. As we call on the name of the LORD, we call with His Kingdom in view. In this new creation, God is preparing “a royal priesthood” (1Pet 2:9) and He wants us to co-reign with Christ in the coming Kingdom. Sadly, too many Christians are pew sitters and have not begun to live for the Kingdom. Many are church goers but not Kingdom lovers. A majority of Christians has been hypnotized to believe that the goal of salvation is to go to heaven when they die. On the contrary, what is taught in the Bible is that God makes them “a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on the earth” (Rev 5:10), and they will reign with Christ for a thousand years (Rev 20:6). Tragically, down through the centuries, the Church has lost the vision of the Kingdom.

Prophecies are fulfilled in progressive stages. The outpouring of the Spirit given to the Jews at Pentecost and later to the Gentiles is for the purpose of advancing God’s Kingdom. The Church is given the task to live out the life of the Kingdom. The prophecies in Joel ultimately point to the future when Christ sets up the Kingdom on earth to rule over Israel and the world until all the enemies are destroyed. Judah and Jerusalem will be fully restored (Joel 3:1). Jerusalem will be holy and for­eigners will never overrun her again (Joel 3:17). Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem to all generations (Joel 3:20). The hope of salvation is that God will tabernacle with His people forever on earth. The final words of Joel seal this great promise that “YHWH dwells in Zion” (Joel 3:21).

We are living in a unique hour of history. Joel speaks of the final conflict that will take place in Jerusalem before the day of the Lord. In the wake of Covid-19, the day of the Lord is not only coming but ever so near. The end times is right at our doorstep. Are you prepared? Earth­quakes, wars, famine and pestilences that are escalating in intensity are signs of the end times. All these are but the beginning of birth pangs leading to the imminent coming of the Lord. The church age will soon come to an end. This is the time to put our house in order for “behold, the Judge is standing at the door” (Jam 5:9). You and I need to wake up (Joel 1:5; Rev 3:2), keep awake (Mk 13:33) and stay awake (Mk 13:35, 37) to get ready for “that Day”. Many will fall by the wayside, but there is a remnant whom YHWH calls (Joel 2:32). The remnant is empowered by the Spirit to be messengers of God and His Kingdom in these end times. There is little time remaining to finish the Great Commission. Christians are commissioned “to make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19) by pro­claiming “the Gospel of the Kingdom” before the end comes (Mt 24:14). God’s heart is that “all Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:26).

This is the hour to call on the name of YHWH. Time and tide wait for no one. God is raising up a remnant to call on His Name. The one who truly calls on the name of YHWH will be fully preoccupied with YHWH and His Kingdom. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Mt 6:9-10) Let’s call on YHWH our King to reign in our lives, for this brings us into a dynamic partnership with our Lord Jesus now and in the coming Kingdom to accomplish God’s ultimate purpose on earth.

The Kingdom of God is advancing might­ily and steadily according to His time. The exciting news is that God’s Kingdom is dynamically com­ing ever nearer to us. Are you part of this movement of God in advancing His Kingdom on earth? Our time is running out.

In our outreach work at church, people often ask me about God’s salvation for mankind and how they can be saved. I pray that this book can answer some of their questions so that they too can experience God’s salvation. I also welcome my readers to write and share your thoughts with me.

My prayer is that Yahweh, my God and King, will stir a hunger in your heart to call on His Name. May God be pleased to use this book to lead people to saving faith in the one true God and in Lord Jesus the Messiah.

Rosablanca Suen

Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong

YahwehDeHua@gmail.com

February, 2022