Reference: Call
Easton
(1.) To cry for help, hence to pray (Ge 4:26). Thus men are said to "call upon the name of the Lord" (Ac 2:21; 7:59; 9:14; Ro 10:12; 1Co 1:2).
(2.) God calls with respect to men when he designates them to some special office (Ex 31:2; Isa 22:20; Ac 13:2), and when he invites them to accept his offered grace (Mt 9:13; 11:28; 22:4).
In the message of the gospel his call is addressed to all men, to Jews and Gentiles alike (Mt 28:19; Mr 16:15; Ro 9:24-25). But this universal call is not inseparably connected with salvation, although it leaves all to whom it comes inexcusable if they reject it (Joh 3:14-19; Mt 22:14).
An effectual call is something more than the outward message of the Word of God to men. It is internal, and is the result of the enlightening and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit (Joh 16:14; Ac 26:18; Joh 6:44), effectually drawing men to Christ, and disposing and enabling them to receive the truth (Joh 6:45; Ac 16:14; Eph 1:17).
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"I desire mercy rather than sacrifice:" for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.
Come unto me therefore all ye who are labouring and oppressed, and I will give you ease.
Then he sent other servants, saying, Tell them that are invited, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come to the wedding.
for there are many called, but few approved.
Go ye therefore and instruct all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
And He said unto them, Go to all the world and preach the gospel to every one:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth on Him may not perish, but have eternal life. read more. For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish, but have everlasting life: for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved by Him. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not, is already condemned; because he hath not believed on the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
No one can come to me, unless the Father, who hath sent me, draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, "And they shall all be taught of God." Every one therefore that hath heard and learned from the Father, cometh unto me.
He shall glorify me, for He shall take of mine and shew it unto you.
And whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved."
And they stoned Stephen calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
and here too he hath authority from the chief priests to apprehend all that call upon thy name.
and as they were ministring to the Lord, and fasting, the holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work to which I have called them.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a purple-seller of the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things that were spoken by Paul.
to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan unto God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.
whom He hath also called, even us, not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles. As He saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people, who were not my people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.
For there is no difference of Jew and Greek: for He being Lord of all is bountiful to all that call upon Him.
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to the knowledge of Him,
and Timothy our brother, to the holy and faithful brethren in Christ at Colosse: grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Watsons
CALL, to name a person or thing, Ac 11:26; Ro 7:3.
2. To cry to another for help; and hence, to pray. The first passage in the Old Testament in which we meet with this phrase, is Ge 4:26, where we read, "Then began men to call on the name of the Lord," or Jehovah; the meaning of which seems to be, that they then first began to worship him in public assemblies. In both the Old and New Testament, to call upon the name of the Lord, imports invoking the true God in prayer, with a confession that he is Jehovah, that is, with an acknowledgment of his essential and incommunicable attributes. In this view the phrase is applied to the worship of Christ.
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And they assembled in the church a whole year, and taught much people: and the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.