A. The Jehovah's Witnesses believe the Lord Jesus is not God and so therefore should never be worshiped.
1. Reverent adoration should be expressed only to God. To render worship to anyone or anything else would be a form of idolatry...True Christians do well to direct their worship only to Jehovah God, the Almighty (Awake! April 8, 2000, page 26+27). Since "every prayer is a form of worship" (The Watchtower, December 15, 1994, page 23) this would mean that praying to the Lord Jesus is not allowed.
B. To "call upon the name of the Lord" always meant prayer/worship rendered unto God in the Old Testament.
1. Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His footstool; Holy is He. Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called on His name; They called upon the LORD and He answered them. He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; They kept His testimonies And the statute that He gave them. O LORD our God, You answered them; You were a forgiving God to them, And yet an avenger of their evil deeds. Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His holy hill, For holy is the LORD our God (Psalm 99:5-9, NASB).
2. Then I called upon the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!" (Psalm 116:4, NASB)
3. I called on Your name, O LORD, Out of the lowest pit. You have heard my voice, "Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help." You drew near when I called on You; You said, "Do not fear!" (Lamentations 3:55-57, NASB)
C. This same phrase is applied to the Lord Jesus thereby proving that He is to be prayed to/worshiped. Many of the sources I have cited where other passages are mentioned will appear in 1 Corinthians 1:2.
In Luke:
D. Acts 7:59
They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:59-60, NASB).
Although the first "Lord" does not appear in the Greek text I have included this prayer along with the others.
1. Danker: Just as Israel was to understand her role as one of obedience to the God who saved her, so the Christian is to see the moral and ethical implications of this recognition of Christ's claim to ownership expressed so often in such a phrase as "Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus." Out of such conviction the iron of steadfast confession was smelted. As the stones came flying at Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." (Acts 7:59) (Creeds in the Bible, page 45, c. 1966).
2. TDNT Stephen prays: kurie Iesou dezai to pneuma mou (Ac.7:59) (5:771, paradeisos, Joachim Jeremias).
3. Mounce: Jesus is the addressee when epikalew is used in the sense of praying (Acts 7:59) (Mounce's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Call, page 93).
4. Robertson: {They stoned} (eliqoboloun). Same verb and tense repeated, they kept on stoning, they kept it up as he was calling upon the Lord Jesus and making direct prayer to him as "Lord Jesus" (kurie iesou)
http://www.godrules.net/library/robert/robertact7.htm
5. Vincent: An unquestionable prayer to Christ.
http://www.godrules.net/library/vincent/vincentact7.htm
6. Vine: Prayer is properly addressed to God the Father, Matt. 6:6; John 16:23; Eph. 1:17; 3:14, and the Son, Acts 7:59; 2 Cor. 12:8 (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Prayer, page 872).
7. Bruce: This is surely an early, if tacit, testimony to the Christian belief in our Lord's essential deity (The Book of the Acts, page 171).
8. David Peterson: But he pointedly 'calls upon' the Lord Jesus in prayer instead of the Father, trusting him for salvation through death and beyond. Thus, he articulates his belief in the divinity of Christ. Then 'he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them". Jesus prayed to the Father that those crucified him might be forgiven (Lk. 23:34), and Stephen prays for the forgiveness of those stoning him, once again addressing Jesus as Lord (Pillar New Testament Commentary, Acts, page 269).
9. The prayer offered by Stephen when he was being martyred is recorded at Acts 7:59, 60 (The Watchtower, February 1, 1959, page 96)
E. Acts 9:14, 21; 22:16
And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name (Acts 9:14, KJV).
All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, "Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?"(Acts 9:21, NASB).
'Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.' (Acts 22:16, NASB).
1. Joseph Alexander: not those who are called (or call themselves) by thy name, which would be otherwise expressed, as in ch. 15, 17 below; but those who invoke thee, call upon thee for help and protection, and recognize thee as an object of worship. This is the true sense of the phrase in Greek as well as Hebrew, and may be distinctly traced in the usage of both Testaments. (See above, on 2, 21. 7, 59, and compare the Septuagint version of Gen. 13,4. Deut. 32, 3. Ps. 98, 6. Joel 2, 32) (Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 9:14, page 366).
2. Joseph Alexander: Those invoking this name, i.e. in their prayers or worship, which had now become a distinctive mark, and therefore an expressive designation, of all believers or disciples. (See above, on 2, 21. 7, 59. 9, 14.) (Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 9:21, page 372).
3. Joseph Alexander: invoking it in worship, recognizing Christ's divinity and sovereignty, as an indispensable prerequisite of baptism. (See above, on 2, 21. 7, 59. 9, 14. 21.) (Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 22:16, page 764).
4. Paton Gloag: Evidently Christ, as being the Person mentioned directly before and after; not God (Grotius). This is one of those incidental proofs of the divinity of Christ which continually occur in the sacred narrative. He was the object of Christian worship; and hence Christians are represented as those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:2) (The Acts of the Apostles, Acts 22:16, Volume 2, page 294).
5. Whedon: Call on thy name—A clear declaration that the very peculiarity of the Christian was praying to Jesus. (Acts 9:14)
http://www.studylight.org/com/whe/view.cgi?bk=43&ch=9
1. Reverent adoration should be expressed only to God. To render worship to anyone or anything else would be a form of idolatry...True Christians do well to direct their worship only to Jehovah God, the Almighty (Awake! April 8, 2000, page 26+27). Since "every prayer is a form of worship" (The Watchtower, December 15, 1994, page 23) this would mean that praying to the Lord Jesus is not allowed.
B. To "call upon the name of the Lord" always meant prayer/worship rendered unto God in the Old Testament.
1. Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His footstool; Holy is He. Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called on His name; They called upon the LORD and He answered them. He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; They kept His testimonies And the statute that He gave them. O LORD our God, You answered them; You were a forgiving God to them, And yet an avenger of their evil deeds. Exalt the LORD our God And worship at His holy hill, For holy is the LORD our God (Psalm 99:5-9, NASB).
2. Then I called upon the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!" (Psalm 116:4, NASB)
3. I called on Your name, O LORD, Out of the lowest pit. You have heard my voice, "Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief, From my cry for help." You drew near when I called on You; You said, "Do not fear!" (Lamentations 3:55-57, NASB)
C. This same phrase is applied to the Lord Jesus thereby proving that He is to be prayed to/worshiped. Many of the sources I have cited where other passages are mentioned will appear in 1 Corinthians 1:2.
In Luke:
D. Acts 7:59
They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:59-60, NASB).
Although the first "Lord" does not appear in the Greek text I have included this prayer along with the others.
1. Danker: Just as Israel was to understand her role as one of obedience to the God who saved her, so the Christian is to see the moral and ethical implications of this recognition of Christ's claim to ownership expressed so often in such a phrase as "Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus." Out of such conviction the iron of steadfast confession was smelted. As the stones came flying at Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." (Acts 7:59) (Creeds in the Bible, page 45, c. 1966).
2. TDNT Stephen prays: kurie Iesou dezai to pneuma mou (Ac.7:59) (5:771, paradeisos, Joachim Jeremias).
3. Mounce: Jesus is the addressee when epikalew is used in the sense of praying (Acts 7:59) (Mounce's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Call, page 93).
4. Robertson: {They stoned} (eliqoboloun). Same verb and tense repeated, they kept on stoning, they kept it up as he was calling upon the Lord Jesus and making direct prayer to him as "Lord Jesus" (kurie iesou)
http://www.godrules.net/library/robert/robertact7.htm
5. Vincent: An unquestionable prayer to Christ.
http://www.godrules.net/library/vincent/vincentact7.htm
6. Vine: Prayer is properly addressed to God the Father, Matt. 6:6; John 16:23; Eph. 1:17; 3:14, and the Son, Acts 7:59; 2 Cor. 12:8 (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Prayer, page 872).
7. Bruce: This is surely an early, if tacit, testimony to the Christian belief in our Lord's essential deity (The Book of the Acts, page 171).
8. David Peterson: But he pointedly 'calls upon' the Lord Jesus in prayer instead of the Father, trusting him for salvation through death and beyond. Thus, he articulates his belief in the divinity of Christ. Then 'he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them". Jesus prayed to the Father that those crucified him might be forgiven (Lk. 23:34), and Stephen prays for the forgiveness of those stoning him, once again addressing Jesus as Lord (Pillar New Testament Commentary, Acts, page 269).
9. The prayer offered by Stephen when he was being martyred is recorded at Acts 7:59, 60 (The Watchtower, February 1, 1959, page 96)
E. Acts 9:14, 21; 22:16
And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name (Acts 9:14, KJV).
All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, "Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?"(Acts 9:21, NASB).
'Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.' (Acts 22:16, NASB).
1. Joseph Alexander: not those who are called (or call themselves) by thy name, which would be otherwise expressed, as in ch. 15, 17 below; but those who invoke thee, call upon thee for help and protection, and recognize thee as an object of worship. This is the true sense of the phrase in Greek as well as Hebrew, and may be distinctly traced in the usage of both Testaments. (See above, on 2, 21. 7, 59, and compare the Septuagint version of Gen. 13,4. Deut. 32, 3. Ps. 98, 6. Joel 2, 32) (Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 9:14, page 366).
2. Joseph Alexander: Those invoking this name, i.e. in their prayers or worship, which had now become a distinctive mark, and therefore an expressive designation, of all believers or disciples. (See above, on 2, 21. 7, 59. 9, 14.) (Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 9:21, page 372).
3. Joseph Alexander: invoking it in worship, recognizing Christ's divinity and sovereignty, as an indispensable prerequisite of baptism. (See above, on 2, 21. 7, 59. 9, 14. 21.) (Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 22:16, page 764).
4. Paton Gloag: Evidently Christ, as being the Person mentioned directly before and after; not God (Grotius). This is one of those incidental proofs of the divinity of Christ which continually occur in the sacred narrative. He was the object of Christian worship; and hence Christians are represented as those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:2) (The Acts of the Apostles, Acts 22:16, Volume 2, page 294).
5. Whedon: Call on thy name—A clear declaration that the very peculiarity of the Christian was praying to Jesus. (Acts 9:14)
http://www.studylight.org/com/whe/view.cgi?bk=43&ch=9
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