Romans 10:14-21 "Preach the Gospel"
Romans Expositional Study • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Brothers and sisters, I want you to consider for a moment your own salvation. For some of you there may be a moment in your life that you can look back to when you were outside of Christ and then you were miraculously saved from the deadness of sin and brought into His light. Your experience may have been relatively uneventful but the miracle is seen in every sinner who recognizes their condition outside of Christ, their need of salvation and by the mercy God you fly to the Savior. This miracle of salvation can take place in the church, a fraternity/sorority house, or in the bedroom of your Christian home. The location really doesn’t matter as much, but it does come back to one thing that was most certainly present. The working of the Word of Christ. It was through the word of God read, preached, and proclaimed that broke your heart of stone and by the power of the Holy Spirit made you wise unto salvation. You may be here this morning and you may not have experienced this saving grace. Stay tuned and you will hear the word of salvation today. For a brief moment I want to remind you of a few contextual elements to the book of Romans. First Paul is the writer of the book of Romans. He writes this letter as a man who had not ever physically been with the members of the church at Rome but he was with them in Spirit. Paul says this in Romans 1:8–15 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” Paul longed to be with them. The Roman Church was likely made up of gentiles and possibly a small number of Jews not too much different than we would find in the church today. Up to this point Paul has labored to demonstrate the need of salvation for the entire human race. None are good and God is. He also demonstrated that God’s working of salvation is not by accident but it was planned from all eternity. Over the last few weeks we have heard the longings of the apostle Paul for his Jewish brothers’ salvation in light of their clear rejection of the gospel. He also reminded us that God’s word has not failed because it has seemed to be the least effective to those who it should have effected the most. Is this not still an issue for us in the church? Indeed we who hear the word most often walk away not nearly as changes as we ought to be. In spite of this, the Gospel has gone forth and is bearing fruit in the whole world. The Lord is working salvation in all types of people everywhere. We ended last week with these two verses Romans 10:12–13 “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” Brothers and sisters, what was written nearly 2000 years ago still stands true today Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” As we come to our text this morning, I will be breaking down our text in these main ideas:
Main Points
Main Points
Will You Make Him Known? Ro 10:14-15
The Word Of Christ Us Supreme Ro 10:16-17
The Lord is Gracious and Steadfast Ro 10:18-21
Sermon Text Romans 10:12-21
Sermon Text Romans 10:12-21
English Standard Version (Chapter 10)
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for
“Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.”
19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,
“I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;
with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”
20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,
“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”
21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
Exposition
Exposition
1. Will You Make Him Known? (Ro 10:14-15)
1. Will You Make Him Known? (Ro 10:14-15)
Again, it is important that we come to our text today with Rom 10:12-13 in our minds. Despite what was commonly believed by the Jews, when it comes to salvation, there is no distinction. There is one savior, and one sacrifice that brings salvation to everyone who has ever been saved. Consider for a moment how radical of a change has taken place in the apostle Paul to speak these words. In Paul’s own words this is who he was Philippians 3:5–6 “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” Paul had been taught his entire life that he was a member of he chosen people of God that righteousness and all piety dwelt with them. That was until the Lord Jesus knocked him off his proverbial high horse. The message that Paul proclaims here in verses 12-13 are in almost complete opposition to the one who at one times was breathing threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord Jesus. The Change that took place in the apostle Paul was wrought by the Lord who brings salvation without distinction in nation, creed, and tongue. Indeed verse 13 puts it this way Romans 10:13 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””. Everyone means everyone. If you by faith will call upon the name of the Lord you shall be saved. There are many outside of the reformed tradition who might level a charge against the belief that God is sovereign over the salvation of His chosen people by pointing to a text like this. They may say something like “Don’t you see that anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” To those who proclaim the truth about God’s electing grace we say yes and amen to this verse. We certainly believe that all who call upon the Lord in faith will be saved. Yet the only people who will call upon the Lord by are the elect of God. The Lord will never prevent anyone who wants to be saved from being saved. Yet we will see later this morning as we go through our text an example of people who should have believed the message and yet still rejected it.
In light of the amazing truth that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved the question comes:
Romans 10:14–15 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!””
If the people are to call upon the Lord they must know who he is in order to call upon His name. Paul uses the word “they” in this text several times. There has been much ink spilled on trying to narrow down the “they” that Paul is referring to. As we will see later in our text, the “they” he is referring to is primarily the Jews but not the Jews exclusively. This message applies to all of us and especially to Israel.
The question still rings: How can you believe if you haven’t been told you need to believe? How can you believe in Christ if you have never heard of Him? The answer is, you can’t believe in Christ if you have never heard the message of Christ.
Another question then comes: What about those people who have never heard the gospel of Jesus? How will they believe and be saved? The answer is: unless someone preaches the good news they will perish without ever having heard the message.
Dr. Sproul makes this observation in his Romans commentary: "There are still thousands of tribes and people in this world who have never heard a single word about Jesus Christ. In fact, every day in human history a record is broken: more people died today without hearing the name of Jesus Christ, than on any day since God created Adam and Eve, and tomorrow will break today’s record."
For every Christian who has tasted the sweetness of salvation in Christ this should make our hearts burn that the message of the Gospel would go forth in our community, our nation, and the world.
Paul does give us some help in finding a solution to that concern. How are the people of the world to hear without someone preaching? It is here that we gain some insight in the normative way that people hear the good news of Jesus Christ. It is the ordinary preaching of Gods word that the Lord uses to call people unto himself. Therefore, the question is - Are we seeking to proclaim the gospel by supporting and sending preachers and missionaries to perform the work of heralding the gospel? Are you preaching the gospel of Christ yourself? Brothers and sisters we must ask ourselves these urgent questions.
2. The Word of Christ is Supreme (Ro 10:16-17)
2. The Word of Christ is Supreme (Ro 10:16-17)
Paul comes back to the issue of the Jews that I mentioned. Speaking specifically of the Jews he points out the fact that despite receiving this message they have disobeyed the gospel. The jews recieved all of the promises. They were told over and over again about the God of salvation and yet their hearts remain disobedient and contrary. This message was preached in veiled form in the OT and and the set-up for the coming of Jesus was perfect and yet the people remained obstinate. Paul quotes Is 53 which is where our call to worship this morning is from. How could they have missed what the gospel of Isaiah was proclaiming in Isaiah 53? Jesus actually speaks of this in John 12:36–43 “When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” They rejected Him and should have recognized what was going on. Yet though they had eyes and saw the incarnate Jesus they were blind. They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
In many ways Christian, you may walk around discouraged in the fact that so often the word of God is preached and seems to fall on deaf ears. You may be tempted to think that maybe we have this whole gospel message thing wrong. Maybe we could do this thing or that program and it would bring many more people to faith. Maybe we would be more effective in bringing lost sinners to the Lord if we just played more contemporary music, had more programs, employed the use a fog machine, or wore nicer clothes. Fill in the blank. The apostle Paul knew that sacraments, ceremonies, and festivals were not enough to coax the people of Israel into faith. Those things didn’t convince him to believe they actually probably hindered in some ways from believing. It was not until his encounter with the Lord Jesus the living Word that his eyes were opened. Paul had primary source evidence of what he writes in Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
In Paul says this 1 Corinthians 1:21–25 “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
It has pleased God to use the ordinary preaching of His word to bring about the salvation of multitudes. This is why it is important that we seek to see the gospel advance and go forth by supporting the preaching of the gospel. It surely is a beautiful thing for the word to be preached. The only way feet can be beautiful is if you can use the quotation that Paul does here in verse 16. Despite how dirty the feet are of the preachers of God from the labor of the word of God it is a beautiful sight indeed when the word is proclaimed.
This brings us to our final point.
3. The Lord Is Ready to Save All Who Will Come To Him by Faith (Ro 10:18-21)
3. The Lord Is Ready to Save All Who Will Come To Him by Faith (Ro 10:18-21)
To demonstrate the inexcusability of Israel in rejecting the Lord Jesus Paul takes us through a series of rhetorical questions to demonstrate the hardness of the hearts of the Jews.
Paul asks:
1. Have they not heard?
2. Have they not understood?
Israel who had the very words and promises of God are not excused in their unbelief. They cannot claim they have not heard the message. They cannot claim they have to understanding. The Lord clearly spoke through His prophets and His Son. Yet, like the wicked tenants in Luke 20 who beat every pleading servant sent by the master eventually killed the Son of the master. Like Jesus said in John 12:43 “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” They did not seek the Lord but the glory of themselves - rejecting the Lord. Despite the clear message from the Lord about these things, about the fact that he would call a people who was at one time not a nation they remain obstinate and hardened.
Brothers and sisters, The hardness of Israel should be a vary stark warning call for us to be on guard against developing hard hearts towards the promises of God that he has clearly revealed. I do for a moment want us to pause and consider an OT story that many of us are probably aware of. If you aren’t familiar with this story I encourage you to read the first 8 chapters of the book of Joshua in your OT or come talk with me.
Consider for a moment Rahab the Canaanite prostitute. The Lord had commanded that the city of Jericho and all that was in it be destroyed and devoted to destruction. This was the first city encountered as the people of God entering the promised land. Rahab was in that city along with all of her family and she like the rest of the city was doomed to destruction. Yet Rahab chose to protect the plans of the people of Israel and to identify with Yahweh and the people of Israel rather than to identify with her Canaanite city. Rahab a gentile had faith in God and he spared her and her household. In fact, this gentile prostitute is named in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus.
In the same book, you have the example of Achan an Israelite who disobeyed God by taking some of the things God had told him destroy. He thus chose to Identify with Canaanites rather than with Israel God’s chosen people. The result is that Achan, his entire house, were treated as Rahab and he family should have been by being devoted to destruction.
I bring this OT example up to you because this is a picture of how God has acted from long before Jesus became incarnate. The Israelites were repeatedly instructed in the ways of the Lord and yet their hearts remained hardened. They have example after example, prophecy after prophecy and yet they reject.
Their rejection stands as a testimony to the people of God in all ages. In fact, it stands as a picture of the God who “But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”” Having knowledge about Jesus and hearing His word does not save you. Israel had knowledge, and heard and yet they rejected Him.
This is why coming to faith in Christ does not depend on how smart you are or how much you know about the bible. It doesn’t depend on what family you were born in but it depends on the Lord who in His electing grace calls people to Himself. This is why the apostle Paul labored to show us the truth about God’s choosing a people for himself in Romans 9. This is the only way any person would ever come to faith.
I will close with a word from Dr. Sproul “If we were left to ourselves, if there were no election, if there were no predestinating grace, none of us would ever come to Christ, simply because we would never want to come, because we are by nature disobedient and rebellious”
Yet, the Lord has chosen to bring people both Jew and gentile to faith through the ordinary means of the preaching of the word.
I ask you today, have you confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead? Have you trusted in Him? If not, will you believe and confess today?
Christian, I ask you how are you seeking to see the gospel go forth? How are you proclaiming the gospel of your salvation? Did you know that the simple of message of Jesus has the power to save a sinner from eternal death? Will you support the advancement of that?
Lets pray.
