That the World May Know

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This is a sermon based on Romans 10:14-21, and it is part of a series of messages that Pastor Les has been preaching through the book of Romans.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

In John chapter 17 John recorded the prayer of Jesus for his disciples before the crucifixion. Near the end of the prayer, Jesus prayed specifically for the unity of his disciples so the “world may know” that the Father had sent his Son into the world. The implication of the request was that when unbelievers witnessed the unity of Christ’s disciples, it would be a major influence upon them to believe in Jesus as the Messiah and Redeemer.

In this portion of Romans 10, the Apostle Paul is reminding his readers that God’s intention and ultimate goal is for the salvation and redemption of all the world. That is the reason I chose words from Jesus’ prayer as the title for my sermon today. God wants the world to know about Him. He has a plan for the world to know about Him. You and I are part of His plan.

Before we examine the remainder of chapter 10, I want to remind us that this passage is directly tied to the preceding verses. Paul has explained why God has rejected the Jewish nation, because of their failure to mix faith with obedience. (9:30-33)

He has explained that the Jews did not take advantage of the blessings and privileges of the covenant that God had provided to them. Again, this was due to their lack of faith. (10:1-4)

Then Paul has digressed a bit to provide an explanation of what salvation by faith involves. The concluding verse of this section simply states, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (10:5-13)

As soon as Paul writes those words, it seems like he suddenly feels the need to explain how impossible it is for everyone to call on the Lord, if they haven’t heard about the Lord. And therefore, he continues by proclaiming the necessity for believers to share the message.

Let us take a look at what Paul has to say regarding the plan God has designed for getting the message and His saving grace to the rest of the world.

ii. God offers righteousness by faith to the world. (14-21)

Anyone who has read the Bible knows that God wants everyone to be saved. He is not willing for anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance and receive everlasting life. God wants our neighbors to be saved just as much as He wanted us to be saved. He wants Gentiles to be saved as much as Jews.

Paul has already told us that Israel, as a nation, missed God’s plan for them because they did not seek it by faith and obedience. The Gentiles are now being offered an opportunity to become a part of God’s work in the world because they are responding to the message with faith and obedience. Faith mixed with obedience has always been the key for salvation and for God’s blessing.

Paul asks several rhetorical questions to which he doesn’t give answers, because he assumes we know the answers.

a. The offer involves messengers and receivers. (14-17)

¹⁴ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!" ¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" ¹⁷ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Here are the “links” in the chain of faith that Paul understands:

þ    Calling on Christ requires faith that it will bring about desired result.

þ    Faith in Christ requires hearing about him and understanding what I’ve heard.

þ    Hearing about Christ requires a messenger to tell me about him.

þ    Messengers who tell about Christ must be sent out with the commission to proclaim the message.

In these verses it is clear to see that preaching the word of Christ is a vital part of the process of faith.

Preach = proclaim. There are probably many ways to proclaim a message or to proclaim the truth. But one thing is clear, preaching/proclaiming is absolutely necessary for faith. Hearing the proclamation is absolutely necessary for faith.

There are a lot of activities going on these days in churches under the name of Christian ministry that doesn’t ever get around to proclaiming the word of God nor the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, Paul boldly states, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God!”

There are plenty of nice, pleasant things that I could say to cause people’s emotions to be stirred up a little, but if I understand what Paul is saying here, it won’t do any good to stir up people’s emotions if they haven’t been presented with the WORD of God.

It won’t do any good to stir up people’s emotions if they do not understand the basic message of the gospel in order to repent of their sins and turn from their unrighteousness and put their full confidence in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

People who come to church and get their emotions stirred by sensational stories will still leave church as much as sinner as they were when they came unless they hear the proclamation of the truth and repent and confess faith in Jesus!

b. The offer is universal. (18-19)

¹⁸ But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: "Their sound has gone out to all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world."
¹⁹ But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: "I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation."

The next two verses in this section deals with Paul’s assertion that the message of God has gone out into all the world. This sounds very similar to the words of the Psalmist, Psalm 19:1-4 (NKJV) ¹ …The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. ² Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. ³ There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. ⁴ Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world….

It also reminds me of the Apostle’s words back in the very first chapter of this letter.

Romans 1:19-21 (NKJV) ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God….

Paul is affirming the fact that the call of God has gone out into the world.

While we may acknowledge that the whole world has not heard about the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet, both Paul and the Psalmist David seem to acknowledge that the general revelation of God that is available in nature is enough to make every human being accountable to God in some extent.

He affirms that the nation of Israel has had the message and the opportunity to know God and to be used by God.

c. The offer is optional. (20-21)

²⁰ But Isaiah is very bold and says: "I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me." ²¹ But to Israel he says: "All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people."

These last two verses in chapter 10 make it clear that God will not force Himself on anyone. He gives everyone the ability to make a free choice whether they will respond in faith to the message or reject the message. In verse 20, Paul is emphasizing the fact that the Gentiles found Jesus Christ and He was revealed to them even though they weren’t deliberately and purposely seeking Him.

Now, Paul isn’t saying that Jesus just goes around saving people regardless of how they respond. No, he is simply explaining the fact that even though the Gentiles didn’t go seeking the Lord… They responded in faith when they discovered that the Lord was seeking them.

On the other hand, God had hand-picked Israel to be the recipients of many, many privileges and blessings. As we noted in our previous message, at the beginning of chapter 10 Paul lists some of the privileges that Israel had received. However, in spite of these privileges, they had rebelled, they had forsaken the covenant of God and willfully chose to go their own way.

You see, the call of God has always been optional. God won’t force you to respond to his call. He won’t force you to obey him. He gives each and every one of us the option to respond in faith and obedience.

Conclusion:

In closing, I want to re-emphasize the point that we read about in the opening verses of this section (vv. 14-17).

God’s heart is for the lost. God is not willing for anyone to perish.

God has a plan for the salvation of the lost and it includes the important aspect of preaching (proclaiming) the gospel.

This is just one of many passages of scripture that emphasize the need for believers to spread the word to every creature so that they can also be privileged to hear what we have heard and be saved.

We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations! Hymn # 446