How Shall They Hear?

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This is the fourth and final message in a short series of sermons regarding the three main purposes or priorities of the church. This sermon speaks about the "Outward Priority" to go out and spread the kingdom of God over all the earth. The sermon asks, "Why should we go?" "Who should go?" and "How should we go?"

Written Excerpts:

Romans 10:14 ^(NKJV) 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?

Introduction:

First, I want you to look at the passage in Acts 8 that was read earlier. I want to share a few observations about this story.

1. (v.1) When persecution began to get intense, the believers were “scattered” EXCEPT the apostles. This is a key point in understanding another verse later.

2. (v.4) Those who “scattered” went everywhere preaching the word.

3. Taken together, these two verses give us a clear indication on how the apostles and early believers interpreted Jesus’ command when He said, “Go into all the world…” It wasn’t restricted just to the leaders, but was practiced by all believers.

4. (vv. 11, 13) One of the new converts had previously practiced sorcery (witchcraft) and had astonished the public with his power and “magic.” But when he saw the power of God working through the apostles, he was amazed. He hadn’t seen “anything” yet.

I guess I have been preaching a mini-series without actually announcing it as a series! It all began a few weeks ago as I was reading a book recommended by Dr. Sillings and Rev. Howard Russell. The book describes the three primary purposes of the church: 

·     Upward – Glorify God

·     Inward – Nurture, Edify, Care for other believers

·     Outward – Spread the Kingdom of God on earthOnce I decided to preach on the first one, I just kept following through with the others.

Therefore, today we are going to be talking about the third primary purpose of the church – the outward purpose. That is, to spread the kingdom of God through proclamation of the gospel and the demonstration of divine love.

Before we get started, however, I want to mention one more thing regarding the message last Sunday.

Near the end of the sermon last week, I mentioned the best way to nurture and care for one another would be to meet in small groups. (It’s not really possible to know the cares and burdens very well when we only meet in Sunday morning worship services. It’s not possible to encourage and build each other up at just the right time, if we don’t know what’s going on in each other’s lives.)

I do not really have the time to try to organize small groups. However, if God should lay it on someone’s heart to do it, I would be willing to provide guidance and direction. Or, perhaps there would be several individuals that feel God speaking to you about hosting a small group in your home, and you would be willing to invite several to join you.

Ok, let’s move on.

The Scripture text I want to begin with is found in Romans 10:14-15 – 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? 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!"

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

þ   Calling on Christ requires faith in Him.

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.

How will people hear about Christ? They won’t unless someone tells them.

The 3^rd priority of the church is to bring the world to Christ. Or, “bring Christ to the world.” But they won’t know about Christ unless someone tells them. That is why the title I chose for today’s message is, “How Shall They Hear?” 

As we think about taking Christ to the world and spreading the kingdom of God over the earth, let me provide a few insights for our consideration.

I.    Why should we go?

·     God deserves the worship of every person.

A few weeks ago as we talked about giving glory to God as our 1^st priority, I mentioned that God deserves the worship of every person in our township; county; state; nation; world.

Instructor in Perspectives Course shared how this concept changed his perception on evangelism and sharing the gospel. Rather than feeling bondage over warning people about hell, he began to feel privileged to tell them why God deserves their worship.

·     People are lost without Christ.

Having just stated that being in bondage to warn people about hell is not necessarily a good motive, yet we do need to always remember that EVERYONE is lost who does not know Christ in a personal saving relationship. Down & Outer; Up & Outer; “good person”; it doesn’t matter who they are. If they do not know Christ, they’re currently lost, and they are at risk of being eternally lost.

II.  Who Should Go?

Everyone. Refer back to Acts 8:1, 4.

I grew up in an era where the generally accepted method of bringing sinners to Christ was “invite them to church and let the preacher preach to them.” Many people have accepted the philosophy that the reason we hire a pastor is for him/her to save the lost and add to the church.

Remember:

·     We already mentioned at the beginning of this series, the “Upward Purpose.” We come together primarily to worship the Lord and give Him the glory and adoration He deserves.

There will be times when God lays it on the heart of the pastor to preach an evangelistic message, but if that was done nearly every Sunday, then the believers would never grow deeper in their understanding and obedience to the Word.

·     Also, Eph. 4:11 tells us that God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints and the edifying of the body of Christ.

III.   How Should We Go?

·     With an understanding of the gospel message. Learn key verses that describe how to be saved.

·     With a personal experience of transforming grace in our own lives. We can't pass on what we don't have our selves. 

·     Bathed in prayer and in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are only instruments. The Holy Spirit does the work of convincing and convicting.

The model in Acts shows the apostles and believers starting out with special baptism of the Holy Spirit, then they lit the world on fire.

Conclusion:

Jesus Christ left His disciples with the mandate to impact the world. That mandate is still ours today.

Our closing song, O Zion, Haste, reminds everyone one of us that we have been given a task to accomplish. As we sing this hymn, let us ask the Lord to give us wisdom and the anointing of His Spirit to fulfill the task before us.