How Will They Hear Without a Preacher by Kevin Ivy. (Romans 10:5-17) There are two paths of righteousness. One is righteousness from the law. Can you be good enough? The other is righteousness from faith. Christ has come to live the life that is required of you.

The National Center for Family Integrated Churches welcomes Kevin Ivey with the following message entitled, How Will They Hear Without a Preacher? And with so many other qualified and capable men speaking at this hour, much more qualified than I am to be here. I had an alternate title, How Will I Preach Without a Hearer? So I'm glad you came. Right now, right now you are my favorite people at the conference, so I appreciate you coming.

Romans 10, we're going to dive right into the text. Romans 10, verses 5 through 17. There's a lot to say in a little bit of time, so just bear with me. Romans 10, beginning in verse 5. The Apostle Paul writes, For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.

But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down, or who will descend into the abyss, that is to bring Christ up from the dead. But what does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith that we proclaim. 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. For with the heart one confesses and is saved.

For with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame for the 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. 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. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord who has believed what he has heard from us. So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.

Let's pray. Father we thank you for your Word. We thank you for the opportunity we have to share and to study and to look into your Word and the truths of this passage. I pray that in spite of me God that you would speak in spite of me that you would move your people now that you would open ears that you would open eyes that you would open hearts to the truth of your word for us in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Paul starts out here in verse 5 by giving us the path of righteousness. The path to righteousness. Now he gives us two options in verses 5 and 6. The first option he gives us is righteousness from the law. He says, for Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law.

That the person who does the commandment shall live by them. So he says there's two paths to righteousness or two potential paths to righteousness. One of them is the path of righteousness that is based on the law. Now what does this look like? He tells us it looks like us keeping the commandments, doing the commandments.

The one who does the commandments, the one who chooses that path to righteousness must live by the commandments. Now what automatically comes to mind when we think of the commandments? The Ten Commandments, right? So let's just think about this summary of the whole law and the Ten Commandments that Moses lays before the people, that Paul is laying before us as a pathway to righteousness. And let's just contemplate how possible this is.

Is this really a potential way for us to become righteous? What are the commandments saying? The first one is, have no other gods before me, right? Have no other gods before me. And that sounds okay when we in this room think about Muhammad.

We don't have Muhammad before God. And when we think about Baal or When we think about Buddha or when we think about Allah or when we think about New Age religions or whenever we fill in the blank with it, we don't have any other gods before Yahweh. I mean, we're at this conference. We come to church. Think about most of America.

Most of America has at least one Bible. On average, it's said that some homes have four. So what would we be doing to break this commandment? We may not have a bell, but we sure do love our ball, don't we? I think probably the biggest worship services that take place in all of America take place on Saturdays around a college football field.

And even to make a statement like that will get you thrown out of many churches so that shows you right there that is it possible that we have dethroned Yahweh and put something else whether it's ball or anything else. On the throne the next one is make no graven image. We know we're good with that one, right? We don't have a little idol sitting upon our mantle. No, we've replaced that with a wide screen LCD TV that pumps into our living room things that makes God disgusted.

Don't take the Lord's name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day. Honor your father and mother. Don't commit murder. Now I'm thinking we're all good there, right?

Until Jesus comes along and he really applies that commandment to our hearts. In Matthew 5, he says, You've heard that it was said of those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. So what Jesus is saying is we can pass off and resist the urge to murder someone that we hate, but if we hate them, we're a murderer in our hearts. Don't steal.

That's one of the commandments. Don't steal. And by the way, don't covet either. Not only can you take it, can you not take it, but you can't want it either. You can't desire it either.

Don't commit adultery. Again, we may pass on that one until Jesus comes along and applies that to our heart as well. He said, you've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Now don't lie.

That's one as well. How are we doing? How are we doing thus far? And to think about it, we must keep this law 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, every year of our life. If we're going to choose this pathway to righteousness, we have to fulfill it perfectly.

For James 2 and verse 10 says, Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. So if we drop the ball in one area when it comes to the commandments one time in all of our life, we have become accountable for the entire law. Galatians 3 10. Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the law and do them. If our goal is to obtain righteousness by the law, we are in trouble, aren't we?

So let's simplify it some more to see if we can help ourselves. If you look in Luke chapter 10, we're going to come back to Romans in just a minute, but in Luke chapter 10, we see the law simplified for us. In Luke chapter 10 and verse 25, look at what happens. It says, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, teacher, notice what he says in verse 25, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Teacher, what do I need to do so that I can get eternal life, so that I can have eternal life?

And he said to him, what's written in the law? How do you read it? And he answered in verse 27, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And listen to how Jesus responds in verse 28. He said to him, you have answered correctly, do this, and you will live. So the lawyer comes and says, what do I need to do to get eternal life?

And Jesus says, what do you think the law says? And the lawyer in his knowledge of the law of God, in his knowledge of the word of God, takes the commandments of God and he summarizes them into two. And he says, first of all, you have to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And you must love your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus says, you have answered well.

Do this and you will live. And then notice what the lawyer does, desiring to justify himself. He said to Jesus, who's my neighbor? He misses the whole point. Here's the point he misses.

He has not loved the Lord his God with all of his heart, with all of his soul, with all of his mind, with all of his strength, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for every year of his life. He is not nailed down commandment one. But he thinks he has. So he just breezes right over that and says, well Define for me who my neighbor is because I've got the first part down. I want to make sure I don't miss out on the second part of loving my neighbor as myself.

And Jesus replied with a parable that most of us know if not all of us know. A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan as he journeyed came to where he was and when he saw him he had compassion.

He went to him bound up his wounds pouring on oil and wine and he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper saying, take care of him and whatever more you spend I will repay you when I come back. Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? And he said the one who showed him mercy and Jesus said what? You go and do likewise.

Now how ludicrous is this? When you look at this story, what did this Samaritan man do? He stopped, he put his life in danger, he walked across the road, he helped nurse this man to enough health that he could put him on his own animal, carry him into town, stayed in a hotel with him, stayed in the inn with him, continued to doctor his wounds, continued to help him recuperate, paid for the hotel bill, promised the innkeeper if he would keep taking care of this man, He would come back and pay the rest of the bill when he came back through town He's doing for this man everything that he would have someone do for him And that's what Jesus says this lawyer must do if he's going to inherit eternal life if he's gonna do enough to earn Eternal life he's gonna have to do just like this Samaritan did for this injured man to all of his neighbors all of the time. And the man still does not get the point. And the point that Jesus is making in all of this is to say you're never going to be good enough.

You can try to follow the pathway to righteousness by the law. You can try to follow the pathway to righteousness by the commandments. You can try to keep the great commandments. You can try to love your neighbor as yourself. But if you really try to love your neighbor as yourself and love me with all that you have, all of the time you are going to miserably fail.

This is what Israel missed. Look back in Romans 10 and just look in verses 3 and 4. Look in verses 3 and 4 of Romans 10 and see how Paul sets us up for these two paths to righteousness by pointing out Israel's failure. He says in verse 3, For being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. So the law of God is set before Israel, they are required to keep the law of God.

And rather than seeing that they can't keep the law of God, rather than coming to their wits in rather than recognizing themselves as hopeless and helpless and totally depraved, They sought to establish their own righteousness rather than submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. The law was not meant to save us, but to show us that we have bigger problems than we think we have. We are not, hear me, hear me out, we are not sinners because we sin. We are not sinners because we sin.

We sin because we're sinners. The problem is not primarily what we have done or what we have not done. The problem primarily is who we are. The problem is us. Jesus himself said in Mark chapter 7 verses 21 to 23, four from within.

Out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and they defile a person. We are not pretty good people, people. We are impure. We are filthy.

We are wretched. We are sinful and obtaining our righteousness by keeping the law is absolutely hopeless. It's hopeless. Traveling down this path leaves us hopeless, it leaves us helpless, it leaves us at rock bottom unless our religiosity has so blinded us that we think we're actually good. We find ourselves at rock bottom and we realize we need someone to save us.

We need someone to help us. We need someone to redeem us And that brings us to the second pathway set before us in verse 6. We have the righteousness from the law and then we have the righteousness from faith in verses 6 through 8. Look at what Paul writes. But the righteousness based on faith says, do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down, or who will descend into the abyss, that is to bring Christ up from the dead, but what does it say?

The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim. Now Paul is taking us all the way back to the law here. He's taking us all the way back to the law, back to Deuteronomy, the summary of the law, chapter 30, verses 11 through 14. Listen to what he's quoting, what he's paraphrasing here in the New Testament for us.

The words of Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 30, for this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. We just saw that it is too hard didn't we it is not in heaven that you should say who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it neither is it beyond the sea that you should say who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it. But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart so that you can do it. Wait a minute Moses.

We can't do it. Israel's supposed to see that. Israel's supposed to feel that. Israel's supposed to know that. And then Paul comes along in Romans 10 and he shows us what Moses is trying to teach the people in these verses.

Look at how closely they parallel these verses in Deuteronomy. But the righteousness that is based on faith says, do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven. And then he puts in parentheses there to explain for us that is to bring Christ down. Or who will descend into the abyss, parentheses, that is to bring Christ up from the dead. Notice carefully how Paul just weaves into the law that Moses wrote, into this passage that Moses wrote.

Christ, who's going to ascend into having to bring Christ down? No one. He's gonna come and he's gonna be born of a virgin. He's gonna be born in a manger in Bethlehem. Who's gonna descend into the abyss to bring Christ up?

No one because he's gonna be crucified and he's gonna be buried and he's gonna be placed in a bar tomb for three days. And on the third day, the father is going to raise him up. Israel, you don't have to go fetch Christ from heaven. Israel, you don't have to go fetch the answer from the grave. God's going to do it for you.

And that is why it's not too hard for you. Because Christ has come to live the life that is required of you. Christ has come to live the life that is required of every one of us, to fulfill every jot and every tittle of the law of God, every ounce of the will of God. He's fulfilled it absolutely perfectly. And because God is God and he can do it, he will take that righteousness and impute it to his people so that when he sees his people, he does not see us but he sees Christ.

And he doesn't stop there. He's going to go to the cross and he's going to suffer under the wrath of Almighty God. All of the wrath of God is going to be poured out on Christ because he doesn't see Christ on the cross. He sees the sin and the iniquity and the transgression of his people in Christ, and he pours out his wrath on Christ and punishes our sin. The Son of God is killed, he's placed in a tomb, and on the third day he rises victorious, triumphant over death, over hell, and the grave.

This is not too hard for you people. The way of faith is not too hard for you because Christ has done it. You can choose pathway one and try to keep the law and and fulfill the righteousness by keeping the commandments 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, or you can find yourself at rock bottom, hopeless and helpless, and turn the other direction to the cross of Christ. We are hopeless without Christ. So Paul sets the stage.

Paul sets the stage for us to see our hopelessness which leads us to verses 8 through 10 as we see the proper response to this. When we are encountered by this gospel that we can't measure up no matter how hard we try, no matter how good we are, we can't measure up. And then we're answered with the hope we find in Christ. How do we respond to that? Verse 8, what does it say?

The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim. 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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. According to these verses, this reality of Christ, this reality of the gospel, this reality of righteousness by faith is found in our hearts and in our mouths.

What does it mean? He says, If we confess with our mouths and we believe in our heart, we'll be saved. What does the heart do with Christ? It believes. What does the mouth do with Christ?

It confesses. Hearts believe. Mouths confess. And we are saved. Now be careful here.

This is why I wanted this passage. This has been burning on my heart for years and years and years. It's cost me many people in our churches who've gone to other churches that I've been a part of. Because what we have seen is some take great liberty with these verses and say, if you believe and you confess, you will be saved, guaranteed. So you just say this prayer.

You repeat this prayer after me. And if you say these words and you confess Christ in this prayer and you really mean it in your heart right now at this altar as we play the fifth verse of Just as I Am after manipulating you down the aisle, then you are guaranteed salvation. And our churches, especially Southern Baptist churches, are slammed full of people who have walked down an aisle and they've repeated a magic formula called a sinner's prayer and have been told they are guaranteed eternal life based on these verses. And I want to propose to you this morning that this is not the proper response that Paul has in mind. This is not the proper response.

What does it mean to confess? What does it mean to confess with your mouth? We have to take this verse in light of the rest of the Word of God. The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible. So let's take this verse in context with the rest of the Word of God and see that these are not just words.

This is not just something that comes out of your mouth that you repeat or that you say at an altar at some point. Jesus said in Matthew 7 and verse 21, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. He tells us right there, you can say, Lord, Lord, you can confess him as Lord, and you're not guaranteed eternal life. It's what the Bible says. Then he tells a parable in Matthew 21 that is so fitting for our day and time.

Listen to this parable. It says, what do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, son, go and work in the vineyard today. And he answered, I will not.

But afterward he changed his mind and went. Let me just put this in perspective today for us. The preacher is standing up and he's preaching the message, and at the end of the message, he gives what is called an invitation or altar call, and he invites people to say yes to Jesus, and there's a man or a boy or a woman or a girl in the back and he or she says no. And they walk out the doors and as they're on their way home they change their mind about Christ and about who they are and they look to Christ and they run to Christ and the pastor would say they're not saved because they didn't walk the aisle. That's what happens here.

He answers wrong but his mind changes and he does right. He repents and obeys. Then look in verse 30, he went to the other son and said the same and he answered, I'll go sir, but he did not go. Same scenario, man, boy, woman, girl sitting in the service, the preacher finishes his sermon, he gives the altar call, They rush down the the owl butterflies in their stomach, knees knocking. They say, I want Jesus and they repeat the sinner's prayer.

Go out and live like the devil from that day forward, never following Christ, never obeying Christ. Comes time for their funeral and the preacher declares this person saved. But what is Jesus saying? In verse 31, which of the two did the will of his father? And they said, the first and Jesus said, truly I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes will go into the kingdom of God before you do.

Could it be? Could it be that confessing Christ with our mouth means more than just saying the right words? If we look at the whole Bible in context, could it mean saying, meaning more than just saying the right things. Look down in verse 13, he seems to reiterate this point. He says, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Now we think that just has to mean at an altar during an altar call at the end of a service or in a sinner's prayer. But let me just point you to this verse in 1st Corinthians 1-2. It says, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place what? Call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what a Christian is characterized by?

Calling upon the Lord. We call upon the Lord when we get up because we need him to help us through the day. We call upon the Lord when we get the bad news at the doctor's office because we know he is the great physician. We call upon the Lord when our vehicle breaks down or when the medical bills roll in or when whatever happens, when we lose our job because we know he is Jehovah Jireh, the great provider. We call upon the Lord when we're about to be married as we pray about the spouse.

We call upon the Lord when we have another child on the way because we want God to get the glory for that child. We call upon the Lord for our churches, we call upon the Lord for the ends of the earth and the nations who are yet to know him. Christians are characterized by calling upon the name of the Lord and I would just present to you that it's very likely that Paul has in mind here in verse 13 not just calling on the name of the Lord at the point of salvation but someone who is characterized by calling on the name of the Lord. Coming to God for salvation means believing on Christ in your heart and confessing with your mouth. What comes out of your mouth is not a word that has been put in your mouth by an evangelist.

What comes out of your mouth is what comes from your heart. And I would say it doesn't have to be complicated. What did the thief on the cross say? Remember me, Lord. What did the publican say?

Lord, have mercy on me. What does it mean to confess? What does it mean to believe? Let me just tell you three things at least. Number one, it means to believe in.

Believe in Christ, born of a virgin, living a sinless life, going to the cross, dying on the cross, being buried in a bar tomb, resurrected from the dead, ascended into heaven and returning again. Believing in Christ, saving faith, believing in the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and soon return of Christ. But that is not all. Because James 2 tells us, even the demons believe and shudder. And in the literal Greek it gives the idea of their hair shutter hair standing on the and I'll know if demons have hair but if they do when they think of God when they think of Christ their hair stands on the end.

Who do you think believes more? We in this place who probably most of us if not all of us are seasoned believers are the demons who have seen him with their eyes and experienced him in their lives. The demons aren't walking by faith, they're walking by sight. They know, they know Christ is risen. They know Christ is living.

They know that God is real. They know that his word is true. We're walking by faith. I would present to you that the demons believe in God more than we believe in God. At least they tremble at him.

At least they tremble. So it's more than just believing in. It is believing in, but it is also believing on. Believing on Christ. It is looking to Christ.

It is throwing ourselves upon his mercy and throwing ourselves upon his grace and knowing that we have absolutely no hope and we have no help outside of the righteousness of Christ, outside of the atoning work of Christ, outside of our Savior and our Lord Christ. We look to him, We throw ourselves upon his mercy and we trust him with all of us We trust him to do what is right with us We believe on him and we obey him Scott Brown gave many verses last night about the importance of obedience from the Word of God. Saving faith is an obedient faith. Jesus said in John 3, 36, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life." Do you see how he uses those two words almost interchangeably there?

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. Believe and obey. 1 John 3, 7 and 8, little children, let no one deceive you, not even a well-meaning pastor. Let no one deceive you, whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous.

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. Believers are characterized by following Christ, by obeying Christ. This word believe, this word believe in John 3 16 for whoever believes literally means to commit to, to trust in, to rely on. So it's a believing in, it's a believing on, and it's an obedience to. Whoever believes like this confesses with their mouth and gives evidence that they are saved.

It's not just a decision. It's a radical life transformation. Look in verses 11 and 12. This is something good for me as a homeschool dad and I'm sure there's some others in here. For the scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.

There's no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. God's word to us this morning is that his forgiveness and fellowship is extended freely to every one of us. It can be extended freely to everyone out there, whatever our background may be. It's not available only to those who dress like us, look like us, talk like us, educate like us, and are raised by families or in families like us. What did Scott say last night?

He says if our families have become so pure that we can't tolerate the lost with all of their marks of worldliness we're in trouble. And I fear that we have become especially if we're sovereignty of God people doctrines of grace people we can say well you know they God sovereignly placed him in that family God sovereignly placed him in that environment so there's really no use in me sharing the gospel with them there's really no use in me telling them about Christ because you know God's sovereign God's gospel is is is presented to all it's available to the ones covered in tattoos piercings and characterized by dysfunction and sin I wonder if Rahab the harlot would be welcome in some of our churches. I'm wondering if Mary Magdalene would be allowed in some of our churches. I'm wondering if Paul the persecutor would be allowed in some of our churches. It's not our job to sample the soil but to scatter the seed, right?

Because the gospels extended freely to all. You remember the parable Jesus told about a sower who went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed his seed, some fell on the hard ground, and immediately the birds of the air scooped it up and took it away. And then some of it fell on rocky soil. It was shallow and underneath that bed of soil there were some rocks so that it immediately sprung up. But because it had no depth of soil and the rocks kept the roots from going down, the sun beat down on it and scorched it and killed it.

And then some was sown among the thorns and it shot up and it grew and it lasted longer than the other two, but in time the thorns and the briars and the weeds choked it out and killed it so that it couldn't bear fruit. But some of it landed on good soil and it bared 30, 60, some 100 fold. And Jesus tells us the meaning of the parable. The first soil is the hard soil. These people have a hard heart.

They hear the gospel message and immediately it falls on their hard hearts and Satan is lying in wait to just take it away. It's not penetrating and he just takes it away. They forget what they've heard and listen, the sower sows his seed knowing that some is going to fall on hard hearts, knowing that Satan is lying in wait, and yet he sows his seed. He doesn't say, well that heart seems too hard and Satan seems to be around the bend. I think I'll save my seed for better soil.

The rocky soil, because it's shallow, springs up quickly. It's a shallow heart. This heart has been shaped by a worldly, cultural worldview rather than a biblical worldview. They can't think. They're shallow in so many areas that maybe they can't even understand the gospel.

And then the world's waiting to pounce on them, but the sower doesn't save his seed. He sows his seed, even on the shallow soil. And then there's that American soil. I mean, it's the thorny soil that's crowded out by the cares and the riches and the pleasures of this life. Just so wrapped up in this world, so wrapped up in the temporal, so wrapped up in the things of this life.

And the sower sows his seed. He sows it on the hard. He sows it on the shallow. He sows it on the thorny. He sows it and some gets to the fruitful and it grows and it bears fruit.

Friend, we are not in the business of soil sampling. We're in the business of seed sowing, for the gospel is extended freely to all. To all who will believe in and on obediently, confess with their mouth, live their lives dependently calling upon their Lord. They can be saved. So what's our personal responsibility in light of this?

Paul takes us down this journey, says there's two paths to righteousness. There's one that's a dead end. It's the righteousness by the law, by keeping the law, by keeping the commandments that Israel tried to carry out. This path is supposed to end at a dead end and leave you hopeless and helpless with nowhere to turn. The other option is Christ, the gospel.

How do you respond to that? By believing and confessing, calling on the Lord. That's good news. Now what is our personal responsibility now that we know this? Verses 13 to 15, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, but how are they to call on Him in whom they've not believed?

I mean this is a no-brainer question Paul's asking. How are they going to call on Him if they don't believe? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without somebody preaching? And how are they to preach unless they're sent?

How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news? Because that's where it begins with the one who preaches the good news so that they can hear the good news and believe the good news and call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Did you know that more than 5.5 billion people in the world today are without Christ? 5.5 billion people in this world day are without Christ and we can't count that high before we die. If we counted every second of every hour of every day of our lives We can't count that high.

Five and a half plus billion people are without Christ and how are they to call on him if they don't believe? And as if that were not serious enough, more than a billion of these people have never heard the gospel at all. They don't even know who Christ is. More than a billion people have never heard the gospel. How are they to believe in Him of whom they've never heard?

And let me just tell you, friend, if they die, if they die today without hearing the name of Jesus, they don't get a pass into heaven. Read the beginning of Romans and you'll find out they go to hell. They go to hell without Christ. How are they to believe if they've never heard? How are they to hear without someone preaching?

When we're encountered with this grace of the gospel and this hope in the gospel and we're encountered by the fact that people have to believe to call and they have to hear to believe, we ought to be moved to preach the gospel. Because how are they to hear without someone preaching? If this is true, we need to pray, and we need to give, and we need to go like never before. Notice Paul says, how will they Believe in him of whom they have never heard. Can't remember if it was Thomas Aquinas or St.

Francis of Assisi. One of them made a very popular comment about preach the gospel always and when necessary use words. Well I'm definitely an advocate for living a Christ-like life of integrity. But Paul says they have to hear words. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ.

Preach the gospel. The gospel is made up of words. How are they to hear if we don't preach? Now listen, God has chosen Himself a people from all the nations of the earth. He has chosen Himself a people from every people group on the earth.

And He's come to atone for their sin and He's come to impute to them His righteousness and He will save some. He will save His people from every nation, every tongue and every tribe. We see it in Revelation 7, around the throne, a great multitude that no one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. God's going to save himself a people from every nation, tongue, and tribe. He will be worshipped by people from every nation, tongue, and tribe.

And sometimes there's sovereignty of God, people that can lead us into fatalism. Where we say, well, you know, God's going to save his people with or without me." That's what they told William Carey when he wanted to go to India. His church leader said, if God wants to save the people of India, He can very well do it without your help. He could, if He would, but He won't. How can I say that?

Because not only is God sovereign over his people, but he is sovereign over the means of reaching his people. And he has declared, he has decreed that his people will go and call the lost to salvation. That's the way they come to Christ he says it right here how are they to believe without hearing how are they to hear without preaching the gospel And how are they to preach if they aren't sent? Well that lets you off the hook, right? Because maybe you're not sent.

You're thinking of a preacher. You're thinking of a vocational missionary. And it's true there are sendings and callings that are special. But don't say that you aren't sent. God has an agenda for reaching the five and a half plus billion people who don't know Him and guess who it is?

You. There's no plan B. There is no plan B. He has issued this call to us and He has made it clear. Listen how clear He's made it.

Matthew 28. We heard it last night. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you and lo, I'm with you always even to the end of the age. And just in case you didn't read Matthew to the end and wanted to jump to Mark, he puts it this way in Mark chapter 16 and verse 15. He said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

And just in case you skipped Mark or didn't read it all the way to the end, we get into Luke's gospel in Luke 24, 46 and 47. He said to them thus it is written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem And just in case you didn't read Matthew, Mark or Luke, but you took John's gospel because somebody handed it to you and told it told you it was the easiest to read. He said in John 20 21. Peace be with you as the Father has sent me. So I'm sending you and if you have a pattern of not reading the books all the way to the end, You get into Acts and he puts it right at the beginning.

In Acts 1 verse 8, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Now notice here, God has sovereignly put in his word in Matthew, in Mark, in Luke, in John, and in Acts the commission, the command for us to go. He's sending us. He's sending us. We have absolutely, positively, no excuses.

So don't say to yourself, I'm not sent, so I'm not gonna speak. I'm just little old me and I've never been sent out. You're being called and commanded and commissioned to go with the gospel and proclaim the gospel to those who will hear. And some of those who hear will believe. And all of those who believe will call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.

That's God's plan for reaching the world. Don't say I'm not sent so I won't speak. Say, here I am, send me. And Dr. Beekie made it clear this morning that one of the greatest motivations to missions is seeing the glory of Christ.

Remember what happened in Isaiah chapter 6? Isaiah is caught up in a vision and he sees the Lord sitting upon a throne. High and lifted up in the train of his robe filled the temple above him stood the seraphim each had six wings with two he covered his face because he can't even as a seraphim he can't even look upon the holiness and the almighty glory of God With two he covered his feet because even as as a sinless creature he still humbled in the presence of God and with two he flew because even as one of God's angels he must obey and be ready to obey. And one called to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.

And we see a very parallel passage in Revelation chapter 4 where there are four beasts with six wings crying out, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. And I believe these are the same beings. And the four beasts in Revelation, they have six wings and they're covered with eyes in front and behind. One looks like an ox, one looks like a lime, one's like an eagle in flight, one has the appearance of a man, they're covered in eyes in front and behind, and they're crying out to God, Holy, holy, holy. You know what the word holy means?

It doesn't just mean righteous. It doesn't just mean pure. It doesn't just mean sinless. It means other. Not like us.

Here are these beings covered in eyes in front and behind. Six wings and all they can say in the presence of this great, trying God is, you are not like us. You are greater than us. You are holy, holy, holy. And we who have the fear of God put in us by one of these beings, See these beings have the fear of God in them because of His glory.

Imagine what it would do to us to see His face. Imagine what it would do to us to behold His glory. The Bible says the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of Him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And Isaiah sees this vision. And He sees the glory of God.

And he sees his sin. And he sees his sin atoned for. And the first thing he declares is, Here am I. Send me. Maybe our biggest problem, our biggest problem, including myself, maybe our biggest problem in obeying and fulfilling the Great commission is not that we don't believe the Great Commission it's not that we don't believe people dying go to hell it's not that we don't believe we've been called and commissioned but maybe it's because we don't see God and his glory and in his authority and in his power as we should Maybe if we were caught up in his glory, maybe if we were caught up in his holiness, maybe if we were caught up in God, we couldn't help but share the gospel.

See God and say, Send me. Send me to an unreached people group. Send me to my neighbors. Send me across the office. Send me to the telephone.

And let me just close right here very quickly in verses 16 and 18. You see we have a personal responsibility but we must go with the biblical gospel when we go. And it takes us back where we began. Verse 16, they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord who has believed what he's heard from us?

So faith comes from hearing and hearing through four spiritual laws. Hearing through our Roman Road. Hearing through our faith, F-A-I-T-H. Hearing through our... Whatever you want to fill the blank in with.

No. He says faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. What is the Word of Christ? It's the Word of God. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If we are going to go and preach, by all means make sure you're going and preaching the gospel. Not a gospel based on righteousness and keeping the commandments because that's a dead end. No, preach the gospel that is based on our sinfulness, God's holiness, and Christ's Perfect sufficiency to redeem us preach Christ crucified Christ buried Christ resurrected Christ returning call people not to repeat a prayer though praying is not bad Call them to repent and believe the gospel. And when they believe the gospel like a newborn babe they will cry to Him. Faith comes from hearing.

Hearing through the Word of Christ. The question we have to answer this morning is will we go? Will we go? And as we go, will we preach? And as we preach, we know some will hear, some will believe, and all who believe will be gathered around the throne singing salvation to our God for all eternity.

We are his plan for reaching the world with the gospel. I pray, I pray that he would move us and challenge us to be obedient. Let's pray. Father we thank you for your word. We thank you for the privilege we have of seeing the gospel in every passage in your word.

God, we just are driven to Christ. We thank you, God, that you have moved us to believe, to call upon you, to confess you as our Lord and to follow you. You've given us a responsibility Lord to preach, to go and to preach so that they may hear and believe and call. And I pray from this room, maybe from those listening on the audio, that you would call yourself a people that would go and call to salvation people from the ends of the earth to our back door. We'll give you praise for how you work.

For it's in Christ's name we pray and for His sake alone we ask it. Amen. The National Center for Family Integrated Churches is dedicated to proclaiming the sufficiency of scripture for church and family life, and to the establishment of biblically ordered churches. For more information, resources, and products, please visit our website at www.ncfic.org. Ncfic.org.