Faith Comes By Hearing
Notes
Transcript
Intro; When we started this last section in our Christian Life Studies on Witnessing Effectively, we talked about becoming Fishers of Men. Jesus said we are to “follow Him” to become effective witnesses of the Gospel.
To follow Jesus is to be taught and trained in casting the net of the gospel [confrontational/lifestyle evangelism], in the power of the Holy Spirit into the sea of humanity and letting God draw to Him those that will be saved.
Tonight we’re going to build upon that by implementing actions so that “Faith Comes by Hearing”.
Text; Rom. 10:13-17
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
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.
Prayer
1. Whoever Calls on the Lord; 13
1. Whoever Calls on the Lord; 13
This verse is one of the most precious promises of God in all the Bible. It simply states that every person who is ever born, regardless of country, race, gender, social status, time or the depth of their sin, they can still be saved by faith and forgiven from their sin through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ!
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
God is not a respecter of persons, “shows no partiality”, in the judgement of sin and therefore He shows no partiality in salvation by faith in His Son, Jesus Christ!
“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”
How does one do that?
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
“Confess with your mouth”- confess that Jesus Christ is God incarnate and that He came to be the propitiation/sacrifice for man’s sin.
“Believe with your heart”- you have to believe what you are confessing. That not only did Jesus die for our sin but He also rose again to eternal life.
Believing is righteousness and confession of that belief brings salvation!
What a wonderful promise of God! Amen! But here’s the twist. No one knows this without a witness of this precious promise. That’s where we come in.
Let’s consider four questions posed by the Apostle Paul
2. How then shall the call upon Him; 14a
2. How then shall the call upon Him; 14a
How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed?
The lost can’t call upon Jesus to be saved until they believe;
That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures
And that He was buried
And that He was raised from the dead on the third day
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
3. How can one believe in Him; 14b
3. How can one believe in Him; 14b
And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
The lost cannot believe in Jesus until they hear the good news of the gospel of salvation in Christ;
The Ethiopian eunuch had to hear to believe
26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.
27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship,
28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet.
29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
Paul had to hear to believe;
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Cornelius had to hear to believe;
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.
45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,
47 “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
The Philippian jailer had to hear to believe;
30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
A person cannot believe in Jesus for salvation until they hear about the salvation of Christ through the message of the gospel.
4. How can one hear; 14c
4. How can one hear; 14c
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
The lost cannot hear the good news of salvation without a preacher [witness].
I used this scripture in a message entitled “Asking In Jesus Name” a few weeks ago. It is Jesus talking about the work we do as witnesses/followers;
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
Jesus is saying that we have the ability to reach more people with His gospel than He did.
3000 souls were saved on the Day of Pentecost because 120 disciples of Christ witnessed of His death, burial and resurrection
The Ethiopian eunuch was saved because Philip witnessed to him
Paul was saved because Stephen, Jesus and Ananias witnessed to him
Cornelius and his household was saved because Peter witnessed
The Philippian jailer and his household was saved because Paul and Silas witnessed. Only heaven knows how many in the prison was saved that night as well.
You and I were saved because somebody witnessed Christ to us!
5. We Are Sent; 15-17
5. We Are Sent; 15-17
And how shall they preach unless they are sent?
Paul states that the gospel is not to be hoarded for self but is to be shared with all. Therefore we must go in haste with the message of hope and salvation in Christ.
16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 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,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
The witness of the gospel has beautiful feet [welcome message to those being saved]
7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
[v.16-17] Though we have the message of hope, not everyone will receive it or believe it. But to those who do, it will become faith unto salvation in Christ!
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
15 For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
Close;
Based upon the scripture we just read the lost cannot be saved without a witness. They must have a witness to hear the gospel, they must hear to believe, they must believe to call on Jesus’ name, and they must call on Jesus to be saved.
But the cannot call until they believe and they cannot believe until they hear and they cannot hear without a witness.
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”
