How Shall they Hear Without a Preacher

Introduction

I feel like it has been an eternity since I have had a chance to preach the word since we have had two weeks of visiting preachers. We have been working our way through the book of Romans and a currently in Romans chapter 10:14-17 (Read the text). In this section of the text, Paul is going to address the work of evangelism.

Sadly in our country today, evangelism has become less and less important to believers. Lifeway research found that 85% of Christians believe that sharing their faith is expected by Christ, but fewer than 24% are confident in their ability to share their faith and actively engage in evangelism. Less than 1% of American churches have any kind of an ongoing program for evangelism. Our church has seasonal door to door evangelism which by the way has had some fruit. We have had multiple vistors who have come because of our efforts over the past three years. Our Invite Your One days have been amazing opportunities to evangelize lost friends and co-workers. We could debate about the effectiveness of our programs and seek to come up with better ones, but it is important for the church to prioritize evangelism. Think about the other programs we have in the church:

We have Sunday school programs and children’s ministries because we think teaching the scriptures is important

We havre fellowship activities to spur on the bodily connection of the members of the church

We have deacon’s and care groups to encourage member care in the church

We have a choir with choir practice because we think skillful worship is important

What I am saying is that anything that is essential to the ministry here at HHBC and important has been planned out. I know we can do evangelism on our own, but we are less likely to actively engage in it when it isn’t purposely planned. I think many of us have grown weary in soul-winning because we don’t see the results we would like to see. I want to tell you my story to highlight how effective evangelism can be in a heart that God has been working in.

Many of you know that my family was not a Christian family in the early years of my growing up. My dad was in the military and stationed in Misawa, Japan when I was about 8 years old. But I want to back up just a little bit in my story to show how God was working. My mom had grown up pretty staunchly Catholic and even considered becoming a nun. Luckily that didn’t happen. Periodically, maybe twice in my life, we went to the Catholic church. But that brief exposure to Christianity had an effect on me. My mom gave me a pocket sized Catholic bible when I was young. One time I tried to run away from home and I took my bible, a slinky and a robe because I was going to become a monk.

Right before we moved to Japan, my aunt and cousins tried witnessing to me about Jesus. At the time they were professing evangelical Christians. That was the first time I heard the gospel. All it accomplished at the time was getting me hooked on DC Talk a Christian rap group. When we got to Japan, my dad started looking for answers because he was afraid of the end of the world. We ended up renting a Christian film called “A Thief in the Night.” He didn’t hear the gospel in the film but was convinced of what was in the film. When my mom brought the movie back to the store, there were men passing out “God’s Simple Plan of Salvation” tracks out front. She took it home to my dad who read it and got saved. That Sunday was my first time in a Baptist church and on the way back my dad took that gospel track and led me to the Lord.

Now let me ask you a question? How did my family get saved? Summarize it in simple words. Did someone directly witness to my dad? Did we attend a church first? Did my dad have a Christian coworker who invited him over to witness to him? No, all it took was some men handing out a gospel track.

Paul claims anyone can get saved: Jew or Gentile, but in order for that to happen; someone has to get the word out. It is our primary, fundamental command given to the church. In his argument, Paul asks a series of Rhetorical Questions. A rhetorical question is a question where the answer is assumed in the question. In our text, he is going to ask a series of question where the answer is assumed “They can’t”

These questions will build like a chain. If you look at a chain, it is a bunch of pieces of metal looped together to make a strand. If you break anyone of those pieces, what happens to the chain? It drops. In our text, we see a chain because of the overlapping words in each phrase:

call believe

believe hear

hear preach

preach sent.

We are going to look at the chain of questions, Paul asks this morning because I want us to see that the tool God uses to save people is the witness of other Christians.

How shall they call if they haven’t believed

I mentioned last time that calling and confession are not additional requirements on top of faith to be saved. Rather, they are expressions of the faith. This verse is the proof text for that. Before anyone can live the type of life where they pray to God, call on him; they have to have faith in their heart. I used the illustration last time of a man who is drowning in the ocean. He sees a boat passing by and calls out for someone to rescue him. He only calls out because he believes that boat can save him.

Not believed- One of Paul’s main focuses in chapter 10 is that man is responsible for his own damnation if he doesn’t believe. It isn’t God’s fault that people die and go to hell. Ultimately, God has given them truth that they can receive or reject. When a person hears the gospel, that is God calling them to accept it. But many have just don’t believe. They do not place their faith, their trust in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Without that faith they cannot be saved. If we were to trace the chain to its end, the last link would be salvation.

Pauls says in Acts 16:30–31 “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” I believe we developed this point last time so we aren’t going to spend more time unpacking its meaning here. If you are here this morning and you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your savior, I would invite you to do so today. Don’t put it off, don’t be one of those who believed not.

How shall they believe if they have not heard

The next link in the chain is believing comes from hearing. How is it that anyone is going to know about Jesus and what he did on the cross? Somewhere along the line they are going to have to hear a gospel presentation. The word hear carries carries the idea of learning about something by listening to it. No one gets saved without having heard about Jesus and his death, burial and resurrection. Think about it this way.

Let’s say that you were dying of some disease. You have gone to treatment after treatment and nothing has been working. Your doctors have done all they can do it seems. What you don’t know is that some scientist somewhere has come up with a sure proof cure for your disease. Unfortunately, you have never heard about the cure. What good will that cure do you if you have never heard about it? (ask for an answer)

In order for that cure to do you any good, you have to have heard about it. The gospel can only save people who have heard it. The word hear implies atleast two things:

Someone has to tell them

You can hear the gospel through a gospel track like my family did when I was a kid, or through a movie, or a song even; but there is nothing like hearing it from another person. There is a reason scripture puts so much emphasis on believers actually telling others about the gospel. You are an embodied message. 2 Corinthians 3:2–3 “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” People can observe your life. If Jesus had made a difference in the way you live, that adds credibility to the message of the gospel. According to Paul, you are read of all men. Everyone around you who knows you are a Christian reads that message. You are manifestly declared- openly made known written with the Spirit of the living God- as the Holy Spirit changes, transforms you it adds power to the message you proclaim.

Think about it this way, would you rather have a love letter from someone you love; or their actual presence in your life? They mean more than the letter. There is so much more that can be accomplished through Christians living out their faith and sharing that faith with those around them.

Every witness is an opportunity for God to speak to their hearts

The Commentators debate over two words that you might think are insignificant: of whom. In Greek the words are what we call a Genitive. Usually when you see an of in the bible it is a Genitive. Now they can be used in different ways, but let’s use an English example. In 2 Corinthians 5:14 “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:”

The phrase can mean two different things:

Objective Genitive- loving Christ

Subjective Genitive- the love that Christ has for me

When we see the words of whom they can also be either subjective or objective

Objective Genitive- hearing about Christ

Subjective Genitive- hearing Christ Himself

John 10:27–28 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

Every presentation of the gospel is God reaching out to mankind. Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

How shall they hear without a preacher

Most of the time, God uses means to accomplish this. If I were to try and nail two boards together, I might be able to slowly hit that nail with my bare fist long enough that the nail would go into the boards, but if I want to make that easier, I will use a hammer. God has sovereignly chosen to use you and mean to bring other men and women to Christ.

You remember that illustration about the life saving medicine that you hadn’t heard about. Imagine if the doctors who were treating you had heard about the medicine, but they chose not to tell you. What excuses could they possibly give:

Maybe they thought that you would be resistant to the medicine so they didn’t tell you.

Maybe they thought you wouldn’t like the side affects so they didn’t tell you.

Maybe it was an embarrassing procedure so they felt awkward telling you.

Maybe they got so busy with their other hospital duties that they forgot to tell you.

Maybe they felt they weren’t a good enough doctor to do the procedure so they didn’t tell you.

Would you accept any of those reasons if you were dying of a disease they could have told you there was a cure for. And yet if you think about each and everyone of those excuses, they are the same one’s we make about sharing the gospel. If people are going to hear, they need a preacher.

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

How shall they preach except they be sent

Finally, there are those throughout our world who will not hear unless the church sends them. The word sent is the same word as apostle here but in its informal sense refers to anyone who has been commissioned as a messenger. The church plays a role in sending messengers in two ways:

Organized evangelism- the church cannot sit back and accidentally hope the gospel is being given out. I believe and know that there are those among you who do share the gospel when opportunities arise, but the church has an obligation to be more intentional about our evangelism.

Sending and supporting missionaries- missionaries act as our emissaries in another country with the gospel.

Conclusion

In conclusion, let’s string this all back together. John Stott summarized Paul’s argument like this:

The Message of Romans 3. The Necessity of Evangelism (14–15)

The essence of Paul’s argument is seen if we put his six verbs in the opposite order: Christ sends heralds; heralds preach; people hear; hearers believe; believers call; and those who call are saved

People’s hope of salvation is dependent on human instruments to being that message of salvation. But I want to close with two final applications:

Romans 10:16–17 “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Not everyone will believe the message- do not be weary in well-doing. Some may hear and still reject. On average a person has to hear the gospel up to 20 times before they get saved. That not always the case, but there will be those who will never accept. That is no excuse for disobeying Christ’s command. Don’t get discouraged and quite. We shall reap if we faint not.

The primary means that God uses to produce faith in the life of a person is hearing the word of God- Think about it this way, you could be the grace of God to that person. You could be the one God uses to stir up faith in their heart. That is exciting. To think how powerful our witness can be in the hand of God.

This morning I want to ask, have you grown tired of sharing the gospel; have you thought to yourself that this is pointless. So many are not getting saved. I understand and things will probably get worse the closer we get to the end times, but don’t lose sight of how God is using you in giving that message to people. Think about how awesome it is to be working alongside Jesus Christ in bringing salvation to people. To know that the words of your mouth are being used to try to draw men to Christ and produce faith in their hearts. That truly is exciting. This morning, I am calling for those of us who have become down-hearted over sharing the gospel to recommit ourselves to the task. Will you join me this morning.