Romans 10:18-21 "The Beckoning of God"

Introduction

It is amazing that Paul writes the greatest defense of the Christian gospel to a church that is under the shadow of the capital city of the Roman Empire. An empire that has embraced a plurality pagan gods. An empire that was corrupt to its core both politically and culturally as a society.

I think Paul knows that the only hope for such a people is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that gospel would eventually conquer Rome and the empire would be a venue by which the gospel would spread to Gentile nations.

God’s revelation can’t be held back from accomplishing His purposes.

God is so good to every single person who has ever lived. He builds in the revelation of Himself in His creation of the Universe. Then He is so good that He even writes the moral law on the hearts of men from the very beginning of their lives.

We learn this from Romans 1 and Romans 2. God beckons man in His divine goodness through all of this to come to Him in the general sense. This appeal from God is Universal in its scope. Look back to verse 18 of your text:

I.The Universal Appeal (18).

Paul continues to ask rhetorical questions as he has done in the context. The question here in verse 18 is in regards to people hearing. He wants to know if people are hearing through the word of Christ. And he responds to his own question by quoting from Psalm 19:4 “Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”

Now if you are familiar with Psalm 19 you know it is one of the key declarations of the glory of God revealed in Creation itself. If we just take Psalm 19:1-4a-- “1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4a Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”

What we see here that the heavens are declaring the glory of God and the sky itself proclaims the handiwork of God. But if we were to stop and listen with our physical ears we can’t hear anything. So how do the heavens declare and the sky proclaim?

They declare through their undeniable existence and appearance to the human eye. This is a basic argument from design and how design demands the existence of a designer.

If you were to read on in Psalm 19 you would see that the Psalmist is not just talking about a sea of blue in the atmosphere above but he makes reference to the Sun being like a bridegroom leaving his chamber like a strong man running his course.

The Psalmist talks about the order of the sun’s path and the fact that nothing is hidden from its heat. It is down to such an order we measure time by it. The Sun doesn’t take a chaotic path but an ordered one.

The Psalmist here appeals to the observation of human perception as it appears to all human beings.

Science would tell us that the Sun is actually the center of our solar system and the planets revolve around the Sun. And all of the revolutions can be measured and display a definite order and design.

But how is this the word of Christ that is heard? Colossians 1:15-17-- “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

The solar system is His creation and it is ordered and held together by Christ. And as all the planets revolve around the sun so does all of life revolve around Christ.

We have already saw this same truth of God’s existence and order being referred to in Romans 1:18-23.

To deny God’s design in creation in the favor of naturalistic evolution is a blatant attempt to rob God of His glory in Christ. It should not ever surprise us that atheism fights so hard to rid the education system of intelligent design in science.

To deny the proclamation of God’s existence and glory in Christ is to deny the very underpinnings and foundation of a biblical worldview. The binding issue for the atheist is not their unbelief in God but it is the fact that God Himself doesn’t believe in atheist.

Atheism is truth suppression because every person knows the truth it is undeniable.

So after directing us to the proclamation of creation, Paul ask a question concerning Israel that points us in the direction of God’s underlying intent.

II. The Underlying Intent (19-21).

Notice Paul’s question in verse 19: “Did Israel not understand?”

Then in response he references Moses in the law and the prophet Isaiah.

The law reference from Moses in verse 19 is from Deuteronomy 32:21. The context of Deuteronomy 32 is the Song of Moses where Moses proclaims in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel. He even calls heaven and earth to listen as a witness before the people.

In a nutshell the Song of Moses is a declaration of the goodness and salvation of the Lord on behalf of His covenant people; and their idolatrous response to the Lord and His judgment coming because of it.

The Lord’s underlying intent is revealed as He intends to judge Israel by raising up another nation by provoking Israel to jealousy. This is one of the places where we see the hope for the Gentiles being prophesied in the law.

God judged the people of Israel by choosing another people group for Himself besides just Israel alone. This is the underlying divine intent of God. He planned to save Gentiles as well as Jews and it was foretold all the way back in the law of Moses.

Next he references Isaiah 65:1-2 in verse 20-21. Notice the contrast between the Gentiles and the Jewish people.

Gentiles found without seeking. They were not looking for the Lord but it was the Lord who has “shown” Himself to the Gentiles. The Lord made made Himself known to them. The very ones who were not seeking Him or asking for Him, the Lord revealed Himself to them.

But Israel He held His hands out all day long to a disobedient and contrary people. They rejected God’s revelation of Himself and embraced idolatry. The followed the culture of their day and worshipped pagan deities fashioned from the imaginations of men.

It is just as true today as it was in ancient times, when you sever your ties to the God of the Bible any false god will do in an inclusive depraved culture like the ancient Roman Empire.

Dr. D. James Kennedy said several years ago, “Tolerance is the last virtue of a depraved society. When you have an immoral society that has blatantly, proudly, violated all the commandments of God, there is one last virtue they insist upon: tolerance for their immorality.”

Such a society is not afraid of the God of the Bible because they are in denial of His existence or His Holy, righteous character.

In America we have adopted the worldview of a practical atheism because we imagine that it is the only worldview that requires no faith and therefore it provides us a neutrality where conflict over religious belief doesn’t exist.

This is the Marxist/Communist dream of utopia where the state replaces God in a society and the State dictates absolutes to the people over whom it rules.

Christian the reality is that there is no such place of neutrality because Creation declares the truth and so does the moral law. God is still working His transforming grace because He rules supreme over the Universe. And in the last century over 100 Million where slaughtered in the name of a better world under Marxism.

Atheist hate God and they despise His name being invoked in the culture. As Evangelist Ray Comfort loves to point out: “Atheist don’t hate fairies, leprechauns, or unicorns because they don’t exist. It is impossible to hate something that doesn’t exist. Atheist hate God because He does exist.”

And they hate that people believe in Him and believe in His objective moral truth and in the moral responsibility of all of God’s creatures to submit to His authority.

Conclusion:

Unbeliever if you are convicted over your sin today, it is a wonderful thing. The implications are that you are being called to Him today to put you faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. God is the only one who can work this miracle of grace in you. He beckons you to come to Him. Do not harden your heart but believe the gospel of Jesus Christ for salvation.

Ever saw that bumper sticker that says, “Christians aren’t perfect, they are just forgiven”?

The difference between the Christian and the pagan is simply that the Christian is forgiven and our disobedience is met with the extended arms of God’s grace to us in Christ.

And He is working in us, sanctifying us by His Spirit and truth at work in us. Christian this table calls us to look to Christ as we examine our heart in preparation for the Lord’s table.

Let’s Pray! No closed, everyone together.