Amen
All right. So once again, it's a great honor to be here tonight
Thank you, uh deacon and pastor and everybody for being here and for allowing me to preach
Now romans chapter 10 is one of my favorite chapters out of the entire bible and you know
There are so many great lessons that we can learn from romans chapter 10
And so that's why I titled my sermon tonight lessons from romans chapter 10
So that is the title of my sermon tonight
And we're going to go verse by verse through this chapter
And just take a look at some of the great lessons that we can learn
So let's just go ahead and dive right in and in verse number one the bible reads
Brethren my heart's desire and prayer to god for israel is that they might be saved
And so this verse illustrates, you know, the love that paul had for the for the jews for israel at that time
You know, he had great love for them
And um, and he says that it's his heart's desire and his prayer that they would be that they would be saved, you know
And you know, it's easy to say oh he loved them because he you know was basically one of them at one point
He was a jew he's brought up in that religion
But you know the thing is though and that is true
But remember also that the jews have been trying to kill paul ever since you know
He he got saved and in fact just to illustrate that keep your finger in romans chapter 10
But also if you would turn to acts chapter 9 act chapter 9
We'll just take a look at one of the instances where uh, the jews tried to kill paul
acts chapter 9
While you're turning there i'll begin reading verse 17 acts 9 17 it says
And ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him said brother
Saul the lord even jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest has sent me
That thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the holy ghost
And immediately there fell from his eyes that is as it had been scales and he received sight forthwith and arose and was baptized
So this is whenever paul got saved is whenever the the scales fell from his eyes and then he immediately got baptized
And then in verse 19 it says and when he had received meat
He was strengthened then was all certain days with the disciples which were at damascus
And so he was there for three years is what galatians one tells us
And in verse 20 it says in straight way
So immediately after he got saved it says in straight way
He preached christ in the synagogues that he is the son of god. And so that offers us a great. Um, uh,
You know representation that whenever we get saved
The first thing that we should go do is just go tell somebody else about about jesus and go tell somebody else how to be saved
You know, that's what paul did here and then verse 21 it said but all that heard him were amazed and said is not this
He that destroyed them which called on on this name in jerusalem and came hither for that intent
That he might bring them bound to the chief priests
But saw increase the morn strength and confounded the jews which dwelt at damascus proving that this is very christ
And after that many days were fulfilled the jews took counsel to kill him
And so notice the jews are trying to kill paul here and in verse 24
It says but their length await was known of paul and they watched the gates day and night to kill him
Then the disciples took him by night and let him down by the wall in a basket
So this is just one example of the jews trying to kill paul
Immediately after he got saved because he was preaching about jesus and they wanted to kill him and he had to escape
By a basket, you know going down the wall and you know, even so, you know
It was still his heart's desire and prayer to god that they would be saved
You know, he still loved them and he still wanted them to be saved
Even though they're trying to kill him and that offers us a great example
Uh of of loving our enemies, you know
Jesus said in matthew 5 43 it says ye have heard that it has been said
Thou shall love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy
But I say unto you love your enemies bless them the curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them
Which despitefully used you and persecuted you and you know in my opinion this is one of you know
The the the main things about christianity is just you know, loving your enemies loving people who you know
Hurt you and despite and despitefully use you and this is one of the easiest things to say
And and and one of the things that we believe in but it's it's one of the hardest things to do I think
You know
It's one of the hardest things to do to love somebody who doesn't love you and who actually hates you and wants to hurt you
That is very difficult to to do but it's one of our fundamental beliefs, you know as christians and yet it's one of the hardest
I believe and so, you know paul gives us a great example of loving his enemies in this passage
He could have been like jonah where you know, jonah hated them in the vites and whenever
God saved them and spared their country. He got all mad and he got you know, all pouty about it and whatnot
You know, we could be like him or we could be like paul who even though he doesn't you know
Even though that the jews want to want to want to hurt him and kill him
He still wants them to be saved and so paul gives us a great example of loving your enemies in verse one
And now let's look at verse two. It says for in roman chapter 10 and verse 2 flip back there
Romans chapter 10 and verse 2 it says for I bear them record that they have a zeal of god, but not
According to right to knowledge and so a lot of people out there are zealous about about serving the lord
And uh, they're zealous about the things of god, but they're not saved, you know a lot of people uh in in christianity today
Are not saved they believe that their works are going to save them, but they are very zealous
They want to serve the lord. They want to know more about him
And you know, there are lots of examples out there
And in fact, i'll give you an example of somebody that I know that goes up to the tempe church
You know, his name is fidel you guys have probably met him and you know
I want to tell you about a little bit about fidel is because he used to be a big a big member at his
Old church. He used to go to a mega church. It was you know running several hundred people
I think it might have been ccv not exactly sure but he was going to one of those liberal mega mega churches
He was not saved but he was a big time member there. He was the greeter at the door
He was the first uh face that you would see whenever you come in
And then eventually he moved to our church and he got saved
And you know, he's been coming to our church for about two years now and now he's the lead usher at our church, you know
And he and he's serving the lord greatly and that way he's always going soloing every single week
And you know, he's just really serving the lord and you know that shows us that people who are zealous, you know
Whether they're you know, even if they're not saved yet people are zealous whenever they get saved
They oftentimes continue to be zealous or in fact, they might even ramp up that zealousness as well once they get saved
As as opposed to you know, maybe somebody who's apathetic about the things of god and whatnot
Uh before they get saved, you know, they may continue that as well
Of course, we want everybody to be saved. We want all these people to be saved. However, you know
Many times whenever somebody's zealous beforehand, they'll continue to be zealous
Well, if somebody was apathetic before then they may not come to church and they might not get baptized
I mean, you know, let's face it nine out of ten people that we get saved at the door never come to church
You know and it's sad but that that is the truth
But you know, we want we want everyone to be saved everyone that can be saved
We want them to get saved, you know, we want to save the guy who's zealous in his liberal church
And then you know him come to church, you know
We want to get the the catholic guy saved who hasn't been to church in 20 years, you know
We want to get everybody saved, you know, and we want them to be saved and uh, but this just gives us uh, you know
But that's just an example of somebody who's zealous before and he gets and he's continues to be zealous afterward as well
And so look down if you would at verse number three in rowland chapter 10
It says for they being ignorant of god's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted
Notice that word submitted themselves unto the righteousness of god
You know, I want to ask this question, you know as somebody who's saved, you know
Do you ever look back at whenever you know, you weren't saved and you thought you were saved by your works?
And and think about how prideful, you know, you were back then how it's like, you know, I I deserve to go to hell
You know, i'm a sinner but i'm going to save myself though, you know how prideful that is
And you know, I think about that sometimes that you know unsaved people
They just they just don't know, you know, they have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of god in order to get saved
You must you know submit yourself
You must be humble in order to get saved it takes humility
In order to be saved because if you're thinking oh i'm going to save myself then you know
You're being super prideful there and you need to humble yourself. And you know, it's it's kind of like, you know, whenever um,
Whenever you're drowning, you know, whenever somebody's drowning in a pool
They always tell you just call out for help if you're drowning, right?
But nine times out of ten they you know, the person who's drowning they don't call out for help. They think to themselves
No, I can do this. I can I can you know, get my footing or whatever, you know
I'm oh and then a little water gets in their mouth and then pretty soon it's just too late
And so that's the same thing too. We just need to call out to god
We need to call out a call upon him and be saved
We don't need to just try and do it ourselves and do the doggy paddle and try to doggy paddle our way to heaven
That is not the way to heaven, you know, and a lot of people are trying to do that today, you know, and um,
And it's just pride and i'll give you another example from the bible, you know adam and eve for example, you know
Whenever they realized that they were naked
What did they do? They didn't go to god immediately
What they did was they hid themselves and then they sewed aprons out of fig leaves and whatnot and you could say that's
Fear because they're afraid of what god's gonna do them
But you know, you could also say that's pride too. Oh god's not gonna notice if we wear these little aprons and stuff like that
You know and that represents them trying to cover themselves with their own works
But then god comes in he rebukes them and everything and then he kills an animal and he puts the animal skin upon them
Representing jesus christ and his sacrifice and so that's just another example of how you must submit yourself
In order to uh into order to be saved you must submit yourself unto the righteousness of god
so
You're there in romans 10. Let's look at verse number four now
Romans chapter 4 it says for christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth
For moses described the righteousness which is of the law that the man which do it those things shall live by them
But notice that phrase for christ at the end of law
for
Righteousness so see christ didn't just get rid of the law whenever christ came here. He didn't just get rid of you know, uh,
Genesis, exodus, sloviticus numbers. He didn't just get rid of it
He fulfilled it, you know
He and matthew chapter 5 and verse 17 it says think not that i'm come to destroy the law or the prophets
I am not come to destroy but to fulfill so yes, jesus is the end of the law
But he's the end of the law for righteousness, how did he fulfill it?
How did he fulfill the law by living that righteous perfect life?
He lived the perfect life for us because we are not able to you know
And it says in verse five that moses described the righteousness which is of the law
That the man which do it those things shall live by them
So keep your finger there and turn to leviticus 18 and we're going to take a look at where moses said this
because here in these verses
Uh in verse four and five it describes basically, you know, technically the two ways to get to heaven you can either a you know
Believe in jesus who is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth you can either believe in him
Or you know you technically, you know, you could be perfect from the day of your birth to the day of your death
You can you know not sin one time and you would go to heaven
But of course we know that that's impossible, you know
We know that we've all sinned and come short of the glory of god
And so that is not a possible way to to go to heaven
But that's what moses is talking about in leviticus 18 1 it says
In leviticus chapter 18 and verse 1 it says and the lord spake unto moses saying
Speak unto the children of israel and say unto them. I am the lord your god
After the doings of the land of egypt wherein ye dwelt
Shall ye not do and after the doings of the land of canan whether I bring you shall you not do
Neither shall you walk in their ordinances
You shall do my judgments and keep mine ordinances to walk therein. I am the lord your god
And verse five it says ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments which if a man do he shall live in them
I am the lord. So it says right there. That's where moses said this is which if a man do he shall live in them
So, you know, basically he's showing us the fact that you know, we're not perfect
We cannot, you know, keep all the statutes and judgments of the lord and therefore we need a savior
You know this verse is pointing us to jesus christ
and so
Flip back if you would to verse or romans chapter 10 and we'll deal with the next set of verses
romans chapter 10
Look down if you would at verse number six and at the end
We're going to tie all these verses together if you haven't noticed already
There's a flow happening in romans chapter 10 where everything is kind of connecting with with itself with each other
And so in verse number six, it says but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise say not in thine heart
Who shall ascend into heaven that is to bring christ down from above or who shall descend into the deep?
That is to bring up christ again from the dead
But what sayeth it the word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart that is the word of faith
Which we preach and so i'm going to be honest, you know, these verses confused me for a very long time
You know, I wasn't sure what they were talking about
Especially versus six and seven because if you just take it at face value
It kind of looks like god's saying don't judge whether somebody's saved or not
It says don't say that this person, you know, who shall send into heaven or who shall descend into the deep?
You know, it's kind of
Making it sound like you know, you shouldn't determine whether somebody's saved or not
However, we know that that's not what it's saying because that's what we do out soul-winning, you know
That's how we even start off our gospel presentation is by you know, determining whether this person is saved or not
You know what i'm saying?
And so that's not what these verses are talking about
But I do believe that I know, you know what these verses are talking about. So think of it like this, you know
We just talked about the two ways to get to heaven
You know by jesus by faith in him or by being perfect by keeping the law which is which is impossible
now
what if
And then it also says in those uh
Verses beforehand that uh, they were trying to go about to establish their own righteousness
So, you know think about these verses right here. This is what I want to say
So read these verses thinking like an unsaved person thinking like you believe that somebody is saved by their
Works or by their own righteousness by following the commandments and if you were unsaved then how would you?
You know judge somebody whether they were saved or not. You would judge them based on their works, you know this guy
He's doing pretty good. You know, he's living a good life. He's following the commandments
He must be going to heaven and then this guy over here, you know, he's doing bad things
He must be on his way to hell and then that's the way that an unsaved person
thinks and I think that that's what it's saying right here because if you look down to verse number six, it says
But the righteousness which is a faith speaketh on this wise so that's us, you know
We believe in the righteousness which is of faith
So we would speak on this wise say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heaven
Like don't don't say you know
This person's going to heaven because he's good and this person's going to hell because he's bad
Don't say that in your heart or who shall descend into the deep that is to bring up christ again from the dead
Look, you know if you're saying that this guy's going to heaven by his works
Then that is to bring christ down from above, you know, why did you christ even die then?
You know, why did he resurrect? Why did he go to heaven?
Why why did christ even have to sacrifice himself if you can go to heaven based on your works?
I think that's what it's saying here and then who shall send it in?
Descend into the deep this guy's going to hell and you know why because he's doing bad things or whatever
But the thing is that is to bring up christ again from the dead
That is to negate what jesus christ did for us. The bible says that if the works of the law, um
We I forgot that verse sorry about that that's in galatians 2 though at the end of the chapter
It talks about how basically if you believe that you know salvation is by works then christ will profit you nothing
And so I lost that verse it just came out of my mind
But you know, that's what I think that this these verses are saying here is that you know
You shouldn't judge somebody whether they're going to heaven or not based on their works
That would that would be what an unsaved person would do and that would be how an unsaved person would would think
But then it clears it up in verse number eight if you look down in romans 10 8 it says but what sayeth it?
You know, what should we do?
You know, how should we determine whether somebody's saved or not?
If you know the word is neither the word is neither even in my mouth and in my heart
That is the word of faith which we preach. So if somebody's got the word with them if they've got the word in their mouth
And if they got the word in their heart
If they got the word of faith with them, which we preach then we know that they're saved, you know
If we ask them, you know, hey, how do you go to heaven and they got the word of faith?
They say hey, it's just by faith alone in jesus christ. That's not about how I live my life
It's not about you know, keeping the commandments. It's only by what jesus did for us
If they've got that word with them and if they
They got that word in their mouth and in their heart then we know that they're saved
And so I believe that that's what these verses are saying
They're saying do not
Think that somebody is going to heaven just because they're good and don't think that somebody's going to hell just because they're bad
But rather base it on whether they have the word of faith whether they have faith in jesus christ
and because the bible says that by thy words shalt thou be justified by thy words thou shalt be
Condemned and so really the only thing that we have to go on is what people tell us what they believe, you know
And that's how we determine determine whether somebody is saved or not
and so
That's that's why I think that those verses are saying there and so that leads us and and that would be consistent
With the context and with the next couple of verses that we're going to look at look down if you would have verse number nine
Speaking along the lines of how we're saved by our words and everything
It says in verse number nine that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord jesus
And shall believe in thine heart that god has raised him from the dead
Thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth under righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation
And so these would be the main verses I would point to to talk about the doctrine of calling upon the name of the lord
You know calling upon the name of the lord is you know, a doctrine that I feel strongly about, you know
I like to talk about a lot mainly because it's constantly under attack, you know
A lot of people attack this doctrine of calling upon the name of the lord, you know
There are people in the past and i've heard things for for example, like like, uh people have said oh i'm saved
I know i'm saved but I never called upon the name of the lord. I never asked jesus to save me
You know, i've heard people say that before and the thing is either either there's only two options
They're either a they're grandstanding and they're trying to you know
Basically say that calling upon the name of lord is not biblical or or is not necessary
Which is not true and they're just lying about it or they're not saved
They actually never called upon the name of the lord and they never got saved. Those are the only two options
You know there and i've also heard you know people say for example calling upon the name of lord is good
But it's not necessary. All you have to do is believe
However, that's not true because of the fact that calling upon the name lord and believing in the lord are one and the same
They are
Interchangeable in the bible and they go hand in hand they go together
And uh, and so, you know, I feel strongly that and let's take a look at these verses even
It says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the lord
Jesus and notice that word and it's connecting two things
It says and shall believe in that heart that god is racing from the dead thou shalt be saved
So there's two things listed there. You must confess with your mouth and you must believe in your heart and in verse 10
It uses parallelism to basically
Show us that those two things happen simultaneously
It says for what the heart man believeth under righteousness and with the mouth confession is made into salvation
And so this is a simultaneous thing. It's not like I believe today and then three weeks from now
I called upon the name of lord. It doesn't work like that. These two things happen in tandem
They happen at the same time whenever you know, you get saved, you know
You believe in your heart and you confess with your with your mouth. You uh, both both are acquired
Both are 100 uh required and also, you know, i've heard uh, this is a lesser issue
This is outsolding and you know
I just want to bring this up really quickly because I don't like it whenever I see this out selling
But oftentimes i'll go sowing with good people people who I know are saved and everything
But oftentimes they'll say something at the end that I that I don't really think is right
They'll basically say at the end, you know, they've gone through everything. Okay, so you believe these things, right? Okay, great
So I just want to help you pray and tell jesus that you believe in him now
This is not now these words don't save you, you know this this prayer. It doesn't save you
This isn't a magic prayer right here. These words aren't going to save you. It's your faith that saves you
Well, no, actually it's both, you know, it's your words and it's your faith, you know both save you
You know you have not because you ask not you got to ask to be saved
You got to ask for this gift of everlasting life. And so yeah, you know, it is important. I mean it's necessary
So, you know and that's just a little thing. I've heard so many people say that you know, but the thing is that
You know, that's not that's not entirely true, you know, so
You know, that's just something that you know in my opinion, you know, I want to be
As accurate as possible whenever i'm out soloing, you know, I want to say the right things and and whatnot
So, you know, we don't want to be sloppy in our gospel presentation. So that's why I bring that up, you know
But yeah a lot of people i've heard a lot of people say that before
But a lot of people who if I ask them about it
Hey, do you believe that calling upon the name lord, you know is not required for salvation?
They say no, of course I do, you know
But then they just say it because they heard somebody else say it
They heard another good person say it that heard another good person say it that heard a bad person say, you know
I think that that you know that phrase or those words or whatever come from somebody who did not believe in it
But a lot of good people just say it just because they've heard it a bunch of times and so that's why I bring that up
but you know
Yeah, we just need to be as accurate as possible with our gospel presentation
Now let's continue in romans chapter 10 look down if you were to verse 11 now we're in verse 11
It says for the scripture sayeth whosoever believeth on him
Shall not be ashamed for there's no difference between the jew and the greek for the same lord over all
Is rich unto all that call upon him and I love how it says that he is rich unto all that call upon him
You know, we shouldn't be worried about the riches of this world
We should worry about whether we're saved or not because once we call upon the name of the lord, you know
That's that's greater than any riches that we could ever have is being saved
You know and it note and notice how in verse 11 and verse 12 it uses calling upon
Calling upon him and believing on him interchangeably once again, you know
And then it says in verse 13 for whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved
And then verse 14 it says how then shall they call on him and 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 so notice this is highlighting the process by which somebody gets saved first a preacher goes to them
They preach to them. They hear the gospel then they believe the gospel and call upon the name of the lord
That's how somebody gets saved, you know, and oftentimes, you know
The people will talk about how there's this tribal guy living out in the middle of the jungle who just looks up to heaven
He looks up to the stars and he just says I know there's god somewhere and then that guy gets saved
That is not true
You know that is a false gospel because or a false doctrine because of the fact that you know
You have to hear you have to hear the gospel. You have to hear the word of god in order to be saved
So if he doesn't hear the word of god, then you know, he he's not going to be saved at that time, you know
And it's our job to reach those people, you know to reach those people who haven't heard a clear presentation of the gospel and everything
You know, but god doesn't just save people without the gospel or without a preacher or without the word of god
No, you need these things in order to be saved. You must hear the word of god
You must hear the gospel in order to be saved, you know
We have this great commission that god has given us, you know
We have it and we should bring it to the entire world
And you know, let's talk about that great commission a little bit, you know
Uh, the great commission is simply to preach the gospel to every creature, right?
And that is our commandment from jesus christ and we know that basically the great commission was fulfilled, you know in the first century
A.d
Because of the fact that you know everybody on earth at that time heard a clear presentation of the gospel
It says even in the same chapter if you look down a few verses it says in verse 17
It says so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god, but I say have they not heard?
Yes, verily their sound went into all the earth and their words unto the end of the ends of the world
And there are other verses as well supporting this in colossians chapter one and other places that basically teach us that
You know in the time of paul and the apostles they got the gospel to every single person on earth during their time
and so
You know and and that is our mission. That is our goal as well for today in 2022
That is what we need to be doing as well as reaching everyone in the entire world with the gospel
That is our goal. That is our plan
And uh, basically, you know, I believe that that great commission that jesus gave is for every generation, you know
I've heard somebody say that they did it in the first century a.d
So we're good
But no that's something that needs to be done every generation because just because your parents heard the gospel
Doesn't mean that you're necessarily going to hear the gospel just because your parents are saved doesn't mean that you're safe
And so we need to go out in every generation continually and just preach the gospel to all all everybody at all times
And uh, and we know that there have been loose fulfillments as well of everybody, you know of of the great commission
There's been loose
Fulfillments where basically everybody in the world right now knows the name of jesus
They at least know who you know his name, you know, if they don't know anything else. They've heard that name. Jesus before
That's a very loose fulfillment. But you know, that's not the gospel though
We need to reach them with the gospel of faith alone in jesus christ, and i'll give you another example
You know there, you know our documentary film that our church made iceland a nation of scandinavian masters, you know
Basically every single person in iceland heard about that that uh documentary, you know, we we theorize anyway
You know through the news or whatever and so that could be a loose fulfillment of everybody in the in iceland hearing the word of god
But they didn't hear the gospel though
It's not like every single person watched the film got to the end where it has the bible way to heaven on it
And we still need to go there
We still need to knock on those doors and preach the gospel to those people
And you know a lot of people would get saved on you know
I I believe you know everybody
There's going to be somebody who gets saved in every country in every nation and under heaven is what the bible teaches us and
So
We still need to go there and preach the gospel. There are loose fulfillments out there
And here's another loose fulfillment i've seen is that basically it seems as though you know
Every culture in the world has some sort of similarity to the bible or to the word of god
For example, every culture in the world has a flood story, you know
so everybody has had some sort of exposure to god or god's word at some point in the past because everybody has a flood story and
And even recently I want to bring this up recently. I was reading this book that was um written in
1843 it was about this guy who was exploring africa and stuff like that and he met this um this
African tribe out in the middle of the jungle in the jungles of sierra leone
And it was either the menday or timne tribe or something like that, but they had this custom where basically, you know, if a man thought
Uh, well, actually i'll tell you that uh, the the story from the book of numbers first in numbers chapter five
You know the bible has this this thing where basically if a man thinks that his wife had committed adultery
Then he's supposed to bring her to the priest and then the priests were supposed to give her bitter water
And you know if her thigh rotted and if she died or whatever then she was guilty of committing adultery
Well, if she if she was fine
Then she never committed adultery and this uh this tribe out in the middle of the jungle somewhere that had just been contacted by
You know europeans or whatever. They had a very similar
um
a thing going on where basically they would take them to their shaman or whatever and then the shaman would
Would have this poison drink and then give it to her and then if she lives then she didn't commit adultery if she dies
Then she did so it's very very similar
But you know, I think to myself where did they come come up with that?
Was it just out of their own heart? No, I think that they had some sort of you know exposure to the word of god
Maybe even you know
A hundred is hundreds of years hundreds maybe even a thousand years prior to them
Just basically being in the jungle like that
And so the thing is there are all these loose fulfillments throughout history is the point that i'm trying to make
Where basically people have had exposures to the word of god and the old testament talked about you know in the book of um, uh
Esther how the the word of the lord had spread everywhere and everybody was afraid of the jews at that time
And so we have the first century ad where it was strictly fulfilled every single person under heaven had heard the gospel
We have all these loose fulfillments
But you know the great commission is to reach every single person in every generation with the gospel
Not just you know a generic like um, you know, whatever but it's it's the gospel that needs to be preached
And in fact in matthew 24 in mark 13, those are end times passages
It indicates that once again in the end times before the end can come the gospel must first be published in all the world
And it says that in matthew 24 14 you you stay there
But it says in matthew 24 14 and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations
And then shall the end come so before the end can come before the rapture before we're taken up
To be with the lord in the clouds and everything before all that stuff happens
You know the gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations
So this is a prophecy saying that the great commission will be fulfilled once again in the end times and you know
I believe that uh
This is basically god giving everybody on earth one more chance before he takes all the soul and ears and all the christians
Out of here, he's given everybody one last chance to get saved and you know
I also believe that god makes this a big deal in the end times because you could you could think to yourself
Well, if this is god's, you know commandment to every generation then why is he making a big deal about it in the end times?
And I think it's because you know christians had been dropping the ball for a long time
And they had not been preaching the gospel to every single creature
I mean, how do you explain the people, you know who are in the middle of the jungle today?
You know, there's there's this one tribe called the jarawa tribe that was just contacted again in 1997
And then there are like 14 lost tribes in the amazon jungle and stuff like that
You know christians have been dropping the ball and they just haven't been getting those people the gospel
Over the past several generations or whatever the case may be
So that's our job is to reach every single person with the gospel everybody and every nation
We must do that and that is our job
That is our command and we can do it if we just have the faith that it can be done, you know
I mean maybe our generation will reach everybody maybe it won't but you know
All we have to do is believe because to him that believeth all things are possible to him that believeth and so we can do it
and um
And so that should be motivating, you know
It motivates me to think about these people who basically have not heard a clear presentation of the gospel
It motivates me to want to go and reach those people and you know
I want to be a part of that generation who reaches every single person, you know, and and maybe we'll do it
You know, maybe we will um, but you know, we have to have enough faith to do it. So it's really up to us
And so turn if you would to isaiah 52, please
Isaiah 52 and just keep your finger in romans chapter 10. We'll come back
but
And uh in romans 10 15 i'll just read it to you while you're turning it says and how shall they preach except they be sent
And uh and notice so that that goes along with the uh, the progression that we saw earlier
It said how then shall they call on him and 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 except they be sent
So see jesus has sent us the christians with the great commission
He has sent us out into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature
But specifically though it's the church's job to send out local soul winners to preach the gospel, uh in our local area
It's not like we're going to go to the amazon and reach those lost tribes or whatever
We're going to just reach the people in tucson and tempe and and arizona that's that's what we're going to do, uh, specifically
And so, you know, basically this verse indicates that you know
We shouldn't go out and be like a commando christian or whatever where we're basically going out there by ourselves
You know without a soul-winning partner without a church sending us out and just going out soul-winning by ourselves. That is not god's plan
Now, you know, if you don't have a good church in your area, then I mean just go soul-winning but
We have a good church here in tucson
We got another good church up in phoenix
There's no excuse to go soul-winning by yourself or or to go soul-winning without the church sending you out
And so, you know, it says that in verse 15 that how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written
How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things now
That is a quote from isaiah 52 you're there in isaiah 52
I want you to look down at verse 7 and we'll take a look at where this was being quoted from
It says in verse 7 how beautiful upon the mountains and I want you to remember that phrase upon the mountains
Are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that publishes peace that bringeth good things good tidings of good
That publishes salvation that saith unto zion thy god reigneth
And so we see here that in roman chapter 10, it's quoting isaiah 52 verse 7 that you know
We basically have beautiful feet if we go out soul-winning and everything
But I want you to notice that phrase that says how beautiful upon the mountains are thy feet and are the feet of them
So and and I want to bring that up because in matthew chapter 5 and on the sermon of the mount
Jesus christ said in verse 13 ye are the salt of the earth
But of the salt have lost his savor wherewith shall be salted
It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men
Ye are the light of the world listen to this a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid
Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel
But on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house
So notice, you know, we should be like a city that is set on a hill
We should be basically proclaiming god's word to as many people as can as we can find and in the same way
It says how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of them that preach the gospel
And so, you know, we should basically be you know yelling from the from the housetops from the mountaintops, you know
The gospel to just believe in jesus christ, we should we should proclaim that mightily, you know throughout all all all the land and everything
And so that was a was a great parallel that I could find now turn a few back if you were to romans chapter 10
Go back to romans chapter 10 and we'll look at the next verse
It says in verse 16, but they have not all all obeyed the gospel for as I say if lord who have believed our report
And the word and the phrase obey the gospel just simply means to believe the gospel, you know
That phrase is only used three times I could find in the bible. It says in second thessalonians 1 8
It says in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not god and that obey not the gospel of our lord
Jesus christ and in first peter 417 it says for the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of god
And if it first began at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of god? And so it says
uh, and so it's talking about believing the gospel and in fact
You're there in verse 16. It says first it says, uh, but they have not all obeyed the gospel
And then it says lord who hath believed our report
So believing is the same as obeying the gospel the gospel is simply to believe in jesus christ
So if you believe if you obey that then you'll be believing in jesus christ
and uh
In fact, it said it also says, uh, lord who hath believed our report
It also says jesus also said that in john chapter 12 to unbelievers, you know, basically saying hey you need to believe in me
And so that's another great verse as well. So let's take a look at verse 17
It says so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of god
But I say have they not all have they not heard yes
Verily their sound went into all the earth and their words into the ends of the world
So that's what we were talking about earlier. That's what we saw earlier
In verse 19, it says but I say did not israel. No
For first moses saith I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people and by a foolish nation
I will anger you but azaias is very bold and saith I was found of them that sought me
Not I was made manifest unto them that ask not after me
But to israel he saith all day long. I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient
and gainsaying people and so these last three verses are an epic ending to the to the to the
Chapter of romans chapter 10. It's an epic ending talking about christians. It's talking about christians here
And basically verse 19 is quoting
Deuteronomy 32, you know when god was very angry with israel
And he said do not uh, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people and by a foolish nation
Will I anger you and he's referring to christians? We are the people who are no people
We are the foolish nation because there are christians under from every nation under heaven and we are not
Uh, uh one people we are made up of all people all bloods all races in the world
we are that foolish nation that he's referring to there and
And turn if you would to isaiah 65
I want you to turn to isaiah 65 and then we'll end uh our sermon tonight at isaiah 65 and then verses
20 and 21 are quoting and from the book of isaiah isaiah as well and you're there in isaiah
65 i'm going to go ahead and begin reading in verse number one
It says I am sought of them that ask not for me. I am found of them that sought me
Not I said behold me behold me unto a nation that was not called by my name
So notice once again
This is a prophecy of christians in the new testament how he said that I was sought of them that asked not for me
I am found of them that sought me not he's he's referring to us
He's referring to people who were not the jews because the jews already knew about jesus or god and the lord and everything
Uh, so it says behold me behold me unto a nation that was not called by my name
So we weren't called by him and by his name
We were not from the physical nation of israel and yet, you know, we found him. We found the lord. We're saved
And then it says in verse 2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people
Which walketh in a way that was not good after their own thoughts
So see god has been spreading out his hands all the day to the jews, you know
He gave them every advantage to get saved and yet, you know, they're not getting saved
They are a disobedient and again saying people and so notice
In romans chapter 10, we started off by you know
Basically paul wanting the jews to be saved and then we ended the chapter by paul talking about well
Why so many of them don't get saved?
It's because they're a disobedient game saying people, you know, and so it comes full circle. He started off talking about them
He ended by talking about him and you know, he basically ended up talking about us as god's chosen people
we are, you know the christians and um
And so it the the chapter I wanted to show you tonight in this sermon
That the chapter of romans chapter 10 it flows all the way through it starts off, you know
Talking about one thing it ends talking about the same thing and then all throughout it's just talking about the gospel
Salvation by faith alone, you know preaching the gospel and calling upon the name of the lord
And so these were all you know, very great lessons, you know that we learned from the from the chapter tonight, you know
And I would highly recommend that you know, you read this on your own study it on your own study the book of romans
You know, just read the whole bible, of course, but you know, this is just a wonderful chapter
I just want to share that with you. So let's just go ahead and pray