Not Surprised | An Expository Sermon On Romans 10:14-21

Scripture

• Romans 10:14–21

About this sermon

Introduction: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Jew or Gentile —having had the law, or not having had the law. People are not justified by law keeping. People are justified by receiving, by believing in, the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He did to save sinners. Everyone who calls on His name will be saved. So, Paul finishes Romans 10, reemphasizing a point that he made earlier concerning Jewish unbelief and Gentile salvation. NONE OF THIS IS SURPRISING. None of this is without explanation. How will Jews and Gentiles be saved? What is God’s plan for saving His people from their sins? IT IS THE WORK OF HIS SON, RECEIVED BY FAITH ON THE PART OF MEN. This is not a plan that originated with men. The message of that plan did not originate with men. What God is doing through the announcement of that plan is not explained by men. God is working out His plan through the preaching of His message and producing what He alone has the ability to do. SALVATION RESULTS FROM THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL (vs.14-17) BY GOD’S DESIGN, there is no salvation without the preaching of the gospel. What is the gospel? It is the good news of salvation. It is an announcement, an explanation, a heralding, of what God has done to save sinners, and an exhortation, a command, for sinners to receive what God has done. The announcement, the heralding, the invitation, the command, is all NECESSARY if sinners are to be saved. What Paul gives us at the end of this chapter is simple. It’s clear. It’s not hard to understand. But it imparts a gravity, a dignity, and profound importance to the work of the Lord’s church. I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE INVOLVED WITH AS A CHURCH IS NOT SOMETHING INVENTED BY PEOPLE. I want you to understand that we do today in gathering together, in the aspects of worship that we participate together in, and in our mission to the world, we do because God revealed it. What we do didn’t all begin with westerners. It isn’t an American phenomenon. It isn’t human religion. NOW, THERE ARE DISTORTIONS OF IT THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY AMERICAN IN NATURE! But when we are involved with that which is biblically accurate, we are in the flow of something that is as old as the history of redemption. We are apart of something that comes from God, embraces all human history, embraces the whole world, and is the only true religion on the face of the planet. THE GOSPEL HAS COME FROM HEAVEN, AND OUR PREACHING OF IT IS THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN TO BE ANNOUNCED. And so, what Paul does is walk us through a process that is necessary for the salvation of ANY sinner. He has said that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But then, how does that happen, according to God’s design? THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL IS NECESSARY (vs.14-15) Notice the elements and the progression on display in what Paul writes. YOU CAN’T CALL ON SOMEONE IN WHOM YOU HAVE NOT BELIEVED (vs.14a) YOU CAN’T BELIEVE IN SOMEONE OF WHOM YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD (vs.14b) YOU CAN’T HEAR ABOUT THAT SOMEONE UNLESS SOMEONE DECLARES HIM TO YOU (This emphasizes the role of the herald). (vs.14c) κηρύσσω ① to make an official announcement, announce, make known, by an official herald or one who functions as such (Maximus Tyr. 1, 6c κηρύττομαι=I am being announced by the herald) MPol 12:1 of the pro-consul, who announced three times that Pol. had confessed to being a Christian.—Rv 5:2. ② to make public declarations, proclaim aloud HERALDS DON’T OPERATE ON THEIR OWN AUTHORITY (vs.15) Genuine heralds have not run out to the public with their own message, in their own time, with their own authority. They go representing someone who SENDS them. HERALDS BRINGING GOOD NEWS SHOULD BE APPRECIATED (vs.15b) This exclamation regarding the arrival of those who preach good news, is the only logical attitude to be held regarding the preachers of the gospel. Paul quotes from Isaiah 52:7, and the good news then would be the end of their exile in Babylon. Here it is the announcement of everlasting life in Christ. THE LOGICAL ATTITUDE TOWARD THAT KIND OF GOOD NEWS IS GREAT JOY! WHY? BECAUSE YOU ARE RECEIVING A MESSAGE THAT IS NECESSARY TO YOUR SALVATION. YOU CANNOT RECEIVE GOOD NEWS, YOU CANNOT BELIEVE GOOD NEWS, YOU CANNOT ENTER REALITY PROMISED IN THAT GOOD NEWS, IF YOU DON’T RECEIVE THAT GOOD NEWS. You can’t do this, if no one ever brings it to you. THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL DOES NOT GUARANTEE SALVATION (vs.16) But (and Paul sort of interrupts his thought in verse 16), simply hearing the good news does not guarantee salvation.