“BEAUTIFUL FEET” Romans 10:14-15
FBCF – 11/28/21
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Early 1980’s, a group of seminary students at SWBTS took some coffee & donuts to a group of homeless men & women in Ft. Worth, TX. Soon had hundreds homeless men & women attending outdoor worship services. Realized that there needed to be a church for the homeless population there, & a ministry called “Beautiful Feet” was born. Now, nearly 40 years later, the ministry has grown into a church w/ 8 staff members that impacts the inner-city w/ intentional discipleship, Bible studies, medical/dental help, serves meals, provides laundry service, hot showers, & warm clothes to thousands of poor people in the Ft. Worth area. The people who work in that ministry definitely have “beautiful feet” as they share the love of Christ w/ those who are in need there in Ft. Worth.
Question: How beautiful are YOUR feet?
EXPLANATION – Romans 10:14-15
We are going to talk about a subject that my daughter, Rachel, hates – feet. Just thinks they’re gross & nasty & ugly. And I guess sometimes they can be.
But the feet that the Apostle Paul is talking about in Rom. 10 are “beautiful” as he quotes the prophet Isaiah – “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who brings good news, who proclaim peace, who brings good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isaiah 52:7 NIV). Isaiah was prophesying that the children of Israel would be set free from 70 years of Babylonian captivity – 70 years of punishment for their rebellion against God, their idolatry & wicked lives. Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar led his armies against God’s people over & over again, laying siege to Jerusalem, killing many people, destroying the temple, taking thousands of God’s people into captivity, & leaving Jerusalem in ruins. It was a sad, desperate time in the history of Israel.
But the Spirit of God inspired Isaiah to tell God’s people to hang on! Freedom is coming! Your deliverance is coming soon! Don’t give up! There’s good news coming! Isaiah pictured messengers running across the mountains proclaiming this good news of release from the years of captivity. Imagine the joy, the happiness, the celebrations that would have erupted at this announcement!
Isaiah used the poetic word “beautiful” to describe the feet of these bearers of good news. That word means “mature development” or “vigor.” These were some serious messengers. Not amateurs who might not know what they’re doing or might not have enough strength & energy to deliver the message. These feet were vigorous, strong, leaping over the mountains like gazelles or young stags. What an incredible sight for the people of God to see these strong messengers coming w/ this good news, proclaiming joy, peace, freedom, & the power of God!
Now fast-forward about 750-800 years as the Apostle Paul writes to the people of God at Rome. Salvation is the issue he addressed in Romans 9-11. Joy, peace, freedom, & the power of God for salvation is Paul’s main thrust here.
- Romans 10:1 – “Brothers, my heart’s desire & prayer for them [the Jews] is that they may be saved.”
- Romans 10:4 – “For Christ is the end of the law [it leads to Him & its purpose is fulfilled in Him], for [granting] righteousness to everyone who believes [in Him as Savior].” (AMP)
- Romans 10:9-10 – “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord & believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes & is justified, and with the mouth one confesses & is saved.”
- Romans 10:12-13 – “For there is no distinction between Jew & Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
Paul desperately wants his fellow Jews to be saved, as well as the Gentiles. And God wants EVERYONE to be saved b/c the Gospel is for ALL people. 2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (NIV). His plan for salvation is that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. And His plan is that we have beautiful feet.
APPLICATION – We have beautiful feet when we go & proclaim the Gospel to those who are lost.
We are saved when God calls & we respond & are saved. But there is a chain of events that He has instituted that are necessary for a person to be saved – v. 14-15.
• Lost people will call on Jesus if they believe in Him.
• They will believe in Him if they hear about Him.
• They will hear about Him if someone preaches the Gospel to them.
• Someone will preach the Gospel if they are sent by God.
• Those who are sent have “beautiful feet.”
• You & I need to have the “beautiful feet.”
We will have beautiful feet when we use them to:
WALK
- With the Lord
- By faith & not by sight
- Alongside those who are lost
RUN
- The race that is marked out for us
- To those who are perishing
STAND
- Strong in the Lord
- In the gap in prayer
- With those who are neglected, rejected, abused, forgotten, & beaten down
KICK
- Satan in the teeth by decreasing the lostness of our community & world
CONCLUSION/TAKEAWAYS
There’s a lot of talk of death in our news cycles these days:
- 6 people died in Waukesha, WI Christmas parade this past week
- 2 people died in Kenosha, WI when Kyle Rittenhouse shot them
- 10 people died at a concert at Astroworld a couple of weeks ago
- David Neal Cox was executed at Parchman last week
- About 130 people have been murdered in Jackson so far this year
- Covid death toll always in the news
We get so caught up in all the circumstances around those deaths & our opinions about these news stories that we stop considering the eternal destiny of those who died. Our hearts don’t break any more. Our feet aren’t beautiful.
- 170,000+ people die every day in our world.
- Over 7400 have died since we began this service.
- A few hundred more will die by the time I finish this sermon.
Who in here today is going to have beautiful feet & go to them before it’s too late?
“The gospel is not the gospel so we can sit & stare at our navels. The gospel is the gospel because life is short & we have a big God. The gospel is the gospel because Jesus leads us to proclaim the truth that He saves to anybody & everybody on this planet.” (Louie Giglio)
• Sometimes our feet stink – sin’s stench is awful
• Broken – life’s hardships & difficulties
• Tired – worn out, beat down
Bring your feet to the altar this morning. Commit to having beautiful feet by sharing Christ with at least 1 person between now & end of year.
