Title: The Quest For Beautiful Feet
Text: Romans 10:13-15
Theme: Our commission is to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.
Introduction
Illustration: Unnecessarily Blind
A woman named Rose Crawford had been blind for 50 years. "I just can’t believe it!" she gasped as the doctor lifted the bandages from her eyes after her recovery from delicate surgery in an Ontario hospital. She wept for joy when for the first time in her life a dazzling and beautiful world of form and color greeted eyes that now were able to see.
The amazing thing about the story, however, is that 20 years of her blindness had been unnecessary. She didn’t know that surgical techniques had been developed, and that an operation could have restored her vision at the age of 30. The doctor said, "She just figured there was nothing that could be done about her condition. Much of her life could have been different."
As I consider this story, some questions come to mind. Why did she continue to assume that her situation was hopeless? Had no one told her about the wonderful advances in eye surgery?
And what of plight of those unreached by the Gospel. How many will go on living in moral blindness unless we bring them to the Savior? Millions will never know anything but spiritual darkness because no one has shared with them the Light that has come into the world. (Source unknown)
Romans 10:13-15
13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
14 How then shall they call on Him in 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? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
I. A COMMITMENT TO SAVE THE LOST.
Romans 10:13
13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
II. A CHALLENGE TO REACH THE LOST.
Romans 10:14
14 How then shall they call on Him in 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?
Illustration: The Definition Of Ministry
Ministry is…
Ø giving when you feel like keeping,
Ø praying for others when you need to be prayed for,
Ø feeding others when your own soul is hungry,
Ø living truth before people even when you can’t see results,
Ø hurting with other people even when your own hurt can’t be spoken,
Ø keeping your word even when it is not convenient,
Ø it is being faithful when your flesh wants to run away.
(John A. Holt, Leadership, Vol. 10, no. 1.)
A. A Lost Soul Must Believe Before They Can Call.
Romans 10:9-10
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
B. A Lost Soul Must Hear Before They Can Believe.
Acts 19:1-2
1 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
C. A Preacher Must Proclaim So A Lost Soul Can Hear.
Romans 10:17
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Illustration: “Preacher” Means Everyone
When I Say "PREACHER," what mental picture comes to mind? Most of us just saw the same thing, yet in the light of the entire New Testament, that image would be correct in only six instances. Watch this...
The meaning of preaching can be learned from four Greek words used in the New Testament that when translated mean "to preach."
1. Kerusso (kay-roos’-so); of uncertain affinity; to herald (as a public crier), especially divine truth (the gospel). This is the public proclamation of the gospel.
2. Euaggelizo (yoo-ang-ghel-id’-zo); from NT:2095 and NT:32; to announce good news ("evangelize") especially the gospel. From this word, we get terms like evangelist and evangelism (Matthew 11:5; Hebrews 4:2).
3. Kataggello (kat-ang-gel’-lo); from NT:2596 and the base of NT:32; to proclaim, promulgate. This word means to tell thoroughly (Colossians 1:28).
4. Laleo (lal-eh’-o); a prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb; to talk, i.e. utter words. This simply means to talk (Mark 2:2).
Greek "class" is over, but stay with me a moment more. In the 112 times that "to preach" is used in the New Testament, only six times does it mean a formal discourse - the picture most of us have of a "preacher." In fact, most of the time, the New Testament is not talking about a pulpit type activity. So "to preach" according to God’s definition is to proclaim as a herald the message of the King of Kings, to tell the good news, to tell it thoroughly (hold back nothing), and to talk to others wherever you meet them. (Roger A. Parsons, Light From The Word, Spring 1992.)
III. A COMMISSION TO WIN THE LOST.
Romans 10:15
15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
"How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
A. If You Have Jesus In Your Head, You Only Have Knowledge.
Matthew 15:8-9
8 ’These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’"
B. If You Have Jesus In Your Heart, You Own His Salvation.
Romans 10:9-10
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Illustration: Sharing The Great Discovery
Huber, the great naturalist, tells us that if a single wasp discovers a deposit of honey or other food, he will return to his nest and depart the good news to his companions, who will sally forth in great numbers to partake of the fare which has been discovered for them.
Shall we who have found honey in the rock Christ Jesus be less considerate of our fellow men than wasps are of their fellow insects? Ought we not rather like the Samaritan woman to hasten to tell the good news? Common humanity should prevent one of us from concealing the great discovery which grace has enabled us to make. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, Inc, 1990).)
C. If You Have Jesus In Your Bowels, You Know Mercy And Compassion.
Colossians 3:12-13
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
KJV
D. If You Have Jesus In Your Feet, You Have Faith Enough To Go.
Illustration: Quote
Christianity is not "an idea in the air." It is feet on the ground going God’s way. Frederick W Brink. (Edythe Draper, Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 1174.)
Illustration: Quote
When the heart is right, the feet are swift. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826). (Edythe Draper, Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 10213.)
John 13:3-5, 12-17
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Conclusion
Illustration: Waiting For An Invitation
"A Sunday school teacher once visited a poor family in one of the top apartments of a tenement in a small but clean room. From conversation with the father and mother, she soon discovered that since the beginning of a long illness of the father, the family had fallen from comparative comfort to poverty. He was now, however, better, and had been able for some time to work a little, so as to keep his family from destitution, but by no means to enable them to live in comfort. Having learned so much of their worldly concerns, their visitor next began to speak of their souls’ interests. She asked them if they went to any church. ’No,’ said the father. ’We used to go long ago, before I took ill, but we went no more after that.’
"’But you have been better for a good while,’ said the teacher.
"’But nobody ever asked us to come!’
"’Well,’ said the visitor, ’I’ll ask you now,’ and she directed him to a church where he would hear the glad tidings from a faithful minister. The next Sunday several of the children were at her Sunday school and told her that their family had been at church. Since that day they have been hearers of the Word. How many souls are perishing ’because, though all things are now ready, nobody ever asked them to come!’ Will not the blood of their souls be required at the hand of those who profess to have tasted a Savior’s love, and yet make not one effort to pluck brands out of the fire?" (Scottish Sunday School Teacher’s Magazine. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Wheaton: Harold Shaw Publishers, Inc, 1990))
