Title- You Have Been Sent
Text- Romans 10:14-17
Romans 10:13-17 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!" 16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?" 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
I. The Importance of Hearing the Message
II. The Importance of Sharing the Message
III. The Importance of Believing the Message
Today we are celebrating the day of Pentecost. This day commemorates the arrival of the promised Holy Spirit and the initiation of the church. It is a day that is regarded by most as the inauguration of the church.
This isn’t a holiday that we celebrate very often, but it is one that is very important and meaningful. It is a day that commemorates the fulfillment of OT prophecy. It is a day that celebrates the coming of the helper that Jesus promised us. It is a day when the very Spirit of God moved among His people in a powerful way. Today we are celebrating the day of Pentecost, a day that radically changed the world forever.
There is a lot of confusion about the nature and work of the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit’s role is to simply glorify Christ. This happens in a number of different ways. Look with me at a couple of passages from the book of John. Here Jesus promises His disciples that the Spirit will come and help them.
John 14:16-17..
John 14:16-17 16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
Now look at 15:26-27
John 15:26-27 26 "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
Finally look at 16:7-8
John 16:7-8 7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come from the Father. He would reside in them and He would guide them. The Spirit would enable them to share the message of Christ. The Spirit would convict the world of their sin. The Spirit would enlighten their minds so that they could understand the things of God. The Holy Spirit would empower them to go out and share the message of hope with the whole world.
Today we are celebrating the fulfillment of that promise. We are celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, but we are also celebrating the fact that the Holy Spirit has come into our lives, and that the Holy Spirit is still transforming lives today.
As we have already heard through the scripture reading and the music, the arrival of the Holy Spirit was marked by miracles, and powerful proclamation of the gospel, and people’s lives being transformed forever. The Holy Spirit indwelt the lives of God’s people in a new way.
You see in the OT the gift of the Spirit was something that was only given to select few people. It was usually only given for a short period of time and it was usually given so that the person could accomplish a specific task.
But all throughout the OT God promised that there would come a day when His spirit would be poured out on everyone.
Joel 2:28-29 28 ’And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
This promise of God was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit brings many different benefits to the life of the believer. On the first day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit enables the disciples to perform miracles. These miracles and sign gifts of the Spirit that we read about in the early church are often misunderstood and misused today.
The spirit enabled the disciples to perform miracles for a specific purpose; to build the church. The miraculous gifts that they displayed such as speaking in different languages and healing and prophecy, all served the function of spreading the gospel and edifying the church. These gifts served to authenticate the message and the messenger. They served as a measure of authority during a time prior to the completion of the NT.
The Holy Spirit moved in a miraculous way to inspire the human authors of the Bible. So the book that we have now is itself a miracle. It is completely authoritative and completely reliable. We no longer need sign gifts to authenticate the message and the messenger because we have a completed, authoritative Bible.
The Holy Spirit continues to empower each one of us with a special, supernatural abilities. Each one of us has the gift of teaching or giving, or mercy, or encouragement, or serving, or music, or preaching, or administration, or something. We all have a gift and we all have a responsibility to use that gift to build the church.
One of the most important gifts of the Holy Spirit is the ability to spread the gospel. I believe that every single Christian has a supernatural ability to share Christ and a responsibility to tell others about Him.
The main thing I want all of us to walk away from here with today is a renewed understanding that each one of us has been sent. We may not all be preachers or evangelists, but we all have a biblical mandate to tell others about Christ. We all have a story to tell. We all can testify to the saving and transforming work of Christ in our lives. You have been sent by God to share the message.
The passage that we are going to look at today highlights the importance of sharing the good news with others. It just so happens that the next section in our study of Romans deals with this very issue.
Last week we saw in chapter 10 just how simple salvation is to attain. It just requires simple faith. All we need to do is confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead. But before any believing or confessing can happen something has to happen first.
Follow along as I read 10:13-17…
This passage teaches us about the importance of spreading the message. It reminds us just how crucial it is to share Christ with others. So often the idea of evangelism or witnessing becomes a mystical or frightening thing, but it doesn’t need to be. Let’s look at three different important parts of the message.
First, we see the importance of hearing the message. Thirteen says… 13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard?
Last week we saw how simple it is to attain salvation. All you have to do is call on the name of the Lord. The problem with that though is that before a person can call on the name of the Lord they have to know the Lord. They can’t believe in someone they don’t even know.
The significance of this is that the message of Jesus Christ is absolutely essential in the salvation process. Just like we talked about last week, if our faith isn’t grounded in truth, in something real, than it is worthless.
Look at the questions that Paul asks here. “How will they call on Him if they don’t believe?” The answer is that they won’t. No one will call out to God if they don’t believe in Him. No one will place their faith in Him if they have no faith in Him.
The second question is, “How will they believe if they have not heard?” Again, the answer is, they won’t. They won’t believe in God unless someone tells them about Him.
Saving faith begins with hearing the word of truth. It starts when we are confronted with the gospel. It begins to affect us once we hear it. There can be absolutely no one saved without first hearing the gospel.
The message of Jesus Christ is indispensable. As important as lifestyle evangelism is and as important as friendship evangelism is, those things are not the gospel. At some point people need to hear about Jesus Christ.
You have been sent out to share the message. Whether that’s through tracts or Roman’s Road, or your personal account of accepting Jesus, or discipleship books, or reading sections from the book of John. However you choose to talk about Jesus is just fine. Just do it. You have been sent by God to accomplish that goal. People need to hear the message.
The reason that hearing the message is so important is because it is has the power to change lives and transform people. There is content to the message. There is something that we need to know in order to make a choice to either accept Christ or reject Him. Without hearing the message we can’t call on His name.
Second, we see the importance of sharing the message. Look at the last part of 14… “And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!"
The next set of questions has to do with the importance of someone going out and sharing the message with the world. How will they hear it unless there is a preacher? The word for preach here is the word for proclaim or announce. It’s to do the work of a herald. It can be used in the technical sense to refer to a professional preacher. But it is clear from the context here that the word is used in a more general sense.
How are people going to believe unless they hear and how can they hear unless someone announces the message to them?
Every single one of us has the responsibility to proclaim the message. We have to share it. You and I are God’s chosen instruments for reaching a lost and hurting world. The world will not hear about Christ unless we tell them.
The community of Woodland is filled with people who have never really had someone take the time to explain who Christ is to them. Not everyone wants to know, not everyone will care when they hear. But for some, it will fill a void. Some are hungry for truth and the message of Jesus Christ will bring them to life as the Spirit convicts and transforms them.
The next question that Paul asks here is, “How will they preach unless they are sent?” It is God who equips us and sends us out. It is God who empowers us with His Holy Spirit. It is God who brings new opportunities across our path. Each one of us has been sent by Him.
It doesn’t matter how old you are or how young you are, you have an important job to do. You have been placed in your school or in your job or in your neighborhood, or in your family to share the message.
Often we feel inadequate, unknowledgeable, or unprepared to share. But make no mistake, you have been sent. You have been commissioned. You are not just a bystander or a spectator; you are in active enlistment by God.
Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit each one of us has all the tools we need to share the gospel.
Without us going out there and talking about Jesus people won’t hear about Him. And if they don’t hear about Him they can’t believe in Him, and if they don’t believe in Him they won’t call on His name. And if they don’t call on His name they will not be saved.
Have you been faithful to share the message of salvation through Jesus Christ with those around you? Are you sensitive to the opportunities that God brings your way? Are you willing to be sent? God wants to use you, you have to let Him.
Now if that’s where Paul left things it might seem like most of the weight of salvation rested on our shoulders. It might seem like we are the ones who are responsible for someone being saved or not. But we see that our responsibility is simply to preach the message. It is up to the one who hears it to believe. Look at verses 16-17…
Here we see the importance of believing the message. Ultimately we understand that transforming faith is a gift from God. The work of salvation begins and ends with Him. God does the saving, not us. But there is clearly an importance in believing the message.
And not everyone will believe it. We are guaranteed to face a lot of indifference, and rejection, and maybe even mocking when we talk about Christ. We have been sent to proclaim the message, and the measure of success is whether or not we proclaim the message; not whether people accept it.
It’s not like trying to sell vacuum cleaners or something. We don’t get rewards in heaven based on commission. Our job is to tell them, and then we can let the convicting work of the Holy Spirit take it from there.
Honestly this should take at least some of the fear and apprehension out of sharing the gospel. We don’t have to have all the answers, or go into great detail. We don’t have to worry about whether or not the person believes the message. All we can do is share it with them.
Last week we looked at the essence of the gospel. It was all about faith. Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ. Faith comes from hearing and receiving and believing the message.
How will anyone confess faith in Christ if they don’t believe? How will anyone believe if they don’t hear about Him? How will anyone hear unless someone tells them? How will anyone share the gospel unless they are sent? You have been sent.
On that first Pentecost the Holy Spirit moved in the disciples in an amazing way. They received power and confidence and authority. Because they were filled with the Holy Spirit they preached the gospel with excitement.
The Holy Spirit also moved in the hearts of the people who were there that day. Some just thought that they were drunk, but others realized that God was calling them to repentance. Thousands were convicted on the spot and right then and there they openly confessed their faith in Jesus Christ.
That very same Holy Spirit is still at work here today. The Holy Spirit of God is still alive and active and moving in each one of our hearts. The Holy Spirit is still convicting us or empowering us or equipping us.
Please bow your heads and close your eyes for me. Right now, right here I want each one of us to have an opportunity to respond to the Spirits moving in our lives. I know that some of you might not have ever made an open confession that Jesus Christ is your Lord. You might believe to some extent, but you have never taken that step to state with clarity and confidence that you want Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life. You have never done what we talked about last week.
If you have been sensing the Spirit tugging at your heart. If you have been coming to church for awhile, but still just aren’t sure if you have every really taken that step of calling on the name of the Lord, then I want to give you a chance to do that right now.
Right where you are sitting, with your head bowed and your eyes closed I want you to pray this prayer…
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Died for my sins and rose from the dead. I invite you to come into my heart and into my life. I want to trust and follow you as my Lord and savior. In Jesus name. Amen.
I know that many of us have already confessed Jesus as our Lord. At the moment we did the Holy Spirit came and indwelt our lives. At that moment there was a real change that took place in our hearts and minds. At that moment we changed from being recipients of the message to being carriers of the message.
If you have been ignoring or neglecting your Spiritual gifts or your calling to go and share the message with others I want you to make a commitment right now. Right here with your heads bowed and your eyes closed I want you to say this prayer…
Dear God, Thank you for granting me salvation through your Son. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit in my life. God, open my eyes and open my heart to the work of the Spirit in my life. Allow the Spirit to convict me of sin, empower me to share your message, and grant me the ability to love others as you love them.
Dear God I understand that I have been sent out with a purpose. Help me to fulfill that purpose and bring you all the glory. In Jesus name, Amen.
You have been sent out to preach the gospel to a hungry world. As they hear they will believe and as they believe they will call on the name of the Lord. Now go out from here today through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit and change the world.
