“Between the Lines: The Greatest Story Never Heard”
1 Chron. 16:23-29 & 34-36; Romans 10:1-17
The opening of one of the Superman movies, shows Clark Kent, as a young man, on his way home from school. His friends are all riding in a convertible but since there was not enough room for him has to walk. Clark crosses a railroad track just before a train passes by, leaving the convertible on the opposite side as the train passes by. Since they can’t see him he takes off running faster than the train and the car, and gets home. When his friends come speeding by his house they see him standing in the driveway and their eyes bug out of their heads. “How in the world did you do that?” they ask. Clark smugly smiles and walks away, leaving them stunned, puzzled, and impressed. As Clark walks up the driveway his father meets him half way and asks, “Have you been showing off again, son?” Clark answers, “Yeah, I guess so. I couldn’t help it.”
God is not like that. While He does some spectacular things, He never does it to show off or because He can’t help Himself. God does not want our faith based on the visible, the manufactured, or the fantastic. Rather, God wants to be the center of our lives by faith because He wants our hearts, our minds, and our souls. So Paul wrote about the faith (17): “…faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
Paul says there are three things we must know about faith. First, we must know that FAITH IS IMPORTANT. Faith is, in fact, the very core of the Christian life. Consider THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS. Jesus spoke often about faith. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours…All things are possible to him who believes.” (Mk. 11:23-24 & 9:23) Jesus often said, “Your faith has made you well” or “Your faith has saved you” or “Be it done according to your faith.” Remember the four men who lowered their ill and helpless friend, on a stretcher, through a roof in order to place him before Jesus? Mark records (2:5) that Jesus responded, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven…get up, take up your mat, and go home.” When a Roman Centurion and a Syrophoenician woman showed great insight and belief Jesus said, “Never have I seen such faith!” Conversely when Jesus was not accepted in His hometown of Nazareth He marveled because of their unbelief. On numerous occasions He said to His disciples, “O you of little faith.” Jesus placed faith at the core of our relationship with Him.
We also have THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS’ FOLLOWERS. Certainly the apostles preached the same message. “Have faith in God…believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” They taught that by faith we are justified, through faith we are saved, in faith we have peace with God, by faith we have access to God, and faith is the victory over the world! No wonder the writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he earnestly rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (11:6) Our Heidelberg Catechism states (20-21), “Only those are saved who by true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all his blessings. True faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in his Word is true; it is also a deep-rooted assurance, created in me by the Holy Spirit through the gospel, that out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others but I too, have had my sins forgiven, have been made right forever with God, and have been granted salvation.”
So faith is important. Where does faith come from? How do we get faith? FAITH IS IMPLANTED IN US. Verse 17: ““…faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Faith comes from hearing the message. It is implanted in us BY THE WORD OF GOD. Isaiah proclaimed (55:10-11 CEV) "Rain and snow fall from the sky. But they don't return without watering the earth that produces seeds to plant and grain to eat. That's how it is with my words. They don't return to me without doing everything I send them to do." Similarly, Peter states (1 Pt. 1:23) “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” Hebrews 4:12-13 (GNB) explains it “The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart.”
In his book on the Kingdom of God Charles Colson wrote, “The Bible - banned, burned, beloved. More widely read, more frequently attacked than any other book in history. Generations of intellectuals have attempted to discredit it; dictators of every age have outlawed it and executed those who read it. Yet soldiers carry it into battle believing it more powerful than their weapons. Fragments of it smuggled into solitary prison cells have transformed ruthless killers into gentle saints. Pieced-together scraps of Scripture have converted whole villages of Pagan Indians...Literary classics endure the centuries. Philosophers mold the thoughts of generations unborn. Modern media shape current culture. Yet nothing has affected the rise and fall of civilization, the character of cultures, the structure of governments, and the lives of the inhabitants of this planet as profoundly as the words of the Bible.” Faith is implanted in us through this life-producing, powerful Word.
Faith is also implanted in us THROUGH WORSHIP. Our passage from 1 Chronicles demonstrates why worship is so critical to the planting of faith. It portrays a glorious picture of what true worship looks like – acknowledging God’s worth and being in His presence. It involves giving thanks to God, bringing offerings to Him, singing praises to Him, recalling His wonderful interventions in our lives, and proclaiming His offer of salvation. And at the conclusion the people said, ‘“Amen’ and ‘Praise the Lord.’” (Must be the Israelites were charismatic or Pentecostal!)
Worship brings us into the presence of Christ; we encounter Jesus in all His glory. It is the experience of worship that enables us to encounter the glory of Christ in all of life. Worship fine tunes our perspective and vision for life. Prince Vladimir was not a believer when someone persuaded him to attend a worship service, but he was struck by the beauty of worship. “We knew not,” he said, “whether we were in heaven or on earth.” Vladimir was converted, not by evangelistic efforts or persuasion, but by the beauty and dignity of worship. He had the ancient idols torn down. He gave up his life of vice. He forcibly baptized his subjects. He went down in history as St. Vladimir. Faith is implanted in us through worship.
Paul also said that FAITH IMPELS US. Verses 13-14: “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” The Word of God and worship lead to salvation. That means, first of all, WE MUST PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL so people can hear. Paul’s heart was pained because his fellow Jews were not yet Christians. They desperately needed to hear the gospel. So Paul is pleading for people to proclaim it.
Think about the magnitude of this. God could have chosen to spread his Word in a myriad of ways. But as the primary way He’s chosen people – He’s chosen us. He chose people to write the Scriptures; He’s chosen people as translators; He’s chosen preacher and teachers. He has invited us to share in the blessings of proclaiming His Word. Through His Word and worship He shares His heart with us so that we, too, will be pained at all the dead life around us – heart-broken over the unsaved. He wants us to be sensitive to the unsaved we encounter every day. For many of them the gospel is the greatest story never heard.
Just before He ascended into heaven Jesus made it clear that we are to be His witnesses. Witnessing is different than evangelizing. Evangelizing is presenting the Gospel story in such a way as to call for a commitment to Jesus. Witnessing is telling the story of our relationship to Jesus, sharing what we have witnessed in our own lives. It is to tell our story of God’s action in our lives. Jesus, in fact, sent the Holy Spirit to help us witness. “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses.” Isn’t it interesting that we can speak about our job, our families, our hobbies, or our favorite ball teams yet find it difficult to speak about our relationship to Jesus? We fail to trust that the Holy Spirit will enable and empower us so we are silent; we fail to witness, to share our story. For some around us, therefore, the gospel will be the greatest story never heard – because they did not hear it from us.
In Sheffield Alabama a young man working at an iron plant was accidentally thrown into a red-hot armored plate. When he was rolled off by fellow workers it was doubtful he would live. As workmates hollered “Send for a doctor!” the young man cried out, “Never mind the doctor. I’m dying without God. Who can help me?” And although three hundred men were gathered around him, no one could tell him the way of salvation. After twenty minutes of agony, he died. The story of Jesus was, for him, the greatest story never heard.
We tend to respond to such an incident by thinking that if we were in that situation then we’d speak up. Consider this poem of an unknown author, entitle ‘My Friend.’
My friend, I stand in the judgment now
And feel that you‘re to blame somehow.
On earth, I walked with you day by day
And never did you point the way.
You knew the Lord in truth and glory,
But never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim;
You could have led me safe to Him.
Though we lived together on the earth,
You never told me of the second birth.
And now I stand this day condemned,
Because you failed to mention Him.
You taught me many things, that’s true;
I called you ‘friend’ and trusted you.
But I learn now that it’s too late,
You could have kept me from this fate.
We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the light.
You let me live, and love, and die,
You knew I’d never live on high.
Yes, I called you ‘friend’ in life,
And trusted you through joy and strife.
And yet on coming to the end,
I cannot, now, call you ‘my friend.’
The greatest story never heard. What about your friends? Co-workers? Fellow students? Your spouse or children? For them, because of you, is the story of God’s love and grace the greatest story never heard? As Dr. William Temple said, “If what you have gained from your religion is something that you could possibly hold to yourself without wanting to impart it to other people then it is not God’s best gift in the Gospel and it is not salvation…The fact that you are not passing it on proves that you haven’t got it; and if you have got it, it will make you pass it on, because of what it is.”
In other words we cannot proclaim the Gospel unless we have experienced the gospel. WE MUST PROFESS CHRIST. We cannot share if we have not believed. Where do you stand with Jesus Christ? “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” Have you called? “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Have you confessed? Do you believe? You’ve heard the greatest story ever told – that God loves you so much that he sent His only son, full of grace and truth, to live in the flesh in order to die for you so you might have eternal life. Jesus Christ loves you and died for you; He alone can save you. You’ve heard it; you know it. Will you accept it? I urge you this morning, if you have never believed, or if you believe but have never professed your faith in Jesus Christ before Christ and His Church, make the commitment to do so today. If you
made your profession sometime in the past, but need to reaffirm it, make the commitment to do so today.
There is no greater story! Everyone – anyone – can be saved; but not if it’s the greatest story never heard. So whether you make the commitment today, or made it long ago, leave here and share your story. “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” In your circle of relationships may the gospel never again be the greatest story never heard.
