ROMANS 10:13-15 "Everyone who calls on 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? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
THE GOAL: FOR EVEYONE TO CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD AND BE SAVED
This is what a Christian is! Someone who calls upon the name of the Lord. The Name of the Lord is Jesus (See Romans 10:9; Acts 4:12).
This is why you have a mouth. This is not to be a one time thing, but a continuous way of life.
Have you done this? Do you do this? Regularly?
HOW? How do we arrive at this goal? Paul, working in reverse order, lays out the process in Romans 10:14-15.
STEP 4: WE MUST BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS LORD (See Romans 10:9 & 14).
What does it mean to say that you believe Jesus is Lord?
Bob Deffinbaugh writes: "The statement, 'Jesus as Lord,' was deeply significant to a Jew or a Gentile. The Greek term, rendered 'Lord' here, was a term used in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) to refer to Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament. For the Jew, this confession was the acknowledgment that Jesus was God and that He was the promised Savior. As such, He was to be trusted in and to be obeyed. The implications of this confession for the Gentile were also profound. The Gentile was accustomed to thinking of Caesar as 'Lord.' When a Gentile came to faith in Jesus, He recognized Him to be in the place of highest authority. It meant that obedience to Caesar must be subordinate to obedience to Christ. Because the Roman emperors viewed this as atheism, many Christians were put to death for their confession. Neither Jew nor Gentile could take these words lightly. Their culture would not allow it. To confess Jesus as Lord was to take a stand with Him and against their own culture."
To believe Jesus is Lord is to believe the historical fact that he was risen from the dead, which was witnessed by more than 500 people, which radically turned the world upside down. This is history - not philosophy.
To believe Jesus is Lord is to believe with conviction. It is to DECLARE he is Lord. He is Lord of my past. He is Lord of the present. He is Lord of the future. He is Lord of my life. Lord of my all.
If you do not believe Jesus is Lord, then you have no incentive to call upon him. (It would be like me needing a couch moved - so I call my mother. USELESS!) But, when you see that he is Sovereign, then you realize what an incredible opportunity and priviledge it is to call upon the Lord. Paul writes, "...I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord..." (Philippians 3:8)
HOW? How does someone come to this point of believing Jesus is Lord so they feel confident in calling upon his name?
STEP 3: WE MUST HEAR THE WORD (See Romans 10:14 & 17)
We must hear the Word of Life (Philippians 2:16)
We must let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly (Colossians 3:16)
We must recognize that all Scripture is God breathed (2 Timothy 3:16)
We must recognize that God's Word is truth (John 17:17)
The Word was not given to inform us - but to transform us.
D.L. Moody writes, "I prayed for faith, and thought that someday faith would come down and strike me like lightening. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, 'Now faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.' I had closed my Bible, and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible, and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since." (Leadership, Vol. 10, no 4)
How?
STEP 2: SOMEONE MUST PREACH (See Romans 10:14)
Jesus said, "Go into the world and preach the good news" (Mark 16:15)
Paul writes, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel..." (1 Corinthians 1:17-18)
To preach is to proclaim.
QUESTION: Where's YOUR pulpit?
QUESTION: What's YOUR message? (Answer: "Jesus is Lord!")
QUESTION: What's the goal? (Answer: To help people call upon the Lord. To trust him. To believe him. To listen to him)
How?
STEP 1: (Start here!) SOMEONE MUST BE SENT (See Romans 10:15)
Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Luke 10:2)
Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21)
Paul writes, "...He has committed to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:19)
God has sent prophets, angels, apostles, and disciples. He is now sending us. Don't say, "Not me!" But rather, repeat the words of Isaiah, "Here am I. Send me." Maybe not across the world. But across the street... across the room.
We must pray: "Lord send me. Open my mouth that others may hear. That others may believe. That others may call upon your name and be saved.
Illustration: The Light Switch
Consider the light switch. It is so simple. All one must do is flip a switch - and a dark room can be filled with light.
But behind the switch it is so complex. There has been countless hours of work put in to run copper wiring and junction boxes, circuit breakers, transformers, power lines, power plants, and sub stations so that all you have to is flip a switch.
Consider salvation. It is so simple. All one must do is call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.
But it is also complex. Behind that salvation is 1000's of years of preparation and prophecies, the birth of Christ, the ministry of Christ, the death and resurrection of Christ, and the Holy Spirit being unleashed, and missionaries being sent out, and the Church being the Body of Christ, the feet of Christ, the hands of Christ, and the mouth of Christ - so that all you need to do is call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. Your choice: Darkness? Or Light?
ROMANS 10:21 But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people."
See...
1) the hands of God stretch out to Israel, and to you, beckoning... calling... inviting... through His Word, through His prophets, through preachers, through missionaries, through His Church...
See...
2) in order to go to Hell, you must resist the pleas of a loving God.
