When I was in college couples would wear half heart pendants in order to express their affection. Each person wore half a heart symbolizing their incompleteness without the companionship of their significant other.
There was one couple, though, that wore a different kind of necklace. Hanging on the end of each one’s chain were two tiny feet. When I asked why they both wore feet on their necklaces, the girl replied that they were their “Happy Feet.” She then went on to explain that since they were both Christians, these “Happy Feet” reminded them of their commitment to God, to put Him first in the relationship, and to give their lives in service to Him.
This idea of “Happy Feet” was based on a passage found in Isaiah that declares, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation” (Isaiah 52:7). This morning we are going to learn that those who carry the gospel have beautiful feet because of their commitment to God, and because they bring good news to the lost.
This is a message of conviction. We as Christians will be convicted of our need to share the gospel message, and the lost will be convicted of their need to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Confessing Jesus Leads to Salvation (v. 13)
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
If a person calls on the name of the Lord they will be saved. Saved from what? First of all, the Lord whom we are to call upon is Jesus Christ. In Matthew 1:21, we are told, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins,” and in Luke 1:77 we are informed concerning Jesus that He came “to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins.” Salvation to sinners is being rescued from sin and being saved from the resulting consequence of sin, which is spiritual death (Romans 6:23a).
This salvation comes through the “remission,” or forgiveness, of our sin. Just as the result of sin is spiritual death, the result of our faith in Jesus is spiritual life, for when we call upon Jesus we receive salvation for our souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9 says, “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your souls.”
God wants all of us to believe in His son Jesus and to receive salvation. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Whoever “calls” on the “name” of the Lord will be saved. Calling on Jesus’ name is confessing His name, and it’s all about the name of Jesus for there is power in His name (Philippians 2:9-11). Acts 4:12 tells us, “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” If we want to be saved from our sins then we must confess Jesus’ name, and confess Him as Lord and Savior. Jesus said in Matthew 10:32, “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.”
Believing, Hearing, and Preaching (v. 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?
In verse 14 we are told that salvation comes through believing, and that believing is the result of hearing, and that hearing comes through preaching. I wish to discuss these three basic truths about salvation in detail; however, I will add one other, which pertains to the necessity of having faith.
Truth #1 - First of all, we need to understand that our confession of Jesus as Lord and Savior occurs only after our belief in Him. “Believing” is essential to salvation. We read in Romans 10:9, “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.” Did you happen to catch that part about how we must “believe” to be saved?
In reference to Jesus, Acts 10:43 states, “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” A very familiar verse, which is John 3:16, says this: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” If we “believe” in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and “call upon His name,” or “confess” Him, then we will receive salvation and eternal life.
Truth #2 - Before anyone can ever believe in the gospel message of salvation in Jesus Christ, they must first hear it; therefore, “hearing” is also vitally important to salvation. In Acts 4:4 we read how nearly five thousand men came to faith in Jesus, and this verse tells us that “many of those who heard the word believed.” This mass conversion was the result of hearing the gospel message.
In reference to Jesus, Ephesians 1:13-14 states, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance.”
Truth #3 - We come to a point of belief in the gospel message by “having faith.” Listen to Hebrews 4:2-3: “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. For we who have believed do enter that rest” – or rather, the “rest” of eternal life.
Whenever we hear the message of salvation, we are not listening to some persuasive intellectual argument, but we are hearing the heart-cry of our Savior as He knocks on the door to our heart asking to come in. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” Keep in mind that after “hearing” the knock, it takes “faith” to actually open the door.
Truth #4 - If we are ever going to hear the message about salvation in Jesus Christ and be given a chance to believe, then someone has to preach that message to us; therefore “preaching” is also essential to salvation. Preaching is necessary because an unbeliever needs help in the interpretation of the Scripture.
In the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch, we read in Acts 8:30-31, “So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.” And what did Philip do next? He listened to this Eunuch read some more from Isaiah, and whenever he had a question for Philip, the Scripture states in Acts 8:35, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.”
I want to share a couple more passages that emphasize the necessity of preaching. In Titus 1:2-3, Paul said, “In hope of eternal life . . . God . . . has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior,” and in Acts 10:42-43, Peter said, “And He commanded us to preach to the people . . . that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
We Are Called to Share Good News (v. 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!”
In verse 15 we see that preaching is the result of being sent, or being called by God. So, who all is called to preach? In Matthew 28:19-20, in the Great Commission, Jesus told His followers, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus gave believers a commission to preach the gospel, and share the message of salvation. In 2 Timothy 4:1-2 the apostle Paul commanded, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”
The calling we have is a privileged position, and high calling (1 Corinthians 1:26), for in accepting our commission we are made beautiful in our Father’s eyes. I will never forget the first time I heard Twila Paris sing her song “How Beautiful.” In the season of her song’s debut the Lord had been calling me into ministry, so I was especially moved when she sang, “How beautiful the feet that bring the sound of good news and the love of the King.”
What Paul shared is a quote from Isaiah 52:7, which says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns!” If you will accept God’s calling and preach the “gospel of peace” then you will be viewed as beautiful; however, the main reason and motivation for preaching salvation in Jesus Christ is so that none should perish. We read in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise . . . but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
You may not realize it but the message of salvation and the one who carries that message are seen as beautiful to those who are perishing, because we bring “glad tidings of good things,” or rather, the news that they do not have to die for their sins.
In verse 15 we read that what is preached is the gospel. What is the gospel message? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” The message that we are to believe in and accept to receive salvation, is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day; and the resurrection is the key point that we must believe, for in the resurrection Jesus proved that He defeated sin and death in our lives.
This is good news that we should never be afraid to share with people. In Romans 1:16 Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.”
Not Everyone Heeds the Good News (v. 16)
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
Verse 16 tells us that not all have obeyed the gospel message of salvation in Christ. Hebrews 5:9 declares, “And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” If we wish to receive salvation from our sins, and inherit eternal life, then we must obey the gospel.
In 1 Peter 4:17-18, the apostle posed a question: “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now, if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
Where will the sinner who disobeys the gospel appear? 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 says, “When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; these shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes in that Day.”
First of all, we read that the Lord will take vengeance on those who do not obey the gospel, and they will be punished; and secondly we are told of what that punishment consists. Those who disobey the gospel will be punished with eternal and never ending destruction, being separated from God’s presence for all eternity.
Hearing the Word Leads to Faith (v. 17)
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
If hearing the “word of God” leads to faith, then what is the “word of God?” Peter defines the word for us. He says, “The word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:25). What is the word of God? It is the gospel, or the good news, that we just talked about.
We have already learned that the gospel must be preached, and that not everyone will obey. In 2 Timothy 2:9 we are told how, “The word of God is not chained,” and in Isaiah 55:11 the Lord declared, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Our responsibility is to preach the word, realizing “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” If people do not accept what we preach then that’s not our problem, we just need to remain faithful at sharing the gospel message so that people can hear and have a chance to believe and receive in faith.
Time of Reflection
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace.” If you are already a believer in Christ Jesus, then your feet are seen as beautiful to the Lord whenever you share the gospel message of salvation; therefore, I encourage all believers who are gathered here today to make a renewed commitment unto God to become more dedicated in sharing your faith, and proclaiming glad tidings of good things.
If you are here today having never accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, then how do you see those who are sharing the gospel? You might tell your friends that they are being pushy, but deep down inside you realize that the message they are trying to communicate is beautiful; and perhaps you don’t want to admit it, but somewhere inside you really appreciate what they are trying to tell you.
If you will place your faith in Jesus Christ and believe that He died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day proving that He defeated sin and death, then you will be saved from your sins and inherit eternal life.
If you will obey the gospel message and believe in Jesus Christ in faith, then you too will have a reason to have “Happy Feet” as you dance for joy at your newfound life. I wish to invite you to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior today.
