"Beautiful Feet"
Romans 10:14-15
DSW@cacc9-28-97
Beautiful Feet
Webster’s Definition:
foot n. pl. feet . 1. The lower extremity of the leg that is in direct contact with the ground in standing or walking.
I can think of several words to describe these things on the ends of my legs. The words ugly, hairy, smelly and hideous are a few that I would choose.
The bible describes feet and you’d be surprised at the verbiage used. Both Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:15 describe feet. In both of these references the word to characterize feet is "beautiful".
Isa 52:7 7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"(NIV)
Rom 10:15 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"(NIV)
This brings a question to mind. and I want to ask it out loud this morning. "What is it that makes feet... "beautiful"?
What a sad world it would be with out the hope that is found in Jesus. Can you imagine a life with out God? Surely it would be a life with out hope. I tell you today that this the condition of the majority of the world .
Man is Helplessly, Hopelessly, Heading for Hell with out the message of Jesus Christ.
Rom 10:13-15 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
14 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?
15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"(NIV)
ILL: Two strangely connected events that occurred in 1865 greatly impact American lives even today.
1) General William Booth founded the Salvation Army and now millions are fed, clothed and given shelter in the name of Jesus. As Booth proclaims "A heart to God and a hand to man".
2) The other event involved another man named Booth (a distant cousin to William) his name John Wilks Booth who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.
One cousin blessed a nation the other cursed it.
The Gospel makes a difference.
What is it about the Gospel / This good news that is the added ingredient that has the power to change the lives of millions?
Without the truth of the gospel this world is lost! This world will remain lost unless we see that feet bring the good news.
Thesis: Because the Good News can have such an impact in people’s lives I would like to bring out the following questions about the Good News.
Good News:
I. What is it?
II. Who should tell it?
III. Why should it be told?
IV. How do we do it?
I. Good news, What is it?
"What makes The Good News so good?"
To answer this question let me remind you what this Good news is.
It is simply Jesus Christ and him crucified. Paul was dedicated to preaching this good truth
1 Cor 2:1-2 1 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
This Good news is a simple message that changed many lives through Paul’s preaching.
I suppose someone may ask... "What can possibly be good about a man who was executed 2,000 years ago?"
I tell you means my salvation. The salvation of the entire world.
His Pain is Our Gain.
Jesus may have appeared to be an ordinary man but he is an extraordinary savior.
That is why Phil 2:8-11 was written.
Phil 2:8-11
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to even on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus Is LORD!!!
Jesus deserves this title not because of his suffering , but because he was and is and forever will be God!
Jesus suffering was a demonstration of his love he has for us.
Rom 5:8
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ - Died - For - Us
Let’s look at these four words closely.
Christ:
This identified to be Jesus
1)By prophets
Isa 53:5
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
(NIV)
2)Christ Himself
John 10:30
30 I and the Father are one."
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
3)His disciples
Matt 16:15-16
15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
4)Even people who rebuked him
Acts 9:22
22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
Died:
Meaning ceasing to live; Suffering the process of .
We see his brutal Crucifixion recorded in the gospels.
We see the taunting, the beating and his crucifixion. There is no doubt... Christ did indeed Die.
For:
This is a word of intercession in this context. Literally interrupted means "In the place of" so "Christ died in place of... the next word is
Us:
That’s you and me folks, Your family, your friends and even your enemies. He died for all of humanity. It is us who deserved to die but it was he who earned life who died. This is the greatest paradox of all time.
Remembering Genesis we see that the penalty of sin is . Adam disobeyed God.
Death was the penalty of this disobedience. So too our disobedience deserves but Jesus Died that for us.
All mankind is hopelessly lost with out the sacrifice of Christ. All people must do is to lay claim to this fact that Jesus is Lord and he will be saved from the they justly deserve.
Through our disobedience we are condemned to hell. But through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ we are offered salvation. By the Grace of God we are given eternal life.
Now.. That’s Good news.
Because we have this good news it should be told. It needs to be told. It is commanded to be told.
But,..
II. Who should tell it?
Simply,. Those who have herd
I Jn 1:3
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
It is every Christians’ Responsibility to tell of the Christ they have accepted. It is the Command that Jesus gave us as he ascended in to heaven in
Matt 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""
We must tell the Good News
ILL: Sunday Morning August 31 1997 we awoke to the news that seemed to rock the world. It was the of a Princess. Millions watched as news reporters described in great detail the events that caused the of Princess Diana. Up dates told every late breaking tid bit of information. The world sat hungrily in front of their TV. sets to hear the latest in the of Diana. For over two weeks the news hour was filled with reports on this tragedy. A man would have to been living under a rock not to know about the princess’s . The zeal in reporting this news was riveting.
If all the time and money that was spent on letting the world know about the Princess Of Wales was spent on letting the world know about the Prince Of Peace Billions would know of the savior’s love. Millions would be saved there would be a great revival in all the world.
There is more dedication to a dethroned princess then there is to the enthroned King of Kings. He is Lord of Lords, Creator the Almighty God and the world needs to know. We must tell them.
III. So, Why should we tell it?
Two words sum up the reason to tell the Good News.
Urgency and Obedience.
Urgency to save the lost and Obedience to Jesus.
ILL: Years ago a man was searching his family roots and visited several cemeteries and read many inscriptions on the tombstones. There was one tombstone on which was engraved "Pause now stranger as you pass by; as you are now, so once was I. as I am now , so soon you will be. Prepare yourself to follow me!"
Next to the tombstone someone placed a piece of wood engaged with this note... "To follow you I am not content until I know which way you went."
There are two destinies open to man. We need to be concerned that people choose the right destiny.
Jesus clearly showed this in his analogy in :
Matt 7:13-14
13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
a. Two gates - one wide, one small
b. Two Roads - one broad, one narrow
c. Two Destinies - one destruction, one life
v13 "Enter through the narrow gate."
ILL : C.S. Lewis a former atheist once spoke concerning hell as he said " There is no doctrine I would more willingly remove from Christiantiy.If it lay in my power to do so I would pay any price to say all man will be saved."
But he cant say that. No one can say that. Unfortunately people are going to die and go to hell. The only thing we can do is tell those headed down hell’s highway about the one who can change their route.
We need to have an urgency to save the lost.
ILL: Picture yourself sitting by a pool. You are lounging in a chair and you are the only one in the pool area except for a man who is in the pool, swimming. As you sit you notice that to your left on the fence hangs a life saving ring. Then you look at the man in the pool and see him flailing in the water. It is obvious to you that this man is drowning. At this point you have a choice. Do you involve yourself or do you continue lounging. Human nature will not allow you to let this man die. you will save this man. You throw the life saving ring out to this man. He grabs it and he is saved.
In the same manner there are millions who are drowning in sin and we must save then from eternal .
We must tell the lost or they will be condemned to an eternity in hell.
The world’s perception of hell scares me. The world has dressed up Satan in red spandex. It has given him a sinister grin, horns on his head, a pitchfork in his hand and authority in hell which is portrayed as nothing more than a hot place underground.
What’s so scary about this picture of hell?
Nothing because that’s not hell!
In the world’s view of Satan and hell there is little to be feared. The bible shows a much different picture.
Hell is the place of eternal punishment for the unrighteous and translates Gehenna, the Greek form of the Hebrew word that means "the vale of Hinnom"-- a valley just south of Jerusalem. In this valley the Canaanites worshiped Baal and the fire-god Molech by sacrificing their children in a fire that burned continuously.
In the time of Jesus the Valley of Hinnom was used as the garbage dump of Jerusalem. Into it were thrown all the filth and garbage of the city, including the bodies of animals and executed criminals. To consume all this, fires burned constantly. Maggots worked in the filth. When the wind blew from that direction over the city, its awfulness was quite evident. At night wild dogs howled and gnashed their teeth as they fought over the garbage.
(Nelsons Bible Dictionary 1986) Jesus used this awful scene as a symbol of hell. In effect he said, "Do you want to know what hell is like? Look at the valley of Gehenna."
In (Mark 9:46) and (48), hell is described as a place where "their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched." Repeatedly Jesus spoke of outer darkness and a furnace of fire, where there will be wailing, weeping, and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12; ; Luke 13:28). Obviously this picture is drawn from the valley of Gehenna.
The Book of Revelation describes hell as "a lake of fire burning with brimstone" Into hell will be thrown the beast and the false prophet (Rev. 19:20). At the end of the age the devil himself will be thrown into it, along with and hades and all whose names are not in the Book of Life. "And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Rev. 20:10b).
Because of the symbolic nature of the language, some people question whether hell consists of actual fire. Such reasoning should bring no comfort to the lost. The reality is greater than the symbol. The Bible exhausts human language in describing heaven and hell. The former is more glorious, and the latter more terrible, than language can express.
We can see the importance of saving people of this reached place now we ask:
IV. How do we tell it?
How do we tell good news of salvation
First we must lay claim to the saving knowledge our selves.
So, How does one lay claim to this faith?...
Through obedience that comes in 5 simple steps.
1) Hear
Rom 10:17
17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
2) Believe
John 6:47
47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
3) Repent
Luke 13:3
3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
4) Confess
I Jn 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
5) Be Baptized
Acts 2:38
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Mark 16:16
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
John 3:3
3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
When we receive good news we naturally want to share it.
In the same way this good news about salvation is ours to share. We should want to share it. We need to share it. We are commanded to share it.... If we don’t share the good news how will others know about Jesus.
Our text Asks a very good Question.
Rom 10:14-15
14 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? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written,
"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
It is sad but true. The more we keep the gospel to ourselves the more people will die with out knowing Christ. With out Christ people will go to hell. The community around us is filled with people who don’t have a practicing faith in Jesus Christ.
ILL: An old man was walking the beach at dawn. He noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked what he was doing. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. "But the beach goes on for miles and miles, and there are millions of starfish," countered the man. "How can your effort make any difference?" The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to safety in the waves.
"It makes a difference to this one," he said.
Hugh Duncan, Leadership
Have beautiful Feet.
