The Undelivered Message
Rom 10:8-15
JOHN CURRIER, A MAN WHO COULDN¡¯T READ OR WRITE, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison in 1949. Later his sentence was commuted and he was transferred from prison and paroled to work for a wealthy farmer near Nashville, TN. In 1968 his sentence was terminated. State Correction Department records show that a letter was written to the prisoner and the farmer for whom he worked. The letter said that he was a free man.
But Currier never saw the letter or even knew it had been written. One year went by...then two...then five, and finally ten. And still he didn¡¯t know that he was free.
By this time the farmer to whom he had been paroled was dead, but Currier kept working, serving out his life sentence. He was given a little money for personal needs¡ª$5.00 per week at first, then a little more, and finally $20.00 per week. But life was hard and filled with labor. He slept in a drafty trailer, taking baths in a horse trough. Life held very little joy and no promise of hope. This went on until 1979. Then a state parole officer learned of his plight and told him about the missing letter.
How would you feel if you were this prisoner? Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message¡ªin fact, the most important of your life, but year after year the message was never delivered?
How much is it worth to lose 10 years of your life because you failed to get a message? John Currier sued the state fro $600,000. Some think it was too little.
NOW THINK OF A DIFFERENT SITUATION. A child is born, grows up, and dies without once hearing that there is a God who loves him so much that He sent His Son to die for him so that he could be delivered from sin and its consequences. He lives in servitude to a cruel and powerful master¨CSatan! And when he has children, they too are born to live and die in bondage.
This is the condition of the great multitudes who live outside the circle of the gospel. The Bible tells us they are spiritually dead because of sin and that they have no hope and are without God in this world (Eph.2:12).
Many would like to believe that somehow, some way, people without Christ will find their way into heaven. But the Bible says this is false. Men and women must know and trust in Jesus Christ to be saved. Listen to the words of Romans 10:14:
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?
But Paul doesn¡¯t stop here. He adds two questions for the Christian:
How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent?
The church has been entrusted with the world¡¯s most crucial message. Where this message is preached, there will be those who respond and they will find life and hope. On the other hand, where it is not proclaimed, who people groups will continue to live and die in spiritual darkness.
Here¡¯s the question for all to ponder: HOW URGENT IS OUR CALLING TO SHARE THE GOSPEL?
In order to answer this it will be necessary for us to look at 3 things: (1) the WORLD, (2) the LOST, (3) the LOVE OF CHRIST.
1. LOOK AT THE WORLD
¡õ There are over 6 billion people on this planet. Less than I billion even accept the name of Christ. And a much lesser amount would claim to be ¡°born again.¡±
¡õ For 50 generations, the Gospel has been preached to this world. Heroes and martyrs have died to bring it to them. Great battles have been won. But in our generation, the most populous of them all, most have not heard a biblical presentation of salvation. Five out of six non-Christians live in areas where the message of Christ
has yet to be proclaimed.
¡õ The task is great, but our problem isn¡¯t just the greatness of the task. It is our ATTITUDE! We need to care and pray and give and go and witness where we are. The 80 million Protestants in America give and average of slightly less than 20 cants each week for missions.
¡õ Let¡¯s leave statistics for a moment and think about the world¡¯s need in terms of the power and scope of sin.
For years, especially after WWI, many thought our world was improving. Now few really believe this. We are confronted with gigantic problems. Trace them one by one and you will find their root in man himself¨C-the age-old problem of sin.
Sin cause conflict between the races
Sin lights the timbers of war and keeps them flaming
Sin creates the prevailing spirit of our age¨Cconflict!
¡õ Wherever sin exists, it is followed by corruption. Not long ago, newspapers revealed that every month the U.S. Army calls home some 300 soldiers from abroad because of the influence of drugs.
The family is fast becoming an endangered species. Such things as child abuse, child porn, and abortion are daily topics of discussion.
All this points to the urgency of getting out the gospel. The world is in desperate need due to sin. The Gospel will never make the world perfect, but it will transform people one by one. And those truly touched by the Gospel become salt and light in a very dark world.
2. LOOK AT THE LOST
¡õ Last year a pathetic letter appeared in the ¡°Dear Abby¡± column. It was from a 15 year-old and signed, ¡°A No-Good Guy.¡±
¡°Dear Abby,¡± he wrote, ¡°I¡¯ve stolen all my life. I started taking small things from my friends. I¡¯ve stolen from my mother¡¯s purse and my father¡¯s pockets. I¡¯ve even shoplifted, but I¡¯ve never been caught. I¡¯m also a terrible liar...I don¡¯t have any friends and I¡¯d like at least one. I¡¯d like to be a good person, but I don¡¯t have the will power to do what¡¯s right. I need help before I end up in jail.¡±
Sad letter, isn¡¯t it? But Acts 26:18 gives God¡¯s solution to this boy¡¯s and every person¡¯s lost condition. The Lord called Paul to minister to the Gentiles and specifically to do 4 things:
(1) open their eyes to the truth
(2) turn them from darkness to light
(3) turn them from the power of Satan to God
(4) that they may receive forgiveness of sins
¡õ Those who have never received Christ are prisoners in a fearful bondage. This is true whether they live in a so-called heathen country or in a wealthy suburb in America.
3. LOOK AT THE LOVE OF CHRIST
¡õ In II Cor.5:9 Paul tells of the motives which moved him to be Christ¡¯s messenger. He wants to please Him and have his works accepted by Him.
¡õ He goes on to say in verse 10 that there will be a great day of judgment, of accounting one day as all of us stand before Christ.
¡õ In verse 14 he gives another reason: For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.
In other words, If Jesus loved me enough to die for me I ought to understand how awful my sin looked to God...to pay such a high price. I MUST TELL OTHERS!
¡õ The other truth that Paul speaks of is found in verse 15: And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
Paul says there was a geat exchange. The Just died for the unjust. The life I have today is not my own. It belongs to God because He purchased me by His own blood.
From time to time we hear about someone being held hostage for one reason or another. We watch the TV reports and voice our shock and indignation. Our hearts go out to the hostages. We pray for the innocent to be released. And well we should. But what of those millions of hostages¡ªheld by Satan from generation to generation? We have the means to take the message of hope and deliverance to them, but do we have the will?
May God help us to cast aside our casual caring and our lukewarm interest in His Gospel.
MAX LUCADO, in one of his books, tells a story that he read about a newlywed couple that had a honeymoon disaster. They arrived at the hotel in the wee hours with high hopes. They had reserved a large room with romantic amenities. That¡¯s not what they found. Seems the room was pretty skimpy¡ªno view, no flowers, a cramped bathroom, and worst of all, no bed! Just a pull-out sofa with a lumpy mattress. The next morning the sore-necked groom stormed down to the desk clerk and ventilated his anger. After he finished, the desk clerk asked, ¡°Did you open the door in your room?¡± He admitted he hadn¡¯t and when he returned to the room, he did. To his shock, there was a large beautiful room with a spectacular view, a king sized bed, and an elaborate rest room. Why didn¡¯t he try the door? Why didn¡¯t he go down to the desk before going to bed?
I don¡¯t know, but I do know that there are millions today searching for a better life. What they don¡¯t understand is that Jesus is the door to this better life. We¡¯re like that desk clerk. We can point them to it by our prayers, our giving, and even our going.
