Telling Others

Telling Others

Romans 10:13-15, "For ’Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how

can they believe in him they have never heard about him? And how can they hearabout him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell tehm

without being sent? That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ’How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.’"

God gave his own Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer like we suffer, to be tempted like we are tempted, to live a perfect life, to be killed by crucifixion, and to be

raised again to rule forever. He did this great thing so that we can have a relationship with him. But there is a huge dilemma. Only those who believe can have this relationship. If nobody ever believed in Jesus and believed because of what God did, it would have been for nothing. Christ would have died in vain.

And of course, as this verse makes very clear, the only way people can believe that God did this for them, is if they know about it. Now, since he can do

anything, God could have chosen any way he wanted to let people know about Jesus. He could’ve formed the stars to spell out the Gospel. He could have

written in the sky, before airplanes were even around to do that. He could have carved the good news into the sides of rocks. He could have sent all of his

obedient angels out to tell everyone. And since God is so far more intelligent than we are, he could have come up with many other ways, that I can’t even think of. However, God chose only one means of spreading this Good News. That one way was that the believers would tell others.

There is a legend which recounts the return of Jesus to glory after his time on earth. Even in heaven he bore the marks of his earthly pilgrimage with its creul

cross and shameful death. The angel Gabriel approached him and said Master, you must have suffered terribly for men down there. I did he said. And continued Gabriel, do they know all about how you loved them and what you did for them Oh No Not yest Right now only a handful of people know. Gabriel was perplexed. Then what you have you done to let everyone know about

you love for them.

Jesus said I’ve asked Peter, James, John and a few more friends to tell other people about me. Those who are told will in turn tell still other people, and my

story will be spread to the farthest reaches of the globe. Ultimately, all mankind will have heard about my life and what I have done.

Gabriel frowned and looked rather skeptical. He knew well what poor stuff men were made of. Yes he said, but what if Peter and James and John grow weary? What

if the people who come after them forget? Havn’t you made any other plans?

I have no other plans. I’m counting on them. Twenty centuries later, he still has no other plan. He’s countin on you and me. High on God’s to do list is the

evangelization of the world. His early disciples adopted his prioritiesand devoted themselves to reaching their world. Christ counted on them, and they

delivered. Have we done as well?

A. The Sensibility of the this plan -- Really this method makes the most sense. If you want to buy a new car, who would you rather here from, the car salesman

or someone who owns that car? Even when I’m sick, I don’t trust my doctor as much as someone who tells me, I had those symptoms and this is what I did. With

all of our great studies in advertising, we have discovered what God knew all along: that the best kind of advertising is "word-of-mouth." In fact, in the

same letter to the Romans, Paul says, "From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God has made. They can clearly

see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God." So, going back to my previous

suggestion that God could write the Good News in the sky, he basically did. However, nobody paid attention to it. As long as the message was "somewhere out there," it was easy for them to ignore.

However, if you are a believer, God has done something incredible for you. He has changed your life. And when you tell your friends and your co-workers and your relatives about what God has done, it is hard for them to ignore. They can see the change in your life. They can see that you no longer do the things that