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LIMAVADY
BAPTIST CHURCH
SERMON NOTES
FROM SUNDAY 19 MAY 2024 – MR BEN DALY
ROMANS 10
The book of Romans is one of the best
arguments ever presented by mankind.
Throughout the first 8 chapters the apostle Paul has laid bare the human
condition and the good news of the gospel.
In the first 3 chapters we have the bad news that we are all sinners in
the sight of God. In chapter 4 there is
good news. Chapters 4 to 8 deals with
all the glories of justification by faith alone. The great pinnacle is the blessings of
salvation for those in Christ alone.
Chapters 9 and 10 sets out the plan for Israel as a nation. Chapter 11 deals with the effects of the
gospel and how it impacts our living. We
are in the section concerning the nation of Israel. “How shall they hear”. A gospel centred church can be our title
today. Chapter 10 is a series of rhetorical
questions. Verses 14 and 15 have 4
questions –
“How then shall
they call on him in whom they have not believed?”
“How shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard?”
“How shall they
hear without a preacher?”
“How shall they
preach except they be sent?”
The obvious
answer to every question is – they cannot.
Implicit in each question is this answer - they cannot. What ought to be our response? How serious a thing these questions are. These 4 questions are not nice academic
things to think about. There is a
reminder of eternal life and death – “whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved.” Verses 14 and 15 relies
on verse 13 being put into action.
No-one will ever be saved unless they call on the Lord Jesus. These are questions of life and death. Important in light of these questions. Let us
consider 3 questions of our own in light of these:
Are you a
burdened church?
Are you a preaching
church?
Are you a
sending church?
A burdened
church. Before Paul gets to these questions he lays bare his heart for
these people – verse 1. What a concern
he has for them. Is it a better economy,
a stronger defence system. No, it is to
know they might be saved. Look back at Romans
9 verses 1 – 5. This is the apostle’s heart for his people, in particular verses
2 and 3. It is one of the great
heaviness and great sorrows that he shares.
If he could be cut off from his people, if it meant they would now
Christ. What a burden. His heart was always sorrowful – why –
because he recognises the need of people around him. Do you and I have that same heart? If we don’t have it who will have that heart
for the people around us? Are you
sorrowful for those you interact with Monday to Friday in your workplace, your
neighbours who are going to a lost eternity?
Paul’s desire is for his people to be saved. It led to continual sorrow in his heart. We could be the only Christian people interact
with – is my heart sorrowful for them?
Why is he so concerned for his people?
It is alluded to in chapter 10 verse 13 – “Whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved.” Saved from what? A lost eternity. In Romans 1 verse 18 the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven, men and women are under that wrath. In Romans 6 verse 23 he says “for the wages
of sin is death.” That is the reality
Paul is facing up to here. How do we see
those around us? Just living a different
lifestyle from ours or as Jesus saw them, as sheep without a shepherd? Do we have compassion on them? As souls on their way to hell? If we had a glimpse of hell our hearts would really
be sorrowful and heavy. Are we like Paul
whose hearts desire is for those around us to be saved or have we got too
comfortable sitting in our churches week in and week out. No-one else will have that vision except the
people of God. Where there is no vision
the people perish. Paul’s burden does
not end with his hearts desire. It is in
knowing the rejection of God his heart leads to action. If you have a hearts desire it will lead you
to action. If you say I have a hearts
desire for the lost of Limavady but you never pray for them you don't have that
desire. It does not lead you
anywhere. Can you imagine the apostle
continually heavy in his heart as he looks at the situation of his nation
people rejecting God? It leads him to get down on his knees and pray to
God. His desire leads him to act. If you have a burden for the lost of Limavady
are you praying for your neigbours? If
we don’t pray for them no-one else will.
Prayer achieves something. Prayer
was the driving force of the early church.
The gospel spread as the people prayed.
You must have a hearts desire for the lost of this town. That must lead you to pray for them. You must act on that desire. That is when God will bless his people. Have you got the burden today? Will you pray that the Lord will give you the
burden if you don’t have it. If you have
the burden do you regularly pray for those around you? The value of one soul in eternity - does that
not motivate you to pray? To take action
on the burden of those who are lost. Get
the burden today for those around us for the need for Christ.
Are you a preaching
church – “How then shall they call on him of whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on him of whom they
have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher?” In this line of rhetorical questions we see
the necessity for preaching the gospel. If they are to believe and if they are
to hear they must have someone to preach to them. The Greek word for preaching is a public
declaration of a message with authority.
Imagine the emperor giving his herald a message to go down and tell they
have conquered another part of the territory, to go on behalf of the king
bringing the message to everyone. The
parallel for preaching the gospel - You receive the message from on high set in
stone for you. It is the message God
calls to go and declare. A message from above,
with God’s authority. Take it and to
preach it with the same authority. Peter
and John could not help but to speak of those things they had heard. You have the message that will save the
lost. The next step is to bring the
gospel to them. Why is it the preaching the
gospel that brings people to Christ?
This is the means God uses for saving the lost. His ordinary means for saving the lost. How were you saved – because someone preached
the gospel to you. That is God’s
ordinary means for saving the lost. His
core means of reaching the lost and making the gospel known. Are you a preaching church, in line with the
great commission? Let’s not rest on our
laurels. Let us protect the teaching and
preaching of the gospel. This must
always be the primary aim of the local church.
There are other groups who will offer social help assistance with other
needs. The church of Christ is here for the
evangelisation of the gospel, for life changing means for eternity. Defining message of the gospel. This must be your core central aim – to be a
preaching church, to preach the gospel to those in your town. This is how
people hear of him. Who they hear
about. How they call on him in whom they
have not heard.
Are you a
sending church – in order for the preacher to go and preach we have another
rhetorical question verse 14 “how shall they preach except they be sent.”. Preaching gospel is not an individual activity,
not something that a man decides by himself to do. Not the New Testament pattern. Evangelisation of the nations is not an
individual activity. They must be sent
by a church. Who does the sending? Is it God?
Yes God calls a man to preach the gospel. He does not send a man. We see a pattern of people being sent by the
local church. Preachers of the gospel
are sent by the local church. Acts 13 verses 1 – 4 is a good example to
follow. Paul and Barnabas had been here
at Antioch. The church has been
established. There was a group of
Christians meeting and worshipping the Lord then they sent out Paul and
Barnabas. 2 Corinthians 8 verse 19 is
another example. They were sent
out. Titus was another example of
someone sent. The local churches sent
preachers. It was they who did the
sending. Local churches are to send out
ministers of the gospel. The pattern in Antioch. They were first a worshipping church. They were a godward focus on the glory of God
as they ministered to the Lord and fasted.
Focused on the Lord. Also a
sensitive church. The Holy Ghost told
them to separate Paul and Barnabas. We need
to be sensitive people. We need to test
what the Spirit says against scripture. Let
us be sensitive to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit. Let us not quench the spirit in our meetings. They were a careful church. Whenever they sensed the Holy Spirit, the
church did exactly what they ought to do.
They were careful. They fasted and prayed. They waited on the Lord. Sensitive to the Lord’s leading. Confirmation obviously came to them – verse 3. An active church. They laid their hands on them and sent them
away. Didn’t waste any time. H aving it confirmed that these men were
called of God they laid their hands on them and sent them away to do the work
of the ministry. They were also a
supporting church – Acts 14 verse 26.
The pattern is not that Paul and Barnabas were sent out and forgot about
the sending church. Nor that the sending
church forgot Paul and Barnabas. No they
supported Paul and Barnabas while they were away. They returned to their local church to report
of what the Lord was doing. The link
between the preachers of the gospel and sending church is one and the same.
Inextricably linked. Are you a church
where these characteristics can be witnessed?
Consider for yourselves – are you a sending church? If you are not identifying those and raising
up those who will go out from this church - who else will do it? Who else will
raise up workers into God’s vineyard? The
answer is a people who are burdened for the preaching of the gospel for the
nations to be won for Christ. This is
one of the churches central aims or purposes and reaching of the lost because
of the pattern in Romans 10. To call
they must believe. To believe there must be one of whom they have not heard. To hear there must be a preacher. To preach they must be sent. If the gospel is to reach those who have not
heard we must be active in this mission.
We must be a burdened people, a preaching people, a sending people. In
those 3 categories no-one gets off the hook.
This includes all of us from the youngest to the oldest. We all have a role to play in the reaching of
the lost for Christ. We can all be
burdened, praying, sending. Doing something
for the gospel to be extended. There are
many today in our neighbourhood who know nothing of the good news of the
Saviour who came to love them and died for them so that they could be saved for
all eternity. No longer means going too
far flung corners of the world. Society has
changed. We must be faithful in reaching
the lost with the gospel. What are you
going to do about it? Are you engaged in
God’s mission of reaching the lost for Jesus today?
"Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell." C T Studd
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