Let's pray. Heavenly Fathers, we open now your word. Would you speak to us with your word, living and active, may it penetrate our hearts, and we will respond to it in faith, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Please open your Bibles to our sermon text tonight, Romans chapter 10, verses 9 through 15. You can find this in your pew Bibles on page 946. And for context, I'll begin reading in verse four and read through verse 17. Romans chapter 10, beginning in verse four, this is God's holy word. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ down, or who will descend into the abyss, that is, to bring Christ up from the dead. But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. they have not all obeyed the gospel for isaiah says lord who has believed what he has heard from us so faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of christ tonight this is our fourth sermon in our series on evangelism My goal in this series has been to preach passages that give us both practical instruction but also theological instruction on the work of evangelism. Many of these passages have been ones that are familiar to us but I want to bring out fresh insights and perhaps remind us of things we ought to know and practice. Our goal is to become a more evangelistic church and in order to do that we must not only understand the practical how-tos of evangelism, but also know why we do the things we do. The first two sermons, we focused on the work of prayer, its crucial role in evangelism, and I hope you've been putting them into practice, praying for those you hope to share the gospel with. Last week, we considered the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations, and we saw how the greatness of this work is overshadowed by the greatness of the Commissioner, Jesus Christ. And tonight our passage brings us to some of the most central questions of evangelism. How can I be saved? And we learn Christ saves through faith alone. And where does this faith come from? Christ sends preachers and faith is born through hearing the word of God proclaimed. These are our two main points drawn from our passage in Romans that Christ saves and Christ Sends that he saves through faith that he sends preachers to preach his word But I noticed as I was doing my studies that both of these points are illustrated so beautifully in this passage in act 16 the Philippian Jailer that we read earlier this evening so first imagine the scene of The jailer was woken up by this earthquake. He discovered the doors had come open, and he knew that if even one prisoner had escaped, he would be put to death by the Romans. And so he took his life in his own hands. He was about to put an end to his own life, about to enter into a Christless eternity. And Paul cried out to him. He stopped him, saying, do not harm yourself. here. And the jailer, after he had stopped, after he went to Paul, he noticed in one sense that Paul, by stopping him, had just saved his life. But somehow he also knew that he still needed saving. That scripture account doesn't tell us exactly what led up to his crucial question, whether perhaps he had already heard Paul preaching before. probably the most likely, that Paul had been preaching there in Philippi and he had heard. And now, seeing the power of God, he comes with this crucial question. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. Their message, so simple, so beautiful. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. Of course, Paul goes on. They go on to explain the gospel further. They go on to preach to his whole household. In the next verse we read, they spoke the word of the Lord to him, to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. I love in that verse the contrast between first, how the jailer washes the wounds of Paul and his companion, wounds suffered for the sake of Christ, and then is himself washed with the waters of baptism, a picture of Christ washing away our sin. I love the contrast there. You have here in this one man and his family's conversion the simple statement of the gospel, believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved, that faith comes that Christ saves through faith. We also see why did this word, this gospel come to that jailer in Philippi? Because Christ had sent out Paul as a missionary to preach and proclaim the word. And so our first, second main point tonight is that Christ saves. He saves through the confession of saving faith. That's what we have in verses nine and 10 of our passage. These verses, I'm sure you're familiar with them. They're verses that are often quoted in evangelistic presentations as we share the gospel with others. We often hear this as the how-to of salvation. And it really does state so succinctly, so clearly, how to be saved. I think it's also helpful to see that these passages, these verses, are in the midst of a context. Let's look at the verses leading up to these famous verses. And Paul, in chapter 10, is building on the argument that really he has been making all throughout the book of Romans, from its first chapter. He's been teaching that there are two kinds of righteousness. First, there's the righteousness of the law, which can be gained through perfect obedience to God's law. Sometimes we speak of this as righteousness gained through good works, the righteousness of works. But Paul in Romans teaches us that we can never attain this righteousness through the law because we can never perfectly keep the law. All have sinned, all fall short of the glory of God. And in chapter 10, Paul is wrestling with and mourning the fact that so many Jews don't understand this. That even though they have the law, even though they are so zealous to keep it, they don't understand this crucial purpose of the law. The law is actually meant to expose our unrighteousness, to show us our sinfulness, to show us our inability to keep the law, our inability to achieve our own righteousness, and therefore to point us to this second kind of righteousness, a second kind of righteousness Paul calls the righteousness of God or the righteousness of faith. It's the righteousness of God because it is achieved for us by Christ, the Son of God, he is the only one to perfectly keep the law. It's also the righteousness of faith because it is received as a gift from God to those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. And so Paul answers these crucial questions, how can I be saved? How can I receive this second kind of righteousness, this righteousness from God? And so we read chapter 10 verses 9 through 10, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Verse it says, you must confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. Three simple words and yet so profound. Consider the implications of this simple confession. To say Jesus is Lord is to identify Jesus with the Lord of all the Old Testament, the Lord Yahweh, I am who I am, the one living and true God. You say, Jesus is Lord. It's also to say there is no other Lord besides Jesus. And that day when so many would say Caesar is Lord, it's to say Caesar is not Lord. It's not just politically to say this about Caesar. It also means you are not Lord. It means, I am not Lord. It's to say, I am not my own master, but Christ is my Lord. It's also to admit, I can't save myself. I need him. I need his righteousness. I need what he accomplished on the cross. Jesus is Lord. Three simple words, and yet so profound. From these words, the confession of the mouth, Paul then works backwards to look at the heart. Believe with your heart, God raised Jesus from the dead. And we know, logically speaking, the order is actually the other way around, as Jesus tells us that the mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart. But Paul starts with the verbal confession first, because he is following the order of the verse from Deuteronomy he just quoted. Deuteronomy 30, verse 14, which is quoted in verse eight, which speaks of the mouth and then the heart, so that's the same order he uses in verse nine. But really the source for this great confession, Jesus is Lord, is that it flows out of a heart that personally trusts in the work of Jesus Christ. And Paul highlights here, he puts the focus on the resurrection, because it's in the resurrection that all that Christ does, all that he accomplishes is sealed. He was only raised from the dead because he had first given his life as a ransom for our sins on the cross. He was only raised for the dead because he had suffered God's wrath in our place on the cross. His resurrection was the public declaration, the public seal of his victory over sin and death. And so to believe his resurrection is to believe everything that Christ accomplished for our salvation. And it's not just to believe it with the mind, but Paul is pointing to a true faith, which trusts in that work, to say not just that Jesus saves, but Jesus has saved me. Jesus is my savior, as he went to the cross for my sins. In verse 10, Paul restates it, now flipping the order, in order to make it absolutely clear. For with the heart one believes and is justified, with the mouth one confesses and is saved." To be clear, Paul is not saying here that these are the two steps in salvation. First, believe for justification, then confess for salvation. That's not what he's saying. Rather, these are two parallel truths. They must go together. For the heart that truly believes in Christ must overflow with this glorious confession that Jesus is Lord. Or to put it another way, the public confession is the outward expression of an inward reality, a heart trusting in Christ. It also means the other way around. That if a person refuses to confess that Jesus is Lord, this is a sign that almost assuredly they are not trusting in Christ in their heart. Paul puts it out here, the way to be saved through faith in verses 9 through 10. But then as he moves forward in verses 11 through 13, he shows that this teaching, that salvation is through faith, is actually not something new. It is new that Christ has come. It is new that Christ has gone to the cross and accomplished our salvation. But the fact that we are saved through faith is not something new. The way of salvation has always been through faith. As we read in verse 11, the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame, quoting Isaiah 28, 16. And of course, this has been the message of all of Romans, that even Abraham was saved not through works, but through faith. And then he goes even further. In verse 12, he says that this offer of salvation through faith is available to all. There is no distinction, both Jew and Gentile, all can call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. And he confirms this once again, not with something new, but with something from the Old Testament. He confirms that this has always been the case, quoting Joel 2.32, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, once again, to call on the name of the Lord, this is not to add another step to some process of salvation, but it's just another parallel this whole work of God in us, that the heart that truly believes in Christ will surely call on his name for salvation, just as surely as it will confess, Jesus is Lord. All these things go together. And in this quotation, Paul is particularly putting the stress on one important word. Notice that word, everyone. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But this then brings us into the question, this second evangelistic question. He's answered, how can we be saved? By confessing with our mouth, by believing in a heart, just as Paul had proclaimed to that Philippian jailer, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And now he moves into this second question. If one must call on the Lord to be saved, how can others come to call on this Lord? How can they receive this message? How can they receive the gift of faith? And that's what he looks into in verses 14 and 15, that Christ sends out preachers, where preaching is God's primary means of salvation. As we look at verses 14 through 15, Paul asks this series of rhetorical questions to highlight both the necessity and the power of preaching to bring about this saving faith. Romans 10, 14, and 15. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. And he sums up this whole process from being sent out as preachers to hearing, to believing. And he says, in verse 17, so faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. I want to continue, consider two points here that are taught in these verses. First, the necessity of preaching second, the power of preaching. This string of questions points out to us that it is necessary for the Word of God to be preached. He shows it's necessary to hear the Word in order to believe. It's necessary to hear the Word through preaching. And in order for preaching to occur, there needs to be preachers. In order for there to be preachers, there needs to be preachers sent. There's this whole chain of events all leading up to one putting their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Why this emphasis on preaching? Why this emphasis as Paul is considering the fact that all can call, both Jews and Gentiles can come to Jesus Christ and call out to him in faith and be saved. Why does he bring up this necessity that there be preachers? I think he's first looking back at the Old Testament. As we've seen, salvation was always by faith. This road of faith to be saved from one's sins was always open. What is new is, yes, that Jesus has accomplished our salvation, but salvation was always by faith. But there's another thing that we often think of as new in the New Testament, that you realize through these verses is not absolutely new either. Even the fact that the Gentiles can call on the Lord, can trust in Him and come to salvation, in a sense, it's not new. For we see that even in the Old Testament, the way was open. Very few did. Very few entered into Israel from outside. But the option was open, and that's why we have examples like Rahab, like Ruth, Gentiles who were from outside of Israel, but who put their faith in the Savior to come and were welcomed in. And so they were saved, even though they were Gentiles. What has changed in the New Testament is not that the door is open to Gentiles. What has changed is that God's word has gone out. where we see that in the Old Testament, the access to God's word was limited to those who were within the people of God, Israel. There was this barrier between God's people, Israel, and the other nations. The knowledge of his word, his law, his gospel was focused on his people. But now it has gone out. And that's what we saw last week as we looked at the Great Commission. Jesus had come originally preaching the gospel just to Israel. But as he was about to ascend to heaven, he sent his disciples out saying, preach this word to all the nations. In the Old Testament, so few came in through faith from outside of Israel because they did not have God's word. And now Christ has sent out preachers at the ends of the earth, Mike, here. Salvation is through faith alone that Christ saves to all who would call on him in faith. There were so few that were saved in the Old Testament because the preachers had not yet been sent out. And now Christ has sent out his apostles and is still raising up preachers and sending them out. to the ends of the earth, that the people might hear this gospel, might receive it, trusting in Christ our salvation. For faith comes from hearing, and hearing in the word of Christ. Preaching of Christ is necessary, that others might hear, that many might believe. We also have in these verses highlighted that not only is preaching necessary, but it is also powerful. Nowhere in scriptures does it explicitly say that it's only through preaching that God saves. And we see other examples that there are some who come to faith just by reading the word. We have the typical example in the Ethiopian eunuch. When Philip came up to him, he was reading the scripture, but he didn't understand. He said, how can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip up. And Philip explained the scriptures to him. And it was as Philip preached the word to him that he had faith and he trusted in Christ for salvation. And this is the ordinary pattern that we see throughout the scriptures, that God calls and empowers people to preach the word. And we see this particularly if you look very closely at verse 14. And I believe the footnote here actually gives us insight. The footnote is actually, I believe, the more accurate translation. As we read, it says, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe him, not of whom, but I believe it should be translated him whom they have never heard? I believe that's the more accurate translation. The implication being that when Christ's word is preached, they hear Christ himself. And in true preaching, Christ himself speaks, and that is the power of preaching. And of course, this isn't something new. This lines up with everything we know about preaching. For what is preached is not the word of man, but the word of God. What we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord. And as Jesus has promised that his sheep will hear his voice, this is only possible if he is still speaking. And yes, we believe he is still speaking. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the vision of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. God is still speaking as he has sent out preachers to proclaim his word. The Thessalonians understood this as we read in 1 Thessalonians 2.13. We thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard, yes, from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you, believers. Preaching has power to bring people to saving faith because it is not merely the word of men, but the living and active word of God. God has chosen this seemingly weak way of doing things, that he would raise up fallible men to preach his word, and yet he is pleased by his spirit to use this weak means of preaching to speak even to the dead. Or is that not what we learn in Ephesians 2? That we were dead in our sins and transgressions. We were dead, unable to hear. And yet when God empowers the preaching of his word, he can even raise the dead to life, and he gives the gift of faith, which is not of ourselves, but a gift of God. Received from God through the working of his spirit, when? Through the preaching of his word. So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Consider these verses in Romans 10 tonight. What does this mean for us? First, we must always remember this gospel. And this is what we share with any who ask, how then can I be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Believe in your heart for your justification. Confess with your mouth for your salvation. Call on his name and you will be saved. This is the assurance of the gospel. And it goes out most of all through the preaching of the word. It's not to say you can't share this with your friends and family, but there is a special power in the preaching as this is the means that God has set aside, the primary means through which his word goes out. And so yes, go out and share this good news with your friends, with your family, but also invite them in to hear the preaching of God's word. And as a church, we are also called to keep sending people out to preach this word to the ends of the earth. That's the task he has given to his church that so many might hear because this word is no longer contained. It is no longer just bound up in God's people, but it is going forth as Christ sends out preachers. This is a word of encouragement to us. to be an evangelizing church as we believe this gospel of free grace, as we send out missionaries to the ends of the earth. And tonight, as we come to the supper, let this also be a seal to us of this good news, that even as we come to receive, To receive bread and wine, so let it seal to us this good news, that we receive Christ, not for anything we have done, not for righteousness we have attained through our works, but as he is freely offered to us in the gospel. As we receive this bread and wine by faith, so also we receive Christ himself. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we praise you and thank you for this gospel. This good news that you save sinners through the work of Jesus Christ, what he accomplished on the cross. And we simply receive it. By trusting in you, by trusting that what your word says is true. Lord, we pray for those that have not heard this good news. that you would continue as you have been doing for 2,000 years to send out preachers to proclaim this word to the ends of the earth. Help us also as we share it with our friends and family. And would you bring them in to hear this proclamation, this gospel, that we would hear it not just as the word of men, but as it truly is the word of God. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.