Amen. Turning your copy of God's Word now to the letter to the Romans. We'll continue there in chapter 10. I'll begin at verse 12. The preaching of the Word will start really at verse 14 and go through the end of the chapter. Let's give our attention once again to the Word of God. 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. But 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. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for their voice is going out to all the earth. and their words to the end of the world. But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation. With a foolish nation, I will make you angry. Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek me. I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. But of Israel, he says, all day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. Thus far in the reading of God's word, amen. Please be seated. Father in heaven, we come now to a passage which may be very familiar to some of us. Help us, Lord, not to skim over it lightly. Help us not to think that we know exactly what it means and what you have for us tonight. And so we pray, Father, that you'd make your word fresh to us tonight, that you'd uncover its riches as we open it. Work powerfully by your Spirit. We ask these things in Jesus's name. Amen. The book of Job starts off reflecting upon his righteousness. And one of the ways in which that is displayed is that Job knew that his sons and daughters would gather to hold feasts in their various houses. And after that would occur, and the feast had, according to the word, run its course, Job would send and consecrate them. He would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all." I can just see Job now, after the party is over the next morning, going out and offering up these animals, one at a time. For Job said, it may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts, thus Job did continually. Think of that, the ability, the thought of cleansing his children through burnt offerings. Sacrifice, pleasing to God. Maybe they sinned. I will offer up a sacrifice ensuring that they will be forgiven, blood offered. As I thought about that in the past, I thought, gosh, that would be easy. Let's go out and offer a burnt offering and cleansing would have taken place. That's not the case. Always pointing to the one who was to come. And certainly always pointing to the need for faith. Because Job did this in faith as a righteous man. We know Paul has been teaching much about justification. He has written and he has convinced us that there's no one who can stand against those who are in Christ. There is no one who is condemned who is in Jesus Christ. No one who is in Jesus Christ can be separated from him. The love of God is tightly knit to Christ and that means that if you're in Christ, you're in the love of God. If you're in Christ, you have been justified. If you're in Christ, you have been saved. And as Paul is opening up this doctrine of justification by faith alone, by grace alone, he comes to that point where he reveals to us that the Jews have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ. They are not in Jesus Christ. And as a result, they have been accursed and cut off. That's the tension that we've been dealing with, that Paul's been dealing with. most recently in this letter to the church at Rome. Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. And so he's been answering that question, who is Israel? Still dealing with this problem that the Jews have been accursed and cut off. We've learned no one's righteous, not one. By the works of the law, no human being will be justified in the sight of God. That one is justified by faith alone, apart from works. And that the Jews never did submit to the righteousness of God, who is Jesus Christ. And that 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. There's no distinction between the Jew and the Greek. There is one way of salvation. That brings us to our text tonight. And so very simply we see in this text that faith comes by hearing the preached word of Christ. Faith comes by hearing the preached word of Christ. Three points tonight under that heading. First, all questions. How shall they call? Secondly, how shall they hear? And finally, how shall they believe? How shall they call? How shall they hear? And how shall they believe? Well, first, how shall they call on him? It seems that Paul is turning the corner at this point. It's almost as if his argumentation on justification by faith alone has hit home. The questions on the doctrine seem to now have stopped. They've been answered. Paul has done his work. He's done his job. He seems to have almost convinced the Jews There's no more questions at this point about whether or not justification is the true gospel. It's almost as if the Jews have come to the point of accepting the truth of justification by faith alone, by grace alone, and now ask the question to Paul, how can we be saved? How can we be saved? Since we have not believed in Jesus, how can we be saved? Since we've rejected Jesus as the Messiah, if justification by faith alone, by grace alone is true, how can we come to faith? How can we call on him? So here is hope. There's hope in this passage. Because Paul has not given up on these. You see, he doesn't just shut the door and say, it's over for you. It's over. You're doomed to hell. No. He hasn't given up. This inspired writing indicates that they still may be saved. And we'll see this again later, more centrally in Romans 11. But now, Paul, as he has throughout this entire letter, proceeds with general doctrine. He'll apply it in a bit to the Jews, but now he begins just generally answering that question is, what means does God use to bring sinners to himself? What means does he use to bring sinners to faith? We've got the point that you're justified by faith alone, but how is it that somebody can come to faith? How does that work? What means does God use to bring sinners to faith? And then he touches upon the reason that the Jews don't believe in Jesus. Those two things as he goes through this series now of questions. Look at verse 14. How will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? How are they going to preach if they're not sent? The means God uses. brings sinners to saving faith. First, that question, how then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? This flows right out of that statement he made in verse 13. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And so the question is, how are they going to call on Him when they haven't believed upon Him? What means does God use? Indeed, how will anyone come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? He's turning now. Not to whether one is saved through justification. Now the question is, how does one come to faith? Here we need to be reminded of a few truths. As we spoke this morning, that every man, woman, and child is made in the image of God and thus has freedom of will, his or her will. Genesis 1, 26, then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. That means he made us moral creatures. The ability to make decisions to be free and not compelled. That means that God does not believe for us. Now you might be saying, well faith is a gift. We see that in Ephesians. That's true. The gift part is enabling you to believe. The gift is not some sort of package that God wraps up and then just kind of places in your heart called belief. No, each and every individual must come to belief on their own. The gift is in the enablement. The gift is in that new heart. The gift is in that new birth that Nicodemus could not conceptualize. None of us are robots programmed to believe. We're not computers that once the magic word is said, pop, up comes that message on the computer screen, I believe now. Not robots, not programmed to believe. That means believing is something that we do ourselves. It's not a magic pill the Spirit gives us. It's not a switch. It's flipped on. As image bearers, you and I are given the ability to believe or not believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about what Moses said before the Israelites. As he's finishing his work, He records that in Deuteronomy. He calls upon heaven and earth to witness against the Israelites that day, that I've set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your offspring may live. Choose life. He's urging them, come, believe upon Jesus Christ. Choose life. What about Joshua? Those were Moses's words before they entered in the promised land. What about after they entered in the promised land? Joshua said, choose this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods your father served in the region beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites whose land you dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Choose." The people said, we will serve the Lord. Then Joshua said to the people, you're witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord to serve him. How? How does this happen? How does one choose to serve the Lord? The answer is given to us in this passage. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? Verse 17, so faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. It's a simple truth. Think of Moses, excuse me. Think of Abraham. When did he believe? Returning back to Genesis 15, as Abraham is concerned about the future and the Lord comes to him and speaks to him in verse 4, the word of the Lord came to him, this man shall not be your heir. Your very own son shall be your heir. And he brought him outside and said, look toward the heaven, number the stars if you're able. And he said to him, so shall your offspring be. And he believed the Lord. You see what came before Abraham's belief? The Word of God. And he counted it to him as righteousness. Now realize, brothers and sisters, we're not speaking here, Paul's not writing here, of how faith grows. He's writing, he's speaking about how faith begins. The statement of truth relates only to how one normally or usually comes to a saving belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is from hearing. Believe, trust, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Normally, in the normal course of God's plan of redemption comes and flows out of hearing by or through the word of Christ. That's it. Praise God. This is so simple. There's no going out to offer up burnt offerings. Just hearing the Word of Christ. These Jews who had rejected Jesus as the Christ, they needed to hear the Gospel. They needed to hear the truth. They needed to hear the absolute truth of the Word of Christ. Praise God. Praise God that He has made this way for each of us tonight. That He's given us ears to hear. Brings us to our second point, how shall they hear? First question was answered very simply. How shall the Jews call upon Jesus whom they have not believed? How by hearing the word of Christ? Yes, so the follow on question must be, and how are they to believe in him whom they have never heard? How are they to hear without someone preaching? So two questions, really one idea. To the first of those two questions, how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? Now, Paul doesn't mean that the Jews never heard of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus tells those two on the road to Emmaus that the Old Testament scriptures are full, full of him. And so he opens them up to them. He's in the Old Testament, clearly. So Paul doesn't mean that he's not there. Paul might mean that they'd been mistaught. They'd never heard of Jesus because they were mistaught. They'd been misled. They were the blind who were led by the blind. They were sheep without a true shepherd. See that in the prophets. See the teaching of the Pharisees and of the chief priests as Jesus admonishes them, for God commanded, honor your father and mother and whoever reviles his father or mother must surely die, but you say, anyone tells his father or mother what you would have gained for me is given to God he need not honor his father so for the sake of your tradition you have made void the Word of God that's how they were taught that's how they were misled and so in a sense that's how Paul can say that how are they going to believe if they haven't really heard about him how are they going to believe if they haven't really heard the scriptures blind guides. Think of that scene before Pilate as the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. They really hadn't heard of who he was, so much so that they would ask for a A sinner to be released to them and the innocent one to be punished. Chief priest, the elders persuaded them. When Pilate asked, who do you want me to release for you? They said, Barabbas. What shall I do with Jesus who's called the Christ? They said, let him be crucified. They were persuaded. Not by the word of Christ, but by the corrupt, false, and deceptive words of men to make the wrong choice. They needed to hear the true gospel. They needed to hear about the true Christ directly from the word of Christ, not a corrupt version, not a version corrupted by the words and traditions of men, but the pure word of Christ. That's what they needed to hear. And it's out of hearing that word that faith springs forth. Not always. Not always. But that's the normal way, the routine way that God has made. Remember that this is where Paul's gospel began as he's writing to this church in Rome. I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. Why is that? Why is God's Word, why is the Word of Christ so powerful? What is it about the Word of Christ? It's the very voice of Jesus, isn't it? That's what Jesus taught. That's what John recorded in his gospel. In chapter 10, he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own by name and leads them out. And when he's brought out all his own, he goes forth before them. The sheep follow him for they know his voice. That's what makes the word so powerful. As one's heart has been changed, as the stony heart's been taken out, the fleshly heart has been given, it's been granted, that's regeneration, that's what Nicodemus didn't have, that's what Christ was talking about in new birth. Once that's been done now, now you hear Christ's words and you say, that's my Savior. He's calling me. Let me run to Him. That's the power of God's Word. That's the power of the Word of Christ. It calls you out of darkness. It causes you to see the wretchedness that you have been immersed in. As you hear Christ's voice, you see that you're covered in filth and you're looking at yourself as Adam and Eve did to one another, recognizing now we are naked before each other. Because our sins were showing, they saw their filth. That's what the Word of God does, that's what Christ does for us. His word is opened up. We hear him speaking in his purity and his innocence and he's calling us out of darkness into the light. That's why we need preaching. How are they to hear without someone preaching? Think of what Paul doesn't write here. Some may think, what need do we have a preaching? We've got God's word right here. That's all we need. I'm able to read it. It's direct from God. Who are these preachers and what is there a need for this preaching? Just read it. Paul doesn't write that. He doesn't write, take my letter. I spent a lot of time, a lot of ink, a lot of parchment. Take this letter and just read it. Read it. He doesn't write that. He's writing his gospel. He's writing what he preaches. Sinclair Ferguson takes the position that this letter to the Romans was really this letter to generate funds so Paul could go out and preach. And he's telling, this is what I'm going to preach. This is what I do. This is my gospel. And so if you like this, if you think this is full of truth, now send me. Send me to go out, maybe to Spain. I don't know if that's right or not. But Paul doesn't just say, read this letter. No. He says we need preachers. We need preaching. There's power in preaching. There's a sense in which we've kind of lost that idea today, especially in COVID. We think we can just be at home and receive the word somehow through the electronic stuff that goes on. But that's not preaching. That's not sitting under the word. That's not what Paul was writing about. He's talking about this intimate communication of the word of Christ to those whose hearts have been changed or are about to be changed. And it's this interaction that goes on between the preacher and the one who's receiving the preached word. And I'm not saying there's magic there, but this is God's will. This is the way God has ordained. For sinners to come to faith in Jesus Christ is through the preaching of the word. There's power in preaching. Not in the preacher, but in the preaching of God's word. We have this treasure in jars of clay to show the surpassing power belongs to God and not us. So what's our role as the Church? As we read this, as Paul opens this up to us and as he tells us that we need preachers. People need to hear the Word of God. Send them out. First I'd say our role is to pray for those who are preaching the Gospel. Preachers are under attack. They're the front line of attack. Are we praying for our brothers who are week after week opening up the Word of God? Sunday after Sunday, entering into the pulpit, having suffered through the darts and arrows of Satan to keep them from doing just that. Are we praying for them? That they would be faithful preachers of only the very Word of Christ. Are we doing that? And are we praying for other men to be raised up, to go out, to carry about the very Word of God, to preach the Word of Christ? Are we praying for faithful, effective, heart-searching, heart-comforting preachers who preach the very Word of God? Maybe, I think we need to be praying more. Joel Beeky wrote this, perhaps you've heard that preaching that fills the head but not the heart. You may come away better informed and educated but little moved by God's glory to do God's will. In the worst case, such preaching puffs people up with knowledge. At best, it's light without heat. You may also have heard preaching that touches the heart, but not the head. Hearing it can be an emotionally moving experience. People leave the service excited, fired up, feeling good, but they have zeal without knowledge, like cotton candy. Preaching has lots of flavor, but no nutritional value. Are we praying for preachers who who open God's word faithfully week after week, that really, really does work upon our hearts. That's what we need. That's what we need to pray for. Finally, third point, how shall they believe? And now Paul finally gets to that problem, the Jews. These questions and answers that he'd been giving in this passage thus far have really been general. But now he drills down into this particular people group, these Jews, the nation of Israel. How are they going to believe? How are they going to believe when they've rejected the Lord Jesus Christ? If they are truly accursed, if they are cut off, is it possible for them to be reunited? To come back? To actually call upon Jesus to be saved? Is there any hope? Paul truly now is answering those burning questions that he's already posed earlier. How is it that they've been accursed and cut off? How is it that the children of Israel, the children of the flesh, are not necessarily the children of God? How could it be that those who are descended from Israel are not actually belonging to Israel? We read in part his answer in chapter nine. where he says to us where he records the truth that God molds each vessel the way he desires to. And that's true. But that's only part of the answer. The other part we have here before us tonight, the other part is that their hearts are disobedient and contrary. Look at verse 21. but of Israel, of Israel. He, meaning the Lord, says, all day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. Now, Paul seems to be very gentle as he speaks and even quotes from Isaiah, that passage that we read tonight. You see, the problem lay truly in the hearts of the Israelites. People who provoke me to my faiths continually. Sacrificing in gardens, making offerings on bricks, who sit in tombs and spend the night in secret places, who eat pig's flesh, who say, keep to yourself. These are the words of the Israelites to God. Keep to yourself, do not come near me for I am too holy for you. And so Paul sums that up by saying they are a disobedient and contrary people. This was the condition of their hearts. This was why they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why they have not called upon Him or had not. Despite, despite the fact that God Himself all day long, I have held out my hands. You see, God cannot be charged with forsaking His people. God cannot be charged with cruelty or unfaithfulness. No, here we must see so very clearly that our God is faithful to his word, that the word spoken to Israel throughout their history, especially as they are about to enter into the promised land where Moses gives them the blessings and the curses, all has come to pass. Showing the faithfulness of our holy God, displaying his outstretched hand to his people throughout centuries, And yet they remained, even in Paul's day, a disobedient and contrary people. Finally, Paul has answered those questions. How is it that they can be accursed and cut off? How is it they cannot be the true Israel? How is it they cannot be the children of God? It's because they refused to believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And what's our response tonight? This certainly is not a mere history lesson. Our first response tonight must be to praise God. And certainly the power of His Word. For it's by His Word and its power that you came to faith. You came to believe that you were convicted of the truth of his word and rested in Jesus as he's offered therein. You received its saving power, not because there was something good in you, because there wasn't. So the first response must be to praise Jesus Christ. for the power of His resurrection, the triumph over sin and death, such that we could and have heard His voice as He speaks to us in His Word and are convicted of its truth and just praise Him for loving us. But for the application of Jesus' work to your heart tonight, you would also be described as a disobedient and contrary people. But the second response is to pray. I know I've already said that tonight. But I think this is the best response for a difficult matter. I heard a sermon by Vody Bachman as he preached on a portion of this letter to the Romans, which convicted me. He said, you know, Paul continues to love his people, even as they're moving him off to prison and trial and seeking to kill him. He's continuing to love them and pray for them and seek that they might hear God's word and write it so that all can see. He hadn't stopped. He hadn't gotten to the point where he said, this is hopeless. I prayed so much. I've written so much. No. He continued. And that should be our prayer tonight, that the Lord God would work powerfully in us, that we wouldn't stop. We wouldn't stop praying for our family members, friends, our neighbors, those who come in these doors for food from the food pantry. We've got so many people to pray for, but that we would not lose hope. That we would know the power of God's word and just pray that they would be able to hear, that God would give them ears to hear his word because we know the power of his word. We need to pray, brothers and sisters, not stop praying. That's our tendency. Our tendency is to lose hope that they're too far gone. I prayed so much and for so long, Paul didn't stop. And that's the message for us tonight. Not to raise Paul up, but that we have so much hope in the power of God's Word as it is preached, that we will continue praying. for many, many more to come and hear His Word preached. Yes, faith comes by hearing the preached Word of Christ. It's not the burnt offerings that save. No. No. Job was already a righteous man. He already believed. And in his belief, he was faithful to God. Let's pray that we would be, as Job was, faithful in praying for those who are in darkness tonight, who are lost, who need to hear the Word of Christ. Amen. Father, we are so weak and frail at times. Our tendency, Father, is to lose hope, even in your Word, even in its power. Help us not to. Lord God, work by your Spirit. Encourage us to keep praying, keep shining forth the light of Christ, keep asking people to come and sit with us in worship and hear the Word preached. Help us, Lord God, to be praying for those men, those young men to be raised up to take out your Word and continue preaching Christ. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.