What Is The Gospel: Romans 10:13-17

[0:00] Go ahead and join me if you would in your copy of God's Word in Romans chapter 10. Beginning last week, this week, and into next, we're taking a little break from our normal verse-by-verse exposition to answer three questions.

[0:17] And these are three questions that I think are of greatest importance to answer in the church in our day. Today, these three questions have seemed to define the work of ministry for me here, and I think will continue to do so.

[0:36] To the degree that I was musing about why it was that I felt that I was just teaching the same things over and over and over again.

[0:47] That it seemed that there was nothing deeper to delve, to take my energetic mind and apply to.

[1:00] And realize that these are the questions that we most need clarified in our day, to be reminded of in our day, brought back to again and again and again.

[1:14] So last week, we asked the question, what is the Bible? And we answered it this way, with of course, much explanation. The Bible is God's inspired, inerrant, authoritative, clear, necessary, and sufficient Word to mankind.

[1:35] I'm talking about how God has spoken into the world. He's given us good instruction that we are to follow. And this Word is to be the foundation on which we build everything else.

[1:47] Lives of godliness and holiness toward Him. And so, the question I want to address today is, what is the Gospel?

[2:00] And then next week, we'll ask the question, what is the church? What is the Gospel? Why is it so important for us to answer this question?

[2:13] Some of you may be thinking, I am sitting, gathered with the church this morning. Of course, I know what the Gospel is. But there is much misunderstanding of the Gospel in our day.

[2:26] I know that I could ask each of you in this room to tell me what the Gospel is, and we would end up with as many different answers. Often, the answers that people give to this question are woefully inadequate.

[2:45] They're not full understandings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many voices in our day, large and loud voices, that would say, the Gospel is such and such, or the Gospel is this or that.

[3:04] And it sounds very similar to what we would proclaim to be the Gospel, but it is not. I hope and pray that we do, in fact, have a clear understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because we speak about it constantly.

[3:27] I hope that we do so with a great deal of clarity. But the larger culture has much to say about this question.

[3:40] Many loud voices. I feel sometimes that the non-Gospel, Gospel presentations are being broadcast through megaphones, and ours is a quiet whisper.

[3:54] So it's very easy to get lost in the fray when we're trying to answer these questions. It was J.I. Packer who once said, The way of wisdom is like walking a tightrope, from which one can fall through overbalancing either to the left or to the right.

[4:17] If you've known me long, I often say, I often misquote J.I. Packer, and I say there's two ways to fall off a tightrope. We have to get this one right.

[4:30] We have to walk this one very carefully right down the middle. For the sake of our souls and the souls of others, this question matters.

[4:44] Whether you think it does this morning or not, I plead with you to know this question. And the answer that you arrive at matters.

[4:57] Paul said in Romans 1 and verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

[5:11] This Gospel, right? This answer we want to arrive at, is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

[5:24] The Spirit uses this Gospel to change people from death to life. To save their souls. Now we sent out at the end of this year, to the members of Christ Family Church, what we call the Member Health Survey.

[5:41] And I've told you, from time to time, I'm going to bring up some of the statistics that we've gathered. Not all of our church members responded to this, but 105 did.

[5:51] Thank you to those of you who did and were honest. And we asked people to rate themselves, on a scale of one to five, a number of various questions. Concerning the Gospel and its proclamation.

[6:08] Of those respondents, 45% of our church would say, agree or strongly agree, that they regularly share the Gospel. If we start just there, we have failed to understand the Gospel.

[6:27] We do not have the right answer to this question, if only half of us are consistently sharing this good news. We may have missed the point altogether.

[6:40] What did Paul say in Romans 1, verse 16? He's not ashamed of the Gospel. Why? Why? This is the power of God. God, for salvation. We may not see its great necessity in the world the way that we should.

[6:59] Now, a large number of people said that they felt equipped, agreed or strongly agreed, 85% of our fellowship said they felt equipped to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[7:14] Only 53% said they felt comfortable sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This good news is a discomfort to them in their sharing.

[7:29] And then finally, and the two are not mutually inclusive, necessarily, but this year, only 6% of the respondents led anyone to faith in Christ this past year.

[7:44] Now, there have been times in history, even biblical history, if you look at the prophet Jeremiah, who cried out faithfully, and maybe one person repented of his sin.

[7:58] There have been times that God has withheld His favor in Gospel proclamation. And so, I don't want to belittle your faithfulness. If you have had a clear understanding of what the Gospel is, and you have been consistently and persistently sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with somebody, and you have not seen them come to faith, I do not want to belittle your obedience.

[8:19] You are doing exactly what God has asked of you to do. But there seems to be a fairly large disconnect between these numbers if, and I believe this is true, that God is in the business of saving souls through this Gospel of Jesus Christ, right?

[8:38] It is the power of God for salvation. He is about the building of His church. And we must ask ourselves a question. Do we think we find ourselves in a day that is so post-church that God no longer intends to save our classmates and roommates and family members and co-workers, our neighbors?

[8:59] Do we think we're in that day? I don't believe we are. Which means there's some type of disconnect in our understanding, in our presentation, in our fervency in Gospel proclamation.

[9:17] So this matters. It matters a lot. So we're going to look today a bit at Romans chapter 10, verse 13 through 17.

[9:31] There's not a concise text that sums up the good news of Jesus Christ perfectly. There's not a quick, simple, turn to, let me explain here text that does this.

[9:46] I hope that it's possible. Excuse me. I thought I could fight through that one. I hope that as we began, when I said, let's turn to Romans chapter 10, your eyes may have fell to this text or you thought to yourself, why this text?

[10:08] I could think of a bunch of other wonderful texts from which to begin speaking about what the gospel is. This would be good for you to do and to have many of these in your back pocket for gospel proclamation.

[10:23] But it takes a little more work to fully answer the question. We can't just do it from a single text. The whole Bible is God's redemptive story.

[10:33] So we must read broadly and we must understand thematically. But there are some good summary texts. Not complete, but good summary texts.

[10:46] So we're going to look at this one in brief and then we're going to go elsewhere and I'll bring it back to this finally at the end. So don't think me strange that I'm not going verse by verse through Romans chapter 10, verse 13 through 17.

[10:59] We remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us written for His glory and our good. We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

[11:15] Verse 13. 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?

[11:26] 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?

[11:40] 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?

[11:53] So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. In order to see the gospel in Romans 10, verse 13-17, I want us to take a broader look at the first four chapters of Romans.

[12:12] So you're welcome to join me in Romans 1. We're going to zoom back a bit into the beginning of Paul's letter to the Roman believers. Romans is a phenomenal letter.

[12:27] Maybe a climactic letter in all of the Scripture because it so clearly lays out systematically what Christianity is. This letter preceded Paul's intended visit to Rome.

[12:40] And he wanted to clarify. He wanted to be sure that the church in Rome understood this gospel that he preached. This, I believe, is the most succinct place to find a comprehensive gospel presentation in the Scriptures, chapters 1-4 of Romans.

[13:01] So, first, after his salutation, Paul says that there is a God who created us and that we are therefore accountable to that God.

[13:15] As the creation, we are accountable to the One who created us. It leads out strongly in Romans 1, verse 18.

[13:27] It says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

[13:41] There is a God who we are accountable to and His wrath is being revealed against those who have been what? Ungodly and unrighteous. Outside of their created order.

[13:55] Not God worshippers the way they were meant to be. He elaborates on this and then in verse 21 of chapter 1. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

[14:19] So mankind has this God who made them and to whom they are accountable. There is much indictment language in those two texts.

[14:31] Romans 1, verse 18. The wrath of God is revealed. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him. Their foolish hearts were darkened. But let's look as Paul goes on in his argument that he indicts all of mankind.

[14:48] So first he does this at the beginning of chapter 2 of Romans with the Jews. Those who have been God's people have been given His law. He says, Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges.

[15:06] For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, practice the very same things. So the Jews would have judged by the law.

[15:18] Paul is saying to them, You have no excuse. You have shown in your judgmentalism that people ought to be keepers of the law and you are not keepers of the law. You practice the very same things.

[15:30] And so you are without excuse before Almighty God to whom you are accountable. Second, he does this with everyone else.

[15:41] So people who are not Jewish, the Gentiles, the Greeks, various words are used, but everyone else. All of us. No one is without. No one is with excuse.

[15:52] Excuse me. So, Romans chapter 2, verses 12 and 13. Paul writes, For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law.

[16:06] And all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

[16:18] And then chapter 3, verses 9 through 12. What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, everyone else, are under sin.

[16:36] As it is written, none is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside.

[16:47] Together they have become worthless. No one does good. Not even one. Mankind is not intrinsically good.

[16:59] Mankind is intrinsically evil. Rebellious. Rejectors of our good God and His instruction. This is the argument that Paul is laying out before us here at the beginning of his letter to the Roman believers.

[17:14] We have a God who we are accountable to and we have rejected His ways. All of us, without fail, have done this.

[17:25] No one does good. Not even one. This is not good news yet, is it? In fact, this is very, very bad news.

[17:39] There is a God who created us and will judge us and we will stand in that judgment and will not stand before Him in our given human state.

[17:50] This is bad news. It's a problem. It's a problem that needs remedying. We need something to help us in this condition.

[18:02] So third, Paul presents the solution to our problem in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

[18:13] And we say that a lot around here. Faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And we say both because we must believe that Jesus is who He said He is.

[18:24] Right? The Son of God. Incarnate. Came to earth. Lived a perfect life. Those things are important that we understand. Right? Jesus wasn't just a man. We're not saying that His work was simply that He was a man who was a martyr.

[18:38] No. He was the Son of God. And His work. He said He fulfilled the law in perfect living. He committed no sin whatsoever.

[18:49] He died a sinner's death. He bore the wrath of God for the sins of all who would believe in Him. He did not stay in the grave. He was raised from the dead three days later.

[19:01] He's conquered death. He has life. He ascended. He's been given majesty and honor in heaven at the right hand of the Father.

[19:13] Right? These are the works that we're talking about when we say the person and work of Jesus Christ. Right? He is somebody and He did things. Right? He accomplished things.

[19:25] This is what we must believe. Paul says in Romans chapter 3 verse 21 but now the righteousness of God the rightness of God has been manifested apart from the law.

[19:42] You'll see that it's manifested in whom? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ fulfilled the righteousness of God. And so then fourth and finally Paul tells us how we can be saved.

[19:59] Right? Not an abstract principle out there but that those of us with this problem this great transgressor of God's law problem how is it that we can be saved?

[20:13] Romans chapter 3 in verse 22. 2. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

[20:26] By believing in Christ. Not merely as an abstraction. Not merely as yeah yeah Jesus lived but in His person and His work.

[20:39] We throw ourselves this great fallen state we find ourselves and we throw ourselves on the person and work of Jesus Christ. We say if I am to be saved it will be by this person and this work that I will be saved and no other way.

[21:02] The evangelist Ray Comfort uses often an analogy of putting Jesus on like a parachute. And too many in our day put Jesus on Jesus will save me and we don't jump out of the plane.

[21:18] We stay in our comfort and in our place where we are. It's an ascent. It's a mental ascent. If I were to ever need such a thing it would save me. But what the gospel says to us is you are falling and you will die.

[21:35] Your end is destruction and we put on we desperately cling to this parachute that is Jesus Christ and we believe that he will save us.

[21:48] Again Romans chapter 4 and verse 5 to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly his faith is counted as righteousness.

[22:04] So Paul here says to be very clear you can do no working to find yourself saved. There's no amount of effort you can put into your salvation but it's simply by faith that we get Christ's righteousness.

[22:23] Our greatest efforts at perfection will never be perfect and what God requires is perfection so we need somebody else's perfection the perfection of Jesus Christ and that is granted to us by faith.

[22:35] in him. Okay. So here's the gospel outline found in the first four chapters of the book of Romans. If you're familiar with the Romans road that's good.

[22:47] There's a reason that that was a way we were taught to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a good place to show people the gospel in the text. So having looked broadly and a bit briefly at Paul's case from Romans chapter 1 through 4 we can see that he seeks to answer four crucial questions.

[23:09] And I'm stealing these straight out of Greg Gilbert's book What is the gospel? One of those that I have a copy for to give away. He seeks to answer four crucial questions.

[23:24] Number one, who made us and to whom are we accountable? We saw that. Number two, what is our problem? Or in other words, are we in trouble and why?

[23:36] Do we have a problem? And what caused that problem? Third, what is God's solution to that problem?

[23:48] How has he acted to save us from it? And fourth, how do I myself, right here, right now?

[24:01] How do I come to be included in that salvation? What makes this good news for me and not just for someone else?

[24:12] And I'll add to that or just generically good news. What makes it good news for me? And so the questions and the answers to the questions can be summarized as follows in four words that are easy to remember.

[24:27] Greg Gilbert did not come up with this. This has been around for a very, very long time. And they are as follows. God, man, Christ, response.

[24:42] I want you to pick these up as a really simple, easy outline in your mind. Somebody comes to you and says, what is the gospel? I've heard this word.

[24:56] I've heard you say this word. What is the gospel? Don't answer God, man, Christ, response. But use it, they'll be more confused, but use it as an outline from which to think about the answer to this most important of questions.

[25:17] So let's look at some other texts. I want to go to some other texts. I want you to turn with me to some other texts and let's see if we can't identify God, man, Christ response in these texts.

[25:28] So 1 Corinthians chapter 15 is the first place we'll go. So 1 Corinthians verses 1 through 5.

[25:59] Paul writes, now I want to remind you brothers of the gospel I preached to you, which you received in which you stand and by which you are being saved.

[26:10] If you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and then he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

[26:34] God, man, Christ response. Now, you get a little work and look around in the text to find these things.

[26:45] We see Paul talk about the need of salvation in the text. Verse 2, you are being saved. Verse 3, that you received.

[27:00] There's a problem being presented in the text, which is the problem of sin, which includes God. So God and man are found in the very fact that people need salvation.

[27:12] This was an understanding of the people that Paul was writing to. So God and man are presented in the very issue of sin. Now, in our day, this may not be a thing that most people understand.

[27:28] You can't merely walk up to somebody and say, do you believe that you're a sinner? And they would say, what does that even mean? We have such a relativistic moralism in our day. Most, I think, would say, no, I think I'm a good person.

[27:43] Some in our day may not even know what you are talking about when you use the word sin. So you have to, in some cases, back up a little bit and take them to Genesis chapter 1, chapter 2, and then to chapter 3 to establish more of the storyline.

[28:01] But here, this understanding that they were sinful, that they needed salvation, we see both God and man. God as holy judge, man as transgressor of his law. Now, I hope you see Christ in the text, right?

[28:14] There was much Christ in the text. Verse 3, that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared, right?

[28:26] So we see God's person being called the Christ according to the scriptures. This was understood to be the Messiah, the one that would come and deliver his people, his person, and his work, right?

[28:39] Death, burial, and resurrection. So a good text for this, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 1 through 5. God, man, Christ.

[28:51] Response, right? Do you see response in the text? Verse 1, reminds them of the gospel he preached, which you received, and by which you are being saved.

[29:06] Verse 3, I deliver you with the first importance what I also received, right? So here's the response that's given to the gospel in these places. Okay, turn with me to Acts chapter 3. We'll look at two sermons, excerpts from sermons.

[29:40] First, a sermon from Peter in Solomon's portico, verses 18 and 19. Luke records for us, Peter said, but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

[29:57] Repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out. Again, if you were to open this text to an unbeliever, or you find yourself an unbeliever this morning, and you're looking at this text, where do you see God, man, Christ response?

[30:16] Once again, we see the need of sins being blotted out. There is a problem, right? That problem is this God, man part of this outline, right?

[30:26] God, holy judge, creator, our authority, man's fallen, transgressed, his good command over us. We see Christ in the text, Christ suffered.

[30:43] This is the one, the fulfillment of the prophets. Repent, therefore, the response. Repent. Repent of your sin. Turn back. Turn back to God by faith in Jesus Christ.

[30:54] God, man, Christ, response. Let's look at one more. Acts chapter 13. This is Paul preaching. verses 38 and 39.

[31:20] We'll do this very briefly. I don't want to beat the dead horse. Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man, forgiveness of sins, there it is, God, man, is proclaimed to you.

[31:35] And by him, everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

[31:49] Through this man is Christ. No, this is Jesus that he's referring to here. And the belief you see in verse 39. Everyone who believes is freed from their sin.

[32:03] So God man Christ response. So, there are a lot of really common errors in our day.

[32:17] Misunderstandings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I just want to walk through some of those briefly and give some biblical responses to these errors. Because you may even have people in your spheres of influence that claim to be Christ followers.

[32:36] And if you'll work asking them good questions, you may find them fall into these categories. And it would be such a loving, kind thing for them for you to clarify what the gospel of Jesus Christ is.

[32:49] The first, I call the temporal prosperity gospel. gospel. That is that we, by believing in Jesus, receive physical blessing here and now.

[33:04] Temporal, right? Not permanent. Temporal blessing here and now. And this takes a lot of shapes, right? You've heard probably the term prosperity gospel. There's the prosperity gospel preachers and their church buildings with purple carpet and making pleas for jets.

[33:23] We have one of those here in Atlanta who does that. No, I do not need a jet. I do not. I would give it back. We have this very gospel being preached in Gainesville and then a guy jumps on a jet and flies to California to preach the same prosperity gospel.

[33:49] That is one end of the spectrum of what I'm calling the temporal prosperity gospel. The other end of that is that Jesus leads you into a life of comfort. That you can continue really to be just as you are, but if you'll sprinkle a little Jesus on it, things are going to get a little better for you.

[34:08] We'll tidy up your marriage and your job and your children. This is really prevalent in our day. People allowed to be lulled to sleep in American comfort.

[34:23] by this temporal prosperity gospel. I'm going to read to you a couple of texts. John chapter 15 verse 20 and 21, Jesus said, Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master.

[34:43] If we're to be Jesus Christ followers, he is our Lord. We are his servants. He goes on to say, If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

[34:55] If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they did not know him who sent me.

[35:06] So the ungodly will persecute the godly. Paul wrote to Timothy, those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

[35:18] The way of Christ is the way of suffering. We are meant to fill up what is lacking in the affliction of Christ by displaying to the world around us that we do not love this world.

[35:30] We love one who is greater than this world. If you are not signed up for the suffering of Christ, you don't love Christ.

[35:41] You have not tasted and seen his goodness. If Christianity is an add-on for you so that you can live your best life now, you don't understand the gospel.

[35:55] Jesus said in Mark chapter 8 verse 34 and 35 after calling a crowd around him with his disciples, he said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

[36:10] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it. He is not talking about little discomfort.

[36:22] He's not talking about one week a year when you go to a third world country and stay in its nicest hotels. This is not what Jesus is talking about. The cross is a place of death.

[36:36] This is what he's saying. He's saying, you must be willing to follow me to the very place that I went if you want to have me. This temporal prosperity gospel has got so many Christians on their heels, living in a peacetime mentality.

[36:58] Beloved, this is war, and people's souls are at stake. Why would we believe such a gospel? Why would we believe such a gospel that calls us to suffer?

[37:13] My one word answer for you is Christ. He is better. He is more glorious, more to be treasured than anything this world could possibly offer us.

[37:26] George Whitfield, the great evangelist of the first great awakening, said, O free grace in Christ Jesus, with what love, peace, and joy, does God fill this soul of mine.

[37:41] Lord, I am not worthy, but thy mercies in Christ Jesus are infinite. The next one I'd like to address goes by a number of names.

[37:55] Similar, similar in nature to the temporal prosperity gospel. You call it easy-believe-ism gospel, the decision-ism gospel. gospel. It's the teaching that if you are to be in Christ, all you must do is make a mental assent to Christ.

[38:17] Make a decision to follow Jesus. The way the following looks isn't really of importance, right? We're going to get you to sign something, wave your hand, but nobody's looking around, so don't worry about being embarrassed.

[38:31] Christ. We're going to get you baptized so we can count your name. And most of you have heard me say this, but you're going to hear me say it a lot if you're part of this church.

[38:44] I had a pastor at one point of a large evangelical church in our area who would say regularly, if you ever doubt your salvation, turn to the front of the Bible where you wrote down the date you walked the aisle and take confidence in that.

[39:04] And that's a damnable lie, right? Scary. I hope this man's grown past that. I'd like to think that he has, but has gotten himself so wrapped into this idea of decisionism, and I think had a genuine concern for people who doubted their salvation that this was the solution that he came up with.

[39:28] What does the Bible teach? Let's look at 2 Peter 1. verses 3-12.

[39:59] His divine power is granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.

[40:12] If we are in Christ, he's given us a spirit who calls us to walk in his ways, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

[40:30] We're escaping sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

[40:52] We list a bunch of character qualities. This is what it should be looking like for you to be a Christ follower, and these things should be happening, and they should be happening in increasing order. Verse 8, For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[41:15] For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.

[41:31] For if you practice these qualities, you will never fail. So if you doubt your salvation, don't turn to the front of your Bible and look for a date you wrote down when you walked an aisle.

[41:45] I don't even know if you do that. I don't. My name's not even written in the front of mine. Don't do that. What does the Scripture tell us to do? The Apostle Peter says to make your calling and election sure by doing what?

[42:00] By pursuing Christ. By walking in his ways. And having your life assessed not just by you, but by those around you. Be part of a faithful church.

[42:13] Invite people to help you pursue holiness. Can you see in you these qualities growing in you? You. Verse 11.

[42:24] For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Peter's not saying if you do these things you'll be granted entrance.

[42:36] What he's saying is if you're doing these things it's the evidence that you're in Christ. It's the evidence that you belong to him. That you have a spirit. That you have placed believing faith in his person and his work.

[42:48] And it starts to work out of you. This reality of who you are. And then he says this. And I love it. Verse 12. Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities.

[43:04] Though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. Right? He says it's so important. I'm just going to keep reminding you of the way it looks to follow Jesus. so that you wouldn't be deceived.

[43:17] You wouldn't be deceived by this easy believism decisionism of apparently Peter's day and of ours. Following Jesus Christ.

[43:32] If you're in him it takes all of you. It takes every bit of your effort and energy. And at the end we have him. The glorious thing.

[43:43] That is. Paul contemplating his own death. Philippians 1 verse 21 says for to me to live is Christ. Right? All of his suffering.

[43:54] All of his pursuit. Gave his life to follow this Jesus. And he had him. And to die is gain. Why? Because he had more of him in his dying.

[44:07] The great end of the gospel of Jesus Christ is Christ himself. It will be brought back to God in Jesus. John Piper wrote in a book he wrote called God is the gospel.

[44:23] This. The critical question for our generation and for every generation is this. If you could have heaven with no sickness and with all the friends you ever had on earth and all the foods you ever liked and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven if Christ were not there?

[44:58] And the answer of the Christian is no. I want to be where Christ is. this is heaven for me that I would be with Christ.

[45:15] Finally, what I'm just going to call, there's probably a better name for it, but the legalistic gospel. Those who think far too much of themselves maybe are in the faith, but somehow believe they deserved God's favor, rejected the idea of grace altogether in that way and then begin to heap up unnecessary requirements on others to be in the faith.

[45:40] To be clear, the Bible does command, there are clear commands we are meant to follow, we want people to be pursuing righteousness, but we are very apt as people to add extras on.

[45:53] And we typically add on the extras that we're already pretty good at. Stuff that I do very well, I'm also going to expect other people to do very well that are extra biblical things.

[46:06] The Galatians had a problem with this. They had what many churches had in the early church days, the Judaizers that were coming around and beginning to teach that people had to obey much of the ceremonial Old Testament law, the primary one being circumcision.

[46:21] Gentiles were not circumcised, they were teaching them that they must be circumcised in order to follow God, even in Christ. And Paul writes these scathing words to the Galatian church, chapter 3, beginning in verse 1.

[46:33] He says, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this.

[46:44] Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

[46:56] So any teaching that would teach you that in order to be saved, you must do work, right? Is a damnable lie. But we are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, and then we work.

[47:12] This is the way that plays out, works out in our living. So, Romans chapter 10, verse 13 through 17.

[47:39] We're going to look for God, man, Christ's response as we bring this to a close. for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

[47:51] We need salvation. There is God and man in this text there. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?

[48:01] And how are they to believe in Him who they have not 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.

[48:16] They have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? A faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. And there we see Christ all throughout that text, right?

[48:29] Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. When we talk about Jesus' name, we're talking about His very being and His work, person and work. We think about the name of Jesus, we're talking about His person and work.

[48:42] So everyone who calls on the person and work of Jesus will be saved. How are they to know? Unless somebody tells them. Paul runs through a litany of questions.

[48:55] How are they to know unless someone tells them? Get out of your head the idea that anyone can be saved apart from hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[49:07] Read, proclaimed. There's work all over this world sending the gospel into places that are dangerous because we believe this. We believe that this text is inerrant. There are creative ways that the scripture is going out into the world.

[49:22] You need to look at Voice of the Martyrs and the way they send weather balloons over North Korea. Phenomenal! There are North Korean churches because of work like that. The gospel going into places.

[49:35] It's an incredible thing that God saves people through words spoken and printed, distributed, wide, far. It's an astounding thing.

[49:46] How will people be saved if we don't proclaim the good news to them? And you need to be careful that you don't assume that just because we live in the southeast, people you know have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. They may have heard some erroneous version of it, but they may not have heard the good news of Jesus.

[50:03] They may not have ever been shown the weight of their sin from the scripture. Understand their problem that they might find their solution in Christ.

[50:16] Don't get dismayed in this text either by the word preaching. This is the word that is often considered translated evangelism.

[50:29] Going and proclaiming. Don't think it has to be what I'm doing now gathering large crowds. You say I'm not meant to preach. That's okay. Not many of you should be teachers.

[50:40] However, we should all be gospel proclaimers. This is what Paul is talking about here. This is what he's saying. So in a sense we've all been sent.

[50:54] The great king, the Lord has sent us all out. We have been sent. sent. And in another, I hope that this morning you hear you're sent.

[51:06] This church wants to equip you and send you to the very ends of the earth. Paul here quotes from Isaiah 52 and verse 7.

[51:17] How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. And he is tying to something that happened historically. When a victory was won, a runner would be sent back to tell the city that the victory had been won.

[51:32] A runner was sent from the army. Go. Go and tell them we have won. And this is exactly what God is doing with the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has already won.

[51:44] The work of Christ is finished. And now this news is going forth. Runners go out. That's us. And we share this good news with anyone and everyone.

[51:59] We get this idea of a marathon from a man. I just love to say his name. Pheidippides. You have to go like this when you say Pheidippides. History tells us ran to Athens with the good news of the victories people had over the Persians at Marathon.

[52:18] And this was about 26 miles. It said it was in August and he died upon arriving and delivering this good news. This is what we're talking about.

[52:29] How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. God has won and declared a victory and he sends us out to share this with every one.

[52:44] So there's these big questions that must be answered for people and you can start answering those questions at any point in the process of it. And I'll tell you right now that almost all of my gospel presentations begin with the trouble of this world.

[52:57] Everyone sees it. No one thinks we're living in the lap of luxury and life is just a breeze. Why? Why is life hard?

[53:09] Why do we see such tragedy around us? That's because of sin. It's the result of the curse. Curse? Someone must have created the world in order to curse the world.

[53:23] And how is all of this made right? There's such opportunity. Open up the news and begin to talk with somebody about that and you will find that you can begin to answer the questions.

[53:35] Who made us and to whom are we accountable? What is our problem? We have a problem. We're in trouble. Why? Why are we in such trouble?

[53:45] What is God's solution to that problem? Has he worked one out? He has. How is it that we are saved? And how are we pressing people to respond?

[53:59] This thing matters. Decide today whom you will follow. plead with people that they would give their lives to Jesus Christ.

[54:11] I want us to be a people who unite with Paul in Romans 1 16. These are the people that God wants us to be.

[54:22] His beautiful feet runners. For I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

[54:32] Let's pray together.