Good morning, brothers and sisters.
I'd invite you to turn your Bibles to Romans 10. We'll read the first 17 verses.
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. to everyone that believeth. For
Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the
man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thy heart,
who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down
from above. Or who shall descend into the
deep? That is to bring Christ again from the dead. But what
saith it, the word is nigh thee, even thy mouth, and in thy heart,
that is the word of faith which we preach. That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on me shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they
call on him whom they have not believed? How shall they believe
in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? How shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel peace and bring glad tidings, good
news of good things. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? Or who hath believed our preaching?
So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Sorry, technology. I believe every believer who
has received the effectual call of the Holy Spirit, and they're
true to believe in the true living, Word of God has a true desire
and hope in Christ that their loved ones would believe also.
That the Lord God would reach down to our loved ones and pierce
their hearts with the word of God and show them what we've
been shown. A while back I was talking to
a dear sister and she told me she was just elated with happiness
and she told me about how she had seen some of her loved ones
and she had met her loved one's significant other for the first
time. And just, it made her heart so full because she knew that
they would always have the opportunity to fellowship together, to fellowship
as one in Christ. There is happiness and true joy
when believers can be united together in Christ. What have we been shown? We've
been shown that we are nothing and Christ is everything. As
Brother Scott has said, he said, and it's been repeated many times
over, The preacher is a nobody, preaching to everybody about
somebody, Christ, who can save anybody. We know he is able to
be his will. We know from the reading of the
word and the proclamation of his word, God Almighty has a
will, and he doeth in heaven and on earth, and none can stay
his hand. He has run the ship, and we are
on it, being carried on his course. Christ is a somebody, and he
can save anybody if it's his will. As we look back in verse
one of chapter 10, Paul says brethren. He doesn't just say
brethren and continue on. He says brethren comma. What
an opening statement. He's speaking to the brethren,
fellow believer, united to another by the bond of affection. Our
affection is set on Christ. We are joined together by Christ. These brethren are brethren in
Christ, brothers by blood, joined together as brethren, bonded
together by the blood of Christ. It's a special thing to me when
a dear brother calls me brother. Brother Bear will call me throughout
the week and lift me up and he'll say, hey, Brother Brian, what
you up to? He's my brother. I thought about this. I had a
hard time going to sleep last night. Brother Martin will probably
relate, I just thought it over and over, and I was thinking,
well, David and Barbara are brothers. They're blood brothers, you know,
by birth. But we're also blood brothers, too, in Christ. It's
a beautiful thing. Brother Don Fortner wrote a song,
and I just want to read it to y'all. Brethren, let us walk
together in sweet fellowship and peace. Let each one prefer
the other. Thus shall joy and love increase.
As a family, it behooves us. Each to bear the other's load.
As we journey homeward, let us help each other in the road.
Knowing how our God and Father our offenses does forgive, let
us as forgiven sinners, when another's faults forgive. Let
us for our Savior's honor, keep the Spirit's unity. One in Christ,
living together, full of love, from envy free. Such a special
thing, brotherly love. So Paul says, brothers, brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God. My heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is. The brethren have a deep desire
for the loved ones to be saved, not by works, but by the bloodshed
of Jesus Christ. We pray our children, our siblings,
our loved ones, our community would be given a heart of belief.
We want these to be able to join us in the joy we have and fellowship
we have with one another, being one in Christ, because without
Christ, we're nothing. In verse one, it says, my heart's
desire. If you just look over in your
Bible to chapter nine in verse two, it says that I have a great
heaviness and a continual sorrow in my heart. a great heaviness
and continual sorrow. I believe we can relate to Paul
because anyone who truly believes carries this great heaviness
and sorrow in their heart for their loved ones, praying that
the Holy Spirit would reach down and place his word in their hearts.
He says here in verse one, for Israel, if you look also in Romans
nine, verse six, it says, for this is the word of promise.
At this time will I come, sorry, I was reading the wrong one. Chapter nine, verse six. Not
as though the word of God have taken none effect, for they are
not all of Israel, which are of Israel. Paul knows that there
are many in Israel. Not all of them are the Israel
of God. The ones who are of God and pronounced
as to be Israelites are chosen to his salvation, salvation in
Christ Jesus. At the end of verse one, it says
that they might be saved. What does it mean to be saved?
It means I am not looking to myself, but I am looking to God's
righteousness. It means I am trusting in Christ's
accomplished work. The Holy Spirit of God places
the gospel in a man's heart, and they are made anew, given
new sight, given belief. Evidence of belief or being saved
is faith in and of Christ Jesus. Once again, what does it mean
to be saved? Proverbs 3 says, trust in the Lord with all of
thy heart and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Lean not on
what this world tells you, Lean not on what you think is right
or what's good. What does this say? What does
the Lord God say? And they said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Continuing in verse two. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. Paul says they
have a zeal of God as in a pursuance, a passion of embracing God. Not
according to knowledge, though. Remember in Proverbs it says,
trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not on their own
understanding. They don't have the knowledge.
There are a lot of people who claim they're following God but
they're following a lowercase little g God, not the triune
God. They're looking to their works,
what they can do to get to God, what they can do for God, what
they can let God do. God does not need our help in
anything. As established many times before, God has his own
will. Men's fleshly desires have no say in God's will. Verse three,
it says, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going
about to salvage their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. Paul's expounding more to this,
they are ignorant of God's righteousness, trying to establish their own.
Man has been trying to establish his own righteousness since the
beginning of time, listening to the cunning words of serpents.
God doth know that in the day ye thereof, then your eyes shall
be open, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. You shall
be his gods. This ruined state of mind made
man fall, and they've been falling ever since. That's what man wants,
thinking himself as his own god, ruling his own way. Natural man
has a serious false hope, looking at what they believe to be their
good deeds, a self-righteous state, looking to himself and
how he sees things, comparing himself to others that seem worse
than him. Cunning words of wolves in sheep's
clothing, still lurk in buildings claiming to preach the gospel.
William Mason, an 18th century Christian writer, said, but knowing
men after flesh proves a snare to the soul. Many have suffered
loss by it. While they have conferred with
flesh and blood, listen to the wisdom of carnal men and consult
to the judgment of the wise of the world. How have their minds
been drawn from the simplicity that is in Christ? God's righteousness,
The Blue Letter Bible definition is the only acceptable condition
to correctness of thinking. An absolute perfect condition
can only be found in God's righteousness. Man must submit to God and his
justice. God's righteousness can only
be attained through the Son of God, Christ Jesus, through his
shed blood on Calvary Street. We need the blood of Christ.
If you were to turn your Bibles to Philippians 3, Be here for a moment. Philippians 3, starting in verse
7, it says, but what things were gained to me, those I count are
lost for Christ. What did I gain? At the loss
of everything I had, I gained Christ. Lose everything in this
world, everything. all the materialistic things,
but if I still have Christ, I have Christ, that's everything. In
verse eight it says, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them
but dung, that I may win Christ. Yea, doubtless, doubtless means
certain, without question. All things are loss, but the
excellency. The excellency word means the
superior in rank, the superior in power. The knowledge of Christ
Jesus, my Lord, is superior in rank or power. The knowledge
of Christ Jesus, my Lord, is superior in rank. It really caught
me as I was reading that. He says, Christ Jesus, my Lord,
He is my Lord. He is our Lord. There's just
something really sweet about that. In Colossians it says that their
hearts might be comforted being knit together in love and unto
all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ in whom
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. trying to pull together that
knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, in whom there hid all treasures
of wisdom and knowledge, which I believe will really be revealed
to us after we leave this world and come to glory. Continuing
in verse eight, it says, everything about me is dung. Paul says he
counts the suffering, everything he has lost as dung, the extrament
of animals, things worthless and detestable. Guess what? But I win Christ. That's what
it says at the very end. Through all of that, that I may
win Christ. To win Christ is gain, Christ's
favor, and his fellowship. If I win Christ, he is my trophy.
You want to lift up your trophy. You want the entire world to
see and hear about this one, named Christ Jesus, of which
you have won. This is the best prize of all.
It's the opposite of a normal winning where you had to work
for it. No, you didn't. The work was already done, he
accomplished it all. In verse nine of Philippians
3, it says, and be found in him not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. The believer,
excuse me, the believer doesn't want his own righteousness because
it's worthless. I have no ability whatsoever
to follow the law of God to His satisfaction, because it's perfection,
and there's no perfection in me. No, I want to be found in
the faith of Christ Jesus. The righteousness of God, God's
justice, was satisfied by His Son when He kept the faith in
His Father. Faith is the evidence of belief. The father believed the son would
fulfill that which he was sent to do to satisfy the law. The son believed in his father's
righteousness, faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith. Go back to Romans 10. In Romans 10 verse 4 it says,
for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. Matthew 5, 17 says, think not
that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not
come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, not one jot or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Fulfilled as
in satisfied. Christ satisfied his Father's
law completely. Unbelievers are looking to self,
and self is gonna look to the law, not to the finished work
of Christ Jesus. But the believer, the one who
believes solely in and of Christ Jesus, he is the end of the law
for them. Verse five says, for Moses described
the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things shall live by them. Many men will attempt to live
by righteousness and law, but they will fail every time. Only
one man has ever lived by the righteousness and law perfectly,
and that's Christ Jesus. Turn over to Galatians three,
please. Galatians 3 verse 11, it says,
give me a second. Galatians 3 verse 11, but that
no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. For the just shall live by faith. The just shall live by faith. No man is justified by the law
in thy sight. 2 Corinthians 5 says, for we
walk by faith, not by sight. Verse 12, and the law is not
of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. This
goes back to what we said before, many will try, but only one has
ever fulfilled the law completely. Verse 13, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. He was made, for it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. I find that made a
curse for us is very important because it refers to a verse
we hear quite often in 2 Corinthians 5.21, for he hath
made him to be sent for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. We'll go back to Romans 10. Read verse six. But the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on the wise, say not a night heart,
who shall it send in heaven? That is to bring Christ down
from above. Or who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring
up Christ again from the dead. Mr. John Brown, I'll try to track
it down exactly, because this is John Brown, the abolitionist,
and I believe this is John Brown of Haddington, a couple centuries
ago, but via Pastor Henry Manhan says, do not think that divine
justification depends on something to be done by you or anyone else.
There's no need to say, who shall ascend to heaven to bring the
Messiah down? He has already come. and perform
the work for which he came. He has finished our righteousness
and redemption. There is no need to say who shall
descend into the deep to bring him up from the grave. He is
risen. He is risen for our justification
and intercedes for us. The gospel which reveals it tells
you that they are all finished. The all sufficient savior is
to be believed and received. As we read in verse eight, it
says, but what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even thy
mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of faith which we
preach. This is an introduction to the
next two verses where it's talking about the mouth and the heart
and righteousness and salvation. In verse nine, it says that if
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe
in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. To confess Christ. What a beautiful
thing. Our belief and confession and
faith in Christ Jesus is our sole representative who satisfied
the law on our behalf, redeemed us of all of our sins. All my hope is in what Christ
performed on the cross. I have no hope in and of myself.
My hope and my faith is in Christ alone. Nothing I did, you hear
people say a lot about their faith, their faith. They're talking
about their faith in themselves, and any faith the believer has
is in what Christ did, and that's his everything. That confession
is a part of believer's baptism. The Lord places that faith in
a person's heart, and they make that public confession before
believers, that is believer's baptism. to believe in thy heart
that God raised his son from the dead. In order for this to
be, we would have to believe in thy heart that he was sent
to this earth as God in the flesh, John 1. We would have to believe
in thy heart he would have to die and only flesh can die. So
he's crucified on Calvary's cross, redeeming his people from the
curse of the law. According to the scriptures,
believe in thy heart that God has raised his son from the dead
on the third day. Verse 10 says, for with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. The Spirit of the Lord God speaks
to the heart of his righteousness. The sinner confesses Christ's
salvation with the confession of the mouth through faith. Verse
11, for the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. If I am made to believe on the
Son of God, I will not be ashamed. The definition of ashamed is
for some hope has deceived. If I believe on the Son of God,
how can I be ashamed? He has put that, the Spirit has
put that into me. Everything else is lost, everything
else is done, but to have Christ, I win Christ, cannot be ashamed. True faith being my belief in
Him, I will not be ashamed. Christ is my only hope, I'm looking
to Him. In verse 12 it says, for there
is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. No matter
if you're Jew, Gentile, American, African, German, black, white,
purple, the same Lord is over all. In Acts 10.36, it says,
the word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching
peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. Men can verbally
in their hearts deny God, but according to scripture, he says
boldly and simply, he is Lord of all. That is about as simple
as it gets. Turn over to Romans three, back
to Romans three. Verse 22. Romans 3, verse 22, it says,
even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ,
unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference.
Unto all and upon all them that believe, there is no difference.
Verse 23, it says, for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. Scriptures are not vague, for all have sinned
or are in need of the righteousness of God, only received through
the faith of Christ Jesus. We need a surety, surety meaning
a guarantee. Jesus Christ is the guarantee. In verse 24 it says, being justified
freely by his grace, his unmerited favor through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Verse 25, whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare
righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. Propitiation, Christ is the mercy
seat. He's the propitiation. The Hebrew
word for that is kaparth, meaning the cover, he is the cover. meaning
connected with the covering or the removal of sin, through Christ's
sacrifice and the shedding of his blood under divine judgment
upon sin and through his resurrection, Christ has become the mercy seat
for his people. And lastly, in 26, it says, to
declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might
be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Turn back to Romans 10, verse
12. It says, for the same Lord over
all is rich, is rich to be richly supplied, is affluent in the
resources so that he can give the blessings of salvation unto
all, unto all that call upon him. Verse 13, it says, of Romans 10 says, for
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. To call upon the name of the
Lord is to invoke, to adore, to worship the Lord. That's what
we're doing here right now. We are worshiping the Lord almighty. We're calling upon his name.
The name of the Lord, our Lord has many names. Jehovah-Jireh,
the Lord will provide. Jehovah Ratha, the Lord that
healeth. Jehovah Nisi, the Lord, our banner.
Jehovah Shalom, the Lord, our peace. Jehovah Ra, the Lord,
my shepherd. Jehovah Siknu, the Lord, our
righteousness. Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is
present. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. We talked about this before. What does it mean to be saved?
It means the Holy Spirit of God places the gospel in a man's
heart that they made anew, given sight, given new sight, given
belief in Him. Once again, the evidence of belief,
or being saved, is faith. Faith not in ourselves, but faith
in, of, and Him, Christ Jesus. It means I'm not looking to myself,
but I'm looking to God's righteousness. It means I am trusting in the
accomplished work of Christ Jesus. In verse 14 it says, how then
shall they call on him whom they have not believed? And how shall
they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall
they hear without a preacher? In order for someone to call
on the Lord, they need to believe in what they're calling to. They
need to hear the true gospel, the gospel that preaches election
of sinners, that proclaims we are ruined by the fall, that
preaches Christ and Him crucified, that tells the story of redemption
through the blood of Christ and regeneration by the Spirit. As
Brother Marvin's told me many times before, when you're studying
the scriptures and you're trying to put a message together, but
if you're just everyday doing your studying, where's the glory
of Christ? Where is it? You can't hear in
order to believe if you are not under a true preacher of the
gospel of the Lord, free and sovereign grace. Verse 15 says,
and how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written,
how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace and bring glad tidings of good things. When the Lord
truly calls a man to preach the gospel, the Lord has placed a
serious responsibility on that man's heart and life. It should
be not taken lightly what the trials a pastor goes through
as he ministers to the church. The brethren should be in regular
prayer for their pastors. As it says in 2 Thessalonians
3, finally, brethren, Pray for us that the word of the Lord
may have free course and be glorified as it is with you. Verse 15,
as we continue, it says, how beautiful are the feet of them
that preach the gospel peace and bring glad tidings. And Isaiah
52, it says, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of
him that bringeth good tidings. Those good tidings are the good
news that publishes or proclaims peace, that bringeth good news
of good, that proclaims salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God
reigneth. Verse 16 says, but they have
not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? The gospel was preached to both
the Jews and the Gentiles, and the promise was given, but not
all did believe. The same is for now in our day.
Why do they not believe? Maybe they don't think they're
all that bad. Maybe they've been told their
entire life, you're a good person, you have a good heart. Maybe
someone's never told them, none are good, no, not one. Yes, that
means even you and even me, this filthy sinner here. Maybe by
the God's almighty ultimate will, he ordered someone's death prematurely
to man's self-righteous moral compass, and now they're mad.
Maybe someone has never told you who Christ is and what he's
done. In order for a man to be saved
from his depraved state, he needs the Holy Spirit to come into
his heart and place the Word of God. Show them that we are
truly dung, filthy rags. We are less than maggots. And
we need a surety. I guarantee in His name is Christ
Jesus, my Lord. How can they believe in whom
they have not heard? Get to a closing here in verse
17, it says, so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God. That's the title of this message,
faith cometh by hearing. Remember, faith is the evidence
of belief. You can't believe if you don't
hear. You can't hear if you're not under a Christ-earning preacher,
someone who is a nobody, a sinner, led by the inspiration of God
Almighty. As a believer, this is where I want to be, this is
where I need to be. I need to hear about my sinfulness,
and there's nothing I can do to achieve God's righteousness.
Because if I am one of his, he sent his son as a substitute
for all my sins. He has made sin for me and all
his sheep, and not a one will be missed, not a one. When he
was made sin, he was crucified on that tree, bearing all the
sins of the ones his father gave him. I need to hear how he was
buried in a cave in a boulder was placed over the entrance
that no man could remove. But after the third day, as promised,
the spirit of God moved that boulder and Christ was resurrected
from the dead. And at this very moment, Christ
sits on the right hand of his father on his throne. I can't
hear this. I can't hear the word of God
if I'm elsewhere. I'm not. I'm not digging on Summon
Audio. Yes, Summon Audio is a great
tool for studying worshiping outside the public assembly,
and it has been a great tool for us when we are without a
pastor, but I need to be under the word of God, because if not,
our faith in Christ can slip away. I've seen that this world,
this worldliness will take you away. It'll take you away from
the church and from the gospel and from everything, and your
attention will be placed somewhere else. I need to be here. I need to hear and receive the
gospel, the word of God, his good news, his glad tidings.
I need his heavenly blessings to fall upon me. I need the fellowship
of the believers together that our heavenly father places us,
our brotherly love. We don't have that without him.
We don't have that sitting at home. The scripture saith, where
two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst.
I need to be where he is. Why? Because I am a needy sinner
Christ in him crucified is my only hope. I pray the Lord never
takes our ability away to hear him and that by grace, the spirit
of God would pierce our hearts with his word and give us faith
in him and on him, Christ Jesus. I pray the Lord blesses this
for his glory and our good. Amen.