Open your Bibles please to Romans
chapter 10. I want to continue this evening
talking to you about evangelism, true biblical evangelism. I want to begin reading Romans
chapter 10 and verse 1. Look into the heart of the Apostle
Paul. And he says, Brethren, writing
to the church here at Rome, Brethren, my heart's desire, my prayer
to God, is for Israel that they might be saved. His people, Israel,
rejected Christ, who is the gospel, crucified Him on the cross. I
bear them record. Well, I bear record to a lot
of people in our day that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
And that makes all the difference in the world. Not according to
knowledge. They sacrifice. They give of themselves. but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness. You remember what I read to you
this morning, Romans 1.16? Paul said, this gospel that's
committed to his trust, he said, I'm not ashamed of it. God gave
me the gospel, treasury and earth and vessel, that I might preach
him among the Gentiles. I'm not ashamed of it, because
that gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believeth, Jew first, also to the Greek. For therein, in that
gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness, that righteousness which is prepared for us, the
believer, of God in Christ, by Christ, for Christ, they're ignorant
of that righteousness. And if they're ignorant of that
righteousness, they're doing this very thing. They're going
about to establish their own righteousness rather than, and they have not,
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Moses,
he described the righteousness which is of the law, that the
man which doeth these things shall live by them, shall keep
the law. If that's his commitment, that's
his hope of righteousness before God, he's got to keep the law.
But the righteousness which is of faith, now that's what I'm
interested in. because I have none of my own.
The righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine 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 him up
again from the dead. That's not it. But listen to
this. But what saith our gospel, the
gospel of faith, this righteousness of faith, this message? The Word
is near thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the
Word of faith which we preach. It's close. It's nearby. This is it. You're interested
in righteousness before God, that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth, the Lord Jesus shall believe in thine heart God 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 him shall not be ashamed or disappointed. For
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. 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." Now this is very important. I
preached on this one time years ago. a message that I got from
Spurgeon. The title of it was Four Hows. Four H-O-W-S. This is so important and so applicable
to this generation of religious ignorance. They've got people
looking to their emotions and We've got people trying to make
them emotional religious cheerleaders rather than knowledge. We're
to teach. Teach the Gospel. Preach the
Gospel. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall
be saved. Now that's on the lips of every preacher throughout
the land almost. But then you have these questions
raised. These questions. How then shall
I call on him in whom they have not believed? Think about that. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's true.
But how shall I call upon him in whom they have not believed?
Listen next. How shall I believe in him whom
they've never heard? Never heard. And how shall they hear without
a preacher? How shall they hear without a preacher? Now that
brings me to my subject tonight, evangelism. He described evangelism. It's preaching the gospel. It's
preaching Christ. People can't call on Him if they
haven't heard about Him, if they haven't believed on Him. They
can't believe on Him if they haven't heard about Him. These
four hells here. And how can they preach except
to be sent? We hear a lot about in our day,
as I mentioned this morning, And some of this will be rather
repetitious, but I urge your attention. We hear a lot about
a plan of salvation. It's everywhere. Tracts passed
out, God's plan of salvation. Sometimes it's a three-point,
three-step plan. Sometimes it's a five-step plan. Sometimes it's the Roman road
plan of salvation. Rituals and ceremonies of one
kind or the other. But the way men say it, plan
of salvation, the way they use these terms is not only misleading,
it is subversive to the true gospel and it is destructive
to the souls of men and women, the way they use this term, plan
of salvation, the way they use it. The modernists use these
terms to quote, show sinners the way. You've got to plan to
show sinners the way. A plan for a sinner to follow,
like I said, whether it's a three-step plan, five-step plan, Roman road
plan, whatever it is, they've got to plan for sinners to follow
and then call them in and register that you've been saved. They
put you on their road book someplace. But this term, plan of salvation,
now listen to me. This is important. This term,
plan of salvation, is correctly used only when it applies to
God. Salvation is a plan. It's God's
plan. He made it a long time ago before
this world was ever made, before there was ever an angel in the
heavens. before there was ever earth created. God had a plan. It's His plan, His purpose, His
determination to save some sinners, to bring many sons unto glory,
to make them perfectly conformed to the image of His only begotten
Son, God's plan. God has a plan of salvation.
This is salvation of sinners. This is salvation of sinners.
is the eternal purpose and plan of God. Revelation 13, 8, you
need not turn there. Christ was as a lamb crucified
before God ever made the world. A lamb crucified. The Lamb of
God that took away our sins, redeemed us under God by His
own blood. God's plan. God's plan. Saving sinners. Ephesians 1,
3. His elect were chosen and blessed and loved in Christ before
the foundation of the world, in the land. God's purpose, God's
plan, God blessed them in Christ before He ever made this world.
Galatians 4.4, When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His only begotten Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to redeem us from the curse of the law.
That's God's plan. God's purpose. And God carried
it out. He said, if I've said something,
I'll do it. And if I've purposed it, I'll
bring it to pass. God's plan. God's plan. This thing of salvation is God's
plan. When they took the Lord Jesus Christ and apprehended
Him and hung Him on the cross and crucified Him, the Bible
said that He was delivered unto them by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God. He was delivered unto them by
the predetermination, the predestination of God. That's what that means.
God's plan. God's purpose. When the fullness
of time was come, God sent His Son. Christ said, when mine hour
has come, mine hour has come, mine hour has come. Let's go.
God's plan. God's purpose. That's the plan
I want to hear about. That's the plan I want to preach.
delivered by the determined counsel and full knowledge of God. And
then the Bible tells us in Isaiah 53 that God made His soul, God
did it, made His soul to be an offspring for sin. That God bruised
Him, that God put Him to grief, that the chastisement of our
peace was upon Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the Father's
eternal purpose and plan and will which the Lord Jesus Christ
said over and over, I came to do. When he was just 12, he said,
don't you know I came down here to be about my father's business?
He told the woman at the well, don't you know? Now his disciples,
when his apostles came back, he said, my meat is to do the
will of him that sent me and finish that work. He came down
here to do the will of the Father. And the Bible said He was obedient,
perfectly obedient, from the heart unto death, even the death
of the cross, Philippians 2. He came on purpose. God sent
Him. God's plan. God's purpose. It was the eternal will of God
that He came to accomplish and fulfill. So the salvation of
sinners is a plan, all right. But it's not a preacher's plan.
It's not the plan of some church, religious organization. It's
God's plan. Salvation of sinners is God's
plan. God's purpose, God's plan of
salvation has nothing to do with what preachers and so-called
soul winners hand out in their little tracks, three-step, five-step,
Roman road. Nothing to do with that at all.
Not God's plan of salvation. Repeat this prayer. Had nothing
to do with that. Some ritual or ceremony had nothing
to do with that. Not God's plan of salvation,
and that's the one I'm interested in. I'm not interested in some
preacher's plan. I'm interested in God's plan.
And God does have a plan, and it's old, and it's sure to come
to pass. He's determined to bring it to
pass. Now, the gospel of salvation
is a message. It is news. It is good news. The gospel of salvation. The
Gospel is the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the
good news about a person. The Gospel tells about Him, tells
who He is, where He came from, where He was born into this world,
born a woman, where He grew up, how He lives, what he performed,
the works he performed, the words he spoke as no man ever spake
with such authority, and how he died such a shameful death
of the cross. The gospel is not a plan for
sinners to follow. It's a message which sinners
must hear and understand and believe if they're going to be
saved. That's what the gospel is. The
gospel is not what sinners must do. It's the good news of what
Christ has already done. Preachers are spending too much
time Telling sinners about doing and about feeling rather than
about listening and understanding and believing. Listening and
understanding and believing. These things. Salvation. Listen to this. This refutes,
this alone refutes all of these plans. You believe this verse,
you believe that verse, you believe this third verse over here, and
then you're saved. This one thought. refutes all
those plans. Salvation is knowing God. And God revealed to us spiritually
and supernaturally through His Word by Spirit. You don't capture
the knowledge of God in a ritual or a ceremony. No, sir. Listen to what it says about
knowing God. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he might give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God. And Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. Listen, you get that one word? Thou hast given him power over
all flesh. It takes power to reveal Christ.
Take power to reveal God to the heart of a man. Take power! And that power is in Christ,
the Gospel. John 6.45, These elect of God,
they shall all be taught of God. Come to me, learn of me. You
will find rest for your souls. And this gospel talks about being
saved from the penalty of sin, from the dominion of sin, and
from one day the presence of sin by grace through faith. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8
and 9. And Romans 10, 17. Romans 10,
17. Faith comes by hearing. Faith
came to me by hearing and hearing. by the Word of God. I was hearing
the Word of God and that's how faith came. It's a gift of God. I heard the Word of God so many
times before faith came. But one day I heard it and faith
came. It's a gift of God. You understand? A gift of God.
It doesn't come through a plan. It comes through hearing the
Word of God and the sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus.
Faith comes by hearing. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall they call upon Him
in whom they have never believed? How shall they believe in Him
in whom they've never heard the truth? The Jesus of our day is
a pygmy Jesus. He's a would-be Savior. He's
a hoped-to-be Savior. It's all left up to man. The
Jesus of the Bible is a sovereign Redeemer. He shall save His people
from their sins. Of the sheep I have which are
not of this foal, them also I must bring. This is the will of the
Father which sent me, that of all which He had given me I should
lose nothing, but raise Him up until I stay. That's God's plan. That's God's Redeemer. That's
God's Christ, the Lord Jesus. Modern so-called evangelism is
a religious travesty. The preachers assume that everybody
knows God, everybody understands the gospel, and all they do is
merely set out to persuade them to make a decision or commitment.
Isn't that right? That's exactly right. And they're leading folks to
hell. If they knew God, as these preachers
assume that they do, and they're already saved, you don't need
to persuade them. If they knew God, if they knew
God, if you know Him, you love Him. If you know Him, you follow
Him. If you know Him, you trust Him. Matthew 11, verse 26. That might be good to look at
again. It tells you who knows God. We've
already seen that life eternal, eternal life, is knowing God.
You want to know who knows God? I grew up in a Sunday school.
I grew up in a godly home. My father talked about God. My
mother talked about God. I didn't know God for a long
time. Look at verse 27 Matthew 11. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. And that means as the Father
hid these special things from the wise and prudent, revealed
them unto babes, because it seemed good in his sight, me too. All that's delivered into mine. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father." Doesn't everybody know Jesus? They know about Him. They've heard about Him. They've
got pictures of Him, they think. But nobody knows Him, except
the Father. But the Father, neither knoweth
any man the Father, but the Son. And everybody know God? Nobody
knows God except by spiritual supernatural revelation through
this book. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him. Now recall back to John 17, verse
2. The Son has power over all flesh. to give the knowledge of God
and eternal life to sinners. And he does it. And he only can
do it. He only can do it. You know,
I'm just going to refer to this. You can turn back and look at
it at your own leisure. But Genesis 24, there's a beautiful
type. And this is just totally ignored
in our day. People talk about Jesus loves
sinners, and that's true, but it's not the Gospel. And Jesus
died for sinners, that's true, but it's not the gospel. The
gospel is how he loved sinners and died for sinners and rose
again according to scriptures. That's the gospel. Old Abraham had a son named Isaac. He wanted a bride for his son.
And this is a picture of Christ in the church. And he sent his
special servant down to this particular land to choose a bride
for his son. She'd never seen Isaac. She'd
never heard of Isaac. But along comes a preacher, and
he begins to tell her about this man Isaac. He said, boy, his
father's great, and his father's Just giving him everything. All things delivered into his
hands. And he said, sent me down here
to choose a wife for his son. How did he get her to make up
her mind? Talking about the son. talking about who he was and
what he was and who his father was and how wealthy he was, what
a good man he was. And he got ready to go back to
Abraham. He said, are you going or staying? The family tried to argue her
out of it and tried to get him to stay another day or two so
she could make up her mind in leisure. Isaac said, no, I'm
paraphrasing this. You're either going or you're
not. I'm leaving. She said, me too. But here's
the key. How can they call upon one in
whom they never believed? How can they believe in someone
of whom they've never heard? And how can they hear except
through my telling? You know what happened on the
day of Pentecost? The same, same, same, same thing. No tricks. No gospel tricks. They didn't
put on skits. They didn't have a show of any
kind. They didn't have a ritual or ceremony that they presented
to sinners. They didn't hand out anything
or say anything. They said, this is a plan for
you to follow unto salvation. Peter, an unlearned, uneducated
fisherman. Got up there and told them a
few facts about the Lord Jesus Christ. He said He was delivered
into your hand. Now let me turn back there just,
I want you to see this. He was telling them things that
they knew these things. Things they witnessed and experienced.
Acts chapter 2. You men of Israel. Verse 22. Now listen to this. This is so
simple. And what's he talking about?
What's his whole subject? Jesus Christ. Who He is. What He is. You men of Israel,
listen to my words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you. Ray read it tonight. approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by Him in the midst of you. And you know these things. You
saw these things. You witnessed these things. You
experienced these things. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and full knowledge of God, you have taken by wicked hands,
crucified and slain. God delivered him into your hands,
and that's what you did to him. Whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it were not possible that he
should be holding of it. And then he quotes from David
to show the resurrection. to prove that Christ, this same
Jesus, is sitting on the throne at the right hand of the Father.
And He's going to sit there until every enemy is brought under
His feet. The message is this. This was the Messiah. This was
the Son of God. God delivered Him into your hands
for a season, and now you're in His hands forever. You're
in His hands forever. This is the conclusion of this
message, this simple message. that all the house of Israel
know assuredly that God made that same Jesus whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ. You're in His hands forever.
You're in His hands for life or death. And about 3,000 of
them said, what in the world are we going to do? We've crucified
the Lord of glory, God's Messiah. What in the world are we going
to do? Peter said it would be a good idea to repent, be baptized. And that's what they did. Now
in chapter 2, if you turn on over to verse 40, And with many other
words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourself from this
backward religious generation. Then they that gladly received
his word were baptized. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word. And the same day there were added
unto them about three thousand souls. Did they present a plan to the
people? No, they presented God's Christ
to the people. They preached Christ. These people
were faced with Christ, the true Christ, the real Christ, the
sovereign Christ, the enthroned Christ, who is able to save and
destroy. And they came down off of their
high horses, fell on their faces before God, and about 3,000 were
saved and baptized. At one other place, I want you
to look, and that's Romans chapter four. Faith cometh by hearing,
hearing by the word of God. What shall we say then that Abraham
our father, as pertains to the flesh, hath found all of the
elect of God, All who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, all
who shall ever be saved, are the children of Abraham. They
have the faith of their father Abraham. Now, if Abraham was
justified by work, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. And old Ralph Barnard said, What
saith the Scriptures? I don't answer it. I ought to
settle it. On every issue, what saith the Scripture? Abraham
believed God, and it was reckoned unto him, counted unto him, imputed
unto him for righteousness. That's what the Scripture says.
It doesn't matter what I say, what other people say. That's
what the Scripture says. And it goes on here to explain
it real well, clearly. Now to him that worketh for salvation,
It is a reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. If you could
work for salvation, earn salvation, it would be a debt. It would
be something you deserve, something you work for, your wages. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
believing like Abraham, believe God. Even so, even as David described
the blessedness of the man, and I love this, unto whom the Lord
imputeth righteousness without works, without any merit on this
end, God declared me righteous through faith in His Son. And I like this next verse. Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered
up, never to be remembered against them again. Hebrews chapter 10. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Too much emphasis in our day
is put upon doing and upon feeling when it should be put upon hearing
and understanding and believing. We have something to believe.
We don't make a commitment based on some emotion or feeling. I
went to Bible college with a man and I feel so sorry for him.
Over and over and over again he told me, He remembered that
day. He didn't remember a word the
preacher said, but just a feeling inside that he ought to go down
front and say, I did. That's not salvation. Salvation is hearing and understanding
what you hear and believing what you hear. Trusting God. Trusting God. Faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Too much emphasis on
feeling and doing, rather than on understanding and believing.
Let those who call themselves preachers ever be talking about
God and His plan. His plan. God has a plan. That God doesn't, but the God
of this book does, I assure you. Let them be talking about God
and His Son. God and His sovereign free grace. God's plan of salvation. God's
purpose of salvation. Now, some people are going to
hear and understand and believe, and they're going to call the
gospel good news. Three thousand on the day of
Pentecost. All through hearing of Him and
believing Him. It's just that simple. You know old Abraham, the sinner's
faith is the same as Abraham, our father. His faith in God was life from death, resurrection
faith. His Redeemer, his righteousness
was in his seed, Isaac. And he had to wait forever and
ever, it seemed like, for that seed to come. But he never quit believing,
kept on believing, because he had a word from God. Let me read a few verses to you. Abraham, in verse 18, who against
hope, all human hope, believed in hope, though there was no human reason
for it, he believed and he hoped and he waited that he might become
the father of many nations. Now listen to this carefully.
according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be." God said
it. That's why he believed it. That's
why he waited. That's the way he had the power
to wait. God said it, and he believed it. And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a
hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of serious wound.
During this time and into Coming into this condition, situation,
he staggered not at the promise of God, the promise of God, the
promise of God. How shall they believe in Him
in whom they've not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? The promise of God. Staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but were strong in faith, giving
glory to God and being fully persuaded. This is it again.
that what God had promised he was able also to perform, and
therefore it was imputed unto him for righteousness. He had
a word from God. I have a word for you from God. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. That is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of the living God, the Messiah sent from God, who lived
for sinners and died for sinners, redeeming them unto God by His
own blood. Believe on His name, thou shalt
be saved. That's a word from God. Abraham had a word from God,
and he believed it. You have a word from God. I hope
you believe it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. When Abraham got past the years
of having children, he and his wife both, he staggered not at
the promise of God. He just kept on believing. That
is a wonderful example of faith. Perhaps that's why God made it
the example and set it forth before us here, because our faith
must be like the faith of Abraham. A promise was made, words were
spoken, heard, understood, and believed. And therefore he staggered not
at the difficulties, wavered not in his mind, but grew stronger
through faith, giving God all the glory all the while." God's promise is equal to His
performance. If He's promising, it's just
as certain. as if it were already done. You
just have to wait for God's time, the fulfillment of that Word.
But God's Word is sure. His promise is absolutely certain. His Word cannot fail. Perfect and everlasting righteousness
through faith in Christ. From ungodly to unblemished. through faith in Christ alone.
That's how it works. Now, let's look at 24 and 5.
I always read these two with this context. Verse 23. Now, it was not written. These things were not written.
These things we read, and I skipped some of them, but you know what
the context is. These things were not written
for Abraham's sake alone. that it was imputed to him. Why
are these things written here in this book and we're reading
it this day, 2007, March the 18th? These things are written for
us here today. To whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who were delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. And I repeat something I said
this morning, the Apostle Paul writing to Timothy. He said,
I know, I know whom I have believed. I
know him. been revealed to me. I know where
he came from. I know what he became. I know why he lived and died here
on this earth. I know what he accomplished.
I know whom I have believed. It never says in whom. It doesn't
say about whom. It says I know him. And I'm persuaded
because I know him. I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day, saving
faith, trusting him. May God bless these words to
every heart. True evangelists, they're not
preaching Christ, taking the things of Christ, declaring them. They're not preaching
the gospel. Salvation is a plan, but it's
God's plan, God's eternal plan and purpose in Christ Jesus.
Okay, David.