Okay now, today in our study
we're going back to the 10th verse of Romans 10. Romans 10,
the 10th verse. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. Believing God is a miracle, a
miracle. Trusting Christ for all of our
righteousness is a miracle. And as we often say, salvation
is a hard work. It's God who works in you, both
the will and the do of His good pleasure. For with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. The Apostle Paul gives unto us
here in verse 10 the nature and attributes of true saving faith,
the faith of God's elect. We know that true faith It's
not something that is native to us. It's not native to us. We love darkness rather than
light. True faith is the sovereign gift of God. The sovereign gift
of God. It's a precious gift and He gives
it to whom He will. Faith is God's gift. True faith,
true faith, The faith of God's elect acknowledges that God is
God in all aspects of our salvation. True faith looks to Christ alone
as God our Savior alone. True faith in Christ is the heart
work of God. Remember those Jews in John chapter
6 said to the Lord, what shall we do that we might work the
works of God? Remember that question? And here's
the way our Lord answered it. John 6, 29. This is the work
of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Salvation is
not only a gift of God, but salvation is something God works in us
and faith, by faith that He gives us. The work of God. This is
the work of God that you believe on Him. And then the Apostle
Paul says this in Philippians 1, 6. being confident of this
very thing that God who has begun a good work in you He will finish
it. He will perform it. He will perfect
it. We only believe the gospel by
the power of God. We believe with the new heart
given of God in the new birth and we believe unto righteousness. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. Look at verse 4 of Romans 10.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. This new heart comes with a new
tongue that confesses that salvation is of the Lord. This new heart
comes with new life and comes with new hope. It's God who saved
us, God who has called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to God's own purpose and grace. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth He gives us a new heart
and a new tongue to confess Christ is all of our salvation. Now,
verse 11, for the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. You remember back in chapter
9, verse 33, he quotes this same verse again. Behold, I lay in
Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of a fence, and whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed. Whosoever believeth, and I would
emphasize the word believe, whosoever, Jew or Gentile, whosoever, young
or old, whosoever, black or white, whosoever, educated or uneducated,
whosoever, believes the gospel is a child of God. This whosoever. Now, every believer can say,
I'm a whosoever. I'm a whosoever. Whosoever that
believes. Now the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ by his grace is not for everyone. It's not for everyone. But it is for whosoever believes. A lot of people don't want salvation.
It's not for everyone, but it is for everyone who believes.
Whosoever that does believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
is not ashamed of the gospel of the sovereign saving grace
of God in Christ. That's how we began our study
in Romans chapter 1 verse 16. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ for it's the power of God and the salvation
to everyone who believes. If you believe the gospel, you're
not ashamed of the gospel, nor ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then when the Apostle Paul
is sitting in a Roman prison on death row, waiting to be executed,
he writes this. In 2 Timothy 1 verse 12, he said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded he is able." You see, in the beginning
of his ministry, not ashamed of the gospel, and when he sits
condemned by civil government for rebellion against Rome, he
says, I'm still not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because
it's the only hope any sinner has. Now, it's interesting that
he quotes from Isaiah 28, 16, Romans 9 33 and also here in
Romans 10 verse 11 But the Apostle Peter also quotes that verse
2 you remember in first Peter chapter 2 the Old Testament message
of salvation and a New Testament message of Salvation is one in
the same and in perfect harmony showing that salvation is in
Christ the Old Testament never did have a message of salvation
by the deeds of the law. Never. The message of the law
was pointing sinners to Christ. Now I can make good on that.
I can make good on that. Our Lord said to those Jews,
you are they which search the scriptures, but they are they
which testify of me. And then Acts chapter 10, when
Paul, or rather Peter is preaching to Cornelius in his house, you
remember he said to him, give all the prophets witness. Isaiah,
Jeremiah, the major prophets, or what we call the minor prophets,
all bear witness to the fact that salvation is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. But I especially like this scripture
on trying to verify if we can use that word or clarify that
point that the Old Testament Scriptures and the New Testament
Scriptures all have but one message, that salvation is of the Lord.
In Luke chapter 24, remember our Lord said to those two men,
beginning at Moses, And all the prophets, he expounded it unto
them in all the scriptures, the thing concerning himself, beginning
of Moses and all the prophets. They're all about what? They're
all about who? The Lord Jesus Christ. Every
blood sacrifice that you read of, going all the way back to
the first one that we read of, Where is that? All the way back
to the first one we read of, Genesis chapter 3, where God
killed an animal and clothed Adam and Eve, fallen guilty in
their sin. All the way back to that first
sacrifice that we read of in human history. all tells us about
Christ and Him crucified. Because we go back further to
that, to eternity, and we see and we read that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth. Before there was a sinner, there
was a Savior. Before Adam fell, the surety
stood. That's amazing, is it not? It's
all about Christ. All about Christ. Now, having
said that, let's take a look at verse 12, Romans 10, verse
12. Well, there is no difference. There is no difference. God is
not a respecter of Jew or Gentile. Grace eliminates all distinctions. For there is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek. You remember back in Romans chapter
3 when Paul said, we have before both proved that Jew and Gentile,
that they're all under sin. There's none righteous, no not
one. There's none that understand.
There's none that seeks God. They're all gone out of the way.
There is none righteous, no. not one." And then he says, we've
all sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is no
difference between sinners. All men are ungodly, defiled
sinners. And He is the same Lord over
all. All sinners, Jew or Gentile. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon Him. that call upon Him. There is no national distinction
when it comes to being a sinner. In Adam, all have sinned. By one man's disobedience, many
became sinners. We read furthermore in this text,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the absolute Lord God over all men
everywhere without exception. He is a universal Lord without
exception. Peter put it this way at Pentecost.
That same Jesus whom you have crucified, God has made Him both
Lord and Christ. And then in Philippians chapter
2 we read about where the Apostle Paul writing to that early church
said, the Lord has highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name that at that name every tongue will bow and
every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Now, he
is Lord not by something we do. People in religion say, well,
make Jesus your Lord. My soul, you can't do that. God
beat you to it. God has decreed Him to be Lord
from all eternity. He's Lord of heaven and earth.
He's Lord everywhere and He's Lord over all men. That means
all men are accountable and responsible unto Him. He is the Lord our
God. He's absolute Lord over all men. Now, the same Lord, the Lord
Jesus Christ, is abundantly rich in all spiritual blessing to
all that call upon Him." To all that call upon this One who is
Lord. Now if you call upon One who
is Jesus, your co-pilot, He doesn't have anything for you. If you
call upon One who is Jesus who wants to and can't, He can't
do anything for you. He tried and He failed. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." The same
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. Since it
is true that all spiritual blessings are in Him, right? Is there any spiritual blessing
outside of Christ? Outside of Christ, God is a consuming
fire. All spiritual blessings are in
Christ. Ephesians 1-3 tells us that.
He blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in
Christ. It is true that all spiritual
blessings are in Him. Saving faith then seeks all those
blessings in Him. Now that's a distinction of false
faith and saving faith. Saving faith seeks all spiritual
blessings and all salvation in Him. Faith that is phony, fictitious,
and false would look to a time, a place, a date, or feeling rather
than looking unto Jesus who's the author and finisher of our
faith. Saving faith looks to Him to
supply all our need. One of my favorite verses in
Philippians, where Paul said, My God shall supply all your
need, singular, according to His riches
in glory through the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him dwells all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Him we are complete. We
are complete, nothing lacking in us. And then John put it this
way, in first, not first John, but John chapter one, where it
says, of his fullness, of his fullness, have we all received
grace for grace? Of his fullness, have we all
received grace for grace? Now there's a reason for grace.
What is the reason for grace? Grace. God is gracious to us
because He is gracious. Now, there is no difference between
Jew or Gentile. The same Lord who is over all
is rich unto all that call upon Him. Now, having said that, let's
look at verse 13. Now, a lot of people want to
point to this Scripture, and like John 3.16, they want to
use this Scripture along with John 3.16, and try to teach that
salvation is received by man's free will. Free will is the thing
that really makes it work. Or whosoever, whosoever, that's
just free will, whosoever. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that whosoever, whosoever, what's
that next word? Whosoever believes the gospel. My friend, that's only by the
grace of God. And this whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord. How does that happen? only by the grace of God, only
by the power of God, whosoever shall call upon the name of the
L-O-R-D, and if you go back, notice where this comes from,
the reference there is Joel chapter 2 verse 23, you see that? Now
it's interesting that Peter on the day of Pentecost in Acts
chapter 2, when he's preaching to that mixed multitude, also
made a reference to this same verse in Joel 2.23. I'm going
to quote that to you in just a minute here. I've got it written
down in my notes here somewhere. Paul and Peter both quote this
same verse. Whosoever shall call upon the
name in Joel 2, 32 rather, Joel 2.32. I'm bad about
switching numbers. Joel 2.32 is the number. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, here's
the exact quote from Joel 2.32. Did I say 23 a while ago? And it shall come to pass, and
here's a quote, that whosoever shall call on the name of the,
and it's capital L-O-R-D, all capitals. Now what does it mean
when we read that, the name of Jehovah? Jehovah. You remember those seven names
of the Lord? Jehovah, Sid Canu, Jehovah Rapha,
Jehovah Jiver, all those different names, Jehovah, Shalom, He is
our peace. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be delivered. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
shall be deliverance as the Lord, capital L-O-R-D, hath said, now
watch this, in the remnant, whom the LORD shall call." Now did
you get that? "...in the remnant whom the LORD
shall call." Now we're going to see, turn just across the
page there, in Romans 11, who is this remnant that the LORD
shall call? Remember Romans 11 verse 5, "...even
so at this present time there is a remnant according to the
election of grace, and in the remnant who the Lord
shall call." Now, we only love Him because He first loved us. We only call upon the name of
the Lord because the Lord has called us out of darkness into
his marvelous light. We only call upon him for salvation
because he first called us in sovereign mercy. Whosoever truly does in faith
call upon the Lord for mercy shall be a receiver of mercy. That's his promise. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now, that's
a big promise, is it not? You remember the publican in
the temple cried, Be merciful to me, thee sinner." Remember
what the Lord said of that man? He went down to his house justified
rather than the other. For that ought to encourage every
sinner to call upon the name of the Lord. Now, having said
that, look carefully at verse 14 and 15. How then shall I call
on him in whom they have not believed? 4. And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? 5. And how shall they hear without
a preacher of the gospel? 6. How shall they preach except
they be sent? How beautiful as it is written,
how beautiful Isaiah 52.7, are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.
Now, let's take a look at this for just a moment. The Apostle
Paul lays out for us the ordained means the Lord has established
in calling out His elect from all nations, kindred, people,
and tongues. That's why he commanded his church
to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,
and God will bless that message to the salvation of his elect,
to the salvation of his sheep. His sheep will hear his voice
in that message of the gospel, and they will be given and granted
faith. For it said down here in Romans
10, 17, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of the
Lord, going to the world, all the world, and preach the gospel
to every creature. and whosoever believeth that
gospel shall be saved." It pleased God through the preaching of
the gospel to call out His people. The Lord has established and
purposed to send out gospel preachers that the sheep might hear the
call of a good shepherd. His sheep hear His voice and
they follow Him. Now, four vital and important
questions. Number one, How then shall they
call on him in whom they have not believed? That is why faith
is called the precious gift of God. You cannot call upon him
without believing upon him. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. And we know that faith is a sovereign
gift of God. Secondly, how shall they believe
in him of whom they have not believed? You cannot trust an
unknown Savior. You cannot trust an unrevealed
God. You must hear the truth about
the Lord Jesus Christ, the truth about God, the truth about salvation,
the truth about our Lord, successful, sufficient, and only Savior of
sinners. You must hear the gospel. Remember
from Luke 15, those publican sinners drew near to the Lord
to do what? To hear Him. They've come by
hearing, hearing by the word of the Lord. Third question,
how shall they hear? How shall they hear without a... without a gospel preacher. I'm going to add gospel preacher,
qualifier. The Lord is pleased to use sinful
men to tell other sinful men where they found bread. The Lord
doesn't send angels, not that he doesn't use angels, but primarily
he uses sinners men who have been called out of darkness into
God's marvelous light. He uses sinners who are saved
by the grace of God to tell other sinners salvation is by the grace
of God. Preaching the gospel as one man
put it is one beggar telling another beggar where he found
bread. And we have this treasure in
the earthen vessels that the excellency may be of God and
not of us. Now listen to me carefully. I
would not make much of any preacher, not this one, not any other. They are men, sinful men used
of God. But however, I would make much
of the means that God has ordained to call out and bless His people
and to feed His people, and that is the preaching of the gospel. I've given this to you before,
but you remember Pastor Scott Richardson, from Katie Baptist
Church where Marvin Stoniker is at now. He was a pastor there
for nearly 50 years or maybe more than 50 years. But I have
a picture of him in my study. You can walk in there and look
at it. It was taken just a month or so before he died. But this
caption is one of his quaint sayings. He said, a preacher
is a nobody. who tells everybody about the
one somebody, capital S, somebody who can save anybody. Who is
the preacher? He's a nobody. One beggar telling
another beggar where he found bread. Now, we appreciate God's
preachers, they're sin of God. How shall they preach? The fourth
question, verse 15, how shall they preach except they be sin
of God? Now, listen carefully. There are many preachers in this
world. There is 23,000 preachers on
Sermon Audio. That's amazing, 23,000. I think there's almost
3 million sermons There are many preachers in this
world, as my dear pastor used to say, the woods are full of
them, but not many are sent of God. Now, everybody and their brother
anymore is a preacher. I run into people here and there,
and when they find out I'm a preacher, they say, well, this guy's a
preacher, that guy's a preacher, this guy's a preacher, everybody's
a preacher. Not many God called sent preachers of the gospel. Preachers sent of God preach
the gospel of God. All those that are sent of God,
they all preach the same gospel. Have you ever noticed that? And
here is a quote from Isaiah 52, 7. Now listen carefully. How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publish peace, peace through, Christ, that bring
good tidings of good, that publish salvation, they say salvations
of the Lord. Now here's the last statement
that's made in Isaiah 52, 7, that saith unto Zion, that saith
unto the people of God, thy God reigneth. Thy God reigneth. Those who say they are preachers
and don't preach the absolute sovereignty of God in all things
are false preachers. Now to make a statement that
God loves all men everywhere is to make a false statement. He's a false preacher. To say
that Christ died for all of the sins of all men is a false statement. And the man who makes that statement
is a false preacher. Let's be clear about these things.
God's preachers preach the absolute sovereignty of God in creation. He created all things by the
word of His power. They preach the absolute sovereignty
of God in providence. Things that roll out in time
are things that God had decreed from eternity. They preach the
absolute sovereignty of God. Uh-oh, watch it now. Watch it
now. They preach the absolute sovereignty
of God in salvation. Isn't that what we studied in
Romans 9 verse 16? So then it's not of him that
willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
They preach the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation. And those
who don't, what can we conclude? They're false preachers. God's
servants preach the absolute sovereignty of God in redemption.
That is, the Lord Jesus Christ dying only, exclusively, and
particularly, and definitely for His covenant people only. Now, I agree with Pastor Mahan.
And he had this in his commentary, one of the greatest blessings
the Lord can send to a congregation of sinners is a God called God
sent preacher that will faithfully preach God as God, sinners as
sinners, and Christ is all of salvation that will preach glad
tidings of good things. Now, it is not good news to say
God loves everybody the same and some end up in hell anyway. It is not good news to say Christ
died to save everybody and some end up in hell anyway. That's
not good news, is it? God loves everybody, and yet
some wind up in hell. That's not good news. It is not
good news to say Christ died to save everybody, and some end
up in hell anyway. That's not good news. It is not
good news to say that God the Holy Spirit is trying to save
men everywhere, but they won't let Him. That's not good news. Not good news to say that God's
trying to save everyone, everybody, and some perish anyway. You see, the good news of the
gospel is God loves His people and they cannot perish. The good
news of the gospel is Christ died to put away their sin and
they cannot perish. The good news of the gospel is
God, the Holy Spirit, effectually calls His people, irresistibly
calls His people, raises them from the dead, and makes them
new creatures in Christ. You see the difference? There
is a difference. And those who have true saving
faith can discern the difference. They can discern the difference.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and those that
come to me, the Lord said they'll never perish. No man can pluck
them out of my hand.