Let's open our Bibles again to
Romans 10. Romans 10, verse 11. For the scripture saith,
my message to you tonight begins with a phrase which most often
ought to be on the lips of those who preach. of the scripture
saith. Maybe these should be the opening
words of every sermon that's preached. The scripture says. That's what Paul told young Timothy.
Preach the word. Preach the word. Be instant,
in season, out of season. Preach the word. You see, the
scripture, what the scripture says, that's our message. Thus
saith the Lord. That's our message. Our only
message. What the scripture says is our
foundation. The foundation of our faith.
I believe, therefore have I spoken. What the scripture says is our
assurance. And our only assurance. Abraham
believed that what God promised God was able to perform. And
that's our service. Well, verse 11, what does the
Scripture say? Now, when he says the Scriptures,
he's talking especially about the Old Testament Scriptures.
He's talking about both, but he's talking about the Old Testament.
And here the Scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. Now, there are four things I
want you to notice right here. And one is the perfect agreement
between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Now the New
Testament says, Whosoever believeth shall not be ashamed. But the
Old Testament says that too. Turn with me to Isaiah 28. Isaiah chapter 28. He that believeth
on the Lord Jesus Christ shall not be ashamed. Isaiah 28 verse
16. Isaiah writes, Therefore thus
saith the Lord God, Isaiah 28, 16, Behold, I lay in Zion for
a foundation, a stone, a tribestone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation. And he that believeth, not he
that worketh or runneth or striveth, he that believeth on him shall
not make haste, shall not be ashamed. He that believeth. That's
what the Old Testament teaches. Abraham believed God. It was
counted to him for righteousness. In the second thing, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Does the Old Testament
say whosoever or just Jew? Just Israel. No, it says whosoever. Now let me turn quickly to this
scripture in Joel. Joel chapter 2 verse 32. Listen
to this. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever, Jew or Gentile, male or female, bond or free, whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. For
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the
Lord hath said, in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. Whosoever,
whosoever. Jews had difficulty with that,
so do a lot of people today. But it says, whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed. Then the third thing, the certain
connection in Old Testament and New Testament between believing
and righteousness. You know, I've told you several
times to take note of the law of first mention. How something
is first mentioned in the scriptures? For example, I'll just give you
one or two. Grace. The word grace. The very first
time it's mentioned, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
That special grace, particular grace, sovereign grace, redeeming
grace, Noah found grace. Not by works, but grace. And
God delivered him. The word hyssop. David said,
please me with hyssop and I'll be clean. The first time hyssop
is mentioned, It's that little bush from which the high priest
would take a cutting and dip it in the blood and sprinkle
it on the mercy seat. And then they took hyssop and
dipped it in the blood and sprinkled it on the door. And David said
to sprinkle me with the blood of the Lamb and I shall be clean.
Wash me and I'll be whiter than the snow. And now the word believe.
When was the word believe first used in the Bible? Let's turn
to Genesis 15, verse 6, and watch what it's connected with in Genesis
15, verse 6. It's the first time we encounter
this word, the word itself now. In Genesis 15, God brought him
forth, verse 5, speaking of Abraham, God brought him forth abroad
and said, look now toward heaven and tell the stars. If thou be
able to number them, and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be.
And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for
righteousness. First time the word believe is
used, it results in righteousness. Complete redemption, complete
justification, complete acceptance and righteousness to the person
who believes. The scripture says, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Here's the fourth thing. He'll not be put to shame. He'll
never be condemned. There is no judgment to them
on Christ Jesus. The security of the sheep. Turn to Jeremiah's writings.
Jeremiah chapter 32. Verse 40, Jeremiah 32, 40, and
the Lord's talking about the covenant. He says, let's read
beginning with verse 38. They shall be my people, I'll
be their God. Jeremiah 32, 39, I'll give them
one heart and one way, and that they may fear me forever. For
the good of them are their children after them, and I'll make a covenant,
an everlasting covenant with them. And I will not turn away
from them to do them good. I'll never put them to shame.
They'll never be condemned. I'll never turn away from them.
But I'll put my fear in their heart, and they'll never depart
from me. They'll be preserved, and they'll
persevere. The scriptures say it. The scriptures
say it. Whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. All right, verse 12. All right,
Scripture says this too, verse 12. There's no difference. There's no difference between
the Jew and the Greek. The same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him. There's no difference. Now, may
I say something very plainly here, and honestly? There are
definitely differences in people. There's a difference in male
and female, personality, Make up in so many ways. Nationality,
there's a difference. Personality, there's a difference.
Intelligence, there's a difference. Strength, there's a difference.
Talent, there's a difference. Gifts, there's a difference.
There's plenty of differences in people. And we all believe
everyone should have equal freedom, if possible. Equal opportunity,
if possible. Equal consideration. But we're
not robots. And we're not paper dolls cut
out. Used to watch them cut out and
then stretch it out like this and they all look alike. That's
not what we are. There's a difference. There's
a difference in fingerprints. There's not another living person
on this earth that has my fingerprints. Or DNA, we've discovered that
later. There's a difference. But what
Paul is saying here, there's no difference if you're a Gentile,
male or female. In two areas. Now here's the
first one, turn to Romans 3. Romans chapter 3. In this case
there's no difference. It says in Romans 3 verse 19. Now we know that what things
of the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty.
guilty before God. There's no difference. We're
all guilty. From the youngest one-day-old
child to the 100-year-old citizen, there's no difference. They're
guilty. Read on. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law
is the knowledge of sin. Now verse 22, the last line,
for there's no difference. There's no difference. for all
have sinned and come short, far short of the glory of God. There's
no difference. All have sinned. By one man's
sin entered this world, and death by sin, so death passed upon
all men for all sin. I was preaching on television
one Sunday morning years ago. There's a young coal miner down
in Virginia, in Virginia, outside down in the toe of Virginia. And he was watching television,
but he was looking for some music, some religious music. And he
got on the wrong station and he got this picture. He told
me this later. Named David Klein. And he said,
you came on the air, there I sat down and there you were, and
you pointed your finger at me. And you said there's no difference
between you and me. You're a sinner and I'm a sinner.
He said, I got furious. I turned the television off and
sat back down. He said, I ain't no sinner. He said, I sat there a while
and that's while I thought, I think I'll turn it on again. Maybe
I am a sinner. Maybe you are. And he turned it back on. We
became real close friends. He heard the gospel. The Lord
brought him to knowledge of the gospel in 10th Pikeville Baptist
Church. That's no difference. There's
no difference between you and me. You're a sinner and I'm a
sinner. Need the mercy of God. Here's a second way in which
there's no difference. He says there's no difference,
Romans 10 and 12, between the Jew and the Greek and Paul and
Galatians. He says the male and the female,
the bond and the free. The same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him. Call upon him. There's no difference
at all in sin, but the Lord is merciful and gracious, plenteous
in mercy, able to save all who call upon Him. But there's one condition. Throughout
the Scriptures, no one is excluded, no one is excluded from the mercies
of God except those who will not come to Him. Now that's it. Our Lord said to those Pharisees,
He said, you search the Scriptures. In them you think you have life,
but they testify of me, and you will not come to me. Whosoever believeth on him, that's
what verse 11 said, didn't it? Scripture says, Whosoever believeth
on him, him shall not be ashamed. What does verse 12 say? The same
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. called upon him. Turn with me
to Isaiah chapter 53. I've shown you this before, but
I'm going to show it to you again. The word him is the key word
in this 53rd chapter of Isaiah. The word he, him and his is recorded
43 times. 43 times. It's him. It's the Son. Let's look at this. Who hath believed our report?
To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? He, Christ, shall grow
up before Him, the Father, as a tender plant, as a root out
of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness. When we shall see Him, there's
no beauty we should desire Him. He's despised and rejected of
men. A man of sorrow is acquainted
with greed. We hear as it were our faces from Him. He was despised,
we esteemed him not. But sure he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, him, and by his stripes were he healed. Oh, we
like sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to his
own way. The Lord has laid on him the
iniquity of us all. It's that way all the way through
this chapter. Him. Him. There is no difference between
the Jew and the Greek. The same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him. Upon him. 1 John 5 says this
is the record, God hath given to us eternal life. This life
is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
he that hath not the Son hath not life. Now verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. The name of the Lord. If you'll look at my scripture
again at verse 12, it emphasizes the word Lord. There's no difference
between the Jew and the Greek, the same Lord. Over all is rich
unto all that call upon him. In verse 13, whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You know, you
may have noticed this, but I never ask you to sing the song Jesus
Saves. Jesus Saves. Because it's not
Jesus who saves. It's the Lord Jesus. Now I'm
not picking now. And I'm not just being critical. But I just know that the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ is the name that saves. The name of
the Lord. You see, a person is identified
by his name. His name tells who he is. His
name tells what he is. His name tells where he is. His
name tells what he does. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the Ethiopian Union didn't believe on Jesus. He believed on the
Lord Jesus Christ. You turn to that in Acts chapter
8. Let me show you that. He didn't tell Philip that he
believed on Jesus. I want you to see what he did
tell Philip. And here in Acts chapter 8, verse 36, And as they
went on their way, they came to a certain water. And the eunuch
said, Here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may.
And he answered and said, I believe in Jesus. But no, he didn't.
He said, I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe
he's the Son of God. I believe he is all that the
scripture says he is. I call on the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You see, the scripture says call
his name Emmanuel, God with us. The scripture says, under us
a child is born, a son is given. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. But when his birth was announced to the Virgin Mary,
And to Joseph the angel said, now you call his name, the name
of that child, the name of that man, the name of humiliation,
Jesus, Joshua, Savior, because his work is to save his people
from their sins. But he said to his disciples,
you call me Lord, and you say well, for so I am. And this is
the name whereby and the only name given among men unto heaven
whereby we must be saved, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. His name is Jehovah. Jehovah-Jireh,
the Lord will provide. Jehovah-Raper, the Lord that
healeth thee. Jehovah-Neeser, the Lord our
banner. Jehovah-Shalom, the Lord our
peace. Jehovah-Rayer, the Lord my shepherd. Jehovah-Sidkenu,
the Lord our righteousness. Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is
present, and to call upon His name is to humble ourselves before
Him, recognize His authority, His majesty, His omnipotence,
His promises, and hope in His mercy. Alright, turn back to
my text. Whosoever, the scripture says,
whosoever. shall call on the name of the
Lord, the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now look at verse 14
and 15. These are two interesting verses. And the word how is used five
times. Did you notice that while I was
reading it? I emphasized the word how. Now whosoever, Jew
or Gentile, male or female, shall call on the name the name of
the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer,
shall be saved. But how, how shall they call
on him in whom they've not believed? Here's the question. How shall
a person call upon one to do for him such a monumental miracle
work, such as putting away his sins, saving his soul, making
him righteous before God? giving him life eternal. How
shall he call on him to do that awesome task if he doesn't believe
he's able? How shall they call on him in
whom they've not believed? They don't believe he's able.
And then the second question. And how shall they believe in
him of whom they haven't heard? How shall anyone believe in and
have confidence in such a Savior? And such a Messiah, how can we
believe he even exists? Much less has a communion with
God, and has an assignment from God to redeem a people, and has
the means to accomplish the redemption of those people. How can we believe
that he has that ability and power if we've never heard of
him? And the third question, and how
are they going to hear of him? How are they going to call on
Him to do for them what's impossible for man? Call on Him to do what's
impossible if they don't believe Him. He's able. And how are they
going to call on Him to perform this task if they've never heard
of Him on whom to call? And how are they going to call
without a preacher? How shall that sinner, that young
man sitting in front of that television, who's religious all
his life, but he never heard this gospel for sinners. He didn't
even believe he was a sinner. If he hadn't heard that preacher,
he'd remain in ignorance forever and forever and forever if he
hadn't heard that preacher or some other preacher. How shall
the hearer without a preacher? How shall the sinner hear the
good news, the gospel of God's grace, and the way of life without
a preacher? Who knows that way? Who knows
that gospel? Who knows that Messiah and understands
it? So he can teach him. Philip said
to the eunuch, do you understand what you're reading? The man
said, no, how can I? How can I? Except someone who
does know shows me. How? It's a good question to
you. If you call on the name of the
Lord, do you know who he is? No. I can't call on him if I
don't know who he is. And I can't call on him if I
haven't heard who he is. There are a lot of folks named
Jesus. Down in Mexico and Spain, Jesus is what they call him,
Jesus. There's a gopher named Jesus Marie something, Jesus
Mary, Jose Maria, that's his name. But he can't say. We've got to hear about this
one who can, who's commissioned of God, ordained of God, sent
of God, and has what is necessary to redeem us. And how are we
going to hear without a preacher? Now watch this fourth question.
And how shall they preach? How is any normal human being,
son of a woman, going to be able to understand these mysteries
of God, this predictive glory of God,
and teach others if God hadn't taught him. You can't run unless you're sent.
You can't deliver a message unless you receive the message. You
can't go to a man with what God, what saith the Lord unless the
Lord has said it to you and sent you. That's what it is. How shall
they preach except they be sent? I read this morning John 1. This
occurred to me while I was reading John chapter 1 this morning.
He talked about the Lord Jesus. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things
were made by Him. In Him was life. And the life
was the light of men, and the light shineth in darkness, and
the darkness didn't comprehend it. But there was a man who talked the language of men,
who himself is a man. There was a man sent from God,
whose name was John, the same He came for a witness, to bear
witness of the light that men through him might be saved and
believe. He wasn't the light. He was sent
for one purpose, to bear witness of the light. Like I said to
you when I finished preaching this morning, my work's done.
That's all I was sent to do. That's all John was sent to do.
John couldn't change their hearts. John couldn't open their ears.
John couldn't give them their blind eye sight, he could tell
them, he could bear witness of the light. That's what he's asking
here, how should they preach except to be saved? And then he asks the next question,
how beautiful, this is not a question, this is a statement, a quotation
from Isaiah 52. How beautiful, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. peace through
the blood of Christ and bring glad tidings of good things.
God has ordained the preaching of the gospel as a means of salvation. He's elected us to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth.
And we'll hear it and we'll believe it. Now, what does he mean here
how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace and bring glad tidings? has reference to their coming,
the way of the people. This is their being sent and
their coming, the way of the people. But the occasion of true
preaching is beautiful. Different ones mentioned the
service this morning, how refreshing it was and how blessed it was. And I had to say too, it was
to me, it was a precious time. The preaching of the gospel is
beautiful. The pure, unmixed gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord
is beautiful. That's beautiful. But the word
beautiful here, I believe the word beautiful refers to him,
not to the messenger. I believe it refers to the one
who sent him. The one that's altogether lovely. The one that's
beautiful. The messenger of the covenant.
the prophet, the chief shepherd. And the message he brought and
the message he sends through us is the gospel of peace. Peace
through the blood and the glad tidings of good things now and
good things to come. All right, let's bring it to
a close with these last four or five verses. But there's a
problem, a serious problem. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. Isaiah said, Lord who hath believed,
I report. Everybody that hears with the
natural ear does not believe and does not receive the gospel.
And this shouldn't be strange to you who know the scriptures.
You who are familiar with the word of God and who know the
hardness of the human heart, it shouldn't be strange. Isaiah
said, Lord, who hath believed our report? To whom is the arm
of the Lord revealed? The gospel has to be revealed.
It has to be revealed by God. We can preach it, but God's the
only one who can give the ear to hear. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians
2, verse 9. Only the Lord can give the hearing
ear. The hearing ear and the seeing
eyes of the Lord. It says here in verse 7 of chapter
2 of 1 Corinthians, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery.
It's even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world
under our glory, which none of the princes, the leaders of the
world knew, leaders in religion and in government. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,
I have not seen, ear hath not heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. So they have not all
obeyed the gospel that have heard it with these ears. For Isaiah
himself said, Lord, who hath believed our witness? So then,
verse 17. Faith comes by hearing. Let that
be established. Faith comes by hearing. Not with
the outward ear only, but we have to have an outward ear.
But it comes with the hearing of the heart. The hearing with
the heart, with desire, with need. Hearing with a need. Faith comes
by hearing. And hearing, hearing depends
on the Word of God. Not our reasoning, not our thoughts. The bare Word of God. That's
faith comes by hearing. And hearing comes by the Word
of God. Thus saith the Lord. Preaching
the Word of God. The true Word of God. Verse by
verse. Depending on the Word of God.
Taught of God. Alright, verse 18. Faith depends
on hearing, hearing with the heart, hearing with the understanding,
and hearing with the understanding depends upon the true word of
God. But I say, have they not heard? Have people not heard? Now we're talking about the natural
ear here. No, they haven't heard with the
heart. But they've heard with the natural ear. Men are inexcusable. Have they not heard? Yes, verily,
their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the
end of the world. Now that refers to Psalm 19. You want to turn over there for
a moment to Psalm 19. Have they not heard? They haven't heard with the heart,
but they've heard with the natural ear, and they've seen with the
natural eye. Now Psalm 19 talks about the
two books of God. The two books, the world book,
w-o-r-l-e, the world book and the word book. Talks about the
creation. The creation declares the glory
of God. God is known with the things
that are made. And God is known with the things that are written.
Now watch this. Psalm 19, this is what he's quoting
over here. Have they not heard? Yes, they've
heard. The sound went throughout all the earth. Now listen, Psalm
19. The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament shows his
handiwork. Day unto day utter his speech.
He speaks to men in his own language. Night unto night shows knowledge.
The day, the sun, it makes things grow, the rain,
the snow, the wind, the clouds. The night, the moon that has
such an influence on this earth, the stars that guide the seamen,
sailors at sea, day into the night, there's no speech, there's
no language, and somebody tells me there's 1,500 different languages
on this earth, but there isn't one single language where the
glory of God is not spoken. where his voice is not heard.
There is no speech and no language where God's voice is not heard.
God's wisdom and power and glory is seen. Their voice, their line
is gone throughout all the earth, their words to the end of the
world. In them hath he set a tabernacle
for the Son, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and
rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His goings forth
is from the end of heaven. His circuit to the ends of earth
is nothing hid from the heat thereof. That's the son of righteousness
too. Now that's the world book. Have
they not heard? Yes, he said they've heard. The
glory of God and the sound of his world book is all through. Now watch the next book. But
the law of the Lord is perfect. It's written on the heart. He'll
convert the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. This country, and all countries,
they've heard of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, they have heard
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have heard of the one who
was crucified in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Yes, sir, the testimony
of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing
the hearts. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening
the hearts. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. Judgments
of the Lord are true and righteous, all together. Well, let's read
on by text. Go back there, Romans 8, Romans
10. Verse 18 says, Have they heard? Yes. Verily their sound
went into all the earth, their words into the end of the world.
But I say, doesn't Israel know? My friends, Israel You remember
just a few Sundays ago, Israel had the adoption, the tabernacle,
the covenants, the law, the services of God, the promises, the fathers,
and even Christ came through Israel. Israel heard it. But
what he's talking about here and here is whosoever thinks
that Gentiles too shall be converted. And Israel heard that too? Oh
yeah. He said, Moses said, I'll provoke
you to jealousy by a people that are other people. And by a foolish
nation I'll anger you. They're jealous. Israel's jealous.
God said Gentiles will be saved too. They know that. Isaiah,
listen to verse 20, Isaiah is very bold. He said, in Isaiah
65, I was found of them that sought me not. Isaiah is one
of their chief prophets. Isaiah is one of Israel's chief
prophets. And he talked about the Gentile nations coming. Joah,
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. I was made
manifest unto them that ask not after me. But to Israel, the Lord says to Israel, all
day long, all day long. I've stretched out, stretched
forth my hands to a disobedient gainsaying people. He's talking
about all day long. The minister of the prophets,
starting way back there with Abraham and Moses, and all the
prophets, Samuel, clear down to John the Baptist, Christ Jesus,
the Lord himself, and the apostles. All day long I've stretched out
my hand to disobedient, rebellious, what's a game saying people?
It's a contradicting people who speak against the things of God.
All right, here's the last question. Is it just with God to write
over them a curse? Is it just with God to write
over all of this world, judgment, condemnation is just. They've heard. That's what he's
saying. They've heard. They've heard.