Let's open our Bibles this morning
to the book of Romans. I'd like to speak to you from
the 10th chapter of Romans. Now, here's my subject. I'm going
to begin reading at verse 1, Romans 10, but here's the subject.
Seven things that every true preacher of the gospel knows. Now, here are seven things that
every true minister of the gospel knows. Now, this book is written
Of course, by the Holy Spirit, Paul was the one who wrote it.
Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
The scripture, my friends, is God-breathed, but God used men
to write it. Forty men over a period of nearly
2,000 or 3,500 years wrote the scriptures. But Paul, the apostle
of Christ, the preacher of the gospel, called himself a bondslave
of Jesus Christ. begins this particular passage
of scripture expressing a sincere desire of his heart. Now this
man is a man who speaks the truth. He's a man who speaks for God.
And he begins this scripture with a sincere desire of his
own heart. He said, brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God. This was his desire of his heart.
and his continual prayer to God is that Israel might be saved.
Now that's the way he begins this scripture. That certainly
ought to catch our attention. Here's a man who suffered for
Christ's sake, who died a martyr, who preached the gospel, whom
God used to write 14 of the 27 books in the New Testament. And
he begins this scripture with this statement, My heart's desire
And my prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
I think I speak the truth when I say that Paul was not interested
in personal glory. Don't you think that's right?
He was not interested in recognition. He didn't care what people thought
of him personally. And I think I speak the truth
when I say that Paul was not interested in building monuments
to himself or building monuments that bear his name. He left no
monuments at all on this earth except the gospel which he preached.
And he was not interested in making proselytes to a denomination. And he was not interested in
converting men only to a system of doctrine. But here's his heart's
desire. He said, this is my heart's desire.
This is my prayer to God that they might be saved, that Israel
might know God. Every one of us who preach the
gospel ought to examine our motives. We ought to examine our objectives. What is my motive? What is my
objective? God have mercy on the man who
uses the ministry for any other purpose than the glory of God. God have mercy on his soul, but
he won't, I'm sure of that. But Paul cried, my heart's desire
and my prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
What is it to be saved? Well, it's more than a decision,
I'll tell you that. It's more than walking down a
church aisle. It's more than being alphabetically
enrolled on a church roll book. It's more than just adopting
a few do's and don'ts. I had a man sit right across
the desk from me this afternoon who'd just been released from
prison for terrorizing and threatening his wife. A man who confessed
himself that he didn't go to church anywhere. and that he
had an atrocious temper that finally put him in prison. But
he says, I'm saved. I'm saved. Let's don't talk about
that. I'm saved. No question about
that. Tommy Roth. Tommy Roth. That's all I've got
to say. What is it to be saved? It's a whole lot more than being
baptized and joining the church. It's to know God. Paul didn't
want these people just to get a religious profession. They
had enough of that. They were steeped in religion.
They were up to their eyebrows in religion. They had ceremonies,
and rituals, and holy days, and Sabbath days, and all manner
of ceremonies, and sacrifices, and big temples, and cathedrals,
and synagogues, and you name it, they had it. Heritage. Ancestors. But they didn't know
God. Their very leaders didn't know
God. The highest ranking ministers in their whole outfit didn't
know God. Christ said, you don't know me
nor my Father. He said, my heart's desire for
Israel, for professing people of God, is that they might be
saved. My heart's desire for the attenders of the Sabbath
day services in the synagogue is that they might be saved.
My heart's desire for the scribes, the translators of Scripture
and students of Scripture is that they might be saved. My
heart's desire for the theologians is that they might be saved.
That's what Paul is saying. He was one of them one time.
Why, he said, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. I was a Pharisee
of Pharisees. I was a law keeper concerning
the law, blameless. I was full of zeal, enthusiasm
for God and for religion. And he said, I didn't know God.
I was in the bond of iniquity and the gall of bitterness. And
one day I met Christ. You see, salvation is to know
God. Salvation is to be born again. Make fun of it all you
will. But it's still to be born again by the Spirit of God to
become a new creature in Christ Jesus, a new creature, not the
same old creature with religion, not the same old creature with
a standard, but a new creature in Christ Jesus with a new heart
and a new nature and a new direction and a new family. That's what
it is to be saved. It's to be justified. It's to
be sanctified. It's to be redeemed. It's to
be delivered, delivered. That's what the word saved means,
delivered. Deliver, that's what the word saved means, means to
be delivered, delivered from the reigning power of sin, delivered
from the penalty and curse of sin, delivered from the daily
practice of sin. That's what it means to be saved.
And when Apostle Paul wrote this, he said, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. not just
a proselyte of religion, not just a convert to a theory, but
that they might be saved. And then he says in verse 2 about
them, read verse 2 of Romans 10 there, he says, I bear them
witness. They have a zeal for God. They
have a zeal for God. These people have a religious
enthusiasm You turn your television on and you can see the enthusiasm
and the hoop-de-doo and the zeal and all these things for religion
and programs and a zeal for God, but he says they don't have any
real knowledge of God. They're ignorant. Being ignorant
of God, they're going about to establish their own righteousness.
They're ignorant of God. And Paul wasn't setting himself
up as a judge of the profession of these people. He wasn't setting
himself up as a judge of their religious condition. He wasn't
setting himself up as a judge of their salvation. He simply
knew what it was to be saved, and he knew they gave no evidence
of salvation. Paul knew what it was to be where
they were, and he knew what it was to meet God, and he knew
what it was to be changed, to be transformed, to be translated
from the kingdom of darkness, religious to the kingdom of God's
dear son. He knew what it was to be saved.
He knew the evidences of salvation. He knew what every true preacher
knows. He sensed it. He understood it. He discerned it. And I can tell
you seven things that every preacher knows, every true God-called
preacher. And it's right here in this chapter. It starts with
verse 3. Every God-called preacher knows, first of all, he knows
that the average religious person seeking acceptance with God on
the basis of his own goodness and his own works and his own
righteousness. Now every true preacher knows
that the average religious person in America today is not seeking
acceptance before God through Christ, through the cross, through
the blood, but he's seeking acceptance before God on the basis of his
own goodness and his own righteousness. That's what Paul says about these
people in verse 3. Verse 1, he says, I want them
to be saved. I pray to God they'll be saved. My heart desires it
to be they'll be saved. I know they're religious. They
have a zeal for God, but it's based on ignorance. For he says
in verse 3, they are ignorant of God's righteousness, and they're
going about to establish their own righteousness. They're going
about. That is much to do, much activity. Much work trying to establish,
establish a claim, establish some reason, some refuge, establishing
a foundation, a place to stand. They're building them a house,
not on the rock Christ Jesus, but on the shifting, sinking
sands of personal work. That's what the Pharisee said
when he stood in the temple. He said, God, I thank you. I'm
not like other people. I'm not like other people. I
tithe. I fast twice a week. I give alms
to the poor. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
an adulterer. I'm not unjust. I treat people
right. I'm not like that publican down
there. You see what he's doing? He's doing just exactly what
the average religious person is doing right out there listening
to me. I pay my debt. I treat my family right. I go
to church on Sunday. I give 10% of my income. I pay
my bills, I do this, I do that, I do the other. My father and
mother were good people. I'm not such a bad fellow. My
friend, you're doing exactly what that Pharisee did. You're
seeking to find acceptance with God on the basis of what you
are doing. And that's what Paul says about
these people right here. He said, I want them to be saved.
My heart desires that they might be saved. I pray to God they
might be saved. They've got a zeal for God. They're
enthusiastic about religion, but they're ignorant. They're
going about to establish their own righteousness. I never will
forget one time how this came home to me with such a shock.
I've been pastor in Ashland now nearly 30 years, but I've been
pastor there two years, and there was a man in our church who was
an officer in the church, and he'd been an officer in that
church for years, and he was sick, and he was dying, and I
went to the hospital to see him, and here was a man who had been
in church long, and I'd been living, an officer in the church,
and I sat down beside the bed, and he started crying. And he
said, brother man, he said, looks like I'm going to die. But he
said, I'll tell you this. He said, I've tithed all my life.
And he said, I've served the Lord. And I've gone to church
every Sunday. And I've tried to treat folks
right. Now you just ask the wife. I've always tried to be a good
husband. And I've always tried to be a good daddy. And I just
sat there stunned. I couldn't believe what my ears
were hearing. Here was a man who had listened to the gospel
for years, never heard a word of gospel. He was still depending
for his hope on what he had done. He didn't mention Jesus Christ
or the cross or the blood of Christ or God's mercy or grace
or anything else. He sounded like that old lost
Pharisee down there in the temple. God, I thank you. I'm not like
the other men. He sounded just like those fellows
in Matthew 7. Now, Lord, we've preached and
we've done our best. And you know how it is. We've
built a lot of churches. We've done a lot of good works
and so just make a way for us make a way for us and and we'll
live next door to Jesus and tell angels we're coming home. Oh
my soul God's law requires a perfect obedience my friend. Don't you
hear the law you that would be judged by the law? Don't you
hear it? You that would seek acceptance before God by the
law. Don't you hear the law God's law requires a perfect obedience
Not a pretty good obedience to defend to offend in one point
is to be guilty of the whole law. How many crimes you have
to commit to be a criminal? Just one. How many sins you have
to commit before God Almighty to be guilty of the broken law?
Just one. Thought, word, or deed, all is
sin and comes short of the glory of God. I know what you're doing,
and what you're doing is futile, and it's foolish, and it's fatal. You're trying to establish a
righteousness before God on the basis of what you've done for
God Almighty and for your family and for your neighbors, and it
won't hold up. It won't hold up. Unless your
righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the best man who ever walked
this earth, you'll perish. Because man at his best state
is altogether banished. I'll tell you something else
every true God called preacher knows. He knows that the only
righteousness and holiness that God will accept is the obedience
of Christ. Look at verse 4. He says, For
Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone
that believeth, the end of the law. What does that word end
mean, the end of the law? Well, number one, it means the
purpose of the law. The end of the law means the
goal or purpose of the law, and the law was not given to save
you. No, sir, I beg your pardon. The law never was given to save.
It never was meant to save. It never could save. The law
was given to a people who were sinning in a terrible fashion
when God was writing it. It was given to point men to
Christ. It's a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. It's the law
was given to show us our sin. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. It's not a savior. It's a schoolmaster. And then
that word in means fulfillment. The end of the law, the fulfillment
of the law. Christ is the fulfillment of the law. He obeyed it. He
did obey it. He was tempted in every point.
He obeyed the law perfectly. He's the fulfillment. He said,
I didn't come to destroy the law. I came to fulfill it. And
then the word end means termination. That's the end of something is
the termination of it, the end of it. Christ is the end of the
law. That's the goal, the purpose,
the fulfillment, and the termination. That is, the law is the end of
it. for righteousness, the end of
it as a covenant, the end of it as a curse. It's no longer
a curse upon his people. It's no longer a covenant by
which men approach God, like God gave to Adam. That was the
first covenant of works. He said, do this and live. Break
the law and die. Adam broke it. That's the end
of it. And Christ is the termination of the law as a curse to all
who believe. I'll tell you the third thing
that every preacher knows, every true preacher. He knows the severity
of God's law, and he trembles before it. He knows the severity
of God's law. He says in verse 5, Moses describeth
the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
these things, doeth these things, shall live by it. That's the
righteousness of the law. You want to know what the law
requires? The law requires a whole lot more than knowing it, a whole
lot more than agreeing with it. A whole lot more than trying
to obey it. The law requires d-o-i-n-g, doing. It won't be satisfied with any
less than doing. It requires doing. The man which
doeth these things shall live by it. And we all have to hang
our heads in shame. We meet God's law head on. And
we look at that law and it reveals our guilt and shame and filth
and envy and lust and hatred and malice and prejudice and
bigotry and all of these things are just terrible sins that flood
our hearts and souls and minds. The law requires a perfect walk,
a perfect talk, and a perfect thought. And that's where God
looks. He's on the heart. And oh, my
friend, what he sees. What he sees. He sees what we
can't hide. He sees what we can't deny. Job
said, if I justify myself, my own mouth would condemn me. My
own mouth would... No man is justified by the law
and the sight of God. Every true preacher of the gospel
knows the severity of God Almighty's law. The perfection of that law. The holiness of that law. The
requirements of that law. The fourth thing that every preacher
knows. The fourth thing is this. He knows that the holiness of
Christ, the righteousness of Christ, is ours by faith, by
faith. Now listen to this verse, verse
9 and 10 of Romans 10. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and shall believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, Where does
righteousness come from? It comes from Christ. How do
I receive it? By faith. With the heart man
believeth unto righteousness. My friend, every mercy of God
is by faith. It's received by faith. Every
mercy of God, now get this, every mercy of God, every blessing
of God, spiritual blessing is in Christ. That's the source
of it, it's in Christ. That's where it's hid, in Christ.
In Christ are hid all the treasures and riches of God's grace. It
comes to us by faith, by believing on Christ. With the heart man
believeth unto righteousness. The scripture says, of him are
you in Christ Jesus, who has made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. In Christ dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and we are complete in him. We go to
Christ by faith to receive all the blessings and mercy and grace
that God has. It's in him. God has vested it
all in Christ. He's put it all in Christ. Now
listen to me. We don't go to Calvary for forgiveness
and then go to Sinai for sanctification. I wish folks would quit preaching
that. We don't go to Christ for redemption and then go to the
law for righteousness and holiness. You see what I'm saying? lot
of preachers that preach now you go to Calvary and there you're
forgiven but you go to Sinai and there you're sanctified you
go to Christ and there you receive salvation redemption forgiveness
of your sins but then you go to the law and you learn how
to live and you live by the law no sir you have it all in Christ
You go to Christ for forgiveness, redemption, sanctification, holiness,
wisdom, everything in Christ Jesus. Christ is all and in all. We're chosen in Him, redeemed
in Him, accepted in Him, seated in Him, and we're secure in Him. I love that scripture in 1 John
which says, and this is the record, that God has given us eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath the Son hath life, and everything that
that life, that pertains to that life, everything. If I have Christ,
I have everything. I lack nothing. It's all in Him. And he that hath not the Son
of God, whatever he hath, hath not life. Now, dead's dead, and
life is life. And if I have Christ, I have
life. And if I don't have Christ, I'm dead. And nothing I have
worthwhile means anything to me. The fifth thing that every
preacher knows, he knows that this gospel, this gospel is the
same for Jew and Gentile. It's the same for male and female,
old and young, rich and poor, black and white. Now, listen
to this. Verse 9 and 10 said this, that
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, Believe
in thine heart. God has raised him from the dead.
I should be safe but with a heart man believe it under righteousness
and With a mouth confession is made under salvation and verse
13 says there is no difference There's no difference between
the Jew and the Greek by the same Lord over all Is writ under
all that call upon him? For whosoever and that's a wide
wide word in whosoever Jew a Gentile Bond or free, male or female,
rich or poor, old or young, black or white, whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Christ said, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. He said, I am the bread. I am
the water of life. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved. The Apostle said other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid Christ the Lord if you
come to God You'll come as all before you have come and you'll
come as all after you shall come through Jesus Christ the Lord
That's the way Abel came to God by Christ. That's the way Moses
came to God by Christ That's the way Abraham came to God by
Christ Job said I know that my Redeemer liveth David said the
Lord is my shepherd Paul said, I know whom I have believed.
You see, it's coming to Christ. And every true God-called preacher
knows there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon
him. It doesn't matter, my friend, what your denomination or what
your nationality, what your race, creed, color, religion, whatever.
You'll come to God by Christ, or you won't come at all. Or
you won't come at all. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. That name is
Christ. Now watch this. In the sixth
place, every true God-called preacher knows that the preaching
of the gospel is necessary to saving faith. It's necessary. I'm saying that this righteousness
of God is in Christ. And it's mine by faith. And it's
yours, whoever you are, only by faith. But this faith only
comes through hearing the gospel. You've got to hear the gospel.
Listen to verse 14. Now verse 13 says, whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord, that's call out of a need, call out
of inability, call out of despair, call out of distress, call out
of misery, to call for mercy on the name of Christ, the name
of Christ, the sovereign name of Christ, the powerful name
of Christ, the sufficient name of Christ, the name of Christ.
Call on him. How shall they call on him? whom
they've not believed. How's a man gonna call on one
whom he does not know? How's he gonna believe in one
of whom he has not heard? And how's he gonna hear without
a preacher? Huh? How's he gonna call? Now listen
to me. How shall a man call upon Christ
or trust Christ to save him if he knows nothing of the redemptive
character of Christ? And say, who's your savior? Jesus
Christ. Well, who's Jesus Christ? Well,
I don't know. Well, how can you believe on
one of whom you haven't heard and do not know? Who is Jesus
Christ? Well, he's buried God of buried
God. He said to Peter, whom do you say that I am? And Peter
said, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. And he
said, that's the rock on which I'll build my church. Blessed
are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. The Heavenly Father revealed
that He knew the redemptive character of Christ. You can't call on
Christ, believe on Christ, rest in Christ if you don't know His
redemptive character, who He is. And then secondly, how can
a man call on Christ if he knows nothing of His redemptive work?
You say, how did Christ save you? I don't know. Well, in Heaven
they say, unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin
in His own blood. Who are these and whence came
they? These are they that came out of great tribulation and
washed their robe in the blood of the Lamb. They knew something
of the redemptive work of Christ. What did Christ do? Well, he
saved us by dying on the cross in our stead and place. That's
the reason I preach the gospel to you. You can't believe in,
trust in, receive, rest in a Christ of whom you haven't heard and
do not know. God has chosen by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. I'm not ashamed of the
gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that
believes. We've got to tell men not only
to believe, but tell them what to believe, whom to believe.
Who is Christ, his redemptive character? What did Christ do,
his redemptive work? Let me ask you this. How shall
a man call on Christ if he knows nothing of his redemptive glory?
Where is he now? This Christ you're trusting,
where is he now? I don't know. Well, the scripture
says he's on the right hand of God. He's our high priest. We don't have any right, any
boldness to come into God's presence except through Christ the high
priest, except through Christ the mediator. We've got to know
his redemptive glory. How shall a man know unless he's
told? Philip asked the eunuch, do you understand? He said, how
can I? Said, some man tell me. And then last of all, every true
God called preacher knows that saving faith comes by the word
of God. Not my words, but His words.
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.