November 10, 1996
by J. David Hoke
In our contemporary society, we have so much more information available to us than any other age in history. We truly live in the information age and travel on the information highway. But having the information available, even examining the information personally, does not mean that we will understand that information or personally profit by it. You see, you can sit in a library and stay uneducated. Being around information does not mean that you acquire it for yourself.
This is the case for so many when it comes to the message of Christ. There has never been an age in the history of humankind where the message of Christ has been so readily available as our age, yet there are millions of people who have not really grasped its truth for themselves. It is not enough to be exposed to the truth. You must receive the truth. You must apply the truth to your life. You must live by the truth.
Over the ages, God has been reaching out to people with the message of grace in Jesus
Christ which sets people free. Our text describes how He has made it possible for us to
believe. In it we will see the extent to which God has gone to reach out to us.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (vv. 14-15)
In the preceding verse (13), Paul tells us that "everyone who calls on the name of
the Lord will be saved." But this is the end result. Now he begins to backtrack from
the end to the beginning. You see, salvation doesn’t just happen when someone decides
one day to believe. There is a process involved in bring the grace of God to a human life.
While it might culminate with that person calling on the name of the Lord, there is much
behind that.
Behind the call is belief. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? There must be a faith in the one upon whom we call. In other words, if we are not brought to the place where we truly believe that the Lord is real and can do something about our situation, we will never call upon His name.
Hebrews 11:6 states: "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
Behind the belief is the message heard. And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? In other words, faith always has an object. Faith is not some ethereal feeling or sentiment. It is grounded in objective truth. Therefore, there must be a message of that truth. So, the message of Christ must be told if people are going to be able to believe. It is faith in the truth that makes the difference. Today we have people saying that as long as your faith is sincere, that is enough. But if your faith is grounded in a lie, that is not good enough. You might have all the misguided faith in the world that you can fly if you leap off a tall building. When you leap, however, your faith will give way to reality. Faith does not in itself make it happen. Faith must be grounded in the truth to have any value.
Behind the message is the messenger. And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? The message is always delivered by a messenger. This has always been God’s plan. The message is to be communicated by someone who believes it and has had his life changed by it.
Now, who is the preacher here? Does it have to be someone standing behind a pulpit? Or could it be that every Christian is a preacher of the Gospel? I believe so. The ministry is not just for the "ordained ministers." The ministry is for every believer. All of you are ministers. All of you are living epistles of the grace of God, read by all men. All of you carry on your lips and in your lives the testimony of the salvation that can come by faith in Jesus Christ. All of us have a responsibility to let that Good News be known.
Behind the messenger is the sender. And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news! There should be no doubt who does the sending. It is the Lord Himself. And He has sent us all to spread the message.
In Acts chapter 8, a great persecution came on the church of Jerusalem. I believe that the Lord brought that persecution in order to bring about what happened as a result. It says that every Christian there was scattered abroad except the Apostles, whom you might call the "ordained clergy," and the people went everywhere preaching the Word. The Church of Jesus Christ was spread over all the earth because the "people in the pews" went everywhere sharing their faith in Christ.
The ordained clergy will never win the world to Christ. If you are counting on some other person to do your preaching for you, some people will never be reached. What about that person you work with? He is going to respond to people who care for him, love him, and are interested in his eternal destiny. He will respond to people just like you. He will respond to you if you really care enough to share with him. You have been sent. Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel." We believe that He meant that for the Church, not just for the preachers behind pulpits. How beautiful are your feet as you go here and there to carry the gospel of salvation.
You see, receiving grace is a process. I like what Ray Stedman had to say about it.
I have often thought it is like turning on a light switch. You flick the switch on the wall and the lights go on. It seems like such a simple thing. Yet behind it is a very complicated process. There are the transmission towers, the substations, the dam that was built to hold back the water, the poles on which the wires are strung—a tremendous complexity lies behind the simple act of turning on a light switch. Every time you do it, power surges forth—and it comes only because that complicated process has been gone through.
Every time an individual comes to the place where in quietness he calls out to the Lord, a tremendous process is behind it. There is the darkness and anguish of the mystery of the Cross, the birth at Bethlehem, the wonder and miracle of the Resurrection, the sending forth of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost—all this is the process behind a single individual when he calls on the name of the Lord. God is behind it, he has started it. The apostle wants us to understand this activity of the sovereign character of God.
Much has been happening to bring us to the point of surrender to the Lord. And God has brought it all about.
But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, "I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding." And Isaiah boldly says, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me." (vv. 16-20)
Paul shares here a truth obvious to all of us. Even though people encounter the message, not all accept it. This is the reality with which we must contend in our day.
It would be nice if all you had to do was to share the truth about Jesus Christ with others in order to see them come to Christ. It would be wonderful if everyone was eager to hear and believe. But that is not the case. In fact, most are not receptive to the good news about Christ. To them it is not good news or welcome news. To those who are content in going their own way, the message about their need to give their lives to Christ is an unwelcome intrusion. They do not want to give anything to anyone, and certainly not their own lives. They want to be in charge and free to do what they want.
Here is the real problem. Not everyone has ears to hear. Paul said that faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Notice he did not say that physically hearing the message was truly hearing. You see, you can hear and not hear. Ask any wife whether that is true. Faith only comes when we have truly heard with our hearts.
Jesus, in His messages to the seven churches in Asia in the book of Revelation, would challenge them by saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches." Obviously, it was possible, even probable, that many would not have ears to hear, even though they had physically and intellectually heard the message.
True hearing is revealed in the response to the message. We know that a person has truly heard when that individual responds in faith. Faith comes by hearing, hearing with the heart. Sadly, many will not hear with the heart. They cannot exercise faith because they have no spiritual ears.
But God never gives up declaring the message to all. In the case of Israel, Paul indicates that they had heard the message because God was always revealing it to them in a variety of ways. He quotes a part of Psalm 19 when he says, "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." If you read more of the Psalm, you will find that it reveals how God has given great revelation of Himself through nature.
The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.Day to day pours forth speech
and night to night declares knowledge.There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;Yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
There has been a universal proclamation of the gospel through nature. In the Romans 1:19-20, Paul mentioned that:
… what may be known about God is plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
So, there is an answer to the question "What about those who have never heard about God?" The answer is "There aren’t any people who have never heard about God." Everywhere people know something about God. He is revealed in nature. There is a universal proclamation in nature itself, which if observed, if noticed and followed, will result in more light given.
But concerning Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people." (v. 21)
Israel rejected the message concerning Christ. Many today also reject it as well. But God is patient. He continues to show mercy. Here is the truth of the matter. Even though people reject Him, God is patient with them.
He said, "All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people." And when you think about it, that "day" has lasted almost four thousand years now. He has held out His hands to Israel for four thousand years. This is the picture of a loving God, standing with open arms, inviting people to run to Him and accept Christ.
His patience reveals His mercy. Let no one think they can accuse God of a lack of mercy and compassion. If people go to Hell, it will not be God’s fault. He has been patient with humanity beyond anything we deserve. He has plead with hard-hearted humans who have long resisted His message. No, God is exceedingly merciful and compassionate. He loves you and me so much that He sent Jesus to die for us.
The question is whether we have ears to hear and hearts to respond? If you hear His call, respond in faith. What is the Lord saying to you today?
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