How Can They Hear Without A Preacher?
Romans 10:14 says: How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
The apostle Paul, writing these verses through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, asks the questions: 1. How can they call on the one they have not believed in? How can you call upon the name of the Lord Jesus if you don’t believe in Him? How can you be saved if you’ve never repented and put your trust in Him? How can you be rescued from the flames of Hell, from eternal damnation, if you have not believed on the Lord Jesus?
Heaven or Hell
This is important because Jesus is the only Savior. There is no other. You are either gloriously saved tonight or you are damned for Hell. There is no other option. It’s either Up or Down. Heaven or Hell. Saved or Lost. Freed From Sin or still a Slave To Sin. Spiritually Alive in Christ Jesus or Spiritually Dead in Your Trespasses and Sins. Born Again or still the Walking Dead. A Child of God’s or a Child of Satan’s.
Jesus is Your Master or the Devil is Your Master. It’s one or the other, but it cannot be both. Who are you serving tonight? If you say you serve yourself, then you are still serving sin and Satan. We all serve someone. Who’s your daddy? Who’s your boss? Who are you serving?
The Only Savior
Jesus is the only Savior and we want you to repent and surrender your life to Him. We want you to be saved. We want you to be free from your burden of sin. We want you to receive everlasting life. But you must repent and you must put your faith in Jesus – the risen Lord. Because there is no other way of salvation. Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). Jesus said that He is the Way, the only Way to be saved. There is no other. Buddhah can’t save you. Muhhomand can’t save you. Joseph Smith can’t save you. Being a Wiccan can’t save you. The pope cannot save you. Only Jesus Christ alone saves.
But you must believe. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16:31). Romans 10:9 states: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Believe On The Lord Jesus
You must believe on the Lord Jesus. You must confess and forsake your sins. Why? Because Jesus is the only One who never sinned. He was fully God and fully man. He was born of the Holy Ghost and the virgin Mary. He walked this earth a little over 2,000 years ago and He did what you I could never do. He never sinned one time. He never broke a single commandment. How many of the 10 Commandments have you broken – just today? How many do you think that you’ve broken in your life time? How many lies do you think you’ve told in your entire life? Thousands? Ten Thousands?
We’ve all sinned against God. But Jesus never did. He never sinned in His thoughts, in His words or His actions. Make no mistake, God judges and not only does He judge what you say and do, He is so Holy that He even judges your thought life. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
No Impure Thoughts
Jesus never had an impure thought, let alone an impure word or deed. Then He willingly let wicked, cruel men, beat Him unmercifully, He let the very ones that He created, nail Him to the old rugged cross. He allowed men and women to revile Him while He suffered God’s wrath while He hung on the cross. It pleased God to bruise His Son. Not because God is sadistic or cruel, no it pleased God because Jesus took the punishment that you and I deserve for OUR SINS! Jesus endured God’s righteous anger over our sins. He bore our sins in our place. He died on the cross, was buried and rose from the grave and God grants everlasting life to every single person who turns from their sins and turns to Jesus. He saves all who repent and believe in Jesus.
Number 2 of the apostle Paul’s points in Romans 10:14 is How can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? How can you believe in Jesus, how can you put your trust in His finished work on the cross, if you’ve never heard of Him? How can you believe in the biblical Jesus? Not the wealth, health and prosperity Jesus that so many false preachers talk about. That’s not the Jesus of the Bible.
Jesus, God in the flesh, humbled Himself and died on the cross for guilty sinners like you and me. How can believe if you’ve never heard the Gospel truth? Many false teachers want to tell you that Jesus will improve your life. That you just need to add Jesus to your life, but that’s not the case.
Repent Ye
The very first thing Jesus said when He started His earthly ministry was say, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15). Jesus preached the Gospel and He said that you need to repent and believe the Gospel.
Jesus doesn’t promise you Your Best Life Now when you repent and surrender your life to Him. But He tells us that He will be with us. That we will have a more abundant life, because He is now with us. Not abundant as in more things, not more stuff. In fact, Jesus told us to forsake all for Him. He said If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:24). Oh, this is the opposite of the damnable prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel is all about you and what you can gain. The true Gospel is about Christ and what He has done for you. A person is so grateful when they are saved that they gladly deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow Jesus.
The reason we come out here is point number 3 of the apostle Paul in Romans 10:14: how shall they hear without a preacher? How can they hear without a preacher? How can you hear about Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior if no one tells you about Him?
Miracles
Many of you have probably heard about the miracles that Jesus performed. He fed the 5,000. He fed the 4,000. Jesus healed the blind, sick and lame. He raised the dead back to life. Most of us have heard the story about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead where He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth. You’ve probably heard about many of the miracles that Jesus performed during His earthly ministry.
Preached the Gospel
But do you also know what Jesus did, the whole time He was going around performing miracles? He preached the Gospel! Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:14-15). Jesus preached the Gospel and called people to repent!
And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them (Mark 2:1-2). Jesus continually preached the glorious Gospel.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people (Matthew 4:23). Jesus healed the sick, but He also preached the Gospel!
Jesus preached. John the Baptist preached. The apostles preached. Jesus has commanded us to preach the Gospel. Mark 16:15 says: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
We Preach the Gospel
We preach the Gospel because how can they hear without a preacher. We preach the Gospel because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). You have to hear about the One who saves before you will cry out to Him to save you. Only Jesus saves. There is no other. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). And Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6).
How can they hear without a preacher? What do they need to hear? The Gospel. You need to hear about the risen Savior. Jesus saves. He paid the sin debt that you owe. He suffered God’s wrath over your sins. He rose victoriously from the grave. Salvation is a free gift from God, but you must receive it. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Oh Surrender Your Life To Christ
Oh, surrender your life to Jesus Christ tonight. Repent and put your trust in Jesus. Turn from your sins and turn to Jesus. Proverbs 3:5-6 states: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Trust Jesus tonight. That great old hymn says: Only trust Him, only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.
You have heard the Gospel tonight. You have heard God’s truth. Will you receive His truth? Will you repent and put your faith in Jesus? God commands all men everywhere to repent. Will you obey God tonight? Will you repent and believe the Gospel? Will you be saved? Will you submit to the Lordship of Jesus?
You have heard the Gospel, but did you really hear it? Has God opened your spiritually deaf ears? Has He opened your spiritually blind eyes? Has he broken your hard heart? If not, then you really didn’t hear the Good News tonight. But if God is convicting your conscience; if He is working on you, please don’t neglect such a great of salvation.
Come to Jesus. Confess and forsake your sins. Turn from your sins and surrender your life to Jesus Christ. Do this tonight and be saved. Don’t put it off. You are not guaranteed tomorrow. Come to Jesus and be saved. Call upon the name of Jesus because whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).
(This message was lifted up on the square in downtown Springfield, MO on August 26, 2016)