TEN QUESTIONS FROM ROMANS TEN

Sermon of the Week #200934 for 9/27/09

It may be just a coincidence, but Romans chapter ten does have ten questions. Paul begins when he says, his hearts desire and supplication for Israel is that they might be saved. To some it might sound as if Paul was very negative and hard-hearted. If any man had a right to feel unkind it was Paul. When he became an Apostle of the Lord at Damascus, they had watched the gates day and night and tried to do him in. His disciples let him down through the wall lowering him in a basket. In that basket that night was hanging the destiny of thousands of churches and at least one hundred chapters of the New Testament. That night God was depending on the Ropes and Basket Squad. Praise God for the Ropes and Basket Squad; every congregation needs to have one. The names of these men are not given. Their names may not have been printed in the next Sunday’s church bulletin, but God knew who they were, and someday they we will be known in Heaven as the Ropes and Basket Squad, even though no one will want to be let down over the Jasper wall.

And remember, that night, there was no stretch limousine outside the wall to whisk him away to a non-existent Damascus International airport. He had to hit-the-ground-running, or at best by riding a valet donkey waiting for him in the bushes as he came down the side of the wall. Now here is the list of the ten questions of Romans chapter ten.

Number One: “Who shall ascend into Heaven to bring Christ down?” There is no way for us to go to Heaven and bring Jesus back down to give us another plan of salvation. In John 6 Jesus said, “I am come down out of heaven”, and that question has been settled down here just before Jesus died on the cross when He said, “It is finished.” Then after the resurrection Jesus told the Apostles in Luke 24, by His resurrection all things written in the Law of Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets had been fulfilled.

The United States used to be under British rule; after the Revolution we were under a new government. In a similar way mankind was judged by the Law of Moses; Jesus by His victory at the cross as the sacrificial Lamb of God fulfilled the law, and now we are all under the New Covenant.

Man can blast off from Cape Canaveral, and go to the moon and bring back rocks, but he cannot blast off from Cape Calvary and go to the third Heaven and bring another message about the Rock of Ages.

Jesus has already descended from Heaven when He was born of the virgin, died on the cross, arose from the dead, ascended back to Heaven, and He will descend again in His own good time, and there is nothing we can do to bring Him down.

Number two: “Who shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)” Many try to get their answer of eternal life by spiritualism. Many times we hear of after-death experiences. One man who was a member of a church where I was preaching told me he died on the operating table, saw some beautiful lights, saw his body on the operating table, and then came back to life. They all tell the same stories. They see bright lights, and everyone is enjoying themselves. Since Jesus said that many enter in through the broad gate to destruction, and only a few go through the narrow gate, I am prone to think, if anybody ever came back from the dead with a report they saw their relatives begging for a drop of water to cool their tongues in the place of torment like the man in Luke 16, one might be tempted to believe their story. Actually no one dies, and comes back to life before the resurrection day. In Hebrews 9 it is written, “It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment.” There is only one death to a customer.

On the Day of Pentecost Peter referred to the prophecy about the death of Jesus, “Thou wilt not leave my soul unto Hades neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption.” Hades is the spirit world. Any who asks this question will go to Hades anyway sooner or later in person, but they will not find Jesus there. He has been there and gone back to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. Been there and done that!

Number Three: “But what saith it?” The answer Paul gives to this is, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead thus shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” And then Paul said, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Paul also made that same statement regarding his conversion in Acts 22 after he had met the Lord on the road to Damascus, and spent three days neither eating, nor drinking. The Lord sent a disciple named Ananias to tell him, “And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord.” Faith, repentance, confession, and baptism are all included in the statement, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Then the encouraging statement of Paul when he said, “Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be put to shame.” Many Christians are ashamed to appear too religious before a world that ridicules their faith, but remember in Mark 8 Jesus said, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me, and My words in this adulterous, and sinful generation, the Son of man will be ashamed of him, when He cometh in the glory of His Father, and His angels.” As Christians we have no reason to be ashamed. The world may laugh and mock the Christian, but that will change on the Day of Judgment. Isaiah 65:13 tells the mockers, “The day will come when His people shall rejoice, and they will be ashamed.”

Number Four: “How can they call on Him in whom they have not believed?” There is no way anyone can believe on Jesus if they have never heard of Him. What about all the heathen who have never heard of Jesus. What will God do with them? What God will do with those who have never heard is the Lord’s business. Our obligation is to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, and let God take care of the rest.

Number Five: “How shall they believe on Him in whom they have not heard?” If I had never heard of Jesus and someone told me to believe on Him, I would say, “What am I to believe about Him?” It is not enough to tell someone to believe on Jesus and they will be saved if you don’t tell him or her what to believe. Paul told the Philippian Jailer to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. What was the jailer to believe? He did not know what to believe until Paul told him, so don’t leave the jailhouse too soon. What did Paul tell him? Listen to Paul again, “AND they spake the word of the Lord unto him with all that were in his house, AND he took them the same hour of the night, AND washed their stripes; AND was baptized, he AND all his straightway, AND he brought them up into his house, AND set food before them, AND rejoiced greatly, with all his house having believed in God.”

Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ included hearing the Word. Believing included repentance indicated by his washing their stripes. Repentance included taking them the same hour of the night and baptizing them. It also included receiving the Holy Spirit indicated by rejoicing greatly with his house.

Number Six: “How shall they hear without a preacher?” That is a scriptural question because Jesus said in the great commission according to Mark, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” He was speaking to the Apostles at that time, and they did what they were sent to do, but now the Apostles are all gone, and more preachers are needed.

The late General Omar Bradley, one of the five-star officers of World War II said, “What this country needs is not more scientists, but more preachers.” At that time the population of the United States was a little more than 140,000,000 people. Today we have more than twice that number, so the need is greater than ever in this country alone. Since Jesus wants every individual to hear the gospel and obey it, Paul’s question is more relevant than ever, “How shall they hear without a preacher?”

Number Seven: “How shall they preach except they be sent?” Jesus told the Apostles to pray the Lord of the harvest that He send forth laborers into the harvest. So how do we know which ones are sent?

One example is found in Acts the thirteenth chapter at the Church at Antioch. The Holy Spirit spoke to the leaders of that church and said, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them.” The elders laid their hands on them with fasting and prayer, and sent them away. The Holy Spirit puts it into the heart, and the Church sends them.

It does not seem logical, considering the greater need today, that the Lord is sending out less and less to preach the Word than ever before. It may be that the Lord wants more and more to go, but they just won’t go.

Number Eight: “Lord, who hath believed our report?” Is there any preacher who at some time or other that has not asked this question? Lord, doesn’t anybody believe it? I have been on the radio for over forty years. All kinds of questions have been asked. Some I could answer, and some I could not. But there is one important question that has only been asked twice in all those years. And that question is, “What must I do to be saved?” Perhaps the reason it is not asked, is what difference does it make? They are convinced that God will save everybody anyway except Hitler and the Devil. Perhaps they think it is all a matter of how you look at it. One way is as good as another. I find myself in a peculiar position; I am always answering a question nobody is asking. I shall continue to answer it anyway.

Number Nine: “But I say, did they not hear?” The obvious answer as far as Paul was concerned was, yes, they had heard. He was speaking of his own race. Jesus had come unto His own, and they that were His own received Him not. They turned a deaf ear to what they heard.

How about today? Have they not heard? Yes, people all over this planet have heard. This ministry is one example in many, heard in many places, by radio on the A.M. dial, short wave, XM radio, by web sight, and satellite anyplace on planet earth.

Indications of those who have heard this ministry have been received from many places on this planet, from every continent. Some believe what they hear, and want more information. Some don’t believe. One writer from Norway tells us, “You freak me out. You are really sick and I hope that you’ll one day wake up and see how wrong you are. Start taking responsibility for your own actions, do things for yourself, and for those around you, not for some imaginary god in the sky. You are scary.” Actually, if everyone felt that way that would really be scary. Did they not hear?

Number ten: “Did they not know?” One thing for sure, people today cannot plead ignorance. Most people are more conversant with the Bible than it appears. Some may never have read the Bible. For some, no Christian has ever entered their home and tried to lead them into a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus, but they know more about God’s Word than you think. There are at least four religious terms that most everybody knows from the Bible. One term they know is Hell. If you are in the work-a-day world, the school-a-day world, the sports-a-day world, or any-kind-of-a-day world, you will hear the word Hell several times.

The second, religious term that all have heard is damn. You hear it every day in those whatever-it-is-a-day world we were talking about. Somebody is always damning something or somebody. Damn refers to damnation. Everybody knows about it. There can be no excuse on the Judgment Day about the heavy toll on the soul of sin. They certainly talk about it enough. Is there anyone, Bible or no Bible, Church or no Church who hasn’t heard of damnation? Have they not heard?

The third term religious word people hear every day is Jesus and Christ. You hear it used in praise or profanity every day. People stub their toe, and speak that name. Did you ever see anyone stub their toe or mash their finger and holler, “George Washington”, or, “Abraham Lincoln”? No one can plead ignorance of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Day of Judgment. Most of the irreligious people talk about Him every day. Hollywood loves to use the name of Jesus Christ as a by-word as much as they can work it in to every sentence. Have they not heard?

The fourth term religious word everybody knows and uses in the Kingdom of Satan is the word God. God’s name is used as a by-word. If someone tells them that a friend has died, they exclaim, “Oh my God!” Someone says a certain friend had been fired, they say, “Oh my God!” If someone stubs his toe, they say, “O my God.” On that day when the Lord comes again, and splits the heavens with His regal splendor, surrounded by all the holy angels and the sight of the saved rising to meet Him in the air, is there any doubt that the millions of blasphemers will say, “Oh my God!”

Paul sums up the ten questions of Romans chapter ten with this warning from Isaiah 65:2, “But as to Israel He saith, All day long, I spread out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people.” Isaiah in his prophecy added this thought when he referred to, “a people that provoked me to anger continually to my face, and a rebellious people who walked in their own way.” Ladies and Gentlemen, the nail-pierced hands of Jesus on the cross are the hands that are spread out to lost sinners. The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come. Whosoever will let him come and take of the water of life freely.”

As long as your day of life will last, the hands of Jesus are stretched out to you in invitation to come to Him. On the calendar, the longest day in the year is in the month of June, the shortest day is in December. So it is with humanity. Not all life-times are the same length. All of us are aware of many in our experience who have had a December life-span, and are gone all too soon. For others their life-span is more like the length of a summer day in June. In either case the outstretched hands of Jesus on the cross are spread out to you in invitation, and they will stay stretched out until as long as it is today. But every day comes to an end, and then the outstretched hands of Jesus will be brought together in judgment.