September 18, 2011
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Sunday, September 18th,  2011

Romans 10:14-21

“The Power of the Word Preached” 

 

Welcome to the most dangerous place you could be today. We are going to do our best to communicate to you the truth.  And once it is spoken, you are forever accountable for that truth. (2 Pet 2:21)

               

Background Information:

  • In this section, Paul is demonstrating that the Jews, and any one else for that matter, cannot claim ignorance in regard to the Gospel.  For, not only has the message been preached throughout much of the Roman world, nature itself demonstrates God’s nature and God’s Word clearly points to Christ and the Gospel.  It is only our hard-heartedness and pride that prevents us from seeing the truth.
  • (v. 15) A man does not send himself.  There is no preaching in the NT apart from the action, the corporate action, of the church in “sending.”  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 284)
  • (v. 15) “Beautiful feet” The word translated beautiful by the NIV is in Greek hōraios, originally meaning “the right season” or “the ripe moment.”  Just as long years of captivity prepared Israel for the good news of release, so the proclamation of the gospel came at the most opportune moment for its reception by the Jews.  This too heightened their culpability for not believing it.  (James R. Edwards, New International Biblical Commentary: Romans, 256)
  • (v. 15) Note that Is 52:5 has already been quoted by Paul in Rom 2:24.  It is probably no mere chance that led Paul to quote twice from this text in the same letter.  For this passage contains the basic scheme of salvation history as Paul presents it in Romans: sin and disobedience ofIsraelat the present (Is 52:4-5), to be changed when God sends the good news of “salvation” toZion(52:7), and bothIsrael(52:9) and the Gentiles (“the ends of the earth,” 52:10) are saved.  The alert reader of Romans should be led by the explicit quotations back to this great Isaiah prophecy and allow Isaiah and Paul mutually to interpret one another.

A second example of the importance of context is the quotation from Is 53:1 in Rom 10:16.  Paul’s application of the text is straightforward.  But the reader will recognize that Paul is led to this text because all of Isaiah 53, the fourth Servant Song, was applied to Jesus in the early church (see Paul’s quotation from this same song in Rom 15:21).

We see the same approach in Paul’s use of Dt 32:21 in Rom 10;19.  In its original context, this verse states God’s “equivalent” response to Israel’s idolatry: Because Israel has made God jealous with “what is no god” (Dt 32:21a), God will make Israel“jealous” with what is “no people.”  The phrase “no people” is probably the catchphrase that draws Paul’s attention to this text, since he quotes the Hosea prophecy about those who are “not my people” becoming the people of God in Rom 9:25-26.  (Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 346-47)

  • (v. 15) “Lord, who has believed our message”: is taken from Is 53.  The most complete OT text on the work of Christ on the cross.
  • (v. 16) NIV “accepted” KJV “obeyed” = Gk hypakousan = hyper listening
  • (v. 17) The NIV has added two verbs to make the passage flow better for English readers, “comes” and “is heard.”  But what Paul actually wrote was: “So, then, faith by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1262)
  • (v. 18) “”Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world”: is taken from Psalm 19.  The most complete OT text on the nature and extent of God’s revelation to mankind.
  • (v. 18) We have little reason to think that gospel preaching had spread even to this extent in A.D. 57.  Thus, we should probably view Paul’s application of this verse as hyperbole.  He simply uses the language given to him in the quotation to assert that the gospel had been proclaimed so widely that Jews have no excuse for not responding (see also the The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 344)
  • (v. 18) NIV “earth” The Greek word behind “world” (oikoumen ) may refer to the Roman empire rather than to the entire inhabited world.  (Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, Vol. 3, 65)
  • (v. 19) “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding”: is taken from Dt 32:21.  Dt 32 is the “Song of Moses” whose theme is God’s love, patience, grace, faithfulness and “TOUGH LOVE” in light ofIsrael’s rebellion, rejection of God and faithlessness.  It especially highlights all God will do to try and get Israel to see its rebellion and return back to the loving arms of Almighty God.
  • (20) “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me” and (21) “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people”: these verses are taken from Is 65:1-2.  This chapter talks about God’s unfathomable patience, grace, love, forgiveness and mercy in light ofIsrael’s “spitting in God’s face”.  Is 65 also talks about God’s sparing the remnant, and the judgment of those who continue to refuse God’s plea for reconciliation; as well as life in the new heavens and earth when all is redeemed.
  • (v. 21) NIV “disobedient” – The Grimm Thayer Lexicon has a most interesting statement to make with regard to the word that was used here by the Apostle.  It does not only mean that they did not give obedience to the gospel, it means much more.  It means that they were non-persuadable, that they would not allow themselves to be persuaded.  They were “stiff-necked.”  It is not merely that they were not persuaded–obviously they were not, otherwise they would have given obedience.  But, beyond that, they would not allow themselves to be influenced and persuaded by the truth.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 380)
  • We need to pay careful attention to the OT context from which Paul’s quotations come.  Often that context will explain and/or elucidate his use of the words we find in the text.  Those words are sometimes but the tip of the iceberg, with the OT context supplying important information about what Paul is teaching.  (Douglas J. Moo, The NIV Application Commentary: Romans, 345-46)
  • Every person in the audience must be made aware of the fact that when he rejects the preacher who, as a faithful minister of the word, with insight and enthusiasm presents the glad and glorious tidings of salvation in Christ, then he is rejecting Jesus Christ himself!  In addressing the seventy (or seventy-two) missionaries Jesus said, “He who listens to you listens to me, but he who rejects you rejects me; and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Lk 10:16).  (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 350)
  • Any preacher better be sure that he has actually been called of God to do this kind of work.  To arrive at a true answer to this question he should turn to Jer 23:21, 22.  If this preacher is earnestly and prayerfully trying to do that which is mentioned in the 22nd verse, he will find it much easier to arrive at a positive and encouraging answer to the question with reference to the genuine character of his ordination.  (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 350)
  • Not everyone in the church is called to be a missionary, but every member of the church is responsible to make sure that the missionary activity gets done.  We all have a part to play in that endeavor.  (RC Sproul, St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary: Romans, 355)

 

The questions to be answered are . . . Why does Paul point to preaching as the vehicle God commonly uses to bring people to faith?

 

Answer: Because faith in Christ is built upon a conviction that results from an ascension to knowledge about Christ that is most effectively achieved by godly, Biblical preaching.  If we lack faith, good preaching can provide what we need to hear and increase our faith.  If we lack good hearing, then, with the Spirit’s help, good preaching can provide the catalyst necessary to soften hard hearts and loosen stiff necks.  It is not the message that is difficult to understand and obey.  It is our being “a disobedient and obstinate people.”

 

The Phrase for the Day is . . . preach it.

 

What do we need to know about preaching?:

 

 

I.  Preaching is a proclamation of the Good News from God’s Word (Ps 19; 119:130; Jer 31:31-34; Mt 7:24-25; 13:23; Lk 1:67-79; 2:10-14; 4:16-19; 10:16, 23-24; 24:25-27; Jn 4:14; 5:39-40; 7:38; Acts 13:48-49; Rom 1:1-4; 10:15, 17; 1 Cor 2:9; Eph 3:14-21; Heb 6:4-6; 7:22; 8:6-13; 9:8-15; 1 Pt 2:2-3;

 

In ancient times, before the development of the mass media of communication, the role of the herald was vital.  The major means of transmitting news was his public proclamations in the city square or the marketplace.  There could be no hearers without heralds.  (E. F. Scott, D.D., Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, 286)

 

Preaching is actually heralding, proclaiming.  Genuine preaching, therefore, means that the sermon is lively, not dry; timely, not stale.  It is the earnest proclamation of the great news initiated by God.  It must never be allowed to deteriorate into an abstract speculation on views merely excogitated by man!  (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 350)

II.  Preaching builds faith (Lk 8:21; Acts 20:32; Rom 10:8, 17; 15:4; 1 Cor 14:26; 15:2-20; Eph 4:11-13; Col 1:3-6; 1 Thes 2:13; 1 Pt 1:23)

 

            –      Preaching informs the uninformed

            –      Preaching reforms the misinformed

            –      Preaching transforms those needing reform

 

The remedy for Israel’s rejection is in hearing the Word of the Gospel and believing on Jesus Christ.  (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Right, 118)

 

People will not call on the Lord unless they believe in him.  The thing is impossible.  You do not ask a person for help unless you are quite sure that that person is able to help you.  You must have confidence in him.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 256)

 

You can never have such a thing as general faith.  Faith is always specific and it is always about Christ.  There is no saving faith unless it is centered on Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

People may think they believe in God, they may think they are being blessed by God, but if their faith is not centered on Jesus Christ and Him crucified, it is of no avail.  “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:11).  This is the only message that the Holy Spirit will ever honor.  And it is only when this word about Christ comes to us powerfully in the Spirit, and is made efficacious to us by the Spirit, that we have faith.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 331)

 

III.  There are many obstacles to receiving the preached Word (Mt 13:1-23; Mk 4:10-25; Lk 8:4-18)

 

–    Hard hearts and stiff necks (Is 6:9-10; Jn 12:37-38; Acts 7:35-42; 2 Thes 2:10-12)

 

So we may draw the conclusion that the spiritual condition of Israeldoes not come from a lack of opportunity to hear the gospel or a lack of understanding of its content, but must be traced to a stubborn and rebellious spirit such as cropped up in the days of Moses and the days of the prophets.  It is the more grievous now because God has spoken his final word in his Son and has been rebuffed by those who should have been the most ready to respond.  (Frank E. Gæbelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 10, 115)

 

–    Worldly distractions (Mt 13:22; Mk 10:18; 16:24, 26; Lk 4:14)

–    Troubles in life (Mt 13:21; Mk 10:17; Lk 4:13)

–    Fallen nature (Jn 1:4; 3:19-20; Rom 1:18-20; 3:8-20; 2 Thes 2:10)

–    Satan steals (Mt 13:18; Mk 10:15; Lk 4:11; Jn 10:10; 2 Cor 4:3-6)

–    Desire to cover our sinful nature (John 3:19-21)

 

There is the ignorance which comes from willful blindness.  Men have an infinite and fatal capacity for shutting their minds to what they do not wish to see, and stopping their ears to what they do not wish to hear.  A man may be well aware that some habit, some indulgence, some way of life, some friendship, some association must have disastrous results; but he may simply refuse to look at the facts.  (William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series: Romans, 143)

 

There is the ignorance which is in essence a lie.  The things about which we are in doubt are far fewer than we would like to think.  There are in reality very few times when we can honestly say:  “I never knew that things would turn out like this.”  God gave us conscience and the guidance of his Holy Spirit; and often we plead ignorance, when, if we were honest, we would have to admit that in our heart of hearts we knew the truth.  (William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series: Romans, 143)

 

The reason why people don’t come to God is not because God fails to invite them, nor is it a logical conclusion from the doctrine of predestination, but it is rooted in disobedience and obstinacy.  It is precisely because man is in a state of rebellion that he will never respond to the gospel, unless God sovereignly conquers that rebelliousness in his heart.  To state it another way:  anyone can be saved if he wants to be saved, but therein lies the problem.  No one wants to be saved, unless God sovereignly plants a desire in the rebellious heart to come to him.  If we were left to ourselves, if there were no election, if there were no predestinating grace, none of us would ever come to Christ, simply because we would never want to come, because we are by nature disobedient and rebellious.  (RC Sproul, The Gospel of God: Romans, 184)

 

There was a young English woman who had been brought up in a Christian home and had often been pressed to come to Christ.  But she chose the way of the world instead.  In spite of the pain it caused her father and mother, she chose to run with a wild crowd and repeatedly rejected the appeals made to her.  One day she was taken with a serious illness.  The doctor did all he was able to do in those days.  It did not help, and she was expected to die in a short time.

One night this woman awoke out of a fitful sleep with a frightened expression in her eyes, and she asked excitedly, “Mother, what is Ezekiel 7:8 and 9?”

“What do you mean, dear?” her mother asked.

The young woman answered that she had had a dream in which someone seemed to be telling her to read Ezekiel 7:8 and 9.  Her mother did not know what those verses were, but she reached for a Bible and began to read them: “I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices.  I will not look on your with pity or spare you; I will repay you in accordance with your conduct and the detestable practices among you.  Then you will know that it is I the LORD who strikes the blow.”  (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1258)

 

If, then, Israel’s rejection of the gospel cannot be attributed either to her not hearing it or to her not understanding it, she must be without excuse.  This is the third possible explanation of her unbelief, which Paul now accepts.  Israelis simply stubborn.  True, the Israelites were ignorant of God’s righteousness (3), but this is now seen to be willful ignorance.  They had “stumbled over the ‘stumbling-stone,’” namely Christ (9:32).  (E. F. Scott, D.D., Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, 288-89)

 

Let us put it like this–and I think it is one of the most valuable tests when you are trying to help another soul to come to a knowledge of God through the Lord Jesus Christ and to have salvation–the person who is hopeful is the person who listens and asks questions in order to be helped and to understand.  But you are familiar with the other type of person, are you not, who always gives you the impression that they are just waiting for you to stop so that they can disagree.  It is a terrible thing to say, but what the apostle is really indicating here is that those people are hopeless; they do not want to hear and they are waiting for an opportunity to contradict.  Their spirit, their heart, their whole attitude is wrong.  That was the final trouble with Israel.  They would not allow our blessed Lord Himself to instruct them.  They were always waiting with their questions, trying to down Him, as it were, always speaking against.  Cantankerous!  Contradicting!  Doing their utmost to disprove it!  They did not want to be instructed in the way.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 381)

 

The danger is always that God’s people may become hardened, formal and set, and eventually dead, so that when the truth comes, the truth that gave the church her being, she hates it and has to be left on one side.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 394)

 

“I doubt that there is a more important passage on preaching in all the Bible than the first and second chapters of 1 Corinthians, where Paul shows that the great obstacle to the aims of preaching in Corinthwas pride.”  (John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, 33)

 

IV.  Preaching is a proclamation of God’s unbelievable grace (Is 5:4; Lk 13:34-35; Jn 3:16; Rom 10:21; Eph 2:8-10; Col 1:5-6; Rv 22:17)

 

Finally, from Is 65:2, Paul explains that God had been gracious to his people, patiently holding out his hands to them and calling them, only to have them turn away.  God held out his hands to his people indicates a gesture of dual purpose: one of welcome and one of giving.  But God’s welcome was spurned and his gifts were rejected.

The disobedience of Israel was judged by God’s welcome to the Gentiles (even though that was in his plan all along).  But he will still accept his chosen people if they will only return to him.  He remains faithful to his promises to his people, even though they have been unfaithful to him.  God still holds out his hands.  (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Romans, 205)

 

To say a heathen shouldn’t be lost because no one brings him the gospel, is like saying a murderer should go free because the state never got around to issuing him a pardon.  But of this we can be sure: no God-lover, no matter where he is, will fail to hear the good news of God’s offer.  Why?  Because God is the One Who sends the messengers.  He has commissioned all of us to go.  And while the average Christian pays little heed to the Great Commission, there are those ready to do His will implicitly.  Therefore, if there is a God-lover anywhere on the face of the earth, God will get a man to him.   There is no power strong enough to keep the God of love and the lovers of God apart.   (C. S. Lovett, Lovett’s Lights on Romans, 270-71)

 

Why do people hate Christianity?  Why do they find themselves unable to be utterly indifferent to it?  It is because of grace.  Grace means that God saves the undeserving.  Grace saves “nobodies,” those who are “no people” in the judgment of those who are important.  Grace saves the ignorant.  Grace saves those who are not even seeking God, reaching out to confront them in their lost state and turn them from what is destroying them to the glories of salvation through Jesus Christ.

How the natural man hates that!

If God would only take note of who we are, if he would only pay court to our superior and advanced intelligence, if he would only at least credit us with trying–if he would do that, why, then, we would welcome the gospel and embrace him openly and enthusiastically.  Instead, he insists that we come with no claims upon his favor at all.  (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1275)

 

It is not enough just to hear the Word.  Has the Lord opened your heart?  Has the Word come with power to you?  Has it come with conviction?  Has it come with assurance?  That is what decides it.  Though the Word is preached to the whole world, all do not believe it.  The principle that Paul laid down in chapter 9 of Romans is as definite here in chapter 10 as it was there.  It is all of grace!  “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 331-32)

 

CONCLUSION/APPLICATION: What difference should this message make in my life?:

 

A.  Preaching is the most common vehicle God uses to build faith and maturity in the life of His people. (Mt 4:4; Lk 11:28; Jn 17:17; Acts 8:29-31; 12:24; 1 Cor 1:21; 12, 14: Eph 4:11-14; 5:25-27; 2 Tm 3:15-17)

 

Phillips Brooks, a 19th century American, defined preaching as “truth mediated through personality.”  Truth–it must always be truth–but mediated through personality.  This means that God can use everything about the preacher in order to bring the truth home.  Notice, God can do so.  When the preacher tries to do so, it is thoroughly bad.  It is meretricious and even worse.  But God can use everything pertaining to a man.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 268)

 

The truth is, as it were, available to people, but the preacher has to have a sermon with a shaft and a spear point.  It has to penetrate, and that is the whole business of preaching.  And that is why I believe that God has ordained this as the regular method; reading and other things are the exception in the economy of God.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 270)

 

God does not need preachers to accomplish his purposes of redemption.  He did not need Isaiah, he did not need Jeremiah, and he did not need the apostle Paul. God has given men the most sacred vocation possible–carrying this treasure in earthly vessels.  (RC Sproul, St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary: Romans, 354)

 

B.  God’s Word MUST be at the heart of all godly, Biblical preaching. (Ps 119:11, 105; Mk 2:2; 4:33; Lk 5:1; 24:27-32, 45; Jn 2:22; 5:39-40; Acts 2:14-41; 6:1-4; 8:4, 26-38; 13:5,16-52; 15:35; 17:1-3; 18:11, 28; Rom 10:17; 1 Tm 4:13; 2 Tm 3:15-4:2; 1 Pt 1:25)

 

I believe that “all Scripture is God-breathed, and that it is profitable” (2 Tm 3:16) for all the things for which God gave it.  But at the same time, however, we must insist that God gave it in order that we should look through it and beyond it to the Lord Jesus Christ.  If your concept of the Bible does not bring to your life the warm compassion of the Savior, you have not seen the Word of God aright.  (Donald Grey Barnhouse, God’s Covenants, 88-89)

 

The business of preaching, after all, is to explain the message of the word, and I maintain that that can only be done by preaching.  Now, today, because people do not believe in preaching, they believe in new translations of the Bible.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 271)

 

To worship God is also to bow before his absolute, ultimate authority.  We adore not only his power, but also his holy word. Ps 19 praises God first for revealing himself in his mighty acts of creation and providence (vv. 1-6) and then for the perfection of his law (vv. 7-11).  When we enter his presence, overwhelmed by his majesty and power, how can we ignore what he is saying to us?  So, in worship we hear the reading and exposition of the Scriptures (see Acts 15:21; 1 Tm 4:13; Col 4:16; 1 Thes 5:27; Acts 20:7; 2 Tm 4:2).  God wants us to be doers of that word, not hearers only (Rom 2:13; Jas 1:22-25; 4:11).  (John M. Frame, Worship in Spirit and Truth, 4)

 

“One extremely popular television preacher will not talk about sin, on the grounds that doing so makes people feel bad.  Preachers are to preach to felt needs, not necessarily real needs, and this generally means telling people only what they want to hear.

Was Jesus amusing?   Were Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, or Jonathan Edwards entertainers?”   (James Montgomery Boice, Mind Renewal in a Mindless Age, 93)

 

If preachers insist on competing with psychiatrists as counselors, with physicians as healers, with politicians as statesmen and with philosophers as speculators, then these specialists have every right to tell them how to preach.  If a minister’s message is not based on “Thus saith the Lord,” then as a sermon it is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of the specialists in the department with which it deals.  (John H. Gerstner in Christianity Today)

 

C.  We do ourselves a huge favor by understanding our natural proclivity to resist comprehending God’s Word. (Is 6:9-10; Mt 13:1-23; Mt 23; Mk 4:10-25; Lk 8:4-18; Jn 3:19-21; 5:39-40, 44;  Acts 7:53; Rom 3:8-20; 1 Cor 10:12; ; Heb 3:12-19; 4:1-2, 12)

 

Here Paul works backward, so to speak.  We would expect the sorites to progress from beginning (sending) to end (believing), but Paul reverses the order, beginning with the Jews’ guilt because of their failure to believe.  Each link in the chain of assertions holds fast except the final one, and that was Israel’s refusal to believe.  (James R. Edwards, New International Biblical Commentary: Romans, 256)

 

The only thing more astonishing than the Gentiles’ faith is Israel’s lack of it.  “The more I called Israel,” said the Lord, “the further they went from me” (Hos 11:2).  With outstretched hands God offered Israelthe gift of life, but Israel’s hands were full of its own works.  (James R. Edwards, New International Biblical Commentary: Romans, 258)

 

There is only ONE PERSON whom the world is going to believe and that man is–the antichrist! (Jn 5:43).  “The gate is wide,” said Jesus, “and the way is broad that leads to destruction and MANY are those who enter by it! (Mt 7:13).  Therefore a gospel believed by everyone COULD NOT be of God.  This proves something else–that faith comes by hearing.  Men do not come to faith by reasoning or by discovery.  It comes by revelation.  The only source of revelation is the Word of God.  The Bible is the only place where Christ is revealed.   (C. S. Lovett, Lovett’s Lights on Romans, 272-73)

 

The heathen indeed were not God’s people, but a foolish nation, in order that they might acknowledge God’s grace when they were saved without their merit and works.  The proud, however, who trust in their merit and wisdom, become angry and murmur when there is given to others freely and without their merit that (salvation) after which they sought with so much zeal.  By this they prove that they did not seek God for His sake, but for their own sakes, because they sinfully loved themselves and hypocritically desired their own advantage.  Had they really sought God, they would have been glad that others were saved, and would not have been enraged (at the conversion of the Gentiles).  (Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans, 152)

 

We must never forget that most people are not controlled by reason.  Unfortunate the man who thinks that if he prepares his thesis in cold logic, it will immediately batter down all resistance.  The hearers too often do not hear with their reason but with their emotions.  A logical argument will be presented and the hearer will take one phrase out of the argument, carry it over to a corner of his mind as a dog will take a bone, and worry it while the speaker goes on with the rest of the logical presentation.  When the listener finally leaves the bone and comes back to the main line of the argument, he has hopelessly missed the train of thought.  Thus it is that men are blinded by prejudice.  We must not forget that the word prejudice is Latin for “judgment in advance.”  It was this judgment in advance which had blinded Israel.  Their minds were so filled with the false idea that God could not work apart from them that they were simply blind and deaf to any suggestion that God was universal or that He would ever turn away from them and work with elements from other nations, whom they had learned to despise.  (Donald Grey Barnhouse, God’s Covenants, 101)

 

A few years ago I heard two Christian women talking, and one asked the other, “Why isAmericain such a declining moral state today?”

Her friend answered, “It is because the people love sin.”

I suppose that there are other answers that could be given.  But it seemed to me when I heard it that it was a perfectly adequate explanation and possibly the best that could be given.  People love sin.  And they are hardened by it.  The problem with American culture is not that people have not heard the gospel.  They have heard it.  Most have also understood it.  The problem is that they love sin rather than God.  They do not want the gospel, because they are aware that to receive it they would have to turn from the vices they dearly love.  (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1257-58)

 

By reminding the hearers that God was found by those who did not seek him, and was revealed to those who did not ask for him, it emphasizes God’s sovereign right to bestow salvation on whomsoever he wills.  In no sense is it true that man, by means of any merit he may dare to claim, brings about God’s saving attention.  The Gentiles, their minds and hearts darkened by sin, and therefore not even asking for God’s help, receive it.  Israelis passed by because of its obstinacy, as is clear from verse 21.  (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 353)

 

All men have both internal and external evidence of God.  Just as the heavenly bodies touch all the earth and extend to the ends of the world with God’s natural revelation, so His gospel touches all the earth and extends to the ends of the world with His special revelation.  God cannot be unfair or unjust.  Those who refuse to trust in Him do so because they “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (v. 18).  (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16, 87-88)

 

D.  We need to do all we can as well as submit to the guidance of the Spirit of God to make the preached Word effective in our lives (and the lives of others) by listening (cultivating a good and noble heart). (Zech 4:6; Jn 14-16; Acts 17:11; 16:13-14; 1 Cor 2:14; Gal 3:2, 5; 1 Thes 5:21; 2 Tm 2:15; Jas 1:21-27; 1 Jn 2:4-6; 4:1)

 

We have already dealt with the fact that this hearing has nothing to do with the ears.  We are not concerned here with the physical process of the communication of ideas by sound waves.  A blind man can hear through his fingertips as he reads the message in Braille; a deaf man can hear the message through his eyes as he reads the Word of God.  This hearing is a process that takes place in the soul.  The Word does its work and faith does its work; the two combine to bring life from the dead and light out of darkness.  (Donald Grey Barnhouse, God’s Covenants, 94)

 

The word about Christ is not to be taken as a mechanical or detached thing, but as that which leads us into the heart of all that He is and all that He came to do for us.  It is not by reading the Bible through and through or by memorizing chapters and verses that one is going to grow in faith.  Reading the Bible is important and memorizing Scripture is important, but it is the personal absorption of the truth that is going to cause growth in the life of faith.  Faith must be rooted more deeply than merely in mind and memory.  (Donald Grey Barnhouse, God’s Covenants, 95)

 

Without the Holy Spirit, the Bible is a dead book.  That is why the man “without the Spirit” cannot understand it.  But, on the other hand, without the Word as an objective guide from God, claims to a special leading by the Holy Spirit run to excess, error, or mere foolishness.  Knowing the importance of both, the Reformers preached the Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the transformation of Europeand the western world was the result.  (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1264)

 

The reason the Bible is powerful is that it is not the mere words of men, however insightful they may be, or even (do not misunderstand me here) the unique and inerrant Word of God, as important as that is.  It is because God speaks to people through the Bible by the Spirit of Christ, and because that Word is life-giving and life-transforming.  (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1265)

 

The purpose of evangelism is not to use human persuasion and clever devices to manipulate confessions of faith in Christ but to faithfully proclaim the gospel of Christ, through which the Holy Spirit will bring conviction and salvation to those who hear and accept the word of Christ.  It is tragic that many appeals to salvation are a call for trust in someone and something they know nothing about.  Positive responses to such empty appeals amount to nothing more than faith in faith–a blind, unrepentant, unsubmissive trust in a contentless message that results in a false sense of spiritual security.  Such false evangelism cruelly leads the unsaved to believe they are saved, and leaves them still in their sin, without a Savior and without salvation.  (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16, 87)

 

What Paul is saying, then, is that faith in Christ presupposes having heard the word that proceeds from and concerns Christ.  Here a word, in the original, that has just (verse 16) been used in a passive sense–“that which was heard”–is now also used in the active sense: hearing the message.

The great importance Paul attached to hearing immediately reminds one of Jesus.  In all Christ’s teaching, both on earth and from heaven, it would be difficult to discover any exhortation which he repeated more often, in one form or another, than the one about hearing; better still: listening (Mt 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mk 4:9, 23; Lk 8:8; 14:35; Rv 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 13:9).  Add 8:18 in both Mark and Luke.  (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 351)

 

The Bible, we are told, is the best seller in the world today, but look at the state of the world!  The Bible is the best seller in Great Britain, but look at Great Britain.  What is the point of saying it is the best seller?  There is something wrong somewhere.  Yes, and what is wrong is that people do not listen to preaching.  The possession of a Bible, good though it is, is not enough.  It can be read as literature; people can pick out what they like and they can leave out what they do not understand.  The message of the Bible needs to be presented in a manner that is calculated to lead to salvation.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 270)

 

So there is all the difference in the world between hearing, even being familiar with the statements, with the words, and with the facts, and really hearing.  There is a hearing that leads to faith; there is a hearing that does not.  Now that is the distinction, it seems to me, that the Apostle is drawing here in this 17th verse.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 328)

 

Then suddenly on one occasion you had a feeling that the preacher was speaking directly to you.  You felt he was looking at you, that these words were for you and that they were most vital words, and you began to pay attention as you had never done in your life before.  That is what happened to Lydia.  That is what always happens in this true hearing.  It means a hearkening in the full sense, where all your faculties are engaged because you know it is a word from God to you, and that it is the most vital thing you have ever heard in your life.  You are paying heed; you are receiving it; you are accepting it; you are fully engaged.  That is the true hearing.  Faith only comes out of that sort of hearing, and that is the only type of hearing that ultimately matters.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 330)

 

What is it that leads people to obey?  It is that they are hearing under the authority.  It is not mere hearing, there is something more.  There is something in this hearing that humbles people, subdues them and renders them ready to yield and thereby, of course, to give obedience.  That is the word that the Apostle uses, and you notice that in this way he differentiates between mechanical hearing and living hearing, between hearing words and hearing “in the Spirit.”  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 334)

 

“The greatest weakness of much preaching is that the Word hasn’t killed the pastor first.”     (Marva Dawn; Reaching Out without Dumbing Down, 219)

 

Worship point: We fail to worship when we fail to prepare for worship.  You worship what you know.

 

Spiritual Challenge: As your spiritual shepherd, I would like to challenge you to prepare your hearts to hear from God each and every Sunday.  Preparation includes but is certainly not limited to: 1)- Studying the message text (and sermon notes) well before the Sunday message.  The seed of God’s Word will grow and facilitate worship in proportion to the faith you have.  Faith comes by hearing God’s Word.   2)- Getting to bed at a decent time on Saturday night so you are rested, ready and prepared to receive what God has for you on Sunday.  3)- Wake up early enough on Sunday to get to church early so you can read the announcements, study the video verses, connect with other believers, and not be rushed and caught up with the cares of this world which serve as a distraction from what God wants to reveal to you in the worship service.   Be a “hyper listener.”

 

Obedience (In Greek language) is really “hyper listening”.

 

 

 

How do I know there is power in HEARING the word preached? Because Jesus said so . . .Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.   John 17:17

 

Note that trusting Christ is not only a matter of believing, but also obeying.  Not to believe on Christ is to disobey God.  God “commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).  Rom 6:17 also equates “believing” and “obeying.”  True faith must touch the will and result in a changed life.  (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Right, 118)

 

The verb “to hear” is akouein which simply means “to hear.”  The verb “to obey” is hupokouein.  It is simply the root for hearing – akouein – with a preface hupo (that word comes across to English in the word, “hyper”).  Literally, then, the Greek word for obedience means “hyper-hearing.”  Those who really hear are the ones where the message gets through and penetrates their hearts.  In fact, the word hupokouein is found in verse 16, where it reads that they have not all accepted the gospel–literally they have not all “obeyed” the gospel.  Although we see a frequent contrast in the Scriptures between law and gospel, here we have an indication that the gospel is to be obeyed.  There is an implicit command in the gospel, a call to obedience to Jesus Christ.  (RC Sproul, The Gospel of God: Romans, 182-83)

 

Quotes to Note:

There is a legal maxim which says that genuine ignorance may be a defense, but neglect of knowledge never is.  A man cannot be blamed for not knowing what he never had a chance to know; but he can be blamed for neglecting to know that which was always open to him.  (William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series: Romans, 142)

 

There can be no call, no belief, no hearing, no preaching, unless there are those sent to share the Good News.  The Greek word for “preach” (kerusso) is not limited to the Sunday morning sermon from the pulpit; rather, it means to announce or proclaim something.  All believers are sent to announce this Good News.  The process of salvation begins with the one who tells another the Good News.  (Bruce B. Barton, Life Application Bible Commentary: Romans, 202)

 

If Paul’s countrymen did not understand the gospel of salvation by grace through the work of Christ–if it was utter foolishness to them–why would they have had such an emotional reaction when it was proclaimed among the Gentiles?  It would have been just another example of Gentile foolishness in religious matters.  “Who cares what the Gentiles believe?” they would say.  “Let them believe anything they like, as long as we have our Judaism, which, as we know, is superior in every way.”

But that was not the reaction Paul was seeing.  Instead of detached indifference and smug superiority, there was jealousy and anger on the Jews’ part.  This indicated that they understood very well what was happening.  They knew that the message being received by the Gentiles was a message of salvation by the grace of God apart from keeping the law and that it was being taught not as a contradiction of Judaism, but as a fulfillment of it.  That is what made it so offensive.  (James Montgomery Boice, An Expositional Commentary: Romans, Vol. 3, 1274)

 

Because ofIsrael’s persistent rejection of Him, Jesus lamented, “O Jerusalem,Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Mt 23:37).

What monumental and tragic failure!  Unbelieving Jews misunderstood and rejected God, Jesus Christ, and saving faith because of their self-righteousness, and they misunderstood the extent of salvation because of their proud prejudice.  They therefore failed as God’s witness nation.  (John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Romans 9-16, 90)

 

Does not the fact that in this section (10:14-21) Paul does not even mention Israel until he reaches the very close (verses 19-21) prove that he wants every hearer or reader to wrestle with these questions in his own heart and conscience?  (William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary: Romans, 349)

 

When we come to a summary of something that we have already gone over, we have a tendency to say, “Ah well, of course we have done that, now we go on.”  But the Scripture does not do that.  Once we have lost the thrill of this great gospel, there is something seriously wrong with us.  Once we get into a state in which we say, “Of course, I know all that,” and go on to something else, we are in a very bad condition.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 309-10)

 

You can never become so familiar with these things that you do not want to hear them again or that they do not move or thrill you again.  The Apostle keeps on repeating it because to him it is the most glorious thing conceivable, and he cannot repeat it too frequently.  (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Exposition of Chapter 10, 310)

 

“. . . Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ”.   –Romans 10:17

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