Standing this morning as I read from God's Word, the book of Romans chapter 10. You remember from Romans 9 we read of the decrees of election which are built upon God's sovereign purposes and work in salvation from what we find in Romans chapter 8. God is sovereign not only of the plan of salvation but to whom salvation is given. Why is it then that some of Israel is excluded? The first answer to that question is because God has electing purposes to save only a remnant out of Israel. And lest you accuse God of injustice, it is also clear from the last part of Romans 9 and Romans 10 that Israel rejected the gospel. They had everything at their disposal, all that they needed to know, who the Christ was, who He would be, and how they ought to receive Him. And yet, when Christ came, they rejected Him. And all of this is not the rejection of a lack of information. They didn't know enough, no. Paul makes it very clear here in Romans 10 beginning in verse 14 that Israel rejected the gospel of Christ clearly preached. Romans chapter 10 beginning in verse 14, follow along with me if you would like. 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? And how shall they preach unless they are sent, as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report, so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, indeed. Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. But I say, did Israel not know? First, Moses says, I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation. I will move you to anger by a foolish nation. But Isaiah is very bold and says, I was found by those who did not seek me. I was made manifest to those who did not ask for me. But to Israel, he says, all day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. Thus far the reading of God's Word. You may be seated. Let me pray now for the blessing of the preaching of it. Lord, we come to you this morning And we would ask that you might give us spirit-wrought understanding of your Word. That it would not only be a means whereby our catalog of theological knowledge and understanding would grow and be made more beautiful and pure through the preaching of your Word, but that, Lord, by your Spirit you would work in us salvation unto the end of joy, of righteous affections growing, of love for our neighbor. Lord, that you would turn the hearts of fathers to their children. That you would grant to us, O Lord, by your grace, a long line of covenant faithfulness here in our church. that our children would know Christ and Him crucified, that they would even this morning, along with their parents and others who are here, hear the gospel, the true gospel of Christ for sinners, that this might work its way into our hearts. all the way into our mouths and our fingers that our lives might be filled and transformed by Your Word. These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Paul continues to form a system of understanding as it relates to the manner in which salvation works its way into and throughout all the earth. God has for all eternity past, chosen in the Son, a precious people, those whom we would call the elect. And the elect from every nation, from every tribe and tongue, the Father has set His eternal love and affection upon, as I said already, through His Son, Jesus Christ, and He gave them to His Son. And now that the Son has come and the Spirit has been sent out into all the earth, We find the great harvest day, the bringing in of the wheat, and we find that even when you can go to the farthest expanses of the world and you see that the gospel has had great effect. There were once tribes that would engage in cannibalistic wars that had been transformed by the gospel. such that the only flesh and blood they eat and drink is the symbolic flesh and blood of Christ. The light of God's Word is going out to the nations. It has happened, it is happening, and it will continue to happen. How does that happen? Through the Word of God preached. For when the Word of God is preached, there is power. And that is what this power, and Paul's explanation of the nature of that power, has not only resulted in the salvation of many in Israel and the Gentiles, that foolish and strange nation, but the preaching of the gospel has also been rejected. That the cornerstone is not only a foundation stone for those who believe, but it is also a stone of stumbling for those who reject. Paul continues then to build a case against the Israelites, but also in Romans 10, he begins to turn and build a case for how God will continue to bring not only the nations that are the Gentile nations that God has still a remnant of Israel reserved. that He will one day bring in through this work of messianic provoking to jealousy. Two points that I want to make this morning. The first, the sequence, the sequence of saving faith. And then lastly, there's just two points, the rejection. The rejection of saving faith. The first, the sequence of saving faith. The second, the rejection of saving faith. Let's look at the first point, the sequence of saving faith. Concerning the salvation of men, God is utterly sovereign. And the sovereignty that God exercises over mankind is a delivering or saving sovereignty. God does not exercise His sovereignty unto the condemnation of all men that God has in the beginning in Genesis 3 verse 15 promised through enmity that He would crush the head of the serpent. And when God promised this, that He would save out from the world, out of the world, a holy remnant, a holy seed, this means that God would have to deal with sinners like you and me. And God would miraculously time and again bring life from death to those who rejected, strayed, denied. And we see this relationship between God in the Old Testament and Israel, His beloved people. Now we have men like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob who walked by faith. who believed in the promise, who in union with Christ were delivered out of this earth that is passing away. And not only Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but throughout God's dealings in the Old Covenant and the Old Testament, we see glimpses of messianic hope. We see Christ walking among His people. Christ is the pillar of smoke by day and fire by night. Christ walked with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. He met with Joshua, the commander of the army of the Lord. Jude speaks of this in his small one-chapter epistle. It is Jesus all the way through the Old Testament. God is sovereign over all of these things. And because God is sovereign, His plan of salvation is the only plan of salvation. And so, when Christ is revealed in the New Testament, those who were trusting in their own righteousness and not in the righteousness of God, truly, that system of justification that comes through the work of the messianic redemption, they stumbled over Him. They denied His deity. and they crucified Him on a trumped-up blasphemy charge. And for this, God punished them. We see this punishment culminating in the judgment of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70. And not only do we find the destruction of the temple and that city of Jerusalem as the sort of capstone of divine judgment against the Israelites, the Jews. But we also see a clear message that Christ himself spoke of in the gospels, that it was not on the mountain in Jerusalem that you will go for worship. You don't have to go to the temple in Jerusalem, but where there is word and there is spirit. And so we can go to Mount Rhine-Oakland Road, right? And we can worship here on this little hill. And where there is word and there is spirit, the triune God meets with us. And all of this in the name of Christ, in the name of Christ. And the means whereby men and women and children, where the whole human race is able to be brought in and called to salvation is through the faithful preaching of the Word of God. And if the church is to do anything, it must be that. It must be the proclamation of the Word of God. Now in John Murray's commentary in the book of Romans, this is what he says concerning this section in verses 14 through 21. The main point in this section is that a saving relation to Christ involved in calling upon His name is not something that can occur in a vacuum. It occurs only in a context created by proclamation of the gospel on the part of those commissioned to proclaim it. The sequence is, therefore, authorized messengers, proclamation, hearing, faith, calling on the Lord's name. This is summed up in verse 17. Faith is of hearing. and hearing through the Word of Christ. And that is what we find in the opening verses of Romans chapter 10. How shall they call? That is the responsibility of the hearer. That when you hear the Word of God preached, presenting Christ the truth in which you must abide, what is the only right response? What is the only saving response? It is that you call upon the name of the Lord. But you calling upon Him, follows, follows His calling of you. God must call. And the manner whereby the revelation of God is given to men, that is calling, is through the Word of God preached or proclaimed through the mouths of men. And this is not a New Testament reality. God called Abraham. And in doing so, he brought the Word of God, this revelatory act of understanding and transformation, so that Abraham was led out of the land of the Chaldeans, and he crossed the river, the Euphrates. And in that crossing, a kind of baptism, where he left the land of the pagan patriarchs, and God started a nation with him. We see the same with Moses, a preacher. Noah himself, a minister of the gospel. And for 100 years, Noah built the ark and proclaimed to those who were watching him, going, what in the world are you doing? What a great context, as he dragged him across the law and said, your sins have welcomed the wrath of God and it is coming. And he will cleanse the earth with a flood. We might even say it now, get on the ark, the floods are coming. Now the promise is that God will never destroy the earth again with a flood, but one day God will purify all things with fire. And so the pleading of Noah, of Moses, and others is the same today. It is not a different gospel. There is no God of the Old Testament, God of the New, that God's somehow in this broken dispensational system where one system doesn't work, so he implements another. No, it is all one glorious plan whereby Christ has, from the beginning, been proclaimed to sinners. It is what Paul here calls the good news, verse 15, the gospel of peace who bring glad tidings of good things. It is the good news of good things. This is why we call the gospel good news. The euangelion. the proclamation of God that in Christ we can be delivered. It is this glad tidings that the angels brought in Luke chapter 2, verse 10 and 11. Then the angels said to them, Do not be afraid. This is to the shepherds. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord." Who is it for? Who is this gospel for? Who can you, by right of birth or some other association, cut off? You cannot. It is a good news gospel for all men. How then is it spread? Well, it is not through liturgical dance, praise God for that. It is not through skit or drama. It is not through painting or image, though all of those things can be at least, dancing can be rightly done. I don't know about any form of liturgical dancing that would be appropriate. Parents, if your children do a little wiggle in the pew, that's okay, right? That's not what we're talking about. But the gospel is rightly and manifestly preached. In fact, in the Belgic Confession it speaks of these images that oftentimes we use as a means of helping us in worship, whether it is the Greek Orthodox Church or the Roman Catholic Church. These images are means whereby we are helped like crutches. in associating certain truths with God or lifting our souls up into the heavenly places, and yet what does God say? With whom shall you compare me? The Belgic Confession says we do not use images that are dumb, but the lively preaching of the Word of God. Images that are dumb is not like a playground disc. What it means is they have no speaking power. There is nothing inherently alive in them. They are inert as it relates to revelatory power, but what does speak? the faithful proclamation of the Word of God. That is what it is built upon. And so, if we who have received the gospel wish for a part of the world to be transformed, what must we do? We must follow the sequence, the sequence that Murray himself authorized messengers. How do you have authorized messengers? Well, they must be trained and they must be ordained by the church. They must proclaim in a tongue that is understood so that it can be heard. And with that hearing comes faith, a faith that is a gift of God that results in a person calling upon the name of the Lord for salvation. That's the order. That's the sequence. It's that simple. And not only do we find the sequence of salvation, but we find the order of kingdom expansion. Charles Hodge writes this in his commentary on Romans, the object of the apostle in the preceding comparison and contrast of the two methods of justification which comes earlier, right? Righteousness in which we seek to ascend the hill of God on our own or righteousness in which we come in Christ to the top of the hill, those two methods of justification Hodge continues, was to show that the gospel method was, from its nature, adapted to all men, and that if suited to all, it should be preached to all. The quotation from the Old Testament proves two points. The one that Paul gives, that faith is the condition of acceptance and that it matters not whether the individual be a Jew or Gentile, if he only believes. For there really is no difference as to this point between the two classes. God is equally gracious to both, as is proved by the express declarations of Scripture. In verses 12 and 13, whoever calls, if then the method of salvation be thus adapted to all, and God is equally the God of the Gentiles and of the Jews, then to accomplish His purpose, the gospel must be preached to all men, because faith cometh by hearing, authorizing, proclaiming, Hearing, faith, this is the order. And through this sequence over and over and over again, we arrive at where we are today. There is a church, a house in Gaston County filled with Christians, and we are a long way from Jerusalem. 2,000 years thus far, and I would contend we are still in the early days of the New Testament church. God's Word has gone out with power through preaching, through preaching. Now there may be some outside the center of the circle application as to why then does the church fool around with all this other stuff? You know why? I think in some ways they have to justify paying a pastor or all the money they have in their budget instead of planting other churches or going to the nations. They just sort of create what my dad often refers to as six flags over Jesus, which is this amusement park of all of these things that are not the preaching of the word. They may be nice to have. But they are not what Paul talks about in Romans chapter 10. It is, how do we Christianize the world? Simply, we raise up men to preach, and then we send those men out, and we watch God by His Holy Spirit transform the nations. And you will say, how can He do such a thing? Because God is the one who brings life from death. He's the one who said to Lazarus, Lazarus, come forth. He is the one who has said to you, no less a glorious miracle, come forth out of death into life. And it is this gospel, it is this gospel that is not new in the New Testament. It is as old as time itself. When God said to Adam and to his wife, upon the occasion of their rebellion and their felt nakedness and shame, He covered them and He promised that He would send one who would crush the head of the serpent. Man would not do it. Even Eve herself said, when God gave to her a son, God gave me a son. Adam brought death into the world, but God brought life. The Messiah brings life. And so, in conclusion to this first point, One simple, main application, the gospel must be preached, part A, and part B to that, you must believe it. You must believe it. Now, let's go to the second point, the rejection of saving faith. Despite the order and sequence that we find, and this sequence repeated over and over and over again unto the salvation of the nations. is the rejection of that gospel by the Jews. Verse 16, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. Who is they? Those to whom Christ came. Those whom Christ has for centuries, for millennia, revealed the glorious gospel of the seed who will crush the head of the serpent. In fact, Paul is responding to hypothetical objections. But I say, verse 18, let's start back in verse 16, for Isaiah says, Lord who has believed our report, so then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. But I say, have they not heard? That is the Jews. Yes, indeed. And here in verse 18, we read Psalm 19. Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. Psalm 19 reads, beginning in verse 1, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." There is something, as it relates to where we hear the truth of God, there is something in nature that teaches us. of the truth of God's existence and His holiness and His call to worship Him as God, and yet it leaves us in a state of unreconciled tension so that we feel the wrath and anger of God. And this imposition of wrath and anger is what leads in Romans 1 and Romans 2 to the Gentile nations who know nothing of God's revelation, to suppress and exchange the truth of God for a lie. And they invent all manner of false religions to deal with the guilt. Secular humanism, the rise of modern-day psycho-babble, which is the religion of a secularist. Think about that. And all of these holy texts that teach you, find your own truth. It's all religion. But it is a religion practiced by those who confess to be irreligious, which is impossible. But then those who did receive the revelation of God, Paul goes on to say, they rejected the heart of messianic faith. to endeavor to ascend the hill of God through their own strength. This was particularly a Jewish problem. That is because the nation of Israel received the promises of God directly, and yet they rejected them. And so their rejection is in light of God's manifold truth, and the rejection of the Gentiles is in the darkness in relationship to God's manifold truth. And so, it is not only in nature where we hear of the truth of God, what we would call natural revelation, perhaps natural law, but also there is that category that belongs to special revelation, which we just call the book of Scripture. And in Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 14, this is what Moses writes, Paul quoted this earlier, but the Word is very near you. in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it. What is that? What does that mean? It does not mean that they could keep the law as a means whereby in perfection they may keep covenant with God. What it means is, that through Christ, they might keep covenant with God, and through the Messiah, fulfill all that God required. That gospel was clear, even in the days of Moses, as he wrote in Deuteronomy 30. And yet, what happened? Despite the sound going out through all the earth, they rejected him. They have not all obeyed the gospel. And so when the Israelite rejected Jesus, they did not deny something novel with regards to revelation. They denied that which they had been denying for centuries. Jesus wasn't, oh wait, this is how it is now? An unfamiliar hope. It was a familiar hope, which is why the wrath and anger of God was so great, because time and time and time again, they rejected the gospel of peace that Moses preached, that David himself proclaimed, that the prophets proclaimed. It's everywhere. It's on every page of the Old Testament. And so, they did not simply deny that which they did not understand. They denied that which was made manifestly clear because of their idolatrous hearts. And this is what Paul calls in verse 21, the outstretched hands of God. It is a picture. Obviously, God does not have hands. Christ does. Jesus, the human person, has hands. And in fact, it's interesting that Christ, when He seeks to quell the doubts of Thomas, says, put your hands in My hands. And here Paul writes, all day long the triune Lord has stretched out His hands. Those hands are hands of mercy and welcome. As I preach through the book of Judges, we see this God constantly saying, come back. Stop going after other gods. And sometimes He used not just tender language, He used very difficult language to describe Israel's rebellion and sin. But all of the old covenant, I'm saying old covenant, I don't mean the covenant with Adam. I mean the expression of the covenant of grace in the Old Testament. God is saying, come back. And this is where we get into this distinction between God's decretive and his will that we don't really understand, that which belongs to the secret councils of God. Election belongs to God in such a way that we don't know who the elect are, but we know that God, throughout history, is saying, come unto me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I shall give you rest. And we know that the mass of the Jewish nation, aside from the remnant, rejected the open arms of God, saying, Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden. And they said it in this way, No, I've got it. Thank you very much. Now that rejection was not a polite rejection. That rejection took the form of worshiping the Hittite gods of Moloch and Ishtar. of worshiping the Roman gods, and the gods of the pagans, and the worship of these gods with temple prostitutes, it resulted in extreme levels of adultery and immorality, even the offering of their children at times to the god of Molech. This rejection was an eyes-wide-open, bold, treasonous rejection. And so, in the place of an outstretched arm of mercy, God, as we read in the book of Revelation, rode out against the city of Jerusalem in wrath. And though He used the Roman army as a means of judgment and terror, He brought to that system, an idolatrous system, He brought it to an end. And He turned His attention, as Paul has said in Romans 9 and Romans 10, to what he calls in verse 19, not a nation and a foolish nation. And who is that? It's you and me. It's the Gentiles. It's the Gastonians, right? I'm from Georgia. Georgia was a prison colony, so I don't know exactly what my lineage is. God has ridden out in mercy by the Spirit to bring in, in accordance with His plan, in Psalm 19, in Deuteronomy chapter 30, to what end? Not only to bring the Gentile nations under the banner of Christ as one nation, but to provoke those who thought they had it on lock, to show them that they did not, so that they may be provoked to jealousy. In fact, in the Westminster Larger Catechism, question and answer number 92. One of the things that we pray for is that God would not only bring in the Gentile nations, but that He would bring in the Jewish nation through the preaching of the gospel. Because when it comes down to it, as it relates to the system of who is and who is not, the haves and have-nots, the sheep and the goats, it is not divided among Jew and Gentile, it is divided among those who are in Christ and those who are not in Christ. How then are we brought into Christ? By hearing the Word of God preached and by believing in the name of Jesus Christ. So what this means for us then as a church is we have a very clear gospel and a very clear call to proclaim that gospel to the nations. The plan of God concerning our labors is to proclaim far and wide the true gospel of Jesus Christ and to let that truth abide in us. And, as it relates to the Jewish people here in Romans 10, it is through the mechanism of the preaching of the gospel to continue to outstretch the hands of God through the preaching to those who have historically rejected it. And this is not simply a Jewish issue. This is a denial of the faith by any and all regarding...it doesn't matter your lineage. If you reject Christ, you are all in the goat category. And the only way that we are made sheep of the pasture of the true and living God is by believing upon Christ and being saved. The Jews received hard judgment, and many persist in rebellion. And they reject the calls and the warnings and renewed deliverances of the Lord. And the many things they confess even to this day are an affront. But so is the law. Is not the proclamation of the gospel according to Buddha or the return of the strong gods also equally dangerous? There is but one name in heaven and on earth where men might be saved. And the mission of the church is to proclaim Christ for sinners. And the gospel call should be taken far and wide that the number of the elect might be brought in. And so, dear saints, again two things. Believe the one true gospel of Jesus Christ. And proclaim the one true gospel of Jesus Christ. And what we shall see is that the nations will be brought in. I'll read in closing this from Charles Hodge, again from his commentary. How delightful will be the time when literally the sound of the gospel shall be as extensively diffused as the declaration which the heavens in their circuit make of the glory of God. Now, Hodge is writing in an old tongue, it seems, even though it's English. This is what he means. How delightful will it be when the worship of God is an exercise upon which the sun will never set. In our own little denomination, aside from the oceans, on a Lord's Day, the sun doesn't set on the worship of the saints. Isn't that amazing? And that's just one tiny denomination. But the church, the holy Catholic church, there is not a land yet that has not been touched in some regard where the worship of God is not seen and heard. Now man will, and has, and has succeeded at times even in God's providence to stamp out the singing, the worship, the belief of Christ. But the gospel is greater, the Spirit is powerful, and the gospel continues to go forth.