Peter Barnes | Romans 10:14-17
SERMON NOTES
HOW DO WE RECEIVE THE WORD?
(Romans 10:14-17)
– Charles Simeon of Cambridge: ‘The truth is not in the middle, and not in one extreme; but in both extremes.’ It is the doctrine of election and evangelism, not the doctrine of election or evangelism.
1. We need to hear the gospel.
– 10:14-15a
– Martyn Lloyd-Jones: ‘these verses are the great charter for foreign mission enterprises’.
2. Ordinarily, we need preaching from a sent preacher.
– 10:15b; sent by Christ and by the church in most circumstances; note Jer.23:21; Matt.7:22-23
– When William Carey first suggested a missionary society, John Ryland is supposed to have shouted: ‘Sit down, young man: when God pleases to convert the heathen He will do it without your aid or mine.’ Romans 10:14-17 shows how wrong this is.
– 1 Cor.14:24-25
3. We need to believe the gospel.
– 10:16, from Isa.52:7; see John 12:37-38
– those who reject the Bible fulfil its prophecies!