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Words for the Wise, The Messenger's Mission, Romans 10

Romans 10 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: ‘The person who does these things will live by them.’[a] 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”’[b] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 ‘or “Who will descend into the deep?”’[c] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’[e] 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’[f]

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’[g]

16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’[h] 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 18 But I ask: did they not hear? Of course they did:

‘Their voice has gone out into all the earth,

    their words to the ends of the world.’[i]

19 Again I ask: did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

‘I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;

    I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.’[j]

20 And Isaiah boldly says,

‘I was found by those who did not seek me;

    I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.’[k]

21 But concerning Israel he says,

‘All day long I have held out my hands

    to a disobedient and obstinate people.’[l]

Matthews Henry Commentary

Romans 10:14ff

1. How necessary it was that the gospel should be preached to the Gentiles, Rom. 10:14, 15. This was what the Jews were so angry with Paul for, that he was the apostle of the Gentiles, and preached the gospel to them. Now he shows how needful it was to bring them within the reach of the forementioned promise, an interest in which they should not envy to any of their fellow-creatures. (1.) They cannot call on him in whom they have not believed. Except they believe that he is God, they will not call upon him by prayer; to what purpose should they? The grace of faith is absolutely necessary to the duty of prayer; we cannot pray aright, nor pray to acceptation, without it. He that comes to God by prayer must believe, Heb. 11:6. Till they believed the true God, they were calling upon idols, O Baal, hear us. (2.) They cannot believe in him of whom they have not heard. some way or other the divine revelation must be made known to us, before we can receive it and assent to it; it is not born with us. In hearing is included reading, which is tantamount, and by which many are brought to believe (John 20:31): These things are written that you may believe. But hearing only is mentioned, as the more ordinary and natural way of receiving information. (3.) They cannot hear without a preacher; how should they? Somebody must tell them what they are to believe. Preachers and hearers are correlates; it is a blessed thing when they mutually rejoice in each other—the hearers in the skill and faithfulness of the preacher, and the preacher in the willingness and obedience of the hearers. (4.) They cannot preach except they be sent, except they be both commissioned and in some measure qualified for their preaching work. How shall a man act as an ambassador, unless he have both his credentials and his instructions from the prince that sends him? This proves that to the regular ministry there must be a regular mission and ordination. It is God’s prerogative to send ministers; he is the Lord of the harvest, and therefore to him we must pray that he would send forth labourers, Matt. 9:38. He only can qualify men for, and incline them to, the work of the ministry. But the competency of that qualification, and the sincerity of that inclination, must not be left to the judgment of every man for himself: the nature of the thing will by no means admit this; but, for the preservation of due order in the church, this must needs be referred and submitted to the judgment of a competent number of those who are themselves in that office and of approved wisdom and experience in it, who, as in all other callings, are presumed the most able judges, and who are empowered to set apart such as they find so qualified and inclined to this work of the ministry, that by this preservation of the succession the name of Christ may endure for ever and his throne as the days of heaven. And those that are thus set apart, not only may, but must preach, as those that are sent.

2. How welcome the gospel ought to be to those to whom it was preached, because it showed the way to salvation, Rom. 10:15. For this he quotes Isa. 52:7. The like passage we have, Nah. 1:15; which, if it point at the glad tidings of the deliverance of Israel out of Babylon in the type, yet looks further to the gospel, the good news of our salvation by Jesus Christ. Observe, (1.) What the gospel is: It is the gospel of peace; it is the word of reconciliation between God and man. On earth peace, Luke 2:14. Or, peace is put in general for all good; so it is explained here; it is glad tidings of good things. The things of the gospel are good things indeed, the best things; tidings concerning them are the most joyful tidings, the best news that ever came from heaven to earth. (2.) What the work of ministers is: To preach this gospel, to bring these glad tidings; to evangelize peace (so the original is), to evangelize good things. Every good preacher is in this sense an evangelist: he is not only a messenger to carry the news, but an ambassador to treat; and the first gospel preachers were angels, Luke 2:13 (3.) How acceptable they should therefore be to the children of men for their work’s sake: How beautiful are the feet, that is, how welcome are they! Mary Magdalene expressed her love to Christ by kissing his feet, and afterwards by holding him by the feet, Matt. 28:9. And, when Christ was sending forth his disciples, he washed their feet. Those that preach the gospel of peace should see to it that their feet (their life and conversation) be beautiful: the holiness of ministers’ lives is the beauty of their feet. How beautiful! namely, in the eyes of those that hear them. Those that welcome the message cannot but love the messengers. See 1 Thess. 5:12, 13.

The Bible Panorama

Romans 10

V 1–4: CONCERN Paul’s ‘heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved’. Their zeal in trying to establish their own righteousness, which they can never do, shows their ignorance of God’s righteousness. That can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is ‘the end of the law to righteousness to everyone who believes’. In other words they must come to faith in Christ to be saved.

 V 5–13: CONFESSION Paul shows from the Scriptures the principles of salvation which now apply to faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. That principle is that when one’s faith in the living Christ is personal and real, that believer will confess this openly and by mouth to others. This will form part of a changed lifestyle. The challenge is whether one’s faith is real enough to produce the willingness to stand out and confess personal faith in Christ. The encouragement given is that anyone trusting in Him, whether Jew or Gentile, will never be put to shame, but will be saved. God’s richness of mercy more than compensates for the poverty caused by our sin.

 V 14–16: CALL Given that whoever calls on Him will know His salvation, the logical question is asked as to how unbelievers are going to hear of Christ in order to call upon Him. The answer is that preachers of the gospel must be sent to tell them, always bearing in mind that even then there will be many who do not obey the gospel and turn to Christ, though the offer is open to them.

 V 17: CONCLUSION The simple conclusion is that saving faith is produced by hearing God’s Word.

 V 18–21: COMPARISON Using the Old Testament Scriptures, the comparison is made between Gentiles, who have believed and come to know God’s blessing, and the Israelites, who are thus provoked to jealousy by seeing outsiders come to know the God who longs that they should turn to Him. Although God will judge sin, He confirms to Israel that ‘All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people’. God is always willing to welcome returning sinners, be they Jews or Gentiles.

 Dictionary of Bible Themes

7953 mission, of the church

 The continuation of Jesus Christ’s mission through his followers. Believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit and sent out by Christ to bear witness to him and to preach, heal, teach, baptise and make disciples of all peoples.

The power and authority of the church’s mission

 Believers are sent out by Jesus Christ Jn 15:16 See also Mt 9:37-38; Lk 10:1-3; Jn 4:36-38

 Believers are given authority by Jesus Christ Lk 9:1 See also Mt 10:1; Mt 28:18; Mk 6:7; Mk 16:17-18; Lk 10:17-19

 Believers continue Jesus Christ’s mission Jn 20:21 See also Jn 17:18

 Believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit Ac 1:8 See also Lk 24:49; Jn 20:22; Ac 4:31; Heb 2:4

The task of the church in mission

 Making disciples Mt 28:19-20 See also Ac 2:41-42; Ac 14:15; Ac 16:14-15; Ac 18:8; Ro 10:14-15; 1Jn 1:2-3

 Preaching and healing Lk 9:2 See also Mt 10:7-8; Mk 16:20; Lk 9:6

Proclaiming the gospel Ac 20:24 See also Ac 8:40; Ro 1:9; Ro 15:20; 2Ti 1:11

Bearing witness to Jesus Christ Ac 5:30-32 See also Lk 24:48; Jn 15:26-27; Ac 4:20

 Bringing honour to God Eph 3:10-11 See also Jn 15:8; 1Pe 2:12

The universal scope of the church’s mission

 Lk 24:47 See also Mt 24:14 pp Mk 13:10; Mk 16:15

The church reaching out in mission

To the Jews Mt 10:5-6 The disiples’mission began with the Jews. See also Mt 10:9-15 pp Mk 6:8-11 pp Lk 9:3-5 pp Lk 10:4-12; Ac 11:19 The scattered believers at first preached only to Jews.

To the Samaritans Ac 8:4-8 See also Ac 8:14-17,25

To the Gentiles Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles: Ac 9:15; Ro 11:13; Ro 15:16

Ac 10:34-35 Peter preaches to Cornelius and his family; Ac 11:20-21 Scattered believers preach to the Gentiles; Ac 13:1-3 Paul begins his first missionary journey (with Barnabas); Ac 15:40-41 Paul begins his second missionary journey (with Silas); Ac 16:9-10 Paul is called to preach the gospel in Macedonia; Ac 18:23 Paul’s third missionary journey; Ac 28:31 Paul preaches the gospel in Rome.

Missions undertaken by church officials

Ac 11:22-23 Barnabas is sent to Antioch to strengthen the new church. Paul and Barnabas take gifts to Jerusalem: Ac 11:30; Ac 12:25

Ac 15:22-23 Judas and Silas are sent to Antioch with a letter from the apostles and elders.

Words for the Wise, Standing Strong and Remaining Steadfast, 1 Thessalonians 3

1 Thessalonians 3

New Living Translation (NLT)

3 Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens, 2 and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God’s co-worker[a] in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, 3 and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know that we are destined for such troubles. 4 Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come—and they did, as you well know. 5 That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.

6 But now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. He reports that you always remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you. 7 So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters,[b] because you have remained strong in your faith. 8 It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord.

9 How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. 10 Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.

11 May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. 12 And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.

Footnotes:

3:2 Other manuscripts read and God’s servant; still others read and a co-worker, or and a servant and co-worker for God, or and God’s servant and our co-worker.

3:7 Greek brothers.

Matthew Henry's Commentary

Verses 6-10

Here we have Paul’s great satisfaction upon the return of Timothy with good tidings from the Thessalonians, in which we may observe,

I. The good report Timothy made concerning them, 1 Thess. 3:6. Without question, he was a willing messenger of these good tidings. Concerning their faith, that is, concerning their steadfastness in the faith, that they were not shaken in mind, nor turned aside form the profession of the gospel. Their love also continued; their love to the gospel, and the ministers of the gospel. For they had a good and a kind remembrance of the apostles, and that constantly, or always. The names of the apostles were very dear to them, and the thoughts of them, and what they themselves had received from them, were very precious, insomuch that they desired greatly to see them again, and receive some spiritual gift from them; and there was no love lost, for the apostle was as desirous to see them. It is happy where there is such mutual love between minister and people. This tends to promote religion, and the success of the gospel. The world hates them, and therefore they should love one another.

II. The great comfort and satisfaction the apostle had in this good report concerning them (1 Thess. 3:7, 8): Therefore, brethren, we were comforted in all our affliction and distress. The apostle thought this good news of them was sufficient to balance all the troubles he met with. It was easy to him to bear affliction, or persecution, or fightings from without, when he found the good success of his ministry and the constancy of the converts he had made to Christianity; and his distress of mind on account of his fears within, lest he had laboured in vain, was now in a good measure over, when he understood their faith and the perseverance of it. This put new life and spirit into the apostle and made him vigorous and active in the work of the Lord. Thus he was not only comforted, but greatly rejoiced also: Now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord, 1 Thess. 3:8. It would have been a killing thing to the apostles if the professors of religion had been unsteady, or proved apostates; whereas nothing was more encouraging than their constancy.

III. The effects of this were thankfulness and prayer to God on their behalf. Observe, 1. How thankful the apostle was, 1 Thess. 3:9. He was full of joy, and full of praise and thanksgiving. When we are most cheerful we should be most thankful. What we rejoice in we should give thanks for. This is to rejoice before our God, to spiritualize our joy. Paul speaks as if he could not tell how to express his thankfulness to God, or his joy and rejoicing for their sakes. But he was careful God should not lose the glory of the comfort he received in the welfare of his friends. His heart was enlarged with love to them and with thanksgiving to God. He was willing to express the one and the other as well as he could. As to thankfulness to God, this especially is very imperfect in the present state; but, when we come to heaven, we shall do this work better than now we can. 2. He prayed for them night and day (1 Thess. 3:10), evening and morning, or very frequently, in the midst of the business of the day or slumber of the night lifting up his heart to God in prayer. Thus we should pray always. And Paul’s prayer was fervent prayer. He prayed exceedingly, and was earnest in his supplication. Note, When we are most thankful we should always give ourselves to prayer; and those we give thanks for have yet need to be prayed for. Those whom we most rejoice in, and who are our greatest comforts, must be our constant care, while in this world of temptation and imperfection. There was something still lacking in their faith; Paul desired that this might be perfected, and to see their face in order thereunto. Note, (1.) The best of men have something wanting in their faith, if not as to the matter of it, there being some mysteries or doctrines not sufficiently known or believed by them, yet as to the clearness and certainty of their faith, there being some remaining darkness and doubtings, or at least as to the effects and operations of it, these being not so conspicuous and perfect as they should be. And, (2.) The ministry of the word and ordinances is helpful, and to be desired and used for the perfecting of that which is lacking in our faith.

The Bible Panorama

1 Thessalonians 3

V 1–5: TRIBULATION The Thessalonians have gone through tribulation and afflictions. Paul sent Timothy to them to encourage them, edify them, and let them know that such trials are normal for the Christian church. Paul is concerned that Satan may tempt them to compromise or abandon their faith because of their tribulations.

V 6–8: TIMOTHY Timothy returned to Paul with good news of their progress, especially in faith and love. They remember Paul, and want to see him and his fellow workers. Paul is also going through afflictions, and this news comforts him. He lives for the joy of seeing his converts stand and glorify Christ.

 V 9–11: THANKS He describes the joy and rejoicing which lead him to thank God for the Thessalonians. His round-the-clock prayer emphasis is that he may see them and help them in their faith in Christ. He continues to pray that God will direct his way to them.

 V 12–13: TIES Meanwhile Paul prays that their love will strengthen towards one another and that they will be established in holiness. He reminds them that Christ is coming again with His saints.

The Bible Panorama. Copyright © 2005 Day One Publications.

Dr. Ravi Zacharias - Christian Leaders + Pride