Radical with David Platt
Radical with David Platt is a podcast that highlights sermons weekly from teacher, author, and pastor David Platt.
Radical with David Platt
An All-Encompassing Vision
What happens to people who never hear the name of Jesus? Would a good and just God really send them to hell? In this message from David Platt from Romans 1–3, we’re reminded that all people, without exception, stand condemned in their sin and deserving of God’s just and eternal wrath. That’s why it’s so crucial that we understand the urgency of getting the gospel to them. Better yet, we need to ask the question, “How might God use me to help spread the gospel to those who have never heard?” As followers of Jesus, we should want people from all nations to hear and believe the same good news that saved us.
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You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author and teacher David Platt. As you're turning there, let me encourage you. If you've got your celebration guide, there's some notes that will help you follow along in our time with God's Word that are included in there. Go ahead and pull that out and turn with me to Romans, chapter 15. And turning me to Romans, chapter 15. As you're turning there, I want to tell you a story that I think will help set the stage for what I want us to talk about together this morning during our time in God's Word and I know I think I've said this before I know preachers have a tendency to exaggerate, and for that I apologize, but I need to let you know from the very beginning of the story that there is no exaggeration. You're going to think I'm exaggerating, but there's no exaggeration whatsoever in the story I'm about to tell you. There's a church that I've had the opportunity to preach at a couple of times before and that God has given me the opportunity to develop a relationship with. It's a church a little farther west than here. We'll just kind of leave it at that, but this is a church that's small church, not a big church, but I had the opportunity to preach at a conference where some of these members had been there and they invited me to come and preach there a couple times. They have a small group of people that prays for me on a continual basis and actually I never asked for anything along these lines, never have but they send me a check pretty regularly to just support what God's doing in the ministry that he's given to me. And so one particular Sunday I was scheduled to preach there.
Speaker 1:On a Sunday morning my wife Heather and I had driven over there on Saturday and I was planning on preaching on the Great Commission, on making disciples of all nations. And Saturday night when we got there we went over to a house where the pastor and his wife and two deacons and their wives were hanging out and had dinner together and then we just kind of sat around talking afterwards and I was sitting there in their company just kind of telling them about some of the things that God was doing in my own life and in the ministry that God had given me the opportunity to be a part of, whether it was doing inner city stuff with homeless folks in New Orleans or with internationals in New Orleans and then I began to share with them about some of the opportunities God had opened up overseas to go into some pretty difficult places but to make the gospel known among people that are very anti-Christ in many ways. And I'll never forget what happened as I had shared that one of the deacons sat up in his chair and he looked at me in the eye and he said, david, we want you to know how excited we are about all that's going on there. He said you know, if you ask me, all those people that you're talking about that are so anti-Christianity? I just assume God annihilated all those people and sent them to hell. He didn't know. You asked me what I said. In response to that, I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I was stunned into silence. I just assumed God annihilated all those people and sent them to hell.
Speaker 1:And conversation went on and progressed and I began to think okay, I'm supposed to preach on the Great Commission in the morning. This is going to be very interesting. And so I got up the next morning, went to the church service and during the welcome the pastor was welcoming all those who were there. And before I got up to preach. The pastor began to go into this side note about how thankful he was to be living in the United States of America and he began to talk about how great it was to live in the US of A and how much he would never want to live in any other country outside of the United States because of all that we have here. It was a real patriotic speech. I thought Lee Greenwood was about to pipe in from the background. We were having a moment there and I began to think okay, you know, the pastor has just proclaimed to the church that he would never live anywhere outside the United States. I'm about to preach on making disciples of all nations, so this is really going to be interesting. So I got up and I preached the sermon and gave the invitation to the end. Not a lot of response that particular day.
Speaker 1:And I remember when I was standing on the front row before the service closed out, the pastor got up and he said now, before we dismiss, there's just something, a couple other things I need to say. I thought, oh great, here we go and he begins to share. He says David, like we told you last night, he said I want you to know that we are really excited about the things God is doing in and through your life. And he looked at me in front of the whole church and he said and we promise you we will continue to send a check to you so that you can do those things, so that we do not have to go there and do them ourselves. I could feel at this point my wife, who's standing behind me, her hand, comes on my shoulder. She could tell that I'm about to lose it.
Speaker 1:And then he continues. He said I remember my last church where I was serving. We had a missionary come from Japan and he shared about all that God was doing. And he said I told my church that day that if they didn't give to help this missionary in Japan, that I would pray that God would send their kids to go over to Japan to work with him. Like it was a threat. And he said we gave that guy a laptop, listed all kinds of things that they supported him with, and the service closed down.
Speaker 1:Heather and I got into the car and began to drive away saying nothing. We couldn't believe what had just happened and I began to be angry. And then it was one of those moments where God kind of turns the tables, and I began to think you know, those deacons and that pastor have said what most of the people who are sitting in a pew this morning believe, but are just not bold enough to say now, before you say that's too brash, dave, that's a little too bold, don't you think you're being a little Artemis? Let me ask you a question how many of us are living like people in the inner city are okay without Jesus Christ? And how many of us are living like it's okay to give a check, just as so long as we don't have to go there and do it ourselves? How many of us are really praying, how many of you with children are really praying that God would raise up your son, your daughter, to go into the Middle East and give their life to make the gospel of Jesus Christ now? And how many of our churches are operating like the hundreds of millions of people who have never heard the name of Jesus are okay without him? And so this morning I want us to dive into a question that I believe is one of the most important questions facing the church of Jesus Christ in America today, and I want us to take an honest look at the heart of God and what it means for our lives and specifically for the church at Brook Hills. You've got your notes there.
Speaker 1:One of the most important questions facing the church today here's the question what happens to people who never hear about Jesus? What happens to people who never hear about Jesus? Now? This, I believe, is an extremely important question in light of the video that we just saw. Over a billion people who have never even heard his name, never even heard the name of Jesus. I've met some of them in India and other places in Asia haven't even heard his name. You say Jesus. That's the first time. Who is that? Over a billion people who haven't even heard his name? So I think it's an extremely important question and I know from the very beginning this is a pretty emotionally charged question. It's pretty thick because when we think about a billion and a half people who haven't even heard his name, we begin to think about well, if God is loving and if God is gracious, then those people certainly wouldn't go to hell, would they? What happens to people who never hear about Jesus? And I believe that, at the core, this is a very emotionally charged question and I know it's not an easy question to answer.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, there's not a place I can take you in scripture this morning where Jesus says to his disciples some of you have wondered what's gonna happen to people who never even hear about me. Here's the answer. We don't have that in the gospels anywhere. The answer we don't have that in the Gospels anywhere. But what I want to do is take you to a passage of Scripture, or some passage of Scripture that, I think, help us answer this question. In Romans. Look with me at Romans, chapter 15. I want you to see the background of this book Romans, chapter 15, verse 23. We're going to read this, and then I want you to think about why this guy named Paul wrote this letter that we had the opportunity to spend some time together in last week. Look at chapter 15, verse 23. Why did Paul write this letter? Look at what it says.
Speaker 1:Now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there, for Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it and indeed they owed it to them, for if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
Speaker 1:Okay, a little New Testament history here to help us get a grasp on what's going on right here. I'm going to show you a map up here on the screen. It's going on right here. I'm going to show you a map up here on the screen. It's going to show you Paul's missionary journeys. This is Paul's first missionary journey and I know it's kind of difficult to see, but I want you to look. On the far right of these maps You'll see a blue arrow going out. You can't read what the city name is, but that city is called Antioch. On the far right where the red and blue come together, that's a city called Antioch.
Speaker 1:In Acts, chapter 13, paul, his buddy Barnabas, gets sent out by the church in Antioch. The church in Antioch was the first church to really send people out to go and share the gospel in places that had never heard the gospel. And so the blue arrows show Paul leaving. They go down to Cyprus and they go north and head into some different areas, and the red arrows show them coming back. And you'll notice that they came back after they had left to Antioch. That was kind of home base for them.
Speaker 1:Let me show you Paul's second missionary journey. Look at the next map Again. The middle on the right is Antioch. Once again, paul leaves from there. He heads north. God says I want you to go to some places you've never been before. And so they go even farther north. They go up into Thessalonica and into Athens and into Corinth and they come down to the far southeast, in Jerusalem. And then where do they go back to? They go back to Antioch. That was home base for them, home base for the church sending out. Okay, third missionary journey You'll never guess where Paul leaves from Antioch.
Speaker 1:This is the home base, and so he heads out from Antioch this is the home base. And so he heads out from Antioch north, goes in a lot of the places he he'd been before and he comes to Corinth. Corinth is about the middle left on middle and the top left on that map, and that's where he writes this book, letter to the Romans, the people in Rome. He writes this book and he says we just read it. I'm going to go down to Jerusalem, down in the far southeast. But you'll notice, guess where Paul doesn't plan on going back to this time Antioch. He's not heading back to home base. Why is he not going back there? Well, look at this next map. It'll help you get a grasp on it. Right in the middle of this map is the city of Rome. If you look on the far right, you'll see Jerusalem and Antioch Sidon in the middle. You'll notice that Paul said I'm going to go from Corinth down to Jerusalem, and then he said I'm going to come to you at Rome.
Speaker 1:But what did we just read? Was Rome Paul's final destination? No, he said when I come to you, I need you to assist me on my way to where Spain exactly, which is the very far west of this map. On the left you see that big block that we know as Spain today. That's where Paul wanted to get. The people there had never heard the name of Jesus. And Paul writes to them at Rome and says I need you to help me get there. You see, antioch had been Paul's home base for missions, but if he wants to get all the way over to Spain, is Antioch the most logical place to help him get there? No, obviously you don't head east in order to get west. He says I need Rome, I need you guys to help me get to the people who haven't even heard the name of Jesus. I believe that is why Paul wrote this book.
Speaker 1:Paul did not write this book just to give us a good, systematic theology of what the gospel is about. He wrote this book because he wanted these people to know how great the gospel was, so they would be compelled to help him, assist him on his way to Spain. Almost kind of like today. I don't know if you've received one of these before, but sometimes when people go on mission trips, they send out missionary support letters and they'll write a letter and say hey, this is an opportunity God has given to me to go overseas and I want to write you and tell you about it and ask you to pray for me and, if the Lord leads for you, to help me out financially in order to go on this trip. I think that's what Paul's writing here. It's a missionary support letter. Now, I've never seen a missionary support letter that looks like this in our culture today, but I think that's what Paul is doing.
Speaker 1:So, in light of that, the whole purpose of me showing you that is to show you that Paul is writing this book to convince people of the need to take this gospel to people who'd never heard it before in Spain and, as a result, when it comes to the question of what happens to people who never hear about Jesus, I think the ramifications of this book are huge. Now, again, there's not a point in this book where I can show you what happens to people who never hear about Jesus. Here's the answer. But instead, what I want to do is I want to give you seven affirmations this morning, seven truths that I think will help inform the answer to this question, seven truths that I want you to see in the book of Romans. So start with me and turn all the way back to Romans, chapter 1. Romans, chapter 1, and we'll start in verse 18, which is where Paul really begins his discussion of why these people need to hear the gospel.
Speaker 1:Romans, chapter one, verse 18. Look at what the Bible says there and begin to think about what happens to people who never hear about Jesus. Now we're going to read some different passages. Some will kind of fly through, some we'll spend some more time on, and you've got these notes that are in front of you. I want to encourage you to really follow along, pay close attention, because there's some points where, if you misunderstand me, you might well label me a heretic and kick me off the stage, and I really don't want that to happen. So I really want you to follow along close here. Okay, all right, and hopefully we won't be heretics. Okay, romans, chapter 1, verse 18.
Speaker 1:The wrath of God, paul says, is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth of God by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain, for since the creation of the world, god's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse. Affirmation number one all people know God the Father. All people in all history know God the Father. All people, whether those of us who are sitting in here, the guy in the jungle in Africa, person in the village in Asia, anywhere in between all people have knowledge of God. Person in the village in Asia, anywhere in between All people have knowledge of God.
Speaker 1:Bible says it is being revealed continually. The wrath of God, the character of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godnesses and wickedness of men. He says the whole creation. This thing is revealed by creation. We know that God exists because we see his handiwork around us. When we look at creation, we can see that this didn't just happen by chance. There's a God who is behind this. He reveals his character through creation continually. I want you to see that. Paul says it is clear, clearly seen, there's no question. People know continual revealed by creation. It is clear and it is sufficient so that men are without excuse. So for every single one of us in this room, god is continually revealing his character to us, as well as to the people in the middle of the jungle in Africa, by his creation, continually, in a clear way so that none of us are without excuse. We all have the opportunity to know God the Father. All people know God the Father. Sound good, we on the same page? Okay, here we go.
Speaker 1:Affirmation number two All people reject true knowledge of God. All people reject true knowledge of God. Look at what verse 21 through 23 says. Although they knew God. Now, that makes reference to what we just talked about. All people knew God. They neither glorified him as God nor did they give thanks to him, but their thinking became futile. Their foolish hearts were darkened. They claimed to be wise, but they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. In other words, they rejected true knowledge of God and began to worship idols and images that they created. And this is not just talking about people in Paul's day. It's talking about people in all our day. Every single one of us has rejected true knowledge of God. Now, this is a fundamental point here, but it's a point that oftentimes we misunderstand.
Speaker 1:When it comes to this question of what happens to people who never hear about Jesus, I remember having a conversation with some college students at a conference and we were talking about this very issue. I remember having a conversation with some college students at a conference and we were talking about this very issue and there was a girl who was sitting across the table and she said to me she said, well, what about people, she said, who are doing the best with the knowledge that they have? She said, for example, the Indians who came over to this land, maybe the Aztec Indians. They came over, they didn't have a Bible, they hadn't heard about Jesus and they worshiped the sun, god, right, don't you think? I mean, they were doing the best they could with the knowledge they had.
Speaker 1:Don't you think God is honored in that? Aren't those people religious? I want you to think about that, based on what we just read from Paul's word. Aren't they religious? No, they are idolaters. They are idolaters, we are idolaters. We cannot make images of God and worship those and expect a holy God who deserves all our praise to be honored in that or to be pleased with that. This is the essence of idolatry, and all of us are guilty, whether it's ourselves, our jobs, our careers, our houses, our possessions, our whatever in our lives. We put on a pedestal and we begin to worship those things. That's idolatry. It's taking the rightful worship that is due to God away from him and putting it on something else. And whether it's worshiping the sun, god, or worshiping your investment plan, either way it is idolatry. All people, including every single one of us in this room, as well as all the people in Africa and Asia, have rejected true knowledge of God. Affirmation number two. Affirmation number two. Affirmation number three Based on that, we can say there are no innocent people in the world.
Speaker 1:There are no innocent people in the world. You see, what Paul does here is from Romans, chapter 1, verse 18, all the way to chapter 2, verse 16,. Paul talks about a group of people called the Gentiles, which were the non-Jewish people, the nations, and you can almost picture as Paul talks about how evil they are. You can picture the Jewish readers of this letter giving hearty amens to every paragraph. Yeah, those guys are terrible. Look at them. Look at them and then you notice it's very interesting. In chapter 2, verse 17, there's a major shift. Paul says to these Jewish people who are reading the book and are amening, how evil the Gentiles and the nations are. He says now you, if you rely on the law, brag about your relationship to God. He begins to talk to people that are Jewish, if you know his will to prove what is superior because you've been instructed by the law, and he begins to say that, even though the Gentiles are disobedient to God, you're in the same boat.
Speaker 1:There are no innocent people in the world, and that's why, when it comes to the middle of chapter three, paul says there are no innocent people in the world. There is no one who does righteous not even one. No one who understands, no one. No one who seeks God, no one who does good not even one. There are no innocent people in the world.
Speaker 1:Now, it's at this point that if you were to ask me this morning, david, be honest what happens to the innocent guy in Africa who's never heard the gospel before, I would look at you and I'd say, beyond the shadow of a doubt I believe the answer is that that person would go to heaven. What happens to the innocent kind of villain in Genesia who's never heard the gospel before? I believe with all my heart that person would go to heaven. Now, before you label me a heretic and begin to think what is this guy talking about, let me remind you that if there is an innocent guy in africa or asia who's never heard the gospel before, if he is innocent, if she is innocent, then he or she has no need for a savior. He's not done anything wrong, so why would he be separated from God? He's not separated from God. He has a relationship with God and he doesn't need to be saved by the blood of Christ. The only problem is he just doesn't exist. Please hear me on that.
Speaker 1:This is how this question is most often phrased, preacher. What happens to the innocent guy in Africa who's never heard the gospel before? We bias the question from the very beginning in favor of this person who's never done anything wrong, who's in the middle of a jungle. And it's just not true. Whether it's a guy in Africa or Asia or any one of us sitting in here in this auditorium this morning, every single one of us has rejected true knowledge of God and we are not innocent. Let me remind you this morning that we get this idea, particularly in our culture today. We get this idea that the default is heaven, and it's just not biblical. The default is not heaven, the default is hell. We have sinned against God and we deserve separation from him forever. So, yes, an innocent person would not need a savior. The problem is there are no innocent people in the world, whether in this room, not one innocent person nowhere else in the world. Make sense, we're on the same page. Okay, affirmation number four. Okay, we got that. You followed along with that. Okay, affirmation number four All people are condemned for rejecting God.
Speaker 1:All people are condemned for rejecting God. What I want you to see is at the end of Paul's argument, when you really come to Romans 3, verse 19 and 20, he says some very important words. I want you to look at them with me. He says we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. No one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin. What this is saying is is that because all of us stand before God with sin in our lives, all of us have disobeyed God. We stand before him accountable for our sin and we stand before him deserving separation from him. All people are condemned for rejecting God. Now, this is a very important point right here, and I want you to think about it with me for a second.
Speaker 1:Some people would say and I think it's a valid question well, what about? What about, okay, somebody in another place that's never heard the gospel before, never heard the name of Jesus? Would God, a loving and gracious God, really send that person to hell for rejecting Jesus, even though they never had the opportunity to hear about Jesus? Think about it. Do you think it would be loving, do you think it would even be just of God to send someone to hell for rejecting a Christ that they never even heard about? I don't think it would be. I don't think people would be sent to hell for rejecting a Christ that they never even had the opportunity to hear about. But don't miss the point of this passage All people are still condemned for rejecting who? For rejecting God.
Speaker 1:We begin to get this idea, surely. Surely, if they haven't heard of Jesus, that they get a pass somehow on this thing? Surely, if they haven't heard of Jesus, that they're not held accountable to the same thing we are held accountable to? And obviously, yes, they have a different level of knowledge. They haven't heard the name of Jesus. But I want you to think about it with me what about the ramifications If somebody gets a pass simply because they have not heard of Jesus?
Speaker 1:I want you to think about how this would completely deter the missionary enterprise of the church. Think about it with me. If the people in the middle of the jungle in Africa are okay and are headed to heaven simply precisely because they have never heard the name of Jesus, then the worst thing we could do is go and tell them about Jesus. Right, because when we do, we would increase their chance of condemnation, because when we do, we would increase their chance of condemnation. Think about how this looks practically If you believe that people are okay, they get a pass because they haven't heard the name of Jesus. Think about how this looks practically, even here in Birmingham. Imagine going onto a college campus here in Birmingham and there are people on college campuses all across the United States who have still never heard the name of Jesus Internationals, for example. I want you to imagine going up to an international student on the UAB campus over here. I want you to imagine going up to them and saying have you heard about Jesus? And them look at you and say, no, I've never heard of Jesus. Now if that person gets a free pass simply because they have not heard about Jesus, then what would you do in that situation? You would pull them aside and say, okay, if anybody tries to tell you about him, then immediately put your fingers in your ears and begin yelling really loudly and run away, because that would only increase their chances of going to hell.
Speaker 1:Now, we know that is not biblical. We know that's not biblical. We know that all over scripture, we are seen to take this salvation and to take this gospel to the ends of the earth. All people are condemned for rejecting God and, as a result, we need to take the gospel to them. Let's move on to affirmation number five. I'm Doing good here, following with me, all right.
Speaker 1:Affirmation number five it's pretty bleak at this point. It's pretty bleak. All people, no innocent people in the world, all people condemned for rejecting God. I am thankful that there becomes a turn in this book that we're reading, called Romans. Affirmation number five God has made a way of salvation for the lost. This is one of my favorite points in the whole book of Romans.
Speaker 1:Hopefully those of you who were here last week saw this come alive, maybe, but when you see Paul get to the end and he says we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law in every mouth of his silence, the whole world held accountable to God. I can almost picture Paul, whether he's writing or dictating this, just tears filling his eyes. No one declared righteous in his sight by observing the law. Then he picks the pen back up, wipes the tears away and he says but now? But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify, and this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. You see, all people, including all of us in this room, are condemned for rejecting God, but thankfully God does not leave us there. He has made a way of salvation for you and me. He has made a way of salvation for every single person in all of history, every single person that is living on the face of this planet today, for the six billion people in the world today.
Speaker 1:God has said I've made a way of salvation for the lost, and it goes right against this mountain theory of religions that says we have to find our own pathway to God. We have to make our way up to God, god at the top of the mountain, us at the bottom making our way up. No, against all that God says, I have come down the mountain to you. I have made a way of salvation for you, and the question in our culture today is definitely not. Why is there not more than one way? Why is there only one way? The question is, when you realize the context of the book of Romans, the question is why is there any way at all? We don't deserve the privilege of grace and mercy that God has poured out in his son Christ. But he has done it. He has done it for you in this room, he has done it for me, he has done it for the people in Africa and Asia and everywhere in between. He has made a way of salvation for the lost. This is the good news.
Speaker 1:Romans, chapter 3, verse 21 through 26. Memorize that passage, let it soak into your being. God has presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement. He has shed his blood so that you could not be condemned, so that you could say later in Romans 8, there is now no condemnation. God has made a way of salvation for the lost. Affirmation number six. Affirmation number six Based on this and what Paul says after this people cannot come to God apart from Christ. People cannot come to God apart from Christ. I'll let that soak in for a second. If you'll look in Romans, chapter 3, verse 27 through 31, you'll see Paul begin to talk about boasting.
Speaker 1:And he said boasting is excluded. On what principle? That of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. Now listen to this verse, verse 28. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith, apart from observing the law. So we are not justified before God, we are not saved from our sins before God by what we do by observing the law. No, we are saved by faith.
Speaker 1:Faith in what? Faith always has to have an object. You can't just make up faith and have faith. You have to have faith in something. That's what he had just said and what he builds on after this. It's faith in Christ. It's faith in what Christ did on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. When you trust in Christ, when you place your faith in him, you can come to a relationship with God. But apart from that kind of faith, no matter how good you are, no matter how memorable of a person you are, no matter how many things you do. You cannot come to God only through faith. People cannot come to God apart from faith in Christ.
Speaker 1:And as we think about what happens to people who never hear about Jesus, this is a very, very big question Because and I'll be honest, I'm right here and what I'm about to say when we hear this question, we begin to think maybe God would make another way. If there's over a billion people who haven't even heard the name of Jesus, then maybe somehow, maybe God has made another way for them to come to him apart from Christ. If God is gracious, if God is loving, then certainly he would make another way. Right, and that's a real question. It's a question worth struggling with. But I want you to think about it as you struggle with that question. As soon as we come to the point and this is happening all over the church today as soon as we come to the point where we say maybe God would make another way, then we say to Jesus on the cross thank you for what you did, but it wasn't necessary, we could have found another way, and that is a dangerous place to be. I want you to see that our answer to this question may just throw the whole necessity of the cross in the air. Because here's the deal If they could come to God apart from Christ, then why did Christ have to die? For anyone of us in this room who walks out of here and says, well, people who haven't heard the name of Jesus can get to God another way, then we are saying Christ, your death was not all we needed. Christ, thanks for what you did, but we could have found another way ourselves. This question is so packed theologically and it's so important that we realize the ramifications of what we believe. So we had some good news for a second there, but things have gotten pretty dismal, pretty bleak again. Because if people cannot come to God apart from faith in Christ, then you've still got over a billion people who haven't heard the name of Jesus. And that's where we come to our final affirmation.
Speaker 1:Affirmation number seven Christ commands the church Doesn't call. Christ commands the church to make the gospel known to all peoples. Christ commands the church to make the gospel known to all peoples. I want you to see this with me over in Romans, chapter 10. Turn with me over there. We won't read all of these verses, verses five to 15. Maybe, basically, let me just kind of give you the context here. Paul is talking about how faith in Christ, faith in Jesus, has come to replace faith in God, that when you place your faith in Christ, that is placing your faith in God and that's how we are saved.
Speaker 1:Speaking particularly to these Jewish people, now I want you to come with me to verse 12, and I want you to look at what Paul says. Remember Christ commands the church to make the gospel known to all peoples. Verse 12,. Romans, chapter 10, for there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blessed is all who call on him For. So verse 4, underlining, memorizing everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Speaker 1: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? And how can they preach unless they are sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. Now, paul asks a series of questions here. How can they, how can they believe? Call on the one they haven't believed in? Believe and they haven't heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching? How can they believe, call on the one they haven't believed in, believe and they haven't heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching? How can they preach unless they're sent these questions?
Speaker 1:And what Paul is doing is he is describing the plan of God to make the gospel known to all peoples. This is the mission. This is the mission that I believe is unstoppable, from cover to cover in Scripture God making his gospel, his goodness, his greatness known among all peoples. The question I want to ask this morning, though, is where is the breakdown in this mission? Where is the breakdown in this mission? And in order to ask that question, what I want you to do is I want you to kind of take a journey from the back to the front of this passage we just read, and I want you to think about God's plan. It's not written here, and you've got some space there at the bottom of that page in your notes if you want to write this down. But I want you to think about, let's follow the verbs from the back of what we just read to the front, and I think we'll get a picture of what God's plan is for making the gospel known among all peoples. What does it say there? At the very end, verse 15. How can they preach unless they are sent? So this is where it starts.
Speaker 1:Christ sends his servants. That's where the plan begins. Christ is sending people, servants you and me to make the gospel known. So Christ sends his servants, and what it says there is how can they preach unless they are sent? So when Christ sends servants, what do the servants do? They preach.
Speaker 1:Now, this isn't just for the guys who stand behind the podium or stand in front of the whole group. This is a word in the New Testament that means proclaim the gospel. It's a word that applies to all of us in this room who have a relationship with Christ, not just for the vocational preachers. This is for all of us. Christ sends his servants and the servants do what? Live good lives, be nice people? Well, yes, certainly those things. But they preach, they share the gospel, verbally, proclaim the gospel.
Speaker 1:What happens when his servants preach? What does it say? How can they hear without someone preaching to them? So, obviously, when Christ sends servants, the servants preach. People hear, people begin to hear the gospel, many of them for the first time. And what does the Bible say before that? How can they believe in the one whom they have not heard. Don't miss it.
Speaker 1:When Christ's servants and those servants preach and people hear, many who hear will believe. Now, obviously, not all who hear, but I believe this is a promise from scripture. You go to the Han, you go to the people that are listed up here, the Bengali that you saw in this video. I guarantee you, I believe, based on the authority of scripture, that when we share the word of Christ with them and share the gospel, there will be people who, when they hear, they will believe and they will embrace this message because it's unstoppable, because we know that all of eternity is headed to a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, from every nation and every tribe and every people, and they will sing praises to Christ. Men and women have the confidence. You, women, have the confidence. You go to people and you share the gospel. There will be many who, when they hear, they will believe.
Speaker 1:Now, what happens when they believe? What do they do? How can they call on the one they have not believed in? So, when they believe, they call. So here's the progression Christ and servants preach when they preach. People hear when they hear, they believe. When they believe, they call. Those people who believe will call on the name of the Lord and the guarantee is, for every single person in all the world who calls the name of the Lord, what will happen? He will be saved. He will be saved. Christ sends servants. They preach the gospel.
Speaker 1:When they preach, people hear. When they hear, they believe. When those who believe call, they will be saved, guaranteed. That is the outline. That is God's plan for making the gospel known to all peoples. Now the question is where is the outline? That is God's plan for making the gospel known to all peoples? Now the question is where is the breakdown in this mission? Think about it with me. Is the breakdown here? When they believe, when they call, will they be saved? Yes, no doubt. That's a guarantee. When they believe, no doubt they will call when they hear, no doubt many of them will believe in Christ.
Speaker 1:When we preach unless we're preaching in a room by ourself, which really doesn't make a lot of sense people are going to hear. When we preach, they'll hear, and undoubtedly, christ is sending servants. So where's the breakdown? And the servants who have been entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ fail to preach this gospel to all nations. Please hear me loud and clear. This is God's plan. It is plan A for taking the gospel to all nations and there is no plan B. There's not a plan B. You don't see it anywhere in Scripture.
Speaker 1:Sure, people might say well, doesn't God have the power to make this gospel known to them in other ways? Undoubtedly God could write it in the sky and clouds. He could write out the gospel Jesus loves you. He could go through the whole Roman road in the clouds. No question he could go through the whole Roman road in the clouds. No question he could do that. He has the power to do that. He has the power to reveal himself in dreams and visions, which he is in many, particularly Muslim areas in our world today. There's testimonies about God revealing himself in dreams and visions.
Speaker 1:But can I remind you that when you read the book of Acts, you will not find one verse, not one verse, where the gospel goes to the nations, apart from the testimony of servants of Christ. What about Cornelius? He sees a vision, right? What does God do? He calls Peter. He says get up and go and tell him what this means, tell him about the gospel Throughout the book of Acts. There is only one way the gospel goes to the nations, and it's through men and women, boys and girls who are proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ, who are taking this responsibility to preach and really giving themselves to it. That is God's plan A and there is no plan B. And so I say to you this morning, the biblical truth that I pray God will bring home in our hearts is this God's desire for the church at Brook Hills is not to sit around on a Sunday morning to answer this question.
Speaker 1:God's desire for the church at Brookhills is not to sit around on a Sunday morning to answer this question. God's desire for this church is to alleviate the question all together. My interest this morning is in no way to have debates over what happens to people who never hear about Jesus. That is not my purpose. My purpose is not just for us to have a good theological discussion on a Sunday morning. My purpose is for you, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to see, to see this question and to feel its weight and to feel its gravity and to begin to think in your life. How can we at this church be a part of alleviating this question all together, so that we don't have to sit around and think about what happens to people who never hear about Jesus, because we know that those billion people have heard his name. And I know what you're thinking, dave. Once again you're getting a little idealistic on us. How can we at the Church of Brook Hills really impact hundreds and hundreds of millions of people with the gospel? And it's a good question.
Speaker 1:I want you to look at a map up here with me on the screen. It's a map that you saw earlier and I want you to notice. You might it's faint, but right in the middle, for example, around Rome, you see a little bit of yellow around that red dot, and over there on the right in the east, you see a little bit of yellow. Around Jerusalem and Sidon, you see a little bit of yellow. That yellow represents the regions that were known to contain Christians at the beginning of Paul's ministry. That's, the regions that were known to contain the gospel. People had heard the gospel, received the gospel, believed in the gospel at the beginning of Paul's ministry. Now what I want to do is I want to show you a map that shows you the regions that were known to contain Christians by the end of Paul's ministry. That's pretty significant, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Now, obviously, I'm not saying that Paul was the only one who was sharing the gospel during that time there were a lot of people doing but I believe with all my heart, paul had a huge impact on this map. The gospel began to go forth. This was the end of Paul's ministry before he died. What I want you to notice on this map is the far west, spain, and there's no yellow there. You see, paul's desire was to get to Spain, but he never made it there. In fact, he was arrested in Jerusalem. He was taken to Rome, but not quite the way he'd planned. He was in chains and he never made it to Spain, and the end of his life, spain had never heard the gospel. So what does this mean? Paul? You're a failure, paul. You were too idealistic, paul. You were too idealistic, paul, you. You gave your life to this purpose, but there was a lot of areas you never got to cover. Why did you even give yourself to that mission?
Speaker 1:Before we say Paul's a failure, though, I want to show you, in just a second, a map that shows you the regions that were known to contain Christians within two centuries of Paul's death. Look at this with me. Within two centuries after he had died, the gospel had not only infiltrated Spain, but that entire part of the world. And I want to remind you, there was no TV and there was was no radio and there was no internet. It was just men and women who had the gospel in their hearts and they proclaimed it with their mouths. They gave their lives to it.
Speaker 1:And so the question I have for the church at Brook Hills this morning is what kind of impact are you going to have on this next map? Ladies and gentlemen, do not underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit of God in your life and in the life of this church. When you look at this map, you will see many blue areas. Those blue areas, every blue area, represents at least 100 people, groups who still have no access to the gospel.
Speaker 1:And I am standing before you this morning to say I believe with all my heart that God wants to use the church at Brook Hills to infiltrate this map of the gospel and he wants to change the face of this map. He has commanded us to make the gospel known to all nations. God, help us to see the need. They haven't even heard his name. There's nothing more important. This is more important. God, help us to see that this is more important than building a 401k. This is more important than building a 401k. This is more important than having a nice house and driving a nice car. It's more important than living a nice, comfortable life.
Speaker 1:I haven't even heard his name, and the question I want to ask you this morning is are you in? Students, teenagers, you've got your life sitting before you, your plans, your dreams, your ambitions. Are you in? Are you willing to say my entire life is going to be directed at one passion making the gospel known among all peoples. Are you in?
Speaker 1:Those of you who are sitting wondering, sometimes with your arms folded, what does the church really have for me? What really can I do a part of this church? Are you going to rise up and say I want in on this mission? Wives, husbands, homemakers, businessmen, businesswomen are you in? Are you willing to sacrifice the pleasures of this world in order to say I'm going to make the gospel known in all nations, no matter what it costs me and no matter what it costs my family, grandparents? Are you in? Grandparents, are you willing to set up and be a model for us of what it means to use the last years of your life to make the gospel known in all nations. We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of radical with david platt.