Do People Who Never Hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ Go to Hell?.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Alright, Romans chapter 3. [0:02] Over the past few weeks we have been spending some time tipping over some sacred cows in the church. [0:09] But what we’ve really been doing is more than answering a few questions that we’re curious about. [0:15] What we’ve actually been doing as we’ve been going through the series is we’ve been unpacking [0:20] what a life that is gospel centered really looks like. [0:26] What it looks like to have the gospel come into your life and change you and transform you

[0:32] and connect you to the body of Christ which is the church [0:36] and then put you into a community of discipleship that encourages and pushes you towards a life of endurance. [0:46] And then what it looks like during that endurance to actually begin to stop finding satisfaction [0:52] and the creation that is around us and begin to find satisfaction in the creator [0:57] where we do things that’s so counter cultural like leveraging our wealth for the kingdom of God [1:03] and beginning to live lives where our worship is seen through the way that we find satisfaction in God.

[1:10] And we begin to understand what it is like to worship Him in spirit and in truth. [1:15] And then finally we see inside of this community what it looks like to bear one another’s burdens in discipleship [1:24] where the weaker brothers and the stronger brothers come together and help each other [1:29] go towards the goal of a gospel centered life rather than living like everyone else in culture. [1:37] Where we just live for self centeredness and selfish passions and pursuits. [1:43] But rather when we see someone hurting, when we see someone struggling in sin

[1:48] we actually sacrifice our Christian liberties and that which is freedom in Christ [1:54] where we are actually so changed that we’re willing to sacrifice things [1:59] that God does not say we have to but rather He says there’s a greater law [2:03] and that’s the law of Jesus Christ and the grace that He’s put in our lives [2:07] where we actually just willingly say you know what I don’t need that for this time [2:11] because my brother or sister over here needs my help

[2:15] and we take each other’s burdens on and carry them for a time [2:19] while we’re helping each other become stronger brothers. [2:24] But what that does is it creates, I hope you understand, it creates this lifestyle [2:29] where we’re redeemed in Jesus, where we experience His redemption [2:32] and then we’re transformed into a life of missional community [2:38] where we come together for the purpose of growing in the gospel

[2:42] but also pushing it out into the culture around us [2:45] where our community is defined by the discipleship that takes place [2:50] where we’re authentic with each other, where we love each other [2:53] where we know each other and are known by each other [2:56] and we’re pushing each other towards the common purpose [2:59] of becoming a missionary in this culture

[3:04] so that we can then again see the cycle begin in someone else’s life [3:10] where redemption leads to mission, leads to community and leads to culture [3:14] and back to redemption with the purpose of bringing God glory [3:19] and worship through every place in the cycle [3:22] that we might currently find ourselves in. [3:27] Because you see when we answer these questions about how the gospel impacts our lives

[3:32] what we’re doing is we’re actually beginning to take postures [3:37] and attempt to do what is impossible with God [3:41] but what is absolutely possible and realistic with God [3:45] and that’s real life change. [3:49] And I hope that when you come here and when you go out [3:53] and when you come into community groups together

[3:55] and you actually get together and eat with one another [3:58] and you spend time with each other [4:00] you are trying to help others have life change [4:04] while you yourself are being changed by your relationships with them [4:09] otherwise we’re just forming a club where we have another hobby [4:13] and I don’t need another one of those

[4:16] and neither do you. [4:19] But what we need is to be changed by the gospel [4:23] but today what we’re really going to do [4:25] we’re going to deal with a very hard question [4:28] a very controversial question inside and outside of the church [4:31] because often times we answer this question

[4:33] and it’s more to make ourselves feel comfortable and better about ourselves [4:37] and the condition of those around us [4:39] than it is to really seek God and seek what he has to say about it. [4:44] But what we’re really going to do today is we’re going to unpack [4:48] what is our posture

[4:52] and the purpose of life change for us. [4:57] In other words, what does the gospel want to do in our lives? [5:04] Because when I define the gospel I mostly define it by the person of Jesus. [5:08] So what does Jesus want me to do with his gospel?

[5:14] Does he have a specific purpose for the gospel? [5:20] Or is it subjective? [5:23] Is it going to be different in your life than it is in my life? [5:26] Or has God streamlined such a plan

[5:32] as for in different ways and with different gifts [5:35] we’re all going towards the same purpose in the gospel.

[5:43] So the question we’re going to deal with today [5:46] is do people who never hear the gospel of Jesus Christ go to hell? [5:54] Because how we answer this question [5:57] does necessarily determine how urgent we feel that it is [6:05] to preach the gospel, first of all. [6:09] And then secondly, to begin to live in such a posture

[6:14] and create environments for us to actually put ourselves into positions [6:20] to proclaim the gospel to other people. [6:25] And how I want to begin this today [6:28] is just helping you understand that if it is not necessary [6:32] to believe in the name of Jesus to go to heaven, [6:35] if you can cop out, alright, let’s just call it that,

[6:39] and never hear the gospel, and they’re fine, [6:43] they’re heading to heaven, alright, [6:45] then it would necessarily be unloving [6:51] for us to go to cultures that do not have the gospel. [6:58] Because we would then in turn be making them responsible [7:01] for something they were never responsible for before.

[7:04] Alright, so what I want to do today is I want to start off. [7:08] A couple months ago we sent a team of people to China, alright, [7:13] to a large city outside of Beijing. [7:17] And I don’t want to get any more specific than that [7:19] simply because China is not completely open to the gospel. [7:23] And we have people that we’re partnering with right now

[7:26] with the International Mission Board who are still in this city [7:29] discipling the people that we’re seeing come to Christ during this trip. [7:34] And what I want us to do is I want us to begin by looking at a culture [7:38] of people who do not necessarily know even the name of Jesus. [7:44] They don’t even have a foundation for Jesus, alright. [7:48] We sometimes take for granted the name of Jesus in this culture.

[7:52] Alright, so what I want to do for a few minutes is I just want to watch a video [7:55] and kind of let you know what took place when our team was in China [7:59] and just see what God did.

[8:12] Hey, Villages, this is Nate. We’re up here in northern China. [8:14] It’s a beautiful fall day and we’re at the Great Wall. [8:17] We’re actually here on a section of the Great Wall [8:18] that is the part that they haven’t rebuilt for tourists yet, [8:21] so it’s pretty cool. [8:22] You can see it stretching for hundreds of miles out in the background.

[8:27] It’s been an awesome trip. [8:28] It’s been awesome seeing what God’s doing around the world here in China. [8:33] Every city here is massive. [8:35] There’s a high-rise that reaches the sky. [8:39] There’s just people everywhere, people that need Jesus.

[8:43] Out of the people that we’ve met here, [8:45] very few have really heard the whole story of Jesus. [8:48] And so it does tell you just the urgency of sharing the gospel, [8:53] of getting the gospel out to the nations, the nations that haven’t heard, [8:56] and giving those people an opportunity to respond. [9:00] We’re all supposed to be living for the gospel.

[9:02] Everywhere we go, every day, [9:04] and it just reminds you that that actually involves sharing the story. [9:09] It actually involves telling people who Jesus is, what he did.

[9:14] We talk about the great lostness at home, and it is real, it is true, [9:18] but the big difference there is most of those people have heard in some way, [9:21] have had a chance to respond. [9:23] There’s hundreds of millions of people here who haven’t had that chance. [9:27] As Great Commission Christians, we have a responsibility, [9:30] a task, and a great privilege to take that message here and to be a part of that.

[9:37] I think we met about two dozen people, got to talk to them, got to share with them, [9:42] had some people come to some events we did. [9:44] We even had one person accept Jesus and become a follower. [9:48] So that was really neat to see. [9:50] It’s really amazing to see this, the genuine change in a person [9:53] when they hear the truth for the first time and respond to the truth for the first time.

[9:58] I just want to give a big shout out to everyone back at the Village. [10:01] Thank you so much for your support. Thank you for your prayers. [10:03] They were definitely felt. Thank you for your financial support. [10:05] It really means a lot that we’re all in this together in God’s global mission.

[10:11] All right. I do want to let you guys know, you probably heard this a couple weeks ago, [10:15] but if you weren’t here, our team did have the great opportunity. [10:19] God, in His sovereignty, allowed them to take part and witness a young lady [10:24] who we’re going to call Ella, not a real name, but we’re going to call her Ella. [10:28] A young lady by the name of Ella did come to faith in Jesus Christ [10:32] through the ministry of our team. So give God a hand.

[10:37] What I’m more excited about than even that is the fact that [10:41] because we have a strategic partnership with missionaries that are still on the ground there, [10:46] she is now being discipled in the faith. [10:50] And the story goes that she had never heard the gospel before. [10:56] I just want to frame this for you. [10:58] This city that they were in is not even the biggest city in China by any regards,

[11:04] but what it is is an urban area, and I did a little research, [11:07] that’s only about 100 square miles larger than Chesterfield County, okay? [11:13] Chesterfield County has a population of 350,000 people, a little bigger than that. [11:17] This city, where it’s urban area is just a little bigger than Chesterfield, [11:23] boasts 6.3 million people, alright? [11:29] But here’s the more staggering fact to me,

[11:32] is that the majority of that 6.3 million have never heard the gospel. [11:39] Okay? [11:41] And so if you think that this is just a simple question for us to pass over [11:45] that we cannot really deal with, alright? [11:47] I want you to understand what is at stake. [11:51] That we by no means live in the most populated area in the world,

[11:57] and for the 350,000 people here, we are passionately, [12:01] church after church, proclaiming the name of Jesus, [12:04] but the International Mission Board for 6.3 million people has a team of 10. [12:10] That’s not 10 churches, that’s 10 people, okay?

[12:15] And you saw some of the videos, some of the stills in that video were kind of darker, [12:20] but they were of an actual Bible study in the condo of the missionaries, [12:27] where some of the Chinese people are coming in and hearing of Jesus for the first time, [12:32] and repenting of their sins, and coming to faith in Jesus. [12:35] But here’s the great question, what if they never hear?

[12:42] What if no one ever tells them?

[12:47] In the book of Romans.

[12:51] What I want us to understand this morning,

[12:54] is that this is a culture that’s similar in prosperity to us, [12:58] some would even say more prosperous at this point, [13:02] but with similar materialistic wealth, [13:05] these are not people that are living in huts, alright? [13:10] These are people very similar to you and I, that don’t know. [13:15] But here’s where I want to go with us this morning,

[13:17] I want you to understand first and foremost that in the Gospel, God is exclusive. [13:24] I’m going to start with the exclusivity of the Gospel this morning, [13:28] and I want you to understand that in the Gospel, God is being very exclusive. [13:32] And here’s what I mean by that. [13:33] If you want to turn to the book of Romans chapter 1, [13:35] I’m going to start reading in verse 19.

[14:07] Here’s what I want to do, and I want to take you to a place that might be very uncomfortable for you right now, [14:12] because we are a very loving people, especially some of the mothers in here like my mother and my wife, [14:17] and it’s like we don’t want to think on the bad things, we just want to think on the good things, [14:20] but here Paul’s being pretty bleak. [14:22] So here’s what I want you to understand, if we trust God, we must trust His Word. [14:27] If we trust His Word, we must believe it before we believe our emotions.

[14:32] And here’s what Paul’s unpacking for us right there. [14:34] Paul is unpacking that God in His sovereignty, in His divine power, [14:39] through creation itself has revealed to all men everywhere, throughout all history, [14:47] that yes, He does exist, and yes, we are responsible to Him. [14:54] Okay, and we have to trust God, because sometimes unless it’s spelled out for us, [14:59] we want to claim ignorance.

[15:00] Well, I didn’t know that’s the way it was supposed to go, but here’s what God is saying here. [15:04] He’s saying, I’ve revealed to you through the trees, through the grass, through the dirt, [15:09] through the sun, through the air that you breathe, and through the complex chemical makeup of your body, [15:15] and how some of it doesn’t make sense, that I am outside of this creation, I have created it, [15:21] and I am maintaining it by my divine power. [15:25] Yes, I exist, and I’ve made it plain to you.

[15:27] More than that, I’ve made it plain through that creation, [15:31] that you are logically, necessarily responsible to the Creator, if you are His creation.

[15:41] So no one is without excuse that God exists. [15:46] But he goes further than that. [15:48] He says, man, all men everywhere have rebelled against that responsibility to submit to the power of God. [16:02] All men everywhere. [16:03] Scripture actually says there, and they are without excuse. [16:07] That they, that’s us.

[16:11] But not only us. [16:13] It’s also the 6.3 million people in China, in this city. [16:17] It’s also the people of the entire nation of China, the people of India, the people of Africa, the people of the Middle East. [16:24] All of the thousands of tribes, and millions of people, [16:31] that have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ, are responsible to a holy God. [16:40] Alright?

[16:42] But if we go further in the book of Romans, what chapter 1-3 really does in the book of Romans, [16:47] is it unpacks for us the bleak reality of what we’re dealing with in ourselves, [16:53] and in our own emotion, where in chapter 3 verses 10-11 of the book of Romans, [16:58] what Paul’s actually going to write there,

[17:04] is that as it is written, none is righteous. [17:08] No, not one. [17:09] No one understands God. [17:11] No one seeks God.

[17:16] In other words, everyone everywhere has willfully run from this God that we’re responsible to. [17:24] So you might be asking yourself, what does that mean?

[17:28] Well here’s what it means.

[17:32] In the Gospels and throughout the Old Testament, there’s this understanding that there are two eternal destinations for people. [17:39] All men everywhere. One is where God is. [17:43] And that’s heaven. [17:45] And one is where God is not. [17:48] And that’s hell. [17:50] But here’s what we have done in our culture, and here’s why we’re saying,

[17:53] well that’s not fair, if they don’t know how to get to heaven, then they’re not responsible. [17:56] But here is what’s actually being laid out here. [18:00] Heaven is not simply a place of fun, happiness, good times, where nothing ever goes wrong. [18:09] And hell is not simply a place where we’re sad, we’re getting poked by pitchforks, [18:17] where we’re uncomfortable, where somebody needs to turn the air conditioner on, [18:21] where it’s just not a pleasant place to be, and we’re burning.

[18:24] That is not a sufficient definition of the eternal destination of man. [18:30] Here it is. Here’s how Jesus lays out, and Paul’s going to lay it out, and I’m just going to summarize it for you. [18:34] Heaven is a place that is consumed with the glory, worship, and eternal satisfaction in our great God and King, [18:46] where we will worship Him forever, and where Jesus Christ reigns as King.

[18:55] Hell is a place that is defined by the glory, the worship, and the exaltation of self.

[19:10] Hell is the ends of seeking your own glory. [19:20] That’s why throughout the Gospels, Jesus defines hell as a place of utter despair, utter agony, misery, burning, never-ending hurt and pain. [19:34] Because that is what separation from God is. [19:40] It is falling under the wrath of God for not doing what you were created to do in the first place. [19:50] Hell is not a place where God simply sends you for being bad. [19:54] Hell is what we want in our own self-worship and self-glory.

[20:02] Hell is God giving you exactly what you ask for in seeking a self-centered existence for the glory of you.

[20:16] So the question, do people who never hear the name of Jesus go to hell? Yes. [20:23] Yes. I’m going to make it very blunt. Absolutely, they do. [20:27] If I trust the Word of God, I have to say yes.

[20:34] What I want us to do this morning is I want us to not just simply have a bunch of information, but rather I want us to know what is our posture towards this. [20:41] In the Gospel, God is exclusive. In the Gospel, God is actually giving us what we don’t want. [20:48] And that’s hell.

[20:51] But also understand that in the Gospel, God is inclusive. [20:54] The exclusivity of Jesus is something that culture often times rebels against. [20:59] But what we don’t really want to do is we don’t want to look at it and say, man, God is inclusive through the Gospel. [21:04] Look in Romans chapter 3 down in verse 22. [21:08] The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

[21:14] Excuse me. I need my glasses. [21:16] The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction. [21:21] For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. [21:34] This was to show God’s righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. [21:40] It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. [21:49] In his divine sovereignty, God is being absolutely inclusive in how he redeems man to himself.

[21:59] Because here’s why it would be unloving for God to say, I’m going to make many paths to me. [22:05] Because that would lead to nothing but a life of confusion in which we pervert every path over and over again so that no man could ever actually know a right or a wrong way. [22:20] It would be the same thing as trying to apply a cancer drug that is for a certain type of cancer to another type of cancer that obviously won’t work. [22:31] In the gospel, what God is doing is he is calling to an end to confusion and revealing himself to a man who has run from him and saying, [22:42] Look, you can still find me. I love you in spite of your hatred for me. [22:48] Through the gospel, God lessens confusion.

[22:51] But understand also that through the gospel, God is rejecting distinction between race, gender, ethnicity, anything.

[23:06] Notice in those verses that the scriptures actually say that through the gospel, God is calling an end to distinction and including all men everywhere. [23:15] And saying the door is open. Just come through the work of my son, Jesus.

[23:28] Well, we need to understand that in the gospel, God is both just and justifier. [23:34] Remember in chapter one, that great responsibility that we saw where man has run from God even though he was absolutely responsible to God? [23:41] Well, in the gospel, here’s why God is so magnificent and why we must live in absolute red hot worship of him. [23:48] We have to understand that in the gospel, God both deals with our sin to where he is not simply just saying, [23:55] Okay, we’re going to pretend that never happened. [23:57] Because that would not be loving.

[24:00] Because if you do that, psychologists will tell you, [24:02] Okay, we’re going to pretend that never happened. [24:03] What you’re doing is you’re setting a person up for a second fall. [24:07] But rather what God does is he says, I’m going to deal with your sin. [24:11] I’m going to show you the severity of your sin through laying the penalty for it on top of my son. [24:18] And through the work of Jesus Christ, he finds both justice for sin, but also what we find is great grace in the fact that he takes sin off of us, lays it to his own account.

[24:31] That’s what that word forbearance means. [24:34] It is a financial term of debt and how to deal with it. [24:39] And what it says in the gospel is that we had a great debt in which we could not pay. [24:44] And God said, I will pay it on your behalf so that you can live as you were created to live in worship of me. [24:51] I will change you, finding both justice and laying my wrath on my own son, but also giving grace through you and I being able to have the very righteousness of his son, Jesus Christ. [25:08] God is both just and justifier.

[25:14] So we have this great gospel from a great God, a great king, a son who died on our behalf, but then rose winning victory over sin and the gospel proclaims, and all who believe are redeemed forevermore.

[25:35] But here’s where we have to go.

[25:39] What are the implications of the truth of the gospel?

[25:43] Must there be recognition of the name of Jesus?

[25:47] Because there’s one way to look at this, and this is what some people do, and they say the gospel is a universal truth and Jesus has dealt with sin for all time and he is the source of salvation even to those who don’t understand it.

[26:06] Or that it has to be specifically the name of Jesus. [26:10] Look over in Romans chapter 10. [26:15] It’ll be up on the screens.

[26:18] Let’s start reading in verse 11. [26:21] For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame, for there is no distinction. [26:27] There’s that no distinction, that inclusivity, no matter your ethnicity.

[26:33] For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. [26:42] For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. [26:47] Notice the inclusivity, but also the exclusivity. [26:52] That it must be the name of the source. [26:55] There must be a recognition. [26:57] Here’s why.

[26:58] We were designed not to worship a God that may exist, but a God that does exist. [27:06] And who has revealed himself to us even more specifically and more purposefully than through the trees and everything that exists. [27:15] He has revealed himself through us specifically through the person and work of Jesus Christ. [27:21] And our answer to the question of is the source and the name important? [27:26] And Paul cries out, yes, because we must call on him. [27:30] Because it is in recognition of Jesus that we see this real and personal God that we worship.

[27:38] And we are not just simply throwing prayers to a God that may exist. [27:41] But a prayer to a God that does not only exist, but has made himself very real to us and personal to us in sending his own son to the cross.

[27:57] In Acts chapter 4 and verse 12, Peter has just finished preaching the gospel to the council who can legally kill him. [28:10] Because he healed a man in the name of Jesus. [28:13] And they say, we’re cool with you healing people, just don’t do it in that name. [28:18] Alright, in other words, we want the effects of the gospel without the truth of the gospel.

[28:25] Peter looks back at them indignant and he says, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

[28:38] It’s the name of Jesus.

[28:43] So we have the truth, we have an understanding, now what is our posture?

[28:48] What if they don’t hear? What if they don’t believe?

[28:53] The gospel is exclusive, the gospel is inclusive, but it’s only inclusive if you believe in Jesus. [29:00] Well, how do they believe in Jesus? [29:03] Well, the gospel must be preached.

[29:06] Romans chapter 10, let’s go a little further. [29:10] Paul tells us, he says, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. [29:14] But then in verse 14 he says, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? [29:19] And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? [29:22] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? [29:24] And how are they to preach unless they are sent as it is written?

[29:27] How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news? [29:31] What Paul is laying down for us right here, he’s saying, [29:36] how is someone supposed to believe in a God that they have never even heard of? [29:42] And how are they to hear unless someone tells them?

[29:46] I mean, this is just like, oh, yeah, it makes sense. [29:52] It’s as easy as saying, how is someone supposed to know the flavor of jelly that you like [29:56] unless you tell them the flavor of jelly that you like? [29:58] If you don’t tell them, you run the risk of getting grape when you like raspberry.

[30:06] And Paul says the gospel is that clear as well. [30:09] If they don’t know, they’re not going to believe. [30:11] And if you don’t tell them, they won’t know. [30:14] But the gospel must be preached. [30:18] It says clearly in this passage that if people preach, people will believe. [30:25] But here is the question.

[30:27] Do you have an urgency in your life for people to know the gospel? [30:33] Or are you blase and apathetic to where the gospel will take you? [30:38] Does the gospel do a specific work in your life? [30:42] And does God have a specific outcome of the works of the gospel in your life? [30:47] Here’s how Paul understood it. [30:49] In chapters one through three, he lays out the need of the world.

[30:54] In chapters four through six, he explains where the need can be met, [30:59] and that is in the person of Jesus Christ. [31:02] In chapters seven through nine, Paul lays out the implications of the gospel [31:07] and the chains that take place within everyone [31:10] and the stance with God that every man has in the gospel. [31:14] And then in chapters ten through sixteen, he spends the majority of the book saying,

[31:18] and the gospel does this work in you so that you can see this work done in other people [31:24] when you get up and you go and you preach the gospel. [31:29] What he’s starting here in verses fourteen and fifteen is laying out the goal [31:35] that should be in the lives of every single person that believes in the gospel of Jesus Christ. [31:41] And that is the goal that everyone on earth will not only hear the name of Jesus, [31:47] but will understand the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[31:51] Because if they don’t hear it, they’re going to hell.

[32:02] And whether or not you believe that is mirrored in the way that you live your life.

[32:12] Because Paul couldn’t be more clear.

[32:19] He says, how are they going to know if you don’t tell them? [32:23] And how are you going to tell them if you don’t live your life in such a way [32:27] as to constantly encourage yourself and one another to go and preach?

[32:40] Pastor by the name of Joe Thorne puts it this way. [32:44] He says, we ultimately preach not because it is commanded, [32:49] nor because it is the means by which people believe. [32:52] We preach because we cannot keep this news to ourselves. [32:57] It is too good not to share, too critical not to tell. [33:01] We preach the gospel because God is worthy of our lives.

[33:04] And it is worth making known and knowing. [33:07] Whether or not you are leveraging everything in your life to preach the gospel [33:12] tells the story of whether or not you find God whom you are responsible to [33:19] and who has done everything in order to save you. [33:22] It shows whether or not you think he’s worth living for. [33:26] And what that does, it shows whether or not Revelation 7-9 has taken place in your life

[33:32] where you submit to him because the gospel of Jesus does a work in you [33:38] where you say, I am privileged to know you. [33:41] I am privileged to live for you. [33:43] You are my great God and King and I know you. [33:46] Send me.

[33:53] You say, I don’t know.

[33:56] I don’t know if I can do it.

[34:01] Doing a good deed for somebody is one thing. [34:03] I can do that on Saturday morning. [34:06] But having an uncomfortable conversation that leads to redemption, [34:09] well that’s asking quite a bit. [34:12] Good news, the gospel redeems.

[34:18] The gospel exists because you do not have the power to change lives. [34:22] Only God has the power to change lives and you are simply a conduit through which he is going to preach. [34:27] Language itself exists for the glory of God in the proclamation of his love for man through hope in Jesus Christ. [34:36] He even created language so that we could tell the gospel. [34:41] Do you think it’s an accident that I can say words that you understand or that you can read words that God has given you? [34:47] No, it’s not an accident. It all exists for the gospel.

[34:50] Romans chapter 11 makes it abundantly clear when it says, [34:53] That all things that are more than of him, through him, and to him, are all things to the glory of God forever. Amen.

[35:02] Then in Romans chapter 12 verses 1 it says, [35:06] and this is like the big youth group verse or if you went to a Christian college like I did, everyone did, [35:10] it says, be a living sacrifice. [35:12] Don’t be conformed to this world, but be renewed by the changing of your mind in Christ Jesus. [35:18] Because that is your spiritual act of worship. [35:20] And the question is, is that just something that we lay in our beds and we learn how to pray and we read our Bibles?

[35:25] Absolutely not. [35:26] Because it is enlightened in the context of the mission of Jesus going to all the nations that they may believe. [35:32] Being a living sacrifice to God, not being conformed to this world, means not living for yourself, but living for the red hot glory of God.

[35:42] And that living sacrifice means you’re experiencing redemption in which you have a gospel, [35:48] which means at its very basic definition, it’s a good news.

[35:54] It says, I have great news, you can be redeemed. [35:57] But what if they say no? They might.

[36:01] It’s a good thing you’re not living for the approval of man, but rather for the approval of God.

[36:09] And the gospel redeems you so that you can preach the gospel to all so that they can believe, understand. [36:15] That in Romans chapter 15, Paul’s beginning to bring it to a close. [36:19] He preached even longer than I do. [36:21] And in verse 20, he said, and thus I make it my ambition. [36:25] This is his conclusion, folks. [36:27] He says, I make it my ambition to preach the gospel.

[36:33] This is a guy that had all the education, he had all the wealth, he had all of the social stature. [36:39] And he said, I throw it all away. [36:42] He says, I have one ambition. [36:45] He says, the gospel is so great, I’m willing to sacrifice all of my wealth, all of my prestige, all of my position for one ambition. [36:53] And that is to preach the gospel.

[36:57] Because everything else is worthless. [36:59] But then notice what he says next. [37:01] He says, not where Christ has already been named. [37:05] He says, I’m not spending all my time in a Christian country club. [37:09] He said, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.

[37:24] Like how I went through a whole book of the Bible right there this morning. [37:26] Alright. [37:28] Here’s what Paul’s saying. [37:29] Paul’s saying there is no greater thing that you can live for than to preach the gospel. [37:33] And I’m not saying up here. [37:35] I’m talking about when you tuck your children in bed at night.

[37:38] When you go to work tomorrow morning. [37:41] When you go to lunch today.

[37:44] When you’re having a conversation with your wife tonight. [37:48] When that friend calls you who’s going through a divorce. [37:52] When that person with cancer calls you in pain. [37:55] When that loved one dies and you have a family that doesn’t believe. [38:00] Are you preaching the gospel?

[38:03] I’m not talking about the four spiritual laws here. [38:05] I’m talking about do they find a person who has a hope that they’re just like, how are you so hopeful? [38:10] And you say, Jesus.

[38:14] This is about learning to preach the gospel in every place in your life. [38:19] And if you cannot do it, then change your life. [38:23] Not because you are earning God’s favor, but because God has already given it to you in chapter 3. [38:29] Chapter 15 only exists in light of chapter 3, which had to come first.

[38:35] This is not about earning God. [38:38] We do not obey God so that he will love us. [38:41] We obey him because he already does. [38:44] And he has shown us through the work of Jesus Christ. [38:47] Tim Keller said that. [38:49] I don’t want to play drugs.

[38:51] Wish I said it.

[38:55] I understand there’s a radical simplicity of living missionally.

[39:00] It doesn’t start in China. [39:02] It starts in the Middle Oathian.

[39:05] Jesus, when he was leaving, he said, [39:08] Be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. [39:15] For some of you, it’s just going to start in your family. [39:19] But if it starts there, be careful. It’s going to become a wildfire and it’s going to start spreading.

[39:24] Here’s what I hope this morning. [39:26] I hope that when we watch a video like this, like we saw this morning,

[39:35] I want us to be a people that see that and weep.

[39:42] I want us to see that and I want us to be a people who are burdened.

[39:50] I want us to see that and I want us to be a people

[39:55] who take the weeping and the burden and then get excited. [40:00] Because we have the gospel that they need. [40:06] And you will never get there if you don’t start living it here. [40:12] That’s why we planted this church. [40:14] We were just a bunch of dumb college students and dumb, seriously, I cannot express that enough. [40:20] And we got ahold of God’s word and it began to do something in the life of about ten people.

[40:26] And we just became burdened and we said, they don’t know. [40:29] Because they have the gospel here. [40:32] This is a saturated place with the name of Jesus, but it’s not the real Jesus. [40:36] It’s a Jesus of religion. [40:37] It is not a vicious, ruthless Savior who does everything to save you because you cannot save yourself.

[40:45] In Romans 15, verses 20 and 21, I think it’s also talking about people that just flat don’t understand the gospel. [40:52] And that’s Melothian folks. [40:53] We think the gospel is about having a two-story and a garage.

[40:59] And we planted this church so that we can plant more churches throughout Virginia and then throughout the U.S. [41:08] And my big goal is that someday the village church could plant a church overseas. [41:19] Maybe even a house church in China where God burdens one of you for those people that says, I’m going.

[41:30] What I want us to do now as Joey comes up and plays for a few minutes is I want us to reflect on what we’ve heard. [41:37] And I want you to ask yourself a couple of questions.

[41:43] First off, I want you to ask yourself, what has the gospel changed in my life?

[41:52] As Paul said, it changed everything. [41:54] It became his single, sole ambition.

[41:59] Then secondly, I want you to ask yourself, what does the gospel need to change about my life so that I may take it to those who don’t have it?

[42:21] And I want you to ask God to speak to you this morning.

[42:26] And when he does, when you find yourself in agreement, sometimes I argue with God a little bit.

[42:35] What I want you to do is I want you to repent.

[42:38] And I want you to signify your repentance for not living for the gospel.

[42:43] And not proclaiming it. [42:45] And not living a life for it. [42:46] I want you to signify that repentance through the blood of Jesus Christ who’s dealt with your sin. [42:51] And you’re not dealing with it, he’s dealt with it, trust him. [42:55] But I want you to signify a life of continual repentance by coming up here this morning and proclaiming the gospel through communion. [43:02] And when you take communion this morning, I want you to know you are proclaiming the gospel.

[43:10] And that you’ll live it.

[43:16] Father, we love you. [43:19] We cry out to you.

[43:25] God, constantly remind us of our own lostness that you’ve saved us from.

[43:38] But not that it would be a burden because you’ve removed all burdens. [43:42] You’ve removed all barriers. [43:44] But that in that remembrance, that we would be encouraged to go out so that others might remember.

[43:54] And that others might know you.