The Success of Paul’s Failures

Introduction

Good morning. If you were to open your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. As you turn there, pick up in the reading with me in verse 14. Romans chapter 10 and verse 14. Paul writes, How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Verse 15. And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

As you consider that text this morning, it is in fact a coincidence, although perhaps it need not have been. A coincidence that in the first page of the bulletin, Romans chapter 10, verses 14 and 15 are found there. And I bring that up to mention, and I’ll go ahead and just say it.

How many people have Bob and Arlene reached? Well, if you look on the first page of the bulletin, you can read the article and see just a small extent of the work that they’ve done. But I highlighted a passage in the middle on the right-hand side that notes that they’ve basically served in three plus continents. They’ve been in a part of over 30 Bible study workbooks that have been translated into seven plus languages. Certainly, both Bob and Arlene are beloved by us as individuals, and they have spent their life being those who bring the good news to others, so that the good news of verse 17 is found. You see that again, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. As we consider that, I did want to read that first before mentioning one story before we move on.

Being a good preacher who knows the Bible and is always ready to give you not just an answer, but the answer to a Bible question you might have. I have to relate this one story. One member happened to see Bob Harkrider with his shoes off, with his feet exposed. And as he saw that, they said, You have such cute feet. By the way, this is not me. I don’t tell Bob he has cute feet terribly often. And his response was, Well, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. I guess I’ll give him this, that if that is the standard, as the Bible says it is, his feet are more beautiful than many. As you consider, though, this morning, evangelism is an effort that’s not just for those who are well accomplished, those who spend their life in a trade called e being an evangelist or a preacher of the gospel, although we often relegate it to that standing.

In Romans chapter 10, we read of an important truth in verse 16 the bad news, and in verse 17, the good news. The bad news is in response to this teaching, in response to the preaching, there are those in verse 16, as you see in the first line, who have not, and you can even add the word, will not, obey the gospel. As Isaiah had said, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us. Of course, the good news is, as we said, once again, we’ll say in verse 17, faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes from the word of Christ, or hearing by the word of God. As you consider that, though, I want to consider the success in Paul’s failures. Because perhaps part of the reason that evangelism becomes relegated to those who seem to have some sort of particular talent for it, which usually means they can preach well or teach a Bible class well, which isn’t exactly how an evangelistic study always has to go.

1. Three of Paul’s Failures

When you consider what Paul did, he had many encounters we would call failures. If you look with me first in Acts chapter 24. In Acts chapter 24, turn in your Bibles with me. I want to look at three of Paul’s quote unquote failures this morning. At least the way we would deem them in our personal life. If we weren’t Paul, if we weren’t inspired by the Holy Spirit, and our words weren’t written in the book of life, we would say, Paul failed on this occasion, at least as far as the Bible records it. First, turn with me in Acts chapter 24. Pick up the reading with me in verse 22. As Paul is in custody, we see him preaching to Felix. Now there’s going to be an interesting term saying he reasoned with Felix, but pick up the reading with me in verse 22.

But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the way, put them off saying, When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case. Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody, but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs. After some days, Felix came with his wife Drusella, who was Jewish. And he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. Now note what it was that Paul spoke with Felix about in verse 25. And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I will summon you. Now this was bold of Paul.

Felix was not necessarily the most upright ethical human being that the world has ever seen. And yet, not only does he speak with them about faith in Christ, but as verse 25 says, note what he reasoned with him about righteousness. That certainly would have stomped on his toes, as we like to say. About self-control, that certainly would have stomped hard on the toes of someone with Felix’s position and perhaps abuses of power that history indicates he likely participated in. And you see that last one in verse 25, and the coming judgment. And rightfully it says, Felix was alarmed and said, Go away for the present. Now, the good news of this situation is that he didn’t say, I’m never going to hear you again. What Felix said is, go away and I’ll look for an opportunity to summon you again.

And we’d say, Well, at least the gospel was presented, and you know what? You never know, Paul may get a chance to come back. But unfortunately, continue the reading with me, and we’ll see how, at least in Acts chapter 24, the story ends at verse 26. At the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcias Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison. When we study Paul’s efforts in evangelism, this isn’t exactly the one that we’d point to and give him a gold star and say, This is Paul, the champion apostle. Champion, yes, to the Gentiles, but yes, he reasoned with the Jews.

This was not his hallmark moment. Because he reasoned with Felix, yes, about righteousness, yes, about self-control, yes, about the coming judgment. But what was Felix’s response? In verse 26, he hoped for a bribe. He hoped that money would be given to him so he could just let Paul go and be done, because it kind of goes back to that phrase in verse 25. After Paul reasoned with him about the scriptures, about the good news, about answering to God, Felix was alarmed. And to be honest, if we know what God’s standard is for righteousness, know how he expects us to exercise self-control and are aware of the coming judgment of our actions, and are we acting righteously? Are we practicing self-control? This would be alarming for someone who is not prepared, someone who’s not ready.

Paul seemingly was a failure in this instance. Consider with me back in Acts chapter 13. This is an interesting case. One of the many times that Paul would be found reasoning with Jews in mass. But if you key in on verse 42 beginning, as Paul has kind of finished this great long lesson, the sermon, this dialogue with the Jews in Acts chapter 13. You see, as he was speaking in verse 16, the men of Israel and those who fear God, he speaks, kind of giving a history and understanding who not only God is, but who Jesus is, of course, being the centerpiece of the gospel. But in verse 42, as they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.

And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. The next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed to eternal life, believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region, but the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. The two verses continue, but they shook the dust off their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. And we say, This is a good scenario. This is a rewarding case of evangelism. He had preached the whole city, had gathered together to hear these things about God and these things about Jesus.

And the Gentiles believed in verse 48. They began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. This was a great victory. But not altogether unlike Felix. There’s that important verse 45 that notes what the response was of those who had a Jewish connection. In verse 45, when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what he was saying, reviling him.

Consider one final example with me of Paul’s efforts in evangelism, though, that’s separate. In Acts chapter 26, perhaps this one’s a little bit more well known because we sing the song Almost Persuaded, which came from a translation of this chapter. But in Acts chapter 26, pick up the reading with me in verse 24, we see Paul once again having to give account to someone over him. And of course, this is the count of Paul speaking the gospel with Agrippa. And in Acts chapter 26 and verse 24, says, and as he was saying these things in his defense, Festa said with a loud voice, Paul, you are out of your mind. Your great learning is driving you out of your mind. But Paul said, I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.

For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe. And Agrippa said to Paul, in a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian? And Paul said, whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also to all who hear me this day might become such as I am, except for these chains. In the case of Felix, in the case of the Jews in Acts chapter 13, and even Agrippa here in Acts chapter 26, the case of the story did not end well. But Paul reasons with something that’s important for us to note first and foremost in a lesson on evangelism and whether we grade Paul as a success or a failure.

2. Paul Was a Success in Every Case

And you see that in that last verse. What was Paul’s perspective? When Agrippa challenges him and he says, You almost persuade me to be a Christian, or do you almost persuade me to be a Christian? What was Paul’s response? Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am. Whether it takes a long time, a short time, I just hope that you find God. I hope that you respect, honor, and revere God, that you practice righteousness, exercise self control, and are in so doing prepared for the judgment. That was Paul’s wish. And we don’t know if Felix would have ever turned to the gospel of Christ, would have had his sins forgiven, trusted in God.

We don’t know for a fact that Agrippa did not necessarily. History indicates perhaps the way that these men went, but we don’t know that for sure. But one thing we do know for sure, and that is a success, even outside of the Gentiles who rejoiced and glorified in the Word of God, as Acts chapter 13 reveals. We know that Paul was a success in each and every one of these cases. And why is that? Because he preached God. He taught them the words of life. As Romans 10 17 says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes through the word of Christ. Or hearing comes by the word of God. He offered them all that he could. He was a preacher, yes, and as perhaps Romans 10 is more to the point of an inspired apostle, inspired, inspired preacher who was able to give the gospel to tell them, Felix, the Jews, the Gentiles, Agrippa, here is what you need for eternal life.

Here is what you need to live this life to be pleasing to our great God. That is evangelism. Telling people who are lost, who have no hope that God offers it. And I think it’s important to remember before we move a slide that we all have a part to play in there. It’s easy to say, well, again, as I said from the beginning, Paul being inspired, being an apostle, being in the Bible, of course, he can say this is a success. But brothers and sisters, it is always a success when the Word of God is faithfully preached. When the Word of God is faithfully revealed. We have done our mission as Christians. We are shining our lights. That doesn’t mean you tell someone as fast as you can and you blurt out whatever you synthesize into the gospel message, and then you run away and say, you know what, it’s up to them and God now.

But we have to take every opportunity. If I’m honest with myself, and if we’re all honest, I can almost guarantee that everyone in this room has someone like I’m about to show you. Everyone has a Shaquille O’Neal. That was supposed to be funny. It’s actually AJ, who I’m pointing to, a friend of mine. You can laugh at any time. The man on the right is my friend AJ. I’ve known him for about probably nine or ten years, getting older, and it’s getting frustratingly sad. But as AJ and I have grown together, we kind of spent a lot of time together when I was in high school and even beginning college. And then I moved back here and we lost touch. I’ve met him once or twice.

But the truth of the matter is, as I was considering this lesson this morning, I was thinking and convicted of, I have not tried my best to teach AJ about righteousness, about self-control, and about the coming judgment. If I’m honest, I could satisfy my conscience and say the subject of God has come up. I’ve been ready in there to answer any time he had a question, but I have not once in my life sat down with A.J. and tried to teach him the good news of Christ. And that’s from a preacher, as we would say, of the gospel. The truth is I’m ashamed of that. And I thought about contacting him this week, but I thought it’d be better, first of all, if I could use this analogy and let it stand.

And secondly, if I were to have invited him here, this would be a little bit awkward. But as we think about AJ, and I think about my not reaching out to him, I wonder who your AJ is. Who is someone that you and you uniquely have access to? Because no one but my family and my wife really have access to AJ, and that’s only because of me. And the truth is, as wonderful as a preacher and what great work that Bob and Arlene Harkrider have done for the glory of God and for the advancing and the understanding of the knowledge of the recorded will of God. As great as they are, they don’t know him, and they will not without me. Because I am responsible. He is my opportunity to spread the good news.

Paul took any time he could. Do you remember in Acts 24 and Acts 26? What state was Paul in? He was in custody. Varying degrees of it, but he was in custody. He was approaching and on trial. He was doing everything he could with every spare moment. And yes, when he was free in Acts 13, what was he doing? Preaching to everyone who would listen, including the Jews who make no mistake, Paul knew in large number would reject him. Paul was a Jew. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He knew what the response would be. But he taught the message. Because it’s not his to contain, it’s not his to conceal. It is his obligation and it’s his responsibility to teach everyone he could come into contact with about God because he cared about his Lord and he cared about the souls of those he knew.

3. Teach the Message of Christ

And if I don’t talk to AJ, if you don’t speak to your AJ, can we say we really understand God? Or we really care about others’ souls. Consider with me three things we can do for evangelism today. I’m not really one for catchy acronyms, but as I wrote it on my board, I saw that it spelled out pit, and I didn’t really like that, so I turned it around, and I have a tip for evangelism today. If you consider, first of all, with me, the first thing, and this is obvious that we can do, is we can teach the message of Christ. If you turn in Acts chapter 8, as we continue to examine the book of Acts, we see in Acts chapter 8, we see Saul in verse 1 approving of the execution of Stephen.

And this was a great and powerful moment because, yes, Saul was persecuting the church, but he caused something to happen. And as the verse 1 continues, there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. This was a dark time, and yet it was a great time because as verse 4 says, Now those who were scattered, that was everyone except the apostles, went about preaching the word. We can do this, we must do this. Why? Because as the apostles were in Jerusalem, at this point in time, they weren’t where? Anywhere else. Who could teach? Who should teach? Who did teach the word? Those who were scattered about, went preaching the word.

It’s too often that we let ourselves off the hook and we say, Well, they won’t listen. They don’t want to hear it, or they’ll reject it. But we already know what we already showed to be true. That success in evangelism isn’t just about someone turning their life to God. That is the ultimate success. That is what evangelism is about, to teach those who are lost that there is good news, that there is hope. But our job as Christians is to spread that message, to sow the seed and allow God to provide the increase. Allow faith to come by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. In Acts chapter 8, also, if you continue on into verse 29, we come into, of course, the passage about the eunuch.

And in verse 29, of course, the Spirit says to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, How can I? Unless someone guides me. And he invited Philip to come up into the chariot with him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. And his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom I ask you, does the prophet say this?

About himself or about someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. And I know the response to this is in verse 29. The Spirit said to Philip, Go and join this man. And we say, I’m not moved by the Holy Spirit that way. But can I tell you something that is a fact? There are people out there who want to understand the Bible. They want to understand what they are reading. Isn’t that exactly what the eunuch was doing? When Philip approached him, yes, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, did the eunuch say, You know, I got a weird feeling about you. I’m glad you showed up. How can I understand unless someone teaches me?

He invited Philip to come up with him and to teach him. Those opportunities are out there. So first of all, there are sitting opportunities. And what we already learned from Acts chapter 8 and verse 4, there are proactive opportunities that we not only can but must take. And we keen on verse 35 so many times, and we say, Philip, preach Jesus to him. But there’s that part in the middle that’s so important. Beginning with this scripture, he preached the good news about Jesus. Philip knew the Hebrew scriptures. Philip knew the Word of God. He knew who Christ was. And too often we say, Well, I don’t know that. I don’t know enough. It’s time to start learning. It’s time to learn from those who do know.

4. Be Involved in Inviting

Be taught so that you might teach. We have these opportunities. And just like me with AJ, they are people that only you know, and that no one else may ever come across. And if faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, we all need to have beautiful feet that teach others and expose that will of God to everyone who will listen. Consider secondly with me, we need to be involved in inviting. I love the story in Acts chapter 13. If you’ll turn there, turn back there with me. In verse 42, this is pretty exciting stuff when it comes to a citywide gathering. In verse 42, as we already read in Acts chapter 13, we said, as they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.

This is a hungry crowd. They begged that these words would be spoken to them. And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. But I love this next verse. The next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. Do you think Paul and Barnabas put up a lot of posters? You think they made a lot of calls? Had a lot of Facebook advertising. The people were excited by the will of Christ, by the story of this Jesus. They were inspired by the prophets who foretold of Jesus. And Paul who connected the dots and taught them that the Messiah has come, that the kingdom is open, and the king sits on his throne.

And they understood, in the case of the Gentiles, is verse 48 said, they were receptive. They were rejoicing and glorifying in the Word of God. This is a powerful moment. These people undoubtedly spoke about this good news that Paul and Barnabas had, spoke about the knowledge of the scripture that Paul and Barnabas possessed and taught. And it rolled down. And it allowed everyone in a situation in verse 44 to be saying, the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. What a powerful, wonderful moment in Bible history in man’s history. Can you imagine what it would be like if we talked about with such passion and enthusiasm about the assembly and worshiping God here and knowing that we teach about Jesus the Christ here?

If we all had that type of enthusiasm, so much so that we talked to others and we told as many people as we could, and we said, This is exciting. You must hear this. Can you imagine? I think we’d have a few more people here now at 10 o’clock and 11 o’clock. I certainly believe that if the judgment was coming, we would. And if we taught about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment, people would understand the necessity and the privilege of worshiping our and praising our great God in heaven. In Acts chapter 16, as you turn just a few chapters over, in Acts chapter 16, of course, with the story of the Philippian jailer in verse 25, we know how it begins. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were open, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

And when the jailer awoke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, Do not harm yourself, for we are all here. And the jailer called for lights and rushed in and trembling with fear. He fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Note Paul and Silas’s response in verse 31. And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. And what happened that night? Well, in verse 33, and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them, and he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. Paul and Silas saw an opportunity to not just change this man’s life, but to change his family’s eternal life. And this man also was willing to have Paul and Silas recognizing that they were special, that they were unique, that they were different. He was willing to let them come and teach not only him, but his whole household. Knowing, going back to verse 31, that they had the answer to man’s most important question, what must I do to be saved? We as Christians have that answer. And that is, was, and will forever be the number one question that mankind needs answered.

5. We Need to Be Praying About This

What must I do to be saved? What do I need to be with God? How can I be restored to my great, holy, and righteous God? And if you’re a Christian, you have the answer. Because you’ve taken advantage of God’s grace. You’ve asked for and been enveloped in God’s mercy and forgiveness, and you’ve participated and tasted the good gift of salvation. We know these answers. Are we willing to share them with anyone who will come across? Are we passionate to where we will make sure we’re here every time because we love feasting on the word of God? Will we even share them with our family? Consider one final point. We need to be praying about this. And the truth is, as we go down, the list of qualifications to do these types of things go down as if it was okay to say, you know what, I’m not really qualified to teach, so I won’t.

If it was okay to say, I don’t really know anybody, so I won’t invite. Here’s one thing we can all do, and there is absolutely no excuse. In Romans chapter 10 and verse 1, note Paul’s attitude. I think this is important to see because this is perhaps where the rubber meets the road in our evangelism failures and our evangelism successes, because we have the attitude of Paul in Romans chapter 10 and verse 1. Speaking of Israel, Paul says, Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

I want to note another verse that’s a little bit more powerful. We’re not really comfortable with this. But in Romans chapter 9, Paul also talked about how much he cares for the souls of others. Look in Romans chapter 9 and verse 1. I am speaking the truth in Christ. I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, verse 3, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Do you love others enough to have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in your heart? If not, you, I, we don’t understand what’s at stake. Paul did so much so that in verse 3, he had such a love, such a heart that we’re uncomfortable with, that in verse 3, what does Paul say?

I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my beloved brethren, my brothers in the flesh. Paul’s love was deep, sincere, and true. And if I’m really honest about why I haven’t evangelized the AJ, it’s because I had any number of excuses, any number of reasons that came up. But I can’t say that I have acted and truly had great sorrow and unceasing anguish, because you know what people do when we have problems like unceasing anguish and great sorrow? We not only pray every day, but we act. How easy is it to invite someone to a study, to a Bible study, even at the building or outside of the building. To come to a worship service to learn more about God.

How much do we care or not care if we’re unwilling to try to teach someone the good news? Atheist Pingelet is known for a quote in which I’ve read before, in which he basically says he doesn’t respect people who don’t proselytize. Even being an atheist, he understands that if you think that somebody’s going to hell, you would show and should show a great compassion and care and mercy for them, because if you think this is real and happening, you would do everything it takes for someone you love to avoid that terrible fate of being separated from God for forever. I have to ask, not only with my AJ, but who is your AJ? And what prevents me from teaching him, inviting him. And do I even pray for him?

We saw in Romans chapter 10 and verse 1 that was Paul’s heart’s desire and prayer to God for them that they may be saved. And note what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 9. We focused mainly on Acts and Romans to this point, but consider two final passages with me. One in Matthew chapter 9. In Matthew chapter 9, beginning in verse 35. Consider with me as he says, Matthew chapter 9 and verse 35. And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Conclusion

Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Paul prayed for his brothers that they might be saved. Jesus said, Pray that the Lord would send out harvesters, laborers in the vineyard, who could do the work of the Lord, who could teach the good news. In Romans chapter 10, turn with me one final passage as we conclude the lesson this morning. In Romans chapter 10, as we go back to our text in verse 14, we see the importance, we see the come around, we see why this is everything. This is not just some sort of thing that we should be doing better. This is our life. This is our mission. If being a Christian is our number one goal, our number one facet in this life, evangelism naturally comes as one A.

Because if we’ve tasted the heavenly gift, we want to share it with everyone who will listen. In Romans chapter 10 and verse 14, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? How are they to preach unless they are sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news, but they have not all obeyed the gospel? For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. I understand that this passage has direct meaning to those who didn’t have the inspired New Testament.

That the preachers who would come could teach them the words of life, that they did not have recorded in a book like Romans. But if I ask the question, how many of us here who are Christians, who have been converted to following after God, practicing righteousness, self control, and preparing for the judgment? How many of us learned the first time that we read a scripture? I understand that the Word of God is available to read. How many times have we just picked up the Bible and known instantly how to rightly divide the word of truth? I think if we’re honest, we’re like the eunuch. And we need Philip. We need someone to say, How can I understand this unless someone shows me? Unless someone teaches me.

Can the Bible be understood? Absolutely it can. But if we as Christians were out there looking around, willing to help, able to help, do you realize how much faster and more strong the laborers in the vineyard would be, how much more plentiful the harvest would become? It would be life-changing. If we were anything like Paul and we weren’t afraid of failure in the sense of someone not turning to God, but rather we’re focused on their souls, having unceasing anguish and increasing sorrow in our hearts, our lives would be changed, just like they should have already been when we first committed to Christ. If you consider yourself a Christian, if I consider myself a Christian, I must evangelize. I must be involved in teaching, inviting, andor praying.

Because being with God means everything to me. Because I know being without God means everything to everyone else. We need to trust that God knows our best, knows our hearts. He has our best interest in mind, and that we can, should, and always will put our souls and our trust in Him and in God alone. Will you go to Him in prayer with me? Our dear God and most gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for loving us and blessing us with not only this physical life, but the ability to know you from your word, the ability to come to a better understanding of Jesus and His mission, and to learn from His compassion, to learn from the inspired apostles and how they laid out your will, how they submitted their lives entirely to teaching and showing others the gospel message.

We pray that we be like them, being willing to sacrifice, being willing to teach when it’s hard, to invite others to learn about your will when we chance being rejected. And we hope that we will constantly have compassion as Jesus did, that we will have concern like Paul did, and that we will truly love you, and that love will shine forth from us like a bright shining beacon. We thank you for the hope that you and you alone offer. We know that Jesus is the way, and we pray that we enter in by that narrow way that He and you have outlined for us. Thank you for other Christians. We thank you for the work at South Bumby that we can work together, that we can study your word, and we have a place that we can worship you and praise you as you have decreed, as you have designed.

Help our pleasing and our work help our praising of you to be pleasing and acceptable in your sight. We thank you so much for all the men and women, current, past, and future, who are laborers in in the vineyard, who are seeking to gain and to harvest all that is out there. We thank you for Bob and Arlene Harkrider and their years spent serving not only in this local area but across continents and in their workbooks and across languages. We pray that we learn from them, that we learn from Paul, we learn from Jesus Himself in having concern for others and teaching your good news. Thank you for all of your blessings. Thank you most of all for sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, making salvation possible for us all.

It’s in his name we do pray. Amen. We’re now dismissed to our Bible classes.