How Shall They Hear?

by G. Jarvie | Category: General | Nov 1962

"How shall they hear without a preacher?

And how shall they preach, except they be sent?"

(Romans 10. 14, 15).

The zeal of the apostle Paul in spreading the glad tidings has been an encouragement to all who have come after him. From city to city and country to country he travelled, everywhere preaching the word. "Woe is unto me," he said, "if I preach not the gospel" (1 Corinthians 9.16). Like Elihu, the fire burned within him, and he spoke to be refreshed (Job 32.20). Paul seemed to be always spreading outwards, always pressing on to preach to those who had not heard the message before. "Making it my aim," he wrote, "so to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation" (Romans 15.20). From Jerusalem to Illyricum, he had fully preached the gospel of Christ, and now his heart was set to reach Rome, and, if possible, Spain also. For, how would they hear without a preacher?

Romans 10 breathes the longing of Paul's heart, and the logic of his mind. "My heart's desire and my supplication to God is for them, that they may be saved," he wrote. He longed for the Jews first (for God had put them first) but his heart went out to all men.

How lucidly Paul states the gospel! In it the righte9usness of God is revealed: a righteousness, not given by the works of the law, but by faith. The word of faith is very near to us, and we have only to believe in our heart, and confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord, and we shall be saved.

The message has broadened out, far beyond the Jewish people, and our hearts must broaden with the purposes of God. Now, "there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon Him" (10.12). To the world's multitudes, the word of the Lord is "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10.18). That is the great and important message to all men today, Jew and Gentile alike, for the Lord is rich unto all that call upon Him. The eyes of the Lord are upon the millions of souls, and His ears are open to their cry.

BUT "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?" How indeed? "And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard?" As we read this, we realize that we are involved in this. They cannot believe if they do not hear. The logic is clear and cannot be refuted, and Paul himself set out to do what lay in his power; he set out to tell them. He knew that he would have only a comparatively few years of life in which he could stand the rigours of travel and preaching, and suffering too, but he gladly set apart those years to suffer hardship with the gospel. God did much through His faithful servant, and in many places a testimony was raised up from which the word spread to those around. Paul might have spent his whole life in Antioch, teaching the saints and building them up in the faith, but what about the people elsewhere if he had done that? The urge of God was on him, and he counted not his life dear unto himself, that he might finish his course, and fulfil his ministry to testify the gospel of the grace of God. His few years of life came to a finish and the Master called His servant to his rest and reward.

Paul and his generation, and many generations and other servants, have passed on, and now it is our time and generation. We also have our few years of life which we can yield to God so that we also can testify the gospel of His grace. The same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all who call upon Him. But-how will they hear without a preacher?

The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman that those who worshipped God must worship in spirit and in truth, and added that "such doth the Father seek to be His worshippers" (John 4.28). How then will they become His worshippers if they do not believe? And how will they believe if they do not hear?

The coming of the Lord is near; Himself hath said, "Behold, I come quickly" (Revelation 22. 12), and surely this should make us more zealous and more earnest in seeking to reach men while there is still opportunity.

The population of the world has doubled since the beginning of the present century, and because of this there are more people alive today who have never heard the message than ever before.

As we think it over, and ponder the logic of Paul's words in Romans 10.18-15, we feel with bowed heart that we must also take part in our day, or surely we shall be ashamed in "that day". Our fellow-men and women have only to call upon the name of the Lord and they will be saved. That is the fact that ought to burn in our souls. They must be saved or perish, and they only need to call on His name to be saved. But they will not call if they do not believe and they cannot believe if they do not hear. How can they? And they cannot hear without a preacher.

And so we stop and think, "I am needed in this work!" You are indeed, brother. Not at the end of your life only, but in your manhood, and especially in your early manhood. You cannot give to God the years that are past, they are gone for ever. But you can give Him the present time. You can yield your body, a living sacrifice to Him, so that if He will send you, you can go to some who have not heard the message before, and tell them, that, if they will call upon the name of the Lord they will be saved. Some will call upon Him to your everlasting joy.

Paul's logic does not end with the preacher. He writes, "How shall they preach, except they be sent?" This is not our work alone, this matter of reaching the people with the glad tidings. This is God's work, and we can only go if we are sent. Many preach who are not sent, and they accomplish nothing. Their preaching is only talking, it has no power. The preacher sent by God is God's ambassador, and his word has power. If his word has no power then God has not sent him. He is speaking from himself. It may be that he has not taken time to wait upon God, he has merely thought on a message to speak. This is a common mistake with many who preach. Both the message and the power must come from God, or it will be powerless.

Or, again, the preacher may think that if he preaches the message in its simplicity, it will not impress his hearers, and so he embellishes it with much reasoning of his own, and the power of the message departs. This also is a great mistake, and a cause of much fruitlessness. The message cannot be preached too simply, for the power is in the message itself, and not in the thoughts of the preacher.

Some might feel that if only they were preaching to those in far away places, those who have not heard it before, their preaching would be effective, though they have little effect at home. This, too, is a mistake. Power does not increase with our distance from home. If we are powerless at home, we Will be powerless abroad. Whether at home or abroad, the Lord must send us. If the Lord sends us, how beautiful our feet will be to those who hear and believe the message.

And so we must equip ourselves by faith and prayer, and by our meditation on the word, for this great service We must not slur over any weakness or powerlessness, but bring it all to God in contrite prayer. And then, bowing our knees in humble adoration, yield ourselves to God, that in His holy will, He might send us to reach some of the millions with His message, whether at home or abroad. The evidence to others, that we are sent of God, will be the power in the message, for without the power of God we will accomplish nothing. Let us press on, for His coming is near, and before us is the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.

G. Jarvie | Nov 1962
General