The 10th chapter of Romans has a bold message—not just for the Jews, not for just a select few, but for the world: It is that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ. Verses 11-12 clearly explain this message is for everyone.
Romans 10:11-12 11As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
The Bible is very clear about this. “Anyone” means every person is included in Christ’s invitation. “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile” is a great missions passage. God’s love extends to every person, not just the Jews. Anyone and everyone who calls on Him in repentance and faith will be saved.
Question: How much faith do you have to have in order for you to be saved? Romans 10:13 says, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. If you have enough faith simply to call upon the Lord and ask Him to save you, you will be saved.
Now look at Romans 10:14-15. 14How, 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? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent?
This is not just about ordained clergy or missionaries serving in foreign countries. Everyone of us is sent! It is about you and me, under the authority of Christ with the message of Christ being sent out into our world as Christ’s ambassadors.
We will never take the Great Commission seriously until we are convicted and understand that God has divinely commissioned each of us to go. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
Do you know that the word missionary is not in the Bible? But the words “send” and “sent” are all through the Bible.
From that word we get the missionary because a missionary is one sent by Christ. Christ Himself was a missionary. He said about himself in John 6:38, For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. (Under the authority of God with the message of God.)
And again in John 12:49, For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. And when He prayed in John 17:25, Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.
Christ saw Himself as a missionary—one who was sent. How about you? Do you see yourself as a missionary? Listen—all of us who claim the name of Christ are sent. You are sent, I am sent.
When you see yourself as one who has been sent out into the world, then you will understand you are an instrument in the hands of God. You will not divide your life into the sacred and the secular—this part is for you, this part is for God. Rather you will see the whole of your life as God’s instrument.
For instance, if I asked you where your church was, you would probably say, “On Montgomery across from Starbucks and Red Lobster.” You’re wrong. That’s where the building is located and where we, the church, meet for worship, Bible study and fellowship.
But the church, you and me, at any given time, is scattered all across our city, state, and country. In fact, we are scattered around the world. Our church is everywhere. Our church is sent by Christ every day to preach the Gospel so that people can hear, believe and be saved.
The temptation for us is to see our church only in its gathered setting in this building. Our temptation is to see ourselves only here, not out there, and not seeing ourselves as being sent by Christ when we are out there.
If anything of lasting and eternal value is going to be accomplished, the work of the church and the work of Christ must to be accomplished by the people who are the church.
The work of the pastor and staff is to help you because you are sent every day in ways that we are not. You are sent to work in the shop and in the community; in your office, your classroom—in other words, the place you spend most of your day is where Christ has sent you to be the Christian influence in that place.
God can send us any way He chooses. He does not send all of us in the same way. There are different needs that He sends us to:
He may say to you, “This is for you. This is your responsibility. It won’t happen if you don’t do it,” just as He sent Moses to deliver Israel, Joshua to conquer Canaan, Gideon and Samson to conquer cities.
And just as He sent David to unify the kingdom, and Solomon to build and Nehemiah to rebuild. The Bible is full of examples of the work done by someone sent to do a particular task.
When was the last time that you felt Christ had given you a specific task and you did it—not because the pastor or someone from the church made you feel guilty, but because you felt Christ sent you to do it?
I believe there are people here to whom Christ is speaking personally and specifically to go and minister and fulfill a task in His mission.
Sometimes Christ puts it into our heart to go to someone and witness to them or encourage them. He sent Samuel to Saul and Nathan to David, and Elisha to a widow lady, Mordecai to Esther, and Andrew to Peter, and Philip to Nathanial, and Ananias to Saul.
The Bible is filled with examples of God commissioning a person to go to another person and minister to them. When was the last time you felt Christ sent you to another person to minister in their life?
Sometimes Christ may send you to another place to serve Him. He sent Abraham from Ur of the Chaldeans to Bethel. He sent Joseph down into Egypt, Jonah to Nivevah, Daniel to Babylon, Philip to Gaza, Peter from Joppa to Caesarea, Paul from Antioch all over Europe, and the Apostle John to Patmos.
Some of you He has sent here to minister in His name. He wants to send some of you here today to another place where He will rearrange your life. There you will plant your life, incarnate your life into the culture and language of another people, and give your life as Christ’s representative among those people.
Is Christ speaking to you today saying, “I want to send you”? A missionary call is more than a geographical call. All of us are called. All of us sent by Christ. This means that all of us are missionaries.
But sometimes Christ sends you to a particular place or a people group, or a nation. Christ sent Wm. Carey and Henry Martin to India. In India Martin said, “Here let me burn out for God.”
Christ sent Jim Elliott to Equador. Jim Elliott said, “I give up what I cannot keep to gain that which I cannot lose.” Christ can sent you to a place. Maybe a city, maybe a country, maybe a region. You may not understand it. You may not be able to explain it, but there is a sense that you are called to a certain place.
Sometimes this isn’t a permanent call but a call to a particular place occasionally. We have a couple in our church who every week, every month go to the women’s prison and minister and share the Gospel of Christ.
We have a team going to Nicaragua and others going to Panama this next year for short-term mission’s work. Is God calling you?
At other times Christ sends us to meet a specialized need. He sent Jonathan to be a friend to David, Aaron to be the spokesman for Moses, and Ruth to be a support for Naomi. And who can forget Barnabas the encourager to the young Paul; or Joseph of Arimathea who was sent to bury the body of Jesus.
Is God calling you to a particular need? All around us there is human need, spiritual need, social need, physical need, emotional need, family need—so much it is almost overwhelming at times.
When was the last time you heard the voice of Christ sending you, and you say, “This is a need I can meet. This is a place where I can minister to a need.”
Jesus Christ sends each of us. And it is only when you are convicted of being sent that you will be effective. Listen, this whole business of serving and witnessing for Christ and of world-wide evangelism and missions is a divine mandate.
In fact it is God’s divine providence, initiative, planning and prompting that awakens in us the need to go. And it is His equipping and placing and sending us that accomplishes His mission in the world.
Some of you have never known the joy, the fulfillment, the responsibility and the burden of being sent. You are a Christian, but you’ve never been able to say, “I am a sent one.” What must you do?
You cannot be an ambassador for Christ without allegiance to Christ. Jesus never sent anyone who did not belong to Him. He is the Lord of the nations. But is He the Lord of your life?
Ask for joy, assurance and peace in that which Jesus wants for you. If you are too busy murmuring and complaining about where you have been assigned, then Christ cannot use you or send you.
When you do this you will begin to discover an excitement and fulfillment in life that does not come from anywhere else. Notice what the last verse of the text says: Romans 10:15b How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!