Rev. David Holwick V
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
July 14, 2013
Romans 10:16-20
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I. Not everyone wants it.
A. Probably not the best way to propose.
It was a YouTube sensation last year.
In the middle of a mall food court, a young man in a suit
gets on his knees before his girlfriend.
This food court is packed and everyone turns to stare at
them.
A friend videotaped him as the young man said,
"We met here one year ago, right in front of this Cinnabon.
And when we did, I was dizzy in your presence.
Caroline, I love everything about you.
I love the way you, you get a cupcake.
And when you have the cupcake you cut it in half and the
frosting, and you make a little tiny, a little cupcake
thing.
I love the way you curl up next to me on the couch and purr
like a little kitten...."
He then stands up, holding her hands, while a guy with a
guitar comes alongside playing "Sweet Caroline."
Everyone in the food court starts singing along.
The young guy then gets back on his knee and opens a ring
box.
People are taking out their cellphones and taping him.
He says, "Make me the happiest man in the world, and please
will you marry me?"
His girlfriend stands there with her hands over her face,
says, "Oh my God" and runs away while everyone stares.
The guy stands there stupidly, then he escapes, too.
Someone in the background says, "That is brutal."
Another person says, "The Cinnabon lady said she'd marry him."
#64189
B. Rejection is hard.
1) When you propose marriage to someone, you take a risk.
2) And when you share your faith in Jesus, you take a risk.
a) When they reject the gospel, they are sort of rejecting
you as well.
b) Why would they not want something as great as salvation?
II. Not everyone wants the good news.
A. This was especially perplexing to the early Christians.
1) Most were Jewish, and they knew Jesus fulfilled so many
prophecies - Jesus was obviously part of God's plan.
2) But most Jews rejected it.
a) Paul himself was once in this category, and persecuted
Christians.
B. Where did the process fail?
1) Paul says it is not because they haven't heard. 10:18
a) Not all had, but the gospel was out there.
b) Major Jewish centers had been exposed to it.
2) Their rejection was part of God's plan.
a) All the way back in Isaiah's day, it was predicted
that few would accept the message. 10:16
1> What should grab us is that this prediction occurs
in Isaiah 53, the greatest prophecy about Jesus.
2> It mentions his rejection, death, burial and
resurrection.
b) God also has a plan to reach the Jews with salvation.
1> The following chapters spell it out, but in a
nutshell, he is going to make them jealous. 10:19
2> After lots of foreigners get salvation, they will
want it to.
3> The irony is that those who don't have a clue about
God, people who aren't even seeking him, will
get it first. 10:20
III. Who believes today?
A. Your perspective depends on your human network.
1) If you are a church-goer, you probably think most of your
friends believe in Jesus and God.
a) They may not be a strong in the faith as you, but they
pretty much agree with you.
b) Christians like hanging around other Christians.
2) Out in secular society, religion is considered quaint.
a) Grandmothers believe in it, but not normal people.
b) Modern educated people don't need the crutch of
religion to find meaning in life, they think.
B. Surveys show a wide gap.
1) There is broad general faith among Americans - 92% believe
in some type of God.
2) If you ask Americans if they have a personal commitment
to Jesus, 43% say yes.
3) If you ask them if they have accepted Jesus as their savior,
and believe the Bible is accurate in all it teaches,
and salvation only comes by God's grace and not human
effort, the number plunges to just 7%.
a) That is still a large number of people, but it means
that 5 out of 6 who consider themselves "born again"
don't even see things our way.
#35503
b) We have a lot of work to do.
C. The trends are important.
1) The fastest growing group in America is the non-religious.
2) The number who identify as atheist has grown seven-fold
in forty years.
3) Christians are not holding their own.
a) We have an especially hard time reaching adults.
b) After the age of 19, the probability of someone
accepting Christ as their savior is just 6%. #64145
IV. Why do people reject the gospel today?
A. They are not impressed by the proclaimers.
1) A survey of young atheists in colleges who had grown up in
churches found they were turned off by uncommitted and
lax Christians.
2) They especially didn't respect Christians who gave
superficial answers to life's difficult questions. #64143
B. They reject the moral demands of the gospel.
1) The Bible upholds a strict moral code, especially when it
comes to sexuality.
2) Many modern people don't want these restrictions and think
they are unnecessary.
3) They erase the guilt by erasing the boundaries.
C. They believe other belief systems make more sense.
1) Some prefer Eastern religions and practices like meditation
because they have an inward focus and a self-help
emphasis.
2) Science appeals to many because it answers so many
questions and puts an emphasis on human ability to
reason and create.
D. They have a satisfied view of themselves.
1) They don't feel they are lost, so they don't see a need
to be saved.
2) If you measure yourself against the world, you may come out
okay.
3) Most people would rather not measure themselves against
God's standard.
V. God works in mysterious ways.
A. Salvation is always possible.
1) It may be rare, but even old fogies can get saved.
Greg Boyd grew up Catholic, became an atheist, then
got saved.
He earned a Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary
and became the pastor of a large church.
One thing that burdened him is that his father did not
believe in God.
He was getting up there in years and Greg decided to
do something about it.
He challenged his father to write him letters that
laid out his biggest objections to faith.
Greg answered those questions as best he could.
They covered some big areas, like how can you know the
Bible is true, and how do you explain all the
suffering in the world.
It wasn't just hypothetical stuff - his father's wife,
Greg's mom, had died when the kids were very small.
Edward had strong reasons not to believe in God.
After many letters passed back and forth, a miracle
happened - Edward accepted Jesus as his savior.
He spent the last ten years of his life as a dedicated
Christian.
#64188
2) Some people have been saved on their deathbed.
Two years ago, Christopher Hitchens, the world's most famous
atheist, died of cancer.
Hitchens expected a blackness, a going out of consciousness
forever.
Many Christians remarked that Christopher Hitchens was
going to be surprised when he opened his eyes in hell.
But they might be wrong.
The Christian impulse here is exactly right.
After all, Jesus and his apostles assured us that there is
no salvation apart from union with Christ.
And Hitchens not only rejected the Gospel, he ridiculed it.
The Bible is clear: There is a narrow window in which we
must be saved, the time of this present life.
After this there is only judgment.
But Baptist leader Russell Moore is not sure Christopher
Hitchens is in hell right now.
It's not because he believes there's a "second chance" after
death for salvation (he doesn't).
It's not because he doesn't believe in hell or in God's
judgment (he does).
It's because of a sermon he heard years ago that haunts him
to this day, reminding him of the sometimes surprising
persistence of the Gospel.
Fifteen or so years ago, Moore heard an old Welsh pastor
preach on Jesus' encounter with the thieves on the cross.
The preacher paused to speculate about whether the penitent
thief might have had any God-fearing friends or family.
If so, he said, they probably would never have known about
the criminal's final act, his appeal to Jesus, "Remember
me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42).
They never would have heard Jesus pronounce, "Today you
will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).
These believing family members and friends would have
assumed, all their lives, that this robber was in hell.
They would have been shocked to meet this man in the
Kingdom of God.
Now, deathbed conversions are very rare.
Typically, a conscience is so seared by then, so given over
to the darkening of the mind, that the Gospel rarely is
heard.
We shouldn't count on last-second repentance.
But, however rarely, it does happen, and who knows?
Perhaps you have relatives who, in the last seconds of life,
breathed out a silent prayer of repentance and faith.
You might be as surprised as the thief's family and friends.
I don't know about Christopher Hitchens, about what happened
in his last moments.
But I do know that, if he had embraced it, the Gospel would
be enough for him.
I know that because it's enough for me, and I'm as deserving
of hell as he is.
As long as there is breath, it is not yet too late.
The Gospel offers forgiveness and mercy right to the edge
of death's door.
#63465
B. People may reject Jesus, but we should never give up on them.
1) Keep praying for them.
2) Keep witnessing to them.
3) Keep loving them, while always realizing life is short.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#35503 “The Percentage of Evangelicals in America,” Barna Group, 2008;
<http://www.barna.org/flexpage.aspx?page=barnaupdatenarrow&barnaupdateid=321>
#63465 “Could a Militant Atheist End Up In Heaven?” Russell D. Moore,
Baptist Press, http://www.baptistpress.org, December 16, 2011.
#64143 “Learning From Young Atheists: What Turned Them Off To Christianity,”
Eric Metaxas, Baptist Press, http://www.baptistpress.org,
July 2, 2013.
#64188 “Even Old Fogies Can Get Saved,” Rev. David Holwick, adapted from
the book "Letters from a Skeptic: A Son Wrestles with His
Father's Questions about Christianity," by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd
and Edward K. Boyd (2008).
#64189 “Taking A Risk Because of Love,” Rev. David Holwick, adapted from
"Food Court Proposal Gone Bad" by LeftRightSevenProd,
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnyKkA05nYw>
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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