October 19
Romans 10: 15:…how shall they preach, except they be
sent?
It is impossible
for any man to preach the gospel effectually unless God sends him. But God
is pleased to save by preaching. (1 Cor 1: 21) So even as Christ fulfilled all
other prophecy, God raised Christ to fulfill the prophecy, “I will give you pastors according to mine
heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer 3:15).
Therefore, in his resurrection
glory, having all power in heaven and earth, whenever the
GodMan has a city of lost sheep, he emboldens his messenger like he did Paul at
Corinth when he said, “I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt
thee: for I have much people in this city. And he continued there a
year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” (Mt 28: 18-19; Acts
18:10-11) If our Head has a Lydia in Thyatira then he works all
things together to bring her to a place like Philippi, forbids his preacher to
go to one place and turns him to another as he did Paul, who said, “immediately
we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly
gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.” (Acts
16:7-15) If the Lord has an Ethiopian,
Christ can bring him into the middle of the desert and move his preacher to that
place like he did Philip, saying, “Arise,
and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza,
which is desert.” (Acts 8:26-39) Our sovereign
Savior can put his preacher in prison to call his child to faith as he did when
he put Paul in prison and called the Philippian jailor, as well as many in his
house. (Acts 16: 23-34)
By the means of preaching
God the Father gives glory to Christ. He does so in the message preached. Also,
not only does Christ receive glory for fulfilling the prophecy of sending
preachers after his own heart, but as Christ prays the Father who sends the
Holy Spirit, the gospel is made effectual in the heart of his child so that “no
flesh should glory in his presence”, but God makes Christ “unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption: that, according as it is written,
He that glorrieth, let him glory in the Lord.” (1 Cor 1: 29-31; Jer 9: 23-24) Also,
Christ is glorified through the preaching of the gospel because as prophesied “the
pleasure of the Lord prospers in Christ’s hand” as our Head “filleth all in
all.” (Is 53: 10; Eph 1: 23) In these
things we see that, indeed, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and
the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1Cor 1:25)