The Mercy of God in Sending You a Preacher
God reveals His attribute of mercy, in not giving to some people what every person deserves…the wrath of God. Romans 1:18 assures us that God’s wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
In love, God sent His only begotten Son to be a propitiation for the sins of His people (Jn 3:16; Heb 2:17). Stated another way, when God’s just wrath against all sins, hence, all sinners, stood ready to be executed, Jesus Christ was made to be sin for us (2 Cor 5:21). The full force of God’s wrath was poured out upon Jesus at the cross.
Jesus Christ came from heaven to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21). By God’s designed redemption, the blood of the perfect lamb of God must be applied to the object decreed to be spared. Christ is the substitute for His beloved, in His atonement for our sins (1 Pet 2:24).
The Holy Spirit was sent to apply the finished work of Christ to ungodly sinners of God’s choosing. In love, God selected people before the foundation of the world and gave them to His Son (Eph 1:4–5). When those predestined for God’s salvation lived in diverse times and in diverse places, God sent preachers to bring these people the good news of what He had done for them (Lk 16:29; Acts 1:8). They believed the Word spoken to them by a Spirit-filled messenger of God, as they themselves were brought to spiritual life.
Remembering God’s sovereignty, we observe a divine limitation in all these actions by the Triune Godhead. God the Father chose with limitation, and Christ came and died with limitations. For example, He laid down His life for His sheep (Jn 10:15), not for the goats. He died for His bride, the church (Eph 5:25), not for everyone everywhere. His motive was love — for the ones His Father had given Him before time (Jn 10:29).
Next, we see the limitation on who receives the Holy Spirit, the gift of God. Who are these? They are the same elect of God, bought with the blood of Christ, and set free as the children of God, through the new birth of the Spirit (Jn 3:3,7; 1 Pet 1:3).
The divine limitation is extended to those who believe the message of the preacher, when He is sent to them. God has determined faith to be the instrument by which the gift of God is appropriated (Eph 2:8–9). Faith itself is a gift of God given to some (Phil 1:29), who hear Christ through the preaching of the Bible. Romans 10:14–15 reveals the origin of faith and how it is granted to the elect at regeneration. Trusting Christ is not something the natural man can do through his own will or ability, for he is not able nor willing (1 Cor 2:14; Jn 1:12–13).
True Gospel preachers are few (Lk 10:2), and history proves how many multitudes have never heard the Word, even while others have rejected God’s Gospel message to their eternal hurt (Mt 7:13). The Scriptures affirm, however, that Christ has lost no one that belongs to Him (Jn 10:28; Rom 8:26–39).
The preacher is sent by the Lord Jesus Christ and proclaims the message belonging to Christ. Knowing it is a remnant of humanity that is saved, through the hearing of a few preachers, one might be inclined to ask what is the problem with God’s means and method in salvation. Providence is not deficient in any way, however. Both the Old and New Testaments reveal the will of God, “I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy (Ex 33:19; Rom 9:15).”
God’s election of some to salvation, when all deserve eternal damnation, proves God’s love and mercy toward the ungodly. Christ’s sin-bearing substitution on the cross demonstrates His love and mercy toward sinners. The Holy Spirit, in opening hearts to receive the Word of Christ (Acts 16:14), is applying the love and mercy of God to those who were dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). We love because He first loved us.
God’s people are vessels of mercy prepared beforehand for glory (Rom 9:23). Just as with the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles, God raises up the exact number of men for the Gospel ministry, today. He calls them to the ministry of the Word and fits them for the work. He sends them, with precision, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Acts 8:25–40; 9:1–19; 10:1–48). Jesus Christ is the Israel of God (Is 49:1–13), and so is His body, the church (Gal 6:16), both Jew and Gentile. By bringing many sons to glory, He is building His church (Mt 16:18) with living stones, His chosen people, who are given new life by the indwelling Holy Spirit (1 Pet 2:5).
With utmost definitude, God has ordered your salvation, if you belong to Him. Make your calling and election sure, for God has been merciful to you…a sinner, chosen from the beginning for salvation (2 Thess 2:13). Then rejoice when a Gospel preacher mounts his stool, his podium, or his pulpit. For in this, you are a witness to the mercy of God, in the sending of His herald to cry out glad tidings of all that God has done…and God has done it all with meticulous precision!
David Norczyk
Hillsboro, Oregon
May 17, 2021
