Romans 10:5  For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
6  But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8  But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18  But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
19  But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
20  But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
21  But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Yesterday we began looking at the matter of visions and dreams by laying the foundation for everything. It does not matter what your question is or what you or I believe. The Word of God is the ONLY and FINAL authority. It seems that most “religious” people lack the right understanding on dispensationalism.
Dispensationalism is a big word to speak of how God has dealt with man and the world in different time periods. The Garden of Eden was the first stage of God’s dealings with man. In the Garden of Eden man was created without sin. He did not know what sin was and he had no need to know what sin is. He was designed by God to live for ever free from sin. Man chose to break that relationship and he became a lost sinner. No longer could God deal with man as He did prior to the fall. Now man was driven from the Garden. He now needed to be clothed and he would now find work a difficult and taxing thing. Not only that, but man died spiritually when he chose to sin and he began to die physically at that moment.
In the Old Testament God gave both God-fearing people and pagans visions at times. Ezekiel was given visions by God and Nebuchadnezzar was given dreams by God. Ezekiel, as a God-fearing man had a living relationship with God and thus God could give him the necessary understanding of the visions. Nebuchadnezzar was not a God-fearing man and he needed men like Daniel to help him to understand what He was doing.
Visions were still given in the early stages of the New Testament era. With the completion of the Scriptures there is no longer any need for visions and God is not giving visions to people today.
We gave many verses yesterday that point to the fact that lost people have a completely different view of God than saved people do. Lost people do not believe that God knows everything and that He is “sovereign”. Having made that statement, I need to remind us all that I am not a Calvinist. The word “sovereign” is not a bad word. It is improperly defined by the Calvinist. In human terms a sovereign would be someone like a king. He is the highest human ruler in a nation. He can be overthrown by the army. He can be tried and even executed if he is overthrown.
Al Gore the once famous V.P. who claimed to have invented the internet came out this week stating that anyone who opposes his views should be silenced. That is a picture of a mere mortal assuming a position that no man holds. Our P.M. is in that same league. They will find out one day just how small they really are.
When we talk of God as being sovereign, we speak of absolute authority. No one can overthrow God. No one can interfere with His plan. In the Bible we often find the word LORD. Usually that word is the translation of the Hebrew word “Yahweh” or “Yehovaw”. We tend to spell it Jehovah. It speaks of the fact that God is self-existent and that He does as He will all the time.
When we talk about God we must understand Who we are talking about.
The context of our study of visions and dreams has to do with the claim that Muslims are turning to God because they are being given visions of the Lord Jesus Christ. I personally do not believe that. I am not God and I am not the judge. God is the judge and He has given us His Word. We said yesterday, and many times prior to that, that God’s Word is our only and final authority. It does not matter what experience you or I have. It does not matter what your opinion or my opinion is. What matters is what does God say. If I am a true child of God, I must submit to God’s Word.
In our text we see that the apostle Paul was directed to remind us of the righteousness that is of the law. Those who want to live by law keeping must keep the law perfectly. No one can do that.
In verse 6 Paul wrote of the righteousness that is of faith. Notice the question asked here. True faith does not question whether Jesus Christ came to this earth as a man or whether He rose again from the dead and ascended back up to heaven.
If I am going to live by faith, I do not need a vision of Jesus Christ in order to believe in Him. If we are living by faith, then we do not need to see Jesus Christ with our eyes. We also do not need a vision of what we claim to believe. We do not demand a vision of Jesus in order to believe in Him.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2  For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Notice in these verses that faith, that is true Biblical faith, is the substance of things hoped for . . . In verse 6 of this passage, we read that without faith it is impossible to please God. Claiming faith after we have seen the object of faith, is not faith.
As we noted yesterday, the founder of Islam claimed to have visions and dreams. It is not surprising that his followers would also insist on visions and dreams in order to believe. They may get visions, but they would be from the devil, not from God.
Back in Romans 10, Paul continued his argument regarding faith. We do not seek to bring Christ down from heaven, nor do we descend into the deep to try to bring Christ up from the dead again. He has already risen and He is in heaven. Those who submit to the conviction by the Holy Spirit, repent toward God and put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They do not need to see Him, and God is not giving them a vision of Jesus Christ.
In the remaining verses of our text, the emphasis is on the Word of God. It is through the faithful preaching of the Word of God, that the Holy Spirit works in the heart of the lost person and brings the repentant sinner to salvation.
Those who are saved do not do anyone a favour in accepting their fraudulent claim that they have seen Jesus and that is why they believed. Which Jesus did they see? The Bible warns that there are false Christs. Paul warned of those who would preach another Jesus. Those who make false claims are speaking of another Jesus.
In verse 9 we are told that we must confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead in order to be saved. It does not say if you see a vision of Jesus, and then confess Him you will be saved.
In verse 10 we are reminded that true believing comes from the heart, not the head. Biblical salvation is not an intellectual act. Certainly the mind is involved; however, the mind makes the right choice because of the convicting work of God in the heart.
In verse 11 we are further reminded of what the Bible says. Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. We are constantly reminded of the necessity of true faith.
In verse 12 we are reminded that God does not play favourites. Jews are saved the same way Gentiles are saved. That has always been the case. The Muslims are Gentiles and in order for them to be saved they need to repent toward God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation. They do not need to see Jesus in order to believe on Him. Those who are waiting to see Him in order to believe in Him, will be shocked to see Him at the great white throne judgment. They will not be happy about that meeting.
Notice in verses 14-17 that it is the preaching of God’s Word that is essential. The hearer needs to hear the Word of God and he or she needs to humbly respond in obedience to the Word of God.
In verse 15 we are reminded of the importance of preaching the Word of God. In verse 16 we see that not everyone obeys the Gospel. It does not say they do not believe the picture. The Gospel is given with words. The reference is given of Isaiah. He prophesied of the coming of the child born of a virgin. He spoke of the unique nature of this child. Isaiah 53 clearly points to the suffering Saviour. Most Jews reject such a fact. They want a conquering King. Jesus Christ is the conquering King. He came to make it possible for lost sinners to be saved. He conquered the power and curse of sin. He will destroy all those who reject Him as their Saviour and King.
In verses18-21 we have a reference to God setting Israel aside for a time and focussing on the Gentiles. Romans 11 talks of how Israel was cut off at the stump and the Gentile saints were “graffed” in at the stump. Gentiles do not replace Israel. Israel is still there and the Saviour is still of the lineage of Israel and of the tribe of Judah. One day Israel will acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. They will see Him at the end of the Tribulation. Until that time, salvation is strictly by faith. The Muslims who insist on seeing Jesus will miss out. Those who enter the Tribulation may well be on the side of the antichrist. They will likely take his mark and will gladly go around killing those who refuse his mark.
The Biblical evidence is that salvation is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not by seeing a vision and then believing. We do people a favour when we help them to see the truth and know the forgiveness of God in their hearts. We demonstrate a lack of love for them when we accept their deception and refuse to show them what the Bible says.
It is true that people place greater significance on their experience than they do on truth. No one is saved by experience. All that are saved, are saved by repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Bartel