¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

In this verse we see the necessity of credentials to proclaim eternal truth.

¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent?

Preaching is based on sending. This is the climax of the four questions. The idea of being “sent” is commission from a higher authority, a divine commission. Proclamation requires a commission. The gospel does not originate with the proclaimer. The emphasis here is on the one who sent the proclaimer—Jesus Christ. Missionaries and evangelists go in the name of another. We do not go in our authority or power; we go out under the auspices of God Himself.

Ro 1:1, Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God

1 Co 15:11, Therefore, whether it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Ga 1:15-16, ¹⁵ But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, ¹⁶ to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,

As it is written:

Paul hammered his point from a quote of Isaiah 52:7 to show the keenness of those who carry the gospel message. In Isaiah 52:7 the proclaimer announced to Judah that God ended the exile in Babylon (Isa 40:9-11); however, Paul applied this to the Jews of his day.

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,

Those who carry the gospel have a welcoming message. It is a joy to those who embrace it. This is analogous to airline flights delivering food to a starving country. The message of the wrath of God being stemmed by the cross is a blessing indeed.

The word “beautiful” means from full bloom or development. We do not normally think of feet as beautiful. Most of us think they are quite ugly! It is the message that makes the messenger beautiful. “Feet” implies travel.

Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

“Glad tidings” is the gospel itself. The word “gospel” means good news.

PRINCIPLE:

There is a necessity for divine messengers in God’s economy.

APPLICATION:

God calls every Christian to proclaim the truth of the gospel. We operate under orders from the highest authority ever. The proclaimer gets his marching orders from the ultimate source possible. This is true of all believers, whether they are in full-time ministry or not. There is no such thing as home or foreign missions; the idea is simply missions. Everyone has the mission to proclaim the gospel. It is true that God calls some to go to far-flung fields, but even that is simply missions.

There is beauty to the enterprise of the getting the gospel out. The wonder of seeing souls saved from hell to live eternally in heaven is something to behold. There is both beauty and necessity in mission work.

No one can believe the gospel unless someone carries the message to him. There can be no doubt for the need of people proclaiming the Lord Jesus in words. No one can call on the Lord unless there is something to believe about Him. The message is not whatever we chose to make it but a specific revelation from God—believe in Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension to give us eternal life.

Without divine authorization, proclamation would not come with the power of God. Commission is the start of the chain of actions that lead to evangelism. The person who rejects the message of the proclaimer rejects Jesus Himself.

Lu 10:16, “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”