Adrian Rogers: The Gospel Truth (1811)

[Music] the course of the gospel it extends to every person the course of the gospel it flows to every place the course of the gospel it covers every problem of course you know the greatest problem is death we're going to die but the gospel is that christ was raised from the dead must conquer the grave [Music] thanks for joining us for today's program adrian rogers was a motivator and encourager and a leader of the faith who presented a clear invitation to follow jesus at every opportunity he was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances and you'll see that in today's program and as always you can listen to this message again and check out pastor rogers outlines notes and transcripts all at lwf.org now let's join adrian rogers take god's word and find first corinthians chapter 15 and in a few moments we're going to read the first several verses in first corinthians chapter 15. the title of the message today is the gospel truth now i hope you know by now that the word gospel means what good news good news it's used over 90 times in the new testament and what do you do with good news well friend you tell it if it's good news you need to tell it my seminary professor and in other days told me a story he said there was a mother whose son was pronounced lost in action and judged to be dead and the war department said your son is dead they sent that letter that every mother dreads to hear and then they found out he was not dead at all he was alive and well and they told dr level go tell that woman her son is alive now how would you like to be the one who had the opportunity to go to a mama who thought that her son was dead to knock on the door and say i've got good news i've got good news how excited we ought to be about preaching the gospel of jesus christ because it is better news than roland level had to give to that mother better news that jesus christ has conquered death hell the grave and judgment and that we can live forever with him friend that's good news listen to it verse 1. moreover brethren i declare unto you the good news the gospel which i preached unto you which also you have received and wherein ye stand by which also ye are saved if you keep in memory what i preached unto you unless you have believed in vain for i delivered unto you first of all that which i also received how that christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures now what makes good news good news the thing that makes good news good news is the possibility of bad news good news is not good news unless there's bad news that makes good news good news got it got it okay for example the the bad news is the black velvet upon which the diamond of god's grace the good news of the gospel dazzles so brilliantly what is the bad news look in verse 3 for i delivered unto you first of all that which i also received how that christ died for the next two words are the bad news our sins our sins now today we've tried to explain away sin sin is sort of an old-fashioned word today we like better words like error mistake misjudgment weakness psychological maladjustment we've just taken the old poison and we put new labels on it so today a man's not a thief anymore he's an embezzler she's not a a harlot she's a woman of the lady of the evening no one's a drunkard they're an alcoholic today we've explained away sin the there's a school of of psychology called behaviorism that says that man is just the sum total of his chemistry and his environment i mean that's all he is he's just reacting to what's inside and what's outside and you can't blame him for that maybe he's raised in a bad neighborhood maybe he had a domineering mother wouldn't let him push his mush off the high chair and you know he he's somehow he's warped and so everybody's sick but nobody's sinful everybody's weak but nobody's wicked everybody is ill but nobody's evil that's behaviorism we explain away sin that way and the evolutionists how does he explain sin he says well i mean we're just an accident we just happened we came up out of some primordial ooze and we just evolved from some uh primitive protozoa to what we are today and so there really is nothing calls sin how can there be sin because there's no fixed standard of right or wrong everything is just changing there's no absolute standard so there is no such thing as sin and the humanists today will tell you that sin is the invention of the church to keep everybody in line and liberal preachers have bought into all three of these things let me tell you what a liberal preacher had to say now you want you want something to get the hackles up on your back if you're a bible preacher here's what this man said and and many are following him quote sin is quote the result of infantile environment traumatic experiences psychological complexes and the like and then he added this quote after preaching for 50 years i cannot help but feeling the church harps far too much on sin then he went on to say quote paul's words that through one man's sin entered into the world and death by sin can be dismissed as nonsense in the quote now that man ought to get out the pulpit make an honest living i'm serious uh public enemy number one is sin sin is a clenched fist in the face of god sin is hellish damnable the bible says for the wages of sin is death the soul that sinneth it shall surely die and the apostle paul said in in romans chapter 5 and verse 12 wherefore as by one man's sin entered into the world and death by sin so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned and who in this building today would say pastor rogers i've never sinned well you say well i've sinned but i've i've sinned just a little bit but the bible says for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point the same is guilty of all what does that mean how many of the ten commandments do you have to break to be a sinner all ten just one here's a man dangling over a fire by a chain of ten links how many links in that chain have to break before he falls in the fire 10 just one whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point the same is guilty of all i wonder how many in this building have ever ever told a lie ever cheated in school deceived your mama i wonder how many in this building have ever taken anything that did not belong to them whether it was a nickel off your mother's dresser whether you carried materials home from the job or stolen answer in school how many have ever taken a toy out of a neighbor's yard when you were a child well you say pastor those those are small things yes but they're an indication of a bigger thing and the problem is not what a man does the problem is what a man is the bible says these things come out of the heart a man is not a thief because he steals he steals because he's a thief he's not a liar because he tells lies he tells lies because he's a liar and the problem is not what we do we do what we do because we are what we are and there is something in human nature that is called sin and until you deal with the problem until you admit there is bad news the gospel will never be good news to you boys and girls sometimes want to come down the aisle and join the church if you're a mom or a dad never let your child come forward and get baptized and till first of all they understand their sinners a sentence now you don't have to drill that into their little heads at their sinners because that's not the conviction they need not the conviction of mom and dad but the conviction of the holy spirit but when the holy spirit convicts that child of sin then that child can understand a savior it is the bad news that makes the good news good now having said that let's look at the good news the three things i want you to see about the gospel today and i tell you they are wonderful what i want you to see today as we look in these first three verses first corinthians 15 verses 1 through 3 i want you to see the source of the gospel where it comes from then i want you to see the force of the gospel i want you to see its mighty power then i want you to see the course of the gospel i want you to see where it goes and what it does now what is the source of the gospel well the source of the gospel is the death burial and resurrection of jesus christ look in verse 3 for i delivered unto you first of all now that doesn't mean that's the first thing i said it may have been the first thing he said but that isn't what it means here it means of first importance this is number one this is the highest priority this is the main thing and as we've heard so many times the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing i have delivered unto you first of all a prime importance there's nothing more important than what i have to say today i have delivered unto you first of all how that which i also receive how that christ died for our sins according to the scriptures that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures that is that is the source of the gospel the death burial and resurrection of jesus christ now what is the bad news again our sins he died for our sins now what is what is the problem of sin well sin brings with it penalty sin brings with it pollution and sin brings with it power got it sin brings penalty pollution and power it doesn't give you power it has power over you now how does the death burial and resurrection of jesus deal with our problem well first of all the death burial and resurrection deals with the penalty of our sins you see when jesus christ died on the cross that was full payment for our sins the bible says he died for our sins that is on behalf of our sins he died to pay our sin debt and the bible says he did it according to the scriptures you see the death of jesus christ on the cross was not an incident it was not an accident it was not an afterthought it was according to the scriptures what scriptures was he talking about he was talking about the old testament jewish scriptures the old testament the bible of the jewish people 700 years before jesus christ came into this world the prophet isaiah said all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the lord hath laid on him on messiah the iniquity of us all our sins were laid upon the lord jesus christ jesus took our sins to the cross and with his blood on that cross in agony and blood he suffered bled and died and there was the full payment for our sins and as he died he said it is finished it is paid in full you see a holy god a righteous god demands that sin must be paid for god cannot merely overlook sin god cannot merely forgive sin without payment being made you say why not if god were to do that he would no longer be holy he would no longer be just he would no longer be righteous if he just simply said well i forgive you suppose you stood before a judge adjudicated guilty of some horrible hateful heinous crime and the judge says oh that's all right i'm a loving judge i forgive you a judge has no right to do that he'd be removed from the bench he has no authority to do that as a judge he must see that payment is made they say in the court of law when a guilty man is acquitted the judge is condemned if god willingly knowingly deliberately overlooks sin then god would become a sinner god would topple from his throne of wholeness sin must be paid for but christ died for our sins and that deals with the penalty of sin because the cross of jesus christ according to verse 3 was full payment for our sin but now wait a minute let's go on not only do we have the problem of the penalty of sin and when he paid our sin debt he removed the penalty but there's also the pollution of our sin look in verse 4 now and he was buried he was buried not only did he die but he was buried not only is there the full payment there's the free pardon what what do you mean he was buried pastor well they put him in that grave they sealed him in there three days and three nights he was in the grave why is the burial of jesus christ a part of the gospel why does the bible put this emphasis upon the burial of jesus christ well number one so everybody would know he was truly dead did you know there's some people who believe that he never really died on the cross some people come up with the most asinine theory that he only painted on the cross they call that the swoon theory well friend let me tell you here's jesus christ put in a grave a raccoon grave in front of that grave was a stone four and a half to five feet tall engineers at georgia tech said it probably weighed one half to two tons here's that here's that stone there in front of the grave jesus christ has hung on the cross his hands and feet pierced with nails he's already been beaten lacerated then then they take a a spear and ram it in his side outflows blood and water he's taken down from this uh this cross he's wrapped in linen garment very much like a mummy sealed with spices he's put in this grave he's left there three days and three nights and then somebody trying to explain the way the resurrection says that he he somehow resuscitated there in the tomb somehow extricated himself from all of that wrapping and then here is a man let's say weighs 185 pounds he rolls away that stone slips past the roman guard that's guarding it by fear of their own death appears to his disciples after having spent three days and three nights with those uh wounds in his hands his feet his side and convinces them that he's been raised from the dead i mean if you believe that you know it takes far more faith to believe that than it does that he was raised from the dead but but he was buried he was put in that grave he was dead no ifs ands and buts about it he died he was buried but the the main reason that they talk about the burial of jesus christ and the gospel that the apostle paul mentions the burial of jesus christ as the gospel is what it shows you see not only did he was there the pardon that is given and he deals with the penalty of our sin but there's the pollution and the gospel deals with the purging of our sin you see your problem is not just the penalty that your sin deserves your problem is what sin is done to you it's the gospel of jesus christ that cleanses you on the inside it's not it's not merely that you don't have to go to hell friend listen when you get saved when you come to jesus christ he makes your heart clean the defilement the pollution of sin is put in the grave of god's forgetfulness what did it mean when jesus christ was buried that that he had become sin and he died for us and that sin is put out of sight he is buried when you get saved when you get saved not only does he forgive you so far as judicial forgiveness but he cleanses you on the inside and though your sins be as scarlet they should be white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be his wool what i'm trying to say is this friend your sins are pardoned and then they are buried in the grave of god's forgetfulness you never have to be haunted by the ghost of guilt you see the old person you used to be is dead gone and buried that's what baptism is all about we are buried with him by baptism it's gone living he loved me dying he saved me buried he carried my sins far away that's what it's all about sin he deals not only with the penalty of sin that's his death he deals with the pollution of sin that's his burial he takes that that that sin and puts it in the grave of his forgetfulness and again we're saying be of sin the double cure save from wrath and make me pure that that that pollution that that that contamination of sin is put away in the grave of god's forgetfulness but then look again at this passage of scripture and verse 4 and the bible says and he rose again the third day now what we say the three problems were the penalty of sin the pollution of sin and the power of sin he rose again the third day triumphant over sin he has broken the back of satan he has demolished the power of sin it was sin that crucified jesus it was sin that nailed him to the cross but now he is raised now look at it very carefully in verse 4. the bible says and that he rose again literally the greek construction is this he was raised again he was raised again who raised him well god the father raised him from the dead now you see they had put jesus christ on trial there was a mock trial and they put him on trial and they said let's bring the evidence against him they said he was a blasphemer they said he was a fraud they said he was a troublemaker and they said our verdict of him is that he's worthy of death let him be crucified that was what the lower court said and so they put him in the grave but a higher court said i'll raise him up they were wrong and i will raise him up listen to acts chapter 2 verses 23 and 24 him jesus being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of god ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain whom god hath raised up having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holding of it they said he's worthy of death jesus needs to be crucified but god the father said i'll reverse that court i'm the supreme court of the universe and i will raise him up you see the resurrection of jesus christ was god's stamp of approval upon his life you see listen only ignorance scoffs at the fact that jesus christ was here as an individual as a person on earth i mean everybody knows that he was here you know all history he split the centuries a d and b c i mean we all know he was here don't don't ever say he didn't exist you know he existed now your only question is who was the man that existed was he you only have three choices only three either he was a liar who said he was god and knew that he wasn't or else he was a lunatic who thought he was god and wasn't or he was the lord now he was a fact but now which was which was he lord liar lunatic was he deceiver deceived or deity well how do we know which one he was well the bible says in romans 1 4 he's shown to be the son of god with power by the resurrection from the dead i mean beyond the shadow of any doubt that he walked out of that grave and that is he's shown alive with many infallible proofs there's more proof that jesus christ came out of that grave than the julius caesar ever lived now what i'm trying to say is that that means that satan's back is broken by the resurrection of jesus christ that is god's final stamp of approval upon jesus he's declared to be the son of god with power now the bible says he was raised let me give you a little let's let's talk a little bit about grief we don't want to get too deep but the bible says he died for our sins that's that's what they call the heiress tense that means a fact that's accomplished it's in the past it's done it's done it's finished he died never to die again he was buried that's in the heiress tense it's done it's an accomplished fact he's buried that's that's done but then the bible says and he rose again actually was raised that's present tense say what does that mean well he died that's done he was buried that's done but he rose that's always that's present tense he did rise he is risen he always will be risen i mean friend that means you're never done with jesus christ i you can deny jesus you can refuse jesus and you die without jesus but you'll rise in the judgment of the damned and they're sitting on the throne will be jesus christ he is raised from the dead he is he is risen that friend is the gospel truth that's what the gospel is all about i you see the bad news is our sins the penalty of our sins the pollution of our sins the power of our sins but the death burial and resurrection of jesus christ that friend is god's answer the good news concerning the bad news now that's the source of the gospel i want you to notice now the force of the gospel i want you to see what the gospel does well number one there's the saving force look if you will in verse 2. he speaks of the gospel and he says in verse 2 by which also ye are saved there's no other way to be saved apart from the gospel that's the reason that uh the apostle paul said in romans 1 verse 16 i'm not ashamed of the gospel of christ for it is the power of god unto salvation god has no other way to be saved for you to be saved apart from the gospel listen to the whole verse for i'm not ashamed of the gospel of christ it is the power of god unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the jew first and also to the greek to the jew first to god's chosen it is the power of god to everyone that believes to be saved from the penalty of sin to be saved from the pollution of sin to be set free from the power of sin there is the saving force of the gospel no other way to be saved now notice what he says here by which you're saved if you keep in memory what i preached unto you now what does it mean to keep in memory that literally means to hold fast hold fast what i preach to you don't change it don't amend it don't embellish it i mean if it's new it's not true there is only one gospel no other gospel it is gloriously simple it is simply glorious there's the saving force there's the sanctifying force notice again in verse 2 by which ye are saved saved is in the present tense also and it literally means by which you are being saved well you say now wait a minute adrian have i been saved or am i being saved or will i be saved yes yes you see the gospel the salvation it's in the present tense i have been saved from the penalty of sin i am being saved from the power of sin one day i will be saved from the very presence of sin so the gospel continues to work you see god's not finished with me yet you say well if you're so saved why don't you look and act a little more say well he's not finished with me philippians 1 6 says he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of jesus christ and so salvation is a crisis where you come to god and you say god i'm a sinner forgive my sin come into my heart and save me and he does but it's a crisis that's followed by a process he continues to work in you and day by day he's making you more like the lord jesus christ now therefore what is the force of the gospel there's the saving force and the sanctifying force now that's a word we don't use very much but sanctifying means that he is he is making you more and more day by day more and more like the lord jesus christ that's what he's doing for me i haven't stopped growing i'm i'm light years from what i could be but oh if you only knew what i used to be i i'm growing in the grace and knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ and and and then friend not only is there the saving force and the sanctifying force i love this there's the stabilizing force of the gospel look if you will in verse 1. moreover brethren i declare unto you the gospel which i preached unto you which he also have received and wherein ye stand oh i love that you know it's good news that we can be saved it's better news that we can be saved and know it it is glorious news that we can be saved that we can know that we're saved and know that once we're saved we can never lose it i mean wherein ye stand you see when you get saved you don't keep him he keeps you let me let me give you a verse now just put your marker there uh in roman first corinthians 15 and just turn left to romans chapter 14. you want a blessing it's worth it i want you to turn to it just remember we're talking about standing look in romans chapter 14 and verse 4. those of you want to go around criticizing and judging other people paul asked this question who art thou that judgest another man's servant to his own master he standeth their falleth now watch this yea he shall be holding up for god is able to make him stand [Laughter] you look at some poor stumbling christian and you say you're unworthy god says would you butt out of it he's my servant not your servant and god says i'm going to tell you something about my servant i am able to make him stand and he will be held up he will be held up he will he didn't say my he didn't say some of them will i am able and what i'm able to do i will do and you stand in the gospel of jesus christ and once god saves you my dear friend by his grace he keeps you by his grace don't ever get the idea that salvation is probation that he gives you a fresh start and then sees if you can make it i've told you before i wouldn't trust the best 15 minutes i ever lived to get me to heaven friend you are saved by the grace of god you're kept by the grace of god it is good news that we stand in the gospel friend i want to tell you i stand assured and i stand amazed amazing grace how sweet the sound look if you will and go back to first corinthians 15 and look in verse 10 he says but i but by the grace of god i am what i am we're saved by grace and we're kept by grace now finally and quickly i've talked to you about the the source of the gospel where is the source of the gospel it is the death burial and resurrection of jesus christ not in the merit of man but the mercy of god not the goodness of man but the grace of god i've talked to you about the force of the gospel there's the saving force there's the sanctifying force there's the stabilizing force of the gospel of jesus christ it's wonderful now let me talk to you dear friend about what this gospel does in our world the course of the gospel here's the reason i enjoy being a gospel preacher the gospel of jesus christ extends to every person i love it i can look to anybody anyplace anywhere on the face of god's green earth and tell them no matter what you have done no matter what you've done if you'll trust jesus he'll save you for whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved you say a murderer yes a rapist yes an adulterer yes a thief yes a blasphemer yes look at what the apostle paul said again in verse 10 but by the grace of god i am what i am and his grace was bestowed upon me was not in vain paul called himself the chiefest of sinners but he said god's grace reached even me it extends to every person it extends therefore to every place you don't have to be in a church to be saved some of you listening by television i don't know where you are right now and maybe you're listening later by tape but i want to tell you right where you are this moment jesus will save you if it's every person it has to be every person and every place because everybody got to be somewhere every place i mean it's it's it's to the ends of the earth anybody can be saved you show me anytime anywhere where anybody ever called on jesus christ to save them in repentance and faith and he didn't save them then i'll close my bible and never preach again every person every place now watch it and it extends to every problem every problem you say pastor you don't know my problems well i can reduce them all very simply you know what your problems are every problem that you have is a subcategory of three things sin sorrow and death that's it and the gospel is the only answer to sin the gospel is the only answer to sorrow and the gospel is the only answer to death there's no other book there's no other plan there's no other teacher there's no other method there's no other way apart from the good news of the gospel of jesus christ to deal with sin and sorrow and death the course of the gospel it extends to every person the course of the gospel it flows to every place the course of the gospel it covers every problem of course you know the greatest problem is death we're going to die but the gospel is that christ was raised from the dead and has conquered the grave i want you to imagine a little procession of caterpillars they're down there on the ground caterpillars and they're going to have a funeral and they're carrying along a cocoon because that's where the brother used to be was in that cocoon and he's disappeared he's gone they said he went into this cocoon he's he's gone he's we we're going to have a processional now this is all we've got left of him is just this outer shell and we're going to have a funeral we're going to put it in the grave so there they are the little feet going along in the mud little caterpillars and up there above them is a butterfly he's shimmering his wings are in the sunlight he's free and he's complete what he was made to be and while they're down there crawling along feeling sorry for him he's up there looking down on them feeling sorry for them do you have a loved one in heaven oh friend if he is there if she is there they're there because of the gospel of jesus christ that's conquered sin death hell in the grave and every problem that you'll ever have is answered in the gospel of jesus christ that's the reason the apostle paul said i'm not ashamed of the gospel of christ and with my dying breath i want to be known as a gospel preacher that's bound right [Music] may i ask you a personal question do you know the lord jesus christ as lord and savior do you have the absolute assurance if you died today you would go to heaven is there peace in your heart has that burden of sin been lifted do you know jesus would you like to he's only a prayer away the bible says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved would you call on him today would you say dear god i am lost i am a sinner i need to be saved i want to be saved jesus you died to save me and promise to save me if i would trust you i do trust you jesus this very moment with all of my heart come into my life forgive my sin and begin now to make me the person you want me to be pray it friend pray it and mean it and if you do write to us so we can rejoice and we'll send you some literature to help you to get started in your christian life thanks for joining us for today's program you can listen to this message again or share this message with a friend who is hurting at lwf.org you can also download pastor rogers outline notes and a complete transcript of this message at lwf.org you can also check out articles devotionals booklets and other materials from adrian rogers on this series you can also sign up to receive a daily devotional from adrian rogers delivered each day to your computer or mobile device and if you're looking for some inspiration and encouragement to get you through the week be sure to check us out on social at lwf ministries and don't forget you can catch up on our program each week on our facebook page or youtube channel thanks for joining us today for our program we'll see you next time [Music] under you is born this day in the city of david a savior who is christ the lord share the light of the gospel with a dark world with this new christmas card from love worth finding this beautiful nativity scene painted by local artist lacey hancock is accompanied by a devotional thought from adrian rogers and will help you share some timeless hope with your friends as we near the end of a stressful year this christmas season for your gift to love worth finding we want to send you a package of 10 cards and envelopes request your package when you call 1-800-647-9400 or order your cards online at lwf.org also this month learn about god's purpose and plan from genesis to revelation with this new collection of eight powerful messages from adrian rogers his story available now through our online store lwf.org

Channel: Love Worth Finding Ministries

Views: 11,763

Rating: 4.9436622 out of 5

Keywords: love worth finding, Adrian Rogers, Memphis, salvation, ways to salvation, Christ Jesus, the force, the gospel truth, human condition, inherent, source, it is finished, good news, bad news, saving, jesus christ, adrian rogers, christ jesus

Id: EkTR0V_3udg

Length: 42min 28sec (2548 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 29 2020