Love Worth Finding

Adrian Rogers: The Holy Spirit of God is come to convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Now, in a court of law, first the crime, when the crime is proven, then the judgment. But with God, the order is different.

There's first of all sin, then righteousness, and then judgment. God has put righteousness between sin and judgment. You see, God interposed the precious blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And His righteousness stands between me and judgment. Between me and hell, there's a bloody cross and Jesus is on it.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the powerful messages and profound teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. In part one of today's message, we learned that a man is a sinner because of what he is and what he has done. But a man is also a sinner because of what he has not done.

God made us to know, love, and serve Him. When we don't do that, we're refusing Him the glory He deserves. There are three truths regarding who we are and what God makes us to be, but we will only understand them when the Spirit speaks. If you have your Bible, turn now to John chapter 16, beginning in verse seven, as Adrian Rogers reveals what happens when the Spirit speaks.

Adrian Rogers: What are these three tremendous truths that you will learn when the Spirit of God speaks? Number one: the truth about the sinner's basic problem. What is the sinner's basic problem? Look if you will in verse nine: "Of sin, because they believe not on me."

Now, what is man's basic problem? Well, first of all, a man is a sinner because of what he is. He's a born sinner. Put in your margin Ephesians 2:3, which says, "We are by nature the children of wrath." Man is born with a sinful nature. He comes into this world with a sinful nature. Therefore, unless there's a change, he's hopelessly lost because he has a nature that's given to sin.

Man is a sinner basically because of what he is. Now, you may not have done so many bad things, but God looks at your nature. If you were to see a dog foaming at the mouth and acting strange, you could tell the dog was rabid. That dog would be caged and destroyed, not for what the dog had done—he may not have bitten anybody—but what he is capable of doing.

Friend, we are sinners not only for what we've done, but what we are capable of doing. So, man is a sinner because of what he is. Secondly, man is a sinner because of what he has done. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Think of the deeds that you've done. Think of the dishonesty. Think of all of those things you've done.

You say, "Well, I haven't done that much." Did you ever steal a toy out of your neighbor's yard? Did you ever steal a nickel off your mother's dresser? Did you ever cheat in school? You say those are small sins. Friend, I want to remind you that God doesn't grade on the curve.

We are sinners for what we are. We are sinners for what we have done. Think of your thought life. You hated, and God wrote down murder. You lusted, and God wrote down adultery. Man is a sinner because of what he is. Man is a sinner because of what he's done.

Man is a sinner because of what he has not done. Why did God make you? To know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him. That's why God made you. If you've not known Him, loved Him, and served Him, then you've been walking on God's green earth, eating God's food, using God's sunshine, breathing God's air, and not returning to God that which is His, which is glory to Him.

But all of these things are not man's basic problem. Man's basic problem is not that he's a sinner because of what he is. Man's basic problem is not that he's a sinner because of what he has done. Man's basic problem is not that he's a sinner because of what he has not done—that is, giving God glory.

Man is a sinner, according to verse nine, for not believing. That's something that only the Holy Spirit of God can convict you of. Jesus said when He is come, when the Spirit of God is come, He will reprove the world of sin because they believe not.

Now, you say, "Oh well, that's not a big sin." No, friend, that is the great sin. That is the mother sin, the father sin, the parent sin, the sin of sins, the greatest sin is not believing. And you say, "Well, it doesn't seem so bad. Murder is worse than that. Rape is worse than that." No, God says unbelief is the greatest sin.

Now, you say, "I don't agree with that." Think with me for a moment. And I pray God the Holy Spirit of God will teach you that this is the greatest sin and, with it, you pay the greatest price. Do you know what unbelief is? Unbelief is wickedness, consummate wickedness.

Unbelief is the refusal of Almighty God. Unbelief is saying, "God, you go your way, I'll go mine. It is my life. I will not trust you with it. I will not give it to you. I am my own person." You see, unbelief is the parent sin from which all other sins come. Unbelief does not come out of the head; it comes out of the heart. It is a predisposition against Almighty God. It is not trusting the God who loves you. You have refused Him. That is the greatest sin and, with it, it brings the greatest penalty.

Now, there's a second truth that you'll never understand until God the Holy Spirit teaches you. Not only the truth about man's basic problem, which is unbelief, his basic problem, but number two: the truth about the Savior's bountiful provision. What is the truth about the Savior's bountiful provision?

The Holy Spirit has come. When He speaks, He speaks of righteousness. Jesus said, "Because I go to my Father and you see me no more." What is the Savior's bountiful provision? You say He came to heal. No. He came to teach, not primarily. You say He came to help the poor. No.

He came to seek and to save that which is lost. He came as a Savior, and He came to provide righteousness. He came to provide righteousness. He was virgin born, led a sinless life, took my sin, your sin, our sin upon Himself, hung upon that cross, and with His blood paid the sin debt.

Then He went into that dark tomb, came out the third day, ascended to heaven. It was done. All that He came to do was done. He said, "I have finished the work," speaking to the Father. "I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do, and now I am going back home."

"I have done the work that God told me to do. Now I am ascending the high hills of glory, and the Holy Spirit of God is going to come, and He will convict you of the righteousness that you can have through me." Now, think with me for a moment. If you could work your way to heaven, tell me, friend, why did Jesus die?

What is the purpose of the cross? Are you telling me that God would allow His dear darling, precious Son to die in unmentionable agony upon that cross when you could be saved without it? He just let Him die. Friend, if that is true, I hate to meet that God in a dark alley.

I have no respect for a God who would allow Jesus Christ to die that way upon the cross, to be butchered on a Roman cross, when you could be saved by just being good. Look at that verse again. "If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."

But most of the people in America are egomaniacs, strutting to hell, thinking they're too good to be damned. Only the Holy Spirit of God will convict you that the great sin, the basic sin, is unbelief. Only the Holy Spirit of God can convict you that you do not have half a hallelujah of a chance to go to heaven apart from the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You say, "Well, I'm a good person, Pastor Rogers." Well, let me tell you what God says about you. Put it down. Isaiah chapter 64 and verse 6: "For we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Not your bad deeds, your good deeds.

In the sight of God, it's like a filthy rag. That's the word that's used to wrap the leper's oozing sores. All of our righteousness is as filthy rags. Now, only the Holy Spirit of God can teach you that. You see, you can make a deadly mistake by depending upon self-righteousness rather than Christ's righteousness.

Now, when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, what does He do? Well, when you believe on Him, number one, here's the kind of righteousness that He gives you. Number one: He changes what you are. The moment you believe on Him—remember we said a man is a sinner because of what he is—well, Jesus changes what he is.

Christians are not just nicer people; they're new creatures. If any man be in Christ Jesus, he's a new creature. God gives you a new nature. When I received Christ as a teen, God put a new nature in my heart, such a new nature that the teachers were saying, "What happened, Adrian Rogers?"

There was a radical change. But not only does He change what we are, He forgives what we've done. Remember, I said we were sinners for what we've done? Well, every stain, every blur, every blot, every blemish is washed whiter than snow, buried in the grave of God's forgetfulness.

But not only does He change what we are, not only does He forgive what we've done, but He also gives what we need. What do we need? We need righteousness. Now, let me give you a verse of scripture: Romans 4, verses five and six. "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

God just puts righteousness on our account, even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. Now, we don't use that word "impute" very much, but it means "put on your account." Listen to what God says in this scripture.

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works." God just puts that on your account. How glorious that is. You say, "I don't understand it." That's the reason I'm praying God the Holy Spirit will open your heart today.

When the Spirit of God is come, He will convict you of righteousness—the only righteousness that you can have apart from Him. The worst form of badness is human goodness when human goodness becomes a substitute for the new birth. You say, "Well, I believe I have a little goodness in me."

Your goodness, your righteousness, is as filthy rags in the sight of God. There are about six billion people on planet Earth. If you were to put all six billion people in a single line and pass a golden cup down that line and let each person put all of his righteousness in that cup, when it had gone all around the world a number of times and each person putting all of his personal righteousness in that cup, there wouldn't be enough righteousness in that cup to save one man.

There's no righteousness. There's none righteous, no not one. Now, people don't understand that. They sit in churches thinking they're doing God a wild favor by getting here. And they don't understand that they need to be twice-born. Again, I tell you, if righteousness come by the law, then pray tell me, why did Jesus die?

The Holy Spirit of God has come to teach what man's basic problem is, and that is sin. The Holy Spirit of God is come to teach what Christ the Savior's bountiful provision is, and that is righteousness. Now, thirdly, here's the third truth that you'll never understand apart from the Holy Spirit, and it's the truth about Satan's broken power.

The truth about Satan's broken power. Now, Jesus said He's going to come and talk to you about sin, righteousness, and judgment. Now, He describes judgment in verse 11. He says, "Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." Now, notice the tense there.

He doesn't say the prince of this world, who is Satan, is going to be judged. Friend, Satan is already judged. Now, you need to understand this because some people think that we're still waiting to see the outcome. Oh no, when Jesus faced the cross, here's what Jesus said in John chapter 12 and verse 31: "Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out." Not when I come 2,000 years later.

"Now is the judgment of this world." Friend, when Jesus died on the cross, man was doing his most wicked malevolent thing he could do. God was gaining the greatest victory. When Jesus bowed His head and died, Satan's kingdom was crushed. Satan's back was broken.

Satan became a condemned felon. Sentence has been passed upon him. Judgment is over. He rules a doomed domain. He sails a sinking ship. Satan is ruined. He is ruined. He's devastated. The prince of this world is already judged. That's the foolishness of Satan worship. Why follow a loser?

Hell is prepared for the devil and his angels. God didn't make hell for you. But I tell you something. Everybody in this building today is either believing in Christ or you're not believing in Christ. And those of you who are believing in Christ, one day you'll be like Him.

That's what our Christian faith is about. One day you will be like Jesus. That is what God is up to. God is up to making people like Jesus Christ, to be conformed to the image of His Son. That's what it's all about. But I'm going to tell you something.

You fail to receive the Lord Jesus Christ, you fail to believe in Him, you trust your own self-righteousness, and you're going to begin moving in this direction. And one of these days you're going to be the perfect image of Satan himself. You will be just like him.

You will be transformed into the image of Satan, and you will go to a hell prepared for the devil and his angels. It's a frightening thought. I want to ask you a question. When you get to where you're headed, where will you be? Everybody's headed somewhere.

Everybody is headed somewhere. There are those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who have received His righteousness, who will one day be like Him. But if you have not, I want to tell you that judgment awaits you. Don't get the idea that there's some colossal contest and we're waiting to see who's going to win: Jesus or the devil.

The devil's already lost, and Jesus must reign. His enemies must bite the dust. Truth is mightier than error, and love is stronger than hate, and holiness is higher than sin. Choose sides carefully, precious friend. Now, it looks like sometimes Satan is winning the battle.

Don't be deceived. The prince of this world is judged, is judged. Somewhere years ago, I read about a spider who tried to build his web on the town clock—you know, these big clocks that stand in the city square. And he put one end of his little gossamer thread on the hand of the clock and began to build.

But the clock just kept moving and kept moving. He had to keep rebuilding over and over again. I want to tell you, Satan tries to build his sticky web, but God's hand is moving on toward the climax of this age. And all of Satan's plans are destined to failure.

Now, let me tell you what I love about this passage of scripture. The Holy Spirit of God is come to convict the world of man's basic problem, of the sinner's bountiful provision, of Satan's broken power. He's come to convict you of that. But notice how the order: He is come to convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

Now, in a court of law, first the crime, when the crime is proven, then the judgment. That's the order: the crime, the punishment. But with God, the order is different. There's first of all sin, then righteousness, and then judgment. God has put righteousness between sin and judgment.

You see, God interposed the precious blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you don't believe, if you refuse, there is no righteousness between sin and judgment. You just die and go to hell. I'm a sinner by nature, by birth, by practice, but I've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And therefore God has interposed His precious blood, and His righteousness stands between me and judgment. I like that. Between me and hell, there's a bloody cross and Jesus is on it. Friend, if you're not a believer, put your hand up there and you feel that little heartbeat.

That's all there is between you and hell. That's all. Just a heartbeat. But if you've given your heart to Jesus, if you've trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, if you've said, "My basic problem, my basic problem is I've not trusted Him," but I trust Him.

And then God says, "I'll give you a bountiful provision. I will give you righteousness." And now for you, there is therefore now no condemnation. And you're not belonging to that tribe that's following Satan. You're twice-born, you're heaven-born, and heaven-bound.

It is the Holy Spirit of God who will tell you the truth about sin and righteousness and judgment. He'll do it through my words, but He'll teach you if you'll just open your heart. Lay your pride in the dust, will you? And say, "Speak to me, oh God." Oh, how you need Jesus.

Don't let your self-righteousness take you to hell. Don't think that refusing Jesus is a small sin. It is the basic sin. Unbelief never comes out of the head; it comes out of the heart. If you want to be saved, may I help you to be saved today? Would you pray a prayer like this and pray it from your heart?

Oh God, I am a sinner because of what I am and what I've done. But my basic sin is I've not believed in Jesus. I've not trusted Him. I've not yielded to Him. Oh God, the Holy Spirit of God has shown me that today, and I repent of my sin of unbelief.

And now I trust Jesus with all of my heart. Lord Jesus, I need righteousness. I can't stand before God with my self-righteousness. Lord, just put righteousness on my account. Oh, thank you, Jesus, for paying with your rich blood for my sin.

Thank you, Jesus, for the cross. Thank you for redemption. Thank you for righteousness that you alone can give. And Lord God now, I've stepped from death into life. I'm no longer following Satan. I'm no longer following a loser. I belong to you, Jesus. And one day I'll be like you. Praise your holy name. I love you, Jesus. I love you, Jesus. I love you. Help me never to be ashamed of you. In your name I pray. Amen.

Guest (Male): And if you just pray to receive Jesus Christ just now, we would love to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page at the website. You'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith right there at lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says Discover Jesus.

Welcome to the forever family of God. We can't wait to hear from you today. Have you laid down your intellectual pride and allowed the Holy Spirit to impart things only He can show you? Understanding man's sinful nature and the Savior's provision, are you becoming more like Jesus?

We're so glad you joined us today for this study in God's word. This program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a nonprofit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters like you.

To give a gift today, call us at 1-877-LOVE-GOD. 1-877-568-3463. Or connect with us online at lwf.org/radio. Or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Thank you for listening today, and be sure to join us next time for more profound truth simply stated, right here on Love Worth Finding.

Guest (Female): I want to share what one of our Facebook friends commented on a recent post. She said, "I love listening to his sermons. He, Pastor Rogers, is one of the best preachers I ever heard. So down to earth, easy to understand. Bless his soul."

Well, here at Love Worth Finding Ministries, our mission continues to be to share the profound truth of the gospel so simply anyone can understand. And when you donate to the ministry this month, we want to send you a copy of our new book, In the Beginning, God: Timeless Truth for Today's Culture.

The questions people have today are the same questions they've had from creation forward, and God in His grace has answered them in the beginning. In this brand new resource, we use Adrian Rogers' timeless teachings on the book of Genesis to answer questions our culture asks today. If you'd like a copy of the resource, call with a gift at 1-877-LOVE-GOD. And thanks for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.