Adrian Rogers -The Final Judgment

https://youtu.be/9oHD0psUnQU

The Great Judgment

Dr. Adrian Rogers

Revelation 20:11-15

I want to speak to you tonight on one of the most

serious subjects I know anything about and that is the

final judgment, the final judgment.  Now, you need to

pay attention because one of these days, if you don’t

know the Lord Jesus Christ, you are going to come into

judgment.  You have a date with Deity.  You are going

to meet Jesus Christ.

I heard of a young minister one time who came to

a village town to be the pastor.  In that village,

there was a man who was a skeptic, a scorner, an

agnostic, a pseudo intellectual.  His favorite sport

was baiting preachers, teasing preachers, arguing with

preachers, ridiculing the Gospel.  He could hardly

wait ’til the new minister came to town.  One day they

met in the town square.  This man, whose name was Burt

Alney, met the new minister and he said to him, I

understand you’re the new minister in town.  Is that

correct?  He said, Yes sir, I am.  He said, Well I

want to tell you something, my name is Burt Alney.

And I don’t believe in God.  I don’t believe the Bible

is the Word of God.  I believe that heaven is mere

sentimentality.  To believe in hell is a blunder and

foolishness.  I believe that you’re a pious fraud and

an imposter, and I believe that all of the people who

go there to hear you preach are hypocrites.  The young

minister looked at him and quoted a verse of

Scripture.  He said, “It is appointed unto man once to

die, and after this the Judgment.”  Alney said, Don’t

quote the Bible to me.  He said, I don’t believe the

Bible.  What do you have to say to that?  The young

minister said, “It is appointed unto man once to die,

and after this the Judgment.”  He said, That’s no

argument, don’t give me that, I said I don’t believe

that.  He said, It is appointed unto man once to die,

and after this the Judgment.  He said, That’s stupid.

I don’t think you know enough to argue.  He said, “It

is appointed unto man once to die, after this the

Judgment.”  It so infuriated Burt Alney that he

wheeled around, turned and walked away in disgust.

But later on Burt Alney gave this testimony.  He said,

as I walked home that night, I walked over the bridge,

and as the creek was beneath me, the frogs in that

creek were saying, Judgment, Judgment, Judgment,

Judgment, Judgment. And what that man had said so

reverberated through my soul.  “It is appointed unto

man once to die, and after this the judgment––that I

could not get it out of my heart and my mind until I

gave my heart to Jesus Christ.  I pray God tonight

that this will etch itself upon your consciousness and

reverberate through your soul.

Listen to me my friend; one of the most solemn

facts I know is that one day, one day, every unsaved

man, woman, boy, and girl in this world will come to

Judgment.  Now, the message that I’m going to give you

tonight is straight from the Word of God, and if you

have a Bible with you, you may keep it open there in

your lap.  The very first thing we see as we speak

about the final Judgment, which really is a trial, is

a court, it is eternity’s court.  The Supreme Judge of

the Universe is sitting there upon the bench.  I want

you to notice that in every court trial there are

three parts.  First of all there must be a judge, and

secondly there must be some defendants, and thirdly

there must be a judgment.

Now, the Bible tells us this is what is going to

happen.  First of all I want you to notice the setting

of this whole thing.  Look in verse 11, “And I saw a

great white throne.”  Now, when the Bible says it’s

great, that speaks of the power of it.  When the Bible

says it is white, that speaks of the purity of it.

When the Bible says it is a throne, that speaks of the

purpose of it, for this word throne is not the kind of

a throne that a king would sit upon.  This kind of a

throne was a judgment bench.  A person who stands

before this is not coming to worship a king.

Sometimes people say, Oh, pray for us all that one day

we’ll stand before thy great white throne.  Don’t pray

that prayer for me please.  And don’t pray it for you,

if you know what you are talking about.  Those who

stand before this throne are standing there to be

judged.

And who is it that’s sitting upon this throne?

Look again here in the Word of God.  “And him that sat

on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled

away.”  Who is this person?  Who is this judge that’s

sitting upon the throne?  Well, I want to tell you who

the judge is not going to be.  You’re not going to

judge yourself.  The judge in that day is not going to

be your opinion of yourself.  It’s not going to be

some friend.  We all have friends who will write a

letter of recommendation for us.  They don’t bear

false witness against us, they bear it for us, Amen?

They say all of these nice things, but your friends

are not going to be the judge.  Your mother, your

father is not going to be the judge.  My mother had a

way of overlooking all of the faults and foibles and

in me.  But your mother is not going to be the judge.

Who is the judge?  Who is the one who sits upon this

throne?  The Bible says, “In him that sat upon the

throne, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled

away.”  Who is this one?  So awesome, so terrifying,

so fearful that even the heavens and the earth flee

from his presence.  Are you ready for this?  The judge

will be none other than Jesus Christ.  Did you know

that?  Jesus is the judge.

The Bible tells us in John the fifth chapter,

“The Father judgeth no man, but hath commiteth all

judgment unto His son.”  Now that’s very important

because I want to tell you as surely as my name is

Adrian Rogers, as surely as I stand in this stadium,

as surely as there’s breath in my body, as surely as

there’s a God in heaven, you are going to meet Jesus

Christ.  Everybody here is going to meet Jesus Christ.

Now, you may not walk down this aisle and give your

heart to Jesus, but in some church they’ll roll you

down the aisle perhaps after you are dead and some

preacher will preach your funeral, but your soul will

be in hell before the undertaker learns you are dead.

And dear friend, you will be drawn out of that place

called hell, that place that the Bible calls Hades,

and as we’re going to see in a moment, you will stand

face to face with Jesus Christ.  Do you know what the

Bible says?  The Bible says, “As I live saith the

Lord, every knee shall bow to God.  Every tongue shall

confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God

the Father.”  Now, that tells me that if you don’t

meet Jesus as Savior, you’ll meet Him as judge.  If

you don’t meet Him in grace, you’ll meet Him in

judgment.  But you have a date with Deity.  You’re

going to meet Him as the Lamb.  You’re going to meet

Him as the Lion.  You’re going to meet Him as the

Savior, or you’re going to meet Him as the Judge, but

you’re going to meet Him.

Now listen, listen, this is the setting.  There

is a great white throne.  Now, who are the defendants?

Let’s continue to read.  Look here in this passage of

scripture.  The Bible says in verse 12,  “And I saw

the dead, small and great stand before God, and the

books were opened.  And another book was opened which

is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of

those things which were written in the books according

to works.”  Now, the Bible teaches that there’s a

summons that’s going to go out, and the dead are going

to be summonsed into this court.  Who are these?  Who

are these dead that are coming to the judgment?  “I

saw the dead, small and great.”  Well, listen, the big

shot, the great, the little shot, the small, the up

and out, the great, the down and out, the small, those

who are well known and those that nobody knows

anything about––all of these unsaved are going to

stand in the Judgment.

Now, let me tell you they are basically in four

categories of persons.  Four types of people will

stand there to be judged, and I want you to listen

carefully to see if you’re in one of these four

categories.  First of all, the out and out sinner will

be there, and I don’t think there are any like that

here tonight, but there may be.  These are those who

hate God, who hate Christ, who hate the Bible.  They

hate revivals.  They hate preachers.  They hate

churches.  They spit on the cross.  They ridicule the

blood.  They shake their puny fists in the face of

God, boldly, braggingly, brazenly.  They say, God, if

there be a God, you’re not big enough to make me serve

you.  They hate God, and they despise what we’re doing

here tonight.  Now, there are none like that here

tonight, unless you’ve come to make fun.  And if you

have, may God have mercy upon your soul.  But they

will be there.  They will be there.

But I’ll tell you another category of persons who

will be there.  These are not the out and out sinners,

they’re just the opposite.  These are self-righteous

people.  These are good people.  These people go to

church from time to time.  These people give their

money.  These people have been baptized.  These people

have gone to Sunday school.  These people have

culture.  They have manners.  They think that the

Gospel is for the thief.  They think the Gospel is for

the murderer.  They think the Gospel is for the

pervert.  They don’t think the Gospel is for them.

They don’t think they need to be saved.  Jesus said,

“Except your righteousness shall exceed the

righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you

shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of heaven. ”

Some people are going to hell because they drink, but

some people are going to hell because they never

drink.  They think the Gospel is for the drunkard, but

not for them.  They think they don’t need to be saved.

And when a preacher preaches a sermon like this,

they’ll stand in the invitation, they’ll look around

to see if any of those old sinners are going to go

down there and give their heart to Jesus Christ.  I

told you the night before last, I’ll tell you again––

the worst form of badness is human goodness when that

human goodness becomes a substitute for the second

birth.

Now, mark it down.  There is no sin greater than

self-righteousness that keeps you from going to Jesus

Christ.  Most of the people in America are egomaniacs,

strutting to hell, thinking they’re too good to be

damned.  There are about five billion people on planet

earth today.  If you were to put those five billion

people in a single file, they would reach out around

the moon, circle around the moon a number of times and

come back to the earth and you still would not have

reached the end of that line.  If you were to take a

golden cup and place it in the hand of all five

billion people and tell each one to deposit all of his

own personal goodness and righteousness that he

innately has in that cup, and then pass it on to the

next person, and on to the next, when that golden cup

got to the end of five billion persons, there would

not be enough righteousness in that cup to save one

boy or one girl.  Do you understand what I am talking

about?  God says that our righteousness is as filthy

rags in the sight of a holy God.  Would to God, would

to God, would to God the Holy Spirit would show you

tonight, oh my friend, that your church membership

cannot save you, your keeping of the Ten Commandments

cannot save you.  The Bible says, “If righteousness

come by the law, then is Christ dead in vain.” Do you

know what that means?  That means that if you could be

saved by your good works, Calvary was a blunder and

the blood of Jesus Christ was spilled rather than

shed.  Christ died in vain.

I‘ll tell you a third category of person who will

be there.  Not only, my dear friend, the out and out

sinner, not only the self-righteous person, but

there’s another category of persons who will be there,

and this is the procrastinators.  They’re not out and

out sinners.  They don’t hate God.  And they’re not

self–righteous.  They know they need to be saved.

Every time the Gospel is preached, they feel that tug,

they feel that quiver.  Every time a preacher stands

up and says, Come to Jesus, there is something in them

that says, I ought to go.  But the devil whispers in

their ear, and the devil intimidates them and

procrastination comes into their heart and they say,

Not tonight, not tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow.  Oh, I

know we all know that we’re going to die, but do you

know what most of us think?  Most of us have the idea

that somehow we’re going to live to be about ninety–

eight, and then we’re going to get a little cough and

then we’re going to go to the doctor.  He’s going to

thump on us a little bit and he’s going to say, you’ve

got about four months to live.  So then we’re going to

visit all of the grandchildren and the great–

grandchildren.  And then we’re going to call all of

our loved ones in around the bed.  And then we’re

going to put on our pajamas, and crawl up in the bed,

turn up our toes and die.  That’s the way most of us

think we’re going to die.  But I want to tell you,

dear friend, more people die with their street clothes

on than die with their pajamas on.  Did you know that?

People die on their way home from church.  In where I

used to preach, in another church, five people in

another city, five people were killed on their way

home from church.

I can remember Dorothy, another little lady.

Stood on the front steps of my church in Ft. Pierce, I

can see her in my mind’s eye now, that perky little

smile.  And, Dorothy was a Christian, thank God, but

the principal is the same.  Dorothy said to me as she

stood there, Pastor, that was a great sermon.  I’ll

see you tonight.  I can still hear it in my ears.

I’ll see you tonight, pastor.  And as Dorothy went out

the five twenty causeway, and over the overpass going

over the Banana River, another car was coming up on

the wrong side of the hill, hit her head on.  I doubt

that she ever even saw it.  The next moment she was in

with Jesus.  If that had happened to some of you,

you’d be in hell tonight.  If going home that thing

happened to you, that next moment you’d be in hell.

The procrastinators, I say, are going to stand

there.  I tell you, there are souls in hell who would

give a million worlds like this one to have the

opportunity to come to Jesus tonight.  The Bible says,

“Today, if you’ll hear His voice, harden not your

heart.”  The Bible says, “He that being often reproved

and hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed.”

God’s Word says, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for

thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” I tell

you I would not go without Jesus Christ twenty–four

hours for ten million dollars.  I mean that with all

of my heart.  If you were to put ten million dollars

on this platform and say, All you have to do is

renounce Christ, do without Christ for one day.  Ten

million dollars for one day.  God in heaven knows,

number one I would not deny Jesus for ten million

dollars.  Number two, dear friend, I might die during

that twenty–four–hour period.  The Bible says, “What

should it profit a man if he should gain the whole

world and lose his own soul.  Or what should a man

give in exchange for his soul?”

Who is going to be there?  “I saw the dead, small

and great standing before God.”  I’ll tell you who

will be there.  The out and out sinner will be there.

I’ll tell you who will be there, the self–righteous

person will be there.  I’ll tell you who will be

there, the procrastinator will be there.  And I’ll

tell you someone else who will be there. These are

church members who have gotten their name on the

church role, but they’ve never had their name in the

Lamb’s book of life.  Church membership, whether

Bellevue kind or any other kind, has never saved

anybody.  You ask some people, Are you a Christian?

They say,  Well, I’m a member of the church. You ask,

When were you saved? Well, I was baptized at thus and

such a time.  Friend, the church is not the way to

heaven.  Jesus is the way to heaven.

Now, suppose when I came out here tonight to come

to this crusade, when I got ready, rather than coming,

I find a place that says Show Place Arena. I get up on

that sign and I sit down and I fold my hands and I sit

on that sign and you pass by and you say, Pastor,

that’s very interesting.  What are you doing?  And I

say, Well, I’m going to the crusade.  You say, You’re

going to the crusade?  Yes, yes.  Well, well, well,

how’s that, pastor?  Well, you see what it says here,

Show Place Arena.  That’s what it says, and I’m on it,

so I’m going to the crusade.  You say, Pastor, that’s

not the way to the Crusade, that’s just the sign that

points you to the way.  The church is not the way to

heaven.  The church is the sign that points you to the

way.  Jesus is the way.  Jesus, you say––everybody

knows that.  Friend, everybody doesn’t know that.

You’d be surprised.

There’s some people in this building tonight, you

are members in good standing of some church, but I

want to remind you, so was Judas.  He was a charter

member of the first church, and he was the treasurer,

and tonight he’s in hell. Are you saved?  I’m not

asking if you’re a member of the church.  Judas, are

you a member of the church?  Yes, I am.  I’m a charter

member.  I’m a disciple, I’m an apostle, I’m the

treasurer of the church.  Judas, have you ever been

born again?  He’d have to answer no, and tonight he’s

in hell.  There are four categories of persons who are

going to be judged.

Now, here’s the third and final thing I want you

to notice.  We’ve talked, first of all about the

courtroom and the Judge, the great white throne and

Jesus is on it.  Secondly, we’ve talked about the fact

that the dead, small and great, will stand there to be

judged.  Now, the third and final thing I want you to

see tonight is the basis of the judgment.  Every

judgment has three parts.  First of all the evidence

is presented against you.  Secondly, you have a chance

to make your defense.  Thirdly, the verdict of the

court is given.

Now, let’s suppose that the end of time has come

and it is time for the resurrection of the unsaved

dead.  The graves vomit up their shrieking, moaning,

groaning dead and they stand one by one to be judged,

that time when I told you about that you’re going to

meet Jesus Christ.  There’s a Negro spiritual that

goes this way:  I went to the Rock to hide my face,

and the rock cried out, no hiding place, no hiding

place.  The heavens and the earth flee away.  Every

rock, every cave, every building, every closet, it’s

gone.  Just you and Jesus.  You cursed His name behind

His back, I wonder if you’re going to curse Him to His

face now?  You ridiculed Him now, I wonder if you’re

going to ridicule Him then?  I am telling you, you

listen to me, the most sobering fact that I know is

that you’re going to stand before Jesus Christ.

“I saw the dead, small and great, stand before

God.  The sea gave up the dead which were in it.”

Listen, dear friend, death and hell delivered up the

dead which were in them, and they were judged, every

man.  You see, when you die, your body goes to the

grave, but your soul goes to Hades, literally Hades,

that’s what it says.  Death and Hell, in the Greek,

it’s death and Hades.  It is the place where spirits

go before the resurrection.  And your spirit is in

Hades, your body is in the grave.

He says here, “And death and hell gave up the dead which were in them…” Death has the body when your body dies, death comes after your body and carries it down to the grave to disintegration but there’s a part of you that doesn’t go to the grave; It goes to a place called Hell. It’s a translation of the Greek word Hades. It’s the place of the departed dead before the FINAL JUDGMENT. They go there to wait the judgment. You say, “Well, wait a minute. If they’re already in Hell why are they taken out of hell to be judged?”

That’s not the Lake of Fire, that’s Hades. They’re going to be cast into the Lake of Fire. You say, “What is the difference?”

Well, suppose a person commits a crime and he is indicted by the grand jury. He’s so dangerous that the judge will not grant bond. So he is put into the county jail, and he is held there until he is judged. He is taken out of that jail, judged, and put into the penitentiary. The Lake of Fire is the eternal penitentiary, but the death has the body and hell has the soul. That’s where people without Christ have died and their body in the grave, their soul being held there waiting until the Final Judgment. Well, why bring them out and judge them again? Because it’s not all over yet, as we’re going to see.

Hugh Hefner, who founded the Playboy empire, I’ll pray he’ll get saved. I hope he will. But if he doesn’t, when he dies he’ll go into a holding place and be taken out then to be judged. Why can’t he be judged now? Because it’s not finished yet. You see, he has corrupted those who will corrupt those, who will corrupt those, who will corrupt those, and on and on and on and on  and that wicked influence will not stop until it has reached the shores of eternity. So God has to wait until it’s all over to bring these out of that holding place and say, NOW WE ARE GOING TO FACE THE RECORD. That is the Final Judgment friend, when all the facts are in.

But when the summons comes, death that has the body, and Hell that has the spirit will give them up.  Your body will come from the grave.  Your spirit will come from hell.  And that spirit will be reincarnated, and in this case, reincarcerated in that body.  From the Arctic wastes they will come.  From the depths of the oceans they will come.  From the jungles they will come.  From graves that are millenniums old, and bodies that have turned to dust, they will come.  Fresh corpses will rise again.  I saw the dead, small and great.  They will come.  They will come.  They will be raised.

You know, I have never ever been able to

understand why unsaved people come to church at Easter

to celebrate.  I never can understand it.  I’m glad

they come, because it gives me a chance to shoot them

full of the Gospel, but I could never understand why

an unsaved person would come to church on Easter.  Do

you know what Easter is?  Easter, my friend, if you

don’t get saved, is the day that seals your doom.

Don’t you know that?

Acts chapter 17 says that “God has appointed a

day in which He will judge the world in righteousness

by that man whom He hath ordained whereof He hath

given assurance unto all men in that He raised Him

from the dead.”  Now, what does that mean?  It means

the proof positive of the judgment is the resurrection

of Jesus Christ.  You can’t hold court if the Judge is

dead.  But furthermore, you can’t hold court if the

defendant isn’t there. What God is saying is this,

listen to me––the same God that raised Jesus Christ up

from that grave, listen, is the same God who’s going

to bring you into judgment.  Listen. Death and hell

delivered up the dead which were in them.  Some people

get the idea that they can commit suicide and end it

all.  You can’t do it.  Let me tell you friend, you

cannot crawl up into the grave and hide from God.  You

can’t pull the dirt over your face and hide from God.

Could you have your body cremated and have your ashes

scattered by the four winds of the earth, to the four

corners of the earth?  The Spirit of Almighty God

would bring those ashes together, bring that dust

together, reincarnate into that body your soul, and

you will stand before Him, and you will be judged,

face to face with Jesus Christ.  You’ve got a date

with Deity.  “As I live, saith the Lord, every knee

shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to

God.”

Three parts to the Judgment.  First of all, the

evidence will be presented against you.  The Bible

says, “and the books were opened,” the books were

opened.  God is keeping books.  God has a record.  God

has written down every deed, every thought, and every

word, every word.  Did you know the Bible says every

idle word that men shall they give account thereof in

the Day of Judgment?  Every filthy thing you ever

said, every lie you ever told, every lustful thought

you ever had, every dishonest deed you’ve ever done,

every proud act.  All of it is recorded with a pen of

iron and rocks of lead and letters of flame.  I want

to tell you, my friend, God is keeping the record.

There’s a camera right here taking a picture of me.

There’s a microphone and what I am saying is being

recorded and it can be played back and be heard later

1. I am telling you, my friend, just as surely what

you are thinking this very moment is being recorded.

Did you know that?  I mean what you’re thinking this

very moment.  Every thought that you have right now,

God is recording.  Every word that you speak.  Jesus

said, “That which is done in secret shall be shouted

from the house top.”  God has the record, and when you

stand there, the case will be presented against you.

You will see your sins––sins that you’ll remember,

sins that you’ve forgotten.  Things that you did in

Vietnam and Korea.  Things you did in the back seat of

an automobile, or the back room of some business

place.  All of those things are recorded.  Every lie

you ever told.  Every time you pinched a wrinkle into

your mother’s brow, every gray hair you gave your

father, every mocking sneering thing you did about

Jesus Christ––you will face that sin, my friend. There

will be a foul mountain of sins.  And the most self–

righteous person in this world when he sees his sins

and the great sin of rejecting Jesus Christ, high

treason against heaven’s king.  It will all be there,

and that will be the evidence presented against you.

And then you’ll have a chance to make your defense.

What will you say?  Now, listen, let’s practice

right now.  Let’s just suppose that you’re standing

there before Jesus Christ.  I’m talking to those of

you who are not saved.  And remember, remember friend,

this may be the last sermon you’ll ever hear.  What

will you say?  I know what some of you will say.

You’ll say, Well, I’ll just call out for mercy.  There

won’t be any mercy.  If you want mercy, you may have

1. If you want grace, you may have it. If you want

forgiveness, you may have it.  But you must have it

now, you’ll not have it then.  The Bible says,  “It is

appointed unto man once to die, and after this the

Judgment.”  The Bible doesn’t say anything about

salvation, forgiveness after death.  As a matter of

fact, the Bible teaches that the only chance that you

have for salvation is in this life.  And you will not

get mercy.  Well you say, I’ll ask for justice.  You

don’t need justice friend, you need mercy.  Justice is

what you’re going to get.  You’re going to be judged

according to your works.

You say, Well, then I’ll make an excuse.  Well,

what will you say?  I know what some of you are going

to say.  You’re going to say, Well, Lord, I’ll tell

you why I wasn’t saved.  I wasn’t saved because there

were so many hypocrites in the church. Why, I went to

Bellevue Baptist Church, and I saw someone singing in

the choir.  And I knew that man.  I knew his

lifestyle.  I knew that woman.  I knew the way she

lived.  She’s a hypocrite.  That’s why I wasn’t saved.

That’s why I wasn’t saved.  And the Lord’s going to

say to you, I didn’t say believe on the hypocrite.  I

said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt

be saved.”

I know what some of you are going to say.  Well,

I wouldn’t go down there and confess Christ as my Lord

until I was sure I could live it.  He’s going to say,

I didn’t say believe on yourself.  I said, “Believe on

the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”

Well, I’ll tell you why I wasn’t saved.  It was

Adrian Rogers.  I went to hear him preach, and he

yelled and he screamed and he lifted his hand and he

pointed his finger and he talked about sin and all of

that, I didn’t like that kind of preaching.  And He’ll

say, I didn’t say believe on the preacher.  I said,

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be

saved.”

Well, I didn’t know which church to join.  There

are so many churches.  The Baptist church, the

Methodist church, the Presbyterian church, the Church

of God, the Church of Christ, the Episcopalian church,

Vegetarian church, I didn’t know which church to join.

So many churches.  And He’ll say to you what I’m going

to say to you.  I didn’t say believe on the church.  I

said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt

be saved.”

Well, you say, I didn’t have time.  I mean, I was

killed on that Wednesday night.  I was in an

automobile accident.  I died of a heart attack.  I

died in my sleep.  I didn’t have time.  And He’ll say

to you, You had time that night when my servant Adrian

Rogers preached and prayed and plead with tears, when

he poured out his heart and begged you to come to

Jesus.  You had time, that night, but you walked out

of that place without Jesus Christ.  You had time.

I’ll tell you, my dear friend, that every excuse that

you can possibly think of will falter and fail and you

will bow your head and plea the only plea that you can

plea before a righteous God, and that is guilty.

Guilty of the crucifixion of the Son of God because,

my dear friend, your sins were the nails that nailed

Him to that cross and your hard heart the hammer that

drove those nails.

Now, you’ll have a chance, dear friend, to hear

the verdict of the court.  Do you know what it is?

It’s right here in the Word of God.  Now listen to it.

I want you to get serious.  “And whosoever was not

found written in the Book of Life was cast into the

lake of fire, this is the second death.”  May I be

serious with you?  We live in a world now where people

are telling other people to go to hell.  Hell is no

joke.  If there is no hell, this Bible is a book of

blunders.  If there is no hell, Jesus Christ is a

liar, for He had more to say about hell than any other

preacher in the Word of God.  “Whosoever was not found

written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of

fire.”  Every demon will be there to shriek and moan

and groan as they too are pulled down into that liquid

lake of fire, for hell is prepared for the devil and

his angels.  God doesn’t want you to go to hell.  I

don’t want you to go to hell.  That’s the reason I’m

preaching this crusade.  If you think I’m preaching it

for my health or if you think I’m preaching it because

I don’t have anything else to do, you’re wrong.

Friend, I’ve never been busier in my life.  But the

reason I’m here tonight, and the reason I put this

prayer in this energy is I don’t want you to go to

hell.  And God has lifted up some blockades to keep

you from going to hell.  The song we’ve sung, the

scripture we preach, the prayers, the tears, they’re

God’s blockades on the road to hell.  But above all

there’s a cross.  Listen, for you to go to hell,

you’re going to have to climb over and trample beneath

your dirty feet the precious blood of Jesus, for the

cross is God’s blockade on the road to hell.  Do you

know Jesus?  Are you saved?  I mean, are you

absolutely certain beyond the shadow of any doubt if

you died right now you would go hell?

I’m going to tell you a brief story and I’m going

to be finished.  I heard this story years ago about

some men who were out on a prairie and the prairie had

caught fire.  And there were winds of thirty and forty

and fifty miles an hour that were sweeping the fire

along.  The men tried to outrun the fire and it became

evident they would never outrun the fire.  One said to

the other one, we’re going to burn to death.  We’re

going to perish.  But the other man said, No, I know

what to do.  And he reached into his pocket and took

out a book of matches.  He struck a match and kneeled

down and set the grass on one side of him on fire.

And the wind caught that grass and began to burn this

way.  Now the fire was burning this way, and now the

fire was coming this way.  His friend said, You’re a

fool.  He said, Now, we’re surrounded by fire.  He

said, No.  He said, I’m know what I’m doing.  The

waited a moment.  And then he said, Step over here on

the burned–off place, because the fire cannot come

where the fire has already been.

Are you listening to me?  The fire of God’s

judgment fell at the cross of Calvary and that’s where

I’m standing tonight.  Amen?  And the fire can’t come

where it’s already been.  Amen?  You see, I settled my

case out of court.  Amen?  The fire cannot come where

it’s already been.  And Jesus on the cross endured the

fires of God’s wrath and He took your judgment for

you.  And the Bible says, “There’s therefore now no

condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Related posts:

Adrian Rogers – How you can be certain the Bible is the word of God

https://youtu.be/tt2M4Vcvhn8

Why I Believe the Bible to Be the Word of God

Dr. Adrian Rogers

II Timothy 3

I want you to take your Bibles please and turn with me

to II Timothy chapter 3 and we’ll begin our reading in

verse 14. Paul is talking to young Timothy and he

says, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast

learned and has been assured of knowing of whom thou

hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast

known the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee

wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ

Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God

and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for

correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the

man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto

all good works.”

Why I believe the Bible, and I want to tell you,

friend, it is absolutely essential that you believe

the Word of God if you’re to know anything spiritually

and if you’re to have victory in your spiritual life.

The thing that keeps me going is not primarily what I

feel. Now, I thank God for feelings, but I’m a fellow

who operates in a moderately narrowed band. I don’t

get all that high and I don’t get all that low, but

the thing that keeps me going is not what I feel but

what I know. It is the truth of God’s Word, the

principles, and the promises, and the power of God’s

Word that sustain me and keep me going. If you do not

know God’s Word and, beyond knowing God’s Word, have

that firm assurance that the Bible is indeed the

inspired Word of God, you’re going to be floundering

around in your Christian life. These hath God married

and no man shall part, dust on the Bible and drought

in the heart.

Now, Paul here is talking to Timothy about the Bible

and he tells him several things about the Bible. First

of all, he says that all Scripture is given by

inspiration of God in verse 16. That literally means

that all Scripture is the breath of God. You see, as

I’m speaking to you right now what you’re hearing is

my breath. My diaphragm is forcing my breath up

through my throat and over my larynx and the voice box

and my tongue and my teeth and my lips are taking the

breath and making sounds and noises out of that breath

and what you’re hearing right now is what I am

breathing out. I’m breathing out these words. Now,

that’s the word that Bible uses to describe itself.

All Scripture is God breathed. When the Bible speaks

God speaks. That’s what inspiration means. When the

Bible speaks God speaks.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, but not

only are the Scriptures inspired, they’re instructed.

Verse 16 says they’re profitable for doctrine. What is

doctrine? That’s to tell you what’s right. Ask a

little boy what doctrine is, he says, That’s what you

need when you’re sick. If you’re sick that is good

medicine but actually the word doctrine means

teaching. The Scriptures are there to tell you what’s

right.

Then it goes on to say for doctrine and for reproof.

Not only does the Bible tell you what’s right, it also

tells you what’s wrong. You see, God doesn’t want us

to make a mistake. He doesn’t want us to go astray. So

on one side he tells us what’s right, on the other

side he tells us what’s wrong so we can walk the

straight and narrow.

But he also says in verse 16 that it is necessary for

correction–that is, when we get wrong, how to get

back right. He shows us what’s right. He shows us

what’s wrong and if we’re wrong he tells us how to get

right.

And then he says it’s profitable for instruction in

righteousness. What’s right, what’s wrong, how to get

right, and then how to stay right. How just to be

instructed day by day. How am I supposed to live? What

am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to feel? What

shall I do with my sins? Where does power come from?

Everything that I need to know, that instruction and

righteousness is there from the Word of God.

So, the Scriptures are inspired, the Scriptures are

informative, and then the Scriptures are instrumental.

That is, they work powerfully in our lives. For

example, look in verse 15. Paul told Timothy, “From a

child you’ve known the holy Scriptures that are able

to make you wise unto salvation.” You’re saved by the

Word of God. It is the message of the Bible, the

gospel that saves us, that makes us wise unto

salvation. That’s the reason that every preacher must

always preach the Word of God because the word is the

seed. We’re born again, not of corruptible seed, but

of incorruptible by the Word of God. And so, the

Scriptures are instrumental in salvation.

The Scriptures are instrumental in sanctification.

Look in verse 17, “That the man of God may be

perfect.” Now, that word perfect means complete. It

means mature. It means full grown. Do you want to be a

little baby Christian or do you want to grow? “As

newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that

you may grow thereby.” You’re going to be a pygmy

Christian, you’re going to be baby Christian, you’re

going to be a weak emaciated Christian if you don’t

grow with the Word of God. “That the man of God may be

perfect,” mature.

Not only are they necessary for salvation and

sanctification but necessary for service.

“Thoroughly furnished,” he says in verse 17, “unto all

good works.” Everything God wants you to do he

furnished through his word. So, you’re completely,

thoroughly through and through, furnished of the

Bible. All that I need to know, all that I need to

have is revealed to me in God’s word.

How important is the Bible? But friend, the Bible may

be inspired and the Bible may be informative and the

Bible may be instrumental, but if I don’t believe it,

what good is that going to do me? It’s the devil’s job

to make people doubt the Word of God. The very first

thing the devil did in the Garden of Eden was to say,

“Yea, hath God said…” and to put a question mark on

the Word of God. Well, you need to have a rock-ribbed,

iron-clad assurance that the Bible is the Word of God.

Let me tell you why I believe the Bible to be the Word

of God. Let me give you three things about faith and

these are the foundations for our faith. Number one,

faith is rooted in evidence. Have you got that? It’s

worth writing down. Faith is rooted in evidence.

Number two, faith goes beyond evidence. Number three,

faith becomes its own best evidence. Let me develop

that and you’ll have a blessing.

First of all, I want to say that faith is rooted in

evidence. People sometimes accuse us Christians of

practicing blind faith. Now, friend, blind faith is

not faith at all. Don’t ever think that I’m asking you

just to blindly believe something. If somebody tells

me to believe something, first thing I want to know is

why should I believe it. Amen. I mean, why? The

Christians faith is not blind faith. The Christian’s

faith is not a leap in the dark, it is a step in the

light. You see, the Christian’s faith is rooted in

revelation. The Christian’s faith is rooted in facts.

The Christian’s faith is rooted in evidence. God gives

us evidence for believing what we believe. Notice I

said evidence and not proof, there’s a difference.

Sometimes somebody might come and say to you, Prove

there’s a God. Don’t let that intimidate you. If you

were to say to me, Adrian, prove there’s a God, do you

know what I’d say to you? I can’t. Does that shock

you? I can’t prove there’s a God. Oh, I know there’s a

God, not that I have any doubt about it. I have no

doubt whatever, but to prove it doesn’t lie in the

realm of proof.

For example, if anybody ever comes to you and says

prove there’s a God. You just say, Prove there is no

God. Just prove there is no God. He can’t prove

there’s no God anymore than you can prove there is a

God. How can the finite prove the infinite? How can

the finite disprove the infinite? It doesn’t lie in

that realm you see. Well, he says, you just believe

there’s a God, and I say that’s right. And you just

believe there is no God, isn’t that right? Sure. You

see, all people are believers. He believes there is no

God. I believe there is a God. I’m a positive

believer, he’s a negative believe. I by faith believe

in God. He by faith believes there is no God. He says,

I don’t think there’s a God, I don’t believe there’s a

God. At least now he’s being honest. He hasn’t proven

there’s no God.

But what’s the difference between the negative be1iver

and the positive believer? Here’s the difference: the

positive believer has the evidence. You see, God has

not just told us to believe without giving us evidence

and so God has given us some evidence and that

evidence is rooted in God’s word. Now, if you’re going

to know the God of the Word, you’ve got to know the

Word of that God. And so, God has given us his Word

and God has given us some evidences that the Bible is

indeed the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word from a

God who cannot lie.

What are some evidences? Not proofs, but evidences,

that the Bible is the Word of God? (Because I’ve said

that faith is rooted in evidence.) Well, for example,

there is the historical evidence that the Bible is the

Word of God. The Bible is a history book. It tells

stories. Now, are these stories true or are they not

true? Did the things recorded in the Bible literally

happen or did they not happen? Is this actual history

or is this the figment of someone’s imagination? Well,

dear friend, the Bible is so historically accurate.

That’s one of the great evidences of its inspiration.

There was a man who lived a few years ago, Sir William

Ramsey, one of the world’s most brilliant intellects,

and he was a noted scholar. He lived in Aberdeen

Scotland and he was a great historian and a great

scholar of the history and geography of Asia Minor and

the Middle East. And when this Middle East historian,

this wizened, world-renowned man with more degrees

than a thermometer studied the book of Acts, which is

the history of the early church, he more or less

ridiculed the book of Acts. He more or less laughed at

the book of Acts. Here’s what Sir William Ramsey said

of the book of Acts and I want to describe it or at

least I want to give it to you in his own words. He

described the book of Acts as a highly imaginative and

carefully colored account of primitive Christianity.

Highly imaginative, that is, it’s not rooted in facts,

it is rooted in imagination, that’s what he was saying

about the book of Acts. Carefully colored. That is,

Luke just shaded his facts, he didn’t tell you the

truth, he just kind of shaped things and colored

things to make it come out the way he wanted it to

come out and so he said the book of Acts was not

historically correct, you can’t trust the history of

the book of Acts.

Now, remember this man was brilliant, a professor in

Aberdeen, Scotland. But do you know what he did? He

made a mistake and it was a happy mistake and good

mistake. He decided he would go to Asia minor and

there carefully investigate and study the book of Acts

and do you know what happened? He had a

transformation, one hundred and eighty degrees he was

turned around. He wrote a book entitled, THE BELOVED

PHYSICIAN. And that book was about Dr. Luke who wrote

the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts.

And now, let me tell you what he said. After he

studied minutely the works of the great historian Dr.

Luke, who gave us the gospel of Luke and the book of

Acts, and I’m quoting now, this Dr. Ramsey said, and I

want you to listen to him: “I take the view that Luke’s

history is unsurpassed in regard to its

trustworthiness.” Did you hear that? “I now take the

view that Luke’s history is unsurpassed in regard to

its trustworthiness. You may press the words of Luke

in a degree beyond any other historian and they will

stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment.”

Amazing! Here was a man who studied the facts and when

he studied the facts he said you can trust the history

of God’s word.

You know historians–they love to study what they call

profane or secular history and then to turn around and

ridicule the Word of God. One thing they used to do a

few years back, they ridiculed the book of Daniel

because of the supposed errors in the book of Daniel.

The book of Daniel tells of the Babylonian empire and

it tells that the last king in Babylon was a king

named Beltshazzar. And do you remember Beltshazzar was

the one who saw the handwriting on the wall? Do you

remember that? So the historians said, “Well, that’s

obviously a fabrication. Obviously this is not real

history because we have the records of the ancient

Babylonians and we know that the last king of Babylon

was not a man named Beltshazzar at all, it was a man

named Nabanitus. We have the archives, we have the

records and we have all of the artifacts. Beltshazzar

was no king, there was no king named Beltshazzar.

Obviously the Bible is a fake, obviously a fraud, the

book of Daniel is not history.”

But the spade of the archeologists continued to do its

work and one day they turned up a clay tablet, a

cylinder, and guess whose name was on it? Give you

three guesses, first two don’t count. Beltshazzar. And

you know what it said about Beltshazzar and other

things that they uncovered? They found out that

Beltshazzar was indeed the last king of Babylon, but

so was Nabinitus. The truth of the matter is they were

co-regents. There were two kings at the same time.

Nabinitus was the father, Beltshazzar was the son, but

Nabinitus didn’t stay home. He loved to travel and he

was a big game hunter and was often gone and so the

kingdom was in the charge of Beltshazzar.

Now, the secular, profane historian was quite correct

when he said that Nabinitus was the last king of

Babylon, but he was quite wrong when he said

Beltshazzar wasn’t the last king of Babylon. And you

see, there are little minute confirmations of the Word

of God. So in the fifth chapter of the book of Daniel,

we understand a passage now that we might not have

understood before that because Beltshazzar said to

Daniel, “If you can read the handwriting on the wall,”

I’ll make you what? “The third ruler in the kingdom.”

You see, there were already two, Beltshazzar and

Nabinitus. Now, suppose we’d not found that clay

cylinder with Beltshazzar’s name on it. Would have

that have meant the Bible was wrong? No, it would have

just meant we didn’t have enough evidence, isn’t that

right? See, friend, be careful before you let some

historian or someone tell you that the history of the

Bible is not correct.

Our faith is rooted in evidence. There’s the

historical evidence that the Bible is the Word of God.

There’s the scientific evidence that the Bible is the

Word of God and I wish I had time to deal with all of

the scientific evidence that the Bible is the Word of

God, so let me just quickly narrow and get into one

little area there.

If you’ve not read the little book called “None Of

These Diseases,” I hope you’ll read it. It’s written

by a medical doctor, Dr. S. I. McMillan. Dr. McMillan

has recorded a wonderful story in there that I’m going

to try to share a little bit with you. He talks about

the ancient Egyptians and the medical knowledge that

the ancient Egyptians had about fifteen hundred years

before Christ was born in the time when Moses was a

lad and was growing up. The Egyptians had the dominant

position in world medicine at that time.

The Egyptians were no fools. When you see the things

that the Egyptians were able to do and accomplish

you’re just overwhelmed at the intelligence of the

ancient Egyptians, but they had their medical

knowledge put in a book and we have that book. The

Papyrus Ebers, Dr. McMillan tells about it. In the

Papyrus Ebers you have there the medical knowledge of

the ancient Egyptians and it’s almost ludicrous,

friends, it’s really kind of funny when you read some

of the medicine that they recommended. Now, you might

be interested in some of these prescriptions.

For example, if your hair is turning gray, pay

attention, to prevent the hair from turning gray,

anoint it with the blood of a black cat which has been

boiled in oil or with the fat of a rattlesnake. Now,

you be careful gathering that rattlesnake fat,

alright? For people who are losing hair, when it falls

out, apply a mixture of six fats, namely those of the

snake and the ibex. I haven’t seen an ibex in a long

time but you get some snake fat and ibex fat and then

to strengthen it you anoint it with the tooth of a

donkey crushed in honey. That’s to keep your hair from

falling out. If you had a splinter or a puncture, they

recommended lizard’s blood, worm’s blood and donkey’s

dung. Can you imagine the spores, the tetanus spores

and the microbes and the filth in donkey dung? As a

matter of fact, they often used excreta for medicine–

of human beings and donkeys and antelopes and dogs and

cats and even flies–that was a part of their

medicine. Another medicine they recommended was

moisture from pig’s ears, good medicine, haha. Well,

we laugh at that.

Now, the interesting thing is do you know where Moses

got his education? Moses was educated in the

University of Egypt. You see, Moses was the adopted

son of Pharaoh and Pharaoh gave to Moses the best

education that money could buy and the Bible says that

Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.

He had the equivalency of a Ph.D. from the University

of Egypt and if he was learned in all the wisdom of

Egyptians, surely he studied this kind of knowledge.

Aren’t you glad that he didn’t write any of this in

the Bible? I mean, you would have expected what he

learned in school to bleed over in what he wrote in

the Bible, wouldn’t you? Of course you would. Moses

wrote the first five books of the Bible. Genesis,

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. I’m so

glad we don’t read anything about using moisture from

pig’s ears for medicine.

As a matter of fact, when you read the Bible and you

read about the medicine of the Bible and you read the

sanitary code of the Bible and you read the dietary

code of the Bible you’re going to find out that modern

medicine is just now catching up. You want to be

healthy? You practice the dietary code of the Bible.

Not because you’re under legalism, just because you

want to have a good strong body. As a matter of fact,

do you know what they’re telling us now? Science is

just making a discovery. They used to talk down the

health food faddists and all of that and now the

scientists are begrudgingly coming along and the

medical doctors are begrudgingly coming along, and

saying, Hey, you need to cut all that fat out of your

diet, it might cause cancer, cut all that fat all of

your diet, it might cause high cholesterol and it

might cause heart attacks. Friend, just go back and

see what Moses had to say about cutting all that fat

out of your diet. You just go read it right there in

the Word of God. Find out what the Bible has to say.

Did you know in the fourteenth century Europe they had

a plague called the black plague? It was terrible, it

was horrible. Now, I know you’ve seen on television

the horrible things that are happening in Ethiopia and

that breaks your heart, it’s so hard to even watch.

But I want to tell you something worse than that

happened in Europe in the fourteenth century–the

black plague, where one out of every four people died.

Can you imagine that? One out of every four. One two,

three, dead. One two, three, dead. One two three,

dead. One two, three, dead. One, two three, dead. They

died and the physicians and the doctors were not able

to stop it and they didn’t know what to do. They

didn’t understand germs. They’d never seen a germ.

They didn’t know what a microbe was. They didn’t know

anything about a communicable disease. Well, you say,

everybody ought to know that. Why do you know it.

Somebody taught you, you didn’t figure it out. We

stand on the shoulders of other people. They didn’t

know that, they didn’t understand that and they

thought it was bad air, this thing or that thing, they

were trying, building fires and everything else to try

to stop the plague. Imagine trying to stop the plague

by building a fire.

And do you know it was not the doctors, it was the

church and the church leaders that finally stemmed the

tide of the plague by going back to God’s Word.

Leviticus chapter 13 and verse 46. “All the days

wherein the plague shall be upon his, he shall be

defiled, he is unclean, he shall dwell alone outside

the camp shall his habitation be.” What did the Bible

say to the man who was the leper, a man who had the

plague of leprosy? They said, “Put him outside the

camp, put him in isolation. Quarantine him, quarantine

him.” And when they begin to apply the knowledge that

Moses had given, then and only then was the plague

brought under control. One historian said the laws

against leprosy in Leviticus 13 may be regarded as the

first model of a sanitary legislation.

I’ve just talked in one little area. We could talk in

many, many areas about the wonderful medical and

scientific and evidences that the Bible is the Word of

God. Let me give you another evidence that the Bible

is the Word of God and that is the indestructibility

of this book. You see, this book is not just the book

of the month, friend, it’s the book of the ages. For

isn’t it an amazing thing? Here you are, an

intelligent erudite, educated people listening to a

halfway intelligent preacher, we’re here in the

twentieth century by television with electric lights

and we’re studying this old book. Isn’t that amazing?

You tell me what other book is as up to date. Why,

listen, it’s more up to date than tomorrow’s newspaper

and a whole lot more accurate. Amen.

Wasn’t that an amazing thing when they were

questioning the President of the United States the

other day and the news reporter said to him, “Mr.

President, we’d like your views on Armageddon.”

Amazing, Armageddon–that’s a Bible fact and here

they’re talking to the President of the most powerful

nation on the face of the earth in the most

enlightened educated time and after all of these years

people are still wanting to know what your view of

this book is. This Bible is such a living, powerful

force.

William Tyndale wanted to get the Bible printed so the

people could have it. Print it and put into the hands

of the English-speaking people and they hounded him

and they ran him out of England and William Tyndale

went to Germany and there he began to set up the type

to print the Bible so he’d get the Bible into the

hands of the people. Laboriously, day after day, week

after week, month after month, year after year,

setting that type, setting that type, not the way we

set it today, not with that ease, but painstakingly,

heartbreakingly so long to get the type set so people

could have the Bible in their mother tongue. He

finally finished the job and went to bed and that very

night vandals came in and wrecked the printing press

and destroyed the type and ruined the whole thing. He

had to start again from the bottom and to build it and

to set the type again and he finally got it done. He

printed those Bibles and in order to get them into

England, he put them in barrels of flour and shipped

them into England and the Word of God came to England.

They hated William Tyndale, some of the clerics and

the leaders, they hated him so much that they

strangled him to death. And then, not happy that they

strangled him, that wasn’t enough, they burned him

because he wanted a Bible for the people. And as they

were strangling Tyndale, he prayed, Oh God, Oh God,

open the eyes of the king of England, God, open his

eyes. They killed him in 1536. In 1611, we received

the King James Version of the Word of God. Amen.

William Tyndale, a man who loved God’s Word, a man who

died for God’s Word because the Word of God lives and

abides forever. “The grass withers, the flower thereof

falls away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.”

Hallelujah!

Friend, men have laughed at the Bible, men have

scorned the Bible, men have made laws against the

Bible, men have ridiculed the Bible. There was a time

in Scottish history when to own a Bible was a crime

worthy of death, but the Word of God lives on and it

is bright and vibrant and relevant today. That’s an

evidence that it is the Word of God.

Let me give you another evidence. I’m just telling you

that faith is rooted in evidence. What about fulfilled

prophesy? If we were to start today and talk about

fulfilled prophesy, just the prophesy of the nations,

what is happening in the nations of this world, what

is happening on the world map, the last days, what we

call the signs of the times, why, we could take a

Bible conference for several months and just talk on

that one thing. But let me just narrow the prophesies

and let’s just talk about the prophesies concerning

the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you know that there are

more than three hundred exact, minute prophesies

concerning the life, death, burial, resurrection,

ascension, enthronement and second coming of Jesus

Christ in the Old Testament? I’m not talking about the

New Testament. I’m not talking about small prophesies

or vague prophesies. I’m talking about hard, fast,

substantial, clear prophesies concerning the Lord

Jesus Christ. That these prophesies could have been

fulfilled by chance is astronomically, listen to me

now, astronomically impossible. Billions to one would

be the chance that they would have been fulfilled by

chance.

Do you know what the enemies of the Lord Jesus say

about this? Here’s the way they answer that. They say,

Well, he just arranged to have the prophesies

fulfilled. He just rigged it so the prophesies would

be fulfilled. Well, brother Rogers, do you think he

just arranged it for the prophesies to be fulfilled?

Yes, I do, before it ever happened, not afterward, but

before. Before he ever came to this earth. Now,

listen, I was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, but I

didn’t arrange it. Jesus arranged to be born in

Bethlehem. Amen. Because the Bible says in Micah

chapter 5 that our Lord would be born in Bethlehem and

so he arranged it. But I want to tell you, he

supernaturally arranged it.

I’ll tell you something else, he arranged for Isaiah

seven hundred years before he was born to give a

biography of his life in Isaiah chapter 53. You go

home and get that Old Testament chapter of the Bible

and read Isaiah chapter 53. You’re going to find the

amazing story, the entire biography of the Lord Jesus

Christ before he was born, not after he was born,

before he was born.

Go home today and read the twenty-second Psalm, an

amazing Psalm, the twenty second Psalm is a Messianic

Psalm. It is written about the crucifixion of the Lord

Jesus Christ and the twenty-second Psalm is written as

a graphic description of the crucifixion of the Lord

Jesus Christ. It was written centuries before Jesus

was born. And let me tell you something else. In Psalm

22 the words that Jesus would say from the cross are

prophesied. The words that his enemies would say when

they ridiculed him were prophesied. The very fact that

they would gamble for his garments was prophesied.

But here’s one of the most amazing prophesies of all.

In Psalm 22 it says they “pierced my hands and my

feet.” That’s what happens when you crucify; there are

nails through your hands and nails that go through

your feet. But this was written hundreds and hundreds

of years before the Roman Empire. Crucifixion was the

Roman way of capital punishment. The Jews at that time

knew nothing of death by crucifixion. Do you know how

the Jews executed people? Do you know what the method

of Jewish capital punishment was? It wasn’t the

electric chair, it wasn’t the gas chamber, it wasn’t

crucifixion, it was stoning. They stoned people to

death. If you’ve ever been there, you know they’ve got

enough stones. They stone people to death. But

crucifixion was a Roman form of execution and the

Romans were very clever. There’s no death as horrible,

as painful, as ignominious as crucifixion and you want

to keep people in line, you show them a cross. But I

want to remind you that was a Roman form of execution

and hundreds of years before the Roman Empire comes on

the scene you read there in Psalm 22, “they pierced m

my hands and my feet.”

Now, you explain that. Do you think Jesus arranged all

of that? Do you think Jesus arranged the Roman Empire?

Do you think Jesus arranged the cross? I do, but he

arranged it before the fact, he arranged it while he

was still in glory. Yes, he arranged it all, he

arranged that he would be sold for thirty pieces of

silver as Zechariah the prophet said. He arranged that

he would be betrayed by Judas as the Bible says. He

arranged that he would be buried in rich man’s tomb.

He arranged that he would be raised from the dead the

third day and seen by five hundred people who were so

convinced that they sat out to convince others that he

was raised from the dead.

And I want to tell you something, friend, these people

with no hope of material gain became followers of the

Lord Jesus Christ, so convinced were they that Jesus

Christ came out of that grave. Many of them paid with

their life’s blood for their conviction that Jesus

Christ was alive. Now, you’re reasonable people. A man

may live for a lie but he will not knowingly die for

one. These people died, sealed their testimony with

their blood, so convinced were they that that grave

was empty and that Jesus Christ came out of that

grave. Over three hundred exact, precise prophesies in

the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New Testament.

Matthew chapter 26 verse 56, “But all this was done

that the Scriptures of the prophets might be

fulfilled.”

Time has gone from me so let me just make the other

two points very very quickly. Listen to me. Faith is

rooted in evidence. Faith goes beyond evidence, it has

to or it wouldn’t be faith. Now, God is not going to

prove himself to you, but what God will do for you is

this–God will reveal himself to you. God will give

you facts. God will give you evidence and then God

will give you faith to believe those facts. It must be

by faith because faith is a moral response to the

character of God and the Bible says in John chapter 17

verse 7, “If any man wills to do the will of God he

shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God.” Now,

what does that mean? That means if you want to know

whether these facts are true, if you want to know this

evidence, then you can know it. God on the one hand

gives you the facts and then God on the other hand

gives you the faith to believe those facts. It is not

blind faith, it is rooted in evidence, but nonetheless

it is faith. God does not prove it to you, God shows

it to you and then from the inside God gives you his

force.

You see, there is that objective revelation of God,

but then there is that subjective inclination to

believe the revelation. That’s the reason Jesus said,

“My sheep hear my voice.” I don’t know about you, but

there’s something in me that when I read this Bible it

tells me it’s the Word of God. Not just because of

these facts that I’ve been giving you, but there is

just the voice of God. God speaks in his book. Do you

know what I’m talking about? Jesus said, “He that is

of the truth heareth my word and so the words I speak

unto you, they’re spirit and they’re life.” This Bible

is not like other books. You read other books but this

book reads you. And so, faith is rooted in evidence,

but faith goes beyond evidence.

Then I want to say the last thing and I’m hurrying.

Faith then becomes its own best evidence. I believe

because I believe. Let me give you a wonderful

Scripture. Psalm 34 verse 8. “0 taste and see that the

Lord is good.” I want to find out about you people,

find out how educated you are. How many of you have

ever tasted a mango, let me see your hand? Oh, I pity

the rest of you poor, denied people. You never had any

mango. You don’t know what mango is. Listen, folks, if

you can’t go to heaven, at least you ought to have a

mango. I mean, that’s nectar, that’s indescribably

luscious fruit from Florida. I was weaned on mangos,

wonderful. Now suppose you’ve never had a mango and

somebody comes with a mango and says, That’s a mango.

It looks good and it’s beautiful and it smells good.

You ought to have some. Thus far it’s just evidence.

He says it’s a mango, he says it’s good, it smells

good, it looks good, all of the rest of it, other

people seem to be enjoying it, other people testify–

that is all evidence.

But there’s something in you that impels you, you just

feel drawn toward it, you go beyond that evidence and

then you do something, you take a bite and now, folks,

you’ve got the evidence on the inside. Amen. That’s

what the Scripture means when it says, “Taste and see

that the Lord is good,” taste and see that the Lord is

good. Now, you see, that the reason that a Christian

with an experience is never at the mercy of an infidel

with an argument, because he’s got the evidence within

him. And one of the ways that I know that the Bible is

God’s Word is because the bright, living reality, the

truth of the God of that Bible lives within my heart.

Faith is rooted in evidence, faith goes beyond

evidence, faith becomes its own best evidence.

The Bible and Archaeology – Is the Bible from God? (Kyle Butt)

Related posts: