Adrian Rogers - When the Spirit Speaks
Take your Bibles, turn to John chapter 16, and in just a moment we're going to begin reading in verse 7. The title of the message, "When the Spirit Speaks". There're some things that you will never learn in school, some things that you will never figure out intellectually, the things you will never, never, ever know until you lay your intellectual pride in the dust and let God the Holy Spirit speak to you about these three tremendous truths. Now, folks, truth is so very, very important. We have some who have cowardice; they are afraid of the truth. We have some with laziness; they accept half-truth. We have some with arrogance; they think they know all truth. I pray God that you'll have humility today and ask God the Holy Spirit to speak to you the truth.
Now here are these three tremendous truths. Beginning in verse 7 let's read through verse 11, Jesus is talking about His going to Heaven and the Holy Spirit coming to Earth, and He says, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you," now, boys and girls, that means it is better for you, necessary for you, "that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you". Now the word comforter is the word that means paraclete or advocate or lawyer, somebody who comes alongside of you to take care of you. Jesus said, "I'm going to Heaven, but I will send the Holy Spirit to you". Now notice verse 8, "And when He is come, He will reprove the world," number one, "of sin," number two, "of righteousness," number three, "of judgment". Those are the three things that you will never understand apart from the Holy Spirit: sin, righteousness, and judgment.
You say, "Well, Adrian, they sound simple to me". Hang on and listen now. Jesus goes on to describe what He's talking about in verse 9, "Of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged". Now I want us to learn those three things today, and I pray God that He will give me the mind of Christ, the tongue of the learned. I pray that God will open your heart. I pray that the Holy Spirit of God will speak to you today and help you to understand these things, because I can articulate, but only God the Holy Spirit can write them upon your heart. 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, the truth about the sinner's basic problem. What is the sinner's basic problem? Look if you will in John 16 verse 9, "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 verse 3 that 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. And, therefore, unless there's a change, he's hopelessly lost because he has a nature that's given to sin.
Somewhere I read about a missionary who went to the mission field. And they showed her where the missionary residence was, and it was a kind of a nice little cottage, but the floor was filthy. And so she, being a good housekeeper, decided she would scrub the floor. And she scrubbed the floor, but she didn't seem to be able to get the dirt up. She put on more water, more suds. Finally, she got down on her hands and knees and just kept scrubbing, but it was dirty. She'd scrub; it was dirty. She'd scrub; it was dirty. She would rinse it, scrub again; still dirty. Somebody said, "Madam, I hate to tell you, but that is a dirt floor". What she was doing was just simply scrubbing a dirt floor, and the more she scrubbed the more dirt came up.
Now, folks, you can never take your sinful nature and clean it up because your sinful nature is like that dirt floor. 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 a dog acting strange, and 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 verse 23 says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God". Think, friend, of the deeds that you've done. Now we sit here in church, well dressed, sing these hymns, but think of those things that have come out of our hearts. Think of the lies that have been told. Think of the cursing that has been done. You say, "Well, I didn't mean anything by it. Yes, I took God's name in vain. But, I didn't really mean anything by it". That, friend, that's a part of your guilt that you could take the name of God and not mean anything by it. God says in Exodus 20 verse 7, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for God will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain".
One of these days you'll meet every curse word. Think of the gossip that you've told; where you have used your tongue to slander somebody else's character. Think of the disobedience to your parents. 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; God wrote down murder. You lusted; 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 that he is a sinner, dear friend, because of what he has not done, that is, giving God glory. Man is a sinner, according to verse 9, for not believing, for not believing. That's something that only the Holy Spirit of God can convict you of.
Jesus said in John 16 verses 8 and 9, "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. Now, 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. You say, "Well, I don't agree with it". I wouldn't expect you to agree with it unless the Holy Spirit of God teaches you. When the Holy Spirit of God teaches you, you're going to understand why the Holy Spirit of God will come and help you to see that this is the great sin.
Now it may not seem as great. Over here is a mountain of garbage. Over here is a teaspoonful of tasteless, but deadly, poison. Now this may seem greater than this, but this is the deadly part. The great sin is the sin of unbelief. It is the crowning sin. It is the proof of man's wickedness. And it, my friend, is the sin that will damn you forever; not believing. Now, but 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 as I preach, that you will understand that this is the greatest sin, and with it you pay the greatest price. As a matter of fact, this greatest sin is not often committed in the house of prostitution, it's not committed in the tavern, it's committed in the church house when the Gospel is preached.
You know, somebody says, "Well, yes, I admit I told a lie. Yes, I admit I stole an answer in school. Yes, I'll admit that I had lost my temper, or read a girlie magazine. But Adrian, are you trying to tell me that God would send me to Hell forever and ever and ever because of that? I mean, that would be like putting a man in the penitentiary for life because he stole a loaf of bread. The punishment doesn't fit the crime. I mean, after all, isn't God just"? Friend, here's the whole point. God is not going to let you go to Hell because you stole a loaf of bread, but because you aimed the gun of unbelief at Him and pulled the trigger. 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. It is the sin from which all other sins come. Why did Adam and Eve sin in the Garden of Eden? Basically, it was unbelief. Why does a man tell a lie today? Unbelief. He can't trust God to get him out of the mess that he's in. Only the Holy Spirit of God can convict you that there is no greater sin than unbelief. Unbelief says, "God, You're not worthy of my faith, You're not worthy of my trust, You're not worthy of my love. I don't want You in my life"! "Well, Adrian, I can't help it. I'm just not superstitious. I'm not religious. I can't help it if I can't believe". Friend, that's where you're wrong, that's where you're wrong. The Holy Spirit of God will enable you to believe.
That's the reason the Bible says in the book of Hebrews, the third chapter in verse 12, "Beware lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief". 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. Now, I can preach that, but one of these days you'll understand that the greater sin, the mother sin, the parent sin, the sin of sins, the crowning sin is to refuse Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, that He suffered, bled, and died for you, reached out His hand to you, sent the Holy Spirit of God to convict you, sent the Word of God, brought you here today, and you refused to believe in Him. A courtroom may convict you of crimes. Conscience may convict you of wrongdoing. But only the Holy Spirit of God can truly convict you of sin. Yes, man is a sinner because of what he is. Yes, man is a sinner because of what he's done. But the greatest sin, the sin of sins, the mother sin, the father sin, the parent sin, the damming sin, is the sin of not believing.
Let me tell you what the Lord Jesus Christ said and I want you to put this Scripture down in your Bible, John 3 and verse 18, listen to it, "He that believeth on Him," On whom? On Jesus, "is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed". Not because he told a lie, not because he stole, not because he committed adultery; those sins have been paid for, but, "because he hath not believed," in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that believes is not condemned. You come with faith and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and, "There is therefore now no condemnation of those who are in Christ Jesus". Romans 8 verse 1. Refuse the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are condemned because you have not believed! 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. 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 is come. When He speaks, He speaks of righteousness, Jesus said in John 16:10, "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." John 19:10.
He came as a Savior, and He came to provide righteousness. He came to provide righteousness, and when he was virgin born, lived 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 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 in John 17 verse 4, "I have finished the work". He's speaking to the Father, "I've finished the work Thou gavest Me to do". "And now I am going back home. I've 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, the world's idea of righteousness is just as warped as the world's idea of sin. Now, the world's idea of sin is, a man is a sinner because of what he does. No, he does what he does because he's a sinner. A man is not a liar because he tells lies; he tells lies because he's a liar. The sin is in the heart. But the world's idea of righteousness is just as warped. The world thinks that a man is a sinner if he does wrong. He thinks the man is righteous if he does right. And somehow that God is like Santa Claus, making a list, checking it twice, going to find out who's naughty or nice. And one of these days we're going to die, and our bad works are going to put on the scales on this side and our good works on the scales on this side, and God's going to weigh it all out. And if our good works outweigh our bad works, then He's going to say, "You made it".
If our bad works outweigh our good works, He's going to say, "You missed it". That's the world's idea of righteousness. But I want you to listen to these Scriptures here. God talked about His ancient people, Israel, and here's what He said about them in Romans chapter 10 and verse 3. Put it down. The Bible says, "They, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God". Now, ignorance is terrible, friend, but when it comes to Heaven or Hell it is tragic. "They, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God".
Most of the people in America are self-righteous, strutting their way to Hell, thinking they're too good to be dammed. Now, your only hope of ever appearing righteous before God is in the finished work of the ascended Christ. When Jesus went to Heaven, when He said, "I'm going to Heaven". What did He do when He went to Heaven? He went and presented His blood on the mercy seat there in Heaven before the Father as an atonement for our sin. Now think with me for a moment. If you could be accounted righteous before God by doing good deeds, by giving your money, by helping the poor, by being religious, being kind, if you could be counted righteous for doing that, listen to me now, why did Jesus die? Why did He suffer on that cross if you could be saved by your own righteousness?
I submit to you that if you could be saved by doing good, then Calvary was the blunder of the ages. Now you think about it. Let me give you a verse of Scripture. Paul said in Galatians chapter 2 verse 21, "For I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain". What does that mean? When you try to earn your salvation, you frustrate the grace of God. "For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain". It means He died for nothing. If you could, by keeping the Ten Commandments, that's what he means by the law. 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'd 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 a cross, to be butchered on a Roman cross, when you could be saved by just being good. Look at that verse again, Galatians 2:21, "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 dammed. 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. It's the word that's used to wrap the lepers' 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. Second Corinthians 5 verse 17, "If any man be in Christ Jesus he is 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 to Adrian Rogers"? There was a radical change. But not only does He change what we are, friend, 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, friend, 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 5 and 6, "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. Next time you go to the store to buy something, just say, "Impute it". Don't say, "Charge it," say, "Impute it". Put it on my account! Listen to what God says in this Scripture, Romans chapter 4 verses 5 and 6, "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. Listen to me. The worst form of badness is human goodness when human goodness becomes a substitute for the new birth. The worst form of badness is human goodness when that becomes a substitute for the new birth.
You say, "Well, I believe I had a little goodness in me". Your goodness, your righteousness, is as filthy rags in the sight of God. There are billions of people on planet Earth. If you were to put all those 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 you've 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 John 16 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'll 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. You're looking at a man who will one day be like Jesus Christ. But I want 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'll be just like it. 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, will one day be like Him. But if you have not, I want to tell you that 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. And 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. 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 a 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. 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 Savior's bountiful provision, of Satan's broken power. He's come to convict you of that. But notice the order. He has 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. But with God, the order is different. There is, 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 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're 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. I prayed on my knees that God'll help you to understand this, because all I can do is preach it. 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, O God".
Bow your heads in prayer. And heads are bowed and eyes are closed, no one stirring, no one moving. O 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:
O God. I'm 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. O 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. O 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.