The Last Step on the Way Down | Part 2

How serious is the sin of immorality? Listen to love worth finding featuring profound truth, simply stated by Adrian Rogers. As we've just heard, despite its danger, sexual immorality is socially acceptable in our nation, despite the clear instruction in God's word to remain pure. Adrian Rogers said, our nation is in a crisis, and unless we have a moral rebirth, we will join the graveyard of nations. If you have your Bible, turn now to Romans Chapter 1. And look at verse 24 as Adrian Rogers delivers part two of The Last Step on the Way Down.

I want to give you some reasons. Number one, adultery is a sin against one's self, S-E-L-F. Put in your margin 1 Corinthians Chapter 6 and verse 18. The Bible says, Flee fornication.

That is, get out of there. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that commiteth fornication, sinneth against his own body. He sins against his own body. There is no other sin that will do you more damage spiritually, psychologically, and physically than this sin.

You say, how can it hurt me physically? Well, we know today that Americans are being killed literally by sexual disease. When a man commits this sin, he sins against his own body. We hear a lot today about safe sex. Friend, the sex that God made is not supposed to be dangerous.

It's supposed to be dangerous to the silver tongue. But he thought he was smarter than God, and he sinned against his own body. He consorted with impure women. And England's greatest poet and playboy said, at the end, my days are in the yellow leaf. The flower and fruit of life are gone.

The worm, the canker, the grief are mine alone. He's just proving what God's Word says. When a man sins against his own self. But secondly, not only is adultery a sin against one's own self, adultery is a sin against the home. The sad thing about it is the lives of innocent children are torn apart every year by adultery. And if there's anything that pains me and hurts me, it is to hear those who are living an ungodly, immoral lifestyle prayed about family values. Romans 2, verse 22, thou that sayest the man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? The whole second chapter of the book of Romans is about hypocrites, those who carry big black Bibles and prayed about family values.

It's a sin against the home. The man who commits adultery tells his child, your mother is not worth much, and your father is a liar and a cheat. Furthermore, honor is not nearly as important as pleasure. In fact, my child, my own satisfaction is more important than you are. That's what the man who commits this sin tells his child.

Would you like to hear that again? He tells his child, your mother is not worth much, and your father is a liar and a cheat. Furthermore, honor is not nearly as important as pleasure. In fact, my child, my own satisfaction is more important than you are. You see, God established monogamous marriage to meet the deepest emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual needs of a child.

Because, you see, a child needs the context of the home. And the glue that holds the home together is sexual faithfulness. Adultery is a sin against oneself. Adultery is a sin against the home, and the home is the foundation of society. Thirdly, adultery is a sin against the church.

If you're a member of this church and you're living an impure life, you have sinned against the rest of us. Because we're in this together. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 16, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 that we are members one of another.

Folks, we're in it together. And what affects you affects me. And you cannot say what I do is nobody else's business. Not in the covenant relationship of a church. When one member suffers, every member suffers. Adultery is a sin against the church.

It is an infection in the body. And adultery, ladies and gentlemen, is a sin against the nation. Adultery is an act of treason. In the Old Testament, not the New Testament, in the Old Testament, adultery was a crime worthy of death. Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 22, If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman and the woman.

Now listen to this. So shalt thou put away evil from Israel. Put this sin not only away from the people of God, but from the nation itself.

Put away evil from Israel. May I tell you something foolish? It is foolish to say that character and leadership are not synonymous.

No man is morally fit for leadership who is sexually impure. Proverbs 14 verse 34 says, Righteousness exalts to the nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Character counts. Now here's the rubric we're listening to today.

Here's what people will say today. They'll say character has nothing to do with it. Probability is what matters. If you're on an airplane and the pilot is a good pilot and he can fly the airplane, if he can take you off safely, if he can keep you in the air safely, if he can land you safely, then what difference does his character make?

It makes absolutely no difference unless you want the blessing of God on that airplane. When you say that character doesn't count, do you know what you're saying? You're saying God doesn't count. You're saying we can do it by ourselves. We don't need God. We know how to do it. We don't want the blessing of God. Yes, character doesn't count.

I agree if there is no God, but there is a God. And we want his blessing. A skilled but an ungodly leader is dangerous. That would be like a skilled surgeon. A surgeon who is skilled to do brain surgery, but he does not scrub before he does surgery. He will infect everything he touches.

I want him to be clean if he's going to do surgery on me. Proverbs 16 verse 12 says, It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for the throne, listen, the throne is established by righteousness. You say, well, we don't have kings. We have leaders. You see, leadership is stewardship. The leader, whomever he may be, the city council or anybody else, they are acting for God. The Bible says in Romans 13 he is the minister of God.

You are steward. You're acting for God. The man who commits adultery is a liar. He's lied against his marriage vows, and liars and leaders are not the same. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse 28, mercy and truth preserve the king. Abraham Lincoln, we call him Honest Abe. Abraham Lincoln said you can fool all of the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time. And I would add, Mr. Lincoln, you can't fool God any of the time. God knows and God sees. There was a king in the Old Testament.

His name was Lemuel. He had a mother who gave him some good advice. Proverbs 31 verse 3, she said, Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. No man is fit to lead who is morally impure. History was the sin that led to the downfall of Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Babylon, and it will be the ruin of the American empire.

If we do not learn to take a stand for that which is right and that which is holy, you can kiss America goodbye because God will give up on this nation. Rabbi Gilbert Holland, who was born in 1819, wrote these words, but they were never more needful. God give us men. A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands. Men whom the lust of office does not kill. Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy. Men who possess opinions and a will. Men who have honor. Men who will not lie. Men who can stand before a demagogue and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking.

Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog in public duty and in private thinking. For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds, their large professions, and their little deeds mingle in selfish strife, lo, freedom weeps. Wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps.

Yes, God give us men. Adultery is a sin against the nation. But I'll tell you what else it's a sin against. Not only against oneself, not only against the family, not only a sin against the nation, but adultery, my friend, is a sin against Almighty God. There is a God in the glory.

And when people say, what difference does it make? You may as well ask, what difference does God make? Exodus 20 verse 14 says, Thou shalt not commit adultery. You see, this sin is against God because God says it is wrong. When King David recognized what he had done, King David wrote a penitential psalm. He did not try to cover it up, because what we try to cover, God uncovers, and what we uncover, God will cover. But David said in Psalm 51 verse 4, Praying to God against thee, and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. David realized that he broke both God's law and God's heart, and sin was against Almighty God. Adultery, friend, is a sin that God will judge. If you're making notes, jot these following scriptures. Hebrews 13 verse 4, Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterous, God will judge.

I didn't say that. God said that. God will judge. Proverbs chapter 6 verses 27 through 29, Can a man take a fire in his bosom, and his clothes be not burned?

Can a man go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth in to his neighbor's wife, whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent. Proverbs chapter 6 verse 32, But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding, he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. Proverbs chapter 7 verse 27, speaking of the adulterous woman, her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. First Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9, Know ye not that the righteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, be not deceived?

Neither fornicators, that's sex before marriage, nor idolaters, nor adulterous, that's illicit sex when married, nor effeminate, that is sexual perversion, nor abusers of themselves with mankind. God says, Don't be deceived. They're not going to heaven unless they change. Thank God he goes on to say, In such worth some of you.

He doesn't say there's no hope. He doesn't say there's no forgiveness. He's saying, If this is your lifestyle, your choice, your practice, you need to get saved. Ephesians 5 verse 5, For this ye know, that no whoremonger, or unclean person, or covetous man who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Then the last book in the Holy Bible, Revelation chapter 21 and verse 8, Here's the roll call of the damned, but the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. You see, God is a holy God. God has given his commandments, his laws.

Law without penalty is only advice. God is not giving advice. And no matter how immorality is laughed at, glamorized, rationalized, legitimatized by the social engineers and the pundits, God brought me here to tell you, and I prayed about this message, this is a sin that God will judge.

Do you know the reason that some people think that God's not going to judge this sin? Look in chapter 2 and verse 5, Romans 2 verse 5, But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasureth up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. You see, people are just treasuring up wrath. Every day they put a new deposit in the bank, and the sun comes up and the sun goes down, and they say, Well, I did it again! No judgment! And after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasureth up wrath against the day of wrath.

One more deposit is put in the bank. Well, what must we do? We cannot change the hearts and minds of others. And revival is not going to come to this nation from the White House, the State House, or the schoolhouse. It's going to come from the church house. And it's going to begin with the people of God.

One by one, we need to take our nation back. And let me tell you young people who are here, listen to God's Word. Don't sacrifice the ultimate, the eternal, on the altar of the immediate.

Don't be so foolish. First of all, make a decision. Give your heart to Almighty God, because He is the only one who is able to guide you. After you make that decision, depend upon Him.

Look to Him. He will deliver you from sexual immorality if you trust Him. Number three, after decision and dependence, devotion. Love God with all of your heart, and love your own wife, love your own mate, your own husband, with a supernatural love. When the Bible says husbands love your wives, that's not a request.

It is a command, and anything God commands you to do, you can do. Number four, development. Look, decision, dependence, devotion, and development. Feed your love. Help your love to grow. Love is not like a diamond, something that you find hard and brittle and beautiful and you keep it to save it. Love is like a flower.

It's got to be cultivated and watered and cared for and nurtured. If you don't love your wife more today than you did when you married her, you probably love her less. Continue to feed that love from day to day. Never flirt with another woman and never fail to flirt with your own wife.

Just develop that love, and then discipline. Guard your company. Give attention to what you read and what you see. Decide there's certain things you're not going to watch. Discipline your life. You wouldn't put garbage in your mouth.

Don't put garbage in your mind. Guard your company. A companion of fools will be destroyed. Last of all, determination.

Determine. Joshua said, I don't know what course others will take, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I love what the psalmist said when he said, my heart is fixed, oh God. If you make up your mind about one big decision, you won't have to keep making up your mind about a lot of little decisions.

You won't have to determine every time you go to the Holiday Inn whether you're going to watch a filthy movie or not because your heart is fixed. You have determined, oh God, my God, I will serve you. You say, Pastor, you made me feel bad today because very frankly, my life has been touched by immorality. Well, I want to tell you something. That's what this book is all about, good news. Good news.

Good news, it's the bad news that makes the good news good. For the Bible says through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the power of God unto salvation. God is a God of grace and God is a God of forgiveness and God is a God of another chance. God is the God that says, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Hallelujah for such a gospel.

Thank God for that. If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. But there's one thing that God will never accept for sin and that is an excuse or an alibi. But oh, when there comes a confession, thank God, the cleansing tides of Calvary sweep across the human soul.

And every blot, every blur, every blemish, every stain that ever came, Jesus' blood washes whiter than snow. Hallelujah. Amen.

And amen. Maybe as you've listened today, you have questions regarding how to place your faith fully in Jesus. We'd love to offer you an insightful resource on our website. It's our Discover Jesus page. There you'll find answers you may need about your faith.

There is a response section as well. Share your testimony or how this message has impacted your life. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab that says Discover Jesus.

We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message in its entirety, call 1-877-LOVEGOD and mention the title, The Last Step on the Way Down. This message is also part of the insightful Foundations for Our Faith series. For the complete collection, all 27 powerful messages, call that number, 877-LOVEGOD, or you can order online at lwf.org slash radio.

Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Well, thank you for studying in God's Word today. If you're married, we hope this message convicted you of your responsibility to remain faithful in that marriage.

Remember, your decision to depend on Him, remain devoted and develop your love for your spouse. Stay disciplined and determined. And be sure to join us next time for more real truth that never changes, right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener wrote recently with a gracious word of encouragement, I have been listening to Adrian Rogers for five years now. God has blessed him with the gift of conveying His Word in such a powerful way, touching on all aspects of humanity and spirituality.

He speaks with a powerful and unwavering ability to pierce our hearts and souls. But we are so honored to be able to share these timeless messages with you in hope that they will help you mature in your faith in Christ. When you give to the ministry right now, we want to send you our Why booklet collection. This bundle gives insight to the big questions we ask ourselves in the midst of the darkest storms of life. Request the Why booklet collection when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVEGOD. 1-877-568-3463. Or give online at lwf.org slash radio.