Fools: Wise or Otherwise? | Part 2

We'll be right back. The Word of God says a carnal mind doesn't understand spiritual things. Well, Kerry, Adrian Rogers says the gospel is so radically different.

It starts at a different source, follows a different course, and ends at a different conclusion. We don't need to make it compatible with this world. I mean, there is no compatibility with a gospel life in the world we live in.

No, it shouldn't be. We are saved from the penalty of sin, and then presently we are being saved daily from the power of sin, right? That God will protect us from the evil one, ourselves, and from the world. But eventually, one day, we'll be saved from the presence of sin, when the rapture occurs.

That's right. So that's where the wise part comes in. God, give us wisdom. Give us discernment that we may choose you. Well, Kerry, I think the question we need to ask ourselves, am I actively seeking God's wisdom? Are you living by the principle of the cross, dying daily, so that Christ can live through you? Dr. Rogers would often state that the Jesus in me connects with the Jesus in you. Listen to this response through Facebook. I love listening to Pastor Rogers, and I believe he was a man filled with the Holy Ghost.

I'm a truck driver and run routes at night through Knoxville all the way to Cincinnati. His messages are the best part of my night. You see, that's that connection, believer to believer, right? There's wisdom in that, because the wisdom is we have accepted Jesus Christ, we do have a personal relationship, and our common denominator is the cross. You know, I just talked to a friend today who said they had a Comcast technical person come to fix something in their home, and they wanted a chance to share the gospel. This technician was a believer.

Amen. And they were new to the area and was trying to find a church. He said, right now, my church is Adrian Rogers on the radio. Wow, he's trying to find a church. Hey, we get that all the time. We are the church to many people who are homebound or they haven't identified a church in their area. We understand that responsibility, and we take that responsibility with great pride and honor.

Well, Kerry, there is a special offer in September. It's a resource that I think our friends want to pick up on. It's called Nothing But the Truth DVD, available at LWF's online store.

This is a new documentary film, 87 minutes, Vintage Adrian Rogers. It's the teaching, preaching of Adrian Rogers. Also, other people like Dave Ramsey and Dr. Tony Evans and Johnny Hunt, Jennifer Rothschild, KJ52 the rapper, and many more, talking about what is absolute truth. What is truth in your finances? What is truth in the workplace?

What is truth in your marriage? And we unpack that and remind the viewer that truth is based on the Word of God. Well, speaking of the Word of God, get your Bibles and turn to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18, with Adrian Rogers' message today, Fools, Wise or Otherwise, Part 2. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.

But unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise?

Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God.

It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

How are we going to be able to tell who is a fool and who is not a fool? Well, the preaching of the gospel, the preaching of the cross, is to them which perish foolishness. Now, the word preaching here, the preaching of the cross, literally means the word of the cross, what the cross says to us, not what we say about the cross, but what the cross says to us. So I want us to pay attention to what I want to call today the word of the cross. And I want you to see three things as we look at our scripture that I read to you today.

We're thinking about fools, wise or otherwise. And the first thing I want you to see concerning the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the measurement of a man's foolishness or the measurement of man's wisdom according to how he relates to the cross, the very first thing is this. I want you to see that God speaks through the cross. Now, God has revealed himself and shown himself in many ways, but you will never know the heart and mind of God until you understand the cross. God speaks through the cross.

Now, look, if you will, in verse 22. People have always been seeking after God and wanting to know what God was like and who the true Messiah is and all of this. And so verse 22 explains it, for the Jews require sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. Now, Paul is writing to the people at Corinth, and at Corinth there was a great contingent of Jews and Greeks that lived there in Corinth. And the Jews, they had a particular idea of what God ought to be like, and they were seeking for some great miracle because they had confidence in a Messiah who would come who would be strong and powerful and political and he would just blow away his enemies and he would set up the kingdom of God upon earth and the Jews would reign supreme and so forth. And so they were waiting for this kind of a Messiah.

The Jews were looking for a God who would demonstrate himself that way with power. Now, the Greeks were not that way. The Greeks were a little more sophisticated. The Greeks were a little more intellectual. The Greeks sought after wisdom. Now, what the Greeks were looking for was something that they could do intellectual gymnastics with. The Messiah that the Greeks were looking for would be sort of a double Socrates. He would be some grand intellect who would help them to unpick all of the divine mysteries of life.

That's what they were looking for. The Jews said if God speaks, he's going to speak through miracles. And the Greeks said if God speaks, he's going to speak through intellectualism and philosophy.

They sought after wisdom. But here's what God did. It's almost as though the apostle Paul could read their mind and look, if you will, in verse 23. He says, but, that is in contradistinction to verse 22, but we preach Christ crucified. Not just Christ, but Christ crucified. It would have been one thing if he had preached Christ, but my goodness, to preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness. Now, the word stumbling block here means scandal.

They were scandalized. Why, you mean we're looking for a mighty miracle-working powerful Messiah and you're preaching one who dies upon a cross. And the Greeks said, why, not only is it a stumbling block, it's absolutely ludicrous. It's foolish that here's a Messiah. You mean God died upon a cross, a man who is the son of God dying, writhing upon a cross? Do you mean to tell us that's God's answer to this world? That's the way God speaks to this world?

It's absolutely absurdity that is foolishness, the Greeks said. But now I want you to go on to those who have been saved. Notice what happens in verse 24. But unto them which are called, that is called by God, called out of this world both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now, how is Christ crucified, the power of God and the wisdom of God? Remember now the Jews wanted power and the Greeks wanted wisdom. Paul says, okay, you want wisdom, you want power?

I'll tell you where power is, I'll tell you where wisdom is. Christ crucified. What I'm trying to say to you, listen to me, dear friend, God speaks through the cross. You will never understand the heart, the mind, the life of God, the power of God, or the wisdom of God until you understand the cross. We preach Christ crucified to the Jews, the stumbling block, to the Greeks foolishness, but to those of us who are saved, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Mighty power in the salvation of a soul. Mighty wisdom is revealed in the cross. Hallelujah for that. But now listen, not only does God speak through the cross, but God also saves through the cross.

Now look again, look again. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18. For the preaching of the cross is to them which perish foolishness, but unto us who are saved, it is the power of God.

To those of us who are saved, God saves through the cross. Now the world does not like the idea of salvation through the cross. The world doesn't mind organ music. The world doesn't mind stained glass windows. The world doesn't mind good works. The world doesn't mind platitudes and moral living, but the world resents the gospel of a bloody cross.

Did you know that? Did you know that when you preach that the cross is God's way of salvation, that is an offense, that is a scandal to some people? And the world is incensed by the idea of the gospel of no other name. They don't like for me to stand in a pulpit and say you'll come by a bloody cross or you won't come at all. You will be saved by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus or you will not be saved at all.

The world thinks that I'm un-American if I don't put my arms around everybody's shoulder and say your religion is just as good as mine. But, friend, I want to tell you that Jesus Christ crucified is the only way to heaven, and if there's some other way other than Jesus Christ crucified, I wouldn't want to meet God in a dark alley because I wouldn't trust that kind of a God who let his Son die on a cross in agony and blood when there was some other way. I tell you there is no other way. God is powerless to save apart from the cross, and if you're not saved by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus, you will not be saved. God saves by the cross.

I want to say one last thing. God sanctifies by the cross. Look again, if you will, in verse 18.

Look, it says, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto those of us who are saved it is the power of God, but unto us which are saved. Now, look at the phrase which are saved. Now, it literally means which are being saved. Now, friend, I want to tell you something, that not only have you been saved, you are being saved.

I want you to learn something and pay attention now. Salvation is in three tenses. I have been saved, I am being saved, and I shall be saved. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm not on my way to heaven right now when I tell you I'm being saved.

It doesn't mean that there's any chance that I could ever again be lost, but salvation is in three tenses. I have been saved. I've been saved from the penalty of sin. Hallelujah, I'm not going to hell, amen? But, you know, between some people in hell, the only thing between some of you in hell is a heartbeat.

Did you know that? Between me and hell is a cross, and Jesus is on it. Now, look, I have been saved from the penalty of sin. I am being saved from the power of sin. See, I am now being saved. He saves me daily from the power of sin. So that's a process that is going on, and I shall be saved from the presence of sin. When the rapture comes, I'll be caught up to meet my Lord in the air.

Never again in, you know, there's no sin going to enter into that place. So salvation is a crisis that is followed by a process. Now, you need to understand that, that I am now being saved right now, and that's what this verse says. You see, look, folks, that's an encouragement to me. I would really be disappointed if I thought this is all the saved I'm going to be. I mean, look at me. I would be disappointed. Wouldn't you be disappointed if you thought you'd arrived?

I mean, this is all you're going to get. No, friend, look, you are now being saved. There's not a one of us who doesn't need to be saved day by day. We need to be saved from self. How many of you have difficulty with something called self?

Just kind of nod your head at me, okay? How many of you have difficulty with something called sin? How many of you have difficulty with someone named Satan?

Of course we do. And day by day, I need to be being saved. By the way, listen, the Bible says that God's not finished with us.

People used to wear these little buttons. Don't be too hard on me. God's not finished with me yet.

I like that. The old cowboy said, I ain't what I ought to be. I ain't what I'm going to be.

Thank God I ain't what I was. And God is in the process of moving us to where we need to be, and how does He do it? Through the cross. Now, look, God speaks through the cross. God saves through the cross. God sanctifies through the cross. Do you know what sanctification is? It's just the process of where God makes us more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ, because when you got saved, you were not automatically holy and perfect. Oh, God did a miracle in your heart, but there had to be that God had to work out what He worked in, and so there needs to be a process, and we call that process sanctification. I want to say conversely that the Bible speaks of those in verse 18 who are perishing, and it says, For the preaching of the cross is to them which perish foolishness. What it literally says is to those who are in the process of perishing. Did you know an unsaved man here today, he's in the process of being lost?

You know, I want to say that because some of you say, Well, this is lost. It ain't so bad. Huh? It's not so bad. Friend, the devil's not finished with you yet. You know, the Bible says, Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. A man went to the doctor, and the doctor told him he had an incurable disease.

He said to his friend, You know, it seems so strange. I don't feel all that bad, and yet the doctor says I'm going to die, and friend, I want to tell you that if you're saved, God's not finished with you yet, and if you're lost, the devil is not finished with you yet. There is a process. You see, salvation is a crisis. We've been saved, and it is followed by a process that is sanctification, and the cross, the cross is God's way of salvation.

The word of the cross is God's way also of sanctification. Now, look, look. Many of us know that being saved is a miracle, but we get the idea that living the Christian life is something we have to do, and you'll never have victory in the Christian life until you understand that the Christian life is also a miracle. One man, when he got saved, he said, Boy, this is easy.

This is easy. That's the first thing he said. Boy, I'm just saved.

Hallelujah. My sins are forgiven, and then after a while, when he did like the rest of us, he stumbled and fell some. He said, Boy, this is hard, and then after a while, he stumbled and fell some more. He said, This is impossible, huh, and then he discovered the principle of the cross, and he said, This is wonderful.

I hope you'll come all the way through back around to wonderful. You see, the Christian life is not hard. It's impossible, and it commences with a miracle. That's the new birth. It concludes with a miracle. That's the resurrection, but it commences with a miracle.

It concludes with a miracle, but listen, it continues with a miracle. Now, what you and I need to learn is this, that when God saved us, he didn't abandon us. When a newborn baby gets born, that baby is not abandoned. You see, coming into the family is one thing, but now how does God sanctify us? How does the cross sanctify us? What is the principle of the cross that sanctifies us?

What does sanctification mean again? It means that God is saving me from self and from sin and from Satan day by day. He's making me more and more like the Lord Jesus. How does the cross do that? Well, you remember what the Lord Jesus said? Jesus said, Take up your cross and follow me. Now, what does that mean to take up your cross? A lot of people think that just means you go around with a cross on your back. You know, you've got this cross on your back, and so you're just following the Lord Jesus with a cross on your back. Jesus, where are you going?

Well, I'm going to hold some preaching meetings. You take up your cross and follow me, so we just follow him. That's kind of really silly, folks.

I'm not saying what Jesus said was silly, but our conception of what Jesus said was silly. It'd be awful hard to sit down, by the way, if you had a cross on your back. No, when Jesus said, Take up your cross and follow me, what is a cross for? A cross is not for carrying. A cross is for dying on.

Jesus was going to Calvary. When Jesus said, Take up your cross and follow me, what Jesus was saying is, Come and die. Come and die. Die. Oh, you say, Uh-oh. I don't want to do that.

Well, dear friend, listen, that's the reason why it sounds so foolish to the world. When we're talking about dying, the world says, My goodness, don't talk about that, buster. I want to live.

I don't want to die. And yet Jesus said, Take up your cross and follow me. That is, Come and die. And by the way, he says, Take up your cross. Do you know your cross is something you take up? It is voluntary. Now, Jesus volunteered to die. Did you know that? Oh, you say, No, they took him against his will.

No, they didn't. Do you think they could take the Son of God against his will? Jesus said, No man taketh my life from me. I lay it down on myself.

Right? Jesus willingly, voluntarily took up his cross and so must you willingly, voluntarily take up your cross. You know, we have some misconceptions. Your cross is not your nagging wife. Your cross is not your unsaved husband. Your cross is not some sickness you have, some migraine headache. It's just my cross I have to bear.

No, it's not. It's your migraine headache. It's your husband.

It's your wife. That's not your cross. You see, your cross is something, not something that just happens to you, some circumstance that comes upon you that you wish you didn't have. Your cross is something that you willingly, knowingly, deliberately, voluntarily take up.

Huh? See, that's what your cross is. Jesus said, Take up your cross. Now, and when you take up your cross, it's not something you carry. Crosses are not for carrying.

Crosses are for dying on. Now, what I'm trying to say is that you're sanctified by the principle of the cross. God speaks through the cross. God says through the cross. God sanctifies through the cross. Not only, therefore, do we need to come to the cross for pardon, we need to get on the cross for power, and it is not until we learn to live the principle of the cross. Now, I know right now I'm sounding a little confusing, but listen, friend. There's only one life that has power, and it is the crucified life. You say, Well, I don't want to be dead, but you see, dear friend, listen. Jesus didn't say that I've come that you might have death and have it abundantly, did he? Huh?

No, what did he say? I've come that you might have what? Life and have it more abundant, more abundant. But what is the way to life? The cross, the cross. What was the way to Easter and that resurrection? The cross, was it not? You see, you remember why Jesus said, Whosoever shall save his life shall lose it?

But whosoever shall lose his life, for my sake and the gospel's the same, shall save it. You remember that? Okay, now look. When we were little kids, we used to find something belonging to somebody else, and you probably did this. We'd say finders, keepers, losers, weepers. Did you ever say that?

Huh? I found it as mine. You know what Jesus said?

Keepers, weepers, losers, finders. Listen, you keep your life, you're going to lose it. When you lose it, for my sake and the gospel's, you'll save it.

What does he mean? When I come to the Lord and I say, God, I cannot, I cannot live this life, and so, Lord, I just want to say the old Adrian Rogers has to die. Not only did you die for me, but I'm willing to die with you. I'm willing to die to self, sin, and Satan. Lord God, I apply the principle of the cross to my life. Then something supernatural begins to work in me.

Now, this is going to be a little hard for you to get hold of when you get hold of it, friend. It's going to change your life dramatically, radically, and forever. You're sanctified by the principle of the cross. And what is the principle of the cross? It is just simply saying no to self, letting that old self die with Christ and saying yes to Christ. And then you can say with the apostle Paul in Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ that liveth in me. And the life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. You see, there's a wisdom and a power when I say that. You know, for a long time in my Christian life, and sometimes I still slip into this mode, for a long time, I would try to serve God. And to try to serve God is like being in quicksand.

The more you struggle, the more you sink. And I would try to do better, and I would fail, and I would cry and weep and say, God, I'm so sorry I failed, and Lord, just help me. I'm not going to do that anymore. God, I'm so sorry. Tomorrow's going to be better. God, I'm going to be a better Christian. Tomorrow I do the same old thing.

You ever been there? Oh, it's terrible. And again, you say, God, I'm so ashamed of myself. God, I'm going to try harder. I'm going to do better.

God, please, give me another chance to fail again and fail again. Friend, listen, listen. You can't. Ian Thomas said you can't. He never said you could. He can. He always said he would. Now, listen. It is time for you to stop trying and start trusting. Reckon yourself to be crucified with him, dead unto sin, but alive unto God.

You say, what does that mean? Just simply say, God, as I trusted you to save me, and I did, now I'm going to trust you to make me what you want me to be. Now, look, Paul said to the Galatians, oh, you foolish Galatians, are you so foolish you began in the spirit? Are you going to be made perfect in the flesh? Most of us know that we're saved by the Lord and his death on the cross, and we can't do anything to save ourselves. But then we think the flesh is going to make us mature. We think we're saved by the spirit. We're going to be made perfect by the flesh.

How foolish that is, friend. Listen, Jesus is the one who saves us. He's the one who sanctifies us. What am I saying?

I'm saying this. The Bible says as you receive the Lord Jesus, so walk ye in him. How did you receive him? By faith. Then how do you walk? By faith. As you receive the Lord Jesus, so walk ye in him. It's time to quit trying and start trusting and just understand there's the principle of the cross. When I say, Adrian, you cannot do it. That's just another way of saying, Adrian, step out of the way.

That's just another way of saying, Adrian, quit trying to justify yourself. Quit trying to make yourself acceptable to God. You're already accepted by God by the cross of the Lord Jesus. Rest in his love and let the power of the cross sanctify you. And I'm telling you the same Jesus that died to save you and gave himself for you is the one who rose to give himself to you and will live in you and through you if you let him. Now, what is, dear friend, the secret of the cross? God speaks through the cross. You know the wisdom of God and the power of God through the cross. God saves by the cross. There's no other way. Without shedding of blood is no remission of sin. And God sanctifies by the cross.

When I say I can't, he never said I could. I reckon myself dead. I step self out of the way. And by faith, I say now, Lord Jesus, you come and live your life in me, through me, till you be the glory. And he'll do it. And I want you to see if that's not so. The next time you find yourself in that spiritual quicksand trying harder and harder and sinking deeper and deeper, just stop and say, God, why am I doing this? I want to reckon myself dead. Now, Lord, you take over.

You take over. And I just want to reckon myself crucified with you. And yet I live. But it's you now that lives in me. And I'll lose my life in order to find it for his sake and the gospel's. Would you like to give your heart to Jesus right now? Let me lead you in a brief prayer as you make this decision to follow Christ and lead your family to honor him. Pray something like this. Oh, God in heaven, I'm a sinner, and I need your forgiveness. As Pastor Rogers just said, the Christian life is not difficult.

It's impossible. But Jesus lived that perfect life, and he died on the cross in my place and then rose to new life. So give that new life to me right now. Come in and change me.

Transform me from the inside out. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. If you prayed to receive Jesus just now, we'd love to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page on the website. You'll find answers there you may need about your newfound faith. Just go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab that says Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family. We can't wait to hear from you today. Are you actively seeking God's wisdom? God speaks, saves, and sanctifies us by the cross. Are you living by the principle of the cross, dying daily so that Christ can live through you? We hope you'll join us next time for more timeless truth from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding.