Why I Believe in Jesus | Part 1

Why do you believe in Jesus?

Listen to Adrian Rogers. How do we know that Jesus is who we say He is? Why do we believe in Jesus? Why have I given my life to Him? Why would I be willing to die for Him?

Why? Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring powerful truth from pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers. If you were given the chance to speak to someone who has never heard about, never known about the love of God, what would you say? If you knew it would be the first and perhaps the only time he would ever hear a message about God, what would you tell him? Well, tell him why you believe in Jesus Christ. As Christians, our witness is our most powerful asset, but what words do we use?

What exactly do we say? If you have your Bible, turn to the book of John chapter 6. We'll begin in verse 66 as Adrian Rogers reveals why I believe in Jesus.

Take God's holy word and find with me the gospel according to John and turn to chapter 6, if you will, and we'll find verse 66 in just a moment. Some time ago, I had one of the most challenging experiences of my life. I was in Moscow, the capital of the former Soviet Union, and I had the opportunity to preach. And I preached in a marvelously beautiful hall. It was called the Red Army Theater. It was a theater for the performing arts. It was a place where they held operas and cultural events, a magnificent structure with a big stage.

First of all, I had to thank God for the privilege to be there, and frankly, spiritually I was trusting the Lord, but in the flesh I was intimidated to be there. Because there in that Red Army Theater, there were those massive portraits of Lenin, Stalin. There's the velvet box up there where they would sit to listen to the performances. And in that auditorium were soldiers, army officers, and their wives.

The soldiers were all dressed in their military uniforms, and they were sitting out there rank upon rank upon rank. And God had given me the privilege to preach to them. First of all, I said, Lord, how did this happen? How did I get here?

And I won't take time to tell you about the circumstances that placed me there. But I realized it was a great challenge, because these soldiers, these army officers had been taught from the youth, there is no God. They were raised in an atheistic society. Not only that, they were raised to hate Americans. I wondered how much of that still might remain in that auditorium. And this place was built to glorify communism and totalitarianism to the degree that they named it, the Red Army Theater. Now what would you preach if you had an opportunity to preach to a group like that?

I mean, what would be the subject matter? What would you say? I prayed, asked God, Lord, what would you have me to say to these people? God the Holy Spirit said, Adrian, tell them about Jesus. Tell them why you believe in Jesus Christ.

And that's what I talked to them about, and here's the text that I took. John chapter 6, verse 66. From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter said we believe and we are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And I said to those men and their wives assembled, I want to tell you why I believe in Jesus Christ. And I want to tell you along with Simon Peter why I am sure that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And I gave them four reasons that are found in this chapter. And they're the same reasons I want to give to you, many of you who are already sure that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. But to reinforce your faith and to help you to share with others because we live in a shrinking world and many have never heard the gospel that we've heard and many do not take for granted the things today that we take for granted. Jesus had just fed the five thousand and there were miracles that he performed that caused people to follow after him. Especially when he fed the five thousand with a few fish and loaves. But then as the multitudes were following Jesus, Jesus turned to them and began with a challenging message to talk about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, that is to partake of him. The message was so stark, the message was so different, it was so radical that people began to leave.

They were miracle mongers, they liked the loaves and the fish. But they did not like the deeper message that was behind that miracle and they began to leave him. And then Jesus turned to his disciples and he said, are you going to go away also? And Peter asked a very penetrating question and it's the question I'm going to ask you, if not Jesus, then what? If not Jesus, then who? Simon Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? I mean, if not Jesus. Friend, if Jesus isn't the answer.

If you turn from Jesus, where are you going to go? Are you going to turn from him to atheism? Are you going to believe that in the beginning the heavens and the earth created themselves and then created man? I said to these former atheists, atheism does not make sense.

It's not a sign of intelligence. I reminded them of what I remind you, that the intelligentsia of the ages have believed in God. Socrates, Bacon, Galileo, Newton, Pasteur, Einstein, Wernher von Braun, they all believed in God. Can you turn to atheism?

Then I asked them a question. Are you going to turn to philosophy? If you reject Jesus Christ, philosophy?

A system that tells us what we already know and words we can't understand? Study the great philosophers and see if philosophy satisfied their heart. Schopenhauer, one of the greatest, said, life is a curse of endless craving and endless unhappiness. And just Huxley said, concerning us, he said, it seems like we're a cancer on the globe. Bertrand Russell didn't believe in God. He called himself a philosopher.

But Bertrand Russell at the end of his life said, philosophy proved a washout to me. H.G. Wells tried philosophy.

And H.G. Wells said this, unless there is a more abundant scheme before mankind, this scheme of space and time is a bad joke. An empty laugh braying across the mysteries. I asked those men, are you going to turn to philosophy? Then I asked this question, are you going to turn to materialism?

Do you think that things can satisfy you? I went into the mayor's office of Moscow. I went up that red carpet, walked across those marble floors, went into that big conference room, sat down there with the leadership of the heart of Moscow, looked across the table from those men and I said, sirs, I want to tell you something. The Soviet empire has dissolved as such. Communism has come crumbling down.

But I said, if you follow the West with economic ideas and that's all, and you say capitalism is the answer rather than communism, I said both capitalism and communism are both two forms of materialism. And they will never satisfy the deepest longing of your hearts. God made you for God. He made you for Himself. And even if you have material things, you will still find your hearts and lives empty. Will you turn to materialism?

Is that the answer? Or will you turn to false religions? You know, man is incurably religious. And if he goes away from Jesus Christ, he may go to some other false religion. But remember what Peter said to Jesus, to whom shall we go?

You alone have the words of eternal life. If you go to Confucius' grave, it will be occupied. If you go to Buddha's grave, it will be occupied. If you go to Mohammed's grave, it will be occupied. If you go to Jesus' grave, it's empty.

It's empty. Jesus came out of that grave. You can take Buddha out of Buddhism and still have Buddhism. You can take Confucius out of Confucianism and still have Confucianism.

You can take Mohammed out of Islam and still basically nothing has changed. But you can't take Jesus out of Christianity and have Christianity. Christianity is not just a creed or a code or a cause or a church.

It is Christ. It is a vital relationship with Jesus Christ. And Simon Peter asked this question, where should we go? We go to atheism. We go to philosophy. We go to materialism. We go to false religions.

Where should we go? You alone have the answer. Now let me tell you something about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ alone, only Jesus, has the answer to the things that really matter. Only Jesus can meet the deepest hunger of the human heart. Only Jesus is the answer to man's sin. Only Jesus gives meaning to life and death. Only Jesus can take the sting out of sin, the gloom out of the grave, the pain out of parting, and give hope that is steadfast and sure. But to whom shall we go? He alone has the answers of life and death.

But that brings a question. How do we know that Jesus is who we say he is? Why? Why do we believe in Jesus? Why have I given my life to him? Why do I serve him? Why would I be willing to die for him if necessary?

Why? Four reasons. Four reasons that we can know and be sure that we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

The first reason is the historical reason. Jesus Christ is a F-A-C-T fact of history. Now, I don't care whether you're a believer or whether you're not a believer, whether you're a Christian or someone else, you must admit, you have to admit, the man named Jesus was here upon this earth. All of the secular historians that have any merit at all admit the fact of Jesus Christ regardless of what they believe about him.

H.G. Wells in his outline of history listed the ten greatest men of history and number one on the list was Jesus Christ. He's a historian.

Sir J.G. Fraser, a historian, you certainly wouldn't call him an evangelical Christian. A born-again Christian said this and listen to it. My theory assumes the historical reality of Jesus of Nazareth as the great religious and moral teacher who founded Christianity and was crucified at Jerusalem under the governorship of Pontius Pilate. The testimony of the gospels confirmed by the hostile evidence of Tacitus and younger Pliny appears amply sufficient to establish these facts to the satisfaction of unprejudiced inquirers.

What's he saying? He's saying if you're a historian, you have to admit, you have to admit that the man Jesus, regardless of what else you think about him, that he was here, his birth and life splits history. Every time you put your date on a check or on a letter, you're giving testimony to the fact that a man named Jesus of Nazareth was here.

Regardless of what you think about him, he is a fact of history. There's no way to explain the Christian church, the fact that we're here, apart from the fact that Jesus Christ was here. And what did the early church begin to preach? Not only that the man was here, but that man walked out of the grave. That was the central fact of the preaching of the early church. How do you explain that?

How do you explain not our church today, but that church back yonder that grew out of the life in times of Jesus Christ? Those who were eyewitnesses, they believed in his resurrection. Someone says, well, they were hallucinating. Well, he appeared to more than 500 at one time.

That's a lot of a hallucination. Somebody says, well, he was a ghost. No, he ain't with them. They felt him. They touched him. Somebody says, well, they just made up a story. They said they touched him. They said they ain't with him. Oh, these men who died for their faith, do you think they would die for a lie willingly, knowingly?

A man may live for a lie, but few may die for a lie. These early Christians paid with their lives for their faith. How do you explain the historical fact of Jesus Christ and the church apart from the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ? I believe in him for historical reasons. It has well been said there's more proof that Jesus Christ rose from the dead than that Julius Caesar lived. He has shown to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, and the Bible says he showed himself alive with many infallible proofs.

That's the historical fact. Now, let me give you the second reason I believe in him, not only for historical reasons, but I believe in him for scriptural reasons. Look, if you will, now in chapter 6, verse 44. This Jesus who came down from heaven said, no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God. Now, here's the second reason, not only the historical reason, but the biblical, the scriptural reason. I told those men, and I tell you today that I believe in Jesus Christ because I believe the Bible the Word of God. Well, you say, pastor, that just moves the question back a little bit, because to say that you believe in Jesus Christ because you believe the Bible causes us to ask how do we know the Bible is true?

That's a good question. And I talked to those men, and I said, I want to tell you, and to those ladies, and to those Russian soldiers and army officers, I want to tell you why I believe the Bible is the Word of God. And I took time to explain to them how I know that the Bible is the Word of God, and I gave them the great five proofs of the inspiration of Holy Scripture.

And what are they? Number one, fulfill prophecy. Number two, the wonderful unity of the Bible written over 1,500 years by at least 40 different authors in three different languages on all kinds of subjects, 66 books that make one book, the wonderful unity of the Bible. I talked to them about the longevity of the Bible, how the Bible has lasted through the centuries and how men have made laws against it and how even there in Soviet Russia, it was a crime to bring Bibles in to Soviet Russia. And I reminded them, every one of them there, that I had a Bible for them to give them when they left, and they broke out in applause. To give to them the Word of God.

How do you explain the longevity, the ever-living quality of the Bible? I talked to them about the accuracy of the Bible and the scientific and the historical accuracy of the Bible. Then I talked to them about the power of the Bible.

Jesus said, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And he said that in this sixth chapter. And I told them how the reading of God's Word had transformed my life, and I told them that we know the Bible is the Word of God, and I told them, as I tell you, the central theme of the Bible is Jesus Christ. Now, if you read the Bible and you don't find Jesus Christ, go back and reread the Bible. He is the hero of the Bible. The Bible is His story.

It is the story of Jesus Christ. Put this verse in your margin, Acts 10, verse 43. To Him, that is to Jesus, give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall have remission of sins. And so Jesus said here in John 6, verse 45, it is written in the prophets, and they shall be taught of God. Jesus called upon the Scriptures to testify of Him. And how do the Scriptures tell us of Jesus?

What Jesus do these inspired words tell us about? Well, they tell us about the virgin born Son of God. His life began with a miraculous birth. Then He lived a miraculous life. I told them, as I'm going to tell you how Jesus Christ is absolutely unique as He's presented in the Bible.

That's one thing to believe that Jesus was here. But what kind of Jesus does the Bible describe? It describes a sinless man, a man who never modified or withdrew any statement that he ever made, a man who never apologized for anything he did, though he were often misunderstood, a man who never asked advice from anybody even though he walked among the Pharisees and the scribes and the doctors of the law, a man who never troubled to justify his actions when many people misunderstood what he did, like when he delayed to come to Lazarus' sickbed. He never tried to justify or say, I'm sorry, I hope you'll understand. He never confessed sin one time.

Never asked forgiveness about anything. What an incredible life he lived. That's presented in the Bible. What strong points did Jesus have?

None, because he didn't have any weak points. Every part of his life was completely, totally balanced in perfect symmetry. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this important message. Maybe today, as you've listened, you have questions about who Jesus is, about what he means to you, about how to surrender your life fully to him. I invite you to go to our Discover Jesus page at lwf.org slash radio.

You'll find resources there and materials that will answer questions you might have about your faith. Again, go to lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, you can request one by the title, Why I Believe in Jesus, when you call us to order at 1-877-LOVEGOD. This message is also part of a powerful series, Standing for Light and Truth. If you'd like the complete collection, all 11 insightful messages, call that number 1-877-LOVEGOD, or go online to order at lwf.org slash radio.

Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Well, thanks for studying with us in God's Word today. How has Jesus changed your life since you've come to know him?

Remember these wise words from Pastor Rogers a Christian with the witness in his heart is never at the mercy of a man with an argument in his mouth. Choose to know him today, and be sure to join us tomorrow for part two of this powerful message right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener in Texas sent a message recently.

I'd love to share it with you right now. He said, I'm a new believer in Jesus Christ. I enjoy listening to Dr. Rogers preach the word. It's been very helpful in my spiritual walk through trials and tribulations, as well as persecution. I'm encouraged every day. Well, thank you for sharing that with us today. Thank you for sharing your heart. It really is our greatest honor to come alongside believers with timeless messages and resources as you continue in your walk with Christ. This month as a thank you for your generous support, we want to send you our Standing for Light and Truth book. Now this book is a collection of Adrian Rogers' best love sermons to challenge Christians to stand for light and truth in a very dark world. Request the book when you call with a gift right now at 1-877-LOVEGOD, or you can give online at lwf.org slash radio.