No Other Way to Heaven Except Through Jesus | Part 1

Do all religions point to the same thing?

Listen to Adrian Rogers. Don't get the sentimental idea that all the world religions are somehow connected. Oh, no. If Jesus Christ is not the only way, He is none of the ways. Can a righteous, a good, a loving, a holy God let a man die and go to hell who never once heard the name of Jesus?

How are we going to answer that question? Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the profound lessons of beloved pastor and Bible teacher Adrian Rogers. Jesus said in John 14 verse six, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. From that bold statement we know conclusively that Jesus is our only hope of salvation and fellowship with God.

Romans chapter one beginning in verse 16 offers four factors to help us better understand this truth. And if you have your Bible turned there now as Adrian Rogers reveals why there is no other way to heaven except through Jesus. Today I want to talk to you about something that I trust will answer some questions for you because there is a question that is a problem to many sincere believers. And this same question unanswered in the minds of unbelievers has been an excuse to keep them from coming to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now here is the problem simply stated. Is God a righteous God? Is God a just God? Is God fair if we put it in our terminology to let a person die and go to hell who has never even once heard the name of Jesus?

Let me give the question again. Is God righteous? Is God fair? Is God just who would let a person die and go to hell who never even once heard the name of Jesus? Now you'll have to admit that's a good question isn't it?

Or somebody may say as an ancillary to that question, well then perhaps is there some other way? Can these who have never heard of Jesus, don't know about Jesus, can they go to heaven some other way? Those are good questions aren't they? Well let me say this, number one, God is righteous and God is just. Number two, there is no other way to heaven apart from Jesus Christ. Now I hope you understand that. Don't get the sentimental idea that all the world religions are somehow connected.

Oh no. Jesus Christ said in John chapter 14 verse 6, I am the way, the truth and the life, now listen to this, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. Now if somebody can come some other way then what does that make Jesus? That makes Jesus a liar. And if Jesus Christ is a liar, not only is He not their Savior, He's not my Savior because a liar is nobody's Savior. And what did the apostles say in Acts chapter 4 and verse 12? When they said this, neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. If Jesus Christ is not the only way, He is none of the ways. Well that kind of puts us on the horns of a dilemma doesn't it? Can a righteous, a good, a loving, a holy God let a man die and go to hell who never once heard the name of Jesus?

Well how are we going to answer that question? Well the Apostle Paul is going to answer it for us in Romans chapter 1. So therefore I pray that you will listen and listen carefully because folks we don't have to be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Notice how Paul begins in verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

I've been preaching it now for many years. The more I preach it, the more I marvel in it, the more I thank God for it, the more I stand by it, the more I believe in it, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. For it, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. From faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God has showed it unto them for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, now here's the bottom line, so that they are without excuse.

Just underscore that. So then they are without excuse. Now, what about those who have never heard the Gospel? Those who are lost, eternally lost, who have never heard the Gospel? Is God just? Is God righteous? Is God good?

Is God loving who could let such a thing happen? I want to give you four factors that will help you to understand this I believe and put it all together. Factor number one is the revelation factor. The revelation factor. Now what is that factor? All men have some light.

Do you have that? The revelation factor. All men have some light. Now I want you to imagine that the end of time has come is that time we know is the final judgment and I want you to see out there what we would call the heathen, those who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The accusation is made, the indictment is given for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

The heathen, the pagans, they say, Your Honor, not guilty, not guilty. We never heard the Gospel. We never knew how to be saved. We are innocent by reason of ignorance. We never heard.

We never knew. And the apostle Paul becomes the prosecuting attorney. And the apostle Paul says to the Father, Your Honor, I will prove that they are guilty. I will prove that they are not innocent because of ignorance.

I will show that they cannot say they never had a fair and an equal chance. And I call two witnesses to testify against these who say they never knew, they never heard. Witness number one, will you take the stand?

Witness number one, give the court your name. He says, My name is creation. Oh, creation. You're the witness that God exists?

Yes. I am the witness that God exists. I want you to read it here in Romans 1 verses 19 and 20. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are, listen, they are without excuse. Creation testifies to the fact of God.

Psalm 19 verse 1 says, The heavens declare the glory of God. Now if you have a creation, you have to have a Creator. And the Bible says that the Creator is clearly seen by the things that are made. When I see a piano here and it's finely tuned, I know that somebody crafted it.

When I see a watch that runs with precision, I say that somebody crafted that watch. When I see a building put together in symmetry and balance and purpose, I say that here is an architect. And when I see this mighty universe put together, when I see creation, I say Creator.

When I see order and system, I say intelligence. That's the reason the Bible says the fool has said in his heart there is no God. Witness number one is creation. But then creation steps down from the witness stand. And the Apostle Paul says, Now I call my second witness. Would you take the stand? Will you tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

I will. Will you give your name? Witness number two says, My name is conscience. So there are two witnesses.

Number one is creation. That is the outward objective witness. The second is conscience. That is the inward subjective witness. Now look in Romans 1 verse 19, if you will. He says here, Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. Unto them is creation, in them is conscience.

Now go over to chapter 2 and verse 14 and look at that if you will please. For when the Gentiles, now another word for Gentiles is pagans, those who've never heard the Gospel. For when the Gentiles which have not the law, the law here means the Old Testament law. For when the Gentiles which have not the law, watch this, do by nature the things contained in the law. These having not the law are a law unto themselves which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness.

And their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. So there are two witnesses that all pagans, all heathen, all people and all the face of the earth have. One is the outward objective witness called creation. The other is the inward subjective witness called conscience. There is a built in knowledge of God. Augustine said, The soul of man is restless until it rests in God.

God made man to serve him, to know him and until he does he's like a round peg in a square hole or he is out of fellowship. Now what is an atheist? There's no real intellectual atheist. All atheists are not atheists because of intellectual problems. They're atheists because of moral problems. You say, but I know some brilliant people who are atheists.

Well, so what? I know some brilliant people who are not. You say, well I know some foolish people who believe in God.

Well I know everybody who doesn't. It's foolish. You see it's not a matter of intelligence. The Bible says professing themselves to be wise they became fools.

Why? Because you see all of us have a God consciousness. It is not a matter of intellectualism.

It is a matter of morality. The fool has said in his heart there is no God. And so an atheist is somebody who has the idea of God that makes him uncomfortable. So he says if I can get rid of this idea of God I can get rid of this uncomfortable feeling. But he really doesn't get rid of it, not down deep.

He's like a man who bought a new boomerang and killed himself trying to throw the old one away. The idea of God is just there and the more he tries to get rid of it subconsciously the more he knows that God exists because down in his heart is that conscience. And so what is the first factor? It is the revelation factor. Put it down. All men have some light and you might put in your margin John 1 verse 9, Christ is that true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

You can't get around that. Christ is that true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John 1, 9. Two witnesses, creation and conscience testify that the heathen, the pagan, no matter who they are, where they are, they have some light.

I didn't say all light, just some. Now here's the second proposition. The first factor is the revelation factor. The second factor is the refusal factor.

And what is this factor? Light refused increases darkness. Look if you will now in verses 21 and 22. Verse 20 says that they're without excuse. Verse 21 says because that. When they knew God, that is they know by creation and conscience that God exists, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was, underscore this, darkened.

All men have some light. Light refused increases darkness. Now you see you cannot just simply take light or truth and put it on ice.

You cannot put truth in your pocket and say that's very interesting, I'll spend it someday if I need it. No, when God gives you light, when creation and conscience speak to the heart of any pagan or any individual anywhere on the face of this earth, when God gives him some light, if he does not glorify God, if he does not believe in God, if he does not trust God, he does not remain static, he begins to regress and he loses even the light that he has. His foolish heart will be darkened.

Now here's something I want you to listen to very carefully and I pray that you will not miss what I'm about to say. In the Bible the opposite of proof is not error, it is sin. Now the error is the baggage that comes with the sin. I'm not saying that a man does not have error if he refuses truth, but why does he refuse truth? He refuses truth because of the sin that is in his heart.

Now look in Romans 1 verse 18, listen to it, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness. Now understand this, an unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Now look at the word hold. Do you know what that word hold means? It literally means who resists the truth, who smother the truth, who hold back the truth.

And how do they hold back the truth? Not in error, but in unrighteousness. Why does a man not believe in God? Because the belief in God means that he has to adjust his lifestyle.

His lifestyle over here is his unrighteousness. Over here is creation in conscience. And so creation and conscience tell him there is a God. His lifestyle says if I admit that I'm going to have to change this. So he's in a quandary between the two. If he turns this way he turns from that. But if he turns this way he turns from that. So when he says I will resist the truth in unrighteousness then when he turns this way he gets further from that.

And he goes away into the darkness. And his foolish heart is darkened. The unbelief is the baggage that comes with his sin. Now I don't think it's more graphically illustrated than in the book of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 9 through 12.

I want you to listen to it. I think some of the most terrifying scripture in all of the Bible. It speaks of the Antichrist who is coming and it says, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.

Because, now listen, they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Now listen to verses 11-12, for this cause God shall send them strong delusion. Hold it Pastor.

Hold it. God doesn't send anybody delusion. Well you better go back and read the Bible. Well why on earth would God send them strong delusion? Well just continue to read that they should believe a lie.

It gets worse doesn't it? God sends delusion. And why does God send delusion? That they should believe a lie. Well why would God send a lie? Well let's continue to read. And God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned.

Seems to get worse doesn't it? Here God sends delusion. They believe a lie that they all might be damned.

Why? Why would God do that? Well continue to read that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, they had the truth, they believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. They heard the truth. They knew the truth. They turned from the truth.

They had pleasure in their filthy, dirty, rotten sin. And God says alright. That's what you want. You want your sin and with that sin the baggage is delusion, a lie and damnation. Do you understand it?

Maybe I can illustrate it this way. Here's a man who comes to Bellevue Church last Sunday, our love offering Sunday. Never been here before and we're taking a love offering for Jesus. He goes away and he says, hah! All they ever talk about is money.

And he goes away all steamed hot under the collar. He says, the last time I'm ever going to go down to that church. All they talk about is money, money, money. That's a lie. We talk about Jesus here.

And we talk about giving to Jesus and we're glad to do it. But you see this man's problem is not the truth. He doesn't stop to ask are we preaching the truth. That's not his problem at all.

He knows if he'll open the Bible and listen to the Spirit of God that the truth is there. But his problem is his rotten greed. His greed.

That's why he got so upset to begin with. So he leaves and he says, I am never going back to that church again. Now his problem there is between truth and not error, but truth and greed.

And so he chooses his greed. Now what happens? He's home on a Sunday morning several months from now.

Somebody knocks at the door. He's sitting there watching television, reading the sports page. He's got a six pack of embalming fluid over there by his side. And he's unshaven, just sitting there on Sunday morning. His wife and kids are off at church.

He's by himself. There's a knock at the door. He opens the door and it's two of Jehovah's false witnesses. And he says, what do you want? And to cut to the chase they say, we're here to tell you there is no hell. He says, come in.

Come in. And he listens to them. They tell him a lie. He believes a lie. He's damned and lost and on the road to the very hell he says he doesn't believe in.

Why? He received not the love of the truth. He had pleasure and unrighteousness. For this reason God shall send him strong delusion that he should believe a lie that he might be damned. Now folks you listen to me. All people have some light. That's the revelation factor. The refusal factor is light refused increases darkness.

You don't just put truth on ice. To him that hath shall be given and to him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And by the way these people who are in darkness really think that they are in the light. If you would look in verse 22 professing themselves to be wise they became fools. They're the ones who think we're the fools. They may be a PhD. But in spiritual things it stands for phenomenal dud. They worship science as a god rather than worshiping the god of science.

They never ask how did all of this get here. And coming up tomorrow we'll hear part two of this important message. But we would love to keep the conversation about Jesus going on our Discover Jesus page. If you go to lwf.org slash radio and scroll down you can find it right there. You'll find resources and materials as well that will answer questions you may have about your faith. Check out our prayer wall. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for each other's needs. Go to lwf.org slash radio and go down and find the prayer wall or our Discover Jesus page.

We can't wait to hear from you today. Now if you'd like to order a copy of today's message you can request one by the title No Other Way to Heaven Except Through Jesus. Call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD to order. This message is also part of the powerful series Standing for Light and Truth. For the complete collection all 11 insightful messages go online to lwf.org slash radio or call that number 1-877-LOVEGOD.

You can also order by writing us at Love Worth Finding Box 38600 Memphis Tennessee 38183. Well thanks for studying in God's Word with us today. Did you hear Pastor Rogers when he said this? Begin to obey the part you do understand and you'll understand what you didn't understand. Spend some time in scripture today.

Obey what you understand. And be sure to tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of this message right here on Love Worth Finding. Here's what a listener in Mississippi said not long ago. I've been listening to Adrienne Rogers preaching since the 1970s. He's been one of my greatest spiritual mentors. I quote him all the time in my Sunday school class and prayer group.

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