The Chemistry of the Cross | Part 1

From the Love Worth Finding studios in Memphis, Tennessee, I'm Byron Tyler, here with Kerry Vaughn, the CEO of Love Worth Finding. Kerry today, Adrian Rogers, Part 1 in a message called The Chemistry of the Cross.

This is part of our continued series here in January, Back to the Basics. Knowing that God is working behind the scenes, he's working all things together for good, right? And we look at Romans 8, which, by the way, was Dr. Rogers' favorite chapter, and Romans 8, 28 was his favorite verse. You know, I heard him say one time, if I was stranded on an island, you'd have one book, it would be the Bible. If there was one chapter, it would be Romans 8, one verse, Romans 8, 28. And I think, does God love us enough to work together all things for good?

Absolutely. Well, The Chemistry of the Cross, the title itself is a little peculiar, but let's hear what Adrian Rogers had to say about it. Now, you know, if you go to the pharmacist, maybe the doctor will write a prescription in words you can't read, it looks like hen scratches, but you take it to the pharmacist and the pharmacist gets back there in his little cubicle and he begins to take things off the shelf and mix them up together, put them in the crucible and grind them up with his pedestal and then make some medicine out of them.

And some of the things that he may take off the shelf may be in and of themselves noxious or even poisonous, but together, compounded together, they become medicine. And that's the way God does with what I want to call The Chemistry of the Cross. God takes things that in and of themselves might seem horrible, painful, hurtful, but God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, who are the called according to His purpose. And we call that the providence of God. You know, nobody likes going through the fire, but when we do, we come out more refined. And I think it comes back to let the potter have his way. Amen? Amen.

Let the potter have his way as he forms the clay and as he molds us and makes us and moves us in a way that he can use us. Well, we always enjoy getting letters from our listeners. And if you haven't written before, please do. We would love to hear from you how the program is encouraging your walk with Christ.

Here's one. I thank God for using Adrian Rogers to help me know him more. I can't express the impact it has been in my walk with Christ and my everyday life. Hey, I understand that as a young 23 year old man, I walked into the worship center one day. And when I heard Adrian preach, it was like somebody had turned the light on for the first time in my life.

I mean, can I say it this way? Adrian Rogers taught me the word of God. And I think when we hear these testimonies, that's exactly what they're saying. Well, that's why we're so excited to bring this series in the month of January back to the basics, because we need to be there. We need to get those fundamentals into our life and be refreshed, sharpen those tools as we walk in our relationship with Christ. And there's a great resource available right now based in this series called What Every Christian Ought to Know. It's on our website. It's free.

You want to give us some little insight to that? Look, I think it's one of the best things we have. It's 50 years of ministry in one package. And so, you know, carry your co-workers through it, your neighbors, your Bible Fellowship class. It is wonderful.

It's what we call the marks of maturity. Well, it's free at our website, lwf.org, What Every Christian Ought to Know. Well, for today's message, the Chemistry of the Cross, Part 1. Here's Adrian Rogers. One time I took an old high school friend to breakfast after we had been apart for many, many years. We were in another city. I looked forward to being at breakfast with Richard. And after breakfast, I said, I'll get the tab. And I picked it up, and I meant to sign my room number on the tab, but often someone will ask me to inscribe a Bible. And when I inscribe a Bible, I just inscribe the Bible many times, Adrian Rogers, and then put a verse of Scripture under it. Sometimes it's Psalm 34. Sometimes it's Romans 8, 28. Sometimes it's Romans 1, 16. But often I'll sign Romans 8, 28, which is our text for today. And so I said, I'll sign the ticket, and I meant to put my room number, but rather than putting my room number, I put a Scripture verse there, Romans 8, 28. And I went up and handed it to the cashier, and she looked at it. She said, Mister, we don't have a room, 828.

I said, oh, I'm sorry. That's a verse out of the Bible. That's not the room I'm staying in, but that's a verse from the Bible.

But come to think of it, it's a wonderful room to live in. I want you to see what it says. I want you to see what it says right here. Romans 8 and verse 28. And we know, K-N-O-W, that all things work together for good to them that love God and to them that are the called according to his purpose. What an incredible verse that is. I want to talk to you today about the chemistry of the cross.

If you go to the pharmacy, you need some medicine. That pharmacist will take bottles from his shelf sometimes and powders and other things that may be by themselves noxious poison, but he mixes them together and makes medicine for us. And so many times God does the same thing. He makes situations and problems and things that in themselves look like they're bad and hurtful and harmful, and then God mixes these together in the crucible of his love and the crucible of his wisdom, and the result is medicine for our souls, something good and something wonderful. This morning when I had my oatmeal, in that oatmeal, there was some salt, and salt is what?

Sodium chloride, sodium deadly poison, chlorine deadly poison, but put together, they make salt necessary for life. And so I want you to see how God takes the situation of your life, the circumstances, and God, by the chemistry of the cross, makes these things work together for your good and for his glory. Now having said that, I want you to look at our text very carefully because we're just going to camp right here in Romans chapter 8 and verse 28. And as we think of the chemistry of the cross, the very first thing I want you to think about is the certainty of it.

Do you have that? The certainty of it. How does that verse begin?

Look at it. It says, And we know that all things work together for good. We know that all things work together for good. There is no ifs, ands, and buts about it. This is a promise of God.

It is ironclad. It is rock-ribbed, no stutter, no stammer. You can say, I don't care what happens. I don't care how bad it may seem. I know that I know that I know that this is going to work together for God's glory and for my good. F. B. Meyer was a preacher of another generation, but he said something so wonderful, I copied it down. He said, If any promise of God should fail, the heavens would clothe themselves with sackcloth, the sun, moon, and stars would reel from their courses, the universe would rock, and a hollow wind would moan through a ruined creation, the awful message that God can lie. But, friend, he can't lie. He cannot lie, and he says that all things work together for good to those who love God. And so the very first thing I want you to get in your heart and in your soul today is the certainty of it, the certainty of it, the certainty of it.

Do you have it? Second thing, not only the certainty of it, but I want you to see the completeness of it. Look at that verse again. And we know that all things work together for good. Not most things, not some things, not even almost all things, but that big little word, I thank God that it is there. We know that all things, hallelujah, all things work together for good.

Now, let's just think about those all things. Now, we know that the sweet things work together for good, all the many sweet things that happen in our lives today. Today, my wife fixed me an extra special breakfast. And I looked over at her and I thought, you know, she's such a wonderful woman.

She's so sweet and so good to me. And I'm grateful for every blessing. I've been thanking God all this morning for the blessings of God. They just make me want to be a better Christian.

They ought to make you want to be a better Christian, for the Bible says in Romans chapter 2 and verse 4, the goodness of God leads us to repentance. The goodness of God. God is so good. Count your many blessings.

Name them one by one. It will surprise you what the Lord has done. The sweet things.

You say, yes, I can understand that, but now wait a minute. Not only the sweet things, but the sorrowful things. Do you have a broken heart today? Well, you say, is that good? No, I don't think a broken heart is good, but I'll tell you this. It'll work for good.

It'll work for your good. I was looking at some scriptures this morning, and I want to share them with you, as to how sorrowful things work for good. For example, think about how God dealt with the people of Judah. And God carried the people of Judah away to strange land. It would be as if the Russians had subjugated the United States and took us and put us in Siberia. Would we say that's good? We'd say, no, that's not good. But put in your margin Jeremiah chapter 24 and verse 5, where God is speaking about how he carried his people away. And God says, I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

This is for their good. Now, if you and I were to wake up this morning in Siberia, we would say, this is terrible. But it may be that God would have done it for our good. As a matter of fact, I think God is getting ready to do some terrible things to America for our good. We have been cursed with blessings. I think we're about to be blessed with cursings.

But we don't know how to handle our blessings. And it seems like the more that God blesses us, the more arrogant and more sinful that we get. And it may be that God will have to do something to America for our good, just like he did to Judah for their good. I was thinking about David also. David, who was a man after God's own heart. But David had a tendency to stray from God, to get away from God. And you know what God did for David? He afflicted David and God made David sick. And I want you to see what David wrote in Psalm 119, verse 71.

Do you have it? Psalm 119, verse 71. He said, it is good for me that I have been afflicted.

Have you ever said that? Oh, God, thank you for this sickness. Thank you for this suffering. Thank you for this adversity. Thank you for this problem.

Thank you for this heartache. This, this thing I'm going through takes a lot of faith to say it is good for me that I have been afflicted. And David said, it is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes. Did you know that affliction is sometimes the best teacher and we never see as clearly as when we see through eyes that have been washed through tears and when we get on our back, it's then that we begin to look up into the face of God.

And a sick bed can often teach more than a sermon. And then look at Joseph. I was thinking about Joseph. What a wonderful man was Joseph. Joseph loved God with all of his heart. But you know what happened to Joseph? Joseph was put in the pit by his brothers. He was sold as a slave. He was cast into prison and languished in prison for two years and he had not done anything wrong. But his abasement made him ready for his advancement.

And he became the prime minister of Egypt. And this is what he said to his brothers in Genesis chapter 50 and verse 20. Listen, but as for you, you thought evil against me. Do you have somebody who's doing you wrong?

Do you have an enemy? Just keep on loving God because listen, but as for you, you thought evil against me. But God meant it unto good. You see, all things work together for good.

Your enemy trying to do you harm. And here's Joseph, cast in a pit by his brothers, sold as a slave, languishing in prison, suffering, being blamed for assault and rape and all of these terrible things. And the devil is saying, look what I'm doing to Joseph. He said, but God was saying, you just don't understand the chemistry of the cross. You meant it for evil, Joseph said, but God, God meant it for good. There was a king whose name was Manasseh and Manasseh had difficulty serving God. God just couldn't get Manasseh's attention. And if you're taking notes, write this down because this is a blesser. 2 Chronicles chapter 33 verses 11 through 13.

Now listen to it carefully. Wherefore, the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria. Now the Assyrians were cruel and wicked people. Now Manasseh is the king. Now listen, which took Manasseh among the thorns, took fetters and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

When? When he was in affliction and he prayed unto him and he was entreated of him, that is, God heard him and heard his supplication and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord, he was God. Listen, his iron chains did him more good than his golden crown. And I want to tell you, friend, that was a greater blessing to him. And God may sometime have to pull you from your throne, just like he did Manasseh. God may have to put you in a prison that you will seek God.

Now what am I saying? We work together for good. The sorrowful things work together for good. Another thing, the satanic things work together for good. When you say, why doesn't God just kill the devil? Did you know that God uses the devil? That may be a surprise to you, but Paul had an affliction.

That affliction was called a thorn in the flesh. And then Paul called it a messenger of Satan. But he says, there was given to me a messenger of Satan. Who gave it to him? God gave it to him.

You say, I don't understand this. Well, you see, all things work together for good. And God rules in the heavens. And even Satan unwittingly becomes the servant of God.

I think I have an illustration that fits perfectly here. Years and years and years ago, I heard of a woman who lived in a threadbare apartment and she loved God with all of her heart. She had a landlord. The landlord didn't love God at all.

As a matter of fact, he took great joy in ridiculing her because of her faith and her trust in the Lord. And this poor woman, this widow, was living from hand to mouth and the time came that she had no food in the house. And she prayed to God. And she said, God, I don't have any food. I don't have any groceries. Oh, God, you promised to meet my need. Lord, I ask you, give me some groceries.

The old landlord was listening through the paper-thin walls. He heard her pray. He thought he would cure her from her religious superstition, but you know what he did? He went out and bought a bountiful basket of groceries. And while she was away, he went in with his pass key, unlocked the door to her apartment, put this basket of groceries there on her table and backed out and waited. He was listening.

When she came in, there was a squeal of delight. Oh, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Hallelujah. Thank you for an answered prayer. She rejoiced and did a little dance there in the room, and then she was knocking at his door. You, you say there's no God.

You say that God doesn't answer prayer. You see that basket full of groceries? Let me tell you about that basket full of groceries.

I didn't have anything. I was down to nothing, and I prayed and asked God for groceries. And now look what God has given me.

His lips twisted in a cynical smile, and He said, you poor, old, deluded, religious fanatic and fool. I heard you pray for those groceries. I heard you ask God, I bought those groceries. I put them there on your table. I gave you a receipt for those groceries.

I knew that you would say that God did it. God didn't give you those groceries. I gave you those groceries. You Christians are always ready to give God the glory and the credit. I'm the one that bought those groceries. What a fool you are. She said, no, you're the one who's wrong.

I'm the one who is right, and you listen to me, sir. I asked God for groceries, and I got groceries, even if God did send it by the devil. Now, you think about that.

You think about that. There is a God who rules in the affairs of this world, and God is over all. The satanic things work together for good, but not only the satanic things. Now, listen, this is going to be hard to believe, but sinful things work together for good. Now, no Christian should willingly, deliberately sin, because if you're bound to sin, you're bound to suffer, but even that suffering will work together for your good.

The Bible says that God makes the wrath of man to praise him, and the Bible says where sin abounds, grace doth much more abound. Now, the illustration I'm thinking about is Simon Peter. Before the crucifixion of Jesus, Simon Peter had boasted that he would go with Christ both to prison and to death, and Jesus prophesied, said Simon, before the cock crows, you'll thrice deny that you know me. But he said, Peter, I prayed for you that your faith fail not. And then he said, and Peter, when you're converted, strengthen your brethren. Peter denied Jesus, and Jesus was betrayed by that denial. Peter cursed and swore a terrible thing, but God arched the rainbow of Romans 8.28 over what Peter did. And did you know that his bitter weeping, the Bible says he went out and wept bitterly, and Jesus forgave him. Jesus restored him, and in a very odd sense, a strange way, even that disobedience was used to strengthen Adrian Rogers. When you're converted, strengthen your brethren.

Isn't that amazing? How God could take even that sin and use that sin to help strengthen me and to strengthen Simon Peter. You know, the Bible says no chastening for the present time seems to be joyous but grievous.

Peter wept bitterly. But afterward, afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that exercise thereby. That's what the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 12. And what am I saying, friend?

Listen to this. The Bible means it when it says that all things work together. The sweet things, the sorrowful things, the satanic things, the sinful things, the simple things, the smallest things work together for good.

It's amazing how God sits at master control. Pharaoh has decided that all the Jewish babies are going to be put to death. But God takes a little baby, puts that little baby in the bulrushes, and Pharaoh's daughter comes by and decides she wants to bathe in the Nile. Can you imagine this princess who could bathe in her marble tubs?

Maybe she remembered the little swimming hole where she used to play as a kid. She decides she's going to go down to the Nile, and then the Bible says this, and the baby wept. Lo, the baby wept. You ever heard a baby cry? A baby cry?

And God took the cry of a baby and brought Pharaoh's mighty kingdom crashing down. And we'll hear part two of The Chemistry of the Cross coming up tomorrow. In the meantime, maybe you have a prayer request that you'd like to share. At Love Worth Finding, it's one of our greatest honors to come alongside you and pray with you and for you. Our prayer team is committed to praying for each request we receive. If you can, go to our website homepage at lwf.org slash radio and scroll down to find our prayer wall. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another's needs. Thank you for joining us in praying for one another.

We can't wait to hear from you today. Again, go to lwf.org slash radio and scroll down to our prayer wall. Well, thanks for studying in God's Word with us today. Remember, The Chemistry of the Cross. God can work bad situations for our good and His glory. There is a God who rules in the affairs of this world and is over it all. Make sure you tune in for the powerful conclusion of this message tomorrow right here on Love Worth Finding.