Learning to Share Your Faith | Part 2

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 we continue with part two in a message from Adrian Rogers, learning to share our faith. Share our faith and how to share it well and how to share it really as a way of life. Everyday evangelism, basically, is what we're talking about. Well, we've been in a series called Living Supernaturally, taking from the episodes of the New Testament Church and the Book of Acts. We catch up on the entire series at My LWF app. It's a wonderful resource, and I use it all the time, Kerry.

I do, too. And look, you know, do we pray for opportunities to share? Do we pray for confidence to carry us through?

And do we pray for God's wisdom and knowing what to say and how to say it? Well, we need that totally when we're sharing our faith. And Adrian Rogers was devoted, you know, his whole entire ministry to personal evangelism. You know that. I know that. And sometimes we wonder what is the gospel or what are we supposed to be sharing exactly when we share our faith?

And Adrian Rogers put it best this way. He put that on the cross and that we're saved by faith in Him and by His grace and that, therefore, we ought to live a godly life and look forward to eternity with Him. And it's really not all that complicated. And this is the message that I have preached, and it is the message that I have found people responding to. There's something about the gospel. The word of God, when it is clearly presented, causes a resonance in the heart of those people. If we truly believe the fields are white for harvest, the question is, what's stopping us? I mean, what hinders us from sharing that faith?

And I've heard this, and you have, too. You know, we need to always share the gospel and, when necessary, use words. Hey, we need to use words. We need to figure out a way to present the good news of Jesus Christ. We need to keep the faith. And not only should you keep it, but you also ought to give it away. And we've got to remember that, that that is the message that changes lives, not our clean lifestyle, if you would, you know. It is— Not our resume.

Exactly. Not our pedigree, but the good news. And the only thing we'll take to heaven with us, Byron, are family and friends. Well, today we look at Acts chapter 10 as we see Peter, and he really gives us some insight on how we can share our faith.

You know, he had that personal confidence as a sole winner, as we'll see. He had the powerful confirmation of the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. And I think that's so important, we don't miss out, that these are divine appointments when we share Christ and the gospel.

Yeah, the Holy Spirit can convict, and the Holy Spirit can save. We cannot, but we are that mouthpiece. You know, Kerry, part of sharing our faith is having an active relationship. You know, we have to act.

We have to have something to tell. And that's part of growing and knowing and walking in the Spirit and looking for those opportunities. And I like what our listener letter says today. This letter says, God is so active in my life now, and I feel Dr. Rogers was sent to me from the Father. Thank you, God, for such a wonderful messenger. Blessings to you all. You know, that's a great reminder that the outcome belongs to Him. We just have to be willing to cast the net. Cast that net, yeah.

That's a good word, Kerry. Well, with today's message, Learning to Share Your Faith, Part 2, here's Adrian Rogers. He, by special invitation also, went to the house of this man Cornelius to share his faith. Now, suppose that had been you. Would you have been ready? Would you have been prepared? What would you say? What would you say to an opportunity that you may have this afternoon or tomorrow? You ought to share your faith.

If you knew the cure to cancer, you'd want to share that, wouldn't you? The best news this world has ever known is the saving gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so, here's Cornelius. He has his friends and neighbors over. He has his children there.

He has everybody there. And then walks Simon Peter to give his testimony. Now, Peter is a Jew. He's come to a Gentile house. Up until this time, no Jew would enter into a Gentile house like this, to have fellowship with him, to share spiritual things with him.

But God had to work on Simon Peter. And say, Simon, I love the world. I love all the people of the world, red, yellow, black, white. They're all precious in my sight. And whoever you are today, whatever your background, I want to tell you, God loves you. With God, there is no respect of persons. Now, the angel said to Cornelius, Cornelius, you go and get that man, Peter, and he will come and tell you how you and your house can be saved.

Now, wait a minute. There's an angel. There's an angel talking to Cornelius. Question, why didn't the angel just tell Cornelius how to be saved? God never gave the Great Commission to angels. He gave it to human beings. We have a privilege that angels don't have.

Did you know that? No angel can be a soul winner. God never sent an angel to be a soul winner. God has sent you. You have a privilege that angels don't have. Now, thank God the angels can clear the way. Thank God the Holy Spirit can go before you.

But you have a privilege and an obligation and a joy that even angels don't have. First of all, there is what I want to call the personal confidence of the soul winner. The personal confidence of the soul winner. As you listen to Simon Peter here as he shares his faith, he doesn't do it with any stutter. He doesn't do it with any stammer.

He doesn't do it with any trepidation. It's rock-ribbed personal confidence. Do you have that confidence? Do you have a confidence concerning the life, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ? If not, you're not going to make a very good soul winner. If you don't have that confidence today, you need to get it and you can have it.

And I'm going to tell you how in just a moment. But now, secondly, there's not only the personal confidence of the soul winner, but there's the powerful confirmation of the Scriptures. You see, it's not enough for you to say, well, I know this. Or I feel that. Even if you're an eyewitness because someone may say you misinterpreted what you saw. Or maybe you made it up.

Or maybe it's auto-suggestion. So, God gives us something else. Not only does he give us this personal confidence, but he gives us a powerful confirmation. And that is through Holy Scripture. Look in verse 43.

Now, Peter's talking to Cornelius in his household. He's speaking of Jesus. And then he says this. To him, give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him should have remission of sins.

Now, listen to it. To him, give all the prophets witness. What was Peter talking about here? He's talking about the Old Testament. And he's saying all of the prophets in the Old Testament are unanimous about Jesus. Not some of the prophets. But to Jesus, all the prophets give witness.

Now, Peter says, look, we all are unanimous. We're witnesses. But now, not only is there the witness of the soul winner, there's the witness of the Scriptures. The Scriptures give witness. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament.

Now, you're a thinking person. May I tell you that there are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that were directly fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. But there's some people who see these Scriptures fulfilled and they say, well, that's only because they rigged it. That's only because Jesus and his apostles rigged it. They arranged it for him to fulfill these prophecies. Well, you know what?

I agree with them. He did arrange it. Let me tell you what he arranged.

Let me tell you what he managed. First of all, he managed to be born in Bethlehem. You think you could manage the place where you were going to be born? Micah 5, verse 2.

Micah 5, verse 2. Hey, yes, he managed the place where he was going to be born. I'll tell you what else he managed. He managed to be born of a virgin.

You think you could manage that? He managed that. You didn't choose your mother. He chose his and he chose to be virgin born. Isaiah 7, verse 14, Old Testament. He managed to conceive and bear son and thou shall call his name Immanuel. Tell you something else that he managed. He managed to have his crucifixion described 7 to 800 years before he was born when death by crucifixion was not even known. The form of capital punishment that the Jews used was stoning.

But Psalm 22 speaks of Jesus and it says this, they pierced my hands and my feet. It was 800 years before Jesus was even born. He managed to be crucified. Yes, he managed that. And he managed to have two thieves crucified with him, one on either side, and subsequently to be buried in a tomb reserved for the rich. Isaiah 53, verse 6, And he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there any deceit in his mouth.

Tell you something else? Yes, he managed. He managed that Judas would betray him for 30 pieces of silver. Zachariah 11 and verse 12, And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price, and if not, forbear.

And they weighed for my price 30 pieces of silver. Yes, he managed that to happen. And then the classic arrangement that he managed, after three days, he managed to walk out of that grave alive, the savior of the world.

He was given by more than 500 witnesses. Now, friend, most of these prophecies, if not all of them, were fulfilled, not by his friends, but by his enemies, those who had the most to gain by their not being fulfilled. Yes, thank God, the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Scripture. Do you know enough Scripture to take the Bible and convince somebody about the Lord Jesus Christ?

If not, why not? Now, here's the third line of evidence. First, there's the personal confidence. Peter said, We're witnesses of these things. Secondly, there's the powerful confirmation of the Scripture. Now, thirdly, there is the persuasive conviction of the Spirit. Look now in verse 44. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word.

Oh, I love that. Now, here it is. Peter's giving his testimony. He's saying, Look, I'll tell you what I know. Here's my confidence.

Here's my rock-ribbed assurance. And then he says, Look, it's backed up by the Scriptures. To him, give all the prophets witness. And now, while he's doing this, the Spirit of God comes upon them.

How wonderful that is. And, oh, God, send your Spirit today. Lord, in all of your fullness and power in this service, to convince and convict. Many times I've told you anything I can talk you into. Somebody else can talk you into. Somebody else can talk you out of. That's the reason before I preach, I cry out to God and say, Oh, God, anoint me because I want the Holy Spirit of God to bring that final three-fold strand.

There's the personal, there's the personal confidence of the soul winner. There's the powerful confirmation of the Scriptures. And then there's the persuasive conviction of the Holy Spirit. Do you know what Holy Spirit conviction is? When the Holy Spirit of God speaks to you and the Holy Spirit says that's true, how do you know that Jesus is the Son of God? How do you know that the Scriptures are true? How do you know that those who say that Jesus has transformed their lives, how do you know they're really transformed? Because the Holy Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God is the one who convicts you. I've had people tell me, Hey, you would have made a good salesman.

I don't know whether I would have or not. But I don't want to be a salesman when it comes to the Gospel. I'm not trying to just argue you in to signing on the dotted line. I want the Holy Spirit of God to convict you of these things that I'm preaching. And the Holy Spirit of God will.

He will. I'm not dependent upon eloquence. I'm not dependent upon logic.

I am not dependent upon personal magnetism. All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down. You know, in Acts, Chapter 5, the apostles were witnessing and they said something wonderful. They said, We are witnesses of these things and so is also, listen to this, so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him.

I love that. I fall back on that Scripture so many times. We are witnesses. I'm witnessing to you. I'm telling you my heart. I'm telling you all that I know is best I know how. But I'm not dependent upon that alone. I'm dependent upon the Holy Spirit of God going up and down these aisles and through these pews and saying, You better listen to him. He's telling you the truth. This is of God.

You better listen. See, I'm a witness, but so is also the Holy Ghost whom God has given to them that obey him. Now, let me tell you how the Holy Spirit of God witnesses. And these are in 1 John, Chapter 5, but the Bible says, If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. Now we all receive the witness of men. If you eat, you put some faith in the cook, right?

How do you know your wife's not going to serve you a little straightening or arsenic this afternoon? You get in an automobile, somebody else is driving. You put your faith in the driver. How do you know this is not the day he's determined to drive off the bridge? You get on an airplane, you put your faith in the pilot. Most of you don't even know the name of the pilot when you get on the airliner.

You don't even look behind the door to see if you like his looks. Just get on. Now, what's he saying? Listen, we could not live without putting our trust in other people for certain things. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. God speaks to you. That's the reason when a person tells me, Hey, I can't believe he's lying.

There's nobody who says, I can't believe who's telling the truth. Jesus did not say, You cannot come into me. He said, You will not come into me that you might have life. If you want to believe, you can believe because God will enable you to believe. Your problem is not in your head. Your problem is in your heart. The Bible says beware lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. He doesn't say an empty head, but an evil heart. If you want to believe, you can believe.

Why? Because the Holy Spirit of God will enable you to believe. He will witness to you. God is speaking to you today. Now, would you open your heart and let God speak to you?

You can stonewall God. But if you will receive the witness of men, if you put your trust in feeble man with all of his failures and foibles, surely you can put your trust in almighty God in the Word of God. We receive the witness of men. The witness of God is greater. 1 John 5, 9. And then not only does the Holy Spirit of God witness to you, but the Holy Spirit of God witnesses in you.

And I love this. The Bible says in the next verse there, 1 John 5, 10, He that believeth on the Son hath the witness in himself. Now, the Holy Spirit of God spoke to me, and I believed in Jesus, and now the witness that was witnessing to me is now witnessing in me. I have the witness in myself.

The Holy Spirit of God lives in me right now and enables me to believe. And did you know because I have the witness in myself, I'm not at the mercy of some pagan or some infidel with an argument. You could argue to me about hypocrites or all kinds of contradictions in the Bible.

Or anything else that you want to argue about. You're not going to stampede me because I have the witness in myself. Now, suppose I've just had a big piece of apple pie and somebody comes along and says, there is no such thing as apple pie. Or somebody else says, well, if there is, it doesn't taste good and doesn't satisfy. Well, that's not going to shake me.

You know why? I have the witness in myself. When he witnesses to me and witnesses in me, it's then that he witnesses through me. You see, this is what an effective witness is. An effective witness is somebody who has had an experience with God. Jesus didn't say, you're going to be my lawyers.

A lawyer argues a case. A witness tells what he's seen and heard. That's the reason Peter has such confidence.

You see, Peter is there. He's saying, look, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. We ate with him. We walked with him. We talked with him. We saw him risen.

I have absolute confidence. There's the personal confidence of the soul winner. And then there is the powerful confirmation of the Scriptures. We have the Holy Scriptures there and the fulfilled prophecies that say who the Lord Jesus is. And then on top of that, there's the confirming persuasion of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes these first two things and he comes and he says to the household of Cornelius, these things are true.

These things are true. Jesus said, ye shall receive power after that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me. God did not tell me that I have to go out and witness in my own strength.

God gives me the Holy Spirit as an ally. Remember, we are witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him. Now, if the Holy Spirit of God is not bringing conviction through your life, it may be that you're not living in obedience because God does not give the Holy Spirit to rebels.

But to them, that's why you have to obey him. Now, here's an interesting thing while we're in this particular passage. Notice in verse 44, while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word, and they of the circumcision, that means the Jews, which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now, how did they know that the Holy Ghost was poured out on the Gentiles? For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? Pastor Rogers, do you have to speak with tongues in order to be saved? Of course not. Is tongues a sign that you are saved?

No. Why, what is tongues? It's the ability to speak in a language you've never learned. It's a supernatural utterance given of God as a sign. Now, the first evidence of this, the first happening of this was on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, and there were Jews there. But now here's a new dimension to the gospel. Now Peter's going to the Gentiles, to the household of Cornelius. This is the Gentile Pentecost. And the Jews were there. They were amazed.

They said, Would you look at that? God has given the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles the same way he did to us. And what God was saying is now there's one new body. It's called the church.

Jew and Gentile are alike. Now, that was a sign gift. We don't have to have that gift repeated. We're not trying to repeat Pentecost any more than we're trying to repeat Bethlehem or Calvary. Bethlehem was God with us. Calvary, God for us. Pentecost is God in us. It was a sign gift. We're not praying and asking God for another Pentecost. We're not praying and asking God for the Holy Ghost. He has sent the Holy Spirit.

He has. I got a bite for Christmas when I was a little boy, 24-inch Schwinn candy apple red with cream-colored stripes on it. Got it Christmas Day. Now suppose I'd come to my parents about New Year's and said, Mom and Dad, would you please give me a bike? I need a bike. Please give me a bike. They say, Son, we're giving you a bike.

Get on it and ride it, okay? God has sent the Holy Spirit. We don't have to keep on asking God to do what he's already done. All this was was a sign that now God has poured out his Spirit upon the Gentiles and Jew and Gentile are now one body in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then do you know what happened?

Do you know what happened? Peter said to these people, Can any man forbid water that these should be baptized because the Holy Spirit has come upon them as he came upon us? Now look, they believed and then they were baptized. Have you been baptized?

Have you? Well, let me ask you, have you believed? Now, if you believed, then the next step is for you to make it public and on the first opportunity to follow Jesus in believer's baptism. Now, if you've not believed, why not?

You can if you wish. There is the personal confidence of the soul winner, the man named Adrian. There's a powerful confirmation of the Scriptures. The Scriptures have proven conclusively that Jesus Christ is Lord. There is the persuasive conviction of the Holy Spirit.

He's here today. And all you have to do is say yes to the Lord Jesus Christ. I know something like this from your heart. Oh God in heaven, I know that I'm a sinner. I know that I cannot save myself.

There's not enough good that I can do to earn my way to you. But that's why you sent Jesus to live a perfect life and to pay the penalty for my sin on the cross and then to rise again to new life. I pray for that promise of new life and I receive it right now. Come into my heart.

Change me from the inside out. I trust fully in the sacrifice that Jesus made for me. Now help me to live for you from this day forward. I pray in Jesus name.

Amen. If you pray just now to receive Jesus Christ, we want to celebrate with you and invite you to our Find God's Love page on our website. There you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith. Simply go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab at the top that says Find God's Love.

Welcome to His Forever Family. We can't wait to hear from you today. Well, are you confident in Jesus Christ? Do you know enough scripture to use it to be able to help someone come to know the Lord? Have you asked God to anoint you with His Spirit so that He may convict others through your testimony? Learn to share your faith with others. And we hope you'll join us next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding.