[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] “Your son is dead” - Dr. Adrian Rogers

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "TONY_at_FloridaHealth" <FloridaHealth21 at verizon.net>
To: <thefamilyoffaith at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] "Your son is dead" - Dr. Adrian Rogers
Date: 
Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:33:56 -0500



"Your son is dead"

My seminary professor told me a story about a mother whose son was in the
military and was pronounced lost in action and judged to be dead. The war
department sent the letter that every mother dreads: "Your son is dead."

Then they found out that the son was not dead at all. He was alive and
well! They told someone, "Go tell that woman her son is alive." How would
you like to be the one who had the opportunity to go to a mother who
thought that her son was dead, and to knock on her door and say: "I've got
good news"? 

How excited we ought to be about proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
It's better than the news that the war department had to give to that
mother. It's the news that Jesus Christ has conquered death, hell, the
grave and judgment, and that we can live forever with Him. 

The word Gospel means good news. The thing that makes good news good news
is the possibility of bad news. And the bad news is our sin. The Bible
says, "For the wages of sin is death," (Romans 6:23). 

But in 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul gives the good news: "For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried, and
that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." (1
Corinthians 15:3-4).

That is the source of the Gospel: the death, burial and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. How does this deal with our sin problem? It pays the penalty
for our sins. You see, a holy, righteous God cannot merely overlook sin. If
He were to do that, He would no longer be holy. But Christ's death made
full payment for our sins. His burial shows that the pollution and
defilement of our sin is buried in the grave of God's forgetfulness. And in
His resurrection He has demolished the power of sin and is declared to be
the Son of God with power. 

Let's look now at the force of the Gospel-what the Gospel does. First, we
see its saving force. In (1 Corinthians 15:2) - Paul speaks of the Gospel
"by which also ye are saved." God has no other way for you to be saved
apart from the Gospel. 

In (Philippians 1:6) - we see its sanctifying force: "He who has begun a
good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." After you
are saved, He continues to work in you. Day by day He is making you more
like the Lord Jesus Christ. 

And in (1Corinthians 15:1) - we see the stabilizing force of the Gospel:
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto
you, which ye also have received, and wherein you stand." 

I love that. It is good news that we can be saved. It is better news that
we can be saved and know it. It is glorious news that we can know that once
we're saved, we can never lose it: Wherein ye stand.
You see, when you get saved, you don't keep Him; He keeps you. 

Finally, let's look at what this Gospel does in our world-the course of
the Gospel. 
The Gospel of Jesus Christ extends to every person. I can tell anyone,
anywhere on the face of the earth, "No matter what you have done, if you'll
trust Jesus, He'll save you. " The Bible says, "For whosoever shall call on
the name of the Lord shall be saved." 

A murderer? Yes. A rapist? Yes. An adulterer? Yes. A thief? Yes. A
blasphemer? Yes! Look at what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:10: "By the
grace of God I am what I am, and His grace bestowed upon me was not in
vain." 
Paul, who was a persecutor of Christians before he was converted on the
road to Damascus, called himself the chiefest of sinners. But God's grace
reached even him.

The Gospel extends to every place. Wherever you are at this moment, God
will save you. If you can show me any time, anywhere that someone called on
Jesus Christ to save them in repentance and faith, and He didn't save them,
then I'll close my Bible and never preach again. 

The Gospel extends to every problem. You say, "Pastor, you don't know my
problems." Well, I can reduce them all very simply. Every problem you have
is a sub-category of three things: sin, sorrow and death. 

The Gospel is the only answer to sin. It is the only answer to sorrow.
And it is the only answer to death. There is no other way, apart from the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, to deal with sin, sorrow and death. 

And of course, our greatest problem is death. We're going to die. But the
Gospel is that Christ was raised from the dead and has conquered the grave.


Do you have a loved one in Heaven? If he or she is there, they are there
because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has conquered sin, hell, death
and the grave! And every problem that you'll ever have is answered in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the reason the Apostle Paul said, "I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ."
Adrian Rogers, 1931-2005, served for many years as pastor of Bellevue
Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn.