Love Worth Finding | Audio Program

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: 1 John 5:11

Every Christian ought to have the privilege of knowing, beyond any shadow of doubt, that he or she is saved. But having doubts doesn’t necessarily mean we are not saved.

Adrian Rogers says, “Doubt is to your spirit what pain is to your body; it doesn't mean you're dead, it means something's wrong.”

1 John 5 reveals how to be saved and know it, without hesitation.

“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:11-13).

When doubts arise, we must remember, first, how we are saved: by grace, through faith (see Ephesians 2:8).

Adrian Rogers says, “Grace is the unmerited favor and love that God shows to us. It's what made God love us when we were unlovely. God doesn't love us because we're valuable… we're valuable because He loves us.”

Faith is not intellectual belief; it is trust and commitment to God. Think of grace as the hand of God reaching down to us, and faith is our hand reaching up to Him.

Understanding this, we can find our assurance through three basic tests:

Lordship Test

Is Jesus Christ the Lord of my life?

If we claim to love God, we will keep His commandments.

Fellowship Test

Do I love my brothers and sisters in Christ? Am I in fellowship with other believers?

Fellowship is the nature of both the Christian and the Church.

Relationship Test

Do I have a vital relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ?

The assurance of our salvation is ongoing; it is not a past event, stamped by a time and date, and place. It is a present decision to trust in Jesus, right now. We can trust in Him, for He alone is the assurance of our salvation.

Apply it to your life

Do you have doubts about your faith? Consider the lordship, fellowship, and relationship tests. If you don’t know whether your doubt is the Holy Spirit’s conviction or the devil’s tactic, believe in Jesus.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Ecclesiastes

The Book of Ecclesiastes is the journal of King Solomon. It is a record of some of the perplexities he had, as well as some of the mistakes he made. There are three themes from this book when considering the beauty of this life we get to live.

First, this book reveals the complex mysteries of life.

God does not want life to make sense to us. God, in His infinite wisdom, makes life a mystery to draw us to Him. God put eternity in our hearts; He gave us a desire to see life from an eternal perspective. The answer to life’s mystery is not in nature, history, or science. The answer is that apart from God, wisdom, wealth and work are all meaningless.

Ecclesiastes also addresses the challenging adventure of life.

In spite of its mystery, God urges us to live with enthusiasm and joy. We cannot let our problems make cynics out of us. There are going to be some hard times; we would be foolish to not enjoy the good times. Adrian Rogers says, “Since God is good, we should live joyfully. Since God is sovereign, we should live confidently. And since God is holy, live life reverently.”

Finally, this book reveals that life is a comprehensive test.

Everything is going to come to judgment. Because of this, we must learn to rejoice. Adrian Rogers says, “God’s laws do not restrict us; they liberate us.” We must learn, also, to rest and remember; to honor, to obey, to serve God in every season.

Everything that King Solomon wrote is by divine inspiration. But we know some things he didn’t know because we have the New Testament. We have an understanding that even Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, did not have before he died, primarily, the answer to the age-old question: What is life all about?

Glory to God, we know that Jesus said, “I’ve come that you might have life, and that you might have it abundantly.”(John 10:10)

Life is about Jesus and only Jesus. Apart from Him, everything is meaningless.

Apply it to your life

Life is a complex mystery and a challenging adventure. In order to pass the comprehensive tests of life, we must learn to rejoice in every season, to rest in God’s grace and goodness, and to remember Him.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Hebrews 13:5-6

So many of us do not explore new territories because of our fear of potential opposition. But we can overcome fear when facing the unknown future, particularly a new year.

There are four key principles from Hebrews 13:5-6 to help us face the new year without fear:

“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

The Contentment of His Provision

We must first be content with what we already possess. Adrian Rogers says, "Contentment is not getting what you want, but it is wanting what you already have."

Material things cannot truly satisfy the heart's deepest needs (Ecclesiastes 5:10, Luke 12:15). True satisfaction and security are found in something that can't be tampered with, which is Jesus Christ.

The Companionship of His Presence

God promises not to leave us or forsake us. The Greek translation of this phrase is noted to contain five negatives: "I will never, no not ever, no never leave nor forsake you.”

It is clear that God will not abandon, give up on, or leave even one believer as a "helpless orphan". God's presence is a source of solace when discouraged, lonely, or worried.

The Confidence of His Promise

“For He Himself has said" emphasizes the value of this promise by the identity of the one who makes it: the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God. This assurance addresses our fears of lacking strength, facing the unknown, or not knowing what to do. The God of all comfort will be faithful.

The Comfort of His Protection

The final principle states that contentment, companionship, and confidence in Christ lead to the ability to boldly say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What man can do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6).

Although the New Year may bring heartaches and trials, we can rely on God's promises. The original Hebrew Christians faced severe opposition, mockery, and robbery, yet could boldly declare God’s presence and protection, and so can we.

Apply it to your life

If you are fearful of what the New Year has in store, rest assured, you can find contentment, companionship, confidence, comfort, and courage in Jesus.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: John 1:1-9

Luke 1:78-79 says, “Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Our world is in a desperately dark condition, but thanks be to God, who sent us His Son, Jesus, the Light of the World.

There are five things to learn about the light of Jesus Christ:

This light is pure.

Jesus was in the world, but He was not of the world. Light can never be defiled, no matter what it passes through. Light can expose the vilest, corrupt darkness, but it’s not touched by it.

Adrian Rogers says, “This is a wonderful picture of Jesus Christ. He exposes sin, but He is never touched by sin. Jesus could touch sinners, but sin never touched Jesus.”

This light is constant.

God is absolutely unchangeable. The only thing that is constant in our universe is light. Likewise, in the spiritual realm, Jesus is the one constant.

Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

This light is victorious.

John 1:5 says, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

This light is vital.

Jesus is the one who gives life. Light and life are inextricably interwoven; you cannot have life without light.

When God first initiated life in this universe, He first commanded, “Let there be light.” (Genesis 1:3) If the sunlight were to disappear, our world would become cold and dark and dead. Likewise, when Jesus came into the world, in Him was life, and that life was the light of Man!

If we want to revive our lives, we need the light of Jesus Christ.

Finally, this light is glorious.

It is full of multifaceted splendors. Pure white light consists of a spectrum of colors, the most gorgeous bouquet in the world. If you take away the light, it has no color. Color is not in objects…it’s in light.

Christ is the one who gives glory and joy, and victory. He’s the one who makes this world beautiful in His time.

Apply it to your life

Don’t blot out the light of Jesus Christ; rather, let Him shine through you today.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 15

Christmas is spelled L-O-V-E, as it reflects God's ultimate gift of love through Jesus Christ as described in John 3:16. Love is crucial for using spiritual gifts effectively.

Adrian Rogers says, "The real mark of the spirit-filled life is love."

1 Corinthians 13 unveils three main aspects of love.

The Virtues and Indispensability of Love

Love is absolutely indispensable, with no substitute. Without love, other highly valued attributes or actions are rendered meaningless:

Oratory or speaking with tongues becomes like sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. (v. 1)

Prophecy, understanding mysteries, and knowledge are as nothing. (v. 2)

Faith, even faith that can move mountains, is "nothing" without love. (v. 2)

Feeding the poor (bestowing all goods) or martyrdom (giving one's body to be burned) profit nothing if not motivated by genuine love. (v. 3)

Adrian Rogers says, "What our Lord is looking for more than people who will die for their faith, is people who will live for their faith, and show that living by loving."

The Characteristics of Love

These are described in verses 4-5: love is portrayed as having specific qualities:

Patient ("suffers long"); a lack of patience indicates a lack of love.

Kind, described as "love in the little things" and courtesy.

Not jealous ("envies not"); willing to give credit and praise others.

Humble ("not puffed up"); able to apologize and forgive.

Not rude ("does not behave unseemly").

Unselfish ("seeketh not its own"); focusing on showing love rather than personal gain.

Even-tempered ("not easily provoked"); an "evil temper" is highlighted as significantly damaging to Christian society.

Not suspicious ("thinks no evil"), avoiding paranoia or "mud-slinging".

The Victory and Eternality of Love

1 Corinthians 13:4 states simply, “Love never fails.”

It is eternal and will never pass away, unlike prophecies, tongues, and knowledge, which are temporary. Faith and hope find their fulfillment in Heaven, but love endures and is perfected in Heaven.

Love is the greatest virtue, the greatest commandment, the greatest testimony, the greatest motivation, and the greatest confirmation of salvation. Jesus' disciples will be recognized by their love for one another (John 13:35).

Apply it to your life

Prioritize demonstrating patient, kind, humble, and unselfish love in all aspects of your life. It is the most indispensable and enduring virtue, far better than any other achievement or gift.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Isaiah 9:6-7

Adrian Rogers says, “The greatest event in human history was not when Man first put his feet upon the moon, but when Almighty God came down and walked upon this Earth."

No amount of secular knowledge compares to the vital knowledge of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 9:6-7 presents three thoughts about history’s greatest happening.

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

His Supernatural Nature

This passage speaks to both Jesus's humanity (“a child is born”) and His deity (“a son is given”). Jesus Christ's beginning was not in Bethlehem; He is the eternal Word, who was with God and was God from the beginning, and through whom all things were made. Jesus Christ is fully God; He possesses everything God is, has, and does.

His Sovereign Nobility

Jesus is a noble ruler, a sovereign king. He came not only to redeem but also to reign. His Second Coming is certain, and when He returns, it will be as a mighty monarch, with the government upon His shoulder. We cannot "make" Him Lord, as He already is Lord; we can only recognize and bow before His Lordship.

His Saving Name

The name “Jesus” means "Jehovah saves". This name was given by God, designating Jesus as the "great I AM" (Jehovah) who saves. This passage also calls Him:

Wonderful: He is wonderful in His birth, life, works, words, death, resurrection, ascension, intercession, and future return.

Counselor: There is wisdom in His name, as He possesses all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Mighty God: Jesus made everything and has all power in Heaven and on Earth.

Everlasting Father: This invokes worship, as Jesus and the Father are one, and seeing Him is seeing the Father. Worshipping Jesus is not idolatry because He is indeed God.

Prince of Peace: Jesus offers peace to those who labor and are heavy laden. The world will not know true peace until He returns, but personal peace with God is available through Him now.

Apply it to your life

To gain true wisdom and peace, recognize Jesus Christ as the key to all knowledge and the source of ultimate peace. Acknowledge His divine nature and sovereign Lordship,and trust Him as your personal Savior.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Ephesians 5:23

Adrian Rogers says, “We can never be over those things that God wants to be under us -- until we get under those things that God has put over us.”

In order to learn how to cultivate a marriage and a healthy home, we must first understand godly authority.

Ephesians 5:23 says, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and He is the Savior of the body.”

This does not mean wives are inferior to their husbands; in Christ, we’re equal. But God created us to meet different needs and fulfill different roles within the home. When the Bible speaks of the husband being the head of the home, it is not speaking of his rights; it speaks of his responsibilities.

There are three major responsibilities that deal with the husband, the first being his servant leadership.

Ephesians 5 does not call the husband a dictator. Rather, we are given the example of Jesus Christ, who is head of the Church, yet serves her and meets her needs. We are to meet the needs of our wives, who submit to our servant leadership.

Husbands are also responsible for sacrificial love, which is first passionate. It is a commitment that comes from the deepest part of our being.

It is also a purifying love, as Ephesian 5:26-27 says: “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word... not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

Husbands are to express their love through their protection. If the enemy wants to attack our homes, he has to go through the husband. Husbands are also responsible for offering loving provision, to meet our family’s physical, spiritual, and emotional needs.

Finally, husbands are responsible for showing steadfast loyalty. Jesus promised to never leave nor forsake His church. (See Hebrews 13:5.) Likewise, we are responsible for keeping the vows we made when we entered our marriage covenant. If we think of marriage as a contract, we will look for loopholes, and miss the blessing that it truly is. But if viewed as a covenant, we will cultivate something beautiful.

Apply it to your life

Are you cultivating a marriage based on servant leadership, sacrificial love, and steadfast loyalty?

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Romans 5:1-5, 17

Any Christian who has not discovered the tremendous power of kingdom authority is living beneath his privileges.

However, Adrian Rogers says, “God will never place you over those things that He means to put under you, until you get under those things that He has put over you.”

Many of us fail to think of the Holy Spirit as a person with authority, yet the Holy Spirit has authority to rule and reign in our lives. In fact, kingdom authority is mediated by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5 reveals why we should be under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).

Adam was the first man created by God and was given dominion over the Earth. But Adam sinned; he forfeited his dominion to sin. And because we are his offspring, we are identified with Adam in this slavery to Satan. Through Adam, we received weakness rather than power and gained ungodliness rather than godliness. We also received wrath rather than approval, warfare instead of peace. We inherited our sinfulness from Adam: not only when we do as we shouldn’t, but also in failing to do as we should.

But Romans 5 also reveals what we receive through Jesus when we join the kingdom of light:

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17).

When we submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit, we receive justification of our sins and reconciliation with the Father. Through the Holy Spirit, we have the fellowship with God that was severed when Adam sinned. We’ve also been regenerated and made righteous to reign through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Apply it to your life

Each one of us is either with Adam in the kingdom of death, or we are with Christ reigning in the kingdom of life. Choose Jesus today; choose kingdom authority through the Holy Spirit.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: 1 Peter 1:23-25

There is an ongoing war over the Bible. There are those who despise it, but some of the greatest enemies of the Bible are those who disregard that it is the very Word of God.

If we want the kingdom authority that God has promised His children, we must be under the authority of the Word of God.

We must see it as incontestable:

There is no contest, controversy, or denial that the Bible is the Word of God. The Bible is absolutely perfect, for the God of truth cannot speak in error.

1 Peter 1:23 claims: “...having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever…”

Second, we must see the Bible as the incorruptible Word of God; there is no blemish or spot in it.

Though many have come against it with their own personal agendas and opinions, the Bible outstands them all.

Third, we see that it is indestructible:

“...because “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever...” (1 Peter 1:24-25).

Finally, the Word of God is indispensable:

“Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:25).

The Gospel is the message of the church, and we get the Gospel from Scripture. We don’t need a new or modern Gospel for the new and modern age; it stands the test of time. The Bible also prescribes the church’s method, which is (and always will be) preaching.

Adrian Rogers says, “No church will ever grow and prosper and be a New Testament church until the pulpit is central and the Gospel is central in the pulpit.”

In order to join a church body, one must be born again into the family of God. Only the Gospel can grow this family, and therefore, grow the Church.

Apply it to your life

Do you see the Bible as the incontestable, incorruptible, indestructible, indispensable Word of God?

Adrian Rogers says, “We can never have Kingdom Authority, speak or preach with authority, witness with authority, live with authority until we get under the authority of the Word of God.”

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Romans 14:7-12

God wants us to live with kingdom authority, but there can be no reigning in this life until we confess these three words: Jesus is Lord.

Lord means “someone or something having power, authority, or influence.” When we claim to commit to Jesus Christ, we must surrender to His lordship, as Paul explains in Romans, “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself” (Romans 14:7)

First, remember the redeeming claim of His lordship.

“For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).

When Jesus died for us, He purchased our souls with His redeeming blood; we are no longer our own, we belong to Him.

Adrian Rogers says, “When you gave your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, that was the last independent decision you ever made.”

Second, we see the resurrection conquest of His lordship.

“For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9). There can be no other king in our lives; no man can serve two masters (see Matthew 6:24). Christ requires our submission and absolute ownership of all we possess with unquestioned obedience.

We shouldn’t be afraid to trust our lives to the One who loved us enough to die for us.

Finally, there must be a regal confession of His lordship.

“...As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:11). We will confess Christ as Lord, whether in this world or the next.

Confessing Christ as Lord seals our salvation and conquers Satan; it also comforts and confirms the saints. The more we assert it to others, the stronger our faith becomes.

As we confess Christ’s lordship, the things of this world fall away. Our separation from this world convicts those who see the difference in our lives and want to understand the source of our joy.

And when we claim Christ as Lord, our decisions seem to make themselves, as He guides us in all things.

Apply it to your life

Have you surrendered to the lordship of Christ? Is He Lord of all that you have and do, Lord of your thoughts, your tongue, your temper, time, and testimony?