Love Worth Finding | Audio Program

As we ask God to do something supernatural in our desperate world, we must pray for revival. In this message, Adrian Rogers reveals the source, course, and force of the rivers of revival pictured in Ezekiel 47.

1 Kings 18 tells the story of revival in dark days. After a severe drought, God told Elijah that He would send rain upon the earth. But there are enemies of revival, many of whom belong to the Body of Christ. In this message, Adrian Rogers reveals who among us could be holding back revival, and how to pray for fire to fall from Heaven again.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: 2 Chronicles 20:1-30

Praise is a powerful thing, in times of joy and in times of help, but especially in times of trouble.

A story from 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 shows us the power of praise when facing opposition. King Jehoshaphat was a God-fearing King, facing opposition from Ammon, Moab, and Seir. Likewise, we have three mighty kings that come against us on a regular basis – sin, sorrow, and death. Every Christian will meet these, and sometimes, the opposition will be fierce.

In the case of King Jehoshaphat, powerful foes caused the king to focus on God through fasting. Fasting does not earn God’s blessings (which are given solely through God’s grace), but it does sharpen our focus on God.

As a result, the nation came together in purposeful fellowship: “So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord, and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord” (v. 4).

When we seek God together, He shows up and reveals His true nature. This passage shows us that God is:

1. Sovereign: There is no problem too big for Him. 2. Steadfast: God has worked miracles in the past, and He will never run out of them. 3. Sympathetic: If we cry out to God, He will hear and He will help. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmity. 4. Seeing: God knows our situations, our enemies, and our danger. There’s nothing that escapes His notice. 5. Saving: “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You” (v. 12).

The people of Judah learned that the battle was never theirs to win, but God’s; their part was to join the fight with praise.

Adrian Rogers says, “Praise infuses the energy of God and it confuses the enemy of God. Praise fractures the unity of the enemy and formulates the unity of the believer.”

As a result of the praise and obedience of the people, there was a provided fortune and peaceful future.

Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

Apply it to your life

Have you learned to praise God in your problems? Pray, and consider fasting, as you ask God for His guidance. Remember: the battle is the Lord’s; your part is to praise.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Reference: Matthew 25:21

God preserves the faithful (see Psalm 31:23). Faithfulness is God’s measurement for our blessing. One day, our reward, or lack of it, will be according to our faithfulness.

Faithfulness means integrity, loyalty, and steadfastness. In Matthew 23, we see what, why, and how to be faithful men and women of God.

Matthew 23:21 says, “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”

A man of God is faithful to family.

He keeps his promises.

He is faithful in his finances.

He knows that how he handles money is an indication of how he handles spiritual treasure. He gives proportionally, as God prospers him.

He is faithful in his friendships.

Friends are bound to fail us, stumble, and do us wrong; but a faithful man is a good friend, who gives the benefit of the doubt and overlooks offenses.

He is faithful to attend church.

The Body of Christ owes each other fearful loyalty; for the Lord’s sake, a faithful man does not forsake the assembly (see Hebrews 10:25).

He is faithful to the Word of God.

To pass truth onto the next generation, a faithful man understands he has to be firmly rooted in Scripture.

We ought to be faithful in these areas because Jesus is faithful to us. He is faithful to us in our failure, our temptation, and our falling. He is faithful to us to the very end, so we can be faithful to the end.

We must be faithful in the small things because that is where success or failure truly lie.

Adrian Rogers says, “Do you know what the big things in life are made up of? Little acts, little words, little thoughts.”

We must be faithful in the secret things; Adrian Rogers says, “What you are in secret is what you are, nothing more or nothing less.”

And we must be faithful in the sacred things; meet with God daily, fully committed, abiding in Him.

Apply it to your life

Yield to God, and ask Him to make you faithful in every area of your life. No amount of resolution or gritting your teeth will make you a faithful man of God. It comes from abiding in Jesus and showing up to meet Him every day.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Ephesians 4:7

When God saved us by His grace, He gave each of us spiritual gifts. However, many of us do not understand how to use them. In order to be faithful in ministry, we must identify and develop our spiritual gifts.

Ephesians 4:7 says, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”

Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities for service and ministry. We do not choose our spiritual gifts; as our natural talents are embedded in us at birth, our spiritual gifts come at our new birth.

There are several spiritual gifts identified in the New Testament, such as wisdom, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, and discerning of spirits. Other gifts include speaking in tongues, acts of service, ministry, exhortation, teaching, giving, ruling, and mercy.

Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…”

There are five ways we can know our individual spiritual gifts:

1. Desire: We consider what we enjoy doing—what do we feel we naturally do well? 2. Discovery: We discover our gift as we endeavor to do it. 3. Development: Though they come naturally, our gifts must be crafted and studied. 4. Dependence: Our gifts must operate in the power of the Holy Spirit. 5. Deployment: We understand how our gifts operate as we work alongside other believers. 6. Finally, our gifts are displayed as we mature in our ministry.

Ephesians 4:13 says, “...till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…”

Adrian Rogers says, “You can tell when the gifts are working in a church when the church becomes like the Lord Jesus Christ.”

When the gifts are working, we will not be blown about by every wind of doctrine. Instead, we will learn how to speak truth in love and find that all of our gifts work together in flexible harmony.

Apply it to your life It’s important to know our spiritual gifts and to discover and develop them, so that God may be glorified as we serve the Church.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Malachi 3:7-12

At its core definition, stewardship is our relationship with money: how we obtain, save, invest, spend, and give our wealth. God is interested in this relationship, as is Satan—our enemy who would love to keep us in financial bondage.

If money increases our worries, or if we have plenty in the bank, but we have no treasure in Heaven, we are in financial bondage. We all want to be free from the curse of debt, but freedom is only found when we are faithful in stewardship.

Malachi 3:7 says, “Yet from the days of your fathers, you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’”

In order to obtain financial freedom, we must first personally return to God. He does not need our money, but He wants our fellowship. When we remember tithing is God’s way of revealing our priorities to ourselves, we will see tithing as a great blessing. It is our privilege to show God that He is first in our lives and everything else is secondary.

Adrian Rogers says, “God is not raising money; God is growing Christians. God wants us to grow in grace and knowledge and to love Him.”

After our personal return, there is a financial release. “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:8).

By biblical definition, tithing is ten percent given to the temple of God (church), for the work of the temple. Giving to charities or ministries is good, but it is not a replacement for our tithes.

When we learn to give back to God freely, there will be a spiritual renewal. God will renew our faith, rebuke our foes, and restore our fruitfulness. Our offerings are like seeds for a crop: when we sow bountifully, we will reap bountifully.

Apply it to your life

Are you in financial bondage, seeking freedom from an indebted spirit? Remain faithful in stewardship; return to God, understanding He wants you first and foremost. Then, show your faithfulness through tithing.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Psalm 126:5-6

The wisest thing we could do in the eyes of God is to remain faithful in evangelism. Psalm 126:5-6 reveals the soul winner’s promise: “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

The soul is of great worth; Jesus died upon the cross, paying the price with His blood and agony to show how much He desired our souls.

Our souls are also valuable because of their durability. When God made the human soul, He made it in His own image, therefore, it is endless, timeless, dateless, and measureless.

Every soul has the potential to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ or to spend eternity in the pits of Hell.

We would be wise to evangelize because it is the command of Christ. We remember that we are programmed to go forth (Psalm 126:6); nothing takes the place of going. It’s not enough to “live good lives,” because our lives are not what save souls…salvation through Jesus’s death and resurrection is what saves souls.

Adrian Rogers says, “We are to be spiritually distinct, but not socially segregated.”

We cannot lose our passion. If we feel we’ve lost our broken hearts for the unsaved, we must beg God to break them again. We must ask God to give us the eyes of Jesus who, when He saw the multitudes, was moved with compassion. (See Luke 19.)

We must ignite our power, for we bear seed for sowing (Psalm 125:6). In this passage, the seed is the Word of God, and in that seed, there is life. Because there is power of life in the seed, there is power in the soul winner who scatters the seed.

Finally, we must hold fast to our promise: if we keep sowing, we will see a harvest. We should not concern ourselves with the soil, we just sow the seed, asking God to give us open doors and increase.

Apply it to your life

Are you faithful in evangelism, recognizing your program, passion, power, and promise?

Adrian Rogers says, “You let Congress make the laws; let the President try to run the nation. Let the Hollywood stars have the fame and let those guys play football. But if you are wise, you’re going to win souls.”

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 12:12, 25

1 Corinthians 12:12 says, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”

The way this world will know Jesus is through the church; there is to be no disunity; instead, we have a common purpose, function, and goal. We are to remain faithful in our friendship with one another. There can be no arrogance or envy, no rivalry or self-sufficiency; we are charged to care for one another. (See 1 Corinthians 12:25.)

There are seven ways in which we as a church demonstrate our faithfulness to each other.

Love one another

As Christians, we proudly love each other as Jesus has loved us (See John 13:34.); this means we extend good to others regardless of what they do to us.

Receive one another

It is crucial, now more than ever, that we make people feel loved and welcomed when they come to our church. This does not mean we tolerate heretics or willful sinners who try to distort the body with false teachings. It means anyone who comes through our doors to worship God must be received.

Greet one another

We must demonstrate our love and reception in a personal, warm, and impartial way.

Submit to one another

Biblical submission within the church is one equal willingly and lovingly placing himself under another equal that God may be glorified.

Forbear one another

Churches are made up of very flawed people; forbearance is graciously enduring and putting up with the displeasing, offensive, or sinful attitudes or actions of other people.

Confess to one another

James 5:16 says, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed…”

Failure to confess to one another holds back revival, forgiveness, and healing.

Adrian Rogers says, “Real revival is not just getting the roof off; real revival is getting the walls down.”

Forgive one another

There is a legacy of forgiveness for every one of us, but it never becomes ours until we claim it by repentance and faith.

Apply it to your life

Are you a member of a church body that exhibits love, reception, greeting, submission, forbearance, confession, and forgiveness?

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 12:12

It is important that we understand that while Jesus Christ and the Church are not identical, they are inseparable. We cannot forsake the church; we must remain faithful in fellowship.

1 Corinthians 12:12 says, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”

This passage describes the church as a body, with Christ as the head. As our bodies inhabit our humanity, the church inhabits Jesus Christ. The body serves the life of the person who lives inside of it; likewise, we are Jesus’ hands and feet.

Adrian Rogers says, “Jesus is the invisible part of the visible church, and the church is the visible part of the invisible Christ.”

We are not just a collection of parts; we have life. The Holy Spirit moves us, therefore we are more than an organization… We are an organism. We have many members, but we have one agenda.

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

The formation of the church body begins when the members are born again and spiritually baptized by the Holy Ghost. As a result, we are bound together as a single body in fellowship.

We share a common life, unified by the Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us. We belong to one another, casting aside any competition with one another or isolation.

We also show a common love as 1 Corinthians 12:25 and 26 say: “...that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

Finally, we serve the same Lord; Adrian Rogers says, “Loyalty to Jesus means loyalty to His body; you cannot love Jesus without loving what Jesus loves.”

As Jesus loves the church—faults, failures, flaws, and all—so should we.

Apply it to your life

We are all somebody in His body; accept your role, whether you are an ear to hear or an eye to see. Be yourself and give yourself to the church; as we work with each other, Jesus Christ will be seen through us.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: 2 Timothy 2:15

If we want to live holy lives, to be sanctified and powerful in the Lord, we must learn how to be faithful in studying God’s Word.

2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

First, if you want to understand the Bible, you must receive the saving Author of the Bible.

Without Christ, we are spiritually blind, as 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

An unsaved man can read the Bible and appreciate its beauty, history, and moral precepts; yet he will never know the deep meaning of God’s Word until he’s born again. When Christ is in our hearts, our eyes are opened, our hearts are stirred and our minds are enlightened to the things of Scripture. Only then can we learn His statutes.

Secondly, we must recognize the sovereign authority of the Bible.

All Scripture is the breath of God, inspired by Him. The Bible interpreted by the Holy Spirit is the final authority—not human reason or conscience.

Third, we must resolve to make a serious analysis of the Bible.

It’s not enough to say that God is the author of the Bible or that the Bible is absolutely authoritative. We must rightly divide the Word of God, laying aside our intellectual pride and bringing our open minds. We must analyze it in context, with common sense and deep concentration. Read poetry as poetry, prophecy as prophecy, promises as promises, and precepts as precepts.

Lastly, we must respond with a steadfast application of the Bible.

To love God is to keep His commandments. Inspiration without obedience will cause the Word of God to sour within us rather than energize us. We must put these things into practice.

Adrian Rogers says, “Bible study gives you knowledge about God. Obedience gives you knowledge of God. You can study the Bible and learn about God or you can obey the Bible and know God.”

Apply it to your life

Are you exercising your faithfulness in studying the Bible? Read God’s Word in context, with common sense and full concentration today.