Love Worth Finding

Guest (Male): What's all the worldwide chaos leading to? Listen to Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers: Politically, nation rises against nation. Religiously, we see false cults and cultic craziness that seems to be exploding. Morally, we have reached the very cesspool of iniquity. All of this while our politicians talk about a new world order.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring powerful truth spoken simply by pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers. Today's study is in the book of Acts chapter 15, and we're going to see a bit of conflict in the church as the gospel begins to spread.

In the beginning, believers were Jewish. They had found their Messiah, but God had a plan to include both Jew and Gentile in his forever family. With all the turmoil in our world today and talk of a new world order, let's look at what God's word says about that topic. Turn in the scriptures to Acts chapter 15 if you can. We'll begin in verse 13 as Adrian Rogers addresses the new world order.

Adrian Rogers: Acts chapter 15. God had begun to save some Gentiles, and the church was concerned because they thought that Christianity was a Jewish thing. But they found out that a lot of Gentiles were coming to know the Lord Jesus.

So they called a conference in Jerusalem to find out what the will of the Lord was and what God was up to. And I begin in verse 13. And after they had held their peace, James answered saying, "Men and brethren, harken unto me. Simeon hath declared how God at first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name."

Now that's us, folks. That's the church. God visited the Gentiles to take out of the Gentiles a people for his name. That's why we're here, to glorify his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets as it is written. "After this," that is after he takes the church, builds the church, "After this, I will return."

We're looking forward to that, aren't we? After this he's coming back and will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down. Now the tabernacle of David means the throne of David, the rule of David, the reign of David. And it's going to be done by David's greater son, the Lord Jesus.

We hear so much in the newspapers and from the politicians about a new world order. Well, it is not a new world order. It is the old disorder that has been in the world and will be in the world until Jesus comes. And while the politicians talk about order, we see national maps that are being changed overnight.

We see nations rise, we see nations fall. Not so very long ago we saw the collapse of Soviet communism, and the words that were on our lips were who would have believed it. We've been astounded as we've seen the upheavals, and yet there is more and more disorder.

Some people say, "Do you think we're finished with the Soviet threat?" No, we are not. The Soviets are in turmoil. They still have nuclear weapons. We used to speak of the Russians as the Soviet bear, the Russian bear. Well you know that a bear is dangerous.

A wounded bear is even more dangerous, and a wounded bear that is ravenously hungry is the most dangerous. And you know of the old Soviet Union, the republics now are turning on one another, and there's devastation and war and revolt.

Islamic fundamentalist forces are moving into those vacuums, and there is so much chaos that's in that eastern block of nations. The reason why we cannot make a cosmos out of this chaos is what CS Lewis said. CS Lewis said you can't make a good omelet out of bad eggs.

And the more we stir, the more we try to arrange things, it seems like the worse we get. And all of us have the idea in these last days that we're looking into the muzzle of a loaded cannon. But behind it all is Almighty God.

James says as he quotes the prophets, "Known unto God are all of his works from the beginning of the world." And so we need to understand this because if we don't understand it, we can get very discouraged. Politically, nation rises against nation and they seem to be taking their pruning hooks and turning their pruning hooks into spears and swords rather than vice versa.

And then religiously, we see false cults and cultic craziness that seems to be exploding. Bizarre New Age superstition. Morally, we have reached the very cesspool of iniquity. Sin abounds: alcohol, rape, murder, crime, dope.

Teenagers being engulfed in the use of narcotics. I am greatly, greatly alarmed as I read the statistical report about teenage sex and teenage drug use. All of this while our politicians talk about a new world order.

Acts chapter 15. God had begun to save some Gentiles, and the church was concerned because they thought that Christianity was a Jewish thing. But they found out that a lot of Gentiles were coming to know the Lord Jesus.

So they called a conference in Jerusalem to find out what the will of the Lord was and what God was up to. And I begin in verse 13. And after they had held their peace, James answered saying, "Men and brethren, harken unto me. Simeon hath declared how God at first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name."

Now that's us, folks. That's the church. God visited the Gentiles to take out of the Gentiles a people for his name. That's why we're here, to glorify his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets as it is written. "After this," that is after he takes the church, builds the church, "After this, I will return."

We're looking forward to that, aren't we? After this he's coming back and will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down. Now the tabernacle of David means the throne of David, the rule of David, the reign of David. And it's going to be done by David's greater son, the Lord Jesus.

Now he's talking about what God's plan for the Jew is. That when the church is taken out, then God's going to begin to work again to restore national Israel. "And I will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down, and will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up."

"That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things." Now verse 18. "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world."

That is God has a plan, and it's known to God from the beginning of the world right on. It's known to God. God has a plan for this world. He has a plan for the church. He has a plan for the Jew. He has a plan for the Gentile, and it is known unto God. Now there's no panic in heaven, and we need to understand this.

Now there are four things that are out of place, and until those four things get in place, this world will never come to order. Let me tell you why the world is in disorder and what will bring it into order.

Number one, the world is out of order because the church is out of her rightful place. The church is the bride of Christ, and where does the bride belong? With the groom. Now right now we the church, the blood-bought bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, are not with the bridegroom.

Now spiritually through the Holy Spirit he is in us, but folks we are not by his side. Do you know what the all-consuming purpose of the Father is? That is to present the church, the bride, to his son, and that has not yet been done. You see we are now engaged to the savior, we're not yet married to the savior.

We have been betrothed to the savior. Put this scripture down, Second Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 2. Paul talked to the Corinthian church and he said this, "For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you a chaste," that means a pure, "virgin to Christ."

And so we are to be like a virgin coming to the wedding when Jesus comes again. Now all of the Old Testament typology about the church being the bride of Christ is rooted in the imagery of an oriental wedding. In an oriental wedding, the groom would take the initiative.

And that's the way I believe it ought to be today, the groom takes the initiative. I know when I set my eyes upon the girl named Joyce, I was the one who took the initiative. I don't think she had really noticed me.

But I had sat a few desks behind her, and she was off to my right in the next row about four desks up. I couldn't keep my mind on my schoolwork. I was in the sixth grade. I kept looking at that girl, and so I wrote a poem. It was a masterpiece.

And I wrote that poem and I walked by her desk and I dropped that poem on her desk. She picked it up and read it. For a while I wondered if it meant anything to her or if she kept it. But folks she still has it. That was many, many years ago.

And I tell her many times that she loves me because I first loved her. That's the way it is with the Lord Jesus Christ. He took the initiative for his bride. Now after a bridegroom would take the initiative, he would then pay a price for his bride. There was a dowry, and he would purchase his bride. And so you and I have been purchased by the heavenly bridegroom.

Now after he purchased us, then he gave us a token of his faithfulness which was the Holy Spirit. In modern days when we fall in love and want to get married, when our bride is betrothed to us, we give to her an engagement ring. Well God has given to us an engagement ring.

And we read about it in Ephesians 1, verses 13 and 14. The Bible says speaking of Jesus, in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance.

Did you know in the Greek culture today this word that is written in our Bible called earnest is the same word in the Greek culture for engagement ring today? Our Lord has given us the engagement ring, the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory.

After Joyce and I had determined that we would get married, I bought an engagement ring. I was working my way through college. I did not have anyone to send me through school and I wanted to get married. I went to college on a football scholarship.

But later decided I'd rather pastor a little church, and the first Baptist Church of Fellsmere, Florida called us, and I believe they were paying us $30 a week. And I was a single man at that time paying me $30 a week to pastor that church.

I had to drive 300 miles there and back. I had no car expense or any other expenses, that was it, a flat $30 a week. So I had to do some other work to pay for my school expenses. And so I cleaned tables, worked in various jobs around the community in order to pay my way through school.

But I also wanted to buy an engagement ring. I can remember going into the jewelry store. I never bought anything in a jewelry store before. I went into that jewelry store and found that ring. Now folks it's a very small ring and it's a very flawed diamond. So many times I have asked Joyce, "Would you let me buy you another diamond?"

I cannot even begin to get her to consider it. That ring is very precious to her, and I'll tell you why: because at that time it cost so very much to me. Though it may have been minimum to somebody else, it was maximum to me and I would go in each week and pay a little on that ring.

And with great joy I gave to her, to Joyce, to my bride, that ring. I was just a boy and not yet reached my 20s, still working my way through school, but I gave her that ring and it cost so much to me and it meant so much to me. It wouldn't have cost a lot to other people but it was more than I had right then.

We need to understand what the Lord Jesus paid for us and the price that he paid. He sought us, he bought us, then he gave us the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. But you see we are the bride of the Lord Jesus.

And Revelation chapter 19, verses 7 and 8 talks about that time when the marriage is going to take place, when the bride is going to be by her bridegroom's side. Let me read it to you. This is Revelation chapter 19, beginning in verse 7. Here's what the Bible says.

"Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor unto him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness or the righteous acts of the saints."

Now in order for the bride to be ready, that's us folks, we're going to have to have some beauty treatments. You know I've often said that every bride is beautiful. I've done a lot of marriages, and I can honestly say every bride is beautiful.

And God wants a beautiful bride, and the church is going to make herself beautiful. Now actually in three treatments. First of all, redemption. That deals with the inner beauty. We get the nature of the Lord when we're saved, but he's not finished with us yet.

Then at the rapture we're going to receive transformed bodies and we're going to be made like the Lord Jesus. And then when he rewards us for our service, the Bible says our wedding gown is going to be the righteous acts of the saints.

That's the gown that we're going to wear. And so when Jesus comes, the trumpet sounds, the angel choir will begin to sing "Here Comes the Bride," and we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and we're going to have a wedding in the sky.

And so folks, listen. The church right now is out of place. You are out of place. This world is not your home. Now a fugitive is running away from home. A vagabond has no home. A stranger is away from home.

But a pilgrim is headed home. We're pilgrims. We are headed home. So what's wrong with the world? Number one, the church is out of place. We belong by the bridegroom's side, and soon and very soon we're going to be swept up to meet the Lord in the air. Amen?

Let me tell you something else why the new world order will not work. Not only is the church out of place, but Israel, the people, are out of place. You see not only does the bride belong by her groom's side, but Israel, the rightful owner of the land of Israel, belongs in the land. The owner belongs in the land.

Now let me tell you this about the world also. There will never be world order until Israel is restored to her land and there is peace in Jerusalem. Now what is happening in Jerusalem right now is what the Bible has prophesied would happen.

The Bible prophesied and does prophesy that in the last days Jerusalem will be the international hot spot. Now folks, remember this. God is not finished with the Jewish nation. They are still the chosen people.

And God says he's going to take the church out. He's going to take the church out and after he takes the church out he's going to return and build again the tabernacle of David. God is not finished with the Jew, and Jesus is still the Jewish Messiah.

Israel, what we call the holy land, is still their rightful land. The Jews have been scattered far and wide around and across the earth, but God has a plan for the Jew. Known unto God are his works from the beginning of the creation.

Now let me tell you not only God's plan for the church but what is God's plan for Israel. We don't have to guess about it. God gave the land of Israel to Abraham and to his descendants. Put these verses down, Genesis chapter 17 and verse 8.

God is speaking to Abraham, the father of the faithful, and God says, "And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee," now the word seed means your children, your descendants, your progeny, your heirs, "and I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession."

Now God didn't say I'm going to give it to you and then take it back. He said I'm giving all the land of Canaan, Abraham, I'm giving it to you and to your descendants for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.

Now God made this promise to Abraham. Abraham had a son whose name was Isaac, and God confirmed the promise to Isaac. Here's what God said to Isaac in Genesis chapter 26, verses 3 and 4. God is speaking to Isaac and God says, "Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and I will bless thee, that is Isaac, for unto thee and unto thy seed I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father."

Now God gave this land to Isaac, and he swore with an oath to Abraham that it would be given from Abraham to Isaac and to their descendants. Put these scriptures down, Genesis chapter 28, verses 13 and 14. And the Lord is speaking now to Jacob.

"And behold the Lord stood above it and said, 'I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and the God of Isaac. The land wherein thou liest to thee will I give it and to thy seed.'" Now he's talking to Jacob who later becomes Israel, the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.

"And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south and in thee," now he's talking to Jacob, "and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed."

Now that's all summed up in Psalm 105, verses 6 through 11. Listen to what he says. "Ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, which covenant he made with Abraham and his oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying 'Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.'"

Now folks it could not be more plain. God has given that land that we call the holy land to the Jew.

Guest (Male): And we'll hear the powerful conclusion of this message coming up tomorrow here on Love Worth Finding. Today are you weighed down by something that you've been praying about alone? Maybe you have a prayer request that you can share with us.

We would love to come alongside you and pray with you. Go to our website homepage at lwf.org and scroll down, you'll find our prayer wall. There you'll find the option to either submit a prayer request or pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another's needs. We can't wait to hear from you. Again go to lwf.org and scroll down to our prayer wall.

Hi, this is Carey Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a non-profit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you.

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