Love Worth Finding

Guest (Male): Listen closely as Adrian Rogers shares what God can do through godly fatherhood.

Adrian Rogers: I don't know what kind of a home you came from. You can't do anything about your ancestors. I'm going to tell you one thing. You can do something about your descendants. You can say by the grace of God I'm going to be a godly daddy. I'm going to see my children's children loving God, serving God, praising God. The need of the hour is fathers who be God fearing, hard working, who will love their wives and lead their children.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the profound teaching and insightful lessons of pastor Adrian Rogers. The faith of our fathers is what leads our families through the mind field of today's world. In part one of today's message we learned that even the best fathers will inevitably make mistakes, but he is a man of tremendous character. Takes care of his wife's love and needs and leads his children. A good father learns consistency and discipline and cultivates his children through quality time. How do we become fathers that leave a legacy like this? If you have your Bible turn now to Psalm 128 as Adrian Rogers begins part two of faith of our fathers.

Adrian Rogers: Now there are several things I want you to see in this Psalm that talks about the godly dad, the faithful father. The very first of which is I want you to see the character that he lives, the character that he lives out in his daily life. Look in verses one and two. Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands. Happy shalt thou be and it shall be well with thee. Here is a father, here is a dad and it's very obvious that he is a God fearing, hard working dad.

That's what verses one and two tell us. He's a God fearing, hard working dad. Now that's just a good start. He has a fear of God. Now a fear of God doesn't mean that he cringes when he thinks of God. The word fear of God used in the Bible of the phrase speaks of a reverence for God. Someone has described the fear of God as love on its knees. And a person who fears God the most loves God the very best, but a wife needs to see in her husband a fear of God. Children need to see more than anything else in their dad a fear of God.

Folks, I'm telling you your kids need you to fear God. They're facing humanism that tells them that man is the center of everything. They're facing materialism that tells them that happiness belongs in things. They're facing all kinds of relativism that that tells them that there are no absolutes, no fixed standards of right and wrong and they need a God fearing dad. But now wait a minute. Look again if you will. Look not only at the character that he lives verses one and two, but look at the companion he loves verse three. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thy house.

I love that. That speaks not only of his character, but his companion, his wife like a fruitful vine. And and I fall of joy so many times under that metaphor a fruitful vine because that's exactly what a good wife is. Number one, she's faithful. Like a vine she clings to him. Number two, she's fruitful. She's fruitful and she's fruitful in all good works, fruitful to bear children, but fruitful in every aspect like a fruitful vine the Bible says. And she she's faithful, she's fruitful, but she's fragile. You see a vine needs the support that the house gives.

And she's like a like a a fruitful vine by the side of the house leaning on and depending upon you, dad. I want to say again the best thing dad that you can do for your kids. Secondly, first of all is to fear God. Secondly, to love their mama. To love their mama. It's so simple. It's it's not all that complicated. Fear God verse one. Number two, love your wife, that fruitful vine that God has given by the side of your house. You say well I I don't know. I I'm my love is growing cold.

Well then friend fired up you can choose to love your wife. Let me tell you something. It is not love that holds your marriage together. It's marriage that holds your love together. I mean you make a commitment. You say I will by the grace of God. God has commanded you to love your wife, but I want to move quickly past these verses to get at verse three, the last part of verse three and look at it again. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house, thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

Now we see the character he lives, the companion he loves, but now I want you to see the children he leads. The children he leads. Thy children shall be like olive plants. Now if you lived in the Middle East you'd understand why he talked about a child being like an olive plant, not not a full grown olive tree, but an olive plant. An olive plant that needs to be cultivated and cared for until it will become an olive tree. It needs to be nurtured and that's the reason he says they're going to be like olive plants round about your table.

You know the problem in America today is phantom fathers, failing fathers, dropout dads. Some of you spend such a little time with your children. I read a cartoon where a business executive said to his secretary Mrs. Chortle I want to be a better father. Would you try to locate my children for me please? A lot of executives are just about that way. I read with a broken heart. I read and reread this statistic. The average father in America spends seven and one half minutes a week with his teenage son or daughter. Seven and one half minutes a week.

I'm talking about face to face relationship. We live in America where we kind of spawn them and pawn them. I mean we we have these children then we we we leave it up to other people to raise our children for them. Dave Simmons said they deposit their bottle fed babies in kitty care covens and school cells, keep them in Reebok, straighten their teeth and call this child raising. We let somebody else do it. Friend, you've got to cultivate these olive plants. That's the reason that I want you to put in your margin by verse three, Ephesians chapter six verse four.

Listen to it. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. Now this verse has both a negative and a positive in it. The negative is this. Here's the negative to watch out for. He says provoke not your children to wrath. If you have difficulty with that translation, let me just give it to you in plain English. Don't drive them nuts. Provoke not your children to wrath.

The word provoke means to exasperate, it means to frustrate, it means to badger, it means to wound, it means to humiliate. And that's what many dads are doing to the kids. And you can do this two basic ways. Number one, by under disciplining your child. Proverbs chapter 19 verse 18 says chasten thy son while there is hope. Let me show you something that I came across. Los Angeles Dodger baseball player Orel Hershiser, all you men recognize the name, was interviewed in the Wall Street Journal. And Orel Hershiser I believe hit a home run on the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

When he asked for his strategy, when asked for his strategy of success, here's what he said. And I want you to listen to this. He said and I quote I give my credit to my personal submission to Jesus Christ. Each time I assess my major league career I ask myself these questions. Am I still married? Are my children happy? And do they know that their father loves them and is committed to their mother and to them? And when I'm finished with my baseball career my most important goal is not to make the Hall of Fame, but to see that my family is successful as the result of my influence.

Don't you love that? Don't you love that? I this great man wealthy because of his baseball prowess said I I'm not trying to get in somebody's Hall of Fame, but in God's Hall of Fame by raising my family as I ought to raise them. And Orel, I salute you for that. But the sad thing is one week later in USA Today they were doing a story on another baseball player. His name Pete Rose. So they thought they'd find out about the real Pete Rose and so they interviewed his daughter. And this is what his daughter said.

He's the worst father in the world. I will never understand why he never had anytime for any of us. We really didn't expect anything from him. We just wanted him to like us. Even if I wanted to call my dad I couldn't. He will not give me his phone number. I have to call his agent and then wait for him to return the call. When they asked Pete Rose about that, do you know how he responded? Here's how he responded. I don't know what she's complaining about. I bought her a new Mercedes last week and had it sent to her.

Two men, two sets of values. I'm telling you dads they're like olive plants. They've got to be cultivated. They've got to be cared for. Now I want you to see not only the the children that he leads, but I want you to see last of all the contribution that he leaves. The contribution that he leaves. Look in verses five and six. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion. Thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Show me a generation that has God fearing, hard working fathers, men who love their wives, men who lead their children and I'll show you a nation that is a strong nation.

You'll see the good of Jerusalem. As I told you before America will not be changed until our families are changed and our families will not be changed until the fathers are changed. You'll see the good of Jerusalem. That's a part of the legacy that he he he leaves is a as a healthy nation. But oh I want you to see of the last part of it. That ye thou shalt see thy children's children and peace upon Israel. Now he's talking not only about national security, but he's talking about your personal legacy. You will see your children's children and the ideas of the children's children living in peace because of the legacy of a godly granddaddy.

That means all the more to me with because of my six wonderful grandchildren I love who with a with a indescribable love. Thou shalt see thy children's children. What a delight that is. I I had the privilege last week of spending some quality time with Bill and Gloria Gaither. Now you know that Bill and Gloria Gaither have made I suppose a greater impact on Christian music in our generation than any people who live. I mean they have just written the great great music that our choir sings and many of us have grown up on Gaither music.

Well when I was having coffee with Bill he he told me a story that I I want to share with you because I thought it so perfectly fits in with the one I'm about to say. He said that back there in Indiana in Alexandria Indiana when when he and Gloria were first married they were school teachers. They weren't in the ministry of music and they weren't doing concerts and writing music. They were school teachers. They didn't have very much money, but they wanted to build a house. They lived in a little town and they thought well we need to build a house and we want to have some acreage.

We want about 15 acres. And so they they drove around town and they saw 15 acres out there on the edge of the town and they decided well we want that 15 acres. They asked around and found out who it belonged to and it belonged to a Mr. Yule who was a retired banker whose business mostly was acquiring. He didn't get rid of stuff. He just bought it and bought it and held it. Everybody knew that Mr. Yule liked to buy property, but he didn't like to sell property. But they decided they would go to Mr.

Yule and ask Mr. Yule if if they could buy that 15 acres. And they took their daughter and dressed her up, put a bonnet on her to make her look cute, to be a good little family you know. Went in to see Mr. Yule and ask him. Mr. Yule, would you consider selling us that 15 acres of property out there on the edge of town? And Mr. Yule looked at them and he said well he said I I don't I don't want to sell anything. Said I I really I'm I'm not interested. He said to what is your name son?

He said my name is Gaither. He said Gaither? He said is your was your was your granddad Grover Gaither? Well he said yes. Said that that that's my granddad. He said he was. He said let me tell you about Grover Gaither. Said he used to work for me. He said I have never seen a harder working, more faithful, more dedicated man than your granddad Grover Gaither. He said son you came from good stuff. Said go away. Let me think about it. Come back tomorrow. Bill Gaither came back whether it was tomorrow a few days I cannot remember.

The old man Mr. Yule said well I've decided to sell the property. How about $3,500 Gaither said I didn't know whether they meant for the whole thing or an acre, but I said that well well all right that that'll be fine. And he bought this piece of property, 15 acres for $3,500. Had a little stream through it and they they began to work around the stream and they went out there and began to plant trees out on that 15 acres, a tree for one child, a tree for another child. They have a son named Benji and they have the Benji tree there and all of these trees.

And through the years they have just planted on on this this 15 acres until the day it's it's a very beautiful spot. That was 27 years ago. Bill said to me he said the other day my son Benji who's now grown boy just graduated from college was going off to do some ministry in the inner city. The women were in the house and Benji and I were just walking around in that beautiful piece of property. And Benji said to me said dad this sure is a pretty place isn't it? I said yes son. It really is a nice place.

And then Benji said dad how did we ever get this place? How did we ever get this place? And Bill Gaither said Benji I thought you would never ask. I want to tell you how we got this place because of my granddad, your great granddaddy who was a faithful man, who was a good man because of him son. We're walking around out here today. My dear friend, that's a beautiful story to me because I believe that's exactly what this Psalm is saying. Ye thou shalt see thy children's children and peace upon Jerusalem. I don't know what kind of a home you came from.

Maybe you weren't blessed to have a granddaddy like Grover Gaither or great granddad. Friend, you can't do anything about your ancestors, but I'm going to tell you one thing. You can do something about your descendants. You can do something about them. You can say by the grace of God I'm going to be a godly daddy. I'm going to see my children's children loving God, serving God, praising God. One day maybe they'll sing and they'll think of us when they sing faith of our fathers living still. The need of the hour, the need of the hour, the need of the hour is fathers who be God fearing, hard working, who will love their wives and lead their children.

CS Lewis listen to me. I'm finished. But CS Lewis says there are two kinds of people in the world. Are you listening dads, moms, children listen to me. There are two kinds of people in the world. You can take all of the people in the world and just divide them up into these two categories. First of all there are those who look up to God in humble submission and say to him thy will be done. That's the greatest, most wonderful thing you could do. Just look up to God and say God thy will be done.

Save me, fill me, use me. I want dear Lord to fear you, to follow you with my family. Thy will be done. That's one category of person. Those who say to God thy will be done. The other category of persons are those to whom God says as they slip into hell thy will be done. Thy will be done. When God says to them all right have it your way. Your will be done. As they go to hell. Friend, God is not willing that any should perish. If you die and go to hell it's because you refused the will of God and chosen your own will.

And God will have to say to you your will be done. I wonder today would you like to say to God in heaven oh God thy will be done? Lord, I need you. I want you. I need to be saved. I want to become a child of God. I want every head bowed and every eye closed, no one stirring, no one looking around, no one moving. If you're already saved would you begin to pray for those round about you who may not be saved? Maybe you don't know whether they're saved or not. Just pray Lord bless the person to my right.

Bless the person to my left. That person in front of me, that person behind me. Oh God right now if if they don't know you Lord help them right now that they might come to know you as their personal savior and Lord. My dear friend, I want to tell you that Jesus Christ is knocking at your heart's door today and he wants to save you. And he will save you if you would pray a prayer like this. Oh God, I know that you love me. I know that you want to save me. Jesus, you died to save me.

I believe you're the son of God. I believe that God raised you from the dead. I believe it. And I know that you paid for my sin debt. And I open my heart now and I receive you into my heart as my Lord and savior. My prayer is that your will will be done in my life. Come into my heart. Forgive my sins. Save me Lord Jesus. Save me Lord Jesus. You say pastor I can't remember all of that. Just put it in a short sentence. Save me Lord Jesus. Father, I pray that many many today in this place will receive Christ as their personal savior and Lord.

Be born again in Jesus name. Amen.

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Men, are you leading your family with character? Do you love your wife and lead your children on the path of righteousness? Consider the legacy you're leaving behind. We're so glad you joined us for this study in God's word. Tune in next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. Jesus Christ commissioned his followers to take the gospel to all nations. And at Love Worth Finding that is exactly what we're doing every day, bringing people to Christ and helping them grow in their faith. As our way of saying thank you for your gift today that helps us do that.

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