Love Worth Finding

Adrian Rogers: Is your heart ready for a word from God? Listen closely to Adrian Rogers. God wants to speak to your heart today. Don't you let your heart get hard.

I preach to some people, it's like pouring water on a rock. Nothing gets in. You can believe intellectually in God, and you can go to hell with a Bible under your arm. Unless you let my precious friend, the word of God, come into your heart. There is the convicting word of the heart.

God put His word in the heavens. You hold His word in your hand. God sends His word into your heart. Why? That you might walk with Him and talk with Him, and the meditation of your heart would be acceptable in His sight. How sweet, how wonderful that is.

Announcer: Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the timeless teaching of Pastor and author Adrian Rogers. We are neither too intelligent nor unintelligent to believe in God and know Him personally.

Pastor Rogers said, "You don't come to God head first. You come to God heart first." Psalm 19 gives us three ways in which God speaks to us, and in return, we can know Him personally, intimately, and assuredly. If you have your Bible, turn to Psalm 19 now, as Adrian Rogers shares how you can know God personally.

Adrian Rogers: I want to tell you today how you can know God personally. You don't have to guess about it. You can know Him personally, and that's so very important. You see, because to know Him is to trust Him. To trust Him is to obey Him, and to obey Him is to be blessed.

Now, how can you know God? Well, the 19th Psalm gives us three ways in which God speaks to us, and you don't have to guess about it. There can be no stutter, no stammer, no apology, no equivocation. You can know God personally, intimately, assuredly. You can say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth."

Now here are the three things. Here are the three ways that God speaks to you. First of all, there is the convincing word of God in the heavens. Look if you will here in this Psalm, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handy work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth, that is, the sun's going forth, is from the end of the heavens and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there's nothing hid from the heat thereof."

Now what he's talking about now is God's word in the heavens. God's convincing word in the heavens. As you look up into the starry night, as you see the vast universe that Almighty God has created, that alone is enough to confirm what the Bible has said, "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God." For out of nothing, nothing comes.

What do the heavens declare? First of all, the glory of God. Look in verse one, "The heavens declare the glory of God." Go out some night, some starry night, and just look upward at that candelabra in the sky and think about all of that. Think of the glory that is displayed there.

Sometime ago, Joyce and I took a vacation down to a little island in the Caribbean, a small little island, no automobiles on the island, and we stayed in a little cabin that had no air conditioning. And right there by the water's edge, and there was a wooden dock, a wharf, nothing to do. We made a big jigsaw puzzle, took us all week to do that, walked the beach, and had that, in order to go down to the little village, there was a little boat out there. You had to take the little boat. And the boat came with the cottage.

But for recreation, Joyce and I would go out and lie down on our backs on that little wharf, that little dock at night time and talk to one another and look straight up into the stars. And down in the Caribbean, the sky, like the water, crystal clear. And to see those stars up there, millions and millions of them, just to lie on your back and look at those stars, would just fill you with awe. You know, we've forgotten to look up, haven't we? We're so busy running around.

Some night, find a clear night and just go out and look up there and see what God has made and the heavens declare the glory of God. Amen. You're going to see God's glory. And when you see God's glory, you're going to see God's greatness. Look again in this Psalm if you will, "And the firmament showeth His handy work." Once you see the glory, you say, "Who did that?" God did that. That is God's handy work. What great power is demonstrated in creation.

You know, man can't create anything. No man has ever created one thing. We talk about human beings with creativity. All you can do is rearrange what God has already created. God created one great act, everything. People looking for the Big Bang, they better be trying to find out who is behind the whole thing.

Light travels. I'm always impressed with the speed of light. 186,282 miles per second. How fast is that? Well, if you were, if you were going to hijack a light beam and go to the moon, you're at the moon. Two seconds, you're at the moon. But you have to travel at the speed of light for and one-half years to get to the nearest star.

And folks, to travel on out to the rim of our known universe, you would travel for 10 billion years. To the moon in two seconds. 10 billion years and you still have not reached the edge of this vast universe. Who made all of that? I want to tell you that God made it. But if you think not only about the vastness of this world, but think about the intricacies of this world.

There's so many cells in the human body, three billion of them in your body. Some of us have more than others, but let's take an average person, three billion of these cells. And Paul Doty of Harvard University said that one of these cells, just one, is more complicated than New York City. You think of everything that's happening in the great city. Just one of those cells, three billion of them in your body.

Whether you look inward, whether you look outward, whether you see the vastness or the minuteness of this creation, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handy work." The heavens declare the glory of God. The heavens declare the greatness of God, and the heavens declare the goodness of God.

Look if you will again in verse 19, uh chapter 19 verse two, "Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." Now what does that mean? It means there is a fixed order in the universe, night and day, day and night. It is God who daily loadeth us with benefits. And His mercies are new every morning. And this knowledge is universal, it is everywhere. Anybody any place on the face of the earth that can see the sun like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and going across the orbit of the sky, to feel the warmth of its rays, to see it fructify and cause the earth to blossom and bloom, and to feel the gentle rain that's a part of the hydraulic action of that sun, and knowing that God makes it to rain upon the just and the unjust, can look up and say, "The heavens declare the glory of God, the greatness of God, and the goodness of God," and the fool has said in his heart there's no God.

Now, we see God's convincing word in the heavens. But there's another way that God speaks. Here's the second way, and it's God's converting word in the hand. I have in my hand the word of God. Not only is God's word in the heavens, but God's word is in my hand. Oh, the marvel of the word of God. Oh, the marvel of the Bible.

Begin now in verse seven of this same Psalm and look if you will, please. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them is great reward."

There's the convincing word, and there is my friend, the converting word, the converting word that I hold in my hand. Look again if you will, in verse seven of this Psalm, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." You cannot know God through creation alone. You can know about God, but friend, you have to have the Bible to truly know the heart and mind of God. Not only what God has wrought, but what God has written. That's the reason I love the Bible.

Think for a moment about the virtue of the scripture. First of all, he says in verse seven, "That the law of the Lord is perfect." Perfect. "Converting the soul." That's the reason we believe in the inerrancy of the scripture. Every sentence, every jot, every tittle, every syllable is put there by the mind and purpose of God. God wrote it. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and a God of truth could never inspire error.

J.B. Phillips decided he would make a translation of the scriptures, put it in more friendly language, more understandable language than the King James version of the scripture, so he thought. J.B. Phillips, when he began his work, did not believe in verbal plenary inspiration, that it was all verbally inspired by God. But as he got to dealing with the scriptures, here's what he said. He was so impressed with the power of the Bible that he said that trying to do this was like trying to rewire a house without pulling the main switch. Just in there dealing with the power of the scripture.

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Next, "The law of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." It's the foundational word. Friend, when you understand the Bible, you have a place to stand. It is sure. It is certain. You're not walking on eggshells and Jell-O. And a wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein.

Again, look in verse eight, "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart." The word right has the idea of a straight path. The Bible will never lead you astray. Sometimes I hear people say, "Oh, it's so hard to be a Christian." That's not what the Bible teaches us. The Bible teaches the way of the transgressor is hard. This verse says, "That the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart." The saints and heroes of the ages have found joy in the word of God as I do continually day after day.

And then next, "The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." Do you see that in verse eight? When the Bible says it's pure, that means there's no mixture of error in the Bible. There are over 6,000 promises in the Bible, and not one of them of God's pure word has ever been broken. Look in verse nine, "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever." Why does the Bible live on? Because there are no seeds of corruption in the word of God. It is the incorruptible, indestructible word of God, which lives and abides forever. By the way, the scriptures are never out of date and never inappropriate.

I've been preaching the scriptures now for well over four decades, and they're as fresh to me as they've ever been. I'm not finding hidden flaws, I'm finding hidden beauties. I love the word of God more today than I ever have loved the word of God. Why? Because the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. But think not only of the virtues of the scripture, think of the value of the scriptures. Look in verse 10, "They're precious. They are more desirable than much fine gold." I wonder how many people in this building really believe that. To a true believer, the Bible is precious indeed.

You cannot love God without loving His word. I say this and I know that God is listening, and I'm thinking as I'm saying it. If you were to put all of the treasures in this world on this side, and put the Bible over here and say to me, "Adrian, you can have one or the other," I wouldn't have to think for a skinny minute. I would choose the word of God. I mean that with all my heart. No stutter, no stammer. God is listening to me. I would not have to think about it. Greater than gold is the word of God. Oh, they are precious indeed.

Oh, friend, the Bible is a treasure. How we ought to love it. And not only are they, is the scripture precious, it is protective. Look in verse 11, "By them is thy servant warned." You know, protection is far better than cure. There are so many hurts and so many harms and so many failures that you would be kept from if you would only let the word of God lead you. If you would get up in the morning and bathe yourself in the word of God, "By them is thy servant warned." Let God turn His light on your path and say, "Walk this way," and "Don't walk that way."

Not only are they precious, not only are they protective, they are profitable. "In keeping of them is great reward." Verse 11. You cheat yourself of an incredible blessing by not loving the word of God. Now, what am I saying? There's God's word in the heavens. The heavens declare the glory of God. There is God's word in the hand. The scriptures, the written word given by inspiration of Almighty God as God speaks to us, and we think of the virtues and the values of the word of God.

But still, that's not enough. There's one more thing that we need, and that is the convicting word of God in the heart. The word in the heavens, the word in the hand, but now the word in the heart. Look if you will now in verse 12 of this same wonderful Psalm, "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." Now, what he's doing now is praying. He's speaking to God, "Cleanse Thou me from secret faults. Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer."

This is a prayer to the Holy Spirit. You see, we see objectively that God exists. Then we learn from the word of God, the truths of God's word, the converting word of God, but the Holy Spirit of God must make all of this real in our heart. Look in verse 12, "There is the convicting word of the Spirit." "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." Do you know why we have moral earthquakes? Because we have secret faults, and we don't know what's beneath the surface. And so he's saying, "I can't understand this." You see, your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and so is mine. So what do we need? We need the Holy Spirit of God to bring conviction of sin. And Jesus said concerning the Holy Spirit, "When He is come, He will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment."

I, I can get you to nod your head that you've sinned, but you'll never understand the depth of your sin. Nor will you ever truly be convicted of that sin. You only agree perhaps, but when the Holy Spirit of God speaks to you, that's the convicting word of God. That's the reason this morning before I walked out here, I got on my knees and prayed. Friend, God wants to speak to your heart today. Don't you let your heart get hard. I've preached to some people, it's like pouring water on a rock. Nothing gets in. You can believe intellectually in God, and you can go to hell with a Bible under your arm. Unless you let my precious friend, the word of God, come into your heart, there is the convicting word of the heart.

I hear people say, "Well, if I know my heart, da da da da da." Come up close, I want to tell you something. You don't know your heart. Only God knows your heart. Your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. And a deceitful heart can never discern a deceitful heart. And so, in verse 12, there's the convicting word of the Spirit. And then in verse 12, there's the cleansing word of the Spirit. Thank God for that. Listen, "Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." "Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." You cannot know God personally and intimately if there's sin in your heart and in your life.

Now, does the Holy Spirit cleanse? Through the atoning blood. First John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The conviction of the Spirit, the cleansing of the Spirit, and then, that's not enough. Look again in verse 13, "There is the control of the Spirit." "Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me." "Then shall I be upright, and then shall I be innocent from the great transgression."

You see how, how the Holy Spirit works? First there's conviction, then there's cleansing, but that's not enough. Then there's the control. Keep me, Lord, from presumptuous sins. Two things you better always be cognizant of, the possibility of secret faults and the danger of presumptuous sins. It's one thing to slip into sin. It's another thing to stumble into sin, but friend, pray God that He will keep you from presumptuous sin. That is where you say, "I know this is wrong, but..." You are in grave danger when you do that. "Keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sin."

Now, this is God's word, this is the convicting word now in the heart, where there is the conviction of sin, there's the cleansing of sin, there is the control from sin, there's the control of the Spirit. And do you know what that leads to? This is the bottom line, the communion of the Spirit. Look if you will now in verse 14, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer."

That's what it's all about. God put His word in the heavens. You hold His word in your hand. God sends His word into your heart. Why? That you might walk with Him and talk with Him, and the meditation of your heart would be acceptable in His sight. How sweet, how wonderful that is. God has put His word in the heavens. God has put His word in our hands, and God has put His word in our hearts.

Announcer: And if you've prayed to receive Jesus just now, we would love to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page at the website. There you'll find more insights about your new found faith and you'll see the opportunity to take the next steps in your walk with God. Go to LWF.org/radio and click the tab that says Discover Jesus. Welcome to His forever family. We can't wait to hear from you today.

Do you feel far and distant from God? Remember, by the word of God in the heavens, in our hands, and in our hearts, we can know God personally. This program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a nonprofit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters like you. To give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVEGOD. 1-877-568-3463. Or connect with us online at LWF.org/radio. Or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us next time for more profound truths simply stated, right here on Love Worth Finding.

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