Love Worth Finding

Adrian Rogers: Now salt in the Bible speaks of life, the life of the Lord Jesus. The Bible says have salt within yourselves. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, you are the salt of the earth. Salt speaks of the saving, purifying, sanctifying life of the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of vitality.

What we find here is that we're to present the Lord Jesus Christ, number one, in purity, number two, with integrity, and number three, with vitality.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the timeless biblical teaching of pastor and author Adrian Rogers. One of the reasons why Jesus Christ was considered an incredible communicator was his use of practical illustrations and how he incorporated everyday examples into his messages.

The way Jesus describes the church as salt speaks of its healing, preserving, and purifying properties. There are also biblical connotations for leaven and honey, and it's important to understand them so that we can be aware when situations arise. If you have your Bible, turn now to Leviticus chapter 2, look at verse 11 as Adrian Rogers begins part one of Salty Saints.

Adrian Rogers: Take God's word please and turn to Leviticus chapter 2 with me for a moment if you will, Leviticus chapter 2. As you're finding it and when you find it, look up here and let me tell you one wonderful secret about how to understand the Bible, the word of God. Learn this: the key to understanding the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ.

All of the Bible is about the Lord Jesus Christ, not just the New Testament. All of it is about the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. He's there in prophecy, he is there in type, he is there in illustration. Somewhere, somehow, standing in the shadows, you'll find Jesus. Jesus is the hero of the Bible. It is about him.

This is a him book. It's about the Lord Jesus Christ. If you read the Bible and you don't see the message of Jesus, you need to reread the Bible. That is true about the Levitical offerings especially. Today we're going to talk about the meal offering. The meal offering is called here the meat offering, but it doesn't mean flesh. It just simply means food or a food offering.

Notice here in verse 11. No meat offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord shall be made with leaven. This is Leviticus 2, verse 11. It shall not be made with leaven, underscore that. For ye shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering of the Lord made by fire. No leaven and no honey. Just underscore it.

Notice in verse 13. And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt. Neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering. With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. In no offering shall there be leaven, in no offering shall there be honey, but in every offering there must be salt. That's what God said.

This is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is God telling us here through the Holy Spirit? When God says there should be no leaven, he's saying that Jesus is to be presented in his purity. For you see in the Bible, leaven is always an emblem, a symbol of sin. Leaven is yeast and it speaks of that fermentation and corruption.

It speaks of that which puffs up and inflates. It is used in the Bible as an emblem and a symbol of sin. What he is saying here is that Jesus Christ is to be presented. When we present the Lord Jesus as believer priests, we are to present the Lord Jesus, number one, with no leaven. He is to be presented in his purity.

Why does he say that there's to be no honey? Honey speaks of excessive and external sweetness. It speaks of natural sweetness, external sweetness, excessive sweetness. What he's saying there is that when we present the Lord Jesus Christ, not only are we to present him in purity, but we are to present him with integrity. He doesn't need to be artificially sweetened.

He doesn't need excessive and external sweetness. We need to present him just like he is. Then he says that we are to present the Lord Jesus with much salt. Salt in the Bible speaks of life, the life of the Lord Jesus. The Bible says have salt within yourselves. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, you are the salt of the earth.

Salt speaks of the saving, purifying, sanctifying life of the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of vitality. What we find here is that we're to present the Lord Jesus Christ, number one, in purity, number two, with integrity, and number three, with vitality. First of all, therefore, we're to present Christ without leaven. We are to present Christ in purity.

Leaven is that which corrupts, it is that which puffs up. Leaven works very quietly, very stealthily, almost undetected at first. Ladies and gentlemen, it works best in lukewarm conditions. Leaven permeates the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus warned us about three kinds of leaven in the Bible. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 16, verses 11 and 12, he said beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

In Mark chapter 8 and verse 15, he said beware of the leaven of Herod. Three kinds of leaven that Jesus said to look out for: the leaven of the Pharisees, the leaven of the Sadducees, and the leaven of Herod. As we present the Lord Jesus Christ, we're to present him without that kind of leaven.

What was the leaven of the Pharisees? Who were the Pharisees? The Pharisees were a religious sect in Jesus' time and they were very religious. The leaven of the Pharisees is legalism. The Pharisees were legalists. If you were to ask a Pharisee do you believe the Bible is the word of God, he would say yes. If you were to ask him do you believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, if he understood the meaning of the word, he would say yes.

The Pharisees believed all of the Bible, but they didn't go to heaven, they went to hell. They had heads full of scripture, but they had hearts full of sin. They had religion, but they didn't have reality. They had laws, but they didn't have life. They were careful all right. They would dot every I and cross every T, but they couldn't spell the word love.

They did not know the meaning of Christ. They did not have the love of the Lord Jesus Christ in their heart. They were the most pitiful of all people because Jesus said they cross heaven and earth to make a proselyte and when they do, he's twice fold a child of hell. Legalism is not the answer to the dilemma that we're in.

I want you to know that I am a conservative Bible believing Christian. I believe all of the Bible. I make no apology for believing in the inerrancy of Holy Scripture. I believe the Bible is inerrant, infallible, impeccable. I believe it is absolutely true. I believe that God gave it from cover to cover.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and biblically I am conservative, but I am not a legalist. I pray God that he will save me and save you from the loveless leaven of legalism. Jesus said beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. The leaven of the Pharisees was legalism and legalism is not what our world needs today.

The Bible is a wonderful sword, but it is a terrible club. You say you sound to me like you are against legalism rather than liberalism. Friend, I'm against both of them. I want you to know that legalism and liberalism are heads and tails of the same sin, the same coin. It's just a perversion of the gospel of Christ.

Jesus said beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, but he also said beware of the leaven of the Sadducees. Who were the Sadducees? There was another denomination of that day, a political sect of that day. The Sadducees were the liberals of that day. Let me tell you how the Bible describes the Sadducees and then you'll understand why I call them liberals.

In Acts chapter 23 and verse 8: for the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. The Pharisees were very orthodox. They said there's a resurrection, angels, spirits, all of this. The Sadducees said we don't believe any of that.

The Sadducees were so sophisticated. They didn't believe in the supernatural elements of the Bible. They didn't believe in the resurrection from the dead and all of that. They were classic liberals. In a confrontation with the Sadducees, Jesus said this to them and it's a key verse. Matthew chapter 23 verse 29: Jesus answered and said unto them, ye do err, that is you make a great mistake, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God.

If you want a recipe for a liberal, there it is right there. You err, Jesus said, number one because you don't know the scriptures. Number two, you don't know the power of God. You see the Pharisees believed the Bible but they didn't obey the Bible. The Sadducees did not obey the Bible because they did not believe the Bible.

Jesus said you err, you don't understand the scriptures and you don't understand the power of God. Every liberal has difficulty with two things: the word of God and the power of God. They call themselves theologians, these liberals, but they don't know God. I'm talking about a classic liberal. He doesn't know God.

Theology means, theos means God, ology or logos means the word. The word logos and theos put them together, you have theology. God and word, the God of the word and the word of that God. They deny the God of the word and they deny the word of the God, so why do they call themselves theologians? They're like grape nuts, neither grapes nor nuts. They have no right to call themselves theologians.

Jesus said you err. You don't know the scriptures and you don't know the power of God. People have difficulty with miracles like the resurrection. Friend, if you can get past Genesis 1:1, the rest of it is all right. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. After that, it's all downhill if you just accept the fact of God.

You're not going to have any difficulty with any kind of miracle. Jesus said beware of the leaven of these Sadducees. Liberalism has left us a terrible legacy. Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter said, and I quote: In the space of a century, liberalism has turned Protestant Christianity into a graveyard, a graveyard of former glad certainties and soul saving verities, of expired beliefs and perished hopes, of lost faith and vanished assurance, of buried ideals and murdered morals.

That's the legacy of liberalism. Jesus warned against the loveless leaven of legalism and Jesus also warned against the leaven of liberalism and then he warned against the leaven of Herod. What was the leaven of Herod? Herod was a worldly pleasure mad king. The leaven of Herod is not legalism nor liberalism, but plain old licentiousness, worldliness.

This is another problem among Christians of all denominations. We hear much today about the separation of church and state. I believe we need to hear a little more about the separation of church and world. We need to understand that the Bible says come out from among them and be ye separate. The ways of the world have invaded the sanctuary.

We look around in Christendom and we see that the laxness of our morals and the break up of the home and the worldliness of our people is tragic. The leaven of Herod has secularized us. Jesus when he was speaking to the Herodians said this: Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's.

The Herodians somehow had tried to commingle that which belonged to Caesar and that which belonged to God. Sometimes we who are conservatives are accused of not believing in the separation of church and state, but I want you to know that you're listening to one preacher who believes it with all of the unction, function, and emotion of his soul.

The church of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot, must not be identified with any political party. The church needs to be free to tell the Republicans, the Democrats, and the independents to repent and get right with God. All of us. The church must never ever use the power of the government for spiritual goals.

The government may protect us, but it cannot improve us morally or spiritually. The government must be left free to do what it alone can do so the church is free to do what she alone can do and must do. God forbid that we get identified with the leaven of Herod. Always remember the difference between the church and the state.

The church is here to minister God's grace. The state is here to minister God's justice. The church is to expose evil, the state is to restrain evil. The church is to carry out the Great Commission. The state when it is working properly allows us to live in peace and freedom that we might carry out the Great Commission.

The church in her scope is international and eternal. The state in her scope is national and temporal. We are to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's. We need to tell the Democrats and we need to tell the Republicans, if they want our vote, they need to understand that we're not going to vote party.

We're not going to vote pocketbook, we're not going to vote personality, we're going to vote principle. We're going to find our principle in the word of God. We're here to tell the Herods of this world that Herod is not king, that Jesus Christ is king. While we believe in the separation of church and state, we also believe in the right of every freeborn American to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and our Caesar's a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Therefore we will participate, but while we participate, we will belong to Jesus Christ. Because we believe in our religious freedom and inalienable rights given us by God, we believe in the right to pray in the church, in the home, in the place of business, and also in the public schools.

I do not believe and I'm against with all of my heart any kind of a state written, state mandated prayer for anybody. I'm against that. At the same time, I'm in favor for every freeborn American to pray anytime, anyplace he wants, and not only silently, but vocally.

These people say well you can pray silently. Friend, you can do that in a Russian concentration camp. We are not to have our freedom of speech abridged. We are here to say we're free to pray and we're here to say that no one should be coerced or forced to pray. I believe that with all of my heart.

We are to purge out the leaven of Herod, which is licentiousness. We're to present the Lord Jesus Christ, number one, in purity, no leaven. Number two, we're to present the Lord Jesus Christ in integrity, no honey. What is honey? Honey is excessive and external sweetness. We have the prophets of the honey god among us.

Those who just think that there are no real problems and if we'll just take enough honey and just ladle that honey over our problems, they will all go away. These are the prophets of sweetness and light. They have confectionery convictions. They preach a candy Christ. They preach a religion that does not want to face the facts. They want everything to be sweetened up.

These are the people always talking about love, love, love. God is love. Don't anybody say that I didn't say that God is love. The Bible says that God is love. God is infinite love, inexpressible love, eternal love, unfathomable love. Thank God for the love of God. He is love, but that's not all of the truth.

He's also a God of justice. He's also a God of truth. When you say God is love and that's all you say, that's only part of the truth. When you take part of the truth and make part of the truth all of the truth, that part of the truth becomes an untruth. If you just simply make part of the truth a total truth, then you get a skewed idea of truth.

God is also a God of justice, he's a God of truth. People say now don't take a stand for doctrine, just be full of love, be full of love. Yes, be full of love, but what does the Bible say? The Bible says speak the truth in love. There's never any competition between truth and love. Speak the truth in love.

There are two dangers: number one is loveless truth, the other is truthless love. Speak the truth in love. You can't just simply take honey and ladle some honey over a situation and say therefore everything is all right. We are going to have to face the situation as it is. We have these modern day honey prophets who minimize sin, humanize man, and glorify rebellion against God.

There is a tendency toward universalism that would try to air condition hell and explain away the devil. They tell us that eventually everybody's going to heaven, we're all un-American if we don't put our arms around everybody else and say your religion's just as good as mine. I believe we have some in America, if they could vote on it, would outlaw hell as cruel and unusual punishment. God's un-American, he has no right to do that.

I want God's people to be together. I believe we ought to be together. But Jesus did not put the highest priority on unity, though he did put a priority on unity. He said I came not to send peace, but a sword. Jesus not only is the great unifier of those who believe in him, but he's also the great divider of those who don't believe in him.

He's the one who separates the sheep from the goats. He said I came to send a sword. I want God's people to be united, but listen and listen well if you don't hear anything else I say. I want God's people and the people of this church and the people of our denomination to be united. It is far better that Southern Baptists be divided by truth than be united in error.

Understand we can't just simply take honey and ladle honey over everything and say it's all sweet and all good. The world has lost its respect for preachers who are preaching a saccharine gospel and a church that's dying of diabetes. There's time when we present the Lord Jesus Christ, number one, in purity, and number two, we present the Lord Jesus Christ in integrity as he is, as he is, not just ladle honey over the whole situation.

Guest (Male): And with that we'll conclude today's portion of the message. Coming up on Monday, you'll hear part two. If you have questions about who Jesus is or what he means to you, how to place your faith fully in what he did for you on the cross, go to our find God's love page. You'll discover resources and materials that can answer any questions you may have about your faith. Go to LWF.org/radio and click find God's love at the top of the page.

Carrie Vaughn: Hi, this is Carrie Vaughn, and 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 just like you.

To give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVE-GOD, that's 1-877-LOVE-GOD, or write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You can also connect with us online by going to LWF.org/radio. There we offer helpful resources inspired by the timeless teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers.

Additionally, you can sign up for daily emails, donate to the ministry, and learn more about how to become an ambassador of the word. Thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to join us next time for more profound truth simply stated right here on Love Worth Finding.

Guest (Male): We were thrilled to hear from our friends in Columbia who left a note that said this, quote, "Cordial greetings, it's a great blessing to hear the preachings of Dr. Adrian Rogers every day. The Lord Jesus still uses him to share beautiful biblical messages. Thank you very much."

Here at Love Worth Finding Ministries our mission continues to be to share the profound truth of the gospel so simply anyone can understand. When you donate to the ministry this month, we want to send you a copy of Discover Jesus.

Looking for clarity, assurance, and purpose in your spiritual life? Discover Jesus offers powerful practical teaching to help you know him personally and live with joy every day. Request the book when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVE-GOD or give online at LWF.org/radio. Thank you for your support of Love Worth Finding.