Love Worth Finding

Narrator (Male): What do we do when faith seems to fail in our circumstances? Listen to Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers: God has not promised that we would not know difficulty. As a matter of fact, what He has promised is we will know ultimate victory. He has promised never to leave us, never to forsake us, but He has not promised that we will never have difficulty.

Narrator (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the profound truth of the scripture taught in the practical lessons of Adrian Rogers. In this life, we will experience situations in which we have tried to trust in God, and our faith seems to fail. What do we do when we face trials, tribulations, and heartaches, and faith doesn't seem to remove them? Hebrews chapter 11 gives us insight to those who struggled to endure when times get tough. If you have your Bible, turn there now. We will begin in verse 30 as Adrian Rogers shares part one of what to do when faith seems to fail.

Adrian Rogers: Take your Bibles, find Hebrews chapter 11 and look up here. We have been talking about faith. We are in a series of Bible sermons entitled "Champions of Faith." You cannot live the Christian life apart from faith, for the Bible says clearly, plainly, that we live by faith. The just shall live by faith.

The Lord Jesus said, "According to your faith, be it unto you." The writer of Hebrews says, "Apart from faith, it is impossible to please God." So, we need not only to possess faith, we need a faith that possesses us.

But what happens sometimes when faith seems to fail? Sometimes we pray. Maybe we are going to have an outdoor event and we say, "Lord, give us beautiful weather." And the bottom falls out. Has that ever happened to you? I mean it turns everything into a swamp. And you prayed and you asked God for it.

Sometimes you pray and you say, "Lord, I want to marry that man. Give him to me as a husband." And he marries your best friend. You say, "Lord." On a more serious note, sometimes we have a loved one who is sick. And we come to God and we say, "Oh God, heal my child. Lord, heal my wife. Heavenly Father, touch with Your healing hand." And they don't get better. They get worse.

It seems like some greedy malady is just eating away at those that we love the best. And we see them wind down to the grave. And we have tried to believe. We have tried to trust. And faith seems to fail. We are ready just to throw in the towel. We say, "What's the use? It's not working." Have you ever been there?

Hold on. You may be. Times come sometimes where the answer doesn't come exactly as we think that it ought. Sometimes trials, temptations, tribulations, heartaches, tears, fears, they come and faith doesn't seem to remove them.

Now actually, that's why this eleventh chapter of Hebrews is written. Because there were some who were ready to throw in the towel. There were some who were ready to hang it up. They had been serving the Lord and there was great persecution. Actually, to get a running start on Hebrews chapter 11, you need to go back to Hebrews chapter 10 verse 36, for the writer there says, "You have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. You need to learn to endure."

Let's look here in Hebrews chapter 11 and look here at some of the amazing victories of faith. Let's look in verse 32. "And what shall I more say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, and of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets." Now listen to this, "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again."

Now if it just ended there, we would say, "Sign me up." That's the kind of life I want. But there is another two words here that some of us may not like, "and others." "And others," listen, "were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had a trial of cruel mockings and scourging, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth."

Well, something must have been wrong with them. They must not have had faith. Oh, notice verse 39, "And all these having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise." God said, "What did they get on their report card? A+." "How did they do it? By faith." "Did they escape?" No. They did not escape. They endured. Some escaped by faith, some endured by faith. All had faith. But sometimes it seems like faith seems to fail.

I want to give you three propositions this morning so that you will have a mature faith. Many people have a superficial faith and a superstitious faith, rather than a strong faith and a spiritual faith and a biblical faith. So if you're about ready to throw in the towel. If you prayed for your child and your child didn't get well and you're ready to quit coming. By the way, we have people, I always as a pastor, I see them. I see them in church. They are doing fine until the crisis comes. Until the bottom falls out. And they quit. They don't endure. They don't continue. They say in effect, "It's not working." And so they quit. They have an immature faith, sometimes a superstitious faith.

Alright, are you ready for three principles? Number one, mature faith believes in the supernatural power of God. That means if God doesn't do it, it is not because He cannot. Look again in verses 32 through 35, "And what shall I more say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, and of David also, and Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were..." Oh, stop right there.

Now, all of these are supernatural. Supernatural deliverance. And friend, we all love those stories. We have learned them from childhood. Daniel in the lions' den. Don't you love the story of old Daniel? They said, "Daniel, don't pray, we'll throw you in the lions' den." He prayed anyway. They threw him in the lions' den and God gave the lions lockjaw. Old Daniel pulls up a fluffy lion and fluffs him up and uses him for a pillow, gets his Old Testament out and begins to read between the lions.

We love those stories. We love the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They said, "Bow down to the pagan idol or we will cast you in a fiery furnace." They said, "We're not going to worship your filthy idol." Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are thrown into the fiery furnace. They wouldn't bow, they wouldn't budge, but they wouldn't burn.

The king looks in the fiery furnace, he said, "I thought we threw three guys in there. There are four in there. And the fourth is like the Son of God." And Jesus walked through the fire with them and they came out, the Bible says, without the smell of smoke in their clothes. I can't even go to the barbershop without the smell of smoke in my clothes. What a mighty God they served.

David and Goliath. And David slew Goliath. We've heard that story since we were children. Goliath over 9 feet tall. The NBA would love to have him. Everybody else was afraid of Goliath. Not young David. David was just a kid. Hadn't even begun to shave yet, I don't believe. The Bible says he had a fair and ruddy countenance. Everybody else thought that Goliath was too big to hit. David thought he was too big to miss. Everybody else was thinking, "Look how much bigger Goliath is than we are." David was thinking, "Look how much smaller Goliath is than God is." And God gave David the victory over this giant. We love those stories.

We love the story in the New Testament of Simon Peter being cast into prison by wicked Herod. An angel comes in and leads him out of prison. And the angel says, "Wake up, Simon. Get dressed." That is, we're not sneaking out, we're going out in class. The doors open and he walks out of prison. Great jailbreak. As a matter of fact, as you read the Bible, Simon Peter had more difficulty getting into a prayer meeting afterward than he had getting out of jail. We love those stories. I love those stories.

And I'm going to tell you something. If you have walked with Jesus for a long time, every one of you has a story like that. Where God miraculously, supernaturally, inexplicably, worked in your heart and in your life, and no way to explain it apart from God. And you say, "Praise God." The supernatural power of God. Now I'm telling you, mature faith believes in the supernatural power of God, and don't ever say there's something God cannot do. God can do anything, anything, anything but fail. God cannot fail.

Now, that's mature faith. So if you think I'm trying to explain away the miraculous in this message, you missed the whole thing. The writer of Hebrews gives all of these illustrations. Mature faith believes in the supernatural power of God.

Number two, mature faith bows to the sovereign purposes of God. Now there is God's supernatural power. But there is also God's sovereign purpose. Sometimes God's ways are mysterious, but that doesn't mean they're weak. Notice again, beginning in verse 35, "Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had a trial of cruel mockings and scourging, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise."

Now, we love the exciting victories, but sometimes they don't seem to come. The Bible says in some were stoned. Zechariah, the prophet, was stoned to death. Stephen was stoned. I have a son named Stephen. Well you say, "He must not have been right with God." No, he was filled with the Holy Ghost. Simon Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost and got 3,000 souls. Stephen was filled with the Holy Ghost and got perhaps 3,000 stones. Both of them filled with the Holy Ghost.

Now, verse 37 says that some were sawn in two, sawn asunder. Most likely that refers to Isaiah. Isaiah was put in a hollow tree, according to tradition, by the king. And King Hezekiah had the prophet that he hated put in a hollow tree and the hollow tree was then sawn down. He thought that would be a way to mock God's prophet. Can you imagine being cut in two with a crosscut saw?

The others says, "They wandered about in skins," and so forth. You see, the ancients used to make delight and fun out of torturing godly people. Early Christians were sometimes dressed in animal skins and then turned loose in the woods so the dogs would bay after them in the hunt. Sometimes they were fed to the lions. Go to Rome sometimes and go to the Colosseum. Go to the Circus Maximus where bloodthirsty crowds would sit up there and say, "Bring on the Christians, bring on the Christians." And they would seal their faith with their lives.

I have read the Book of Martyrs. I have read where Christians would be sewn up in bags with poisonous serpents. They would be tied to the beaches at high tide, at low tide, so when the tide would come in, they would drown slowly. Warren Wiersbe said, "You'd better not try to get your theology from circumstances. If you do, you'll come to the conclusion that God doesn't love you."

If you get your theology, listen, if you get your theology from circumstances, you will come to the conclusion that God doesn't love you. Let me give you an example of that. In John chapter 11 and verse 5, the Bible says clearly and plainly that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. That's John 11 verse 5. No ifs and buts about it. Jesus loved them. Now Lazarus gets sick and then he dies. Listen to this now. And Jesus said unto them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and I'm glad."

Did I hear right? In verse 5, He loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Lazarus is dead and I'm glad. Now friend, if you tried to reconcile those without knowing the whole story, you'd say, "Hey, there's something very confusing here." You see, God has not promised, God had, well, let me just back up and say God had a greater plan for Lazarus, didn't He? Yes.

You see, God has not promised that we would not know difficulty. As a matter of fact, what He has promised is we will know ultimate victory. That's the reason that some of my, well, one of my favorite books in the Bible, if not my favorite, is Romans. And one of my favorite chapters in Romans is chapter 8. And some of my favorite verses in Romans chapter 8 are verses 35 through 37 that ask a question, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, 'For Thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."

He doesn't say you're not going to have these things. Don't get the idea that somehow these things happen to those who don't love the Lord. No, these are things that happen to the victorious. You see, friend, He has promised never to leave us, never to forsake us, but He has not promised that we will never have difficulty.

Now, if difficulty comes, you may be ready to quit. That happened to John the Baptist. You know John the Baptist was a great man. You know what Jesus said of John the Baptist? "Not a greater born of woman." Pretty good compliment, right? "Not a greater born of woman." Yet John the Baptist had a spell of doubt. John the Baptist was perhaps ready to hang it up. Ready to throw in the towel, ready to quit. Why is this?

Well, John the Baptist had been out there by the River Jordan preaching. He had a rock for a pulpit, a babbling brook for a choir. And as Dr. Lee used to say, he ate honey, but he didn't preach it. He preached repent. Called some of them a bunch of rattlesnakes. He said, "Come to God." He's and he's pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was not a doormat. He was a rugged prophet, a man of God. But then he's taken and put in prison.

Can you imagine John the Baptist now in prison? Some dungeon. Some damp, smelly dungeon. Soon he's going to have his head taken off. Now he's a man of God. He had been preaching a victorious Christ. A Christ whose winnowing fan was in his hand, blowing away the chaff and burning it, baptizing with the Holy Ghost and with fire. A Messiah. And now he's in prison. And he's wondering, "If He can heal the sick and raise the dead, and I have been true to Him, why can't He get me out of prison?"

And he sent some people. You can hardly believe this is John the Baptist. He sent some messengers to Jesus and said, "Would you go ask Him if He's really the Messiah?" Oh, John. "Would you go ask Him if He's really the Messiah, or should we look for somebody else?" Now remember, this is not this is not an ordinary man. This is not a six or a seven, friend. This is a ten. This is the one that Jesus said, "Not a greater among men than John the Baptist."

And let me tell you something right now. Never mistake the moment for the man, okay? This wasn't the whole John the Baptist, but he had a sinking spell. He had a doubt. Now, I want you to listen to what Jesus says to him. Matthew 11 verses 4 through 6. "Jesus answered and said unto them," these people who came with John's question, "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me."

John, let me tell you something, son. I can open blind eyes. I can unstop deaf ears. I can cleanse lepers. I can raise the dead. And John, if I have not taken you out of prison, it's not because I can't. Now, John, don't get offended at Me. Friend, I want to tell you something. If you've prayed and asked God to do a miracle for you and He's not done it, it's not because He can't. And it's not because He does not love. And don't you pout at God. Don't get offended.

A wise man once said, "Faith is not receiving from God so much what we want as it is accepting from God what He gives or what He allows." That is faith.

Narrator (Male): And with that, we will end today's portion of the message. We will continue with part two tomorrow. We hope you can join us then. In the meantime, maybe you have a prayer request that you'd like to share. At Love Worth Finding, one of our great honors is to come alongside you and pray with you and for you. If you can, go to our website homepage at lwf.org/radio and scroll down to our prayer wall. There you'll find the option to 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 today.

Guest (Male): Hi, this is Kerry 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. To give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVEGOD. That's 1-877-LOVEGOD. 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 teachings 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.

Narrator (Male): As America approaches 250 years, a lot of people are asking the same question: What does it really mean to live as a Christian here today? Not just in theory, but in everyday life, at home, at work, in a culture constantly shifting? That's why we want to invite you to join us for the Faith & Freedom Journey for this defining moment in our nation. This six-week journey will walk you through teachings of Adrian Rogers on how to be a Christian in America. Filled with scriptures and guided prayers for our nation, Faith & Freedom is designed to help you grow deeper in your faith and live with confidence as a follower of Christ. Search for "MyLWF" wherever you download apps and begin the Faith & Freedom Journey today. And thank you for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.