How to Get Right with God and Stay Right with God | Part 2

We'll be right back. He restoreth my soul. Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring real truth that never changes for pastor and author, Adrian Rogers. If we've wandered from the path of righteousness, the first thing we need to remember is that Jesus is the good shepherd who restores his sheep when they're led astray. He faithfully ministers to the stubborn, the strayed, and the sick. But what happens after we're restored?

How can we be sure not to intentionally wander again? Turn in your Bible to Psalm 23 and look at verse 3 as Adrian Rogers reveals how to get right with God and stay right with God. I want to talk to you today about how to get right with God and how to stay right with God. How to get right with God if you're not right with God, how to get right with God, and if you are right with God and when you do get right with God, how to stay right with God. Now, if we're not right, we need to get right, and if we are right, we need to stay right, and that's what David is talking about in Psalm 23 and verse 3. He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Now, many of us become what the Bible calls backsliders. Now, a backslider is not lost. A backslider is a saved person who's out of fellowship with God. He's somebody who's already been saved.

You have to go somewhere before you can slide back, but he's not lost. The Bible says God speaks of himself as being married to the backslider. There is a bond there that cannot be broken, but while that relationship with God cannot be broken, that fellowship with God can be broken, and the joy can be lost, and therefore David prayed in Psalm 51, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. He didn't say, Lord, restore thy salvation.

He never lost his salvation. He lost the joy of his salvation, and he wanted to be restored, and God did restore him, and David could say, He restoreth my soul. Now, I want to tell you how the Lord restores us. Now, let's turn to the New Testament passage on that. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12 in verse 5. And have ye forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children? My son despiseth not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Now, what God does sometimes, dear friend, is to chastise the sheep, not because he doesn't love the sheep, but because he does love the sheep.

A scourge was a rod. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all, that is, all true sons are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore, we've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence.

Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit that we might be made partakers of his holiness. Now, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Now, certainly it wasn't joyful when a sheep got its leg broken, but yet it brought peace and fruitfulness.

What was the fruit? Look, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of what?

Of what? Righteousness. He restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. Now, when this kind of chastisement comes to you, if you've been a stubborn sheep, and this kind of chastisement comes to you, there are three things you can do.

Hebrews tells us about them. Number one, you can resent it. Look, if you will, in verse 5. My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord. You may just despise it. You may resent it. Look, if you will, in verse 11. Now, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Has God ever laid the rod on you?

Well, let me ask you a question. When you were a child and your dad had to punish you and spank you, did you say, oh, this is so wonderful. I'm glad this is happening to me. Praise the Lord. Dad, you're a wonderful dad.

Thank you, Dad. You're so wise and kind. No, we didn't do that.

No. No chastening for the present time seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. But afterward, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of what? Righteousness. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. Before I was afflicted, David said, I went astray. Oh, Jacob worshipped, leaning on his staff. And that sheep that had that broken leg never wanted to stray away from the shepherd again because he had broken, but he had healed.

And he had wounded and torn, but he had bound up that wound. Thank God that the shepherd knows exactly what he is doing. When it comes, that's the first thing you can do. You can despise it.

I'll tell you what else you might do when it comes. You can faint under it. Look again in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 5. And the Bible says, and have you forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children? My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord? Nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Don't despise it and don't faint under. Have you ever seen people faint when chastisement comes?

I have. They're stubborn and mulish. They get away from God. God brings chastisement and they just drop out. They just throw up their hands. They just quit. They become spiritual dropouts.

That's a terrible thing. God is not doing that to draw you away from him, but to draw you back to him. Now don't despise it and don't faint under it, but be exercised by it. Notice verse 11. The Bible says, we are exercised thereby.

God has a purpose. Now, how does the shepherd deal with the stubborn sheep? With the rod of chastisement. With the rod of chastisement. Now, what about the straying sheep?

How does the shepherd deal with the straying sheep? Well, not only did the shepherd have a rod, verse 4 speaks of the shepherd's rod, but verse 4 also speaks of the shepherd's staff. Now, the shepherd would get another long sapling and he would cut this one off above the root and it would be long and willowing and he would take that staff, that piece of sapling, and he would soak it in water while it was green and pliable.

Sometimes he would put it in boiling water till he could bend it and he would put a bend in the end of it and tie it and let it dry and season and at the end he had it shaped just right. There was a crook. We call it the shepherd's crook. That's what you often see about the shepherd.

He's holding a crook like that, called the shepherd's crook. It was just big enough to go around the chest of a little lamb and just big enough to go around the neck of a sheep. And with that staff he would guide the sheep. It became an instrument in his hand and he would guide the sheep and retrieve the sheep.

He knew how to use this. He would walk along and just touch the sheep with it. He'd put it around the neck of a sheep and pull the sheep in that's straying. When the sheep is walking along a narrow path that might fall off, he would take that staff and he would lay it on the sheep's shoulder and just guide the sheep. When the sheep would get down in the briars. Have you ever been in the briars?

I have. He would put that staff in there and pull that sheep out of the briars. When the sheep would get down in the mud, he would put that staff down there and lift that sheep, that lamb out of the mud. Do you remember what David said in Psalm 40? He had lifted me up from the miry clay. He had set my feet upon a rock and established my goings, leads me in the paths of righteousness.

He's talking about the same thing. He would take that staff and he would guide and guard and lift and retrieve that sheep to him. Sometimes a mother sheep, a ewe, would neglect her lamb. Sometimes she would get so concerned with the things that she wanted to do. Sometimes she wanted to feast here.

Sometimes she wanted to nibble here. Sometimes she wanted to browse here and she would forget her lamb. And the shepherd saw that and he would take his shepherd's crook and he would draw the lamb and draw the mother sheep back together because the shepherd knew that if that mother neglected that lamb for too long a time, after a while she would forget about it all together. And that little lamb would miss what it needed most next to the shepherd's tender care, the care of that old ewe. And I thought, oh my God, how the shepherd needs to do that today, to draw these mamas and these babies back together. And this day when the devil is doing all that he can do to break up homes, the shepherd there is guiding with his staff. And when we fall, when we're weak, oh, we get away from God and we get in sin, we get in the briars, we get in the mud, we get into difficulty and thank God he has that staff, that love, that grace that draws us back to him.

Then there's a third thing. Not only were there those stubborn sheep and not only were there those straying sheep, but there were the sick sheep. You see, each night the shepherd would bring the sheep into the sheepfold. Inside that enclosure other sheep were safe, but at the door was the shepherd himself who would position his body across that opening and no one could come in or out without his permission. He said, I am the door of the sheep. I'm the one that lets them in. I'm the one that lets them out.

No one can get in except by my permission. And as they would come in each night, here's what the shepherd would do. Each night he would count them and he would call them by name. And not only would he call them by name, but he would caress them. He would fondle them.

He would put his hands all over the sheep and rub his fingers down into the wool. And he would be looking for a scar. He'd be looking for a bruise. He'd be looking for a scab. He'd be looking for a wounded place.

He'd be looking for a laceration. And when the shepherd would find that kind of a place, he had not only a rod and not only a staff, but he had a bottle of oil. And he would see a bruise on that sheep's head or a cut place, a place there on the nostril, and he would pour on the healing oil. He would anoint the head of that sheep with oil. And that oil was there to soothe and to medicate and to heal and to lubricate and to give comfort to a suffering sheep.

That oil would be mixed also with sulfur and tar. And it was used to repel insects. Sheep have a pest that bothers them called nose flies that get up into wounds and places in the nose.

And that oil would be smeared there on the sheep's nose to give comfort and protection from those pests. Thank God for the oil of the Holy Spirit that protects us from the devil's flies. Thank God for that comfort when we've been bruised and hurt and when we're wounded and when we're limping, that the shepherd, he knows, he cares, he feels.

He calls those sheep by name. He knows them one by one, and he restores them and heals them and binds them and brings them back to himself. And David had all of those things in mind when he said, He restoreth my soul. I think David had been stubborn and been broken. I think David had strayed and been retrieved.

I think David had been hurt and wounded and had been healed by the Lord. Thank God for the ministry of chastisement. Thank God for the ministry of correction.

Thank God for the ministry of comfort. And I thought about it in my own life, and I know that I know I'm here today because the good shepherd has kept me with his rod, with his staff, and with his bottle of oil. Can't you say the same thing? Can't you say, Amen? Can't you remember the times when he put on the rod?

I can. Can't you remember the times when he took that staff and lifted you and forgave you? Hallelujah for that. And can't you think of those times when the tender shepherd poured in the oil and just caressed you and told you he loved you and healed that broken heart? Thank God for such a wonderful shepherd. And he restores my soul. And the thing that got David right is what I want to call, first of all, the ministry of the shepherd, the ministry of the shepherd.

Ah, but there was something else. Not only the ministry of the shepherd, but also the mastery of the shepherd. Now listen, not only does he restore our souls, he leads us in the paths of righteousness. He restored us that he might master us, that he might lead us, that he might guide us.

And the problem with many of us is this, that all we're interested in is getting restored. Well, my dear friend, if you don't go from restoration to righteousness, you're going to be right back in the same old problem. You see, so many of us just simply want to get back right, but we don't get on the track of following God and that's the reason that we get back where we were. And a restored sheep ought to follow closer than ever. He that's been forgiven much ought to love much. And we ought to be like that sheep with a broken leg that nozzles the shepherd and stays close to the shepherd, that he might master us, that he might lead us, that he might guide us, that we'll never go astray again.

When are we going to learn? How many times are we going to fall and slip before we learn to stay close to the shepherd? Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. In order to follow the shepherd, three things are necessary. Number one, you've got to be obsessed with the shepherd. You've got to love the shepherd. Number two, you have to observe the shepherd.

You don't have good eyesight. You have to stay close to the shepherd. And number three, you have to obey the shepherd. My sheep hear my voice. They hear my voice.

Now, you can't obey anybody whose voice you don't hear. And how are you going to hear your shepherd's voice? How are you going to see your shepherd? You're going to have to have that quiet time in the green pastures chewing upon his word, meditating upon the Word of God. That's the way the shepherd, my dear friend, is going to lead you and he's going to guide you. You are going to hear his voice in the Word. Jesus said, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And he said, I've come that you might have life and have it abundantly. He will lead you in the paths of righteousness. That's the mastery of the shepherd. You know what's wrong with so many of us? We're just always trying to get out of trouble and to get into righteousness.

I mean, it's all negative. I think I told you many years ago about a football player friend that I had whose name was Mike Colon. Mike played football for Auburn and went on to play for the Miami Dolphins as a linebacker. He said, when he graduated from Auburn, the coach down there said, Mike, would you help me to do some recruiting? He said, sure, coach.

He said, what kind of player are you looking for? He said, well, Mike, you know, he said, when you're playing football as a guy, you knock him down and he just stays down. Mike said, we don't want him, do we, coach? He said, no, we sure don't. But he said, Mike, there's a guy, you knock him down and he gets up.

And then when you knock him down, he stays down. Mike said, we don't want him either, do we, coach? He said, no, I don't. But he said, Mike, there's a guy, you knock him down and he gets up and you knock him down and he gets up and you knock him down and he gets up and you knock him down and he gets up. Mike said, that's the guy we want, isn't it, coach? He said, no, we don't want him, either. I want you to find that guy that's knocking everybody down.

That's the guy I want. I am grateful, I am grateful that He restores us. I am grateful that when we're down, He gets us up. When we're down, He gets us up. When we're down, He gets us up. But wouldn't you like to get up and stay up? I mean, wouldn't you like to get off the defensive and get on the offensive?

Wouldn't you like to do a little knocking? I mean, wouldn't you like to be a force for God rather than just simply being a casualty, always being restored? You see, the problem with so many of us is that we have a restoration mentality. He restores my soul, but after the ministry of the shepherd, there needs to be the mastery of the shepherd. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. Why don't you today determine that you're going to get right with God and stay right with God, that you're going to hear the voice of your shepherd, you're going to get in the Word of God and not find yourself back in the briars or down in the pit or down in the mud or down in the crevice again? Now, there's a third thing that will keep you.

And I can guarantee you these things have kept me. Not only is there what I call the ministry of the shepherd and not only is there what I call the mastery of the shepherd but there's also the majesty of the shepherd. The majesty of the shepherd, listen to it. He restores my soul.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. His name. His name. What is the name of the shepherd?

We already know. It's in the first verse. What is the name of the shepherd? Jehovah is my shepherd. The King James says the Lord, but that's in all caps. And it means Jehovah or Yahweh, the most holy name for God in all of the Bible. The Lord Jehovah is my shepherd.

He leads me for His name's sake. God's name, God's honor is at stake by the way you live and the way I live. I mean, people get their idea of what kind of a shepherd there is because what kind of sheep there are.

The shepherd's reputation is based on the activity and the welfare and the obedience of the sheep. Jesus taught us to pray. Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Solomon said in the Song of Solomon, His name is like ointment poured forth. Jehovah, Jehovah is His name. That was the most sacred, most solemn name for God in all of the Old Testament and yet it's not found one time in the New Testament. Not one time in the New Testament will you ever find the name Jehovah.

Do you know why? Because Jesus is our Jehovah. Jesus Himself said, I am the Good Shepherd in John 10.

I am the Good Shepherd. Do you know what the name Jesus means? It means Jehovah saves. That's exactly what the name Jesus means. Thou shall call His name Jehovah saves for He shall save His people from their sins. That's what the angel said. Thou shall call His name Jesus and my dear friend, if I am His sheep and He is my shepherd, I don't want to disgrace that name.

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. When I would take my little children to school and let them out in the mornings, each morning before they would go to school, I would say, Daddy loves you and remember this, remember who you are and remember whose you are. Remember who you are and remember whose you are. I believe our Lord would say that to His sheep. Remember who you are. You are my sheep.

You're the people of my pasture. My name is linked to you. I want to lead you in the paths of righteousness for my name's sake.

I had rather die than bring disgrace upon my family, my parents, my children, and my wife. A good name is so important. How much more the name of our God? What keeps me straight? Well, one thing, the Lord restores me when I stray. Another thing, the Lord leads me day by day. But another thing, there is in my heart a burning desire to give glory to that name, to give glory to that name.

Do you feel that way? Oh, the name of Jesus. Somebody said the name of Jesus is all of the Hallelujahs of eternity in five letters.

It is. I know a soul that's steeped in sin that no man's art can cure. But I know a name, a precious name, that can make that soul all pure. I know a life that's lost to God, bound down by the things of earth. But I know a name, a precious name, that can bring that soul new birth, Jesus.

Oh, how sweet the name. That ought to keep you straight. The ministry of the shepherd, the mastery of the shepherd, and the majesty of our great shepherd, Jehovah, is my shepherd. Now, if you have questions regarding your faith in Jesus, we'd love to offer you an insightful resource. It's at our website, and it's called our Discover Jesus page. There you'll find answers you may need about your faith. And there's a response section where you can share how this message has impacted your life. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus at the top of the page. lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus.

Let us hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, call 1-877-LOVEGOD, and mention the title How to Get Right with God and Stay Right with God. This lesson is also part of the insightful The Secret of Satisfaction series. For the complete collection, all 18 powerful messages, call that number, 1-877-LOVEGOD.

Or go online to order at lwf.org slash radio. Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Are you a sheep in need of restoration and guidance back to the path of righteousness? Love God. Thank him for his loving chastisement.

Observe and obey. And we hope you'll join us next time for another insightful message from Adrian Rogers, right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener in Arkansas wrote this tender message to us. My daddy was saved listening to Love Worth Finding. My daughter was saved listening to Love Worth Finding.

Jesus saves. We've all been blessed by Adrian Rogers' messages. You are all loved. Keep on keeping on.

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