The Legacy of Love | Part 2

... Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the insightful messages of pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers. The key to assurance and fellowship with God is love. In part one of today's message, we learned that the legacy of love is first a good conscience. If we have love in our hearts, our consciences are clear and we have full transparency toward everyone.

We also have a great confidence. When our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence that our prayers will be answered. If you have your Bible, turn now to 1 John chapter 3 beginning in verse 11 as Adrian Rogers concludes this powerful message, the legacy of love. Now listen, love today is, well, it's sort of a word that we pass by.

It's kind of shopworn. But I want you to learn from the Word of God today, the legacy of love. Let me tell you why love is so very, very important. Number one, it is absolutely the greatest investment you'll ever make.

The greatest investment you will ever make. And what John is giving us here are three things that we gain, three things that we receive, three benefits and blisses from love. When we learn to love, what is the legacy of love?

Here they are. The first one is a good conscience. The second one is a great confidence. And the third is a gracious communion. That's the legacy of love. Now, first of all, let's look, if we can, and see how we have a good conscience when we love.

Now notice in verse 19, and hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and with all things. What causes your heart to condemn you? Lack of love. When you have malice in your heart, when you have hatred in your heart, you have a condemning heart.

God has wired you that way. If you're saved, if you're born again, you cannot fail to love and have good conscience. Put these scriptures down. 1 Timothy 1.19, holding faith and a good conscience.

Put this one down. Acts chapter 24 and verse 16, Paul said, now this is the apostle Paul, he talks about his ambition. He said, And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men. Bill Gothard said that conscience, a good conscience is this, that inner freedom of spirit and assurance from knowing that you have a transparency toward everyone, that no one is able to point a finger at you and accuse you of wrongs toward him that you've never made right. Now you can just take that definition by Bill Gothard and write the word love.

Listen to it again. That inner freedom of spirit and assurance from knowing that you have a transparency toward everyone, that no one, no one is able to point a finger at you and accuse you of wrongs toward him that you've never made right. There is absolutely no way that you can have a good conscience without love. When you love, you will make it right. And when you make it right, you have that transparency. And friend, that'll do you more good than a sleeping pill. If you don't have assurance, if you're doubting your salvation and you've given your heart to Jesus Christ, you better check up and see if perhaps there's some bitterness in your heart, some sin in your life.

It is an acid that will destroy your assurance. Look at verses 19 and 20 again. And hereby, now he's talking to you, hereby refers to love. And hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him, for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.

Your heart will condemn you and you will never, listen, never have a good conscience until you learn to love. When you love, when you love, I mean truly love, when you've made it right, you're going to have that sweet assurance. So here's the first legacy of love, and these are going to build one upon another. The first legacy of love is a good conscience. Here's the second legacy of love, not only a good conscience, but a great confidence.

Now notice how one folds into another. Look in verse 19, and hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him, for if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. Confidence, boldness. First of all, my heart doesn't condemn me, and all of this is in the context of love. My heart doesn't condemn me, and when my heart doesn't condemn me, then I have confidence toward God. Boldness in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, you say, what good is this confidence? This confidence, dear friend, that you have with God, this confident heart that comes out of a clean conscience is what helps you to pray and get your prayers answered. Look again at this passage of scripture.

Now watch this. If our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God, and it's all linked together. Verse 22, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. Now what commandments is he talking about? Well, just go down to verse 23, the last part, that we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

That's what he's talking about. How do you get your prayers answered? Have a good conscience. Well, what does that do?

It gives you great confidence. And you can come to God and ask in his name and get your prayer answered. Answered prayer is not for rebels. Answered prayer is not for those whose hearts are filled with hate.

It is not, it is not, it is not. The Bible says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. That's a prayer promise that we don't like to quote, but that's one of the promises. That's a prayer promise.

Let me illustrate this. Have you ever read over there in 1 Peter chapter 3? Peter is telling husbands and wives how to dwell together as heirs of the grace of life. I like that phrase, the grace of life. That's kind of like the cherry on top, the grace of life, a happy marriage. Husbands and wives dwell together as heirs of the grace of life, and he says that your prayers to God be not hindered. Let me give you a real example of this.

You and your wife are having one of those little discussions that can be heard about three blocks away. And you get into it. Hey, look, sometimes Christians can do this.

True? I mean, they get their eyes off the Lord and they get into one of these things. And they're at one another's throat. And whatever else they're doing, they are not dwelling together as heirs of the grace of life.

And then mother goes in to check the baby, and she comes out, and she's got a frightened look on her face, and it's obvious that the baby is very sick. And you're both believers, and you know that you need to pray. You feel so silly right now. You say, we better pray. All right. You can't pray.

You feel like fools praying in that atmosphere, that hostility, that venom. Do you know what you do? You say, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I was wrong. I was a fool. Darling, forgive me. She says, well, it was my fault too.

You hug and kiss, make up. The conscience is clear. The assurance is back. And you pray.

Isn't that right? But you cannot pray with a condemning heart. I mean, if you don't have a good conscience, you cannot have a great confidence. And if you don't have a great confidence, you can't get your prayers answered. It's just that plain. That's what John is talking about.

It's very practical. Love, love gives a good conscience. And when love gives a good conscience, love gives a great confidence.

Now here's the third legacy of love, and this is the reason I told you, folks, if you were just even selfish, you would want to love. It gives a gracious communion. Look, if you will, now in verses 23 and 24. And this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as He gave us commandment. And He that keepeth His commandments, and dwelleth in Him, and He in Him, that is, you are in Jesus, and Jesus is in you, and hereby we know that He abideth in us by the Spirit, which He hath given us, the abiding Spirit.

Now that's the third legacy of love, a gracious communion. The Holy Spirit, just whispering to us that we belong to God. The Lord is real to us.

That's the ministry of the Holy Spirit, to take the things of Jesus and show them to us. Look, when I learn to love, and I live by love, I'm going to have a good conscience. And when I have a good conscience, I'm going to have a great confidence.

And when I have a great confidence, I'm going to have a gracious communion. I mean the Holy Spirit is going to be whispering to my heart that I belong to Jesus Christ and He to me. Do you know the reason that some Christians doubt their salvation? They don't have the witness of the Spirit. And how do you know that you're saved?

Because some preachers told you that you're saved? Or does God's Spirit bear witness with your spirit that you're a child of God? Now the Holy Spirit can be there, and you can be saved, and you can have absolutely no assurance because you failed to love. And the Holy Spirit is just grieved. And you know, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to give you joy and peace and understanding and wisdom and power and grace and to make Jesus Christ real to you. Not just what you hear on Sunday morning, some sermon, but God in your heart abiding in the Spirit of God, that gracious communion, not merely union, but communion. That's koinonia, that's that word that goes all the way through the book of 1 John. But now folks, let me tell you this about the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is very gentle. This time I want you to turn to Scripture. Would you turn to Ephesians chapter 4?

Just turn to it. Ephesians chapter 4. Look, if you will, in verse 26. Be angry and sin not. And by the way, the only way to be angry and sin not is to be angry at sin. Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

That is, husbands and wives, don't go to bed angry back to back. Neither give place to the devil. Now, when you do that, when you have unresolved anger, what you've done is just opened the door to the devil. You've said, devil, come on in.

Wreck my home, wreck my marriage, ruin my life, defile my conscience, ruin my confidence, and destroy my communion. You've given a place to the devil. But now skip on down and verse 30 says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit. When you give a place to the devil, what do you do? Well, you grieve the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is resident in your heart and in your life when you're saved.

Now, watch this. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Now, if you have anger in your heart, if love is not there, that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit of God forsakes you.

He cannot, he will not. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption. Do you see? That's one of the great verses on eternal security. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Now, watch this. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Now, what grieves the Holy Spirit?

These things right here, and I want you to look at them. First of all, he says, bitterness. Do you know what bitterness is? Bitterness is an unresolved hurt.

Did you hear it? Bitterness is an unresolved hurt. Somebody has hurt you. Somebody has done you wrong. It may be real.

It may be imaginary. But you perceive that somebody has done you wrong. Anybody here like that, somebody has hurt you? Maybe a child, maybe a father, mother, brother, sister, a boss, a dear sweet pastor. Somebody has done you wrong, and you have bitterness.

Now, watch this. Bitterness turns to wrath. That's next, wrath.

Look at it in verse 31. Do you know what the word wrath means? The word wrath has the idea of heat. It's something burning, sort of a slow burn. The best illustration I can give you of this is to think of some oily rags in an attic or in a closet smoldering or just the heat building up.

All right, now watch. First of all, there's bitterness, and then there's that wrath, there's that slow burn, and then it says an anger. What's the difference between wrath and anger?

Well, wrath is that slow burn. But anger is when somebody opens the door and the oxygen hits those rags, and they burst into flame. Anger! You say, well, I lost my temper. You probably found it. You know when a person says, I lost my temper, what they're saying is, it's really not my fault.

It's not really me. I just, I lost it. No, what is happening, folks, is that you're showing what's in your heart. Now watch it, bitterness turns to wrath, wrath turns to anger, and what does anger turn to? Clamor. What is clamor? That's speaking loudly.

You're wrong. Don't shout. I'm not shouting. And you begin to get your voice loud. You begin to say things, and you get on a roll, and then watch this.

Clamor turns to evil speaking. Then you begin to say things you would never have said, but you're on a roll now. And you begin to say to your loved one, to your child, I wish you'd never been born into our family. You begin to say to your parents, I don't love you.

You begin to say to your husband, I want out of here, I want a divorce. I wish you were dead. The devil says, tell them more. Tell them more. And you say these awful, terrible, hurtful, horrible things. The Bible calls that evil speaking. And then he says malice.

You know what that is? That's when evil speaking turns to the desire to hurt somebody. To do malice means to actually harm them. You may want to hurt them financially, emotionally, physically. You may want to abuse them.

And you may do things in a rage. You look back and you say, how did I do that? I'll tell you how you did it. You weren't abiding. You weren't spirit filled. You let the sun go down upon your wrath.

You gave a place to the devil. And you grieved the Holy Spirit. Grieved not the Holy Spirit. When you grieve the Spirit of God, when you grieve Him, He's so gentle. Have you ever seen somebody's spirit just close up?

I've done some awful, dumb things in my life. I've said some things to Joyce I ought not to say. And I've just watched her spirit close up. The Holy Spirit's a dove. He's not a lion.

He's a dove. You can grieve the Holy Spirit. By the way, the Holy Spirit is a person that Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe He's a person. You can't grieve an influence. I can't grieve that piano. You can only grieve a person. And by the way, you can only grieve somebody who loves you. Grieve is a love word.

Your neighbor's kids will vex you. Your own kids will grieve you, amen. You can only grieve somebody who loves you. You see, the Holy Spirit of God loves you. But when you don't love, you grieve the Spirit of God. And He closes up and He withdraws. And you don't have that communion with God that you ought. Oh, but the legacy of love. When you love, you have a good conscience. Then you have a great confidence. And then you have a gracious communion.

Isn't that great? Isn't love wonderful? You see, and the love of God, the Bible tells us in Romans 5, 5, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Now, it will do you no good whatsoever if you say, well, the pastor said to love, and I'm going to love. And so you just grit your teeth and clench your fist, and you say, I'm going to love if it kills me.

You don't have what it takes. Love is not the way to God. God is the way to love.

That's more than a turn of phrase. You listen carefully now. Go back to 1 John chapter 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another.

Now watch this. For love is of God. That is, it comes from God. And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. You see, listen, the only way, the only way that you can love is to have the love of God in your hearts.

Do you know when that comes? Whosoever is born of God, are you born of God? Now, what is the new birth?

It's not a feeling. It is a transaction where you come to the Lord in absolute sincerity, and you say, Lord, I'm a sinner, and I can't save myself, but I need to be saved. Jesus, you died to save me. You promised to save me if I would trust you. I do trust you with all of my heart. Come into my heart, forgive my sin, and save me.

The Bible says in this same book of 1 John chapter 5 and verse 1, when we believe, we're born of God. That's not an emotional matter. It may show in emotions, but your emotions are the shallowest part of your nature. Salvation is the deepest work of God.

He doesn't do the deepest work and the shallowest part. You just trust Him. Say, come into my heart.

Listen, as a teenage boy, I trusted Christ, and I can tell you this, and God is listening. From that moment on, there's been a river of love flowing in me, and it's of Him. Love is of God. You'll never love your wife.

You'll never love your children. You'll never love your neighbor as you are until you give your heart to Jesus. Remember again, love is not the way to God. God is the way to love, and Jesus is the way to the Father. What is the legacy of love? What is it? The legacy of love is a good conscience, a great confidence, and a gracious communion.

That's love. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed, and if you've never received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord, I'd like to help you right now. Why don't you pray this way? If you're not certain that you're saved, pray this way.

Dear God, just speak to Him. I know that you love me, and I know that you want to save me. Thank you, Jesus, for paying for my sin with your blood on the cross. I open my heart now. Now by faith I receive you.

Just by faith I receive you as my Lord and my Savior. Forgive my sin. Save me, Jesus. Say that from your heart. Save me, Jesus. Did you ask Him?

Yes. Lord Jesus, thank you for saving me. I receive it by faith.

I will make it public. I will not be ashamed of you, and I will follow you the rest of my life wherever you lead me, not in order to be saved, but because I have been saved and because I love you. In your name I pray. Amen.

Amen. But if you prayed to receive Jesus Christ just now, let us celebrate with you. Go to our Discover Jesus page on the website. There you'll find answers you may need about your newfound faith.

We have a response section as well. You can share your testimony with us or how this message has made a difference in your life today. Go to LWF.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus at the top of the page.

LWF that ORG slash radio. Welcome to God's forever family. We can't wait to hear from you. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message in its entirety, you can call us at 1-877-LOVE-GOD. Request the title, The Legacy of Love. This message is also part of the insightful series, Sweetest Fellowship This Side of Heaven. For that complete collection, all 11 powerful messages, call 877-LOVE-GOD or order online at lwf.org slash radio.

Or you can write us to order at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Do you have the legacy of love in your heart? You have a good conscience, a great confidence, and a gracious communion. Think on these things today and join us next time for more profound truth simply stated right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener wrote us from Russia not long ago and shared this message.

He said, I've listened to these programs on the internet. They've inspired me to change my life and find God. I realized that Jesus is the meaning of life. We love hearing how these messages and resources that we send have helped you find Jesus and grow in your faith. That's why this month when you donate to the ministry, we want to send you our God's Word Booklet Collection. This collection features five dynamic lessons from Adrian Rogers such as how to know the Bible is the word of God and how to have a meaningful quiet time. Request the God's Word Booklet Collection when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVE-GOD, 1-877-568-3463, or give online at lwf.org slash radio. And again, thank you for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.