The Secret of Satisfaction

From the Love We're Finding studios in Memphis, Tennessee, I'm Byron Tyler here with Kerry Vaughn, the CEO of Love We're Finding. Kerry, today we're going to have a message with Adrian Rogers, The Secret of Satisfaction. But, you know, as we start winding up 2020, it's been a tough year with this pandemic. It's changed the economy for a lot of our listeners from their jobs, making adjustments there. But we appreciate and value so much the faithfulness of those gifts. It helps us to continue getting the Word of God.

Absolutely. You know, this time of year, we celebrate the true gift of Christmas, and God is blessed. And what better way than to partner with this ministry and give a gift at calendar year end? It's a great time to serve. It's a wonderful time to minister. It is the ideal time to make an impact for the kingdom. So we thank you in advance for what you're going to do.

Thank you for being with us. Adrian Rogers was a humble, Spirit-filled teacher. He taught the Bible in truth and gave Jesus all the glory. I'm grateful he taught the Bible as it was written. Oh, absolutely. I mean, without compromise and with conviction, he taught the Word of God.

Most people would say this, Dr. Rogers taught me the Bible. And I think that's true in my life personally. And so this is a wonderful message talking about satisfaction.

You know, C.S. Lewis said it this way, we will never, ever be 100% satisfied until we're in the presence of the Savior. You know, and John 10 says it this way, I've come that you may have life and have it more abundantly. Dr. Rogers said you'll never go beyond Jesus. You may only go deeper and deeper into Jesus. And I like that.

Oh, I do. And you know, when we talk about the secret of satisfaction, Adrian Rogers says it this way. I would hope that people would understand that the true secret of satisfaction is not a secret at all. It's found in the Lord. The things of this world cannot satisfy them. And when we get what we want, we don't always want what we get. But when we have the Lord, in Him, in Him alone, in Him only, in Him always, is real, genuine satisfaction. You know, most people have as much of Jesus Christ as they truly want. I mean, that's a great statement. And I look at my own life and, you know, am I as close to the Lord today as I was last year?

And if not, what's the problem? Is it self? Is it sin? And to try to remove those barriers and to draw close to the Father, be in communion with the Father, so that I have true satisfaction. Well, with the secret of satisfaction, here's Adrian Rogers. I want to talk to you today on the secret of satisfaction. The secret of satisfaction, that is to have your deepest hunger met.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Do you know what Madison Avenue is in the business of doing? Madison Avenue is in the business of creating in you certain hungers. I mean, they will advertise things and you'll look at it and you didn't even know you wanted it until you see that ad.

I have watched something on television, maybe it'll be a glass of iced tea and I have to go in the kitchen and get one right after I watch that. I didn't even know I was thirsty. And they create in you, that's their business, to create hungers in you. And many times we're buying things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like because Madison Avenue has just created in us a certain kind of hunger. Now, my dear friend, God by the Holy Spirit is wanting today in this message to create in you a hunger of something that you really do need, you desperately need.

As a matter of fact, you cannot live without it. And that is to hunger and thirst after righteousness. And if you do, and if you will, I promise you satisfaction guaranteed.

You will be satisfied. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. This is what the scripture says, for they shall be filled. Now, what does it mean to hunger after righteousness anyway? What are we talking about when we say righteousness? Well, you may think of righteousness as something you do. But righteousness in the Bible is wrapped up in a person and his name is Jesus. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 that Jesus Christ is our righteousness. He has made righteousness for us. He is our righteousness. And when a man hungers and thirsts after righteousness, he is hungering and thirsting after Jesus Christ.

Now, get that or you won't understand the rest of the message. Life's hidden hunger is Jesus Christ himself. The deepest need of your life is a right relationship with God through Christ. He is the righteousness of God that you would hunger for. Now, how are you to desire the Lord Jesus Christ? How are you to hunger after the Lord Jesus Christ? May I mention three ways today, and I'm talking to you about the secret of satisfaction. Number one, you should desire Jesus preeminently.

That is, you should desire him above all other things. Now, Jesus is talking here about hungering and thirsting. You've done that in the natural realm. You know what it is to be hungry naturally. Well, we're going to talk to you about being hungry supernaturally. You see, it's fine to hunger naturally. God made you where you get hungry physically. You get thirsty physically.

There's nothing wrong with that. But even if you seek food and water in first place, you've made a mistake. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33, Jesus has talked about food and fashion and fitness. And then he says, after all these things do the Gentiles seek, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and what?

His righteousness. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things, food, fashion, fitness, they'll be added to you. Now, there's nothing wrong with food.

There's nothing wrong with fashion. There's nothing wrong with fitness in their place, and their place is second place. Their place is second place. Seek ye what? First. First the kingdom of God and his righteousness. God will not take second place to anybody or anything. Now, how are you to seek the Lord Jesus Christ? You are to seek him preeminently.

He is to be first in your life. Jesus Christ is heaven's bread for man's deepest hunger. Now, look at the verse again. It says, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are those who are hungering and thirsting after Jesus, who put Jesus first place. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Now, he will not work in second place. You know what most folks want to do? They don't want to seek righteousness.

Do you know what they want to seek? They want to seek blessedness. The problem is, by wanting satisfaction, you don't get it. By wanting happiness, you don't get it. By wanting blessedness, you don't get it. You see, what you need is not primarily happiness and satisfaction and blessing.

What you need is Jesus. When you get Jesus, when you receive Jesus, when you do hunger and thirst after Jesus, then you're blessed, but that is a byproduct. He doesn't say, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after blessedness. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.

You say, well, what's the difference? Well, my dear friend, that lack of blessedness, that lack of joy, that lack of satisfaction, that lack of peace, that lack of fulfillment, all that is is a symptom. That tells you that there's something wrong, and that symptom that tells you there's something wrong that causes you to seek the remedy, which is Jesus Christ. Now, we have physical hunger, and there's nothing wrong with physical hunger. And if you have physical hunger, dear friend, spiritual things can't meet your physical hunger. And conversely, food can never meet the need of your deepest longing, which is Jesus. You're not your physical being, but your spiritual being.

And you must have, you must have the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, food and water. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst. He's talking about food and water. In the material realm, food and water are necessities. They're not luxuries. If you don't eat physically, you're going to die.

If you don't drink water, you're going to die. That is in the spiritual realm. Jesus Christ is not some luxury. Jesus Christ is a necessity. And what are you to seek when you seek righteousness? You are to seek Jesus Christ, seek Him preeminently. Now, that means that all you ever will need spiritually is in Jesus Christ. You seek Jesus.

And when you get Jesus, my dear friend, you get everything. There was an old saint. She had a favorite verse like all of us do. Her favorite verse was this, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. She loved it. She shared it with all of her friends. That was her favorite verse.

I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. But as she got older, dementia set in. And she could not remember things like she used to remember them. And she would try to quote her verse to her friends when they would come in. I know I have committed, I know whom, I have... And she could not quite get it all out and she would give a part of it and get a little confused. And on her deathbed, her memory had come down to just one word, him.

And she would just say, him. Him. But friend, in that one word, she had the whole Bible. The whole Bible. The whole Bible.

I mean, that's it. Him. Seek Jesus. Preeminently. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Not only should you seek him preeminently, but my dear friend, you should seek him passionately.

Passionately. What our Lord here is talking about is hunger. He's talking about thirst. What are the marks of a person who is hungry? What are the marks of a person who is thirsty?

May I give you three? The first mark of a hungry person is he is on a deliberate quest for food. Jesus here is talking about not a person who just has an appetite, but a person who sees himself broken and bankrupt and famished. What are the marks of this kind of hunger? My dear friend, if you were starving, are you all that interested in the flour arrangement for the Ladies Pink Lemonade Society? If you're all that hungry, are you interested in the ball scores?

I mean, if you are that hungry, what is the mark of a person who is truly hungry? Well, my dear friend, he is interested in one thing. His focus is narrow. He is interested what? In food.

He is interested in water. He has reached a point of deliberation. His mind begins to work on food and water, food and water, food and water.

People sit in the church service and their mind is a thousand different places. Do you know why? They're not hungry. There's no deliberation.

There is no determination. A man who is on a deliberate search for food, he's set his face for it, then gets on a determined search for food. He's determined. He's going to be fed.

He'll go anywhere, do anything almost, pay any price. I've seen people eat out of garbage cans, have you? And you know, they lost all their pride. People come to church and many of them find something to criticize. Hey, folks, if you're looking for something to criticize, you can find it. Let me tell you where to start. Right here. If anybody says anything bad about me, I just say, thank God they don't know anymore. You're looking for something to criticize.

You can find it anywhere. Here's a man who sits down at a table and he says, well, the salt is damp. Ah, the china is chipped. Ah ha, the tablecloth is wrinkled.

The parsley is on the wrong side of the plate. I can tell you one thing, he's not a hungry man, isn't that right? People who come to pick, to find fault, you can put it down big, put it down plain, put it down straight.

They are not hungry. If you come to find fault, you can find plenty to find fault with, but if you come to find Jesus, he's here. My dear friend, it all depends upon the appetite that you bring to church. One lady said to a pastor, I don't like the way you preached this morning. He said, what was wrong? She said, it's your language. It was very inelegant. In the course of your sermon, you said pants. You should never say pants, you should say trousers.

It's much more elegant. He said, I'll try to remember that. He said, well, what did you think about the sermon? What else do you remember? She said, very frankly, I don't remember anything else.

He said, if I hadn't said pants, you wouldn't have gotten anything out of the message. Blessed, blessed, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. A person who is hungry and thirsty is on a deliberate, determined, desperate search for food.

Have you narrowed your interest down to one interest? I mean, do you see Jesus Christ as your greatest need? Do you see Jesus Christ as a starving man would seek food?

Friend, when you come to that place, you're going to find him. Why is it that people are not hungry? I mean, what's wrong with a man who is not hungry?

Well, several things. Number one, he could be sick. When you get sick, you lose your appetite. Number two, he could be stuffed full of something else, feeding on this world's garbage or anything else. You know what the Bible says in Proverbs 27, verse 7? The full soul loathes a honeycomb. I mean, if you're full, even honey doesn't sound good to you. But to the hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.

The full soul, he's not even interested in honey. But to the hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet. Listen, you are to desire Jesus Christ preeminently. Preeminently, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Secondly, you are to desire Jesus Christ passionately. You are to hunger and thirst after Jesus Christ. But not only that, my dear friend, you are to enjoy Jesus Christ perpetually.

Enjoy him. Listen, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. I don't know how much of God you have, but I'm going to tell you something today that may shock you. You have all you want. You have all you want. I don't know how much God you have, but you have all you want. A shout of thirst, a shout of satisfaction.

Small hunger, small satisfaction. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst, for they shall be filled. That's the reason I said, dear friend, I'll guarantee it, because there's one who stands behind the guarantee and his name is Jesus Christ.

He's the one, he's the one who said, no ifs, ands, and buts about it. You will be satisfied, because when you're filled with righteousness, you're filled with blessedness, because you have a hidden hunger. You have a need that can only be met by Jesus Christ. So many people have the idea that righteousness is a negative thing. The Pharisees were known for what they didn't do. People get the idea, well, if I'm going to be righteous, I can't have any fun. No, if you're going to be righteous, you can be blessed. Happiness and holiness are inextricably linked together. Dear friend, you don't lose the good things of life when you come to Jesus.

As a matter of fact, listen, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And what? All these things will be added to you. They didn't say they'll all be taken from you.

They'll all be added to you. Friend, listen, you enjoy those things more in the context of righteousness. Don't let the devil get you to thinking negatively about God. The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 17 that God gives us richly all things to enjoy. He doesn't say he doesn't want you to be blessed.

He just simply says get your priority right. Seek him preeminently. Seek him passionately, and you will enjoy him perpetually. Does that mean that if you just give your heart to Jesus today, get saved, receive him as your personal Savior and Lord, that from there on you never have to seek him anymore? You never desire him anymore? Oh, no.

Oh, no. Jesus is using an illustration that everybody can understand from the physical realm. He is saying in the spiritual realm, your spiritual hungers are like your physical hungers. Have you ever at Thanksgiving day sat down for the Thanksgiving meal? Generally, it's about at our house, probably about 1.30 or 2 before everything gets fixed and everybody gets in, we all get around the table, and we eat and eat and eat and fellowship and eat. You know, it's just a great time, and everything is there and the turkey and is it stuffing or dressing?

I never can remember. Whatever they put on the inside anyway, that's in there and all of that, you know. Just having a wonderful time, and when you're finished, you say, I don't care if I ever eat again.

I mean, that's it. I am completely satisfied. You know what I'm talking about? I am completely satisfied, and then what happens?

That's about 3.30. About 7 o'clock that night, you find yourself in there opening the refrigerator, looking in, poking around, all that stuff. That's amazing, isn't it? You see, listen, God allows us in the physical realm to have continuing appetite that we might have continuing satisfaction. This thing of being satisfied is not a once-for-all thing any more than eating a meal is a once-for-all thing. You see, you have a continual hunger not because that food didn't satisfy you.

You have a continual hunger because that food did satisfy you, and your appetite has increased because of the goodness of the food and the satisfaction that it brought once it continues to bring day after day. On my knees this morning, I have found that satisfaction. On my knees today, I have fed on heaven's bread, and you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're continually being hungry, and you're continually being satisfied, and that's the reason, my friend, I say that when you desire Him preeminently, when you seek Him passionately, you will enjoy Him perpetually. He will meet the deepest needs of your heart, and then when you meet the Lord Jesus Christ in all of His fullness, all of His sweetness, then you have that blessedness, and all of these other things are added to you.

My dear friend, put it down. Listen, you will be completely satisfied. You will be continually satisfied, and you will be certainly satisfied because Jesus said it shall happen. Let me give you a couple of verses.

Listen to this. Psalm 107 in verse 9, For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. People understood what they had in Jesus.

I don't believe you could keep them away with a machine gun. Listen to 1 Peter 2, verse 3. If so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Psalm 34, verse 8, O taste and see that the Lord is good. Friend, Jesus said, Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness.

They shall be filled. Desire Him preeminently. Seek Him passionately.

You'll enjoy Him perpetually. You will, I promise. And if you would pray a prayer like this, He would save you today. Oh, God, I'm lost, and I need to be saved. I know that you love me, and I know that you want to save me. Jesus, I believe that you're the Son of God. I believe you paid my sin debt on the cross. I believe that God raised you from the dead. You said if I would trust you, you would save me, and I do trust you now, this moment, with all of my heart to come into my heart, forgive my sin, and save me, Lord Jesus. I trust you to do it.

Amen. If you prayed to receive Jesus just now, we would love to celebrate with you, and we invite you to our Discover Jesus page at the website. You'll find answers there you may need about your newfound faith.

There's a response section. You can share your testimony with us. Tell us how this message has affected you today. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab at the top that says Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family.

We can't wait to hear from you today. A person who's hungry and thirsty for righteousness is on a deliberate, determined, desperate quest for Jesus Christ. Do you seek Jesus as a starving man would seek food? Dwell on that today, and thanks for studying in God's Word. Be sure to join us next time for more timeless truth from Abraham Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding.