Learning to Possess Your Possessions | Part 2

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.

Today, Kerry, Adrian Rogers, part two in a message, learning to possess your possessions. And we're going back in a series that we've been doing since April this year. We've had some little cut ins and out along the way, but it's the foundations for our faith.

On your Love We're Finding LWF mobile app, you can go back and listen to the entire series. And this is coming from the book of Romans. Coming from the book of Romans. And I love this message.

It talks about really possessing your possessions. But, you know, how can we, in other words, scoot up to the table and partake of what the Father has given us? Oh, yeah.

Right. I mean, many times we're away from the table. That's because of sin or self. But we get those things out of the way and we scoot up and we take advantage of it. We take advantage of the blessings that the Father has prepared. Well, there seems to be a gap between what the Bible says we are in Christ and what we are in reality. You know, we're called to be victors. Yet so many of us live as victims. We do. And I think the biggest room is the room for improvement. But Dr. Rogers says that the reason so many of us are not filled with the Spirit is because we are filled with ourselves.

Yeah. And we don't know about those possessions they were supposed to possess. And he's got a great example. About books in our library. God has so much that He has given to us that we have not yet appropriated. I think I use as an illustration that many of us have books in our library that we haven't read. Are they ours?

Well, in a sense, yes. But we haven't possessed our possessions. And we only really knew what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ and how available it is by faith and obedience. We would be different people. We are to put the foot of faith on the promises of God and enter into a land of victory and possess our possessions. What God has already done and provided for us. That's exactly right. You know, we we have to start walking in a way that will honor Him.

But quit trying to fix it and quit trying to help Him. Kerry, it's our pleasure to get responses from our listeners to know how they are being impacted by the ministry of Love Worth Finding. And you've got a wonderful response right now.

I do. It says, I've been listening to Love Worth Finding for about six years now. I just got out of prison and Adrian Rogers messages, books and booklets have helped me greatly in my Christian walk.

Thank you for all that you do. And this was in this was in a prison system. But it's it's a great validation of the impact. And the reach of our radio ministry. I mean, we talk about digital, we talk about TV, all the mass communications that we do by God's grace. But this is radio. We're going into the prison and we're reaching the hearts of people. It's amazing to me.

It is, Kerry. Well, as this listener talks about books and booklets to help him grow. There is a wonderful resource this month. This resource is a hardbound new journal entitled Good Morning, Lord. You know, this is a great tool to help us maximize our time when we get along with God and we're studying his word and we're speaking to him in prayer. But sometimes, you know, that could be four or five minutes.

We don't know what else to do. And I think what this journal becomes is a great mechanism so that you can maximize that time alone with the Lord and then document that special time so that you can come back and read it later or reflect on it at a later time. Well, the resource Good Morning, Lord is available at lwf.org or you can call 1-877-LOVEGOD and get the resource. Get maybe an extra copy for a friend and a neighbor and share it. Give it away. Give it away. Well, with today's message, part two, learning to possess your possessions, here's Adrian Rogers.

Many of us are not living up to our profession in Christ. A little boy had a dog and somebody said, son, what kind of dog is that? And really, the dog was just a mongrel. But the little boy, proud of his dog, said he's a police dog. And someone said, well, he doesn't look like a police dog.

And the little guy said, well, he's in the Secret Service. Now, I know a lot of Christians who are saved, but they don't act like it. They're not living victorious lives and there's something wrong, there's something missing. There seems to be a contradiction between what the Bible says they are in Christ and what they are in reality.

There seems to be a gap. For example, the Bible says concerning the Lord Jesus Christ that we are complete in him. That is, we don't have need of anything in the spiritual realm in the Lord Jesus. But how many Christians would remind you of somebody like that? The Bible says concerning those of us who are saved, we are overcomers. Most believers I know are overcome.

They are victims rather than victors. The Bible says that when we're saved, we have the peace that passeth understanding and joy unspeakable and full of glory. How many Christians would you say, I know a man, I know a woman, a boy and a girl, a great deal of them that have peace that passes understanding, that have joy unspeakable and full of glory?

The Bible said if you drink of the water that I will give you, you will never thirst again. How many say I am completely satisfied in the Lord Jesus? The Bible teaches in Romans chapter 8 that in Christ, we are more than conquerors.

Well, I wonder if we're conquerors at all. Now, where is the problem? I mean, what about this contradiction?

What is the answer to this riddle, this problem? Well, you need to understand there are two key words. The first key word is provision. God has made provision for us. That's one key word.

But the other key word is appropriation. Now, God has made the provision for us, but that provision does us no good until we appropriate what God has done for us. How many of you, now be honest with me, have books in your library at home that you haven't read yet? Now, is that book yours? Well, yes. But you haven't possessed your possession.

I mean, it's doing you no good. It's there. It is your book. But you have not appropriated that which is yours. So remember, on the one hand, there is the word provision.

On the other hand, there is the word appropriation. All right. Now, here's the first step now in possessing your possessions.

Are you ready for it? Learn dying and start living. That's not contradictory. Learn dying and start living. You will never possess your possessions until you come to the end of yourself. The reason that so many of us are not filled with the Spirit is, very frankly, we're so stuffed full of ourself, there's not room for the Spirit. We have to come to the end of ourselves and learn dying. Learn dying so we can start living.

I am not being morbid. I am being joyful because Jesus didn't say, I've come that you might have death. Jesus said, I've come that you might have life and have it abundantly.

But not until you're sick and tired of that old life. Not until you say, yes, Jesus, because you died. I died with you.

And thank God when you rose, I rose with you. So, we're talking about possessing your possessions. Number one, learn dying so you can start living. Number two, second principle.

You ready for it? Stop trying and start trusting. Learn dying and start living.

Stop trying and start trusting. Now, what the apostle Paul is going to do right here is, to give you his biography as an early Christian. Begin now in verse seven.

What should we say then? Is the law sin? No, there's nothing wrong with Mr. Law. God forbid.

Nay, I'd not known sin except by the law. He kept telling me to do this and not to do that. And now I want you to notice something very interesting. From chapter seven, verse seven, on through verse 24, there are three words that stand out.

Over and over and over again. One word that stands out more than any other, and it's the shortest word. It is the little perpendicular pronoun, I. And I want you to listen to the many times he says, I, in verse seven.

What should we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin but by the law. For I had not known lust except the law had said. Verse nine, for I was alive and I died. Verse 10, I found to be. Verse 11, deceive me and slew me. Verse 13, me. Verse 14, I am carnal. Verse 15, that which I do I allow not. What I would that I do not and what I hate that I do. I, I, I, I, I, 40 times.

He's talking about himself. The next major word is the word law. And that's used in this passage some 20 times.

Now, what is the key? It's Paul and the law. Now, he's already said, all right, I'm married to Mr. Love.

But wait a minute. Let me tell you what happens to this woman. She says, I can't please Mr. Law. Now I'm married to Mr. Love.

It's going to be wonderful. Mr. Love is so kind. Mr. Love is so compassionate. Mr. Love is not rigid like Mr. Law. Thank God, I'm now married to Mr. Love.

And then do you know what happens to her? She finds out that Mr. Love's requirements are higher than Mr. Law's requirements. Mr. Law said go a mile.

Mr. Love says go two miles. Mr. Law said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Mr. Love says, love your enemies.

Do good to them that persecute you. She said, man, this is worse than before. I'm out of the frying pan into the fire. I thought I was going to get better married to Mr. Love. And then she finds out.

And here's what I want you to find out. And here's what most of us don't understand, that a lost man cannot keep the law of God. And neither can a saved man by himself.

Now, most of us don't understand that. We think when we get saved, boy, I came down the aisle. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. I got baptized up there in that baptistry. I am saved. Hallelujah. I won't sin anymore.

I'm married to Mr. Love. We go along for a while. And then something happens. And that old flesh rises up. We do something, say something, think something. And we say, oh, I thought I was saved.

Where'd that come from? Oh, God, I'm sorry. Forgive me, Lord. I reconsecrate my life to you.

I'll never do that again, Lord. And we fall flat on our face. We get in a preaching service, and the preacher will preach. We get under conviction. We'll say, I haven't been the kind of a Christian I need to be and I ought to be. And we rededicate and reconsecrate our lives. And we say, I will do better.

And we fail again. Have you ever been there? I've been there.

I think almost every new Christian has been there. And then the devil, you know what the devil does? Boy, you've got a real buddy in the devil.

If you were in quicksand, he'd pat you on the head. The devil comes to you, and the devil says to you, well, maybe you weren't saved at all. Maybe you don't have the real thing. But anyway, don't be a hypocrite. Don't sit there and sing because you know what a rotten life you're living. Why don't you just lay out of church? Why don't you just stop going for a while? Maybe you can never be like those other people.

You find out that you don't have what it takes. I'm telling you that a lost man cannot keep the law of God, and I'm telling you also that a saved man cannot keep the law of God in his own strength. Look at what Paul found out. Look in verse 18. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me.

But how to perform that which is good I find not. You been there? Every one of us have. I want to serve God. I delight in the law of God and the inward man. But I find another law present in me. It's like the law of gravity is working all the time. You may not be aware of the law of gravity right now, but if it weren't for that, you'd go spinning off this earth. The law of gravity is that downward pull.

That's what happens to us as we get older. That's the law of gravity. And if you really get sick, it really takes over. I mean, you won't be able to navigate. You'll get down flat. And if you die, it'll take over completely.

You'll just keep on going down and down and down. That is the law of gravity. And so there are two laws that are working constantly in you. Now, what did Paul discover? Well, he came to a place where he was almost brokenhearted. And he says in verse 24, now here's the man who's no longer married to Mr. Law.

He's married to Mr. Love. And he says, I am the wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body or from the body of this death. Well, he asks the question, and thank God he gives the answer in verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

That is, deliverance comes through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let me tell you what this woman discovered who married Mr. Law. You learn dying so you can start living. You stop trying and start trusting. Now, the way that you live the victorious life is not by trying. It is not you and the law. But God has provided a victory for you, and that victory is with the new person that you're married to.

That's Jesus Christ. Now, let's go back. This, Mr. Love says, go two miles. Mr. Love says, do this and do this and do this. But you know what she discovers?

They now have a joint banking account. Do you know what she also discovers? That everything Mr. Love tells her to do, he just turns around and does it with her or for her. She says, this is wonderful. He says, I want the bed made this way. And he says, come, I'll show you how to do it.

I'll help you to do it. He puts his hands on her hands, and he guides her and everything she needs. Every demand, oh, listen to me, precious friend. Every demand of God upon your life is a demand on the Jesus Christ who lives in you. That was a good place for an amen. I'll give you another chance. Every demand upon your life is a demand upon Jesus who lives in you. Amen.

Okay. Now, you see, listen, you can't do it. The sooner you throw up your hands and you say, oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this dead body?

And then hear the answer. I thank God deliverance comes through Jesus Christ. Look in chapter 8. Notice how he says in verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. But now, notice the change beginning in verse 8. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh. That is the old nature, but after the Spirit.

And now here's a new word that you're going to find out. In chapter 7 from 7 to 24, the Spirit is not mentioned at all. But now notice the change of atmosphere in verse 8. There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Notice in verse 4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Look down in verse 9, for you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. And if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. So therefore, how do you live the Christian life?

Friend, it is the Holy Spirit of God in you. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Now remember, there's the law of sin and death. There's the law of God, the righteous law of Moses. But there's another law, another law. Listen to me now.

In Romans chapter 8, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Now let me illustrate that to you. Have you ever seen an airplane, a big one, of course you have. You'd think it'd never get off the ground because what holds it to the ground is a law. It's called the law of gravity. But there's another law and that is the law of aerodynamics. And somehow the wind flowing over those wings gives a lift to that thing and you can get on that thing.

It weighs tons and tons and tons. But there's another power that is greater than the law of gravity and lifts that monster off the ground. Now, the downward pull in your life is like gravity, but there's a new law. It's the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

To those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. When you say, oh God, I can't. You never said I could. But, oh God, you can and you always said you would. And now, Lord, I stop trying and I start trusting. And when you stop trying and when you bow your head and say I can't, oh wretched man that I am, I can't do it.

But, Lord, I trust you. Then at that time, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes you free from the law of sin and death. Learn dying and start living.

Stop trying and start trusting. The third law is quit crying and start praising. Oh, wretched man that I am, that's verse 24, will quit that crying and start praising.

I thank God through Jesus Christ. Begin to say, God, you didn't save me to have me to live a failing life. Lord, you saved me that I might live a victorious life and, Lord, you have given all of this to me and now by your grace and for your glory, I, Lord, am going to possess my possessions. And what would happen if every one of us in Christ were to really lay hold of our possessions?

And not bring the flag back to the regiment, but bring the regiment up to the flag. Not to get a Bible that will match our lives. Let our lives match the Bible. Everything I've said today is for Christians, believers. This is not for an unbeliever. No unbeliever can live a victorious life.

No unbeliever can have the Spirit of God in him. You've got to be saved. You've got to be saved. And to be saved, you must receive the gift of salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. Pastor, would Jesus save me?

Oh, yes, he will. Pastor, are you certain? I'll tell you how certain I am. If you were to come to Jesus in repentance and faith and ask him to save you and he didn't save you, I would close my Bible and never preach again.

I'm telling you. You listen to me. He will save you today and he'll keep you saved if you trust him. For the Bible says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And if you need Jesus, I want you to pray this prayer. Lord Jesus, I need you.

I'm tired of struggling and failing. I need to be saved. Thank you, Jesus, that you paid for my sin with your blood on the cross. My sin deserves judgment but I need mercy. Have mercy on me. Forgive my sin.

Take control of my life. Save me, Lord Jesus. Pray that from your heart. Save me, Lord Jesus.

Did you ask him? Then pray this way. Thank you for saving me, Jesus. I believe that you have. I receive it by faith like a child. Now, Lord Jesus, I'll make it public.

Tell him that right now. I'll make it public. I'll not be ashamed of you because you died for me. In your name I pray.

Amen. We would love to celebrate with you. You'll find answers there you may need about your newfound faith. We have a response section for everyone. You can share your testimony, tell us how this message has made a difference in your life or let us know you've trusted Christ. Go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab that says Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family. We can't wait to hear from you today. What would your life look like if you learned to possess your possessions, to appropriate what God has provided? Learn dying and begin to live. Stop trying and start trusting. Quit crying and start praising. We're so glad you joined us today for this study in God's word and tune in next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding.