Adrian Rogers: The Root of Bitterness - RA2236

welcome to love worth fighting with pastored teacher and author Adrian Rogers reaching out with God's love bringing people to Christ touching lives around the world and helping you find the answers you need today join us as we prepare to open God's Word and discover how your life can be changed forever by his great love worth finding find in God's Word would you Hebrews chapter 12 and in a moment we're going to begin reading in the verse 14 I've already told you that there's a great problem and that is the problem of bitterness and it is bitterness that blows out the candle of joy and leaves the soul in darkness I'm afraid more people have a root of bitterness than we dare think look if you will in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 14 follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God now here's our key phrase less any root of bitterness root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled now what is bitterness well sometimes if you see a person who is bitter they are person who is very much like a porcupine they may have a lot of good points but they're hard to be near and they are harsh they are critical they're judgmental they're sarcastic and they're filled with anger but they're not always like a porcupine sometimes they're like an iceberg very cool very aloof very different they are politely indifferent to people they go their own way they have an air about them that I don't need anybody but like an iceberg most of their problem is beneath the surface and then others who are bitter are not like a porcupine or like an iceberg and more like a crybaby their sullen they wallow in self-pity they're always filled with moroseness and they're sad and a part of the problem is they are eaten up with bitterness now bitterness has done untold damage to communities it has done untold damage to churches untold damage to homes the Bible says in Colossians 3 North versus Benes love your wives and be not bitter against them sometimes rather than being the better half they are the bitter half husbands love your wives and be not bitter against them some in this congregation are chained in a prison of bitterness and by the way bitterness does more to hold back the power of God in revival I am convinced than liberalism our bitterness does more to hold back the power of God in revival than does alcohol or pornography it keeps the people of God from having the power of God and the holiness of God that they need in their hearts and in their lives and much of this businesses I've already said is is found in the people of God we have bitter brothers sour sisters caustic Christians and the Bible speaks of a root of bitterness now we're going to look at this a routing out bitterness under three headings first of all we're going to talk a little bit about the germination of bitterness the germination of bitterness how does their how does the root get there how does it germinate well two things are necessary for germination one is the seed and the other is the soil now what is the seed of bitterness a better person is somebody who has been hurt that hurt is the seed of bitterness now the hurt may have been intentional there's mean people out there they can hurt you how they're mean of snakes and the hurt may be intentional or the hurt may have been unintentional somebody hurt you they did not mean to hurt you as a matter of fact they don't even know that they hurt you I was preaching in Florida one time and in a crusade and a man came up to me and he said I need to apologize to you and ask you to forgive me I looked him over I wondered did I know him then I recognized him as an old college chum but not a close associate and I said well tell me what it is I need to forgive you for he said well one day we were on the street of a city doing some witnessing sharing the gospel and we were sitting there together and I suggested we do one thing and you suggested the group do something else and they all got up and followed you and he said I've been bitter at you about that ever since folks I don't even remember the situation I don't remember anything about it but here was a person and I know I had no intention of hurting this individual but he'd been harboring hostility for years because I said let's let's go over here and do this and such a thing sometimes the hurt may be intentional sometimes the hurt may have been unintentional sometimes the hurt is only imagined nothing has been done to you but somehow you feel that somebody has done something wrong to you and sometimes the hurt maybe the very chastisement of God upon your life that's the context of this particular verse of scripture where the writer of Hebrews is talking about chastisement and he said but when chastisement comes don't be bitter don't have a root of bitterness now what is the seed what is the seed of bitterness it is a hurt but now let's think about the soil you see we have all been hurt is there anybody here who's not been hurt we have all been hurt and if we're not careful when we get hurt we get angry anybody here ever been hurt and gotten angry and sometimes if you're in a bad mood you want to get a little revenge you want to strike back you want maybe you have a resentment because you've been hurt but now listen you get over it you deal with it the grace of God comes in and you sell not to feel that way and you get over but a bitter person doesn't get over that's the difference what is the soil the soil is a heart that harbors hostility it does not deal with this hurt with the grace of God and so you become a bitter person it goes beneath and it takes root and it stays there and the root grows deeper and the things that are seen in your life that's just simply the fruit of that deep root that the seed is a hurt the soil is a heart that harbors that hurt now let me tell you something about bitter people and some may be here today the world is full of them once you get that hurt in your heart and once you Harbor it there then you begin to look for things to criticize things to find fault with to justify the way that you feel have you ever seen people who are hyper critical generally they are bitter people and they they will they know how to push your hot button they will work on you they will criticize they will car they'll find some fault until they can get you to react the way they want you to react to further justify their bitterness and say I was right I have a right to be bitter and and some people come to church that way you know some people come to church to find fault let me tell you something yeah if you come to this church or any Church to find fault you'll find plenty you find plenty if you want to find fault there's always something to find fault with but if you want to come to find Jesus you can find Jesus it all depends on what you're looking for ah people who have Harbor hurt in their hearts people who have been hurt that's the seed and they then in the soil of the soil of the heart they Harbor this hostility and bitterness a root Springs now that is the germination of bitterness I want you to see the second thing not only the germination of his bitterness but I want you to see the devastation of this bitterness look if you will in verse 15 he speaks up a root of bitterness springing up it doesn't just stay underground it springs up and it says lest a root of bitterness springing up trouble you and many be defiled bitterness will trouble you personally and it will trouble society all of those around you now we've talked about the seed and the soil let's talk about the root and the fruit okay now we're talking we're going to talk about the root that is there and the fruit that comes from that root now remember that the root is underground it's easy to hide it's easy to camouflage seldom do you ever find anybody who will admit that they are a bitter person they will either deny it or disguise it can we dig around your roots a little this morning say yes all right find out whether or not you are really a bitter person you know a bitter person is a very sensitive person very touchy person you have to be careful what you're saying do around a bitter person because they're very sensitive and they're very touchy as a matter of fact if they walk into a room and two people talking and then it gets quiet the bitter person feels they were talking about him secondly a bitter person has little or no gratitude I've have never seen a person who was infected with bitterness who is truly a grateful person because you cannot be bitter and praised and you cannot have gratitude without praising and and I'll tell other mark of we're just talking about this this bitter root a person who is bitter well either harshly criticized are vainly flattered they they are very insincere people they will never deal with an individual on a truth level or hardly ever a bitter person holds grudges against people often for a long time they find it not only hard to be thankful they find it very hard to forgive persons and you'll find them therefore bitter people in mood swings the bitterness takes over they get into great depression then they pull the top off the root and for a while everything looks fine but the root is still there on the ground and it will spring up again now the sad thing I say about the root of bitterness is it's Underground it's so easy to hide but let's think not only about the root of it let's think about the fruit of it for all root bears fruit of some kind now look notice the fruit of this bitterness he says here looking diligently but verse 15 lest any man fail of the grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you what is the fruit there's going to be trouble there's going to be devastation in your life is going to trouble you bitterness is an acid that destroys its container ah this is going to trouble you physically by the way your body soul in spirit and your body your soul and your spirit going to be troubled by bitterness if you're harboring hostility if there is in your heart in your life today a root of bitterness it's going to affect you physically a book that I've had in my library for many years is called none of these diseases written by a medical doctor dr. s I Mack millet and he lists in that book more than 50 diseases more than 50 that can be triggered by the emotions and he talks particularly about the emotion of bitterness and anger and I want to quote from that book here's what dr. McMillan wrote he said and I quote the famous cardiologist John Hunter knew what anger could do in his heart the first scoundrel that gets me angry will kill me this man knew his heart condition he's a cardiologist sometime later at a medical meeting a speaker made assertions that incensed hunter as he stood up and bitterly attacked the speaker his anger caused such a contraction of the blood vessels in his heart that he fell dead he said the first man gets me angry will kill me a man got him angry he's filled with bitterness he fell dead now let me say something you can be sick and not be bitter but it is doubt a doubtful that you can be bitter for a long time and not get sick it will affect you physically it will affect you emotionally dr. Mac Miller went on to say and I want to quote him again the moment that I started hating a man I become his slave I can't enjoy my work anymore because he controls my thoughts my resentments produce too much stress hormones in my body and I become fatigued after only a few hours of work the work I formerly enjoyed is now a drudgery even vacations cease to give me pleasure it may be a luxurious car that I drive along a lake fringed with the autumn beauty of maple oak and birch as far as my experience is concerned I might as well be driving a wagon in mud rain the man I hate hounds me wherever I go I cannot escape history amical grass on my mind when the waiter serves me a porterhouse steak with french fries asparagus crisp salad and strawberry shortcake smothered with ice cream it might as well be stale bread and water my teeth chew the food and swallow it but the man I hate will not permit me to enjoy it a euro Solomon must have had an experience like that when he said better is a dish of herbs with love than a stalled ox with hatred therein you see it will affect you physically it will affect you emotionally it will affect you spiritually look again in in verse 14 follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord God will not be real to you big why hatefulness and holiness don't dwell in the same heart and without holiness you'll not see the Lord now he says when this root springs up it will trouble you but if we can just lock all the bitter people up in the world and let them trouble one another would be so bad but it goes on to say and many be to file now we're talking here not we're talking about the devastation of bitterness many be defiled bitterness has a chain reaction I've shared what I'm about to share with you before but it's so pertinent right now I want to share it again and in Ephesians chapter 4 just put your bookmark over here in Hebrews 12 and you may want to turn to Ephesians chapter 4 because you're going to see how bitterness devastates you're going to see a chain reaction of bitterness here is an incredible passage of Scripture in Ephesians chapter 4 look if you will in verse 26 be angry and sin not let not the Sun go down upon your wrath that means keep a short account don't fail to get that hurt out of your heart don't let the Sun set on it keep a short account with God be angry and sin not don't don't harbor hostility neither give place to the devil to give place to the devil it's just another way of saying let bitterness take root now watch this skip on down if you will to verse 30 and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you're sealed unto the day of redemption now watch verse 31 let all bitterness he's talking about bitterness now but notice what follows bitterness let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice now just park right there on that verse verse 31 that is an incredible verse that tells us the bitter fruit of this bitter root the soil is a hurt the seed is a heart that harbors the hurt the root is bitter now notice the fruit that is bitter first of all he says bitterness bitterness you're harboring a hurt and then he mentions in verse 31 wrath because wrath follows bitterness what the Greek word wrath has the idea of heat that which is hot if you were to take some oily rags put a match to them put them in a closet and close the door and have them packed down tight they would sit there and smolder they would get hotter and hotter but probably would not burst into flame they would just sit there and smolder that's the idea a wrath is this internal heat this this smouldering that people feel when the bitterness comes first bitterness and then wrath and then notice anger what's the difference between wrath and anger anger is that which is outward wrath is that which is inward is that slow-burn but if those smoldering rags are in the closet and somebody opens the closet door and the oxygen hits those rags then they burst a flame have you ever seen people we say they they fly off the handle something happens and they they just seemed to have this burst of anger what you don't realize is that that that slow burn was there for a long time and that slow burn was there because this person is bitter this person has been hurt and all that has happened is some oxygen somebody's open the door and little little oxygen there on that slow burn but now what's the next thing watch it bitterness wrath anger and then he mentions in verse 31 clamor the word clamor has the idea of speech when we get angry then we lose control of this thing in our mouths called the tongue the Bible says the tongue of the fire and it is set on fire of hell when that that hellish fire begins to burn called anger we begin to say things we get loud and and we begin to lift our voices and and we express that anger at that moment we are in deep deep danger because our tongue is set on fire of hell and then once we lift our voice and we begin to speak to other people in a louder voice or in a hostile voice then what is the next thing that he's mentioned there it's evil speaking once you hear yourself saying talking this way the devil becomes alongside and whispers in your ear and he gives you Cochise he begins to coach you and he says say this say that and you can say things you never even thought of saying yeah and if you are have a child you may say that child I wonder why your mother and I ever even had you you've been such a disappointment to me you're the most unthankful child I've ever seen you've given us nothing but trouble since you've been born a man might say to his wife frankly you're stupid I wish I never met you it was a mistake when we ever got married now you don't mean those things but now you are you're doing evil-speaking she might say to you well why don't we just get a divorce I'm sorry I ever met you you may say I hate you I wish you were dead you say all kinds of terrible horrible things that you don't mean but you mean them in the moment first bitterness then wrath that slow burn then anger and then clamour and then evil speaking but it doesn't end there what's next malice what is malice malice is the desire to hurt somebody that's when a man will take his wife and shove her against the wall that's when a woman will take up a dish and throw it at a husband that's when a man gets in an automobile and begins to drive as fast as the car will dry because he's so full of malice it's a terrible thing the desire to hurt sometimes a father will slap a child what do we call it going ballistic sometimes a man will walk into an office where you used to work pull out a gun and began to shoot at people in discriminately what has happened bitterness has been there there's been a root of bitterness that bitterness begins to do a slow burn which is wrath and that wrath becomes anger and that anger becomes evil speaking and that evil speaking becomes clamor other and that clamour becomes evil speaking and that evil speaking becomes malice you heard about the ad in the paper this woman said for sale a wedding dress our will for a 38 revolver that's somebody who has been hurt somebody's hurt now we've seen the seed and we've seen the soil we've seen the root and we've seen the fruit you see the root is underground but the fruit is above-ground and we wonder sometimes why do people act like they act why are they so sullen or why are they so critical or why are they so sad all of that is just simply the the fruit of that bitter root now we we have talked about the germination we've talked about the devastation let's spend a few moments talking about the eradication every farmer wants know how to eradicate weeds what are we going to do how are we going to get this root out how are we going to root out this bitterness well may I mention three things to you first of all let God reveal it let God reveal it now the root is underground I'm telling you it's easy to deny and to disguise and many here may think I'm talking to somebody else when God is really talking to you let God reveal it when I was studying for this message I my mind went to Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24 search me O God and know my heart try me that means test me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting what a great prayer that is I pray that prayer frequently it's a great prayer from the Word of God you want to jot it down Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24 search me O God and know my heart you know sometimes people say well if I know my heart there's no bitterness in me true the matter is you don't know your heart the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and a deceitful heart can't diagnose it as evil heart you need to let God the Holy Spirit do radical surgery let God reveal it now remember that the root is underground it's so easy to disguise our feelings all of our feelings easy to disguise a preacher was playing golf with three other men when these men would make bad shots they would often say things out not to say the preacher was always so composed he never said anything like that one of the men said pastor I really admire you the way you just control your emotions he said well I may seem to you to control my emotions but if you watch where I spit the grass never grows again sometimes we can disguise it we can disguise it but let God reveal it that's the first step now here's the second stop let God reveal it let grace remove it let grace remove it look if you will in this passage of Scripture looking diligently this is verse 15 lest any man fail of the grace of God friend it our lack of the grace of God doesn't have the grace of God you can never root it out even when God shows you it is there without the grace of God first of all the grace of God is going to have to forgive you for your bitterness bitterness no matter what somebody has done to you your reaction is wrong and ask God to forgive you and God will forgive you by His grace what is Grace by the way what is grace grace is both the desire and the ability to do the will of God as the best definition of grace I've ever heard both the desire and the ability to do the will of God when you have a desire that's because of God's grace because no good thing can come out of our own vile heart so that desires of God but not only does God put the desire there God puts the ability there and only will God root it out let God reveal it let grace remove it I was reading about Corrie ten Boom and Corrie ten Boom written it's wonderful book the hiding place you remember she was a Dutch girl who hid some of the Jews during the Nazi atrocities and Corrie and her sister were finally taken and put in a Nazi concentration camp and they were faced with cruel and heartless German guards and sometimes they would have all of the dignity taking away these lovely young girls would be stripped with no clothes at all and be put by these German guards into the delousing showers and there was one guard who particularly loved to taunt Corey and her sister and she said he would just make all kinds of obscene remarks and and would rape them with his eyes later on Corrie ten Boom I was liberated the sister died and Corrie ten Boom was lecturing in Germany when that same guard came up to her who was now a professing Christian himself and he came up to court in boom and Corey had his mind so his face so itched upon her mind she could never forget that face and he came up to Corrie ten Boom after she'd been speaking put out his hand and asked her to forgive him now I want you I want you to hear her words I've copied them down for you she said I stood there with coldness clutching at my heart but I know that the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart I prayed Jesus help me woodenly mechanically I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me and I experienced an incredible thing the current started in my shoulder raced down into my arms and sprang into our clutched hands then this warm reconciliation seemed to flood my whole being bringing tears to my eyes I forgive you brother I cried with my whole heart for a long moment we grasped each other's hands the former guard and the former prisoner I have never known the love of so intensely as I did at that moment may I suggest to you that was supernatural that was a god mom do you know what that was that was the grace of God this Dutch girl who had received grace was giving grace and she did not fail of the grace of God let grace remove it I read Robert Ely not Robert G Lee the former pastor of this church but robert e lee the great general in the civil war after the war was over in the south and lost he was visiting a woman in kentucky and this woman was so filled with bitterness over the war she took General Lee out to the yard and she showed him a great old tree that had been in the front yard the limbs had been fragmented and broken by the northern artillery and there was this grotesque tree there she'd brought Lee out to see that tree and see what the Union soldiers had done she was expecting him to give her some sympathy she said general what do you think about that he said madam cut it down and forget it cut it down and forget it may I suggest that somebody's done you wrong cut it down and forget forget buried in the grave of God's forgetfulness and you cannot do that apart from the grace of God let God reveal it let grace remove it do you know what grace is you see justice is God giving us what we deserve mercy is God not giving us what we deserve grace is God giving us what we don't deserve let me illustrate that a while back Joyce and I went out to lunch the little restaurant and the waitress who was waiting on us was very distraught very upset we could tell Joyce and I spent perhaps a half an hour speaking with her trying to share the love of God with this waitress she was nervous she was heart and we were just pouring out the love of Jesus to this waitress and I know that God was working through us but she had to leave and she said I'll put your bill on the table I must go it's my time to go so when I picked up the bill she greatly overcharged me I know she didn't mean to but she'd overcharged now this restaurant would not take a credit card and I looked at that I said Joyce I don't know whether I have enough money to pay this or not I'll just go and tell the the owner that I've I have been overcharged I said no I can't do that I can't do that that would so embarrass her that if he called her in and criticized her for this that would that would be the straw and break her back I said we're just we just paid the bill that'd be all right but then I said but Joyce if I pay this overcharge I won't have enough money to leave a tip and I want to leave a big tip to the person who overcharged and see what are we going to do I said well Joyce so they think we're not trying to slip out without paying I said you sit here I'll go get in the car and I'll go home and get some money and come back so we can tip this girl and so I drove home got some money and came back to tip her she never knows anything about that unless she's sitting here today she'd know anything about that at all she doesn't know she overcharged me she doesn't know we didn't say anything about it she doesn't know that I had to go home to get a tip I could have paid the bill if I'd left the tip off now friend not having to pay the bill that was an overcharge that's justice I could just said this is not right I want what's fair and right that's justice ah not however saying anything about it that's mercy but going home to get a tip to the person who charged you that's grace that's grace that's great you see justice is God giving us what we deserve mercy is God not giving us what we deserve grace is God giving us what we don't deserve now you say well you telling me that makes you sound like such a great guy no I tell you that at all for that reason I'm just telling you that gave me a lot of joy to do that the drive home that just gave me an incredible amount of joy rather than resenting something that that let let the grace of God let the grace of God we move it thank God for grace it takes to to forgive Jesus and you and you cannot do it without him I am Telling You that forgiveness is costly but it is worth it it is worth it now here's the final thing look a watch it if you're a better person let God reveal it let grace remove it and let good replace it let good replace it notice verse 14 follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord peace and wholeness are linked together hatred and hellishness are linked together you cannot you cannot have holiness unless you want to follow peace with all men it doesn't mean that all people are going to be at peace with you but you can pursue peace you can follow peace or it's so much worth it when you forgive you say I can't forgive them I'm not going to let them off the hook I want to remind you you're on hook with them you are on the hook with them when you forgive you set two people free and one of them is yourself one of them is yourself let God reveal it let grace remove it let good replace it some little children had gotten in a fuss brothers and sisters and the mother had to come down and quieten them down and scold them put them to bed in the middle of the night there was a theros thunderstorm you know how those scared little children the mother went upstairs to check on the children they weren't there Sheridan oiz in the closet and opened the door so what are you kids doing in the closet they said we're in here forgiving one another okay we're here forgiving one another oh listen friend you we need to forgive one another even before the storm starts yes don't harbor hostility let God reveal it let grace remove it let good replace it and you're gonna find out that your life is gonna be so wonderful if you just get out that old root of bitterness remember the seed is a hurt the soil is a heart that harbors the hurt the root is underground but the fruit is above-ground and only God can deal with that root let's pray heads are bowed eyes are closed you know we've spoken here in this message about the grace of God if God gave us justice we'd die and go to hell thank God for His mercy that says you're not punishes but thank God for His grace that gives us a brand-new life would you like to receive the grace of God the Bible says for by grace are you saved through faith would you pray a prayer like this if you're not certain that you say you can be saved today you can become a child of God today would you pray this kind of a prayer pray it sincerely precious friend dear God I am a sinner and I'm lost and I need to be saved and I want to be saved do you want to be saved God I want to be saved Jesus you died to save me you promised to save me if I would trust you I do trust you Jesus would you tell him that I do trust you right now this moment right now with all of my heart come into my heart Lord Jesus forgive my sin cleanse me save me Jesus pray it sincerely from your heart you don't have to shout you don't have to cry you laughter beg the Bible says just trusting believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved prayed and mean it save me Lord Jesus did you ask him did you ask him with all of your heart then thank him pray this way thank you for saving me Jesus I believe that you have because you promised you're now my Lord my Savior my God and my friends because you died for me I will live for you and I will never be ashamed of you if you just give me the strength in your name I pray amen we pray God has blessed you as you watch this message if you'd like additional copies or information on other resources write us at love worth finding the Oh box 38 800 memphis tennessee 38134 at lwf 0rg in the US you can place Visa or MasterCard orders by calling 1-800 two seven four five six eight three Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central Time thank you and may God richly bless you

Channel: Love Worth Finding Ministries

Views: 289,879

Keywords: lwf, program, the, root, of, bitterness, ra2236, love worth finding adrian rogers memphis salvation ways to salvation christ, jesus, sermons, love worth finding, love worth finding ministries, love worth finding come to jesus, love worth finding choir, love worth finding adrian rogers, love worth finding with dr. adrian rogers

Id: mfu_sJF5kEY

Length: 41min 39sec (2499 seconds)

Published: Thu May 05 2016