The Bible & Revival | Facts About God's Word

You're listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Visit our website and learn more about Harvest Partners at harvest.org. Do you remember the scores of Super Bowl games going back forever? Don't tell me you cannot remember the Word of God. You just take time to get it into your mind and get it into your heart and that will never be time that is wasted. Oh, the worthless things that get into our minds when we weren't paying attention. We can remember the words of TV themes, the words in the jingles of various fast food restaurants, the words to songs on the radio, songs we don't even like.

If we hear something often enough, it sticks. If we can't remember Bible verses, maybe we haven't read them often enough. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us write the truth of Scripture on our hearts from his message called The Bible and Revival. So we're calling what we're doing here tonight Jesus Revolution because it's sort of a look back at some of the great things that the Lord did in days gone by, the last great spiritual awakening in America. How many of you were around during the Jesus movement? Raise your hand up a number of you. How many of you were not around?

That's most of you. Well you're around now and we're having Jesus Revolution right here tonight. Why don't you grab your Bible and turn to Acts chapter 2 and Psalm 19 and we've talked about things that we did back in the days of the Jesus movement. We talked about how contemporary Christian worship was born before our eyes and also how we love to talk about the soon coming of the Lord.

We talked about that recently. But one of the big things that was happening back in those days is almost everything we went to was a Bible study. Every service that we would have, we would open up the Word of God. And then there were home Bible studies and Bible studies on high school campuses and Bible studies on college campuses.

We couldn't get enough of the Word of God. Ok so let's go over to Acts chapter 2. This is when the Holy Spirit is poured out on the day of Pentecost.

And people speak in unknown languages. They speak in tongues. And then what happens after that? Acts chapter 2 verse 16. Peter stands up and says what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel. In the last days God says I'll pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy and your young men will see visions and your old men will dream drinks. Very important statement. Here is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Supernatural phenomena is taking place. And Peter stands up and says this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel. And this makes a very important point. Everything that we do as Christians should be informed by the Word of God. There should be a biblical basis for what we do. So when we talk about making a decision or should we do this or should we do that we go to the Scripture. What does the Bible say? Does the Scripture address this?

At least in principle if not specifically. And so Peter was standing up and saying this is the biblical basis. Sometimes in what some might call revival meetings or things where there is a lot of excitement, a lot of passion. Sometimes things happen that frankly are not biblical. And people will say this is a new work of the Holy Spirit. It is new. Listen to this. If it is new it is not true.

And if it is true it is not new. We don't need a new thing. We want to do a biblical thing. And when God pours His Spirit out we want to have a biblical basis for what we are saying and doing.

And that certainly is what happened there. But then what happened after the Holy Spirit was poured out, verse 42, they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayer. They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine. They dug into the Word of God.

Listen. If you want to be a Spirit filled, revived Christian you need to be digging into God's Word each and every day. Because if you don't you are going to fail spiritually.

I need to read it. And I need to commit Scripture to memory. You can do this.

We can all do this. Oh no I can't remember anything. Give me a break. You remember lines from films. You remember lyrics from the lamest songs of all time. You remember the scores of Super Bowl games going back forever. You remember all that trivia. Don't tell me you cannot remember the Word of God.

You just take time to get it into your mind and get it into your heart and that will never be time that is wasted. Alright well let's go over to our second passage. Psalm 19 verse 7. And this is just the Word of God telling us why the Word of God is important. And by the way these were originally songs.

They were set to melody. And this one even has a certain cadence to it that sounds a lot like a psalm. Psalm 19 verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The commandments of the Lord are pure enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together. More to be desired are they than gold.

Yea then much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned and in keeping of them there is great reward.

That sounds like a song doesn't it? It is beautiful. It is beautiful poetry. But it is actually also the inspired Word of God.

So here is just a few take away thoughts. Number one the Word of God is perfect. When we say the law of the Lord we could replace it with the Word of the Lord or the Bible even.

Because it is just referring to God's written Word. The Word of God is perfect because this phrase means that it is flawless. It is whole. It is complete. And it is sufficient. Listen everything you need to know about God is found in the Bible. You don't need to go anywhere else.

It is one stop shopping right here. This is God's message to each and every one of us. 2 Timothy 3 says all Scripture is breathed by God. Number two the Word of the Lord revives us. The Word of the Lord revives us. Look at verse 7 of Psalm 19. The law of the Lord or the Word of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. This word convert can be translated revive restore and transform. When you read God's Word you will be revived restored and transformed. Psalm 119 has a psalmist saying revive me according to your Word. So God's Word will revive you. You want to be a revived Christian. You want to be a spirit filled Christian.

Then study the Word of God because it will revive you. Number three the Word of God gives incredible wisdom. The Word of God gives incredible wisdom. Look at verse 7. The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple.

This is an interesting phrase in the Hebrew because this word simple speaks of an open door. Sort of like your mind is an open door. And this speaks of a person that just lets anything come in. Anything go out. They are totally naive. They are open to everything. They are open to anything.

They are closed to nothing. The Bible says it can make you wise so you don't be that person. So we have a person that learns to think logically but that logic is built on Scripture.

You know it is a funny thing. Sometimes people want to dismiss Christians as unthinking fools when in reality I didn't really learn to think until I became a Christian. To be honest with you I didn't even learn how to study until I became a Christian. Not just the Bible but other books to really think things through and get a biblical world view. Because if you don't have a biblical world view nothing on this planet makes sense. If you think man is basically good you must be having a lot of troubles right now. But if you believe what the Bible says that man is not basically good. Man is essentially sinful. Separated from God. And that is why he does the things that he does.

Suddenly a lot of things start making a lot more sense. So we need to not be that simple minded person that just marches in lock step with whatever is the trend or the thing that we are supposed to believe and start thinking for ourself. God says in the book of Isaiah come and let us reason together says the Lord. Christianity is a reasonable faith. It is a logical faith. And so that is what this will do for you. The word of God will give you that kind of mind. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

It is encouraging to know that Pastor Greg's messages reach far and wide even halfway across the world. So here is my story. I had been claiming to be a Christian but I was actually living for the world. All that changed after I was arrested and sent to jail. I had hit rock bottom thinking I had lost everything.

I live in Australia and I was in a holding cell cuffed and being transferred to a van to appear before a judge. I heard a voice in my head saying you are here because you haven't surrendered. I knew it was the voice of God. As I stepped into the van I prayed, Lord if you get me through this I promise I will serve you. In jail I spoke to a chaplain and I asked for advice on what to read in the Bible. And he told me to read the book of John. So I read John twice while also reading Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Anyway after serving my time I was recently released on parole and that next Sunday I went to church and surrendered my life to Jesus. All glory to God. I then looked for a genuine Christian radio station and I found one in Springwood Australia. Since then it's the only radio station I listen to every morning on my way to work. And I love Pastor Greg Laurie's preaching. That fuels me up.

And so do the worship songs. Thank you. What a great story of how God's word has touched this man's life. Do you have a story to tell? If so would you call us and share your story? Call 866-871-1144.

That's 866-871-1144. We're learning what the Bible does for us on a practical level each day as believers. Pastor Greg is presenting his message, The Bible and Revival. Sometimes the question is asked, well what do you do when you don't agree with the Bible?

Someone asked me that question a while ago. What do you do when you don't agree with the Bible? I said well change your opinion because you're wrong. I mean what do you want me to say?

Oh well let's just edit that out. I was just in the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C. which is an amazing place. It's a fantastic place that just shows you how reliable God's word is.

And I recommend everyone go and visit it. But one of the things they had there was a copy of Jefferson's Bible. Thomas Jefferson. One of the presidents of the United States. One of the ratifiers of the U.S. Constitution.

A very important figure. But Jefferson had a Bible and Jefferson was a man who believed the Bible had good moral messages in it. So he actually went through a Bible and cut out the parts about miracles and the supernatural. And kept what he thought were the moral lessons of the Bible in it. So it's called Jefferson's Bible. Well that's not how it works. I don't know if I really like this part.

I think I'll just cut it out. Now all Scripture the Bible says is inspired by God. So we don't want to do that if you don't agree with the Bible. Change your opinion because the Bible is right.

Number four. The Bible or the Word of God is right. Verse 8. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. So it's going to help you to know how God wants you to live. It's going to show you the promises that God has for you.

That's why you want to read through books of the Bible and ask yourself the question. Is there a promise here for me to claim? Is there a victory here for me to gain? Is there a blessing here for me to enjoy?

And my last point. Keeping the Word of God makes you happy. Keeping the Word of God makes you happy. Psalm 19 says the statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart.

That word rejoicing means just making you happy. You want to be a happy person? Read the Bible.

You want to be an even happier person? Do what the Bible tells you to do. And I would add to that don't do the things the Bible tells you not to do. Luke 11 28 says happy are the people that hear the Word of God and keep it.

Oh I know this goes against the logic of some. They go no the Bible keeps you from happiness. It's a restrictive life. It's a miserable life. It's a tortured life. Nothing can be further from the truth.

It's the exact opposite. Life without the Word of God. Life without Jesus Christ is the miserable life.

I know. I've been on both sides of the fence. Life without Christ is a restrictive life because you're bound with the power of sin.

Life without Christ is a torturous life because you're tormented by your guilt for the sins you've committed. No. You want to be a happy man. You want to be a happy woman. You do what the Bible tells you to do.

One last thing. The Bible tells me how to get to heaven. The Bible tells me how to find the meaning of life.

The Bible tells me what I should even be thinking about and living for each and every day because most importantly the Bible tells me about Jesus. That's the message of the Bible in a nutshell. It's Jesus. He's in the Old Testament concealed. He's in the New Testament revealed. But from Genesis to Revelation it's all about Jesus. The Old Testament is pointing to Jesus. The New Testament is showing all those things that Jesus fulfilled.

It's all about this simple message. God loves humanity. Humanity sinned against God. God longs for relationship with us. So He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross in our place and pay for all of our sin and rise again from the dead. And if we will put our faith in Jesus we can have eternal life and we can have a life on earth that is worth living. So I ask in closing, do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ?

Because He's alive. We're talking about the Jesus revolution. Jesus is still revolutionizing lives right now. And He can revolutionize your life.

He can change your life starting with removing that barrier that separates you from God that is called sin. And Jesus is here with us in this place right now. Standing at the door of our life and He is knocking and He is saying, if you'll hear my voice and open the door I will come in. And I'm not just talking to the people in this room.

I'm talking to everybody watching, everybody listening. Wherever you are you can have a relationship with God right now. You can be forgiven of all of your sin. And Christ can come and live inside of you. And I ask you, if this were your last night on earth would you go to heaven when you die?

If Jesus Christ were to come back again would you be ready to meet Him? I recently told the story of a young lady named Crystal. Who heard the gospel on our radio broadcast The New Beginning and asked Christ to come into our life. But the problem was Crystal worked at Planned Parenthood and she assisted in doing abortions on young ladies. And she said one day I was in that room and I was reassembling the body parts of a baby that had been aborted. And I thought of something that Craig said in his message. Which was, if Jesus were to come back again would you be ashamed to be doing the thing that you're doing?

And it dawned on her, yes I would be and I believe I would be left behind. So Crystal turned from her sin and put her faith in Jesus Christ. Well listen that can happen for any person. No matter what you're doing. No matter what sin you've committed.

No matter how bad it is. God will forgive you. But Jesus is coming again.

And He could come back tonight. And I hope that you would not be one of the ones who would be left behind. You say well what do I do? Well you need to admit your sin.

You need to ask Christ to come into your life. And He'll do that for you right here right now. In a moment we're going to pray and I'm going to extend an opportunity. For anyone here that has joined us who may not yet know Jesus Christ. An opportunity for you to ask Him into your life.

Ask Him to forgive you of your sin. So you can find this relationship with God we've been talking about. And so you can know with certainty that you'll go to heaven when you die. When I was just a young kid I heard this message. I didn't understand a lot of it. But I understood a little. I understood that God loved me. I understood that Jesus wanted to forgive me. I understood that my life could change.

And so I took that little step of faith and I prayed that little prayer. Little did I know what would happen in the months and the years and the decades following. But I'm telling you it can happen for you right here right now. Your whole life can change. Your story can change. Your future can change. And your past can be put behind you. But you must come to Jesus and believe in Him.

If you need to do that do it right now. Let's all pray. Father I pray for every person here. Every person listening. Every person watching wherever they are. If they don't know Jesus yet.

If they don't have a relationship with you. I pray this will be the moment it happens. I pray that your Holy Spirit will convict and convince them of their need for Christ. And bring them to yourself now we pray. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer. And if you'd like to make a change today in your relationship with the Lord. Before today's edition of A New Beginning wraps up in a moment. Pastor Greg will help you with that.

So please stay with us. Many are so looking forward to seeing the new feature film Jesus Revolution. It looks at the Jesus movement of the late 60's and early 70's. Young people, hippies were finding the Lord. Pastor Chuck Smith and his wife Kay had a burden for these young people.

Kay said we want to meet a hippie. And so one night here's Lonnie with his long hair. And you know the bells on the bottom of his cuffs.

And the flower kid you know. Well Pastor Greg we mentioned before that Pastor Chuck Smith figured prominently in your story. And the story of the Jesus movement of course. And contemporary Christian music.

True. He's been in heaven now for almost 10 years. What do you think he would say about Jesus Revolution? Yeah I think he would love it.

Because it's a story of what Jesus did in a generation. It shows that Chuck was willing to leave his comfort zone. You know Chuck wasn't a fan of rock music. Chuck was just this kind of salt of the earth hard working guy. I mean on his day off Chuck liked to build things. Chuck was a construction guy. You know he was a man's man.

Very practical. And so he was pastoring this church. It wasn't a really large church. And he saw these counter culture kids doing crazy stuff.

Growing their hair out long, hanging out in the streets. And he thought they all needed to get a haircut and get a job. But his wife Kay had a real heart for these people and was praying for them. And God brought a hippie evangelist into Chuck's life named Lonnie Frisbee. And to Chuck's eternal credit he opened his heart to this. And let this young man preach in his church. And then Chuck opened his heart to these musicians that came in with their songs about God. You know we're so used to electric guitars and drum kits and all the things that we have in churches today.

But back in those days in the late 60's you didn't have that in church. And this was a whole new thing. And Chuck took risks. And he took risks on a young guy named Craig.

That's me. And he helped me get started in ministry as well. And I wasn't the only one. He did it for a lot of young men and a lot of young women. He was a real pioneer. And he was a real trailblazer. And so he's portrayed by Kelsey Grammer in a powerful performance.

Kelsey didn't try to take on the mannerisms or voice inflections of Chuck which were very distinct. But he captured the character and sense of it in an amazing way. And you'll love it. And so if you know Chuck you'll say oh well you know Chuck sounded a little different. But that's not the story.

The story is what Chuck did. And that is reflected in this film. And so people, a whole generation are going to discover the great man of faith he was and the risks he took. And the result was a spiritual awakening. I think you're going to love this.

Yeah, yeah. It really is a moving film. And a powerful evangelistic movie as well. Plan to bring someone with you who needs to meet the Lord when this film opens on February 24th in theaters all across the country. And by the way, there will be a special national preview showing February 22nd two days earlier. It will feature special bonus content including an easy to understand presentation of the gospel by Pastor Greg. To get tickets to this special preview, February 22nd, go to jesusrevolution.movie.

That's.movie, not.com. Again, jesusrevolution.movie. And thanks so much for partnering with us as we share the gospel in this innovative way.

When you come out to the movies and support this film, you help us tell the story of the past to a whole new generation. But more than that, you just may plant the seeds of the next spiritual awakening like we saw during the Jesus movement. If you appreciate the work we do in sharing Christ in surprising new ways, we hope you'll partner with us.

Would you consider that? If you can make a donation right now, we want to send you Pastor Greg's book called Jesus Revolution. What a great resource to help you enjoy the movie even more. You can donate today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's at 24-7 phone number 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. And then one other thing. As you know, 2 Chronicles 7-14 says, If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Well, Pastor Greg is asking us all to do just that, to humble ourselves and pray each day. At 7-14 each day, we're committing to praying for revival among believers and a spiritual awakening in the culture.

And we're asking God to use Jesus Revolution as the catalyst. Will you join us in this? Commit to praying with us each day at 7-14.

Thanks so much. And then Pastor Greg, just before we go, would you mind praying with the person listening who wants to make a change today in their relationship with the Lord? I'd be happy to, Dave. You know, as you've been listening to this today, maybe you've heard another voice. By that I mean, yeah, you heard me say a few things, but you heard God's voice speak to you, deep in the recesses of your heart. And it suddenly dawned on you, this is what I need. Or to state it more accurately, this is who I need. I need Jesus, and I want Jesus.

But maybe you don't know how to make that connection. Let me help you. Pray this after me right now if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sin, and I need your forgiveness right now. Would you come into my heart and my life as Savior, as God, as friend?

I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for calling me, and accepting me, and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. I know that was a relatively short prayer. Maybe you felt something as you prayed it, maybe you felt nothing. That doesn't really matter, because God's word says these things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. It doesn't say, so you may think you have it, or you may hope you have it if God's in a good mood.

No, that you can know it. And I want you to know, if you prayed that prayer and meant it, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come into your life. So congratulations, you're now a Christian. Now continue to follow the Lord. And to help you as you follow the Lord, we'd like to send some resource materials your way. We call our New Believers Growth Packet.

It'll answer many of the questions you might have, and get you started off right in your new relationship with the Lord. So get in touch and ask for it. We'll send it to you free of charge.

Again, it's the New Believers Growth Packet. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime. Again, dial 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to Harvest.org. What part does our knowledge of the rapture play in ushering in the next great move of revival and spiritual awakening? Well, Pastor Greg explains next time. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins. A New Beginning is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. If this show has impacted your life, share your story. Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and help others find hope.