Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries recommend the bestselling book Cold Case Christianity from former detective J. Warner Wallace. That's a book we're offering this month to our listeners Cold Case Christianity written by detective J. Warner Wallace. A homicide detective investigates the claims of the gospel. So, get your own copy of Cold Case Christianity. It's our offer for this month for your gift of any size.
Request yours for a limited time at Harvest.org. The Christian life is one of constant growth. Listen, you don't reach some plateau when you know it all. There's no cruise control in the healthy Christian life. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the importance of pressing forward in our walk with God. A wise Christian realizes there's always so much to learn. And you know there's so much in your life that needs to still change as you're transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Many drivers have been in that unenviable position of losing traction in their car, in the snow, on ice, on a muddy road, in the sand.
The secret weapon for times like that is often four-wheel drive. What's the secret weapon for those times when we lose traction in our walk with God? Pastor Greg Laurie will answer that today here on A New Beginning as he brings us a practical message called how to never stumble or fall. It's wise counsel for those of us wrestling with a sin nature.
Not that long ago, I have a friend. He said, let's go for a walk. His name is Paul. He's much more fit than I am. I try to get on a walk every day for maybe 30 minutes or so, but Paul likes to take longer walks. I said, where are we going?
He said, I'm going to take you to a really amazing lake, okay? So we started our walk and I noticed a lot of it is going up. I'm on the incline. And you know, I hit the 30-minute mark. I said, I'm getting pretty tired here, Paul.
Maybe we should head back. He goes, no, it's just a little further. Now we're at an hour. And my little Apple Watch is moving away. You know, the little app's going. So I'm going, well, I'm making progress here.
Okay. Now I'm getting a bit fatigued because we're at an hour and 20 minutes. And I said, how much further is it? He said, just right up here, the lake.
We're almost there. So I see someone coming in the opposite direction. I said, excuse me, is there a lake up there? They said, oh, yeah, way up there. I'm like, oh, no. Said, I'm going back.
He said, Greg, come on. You're going to love this lake. So I finally made it to the top. And I came to the lake. Honestly, it was more of a pond than a lake.
I was a little disappointed. Then we began the journey back. So when it was all said and done, I walked six miles.
Now, that's not a lot for some of you freaks. No, for some of you who are more fit. But for me, that was a long walk.
But you know what? We all need a guy like Paul in our life that pushes us forward. Because we get discouraged. We think I can't go on another step. I'm worn out. I'm done. And it's good to have a Christian friend that's saying, you can go further. You can do more. Let me help you. Let me encourage you. So I hope you have that person in your life.
And I hope you are that person in someone else's life. Because sometimes we find ourself going the wrong direction fast. Because if you're not moving forward in your relationship with Christ, you're naturally going backwards.
You're either going this way or you're going that way. But there's no standing still in the Christian life. And I bring this up because there's been a few stories in the news.
I've even been asked about these things in interviews. There's some notable people who basically said, we're no longer Christians. And we get asked about what would happen. How can a person be a Christian and even a leader. And then one day say they're not a Christian.
Well it's an interesting question. Because I don't know if they were Christians to start with. Just because someone makes a profession of faith doesn't mean they're necessarily a Christian. But maybe when we hear a story like that it concerns us because we think, am I next? Am I going to abandon my faith?
Well really the answer is that's entirely up to you. But here's one thing I would bring to your attention. One of the signs of the last days is some would fall from the faith. Because we're told over in 2 Timothy chapter 4, the Holy Spirit speaks clearly that in the last days some would fall from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and the doctrines that demons teach. I think one way you know you're going in the wrong direction is when you question Scripture.
Let me put it another way. You know you're going the wrong way if you're challenging Scripture. It's not bad to question Scripture. You're going to come across passages that don't make sense to you. And you can find someone that's been reading the Bible for a while or talked to a pastor and they can give you clarification. There's a difference between that and challenging Scripture where you come to a verse and you say, well I don't like what that verse says because I've chosen to live this way and I don't want to do what the Bible says. Now that's a different matter altogether. Someone once asked me a few years ago, if you come to a passage in the Bible you don't agree with what do you do? My answer was change your opinion. You're wrong.
Right? I mean is the Bible the word of God or not? So we don't adapt the Bible to our lifestyle. We adapt our lifestyle to the Bible. And understand that this is God's inspired word that He has given to us. But this goes back to the temptation of Adam and Eve in the garden. The devil came to them and what did he really say? He said did God really say what you thought He said? You can eat of any tree including this one right here because on the day you eat you'll become like a god knowing good and evil.
Eve check it out. You'll be a goddess girl. Adam listen you're going to be a deity. Forget what God said.
God doesn't know what He's talking about. Listen to me. I'm telling you the truth.
I'm completely sincere. Remember what I'm saying. You can trust He. That's a snake reference if you're missing it. And they did trust Him. And we're all paying the price because of it.
Point number two. A true believer may stumble but they will ultimately return to God. And if they do not return to God then they never were really a true believer. Again a true believer may stumble but they will ultimately return to God.
If they do not return to God then they were never really a true believer. Now you're probably aware that I've written a book called Johnny Cash The Redemption of an American Icon. You're thinking Greg why did you write a book about him? Well I've always been fascinated with Johnny Cash. I've always liked his music. To me he's kind of a sound all his own.
No one has really liked him and he's not really like anybody else. But I grew up thinking I was related to Johnny Cash. Because I lived for a few years with my grandparents while my mom was out living her crazy life. And so Charles and Stella McDaniel. And so whenever Johnny Cash got in trouble and he was arrested multiple times. My grandfather would say to my grandmother Stella your cousin is in trouble again.
And I thought what? I'm related to Johnny Cash? And as it turns out my grandmother's maiden name was Fowler Cash. And she was from a city in Arkansas not far from where Johnny Cash was born.
So maybe I'm a distant distant cousin you know. But I was aware of him way way back. And then when I became a Christian I realized that Johnny Cash was a Christian as well. And of course he sang at many Billy Graham crusades. But he was the man in black. He was called by some the godfather of cool.
Another called him the voice of America. Chris Kristofferson who knew Cash well said he was like Abraham Lincoln with a wild side. But Johnny got himself into a lot of trouble. And Johnny struggled with drug use and drinking and other things throughout his life. And there were a lot of ups and downs.
But he had a deep faith in Christ. Johnny once said quote, sometimes I'm two people. Johnny is the nice one. And Cash causes all my trouble. They fight. Well isn't that like a lot of us?
Don't we have the dual natures that are constantly fighting? Certainly Simon Peter had it. Because his name was Simon and Jesus gave him a new name which was Peter which means rock. He didn't have a new name for all the disciples. But he had a new one for Simon. Here is your new name buddy. You are the rock.
That is pretty cool. Now Simon didn't always act like a rock. He got himself into trouble.
But Simon caused him all the trouble. And Peter was the good one if you will. In fact it was Simon Peter that told us that if we do certain things we will never stumble or fall. In his second epistle he writes, 2 Peter 1.3, God has given us through his divine power everything we need for godly living. And then he tells us we must have faith into our faith. We must add moral excellence into our moral excellence. We must add knowledge into our knowledge.
We must add endurance and love for others. And then he says if we do these things we will never stumble or fall. He goes on to say if you do these things you will never fall away. And God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So here is what Peter is saying.
The Christian life is one of constant growth. Listen. You don't reach some plateau where you know it all. The moment you think you know it all you probably know a lot less than you think you know. A wise Christian, a smart Christian, a growing Christian realizes there is always so much to learn.
Right? And you know there is so much in your life that needs to still change as you are transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. And who better to tell us about this than Simon Peter. And we learn what Peter has to say when Pastor Greg continues our message in just a moment. It's a joy to hear when these studies have truly impacted lives even through difficult times.
Listen to these comments from one of our listeners. Pastor Greg, I've been an alcoholic for 45 years. Three days ago I heard your radio program and I prayed the center of prayer. I'm in rehab now and would love to get a copy of the New Believers Bible and other printed material on how to grow as a Christian.
Now that I'm a new creation in Christ, I want to begin studying God's Word. Thank you and God bless you. We're happy to send this man our New Believers Bible and other resources to help him grow in his faith. If you have a story to share, why not contact Pastor Greg? Send an email to Greg at Harvest dot org. That's Greg at Harvest dot org. Well Pastor Greg is offering some important counsel today from Simon Peter. Counsel on avoiding backsliding and staying on track in our walk with God.
And our thanks to our Harvest partners and others who support this outreach for helping to make today's study available. Simon Peter, he's famous for his legendary faux pas where he said things he shouldn't have said. And he's also very well known for the fact that he openly denied the Lord not once, not twice, but three times. So I want to look for a few moments in the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John at the steps that led to Peter's fall and how he got back up again.
And I think in these steps we'll learn about things we want to try to avoid. And before we come to our first passage let me sort of set the scene here in Luke 22. Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples. He's headed to the cross. He's told them he's headed to the cross. He's going to break bread with them and tell them to do this in remembrance of him.
But before that he has a fascinating conversation with Simon Peter. Luke 22 verse 31. Jesus says, Simon, Simon, Satan is asked to sift you as wheat, but I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. And when you have repented and turned to me again, you'll strengthen your brothers. Peter said, Lord, I'm ready to go to prison with you and even to die with you. Jesus said, let me tell you something, before the rooster crows tomorrow morning you will deny three times that you even knew me. Put yourself in Peter's sandals for a moment. You're just hanging out with Jesus. He's not his normal jubilant self.
He seems very serious, very intense. And then he turns to you and uses your name twice. Paul, Paul. Kathy, Kathy. Greg, Greg.
Cindy, Cindy. Satan has been asking that you be taken out of the care and protection of God. Would that freak you out if Jesus said that to you?
It freaked me out. And it's interesting that he says Satan has been asking for you. Sometimes he'll say, you know, the devil's been really hassling me lately. The devil's been tempting me. I seriously doubt most of us listening to this message have been tempted by Satan himself.
I don't understand. You were tempted by one of his minions. Not those minions. Not the cute ones.
No. By one of his demons. Because demons are fallen angels. Satan is a network of fallen angels or demons that do his dirty work, etc.
So you were attempted by Satan in effect but probably not by him directly. You see the devil is not the equal of God. God is omnipotent which means all powerful. Satan though powerful has limitations. God is omniscient which means all knowing. Satan is knowledge but not equal to that of God. God is omnipresent which means present everywhere. The devil can only be in one place at one time.
But here's my point. The devil himself came looking for Peter. But Jesus then says, I have prayed for you. And I want you to know that the Bible says Christ lives to make intercession for you at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is in effect praying for you. So the next time the devil comes knocking at your door send Jesus to answer it.
That's what happened here. I prayed for you Peter. That your faith would not fail for when you have returned you will strengthen your brothers. Returned?
Returned? Lord Peter says, I'll go to prison for you. I'll die for you.
Well since you brought it up Rock you're going to deny that you knew me three times. So he warned Peter. That brings us to Peter's first step down. And I would say that this particular attitude is at the root of any and every person who has ever fallen away from the faith. Or any person who has ever stumbled or fallen.
I don't care what the particular sin is they are involved in. It always starts here. And it is self-confidence.
Self-confidence. Verse 33. He said, Lord I am ready to go with you to prison and to death. Jesus said, Peter the rooster will not crow this day until you deny three times that you knew me. According to Matthew's gospel Peter added this detail, even if all are made to stumble I will never be made to stumble.
How did this come up? Jesus said, one of you is going to betray me. And the one who is dipping with me right now is the one. And they would take their little pieces of bread and dip it into the sauces like we might have chips and salsa. Who likes chips and salsa here? I love chips and salsa. I go into a feeding frenzy with chips and salsa. Anyway.
So think of yourself with your friends. You are dipping your chip. Please don't double dip. Because some of you do that and I am going to point you out today. Because this has to stop. One dip then you eat the chip. New chip. Okay anyway. Because I don't like to see residue.
Anyway. So here they are. They are having chips and salsa so to speak. Judas says the guy who is dipping his chip in the salsa is the one who is going to betray me. At that moment Judas has a chip in the salsa. Everyone looks at Judas.
He is like. You know. Whatever you do. Do it quickly says Jesus.
Now he says these other things that Peter says. Though I will deny you I am not a lightweight like Judas. And even if these others betray you I rock. The guy you gave the new name to will never betray you. Careful now.
You look at someone who falls into a sin and you say. I would never do that. I would never be unfaithful to my wife. I would never become an alcoholic. I would never become a drug addict. I would never do that thing.
Hold on now buckaroo. You have the capacity to do that and much worse. And it is when we think I will never do that that you are trusting in yourself instead of trusting in God. The Bible says pride goes before a fall and an arrogant spirit before destruction. So this simply means that I go through life aware of the fact of my weakness and my vulnerability and my propensity to do the wrong thing.
As the old song says. Prone to wander Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the one I love. Self confidence.
And that leads to the next step down. Prayerlessness. Now I don't even know if prayerlessness is a word. How many of you think it could be a word raise your hand. Ok we have a quorum it is a word. Prayerlessness.
Just not praying about things. Look at Luke 22 verse 39. Coming out he went to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed and his disciples followed him to the place. And he said to them. Pray that you enter not into temptation.
Now this place being referred to by Luke is the Garden of Gethsemane. As he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw he knelt down and prayed. Saying father if it is your will take this cup away from me. Nevertheless not my will but yours be done. When he rose from prayer he came to his disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow. And he said why did you sleep rise and pray lest you enter into temptation. So this second sin of prayerlessness was a direct result of the first sin of self confidence. Jesus said specifically you guys you need to pray. And they decided to sleep instead. And so they are sleeping when they should have been praying.
And you know understand this. Not praying about something can actually be a sin. It is a sin of omission. A sin of commission is doing what you should not do. A sin of omission is not doing what you should do.
Because the Bible says to him that knows to do good and does not do it to him it is sin. So what do we do instead of pray a lot of the time? We worry.
Like that is going to really help. Worrying. But yet we are told in Philippians don't worry about anything. Pray about everything. And the peace of God that passes all human understanding will guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
So we don't pray. Oh I can handle this God. I will fix that Lord.
Wait a second. Pray about it. Lord I need your help right now. I need your provision right now. I need your healing right now. I have tried to fix my marriage Lord.
And it has only gotten worse. And I am at the point now where I am tired of trusting in myself. And I am calling out to you Lord. Heal my marriage. By the way this is not a personal statement I am making right now. I am just sort of putting myself in someone else's shoes. But every marriage could always use some help including mine.
Right? And yours. But maybe your marriage is hanging by a thread and the thread is on fire. Or I thought I could overcome this addiction and I have tried on my own strength but I keep falling back into it. Lord help me.
See that is the idea. You are calling out to God in prayer. Pastor Greg Laurie with important counsel to help us seek the Lord in those times of desperation. And Pastor Greg has more insight to come as this study continues here on A New Beginning. Well Pastor Greg we talked about calling out to the Lord. Maybe someone listening needs to call out to God for the very first time today. They have never entered into a personal relationship with him.
What would you say to them? I would say that God is just a prayer away. You know it doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. Frankly it doesn't even take hours.
It can happen so quickly. It just starts with you saying to God I know I am a sinner. I know that you love me. I know that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead. And I want him to come into my life. So here is my question to you.
Have you done it yet? Because Jesus who did die on that cross and rose again from the dead three days later is alive and standing at the door of your life right now and he is knocking. And he is saying if you will hear my voice and open the door I will come in. Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven?
Do you want Christ to come into your life right now? If so why don't you just stop whatever it is you are doing and pray this prayer with me. You can pray it out loud. You can pray it in the quietness of your own heart. But pray this prayer to God. Say Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner but I know that you are the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I am sorry for my sin and I turn from it now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. I ask all of this in Jesus name.
Amen. Listen if you just prayed that prayer the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says that we will confess our sin. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God bless you.
You have made the right decision. The decision to follow Jesus Christ. Yeah that is right and as you begin to live this new life we want to send you something to help you get started off right. It is Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. It is in an easy to understand translation plus hundreds and hundreds of study helps especially for those who are new to the faith.
It will answer the questions you may have. So get in touch for the New Believers Bible. We will send it free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. Again that is 1-800-821-3300.
Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or just go online to Harvest.org and click Know God. And Pastor Greg we are so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We are touching lives for eternity. And we are really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further.
Isn't that right? Absolutely. When you invest in Harvest Ministries you are investing in the souls of men and women, boys and girls. And what is the value of a soul?
Well let me personalize it. What is the value of your soul? What is the value of the soul of your husband, your wife, your son or your daughter? Or your mom or your dad?
Or your best friend? Well I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It's so valuable. Well listen, God says all souls are mine.
God loves us and sent his son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, than in the work of the kingdom of God. So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries as we continue on to fulfill the Great Commission.
Yeah, that's right. And you can make your donation right now at harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300.
That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. Well next time, more insights drawn from Peter's denial of Christ. We're looking at the steps to spiritual decline and how to avoid them. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Lord.
