Signs of the Last Days—and Why You Shouldn’t Panic | Sunday Message

A New Beginning presents a book about the greatest evangelist of the 20th century, Billy Graham, written by his friend, Pastor Greg Laurie. I bring insights that maybe other books have not really touched on.

I also weave in a lot of my personal experiences, one-on-one with Billy, things he said to me, and things I gleaned by watching him. So if you want to learn more about this man that changed the world, get your copy of Billy Graham, The Man I Knew. Yours for a gift of any amount at Harvest.org.

Hey there. Thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you.

If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to Harvest.org. Let's pray together. Lord, You are worthy of it all. We praise You. That's why we're created, to bring honor and glory to Your name, and we do that now. And now, Lord, as we have called out to You and prayed to You, now we want to hear from You. So we pray that You will speak to us as we open the Word of God. We thank You for it, Lord. We know it gives us the truth that we need, and so we ask for You to speak to each of our hearts in the way that only You can. And we commit the remainder of this service to You. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Alright, well let's grab our Bibles and turn to 1 John chapter 2. We're going through the Epistles of John, first, second, and third. And the title of my message is, Signs of the Last Days and Why You Shouldn't Panic. So chapter 2 clearly shows us that we're living in the last days. All around us are signs of the times pointing to the fact that Jesus is coming again. There are some very positive signs that would suggest we might be on the verge of another spiritual awakening in America and even the world. And then there are some frightening signs that show the conflicts around the world, showing that these events we read about could happen in real time before our very eyes. It reminds me of the introduction of Charles Dickens to his book, A Tale of Two Cities.

He describes France before the Revolutionary War, and he states these things in their familiar statements. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom. It was the age of foolishness. It was a season of light. It was a season of darkness. It was a spring of hope.

It was the winter of despair. Reminds us of the time we're living in right now. And now we read what John has to say in 1 John 2 verse 18. Little children, it is the last hour, and as you heard that the antichrist is coming, even how many antichrists have come, by which we know that this is the last hour.

They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that it might be made manifest that none of them were of us. We'll stop there. Point number one, the antichrist is coming.

I'm not laughing at that. I'm laughing at the fact that I'm saying this on Mother's Day. Craig, seriously, it's Mother's Day, and you're talking about the antichrist?

I guess I am, but it's because that's a text before us right now, so I am talking about it a little bit. But the Bible does teach a world figure will emerge on the scene that is called the beast, the wicked one, and also the antichrist. He will deceive millions of people.

At first, he'll seem like a good guy, but he'll turn out to be the worst guy. If Satan ever had a son, this is him. He'll appear as a peacemaker, but he'll end up being the worst troublemaker that ever lived, and he'll be energized by the devil himself. Revelation 13, 2 says that the dragon, who's also explained to be Satan in another chapter, will give him his authority.

And really, he's an imitation. Whatever God does, Satan will try to imitate. So God has his only begotten son. Satan, in effect, will have his son. And we have this false Christ that will be out there, and also there will be other imitations as well. He's not going to be what you might expect, dressed head to toe in black with flaming red eyes and steam coming up, and the Darth Vader theme playing in the background as he quotes ACDC lyrics or something like that.

He'll probably be very attractive, very charismatic, very intelligent, but he is a deceiver. You know, could artificial intelligence play any role in the rule of Antichrist? Elon Musk made an interesting statement, and I quote, A form of artificial intelligence smarter than humans could create an immortal dictator from which we would never escape. End quote.

Fascinating. And a lot of times people will try to figure out who the Antichrist is, but I don't think we should waste our time or energy doing that. Because he cannot be revealed until the church is caught up to meet the Lord in the air and what we often call the rapture of the church. The Bible says, He who now restrains will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way, and then that wicked one will be revealed, that's Antichrist, whom the Lord will destroy with the brightness of his coming. The restraining force in the world today is the Holy Spirit working through the church. Godly men and women that speak up for what is true, they speak out against what is wrong, and once we're removed, once we're caught up to meet the Lord in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, then Antichrist can enter the scene and do his thing. So don't waste your time looking for Antichrist.

Do what the Bible says, look for Jesus Christ, that's what our focus should be. Point number two, Antichrists, plural, are already here. Antichrists are here already because John notably speaks of the Antichrist, the beast, that world leader, but Antichrist.

Now keep this in mind, the prefix anti doesn't just mean against, it also means instead of. So we could call them instead of Christs, or imitation Christs, if you will. Don't forget in the beginning of Matthew 24, known as the Olivet Discourse, Jesus said, The sign of the last days is many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ.

So instead of Christ, people are always looking for a substitute for Christ. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta says we don't have enough friends. Maybe he doesn't have enough friends, I don't know, but we don't have enough friends, and so instead of going out and socializing and making some more friends, he says the solution is AI. We need more robots because AI knows us better than friends, they do a better job of knowing our likes and preferences.

Oh, so I'm supposed to have a cappuccino with my Roomba now instead of go meet a friend somewhere? I mean, you know, really? This is, to me, Antichrist thinking, understand what I'm saying? Instead of Christ thinking, I'm looking for substitutes for Christ, other things to look to instead of Jesus.

And this is what we should not be doing. The greatest deception is not atheism, it's instead of Christ thinking. A sign of the end times will be pretend believers, imitation Christians. First Timothy 4 one says the Spirit speaks clearly, and in the last times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach. A phrase you hear used today is deconstructing. People will say, I'm deconstructing my faith, I'm dismantling my faith, I'm questioning my faith. And why are they doing this? Because I've experienced church hurt.

Oh really? Yeah, I was hurt in church. Okay, well look, if you were hurt in church, I'm sorry that happened to you. The church is full of broken people just like you, and things do happen. So maybe you were hurt in church, but I hope you don't give up on the church, Jesus hasn't.

And if you're looking for the perfect church, please don't join it, because you'll ruin it. Because we're all flawed. But I wonder sometimes if this so-called church hurt is actually not some hurt that came from the church, but because you hurt something you didn't like. Well I felt judged. Okay, well what happened exactly?

Well maybe someone said to you, hey, why are you living with your boyfriend? That's fornication, that's sin. And you're saying, wait, hold on, what do you mean, you're judging me. I'm leaving this church. Hey, you should thank that person for telling you the truth. You're not going to get truth in that culture out there right now. But you'll hear it from the word of God in the church, and if someone is bold enough to tell you what you are doing is sinful, that's not church hurt, that's keeping you from hurting yourself, right?

Think about it. You see, because the Bible says, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Open rebuke is better than secret love. If I really love someone, I'll tell them what's true. We all need some friends that will do that.

You know, that will say, hey, you look horrible in that outfit, or you shouldn't have said that, or whatever they do, they're true friends that will tell you the truth. It would be like going to a doctor, and I don't like what the doctor said. So I said, I am doctor hurt. The doctor is trying to keep you from hurting.

Maybe you should listen to him. I went to see a doctor a while ago who told me that I need hip replacement surgery. I need a new hip, great. So now I've gone from being a hippie to needing a hip replacement, perfect. I've gone from acid rock to acid reflux, come on.

And my wife had it done already, so I know what to expect, but I don't want to go get this surgery. I'm postponing it, I've been putting it up, but he's just telling me the truth. He says, hey man, you're bone on bone, okay, bone spurs even. And he shows me the x-ray, he slapped me three times, I don't know what that was about.

But maybe he should have actually, he didn't do that. But you know, so sometimes we don't like what we're hearing, but they're telling it to us for our own good. But you know, people will get upset, well I don't like what I heard in church, I'm leaving this church. And then they go to another church. Well I don't like what I heard there, no, I'm leaving that church. And then they go to another church. I don't like what they're saying, so I'm leaving that church and we're just gonna go home and watch church online. Okay, now we're not even watching church online, we've just left church and we've left the faith.

That's not good. It reminds me of a guy who was stranded on a desert island, and they finally rescued him. And he had built three huts. He said, wow, what are these huts? Well the first hut is my house.

Okay. What's the second hut? That's my church. Oh, good.

What's the third hut? That's the church I used to go to. So, that's how we are. So I think that we need to ask the question, well if a person walks away from the faith, they leave the church, they abandon their faith, they say they're no longer a Christian, has that person lost their salvation? They say, well they're deconstructing.

I suggest maybe they never constructed to start with. Maybe they're not leaving their faith, maybe they never had faith in the very beginning. If your faith collapses, maybe it's because it was never constructed on Christ to start with. See, here's what John says. Again, 1 John 2, 19. They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.

Now let me explain. Christians mess up. Christians lapse, Christians sin, Christians can fall away, Christians can backslide, even for a prolonged period of time.

And you can do that and still be a Christian. But if you're a true Christian, eventually you'll come home again. Just like the prodigal son. He messed up, he sinned, but he came to his senses and said, I've sinned. I'm going to go back to my father and say, father I've sinned.

I'm no longer worthy to be called your son, just hire me as a hired hand. And he went home and of course his father threw his arms around him and kissed him and welcomed him back as a son. And the father missed his son and longed for his return. But if you walk away from the faith and you never return to the faith, my suggestion is you are never part of the faith to start with. You've not lost your salvation, most likely you never had salvation. But John is saying, if they were of us, they would have continued with us. And if they don't continue with us, it shows they were never of us to really begin with.

Okay, so let's shift gears now to chapter 3. 1 John 3, read along with me. Behold what manner of love the Father bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And I love this final verse, I'd underline it if I were you.

Everyone that has this hope purifies himself just as he is pure. So here's point number 3, God loves you more than you could ever know. God loves you more than you could ever know. You say, I know because I'm so awesome.

Not really. He loves you because He's so awesome. He loves you with an everlasting love, the Bible says. Therefore with loving kindness He has drawn you. Jesus said, for God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, and whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And then the apostle Paul personalized it and said, He loved me, and He gave Himself for me. So God loves you. Coming back to the prodigal story, even when the Son had gone astray, the Father never stopped loving Him. And because God loves you, point number 4, He adopted you as His child.

Because He loves you, He adopted you as His child. Verse John 3, 1, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God. By the way, this word behold isn't casual. It's like John is saying, hey, look at this. Don't miss this.

Check this out. Behold. Behold what kind of love the Father has toward you. He adopted you into His family. Now, as a boy, I never knew who my biological father was. My mom told me it was a certain man, and I found out about 30 years later, he was not my biological father. So my mom married and divorced seven different times, and she had a lot of boyfriends in between as well.

And none of these so-called fathers or men in her life ever took any interest in me whatsoever. I mean, they married the beautiful Charlene, my mother, and they got this weird kid that liked to draw cartoons and collect snakes in the deal. None of them cared, I don't want to, who is this kid, you know? But there was one man that took an interest in me. One man that cared about me. He cared enough to give me his name, Oscar Laurie, and he adopted me. And he treated me as a father should treat a son.

This is why it was so hard when one day I came out of school in New Jersey and saw the car loaded up with all of our suitcases, and my mom was leaving him, and I didn't see him again for the rest of my childhood. But this man adopted me, and that meant a lot to me. And God has adopted you. He chose you, and He adopted you.

I heard about two boys, two sons that were arguing, as brothers do. One was a biological son, one was an adopted son. The biological son said, Dad loves me more than you because I have his DNA.

And the adopted son said, Yeah, well guess what? He chose me, he got stuck with you. God chose you.

He picked you out with a purpose. Adoption is intentional. That's why the Bible says, We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but one of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

What does that mean? It means Abba, Father is the Hebrew equivalent of Daddy or Papa. It's an affectionate phrase a child uses of their father, Papa, Daddy. And God is giving you the spirit of adoption where you can say that to Him, where you can say, Abba, Father.

When you go to Israel today, you'll see the little kids calling out for their daddy, Abba, they'll say, or Ima, for their mother. And so this is what God has done for you. He's predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with this pleasure and will, Ephesians 1.5 tells us. So you were adopted, not assigned. You are specifically chosen by God. But aren't we all, some would ask, children of God? You hear that said often. We're all God's children, right?

Eh, kind of. Let me explain. We are God's offspring, the Bible says, which means we're all created by God. We're all loved by God. But only those who have put their faith in Christ can truly say, I am a child of God. The Bible says, for as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become sons of God.

And you know, you can be in a relationship with God, but not be in fellowship with God. Let me illustrate with a popular family drama. Prince Charles, excuse me, King Charles now, married Diana. They had two sons, Harry and William. And William is the heir to the throne, so there's an heir and a spare, I suppose. And if you follow the story, you know that King Charles is fighting cancer. He has a close relationship with William, his heir apparent.

And they're in constant communication. And Harry has moved to California. So he's about 5,000 miles away from his father. Now, is Harry a royal son? Of course, he'll always be a royal son, just as William is. But one son has chosen to be in close fellowship and communication with his father. Another son has chosen not to. So that causes tension and pain, and it breaks the father's heart.

I hope they patch things up, because the window of reconciliation may not stay open forever. But the point of it is, is we choose what kind of relationship we want to have with the father. When we're away from him, it breaks his heart. He longs for communication with us, and if we will draw near to him, the Bible says, he will draw near to us. So if you feel far from God, yes, who moved? God didn't move.

He's still there. Just like, again, the father of the prodigal, waiting for the son's return, longing for his boy to come back home again, and when he did, the father welcomed him with open arms. And if you find yourself away from God right now, if you find yourself out of fellowship with God right now, the father will welcome you with open arms if you'll turn from your sin and come to him. Point number five, the return of Jesus Christ should cause us to want to live godly lives. The return of Jesus Christ should cause us to want to live godly lives. First John 3, 2. Beloved, now we're the children of God. It's not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know when he's revealed we'll be like him, for we'll see him as he is.

Everyone that has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. So makeovers are very popular these days. They do home makeovers.

There's TV shows dedicated to the theme of making your home over, and then they do wardrobe makeovers and changing your appearance. One day, God is going to accomplish the ultimate makeover when the Bible says we shall be like him. There's coming a day when we will see Jesus Christ face to face. And at that moment, everything you've ever struggled with will be gone. The sinful nature, gone. Your doubts, gone. Your pain, gone. Everything gone.

The ultimate makeover because God sees you for what you can become. I don't know if you've ever seen the amazing sculpture of Michelangelo of David. It's one of the most magnificent things I've ever seen.

It's gigantic. And it's hard to believe that a single man did that out of a single slab of marble. And in fact, the piece of marble that Michelangelo sculpted David out of was considered flawed by other sculptors who rejected it, but Michelangelo chose it. And as he was walking around it and looking at the slab of marble, he said to one of the workers, I see David.

And the worker said, I don't see anything. I just see a slab of marble. Michelangelo said, yes, but I see David.

See, he saw what he could make out of the slab of marble. And God sees what he can make out of you. You see flaws, right? You see flaws, especially if you have a magnifying mirror.

Those are scary, aren't they? I shaved the other day. That's good clean shave. I looked in the magnifying mirror. Oh, man, this is sad. I missed entire, right half of my face was the full beard.

No, it wasn't that bad. But you realize, oh, I didn't see clearly as I thought I did. And so we see the flaws. God sees them, too. He also sees the potential. He sees what you can become. And in the same way as we think about the last days, we should be thinking about what we should be doing. Sometimes we get caught up in the minutia of prophetic events and their order and we argue about this and that and we miss the big picture. The big picture is if I really believe Jesus Christ could come back at any moment, it should affect the way that I live.

He that has this hope purifies himself even as he is pure or cleans himself up. Let's say you had a very important guest coming over to your house for dinner tonight and they were going to arrive at five o'clock. You would have your house pick and span. You would have everything organized.

You would have everything ready for this important guest that was coming to your home. So as we wait for Christ, we want to clean our life up if necessary and get rid of any things that don't belong there. Romans 13, 12 says the night is almost gone. The day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes and put on the shining armor of right living. And if we really believe Jesus is coming, we will not be sinless, but we should sin less.

Let me say that again. If we really believe Jesus is coming, we will not be sinless, but we should sin less. Look at 1 John 3. Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness and sin is lawlessness and you know that he was manifested to take away our sin and in him there is no sin. Whoever abides in him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him. Wait, hold on now. Are you saying if I'm a real Christian waiting for Christ to come back, I should not sin?

Well, not exactly. Because earlier in 1 John 1.8 we read if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourself and the truth is not in us. So clearly we sin. Even after we're Christians, we sin. So what is John saying here that if you are abiding in him, you will not sin?

Well, in the original language, it's explained. It would better be translated whoever habitually sins or whoever practices sin, you see. So it's not a person that sins. It's a person that lives in sin, that practices sin. It is unapologetic about sin.

Maybe they even celebrate that sin. John is saying you can't live that way and call yourself a true believer. The theological term for it is antinomianism.

If you're looking for a name for your new dog, you might do that. Let's name him antinomianism. Antinomianism, sit, you know, whatever. But you know, it's an interesting term. It's basically the mentality that says I'm a Christian, I'm saved, I'm forgiven.

Therefore, I can do whatever I want. Well, that is not true. That's unbiblical. That's what John is dealing with here. He says if that's the case, if you're living comfortably in sin without any desire to repent, then you don't know him. Again, that's antichrist.

In other words, it's instead of Christ thinking. It would be like joining a gym. And so you get the best outfit possible. You get the ultimate shoes and you get the giant water bottle. What's the thing with these giant water bottles? They just get bigger and bigger. They're made out of metal.

They weigh 30 pounds. I saw someone the other day carrying a big sparklets bottle on their shoulder. Just in case I get dehydrated for four minutes. Like, drinking fountains still exist.

There is water out there somewhere, but no, we have to carry the giant water bottles. But I digress. So you got the outfit, you got the shoes, you know, and then you're in the gym and you take selfies of yourself, selfies, selfies. Please, if you go to a gym, don't take selfies of yourself. How many of you do that? No, don't raise your hand.

Because you would raise your hand. You know, hashtag fit for life, shut up. Just shut up and work out and get out.

Okay, just please. But what if you joined a gym and then you just ate donuts? You go in, but you ate donuts at a place next door. And so you're getting in shape, just the wrong shape. You're in more the shape of a pear. In fact, people are calling you the Lord's pear. You don't like that so much, do you?

Well, that would be antinomianism. In other words, oh, well, I belong to a gym. That's all I need. I have membership in a gym. No, you got to go to the gym and you got to work out.

You got to do what you got to do to get in the right shape. And there are people that say, well, I'm a Christian. I prayed that little prayer at a harvest crusade 10 years ago. You know, and I'm going to heaven. Now I can live like hell.

Doesn't work that way. If you're a true Christian, you'll want to walk with Christ. You'll never be sinless, but you should sin less.

And purify yourself, clean yourself up as you wait for him to return. Point number seven, we need to be rooted in Christ as we await his return. John says, whoever abides in him, 1 John 3.6, does not sin.

Sin habitually again. Abide in him. So it comes down to this. One thing takes the place of another. An old Puritan preacher phrased it this way. It's the expulsive power of a new affection.

I like that phrase. The expulsive power of a new affection. In other words, my affection for something new overpowered that old affection. A stronger love drove out the lesser love.

You let go of something when you find something better to take its place. You don't overcome sin by trying harder. You overcome it by loving Jesus more.

And that brings me to my final point. Abiding in Christ is the golden key to spiritual growth. Abiding in Christ is the golden key to spiritual growth. You know, we're always looking for the shortcut to spiritual growth. Like, how am I gonna become a greater man or woman of God?

Well, that's a good thing to think about and want to be. But there's no shortcuts. It's literally every day getting up and putting one foot in front of the other and walking with God. This one person put it, long obedience in the same direction. There's no shortcut.

It's gonna take time. But what better way to spend your time than walking with the Lord? Every day I get up, I'm gonna read the word of God. Every day I get up, I'm going to pray.

Every day I get up, I'm going to want to be more Christ-like. It's being a vital part of the church. It's regularity. It's consistency. Abide means to sink your roots deeply into something.

It means to stay in a given place, to remain or to continue. Like, let's say I planted a tree in my front yard and I watched it start to grow and watered it and I thought, yeah, you know, this would be better in the backyard. So I dig it up, take it to the backyard, plant it there, leave it there for a couple days. Oh, man, it was better in the front yard. Plug it up again, pull it back, put it in the front yard. Oh, I don't know. I'm going back.

After four or five times of doing this, that tree is dead because you've not let the tree get rooted and we uproot ourself. Oh, I'm here, now I'm gonna move over there and now I'm gonna read the Bible. Now I'm not gonna read the Bible. I'm gonna pray.

I'm not gonna pray. I'm gonna be in this church. I'm gonna be in that church.

I'm gonna be in another church. You're not abiding. You know, as the great Lebowski reminds us, the dude abides.

The dude needs to abide. You need to sink your roots deeply into Christ and that is the secret to spiritual growth. Someone sums it up perfectly. Blessed or happy is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the way of sinners or sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the word of the Lord and in it does he meditate day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit in his season and whatever he does shall prosper.

See, it's all there, right there in Psalm 1. He doesn't walk in ungodly counsel. He doesn't let this culture tell him how to live or how to think, but instead, his delight is in God's word and then he meditates in it day and night. Now to meditate means to fill your mind with, biblically, now in Easter mysticism, to meditate means to empty your mind while wearing Lululemon, but in the Bible, to meditate means while you have your giant metal bottle of water next to you, but to meditate in the Bible means to fill your mind with the word of God. In God's word, he meditates day and night and he's like that tree planted by the rivers of water and then this amazing promise of answered prayer if you abide in Christ. Jesus says in John 15, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Another translation of that same statement of Christ from an expanded Greek translation would go as follows. Jesus speaking, if you maintain a living communion with me and my word is at home in you, you shall ask it once for yourself, whatever your heart desires and it will be yours.

Wow. Whatever my heart desires, yeah, that's what Jesus said. But what am I doing? I'm studying his word, it's at home in my life, I'm learning to think biblically, thus I'll start praying biblically and asking for the things God wants me to have and it will be mine. All of this comes from abiding in him. That's what we're called to do as we await the Lord's return. So let me conclude this message.

If you feel far from God, he hasn't gone anywhere. He's ready to forgive you and this is about a relationship with him. Let's say to illustrate you are the worst boyfriend of all time. First of all, he was unattractive. He insulted you instead of complimenting you. He was always late.

He chewed with his mouth open. Everything you don't want a guy to do, this guy did. But you know, there weren't any other prospects so for some unknown reason, you stayed with this dude, right? And then one day, a really wonderful man came along. He was handsome, he was caring, he was complimentary, he loved you, he appreciated you and then one day he said, could I become your boyfriend? Before he could finish this sentence, he said yes. Was it hard to break up with that old boyfriend? Easiest thing you ever did.

Why? A better guy came along. That's us before we know Christ. You know, we're living in sin. We've learned to put up with it. We don't even enjoy it anymore. Oh sure, when we first started crossing those lines and we started breaking those rules and trying this and trying that, there was a little pleasure but it was short-lived pleasure and now it's just miserable. We don't like the parties anymore. We don't like that feeling of being under the influence of alcohol or drugs anymore. We don't like these so-called friends that could care less about us anymore. We don't like it but we don't know what to do and then Jesus Christ comes along and says, follow me and we turn our back on it.

It's as simple as that. That was my life at the age of 17 10 years ago and a few more but I was partying, I was drinking, I was doing drugs and I hated it. I hated everything about my life. I said I'm literally living the life of my mother again and I don't want her life and I don't want this life but what life do I want? And then I heard about Jesus and then I heard the gospel and then I believed and everything changed for me, the explosive power of a new affection. Someone better came along. Why are you living in your sinful lifestyle?

You don't even enjoy it anymore and you know it. Why don't you just say I'm done with this and follow Christ? Well, will I have to give up anything to follow Jesus?

Yes. How about this? You'll have to give up hell so you can go to heaven.

Does that seem like a good deal? Give up hopelessness and replace it with hope. Give up hatred and bitterness and replace it with love and forgiveness.

Give up emptiness and replace it with fulfillment. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Whatever you give up to follow Jesus will be more than made up for. But you must say, all right, Lord, I'm done running from you.

I'm done fighting with you. I'm ready to follow you and you'll be glad you did that. So in a moment we're gonna pray and I'm gonna give you an opportunity to believe in Jesus if you haven't done that yet. Maybe some of the things I've said today, you're hearing this for the first time.

You've never heard this stuff before. Good, glad you came. Now you need to respond to it. Jesus calls you to follow him. He calls you to turn from your sin. He says you're either for me or against me.

Make a choice. But there might be some of you that are like that prodigal son or daughter I mentioned. You were raised in the church. You've walked away from the church.

You talk about your church hurt. Maybe you just need to come back to Jesus again and get right with him and he welcomes you with open arms. So if you need to do either one of those things, respond to this invitation as we close in prayer, okay? Let's all pray. Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit will speak to the heart of every person here, every person listening, watching, wherever they are.

If they don't know you yet, let this be the moment they believe. While our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying, how many of you would say right now, I need Jesus. I want him to come into my life. I want him to forgive me of my sin.

I'm gonna go to heaven when I die. I want to find this hope you've been talking about, this purpose, this relationship with God. I'm ready to ask Christ to come into my life. If you want Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to go to heaven when you die, if you want to find the meaning and purpose of life, I want you to raise your hand up wherever you are and I'm gonna pray for you.

Raise your hand up high where I can see it, if you would, please. Let me pray for you right now, God bless you. Raise your hand up saying, I need Jesus. I want a relationship with him, pray for me, God bless you. Wherever you are, raise your hand up, let me pray for you.

Whatever campus you're at, they're in Riverside, Maui, you can raise your hand up as well. Let me pray for you, God bless you. Well, our heads are still bowed and we're praying. Maybe there's some prodigals out there. You've walked away. It's time to come home again to your father who loves you and who misses you. If you need to come back to the Lord again, let me pray for you. Raise your hand up right now.

Wherever you may be, you want to come back to him. Let me pray for you. Now, all of you that have raised your hand, I want you to pray this prayer after me. In fact, let's all pray this prayer together. We'll all pray it in a show of support for those that are praying it for the first time.

Just pray these words. Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now. I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my savior and Lord, as my God and my friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. God bless each one of you. God bless you. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast.