Pastor Greg Laurie presents the Amazon Prime hit series The House of David, now on DVD. The House of David, which has been just a smash hit on the Amazon streaming platform, is now available in a box set format. And you can watch it when you want to. We're also including something called Beyond House of David, which is a four-part documentary series.
So order your copy right now, The House of David. Yours for a gift of any amount at harvest.org. Pastor Greg Laurie says spiritual awakening begins with spiritual revival. and coming up today on a new beginning. We'll see how we can each do our part.
Revival is when God wakes his people up, but it doesn't end there. It overflows into evangelism because a revived believer cannot keep the good news to themselves. Jesus says, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are ripe. This is the day when the Lost are found.
This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Again, you hear all the angels are singing. This is the day, the day will live in. Most cars.
Those that take gasoline have an engine and a starter motor. The starter motor is what you hear when you first turn the key. No, the engine is what you hear. When that car roars to life, If a spiritual awakening is like an engine, revival is like the starter motor. And today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us all do our part to bring revival to our land.
That's where it all starts. It starts with the people of God. This is the day, the day when life begins. What is revival? Revival is coming back to life.
It's simply coming back to life. It's refreshment, it's restoration, it's returning to its original condition. In Psalm 80, 19 it says, Restore us, O God, let your face shine on us so we might be saved. And revival is waking from sleep. And turning from sin.
2 Chronicles 7:14, a verse we all should commit to memory. God says, if my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then the Lord promises, I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.
So we're looking at Nehemiah. And this is a story of revival among God's people. As you recall, they had been exiled to Babylon for their constant idolatry.
So now they're Returning to their land. They've rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem under the direction of Nehemiah. Ezra, the prophet, preaches his sermon to them, and they want to get right with God, so they prayed. And what follows is the pattern they. Walked in after that.
So Nehemiah chapter nine, verse one, on October thirty-first. The people assembled again. And this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads. Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners, and they confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. They remained standing in place for three hours while the book of the law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them, and for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord.
If you want to see revival, You must pray with passion. These people were praying with passion. Look at verse 1. They assembled themselves and fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads. This would be an indication of repentance.
It reminds us of the story of the woman in Matthew 15. who had a demon possessed daughter. And she cried out to Jesus loudly and aggressively. And she said, Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David. My daughter is possessed by a demon.
The disciples said, Pipe down, quiet down. You're creating a scene. Stop it. This woman would not give up. She kept crying out to Jesus.
Finally, Jesus turns to her and says, Dear woman, your faith is great and your request is granted. I think one of the reasons we don't see our prayers answered is we don't put any heart in them.
Sometimes we just say our prayers. We repeat petitions we've said so many times. God really wants to hear your heart in prayer. He doesn't need eloquence. He needs You to cry out with passion and call on him.
And the book of Acts is a story of. Simon Peter being arrested. And he was going to be executed by King Herod. But I love what Acts 12 says. It says, constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.
And that word constant could be translated, they prayed fervently to God. for him. And that's how we need to pray as well. Fervent means to display passionate intensity. This is the kind of prayer that Elijah the prophet prayed.
And by the way, he was an ordinary guy like you and me, but this boy knew how to pray. And when he went up on Mount Carmel and faced off at the prophets of Baal and called on God. He prayed with intensity and passion. And giving some commentary on that, James tells us in James 5:16, the fervent prayer of a righteous man has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, but when he prayed fervently that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years, and he prayed again, and the sky sent down rain.
What did he do? He prayed fervently. Yeah.
Sometimes they'll say, I prayed about it, but nothing happened. Did you pray a fervent prayer? A fervent prayer for the salvation of your family. A fervent prayer for A spiritual awakening in America. And then, if you want to see revival, you must confess your sins.
We read in verse 3: For three hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord. This comes back to 2 Chronicles 7:14. If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. We all have sins to confess each and every day. That is why Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer to pray as follows.
Our Father. What in heaven? Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us. Our sins.
As we forgive those who have sinned against us. Just as surely as I need to pray for God's daily provision, give us this day our daily bread, I need to also pray for daily forgiveness, forgive us our sins. Why? Because I sin every day. You say, Greg, I don't think I've sinned today.
Oh really? No. I haven't stolen anything. I haven't lied that I know of. I haven't had an impure thought.
The Bible tells us that there are sins of commission and omission. A sin of commission is when you do something you should not do. A sin of omission is when you don't do something you should do, you see.
So I might pride myself in the fact that I've not done a sin of commission, I haven't broken a commandment, I haven't done this wrong thing, but however, maybe it's a sin of omission because the Bible says to him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. You say, I'm in sin today, but maybe the Lord spoke to you this morning. It said, Why don't you open your Bible instead of looking at your phone? You said, yeah, maybe later. The Lord said, why don't you go to church?
And you said, maybe I'll sleep in. Lord said, Why don't you pray about that? And you said, No, I'm going to worry about it instead. See, we sin more than we think we sin.
So these people confess their sins to God. The next thing they did is they separated themselves from ungodly influences. Look at verse 2. They separated themselves from all foreigners.
Now, these would be non-believers, basically. who worship false gods. And so they're separating themselves from those people. We all know people that can drag us down spiritually. Listen, you show me your friends.
And I'll show you your future. You influence people, people influence you. Spend time with godly people that will build you up, not tear you down. Psalm 1 tells us, Happy is the man that doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful. Also, they heard God's word and they acted on it.
Go over to Nehemiah 9, look at verse 3. They remained standing in place for three hours. Three hours while the book of the law was read aloud to them. Three hours standing listening to the Word of God.
So don't complain when I go a little long on my sermon. Greg, you went 48 minutes instead of 45 last Sunday.
Sorry about that. It wasn't three hours. And I didn't make you stand the whole time either, right? But how important the Word of God is to each of us. We need to discipline ourselves to study the Scripture and allow it to permeate into our life and affect the way that we live and the way that we think and the things that we do.
God told Joshua The secret to success in Joshua 1. He said, Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Don't deviate from them to the right or the left, and then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this book of instruction continually, meditate on it. In the day and in the night, and obey everything written in it, and then you will have success.
That's the secret to a successful Christian lifestyle. Uh Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Um Emails, phone calls, and social media messages from listeners are so encouraging to us, and they let us know the effectiveness of these studies. I love the wisdom of Greg Laurie. Most nights I listen to his podcast before going to sleep.
After each episode, I feel more confident in understanding God's Word. I also love how Greg is so down to earth and I think he's so funny. I'm very thankful for his commitment to Christ in teaching people how to grow in their walk with God. Has Pastor Greg heard from you? Why not drop him an email and let him know?
Send it to Greg at harvest.org. Do it today while you're thinking about it. Again, that's Greg at harvest.org.
Well, today we are considering the importance of revival. and the part it plays in bringing about a great spiritual awakening. Pastor Gray continues.
So perhaps revival is coming. What should our response be? My last point. Revival always leads to evangelism. Revival always leads to evangelism.
Revival is when God wakes his people up, but it doesn't end there, it overflows into evangelism because a revived believer cannot keep the good news to themselves.
So we see this pattern historically. And we also see this pattern biblically. For instance, on the day of Pentecost, After the Holy Spirit was poured out. And 3,000 people believed. We see that was a response of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Revival didn't just stay in the upper room, it spilled into the streets. When Isaiah was in God's presence, Wrote about it in Isaiah 6, I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. He was high and lifted up, and his glory filled the temple. What was his response? He said, Lord, here I am.
Send me.
So there was a cause and effect. I encountered God.
Now I want to do something about it. In that first great awakening, In the United States, Benjamin Franklin talks about after Whitfield preached, people would be standing in the streets discussing eternal things. And we need to see the same thing happen today. You know, during the Jesus movement, If you were around on those days, it wasn't uncommon. To see people just out on the streets talking about Jesus.
Wherever you went, you just see people out there talking to the Lord. And you're saying, well, Greg, that's great. Let's pray it happens again. Why do we have to pray it happens again? Why don't we just do it?
What are we waiting for, right? Listen, if you want to see revival, do revival-like things. Let's say your marriage is having some problems. Let's say there's some strain on your marriage. What I would say to you is, you need to be proactive, not merely reactive.
It's like a fire. If the fire starts to go down, throw another log on the fire. In the same way, do things to strengthen your marriage, to let your mate know that you love them. You can do romantic things. And in the same way, if you want to see revival, go do revival-like things.
We don't have to wait for it to happen. Jesus says, open your eyes and look at the fields, they are ripe for harvest. A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Adam Eaton spoke. And he was standing around and met a young man that had come to the Crusade named Jesse. Who had given his life to the Lord.
Now, Jesse had lived a pretty hard life. He served some prison time. He had committed some crimes. And so Adam said, hey, I'm going to go to the men's event. Why don't you come with me?
And Jesse said, okay. And Jesse's all fired up like new believers are. And I love the passion of the new believer, don't you? And so he goes at this men's bed and the men are sharing. And one of the men says, Yeah, I'm kind of struggling with complacency.
And Jesse, the brand new convert, Turns to the guy who's dealing with complacency and says, There are people like me dying on the street every day. We need people like you, we need what you have. Complacent dude, you need revival. We need to be inspired by people like Jesse. I'm going to give you my RX, my prescription for your personal spiritual revival.
You ready? Get a new believer in your life. And they will help to energize you. New believers need older believers in their life to stabilize them. Older believers need newer believers in their life to energize them.
It's sort of like going to Disneyland with adults or with kids. What's the deal with adults going to Disneyland and dressing up like Disney characters? Little weird. And you're an adult now. But you know, that's okay, whatever.
If you want to do that, do it, but It's so much better if you take a child, don't you think? And see it through the eyes of a child. How amazing it is. I do remember one year I. Years ago, I took my oldest son Christopher to Disneyland.
I've told you the story before, but um So I knew one of the characters who went to our church, and he invited me to the back there where the characters were. Taking their costumes off. And I'm not so sure I should have taken Christopher back there. He's a very little guy still. And when Donald Duck suddenly took his head off, It's like whoa.
And then, when one of the other characters is smoking a cigarette, it's like. This is ruining the Disney magic big time, okay? And my son's like, like, eyes like saucers, like, what's happening? You've traumatized me, Dad.
So I don't recommend that. But to see it through the eyes of a child, and there's something so beautiful about it. Sharing something with a new believer who's never heard it before. And seeing their excitement. And then, as you see their excitement, you get re-excited about it again.
See, you're dealing with complacency. Jesus says, remember from where you have fallen. Repent and do the first works quickly. What did you used to do when you were passionate and on fire for Jesus?
Well, I bet every day you read the Bible. I bet every day you committed things to the Lord in prayer. I bet you were actively involved in the church, probably serving in the church and more. Do you still do that?
Well, I don't know, not as much as I used to. Go back and do the first works quickly. That's what Jesus says. As the Apostle Paul says, get back, get back. Get back to where you once belong.
That's Paul of the Beatles. Never mind it. A lot of the kids are like, who? The Beatles. But anyway We need to get back and do those first things again and rediscover these things.
for ourselves. This is not rocket science. Just do what God tells you to do. Follow his word and you will be blessed. Disobey his word and your life will be a mess.
God says it this way in Deuteronomy 30, 19. I have set before you life and death. Blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that you and your descendants may live. It's your choice.
You don't have to do this. Live the way you want to live. God's given you a free will. You can disobey him, you can break his commandments, you can chase after all the things this culture tells you you should chase after, and you can face. the consequences.
Or you can obey the Lord. And watch what happens. He wants to bless you.
So, to summarize and to conclude. The people prayed with passion. They confess their sin. They separated themselves from ungodly influences. They heard God's word.
And they acted on it. that. Do that, and let's pray for another great spiritual awakening. Let me close with this thought.
Some of you have joined us, and we've been talking about wanting to reach people just like you. Because maybe you have never made that personal commitment to Jesus. You have not asked him to come into your life and forgive you of your sin. But Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for your sin and rose again from the dead.
Now he stands at the door of your life and he knocks and says, If you'll hear his voice, And open the door, he'll come in.
So, my question for you is. Have you asked Jesus to come into your life? Do you have your own relationship with him? And do you know that you'll go to heaven when you die? If you don't, You can know that today.
You can walk out of harvest today a different person than when you came in, a forgiven person. Imagine that, forgiven of all of your sins. Coming back to a statement Jesus made: behold, I make all things new. I love that. God can make all things new for you.
The Bible says, if any man be in Christ, he is an altogether different kind of person, old things have passed away. everything becomes fresh in you. That can happen for you, but you must ask him to come into your life. and forgive you of your sin. We're going to close in prayer, and I'm going to extend now an invitation for anyone that wants to ask Jesus Christ to come into their life.
Let's all pray. Father, I pray for anyone here or listening, wherever they are, if they don't know you yet, If they don't have this relationship with Jesus, Help them, Lord, to just take this next step and receive you into their life. While our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying. If you want Jesus to come into your life. If you want Him to forgive you of your sin.
If you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die, if you want to find the meaning of life now in a relationship with Him. Just pray this simple prayer with me right now. Just pray, Lord Jesus. I know I'm a sinner. But I know that you're the Saviour.
who died on the cross for me. I repent of my sin. I turn to you. and I choose to follow you. from this moment forward.
In Jesus' name I pray. Keep it. Yeah.
Pastor Greg Laurie, with an important prayer with those who are making a decision for the Lord today. It's a day some will remember for the rest of their lives. And if you've just prayed with Pastor Gregg today, here on a new beginning, well, first of all, we want to welcome you into the family of God. And second, we want to help you get started. Let us send you Pastor Gregg's New Believer's Bible.
It has scores of helps specifically for new believers, including a section called First Steps to help you know God's plan for your life, how to know you're saved, how to find the right church, how to study the Bible, and more. We'll be glad to send you the New Believers Bible free of charge if you'll call 1-800-821-3300. Call any time, 1-800-821-3300. or go online to harvest.org and click Know God.
Now, stay tuned. Pastor Greg has a special way to close today's program in just a moment. Yeah.
And then thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue. Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry, to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly. Online, you'll find us at harvest.org.
And there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now. That's harvest.org. Or write us at a new beginning, box four thousand, Riverside, California, nine two five one four. or call us at one eight hundred eight two one three three zero zero. We're here around the clock to take your call again at 1-800-821-350-1.
Mm-hmm.
Well, next time, Pastor Gregg talks about the trustworthy promises of God. and how they relate to his plan for the last days. But before we go, Pastor Gregg leads us in a word of prayer. Lord is we. Close down.
We pray for a spiritual awakening in America. We are praying for a fifth Great awakening. We've seen four. We're asking for another Lord, and we're asking for it soon. We're asking for it to happen before our very eyes.
And Lord, we're also praying for revival. Not just for us as a church, but for us as individuals, and each of us. would be walking in the bloom of a first love relationship with you. doing the things you've called us to do. Use us, Lord.
We commit ourselves to you now. In Jesus' name we pray. Yeah.
