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. Good afternoon. Let's pray.
Lord, we honor you. We worship you. We praise you, and now, Lord, we would like to hear from you. Would you speak to us with clarity? from your word.
Because we need direction, we need truth. We need to know your will for our lives.
So we commit this time of Bible study to you now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Where you can all be seated. Hello, everybody.
So grab your Bibles and turn to Nehemiah chapter 10. And that's the last time you're going to hear me say anything about Nehemiah for a while. because we're wrapping up our series that we've called From Rubble to Revival. This is our final message in Nehemiah.
Next Sunday, we're gonna pick up on a series that we started a while ago, but we put it on pause. And this series is called Jesus and You. and which we look at the way Jesus dealt with various people. We're going to carry that on through to Easter.
So that's next Sunday. But today the title of the message is Finishing What You Start.
So I don't know about you, but um I'm the kind of a person that will start a project and not always finish it. Like take my office as an example. It gets very messy. I have lots of books piled up. And it's getting so cluttered, I can't find anything.
In fact, one time I lost my wife for two days. Like, what?
So it's time to straighten it out and I start to organize, and I'll get it completed with maybe a few things left out, and then that little mess will turn into a big mess, and it will be a problem all over again. Finishing what you start. I was at my grandson's lacrosse game the other day. He was playing very well with his team, and I was standing next to his sister, Allie. And I reminded her of when she was a little girl and when she was playing soccer.
She was in some league, I think not league, but rather a team called the Purple Princesses or something like that. And she wasn't scoring any goals. And I said, Ali, you need the eye of the tiger. She looked at me quizzically. What, you haven't seen Rocky III?
Okay, the eye of the tiger. And I said, I'll tell you what, I'll give you a doll if you score a goal.
Well, she got the eye of the tiger, and she started scoring goal after goal. I thought someone should write a song like The Eye of the Doll. I don't know, but she was scoring so many goals, I said, okay, the doll deal is over with. You're scoring too many goals. But you know, the eye of the tiger, if you don't know what I'm talking about, is a song.
And it's from Rocky III.
So in Rocky III, Rocky is the undefeated champion of the world, and he's kind of getting lazy and complacent. He even has a pet tiger. He's not taking anything seriously. He has a challenger in Clubber Lane, played by Mr. T, who beats him.
So the rest of the movie is surprise about Rocky making a comeback, right? Isn't that what all the Rocky movies are about, the big comeback? And so at one point, he's being trained by Apollo Creed, his former opponent, and Apollo says to Rocky, Rocky, you need the eye of the tiger. And you know, spiritually, we too can grow complacent and lazy. And that's what was happening to Israel.
Of course, they had gone to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. They were successful. The walls were completed in 52 days. Nehemiah. felt like, hey, my job is done.
He went back to Babylon. to continue on as the cupbearer, advisor, counselor to the king. And then a report came to Nehemiah that the people had gone back again. That there was sin among them again, that there was compromise, that everything was falling apart, reminding us that just because you have a good beginning doesn't mean you will necessarily. Have a good finish.
The Constitution of the United States had just been signed when America was a nation. Benjamin Franklin walked out of a meeting room to a waiting crowd. And one lady came up to Benjamin Franklin and said, So, Mr. Franklin, what type of government? Have you and the delegates given us?
And his response was, Well, a republic, madam, if you can keep it. The idea is we've laid the foundation.
Now it's up to you and the nation and the future. to maintain this and the same is true spiritually You know, we'll be on a roll, we'll be doing great, and then we'll do something that is completely self-destructive. Has that ever happened to you? You're doing well spiritually, you're reading your Bible, you're going to church, you're praying, you're sharing your faith, you're firing on all cylinders, and then you just do the dumbest thing of all.
Something that sabotages you, something you can't believe you even did, and you want to know why you do that? Here's the answer: you might want to write this down. Sin makes you stupid. There's nothing rational about it. There's nothing logical about it.
Go back to our first parents in the Garden of Eden. How crazy was it to abandon literal paradise to take a bite of some piece of fruit offered to them by the devil? But that's exactly what they did.
So that brings me to point number one: if you're taking notes, and it is: starting strong is good, finishing strong is better. Starting strong is good. But finishing strong is better. You can have the worst start, but if you have a great finish, that's really all that matters. Or you can have a great start and a horrible finish and undo all the good that you did.
And so we want to finish well. You know, we'll make commitments to things. that we won't follow through on, like diets. How many of you went on a diet at the beginning of this year? Raise your hand.
Well some of you should have, I don't know. I won't say who, but I'm looking at him right now. No, I'm just kidding. Looking at mirrors, what I should be looking at, right? But diets are a great idea for the first couple of days, maybe.
Like a high-protein diet, how great of a diet is that? Oh, I can eat meat and I can eat cheese and I can eat all these great things. I just can't have carbs. Who cares? And after three days, you are withdrawing, wanting carbs so badly, right?
Or joining a gym. A lot of people do that at the beginning of the year. Planet Fitness is the biggest gym chain in America, or at least one of them. And one of their gyms has the capacity to only hold 300 people, but they signed up 6,000. And the reason they can do that is because they know, guaranteed, half of the people that sign up will never show up even once.
And then the rest will be sporadic at best.
So, oh, I'm gonna join the gym. Yeah, but then you don't ever go to the gym. Or maybe you volunteer to serve. Here at church, you find out there's a need in children's ministry, so you volunteer to help out the three-year-olds, and after they've tied you to a chair, And they're talking about selling you into slavery. Because you taught that lesson on Joseph and his brothers, you're reconsidering.
Do I want to keep doing this? The Bible's filled with stories of people that started well but did not finish well. Samson comes to mind the he-man with the she-weakness. Superhuman strength. But he self-destructed.
We also think of Moses. He did not finish all that well. Nor did Noah, for that matter. David started very well. He crashed and burned, but he did make a comeback, as did Peter.
So you wanna finish?
Well, because the Bible tells us. The Christian life is like a race. And the objective of this race is to run to win. Paul says Run to win the race. but you also want to finish the race you've started.
Paul also talked about finishing his race with joy. And in his final epistle, he said, I fought the good fight, I kept the faith, I finished the course. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
So we want to finish this race well. Kathy and I just celebrated 51 years of marriage together last week. People have asked, what is the secret to a long and happy marriage?
Well, it goes back for us to our honeymoon.
So we went to the Grand Canyon for our honeymoon and we rented those mules, you know the little pack mules and they go along those narrow little paths. And so she was on the mule in front of me and we're riding along and the mule, her mule stumbled. And so she leaned forward and said into the mule's ear, that's once. I thought, what on earth? It's kind of surprising.
I'd never see her do that before. Then we went a little further. Again, her mule stumbles. We're very close to the edge. You don't want to fall.
She leans forward again, says in the email, that's twice.
Okay, we go a little further. The mule stumbles for the third time. She reaches into her purse, pulls out a gun, holds it up to the mule's head, fires, and kills the mule. I was shocked. I was outraged.
I said, Kathy, what are you doing? She turned to me and said, that's once. This is their true story. Not really. But our marriage is Similar to our relationship with God.
In fact, the Bible tells Husbands to love their wife as Christ loves the church, and wives that submit unto the Lord. See, the key to a marriage. There's many keys, but let's just say a key to a marriage, a good marriage. Is maintenance, giving attention to it. You know, I think husbands and wives need to read their own mail.
Far too often, the husband is reading the verses addressed to the wife, telling the wife to do a better job, or the wife. She's reading the verses direct to the husband, telling him to do a better job. My response is, read your own mail. Focus on your part. The Bible says to husbands, love your wife as Christ loves the church.
That's a lifelong pursuit. Love your wife as Christ loves the church. And then to the wives, it says: wives, respect your husband. You know, it's interesting that God specifically tells a woman to respect her man. And God specifically tells a man to love his woman.
That's not to say a man doesn't need love, and it's not to say a woman doesn't need and deserve respect, but it is to say it's worth noting the Bible specifically says: husbands, love your wife. Wives, respect your husband. You know that song by Aretha Franklin? R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Did you know that was originally written by a man to his woman?
So he's saying, Woman, I go out and I work hard all day, give me a little respect.
So, this is something that is actually biblical.
So, wives, Turn to your husband. And say this.
Okay, you're not doing it. Turn to your husband wives. Turn toward your husbands. Repeat after me, Greg's an amazing preacher. Say that.
Cartone is ridiculous. Can wives turn to your husband and say, Greg is more handsome than you. No, turn to your husband and say, I respect you. Go. Did you mean it?
You're in church, don't lie. Husbands, turn to your wife and say, You know you're right, Greg is more handsome than me. No. Say I love you. I want to hear it.
Beautiful.
Well done. You can go home now. It's maintenance. I read that the Golden Great Gate Bridge. Golden Gate Bridge.
I don't think there's a golden grape bridge, but The Golden Gate Bridge, I read, is constantly being painted. They paint it, go from one side to the other, and start over again. It just needs constant maintenance.
So does marriage.
So does your Christian life. The Bible says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. It doesn't say work for your own salvation because it's a gift from God. It's a finished work given to you by Christ.
So, when the Bible says work out your own salvation, it could better be translated carry to the goal and fully complete. The idea is of going into a mine and getting out the silver or the gold. You got to go in there and get out what God has put in, work it out, live it out.
So we need to keep at it. Number two, stay focused. Don't lose the eye of the tiger. You know, the scripture tells us that we are to run with perseverance the race marked out for us. How do we do it?
Answer: we keep our eyes on Jesus. In Hebrews 12, the writer says, We're all running a race.
So lay aside the weight and the sin that so easily besets you or slows you down. Run this race with endurance. Here's the key. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and now is set down on the right hand of God.
So the key is looking to Jesus, keeping your eyes on the Lord. Because the devil wants you to get your eyes off of the Lord and he wants you to give up. The devil's two favorite words are: give up. Don't listen to him. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
And I think I'm talking to someone right now that's thinking of giving up. Giving up on your marriage. Giving up, maybe even on your life. Giving up on your faith. Giving up on your ministry.
Don't give up. Get up. And remember this: fix your eyes on Jesus. In fact, Nehemiah 4:14 says, He says to the people, don't be afraid of the enemy. Remember the Lord.
But Israel had forgotten this. They were not remembering the Lord. They were going backward again, though they had rebuilt these walls and had a spiritual awakening. They were returning to their old ways. They had to return again to the Lord.
So that brings us now to our text. In He uh Nehemiah 10, verse 28. And this is what they did before their fall began. And Jonathan touched on this in our last message in Nehemiah. I want to go back over it a little bit before we talk about what happened after this.
Nehemiah 10, verse 28, the rest of the people, the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, temple servants, and all who separated themselves from the pagan temple of the land in order to obey the Lord, together with their wives, sons, daughters, and all who were old enough to understand, joined their leaders and bound themselves with an oath. They swore a curse on themselves if they failed to obey the law of God as issued by this servant Moses. They solemnly promised to carefully follow all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the Lord our God.
So number three, they promised to carefully follow all the commands of Scripture. I think sometimes people want to pick and choose what parts of the Bible they like. and discard the rest. I'm reminded of Thomas Jefferson, who had his own version of the Bible. It was called Jefferson's Bible.
And basically what he did was he took Scissors and cut out all the parts of the Bible he did not agree with.
So in Jefferson's Bible, There were no miracles, so no walking on water, no feeding of the 5,000, no resurrection of Jesus. He also cut out all references to the deity of Christ because Jefferson did not believe Jesus was the Son of God.
However, he left in the ethical teachings of Jesus, like the Sermon on the Mount and parables about kindness, forgiveness, and love, and other lessons on humility, compassion, etc., because Jefferson regarded Jesus as a great philosopher, nothing more. You can't do that. You can't go to the Bible and take out the parts you don't agree with. Jesus said, You are my disciples if you continue in my word.
So we need to continue in what his word says. Number four, they chose to obey the word of God. To obey what it says.
So they surrendered from God's word. Everyone did it. Verse 28 says: the wives, the sons, the daughters, everyone joined themselves and they made this commitment. And I want to point out something: it was a public commitment. They took an oath.
We are going to do this, and we want everyone to know it. It's important to make public stands on certain things like marriage. This is why a wedding ceremony matters. Because people will say, Well, we're just living together. It's like being married.
No, it isn't. Because you know you could walk away at any given moment. And when you really are in love with someone, you need to make that commitment. Oh, it's just a piece of paper. No, it's a commitment you're making to God.
And it's a commitment you're making to your family. And it's a commitment you're making to your friends and anybody else who happens to attend. You're saying publicly, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish. From this day forward, in sickness and in health, etc.
So that's a public stand. And by the way, if you want to sabotage a marriage, live together before you get married. Statistics actually show that those who live together before marriage Are more likely to divorce than those that don't.
So you make a public commitment. And the same is true of your faith. Make a public stand for Christ. Do people in your neighborhood know you're a Christian? Do people on your campus know you're a follower of Jesus Christ?
Do people who follow you on social media know you believe that the Bible is true? Make your stand. That's what I love about baptism. It's something you do openly. And we've done these baptisms for years down at Pirates Cove.
At BitCoron Beach. And it's a beautiful thing when people watch and see a believer going into the water and saying goodbye to the old life and making that commitment to Christ. Here's another thing: number five: they separated themselves from ungodly influences. They separated themselves from ungodly influences. Look at verse 28.
Then the rest of the people, the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, separated themselves from the pagan people of the land in order to obey the law of the Lord, saying, We promised to not let our daughters marry the pagan people of the land and not to let our sons marry their daughters. If you want to be a godly person, you have to separate yourself from some things. Enjoying yourself to others.
Okay. Being a Christian is saying no to some things and saying yes to others. Psalm 1 sums it up perfectly. It says, Happy is the man or woman who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful. That's what they don't do.
But in contrast, their delight is in the word of the Lord. And in it do they meditate day and night. In Timothy, Paul writes, Flee youthful desires and follow righteousness, faith, and peace along with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
So, a word to singles. How many of you are single? If you're not married, raise your hand. Kiki raise it up high.
Okay, look around. No, look around. Hey, I met my wife in church. I don't know where you met yours or will you meet yours? I actually Saw her while I was preaching.
Now I wasn't scoping girls while I was preaching. I was just speaking, and I noticed her sitting there. This is many years ago. And she was there with her two sisters, and there was like a light coming down from heaven on her. I realized later I was one of her sisters with a flashlight holding.
No, and so I went up to her. Hey, how you doing? And nice to meet you. Hey, you guys want to go out and get some dessert after church?
So I went out with Kathy and her sisters. And the next week, I saw her again. I say, hey, you want to go out and get dessert after church? And I went out with Kathy and her sisters. And the third week I said, hey, let's go and get some dessert.
She said, let me get my sisters. who said, I don't want your sisters. Yeah. Being the great romantic that I am. Then she knew I had some interest there, but But no, there's not a better place to meet that guy, that girl, than in church.
And but listen, look for a godly person. I'm going to be honest with you, it's hard enough in marriage being married to a godly person. I can't imagine if I was married to someone who had views that were totally contrary to my views, who did not believe the Bible was the word of God, that did not want to put Christ first in our relationship. How are we going to raise our children?
So many decisions to make. Look for a godly person The three most important decisions you will make in your life. Number one, what are you going to do with Jesus Christ? Number two, what are you going to do with your life? Number three, who are you going to marry?
And so here's what was happening to Israel. They were being pulled down by ungodly people, and they were intermarrying with them and found themselves worshiping the false gods. And this is why it was an issue. And this is why the Bible says, don't be unequally yoked together with non-believers. For what fellowship does light have with darkness, or righteousness with unrighteousness?
Or as A more modern translation puts it: don't become partners with those. who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That's not partnership, that's war. Is light best friends with darkness?
Does Christ go strolling with the devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands? It's a good translation. And the answer of course to those questions, the answer to those questions is of course no.
So we don't want to marry or become romantically entangled with someone who's not a believer.
However, the Bible is not advocating complete isolation and no contact with non-believers. Otherwise, how are we going to reach them with the gospel? Because we're to go into all the world and preach the gospel, right?
So we have to find that balance between the two. Because the Great Commission, last time I checked, Matthew 28. I think it's still there. Unless Jefferson got to it with the scissors. And that great commission is to go into all the world and preach the gospel, making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that Christ has commanded us.
So we do. Want to reach people with the gospel, but I read this stat the other day. 95% of all Christians have never led a person to Christ. That's a lot. 95% of Christians have never led someone to Christ.
Now let me take a poll here. And when we say lead someone to Christ, It means that you maybe prayed with them personally, or you brought them to church and they came to Christ, or you brought them to a crusade and they put their faith in Jesus, but you played a role in that person becoming a Christian. How many of you? According to that definition, have led someone to Christ, raise your hand.
Well, that's much better than that stat.
Well done, Harvest, and congratulations on that. This had also said 59% of Christians say they seldom or never share their faith with others. That's almost 60%. Uh how many of you Share your faith with others. Raise your hand.
Good for you. I feel like you're bragging now, honestly. That's little Oh, look at me, look at me. No, I... I asked you to.
Wonderful. Thank you for doing that. I think we have a unique opportunity right now in our country to do this maybe like never before. This last administration persecuted and prosecuted Christian people. They arrested people for standing outside of an abortion clinic.
to pray with young women going in to terminate the life of their unborn child. And some of these people were sent to prison. The FBI were investigating people who went to PTA meetings and wanted to push back on this crazy curriculum being pushed in some of our schools.
So, thank you that that is not happening right now. In fact, the contrary is happening. A new faith office has been established in the White House. And the objective of this faith office is to quote to eradicate anti-Christian bias in the government, end quote. This is a good thing, you see.
Now it's almost a wage separation of church and state. You don't even understand what that is. That statement, that phrase is not in any official document like the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. It's in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to a person. And the objective there, or the idea, is not that we don't want the church to have influence on the state.
Rather, it's talking about we don't want the state to have undue influence in the church. See, we're not trying to push our views on anyone. No one's trying to legislate morality. What we're trying to do is have the freedom to do what we do best as Christians, which is to proclaim the gospel, live the Christian life, show people the love of Jesus Christ.
So I applaud the White House and President Trump for this new faith office. Also, the People invested in God's kingdom. Look at verse 32. They said, We promise to obey the command to pay the annual temple tax. Of one eighth of an ounce of silver for the care of the temple of our Lord.
So they were tithing. The word tithe means tenth. They were giving a tenth of their income to the Lord, bringing their best, not the worst, to God.
Some would say, well, tithing is not in the New Testament.
Okay. So, tithing is not in the New Testament, you say, therefore, I give. Nothing. Wait, how did you arrive at that conclusion? It's clear in both the Old and New Testament that the believers should invest their finances into the kingdom.
Why? Because where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Whatever you spend your money on is what you have the greatest interest in. And I hope you have an interest in the kingdom of God. And by the way, 10% is ground level, not the highest, it's entry-level.
The Bible even talks about bringing your tithes and offerings to the Lord. And there are so many directions. statements in the New Testament about the importance of giving. And I'm going to share a few of them with you in a moment, but let me just say this: we should welcome and embrace what the Bible says about every topic. Let me take a quick poll.
How many of you believe what the Bible says about heaven? Raise your hand.
Okay, good. How many of you believe what the Bible says about your salvation? Raise your hand.
How many of you believe what the Bible says about money? Raise your hand.
Now most of you raise your hand. But Well, kind of crazy.
Well, I don't know about that. But remember what we learned earlier? The people of God said, We'll obey everything that the Lord says. What does the Bible say? It says that every believer should give.
In fact, 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul says, The believers should set aside a sum of money on the first day of the week. We should give systematically. Not sporadically or when it occurs to us. Kathy and I for years have given electronically. It's very easy to do.
I think 75% of our church does that now, but 25% still give in person. We thank you for however you want to give. But it's something you plan on. You're to give proportionately. Paul says at 1 Corinthians 16, you should keep in keeping with your income.
Each person should give in keeping with their income.
So some can give more, some. Can give less, but it's okay. But give something, and you are to give joyfully. 2 Corinthians 9:6 says, Determine how much you'll give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure.
For God loves a cheerful giver. And finally, if we do this, God promises he will meet our needs. 2 Corinthians 9:8, God will generously provide all you need, and you'll have everything you need, and plenty left over to share with others.
Now, I wish I could say, and they followed these commitments and they lived happily ever after. And the book of Nehemiah ends, but it doesn't end there. That's not what happened at all. They listened to and obeyed the word of God. They separated themselves from ungodly people.
They gave it their finances. And then they turned their backs on God. Wow, does that sound familiar?
Sounds just like us. We've all in one way, shape, or form had lapses in our faith or grown somewhat complacent. Or lost the eye of the tiger, if you will. This happened to the church of Ephesus. Jesus said to them, Hey, I know all the things you do.
I see your hard work and patient endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people. You patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you, Jesus said, you don't love me as much as you did at first. Look how far you've fallen.
And so here's old Nehemiah, he's back with the king again in Babylon. He hears what's happening in Israel. It's like the old expression: when the cat's away, the mice will play. And even worse, he hears that That Tobaya, who was working with this guy named Sanbalat, remember I talked about Sanbalat and Tobaya? Be with some butt head.
Or dumb and dumber, right? They're always giving Israel a hard time, opposing them when they went to rebuild the wall, slandering them, threatening their lives. And yet the people of God persisted. Guess who's back in town? They gave Tobiah a room in the temple.
It's like the fox was in the temple. The hen house.
So Nehemiah now needs to leave Babylon, go back to Israel, and take care of business. Look at what happens. Nehemiah 13:8. He says, I became very upset. I threw all of Tobiah's belongings out of the room, and I demanded the rooms be purified, and I brought back the articles for God's temple.
Grain offerings and the frankincense out with the old, in with the new. When something's dirty, you need to clean it. They fumigated the place. and they tossed Tobiah out.
Sometimes we get a to buy in our life. It can be an addiction. It can be an old sin coming back again. Hey, come and live in the guest room. You're not living here, but you can stay in this room, and next thing you know, it's taking your life over again.
And that's exactly what they did. And they needed to get him out, plain and simple. This reminds us of when Jesus. Cleanse the temple, remember? He went into the money changers.
He overturned the tables. Drove him out with a whip. It's like Indiana Jones. And then he had to do it a second time because those same people came in again and set their tables up. And sometimes there needs to be some serious cleaning in our life because we've allowed little compromises to come in.
This might be a good time for me to admit to a personal addiction I've had for years. I've tried to break free from it. And it still haunts me. Got real quiet in here all of a sudden. I bite my nails.
How many of you are nail biters, Rajing Han? I hate it. And it's and I can't explain it. But I like to do it.
Now, I do it sometimes when I'm stressed. I'll nibble and I peel a nail off. It's gross. I've gotten them torn off so badly, I have like little fleshly nubs left. I can't, if I drop something on the ground like a coin, I literally can't pick it up.
I'm just down there fumbling, it's horrible, right? And here's how it always starts. My nails are getting a little long. And I'll trim it with my teeth. I'll fix this.
And next thing I know, I've torn him down again.
So it starts small and it gets big. That's how sin works in our life. Little compromises lead to bigger problems.
So Nehemiah took action, he cleaned house. And I wonder if someone needs to clean house spiritually today in their own life. God says in Jeremiah 3:22, Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding. It's always good to know When we've messed up. We can be forgiven if we return to God.
Coming back to the message of Jesus to the church of Ephesus. after he told them they had left their first love, He then goes on to say, remember therefore from where you have fallen. Repent. and do the first works quickly. Interesting quickly.
In other words, he's saying you need to act on this. Listen. If the Holy Spirit of God is touching your heart right now, And maybe there's some area in your life where there's been compromise. Or some tobias, so to speak, has taken up a guest room, or some addiction, or some sin has returned, or something that's probably coming to the forefront of your mind right now is there. This is the time to deal with it and do it quickly.
How are you doing in the race of life? Have you lost your way? Have you lost the eye of the tiger, so to speak?
Well, then it's time to make that recommitment again, and Christ can forgive you. Because we all want to finish this race well. I wonder where we all are in the race of life. You know, when you're older, you say, well, I'm toward the end, okay. True.
When you're young, you say, I've got so... Long. To go, so far to go, and so much time.
Well, maybe you do, and maybe you don't. Because actually you don't know when your life will end, do you?
So every day should be precious to you. Live every day as though it were your last day, because one day it will be.
Someone put it this way. Inside every old person is a young person. wondering what in the world just happened. It's funny how you all of a sudden are an old person. When did I become an old person?
I don't think like an old person. Yeah, you probably do, but anyway. You can deny it all you want. It is what it is, all right? But life is passing quickly, and we don't know when that race is going to end, and we want to finish it well.
And there might be somebody here that hasn't even started in the so-called race of life. Remember, I said the three most important decisions you'll make in life: number one, what you do with Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus Christ. The Son of God. Who was born in that manger, born of a virgin supernaturally.
Who voluntarily went to the cross and died for the sin of the world and rose again from the dead, and now is ready to change every human heart because he stands at the door of our life and he knocks and says, I will hear his voice and open the door. He'll come in. He's here, and I have to make a decision about Jesus. I can't say, well, he was a great philosopher, he was a wonderful moral teacher. I have admiration for him.
He didn't say, admire me. Jesus said, follow me.
So either I believe what he said about himself that he is the son of God, I believe what he said himself, he's the only way to the Father. Because Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes of the Father but by me, or I reject it. You say, well, Greg, I'm not comfortable with those two choices. I don't accept him. I don't reject him.
I'm just neutral. You can't be neutral. To be undecided is to be decided. This is an either-or proposition. This is a yes or no response.
Do you believe he's the son of God? Do you believe? He can change our life. Then say yes to him or say no, I don't believe any of it. And some of us have never made that decision.
And you can make it right here, right now. You can ask Christ to come into your life and forgive you of all of your sin. Or if you've fallen, Remember that commercial on TV? The lady falls. I've fallen and I can't get up.
Life alert, right? I have one of those at home. No, I don't. Maybe I should, you know. But You can get up.
Because God will pick you up, but you have to call out to him. And if you're one of those people that stumbled and fallen, just call out to the Lord. Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return to our God who will abundantly pardon.
I love that. The Lord is near. He's here. He's ready to change you. Why don't you respond?
Do it quickly. We're going to pray, and I'm going to give you that opportunity. Let's all pray. Father, thank you. for loving us even when we don't love you.
Thank you for Your desire to forgive us and restore us and fix us. When we make a mess of our lives, but most of all, Thank you for saving us because we're sinners. That needs saving just as surely as a drowning person needs help from a lifeguard. And I pray for everyone here and everyone watching, wherever they are, if they don't have a relationship with you, help them to see their need for you, help them to come to you now and believe.
Now when our heads are bowed, and our eyes are closed and we're praying. If you would like Jesus Christ to come into your life, If you would like him to forgive you of your sin. If you would like to know with certainty that you will go to heaven when you die, If you're ready to say yes to Jesus wherever you are. I want you to lift your hand up and I'm going to pray for you. Lift your hand up where I can see you and I'll pray for you.
God bless you and you and you. I see hands up. All over this room. Is yours one of them? Let me pray for you.
You want Christ to come into your life today. You guys watching, Harvest Riverside. Harvest Maui, you can raise your hand up as well. I can't see you, but that doesn't really matter, does it? The Lord sees you.
Raise your hand up saying, I need Jesus today. Pray for me. God bless you all. Can't bless you. While our heads are still bowed, maybe there's someone here that would say, I've stumbled and fallen.
But I want to get back in the race. I want to be restored. I want to be forgiven. I need to come back to Christ again. I need to make that recommitment.
Pray for me. If that's your need today, your desire, you want to return to the Lord. Come back to the Lord. Be restored by the Lord. Raise your hand up and let me pray for you.
God bless you all. God bless you. Anybody else? Raise your hand up. God bless.
Now, Father, Give each one the strength to stand up and follow you. And we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it.
Just go to harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org and click on Know God. Yeah.
