Hope for America | Sunday Message

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. I've told you the story before of a lady that was walking down the beach here in Southern California and she saw a shiny object embedded in the sand. She reached down to pick it up and it was a lamp and as she rubbed the sand off, a genie appeared. This is a true story.

And the genie said, Oh, Master, I will grant you one wish. He said, One wish. What happened to three wishes? He said, We've had to cut back. Just one wish.

He goes, Wow, one wish. And she pulls out a map of the Middle East. She says, Genie, look at the mess this part of the world is in. They're always fighting, always at war.

So I know what my wish is. My wish is for peace in the Middle East. The genie looks at the map. He says, You know, I'm sorry, that, that, that, she goes, wait, I want to change it. I want peace in all of the world.

I want global peace. That's what I wish. She goes, That's ridiculous. I cannot do that. Come up with something else.

She said, well. I've always wanted to find a good man. A good man that would love me, who would be considerate and love to cook and love house cleaning. A good man that would not want to just sit around on the couch and watch sports, but would do all the things that I want him to do. And most importantly, a good man who would smother me with affection.

That's my wish, Jeannie. I want one good man. The genie said, let me see that map again. How many of you have heard that joke? Raise your hand.

What do you want, a metal?

Okay. How many of you have never heard the joke? Raise your hand. Okay, you've never heard it. How many of you who have never heard it thought it was fairly funny?

Raise your hand. Well, you didn't even like it?

Okay. How many of you who have heard it thought it was still amusing?

Okay, thank you for that support. How many of you never want to hear that joke again? Raise your hand. Go ahead. People in the back, you don't count.

You're in the back. I only listen to the people up here, you see? No, but um Some things seem impossible, like there's just no way. Maybe you're fac facing a Seemingly impossible situation right now. You're thinking, there's no way this is going to be resolved.

There's no way I'm going to get out of this. There's no way this problem is going to be fixed. And we look at our nation and we look at the trend, the direction it's taking among many people, especially the young, and we say, there's no way to fix America. It's impossible. But with God, all things are possible.

God could change the course of our nation, and we need it. We see evil encroaching into our society in some ways like never before.

Socialism and outright communism is now. destroying our country. And it's happening largely among younger people. We're facing a moral and a spiritual crisis. Of course, the family has been under attack.

for decades. And the family is the very foundation of a nation. As I've said before, and it's been said, A family can survive without a nation, but a nation cannot survive without the family. And it seems like so many have done their level best to do everything to destroy the American family. To redefine the family, to even redefine what a man and a woman are.

All of these things happening simultaneously, and we see the results of it, and we tamper with God's order at our own peril. And I believe God is giving us a wake-up call, and that wake-up call is for the church. We need to wake up. Years ago, I was in Alaska with a friend of mine, Richie Furey. Richie was a founding member of the rock band Buffalo Springfield, very strong Christian, very talented musician.

So he was singing and I was speaking somewhere. And so we were leaving the next day. He was going to Colorado where he lives. I was flying to California. And we were doing pranks on each other for the trip.

And so I thought it would be funny to give him a really early wake-up call.

So I just called from my room. I didn't say I was in his room. I just said, hello, can I get a wake-up call for this room at five in the morning? and then do another wake-up call at 5.30 in case they don't respond to the first one.

Okay, so I caught my plane, I flew back home, a day passes, and Richie calls me. He says, Do you know what happened in Alaska? I go, what? He says, I get a wake-up call at five o'clock in the morning. I know you set it up.

I ignored it. He says, and then a little time passes, and all of a sudden, some guy walked into my room. He was shaking me in my bed, saying, Wake up, wake up, you're gonna miss your flight. I said, sometimes things just work out, don't they? I mean, that was a prank that went better than I could have ever hoped it would go.

So that's a pretty harsh wake-up call. But I think we're seeing things around us right now that are wake-up calls. Like, whoa, what is going on? How did that person just get elected? How did this law just get passed?

Why is that happening in the streets over here? Why are we facing this problem right now? And it's only getting worse. Peter Marshall, the former chaplain of the U.S. Senate, once made this statement, and I quote, The choice before us is plain.

Christ or chaos. conviction or compromise, discipline. Or disintegration, end quote. Very well said. Christ or chaos.

That's the choice we're facing now. Having said all of this, I have hope for America. but it's a hope in God. And that's a hope in divine intervention. And Jesus lays out for us here in this Sermon on the Mount.

Effectively, a blueprint of what we as Christians can do and should do to affect our nation, to affect our culture, to affect those around us. Matthew chapter 5. Verse 13, read with me. Jesus says, You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

It's in good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

So neither do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all that are in the house.

So let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father. In heaven. We'll stop there. Salt and light. Why did Jesus use these two word pictures?

Because the world is dark and the world is corrupt. The world needs salt because it is corrupt and it needs light because it's dark. The biblical worldview on human nature is man is not basically good. It actually teaches the opposite that man is basically bad, bad to the bone, if you will. We're sinful, and we act on those sinful.

Impulses. There is no inherent goodness in man. And this is only demonstrated in all of the dramatic advances we've had on so many fronts: scientific advancements, medical advancements, the growth of our knowledge with technology. But we never have our heart change. And so the Bible tells us that our heart is deceitfully wicked.

Who can know it? And the Bible even tells us it'll get worse in the end times. And folks, I believe we're in the end times. I believe we're in the last days. I believe we're seeing Bible prophecies fulfilled.

Here's how it works. All the big prophecies, all the big events that we look to in many ways are closely stacked together. You've got the emergence of the Antichrist. Then you have the Great Tribulation period. Then you have the abomination of desolation.

Then you have the Battle of Armageddon. Then you have the Second Coming. And then you have the millennial reign of Christ. These events are all within a short span of time. And once the first domino falls, the others will fall in rapid succession.

We haven't seen the first domino fall. What's the next domino to fall? I believe it's the rapture of the church. When the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the dead in Christ will rise first, and we which are alive and remaining shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Then the Antichrist emerges, you see.

So But you see four shocks of Armageddon. You see things that say to us, man, this could happen at any time. The things that I already touched on, happening with technology alone. are staggering. I mean, take artificial intelligence.

Man has never been more capable. and never more dangerous to himself. AI has given us medical breakthroughs that would seem miraculous to previous generations. But the same tech that can translate the Bible into a thousand languages can flood the internet with a thousand lies. The same intelligence.

that can write a symphony can also design a bioweapon. And the deception runs deeper and more deeply than many people realize. Did you know that? almost half maybe even Half or possibly even more of all internet activity is generated by bots. Yeah.

These are not people, these are bots, fake accounts, artificial voices, in many cases deployed by foreign governments specifically to sow discord and to spread hatred without firing a single bullet. And it's being weaponized and used to divide us right now. And you see this only growing. Man has created this artificial intelligence in his own image. He's built a tool in his own image, maybe a god in his own image.

And then he bows before it and does what it tells him to do. AI has been used. to encourage people to actually commit suicide. Because they develop these weird relationships with... Bots or with whatever they think they're communicating with, which isn't a person at all, but in some ways they think about it.

These are scary times. Years ago in 1948, General Omar Bradley. Said in his speech, quote, We have grasped the mystery of the Adam and we rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Our world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants, end quote.

You could swap atom for algorithm. And that could be describing today.

So instead of getting better, we've only gotten worse. With all of our advances, Well, all of our new learning We just go from bad to worse. We go from war to greater war. We go from crime to greater crime. Think back historically for a moment to the Beginning of the 20th century.

There was a buoyant optimism in the air. Uh Man thought that he was going to create a utopia on earth, a heaven on earth, and the counterpart to the space race of today would have been shipbuilding. And it was decided that The biggest Most luxurious. cruise ship ever made would be built. And it was aptly called Titanic.

And it was a marvel for sure. I mean, it's hard for us to understand what it would have been like back then to look at a thing like that that was created and everybody wanted to be on the maiden voyage. It was filled with some of the wealthiest people on the planet. There were millions and millions of dollars represented in the people that were on board. Today it would have been billions and billions.

And so they launched it. And of course, we all know what happened next. It struck an iceberg and it was sinking on its maiden voyage. And even as it was sinking, it became a news story. The Titanic has been hit by an iceberg.

The VP of the company that built it said with absolute confidence, don't worry, it's unsinkable. Because they had designed it with all these little compartments that would close up and contain the water that was coming in. It was unsinkable. Famous last words. That became a metaphor for the times then.

And only two years later, World War I broke out.

So much for the optimism of man.

So much for the solutions of man. And now we look at what's happening today and we see new technologies developing, and it's time for us. To turn back to God. That's what our nation was founded on. That's what we need to do.

So, what should we as Christians be doing in the midst of all of this?

Well, sometimes. I think Christians want to just isolate. You know, we want to separate ourself from the influence of culture. We want to raise our children in a little bubble. And we want to live in that bubble ourselves, a little Christian subculture.

Everything will be Christian. It will be Christian music. And we'll go to a Christian restaurant and we'll drive a Christian car and our dogs will be Christians and our cats, maybe not our cats, but. Everything will just be Christian. But that's what God has told us to do.

He has not told us to isolate. He has told us to infiltrate. He has not told us to evade. He has called us to invade, you see, as Christians. Jesus in the spirit of the Father in John 17 made this statement, Father.

Speaking of us. I'm not asking you take them out of the world. But I'm asking you to keep them safe from the evil one. They are not part of this world any more than I am. As you sent me into the world, so I am sending them into the world.

Isn't that interesting? He's sending us into the world, isn't he? He's told us to go into all the world and do what? Preach the gospel.

So we're to go in the world not to try to run from the world or evade the world.

Now we don't want to have the world influence us. We don't want the culture to permeate us, but we want to permeate the culture with the good news. In many ways, we as Christians are behind enemy lines. I was watching a World War II film a while ago, and there's a scene where the commanding officer. Said to the paratroopers of EZ Company: A panzer division is about to cut the road south.

Looks like you guys are going to be surrounded. And the lieutenant in charge of BZ Company says, we're paratroopers, lieutenant. We're supposed to be surrounded. That's great. That's us.

We're behind enemy lines. We're paratroopers. We're supposed to be surrounded. We're supposed to invade culture, permeate culture, and to the best of our abilities, influence culture. A very popular thing today is of course people are becoming what they call influencers.

Well, everybody is an influencer. If you have 10 followers, or if you have 10 million followers, you have a sphere of influence, you have your platform, you, in effect, have your pulpit.

So, one tendency is: oh, let's just separate ourselves and have no effect on culture at all. That's wrong. But others will embrace all culture without reservation. And the Bible tells us: don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind and i touched on this already but we do see socialism and communism candidates openly saying they hold to these principles being elected we saw this recently in new york And when you look back on revolutions, people call for a revolution, there's only been one successful revolution in world history, and it was the American Revolution. Let me explain why.

Let me explain why. The French had a revolution on the heels of our revolution that led in the loss of many lives. Of course, there's the Russian Revolution, the Cuban Revolution, the Chinese Revolution. Those revolutions resulted in the deaths of millions of people, but the American Revolution produced something different. And that's because before there was a revolution, there was a revelation.

from God. It was rooted in a spiritual awakening that swept the United States largely through the preaching of George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, and others. And so when the American Revolution, this is one of the flags that they had at that time, appeal to heaven, there was a recognition that we need to turn to God rooted in a spiritual awakening. Consider George Washington, our first president, said, quote, to the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to have the more distinguished character of Christian. You know, people say of Washington, well, Washington wasn't really a Christian at all.

Actually, he was. Did you know that George Washington read his Bible every day for one hour? He spoke many, many times of his faith in God. Then there's John Adams, who perhaps was even more overt in his faith than George Washington was, as you see from the many, many letters he wrote. And John Adams, who became our second president, made this statement: quote: The Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.

It's wholly inadequate for the government of any other. We understand that our roots are spiritual, so we need to stand for the truth whether it is popular or not. We stand for the truth. We speak up. For what is true, it's not for us to pick and choose the parts of the Bible we like.

And um That was a very slow. Clap. But I appreciate it.

Now I lost my point. What was that then? I had something to say. But so we want to do what we can to speak up for what is true, and we don't want to edit scripture. You can't go into the Bible like it's some kind of a celestial solid bar.

Evict the parts you like and reject the parts you don't like. It's all God's word. The Bible says, let God be true and every man a liar.

So we understand. That we need to reach the people around us. I love the way Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 9. He said, I try to find common ground with everyone.

so I might bring them to Christ. I do all of this to spread the good news. Another translation puts it this way: Paul speaking, I voluntarily become a servant by any and all in order to reach a wide range of people. Religious, non-religious, meticulous moralists, loose living immoralists. The defeated The demoralized.

Whoever, I like that. And that's what we are to do, to reach everyone with the message of the gospel. You know, back to the Titanic. after the Titanic went down. There were so many errors that took place.

First of all, they didn't have enough lifeboats for everybody. But but even more but even worse Many of those lifeboats weren't even half filled. There would be a lifeboat that could accommodate 60 people and they put 14 people on the lifeboat.

Meanwhile, people are just at sea without any flotation device. We know that Jack and Rose were hanging on a door, but everybody else. We know all about that that didn't even happen, but I mean for real People were just out there in the middle of the freezing ocean. And there was room in the lifeboats, and there was one particular lifeboat. that had some folks on board.

Unfortunately, their names will be remembered in history for the wrong reason. Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and his wife. and they had a lot of space in that lifeboat. And some of the crew were there on that lightboat that said, let's go back and rescue these screaming people. And they said, no, no, they could overtake us and swamp us and maybe sink our boat.

And so they left those people to die. But there was one courageous officer that went right into the wreckage of Titanic as it was sinking and he pulled people in. You know, we wonder what I would do under such circumstances? Would I have been the person saying, there's no room on my lifeboat, let them femme for themselves? Or would I have been the person saying, let's go in and rescue as many people as we can?

You said, well, I would have rescued people. Good, maybe you would have. But you know what? A fate even worse than that is what people are facing right now. separated from God.

Headed toward a certain judgment? Are we veering away saying, I'm safe in my little boat? I'm secure here. I always sit in the same place every Sunday at church, and I know all of you do. And that's fine.

I have no problem with that at all. Unless you hit someone who tries to sit there, I don't like that, so. Try to share more. But the idea though is, you know, we're safe in our boat, but do we think about people that need to be literally saved? That's the point that we need to remember.

We need to infect our culture. But before I can tell people... About Jesus, I need to live it. And that's where the idea of salt comes in. Jesus says, You are the salt.

of the earth. the value of salt in our culture today. But back in the first century, salt was a big deal. Salt was considered something of great value. The Romans believed, except for this son, it was the most valuable thing of all, salt.

And one thing it was used for was to preserve something. to preserve their meat like if you caught fish You either ate it immediately, but you couldn't refrigerate it, needless to say, so you rubbed salt on it. our modern equivalent would be beef jerky. I was in a gas station yesterday getting my oil changed. And I saw a bag of beef jerky, I thought, looks pretty good, and I decided to buy it.

The guy said, that's great beef jerky. Great. By the way, how much is it? $20. I put it back.

Are you kidding me? $20 for a bag of beef jerky? But you know, salt preserves, and that's the effect that we should have in our culture. We're preserving. Coming back to what I was saying about the last days.

Antichrist Who is a person? And will be a man of peace. and a powerful world leader. And he'll come with global solutions. He's going to emerge on the scene, but he cannot be revealed until the church is removed.

The Bible says he who now Constraints will continue to do so until we are 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.

So the idea that's being conveyed there is antichrist can emerge until the church is removed. Why? Because we're the preserving influence in the culture today. We're the ones that are going to speak up for what is true. We're the ones that are going to speak out against what is wrong.

We're the ones that are going to affect our culture. But once the church is removed, then Antichrist can emerge. And by the way, That's why we should never be looking for Antichrist. but instead be looking for Jesus Christ. It's futile to try to figure out who Antichrist is.

Don't waste your time. And if you figure it out, something went really wrong. Because you, I, us, we're not supposed to be here when he emerges on the scene.

So, salt. Has an effect of preserving. Salt also stimulates thirst. If you are walking with God as you ought to, you will, as a result, cause others to be thirsty for God. Years ago, we were in Israel.

By the way, we're planning a trip to Israel next year. Did you know that? So we'll see what happens. We're praying that it all works out. And we have a lot of people very interested.

But anyway, years ago, we were in Israel, and I had a very argumentative Tour guide. This is, I think, my first trip over there. All he did was argue with me.

So, so we would drive from site to site, and I would sit at the front of the bus, and he was in the front. He was always hitting me with these questions: What about this, and what about that? And to the best of my ability, I tried to reason with him and convince him as to why I believe Jesus Christ was the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel, and so forth. But I don't think I made any progress with him at all. His name was David.

And one day, we were at the end of the tour, and we're getting off the bus. And the guy who was driving the bus said to me, I've been listening to your conversation. And I have to say, after hearing you talk for a while, I'm jealous of your relationship with God. I thought what an interesting statement. Because the Bible says of Gentiles, of non-Jews, we've been grafted into the promises of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to provoke them to jealousy.

So they would say, wow, look at those Gentiles. You know, they have a relationship with our God. I want that relationship too. Coming back to the driver, he said, I want you to come to my home and I want you to speak to my entire family. He had a big family.

I got to his home, I think there were 30 people there. All of his children, his grandchildren, They served us a delicious meal with multiple courses. Unfortunately, I filled up. on the appetizers. I didn't know that four more courses were coming.

And I was basically in a food coma. when he said, now speak to everyone, but I woke up quickly. And I had the privilege to share the gospel with his entire family and tell them all why I believed that Jesus was the Messiah.

So, look, I I'm not saying I did anything special. I think if you're just walking with the Lord as you ought to, the non-believers say, I want what you have. What does salt do? It stimulates thirst. We should do the same, right?

And if you don't do this. According to Jesus, you're good for nothing. Look at verse 13, Matthew 5. If you're the salt of the earth, if the salt loses its flavor or saltiness, How will it be seasoned? It's good for nothing but to be trampled underfoot by men.

Good for nothing, years ago. We went to uh Europe. to be at a pastor's conference. And so At that particular time. Uh I had a lot of hardware I was traveling with.

for Christopher, who is just a little baby still. And so I thought, man, I don't want it like ticket. Backpack to carry him in and a stroller. Is there a solution? And I saw this thing advertised called Backpack Stroller.

I thought perfect, I'll buy it. And I bought it, but I didn't try it out first.

So I get over there to Europe and I unpack the backpack stroller and it was the most worthless invention of all time. It had giant wheels that dug into my back, so it was painful to wear as a backpack. And then the problem, it didn't have back wheels, so the entire time you pushed your baby around, you had to hold it up. You couldn't set it down, or else you would lay him flat on the ground.

Now, babies don't like that very much. And so I thought, this is completely worthless. I threw it out and bought a stroller over there. But that's what it's like when you are not salty, when you're not affecting other people as a Christian. You're like a backpack stroller.

or a decaf low-fat latte. Don't be good for nothing. Be good for something. Be salty. But then it's interesting because Jesus then says, You are the light of the world.

First he says, You're the salt, then he says, You're the light. In many ways, I earn the right to share my faith by being salt, which enables me to then be the light. The greatest compliment that can be paid to a Christian is when someone says, I admire you. I look at your family. I look at your children.

The way they behave. I look at your life. I look at the cheerfulness. You have, the love you have for others. I look at the way you drive.

We all laugh a little 'cause I And I want what you give.

So that means you've been salt.

Now you've earned the right to be light, so to speak.

Well, let me tell you why I am the way that I am. Let me tell you about Jesus Christ and what he's done for me and also what he can do for you.

So we get it all put together. Salt is hidden, light is obvious. Salt works secretly, light works openly. Salt works from within, light works from without. Salt is more indirect.

Light is more direct. Salt is largely negative. Light is positive. Here's another thing you can do with light. It it illuminates.

Right, so if something's dark, it exposes. The darkness. Have you ever lost things in your car? at night and you can't find them. You know, and then you turn on the light.

And all of a sudden, there's that burrito I lost one month ago. I wonder where that went. And wow, it crawled up into the car seat. How did it do that? You know, so the idea is that light illuminates things.

You see things differently when light shines.

So, you know, we need the light to find our way to Christ. And the light is switched on and we find our way to him.

Now there's an interesting little twist on the way Jesus says this. It could better be translated this way. Jesus speaking, you and you alone are the salt of the earth. You and you alone are the light of the world. And interesting you.

and you alone. Are the salt of the earth. You and you alone are the light of the world. So here's a question for you: What kind of world would we be living in today? if every Christian behaved just like you.

Would people be attracted to or turned off by our message? What kind of general opinion would people have of Christianity if you were its sole representative? You might say, well, Greg, don't you think that's a lot of pressure to put on one person?

Well, not really. Because for some people, you are the only Christian they know. You're the only Christian they've ever met and I know it's a lot of pressure But they're literally gonna form an opinion of the Christian faith based on you Is it fair? Probably not. But you're the only Christian they know except for those crazy people on television.

Oh, wait, I'm on television.

Well, they're not all crazy. But no, they're watching you and frankly They're kind of hoping you mess up. They're kind of hoping you'll be inconsistent. They're kind of hoping you'll say or do something that will justify their unbelief. But if you live as a godly person, not perfectly.

No one's going to live perfectly. But if you live faithfully as a Christian and to the best of your ability, be the salt of the earth, be the light of the world, they're going to be drawn to your message. And so we have to live in such a way. As it has been said, Christians are walking epistles written by God and read by men. Listen, you're the only Bible some people are ever going to read.

Did you know there's five gospels in the Bible? Greg, you're mistaken. There's four. Five. Five Gospels.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. And you. You're the fifth gospel. You're the one people are watching. You're the one people are reading.

You're the one people are evaluating. You and you alone are the light of the world. You and you alone are the salt of the earth. Don't say, well, let those other Christians do it. Yeah, let's pray they do.

But guess what? You gotta do it. I gotta do it. We got to do it in our world and seek to make a difference. And again, these are what the Lord tells us, the things he tells us to do.

So let's recap and conclude. Number one. A stated we need to infiltrate, not isolate. to be both salt and light why because we've been dropped behind enemy lines Our job is not to evade, but to invade. Live the Christian life with authenticity.

It was A.W. Tozer, an outstanding author. Who made this statement? Quote, the world is is waiting to hear an authentic voice. A voice from God, not an echo of what others are doing and saying.

But an authentic voice. Would you be that authentic voice? in your sphere of influence. We need to pray, of course. God tells us in 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, then the Lord promises I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land.

We all want the Lord to heal our land, don't we? We all want to see a spiritual awakening in America, right?

Well, we need to pray. But what else does God tell us to do? We need to humble ourselves. And we need to seek his face. Have you ever sought the face of God?

It's not a quick prayer. It's where you take time. Lord, speak to me. Reveal your will to me. Talk to me.

And then turn from your wicked ways. Are there any wicked ways you need to turn from right now? Don't be sitting in there thinking, I wish so-and-so was here to hear this message. The people that are supposed to hear this message are hearing it. That's why Jesus said, He that has ears to hear, let him hear or listen.

So I have to ask myself the question. Is there any wicked way? Is there anything in my life? that I am doing perhaps even habitually, continuously, that's a sin. God tells us to repent.

If my people, which are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, God says, I'll hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land. And of course, we need to preach the gospel. We need to get the gospel out. One last reference to Titanic. On the night it sunk, There were a number of fatal mistakes made.

The Titanic had already received multiple warnings from other ships. through the day in the general area. Warning of ice. And one ship. known as the Californian.

Radio to Titanic these words, and I quote, Say, old man. We are stopped and surrounded by eyes. ⁇ And the Titanic radio operator, who is very busy and dealing with a lot of messages at the moment. Sent this message back. Shut up.

Shut up. I'm busy. Famous last words. They were warned. They knew icebergs were there.

Hey, be careful. Oh yeah. Shut up. Shut up. I'm busy.

Wow. And then you know that that massive boat sunk to the bottom of the ocean. There's people like this today. You know, God's Holy Spirit is speaking to them. Little wake-up calls: hey, man, you need to turn to me.

you're on the wrong course. Don't go that way anymore. Little things to get your attention. Oh, we say. Shut up.

Shut up, I'm busy. I have things to do. I have social media to waste my time looking at. I have things on Netflix I need to binge on. I have parties I need to go to.

I have shopping I need to do. You just have all these things you're engaged in. You're busy. Busy doing what? See, the Bible warns us.

to not harden our hearts if we can hear his voice. And when God is speaking to you, you need to listen. And Jesus said, My sheep follow my voice. And I wonder if Jesus is speaking to someone right now. He might be speaking to someone who.

You're a Christian. but you've been living a double life. You're doing something you shouldn't be doing. Maybe you're having an affair. That's what we call it.

Isn't that a nice word? Having an affair.

Sounds like a cruise. On the Titanic. Oh, you mean you're in an adulterous Relationship, you mean you're living in sin, yeah, or hey, you're sleeping with your boyfriend or your girlfriend, uh, or you're living together.

Well, that's sin. And the Lord says, don't do that. Repent. or it might be gossiping or spreading lies.

Sowing division. It might be a myriad of things that can clutter our lives, things that can be sins against God. And he's saying, don't do that. He's warning you, listen to the Lord. Because if you're his child, check it out.

He's gonna. Spank you if you're a bad boy or a bad girl. Because he loves you. Whom the Lord loves, he chastens. And he doesn't necessarily want to use that rod on you.

He'd rather use that shepherd staff than pull you back in line, but if you keep. Going astray, he may do what he needs to do to get your attention. Maybe the Lord's saying to you right now. Listen and repent and turn back to me and I will forgive you. And we say, Shut up, shut up.

I'm busy. Don't say that. Listen. Do what the Lord tells you to do. But there might be somebody here who has never heard any of this before.

This is all new to you. Maybe you're watching. Us online or hearing this somewhere, but whatever, whoever you are, this is all new. This idea of Jesus Christ, a relationship with Him. And here's the bottom line.

You, I, us, we're all sinners. We've all broken God's commandments. We've all fallen short of his standards, but God loved you so much, he sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross in your place and to rise again from the dead. And now Jesus Christ 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. Have you asked Jesus to come into your life yet?

If not, you can do it now. I love that video. that we showed earlier of that young man. Telling how he came to Christ. He came here to church.

He heard the gospel. He had been in prison. He had lived a life apart from God, reaped the consequences of it. But heard how Jesus loved him, he gave his life to the Lord. And look at him now.

I was saying in the back room as we're watching it on the screen there, I said, only the gospel can do that. Only Christ can change a person. Oh, sure, maybe a person could be on drugs and get off drugs. without the gospel. But They can't change their nature.

They can't change the way that they are. And here he's a family man. He's a husband. He's a father. He's a changed man.

I love that. That's what Jesus can do for you right now, no matter what. They say, well, I haven't been to prison.

Well, you don't, you know, Jesus is here for the down and outers and the up and outers, too. Maybe you've kept all the rules and done all the right things, and that's great, but you're still a sinner and you still need a savior. You need a savior as much as those people drowning in the ocean needed someone to pull them into the lifeboat. And Jesus is ready to do that. If you call out to him one last Titanic story.

I watched a little series on it and I got all obsessed with it.

Sorry, I'm over it soon. Maybe not, but. One last story.

So there's this one guy. And he's just in the ocean. He has no hope. No one's around him. And he just thinks maybe there's...

Because it's so dark you can't see anything. And he says, maybe there's someone that could help me. And he just yells out, ship ahoy. He didn't see a ship. He just said, ship ahoy.

Well, there was a boat not far. One of the lifeboats had heard him. They went over, reached down, pulled him on. Rescue them. Why?

Because he said help. If you call out to the Lord, the Bible says he'll save you. Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Have you done that yet? You can do it right now through prayer.

So, we're going to close with a word of prayer. And I'm going to extend an invitation to anybody here. who needs Jesus in their life. They need to be forgiven of their sin. You want to go to heaven when you die.

Or. You're a prodigal son or daughter. You know what's up. You know what's right. But you've been living a double life and you need to repent.

This is for both of you. All of you, whoever you are. If you need to respond. Do it now. Don't say to the Lord.

Shut up, I'm busy. Say. Speak, Lord, I'm listening. Let's pray. Father.

Now I pray that you will speak to the hearts of many that have joined us who need to get right with you. You love them. Your desire is not to destroy them. But to restore them. They're your children if they know you already but are going astray, and you want them to become your children if they'll believe in Jesus now.

Help them to do that.

Now, while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, and we're praying, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, and forgive you of your sin. If you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die, If you want to fill that big hole in your heart, you've tried to fill. with so many things this culture offers. If you want to find that peace. That God promises that joy, that purpose.

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. Raise your hand up high where I can see it. You're saying, I need Jesus today. Let me pray for you. God bless you.

Yes. God bless you. Anybody else? Raise your hand up harbor. I can see it.

You want Christ to come into your life. God bless you. God bless you. I see you. How about up in the balcony?

God bless you guys up there. God bless you. Now, some of you are watching a screen right now. I can't see you, but the Lord sees you. You could raise your hand as well.

And God bless you. You who do.

Well, our heads are still bowed. Maybe I'm talking. to a Christian. who knows what's true and what's right. And you're not living it.

You're living a double life in many ways, and you need to repent. This is your wake-up call. Will you listen? Will you respond? If that's you and you need to make a recommitment to Christ today.

Would you raise your hand up? This can be the moment where everything changes for you. God bless you. Anybody else? Jesus told the story of the prodigal son who came to his senses.

Will you come to your senses today? If you need to make that recommitment, raise your hand up. Let me pray for you. God bless you. God bless each one of you.

Now, I'm going to ask if you would please, every one of you that raised your hand, I want you to stand to your feet, and I'm going to lead you in a prayer. Just stand up. If you raise your hand, even if you did not, you want to make this commitment to Christ, this recommitment to Christ, stand to your feet. And I'm going to lead you in prayer. Stand up.

Others are standing. You won't be alone if you stand. God bless you that are standing. Maybe you didn't raise your hand, but you want to make this commitment to Christ. Or recommitment to Christ.

This has been your wake-up call. Are you going to listen? Anybody else, stand now. Let me pray with you. I'll wait one more moment.

Just stand. God bless you. Anybody else stand? God bless all of you. All right, I'm going to ask that as I pray this prayer, you would pray it out loud right where you're standing.

Again, as I pray, pray this out loud after me, okay? Pray these words after me, Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner. But I know you're the Savior. Who died on the cross for my sin.

and rose again from the dead. I churn from my sin. And I choose to follow you. From this moment forward. As my Savior and my Lord.

As my God and my friend. In Jesus' name I pray. 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. Mm.