From the Archives: Greg Laurie on the Necessity of Personal Change

Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here. You're listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast and my objective is to deliver, hopefully, compelling practical insights in faith, culture, and current events from a biblical perspective. To find out more about our ministry, just go to our website, harvest.org. So thanks for joining me for this podcast.

Here they were hiring down at the local zoo. Today we are going to be talking about the truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God.

The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God.

The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of God. The truth of religious leader named Nicodemus the Pharisee came to speak with Jesus and said, "'Teacher, we know that God has sent you to teach us.

Your miraculous signs are proof enough that God is with you.' Jesus replied, "'I assure you, unless you are born again, you will never see the kingdom of God.' "'What do you mean?' exclaimed Nicodemus. "'How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?'" That very phrase. Born again. Speaks of change.

Starting over again. And that is something that appeals to us as Americans. We want to change. You know we want to have that makeover in our home. Or that makeover in our wardrobe. Or maybe even the makeover in our appearance. I remember a while back a couple of shows were on television that would do cosmetic surgery on people.

You remember those shows? And then at the end they would have the great reveal where they were supposed to look better and quite frankly sometimes they look worse at the end than they did at the beginning. Now I am not against plastic surgery.

Cosmetic surgery by the way. But you can go too far. You know if you don't think so a two word answer.

Michael Jackson. Just you know you can go over. But I have seen far worse. Believe me. But you know here is the thing. We all like the idea of starting over in life. Being born again.

And I ask you. Have you been born again? The numbers of Americans claiming to be born again have never been higher. There are some 300 million Americans. And did you know that half of them claim to be born again. That would mean that we have 150 million Christians in our country today. But yet a poll was taken of so-called born again Christians and they said that their faith is very important to them. That is great. But yet 28 percent of the born again Christians also said quote, while he lived on earth Jesus committed sins like other people.

Hello. How could you believe that? Jesus was sinless. And then one third of those who claim to be born again believe that if a person is good enough they can earn a place in heaven.

But listen. Being good enough is not going to get you into heaven. And maybe we don't understand what it means to be born again.

It is obviously important. Jesus said you must be born again. The Bible says check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians.

Do you pass the test. Or are you just pretending to be Christians when you really aren't at all. Now you might say, well Greg I am a Christian. I am just not one of those born agains.

News flash. You cannot be a Christian without being born again. You must be born again. Jesus said it.

And I will define what that means in a couple of moments. But let's talk a little bit about Nicodemus who was this guy. Well the Bible says he was a Pharisee.

And what does that mean. We usually think of the Pharisees in a negative light. Because of course Christ saved some of His most scathing words for the scribes and the Pharisees. Among other things He called them a whitewashed tomb.

He would talk about how they would major on the externals but completely miss the point and not have it right on the inside. But you know the Pharisees were really a pretty admirable group of individuals. Never numbering more than 6,000 each would take a solemn vow before three witnesses that they would devote every moment of their life to obeying the Ten Commandments. Not that any of them were successful in that.

But that is what they attempted to do. They took the law of God very seriously. So Nicodemus was a devout man. He was a religious man. And not only that but he was a leader because Jesus said, you are the teacher in Israel and you don't know these things. That means that Nicodemus might have been like a household name in Israel. But though he was well educated and deeply religious there was something missing in his life.

And you might relate to Nicodemus. You too are religious and moral and educated. Ninety percent of the people that live in the triangle are high school graduates or higher.

Fifty percent of the people in this area have bachelor degrees or higher. That is incredibly impressive. So maybe you relate to him in some ways. You have been successful. You even had some fame. You are a legend in your own mind. I mean time.

Or maybe you thought, if only I was famous then I would be happy. I read a poll that USA Today did recently asking young people today what they wanted more than anything else. And you know what the answer was? The number one thing that young people want. Well before I say what it is let me say what the answer to the same question was in 1967. They asked college freshmen what they wanted more than anything else and 85 percent said the essential purpose of their lives was to find a meaningful philosophy of life.

Well now fast forward to 2007. They asked today's young people what do you want more than anything else. And they said number one to be rich and famous. To be rich and famous. Everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame.

In an article. That same article a girl named Cameron Johnson of Blacksburg Virginia said quote, when you open a celebrity magazine it is all about the money and being rich and famous. The TV shows we watch everything from The Apprentice to reading Us Magazine and we see all the celebrities in their $6 million homes. We see Britney in Paris. The people we relate to outside of our friends are these people.

Well Britney in Paris indeed. Is fame really the answer? You look at people that have reached the pinnacle of success and you look at so many of them with drinking problems. With drug problems. Spending time in rehab facilities. Sometimes we hear of them being suicidal.

Even taking their own lives. Is fame really the answer? When Albert Einstein was at the peak of his fame he wrote in a letter to a friend quote, it is strange to be known so universally yet be so lonely end quote. Howard Stern you have heard of him referred to as a shock jock. He has made millions and millions of dollars from the New Deal that he inked with Sirius Radio. You think he is happy with all that money? Stern said in an interview, I am never happy. I have never been happy a day in my life.

Here is something you need to know. There are two sources of unhappiness in life. One is not getting what you want and the other is getting what you want. Because it won't be all that it has cracked up to be. A world famous actress recently said pretty much the same thing.

I remember she said one of the most upsetting times in my life was after I had attained success, financial stability, and I was in love. I thought I have everything they say you should have to make you happy and I am not happy. End quote. You see money can buy you some things. But it can't buy you the most important things. Money can buy you a bed. But it can't buy you a good night's sleep.

Money can buy you books. But it can't buy you brains. It can buy you a house. But it can't buy you a home. It can buy you medicine. But it can't buy you health. It can buy you amusement. But it can't buy you happiness. And to quote St. Paul, St. John, St. George, and St. Ringo, money can't buy you love. You see.

Nicodemus knew that. But maybe you thought, oh if I just had these things I know I would be happy if I could just have whatever I wish for. It reminds me of a story of a couple. A couple.

They were celebrating the husband's 65th birthday and their 35th wedding anniversary. And a genie appeared to them. This is a true story.

And I am kidding of course. And so the genie appears and says, I am going to grant to each of you one wish. And the husband says, one wish. What happened to the three wishes? The genie said, well you know times are hard.

We have had to cut back. So I will give you each one wish. So the wife she was so sweet she says, well I wish for a second honeymoon with my beloved husband on a beautiful island in the South Sea and poop.

There they were surrounded by turquoise water. She and her beloved husband of all of those years together. Well the husband was sitting there and he hadn't given his wish yet. He didn't say what he wanted. And the genie said, well what do you want? He looked over at his older wife and thought for a moment and he said, ok I wish that I had a wife that was 30 years younger than me. And poof he was 95 years old. So you better be careful what you wish for.

You might get it. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night the Bible says. Nicot night. You see right there. And by the way this is mentioned more than once in Scripture so it is worth noting. He probably came at night because he was afraid to be seen.

Everyone knew who Nicodemus was. Maybe he was afraid of what others would think. Maybe you were afraid to tell someone what you were doing tonight. Hey dude want a party tonight? Oh I am going to the RBC. Oh what is going on?

A concert? Yeah kind of. Wait a second.

Isn't that harvesting happening? Yeah. Oh no. You are going to that?

Yeah. Don't become one of those born agains. Don't worry I won't. Maybe you were a little embarrassed to admit to someone you were coming here. A lot of times we are afraid of being laughed at by our friends.

Being put down. We are a lot like sheep you know. The Bible says all we like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way. And it is no mistake the Bible says we are like sheep. I read an article in the paper a while back that mentioned 450 sheep that fell to their own death over in Turkey. See sheep are so stupid if one sheep goes off the cliff all the others will follow. And the shepherds in amazement watch as 450 sheep drop to their death.

How dumb can you be? One sheep goes boom. He falls over. The others get on line. Ok boys form a single line. We are all going to die today. Let's go.

It is not that bad. Let's go. Come on you know. We laugh at that but we are like sheep. Oh we get in lock step with what everybody else does. Someone tells us this is cool. Ok that is cool. This is the new trend. Oh that is the new trend.

Oh this is popular so that is popular. We are so afraid of what people think. But listen you ought to be thinking about what God will think. Because friend one day you are going to stand before Him and you won't be there with your buddies. You won't be there with your co-workers. You won't even be there with your family.

You will be there all by yourself. So Nicodemus came at night but at least he came. Can you imagine how nervous he was. I wonder if he had written on his little calendar appointment with Jesus 10 p.m. What am I going to say to him Nicodemus thought. I don't know if Nicodemus really believed Jesus was the son of God yet but he had great respect for him because he says, rabbi we know what you are doing is from God because no one can do what you do unless you be sent from God.

He respected Jesus. Maybe that is how you feel as well. You respect Christians too. You think they are a little weird but maybe a Christian brought you here tonight and because they have been a nice person to you you said, all right I will come with you to your little meeting if that will make you happy. And here you are and you are just sort of sitting out there and you are kind of checking your watch thinking this ought to be wrapping up.

Pretty soon I am going to get out of here you know. But wait a second. Here you are and you are thinking about these things and you are looking around and maybe you have a respect for Christians in general. Maybe you even respect Jesus as a historical figure. I mentioned that I wasn't raised in the church. I always believed there was a God. And I believed in Jesus Christ.

I had seen all of his movies. But I had never read the Bible. Jesus to me was a distant historical figure. He was not someone that could be known in a personal way at the time.

And maybe that is how you feel. Jesus was the greatest moral teacher of all time you reason. But listen. Jesus is not looking for respect. He is not even looking for admiration. He is looking for followers. He didn't say admire me.

He said follow me. C. S. Lewis a great Christian thinker. The author of the Chronicles of Narnia made this statement about Jesus and I quote, "'A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be a lunatic on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg. Or else he would be,' Lewis says, the devil of hell. You can shut him up for a fool. You can spit at him or kill him as a demon. Or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any of this patronizing nonsense about Jesus being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." End quote.

It is true. Jesus doesn't want you to just admire Him. He makes radical claims. Wonderful promises. Life changing statements that He challenges us to contemplate and think about and yes respond to.

Here is something else to think about. Nicodemus. He was getting on in years. Because Jesus says you must be born again. And Nicodemus responds how can a man be born a second time when he is old. See the problem is when you get older you become more set in your ways.

You know that? See young people they like change. They like action. They like stuff going on. Old people like routine. Right. You know you like to go to the same restaurant and sit in the same booth and order the same thing every single time.

Right. It is going to be illustrated by the way a young person and an older person goes to say Disney World. When you are a young person you are at Disney World you sprint to the most radical ride in the park. When you are older the first thing you say is where is the restaurant? Then when you are a young person you get on the fast ride and you go on another ride. I know they have these signs outside of the rides at Disney World and Disneyland that says if you are standing here you will be on the ride in two years. I mean do they need do we need those signs?

Are they just there to torment us or what? And then when you are an adult after you have done eating you say is there a place to take a nap around this place? You know. You get set in your ways. You don't want to change anymore. You know you are getting old. There are certain telltale signs. You know you are getting old when you actually look forward to a dull evening at home.

You know. You know you are getting old when you sit in a rocking chair and you can't get it started. You know you are getting old when your mind makes commitments your body cannot keep. You know you are getting old when everything hurts and what doesn't hurt doesn't work. You know you are getting old when you sink your teeth into a juicy steak and they stay there. And I sunk my teeth into a juicy steak in the Angus barn last night. That was very nice.

And I am glad that my friend Danny paid for it. But you know that is another sign of getting old. You know you are getting old when you dim the lights for economic reasons not romantic ones. You know you are getting old when you have owned clothes so long they have come back into style twice. And for some of us three or four times even. You know you are getting old when you actually sing along to the elevator music.

That is scary isn't it? You know when you do the elevator music and you are talking about my generation. And then you look in the mirror and you go, oh man. You know you are getting old when you don't hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the room.

And you know you are getting old when you start forgetting stuff. The other day I was pumping gas in my car and I drove off and I am driving along and I notice this girl is looking at me. And I am thinking, what is that girl looking at me for?

I don't really have girls look at me all that often. This girl is looking at me and kind of smiling and watching me drive by and I thought that is weird. Then I noticed an older gentleman is looking at me too. And a little child is looking.

Why are these people looking at me? And I heard this weird sound and I looked in my side view mirror and I saw that I had driven off with a gas pump still in my car. I actually ripped it out and I was driving off. It was stuck in my gas tank. Oh.

So humiliating to have to walk back with that. Hi. I think I took this by accident. Oh boy. But old Nicodemus didn't forget his appointment with Jesus.

Listen. Some of you are getting older tonight. You think, well I am going to get around to getting right with God later on in life. I want to still have a little fun. I still want to do this.

I still want to do that. Be careful. Because the Bible says, he who is often reproved hardens his heart and he will be cut off and that without remedy. And that simply means that every time you hear the gospel and do not respond in the affirmative your heart can get a little tougher, a little more callous, a little bit harder. So it is not so much that there would come a point where God wouldn't forgive you but there could come a point where you wouldn't want His forgiveness. Don't go too far. God gave Nicodemus a chance.

He is giving you a chance as well. And so He tells Nicodemus, here is what you need to do. You need to be born again or literally you need to be born from above. Now unfortunately that term born again has been emptied of its meaning. It has been pirated. Emptied of its meaning.

Dragged through the gutter and given back to us minus its power. And when someone tells us they are born again we are not even sure what they mean today. But Jesus is telling us, here is what it is Nicodemus. Your religious beliefs are not enough. In spite of the fact that you have been at the top of the heap in your religion means nothing. It hasn't brought you any closer to heaven.

So now the conversation has gone from face to face to mind to mind. And Nicodemus is grappling with this. Wait. Born again. Born from above. How can a man be born when he is old?

Nicodemus is saying, Jesus I don't get this. How can you change? I mean have you ever tried to change yourself? It is hard.

You want to be different than you are but you are still the same old you. Years ago our son Christopher who is in his 30s. Now I mentioned him earlier. He came home with a pet rat. And like a typical young teenager he didn't think about getting a cage for the rat or anything. He just came home with a rat. I have a rat. What is a rat's name? I have named him Nicodemus of all things in here we are talking. So Nicodemus the rat. So we got a cage for him.

And he was actually a very friendly little rat. And so Christopher said, you know Nicodemus needs a little house to live in. So he went and actually built this really cool little house for his rat out of balsa wood. It had a little roof on it.

A little doorway and little windows. And he put his name over the little doorway Nicodemus. And we put the little house inside of his cage. And so that night we went to bed thinking, you know Nicodemus is going to his little house and we will go to bed.

And we came back the next morning to see how Nic was doing. And the house is gone. Nicodemus ate the house. That is because he is a rat you see. You know we see people today they want to treat their animals or dogs even like people.

No. A dog is a dog. A rat is a rat of course. A horse is a horse of course of course. Unless of course it is a talking horse. Well that is another story.

If you left it you are old by the way because that is an old TV show. There. You are the ones that are eating at Disney World. I know who you are. Because I am right there with you.

But you see we are what we are so how can we really change? How is this possible? Jesus says, well Nicodemus listen to this.

Verse 8. You look at the wind. You can't tell where it is coming from.

You can't tell where it is going. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. Maybe at that point a warm breeze blew by.

Hey Nicodemus check this out. Did you feel that breeze? That is what it is like when the Spirit of God moves. You know you can't see it but you see the effects of it. There are some people that would say, you know I won't believe it unless I can see it.

That is the most idiotic statement. That would be like a person saying, you know I don't believe in a hurricane because I can't see a hurricane. Can you see the effects of a hurricane? Or I don't believe in air turbulence because I can't see it.

Have you ever been in a plane going through air turbulence? You can see the effects of it. I can't show you God tonight. I can't say, here is God.

Look at Him with your eyes. But I can show you the effect of the work of God. Let me ask a question. Quick poll here.

How many of you have had your life transformed by Jesus Christ? Raise up your hand right now. There is your proof.

There is the evidence all around you. So now the conversation is shifted from face to face to mind to mind to heart to heart. Nicodemus says, but how? How can this be? Break it down for me.

What is the process of this? How can a person change for good? How can a person be born again? And Jesus then gives to him a statement we have all memorized. In fact I would love us to say it together. John 3.16. Jesus said, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is the gospel in a nutshell right there. I love it.

There it is. Nicodemus. For God so loved the world. You know a lot of people think God is like a cosmic killjoy. He is out to just ruin your life. Man don't give your life to God because if you do He will make your life miserable.

Nothing can be further from the truth. God says, I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil.

Listen to me. God's plans for you are better than any plan you have ever thought of for yourself. Commit your life to Him. Discover what He has for you tonight.

Especially you young people. Don't be afraid to commit an unknown future to a known God. God's plan for you is incredible. He loves you. For God so loved the world.

He longs for a relationship with you. God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son. We can talk about love all day long. You know Hollywood gives us a version of love that is nothing more than lust.

You know what is love? We were talking with a guy the other day and he was telling us about his wife and she said she didn't feel there was any passion in the marriage. And my wife made such a great statement. She says, you want to see passion?

Look at the way that Billy and Ruth Graham loved each other. She said, that is passion. That is real love.

And that is right. It has lasted all those years. That is real love. Love that lasts a lifetime. But we have this Hollywood version of love. It is all about the emotion.

But listen. True love gives. True love sacrifices. And God loves us so much He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross. It wasn't nails that held Jesus to the cross 2,000 years ago.

It was love for you and me. Don't you know that with one word to heaven He could have cried out to the Father and gotten out of that situation. But He willingly laid His life down there at the cross of Calvary. He came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. God loves you.

Know that about Him tonight. He loves you so much He gave His only begotten Son. It is a gift. Now I don't know about you but when someone gives me a gift I open it right away. By the way just a tip to you girls. Wrapping a gift for a man is a complete waste of time.

Did you know that? Here is what you need to know about men. Wrapping paper on a gift for a man is an obstacle. Ok. So first you give them the card.

Here honey I have got this for you. Maybe it is Father's Day or it is His birthday. He opens it up. He is not reading it. He acts like He is reading it. He is not reading it. The only reason He opened it was to see if there was money in it. But He will act like He read it. Now this paper He is going to rip it off as quickly as possible and get what is in the gift. Now you give a gift to a woman how different her reaction is. First of all she actually reads the card.

And will even be touched by it. That is so sweet. Hallmark wrote that.

I love it. You know. They like it when all those little things fall out. Those little stars and things.

What is with all that stuff? And then I love the way women unwrap gifts. They will undo the ribbon. I am going to save this for later.

Right. They will unwrap it carefully. The main thing is when someone gives you a gift open it. You know I will give my wife a gift. I will say, I got you this at dinner. And she will say, OK. Well open it. Well I am going to wait until after dinner. Then dinner is over with. Open it.

Well I am going to wait until after dessert. Open it. Listen God is giving you the most incredible gift of all time.

The gift of eternal life. But you have got to reach out and take it for yourself and open it. To know about it is not enough. To believe it is there is not enough. To accept it in premise is not enough.

Have you received the gift of God in your own life? Whosoever believes in Him, Jesus said, will not perish but have everlasting life. What does it mean to believe? A lot of people say they believe in God. The Bible says the demons believe and tremble. It is not mere intellectual assent. It is not merely acknowledging that a man named Jesus Christ walked the earth, died on a cross, even that he rose again from the dead.

To believe means to trust in, to cling to, to rely on. You maybe heard the story of a man named the great Blondin. He was a daredevil of the late 1800s.

Sort of the evil Knievel or the Robbie Knievel of his day. And one day the great Blondin strung a tightrope across the Niagara Falls. A big crowd gathered because there was always a chance that Blondin would fall to his death. And he said, I am going to walk across. And so the crowd was there and he said, how many of you believe that I the great Blondin can walk across this tightrope to the other side of the Niagara Falls. They said, we believe. We believe. So he went across and they loved it. And he got to the other side and said, how many of you believe that I the great Blondin can go back across that tightrope.

This time pushing a wheelbarrow. They said, we believe. We believe. Blondin then says, how many of you believe that I could go across that tightrope pushing a wheelbarrow with a person in it. Oh we believe.

They said, because they really wanted to see him and the wheelbarrow and the person fall. And then Blondin turned to the crowd and said, so who believes that I can do this. They all said, we believe. And he said, then who is going to get in the wheelbarrow.

And the crowd fell silent. That is how we are. Oh we believe. We believe.

Jesus says, get in the wheelbarrow. Believe. Trust in me.

Cling to me. Trust in me and me alone to forgive you of your sin. You see we can't be neutral with Jesus. This is an either or proposition. Jesus didn't say, hey I am one of many ways that if I work into your schedule and into your belief system I would really appreciate it if you would make me your God of choice.

No. As Mel said earlier Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes to the Father but by me. The Bible says, there is no other name given under heaven whereby a man can be saved. The Bible says, there is one mediator between God and man.

It is a man Christ Jesus. Why is Jesus the only way? Because there has never been a man that ever walked the earth that was God in human form. He was not man becoming God.

That is impossible. He was God becoming man. And that is why when He went to the death the perfect man taking all the sin of the world upon Himself that His death satisfied the righteous demands of a holy God that we have all offended by our sin. So Jesus was saying, look I paid the price for you.

I died for you. Now you must believe in me and if you will believe in me you will not perish. You might say, well I just don't think I can do that. I am not strong enough. I am not the Christian type. I mentioned that I came to the Lord as a teenager and there was a group of outspoken Christians on my high school campus in Newport Beach.

The OC as it is called. And I had long hair back then. And hair. I had hair hanging over my eyes. I actually had a great wave right here. Blonde.

Hair. Wave. Now I just have a beach you see. But then I had this wave. And I sat close enough to this group of Christians that were having a Bible study in the front line of my high school campus.

Close enough to hear what they were saying but not close enough to become one of them because that was like social suicide. And I don't remember what was really said that day for the most part but I remember the man who was speaking made this statement. Jesus said, you are for me or against me. And it dawned on me that I could know God in a real way. And I stepped forward and prayed and asked Christ to come into my life and I have never even for one moment regretted that decision that I made. And you won't regret it if you make that decision tonight.

You won't. Everlasting life. Whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. Now let me say if you don't believe in Him you will not have everlasting life.

Well let me restate that. You will have everlasting life but it will be separation from God for all eternity. The Bible not only promises the hope of heaven it also warns of the horrors of hell. Oh some of you are saying, why did you have to say that?

Don't use the H word. Listen if I don't warn you about hell I am not telling you the whole truth here. But the last thing that God wants is for any man or woman created in His image to spend eternity in this place called hell prepared for the devil and his angels. That is why He put His judgment on Jesus who was innocent so you would not have to be separated from Him. If you end up in hell on that final day you will have no one to blame but yourself.

God has done everything He can to keep you out of that place. Everything He can to make a way for you to go to heaven. Everything He can for you to be forgiven of your sin and have your guilt removed and have that big old hole in your heart filled. You say, well Greg what do I need to do?

I mean ok. I want to be born again. I want to go to heaven when I die. I want to know that my sin is forgiven.

I want to be sure of this. I have gone to church for years but I have never known really that I would go to heaven when I die. Or maybe you would say I have never been to a church before ever. But I want to know God in a personal way.

Listen if you haven't heard anything else I have said tonight just listen to these final statements I give you in closing. If you want to get right with God. If you want to go to heaven when you die. If you want your guilt removed. Here is what you need to do.

Number one. You need to realize you are a sinner. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. What does it mean to sin? Well one definition of sin is to cross a line. The Bible talks about trespassing sin.

You have seen the sign maybe on a line. No trespassing. You step over that line.

You just cross the line. So we all know it is right and wrong. And God has given us the Ten Commandments for instance. And if we have ever told a lie.

If we have ever stolen. If we have ever taken the Lord's name in vain we have sinned. So we have sinned in that way. But then another definition of sin means to miss the mark. Well what is the mark? God has set a high standard for humanity.

Absolute perfection. Well who is going to reach that? No one. We all fall short of the glory of God. And that is where Jesus comes in. Because I am a sinner and I need His help. So we have to admit we are sinners. And stop making excuses for it.

Number two. Recognize that Jesus Christ the Son of God died on the cross for you. He voluntarily picked that cross up.

Carried it outside of the walls of Jerusalem. And died there for your sin. The Bible says that greater love has no man than this. And He laid down His life for His friends. The apostle Paul said, He loved me and gave Himself for me. And Jesus loves you and He gave Himself for you.

Number three. You need to repent of your sin. Now the word repent means to change your direction. The Bible says God has commanded people everywhere to repent. It is sort of like hanging a U-turn on the road of life. You have been going one way away from God.

Now it is time to turn around and start going toward Him. The Bible says, repent in times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord. Then fourthly you must receive Jesus Christ into your life. Not just acknowledging He existed once but saying, Lord come into my life.

The Bible says for as many as received Him He gave them the power to become sons of God. And Jesus says, behold I stand at the door and knock and if you will hear my voice and open the door I will come in. Right now Jesus Christ is saying, let me come into your life. But the doorknob of your heart so to speak is on the inside. Only you can open it. Jesus says and says, I stand at the door and knock and if you don't open it I will kick it down.

No. He is a gentleman. He knocks. He waits for you to open the door.

And then you must do it publicly. That is why in a few moments I am going to ask you that want to get right with God. That want to be born again.

That want to go to heaven when you die. I am going to ask you when our worship group starts a song in a few moments to get up out of your seat and walk down the aisles and stand here on this floor. And when you all get here I am going to lead you in a prayer of commitment or recommitment to Christ.

Now why do I ask you to come publicly? Because everyone that Jesus calls He calls publicly. Jesus says, if you will acknowledge Me before people I will acknowledge you before My Father and the angels in heaven. But He added, if you deny Me before people I will deny you before the Father and His angels. So coming forward like this is a way to acknowledge Him publicly.

And listen. Two thousand years ago Jesus died publicly for you. So I am going to ask you to make a public stand for Christ.

And lastly you must do it now. The Bible says, today is the day of salvation. Now is the time.

The Holy Spirit would say to you tonight, right now. And the devil would say later. Next week. Next month. Next year. Better yet. Never.

Now is the time. What are you waiting for? You say, well Greg you know there is a lot of things in my life I need to clean up. I think I will clean my life up and come to God.

No. You come to God and He will clean your life up. You come with your sins. You come with your problems.

Jesus cleans His fish after He catches them. You see. So you just come as you are. Come with your questions. You say, well listen preacher you show me and I will believe.

No. Listen. You believe and God will show you.

You come and see what He will do for you. Do it now. Don't even say I will do it tomorrow night.

Because none of us has a guarantee we will be here tomorrow night. Or the night after. Now is the time. This is your moment. Just like Nicodemus had an appointment with Jesus.

You do too. And He will fill that hole in your heart. He will take away that guilt you have been carrying around because of the wrongs you have done.

And you can leave the RBC knowing that you will go to heaven when you die. I am going to give you an opportunity to make that commitment to Christ right now. Let's all bow our heads to our word of prayer. Everyone praying. Father I pray now that you will speak to every person hearing this message. Help them to see the words we have shared tonight are true. They are gospel truth. Help them Lord to come to You and believe and receive Your forgiveness now. Help them Lord to make the most important decision of their life. We ask all of this in Jesus name. Amen.