Only Jesus!: The Way the Truth and the Life

You're listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Visit our website and learn more about Harvest Partners at harvest.org This is the Lamb of God, and because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, you and I have opened access to the Father 24-7.

You can approach Him through Christ. It's an amazing thing. There's nothing like driving a wide vehicle on a narrow road to make you sweat. Things get tight, tight, tighter still, and you suck in your breath. Come on, like that's going to make your vehicle thinner.

Never done that. But narrow roads have to be taken seriously. The Bible describes the narrow road that leads to heaven. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out there are few who find it. It's only found through a relationship with Christ.

The title of my message for our time together now is simply, Only Jesus. And I'm going to be looking at Mark chapter 9, when Peter definitely said the wrong thing at the wrong time. This happened when Jesus was transfigured, where He shined like the sun, with Moses on one side and Elijah on the other. This happened on the mountaintop, and then they had to descend down to a valley for a rude awakening. And I think if we would have our way as Christians, we would always live on the mountaintop. We would always be in a state of perpetual blessing and good times and perfect health and no conflict, but those times on the mountaintops prepare us for what is awaiting in the valley.

And when I say the valley, I'm talking about the hardships of life, the reality of life, and we're going to talk about that now in this text. Let's look at Mark chapter 9. I'm reading from the New Living Translation, and here's what we see. Jesus went on to say, As the men watched, Jesus was transformed.

His clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could make them. And then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, Then a cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, You might underline those two words, only Jesus. And they went back down the mountain and he told them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead, so they kept it to themselves. But they often asked each other what it meant when he said, rising from the dead. This transfiguration, this moment where Jesus shined like the sun, is at a significant point in his earthly ministry.

It's at the halfway point of a very difficult journey. So Jesus was looking back to the cradle and he's looking forward to the cross. And he's giving to Peter, James, and John a glimpse of glory or a taste of heaven. And there they see Moses and Elijah and, of course, Jesus. And now Peter says the wrong thing at the wrong time. Verse six, But Peter says it's good we are here.

That's the operative word here. Hey, Lord, this is blessing central. We love hanging out with you and Moses and Elijah basking in your glory. Let's forget all this crazy talk about going to Jerusalem and dying.

Let's stay here. And now Peter gets a rebuke, not from Jesus, but from the Father in heaven. Look at verse seven. Peter steps into the conversation and effectively says, Peter, if my son says he's gonna go to Jerusalem to suffer and die, then that's what's gonna happen and you need to believe him.

And if he tells you to take up your cross and follow him, you need to do it. Now Moses and Elijah are gone. And there's just Jesus.

And that's all we need. Only Jesus. It's not Jesus and the law and the prophets.

You see, animal sacrifices are no longer needed. We don't need a high priest to step in and represent us to God any longer. Jesus is our high priest. Jesus is the lamb of God. And because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, you and I have opened access to the Father 24 seven. You can approach him through Christ.

It's an amazing thing. It's Jesus only who's gonna save you. Not Jesus plus church tradition or Jesus plus moral living.

Not that you should have immoral living, but my point is Jesus is the one who saves you. He does the work. And then there's a way of honoring him and thanking him. We want to respond by living a godly life. But it's only Jesus.

Jesus only. Because sometimes, frankly, friends will disappoint you. Sometimes even family will disappoint you. But the Bible says in Proverbs 18 24, there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. And that friend is Jesus.

Listen. Friends come and go. But Jesus comes and stays. And if you've asked him into your life, he's not gonna leave you and he's not gonna forsake you.

You have his word on that. Because only Jesus can heal a broken heart. Only Jesus can give you the strength to go on when it's getting hard.

As David wrote in Psalm 23, Yea, though I walk to the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. That's how we get through the valleys of life. That's how we get through the storms of life. That's how we get through the hardships of life.

We realize we're not alone. That God is walking with us through it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego discovered that as they walked through their fiery furnace. And there was a fourth person with them that the king said looked like the son of God. I believe Jesus was walking with those three young teenage Hebrew boys. And when it's all said and done, it's only Jesus. When you're on your deathbed, it's only Jesus who will save you. And it's only Jesus that you will stand before. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here, encouraging you to join us this weekend for what we call Harvest at Home. It's worship. It's a message from the Word of God.

You can watch it with your family, in your front room, or you can watch it on the go, on your tablet, on your phone, or your computer. Take it with you. Take the Word of God with you and join us for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org. Well, we've been witnessing the transfiguration of Christ by way of Mark's account in Mark chapter 9. Pastor Greg points out there's even more to be learned following that amazing event.

So now they're descending from this mountaintop, this place of mega blessings to face a crisis, to face a conflict in the valley, if you will. And they're going to realize that not only Jesus can save them, but only Jesus can overcome the devil. Go back to Mark chapter 9, and I'm going to read verses 20 to 24. So there was a father who had a demon-possessed boy. He brought his boy to the disciples, asking for some help, but they were not able to help this man or this boy. So our story picks up in Mark chapter 9, verse 20. They brought the boy to Jesus. The demon saw Jesus and it once held the boy in his power, and the boy fell to the ground with spit running from his mouth. Jesus asked the boy's father, how long has he been like this? The father said, well, from the time he was a child. Many times it throws him into the fire and into the water to kill him.

If you can do anything to help us, take pity on us. And Jesus said, why do you ask me that? The one who has faith can do all things, that once the father cried out and said with tears in his eyes, Lord, I have faith.

Help my unbelief. Powerful story. Now we come from the mountaintop to the valley, and crisis hits.

Often after the mountaintop, there is a valley. Going back to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, when did that happen? That happened after the father spoke another time.

Remember Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin John the baptizer. And the father said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And the spirit of God came upon Jesus in the form of a dove. And immediately he went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. So after the dove came the devil. A lot of times after the blessing comes the challenge. After the blessing comes the temptation.

So we should not be surprised when those things happen. Notice that as Jesus approaches this demon possessed boy, the devil effectively tightens his grip. Verse 20 says, the demon saw Jesus and at once held the boy in his power.

Listen to this. When you seek to share the gospel with someone, expect satanic opposition. You are entering into a time of spiritual warfare. Remember in the parable of the sower, Jesus said the sower went out to sow seed.

Some seed fell on the roadside and the birds ate it. He said these are they that hear the word of God and Satan comes immediately to take it away. So the devil attacks when we are trying to reach people. So this boy was coming closer to Jesus and the devil wants to stop him from coming. His poor father. He is at his wits end.

He doesn't know what to do for his son. And he says to Jesus in verse 22, if you can do anything to help us, take pity on us. And the Lord has a very strong reaction to this. Look at verse 23. Jesus says, why do you ask me that? The one who has faith can do all things. Effectively Jesus is saying, what do you mean if I can? If I can help you, of course I can. Don't forget I was just transfigured with Moses and Elijah. Don't forget I walked on water and I healed a blind man and I raised a person from the dead. If I can, of course I can. I can handle this.

But here is what he is saying. You need to have faith right now. It is a very good idea for us to remember God's faithfulness to us in the past when we are facing trouble in the moment. Because we say, oh God has forgotten about me. God has abandoned me.

No he hasn't. I love how when you read Psalm 107 it reflects on the faithfulness of God to the nation Israel. And it talks about how the Lord delivered them from the bondage of Pharaoh. How the Lord fed them in the wilderness with manna. How the Lord brought them to the Red Sea. And then the refrain that is stated over and over again is, oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and his wonderful works to the children of men.

So they wrote it down. I encourage you to keep a journal and write down how God has answered your prayers. And then the next time when you are facing a challenge reflect back on God's faithfulness to you in the past.

Which will remind you he will also be faithful to you in the present and in the future. Because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. See this man's faith was weak because he put his eyes on his problem instead of putting them on the Lord. The same happens to us when we forget God's word to us. You see the way you build your faith is by reading the word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Then you apply it. So that is why we need to know the scripture and memorize the scripture. And then Jesus says in verse 23, anything is possible if a person believes.

So men have faith right now. And I love the honesty of this man's statement in verse 24. With tears in his eyes he says, Lord I have faith. Help my unbelief.

That is an honest prayer isn't it? To just say Lord I believe but my faith is not perfect. And I have unbelief at times. We all have unbelief at times. We all have lapses of faith at times. We all have momentary doubts. But this man was honest and guess what?

Jesus met him more than halfway and he answered the man's prayer and he healed the child. Yeah it would be nice if we could stay on mountaintops wouldn't it? No more problems. No more troubles. But we all have to come and live in the valley of life.

The reality of life. But God will be with us in those times because really those mountaintops are preparing us for reality. It's not necessarily more mountaintops we need in the Christian life.

It's more day to day obedience where we're walking by faith and not by feeling. There is coming a day in the future when there will be no more temptation. No more devil. No more suffering. And this is sort of a sneak preview of things to come.

But Christ will return to this earth and establish his kingdom. I read the story of a man who was convicted for murder and he was being tried. The man's defense attorney thought he had come up with an ingenious ploy. And he went to the jury and he said, Ladies and gentlemen of the jury you must find my client is not guilty of murder. If there is the slightest doubt in your mind about his guilt you must not convict him. And I'm going to produce one final witness. The true murderer is about to walk through the door.

And he pointed over to the door and every eye in the courtroom looked that direction. And the lawyer said, See you do have doubts. Therefore I'm asking that you find my client innocent. So then the jury returned after they had deliberated over this for around five hours with a guilty verdict.

The lawyer was beside himself that this kind of a sentence would be passed. He says, Your Honor I proved that you would have doubt about my client's guilt. How could you possibly find him guilty? And then the foreman of the jury an older gentleman said in response, Well as everyone looked toward the door I watched your client.

And his eyes did not look toward the door because he knew no one was coming. That's why we found him guilty. Listen we're all guilty because we've all sinned against God. Every one of us have broken his commandments and fallen short of his glory. But one day Jesus is going to walk through that door.

And he's going to establish his kingdom. But until that day it is so important that we have a relationship with God. Remember when Jesus was born in that manger it was so he could die on that cross for your sin.

Because we're separated from the Lord by our sin. Remember Moses and Elijah were having an in depth discussion with Jesus about his death. And why that was so important. And they were encouraging him no doubt for him to go through with this. Think how hard it was for Jesus to take the cross and carry it through the streets of Jerusalem. After he had already had his back ripped open with a Roman whip. And even more think how hard it was for Jesus to bear all the sins of the world. See that is what he was contemplating in the garden of Gethsemane. Being God he knew what was ahead. He knew he would have to take all the corruption all the sin upon himself. And he did not want to do it. And that is why he said to the father, If it is possible let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless not my will but yours be done. But he did it. He went on with it and he accomplished it. And died on that cross for your sin and rose again from the dead. And now he offers you the ultimate gift. And it's the gift of eternal life. And you can reach out and accept this gift. You can receive this gift. And you can be forgiven of all of your sin.

Would you like that to happen? Jesus who died on the cross and rose from the dead. Stands at the door of your life right now and he knocks. And he says if you will hear his voice and open the door he will come in. Would you like Jesus to come into your life? Would you like him to forgive you of your sin? Would you like to receive this gift of eternal life? You say yes I would.

What do I do? You do it in prayer. The Bible says if we will call upon the name of the Lord we will be saved. So in a moment I would like to lead you in a prayer. A prayer that you could pray along with me where you would be saying to God. I need Jesus in my life. I need my sin forgiven.

I need a fresh start in life. I want to know with confidence that one day I will go to heaven. And if you will pray this prayer with me and mean it from your heart. God will hear your prayer and God will answer your prayer. This can be not just a game changer.

This can be a life changer for you right here right now. If you want Jesus to forgive you of your sin. If you want to go to heaven when you die.

If you want your guilt taken away. Pray this prayer with me. You could even pray it out loud if you like.

Just pray these words if you would please. Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner. But I know that you are the Savior. Who was born in the manger. Who died on the cross.

And who rose from the dead. Now Jesus come into my life. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering it. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer with those who are making a decision for the Lord today.

It's a day some will remember for the rest of their lives. And if you've just prayed with Pastor Greg today here on A New Beginning. First of all we want to welcome you into the family of God. And second we want to help you get started. We want to send you our free New Believers Growth Packet.

To help you build a solid foundation for your new faith. Just ask for it as you write A New Beginning. Box 4000 Riverside California 92514. Or as you call 1-800-821-3300. We're here to take your call 24 7. Again dial 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to Harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg we're so glad to be talking about your new book Billy Graham The Man I Knew. Yes. And for the last several days you've been unveiling some surprises from Billy's life. Things most of us never knew even though we saw him on TV so often preaching the gospel. That's right.

What's the next on your list? Okay here it is. He didn't always make a great first impression. Let me explain. I mean when we would see Billy on TV he always looked great. He sounded great. Well when he was starting his ministry he arranged to have a meeting with the President of the United States.

Billy was still a very young man. And he was meeting with President Truman. He showed up to the Oval Office in a pistachio green suit.

A hand-painted tie and white buck shoes. And he dared to touch the President. He went into the office and said Mr. President I want to pray for you. And touched him on the shoulder and prayed for Truman. And then afterwards he went outside and the press swarmed around him. And he told them some of the things he said to the President. And then they asked him if he would kneel and pray in front of the White House. Which he and his friends did in their super cool suits with white lapels double-breasted.

Looking very stylish. And this did not make Truman happy one bit. In fact Billy literally went to Truman later in life after he was out of the Oval Office. And apologized to Truman for being a little too forward. And Truman said well you didn't know.

Someone should have briefed you on what you could or could not do. He didn't take it personally. But Billy learned from that and from that moment on whenever he spoke to a President. He did not disclose what the President said to him to other people. And he kept that in confidence and that's why so many of them wanted to speak with Billy Graham.

Because they knew he was a man who could be trusted. There was a lot of amazing conversations Billy had with Presidents. I once asked Billy do you have any regrets in life? And he said yes. And then he told me the story of when he was speaking at a presidential prayer breakfast in Washington D.C.

When President Kennedy was in office. And after it was over with the President said to Billy. Would you drive with me back to the Oval Office there's something I want to talk to you about. Billy said Mr. President I'd love to but I'm really sick with the flu.

And I would hate to get you sick maybe we could do it in a week. And I'll come to see you and the President said that's fine. But tragically it was only days after that meeting that President Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas Texas. And Billy said to me I always wondered what he wanted to talk to me about. So wow but he would speak truth to power. There's a chapter in my book where Billy meets Mr. History Winston Churchill himself. They had a prolonged and profound discussion about the second coming of Jesus Christ. So I include a lot of stories about Billy and the Presidents that I think you'll find very interesting.

Sometimes you'll find amusing and other times you'll find very moving. This is all in my new book which is simply titled Billy Graham the man I knew. And I'd like to send you a copy of this book at no charge but I'll give it to you for your gift of any size. So whatever you can send to us here at Harvest Ministries here at A New Beginning. We will make sure we invest it back into reaching more people with the teaching of the word of God and the message of the gospel. So get your copy of Billy Graham the man I knew.

Yeah it's a unique look into the life of one of our generations true heroes of the faith. Billy Graham the man I knew is brand new and we'll send you a copy to say thank you for your investment in these daily studies. We can only bring them your way as listeners invest to help cover the costs of broadcasting. So thanks for your partnership it couldn't come at a more strategic time. Write us today at A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime 24 7 at 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to Harvest.org. Well next time we'll see Mary the sister of Martha offered an extraordinary gesture of kindness and love toward Jesus. But she was criticized for it. What we can learn from that moment next time on A New Beginning. A New Beginning Hey everybody thanks for listening to A New Beginning this is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. So for more content that can help you know God and equip you to make him known to others. Or to learn more about how you can become a Harvest Partner just go to Harvest.org