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 pray for every person listening to this message and watching it. I know that literally eternity is at stake in the lives of thousands tonight. But it is not just about a multitude. It is about a person. And you love each and every one of us.
And I pray that you will speak to each heart for those that have come here tonight. Afraid. Stressed out. Agitated.
Lonely. Even suicidal. Lord would You give them hope.
Would You help them to turn to You. We commit this time to You now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Alright. The title of my message is, God's Cure for Heart Trouble.
Let me start with a question. How many of you have ever been stressed out to the max? You know one of those days where everything went wrong and then when you thought it couldn't go wrong. And then you thought it couldn't go wrong. And then you thought it couldn't go wrong. And then you thought it couldn't go wrong. And then you thought it couldn't go wrong. And then you thought it couldn't go wrong. And then you thought it couldn't go wrong. And that just causes us to be more stressed out.
now. There are 46 million prescriptions for Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug that was given out in 2010. By the way women are two times as likely to feel anxious and frightened as men are. And young people are more likely to feel afraid than older people.
So if you are a young girl you might be super stressed. I don't know. In the United Kingdom they have actually installed cameras just about everywhere to make people feel safer.
But then a lot of Brits are nervous about the cameras and it makes them more paranoid. So it sort of worked against them. So what do you do? I heard a story about a man that was very ill. So he asked his wife to go down and see the doctor with him. So the doctor met with a man for a while. Ran some tests on him. Told him to leave and then called the wife in. The doctor said, ma'am I want to talk to you about your husband. Your husband is very ill and could die soon. He has a disease that is triggered by stress.
So here is what you need to do. You need to create a stress-free environment for him. And by that I mean don't give him any jobs to do.
No chores. Smother him with affection. Tell him how much you love him. Make him his favorite meal for breakfast. A gourmet lunch. Something wonderful for dinner.
Create this wonderful stress-free life for six months to a year and he will make a full recovery. The woman said, thank you doctor. She left his office. Got in the car. She was driving her husband home. The husband said, what did the doctor say?
She looked at him and said, you are going to die. But seriously though we live in a scary world today. You open up the newspaper. Check out the news on your smart phone or your iPad or whatever. You read about North Korea and Iran getting nuclear weapons.
And I just read an article the other day that said they are now working together. Helping out one another. The threat of terrorism is still very real in our culture today. Then we have random acts of violence. A man walks into a theater in Colorado and starts shooting and killing people. Another walks into a Sikh temple.
Another walks into a church. Then there is the threat of violence in our own neighborhood. It is a scary world.
Then there is the uncertain economy added to all of that. And that can cause you to be filled with fear and anxiety. A recent issue of Time magazine did a cover story on the topic of fear. It talked about what people are afraid of today and it pointed out that 50 million people in the United States have some kind of fear or phobia.
Now I get some of them. I understand the fear of flying or the fear of heights or the fear of small spaces. But they had some phobias I had never heard of before.
And I am not making any of these up. There was ablutophobia. That is the fear of bathing.
I hope you are not sitting next to one of those people after this hot evening we have had together. There is dentophobia. The fear of dentists.
Here is one that is strange. Psychophobia. The fear of bicycles.
They even get weirder. Electrophobia. The fear of chickens.
You break out in a cold sweat when you go buy Popeyes fried chicken or Colonel Sanders or Chick-fil-A. And then there is also elustophobia. The fear of opinions.
And then here is one that makes no sense to me. Lutrophobia. It is the fear of otters. Otters.
Seriously? And then there is ecclesophobia which is the fear of church. Hataphobia. The fear of hell. Oronaphobia. The fear of heaven. One of my favorites is paletophobia.
The fear of baldness or bald people. I hope you don't have that fear because I am your worst nightmare. Now life is filled with trouble and things to be afraid of. Now you might say, you know what Craig I was actually feeling really good.
Enjoying the music. And then you come up and you got me all stressed out. You are freaking me out.
Sorry about that. But I am trying to just deal with reality for a few moments. Because there are a lot of troubled people.
And I want to share with you what Jesus said that is a cure for your heart trouble if you will. I read an article yesterday about Simon Cowell. Of course he has his new show The X Factor. He used to be a part of American Idol.
Simon Cowell is worth millions of dollars. But according to this article he recently had a breakdown. He was bedridden for a week cutting himself off from everyone. And in the article it says he invited to a friend, quote, I don't want any more tablets or pills. I am cutting out the lot.
Including cigarettes. I have got to work out my demons and come out of it. I have to stop reading texts at three o'clock in the morning and make calls later and later. He concludes, I desperately need peace.
Yes. Simon you do. We all do. We need God. And here is what Jesus says to people who are stressed out.
Here is what people says to people who want peace. John 14. If you brought your Bible follow along with me.
Jesus says, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions.
If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again and receive you unto Myself that where I am you may be also. And where I go you know. And the way you know.
Thomas said to Him, Lord we don't know where You are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said, it is right here in the front of the platform.
Read it with me. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no man comes to the Father but by Me.
That is the answer. So what is the backdrop of this statement? The backdrop of this statement is Jesus had just dropped a bombshell on His voice. He had just revealed to His disciples that He was going to be arrested, beaten, and crucified.
For then it was a worst case scenario. All they heard was He was going to leave them. Now they did not understand that He was going to the cross to die for their sins and ours and that He would rise again from the dead.
All they heard was He was going to leave them. So Jesus says, Listen. Let not your hearts be troubled. The word troubled could be translated agitated, disturbed, or thrown into confusion. Another translation puts it this way. Don't let your heart shudder. If you were to go to the original Greek it would translate out to don't panic.
It is organic. No I am kidding. It doesn't mean that. I made that up. Nobody is saying, Guys. Loose paraphrase.
Modern vernacular. Don't freak out. It is all right.
Why? Why should I not freak out? Why should I not be afraid? Jesus gives three answers.
Number one. Take God at His word. If you want to get rid of your heart trouble and your stress and your fear you take God at His word. Jesus says in verse 1, Believe in Me.
In the Greek this is a command. He says believe in Me. I have a question for you. Do you believe in God? Not simply believe in there is a God.
Most Americans do. But do you know God in a personal way? Actor George Clooney stated, quote, I don't believe in heaven and hell. I don't know if I believe in God. All I know is that as an individual I won't allow this life.
The only thing I know to be wasted. End quote. Robert De Niro said, quote, If heaven exists God has a lot of explaining to do.
Really. I can just see Robert De Niro standing before God. And the Lord looks at De Niro and says, what are you looking at me?
Are you looking at me? I am kidding. I think Robert De Niro will have a lot of explaining to do. Not God. Actor Kevin Costner is a bit more helpful and hopeful on the topic. He said in an interview, I have always wanted to believe that there is something more to life than what we have here on earth.
He was then asked, do you believe in heaven? Costner replied, I desperately want to. I mean I want to believe that a part of me will continue on after this life.
That there is more to me than this life and it is not just what is on earth. Yes says Costner. I want to believe. Jesus says to him and to everyone else, believe in me. Here is what God is saying. Listen.
I am in control. I know what I am doing here. Good news. The word oops is not in God's vocabulary.
But that would freak you out if God said oops. What? You dropped a planet. What?
No. God is in control. Yes Jesus was saying, I am going to go and die on a cross. But you will see it is all going to turn out better than well. It is going to turn out in the salvation of thousands and thousands and millions and millions of people. And we have tragedy in life.
We have talked about that a little bit with Nick Vujicic and Steven Curtis Chapman told you a little bit of his story. And you know when crisis hits people will come with their words of comfort that aren't so comforting. They will say things like, hey it is all good man. No it isn't. How about this one. You know when life gives you lemons make lemonade.
What idiot came up with that? I love this one. When the going gets tough the tough get going. Wow. Now that is inspiring. How about this one. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.
Lame. I have a better one. It is from the Bible. All things work together for good to those that love God another call according to His purpose.
Now that is comfort. You know what that means? That means even when tragedy strikes God can bring good despite the bad.
That doesn't mean that good becomes bad because bad is bad and crisis is crisis and tragedy is tragedy. But despite that as Steven Curtis Chapman was just singing God can bring beauty out of ashes. But notice it says all things work together to those that love God. Oh you have got to love God first. Do you love God?
Let me tell you this. God loves you. God loves every one of you.
And He loves you no matter what you have done. And He tells you how to live in the user's manual of life. The Bible.
The very word says it all. The B I B L E. Basic instructions before leaving earth. This is the user's manual you have been looking for in life. Use it. So here is what Jesus is saying. Listen. Believe in God.
Trust that I know what I am doing. Take God at His word. I have found the Word of God sustaining me through the hardest time of my life. But I have a hope. And Steven Curtis Chapman has a hope. And Nick Vujicic has a hope. And if you are a Christian you have a hope. See the hope for Steven and I is that we will be reunited with our children one day in heaven and in the new earth. We will see them again. They are not just a part of our past.
They are also a part of our future. Nick Vujicic has a hope that one day God will give him a new body and he will run and he will lift his hands in praise to God. It is a hope for the believer. The hope in the afterlife. And yes there is an afterlife. Really in many ways this is the before life.
This is sort of the small section. The big part is later. You know like when you go to the movies and you watch the trailer. And by the way usually the trailers are better than the films themselves. Ever notice that? Well life is like a trailer.
It is a preview. But the main event is the afterlife. Eternity. And you decide here tonight right now where you will spend eternity.
And I will tell you what your options are. Heaven or hell. You say, now Greg I thought you were ok until you said hell.
Sorry. But it is the truth. Just as surely as there is a God in heaven who loves you there is a hell.
But listen to this. God did not make hell for people. And the last thing God who loves you wants to happen to you is for you to end up in this place called hell. Jesus said hell was created for the devil and his angels. I was on a talk show this last Friday. Good Day L.A. And the question was asked how could a God of love make a place called hell.
And I didn't get a lot of time to answer it. But what I started to say was look you know we all believe there should be a hell for some people. Just not us. When we think of people who have committed atrocities like Adolf Hitler we say yeah there is a hell. There is a final court of arbitration.
But we get real uncomfortable when it gets personal. But there is a hell. There is a final judgment. But God has done everything He can to keep you out of hell because Jesus went and died on the cross in your place and absorbed God's wrath and paid the price for your sin.
And if you will turn from that sin and trust in Jesus you can go to heaven when you die. And you can know it for sure. That brings me to point number two.
Why should I not have a troubled heart? Number one. I should take God at His Word. Believe God.
Number two. If you are a Christian you are going to heaven. Jesus said, in My Father's house are many mansions and I go to prepare a place for you.
Listen to me. Heaven is as real of a place as Los Angeles or New York or Chicago but a whole lot better. I know you guys have great beaches here and great restaurants here and culture here but you know what?
There are problems here like there is in any other city. Heaven will be the greatest things we love about cities but without the bad parts that we can enjoy for all eternity. Heaven is not some state of mind. It is an actual place that we will go to if we trust in Christ. And the Bible says in heaven we will do a lot of worshipping.
We have done some of that tonight. Some people say, I don't know. It is kind of freaking me out. It sounds like heaven is like a really long church service. I am afraid I might get bored there.
Trust me you won't. Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote, quote, I don't believe in an afterlife so I don't have to spend my whole life fearing hell or fearing heaven even more. Whatever the tortures of hell I think the boredom of heaven would even be worse. End quote. Come on.
He doesn't know what he is talking about. Heaven is going to be a place of activity. A place of reuniting with loved ones that have gone on before us. C. S. Lewis said, heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is reality itself. The Bible describes heaven as a country. As a city. As a paradise. C. S. Lewis wrote years ago, quote, all the things that ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of heaven. Tanelizing glimpses. Promises never quite fulfilled.
Echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. If I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy the most probable explanation is I was made for another world. Lewis concludes, earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy but to arouse to suggest the real thing.
End quote. That is why nothing that this world offers will satisfy you. No sexual experience. No drug. No degree hanging on your wall. No amount of money. No car. No man.
No woman. You are really deep down inside longing for heaven. We have like this big hole in our hearts that we try to fill with things. You have all heard of Charlie Sheen. We all know about his tiger blood and his hookers and drug use. An interviewer recently asked him, so what is that empty spot inside you are trying to fill? Curious question for an interviewer from Rolling Stone magazine. Sheen responded, I am not sure. I don't know what that is.
The interviewer persists. Have you ever really looked into it? Sheen responded, well I guess it is just appetites. Appetites.
It feels filled at times right? But they have all these rules and I don't get that you know. Can't you fill it with things that aren't all about confessionals and pilgrimages and veganisms? The interviewer asked him, do you ever feel like you are searching for something?
And Charlie Sheen responds, yeah sure. Don't know for what though. But I do feel like I am going to meet some wizard guide someday who will lay it out for me. He doesn't need a wizard guide. He needs to open up the user's manual, the Bible, and listen to the words of Jesus.
He is telling you what you are looking for. It is here for all of us tonight. And when you know there is a heaven that helps you deal with the pain of life, realizing that no matter what hardship you may be going through it is nothing compared with this great hope. The Bible says our present troubles are quite small. They won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever. So we don't look at the troubles we can see now. Rather we look forward to what we have not yet seen. The troubles we see will soon be over. But the joys to come will last forever.
So why should I not have a troubled heart? Number one. Believe God. His Word is true. Number two. If you are a Christian you are going to heaven.
Here is the third reason you don't have to have a troubled heart. Jesus Christ is coming back again. And I believe it can be very soon.
Jesus says, I will come again. You know I checked the weather coming down here to L.A. and I wondered if it would be super hot. I wondered if it would rain. I see a few clouds in the sky right now. Now let's just say it got really cloudy and dark. Would you think that I was a man of great insight if I looked up and said, you know I think it is going to rain. You know I figured out that I know as much as those weathermen on television.
With all their charts and everything else I just look out the window. Well it is going to rain. It might rain. Better take an umbrella. By the way. Bald men always know when it is raining first.
It is true. I was walking with my wife a while back and she has a lot of hair. Very thick. I could take what she casts off on a brush and one day and it would be like a revival on my head. We are walking along and I said, Kathy it is starting to rain. She said, no it isn't. I said, no it is. She says, no it is not raining.
I said, Kathy. Bald men always know when it is raining first. You would not know it is raining for probably ten minutes. I know now. Sure enough she felt the rain.
Yeah. How is it that we can do that? Because we see the signs in the sky. Well all around us today are signs of the times.
Things that the Bible said would be happening in the last days on the front pages of our newspapers, on the television programs, on the news websites out there. Reminders that Christ is returning soon. Jesus said, I will come again and receive you unto Myself. Now I want you to notice He doesn't say I will take you. He says I will receive you. He won't take you against your will. Jesus is not going to say, get up to heaven right now young man.
Hey if you don't want to go to heaven you don't have to. He is coming to receive you. He is coming for those that are looking for Him.
That are waiting for Him. The Bible says He will come again for those who are eagerly waiting for Him. And Jesus said when this happens it will happen in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. The Bible says the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout and will be caught up together in the air with others to meet the Lord in the air.
You know what that means? That means that when you have a loved one who has died as a Christian they are in heaven now. But that means when Jesus comes back for us we will be reunited with them. Heaven is going to be a big family reunion.
Now here is the thing. A lot of us have weird families right. We don't always look forward to weird family reunions. We all have that strange uncle. That bizarre cousin. The bad news is you ever stop and thought that you may be that weird uncle or cousin in your family. So when you get together with family there is always some strange people. When we get together with our family in heaven and on the new earth all the weirdness will be gone.
It will be a glorious family reunion and we will sing together and we will reminisce together and we will eat together. Yes we are going to eat in the next life. Isn't that good news? Dinner is rolling around here isn't it? It is going to happen quickly.
Jesus said it will happen in a moment. Two will be in a field. One will be taken. The other left. Two will be laying in a bed.
One will be taken and the other left. A number of years ago I was laying in bed with my wife. It is ok. We are married. And it was very late. The lights were out. And I said or actually my wife said to me, Greg isn't it wonderful that we could just go to sleep one night and wake up in heaven.
I mean we would just be right there in the presence of the Lord. She is talking about this and I am a little bit of a prankster. So I as she was talking slipped out of the bed and got down on the floor. So she is continuing to talk. Greg we will just.
Wouldn't it be great if we just woke up in heaven. Greg. Greg. Greg. Don't try this at home. I am a professional.
Idiot. But it will happen like that and it won't be a joke. People will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. What if Jesus came back tonight?
Would you be ready? Listen to this. You have a choice before you. You can get right or you can get left.
I am not talking about politics folks. I am talking about getting right with God. And if you are not right with God you will be left behind when Christ comes back again. And He is coming soon. You say all right.
Well what do I need to do? Jesus says this. Where you go you know. Where you go where I go rather you know in the way you know. I love Thomas. Because we read here in John 14 after Jesus said where I go you know in the way you know Thomas said we don't know the way and we don't know where you are going. I love Thomas because he was so honest. Thomas was the kind of guy that thought for himself. Sometimes he is called doubting Thomas. I think of him more as skeptical Thomas. He was skeptical. He didn't let others do his thinking for him.
He thought for himself. Listen. If you come here tonight as a skeptic I welcome you. I was a skeptic for many years.
I thought this won't work for me. I am not the religious type. Christ could never change a person like me. But Jesus is an expert at turning skeptics into believers.
In fact it has been said that skepticism is the first step to believe. So here it was. Jesus who had died and He appeared to the disciples in the upper room but Thomas wasn't there. So the next day they saw Him they said, Hey Thomas. Guess who showed up last night?
Who? Jesus. Oh yeah right Thomas said.
I will believe that when I can put my hand in the wound in His side and touch the wounds in His hands. The next time they got together Thomas was there. Guess who showed up for dinner?
Jesus. He says, Hey Thomas. Here I am.
Go for it. Thomas is like, I am good. I am good. And He said, My Lord and my God. Here is my point. Thomas thought for himself. So Jesus says, Where I go you know.
In the way you know. And Thomas is like, I don't know where you are going. I can almost see Thomas like raising his hand up. Jesus makes this statement. All the other disciples are saying, That is so deep.
That is so good. Thomas is like doing this. Jesus says, Yes Thomas. We have no idea what you are talking about.
Where are you going? Aren't you glad He asked that question? Because Jesus then said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no man comes to the Father but by Me. Now this statement is one of the most controversial areas of the Christian faith. People do not like to hear that Jesus is the only way to God. It is not believed by most Americans. A Barna poll reveals that half of all Americans believe that a person is generally good or doesn't have good things for others during their life.
They will earn a place in heaven. But is that what the Bible teaches? No it isn't. And by the way what is your definition of good?
I notice that it varies from person to person. You see what one person says is good a mother another may say is bad. And here is something. I bet you don't even live up to your own standards of what is good. I am not saying there are not good people. There are tons of good people. I am not saying that there are not good people who are not Christians.
I am just saying this. They are not good enough. Because the only way that you can be good enough is to be perfect and that disqualifies all of us. But here is the good news. That is where Jesus comes in.
Because we are not good as we think. Granted some are worse than others. But we are all sinners according to Scripture. And one sin is enough to keep you out of heaven.
You can take all the other religions of the world and sum them up in one word. Do. Do this and maybe you will go to heaven.
Do this and you will reach nirvana or achieve a state of mind. But in contrast to the religions of the world that say do Jesus Christ says done. I paid for it at the cross.
It is finished. You can be forgiven. Yeah but how can you say Jesus is the only way.
Wait a second. I didn't say it. Jesus said it. Jesus is the only man who ever lived who was qualified to bridge the gap between humanity and God. Because Jesus wasn't just a good man. Jesus was the God man.
God in human form walking among us. And so when He voluntarily went to the cross and died for our sin with one hand He took hold of a holy God. With another hand He took hold of sinful humanity.
And spikes were driven through those hands. And He took our sin and rose again from the dead. That is why Christ is the only one who can bridge that gap. The Bible says there is salvation in no other. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we can be saved. I read an interview where Beatle Paul McCartney talked about his views on God. Here is what Paul said. And I quote, I believe in the Spirit. That is the best I can put it. I think there is something greater than us and I love it.
I am grateful to it. But just like everyone else on the planet I can't pin it down. I am happy not pinning it down says Paul. So I pick bits out of all the religions. I like many things that Buddhists say. I like a lot of things that Jesus said.
That Mohammed said. And then Paul concludes, Be cool and you will be all right. That is rock and roll heaven. Now that may be rock and roll heaven or rock and roll religion but it is not true.
Be cool and take what you want from every belief system out there. No. I think it is time for Paul to let it be.
Let's go to the expert. Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man comes to the Father but by Me. Oh but I don't like that. That is so narrow minded some would say. I believe as long as a person is sincere in their beliefs they can follow any path they want and it will get them to heaven. Come on.
Do you really believe that? What would you think if you got a plane down at LAX. You are going to fly to Hawaii. So you are taxiing down the runway. You have got your seat belt on. You have got your electronic device turned off and your seat is in the upright position right. And then you hear the voice of the captain come over the intercom.
Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to flight 242 with direct service to Honolulu, Hawaii. Our cruising altitude will be 32,000 feet.
We will be showing a movie. So you are thinking this sounds good. And then the pilot says, By the way folks I am not so sure about this whole fuel thing. You see I see the gauges indicating we don't have enough fuel to reach Hawaii. But I think we will make it. And don't worry because I feel really good about this.
I am not going to use any of our navigation equipment or even a map because I think that is too narrow minded. You see folks I believe that all roads lead to Hawaii. And by the way I am very sincere about this. You know what I would say. Get me off this plane. There is a psycho in the cockpit.
We laugh at something like that. But yet the most important journey we will ever take is the one into eternity. And you are going to gamble with this. Jesus said narrow is the way that leads to life.
And few there are that find it. You see speaking of flying I can't just go down to LAX and board any plane I want. I have to go through security and I have to have the proper ID to board the plane. Listen. God has given you the ticket for heaven.
It was bought for you at the cross of Calvary. But you have got to get the ticket. You have got to believe in Jesus. And I am going to give you an opportunity to do that right now. You say how. Well there are a couple of things you need to admit. Number one you need to admit that you are a sinner. That is hard for some.
They choke on that word. Sinner. Not me.
Oh yeah you. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every one of us have sinned. And by the way the word sin means across the line. You step over that line. The Bible talks about trespass and sin. You have seen the sign in the park. No trespassing.
So when you step over that line you have committed a trespass. We have all stepped over the line. We have all broken the commandments. We have stolen. We have told a lie.
We have taken the Lord's name in vain. The list goes on. You say ok ok I have broken a few of them but I am not as bad as some people. True. But listen. God does not grate on the curb. One sin is enough to keep you out of heaven.
The Bible says if you have been at one point of the law you are guilty of all of it. So listen. You have got to just come clean and admit it. You. I.
Us. We are all sinners. But then number two. Recognize that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sin. Jesus said greater love is no man than this. That He laid on His life for His friends. And two thousand years ago Jesus went to that cross and died for us. He wasn't taken against His will. He willingly went. He died there for us. Why? Because He loves us.
Number three. You must repent of your sin. The Bible says God has commanded people everywhere to repent.
Here is the problem. There are people running around who think they are Christians who have never repented. They say, oh I love God.
But then they are out doing crazy stuff. Breaking His commandments left and right. No. If you love God Jesus said you will do what God says. If you love God you will keep His commandments. So you have to repent of your sin which means turn from your sin.
Change your direction in life. And then you must receive Christ into your life. The Bible says for as many as received Him He gave them the power to become sons of God. 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. Only you can open that door of your heart so to speak. Jesus won't kick it down. He won't force His way into your life.
You must receive Him as Savior and Lord. Just like a gift. You know let's say that I said, look I have a gift for you. I bought this. Here.
Take it. You have to receive the gift. Now when you give a gift to a girl if it is wrapped nicely first of all she will read the card.
You ever notice that? Girls actually read the cards. She will open it up. Oh this is so sweet.
Thank you. And then she will carefully undo the ribbon and she will say something like, I am going to save this for later. And then she will enjoy the gift. You give a gift to a man that is wrapped. He will open the card. That is only to see if there is money in it. He is not going to read it.
The wrapping paper is a mere obstacle to a man. He just wants what is in the box. Well I don't care how you open the gift as a woman or a man. You have got to take it. And God says, I have a gift for you. It is the forgiveness of your sin. I have a gift for you. It is a certainty that you will go to heaven when you die. I have a gift for you.
It is a knowledge that when Christ comes back you will be ready to meet Him. So are you going to accept this gift or are you going to reject this gift? It is a choice that we all have. By the way this is an either or proposition. Do not say yes to Jesus. If you do by default say no. Jesus said, you are either for me or against me.
Where are you at? And then you must do it publicly. And that is why in a moment I am going to ask you to do what some 3600 people did last night here at Dodger Stadium. I am going to ask in a moment that if you want Christ to come into your life and you want Him to forgive you of your sin that you would get up out of your seat and step into the aisle and come down behind this platform and make your public stand for Christ. Why do you need to do it publicly? Because Jesus says, if you will confess Me before people I will confess you before My Father and the angels in heaven. But then He added, if you deny Me before people I will deny you before the Father and His angels.
It means that you say, I don't care who sees. I know this is true and I am ready to make a stand. That is why I am going to call you publicly. And lastly you have got to do it now. Do it now.
Don't say, well you know I will come back next year when you return to Dodger Stadium. Oh I will do it next week. I will go to church on Sunday and do it. I will do it tomorrow morning.
No. The Bible says now is the time. Today is the day of salvation.
Listen friend. Tonight is your night to get right with God. Don't miss your appointment. This is your night. This is your moment.
This is your opportunity. So we are going to pray. Then I am going to give you this opportunity to respond to an invitation that I am going to give for you to come to Christ.
Let's all bow our heads. Father thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your Son. Lord Jesus thank You for coming to this earth and living a perfect life and then dying a perfect death for us and then rising again. Now Lord we pray for those listening and watching and those here who do not yet know You. Lord help them to see their need for You. Help them to come to You and receive Your forgiveness tonight. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
Hey everybody. This is Greg Laurie and you have just been listening to a classic message from Harvest Ministries. This podcast is supported by Harvest Partners. To learn more and to find out how you can become a Harvest Partner just go to harvest.org.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-06-05 20:52:34 / 2023-06-05 21:09:22 / 17