The Almost Christian | Checking in on Yourself

We're glad you're joining us for a new beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast supported by Harvest Partners. Get more encouraging audio content when you subscribe to Pastor Greg's Daily Devos. Learn a Christian or you are not a Christian, but you can't be an almost Christian.

That's an oxymoron, almost Christian. Every drive away from home and had that nagging feeling you might have left the stove on, or forgot to lock a door, or left a curling iron plugged in. If you don't go back and check, you start thinking of how things could go horribly wrong.

We want to be sure about certain things, don't we? Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us check ourselves when it comes to the sincerity of our faith in Christ. When it comes to matters of eternity, close enough isn't close enough. Well, let's grab our Bibles and turn to Acts, chapter 26. The title of my message is the almost Christian. The almost Christian.

Almost. That's an interesting word, isn't it? It's a word that means slightly, short of, not quite, close, nearly. It's often associated with delaying something. Dinner is almost ready, or Jenny almost fainted. That's how we'll often use it. Sometimes it's because of confusion. So you walk into a restaurant, you take your seat, and the server comes and gives you a menu, and then they ask, do you know what you want to order?

Well, it all depends. If I'm at Cheesecake Factory, I am literally overwhelmed. I Googled this because I wanted to confirm it.

The menu at the Cheesecake Factory has 21 pages of 250 items. Do you know what you want? No. I'm overwhelmed. That's why I like In-N-Out Burger. It's like burger. Burger with fries.

Ball. Chick-fil-A, similar. Chicken sandwich. Chicken nuggets. Maybe a malt. Actually, a chicken-flavored malt.

No, not really, but simplicity. So you'll say, you know, I don't know. I'm almost ready to order. Or maybe you're a husband, and you're going out to dinner, and you call upstairs to your bedroom, and you ask your wife, are you ready? And she says, almost.

You know what that means, right? One hour more. Or you get a call from your boss. It says, we're having a meeting.

Where are you? Oh, I'm almost there. Which really means, you just woke me up out of a dead sleep, and almost. It's a word we use a lot.

It's a word that is associated with procrastinating. Now I want to put two words together that don't fit. Almost Christian. You can't be an almost Christian. Now, you may be on your way to becoming a Christian.

You may be closer to believing than you've ever been in any other time in your life. But either you are a Christian, or you are not a Christian. But you can't be an almost Christian. That's an oxymoron. Almost Christian. An oxymoron is, well, jumbo shrimp. That's an oxymoron.

What is it? Jumbo or shrimp. Or freezer burn.

How do you get burned from a freezer? Or government efficiency. That's an oxymoron.

Yeah, for sure. Airline food. Another oxymoron.

Is it really food? I'm not quite sure. So we are introduced in this story to what we could describe as an almost Christian. His name was Herod Agrippa, and he was listening to the apostle Paul preach to him. Now, when we hear the word or the name Herod, which is a name and a title, we get confused because there are a lot of Harrods in the Bible. Number one, there is the big daddy of them all known as Herod the Great. This is the Herod that tried to kill Jesus when he was made aware by the wise men that one had been born. And Bethlehem, who would be the king of the Jews. And this wicked Herod had all the little baby boys in Bethlehem killed. And then he was the leader of a horrible devilish dynasty. After him came Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas was responsible for the beheading of John the Baptist. After that, Jesus was told that Herod Antipas wanted to speak with him. And Jesus said in Luke 12 32, you go tell that fox, I'm going to keep casting out demons out of people. And I'm going to keep doing miracles.

And on the third day, I will accomplish my purpose. Ultimately, Jesus did appear before this Herod, but it's worth noting he did not say a single word to him. Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, had an extended conversation. But to this wicked Herod, Jesus did not say a single word. Then there was a son of that Herod, Herod Antipas. He's the one who slew the apostle James and had Peter put in prison.

He's also the one that gave the great speech. And the people cried out, it's the voice of a God and not of a man. And God struck him down. Okay, that brings us to the Herod we're going to be looking at. And that would be Herod Agrippa. Now in one sense, it was Paul appearing before Herod. But in another way, it's Herod appearing before Paul. Because the judgment he would render toward the apostle would effectively predict the judgment that would be rendered toward him. Coming back to Pilate, we could say Jesus appeared to Pilate. But we could more accurately say Pilate appeared before Jesus. Because Jesus was God walking among us.

And so that's really the situation before us. And so Herod Agrippa was deeply moved by what Paul said. And he says in Acts 26 verse 28, you almost persuade me to become a Christian. Another translation of that is, are you actually trying to talk me into becoming a Christian in such a short time? And the answer was, absolutely. That was Paul's hope that this Herod would come to faith.

So Herod was close but not close enough. I suggest to you there are a lot of almost Christians in our nation today. In fact, I would say there are more almost Christians than non-believers. Because when surveys are done, there's always a very high amount of people that profess to believe in God. A recent survey found that 87% of Americans believe in God.

Some we hear of the rise of atheism. Yeah, there are atheists. But most people out there believe there is a God. Three quarters of Americans believe in miracles. 73% believe in heaven. 71% of Americans believe Jesus is the son of God. 71% of us believe in angels.

Seven out of 10 of Americans say Jesus rose from the dead and they believe that the Bible is the word of God. So I'm thinking, what? Where are these people?

I'm sure not seeing them. But then a recent Barnable revealed the following. Quote, half of Americans who call themselves Christians don't believe Satan exists. And one third are confident Jesus sinned while on earth. Okay.

Now Houston, we have a problem. So we have a lot of people saying they believe in God. They say they believe in the Bible.

They believe in angels. But yet they are saying they don't think there is a devil. And they think Jesus sinned when he was on earth. Which is not true of course because he was a sinless son of God. Then 25% of others who claim to be Christians dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches.

So clearly there is a lot of confusion here. Look, our faith that we have in Christ is a package deal. God offers it to you.

Here it is. This is not something we are going to vote on. This is your opportunity to believe or reject it. But you don't pick and choose what you like. This is not a la carte Christianity.

But it is for some people. And these are what I would call almost Christians. This is why Paul poses this challenge to those who claim to believe in 2 Corinthians 13 five.

He says check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test?

Or are you just pretending to be Christians when you actually are not at all? Hmm. Powerful question. Reminds me of a story of a guy that needed work. He heard they were hiring down at the local zoo. And so he went and applied and said I would like to get a job here. They said sorry sir all the positions are filled. But then the person looking at this man said you know you are a pretty big dude.

A lot of muscle there. I am going to say something. I hope you are not offended. But our gorilla died the other day. And we ordered a new one. And he is on his way. But I was wondering if we made you a custom gorilla suit would you be willing to wear it and pretend to be a gorilla for a few days.

We will pay you really well. And then when the new gorilla comes you are good. That is all. And the guy said okay. So they made him his custom gorilla suit. He put it on. He went to the gorilla area. And he felt really self conscious.

No one is going to believe it. And so he walked around a little bit. Pounded his chest a couple of times.

The crowd started to form. By day two he is getting excited. He is enjoying it.

He is swinging on the vines. Everyone is believing he is a real gorilla. He gets a little excited and swings too far and lands right in the middle of the lion's cage. Now the lion is approaching him quickly. And the guy in the gorilla suit doesn't know what to do. If he yells out help people will know he was a fraud. Finally he just says help.

And the lion says shut up stupid or you will get us both fired. So he was pretending to be something he was not. And there are people today that are pretending to be Christians when they are not Christians. Again check up on yourself 2 Corinthians 13. Are you really Christians?

Do you pass the test? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when you actually aren't at all? Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. It's encouraging to hear from listeners who are impacted by Pastor Greg's teachings. Hi Pastor Greg.

I'm a 65 year old guy who grew up during the same era as you and have a similar background as I also came from an alcoholic family. I simply want to say that I feel really a special bond with you Greg and I'm sure there are others who share that with you as well. Thank you for sharing your testimony and I feel blessed to be exposed to Harvest Ministries. My wife and I are also Harvest partners who want to help you speak the Holy Spirit's guidance all over our world as it is needed so much in these times.

Thank you again. It is a privilege to bring these studies your way and we're thankful for our Harvest partners who make them possible. Would you consider partnering with us so they can continue? Make a donation online at harvest.org.

That's harvest.org. Today Pastor Greg is presenting a fascinating message called The Almost Christian. It's a good warning for those masquerading in their faith.

Let me say something that might surprise you. It is possible for you to pray. Keep the 10 commandments to the best of your ability. Attend church on a regular basis. Be baptized and not necessarily be a Christian. Now if you're a Christian you should do all these things. But you can do all these things and not necessarily be a Christian. The outward can be without the inward but the inward can never be without the outward.

Does that make sense? The outward those things that we do can be without the inward but the inward if you're really a believer will never be without the outward. Jesus said by their fruit you shall know them. For instance a person can pray and not necessarily be a Christian. Polls show that nine out of ten Americans pray. 76 percent of us believe that there is a Heavenly Father that can be reached by prayer. The reality is when you're in trouble most people pray.

Right? I know I did before I was a Christian. Well if I was in if I was in a crisis I called out to God. I even called out to Jesus.

I had no relationship with Him. But that doesn't mean you're a Christian. That just means you're calling out to God. Because in the story of the book of Jonah a great storm came and all of the sailors called out to their various gods.

Right? They all had their gods and people will call on God in the day of trouble. But when the crisis passed do you still call out to God? Listen you can say your prayers and never pray. You know we teach people their prayers. Say your prayers. Learn these prayers. When you're in trouble pray these prayers.

We teach our children prayers. Say your prayers before you go to sleep. Remember your prayers we say.

Now He lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take. Is that a good prayer to teach a child really? I think you might be traumatizing that little one.

What are you really saying? You know you might die tonight in your sleep but just pray God takes your soul. So good night sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite.

Bed bugs? Now instead of teaching a child a prayer teach them how to pray. And God says in the book of Isaiah 59 the arm of the Lord isn't too short to save.

His ear is not too dull to hear. Your iniquities have separated you from God. Your sins have hidden His face from you so He will not hear. So if you're living in overt sin don't expect your prayers to be answered.

The psalmist says in Psalm 66 if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. Listen to this if you're living in overt sin with no desire to repent you are not a Christian. If you are living in overt sin with no desire to repent you're not a Christian.

Now you're saying well Greg you're wrong on that. Everyone struggles. I didn't say if you're struggling with sin.

Overt means you're living this way. You're not going to change the way you're living. You have no intention of repenting. Don't tell me you're a Christian. Are you a Christian?

Do you pass the test? Or are you pretending to be a Christian when you really aren't at all? Amen. Judge not lest you be judged.

Okay hold on. I am judging you because the Bible says judgment begins at the house of God. And if we don't see any spiritual fruit in your life why should I believe that you're necessarily a Christian? Listen a person can make visible change in their life and not necessarily be a Christian. In the book of Acts remember we read about Simon the sorcerer. And apparently he became a believer. He was baptized.

Everything looked pretty good. But then he tried to buy the gift of God that he saw being utilized at the hands of Simon Peter. And Peter said your heart is not right from God.

Churn from this wickedness. And I think that this Simon guy he was a magician. He was deceiving people. He was going out of business when Peter showed up and the gospel was preached. And so he sort of adapted.

He wanted to get whatever it is he wanted to get whatever it is they were doing so he could stay in business and keep misleading people. This happens all the time. People become a Christian I'll put that in quotes when they need something. Politicians oh yes. They come calling. They come knocking.

Yes I would like to come and address your church. I too I'm a believer really. I've never seen any evidence of that before but you know because they want to get that evangelical vote. Sometimes a person their career may be fading. Well it's time to record a gospel record. It's okay record a gospel record.

But are you doing that because you believe it or you just want to boost your career. You see you can do these things and not be a Christian. I mean think of Judas Iscariot. He he spent three years hanging out with Jesus. He saw Jesus walk on the water. He saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. He with his own ears heard the sermon on the mount. He knew Jesus was perfect and flawless yet he betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. He was so close yet so far.

Yes you can appear to be a believer and not be a believer. So coming back to our story Herod Agrippa the king one of the Harrods is coming to town. It's a big deal and his sister Bernice.

They arrive with all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds a visiting dignitary. He Herod would have been a raid in a royal scarlet robe and there were Roman soldiers around them in their dress uniforms and in every eye is on them as they take their royal seats. And Paul's standing there thinking well look who just walked into my net. He wasn't intimidated by the power the authority or anything else about these two people. He saw them as people to reach with the gospel. And really as we read now what Paul says we learn how to share our faith with non-believers. Acts 26 verse 1 Agrippa said to Paul you may now speak in your defense and Paul with the gesture of his hand started his defense. I'm very fortunate King Agrippa that you are the one hearing my defense against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders. For I know you're an expert on Jewish customs and controversies. Now listen to me personally. Okay now drop down to verse nine.

I want to point out something before we read this. This is Paul's testimony. It's a powerful story.

Hard to top quite frankly. He often began his messages with his testimony. And everybody has a testimony. You have a testimony. I have a testimony.

And one testimony is not more valid than another because it's more drastic or radical or whatever. Here's all of our testimonies in a nutshell. Once we were blind but now we see.

Right? Jesus Christ has changed our lives. But Paul's story was pretty unique.

So he shares it now. Acts 26 verse 9 speaking here at Agrippa. I used to believe I had to do everything I could to oppose the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Authorized by the leading priest I caused many of the believers in Jerusalem to be sent to prison. I cast my vote against them and they were condemned to death. Many times I had them whipped in the synagogue to get them to curse Christ.

It shows how hard Saul then called was. He would whip people to get them to deny their faith and curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them Paul says I hounded them in distant cities of foreign land. So one day I'm on such a mission to Damascus armed with the authority and commission of the leading priest. About noon your majesty a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. We all fell down and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic Saul Saul why are you persecuting me? It's hard for you to fight against my will.

I said who are you sir? And the Lord replied I am Jesus the one you are persecuting. He loved to tell the story because it built a bridge.

Here's a great thing about this great thing about your story. It's a great way to preach to a person without preaching at a person. Does that make sense? In other words as I tell my story as I heard a guy say Jesus said you're for me or against me. So instead of me starting with a sermon I start with my story but in effect I am kind of preaching to them.

So it's showing them I wasn't always the way I am now. Christ has changed me. That's the place to begin. Good instruction from Pastor Greg Laurie today here on A New Beginning. He is presenting a candid message called The Almost Christian.

Now if you missed any part of this presentation or if you'd like to share these thoughts with someone else you can listen to the study on our website anytime at harvest.org. Just look for that title The Almost Christian or subscribe to our podcast by going to Google podcasts, Apple podcasts, or Spotify. You know the book of Revelation is a rewarding study of Bible prophecy and in a book from Pastor Greg he paints such a full picture of its authorship, the time in which it was written, and the circumstances in which our redemption takes place. The Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation. John was one of the apostles that walked with Jesus Christ. In fact in his gospel he described himself as the disciple that Jesus loved.

He outlived all the other disciples and they tried to put him to death according to church tradition and a pot of boiling oil. But John would not die so instead they banished him to the distant island of Patmos, an isolated little island out in the middle of nowhere. He was put on a ship probably in chains and when he was placed on that island no one ever thought that they would hear from John again. Maybe even John felt abandoned by God.

I don't know but I know this much. Jesus Christ came to the Apostle John on the island of Patmos and the Lord took John into the future, sort of catapulted him into the next dimension and he saw things that no man had ever seen before. John had a front row seat to the beginning of the tribulation period. He tells us about the Antichrist, the mark of the beast, the battle of Armageddon, and the second coming of Jesus Christ. He also tells us about the millennial reign of Jesus where the lamb and the lion will lie together.

And John tells us about that momentous event when heaven and earth all come together again. And he wrote these words down in a book that is simply called Revelation. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. Revelation means unveiling. So this book is given to unveil, to reveal Jesus Christ to us. Pastor Greg digs deep into these words of prophecy in Revelation a Book of Promises.

Tell us about this resource Pastor Greg. Yeah I think far too often when we think of Revelation we think it's ominous and horrible and yes there are some very heavy duty events described in this book but it is a book that reveals Jesus Christ to us. It's a book that is filled with promises that's why we called it Revelation a Book of Promises. This is a book you would leave out on a coffee table or by your nightstand.

A book that is over 400 pages long but understand it's a very accessible book. The way that I wrote it I did so in a way that you can understand what the Bible teaches on the end times because I know you have an interest in these things. But I want to help you know how it applies to you. There's not a lot of theological verbiage that will confuse you. Everything is in down to earth terminology that you will understand and it will show you how all of these great events that are in our future apply to you in day to day living. I think you're going to love this book from Harvest Ministries that we're simply calling Revelation a Book of Promises.

Yeah I think you're right and we're making this book available to thank you for your investment in the work we do here each day. It's an investment in changing lives for eternity. It's an investment in bringing people to Jesus Christ as we'll be doing at SoCal Harvest coming up November 5th and 6th. So send that investment today to A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside, California 92514 or call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime again that's 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org. Well next time more important words of warning from the message called The Almost Christian. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Craig Warren. Hey everybody thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to harvest.org and to find out how to know God personally go to harvest.org and click on Know God.