The Holy Spirit & You, Part 2 | Allowing the Holy Spirit to Lead

Hey, everybody, you're listening to A New Beginning, which is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners.

If this program has impacted you, I'd love to hear from you. So just send an email to me at gregatharvest.org. Again, it's gregatharvest.org.

You can learn more about becoming a Harvest Partner by going to harvest.org. Some people will come up to me and say, Greg, you're an evangelist. Tell me what I can say that will make a person believe, like I have some secret. Okay, don't share this with anybody. Say this, and they'll believe.

Okay, no, there's nothing like that. There's actually a bit of mystery to it. It's just the work of the Spirit of God. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

Again you hear all the angels are singing. This is the day, the day where life begins. Some believers wish there was a tried and true formula for bringing someone to Christ. Memorize these verses, rehearse these statements. If they ask this, you say that. Well, preparation is good.

But sometimes people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the Holy Spirit is the one who draws people to Christ. We can certainly plant a seed, but we have to allow for the Spirit's work in their lives.

This is the day, the day where life begins. Here in John chapter 16, we're looking together at the work of the Holy Spirit and the life of the non-believer. In our last message, we focused primarily on the work of the Holy Spirit and the life of the Christian. Now we're looking at the work that he wants to do in the life of the person who is not yet a Christian. We're in John 16 starting at verse 7. Jesus says, Because the ruler of this world is judged.

We'll stop there. The Holy Spirit of God. He's come to convince us of our sin. Not so I will be driven away in despair, but so I will run to the cross. See, that's what he does. He says, you are bad. You are sinful.

There's the answer. And he lights the way. It's Jesus. Go to Jesus and your sins will be forgiven. Go to Jesus and that righteousness will be placed in your account. Go to Jesus and your questions will be answered.

That's a very important distinction. He shows you the sin, then he brings you to the Savior. That's it. The work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is also keeping the lid on things. He's keeping the lid on things. Have you ever had something cooking and it starts to overflow?

You're holding the lid. Well, right now things are super wicked. Consider this. 2 Thessalonians 2 says, Says, The mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. The New International translation of that same verse says, The one who now holds it back will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way.

The Holy Spirit through the church is a restraining force in the world today. When you look at these wanton acts of senseless violence. People walking into malls and shooting people. Walking into a church and killing people.

Even children. And we see these horrible depraved things happening. You say, it can't get any worse. Then it gets worse, doesn't it? And then more bad things start happening closer together. And this is just a glimpse of what is coming. I would like to say, folks, it's going to get better really soon.

No, you know what? It's going to get worse. Way worse because there is a time coming to the earth called the Great Tribulation period. It's going to last for seven years. It will be inaugurated by the emergence of the anti-Christ who is really a false Christ.

A false Messiah. And all hell is going to literally break loose. You say, wow, this is the most depressing thing I have ever heard. Ok, that's the bad news. I have some good news. Ready for it? Before the anti-Christ emerges on the scene, Jesus Christ is going to come for His church and call us up to heaven. This is sometimes called the rapture of the church. Where it says, the dead in Christ will rise first. We which are alive and remaining shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Some people will say, well the word rapture isn't in the Bible. Is that your best argument? The word Bible isn't in the Bible. Did you know that? The word trinity isn't in the Bible.

Did you know that? So the word rapture isn't there but the word harpazo is. It's a Greek word. And so if you have a Latin Bible it translates to rapturus which we get our English word rapture from. So forget the word rapture.

Call it the harpazo. Where we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. It's going to happen. But it's going to happen before anti-Christ is revealed. That's why it's futile and pointless to try to figure out who the anti-Christ is. Every now and then someone will come along.

I figured it out and they write a book. But it's never the guy. And it's not even worth spending your energy on. Because anti-Christ can't be revealed until the church is removed. So the Holy Spirit working through the church. Now sometimes this is misunderstood and people think the Holy Spirit is going to be taken off of the earth and that's not true.

And here's why. Because people are going to come to Jesus in the tribulation period. And not only that there's going to be a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the tribulation period. Well how can people come to Jesus without the Holy Spirit's help?

We've already pointed that out. No man comes to the Father says our Lord unless the Spirit draws him. So the Spirit will still be at work in the world in the tribulation. But what it is saying is he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Means the Holy Spirit's restraining work through the church will come to an end when we're caught up to be with the Lord in heaven.

And until that day comes we're told by Jesus to be salt and light in this culture. To stand up for what is true. To speak out against what is wrong.

To let others know of your faith in Jesus Christ. As John 1 says the light shines in the darkness but the darkness did not comprehend it. You know it's an interesting thing that phrase comprehend a word.

It means understood. It means a non-believer cannot wrap their mind around what you believe unless the Holy Spirit tells them or shows them. That is why I always pray that the Holy Spirit will work in the hearts of people when I speak. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will work in the heart of a person when I'm sharing my faith. Because sometimes people will come up to me and say Greg you're an evangelist.

Tell me what I can say that will make a person believe. Like I have some secret. Ok don't share this with anybody.

Only us evangelists know about it. But if you say this. Say this and they'll believe.

Ok no there's nothing like that. It's just the work of the Spirit. There's actually a bit of mystery to it. And I kind of love that. Love that because I don't know. I just know it when I see it. So I can share these things and some of you will hear it and say yeah I get that.

I believe that. And another person will hear it and not get it at all. Only the Holy Spirit can help you to grasp this.

But here's the funny thing. Sometimes we want to play Holy Spirit. We want to be Holy Spirit. You know we'll convict them of their sin. We'll guilt trip them right into the kingdom. We'll pressure them into believing. We'll argue them into the Christian faith.

No you do not want to do that. Because if they can be argued in they can be argued out. No we want it to be a work of the Holy Spirit so as you live a Godly life that creates the tension that the Holy Spirit uses to bring about conversion. Listen to this. It's the division that brings unity.

I don't even know what you're talking about now. Jesus said don't think that I came to bring peace but I tell you rather division. For a man will be divided against his son and a woman against her daughter and a man's enemies will be those of his own household. Don't think I came to bring peace but this division. Well that doesn't fit. Christianity is all about peace. Well in a way it is. But before there can be that ultimate peace there has to be attention.

Here's how it works. You live as a man or a woman of God and you change an environment. Let's take Thanksgiving. And you're a Christian. And maybe you became a Christian in the last year or two. So you're going to get together with your family.

Let's say your family loves to drink and party and carry on and tell jokes they shouldn't be telling etc. And now you're the Christian and they all know you're the Christian. So now the meal is put on the table and everyone's standing around awkwardly waiting for you to hopefully not do a prayer. Absolutely do a prayer. You know I find most people will not stop me from praying. I'll walk up to a non-believer especially if they're hurting and I'll ask them do you mind if I prayed for you? Could I pray for you?

Very rarely have I had someone say no. Don't pray. Most people will say yeah go ahead. So you say you know what I'd like to just pray.

Here we go. Well you know don't be obnoxious about it. Don't do a one hour prayer. Ok. And I don't know if you should extend an invitation at your you know. Well our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed. Some of you might be thinking do I know Jesus?

Uncle Harry I'm talking to you. You know be cool about it. The Lord will lead you as to what you should see and do. But it does create this tension and you don't like the tension because you used to laugh together and have more fun together. And now there's this thing and you wish you could get rid of that thing and well no it's that thing. It's that tension that the Holy Spirit will use by showing a contrast between your life and their life that can help to bring them to Jesus.

So just roll with it. Don't make the tension worse than it is by guilt tripping people or being obnoxious or mean. Be as friendly and as loving as you can be but just be a Christian. And pray that the Holy Spirit will work through your life to make people aware of their need for Christ. That's why I say it's the division that ultimately brings unity or the conflict that ultimately brings peace. The Holy Spirit has come to bring us to Christ and first he can fix us.

So let's pray that work happens in a person's life. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We hear from listeners all over the country and from countries all over the world like this one.

Hi Greg. I'm a young Christian living in rural Australia and I recently went with my mom to watch The Jesus Revolution. The movie really touched me and gave me a new insight into the lives of young Christians just like me. I enjoyed the movie so much that I'm so excited for the opportunity to show it to all my friends who aren't Christians yet and are still trying to find their way in the world. I would just like to thank you and all your team for all that you guys have done to spread the gospel around the world.

Every morning my brother and I listen to your podcast through a local radio station on the way to school. It's a great way to strengthen ourselves and to encourage us to spread the Lord's word. I wait eagerly for the day I am able to be at one of your crusades in America or maybe even here in Australia. Thank you for obeying God all those years ago so that you bless all of us today through Christ. God bless you all. It's a blessing to know that listeners are hearing the message of the gospel through the radio, podcasts, and even through the film Jesus Revolution.

Do you have a story to tell? If so, would you email Pastor Greg and let him know? Send it to Greg at Harvest dot org. Again, that's Greg at Harvest dot org.

And now Pastor Greg continues his important message called The Holy Spirit and You Part 2. Let's just say that I went out and bought you a very expensive present. In fact, let's say that I emptied my savings account and spent everything I owned. I sold my house. I took everything I have, and I don't even own my house, but somehow I sold it.

I'm still making payments on it. But I sold everything and I said, I bought you this gift and I want to give it to you. And you know it was valuable because the price tag was still attached to it. Isn't it funny when people leave price tags and gifts? So you give it to the person. All I'm really hoping you'll do is say, thank you, and I accept this gift, and I'm going to enjoy this gift.

You can live in my backyard. I know you sold your house to get it. But if you were to take this gift that I spent everything I owned and just look at it and say, oh, huh, thank you. So sweet of you.

And then you just sort of moved it off to the side. I'd be like, are you going to open the gift? I don't really want it. Can you return it? Actually, I can't.

Oh, that's too bad. You know what? That's an insult to me. Now imagine what God did. He gave his own son. What more could God give for humanity than his own son Jesus put on the cross, his spotless, sinless, perfect son that he loved with all of his heart. And then God took all of his judgment and all of his wrath that should have been put on you and should have been put on me. And instead he put it on his own son that he loved so much.

But he did that because of his love for us. And all we have to do now is take this gift of eternal life that was bought at the cross, just receive it and say, Lord, thank you. And if you say, well, I don't want that, that's an insult to God. And you're rejecting the work that the Holy Spirit has come to do.

And you can find yourself committing the unforgivable sin. What's the unforgivable sin? The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit according to Jesus.

What is that? It's the complete and total rejection of the work the Spirit has come to do. Let me put it another way. The unforgivable sin is the rejection of Jesus Christ. It's worse than any other sin.

Why? Because all other sins can be forgiven no matter how radical, no matter how horrible they can be forgiven. But the one sin God will not forgive is if you reject His provision for your sin, Jesus who died on the cross and rose again from the dead.

Guess what? The Holy Spirit is here with us right now. And I know what He's saying. You say, how do you know?

Because He says it in His Word. We read this in Revelation. And the Spirit and the bride say, come. Let him that is thirsty come.

And let him drink of the water of life freely. The Holy Spirit is saying to you right now, if you are not yet a believer in Jesus, come. Well I have questions. Yeah. Just come.

Well I have all these problems. Yeah. Come. I have this addiction.

Mm-hmm. Come. I have this struggle.

This problem. Yeah. Come. And there's this sinful. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Come. Come to Jesus, He's saying. Just come to Jesus. Because when you come to Jesus and you're forgiven of your sin, He can transform your life. It's not a 12-step program.

It's a one-step program. Come to Christ and believe. So. So ends the sermon folks. But so begins a changed life for you if you accept this message we've shared.

Here's the message, plain and simple. You're a sinner. You're not as good as you think you are.

You're actually much worse than you ever thought you were. But the good news is, is God has made a provision for your sin. And He poured it on Jesus who died in your place and rose again from the dead. And Jesus now stands at the door of your life and He knocks. And He says if you'll hear His voice and open the door, He will come in. And the Holy Spirit is saying to you, come. Now you can say, well no, I don't want to come.

Well you know what, you don't have to come. And the Holy Spirit will not drag you kicking and screaming. He'll nudge you. He'll show you. You'll sense that need in your life. But you can resist and say, well I don't want it. I don't care.

Ok, that's up to you. You can resist Him. Or you can yield to Him. You know when you're driving you see a yield sign? That means, yeah, ok, yield. Pay attention.

Other traffic may be flowing in here. Be open. Ok, so when we yield to God it just means I'm saying, alright Lord, come in.

I'm removing the stop sign in my heart. I'm opening the door of my life. I'm inviting you in. I'm saying, here it is Lord, come in. Enter into my life and forgive me. He'll do that for you.

Your life can change. You can know you'll go to heaven. And you can walk out of here with that inner assurance I was talking about earlier. His Spirit bears witness with your spirit that you are a child of God.

If you don't know that, respond to this invitation. I'll extend as we pray together. Let's all bow our heads and everybody pray. Father, thank You so much for loving us. Sinful us. Wicked us.

And You love us so much You sent Jesus to die on the cross in our place. And Lord, Your Holy Spirit is here with us right now. He's at work. He's tugging on hearts right now.

He's moving in the lives and the minds of people. Showing them their need for You. But Lord, they have to respond. You won't force them to believe. Lord, I pray Your Holy Spirit will convict and convince any person here or any other person listening or watching who does not yet know You. And I pray that they will come to believe in You now. And we ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie, with an important word of prayer. And if you'd like to make a change today in your relationship with the Lord, Pastor Greg would like to help you with that.

And he'll do so before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. Well, Pastor Greg, we're excited about your new movie called Fame. Now, movies often tell a story and sometimes the actors get famous. But this movie tells the story of fame itself.

That's right. Because so many people think fame is the answer. They think, I want to be rich and famous. In fact, a poll was done recently among young people and they were asked, what do you want more than anything else? They said, I want to be rich and famous. That is not a good goal in life.

You need a far better goal than that. And because there are so many people who've been rich and famous and have seen the emptiness of it. So I write about all of this in my new book, Fame, that's out now.

And we want to make it available to you for your gift of any size. And I quote celebrities and rock stars and movie stars and all kinds of people who have been there and done that and experienced it and seen the emptiness of it. And then I take you to scripture for the ultimate answers. And then we have a brand new film out by the same title, Fame, where I interview legends, Alice Cooper, Darryl Strawberry, and others.

And we show that Christ is ultimately the answer. It's not fame, it's him that you really want. So we want to send you this book right now for your gift of any size and encourage you to go see our brand new film, Fame. Dave, tell them where they can see that. Yeah, you can watch the movie Fame right now at our new Harvest Media platform at harvest.org.

And also other streaming platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, Amazon Fire, and Google Play. And be sure to contact us for the companion book, also called Fame. We'll be glad to send this revealing book your way to thank you for partnering with us so we can continue to bring the gospel through this radio program, through books and film, and so many other forms of outreach. Get in touch with your donation today by calling 1-800-821-3300. Call any time 24-7 1-800-821-3300 or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514.

Or go online to harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg, you spoke today about having a relationship with the Lord. Someone can enter into that kind of a relationship with God right now, can't they? Yeah, they really can. That's the amazing thing. I think people are surprised that it doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. It doesn't take weeks. It doesn't take days.

It doesn't even take hours. You can believe on the spot. And I would like to lead you in a prayer where you can ask for His forgiveness. A prayer where you can receive Jesus Christ into your life as your Savior and Lord. So if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want Him to forgive you of your sin, if you want a second chance in life, if you want to go to heaven when you die, stop what you're doing and pray after me these words. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I'm sorry for my sin.

And I turn from it now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. As Savior and Lord, as God and friend, thank you for loving me and calling me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed those words with Pastor Greg and meant them sincerely, the Lord has heard you and forgiven you of your sin.

The Bible tells us Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And we'd like to send you an important resource to help you begin to live this new life. It's Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible, written in the easy to understand new living translation. Just ask for it and we'll send it to you free of charge if you prayed for the first time today with Pastor Greg. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime at 1-800-821-3300.

Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Well, next time Pastor Greg continues his series called Timeless, addressing one of the most important questions anyone could ever ask. Will I go to heaven? Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins. Thanks for listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. Helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for daily devotions and learn how to become a Harvest Partner at harvest.org.