The Joy of Sharing Your Faith | The Importance of Sharing the Gospel

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 Today, pastor and evangelist Greg Laurie says we need to embrace the privilege of sharing the heaven-sent message that saves people from their sins. Make a decision to share it today. Ever discovered the fact that someone forgot to relay an important message to you? And maybe it was about a great opportunity, or maybe it was about a serious problem, but you never got the message.

The consequences can be significant. Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the message we need to deliver, and it's about both a serious problem and a great opportunity. Well, see, it's about a choice between life and death, literally, and offers the hope of heaven. Today we're in our timeless series, and the title of my message is The Joy of Sharing Your Faith, and I want you to turn to Romans chapter 10.

Romans chapter 10, I'm going to read verses 14 to 15. Paul says, how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? How can they believe in Him if they've never heard about Him? How can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?

And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? This is why this scripture says, how beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news. Another translation of the word beautiful, as in how beautiful are the feet of those that share the gospel, is lively. How lively are the feet of those that preach the gospel of peace. So if you want happy feet, if you want to spring in your step, tell others about Jesus. I honestly believe this is the key to personal revival, to share your faith, and I find that new believers make the most effective evangelists. Have you noticed that? Those that have known the Lord for the longest usually share the gospel less, and those that have known the Lord only for a short time often share the gospel more.

Why do you think that is? I think it's because when you first come to Christ, you're just so amazed by what God has done for you. You're so thrilled that God has forgiven you of your sin.

You're so close to it, and you can't wait to tell other people about it. But when you've known the Lord for a while, you start to take these things for granted. Look at verse 14 of Romans chapter 10. How are they here without a preacher?

Now that's the last thing most of us want to do. Preacher. I don't want to be a preacher. If you're saying something to someone, they'll say, don't preach to me. I don't need a sermon, man. So this is something people avoid, but remove the word preach. Let's just say talk. Go into all the world and talk the gospel. Conversationally.

You don't have to elevate your voice unless you're speaking to a large group of people, but this is the idea of verbal communication. Listen, the primary way that God has chosen to reach nonbelievers is through the verbal communication of the gospel. Now, in effect, you earn the right to do that by living a Godly life and being a good example. Now, some people will say, well, I don't like to preach.

I'm uncomfortable with that. I'll just be a good example, and that will bring people to Christ. Well, it may open their hearts a little bit, but you need to engage them in a conversation. And the greatest compliment that a nonbeliever can pay to a believer is when they come to you and say, what is it that makes you so different? Ah, now the door is open for you to share your faith.

But you've got to speak up. Jesus said if salt has lost its saltiness, it's no longer good for anything. What good is salt that isn't salty? What good is a Coke that's gone flat? What good is a decaf soy latte?

I mean, really, why? And now you get it with almond milk. I love almond milk. I want oat milk.

You know, and we have all these variations on it as well. I want a kale latte. And my cat wants, no, I'm not giving one to your, the cat wants a tuna latte. I read about weird things that people actually order at Starbucks. These are real orders. An iced venti caramel macchiato with 15 pumps of vanilla syrup.

Also, heavy whipping cream, no ice, and caramel drizzle. People just go to 31 Flavors. Does that even exist anymore?

I used to have one near my house and they shut it down. And I was not happy because I liked 31 Flavors. But, you know, coffee should have caffeine. That's the whole point it seems to me. Salt should be salty.

That's what Jesus is saying. Now we need to understand the role of salt in the ancient world. It was extremely valuable. It had both preservative and medicinal value. Number one, it kept meat from rotting. So you would rub salt into your meat and it would last for a long time.

There was no refrigeration. And in the same way, in many ways, the Christian keeps culture from rotting. We're there to speak up for what is right and speak out against what is wrong. But that's not all salt did. Salt also helped to heal wounds and stop infection. People love to go to the Dead Sea that has a very high salt content to heal their wounds. And for salt to do its work, it must come into contact with the person who needs to be healed or to the product that needs to be preserved.

And in the same way, if we're going to be salt in the culture, we have to come into contact with people. And the last thing is salt stimulates thirst. If you have something that's really salty, it makes you thirsty. Like when you go to the movie and you order popcorn.

And maybe they over-salt it. So you go and ask for, can I have a little cup of water? We can't give cups for water. But we'll sell you this water for $35 and more water than you would drink in a month. But that's the whole point. So when you have salt, it means that you're stirring and stimulating thirst in others and they want to hear what you have to say. There's no question that nothing drives a person away from the faith more than hypocrisy in the church.

Right? Mahatma Gandhi certainly made his mark on history, especially in the nation of India. Many people don't know that Gandhi admired Jesus and actually quoted this Sermon on the Mount. So a missionary met with Gandhi and asked him why he was not a Christian. And Mahatma Gandhi said this in response, quote, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ.

And unfortunately that can be true. So we want to live this and it will earn us the right to preach this. One of the best illustrations of this is found in Acts 16. Paul and Silas are imprisoned for preaching the gospel. They're put into a dungeon.

Their feet are fastened into stalks where they would pull them apart. And this is a hellhole. The worst environment you can even imagine. And they were treated with such cruelty by this jailer. But we read at midnight, Paul and Silas began to sing praises to God and the other prisoners were listening. That's interesting in the original language.

It can be translated. They were listening with pleasure. They had never heard anything like this in that prison before. Paul and Silas singing kind of harmonizing like the Everly Brothers.

I don't know. But it was beautiful music to their ears. And then a great earthquake comes and shakes the walls and the foundation of the prison. And suddenly every prisoner is free to go. And the chains even come off of their arms and legs. And the jailer pulls out his sword and is ready to kill himself. Why?

Because he would be executed for losing his prisoners. And Paul says, stop. Don't hurt yourself. We're all here. And that jailer goes over to Paul and Silas and drops on his knees and says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Paul says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved.

And that goes through your household too. And that man believed right there on the spot. What happened?

They earned the right to be heard. Paul knew what it was to be a hard man. Paul was the hardest of men. He was a Christian killer. He hunted down believers.

He presided over the martyrdom of young Stephen, the first martyr of the church. But he was transformed by Christ on the Damascus road. And now he was a man following the Lord. And so he understood this jailer. He understood what it was like to be a guy like that. But God had changed his heart.

And of course they shared the gospel. But I love that question. What must I do to be saved?

That phrase has sort of fallen out of popularity. Saved. You'd have people come up to you and say, are you saved? Or if you're a preacher you would say, are you saved?

But it's really a good question. And it's really a perfect term. Saved. It shows the drama of it all. We're like a drowning person that needs to be saved by the lifeguard. We're like a person trapped in a burning building that needs to be saved by a firefighter. Or we're a person in trouble and we need to be saved by the police officer or whatever it might be.

It's saved. And we're either saved or we're not saved. Or we're going to heaven or literally we're going to hell. There is an afterlife. Now apparently Arnold Schwarzenegger is not sold on the idea of an afterlife. Because he was just interviewed and he was asked the question, what happens when we die? Arnold's response, nothing. You're six feet under. Anyone that tells you something else is a blanking. I can't use the word he used. Anyone that tells you something else is a blanking liar.

Wow. That would make Jesus Christ a liar. Because Jesus says there is an afterlife. And he says in John 14, in my father's house are many mansions that were not so I would have told you. If I go I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am you may be also. But Arnold had more to say. He said in this interview, some people are comfortable with death.

I'm not. Because I will blank miss the blank out of everything to sit here with you. This is going to be gone one day? To have fun? To go to the gym and pump? To see interesting things all around the world?

What the blank? That's what hopelessness sounds like. But there's hope for Arnold Schwarzenegger and there's hope for everyone that believes in Jesus. You know Arnold's sort of seen life as it's all in the here and now and I'm just going to go and die. Well yes your body will go into the ground but if you're a believer you live on in the presence of God. Where the Bible says there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.

But I have to believe in Jesus and I need to be saved before that is going to happen. People just need someone to show them the way. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of a man from Ethiopia that came to Jerusalem searching for God. He was a foreign dignitary probably on an entourage. I don't know if his chariot had little flags on it and Secret Service guys running next to it but he was an impressive person. So when he showed up into town they gave him a scroll of Isaiah.

They didn't have printed Bibles back then so to be given a scroll of Isaiah hand done by the scribes was pretty impressive. So this man from Ethiopia this dignitary is leaving Jerusalem. He had not found God and he is reading from the scroll of Isaiah out loud and he happens to be in the 53rd chapter. Meanwhile God speaks to Philip who is actually identified as Philip the evangelist and says to Philip go to the desert. And he doesn't give him any more information.

Just go to the desert. So Philip is standing out there in the desert wondering what he is doing there and what is supposed to happen next. And now along comes this entourage and he sees the man reading from Isaiah 53 and Philip says got it Lord. I think I see what is going on here.

I can take it from here. He asks that man do you understand what you are reading? And the man says how can I unless someone shows me the way. And at that point Philip climbed in the chariot explained that Isaiah 53 was talking about the suffering savior Jesus Christ who died for the sin of the world. And he led that man to the Lord. In the same way people are just waiting for someone to show them the way.

Would you be that person? We all know the story of the Titanic. Many of us only know the movie version with Jack and Rose. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and we wonder why couldn't Jack fit on that door with Rose? Why did he have to drown?

None of that happened. But there is a story that actually did happen when the real Titanic sank. And there is a real hero of that story and his name was John Harper.

John Harper was a well-known evangelist in Scotland and he was asked to speak at Moody Bible Church. So he was making his journey from the UK over to America, Chicago specifically. And everybody was watching this maiden voyage of the Titanic because it was famously said that the boat was unsinkable. One person was even stupid enough to say even God himself could not sink this ship. And we know that it hit an iceberg and it was filled with very influential and very wealthy people.

So Harper was on board with his daughter. His wife had died a few years earlier. And when the Titanic struck the iceberg he put his daughter in a lifeboat and he gave his life jacket to a passenger knowing he would not survive it. And then he began to fulfill his God-given purpose as an evangelist and went up and down the decks asking this question of the people who were literally on a sinking ship. Are you saved?

Do you know Jesus Christ? Well the boat did sink of course. And he found a piece of floating wreckage to hold on to. And this man swam from survivor to survivor, one piece of wreckage to another, asking the question, are you saved? Do you know Christ? Finally he found one man and asked him, are you saved?

The man said, I'm not. And he says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Just like Paul said to that jailer and the man believed. After that John Harper drowned. That same man that heard this message was in a meeting four years later and he remembered that fateful night. And he said to the people that were assembled, there alone in the night with two miles of water under me I believed I was John Harper's last convert.

Will you have a last convert? When's the last time you asked someone, are you saved? Well I'm not comfortable saying that. Well say it any way you want. Do you know Jesus Christ?

Have you asked him to come into your life? Can I tell you about what Jesus has done for me? This is the message we need to give. We need to care. And there's joy in sharing it. I promise you there's joy in sharing it. Make a decision to share it today.

Make a decision to share it tomorrow. Make a commitment to evangelism. Be a part of your everyday life and you will be spiritually replenished in a way you have never known before. I'm not a preacher. Don't need to be a preacher. Just make your recommendation.

Just give your endorsement. You talk about burgers and movies and everything else. Oh the series I binge watch. Okay? Talk about Jesus.

With as much if not more passion. So let me close with this and ask this question of everyone here. Are you saved?

Say well what do you even mean by that? You're either saved or you're not saved. You either have a relationship with God or you don't.

There's no in between. Jesus said you're for me or you're against me. And it's a decision we all have to make. God wants everyone to be saved. The Bible even says this is the will of God. That everyone is saved but God will not force you to believe. He gives you a choice. Jesus died on that cross for you 2,000 years ago and shed his blood so you could be forgiven of all of your sin. And then you could have a relationship with God and go to heaven one day. But you must believe. You must accept him into your life.

You must ask Jesus to forgive you. Have you done that yet? If not do you want to? You can do it right now.

Right at this moment. I'm going to give you an opportunity to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. Let's pray. Father I pray now that your Holy Spirit will open the spiritual eyes of those that do not yet know you.

Help them to see their need for you. Help them to come to you and believe and be saved. Right now we pray.

Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together. Let me ask you. Are you saved?

If not do you want to be? Do you want to go to heaven when you die? Do you want to fill that hole in your heart? Do you want your sin forgiven? Jesus Christ stands at the door of your life and he knocks and says if you'll hear his voice and open the door he will come in. If you would like Christ to come into your life. If you would like him to forgive you of your sin. If you would like to know that you will go to heaven when you die. If you're ready to say yes to Jesus Christ. Wherever you are pray this prayer out loud after me.

Pray this now. Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you're the Savior. Who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead.

Come into my life Jesus. I repent of my sin. I want to be saved. I want to be forgiven.

I want this relationship with you. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus name I pray.

Amen. Such an important prayer today here on A New Beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie leading people in a decision for the Lord. You know there are some listening that will mark this very moment as the start of their new life as a believer.

If you're one of them well we want to first welcome you into the family of God. And then we also want to help you to begin each day walking with the Lord. Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible.

It's full of excellent study helps new believers find quite beneficial. And we'll send you the New Believers Bible free of any charge when you ask for it. Just call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime 24-7.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click know God. You know Pastor Greg we hear a phrase every year. Keep Christ in Christmas. But a Christmas without Christ is just hoopla. In fact you use that very word in your new devotional book about Christmas. Tell us about this new resource and warn us to not get sucked into the hoopla.

Yes. You know for many people Christmas can actually be kind of a depressing time of the year. There's all this hype about spending money and being with the perfect family and having the perfect Christmas. And most of us can't afford to spend all that money.

We don't have the perfect family. And so it can actually be a time of heartache and even depression. Did you know that suicide rates actually go up in the holiday season and here's why. We're expecting Christmas to do something that well Christmas can't do.

It's Christ. It's a celebration of the birth of Christ that brings joy. Not all of the extra things we've come up with since then. Look I'm not anti-Christmas celebration. I enjoy it all. Hey believe it or not we have a Christmas tree. We decorate it.

We do all the holiday fun things as well. But the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. And the main thing is Jesus himself. Keeping Christ in Christmas. So we have a brand new resource that you've never seen before. Because as I said it's brand new.

The ink is still wet. It's a new Christmas devotional that I'm calling Heaven's Light Breaking. 25 Christmas devotions that you can read starting at the beginning of December right up to Christmas day.

They're not real long. But there's enough there that you'll get something to think about, to pray about, to seek to live out. And then at the end of the little devotion we have a prayer that you can pray as you apply these truths in your life. We're very excited to send you this beautifully designed keepsake. You'll put it on the table. Maybe in your front room.

On your nightstand perhaps. Something you'll keep and reread for years to come with your family, with your children, even your grandchildren. Again it's called Heaven's Light Breaking. A Christmas devotional. Brand new from us here at Harvest Ministries. And in advance let me say to you, have a very Merry Christmas. And we're eager to get a copy of this book into your hands during the holiday season. It's a beautiful hardcover book that will help you keep the Lord at the center of your Christmas season. And we'll send it to say thank you for your investment in keeping these daily studies coming your way each day here on A New Beginning.

And what better time to make a financial gift here during the season of gift giving. We can take care of the details for you when you call 1-800-821-3300. That's 24-7 phone number 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. Again it's called Heaven's Light Breaking. Well Pastor Greg, you've been in ministry for a long time now.

Yes. You're celebrating 50 years of ministry. And we're just so thankful for the way God has blessed over all those years.

Here's an amazing thing to consider. Over the years we've been able to bring the gospel in person to 10 million people into the crusades alone. We've seen 700,000 people walk forward when the invitation was given in stadiums, arenas, outdoor fields, you name it, we've been there. But when we put all the numbers together of A New Beginning radio and of our television ministry and online ministry, that number is well over a million people. Now I'd say they've made a profession of faith. Are they all Christians?

I would not think necessarily so. But I'll tell you, not only are many of them Christians, but many of them have gone on to start their own churches and to go in the mission field. And not just that, but just to be godly people raising godly families, passing it on from generation to generation. You know, a way of really seeing this illustrated is in the Jesus Revolution film.

I'll read stories from someone who would say, I came to Christ listening to you preach back in the 70s and we just watched the film with our whole family and my children loved it, my grandchildren loved it. And you know, so much to celebrate because God is at work and we're having really the most productive days of ministry right now. New doors opening up and we want to, as the Bible says, work while it is the day because the night is coming when no man can work.

Yeah, that's right. And it's just so wonderful to see how God is using the ministry in all these encouraging ways. And you can partner with us in that work by investing as we approach the end of the year. You can do that easily and quickly by going to Harvest.org. Well, next time, Pastor Greg offers some practical insights for sharing our faith more effectively.

It's not as challenging as some people think. 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.