The Almost Christian | Sincerity of Faith

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. Now, you may be on your way to becoming a Christian, 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. Ever 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. Malt. 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, 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's a lot of Harrods in the Bible. Number one, there's 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 in 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 said before Pontius Pilate had an extended conversation but to this wicked Herod, Jesus did not say a single word. Then there was the 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 a 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 percent 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 percent believe in heaven. 71 percent of Americans believe Jesus is the son of God. 71 percent of us believe in angels. 7 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 Barna poll 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.

Ok 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 percent of others who claim to be Christians dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate and 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 second 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.

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'd 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're a pretty big dude. A lot of muscle there. I'm going to say something. I hope you're not offended. But our gorilla died the other day. And we ordered a new one.

And he's 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'll pay you really well. And then when the new gorilla comes you're good. That's all. And the guy said OK. 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's going to believe it. And so he walked around a little bit. Pounded his chest a couple times.

The crowd started to form by day two. He's getting excited. He's enjoying it.

He's swinging on the vines. Everyone's believing he's 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'll 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. We love hearing from our listeners.

Whether it's a short word or they take some time to tell us what's going on with them. Pastor Greg we moved from Montana to Florida about six months ago to help my elderly sister. Although I'm also older with some health problems I'm anxious to be involved in ministry.

After we moved it was hard to find a good church. Your teachings and ministry have helped me. In fact I read your book Johnny Cash The Redemption of an American Icon. And I was so surprised how many of my friends were interested in the singing artist you mentioned in the book.

Especially the Beatles. One friend asked if she could borrow the book for her nephew who loves all those singers. And I gave it freely. Thank you for all you do at Harvest Ministries. If you appreciate the way the Lord is using Harvest Ministries to reach unexpected people in unexpected places with an unexpected message, would you let Pastor Greg know? Just drop him an email.

Greg at Harvest dot org. Again that's Greg at Harvest dot o-r-g. Well 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 Ten 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. Seventy-six 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. 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 were calling 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 teach 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 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.

Ok 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 hand of Simon Peter. And Peter said your heart is not right from God.

Turn 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 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 ok. 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 spent three years hanging out with Jesus. He saw Jesus walk in 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. Herod would have been arrayed in a royal scarlet robe. And there were Roman soldiers around him in their dress uniforms.

And every eye is on them as they take their royal seats. Paul is 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 9.

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 priests that 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 lands. So one day I'm on such a mission to Damascus armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests.

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 the 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 and there's more to come. But maybe you're not sure of your testimony. You don't know what Jesus has done for you because you've never checked it out.

Or you checked it out but never followed through. Well Pastor Greg has some thoughts for you. Maybe as you've been listening to this message you've thought I wish I could come into this relationship with God.

I just don't know how. Let me tell you how you can come into a relationship with God right here right now. First of all you need to recognize you need God. You need to admit you're a sinner. I know some people choke on that word but the Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But then you need to recognize that Jesus Christ the Son of God died on the cross for your sin. The Bible says while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. And then you need to believe in Jesus.

Jesus put it this way. For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son and whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You might ask how does one believe in Jesus?

To believe means to put your faith and trust in Christ and Christ alone. And to receive him into your life as your own friend, Savior, and Lord. The Bible says for as many as received him he gave them the power to become sons of God. Would you like to receive Christ? And by that I mean would you like to ask Jesus to enter into your life and be your Savior, your friend, your Lord? If so you can just pray this prayer after me now. Pray these words if you would. 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. I turn now from my sin and I ask you to come into my life and forgive me of all of my sin.

Thank you for loving me. Thank you for hearing this prayer. And thank you for answering this prayer. In Jesus name I pray.

Amen. Hey if you just prayed that prayer I want to congratulate you and say welcome to the family of God. Yeah that's right and we want to help you get started living for the Lord. Let us send you a copy of Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. It's in an easy to understand translation with hundreds of helps that will guide you into building a strong foundation for your faith. We'll send it free of charge if you prayed with Pastor Greg today. Just ask for the New Believers Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. You know at one time or another we've all wondered about heaven.

Especially when a loved one has recently passed. We wonder what they're experiencing right now. Pastor Greg did your interest in heaven, your curiosity about heaven grow a lot stronger when it became Christopher's new home?

Yes it did of course. You know I've always had a fascination with heaven I think as most Christians do. I have always been a student of heaven.

I'm certainly not an expert on the topic but it's something I've been studying for over 50 years. But after my son went there it suddenly became far more tangible to me. Like he is there right now. What is he doing? What is happening? And so I began an extensive study of the topic of heaven.

And I wanted to learn everything I could learn about it. What is it like? What will we do there? Will we see our loved ones again? Short answer yes.

If they're Christians. Will it be fun? Will it be boring? The answer is yes it will be fun.

No it will not be boring. But I've written about this in detail in a book that I authored called As It Is in Heaven. So if you've had questions about heaven and I think we all do. I think you ought to order a copy of this book and I'll send it to you for your gift of any size. And whatever you send will be used to help us continue to bring the gospel to people. And to teach the word of God through this broadcast you're listening to now. Get your copy of As It Is in Heaven. Alright and we'll be glad to get a copy on its way to you. Thanks so much for partnering with us right now.

It's such an important time for that support. Contact us with your investment and be sure to ask for As It Is in Heaven. You can call us at 1-800-821-3300. We're here around the clock to take your call.

1-800-821-3300. Or go online to Harvest.org. Hey everybody I want to encourage you to join us for something we call Harvest at Home. It happens every Sunday at Harvest.org and on our brand new app Harvest Plus.

Which is available on your mobile TV devices. Download it now and you can watch Harvest at Home with Christians from around the world. As we worship together and study God's word. So again join us for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org or on Harvest Plus.

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 Greg Laurie. 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.