The Almost Christian | Exploring Prerequisites for Commitment

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Sign up at harvest.org. Repent and be converted, and times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord. Repentance is a vital, necessary part of entering into a genuine relationship with the Lord. But what does it mean?

Pastor Greg Laurie explains today. Don't live in darkness. Get rid of your evil deeds.

Shed them like dirty clothes. Clothe yourselves in the armor of right living as those who live in the light. This is what it means to repent. Prerequisites. Students certainly know what those are. Those are things that have to come before other things.

Before you can take English 201, you have to take English 101. Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us explore any prerequisites in making a genuine commitment to Jesus Christ. If heaven hangs in the balance, we want to make sure our hearts and minds are sincere, fully accepting the Lord's invitation. Today's message serves as the finale to our studies in Acts. 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. And really, as we read now what Paul says, we learn how to share our faith with non-believers. Acts 26, verse one. 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. This is Paul's testimony. I used to believe I ought to do everything I could to oppose the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Authorized by the leading priests, 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.

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 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, and that brings me to my first point.

When you want to share your faith with someone, find common ground and build a bridge to your listener. Notice what he says in verse two. I am fortunate, King Agrippa, you are the one you are the one here in my defense. Now that can sound like flattery. He also says, your majesty, hey, he's just having respect for the guy. I know you're a king, I know you're a ruler, and I want to reach you right now with the gospel.

There were reports historically that Agrippa was having an incestuous relationship with Bernice, his sister. So Paul called him out, hey dude, I know about what's going on with you and your sister. What's wrong with you? You see, this is where we get sidetracked as Christians is we're talking to someone that's living a different lifestyle than we are.

Maybe they're gay, maybe they're living with their boyfriend or their girlfriend, maybe they're strung out on drugs, maybe they have an alcohol issue. And so we start right there and going after that. No, listen, that's not the place to start. The place to start is with Jesus. Start with Jesus. When Jesus met with the woman at the well who had been married and divorced five times and was living with a guy, he didn't go straight to that and say, I know you're a wicked, immoral woman.

Rather, he said, hey, gesturing to her water pot, if you drink of this water, you'll thirst again, but if you drink of the water I offer, you'll never thirst again. He's appealing to their inner thirst and sometimes we unnecessarily alienate people at the outset instead of building a bridge to a person. Tell your story of how you came to Christ.

Don't get the cart before the horse. The main message to these people, to all people, is Jesus. And of course, Paul uses this personal testimony to build that 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. Acts 26, verse 18. Look at this. He says, to Agrippa, God has called me to preach the gospel, which means to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God's people and be given an inheritance. Two big things must happen for you to not be an almost Christian, but for you to become a real Christian. Number one, you need to have your eyes open. You need to have your eyes open. The Bible speaks of a spiritual blindness that every person has. We're told in 2 Corinthians 4, the good news we preach is veiled from anyone.

It's a sign they're perishing. Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the eyes of those that do not believe, and they're unable to see the glorious light of the good news shining upon them. They don't understand the message we preach about Jesus, who is the exact likeness of God.

So listen. When you're talking to a nonbeliever, pray this. Lord, open their eyes. There's nothing I can say to open your eyes. There's nothing I can say to make a nonbeliever believe. I've had people come up to me and say, Greg, what is like the hack here on getting a person to come to Christ? What is the, you know, the one thing you can say that will cause everyone to believe, like evangelists, like have that in a card in their back pocket or something? No, I don't.

I'm just like you. I just proclaim the truth. But I pray that God would open their spiritual eyes. In fact, Paul even says in Ephesians 1 18, he prays that the eyes of the heart would be open because Satan has blinded people. So first, we pray, Lord, open their eyes. So when you came to Christ, your eyes were open. What does that mean? There came a moment, it may have happened in a flash, where all of a sudden you realize this is all true. It happened for me, I've told you before. At 8 17, I'm looking at the Christians, I'm thinking they're crazy.

I don't even know why I'm there. And something was said. And all of a sudden, I just thought, this is all true. It's all true.

And this is what I've been looking for. That's having your eyes open. But that doesn't mean you're converted yet.

It's possible to have your eyes open and still not believe. You can say, I know it's true. I know Jesus is the way. I know there's a heaven. I know there's a hell.

I know we need to repent. Great. Have you done it?

No. Well, listen, you're close. And you're closer than you were before. But you need to have your eyes open, number one. And then number two, you need to turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.

That's what Paul says. Turn from darkness to light and the power of Satan to God. Only God can open your spiritual eyes. Only you can turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Romans 13 says, the night is almost gone.

The day of salvation will soon be here. Don't live in darkness. Get rid of your evil deeds.

Shed them like dirty clothes. Clothe yourselves in the armor of right living as those who live in the light. This is what it means to repent. See, this is the missing element in the so-called conversion of a lot of people. They've never repented of their sin.

Well, I believe in Jesus. Oh, I love Jesus, they say. But then they continue living in sin. But the Bible says, repent and be converted and times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord. Repent. Jesus said to the woman caught in the act of adultery who He forgave.

He said, repent and sin no more. Reminds me of a church that needed a new paint job. So they called a local painter, would you come and paint our church?

So the guy said, sure. He showed up, whoa, it's a little bigger than I thought it would be. He thought, okay, I have to spend this much of materials, this many hours to do it. And then he thought, you know, if I thin the paint, I could do this for less money and make more personal profit. So he poured a bunch of paint thinner in his paint and he's painting it and he's up at the very top.

He's finishing off the steeple with this thinned out paint and suddenly there was a bolt of lightning from heaven that struck him and he's hanging on by one hand and he hears a voice from heaven say, repaint and thin no more. What is repentance? Sometimes we confuse repentance and remorse. Remorse is being sorry you got caught.

Repentance is being sorry enough to stop. Unrelenting years of storms in my life and your daily podcast messages have played a large part in helping me. I appreciate your humor as it made me laugh on days that I struggled not to cry and your impactful practical messages picked me up on days. I felt like I was on the floor while the storms in my life have not subsided.

They are no longer hurricane status and more of a steady winter rain, but I no longer feel like I'm drowning and can more easily breathe again. God bless you for your constant support and encouragement, Pastor Greg. We're so blessed to hear comments like this. Has Pastor Greg heard from you? Why not drop him an email? Send it to Greg at Harvest dot org.

Do it today while you're thinking about it. Again, that's Greg at Harvest dot org. You've joined us for an important study from Pastor Greg titled The Almost Christian. Pastor Greg continues now. So let's go back over this to be a real Christian and not an almost Christian. Number one, turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God after you've had your eyes open. Now, what happens if you do that?

Ah, look at this. God gives you the forgiveness of your sins and an inheritance. Verse 18.

Let me go back to what I said earlier. There's some things only God can do. Only God can open your eyes. Only God can give you the forgiveness of your sin and an inheritance, but only you, only I, only we, can turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. But the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins.

How amazing is that? To have your sins forgiven and forgotten. God promises in Hebrews 8 12, there's sins and iniquities.

I will remember no more. God doesn't just forgive us our sins. He forgets our sins. He doesn't hold our sins against us. How do I get my sins forgiven?

First John 1 9. If I will confess my sin, He's faithful and just forgive me of my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. So He forgives me, then He gives me an inheritance.

What does that mean? That means I'm adopted into God's family. I mean, if all God did for me was forgive my sins, that would have been more than enough. But then the Lord says, now you're my child. I've adopted you. I haven't received a spirit of bondage again to fear, but one of adoption whereby I cry, Abba Father, the Bible says.

So it's relationship that He gives me. Access to His throne. Access to His presence. Years ago we were doing one of our crusades and I forgot my Bible in my hotel room. So I said to my son Christopher, go get my Bible.

I forgot it please. And so he rushes to the hotel room. He gets the Bible. He shows up at the crusade. He says, I need to give this to my dad.

They say, well, you don't have the credentials to get back there. He goes, he's my dad. No, I don't know who you are. How do I know he's your dad?

He pulls out his driver's license. Christopher David Laurie. Look, I'm his son. He asked me to, look, his name is on the Bible. Greg Laurie.

I need to bring the Bible to my dad. Sorry. And then someone told me, I said, no, let him in.

So this is the crazy thing. The usher said no, but the father said come. Guess where I'm going with this. By the way, I had that usher killed. But that's, no, God forgave me. It's all right.

No, I'm joking. I didn't. Well, the usher was doing his job a little too zealously, let's say. But we come to the father. Father, I come to you at the double stage. You can't come in here.

You don't have the credentials. No. You say, he's my father.

Get out of the way. You have access to Jesus Christ. You see. That's the inheritance. That's the inheritance and it will take all eternity for us to grasp all that God has done for us.

Ephesians 2 says God will point us to the future ages and give us examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us as shown in all he has done for us. So when you get to heaven, you don't know everything. You're gonna learn new things in heaven. Heaven's gonna be amazing. It's gonna be an adventure. There'll be things to do. There'll be places to go. There'll be new things to learn. And so for all eternity, we'll learn more and more about the amazing things that God has done for each of us.

What do I need to do? Have my eyes open, turn from darkness and light from the power of Satan to God. Then I receive the forgiveness of sins and an inheritance from God.

What an amazing promise. One last thing I'll point out about Paul's message and then we'll wrap it up. Paul preached the crucifixion of Jesus. Look at verse 22, Acts 26. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen, that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead. He's saying this to Agrippa.

Hey, I'm here to tell you, Jesus Christ died on the cross and he rose from the dead. And that's our message to a lost world. That's to seem irritated by Paul. However, Agrippa almost seems to be convinced. Verse 24, Festus shouts, Paul, you're crazy. Too much study has made you insane. Paul replies, I'm not insane, most excellent Festus. He's still respectful.

I'm not crazy, sir. In fact, I'm speaking the sober truth. And then he zeroes in on Agrippa. And he says, King Agrippa knows all about these things. I speak frankly. I'm sure these events are familiar to him.

They were not done in a corner. And then he says to King Agrippa, verse 27, King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.

People probably gasped. No one speaks to the king like that. Paul does. Hey, I know you know this stuff.

I know you know it's true. In a way, he was setting a trap for Agrippa. If Agrippa said no, it's not true, that would cause the very people he had to interface with to turn against him. But if he said it was true, he was falling into Paul's trap. So he says this, again, verse 28, do you think you could cause me to become a Christian so quickly? Listen, for some people to come to Christ, it takes years, years. I know people who have prayed years for their children, years for their spouses, years for their parents. I prayed for well over 30 years for my mother to come to Christ.

And she finally did one month before she died. It took years. It took hours to reach my father who adopted me, Oscar Laurie. I literally spent a few hours telling him what Christ had done for me and he accepted Christ. It takes years with some.

It takes hours with others. That's up to God. Our job is to just faithfully give them the message. And then Paul responds in verse 29. Listen, quickly or not, I pray to God that you and everyone here in the audience might become as I am except for these chains.

And Agrippa the governor and Bernice's sister and all the others got up and left. Ah, so close, but so far, the almost Christian. What are the takeaway truths from this message? Number one, God wants us to share the gospel because he's called us to do so.

He's put you where you are just as he put Paul where he was for a reason. And the most important part of that message is Christ in him crucified. Number two, it's not enough to just be exposed to the truth. We must act on it so we can have our eyes open, but we need to turn from darkness to light. Three, as we share the gospel with people, we need to build bridges, not burn them and give them the gospel. And four, we must realize that only God can open the spiritual eyes of a listener.

We just have to do our part. I wonder if I'm speaking to somebody right now who just had their eyes open. Now maybe you were sleeping and literally your eyes open, I don't know, but I'm talking about your spiritual eyes. You've heard these things I've said before, but all of a sudden, boom, you just went, this is true.

Why have I not done this yet? Maybe I'm talking to someone who believes Jesus is the son of God. You believe he died on the cross.

You believe he rose from the dead. You believe there's an afterlife, a heaven, even a hell. You believe all these things, but you haven't taken the next step and turned from your sin. You're still living in your sin.

This could be the day when everything changes for you and the day when you are forgiven of your sins and the day when you receive this inheritance that God has for you. If you've never asked Jesus to come into your life, if you're not sure if your sin is forgiven, maybe you've been going through life thinking you're a believer and maybe for the first time you've realized that maybe you actually aren't. Maybe you've been pretending this is your moment to get right with God. This is the moment to be forgiven of your sins and if you need to do that, you can do it right here, right now.

Let's pray. Father, speak to every heart and if they don't know you yet, let this be the moment they believe. If you would like Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you would like him to forgive you of your sins, if you would like to know with certainty that you will go to heaven when you die, if you're ready to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, then pray this prayer after me.

Just pray, Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for me and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name, I pray.

Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer today and we hope you'll get in touch with us and let us know about the decision you've made today here on A New Beginning. And we'd like to send you some follow-up resources to help you build a strong foundation of faith as you go forward. An important part of these resources is Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible.

The scores of helps are written with the new Christian in mind and it's in an easy to understand translation. We'll send it your way free of charge. Just ask for the New Believer's Bible as you call 1-800-821-3300. You can reach us anytime or on the clock again at 1-800-821-3300.

Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or when you go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Pastor Greg, let me ask you, what do parents need to know about what kids are facing today? You know, it's post-COVID, lockdowns, quarantines, all that on top of all the pressures that kids normally face, on top of social media pressures and everything else. What would parents be surprised to know about the typical struggles that kids face? I think they would be surprised to know that their kids are really scared. That they are dealing with the level of stress that is unprecedented and I'll tell you why.

Social media has amplified everything to another level and of course they're dealing with self-worth issues. I was just taking my granddaughter to school and I told her because she was meeting with some friends and I know how strong peer pressure is in school, especially in the teen years. And I just said to her, I want you to remember that you are a beautiful girl. You're very smart. You're very athletic.

You love the Lord. I'm so proud of you. And don't ever worry about the approval of some other kid. I know it's really a big deal when you're in school.

I know peer pressure is so strong, but as you get older, but as you get older, you really realize that it doesn't matter what other people think about you that much. So I think it's important to affirm our children. You know, I think as parents, so often we have to correct them. Hey, clean your room, wash your hands, do this, do that.

Why didn't you do this better? There's a place for that, of course. It's called parenting. But on the other hand, there's a place for affirmation, for encouragement and to reassure them.

They need to know that God loves them and they need to know that you love them and that you're their biggest fan and you're there rooting for them and you need to take time for them. You know, it's been said, the greatest thing you can spend on your children is time. And I know sometimes they'll say, well, I spend quality time with my children.

Oh, that's nice. But actually, kids need quantity time, lots of it. And so involve yourself in the lives of your little ones because before you know it, they will be grown and they will be out of the house and they will have all those memories. And I don't think you'll look back and say, I wish I hadn't spent so much time with my kids. I wish I hadn't talked to them so often.

I wish that worked out more or I wish that I would had other hobbies that I did instead of doing that or even made more money. No, you'll realize those times you spent with your children are gold. So take time with your kids, affirm your kids, reassure your kids because they're living in a really scary world right now. And we have a resource that could really help them in that regard. It's tied in with our new animated cartoon series. The new resource is called the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book.

Tell them how they can put that into use in encouraging kids the right way. Yeah, well, the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book is a part of our series that we're doing with these cartoon characters including animation. In fact, we have an episode of Ben Born Again that's available on the Harvest Plus app that I hope you will all download and it's called Don't Be Afraid and it deals with fear.

And it was written to address the fears of young people. It's Ben Born Again and Yellow Dog and they're out in the ocean and a giant wave comes and they're both freaking out. In fact, here's a little audio sample of it.

Outside, Yellow Dog. Big set coming. Isn't there a beginner's course around here? Don't worry, man. Don't be afraid. I'm not afraid.

I'm just very, very, very concerned. Come on. We've got it. Oh, we don't got it. Jesus. Help us.

That sushi is a little too fresh for me. Oh, dude, that was insane. Yeah, well, the next wave coming is from me waving goodbye to this ocean. So Ben asks Yellow Dog, what are you afraid of? And Yellow Dog describes his fears, which includes vacuum cleaners, cats and strollers and other things. But eventually they get down to real fears that we all face in life. And Ben points Yellow Dog to Christ and trusting in the Lord and when fear and worry encroaches that we pray.

But we hope people will watch that. It's called Don't Be Afraid on the Harvest Plus app. But back to the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. So this is a printed resource that we have developed. It takes the basics of the Christian faith, the things that every Christian needs to know, including children, and presents them in a very friendly, entertaining way. Ben Born Again and Yellow Dog are woven throughout the resource and it will be a blessing to your kids and your grandkids.

And I would like to send you one of these for your gift of any size. And by the way, whatever you send will be used for us to continue to reach young people and older people too, of course, but to reach all people with the message of the Gospel and the teaching of the Word of God. So order your copy of the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book.

Yeah, that's right. We have it waiting for you. So just get in touch with an investment in sharing the Gospel and we'll say thanks by sending you the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. Just call us anytime 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514.

Or go online to harvest.org. Well next time, Pastor Greg launches a challenging new series called Discipleship, The Road Less Taken. Good counsel to help us move to the next level in our walk with the Lord. 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.