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I was born in 1952 in Long Beach, California. My mother was stunningly beautiful. She was
a dead ringer for Marilyn Monroe. But she seemed to be trying to find her purpose in
life in a relationship with a man. She was married and divorced seven times and had a
lot of boyfriends in between. My mom also was a raging alcoholic. When I say an alcoholic
I am talking about full blown passed out drunk pretty much every night. So I had to grow
up quickly because I in some ways had to be a parent to my own mother. It got me searching
for answers at a very early point of my childhood.
I don't remember a lot about what was said that day but a guy got up and spoke and he
made this statement. "Jesus said, 'You are either for me or against me.'" I looked around
at the other Christians and I thought, "Well I am not one of them. Does that mean that
I am against Him?" I have always believed in God. Whenever I was in trouble I called
out to Jesus. I had seen all of His movies. But I never knew that Jesus could be known
in a personal way. That was the day Jesus Christ came into my life. 1970.
The last thing I ever planned on becoming was a preacher. Trust me when I tell you that.
But because God became real to me I wanted to share that with others. People who are
cynical like I was. People who maybe were raised in broken homes like I was. People
who had been chewed up and spit out by this world like I was. If God can use someone like
me, He can use anyone. It is the message that is important.
My wife Cathe is my best friend in life. She is my number one counselor. I grow in my love
for her really every day. We have been married 39 years. We have two sons. One is on earth
and one is in heaven. We have five beautiful grandchildren.
Well for my downtime I like to ride my Harley. I surf when the water is above 70 degrees,
there is no one out competing for waves, and I am in the mood, which means rarely. But
honestly one of the things I love to do more than anything else is just hang out with my
family and play with my grandkids.
Sometimes I think we think of life like a movie. You know maybe it is a tragic story
but we will say it is just a movie and the credits roll and we leave the theater. But
sometimes tragedy happens in our lives. In real time. It certainly happened to us when
our oldest son Christopher died in an automobile accident on July 24, 2008. Pain knocks at
every door. Just because I am a preacher it doesn't mean that I get a free pass.
In the midst of this tragedy we have found hope. What is hope? One way to define it is
in an acronym. HOPE. Holding On with Patient Expectation. I have hope that I will see my
son again in heaven. That is why I want to give this message to others. Because I believe
there is hope in this hopeless world and people need to hear it. You know it has been said,
"If you preach to hurting people you will never lack for an audience." I think there
are a lot of hurting people that need a message of hope today.
Wow. Now I want to talk to you about your soul. I want to talk to you about the meaning
of your life. So I am going to ask you to just listen really carefully. Because honestly
your eternal destiny if hanging in the balance of what we are talking about. The message
I am sharing is not original to me. I am just a delivery boy. You know years ago I used
to deliver newspapers as a kid. Not from a car but from my super cool stingray bicycle
with even a stick shift on it. It was sort of a forerunner of my Harley. I had my bags
on there. I would throw editions of the Daily Pilot newspaper as close to the front door
as I could get of the person that was on my delivery route. I was just a delivery boy.
My job was not to make the news. My job was not to write the news. My job was to deliver
the news. That is what I really am still. I am just a delivery boy. I am just delivering
a message from God to you.
You might say, "Well Greg that is pretty presumptuous isn't it?" No. Not at all. I want to tell
you what the Bible says about your soul. About the meaning of your life and how to get right
with God.
Let's pray for a moment. Now Lord I pray that You will speak to every person here and I
pray for those that have come that have never made this commitment to you. Help them to
see their need for Jesus. Help them to believe in Jesus before this night is over. We ask
it in Your name. Amen.
The title of my message is, "God in Pursuit." Years ago we were doing one of our crusades
and we were staying in a hotel. My son Jonathan was very little. I think he was around three
or four years old. He loved to push the buttons on the elevator. He would always run ahead
of me and push the right button. We are walking down a hallway of hotel. He ran ahead to the
elevator. I said, "Now Jonathan wait for dad. I am almost there." I turn the corner to see
the doors of the elevator close with Jonathan alone. I panicked. I pushed every one of those
buttons. Pushing. Pushing. Pushing. Finally the doors open. No Jonathan. I go down to
the bottom floor. I go up to the front desk of the lobby. I said, "Ma'am my son is lost
somewhere in this hotel. Please call security. Call SWAT. Call the Green Berets. Call the
Navy Seals. You have got to help me find my son." She is on the phone. "I am sorry sir.
Just hold on." I am just like, "I have got to find him." I run back. I push every button
of every floor. When the doors I yell out his name. Finally I found him I don't know
five floors up. He is just standing there. "Jonathan listen to dad. Don't run off. I
was in pursuit of my son. I want to tell you something. Failure was not an option.
Listen to this. God is pursuing you. But wait. He wants to pursue you to show you how much
He loves you. Some of us have this concept of God who is chasing us down because He wants
to give us some kind of a beating. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus told a story to show us what God is like. Phil alluded it to it a few moments
ago. We call it the parable of the prodigal son. What is God like? He is like a father
who lost a son. God is like a father who misses his son. God is like a father who longs for
his son's return. God is like a father who when his son returns runs to him and throws
his arms around him and kisses him. God loves you and God will forgive you of any sin you
have ever committed. God is pursuing you tonight. Stop running from Him.
I heard the story of a lawyer who was trying to deliver an important paper to a man who
was determined to avoid him at all costs. You see this man thought the attorney was
trying to serve him with a subpoena. This guy managed to avoid that lawyer for years.
Fourteen years passed and this man the lawyer was pursuing was in a hospital dying of cancer.
They rolled that lawyer up right next to him in another bed. He was ill as well. The man
looked at that lawyer who had been pursuing him and he laughed and said, "All right. Go
ahead. Subpoena me." The lawyer said, "Subpoena you? I was trying to give you a document that
proved you had inherited $45,000,000. That is us running from God.
I want to tell you a story tonight about a man who tried to run from God. His name was
Jonah. Now when you talk about Jonah what comes to mind? Jonah and the whale. That's
right. We all think of that whale. Because of that we may dismiss this story as a fairytale
or a myth. But listen. It is a true story. It was validated by no one less than Jesus
Christ Himself who said, "As Jonah was in the belly of the great fish." Or the whale.
The Bible doesn't say it was a whale. Actually the technical translation would be "a sea
monster." Whatever that beast was. "As Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days
and three nights so will I the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and
three nights." So Jesus validated it.
I heard a story about a young girl who was out sharing her faith on a street corner gathered.
A man was standing in the back who was an atheist. He thought he was going to humiliate
this young girl. So while she is talking about her faith in Jesus he interrupts and says
very loudly, "Excuse me young lady. I have a question." She says, "Yes sir." "You stand
there and you talk about the Bible. Do you believe the Bible?" "Oh yes sir. I believe
the Bible. Every word of it is true." "Oh you do" said the atheist. "Then you must believe
in the stories that are in the Bible." "Oh yes I believe all of those stories." "Oh really.
So do you believe in the story of Jonah being swallowed by a whale?" She says, "Yes sir.
I believe that story. The Bible teaches he was swallowed by a great fish or maybe a whale.
"Oh let me ask you how is that even possible? She said, "I don't know. When I get to heaven
I will ask Him?" Then the atheist said, "Well what if he is in hell?" She said, "Well then
I guess you could ask him. I don't know." So God used this big old fish to swallow Jonah.
How many animal lovers do we have out there? If you are an animal lover raise your hand.
A lot of animal lovers out there. How many animal haters do we have? I hope we don't
have many. It is funny when I was a kid I had two aspirations. I wanted to either be
a professional cartoonist or I wanted to own a pet shop. That was sort of my fallback plan.
I have always loved animals ever since I have been a little kid. It started with my collecting
of reptiles. I had every kind of reptile imaginable. I was so into reptiles I actually thought
out becoming a herpetologist. That is defined as a nerd. No not really. It is someone who
studies reptiles. I had lizards and I had snakes. I had all kinds of snakes. I had pythons
and I had boas and I had gopher snakes and king snakes. You name it I had it. Then I
went into my rabbit phase. I had rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rats, hamsters. Then I
went into my bird phase. I had finches, parakeets, cockatiels, love birds and a parrot. Then
I went through my dog phase. I had a couple of poodles. I was too young to know what I
was doing. They were given to me. Sorry. I had a Collie. One of the dumbest animals that
never lived. He was the opposite of Lassie. I had a Springer Spaniel. Two German Shepherds.
One of them the greatest German Shepherd of all time. And a few mutts. Then I went through
my fish phase. I had angelfish and Oscars and silver dollars. But I never had a cat.
Never. Because why would you have a cat? Really? When you call a cat, does he cat come? You
call a dog. Here boy. He comes running up and licks you. You call a cat. The cat looks
at you like, "Are you serious? You think I am coming to you? You are joking right? I
have had all of these animals.
I might add I have been bitten by many animals. I have been bitten by parrots, rabbits, hamsters.
I have been bitten by many snakes. I was even bit by a monkey once. A spider monkey. It
belonged to a friend of mine. I reached down to pet him on the head. That little monkey
clenched onto my finger. I pulled my hand back in pain. He is hanging on my finger.
Blood squirting out everywhere. Not a good thing.
I am looking forward to the day when Christ comes back and establishes His kingdom and
the Bible says, "The animal kingdom will be subdued. The wolf will romp with the lamb.
The leopard will sleep with the kid. Calf and lion will eat from the same troth and
a little child will lead them."
I have even read stories of how animals have saved people's lives. I read about a dog that
dialed 911 when its owner fell ill. That is amazing. Apparently the owner taught his dog
Bell to bite his cell phone if he had a diabetic seizure which the dog did. Another man I read
about was saved by his dog when his SUV plunged 40 feet. He was backing out too far from his
driveway. He told his dog named Honey, "Go get help." The dog ran half a mile to a friend's
house and brought them back.
Maybe that is why dogs are getting their own TV network now. Have you heard about this?
I am not making this up. There is a whole channel now dedicated to dogs. It is programing
geared towards dogs. Kind of wondering what that would be exactly. Close up shots of fire
hydrants. Toilets. I don't know. But it keeps the attention of a dog. There will never be
one for cats. Really? You think a cat would watch it?
But here is my point. These animals are so amazing. God used this creature to swallow
the man that tried to run from the Lord. It doesn't matter if there is a fish in existence
now like this fish that existed then. All we have to know is it existed once.
But it is a man running from God. Here is what it says. Jonah 1. "The word of the Lord
came to Amittai, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for
their wickedness has come up before Me.'" But listen to this. "But Jonah arose to flee
to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going
to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish
from the presence of the Lord."
Have you ever tried to run from God? Maybe you thought God is out to ruin all of your
fun. God was out to mess your life up. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible
tells us that God is good. The Bible says, "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good and
His mercy endures forever." God's plans for you are better than your plans for yourself.
He says in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the
Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jesus said,
"I have come that you might have life and that more abundantly." In other words Jesus
is saying, "I came that you might have a life that is full and rich and meaningful."
Meanwhile the devil, and oh yes there is a devil. As surely as there is a God who loves
you there is a devil who hates you. The devil wants to destroy your life. Jesus said of
Satan, "The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy." But Jesus has come to give life
because God is good. But sometimes we run from God. We don't understand God.
Our granddaughters have a little rabbit named Fuzzy. Every now and then they will pull him
out. Fuzzy. One of my granddaughters. Little Allie. Alexandra is her full name. She will
play with Fuzzy. She is only two so sometimes she doesn't hold Fuzzy the right way. Sometimes
she kind of picks him up by the head you see. Fuzzy is like oh no. "No Allie you have got
to support him when you hold him." The other day when I was returning Fuzzy to his cage
he leapt out of my arms into the open cage. I am so happy to be home. That is how sometimes
we see God. It is like a cage with the bars. Look. That is one way to look at it. Bars
keeping you in. I think Fuzzy the rabbit says, "Those are the bars that keep Allie out. It
is safe here."
Listen. Following Jesus Christ I am not going to lie to you. There are things that the Bible
tells us we should not do. There are commandments that are put there for our own good. Not to
keep you penned it but to keep evil out of your life. God won't hold it away from you
if it is a good thing. The Bible says, "No good thing will He withhold from those that
walk uprightly."
Not only is God good but God is love. You see these Ninevites, these people Jonah was
called to they were wicked. That is why Jonah didn't want to go. He was a patriotic Israelite.
It would be like God coming to an Israeli today and saying, "Go to Iran that great city
and preach to them." Well maybe he wouldn't want to do that. See Jonah's fear. It was
effectively justified was that God would forgive Nineveh and his hope was God would judge Nineveh
and destroy them. That would be one less enemy Israel had to worry about. So he didn't want
to go. God says to Jonah, "Go to Nineveh." Jonah's response is, "God they drink Hatorade
in Nineveh. I don't want to go." God said, "Go." Jonah said, "No." God said, "Oh." Listen.
The Lord will always have the last word.
Yet despite the wickedness of these people God loved them. Graphic accounts are in historical
records of the cruel treatment of captives from the Ninevites. They would burn boys and
girls alive. They would torture adults. They would tear the skin from their bodies and
leave them to die in the scorching sun. Yet amazingly God loved these people and was giving
them a second chance. I want you to know that God loves you. No matter what sin you have
committed He will forgive you. But you need to turn from that sin. I am going to give
you an opportunity to do that just like 5,756 people have done over the last two nights
filling the field behind the stage. You can make that commitment to follow Christ.
So Jonah got up and went. In the wrong direction. He went down. That is where sin is always
going to take you. Down. We don't plan on going down. But one thing leads to another
doesn't. That flirtation that ruined a marriage. That pregnancy that altered your life. That
pleasure that turned into an addiction. Think about these things. Especially you that are
young. The evening of your life is determined by the morning of it. The end from the beginning.
These things that you don't think are a problem now turn into big things.
Have you ever seen a little baby rattlesnake? They are actually kind of cute in a weird
way. Everything is miniaturized. They have got their little fangs. They have got their
little rattler. You might say, "Look at that little baby rattlesnake." And you pick it
up and hold it up. He bites you. "The little baby rattler. Feeling lightheaded." Drop for
drop the venom of a baby rattler is super potent.
We will take a sin and say, "It is just a little sin. Just one time. I will never do
it again." Little things turn into big things. That is what happened to Jonah.
I read about a rapper that had a number one hit. He was talking in an interview about
the effective of instant fame. His shows got bigger. His partying became more extreme.
He says, "I got more messed up than ever. All of a sudden," he says, "You are young.
You have this newfound attention. I was hooking up with random females and the drugs started
getting stronger. I always said, 'I will never do coke' but I broke that. I started doing
a little bit of oxycontin. That scared me." His friends began to worry because he didn't
respond to texts and calls. They thought, "Oh he is too cool for us now." The rapper
says, "I was alone. I was smoking in my bedroom."
That is sin man. It just takes you down. Sin will take you further than you want to go.
It will keep you longer than you want to stay. It will cost you more than you want to spend.
Don't go that way.
A storm comes. A big old gnarly storm. This was so hardcore this storm that even the sailors
started to panic. And they were used to rough seas. They had never seen anything like it.
In a way this was a loving storm. God was allowing it to get Jonah's attention.
Maybe you have had a crisis in your life recently. Maybe you had a close brush with death. You
got a scary call from the doctor about the tests that they just did on you. Or something
has happened to remind you of your mortality. C. S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our
pleasures. He speaks in our consciences. But He shouts in our pain. Pain is His megaphone
to arouse a deaf world." Sometimes God can take pain or a storm if you will to get our
attention and show us we need God.
Actor Gerard Butler who starred in 300 and also Olympus is Fallen had a close brush with
death recently. He was learning how to surf big waves and prep for his film Chasing Mavericks.
He got hammered by a wave and he was pinned under water for nearly a minute. Now Butler
is not a seasoned surfer. He was panicking. He thought he was going to drown. Fortunately
rescuers got to him and they told him the last guy that went down at Mavericks had drowned
so he was fortunate to be alive. Butler says, "You know how people say when you are close
to death you get a sense of peace. Well I didn't experience it. It was violent. It went
on and on. It was absolutely terrifying." Yeah that could happen. Maybe that has happened
to you.
These sailors are freaking out and they are calling out to their gods. None of them had
the right God. I think a lot of times when we are in trouble we will call out to God.
I tell you I used to. One day when I was a kid probably around 16 years old I was with
some buddies. We went down and bought a kilo of marijuana. Not to sell. We were going to
smoke it all ourselves. We put it in the trunk of our car. We are cruising down Pacific Coast
Highway in Laguna Beach. It was raining that night. One of my friends was driving. Suddenly
the car starts to fishtail. I am in the backseat. I am seeing the headlines in the morning newspaper.
"Drug dealers die on Pacific Coast Highway." I said, "God if You get me out of this I promise
I will serve You." Suddenly the car corrected itself and we got home safely. I said, "Thanks
God. See You next crisis." Have you ever done that before? "Oh God if you get me out of
this one I promise I will follow You." He does. You forget your promise.
That is what these men were doing. They were crying out to their gods but none of them
had the right God. So they cast lots. They figure out the culprit is this stranger who
is in the bottom deck sleeping. They wake him up. It is Jonah. They are saying, "What
is going on with you? We figured out this storm came because of you." Jonah said, "Well
I am a Hebrew. I worship the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the land." They are blown
away. They had heard of the God of Israel. The God who parts oceans. The God who sends
food from heaven. The God who raises the dead. They are saying to him, "You are running from
a God like that." Nothing is more pathetic than being busted by a non-Christian especially
when they are right. Have you ever had that happen? A non-Christian says, "I thought you
were a Christian?" "Well I am." "Then why are you doing that?" "Well. Good question."
That happened to me years ago. I had become a Christian. I had started a church. I had
real long hair and a bear. Duck Dynasty style. I was sitting in a pizza restaurant. I looked
over at the table next to me and there is this guy I recognized from elementary school.
His name was Paul. I said, "Excuse me. Is your name Paul?" He said, "Yes it is." You
know how some people don't change. They just get like bigger. He just looked like himself
still. I looked very different. I said, "Paul it is Greg Laurie." He says, "Man I didn't
recognize you under all that hair." Use your imagination. I said, "Well Paul how have you
been?" He says, "I have been good. How about you?" I said, "I have been good. I have changed
a lot Paul. You see I have become a Christian. Not only am I a Christian Paul but I am the
pastor of a church." He looked at me like I was crazy. He said, "Greg you always used
to get in trouble. You were always smarting off to the teacher. You were always doing
pranks to other people. I can't believe you are a Christian." "Oh yes I am. I am serving
the Lord. Hallelujah." He goes, "Ok Greg. That's great." "Thank you Paul. Good to talk
to you." I was feeling so good about myself.
Well we are waiting for our pizza to come and it finally arrives. I was with a friend
who went to the restroom for a moment. I forgot all about Paul. I thought it would really
be funny to take the red pepper flakes and pour them on my friend's side of the pizza
so when he took his first bite it would be really hot. So I am laughing pouring the red
pepper flakes on his side of the pizza and Paul says, "Haven't changed much have you
Greg?" He was kind of right about that.
Sometimes we are like Jonah. We blow it. We have lost our testimony. We are not being
the representative of Jesus we ought to be. Let me just say something. If you are looking
for a hypocrite free church please don't join it you will ruin it. Ok. Every Christian is
going to be inconsistent at times. So let me apologize for us. If we have not been the
best representatives of Jesus Christ. But check this out. Jesus did not say, "Follow
My people." He said, "Follow Me." Jesus will never be a hypocrite. We follow Him. Honestly
the "there is too many hypocrites in the church" line is nothing more than an excuse.
Why would you run from a God like this" they ask him." Sometimes nonbelievers have a better
idea of what believers should do than some believers have. I read a true story about
a bar that was being built in Texas. A local church started a campaign with petitions of
prayers to stop it. Work progressed on the bar until a week before opening and lightning
struck and burned the bar down. The bar owner sued the church saying they were responsible
because of their prayers. The church denied any responsibility and there was no connection
between our prayers and the fire. It went to court. The judge read the plaintiff's complaint
and the defendant's reply and said, "I don't know how I am going to decide this but it
appears from the paperwork we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and an
entire church congregation that does not. That is interesting.
So these nonbelieving men are saying to Jonah, "Why would you run from a God like that?"
That is a good question. Why are you running from God? He just wants to love you. He just
wants to forgive you. So the Lord had a custom made watercraft to take care of this problem.
Jonah said, "You throw me over the side of this boat and the storm will stop." So they
did. And He was swallowed by this great fish. Now inside of the fish he stubbornly refuses
to pray.
Why did God do this? Because Jonah was a prodigal son. God loves His kids so much He is not
going to let them go. It is like my son Jonathan. I was going to find my son. It is like Phil
Robertson told us about his son Alan and his son Jep. He loved his sons. His son Jep said,
"Dad I was waiting for you to rescue me." That comes back to that picture of God who
loves you and misses you.
I wonder if we have any prodigals here tonight. What is a prodigal? It is someone that knows
what is right and does not do it. Maybe you were raised in the church. Maybe you have
been living a double life. You have been putting on quite a performance. Everyone thinks you
are a strong Christian. But you know what is up. You know what you are really doing.
Listen. You can fool all of the people some of the time. You can fool some of the people
all of the time. But you can't fool God any of the time. Prodigal it is time for you to
come home tonight. To return to the Lord. That is why I am going to ask you in just
a few moments to get up out of your seat and walk down here and stand on this back field
and make that recommitment to Christ. Or maybe that first time commitment to Jesus.
Now the Lord gives Jonah a second chance. Jonah 3 says, "Then the Lord spoke to Jonah
a second time: 'Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message of
judgment I have given you.' This time Jonah obeyed the Lord's command and went to Nineveh.
He Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: 'Forty days from now Nineveh will
be destroyed!' 5 The people of Nineveh believed God's message, and from the greatest to the
least, they decided to go without food and put on sackcloth to show their sorrow.'" I
love how that says, "The Word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time." I have good
news for you tonight folks. God gives second chances. He gives third chances. And He gives
fourth chances. And as many as you need. Jonah said, "Forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown."
That is not a very hopeful message is it? Well in a way it is. Because He was giving
them a warning.
Sort of like a parent warning a child. "If you do that one more time there is going to
be a punishment. Ok. I am warning you one last time." Then there is a punishment. Now
if you are a grandparent you say, "If you do that again there is a punishment." They
do it again. "If you do it again there is a punishment." They do it again. You just
keep saying it because basically grandparents don't punish their grandchildren. We let the
parents do that. We just fill them full of sugar and give them back to you. That is our
job. To spoil our grandchildren.
But you see sometimes we don't listen to what God says. But God was giving to them another
chance. I believe God wants the United States of America to turn back to Him. I believe
the only hope for our great country is turn back to God and turn from our sin. We need
a spiritual awakening in America again. We have had four great awakenings. We are due
for another. I tremble to think what will happen in our country if God does not send
a spiritual revival. Let's pray for that. This is one of the reasons we are doing this
event we call Harvest America September 28 and 29 in Philadelphia. That is basically
a month from today. So you can tune this thing in. You can pull it down on your computer,
to your tablet device, to your Smartphone. You can watch it. You can watch it in your
front room. You can have it in your church. You can have it in a theater. But I hope that
you will all pull down that signal that we send from Philadelphia. Once our nation's
capital as we proclaim the gospel. It is the only hope for America today. God was warning
Nineveh. God is warning America. He is saying, "Burn back to me now." That is His message.
Listen. I am no prophet. I have never been swallowed by a fish. Though I have swallowed
a few fish called sushi. But I have a message. Here it is. There is only one hope in this
life that can turn it around. There is only one lifeline that God has dropped from heaven
for us to be forgiven of our sins. It is His Son Jesus Christ who was born in that manger
and died on the cross and rose again from the dead three days later who now stands at
the door of your life and knocks and if you will hear His voice and open the door He will
come in. Jesus said it best right in the front of this platform. "I am the way, the truth,
and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by Me." That is your answer that is your
hope. It is your only hope.
So I have a message of good news. But maybe I need to give you the bad news first. The
bad news is every one of us have sinned. The bad news is every one of us have fallen short
of the glory of God. You say, "Greg I don't really think that I am a sinner. I think that
I am a good person." Have you ever read the Ten Commandments? God says, "You shall not
lie. You shall not steal. You shall not take the Lord's name in vain. You shall have no
other gods before me." Have you ever had another god before the true God? Have you ever lied?
Have you ever stolen? "No I haven't." You are lying right now. You have broken those
commandments. You say, "Well ok I have broken a few but some have broken more than me."
Ok. True. But one of those commandments being broken is enough to keep you out of heaven.
The Bible says, "If you offend in one point of the law you are guilty of all of it." We
are guilty. That is the bad news. The good news is Jesus Christ came and died on the
cross for our sin. The good news is Jesus absorbed the wrath of God the Father that
should have come upon me. Jesus Christ came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owed
a debt we could not pay." If you will believe in Him and turn from your sin you can be forgiven.
You can have a second chance tonight. I am going to give you that opportunity in just
a moment.
So check it out. The people of Nineveh turned to God. This is one of the greatest revivals
in human history. If Nineveh could turn around, certainly the United States can turn around.
I hope that we will. But let's start with you tonight. Maybe you have been running from
God. It is time to throw on the brakes friend. It is time to come back to the God who loves
you. It is time to come back home again.
I told you that story already of that prodigal son that ran away. But Jesus said, "When he
was still a great ways off his father saw him and ran to him." I love the picture of
the father running. You know it was considered undignified in that culture for an older man
to run. Not to mention it is just hard for an older man to run. I know this from experience.
I have tried running. I have had my friends who run say, "Greg just hang in there and
the endorphins will be released and you will get the runner's high." I have never had a
single endorphin released. I have never had this runner's high. I just have runner's pain.
But that older man. That father willing to lose his dignity if you will ran to his son
and threw his arms around him and that is what God will do for you tonight as you come
to Him or as you come back to Him.
So what do you need to do to get right with God?
1. You need to admit you are a sinner. I have already pointed out all of us have broken
God's commandments. All of us have fallen short of God's standards.
2. Recognize Jesus Christ died on the cross for you. Yes it is true. Jesus died for the
whole world. Jesus said, "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." He died for the
world. But listen. He died for you. I love the way the Apostle Paul personalized it when
he said, "He loved me and He gave Himself for me." Jesus loves you and He gave Himself
for you. He died there in your place.
3. You need to turn from your sin. The Bible uses the word repent. You say, "Well I haven't
even pented yet. Why should I repent?" Listen. Repent means to change your direction. Instead
of running from God you need to run to God. To repent is to acknowledge that the things
that you are doing are wrong before the Lord. They are sins before God. And being sorry
enough to stop those things and turn to Him and He will give you the strength to live
the life He has called you to live.
4. You must receive Jesus Christ into your life. Being a Christian is about a relationship.
You know I think there are a lot of people who know a lot about God but they don't know
God. You know I knew a lot about Phil Robertson before I met him. I watched his show. I read
his book. But it was really a lot different in the back there meeting Phil in person.
Now I have a different sense of who he is. He is really the same guy but I sort of know
him a little bit now you see. And we all do after listening to him. But we know about
people. We see them from a distance. But being a Christian is having Christ come and live
inside of your heart. You will never be alone again. He will take residence inside of you
and give you the strength to be the person He has called you to be. You need to receive
Jesus. He says, "I stand at the door of your life and I knock. And if you will hear My
voice and open the door, I will come in." He will come into your life tonight. But listen.
You have to invite Him in. He doesn't say, "Behold I stand at the door and knock and
if you don't open it I will kick it in because I am God and you are not." No. He is the God
who is pursuing us but He will not force His way into our lives. You have to in effect
open that door through prayer and say, "All right Lord come in.
5. You must to do it publicly. That is what thousands of people have already done this
weekend. Thousands and thousands more have done it over the last 24 years we have been
holding these Harvest Crusades here at Angel Stadium. Jesus said, "If you will acknowledge
Me before people I will acknowledge you before My Father and the angels in heaven." He added,
"If you deny Me before people I will deny you before My Father and the angels in heaven."
That is why I am going to ask you to make a public stand in just a few moments.
Finally. You must do it now. Do it now. Don't procrastinate. Don't put it off until tomorrow.
The Bible says, "Now is the time. Today is the day of salvation. Tonight is your night.
Some people think they can just keep putting this off and putting this off. One day my
fear is your heart will get so hard you won't even hear God speak to you anymore.
There is another city in the Bible that God judged. They are known as *** and Gomorrah.
There was no warning for them. There was no Jonah barfed out of a whale walking through
their streets because they had gone beyond the point of no return. There was still hope
for Nineveh. There is still hope for you. Be careful. There is a point of no return
where you can go too far. Jesus said it is the unforgivable sin. The blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit. What does that mean? It means that you reject the work that the Holy Spirit
has come to do which is to make you aware of your need for Jesus. You say no to Him
and your heart can become irreparably hardened. The Bible says, "He who is often reproved
hardens his heart and it will be cut off and that without remedy." Listen. The Holy Spirit
is working on you. Some of you are saying, "You know what Greg. I know I need Jesus.
I know I am a sinner. I know He will forgive me. I believe it is all true but I still want
to party. I still want to have sex with my girlfriend. I still want to do drugs and drink.
I still want to lie, cheat and steal." Listen. To know this is true and not act on it is
super scary because you could miss this opportunity to get right with God. Then you will be separated
from Him for all eternity. Friend there is a heaven for those that put their faith in
Jesus. There is a hell for those that reject Him. "How could a God of love send someone
to hell?" Listen. God doesn't send people to hell. You effectively send yourself there
by rejecting God's only offer of forgiveness through Christ. God doesn't want you to go
there. He wants you in heaven. Your eternal destiny hinges on your decision. You are going
to either say yes or no to Jesus right now.
We are going to pray. I am going to give you an opportunity to make this commitment or
recommitment to Christ. If you haven't done it yet please do it tonight. I promise you
that you will never regret it. Let's all pray. Father this is Your Word. It is good news
if we listen. I pray for those that do not yet know You I pray that your Holy Spirit
will convince them of their need for Jesus. I pray that they will see their sin and see
the Savior and that they will come to You tonight and be forgiven. I pray for prodigal
sons and daughters Lord that have been running from you. Help them to come back home tonight
as You throw Your arms around them and You say, "Welcome home son. Welcome home daughter."
Help them to come we pray. And we ask it now in Jesus' name. Amen.
Listen. If you want your sin forgiven. If you want to know that when you die you will
go to heaven. If you want your guilt taken away. If you want that big old hole in your
heart that you have tried to fill with so many things filled. If you are ready to say
yes to Jesus Christ. Or if you have fallen away from Him and you want to come back to
Him I am going to ask you wherever you are to get up out of your seat and step into the
nearest aisle and start making your way down to the field. Now listen. Listen to what I
am saying. Please don't talk. Sh. I don't want anybody to leave right now. I know the
stadium is full. I know it is going to take you a little bit of time to get out of here.
But folks this is a holy moment. We are praying for people coming to Jesus. The only movement
I want to see is the movement of those coming forward. So Christian friends don't get up
and leave. You stay in your seat out of respect for what God is doing. You pray for that person
in front of you. You pray for that person on your left. You pray for that person on
your right. You pray for that person behind you. You pray if they need Jesus that will
come to Him now. So you get up out of your seat. Make your way to that aisle and come
down to this field. I am going to wait until you all get here. When you are all down here
we are going to have a prayer of commitment or recommitment. You come with your sins.
You come with your problems. You come with your addictions. You come with our questions.
You come just as you are. Jesus said, "He or she that would come to Me I would in way
cast out." Christ will receive you. Jesus will accept you. But you must come. So you
get up and come now. Up on the top level it takes you a little bit longer. Please come.
Make your stand for Christ as our worship band leads us in this song.
You know we have been doing these crusades now for 24 years. Next year will be our 25th
year. We have big plans for a great celebration. I plan on being here. But I have no guarantees
I will be here. Maybe I will be in heaven then. I don't know. Hopefully I will be here
with you. Hopefully you will be here with us. But I will tell you something. There are
people in this stadium right now that will not be here one year from today. Someone's
name is going to end up in that obituary column. Don't think it couldn't be you. This could
be your last opportunity to come to Jesus. You are thinking, "Oh please give me a break.
Preacher tactics. You are putting the pressure on." Man I am just laying the reality on friend.
The Bible says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to our
God who will forgive and pardon abundantly." Seek the Lord while He may be found. He can
be found by you tonight. But you must come.
Jonah had a choice. He could have stayed in the gut of the fish. But he decided to turn
to God. You have a choice. You can leave. You can blow off everything we have said.
But you have been warned. You have been told. The news has been delivered signed, sealed,
and delivered. The ball is in your court. Now you have to decide what you are going
to do with it. There is still time to come to Jesus. Many are coming. I would like to
see you come if you need to. Maybe you are at the top deck. Come on down. Make your commitment.
Maybe you had no intention of making this commitment to Christ. But you are saying,
"Maybe I should." Oh no. You should. We will wait until you all get here. Step into that
aisle. Make your way down to this field and we will pray together. This will be the greatest
night of your life. You come.
This is an amazing response we are seeing here folks. God is moving. So many people
are coming. This is a holy moment. You won't forget this. I will tell you something. Right
now in heaven there is rejoicing. There is party in heaven. Why do I say that? Because
Jesus said that there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that comes to
repentance. There are a lot more than one. Heaven is watching. This invitation is coming
to a close. Only a few more moments and I am going to step back there and lead these
folks in a prayer. There might be a few more of you that want to come. Our band is going
to do one more song. When the song is done this invitation is done. Then I am going to
pray. So if you are going to come, come now.
Well God bless every one of you. Welcome. I am so thankful you made this step. For some
of you it was a lot of steps to get all the way down on this field. We are proud of you.
Now we want to help you to take the next stop in asking Jesus Christ to come into your life.
I am going to lead you in a prayer. I am going to ask that as I pray this prayer you pray
it out loud after me. This is where you are asking Jesus Christ to be your Savior and
your Lord. So mean it from your heart and God will hear. Again as I pray, pray this
out loud after me. Let's all bow our heads. Pray this out loud after me now. Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner. But you died on the cross and shed your blood for every sin
I have ever committed. I am sorry for my sin. I turn from it now. I choose to follow Jesus
Christ as Savior and Lord. As God and Friend. From this moment forward. Thank you for loving
me and calling me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.