The Almost Christian (#2 of 2)

Greg Laurie: Repent and be converted that times of refreshing 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? 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.
Guest (Male): This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new begin. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. How can you hear the angels sing? This is the day, the day when life begins. 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. 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 study in Acts.
Greg Laurie: So we're 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 1. Agrippa said to Paul, "You may now speak in your defense." And Paul, with a 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 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 this 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'm fortunate, King Agrippa, you are the one hearing my defense." Now, that could 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 could have 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 as 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, gesturing toward 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, I say, "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 opened. You need to have your eyes opened. 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 non-believer, 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 non-believer believe. I've had people come up to me and say, "Greg, what is the hack here on getting a person to come to Christ? What is the one thing you can say that will cause everyone to believe, like evangelists 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 opened because Satan has blinded people. So first we pray, "Lord, open their eyes." So when you came to Christ, your eyes were opened. What does that mean? There just came a moment, it may have happened in a flash, where all of a sudden you realized this is all true. It happened for me at age 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 opened. But that doesn't mean you're converted yet. It's possible to have your eyes opened 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 I 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 opened 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 said. 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. "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 that times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord." Repent. Jesus said to the woman caught in the act of adultery, whom 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 on 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. 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.
Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. You know, I've heard people describe a trip to Israel as seeing the Bible actually come to life. Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here. And I've been to Israel many times and I've led a lot of tours and I have to say that's absolutely true. Listen, when you're walking on the same stones that Jesus himself walked on, well, that's something that's enriching to your faith. It's not just a travel experience. It actually energizes and enhances your study of the Bible. Think of it this way. It's a vacation with a purpose. And we're going to be taking a tour of Israel April 6th to 15th, 2027. You can find out more at israel.harvest.org. Step right into biblical history. Join Pastor Greg for a tour of the Holy Land, April 6th through 15th, 2027. Get details at israel.harvest.org. You've joined us for an important study from Pastor Greg titled "The Almost Christian." Pastor Greg continues now.
Greg Laurie: 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 opened. 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. How amazing is that? To have your sins forgiven and forgotten. God promises in Hebrews 8:12, "Their 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? 1 John 1:9. "If I will confess my sin, he's faithful and just to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness." So he forgives me, and 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 sin, 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 bring... 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." The devil says, "You can't come in here. You don't have the credentials." No, he'd say, "He's my father. Get out of the way." You have access through 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 2:6 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 going to learn new things in heaven. Heaven's going to be amazing. It's going to 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 opened, turn from darkness to 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. Festus seemed irritated by Paul. However, Agrippa almost seemed 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. But 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 his 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 and 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 opened. Now, maybe you were sleeping and literally your eyes opened, I don't know. But I'm talking about your spiritual eyes. Do you feel these things I've said before, but all of a sudden, boom, you just thought, "Is this 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 sin, 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.
Guest (Male): 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. 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 around the clock. Again at 1-800-821-3300. Or when you go online to harvest.org and click "Know God." You know, Pastor Greg, we're on the air with these studies every day, every week, every month, month in and month out. And we're so thankful there are a group of people that let us hear from them month in and month out. They're Harvest Partners, the special friends of this ministry that invest each month so that these daily studies can continue. I know you've met some Harvest Partners on occasion and you let them know how much they're appreciated, right?
Greg Laurie: Absolutely. And people often will say, "Hey, we listen to your radio broadcast and we're a Harvest Partner." Oh man, thank you so much. I so appreciate that because that says to me that this is someone that believes in what we are doing. They believe in it enough to invest in it. You know, Jesus said where your treasure is, there your heart be also. If you want to know what a person's priorities are, just look at how they spend their money. So I think when a Christian invests in the Kingdom, and by that I mean when they give at their church and they tithe, and every Christian should do that, by the way. Or they have ministries that bless them like A New Beginning and others and they bring an offering to that ministry, that says something about that person. And here's the thing that people don't often realize. When you give financially to the work of the Kingdom, you are laying up for yourself treasures in heaven. Jesus said, "Lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust can corrupt nor thieves break in and steal, for where your treasure is, there your heart be also." So do your giving while you're living, then you're knowing where it's going. So we have a program called Harvest Partners, and these are simply folks that have committed to give to us on a regular basis, on a monthly basis. And thus we can depend on those gifts. Now, you may only can give a little. It matters. Others can give a little more, others could even give a lot. Whatever you can do, we appreciate it because we want to reach unexpected people in unexpected places with an unexpected message. And the amazing thing about radio is you just never know who you're going to reach. People turning the dial on their car radio, people just looking for something to listen to, a change of pace, and maybe they land on our program and they're thinking, "Well, what is this all about?" And we've seen so many who did not really even know what we were about tune in and then end up hearing the gospel and coming to Christ. So we want to continue reaching these folks. So help us to do that and become a Harvest Partner today.
Guest (Male): Yeah, and we can help you with all the details quickly when you call 1-800-821-3300. We're here 24/7 to talk with you. Again, the number, 1-800-821-3300. Or just go online to harvest.org. Well next time, Pastor Greg takes us to a revealing study in Matthew 5, based on the Lord's Sermon on the Mount. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new begin. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. How can you hear the angels sing? This is the day, the day when life begins.