Dealing with Doubt

[Music] let's pray together now father if we're honest we'll admit that we have moments of doubt and so here is the story before us of a man who doubted in what Jesus said to get him back on track and I pray for anyone that's struggling with doubt that you will turn that doubt into an even deeper belief so we commit this time a Bible study T now in Jesus name Amen how many of you have ever struggled with doubt raise your hand up you've struggled with doubt okay how many of you have never had a doubt since you become a Christian about anything that you believe raise your hand up oh I'm glad no one did cuz I was gonna tell you you're an idiot because down is not necessarily a sign that a man or a woman is wrong it's a sign that they're thinking they're thinking you know sometimes parents freak out when their kids start pushing back when your son of your daughter whom you've raised in the church and taking this Sunday school comes up and actually questions if the Bible really is the Word of God they question if Jesus really is the only way oh no what have I done wrong you've done nothing wrong the child is simply learning to think for themselves these are things we need to learn to do but there are times in life even as mature believers when things don't make sense maybe something happened and you had to scratch your head and ask the question where was God and all of this or maybe you were praying about something and God just seemed to be silent all he would have to do is just speak a word and your problem would have been resolved or he could have done something to fix your situation it seemed to you as though God were sitting on his hands or is intentionally dragging his feet or maybe is not even paying attention and this has caused you to momentarily entertain doubt it's been said quote when the warm moist air of our expectations the icy cold of God silence inevitably clouds of doubt begin to form and then when you doubt you feel as though you're some kind of a spiritual failure or you've gone apostate I just want you to know if you've had moments of doubt you're not the only one it may surprise you to know that the greatest that the Old Testament prophets had moments of doubt his name John the Baptist and this is this story we're gonna see why he doubted and we're gonna see what Jesus said to deal with that doubt now in fairness to John maybe what he was experiencing to be better described as perplexity or confusion he just didn't quite get what was happening and Jesus shared some words with him that helped him to refocus again so let's read the story Matthew 11 starting in verse 1 now came to pass when Jesus finished commanding his twelve disciples he departed from there to teach in to preach in their cities and when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples and said to Jesus are you the coming one or do we look for another jesus answered and said to them you go tell John the things which you hear and see the blind see the lame walk the lepers are cleansed and the Deaf hear and the dead are raised and the poor of the gospel preached to them and blessed it is he was not offended because of me as he departed Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John what did you go out on the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind what did you go out to see a man clothed in soft garments indeed those who were soft clothing are in King's houses what did you go out to see a prophet yes I say to you more than a prophet for this is he of whom it is written behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before me assuredly I say to you among those born of women there has never risen one greater than John the Baptist but he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he will stop there now maybe it's hard for us to understand how significant John was in his day you need to recognize that it had been 400 years since Israel had heard from a prophet from the death of Malachi to John's birth Israel had not effectively heard a message from heaven for 400 years he had this string of prophets up to Malachi and then this sort of icy silence from heaven no angels no miracles no messages nothing and then suddenly seemingly out of nowhere but right in God's fine table emerges this colorful character John the Baptist no fancy robes like the Pharisees he was a hardcore outdoorsman he wore camouflage head-to-toe not really but he would have if he were here today he was dressed in animal skins he ate locusts and wild honey they had never seen anyone like John before and he offered hope to the people calling them back to God and at the same time he fearlessly called out the Pharisees for their hypocrisy in Matthew 3 verse 7 we read them when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized he denounced him and said you brood of snakes who warned you to flee God's coming judgment proof by the way that you live that you've turned from your sins and you've turned to God don't say oh we're safe we're descendants of Abraham that proves nothing God can change these stones into children of Abraham Wow that's a sure way to get yourself into trouble because these religious leaders were influential they were powerful and John calls him out as a brood of snakes well the people loved him John was like a rock star it's interesting that the ancient historian Josephus wrote more about the life and Ministry of John than he did about Jesus Christ so I bring this up to simply point out that John was a famous powerful preacher and prophet to the people indeed he was spoken of in the scripture he was prophesied just as surely as Christ was in fact in our message as Sunday as we sort of follow the Christmas story chronologically we're gonna see how the Lord came to John's parents Zacharias and Elizabeth and told them they would have this child named John his job was to prepare the way of the Lord John he had three objectives set before him to clear the way to prepare the way and to get out of the way so while he was on the scene he was the man getting things ready for Jesus and then there he was at the Jordan River sort of his base of operations or he would baptize people and one day Jesus Christ shows up and says John I want you to baptize me John says listen I'm not even worthy to untie your sandals much less baptize you but indeed the Lord told him to baptize him and John witnessed with his own eyes the Holy Spirit descend upon Christ and the form of a dove and the voice of the Father saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased but that pretty much meant that John's ministry was now completed overnight he walked away from his huge ministry because mission completed and he said to his disciples hey guys check it out behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world his disciples would now be the disciples of the Lord Jesus don't follow me anymore guys go follow him my job is completed his job was to prepare the way and now that job is done and this outdoorsman this man who was so full of energy and action is placed in a dungeon now you have to understand we're talking a dungeon we're talking the worst case scenario this is and not to say that our prisons or jail cells are are a pleasant place to spend time but comparatively there would be like a luxury room he was effectively in a hole with other men there would be no place no sanitation facility shall we say to put it delicately rat would have been biting at his feet that the portions would have been meager the water would have been polluted you can imagine a worse stench and this is where the great outdoorsmen used to beam under the blue sky was now placed how'd he get there well old John you know he just couldn't keep his opinions to himself and he called out a powerful men known as King Herod you see King Herod married a woman named Herodias and the whole relationship was illegitimate history tells us she was married to Herod's brother Philip and not only that she was a daughter of um heirs to Bali I'm not sure to pronounce this but there's tabouli as I think another half-brother of Herod making her Herod's niece so Herod married his niece he left his wife to marry his niece now that would sound normal today but back in this day was scandalous so John called him out on it he said this is sinful this is wrong before God Herod said eh I'm throwing you in a dungeon and there he was waiting and he was waiting for some good news because Jesus now has started his ministry and John's waiting to hear about the revolt you see John like most people of this day had a misunderstanding of the role of the Messiah let me put it a different way they had a partial understanding of the role of the Messiah they thought when Messiah arrived he would overthrow the tyranny of the day which in their case was wrong he was waiting to hear that Roma's defeated Christ has established his kingdom the Messiah is here but 18 months have passed and nothing has happened no revolt has been organized and then to make matters worse word on the street was Jesus was eating and drinking with sinners and tax collectors so here's John in a hellhole in a dungeon waiting for Messiah to establish his kingdom and here's Christ out having a good time in John's eyes he didn't understand how this fit into God's plan they began to doubt wondering did tonight get this wrong somehow am I missing something I mean is this not the Messiah it does not I see a 61c of the Messiah and he's gonna bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim freedom to the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners and proclaim the year of the Lord's favor well the prisoners haven't been released none of these things as have happened but here was John's problem he was seeing things incorrectly and he was seeing them in sort of a BC way I don't mean before Christ I mean before Calvary see here's what they missed and we can see it now clearly but they fail to see that before Messiah would establish his kingdom by the way that's still yet to come he would come and suffer for the sins of the world before wearing many crowns Messiah would wear the crown of thorns before the throne would come the cross and after the cross and the resurrection they understood but largely not before and I don't think we should be too quick to criticize because we've misunderstood God as well we've thought maybe God was doing a certain thing that he was not doing and we don't understand why he did a certain thing when tragedy hits a life of a godly man or woman we wonder why when a child dies or a loved one gets cancer we asked why did God do this to me our God do this to them you see the problem is we interpret God in light of the tragedy instead of the other way around don't interpret God and the light of your tragedy interpret your tragedy in the light of God and remembering that God's in control that God loves you that God can work all things together for good for those of us who have been called by him so John is crying out he's saying Lord why haven't you saved me why am I in this place till now it's not a bad thing they have moments of doubt sometimes we need to go to the foyer of doubt to get into the Saints wary of certainty let me repeat that sometimes we have to go through the foyer or for yay depending on your pronunciation of doubt before you enter the sanctuary of certainty a French proverb says quote he who knows nothing doubts nothing unquote another said doubt is not the opposite of faith it's an element of faith so it means you're processing you're working it out you're coming to understand it and there were other men of God who doubted as well how about Moses was ready to quit on more than one occasion and in the Book of Numbers after listening to the Israel's wine he said to God I'm not able to bear these people alone the burden is too heavy if you're gonna treat me like this please kill me how's that for a guy having a little bit of a crisis of faith or Elijah after his great doubt with the prophets abilipad Mount Carmel upon hearing that Jezebel wanted him dead he just went into a little cave and said God just take my life I don't want to live anymore even the Apostle Paul was discouraged he wrote in second Corinthians 1:8 we were burdened beyond measure above strength so we despaired even of life so if you've had moments of doubt if you've had moments of discouragement if things are making sense to you you're not alone you're not the only one the old country preacher vents have not said of John quote here in the dungeon of doubt John fell into despair and depression the men who could reprove Kings and call religious people snakes can also get down in the dumps just like you and I it's one thing to stand on the Jordan and give it it's another thing to sit in jail and take it end quote so that's John having his moment of discouragement he wasn't asking for information as much as he was looking for confirmation did I miss something here did I get this right is there something that has been not been made clear to me and now we're gonna see what the Lord did to help him but let me contrast for a moment doubt and unbelief because I think sometimes we confuse it to doubt and unbelief are very different doubt is a matter of the mind we don't understand what God is doing or why he is doing it well unbelief as a matter of the will it's when we refuse to believe God's Word and obey what he tells us to do see if I have a doubt that may mean I'm just waiting for further information we'd like to call Thomas the doubter and you remember he was given that title because after Christ appeared to the disciples in the upper room and he wasn't there and they told him he said right and by the way in the original language is implied no not really it's hard worded translators you know that word that sound I should say but he effectively said yeah I'll believe it when I see it if I can put my hand in the wound in his side and touch the wounds in his hands then I'll believe but the next time the disciples met Thomas was there and who shows up Christ and he says hey Thomas blues paraphrase go for a buddy Here I am Thomas is like I'm good he just says my lord of my god now listen in defense of Thomas he didn't ask for any more than what the other disciples had experienced he wasn't gonna believe something just because someone told him it was true he wanted to know for himself and there's nothing wrong with that when presented with the evidence the doubter turns into the believer that's doubt belief that's a choice belief is saying yah hear what you're saying I choose to not believe it I reject what you're saying altogether so that's not what John was he was not a non-believer far from it he was a very committed believer but he had his moment of doubt but let's notice what he did with this doubt he called out to Jesus you see this is before he could send a text he could have texted Christ hey Jesus what's up send him an email call them no he's sitting in a dungeon he sends word it just asked Jesus it's one question are you the one or should we look for another but here's the point who did he send the message to Jesus so what should we do with our doubts go to Jesus don't go away from Jesus go to him bring your doubts bring your questions to the Lord that is the mark of a true believer and all of the calamities that befell dear old job including the loss of his possessions in health and worst of all his children we read him say these words in job 1:21 naked came I from my mother's womb naked will I depart the Lord gives the Lord has taken away the name of the Lord be praised and all this job did not send by charging God with wrongdoing a great commentator named G Campbell Morgan had this observation about John and I quote he says men of faith are always the men who have to confront problems for a few believe in God you will sometimes wonder why he allows certain things to happen but keep in mind there's a difference between doubt and unbelief like Habakkuk the doubter questions God and may even debate God but the daughter doesn't abandon God but unbelief is rebellion against God it's a refusal to accept what he says and does unbelief as an act of the will while doubt is born out of a troubled mind and a broken heart end quote very well put that's what John had a troubled mind and a broken heart so here he is calling out to the Lord again remember he's in a dungeon so he says send this word to Jesus here's a response of our Lord Matthew 11 look at verse 4 jesus answered and said you go tell John the things you hear and see the blind see the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the Deaf hear they've done our race and the poor of the gospel preached to them blessed is he who is not offended because of me now Christ is referring to Old Testament prophecies pertaining to the role of the Messiah which John would immediately recognize Jesus is alluding to Isaiah 35 5 and also Isaiah 61 now I want you to notice how Christ reacted to the doubt of John in answering these messengers Jesus did not say how dare John doubt me my own cousin he should have known better but here's the point god never rebukes anyone who comes to him with sincere questions or honest doubts and so what does Jesus do he turns John back to Scripture and then says in verse 6 blessed is he who is not offended because of me or literally the person who's not hurt or resentful or annoyed or repelled or made to stumble whatever may occur here's what Christ is saying listen you just little John know this John even if you don't understand my method even if you don't grasp my ways or my timing I'm asking you to trust me and when it when you're unable to see why I'm doing what I am doing or why I'm not doing what you think I ought to be doing I'm just saying hang in there follow me don't be offended because of this I mean that would you feel of someone that you loved and trusted began to question you you might say you know there's that word again or that sound two times in one sermon I didn't just call this sermon how would you spell that pssst I'm not sure but if someone doubts you or questions you you may want to dis them oh yeah well what do they know you know John come on give me a break you all know is a little strange right I mean the animal skins who eats locusts that was my cousin maybe there's something in this diet good opportunity to throw someone under the bus did Jesus do that not at all he did the very opposite he used it as an opportunity to speak of the greatness of John see our Lord understood this was an attack of the enemy he understood with loneliness and solitude can do Jesus understood John might be a little bit impatient but Jesus says let me tell you something about John what did you go out on the wilderness to see some light weight some guy dressed in fine clothing I'm telling you of those born of women there has never been a greater than John the Baptist Wow what a commendation he's saying effectively he's the greatest of the Old Testament prophets and so I want you to send that back to him you tell him I said this tell him I say he's the best of the prophets you tell him I love him and you tell him everything's on schedule and you tell him he is not wrong and believing in the Messiah everything is going as it should and this reminds us it doesn't really matter when it's all said and done what others think about us as Christians what matters is what Jesus thinks about us now this amazing statement verse 11 of those born among women there's no one greater than John why is John the greatest did John ever write a book like we do like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel no he doesn't even have a small book like Malachi no heed wrote notebook of the Bible well did John ever perform a miracle like turning the now river into blood like Moses or calling fire down from heaven like Elijah no he didn't do that either did he ever raise the dead no he never did so why is John the greatest of the Old Testament prophets here's the answer because he and he alone was the direct Herald & forerunner of Jesus his greatness was a direct result of his nearness and connection to Jesus his story is in the New Testament but effectively his life and ministry are of the Old Testament system for the New Testament system did not really begin until Jesus inaugurated it and fulfilled the old with his death and resurrection so John was sort of the last of the mohicans if you he was the last of the Old Testament prophets but he was the most significant because he was the one that pointed people to Christ and then the Lord says in verse 11 but he that's least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he you know we can by the fact maybe that John was the greatest of the prophets but how is it possible that those of us who are merely Christians even those of us who may not be well-known Christians least in the kingdom would be greater than John well here's why here's why that was a bob hoy quote John was a part of the Old Testament economy you are a New Testament believer John was a herald of the king you're a friend of the King John was a friend of the bridegroom you're the bride of the bridegroom john lived and died on the other side of the cross resurrection and ascension of christ we live in the New Covenant with Jesus now indwelling inside of us so how did Jesus deal with John's doubts you might want to write these things down in case you're struggling what doubt number one he refocused his priorities he refocused his priorities John had unbiblical and unrealistic expectations of the ministry purpose and timing of Jesus he didn't understand that Jesus had to suffer and die before he established his kingdom so it's not that John was asking too much in fact he was asking too little he was expecting a political Kingdom a material kingdom but Jesus said something different in mind number two Jesus used this scripture to bring John back to what really mattered he referred John back to the prophecies of the Messiah in Isaiah reminding him of what the Bible said and this reminds us of the story of the two disciples walking down on the Emmaus Road this is after Christ was crucified and and they didn't understand he was gonna rise again from the dead so our Lord joins him I talked about this last Sunday and Jesus listens to them for a while and then he reveals to them all of those passages in the Old Testament that spoke of the coming Messiah and here's the key he did it with the Bible he opened those scripture to them and then they said did not our hearts burn within us while he walked with us on the way and I can't emphasize enough how important it is that you immerse yourself in the Bible when you're in time a time of pain when you're a time in a time of perplexity when you're facing doubt get into the Word of God that's the antidote just fill your mind with God's Word memorize God's Word think about God's Word quote God's Word that's the way to deal with that that's what the Lord did he brought John back to Scripture you need to believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts let me repeat that believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts number three he kept right on with this purpose and asked John to not be stumbled or annoyed again Christ kept right on with this purpose and asked John not to be stumbled or annoyed in other words he said John you're gonna have to trust me on this one buddy I know it's not making sense right now but it will in time you'll see kind of like when our kids ask us why they can't do something and we say because I said so kids hate that don't they but why because I said so why eat that then one day you become a parent and find yourself saying the same thing and sometimes the Lord we ask the Lord if we can have a certain thing or do a certain thing that God says no we say but why God says because I said so and one day you'll know why I said so and John of course would know in time and we will know in time right now we don't see everything clearly the Bible says we see through a glass darkly but then we will see face to face or from the Greek it could be translated now we only see in a fragmentary fashion but one day I will be fully known or rather I will fully know as I am fully known so I know you have questions listen I've plenty of questions that I'll ask God but I kind of think when I get to heaven I'll probably just drop them I think once I look into the face of Jesus I go never mind this is good and then I'll say this no I would say yeah it'd be the last thing I'd say I just wanted to get that three times in one sermon I realize in that final game when we stand before God he never sat on his hands but in fact those hands were nailed to a cross and we'll understand why he did or why he did not do what we wanted him to do until that day we have to trust and follow so yes John was a part of the Old Testament covenant the last of those great prophets the Old Covenant that said that we approach God through the animal sacrifices offered by the priests in the holy of Holy's once a year where you symbolically take your sins and they're placed on the animal like the sacrificial lamb but John had it exactly right when he said to his disciples pointing to Christ that's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and Jesus would fulfill all of those types pointed to in the Old Covenant when he died on the cross and in light of that our Lord has asked us to do something for him he wants us to remember and that brings us to the communion table I want to read some words from the Apostle Paul out of first Corinthians 11 you're welcome to read along with me if you would like but these are the words that Paul gives us about how we are to approach communion or the Lord's Supper as it's sometimes called Paul says in first Corinthians 11 verse 23 I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread when he had given thanks he broke in and said taking eat this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me in the same manner he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood this do and as often as you drink it do so in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy way will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup for over eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself not discerning the Lord's body communion why do we have this jesus said this do and remembrance of me the Lord has established this beautiful time when we come back and revisit in our hearts and in our minds what happened at the cross I guess the Lord wants us to remember no matter how much we've went towards spiritually or how many good works we've done that it still comes back to the cross you know the only reason I can approach God tonight is the same reason I could have approached I would approach him right after I was converted because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ I don't have greater access to God because I'm a preacher or because I teach a Bible study I come to him like everybody else comes to him we all come through the cross and Jesus wants us to remember that he don't want us to get too big for our britches and remember it's all because of his sacrifice but this is important also because there are times when you've sinned and you've failed and you say well I'm not worthy to approach God hate to break this to you you were never worthy even on your best day so this has nothing to do with worthiness don't let the devil lie to you and keep you from the cross you know when you sin the Holy Spirit will convict you and bring you to the cross but the devil will condemn you and try to drive you from the cross so whenever you sin you go as quickly as you can to the cross you say what does that mean it means you come to God and say Lord I'm sorry I failed I'm a sinner thank you that you shed your blood and it toned for my sin and I turn from it now and I turn to you again that's what it means to come back to the cross and so as I come to the communion table I'm told that this is something I should do continuously a communion the Lord's Supper supper should be observed on a regular basis by the church we come back to it again and again also I would add that in the original language the term affectionate is implied so Jesus says do this in affectionate remembrance of me though we are remembering a horrible event the death of our Lord we are also to come with a certain affection and I even a joy saying lord thank you so much for all that you did for us but then we are to not do so in an unworthy manner now understand that doesn't say you have to be worthy to receive Communion because no one's worthy but don't do it in an unworthy manner Paul says in verse 27 if you eat this bread or drink this cup in an unworthy manner you'll be guilty embody a guilty of the body and blood of our Lord so what this means is to do it in a Cavalier way in in a reverent way in a flippant way we don't believe in transubstantiation here at harvest in other words we don't believe that the crackers that came from the supermarket turn into the body of our Lord nor do we believe that this grape juice turns into the blood of our Lord that's transubstantiation we don't believe that we don't believe these are holy elements here but we believe they represent one who is holy so when I hold that little bit of bread unleavened and I have that little cup it symbolizes the holy son of God that shed his blood for me on the cross of Calvary so as I'm preparing to receive communion I need to just like think about what I'm doing right I don't need to be thinking oh gee where shall I go eat afterwards I'm thinking in-and-out burger then again maybe we'll go to chick-fil-a or oh no let's go to Pinkberry or are these just my thoughts or oh did I leave the iron on or oh that's a cute / oh they look awful oh you know you know you know I'm talking about trivial thoughts that we all have right not this lady here but everybody else we have those trivial thoughts sort of push those out of your mind right now don't think those things think about Jesus think about the cross think about his suffering well Gregor wasn't there yeah I wasn't either but we have a pretty graphic account on the Gospels don't we I think we all know this story pretty well think about him suffering think about him burying the sin of the world think about him bearing your sin as you receive that Bread of you tree as you drink of the cup don't receive it in an unworthy manner you know sometimes I think a non-believer may visit church and see communion is being served in think I'll call I'm gonna do this cuz this little ritual whoa you know buy me some credit with God you know some people they're so warped in their thinking they believe that if they go to church or a couple of services that they've kind of earned credit now to sin more well I can go out and do more awful stuff because after all I did all this extra stuff for God and don't think that way and I think the main thing we want to remember is that the worst thing you could do is receive these elements and not be a Christian these things will not draw you closer to God in fact I would say to you they could actually bring judgment on you it's almost like mocking God to receive the elements of communion without believing in the one they represent communion is for believers only remember those Chad could see is to wear a long time ago for members only how many of you wore one of those how many of you have continued to wear one since then what will we members have exactly four members only members of what we're not sure but it's only four members they were ugly too those jackets were they I had one because I was a member of nothing well communion is for believers only only believers so here's my question to you in closing are you a believer you say well I believe there's a god nod and that's that that could be someone who acknowledges something but a believer is one who has put their faith and their trust in Jesus Christ to be their Savior and Lord and it means that you've asked Christ to come and live inside of you and you're following him and if you've not done that yet I'd love to lead you in a prayer right now before we receive communion an opportunity for you to believe in him don't put this off to another day you need to do this today because you never know when your last day will come tomorrow we remember the tragic assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas Texas and some of you were old enough to have been alive when that happened I was I was 11 years old and everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news right and it was so unexpected you know it's that D started out as such a happy day really with the adoring throngs cheering the motorcade is the president so handsome and young seated next to his beautiful wife and her pink Chanel outfit complete with pillbox hat you know who would have ever thought that an assassin's bullet would take the life of our president but it did and it was like a national trauma everybody experienced it in real time and even now as you watch those old films some of you who are younger may have a hard time understanding how radical that event was to all of America but when President Kennedy he was the president-elect but he had not yet taken the oath he went out golfing with Billy Graham who's been a chaplain to all of the presidents going back to President Eisenhower and so President Kennedy had some questions for Billy and he said to Billy do you believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ and Billy said well I certainly do and then President Kennedy asked him well what does my church teach do they believe it and Billy responded well they have it in their Creed's and the president-elect said well they don't preach it they don't tell me much about it I'd like to know what you think and so Billy Graham shared the gospel with Kennedy and after that Kennedy said to him well I would like to know more about this on another day and on shortly before the assassination took place a billy had a strong sense of foreboding I actually talked to Billy about this personally because he knew Kennedy and as I said and he said he just had this sense that the president should not go to Dallas so he sent a message to Kennedy through a mutual friend and said don't go to Dallas and I don't think it's because Billy thought he was gonna die he just had this sense that something bad was gonna happen but he wasn't sure what I don't think the president ever received that message and we know the rest of the story but you know little did this man know writing in that motorcade that this would be the last day of his life but he had said to the Billy well or to Billy one day we'll talk about that you know and I don't know if they ever had that conversation but listen well we never know when that day is gonna come don't don't deal with this someday today's the day now's the time because you don't know when life will end and you need to be ready to meet God because we're gonna stand before him and the question will be what did you do with Jesus Christ so before we come to this communion table if you've not made that commitment to follow Christ make it now make it today not someday today and more to the point tonight let's all bow our heads father I pray for any that have joined this who may not yet know you Lord would you help them to see their need for Jesus and help them to turn from their sin and believe in you now we commit them to you now of all our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together how many of you would say tonight Gregg I'm ready to believe in Jesus now I want my sin forgiven I want to know that when I die I will go to heaven I want to get right with God I don't want to wait for some day I want to do it today I want to do it right now tonight pray for me if that's your desire if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life and forgive you of your sin if you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die would you lift your hand up wherever you are and let me pray for you right now if you want Christ to come into your life lift your hand up I'll pray for you now lift your hand up you want us forgiveness God bless you god bless you god bless you anybody else you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die you want Jesus Christ to come into your life lift your hand up I'll pray for you wherever you are god bless each one of you better raise your hand god bless you anybody else god bless you if you haven't lifted it yet lift it now in this final moment let me pray for you god bless each one of you now I'm gonna ask God bless you too and god bless you as well god bless you I'm gonna ask all of you that of raise your hand if you would please pray this prayer after me right we are sitting again as I pray pray this prayer after me Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner but you died on the cross for my sin and I'm sorry for it and I turn from it and I choose to follow you from this moment forward be my Savior and my Lord be my god and my friend thank you for calling me and accepting me and forgiving me in Jesus name I pray amen god bless you there pray that prayer [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

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Keywords: harvest, greg, laurie, Dealing with Doubt, Jesus, Christ, bible, church, God, greatest, stories

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Length: 44min 48sec (2688 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 02 2013