The Truth About Angels and Demons: Part 2 (With Greg Laurie)

turn in your bibles to genesis chapter 3. genesis chapter 3 and the title of our message is angels and demons part 2. and we've been talking a little bit about this invisible world this supernatural world this world filled with these mysterious creatures that the bible calls angels that surround the believer in any given moment some of these angels are holy in fact the majority of them are but some of them are unholy we certainly find angels in both the old and new testament in fact there are indirectly or directly 300 references to angels from genesis to revelation and in our last time together we discovered a few things about the angels number one we discovered that there are many many angels in fact daniel 7 10 tells us basically that there are a hundred million angels not just one account of how many he uh saw so maybe there's even more than that number two there are not only a lot of angels but their ranks are well organized it's not unlike the military where you have various rankings that so in the angelic world as well not only among the holy angels but also among the fallen ones in fact first peter 3 22 tells us that christ has gone into heaven and on his right hand there are angels authorities and powers there are three rankings right there angels authorities and powers number three we found that two of the angels at least are identified by name that would be the super angel the mega angel uh the man himself michael the archangel who has played a unique role throughout history and will also be active in the end time events and then there's gabriel who is given the unique privilege of announcing the birth of the messiah to both joseph and mary now what of the angels come to do point number four the angels sometimes reveal the purposes of god to us again the angels sometimes reveal the purposes of god to us you remember that there were three angels that were dispatched to tell abraham about the judgment of sodom and gomorrah an angel was dispatched to zacharias to tell him he would be the father of john the baptist now i would suggest to you you may have been spoken to before by an angel but you probably didn't know it because here's another thing about angels they're god secret agents they operate under cover they're involved in what we would call special ops right you see they're dispatched to a given place to do a certain task not unlike the navy seals or the army rangers or the green berets or the delta force special forces that are called to accomplish something you don't know when they went in you don't know when they left you don't even necessarily know what they did exactly you just know the job was done that's how angels work they operate under cover doing the work of god so sometimes they're revealing the purposes of god also angels help us to come to salvation and occasionally will guide us an angel played a role in the conversion of cornelius and there may have been times when an angel has actually spoken to you to go do a certain thing but you didn't necessarily know it was an angel case in point an angel told philip to go out to the desert maybe an angel has spoken to you as well number six the angels protect us psalm 34 verse 7 says the angel of the lord guards all who fear him and he rescues them so when you've been in those had those close calls on life and you wonder how you got through it no doubt it was your angel doing the work that god had called him to do but what about when an accident happens what about when a christian dies does that mean that mean that somehow the angel failed in his mission the answer is no god is the one that determines at the end of our death and the date of our birth and in the same way the angel's job is to protect us until our time of departure comes and then the angel's role changes and they are there to escort us to heaven you remember that after lazarus died in the story of lazarus and the rich man the bible says he was carried by angels to abraham's bosom so there is an angelic escort waiting for you when your time to go to heaven comes so we're talking about angels but the title of the message is angels and demons so where did demons come from short answer demons are fallen angels again demons are fallen angels as hard as it is for us to believe there was a rebellion in the angelic world with many of the angels turning against god and becoming evil over in jude chapter 6 we read that the angels did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling they rebelled against god and that rebellion was led by another high-ranking angel by the name of lucifer more on him in a moment but lucifer is the one that led the rebellion of one-third of the angels against god and there are multiple references to this in the bible we read of beelzebub and his demons in matthew 12 24 we we read of the devil and his angels we read of the dragon in his angels in revelation 12 7 and of course jesus said hell is created for the devil and his angels so what is the objective of a demon what does a demon come to do the objective of demons seems to be two-fold number one they are here to excuse me hinder the purposes of god and extend the power of satan again they seek to hinder the purposes of god and extend the power of satan understand when we say oh i was tempted by the devil the other day chances are it wasn't the devil himself and i'll get into this more in my message next sunday when i deal with the topic what the devil doesn't want you to know so you don't want to miss that message now do you but we'll point out in that message that the devil is not god's equal meaning that the devil though he is a powerful spirit being is nowhere near uh being the equal of god which means he can only be in one place at one time while god is on the present he can be everywhere at once lucifer satan the devil can only be in one place at one time therefore when you and i have been tempted how many of you have been tempted raise your hand yeah okay when you were tempted we're all on the same boat here that was probably one of his demons one of his minions doing his dirty work for him and their objective again is to extend his kingdom and try to hinder god's kingdom the apostle paul talked about the fact that he wanted to go to a certain place in first thessalonians 2 18 but satan stopped us paul also spoke in second corinthians 12 about an affliction he had described as a thorn in the flesh and then he went on to say it was a messenger of satan sent to buffet him so demons are there to oppose us as we seek to do the work of god but the question obviously arises well why the devil why is there a devil to begin with and if there is a devil we come to who have come often to think of him as sort of a caricature like a cartoon figure you know red skin pointed ears little horns uh a pitchfork cubes a pointed tail and so forth and they always have the devil wearing a goatee which i personally resent you know why what's with the goatee but this is the image we have of the devil and and because we don't always take him seriously we might dismiss him as a mere metaphor for instance if you're really sick you might say oh man i caught the devil of a cold you know or if you're going with abandoned towards something you might say hey i have a devil may care attitude or if you hate your work one might describe it as having a devil of a job or if you want to blast someone you say give them the devil or if you've done something wrong oh man you have the devil to pay when you want to disagree with someone you'll say allow me for a moment to play the devil's advocate if you're talking about someone who isn't there and they suddenly walk in the room you say speak of the devil which isn't a great thing to have said when you walk into a room and because of this character characterize this caricature of him we can tend to dismiss him but we have to be careful to understand that the bible identifies a real powerful spirit being known as lucifer that is alive and well and is active in the world that we are living in c.s lewis gave this insightful statement about the devil and his demons and i quote there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devil in demons one is to disbelieve in their existence the other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them they themselves lewis says are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight end quote that's so well said you know either we disbelieve and by the way the devil's fine if you don't want to believe in him that's he's good with that he's thinking hey this is great i'll manipulate your life and you don't even think i'm there that's a good deal for me or you can have an unhealthy interest in him and the demon powers and there are some people that see demons behind every rock and everything's about the devil all the time that's an unhealthy thing as well we need a balanced biblical view of who satan is because frankly he loves the attention the devil is the ultimate egotist and we'll tell you why that is true in a moment but we ask the question where did the devil come from uh what are his tactics what are his strengths what are his weaknesses what can he do what can't he do let's answer some of those let's start with number one where did the devil come from or as it's often phrased how could a god of love create someone as horrible as the devil and the very question itself is accusational hey amen what's up with god creating someone as evil as satan why would god do such a thing obviously implying it was a bad decision on the part of god well let's clarify the issue god did not create the devil now the lord created a spirit being known as lucifer the son of the morning a powerful angel but lucifer rebelled against god because he like the other angels like all of humanity was given a free will he exercised that will in the wrong direction and he rebelled against god so lucifer became satan when he rebelled against god so the devil was not created by god the devil became what he is by his own volition but god certainly allowed it when did this happen we don't know for sure but in genesis chapter 1 in verse 31 we read god saw everything that he made and behold it was good and by the time we get to genesis 3 there's this serpent tempting eve so it must have happened between genesis 1 and 3 this great angelic rebellion and it didn't start that way because satan uh also known as lucifer was once a high-ranking angel ezekiel 28 says you were the model of perfection full of wisdom and beauty you were in eden the garden of god and you were anointed as a guardian cherub and so i ordained you you were on the holy mount of god you walked among the fiery stones you were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until wickedness was found in you through your widespread trade you were filled with violence and you sinned so i drove you in disgrace from the mount of god and i expelled you o guardian cherub from among the fiery stones your heart became proud because of your beauty and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor so i threw you to the earth and i made a spectacle of you before kings fascinating set of verses the devil was beautiful magnificent have you ever seen a really beautiful girl or a really handsome guy that knows how attractive they are and everything they do sort of draws attention to themself you know they they've never met a mirror they didn't like and there's everything that's about them the world revolves around them every conversation ultimately ends up being about them that's what lucifer was like he was this magnificent spirit being that clearly was a wonder to behold and actually it was that very beauty that became his downfall he allowed his perfection to be the cause of his corruption you see lucifer was not satisfied with worshipping god he himself wanted to be worshipped and so satan once a beautiful powerful angel of god lost his former exalted position in heaven lucifer became satan when he fell to the earth and that's recorded in isaiah 14 when it says how you are fallen from heaven oh lucifer son of the morning how you are thrown down to the ground you weaken the nations you said in your heart i will ascend to heaven i'll exalt my throne above the stars of god i'll sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north yet jesus said or yet isaiah says rather you will be brought down to hell lucifer means star of the morning which he once was satan means accuser which he now is jesus says i saw satan fall as lightning from heaven and when satan fell he did not fall alone but he took one third of the angels with him now that's the bad news the good news is two-thirds of the angels are still with us we have more angels than he has any no but uh even more importantly we have the lord jesus christ on our side okay so that's the big issue but the devil though he has fallen still has access to heaven how do we know this because we read in the book of job how the angels came to present themselves before the lord and satan was among them and god directed his remarks to the devil himself and said so where have you been and satan said oh i've just been going back and forth across the earth watching everything that's going on that's just so creepy isn't it he's just checking everything out you know the bible describes the devil as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour like a hungry beast of prey he's looking for his next meal he's ready to pounce you know you've seen those uh shows on television where they're lying the pride of lions they're hanging out you know soaking in the rays and and along come the antelopes and they're just kind of sizing them up ah let's see which one am i going to eat today and there's usually that antelope behind all the others you know 20 feet behind the dome though which way do i go in the light saying that looks like lunch to me because i don't want to work too hard and he lunges and the speed at which they can cover ground and once they sink their claws into the prey and drag him down you know it's over with for that animal and in the same way the devil's watching he's looking he's looking for vulnerability he's looking for weakness he's looking for his next prey to bring down that is his basic agenda listen the devil never takes a vacation don't you wish he did wouldn't be great if i could announce to you guess what i just found out the devil is taking august off every year we can have august devil free you know what we would still get ourselves into trouble even without the devil but no the devil doesn't take a month off he doesn't take a week off he doesn't take a day off he doesn't take an hour off he never takes a moment off he's always busy with his well-organized network of demon powers helping him to accomplish his purposes and what is the purpose of the devil a lot of things can be said but let me sum it up this way in the words of jesus he said the thief speaking of satan has come only to steal kill and destroy that's his endgame he may come with some enticing temptation he may come with something that dazzles you that might even have an element of enjoyment in it in the beginning but the end game the ultimate result is to steal kill and destroy why would god allow this to happen why would the lord allow lucifer satan the devil to exist because he gave him a free will and he gave us a free will the devil is described many ways in the bible one illustration one picture of him is he is the dragon revelation 20. he is the dragon the old serpent devil the devil in satan and it was the dragon that took one third of the angels with him in this rebellion number two he is identified as beelzebub beelzebub in fact when jesus was casting demons out of people the pharisees said he did it by the power of beelzebub the prince of the demons the name beelzebub meant lord of the flies and the jews later changed it to lord of the dunghill so that's what satan is the lord of the dunghill he's also identified as the prince of this world jesus said the time of judgment for the world has come when the prince of this world would be cast out and if i'm lifted up from the cross i'll draw everyone to myself this is really important the prince of this world remember when jesus was being tempted by satan and the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and said all this power has been delivered unto me and i can give it to whomever i want and the power of it so if you will just worship me i'll give it to you effectively the enemy was saying jesus i know why you've come you've come to purchase back that which was lost in the garden of eden and i'm going to make you an offer you cannot refuse i'm going to give you what you want it's all yours if you give me the momentary satisfaction of worship i want you to worship me this is what i've always wanted the devil is saying i want to be worshipped of course jesus resisted that temptation but it sums up an interesting point all the kingdoms of the world notice jesus did not refute this the reason he did not refute it is because it was true he is the prince of the power of the air he's also identified as the god of this world so he is the one that controls so much of our culture today have you ever wondered why things are as dark as they are it's because there's a mastermind behind it and it goes deeper than politics or one's political world view we're talking about a spirit power that infiltrates culture a spirit power that infiltrates government a spirit power that infiltrates lives the prince of the power of the air that's who lucifer is and i'll tell you what he he pulls a lot of people down his little primrose path to the basis of temptations he's gotten a lot of mileage out of drug sex and rock and roll hasn't he i'm amazing how amazed how generation after generation takes this one hook line and sinker i mean look at any given fourth of july and you just see all these young kids out there doing the same stupid things that we did when we were kids you know and the sad thing is when they get older their kids are probably going to do the same thing hey let's go out and smoke and drink and party and have sex and and like they're the only generation that ever discovered that you know and i look at the kids doing what they're doing and i think of what i used to do when i was a kid which is pretty much the same thing and i have friends that i went to high school with that stayed in that lifestyle and i gave my life to christ at the age of 17 and went a different direction and then when i reconnect with these people and i look at them some of them even physically how the world has chewed them up and spit them out and they're into the third and fourth marriages and they have substance abuse problems and all kinds of other family problems because of the decisions they've made and you feel like saying well was it worth it was it a good ride did you enjoy it do you know what the end game of the devil is to steal kill and destroy ah but the devil's clever he says oh so you don't like that lure you're not into that bait i've got another one for you because he also comes to us as an angel of light second corinthians 11 13. paul says they're false apostles they have fooled you by disguising themselves as apostles of christ and i'm not surprised for even satan can disguise himself as an angel of light you see there might be a person that will say well i'm not into the immorality i'm not into all these other things i want to be a spiritual person i want to be a moral person i want to be an upright person i want to be a religious person the devil says really oh i've got that covered too i'm an angel of light check out my new age mysticism check out all the beliefs i can offer you and what's really fun is i kind of put things together it's like religious mr potato heads you know customize it oh you don't have to put the eyes here you can put the nose here if you want put the eye on the top of whatever you want it's all good all roads lead to god we all believe basically the same thing come on let's have some fun yeah i'm into spiritual things you're being misled too for the aim the devil can come to you as an angel of light which brings us to our our last description of him he's the father of lies john 8 44 jesus said you belong to your father the devil he's a liar and the father of lies listen sometimes the devil can just outright lie and a person believes it he's like good other people they're a little more discerning so he'll candy coat his lie with enough truth to make it appealing but enough air to make it lethal and here's an illustration of that the text that we've turned to genesis 3 verse 1 here is now the fallen angel lucifer coming to eve as a serpent and tempting her verse 1. now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the lord god had made and he said to the woman has god indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden the woman said to the servant well we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden god has said you shall not eat it nor shall you touch it lest you die then the serpent said you shall not surely die god knows in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like god knowing good and evil and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate she also gave to her husband with her and he ate and the eyes of them both were open and they knew they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings right off the bat we can see where the problem is eve was at the wrong place at the wrong time listening to the wrong voice why was she hanging around the one place god told her to avoid god said to not eat of the forbidden fruit and here's eve just sort of like you know leaning against the tree yeah it seemed like a good place to hang out the one place god said to stay away from it's like telling a little child whatever you do don't open that cookie jar you know what that child's going to do we're the same way so she listened to the wrong voice how does he come as a serpent or a snake you know when i was a kid i was like a snake fanatic i loved snakes i don't know why i'm not really all that fond of them anymore but when i was a young boy i collected snakes of all kinds i had corn snakes and gopher snakes and king snakes and boas i read books about snakes i thought about snakes i talked about them i was a weird kid okay and um i even wanted to become a herpetologist one day someone who studies reptiles i just love them and and so i kept you know cages stopped on cages with all these snakes in them and i would even get my mom to drive me to buy more and she hated the snakes she said one day she was in the house and she saw one of my snakes had gotten out of just sort of slithering across the front room floor she says he was headed toward the glass door and just open it up and let him go and shut it that was my best snake well he's gone now but she put up with it i have no idea why so one day i said will you take me to buy a snake i there's a pet shop that had one i wanted so she drove me in our ford starliner that was a cool old car i saw one on the road the other day perfectly restored and i thought what a great car that was i hated it then but uh now they're a classic you know so we drove in the old ford starliner and we pulled up to the pet store and i got my snake and put him in my little terrarium in the trunk and we drove home and we opened the trunk and the snake was gone the snake had gotten out in the car my mom said i'm never driving that car again and she had to drive it a couple weeks later she was very reluctant afraid the snake was in there still but she got in the car she's oh i hope that snake's not here and she's driving along and she comes to an intersection she's at a red light she's waiting for it to turn and all of a sudden a cold coil drops on her ankle it's a snake oh no she opens up the door of the car puts her other leg out jumps out runs into the intersection screaming there's a snake in the car there's a police officer there man what's wrong there's a snake in the car he goes over to the car he looks up there one of the hoses came loose and fell so guess what she said i'm never driving that car again and she gave me the car here's a tip to you kids you want to get a car lose a snake it'll be yours soon you know snakes are not affectionate animals you know you look at a dog you know where you stand with a dog at any given moment dogs are very upfront with their emotion you know when a dog's happy they even look like they're smiling sometimes you know tongue hanging out of the side of their mouth tail wagging you know when a dog is angry you know when a dog's sad cats i don't know you know hard to read them but snakes are even worse snake no expression you don't know if a snake's happy you don't want to be sad if he's mad you know he just looks at you no eyebrows just hi i'm going to bite you in the face right now i don't know if they feel any emotion their brain is pretty limited you know the cold-blooded animals they tend to like warmth you know that's why you'll find them sending themselves on a stone or they'll wrap around a person's arm preferably their neck if they can't because of the warmth it provides but they are clever and they're able to get out of the tightest little spaces here's another little thing about snakes that's interesting did you know that the venom of a baby rattlesnake is more potent than an adult have you ever seen a baby rattler they're actually kind of cute in a weird way because everything's just miniaturized you know and you're looking to take little red you know oh look at the little baby brother you know you pick him up oh look at his little baby fangs the baby you know yeah it's cute and deadly in the same way we'll say oh look at the little baby sid it's just a small little compromise you know i can do this little thing one time it will never lead to anything else i can handle this one thing watch out now an unguarded strength is a double weakness don't ever say i'll never fall in this one area no matter what shut up that's probably the area you'll end up falling in because you're so arrogant the bible says pride goes before a fall and a haughty spirit before destruction don't ever say i would never fall in this area you don't know what you're capable of okay you just keep your guard up at all times because it's these little deals we make with the devil so to speak meaning the little compromises the small things that we lower our guard on that lead to bigger things later most people did not fall for a big sin straight away it was a series of smaller things that led to the big thing right satan is smart don't underestimate them keep your guard up and watch your thoughts because most temptations are going to start right here the devil's going to come and just say wouldn't it be fun to you have a choice you can say ah no sound effects here a lot of sound effects today i don't know why you have a choice see here's the thing you can be sitting in church with your bible open on your lap listening and all of a sudden the devil comes with just a totally twisted thought and you can't even believe this thought just came here oh whoa hello can anyone see this thing here right now it's just like this is not good and then the devil he's so clever he says how could you actually think that sitting in church what's wrong with you i don't know you know you are such a hypocrite yeah i guess i am you ought to get up and leave right now i think go get up and leave right stop that listen it's not a sin to be tempted the sin is not in the bait it's in the bite just because bait was dangled before you doesn't mean you've done anything wrong let me restate that if you never get tempted i wonder what's wrong with you the very fact that you are moving forward spiritually means you will get tempted because the devil wants to bring you down so if you face temptation and attack that probably means you're doing something right and the devil will come with things that are enticing things that are appealing remember that verse says the tree was good for food and pleasant to the eyes that fruit looked good man and by the way the bible doesn't say it was an apple where did that come from you know when he day of the apple i've heard preachers say when she ate the apple stop with the apple there's no apple i'm not against apples and i'm not against cats either but i am against cats eating apples that is bad no but here's the thing an apple would appeal to some people but not everyone loves apples i'm not a big apple fan now a nectarine that would tempt me you see but i suggest it was a piece of fruit like you've never seen before probably pulsated whoa what is this oh listen what is this this is fruit if you eat of it it tastes great it looks great and you'll become a god eve you'll be a goddess okay you will know as much as god in heaven knows in fact god's keeping you back from something if god really loved you he would let you eat of this forbidden fruit satan will say the same thing to us and the fact you know what if god really loved you he'd let you do whatever you want to do if god really loved you he would allow you to chase after whatever passion interests you if god really loved you he wouldn't have allowed this to happen to you that's what he was doing with eve he was challenging the word of god he was challenging the love of god for her and she gave in but we must resist we must not even allow that thought to enter into our own thought processes and end up wanting that thing and even worse doing that thing and those temptations are going to come and they're never going to stop and they're going to change and he's going to adapt just like if you're you know playing tennis with someone and you're rallying for serves so you're just the balls going back and forth across the net and you go oh they're kind of weak back there oh there's another vulnerability so you know you're going to play with them for a bit and then you're going to start scoring points because you want to win the game so the devil will well let's rally for serve let's see what you got okay oh you're strong there oh you're strong here so oh you're weak there oh you're weak over here too okay good god good to know that then he'll start lobbing him here and lobbing oh i see that area where you were strong you're not as strong as you were before i'm gonna hit you here now it's always gonna keep coming okay so that's why we have to always keep our guard up the devil never takes a day off and we can't take a day off from spiritual battle the christian life is not a playground it's a battleground and we are either winning or losing we're either advancing or retreating so let's keep our guards up let's keep our minds protected because the bible tells us that we are to bring every thought into the captivity of the obedience of jesus christ so the devil attacks eve she gives into it the devil attacks us now here's how his strategy works and he have to admit it's quite clever first he'll come as the enticer then he'll come as the accuser let me repeat that fruits will come as the enticer the temptor then you'll come as the accuser it starts like this he'll whisper in your ear you know what you deserve a break today you you worked so hard you know you you're such a committed christian oh by the way i'm so proud of you too you're doing a great job you're so holy and you're so wonderful in fact you're so strong it wouldn't even matter if you compromise in this little area or give give in a little over here because i mean look how strong you are and it'll be fun and you know what besides everybody else is doing it and i'll tell you what i won't tell anyone if you won't just do it once come on so you say no no okay and you do it now the devil comes back to you and says you pathetic hypocrite look at you you call yourself a christian after what you just did you call yourself a follower of jesus don't even think about showing your ugly face in church again don't open the bible that would be so hypocritical to read the bible don't pray don't you dare call out to god that would be so wrong and you know the thing is we'll listen to this stuff and we'll believe this stuff this is his strategy first he's attempted then he comes to us as the accuser the bible calls him the one who accuses us before god day and night so here's the thing when you sin you're going to feel guilt and that's a good thing did you know guilt can be good you know what guilt is it means your conscience is working the time to be concerned is when you don't feel guilt the time to be concerned is when you can sin against god again and again and feel no remorse or sense of wrongdoing because the bible says in hebrews whom the lord loves he chastens which means that when you as son or daughter goes astray the holy spirit will convict you of your sin and say that's wrong he'll call you on it because he loves you don't do that that's wrong stop it now just like a father just like a mother reproves their child you know i correct my own children i don't correct someone else's though i would like to at times you know you see a child talking back to his mom and just being naughty and you feel like saying let me step in here no you can't do that that's not my privilege but it is with my children in the same way god disciplines his own children so if you're without discipline if you can do things that you know are wrong and you don't feel remorse i have to wonder are you a child of god but if you feel busted the moment you cross the line and come under the conviction of the spirit i say hallelujah your conscience is working and the spirit is working now here's what we need to know when i feel bad for the wrong that i've done i need to respond appropriately we need to know the difference between the spirit conviction and the devil's accusations the devil will use your sins in a hateful way to drive you away from the cross the holy spirit will convict you of your sins in a loving way to bring you to the cross let me put it another way satan will always try to keep you from the cross the holy spirit will always bring you to the cross here's how it works you've sinned you know you've sent oh no i can't believe i just did that okay the devil says run go get away don't go to god holy spirit says repent now so right there in the spot lord i'm sorry i know that was wrong i repent of that sin i ask you to forgive me right now in jesus name that's what you need to do go straight to the cross the devil's saying no don't do that don't do don't why because he knows that when you're forgiven you're right with god and then after you've asked god for forgiveness you don't need to keep going over and over it again you should not choose to remember what god has chosen to forget your god has a big eraser and if he's used it in your life then be thankful your sin is not only forgiven but it's forgotten because god has said their sins and iniquities will i remember no more but in contrast oh the devil will try to drive you away in despair don't listen to him as i pointed out he is a liar and he is the father of lies illustration judas and peter both of them in their own way betrayed the lord on that night judas betrayed jesus for 30 pieces of silver peter denied knowing christ and i believe that if judas had wanted it he could have been forgiven by jesus don't you think here's why i believe that because in the garden of gethsemane when judas came to identify jesus as the one the authorities were looking for and he would do so by kissing him jesus said to him friend why have you come jesus was god he knew all things he knew what judas was doing if you knew a guy was coming to betray you would you say friend why have you come i'd say i'm going to strangle you right now that's what i'm going to do no jesus offered him a final act of forgiveness and had judas accepted it he could have been forgiven on the spot but no he kisses jesus and then he realizes what he has done but he never repents of his sin and he weeps and he hangs himself because he listened to the wrong voice simon peter he denied knowing the lord he did it not once not twice three times and took an oath which means in effect he said i swear to god i never knew jesus and then he made eye contact with the lord after he said that he went and wept but then he stayed with his christian friends and he turned to the lord and jesus forgave him he listened to the right voice and did the right thing see so we have a choice we're all going to sin it's not a matter of if it's a matter of when the bible says if we say we have no sin we deceive ourself and the truth is not in us we will sin the question is what are we going to do when we sin are we going to listen to the wrong voice and do the wrong thing are we going to listen to the right voice and do the right thing the wrong voice the devil would drive us from jesus from church from fellowship from the word of god from everything that could help us and say go feel sorry for yourself poor you life's been so mean to you if we listen to the right voice it'll take us to the word of god to church to our christian friends to the lord in prayer to forgiveness and restoration in a relationship with god it's my choice who i listen to and maybe you've joined us here today and most of you have at least physically this man here has fallen asleep in the second row but he was just awakened by my bright green shirt it just was it st patrick's day welcome back sir actually he did and i just made that all up but it entertained me um but maybe as you're listening to this message you're thinking well i do feel guilty for my sin and i feel unworthy and and i don't feel like i'm good enough to be a christian well first of all let me say you are unworthy you don't deserve it but i don't either you don't deserve god's love nor do i but god does love you and he will forgive you because 2000 years ago jesus went to a cross and took the penalty for every wrong you've ever done upon himself he took every sin that every one of us had committed and he paid the price for it and he rose again from the dead and i don't care what you've done jesus christ the living son of god will forgive you right now if you will acknowledge your sin and turn from it and put your faith in him but the bible says in verse john 1 9 if we confess our sin he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness you can believe in jesus now and be forgiven or you can live in guilt and you can live in remorse and you can live in despair and hope and hopefully you won't do this but you could potentially end up like judas and do the wrong thing come and find forgiveness today and if you've never asked christ to come into your life i encourage you to do so right now and if you've asked him into your life but maybe you've been living a compromised life you've been playing with those baby rattlers so to speak and have turned out to have a pretty potent bite you don't know quite how you've gotten into the mess you're in but you would like to get out of it i'm going to ask you to call out to the lord today as we close now in prayer let's all bow our heads and father i pray for every person here every person listening to this message help each one to put their faith in you and find your forgiveness this moment we ask in jesus name well our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying how many of you would say today greg pray for me i'm ready to say yes to jesus i'm tired of living in guilt and despair and remorse i want to be forgiven i want a fresh chance in life a second chance i want my slate wiped clean pray for me i'm ready to ask jesus christ to come into my life if that's your desire wherever you're sitting would you lift your hand up if you want christ to come into your life you want him to forgive you of your sin just lift your hand up and i'll pray for you god bless you lift it up where i can see it please god bless you up there in the balcony god bless you too up there on the balcony god bless over here on the side god bless you god bless each one of you anybody else in the very back god bless you god bless you all of you over here on the side up in the balcony you want to make this commitment to christ lift your hand up let me pray for you if you're out in the amphitheater there i can't see you but i'd ask you to lift your hand up as well taking the step of faith if you're in our building we call the court you lift your hand too maybe you've fallen away from the lord you know you've been trying to live in these two worlds and you know what's right and you're not doing it and you're ready to repent of that and totally commit your life to christ a re-commitment would be in order if that's your desire if you want to make a re-commitment to christ you lift your hand up right now i'm going to pray for you god bless god bless all of you god bless you lord thank you now for each one of these i pray you'll give them the strength to stand up and follow you and receive all that you have for them for we ask it in jesus name amen

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 43,011

Rating: 4.9067526 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, harvest christian fellowship, greg laurie sermons, bible study for me, bible study, youtube sermons, greg laurie, greg laurie live, angels are all around us, do we have guardian angels, do we turn into angels when we die, do we turn into angels, what jesus said about angels, what the bible says about angels, how to contact my angel

Id: nFs9XPB7aag

Length: 48min 34sec (2914 seconds)

Published: Thu May 20 2021