Walking Away From Christianity (With Greg Laurie)

hey everybody thanks for watching our YouTube channel we're constantly updating it with new content and never-seen-before content so if you want to get the latest from harvest hit the subscribe button good-evening good-evening I got a letter recently from someone who was talking about their family and they're all believers and he said to his mother mama you need to go back to a midweek because Sunday has already worn off and you know you get it like you need it you need to go to church right and I'm so glad that we can have a midweek Bible study here and dig into the Word of God does that really help so let's pray together Lord we ask your blessing now on this time of Bible study because we know that there's a devil and we know that he's powerful and we know that he wants to trip us up and bring us down but we also know that we serve you our God and you're more powerful and you give us everything we need for life and godliness so really when it's all said and done the choice is ours if we want to walk with you we will not perfectly a will stumble we'll make mistakes but if we want to walk with you we will and if we don't well we won't and so we pray now that you will help us to see practical steps that we can take so we will never stumble or fall spiritually we commit this time a Bible study to you in Jesus name we pray amen all right you can be seated how many of you brought our Bible with you to church tonight like this year Bible are good pretty good there are lots of Bibles good and you know little tablets and phones count too as long as you're not playing a video game or texting okay so but turning your Bible to two chapters from the New Testament two gospel chapters John 18 and Luke 22 again the Gospel of John chapter 18 and Luke chapter 22 in the title of my message is how to never stumble or fall quick question have you ever fallen unexpectedly now you girls with your shoes you know a little bit about this some of these heels are so high you almost need a ladder to get up to them but maybe you tripped or you fell in some way shape or form my Apple watch thought I fell the other day because I clapped very loudly and then I looked and noticed it was calling 911 I didn't fall but the other day I was playing racquetball and and I went for some shot and I missed it and I canna pivot it when airborne and landed flat on my back upstairs there's a kinda treadmill he stopped and he said are you okay and I'm laying there on the ground game yeah I'm okay I didn't plan on doing that so sometimes we don't know when we're going to fall well spiritually we can fall as well and the Bible calls this backsliding now we don't hear that word so much today but it's a biblical word backsliding obviously it implies going backwards Jeremiah 2:19 says God speaking your wickedness will punish you your backsliding will rebuke you consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord your God and you have no of me declares the Lord God Almighty so this can happen to people and we've seen it happen to people Jeremiah 322 the Lord says return faithless people and I will cure you of your backsliding and then the people say yes we will come to you for you are the Lord our God what we must understand about backsliding is if you're not moving forward you're effectively and potentially starting to go backwards the Christian life is one of constant growth constant momentum constant transformation constant learning when you stop doing that that is when you will start to slow down it won't necessarily happen overnight you're not just fired up for Christ one day in the next morning you wake up and say well I'm going to abandon my faith sometimes it seems way when you look at some people because seemingly out of nowhere they'll say I'm not a Christian anymore a well-known Christian author recently came out publicly on his Instagram page and said I'm no longer a Christian and people don't know how to deal with that well what does that mean how do you suddenly say that you're no longer a Christian I would suggest to you that the steps that led to that individuals fall started quite a while ago but here's something to consider one of the signs of the times in other words one of the signs of the end times and the last days is people will fall away from the faith 1st Timothy 4:1 says the spirit speaks clearly then in the last time some will turn away from the faith and they'll follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons and I think an indication that you might be on the wrong path is when you begin to question scripture let me rephrase that maybe it's when you begin to challenge Scripture everyone questions scripture I averse as I come to and I say well I don't understand that I need to know a little bit more about that I need to study that a little bit more deeply so it's not a bad thing to come to a verse and say I want more information on it but then you start to challenge scripture where you effectively say well I know the Bible says this about that but I don't know if I really agree with that and I see it a little bit differently and maybe you think of yourself as being very progressive and so forth but their reality is that's a very very dangerous thing and that's exactly how God excuse me that's exactly how Satan brought Adam and Eve down on the garden you remember they were there in that beautiful paradise and the Lord told them they could eat of any fruit of any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and then we find out him and Eve hanging around that very tree God told them to not eat the fruit up and then the devil comes to them and specifically the Eve says has God really told you you can't eat of every tree in the garden so he's challenging the very word of God she took the bait and of course eat the forbidden fruit and sin entered the human race but the point is it started with doubting and challenging the Word of God now the question that sometimes is asked is can a Christian lose their salvation I think the better question to ask is did they have salvation to begin with let me say that again maybe the question is not so much did someone lose their salvation as much as it is did they even have salvation here's the thing people will stumble who are Christians people will mess up who are Christians people who can fall into sin despite the fact that they are Christian but if they're a Christian they will turn from that sin and return to the Lord and if they don't return to the Lord I suggest to you they were never a Christian at all my mother man she was the ultimate prodigal daughter raised in a Christian home and yes you went to church Sunday and Wednesday and Sunday night as well and my mom had a major drug problem when she was a kid her parents drug her to church and Sunday and drug her to church on Wednesday so she rebelled against it now some of her sisters my aunts didn't rebel and went on to walk with the Lord but my mother who was blessed with incredible beauty and that's why I'm handsome I'm delusional also but Tom she went off you know to live the high life the life of whatever she thought it was gonna be and and she lived most of her life apart from God heavy drinker alcoholic married it over seven times I've told you these things but at the end of her life she returned to the Lord and that's because she was a prodigal and if you're a real child of God you'll ultimately return home again bringing me to point number two a true believer may stumble but they'll ultimately return to God by the way if you missed it point number one was a sign of the end times his people will fall away from the faith point number two a true believer may stumble but they will ultimately return to God and if they don't return to God then they were never really a believer I've written a new book on Johnny Cash and some of you might ask why are you writing a book about Johnny Cash well I've always been fascinated by him he's an interesting character isn't he the man in black he's been called The Godfather of cool he's been described as The Voice of America but he's a person of many contradictions Johnny cut himself into a lot of trouble you might say that Johnny had an angel on his shoulder and the devil at his back Johnny had God on speed dial because he was always getting himself in to trouble listen to this by an oh my his own estimation he had wrecked virtually every car he had ever owned he totaled two Jeeps in a camper over tuned to tractors and a bulldozer he sank two boats in separate incidents and one sleep from a truck before it went over the side of a 600 foot cliff and that was Monday now seriously now we think he was a hardened criminal because he went saying the lyric from Folsom city blur Folsom Prison Blues I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die right well he never shot anyone he that was just a lyric but he did get arrested and he had a problem with em feta means and a lot of other problems in his life and but yet today many sinners think he's a saint it's interesting how many rockers regard Johnny with a lot of admiration people like Bono Trent Reznor Oh Keith Richards and Elvis of course thought Johnny was something very special about too many believers it seems like was this guy even a Christian well actually he was he's singing at Billy Graham Crusades he ended up becoming an ordained minister he was just a man of contradictions I think he said it best himself he said sometimes I'm to people Johnny is a nice one and Cash's cash calls all causes all of my trouble and they fight and that's true you know we're all kind of two people we have two nature's that are constantly battling Minds even an old farmer who had two dogs who were always fighting and he said to someone you know these dogs always fight but I determine which dog will win the stranger said how do you decide which dog will win the farmer said the dog I feed the most always wins so you have two natures you have a new nature that came and you became a follower of Christ and you have an old nature that is inclined to do sinful things what nature will win in the spiritual battle the one you feed the most and if you feed that new nature you'll grow spiritually and you'll go forward point number 3 the best way to not go backwards is to always be going forward the best way to not go backwards is to always be going forward I'm not suggesting you earn your salvation salvation is a gift from God to you purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross the Bible says it's my grace you're saved through faith not of works lest any man should boast but yet the Bible also says in Philippians 2:12 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling that does not say work for your own salvation you don't need to do that it's a gift but it does say work out your own salvation and a better translation would be carry it to the goal and complete so the idea is God's giving you salvation now live that out in your life and in fact God has given you everything you need to live a successful Christian life 2nd Peter 1:3 says by His divine power God has given us everything we need to live a godly life then Peter goes on and tells us to develop our faith and our moral excellence and growing our knowledge and our endurance and our love for others in effect he's telling us we should constantly be growing spiritually and then Peter says in 2nd Peter 1:11 if you do these things you will never fall away and God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so I think that the author of the Epistle of Peter knows what he's talking about because the author of the Epistle is Peter and Peter knew a little bit about falling away didn't he in fact he probably has one of the most famous downfalls in all of Scripture and we all know about his denial of the Lord we're three times he openly denied Jesus Christ and that's what we're gonna focus on right now how that happened to Simon Peter so we're gonna start in Luke chapter 22 and I'm gonna read from verse 31 and by the way this is a statement that Christ made to Peter when they were in the upper room so looked at Luke 22 so Jesus says to Peter Simon Simon Satan is asked to sift you as wheat but I have pleaded and prayer for you Simon that your faith should not fail and when you have repented and turned to me again strengthen your brothers verse 33 Peter said Lord I'm ready to go to prison with you and even did time with you and Jesus said Peter let me tell you something before the rooster crows tomorrow morning you will deny three times that you even knew me okay so picture the scene here's Jesus and the Apostles in the upper room jesus is not acting as he normally does he looks upset he looks agitated he looks concerned and so they don't know what's going on but they know something's not right and then here they are just kind of hanging around and Jesus says to Peter Peter Satan has been asking for you by name would that freak you out if Jesus said that to you man jeers hanging around with Jesus having some coffee well Lord it's so great to be with you yeah let me tell you something the devil's been asking for you by name what what yeah he has by name you Satan Lucifer the big guy himself he has been asking for you by name I wonder if he just pause for effect there let that sink in there but then he goes on to say but I have prayed for you I appraise you that your faith should not fail and when you have repented and turn to me again you'll strengthen your brother so Jesus just predicted that don't fall a Peter buddy you're gonna fall away that's a bad news the good news is you're gonna return again and then you're gonna be able to strengthen others now we need to understand that when we're tempted how many of you ever been tempted to sin raise your hand up okay right that's up how many of you have never been you've never been tempted to sin okay didn't think so all right so when you're tempted it's highly doubtful Satan himself tempt you even though we'll say oh the devil tempted me it's probably not the devil that tempted you but one of his demons because the devil can only be in one place at one time he's not the equal of God he's not not omniscient he can be a one place at one time if if Satan's in Irvine he can't be in San Francisco and if he's in San Francisco I can't be in Moscow if he's in Moscow he can't be in wherever you know he can be in one place at one time but he has a well-organized network of demon powers minions not those minions that do his bidding okay so you were probably tempted by a demon and I bring that up because Jesus actually said Satan himself he's been asking for you by name Wow kind of a compliment peter was such a big fish Herman that Satan himself came knocking I want that boy I want you to give him to me Jesus says there's no way there's no way but I just want you to know that Peter he's effectively Saint Peter I know you better than you know yourself I know your weakness I know your vulnerability yet I have prayed for you and here's the good news Jesus Christ is interceding for you as well the Bible tells us that he Christ lives to make intercession for us now what did Peter or Jesus pray for Peter did he pray he wouldn't go through this time of testing in the first place no he prayed that his faith would not fail you can say Lord don't let me ever through hardship don't let me ever go through a time of testing sorry he's not gonna answer their prayer in the affirmative what you need to pray is Lord I know there's gonna be hardship and difficulty in life because you told me in this world you will have tribulation here's what I'm praying that you'll help me get through it stronger and closer to you and so that's exactly what Jesus was saying I'm praying for you that your faith would not fail so how did this happen well let's go now to our chapter it started and if you're taking notice point number one this beginning of Peters fall do not start with this open denial it started earlier it started with self confidence let's go back to that scene in the upper room verse 33 Peter says Lord I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death and Jesus says before the rooster is crowed you'll deny three times that you know me Peter also said according to Matthews gospel even if all Armada stumble because of you I'll never be made to stumble now the reason this whole conversation began was because Jesus had revealed that Judas Iscariot was a traitor one of he's gonna betray me qu the guy have my chip and the salsa with right now now he was dipping in the sauces I'm just updating it to Mexican food and at that moment there's Jesus with his chip in the salsa and Judas has his chip in the same salsa he don't double dip man okay but there he is and there's Judas I don't you know yeah and what does Jesus saying whatever you do do it quickly just get out of here do it get on with it and so Judas leaves so now Peter says oh this is horrible I would never do that Lord and then he makes this huge mistake even if all denied you I would never deny you never make yourself look better at the expense of others some people do that oh well I accomplished this and you know you want to top everybody else you want to be better than everybody else and you're like Emeka big issue of that's a Peter was in the gunner know about James and John I don't know about some of these other guys but you can depend on me Simon Peter Jesus says so since you brought it up Simon Peter before the rooster is crowed you'll deny three times that you ever knew me it started with self confidence ascend all falls that happen to us start when we think it will never happen to us well it won't happen to me I love God too much do you I mean I'm not telling you love God but you need to know your own weakness you need to know your own vulnerability you need to know that you could be the next person falling and so self confidence the Bible says pride goes before a fall so if you see somebody else that falls don't say look at them light weight I'd never do that we're wouldn't you hey you might be worse that's why the Bible tells us if we see a brother or a sister who's overtaken in a fault you who are spiritual it says should in a spirit of weakness go and restore that person why in the spirit of weakness because one day it could be you one day it could be you that needs someone to help you get up again and so self-confidence and pride was really the first sin number two his next step down was prayerlessness I'm not even sure if that's a word but I say it is from now on or lack of prayer whatever you want to call it prayerlessness Luke 22 verse 39 we read that coming out they went to the Mount of Olives as he was a custom and his disciples followed him and he came to that place and said to them pray that you do not enter into temptation he's addressing Peter James and John now who are with him and he was withdrawn from them a stone's throw and he knelt down in prayer saying father if it is your will take this cup away from me nevertheless not my will but yours be done when he rose up from prayer he came to his disciples and he found them sleeping from sorrow and he said why did you sleep rise and pray les you enter in to temptation so this prayerlessness was a direct result of the first sin of self-confidence Jesus told them to pray and instead they slept no let's understand they were drained emotionally and didn't know what was going on they were sleeping from their sorrow after all their hero their Lord their master had just told them he was going to die but they slept when they should have been praying and you know I think we pray when we feel we have to pray oh you just got that bad news from the doctor man I'm praying and I'm gonna get everyone praying for me and you have another situation will you pray for me I need prayer but then when things are going reasonably well are you still praying is that only a crisis that gets you praying is that the thing that gets you on your knees well they were sleeping when they should have been praying and bad things were coming their way at this very moment and that brings us over to John chapter 18 let me set the scene there in the Garden of Gethsemane and suddenly they hear a noise and here comes basically a small army to arrest Jesus it's a temple guard along with Roman soldiers being led by Judas Iscariot and they approach Christ Peter sees this he's so ticked off at Judas he pulls out his sword and takes his swing at the guy who was probably closest to Jesus who has identified as Malchus and he cuts off the ear of Malchus and so that's what has happened to sort of set this scene let's read it now John 18 starting to verse 15 I'm reading from the New Living Translation Simon Peter followed Jesus as did another that's us of the disciples the other disciple was acquainted with a high priest by the way this is John speaking autobiographically in other words he is the other disciple so it's Peter and John and so John say and I knew the high priest and they entered the high priests courtyard with Jesus Peter had to stay outside the gate then the disciples he neither pree spoke to the woman watching at the gate she let Peter in the woman asked Peter you're not one of that man's disciples are you no he said I am NOT because it was cold the household servants and the guards made the charcoal fire he stood around it warming themselves and Peter stood with them warming himself his third step down was following at a distance or keeping his distance from Jesus step number one was self-confidence step number two was prayerlessness step number three keeping his distance was with from Jesus verse 15 Simon Peter followed Jesus so did the other disciple say say well wait he was following Jesus right nobody was following at a distance that's the problem and this is the struggle of the Christian you know when we're out of fellowship with God we're tormented you know when you're a non-believer you just don't know any better you just think this is life life sucks what am I expecting but when you were a Christian you know better you know what it is to walk in forgiveness you know what it is to wake up with peace in your heart you know what it is to have a clear mind you know what it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit you know what it is to have Christ at the center of your life so when you fall from that it's hard for you because you're never gonna be happy and sin again because you've tasted of the living water David fell into sin with Bathsheba he didn't confess it for a long time and he writes about it and some 32 verse 3 he says I kept it all inside and my words became day long groans their pressure never let up all the juices of my life dried up that's a modern translation I think it's a fascinating phrase all the juices of my life dried up and then I let it all out and I said God I have failed and so that's how it is you have to get to that point this distance from the Lord and closeness and fellowship was always will always be at the foundation of all spiritual you see Simon had a dual nature his given name was Simon Jesus gave him a new name Peter he wasn't always Peter he was Simon Jesus that I have a new name for you buddy I'm gonna call you Peter I think somebody might have laughed when he said that by the way cuz Peter means rock and if there's anything Simon wasn't it was a rock so when Jesus comes and says it'd be like going to a you know a scrawny tiny little dude and saying your new nickname is the Hulk really but he's so little yeah you're the Hulk as far as I'm concerned and that was the same coming to Peter you are rock you're someone of stability someone of strength well would take him time to grow into that name sometimes he acted more like Simon and other times he acted more like the rock but at least he was following but he was at a distance you know sometimes I'll say well I don't know that I need to be with God's people all the time you know I I'll go hang up with these other people and do these other things and a lot of times that's where you can get yourself into trouble see Peter was with the wrong people at the wrong place at the wrong time and he ultimately did the wrong thing that's why someone says blessed are happy as the man excusing who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful Peter was there by the fire of the enemy if you will warming himself at a distance from the Lord and it's often the ones that are the stragglers and are not hanging out with godly people that get picked off you watch it on those shows in television you know you see the line he's out looking for lunch and there go the gazelle they run they jump they run they jump you know and there's one guy that you know a hundred feet behind the room dude oh dude that's lunch that straggler don't be a straggler don't be the person who's following at a distance a - Simon was at this moment and that brought him to warming himself for the enemy's fire verse 18 they stood around it warming themselves and now a woman comes up to him and says number 17 you're not one of that man's disciples are you and he said no I'm not now you would have thought when he those words left his nothing that I can't believe it I Jesus said I would do this and I just did it my next question would have been are there any roosters around here Jesus said something about a rooster yeah so first he denies it you would have thought he but it got out of there as quickly as possible let me ask you have you ever been in a situation where you are tempted you know it's a bad deal but just stay there anyway you keep the dialogue going you stay in the compromised environment that's what Peter was doing he should have just gotten out of there as quickly as he could but he's still hanging out and that brings us to his next step down verse 25 as he was standing by the fire warming himself another asked him you're not one of his disciples are you he denied it saying no I am NOT now listen to this then one of the household slaves of a high priest a relative of the men whose ear Peter had cut off said didn't I see you over in the olive grove with Jesus and immediately a rooster crow wow so I know you were there you're the guy that cut off the ear of Malchus oh yeah the Bible says your sin will find you out and that was happening here for sure here's an interesting thing a full hour passed between the second and third denial an hour we think maybe it just happened in rapid succession and ever knew my never knew my never knew no not at all he denies him a little time passes he denies him again now a whole hour passes that's a lot of time to think it's also enough time to get out of there but again he denies him for the third time and then the rooster crows and we read that he began to curse and swear that's in Matthew's Gospel he be end again to curse and swear and his denial and said I never knew the man I say well why did he curse and swear because at this point he was too quino's it's not like he was using profanity it's not what it was that's not what the phrase means to curse and swear it means it taken oath and perhaps is the most radical expression of taking the Lord's name in vain Peter in effect said I swear to God and may god damn me if I'm not telling you the truth I never knew Jesus Wow and guess what happened then Jesus was led out of the inner area where he was and he walked right by Peter and they made eye contact right when he said I never knew Jesus there's Jesus looking at Peter he's just I mean would you do and we read Jesus looked at Peter you wonder how did how did he look there's a lot of looks you can give her person you know when you're married you get these little looks down you know Cathy might be saying something and I'll say I just can't open my eyes up really why go like seriously please don't or it might be another look but this was a distinct expression that Jesus gave to Peter it could be better translated he look right through him have you ever had someone look right through you let me rephrase the question do you have a mother and when you were younger you got home late or maybe some of you are this young still and your mom says where have you been nowhere mom look at me where have you been well my boys are younger I had a little trick I used on them it worked a few times sunday got wise to it I knew they'd been up to something but I didn't know what and I'd say what have you been doing nothing that I already know what you've been doing so I'm gonna give you a choice you can tell me and then you won't get in as much trouble or you can lie to me and you'll get into more trouble and they confess things I didn't know it was great they finally figured I was a bluff so you might try it it only works for a short time but sometimes they did know things okay he looked right through him so it was a look of anger it was a look of condemnation it was a look of scorn right I don't think so I think he looked right through him and I don't think it was then I told you so look and he did tell him he could have said didn't I say this right and only goes that either I think it was a look of love I think it was a look of compassion like man I love you still Peter and that's what broke Peters heart because he wearied after that he went out and wept bitterly so here's the question did Peter deny the Lord yes did he fail yes was he a believer yes and we need to remember what else Jesus said to him he said not only would he deny him but when he was converted he would come back he would return and strengthen others in other words his setback was temporary Peter would be back have you messed up yes okay do you think that's the end did it ever occur to you that your setback could be a setup that God could take that mistake you made and it was a mistake and if you would own it and admit it and confess it that God could use you to help other people who have fallen as well strengthen your brothers you know I think it's very important when we tell people about our faith in Jesus Christ that we don't present ourself as some perfect person because we're far from it don't we know that and I don't think it's a bad thing to admit your vulnerability and admit your weaknesses but at the same time acknowledge the power of Jesus Christ who has changed you and is still changing you strengthen your brothers what have you come through have you gone through a hardship God can use you to strengthen others I was talking with a couple last night good friends of ours sadly had their child died she was an adult but he losing a child is losing a child and I told them you know God is gonna use you in the days ahead to bring comfort to people a comfort that you were not able to bring before because of the pain that you're going through so we have a choice when we go through hardship we have a choice when we go through affliction or difficulty in life we can just get angry at God and walk away from God and walk away from Christians or we can just say I don't know why you let it happen but I'm not gonna waste this pain and I'm gonna use it as a tool to help other people because if you preach to hurting people you'll never lack for an audience and there's a lot of hurting people aren't there and so Peter was getting this and of course he writes the first and second epistles of Peter he had a lot to say so when Peter says hey listen to me now if you do these things you'll never stumble or fall I'm very interested in what he has to say because in fact he stumbled and fell and to the point he openly denied that he ever knew Jesus Christ but here's the thing I love about the narrative Jesus is crucified Peter thinks that's it I failed him now he's dead I'll never see him again three days later Christ rises from the dead and what is the message from the Angels to Mary they say go tell the disciples and Peter he goes before you into Galilee and there you will see him have you ever noticed its end Peter it's not go tell the disciples and James and John it's not go tell the disciples in Matthew go tell the disciples and Peter why Peter Peter needed a word of encouragement he's down man I blew it I'm done oh by the way let everybody know and especially Peter I'm risen and I'll meet him in Galilee and I'm looking forward to seeing him and he did see him you remember the story in John 21 they had an extended conversation you can read that later and Jesus recommission Peter I love it so when a person has fallen they can get up again the question is do they want to get up not everybody does not everybody wants to be free from sin now that every alcoholic wants to live a clean life not every drug addict wants to be free from drugs not every homeless person wants to get off the streets a lot of people want to stay in the lifestyle and this sin they're in and it's very hard to help somebody that doesn't want your help I'm not saying you shouldn't offer it I'm just saying you have to understand they have to want your help that's why you need to pray for them remember that guy who hung out by the pool of siloam he couldn't walk Jesus walks up to him and says would you like to be made whole what kind of question is that yeah yeah I sit down here by the pool of siloam because there's a rumor around that says that occasionally an angel will come and stir up the water and if you're close to the water you'll be healed so I'm here obvious they want to be made whole but why did Jesus ask him do you want to be made whole because not everybody wants to be made whole God won't force his way into your life he won't force you to be forgiven he won't force you to be restored he won't force you to believe but he'll offer it to you but we have to reach out and take his hand and say yes I need it is there someone listening to me right now that has tripped up and fell I mean you're here which is a good sign or you're listening and you're watching but you have slipped and fallen and you don't know how to get up you don't know how to get right with God let's say what you need to do is just admit your sin and he will forgive you he's never stopped loving you even for a moment and by the way he knew you were gonna do it before you did it but his death on the cross and his blood that was shed is more than enough to cover that sin and any other sin you can commit in life but the Bible says if you'll confess your sin he's faithful and just to forgive you your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness so I have to confess it what does that even mean means I agree with God I see it the way God sees it I agree with his opinion yes Lord I know it's wrong I'm trying to make an excuse for right and I want to turn from it and I want you to forgive me if you will do that he'll forgive you and there might be someone here tonight that has fallen away from the Lord you want to come back to him again you seek no Greg it's too late for me no it isn't well I've already said I don't believe in Jesus anymore so what Peter said that too but he came back to the Lord didn't he and you can too no matter what you've said no matter what you've done you can be forgiven you can have a second chance and there might be somebody here that has never asked Jesus Christ to come into their life you've never asked him to be your Savior your Lord your friend your God Jesus who died in that cross and rose again from the dead stands at the door of your life right now and he nods and says if you hear his voice and open the door he'll come in if you need to open the door of your heart so to speak you can do it right now and ask Jesus to come in and you can walk out of here a changed person so do you want to be made whole do you want to be forgiven do you want to change your eternal address from Hell to heaven that's entirely up to you God wants you to spend all eternity with him he wants to begin a new relationship with you because he loves you but you need to say yes Lord I want you in my life so in a moment we're gonna pray and I'm going to extend an invitation for you to believe in Jesus and I'm also going to extend an invitation for you who need to to come back to Jesus because maybe you've backslidden maybe you've fallen away but you can come back right here right now let's all pray father I pray for every person here I pray for every person listening every person watching wherever they may be if they don't know you help them to come to you and if they've fallen away from you help them to return to you so we commit each one to you now in Jesus name now when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying how many of you would say tonight Greg I need Jesus in my life I want to be forgiven of my sin I want to go to heaven when I die I want this relationship with God you've been talking about I'm ready to say to Jesus come into my life if that's your desire if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life and if you want him to forgive you of your sin would you raise your hand up right now wherever you are and I'll pray for you just raise your hand up high where I can see it come bless you god bless you and you and you and you and you god bless you quite a few hands are going up right now you want this relationship of God raise your hand up I'll pray for you god bless each one of you anybody else he won't force this in your life you must want it but he'll give you his forgiveness raise your hand up let me pray for you if you want Jesus in your life tonight god bless you when our heads are still bowed how many would say and i backslidden you've been talking to me tonight I've messed up but I want to come back to Jesus I want to return to the Lord I need a second chance pray for me if that's your desire if you need to come back to Jesus and make a recommitment again why don't you raise your hand up right now wherever you are don't be ashamed you're in this is a spiritual hospital that that's all here for to help you god bless you anybody else you need to return to the Lord let me pray for you tonight come bless you lord I think you for each one of these that have taken this first step I pray you'll help them to take the next step now as they choose to follow you for we ask it now in Jesus name Amen listen everyone that Jesus calls he calls openly and publicly jesus said if you will confess or acknowledge me before people I will confess and acknowledge you before my father in the angels in heaven with any audit if you deny me before people I'll deny you before the father and the Angels in a moment our worship band is going to lead us in the song of invitation and I'm going to ask if you raise your hand with me during that last moment of Prayer saying that you want Jesus nice to come into your life saying that you want to be forgiven of your sin or saying that you want to come back to the Lord or return to him because you've been a backslider I'm gonna ask them and this song begins you would get up out of your seat walked in these aisles and stand in front of this platform when you all get here we'll pray together so again if you want your sin forgiven if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life if you want to go to heaven when you die if you've fallen away from the Lord and you want to return to him if you want to make a recommitment to him right now wherever you are get up out of your seat walk down these aisles 10 appear in the front and when you get up here we'll pray together get up and come now come on get up and come become the first ones [Music] all right listen you that are standing up here I know it took a lot of courage to get up and walk down that aisle and we've all taken that step in one way shape or form we admire you and we're so happy you're here because we know how things are gonna change for you tonight for the better we know that you're gonna look back in this night is the greatest night of your life because it's a night when you're meeting Jesus Christ and he's just a prayer away I'm gonna lead you in a simple prayer and I'm gonna ask you to pray this prayer out loud after me you're saying to God you're sorry for your sin you're turning from that sin you're choosing to follow Christ so again as I pray pray it out loud after me okay let's all bow our heads now pray this out loud after me Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner but I know you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead I choose to follow you Jesus from this moment forward be my Savior my Lord be my god oh my friend thank you for hearing this prayer in answering this prayer in Jesus name I pray amen god bless you guys god bless you hey listen I have a gift to give you it's called the new believers Bible Oh looks like the one I'm holding right here and this is the New Testament in a very friendly translation called the New Living Translation it has some notes in it that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment or recommitment Schiff made over here to my left here right here's one of our counselors see him holding that new believers Bible I want all of you guys to walk right over there and get that Bible if you would right over this way and let's encourage them right over here god bless you guys let's all stand up right over this way great night well let's do another worship song together I'll be able to available out in the lobby there to sign your book if you'd like one and just enjoy the fellowship tonight and and be praying of course for the Harvest Crusade it's just days away now and I'll tell you a prayer is so important for an event like this how many of you have been praying every day of 320 razor again you guys are awesome okay for the rest of you set your smartphone to 320 I in the afternoon and then when it goes off to shoot up a fast prayer to heaven for God's blessing on the 30th annual SoCal harvest god bless you guys you [Applause]

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 53,470

Rating: 4.7874079 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, Harvest Christian Fellowship, Greg Laurie Sermons, jesus christ (deity), prayer for backsliding christian, walk away from christianity, joshua harris leaving the faith, how to lose your salvation, can you deny christ and still be saved, walking away from Christianity, can a christian lose there salvation, can a christian lose salvation, can a christian not be saved, how to deny christ

Id: EzFZ8VuV7dE

Length: 48min 2sec (2882 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 13 2019