Greg Laurie - Dealing With Doubt (12/04/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie preaches on Dealing with Doubt from Matthew 11, showing how John the Baptist wrestled with uncertainty in prison because Jesus wasn't acting like the expected conquering Messiah. Jesus points him to the signs of healing and the gospel preached to the poor, fulfilling Scripture, and praises John as the greatest prophet while saying the least in the kingdom is greater. The key is trusting God's ways even when they don't make sense to us.
Introduction: Everyone Faces Doubt
Let's turn in our Bibles now to Matthew chapter 11. We are in our series called Follow Me, Following Jesus in the Modern World. And the title of the message today is Dealing with Doubt.
How many of you ever struggle with doubt? Raise up your hand. Okay. Wow. I am a little disappointed. No, I am kidding. I am not. How many of you never struggle with doubt at all? Raise your hand up. Oh, I am so glad we don't have any liars here today.
I think it was Oswald Chambers that said doubt is not always a sign that a man is wrong. It may be a sign that he is thinking. And if we are honest we would admit that there have been times that we have had doubt. Why? Well because things happen in life that don't always make sense. And we wonder where was God in this? Why did God allow this thing to happen? Or there were times when we needed an answer from God and He was silent. Or He could have just spoken a word and our problem would have been resolved. Or some other thing He could have done on our behalf. And it seems as though God was sitting on His hands or intentionally dragging His feet or worse yet not paying attention at all. And that caused you at least momentarily to entertain doubt.
It has been said, and I quote, "when the warm moist air of our expectations collide with the icy cold of God's silence inevitably clouds of doubt begin to form." And then of course when you have those moments of doubt the devil is there to pile on. He will say, oh you are a failure. You are a hypocrite. Well you are probably not even a Christian to have a doubt like that.
But you may be surprised to know that some of the greatest men and women of God in Scripture have their moments of doubt. And to the point, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, struggled with doubt himself. And that is what we are going to talk about in this message. And we are going to see how Jesus dealt with that uncertainty that John was facing. And really in John's case we might say that his doubt was due to confusion. He had a certain concept of what the Christ was supposed to do that Jesus simply was not doing. It is not that Jesus was failing to do what He was supposed to do. It was that John misunderstood what God was going to do. And we have that same problem.
A Classic Joke on Misunderstanding
I have told you the story before and forgive me if you have heard it. But it was a couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary and the wife was getting a little bit hard of hearing. How many of you have heard this joke? Raise your hand. How many of you have not heard it? Oh you are so going to hear it. The not heard it's are larger than the heard it's. Okay here we go.
So 60th wedding anniversary. Wife is hard of hearing. The husband wants to tell everyone how much he loves his wife. So he stands up and he offers a toast to his bride and he says, "I want to just say to my dear wife, after 60 years I have found you tried and true." Everyone said, oh that was so sweet. His wife said, what? Hard of hearing. So even louder. This time he says, "My dear wife, after 60 years I have found you tried and true." She shoots back, "Well after 60 years I am tired of you too." This girl screamed. I have never had a girl scream with a joke. Thank you for that scream. A little misunderstanding there.
And in the same way, a lot of times our doubt is due to our confusion about what we think God ought to be doing. So let's see what happened with John. And let's see what Jesus did for John to help him in his moments of uncertainty.
John's Doubt in Prison
Matthew 11 starting in verse 1. Now it came to pass when Jesus finished commanding his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. And when John heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, "Are you the coming one, or do we look for another?"
Jesus answered and said to him, "You go tell John the things that you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of me."
And as they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, "What did you go out into 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 wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and 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 you.' Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there is not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
So we need to understand who John was. He was not simply a man of significance. He was super significant. John was a man of national prominence. Greatly admired. Followed by thousands. John was a rock star. He was someone that people looked up to and loved because he was a prophet of God.
Now here is the thing you have to understand. Israel had not heard from God for four hundred years since the death of the prophet Malachi to John's birth. Four hundred years of silence from heaven. Not a single prophet. Not one angelic appearance. No miracles. Nothing. And then suddenly bursting on the scene is this colorful prophet John the Baptist dressed in animal skins with a very unusual diet of locusts and wild honey. So he was a little different. But he captured the imagination of the people and they loved him.
So significant was John in his day that the ancient Jewish historian Josephus wrote more about him than he did about Jesus himself. In fact John was so popular some thought he might be the actual Messiah. But that was not his role. He was preparing the way for the Messiah. He was the voice crying in the wilderness. And John's motto if you will was, "I must decrease and he must increase." It was John's job to point the people to Jesus.
John's Ministry and Imprisonment
And when the Lord began his public ministry after John baptized him, John said, "Behold, he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." And though John had his own followers, he said, "My work is done. Now you follow Jesus from this moment on." And overnight he walked away from his huge ministry because his mission was completed. He was to prepare the way for the Messiah. And now the Messiah has come.
And this outdoorsman, this man's man, this colorful character, this great prophet of God was then sent to a dungeon by King Herod. Herod was impressed by John's preaching. John was one of the few guys that would say things right to Herod's face and tell him the truth about life. And the Bible even tells us that Herod made a few changes as a result of the influence of John. Now we don't know what those changes were. Maybe he didn't torture quite as many people on a given day. They weren't significant changes.
But Herod was living in an immoral relationship with a woman named Herodias. And so as it turns out, she was married to Herod's brother Philip and also was the daughter of Aristobulus, another half-brother of Herod, meaning that Herod had taken up with his own niece. And so it was an immoral relationship. And John called him out on it and rebuked him for it. And Herod didn't like this one bit. But the person who didn't like it even less was Herodias, the woman he was involved with. She hated John. She wanted John silenced.
Herod liked to keep John around, you know, to talk to occasionally. And so Herodias wanted to stop the Baptist. And she got her daughter Salome to do a seductive dance in front of Herod. And Herod was so drunk and taken up in the excitement of the moment, he offered Salome half of his kingdom. And so she went to her mom and said, what do you want me to ask for? And Herodias said, "You tell the king I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter." And because the king had made this oath in front of all of his subjects he had to comply. And John was executed.
But as our story is unfolding John is still alive. He is in prison. This outdoorsman who had a far reaching ministry is now plunged into total obscurity. It is not making any sense to him. And then to make matters worse, Jesus is not doing what John thinks he should be doing.
Why John Doubted the Messiah
See the problem that John and many others had was they thought Jesus was going to establish his kingdom then and there. They thought he was going to overthrow Rome. But still things were as bad as ever. People were not getting out of prison. Rome was still in control. And then John was starting to hear rumors coming back that Jesus was hanging out with some pretty unsavory characters. You know your cousin Jesus that you said was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? Yes. Well he was just at some party with a tax collector with a bunch of prostitutes. What? Yeah. Well wait a second. Did I misunderstand the role of Messiah here? Did I pick the wrong guy? Have I made some kind of mistake?
Because after all, John reasoned. When Messiah comes is he not to bring deliverance to the captives? Is he not to bring hope to the broken hearted? How is this working out? Well everything was going exactly as it was supposed to go. It is just that John misunderstood. Because Scripture clearly taught that before Messiah would establish his kingdom on the earth, and by the way it is still yet to come, he would suffer and die. Before Jesus would wear many crowns he would first wear the crown of thorns. Before he would sit on a throne he would first be nailed to a cross. This is what the Scripture taught.
And if they had carefully studied the Word of God they would have read passages like Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 that spoke extensively about the suffering of the Messiah. But because they had failed to do that they misunderstood his role. Thus John is asking the question, are you the one? Did we misunderstand this?
Now this can happen to us as well. Sometimes we misunderstand God and His Word when tragedy hits. A child goes astray. A loved one dies. You unexpectedly get cancer. Something else happens that wasn't part of your plan for your life. And you say, God are you paying attention? Why did you let this happen to me? The problem is we interpret God in the light of the tragedy instead of the other way around. John is essentially crying out to Jesus. Why haven't you helped me? So he is entertaining some doubts.
Doubt vs. Unbelief
Now understand that to doubt is not necessarily a sinful thing. There is a French proverb that says, "He that knows nothing doubts nothing." You see sometimes doubt is not the opposite of faith. It is an element of faith. It means we are thinking something through. We are grappling with it. We are trying to process and understand it. Sometimes we have to go to the foyer of doubt to enter into the sanctuary of certainty.
So if your kids come to you and say, Mom I am struggling with this. How can you say that God created the world? Or Dad I am having a hard time with what the Bible says about living morally. Or what about this other issue? Don't panic. That can be a good sign. That can mean that they are starting to grow up. They are learning to think for themselves. And you have to help them through this process so they can have their own faith. Because they cannot live off the faith of their parents.
But the key in this matter is that when we are having those moments of doubt we cry out to God. G. Campbell Morgan put it this way. "Men of faith are always the men who have to confront problems. For if you believe in God you will sometimes wonder why He allows certain things to happen." But keep in mind, Morgan writes, there is a difference between doubt and unbelief. Like Habakkuk, the doubter questions God and may even debate God. But the doubter doesn't abandon God. Unbelief is rebellion against God. A refusal to accept what He says and does. Unbelief is an act of the will. While doubt is born out of a troubled mind and a broken heart.
You see the difference? Doubt is a matter of the mind. Unbelief is a matter of the will. Doubt says, I don't get it. Help me understand this. Work with me through this. Unbelief says, I get it. I don't like it. I refuse to accept it. John was simply doubting, not unbelieving.
And even the great men and women of God had their moments of despair. Moses was ready to quit on one occasion after listening to the Israelites complain for the umpteenth time. He said, "Lord, if it is going to keep being this way I would prefer it if you just killed me right now." And then Elijah pretty much said the same thing after hearing that Jezebel had put a contract out on his life. He said, "You know what, Lord? I am just ready to die." Even the great apostle Paul was discouraged. And he wrote about it in 2 Corinthians 1:8. He said, "We were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so we despaired even of life."
So if you are entertaining doubts, if you are struggling with these issues, take heart. You are not the only one.
How Jesus Responded to John's Doubt
And here is the thing with John. He was not asking for information as much as confirmation. Lord, explain this to me again. Did I get this right? Are you the Messiah? Are you the one that we have been looking for? And so he is dealing with these issues and trying to make sense of them? So he sends two messengers to Jesus with an honest question. Verse 3, "Are you the coming one, or do we look for another?"
I want you to notice how Jesus responds. He responds with a clue from Scripture. Verse 4 and 6 of Matthew 11. Jesus answered and said, "You go tell John the things that you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of me."
Jesus is referring to Old Testament passages that John no doubt would be familiar with including Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61. And here is what Jesus is effectively saying. You go tell John the following. No, John, I am not leading a revolt. No, I am not going to overthrow Rome. But you tell John what I am doing. I am removing disabilities wherever I see them. I am bringing men and women into a right relationship with God. And when that is right, everything else will change as well.
Now, you know, Jesus could have thrown John under the bus. He could have said, You know that weird cousin of mine? He always was a little off with a locust and wild honey and weird animal skins. You know, I am really disappointed in John. He did not say anything of the kind. In fact, Jesus stuck up for John.
Jesus Defends John
Let me ask you a question. When someone criticizes your friend, do you stick up for them? You know, sometimes people will come up and say, Hey, I heard a couple of things about so and so. And we will listen. We will say, Well really, what did you hear? And they will go, Wow. Really? Wow. Is that so? You know, and we will give a listening ear many times to gossip instead of challenging it and saying, Wait a second. That is my friend you are talking about. And I happen to know this person is a godly man or a godly woman. And I want to know where you got this information. Well, I can't really say. You can't really say? How do you know it is even true? Well, I just heard it. Well, why don't we call this person right now and find out where they got. Oh, I can't reveal my sources. Well, what are you, like work for the newspaper or something? What is this? Well, let's call the person that you are saying the things about and let's see what they say. No, no. I don't want to talk to them. Well, then don't spread this, you see. Stick up for your friends.
Jesus stuck up for his friend. And when criticism came toward John, he stood up for him. Because John was a man of God. And he used this as a point to say to the people in verse 6, "Blessed is he who is not offended because of me," or literally, blessed is the man or woman who is not annoyed or repelled or made to stumble whatever may occur.
And so here is what Jesus is saying. Look, you may not understand my method or my ways or my timing. But I am asking you to trust me when you are unable to see why I am doing what I am doing or why I am not doing what you think I ought to be doing. Just trust me and hang in there and hold your course.
And then he tells the people, what were you guys looking for when you look for someone to represent God? A reed blowing in the wind? Someone unstable with no courage? Listen. This is John the Baptist. And I love him. And even though he has his doubts, he is still a great man.
John's Greatness and Our Privilege
Now listen to the statement that Jesus makes about John in verse 11. "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist. Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
Now why would Jesus say that John was the greatest of all men? The greatest of the Old Testament prophets? I mean, after all. John never performed miracles like Elijah or Elisha. John never wrote a prophetic book like Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel. So why would John be the greatest of the prophets?
Well first of all, he was the greatest because he was the last of them, the final prophet of the Old Testament economy or system. You might say he was the last of the Mohicans in that regard. But the reason that John was the greatest was because he and he alone was the direct forerunner and herald of the Messiah. His greatness was the direct result of his nearness and connection to Jesus.
His story is in the New Testament, but his life in ministry was of the Old Testament system. For the New Testament system did not really begin until Jesus inaugurated it and fulfilled the Old. So he was the greatest of the great, the best of the best, the finest of the prophets. That's my man, John. So don't even think about criticizing him.
But then listen to what Jesus says in verse 11. "But he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Now you know what that means? That means that of us listening right now. Whoever would be the least among us, and I'm not sure who that would be, would be greater than John.
How is it that we who are not people like John could be greater than him? Well we are greater in this regard. We have Christ living in our hearts. You see, John was a part of the Old Testament economy. You are a New Testament believer. John was a herald of the king. You are a friend of the king. John was a friend of the bridegroom. You are the bride of the bridegroom. Jesus is the bridegroom. We are the bride.
Now some guys out there might say, well, I don't want to be a bride. I'm a man. Get over it. You're a bride. You're the bride of Christ. You should take great joy in that. See, John lived and died on the other side of the cross, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. We live in the new covenant with Christ living in our hearts. So John, as great as he was, did not have that kind of privilege and closeness to Jesus.
Three Ways Jesus Deals with Doubt
So how did our Lord deal with doubt in the life of John and how will he deal with it in our lives? A few things that bring to your attention.
Number one, he refocused John's priorities. As I said, John had unbiblical and unrealistic expectations of the ministry purpose and timing of Jesus. And that was true of pretty much all of his disciples. Jesus did not rebuke John, but neither did he release him. He just corrected his thinking. And that's something we all need to do. Because sometimes we get things out of perspective.
You know, when that bill comes due that was unexpected and we can't imagine how we would ever pay it and we begin to panic. What do we do? We look to the Word of God that tells us that our God will provide our needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. And it tells us in Matthew 6:33, if we will seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things shall be added unto you.
Or when some crisis hits us and it looks like our world is literally falling apart, we have to correct our thinking. And I know that I have to do this personally. Because there are times when I will go into what I could almost describe as a tailspin. And what will happen is it will just hit me that my son is no longer here with me. And I will almost get a sense of panic. Like this can't be true. Even though it has been well over two years it is still very hard for me to accept at times. And I will correct my thinking with biblical truth. I will quote scripture to myself. And I will say, now Greg you listen. Here is what the Bible says. Your son is in heaven and you are going to see him again. And Jesus is the resurrection and the life. So what I have to do is refocus my priorities. Get things clear again in my own mind. And how does God do this? He does it through the Word of God.
Number two. Jesus uses scripture. He brought John back to the Word of God. When Jesus sent that statement to John he was quoting from prophecies of the Messiah in Isaiah. Reminding him of what the Word of God said. John, remember the Word of God. I am fulfilling the scripture. And when you are going through hardship you don't need pious platitudes or silly sayings or hallmark slogans. You need the Word of God. That alone resonates. That alone gives hope. That alone resounds in our soul. These other things, not only do they not help, quite frankly sometimes they hurt.
When we try to think of something clever or insightful to say it isn't based on what scripture says it can be very unhelpful to say the least. John, get back to the Word of God. And remember what it says. Even those of us who have been Christians for a while and have studied the Word and have even preached the Word, that doesn't mean that we cannot on occasion forget the Word. And sometimes there are things that I myself have preached on that I need to be reminded of. Oh yeah, that is true. I kind of forgot about that, didn't I?
I find that I often need to remind myself of things. That is why Peter in one of his epistles wrote that he wanted to stir up the people's memory by bringing things back to them again. Because I find that I often forget what I ought to remember and then I remember what I ought to forget. I have reams of worthless information permanently embedded in my mind that I can call up in a moment's notice and then other things I really want to remember that are fuzzy to me at times. So the only way to overcome this is constantly go over those things I have learned and read and re-read and recall to memory those things that really matter in life. The Word of God.
The Emmaus Road Example
And a classic example of this is Jesus and the disciples on the Emmaus Road. In fact our worship team sang about it already. And it is when those two disciples were trying to get away from the cross. They were devastated. Their world had ended. Jesus, in their estimation, had somehow failed. He was their Messiah. He was their King. And then He was nailed up on a cross. A bloody mass that was hardly even recognizable. Gone for sure. So they couldn't get out of Dodge fast enough.
And as they were making their way on the road to Emmaus a stranger joined them. But they did not know who He was. Of course it was Jesus. I don't think He was wearing those glasses with that little nose and the mustache. And years ago we were with some friends and a guy was brought along that we had never met before. And it is so funny. He was a doctor. And he had a face. He wore glasses exactly like those fake glasses with a fake nose. It was a real nose. But it looked like a fake nose. And a mustache exactly like those. And so my son, I think it was Jonathan, grabbed his nose and tried to pull it off. What are you doing? He said, take that off. Then we looked at him and realized what was happening. Oh, he thinks it is one of those kind of get ups. And in reality that is his face.
I don't think Jesus was wearing one of those. He was doing one of those supernatural Messiah tricks. You don't know who I am right now, but you will in time. So as they are walking along, Jesus effectively says, So guys, what's up? What's going on? Well, haven't you heard about Jesus? A prophet mighty indeed? No, I haven't heard about him. Tell me, Jesus says to them. Oh, we thought he was the one who was going to deliver Israel. But they took him and nailed him to a cross. And it has been three days since this happened.
And then Jesus says to them, still they don't know who it is that is speaking. "Are you fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken? Should not the Messiah have suffered?" And then he took them through all of those passages in the Old Testament that pointed to the suffering and death of the Messiah, the Christ. And as they listened to him speak, they were thinking to themselves, Man, this guy knows the Word of God. Like there is no tomorrow. Amazing. And their hearts that had grown cold were beginning to burn brightly again. And the fire was returning.
And they came to the end of their journey. And this mysterious visitor says, Well guys, have to go. See you later. Wait, wait, wait. Don't go. Have dinner with us. And as they sat down at the table and they were breaking bread, suddenly Jesus revealed Himself. And then He disappeared. And their statement was, "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" And the way your heart will burn and the way that you will be able to resolve your doubts is by reminding yourself of what the Word of God says.
Number three, Jesus kept right on with His purpose and asked John to not be stumbled or annoyed. Jesus was effectively saying, John, hold your course. I know it is hard. I know you don't get it right now. I know it isn't making sense to you. But I am asking you to hold your course. And that is what we need to do. Lord, I don't understand this right now. This doesn't make sense. Yes, I know that. But I am in control. You just stand course and do not be stumbled because of this.
One day everything will come into focus when we see the Lord. And we will discover the Lord was not sitting on His hands. As a matter of fact, those hands were nailed to a cross. One day we are going to understand why God did or did not do what we thought He should do. And until that day Jesus wants us to trust and follow.
Not a Reed Shaken by the Wind
Now let me come back in closing to a statement Jesus made about John. He says, "What did you go out to see? A reed blowing in the wind?" Well that wasn't John. You know there are many different winds that blow into our lives as Christians.
First there is the wind of adversity. It is like a strong cold wind that cuts through everything and everyone in its path. We see this a lot in the East Coast. Not so much here in California. Where you are walking down the street and you have got your shirt and your sweater and your scarf and your coat and your gloves and your hat. And then some biting icy wind will hit you. And it feels like you are not wearing anything at all. And sometimes the wind of adversity will come in quickly and powerfully and often in a devastating way. Those winds will come. But these winds would not move John. We must hold our course in times like this.
I heard a story about a traveler that was visiting a logging area in the northwest United States. And he watched with great interest as a lumberjack working alongside a mountain stream periodically would jag his sharp hook into a log and pull it apart from the others and separate it. And the traveler asked the logger what he was doing. And the man said well you know these logs may all look alike to you. But I recognize that some of them are quite different. See he said the ones that I let pass are from trees that grow in a valley where they are always protected from the storms. And the grain on those logs is rather coarse. But the logs I pull aside come from high up in the mountains where they are beaten by strong winds. From the time they were quite small this toughens the trees and gives them a fine grain. We save these for choice work. They are too good to be used for ordinary lumber.
So maybe you are facing the wind of adversity right now. And you wonder why. Could it be that God is saving you for a choice work? Could it be that the Lord is allowing this to toughen the grain of your life? Letting you go through hardship so you will be able to do something unique that He has in store for you?
Yes there are the winds of adversity. But then there are the winds of temptation. Kind of like the ones we have right now. These crazy Santa Ana winds. Justly called devil winds. They come out of nowhere. They change the temperature. Sometimes a small spark can turn into a full blown fire. And then if you get an arsonist involved who will exploit the situation. It can even result in the loss of life. And the temptation will come our way. Those hot winds with enticement. And the master arsonist himself, Satan, will want to exploit it to get you to do the wrong thing. But we need to be like John. And stand our ground and not be a reed blowing in the wind.
But then there are other winds as well. The winds of compromise. In contrast to the cold winds of adversity. Or the hot blast of temptation. The winds of compromise are more like a soft summer breeze. They just lull you to sleep. You know the ukuleles are playing. And the palm trees are swaying. And you are just kicking back. And those compromises, those temptations of compromise will come your way. But Jesus says no. John was not a reed blowing in the wind. He didn't just go with whatever was going on. He stood His ground. He held His course. And He is my man. He is John the Baptist.
And you know what? Doubts are going to come. And here is what we need to know. God is in control. And He has His purposes in these things. And it is during these times that we need to trust Him. He will never give us more than we can handle.
Invitation to Faith in Christ
But let me close on this one statement. Where Jesus said, "He that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist." This is a statement, as I mentioned, that is speaking of a person who has put their faith in Christ. And my closing thought for you today is have you put your faith in Jesus Christ?
You know maybe you are going through an adversity right now. Maybe you are going through a hardship. Maybe it is due in part to stupid things you have done. And you are reaping the repercussions of them. You have sown the wind. You are reaping the whirlwind. And it has gotten your attention. And here you are looking for help. And there is nothing wrong with that. Glad you came. You came to the right place.
But maybe you are a person who has just had some tragedy come your way. Maybe a loved one close to you has died. Maybe you have gotten bad news from a doctor. Maybe you are just looking at the inevitability of life marching on. And you are getting older. And you are just wondering what your life is all about.
Listen. God loves you. And He has a plan for you. And 2,000 years ago He sent His Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die in your place on the cross. And then Jesus rose again from the dead and He stands at the door of your life and He knocks. And He says if you will hear His voice and open the door He will come in.
And whatever you are facing here is what I want to say to you. You don't have to face it alone. There is a God who cares. A God who loves you. A God who will come into your life and forgive you of your sin. And then give you the strength to get through whatever you are facing.
And if you have never asked Christ to come into your life you can do it now. Because He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. The person who has a relationship with God is privileged above all having Christ live inside of them.
And in a moment we are going to pray and I am going to give you an opportunity to ask Jesus Christ to come into your life. And if you have never asked Him in respond to this invitation now if you would please.
Let's all bow our heads and pray. Father thank You for Your Word to us today. Thank You that it is true. Thank You that Jesus Christ can still change lives. And I pray for any that have joined us who do not yet know You. Lord would You help them to come to their senses today. Help them to see their need for You and help them to believe in You now we ask.
And when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we are praying. How many of you would say today Greg pray for me. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life. I want to be forgiven of my sin. I want to know with certainty that when I die I will go to heaven. Pray for me. If that is your desire. If you want Jesus to come into your life today. If you want Him to forgive you of your sin. If you want to go to heaven when you die. Would you just stand to your feet right now wherever you are sitting.
And I am going to lead you in a prayer. Just stand to your feet. If you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. Stand up. God bless you. You won't be alone by the way if you stand. Others are standing as well. God bless you up there in the balcony. God bless you over here in the side. Here in the middle. There in the back. If you are outside in the courtyard area. I want you to stand up as well. Stand to your feet. Up in our overflow building. Watching on the big screen. You can stand too. Wherever you are. Stand to your feet right now if you are ready to say yes to Jesus Christ.
I am going to lead you in a prayer. Maybe you have fallen away from the Lord. You want to come back to Him again. You can stand as well. God bless you. Anybody else? Stand now. God bless you up there in the balcony. God bless you down here. Anybody else? Stand now. I am going to lead you in a prayer. Where you will be asking Christ to come into your life. Anybody else? Just stand. God bless you there in the back. Again, outside in the amphitheater. You can stand up in the court building. You can stand watching the screen there.
In this final moment, if you are going to stand now, stand at all. Stand now, please. Anybody else? God bless you. Alright, you that are standing, I am going to lead you in a prayer. And I want you to pray this out loud after me. This is where you are asking Jesus Christ to come into your life. Again, as I pray, you pray this out loud after me. Pray this now:
Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. But you died on the cross for my sin. And I am sorry for it, Lord. And I turn from it now. Come into my life. I choose to follow you from this day forward. Thank you for loving me and calling me and accepting me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.