Greg Laurie - The Choice is Yours (12/07/2018)
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Pastor Greg Laurie delivers a powerful call to make the life-changing choice for Jesus Christ tonight, explaining the gospel truths of admitting sin, believing in Christ's death for us, receiving Him personally, repenting, and publicly committing now. Through the parable of the sower, he warns against shallow or distracted responses, urging listeners everywhere—whether at Angel Stadium or watching online—to respond immediately to God's offer of forgiveness, heaven, and true friendship with Him.
Prayer for Open Hearts Tonight
Father, we pray now for every person here that is present, those that are watching online all around the world. Some are listening on radio, some are watching on television, some are sitting in front of computer screens, some are watching it on a smartphone or a tablet. Wherever they are, Lord, whoever they are, help them to see the words that we're sharing tonight are true. Help them to see how important these truths are. And I pray that many will believe in Jesus tonight. We ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
The title of my message is, “The Choice is Yours.”
What Do You Really Want in Life?
Let me take a quick poll. How many of you want to go to heaven when you die? Raise up your hand. You want to go to heaven when you die. How many of you want to have all of your sin forgiven? Raise up your hand if you want all of your sin forgiven. How many of you want to have a friendship with God? Raise up your hand. Yes. How many of you want personal peace and a lasting happiness? Raise up your hand. All right. How many of you are tired of raising your hand? No, don't. Okay.
Listen, then you've come to the right place. Because that's what we're talking about very appropriately tonight in the Angel Stadium. Right? Jesus would often use this phrase. He that has ears to hear, let him hear. If we put it in modern vernacular, it would go along the lines of, hey man, listen up. Pay attention. Why? Because your eternal destiny hinges on what I'm about to tell you.
Listen, I didn't write the script that I'm about to share with you. As I said before, I'm just a delivery boy. I'm just here to get the good news in front of you. And it's up to you to do what you will with it.
Don't Tune Out the Most Important Message
But you know, sometimes we tune things out. If you ever travel commercially, you know, you take your seat in the plane and you sit down. And those announcements come over the intercom. And if you're like me, I've heard this so many times, I just kind of tune it out. It's almost as though they're saying, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Sort of like when a wife says to her husband, honey, you need to get in touch with your feelings. And he hears her say, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Or she says, are you listening to me? And he hears her say, blah, blah, blah. He tunes her out, right? And we tune these things out.
And I want to tell you tonight that God's Holy Spirit is going to speak to some of you. You're like, audibly? I'm going to hear an audible voice? No, but you'll hear him tugging deeply on your heart. And so it's up to you to do what you will with it.
I usually tune out those announcements. But one time I was flying back from Florida. Florida. And as we're making our way to LAX, the announcement you never wanted to hear happen. The voice of the pilot came over the intercom. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot. We have lost two of our engines. And we're going to make an emergency landing. I thought, I'm not hearing this. This is not happening. It was happening. So, they made the announcement again. Guess what? This time, I listened. Why? Because my life depended on it. So, in the same way, I hope you will listen. Because your eternal destiny hinges on this.
The Ultimate Choice: Life or Death
A choice is before you. You cannot ignore this choice. It's a choice to believe or not to believe what God says about life and death. The Lord says to us, I set before you life and death. Blessings or curses. Choose life that you might live. It's a choice.
Now listen, it's an either or proposition I'm going to present to you tonight about Jesus Christ. I think a lot of people want to say, hey, you know, Jesus was fine. He was a great moral teacher. And I think he was a wonderful example. Jesus did not say, admire me. Jesus did not say, think good thoughts about me. Jesus said, follow me. That's a choice.
Will I follow him or will I not follow him? Will I accept him or will I, in effect, reject him? There's really no other option.
Shallow Responses to the Gospel
Jesus said, the ones on the rocky ground are those when they hear are people who instantly respond with enthusiasm. But there's no soil of character. And when the emotions wear off or some persecution or difficulty arises, they have nothing to show for it. See, these people are different than the first category. The first group, man, they don't care. I don't want to go to church. I don't want to hear this again. Ben, don't talk to me about this anymore.
This category is different. This is the person who may come with you to church or to a crusade. And when the invitation is given, they don't walk. They run to the field. And they're so excited. All they want to talk about is Jesus for the next day, the next week, the next month. They don't just go out and buy any Bible. They buy a giant Bible. Like the family Bible you're supposed to put on the coffee table. They carry it around, you know, talking to everyone about their new faith.
And you say, man, that is the most radical conversion I've ever seen. And then one day, they just walk away from it. Hey, I didn't see you in church. I'm not into that anymore. What do you mean you're not into that anymore? Yeah, I don't care about it anymore. I don't believe it anymore. Wow, what happened? Did that person get saved? And now are they unsaved? No, listen, I suggest to you, they never really met Jesus. They just had an emotional experience.
Faith Over Feelings in Following Christ
Listen, if you accept Christ tonight, you may have an emotional experience. But you can't live off that. I've heard some people say, man, I used to be on drunks, but now Jesus is the ultimate high. Please, don't do that. Jesus doesn't want to be your ultimate high. Jesus wants to be your ultimate Lord and your ultimate Savior. And you need to learn to walk by faith, not by feeling. Because feelings will come and go. And your faith will be tried.
And some of these people will even say, yeah, I tried the whole Christianity thing. It didn't work for me. Nonsense. Christianity is not some product that works for some and doesn't work for others. Christianity is Christ living inside of you. I suggest to you, maybe you built your life on the wrong foundation. Maybe you went to church and you met a hypocrite.
Oh, there's hypocrites in the church. I joined a church, but I can't find one without hypocrites. Well, if you ever find one, please don't join it because you'll ruin it. I'm sorry that some Christians are hypocrites. I'm sorry we don't always practice what we preach. But you know what? Jesus did not say, follow my people. He said, follow me. Jesus will never be a hypocrite. Put your faith in Christ. Don't put your faith in Christians. Don't put your faith in preachers. Don't put your faith in the church. Follow Christ. It's the only foundation that will sustain you.
The Real Cost and Reward of Following Jesus
Listen, I'm going to be honest with you. It's not easy to be a Christian. It's hard. Especially in the culture we're living in today. Hey, if you want to just go with the flow and always be popular and never make anyone mad, you don't want to follow Christ. It's going to be a lot harder than that. But it's worth it. It's worth it to follow Him. Don't you think?
You know, it makes me laugh sometimes. People say, yeah, well, you know, I'm a rebel. You know, I do drugs. I smoke. I drink. Sleep around. I'm a rebel. That's not a rebel. That's a conformist. You want to be a real rebel, become a real follower of Jesus Christ, and you'll be the ultimate rebel in this culture today. That's the truth. And you don't even have to wear a black leather jacket, but you can if you want.
The third category, we'll call them thorny hearers. Jesus said, those that fell among the thorns are those when they've heard go forth, but they're choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. See, this is the person who says they want to know Jesus, but other things hold them back. It's the cares and pleasures of this life.
The Temporary Pleasure of Sin
Listen, I'm going to say something you may not normally hear a preacher say. Sin can be fun. Am I right? How many of you have ever sinned? Raise your hand. You've sinned. Wow, you are a wicked bunch of people. What is going on here? Okay, now let's be honest. How many of you have ever had fun sinning? Raise your hand. Don't be lying to me. You know you have.
The Bible even says sin is pleasurable for a season. But then the repercussions come. I'm sure it would be really fun to jump out of the Empire State Building without a parachute. It's the ultimate rush. It's the ultimate high. It's death. And so you're having fun committing this sin or committing that sin. The Bible acknowledges there can be fun in it for a time. But then there's the guilt. Then there's the emptiness. Then there's that dead feeling in your soul. And then there are the repercussions. Because the Bible says you'll reap what you sow. You see?
So here's the thing that we need to understand. Sometimes people are held back by things. Sometimes, well, if I become a Christian, will I have to give anything up? Yeah. You'll have to give some things up. How about this? You can give up going to hell to start with. That's not hard to let go of. You can give up feeling miserable. You can give up being sad all the time. Yeah, you can give that all up.
But let me tell you something. Whatever you give up to follow Jesus will be more than made up for by Him. It's God's ultimate trade-in deal. What's holding you back?
Steps to Receiving Forgiveness and Salvation
Welcome back. Here again is Greg Laurie. Listen to this. If you want your sin forgiven, if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, here's what you need to do. You need to admit you're a sinner. This is hard for some people because we like to think we're really good people. And you know, you may be a relatively good person, okay? But you're not good enough because you're not perfect. The Bible says, be perfect as God is perfect. Well, who's perfect? Are you? No. That's where Jesus comes in.
I'm a sinner. I've broken God's commandments. I've stepped over the lines that God has set in front of me and told me not to cross over. I've done wrong things. But that brings me to point number two. 2,000 years ago, Jesus came in a rescue operation to planet Earth and He died on the cross for your sin. That's why He did it.
I love that scene we saw from the Passion where Jesus is carrying the cross and His mother comes to Him and, son, I'm here for you. And He says to her, I make all things new. And He picks the cross up with a determination and presses on. And that is really close to what the Bible teaches. Jesus pressed on. Because He knew the only way that I could be forgiven or you could be forgiven is if He went to the cross and died of my place as a substitution. And He took all my sins upon Himself. Jesus came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owe a debt we could not pay. So understand, Jesus died for you.
Receive Christ Personally and Repent
Thirdly, you must receive Christ into your life. Being a Christian is not just being religious. It's not just going to church. It's not just doing a religious ritual here and there. Being a Christian simplified is having Christ Himself come and live inside of you. Jesus says, I stand at the door and I knock. And if you'll hear my voice and open the door, I'll come in. You receive Him.
The Bible says, For as many as received Him, He gave them the power to become children of God, sons and daughters of God. You have to receive Him, you see. I can't do that for you. The person who brought you here tonight can't do it for you. You must receive Christ into your life.
Then you must repent of your sin. You say, well, repent? I don't even know if I've pented yet. Why do I need to repent? Well, repent means to change your direction. So you've been walking away from God. But it's time to walk to God. Turn from that sin. Turn from that thing that holds you back and follow Christ.
Make Your Decision Public and Immediate
And then you must do it publicly. That is why I'm going to ask you to do what over 7,000 people have done the last two nights here at Angel Stadium. I'm going to ask you in a few moments to get up out of your seat and make your way down in the field behind the stage, making your public stand for Christ. Say, Greg, I don't want to walk down there. It's too far. Hey, it's worth the effort. Why do I need to walk down there? Because Jesus said, if you will acknowledge me before people, I will acknowledge you before my Father and the angels in heaven. But then he adds, if you deny me before people, I'll deny you before the Father and the angels.
This is a way to acknowledge Christ. This is a way to say, hey man, I mean it. And I don't care who sees, because I'm serious. That's why I'm going to ask you to make your public stand. And you'll be able to mark this night in your life. That's the night. Your life can change tonight. Your questions can be answered tonight. Your sin can be forgiven tonight. You can change your eternal address tonight by saying yes to Jesus Christ. And I hope you'll do it.
And that brings me to my last point. You must do it now. Do it now. Don't put it off. The Bible says today is the day of salvation. This is your moment.
You know, when you came in here tonight, you were surprised. You that are here for the first time. You thought it was going to be the worst time ever. And you show up and there's amazing music and an okay preacher. And you know. You've had a good time. But more than that, I bet some of you walked in here and in a strange way, you felt like you were, well, at home. You felt like you were with family. See, this is the family that's been waiting for you. The family of God that you can join right now by believing in Jesus Christ.
So don't say, oh, I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it in a week or I'll do it in a month. Remember what I told you earlier. Every time you hear the gospel and say no to it, your heart can get harder. The Bible says, he who was often reproved hardens his heart and he will be cut off and that without remedy. Don't harden your heart. Remember what I said in the beginning? Listen. Listen, he's speaking to you. He'll forgive you. But you must come to him.