James Merritt - Holy New Year
Well, to those of you who are watching online and to those of you in the building today, Happy New Year to all of you. You know, it is the start of a new year and we’re all in the same boat. It’s called social jet lag, I call it holiday hangover. 'Cause here’s what we’ve done, we’ve all done it, right? You slept late, took time off of work, partied it up, ditched your diet, enjoyed the new gadgets, swapped the gifts, but now, we know it’s time to reenter the real world, right? And, you know, traffic, alarm clocks, school, making a living, and frankly, we just don’t have the will or the energy to do this, kind of a post Christmas, post holiday let down, and if you’re like me in a way, you go, in a way, «Oh, dear, it’s a new year». Because you’ve been going 90 miles an hour, you’ve got nothing left in the tank, but duty calls and so every year on this day, we all have to ask the same question, whether you do it out loud or inside.
So what kind of a year is this gonna be for you? What kind of a year is it going to be for me? Now, here’s what we know. There’s one thing we know, one thing we don’t. We all know it’s a new year, but what we don’t know is, will it be our last year? Odds are, there’s somebody here today, you won’t be here a year from now. You’re not thinking about dying, you’re not planning on dying, but it will happen. Most likely in a room this full and certainly those of you watching online and watching around the world.
There’s some of you listening to me right now, you won’t be listening here next year. You won’t be… Maybe I won’t be here, and there’s some who saw the new year in, but they won’t see this new year out and we don’t have any control over whether or not this will be our last year, but what you do have control over is, can it be your best year? And I just wanna ask you a question, why not? Why not make this year the best year? Why not make this year… Why not just pretend, okay, I’m gonna live this year, which we all should live every year, every day as if this would be my last year. So if you knew, if you knew that when the clock strikes midnight December the 31st of this year, you won’t be around. What would that mean for you? How would that change your life?
One of my favorite places in the world is Athens, Greece, I love to go to Athens, and when you go to Athens, statues are everywhere and one of the statues that you’ll find in Athens is there’s a statue of a man, it’s kind of a strange statue, he’s got flowing hair in front of his face, but he’s completely bald in the back, and what that image said was, you can grab his hair when he’s coming towards you, but you can never grab it once it’s passed and we ought to treat a new year just like that. You grab every day that’s before you, but once you’ve passed it, it’s gone and so what you wanna do every day of your life, thinking it could be the last day is refuel, make sure that your tank is full for every single day, and so I’m gonna build my whole message today around one simple thing.
I’m gonna drive it home with hammer and nail, the greatest habit I’ve ever developed. I’m reading a book right now called «Atomic Habits», and it’s a great book, I’d recommend it to you, but I’m reading a book right now called «Atomic Habits» and one of the greatest, probably the greatest single habit I ever established, I can tell you how old I was, I was nine years old and my mom taught me that the most important thing I would do every single day of my life would be to read my Bible, and since I was nine years old, I’ve missed a few days, I’ve been sick or whatever, but I’ve not missed many, and so for all intents and purposes since I was nine years old, every single day of my life, I read my Bible.
There’s one thing you can count on I’m gonna do. I’m gonna try to work out every day, I’ll work out this afternoon when I get home and I try to work out every day, but whether I work out or not, there’s one thing I’m gonna do every single day of my life. I’m going to read my Bible every single day and I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you how it paid off for me. I can testify that getting into God’s Word every day have saved me more heartache and given me more wisdom and protected me from more mistakes and infused me with more comfort and provided me more encouragement than anything I’ve ever done in my life.
Now, I’m gonna be very honest. I’m not trying to fuss at you, I’m not trying to put a guilt trip on you, but if you’re like most Christians and you’re just not in the habit of reading your Bible every day, if you’re one of those people that would just be honest and say, «Man, I can’t even remember except when I come to church. I can’t even remember the last time I even cracked open my Bible to read it». And if you’re not in the habit of reading your Bible every single day, then one of the following things have to be true. If, now, wait a minute, I’m assuming you believe the Bible is the Word of God.
Now, if you don’t believe the Bible’s the Word of God, I wouldn’t read it either, but if you believe the… «Oh, yeah, I believe the Bible’s the Word of God». Well, if you don’t read the Bible every day, then one of the following things has to be true. Number one, you believe your body is more important than your soul. You say, «I don’t believe that». Well, number two, you believe the material is more important than the spiritual. «Well, I don’t believe that». Number three, you believe you can make it on your own and do life by yourself and you don’t really need God’s help. You think you’ve got it, you can handle it. You said, «I don’t believe that». Well, number four, you believe that what God has to say is just not that important.
Now, I guarantee you, you can not give me any other reason if you don’t read your Bible every day. Either one or two or three or four or all of those things, really, you may not wanna admit it, but they’re true. Physical’s more important, material’s more important, just not that big a deal, I don’t need God’s help. So I’m gonna try something today that an ancient writer attempted thousands of years ago. I don’t know who he was, but he wrote the longest chapter in the Bible. I want you to find it. It says right in the middle of your Bible. Just go to the middle, you’ll find a book of Psalms, I want you to turn to Psalm 119, Psalm 119. It is the longest chapter in the Bible and the interesting thing is you say, «Well, what is the chapter all about»?
It’s all about the Bible. All this guy talks about for 176 verses is the Bible. All he talks about is the Word of God and he writes 176 verses, I’m telling you, he is busting it, trying to motivate people to get into the Bible and get to the Bible into them. So today, I’ve got one mission. I’m gonna do everything in my power to motivate you this year, assuming it could be your last year to fill your tank with God’s Word every single day and all it takes is three simple steps and let me just tell you, they will radically change your life. Let me tell you how I know that. Think about it, let’s just be logical for a moment. If this book is the Word of God, now, that’s my assumption, that’s my presupposition.
If the Bible is the Word of God, that means two things. Number one, there’s no other book in the world like that book, no other book. Number two, you can not read that book every day and it not change your life, impossible. So assuming that three things, number one, look to the Bible daily. I’m gonna ask you to make this your New Year’s resolution. Look to the Bible daily. Now, one thing the Bible has in common with every book that’s ever been written is this. It is useless if you don’t read it. Doesn’t matter how great a book it is, it’s useless if you don’t read it. You can have a treasure chest full of gold and silver, but if that chest remains locked and closed, it won’t do you any good.
So here’s what the psalmist says in verse 18. He says, «Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law». Now, that assumes something. He’s got the Bible open, he’s got it. «Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law». It blows my mind… I read the other day, more Bibles exist in America today than it’s ever existed in our history. More people in more homes have more Bibles than ever before in the history of our country. More Bibles are sitting in more people’s homes and more people’s hands than ever before and yet, we also know the vast majority of people who say they believe the Bible and they love the God of the Bible. The vast majority of people, many in this room, many watching me right now, you suffer from what I call spiritual anorexia, spiritual malnutrition.
You never ever feed from the Word of God. You are spiritually starving to death and yet, the the author here says, there are treasure troves of truth in God’s Word. He calls them wonderful things. «Open my eyes,» watch this. Not that I might behold historical things or boring things or just theological things, he says, «They are wonderful things». It talks about like… This is a box full of jewels. There’s gold here, there’s silver here, there’s diamonds here. All you’ve got to do is open it, and God says, he says, «God, when I open this book, open my eyes, that I might see all the wonderful things in your law».
So I wanna challenge you with this thought. I don’t care how successful you are, how much money you make, how healthy you are, how well things are going for you, there’s not a day in your life that you don’t need to hear from God. There’s not a day in your life that you do not need to hear from God and there’s not a day in your life that you do not need to listen to God. The best place in life to be is in God’s presence. Can you agree with that? Best place in the world to be is in God’s presence and the best way to get into God’s presence is to get into God’s Word.
Now, if you don’t think this is a big deal, if you think, you know, that I’m just making this up, if you think I just… I’m not buying it, I just don’t think it makes that big of a difference, let me tell you how big a deal it is to God. When Israel came to God and they said, «We want a king». And, you know, they didn’t need a king, Samuel tried to talk, he said, «Look, you got a king, His name’s God». «No, we want a real king, we want a fleshly king». He said, «Okay». He’s goes to God, he said, «God, they want a king». He says, «Okay, I’m gonna give you a king, but I’ve got a requirement for your king».
Well, what was the requirement? What was God’s number one requirement for the king? It wasn’t his age, it wasn’t his education, it wasn’t his political skill, it wasn’t his appearance, it wasn’t his pedigree, it wasn’t his experience, it was none of that at all. Listen to what God said, He said, «This is the one thing I require of your king». Deuteronomy 17, listen to this. «When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll, a copy of this law,» that is the Word of God, «Taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and those decrees».
Here’s what God said, «I want that king, personally, never go home, never leave the castle without it. I want you to make a personal copy of God’s law in his own handwriting. I want him to copy it down and I want him to keep it with him wherever he goes». It’d be like kinda like today that we would say to the president of the United States, «You are to take a handwritten copy that you’ve made of the Constitution and you take it with you wherever you go and you read it every single day». Now think about this. If God required that of a king, if God required that of a sovereign, of the most powerful, influential person in the entire nation, how much more do you think God requires that of you? And how much more do you think God requires that of me?
Because let me tell you something. If a king needs to hear from God to rule a nation, you need to hear from God to rule your life. He said, «That’s what I want from a king. I want the king…» And by the way, I don’t care who the President is, this is not a shot at anybody, but we’d be a lot better off today in America if every president and every senator and every congressman and every mayor and every governor would start their day by reading the Word of God. I’m just telling you right now, it’d be a lot better nation. So I can tell you from personal experience, when you open this book and you look at it, here’s what God will do. God will open up principles and precepts and practices. They will enhance you, they will enrich you, they will enable you to be better than you’ve ever thought you could be, do more than you ever thought you could do, be happy you ever thought you could imagine.
You don’t… After being a pastor, I just celebrated my 46th year as a pastor in December. So I’ve been in my 47th year and let me just tell you, I started when I was three. but let me tell you this. Can I tell you one of the saddest things I’ve ever had happen in my entire ministry? It breaks my heart. It’s when I’ll preach something or I’ll teach something and inevitably, somebody will come up and they’ll say something like this, «I wish I knew that before I’d got married». Or, «Gosh, I wish I knew that when my kids were small and I was a parent of young children». «I wish I’d known that before I drew my first paycheck».
And I’m just gonna be honest, you know what just breaks my heart? What I wanna say to people when they say that is, «It was all right there. You didn’t have to wait on me. Where do you think I got it? It’s right there. You didn’t have to wait on me to tell you. God was ready to tell you if you had just looked to the Bible». So my first challenge to you, beginning today, beginning today, we’re gonna give you a plan to do it in a moment.
So in your chair, we’ll talk about it in a minute. Look to the Bible daily, but that’s not just enough to open the Bible and look to the Bible. Number two, you’ve got to learn from the Bible continuously. You look to the Bible daily, but you got to learn from the Bible continuously. Let me tell you why. I have, you know, I’m a very educated guy, right? And I’m not bragging about it, you know, I’ve got a bachelor’s degree, I’ve got a master’s degree, I’ve got a PhD, but I still learn. I’ve taken personality tests and in fact, a couple of 'em. You know what my number one trait is as a person? I’m a learner, I ask questions. I ask questions all the time. «Staff, how do you do this? How do you do that? Why did you do this»?
I ask pastors, I’m an inquisitive guy 'cause let me tell you why I do that. Here’s what I’ve learned. When you quit learning, you quit living. Too many people, you know why they grow old? It’s not that they grow old because they’ve got age and they’ve got years, that’s not why they grow old. They think they’ve learned it all. They think they know it all. I got news for you, nobody learns it all, nobody knows it all, and when you quit learning, you quit living. There are always new truths to learn and you will never know it all and there are no greater life lessons to be learned anywhere than from God’s Word. So what does the psalmist go on to say? Well, listen to verse seven. «I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws».
See, one of the reasons why we need to keep learning and keep reading the Bible and continuously learn is because not only is God’s Word all truth, it’s always true. So you read God’s Word, guess what? You’ll find out how to have a good marriage in God’s Word. You read God’s Word, you’ll learn how to be a good husband and a good wife, you’ll learn how to be a wise parent, you’ll learn how to raise wise children, you’ll learn how to manage money wisely and will, you’ll learn how to find the right kind of friend, you’ll learn how to be the right kind of friend, you’ll learn how to handle your enemies, you’ll learn how to deal with conflict, and listen, you know what I’ve learned about the Bible? You know what’s so great about that book? It works, it works. I mean, I’m telling you, it absolutely works.
Everything you read in this book, we’ve sang that song all about God’s still the same. Listen, it worked 2,000 years ago, it still works today, it’ll work 2,000 years from now 'cause it’s true and it’s always true. In fact, this book is so great and the truths of these book are so life changing, listen to this, let me tell you this, you know why this book is so wonderful? 'Cause it will not only teach you how to live, it’ll teach you how to die and by the way, can I just tell you something? If you’re not ready to die, you’re not ready to live. Anybody can live, anybody can live right/well, but to die right/well, so listen to what the psalmist said in verse 33. «Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end». To the end of what? My life.
I wanna follow it to the end of my life and that’s what he meant. You know, you’ll find out, as I’m finding out now as you grow older, one thing is true. If you could graph this out, you know, when you’re young, thinking about dying is down here. You know, when you’re 10, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, you know, here’s what you’ll learn, here’s what the graph does. As you get older, that line goes up. You don’t get morbid, you just get realistic and you realize, «You know what? I’m mortal and I’m not gonna always live and I’m gonna go the way of the earth and someday, someone’s gonna be looking in my grave and they’re gonna be, you know, looking in my casket, they’re gonna be coming to my funeral,» and the older you get, the more you realize, you know, you’re gonna die.
You realize there’s less rope at the end than there is in the beginning and when you see how quickly that rope is passing through your hands, you start thinking about that day when there’s no more rope and the rope is gone, and I’m not ashamed to tell you I really mean this. If I ever get to that point or when I get to that point, if I’m laying on my deathbed and the doctors and nurses that said, «Look, there’s nothing else that can be done».
I wanna tell you something, number one, I want a word from God about the God I’m about to meet, and number two, I wanna be sharing that word with somebody else. I don’t wanna die coasting, I wanna die climbing, and one of the things I’ve began to pray for is, I say, «Lord, I don’t know how I’m going to die, when or where, but if I’m in that process of dying, I want my boys and I want my grandkids to see this is how a Christian dies. This is how you face death, not with fear, but with faith. Not with consternation, but courage. Not with despair, but with dignity». Because if what this book teaches is true, I got news for you, I’m not going to die.
So by the way, if some of you who will outlive me, if you do come to my funeral, by the way, I told you the other day, if you don’t come to mine, I won’t come to yours. If you come to my funeral, I want you to look me in the eye, I’m not dead, my body will be dead. I will be more alive than you are. I’ll be more alive than I’ve ever been, and you see, that’s what God’s Word do. See, my kids and my grandkids, you know, one of the things I’ve learned as I get older, they’re interested in my will, But you know what I’ve been telling them lately? You better be interested in His will. You better have your mind on what He wants for your life and I want my life to be filled with the lessons I learned from looking at God’s Word.
So I just wanna get personal for just a moment to get personal. There are times that people will leave a church and they’ll visit our church and I’ll ask them, I’ll say, «You know, look, I’m not looking… I don’t want you to throw down on your church, I’m not gonna be… People leave our church too». But I say, «You know…» I’ll ask, «So why did you leave your church? Why do you come to our church»? You would be surprised how many times people will say, «We just weren’t getting fed at our church and we’ve heard your church as a church that preaches the Bible and your church is a church that preaches the Word of God and we’re just not getting fed». And I appreciate that and I really am grateful, but I would like for you to hear me clearly on this New Year’s day.
I want you to listen to me carefully. When you walk into this building, I do wanna feed you spiritual meat. I wanna feed you the best steak you can have and many of you have heard me for 25, 30, and 35 years and you know that I try to keep my messages as full of the Bible and as close to the Bible as I possibly can. I try to make that very plain, but if you’re walking in this building every week, depending on me for your spiritual feeding, let’s just call timeout on that. The number one responsibility of your getting fed is not mine, that’s yours. You ought be getting fed if I died today. If you don’t ever get to come to a church today anymore. That’s your responsibility, it’s not mine. I’ll give you an illustration. Your parents know this, you know, you have kids, right?
So my three boys when they were born, guess who started out feeding them? I did, Theresa did, right? Feeding them, but after a few food fights and them throwing food in my face and slobbered all over the place, I couldn’t wait 'til they got to the time where they fed themselves, they were the happiest days of my life. 'Cause I didn’t wanna feed them anymore and one of the goals I had early on, I learned this early as a young dad, I wanna get that spoon out of my hand into your hand as quick as I can. I want you to learn how to feed yourself.
So here’s the bottom line, with all respect. If you’re going to a church and you say, «Well, I’m just not getting spiritually fed». You may not be getting spiritually fed in that building, but if you’re not getting spiritually fed, that’s not the pastor’s fault, that’s your fault. I don’t need a pastor to spiritually feed me, I feed myself. 'Cause it’s not primarily my responsibility to feed you spiritually, ultimately, it’s your responsibility to feed you spiritually. You got the same food I’ve got, it’s just as free to you as it is to me. The buffet’s out there for everybody.
You may have heard of a man, some of you followed him, but I’ve heard of a man named Howard Hughes, a lot of you may not have, but there was a man named Howard Hughes. At one time, he was the richest man in the world, this is an amazing story. When he died in 1981, I want you to listen to this. He was cared for around the clock by 15 personal attendants and three doctors. Howard Hughes had the best healthcare money could buy anywhere. You know what killed him? He wasn’t sick, he had no illness. He didn’t have cancer, he didn’t have diabetes, he didn’t have heart disease, he didn’t have kidney failure, he didn’t have any illness whatsoever. What killed the richest man in the world? You ready for this? Malnutrition. This man died thin, dehydrated, emaciated, a skeleton despite all of the attendants and all the nurses and all the doctors and all the money and all the resources and all the facilities, this man died.
You say, «Wait a minute, how could the man die of malnutrition»? This is so fascinating. Howard Hughes became so obsessed and afraid of germs, he just quit eating. He wouldn’t eat food because he was afraid of the germs in the food. He wouldn’t drink water even though it was purified water, he was afraid of the germs in the water, and so rather than risk getting germs from eating food, he just quit eating it all and because he quit eating, he literally starved to death. Let me tell you something. What was true of his body is even more true of your spirit and more true of your soul. If you do not get into this book every day, you will suffer from spiritual malnutrition.
Why do you think Jesus said this in Matthew 4:4, «It is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God». I’ve read that so many times and I finally saw exactly what Jesus said because he meant what he said literally. Here’s what Jesus meant. You will not survive physically without physical food and you will not survive spiritually without spiritual food. So you need to look to the Bible daily and you need to learn from the Bible continuously, but then there’s one last step and this is the most important step and this is the biggest step and this is why if you don’t take this step, the other two steps won’t do a whole lot for you. 'Cause I met a lot of people who look to the Bible daily, I pastored them, and they learn from the Bible continuously, they quote Scripture after Scripture after Scripture, then you look at their life and you go, «But it’s just not that different, it’s just… What’s the deal»? 'Cause there’s a third thing I’m gonna ask you to do this year.
You look to the Bible daily, every day read your Bible. You learn from the Bible continuously. Lord, teach me something today, I need to know. Let me see something I need to see, let me hear something I need to hear, but here’s the last thing. You live out the Bible practically. You live out the Bible practically. So you can’t just look to the Bible, you can’t just learn from the Bible, you got to live out the Bible. So listen to what he says in verse nine. «How can a young person stay on the path to purity»?
If you’re under the age of 21, listen to what he says. «How can a young man stay on the path to purity»? How, by… What’s that word? Say it loud. Living, by living according… Not by looking, not just by learning, by living according to your words. So you can love the Bible, you can look at the Bible, you can listen to the Bible, you can learn from the Bible, but it will not change your life, 'til you start living out the Bible. Lord, what you teach me, I’m going to live out. By the way, later, James, the Lord’s brother wrote this, «Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says».
You see, so often, here’s what we do. We wanna claim the promises of the Bible, we want to enjoy the blessings of the Bible, we want to get peace from the Bible, but we just don’t want to obey the commandments of the Bible. So you say, «You know, I just don’t know pastor. I love Jesus, I’m going to heaven, I’ve just never been able to get my financial house in order». «Well, are you a giver»? «What»? «Are you a giver»? «No, you don’t understand, I’m not taking enough in». «Stop, are you a giver»? Because the way to get is to give and if you’re not a giver, you really shouldn’t expect to be a getter and if you’re a getter, but you’re not a giver, you’re just a hoarder and you know what a hoarder is, we’re back to the beginning.
You think the material’s more important than the spiritual. You think the physical’s more important than God’s Word. You’ve got to live it out. By the way, you know, talking about listening to the Bible, the word for listen or if you know this or not, it comes from the Latin word that literally means… It comes from our English word audit. You know if… I don’t know if you ever audited a class in high school or college job, but you know what that is, right? When you go to a class and you audit it, you can do the homework, but you don’t do anything with what you’ve learned and you don’t get any credit for the class, you just kinda sit in and listen. The same thing is through spiritually. That’s one thing to look to the Bible, y’all do that every day. It’s one thing to learn from the Bible and you ought to learn, but you don’t get credit just for that, you’ve got to put it into practice, you’ve got to live it out, you’ve got to obey before it really becomes the power in your life that it shouldn’t give you the power of your life that you need.
Let me give you a practical illustration. So I’m reading my Bible and I come to that passage where Paul says, «I’m not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God and the salvation that everyone who believes». So what happened? I looked to the Bible and I learned something. The gospel is the power of God under salvation to those who believe, but you know, when that verse really came alive for me is when I started sharing that gospel, as I started watching people’s lives get changed. I started watching people go from death to life and darkness to light. I started watching people go from darkness, despair, discouragement to having the joy of knowing the God that created him. I actually begin to just live that out and you see, when you do that, then you begin to experience the power that comes from really reading this book.
That’s why I just want you to really be honest with yourself and I want you to ask yourself this question and just be honest. As you start a new year, this is a hard question, but let’s just be honest about it. What or who is going to have the final say in your life this year? To every decision you make, what/who is going to have the final say in your life? How you gonna live your life when you’re cornered, when you’re forced to face reality, when your back’s against the wall, when things are not going your way, when you’ve got to make a decision in a given situation, who or what is going to call the shot in your life? Where are you gonna turn? Who are you gonna turn to?So I’m not gonna… I’ve just made up my mind, I’m not gonna live my life based on what some Oscar winning actress says that doesn’t know her hand from her rear. I’m just not gonna do that. I’m just not going to let some financial guru who doesn’t understand what it means to give, tell me how to handle my money. I read somewhere, somebody put it this way. Look to the Bible to be safe, learn from the Bible to be wise, but live out the Bible to be holy. I wanna live out this book. I want this book to make a difference in my life and the only way you do it is you must apply it.
So you won’t believe the difference it’s gonna make in your life. Now, for some of you, I’ll be honest, it’s gonna be hard because you’re gonna have to change some things. You’re gonna get convicted. There’s some things you don’t do, you’re gonna start doing and there’s some things you’re doing, you’re gonna stop doing. That’s okay, it’s all to make you a better, happier, more holy person. Because the best thing you’ll ever do in your life is not just believe in the God of the Bible, but get the Bible that talks about this God into your life.
So let me close with this story and we’ll be done. Some of you have heard, most of you have had, but there’s a distinguished professor of religious studies at North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his name is Dr. Bart Ehrman. He’s become a pretty famous guy, let me tell you why. Bart Ehrman, at one time, was a very staunch or said he was, evangelical Christian. He was educated at two very conservative Christian colleges, but by the time he graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, he abandoned Christianity. He became an agnostic and he is very critical of both evangelical Christianity and very, very critical of the Bible and, you know, the Bible talks about people like Bart Ehrman.
In 1 John, «They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they’d been of us, they would’ve continued with us, but they went out from us that it may be made manifest that they were never of us». You know, the faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first. Don’t try to memorize that, just let it go. But Dr. Ehrman is just a strong critic, but I want you to listen to… By the way, he’s one of the most popular professors in North Carolina, classes were packed, and when he teaches his course on the Bible, this is how he begins every class, I want you to listen to what he says.
«The first day of class with over 300 students present, I ask, 'How many of you would agree with the proposition that the Bible is the inspire Word of God? ' Whoosh. Virtually, everyone in the auditorium raises their hand. I then ask, 'How many of you have one or more of the 'Harry Potter' books? ' Whoosh, the whole auditorium, then I ask, 'And how many of you have read the entire Bible? ' Scattered hands, a few students here and there. I always laugh and say, 'Okay, I’m not saying I think God wrote the Bible. You’re telling me you think God wrote the Bible. I can see why you might want to read a book by JK Rowling, but if God wrote a book, wouldn’t you want to see what He has to say? '»
I totally agree with you Dr. Ehrman, I totally agree with you. If you really believe this book is the Word of God, why wouldn’t you want to know what God has to say? So beginning today, let’s team up, let’s do this together. I’m gonna do it, you do it with me. Let’s read the greatest story ever told about the great only Savior who ever came to take care of the greatest problem the world has ever had. By conquering sin, death, and the grave so we could have the only life worth living in this world and eternal life in the world to come. There is a treasure trove, gold, silver, diamonds, rubies, jewels of life changing truth in this book. Let’s open it every day. Look to it, learn from it, live it, and watch the difference that God makes in your life. Would you pray with me today?
With heads bowed and with eyes closed. You may not know much about the Bible, you may say, «Man, I’ve never hardly read any of the Bible». That’s okay, I can tell you what the Bible says in basically 30 seconds. We live in a world that’s messed up because of sin, that’s our biggest problem, and our greatest need is a savior. 'Cause we can not have a relationship with a Holy God if we’re sinful people. So God sends His Son, Jesus Christ, to become a human being just like us. He lives a perfect life, He dies on the cross, He pays for our sins, He comes back from the grave and now, He wants to come into your life and into my life and change our life eternally and take us home to heaven to be with Him, but in the meantime, to live a life that’s worth living on this earth, that’s the Bible and if you’ve never trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, can I tell you this? You won’t make a better decision to start a new year than to give your life to Jesus.
If you’ve never become a believer, if you’ve never become a follower of Jesus, let me just ask you this. So you’ve lived every year of your life without God 'cause you can’t have God without Jesus. You lived every life of your… Every year of your life without Jesus. Why don’t you try Jesus this year? See the difference, He’ll make… And you say, «Well, how do I do that»? Just tell Him. Just right now, why don’t you say something like this?
Lord Jesus, I don’t wanna live another day without You, much less another year. I believe You’re the Son of God. I believe You died for my sins. I believe God raised You from the dead. I believe You’re alive right now, and Lord Jesus, I ask You to come into my heart. I ask You to save me and I ask You to forgive me of all of my sins. Thank You Lord. Thank You for hearing my prayer. I repent of my sins, I thank You for saving me today and now, Lord, help me to live the rest of my life doing all that You want me to do and to be.