Joyce Meyer - New Life (08/18/2019)
This sermon, based on the concept of being born again from John 3, emphasizes that salvation is a free gift received by faith, not earned by works. The preacher invites those unsure of their relationship with God to receive Christ, explaining that this means God himself comes to live within them, offering a new beginning and eternal life starting now. The conclusion is a call for a bold, public decision to follow Jesus and to get connected with a local church community.
How to Be Delivered From Yourself
There's really only one way that we can be delivered from being full of ourselves, and that's to be full of God. You know, that's what it means to be born again. To be born again, to be saved—whatever language you use—means that you receive Christ as your Savior, the payment for your sins, and that He comes to live inside of you. When you're saved, it doesn't just mean that you agree to try to be good and go to church once a week. It means that God comes to live in you. You become the home of God, a new creature.
The New Creation and Living Hope
If you're born again, you're different than other people who aren't born again. You have a power in you. You have a hope in you. The Bible says that we're born again into an ever-living hope. We want to start tonight by giving people an opportunity to receive Christ who have not made that decision yet. There's no reason to wait until the end of anything. We might as well just do the serious business right up here in the front, amen? I think this is probably the most important thing to God, so I don't think it should be the last thing that we do.
I don't want anybody to be in here tonight not at peace with God, looking around at all these people and thinking, "I wish I felt like that. I wish I had that." You know, the interesting thing about salvation is it's already a done deal. You don't have to struggle to try to get it. You don't have to try to talk God into doing something for you. Jesus already died for us. He's already paid for our sins. Whether you know it or not, every sin that you've ever committed or ever will commit has already been forgiven. All you have to do is receive it.
Receive, Don't Earn Your Salvation
The word "get" means to obtain by struggle and effort, but to "receive" means to just take in what's being offered. Become a receptacle and just take in what's being offered. You say, "Well, maybe I've committed too many sins." Let's just use an example. There's a power line coming into this building. If someone would reach up and cut the power line one time, we would have no power, right? It'd all be gone. Well, let's just say somebody cut the power line five times. We still wouldn't have any power.
Or let's say they cut it a hundred times. We wouldn't have any power. So whether you cut the power line once or a hundred times, you don't have any power. So, whether you sin one time and manage to be good the whole entire rest of your life—which is not too likely—or if you're like I was, one of those especially wicked sinners the Bible talks about, somebody who just feels like you've done so many things wrong that there couldn't possibly be any hope for you, either way, the power line between us and God is cut.
Why We Can't Restore Ourselves
We need somebody to restore that, and we can't do that. Our sin is so great, and God's holiness is so amazing that there's no way that through any effort or works of our own, or any amount of good behavior, or any trying to pay for our sins, that we could ever restore what's been broken. But God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever... I think that's you. That whosoever... not some people, not a few people, not special people, but whosoever... what? Believeth in Him.
Now, you know, can I tell you something? You can choose to believe what you want to. You don't have to have some special feeling to believe. You can just choose to believe the truth that Jesus died for all your sins over 2,000 years ago, that He loves you. You say, "I don't feel loved." Choose to believe it, and the feelings will catch up with it. Anything you choose to believe, your feelings will catch up with it eventually. Choose to believe that the Word of God is true, that God not only forgives your sins, but He forgets them and He removes them as far as the East is from the West.
What Does Being Born Again Really Mean?
In order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, a man must be born again. When you're born again, a seed of everything that God is comes to live in you. You become pregnant with all that God is. Man or woman, young, old, you become pregnant with everything that God is: pregnant with hope, pregnant with joy, pregnant with faith, pregnant with peace. And as the Holy Spirit works in you, you grow and you grow and you grow and you begin to give birth to first this thing and then that thing.
You give birth to another thing and then another thing, to this freedom and that freedom and some other freedom. And that new creature that you are, made by the grace of God at the moment of your new birth, begins to be manifested through your life. All of a sudden, people begin to say it and they start to say, "I think I'd like some of that." See, God doesn't save us just so we can lay on the couch and eat donuts and watch soap operas. He wants us to all be witnesses in a dark world.
Your New Life as a Witness
And that's not a scary thing. It just means get out in the world and be what you are. It's just simple. Just get out in the world and just be what you are. If you're here tonight and you say, "Joyce, I need a new beginning," do you need a new beginning? If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things pass away. All things become new. Tonight, you can have a free new beginning. All your sins forgiven, peace with God, a belief and an understanding that you will go to heaven.
But not only that, when you're born again, you receive eternal life. And eternal life is not just a ticket to heaven when you die. But listen to this. Here's what eternal life is: it means to have life as God has life while you're here on the earth. Life as God has it. Eternal life is a different quality of life. It's not just a breathing life, but life as God has it—an overcoming life. And all you have to do is say, "Can that be for me?" Yes. That's for you.
Coming Home to God's Grace
Maybe you've tried to serve God and you've fallen back into sin, and so now the devil's really got you convinced God will never have you back. Well, you know what? He's a liar. And you're here in the right place. And it's your time to say, "You know what? Just like the prodigal son, I'm coming home. I'm coming home. I'm tired of living in the pig pen of life. I'm coming home tonight."
And you know what? I just want to make this really broad. Maybe you're just a good old religious person and you go to church. You've been going to church for 20 years, 30 years, 40 years. I don't know. Maybe you're the church doorkeeper or whatever. Who knows? You know, I can go sit in my garage all next week and that won't make me a car. You can go to church till your bottom's flat from sitting in the pew, and that's not going to make you a Christian.
Christianity: A Gift, Not an Achievement
A Christian is not something you become because of something you do. A Christian is something that God does in you by faith as a free gift by his grace. And you can do nothing to earn it. All you can do is receive. John 1:12: To as many as received him, gave he power. Power! Power! To become the sons of God. You are sitting in a room full of daughters and a few sons of God. Think about that. My, my, my, my, my.
So maybe you're a good old religious person. You go to church, but something's just not right. You're just like, you know, "I don't even really know if I'd go to heaven if I died." Maybe you're depending on your own works or your church attendance, or you're this or you're that or you're something else. If you're ready to surrender tonight and say, "only Jesus. No other way. Only Jesus. Only Jesus. Always and only Jesus. Never me. Never my works. Only Jesus," then I want to pray for you.
A Bold Decision and Public Prayer
We're going to lead you in a prayer. The Bible says, if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, that He did what He said He did, you will be saved. And so I want to lead you in a prayer. If that's you tonight—and I'm going to tell you something, I want you to be bold—you say, "I need Jesus. I want a relationship with Jesus. I want to know that I'm born again," then we're going to start out bold tonight. I want you to stand up right where you're at, and I'm going to pray for you.
Come on, all over the building. Stand up. You say, "I want a relationship with Jesus Christ. I want a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I want to know that I'm born again." Come on. All over the building. Up in the top. All over the place. Come on. Come on. Keep getting up. If that's you, keep getting up. Don't you sit there and think, "I'm concerned about what somebody's going to think."
Okay, now listen to me just a second. I don't want anybody to be left out. You say, "Well, I don't want to stand up. Can't I just sit here and pray?" Sure you can. But why would you want to sneak into the kingdom? I mean, don't try to have some sneaky relationship with God. I don't want Him sneaking around in my life. I want Him to be bold and loud in my life. Amen. And we don't ask you to get up to embarrass you.
Taking Your Stand for Christ
You know why we ask you to get up? Because if you won't take a stand in here, there's no chance you'll go back out in the world and take one. So if you're still seated, but you know you should be up, don't miss this. Stand up right now. One, two, three, up. If you need to be up, up. Thank you. All right. That's good. Wonderful. Now. All right. Look, you lovely anointed sisters in the Lord. You see people all around you. Reach out and grab their hand. Don't let anybody not have a loving touch right now.
Somebody around you is standing up, wanting to give their life to the Lord. Let's just let them feel what an anointed love feels like. Come on now. Nobody left alone. Look around you. Now, I just want you to pray this prayer after me. It's a very simple prayer, not complicated. But you pray it loud and you mean it. Say: "Father God, I love you. I believe in you. I need you. I'm sorry for my sins. Sorry about the way I've lived. Sorry for shutting you out. But I want you in my life. I surrender. I yield. I receive Jesus as my Savior and my Lord. I believe He died for me. He rose from the dead. He's alive today. Come into me. Take me just the way I am. Now make me everything you want me to be. I believe I'm saved. I'm on my way to heaven. But I'm going to enjoy the trip. Amen." Come on.
Next Steps After Your Decision
Now listen, those of you who received Christ tonight, I want you to get plugged into a good local church. Church is a wonderful thing. You need a family. You need a loving Christian family. You need to be taught. You need to make new Christian friends. You need to be where somebody can love you, but also where somebody can confront you if you need to be confronted—somebody that will help you grow and mature. You need to get plugged in somewhere where you can serve. You've started a new life tonight, and it is going to be such an exciting journey for you. Welcome Carrie Jobe as she sings tonight.