Category Archives: Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Christ’s Call to Courage

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But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” —Acts 23:11

Have you ever been discouraged as a Christian? You might be surprised to find that none other than the greatest of the apostles had moments of discouragement.

Paul wasn’t afraid of death or even hardship. The only thing he seemed to fear was the disapproval of God. How do you stop a man like that? You don’t. This is why God used him in such an amazing way. And that is why Paul and the others turned their world upside down.

Yet in Acts 23, we find Paul experiencing an apparent time of deep discouragement. He had ignored the warning of the prophet Agabus and went to Jerusalem. Sure enough, he was arrested and thrown into prison—again. Paul’s middle name could have been trouble. There was never a dull moment with him.

It appears that he was discouraged, because the Lord came to him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul” (Acts 23:11). At first this seems like the equivalent of someone saying, “Hey, man, cheer up! Grey skies are going to clear up. Put on a happy face.”

But we have to understand what the Lord was saying to Paul. “Be of good cheer” also could be stated, “Be of good courage.” This was Christ’s call to courage in Paul’s life.

Maybe you have been frightened by the future. Maybe you have asked, “What is going on in my life? What is going to happen to me?”

God’s power gives courage. Jesus said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me . . .” (Acts 1:8). We need that power to have the courage to do what God has called us to do. And His power is there for each and every one of us today.

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Blessed Are the Generous

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“And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

—Acts 20:35

Do you know any generous people? They’re easy to recognize. They’re the ones who always pick up the check for your meal, and they never remind you of it. Maybe they don’t have a lot of money, even, but they say, “I’ll get it. Don’t worry about it.”

They know a little secret: It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Now, when we were young, we didn’t necessarily believe this. We believed it was more blessed to receive than to give. Remember what it was like at Christmas? We wrote up detailed directions for our parents so they could find and buy the gift that we wanted them to put under the tree. It was all about receiving. But as we got older, we started to enjoy giving more.

I think that is true for Christians as well. When we first come to Christ, it is all about receiving because we are messed up and needy. We come to God with our sin, He forgives us, lifts that burden off us, and fills us with His peace. Then we start hearing the Word of God and begin learning, growing, and maturing. All this is good because it is what young Christians are supposed to do.

But just as babies get older and mature and ultimately become adults, young Christians need to eventually grow up. Instead of coming to church and making it all about them and what they get out of it, they need to learn the joy of giving. They need to ask, “What can I do to help others? I have been blessed, and I want to serve the Lord now. Where do you have a need?”

If you give, it will be given to you. And I have found that generous people are blessed people.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Why Going to Church Is Important, Part 4

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In the previous weeks, we have looked at a couple of reasons why the church exists: the exaltation of God and the edification of the saints. But let’s look at a third reason: The church is called to evangelize the world.

This purpose of the church is a natural outgrowth of the first two. If we are glorifying God and edifying one another, we will naturally want to share the hope of salvation with others through our loving actions and words. Healthy sheep will reproduce themselves. This was Christ’s commandment before He ascended into heaven: “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere” (Mark 16:15 NLT). The church should do just that.

We are light to the world and salt to the culture. Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (NKJV). We do good works in our community: feeding, clothing, helping people get off drugs. We spend countless hours counseling people with marital problems. We reach out to unwed mothers, even helping them to find homes for their unwanted babies. The list goes on and on. Our purpose is to shine God’s light in this dark world.

But we are also salt. Jesus said, in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless” (NLT). Salt, in biblical times, was used to preserve meat. The church is a preservative in the culture. If you don’t believe that, just look at the world after the church is removed: Antichrist emerges effectively unchallenged.

As that preservative, we stand up for what is right and true. We register and we vote our consciences, informed by our biblical worldview. We make no apology for that. We lift up Jesus Christ and we oppose sin. The story is told of President Calvin Coolidge, who returned home from church one Sunday. His wife asked him what the minister spoke on. Coolidge, a man of few words, simply said, “Sin!” “What else did he say?” she asked. President Coolidge replied, “He was against it!” That’s right, we are against sin and yet we love sinners and want them to be saved.

We are here to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. The church makes a huge mistake when it tries too hard to relate and compromise. Martin Lloyd Jones said, “When the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first.”

If you want to see church in a whole new way, stop thinking like a consumer. Start thinking like a disciple. It’s not about you; it is about God and others. Ask the Lord what your place is in the church. Come not to be served, but to serve, and watch what God will do. Church will come alive to you as a result. Let God revive you, and may it impact your church and your country as a result. May God fill us with the Holy Spirit to impact this world.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Watchman

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“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.”

—Ezekiel 3:17–18

The apostle Paul compared himself to a watchman. A watchman in ancient Israel would stand on a city wall and pay attention to what was going on. If there was an enemy approaching, he would warn the people. His job was to be faithful, not fearful, and consider the people’s safety and security. If he failed to do that, then the blood of those people would be on his hands. In other words, if the watchman did not warn others, then he would be responsible for what happened to them.

Paul told the Ephesian elders, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:26–27 NKJV).

It is sort of like what a parent does with a child. The job of a parent is to be a parent; it is not to be a best friend. Be a mom. She needs a mother. Be a dad. He doesn’t need a buddy. Sometimes parents have to sit children down and say, “Don’t do that. It’s wrong. I don’t want you to do that.”

In the same way, as Christians, we need to help each other. We need to be that watchman for someone else. Maybe you are a mature believer who knows some of the dangers out there, and you see a younger believer getting sucked into something harmful. It might be a little awkward, but you say, “Can I just offer a word of advice to you? Be careful in this area. I would hate to see you fall there.”

Maybe they don’t love the fact that you said something like this to them. Or maybe they do. But you are just being a faithful watchman.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – How to Spot a Wolf

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“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.” —Matthew 7:15

An inspector who worked for London’s Scotland Yard had the job of detecting false currency from the true. Someone commented to him that he must spend a lot of time looking at counterfeit money.

“Oh, no,” he answered. “I just spend all day working with real money. Then, when I come across a counterfeit bill, I know immediately.”

The apostle Paul warned the elders of the Ephesian church, “I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. Watch out!” (Acts 20:29–31).

That is why it is important to declare the whole counsel of God. There is false teaching, and there are false teachers who lead people astray. The tricky thing about false teaching is that it is not 100 percent false. Maybe it is 20 percent false. Maybe most of it is good and 20 percent is false. Yet that small part that is weird or odd could be spiritually destructive. So if I see a false teaching, I will try to identify it and then teach what the Bible says.

I believe that the best thing I can do is to help people become as conversant with the Bible as possible. The more time we spend in the Bible, the more likely we will recognize that something isn’t accurate when it comes along.

Of course, we could spend the rest of our lives researching every aberrant teaching or cult out there. But I would suggest that we instead spend our time absorbing the Word of God. Then we will be like that inspector in Scotland Yard and recognize when something false surfaces because we know what is true.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie –The Whole Counsel of God

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For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. —Acts 20:27

When I speak I try to keep it interesting. I try to keep it real. I try to keep it understandable. But I am not there to entertain an audience or to make people feel good. My job, if you will, is to exposit the Word of God. Because it really doesn’t matter what Greg Laurie thinks about anything. My opinion isn’t any better than anyone else’s opinion.

For me as a pastor, I have a responsibility to declare the whole counsel of God and feed the flock of God. That is the advantage of expository preaching and teaching. By expository, I mean taking the text and letting it unfold. We don’t impose our views on the text; we let the text impose its views on us. It is not for us to add things to the text.

Sometimes pastors use a text as a point of departure for their messages. A verse will be read, and then whoever is speaking will just tell stories. They might be good stories. They might be good jokes. They might be very entertaining. And as you leave, you might say, “That was so good. I loved that. It was really good.” You have no idea what he said, but you know it was fun.

The apostle Paul told the Ephesian elders, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). I think that is the most important thing. We need to get our minds oriented toward what the Bible says.

Too often we build our opinions on our feelings. But it doesn’t matter what we feel. What does the Bible say? Do what the Bible says, because feelings can mislead you. Don’t base decisions in life on mere feelings. Base them on the Word of God.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Solemn Witnesses

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But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

—Acts 5:29

When there is an accident, police officers will try and locate witnesses to ask them what they saw and heard. A witness’s objective is not to make up something or to try and make the story better than it actually was. No, a witness is simply to state what he or she saw—plainly. Just the facts, ma’am.

That is what believers are to do. We are to give testimony to what we know is true. The apostle John wrote in his epistle, “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you” (1 John 1:3).

If you walk in fellowship with God, He will be working in your life. He will be showing you things from His Word that will help you to grow spiritually. You will find that these things will overflow, sort of like wringing out a sponge. When we are full of the things of God, it comes out because we are sharing what we know is true.

There is also a seriousness to it, however. The word testify means to solemnly give witness. As we tell others about Christ, there is a gravity to it. Yes, we want to talk about how God loves us and will forgive us and come into a relationship with us. But the heavy part is the fact that there is a judgment, and there is a hell for the person who rejects God’s offer of forgiveness. We are to share this truth with all seriousness.

Yet in a lot of evangelistic presentations today, there is no message of hell or judgment. We sort of edit out that part because we are afraid we might offend someone. But my concern is that if I don’t include it, then I will offend God. And I would rather offend a person than God.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Servants by Choice

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“So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ” —Luke 17:10

The apostle Paul would often describe himself as a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ. This isn’t the same as the horrific slavery of days gone by where people were forced to work for someone else. Being a bondservant of Christ means serving God. It is something I want to do.

What is the goal of a servant? To please his master, to do what his master wants him to do. As 1 Corinthians 6:20 reminds us, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Let’s not misunderstand. It isn’t as though God has taken me against my will and made me His slave. No, it is more like being in a slave market in shackles. Jesus comes along, looks at me, and says, “I will take that one.” Then He buys me.

So I say, “Okay, Master, where do you want me to go?”

“I want you to come over here because I am going to undo those shackles you’re wearing.”

“Wow. That feels a lot better.”

Then Jesus says, “We’re going down to the courthouse.”

“Why?”

“I am going to adopt you now as my son. See, you are my slave, but you are my son.”

“You know what?” I say. “I want to be your slave forever.”

That is how it works. I am not a slave because I have to be; I am a slave because I want to be.

Yes, as Christians we are slaves. But we also are friends of God. The Potter who molded us is also our Father who adores us. Our Master who owns us is also our Friend who loves us. And so we are called to be His servants.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Why Going to Church Is Important, Part 3

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As I mentioned last week, the church exists for three main reasons: to exalt God (upward); to edify the saints (inward); and to evangelize the world (outward). Let’s look at the second function—the edification of other believers.

The apostle Paul said that his goal was to both warn believers and teach them “with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, mature in their relationship to Christ” (Colossians 1:28 NLT). This is why we give such a prominent place to biblical teaching at Harvest.

As a pastor and teacher, I do not want to waste your time. My opinion is not any more valuable than any other persons’. I am not here to be a cheerleader, life coach, or a motivational speaker. I am not here to be your psychologist or your political pundit. I am here for one reason: to teach you the Word of God. All that matters is what the Bible says. “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are” (Hebrews 4:12 NLT). Martin Luther said, “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.”

I was amazed when I first heard the Bible taught. It made sense; it applied to my life! And it’s not only strong preaching of the Word that counts, but also strong listening. The early church, the church in revival that changed the world, understood this. In Acts 2:42 we read, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (NKJV). To “continue steadfastly” speaks of a real passion. They were living in a first-love relationship with Jesus and had burning hearts for Him. This was not a casual attitude, as one might have when joining a social club. There was a spiritual excitement in what they did. They applied themselves to what was being taught from the Word. I believe there is a need for anointed preaching today, but I also believe there is a need for anointed listening! Having an openness to receive God’s Word. Like newborn babies you should crave and earnestly desire spiritual milk that by it you may grow (see 1 Peter 2:2).

Let me say something that may seem controversial: We should be a part of one church. There is nothing wrong with visiting other churches here and there, or attending a midweek study at another church, especially if your church does not offer one. However, to go to multiple churches and not have one consistent place to fellowship is not good.

We are not all called to go to the same church, but we are all called to be a part of a church. Why? Because you need a consistent theology. Doctrine, or what we believe, affects everything we do. Paul said, in 1 Timothy 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (NIV). What you believe matters. That is why I have never understood how people will rate facilities, convenience, proximity, etc. as the criteria for choosing where they go to church. The top priority in looking for a church is that Gods’ Word is taught there.

But why should you have a home church? Because you need a place to be accountable. You need a pastor who can help and influence you. If there is something wrong, your pastor can tell you. If you are doing great, your pastor can commend and encourage you. You need a place to give faithfully and consistently of your finances. And you need a place to serve God with the gifts He has given you!

Sometimes people “church hop” because there is sin in their life. They break up with their spouse and initiate an unscriptural divorce, and then go to another church where no one knows them, with their new girlfriend or boyfriend. Trust me, I have seen this and worse.

A lot of people will treat the church like a movie theater—getting there late, leaving while the credits are rolling, checking texts and e-mails during the film, etc. Sometimes we bring that same consumer mentality to church. If we foster consumers instead of communers, we’ll end up with customers instead of disciples. It might fill up an auditorium, but it will never turn the world upside down for Christ.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Run for Him

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. —Hebrews 12:1

When I was in high school, I was a fast sprinter. Most people could not beat me in a short sprint, but I was not good at long distance runs. I would have a burst of energy that I could kind tap into and really take off. (Today I am not even a good sprinter. I’m really not good at any kind of running.) One thing I discovered back then as a member of the track and field team was that I always did better in practice when there was an audience. All of a sudden I would feel a little more energetic, especially when there was a pretty girl watching.

As Christians in the race of life, we, too, have an audience: the Lord Jesus. Hebrews 12 reminds us, “Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (verses 1–2).

Let us run with endurance . . . keeping our eyes on Jesus. You see, the Christian life is not a sprint; it is a long distance run. So we have to think of the big picture.

Here is how to run the race well. Here is how to run it according to the rules. Here is how to run it with joy. Run it for Jesus. Don’t run it for people to impress them. Don’t run it out of mere duty. You have an audience of one: Christ Himself is watching you. Run for Him. It will help you do much better.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Finish with Joy

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“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” —Psalm 51:12

Some Christians have lost their joy. They started off the Christian life with joy, but then something happened. They just lost interest in the things of God. They still do the things they should as a Christian, but they are just going through the motions. And they are not very happy about it.

Instead of saying like David did in Psalm 122:1, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the LORD,’ ” they would say, “I was mad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the LORD.’ ” Church again? Okay. All right. Another Bible study? Okay. Fine.

Paul told the elders of the Ephesian church that he wanted to finish his race with joy (see Acts 20:24). When you start a race, you don’t always think about the finish, but you should. The finish is the most important part—not the start. You can have a bad start and still finish well. I don’t care how great of a start you had. I don’t care if you were leading the pack for nine laps out of ten. If you collapse and fall, then it doesn’t matter. You are just tired, and it all was for nothing. Finishing is everything. And Paul was talking about finishing his race well, about finishing it with joy.

You don’t know how long your life will last. That is why you want to run this race well and run it with joy. The objective is to finish.

Have you lost your joy in the Christian life? Then pray, like David, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (Psalm 55:12). Don’t just start your race well. Finish it well. Finish it with joy.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Run by the Rules

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I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. —1 Corinthians 9:26–27

I read an article about a British runner named Rob Sloan who finished third in the Kielder Marathon in the UK. Sloan burst across the finish line with a time of 2:51:00. But everyone noticed that he had so much energy and hardly any sweat while the others runners were exhausted. As it turned out, he ran most of the race but then left the course at mile 20 and caught a shuttle bus the rest of the way. As the leading runners were heading toward the finish line, he trotted out of the forest and onto the race route. But it wasn’t long before the race organizers found out what had happened, and Sloan was disqualified. He didn’t run according to the rules.

When you are running a race, you have to run by the rules, and you are told what those rules are from the beginning. In the same way, in the race of life we must play by the rules—God’s rules. The apostle Paul said, “I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:26–27).

As we run, we have to run according to God’s rules. We don’t make up the rules as we go. We don’t say, “Well, I don’t agree with this rule, so I am not going to live by it.” If that is how we run our race, then we will be disqualified because that is not how it works. God is the one who sets up the rules. We are the ones who need to run by them.

Are you running by the rules? Or, are you facing disqualification?

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Run Well

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You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? —Galatians 5:7

When runners compete in a race, depending on what kind of race it is, they must stay in their own lane. A runner cannot go into a competitor’s lane and cut that runner off. If this happens, he or she will be disqualified.

The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia, “You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth?” (5:7). Or, paraphrased, “You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience?” Sometimes in the race of life, people will cut in on us and impair our performance. That means we need to give a lot of thought as to whom we choose to run with.

Paul instructed Timothy to “run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts” (2 Timothy 2:22). As Christians, we should run together, not trip each other in the race. We are not competing against one another.

Our competition is with the world, the flesh, and the Devil—those are our competitors in life’s race. Those are our enemies. So it is not about besting one another; it is about glorifying God and overcoming the Enemy.

Paul also warned against looking back while we are running our race. He said, “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:13–14). You can’t run a good race if you are constantly looking over your shoulder.

So in the race of life, stay in your own lane and don’t look back.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – With Eternity in View

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But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus–the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. —Acts 20:24

Awhile back, I had a candid conversation with Billy Graham about heaven. I was speaking at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove, so one afternoon we had lunch together. He asked me what I was speaking on, and I told him that I was talking about heaven.

He said, “Tell me what you are going to say.”

So I gave him a condensed version of my sermon on what the Bible teaches about heaven. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t heard these things before, but he listened with rapt attention. He and I have something in common: we both have someone close to us in heaven. His wife, Ruth, is in heaven. And my son Christopher is in heaven. When someone you love is in heaven, you feel as though you are tethered to it. You think about heaven more than you ever did before. You see the frailty of life, and eternity becomes more tangible and significant.

In his book, Nearing Home, Billy Graham writes about aging: “All my life I was taught how to die as a Christian, but no one ever taught me how I ought to live in the years before I die. I wish they had because I am an old man now, and believe me, it’s not easy.”

It’s important that we understand our times are in God’s hands. Our lives are a gift to us from God. God decides when your life starts. God decides when it stops. That is why the apostle Paul said, “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24). Paul summed up what really mattered in his life.

Your life is a gift from God. Are you living it for His glory?

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Why Going to Church Is Important, Part 2

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The church exists for three purposes: The Glorification of God; The Edification of the Saints; And the Evangelization of the World. In other words, “Upward, Inward, and Outward.”

The first purpose of the church is to exalt God (upward). God put us on this earth to know Him and to glorify Him. According to Ephesians 1:12, we are here to praise our glorious God! This is why we worship the Lord in song. Worship is an important part of service. A worship leader/team is not there to perform for you. They “perform” for an audience of One: God! And they are not a warm-up act either. They are here to lead us in worship. They are leading us in prayer set to song. That is why we should never be late to church. When we are late, we miss out on glorifying God together. He inhabits the praises of His people (see Psalm 22:3).

One of the most powerful things I had ever seen when I first came to church was worship. Back in those days, the choruses and chords were very simple, but the worship was positively supernatural. Did you know that your worship is a witness? Acts 2:47 says that the early church was “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (NKJV). There was a direct connection between worship and witness. We are being watched, both inside and outside the walls of our church. The outside world marvels when a child of God can rejoice in hardship.

Sitting next to you on any given Sunday may be a visitor or a nonbeliever. They are essentially sizing everything up by what they see. Not just what happens on the platform, but the people around them. During times of worship, do you sing out to the Lord? Or did you sit in silence? Worse yet, do you talk with the person next to you or spend the time texting? What message are you sending to those visitors? Can you not tune those things out and just glorify God?

When we glorify God in church with other believers, it gives us perspective. When we come to God in prayer and in worship, we see things correctly. This is why Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father in heaven” (see Mathew 6:9 NKJV). It causes me to remember, whatever I am facing, that the all-powerful, all-knowing God of the Universe who loves me is listening to me right now. But when I isolate myself from other believers, I lose perspective. I can become fearful, confused, angry, and even bitter.

You recall when Jesus was crucified, the disciples initially scattered. But they quickly gathered together again to encourage one another. Thomas was not there and missed out on an appearance of Jesus. When told of it, he essentially said, “Unless I touch the wounds in His hands, I will not believe.” But the next time they were meeting, Thomas was there and his perspective was quickly corrected.

Asaph was grappling with the age-old question, “Why do the wicked prosper?” And then it dawned on him. “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin” (Psalm 73:16 NIV). Asaph is essentially saying, “I didn’t understand why things are the way that they are until I came into God’s presence to study His Word with His people. Then my questions came into a proper perspective.”

Why should believers go to church? To exalt God—to reach upward.

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – So Great a Salvation

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“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” —Matthew 7:13

People believe in hell for other people, for those who do awful things. Maybe someone has gotten away with a horrible crime and hasn’t been caught. So we say, “Well, they will get theirs.” What we are really saying is there is a final judgment.

However, we don’t like the prospect of facing judgment ourselves. Yet if a person ends up in hell, that is his or her own choice. This is not what God wants. Hell is a prison in which the doors are locked from the inside.

Heaven is not the default destination of every person. Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13–14).

We go to heaven because we make a choice to do so by putting our faith in Christ—and Christ alone. There is no other way to get to heaven. No one was uniquely qualified to meet God’s righteous demands apart from Christ. No prophet, no guru, no religious system is going to do it. Jesus was fully God, and He was fully man. Thus He, and He alone, was able to stand in the gap for us and pay the price for our sins.

That is why the Bible asks, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him . . . ?” (Hebrews 2:3–4). If you blow off God’s offer, that is your choice. But you are going to face the consequences.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Not the End

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We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. —2 Corinthians 5:8–9

What happens when a Christian dies? The simple answer is that he or she goes immediately to heaven. There are no stopovers. There are no suspended states of animation. There is no soul sleep. No, a Christian goes straight into God’s presence. The apostle Paul wrote that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (see 2 Corinthians 5:8). This is clear in the Scriptures.

Those who have put their faith in Christ will go to heaven one day. There are two basic ways we will get there: through death or the Rapture. We don’t know whether we are the generation who will be caught up to heaven in the Rapture, which Revelation 20 calls the first resurrection: “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power . . .” (verse 6).

Referring to this event, Paul wrote, “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’ ” (1 Corinthians 15:53–54).

This means the believer doesn’t have to fear death. This means that a Christian never dies. The soul lives on. That will never die.

Of course, when we lose a loved one, we grieve like anyone else does. But we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We know where our Christian loved ones are who have preceded us to heaven. In a technical sense, someone isn’t lost if you know where he or she is. We know we will be with our loved ones in Christ once again. Death is not the end.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Whole Gospel

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I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. —Galatians 1:6–7

I remember visiting a city and seeing a man standing on a corner with a sign that said, “The wages of sin are death.” He was literally yelling at people, “God hates you! God will judge you!”

But he was wrong. He was misrepresenting God. So I walked up to him and said, “Excuse me. Can I ask you a question?”

“WHAT?”

I said, “You know, on your sign it says ‘the wages of sin are death.’ That’s true. That’s what the Bible says. But do you know what the rest of that verse says?”

“WHAT?”

The rest of the verse says, ‘But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ Why don’t you put that on the back of your sign so you can say, ‘The wages of sin are death, . . . but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’?”

Then he told me I was going to hell. It was wrong for him to present God in that inaccurate way. But it is also wrong to share the gospel and not tell people about the consequences of rejecting Christ.

The whole gospel is that we were sinners separated from God, with no hope of ever being right with Him. But God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die in our place and atone for our sins and absorb the wrath of God. And He rose again from the dead. When we put our faith in Him, we pass from death to life and know that when we die, we will go to heaven. But if we don’t believe in Jesus, we will face God at the Great White Throne Judgment and will spend eternity separated from Him in hell.

People need the whole gospel.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Weight of a Life

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Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. —1 Corinthians 3:12–13

If Billy Graham ever had anything close to a personal intercessor, it would have been Pearl Goode. She lived in Pasadena, California, and for many years, she prayed in secret for Billy Graham and his crusades. When the Graham team was finally made aware of this, they started bringing her with them to the crusades so that she could pray on site. She lived to the age of 90, and at her funeral, Ruth Graham said, “Here lie the mortal remains of much of the secret of Bill’s ministry.” While Billy Graham was doing his part, Pearl Goode was doing hers. While he was preaching, she was praying.

When awards are given out in heaven for faithfulness, we might expect them to go to the spiritual heavyweights. Names like Corrie ten Boom, Jim Elliot, and Billy Graham might come to mind. Maybe we would be surprised at the prospect of a woman named Pearl Goode sweeping the awards. After all, she wasn’t a bestselling author. She didn’t have a hit song on Christian radio.

This is what we need to remember: it isn’t about how famous we are; it is about being faithful with what God has called us to do.

Daniel said to the wicked King Belshazzar, “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27). A loose paraphrase would be: “Belshazzar, you’re a lightweight. You’re a spiritual bantam weight.”

On God’s scales, you don’t want to be a lightweight. On God’s scales, you want to be a heavyweight. You want to have substance and meaning in your life.

It isn’t about what God has called another Christian to do; it is all about what God has set before you to do. Have you been faithful? If you have, then you will be rewarded on that final day.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Built to Last

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For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. —1 Corinthians 3:11

Spending time on the beach, I have watched people construct some very elaborate sandcastles that took hours and hours to build. I have admired their work. But I also knew those impressive structures wouldn’t be around for very long. It was only a matter of time until either a tide came in and swept them away or a toddler appeared out of nowhere and demolished them.

Some couples will build a marriage on sand, like those momentary sandcastles. They build it on fleeting emotions or sex or some other thing. But a marriage must be built on something stronger that will sustain it.

Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount with an illustration of what we should build our lives on—and it is also a perfect picture of what to build a marriage on:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24–25)

Notice that Jesus did not say if a storm comes but when a storm comes. Marriages go through changes. They go through trials. So build your marriage on the right foundation. If you do, then you will come to know the truth of Proverbs 18:22: “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD.”

Is your marriage on the Rock or on the rocks? If it is built on the Rock, then it will stand the test of time. If it is built on the Rock, then it will weather the storms. If it is built on the Rock, then it is built to last.