A New Beginning

Guest (Male): Sometimes, we doubt our salvation. But we need to remember that God completes what He starts.

Guest (Male): Coming up today on a New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie reassures us about the free gift of eternal life God makes available through the sacrifice of Christ.

Host (Greg Laurie): Salvation is from God to you, from beginning to end. You didn't earn it. Therefore, you can't lose it. It's not based on how you feel. It's based on what Jesus did.

Guest (Male): This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Can you hear the angels sing? This is the day, the day when life begins.

Host (Greg Laurie): When we give someone a birthday gift, we don't ask them to give it back when they disappoint us. Well, God doesn't revoke the gift of eternal life when we do something that displeases Him. Our salvation was purchased at Calvary, and that purchase was final.

Guest (Male): Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how we can rest in the finished work of our salvation. But then set our minds on moving forward in our walk of faith. Good encouragement today, for good times and bad. This is the day. The day when life begins.

Host (Greg Laurie): Well, we're starting a brand new series called Unshakeable. And the title of my message is Unshakeable When Faith Feels Fragile.

So, years ago, my oldest son Christopher, when he was just a little guy, I bought him a plastic tugboat that was basically unsinkable. It had super thick plastic on it, so you could swim it down to the bottom of a pool, hold it there, let it go, boom, it would pop right to the top. So, he enjoyed that little tugboat. He got a little bit older and one day I went to him and said, "Hey Christopher, you don't really play with that tugboat anymore. Do you want to blow it up?" And he said, "Yeah, let's blow it up."

By the way, God's like to blow stuff up, am I right? We like to watch stuff blow up. Who knows why? So, somehow I acquired a cherry bomb. You know what that is? I don't know how. I don't remember buying it anywhere, but I did have a cherry bomb. So, I cut a little hole in the top of this little tugboat, lit the cherry bomb, dropped it in, and we stood way back waiting for this big dramatic explosion. And instead, it just sort of went [sound of small pop] then [sound of fizzle]. Then I heard somewhere [sound of sad trombone]. Pretty sad. Not that dramatic. But the tugboat had a hole in the hull. A little tongue twister there, and it slowly went to the bottom.

And that can be a picture of us spiritually. We can start to sink because, in a way, we have a hole in our hull, or a breakdown in our foundation, and as our faith is shaken, and we start to sink. Bringing me to my first point, faith can be shaken, but you don't have to sink. Now, have you ever had your faith shaken? Pretty much everyone has in some way, shape, or form. I don't know what caused it to happen.

A certain set of circumstances caused you to question why you were going through a certain thing. As an example, maybe it was a health crisis. Maybe you've been in great health all of your life and then suddenly you found yourself very sick. You even found yourself hospitalized. And one thing led to another thing, and you wondered if you were ever going to get out of there again. And you're thinking, "God, why are you letting this happen to me? If you love me, you wouldn't let this happen."

It could be an unanswered prayer. Maybe you're praying for an unsaved spouse. Maybe you're praying for the return of a prodigal child, and you're wondering, "God, are you even hearing my prayer?" Or maybe someone you looked up to spiritually let you down. It might have been your parents. It might have been a spiritual leader of some kind, and it caused you to think, "If someone like that could fall away spiritually, am I next?"

Or maybe it was what you perceived as an irresistible temptation. Something came your way that was so enticing, so tempting that you didn't think you could resist it, and in fact, you gave into it, and your fellowship with God has been broken, and you find yourself with a shaken faith. Well, let me say at the outset, you are not alone. Others have had their faith shaken, even godly men. Elijah, the wonder-working prophet, after his contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, was threatened by Queen Jezebel, who effectively put a contract out on his life to have him put to death. And Elijah ran away, and he was depressed and down, and even said to God, "I just want to die."

Same thing happened to Jonah. Things didn't go the way he wanted them to go, and he sat under a little plant for shade in the burning sun and said, "Lord, I don't want to live anymore." David fell into sin with Bathsheba and tried to cover it up. Simon Peter openly denied his Lord three times. And guess what? God did not give up on any of them, and He's not going to give up on you either.

Guest (Male): [Applause]

Host (Greg Laurie): Maybe you've stumbled, but you're still standing. You might feel weak, but God is strong. Maybe you feel shaken, but you don't ever stay in that state. And that is why we're looking at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John together. Why was this epistle written? 1st John in particular. John gives the answer when he says in 1st John 5:13, "I've written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." I wrote this so you will know that you have eternal life. This is so important, because sometimes, especially when we're young in the faith, we doubt our salvation. We question if we're really saved. But we need to remember that God completes what He starts.

He is described in the Bible as the Author and the Finisher of your faith. God's gift to you, salvation, is from God to you from beginning to end. You didn't earn it. Therefore, you can't lose it. It's not based on how you feel. It's based on what Jesus did. That's why John says, "These things we write to you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." He didn't say, "So you may feel that you have eternal life," because our emotions can mislead us. So this is a very important thing. Obviously written by the Apostle John.

John is what we might describe as an insider. He spent a lot of time with Jesus. I mean, for starters, he was one of the chosen apostles. Jesus hand-picked him. But then he was in a special group of Peter, James, and John that went with the Lord to certain places on certain occasions. For instance, we read about Jesus transfigured, and we read He took Peter, James, and John with Him. We read that when He raised Jairus' daughter from the dead, He took Peter, James, and John with Him. When He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked Peter, James, and John to join Him. Now, we might think because they were sort of special, or what we might describe as teachers' pets. Well, maybe that's the case, though I doubt it.

I think of how much time I often spent sitting next to a teacher in a class when I was going to school, not because I was a teacher's pet, because I was the teacher's monster. I disrupted the class, and she would say, or he would say, "Greg Laurie, pull your desk up here right next to me so I can keep my eye on you." Is that why Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him? I mean, don't forget, James and John weren't called the sons of thunder for nothing. These are the guys that wanted to call fire down on a town because they were not responsive to the message they were bringing. But John was the one apostle that's identified as standing at the foot of the cross. And in fact, one of the seven statements of Christ was directed to John. When He said, "Son, behold your mother." And then to Mary, who was also there, He said, "Woman, behold your son." In effect, Jesus was committing the care of His mother to the Apostle John. Quite an honor.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

Guest (Male): We're so moved to hear from listeners that join us from all over the world, from every background, every profession, every age, and in every circumstance of life.

Guest (Female): Hi, Pastor Greg. I want to thank you for leading me to Jesus in 1974 as an 18-year-old girl. My big sister had given her heart to Christ and dragged me to Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California, to the youth service where a young you said, "Leave your pride in your seat and come to Jesus." Praise God, I did. Thank you, Pastor Greg.

Guest (Male): How have these studies in God's Word touched your life? If you have a story to share, why not call us and let us know? Call 1-866-871-1144. That's 866-871-1144.

Guest (Male): Well, we're focusing on John the Apostle today in Pastor Greg's message called Unshakeable When Faith Feels Fragile. Let's continue.

Host (Greg Laurie): John had a unique access to Jesus Christ, and in fact, he outlived all the other apostles. According to church tradition, all the apostles died the death of a martyr with the exception of John, who lived to be a very old man, and in fact, was exiled to the island of Patmos, where they thought, "We'll never hear from him again." And the Lord came to him and gave to John what we now call the book of Revelation, talking about having the last word.

John was also the pastor of the church of Ephesus. This church was established by the Apostle Paul, pastored by Timothy, and also by John. And this church started when Paul went to Ephesus and preached to them. There's an amphitheater that still stands in Ephesus today, that I've stood in and I've spoken in. And it's pretty exciting to think Paul was here once. And they worshipped a false goddess there called Diana or also known as Artemis. And so when Paul preached, it caused trouble with the industry that was built on this false idol worship and a riot broke out. Pretty much wherever Paul went, there was either a riot or a revival. Never a dull day with Paul.

So Paul established his church, and then it's pastored later by Timothy, as I mentioned, and then John. I mean, can you imagine having Paul and John as pastors in your church? Talk about epic leadership. They would announce, "Starting on Sunday mornings, John is going to do a brand new series that he's simply calling Revelation." "Hey, I think I want to come and hear that." So these were the men of God leading this church. But now it's in a different state. John is writing to a couple of generations down the line. So it started with the first generation that heard Paul's preaching. By the time John is writing to them and speaking to them, they've been around for a while. They're into their third generation. It reminds me of this church, Harvest. We've been around for 50 years, as you know. And by the way, I was three years old when I gave my first sermon. True story.

No, actually I was 20 when I started pastoring, 19 when I started preaching. And can you imagine having a 20-year-old pastor? And I'd only been a Christian for a couple of years, well, three years at that point. And so we did not know we were starting a church, but indeed we were. So you have the first generation because our church was born in revival during the Jesus Movement. So now we have our children, now we have our children's children, our grandchildren. And now we have their children coming down the road. So we have multiple generations. And what happens is a church can be started in revival, but then the next generation, and even the next generation, they weren't there for that. And so maybe they don't have as much passion as the first generation had.

Maybe they aren't as close to the Lord as they could be. And that is why Jesus said in fact, to the church of Ephesus in the book of Revelation, "I admire your hard work and your discipline and your discernment. But I have this against you, you have left your first love." So 1st John is written to people that needed to be reminded of these essentials. And it's also a reminder to us that every generation needs Christ, and every person needs to come to the Lord on their own.

I do see some promising signs though, of what could be a spiritual awakening happening in America today. I read an article in the New York Times that pointed out that at an unprecedented rate, young men are going to church. More young men than young women. And this is unusual, because normally, the girls are the ones that lead the way spiritually. But this is a phenomenon. And I think it's a reaction to an action. I think our young men have been so beaten down and told that they have toxic masculinity and they're part of the patriarchy, that we've turned them into a bunch of soy boys.

Guest (Male): [Applause]

Host (Greg Laurie): They're looking for a challenge. They're looking for someone to tell them what a real man is. And there's nothing wrong with being masculine, because God created you that way, just as there's nothing wrong with being feminine. Let the girls be feminine, let the men be masculine, and be who God has called you to be.

Guest (Male): [Applause]

Host (Greg Laurie): Another interesting thing, in addition to young men returning to church at an unprecedented rate. Let me do one more sidebar on that. I was talking to a lady the other day who's been a teacher for many years. She says, "We have a little Bible club on our campus. It's a public school." She said, "I went in there the other day, and out of 30 students, 27 of them were young men." I thought, how interesting. That's not normal. Now, girls, come on. You got to rally. Hello? You girls go, come on. Get back in the game again, girls, we need you. We can't just have a bunch of dudes running everything. But I like to see young men in particular having this responsiveness to the gospel.

But then Bible sales were up 25% across the board last year. I think the runaway success of programming like The Chosen and House of David is also a phenomenon of sorts.

Guest (Male): [Applause]

Host (Greg Laurie): We hear of thousands of college students turning to Christ and spontaneous baptisms breaking out. So there's some promising signs for this generation. And let's pray it happens.

Now, 1st John can be divided into three sections. And they are, God is Light, God is Love, and God is Life. First, God is Light. 1st John 1 says, "This is the message we heard from Him and declare to you that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." Secondly, God is love. 1st John 2, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." And finally, God is life. 1st John chapter 5, "He that has the son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life." All right? So let's dig in. 1st John chapter 1. I'm reading from the New Living Translation.

"We proclaim to you the One who existed from the beginning, whom we heard and we have seen. We saw Him with our own eyes and touched Him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This One who is life itself was revealed to us and we have seen Him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that He is the One who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then He was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so you may fully share our joy." We'll stop there.

So my son Jonathan and I were recently invited to go to a concert at The Sphere. Have you heard of The Sphere? It's in Las Vegas, and it's a phenomenal building. It's actually an engineering marvel. It cost over $2 billion to build. It has two gigantic LED displays with 16K resolution with thousands of individual panels that creates this immersive visual experience. And in addition to that, there are 167,000 individual amplified speakers. So when you go into this thing, it's like you're in another world. One moment you're underwater, and you're out in the middle of the desert, and then you're in the sky. It's just incredible. And it's something to really behold, I have to say. Too bad it's in Las Vegas. I'm not a fan of Las Vegas at all. But anyway, it was a great experience. But I bring that up because here are the apostles now, talking about something far more phenomenal than The Sphere. They're talking about the fact that they spent time with the Son of God. They saw Him, they heard Him, they touched Him. They spent three years plus walking and talking with Jesus.

Guest (Male): Fresh insights from a new series called Unshakeable here on A New Beginning. And Pastor Greg Laurie has more to come from this message. It's a good time to ask, how's your relationship with the Lord? Do you spend time walking and talking with Jesus? Do you have a relationship with Him? Pastor Greg, if someone has never come to the Lord and asked Him to be their Savior, they can do that right now, can't they?

Host (Greg Laurie): They can, and it's so simple, and I think because it's so simple, people think, "Oh, it can't be that easy." Well, look, Jesus did all the heavy lifting. He carried the cross for you. He died on that cross that He carried. This isn't about what you do, it's about what He's done. But here's what the Bible says, "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." So, let's just say that you're caught in a rip current out in the ocean, and you need help, and there's a lifeguard at the stand, and they see you. You've got to call out to them and let them know you need saving. And the same is true when it comes to eternal life. Jesus is ready to save you. Will you call out to Him?

Guest (Male): You say, "Well, okay, how do I do that?"

Host (Greg Laurie): You do it through prayer. And prayer is just talking to God. So listen, I'd like to lead you in a simple prayer. And if you pray this prayer after me, I believe God will hear it and answer it, and Christ will come to live inside of you. Thousands of people have prayed a prayer like this over the years that we've been doing this radio broadcast and have seen their life change. There's no power or magic in a prayer, it's all about your commitment to Christ. But this is a way to call on the name of the Lord in this prayer. So if you want Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, if you want to fill that big hole in your heart, just pray this prayer after me. You can pray it out loud if you like. Pray it in the quietness of your heart, but pray these words if you would.

Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that You're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. I am sorry for my sin, and I turn from it now, and I choose to follow You from this moment forward. Be my Savior and my Lord. Be my God and my Friend. Thanks for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Guest (Male): Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, I want you to know that God has heard you and has answered it. The Bible says, "These things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." That you may know. It's yours now. God has given it to you because it's the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Congratulations and welcome to the family of God.

Guest (Male): Yeah, and we want to help you get started in this new relationship with the Lord. Would you let us send you something? It's free of charge. It's Pastor Greg's new believer's Bible. Scores of people have read this edition of God's Word. New believers love the study helps written just for them, and they appreciate that it's in an easy-to-understand translation. We'll send it to you today. Just ask for the new believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. You can call anytime 1-800-821-3300, or go online to harvest.org. You know, Pastor Greg, we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives.

Host (Greg Laurie): Hmm.

Guest (Male): So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching.

Host (Greg Laurie): That's right.

Guest (Male): And we hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue.

Host (Greg Laurie): Yeah, it's really true, Dave. You know, and even a little bit helps. You know, people need to hear the Gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the Word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. And I'm so passionate about it, and I'm called to do it, and I'm thankful for it. But I can't do it alone. So I'm going to ask folks that are listening if you think more people need to hear the Gospel. If you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the Word of God, then prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries and maybe even becoming a Harvest Partner, which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving, and that opens up a lot of new opportunities for us. So, thanks for that.

Guest (Male): Yeah, that's right. And we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, Pastor Greg brings us good reassurance that the Lord is with us, even in those times when we don't feel His presence. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.