A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: God says I'll be merciful and your sins will I remember no more.

Guest (Male): Some of us think our sins are like boat anchors keeping us away from God. Pastor Greg Laurie says we're forgiven because of the Lord's sacrifice.

Greg Laurie: We should not choose to remember what God has chosen to forget. His mercy is greater than your mess. His grace is deeper than your guilt and his forgiveness is immediate and complete. And it will transform you.

Guest (Male): For years dry cleaners have used strong chemicals to remove tough stains from delicate fabrics. Things like perchloroethylene, DF-2000, liquid silicone and usually the stain goes away. But what do we do with the stain of sin? The stain that's evident on every human heart. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Today on *A New Beginning*, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us how the Lord can wash our sins as white as snow.

Greg Laurie: 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 handpicked 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 took Peter, James, and John. 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. So John had a unique access to Jesus.

Now, First John can be divided into three sections and they are: God is light, God is love, and God is life. First, God is light. First 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. First John 2, whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. And finally, God is life. First 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. First 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.

Here are the apostles now talking about the fact that they spent time with the Son of God. And here's the thing, this is what John is really saying: you can have this relationship with God too. He's not saying, "Hey man, too bad you didn't live 2,000 years ago. We were there, you weren't." Instead, he's saying, "No, this is for you as well." Look at First John 1:3. "We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so 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 want you to have the same joy that we have had and that we have experienced.

And so this is the thing he's bringing to our attention, but there's something that keeps that joy out of our life and it's unconfessed sin. Go back to First John, look at verse 5. "This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you. God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. So we're lying if we say we have fellowship with God and we go on living in spiritual darkness and we're not practicing the truth. But if we're living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin."

God wants us to live in the light. And in the Bible, light is a picture, a metaphor for walking closely with God. Darkness is a picture or metaphor for walking in sin. And in Ephesians 5 it says, you were formerly darkness but now you're light in the Lord, so walk as children of the light. For the Christian who's living in light, he will not be living in sin. Real faith is proven by obedience. You're either in the light or you're not in the light. And so when you're in the light, it means that you will be honest. God is not looking for perfection, he's looking for transparency. So he shines the light in our life to expose our sin so we will turn from it and find his forgiveness.

A great example of this is David, the man after God's own heart. Now, how could a man who committed adultery and also be responsible for effectively bringing about the death of another man, that would be Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, be called a man after God's own heart? I'll tell you how. When he was confronted with his sin, he came clean, he admitted it and God forgave him.

Contrast him to King Saul, the first king of Israel, who was rejected from ruling on the throne. Saul would justify his sin. He would excuse his sin. He would lie about his sin. David, in contrast, admitted it. When David was confronted by Nathan the prophet and basically said your sin has found you out, David said, "I have sinned against God." That is why he was a man after God's own heart because he admitted it and turned from it when confronted with it.

Listen, when you fall into sin, you have no one to blame but yourself. James 1:14 says each person is tempted when they're dragged away by their own evil desires and they sin, and then sin, when it's full grown, gives birth to death. So we are responsible. You say, well the temptation was too strong, it was irresistible. That's not true. Nothing is irresistible. You can resist it. The Bible says resist the devil and he will flee from you. But first it says submit to God. So first I submit to God, then I resist the devil. First Corinthians 10:13 says there's no temptation that you're going to face that is not common to everybody else, but God who is faithful will not allow you to be tempted above your capacity to resist but will with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Bottom line, there's always an exit sign. You just need to look for it.

But see, we excuse it. We don't take responsibility. Say, well I'm only human. Yeah, that's true, you're only human. But you're also, if you're a Christian, a spirit-filled child of God and the Bible says you can walk in the spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So God shines his light in your life, not to shame you but to heal you. Verse 7, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. And the way to be forgiven of your sin is to confess it. To confess it. Look at First John 1:8. If we claim we have no sin, we're only fooling ourselves and we're not living in the truth. But if we, underline this in your Bible please, get your pen out if you have a pen, underline it. If we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What a promise that is. It's time to stop making excuses and start making confession.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We really enjoy hearing when people appreciate the various resources from Harvest Ministries.

Guest (Female): Hi Pastor Greg. We just watched an episode of your animated series, *Ben Born Again and Yellow Dog*, and my kids were hooked. What a great way to share the gospel in a kid-friendly way. Even adults can learn by watching these videos. Congrats Pastor Greg and may the Lord continue to use you and your ministry for his glory.

Guest (Male): Has Pastor Greg heard from you? Why not drop him an email and let him know. Send it to greg@harvest.org. Again, that's greg@harvest.org. And watch *The Adventures of Ben Born Again and Yellow Dog* on the Harvest+ app. Well Pastor Greg continues now with his message in John chapter 1. We're talking today about walking in the light and about confessing those sins that keep us away from God. It doesn't come naturally for many people.

Greg Laurie: See, I don't even know if people know how to apologize anymore. You know, you're having a conflict with someone, a disagreement, and you want to end the conflict, so you say, "Listen, I'm sorry if you misunderstood what I was actually trying to say." Or "I'm sorry if this offended you, that was not my intention." We don't just own up to it. An apology goes along these lines: "Hey, I'm sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me." Not "I'm sorry if..." shut up, just you got to do a proper apology. And we do the same thing with God. Well God, I'm sorry if you thought... Oh come on, give me a break. The Lord knows all things. Just be honest with him. Tell him the truth and be honest and confess your sin. "I'm sorry Lord that I sinned against you."

When the Bible uses this phrase "confess," it means to agree with. All right, to agree with. So let's use an analogy and this is for our friends over on Maui. So let's talk about Maui sunsets. All right, so California sunsets can be pretty awesome, I have to say. Every now and then I'll watch one and post it, but Maui sunsets are on the next level. There's a beautiful little beach there on the island of Maui called Napili Beach. You just watch the sun slowly set. I remember one in particular not too long ago where the sky took on a pink hue, it's just unbelievable what you're seeing. So let's say you and I are sitting on the beach and I say, "Now that is a beautiful sunset." And you say, "You know what? I agree." So we just confessed something together. You agreed with me.

Now let's say I say, "Let's go and get some dinner." And I take you to my favorite Italian restaurant on the island of Maui called Sale Pepe. By the way, that's run by some folks in our church and it's so good. And one of the owners is from Italy. He has an Italian oven that he imported. He gets his flour from Italy, he gets his tomato sauce from Italy. So when he makes a pizza or they make fresh pasta, it's on another level. So I say, "That is amazing pasta." You say, "I agree." So we're confessing something together. Now let's say we leave and we go by a roadside stand and buy something to eat there and I say, "This is rancid." And you say, "I agree."

So when we say I agree with God or to confess means I see things the way God sees them. God says that is good, we say I agree with you God. God says that is bad, we say and I also agree with you on that Lord. So to confess is to see your sin as God sees it. Not excusing it, not making excuses for it, not blaming it on others, but owning it, being responsible for it and then the promise is if we will confess our sin he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And what a promise. If we will confess our sin he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. No matter what you've done, it's been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ when he died on the cross for you.

And listen to this, God not only forgives your sin and cleanses your sin, he forgets your sin. Because he says in Micah 7:19, you will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean. God says I'll be merciful and your sins will I remember no more. See, sometimes we drag up old things we did wrong and we go over them again and again and the fact is we should put those things in the past as God does. Our God has a big eraser, so let him use it in your life. We should not choose to remember what God has chosen to forget. His mercy is greater than your mess. His grace is deeper than your guilt and his forgiveness is immediate and complete and it will transform you.

And it doesn't take years and it doesn't take months and it doesn't take weeks or days or even hours. It can happen just like that. You can be forgiven of all of your sin. Can you imagine? You don't have to imagine, it's real. And it can happen for you because I'm talking to somebody right now that is racked with guilt. And you've tried to suppress this guilt and you've tried to drown this guilt with alcohol or perhaps drug use or other things, but the reality is it comes back to haunt you especially when you lay your head on your pillow at night. And you can be free from this guilt. It can be removed from your life because the issue is not guilt, it's the source of the guilt. That's what you want to deal with. What is the source of the guilt? The source of the guilt is you've done something wrong and you're guilty.

But the good news is Christ can forgive you because he paid for that sin when he died on the cross for you. So you must accept and receive that guilt. Maybe you feel like you're sinking, you're taking on water. What do you do now? Well I love the story in the Bible where Peter was walking on the water with Jesus and he started to sink and we read that he cried out, "Lord, save me." And Jesus said to him, "You got yourself in this mess, figure it out." You read that verse? I haven't either. The verse I read instead is immediately Jesus reached out his hand and pulled him up. That's the answer. "Lord, save me." Immediately Jesus will hear your prayer.

Maybe you would say, "Man, I've made a mess of my life, I've tried to figure it out." You need to say, "Lord, save me." You might say, "I have this addiction I can't break free from, I've tried everything." You need to cry out, "Lord, save me." That's the answer. You need to call out to him and he will hear your prayer and he will answer your prayer because the Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So we're going to close now in prayer and I'm going to extend an opportunity for you to call on his name and be saved. Maybe I'm talking to somebody right now who has never heard these things before. That there's a God in heaven who loves you, who has a plan for your life, who sent his Son Jesus to die on the cross for your sin because God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son and whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Maybe I'm talking to somebody that was raised in the church, I mentioned this earlier, and you don't really have your own relationship with the Lord. You need to ask God to forgive you, you need a relationship with Christ yourself. That's what this is all about. You can have this relationship with God. It's nice someone else has it, God wants you to have it. You know what's so amazing to me is how personal my relationship with the Lord is. John, the author of this gospel, refers to himself as the disciple that Jesus loved. Now that almost might sound boastful like I'm the disciple Jesus loved. Not at all. If he would have said I'm the disciple that loves Jesus, that might have been boastful. But I'm the disciple that Jesus loved.

And sometimes I feel like my relationship with God is such that I don't know if anybody else has this relationship with the Lord like I do. Then I meet someone else and they have it too. God is so amazing, he can make himself known to us as individuals and we feel like we might even be his favorite. I have five grandchildren and two of them have hijacked my phone and they've gone into contacts and taken their name out and instead put in "Your favorite grandchild." And so now when I get a call from my favorite grandchild, I have to figure out which one it is. One of them sitting in the front row right here and I saw the other one earlier and I'm going to now reveal who my favorite grandchild is: all of them.

But that's the kind of relationship we can have with God. Your favorite grandchild is calling Lord, your favorite daughter, your favorite son, the apostle whom Jesus loved. Jesus loves you. This is personal. This is for you. This can happen now, but you must call on the name of the Lord. Let's pray. Father, I pray that you will speak to any person here who does not have a relationship with you. Help them to see their need for you and help them to come to you right now we pray.

Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying, maybe you would say, "I want this relationship with Jesus you've been talking about. I want to know him as my savior and as my Lord, as my friend, as my Father. I have this guilt, I have this sin, I want it removed, I want it cleansed, I want it forgiven. Pray for me." If you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that when you die you will go to heaven, if you want your guilt removed, just pray this prayer after me right where you are. Just pray:

Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, but I know you are the savior of the world who died on the cross for my sin. I'm sorry for my sin. I turn from it, I repent of it and I ask you to come into my life and forgive me of all of my sin. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Guest (Male): Such an important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie today here on *A New Beginning*. He's been praying with those who have made a decision for the Lord. And if you've just prayed that prayer and you meant it sincerely, we want to be the first to welcome you into the family of God. And we'd like to send you Pastor Greg's *New Believer's Bible* to help you get started living as a believer. It'll help you build a strong spiritual foundation. The introductions to each book are short but so helpful and it answers common questions new believers often have. We'll send it free of charge, just contact us at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write *A New Beginning*, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or go online to harvest.org.

Well Pastor Greg, we're so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We're touching lives for eternity and we're really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further, isn't that right?

Greg Laurie: Absolutely. When you invest in Harvest Ministries, you're investing in the souls of men and women, boys and girls. And what is the value of a soul? Well let me personalize it. What's the value of your soul? What's the value of the soul of your husband, your wife, your son or your daughter or your mom or your dad or your best friend? Well I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it, it's so valuable. Well listen, God says all souls are mine. God loves us and sent his Son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sin so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money than in the work of the kingdom of God. So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries as we continue on to fulfill the great commission.

Guest (Male): Yeah, that's right. And you can make your donation right now at harvest.org or write us at *A New Beginning*, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 phone number: 1-800-821-3300. Well next time, Pastor Greg brings some great reassurance from this new series called *Unshakeable*. It's a message titled "Signs of the Last Days and Why You Shouldn't Panic." Join us here on *A New Beginning* with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.