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Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The Last Thing God Wants
The Last Thing God Wants
| The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 2 Peter3:9 | |
Heaven is not for good people; it is for forgiven people. Case in point: the thief on the cross. He was a murderer, most likely, but he was forgiven. And anyone can be forgiven if they will turn to Christ.
And just as heaven is a real place, hell is real too. We can't deny it. The Bible teaches on it many, many times. C. S. Lewis said, "There are only two kinds of people in the end: Those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All who are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell."
So let's get over the notion that God is so cruel in sending people to hell. God poured out His wrath on His own dear Son so we wouldn't have to go to hell. The last thing God wants is for anyone to perish. But if we are bound and determined to reject His offer of forgiveness, then it is really on us.
The Bible tells us that God "does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent" (2 Peter 3:9).
So we can't change the script, and we can't rewrite the story. As R. Albert Mohler, Jr. wrote, "We have no right to determine which 'story' of the gospel we prefer or think is most compelling. We must deal with the gospel that we received from Christ and the Apostles, the faith once for all delivered to the church."
My job, your job, our job is to deliver what God says—not to edit it . . . not to change it . . . not to add to it . . . and certainly not to subtract from it.
Greg Laurie
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Keep it Simple!
The Simplicity of the Gospel
I have traveled all around the world and have preached in every kind of venue imaginable, yet I never cease to be amazed by the power of the gospel. Regardless of how educated or how illiterate people are, no matter how wealthy or how poor they are, whatever their circumstances, the gospel always connects.
People have sometimes come away from a Harvest Crusade commenting on how simple my message was. But that simplicity was intentional. As I am preparing a message, I reach a point where I start clearing away the clutter so that it is as simple as it possibly can be. Why? Because I don't want anything to clutter the message of the cross of Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth, "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). I can't emphasize this enough. The message is not Christianity; it is Jesus Christ. The message is not religion. I don't want to make people religious. I don't even want to be religious myself. In fact, if it weren't for a relationship with Jesus, I would not be a religious person. Some people love the rituals of religion. Not me. I have no interest in them whatsoever. But I have the greatest interest in having a relationship with God.
I once had the opportunity to ask Billy Graham, "If you knew as a younger man what you know today after preaching the gospel all of these years, what would you tell yourself that you need to do more of?"
He told me, "I would preach more on the cross and the blood of Christ, because that is where the power is."
I thought that was good advice. And I've tried to keep it.
Greg Laurie - Harvest.org
| For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. | |
I have traveled all around the world and have preached in every kind of venue imaginable, yet I never cease to be amazed by the power of the gospel. Regardless of how educated or how illiterate people are, no matter how wealthy or how poor they are, whatever their circumstances, the gospel always connects.
People have sometimes come away from a Harvest Crusade commenting on how simple my message was. But that simplicity was intentional. As I am preparing a message, I reach a point where I start clearing away the clutter so that it is as simple as it possibly can be. Why? Because I don't want anything to clutter the message of the cross of Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth, "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). I can't emphasize this enough. The message is not Christianity; it is Jesus Christ. The message is not religion. I don't want to make people religious. I don't even want to be religious myself. In fact, if it weren't for a relationship with Jesus, I would not be a religious person. Some people love the rituals of religion. Not me. I have no interest in them whatsoever. But I have the greatest interest in having a relationship with God.
I once had the opportunity to ask Billy Graham, "If you knew as a younger man what you know today after preaching the gospel all of these years, what would you tell yourself that you need to do more of?"
He told me, "I would preach more on the cross and the blood of Christ, because that is where the power is."
I thought that was good advice. And I've tried to keep it.
Greg Laurie - Harvest.org
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