The Choice That Changes Everything | Sunday Message

Hey there, thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners.

I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you.

If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner,

just go to Harvest.org.

All right, let's grab our Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 8.

We're going through the Gospel of Luke in a new series that we're calling the Gospel for everyone.

In the title of this message is the choice that changes everything.

Let me start with a question.

Why do some succeed while others fail in the Christian life?

And we know people that have walked with the Lord for years.

They have a wonderful, spiritually fruitful relationship with Christ.

And we know others that have crashed and burned.

Here's the answer. The answer may surprise you.

People fail because they choose to.

Oh, it's not a single choice.

It's thousands and thousands of choices made over a long period of time.

And in fact, life is one long string of choices.

And a lot of them happen before 9 o'clock in the morning.

It starts with your alarm going off.

Are you going to get up or are you going to hit this news button?

Are you going to have a healthy breakfast or an unhealthy breakfast?

Then it comes under what you're going to wear.

I don't think I struggle with this as much as the ladies do.

In fact, some guys should struggle with it more.

But you know, you figure out I'm going to wear this today.

And now you get in your vehicle and you're on a way to school or to work.

And as you're making your way over there, you decide what I'm going to listen to.

What I'm going to put on the radio or what podcast will I listen to.

And then you get to the weekend and the question comes up,

are we going to church or are we not going to go to church?

These choices matter.

Why?

Because you make your choices and your choices make you.

And by not choosing spiritual growth, we in effect choose spiritual decline.

You choose which way you're going to go.

Deuteronomy 30, 19, God says,

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you,

that I have said before you life and death, blessing and cursing.

So choose life.

This is your choice in life.

Do you want a blessed life or do you want a cursed life?

Do you want life or death?

You decide by the choices you make each and every day.

You don't stumble into obedience to God.

You have to choose it.

Just as a car on a hill will naturally roll backward.

If it's put into neutral, we naturally will go the wrong way

when we shift our Christian lives into neutral.

So if you want to grow spiritually, you will.

If you don't want to grow spiritually, then you won't.

It's really up to you.

Everything you need to be a strong Christian

is already made available to you through Christ.

Second Peter 13 says this divine power is given us everything we need

for life and godliness, to our knowledge of Him

who has called us into his own glory and goodness.

So we're going to look now at what is called the parable of the sower.

Hence the title of the choice that changes everything.

It's a very familiar story, but one that is very important.

And really you are in this story because we're going to look at four kinds of soil

that a sower or a farmer puts a seed into

and these represent the human heart.

And we determine what kind of soil our heart will be.

Let's consider the backdrop to this teaching.

It had been a long and emotional day for Jesus, his mother and brothers

thought he was out of his mind and wanted to take him home.

Then he's accused by the scribes that being inspired by Satan.

So Jesus just leaves all this drama and goes to the beach.

Effectively, the sea of Galilee is a giant freshwater lake.

But it seems like the ocean because it's so vast.

And there's something about the water that just calms you.

Don't you think I love to walk near the ocean or maybe you walk near a lake?

Even in a mall, if there's a fountain, people gather around it.

Water has a soothing effect.

So Jesus just goes by the beach and the disciples are with them

and no doubt on the backdrop, there's a farmer just sowing seed.

Now in those days, they didn't plant crops like we do today.

They didn't have sophisticated irrigation and equipment.

A farmer would literally have a sack, he'd cut a hole in it,

put his hand in it and just throw the seed.

And the wind would pick it up and blow it into all different kinds of soils.

And so Jesus now tells the parable of the sower.

A sower went out the sow seed, he said.

And some seed fell by the roadside and the birds came quickly and ate it.

And it did not take root.

Other seed fell on soil that was embedded with rocks.

So it shot up rather quickly, but because it could not get rooted,

it withered in the blazing sun.

Other seed fell on ground that was embedded with thorns and weeds.

And though it began to grow and did take some root,

it was choked out by the weeds.

And finally, seed went on good ground,

we're up brought forth a lot of fruit.

Okay, that's great story, everyone understands it.

What does it mean?

Now he explains it.

Luke chapter 8 verse 11.

Jesus says, this is the meaning of the parable, the seed as God's word.

The seeds that fall in the footpath represent those who hear the message

only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts

and prevent them from believing and being saved.

The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message

and receive it with joy.

But since they don't have deep roots, they believe for a while

and they fall away when they face temptation.

The seeds that fall among the thorns and the weeds represent those who hear the message,

fall too quickly, the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life.

So they never grow into maturity.

Finally, verse 15.

And the seeds that fell in the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people

who hear God's word, cling to it, and produce a huge harvest.

So now, after having read that, what seed represents you?

What kind of soil is your heart?

Only one out of four actually makes it in this story.

So the point of it is, you know, we sometimes see people make professions of faith, the fall of Christ.

But we wonder if they're real and lasting.

You know, we've been doing these crusades for well over 30 years

and we've seen thousands and thousands of people come forward.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say over our 50 years of ministry,

we have seen well over one million people make a profession of faith.

That's a conservative number, really is.

But some would say, yeah, but do you think all of those people are really converted?

Absolutely not.

That's why we don't call them converts.

We call them professions of faith.

Time will tell if they're real conversions or not.

And so some people will make a profession of faith,

but it doesn't stand the test of time.

You know, it's interesting that the word that is used for sowing seed is called broad casting.

In other words, taking the seed and casting it is broadly as possible.

And that's the word that we use for media, television, radio, even the internet.

It's a form of broad casting.

And that's what we do every day.

We have a radio show called a new beginning, we have a TV program,

we have a podcast, we have social media platforms that we utilize,

and we just throw the seed out every day.

But we do see amazing transformation stories.

Here's a guy that actually commented, I think on my Facebook page,

he said, I thank you Pastor Greg for leading me to Christ over the radio in 2007.

I was deep into meth addiction and I was at the end of my life on this earth.

If you ever seen what meth does to people, you realize this guy was telling us the truth.

God used you that morning as they listened on the radio and prayed the sinner's prayer,

instantly a power hit me and I was set free.

Since then I have hungered for his word and never went back, I'm a living miracle.

That's a great story.

Another man writes, my dearest Pastor Laurie, I like that,

I wish you would refer to me that way.

My dearest Pastor Laurie, not really.

My name is Richard, I've been an alcoholic for 45 years,

45 years of slavery.

But I heard, three days ago, I heard your radio program on the fish FM,

I prayed the sinner's prayer, I've gotten into rehab,

I would appreciate any materials and a Bible to help me.

And now that I'm a new creation in Christ, thank you and God bless you.

Okay, so you say, well, amazing.

So we reached a guy who was an alcoholic for 45 years,

we reached a guy who was in the math and it was destroying this life.

But here's another story, very different.

A man writes, both of my sons accepted the Lord.

The oldest at the harvest crusade and the youngest on the way to school

as we listened to him on the radio and he gave the altar call.

My five-year-old looked out the window and prayed the prayer.

He had tears in his eyes, so precious and sweet.

You never know who's listening.

People ask me, Greg, you're kind of old and decomposing.

Why are you still doing this?

And the answer is because of stories like this.

I never tire of preaching the gospel.

And I never tire of seeing lives change for time and eternity.

It's not a career, it's a calling.

And for me, it's an absolute privilege.

But it's all of our privilege.

We're all called to sow the seed of the Word of God.

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3,

my job is to plant the seed.

The job of Apollo's another preacher was to water it.

But it was God that made it grow.

The ones who do the planting and watering aren't important.

It's God who is important.

He's the one who makes the seed grow.

So we just get the seed out there.

Tell as many people as possible and leave the results and the hands of God.

But the only way to really tell if someone has had a genuine conversion

is the test of time.

You know, we have people that will come to our church or come to any church.

And then they'll just suddenly leave.

So we ask the question, did that person lose their salvation?

My question is, did they have salvation to begin with?

Verse 219 says,

These people left our churches because they never really belonged with us.

Otherwise, they would have stayed with us when they left us.

It proved they did not really belong with us.

Now, look, you can be a Christian in backslide.

You can be a believer and be a prodigal.

Both my sons had a few prodigal years between them.

But if you're a real believer, you'll always come back home.

So you may fall.

You may have a lapse of faith, but you'll return to the Lord.

You're a prodigal.

But if you walk away and you never come back again,

where you're ever really a believer to begin with.

Again, the question is not, did you lose your salvation?

The question is, did you ever have salvation to begin with?

So let's dive in and look at these categories.

category number one in the parable of the sower.

We'll just call it the hardened heart, verse 12.

Seeds have fallen the footpath, represent those who hear the message,

only to have the devil come.

And take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved.

In Mark's version of the parable of the sower,

he puts it this way, Satan comes at once to take it away.

Know this, when you share the gospel, the devil will oppose it.

Expect that, anticipate that.

That's the way he operates.

In the gospel of Luke, we have the story of a father with the demon possessed son.

He brings him to Jesus in hopes that the Lord would deliver him.

But as Jesus approaches the devil, effectively tightens his grip.

And we read when the demon saw Jesus,

he had once held the boy in his power.

So don't you come after my prey.

But greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.

Christ is more powerful than the devil.

So we need to do our job.

But understand, you will have opposition.

And it's interesting because it's a picture of birds.

Birds are a picture of evil in the story.

Now, I like birds.

Some birds, not all birds.

I like hummingbirds.

They're really cool, amazing little creatures.

Very hyper, but beautiful.

I like little finches that come to our bird feeder,

though I haven't seen them for a while.

I miss them, I hope they return.

But then there's other birds, you know, I don't know.

Crows, they're suspicious.

I mean, think about this.

If you have a bunch of seagulls, you call it a flock of seagulls.

But if it's a bunch of crows getting together,

what do you call them?

A murder of crows.

That's us for sure.

I read an article that said that crows are among the most intelligent birds,

and they remember.

They remember you, and they remember if you mistreated them.

So if you treat them well, they'll remember that.

And if you mistreated them, they pass it on,

and the crow community from generation to generation is kind of bizarre.

So I don't know how I'm regarded in the crow community right now.

All I know is whenever I watch my car,

they do their business on it shortly afterwards,

and they go big time too.

And then there's the seagulls.

I would pretty much say I hate the seagulls.

All right.

It's out right.

Not sure about the crow.

Seagulls, they're just problematic.

I remember years ago we went to sea world many years ago,

and our oldest son, Christopher, was just a little boy.

And so we went it.

He did mission.

Went in.

And you could purchase fish to feed to the dolphins.

And there were kind of expensive.

If that went, I'd feed to get in.

I have to buy the fish for their animals now.

And so they were so expensive.

I actually ate some of the fish myself.

Sort of like sushi, really bad version.

No, but I gave him the Christopher.

Feed the fish to the dolphin.

He feeds the fish to the dolphin.

And he's feeding another.

I don't know where a seagull swoops in.

Grab the fish.

Grab the fish right out of his hands.

Flies away.

And little Christopher says, I hate seagulls.

So later we go to have lunch and we ordered chicken.

He got this big chicken.

And he's eating it.

And I'm not making this up.

A seagull swoop down, grab the entire chicken,

and flew off with it.

I thought, is that even appropriate?

I mean, isn't this cannibalism?

This is a bird.

Seagulls, you're eating one of your own.

And Christopher said, I hate seagulls.

And then as we're leaving the sea world,

it was the final injustice.

It was a direct hit on his jacket.

And I hate seagulls.

So in this parable, birds are a picture of the devil

who will come and attack us.

I remember when I became a new Christian.

The other Christians said, Greg, now you need to be careful

because the devil's going to tempt you.

I was so new in the faith.

I'm like, the who?

The devil.

Wait.

I signed up to follow Jesus.

There's a devil.

Oh yeah, there's a devil.

Well, what do you mean he'll tempt you?

He'll tempt you to sin.

How will I know when it's a devil?

They said, you'll know.

Okay.

So I'm still in high school.

I go to one of my classes.

I have this little button with a picture of Jesus on it.

I was a brand new believer.

And I'm sitting in class and class ends

and as I'm walking out, this very attractive girl

that I had noticed walks up to me.

She says, hi.

Like, where's this girl saying hi to me?

She never even acknowledged my existence.

Hi, she says, I said hi.

She says, you're cute.

Look, I don't know about you guys.

I never had girls come up and say that to me.

I know I'm cute, but this just didn't happen.

Girls didn't walk up and say that to me.

I'm sort of stunned by it.

I've got my little Jesus button.

You know, well, okay, I'm cute.

Wow.

And then she says, what's your name?

And I momentarily forgot my name.

And then when I remembered it, she said, hey,

I'm going to go to the mountains this weekend

and I was wondering if you wanted to join me.

And I said, this is the devil.

This is it.

This is what they warned me about.

I ever heard that song devil with a blue dress on.

This is what it was.

I never called what she was wearing, but it was just outright overt temptation

that never happened to me.

And it was clear what it was all about.

Thankfully, I said no to that temptation, but the devil will always come.

The hardened soil represents the hardened heart.

When you hear the gospel, your heart is either going to get harder or softer.

If you respond to it, it'll take root and change your life.

If you don't respond to it, your heart will get harder.

This is the person that is just indifferent.

He talked to them about Jesus and they're dismissive.

Okay, whatever.

Well, I'm glad you found religion.

Seems like it's helped you a little bit.

But I'm really not interested.

I don't like to come to church with me.

No, not at all.

Can I share one more Bible verse?

Rather, you did.

They're just indifferent.

They're just hard.

That's category number one.

Now we come to shallow hearts, verse 13.

The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy.

What a contrast to category number one.

The hardened heart is uninterested, but this group receives it with joy.

Because they don't have deep roots, they believe for a while, but then they fall away when they face temptation.

They don't last long.

They never get rooted.

These are the kind of people that have what seems like a dramatic conversion.

Maybe you take them to a harvest crusade and they run down there.

And they have the most incredible transformation.

They're going to get a Bible, not just any Bible.

It's a big giant Bible they're carrying around.

They're at every service.

They sing louder than anyone else.

They pray longer than anyone else.

In fact, they're even a bit critical of others that aren't as spiritual as they are.

And you say that is the most remarkable conversion I've ever seen.

And you see them around for the next couple of weeks, maybe a month, maybe two months.

And then they're gone with the wind.

Where do they go?

And then you run into them somewhere and say, hey, I haven't seen you at church because I'm not into that anymore.

Yeah, I move beyond that.

That was my Jesus freak face.

I'm over that.

I'm deconstructing.

Oh, shut up.

Listen, man, you got to construct before you can deconstruct.

It's okay for you to question the Bible in your faith and want to know why you believe what you believe.

But this whole thing of deconstructing.

I don't think it's deconstructing at all.

I don't think you had faith to begin with.

Understand this category represents people that look like they were converted.

But actually they weren't at all because they never got rooted in their faith.

Again, time will tell us the true believers from the false believer.

This is a person that says, I tried Christianity.

It did not work for me.

Non-sense Christianity is Christ.

And he will work for and in any person who will believe.

He's not a product.

He's not a product that works for some and doesn't work for others.

I don't know about you, but I'm big on what's the return policy?

I'll see some electronic thing, maybe on Amazon.

This is the most amazing thing.

I bought some crazy thing.

I don't want to say what it is and have them get mad at me.

But I'm going to tell you.

It was an electronic gizmo.

Good return policy.

I ordered it and it was worthless and I sent it right back.

So we all try Christianity with some return policy.

If you really meet Christ, you will not want to return anything.

I think people who say they tried it and it didn't work,

never understood what it was or who he is.

G.K. Chesterton said, and I quote,

and he cleared a soap before he said it, just like that.

Not really.

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting.

It's been found difficult and not tried, in quote.

They shoot up quickly, but they never get rude.

They're shallow.

Shallow how?

There was a movie called That Once.

Some people are impulsive by nature.

They're excited by whatever the new thing is.

Think of all the people that buy exercise equipment.

It's 80% of those that buy exercise equipment don't use it

within six to 12 months of purchase.

80% of those that buy treadmills never use them.

Just take a walk in a Saturday and people have their garage door open.

And you see all those treadmills.

They're fancy clothes hangers now.

But it was a great idea.

I'm going to get a treadmill.

I'm going to run every day.

What do you do for a few days, maybe for a few weeks?

But that's what this person is like.

Why does this happen?

Maybe they built their faith on the wrong foundation?

Maybe they went forward because a friend of theirs went forward.

And if their friend falls away, they too fall away.

Maybe someone they looked up to spiritually disappoints them.

And people have a tendency to do that.

But I didn't put my faith in any spiritual leader.

I put my faith in Christ.

And He has never disappointed me.

And He won't disappoint you either.

But they fall away saying, well, I saw a hypocrite.

And I'm not going to be a Christian any longer.

Maybe you fall away because of persecution.

In Mark's version of this particular parable, he says,

they don't have deep roots.

They don't last long.

And as soon as problems come or they're persecuted

for believing God's word, they fall away.

Look, I've got to tell you, if you're going to be a Christian,

you're going to be persecuted.

We talked about our friends in Iran.

And they've been persecuted as have the Christians in China

for practicing their faith as have our brothers and sisters

around the world.

And we're even seeing persecution rear its ugly head

more here in the United States.

But it goes with the turf.

The Bible says, all those that live Godly in Christ Jesus

will suffer persecution.

Let's reverse that.

If you're not being persecuted in some way, shape or form,

are you living Godly in Christ Jesus?

But these people say, oh, man, I didn't sign up for persecution.

I thought, if I accepted Jesus, it was just blue skies

and rainbows, man, forget this.

And so they turn away.

What's going to happen?

That brings us to category number three.

And I want to emphasize again, these first two categories

I've talked about, these people never were real believers.

I know the second group shot up and looked like they were believers

because there was an emotional response initially.

But it didn't stand the test of time.

Category number three, infested hearts.

This one is tricky.

This one is quite different than the first two categories.

Verse 14, the seeds that fell among the thorns of the weeds

represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly

the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures

of this life and they never grow into maturity.

Mark's version says they're crowded up by the worries of this life.

This seed is planted in soil that's battling with weeds.

You know, I am not good with planting pretty much anything.

If some people ever green thumb, I ever brown thumb.

But I've always been amazed at how you can cultivate

whatever it is you planted, your flowers, watch over it,

weed around it, make sure there's no snails.

And then there's a little weed that started growing out of a crack in this sidewalk

and day one and day three it's like jacking the beanstalk revisited.

Now we know when weeds choke out our flowers,

they don't just burst out of the ground, flex their biceps and attack the flower.

It's gradual, it's slow and that's what Jesus is talking about here.

It's a gradual thing and listen to this.

It's not necessarily overtly sinful things.

It even be what we might call good things or things that are valid.

Again, it's the pleasures of this life, cares and riches.

You know, it's been said more have been killed by food than by poison.

And it's also been said the second best is often the worst enemy of the best.

It's just the things of this life become more important to you

than the things of the afterlife.

Physical things become more significant to you than spiritual things.

It's okay to pursue a career and want to be successful.

It's a great thing to pursue relationships and get married and have a family.

It's a wonderful thing to enjoy the legitimate pleasures of this life

because the Bible says he has given us all things richly to enjoy.

Hey, do you think Jesus enjoyed a good meal?

I know he did because he ate so much on the Bible.

He's eating all the time. He enjoyed that.

He enjoyed life. He lived life to its fullest.

That's good. That's valid.

But if I let those temporary things become more important than the spiritual things,

I can find myself being choked out. The Bible says,

those that constantly want to be rich fall into temptation and snare

and they will pierce themselves through with many sorrows.

God may bless you with wealth.

God may bless you with success.

Give him glory and thank him for it.

But having said that, don't make that your primary purpose of life.

Because one day you're going to leave it all behind.

Jesus says, what is that prophet?

If he gains a whole world and loses his own soul.

So these people are just choked out by the things of life,

the desire for other things.

Again, I mentioned that in another gospel that says it's worrying.

Jesus said, who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

We're living in a time where people want to extend their lives,

nothing wrong with that.

It's better than shortening your life.

So they're taking all the supplements and diet plans

and workout regimens, even biohacking.

That's, you know, you want to live as long as you can.

But ultimately remember, the length of your life is determined by God, not by you.

But there are steps you can take to improve the quality of your life.

But the quantity of life is in God's hands.

So the Bible says, teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

Don't let worry, choke you out.

I read that 85% of the things we worry about never happen.

Interesting.

And of the 15% that do happen,

most people say they handled it better than they expected to.

So this is gradual.

This is more subtle.

But other things can just crowd it out.

And all of a sudden it's like, well, I don't really have time to read this Bible.

I don't really have time to go to church.

So many things to do in the weekend.

I don't really have time to be praying.

And he just slowly but surely pushed God out of your life.

And that spiritual life is choked out.

Don't let that happen.

So now we come to category number four.

Fruitful here, verse 15.

The seeds that fell on the good ground represent honest, good-hearted people

who hear God's word and cling to it and patiently produce a huge harvest.

This is the golden key to spiritual growth.

This is the ultimate hack.

It's how you hear and respond to the word of God.

You decide that.

And look, we're all technically hearing the word of God right now.

But it's up to you how you hear.

You can be listening intently.

Some might even be writing notes down, attention with intention.

Others listening a bit more in the passive side.

And for others, my voice right now sounds like the voice of the adults

on those old peanut cartoons.

Remember those?

We never heard an adult voice.

You just like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

You're singing, will you like in this soon?

Like really soon?

Like now?

Okay.

Well, I came to church.

I checked the box.

Let's get on with it.

I have things to do.

It's how you hear the word of God.

You hear it and you accept it.

Listen, it's no light thing to constantly hear the scriptures preached and taught.

Luke 12.48 says,

from everyone who has been given much more will be demanded.

And from the one who has been entrusted with much more will be asked.

So it's how you hear the word of God.

You hear it.

You cling to it as Jesus says.

And you'll produce a harvest.

Look, being a successful Christian doesn't have to be a mystery.

And honestly, it's not rocket science.

It does require discipline.

It does require regularity.

But it comes down to maintaining a close and vibrant relationship with Christ

and continuing to grow in it.

Never do you come to a point where you say,

well, I've arrived.

I'm here.

I'll rest on my laurels.

No, you're always learning.

You're always growing.

You're always developing as a Christian.

It's regular Bible study.

You know, you say, well, you do I treat the Bible every day.

Do you have to read the Bible every day?

You should read the Bible multiple times in every single day.

Read it in the morning to start your day.

Read it in the evening to complete your day.

Read it in the afternoon as you're going through your day.

The Bible says that we need to meditate in the Word of God day and night.

And what will happen?

You'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that will bring forth fruit in your season.

And your leaves shall not wither.

And whatsoever you do will prosper.

So says Psalm 1.

It comes down to being actively involved in church.

You know, every...

Do I go every Sunday?

Of course you do.

It's not an negotiable as far as I'm concerned.

Well, you're the preacher.

You have to go.

No, not really.

We all need...

should want to go.

And then get involved in a small group and get involved in other worship opportunities.

This is how you grow.

It can be summed up in RPGs.

RPGs, rocket-powered grenades?

No.

RPGs read the Bible daily.

Pray about things.

That's pee.

Go.

That's g.

Go to church regularly.

S.

Share your faith.

Do it every single day.

You never get beyond it.

You never ungrow it.

That's how you maintain a vibrant Christian life.

Let's soil in your heart.

You decide.

No God decides.

No, actually no.

He wants us all to be receptive soil.

There's God's part.

And there's my part.

There's some things only God can do.

And there's some things only I can do.

Oh, you're wrong, Greg.

God does everything.

No, he doesn't.

Only God can convict me of my sin.

Only I can repent of my sin, you see.

Only Jesus can save me.

But only I can reach out my hand and say, Lord, save me.

So I have my part.

God has his part.

The Bible says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Then it goes on to say for it is God that works in you both to will and do of his good pleasure.

It doesn't say work for your own salvation because it's a gift.

It's not something I earn.

Work it out.

The idea is use there in that text of going into a mine and getting the gold or the silver out.

Go and discover all God has done for you.

Work it out.

But it's God ultimately.

There works in me both to will and do of his good pleasure.

So God's going to do the work.

He's giving me everything I need for life and godliness.

But there has to be a willingness and receptivity in my heart to what God's word says to me.

So which of these four are you?

What kind of soil are you?

Is your soil hard?

Hard to the word of God.

I don't want to hear this.

I don't care.

Is it shallow?

Are you crowded and distracted?

Are you going to let the word take root inside of you?

Let Christ come and rule in your heart.

God's giving you a choice.

Remember, you make your choices and your choices make you.

God says they set before you life and death, blessing and curses, choose life.

Let me expand that.

He sets before us heaven and hell.

You decide in this life where you will spend the after life.

Folks, I believe Jesus could come back at any moment.

I believe we should be ready for his return.

And I ask you, are you ready?

And are you open to God and have you let Christ come into your life?

He stands at the door of your life and he knocks and he says,

if you'll hear his voice and open the door, he will come in.

He's ready to forgive you of any sin you have ever committed,

but you must ask for his forgiveness.

So we're going to pray in a moment.

You know, when I read those earlier comments from folks that had come to Christ,

listening to our program or at a crusade,

all of them mentioned the sinner's prayer.

Now some would say, there's no sinner's prayer in the Bible.

Well, actually, there is.

It's a story of that Pharisee and sinner that went to pray.

And the Pharisee prayed thus with themselves,

God, I think, you know, I'm not like other people.

And the sinner would not even lift his face to heaven,

but just said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

But when we talk about this so-called sinners' prayer,

it's simply a prayer based on biblical principles.

And then it's prayer that we lead people in.

And then there's no magic in the prayer or power in the prayer itself.

It's just a prayer based on what the Bible says.

In this prayer, we have the person say, God, I know I'm a sinner,

because the Bible says all of a sin and fallen short of God's glory.

And I know I need a savior.

The Bible says why we were yet sinners? Christ died for us.

And I repent of my sin.

The Bible says, God has called everyone to repent of their sin.

And I receive Christ into my life.

The Bible says for as many as received him,

he gave them the power to become sons of God.

So Lord, come into my life right now.

These are biblical principles.

And you pray a prayer like that and you mean it.

And Christ comes and lives inside of you.

And he'll do that for you right now.

The boss in your cart, you decide, make the right choice.

I'm going to give you an opportunity to ask Jesus into your life

or to recommit your life to Jesus as we close in prayer.

Let's pray, Father, thank you for your word to us.

Thank you for your love for us.

And now we pray for any person here who does not yet know you.

Let this be the moment they believe.

Let this be the moment they ask you into their life.

And now, when our heads are bowed, your eyes are closed and we're praying.

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.

Or you've fallen away and you want to return to the Lord.

Just pray this prayer after me.

You can pray it out loud if you like.

Just pray, Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner.

But I ask you to be my savior.

I repent of my sin.

And I choose to follow you from this moment forward.

Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer.

And Jesus, name I pray, amen.

Hey everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast.

To learn more about harvest ministries, follow this show

and consider supporting it, just go to harvest.org.

And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org

and click on no God.