No One is Beyond the Reach of God - Part 1 of 2

Greg Laurie: No one is unsavable, even if they seem that way. Some people just aren't convinced about Christianity. Some are convinced they'll never be convinced. Pastor Greg Laurie has good counsel.
Greg Laurie: I want you to think of someone that is a very antagonistic non-Christian. I want you to start praying for them by name, that God would get a hold of them and bring them into the kingdom. Why? Because no one is beyond the reach of God.
Music: 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 what the angels are singing? This is the day the day when life begins.
Greg Laurie: There are several groups of people who used to say they'd never become religious, never darken the door of a church building, never be caught carrying a Bible. Today, we call one of those groups, believers. Another of those groups, pastors. And another group, evangelists.
Greg Laurie: And you know, Pastor Greg Laurie is a member of all three groups. And today on A New Beginning, he brings us good encouragement about sharing the good news with people who need to hear some good news.
Music: This is the day the day when life begins.
Greg Laurie: Let's grab our Bibles and turn to the book of Acts chapter 8. We're in a series in the book of Acts as you all know and the title of my message is, "No One Is Beyond The Reach Of God," right? No one is beyond the reach of God. So, I want you to think for a moment of someone that you know that is not a Christian. We all know lots of non-Christians. But I want you to think of someone that is a very antagonistic non-Christian. Maybe it's a neighbor, maybe it's a spouse, maybe it's a parent, maybe it's a co-worker, maybe it's someone else, but there's someone you know, not only are they not a Christian, but they actually give you a hard time. They even attack you verbally for your faith. Now, I want you to start praying for them by name, that God would get a hold of them and bring them into the kingdom. Why? Because no one is beyond the reach of God.
Greg Laurie: That's something that we need to all remember. No one is beyond the reach of God. No one is unsavable, even if they seem that way. You know, we know people who have gone out and made a mess out of their lives. They've made a lot of bad decisions and they've reaped the consequences of it. And we say, "That person will never change. That drug addict will never get off drugs. That alcoholic will never stop drinking. That person will never stop living that way." Why would you say that? With God, all things are possible. He can change people. He can change people.
Greg Laurie: I, I was, funny thing happened to my grandson Christopher not long ago. He was out with a friend in the ocean and they were playing and Mom said it's time to go. And, and so they came back and, and Jonathan noticed that his son had all these little red marks on his face. He said, "Son, what happened to your face?" Christopher said, "Well, we were playing with a jellyfish and Mom said it was time to go, so we kissed it goodbye." So I talked to Christopher about this. I said, "You kissed a jellyfish goodbye?" He said, "Yes, I, we thought we were kissing the top of the jellyfish." Which I don't even know if that's a good idea. "But actually we were kissing the bottom of the jellyfish." And so he had these little red marks. And so the moral of the story is, never kiss a jellyfish goodbye, right?
Greg Laurie: So God gives us absolutes in the Bible. He tells us things that are right and wrong, things to avoid. Sort of like when you go to Disneyland, you know that ride Autopia? You know, it has like those little concrete barriers that keep you in so even if you're driving crazy, you're not going to go off the road. They're there to keep you in place. God gives us certain parameters, He gives us certain absolutes and when we leave those parameters, then we're going to face the consequences. And we've seen people do that, but having said that, no one is beyond the reach of God. And I want to look at two men in the Bible that are placed side by side: Saul of Tarsus and Simon the magician. One had a real conversion, the other did not. And this is a reminder that time will tell if a person is really a believer.
Greg Laurie: As I've said before, there will be three surprises when we get to heaven. Some of the people we thought would be there will not be there. Some of the people we never thought would be there will be there. Third surprise, will be there. Time will tell. Time will tell who the real believers are. Because there are some that have a great big profession of faith, it's very public, it's very loud. And then they just fall away. Jesus talked about them in the parable of the sower. The seed that was sown on the ground that shot up quickly, but it withered in the heat of the sun because it never got roots. So we've seen people like that.
Greg Laurie: Then there are some that make a profession of faith. They fall, they get up again, they fall, they get up again, they fall. And this just goes on and on and on. And then in the end they like really rally and they come through with flying colors. Then there are others that look like they will never, ever come to Christ.
Greg Laurie: And as I mentioned, that's the kind of person that might mock, criticize or embarrass you, but here's something to think about: the person that is giving you the hardest time may actually be closer to the Kingdom of God than the person who is not. You might talk to someone about your faith, talk about how Jesus has changed you, talk about how much you love to go to church and read the Bible. And then you say to them, "Would you like to come to church with me sometime?" They say, "I'd love to. How about this Sunday?" "I'm busy." "How about the following Sunday?" "Still busy." "How about the Sunday after that?" "I'm busy." But I'm so glad they say that you found religion. You seem like a happier person than you used to be.
Greg Laurie: And I think this is great. So, they seem, oh but they're very warm and they're never insulting. Then you go to someone else and they scream at you and and throw, you know, the stapler at you or something. This person is crazy. It could be they're acting that way because they're under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And that is exactly what we see here in the story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.
Greg Laurie: It's been said when you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that barks the loudest is the one that got hit. And this man was striking out against the church. Of course, we already saw how he presided over the death of the first martyr of the church, the courageous young Stephen. Instead of satisfying him, this only seemed to throw more fuel on the fire. And then Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and he changed overnight. It was the most radical and unexpected conversion in church history.
Greg Laurie: So unexpected that when the believers were told Saul had become a Christian, their response was, "There's no way! That could not even possibly have happened." But it actually did happen. And now, this man who had previously been dedicated to the destruction of the church was now dedicated to the spread of the church. He who had been controlled by hate was now motivated by love.
Greg Laurie: His conversion was so notable and significant that the Bible mentions it no less than three times. It was such an unlikely event that in the last century there was a man who thought it should not be that hard to disprove. And in doing so he felt he could also disprove the rest of the New Testament. His name was George Littleton and he wrote a book titled Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of Saint Paul. And as Littleton sought to disprove the story, he became more and more convinced that the story was true and in the end Littleton himself came to believe in Jesus Christ. And his conclusion was quote, "Paul's conversion and apostleship alone, duly considered, are a demonstration sufficient to prove Christianity to be a divine revelation." End quote.
Greg Laurie: And after his encounter with Jesus, Saul, later to become the Apostle Paul, blazed a trail, leaving behind churches and converts. He preached to philosophers and Pharisees and rulers and soldiers and sorcerers and sailors and slaves and most likely to Caesar himself. This single man changed the world.
Announcer: Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
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Greg Laurie: Well, today, Pastor Greg is comparing and contrasting the lives of two men in the Bible. In a moment, we'll talk about Simon the sorcerer. But right now, he is considering Saul of Tarsus.
Greg Laurie: So let's get a little background on him before we read his story. We call him Saul of Tarsus. That's because that's where he came from. Well Tarsus was a very important city in the Roman world, famous for its university, which ranked among the greatest there in the Roman world.
Greg Laurie: And he was Roman in citizenship, which was not a small deal, and that would later work in his favor. He also was educated in Greek philosophy and he learned Roman law as well, and he was very religious. He was schooled under the legendary Gamaliel, who was known as the teacher's teacher. And this zealous young Pharisee became a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin. That was sort of like the Supreme Court of the day. The difference between their version of the Supreme Court was they ruled over spiritual and civic issues. And so for Saul being so young, to be a member of this court was a very prestigious position. He was a very powerful young man, a very religious young man, a famous young man, and this very religion turned him from God.
Greg Laurie: And this brings up a really important point because people say, "You know, I think I need a little religion." No, actually, you don't. You need a lot of Jesus. Because religion can literally keep you from God.
Greg Laurie: Now I know technically speaking, Christianity is what would be described as a religion. But having said that, if you really get down to the biblical definition of it, Christianity is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And I'm amazed at how religion can blind people, and sometimes people who claim to be believers can be filled with hate. And sometimes these haters are among us and they spend their time attacking anyone that is not exactly like them, and they spend little to no time trying to reach a lost world. Instead they channel their energies in tearing each other down.
Greg Laurie: As the great theologian Taylor Swift noted, "Haters gonna hate, hate, hate," right? We've met people like this. The problem with a bitter person is they're never content to keep their bitterness to themselves. They want to spread it around. The only exercise they get is jumping to conclusions and running others down, right? And this makes the Holy Spirit sad. It actually grieves the Holy Spirit.
Greg Laurie: Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:31 from the Phillips translation, "Let there be no more resentment, no more anger or temper, no more violent self-assertiveness, no more slander, no more malicious remarks. Be kind to each other, be understanding. Be ready to forgive others, for God, for Christ's sake has forgiven you." Listen, whatever your cause is, be it doctrinal, be it something else, if it makes you a mean, argumentative, malicious person, you've missed the point. Our primary mission is Christ and the Gospel. That is where our energy should be primarily channeled in the culture today.
Greg Laurie: "I disagree with that. Then I hate you." Oh. You need a hug. Not from me, because I think you might hurt me.
Greg Laurie: Don't be surprised to find that the person who whines and complains the most, and is critical of the most minute things in the lives of others, is often guilty of something far worse.
Greg Laurie: When I see a person constantly lashing out, whatever their cause is, I think there's something wrong with that person spiritually. And they need to get reconnected to the Lord, and they need to get their priorities in order, and they need to return to their first love.
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Greg Laurie: Let's look at our Bibles. Acts 8, verse 1 to 4. Back-drop of the story now, New Living Translation is what I'm reading from. "Saul was one of the witnesses." And this of course, is a witness to the death of Stephen. "And he agreed completely with the killing of Stephen. A great wave of persecution began that day sweeping over the church in Jerusalem, and all the believers except the apostles were scattered to the regions of Judea and Samaria. Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning. But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison. But the believers who were scattered preached the good news about Jesus wherever they went."
Greg Laurie: All right, we'll stop there. Let's set the scene, so Stephen's been martyred and the church is spreading out fast. And in a way, Saul of Tarsus, even before he was converted, was helping the work of the Kingdom of God.
Greg Laurie: How? By attacking the church he caused them to spread out. You see, the believers would have been content to have a nice little holy huddle in Jerusalem and just hang out together. Christians love to hang out together, and that's a good thing, and so we should. But Jesus did say, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel," and he did tell them that they would receive power after the Holy Spirit came upon them to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the Earth. And frankly, they weren't doing that. Along comes Saul, persecuting them, now they're doing it.
Greg Laurie: And so, why was Saul so angry at Christians? Well, as I said, he was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And I think he was under the conviction of the Spirit after he saw the courageous death of Stephen.
Greg Laurie: Stephen preached to the Sanhedrin, and then as they began to stone him, the Bible says his face shined like an angel. Have you ever seen someone's face shine like an angel?
Greg Laurie: Years ago, I was with Billy and Ruth Graham when they were both alive still, and they're alive now in heaven of course, but when they were still alive on Earth in their home, and Dennis Agajanian was there, and so Billy asked Dennis to play a song on his guitar, and Dennis started to play uh the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. And Ruth was very ill at this point. She preceded Billy to Heaven. Very ill, very frail. But her face just lit up. She literally was glowing. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. I just noticed this, and I looked over at Billy and he was looking at Ruth and smiling, and then after Dennis finished the song, Billy said, "That's the song they played on our first date." And so apparently Billy took Ruth to go see Handel's Messiah on their first date. And but I saw her face shine like an angel, and I think of that when I read of Stephen. Just that radiance and that glow coming from inside.
Greg Laurie: And then he said, "Lord, don't hold this sin against our charge." And of course, he died and went into the Lord's presence. So, as I pointed out earlier, Stephen did not live a long life, but he lived a very full one. Stephen did not reach thousands, but he reached one, and the one he reached was a whopper. He was a whopper. Because I think Stephen played a direct role in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, later to become the great Apostle Paul.
Greg Laurie: Now, think about this for a moment. How many of you have ever heard of Mordecai Ham? Not many. It sounds like something you order in a deli, doesn't it? I love the Mordecai Ham on the sandwich, all right? Mordecai Ham was an evangelist. He went to Charlotte, North Carolina and held some meetings, and most of us don't know much about him, but one of the young men that walked forward was a dairy farmer, young boy, uh named Billy Frank, later to become Billy Graham. So we don't know Mordecai Ham, but we do know Billy Graham. How many of you have ever heard of Edward Kimball? Edward Kimball. Not heard of him either. Well, Edward Kimball worked in a shoe store, and he had a co-worker named Dwight, and Edward was sharing the gospel with Dwight, and he kept sharing with Dwight, and finally Dwight came to Christ. Dwight went on to become the great evangelist D.L. Moody. So, we haven't heard of Edward Kimball, we haven't heard of Mordecai Ham, but we have heard of Billy Graham, and we have heard of D.L. Moody, right?
Greg Laurie: So here's my question: Who's your one? Everyone should at least have a one. Someone you can point to and say, "By God's grace, I played a role in that person coming to Christ." Every one of us should have one, two, three, four, 10, 20. However many the Lord gives you in your lifetime, but there should be someone you can point to and say, "I played a role in that." Maybe it was just praying, maybe it was sowing a seed. Well, Stephen's one ended up being the Apostle Paul.
Greg Laurie: Look, there are times when you're sharing the gospel and people don't seem to be listening. But I want you to know that when you quote the word of God, it is alive and powerful and it will not return void. It won't. That's why I love to just always quote scripture in my messages. And especially if it's an evangelistic message, quoting the Bible. Why? Because there's power in the word of God. And sometimes it's like a time bomb. It detonates later, right? So they, "I don't care about that. I don't believe that," and they go home and they wake up at 3:00 in the morning and then all of a sudden something you said comes back to them. That scripture comes back to them. So, have confidence in the word of God.
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Announcer: Good encouragement today about the need to share the message of the Gospel with those around us. Pastor Greg Laurie's message today here on A New Beginning, "No One Is Beyond The Reach Of God."
Announcer: You know, every day, people hear the Gospel here on A New Beginning, and we hear from so many of them who accept Christ as they're listening to Pastor Greg's study. It's the main reason we're here. Have you ever come to the point when you've decided to follow the Lord?
Greg Laurie: Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person listening who just doesn't know if they're really a Christian? They can't think of a time when they made a deliberate decision for the Lord.
Greg Laurie: Yeah. It's just not a good idea to assume everything's going to just work out okay, is it?
Greg Laurie: No, this is one area of your life you want to be sure about, where you're going to spend eternity. The Bible says, "These things we write to you that you may believe on the Son of God and that you may know that you have eternal life."
Greg Laurie: Listen, I know I have eternal life. I know I'll go to Heaven one day, and I hope that doesn't sound boastful, and if it does, I'm boasting in what God has done for me, not in what I've done for God.
Greg Laurie: The reason I know these things is because I've turned from my sin and I've put my faith in Christ, you see. And if you do the same, you can have the same hope. You just need to call out to the Lord and admit you're a sinner and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you and come into your life.
Greg Laurie: The Bible says, "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." Will you call upon Him right now? I'm going to pray a simple prayer, and I'm going to ask you to pray this prayer after me if you would. So if you want to know that you're going to Heaven when you die, if you want to know for certain that Christ is living in your life, then pray this prayer with me. Just pray these words.
Greg Laurie: Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. But I know you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and my Lord, as my God and my friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Announcer: Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and you've meant those words sincerely, the Lord has forgiven your sin and you're now a Christian.
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Announcer: Well, next time, Pastor Greg continues his insights from the book of Acts in the message, "No One Is Beyond The Reach Of God." Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.
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