No One Is Beyond the Reach of God | Heaven or Hell

1:59 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. Acts chapter nine, definitely one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Verse one, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and he was eager to kill the Lord's followers. So he went to the high priest who requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the way. Underline that phrase, the way. He found there, he wanted to bring them both men and women to Jerusalem in chains. This guy was heartless. As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light fell from heaven and it suddenly shone down around him and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

3:04 Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. The voice replied, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you'll be told what to do. But the men who were with Saul stood speechless for they heard the sound of someone's voice but saw no one. We'll stop there. Don't you love that story? So here's Saul. He's like a wild animal. Verse one says he was uttering threats. And this is an interesting phrase. It means he was ravaging people to destroy them. He was just filled with fury. In fact, Paul said in Acts 26, 11 when giving his testimony, a raging, fury, obsessed him. And if you were to have told Saul, hey buddy, before you get to the end of this trip, you're gonna be a Christian, he would have laughed in your face.

3:59 I love this description of the first century Christians in verse two. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues asking for the cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the way. Of the way. I mentioned to you before that the Christians did not get together and decide to call themselves Christians. They were called followers of the way. They called themselves followers of the way. No doubt based on the statement of Jesus in John 14, 6 where he said what? I am the way, the truth, and the life. So they were followers of the way. they believe that Jesus was the way to God as we believe today. Well, most of us, or some of us, how many of you believe Jesus is the only way to a relationship with God? Raise your hand, okay.

4:51 That's good, because this is a non-negotiable. And I bring this up because it's now controversial to say that, to say that there's only one way to a relationship with God, and that is through Jesus Christ. Some would say, well, that's not right. I read recently that 70% of born-again Christians were polled and they said they did not believe that Jesus is the only way to God. My response is, are you sure you're a born-again Christian? How can you say that? Because it's so clear in Scripture how this is a non-negotiable truth. Why do I believe Jesus is the only way to the Father? Because Jesus said so. Now it really comes down to that. Are we gonna believe the Bible or not? I know it seems very open-minded of you. Maybe even compassionate of you.

5:46 To say, well all roads really lead to God. And really when you get down to it, all religions really teach the same thing. Which is your way of saying, I don't know what the heck I'm talking about. Because if you take an honest look at the great religions of the world, you will see they clearly do not all teach the same thing. In fact, if you were to sum up religion in one word, it would be the word do. Do. Do this, and you'll find inner peace. Do that, and you'll reach nirvana. Do this other thing, and you might get to heaven. If you were to sum up Christianity in one word, it would be the word done. It's done. It's finished. It's completed because of the death of Christ on the cross. So you have a choice. You can go with done or you can go with do. Do and do.

6:41 Acts 4.12 says there's salvation in no one else. There's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. There were people of the way. Not a way or a better way. There were people of the only way. So it's afternoon. The sun's probably shining. Saul's on his way to kill Christians. It's a good day in the mind of Saul of Tarsus. Verse three says, a light fell from heaven and shone around him and he fell to the ground. And the boy says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? I love Saul's response. Who are you, Lord? Who are you? And I know that Saul's probably thinking, don't say Jesus.

7:27 Don't say Jesus. Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus. That's echo. Who you are persecuting. And Saul said, don't. Obscure Homer Simpson reference in case you missed it. He realized that the very God he thought he was serving, he was in fact opposing. And it's also interesting how Jesus says, why do you persecute me? Jesus identifies with his people. When someone raises their hand against us, they are in fact raising a hand against Christ himself. So if you're hurting, I want you to know Jesus knows. He's more than aware. Fascinating verse, verse 5. Jesus says, it's hard for you to kick against the goats. Now that's a statement that is hard for us to understand. What does that even me. A goad was basically a sharpened stick. So back in the first century, instead of putting the pedal to the metal, you put the goad to the ox. A goad was a sharpened stick. You want the ox to go faster. You want to shift into second gear. You give him a poke. So this is the picture Jesus uses. You're kicking against the goad. So I'm prompting you to believe. I'm convicting you.

8:49 You're fighting with me. You're kicking against that. So what would these goads so-called be? I think the arguments, life and death of Stephen was one of them. The way he died, as I pointed out. I think the spread of the gospel and the response of the believers were goals as well. Saul probably wondered, how can these people suffer and die if it's all a lie? So Saul believes. And we're gonna have to put that in freeze frame. And we'll come to that later because now we're gonna shift gears and look at the other character in our story. We have one who was converted, Saul of Tarsus. Now we have another who appears to be converted, but in fact, he is a poser because things are not always as they appear. I was with Chuck Smith years ago and we did a TV show together. And afterwards, we went into the little back room and they had a whole bunch of sushi out there.

9:48 So there was some wasabi. You know what wasabi is? So you take a little bit of wasabi, you mix it up in the soy sauce and you dip your sushi in the wasabi, right? Well, so I'm there with Chuck Smith. He's looking at all this food and he's filling his plate with sushi. I said, wow, Chuck, I didn't know you love sushi. He says, I love sushi. Great. And then he takes a big ball of wasabi, a big ball. And he pops it in his mouth. I'm like. And he turns bright red. And tears are starting to come out of his eyes. And he just stands there. And then he finally swallows it. And I said, Chuck, you're not supposed to eat that. And Chuck says, I thought it was guacamole.

10:35 Oh man. It's brutal. But a great story. Thank you, Pastor Chuck. Things are not always as they appear. That's certainly the case with Simon. Simon the sorcerer.

10:59 You know, I've heard people describe a trip to Israel as seeing the Bible actually come to life. Hey, everybody, Greg Laurie. And I've been to Israel many times, and I've led a lot of tours, and I have to say that's absolutely true. Listen, when you're walking on the same stones that Jesus himself walked on, That's something that's enriching to your faith. It's not just a travel experience. It actually energizes and enhances your study of the Bible. Think of it this way. It's a vacation with a purpose. And we're going to be taking a tour of Israel, April 6 to 15, 2027. You can find out more at israel.harvest.org. Step right into biblical history. Join Pastor Greg for a tour of the Holy Land, April 6th through 15th, 2027. Get details at israel.harvest.org. Well, Pastor Greg has been focusing on the life of Saul of Tarsus, and now he contrasts it with the story of Simon the Magician, or Simon the Sorcerer. A little backdrop on the story before we read about it.

12:11 Philip was in town and he was praying for people and miracles were happening and it's a great time. Enter Simon the sorcerer. Acts chapter eight, verse nine. We're going back now. Back to Acts eight, verse nine. A man named Simon had been a sorcerer for many years, amazing the people of Samaria, and claiming to be someone great, everyone from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as the great one, the power of God. They listened closely to him because for a long time he astounded them with his magic. But now the people believe Philip's message of the good news concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized Then Simon himself believed and was baptized and began following Philip wherever he went and he was amazed at the signs and great miracles Philip performed.

13:08 So at first glance, it looks like this guy Simon became a believer. So Simon the magician, he was probably steeped in occultism, but he probably had some pretty cool magic tricks up the sleeve that were nothing more than sleight of hand and trickery. We have a professional magician that attends our church over on Maui. His name is Warren. I went to one of his shows. It's incredible. And Warren's a Christian, and he uses his magic. It's not literal magic, but he uses illusion to make spiritual points. It's very convincing. And I asked him after I saw his show, tell me how you did this. He wouldn't reveal how he did it. But I just tell you this. When someone comes and wants to do a card trick, I hate card tricks, okay? Pick a card and he could just stop. I don't want to pick a card.

14:00 Go away with your cards, okay? But whatever Simon did, it was very impressive. It was very convincing. So it might have been a combination of trickery, illusion, and devilish power on display. But whatever it was, he had the people eating out of his hand. He was very popular. He was even called the Great One. You're the Great One. Well, he enjoyed that. Well along comes Philip and Philip wrecks everything. And he preaches the gospel and real power is now on display because there's no power that can compete with the power of the gospel because it's the power of God unto salvation. So Simon had no magic trick to match this. So we read in verse 13, he believed and was baptized. Now was he converted? Well I don't know.

14:53 I kind of tend to doubt it for this reason. Because if you drop down to verse 20, we see that Peter showed up in town along with John and they were performing miracles by the hand of God and Simon said, listen, I want to buy this trick, this thing you guys are doing. I want this in my repertoire. So how much to buy this ability? Well, that didn't play well. Peter says in verse 20, May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God's gift can be bought. You have no part in this and your heart is not right with God. Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you of your evil thoughts for I can see you're full of bitter jealousy and held captive by sin. Wow. So it's a super serious charge that Peter is leveling at Simon when he says may your money be destroyed with you.

15:47 But wait, it says he believed and was baptized. Doesn't that mean he was a Christian? Not necessarily. It is my belief that he was not a believer at all. You know, in a technical sense, you could say the demons believe. And by that, I don't mean that I think they're followers of Jesus. They're the very opposite of that. But yet James 2.19 says, you believe there's one God, you're right. Even the demons believe that and tremble. Oh foolish man, don't you know faith without works is dead. Let's say I interviewed a demon. That would be freaky, wouldn't it? Let's say I interviewed Lucifer himself, the devil. If I were to ask Satan, Satan, let me ask you a question. Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? What do you think his answer would be? Yes. How do I know that? Because in the temptation in the wilderness he said to the Lord, since you are the Son of God, why don't you turn this rock into a piece of bread?

16:48 He was not questioning that. Satan believes Jesus is the son of God. If I were to ask the devil, do you believe that the Bible is the word of God? What do you think his answer would be? Yes, he knows it. As we already read in that verse, the demons believe and tremble. That he knows it's true. But obviously he's in rebellion against it. See, Simon I think was faking a conversion because it was something he really wanted. But the Bible leaves the story open-ended. He was told to repent. Did he repent later? I don't know. Hopefully he did. But this much is true. You can say you're a Christian and not be a Christian. In John 2, we read that when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did. But then this statement, but Jesus did not commit himself to them for he knew all men.

17:43 Wait, what? Many believed in him when they saw the signs, but Jesus did not commit himself to them. You could translate it this way. Many believed in him, but he didn't believe in them. That's John 2. Right on the heels of that is John 3. Amazing insight. And what do we read in John 3? Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus who came to Jesus at night. And what happened with him? Well, he believed. We know that later Nicodemus became a believer. But he had this conversation with Christ. So that's a contrast. Hey, many appeared to be believing, but they were not believers. But here's this guy, the most unexpected guy, Nicodemus, the leader of the Pharisees, who actually did become a believer. We have that same picture in this story before us. Here's a man who did not want to become a believer. The last thing he wanted was Jesus.

18:38 His name was Saul. He became a true Christian. Here's a man that appeared to want to be a believer, but he really did not. His name was Simon. If you're a real believer, you need to repent of your sin. That's what Peter said. He said, you need to repent of this. And repentance doesn't just mean being sorry. It means being sorry enough to stop. In closing, I wonder if I'm talking to someone that's been kicking against the goads. And by that I mean you're kicking against the Holy Spirit. You're resisting the convicting work of the Spirit who's trying to draw you to Himself. Why? Well, we get this idea that being a Christian, such a drag. Rules, regulations, absolutes. I want to just do what I want to do and go where I want to go and live the way I want to live and hang out with the people I want to hang around with.

19:37 And then you go down that path and you see how empty that is and meanwhile Jesus is still calling you. Did it ever occur to you that God's plan for you is far better than your plan for yourself? I love that verse that I quote often, Jeremiah 29 11. It says, I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. Reminds me of a story I heard about a guy who was being pursued by an attorney. And this man was certain that that attorney wanted to serve him with a subpoena. So this guy made it his mission in life to evade the attorney. This went on for 13 years and that attorney was never able to make contact with this man. Well the man got very sick and he was actually dying and he was in the hospital.

20:29 And lo and behold, they wheeled that attorney in right next to him. He was sharing the room with the attorney. The man turned to the attorney and said, go ahead, serve me the subpoena. I don't even care now. I'm gonna die. The attorney said, subpoena? I have a written document telling you that you had inherited $45 million.

20:50 See, that's us running from God. Oh, I don't want God's will. God wants to bless you. God wants to forgive you. God wants to guide you. God wants to use you. God wants to put supernatural gifts in your life and use you to change the world. What are you running from? What are you afraid of? You should be running to him, not away from him. And you could do that right now. There might be somebody that is caught in a cycle of addiction. And you've tried so many times to break free. This can be your moment where everything changes because of Jesus. Maybe there's somebody here that has been fighting with God and fighting with Christians. And that, by the way, is a losing proposition. Don't get in a fight with God. You're going to so lose. Right? As it's been said, your arms are too short to box with God. Just submit to God. His plan for you is good. He's not trying to serve you with a subpoena. He's trying to give you an inheritance. He's trying to bless you. He's trying to get you on the right course.

21:59 And maybe somebody here needs to get on that course. Jesus died on the cross for your sin. Paid the price for every sin you've ever committed and he will forgive you right here, right now, in a moment if you will turn to him. Not a fake conversion like Simon, a real conversion like Saul. Let's all pray. Father, we thank you for your word to us. We know it's true. And I know there are people here that need to get right with you. And I'm praying that at this very moment, your Holy Spirit will convince them of their need for Jesus and bring them to yourself. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer. And if you'd like to make a change in your relationship with the Lord today, Pastor Greg will help you with that in just a moment before this edition of A New Beginning concludes.

23:04 Are you receiving Pastor Greg's daily devotions each day via email? If not, let's take care of that right now. You can sign up today free of charge at harvest.org, and you'll receive a daily inspirational thought from God's Word each day in your inbox. Again, go to harvest.org. Well, Pastor Greg, you spoke today about having a relationship with the Lord. Someone can enter into that kind of relationship with God right now, can't they? Yeah, they really can. That's the amazing thing. I think people are surprised that it doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. It doesn't take weeks. It doesn't take days. It doesn't even take hours. You can believe on the spot. There's a story in the book of Acts of a jailer who truly mistreated the apostle Paul and also Silas. And there was a moment where he saw his need for Jesus Christ. And he asked this question, what do I need to do to be saved. Paul said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And right there, that man believed. It can happen in seconds. Would you like it to happen to you? Would you like to have Christ live inside of you? Would you like to know with assurance that when you die, you will go to heaven?

24:21 I'll tell you what, it can happen right now because God, he's only a prayer away. And I would like to lead you in a prayer where you can ask for his forgiveness, a prayer where you can receive Jesus Christ into your life as your Savior and Lord. So if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want a second chance in life, if you want to go to heaven when you die, stop what you're doing and pray this prayer with me. In fact, if you like, you could even pray it out loud. As I pray, you pray after me. These words, Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I'm sorry for my sin and I turn from it now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as Savior and Lord as God and friend thank you for loving me and calling me and forgiving me in Jesus name I pray