It Is Time to Pray — Brian Brodersen

You may now be seated. And we're looking forward to this special moment that God will quiet our hearts, open our ears and open our hearts to receive the Word of God as he used Franklin.

Tonight to bring to us God's Word. Franklin. Thank you, Pastor Chuck. It's a great privilege.

To be in the tent tonight. You know, I got an invitation several, I don't know, maybe a month or so ago that Chuck wanted me to come. I thought, why in the world does he want me when you have guys like Raul Reese, Skip Heitzik, you've got Greg Laurie here and Tom Stipe, all these great, great preachers coming.

You know, I thought, why does he want an old country boy from the mountains of North Carolina to come out here? So please don't throw anything at me. I'm going to be brief tonight, but I just want to say just a few words.

Okay. And I'm going to shut up and sit down. This is an important night and maybe you have come tonight. Maybe a friend has brought you, or maybe you've come out of curiosity. Maybe you heard the music was going to be good.

And Dennis Agogianni was going to talk that, what was that first song? The long tongue liar. I couldn't figure that one out, but it was fun though. I loved it. You know, I don't know why you came, but maybe tonight, just something deep down in your heart was pulling you here tonight.

The Invitation to Receive Jesus Christ

I'm going to give you an opportunity. If you're here tonight and you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior, I'm going to invite you to do something in just a few moments. I'm going to invite you to get up out of your seat and come stand right here in front of this platform.

And by doing that, I'm going to give you an opportunity to confess your sins to God, to tell him you're sorry, to repent and by faith, to receive Jesus Christ into your heart, to make him the Lord of your life and to trust him as your savior.

So you prepare, you prepare to come. If you're here tonight and you may be outside, you may be in the overflow, the gym, wherever you may be seated tonight. If you're here and you don't know Jesus Christ, if you're not sure, you make sure tonight we do that.

You come in just a few moments. Tonight, you know, we were coming to the course, this is Easter week. And a lot of people, I know many times people say, why did Jesus have to die? And why do you worship some Messiah who was crucified?

It doesn't make sense. Why? Paul Overstreet, a country Western artist, he wrote a song, a wonderful song. Oh, why? Why did he have to die? Why didn't he lie? Why did he have to die? And so I want to speak just for a moment on why, why Jesus came, why he died.

The Soul's Value and the Necessity of Redemption

You see, the Bible tells us in Mark, what should it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what will a man gain in exchange for his soul? The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground.

He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And the Bible says he became a living soul. The Bible says in Exodus, everyone will give a ransom for his soul to the Lord. The Bible says in Leviticus, it is the blood that makes atonement for one's soul.

No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him for the ransom for a life is costly. No payment is ever enough for the redemption of a soul is precious. Hear me that your soul may live.

It says in Isaiah, the soul is not the body. And I'm not talking about the body tonight. The body has some 200 and I don't know, 207 bones and 500 some muscles. I'm not talking about the body. I'm talking about the soul that lives and resides in your body that looks out through those eyes, hears through those ears.

You see, one day you're going to die. One day they're going to bury you. But your soul lives. It's either going to be in heaven in the presence of Almighty God, or your soul is going to be separated from God in eternal punishment, a place the Bible calls hell.

But you have to make the choice. And that's what I'm going to do tonight. I'm going to give you an opportunity to make that choice to stand tonight and to say to Almighty God, I'm a sinner and I'm sorry.

And I'm going to give you that opportunity to invite Jesus Christ to come into your heart into your life. And tonight you can have that assurance that your soul is going to live for eternity and the presence of Almighty God in heaven one day.

But it's a choice you're going to have to make. You see, God is a gentleman. He doesn't force himself on you. Jesus Christ paid the price. He paid the debt of our sins. And God is willing to forgive you.

He's willing to set you free from the guilt and shame of your sins. You can leave this tent, this campus tonight forgiven, cleansed, knowing that you're on your way to heaven. But it's a choice that you're going to have to make.

And the only way you can come to God is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible says, what should it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul? You know, we hear a lot about space.

From Outer Space to the Soul's Inner Space

There's that International Space Station that floats around up there above us. We hear a lot about these high-powered telescopes and down here at Mount Palomar, where they can gaze way into deep space.

They have the Hubble. And that Hubble's all, you know, I never can't understand how they made that crazy thing and put the wrong mirror in it. But they did. And it goes up there. And so they're going to study all of these stars and galaxies.

But it's a little bit out of focus because somebody put the wrong mirror in there. OK, fine. We hear about cyberspace. Now, I was at Greg Laurie's house last night. Let me tell you something. If there was a cyberspace heaven, if there was, and I don't, I'm just saying it would be his office.

He has got the most trick computer and he could pull up this and slide it over to this screen and pull up this and slide it over that screen. And he was showing me all the things that he could do. He was kind of mocking me.

See, I don't even have email. All right. And he was doing stuff. I have no idea what he was doing. Then I was impressed. But I'm not talking about outer space. I'm not talking about cyberspace. I'm talking about one's inner space, their soul.

God made us from the dust of the ground and he formed the first man, Adam. And the Bible says he became a living soul. We don't read that he had a body or he became a mind. He became a living soul. God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

And he became a living soul. He created him in his own image. And what should it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul? You know, it's kind of impossible for us to think about the value of our soul compared to the whole world.

Your soul is more valuable than all of this earth and everything in it. Boy, it's just hard for me to get a hold of. But let's see. Just take how about Orange County? Your soul is more valuable than all of Orange County.

Now you say, wow, you know, you can kind of understand that. You think you got South Coast Plaza, you got Fashion Island and Newport and all those nice homes and all this stuff. And, you know, your soul is more valuable to God than all of Orange County.

More valuable than all of California. How does your governor say it? California, something like that. More valuable than all the United States, more value than all the world, all of the oil, all of the gold, all of OPEC.

Your soul, your one soul is more valuable than the entire earth to Almighty God. That's how valuable your soul is. He compares it to the value of the whole world. One soul is worth more than the world.

A person may gain all of their goals in life and one morning find he or she has missed the most important thing of all. And they can't regain it. And as they've lost their soul, the soul is valuable because it's eternal.

Mortality and Standing Before God

We fix our eyes not on what is seen, it says in Second Corinthians, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen, the Bible says is eternal. I don't care what kind of diet you're on.

You may be low cholesterol, low fat, high fiber. You're going to die one day. You know, it was just a fact. It's just a fact. And the question is, are you ready? Are you prepared to stand before Almighty God?

Because that's where we're all going to go. We're going to stand before him. Are your sins forgiven? Are you sure? Steve Irwin, remember the crocodile hunter? I kind of missed that guy. You know, he was really interesting to watch.

He's a lot of fun. He claimed he was in complete control when he was in the presence of these wild animals. He also claimed that he had no fear of dying. And this is a quote. He says you are far safer with crocodiles and rattlesnakes than you are with producers and the like.

Yeah, I get that sometimes. But he lost his life suddenly and tragically to a stingray. What about you? Do you fear losing your life? We all encounter close calls. I just drive the freeways here for a few moments, and I had three or four close calls.

But what if you saw death staring you in the face? Are you prepared? If your life came to a sudden end, are you ready to stand before Almighty God? The Bible says no man is assured of life. The Bible says that no one knows the future, and no one has power over the day of his death.

Jesus said, I have come to give life and to give it more abundantly. Do you know this abundant life? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? Are your sins forgiven? You say, well, Franklin, I think so.

I'm not talking about thinking nothing. I'm talking about knowing it. Are you sure that if you were to die tonight that God would receive you into his presence? If you're not sure, I'm going to give you that opportunity in just a moment to ask you to get up out of your seat and come stand here.

And when everyone has come, we're going to have a word of prayer. And Chuck and the pastors here want to give you some literature, and you can go back to be with your friends. But tonight, I want you to know that Jesus Christ will make a difference in your life tonight.

The Resurrection and New Life in Christ

Jesus Christ is alive. He's not dead. Artists like to depict Jesus still hanging on a cross. He's not on a cross. He's not in a tomb. He's alive. He's here tonight, and he'll come into your life. He'll make a difference in your life.

He'll forgive you. He'll cleanse you. He'll give you a new life, a new beginning. But you've got to push the button. And what is that button? It's the yes button. And I'm going to give you a chance tonight to say yes to the Lord Jesus Christ in just a moment.

The whole Bible is concerned with saving and developing the soul. The soul was lost when man sinned against God. Your soul became separated from God when man sinned. And you say, well, frankly, you know, I get a little confused about how did that happen?

The first man, Adam, disobeyed God. And that's what sin is, is disobedience. He disobeyed God and sin came into the world. And sin has infected every human heart. We're all sinners. We've all come short of God's glory.

Sin, Guilt, and God's Forgiveness

You say, well, frankly, you know, come on, this is the new millennium. Things have changed. You know, we've relaxed a little bit. We, you know, Chuck used to wear a tie. Now look at him. I mean, you know, we're all a little bit.

Well, what do you mean by sin? What does that mean? Well, you know, the Bible says all of us have sinned. And, you know, telling a lie is a sin. Have you ever lied? You say, well, come on. Of course we all have.

That's right. The Bible says all men are liars. All of us have lied. We're guilty. And you see, as a result of breaking God's laws, we are separated from God. A lie is a sin, stealing, taking something that doesn't belong.

That's a, that's a sin against God. But I want you to know tonight, God will forgive you. He'll forgive you of the lies you've told. He'll forgive you the things that you've stolen in life. He'll forgive you.

And he'll set you free from that guilt and shame, adultery, sex outside of marriage, out of that marriage relationship, any type of sexual relationship. It's a sin against God. And in an audience this big, there are many of you here tonight that are guilty of sexual sins.

And you've had that guilt and that shame. And I want you to know tonight that God will forgive you. He'll set you free. But you've got to be willing to come to him. And that's through faith in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who took your sins and my sins and who went to Calvary's cross.

Why did he have to die? He died for your soul. Your soul is precious and God loves you. And he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to take your sins, my sins. He went to Calvary's cross in our place because God loves you so much.

That's why Jesus Christ came. He came because he loves you. And he wants to set you free. He wants to save your soul. But my friends, you've got to be willing to accept it by faith. We're all sinners.

The Bible says we've all sinned and come short of God's glory. And the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He'll forgive you tonight. Murder is a sin.

You say, well, Franklin, I doubt if we've got murderers in here. Well, abortions is murder. And there are many here tonight, you're guilty. You've been carrying that shame and that guilt, but God will forgive you tonight.

He will. I promise you, he'll forgive you. He'll set you free. I was being interviewed a couple of years ago by a person. And after the interview, I said, well, listen, I'd like to ask you some questions.

And she was very polite. She put down her pen and she kind of looked at me like, okay, go ahead and humor me with a question. So I just started asking her about her own spiritual life. And as we began to talk, her eyes kind of filled up with tears.

A Testimony of Forgiveness After Abortion

And I said, do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? No. Do you know God loves you and he's willing to forgive you and cleanse you of all of your sins and set you free from that guilt and shame?

And her eyes really filled up with tears now. I said, would you like to invite Christ in? She said, yes. I said, would you like to do it right now? She said, yes. And she took my hand and we were in a public place and there was people at the table and, and I just let her in a prayer like I'm going to do with many of you in just a moment.

And after I prayed this prayer with her, she said, um, I've got to confess something to you. I said, you don't have to confess anything to me. I mean, God, God has just forgiven you. You're cleansed. You've been set free.

No, I have to tell you this. And she was very strong about it. I said, okay, what she said 20 years ago, I had an abortion. Well, God, forgive me for that. And those big tears now we're running down her face.

I said, he just did. She said, every day I wake up and I think of that child that might've been their birthday when the child turned two. I remember when the child turned three on the fifth birthday in the 10th and when 18, Oh, would they be going to the prom tonight?

All of those things, that guilt and that shame that was in her life, all of these years had haunted her. I said, God has forgiven you. He's forgiven you. And she just wept and she wept and she wept that burden that she had been carrying.

All those years had been released and she had been set free that night. And you know, tonight, God will set you, you know, whatever your sins are. And all of us are guilty. I'm a sinner. You say, Oh, come on, Frank.

Listen, I was raised, of course, in a home of an evangelist, a preacher. But that didn't mean I was saved. That didn't mean I was forgiven. And I went to church. I went to Sunday school and all of those things.

Personal Conversion and the Emptiness of Sin

But I tell you what, I didn't have Christ in my heart. I had him in my head. And there are a lot of you, you have got Christ in your head, but Christ wasn't in my heart. You see, I was afraid to give him my heart.

I didn't want to give him control of my life. I thought that that would be boring. I wanted to party. I wanted to have fun. I wanted to experience all the things in life that were to experience. And I was just scared to death that if I gave my life to Jesus Christ, I'd be in a spiritual straitjacket.

Kurt Cobain. Remember that rock guy married to Courtney Love and go back about 10 years or so ago, he committed suicide. And he left a suicide note beside his body. And he talked about a great big black empty hole that had opened up in his life.

And sex couldn't fill it. Drugs couldn't fill it. Fame and fortune couldn't fill it. And he had that big, great big black empty hole. And Franklin Graham had just a black empty hole in my life. And there was nothing I could do to fill it.

Maybe some of you here tonight are like I was, or like Kurt Cobain. And you've tried all these things. And there's an emptiness in your life. I want you to know that Jesus Christ will take that void. He'll take that great big black empty hole in your life.

And he'll fill it with his purpose, with his plans for your life. He'll give you that peace in your life. He'll set you free from the guilt and the shame and all the garbage you've been digging up all these years.

He will forgive you. And he'll take your life and he'll cleanse you. But you've got to be willing to come to him in faith. You've got to be willing to repent of your sins, turn from your sins, and by faith receive Jesus Christ into your heart, into your life.

Christ as the Only Way to the Father

Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. There is no other way to God. There's only one way. And that's through Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ paid the debt for your soul.

No one else. No one. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The Bible says God is patient with us, not wanting any to perish, but he's wanting everyone to come to repentance.

Will you come tonight repenting of your sins? That means to turn from your sins. You come to Christ tonight. You've got to be willing to turn your back on. You're going to have to turn your back on some of those relationships.

You're going to have to turn your back on many of the things that you've been doing. You've got to be willing to change. You say, but frankly, I don't think I can do that. I don't think I have. I've tried it before.

But you ask Christ to come into your heart, into your life. You'll have the Holy Spirit of God living in your life and he'll help you. No, you can't do it on your own. But you've got to be willing to take that first step to turn and receive Christ by faith into your life.

The Bible says God doesn't take away life and said he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him. God doesn't want to destroy you. He wants to save you. That's why Jesus Christ came.

God's Plan of Redemption Through Christ's Sacrifice

And God devised a plan. And what was that plan? I'll send my son. I'll send him. The whole human race is infected with this disease of the heart called sin. And I'll send my son. He'll pay the debt. He'll shed his blood.

He'll give his life to redeem the souls of mankind. To all that put their faith and trust, I'll send my son. And God sent his son out of heaven down to this earth. And Jesus Christ went to the cross in your place.

He went in my place. I was 22 years old when I confessed my sins to God, asking for forgiveness and invited Jesus Christ to come into my heart and to my life to be the Lord of my life. I was 22. I was at the point of my life where I was just sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Have you ever been that way? I was. And God forgave me. I don't deserve it. I deserve hell. That's what I deserve. But he loves me. And I accepted his son by faith and asked him to take control of my life.

I said, Lord, here's the pieces of my life. If you can just kind of put it together, make sense out of it, it's yours. And I give you my life from this day forward. I want to try to live for you. And that night I prayed that prayer a minute.

And Jesus Christ came into my heart, into my life, and he began to make a change in my life, just like he's going to do for you tonight. I've never looked back. I've never regretted. I've never said, oh, boy, I sure missed some fun parties.

I haven't missed a thing. But to be honest with you, I have been on such a roller coaster, on such a high. The Lord has such a plan for your life, but he can't reveal it because of sin. And when you confess your sin and repent and turn from your sin, invite Jesus Christ into your heart, into your life.

Let me tell you something. That's when it takes off. And if you want to trust him as your Lord and Savior, he'll forgive you tonight and cleanse you and give you a new beginning. But it's a choice that that you have to make.

The Gospel Invitation: Trust Christ and Receive Eternal Life

And you come in just a second. The Bible says that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but ever everlasting life. And the Bible says in Romans 5, 8, that God demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

And Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the father but by me. Will you trust Christ tonight? Will you give him your life? Will you let him change you and cleanse you and take all the guilt and the shame and give you a new life and a new beginning?

You want to do that? Well, if you're here tonight and you don't know Jesus Christ and you would like to know him and you would like to invite him into your heart, into your life, I want you to do something right now.

Just get up wherever you are and come stand right here in front of this platform. And when we have all come, I'm just going to lead you in a prayer. And when we have all come and had that prayer, you can go back to be with your family, their friends, they won't leave you here.

But this is a holy moment. Are your sins forgiven? Is your soul secure? Are you sure? If you're not, be sure. Come stand right here.

You come wherever you are, just maybe in the back, maybe outside. You come. Is your soul secure? Are.

You sure? You say, well, frankly, I'm pretty sure. I'm not talking about being pretty sure. I'm talking about knowing it without any doubt, without any hesitation. You say, well, you know, I'm not quite that sure.

Then make sure you're not coming to Franklin Graham. I cannot save you. You're not coming to me. You're coming to almighty God through faith in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He can save you. He'll forgive you.

But you've got to come to him in faith and do that right now. Just come. If there's anyone outside, God sees you in here. God sees you. As I've been speaking, if something in your heart's been saying, this is, this is something I should do.

That's the Holy Spirit calling you. Come right now. Come on. This isn't a game. This is heaven or hell. This is serious business. Let's be in an attitude of prayer. Come.

On. Just another, another moment. I'm going to have a word of prayer with those of you that.

Have come, but I want to give an opportunity for everyone. Is there anyone else? This, this service is going to be over with in just, just a moment, but this is a holy moment and many have come, but is there anyone else?

We want to wait for just one more. I want to ask Tommy and the band. They'll just sing one more stanza, but if God is speaking to your heart, just get up right now and do it. Will you, your soul,. Jesus Christ died for you.

He gave his life. He shed his blood for you. That's how much he loves you. And he wants to forgive you and he wants to set you free, but you've got to come to him. You've got to take that step right now.

And then I'm going to lead you in a prayer. We've had that prayer. Uh, you can go back to be with your friends. Anyone else? You come right.

Now. I want to say a word to those of you now that have come. And, uh, I want you to know.

That God loves you and that God is going to forgive you. And by coming tonight, you're saying to God, I'm a sinner. And you say, well, Franklin, if he's God, doesn't he know that? Yeah, he knows that, but he wants to hear you say it.

Okay. Called confession coming into an agreement with him by coming tonight. You're saying to God, I'm a sinner. And you're saying, I'm sorry. And I'm wanting to turn. I'm wanting to leave that. I don't want to go back to that life.

I want a new life and a new beginning. And by coming tonight, you're saying to God, I believe that Jesus Christ is your son who died and shed his blood on Calvary's cross, who went to the grave with my sins that whom you raised to life on the third day.

And I want to invite Jesus Christ to come into my heart and to my life. And I want to give him control of my life from this day forward. And I want to lead you in a prayer right now. And I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me.

Okay. I'll lead you through it. And some of you look at it as, well, Franklin, I've never prayed in my life. Listen, a prayer is just talking to God like we're talking right now. Just repeat it after me.

Okay. I'll help you. And let's pray. And you repeat now out loud after me. Dear God, I'm a sinner. I'm sorry for my sins. Forgive me. Help me to turn from my sins. I invite Jesus to come into my life.

I invite Jesus to take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior. I want to follow Jesus as my Lord. I pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.