You know, there is a very special group of people I want to introduce you to. They are a group of people who are passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ being proclaimed in this nation and beyond. Without them, harvest ministries could not even exist. We call them harvest partners. They're people who have chosen to give monthly to harvest to keep the gospel moving forward.
Will you become a harvest partner and help us fulfill the great commission in our lifetime? Let's do this together. Just go to harvest.org. Don't make deals with the devil. He generally will not try to take you down in one fell swoop.
The devil will try to get you to make compromises. They'll take you a bite at a time. It's like death from a thousand cuts. Pastor Greg Laurie helps us be on our guard against our enemy's advances. Today, on a new beginning, he points out how we should respond to his overtures.
Here's the deal, devil. You get nothing. Nada. There's no deal here. This is the day when the lost are found.
This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. But can you hear all the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when I begin. We've all gotten used to spam calls, right?
Right. We can sometimes see them coming. Maybe we don't answer the phone. If we do, we have our way of ending the call as quickly as possible. When the devil comes calling, some of us forget all those defensive techniques.
We sit there and listen to his sales pitch.
Well today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie returns to our series in Joshua with some practical advice on saying no to our enemy. no matter how tempting his offer. Joshua chapter 9, don't make deals with the devil. Let's pray. Father, now as we open your word, calm our hearts open our minds and speak to us.
from your word, because your word is truth. It's truth in a world filled with half-truths and outright lies. And your word tells us what to be careful of, what to embrace, how to live, how to think. And we do pray that you'll speak to us now from Scripture. We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Now, the devil can take many forms. He can come to us as the devil of hell. Or a fiery dragon, but he can also masquerade as an angel of light. If you don't answer his call at the front door, he'll knock at the back door. And he might tunnel up through the floor.
He's always looking for a way. To get into our lives, sometimes he'll slither in like a snake. And that is the case here in Joshua chapter 9. I guess the devil operates by the old adage, which says: if you can't beat him, join him.
So we see now the story of the Gibeonites.
So the Gibeonites from the city of Gibeon was about twenty five miles from uh the camp of Israel. These inhabitants knew they could not defeat Israel, so they came up with a strategy. Let's get them to sign a deal with us. We'll pretend like we're coming from a long ways away. We're not even in this land that they're told by God to conquer.
And we can deceive them. And they'll give us immunity.
So that's how the story begins in Joshua chapter 9, starting in verse 3. But when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, They resorted to deception to save themselves. They sent ambassadors to Joshua, loading their donkeys with weathered saddlebags, old patched wineskins. They put on worn-out patched sandals and ragged clothes, and the bread they took with them was moldy and dry. And when they arrived at the camp of Israel at Gilgal, they told Joshua and the men of Israel, We've come from a distant land, and we ask you to make a peace treaty with us.
Well stop there. Here's point number one if you're taking notes. The spiritual battle never stops. Oh, I wish it would. I wish the devil would just take a day off, better yet, a month off.
A year off. But he is always Out there trying to destroy lives. The Bible describes him as always active, always working, seeking to undermine the work of God. But let me ask you a question. Do you find yourself under constant spiritual attack?
Do you find yourself being tempted to sin constantly?
So much so, you've begun to wonder if there's not something wrong with you spiritually. Why is this happening to me? Why am I always getting tempted? You may think it's because you're not doing well as a Christian, but it might be the very opposite. It might be because you're doing extraordinarily well.
Therefore, you've become a target for the devil. Because you are a threat to his kingdom. Remember the story of Job. How all the calamities befell God's servant Not because he was a godless man, but rather because he was a godly man. And specifically because the Lord had been bragging on him in heaven and the presence of the angels, Lucifer.
also known as the double, included. Where God said, Have you considered my servant Job a perfect and upright man, one that fears God and shuns evil? The devil said, Oh, yeah. Let me have some time with him.
So these calamities came upon Job because of his godliness, not his godlessness.
So here's my point. If you're getting attacked spiritually, that could be an indication you're on the right track. If you would say to me, Greg, I can't remember the last time I was even tempted. My response would be, well, maybe you're not worth tempting. Maybe you're not a threat to the devil.
Or his kingdom, as the old saying says, you don't kick a dead horse. The spiritual battle is always raging. Don't be surprised by that. Number two. Don't make deals with the devil.
These Gibeonites were clever. They said they were from a distant land when, in reality, they were from a city that was around 25 miles away. And in the same way, we have people come in our ranks and they'll claim to be Christians. Oh, I'm a Christian too. They'll sit next to us and sing the songs with us.
Carry a Bible as well. And we think, oh, they're believers.
Well, I'm not sure. I don't believe you're a Christian just because you say you are. You should not believe I'm a Christian just because I say I am. The Bible says, by their fruit you shall know them.
So I look for results or evidence in a person's life.
Sometimes people come into the church and they say they are seekers, but in reality, they're sneakers. They're not real believers at all. Here's an example. Judas Iscariot. The hypocrite extraordinaire.
The literal definition of the word hypocrite is not a person who claims to be a Christian and falls short. That's called humanity, that's called you and me. Because we all fall short all the time. A hypocrite is a person who is playing a role, they're an actor. They're pretending to be someone they are not.
Judas was so effective at pretending to be a follower of Jesus that when our Lord in the upper room said, One of you is going to betray me, no one thought it was Judas. You would think they'd say it's Judas, isn't it? We always suspected him. We all wear white robes and he wears a black one. In fact, it's a black leather robe, and he wears sunglasses, and they haven't even been invented yet.
Sinister character lurking in the shadows. It's Judas. No. In fact, to the point, they all said, isn't me? No one thought Judas would be the betrayer.
I think they should have an award named after him. We have Oscars for acting performances, Emmys for television performances, Grammys for musical performances. We could award the Judas. The Judith this year goes to And we give it to the person that fooled all of us into thinking they were a believer when they really were not. That's the Gibeonites are pretending to be someone they really are not.
They wanted Israel to enter into a deal with them, and it was effectively a deal with the devil. And God warned them to not make deals with the inhabitants of the land. In fact, over in Exodus 34, 12, God warns Israel: be careful to not make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare to you. And indeed, when we look forward historically, We find that this deal was problematic on many levels. Israel got into a war they didn't need to be into because they had made or built this alliance with the Gibeonites, and there were other.
Problems to follow.
So take away truth. Don't make deals with the devil because you will be the loser. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4.27. Don't give place to the devil. Another translation of that is: don't give the devil a foothold.
Listen, the devil is wicked. But the devil is also cunning. He's been honing his craft for a long time. He generally will not try to take you down in one fell swoop. He'll take you a bite at a time.
It's like death from a thousand cuts. He doesn't come to a Christian and say, hey, you. Happy Christian. Hi. I'm the devil.
I hate you. I want to destroy you.
So here's my offer. Why don't you forsake your God? Abandon your faith. In fact, while you're at it, abandon your family too. And become a drug addict or something else and just completely ruin your life.
How does that sound? There might be one taker somewhere. Oh, okay, sure. Uh which way do I go? No, but Most of us are going to say Get behind me, Satan.
I'm not going to listen to that.
So the devil's clever. He comes and says, Hey, I have something I want to s s. Yeah. To you. Why don't you try this thought on for size?
Why don't you take this little sample or a test drive? and play this out and see how it goes for you. And we must keep our distance from him. I mean, look at the story of when. God delivered Israel from Pharaoh.
So Moses walks into the Pharaoh's court and says, Let my people go. Greyros has no way. Not going to let him go. But then a series of plagues come upon Pharaoh in Egypt. Moses goes back in.
Let my people go, Pharaoh says. All right, I'll let you go, but you can't go too far. I want you to stay kind of close to Egypt. Moses said, Nope. We're going to completely leave.
Then the Pharisee says, okay, I'll make you a deal. Leave your children and you can go. No, Moses says, We're taking our children with us. And the Pharaoh comes back and says, How about this? You can go with your kids, you can go as far as you want, but leave your animals behind, leave your livestock with us.
I love what Moses says: He says, Not a hoof will be left behind. Here's the deal, devil. You get nothing. Nada, there's no deal here. And that's the same thing we need to do.
The devil will try to get you to make compromises. You say, devil, you don't get anything in my life. Certainly you don't get my children. Don't make deals with the devil because you always will if you do. More people have been brought down by the sin of compromise than probably any other.
That warning from God was: they will be a snare to you. See, here's the thing. You can get into a relationship with a non-believer. And it can hurt you spiritually.
Now, look, we need to have relationships with all kinds of people, including non-believers. How else will we evangelize them? But we have to be very careful, especially if it's a romantic entanglement. And here's why it's a problem. It's far easier for a non-believer to pull you down than it is for you to pull them up.
Because gravity is on their side. And in the same way, you have an old nature, but the non-believer does not have a new nature, so I can find myself going in the wrong direction. That's why the Bible says don't be unequally yoked together with non-believers. For what fellowship does light have with darkness? Or as another translation puts it, don't become partners with those who reject God.
How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That's not partnership, that's war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands?
Exactly.
So, we have to be careful of these entanglements.
So, Israel was now entangling themselves with these non-believers, these Gibeonites, that were going to pull them in the wrong direction. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Yeah. It's such a blessing to hear from listeners who take time to express their appreciation. Hi, Pastor Greg.
My dad shared your podcast with me, and now I listen every morning. Thank you for being so down-to-earth and real. I love the way you share God's Word. I just listened this morning and learned something new every day. I love praying together at the end of the message, and am so grateful for how my relationship with God has grown.
Thank you, Pastor Gregg. It's so great to know that listeners are hearing these messages and God is using His Word to touch lives. How have Pastor Gregg's studies impacted your life? Would you let him know? Send an email to greg at harvest.org.
Some important principles from Pastor Greg Laurie today in his message called Don't Make Deals with the Devil. Let's continue. Point number three. God can intervene even if we've made a bad decision. Right?
We do make bad decisions. We do things we regret. Let's say that you weren't just romantically entangled with a non-believer. Let's say you married them. And now you've been married for a little bit of time, and you're saying, oh, that was a big mistake.
They don't want to go to church with you. They don't want to raise your children the way you believe they should be raised as a Christian. They don't want to pray. They don't want to do anything you want to do.
So you go to church alone. And one day you say the Lord spoke to you. And the Lord said, My child, Dump your heathen husband. And Mary the hot Christian guy you just met at church. Telling you, God said this to me.
God didn't say that to you. Here's what God said. You may not like what he said. But he says in 1 Corinthians 7:12, if a fellow believer has a wife who's not a believer, and she's willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her. If a believing woman has a husband who is not a believer, yet he's willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him.
So, Now you have a new mission. No, you shouldn't have married the non-believer, but you did.
So you built an alliance, just like Israel did with. The Gibeonites, and you made this commitment.
Now you got to honor that commitment and make the best of it. And your new mission is to win your spouse to the Lord. That's it going to happen overnight. That may take months. That may take years.
Listen, it could even take decades, but you have. Have to keep Being a witness to them and praying for them. Paul gives the reason for staying with the non-believer in 1 Corinthians 7:18. He says, Don't you realize that Your husbands might be saved because of you, or don't you husbands realize your wife might be saved because of you? And I've seen this happen so many times where the person eventually comes around.
But let's say other things happen in your life. Let's say you find yourself pregnant and you're not married. Oh boy. That was a mistake.
Well, yes, but now a child has been conceived.
Well, I'll just get an abortion. Don't you even consider that? That is a child made in the image of God that has every right to live now. It's not just your decision. Unborn babies are innocent no matter how they were conceived.
And if you don't want to keep the child, well, have the baby. and put the baby up for adoption. There's a lot of people who are ready to adopt children. I just spoke at a crisis pregnancy center a couple of days ago, and one of the things they do when young women come in who are pregnant as they do a sonogram. And when the mother to be Looks at that little baby, and sonograms are so sophisticated today.
It's like a three-dimensional view of the face of your baby in your womb. When they see that sonogram, they say nine out of ten. change our mind and decide to have the baby. One woman went in, they told me about, who had two sons, and she was pregnant. And she didn't want to have another baby, and so she was going to get an abortion, but they did the sonogram.
She decided to have the baby. And I met the young man who's now 10 years old. And then she went out and became a foster parent to two more kids.
So she turned into supermom, right? But I love that. Yes, Greg, but What about if the mother's life is in danger?
Okay, let's play that out for a moment. I heard the story about two missionaries, Bob and Pam, true story. They were serving in the Philippines in 1987. When Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, which was the leading cause of death in that country at the time, she was pregnant with her fifth child. She was very dehydrated.
She went to her doctor and he said, Pam, you need to abort this baby. Because if you carry this baby to term, you will die. when we deliver the baby. And so, Pam, along with her husband Bob, prayed about it. And as Christians, they said, There's no way we're going to abort this baby.
I'm willing to take that risk. And it was not an easy time they went through. Abob said, We almost lost that baby four times. It's a miracle, baby. The baby was born.
So they named him Tim. You probably know him best as Tim Tebow.
So that's how he came about.
Now Let me tell you another story. It's a bit sadder, but very powerful. It's about a young lady from Samoa named Simia Mativa. She was known best as just being called Tiva for short. And by the way, that name means poor thing.
Tiva.
So Tiva got pregnant. And it turns out she had a blood disease and there was no cure for it at the time. And she's told if she delivered the baby, she would surely die.
So her family came and said, you've got to sign the form, tell the doctor to do the abortion. And we're all for it. And she said, okay. And so she signed the forms, and then her family left, and she called the doctor back in. She said, I changed my mind.
I don't want to have an abortion. I want to have this baby, and if I die, Having the baby, I die.
So the doctor delivered the baby. Sadly, Tiva did die. Ah giving birth to this little one. But she named him Moses. And she was not able to raise him.
So her sister raised little Moses. Her sister married a man with the last name of Katina. And so little Moses Katina eventually grew up. He got married. He and his wife had 12 kids.
34 grandkids. 21 great-grandkids, that's 67 in total. All of them have come to Christ, and 14 of them are in ministry today. And among those Katinas is a great band that we've had out over the years, the Katinas, right? Remember the Katinas?
All of this happened because of the sacrificial decision of Tiva. It looks like the poor thing, the meaning of her name. Did a great thing. The ultimate thing. Look, we don't control what hand is dealt to us in life.
But we do control how we react to it. Good encouragement today on a new one. New beginning from Pastor Greg Laurie. His message from the book of Joshua: don't make deals with the devil. And there's more to come.
So, if God gives second chances, how do we do that? How can we take advantage of that mercy? Have you come to the Lord to have your sins forgiven, to have a new beginning? Pastor Gregg, what would you say to the person listening who wants to make things right with God right now? Probably what I would say is.
He is only a prayer way. Which means if you will call upon the name of the Lord right now through prayer, He will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. Listen, 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 you'll go to heaven when you die, just pray this prayer right now after me. Just pray, Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior. who died on the cross for my sin, and rose again from the dead, I turn from my sin now, and I choose to follow you.
From this moment forward, as my Savior and Lord, as my God and my friend. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Amen.
Listen, if you have just prayed that prayer along with Pastor Greg and meant those words sincerely, we want to welcome you into God's family. And we want to help you get started in your new faith. Pastor Greg wants to send you his new Believer's Bible free of any charge, along with some other helpful resources. Just let us know you've prayed with Pastor Gregg and that you want the New Believer's Bible when you call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call any time at 1-800-821-3300.
Or go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. Yeah. And, Pastor Greg, we're so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We're touching lives for eternity. And we're really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further.
Isn't that right? Absolutely. When you invest in harvest ministries, you're investing in the souls of men and women. Boys and girls, and what is the value of a soul?
Well, let me personalize it. What's the value of your soul? What's the value of the soul of your husband, your wife? your son or your daughter. Oh, your mommy your dad.
Or your best friend.
Well, I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It's so valuable.
Well, listen, God says all souls are mine. God loves us and sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with Him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, Than in the work of the kingdom of God.
So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in harvest ministries as we continue on to fulfill the great commission. Yeah, that's right. And you can make your donation right now at harvest.org or call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number: 1-800-821-3300.
Well, next time, more words of caution and counsel from Pastor Greg's message: don't make deals with the devil. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is a day, the day when life begins.
