Greg Laurie at Harvest Ministries recommend a great resource about the end times by Dallas Theological Seminary professor Mark Hitchcock. He's written a brand new book called The Revelation Answer Book, 125 Common Questions People Ask About Earth's Final Days. And guess what? We have a copy with your name on it.
So for your gift of any size, we will rush you your own copy of the Revelation Answer Book. Available at harvest.org. The first step to winning in this spiritual battle is to stand as close to Christ as you possibly can. When facing a strong adversary, it's good to have a strong ally. Coming up today on a new beginning.
Pastor Greg Laurie shows us where to find our help. I'm no match for the devil. I'm not even a match for a demon. But if I stand on the Lord and in the power of his might, I don't have to be afraid because greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world, right? This is the day when the lost are found.
This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace now sweets the sound. But can you hear all the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when life begins. Kids learn early on the playground that if a bully is bigger than them, It's good to have a friend who's bigger than the bully.
A bully who's met his match is no longer a threat.
Well, as Pastor Greg just said, greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Our adversary is no match for our Almighty God. We stand in victory when We stand with the Lord. A good lesson on that today on a new beginning. as Pastor Gregg continues his series, Joshua, Living in the Land of Promises.
Okay, grab your Bibles and turn to Joshua chapter five in the title of my message Is overcoming or overcome. And we're looking at the story of how Israel came into the promised land, the land that God had given them. Make no mistake about it, God has given to the Jewish people the land of Israel. And he's given to them Jerusalem as their capital. But here now in the book of Joshua, the wilderness wanderings have come to an end.
That first generation that doubted God are not entering into the promised land, but their children are. They're poised now to enter into Canaan's land, the land flowing with milk and honey, the promised land, modern day Israel. And so that's where we picked this story up. And this is something that speaks to us because we might wonder why do we have such a place given in the Word of God? Giving us a record of the military victories and sometimes defeats of the Israeli army and the conquest of Canaan.
Answer: Because we too are at war. We're in this spiritual battle. The moment you become a Christian, you enter into this war. It's not a choice of being in the war, not being in the war, it's just a choice of winning or losing, gaining ground. are losing ground Of being overcome or overcoming.
It's really up to us. It's been said. The Christian life, or conversion rather, has made our hearts a battlefield. And the Christian life is not a playground, it is indeed a battleground. Why?
Because. The devil doesn't want you to follow Christ.
So the moment you put your faith in him, he's going to oppose you. He's going to tempt you. He's going to harass you. He's going to try to pull you away from this commitment that you have made. But thankfully, God won't give us more than we can handle.
Because 1 Corinthians 10, 13 promises that When the temptations come our way, there's always a way of escape that we may be able to bear it, but the battle will indeed rage on in life. How did Satan even become Satan? Why would a loving God create someone as horrible? as the devil. Answer, he didn't.
The Lord created a magnificent spirit being, an angelic creature known as Lucifer, the Son of the Morning. But Lucifer rebelled against God. You know, it's interesting, the Bible never tells us how old Lucifer was when he did rebel against God. I figure he was around 16 years old. It was teenage rebellion.
The Lord told him to submit and worship, and Lucifer said, whatever. Yeah. I heard one comedian make this statement: quote, I believe teenagers are God's revenge on mankind. He said, I think one day the good Lord looked down on creation and said, Let's see how they like it to create someone in their own image who denies their existence. Good point.
So We don't know anything about that, of course, but. the devil rebels against God and he took one-third of the angels with him. Those fallen angels are now what we would call demons.
So one-third of the angelic forces sided with Lucifer, and the other two-thirds are on the Lord's side. Uh on our side. And what is the purpose of demons? It seems to be twofold. They want to hinder.
The purposes of God and extend the power of Satan.
So we're in a war. When you're in a spiritual war, you need to put on spiritual armor. And Ephesians 6 tells us this: put on all of God's armor so you will be able to stand firm against the strategies of the devil. For we're not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in the dark world, against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the attack.
of the enemy and the day of evil. Here's the thing, the double. usually comes to us in the realm of our mind and imagination. He comes and says, Take it out for a spin. Uh Take this free sample.
Um Try this thought on for size. Of course, you would never act on this thought, but take a trip to Fantasy Island. And just pretend you would do it. Because he knows that's the first step to actually doing it. And that's how he's going to come to you.
That's how he's often going to tempt you. 2 Corinthians 11:3 says, I'm afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, Your mind should somehow be led astray from your sincere devotion to Christ.
So, in your mind, The hardest part of the spiritual battle is winning the battle of the mind. The Bible says in Proverbs 23:7, as a man thinks, so is he. Because the thought can then give way to action. That's why we must guard our minds. Every day, We think thousands of thoughts.
Experts say our brain processes around 70,000 thoughts. Every single day. Think about that: 70,000 thoughts. That's basically 35 to 45 thoughts per minute. running through your mind, right?
And in our minds, we think of the future. We think about the past. We resolve conflicts, we dream. And of course, we can allow our imaginations to be misled. We must guard ourselves there.
2 Corinthians 10 says from the Phillips translation: The very weapons we use are not those of human warfare, but powerful in God's warfare through the destruction of the enemy's strongholds. Our battle is to bring down every deceptive fantasy and every imposing defense that men erect against the knowledge of God. We fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ. Listen to this: you are the air controller of your mind.
So the air controller decides what flight takes off and when, what flight lands, what altitude they have. And that's their job. You are the air controller of your mind. You decide what thought comes in, and you decide what thought stays out. And just because you have a bad thought.
come to your mind, whatever it may be, doesn't mean you've sinned. The sin of temptation is not in the bait, it's in the bite. See? Just because I have a piece of bait dangled in front of me doesn't mean I've sinned. It's when I.
Bite the hook when I take the bait. And in the same way, just because a bad thought. Comes to you, you can reject it. You can say, I reject that in the name of Jesus Christ. Get behind me, Satan.
as Jesus said when he was being tempted in the wilderness by the devil. Reminds you of a story of a lady that loved to shop. And don't they all? No, they don't. They don't all change.
My wife doesn't like the shop, believe it or not. I think I like to shop more than my wife does. Isn't that a weird admission from a man? But anyway.
So, this lady, she loved to shop, and every time she went to the mall, she bought something.
So she's on her way to the mall, and her husband says, Honey, where are you going? She goes, I'm going to go to the mall. No, no, no. We can't afford any more clothes. Every time you go, you buy a new outfit.
I'm not going to this time. I'm just going to browse. And window shop. No, no, you'll always buy something. No, I won't this time.
Okay, she comes back two hours later with a brand new dress. He says, I told you you would buy something. She said, but you don't know what happened. He said, okay, what happened? She said, I'm walking through the mall.
I see this really cute outfit on a mannequin in the window. And so yes, I do walk into the store and yes, I tried it on, okay. And guess what happened then? What? She said, the devil himself appeared to me.
What? Satan appeared to me in the dressing room. What did he say? She said, He said, You look good in that outfit. He said You should have said to the devil, get behind me, Satan.
She said, I did. And then he said, hey, it looks good from the back, too. Don't have conversations with the devil. See, that's the problem. Capture every thought.
Pastor Greg Laurie We'll have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hearing from listeners who've been touched by Pastor Gregg's messages. is very encouraging to us. Pastor Greg, I've been listening to you since 1992, when I was 25 years old. You led me to Christ when I was driving to Black Mountain, North Carolina, and I'll never forget what you said that day.
You're either for Jesus or against him. You can't straddle the fence.
Well, I was definitely straddling the fence of my life at the time. But not any more. Thank you so much for your faithfulness to God. You changed my life forever. If you have a story to share, Why not call us and tell us about it?
Here's the number. Again, 866-871-1144.
Well, glad you're joining us for our series in the book of Joshua. Today's message from Pastor Greg: overcoming or overcome. Coming back to our story, here they are, Israel. ready to enter the promised land. But there's one problem.
the Jordan River.
So God's going to do a miracle just for them. Oh, yeah, he did a miracle for their parents when he parted the Red Sea, but they weren't around for that.
So the Lord says, I'm going to do a miracle just for you. And the mighty Jordan River in flood season opens up as they step into the water and get their feet wet. They get over to the other side now.
Now they're officially in the promised land. And They erect a bunch of stones as A memory of what God did. And now this next event happens in Joshua chapter 5. Verse 13, when Joshua was near the town of Jericho, He looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, Are you friend or foe?
Neither one, he replied, I am the commander of the Lord's army. And Joshua fell at his feet to the crown in reverence. I am at your command, Joshua said. What do you want your servant to do? The commander of the Lord's army replied, take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is holy.
And Joshua did as he was told. Wow. That brings us to point number one. If you're taking notes, to enter the land of promises. we must encounter and follow Jesus Christ.
We must encounter and follow Jesus Christ. Here is this massive, strapping soldier with a large sword. I kind of am impressed by the boldness of Joshua. He walks right up to him.
Okay, are you friend or foe? What are you gonna fight this dude? Joshua is pretty courageous. I'm the commander of the Lord's army. Oh, well, since you said that.
What do you want your servant to do? Now, who was this powerful soldier that Joshua encountered? Was it an angel? It could have been. I actually think it was Jesus Christ himself.
That's called a Christophany. When Christ appears in the Old Testament, we call them Christophanes. And there are many appearances of the Lord in the Old Testament. And I think this is one of them. Why do I think it?
Because he is commanded to take off his sandals because he's standing on holy ground. This is reminiscent of the encounter that Moses had with God at the burning bush. Remember, and the Lord said, take off your sandals. Same thing.
So, this was Joshua's encounter with the Lord. I believe Jesus himself reminding us. The first step to winning in this spiritual battle is to stand as close to Christ as you possibly can. Be as close to him as you possibly can. Have you ever walked in someone's shadow?
You have to stay really close to be in their shadow, right? And that's what we want to be. We want to be. In the presence of God, in the shadow of the Almighty. I remember years ago, I was living on the East Coast in New Jersey.
And I was given a gift of charity. two cap guns and little. Holsters and a little cowboy hat. And I was feeling pretty cool walking down the street, firing off my cap guns, and a bunch of hoodlums come up to me. They're a little bit bigger and older than me.
They started laughing at me, pushed me to the ground, and stole my cap guns.
So I went home. And I got my brother, who was five years older and quite a bit bigger. And I said, help me get those guns back.
So I went back and found that group of kids. I went up to him and all of a sudden I was pretty bold and pretty tough. I said, give me my guns. I pulled him back. dropped on my holster again, walked off in a cowboyish way, you know.
Why was I so brave? Because I had my brother with me. If they tried anything, they would have to face him. And the same way in spiritual battle, I go in standing close to the Lord. I'm no match for the devil.
I'm not even a match for a demon. But if I stand close to the Lord and stand on the Lord and in the power of his might, I don't have to be afraid because greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world, right?
So now we come to Jericho. And the Lord's going to give them the battle plan. And it's pretty interesting. I wonder what Joshua was thinking.
Okay, Lord, how are we going to do this? First city, how's it going to go down? Put a bunch of ladders up, we'll scale the walls. Uh Attack them in force, overwhelm them with force. Lord said, I had something a little different in mind.
Joshua chapter 6. Starting in verse 1, I'm reading from the New Living Translation.
Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut. Because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in. And the LORD said to Joshua, I have given you Jericho the king and all of its mighty warriors. Your entire army is to march around the city once a day for six days.
Seven priests will walk ahead of the ark, each carrying a ram's horn. On the seventh day, you are to march around the city seven times, and then the priests blow their horns. And when the people hear the priests give long blasts on the horns, Then you give a mighty shout, and the walls of the city will collapse. And then you can just charge right into the city. Do you think God ever just tries to mess with their minds a little bit?
I mean, what kind of a battle plan is this? It's God's battle plan. And there was a reason for it, bringing me to point number two. God will work in different ways in different situations, so we look to Him. Again, God will work in different ways and in different situations, so we look to Him.
And this was a kind of a thing where if God didn't come through, They were in big trouble. It reminds us of the story of Gideon. Here's Gideon, who God chooses to lead Israel into battle against their enemies, the Midianites, that have been oppressing them. First of all, Gideon's army wasn't that large, but the Lord said, Your army is too big. Say to your soldiers, if you're fearful and afraid, go home.
And most of his army went home. He's left with 300 men.
Now he's vastly outnumbered. And the Lord says, here's the battle plan. Here's how you will defeat the Midianites. I want you all to get a little torch, you know? Light the flame, put a clay pot around it, then you run down this hill and you scream the sword of the Lord and of Gideon, and you crack the pot open, and they see the flame and they'll all die.
Crack the pot off. I think I'm a crackpot if I do this. And that's exactly what they did. And the Midianites are so freaked out. It disoriented.
They thought they were already under attack and they attacked each other. And that's how the battle was won. But the Lord often does things like this. He uses human weakness to display his strength. To us it might seem random.
But there's a method to the madness, if you will, because it's not madness at all. It's just God's way of keeping us looking to Him. Are you in a situation where there's no way out but God? In other words, if God doesn't come through for you, there's no way out for you. If you are.
Understand God specializes. in taking circumstances like that. and using them for his glory. Think of the various ways that Jesus healed people. He was always changing it.
Sometimes he would touch the person and they would be healed. Other times the person would touch him and they would be healed. On even other occasions, he would speak the word and they would be healed. One guy who was blind. saw Jesus spit in the dirt.
And then wipe The dirt mixed with spit in the guy's eye. How weird is that? Can you imagine if you came for prayer? Pastor Greg, would you pray for me? Sure, hold on.
Wait, what? It's in the Bible. Deal with it. I won't do that. Don't worry.
But why does God do this?
So we'll see, it's God doing it. Because we're so prone to give the credit. Oh, the doctor did it, or my bank account did it, or my friend came through for me, or something else happened. The Lord will put you in a situation where you have to say, That was the Lord. and you give him the glory.
Take Naaman as an example. Naaman was a powerful Syrian general. admired and respected by his troops, But he had a problem. He was a leper. Leprosy was a lethal, fatal disease.
It slowly destroyed your body. There was no cure for it. But he heard that there was a prophet in Israel named Elisha that God did miracles through. And he was told if he went to Elisha, he could be healed of his leprosy.
So General Naaman shows up at the doorstep of Elisha. You can just see Naaman in his beautiful chariot surrounded by bodyguards. And they knock on the door. General Naaman's here. Elisha doesn't even come to the door.
He sends out his servant Gehazai, hey, what's up? Uh-huh. Elisha says, if you want to be healed, go to the Jordan River. Immerse yourself seven times, you'll be healed. God bless.
Bye. Shut the door. Damon Saken, does he know who I am? I'm General Naaman. I'm not going to go immerse myself in the dirty Jordan River.
We have better rivers back in Syria. But then he thinks, well, what have I got to lose?
So he goes down to the Jordan River and with all of his men watching. He reveals what they've never seen before. He takes off his helmet. He takes off his breastplate, he peels off the rest of his armor, and they realize he's a leper. They didn't know that about him.
He had to humble himself. And then he goes into that Jordan River and he immerses himself the first time, comes up, still a leper. He does it the second time, still a leper. The third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth time, still a leper. The seventh time down he comes up.
No longer a leper. Healed, just as God said. In fact, the Bible says he had the skin like that of a newborn baby. Have you ever looked at a newborn baby's skin?
So beautiful. Have you ever looked at your skin? That's so beautiful. Especially in a magnifying glass. Oh, that's horrifying, right?
Why this unusual and humbling Prescription because Naaman was a proud man, and God wanted him to strip off his armor that he normally hid behind and expose himself as a leper. The same reason that God wants us to confess our sins. Listen, we don't come to Christ because we're good people and we want to be a little bit better. We come to Christ because we're sinful people and we need a Savior. And that's the only way we can be forgiven.
Important spiritual truth today on a new beginning. Pastor Gregg Laurry is bringing us a lot of insight from the Book of Joshua, and there's more to come. Pastor Greg just said that we come to Christ because we're sinful people and we need a Savior. That's the bottom line.
So it begs the question, have you come to Christ? Have your sins forgiven? That's the only way you can know for sure that you'll go to heaven when this life is over. Pastor Gregg, what would you say to the person who wants to take care of that right now? I would say that God is just a prayer away.
You know, it doesn't take years to become a Christian, it doesn't take months. Frankly, it doesn't even take hours. It can happen so quickly. It just starts with... You saying to God, I know I'm a sinner, but I know that You love me?
I know that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead. And I want him to come into my life.
So, here's my question to you: Have you done that yet? Because Jesus, who did die on that cross and rose again from the dead three days later, is alive and standing at the door of your life right now, and He's knocking, and He's saying, If you'll hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in. Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven? Do you want Christ to come into your life right now?
If so, why don't you just stop whatever it is you're doing and pray this prayer with me? You could pray it out loud. You can pray it in the quietness of your own heart. But pray this prayer. to God.
Say, Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. But I know that you are the Saviour. who died on the cross for my sin, and rose again from the dead, I'm sorry for my sin, and I turn from it now. and I choose to follow you From this moment forward, I ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Listen. If you just prayed that prayer, the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says that we will confess our sin. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So. God bless you. You've made the right decision. The decision to follow Jesus Christ. Yeah, that's right.
And as you begin to live this new life, we want to send you something to help you get started off right. It's Pastor Gregg's New Believer's Bible. It's in an easy-to-understand translation. Plus it features hundreds and hundreds of study helps, especially for those who are new to the faith. Millions of people have been helped by this resource.
So get in touch for your own New Believer's Bible. We'll send it free of charge. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. Again, 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God.
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? Or 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. Hey everyone, I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a harvest version of Netflix. We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen, The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Casher, Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more.
Then we have our television program, daily devotions, and much more.
So go and download the Harvest Plus app.
Well, next time, Pastor Gregg offers more insight on walking in the victory Christ has already won. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Loring. To the day, the day when life begins.
