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. Life can be full of problems, pressures, quandaries, and quagmires.
Well today, Pastor Greg Laurie has good counsel. You need to pray about everything. Nothing's too small to pray about. Nothing's too big to pray about, Lord. Help me with this.
I need wisdom. We're told in the book of James, if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who will give it generously and not hold it back. You need to reach out and take that wisdom. because it's there for you. This is the day when the lost are found.
This is the day for a new beginning. Of ancient graves now sweet the sound. Again you hear all the angels are singing. This is the day, the day will lie in. Ever been caught in gridlocks?
Maybe you're trying to get out of the parking lot of a large sporting event. You're stuck. You can't go forward, you can't back up, you can't go to the left, to the right. Only thing you can do is look up. Today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie takes us to a time of challenge in the history of the Israelites.
They needed help. They were stuck. They looked up. And God came through. We'll see what lessons we can learn for our own spiritual gridlock.
I read a story about a man that adopted a hippo, a hippopotamus, as a pet. He lived in South Africa. And apparently he Found it when it was still a calf. And he raised it. He said he would ride it around like a horse and even brush its teeth.
And he was quoted to say, He's like a son to me. He also said in an interview, and I quote, People think you can only have relationships with dogs and cats and domestic animals. I have a relationship with the most dangerous animal in Africa, end quote. Famous last words. Have you heard of the little game Hungry Hippos?
Unfortunately, this didn't turn out so well for this man because Humphrey the hippo. Grew from a calf to a menacing creature that ultimately killed him.
So that's a very sad outcome. Take away truth. Don't make hippos into pets, right? But we can also do the same with sin. You know, maybe we have what we might describe as a little sin.
It's not a problem. We have control of it, but then it grows larger and larger, and then your sin starts taking you over. And that's what I want to talk about today. You know, the Bible doesn't compare the devil to a hippo. Though hippos do kill more people in Africa than lions, leopards, elephants, and water buffaloes combined.
But still, the Bible compares the devil to a lion. 1 Peter 5, 8 says, Stay alert, watch out, your great enemy, the devil. prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
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 to 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 patch 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. Number two. Don't make deals with the devil.
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 a foothold. Listen, the devil is wicked. But the devil is also cunning.
He's been honing his craft for a long time. He comes and says, 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. 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?
Who, 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 Dart? 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. But 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. 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 is 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.
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 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 to keep Being a witness to them and praying for them. Point number four: this is my last point. We need to pray about things before we decide. We need to pray about things before we decide.
Joshua 9:14 says, The Israelites examined their food, that would be the food of the Gibeonites. They brought this moldy bread. Oh, this was fresh out of the oven when we left home, and now it's all moldy. Oh, wow, okay, it looks good to me.
So they looked at their food, but look at this. They did not consult the Lord. In other words, he didn't pray about it. With Jericho, God gave to Israel a battle plan. And with AI, the same was true.
But there was no battle plan with the Gibeonites. In other words, they didn't pray, hey Lord, this a trap? Is this a good thing? Should we enter into this agreement with these people? They didn't pray about it.
You need to pray about everything. The Bible says in the book of Philippians: In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. It doesn't say in only giant big things. in everything. Nothing's too small to pray about.
Nothing's too big to pray about. Lord, help me with this. I need wisdom. We're told in the book of James: if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who will give it generously and not hold it back. See, God wants to give his wisdom generously to you.
You need to reach out and take that wisdom. because it's there for you. And in the case of Joshua, He could have gone to the high priest and asked for direction. Hey, should we make a deal with these guys? I'm not sure if this is a good thing.
No, he didn't do any of that. That's why it's always good to seek counsel. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. 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 Cash the 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, Pastor Greg is talking about the value of seeking the wisdom of others who know the Lord. or in Joshua chapter 9 with today's message, don't make deals with the devil. Seek counsel from godly people, specifically. Seek counsel from people that have been around the block a few times. You know, when I was a brand new Christian, I befriended a bunch of adults who were old enough to be my parents.
I would like go hang around Chuck Smith. I would hang around others that really helped me. A pastor named Romaine at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, another man named Keith Ritter. That became very helpful and influential to me. And then later I met Alan Redpath, who was a Great British preacher, and I became friends with Billy Graham and others.
I would spend time with them. I would ask them questions. I think when we're young, we wanna hang around all the young kids, and that's fine. But I always felt like I could learn so much more from older, godly people. And there's wisdom there.
You can ask them questions. It's like... You're not the first generation experiencing what you're experiencing. I know it has a different name. or a different look and I know there are many challenges young people are facing today that are unique to their time.
But at the same time, there's a lot of collective wisdom that is there for you if you'll seek it out from others. Proverbs 15:22 says, Plans go wrong for lack of advice. Many advisors bring success to this day. I still seek out biblical counsel from a lot of people that I look up to. I have something I need to decide about.
I'll say, what do you think about this? What's your opinion on that? I found that really helps me make my decision. Another thing that helps me decide if something is the will of God or not is: do I have the peace of God about it? Colossians 3:5 says, Let the peace of God rule in your life, or as another translation puts it, let God's peace act as an umpire in your life, settling with finality all matters that arise.
Umpires are not very popular now, are they? Because they got to make that call. He's safe, he's out. Touchdown, no, there was a penalty. People turn on the umpires.
Let the peace of God act as an umpire in your life. You say, I don't know what you're talking about. There might be something that looks good on the outside. You say, I think this is God's will for me. Circumstantially, everything's fallen into place.
This is a good investment. This is a good relationship. This is a good business opportunity. This is an open door for ministry. Pray about it.
Yeah. Because inside you might have sort of a lack of peace. There's something about it that isn't. sitting right. That's why I like to have time to think about things before I say yes.
Let me just think about that for a while. Let me pray about that for a while because I want the peace of God. The Bible says, You'll go out with joy and you'll be led forth with peace. In Isaiah 55. I try not to make ras decisions.
So in closing. The Gibeonites, they didn't have to do this. It could have just come, hey, we're the Gibeonites, our city 25 miles away. We know that you are blessed by God. We've heard the miracle story.
How about this? We want to repent of our sins. We want to turn from our wickedness. We want to stop sacrificing our babies. On the altars of pagan gods, and we want to follow the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
We want to become believers. They could have been. It could have been. Did God not spare Rahab the harlot? Did he not give her a second chance when she took the spies in and hid them in her home?
And then when Israel came into the land, hey. They didn't. Kill her? They said, you're part of us now. But no, these Gibeonites didn't want to believe.
They wanted to live in their sin. And they tricked Israel. But here's the thing. We serve a God of second chances. I can't change my past, nor can you, any more than I can unscramble an egg.
All I can do with my past is learn from it. And if I've sinned, admit I've sinned. Repent of my sin, accept the forgiveness of God, and move forward. The title of this message is Don't Make Deals. with the devil.
I think some people think they've made a deal with the devil that's unbreakable. I've heard people say they made a deal with the devil. They sold their soul to Satan. How would you know? News flash You can't sell your soul to Satan.
And I'll tell you why. Your soul is not yours to sell. God says all souls are mine. The soul of the father and the son.
So I can't sell my soul to the devil. or broker some deal with Lucifer. Where if he gives me this, then he controls me for the rest of my life. Nonsense. All deals are off ever since Jesus Christ died on the cross and broke the power of Satan.
Because in the book of Colossians and It says Christ disarmed. Powers and authorities, speaking of satanic powers, and made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross.
So When Jesus Said one word from Calvary. Tetelesty. Which is translated, it is what? Finished. You're right.
It's finished. What's finished? The power of Satan in your life. The stranglehold of the devil. Any addiction that has a grip on you right now, any lifestyle you can't break free from, it is finished.
Christ broke that power.
Now do you want that power broken? See, the problem is sometimes we still want to live in that old life. We don't want to. Be free. But if you want to be free, if you want to be forgiven, if you want a second chance, it's there for you.
All you need to say to Satan is All deals are off. We're done here. You get nothing. Not a hoof will be left behind. You can't have any area of my life at all.
The Bible says. Submit to God. Resist the devil. and he will flee from you. See the problem is we don't resist the devil.
We have conversations with the devil. You say, what do you mean?
Well, we check out what he's offering. Hey, I'd never do it, but just for my knowledge, what is it you're offering? No, no, don't let him do that. Remember when God said to Adam and Eve they could eat of any tree in the garden? But stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Pretty clear. Enjoy yourselves. Enjoy my creation. Just stay away from that tree. Scene two, Adam and Eve at the tree.
They shouldn't be by. And there is the devil. Coming as a serpent, offering his wares. You know the rest of the story, they gave in to it, and sin spread throughout. The human race.
Here's the thing. When you're a Christian, you don't have to be afraid of the devil anymore. But if you're not a Christian, You should be really scared of the devil. Because he's real. He's powerful, far more powerful than you or me.
I'm no match for him. There's nothing I can do that can keep him away from me. The only Force or power out there greater than that of Satan is the power of God Himself.
Now, when Christ comes to live in your life, you no longer have to be afraid of the devil. When the devil comes knocking at your front door, you just say, Jesus, would you mind getting that? And when the devil says, Oh, okay, never mind, he'll move on. And here's my question: Is Christ living in your life? Maybe I'm talking to somebody today that needs a second chance.
somebody today that is trapped by sin or some kind of an addiction. But you must admit your sin and turn from it. and ask Christ to come into your life. Jesus died on that cross for you. And he's standing at the door of your life right now, and he's knocking.
And he's saying, if you'll hear his voice and open the door, he'll be there. He will come in.
So in closing, have you asked Christ to come into your life yet? If not, Would you like to? You can do it right here. Right now. Let's all bow our heads.
Father. Speak to every person here. especially those that don't know you. Help them to see their need for Jesus. Help them, Lord, to come to you and believe.
And find that second chance. Find that forgiveness that you offer to them. because of the death of Jesus on the cross.
Now while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying. Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven? Would you like a second chance in life? Just pray this prayer right where you are after me.
Pray these words: 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. I turn from that sin now.
And I choose to follow you from this moment forward. as my Savior and my Lord. as my God and my God. My friend. I pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie. with an important prayer with those who are making a decision for the Lord today. And if you've just taken that step, Well, first of all, know that your sins are forgiven. The Bible tells us the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And we want to welcome you into the family of God. Let us send you something to help you get started off right. It's Pastor Gregg's New Believers Bible. We'll send it free of charge. It has hundreds of helps for those who have just begun their walk of faith.
It'll answer some of the questions that may be on your mind right now. Just ask for the New Believer's Bible when you call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. or write a new beginning box four thousand riverside california nine two five one four or go online to harvest.org. You know, Pastor Greg, we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives.
So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching. That's right. And we hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue. Yeah, it's really true, Dave. You know, and even a little bit helps.
You know, people. People need to hear the gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. And I'm so passionate about it, and I'm called to do it, and I'm thankful for it.
But I can't do it alone.
So I'm going to ask folks that are listening if you think more people need to hear the gospel. If you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the Word of God, then Preferably consider investing in harvest ministries and maybe even become a harvest partner. Which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving. and that opens up a lot of new opportunities for us.
So Thanks for that. Yeah, that's right. And we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us any time, day or night, at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.
or write a new beginning box 4000 Riverside, California, 92514. or just go online to harvest.org.
Well next time we move ahead to Joshua chapter 14. and look at an inspiring example of how to enjoy a wholehearted relationship with God. Join us here on a new beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Lorry. This is the day, the day when life begins.
