Pastor Greg Laurie presents the Amazon Prime hit series The House of David, now on DVD. The House of David, which has been just a smash hit on the Amazon streaming platform, is now available in a box set format. And you can watch it when you want to. We're also including something called Beyond House of David, which is a four-part documentary series.
So order your copy right now, The House of David. Yours for a gift of any amount at harvest.org.
Sometimes things happen in life that are unfair and tragic. and we want an answer. I demand an answer. I want to know why. It's the most common question.
When trial or tragedy strikes, Pastor Greg Laurie addresses our concerns. We live on promises, not explanations, so we should not spend too much time wondering why. Instead of saying why, we should say who, as in who do I turn to. You turn to the Lord. because the bible says he's the god of all comfort this is the This is the day for a new beginning.
Amazing graves now sweep the sound. But can you hear all the ancients are singing? This is the day, the day when I begin. The world has been through a hailstorm of crisis and calamity. Sickness, death, economic upheaval, uncertainty about the future.
Hope may seem in short supply. But today on a new beginning, we'll see it's only in short supply if we're going to the wrong supplier. Pastor Greg Laurie introduces us to a man who faced an epic challenge. but depended on God's provision to see him through. We'll learn to follow in his footsteps as Pastor Greg introduces this last days believer.
Well the guy I want to focus on, well everyone knows the story, his name was Noah. He was a last days believer because he was living in the time before the flood came. Why did the flood come? Why did God send judgment on the earth the first time? The answer is found in Genesis 6.
I want you to turn over there if you would. Genesis 6. First book of the Bible. Genesis 6, 5. Gives us a description of the world in the days of Noah.
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of his thoughts was only evil continually. You might underline that. Only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry he made man on the earth. And he was grieved in his heart.
I'd underline that too. I'll come back to it.
So the Lord said, I'll destroy man whom I've created from the face of the earth, man and beast, creeping thing, and birds of the air. I'm sorry I made them. We'll stop there. What exactly was going on here on planet earth to bring God's wrath so heavily? Genesis 6:5 gives the answer.
The Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intent of the thought of his heart was only evil continually. And God said he's grieved.
Now, it's interesting that the word grieved is used here in verse 6. You only grieve for those you love. You don't grieve when some random person cuts you off on the road. You get angry maybe, upset. But it doesn't grieve you.
It grieves you when you're a child. Is disrespectful or goes astray, or someone you love or care about says or does something that hurts you, you're grieved only by the people you love, right?
So the fact that God uses the word grief shows us that this is hurting the heart of God because he loves humanity. God takes no pleasure in bringing judgment on anyone.
So then our immediate Response is, well then, why does God say judgment?
Okay, here's the answer. You ready? God sends judgment. Because he is loving and just. No, no.
How could a God have loved Judge anyone? That's our default response. No, I'm telling you, God sends judgment because he's loving and Just Let me illustrate. Let's say that you had your small toddler. Playing in your backyard.
and suddenly a wolf appeared. Climbed over your fence. Things showing. and was running full speed toward your daughter, toward your child, toward your son. What would you do?
I would like Love the wolf? No, no. Kill the wolf. Right? Stop the wolf.
Why? Because you love your child. You love your child more than anyone or anything else. Or if they came to harm your spouse or harm someone you care about, you protect that person. No, the wolf is our brother.
No, the wolf is not your brother. The wolf's a wild animal, and you need to stop. thinking crazy thoughts like that. All right, so Because you love your child, you protect them. You hate that which would harm your child.
So in effect, you bring judgment. And so Their wickedness was great. They just wouldn't stop. It just became more and more intense. But wait, did these people have an opportunity to believe?
Listen to this. God is going to judge people according to the light that they have received. But I suggest to you, we've received a lot more light than people realize. As an example, we have the light, if you will, of nature. Just the handiwork of God surrounding us, speaking of his power and his creative ability.
I mean, to me, it takes more faith to say there's no God and this all happened randomly than it takes to say, I believe that there's a creator behind all of these things. Have any of you ever seen the Sistine Chapel? Raise your hand if you have. Few people. Quite a few of you.
Okay. Pretty magnificent, right?
Well, how did that even come to be?
Well, we all know Michelangelo painted it, took him a long time. What if I told you, well, I don't believe a guy named Michelangelo painted it. I think there was a wagon full of buckets of paint, and somebody threw a stick of dynamite in it. And it blew up. I call it the Big Bang Theory.
And the beautiful fresca on this. Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Up here. You think, what are you crazy? Oh, you see that 747 over there?
That wasn't created by the engineers at Boeing. I believe that there was a tornado in a junkyard. And that's the result. you would dismiss me as a lunatic. But yet, we'll take something as amazing as creation or even the human body and say, well, it happened randomly.
I have a hard time seeing that. I think it takes more faith to not believe than it takes to believe. Romans 1:18 says, God shows his anchor from heaven against wicked people who push the truth away from this self because he's put this knowledge in their heart. From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and the sky and all that God made, so they have no excuse for not knowing God. And by the way, at this time, earth was in much better shape than it is now.
Now if you go to a beautiful place like Hawaii You see the handiwork of God in a sunset. People just sit out there and wait for the sun to set. It's just so amazing. That's something the Lord does for us. But at this time, historically, things were still in a quasi-Eden-like state.
We were closer to God's original creation than we are now.
So the power of God was on display. They had all of that. Number two, we have the testimony of conscience. Or the light of conscience. Romans 2:14 says, Even when non-believers who do not have God's written law instinctively follow what the law says, they show in their hearts they know right from wrong because God's law is written with them in them, in their own consciences, accusing them or telling them what they're doing is right.
So you say, What about the person who's never heard the gospel?
Well, you have the testimony of nature and you have the testimony of your own conscience. You know instinctively what right and wrong are. And so Many of us Don't even live according to those dictates.
Someone said, I don't like organized religion. What does that even mean? I don't like organized religion. Oh, do you like disorganized chaos instead? And what's your definition of organized religion?
Praying a prayer, opening the Bible. I don't get anything organized, okay.
So what do you live? I live by my own standards. I suggest you don't even live by your own standards. I think you break your own rules, so you make new rules up. And then you break those, don't you?
So you have the testimony of nature, you have the testimony of your own conscience, and these people have the promise of a redeemer. God had revealed to Adam and Eve there was coming one who would crush the head of the serpent who had deceived them. And of course, that was a reference to the arrival of Jesus. And fourthly, they had the people of the godly lives of Adam and Eve. Even though Adam and Eve sinned, they still walk with the Lord after this.
So they have that testimony. And so God will judge you according to the light you have received. Point number three. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6.8 says simply that Noah found grace.
in the eyes of the Lord.
Now, does that mean God had grace on Noah because he lived a righteous life? No, actually, it's the reversal of that. The word grace means God's unmerited favor. Because He received God's grace. He responded to the grace that God extended toward him.
He experienced it. God loves us. and wants a relationship with us.
So he found grace or favor in the eyes of the Lord. Look, the only way a person comes into a relationship with God. It's by admitting their own need. And that's hard for a lot of people. We don't want to say, I need God.
I'm strong. I can do this on my own. Aaron Rodgers, in that interview, went on to say: you know, I think that Christianity is a crutch. Crutch? It's a whole hospital, man.
I need more than a crotch. I need everything. I need every piece of equipment in that spiritual hospital. I have no shame in saying, I need God. I'm not embarrassed to say I depend on God.
We all should. Mm. 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 of 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 presenting a study today titled The World Changer at the End of the World, Part 1. Let's continue now. Judgment was about to come. And I wonder if there's somebody here that Has had a wake-up call lately.
Something has happened in your life that's gotten your attention. Everything was going great. And then you got the call from the doctor. And everything changed. Everything was fine.
Then your wife, your husband, your boyfriend, your girlfriend. broke up with you, your dog even left you. But the cat won't leave for some reason. And you really want the cat to leave, and you wanted the dog to stay, even more than your girlfriend, frankly. But whatever it is, something's happened, or you've had a close.
Brush with death. But I think there's three things we should keep in mind when something like this happens. Number one, Remember that life is precious. Life is precious. I have an Apple watch right here.
Funny thing with this crazy watch. It periodically says to me, breathe. See? I'm breathing. It's even said it to me when I'm like Working out, breathe, like what's wrong with you?
But I think there's a good message there. Breathe. Right? That breath you're drawing right now, that's a gift from God. Because there might be someone in a hospital room struggling.
Hoping for that next breath. But I just breathe in, I breathe out. That's a gift from heaven. And I shouldn't take it for granted. Every day of my life is a gift from God.
Every single heartbeat, it's a blessing. Don't take your health for granted. Don't take your family for granted. The Bible reminds us in Psalm 90. Teach us to realize the brevity of life so we may grow in wisdom.
Kobe was a very successful man. with many beautiful things. But I'm sure he would have traded it all. For another precious day of life, he was not given that choice. Don't take life for granted.
Number two, don't ask why, ask who. Don't ask why, ask who. Eleven years ago, Our son Christopher was killed in an automobile accident. It was crushing. Devastating.
I wondered if I would even survive it. It was so. Massive for both Kathy and myself and our son Jonathan and Christopher's wife, Brittany, it was just. Life-altering. And it's like Time stood still for all of us.
And if words could have killed you, I mean, hearing certain information, that could have killed me. I felt like literally I could have died. It was so overpowering. But in my time of weakness, What I needed, the crutch. I needed the hospital.
I needed intensive care. And I called out to the Lord, and guess what? He was there for me. And he sustained me on that day and sustains us all to this day. Because the Bible says he's the God of all comfort.
Sometimes things happen in life that are unfair and tragic. And we want an answer. I demand an answer. I want to know why. If God told you, you wouldn't be happy.
I mean, if the Lord said, all right, all right, I'm tired of you asking why, I'm going to tell you why. You ready? Write this down.
Okay, I'm ready. Ready? Here's why. I don't agree with that. You wouldn't like it.
It wouldn't make sense to you, this side of heaven. We live on promises, not explanations, so we should not spend too much time wondering why. Instead of saying why, We should say who, as in who do I turn to? You turn to the Lord. And you cry.
And you cry. It's okay to cry. It's good to cry. In fact, you must mourn. When you've lost a loved one.
In fact, if you do not properly mourn the loss of a loved one, it can affect you in a very bad way. Because you cry out to God, you bring your pain to God, you bring your sorrow to God. And then the last thing is we must prepare. We must prepare. Life is precious.
Don't ask why ask who. We must prepare. Death is not a respecter of persons. It doesn't care if you're rich or poor. Religious, or you have no faith at all if you're famous, infamous.
are not known. It knocks at every door, it'll knock at your door. It'll knock up mine. It's not the end. because there's an afterlife.
We talked so much about this life. But The afterlife goes on forever. In fact, this life, The before life, if you will, is pretty short when compared to the afterlife. And Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. And he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. That is why Jesus died on the cross. You see, at the cross, he defeated sin, but at the resurrection, he defeated death. Death died when Christ rose.
So my question for you is, are you prepared for the afterlife? I've told you the story before of a man who was walking through a graveyard. And he saw a tombstone. And on it were inscribed these words, Pause now, stranger, as you pass by. As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be.
So prepare for death and follow me. The man was overheard to say, to follow you is not my intent until I know which way you went. Are you prepared for the afterlife? What if this were your last night on earth?
Well, it won't be. How do you know? You don't know. No one knows. The Bible says it's appointed unto a man once to die and then comes the judgment.
God's appointed the hour, He doesn't reveal it to us. Frankly, I'm glad I don't know, aren't you? We don't know. It could be tonight, it could be 10 years, 20 years, 50 years. 70, 80 years, I don't know.
God knows. I don't worry about that. But be ready. Be prepared. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people.
And then one day I'll stand before God. And the Bible says, And the books will be opened, and a book will be opened, which is the book of life. And the key is, you want your name written in the book of life. How do you get your name written in the book of life? By believing in Jesus Christ.
If you've put your faith in Christ, And you've asked him to be your Savior and Lord. Your name's in the book, and no one's taken your name out of the book. You're good to go. But then there's the books. Books are going to be opened.
And I wonder what's in the books. You know, the Bible doesn't say. Maybe one book is uh A book of all the times you heard the gospel and blew it off. Maybe another book is a record of how you had your own standards that you didn't even live by. Maybe another book is all the commandments you broke.
I don't know what's in the books, but whatever it is, it's not real good. Because if you're even at this great white throne judgment, that's bad. But you don't have to be there at all. You see, Jesus died on the cross, and he absorbed the wrath of God in your place, so you don't have to deal with it. He died there for you.
As I've said many times. He came to pay a debt he did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. You can have this grace in your life because the Bible says, For by grace you are saved through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. You're not going to get to heaven because of all the good stuff you've done.
You're going to get to heaven because of the sacrifice Jesus made for you on the cross. and you admitted you're a sinner. And you turned from your sin and you believed in him. Then you can know. Listen, you can know.
That you'll go to heaven. Do you know that right now? If not, why would you not want to get this resolved? Frankly, is there anything more important than that that you could think of? Anything?
Then where you'll spend eternity? And so I want to close with just an opportunity for anybody here. Anybody watching? listening wherever you may be. To make sure your name is written in the book of life, to put your faith in Jesus Christ.
He stands at the door of your life and he knocks and he says, If you'll hear his voice and open the door, he will come in. If you've never asked Jesus to come into your life, you can do it. right here, right now, and you can be prepared. for the afterlife and not be afraid of death any longer.
So let's all bow our heads and everybody praying, Father, thank you for your word to us tonight. And I pray for any person here. or maybe they're watching or listening, wherever they may be. If they don't have a relationship with you, Help them to come to you now, we pray. Amen.
Yeah. Pastor Greg Laurie. with an important prayer about entering into a relationship with the Lord. And if you'd like to make that kind of change in your relationship with God today, Well, Pastor Gregg will come back and help you do that before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. Ever start your day off wrong?
You know, things started badly and just kept going downhill. A lot of it has to do with your focus, where your mind is centered as the day starts. Why not plug into Pastor Greg's daily devotions? They're free of charge. It's good encouragement to keep your eyes fixed on Christ.
You can read each day's devotion or listen to the audio version, your choice. Sign up today, free of charge, at harvest.org. And Pastor Gregg, just before we go, would you mind praying with that person listening who wants to make a change today in their relationship with the Lord? I'd be happy to, Dave. You know, as you've been listening to this today, Maybe you've heard another voice.
By that I mean, yeah, you heard me say a few things, but you heard God's voice speak to you. Deep in the recesses of your heart, and it suddenly dawned on you: this is what I need, or to state it more accurately, this is who I need. I need Jesus and I want Jesus, but maybe you don't know how to make that connection. Let me help you. God is only a prayer way.
He stands at the door of your heart and he knocks. And Jesus says, If you'll hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in. Let me help you open the door, so to speak, of your heart as you invite Jesus to be your Savior and Lord.
So here's what I would like you to do. I'd like you to stop what you're doing. And I want you to pray a prayer after me. I'll lead you in this prayer. And as you pray it, God will hear you.
Pray this after me right now if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. Lord Jesus I know I am a sinner. And I am sorry for my sin. and I need your forgiveness right now. Would you come into my heart and my life, as saviour As God As friend?
I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for calling me. and accepting me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
I know that was a relatively short prayer. Maybe you felt something as you prayed it. Maybe you felt nothing. That doesn't really matter. Because God's Word says, These things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
It doesn't say, so you may think you have it, or you may hope you have it if God's in a good mood. No, that you can know it. And I want you to know if you pray that prayer in a minute, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come into your life.
So, congratulations. You're now a Christian.
Now continue to follow the Lord. Yeah, and to help you, we'd like to send an important resource your way. It's Pastor Gregg's New Believers Bible. Among other things, it includes an easy-to-follow Bible study plan for getting the most out of your Bible reading. It'll answer many of the questions you might have, and get you started off right in your new relationship with the Lord.
So get in touch and ask for it. We'll send it free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime, 24-7. That's 1-800-821-3300.
or go online to harvest.org and click No God. Yeah. And then thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue. Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly. Online you'll find us at harvest.org, and there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now. That's harvest.org. Or write us at a new beginning, box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. or call us at 1-800-821-3300.
We're here around the clock to take your call again at 1-800-821-3300.
Well, next time, more insights from the life of Noah about living wholeheartedly for God, no matter what's going on around us. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Lord. This is the day, the day when life begins.
