Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries recommend a great new children's book by Sally Lloyd-Jones called Jesus Our True Friend. You have kids and they need to hear the story of Jesus. And I bet you struggle at times trying to read Bible stories to your children. This is a great tool, so order your copy of Jesus Our True Friend Stories to Fill Your Heart with Joy, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones. Yours for a gift of any amount at harvest.org.
As Christians, we are here for three primary purposes. The glorification of God. the edification of the saints, and the evangelization of the world. or another way to state it, upward, inward, and outward.
Some excel in one area. and neglect another. Today, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us live a life that follows the biblical design.
So it's all about balance, and it's all about having your priorities in order. Day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace now sweetness town. But can you hear all the ancients of singing?
This is the day, the day when life begins. Ever gotten up too quickly and felt a little lightheaded? Maybe lost your balance? When you lose your balance, it's hard to walk a straight line.
Well, spiritually, some believers let their lives get out of balance and then have difficulty walking the straight and narrow path of faith.
Well today on a new beginning, some help from Pastor Greg Laurie on bringing our lives back into balance, back into harmony with God's plan. It's a prescription for healing what ails us spiritually. I want you to turn your Bible to two passages, Acts chapter 2 and Revelation 4. Acts 2 and Revelation 4. And the title of my message is The Balanced Life: Upward, Inward, and Outward.
So, Yes, I got hip replacement surgery. And I'll tell you what, I don't know how I've managed to do this, but I'm 72 years old. I know it's hard to believe. And you probably thought it was 82 years old. But yeah, I managed to go through that part of my life without ever having gone to a hospital for any kind of a surgery.
And I postponed it and kept putting it off. And I was having more and more pain in my hip where I was actually using a cane. Uh which I told you there are some advantages to. Because people feel sorry for you and hold doors open for you. I kind of like that part.
But I wanted to get rid of this hip pain, so I finally agreed to do it. And my surgery day came. And the moment I went to the hospital, I was greeted by the receptionist who's a Christian. It's Hog Hospital I went to. And then I went into the room where I met my nurse, and another nurse yelled out, Praise the Lord, Pastor Greg, we go to harvest.
Okay, great. And then my nurse was a Christian. My anesthesiologist was a Christian. You definitely want your anesthesiologist. to be good at what they do right your life depends on it and then my surgeon Asked me for prayer before he did the surgery, which I loved.
And as I was being wheeled into the operating room, it was just like those scenes in the movies. You know, we were laying there and he watched the lights go by, and then the doors open up, and it's this big, giant room with all these bright lights and all these little instruments that they use to put a hip in. Have you ever noticed what happens when you get a new hip? It's kind of hardcore, okay? They put this giant titanium rod attached to your bone.
You know how they get it in there with a hammer. And they're going, boom, boom. I'm so glad I was out for all of that.
So I wake up. And then you're really dazed out. And the nurse says, are you hungry? And I'm like, Yes. And she said, What would you like to eat?
A turkey sandwich or a peanut butter sandwich? And I don't know how I had the presence of mind to make this decision, but I thought, How good could hospital turkey be? I said, I'll go with the peanut butter sandwich because I figure you can't mess up peanut butter, right?
So I ate a peanut butter sandwich, had a banana too, and then I went and had to go through a little bit of you know up and down stairs to prove I could walk. And I went home, and then there's all these protocols you have to follow, including using a walker, which I did not enjoy. But I've really improved so quickly, and I attribute that to the hand of God. And so, thank you for all of your prayers. And I'm out and about and I'm walking and I thought in many ways this is like the Christian life because you know we learn to walk.
It's like you have to learn how to walk again. You have to learn how to maintain your balance as well. And that's what the Christian life is all about. It's about balance. It's about learning to walk.
You know, when we're little babies, we crawl. Then we start to take our first steps. Then we become adults and we walk on our own. Then we get older and have to get our hips replaced. Then we fall down and push the life alert button and say, I've fallen and I can't get up.
But we have to continue to grow. There needs to be balance in all of these things, which is also true of a diet. You know, you can't live on a diet of sugary things. which comes as a revelation to kids. If they had their way, they would probably happily survive in Sour Patch Kids and Red Bull.
You have to know, honey, you have to eat vegetables. But if you only eat vegetables, that can be problematic as well. You know, if you eat nothing but kale and tofu and leafy vegetables, it won't be long until you get a Prius. With your cat seated next to you. listening to NPR.
So, you don't want to be only on a vegetarian diet in respect to you who are vegetarians. I don't understand you, but I respect it. My granddaughter Allie said to me a while ago, Papa, I'm a vegetarian now. I was kind of surprised because she was eating bacon as she said it. I said, Ali, you can't be...
a vegetarian to eat bacon. She says, I can't help but I just love the meat from the pig. I had to agree with that statement.
So you don't want to only eat vegetables. That could be an imbalance. You don't want to only eat meat. The carnivore diet has become very popular. Uh, but it's very hard to stay on, you have to find the balance and all of these things, same with working out.
You know, if you go to the gym and only work up part of your body and neglect the other, that's an imbalance. I remember this one guy I see at the gym. His upper body, he looked like a superhero and his legs looked like tiny little bird legs. He just avoided leg day at all costs. But then I know another guy who was super fit, super buff, super strong, but he neglected his heart health and tragically died of a heart attack.
It's all these things in balance. And then there's a spiritual life. You can be physically fit and spiritually weak. That's why Paul says in 1 Timothy 4: physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and the life to come.
So it's all about balance, and it's all about having your priorities in order. This is a three-legged stool. And I need it to function properly because I'm putting my full weight of 125 pounds. Why don't you laugh? That was really offensive.
Okay, 128 pounds. What do you want? No, it's more than that, obviously. But I put my full weight on this, trusting that these three legs will hold me up. If I were to take one of these legs off that stool, I'm going to collapse on the ground and need another hip replacement, right?
So in many ways, a Christian life is like a three-legged stool. Or there's three principles that we need to keep in mind as we walk with the Lord. Three things we need to be focused on. As Christians, we are here for three primary purposes. The glorification of God, number one.
The edification of the saints, number two. and the evangelization of the world. The glorification of God. The edification of the saints, the evangelization of the world, or another way to state it: upward, inward, and outward. All these things have to be kept in balance.
For instance, You know, sometimes different churches will have a different focus.
Some churches are known for worship. They're known for their music. And oh, we love this church. It has the best worship of all. And that's great.
I think we should have great worship in church. I think we have an amazing worship team here at Harvest, don't you? I mean, we love it. But if you have a worship-focused church at the expense of Bible teaching, the church can be vulnerable to false teaching. because you don't have a good foundation.
People will say things like, wow, we had an amazing church service. It was just all worship and there was no sermon. That's not a win. You need the word of God. Because without the word, you're floating without an anchor.
Worship is wonderful, but God's word is what grounds us.
However, if a church emphasizes evangelism only, then it can become shallow. And people may come to Christ, but they remain spiritually immature. People get saved, but they remain spiritual infants. They love Jesus, but they can't find Leviticus in their Bible, right?
So it's balance. That's so important. Christians need to be taught the word of God. But then if a church emphasizes teaching only, it can become ingrown and legalistic. Academic, more like a classroom than a living body.
People end up knowing their Greek verbs, but they never share the good news. It's theology without tears. And so we need all three of these in their proper balance. Pastor Greg Lorry will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hmm.
We love hearing from our listeners, whether it's a short word or they take some time to let us know what's going on with them. Pastor Greg, I listen to a new beginning every night on my way home from work and truly get insight and blessings from your radio sermons. From what I've learned from you, I've been able to help lead my grandkids to the Lord. Thank you. I'd also like to thank you for your new Believer's Bible.
I just ordered one for my grandkids to share. Thanks again. How have Pastor Greg's studies touched your life? Would you let him know? Send him an email: Greg at harvest.org.
That's Greg at harvest.org.
Well, Pastor Greg is pointing out today that a properly balanced Christian life is one that looks upward, inward, and outward. The best example of this is the first century church. And it's found here in Acts chapter 2, which I had you turn to. And this is a foundational verse of our ministry. We've been a church now for 50 years.
And when we began years ago, We built our ministry on the principles of Acts 2, 42 to 47.
So let's read what the early church did. And by the way, the early church was born on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit had been poured out on them. Same in Peter got up and preached the gospel. 3,000 people believed, and this is what they did after that.
All the believers, Acts 2.42, devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. I would underline that, the apostles' teaching. And to fellowship, underline that too. And sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper, to prayer, I'd underline that as well. They worship together at the temple each day, meeting in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity.
All the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all of the people, and each day the Lord added to the church. Those who are being saved.
So I've summed this up in an acronym, well. W-E-L-L, you want to be well. W, they were a worshiping church. E. They were an evangelistic church.
L number one, they were a learning church. L number two, they were a loving church.
So number one, they were a worshiping church that says they worship together. Evangelizing, the Lord added to the church daily those that were being saved, learning, they devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrine. And finally, loving, they shared their meals with great joy and generosity. You know, and we had this in the Jesus movement as well. We had a focus on the Bible, heartfelt worship.
passionate evangelism. And thousands of people came to Christ, and many of them went into the ministry, including myself. And so I want to pass this on to you. You know, Paul said to Timothy, these things commit to trustworthy people who can pass them on to others. You know, the generation before me is beginning to pass on.
We recently lost two Great men of God. to have gone on to heaven. John MacArthur. and James Dobson. and I had the privilege of knowing both of them personally.
And I can tell you, they were wonderful men to be with. And they're going to both be sorely missed. And now, my generation, you know, we're getting older. We've gone from being hippies to needing hip replacement surgery.
So, but we still have a few years left in us, a little gas in the tank still. But soon we will pass on. But I'm fine with that. See, because I see the Christian life. like a race, but more specifically a relay race.
So we hold the baton and then we carry it for a while. And our job is not to win the race all by ourselves, but to hand the baton on to the next generation. And then they carry it for a time and they pass that baton on to the next. generation. It was said of David, he served the purpose of God in his generation.
And then he fell asleep. That's just a biblical way of saying he died. It's much more delicate than saying he kicked the bucket. You know, he fell asleep. And by the way, that phrase he fell asleep is only used to describe death for a believer.
So that will happen to every person at some point, unless the rapture comes in our lifetime.
So, my job now. Is to pass it on, you know, and I'm looking for the next generation of young men who will want to teach the word of God. You know, what I would say to young men wanting to go into ministry, the most important thing is not to try to be cool. It's to be biblical and give the word of God. This is what the generation will need desperately.
And I never tried to be cool. I never tried to be cool because I was cool. And I'm still cool. Because to me the coolest thing is to teach the word of God, right? That's the coolest thing you can do.
And if you don't think that's cool, then you're lame. But now we want to focus on the First principle we're talking about in the time that remains in this message, which is simply, why do we exist? Why am I here on this earth? And the answer to that question is found, among other places, in Revelation chapter 4. If you were to go out on the street today, and ask people, why do you exist?
They would probably say, well, I to be happy. or to live my truth, whatever that means. or to follow their passion. And maybe they think that would come about through career success. Financial security, others would think fame.
This is not what the Bible teaches. It's not that God doesn't want you to be happy. In fact, He does. But you will never find happiness by seeking it specifically. You'll find happiness will come into your life as a byproduct.
of putting God first in your life. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. In fact, one of the unhappiest things a person can do is live to be happy. One of the least pleasurable things you can do is live for pleasure. Live for the Lord, seek the Lord, and you'll find.
The right kind of pleasure in your life. The Bible says, in his presence there is fullness of joy, and on his right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
So we want to put God first on our life.
So here we come to Revelation 4.
Now remember revelation means unveiling.
So John the Apostle was banished to the island of Patmos. is the only apostle that did not die the death of a martyr. And the church tradition says they tried to boil him in oil, and he wouldn't cook. And so they banished him to an island saying, we'll never hear from you again. And Jesus came to John.
and effectively put him in a spiritual time machine and catapulted him into the future and he saw what is now our present and still our future in his revelation.
So here in Revelation chapter 4, John is seeing heaven. And he sees The Lord seated on his throne in verses 2 to 3 of Revelation 4. And then he says in verse 3, I saw the glow of an emerald circling the throne like a rainbow. Oh, can you imagine a circular rainbow? And it's emerald.
How interesting. I would love to see that. I guess we'll all see it one day. I love rainbows, don't you? Over on Maui where we have our church, You see rainbows all the time.
If you ever get tired of seeing a rainbow, something is wrong with you. I always stop, look, it's a rainbow, it's a rainbow. And then I pull my phone out and take a picture and the pictures never turned out well. It's almost impossible to photograph a rainbow. It's almost like the Lord would say, just look at it and enjoy it and put your stupid phone away.
Right? But then he also sees innumerable angels. surrounding the throne of God. And there's not only innumerable angels in heaven, there are many angels around us right now. In fact, whenever we gather for worship, we're surrounded by angels.
You say, well, Greg, how do you know that? Because I see them. Don't you? No, I don't. Because the Bible tells me.
That the angel of the Lord encamps around about those that fear him. There's an interesting story in the Old Testament. of the prophet Elijah with his servant Gehazi. And they were facing a formidable enemy. And Gehazi the servant was beginning to freak out.
He was afraid. And Elisha said, Lord, open his eyes and let him see that those that are with us are more than those that are with them. And suddenly the eyes of this man were opened to the spiritual realm and he saw all of the angels of the Lord. If we could just see that for a moment, that the angels of the Lord are surrounding us, it would probably change our perspective. And so now here we have John's description of what he sees in heaven and the answer to the question why we exist is answered.
Revelation 4 verse 8, look at it with me. The four living creatures, each having six wings, these would be angelic beings. are full of eyes around and within. They did not rest day or night saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, who is. And who is to come?
And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne who lives forever, the 24 elders fall down before him, who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. And they cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Adomises. Here's why you exist. It's revealed. Verse 11, you are worthy, O Lord our God.
To receive glory and honor and power, for you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.
So, why do we exist? We exist for the pleasure of God. We exist to glorify God. He created us for His glory. Ephesians 1.11 says, He chose us from the beginning.
That we would trust in Christ and bring praise to our glorious God. Yeah. Pastor Greg Laurie with insights from his new series called Upward, Inward, Outward. And there's more to come here on a new beginning. You know, it's that kind of balance that helps bring our lives the kind of rich fulfillment the Lord wants for us.
And that all starts, of course, by having a personal relationship with Jesus. Have you ever come to the Lord and entered into that kind of relationship? Pastor Gregg, if someone wants to make that kind of change to day, What would you say to them? He is only a prayer wing. 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 Saviour. 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 as my God and my friend. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer along with Pastor Greg, and you've 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 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 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call any time, 1-800-821-3300, or go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. And then let us take a moment to thank you for praying for this ministry. and for supporting it through your generous donation. It's an investment in kingdom business.
Isn't that right, Pastor Gregg? Yeah, it's really true, Dave. And I believe it's so important because, you know, the gospel saves lives. It saves eternal lives. Because when a person believes in Jesus, according to Scripture, they pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God.
And then of course that changes the course of their future. That impacts their children and their children's children. The gospel changes everything. And thousands and thousands of people respond every single year. Thanks to the Lord.
Also, thanks to you for your investment in this ministry, enabling us to reach people. wherever they are.
So if this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment. And a new beginning in Harvest Ministries. Yeah, that's right. And we really do appreciate your support. Thanks for partnering with us today.
It can make a real difference, not just for today or this week, but for eternity.
So get in touch with your support today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. or go online to harvest.org.
Well, next time, Pastor Greg explains how the balanced Christian life is one that looks upward, inward, and outward. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins.
