The Power of One, Part 2

Hey, everybody, Greg Laurie here. You're listening to the Greg Laurie podcast, and my objective is to deliver hopefully compelling practical insights and faith, culture and current events from a biblical perspective. To find out more about our ministry. Just go to our website. Harvest, Dawg. So thanks for joining me for this podcast.

If you have a Bible and I hope you do, I'd like you to turn to two passages. Hebrews Chapter 11 and Deuteronomy Chapter 34 for that, Tubers eleven, Deuteronomy 34. Again, the title of my message is The Power of One.

You know, I don't know how it is in your house, but my wife and I are always disagreeing over the temperature of the room. She always thinks it's too cold. I always think it's too warm. So I'll go and set it to 70 and she'll set it to 73 and back and forth it goes.

Not that sun enough. I have what is called a nest thermostat that you program, and apparently it follows your pattern and in will reflect what you would want. But the problem is my thermostat has gone rogue. It's sort of like that computer named Hal in 2001, A Space Odyssey, where it will just set its own temperature. It's like in the middle of the day, it's suddenly 64 degrees. Why? I didn't get to be 64. Then in the middle of the night, it'll set it to 74 after I've already set it to 70 degrees. So what is wrong with this thing? And I'll try to fix it. I'll hear a voice say coming out of it saying, I can't do that. Dave, never mind. That's from 2001. But here's my question for you. Are you a thermostat or are you a thermometer? Let me explain. A thermostat sets the temperature of thermometer, tells you what the temperature is. Are you the kind of person that influences others? Are you the kind of person that is always influenced by others?

Are you a world changer or is the world changing you? Well, this is our last message on the life of Moses, who was described as the man of God.

He was also described as the meekest man on the face of the earth. And there's no question about it. Moses was a thermostat. He influenced others.

In fact, when you stop and think about it, one man lived such a godly life of integrity that he basically kept two and a half million people from turning to full blown idolatry because the moment Moses left the scene, literally all hell broke loose. And here was the problem. The people bowed before a golden calf. We all know that story. Right. But listen to this. The golden calf was their second idol. Moses was their first. You see, the problem was, is that people had made an idol out of Moses. It wasn't the fault of Moses. He was a God. The example. He was doing exactly what he should be doing. But they, in a way, put him in the place of God. We read in Exodus, Chapter 14, Verse City one, Israel saw the great work which Olaudah done in Egypt, and the people feared the Lord and believe God and his servant Moses.

And in fact, when Moses slept for a time to receive the Ten Commandments and he left Aaron in charge, the people says, What is happened to this Moses who brought us out of Egypt? Hold on. It was God that brought them out of Egypt, but they had put Moses in the place of God. And, you know, this happens today. Maybe in our home you'll have a woman that is godly and more motivated spiritually and a guy that just kind of goes along for the ride. His relationship with God, so to speak, is more or less dependent on his wife's relationship with God. And he had been the wife that said, oh, let's watch Harvest at Home.

And the husband is like, OK, whatever. Right.

And so now she lets just say, for the sake of an illustration that the wife loses interest in spiritual things, will the husband will lose interest as well. See, that's not a good thing. You need your own relationship with God. Kids, listen to me. You need your own relationship with the Lord. That is not dependent upon your parents or upon any other person. Here's another illustration. God will use certain people. Maybe there's a preacher that people will flock to hear. But then one day it is revealed that that preacher, like every other human being, has feet of clay. He has frailties.

And maybe he says or does something. You don't like it. So you see. That said, I'm leaving my faith. I'm walking away from that church. Hello. Don't build your faith in God on the foundation of a man or a woman. The Lord needs to be number one in your life. That's the first commandment. Have no other gods before him. And commandment number two words have. So craven images. But to the credit of Moses, he was such a godly influence.

It shows the power of one now sort of the pick up. From where we were last time, that was the power of one part one. This is the power of one part to remember.

We learned this about Moses. Look at Hebrews, Chapter 11, verse 24. It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. So point number one, as you may remember, Moses made important decisions at the beginning of his life. Again, the end of your life is determined by the beginning of your life. The evening of your life is determined by the morning of your life. So you're making decisions now that will affect you in years to come. And Moses made a principled decision. First, 24 of Huber's 11th says it was my faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused. You see, he had come to a fork in the road. He had been placed by God in the house of the pharaoh. He was the prince of Egypt. He could have let this thing play out and maybe ultimately ascended to the throne and become the pharaoh himself. But Moses made a choice to not do that. He chose to be not be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to not have that title. So he walked away from a life of luxury to choose a life of obedience to God. He made a decision early in his life to choose God over a fluent.

Bringing me to point number two. You make your choices and your choices make you. Let me say it again. You make your choices and your choices. Make you look at verse twenty five of Hebrews eleven. Moses chose to suffer the oppression of God's people.

This word that is used here for Jews means to take for oneself a position. He took a position and we all make so many choices every day. Take Taco Bell, for instance. I don't know if you like Taco Bell. I have to say I'm a huge fan. I love it. But now they have all these things on the menu that I've never heard of before. You pull up and there's new things like the cheesy gordita crunch. I'm thinking, what is a cheesy gordita crunch? And I'm contemplating that. And I'm asking what are what is this exactly? And meanwhile, the line behind me is getting longer and they have a spicy potato salad torgau and the crunch wrapped supreme. I'm like, what are these things? Because there's so many choices. I just say, I love being burrito and to talk. I just default back to what I always choose. But the point is, is all these decisions we have to make and then you if you have Sirius XM, all these channels you can choose from, and then you turn on the TV and and there's so many hundreds and hundreds of channels. Have you ever just flip through channels and literally found there wasn't one thing worth watching? Now, those are not important choices for the most part. But there are very important choices in life. The most important choice you will ever make is what you do with Jesus Christ. If you will say yes to him and follow him or if you will reject him and if you have not yet said yes to Jesus. I'll give you an opportunity to do that. At the end of my message, I think right after that decision is a decision about who you will marry. Listen to me, single people. Take your time and look for a godly man or a godly woman. Look for someone that is even more godly than you are. Very important. You know, honestly, marriage is hard enough with a godly person. When you combine a believer and a nonbeliever, so much trouble can follow. As a result. But then I make choices every day. For instance, am I going to start my day with the word of God or with social media? Am I going to start my day with prayer? Or am I going to start it with worry? Am I going to make time in my schedule to meet with other believers?

And on it goes. Moses chose to not do one thing and instead he chose to do another. So let's say that that you are gaining weight. So what you need to do is stop doing one thing and start doing another. Stop eating the crunch wrap supreme, whatever that is, and instead work out more. OK. So in the same way, we can apply this to the Christian life. Someone says.

Blessed are happy is the man with a woman that does not walk in the council of being godly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. But then it goes on to say, but his delight is in the word of the Lord. And in it, does he meditate, DNI. Now check it out. The word blessed and happy are interchangeable. So basically the Bible saying if you want to be happy, there are some things you should not do. And then their place. There are certain things you should do. Don't walk in a godly council. Don't do that. But instead walk in godly council. Meditate or think about or contemplate the word of God on the word of God. Now, when we say meditate, I don't want you to think of Eastern mysticism and Eastern mysticism.

One meditates to empty their mind in biblical meditation. One, it fills their mind to meditate, means to ponder, to contemplate what the word of God has to say. So Moses made a choice. I'm not going to do that live in the pleasures of sin. But instead I'm going to do this. I'm going to identify with God's people. And let me say a word about the pleasures of sin. Can sin be fun? You might be surprised by my answer. You would expect me to say no. Well, I'll be honest with you. The answer is yes, of course. There's pleasure in sin. Otherwise, why would we do it? It's a short lived pleasure. And it can be a pleasure. That leads to a horrible ending. But there is a moment of pleasure. I'm sure if you jumped off the Empire State Building in New York City without a parachute. It would be very exciting until you hit the ground. And in the same way, it can be very exciting to break the rules and and do what you want to do. And you can have those momentary pleasures. But then the problems will follow. That's why we want to make the right choices. Joshua stood before the people of Israel and he said people choose today whom you will serve. And then he said, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Alija stood a Mount Carmel and spoke to the vacillating Fickell people of Israel, and he said in second King's 1821. How long will you jump back and forth between two opinions? If the Lord is God? Then follow him. Moses chose and honestly, he chose difficulty over ease. Look at verse twenty five. It says he chose to share the oppression of God's people rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Listen to this. God's worst is better than the world's best. OK. What is the world's past?

I already said a few short lived pleasures. What is God's worst? Well, persecution, rejection, being mocked. Things of that nature. So the best that the world has to offer isn't as good as the worst. God has to offer. Now let's talk about God's best. What is that?

Well, that's P's purpose, meaning in this life, a relationship and friendship with God himself and the guaranteed assurance of heaven beyond the grave. What is the world's worst? Misery. Guilt. Emptiness. And a future of judgment in hell. Men don't go that way. Point number three, because of his right choices, Moses was a man of personal integrity because of his right choices. Moses was a man of personal integrity. Let me ask you, do you have integrity? What is integrity? It's really the same as character. One person described integrity as what we are and the dark who you are. When no one is watching. There was an article in Forbes magazine that said, quote, Success will come and go, but integrity is forever. The article goes on to say, integrity means doing the right thing at all times under all circumstances. Whether or not anyone is watching building integrity takes years. But it only takes a second to lose, end quote. Interesting turn out approaching that from a biblical perspective. They're approaching it from a business perspective. A billionaire, Warren Buffett, made this statement about hiring the right people and I quote, looking for people to hire. I look for three qualities integrity, intelligence and energy. But if they don't have the first one. The other two will kill you. So energy's important intelligence is important. But at the top of the list for Warren Buffett. He thinks she should have integrity. I think he's on to something there. Moses certainly had integrity. Point number four. We need to look forward, not backward. Again, we need to look forward, not backward. The word in verse 26 describing Moses means he thought before hand. It means he looked away from everything else and fixed his attention on what was ahead. Moses had the big picture. He saw beyond the temporal comfort of the palace of Egypt. He saw beyond the bondage of Pharaoh. He saw beyond to what God could do. And so he that's what he had his eyes on. Doesn't that remind us of what Paul says? And Hebrews Chapter twelve. And he says, Lay aside the sin and the weight that so easily beset you. And look on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. And so Moses did that very thing. That brings me to point number five. Moses finished his race. Well, now go over to Deuteronomy, chapter 34 with me, if you would, Deuteronomy, chapter 34. We read these words in verse one. Then Moses went up to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab in Climb Pisgah Peak, which is a cross from Jericho. And the Lord showed him the whole land from Jilian as far as Dan to the land of nuff to lead to the land of Ephriam. I mean NASA and the Land of Judah extending to the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev, the Jordan Valley with Jericho, the city of Palms as far as Zohar. Then the Lord said the Moses. This is the land that I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, I will give it to your descendants. I have now allowed you to see it with your own eyes, but you will not enter a land. Wow. So Moses is a hundred and twenty years old at this point. I'm pretty impressed that he could climb this mountain. It is a 40 500 foot high peak. I mean, that that's steep. And this old dude makes it up to the very top. And we don't read that Moses, you know, use his walker with a little tennis balls at the bottom to keep him from slipping to get up the mountain. There was no escalator. There was no elevator. He climbed up on it. No life alert around his neck. You know, that's impressive. And as we all get older, we realize that we have limitations. So I have a list of telltale signs. You're getting old. You know you're getting old. When a gray haired little old lady you help across the street is your wife. You know, you're getting old when you dim the lights for economic reasons, not for romantic ones. You know, you're getting old when your back goes out more than you do. You know, you're getting old when your children are starting to look middle aged. You know, you're getting old when you're told to slow down by a doctor instead of a cop. You know, you're getting old when you sink your teeth into a juicy steak. And they say they're you know, when you're getting older, sometimes people begin to disconnect.

They retire. They retire not only from their work, but sometimes from their spiritual life. But not Moses. He was strong to the very end. And look at how Moses understood. He was going to die. He understood this was the end. But he was not afraid. He was not depressed. He realized that life has a beginning, middle and end. And as a Christian, you don't have to be afraid to die. No one wants to die. But there's no escaping it. The statistics on death are pretty impressive. One out of every one persons will die. But having said that, the apostle Paul reminded us to live is Christ and the die is gain. Why is dying gain for the Christian answer? We go to heaven into the very presence of God. Moses understood that. So the Lord shows him all the promised land and he says, this is the land that I promised to Abraham and those descendants. And they're going to go into it, but not you. Oh, man. We might say that's kind of cruel on the part of God. It's like taking a little kid into a store and saying, don't touch anything you can look but you can't touch. It's almost as though the Lord was saying, go and look at him, Moses, but you can't go in. But that's true. But not to depress Moses, as some remember. Why could Moses not go into the land? Remember, he was told to speak to the rock and water would come out and instead he took a stick and actually a staff that God had used on so many occasions to to miracle serve. That was a stick. He held up and part of the Red Sea. That was a stick or the Roddie through to the ground and it turned into a snake and so forth. So the Lord told him. Speaks of the rock, any wax or rock. Bam, bam, two times or so. OK, you're not going into the land. But as I reminded you in my last message, he did make it in. Ultimately, when he was transfigured with Alija on each side of Jesus. But the point is simply this. God was saying, look, buddy, I kept my promise. All of that misery, all of that hardship, all of the difficulties you went through. It's worth it. Look, Moses, here is the land. I keep my promise, says I'm going to do what I said I will do.

So one day Moses died in every one of us will ultimately die unless the Lord comes back. And our lifetime, which is entirely possible. But one way or another, you and I are going to stand before God and we're going to be held accountable for our lives. And here's what the question will be in that final day, not how good of a life did we live or how many good works did we do? It's going to come down to this. What did we do with Jesus Christ? It won't be a sin question as much as it will be a sun question. And so. And what did you do with Jesus? Why do I say that? Because the only way that I can know that I will go to heaven is if I come to God through Jesus. Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life. And no man comes other father but by me. You say, Bob. Why? I thought all roads led to God. Well, maybe in a broad sense that's true. Let me explain. All roads would get you to God. No matter what road you choose, you will stand before God. But only one road leads to heaven. And it's through Jesus because he died on the cross for your sin. And he rose again from the dead. So if I want to know that I will go to heaven when I die, I need to ask Jesus Christ to forgive me of my sin. And I need to begin to follow him as my savior and Lord. So I'm going to ask you that in closing. Have you done that yet? Do you have faith in Christ? Do you have the assurance right now that if you were to die today, you would go to heaven? If not, would you like to have it? Jesus, who died in the cross and rose again from the dead is with you right now. Wherever you are, wherever you are watching this. And he says, behold, they stand at the door and I knock.

And if you'll hear my voice and open the door, I will come in. Listen, I'm talking to you about a relationship right now. This is not a religious thing. This is a relationship with God himself. Would you like Jesus to come into our life? Would you like to know that you'll go to heaven when you die? Would you like to be ready for the Lord's return? If so, in a moment, I'm going to pray a prayer and I'm going to ask you to pray this prayer with me. You can pray it out loud if you like. It doesn't really matter. The main thing is you say this to the Lord. So if you want Christ to come into your life, pray this prayer with me right now. Just pray these words, Lord Jesus. I know that I am a sinner, but I know that you're the savior who died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead. Now Jesus come into my life. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Everybody, Greg Laurie here. Thanks for listening to our podcast. And to learn more about Harvest Ministries, please subscribe and consider supporting this show. Just go to harvest dot org. And by the way, if you want to find out how to come into a personal relationship with God, go to no God dot org. That's K.A. W Jodis dot org.