Are You a World Changer? - II

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Watch your Christian life. Coming up today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie wants to help you tune up your game. What kind of legacy are you going to leave? Are you a world changer or is the world changing you? A pastor once asked, when you go out and play in the mud with white gloves on, do the gloves get muddy or does the mud get glovey? Does the world rub off on us or do we rub off on the world?

It's an important question. It gets right to the heart of our jobs as ambassadors of Christ. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us take some positive steps forward in being salt and light. We will consider the impact of some of our forefathers of the faith. Well we start a brand new series and we are calling it World Changers and it is based on Hebrews chapter 11. And we are going to look at the stories of great men and women who serve God and in effect change their world. And we are going to see after learning about them how we can change ours.

I mean maybe it is a tall order to change the whole world. But what about your world? What about your sphere of influence?

What about your friends and your family and your neighborhood? You can have an effect there. You can be the change agent.

How do you do it? You do it through faith. Ok. Now let's read about it. Hebrews 11. We are going to read verses 1 to 10.

Verse 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God.

So the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts. And though he was dead he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him. For before he was taken he had this testimony. He pleased God. Without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that comes to God must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. By faith Noah being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear and prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place where he would go to receive his inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwells in the land of promise as in a foreign country dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise. For he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is God.

I love that. Now the first name that pops up in this account of the great heroes of faith is surprising. We would think it would be Abraham or Noah or Moses or Sarah. The first person Abel. Look at verse 4. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained witness that he was righteous.

God testifying of his gifts that though he was dead he still speaks. Now that is an interesting thing because when you think of heroes of the Bible Abel doesn't usually come to mind. You know he didn't survive in a den filled with lions. He didn't destroy Philistines with a jawbone he picked up off the ground. He didn't do any of these incredible things like part the Red Sea and on the list goes. He is Abel.

Well let's see. Who was Abel? He was the brother of Cain. Of course they were the sons of Adam and Eve.

You remember that God put our first parents in the garden. He said, Hey you guys enjoy. Have a great time. I am going to show up every day. We are going to have a conversation.

It is going to be amazing. One restriction. Stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Everything else is good. Scene two. Adam and Eve at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Really?

All the trees. Yeah we are here. We just happen to be here.

It is coincidental. Well what happens? The serpent comes. The devil tempts him. They eat of the forbidden fruit.

Now fast forward. We are in chapter 4 of Genesis. They have two sons Cain and Abel. See they were literally raising Cain.

That is where the expression came from. Two boys. And now Cain and Abel are young men and they come and bring an offering to the Lord. Cain worked out there in the fields and Cain brought some of his crops from this field. And then Abel brought some first born lambs. The Lord accepted the offering of Abel and he rejected the offering of Cain. Why? Was it because of the offering itself?

No. It was because of the motive behind the offering. A lot of times we make a big deal about what people give or how they sing or sort of the outward things. You know you might be in church and someone sings very loudly and incredibly. And they know they are incredible. That is why they sing so loud. And they say, wow God must really like that. Yeah maybe. I don't know. Depends on their heart.

And there is somebody else that they can't stay on pitch. They are awful. But that may be a pleasing sound to heaven.

More than the person who sings incredibly. Why? Because God looks on the heart. Or when an offering is received. You know one person may drop a big roll of bills. They are like a gangster. You know they are dropped like the mob guys carry the rolls of bills in their pocket.

My friend Dennis Agajanian who when I last checked was not a mobster carries a roll of bills too. And sometimes I will say can I borrow a dollar. He pulls it out and peels it off. And so we were in a Starbucks once and I saw the tip jar there and I said, Dennis can I borrow a dollar. He said sure. He pulled out the big roll and I grabbed it and dropped it in the little tip thing.

I have never seen an older man move so quickly in my life. I didn't know it was. Pull it back.

You know. A lot of panic there. And I did it again a second time. Can I borrow some bills. And this time it was even worse. I had it all timed out. I reached in so quickly. I pulled all the money out. Dropped his roll and put the money on top of it. And then I said what are you doing. Because the moment I said it his hand was in the box. And everyone was looking. You are stealing the money.

He is looking around. He said it's my money. It's my money. It's my money. It's a joke.

Got it back. Third time I said, Dennis can I borrow a dollar. He said, nobody you can't. No. But you know maybe in an offering someone pulls out a big roll of bills, drops it and whoa the Lord is so pleased by that.

Yeah maybe. And then somebody else puts in one dollar. Wow.

They are cheap. Hey you don't know what is going on behind the scenes. That person that gave all that money may have so much more and it is nothing to them. And that person who gave one dollar that may be everything. God looks on the heart. And so here comes Cain with his offering.

Here it is. The Lord is saying, I am not interested. It wasn't offered in faith.

Motive is wrong. And then Abel comes along and brings his offering in faith. The Lord says, yeah that's good. And then the Lord actually warns Cain because see Cain was ticked off that his brother's offering was accepted and his was rejected. He is steaming mad. I think Cain was clearly a hot head. You know if he had a car he would have been one of those road rage people. You know he just was that guy. Just upset.

Mad. You know angry that the Lord accepted his brother's offering over his own. So God literally speaks to Cain directly.

It would even appear audibly. And says to him in Genesis 4.7, Cain listen to me for a second. If you do well will you not be accepted but if you do not do well sin lies at your door and it is desirous for you so you need to rule over it. God is saying, listen sin is at your door. This could be literally translated sin is crouching at your door.

Translated from Chinese it would be crouching sin. Hidden danger. Cain's sin is like a wild beast. It is ready to pounce.

So you better get control over it or this is going to get the best of you. Well clearly he had not been doing well up to this point. He gave in to it because ultimately he killed his brother. Killed his brother because God accepted his brother's offering and not his. This reminds us how powerful sin is. And sin is at your door too.

Sin is at my door. The devil is looking for opportunities in your life. He is looking for vulnerabilities. He is looking for weaknesses.

He is looking for ways to take you down. I read a book a while back. I think it is out of print now. It is called Death and the Long Grass. It was written by a big game hunter and he went out hunting all kinds of creatures in Africa. But he told the story of a particular group of lions that sort of turned the tables on the hunters. So instead of the hunters going after the lions, the lions were going after the hunters because they got a taste for human blood. They would sneak into their camps late at night and they would step over several men without waking them, choose their prey, and drag them into the night. He writes that one lion in particular killed over 100 men. He wrote in his book that a charging lion can cover 100 yards in just three seconds.

So what was bizarre is you know that they would be asleep and the lions would pick randomly or they had their opinion. I like the size of that head. That would really taste great you know. Whatever.

That guy has got a big belly. That will be good you know. Whatever. So they are taking the people away. But this is a lion striking. You don't know when it is going to strike.

It is so effective at what it does. That is sin. Don't underestimate sin. Don't leave a foothold for sin in your life. That is why the Bible says don't give the devil any room in your life. Ephesians 4 26 says, Don't sin by letting anger gain control of you. Don't let the sun go down while you are angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the devil. Don't give the devil a foothold. Because if you give Satan an inch he will take a mile. If you invite him for tea he is going to have a seven course meal. If you invite him to stay overnight he will move in. So you don't make any deals with him.

You keep your distance from him. Well Cain did not master sin. Sin mastered Cain and God put a mark on him and he judged him. Pastor Greg helps us get down to brass tacks in just a moment. It is all about whether we are changing the world or whether the world is changing us. More on that in a moment. Our life is like a movie and we are the stars.

Evangelist Greg Laurie. We have questions about this movie we are in. Is it a love story? Is this movie a tragedy?

What is the meaning of my life? An online event is coming that can change your life. We can all use A Rush of Hope. A Rush of Hope, the world's first online cinematic harvest crusade. On your favorite social media platform, Labor Day Weekend, September 4th through September 7th. Invite a friend to tune in for a message of hope from evangelist Greg Laurie.

And exclusive performances by Jeremy Camp, MercyMe, and For King and Country. When we rise, we will rise together. A Rush of Hope coming to a screen near you Labor Day Weekend.

Details at Harvest.org. Well, we're talking about faith today in Pastor Greg's new series called World Changers. We're seeing how faith should characterize the way that we live.

But it's not always an easy road. Living by faith has a price. Living by faith has a price.

Listen, faith is the willingness to obey God regardless of the circumstances. You know, sometimes when you decide to walk with Jesus as you ought to as a Christian, not everyone likes it. You know, maybe some of you had a husband that said, I don't want you to go to church today.

I don't want you to be a part of that or a wife even. Some of you have friction with co-workers. You used to get along well, go out after work, have drinks.

Everything was cool. Then you went and got yourself saved. Now you don't want to go have drinks anymore. And now you want to talk about your faith and they don't like that one bit. Or maybe it's something else.

Some other conflict that has developed. Here's what's really strange. Sometimes it's lame Christians who will drag you down.

Isn't it? Christians who want to just give the bare minimum. I mean, consider this. When Moses wanted to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, his fellow Jews got mad at him. Hey Moses, what are you even doing here? You know, we had a good life hanging out, you know, working in the hot sun, getting whipped by Egyptians all day. And you come along with your big ideas of faith and getting out of here and going to some place we've never even heard of. And you know, now our life is harder. And the Pharaoh has taken our straw away and it's harder to make breaks.

Get out of here. Those are fellow believers. And sometimes you're saying, I'm going to totally follow Christ. And sometimes even people who profess to be Christians will say, you know, I don't know, you're getting a little too something.

A little too fanatical maybe. Because after church you say, hey, I love this one point from the message. Eh, we don't really want to talk about that. We'd rather gossip. Because we love to gossip.

It even hisses when you say it. You know, it's just fun. Or we want to complain. Or we want to just tell jokes or whatever.

You're bothering us. You see there will be opposition to people who step out in faith. Look what happened to Abel. He stepped out in faith and his brother killed him.

Yeah so listen. You need to step out in faith but it's not always the easiest thing to do. Well God's judgment came upon Cain. And I already told you the curse came upon Cain. And after he killed his brother the Lord said, hey Cain where is your brother? His blood cries to me from the soil. Cain says, am I my brother's keeper? In other words, am I my brother's babysitter? The Lord says, I know where your brother is.

And now this curse is on you. Cain went out and had a family. Lived an aimless, purposeless life. Meanwhile Abel made it into the hall of faith as a bona fide world changer. Look at verse 4. God testifying of his gifts. Though he was dead he still speaks.

No words are recorded from Abel anywhere in the Bible. Yet it says he being dead still speaks. You know sometimes your life speaks volumes. Sometimes it is just what you do that is your sermon.

It has been said Christians are walking epistles written by God and read by men. And one day your life, my life is going to come to an end and it is going to be our funeral service. And we are going to talk about that person. And though it is sad when a Christian dies. And though we miss them terribly.

Especially if it was unexpected. We do have hope that we will see them again in heaven. And it is wonderful to talk about a life that was lived well and invested for God's glory. And you know to really speak of that.

That is a great thing. But then there is the services for people. Well they were technically Christians. But you know they really didn't do much with their life. They weren't a world changer.

That is for sure. In fact if anything the world changed them more than they changed the world. But there it is. And then there are people that didn't know the Lord at all. And you don't even want to talk about the afterlife for them.

It is such a scary thought to think about them separated from God for all eternity. Life comes to an end and then we leave our legacy. What kind of legacy are you going to leave?

Are you a world changer or is the world changing you? See Abel is remembered as a hero of the faith. Cain is remembered as the first murderer. Abel pleased God and God rewarded Abel. Cain gained the world and lost his soul. Abel lost his life but he gained the approval of God.

So live your life well and be a world changer. Let me say one last thing about faith. It is faith in God.

And not everybody has it. You know it is possible to have the faith of a demon. What? Well the Bible says even the demons believe and tremble. I would never want to do this but imagine for a moment if I could have Satan up here on the stage or a demon and interview them.

That would be scary. But I think you might be surprised at some of the things they would say. If I were to ask the devil or a demon, Excuse me Lou, let me ask you this. Do you believe that Jesus is the son of God? What do you think he would say?

He would say yes. Well how do you know that? Because in the temptation of the wilderness Satan said, Since you are the son of God why don't you do thus and so? That is the best translation. Even better than if.

Since. Satan knows he is the son of God. Remember Jesus would cast demons out of people and the demons would say, I was sentenced to judgment before our time Jesus son of God.

He would say he is the son of God. Let me ask you another question devil. Do you believe that the Bible is the word of God? Yes. I hate every word of it but I believe it. Let me ask you one more thing. Do you believe Jesus Christ is coming back? Oh yes.

I am going to try to wreck as much havoc as I can until that day but I believe it. See he believes but he is not a believer in the sense of knowing Jesus. I remember when as a brand new Christian like a couple of weeks old in my faith I went to a little prayer meeting attended by other young Christians. And I remember someone said, Let's pray for the conversion of Satan so he won't tempt us anymore. And I thought, That is stupid. What? No way. You know.

Even then I knew that was crazy. No. Satan is not going to be converted. He is going to oppose us until the last day. That is the reality of it. So there is that kind of faith. And then there is real faith. The Bible says, Whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Do you have that kind of faith in God? I heard this story about a guy known as the great Blondin. He was sort of a daredevil. Sort of the evil Knievel or the Robbie Knievel of his day.

He would do great feats of daring do and people would come and watch him. And so one day the great Blondin strung a tightrope over the Niagara Falls and he was going to cross over. Well the big crowd was on each side.

They are cheering him on. Go great Blondin. We know you can do it. He stood before the crowd and said, How many of you believe that I the great Blondin can walk across this tightrope and get to the other side? We believe. We believe they said.

And he said, How many of you believe that I the great Blondin can cross that tightrope pushing a wheelbarrow in front of me? We believe. We believe. How many of you believe that I could push a wheelbarrow across the rope over the Niagara Falls with a person inside? We believe. And one guy was yelling a little louder than the rest and Blondin said, Get in the wheelbarrow.

He left that place quickly. So do you believe in Jesus? Oh I believe. I believe.

Jesus says, Get in the wheelbarrow. Trust me. Put all your faith in me. Your faith will not be misplaced because God will be there for you.

He will forgive you. He will be there for you on the other side when you enter eternity as well. And I ask you in closing do you have this faith in God right now. Not faith in faith. Faith in Him. Do you believe in Him? Is He living inside of you? You say, Well I think maybe God is in there somewhere.

No listen. If God is living in your life you will know it. And if you don't know it hey maybe He is not there. But that can change right now because the Bible says, For as many as received Him He gave them the power to become sons of God, daughters of God, children of God, forgiven knowing they are going to heaven. If you don't know that yet I am going to give you a chance to believe. It is not enough to offer mere intellectual assent. The demons do that.

I already pointed that out. You have to get in the wheelbarrow and believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Father I ask now that You will speak to any here who do not yet know You. Help them to see how much they need You because they are separated from You by their sin. Help them to turn from their sin and believe in You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. And if you would like to do just that and accept Jesus as your Savior, Pastor Greg Laurie will help you do that in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes.

So please stay with us. Now today's presentation is called, Are You a World Changer? And it's available online at harvest.org. Or call us any time 24 hours a day at 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. And our thanks to our Harvest partners who help us make resources like this available. You know, Pastor Greg, we're sending this program out all across the country and even around the world. And we're even expanding our outreach. And we'd like to invite our friends to invest so we can impact more of our culture.

And boy does it need it. This program has hopefully helped our friends and we're hoping they'll invest so others' lives can be impacted. That's very true. I believe I receive letters all the time or I run into people even who will tell me how they've been listening to this program for 20 years, 25 years. They'll tell me stories of how they came to faith or a member of their family came to Jesus. I'll hear from young adults now who will say, oh, I used to listen to your program when I was a little kid with my mom on the way to school.

And we love those stories. So here's what I'm saying to you, wouldn't you like another generation to have that same opportunity? You've been blessed by what you've heard here on A New Beginning, wouldn't you like other people to hear it as well? So there have been some great opportunities in recent weeks for us to expand our footprint and reach more people than we have ever reached before. And I think it's really important for us to respond to this opportunity because as you know, A New Beginning is one of the few radio programs out there that invites people to come to Christ at the end of our program. And we have literally thousands and thousands of people respond every year asking Jesus to come into their life.

Wouldn't you like to see that happen in areas where it's not happened before? You know, radio reaches people in a way that few other medias do. It's an amazing medium, really.

Because people listen differently to radio than the way they watch television or even watch something on a screen like a computer or a laptop or something like that. So I believe radio is a powerful way to impact people. So I'm asking you to join me in reaching a whole new group of people that we have never reached before. And as my way of saying thanks, I want to send you a copy of my brand new book, World Changers. And this book is based on the stories of great men and women of faith as recorded in Hebrews chapter 11 who took bold steps of faith and reached out and did something and changed the culture around them. And I'm hoping that we can change our culture through a new beginning and I'm hoping this book will encourage you to change the culture around you as well with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Yeah, that's right. And we're eager to send a copy of this right to your door to thank you for your investment in bringing that kind of change. Our culture has never been more ready for the hope of the gospel. In fact, one listener wrote us and said, bless you, Pastor Greg, for bringing God's Word at a time when God's Word means everything to everyone.

And so your investment right now really does come at a critical time. When you give, be sure to ask for Pastor Greg's new book, World Changers. You can write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or call us anytime 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. And then Pastor Greg, a moment ago you mentioned our need to come to Christ for forgiveness of sin. Maybe there's somebody listening who'd like to do that, they'd like to take that step.

Maybe you could help them with that right now. I'd be delighted to listen. If you would like to accept Jesus Christ into your life right now, and by that I mean if you would like your sin forgiven and have the assurance that you will go to heaven when you die, would you pray this prayer with me? Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I thank you for dying on the cross for my sin and rising again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin, Lord, and I turn from it now, and I put my faith in you to be my Savior, my Lord, my God, and my friend.

Thank you for loving me and calling me and accepting me. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Listen, if you just prayed that prayer in a minute, I want you to know on the authority of God's Word that Jesus Christ has just come to take residence in your heart.

The Bible says these things we write to you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. Listen, we want to send you some resources that will help you grow spiritually. So here's Dave with some details, and let me say God bless you and welcome to the family of God. Yeah, and those resources Pastor Greg mentioned are all included in something we call our New Believer's Growth Packet. It will help you get started in living your life for the Lord, so can we send it to you? Just ask for the New Believer's Growth Packet. Our mailing address is A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us anytime 24 hours a day at 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Next time Pastor Greg brings us a sneak peek at what we can expect this weekend with a rush of hope, a high-impact cinematic harvest crusade. Be sure to join us next time here on A New Beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie. The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.