The World Changer Who was Out of This World, Part 1 - I

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Hey, would you do me a favor? Share this message with someone who needs to hear it. Can two walk together unless they are agreed? But when we walk with the Lord, Pastor Greg Laurie points out we not only need to be in agreement with God, even further, we need to let the Lord lead the way. You know, when we think of walking with God, we want God to walk with us. Come on, God. Here's where we're going, God. Let's go, God.

No, no, no. You're in a support role. You're not in the dominant role. This is not about you. This is about God. See, the idea of walking with God is getting in sync with God. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace how sweet the sound. Oh, can you hear when the angels are singing?

This is the day, the day when life begins. Do you have GPS in your car? Did you know that you and your GPS can get out of sync? For a moment, it thinks you're there, but you're really here. In fact, it happens more often than you think, but then it re-syncs automatically.

It can give you good directions if you're not where you're supposed to be. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us stay in sync with God. He'll help us be where we need to be, but we need to stay in sync, and we need to let Him lead the way.

This is the day, the day when life begins. All right. Quick question. How many of you like to run?

Raise your hand up. You like to run. How many of you don't like to run? Wow. You? Okay. You are my people.

I'm on the same page as you. I don't like running. It was funny. When I was in high school, I ran track and field.

I sort of enjoyed it. I was good at short distance running, but as I got older, I began to like it less and less, so I sort of traded in running for walking. I do like to walk. How many of you like to walk?

Raise your hand up. That's good. Yeah, it's great to walk. You know, often my wife and I will walk together, and she'll say to me, Let's just run to the end of the block, and I'll say, No, I don't want to. I like to walk.

No, just run to the end of the block, and I don't like to do it because it's a trick, because then I get to the end of the block, she'll say, Let's go one more block. She's trying to get me a little more active, and then we'll end the walk, and I'm good. She goes, Well, I'm going to go meet some of my girlfriends, and we're going to go for a walk.

I will not see her for three days, okay? Because when girls take walks, it's different than when guys take walks. I say, Why don't you just call it what it is when you go out with girls walking? It's not a walk. It's a talk. It's a talk.

That's really what it is. But, you know, that's a good thing in many ways. Girls love to communicate. I've made this amazing discovery. Girls seem to like to talk in general more than men do.

Have you seen that as well? And it may be because men are brain damaged. And I bring that up because I remember Dr. Dobson was here, and he pointed out that when we're very young, the female brain is flooded with estrogen at a certain moment, and at a certain moment, the male brain is flooded with testosterone. He said that testosterone actually damages and kills brain cells. Well, there you have it. That estrogen man has got all those things firing, and we men, we're brain damaged. Right?

Okay? But I think you girls have it right in many ways with a talk, because when the Bible speaks of walking with God, that's exactly what it should be. It's a talk. It's all about communication. When you say I'm walking with someone through life, you're basically saying that you're there with them through the rough patches and the great times, the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs.

You're there to love them, understand them. And so when we say we're walking with God, it's essentially the same, but even more. And we're going to talk about a man now. He was a world changer, and his name was Enoch, and he walked all the way to heaven. Enoch walked with God.

We'll see in a moment. And he was not because God took him. It's sort of like they would take walks every day, and one day the Lord, in effect, said, Hey, buddy, we're closer to my house today than we are yours.

Why don't you just come home with me? But he's an amazing character that made it into what we call the Hall of Faith, Hebrews chapter 11. So if someone makes it into that place, we want to pay careful attention because Enoch was a world changer. You know, John Mayer has a song called Waiting on the World to Change. Well, John, you're going to wait for a long time, buddy, because this world is not going to change.

It's not going to change unless you get out there and do something to change it. So that's what we're talking about in this theme of world changers who made their way into the great Hall of Faith. And really, what was their secret? Is it because they were great people?

No, they actually weren't. They were very ordinary people, but they served a great God. How did they do it? They did it with faith. Great faith and a great God. But what is faith?

It's a confidence assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It's the evidence of things we cannot yet see. Faith sees what could be. Oswald Chambers, best known for his devotion on my utmost for his highest, wrote these words, and I quote, Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as present and the invisible as seen. And remember, we also discovered faith does things. A faith that does not produce works is a faith that doesn't work. Faith is not given to admire.

It's not given to put in a little display case and show to your friends. Faith is like a muscle. It needs to be used. In fact, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes. The less you use it, the weaker it becomes.

If you neglect it altogether, it will atrophy. Faith does things. Faith takes actions.

Listen. Faith takes risks. Faith leaves its comfort zones to do things for the Lord. Number three, we discovered faith can make the difference between something happening and not happening.

Remember, we discovered that Jesus did no miracles in his hometown of Nazareth because of their unbelief. So when we step out in faith, God will work, but if we don't step out in faith, well, really, not much is going to happen. God works through people applying faith. But faith is not just running a race, which is really the theme of Hebrews 11 and 12, but faith is also walking the walk. It's walking the walk. In Hebrews 10, 38 says, The just shall live by faith. It's living by faith.

Listen. Feelings come and go. You cannot attach your Christian experience to how you're feeling emotionally in the moment. You must learn how to walk by faith. And I've discovered the secret of a successful Christian life.

Are you ready for it? It's living and walking by faith each and every day. Again, the secret of the success of Christian life. It's walking and living by faith each and every day. Or as one person put it, it's long obedience in the same direction. It's consistency. It's staying with it.

That's the kind of person that's going to change the world. And that brings us to Enoch, the man who walked with God and ended up walking home with God. You want to talk about long obedience in the same direction.

Listen to this. He had the longest walk possible. I mean, my wife takes long walks with her girlfriends. He walked with God for 300 years. See, people lived longer back in those days. The effects of sin had not fully kicked in. So three centuries of walking with God. Interestingly, when we come to Enoch, there's not a lot in the Bible about him. One of the passages is right here in Hebrews 11.

Let's read it together. It says, by faith, Enoch was taken from this life. So he did not experience death. He could not be found because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. Another definitive series of verses about Enoch are found over in Genesis 5, 21 to 24.

You can turn there if you want to. But I'll just quote from them. It says, Enoch lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him. Now, when did Enoch walk with God?

Well, a long time ago. But I might add, it was one of the darkest times in human history. In fact, it was so dark, it was so evil, it was so wicked that God actually said, I'm sorry that I even made man in the first place. And God was about to bring judgment on planet earth through the great flood. So Enoch was living in the time before the great flood. So in a way, he was a last days believer.

His last days were before the flood. Just like we're last days believers. But we're waiting for the fire, the judgment of God that will come. But even more, we're waiting for the return of Christ for us to catch us up in the air, to meet the Lord in the air as well.

But here's the reason I bring this up. Because Jesus said, as it was in the days of Noah, so also would it be when the Son of Man comes back. So he was saying, these are parallel universes. They're similar times. And if Enoch was able to live a godly life at a time like this, you can live a godly life wherever you are right now.

One thing we learned from Enoch is the same spiritual resources that he had are here for us today. We can live godly lives in an ungodly world. You say, well Greg, you don't know my world. You don't know my family. You don't know what it's like to live in my neighborhood.

You don't know what my workplace is like or my campus is like. No, maybe I don't, but you know what? I don't care how messed up it is, how evil it is. You can live a godly life in an ungodly world. Enoch proves it. Enoch walked with God. Notice it doesn't say Enoch sprinted with God. You know, some Christians have sort of the burst of energy and great passion for the Lord, and then they collapse in a heap or they walk away all together, which makes us wonder if they were ever Christians to begin with. No, Enoch walked with God. To walk implies making progress. You're getting somewhere. As he hit the 150-year mark, he could probably see he was making some progress. See, here's the thing you need to know. Spiritual growth does not happen overnight.

It takes time. And this picture of walking is often used in Scripture. We'll read over in 1 John 1-7, if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Romans 13, 13 says, Let us walk properly or appropriately, as in the day. Don't participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness or sexual promiscuity and immoral living or in quarreling or jealousy.

God is saying you're a Christian. Act like a Christian. Walk like a Christian. Behave as a Christian. So don't engage in drunkenness. Don't engage in immorality. But notice it also says, or in quarreling and jealousy.

You know, we might pride ourselves in the fact, well, I don't get drunk and I'm not immoral, but do you quarrel and are you a jealous person? See, those are mentioned as sins as well. Over in 1 John 2-6, it says, He that says he abides in him ought to walk as he walked. Galatians 5 says walk in the spirit and he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

So walk with God. How is walking with God like being part of a band, a music band? Pastor Greg addresses that in just a moment as his message continues. Hearing about listeners who find Jesus because of the ministry of harvest is so encouraging. Pastor Greg, through your ministry, I came to Christ. And because of that decision, I've dedicated everything to God. Today, I had the extreme honor of praying with my 13-year-old son as he accepted Christ for himself. What a big day, and I give glory and praise to the Lord. And Pastor Greg, I pray you are blessed because Christ used you to save me. Now my son is saved, and I couldn't be more blessed. If you have a story to tell of how these studies have touched your life or that of a family member, I hope you'll contact us today. Call our special number, 1-866-871-1144.

That's 866-871-1144. Well, we're learning how to walk with God today following the example of Enoch. And Pastor Greg continues his message now. What does it mean specifically, practically, to walk with God? There's a verse that I think really opens this subject up beautifully.

It's Amos 3-3. The verse says, can two walk together unless they are agreed? It means walking together as a single unit.

See, the idea of walking with God is getting in sync with God. We could compare it to riding a tandem bicycle. Ever ridden one of those before? You know, one person's on the front, one's on the back. Now let's say that I was out for a ride with my wife, and she's pedaling away in the front, and I'm on the back hitting the brakes. Am I being helpful?

No. We have to work together. We have to find the rhythm.

That's what it means to walk with God. Or we could compare it to music. I don't know about you, but wherever I go, I hear the music. I don't just mean audibly, but I notice music. I notice what song is playing. I'm in the elevator. I say, oh, they're playing this song.

My wife is, why are you even listening to it? I just notice it. If I'm in a restaurant and someone gets up and starts singing, I notice them.

And there's another thing I notice. It's when people go off pitch. I know pitch. And even when I'm not listening, I'll say this when I've pitched.

Well, how do you not? When I pitch, I'm telling you. Me and that dog howling, we both know this right now. And so when you see people singing together and one's off pitch, it can affect the whole group.

I travel around the country and around the world. I've heard a lot of worship teams. I've heard some really good ones.

And I've heard some really bad ones. And sometimes what happens is maybe the lead singer or the key worship leader is off pitch, and then the other people try to harmonize with that person, and they're off pitch, and it's just sort of a mess of music. So here's what we need to understand. God's always on pitch. And if we're in a band, God's a lead singer.

He's lead. We're backup vocals. Okay, if we're in a band, God is lead guitar. We're rhythm. We're drums. We're bass.

We're not the lead guitarist. I bring this up because when we think of walking with God, we want God to walk with us. Come on, God. Here's where we're going, God. Let's go, God.

No, no, no. You're walking with God. God sets the pace. You stay in sync with Him. You harmonize with Him. You're in a support role. You're not in the dominant role.

This is not about you. This is about God. To walk with God means two people walking together as a single unit, and understanding that when you do this, your Christian life is gonna start firing on all cylinders. You know, Jesus told us, or actually Scripture tells us, I should say, that he that says he abides in him ought to walk as he walked. Really, abiding and walking are interchangeable metaphors. I know they're different. One's movement. One is staying put. Abiding is sort of like planting a tree.

But the concept is the same. Staying in fellowship. Jesus says, if you're walking with me, you should abide in me. And then Jesus said in John 15, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask whatever you want, and it will be done unto you. See, when I'm in sync with God, I'll start praying according to his will. I'll be in harmony with him, and I'll start seeing a lot more of my prayers answered in the affirmative. Number two, can two walk together unless they be agreed, Amos 3, 3 again.

Can we translate it? Unless they've made an appointment. Have you ever been late for an appointment? How many of you are chronically late?

Raise your hand. See, late people never know they're late people. How many of you tend to be on time or early?

Raise your hand. See, you know this is the problem with late people. They don't know they're late people. I'm here today to call you out. Here's how to know if you're a late person.

You text, I'm five minutes away, and you're sitting on your couch in your sweat still. You're a late person. Here's how to know you're a late person. Your friends tell you to get there at 8 o'clock a.m., and everyone else get there at 830 because they know you'll be late. Here's how to know if you're a late person. When you occasionally show up on time, someone says, what are you doing here?

Now I know you have all your reasons why you're late, but when it becomes a pattern, when you're always late, when you become the late person that's 15 to 30 minutes late, can I just be blunt with you? It's kind of rude because people are waiting and especially if you're coming to eat with me, I'm not happy because I'm hungry, all right? I'm waiting, but my wife won't let me eat till you get there, okay? Kathy, let's order an appetizer. No, Greg, that's rude. Just wait.

Kathy, they're 15 minutes late. Let me just eat. I'll eat it all. They won't even know it was eaten.

I'll remove all of it. No, no, Greg, wait, it's rude. 20 minutes, Kathy, I'm so hungry, I'm hungry. Yeah, Greg, just wait. Then when you come, I hate you.

No, I don't hate you, but just be glad I didn't eat you. But it is kind of rude to be late. I have a friend, Bob Shank, you know him, many of you do.

He has a saying, I like it. Early is on time, on time is late, and late is never acceptable. You know, and sometimes we'll meet Bob and his wife Sherry for dinner and he's so punctual and I'll say to Kathy, I don't want to be late. I don't want to be late. I hate it when I walk in and they're already seated. In fact, let's go early and we'll get there and then I'll say, oh, you're late. And he's still there. What does he get there, an hour early?

I don't know. This guy is so punctual. Okay, it's one thing to be late for an appointment with a friend, it's another thing to be late for your appointment with God. So you have an appointment with God.

Can two walk together unless they have agreed or unless they have an appointment? God's made an appointment with you. You say, I didn't see that on my calendar.

Oh, it's there every day. You need to make time for the Lord. And for me personally, I find mornings the best time. You know, I get up, I'll admit I have coffee first, okay? Because I want to be in my right mind.

I'm just sleep, I have coffee. I do that before anything, don't hold it against me. Then I, you know, read my devotions and you know, commit the day to the Lord and this is something that we should make time for. You say, but Greg, I'm so busy and I have things to do. I have to update my Facebook page and I have to update my Twitter page. I have to check Instagram. Then I have to look for Pokeman.

He's around here somewhere. And you know, yeah, okay. I know you like to do those things.

I kind of like them too. But you make time for what's important. Don't tell me you don't have time.

You need to make time. Keep your appointment with God. Good insight from Pastor Greg Laurie from his message today called The World Changer Who Was Out Of This World, Part 1. And he has more to share as this study continues next time here on A New Beginning.

And he has a final comment to share with us before we leave today as well. If you'd like an instant review of the study, please go to our website. And if you'd like to learn more about the study, please go to our website. And if you'd like to learn more about the study, please go to our website as well. If you'd like an instant replay of today's study, just go to harvest.org. Again, just look for that title, The World Changer Who Was Out Of This World, Part 1. Or for a CD copy, you can call us anytime 24 hours a day at 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. You know, Pastor Greg, you're a pastor, an author, a journalist, a Bible teacher. You're the CEO of a large organization. You're a public speaker, a radio host, a familiar face on TV, and, of course, a husband and father and grandfather. Which of those roles is the biggest surprise to you? If I just read that list to 17-year-old Greg Laurie, which one would have made him say, no way?

Yeah, wow, that's a good question. I would probably say being a pastor because I was such a poor student. I was always goofing around in class. One teacher wrote this on my report card, and I don't know why, but this is ingrained in my memory. I didn't memorize it, per se, but yet I remember it. They said, Greg spends far too much time looking out the window and daydreaming and drawing cartoons.

He's never going to amount to anything. Thank you for those encouraging words, teacher from my past. But, I mean, that was sort of the trajectory that I was on. But then, of course, I came to believe in Jesus, and everything changed for me, and I began to read the Bible. And as I began to follow the Lord, it came as a surprise to me that God was calling me to be a pastor and a teacher and an evangelist, which means you have to study, you have to prepare, you have to know what you're talking about.

But the idea is this. God seems to go out of his way to choose very ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and I think the reason God does this is so he will get the credit and the glory. And if you want to look at a bunch of ordinary people that change their world, go no further than Hebrews chapter 11.

It's often called the Hall of Faith instead of the Hall of Fame because it's these great men and women of God that change their world. People like Noah. People like Enoch.

People like David. And in this interesting account of their lives, none of their mistakes are recorded. Only what they did as an act of faith. The real principle that kind of percolates through Hebrews 11 is by faith. By faith they did this. By faith Noah built an ark. By faith Enoch walked with God.

So the idea is if they did it, you can do it. And so I've written a new book, brand new, hot off the press, and it's called World Changers. So I've taken these stories from Hebrews 11.

I've shown how God worked through these very ordinary, flawed people and did amazing things to them because they put their faith into action. Look, we all have faith. It's up to us to decide what we do with it. Faith's like a muscle.

It gets larger through use and application. And if you don't use your faith, then you're going to atrophy. It will go nowhere. So it's kind of a use it or lose it concept. So I'm encouraging people who will read this book to take the faith that God has given them and do things they've never thought they would do before. You know, faith sees invisible things. Faith is willing to take that step. Or as Hebrews 11, one defines it, faith is the substance of things hoped for.

It's the evidence of things not seen. So this is going to be an encouraging book. It's a motivating book. And it's a book that will show you how God can use you to change your world. So instead of being changed by the world, you can be a world changer. Yeah, it's such great encouragement. And we all need this kind of insight. Again, it's called World Changers. And we'll be glad to send this brand new book your way to thank you for your investment in touching lives.

In fact, want an example? We recently saw this on social media. It said, I was a U.S. Marine getting ready to deploy to the Gulf War. I was a 20-year-old, worldly young man searching for what happens when you die. I received Christ at a harvest crusade in 1990.

That would have been our very first one. And it changed my life forever. God gave me peace that passes all understanding, and I knew I was coming home. I married my beautiful fiancé and am now in full-time ministry and have been blessed with five amazing children. God used Pastor Greg and the harvest crusade to change my life forever. You know, someone invested, so that kind of ministry was possible back in 1990. Would you consider investing so we can change lives here in 2020?

There's never been a time when people needed hope more than right now. So send your donation today, and be sure to ask for Pastor Greg's book, World Changers. You can write us at a new beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us any time of the day or night at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, more from Pastor Greg's study of the life of Enoch, the man who walked with God all the way into heaven. Be sure to join us.

But before we go, Pastor Greg has one final illustration from today's study. Years ago, I was in Hawaii scuba diving. Now I'm a certified scuba diver. I've told you that before, but I rarely dive. So I'm very rusty when I get in the water. But normally when I do dive, I dive at about 20, 30 feet. And this was a really deep dive, at least for me.

It was 100 feet, the island of Molokai. And I'll be honest with you, when I got all the equipment on, the mask, you've got the snorkel, you've got the regulator, you've got the tanks, you've got the inflatable vest called the BC vest, you've got the weight belt, the fins, et cetera. When I got in the surface of the water, I kind of had a weird little anxiety attack. And I didn't want to go down, but then I remembered I already paid for this. And I don't go, I'm going to sit on the boat eating everyone's sandwiches.

And then they'll mock me cruelly afterwards. So I said, you're going to do this, Greg. And so I went down and I was a little anxious, a little bit nervous, and a friend of mine told me later, you were breathing so much air, just bubbles coming, bubbles, everybody else, some bubbles. You know, and I get to the bottom, 100 feet down. And by the way, when you're 100 feet down, you can't just shoot to the surface or your lungs will explode, they expand.

So you have to be very careful. I'm 100 feet down, I look at my air gauge, it's almost empty. I look around for the instructor. He rolls his eyes. I could see him roll his eyes even behind a mask.

I was thinking, what an idiot. Okay, he gestures, come over, I swim over, and he points to the back of his tank. He has two tanks, we all have one.

He has an octopus, not a literal octopus, but they call it that. It's an extra regulator on a shorter hose. He gestures like, go breathe off my regulator. So I'm good to go now, but here's the problem.

Wherever he goes, I gotta go. And not only that, my hose is really short. So I have to do little shallow strokes like this. So he goes down and I'm going, and I'm just kind of hovering above him. And he goes up, I'm a little shallow. Very humiliating, but I'll tell you what, I can't just go do my own thing. I'm done, see you, bye.

No, it's his regulator. I have to stay in sync with the instructor. That's what we need to do. We stay in sync with God. This is the day, the day when life begins