The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. If you would like to know how you can become a Harvest Partner, just go to Harvest.org. That's Harvest.org. See, world changers are heavenly minded.
Why? Because they realize ultimately their citizenship is in heaven. Listen, if you walk with God on earth, one day you will walk with Him in heaven. When we're hungry, food is constantly on our minds and it affects how we act. That's when certain TV commercials are practically irresistible. Well, when we're hungry for the things of God, when heaven is on our minds, that affects how we act. Without even realizing it, we're reflecting the values of the Father to those around us. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us maintain that kind of demeanor.
Our goal is to make our witness practically irresistible. One guy that really impresses me in the Olympics is Usain Bolt. Ok. I love this guy. Usain Bolt. They say that he can run 27 miles per hour. That's faster than a Prius.
Ok. Come on. I mean that is fast. So Usain Bolt. I mean having the last name Bolt, either that kid is going to be an electrician or the fastest man on the planet. Right? And really that is the theme of our text before us.
Hebrews chapter 11. Now one of the unique qualities of Usain Bolt is he runs so fast but he starts fast, he stays fast, and he finishes fast. He never slows down.
And if you've watched him race, he leaves his competitors effectively in the dust. And some run the race of life like that. They're out of the cannon with a bang. They run full speed. They end victoriously.
That's great. Others don't run that way. They start fast. They slow down. Sometimes they even stumble and fall and they get up at the end and they make it across the finish line.
Some start and never finish at all. So who determines how we are going to run the race of life? You might be surprised by my answer. We do. No Greg.
You're wrong. God determines it. Well no actually He doesn't. God gives us everything we need. He gives us all the power, all the resources. But it is up to us to take hold of those resources. God doesn't do the running for us.
We run the race for His glory. So it is really up to us in how we run the race of life. We decide if we are going to be a world changer or if the world is going to change us. You see world changers as I pointed out before are thermostats not thermometers. A thermometer tells you what the temperature is.
A thermostat controls the temperature. They set the pace. Well they change the world. In Hebrews 11 is a collection of world changers. Now some very familiar names make the cut. Names we would expect to see in a hero's hall of faith like Noah and Abraham and Jacob and Moses and Gideon and David. There are some surprising names that make the list as well like Rahab the harlot.
That is Rahab the hooker. How did she get on the list? We will find out later. And then there is a couple of what I would call somewhat obscure biblical characters that surprisingly make the list. We have already looked at one. Abel. We told you why he is in the hall of faith. And we are looking now at Enoch. But if God chose to put them in the hall of faith, if their world changes we should certainly pay attention. Now remember we are learning about Enoch. We have already identified two principles about why he was a world changer.
Principle number one to review. He walked with God. Remember we looked at Amos 3.3 that says can two walk together unless they be agreed. And I pointed out to you that to be agreed means to be in harmony with. To be in sync with. Number two we discovered that Enoch was well pleasing to God because Hebrews 11.5 says he had this testimony that he pleased God.
So this is something we all should desire to do in our life. Jesus said, I always do the things that please the Father. So we want to live lives that honor and please God. Now we come to point three about Enoch. And it really connects to point two.
Number three. Enoch was a witness for God. That is what we are going to focus on here. He was a witness for God. Hebrews 11.5. Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God. He had this testimony. Every Christian has a testimony. Everybody has a story to tell. You have a testimony and people are watching you.
Now here is the question. Do you have a good or a bad testimony? And by that I don't mean dramatic or undramatic. You know someone asked me the other day if a person's testimony is that they never had any major problems in life still valid. In other words if someone was a drug addict or if they served time in prison or if they lived some notorious life and they came to Christ we say now that is a great testimony. But maybe there is someone else who was relatively moral and they tried to play by the rules but they discovered that they needed God. They realized they were a sinner and they needed a Savior.
Listen. Both testimonies are valid because there are a lot of different kinds of people out there in the world. Not everyone relates to a criminal. Not everyone relates to a former drug addict or alcoholic.
Some people might relate to someone who was more moral and maybe even attended church. But here is your testimony in a nutshell. You once were lost and now you are found. You were blind but now you see. You once were headed to hell.
Now you are going to heaven. That is your testimony and it is a good one. So use your testimony as a bridge to share your faith.
Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God. One of the greatest compliments that can be paid to a Christian is people will observe you and they will come to you and say, I have been watching you and I want to know why you are the way that you are. I have noticed your joy. I have noticed your sense of purpose. I have noticed how hard you work. I have noticed how you are such a nice person. You are an honest person. Why are you this way?
Here is the wrong answer. Well my parents just raised me to. No. No.
Don't. I mean that is nice. Thank you for mentioning your parents. But let me tell you it is because of my faith in Jesus Christ. Enoch was someone who spoke out for his faith. Jude 1 verses 14 to 15 says this about Enoch. He lived in the seventh generation after Adam and he prophesied about these people. He said, listen the Lord is coming with thousands of His saints to execute judgment on the world. He will convict every person of the ungodly things they have done and all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. So he was a fearless proclaimer of God's truth.
So yes live it. Yes be an example. But please don't say, I don't believe that I am called to be an evangelist. I am just trying to be a good example. Good examples don't bring people to Christ. Good examples open the door to articulate your faith so you can bring people to Christ. Good examples are what we need to be so we will have that opportunity to verbally articulate our faith because 1 Peter 3.15 says, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that you have in you.
But do it with gentleness and respect. That is very important. Because this phrase give an answer is from the Greek word apologia. We get our English word apologetic from it. So it is sort of like giving a defense in a court of law. But when you think of that don't think of yourself as a prosecuting attorney. You are a witness. In other words you are not there to prosecute or embarrass or to humiliate your listener.
You are there to be a witness to them. Notice it says that we are to do this with gentleness and respect. I think for some Christians when they share their faith they just want to win the argument. The objective is not to win the argument. The objective is to win the soul. The objective is to build a bridge not burn a bridge.
If you want to win some you must be winsome. In other words be nice. Do it with kindness as you share your faith. Jesus modeled this. And if anyone could have been well a know it all it was Jesus.
I mean who knows more than God. But He was so patient with people. Like the woman at the well who effectively was arguing with Him. Or like Zacchaeus who was ostracized by his entire community and Jesus effectively invited Himself over to Zacchaeus' house for lunch.
And so what we want to do is enter into this kind of communication with people. And as Paul said, become all things to all men. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, I become a servant of everyone so I can bring them to Christ. When I am with the Jews I become one of them so I can bring them to Christ. When I am with those who are oppressed I share their oppression so I can bring them to Christ.
Listen to this. I try to find common ground with everyone then I bring them to Christ. Our goal is to share Christ with others so they can go to heaven when they die.
Well, iniquant to heaven but never died. Pastor Greg explains in just a moment. It's so encouraging when we hear from listeners who have been impacted by the ministry of a new beginning.
Including this man who is listening to Pastor Greg while driving. I'm a 50 year old man who drank terribly yesterday, had a horrible mouth yesterday, and despised people yesterday. But today I woke up with a genuine great regard for people. I like people.
I don't have any desire to drink. I don't have a nasty mouth anymore. And I just feel hope for the first time in as long as I can recall. I'm just calling to say thank you and if you had any idea the person I was yesterday to who I feel like today. I wish this comment line were able to take an hour worth of telling you how much difference there is and what a life I've come from and out of. But more than anything I just wanted to tell you all thank you and I can't say thank you enough. God bless you Greg and everybody on staff. You have no idea what an impact you've made in at least this man's life.
What a great story of how God changes lives. If you've had your life changed because of the ministry of Harvest, would you let Pastor Greg know? Just drop him an email at Greg at Harvest dot org. Again that's Greg at Harvest dot org. Well today Pastor Greg is showing us how to magnify our witness for Christ. Following the example of the world changer named Enoch.
And for a copy of this insight go to Harvest dot org. Enoch walked with God. Enoch was well pleasing to God. Enoch was a witness for God in point number four and lastly. Enoch went to be with God.
Verse five. By faith Enoch was taken away so he did not see death and he was not found because God had taken him. God took him.
That phrase took him could be translated carried over or took across. That means that Enoch did not die. There is only one other person in the Bible that did not die and that was Elijah who was caught up into a chariot of fire. How this happened we don't know. But we know it happened. Enoch did not die. Normally people die.
Right? The Bible says it is appointed unto a man once to die and then comes the judgment. But in the case of Enoch God made an exception and took him straight to heaven. That is pretty amazing.
He picked him up off one shore and put him on the other. And the way that Enoch walked with God it wasn't even an interruption. It says again I am on earth. Oh wow. I am in heaven.
That is great. Ok. You know Enoch sort of lived by Colossians 3 before Colossians 3 was written. In Colossians 3 Paul speaking says, Set your minds on things above, not on things of the earth. You know I have heard people say, Well some Christians are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.
That is ridiculous. I think there are far more people who are so earthly minded they are no heavenly good. It is good to be heavenly minded.
That doesn't mean you have your head in the clouds and you are disconnected from reality. What it means is you are seeking to honor and please the Lord. You are aware of the brevity of life. You want to make your life count. And you look for opportunities to honor the Lord. And I have found that those that think the most of the next world do the most for this one. You see world changers are heavenly minded.
Why? Because they realize ultimately their citizenship is in heaven. And they are just passing through this life.
And listen. If you walk with God on earth one day you will walk with Him in heaven. Because Revelation 3 says, The walk with me, the Lord speaking, dressed in white.
Enoch is sort of a representative if you will of a generation of people who will not die but will be caught up in a moment in the twinkling of an eye to meet the Lord in the air. We sometimes call it the rapture. Now sometimes people say, Well you can't find the word rapture in the Bible.
True. But you can't find the word Bible in the Bible either. Nor can you find the word Trinity. Now do we believe in the Trinity? Of course. Do we believe in the Bible?
Yes. But just because the word is in there doesn't mean the event isn't. Because actually the word rapture is just a Latin translation of the word used in Scripture which is harpazo which is used multiple times. And this is an event that speaks where Christ will catch us up immediately. 1 Thessalonians says, We will be caught up in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. The dead in Christ will rise first. And we which are alive and remaining shall meet the Lord in the air.
Now here is the question. Could we be that generation? Could Christ come back in our lifetime for His church and what we call the rapture or the harpazo? And the answer is absolutely yes. I believe we could be that generation. You see I mean Greg others have believed that before.
And they weren't. Yes so. Maybe we are the generation. And if we aren't that doesn't even concern me quite frankly. Because I know one way or the other I am getting up to heaven. Ok. Be it rapture or death. I am going to get there. And in the interim I know what my job is. I am supposed to be walking with God. And I am to be well pleasing to God. And one day I will be with God. I mean that is a pretty good summation of how a life ought to live. You just put your name in here.
You know. Joshua walked with God. He was well pleasing to God. He went to be with God. Christie walked with God. She was well pleasing to God. She went to be with God. Mortimer.
There is a mortimer out there somewhere you know. Walk with God. You know just that is your life. It sums it up.
What a great way to live your life. But listen in the spiritual race speed is not as important as distance. It is good to run fast. But it is even more importantly to run well and to finish the race you have begun. Coming back Usain Bolt.
He runs fast from beginning to end. Some are like that. Some are not. Another interesting story that came from the Olympics is about two runners.
Maybe you are aware of it. From New Zealand. Nicky Hamblin and Abby DeAgostino from the United States. They were four laps. At the end they collided. Hamblin from New Zealand fell first causing Abby who was right behind her from the United States to also fall. Now it would have been an understanding if Abby from America just kind of got up and went around the New Zealand girl and went to finish the race.
But then this is what was amazing. Abby reached down and helped the other girl up and then they began to run together. Then Abby fell to the ground and the girl from New Zealand helped her get back up again. And they made it across. They didn't win the race but they finished the race. And afterwards they were interviewed and the girl from New Zealand said, you know, I didn't even know really what had happened. But I heard Abby from the United States say, get up. We need to finish this. I love that. And they talked about how that is the real Olympic spirit. Right?
Well that is good. And sometimes we need a little help. Because sometimes we stumble and fall. And instead of kicking a person when they are down you want to help them get back up again so they too can finish the race.
Right? Galatians 6.1 says, If another believer is overcome by sin, you who are godly should point your finger at them and laugh and kick them two times and continue your journey. They are saying, I have never read that verse before. That is because it is not in the Bible.
But that is what some people do. Now here is what the Bible actually says. Galatians 6.1, If another believer is overcome by sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person get back on the right path but be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.
The objective is let's finish this race. So let me ask this in closing. Are you walking with God? Are you well pleasing to God? Are you a witness for God? See Enoch did this for 300 years.
They lived longer back in those days. And if we will follow his example we can do the same. Ecclesiastes 7.8 says, The end of a thing is better than its beginning.
The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. But maybe you are like that girl from New Zealand. You know you started off in the Christian life with a bang. You were like Usain Bolt off the blocks. But then you stumbled and fell. And you never got up.
You are like the lady in that commercial. I have fallen and I can't get up. Or you can get up.
In fact I want to help you get up right now. If you have fallen. If you have stumbled you can get up again and get back in that race and you can still finish it. As long as you are alive you can still get back in the race and finish it. Now once life ends that is the end of it. But until that day there is always second chances and third chances. If you will turn to Jesus.
Some of you have never even started out this way. You don't know what it is to walk with God. I talk about going to heaven when you die. You don't know if you will go to heaven when you die.
You can know it by believing in Jesus. Because I want you to know something that 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ carried the cross for you. And you know what? He fell down beneath the weight of the cross.
Remember? And a guy was plucked out of the crowd named Simon from Cyrene. Who helped Jesus carry the cross for a bit. And then Christ finished the task.
How easily Jesus could have said, You know what? I am out. Simon just carried on. I am not going through with this. I can't take this anymore. This humiliation. This mockery. This screaming. Who is supporting me? No one is here with me. Where are my disciples?
Forget this. He could have done that. But the Bible says Hebrews, actually the next chapter 12, For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame. And now He has sat down at the right hand of God.
You know what kept Jesus going to that cross 2,000 years ago? It was you. And it was me.
It was us. He did it because He knew there was no other way we could be brought into a relationship with God. That is how much He loves us. So, realizing that, you need to respond. If you have never asked Jesus to come into your life, He will forgive you of all of your sin.
And if you have stumbled and fallen, you need to get back up again. He will help you do that. Let's all bow our heads. Father, thank You for Your Word to us today. Thank You for loving us. Thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross.
And Lord Jesus, thank You for coming and going through with that, though we don't deserve it. Now I pray for any that are here right now who may not yet know You. Help them to see their need for You. Help them to come to You.
Help them to believe in You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie, with an important prayer for those who want to make a change in their relationship with the Lord. And if you'd like to do that today, Pastor Greg will help you in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. 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. You know, Dave, I receive letters all the time. 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? I'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, CA 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 just before I pass along the mailing address once again, if you'd like to make a change in your relationship with the Lord, Pastor Greg would like to help you with that right now. Listen, if you would like Jesus Christ to come into your life right now, if you would like your sin forgiven, if you would like a new start in life, I'd like to lead you in a prayer where you would ask for God's forgiveness. So I'm going to ask you to just stop what you're doing right now and bow your head and pray this prayer with me if you want to make a commitment or recommitment to Jesus Christ. Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus, come into my life. I know that I'm a sinner and I thank you for dying on that cross for my sin and paying the price for it and rising again from the dead. I turn from that sin now and I make a choice to follow you as my Savior and Lord.
Thank you for calling me and forgiving me and receiving me and loving me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and have meant those words from your heart, well, first of all, we want to welcome you to the family of God. And second, we'd like to offer some help as you get started as a Christian. We'd like to send you our new Believer's Growth Packet. Just get in touch and ask for it.
We'll send it free of charge to those making a first-time commitment to the Lord today. Again, you can write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. Someone is here to take your call around the clock.
Again, dial 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click on Know God. Well, next time, Pastor Greg helps us learn from the life of Noah, another of the Bible's great world changers. Hope you'll be along. 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.
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