No Forwarding Address - III

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Check out Virtue, our website for Christian women.

Go to harvest.org forward slash virtue. My mother did it, or my father used to do it, and it's just in my family. It's not my fault. It was my circumstances.

It stopped. Here's what you need to say. God against you and you only have I sinned.

You need to own it. This is the day, the day when life begins. Many times those caught in sin play the victim card. They were the innocent victim of some outside force or circumstance, and they collect with other victims and celebrate their syndrome, sins and syndromes. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie says perhaps it's time for realization and repentance. We need to realize we're sinners. We need to repent and seek God's restoration. Some help in that regard as we consider the father of the faith.

This is the day, the day when life begins. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, his heirs with him of the same promise, for he waited for the city which had foundations whose builder and maker is God.

By faith Sarah also herself received strength and conceived seed, and she bore a child when she was well past the age, because he judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man and him as good as dead were born as many as the stars of the sky and multitude, innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the promises but having seen them afar off. They were assured of them and they embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland, and truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out they would have opportunity to return, but now they desire a better country that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

We will stop there. Ok. Why was Abraham a world changer? What did he do? Number one, Abraham listened to God. World changers listened to God, verse 8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.

He went out not knowing where he was going. He listened to God. By the way this is before we had the written word. There was no Old Testament. Certainly no New Testament.

No Torah. So we would assume that God probably spoke audibly to Abraham and told him to go. And we might think, wow I wish God would speak audibly to me. Wouldn't it be great if he could get up every morning and the Lord would just speak to you audibly?

Or send a text even? Text from God. See Greg here is the plan for today. At this hour be here.

At that hour be there. Do this and do that. Thank you Lord. But that is not how he speaks to us. You are not going to hear God if you don't open the Bible and say like young Samuel, Speak Lord. Your servant is listening. Number two, world changers obey God. See it is not just enough to hear from God.

I have to then respond. Don't obey or disobey. World changers obey God. To his credit, without argument, right there on the spot, Abraham obeyed God.

This was faith in action. God was commanding him to leave his people, his family, everyone that he knew. Just leave them all together.

Why? Because they were detrimental to his spiritual growth. You know if you want to be a happy person and a blessed person, there are certain things you should do and there are certain things you should not do. Psalm 1 says, Blessed or happy is the man or the woman who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly or stands in the way of sinners or sits in the seat of the scornful.

You want to be a happy person. Don't hang around ungodly people. Find godly friends that will build you up in your faith and increase your appetite for spiritual things. Not people who drag you down and decrease your appetite for spiritual things. God said, Cut them loose.

But then happy people are also known for what they do because someone continues, But his delight is in the word of the Lord and in it does he meditate day and night. So don't do these things. Hang around godless people.

But do this thing. Study the word of God and spend time with godly people. Point number three. World changers are heavenly minded because they are heavenly citizens. Again world changers are heavenly minded because they are heavenly citizens. Look at verse 16. They desire a better that is a heavenly country.

Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared a city for them. Christians have a longing for something the earth can never deliver. We know ultimately only heaven can. We know earth at its best are just a pale imitation of greater things to come. Because we were created for something more.

Much more. It was Augustine who said quote of God, You have made us and drawn us to yourself and our heart is restless until it rests in you. End quote.

I want you to notice something else. Abraham lived in a tent which meant he was always on the move. He never built a permanent home. I don't know if you have noticed but you live in a tent too. I don't mean literally but your body. And the Bible is described as a tent. 2 Corinthians 5 says, We know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, that is when we die and leave this body, we have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands. This body will eventually wear out. This comes as a revelation to some people. Yeah we are all getting old. But that is ok. Because we know time passes but we are getting closer to the Lord and closer to seeing the Lord.

Bringing me to point number four. World changers live by faith. They live by faith. The word promise is repeated twice in Hebrews 11.9. For by faith we dwell 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.

Listen to this. World changers live on promises, not explanations. They live by faith, not by sight.

They live on fact, not on feelings. Because we recognize that our citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3.20 says our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see when God called Abraham, He gave him a promise. Now it was up to Abraham to take hold of that promise, which he could not yet see. That is what faith does. Faith sees what could be, not just what is. Faith sees invisible things. Hebrews 11.1 says faith is the substance of things hoped for.

It's the evidence of things not seen. And now we come to one final point. Point number five. World changers mess up sometimes. World changers mess up sometimes.

In other words, people of faith sometimes have lapses in their faith. So here's Abraham. God says, leave your country.

Leave your family. Abraham does it, sort of. We'll deal with that next time. Didn't completely obey, but he partially obeyed. Now he's making his journey. He's left his former land.

He's headed to the land of promise, the land of Canaan. And the Bible tells us that great famine swept the land. Now the same God who brought him this far would have gotten him through somehow. But we don't read of Abraham praying or calling on the Lord.

Effectively he takes matters into his own hands. And that brings us to Genesis 12. Did you turn there? Genesis 12 starting in verse 10 says, At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abraham to go down to Egypt. Underline that phrase, down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. And as he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abraham said to his wife, and by the way, it says Abram and Sarai. Their names were later changed from Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. So I'll just call them Abraham and Sarah. But Abraham said to his wife, Sarah, look, you're a very beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they're gonna say, this is his wife, let's kill him. Then we can have her. So, Abraham says to Sarah, his wife, tell them you're my sister. Then they'll spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you. Oh, thanks, honey.

Great idea. So you're gonna just give me over to the Pharaoh to add to his harem? I mean, this is crazy. I mean, Abraham stops trusting God and tells a lie. So what happened after the father of the faith had a lapse of faith? Pastor Greg continues the story in just a moment. 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 have dedicated everything to God. Today, I have 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. Today, we're learning a great deal from the life of Abraham. As a part of Pastor Greg's series, World Changers. Pastor Greg explained how at one point, Abraham lied for reasons of self-preservation.

And that's where we pick up the study. How many of you have ever told a lie? Raise your hand if you've told a lie. Those of you that did not raise your hand, you're the worst liar here.

I just want you to know. We've all told lies. Even ministers tell lies. I heard about a group of young boys who were standing around a stray dog one time and a minister was walking by and he noticed, thought that was odd, walked up and said, well, what are you boys doing over here? He said, well, we're looking at this dog and we all want him to go home with us and we decided that whoever tells the biggest lie gets to take the dog home. The minister was outraged. That's horrible. I would never have done such a thing when I was a boy.

In fact, all my life, I've never told a single lie ever. The boys looked at each other and said, he gets a dog. So here's old Abraham facing a famine.

Now, understandably, that's a hard situation. So instead of trusting God, what does he do when he goes down to Egypt, verse 10? Remember I told you to underline that? Egypt in the Bible is often a metaphor for the world or going back to the old life or sin in general. In fact, in Isaiah 31, it says, what sorrow awaits those who go down to Egypt, trusting their horses, chariots, and charioteers, and depending on the strength of human armies instead of looking to the Lord? I mean, here is Abraham, whose very name is synonymous with faith, having elapsed in faith. And then he makes it worse by lying about Sarah and then he asks Sarah to participate in his lie. Look, Sarah, you just tell him, you're my sister. Now, in a way, this was partially true because Sarah was actually his half-sister. But it's also true she was his wife. It's been said, a half-truth is a whole lie. So he was telling a half-truth.

Just say, you're my sister, and she goes along with it. So she was culpable. She shouldn't have cooperated with this lie, but hey, he should have never initiated it.

A husband should be a spiritual leader in the home, not dragging his wife down. And it's a bad thing when someone tells a lie and then they come to you and say, you gotta back me up on my story, tell the story. Yeah, but that's not what happened.

Doesn't matter, man. Just say this. And don't do that to people. Stop it. It's bad enough that you're lying.

Don't drag somebody else into it with you. And so he gets hurt to go along with it. But here's what happened. His sin was exposed. And by the way, sin will always be exposed. The Bible says your sin will find you out. And if you were to translate that from the original Hebrew, it would translate out to your sin will find you out. And what it actually means is your sin will find you out. What I'm saying is I don't care how carefully you hide it.

It's gonna come out one day. And so here's what happens. Pharaoh sees the beautiful Sarah, which is amazing. She is an older woman at this point.

But still very attractive. Pharaoh adds Sarah to his harem and a series of plagues start coming on his household. And he discovers that this is because this is another man's wife. So he takes Sarah back to Abraham and says, why didn't you tell me she was your wife?

Now take her and get out of here. You know, it's really a sad thing when a non-believer corrects you. And it's even worse when they're right. Sometimes non-Christians have a better understanding of how a Christian should behave than some Christians have. You know, you're screaming and yelling and losing your temper and the non-Christian says, hey, I thought you were a Christian. I am. Shouldn't you like forgive that person and churn the other cheek? Yes. Hey, I thought you were a Christian.

Why are you divorcing your spouse? Well, it's irreconcilable differences. Aren't you Christians supposed to forgive? Well, yes, but uh. Hey, I thought you were a Christian. Why are you drunk?

You're a judge. Who? What?

Yeah. They actually have this concept that a Christian should be honest. They should be loyal to their wife. They should be people of integrity. They should be loving. They should be forgiving. Wow.

They actually have that part right. And it's a sad thing when a non-believer has to tell us as a believer how to live. But remember, we read that Abraham went down to Egypt. He had gone down. Any step away from God is a step down. By the way, the same verbiage is used to describe Jonah who was called by God to go preach and he said no and went the opposite direction. And you know the story. The storm came in the boat and they figured out that Jonah was a servant of God.

And it's interesting because it says that Jonah went down to Tarshish and then there in a parallel situation these non-believing pagan men rebuked Jonah like why would you run from a God that's powerful enough to send a storm like this? What's wrong with you? That's exactly what's happening to Abraham. The pharaoh's saying man, you know, why'd you do this to me? Why did you lie to me? And maybe you've had a lapse of faith lately.

Abraham did, but you know what, this was not the end of his life. It was a detour, granted. It was a mistake. It was a sin. But here's what you need to do when you're caught in a sin.

You need to own it. Admit it. That's important. Look, we all sin. We all fall short.

We all mess up. If Abraham sinned, you don't think you're gonna sin? I'm gonna sin.

We all are. King David sinned against God, yet the Bible says he was a man after God's own heart. But listen, David committed a sin that was actually worse than Abraham by a long shot. David committed adultery. He lusted after the beautiful Bathsheba and had sexual relations with her and she got pregnant. Instead of just admitting it to God, he tried to cover it up and that didn't work and so he had her husband killed and then married Bathsheba, thinking he had effectively covered up his sin.

But then the Lord sent the prophet in to confront King David and his sin was exposed and finally David repented of his sin and he wrote Psalm 51 in the aftermath and there in Psalm 51, David said, against thee, speaking of God, and the only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight. A lot of times when we're caught in a sin, we blame others. Well it's not my fault she trapped me. It's not my fault everybody was doing it. It's not my fault my mother did it or my father used to do it and it's just in my family. It's not my fault it was my circumstances. Hit stop.

Here's what you need to say. God against you and you only have I sinned. Take responsibility. Accept that you played a role in it. That's what David said.

He could have said, well hey man Bathsheba, she was so beautiful. She should have never been doing that where I could see her and I had to adjust my position many times so I could see her by the way but she should, wait, maybe Bathsheba played a role in it but it's his fault. It's your fault. It's my fault.

Own it. Against thee and the only have I sinned. And then he goes on to say, creating me a clean heart oh God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. David's saying Lord I need a refresh. I need a reboot. I need a cleansing.

My heart is dirty. Give me a new heart, a clean heart and then he says and give me a steadfast spirit which means give me a spirit that continues on in consistency with you. Help my life to not be up and down but more consistent and regular in my faith. And then he goes on to say and restore to me the joy of my salvation. You know when a believer sins one of the first things you lose is your peace and your joy.

I think we're so used to that peace. You wake up every morning just this calm sense that God is with you and he's in control of your life and you have this joy. It's gone man. Sin throws the joy out. So you say Lord I don't have the joy anymore. Restore into me the joy of your salvation. Hey have you lost your joy? Then admit your sin.

Turn from it and ask God to restore it again. He'll do that for you right now. In this message I talked a little bit about heaven and I made this statement. Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people and my question for you is are you prepared to go to heaven? You know when I go on a trip I pack my bags and I always over pack by the way. I've traveled for years and years. I still over pack. I take stuff I never use. I take clothes I never wear. I don't know why I do it but I still do it.

It's really kind of ridiculous in a way. But at least I pack. I'm ready for the trip. Are you prepared for heaven? What if this were your last day on earth and tomorrow was the day you left this life for the afterlife?

Where would you go? Would you go to heaven or would you go to hell? The only way to be prepared for heaven is to have a relationship with God.

Having Christ live inside of you because he died for you on the cross and paid for all of your sin and rose again from the dead and you've asked him into your life and if you've done that you're ready for heaven. Heaven is not for perfect people. It's for forgiven people. All you have to do is be forgiven by heaven. Do you have sin in your life and you don't know how to get rid of it? Your life is a mess and you don't know how to fix it. Maybe like Abraham you've told lies and you've told lies to cover up your lies and you've told more lies to cover up the lies to cover up the lies and now you don't even know what's true anymore.

You just know your life's a mess and there's no joy and there's no peace. Well God can fix it but you have to admit it and reach out to him and he'll forgive you of your sin. God asked him to forgive you.

Do it right now. Let's all bow our heads. Everybody praying. Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sent Jesus to this earth to walk among us, to die in our place and then to rise from the dead and now I pray for any person here, any person listening who does not yet know you.

Lord, help them to come to you now and believe and be forgiven. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important closing prayer and if you'd like to do as Pastor Greg suggested and make things right in your relationship with the Lord, Pastor Greg will help you do that in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning wraps up.

The title of today's study is No Forwarding Address. Look for that title online at harvest.org if you'd like to hear this message again. That's at harvest.org or call us for a CD copy at 1-800-821-3300.

We're here to talk with you 24-7 so dial anytime 1-800-821-3300. And then we're so happy to make available Pastor Greg's new book, World Changers. It picks up where the series leaves off. You know, Pastor Greg, I read something the other day that said, when's the last time you did something for the first time? And I thought, you know, that talks about comfort zones. We all like to stay in our comfort zones.

They're comfortable. But then I've also heard it said that comfort zones are where dreams go to die. And you have a new book that shows us how God can do something great through us if we step outside of the comfortable. Isn't that right?

Yeah, that's very true. You know, and I think that when you're younger, you're more willing to try new things. You know, when you get older, you go to the same restaurant, you sit in the same booth if possible, you order the same thing off the menu, there's routine. And time seems to pass very quickly. I read something, an article that pointed out, the reason that time seems to go so quickly is because you don't change your routine. Go back to your childhood. It seemed like you were in the fifth grade forever.

Why? Because you were having constant new experiences. So it's very important for us as believers to not live in the past or rest on our laurels, but to press on. You know, Hebrews 11 is a record of great men and women of faith that changed their world. And then immediately following Hebrews 11 is Hebrews 12.

Brilliant insight, that I have to say. And it tells us what in Hebrews 12, to lay aside the weight that so easily besets us and run the race that is set before us. But what does it say before that? It says, seen were surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses. So the idea is, in light of the fact that these great men and women of God who are very ordinary did extraordinary thing, in light of the fact that they ran their race well and changed their world, now you should do the same as you're running your race following Jesus Christ.

So I take these characters from the Bible, I explore their lives, and I show how they applied faith and how it made such a dramatic difference. And look, the Bible says God has given to every one of us a measure of faith. It's up to us what we do with that faith. Are we gonna develop it, are we gonna cultivate it, or are we gonna neglect it? I liken it to the popularity of SUVs and four by fours right now. You know, people get a car, they'll jack it up, put massive wheels and tires on it, it's just ready to go four-wheeling, and they basically drive it from car wash to car wash. You know, that vehicle was made to do great four-wheeling, but they never used it for what it was designed for. And that's how a lot of people are with faith.

It's something they talk about, but it's not something they use. So my word of encouragement in this book is, step out as an act of faith. Do something that you've never done before. Be willing to take a risk for the kingdom of God. These great men and women recorded in Hebrews 11 did that, and you can do that too.

So instead of being changed by the world, why don't you go and change your world? And we hope you'll take advantage of Pastor Greg's help in that regard by way of this brand new book, World Changers. We're eager to put a copy of this in your hands, and today is our last opportunity to mention it. It's our thank you gift for those who can help these daily studies continue with a generous donation.

The amount is between you and the Lord, but please know that your investment helps us change the world as well. So send your contribution today to A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime, 24-7. Again, 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to Harvest.org. Well, Pastor Greg, you've mentioned how someone can become a Christian with just a simple prayer. Yes. Maybe somebody would like to do that right now. Could you help them?

Sure, I'd love to. A simple prayer is right. In fact, I would like to just pray a prayer, and I would ask you to pray it after me right now. Pray these words. Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, but I also know that you are the Savior because you died on the cross for my sin and you rose again from the dead. Jesus, come into my life and forgive me of every sin I've ever committed.

I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer, Lord, and I pray all of this in Jesus' name.

Amen. If you just prayed that prayer and meant it, I want you to know on the authority of Scripture, God Almighty has heard your prayer and he will answer this prayer. You are now a newly minted child of God, so congratulations.

You've made the right decision and welcome to the family of God. I want to send you a special gift because of that prayer you've just prayed. It's called the New Believer's Growth Packet, and in it is a copy of the New Testament in a very understandable translation called the New Living Translation. It also is filled with hundreds of notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment you've made to follow Christ, and there's some other outstanding materials in this little packet I'll send you as well. So order your copy today and let me be the first to say to you congratulations and welcome to the family of God.

Yeah, and to get that New Believer's Growth Packet, just contact us and we'll be glad to send it right out. You can write a new beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514, or call us any time at 1-800-821-3300, 1-800-821-3300, or go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here inviting you to join me every weekend for what we call Harvest at Home. It's a church service, it's a worship service, it's a Bible study, and it's wherever you want it to be. In your home, in your car, sitting on a beach, walking down the street, watching it on your phone, wherever you are, you can take it with you and be ministered to every weekend. Join us for Harvest at Home at harvest.org. Next time, Pastor Greg invites a couple of special guests into the studio for a revealing discussion about money and marriage.

Money is often a tension point in the home, and we'll get some straightforward insight into why that is and learn how to turn conflict into connection. Join us next time for A New Beginning. This is the day, the day when life begins 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.