A Second Chance for a World Changer: What God Can Do with You

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Hey, I want to hear from you. Would you consider emailing me? You can reach me at gregatharvest.org. Again, that's gregatharvest.org.

And you can also make me one of your friends on Facebook and drop me a comment. It's not enough to just do the right thing. You need to do the right thing in the right way at the right time.

Coming up today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the walk of faith is one where we do what God wants, how He wants it, and when He wants it. I think sometimes we grow impatient with God and we want to take matters into our own hands. We need to pray about things and we need to trust the Lord and wait on His timing. And when the timing is right, the Lord will direct you.

And that's when you need to act. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Again, you hear all the angels are singing.

This is the day, the day when life begins. Now a pilot's job is getting you from point A to point B. But he has to follow a schedule. He has to land on the right runway. And it's pretty important for the plane to land on its wheels.

And none of the passengers are going to complain that that's too restrictive. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out God has a plan for each of us. And we'll see it's important to follow that plan the way he mapped it out. We're learning from the Old Testament man of God named Moses. This is the day, the day when life begins. Hey, let's all grab our Bibles and turn to two passages today.

Hebrews chapter 11 and Exodus chapter 2. We're back in our World Changer series. Remember earlier in this series I asked you the question, are you a thermostat or a thermometer? A thermostat basically just tells you what the temperature is, right? I have one of these thermostats that has a mind of its own. It's called a nest thermostat. You know, it kind of drives me crazy because sometimes it just decides based on past history that I want it warmer when I don't. Or in the middle of the night the nest decides it should be much colder. The nest thinks it should be in the 40s at night.

Wait, I come down, what's wrong with you? It has a mind of its own. But basically a thermostat sets a temperature. A thermometer in contrast just tells you the temperature. And I asked the question earlier, you may recall, are you a thermostat or are you a thermometer?

In other words, do you set the pace or are you affected by your surroundings? Moses, no question about it, was a thermostat. In fact, we know because of his life and his godliness and his integrity, he effectively kept three million people plus from idolatry. The reason I bring this up is as soon as Moses left them to go receive the commandments from God up in Mount Sinai, these people went crazy.

Worshiping Paul's gods, all kinds of insane stuff. But the point is, when he was around, the lid was sort of kept on things. Now that is a man who was a world changer. But he is also a man of great paradoxes. So let's dig into our scripture now. Go to Hebrews 11. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents because they thought he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, he esteemed the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked forward to the reward.

We'll stop there. Now the story here is amazing of little Moses, little Mo, you know. His mother places him in almost like, well, a miniature ark. You've heard of Noah's ark? It was like Moses' ark.

Just a little basket covered with pitch so it would float. And she put the little baby, the beautiful baby, don't forget, in the Nile River and just gave it a little push. And he's cruising up the Nile and this happens to be in the same area where the Pharaoh's daughter, the princess effectively, would go each morning and almost as if on cue the beautiful baby cries and the daughter of Pharaoh cares and walks over and says, wow, look at this baby. Her maternal instincts kick in. She loves this little baby immediately and wants to make him her own son. So God was putting everything together.

Now, of course, this was all a plan hatched by the mother of Moses and his sister Miriam that they were hoping this would happen. Now I bring this up because sometimes we don't understand that you can be practical and spiritual simultaneously. You know, some people, they think everything's spiritual. It never involves human effort.

It just happens. And other people think everything is practical and we should never expect God to do anything. Well, the truth is the spiritual and the practical can work together. You know, when Nehemiah went to rebuild the city, he started with a plan and then he prayed about it and then he started working. You know, when we did our harvest crusade at the AT&T Stadium, we were so thrilled with what the Lord did.

It was the largest single evangelistic event, one day evangelistic event, in American history. I mean, we never thought that would happen. But we gave God the glory. Now, did we work on that crusade?

Every single day. Did we plan for it? Yes, we did. Did we pray about it?

You better believe it. But then God blessed. But there's a place for God blessing and human effort as well. You know, sometimes people might be out of work.

And so you ask them, well, have you put your resume out there? And they'll say, no, I'm just praying about it. You know, just staying at home and praying, sitting, well, kind of laying back, actually. And the old lazy boy and praying for a response. Well, you better start praying about where you're going to get your next meal. Because the Bible says, if a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat. And the point of it is, is that you need to get out there and be practical.

Let people know you're looking for work. And so there are things that work together, the practical and the spiritual. So Moses cries on cue. And a baby's tears were God's first weapon in his war against Egypt. Well, as it turns out, this young lady, this princess of Egypt, can't properly nurse and raise Moses. So Jochebed, his mom, happens to be nearby in Miriam and says, hey, here's a lady that could nurse him. And so the Pharaoh's daughter hires the mother of Moses to nurse her own child. So Jochebed had three precious months with her little baby. Then she had to let him go. That must have been hard.

It's always hard to let our children go, isn't it? So Stephen fills in some gaps here in Acts 7, 20. He says, at the time Moses was born, a beautiful child in God's eyes.

His parents cared for him at home for three months, when at last they had to abandon him. Pharaoh's daughter found him and raised him as her own son. Moses was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he became mighty in both speech and action. You know, it's interesting, the Jewish historian Josephus believes that Moses was being groomed to become the next Pharaoh of Egypt.

And I think this is possible. Because, interestingly, when Stephen, in his commentary on Moses, said Pharaoh's daughter was raising him as her own son, it sort of implies that that's what he was being groomed to become. I mean, think about Moses.

He goes literally from rags to riches overnight, from the low rent district to the very lap of luxury. And Moses had the finest education imaginable. At this time, Egypt was an incredibly advanced culture. They had an amazing grasp of so many things, including astronomy and art and music and painting and philosophy.

And, of course, they built edifices that are still standing today. So Moses, man, he was like in the Oxford of Egypt. He was eating the finest food, wearing the most amazing clothes, and being groomed to probably become the next Pharaoh. But inside of that Egyptian exterior was a Hebrew heart. He knew that he was a Jew, and he cared about his fellow Jews, and he wanted to help them. And so now we come to Hebrews 11 again, dropped down to verse 24. It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

This is really interesting. He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of the Messiah than on the treasures of Egypt.

He was looking ahead to the great reward that God would give him. I love that passage. Moses said, I don't need the pleasures of Egypt. I don't need the luxuries of Egypt. I'd rather suffer with God's people.

Listen to this. God's worst is better than the world's best. Let me say that again. God's worst is better than the world's best.

Let me explain. What is the world's best? Well, I guess it's all the pleasures, all the experiences, all the possessions, whatever this world can offer. That's the best, and then you die, and then you face judgment. God's worst, what would it be? Well, maybe being ridiculed for your faith in Christ, going through trials associated with your faith, for some even being martyred for your faith. That's the worst thing that can happen to you as a Christian. But God's worst is better than the world's best, and here's why. Because the world's best only lasts for a few moments in light of eternity, but God's best comes with reward. So even if I suffer in this life, I know there's a reward on the other side. But you know what else I found? Whatever pleasures you give up to follow Christ, what God gives you in their place, are so much better, you don't even miss that stuff anymore.

Moses was a somebody in Pharaoh's court. But soon something will happen, and he'll be reduced to a nobody. But there's a silver lining in that dark cloud. 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. We're tracking the life and integrity of Moses today from Pastor Greg's series called World Changers. Today's study is titled The Second Chance for a World Changer. Well, let's see what happened. He got a little carried away. He had the right idea.

I think his heart was in the right place, but he took matters into his own hands. Let's go over to Exodus now. Exodus 2. Here's what happened. Here he is. He's the prince of Egypt, and he's a very powerful man, but he's a Jew, and he wants to help the fellow Hebrews out there.

Our story picks up. Exodus 2, verse 11. It came to pass in those days when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens and saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brothers.

So he looked this way, and he looked that way. When he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, Why are you striking your companion? He said, Who made you a prince and a judge over us?

Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? So Moses said, Surely this thing is known. And when Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. We'll stop there.

Wow. Now, God did not tell Moses to do this. He took matters into his own hands. Now, true, this was an injustice, where an Egyptian is beating a Hebrew. Maybe Moses could have used his influence to bring a stop to him, but he thought, This is wrong.

And he kills the guy. I find verse 12 interesting there in Exodus 2. It says he looked this way, and he looked that way. That's pretty much a good indication that what you're doing is not right when you're like this before you do it, right?

He should have looked up, because the Lord was watching. It reminds me of a story of years ago when we were having a work day at the church, and I've told you before, I have no mechanical skills whatsoever. Hey, right, I was born out of wedlock. I never had a dad to tell me basic things, like, Here's how you tie a tie. Here's how you work with tools.

I never had any of that, so I'm clueless. And so we're having this work day, and I'm looking for something to do, and someone had a hedge cutter actually out lain by the hedge, and I thought, Oh, I'll do that. I'll trim the hedges. And so I fired it, and I'm going across the top of the hedge, and all of a sudden, I wasn't paying attention. I cut right through the cord of the hedge cutter.

It just stops. And here's what I did. I looked this way. I looked that way. I set it down, and I walked off.

I didn't tell anyone I'd done it. Years later, years later, a friend of mine, Dennis Davenport, he used to be on staff at our church, and now as a pastor of his own church, said, I was up on the roof on that work day. And I looked down, and I saw that happen. I thought, What kind of a pastor is this?

A stupid one who doesn't know how to use power tools. That's who it was. But, you know, you look this way, and you look that way. Oh, I've covered it up, you think. That's what Moses thought. But, you know, he wasn't a very good sinner because the Bible tells us he buried the guy in the sand. Just a quick tip, if you're going to bury a body, don't bury it in the sand.

Because think of the Egyptian sand, the wind's blowing, and all of a sudden there's the evidence of what you did. So he was found out quickly. And already his fellow Jews were talking about it. Hey, who put you in charge? You're not the boss of me.

You can't tell me what to do. And word got to the Pharaoh, and now Moses was a wanted man. His picture was hanging, and all the post offices wanted Moses.

And so he headed for the hills. He should have waited for God's timing. Listen to this. It's not enough to just do the right thing.

You need to do the right thing in the right way at the right time. I think sometimes we grow impatient with God, and we want to take matters into our own hands. Maybe you're a wife married to a non-believing husband. I don't know how you got in that place. Maybe you disobeyed God and just married this guy, even though he wasn't a Christian. Maybe you became a Christian after you were married.

But here's the bottom line. Now you're married to this guy, and you're thinking, how do I reach him? So you're thinking, you know, I'm just going to pester him every day. I'm going to nag him into the kingdom of God. Trust me, it's not going to work. No man will ever be nagged into God's kingdom.

No woman, for that matter, either. Actually, over in 1 Peter 3, it tells you how to win your husband to Christ. It says you win him without a word by the way that you live, as you have a godly life, and the man sees it.

So my point is simply this. We need to pray about things, and we need to trust the Lord and wait on his timing. And when the timing is right, the Lord will direct you.

And that's when you need to act. Moses was way ahead of schedule. A Moses life has been summed up as follows. He spent 40 years in Pharaoh's court finding out he was a somebody, 40 years in the desert finding out he was a nobody, and then 40 years finding out what God can do with somebody who finds out they're a nobody. So Moses fades into complete obscurity. Once he erred of the throne of all of Egypt, now he's a common shepherd to someone else's sheep. He's a family. They let him take care of their sheep, and he ends up marrying one of the daughters. And so it looks like, wow, Moses, way to crash and burn. Way to wreck everything. If you would have played your cards right, you could have been the top dog in Egypt and maybe done some good, but you messed everything up, and you killed that guy, then you tried to cover it up.

Well, that's all true. Moses failed, I said earlier. We fail, but he failed forward.

What does it mean to fail forward? Well, hopefully it means to learn from your mistakes. If I burn myself touching the stove as a little child, I learn in my little child brain, don't touch hot stove again. And that goes through life. If I learn this is wrong, well, don't do the wrong thing again. So Moses just waited upon the Lord, and we'll find out what happened to him when God spoke to him next time through a bush that would not stop burning. But he would still remember Moses, the man of God. Listen, we all fail in life. We all have lapses. Look at Simon Peter.

Man, you want to talk about crashing and burning. Openly denying the Lord, but God gave him a second chance, didn't he? Jesus recommissioned him at the Sea of Galilee and said, go feed my sheep. What about Jonah? He messed up. He ran from God.

God kind of got his attention in the stomach of a great fish. Jonah came to his senses and was given a second chance. God gives second chances. That's why I've called this message A Second Chance for a World Changer. Do you need a second chance today? Have you messed up in life even as a Christian, done something you're ashamed of, something you deeply regret? You say, well, that's it for me. God will never use me.

Why would you say that? If we've seen nothing else, we've seen if God gives you a guy like Moses, he can use you, and what about those other people I mentioned earlier? Sure, we mess up, but God can recommission you. Learn from your mistakes, admit them, repent of them, recommit your life to the Lord, and he will give you a second chance. Hey, maybe some of you are running from God today. You've been running from him your whole life because you think God's out to get you. You're thinking, man, if I become a Christian, I'll never have fun again. I'll never smile again. Life would just be boring and dull. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Becoming a Christian is like going from black and white to color, and to be biblical, it's going from death to life, and quite frankly, from a future in hell to a place called heaven. I heard a story about a lawyer that was trying to deliver an important paper to a man, and this guy avoided him at all costs because he thought it was some kind of a subpoena, so he took great efforts to avoid that attorney and do whatever he could and not have any contact with him. This went on for years, and the attorney could never get to this guy. He kept evading him and avoiding him, and then one day, 14 years later, this man who had been running from the attorney found himself in a hospital dying of cancer, and who's rolled up into the bed next to him but the lawyer?

And the man laughs. He says, well, you know what? I don't even care now. I'm dying of cancer. Go ahead and serve me the papers. The lawyer said, what are you talking about? I wasn't going to subpoena you. I was trying to inform you that you had inherited $14 million.

Get it? This is us running from God. Oh, God's out to get me. God's out to ruin my life.

No, he loves you. Remember the story of the prodigal son who sinned against his father, and when his father saw him a great distance, he ran to his son. Yeah, God is running to you to save you, and there might be some of you in closing who don't have a relationship with God. And you've been running from God. You didn't know that God loved you.

You didn't know that God's plan for you is better than your plan for yourself. I want to help you get right with God. In a moment, we're going to pray, and I'm going to give you an opportunity, if you have never asked Jesus to come into your life, to ask him in so you can be forgiven of all of your sin. And I'm also going to extend an invitation to some of you who've messed up, who've fallen into some kind of sin, but you need a second chance.

I'll give you an opportunity to pray and ask God to give you that second chance. So think about what you're going to do as we close now in prayer. Let's all bow our heads and everyone pray, please. Father, we thank you for your word to us, and we thank you for your love for us, and we thank you that you are a God of second chances. And I pray, Lord, for everybody here and everybody listening who does not yet know you. Help them to come to you now. Help them to believe in you. Help them to know that there is a God in heaven who loves them, who's calling to them, who's running to them, not to hurt them, but to express his love. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important word of prayer. And if you'd like to make sure your heart is right 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 The Second Chance for a World Changer. Mention that if you'd like a permanent copy of the teaching when you call 1-800-821-3300.

Call any time 24 hours a day at 1-800-821-3300, or go to harvest.org. And then we're so happy to have special guests Jeff and Shanti Feldhahn with us today. They're joining Pastor Greg and his wife Kathy here in the studio, and we're making available their new book called Thriving in Love and Money to thank you for investing in this outreach, an investment that changes lives each and every day.

Pastor Greg? Hey, speaking of investing in ministry, let's talk a little bit about giving to the Lord. Why is that important to invest in the kingdom of God?

And by that I mean investing in a ministry like ours or others or your local church? Well, it really goes back to that where your treasure is there, your heart will be, right? Because Jesus knows that what you do with your money, it reveals the heart, right? Like if, you know, as you as a pastor, I'm sure you've said many times that if you're choosing to tithe, if you're choosing to invest in the kingdom, it reveals where your heart is. You know, this is you choosing to trust. However, one of the other things we may not realize about what Jesus said there is what you do with your money, it's not that it just reveals the heart, it also steers the heart. And as you do that, as you step out in faith and say, you know, I want to hold on to all of it, but God says to give this back to him, it forces me to say this is a choice of trust. This may not be a feeling right now, like we all wish it would be, but it's gonna be a choice and it steers my heart in that direction when I take a deep breath and choose to give. Oh, that's very good.

You're listening to Shanti and Jeff Feldhahn. They've written a book called Thriving in Love and Money and this is our special resource this month that we want to put into your hands. Folks, you know that when we offer these resources, it's because we want to help you, we want to encourage you, we want to strengthen you. And this is one of the most important that we've ever offered. And I would remind you that I'm offering this to you for your gift of any size.

Whatever you send, large or small, we'll get you your copy. But let me encourage you to invest in our ministry because this is a ministry that obviously teaches the word of God, but it's also a ministry that calls people to Christ and every year we see literally thousands of people make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ because we'll invite them to do so at the end of our program. So if you believe that people need to come to Jesus, if you believe people need to hear the word of God, then we would appreciate your investment in our ministry and we'll get you your copy of this book by Jeff and Shanti Feldhahn, Thriving in Love and Money. Yeah, and we hope you'll contact us today so we can get this help on its way to you.

We'll only be mentioning this resource a short time longer. Your investment right now is so pivotal as we reach even further in impacting our culture with the truth of God's word. So you can send your donation today to 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 the full title of the book is Thriving in Love and Money, subtitled Five Game-Changing Insights About Your Relationships, Your Money, and Yourself. Well, Pastor Greg, today you wrapped up your message talking about eternity. How can somebody listening know that they're going to heaven?

Well, that's a great question. And I guess, let me take it a step further, I know that is the most important question you can ask. How can a person know they're going to heaven? Let me say at the outset, I believe I'm going to heaven. In fact, I'll take it a step further. I know I'm going to heaven. You say, Greg, isn't that kind of arrogant?

Not really. Because I know this because God has made a promise to me and I've believed that promise. The Bible says, we write these things to you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. I've believed on the name of the Son of God, thus I know.

I'll go to heaven when I die. Here's my question to you. Do you believe on the name of the Son of God? Is there any more important issue than that?

I can't think of one. So I'd like to lead you in a simple prayer. And this is a prayer where you will be asking Jesus to forgive you of your sin and you'll be asking him to be your own savior, friend, Lord, it's a prayer only you can pray.

Pray these words if you would. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, but I know that you are the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose from the dead. Jesus, come into my life. I want to believe in you. I want to follow you.

I want this relationship with you. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sin and rising again from the dead. And I thank you that you've heard this prayer. And I believe you've come into my life.

In Jesus' name I pray, amen. I want to help you grow in your faith. I want to help you grow spiritually. So I have a free gift for you. It's called the New Believers Growth Packet. What's in it?

No, not a bag of seeds to plant in your backyard. I guess it's sort of a form of a bag of seeds because I want to sow some spiritual seed in your life to help you develop as a follower of Christ. So I'm going to send you a copy of the New Testament in the New Living Translation, but it's a special edition. It's called the New Believers Bible. And it's filled with notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this new commitment or recommitment you've made to Christ. And there's some other materials in the New Believers Packet as well. So order your copy today. And I'm so glad I had this privilege today to lead you in that prayer. God bless you.

You've made the right decision, the decision to follow Jesus Christ. And here's how to get that New Believers Packet. Just write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300.

You can connect with us any time, night or day, at 1-800-821-3300. Or just go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. Next time, Pastor Greg continues his study of the example of Moses. We'll dig into Exodus 3 where Moses meets with God and finds out he's been chosen to help deliver the children of Israel. A fascinating study next time on 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.