Good News in a Bad World: Only Jesus, Nothing Else, Can Satisfy

Today's episode of A New Beginning is brought to you by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Learn more at harvest.org. And while you're there, browse our library of free e-books designed to help you grow in your faith. We have a cure for eternal separation from God, a cure for a future in hell. We have the answer.

You've got to tell others. Listen, we have the good news and the bad world, and it's the gospel. Coming up today here on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie reminds believers we have the hope people are looking for. We need to get back to the gospel, and we need to give it to this world, because that's the only answer for our country.

It's the only answer for our world. 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 when the angels are singing.

This is the day, the day when life begins. The world is a mess. The economy is recovering from the pandemic. There's political discord everywhere you look.

The world is a powder cake. It's enough to make even optimists wonder if the sky is falling. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie shows us there's only one hope. It's not a government handout or a political standout.

It's not in social reform or better border security. It's in the security that comes from having peace with God. It's the day, the day when life begins. Let's turn to our Bible. It says 2 Kings chapter 7. 2 Kings chapter 7. This was a very dark time in the history of the nation Israel.

Things could not have been more bleak. But we are going to see how God broke in on this difficulty and brought some very good news. We will see the problem. We will see the promise. We will see the people God chose to bring that promise.

And finally the proclamation of that good news. First let's identify the problem. This as I said was one of the darkest moments in the history of Israel. Everything had gone wrong. They had sunk to the lowest of the depths and their economy had completely collapsed. A famine had swept the land and the king was powerless to do anything about it. You see God had withdrawn His blessing from the nation of Israel.

Why? Because He had turned to worshiping false gods. And so we see what happens now as we turn to our text. It is 2 Kings chapter 7. I am going to read verses 1 through 9 to you.

And you can read along of course. And I am going to be reading by the way from the New Living Translation. So Elisha the prophet appears on the scene. And he says, verse 1, "'Hear this message from the Lord.'" Here is what the Lord says. "'By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria five quarts of fine flour will cost only half an ounce of silver.

Ten quarts of barley grain will cost only half an ounce of silver.' The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, "'This couldn't happen if the Lord opened up the windows of heaven.' Elisha said, "'You will see it happen but you will not be able to eat any of it.'"

Now the story shifts. There were four men with leprosy sitting at the entrance of the city gates. "'Why should we sit here waiting to die?'

they asked one another. "'We will starve if we stay here and we will starve if we go back into the city. So we might as well go and just surrender to the Syrian army.

If they let us live so much the better. But if they killed us well we would have died anyway.' So that evening they went out to the camp of the Syrians.

But no one was there. For the Lord had caused the whole army of Syria to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sound of a great army approaching. And they said, "'The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.' And they panicked and fled into the night, abandoning their tents, their horses, their donkeys, and everything else. And they fled for their lives. So the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp.

They went from one tent to another, eating, drinking wine, carrying out silver and gold and clothing and hiding it. Finally they said to each other, "'Hey this is not right. This is a day of good news and we are not sharing it with anyone. If we wait until morning some terrible calamity will certainly fall on us. Come let's go tell the people at the palace. Therefore come let us go and tell the king's household.'"

So we have already identified the problem. It was sin. It was idolatry.

It was the fact that Israel had abandoned God. Here is the promise. The promise was God was going to change things.

Elisha said that food was going to be affordable the next day. And the king's aide says, well that is not even possible. He says in verse 2, even if the Lord opened up the windows of heaven that couldn't happen. And then Elisha shoots back, well I will tell you what.

You will see it happen but you personally will not eat any of it. And so here is what it comes down to. This man was unwilling to believe God's solution. And it was a spiritual solution. Not only is it a spiritual solution for the problems in our country. It is a spiritual solution for the problems in our lives as well. Let's say your marriage is struggling. There is a spiritual and biblical solution for that.

Let's say that you are a single person trying to find that right man, that right woman. There is a spiritual and biblical solution for that too. Let's say your finances are a mess. Listen. There is a spiritual and biblical solution for that also. There is always that spiritual and biblical solution. You say, oh I already tried that. It didn't work.

No you didn't. Because if you had tried it and indeed were doing it I believe you would find the answers you need. I have never yet counseled a couple who had their marriage unraveling who were doing what God told them to do. I have never seen a marriage falling apart where the husband was loving his wife as Christ loves the church as Scripture commands. Nor have I seen a marriage falling apart where the wife was submitting unto the husband as unto the Lord as the Bible tells us.

It is always a departure from that. But then they will say, oh well I tried that. No actually you didn't try it. And you are not doing it. And if you would do it you would see things change you see. There is a spiritual and there is a biblical solution. And God has told us to call upon Him in the day of trouble.

But this guy is saying, well it won't work. I just refuse to believe. And you know by the way it is not a bad thing to be skeptical. I think sometimes we can be a little too gullible and a little too willing to believe anything that is said. The Bible does tell us as Christians we are to be discerning.

It tells us that we are to test all things according to Scripture. But having said that there is a difference between skepticism and unbelief. Skepticism might be just a sign that you are thinking. You are reasoning it out. Well I don't understand this. Help me with this.

I don't quite get this. Even the Lord says in Isaiah, come let us argue this out says the Lord. I by nature am a skeptical person.

So I understand that somewhat. But unbelief is different. Unbelief says I refuse to believe. Unbelief says I choose to not believe what God says in His Word.

No. That is simply not true. And that is what this man was doing. He was simply full of unbelief.

And I will tell you what. Hebrews 11 says it is impossible to please God without faith for anyone that comes to Him must believe that He is. And as a rewarder of those that sincerely seek Him. If you want this relationship with God you need to come in faith.

And the Bible is replete with stories of men and women who had their lives transformed because they reached out in believing faith and took God at His Word. Will you? What is your problem? What is troubling you today?

I am sure you have come in with your share of burdens. Things that sometimes keep you up at night. Things that trouble you.

Well listen. Call upon the name of the Lord. Bring them to God. The Scripture says, cast all you care upon Him for He cares for you.

Think of the stories of people that were transformed because they put their faith into action. Like that woman that had a physical condition. We are not sure really what it was. But she was constantly bleeding. And she had spent all of her money on doctors. Probably quack doctors.

And had come up with no solutions. And one day she heard Jesus was coming by and this woman decided if I can touch the hem of His garment I believe I will be healed. So here comes Jesus always with a crowd around Him. Pushing. Pulling. Dust everywhere.

Lots of noise. And this woman reaches out her hand and manages to touch her fingertip to the very tip of the garment of Jesus's robe. She just touched it. All of a sudden Jesus comes and says, ok who touched me? People are like, who touched you? Everyone touched you.

No. He says, I perceive power has gone out of me. The crowd parts and there is that little woman.

Hi. He didn't say this to rebuke or correct her. He wanted to commend her for her great faith. And indeed she was healed at that very moment.

Because she applied her faith. Ah but the King's aid. He is not buying any of this.

This couldn't happen if the windows of heaven were open. Life just said, well as a matter of fact it won't happen for you. There is always going to be people that are going to tell you, you will be a failure in life.

I will say to you, you will never amount to anything. Did any of you ever have someone say that to you in life? Anybody?

It is ok. I had it. I remember a teacher actually wrote on my report card.

I still have it somewhere. She wrote down these words. Greg Laurie will never amount to anything.

Because all he does is sit in class all day long and look out the window in daydream and draws cartoons. Now was this true? Absolutely. But it is funny how I remember that. I mean I wasn't really encouraged when I read my teacher writing that on my report card. And we have to think about things that we say to children. And throughout my ministry I have heard the same thing. You know people said when we started our church. I mean after all I was 20 years old. You can't start a church.

You are too young. That will never work. You are not qualified. And then when we started our crusade ministry.

Oh that won't work. Crusades are over with. No one wants to go to crusades anymore. Everything we have done we have had our opposition and our naysayers. In fact at this point in life I have come to expect it. In fact if I don't get opposition I am wondering what is wrong here.

Where are the critics? Where are the people telling me we can't do this because I kind of like it when they do it because it is sort of like the red cape in front of the bull. Oh yeah. Now I am not advocating false bravado. I am not saying we should be presumptuous. But I am saying let's take some steps of faith and see what the Lord will do. I would rather try and fail than never try at all.

And there are some people that always throw a wet blanket on everything. This will not work. Don't try that. No no no. And you know what sadly for those people it never does happen.

It never does take place. But for the ones who are willing to take the risks God can do some pretty amazing things. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. In a moment we will have the opportunity to speak with children's author Sally Lloyd-Jones about a special resource just released. But Pastor Greg continues his message now called Good News in a Bad World. We have looked at the problem Israel was facing.

We have looked at the promise of provision. So who did the Lord call to bring this message to the people? He chose four lepers.

It is hard for us to understand how significant that was. You see a leper was a man or a woman who had an incurable disease. And what they had was highly contagious. And so they were quarantined.

They were isolated. And if a leper was out and about they had to cry out to any person coming near them unclean. So everyone kept their distance from lepers. In fact if you were a leper your only other friends would be fellow lepers. So God says, let's see who can I use to herald this message? I know. I will choose lepers.

It is kind of cool. And so these lepers go into this camp. And here is how they reason. They think, look you know life is pretty bad for us no matter what happens. It can't get much worse. We are going to die no matter what. And we are really hungry. Now if we stay here in the wilderness we will die. But you know let's go over to the camp of the Syrians. Maybe they will be sympathetic toward us and throw us some table scraps and we will have a meal. Maybe they will kill us.

But what does it matter? We are going to die anyway. What have we got to lose? So they go over to the camp of the Syrians and not only are they not just throwing table scraps. The Syrians have fled.

And there is food everywhere. The proclamation. Look at verse 9. The leper said one to another, this is not right. This is the day of good news and we are not sharing it with anyone. If we wait until morning some terrible calamity will certainly fall on us. Come let's go back and tell the people at the palace. I mean here are these lepers.

They come in the camp. Imagine you are starving to death. There is food everywhere. You know you are just like drumstick in each hand and you are chowing down. Oh the silver thing. I will think this cold thing and oh man. Wait a second. We can't do this. There are people dying right now. People starving to death.

Little children that need a meal and need some water. Man if we keep this to ourselves something bad may happen. We have got to go back. See they recognize that to fail to share this with others would have been criminal. Sinful.

Let me say something that might seem somewhat provocative. For us to fail to share the good news that we have with a lost world can actually be a sin. You know when we think of sin we generally think of broken commandments and acts of disobedience. And those things certainly are sin. But as I pointed out to you before sin is not only doing what is wrong. It is not doing what is right because there are not only sins of commission. There are also sins of omission. And we are told in the book of James chapter 4 verse 17 it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. I know what you ought to do.

You ought to tell others about Jesus Christ. Let's illustrate. Let's say you somehow were some brilliant scientist and you discovered a cure for cancer. Think of how many lives have been devastated by this dreaded disease. And you found a cure. It was a pill. You took one time.

Cancer was gone. Now what would you do? Well I hope you would share it with as many people as possible. Well I don't know if I will do that.

Why? Well I am not really comfortable talking to strangers. Ok so you are telling me because you don't like to talk to strangers you are not going to tell them you found a cure for cancer.

Yeah that is pretty much it. I don't want to. It is difficult. And what if they don't believe what I am saying and they don't like what I am saying or they don't like the way I say it. No I will just keep this to myself. That is wrong.

You have got to tell others. Listen. We have a cure for something even worse than cancer. It is a cure for eternal separation from God. A cure for a future in hell. We have the answer that everyone needs. We have the good news and the bad world. And it is the gospel. You might say, Greg, can't you come up with something new every now and then?

No. There is nothing new. If it is new it is not true.

And if it is true it is not new. We don't need something new. We need to get back to the gospel and we need to give it to this world because that is the only answer for our country. It is the only answer for our world.

It is the only answer that will change things for time and eternity because life on earth as we know it will come to an end and then comes eternity and we will get the big picture and we will see that all these things we stress so much over and concerned ourselves so much with we are nothing compared to where we spend our eternal destiny. So the question is when is the last time you or I told someone about Jesus? So here is what happened.

The lepers go to the camp of Israel. Hey everyone. Hi. We are four lepers. We know you all hit our guts. But we have a message for you. We just went over to the camp of the Syrians and there is food everywhere and there is gold and there is silver and there is clothing.

So you guys ought to go check that out. Well they thought they were crazy. Oh they are lying.

They are lepers. What do they know? They told the king, oh it is a trap. As soon as we go over there they will just kill us. We will send a spy in and let's check it out anyway. So a spy goes over and comes back. King you know what those lepers said.

It is true. So they opened up the gates and said, head over to the camp. It is time to have a meal.

And the people were so excited they went running and guess who was at the front door. Right this way everyone. The king is saying boom.

He is gone. Remember what Elisha said. You will see it with your eyes. But it won't happen for you. There are people like that today. You know they see it happen for others. But it never happens for them.

They never reach their potential. They watch others have their lives transform but their lives are not transformed and so they remain in their spiritual mediocrity. They remain slaves to their addictions and their lifestyles and their sins.

And in the end they throw their lives away. It is not too late for you if you are one of these people to say to God, Lord I want to change my life in this coming year. I want to be a real Christian living in the power of your Holy Spirit.

I want all that you have for me. Would you say that? Because maybe you have watched time pass and people change and it hasn't happened for you and you wonder why. Maybe it is time to turn to God in faith. Say, Lord transform my life. And it is time for all of us to step up this whole thing and get this message out to as many as we can.

Because we are in a unique time in human history with unique opportunities with the only message that matters and can really change the human heart. I close with a quote from the book of Esther. You remember she was a beautiful girl who won a beauty contest and became the queen of Persia. But she was a Jew. And there was a wicked man named Haman that hatched a plot to have all of the Jewish people exterminated.

And he actually got the king to agree to it. And so Esther's uncle Mordecai made contact with her. She was shielded there in the palace living in the lap of luxury.

Out of touch with reality in many ways. And Mordecai sent this message to Esther and he said, "'Esther don't think for a moment you will escape there in the palace when all the other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this the deliverance of the Jews will arise from some other place but you and your relatives will die. But who knows and who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for such a time as this. Esther you are where you are because God put you there. Use your influence now girl while you can. And if you don't God will get someone else.

And you know what? God has put you where you are too. Maybe you don't like where you are. Maybe you don't like your next door neighbor.

Maybe you don't get along well with that person you work next to. Or maybe there are other challenges in your life and you wish they would change but God is in control. He has put you where you are for such a time as this.

Use that opportunity He has given. Don't keep it to yourself." In closing maybe there are some of you listening to my message right now who you don't even know that Christ is living inside of you. You are not certain your sin is forgiven.

But you want it to be. We have talked about the good news that we have to declare. Here is the good news in a nutshell. You are a sinner.

That is not very good news. But the good news is as God has sent a Savior who was born in a manger, who died on a cross, who rose again from the dead, who will come into your life and forgive you of all of your sin if you will turn from it and put your faith in Him. And you can know with certainty that when you die you will go to heaven. And if you have never asked Christ to come into your life as we close now in prayer I would like to give you that opportunity to do that. And if you are a person who needs to make a recommitment to Jesus respond to this as well if you would. Let's all bow our heads. Everyone pray please. Father thank you for your Word to us today. Lord we don't want to keep this message to ourselves. We want to believe the promise. We want to share the promise with others. And we want you to use us with this message that this world so desperately needs to hear. And I pray now for any that have joined us who may not yet know you, who don't have the certainty that their sin is forgiven, they don't have that absolute hope of heaven. Lord would you help them to come to you and believe and receive your forgiveness now. We pray.

Amen. An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie. And if you would like to make a change today in your relationship with God, Pastor Greg will help you take that step in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. And if you weren't able to hear all of today's study from Pastor Greg, you can hear the entire presentation online at harvest.org. Listen from the beginning or fast forward to the part you missed.

Or you can even download the MP3 to hear later. The message title is Good News in a Bad World. And again our web address is harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg we're so pleased to have Sally Lloyd-Jones on the program with us today. She's such a gifted children's author.

Yes. And we're making available her new book called Near. Pastor Greg. What do you hope the takeaway truth is for the little one? In other words when they read this, what are you hoping they walk away with? My prayer is that they never feel that they're alone. That they always know they have someone who loves them right there that they can talk to. And he just happens to be the one who made the entire universe. And that he knows their name. Knows the color of their eyes. That he cares for the littlest ones.

Even though he's a great majestic god and yet he cares for little ones. Could you just read a little bit of it for our listeners? I'd be happy to. Okay Near, a paraphrase of Psalm 139. And of course I have to say I'm only going to be telling you half the story because this is a picture book and it's a story told in two languages.

So like I say to children you'll have to use your imagination because there's incredible illustrations but you can't see them so you've got to make them up in your head. Okay? So, Near. God is my father who made everything and I am a little explorer of the wide world. He is near me and he protects me. He sees me and he knows me. He is strong and he looks after me. He is with me always.

However far I go he is always near me. I could climb the biggest mountain. I could fly to the highest star. I could dive into the deepest sea. I could sail far far away to the north pole. God would still be there. I could trek through jungles. Ride through deserts.

Zoom as fast as light. God would still be there. Even in the dark at night he is still with me there.

He stays close to me and he won't ever leave me because I am his little child and he loves me. Wow! Yeah, that's Sally Lloyd-Jones reading from her new book called Near.

Isn't that great? Think of what reassurance that would bring to your child or grandchild or what a great gift for a new parent. We'd like to send this new book along with a second resource from Sally, Babies Carry Along Bible.

It's a sturdy little board book for small children with ten of their favorite stories told in rhyme, and it even has its own little carrying handle built right in. We'll send both of these resources to you to say thank you for your donation right now, an investment in keeping Pastor Greg's teaching coming your way each day. So write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org. Well, Pastor Greg, you've mentioned that someone can become a Christian with just a simple prayer.

That's right. Maybe somebody would like to do that right now. Could you help them with that?

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 get in touch, and we'll be glad to send it right out. You can write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us anytime at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.

And you can reach us at that number anytime, 24-7. Or go online to harvest.org and click the words, Know God. Well, next time, Pastor Greg reinforces the value of godly character, as we consider the example set for us by Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Be sure to tune in next time here on A New Beginning. The preceding podcast was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Learn how to become a Harvest Partner, sign up for daily devotions, and find resources to help you grow in your faith at harvest.org.