Violence & Sex | How to Respond to Hatred

You're listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Visit our website and learn more about Harvest Partners at harvest.org. This has had some strong things to say about having that kind of hatred for someone. The Bible tells us God is love. Yes, He's loving, but 1 John 4 says God is love. And it says, He who does not love does not know God. So it should come as no surprise that hatred is not a part of God's plan for believers. But today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie addresses the hatred we see around us in our culture. What are we as believers to do? Good insight is coming. And a word to parents, the content of today's study may be a little too strong for younger ears.

This is the day, the day when life begins. Violence, murder, our culture is awash in it. Everywhere you look, you see it. You see it on your TV set, you see it in theaters, you see it in music, video games, and then you see it in real time. Even terrorist organizations executing people with four camera HD shoots. But it's not fake.

It's real. The taking of lives, it's so overwhelming we become numb to it and it's all around us. And just imagine how different our world would be if we would obey this commandment, thou shall not kill. A better translation frankly is you shall not murder. I don't have time to go into this in depth but suffice it to say the Bible does not condemn all killing. Numbers 35 plainly states a difference which God places between killing and murder. As an example, all murder is killing but not all killing is necessarily murder. Example, self defense. If someone were to break into your home with the intent of harming or killing you and the members of your family, does a Christian have the right to defend themself?

The answer is clearly yes. This is supported in the Bible so don't be unclear about that because some people might say, well no, someone broke into my house and wanted to kill my family. I'd just pray. Well I'd pray I get to my gun fast enough.

Sorry. I don't mean that in a cavalier way. I mean that in a way of I'm going to do whatever I need to do to defend my family.

And that is our right and I would even add it's your responsibility as a follower of Jesus Christ. And so remember Jesus sent his disciples out and he told them take a sword. Why would they take a sword?

To do shish kabob maybe or something? For self defense clearly. And we also know that God has established the military and God has established law enforcement for our own protection. In fact you could even say that the person in law enforcement or in the military is doing God's work. Because Romans 13 says the authorities do not frighten people who are doing right. The authorities are sent by God to help you if you're doing something wrong and you should be afraid and you will be punished. The authorities are established by God for this very purpose to punish those that do wrong. I would ring this up because some would say well God is against all of this. He doesn't like violence of any kind.

No. If it's in the right cause. When a person is serving in law enforcement they're very uniform is something that has an intimidating effect on people.

I know because I have friends who are cops and sometimes I'll meet them for a meal or coffee and you know officer walks in in uniform. He's got his Sam Brown on. That's that big belt you know with all of the stuff he carries. He's got his weapon. He's got his cuffs.

He's got his pepper spray. He's got his donut. They have a holder for a donut.

No they don't. I'm just kidding. But I actually asked a cop like what is the deal with cops and donuts. He goes sometimes we're in places like that because we have to get out of there fast. Ok.

So that makes sense for sure. But you know when an officer walks into a room in uniform the whole energy of the room will change. You know. And how about when you're driving down the freeway and a CHP just is cruising along. Everybody slows down. If he slows down everybody slows down.

If he's under the speed limit now we're all under the speed limit. Right. Because there's that representation. But then there's our military. Those that serve us in uniform we should thank God for them. We should pray for them.

And they need our prayers. Some would say well God is against war. Well God is not for war but there are times when there is a just cause for a war.

As an example you remember Jesus met the Roman centurion. And if Jesus is against war and the military and people in uniform he would have said to this Roman soldier forsake your armor and your weapons and follow me. But instead the soldier came to him and said hey I have a servant that's sick. Could you speak the word and he'll be healed. Jesus says I'll go with you in healing him. And the guy says you don't have to go with me.

I'm a man in authority. I say to one person go and do this and they do it. Say to another do that and they do it.

Just speak the word Jesus and it will be done. And Jesus commends the guy and says I haven't seen faith like this in all of Israel. Look at this guy. So in a way he commends the guy.

And so the point is is that they're there for our protection. What does the word murder mean? It literally means to dash in pieces. By the way that word is never used to describe the death of an animal. Nor is it used to describe the death of an opponent in war.

Nor is it used to describe the death that comes through capital punishment. God himself in my opinion established capital punishment. Genesis 9 says you must execute anyone who murders another person. For to kill a person is to kill a living being made in the image of God. The Bible views capital punishment as a deterrent to others.

Thus a protector of life. But the irony is sometimes you'll see someone who is on death row and maybe the date of their execution is coming. And there will be protesters outside and one of those signs will invariably say thou shall not kill. As though they're breaking a commandment by capital punishment. And then what I find ironic is some of the very people that oppose capital punishment would support abortion on demand.

Now you explain that to me. So basically you're saying spare the guilty and take the life of the innocent. Because an unborn child in the womb is an innocent and they have every right to live.

Now there's varying degrees even among believers in capital punishment. So I'll concede that point. But I will not concede any point on the topic of abortion. Because life begins at conception. And we're made in the image of God.

This is not a debatable subject honestly. If you don't agree with that then you frankly disagree with the Bible. Psalm 139 says you made all of my delicate inner parts of my body. You knit me together in my mother's womb.

Thank you for being so wonderfully complex. You watched me as I was being formed in utter inclusion as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. The psalmist writes. Every day of my life is recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid up before a single day had passed. Showing that God has a plan for every one of us even before birth the Lord says in Jeremiah 1 5. When you were still in your mother's womb I set you apart and I formed you and appointed you. So every child is created by God and should be given the chance to live. Max Ocado made this statement and I quote. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on this earth by the master craftsman. End quote. So you might say well wait a second. What if the child was conceived out of wedlock?

What of it? You don't think that child should live as well? You don't think God doesn't have a plan for their life? God had a plan for my life and I was conceived out of wedlock. I'm glad that my mother didn't go and have an abortion. And so every one of these children has a right to live.

Well yeah but I don't know. I think these are illegitimate children. There are no illegitimate children. Illegitimate parents yes. Illegitimate children no.

Every child no matter how they were conceived or how they came about are loved by God. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hey I don't know if you know about this but we have a weekend service called Harvest at Home. Exclusively for people that are tuning in literally from around the world.

Listen to this. We even have Harvest groups where you can get into a small group with folks from all around this planet of ours and study the Word of God. So join us this weekend Saturday and Sunday for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg is talking about life and death matters today. The taking of a human life through murder and through abortion.

He continues his message now called violence and sex. Abortion is so commonplace today. Since the passing of Roe v. Wade in the early 70's over 60 million babies have been aborted. And now there are even advocates for abortion who will admit how women will struggle with grief after an abortion. A University of Minnesota study on teen suicide found that the rate of attempted suicide increased ten times for teens who had had an abortion.

Listen. The abortion is never the answer. So let's say that a young lady finds herself pregnant outside of wedlock.

What should she do? She should have the baby. Carry the baby to term. And raise the baby if possible. Maybe the father and her can get married. Maybe the Lord will bring another man into her life later. If she doesn't feel she can raise the child put the child up for adoption. And there are many many people who would love to adopt that child. But abortion should never ever be an option. It should not be on the table as a possibility. Because God has a plan for each one of these. What they have found is if a pregnant woman will get a sonogram they will never get an abortion. Ninety percent of mothers who have had a sonogram decided against abortion.

Now we need to look at what the Lord says in His Word on these topics. Yeah but wait Greg. Hold on now. What about if the mother's life is in danger? Ok let's illustrate that for a moment. The mother's life is in danger. Let's say you go to a doctor. You're pregnant. And they say if you carry this baby to term you could die in the process so you should get an abortion.

Is that right? Ok let's think of this in another way. Let's just say that you are a mother and you are walking with your toddler. And your toddler runs into a busy street and there is an oncoming car. What would you do? You would do whatever is necessary to move the little one from the oncoming car. And if you were here in the process that is what you would do because you are a mother. Your maternal instinct would kick in right?

So what if your life were in danger? Well I heard about a couple named Pam and Bob who are serving as missionaries in the Philippines. And as it turns out Pam contracted amoebic dysentery. The leading cause of death in the country. And she was pregnant at that time with her fifth child. She was very dehydrated and very sick. And she went to the doctor and he advised her to get an abortion.

Because of the powerful medicine she would have to take to survive. She could not carry this child to term he said. So if you want to live the baby is going to have to die.

And so she prayed about it with her husband and his Bible believing Christians. They said no we are not going to terminate this pregnancy. We are not going to abort this baby. And they carried the baby to term. And it was a healthy little baby boy. They named him Tim by the way. You might know him.

His name is Tim Tebow right? So that is his story. A true story. But maybe I am talking to a mother today who has aborted her baby. And you are living with the guilt and the remorse.

And you wished you had not done it. Well let me just say this to you. A word of hope. You will see your baby again. Because I believe that every little one that is taken in the womb through abortion. Any little child that dies goes straight into the presence of God in heaven. That is taught in the Bible.

Right? Jesus said let the children come unto me and forbid them not for as such is the kingdom of heaven. So you will see your child again. And now you must ask God to forgive you.

And you must accept his forgiveness. I sent a tweet out some time ago about some abortion law that had been passed. And I was saying why I thought it was such a horrible idea. And a young lady retweeted it and briefly told me a little of her story named Crystal saying she used to work at a Planned Parenthood clinic. So we made contact with her.

And as it turns out there is this young woman named Crystal living in North Carolina. And she worked at Planned Parenthood and was involved in the abortion procedure. And so she was a professed believer. But this is what she was doing. One day she was driving to work and she heard a radio broadcast where I talked about how Jesus could come back in any time. And I asked this question.

If Jesus were to come back is there anything you are doing that you would be ashamed to be doing if he were to return? And that day she was there at the clinic and her words after the abortion was done. She said she was counting the pieces of the dismembered baby. And then she said and I thought of your statement if Jesus came back today would he leave me behind?

She decided he probably would. She quit her job and now she is an advocate for life. Defending the lives of babies. You say Greg this seems very political.

Does it? We are going to speak out on whatever issue is out there. And we are going to give you the biblical perspective. I will say this. I could never vote for a candidate that would support abortion today. Well I like this candidate and I like their stand in health care. Well I am more concerned about the life of unborn children among other things.

So I think we need to prioritize what is really important to us. We say well this doesn't really apply to me. You know I have never murdered anybody.

I have not had an abortion. Alright. Well Jesus takes it a step further in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5 I had you turn there. Look at verse 21. You have heard that it has been said, says Jesus, Do not murder and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with this brother will be subject to judgment. Uh oh.

And it is a little closer to home. There are some people who are driven by anger and hatred. Let me ask you a question. Is there somebody that you have hatred toward? You hate them so badly you honestly wish they were dead. You hate this person. Let me restate the question.

Have you ever driven on the freeway? No. I am kidding. But you know.

Listen. Hatred is clearly forbidden in Scripture. 1 John 3 15 says, Anyone who hates his Christian brother is really a murderer at heart.

Wow. So Jesus is saying look you can say you have never killed anyone but do you hate someone so much you wish they were dead? Then in effect you are a murderer in your heart. Over in Ephesians 4 31 it says, Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another.

Sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ has forgiven you. A frank discussion of the danger of hatred and the sanctity of life today here on A New Beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie with a study from his Ten Commandments series called Violence and Sex. And he'll have some closing thoughts in just a moment. Well Pastor Greg the great movie Johnny Cash The Redemption of an American Icon is now available on DVD.

And we can make it available to our listeners. Johnny was a man of faith. Yes. But at the same time he was a man who sure made a lot of mistakes.

You know. Spent time in jail. Had drug issues. Where do you come down on the question of whether Johnny really was a Christian? Well I think he definitely was a Christian. But he was a struggling Christian. And it's funny because non-believers, his fellow musicians, regarded Johnny as a saint. He was a prophet-like figure to them. But then some Christians because of his lapses and struggles primarily with amphetamines said, Well he's not a Christian at all.

Well he's a Christian. He believed in Jesus. In fact the funny thing that people may not know about Johnny Cash is when he started out he wanted to be a gospel singer. He would be out on the cotton fields with his mother and his family picking cotton and singing gospel songs.

And that's what he wanted to be. In fact when he went to Sam Phillips who originally recorded Johnny and also recorded someone you might have heard of called Elvis Presley. Along with Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins and many others.

Sam Phillips said, You know no one wants to hear a gospel artist. And so Johnny instead came up with some other songs. But throughout his career he released many gospel records and used his considerable platform to talk very boldly about his faith. But he developed a dependence on amphetamines when he was out on the road traveling that he struggled with through a great part of his life. And it took its toll on him physically. The fact of the matter is when Johnny was 70 he looked like he was 90. But his faith always was there. He never lost his faith.

In fact it was even stronger toward the end of his life. So this is all documented in this brand new DVD of the film Johnny Cash, The Redemption of an American Icon. You're going to learn things about Johnny you never knew. You're going to be inspired. You're going to be encouraged.

Let me say this. Do you know somebody that is struggling with drug addiction or alcohol? Do you know somebody who's fallen away from the Lord? This would be a great movie to show them. Because when they see how God turned Johnny's life around they too will find inspiration to turn their life around by recommitting their life to Christ. So this will be one of the most effective tools you have in your little evangelistic toolbox.

You have a tool for everything. You've got the Jesus Revolution film. You've got the Johnny Cash, The Redemption of an American Icon film.

Maybe you have the Steve McQueen, The Salvation of an American Icon film. And by the way we have some new projects coming your way you're going to love that we'll tell you about in the future. But we're trying to equip you with resources to A, inspire you but B, to reach out and touch others.

So this is the cool thing. You can order this DVD and you can give it away as a gift. You can download the streaming code and have it right there to view at any time on your computer or your phone or your tablet.

It's all there for you. So we will send you your own copy of Johnny Cash, The Redemption of an American Icon on DVD with the streaming code for your gift of any size. Now we could just sell this to you obviously. But the reason we say for your gift of any size is we want to give you an opportunity to invest in the work of the ministry. Because you see when you do that you're laying up for yourself treasure in heaven. So if you believe in what we do here at A New Beginning our mission as you know is summed up in this statement to know God and make him known. So we teach the word of God to you here on this program. But we also make him known and we give opportunities for people to come to Christ.

You know if you're a listener. And so if you believe in that mission then be generous when you send your gift to get your copy of Johnny Cash, The Redemption of an American Icon. One other thing there's some great bonus content on this DVD you won't find anywhere else including a special message I did talking about the life of Johnny.

And then I present the gospel and I even have a prayer a person can pray to accept Christ. So get your copy of Johnny Cash, The Redemption of an American Icon with bonus content on DVD with a streaming code for your gift of any size. Yeah that's right and you can reach us quickly by calling 1-800-821-3300. We're here around the clock to take your call seven days a week. Again dial 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514.

Or go online to harvest.org. Get in touch with your investment in this important work and let us thank you with Johnny Cash, The Redemption of an American Icon. Well Pastor Greg has more frank counsel for us next time from his message violence and sex.

But he has these final words as we close today. Here's a little advice. Let's say that you're really angry at someone. Here's something you might consider doing. Write it all down in a letter. Put everything you feel in that letter.

Get specific. I don't care if it's a five page letter. Write the whole letter. Alright. Now burn the letter.

Just you know. Get it out but never send it. Or put it in an email.

Just don't hit send. Have you ever written an angry email? Something happened and you're really upset. In fact you're so upset your fingers are shaking.

You can't even get them on the keys shaking. You're so agitated and you're typing it in. You know. And then you hit send by accident.

Oh no. I wanted to save it as a trap. Send. Off it goes. And someone that you send it to. Bing.

And you're furiously googling. How do I get an email back? Response. You don't comma idiot.

Don't send it. This is the day. The day when life begins. A New Beginning is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. Helping people everywhere know God. If this show has impacted your life, share your story. Leave a review on your favorite podcast app and help others find hope.