On the Outside Looking In | How Do You Represent Christ?

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Sign up at harvest.org. Listen to this. When Christians love one another, it's a powerful witness to a lost world. The Bible tells us believers are ambassadors or representatives of Christ. Each of us is a walking, talking billboard for the Lord.

What does your billboard say? Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie continues his series, Water, Fire, Stone, an inspiring look at the life of Moses. And today we'll see how Moses actually demonstrated how not to behave as one of God's children. We'll see what happens when anger gets the best of us.

Good insight is coming up. Grab your Bibles and turn to two passages, Exodus chapter 20 and Joshua chapter 14. If you have one of those fancy Bibles like this one here with ribbons, you can put a ribbon in Joshua 14.

But we're going to start with Exodus 20. So some years ago, I was back in New York City with my wife around Christmas time. We had another couple that were over there with us as well.

So the girls went shopping at Macy's department store. And it was raining like crazy. And they didn't want to get wet. And I very valiantly said, I'll go get you a cab. And I went out in the horrible rain. And finally a cab stops and I said, hang on here one second. So I opened up the back door and I gestured to them, come on, come on. And the girls are in high heels.

So they're walking like this fast. Come on, come on, come on. And while I'm waiting for them to come, some guy starts to step into my cab that I hailed. And I said, sir, hold on.

This is my cab. And this guy, I don't know how to put it delicately. He flipped me the bird.

I mean like within three inches of my face. I was so mad. I shoved this guy. I said, it's my cab.

And this guy, whoa, that guy's a psycho. So the girls got in. My other friend got in. We shut the door. We're driving off. I was feeling really good about myself. I showed that guy. And then the adrenaline wore off. And I realized how insane that was, what I had just done. And ironically, I was in New York City to preach.

I thought, what if this guy shows up at the meeting and I'm preaching that. Says, hey, that's that guy that shoved me when I was trying to steal his cab. Basically, I lost my temper.

And you know what? There's a lot of that going on right now in our culture. We all seem to have short fuses, don't we? Politics.

Oh my goodness. So everybody's in their political corner. And we come out fighting. And we come out debating. And it just seems to get more intense. So we get that. We know people lose their temper. We know people are uptight.

But wait a second. Are you a Christian? If you're a Christian, you should be different than that.

We should not be caught up in all of this anger that is being expressed by so many people. The Bible says a person who loses his temper is a fool. In Proverbs 29, 11. Scripture tells us as followers of Christ, we're to love others and we're to be at peace. In fact, Jesus said in John 13, 36, By this shall all men know you are My disciples, that you have love one for another.

Listen to this. When Christians love one another, it's a powerful witness to a lost world. Let me add, when Christians are fighting with one another, it's a poor witness to a lost world. Oh I know. We feel justified in unloading both barrels and giving someone a piece of our mind.

But if you give too many pieces of your mind away, you won't have any left for yourself. We justify this anger because we know, at least we say, we're in the right on this subject. Ok fine. Let's just say for the sake of a point, you're right. You don't have to scream at someone.

You don't have to turn it into a major conflict. And we may rationalize this by saying well we're more spiritual than them and we need to set them right. But if you're really a spiritual person, if you're really a godly person, you'll be a humble person and you'll be a loving person.

Not someone who is filled with anger and rage. We as believers should be showing love and forgiveness. And if we don't listen to this, we grieve the Holy Spirit. The Bible says don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God.

Listen. The Holy Spirit is God. And the Holy Spirit can be lied to. The Holy Spirit can be resisted.

The Holy Spirit can be insulted. And the Holy Spirit can be grieved. You only grieve someone you love. If some random stranger comes up to me and insults me, it doesn't grieve me.

It just bugs me. But if someone I love says something hurtful to me, it grieves me. So we can grieve the Holy Spirit. You say well what does that even mean? It means to make sad or sorrowful.

How do we do it? Ephesians 4 30 gives the answer. It says don't grieve or bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way that you live. And what would that be? He continues on get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander as well as all types of evil behavior.

Listen to this. Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God through Christ has forgiven you. Be kind to each other. And I have no doubt that social media is feeding this frenzy.

I think we spend way too much time looking at phones and tablets and following our favorite website that inflames us. And speaking of tablets I want to talk about a guy who really lost his temper. We are in a series on the life of Moses.

We are calling it Water, Fire, Stone. And Moses had quite the temper. Because when God gave to him the Ten Commandments and he descended from Mount Sinai and saw the Israelites who were left under the charge of Aaron dancing naked before a golden calf he was really ticked off. And Moses took the commandments and smashed them on the ground. Now that's crazy. I mean I know he's mad. And I know there's a place of righteous indignation but to smash the commandments handwritten by the finger of God on the ground.

That's crazy. But Moses had that temper. Hey don't forget that the reason he was in exile in the wilderness is because he lost his temper when he saw an Egyptian slave driver mistreating a Jew. The Bible says he looked to the right.

He looked to the left. And he killed the guy. I mean I'm not saying it would be a good idea but punched the guy maybe. But literally he killed the man and then he buried him in the shifting sand and he was sent into exile and God gave to Moses a long time out. You know that's what you do with kids today when they are being naughty.

Alright. Time out. They have to go sit in a room by themselves. The Lord said to Moses, time out. Go to the wilderness. For 40 years he tended a flock of sheep. He was off the grid. He was off social media. He killed his Twitter account, Facebook, and Instagram.

He didn't even use TikTok. And he just waited. And the Lord recommissioned him. Now you would have thought this would have been a new and improved Moses free of anger issues. But he goes into the Pharaoh to demand the release of the Israelites. And the Pharaoh refuses. And we read that Moses went out in fury.

So let's just say Moses had some anger issues. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We're encouraged to hear when these studies have impacted lives even through difficult times. Pastor Greg, I truly feel as if I personally know you. I have followed your ministry from the early 90s on one of Billy Graham's radio stations in North Carolina. You will never know how much your messages have touched my life and made me a better Christian. I won't soon forget the day I heard the devastating news of your son Christopher's passing because it happened on my husband's birthday. And then in December of 2021, I experienced my own crushing loss with the death of my husband. Through it all, I am thankful you continue to let your light so shine before man that we glorify the Father. God bless you and your family.

How have these daily studies ministered to you and your family? Would you let us know? Tell us your story by calling 1-866-871-1144. That's a special number.

866-871-1144. Well today, Pastor Greg is presenting a study in his series on the life of Moses called On the Outside Looking In. Let's continue.

So let's fast forward now many years. The people of Israel are on the very brink of the promised land. And by the way, they had been complaining every step of the way. They did not believe that God would let them go into this land.

It would be too hard. Remember in our last message with the title It's All How You Look at Things, there was the majority report and the minority report. Twelve spies were dispatched.

None of them were 007 I don't think. But the ten spies, the majority, gave a very discouraging report. They said all the people that are in the land are huge and were like grasshoppers in their sight and will never succeed. And then the minority report which was made up of Joshua and Caleb said yeah things are big but check out the size of these grapes we brought back. It took two of them to bring the grapes because they were so huge. And they said the Lord will give us the land.

But the people believed the majority report instead of the minority report. And they just complained and whined. And Moses put up with it. You know the Bible says that Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth. By the way, understand what meekness is. Meekness is not the same as weakness. Let's say that you are a scrawny little dude and you are on the beach building a sandcastle.

The sad thing is you are in your thirties. But still there you are building your sandcastle. It's a muscular aggressive guy comes along and kicks sand in your face and you don't respond. Why? Because you are weak.

You have no options. What are you going to hit them with? Your little plastic shovel?

Now let's change the scene. Let's say that you are an expert in mixed martial arts and you are building your sandcastle. And that guy comes along and kicks sand in your face and you choose to not respond. Is that because you are weak?

No. It is because you are meek. Meek is power under constraint.

It is controlling your temper. Moses had a temper. But he put up with this. He was meek.

The meekest man on the face of the earth. But there comes a point when enough is enough. And Moses was fed up. He couldn't take it anymore.

And he literally just loses it. Because the Israelites seem to have spiritual amnesia. They seem to be forgetting all that God had done for them over the many years. How God provided them food every single day right outside of their tent door.

And it was called manna. How God directed them with a fire by night and a cloud by day. How God watched over them. How God parted the Red Sea for them but they forgot. And sometimes we get discouraged when we forget the faithfulness of God in the past. My wife keeps a prayer journal and sometimes she'll say, Greg look what I wrote in my prayer journal two years ago.

Look at what we were facing. And look at how the Lord got us through it. And the point of that is it is good to reflect back on the faithfulness of God because when you are going through something in the moment you wonder, am I going to get through it? Has God not been faithful to you in the past? The answer is yes. Therefore will He not be faithful to you in the present? Whatever conflict you are facing right now the answer again is yes.

And will He not be faithful to you in the future? In Psalm 107 we have a record of all that God did for the nation Israel. How He provided for them. How He protected them. And then we read in Psalm 107 31 oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works with the children of men.

They just keep repeating that refrain. But the Israelites had forgotten what God had done. So they were thirsty. And they said, we are thirsty Moses. And you know have you brought us out in the wilderness so we would just die of thirst. And so Moses and Aaron go and pray in the tabernacle.

That is the tent that they set up to meet God in. And by the way it is always a good thing to do when you are stressed. Pray. When you are frustrated pray. When you are angry pray.

Pray that God will give you wisdom. So they are praying, Lord just help us now. And the Lord gives them a clear direction. The Lord says, Moses I want you to go to the rock and I want you to speak to it and water will come out. Now on another occasion God had directed Moses to go to a rock and strike it with his staff and water came out. But this time the Lord said, don't strike it. Just speak to the rock and the water will come and satisfy the thirst of the people.

You know what. Moses was not in the mood to speak to some rock. He wanted to hit something. Have you ever been so mad to hit something then hurt yourself. Moses said, I am not only going to whack that rock once like last time. I am going to hit it twice. So he grabs his staff and he goes to the rock.

Well let's see what happened. Numbers chapter 20 verse 10. He and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock and he shouted, listen you rebels must we bring you water from this rock? Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with a staff and water gushed out.

So the entire community in their livestock drank their fill. There is a number of things that went wrong here. Some big mistakes that Moses made.

If you are taking notes here is point number one. Moses was taking personal credit for what God had done. Moses was taking personal credit for what God had done.

What did he say? You rebels must we bring you water as we did before. Excuse me Moses. You didn't bring water out of a rock before. God did that. You are taking credit for what the Lord has done.

And then he whacked the rock not once but twice. It sounds like Moses is beginning to believe his own press. But here is the thing. God wants the glory in your life.

And listen to this. God wants to use you. God wants to speak through you. God wants to use you as an instrument to bring comfort and help to people who are in need.

I just talked to a lady yesterday and she told me she works in hospice care. So she is with people who are on the brink of eternity. And she was talking with a man who was close to death's door and so she went out and got him a copy of my book Jesus Revolution and had read it to him and it impacted this man. And he ended up coming to Christ. And so she told me about all the opportunities she has to minister to people.

I thought what a wonderful thing this is. I mean she is in a position where she could reach people that I could never reach. And you are in a position to reach people that no one else can reach. So God wants to use you and God will use you.

Listen to me. If you will dare to pray this prayer you will find the Lord will answer it. Just pray this. Lord use me today. You could even pray it right now. Lord use me today.

But listen God may answer that prayer sooner than you may expect. Because God loves to use us. But when He uses us make sure you give Him the glory.

Because sometimes people want to give us the glory. In the book of Acts chapter 14 there is a story of Paul and Barnabas who were in a city called Lystra. And they were preaching. And there was a man who had been disabled unable to walk from his birth. And as he was listening to Paul preach they could see that this man had faith to be healed. So Paul said to the man stand up. And right there this man who had never walked before jumped to his feet and began to walk and leap. And he was so excited.

And the people watching they freaked out. They said these men are gods and human bodies. And then they started to bring sacrifices to them. And Paul and Barnabas are like guys what are you doing? And they say to them in Acts 14, 15 friends why are you doing this?

We're just human beings like you are. We've come to bring you the good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God. So immediately they say hey guys don't give us the credit. Don't give us the glory. We're here to tell you to turn away from putting your faith in people or idols or anything else.

And so Moses was taking credit for what God had done. Don't touch God's glory. Practical counsel from Pastor Greg Laurie's study today on A New Beginning. And there's more to come from this message called On the Outside Looking In. Well Pastor Greg we're excited to announce your new film called Fame.

We'll have more details about that in just a moment. But let me ask you when you were growing up did you ever want to be famous? Well the answer to that question is probably found in a drawing that I did when I was probably around 10 years old. It was a drawing of an amusement park called Lori Land. And in the little drawing I did there's a convertible and me I'm sitting in the convertible and people are chasing me.

So I guess but it was you know it's my version of Disneyland you know because I enjoyed Disneyland and going there as a little boy. But I think what I was searching for really was not fame but significance. You want to be known. You want to be noticed. You want to matter. And I think to a large degree because of the way I was raised I felt I was experiencing the opposite of that.

Yeah. So I know I've met a lot of famous people now talk with them seeing what their life is like. I've studied this subject deeply and I've written a book about it and we have a movie about it.

And here's the premise of the movie. Fame is not the answer. You know Jim Carrey who's been very successful in film made this statement and I quote, I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see it's not the answer. End quote. You know I think in our culture today Dave people feel if they could be rich and famous then they would be happy.

But think about the year 2018. Two well-known celebrities took their own life. Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade. You know you go to the Kate Spade store it's all vibrant and colorful and happy and and this young lady unfortunately committed suicide as did Anthony Bourdain who had the very popular show on CNN Parts Unknown where he would travel around the world and sample all sorts of exotic fare and meals. But more than that he had fascinating conversations with people and he would often ask them what makes you happy? He was really searching and one day he just decided he didn't want to live anymore. Well if fame and notoriety was the answer why would two highly successful people like this take their own lives?

It's sort of like you're climbing a mountain and you say the mountain of fame when I get to the top I'll be happy and you get to the top and there's nothing there. And so we've produced a film where we interview two very famous people among others starting with Alice Cooper. I think it comes as a surprise to people to learn that Alice Cooper is a Christian and not someone who recently became a Christian but someone who has actually been a follower of Jesus for 25 years or more. And we also talked to baseball great Daryl Strawberry another living legend but in the sports world. And Daryl had it all playing for the best teams in the world, World Series rings but he also became infamous in addition to being famous for his off-field antics getting arrested for drug use and actually serving time in prison. His marriage collapsed but God reached out and saved Daryl Strawberry just like he saved Alice Cooper. You couldn't have two guys that are any more different but yet at the same time both guys who found the same answer in Christ. So you're going to see and hear some amazing things in this new film that has never been revealed to the public before.

Real insights into these fascinating characters. This is a great film to show to a non-believer and then afterwards have that important conversation with them. And at the end of the film actually sitting behind the Hollywood sign you know that famous Hollywood sign we actually went to it and by the way that's not easy to get to.

I had to literally rappel down the side of this very steep hill. I knew it was a bad idea the moment I started holding onto this rope and lowering myself to lean against the sign which kind of is you know there's a huge drop right at the edge of it but hey you know what is that expression pain is temporary that film is forever right. So we thought let's get this right so the sun was setting is beautiful and we shot the closing part of the film where I present the gospel and behind the famous Hollywood sign point out that this Hollywood sign an icon of of this community known for all the stuff they put out that it's really Christ we're looking for. So great film to watch with a non-believer have a watch party invite people over to your home we're going to put it exclusively on our new harvest media platform that we're very excited about and we also have a companion book by the same title Fame that I wrote with my friend Marshall Terrell.

We wrote many books together including Steve McQueen, The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Cash, The Redemption of an American Icon and also Billy Graham, The Man I Knew. Now we have fame to add to the collection so we'll send you this book for your gift of any size but encourage you to be a part of the premiere of this new film from Harvest Ministries, Fame. Yeah that's right these are two important tools now we'll send you the book called Fame to thank you for partnering with us to keep bringing the gospel in innovative ways such as this. Your investment makes such a difference in how many lives we can reach with the hope of Christ and so when you send your donation today please ask for the new book called Fame but also mark your calendar for the premiere of Fame the movie. It's coming October 20th through 22nd to our new harvest media platform at harvest.org and also to streaming platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, Amazon Fire and Google Play.

You can watch it for free again it debuts October 20th through 22nd. You can get the details at harvest.org and at that website you can also request the new book Fame for your gift of any size that's harvest.org or write a new beginning box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or call us at 1-800-821-3300 that's a 24 7 phone number 1-800-821-3300. Well next time more from Pastor Greg's enlightening study based on the life of Moses called Water, Fire, Stone. Join us here on a new beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. Hey everybody thanks for listening to this podcast to learn more about Harvest Ministries follow this show and consider supporting it just go to harvest.org and to find out how to know God personally go to harvest.org and click on know God.