The Power of One, Part 1 | The Example of Moses

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The culture's problems are so varied and vast. Who are we to think we can make a difference? Pastor Greg Laurie corrects our thinking. It's been said, quote, I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do. One godly man, one godly woman, and the darkest situation can make a big difference. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

Again you hear all the angels are singing. This is the day, the day when life begins. Throughout the Bible, we see stories of God using individuals to accomplish great things.

Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon. Sometimes there's strength in numbers, but other times there's supernatural strength in a humble man or woman saying yes to God. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us open ourselves to being used by God by looking to the example of Moses. It's an inspiring presentation from Pastor Greg's series, Water, Fire, Stone. This is the day, the day when life begins.

It was 1994. I had just signed a book deal with a major Christian publisher and I was invited to be a part of a tour, sort of a metaphorical bus tour with one stop with some other well-known Christian authors. So as I boarded the bus, I was the new kid on the block. I was taking it all in and I saw this small woman boarding the bus. She looked very familiar to me and I asked someone, who is that lady over there? And they said, well that's Rosa Parks.

I'm like, what? Rosa Parks, a civil rights legend? And sure enough, it was Rosa Parks on a bus. And I was on a bus with her. Now in case you don't know, Mrs. Parks made history when she refused to sit at the back of a bus.

And back in those days in the south it was segregated and there would be separate drinking fountains and restrooms for people that were described as colored. And Mrs. Parks had the courage to stand up for her rights and she walked right into the pages of history. In fact, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

By the way, that's the highest honor given to a civilian. So here I am with Rosa Parks, civil rights legend on a bus. So I sat down behind her and I just began to ask her a lot of questions. She told me her amazing story. Here is what I did not know about Rosa Parks. I did not know about her strong Christian faith.

She was part of this tour because she had written a book with the title, Quiet Strength. And in her book she writes, quote, every day before supper and before we went to services on Sunday my grandmother would read the Bible to me and my grandfather would pray. And then we would have devotions before going to pick cotton in the fields. End quote. And then she says, prayer and the Bible became a part of my everyday thoughts and beliefs and I learned to put my trust in God and seek Him as my strength. So Rosa Parks loved and followed Jesus Christ and that gave her the courage to make a stand.

And I thanked her for that stand that she took. The title of my message is The Power of One. Think about the influence of one woman, 5 foot 3, that refused to be pushed to the back of a bus.

Think of others that have made history because they stood up for what is right. What is true. It has been said, quote, I am only one but I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do something. What I can do I ought to do. And what I ought to do by the grace of God I will do. One godly man.

One godly woman. And the darkest situation can make a big difference. Jesus said, you are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has lost its flavor what good is it?

You know think about it. Just a pinch of salt can make all the difference in the world. It can season something. Put a little salt on your watermelon. It sort of takes it to the next level. Now if you overdo it with salt that can be a bad thing. But just the right amount can make all the difference in the world. And listen. You may be the only Christian in your sphere of influence right now.

You may be the only follower of Jesus Christ that others will see. And a lot of times we are not happy with where we are. We are not happy with the neighborhood we live in. We are not happy with the job that we have. We are not happy with the people that are around us. But did it ever occur to you that God placed you where you are for such a time as this?

Is that a familiar phrase to you? It should be because it is in the Bible. And it is a statement that was made to Queen Esther who won a beauty contest and became the Queen of Persia. But she was a Jew. And she had not revealed that to the king Artaxerxes that she was married to. And a plot was hatched by a wicked man named Haman to execute all the Jews.

But Esther was oblivious to it as she lived in the comforts of the palace. But her uncle Mordecai brought it to her attention and he said, Esther who knows that God has not put you where you are for such a time as this. And God has done the same for you as well. I want to look now at the power of one. One man who through his godliness and personal integrity effectively kept two and a half million people from turning to full tilt idolatry. And of course that man I am talking about is Moses. Remember in our last message we pointed out that Moses was described simply as Moses the man of God. What greater compliment can be paid to a man or a woman than to be described as a man or a woman of God.

And what a difference his life made. And I am going to look at two passages in this message and I would like you to turn to them with me if you would. I am going to look at Hebrews chapter 11 and Deuteronomy chapter 34. Again Hebrews chapter 11 and Deuteronomy chapter 34. In Hebrews 11 we get a flyover of the life of Moses. Now remember Hebrews 11 is what we call the hero's hall of faith.

Great men and women of God who made a huge difference because of the stand that they took. And Moses is included in this great hall of faith. And here is what the Bible says about him in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 24 to 26.

It was by faith that Moses when he grew up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the pleasures of sin for a time. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt for he was looking ahead to his great reward.

So if you are taking notes here is point number one. Moses made important decisions at the beginning of his life. Again he made important decisions at the beginning of his life. Verse 24 says it was by faith that Moses when he grew up refused. Remember how he ended up in the Pharaoh's palace. The Pharaoh had given a decree that all the Jewish baby boys should be put to death. But Moses' mother saved his life and they put him in a little basket and put it on the Nile River. And it was just floating along and it sort of stopped in front of the house of Pharaoh. And as if on cue the baby Moses let out a little cry and the daughter of the Pharaoh saw this beautiful child. And the Bible says he was beautiful to look at.

Her heart was touched. She took that child into the home and raised him as her own son. So he was effectively the prince of Egypt. So if Moses had played his cards right he potentially could have been the next Pharaoh of Egypt. But here is this very important commentary from Hebrews chapter 11. It says that by faith he refused. He refused.

And that phrase that is used there for him growing up means he had become great. So Moses was at a fork in the road. What's he going to do? We all come to forks in the road. Do I go this way or do I go that way? And then that will lead to another fork in the road. And then to even another.

And these pivotal moments in our life can make all the difference as to how we end up. But here is what Moses figured. Look I know Egypt offers a lot. He is in the finest university. Raised in the palace. Eating the best food around.

Living in the very lap of luxury. But that was not what he wanted because he wanted to be with God's people the Jews. So it says he simply refused.

He refused. And he gave something up. In fact he gave a lot up to be honest. He made a great sacrifice. Let me ask you a question. Have you given up something to follow Jesus Christ?

Let me say this to you. Whatever you have given up to follow Christ will be more than made up to you in this life and in the life to come. Look if the whole deal of being a Christian was your life will be miserable until you die then you go to heaven.

It would still be an amazing deal would it not? But it's more than that. Oh yes there is a promise of heaven. But God promises to make up to you in this life that which you have given up. Jesus made this statement actually in response to a statement by Peter. Peter said Lord we've left everything to follow you. And then Jesus says in response listen I tell you this truly no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age homes and brothers and sisters and mothers children's and fields along with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life.

I love that. God will make it up to you. So Moses made a principled stand in his life.

Know this. The evening of your life is determined by the morning of your life. The end of your life is determined by the beginning. How important it is to make the right decisions.

So if you're young understand that you are making decisions now that will affect you for the rest of your life. I remember being told as a kid oh brush your teeth. Be careful to always brush your teeth at what do they know.

Yeah after a lot of trips to the dentist in later years I realized I should have paid attention. Here's another one. Wear sunscreen. Don't go out there and get burned. You'll destroy your skin. Oh what do they know. Then you wake up one day and you're dealing with dermatologists and you understand that was all true. But let's take that into the spiritual world. You're making decisions now that will affect you later in life.

And if I'm talking to someone who's older right now you're facing the consequences of your earlier choices aren't you. Here's a good example. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Remember them? Three young Hebrew teenagers who took a principled stand when they were taken as slaves into Babylon but they were elevated to be in the king's court to be trained and schooled in the ways of the Babylonians. And so there was this amazing food that was offered to them but they along with their buddy Daniel refused to eat of the food from the king's table.

Now we don't know why that is. But it seemed to be a principled stand made on the basis of their commitment to God. And the Lord honored them for that.

And then later in life when the king erected a golden image and told everyone to worship Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow. But they got the courage to do that later from the principled stand they made earlier. You see so choices really matter.

You make your choices and your choices make you. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We hear from listeners all over the country and from countries all over the world like this one.

Hi Greg. I'm a young Christian living in rural Australia and I recently went with my mom to watch The Jesus Revolution. The movie really touched me and gave me a new insight into the lives of young Christians just like me.

I enjoyed the movie so much that I'm so excited for the opportunity to show it to all my friends who aren't Christians yet and are still trying to find their way in the world. I would just like to thank you and all your team for all that you guys have done to spread the gospel around the world. Every morning my brother and I listen to your podcast through the local radio station on the way to school. It's a great way to strengthen ourselves and to encourage us to spread the Lord's word. I wait eagerly for the day I am able to be at one of your crusades in America or maybe even here in Australia. Thank you for obeying God all those years ago so that you bless all of us today through Christ. God bless you all. It's a blessing to know that listeners are hearing the message of the gospel through the radio, podcasts and even through the film Jesus Revolution. Do you have a story to tell? If so would you email Pastor Greg and let him know? Send it to greg at harvest dot org. Again that's greg at harvest dot o-r-g. Well Pastor Greg is helping us learn lessons from the life of Moses today in a message called the power of one part one.

Let's continue. Moses finished his race well. So the Bible says Moses was 120 years old when he died. Then we read in Deuteronomy 34 the people of Israel mourned for Moses. You know sometimes when a Christian dies other well-meaning believers might say don't cry for them they're in heaven.

Let me take a different stance. When you lose a loved one who has died in faith even if it's your grandparents go ahead and cry because the depth of your sorrow is an indication of the depth of your love. The people wept when Moses died.

Fast forward to the New Testament. Young Stephen was martyred for his faith in Christ and we read that godly people wept over him. There's something that is very healing about the mourning process. So if you've lost a loved one cry as much as you need to cry. But the key is cry out to God. When our son Christopher died in an automobile accident I cried literally for months.

For hours on end. But it was sort of a cleansing process as I was learning to let go. But they wept over Moses because he was such a special person. Chosen by God. The friend of God. I love what Deuteronomy 34 10 says. There had never been another prophet in Israel like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face.

Now listen to this. You have a closer relationship with God than Moses had. Jesus said of John the Baptist who was the last of the Old Testament prophets. He says I tell you that as great as a prophet as John was he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John.

You say well wait how does that work? John the Baptist? How could I be greater than him? Greater in as far as you have an access to God that John the last of the Old Testament prophets had. You have a closer relationship with God even greater than Moses had because Moses did not have Christ living in his heart you see. And so when you believe in Jesus Christ himself comes and lives inside of you and changes you from the inside out. And if you don't know what it means to believe in him I'll tell you how in just a moment. Let me conclude by simply saying the power of one. One man made all the difference. As I said earlier one man there was godly living and personal integrity in effect kept two and a half million people from full tilled idolatry. Now let me ask you in closing and I'm speaking to Christians now what kind of difference is your life making?

What kind of legacy are you leaving? Where are you in your life? Are you in your life? Are you in the morning of your life? Are you in the afternoon of your life? Or are you in the evening of your life? Of course we may not know because when we're young we'll say well I'm in the morning of my life.

I mean I know I'm I'm getting toward the end of my race in life. I don't know how many more years I'll live or how many more years of ministry I'll have but I know I'm not in the beginning of it. But there might be someone who's young who's listening to me and well I'm in the beginning I'm so young but you never know when the Lord will call you home.

I mentioned my son. He was only 33 years old when he was called home unexpectedly to heaven. And so you don't know where you are in the race of life and that's why you want to be ready to meet God. But I'm praying that you will live a life that is worth emulating. Corrie ten Boom a very godly woman who survived horrible things during the Holocaust getting through a concentration camp living to tell the story made this statement and I quote, a life is not measured by its duration it's measured by its donation. You know we think success is a long life. No. Friends success is a long life maybe if it's lived for the glory of God but even if it's a short life if it's lived for God's glory that's still a success.

Not the duration but the donation. I've talked about death. Let me say something else. There is a generation that will not see death. A generation of people that will not be laid in a grave as previous generations were. A generation according to Scripture will be caught up in a moment in the twinkling of an eye in what is sometimes called the rapture when the Lord will call us home to heaven. And I believe in my study of Bible prophecy that that event could happen at any moment when we would meet the Lord in the air. He would come for us. The Bible tells us Christ is coming again for His people.

And folks as we look at all the crazy stuff happening in our culture right now all around the world we are seeing signs of the times and all of those signs are saying one thing. Jesus is coming. Get ready. If Jesus were to come back in five hours would you be ready? Would you be certain you would be ready to meet Him?

You say well how do you get ready? What are you even talking about? Here's the bottom line. All of us are separated from God by our sin. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Every one of us have broken the commandments of God. But the good news is 2,000 years ago God sent His Son Jesus to our planet called earth to be born in a manger, then to live a perfect life, and then to die a perfect death on the cross for our sins. The Bible simply says Christ died for our sins. You see by dying on the cross Jesus satisfied the righteous demands of a holy and perfect God that we have all offended. And that is why Jesus and only Jesus is the way to the Father.

No other prophet or guru died on a cross for your sin and rose again from the dead. So the bottom line is we need to realize Jesus died on that cross for us and we need to turn from our sin and ask Him to come into our life. And then we will find the meaning and purpose of life we have been seeking. And not only that we will have hope for the afterlife.

Do you have that hope? Do you know with certainty if you were to die today you would go to heaven? Do you know with confidence that if Christ were to come back tonight you would be ready to meet Him? If not you can ask Jesus to come into your life right here right now.

I want to give you an opportunity to pray and ask for His forgiveness. You can join thousands of other people who have prayed over the last few months to accept Christ into your life. It is a simple prayer. A prayer so simple a child could pray it.

And it is a prayer where you are just saying God I know I am a sinner and I am sorry for my sin. And I want Jesus to come into my life and forgive me and I want to start following Him. I want to know that I will go to heaven one day. I want to find the meaning and purpose in life.

That can happen for you now. You just need to pray. In fact you could pray this prayer after me. It is a simple prayer. You might even pray it out loud if you like. This is a prayer where you are asking Christ into your life.

Let's all pray. Pray this with me if you would. Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner but I know that you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. Jesus I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord. As my God and my friend. In Jesus name I pray.

Amen. An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie with those who are making a change in their relationship with God today. And if you've just prayed with Pastor Greg and asked Jesus to be your Savior, we'd like to follow up with you by sending a free resource. It's Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. We'll send it your way to help you begin to live this new life. Just ask for it when you call 1-800-821-3300.

We're here to take your call around the clock seven days a week. Again dial 1-800-821-3300 or just go online to harvest.org and click the two words know God. Well Pastor Greg I know there's a brand new movie we're excited about that deals with the subject of fame and the other day I saw one of those brief reels on social media little short video clips and this was featuring Julia Roberts the famous film star and she said early in her acting career after one of her first movies and she was just starting to get famous she was in a public restroom and she heard a voice from outside the stall it said girl in stall number one if you were in that movie such and such give me your autograph oh my gosh and a hand reached up under the divider holding a piece of paper and a pen wow and she thought hmm things have changed in my life yeah and probably not for the better no you hear what happens to these celebrities and you know people can be incredibly obnoxious and rude and yeah demand so much from them and I think that you know that you dream and you hope one day that maybe you'll be successful and people will know your name and then you get to the top and you're so empty I think deep down inside we are searching for significance we are searching for meaning and we think fame is the answer but fame is not the answer in fact many ways fame is like gasoline on an out of control fire and it can make things worse because I think you know when you think oh if one day I won the lottery or if one day I was famous or I had a hit song or had more followers in social media or more people knew about me you think then I would be happy so that kind of keeps you going because it's always one day my ship will come in one day if the ship comes in you realize oh this is empty and sometimes you even see these people say I miss my old life yeah I miss the anonymity I miss the ability to walk into a market and just be a regular person so let me just save you a lot of misery don't chase after fame it's empty chase after Christ that's what you're looking for but I talked to some people that I would describe as experts on this topic Alice Cooper Daryl Strawberry and others you know Daryl Strawberry had incredible success as a baseball player playing for some of the best teams out there and he has an amazing story because here he is hitting home runs people packing stadiums to watch him in action little kids and young boys wanting his autograph and their bats and their balls and Daryl was having this empty life as he was getting heavily into drugs and well let's just hear from Daryl himself here's a little excerpt from our upcoming film called Fame where I talk to baseball great Daryl Strawberry being famous is hard yeah it's not easy and I think people believe it's the greatest thing to be famous but when you reach that point you're going to usually stay in the house because everybody's going to be looking for you everybody's going to be pulling at you and you don't you never know who's pulling at you for the right reasons in that lifestyle you get kind of embedded in it and it's really hard to get out because it gets ugly like my lifestyle it got real ugly so today Daryl is not only a Christian he's a preacher and he travels around inspiring people I had him in our church a few years ago and I interviewed him and after this service he said to me Greg if anybody wants to meet me afterwards I'd be happy to meet them and I went over there after the service was over he was the last man in the room he signed every baseball every bat took time with every one of those kids because he knows he has influence he wanted to use that influence for God so fame isn't always bad it's just not the answer and if it's like money you know money is not good or bad money is whatever you make of it and so you can take a platform where you're known and use it to touch people with the gospel and certainly Daryl Strawberry is a great example of someone who does that well. Well I know in addition to the movie Fame which is debuting October 20th through the 22nd we'll tell you more about that in a moment we have a book by the same title that actually takes the subject of fame and goes into more detail about its dangers and how we can steer our kids away from those dangers is that right? That's right and it's filled with a lot of quotes a lot of illustrations a lot of examples from people who did it who found it and saw the emptiness of it and then I have some biblical principles on what we really should be looking for in life so we will send this book to you for your gift of any size to help us continue on here at A New Beginning to reach more people with gospel and we'll also encourage you to go see our brand new film Fame.

Dave tell them where they can see that. Yeah the movie called Fame premieres the weekend of October 20th through 22nd at our new Harvest Media platform at harvest.org and also other streaming platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, Amazon Fire and Google Play. It's free to watch so mark your calendar for October 20th through 22nd and don't forget the companion book also called Fame.

It's an engaging look at how to find significance in God's plan for our lives rather than the culture's rush to make people insta-famous and often filled with long-term regret. We'll be glad to send a copy of the book called Fame to thank you for partnering with us so Pastor Greg can continue to bring the gospel through this radio program through books and film and through so many other forms of outreach. Get in touch with your donation today by calling 1-800-821-3300.

Call anytime 24 7 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org. Well next time Pastor Greg brings us the finale in our series on the life of Moses. He points out we make our choices and our choices make us. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. Thanks for listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for daily devotions and learn how to become a Harvest Partner at harvest.org.