Christ's Call to Courage | Navigating Cancel Culture

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. Cancel culture resists the truth of God's Word. But Pastor Greg Laurie points out we have a message that must get delivered. Many people feel they just can't function in the morning without their cup of coffee. But long ago, coffee met with grumpy, nearly global opposition for hundreds of years.

They were grumpy because they had another coffee. People oppose lots of things, but then come to embrace them warmly. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how we need to realize people need the message we share.

And we need to find the courage to share it, even in the face of opposition. My last message from the book of Acts that was titled How to Live a Meaningful Life, we saw the Apostle Paul saying goodbye to the elders of Ephesus. It was his final message to them.

And he said, I want to finish my race with joy. So he began his journey and he ended up staying with the evangelist Philip, where he encountered a very colorful prophet named Agabus who bound himself up and said, this is what's going to happen to you, Paul, if you go to Jerusalem. Like, don't go. And Paul's saying, okay, being a little dramatic, but okay, I get the point.

But I know what you're saying. So you're saying I'm going to be arrested and I'm going to be put into chains, right? Yes, that's it, Paul.

Don't go. And then Paul says to Agabus in Acts 21, why do you weep and try to break my heart? I'm ready not only to be bound, but to even die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now remember one thing about Paul. He had already died and gone to heaven. Remember he was stoned?

Not that kind of stone. And that's probably the moment when he was caught up into the third heaven that he wrote about in 2 Corinthians and saw amazing things that he could not even describe. So this is a man who's been to glory and he's returned. And he later wrote to the church of Philippi, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. But the Lord's called me to stay here with all y'all and I have a ministry to fulfill. So Paul's not afraid of death. Paul's not afraid of suffering. Oh, am I going to die?

Okay, whatever. My life is in God's hands. And so he's trusting the Lord.

How do you stop a man like that? Answer, you know. And we need more men and women like this that understand that their life is in God's hands. So Paul ignored the warning of the prophet Agabus. And sure enough, when he lands in Jerusalem, he is arrested and he's put in prison.

And here's what happened. Here's what the Lord did to encourage his servant. Acts 23, starting in verse 9. There arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees' party arose and protested, saying, We find no evil against this man.

But if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God. Now there arose a great dissension in the commander, fearing that Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and bring him to the barracks. And the following night the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for you've testified of me in Jerusalem, and now you're going to also bear witness in Rome.

We'll stop there. So here is Paul in prison again. I mean, Paul's middle name could have been trouble. It was always something with him. Everywhere he went, it was either a riot or a revival.

There was never a dull day hanging around the apostle Paul. But I think here he was probably discouraged. He was probably feeling down.

And it's no wonder. He's in a Roman dungeon. And now the Lord comes to him and brings these encouraging words. Verse 11 says, The following night the Lord stood by him. Maybe he second-guessed his decision to go to Jerusalem. Maybe he thought, I shouldn't have done this.

Maybe I should have listened to Agabus after all. And the Lord appears to him and encourages him. And the Lord says to him, Paul, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. How can you have good cheer when you're in a dungeon? You know, it's like when someone comes to you when you're feeling down and they say, hey man, smile. Put on a happy face, right?

Gray skies are going to clear up. Put on a happy face. No, stop, shut up. And you slap them. No, don't slap them.

But you know, you maybe felt like it at times, right? Someone tells you to cheer up when you're feeling down. That's not what you say to someone who's feeling down. But yet the Lord says, good cheer to you. Be of good cheer. But actually, if we look at the original language, we find a better translation would be, have courage.

And that makes a lot more sense. So here he is in this Roman prison cell and the Lord comes to him. The Lord himself, not even an angel dispatched, Jesus comes to him. The Lord stood by him. Do you realize that the Lord stands by you wherever you go?

That's so important. It gives you courage. When the Lord is there, years ago when I was a little kid living in New Jersey, I was walking down the street with my little cowboy outfit. Had a little cowboy hat, couple of guns on my holster. Not real guns, of course. Little cap guns. And I'm shooting them, having a good time. And these like, I don't know what to call these guys. They're like hoodlums.

They come up, what are you doing? They take my guns, push me on the ground. So I went home and I found my big brother. And I said, could you help me get my guns back? And he's pretty big.

A lot bigger than those other kids. So I went back and I saw them. And they're shooting my guns, laughing.

I said, they're there. I walked over, they immediately surrendered the guns to him. I had a lot of courage.

Why? Because I had someone much bigger with me now to protect me that gave me that courage. The Lord stands by you wherever you go.

So this is what the Lord did for Paul. Be of good courage. What is courage? It's been defined as bravery, fortitude, the ability to confront fear, uncertainty or intimidation. Physical courage is bravery and the face of physical pain or even the threat of death.

I don't know that it necessarily comes naturally to anyone because we're all afraid at times. But courage is a willingness to act in the face of fear. One person put it this way and I quote, Courage is fear that has said its prayers. End quote.

I like that. Mark Twain said, Courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear. Mastering your fear. We all have moments of fear.

Courage says, I'm going to get control of this. Those that serve us in law enforcement have courage to put that uniform on every single day. Because they don't know what's going to happen to them. Those that serve in our military, the same. They put that uniform on.

They're serving our nation. I think of the story of a soldier named Ross McGinnis. He was on duty in Iraq in 2006. In Private First Class, McGinnis was perched on the gunner's hatch of a Humvee when a grenade whizzed past him into the truck carrying four of his fellow soldiers. And in a split second, McGinnis did the unthinkable. He threw himself on top of the grenade, absorbing its impact.

He was killed immediately. But all four soldiers survived. That's courage. That's courage. And we're amazed by it.

But how long did he have to think about it? But he did this incredible thing. But there's other kinds of courage. There's moral courage as well. It takes courage in our culture today especially to speak up for what is true.

Because culturally we're going the wrong direction on so many fronts. And for you to stand up and say what the Bible says is something that is not expected. It took courage for young Stephen to not back down and share the gospel right before he was stoned. It took courage for Daniel to pray when a law was passed that no one could pray to any god but to the leader of Babylon. It took courage for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to not bow down before the golden image of the king when everybody else was. And we need that courage today.

Now I've got to warn you. If you speak up for what is true you might get cancelled or worse. But stand up for what is true. Have courage. That's what Jesus said to Paul.

That's what he says to you. Have courage. Have courage in the place where you're at right now. Don't back down for what you know is true. It takes courage to honor your vows that you made to your husband or wife to be and to be faithful to them. It takes courage to remain sexually pure as a young person and not succumb to the allurements that come your way because everyone else is doing it.

It takes courage. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hey everyone. I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a Harvest version of Netflix.

We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen, The Salvation of an American Icon, Johnny Cash, The Redemption of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and much more. Then we have our television program, daily devotions, and much more.

So go and download the Harvest Plus app. Well Pastor Greg is presenting a message today from Acts chapter 23 titled Christ's Call to Courage. Let's continue now. When Jesus said be of good courage, it's a unique phrase that is used multiple times in the Bible, each one showing a different facet of how to find courage in our lives. The first is the story of a man who was a paraplegic in Matthew 9. He was carried by his friends to Jesus. And Jesus looks at this guy who is unable to walk.

And he says to him, be of good courage. Your sins are forgiven. Now the guy was probably thinking, well I'm glad my sins are forgiven, but I'd actually like to walk. That was kind of why I was brought here to you. And there's a protest among the religious leaders who can forgive sins but God alone.

Oh I hear what you guys are saying. Jesus says, but just so you know that I the son of man have the power to forgive sins, I say your sins are forgiven and get up and walk. And that man got up and walked, but Jesus used this phrase, be of good courage to him. And this is the thing we remember, the forgiveness of Christ brought courage to that man. And we can be crippled by our sins, unable to walk, unable to move, unable to do anything.

You know we fail and we say I'm a failure. I should just stop praying. I shouldn't even read the Bible anymore or go to church.

That's the devil lying to you. Jesus says, be of good courage. Your sins are forgiven you. You know in the book of Revelation we read about those believers that come through the tribulation period and they're martyred. And it says they overcame Satan by the blood of the lamb, the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives until the death.

But they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. So when you've sinned you go to God and you say Lord forgive me of my sin and you put your sin in your past and walk into your future with courage. Because Christ has forgiven you. Don't miss this point. Because I know I'm talking to somebody right now who's crippled by their sin. You don't have to be anymore.

You can have a fresh start. This phrase, be of good courage, is used of a woman struggling to get to Jesus in a crowd of people. She had this physical ailment and she reasoned if I can touch the hem of his garment I'll be healed and she reaches through and she touches him. And Jesus stops and says, who just touched me?

Well the fact is everyone had touched him. Who touched me? He says, for I perceive that power has gone out of me. And there's a woman and he says to her, be of good courage. You are made whole. So in this particular case it was his power that gave her courage.

My power has gone out of me. And a lot of times we're afraid to share our faith. We're afraid to speak up for what we believe. But there's a promise in the beginning of the book of Acts that we all looked at together. Where it says you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you to be witnesses for me.

That same power that was given to the first century, causing them to turn their world upside down, is available for us today in the 21st century to turn our world upside down. His power gives courage. That's why it's always a good idea to start your day and just say, Lord fill me with the Holy Spirit. Give me boldness, give me courage to speak up for what is true. And so his power gave that courage and that power is here for us.

Now it's also going to be there for whatever you're about to face. Sometimes we see someone go through a crisis. And we say, man if that happened to me, I think my faith would just collapse. If I was told I have cancer. Or if a loved one died unexpectedly. Or if this other thing happened, I couldn't handle it. Listen to this, God will give you what you need when you need it.

Okay, just know that. He'll give you what you need when you need it. He won't give it to you necessarily before. He'll never give it to you after.

But when you need it, he'll give you what you need. So until that time, he just says have courage. Number three, the third time this phrase is used is when the disciples are on the storm-tossed Sea of Galilee. And they thought they were going to drown. And suddenly they see some form coming to them walking on the water. And they thought it was a ghost.

But it wasn't Casper, it was Christ. Coming to them and what does Jesus say to them? He says be of good courage, it is me, don't be afraid. He put himself between them and the thing that frightened them. Just like a parent would stand in the way of danger.

I was with my granddaughter Ally a few months ago. And we were walking along and there's some guy who has a dog off the leash. And the dog came out as growling and snapping.

And Ally's getting very afraid. And I stepped in front of her and I said to this guy, very nicely, put a leash on that dog right now. And fortunately he did it. And then afterwards she said, Papa you saved my life. I don't think I saved your life, but thank you for that.

But you know I just did instinctively what any parent or grandparent would do. You put yourself in the way of the person you're protecting. And that's what Jesus is saying, he's there in the way of whatever is coming our way. So let's review, his forgiveness gives courage. His power gives courage.

And his presence gives courage. Verse 11 again, the Lord stood by him. Paul later wrote that those that he loved had abandoned him. Have you ever felt as though you've been abandoned by your family? By your friends?

By someone you trusted? That's how Paul had felt at one point. Everyone's abandoned me. Well the Lord's with them, the Lord hasn't abandoned him. And remember when Jesus hung on the cross and bore the sins of humanity. He cried out these words, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

What is that all about? That is the moment most believe, that the sins of the world were placed upon Christ. Who was dying in our place as a substitute.

So what he was describing was reality. He was temporarily forsaken by God. So I will never be forsaken by God. You will never be forsaken by God.

Because Jesus said I will never leave you or forsake you. And so I spoke with a man in the hospital on the phone last week. And his vital organs were failing him. And he said I feel as though God has abandoned me. And I said God has not abandoned you. He's with you in that hospital room right now. I shared some scripture with him.

And we prayed and he committed his life to Christ. And it was his sister that asked me to call him. And sometimes I'm very reluctant to call people when someone else asks me to call them. Because then I call this person and I'm like why are you calling me?

I don't want to talk to you, right? But this guy was happy that I called him. And I said go tell your sister what you've just done.

And the sister contacted me and said my brother just called me. He was all excited. He said he felt the presence of God because he's recommitted his life to Jesus. So that's what the Lord can do. Paul was in a dungeon but the Lord was with him. Better to be in a dungeon with Jesus than anywhere else without him. Better to be in a storm with Jesus than anywhere else without him.

And then here's another point. God knew where Paul was and why he was there. That brought courage as well. Paul, Jesus is saying buddy I know you're here. And I'm here with you. I'm standing by your side because Paul's probably second guessing his decision. And sometimes we feel like oh God's forgotten about me.

No never. He always is aware of us. Maybe I'm talking to somebody right now that is gripped with fear and worry. And the words of Jesus to you are don't be afraid. Be of good courage. Important encouragement from a pivotal chapter in the book of Acts. Pastor Greg Laurie titled today's study here on A New Beginning Christ's Call to Courage. And he'll have a final comment as we close today.

So stay tuned. Pastor Greg maybe courage is exactly what some listening today need. Maybe somebody's facing some difficult challenges.

You know they don't particularly count themselves as religious perhaps. But boy they could sure use some help about now. Yes sometimes God will let us go through hardship so he'll get our attention. The psalmist said before I was afflicted I went astray but now I have kept your word.

So maybe something's happening in your life that's caused you to look up. As in looking up to God and you're saying help. Listen that's not a bad place to be. In fact that's a really good place to be. It's been said when you get to the end of yourself you get to the beginning of God.

Do you feel like you're at the end of yourself right now? Then why don't you pray? In fact I would like to lead you on a prayer. Maybe you've never prayed before you don't even know how to start praying. That's okay prayer is just talking to God. Let me lead you in a simple prayer.

You could pray it after me in fact. And this is a prayer where you're asking God to enter into your situation. But more significantly you're asking Christ to enter into your life. See that's what being a Christian is. It's having Christ living inside of you.

It's a relationship not some religious thing. So if you would like a relationship with God. If you would like God to walk with you through your times of difficulty. You could pray this prayer after me right now. Just pray these words if you would.

Lord Jesus I'm scared and I need your help. And I'm asking you to enter my life. I'm asking you to forgive me of my sin. I know that you died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. But I want to receive you now as my Savior and my Lord. So I invite you into my life.

And I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for hearing this prayer. And thank you for answering this prayer. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. And listen if you have just prayed that prayer along with Pastor Greg.

And you've meant those words sincerely. The Lord has heard you and has forgiven you of your sin. And we want to welcome you into the family of God. Now let us hope you begin living for the Lord each day. Pastor Greg would like to send you his New Believers Bible.

It's in an easy to understand translation. And has scores of helps to get a new believer started. So get in touch and we'll send you the New Believers Bible free of any charge. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. You know Pastor Greg I think our listeners would agree with me when I say you not only know God's word inside and out. You're not only a gifted communicator. You not only make your teaching relatable and practical. But your sense of humor is just so enjoyable that it keeps us riveted. And for those of us who know your sense of humor. We can see it throughout your new animated cartoon series.

The Adventures of Ben Born Again and Yellow Dog. You know if laughter is the best medicine then this cartoon series is full of that medicine. Wouldn't you say so?

Yes and thank you for those kind words. Yes my humor. You know it's just always been there. You know the funny thing is. You'll find it when you see a comedian interviewed that often they had a painful childhood. And the reality is they developed humor as a coping mechanism. And that's very true for me. Because of my crazy topsy-turvy childhood with my mom married and divorced.

And living in an alcoholic home where there was screaming and yelling and all those things. I retreated into a world of cartoons. And I learned how to almost make a joke in any given situation. Well that stayed with me. And it is woven into my sermons. And it's also now woven into these animated episodes. So you're going to hear stories that I've told in my sermons. Like the time the snake got loose in my car.

And I ended up getting the car from my mom. That's in one of the cartoons. That was the time my grandson kissed a jellyfish goodbye. And it stung him on the face.

Not very badly thankfully. But he did get kind of a red face from it. That's in one of our cartoons. You'll see other little things I refer to like cats in strollers.

That's there too. Pretty much I put a lot of my own life and my own gags into these cartoons. And I'm working with a very talented team. One of the gentlemen that works with me to write these cartoons. Has worked in animation for years. And he knows how to bring these things into the world of animation.

Then we have the art team that bring these characters to life. It's so interesting and fascinating. And I have to tell you it's a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed doing this. And I hope that you see the joy in it. When you show them to your kids or your grandkids. Or even when you watch them yourself. You know there's something about a cartoon that's disarming.

And I think it's a great way to sneak up on someone. Because you're entertaining them. They're laughing.

They're having a good time. But all of a sudden there's some full biblical truth embedded in that episode. And everything I do I'm always going to get to biblical truth. It's just the way I'm wired.

But I'm also wired to use humor to do it. So we're taking all of these elements and using them together. To hopefully have a tool that can touch a whole new generation. But I can't do this on my own.

I need your help. If you believe in this vision. If you want to reach younger people with the message of the gospel.

And the truth of the word of God. Then I ask you to support this financially. And as my way of saying thanks to you. I want to send you a brand new resource called. The Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. Now I have to tell you that thousands of these have been in print for many years.

And have touched so many people. But we've gone back and we've revisited the whole thing. We've rebuilt it from ground level up. New artwork. More content. I think it's even better than the first edition. And I want to send you one that, well how shall I say it?

It's hot off the press. And so let me get you a copy of the Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. For your gift of any size as you support our endeavors to reach this young generation.

Yeah, yeah that's right. We have it waiting for you so get in touch with your investment. In the work we're doing here at A New Beginning and Harvest Ministries. And we'll thank you with this brand new Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. You can call us. It's a 24 hour phone number. 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.

Or just go online to harvest.org. Well next time more insights on how we should take courage when trials and opposition threaten to bring our Christian growth to a standstill. But before we go, Pastor Greg comes back with these final words. I have these little trackers. I think they call them air tags made by Apple. And you can put them in your wallet or you know in your briefcase or your purse or wherever. And if you lose it you can find it. So I misplaced my wallet. So I pull out that find my wallet you know and I'm looking and finally I realize it's like one foot from me.

Because it was under my backpack I think which is kind of embarrassing but it worked. Well God has more sophisticated tech than that. He always knows where you are. As the psalmist said where shall I flee from your presence if I go to the heights of heaven you're there. If I go to the depths of hell you're there. God is with you and aware of where you are wherever you go.