There's a New Kid in Town | Impacting Your World Like Elijah

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Sign up at harvest.org. A proper presentation of the gospel even includes the uncomfortable parts. Pastor Greg Laurie says we have to present the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

We cannot promise the forgiveness of God without speaking of repentance. We cannot offer the hope of heaven without warning about hell. But there should be grace and love in that message we give to people so we don't drive them away. We want to reach them and help them have their spiritual eyes opened. If we preach a watered-down gospel, then people respond to that half of a gospel message.

Are they really responding to the truth, the whole truth, the truth presented clearly in Scripture? Well, that's an important question, and Pastor Greg Laurie tackles that today here on A New Beginning. We're studying the life of the prophet Elijah, a man who stepped out in courageous boldness and made a difference in his time.

Let's find out today how we can do the same in our time. Elijah the prophet. He came at a very dark time in the history of Israel.

But this single man changed history and caused Israel to turn back to God. And it shows how one man or one woman can make all the difference. And we too live in very dark times in our country right now. We have all of the turmoil.

We have the crime. We have the divisions racially and politically. And then we have the family that's under attack right now.

Many not only want to redefine the family, they want to redefine what a man and a woman actually is. And it reminds us of that passage that says in the last days things would go from bad to worse. And this stage of the history of Israel closely parallels America today. Basically the people had abandoned God. It's not that they didn't believe in God anymore. They had just put other gods in his place.

A little historical background here before we dive in. Israel had had years under the leadership of Saul David and finally Solomon. So Saul you know wasn't the worst king of all time. But he wasn't a great king. And he was replaced by David who was probably the greatest king in the history of Israel. Although he had his flaws and setbacks and sins. And then finally his son Solomon who ruled well for a time and was known as the wisest man in all of the world. Even the queen of Sheba came to sit at his feet.

But of course he had his backslide. But he returned to the Lord. But then there was a division after King Solomon died. And Israel was divided into two sections.

It was the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom. And idolatry exploded. And now there's a new king in town.

And his name is Ahab. And he was the most sinful king up to that point. And if that wasn't bad enough he married an extremely wicked woman named Jezebel.

Who effectively was the power behind the throne. Jezebel was an overt worshiper of the god Baal. And she introduced Baal worship to Israel.

By the way Baal means master or lord. And Baal is the god of the elements. The god of the weather. The god of the sun.

The stars. And that's why it's so significant that when Elijah faced off with the prophets of Baal up on Mount Carmel really asking the god who was real to answer by fire. This should have been a walk in the park for Baal. But nothing happened because Baal wasn't real. He was a false god. And that's what Elijah was seeking to show. Another thing about Baal is Baal required the sacrifice of children. The first born son had to be sacrificed to Baal. You can see images of this false god made out of metal with its hands outstretched. And the idea was to light get him burning very hot and to place the little baby in the arms of the outstretched idol. That was your sacrifice to this false god. So things were getting really horrible in Israel at this point. Now Aem and Jezebel planted what was known as a sacred grove.

A group of trees that were used for the worship of Ashtoreth. Now in contrast to Baal Ashtoreth was was the goddess of sex and violence. And the people thought that they could just worship these false gods with impunity. That nothing would ever really happen.

And I wonder are there not current versions of these gods today? Do we not bow at the altar of sex and violence? Have you listened to music lately? Have you seen a movie lately?

Have you watched television lately? You see these things constantly being brought upon us. And then you talk about sacrificing our children in the name of reproductive rights. People sacrifice the lives of unborn children. It's modern idolatry. Aem and Jezebel were so bad that the Bible says of them in 1st Kings 16, Aheb did more to provoke the God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

So they thought hey this is great. The true God doesn't really care. We can have all this fun. We can break God's laws.

We can live immorally and do all of these things. But of course God warns in scripture don't be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows that will he also reap.

So let's start the story. 1st Kings chapter 17 verse 1. Just simple verse. And Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead said to Aheb as the Lord God of Israel lives before whom I stand.

I'd underline that. As the Lord God of Israel lives before whom I stand there shall not be dew nor rain these years except in my word. Stop there. Elijah flung down the gauntlet of his challenge at the very nerve center of Israel. There was a new kid in town. His very name said it all. His name means my God is Jehovah. It was a rebuke to the king and queen. Your God may be pale but my God is the Lord and my God is alive and your God is not.

Where did he get that courage? Go back to verse 1. As the Lord God of Israel lives before whom I stand.

Point number one. Elijah stood continually in the presence of God. Elijah stood continually in the presence of God.

Though he was technically in the presence of Aheb and Jezebel he was always conscious of God's presence. And wherever he went he was aware God is with me. God is hearing this. God is watching this. And also God is leading me and God is guiding me. He always walked closely to the Lord.

And listen to this. When you stand in the presence of God you will not bow before any man. It will give you a courage that you never thought you could have before. It is a supernatural courage. Proverbs 28 says the righteous are as bold as a lion. This awareness of God's presence gave Elijah to stand his ground. And it is a good reminder for us to keep in mind the simple fact that to whoever we speak wherever it is and wherever we go God is with us. And one person can make all the difference in the world.

You're an army of one. But one with God is a majority. Number two Elijah was a man of prayer. He was a man of prayer.

James 5 17 says Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops.

It was Elijah's prayer in private that was the source of his power in public. And it's worth noting that James points out he prayed earnestly. You know you can pray and then you can really pray right. An earnest prayer. Earnest like he prayed with passion. It wasn't a laid-back kind of prayer but it was a forceful prayer even. The word earnestly is a Hebrew idiom that means he prayed with prayer. There was an intensity in the prayer that he prayed. It reminds me of the story in Acts 12 of when Peter was arrested by King Herod and he was in prison.

It was going to be executed the next day. And we read in Acts 12 constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. That same phrase constant prayer means passionate earnest prayer. And I think how often do we pray about things. We're so quick to complain about things.

We're so quick to be in despair over things. Pray about them. Remember the Bible says you have not because you ask not. Bring it to prayer. Don't worry about anything the Bible reminds us but pray about everything. And that's what Elijah did.

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 offering up principles drawn from the life of Elijah. Principles that will help us be men and women who make a difference just as Elijah did.

Let's continue. Here's the third principle. He knew the scripture and he acted on it. Elijah knew the scripture and he acted on it. It appears he bases this bold proclamation he makes to Ehab and Jezebel on scripture. Because Deuteronomy 11 16 gives us warning. Be careful or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow to them.

Then the Lord's anger will burn against you and he will shut the heavens so it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. So Elijah read that and said well there's a warning. So I don't know if he was acting on this passage in particular but he went into the court of the king and he made this bold statement. And then number four, Elijah faithfully delivered the message. He faithfully delivered the message.

You know sometimes we have a good news message and sometimes we have to give a bad news message and it's hard to do the latter more than the former. And we too have a message to deliver. And it's wonderful to tell people that God loves them.

And it's true isn't it? It's wonderful to tell people Christ can forgive us of all of our sins. It's fantastic to tell people that he can give them the peace that passes all human understanding and that they can have the hope of heaven.

And this is all true. But it's not as easy to say Jesus Christ is the only way to the father and there is no other way to him because he himself said I am the way the truth and the life and no man comes to the father but by me. But we need to be faithful to God and deliver this message. Having said that we want to do it with as much grace and compassion as we can. You do it with grace as I've said before.

If you want to win some be winsome. Let me put it another way. Be a nice person okay. Just in general be a nice person. Be a kind person. Be a friendly person. In general be an affirming person.

Be a helpful person. But when the moment comes for you to deliver the gospel you must do so with clarity and accuracy. But Colossians 4-6 says be pleasant and hold their interest when you speak the message.

Choose your words carefully and be ready and be ready to give answers to anyone who asks questions. The great evangelist D.L. Moody once said that whenever you talk about hell you should always do so with a tear in your eye. And I think sometimes people when they deliver the message about hell may take a little perverse pleasure in saying it. You're going to hell.

Excuse me. No this should break your heart to deliver that message. But it is part of the whole council of God. Listen we cannot promise the forgiveness of God without speaking of repentance. We cannot offer the hope of heaven without warning about hell. But there should be grace and love in that message we give to people so we don't drive them away. Because we want to reach the person who is living immorally. We want to reach the person that is making bad decisions and is getting into drugs or alcohol or whatever it might be.

We want to share it with compassion. Listen non-believers are not the enemy. They're under the control of the enemy. Don't treat a non-believer like they're the enemy. Because the Bible says they've been taken captive by Satan to do his will. And don't forget you used to be one of those people. But sometimes it can become very intolerant.

I'm against that. And we want to yell at them and we want to argue with them. You want to reach them and help them have their spiritual eyes opened and have them come to Christ. I've mentioned abortion in this message and I want to close with two communications I received. One was a letter and one was actually a voicemail. So the first one was from a young lady named Crystal. And she writes, I listened to Greg every day on the radio while I was working at Planned Parenthood.

I worked there for over a year. It was a certain sermon, writes Crystal, that scared me and it hit harder than it had hit before. And one day while I was counting the pieces of a dismembered baby I thought about Greg's sermon. Where he said, if Jesus came back right then would I be left behind? I was preaching on the imminent return of Christ.

And I asked the question, is there anything that you're doing right now you would be ashamed to be doing if Christ came back? And here is Crystal assisting a doctor in an abortion procedure and it dawns on her that this is the most horrible thing ever. She repents of this. She quits her job at Planned Parenthood and now she's an advocate for the lives of unborn children. See that's the power of the gospel. But what about the woman who's had the abortion?

Is there any hope for her? So a lady left a voicemail for our radio program and she says, I have a 45 minute commute to and from work and I was listening to one of Greg Laurie's podcasts and I finished listening to one of his sermons titled Let's Talk About Heaven. She writes, I had an abortion back in 2010 and it's been a long journey of healing and when I finally came to the realization that the safest place is to be at the foot of the cross I was able to fully experience God's grace and mercy that he has for me.

I'm getting emotional because I know one day I'll be reunited with my baby as well as with Jesus Christ and I want to say thank you. See this is important because you could look at some young woman and she got an abortion you begin to lash out at her way. She needs God's healing. She needs God's forgiveness. We need to have compassion on people and see them as God sees them.

Not as the enemy but as sheep without a shepherd. This is why Jesus came and died on the cross for our sin. So this compassion is so important. Here's the takeaway truth. God gives second chances.

Isn't that great to know? Regardless of what bad decisions you have made in your life the Bible promises that God can bring beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning. So I just want you to know that and God can forgive and God can give you a second chance and you can start over again and this is the good news of the gospel. We must never lose sight of and let me close by just saying if you have never asked God to forgive you of your sin or if you have failed as a believer and need to make a recommitment you can do it right now.

Let's pray. Father thank you for the hope of scripture. Thank you for what Jesus did for us on the cross dying for our sins and as that lady wrote she was experiencing mercy and grace because she found it at the foot of the cross. That's the only place where we can find forgiveness.

That's the only place where we can be reconciled with you. This is how we come to know you and I pray for any that have joined us if they don't have this relationship with you let this be the moment they believe in Jesus or recommit their life to Jesus. We commit each one to you now and now while our heads are bowed and we're praying together maybe there's somebody here that needs Christ to come into their life and be their Savior and Lord.

You don't have this relationship with him or maybe there's somebody here that is messed up as a follower of Christ but you've stumbled you've fallen but you want to make a recommitment to him. This is your moment when you can do it and you could just pray this prayer after me. Lord Jesus I'm sorry for my sin and I turn from it now and I choose to follow you. It's not just my Savior but also as my Lord and my God and I want to do what you want me to do. So I commit myself to you and I thank you for the forgiveness you give now in Jesus name I pray.

Amen. Such an important prayer. Pastor Greg Laurie praying with those asking the Lord to forgive their sins and if you've just prayed that prayer and you've meant those words sincerely then your sins have been forgiven and we want to welcome you into God's family or back into God's family. Let us send some resources to you to help you as you walk the pathway of faith. We call this resource collection our New Believers Growth Packet and it teachers Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. It's an easy to understand translation plus scores of special helps Pastor Greg has created just for those who are new to the faith. So get in touch and ask for Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible. We'll send it free of charge when you call us at 1-800-821-3300.

We can take your call anytime that's 1-800-821-3300 or write a new beginning box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or just go online to harvest.org and click know God. Hey everybody I'm here with my friend Max Lucado who has written a brand new book titled What Happens Next and it's on the end times in fact Max you've described this as sort of a prophecy 101 book. Okay so let's do a lightning round.

Let me hit you with terms that we hear and why don't you just give us a quick definition of them okay. I'll do my bet. Here we go we need some music Dave give us some lightning round music. All right. Okay here we go Max what is the rapture? The rescue of the church prior to the great tribulation which we will meet the Lord in the air and will be taken into paradise.

Excellent answer. Okay you mentioned the tribulation what is the great tribulation period? Seven years of difficulty and trial in which the restrainer which is the presence of the Holy Spirit working through the church is removed in which the Antichrist has his way but a great revival breaks out during the middle of the seven years in which many people return to Christ. And you mentioned Antichrist who is Antichrist? The Antichrist is the proxy of Satan a person who does the bidding of the devil who creates and negotiates a peace treaty after the rapture because of the chaos of the rapture and negotiates a peace treaty with Israel and the other nations leading to what appears to be peace but in the middle of that peace he positions himself in the temple which he is allowed to be reconstructed and demands to be worshipped and then the result is anyone who doesn't worship him falls under persecution so it'll be the most difficult.

Jesus said there has never been a time and never will be another time as difficult as those seven years. What is the battle of Armageddon? The battle of Armageddon is when at the end of the seven years Christ descends out of the heavens on a great white stallion crowned with all the crowns wearing many crowns and he defeats those who would dare to defy his will and destroy his children and the beauty of the return of Christ to the valley of Armageddon is it will be with him we won't do the fighting Jesus will do it all but we will return with him. So what is the second coming and maybe draw a contrast between the second coming and the rapture? The rapture is when Christ comes for his church the second coming is when Christ returns with his church and when he returns with his church he will set up the kingdom that he long prophesied and that prayer that we've all prayed thy kingdom come that will be done will be done on earth.

And what is that kingdom called? The millennium. The millennium is that golden era in which all the promises that God made to Adam and Eve to Abraham to David and to Jeremiah will be answered. Christ will be crowned satan will be bound and thrown away into the bottomless pit for a thousand years and righteous rulers will rule the earth the reason the world is upside down is because Christ is not regarded satan is alive and well and evil rulers rule all that's going to be changed and for a thousand years we will enjoy the garden of Eden as God intended. Beautiful. Christ will be crowned and satan will be bound what a beautiful summation of our future that's why the bible calls it a blessed hope and max deals with this and a whole lot more in his brand new book I'm Max Lucado and you're not no that's not the title no the title of the book really is what happens next about the end times events it's understandable it's unique it's fresh it's deep it's biblical and it's a book that is going to help you grow spiritually and we want to send it to you for your gift of any size whatever you send will be put to good use continuing this broadcast a new beginning and then we'll send you your copy of what happens next by Max Lucado yeah that's right so contact us today you can call us anytime 24 7 at 1-800-821-3300 and thanks so much for your investment in the work that we do each day we're truly listener supported again dial 1-800-821-3300 or write a new beginning box 4000 riverside california 92514 or just go online to harvest.org hey everybody Greg Laurie here you know we're all going to leave a legacy behind whether good or bad and as Christians it's vital we leave a godly legacy to the next generation listen I have a creative way to help you do just that I'm excited to announce that here at harvest we've partnered with our friends at free will maybe you've heard of them free will is an easy to use estate planning tool that allows you to make planned gifts to organizations of your choice it's a creative opportunity to support the work we're doing here at harvest ministries so as you make your plans I hope you'll consider investing in this ministry so we can continue to preach the gospel and teach the word of God for years to come listen you can't take it with you but you can send it on ahead invest in the work of ministry you can learn more at freewill.com harvest well next time pastor Greg has important insights drawn from the challenges Elijah faced insights that will help us face the trials in our lives join us here on a new beginning with pastor and bible teacher Greg Laurie the preceding podcast was made possible by harvest partners helping people everywhere know God learn how to become a harvest partner sign up for daily devotions and find resources to help you grow in your faith at harvest.org