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Violence & Sex | Responding to Hatred in Our Culture

A New Beginning / Greg Laurie
The Truth Network Radio
January 9, 2025 3:00 am

Violence & Sex | Responding to Hatred in Our Culture

A New Beginning / Greg Laurie

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January 9, 2025 3:00 am

The Bible tells us God is love. Yes, He’s loving, but First John 4:8 says God IS love. And it says, “He who does not love does not know God . . .” So it should come as no surprise that hatred is not a part of God’s plan for believers. But today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie addresses the hatred we see around us in our culture. What are we as believers to do? Good insight is coming. And a word to parents – the content of today’s study may be a little too strong for younger ears.

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A New Beginning is the daily half-hour program hosted by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California. For over 30 years, Pastor Greg and Harvest Ministries have endeavored to know God and make Him known through media and large-scale evangelism. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.

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A New Beginning presents something for the New Year from Pastor Greg Laurie. We want to help you get stronger in your faith and discover what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. To help you do that, we're offering a book called Discipleship, The Road Less Taken. I explore what the Bible says about discipleship and how we can grow in this area.

And we'll send this book to you for your gift of any size. Get your copy of Discipleship, The Road Less Taken at Harvest.org. Hatred is clearly forbidden in Scripture. Is there somebody that you have hatred toward? You hate them so badly, you honestly wish they were dead. Today, Pastor Greg Laurie points out Jesus had some strong things to say about having that kind of hatred for someone. Jesus is saying, look, you can say you've never killed anyone, but do you hate someone so much you wish they were dead?

Then in effect, you're a murderer in your heart. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Again, you hear when the angels are singing.

This is the day, the day when life begins. The Bible tells us God is love. Yes, He's loving, but 1 John 4-8 says God is love. And it says, He who does not love does not know God. So it should come as no surprise that hatred is not a part of God's plan for believers. But today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie addresses the hatred we see around us in our culture. What are we as believers to do? Good insight is coming.

And a word to parents, the content of today's study may be a little too strong for younger years. This is the day, the day when life begins. Violence, murder, our culture is awash in it. Everywhere you look, you see it. You see it on your TV set.

You see it in theaters. You see it in music, video games. And then you see it in real time. Even terrorist organizations executing people with four camera HD shoots. But it is not fake.

It is real. The taking of lives. It is so overwhelming we become numb to it.

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

This is supported in the Bible. So don't be unclear about that. Because some people might say, well no someone broke into my house and wanted to kill my family. I just pray. Well I pray I get to my gun fast enough. Sorry. I don't mean that in a cavalier way. I mean that in a way of I'm gonna do whatever I need to do to defend my family.

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

To do shish kebab maybe or something. For self-defense clearly. And we also know that God has established the military and God has established law enforcement for our own protection. In fact you could even say that the person in law enforcement or in the military is doing God's work. Because Romans 13 says the authorities do not frighten people who are doing right. The authorities are sent by God to help you if you're doing something wrong. And you should be afraid and you will be punished. The authorities are established by God for this very purpose to punish those that do wrong.

I would ring this up because some would say well God is against all of this. He doesn't like violence of any kind. No if it's in the right cause. When a person is serving in law enforcement they're very uniform is something that has an intimidating effect on people. I know because I have friends who are cops and sometimes I will meet them for a meal or coffee. And you know an officer walks in in uniform. He's got his Sam Brown on. That's that big belt you know with all of the stuff he carries. He's got his weapon. He's got his cuffs.

He's got his pepper spray. He's got his donut. They have a holder for a donut. No they don't.

I'm just kidding. But I actually asked a cop like what is the deal with cops and donuts. He goes sometimes we're in places like that because we have to get out of there fast okay.

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

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

And they need our prayers. Some would say well God is against war. Well God is not for war.

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

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

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

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

Nor is it used to describe the death that comes through capital punishment. God himself in my opinion established capital punishment. Genesis 9 6 says you must execute anyone who murders another person. For to kill a person is to kill a living being made in the image of God. The Bible views capital punishment as a deterrent to others.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Illegitimate children no. Every child no matter how they were conceived or how they came about are loved by God. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hey everybody I want to tell you about a major new ministry initiative that we have here at Harvest called the Harvest Discipleship Platform. So it's a major leap forward in our national ministry and we adapt teachings from the New Believers Bible.

Do you know about that? That's a Bible project I worked on years ago and they're all around the world. Well we have excerpts from the New Believers Bible and also we have an online community of believers who are looking for what's next in their spiritual walk. So at Harvest Discipleship you can find trusted Bible teaching and a community that cares for you and positive encouragement in your spiritual life.

That sounds pretty good right? So become a part of the Harvest Discipleship Platform and you can do that by just going to harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg is talking about life and death matters today. The taking of a human life through murder and through abortion.

He continues his message now called violence and sex. Abortion is so commonplace today. Since the passing of Roe v. Wade in the early 70s over 60 million babies have been aborted. Every 15 seconds in America an abortion occurs.

It's become a 500 million dollar a year industry in the United States and an estimated 10 billion dollar a year industry world wide. And it's getting worse. And by worse I mean now they're passing laws to even abort babies that somehow survive the abortion procedure. If that is not murder what is murder?

Thou shall not murder. And we've gotten so twisted in our culture that we're celebrating it. A trend right now is abortion parties.

Yeah it's true. I read about a girl named Maggie was inviting friends over for her abortion party. There'd be baked goods beer and dancing and it was to raise money for the abortion. I was going through my Twitter feed and I came across a video that someone posted of two young girls who were vlogging and celebrating their abortion on TikTok. And so the idea was they had music bed playing. Upbeat music. They're like celebrating.

Laughing. And it shows them going to the clinic to get the abortion. And then it actually shows a close-up of the monitor where you can see where they take the life of the baby. I thought how how could anybody celebrate such a thing.

It's just so hard to understand. And now there are even advocates for abortion who will admit how women will struggle with grief after an abortion. A University of Minnesota study on teen suicide found that the rate of attempted suicide increased 10 times for teens who had had an abortion. Listen the abortion is never the answer. So let's say that a young lady finds herself pregnant outside of wedlock.

What should she do? She should have the baby. Carry the baby the term. And raise the baby if possible. Maybe the father and her can get married. Maybe the Lord will bring another man into her life later. If she doesn't feel she can raise the child put the child up for adoption. And there's many many people who would love to adopt that child but abortion should never ever be an option. It should not be on the table as a possibility because God has a plan for each one of these. What they've found is if a pregnant woman will get a sonogram they will never get an abortion. 90 percent of mothers who have had a sonogram decided against abortion. Now we need to look at what the Lord says in his word on these topics.

Yeah but wait Greg hold on now. What about if the mother's life is in danger? Okay let's illustrate that for a moment. The mother's life is in danger. Let's say you go to a doctor. You're pregnant and they say if you carry this baby to term you could die in the process so you should get an abortion.

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

So what if your life were in danger? Well I heard about a couple named Pam and Bob who were serving as missionaries in the Philippines. And as it turns out Pam contracted amoebic dysentery.

The leading cause of death in the country. And she was pregnant at that time with her fifth child. She was very dehydrated and very sick. And she went to the doctor and he advised her to get an abortion because of the powerful medicine she would have to take to survive. She could not carry this child to term he said. So if you want to live the baby is going to have to die. And so she prayed about it with her husband. And as Bible believing Christians they said no we're not going to terminate this pregnancy. We're not going to abort this baby. And they carried the baby to term. And it was a healthy little baby boy. They named him Tim by the way. You might know him.

His name is Tim Tebow. Right. So that's his story. A true story. But maybe I'm talking to a mother today who has aborted her baby. And you're living with the guilt and the remorse.

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

Right. Jesus said, let the children come unto me and forbid them not from such is the kingdom of heaven. So you will see your child again. And now you must ask God to forgive you and you must accept His forgiveness. I sent a tweet out some time ago about some abortion law that had been passed.

And I was saying why I thought it was such a horrible idea. And a young lady retweeted it and briefly told me a little of her story named Crystal saying she used to work at a Planned Parenthood clinic. So we made contact with her.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have you ever driven on the freeway? No. I am kidding. But you know listen hatred is clearly forbidden in Scripture. 1 John 3 15 says anyone who hates his Christian brother is really a murderer at heart.

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

Sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ has forgiven you. A frank discussion of the danger of hatred and the sanctity of life today here on A New Beginning.

Pastor Greg Lorry with a study from a series of most requested messages called Violence and Sex, and he'll have some closing thoughts in just a moment. Pastor Greg pointed out that we need to forgive others as the Lord has forgiven us. God has forgiven us of so much. The Bible points out that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Have you ever accepted the Lord's forgiveness?

It's an important question. Pastor Greg what would you say to the person who's listening who's just not sure if they've ever come to the Lord in that way? Yes I think they need to make this commitment to Christ. Here's what the Bible says, whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So you need to reach out to God. Not just think about it, not just say one of these days I would like to, just do it.

In fact you can do it right now. You say well how do I call out to the name of the Lord? You do it through prayer.

God is just a prayer away. He desires a relationship with you. He wants you to know him.

He wants to reveal himself to you. So you just need to call out and say Lord save me and help me. How about if I lead you in a prayer? And you could pray this prayer after me. You can pray it out loud if you like. You can pray it quietly in your heart but direct this prayer toward God and you could pray it after me right now.

You ready? Pray this after me. Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner but I know that you're the Savior and I want a relationship with you. So as your word says I'm calling on the name of the Lord. I'm asking you to save me from my sin and I'm asking that we begin a new relationship today.

Thank you for loving me and sending your son Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and then raising him from the dead. I now put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ and I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. And if you've just prayed that prayer along with Pastor Greg and you've meant those words sincerely, let us be the first to welcome you into the family of God. And we want to help you get started off right in this new daily walk with the Lord. Pastor Greg would like to send you his New Believers Bible. It's a special edition of God's Word for those who are new to the faith with scores of helps for new believers written by Pastor Greg.

So get in touch and ask for the New Believers Bible. We'll send it free of 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. And then let us take a moment to thank you for praying for this ministry and for supporting it through your generous donation. It's an investment in Kingdom-based prayer.

It's an investment in Kingdom business. Isn't that right, Pastor Greg? Yeah, it's really true, Dave. And I believe it's so important because, you know, the Gospel saves lives. It saves eternal lives because when a person believes in Jesus, according to Scripture, they pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. And then, of course, that changes the course of their future.

That impacts their children and their children's children. The Gospel changes everything. And thousands and thousands of people respond every single year. Thanks to the Lord. Also, thanks to you for your investment in this ministry, enabling us to reach people wherever they are. So if this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment in A New Beginning and Harvest Ministries.

Yeah, that's right. And we really do appreciate your support. Thanks for partnering with us today.

It can make a real difference, not just for today or this week, but for eternity. So get in touch with your support today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number, 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514.

Or go online to harvest.org. Well, Pastor Greg has more frank counsel for us next time from his message, Violence and Sex. But he has these final words as we close today. Here's a little advice. Let's say that you're really angry at someone. Here's something you might consider doing. Write it all down in a letter. Put everything you feel in that letter.

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

All right? Now burn the letter. Just get it out, but never send it. Or put it in an email.

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

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

Oh no. I wanted to save it as a trap. Off it goes. And someone that you send it to, bing. And you're furiously googling, how do I get an email back? Response, you don't, comma, idiot. Don't send it.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-09 05:48:10 / 2025-01-09 05:57:59 / 10

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