A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: Our adversary is cunning and crafty, manipulative and merciless. Here's how the devil works. He whispers in your ear, "Go ahead and do it. It's not that bad." And then the moment you do it, he comes back to you and says, "You're the biggest hypocrite that ever walked the face of the earth. Don't even think of reading the Bible again. Don't even think of showing your ugly face in church again." Now he's the accuser of the brethren. First he's the tempter, now he'll become the condemner.

Dave Nevue: Ever been the target of a scam? Many of us have, some without even realizing it. None of the scammers admit they're trying to rip you off. They play upon your fear or your kindness. They find a weakness or a vulnerability. Satan is like that, only he's been practicing a lot longer. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie warns us about his tactics and strategies. We're each in his crosshairs. But as believers, we're under the protection of the cross.

Greg Laurie: The title of this message is Angels and Demons. So this is what kind of perplexes us is where the heck did demons come from? Why do we even have to have demons? Well, they're out there for sure. And to simplify it, a demon is a fallen angel. God did not create demons as we know them today. He created angels, but he gave to these angelic creatures a free will and an ability to choose.

And as hard as it is to believe, one-third of the angels followed a high-ranking angel known as Lucifer, the son of the morning, in a rebellion. Lucifer is also known as Satan and the devil. So Genesis 3, very familiar passage, I'll read verses one to seven. I'm reading from the New Living Translation. The serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"

"Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied. "It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden we're not allowed to eat. God said, 'Don't eat it or touch it, and if you do, you will die.'" "You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil."

The woman was convinced. She saw the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it, and she gave to her husband with her, and he ate. We'll stop there. So it's worth noting that in this particular passage, the devil is compared to a serpent or a snake. So sometimes he's compared to a lion, sometimes he's compared to a snake.

And this is a fascinating thing because snakes are very interesting creatures in that they're hard to figure out. When I was a boy, for some inexplicable reason, I collected snakes. I don't know why I liked them so much, but I had quite an exhaustive collection, and I was bitten by many snakes, I might add as well. My grandkids like to ask me, "Papa, tell us all the animals that have bit you." And I've been bitten by so many animals because I had every kind of creature you can imagine.

I said, "Well, I've been bitten by mice, I've been bitten by rats, I've been bitten by guinea pigs, I've even been bitten by a rabbit. I've been bitten by a turtle." So I went over all the animals that have bit me, but snakes, I was bitten by them a lot. And I had this one snake that almost could sense my fear. And anybody else would reach in, and this little python would not strike. And whenever I put my hand in there, it'd strike. And every time bit me, just snake drove me crazy because he just knew here comes Greg, I'm going to bite him.

So we had this very contentious relationship, me and that crazy snake. But snakes are that way. You can't read a snake. You can read a dog. It's so easy to know where you stand with a dog. You know when a dog's happy, you know when a dog's sad, you know pretty much wherever he's at, you can read it on his face. Cats are far more mysterious. They just sort of look at you with those mystical eyes and walk off.

But snakes are even harder to read than cats or dogs because a snake is a reptile, and their brain is very small. They're not intelligent creatures. And people say, "You can tame snakes." Sort of you can, but they may bite you in the face. And they may be fine with you for a while. It all depends. But you always want to be aware of the threat of a snake. And another thing about a snake is they can get in and out of the tightest little spots.

And that's so much like the devil. You don't know what the devil's going to do next, and he'll kind of worm his way in or snake his way into a given situation. But the thing with a snake also is the venom. I never had any venomous snakes, but there are different kinds of snakes that have different strengths of venom. There was a guy I knew of when I was a young boy who used to have a lot of snakes, and he had tiger snakes, which are among the most venomous snakes in existence.

And he had been bitten by a tiger snake and survived it because he had taken the venom and used it to build up his immunity. So this is like the guy who survived the tiger snake bite. So he was kind of a legend in the snake world, which I happened to be in. I can't explain it, but I was in it. Like this herpetologist is what we called ourselves. We were into reptiles, very weird people. But anyway, I was into it.

And so he survived the bite of a tiger snake. But then one day we heard the tragic news that he died from a cobra bite. And he kept cobras as pets. Cobras! And I think he thought, "Because I survived the bite of a tiger snake, a cobra isn't that big of a threat." And one of his cobras that literally would slither around his house bit him. He wasn't aware of it, and he didn't get treatment quickly enough, and he died from it.

So I think that's how we can be sometimes. We have our guard up, "Be careful here," but then I lower my guard over there, and all of a sudden I'm vulnerable. Take the bite of—this is a whole message on snakes. You didn't know this was coming. I'm going to do a brain dump of everything I know about snakes tonight. No, I'm not really, but I'm almost done with snakes. Did you know that the venom of a baby rattler is more toxic than that of an adult rattler?

So you might see a full-grown rattler and you back away from it, "Don't get near that thing, stay away from it." Then you see a little baby rattler and you go, "Look at that. It's so cute." And you pick him up. "What did you do, baby rattler?" And he's in your hand. "Oh, did your little fangs—oh, baby rattler just bit me. It's so cute. Feeling faint." Yeah, don't mess around. And I bring this up because we have our guard up against the big sins, but we lower our guard with what we perceive as little sins or areas that we're strong in, and we end up getting defeated in that very area.

Is this making sense to you? So the devil comes like a serpent. And what does he do? Well, with Eve, he questions God's love effectively. "You know, if God really loved you, he would let you eat of any tree you want to eat of in the garden. So the fact that he isn't letting you eat of it must be an indication he doesn't really love you at all. And by the way, if you eat of this fruit, you will become like a god. Eve, you'll be a goddess. And you will know the things that only God knows."

And she just went for it. That's all she needed to hear. It appealed to her pride. So the devil is clever. He won't come and just say, "The Bible's not the Word of God." He'll just say, "Did you really understand the Bible correctly? Did God really say what you thought God said? Maybe you just misunderstood." And so he'll come to us and say, "It's really not that bad for you to do that. Other people do that. Other people who say they are Christians do that. Why can't you do that?"

And you say, "Well, because I just think that's wrong." "Oh, come on, go ahead. Don't be so uptight. Don't be so rigid. You're being legalistic. Go ahead and just do that thing that everybody else is doing." "Okay, well, I'll do it one time and I'll just have a little bit." Yeah, the famous last words. And then here's what happens. Then he gets you. Then you do that thing and you're sort of hooked, you're pulled in. And then what does the devil do?

Right after he deceived you and told you, "Go ahead and do it," he then condemns you because the Bible describes Satan as the accuser of the brothers and sisters. And he accuses us before God day and night. So here's how the devil works. He whispers in your ear, "Go ahead and do it. Everybody else is doing it. It's not that bad. Do it just once. You'll be fine." Or "No one will ever know."

And then the moment you do it, he comes back to you and says, "You're the biggest hypocrite that ever walked the face of the earth. How can you call yourself a Christian? Don't even think of reading the Bible again. Don't even think of showing your ugly face in church again." Now he's the accuser of the brother. First he's the tempter, pulling you in, getting you to take his free sample. Now he'll become the condemner and the accuser of the brother.

Dave Nevue: 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+. 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: 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+ app. Pastor Greg's message title today is Angels and Demons. It's part of his top 10 series of most requested studies. Let's continue.

Greg Laurie: You know when you go into Krispy Kreme Donuts? And I haven't been there for a while. But the last time I was there, I of course overate, as I always do. That's why I stay away. But I walk in and what do they do? "Would you like a free Krispy Kreme donut?" Why do they do that? Because they love us? No, because they know the moment you eat that hot, freshly made donut glistening with sugar, you will eat more.

It's worth it to them. So you take that bite and—and have you ever noticed they're a little smaller than regular donuts? How many of you have had Krispy Kreme donuts? Not everybody. If you haven't had them, you should go try them. Now I'm like the devil all of a sudden. "Just one time, try them. Just have a little one." Yeah, that's how it works. So I try that first one, I'll have another, I'll have another, I'll have another.

And it's so awesome when I'm eating them. And then it just becomes all this greasy dough in my stomach, and I'm thinking, "Why did I just do that?" Then I go into a food coma. You know how it works? That's how sin works. I'm sorry to use Krispy Kreme in that way, but it fits. You take the bait and then you're hooked, and then he condemns you. So you say, "So what do you do?" Well, you just remember that that's his tactic.

And no matter what sin you've committed, God can forgive you if you'll admit that sin and repent of it and say, "Lord, I'm sorry for that sin." And don't forget something else, and we've been talking about this as we're studying the book of Romans together. As a Christian, you've been justified before God. It's not based on anything you've done. It's solely based on what he did when he sent Christ to die on the cross in our place. And remember justified means just as if it never had happened.

So I stand righteous before God. So I say, "Lord, forgive me of my sin." I stand right before God now as his child. And to the devil, I just say, "Go to hell." Because that's where he's going. And trust me, he would like to drag as many people there with him as he possibly can. So it's very important for us to know how the enemy works. I think it was Victor Hugo who said—he was the author of Les Misérables—who said, "You must penetrate the brain of your enemy. A good general will penetrate the brain of his enemy."

The idea is know your opponent, know what your opponent may do, and be ready for him when he comes. And these are the tactics of the enemy that he uses over and over again. But here's the good news. 2,000 years ago on the cross, Jesus defeated Satan. He defeated him. Now look, the devil can still tempt you, the devil can still hassle you, the devil can still buffet you or strike at you. Even the Apostle Paul talked about how he was buffeted by the enemy.

But the devil can never overcome you, the devil can never overpower you, and the devil can never possess you because you are under new management because you've put your faith in Christ. And Satan knows that. The Bible tells us that God puts his ID tag on us. And that ID tag says, "Property of Jesus Christ." And that ID tag is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian.

I was traveling recently and my bag came off of the conveyor belt and I'm wheeling it out, and some lady comes chasing after me. "You have my bag!" I'm thinking this lady's crazy. "This is my bag." She gets, "You have my bag!" I said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, this is my bag." She says, "Open it up." I open it up, it was her bag. We had identical bags. And I'm so glad I didn't keep her bag because I did not want to dress in women's clothing for that trip.

And she had my bag and I mistook it. And the reason was I didn't check the ID tag, you see. So God has put his ID tag on you, and you're under his protection. So you don't have to be afraid of what the enemy is going to do; you just need to be aware of it. And you need to keep your guard up. But here's the bottom line, and I'll close with this. God wants you to come into a relationship with him, and the devil wants to do everything he can to keep you away from a relationship with God.

The Bible says that the god of this world, that's Satan, has blinded the eyes of those that don't believe, lest their eyes should be opened and they should see the glorious light of the gospel. So Satan doesn't want you to believe. And the Bible also says he's taken people captive to do his will. So he tries to keep us from coming to Christ. But then when we do come to Christ, he'll do everything he can to get us to fall away or to compromise so he can neutralize us. And so we need to be aware of these things.

So let me speak to two people as I close. Number one, you may be a person who's joined us who is not sure if your sin is forgiven. In fact, the devil has just been having a heyday in your life. Maybe he has you trapped in addiction: drugs, alcohol, pornography. Maybe he has you trapped in some relationship. He has you trapped in something else. And you just feel like, "I can never get out of this place."

You can. You can. But you must ask God for his help and for his forgiveness. And Jesus can pull you out of that pit that you're in and change you literally in moments. So if you've never believed in Jesus, I'm going to give you an opportunity to believe in him tonight and have all of your sin forgiven and get a fresh start in life and, most importantly, know that when you die, you will go to heaven.

But there are some of you who have accepted Christ into your life, but realistically and honestly, you've been kind of trapped by the enemy. He's kind of got you wound up in some compromise situation, and you're not a happy person right now because you're trying to live in two worlds. In fact, you're even sitting here right now thinking about what you're going to do in that other world you live in the moment you get out of this church service. That is not a good thing.

"I'm going to watch this on TV. I'm going to go to this club. I'm going to go—" yeah, really? You're in a bad place. Because I don't think we should want to get out of this place quickly. I think we should want to be here and savor the moment with God's people. I know you have to get home and get to work and things like that, but I'm talking about enjoy every moment that we have to worship and learn the Word of God. It's a privilege. Don't live in two worlds.

So if you're in that sort of no man's land of compromise, I'd really encourage you tonight to make a recommitment to Christ and really start walking with the Lord as you ought to. Don't let the enemy have a foothold in your life. The Bible says don't give place to the devil. Don't give him anything. Don't have tea with him. Don't hang out with him. Don't have a short conversation with him. Don't text him. Don't let him text you.

I mean, just stay away from him. Keep as much distance as you can. The Bible says resist the devil and he will flee from you. So we have to resist him. But before that, it says submit to God. So first I submit to God, then I resist the devil because as I submit to God, I have the power to resist the devil and he'll flee from me. So some of you may need to make that recommitment. I'll give you that opportunity right now as we all close in prayer.

Let's pray. Now, Father, thank you for your Word to us. We know there's a devil, we know there are demons, but more importantly, we know there's you and we know there are angels and we know you're more powerful than our adversary. So we would just say right now to the enemy and his forces, we rebuke you in the name of Jesus Christ. And we would say, Lord, that there are people here that need to come to you.

And I pray that you would take off the blinders. Help them to see what we've shared tonight is true. These are not fairy tales. These are not myths. This is hard reality, the supernatural world. And I pray, Lord, for any person here that doesn't know you yet, I pray you would help them to come to you and believe in you and be forgiven of all of their sin. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Dave Nevue: Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer. And if you'd like to make a change today, before this edition of A New Beginning wraps up in a moment, Pastor Greg will help you do that. So please stay with us. Ever start your day off wrong? Things started badly and just kept going downhill. A lot of it has to do with your focus, where your mind is centered as the day starts. Why not plug into Pastor Greg's daily devotions?

They're free of charge. It's good encouragement to keep your eyes fixed on Christ. You can read each day's devotion or listen to the audio version. Your choice. Sign up today free of charge at harvest.org. Well, Pastor Greg, if somebody listening right now knows they need to ask the Lord to forgive them of their sin, could you help them with that right now?

Greg Laurie: I'd love to do that. It's an amazing thing to me that over the years, I've heard so many stories of people who have come to know Christ listening to this broadcast. And they'll say things like, "I prayed the prayer with you at the end of the program." One guy wrote me and said, "I pulled my car over to the side of the road and prayed that prayer and Christ came into my life." Just incredible.

And I'd like to lead you in that same prayer. Look, I don't have some super special prayer. It's just a basic prayer based on scriptural principles of what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. I mean, if we want to get real technical, the only sinner's prayer, if you will—and we often call this prayer a sinner's prayer—the only real sinner's prayer in the Bible is a guy who just prayed, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

So I'm going to lead you in a prayer similar to that, but this is a prayer where you will be acknowledging your need for Jesus and putting your faith in him. So listen, if you want to go to heaven when you die, if you want to know that you are a child of God, if you want the Lord to forgive you of your sin, just pray this prayer with me. You might even pray it out loud. You can repeat it after me if you'd like. Just pray these words if you would.

Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. And I'm sorry for my sin and I turn from that sin. But I know that you died on the cross of Calvary for my sin and rose again from the dead. So forgive me, Lord. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. I want you to be my Savior, I want you to be my friend, I want you to be my God. Thank you for hearing my prayer and answering my prayer. In Jesus' name I ask this. Amen.

I know, some of you are saying, "Oh, that's so simple." It is simple. It's not simplistic; it's simple. Yet it's profound, isn't it? To think that God Almighty just heard that prayer and has answered that prayer and that Christ has come to live inside of you. You might say, "Well, Greg, I didn't have an emotional experience." This is not about an emotional experience; this is about the fact of what happens when a person believes.

Jesus said it this way: "For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, and whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." When you prayed that prayer, you were in effect putting your faith in Christ. You were choosing to believe in Jesus. Now I want to help you start growing spiritually, so I have something to send you at no charge. It's my gift to you.

It's called the New Believer's Bible. So the New Believer's Bible is the New Testament in the New Living Translation with hundreds of notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment you are making to follow Christ. There's some other materials included as well in what we call the New Believer's Growth Pack, but let me get this New Believer's Bible into your hands as quickly as possible. Here's Dave to tell you more.

Dave Nevue: You can get that New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. We're here to take your call 24/7. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or drop us a note at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click "Know God". And then thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue. Your investments have eternal benefits.

Why not make this a part of your personal ministry, to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ? Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly. Online, you'll find us at harvest.org and there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now.

That's harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. We're here around the clock to take your call again at 1-800-821-3300. Well, next time, more insight from our series of most requested messages. We'll learn how we can survive and thrive in the midst of life's storms. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.