A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: What is this cross that we're all called to bear? To bear the cross means one thing: it means deny yourself and put God first.

Dave: So many chase after happiness at the expense of nearly everything else. Today, Pastor Greg Laurie says happiness ultimately comes from pursuing after God.

Greg Laurie: There's nothing wrong with wanting to be happy. But it's not by chasing happiness. You find it by putting God first in your life and following him.

Dave: So much of life is determined by our focus. Do we focus on career more than family, or family more than career? Do we focus more on pursuing goals or enjoying the journey? Some focus on happiness; it's their most important pursuit in life.

And yet happiness isn't found through direct pursuit. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out happiness comes when we put God before ourselves, when His will becomes our will. That's our cross to bear.

Greg Laurie: Jesus came to this earth to die for the sins of the world. But his disciples did not get that because it was lost in translation. Their hope and their belief was he was going to establish an earthly kingdom then and there. But before Christ would wear a crown, he would first have to bear a cross.

Now as we come to our text here in Mark chapter eight, his ministry in Galilee is coming to a close. This is a transitional moment in his ministry, and for the first time he's going to speak very clearly and in great detail about why he has come.

Let's look at our text: Mark chapter eight, verse thirty-one. "Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and three days later rise again."

Notice the detail in those words. He laid it out, guys. Here's who's going to betray me. It's going to be the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and I will be killed and I will rise again in three days. He spoke plainly about this. Now look at this: Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. And when Jesus turned and looked at the disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind me, Satan, for you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns."

Stop there. By the way, this is the first time Jesus ever talked specifically, clearly, and I might even add graphically about the fact that he was going to die. I don't even think they heard the "he'll be raised on the third day" part; they just heard he was going to die. I don't think I'm overstating it when I say this was really shocking to them.

He was effectively saying, "I, Jesus, who you've given up everything to follow, I'm going to be murdered in cold blood. I'm going to be taken from you." And they're thinking, "How could that be part of any plan? You're the Messiah. You're supposed to establish your kingdom here and now. How is this going to be part of something good for you to be taken and murdered? And in fact, we've given up everything to follow you, Jesus, and we've made these great sacrifices."

And so Peter thought that he would sort of set Jesus straight. And we read in verse twenty-two, Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. And by the way, in the original language, that implies it was done over and over again. I'm trying to imagine this. Peter says, "Jesus, come here for a second. Buddy, listen. Come on, man. What are you doing? I rebuke you, Jesus. You cannot do this." He's rebuking God Almighty. This is insane.

And Jesus listens to him and then Jesus says, "I rebuke you, Peter. The devil gave you that thought to deter me from this course. I'm going to die on the cross and there's no getting around this." Now Jesus, shall we say, shifts gears. Now he personalizes it. And in effect, he's saying, "Look guys, I'm not the only one who's going to bear a cross. You're going to bear a cross too. In fact, you need to bear a cross."

Now, even though these words were given some two thousand years ago, they ring true for us today. These words that we're about to read are not just for first-century Christians; they are also for twenty-first-century Christians. Let's go back to Mark chapter eight, verse thirty-four.

"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for me and the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father's glory.'"

We'll stop there. You could insert your name here. If Greg will take up the cross and follow me, if Josh will take up the cross and follow me, if Mary will take up the cross and follow me. This isn't just for the twelve disciples of Jesus; this is for you.

Now you say, "But I don't even know what that means to take up the cross and follow him." Well, first he says deny yourself. The word deny means to say no to yourself. It means to put God's will above your will. What is this cross that we're all called to bear? Well, first let me tell you what it isn't, because I think we have a lot of misconceptions about the cross today.

We adorn our churches with massive crosses. We get into lawsuits about where crosses can be displayed. We tat a cross on our arm, we make it a fashion accessory. But in the first century, know this: the cross was a repulsive symbol. By the way, the cross was not the symbol of the church in the beginning.

Now later it came to be a symbol of the church, but back then if you had a cross, that was a despicable symbol because a cross was an incredibly horrible way to die. It was not invented by the Romans but shall we say it was perfected by them, and the Romans crucified thousands of people and lined Roman streets with them as a warning to not rebel against Rome.

Crucifixion was saved for the worst of criminals. So if you were in town getting food for dinner and you saw a man walking by you surrounded by Roman soldiers bearing a cross, you knew this man was going to die a horrible, painful, torturous death. So to even use the picture of a cross was repugnant and repulsive.

Now we say, "Okay, it was a bad thing, so what does it mean?" I think we use this phrase "bearing a cross" in ways that are not really biblical. For instance, a mother might say, "Well, my cross to bear, it's my children." And then the children of that mother say, "Well, our cross to bear is our mother." Or someone else might say, "Well, my affliction or this difficulty I have is my cross to bear." You identify whatever issue you have or difficulty you have as your cross to bear. That's not what it means to bear the cross.

Listen to this: to bear the cross means one thing: it means deny yourself and put God first. Let me illustrate. I've been a Christian now for fifty years and I've seen a lot of things. I've seen gifted preachers shoot up like rockets and then come crashing down. I've seen people that had their lives changed by Jesus walk away from their faith. I've seen very talented people that I thought would do great things for the kingdom sort of flame out.

So as time has passed, I'm not so much impressed by charisma as much as I am impressed by character and longevity. For instance, I'm more impressed with someone who just lives a faithful Christian life. I'm impressed by a husband who keeps his vows to his wife for a lifetime. I'm impressed by a wife who stands by her husband through thick and thin.

I'm impressed by a Christian who stays with it every day, sunny days and stormy nights. I'm impressed by a believer who weathers the storms of life and continues to give glory to God because that's what following Jesus is all about. As one person defined it, being a Christian is long obedience in the same direction. Long obedience in the same direction.

Dave: Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We're so thankful to hear from our listeners all the time. They're all different ages and in all different seasons of life. They tell us how Pastor Greg encourages them, and their comments encourage us. Here's a comment we recently received from a brother named Graham.

Graham: I am calling in because this time last year my beautiful wife was dying from Alzheimer's. My wife was in hospice at home and every AM when I knew my wife was safe, I would start my day by riding my bicycle. I listened to Pastor Greg in the AM, good way to start the day.

One morning I forgot to turn on my radio, but suddenly the Holy Spirit prompted me to do so. About one minute after I turned it on, I heard Greg telling about when his son Christopher died. He recounted that he was grateful so many people had blessed him with cards and well-wishes, but then he said one person wrote him with a comment that stopped him in his tracks.

The man said, "Pastor Greg, your best days with Christopher lie ahead when you see him for all eternity." That became my testimony. Yes, I will see my wife again and my best days with her lie ahead. I can wait until it's my turn to see Jesus. Thank you.

Dave: We hope Graham's comments encourage you today. And if you'd like to share a comment about how Pastor Greg's teaching is helping you and your family grow closer to the Lord, drop him an email: Greg@harvest.org. That's Greg@harvest.org.

Well, we're learning the importance of bearing the cross of Christ as Pastor Greg presents today's message called "Lost in Translation". Let's listen.

Greg Laurie: Bearing a cross isn't as awful as you might think. Look at the statement of our Lord in verse twenty-five. "Whoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." Here's what the Lord is effectively saying: if you'll get your priorities in order, if you'll deny yourself and take up the cross, you will find fulfillment in life.

Listen, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be happy. And God is really telling you how to be happy. But it's not by chasing happiness. As one person said, the pursuit of happiness is one of the least happy things a person can do. So you don't find happiness by pursuing it; you find it by putting God first in your life and following him.

This is contrary to our narcissistic culture of today, our selfie culture where people literally die trying to get the ultimate selfie hanging off the side of a cliff or doing something dangerous. We want to look good, we want to put out this appearance that we have it all together. We're so obsessed with ourselves. The Bible even says, by the way, that one of the signs of the last days would be people would love only themselves. Second Timothy three. Is that not an accurate statement of today? People loving only themselves?

Here's what you need to know: selfish people are unhappy people. Studies have confirmed this; research has shown this is true. Now you can get a momentary burst of what we might call a temporary happiness by doing something selfish. In other words, just catering to yourself. You know, they talk about when people shop that there's a certain euphoria that they can get by buying something. They call it retail therapy, right? You get sort of a rush. "Oh, I got this thing."

But then you get it home and you wear it once and you're not as excited by that thing. And so experts say that basically selfish people are unhappy. One expert said selfish acts bring you happiness but only in the short term. But selfish happiness fades quickly and then drives you to more selfish behavior. On the other hand, selfless acts bring happiness.

You know this from experience. When you've done something for someone else, you put the needs of another person before your own. And after you did that thing, you experienced this happiness. And that's really what Jesus is saying. Look, instead of loving yourself and being obsessed with yourself, deny yourself. And if you will lose your life, you will find your life.

What does it mean to deny yourself? Let me give some examples. To deny yourself means you're not embarrassed to bow your head and pray over a meal, even around non-believers. To deny yourself means you speak up for your faith even when it's unpopular. To deny yourself means you take up the cross and resist the allure and temptation of this world to live for self and instead you choose to serve others.

To deny yourself in marriage is to put the needs of your mate above your own. To deny yourself is to control your impulses as a single person. To deny yourself means you get up every day and you open up the word of God. I could just go on and on. You say, "Well, I don't know, that sounds like a miserable life." No, listen to me: this is the happy life. This is the joyful life because you have your priorities in order.

And this is why Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me." Look at the positive outcome that comes when you take up the cross and put Christ first. Verse thirty-five. Jesus says if you'll seek to save your life, you'll lose it, but if you lose your life for my sake and the gospel's, you will find it.

Listen, as I said earlier, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be happy. God wants you to be happy. He's even described in Scripture as the happy God. But go about it in the right way. And don't chase after your desires; put his will above your own. And as you lose your life, you will find your life by following Jesus Christ. And one day you'll look back on your life and realize it was all worth it.

Think of people who've wasted their lives in the pursuit of what? In the pursuit of success, in the pursuit of so many experiences, in the pursuit of whatever it is they think is important. But listen to this: one day your life will be summed up in a paragraph on a program that will be handed out at your funeral service.

And no one will really care about how much money you made. No one will really care about your awesome car collection. No one will really care about how many sexual experiences you had. No one will really care about how famous you were. What they'll want to talk about is, "Oh, you were a selfless person, you were a caring person, you were a loving person."

Oh, we've seen so many who've wasted their lives. I've been to funerals and as they're describing the person, I'm thinking, "Did they know the same person I knew? That's not the person I knew." But how wonderful it is when a child of God passes into eternity and we can talk about how they followed Jesus and put him first and what they did for other people. And it brings glory to God. And that is why I exist.

In closing, back to this question of Jesus to his disciples: "Who do men say that I am?" Now let me ask you this: who is Jesus to you? Is he the Son of God? Is he the Savior of the world? If so, then follow him. Pick up your cross and follow him and put God first in your life.

You know, it's interesting how many times Jesus uses the word "must" in the verses we've read. He said he must be killed. Then he said we must take up the cross and follow him. But none of this makes sense until we come into a relationship with him. So let me share with you one more "must".

Jesus said to Nicodemus, the religious ruler, one night, "You must be born again." Let me ask you in closing, are you born again? Some people say, "Well, you know, I'm a Christian, I'm just not one of those born-agains." Newsflash: you can't be a Christian without being born again. Again Jesus said, "You must be born again." What does it mean? It means to be born from above. It means you have a spiritual birth.

Listen to this: if you're born once, you'll die twice, but if you're born twice, you'll die once. What does that mean? If you're born once you'll die twice: so, you're born physically and then you'll ultimately die physically and spiritually. But if you're born twice—that is, born physically and born again spiritually—you'll only die once. Yes, your body will die. But your soul, your spirit will live on.

You must be born again. You need Jesus to come and live inside of you. Listen, Jesus came to this earth, as we pointed out, to be born in the manger, to die on the cross for your sins, for my sins, because we're all separated from him and we've all broken his commandments time and time again. And then he rose from the dead and he will give you complete forgiveness. Can you imagine that?

Sure, I'm talking to somebody right now that is so ashamed of certain things that they've done and they wonder, "Could God ever forgive a person like me?" And the answer is a resounding yes. Not only can he forgive you, he will forgive you right here, right now. You say, "Well, what do you mean by that?" I mean by coming to the Lord in prayer, you can ask for his forgiveness and he will wipe away every sin you've ever committed. He'll forgive it and he'll forget it.

Jesus said in John 3:16, by the way, in that same conversation with Nicodemus, after he said you must be born again, he said, "For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son, and whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." Did you hear that? You can have everlasting life and you can know that you'll go to heaven one day.

How do you do that? By asking Jesus to come into your life. So in a moment we're going to pray. And I'm going to extend an invitation to you to ask Jesus into your heart, if you will, into your life, to be your Savior and your Lord and your friend. You must be born again. Who do you say Jesus is? You think he's the Lord? Then call out to him right now.

If you want your sin forgiven, if you want to know you'll go to heaven when you die, if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want all of your past forgiven, it can happen right now as we pray. If you need Jesus in your life, pray this prayer with me right now. Just pray these words:

Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. But I know you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for hearing this prayer and answering it. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Dave: Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer with those making a change today in their relationship with the Lord. If you've just joined Pastor Greg in prayer and have asked Jesus to be your Savior, we'd like to offer some additional help free of charge. We'd like to send you Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible. It's the perfect resource for someone who's just come to the Lord, with special study features to help new believers, and it's written in an easy-to-understand translation.

Just ask for your free copy of the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click "Know God".

Well Pastor Greg, most of us have heard the phrase "many hands make light work". And I was reading Nehemiah chapter three the other day and, boy, that whole chapter is a case in point. Many, many hands contributed to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, and they got that job done quickly. And we want to thank the many hands that make it possible for us to bring these daily studies to our listeners, don't we?

Greg Laurie: Yes, we do, Dave. And you know, everybody counts. I'm thinking about how when they were rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem under the direction of Nehemiah, that each person was told to build the portion of the wall nearest to their house. And doesn't it make sense? Because, you know, I would want that part of the wall to be secure so I would be safe. So I'm going to give special attention to the part of the wall that's near my house.

And I've always thought that, you know, when we talk about a spiritual awakening in America, it should start with each individual home. It should start with your home or if you're single, just with your life and in the decisions you make as you look for that person God has chosen for you and plan your future.

But when we all pitch in, we can get a lot done. And we're going to ask you to pitch in and help build your portion of the wall near your home because our radio broadcast, A New Beginning, touches people all around the country and even the world. But I'm sure it impacts you as well.

So often people come up to me or they write me or they comment on social media and talk about how a radio program that they heard, one of our shows, really impacted them. I was talking to a lady not long ago and she said that her daughter had gone astray from her faith and actually heard me on the radio, and it was a familiar voice because she used to go to our church.

And she made a recommitment to Christ listening to me on the radio. Now sadly, that daughter passed away a couple of years later, but thankfully she got right with God before that happened. And that's just one of thousands of stories that happen every day. And when you make a contribution to Harvest Ministries, when you become a Harvest partner, you participate in that and help to build that portion of the wall near your home or help somebody else build the wall near their home. So Dave, why don't you tell the folks listening what it means to become a Harvest partner?

Dave: Yeah, Harvest partners are close friends of the ministry who are passionate like we are about evangelism and discipleship. And they give to Harvest on a monthly basis. They're really the backbone of our support team. And we have some special ways to show our appreciation.

So get in touch today and become a Harvest partner. You can take care of all the details over the phone at 1-800-821-3300. Call anytime, 1-800-821-3300. Or as you send your donation by mail, let us know you want to be a Harvest partner. Our address is A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org.

Are you receiving Pastor Greg's daily devotions? They're a great way to start your day with extra insight and inspiration. Sign up for his devotions today at harvest.org. Well next time, Pastor Greg leads us into chapter nine of Mark's gospel, where we study the fascinating account of the transfiguration of Christ. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.